1. Background

2. Prelude

3. Battle

4. Aftermath

5. References
    Notes  Citations  Sources 

The Battle of Blanchetaque was fought on 24 August 1346 between an English army under King Edward III and a French force of 3,500 men commanded by Godemar du Fay. The battle was part of the Chevauchée of Edward III of 1346, which took place during the early stages of the Hundred Years' War. The English army had landed in the Cotentin Peninsula on 12 July. It had burnt a path of destruction through some of the richest lands in France to within {{convert|20|mi|km}} of Paris, sacking a number of towns on the way. The English then marched north, hoping to link up with an allied Flemish army which had invaded from Flanders. They were out-manoeuvred by the French King, Philip VI, who garrisoned all of the bridges and fords over the River Somme and followed the English with his own field army. The area had previously been stripped of food stocks by the French and the English were essentially trapped.

Hearing of a ford at Blanchetaque, {{convert|10|mi|km}} from the sea, Edward marched for it and encountered the blocking force under Fay. Once the ebbing tide had lowered the water level, a force of English longbowmen marched part way across the ford, and, standing in the water, engaged a force of mercenary crossbowmen, whose fire they were able to suppress. A French cavalry force attempted to push back the longbowmen, but were in turn attacked by English knights. After a disorderly melee in the river, the French were pushed back, more English troops were fed into the fight and the French broke and fled. French casualties were reported as over half of their force, while English losses were light.

Blanchetaque removed the pressure to fight a further offensive battle, and Edward used the respite gained by the battle to prepare a defensive position between the villages of Crécy and Wadicourt. The French in turn felt pressure to pursue the English more closely and on 28 August the main French army under Philip was defeated at the Battle of Crécy with heavy loss of life. Edward ended the campaign by laying siege to Calais, which fell after twelve months, securing an English entrepôt into northern France which was held for two hundred years.

Background

Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, English monarchs had held titles and lands within France, the possession of which made them vassals of the kings of France. The status of the English king's French fiefs was a major source of conflict between the two monarchies throughout the Middle Ages.{{sfn|Prestwich|2007|p=394}} Over the centuries, English holdings in France had varied in size, but by 1337 only Gascony in south western France and Ponthieu in northern France were left.{{sfn|Harris|1994|p=8}} Following a series of disagreements between Philip VI of France ({{reign|1328|1350}}) and Edward III of England, on 24 May 1337 Philip's Great Council in Paris agreed that the Duchy of Aquitaine, effectively Gascony, should be taken back into Philip's hands on the grounds that Edward was in breach of his obligations as a vassal. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last one hundred and sixteen years.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=184}} In 1340, Edward formally assumed the title King of France.{{sfn|Prestwich|2003|pp=149–150}}

Edward determined early in 1345 to attack France on three fronts: a small force would sail for Brittany; a slightly larger force would proceed to Gascony under the command of the Henry, Earl of Derby; and the main force would accompany Edward to northern France or Flanders.{{sfn|DeVries|1996|p=189}}{{sfn|Prestwich|2007|p=314}} In early 1345, the French anticipated, correctly, that the English planned to make their main effort in northern France. Thus they directed what resources they had to there, planning to assemble their main army at Arras on 22 July. South western France and Brittany were encouraged to rely on their own resources.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=455–457}}

Edward's main army sailed on 29 June 1345. It anchored off Sluys in Flanders until 22 July, while Edward attended to diplomatic affairs.{{sfn|Lucas|1929|pp=519–524}} When it sailed, probably intending to land in Normandy, it was scattered by a storm and individual ships found their way to various English ports over the following week. After more than five weeks on board ship the men and horses had to be disembarked. There was a further week's delay while the King and his council debated what to do, by which time it proved impossible to take any action with the main English army before winter.{{sfn|Prestwich|2007|p=315}} Aware of this, Philip VI despatched reinforcements to Brittany and Gascony.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=461–463}} During 1345, Derby led a whirlwind campaign through Gascony at the head of an Anglo-Gascon army.{{sfn|Gribit|2016|p=1}} He heavily defeated two large French armies at the battles of Bergerac and Auberoche, captured French towns and fortifications in much of Périgord and most of Agenais and gave the English possessions in Gascony strategic depth.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=476–478}}

John, Duke of Normandy, the son and heir of Philip VI, was placed in charge of all French forces in south west France. In March 1346 a French army numbering between 15,000 and 20,000,{{sfn|Wagner|2006|p=3}} "enormously superior" to any force the Anglo-Gascons could field, including all of the military officers of the royal household{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=485–486}} marched on Gascony They besieged the strategically and logistically important town of Aiguillon{{sfn|Fowler|1961|p=215}}, "the key to the Gascon plain",{{sfn|Fowler|1961|p=232}} on 1 April.{{sfn|Wagner|2006|p=3}} On 2 April the arrière-ban, the formal call to arms for all able-bodied males, was announced for the south of France.{{sfn|Wagner|2006|p=3}}{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=485}} French financial, logistical and manpower efforts were focused on this offensive.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=484}}

Meanwhile Edward was raising a fresh army in England and the largest fleet ever assembled by the English to that date.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|p=102}} The French were aware of Edward's efforts, but given the extreme difficulty of disembarking an army other than at a port, the deterioration of the English position in Flanders, and the existence of friendly ports in Brittany and Gascony the French assumed that Edward would sail for one of the latter; probably Gascony, in order to relieve Aiguillon.{{sfn|Fowler|1961|p=234}} To guard against any possibility of an English landing in northern France, Philip relied on his powerful navy.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=494}} This reliance was misplaced given the naval technology of the time and the French were unable to prevent Edward successfully crossing the Channel.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=494}}

Prelude

The campaign began on 11 July 1346, when Edward's fleet departed the south of England and landed the next day at St. Vaast la Hogue,{{sfn|Oman|1998|p=131}} {{convert|20|mi}} from Cherbourg. The English army was estimated to be between 12,000 and 15,000 strong and consisted of both English and Welsh soldiers combined with a number of German and Breton mercenaries and allies. It included at least one Norman baron who was unhappy with the rule of Philip VI.{{sfn|Allmand|2005|p=15}} The English "achieved complete strategic surprise" and marched south.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|p=103}} Edward's aim was to conduct a chevauchée, a large scale raid, across French territory to reduce his opponent's morale and wealth.{{sfn|Rogers|1994|p=92}} His soldiers razed every town in their path and looted whatever they could from the populace. The towns of Carentan, Saint-Lô and Torteval were destroyed as the army passed, along with many other smaller places. The English fleet paralleled the army's route, devastating the country for up to {{convert|5|mi|km}} inland and taking vast amounts of loot; many ships deserted, having filled their holds.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=507}} They also captured or burnt over 100 ships; 61 of these had been converted into military vessels.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|p=103}} Caen, the cultural, political, religious and financial centre of north west Normandy, was stormed on 26 July and subsequently looted for five days. The English marched out towards the River Seine on 1 August.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=507–510}}

The French military position was difficult. Their main army was committed to the intractable siege of Aiguillon. After his surprise landing in Normandy Edward was devastating some of the richest land in France and flaunting his ability to march at will through what he claimed to be his kingdom. On 2 August, a small English force supported by a large number of Flemings invaded France from Flanders. French defences were completely inadequate. On 29 July, Philip proclaimed the arrière-ban for northern France, ordering every able-bodied male to assemble at Rouen, where Philip himself arrived on the 31st.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=512–513}} He immediately moved west against Edward with an ill-organised and ill-equipped army. Five days later he returned to Rouen and broke the bridge over the Seine behind him. On 7 August, the English reached the Seine, {{convert|12|mi|km}} south of Rouen, and raided up to its suburbs. Philip offered peace and a marriage alliance.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=514}} By 12 August, Edward's army was encamped at Poissy, {{convert|20|mi|km}} from Paris, having left a {{convert|20|mi|km}}-wide swath of destruction down the left bank of the Seine.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=514–515}}

On 16 August, Edward burnt down Poissy and marched north. The French had carried out a scorched earth policy, carrying away all stores of food and so forcing the English to spread out over a wide area to forage, which greatly slowed them. Bands of French peasants attacked some of the smaller groups of foragers. Philip reached the River Somme a day's march ahead of Edward. He based himself at Amiens and sent large detachments to hold every bridge and ford across the Seine between Amiens and the sea. The English were now trapped in an area which had been stripped of food. The French moved out of Amiens and advanced westwards towards the English. They were now willing to give battle, knowing that they would have the advantage of being able to stand on the defensive while the English were forced to try and fight their way past them.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=520–521, 522}}

Edward was determined to break the French blockade of the Somme{{sfn|Ormrod|2012|p=277}} and probed at several points, vainly attacking Hangest and Pont-Remy before moving west along the river. English supplies were running out and the army was ragged, starving and beginning to suffer from a drop in morale.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=521}} On the evening of 24 August, the English were encamped north of Acheux while the French were {{convert|6|mi|km}} away at Abbeville. During the night Edward was made aware, either by an Englishman living locally or by a French captive,{{sfn|Prestwich|2003|p=156}} that just four miles away, near the village of Saigneville, was a ford named Blanchetaque (so named for the white stones lining the river's bed{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=64}}). Edward immediately broke camp and moved his whole force toward the ford.{{sfn|Burne|1999|p=158}}

Battle

On arriving at the river, it was discovered that the French had defended the ford strongly. Guarding the far side of the crossing were 3,500 soldiers, including 500 men-at-arms and an unknown number of mercenary crossbowmen{{sfn|DeVries|1996|p=158}} under Godemar du Fay, an experienced French general. The ford was {{convert|2000|yd|m}} wide and as it was only {{convert|10|mi|km}} from the coast, it was strongly tidal, only passable for a few hours twice each day.{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=64}} When the English arrived at dawn, the tide was high and not expected to drop to crossable levels for several hours.{{sfn|Oman|1998|p=133}} The French force was drawn up in three lines along the sloping north bank, with the best soldiers, 500 men-at-arms, positioned in the centre.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=523}}

At about 9:00{{nbs}}a.m., a force of English longbowmen, led by Hugh, Baron Despenser,{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=64}} started across the ford, 12 abreast on the narrow causeway. They came under crossbow fire, but continued until the water was shallow enough for them to be able to reply.{{sfn|Burne|1999|p=159}} The numbers firing from each side at this stage are not known, but the longbowmen would have been able to fire over the heads of the ranks in front of them and could fire three times faster than the crossbowmen. The English archers successfully suppressed the fire of the French. As their crossbowmen were overcome, some French men-at-arms mounted and entered the river in an attempt to ride down the longbowmen. The English had their own force of mounted men-at-arms standing in the river behind their longbowmen, probably led by William, Earl of Northampton,{{sfn|Ormrod|2012|p=277}} and seeing the French mounting, they made their way through and around the ranks of archers and engaged the French on the water's edge in a disorderly melee.{{sfn|Burne|1999|p=159}}

Having moved into contact at walking pace, casualties were few. The greater pressure of the English forced the whole melee onto the French bank of the river. The dismounted French men-at-arms were pushed back by the mass of retreating French and advancing English cavalry, making space for the English longbowmen to gain the riverbank. The longbowmen were themselves being forced forward by more English cavalry advancing behind them. More and more English were fed into the bridgehead and after a short, sharp struggle, the French broke, fleeing for Abbeville, {{convert|6|mi|km}} away. It seems that most of the knightly and noble French participants, being mounted, successfully escaped. The French infantry were unable to outrun the pursuing English cavalry and suffered heavy casualties, reported to be as high as 2,000 killed.{{sfn|Burne|1999|pp=159–160}} As was usual, no quarter was offered to the common soldiers.{{sfn|King|2002|pp=269–70}}

An hour and a half after the French lines had broken, the entire English army was across the ford. The main French army was close enough behind them to capture a number of English stragglers and the slower of their supply wagons. However, the tide was turning and the French decided to pursue by crossing the river at Abbeville, a {{convert|12|mi|km}} diversion.{{sfn|Burne|1999|p=160}} The English had shaken free of their pursuers and were now marching northwards into countryside rich in food and loot. The French had been so confident that the English could not breach the Somme line that they had not denuded the area, and so the English were able to resupply, burning the towns of Noyelles-sur-Mer and Le Crotoy in the process.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=524–525}}

Aftermath

Casualties in the action are not clear, but it is claimed by a contemporary chronicler that as many as 2,000 French soldiers were killed in the battle or the rout which followed it.{{sfn|Burne|1999|p=160}} English losses are not known but were probably light.{{sfn|DeVries|1996|p=158}} Edward used the respite gained by the battle to prepare a defensive position between the villages of Crécy and Wadicourt. On 28 August the main French army under Philip was crushingly defeated here at the Battle of Crécy with heavy loss of life.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|pp=526–531}}{{sfn|Rogers|1994|p=99}} Edward ended the campaign by laying siege to Calais, which fell after twelve months, securing an English entrepôt into northern France which was held for two hundred years.{{sfn|Burne|1999|pp=207–217}}

References

Citations

Sources

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• {{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Clifford J|date=1994|chapter=Edward III and the Dialectics of Strategy, 1327-1360|title=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 4|journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society|volume=4|pages=83–102|location=Cambridge|publisher= Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal Historical Society|oclc=931311378|author-link=Clifford J Rogers|ref=harv|jstor=3679216}}
• {{cite book|last=Sumption|first=Jonathan|title=Trial by Battle|location=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|date=1990|isbn=978-0-571-20095-5|author-link=Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption|ref=harv}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last=Wagner|first=John A.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War|title=Auberoche, Battle of (1345)|location=Woodbridge, Suffolk|publisher=Greenwood|date=2006|pp=35–36|isbn=978-0-313-32736-0|ref=harv}}

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