Battle Of Agincourt Research Paper

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“For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother” -King Henry V (Fraser). King Henry V of England has prepared his troops for an honorable death in battle with his final speech, and now on St. Crispin’s day, in the year 1415, the battle of Agincourt begins. Outnumbered by thousands, the battle became a story of an extraordinary English victory and a shameful defeat for the French, but little did they know that the French unknowingly contributed to their own loss. The Battle of Agincourt was won by the English with a strategic placement of troops, but also because the French failed to strike the English where they were weakest. To begin the battle, the French attempted to distract the archers from a main attack by sending cavalry …show more content…

There were several uncoordinated charges, all of which failed to serve their purpose of distracting the English archers (“Battle of Agincourt”). The attacks aimed at the archers were stopped by sharpened stakes placed in the ground before the archers, blocking the cavalry from reaching them (Ellis-Peterson and Fraser). Originally, the French planned to use the cavalry as a distraction to keep the archers from shooting on a main attack, but mud, stakes and arrows easily countered the charges (Cornwell; Devries and Dickie and Dougherty and Jestice and Jorgensen 182). The French started off with a weak start, but their carelessness in strategizing and planning their attacks would only cause them more trouble later on in the battle. The pileup of French soldiers in the battlefield caused no trouble for the English since they had no means to advance, but it greatly affected the French soldiers trying to …show more content…

Since the cavalry charges failed, there was no distraction to keep the English from shooting on the French’s main attack. Because their distraction had failed, the French lines were struck repeatedly by arrows as they advanced (Cornwell). Many French soldiers were killed by arrows during the advancement , which caused a pileup in the middle of the battlefield that hindered the progression of the French army (Ellis-Peterson and Fraser). Many French soldiers drowned in the muddy field unable to get up due to crowding while others were struck by arrows (Ellis-Peterson and Fraser). Horses of the fallen cavalry, maddened by pain charged back into the French lines causing confusion and killing some soldiers while also disrupting their formation (Glanz). Sending the cavalry at the archers was a mistake on the French’s behalf, since they lost their distraction and also complicated the advancement of their own army. Their attempts to distract the archers from a main attack only made it harder for the soldiers to advance, which gave the English to kill them with their

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