1415: Henry V's Year of Glory

by Mortimer, Ian

  Thursday 17th

  Henry left Boves this morning, making his way over the River Avre and setting out on the road towards Nesle. There was no saying where the next meal would come from. Nor when the rain would stop, and the wind let up. For his men, it was vital to keep going regardless of the soaked and stinking state of their clothes and bodies. The French were gathering all along the other bank of the Somme, moving from town to town, concentrating on potential crossing points. Today, as the English passed through the villages on the way to Nesle, the French made a sortie from Corbie and sent out a group of cavalry to attack the English archers passing the adjacent fields.

  The sudden presence of cavalry at this point shows that a bridge or ford at Corbie – a walled town on the north side of the river – had not been destroyed. This in turn suggests that the English reluctance (or failure) to cross here was due to the numbers of French troops able to defend the place. The English archers responded swiftly to the sortie and put the men-at-arms to flight, taking two of them prisoner.58 But there was no attempt to cross.

  This sudden cavalry attack seems to have warned Henry of the danger that a charge could break up his ranks of archers. With this in mind he gave instructions that every archer should cut himself a thick stake, six feet in length, sharpened at both ends. The idea was similar to that employed by the French at Blanchetaque, where stakes had been driven into the river bed to stop the English men-at-arms riding across. When the French horses tried to break the lines of archers, their horses would either be impaled or would take fright.59

  A short while afterwards, as the army moved through the villages towards Nesle, looking for food, the cry went up that a gilt-copper pyx containing the Holy Eucharist had been stolen from a church. This was directly in contravention of the ordinances that Henry had proclaimed at the start of the march. It was also a very obvious affront to God – and, since Henry’s greatest source of inspiration was his confidence that God would favour him because ‘victory consists not in a multitude but with Him … who bestows victory upon whom He wills, whether they be many or few’, he had no option but to find the culprit and make an example of him. He stopped the army and ordered the captains to search all their men. An archer was found with the pyx concealed in his sleeve. Henry ordered that it be returned to the church. He then had the man hanged from a tree in the sight of the rest of the army, before ordering them to continue on their way.60

  *

  The duke of Bourbon joined the king, the dauphin, the duke of Berry and the other lords today at Rouen, adding his contingent to the army gathering there. Bourbon and Berry (Bourbon’s father-in-law) had both withdrawn from court earlier in the year due to their disgust at the dauphin’s behaviour. Now France was in danger, these old quarrels were being set aside. The duke of Orléans was still at Cléry, not far from Orléans, but he was about to ride north in haste. Even the duke of Brittany, who had recently renewed his agreement with Henry’s negotiators, was on his way from Falaise to Rouen, albeit slowly.61

  There was one obvious exception to this collective unity against the English. John the Fearless was still two hundred miles away, making a leisurely trip between dinner at Chaigny and supper at Beaune.62 It seems he had decided to honour his agreements and letters of peace with Henry in a manner of speaking – he would not personally involve himself in the quarrel with the king of France. At the same time this allowed him to obey the order from the king of France not to join the host advancing against the English in person. His promises to attend the army in person were just bluster. By an extraordinary coincidence, the duplicitous duke’s mind had been made up for him by the fact that both the kings he was playing off against each other wanted him to stay away. So he decided he would.

  Friday 18th

  The English army continued towards Nesle. Being further away from the river, they did not look for crossings and thus made faster progress. From leaving Boves yesterday morning and arriving this evening at Nesle, they covered between twenty-five and thirty-five miles, depending on whether they travelled via Corbie and Harbonnières or via Caix.63 It was a full moon today, so it is likely that the king ordered the army to march later into the evening, pressing on to his destination.

  At Nesle they met an unwelcome sight. The townsfolk knew that a large French army under d’Albret and Boucicaut was gathering at Péronne, just sixteen miles away; so they hung red banners over the wall, signifying their refusal to surrender. Henry angrily gave orders that the villages around Nesle be ‘burned and utterly destroyed’ on the following day. As he had stationed his men in these same villages, the burning was presumably to be carried out as the army departed their quarters.64 It is a sign of the desperation into which Henry himself had now sunk – that he was prepared to issue orders for indiscriminate burning, contrary to his own ordinances.

  But at this very moment, when he had already led his men 170 miles from Harfleur, he had a stroke of luck. Someone told him that there was an unguarded ford in the vicinity. It may have been someone from Nesle who informed him, hoping thereby to save the threatened villages. Or it might have been someone who had remained in one of the villages when the English had arrived. One chronicle states that the location of the crossing was revealed by some prisoners who were being dragged along with the army.65 Perhaps an English scout noticed for himself that a broken causeway led to a broken bridge that was still passable – another chronicle tells a story along these lines.66 Whatever the source, Henry’s scouts delivered the news either in the night or in the early morning. The ford lay near Bethencourt, about three miles away. The author of the Gesta reckoned it would save the English army eight days’ marching if they could cross there.

  Saturday 19th

  Henry sent an advance party of mounted men to investigate the ford at first light. He instructed them to test the conditions of the ford and the depth and speed of the water. They returned with good news. A mile short of the Somme was another very marshy little river, which the army would have to cross, and they would be in great danger if they were to be attacked at that point. But beyond it there were two long, narrow causeways leading up to two fords through the Somme itself. These had been broken in several places, so that one could barely pass in single file. Nevertheless, the river could be crossed. The depth in the middle was only a little higher than the belly of a horse.

  Henry immediately gave the order to advance. Any delay would increase the risk of the French discovering the plan. Before leaving he ordered the villages where the army had sheltered overnight to be pulled apart so that doors, shutters, window-frames, stairs, structural timbers, straw and every other suitable commodity should be used to make good the causeways. After this, the remnants of the buildings in the villages were set alight, in accordance with his earlier order.67

  Sir Gilbert Umphraville and Sir John Cornwaille led the crossing party, taking a number of men-at-arms and archers from the vanguard over the ruined causeways on foot, and then through the river, to set up a defensive position protecting the ford on the far side. When sufficient men were across, the doors and timbers from the villages were brought up and laid down, so the horses and carts could be drawn to the river and across. Henry ordered that one ford be used for the fighting men – whom he needed quickly on the other side – and the other for the horses and baggage. He himself stood by the entrance to the soldiers’ causeway, making sure that the men did not pack themselves in too tightly in their urgency to cross. In this way, quickly, Henry achieved a bridgehead on the far side of the water.

  How come Henry had been able to cross at this point, despite the shadowing French scouts? The answer is that, in marching to Nesle, the English soldiers had moved several miles away from the river and so the French had lost track of them. It was fortunate, to say the least; Henry had only taken the route to cut off a bend in the river, near Péronne. But as a result of his unplanned and unpredictable troop movements, only now did the French scouts relocate the English army. They must have been aghast to s
ee the English on the north bank, in the process of crossing. They hurriedly called up reinforcements and made as if to attack, but realised that they did not have enough men there to force the English back. For a while they remained at a distance, gauging whether to fight or not; but all the while the English force on the north bank grew stronger, and eventually the French scouts abandoned the place altogether.

  According to the author of the Gesta, the army started to wade through the Somme about 1 p.m. and continued until an hour short of nightfall.68 According to the later Burgundian chroniclers, the attempt to make the crossing had started at 8 a.m. and continued until nightfall. If the advance guard went across earlier than the main battle, as soon as Henry ordered, then both accounts are probably correct. When all the men were across, they marched by moonlight to the villages to which the herbergers directed them.69 Henry himself was found a suitable house at Athies. Others were lodged at Monchy-Lagache.

  The English troops were in higher spirits than they had been for days. ‘It was a cheerful night that we spent in those hamlets,’ wrote the author of the Gesta.70

  *

  Just ten miles from Bethencourt lay Péronne, where the leaders of the French army north of the Somme were meeting in council. The duke of Bourbon was apparently one of those present; he must have spent many hours in the saddle over the last two or three days, covering the 120 miles from Rouen. Also present were Charles d’Albret and Boucicaut, the duke of Alençon, the count of Richemont, the count of Eu, the count of Vendôme, Guichard Dauphin and Jean de Werchin, seneschal of Hainault.71 The duke of Bourbon declared that King Charles had resolved to do battle with Henry ‘in the coming week’ and that both the king and the dauphin were intending to be there at the battle in person. Probably as a result of Bourbon’s news, the other lords at Péronne joined him in writing a letter to the duke of Brabant at Louvain, requiring him also to participate in the forthcoming battle with his men-at-arms.72

  Despite the explicit reference in this letter, the strategy of bringing the English to battle so soon did not originate in Rouen. King Charles himself did not yet know of it. Discussions regarding general strategy were still underway among the courtiers, and an important council meeting to settle the matter was scheduled for the following day. The decision for the army north of the Somme to do battle ‘in the coming week’ seems to have been a decision made by the duke of Bourbon, either by himself or in conjunction with those at Péronne. Bourbon may have hastened to Péronne specifically to encourage these moves to war. It was noted by one chronicler that Bourbon was particularly keen to attack the English.73 And the duke certainly had already shown an eagerness to fight. Only in January he had founded the Order of the Prisoner’s Shackle for the purpose of fighting Englishmen. It looked as though Bourbon was going to have his chance sooner rather than later.

  *

  Although Henry’s ploy of leading the French away from Harfleur by using himself as bait had worked brilliantly, allowing the garrison of 1,200 men to rebuild the defences without interruption or danger, the problems they faced within the town were far from over. The dysentery had infected the townsmen too during the siege, and had contributed to its surrender. Now those busy rebuilding the place were having to work in the same unsanitary conditions. They were also going down with the disease.

  Lord Botreaux was one of those who fell seriously ill after the army departed. No doubt he had visions of the church at Cadbury where he had declared he wished to be buried, just three months earlier. Perhaps he recalled the bequests he had made to his wife Elizabeth and young daughters. He was sent back to Dover by ship today. But as things turned out, he was one of the lucky ones. His last will would remain in a chest at Cadbury for another forty-seven years before he finally passed away.74

  Sunday 20th

  The English soldiers rested in the villages where they had spent the night, finding food left by the villagers and the French scouts. No doubt Henry held another council meeting. His army was now on the same side of the Somme as the French, and they had an army waiting to intercept them.

  Three French heralds came and presented themselves to the duke of York, leader of the vanguard, who sent them to the king. As if to pour scorn on their morality, an English chronicler noted that one of the heralds, Jacques de Heilly, had absconded from prison in England and had fled secretly to France ‘carrying a beautiful woman’.75 According to the French herald Gilles le Bouvier, the dukes of Bourbon and Bar and Charles d’Albret had met the count of Nevers (youngest brother of John the Fearless) at Corbie, and collectively they had sent the ambassadors to Henry, challenging him to battle. Le Bouvier added that they told Henry they would fight him at Aubigny in Artois on the following Thursday. Henry accepted the challenge, and gave de Heilly and his companions gifts.76

  The author of the Gesta also stated that Henry accepted the challenge but added that he prepared to do battle the following day.77 The two accounts appear incompatible – until one remembers that the armies were in very close proximity to one another. Unless Henry had been ready to do battle immediately, he could easily have been surprised by the French. Hence he prepared to fight straight away.

  *

  At Rouen, the French king presided over a great council of thirty-five noblemen. The duke of Anjou had now joined the lords gathered there, and so had the duke of Brittany. The main item on the agenda was whether to attack the English army or not. There is no sign that they had any idea of the duke of Bourbon’s resolution to attack by the 26th.

  Thirty of the thirty-five men present were for fighting. Of the five against, the most important was the duke of Brittany. He declared that ‘he would not make one step [towards the English] unless his cousin the duke of Burgundy were there’.78 His reference to Burgundy suggests that he and Burgundy knew of each other’s agreements with the king of England and that, through Brittany’s ambassadors in mid-August, the two dukes had decided they would act together. However, Brittany and the other four objectors at Rouen were heavily outnumbered. The other councillors claimed that the troops in the French army north of the Somme were already sufficient for the French to attack safely. If Brittany wanted to hold back or withdraw, his decision would have to be a personal one.

  The council resolved to send word immediately to the constable, Charles d’Albret, telling him of the decision to fight. They also resolved to send orders throughout the kingdom requiring all the lords accustomed to bear arms to hasten to him, day and night, from wherever they were. But contrary to the duke of Bourbon’s assumption, neither the king nor the dauphin would join the army. The duke of Berry (whose father King John II had been captured by the English at Poitiers) put forward reasons of security in support of this, arguing that there was no point in risking losing the king or his son, and his argument was convincing. The dauphin was apparently much put out that he would not take part in the fight but he was forced to accept the council’s decision .79 It was also decided that two other dukes would not fight: the duke of Berry, who was too old; and the duke of Anjou, who was suffering from a bladder disease. Anjou’s six hundred men would be led to join the main army by the seigneur de Longny.80

  The duke of Orléans was chosen to represent the royal family at the forthcoming battle. With this in mind – contrary to the earlier policy that both he and Burgundy should stay away – a new plan was formed by the council. Orléans was to have overall command and take charge of the main battle, along with Charles d’Albret and the dukes of Alençon and Brittany (despite the latter’s objections). The vanguard ahead of them was to be led by Boucicaut, the duke of Bourbon, and Guichard Dauphin. The rearguard was to be led by the duke of Bar and the counts of Nevers, Charolais, and Vaudémont. On the wings Tanneguy du Chastel and the count of Richemont were each to be in charge; and the seneschal of Hainault was to lead the specialist heavy cavalry needed to break the ranks of the archers.81

  Monday 21st

  The English marched north from Athies and Monchy-Lagache this morning. Henry rod
e in armour, and ordered all his men-at-arms to do likewise.82 He may even have gone looking for a fight, for he led his troops straight to Péronne. But the army passed the town ‘a short distance away to our left’. A number of French men-at-arms approached at a gallop but a group of English men-at-arms responded immediately by riding forward to intercept them. Before they clashed, the French turned their horses and rode back into the town.

  By the time the English passed Péronne, most of the French had already left. Nevertheless, looking at the mud churned up by many thousands of horses, deep fear caught the hearts of those in the English army. As the author of the Gesta put it, about a mile beyond Péronne,

  we found the roads remarkably churned up by the French army, as if it had preceded ahead of us by the thousand. And the rest of the troops – to say nothing of the commanders – fearing that battle was imminent, raised our eyes and hearts to heaven, crying out, with voices expressing our inmost thoughts, that God would have pity on us and in His ineffable goodness, turn away from us the violence of the French.83

  As the troops marched on towards the River Ancre, they were looking for a place to camp. They hoped the day’s march would be over quickly. ‘Their hearts were quaking with fear,’ Thomas Elmham wrote. Some skirmishing with the French took place, and at least one man-at-arms was captured.84 The fights were probably much more serious than this single statistic suggests, for any Frenchmen would have needed a considerable number of compatriots to warrant their attacking a group of armed English scouts. And these conflicts on the periphery of the army, which were now happening every day, cannot have done anything but make the English more despondent.

  *

  In line with the French council’s decision to attack, the duke of Brittany set out from Rouen with a large body of men – six thousand, according to Monstrelet. He must have been leading many soldiers besides his own contingent. But the English ambassadors, Dr John Hovingham and Simon Flete, had not yet departed from Brittany. As they had no doubt reminded him quite recently, the dangers to the duke of breaking his agreement with Henry, and fighting for the French against the English, would be calamitous – if Henry should win.