Crécy

by Griff Hosker

  “You are impertinent.”

  I smiled, “Aye, and I enjoy killing Frenchmen. Do not worry, I will protect you, Count Godfrey, but I am not one of your serfs and I will not be treated as one. I am a free man and a Captain of Archers.”

  Robin had arrived and witnessed the conversation. He tossed me a juicy piece of pork, “Michael knows his business, Captain. This is a lovely piece of meat. The lads are here, and we can go now!”

  Biting a hunk of meat, I hauled myself into the saddle and, ignoring the red-faced French Count, rode to the head of my men. “We head for the Seine, Robin, you and Peter take the lead.” Still eating I wheeled Megs and we headed due north from the town and rode towards the Seine. We rode through the night and I saw that we rode through a deserted land. The smell of woodsmoke was absent. The people had fled. Our attack on Brionne had sent them hence. More, I heard no animal noises. They had taken their animals too which meant there was nothing to forage. It was dawn when we reached the Seine.

  Robin was waiting for us by the blackened and burned piers of the bridge which had been destroyed. “It looks like we aren’t crossing here, Captain.”

  The French Count rode up. We had not spoken a word during the night. He viewed the burned wood. “We will need to ride to Elbeuf!”

  I nodded. The horses would struggle but I would not give the Frenchman the satisfaction of admitting that. I did not have to as one of his men at arms said, “Count, we will destroy our horses. They need some water and at least an hour of rest.” He glared at me, “Unlike these God-Damns, we did not eat last night.” Even though he had insulted me I smiled.

  “Then one hour only. Archer, ride towards Elbeuf and await us there!”

  Perhaps he thought to anger me, but it did not work. “Right lads let us ride while these Frenchmen enjoy a rest. We are Englishmen and need it not!”

  In truth we did but I would not give him the pleasure of knowing that. We rode until we were out of sight and then I said, “Dismount. We will walk and then rest for a short while. I would not hurt our horses either.”

  We walked, perhaps a mile and that helped to cool down the horses. We stopped at a small farm which lay close to the river and let the horses drink and graze. We examined the farm and saw that it had been stripped of all food. I looked at the fields and saw that the ripening crop of wheat had been burned. The French were trying to starve our army. We did not rest long and then we mounted and rode along the river. We were archers and knew how to conceal ourselves. We reached Elbeuf and I saw the French flooding across the bridges. They were also preparing to fire the bridge.

  “Peter, ride to the Prince and tell him that the French are preparing to set fire to the bridges over the Seine.”

  Peter had a good horse; it was one we had taken from Sainte-Mère-Église and he was a lighter rider. “Aye, Captain.” He would be able to take a direct route and meet up with the army much sooner.

  I turned to the others, “Tie up your horses and string your bows! Let us see what mischief we can cause. We will try to hurt their soldiers and panic the civilians!”

  We strung our bows and walked closer to the small town. I guessed that any soldiers on guard would be watching the road from the south and not from the west. I saw that there were men at arms shepherding the people across the bridge while other soldiers were packing faggots around the wood piers. We used the cover of the deserted houses, for those living closest to the river had fled first, and I waved at my men to spread out. If we could make them think we were a larger number than we were we might delay them. I nocked an arrow and aimed at a loud sergeant at arms who was ordering the people to hurry up. I drew and released. The others sent their arrows a heartbeat later. The range was less than two hundred paces and the sergeant fell forward with the arrow in his back. When the other arrows hit those with the faggots and the men at arms then panic set in and the steady movement across the bridge became a stampede and I saw people falling into the river as they were barged to the side while I heard the screams of those who were trampled underfoot. There were so many people crowded on the bridge that it was hard to hit just the men at arms and soldiers. That encouraged them and a dozen detached themselves and ran at us. I believe that there were many men in our position who would have panicked but not my men. We merely switched targets to the men at arms who were racing at us. We hit them all and wasted not a single arrow! It was then I spied a knight ride his horse across the bridge. He was carrying a flaming torch and was a tempting target but the men who ran at us were a priority. By the time we had hit some and deterred the rest the knight had lit the faggots seemingly oblivious to the people already on it. He turned and galloped across the bridge and more people were thrown into the Seine. As the flames around the Elbeuf side of the bridge rose so the ones who were trying to cross realised the futility and they headed up the river road towards Pont de l’Arche, the next bridge over the Seine.

  I turned to Matthew, “Fetch the horses! The rest of you let us see if any of the men at arms are alive.”

  One was. He had been hit in both legs by two arrows. While Robin tended his wounds I questioned the man, “What is your King doing?” He set his lip and I nodded to Robin, “You wish to die? If this archer does not bind your leg, then you will bleed to death. I ask again, where is your King?”

  As Robin tightened the tourniquet the man at arms winced and nodded, “He has gathered our men north of the river at Rouen and called the arrière-ban.” I knew what that meant. Every able-bodied man had to be at the muster to fight for the King. “Your God-Damns and the Flemish are attacking from the north and we are stretched.”

  I smiled, “Good, that was not so hard, was it?”

  By the time Robin had finished, we had stripped the other bodies of their valuables and begun to search houses for the paltry pickings that they contained. The French Count and his men rode up. “We were too late then?”

  I nodded, “We could not have stopped them, and I have sent word to Prince Edward. The army will be here before dark.”

  “Then we should head to Pont l’Arche before they can destroy that bridge too.”

  I shook my head, “Your horses have rested and ours have not. You can go on this time and we will follow.”

  “I order you to come!”

  I stood and put my hands on my hips, “I do not take orders from a French traitor and I will not waste my horse’s life when I know that every bridge between here and Paris will be destroyed already! If the army had been here then we might, and I repeat might, have saved this one, but I doubt it. We will wait!”

  Count Godfrey was no fool and he realised I was right. As we cooked some food in one of the houses Robin said, “You will be in trouble for this, Captain.”

  I nodded, “But they will do little about it for King Edward needs his archers and we will be the ones seeking food to feed the army. I will take my punishment.”

  It was evening by the time Prince Edward and the vanguard arrived. By then the middle section of the bridge had collapsed into the river and there were just blackened stumps remaining. The Prince rode directly to Count Godfrey. I knew that the Frenchman would be exaggerating both my words and my actions. I had kept the prisoner whose name was Gilles with us. Robin had done a good job and cleansed the wounds. Although the soldier would struggle to walk for a while he would at least heal as neither bone nor artery had been touched. My archers looked on as an angry Prince Edward strode over to me.

  “Count Godfrey told me that you were not only impertinent to him you refused an order too!”

  “I was not impertinent, Prince Edward, I just did not acknowledge his title. I was asked to guard him and not to bow and scrape to him. As for disobeying the order, what could I have done with a handful of archers, my lord? See here,” I pointed to the dead men at arms and my prisoner, “I did what I could with my archers but the only way to prevent the French from burning the bridges is simple, send every mounted archer instead of a handful.”

  He turned, a
ngrily, and looked at the Count, “You have a prisoner? The Count did not mention that.”

  “And why would he for he wished to portray me in a poor light.” I pointed over the river to the northern shore, “King Philip has raised the levy and he has a huge army to the north of us. Although Flemish soldiers and some English are attacking from the north King Philip has sent to the Duke of Normandy to bring north the army which was attacking Gascony. In my opinion, a lowly archer, every bridge up to and including Paris will be burned or destroyed and he will try to trap us between his two armies.”

  Prince Edward was clever, and he grasped what I said and the implications immediately, “You are a clever man, I will give you that, but you have ideas above your station. I command you to show the Count respect.”

  I smiled, “Then it might be better, my lord, if you kept us apart for there is mutual dislike.”

  Snorting he turned and said, “Send the prisoner to my quarters! You are impossible!”

  I knew, at that moment, that the Prince would, eventually, tire of me. I needed a future which was determined by me and not at the whim of a king or a count.

  The King and his council heeded my words and eight hundred of us rode ahead of the army each day as we raced to find a bridge intact but it was as I had told the Prince, the French were trying to trap us. We found little food and no animals. I think that we were luckier than the rest of the army as whatever there was to be found, we took. When we reached Poissy on the eleventh of August, we were just twenty miles from Paris. Behind us we saw the villages burned by Prince Edward and we waited. A messenger arrived to tell us to scout out the outskirts of Paris and to see if there were any other bridges that we could use. I was named as the captain who should lead the scouts. I took just my men for I knew it would be a waste of time.

  We left Poissy and followed the Seine. We had our bows slung for if we found trouble then I wanted to be able to hit the French hard before retreating. The next three bridges were all destroyed and then when we saw the towers of the churches of Paris, we saw guarded bridges. The sunlight shone from the metal of their mail and their helmets and they saw us. We had travelled more than fourteen miles and the horses were tired. We could have turned them around and galloped away but they were so tired that I could not guarantee that we would escape.

  “Dismount! Horse holders!” I knew I was losing a fifth of my men, but it could not be helped. “These are mailed men so let us use bodkins!”

  Although a bodkin could easily pierce mail, it was less effective against plate, especially at longer range. I did not draw but kept it at the quarter draw as I gauged the target and the best time to strike. I saw that they had sent forty mailed men at us and they had with them forty hobelars or lightly armoured horsemen. My decision to dismount was a wise one for the hobelars would have caught us and, I have no doubt, despatched us!

  “Draw!”

  The men at arms were two hundred paces from us and the hobelars were using the mailed men for protection. I saw as I drew back, that the leading men at arms had plate and that they must have been knights.

  “Release! And nock a second bodkin!”

  As we nocked, I watched the first flight of thirty arrows descend and strike. A couple of horses were struck but, more importantly, eight of the mailed men were hit. The sound of the bodkin arrows hitting and penetrating mail was a distinctive one.

  “Release! Nock a war arrow and aim at the hobelars.”

  The horsemen were now less than a hundred paces from us and when our thirty arrows struck, ten men at arms were hit and six fell from their saddles. There were less than half of the men at arms now and some of those were either wounded or had wounded horses. I saw a plated knight turn and shout something.

  “Release!”

  The knight’s command was now clear. He had ordered his hobelars to close with us. At a range of eighty paces every arrow which struck would either kill or seriously wound the French light horsemen who had a leather jerkin at best. I did not order the fourth arrow for all of my men saw the threat and they nocked, drew and released as I did when the hobelars were less than forty paces from us. Three riders escaped unscathed and they wisely retreated. I did not push our luck, but we stood our ground with arrows nocked while the survivors retreated to the bridge. The wounded men who could either crawled or walked back. Fifteen hobelars and eight men at arms lay on the ground and were a good measure of our success.

  “Back to the horses.”

  We mounted and walked our horses west, back to Poissy. I kept glancing over my shoulder but there was no pursuit. I did not know it then, but our arrival and our attack had created panic. Riders were sent to King Philip and his army. They thought that King Edward planned on taking Paris. He moved his whole army north of Paris in order to protect it. We reached Poissy as darkness was falling and we arrived as the carpenters we had brought to build siege engines had begun, instead, to repair the bridge. The one at Poissy was at a narrower point than the others.

  I reported directly to the King and the Prince who both nodded, “You have done well. We will cross here and head for the Somme and our ships. Was there food east of here?”

  “We saw nothing, King Edward. They have burned their crops and slaughtered their animals. A horse can graze but that is all.”

  “Then if we wish to feed the army we must head for the Somme.”

  Prince Edward nodded, “I want the archers to swim the river tomorrow while we finish the bridge. You and your men can do that?”

  “It is not easy, Prince Edward, but most of us can. If I might suggest we just take the confident archers rather than risk losing others?”

  “Very well, but I want the bridgehead securing!”

  He was less friendly since Count Godfrey had spoken ill of me. My time with the Prince was going to be limited. I would need another paymaster.

  Chapter 12

  Five hundred of us swam across the river but the Prince’s fears had been ungrounded. There was no sign of the French and I think that was because of our action close to Paris. My men and I were sent further north to discover the whereabouts of the French army; it seemed my men and I were expendable. As on the previous day, we rode with bows slung and we rode cautiously. My hunting dog, Robin Goodfellow, rode well ahead for he seemed to be able to sniff out the French. We were just a few miles from Grisy when he found their signs. There were two broken wagons and the discarded crossbow bolts told us that it was the French army. They had moved east, that much was obvious. To confirm it we rode to the east and saw the baggage train of the French some two miles up the road and they were heading closer to Paris.

  By the time we turned and reached the Seine again, it was dark and most of the army had crossed the completed bridge. After I had reported to Prince Edward and the King I headed back to my men. When we had scouted, we had been lucky and found a milking goat which had somehow been overlooked. It might have been able to outrun the French but not a war arrow and we would eat well. As we were cooking it I saw Captain Geoffrey who commanded the Earl of Northampton’s men in his camp. He had once commanded King Edward’s archers and so I knew him.

  He waved me over, “Are the French gone?”

  I nodded, “They headed east.”

  He grinned, “Then King Edward shows that he has the measure of this Frenchman. While you were gone a rider came from the direction of Paris. I am guessing your arrival there yesterday made them think we intended to attack. King Philip has invited us to do battle and King Edward suggested we meet south of Paris. The army has been crossing ever since. We will burn the bridge we have built and head for Le Crotoy.”

  That was clever for the French would head south and by the time they discovered we had no intention of giving battle we would be further away, and King Edward would be able to choose his own battlefield! “It is probably for the best. We all have full purses and more, but a man cannot eat gold, as King Midas discovered to his cost. We may not have won a kingdom, but we go home as rich men.”r />
  “Aye, if we can get home!” The Captain was obviously a pessimist.

  The Captain was right and as the bridge the carpenters had built was burned, we headed north for Grisy. I had already told the King and his son that there was little to be had in that area and so the archers were sent out in groups of forty to forage far and wide for whatever food we could find. The army was starving! We took it in turns over the next seven days, as we headed to the Somme, to take the most dangerous place to forage, the east. It was the most dangerous because the French were closer there and it was a fruitful part of Picardy. We had that duty just after we left Troisserau. The army now stayed together far more, and it was only the eight hundred mounted archers who rode ahead of the ever-diminishing snake which was the Edwardian army. Men died, and it was not because of battle. There was disease as well as dysentery and desertions. They took hundreds of men; more than we had lost in battle.

  My men and I found a nameless village to the east of Troisserau and my men spied a small flock of sheep. They were keen to rush in, but I counselled caution. Something did not feel right. The farmhouse had smoke coming from it and yet when we had approached no farmer had come out to discover who had arrived.

  “Ned and Jack, dismount half of the men and have horse holders. Have bows ready. I will take the rest and try to capture this flock, but it feels like a Judas Goat to me!”

  Other foragers had been attacked by peasants who were outraged by our presence on French soil. I drew my sword and waved my nineteen men forward. I was pleased to see that Ned had left me Rafe and Robin. Those two were the most reliable of my archers. I waved my sword to spread my men out for I wanted them as far apart as possible. First of all, it would help us to capture the sheep more easily but, more importantly, it would make us a smaller target!

  I could see no shepherd and then I realised that I could not see a dog. No shepherd would leave his flock unattended. That made me look for small clues and I saw that the hurdles which surrounded the sheep were atop a rampart and that meant a ditch. This was a trap! As soon as I realised that I shouted, “Ride hard! It is a trap!”