noon
He had , in fact , no wish to negotiate , for he , too , knew that the French would very shortly be largely reinforced , and that were he to delay his march , even for a day or two , his army would be starved . Perceiving at last that the constable was determined not to begin the battle , he sent off two detachments from the rear of his army , so that their movements should be concealed from the sight of the French . One of these , composed of archers , was to take post in the wood on the left hand of the French , the other was to move on through the wood , to come down in their rear , and to set on fire some barns and houses there , and so create a panic . He waited until noon , by which time he thought that both detachments would have reached the posts assigned to them , and then gave the orders for the advance . The archers were delighted when their commander , Sir Thomas Erpingham , repeated the order . None of them had put on his armour , and many had thrown off their jerkins so as to have a freer use of their arms either for bow or axe . Each man plucked up his stake , and the whole moved forward in orderly array until within bow-shot of the enemy .