Battle of Castillon

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Castillon
partof=the Hundred Years' War


caption=Painting depicting the Battle of Castillon (1453), by the French painter Charles-Philippe Larivière (1798–1876).
date=July 17, 1453
place=Castillon-la-Bataille, Gascony
result=Decisive French victory
combatant1=Kingdom of England
combatant2=Kingdom of France
Duchy of Brittany
commander1=The Earl of Shrewsbury†
commander2=Jean Bureau
strength1=6,000
strength2=8,000
casualties1=4,000, mainly wounded or captured
casualties2=100 dead or wounded

The Battle of Castillon of 1453 was the last battle fought between the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War. This was the first battle in European history where cannons were a major factor in deciding the battle.

Context

After the French capture of Bordeaux in 1451, the Hundred Years' War appeared to be at an end. However, after three hundred years of English rule the citizens of Bordeaux considered themselves English and sent messengers to Henry VI of England demanding he recapture the province.

On 17 October 1452, the Earl of Shrewsbury landed near Bordeaux with a force of 3,000 men-at-arms and archers. The French garrison was ejected by the citizens of Bordeaux, who then gleefully opened the gates to the English. Most of Gascony followed Bordeaux's example and welcomed the English home.

During the winter month Charles VII of France gathered his armies in readiness for the campaigning season. When spring arrived Charles advanced toward Bordeaux simultaneously along three different routes with three armies.

Preparation

Shrewsbury received another 3,000 men to face this new problem, but it was still an inadequate number to hold back the thousands of Frenchmen on Gascony's borders. When the leading French army laid siege to Castillon, Shrewsbury abandoned his original plans (acceding to the pleas of the town commanders) and set out to relieve it. The French commander, Jean Bureau, in fear of Shrewsbury, ordered his 7,000 to 10,000 men to encircle their camp with a ditch and palisade, and deployed his 300 cannon on the parapet. This was an extraordinarily defensive setup by the French, who enjoyed great numerical superiority. They had made no attempt to invest Castillon.

Shrewsbury approached the French camp on 17 July 1453, arriving before his main body of troops with an advance guard of 1,300 mounted men. He routed a similar sized force of French francs-archers (militia) in the woods before the French encampment, giving his men a large boost of morale.

Main battle

A few hours after this preliminary skirmish, a messenger from the town reported to Shrewsbury's resting troops (they had marched through the night) that the French army was in full retreat and that hundreds of horsemen were fleeing the fortifications. From the town walls a huge dust cloud could be seen heading off into the distance. Unfortunately for him, they were only camp followers ordered to leave the camp before the upcoming battle.

Shrewsbury hastily reorganised his men and charged down towards the French camp, only to find the parapets defended by thousands of archers and crossbowmen and hundreds of cannon. Surprised but undaunted, Shrewsbury gave the signal to attack the French army. Shrewsbury didn't take part in the battle directly. He had been previously captured and paroled, thus was not allowed to take arms against the French.

English troops charged the camp, across a ditch, only to be met with a hail of arrows and quarrels, and a fierce gun, cannon and small arms fire. The concentrated fire could be explained by the fact that the ditch followed, probably by accident, the former bed of a small stream, giving a bastionned look to defences.

Once battle started, Shrewsbury received a thin trickle of men from his leading footmen. After an hour the cavalry of the Breton army sent by the Duke of Brittany arrived and charged his right flank. The English gave way, pursued instantly by the French main body of troops.

During the rout Shrewsbury's horse was killed by a cannon ball and he fell trapped beneath it, until a Frenchman, a "Francs Archer", recognised him and killed him with a hand-axe. It was the end of the Hundred Years' War.

Aftermath

Following Henry VI's episode of insanity in 1453 and the subsequent outbreak of the Wars of the Roses, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their claim to the French throne and lost all their land on the continent (except for Calais).

External links

* [http://www.batailledecastillon.com spectacle]
* http://www.xenophongroup.com/montjoie/castilon.htm - From Oriflamme, French medieval history page