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QuoteReplyTopic: After Stamford Bridge... Posted: 09-Jun-2006 at 07:40
Ignoring the benefit of hindsight, what you would have done in the following situation;
Should
you send messengers to those loyal Welsh princes(brothers Bleyn and
Rhiwallon, who were allowed to rule in North Wales after acknowledging
Edward as their overlord and agreeing to pay tribute and supply troops when asked),
who could have speeded a substantial armed retinue of men by horse to
aid you? Maybe also at least have sent 'feeler's out to Malcolm Canmore
of Scotland, and the Cornish- giving them false promises of land
agreements, etc?
Around 21st Sept 1066, you force-march a
huge army northwards 190m- most of it being mounted housecarls and
thegns for speed- to meet a massive invasion army led by a fearsome
Viking warlord(Hardraada) and your own traitorous younger
brother(Tostig).
Immediately after this gruelling but stunning
victory in which your army had slaughtered about 80-90% of the Norse
veteran warriors(only "24 out of 300 ships" took them home), you hear of William's landing(29th Sept), you leave
'your man' in the north- Merleswein- to act as sheriff in that
region(as Edwin and Morcar's forces had been shattered at the battle of
Fulford, and maybe your faith in their command and loyalty also?),
before another exhausting fast 190m march south to London.
As
you dash southwards down the 'great north road' to London with your
surviving mounted thegns and housecarls to rest, regroup and make
arrangements for the impending battle, you send messengers into the
southern and western shires (and E.Anglia?)to again quickly raise
another general fyrd.
Controversially(and going against your
experienced and militarily capable character as a proven general and
statesman during King Edward's and your own short reign) you
impulsively ignore your brother Gyrth's prudent advice(and maybe also
Leofwine's, Edith's and your mother Gytha's, as well as many senior
commanders?). This might be because;
1. You are proud of your
military heritage and also feel morally bound as Wessex earl &
King, to save your kinfolk from the brutal and deliberate ravages of
the newly-invaded Normans(hangings, rapes, mutilations and slaying of
children etc), designed to taunt you into premature battle- as William
well knew it would, and had to.
2. You couldn't know if William was getting
reinforcements by sea & thus getting stronger each day- the Saxon
Navy was still in London at this time, changing crews and refitting to soon sail again
to cut him off.
3. You are supremely confident of crushing
William by surprise, having done the same to the fearsome Norse warlord
Harald Hardrada's professional army only 3wks before with stunning
success. Three years before that, you had crushed the Welsh menace,
King gruffydd ap Llewelyn too with equal success.
4. Quickly
"bottling William up" within the [then] narrow, marshy confines of the
Hastings peninsula, with the natural aid of the flanking dense woods,
was crucial to annul his cavalry that you saw in action in 1064- If
William 'broke out' with his cavalry then he could go anywhere! Or
maybe you could allow him to do so whilst also then 'scorching the
earth' between Hastings and London/Winchester whilst hitting the
starving, marching Norman army hard with huge, fierce and co-ordinated
Guerilla-style ambushes/pitched battles- ala Hereward and the
'Silvatici'- then melting into the local lands which they would know
inside-out? Norman warhorses, dying from malnutrition, would have left
William's v.weakened army dangerously exposed & almost certainly
slaughtered. Containing and starving William's men - and crucially
their horses- was the crux, you could sap the Norman strength by war of
attrition whilst they lay idle in their bottleneck & cut off by sea
behind them. William would have to surrender- time was on your side...
5.
You note William's lack of an advance inland for three weeks and must
have thought either;- William wasn't strong enough to attack London or
engage your army in pitched battle? Maybe William wanted you to attack
him on Hastings peninsula, protected by the terrain etc, maybe with
strong communications with Normandy?
So you arrange a meeting
point which is well known to all the local men, and maybe previously
considered by you as a useful defensive hill in case of having to
withdraw from any possible reversals of fortune further south if plans
didn't succeed.
Having left orders for the weary fyrdsmen still
trickling in from the north(incl.archers- and the many men from the
shires) to follow on and meet you at the 'hoare apple tree', you order
your navy to sail behind the invader's base and whilst you soon
afterwards speed a further 60m south with a large mounted army to link
up with the fyrdsmen near the dense Andredsweald.
However, you
may have made this meeting point too near to the Norman camp seven
miles away, and their scouts alert William(unlike the Norse three weeks
before) who pre-empts your attack by himself marching north to meet
you. You do indeed have to fight a defensive battle now, but all isn't
lost.
Your adversary is a brutally tough, experienced and great
general whom you saw in battle two years before, and whom you also know
needs to bring you to battle very soon if his conquest is to succeed-
and his men(many mercenaries) don't revolt, as many did in 1069/70. All
you have to do is issue strict orders to your fyrdsmen to defend well,
and wait for reinforcements to come in from England throughout the day-
another few thousand fresh fyrdsmen and maybe earls Waltheof, Morcar
& Edwin with any surviving thegns/housecarls...
William of Normandy didnt want to advance toward London, as he said in
Anglo-Saxon chronicles, it didnt offer him ground protection like
Hastings peninsula.He also didnt wanna tire his man, marching all the
way to 90 mile London, when he knew Harold would be more then anxious
to confront him, as soon as he heard William was at Hastings.
Remember Harald didnt knew William crosssed with his horses, one of
brilliant tacticians, and Harald expected to flank him, soround him and
just anhiliate him like with Hardrada, and then offer piece term to
some of Dukes.William was shrewd politician, hiring mercenaries, not
counting Dukes of Flanders, even French help, and Harald expected his
army would be much smaller then anticipated on 14/10/1066
Remember he was so shrewd few days before invasion, he got rid of Conan
of Bretany his chief rival for Normandy, as he was more then ready to
invade his lands.
I think William knew power of British navy, and he was stuck there.No
reinforcement would come now, as Harald knew he was there,and British
navy, or should i say Anglo navy before 1707, was most powerfull of
that day.William was prepared to let opponent come to him, not him
plundered all the way through countryside, he could have entered
London, as Harald was more then 150 miles up north then, but he choose
that place.
Firstly, Harold knew that there would be a massive chance that William would bring horses(his elite spearhead)- admittedly a brave and original concept for that time- because he had personally witnessed the Norman war machine for himself only two years before that(1064), in the Brittany campaign with William.
There was no British navy then, only an English, or Anglo-Danish fleet, which was busy refitting and changing crews at that time.
William did indeed wait for Harold to come to him, safe from the narrow isthmus of the hastings peninsula, but this is odd if William needed to bring Harold to battle quickly?
Either;
1. William had more respect for the ferocity of the supposedly "outdated" saxon war machine than his hagiographers dare to admit, and knowledge of their abilities, which made him remain hugging the south coast until fitzwimarc told him harold was 190m away? (William's own barons feared the capabilities of the elite housecarls especially)
or
2. William wasn't yet ready enough to move farther north into the unknown, where a Saxon army(some of which he must have witnessed in 1064, putting on a spirited and brave performance for his benefit?) may have been lurking?
I tend to think Harold got it right. He had the Normans hemmed in, occupied a strong postion, had a supply line and reinforcements coming. It was a bold decisive move the kind we praise Alexander and Napoleon for. The Normans had only 2 choices fight at a disadvantage or stay trapped in the fens and starve.
On the other hand, letting the Normans break out the fens they could start looking for Welsh allies and Northern rebels themselves to join the cause.
No, because nobody ever did it in vast scale, besides Romans.Untill the
day of battle,Harald bragged he would have his way like he did with
Hardrada.Harold was beyond shock when his saw so many horses in norman
ranks, trust me, few of historians said the same thing, not just me
One example Robert Furneaux
Besides William was gambler
He gambled and won towards French
He gambled and formed alliance with pope
Foreign mercenaries
He even crushed Conan of Bretany few days before Hastings, as he was prepared to invade his land
In the end he won
What part you dont get
superior Brits
Dumb Normans
Or you really think Harold might come forward if he knew he would have
to fight, just after Stamford bridge, with such big army like Williams,
and equiped
Would he come then still?
Name me one ruler who was that crazy in history and fought better armed
opponent, just after major battle.Napoleon wasnt that crazy or even
Hitler.
He miscalculated and got choped, thats life
Human nature
Ps, do you really think William didnt plan his get go
Off course he realized his navy was crap, and it was
But his cavalry was famous, norman conquest of Sicily was among one of more succesfull invasions.
His horses and assembling army was his goal
Why would he tire his army in strange lands, when he had informants
working for him, telling him Harald is coming in few days, and why
would he march on London?
To buy new shoes, geez
Ground was more then welcoming for him, and he chose not to tire his man, and plan against would be tired H... now
The Norman hagiographers and woefully-warped propgandist machine are laughable...
The truth about Harold's diplomatic and military greatness, also his loyalty to King Edward for over a decade, are whitewashed out of history(almost!!!!!!!) by the grasping, lying Normans...
Why you bitter, you Saxon, or you can thrace your family back to 1066
If so thats quite impressive,
"Bitter"? No- Resolute- yes!
My considered opinions always are, when countering William's anti-Harold propagandists, who conveniently forget that King Harold had not only been a capable &
loyal diplomat/warrior-earl for King Edward for over a decade, but he
had successfully waged a long, brutal guerrilla war against the noted
Welsh warlord Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1062-3, plus his stunning
tactical and attritional victory over mighty warlord Harald Hardrada at Stamford
Bridge 1066, which both proved his ability. On top of the latter he still fought an "unusually long battle" (Norman sources)at Santlache- close-run, day-long and evenly through most of the day.
Then we come to him proving himself in front of William himself- in 1064 on the Breton campaign- so much so(after rescuing two Norman soldiers from quicksand)- that he was knighted by the duke, who only 2yrs later was suddenly denouncing that same hero's abilities!
"...It is questionable whether the better man won..."
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