Page 67 - Phonebox Magazine October 2015

This year marks the 600th anniversary Mike Totton
army were hungry and outnumbered and had walked over two hundred and fifty miles in two weeks.
Henry made full use of the battlefield site and also the weather conditions. The battlefield was hemmed in on both sides by dense woodland and the ground was waterlogged and heavy. He led from the centre with the Duke of York on his right and Lord Camoys on his left. The longbowmen were on the flanks and Henry ordered them to place long wooden spikes into the ground to deter the charging cavalry.
At this point Henry made a speech which Shakespeare made into one of the finest in history. His famous “Band of Brothers” monologue which he made all men equal in his army concluding with:
The French outnumbered the English by more than five to one, their cavalry was so packed with nobles wishing to partake in the victory that they could hardly swing their weapons. The English men at arms formed four deep and awaited the onslaught.
The French still awaiting reinforcements were forced to attack after Henry
advanced and their cavalry charged into the quagmire and were packed tighter as the woodland squeezed them closed still. The longbowmen then unleashed their arrows causing mayhem as horses and nobles were cut down by the avalanche of missiles. The charge came to an abrupt end and the second line of cavalry charged into the first and both lines became bogged down in the mud. Those that escaped the carnage turned and charged back right into the line of French men at arms led by the Constable and rode many of them down. Added to this mess was a hail of arrows. The French perished in their hundreds. The surviving men at arms pushed on to engage the English men at arms constantly hit by more arrows.
When at last the arrows ran out, the archers charged and knocked the exhausted Frenchmen over and using knives or mallets put paid to many of the enemy too exhausted to rise. The French man at arms either surrendered or were killed in their thousands. Those captured numbered more than their captors and Henry, fearing further French attacks ordered that they be killed.
(only the very rich prisoners were spared – for ransom!).
French casualties outnumbered English by nine to one, much of them from the Armagnac party and the Burgundians took the opportunity seize Paris, allowing Henry a period of time to enjoy his victory and prepare for a full invasion and by 1420 was recognised as the rightful heir to the French throne. He married Catherine and they had a son but Henry’s triumph was short lived and he died of dysentery in 1422 aged just 36. His son, Henry VI was crowned King of both England and France. He was a weak man and lost not only his French kingdom but also the throne of England during the war of the roses.
English monarchs were to claim the throne of France until Edward VII in 1902 ceased to include it in his coronation.
Agincourt stands alongside Crecy, Poitiers, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Blenheim as great victories against the French but it has been two hundred years since we took up arms against them although we still seem to have a competitive relationship with them even after fighting two world wars as allies.
Phonebox Magazine 67