October 25 - Battle of Agincourt

1415 Battle of Agincourt, Welsh longbow defeats the armored knight. During the Hundred Years� War between England and France, King Henry V of England leads his forces to victory. This was considered one of the �muddiest� battles.

Fought in France on October 25th, 1415, the Battle of Agincourt was a military engagement during the Hundred Years' War between a French army under Charles D�Albert (constable of France) and an English army under King Henry V of England . Said engagement took place near the village of Agincourt, in a narrow valley. Prior to the action, Henry, a claimant to the French throne, had invaded France and seized the port of Harfleur. At the time of the action, and weakened by hunger and disease, Henry's army, was en route to Calais, from which Henry planned to embark for England. In the course of the march to Calais, the English force, which numbered about 6000 men, for the most part lightly equipped archers, was intercepted by d'Albret, whose army of about 25,000 men consisted primarily of infantry contingents and armored cavalry. Fearing annihilation, the English king sought a truce with the French, but his terms were rejected. In the battle, which was preceded by heavy rains, the French troops were at a disadvantage because of their heavy armor, the narrowness of the battleground, the terrain was too muddy, and the faulty tactics of their superiors, notably in using massed formations against a mobile enemy. The French cavalry, which occupied frontal positions, quickly became mired in the mud, making easy targets for the English archers. After routing the enemy cavalry, the English troops, wielding hatchets, billhooks (a type of knife), and swords, launched successive assaults on the French infantry. Severely hampered by the mud and demoralized by the fate of their cavalry, the French foot soldiers were completely overwhelmed.

D'Albret, several dukes and counts, and about 500 other members of the French nobility were killed; other French casualties totaled about 5000. English losses numbered fewer than 200 men. Traditionally based on the employment of heavily armored troops and cavalry, French feudal military strategy was completely discredited by Henry's victory. Although Henry returned to England after Agincourt, his triumph paved the way for English domination of most of France until the middle of the 15th century.

For more info, see:
http://www.geocities.com/beckster05/Agincourt/AgBattle.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

I found this post by Komnenos on June 6th 2005 regarding the Battle of Agincourt and thought I would put it here for your perusal.

http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3842&PN= 5

Other events on this day:
1147 2nd Battle at Dorylaeum: Arabs beat Koenraad III's crusaders
1492 Christopher Columbus & ship Santa Maria land in Dominican Republic


Discoveries/inventions/new technology:
1616 VOC-ship "The Eendracht" discovers Dirk-Hartogeiland, Australia
1671 Giovanni Cassini discovers Iapetus, satellite of Saturn
1906 US inventor Lee de Forest patents "Audion," a 3-diode amplification valve which proved a pioneering development in radio & broadcasting
1955 Tappan sells 1st microwave oven

From what the History Channel tells me, the longbows were not so instrumental in the defeat of the English. The lightly armored bowmen just slaughtered the heavily armored French, struggling in the quagmire.

Current research shows that even from close range, an arrow from a longbow would have been deflected by the heavy armor worn by knights of the time. Several volleys were surely fired, but these just bounced off the knights' armor. Once the knights entered the muddy crossing, they either started sinking from their great weight or simply found it impossible to move. The lightly armored bowmen were not so affected by the muddy terrain, drew their short swords and slaughtered the French.