- Battle of Cravant
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Cravant
partof=theHundred Years' War
caption=
date=July 31 ,1423
place=Near Cravant,France
result=English victory
combatant1=Kingdom of England Duchy of Burgundy
combatant2=Kingdom of France Kingdom of Scotland Duchy of Brittany
commander1=Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury
commander2=John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan Louis, Count of Vendôme
strength1=4,000
strength2=8,000
casualties1=Around 600
casualties2=6,000The Battle of Cravant was an encounter fought on
July 31 ,1423 , during theHundred Years' War between English and French forces, a victory for the English and their Burgundian allies. After theTreaty of Troyes in 1420, the English king was permitted to occupy all the country north of the Loire. In 1422, with Henry V suddenly dead and an infant KingHenry VI of England , hostilities recommenced.In the early summer of 1423, two allied armies, one English, one Burgundian, rendezvoused at
Auxerre to counter an army for the Dauphin's cause that was marching intoBurgundy , headed forBourges . This French army also contained a large number of Scots underJohn Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan , who was commanding the entire mixed force. The two sides met at the village of Cravant in Burgundy, at a bridge and ford on the banks of the riverYonne , a left-bank tributary of the Seine, southeast of Auxerre.The Dauphin's forces drawn up on one bank outnumbered the English and Burgundians on the opposite bank more than two to one. The combined English and Burgundian forces, numbering some 4,000 men, were led by
Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury .For three hours the forces stared each other down, neither willing to attempt an opposed river crossing. Salisbury finally took the initiative and his army begun to cross the waist-high river, some 50 metres wide, under a covering hail of arrows from English archers. Meanwhile, another English force under Lord Willoughby de Eresby forced a passage through the Scots across the narrow bridge and divided the Dauphin's army.
When the French ranks began to withdraw, the Scots refused to flee and were cut down by the hundreds. Over 3,000 of them fell at the bridgehead or along the riverbanks, and over 2,000 prisoners were taken, including the Earl of Buchan and the commander of the Dauphin's forces, the Comte de Vendome. The Dauphin's forces retreated to the Loire, leaving many prisoners behind and over 6,000 dead. The success at Cravant began the peak of English arms in the Hundred Years' War.
External links
* [http://www.adhb30.dsl.pipex.com/100war25.htm Battle of Cravant]
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