2. The Campaign Of 1415

Question 1

Estimated size of Henry’s army

Answer 1

10,500-12,000, transported in a fleet of ships

Question 2

How did his troops begin the invasion and was it a success?

Answer 2

His troops began by surrounding
the port of Harfleur both by land and sea and placing it under siege. The French initially resisted
strongly, but surrendered on 22 September.

Question 3

Although victorious, how did the English face losses after Harfleur? How did Henry deal with this?

Answer 3

an outbreak of dysentery among their troops. Henry arranged for
the English wounded and sick to be shipped home and he left a large English garrison in charge, defend the town against any further attack or resistance.

Question 4

What did Henry do after Harfleur?

Answer 4

he led the remainder of his

army to Calais, where substantial English garrisons were based.

Question 5

Why do some argue that the King’s tactics to March his troops to Calais were foolhardy?

Answer 5

his soldiers had to undertake the long journey when they were
exhausted. There was also the difficulty that the English would need to cross the River Somme
and the French had taken a number of precautions against this.

Question 6

French had taken a number of precautions against Eng crossing river Somme, how did they force Henry’s troops to march upstream towards Amiens?

Answer 6

Firstly, the French organised a large
army, possibly as many as 6,000 men, to wait at the most obvious ford at Blanchetaque, forcing
Henry’s troops to march upstream towards Amiens.

Question 7

What did the French do to bridges and crossing points to stop the English cross the River Somme?

Answer 7

All bridges and crossing points were

defended or blocked.

Question 8

How did The French attempt to attack the English while they were wading through water?

Answer 8

Thirdly, the French army tracked their enemy’s progress upstream and mirrored it on the other side of the river, which meant that if the English did cross, they were likely to be
attacked while still wading through water.

Question 9

Realising the problem the French had caused, what did Henry do?

Answer 9

Henry pushed his troops hard and
gained half a day’s march on the French, finding a causeway that had not been protected with stakes like the others, although it had been broken and so required the English
army to rebuild it using materials to hand, which was a risky enterprise.

Question 10

Did Henry’s gamble pay off?

Answer 10

Yes- by 19 October 1415 the English army had crossed the Somme.

Question 11

Why was crossing the Somme beneficial to the English?

Answer 11

by this stage the possible crossing points in the river had become more frequent, and so the French army had to divide into small groups to protect them all, which meant that they were
unable to quickly repel the English.

Question 12

What assisted the English?

Answer 12

A combination of Henry’s determination and quick thinking,

together with good fortune.

Question 13

When did the Battle of Agincourt take place?

Answer 13

the Battle of Agincourt took place on 25 October 1415?

Question 14

Who took central fighting position?

Answer 14

Henry and members of his household

Question 15

Who commanded troops to the right and left?

Answer 15

Edward, duke of York and Thomas, Baron Camoys

Question 16

What was one of the significant features of the composition of the English army in 1415

Answer 16

the high proportion of archers, trained in the use of the longbow, compared to men-at-arms.
On leaving England, 80 percent of the army were archers and by the time it fought at Agincourt
in October, when the army had experienced significant losses because of injuries and disease, the
proportion of archers was even higher.

Question 17

Where were the archers positioned in the Battle?

Answer 17

Some archers were stationed in front of the men-at-arms to
protect them, but most were placed on the sides and were protected by sharp stakes. In addition, a
group of highly skilled archers were sent secretly behind enemy lines to attack from the rear.

Question 18

How did the French draw up their army?

Answer 18

French, a significantly larger force, drew up their army into three divisions, with the first two divisions
on foot and the third mounted.

Question 19

What tactic by the French proved disastrous and why?

Answer 19

They decided to fight in close formation, a choice of tactic which
proved disastrous as the battlefield was relatively narrow, meaning that the French were grouped
too tightly and so had difficulty in fighting effectively. Wearing heavy armour on foot was also
problematic as the ground was muddy, making it difficult for them to move quickly.

Question 20

As the battle commenced, the English shot arrows into the French line, provoking some small French
cavalry charges at the archers at the sides of the English formation, why did this not work?

Answer 20

these attacks were hampered

by the use of stakes protecting the English troops.

Question 21

As the French carried out their main, frontal attack, why were there difficulties for the French?

Answer 21

the French got into difficulties both because of over-crowding in the line and the highly effective use of bowshot by the English, which killed and wounded many, throwing the enemy into confusion.

Question 22

What also hindered French troops

Answer 22

The presence of the French cavalry at the back of their formation also hindered their own troops
who wished to fall back.

Question 23

English archers, once they had run out of arrows, were ordered to engage in
hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Was this successful?

Answer 23

This proved highly successful because they were very lightly

armed compared to their adversaries, and so could move much faster.

Question 24

Henry feared that the rear of his army was being attacked and that
French reinforcements were going to arrive. What did he do?

Answer 24

He ordered that all enemies taken prisoner during the batle should be immediately killed to prevent them giving any assistance to the enemy.

Question 25

Why was the decision to keep hostages controversial?

Answer 25

established military practise and it was customary for high-status,
noblemen to be kept alive if possible (political hostages and to obtain
diplomatic favours in the negotiation of peace, or to gain substantial ransoms). Some question of morality

Question 26

When the English won, what were their defeats like

Answer 26

Henry’s army sustained relatively few losses, probably in the region of one to three hundred, although there were two high-profile deaths, namely Edward, duke of York (the king’s
cousin who had led the vanguard), and Michael de la Pole, the third earl of Suffolk.

Question 27

French death toll

Answer 27

thousands of men. The number of nobles who were killed was unusually high owing to Henry’s decision to kill those taken prisoner, including 11 magnates, 120 barons and around 1,500 knights.

Question 28

What showed some Eng soldiers ignored Henry’s orders and kept prisoners?

Answer 28

the royal dukes of Orléans and Bourbon were taken alive.

Question 29

What were the benefits of Agincourt?

Answer 29

ensure Henry V’s reputation as a great military leader.
cited as a factor in shaping patriotic English national
identity.

Question 30

How did it shape patriotic English national identity

Answer 30

At the heart of this was the idea that the English were greatly outnumbered, but won against
the odds, routing a numerically superior French army because of greater courage, ingenuity and
more inspirational leadership. This image of a victorious underdog

Question 31

Example of chroniclers over exaggerating Agincourt

Answer 31

In the St Albans Chronicle by Thomas Walsingham, French army of 140,000 faced 8,000 English troops.

Question 32

What did Henry V take from Agincourt

Answer 32

sign from God that he was not only the rightful King of

England, but also had divine approval for his claims in France.

Question 33

Real estimations of battle figures

Answer 33

historian Anne Curry place the figures at 9,000 English troops versus c12,000 French