Was conquest by Henry V a Miracle?

The words below are spoken by Henry V in a Shakespeare’s play by the same name reflecting the pride that the English took in memory of glorious victory  and helped in reinforcing a popular belief that providence played a part in fortunes of England during Battle of Agincourt by connecting this historic battle to holy day.

Was conquest by Henry V a Miracle?

We few, we the happy few, we are the band of brothers.

For he who today sheds his blood with me

Will be my brother; be he ne’er so wicked,

This day will gentle his condition.

And gentlemen in England are now abed

Shall think themselves to be accursed that they were not here,

And hold their manhood cheap whiles anyone speaks

That fought with us on Saint Crispin’s day.”

The ensuing chaotic and bloody clash seemed to be a proof enough that there was divine intervention, as Henry’s troops rose up and defeated a French army that was larger by almost four times.

Was conquest by Henry V a Miracle?

The rousing triumph during Hundred Years War ranks as one of Finest Hours for England along with routing of “Spanish Armada” and Battle of Britain but it was quite a miraculous event that was related by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. To the French, Henry’s Army posed much more formidable threat than simple numbers suggest. British victory was therefore almost investable give the circumstances.

The hundred Years War that fought sporadically from 1337 to 1453 began over Plantagenet kings made a rather weak claim to French throne which they based on marriage of Edward II to a daughter of French King Phillip IV called Isabella. Despite the claim growing rather stale by the time when Henry V    descended to power, he proceeded to press it through the force of arms.  He conquered most of France in a series of dazzling military campaigns and even married Catherine a daughter to French King Charles VI.

Was conquest by Henry V a Miracle?

The most famous and decisive of battles by Henry took place at Agincourt where there was an attempt by French Army to halt his advance. It was wet and cold on the morning of 25th October 1415 after hard rain in the previous night. Both the French and English troops took their positions at a clearing between words of Agincourt and Tremecourt –at its widest point, the gap between spanned approximately three-quarters of a mile. The two armies were in miserable state. Since getting to France, Henry’s small force had marched for 270 miles covering an average 20 miles per day and already the attacking and capturing town of Harfleur had nearly exhausted it. A number of fighters were infected with dysentery and food reserve was running low. Throughout their march it had almost rained continuously.

For the French, it was trying to cope with soggy fields between these two woods without much success. Everything was covered by mud and most of the soldiers who worked hard to keep their armour dry and clean the night before had only got little sleep.  Military discipline started to break down before the battle even begun and the army was totally disorganized by 11.00.

Was conquest by Henry V a Miracle?

The French had gone to Agincourt with overdose of confidence and surety of their ability to crush a small English army. Their advantage in terms of morale and numbers were however negated completely by poor leadership. French leaders were more concerned with how to avoid responsibility when things began going bad rather than restore order.

Henry notices this confusion within the French ranks and made a decision to make first move. English archers fired just once to provoke a spontaneous and chaotic charge by the French who completely disregarded commands by their leaders.  After this happening, the size of French army in fact worked against them. The French troops got hemmed into a very narrow front by the woods of Tremecourt and Agincourt and most of them bunched up at the rear incapable of getting into the fight. The foot soldiers in their excitement to engage the English men fell and crashed each other. Cavarly horses were stuck in the soggy grounds with knights in their heavy armour sinking into the mud and suffocating.

Was conquest by Henry V a Miracle?

On the contrary, Henry’s small army could easily deploy allowing it to fight at its full strength. Henry had a perfect weapon to apply against thickly massed French soldiers-which worked to make up for his numerical disadvantage. Agincourt became famous as greatest victory by British archers.

The welsh had around 600 years before Battle of Agincourt introduced the longbow but this weapon had been abandoned and was often misused in battle. Most archers before Agincourt used to hold their bows horizontally drawing their arrows back to their waist.  The range and effectiveness of the bow was greatly reduced by this method. Henry’s archers employed a superior technique at Agincourt by   vertically holding their bows and drawing arrows back to the ears. The English bowmen could hit a target at 400 yards and shoot nine arrows a minute. Their skill completely took the French by surprise.

Was conquest by Henry V a Miracle?

As the archers destroyed the French ranks,-Henry’s soldiers completely neutralized the most dangerous weapon of the enemy its powerful cavalry. The English in anticipation of the combat had sharpened wooden stakes then at angle facing the French, they planted them into the ground. Many of the charging French soldiers and even horses got impaled on these obstacles enabling Henry’s bowmen behind them to do their shooting unhindered.

The battle was over by noon with remnants of French army standing defeated.  The French had lost close  to half of their forces in just one hour while Henry’s army  only suffered 500 casualties. The English carried the day through combination of strategic and natural advantages.  Against these, French superiority in numbers barely mattered.  It is the Shakespeare’s “band of brothers” that stood united on St Crispin’s Day. With the heavy defeat of the French army at Agincourt, Henry V together with his army pressed forward through France after closing the book on Agincourt to open another chapter in war of hundred years