Battle of Poitiers

French history [1356]

Battle of Poitiers, (Sept. 19, 1356), the catastrophic defeat sustained by the French king John II at the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England. Many of the French nobility were killed, and King Jean was left a prisoner of the English.

An eight-year truce in the Hundred Years’ War ended in 1355 as neither England nor France could agree to a permanent peace treaty. Edward III of England crossed the Channel and raided deep into northern France. His second son, John of Gaunt, raided Normandy while Edward, Prince of Wales, the "Black Prince," set out from English-held Aquitaine in southwest France to raid central France. His army, consisting of around 4,000 knights, 4,000 mounted cavalry, 3,000 archers, and 1,000 infantry, avoided fortified locations as they plundered undefended towns. On hearing that the French army, led by King Jean II, had crossed the Loire to challenge him, Edward headed south as quickly as his slow-moving baggage train would allow. Moving at greater speed, the French intercepted the English 3 miles (5 km) east of Poitiers.

Forced into a battle he did not want, Edward chose his position carefully, a slope protected on the left by a marsh and stream while in front his narrow line was covered by a hedge with only a single gap in it through which four knights might ride abreast. On his exposed right flank he placed his wagons. Although the site was ideal, Edward was obviously concerned about the coming battle and, in the early morning of 19 September, attempted to slip away. The French spotted his move and began their attack, forcing Edward to return quickly. Edward lined up his archers behind the hedge and dismounted all his knights apart from a small reserve force on his right flank. The larger French force was broken into four divisions, or battles, each around 10,000 men. Apart from the knights of the first battle, these, too, were all dismounted, in the mistaken idea that this was the way to engage the English; instead, it deprived them of mobility and surprise.

The first French battle rode toward the English and attempted to storm through the gap in the hedge. As they reached the gap, the English archers opened fire, knocking the knights off their horses only for them to be finished off in fierce, hand-to-hand fighting. French crossbowmen lined up behind their knights had no opportunity to open fire. The second French battle, led by the Dauphin, then marched up the slope toward the English, encountering heavy fire before engaging the English in heavy fighting. The French almost broke through but were repulsed when Edward brought up his reserves. As the French prepared for a third attack, the English archers retrieved arrows from bodies in order to replenish their supplies. The third French battle, however, led by the young Duc d’Orléans, was intimidated and fled the battlefield. With just one battle left, the French king himself advanced toward the English.

Edward responded by ordering his entire army to attack, his small reserve cavalry force sent around the French flank to attack them in the rear. The fighting was intense, with many English archers fighting with knives as their arrow supply was exhausted. Eventually the French king and his bodyguard were overwhelmed. Jean was taken into captivity and held until a vast ransom was paid in 1360, but many of his leading nobles had lost their lives.

Losses: English, 1,000 dead of 12,000; French, 2,500 dead and 2,600 captured of 40,000.

Simon Adams

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