From my War Facts and Oddities blog.... French Secret Weapon at Agincourt 1415 On this day in 1415, England won a major battle in the Hundred Years War against France at Agincourt. Victory in this famous battle gave England the upper hand in the war, crippling France and in due time allowing Englands King Henry Vs son to be made heir to the French throne. The English victory was extraordinary. The French overwhelmingly outnumbered the English and were fighting on home territory, while the English were hungry, illness sweeping through their ranks and weary with marching. English War Crime During the battle, Henry V, according to Shakespeare, commanded his troops; Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead. and Straining upon the start. The games afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George! Unfortunately, this famous victory had a dark side. A very dark side. During the toing and froing through the increasingly sticky mud of the battlefield, the English took several thousand French prisoners. After the initial English victory, Henry V became increasingly concerned that the huge numbers of prisoners could re-arm themselves and were a threat to the exhausted English army. As a result he ordered the slaughter of the unarmed prisoners, have thousands of men killed, leaving only the most valuable and highly ranked prisoners alive. This action was considered by the English knights to be so unpalatable that they refused to take part in the massacre, leaving only the archers and foot soldiers to carry out the action. Times and values were different in 1415; if the massacre of the prisoners had not been carried out, then the English victory may have been out in jeopardy. But never the less, viewing the killing of unarmed prisoners of war with modern eyes, makes this event, without a doubt, a war crime. French Weapon The English and Welsh archers longbow was used with deadly effect against the French, bringing down their infantry and cavalry. Often made from Yew, the longbow was famously used in the English victories against the French at Crecy and Poitiers. It has often been suggested that the obscene two finger V sign was originally made by French soldiers at the English archers, meaning that, if caught, the archers would have their two most important fingers cut off so they would never be able to use a longbow again. Most interestingly though, at this victory of longbows, one of the English archers was killed by a new weapon; a weapon which would supersede all others in its various forms, a weapon which is still in use today and continues to be developed to be more deadly than before. The archer was killed by a gun. A French gun.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:28:03 +0000