Saint Crispin’s
Day
Today is the anniversary of
the Battle of Agincourt, taking place in 1415 between the forces of
France
The English forces, likely
numbering in the range of 7,000, were compelled to do battle with a far superior
French force likely numbering in excess of 20,000. All else being equal, the English force
should have expected to be annihilated.
As is typical in the case of significant historical events, however, all
things were not equal. The terrain
favored the English, requiring the French forces to attack uphill over a
recently plowed field that, consequently to the recent rain, was more mud than
dirt. The French knights and men at
arms, slogging their way uphill, were a “target rich environment” for the rain
of arrows let loose by the English longbows; assuming Henry’s forces numbered
7,000, likely 5,800 were longbowmen, each releasing four to six arrows a
minute.
Another factor was the very
size of the French force worked to its disadvantage in that those behind
continued pressing forward, hoping for their moment of glory, even while those
at the front were being slaughtered. It
was not quite the situation suffered by the Romans at the hands of Hannibal at Cannae , but then likely it
was not hugely better.
While comparative casualty
figures are effectively impossible to ascertain, it is clear that the French
were badly mauled with significantly more casualties than the English. Further, a significant number of French
nobles fell in contrast to only two English nobles.
For an excellent review of the battle, see Juliet Barker's Agincourt.
Today is also the anniversary
of the storied “charge of the light brigade” in the Crimean War. That particular engagement was, for the
English forces, significantly less successful.
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