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The Battle of Agnicourt
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The Battle of Agnicourt
Known as one of the most famous and greatest battles of history, the Battle of Agnicourt was definitely one of the more glorious accomplishments of King Henry V as well as a significant victory in his invasion of France.
Fought in the later years of the Hundred Years War, the Battle of Agnicourt was a part of a campaign of conquest set up by Henry V in 1415 that included the invasion of France and Normandy. Although heavily criticized about the campaign, Henry V went ahead with his plans and began his army on a march through France.
Due to heavily guarded fords to cross the English channel by the French, the English, led by Henry V, opted to cross at the city of Calais, and marched upstream to get there. Before arriving there, the English found out that the passage to Calais was guarded by a big army of French led by Marshal Boucicault in a path through a forest near the village of Agnicourt. Henry V did not wish to fight, for he knew he was at a disadvantage. The English had now marched for 17 days with only one
day's rest and the weary, hungry army had shrunken due to disease. So Henry V offered to surrender his prisoners and all he had gained in France if the French army would grant them passage through. The answer was that he had to fight.
The battle began on October 25, 1998 1415, with the two marching armies of the English and the French meeting in the path between two woods, close to Agnicourt. The English army was no bigger then 5,000 men and about four fifths of them were lightly armored archers. The French on the other hand were five to six times bigger than that, with most of the force consisting of fully equipped men-at-arms. Basing their plan of battle on a successful English model, the French formed a short, three line front across the passage. However, the French deviated from the English model forming a different formation that would ultimately become their demise (the archers and crossbow men were placed at the rear of the wings and took little part in the action).