warrior, who placed his men in the order naturally suggested by their inferiority of number to the enemy's force, and by the protection of a wood on each flank. Archers alone were posted in the front, the men at arms or cavalry behind them; the billmen and archers together composed the third line; on the wings were bodies of both horse and foot, and the baggage with the draught horses occupied the ground in the rear. Each of the archers in the van had a strong stake shod with iron at both ends, and which could be driven before him slanting into the ground, so that a hedge was formed, behind which that important body of men, the main reliance of the army, could retreat after shooting their arrows, chiefly directed at the enemy's horse. Erpingham had also sent a strong detachment of bowmen into Tramecour Wood, a concealed position, protected by a deep ditch, on the flank of the French van; they were to advance and shoot at the horse on a signal being given. The front rank was commanded by the Duke of York at his own earnest request, probably to remove the suspicions cast upon his loyalty by his brother Cambridge's recent treason. The King commanded the second line in person, his brothers Clarence and Gloster.

Oct. 25, 1415.

accompanied by The third was

under his uncle the Duke of Exeter. The French were drawn up also in three divisions, but thirty men deep instead of three. The ground was much too narrow for their numbers, and this proved most disastrous, by preventing their great

force from being brought to bear upon their adversaries, and also from getting away when overpowered.

Wise by the experience of Crecy and Poitiers, where they had been the assailants, the Constable remained fixed, on the defensive; so that Henry was forced to begin the engagement, which he did by making the signal for the detachment at Tramecour to use their bows. These exceedingly galled the French, especially on their advance to meet the English van, which, rushing from behind their palisade, poured a destructive volley into the French cavalry, and then retreated behind their wooden rampart. The recent rain had made the ground exceedingly slippery and difficult for cavalry heavily laden; the arrows greatly added to this obstruction by terrifying the horses; the narrow space, crowded with men, prevented them from retreating, and, becoming unmanageable, they plunged back upon the foot soldiers, throwing the whole front division into the greatest confusion. The English archers now, slinging their bows behind them, made great havoc with their swords and battle-axes; and Henry, observing the favourable opportunity for his cavalry to act, led them forward, and they penetrated to the second division of the enemy. A most obstinate conflict now ensued, in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger; and, indeed, after being at one time felled to the ground by the blow of a mace, he had his crown and helmet struck severely by Alençon, who, rushing through the ranks to meet him, had killed the Duke

of York, but was himself dispatched on the spot, where the King had been with difficulty rescued. Clarence, too, was thrown down, severely wounded, and only saved by the gallantry and strength of Henry, who, after striking Alençon to the ground, is said to have slain two of his attendants with his own hand. The death of Alençon led to the immediate flight of the second French division. While preparing to attack the third, still unbroken, Henry received intelligence that the baggage and horses in the rear (some accounts say at his head-quarters of Maisoncelles) were attacked, and, without waiting to inquire how far the report was exaggerated, he gave immediate and peremptory orders that every soldier should put his prisoners to death. The men, for fear of losing the ransom, the hope of which alone in those times caused quarter to be given, hesitated, and would probably have disobeyed, but he directed two hundred archers, under a knight whom he could trust, to perform this honourable service. The commission was immediately executed, and many thousands perished before it was discovered that the attempt upon the baggage had been made by a body of peasants, under two knights of Burgundy.' Whether this dreadful massacre, or the confusion already existing in the front lines of the French army, or the fires which had just been kindled in the rear by one of the detached parties, was the cause, remains uncertain; but the third line was seized with a panic,

Note XXXVI.

and could not be rallied to follow their commanders. The victory, therefore, was complete, although the English had no power of following it up, either by undertaking any offensive operations, or even by pursuing those who fled from the field.

Above

persons

of

The loss of the French in this great fight has never been stated at less than 10,000 men; but among these the flower of the nobility and gentry were cut off, for there fell 126 princes and great lords, and above 8000 knights and esquires. 1500 prisoners, too, were taken, almost all consideration. Among the slain were the Constable Albret, commander-in-chief; the high admiral, Dampière, with many other officers of state; the Dukes of Alençon and Bar; the Burgundian's two brothers, Brabant and Nevers. Among the prisoners were the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, and Marshal Boucicault,' second in command. The cheapness of the victory to the English has been described by different writers with an almost unexampled degree of exaggeration and variety. Some accounts represent the whole number of killed as not above twenty, others as not amounting to thirty, while some make it 600, and the more credible accounts 1600, which may be remarked bears nearly the same proportion to the whole force that the loss of the French does to their army. From hence we may learn how hardly

it

1 Note XXXVII.

Wals. Hist., 450. Polych., cccxxxi. Fab., 530. Hall, 72. Hol., iii. 83. Monst., ch. cxlix. Stowe, 350. T. Liv., 19. T. Elm., 62 Juv. des Urs., 314. P. de Fen., 461.

the victory was contested; nor can it be doubted that the French owed their defeat not more to the unfavourable nature of the ground on which they fought, than to the absolute confidence with which they made sure of an easy triumph, and the sovereign contempt in which they held the inferior numbers and distressed condition of their adversaries. The Constable does not appear to have been deficient in the duties of a commander, except that he erred in fighting on a disadvantageous ground, unable perhaps to restrain the impetuosity of his sanguine troops. But when all his men had so fully expected a cheap victory that they looked for hardly any resistance, the first reverse threw them into confusion, and their overweening confidence, so ill founded, was succeeded by as groundless despair.

Henry, on his part, wisely considered that he had rather made a great escape by brilliant efforts than won such an advantage as entitled him to feel assured of continued success. He therefore hastened to pursue his march towards Calais, and moved thitherward on the very morning after the battle. In traversing the field, his troops put to death such of the wounded as they could not carry away prisoners, and plundered all the things of any value which they could find. The same want of provisions, the same inclement weather, and the same severe maladies, continued to affect his army, which had so deplorably reduced it on the march to Agincourt; and they arrived exhausted and wretched at Calais. Here the form of