Battle of Verneuil

Battle of Verneuil
Part of the Hundred Years' War

Battle of Verneuil
Date17 August 1424
LocationNormandy
Result Decisive English victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of England
Duchy of Burgundy		 Kingdom of France
Kingdom of Scotland
Commanders and leaders
John, Duke of Bedford
Earl of Salisbury		 Viscount Aumale †
John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan †
Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas †
Strength
8,000-10,000 14,000-16,000[1]
Casualties and losses
1600 6000 - 10,000

The Battle of Verneuil (occasionally 'Vernuil') was a strategically important battle of the Hundred Years' War, fought on 17 August 1424 near Verneuil in Normandy and a significant English victory. It was a particularly bloody battle, described by the English as a second Agincourt. Altogether some 7262 French and allied troops were killed, including 4000 Scots. English losses were 1600, including two men-at-arms and "a very few archers".[2] The Scots army, led by Archibald, Earl of Douglas and John Stewart, Earl of Buchan (both of whom were killed), was almost destroyed. Many French noblemen were taken prisoner; among them the Duke of Alençon, Pierre, the bastard of Alençon, and Marshal Lafayette. After Verneuil, the English were able to consolidate their position in Normandy. The Army of Scotland as a distinct unit ceased to play a significant part in the Hundred Years' War, although many Scots continued to serve in France.

Background

The black time

France had scarcely recovered from the disaster at Agincourt, and most of the northern provinces were in the hands of the English following Henry V's conquest of Normandy. The civil war between the factions of Armagnac and Burgundy showed no sign of ending. The Dauphin was recognised in the south of the country as Charles VII, following the death of his father Charles VI in 1422, but he remained uncrowned. The death of Henry V in the same year as Charles VI brought little relief as the continuing English war effort was effectively managed by John, Duke of Bedford, acting for the infant Henry VI. France desperately needed soldiers, and looked to Scotland, her old ally, to provide essential military aid.

The Army of Scotland

The first large contingent of Scots troops came to France in the autumn of 1419, some 6000 men under the command of John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan. These men, supplemented from time-to-time with fresh volunteers, soon became an integral part of the French war effort; and by the summer of 1420 the 'Army of Scotland' was a distinct force in the French royal service. They proved their worth the following year, playing a large part in the victory at the Battle of Baugé, the first serious setback experienced by the English. The mood of optimism this engendered collapsed in 1423, when many of Buchan's men fell at the Battle of Cravant.

Buchan returns

At the beginning of 1424 Buchan returned, bringing with him a further 6500 men. He was accompanied by Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, arguably the most powerful nobleman of Scotland. On 24 April 1424 the army, comprising 2500 men at arms and 4000 archers, entered Bourges, the Dauphin's headquarters, helping to raise Charles' spirits.

March to Verneuil

In August the new army made ready to march into action to relieve the castle of Ivry near Le Mans, under siege by the Duke of Bedford. Douglas (the newly created Duke of Touraine), and Buchan left Tours on 4 August to link with the French commanders, the Duke of Alençon and the Viscounts of Narbonne and Aumale. But before the army could arrive Ivry surrendered to the English. Uncertain what to do the allied commanders held a council of war. The Scots and some of the younger French officers were eager for battle; but Narbonne and the senior nobility had not forgotten Agincourt, and were reluctant to take the risk. As a compromise it was agreed to attack the English strongholds on the Norman border, beginning with Verneuil in the west. The town was taken by a simple trick: a group of Scots, leading some of their fellow countrymen as prisoners, pretended to be English, and claimed that Bedford had defeated the allies in battle, whereupon the gates were opened.

Bedford comes

On 15 August 1424 Bedford received news that Verneuil was in French hands and resolved to make his way there as quickly as he could. As he neared the town two days later the Scots persuaded their French comrades to make a stand, Douglas apparently having forgotten the lessons of Homildon Hill. He is said to have received a message from Bedford that he had come to drink with him and prayed for an early meeting. Douglas replied that having failed to find the duke in England he had come to seek him in France.

The Battle

The Allied Franco-Scottish army deployed a mile north of Verneuil on an open plain astride the road leading out of the Forest of Piseux.[3] Narbonne and the French division was situated on the left of the road, supported by wings of Milanese cavalry, while Douglas and Buchan were on the right supported by a similar wing of Lombard cavalry, recruited in northern Italy. Aumale was given overall command; but this heterogeneous army defied all attempts at co-ordinated direction. On emerging from the Forest Bedford drew up his men in two divisions to match the disposition of the enemy, with the usual distribution of men-at-arms in the centre and archers on the wings. He also took the precaution of posting a strong reserve of 2000 archers to the rear to guard the baggage, tying the horses together to prevent flight. Bedford commanded the division facing the French, and Sir Thomas Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, that facing the Scots. Both sides wanted the other to the initiative in beginning the battle, and so from dawn to about 4: 00 pm, the two armies stood facing other under the blazing sun.[4] Bedford is also said to have sent a herald to Douglas once both armies had been deployed to ask what terms for battle he required, to which Douglas grimly replied that the Scots would neither give nor receive any quarter.[5]

A bloody day

At about 4pm, Bedford ordered his men to advance.[6] The English soldiers shouted "St. George! Bedford!" as they slowly began to cross the field.[7] At the same time, as if by some pre-arranged signal, the Milanese knights charged through the English archers on Bedford's right.[8] Once Bedford had taken his troops within arrow range he ordered a halt and the archers started to drive their stakes into the ground, a simple but effective device for snaring cavalry. The ground had been baked hard by the summer sun, and the stakes could be forced in only with difficulty. Seeing an opportunity the French began an immediate charge out of synchronisation with the Scots division. As the French advanced under Aumale, they shouted "Montjoie! Saint Denis!".[9] The archers on Bedford's extreme right were caught off balance, allowing the French cavalry to break through their ranks (improved, tempered steel armour worn by the Lombards may also have contributed to the effect). They continued their charge away towards the baggage train to the north, while the men-at-arms in Bedford's division began a spirited attack on the French infantry to their front. The head-on clash between the English and French knights, both of whom had marched on foot into battle resulted in the words of the British medievalist Desmond Seward "...a hand-to-hand combat whose ferocity astounded even contemporaries".[10] One veteran of Verneuil, Wavrin recalled how "the blood of the dead spread on the field and that of the wounded ran in great streams all over the earth".[11] For about three-quarters of an hour, Frenchmen and Englishmen stabbed, hacked and cut each other down on the field of Verneuil without either side gaining any advantage in what generally considered to be one of the most fiercely fought battles of the war.[12] After about three-quarters of an hour of the onslaught, Narbonne's division began to give ground before finally breaking and was chased back to Verneuil, where many, including Aumale, were drowned in the moat. Narbonne, Ventadour, Tonnerre were all dead.[13]

Having disposed of the French, Bedford called a halt to the pursuit and returned to the battlefield, where Salisbury was closely engaged with the Scots, now standing alone. The Lombard cavalry, anxious that their French counterparts were poised to take all the spoils, charged round the English left flank towards the baggage. By the time they arrived the French had been driven off by Bedford's reserve, soon to be followed by the Lombards. Having tasted blood the reserve decided on their own initiative to enter the main battle, charging[14] on the unsupported Scottish right wing. The Battle of Verneuil reached its closing stages when Bedford wheeled from the south to take the Scots on the right flank. Now almost completely surrounded, the Scots made a ferocious last stand. The English shouted "A Clarence! A Clarence!" invoking Thomas, Duke of Clarence killed at the Battle of Baugé. The long-standing enmity between Scotland and England meant no quarter was given with those Scots attempting to surrender being cut down and virtually the entire Scots force falling on the battlefield.[15]

A high price

John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, killed at Verneuil

Verneuil was one of the bloodiest battles of the Hundred Years' War, described by the English as a second Agincourt. Altogether some 7262 allied troops were killed, including 4000 Scots.[16] The English lost 1600 men including two men-at-arms, and "a very few archers" according to Bedford.[17] Archibald, Earl of Douglas fought on the losing side for the last time, joined in death by the Earl of Buchan. Sir Alexander Buchanan, the man who killed Clarence at Baugé three years earlier, also died.

The Army of Scotland had been severely mauled; but it was not yet ready to march out of history. It did have the effect though, of greatly reducing any reinforcements from Scotland for future campaigns against the English in France.[18] This was not entirely unwelcome to the French as one French chronicler Basin wrote that catastrophe at Verneuil was at least balanced by seeing the end of the Scots "whose insolence was intolerable".[19] Amongst the prisoners were the Duke of Alençon, Pierre, the bastard of Alençon, and Marshal Lafayette. Greatly saddened by the catastrophe at Verneuil, Charles VII continued to honour the survivors, one of whom, John Carmichael of Douglasdale, the chaplain of the dead Douglas, was created Bishop of Orléans.

Bedford returned in triumph to Paris, where "he was received as if he had been God...in short, more honour was never done at a Roman triumph than was done that day to him and his wife".[20]

Aftermath

In the aftermath of Verneuil, the road appeared to lay open to take Bourges and thus bring all of France under English rule.[21] Bedford, much inspired by the example of his late brother, Henry V preferred to concentrate on finishing off the job of subjecting Maine and Anjou rather run the risk of leading an advance into the south of France with these two provinces only partially conquered.[22] Bedford preferred to conquer one province at a time rather risk all on a drive to conquer the south of France.[23] The consequences of the victory at Verneuil were: The English captured all border posts of Lancastrian Normandy and La Hire withdrew to the east. The only exception was Mont Saint-Michel, where the monks resisted. A plan to take Rouen by mining was foiled due to Bedford's victory.

Literature and legacy

The French chronicles made long details of the reactions of the people of Paris under Burgundian rule. The Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris and Enguerrand de Monstrelet's chronicles are major sources for this battle. In 1858, Jean Chartier's chronicle of Charles VII corroborated the story of a complete English victory. The French writers bemoaned the loss of life to King Charles' cause. Newhall's study of warfare in 1924 remains a reliable authority on the battle tactics and events. The Victorian Rev. Stevenson translated a French study into the noble families which suffered so much in the Hundred Years' War, and is oft quoted. And similarly Simeon Luce, also writing in the 19th century, was transcribing from what remained of original documents in the National Library. These secondary sources are all that are available as many of the original contemporary accounts were lost in translations. The English had the advantage later of Burgundian Jehan Waurin travelling with the army, but he had little to say on Verneuil. Alfred Burne's military estimates were near accurate; his theory of Inherent Military Probability is making a comeback.

References

  1. ↑ Newhall, English Conquest, pp. 315-17
  2. ↑ Barker, 80.; Burne, 369 ;Newhall, 319-20.; the numbers of English casualties are not in the chronicles as being high at all; there is no evidence perhaps because the victors on the field collated the French dead, and took prisoners.
  3. ↑ Juliet Barker, "Conquest: The English kingdom in France", 79
  4. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  5. ↑ Burne DSO. Lt. Col. Alfred H. The Agincourt War. Verneuil, A Second Agincourt. 1956. page 204
  6. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  7. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  8. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  9. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  10. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  11. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  12. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 200.
  13. ↑ Burne, 368-9
  14. ↑ "un merveilleux cry", Jehan Waurin
  15. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 201.
  16. ↑ Barker, 79-80.
  17. ↑ Barker, 80.; Burne, 369 ;Newhall, 319-20.; the numbers of english casualties are not in the chronicles as being high at all; there is no evidence perhaps because the victors on the field collated the french dead, and took prisoners.
  18. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 201.
  19. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 202.
  20. ↑ Barker, 81; J Shirley(ed.), A Parisian journal, 1405-1449 (1968), 200-1.
  21. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 201.
  22. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 201.
  23. ↑ Seward, Desmond The Hundred Years' War, London: Constable & Robinson, 2003 page 201.

Bibliography

External links

Coordinates: 48°44′22″N 0°55′43″E / 48.7394°N 0.9286°E / 48.7394; 0.9286

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