Chevauchée 1355 AD Battle of Poitiers Part 1 of 2

 

October, 1355.

 Edward of Woodstock is in Gascony.

 With orders from the King of England he marches out with an Anglo-Gascon army across the frontier, and begins a devastating raid across southern France, that will eventually reach Narbonne.

 This is a particular embarrassment for the French King, as the virtually unopposed Anglo-Gascon army leaves over 500 villages, towns, and cities, in ruins.

 Prince Edward�s campaign will help set the stage for subsequent raids and battles that will drastically shift the balance of power between France and England during the Hundred Years War.

 It�s January of 1355.

 Few years prior, Gascon nobles systematically encroached on French territory with English assistance.

 During these operations they took key towns, forts and strongholds, and installed garrisons at these strategic locations - mainly in the provinces of Agenais and Quercy.

 But since then, a truce was signed between England and France which allowed the French King to regroup and counter the Gascon threat.

 He appointed the Count of Armagnac as the new lieutenant of Languedoc, tasking him with recapturing lost lands in the south of the country.

 During his first 3 years as lieutenant, Armagnac has steadily retaken most of Quercy.

 He drove out the Gascon occupiers by combining resources of the rich province of Languedoc and his home County of Armagnac.

 By the end of 1354, he reached the banks of the river Lot, encamping just 130 kilometers from Bordeaux.

 And now, at the start of 1355, only six months remain until the Anglo-French truce expires, which prompts senior Gascon nobles to ask England for help, hoping to turn the tide of the war.

 They travel to London to argue that King Edward III should go on the offensive in the summer to punish Armagnac for driving out their garrisons and to counter the threats that Gascony is facing.

 It is not lost on the English King that Armagnac could theoretically march his army to Bordeaux in less than 10 days, from his encampment on the river Lot, and while he is unlikely to do so due to Gascon opposition, this shows how exposed the valuable duchy is.

 Gascony indeed became a very prosperous region under English rule and, needless to say, King Edward is not about to let the rich duchy become further exposed to the French.

 A plan is devised to launch a punitive Anglo-Gascon invasion against Armagnac, for his actions in Quercy.

 Four months later, King Edward holds a Great council, and it is decided that the his son Edward of Woodstock, known as The Black Prince, will land in Gascony with an army and the earls of Warwick, Suffolk, Salisbury and Oxford as his advisors, a team with extensive military experience.

 The Black Prince�s planned July departure is postponed due to logistical problems, but he finally sets sail to Bordeaux with his army on September 9th.

 Prince�s retinue has an abundance of military talent.

 In addition to prominent English earls, he is accompanied by no less than seven current and two future members of the knights of the Garter, and others.

 These commanders have considerable military experience from the wars with France and Scotland, some already fought in Gascony and understand its� political situation, and a dozen of the prince�s commanders fought at Cr�cy in 1346.

 This collective will prove to be an extremely efficient military force.

 On September 20th, eleven days after setting sail from England, the Prince docks in Bordeaux.

 In St-Andre�s cathedral, a lavish ceremony is held on September 21st.

 The Prince addresses senior members of the clergy and prominent citizenry of Gascony and Bordeaux.

 He is proclaimed King Edward�s lieutenant in Gascony and the orders of the English King are read.

 Soon after, the Black Prince holds a war council and it is decided that a raid will commence in two weeks� time.

 After final preparations, a portion of the Anglo-Gascon army leaves Bordeaux on October 5th.

 Other contingents of the army meet up with the main body during the first part of the route along the river Garonne.

 Still in friendly territory, the Prince and his advisors organize the purchase of further provisions and ensure the troops are well rested.

 By October 11th, the Anglo-Gascon army, 6 to 8000 strong, crosses into the County of Armagnac and is divided into three divisions.

 They advance quickly along a wide front, plundering and destroying all settlements and countryside in their path.

 Initially, some of the towns manage to negotiate, pledging allegiance to England in order to avoid destruction but the vast majority of settlements is pillaged and put to the sword.

 Armagnac decides to retreat and regroup in Toulouse.

 However, weeks pass without any attempt by the French to check the advance of the invading army.

 The Black Prince and his advisors find this lack of action by the French leadership to be quite unexpected.

 There is speculation that, despite numerical superiority, Armagnac feels it would be risky to pit his inexperienced troops against the veteran invaders, thus he decides not to give battle for now.

 It seems he intends to sit in Toulouse and wait it out, thinking that the Anglo-Gascons will turn home once they are satisfied that their punitive raid sufficiently avenged the loss of Gascon garrisons in Quercy.

 He is mistaken...

 As they approach the Garonne from the west, Anglo-Gascon leadership recognizes that, after a long, hot and dry summer, it may be possible to ford the river.

 Scouting parties confirm that a crossing, is indeed possible.

 Lack of French defenses indicates that they did not inspect the river banks properly, if at all, or else a ford just 12 kilometres (8 miles) south of Toulouse would not be left unprotected.

 It�s clear that Armagnac and his advisors expect that the Garonne will force the Black Prince to turn back, as was the case with all previous raids launched by King Edward III.

 But on October 28th, the flood gates open as the Black Prince does the unexpected.

 Anglo-Gascons make a surprise and uncontested crossing of the rivers Garonne and Ariege in only one day.

 With Armagnac still waiting behind the strong walls of Toulouse, the Black Prince rolls the dice and decides to attempt the dangerous crossing.

 Before first light, he orders his men to break camp and start marching with haste.

 He knows that the crossing must be swift, before Armagnac has time to react.

 For if the Count gets wind of enemy movements early on, he might rush south from Toulouse to meet the invaders, which could potentially cut off sections of the Anglo-Gascon column that now stretches over ten kilometres.

 To make matters worse, the fords across the two rivers are perilously wide.

 Crossing them is a frightening experience for most of the troops.

 As daylight breaks, parts of the army cross the Garonne and there is still no sign of Armagnac.

 The Black Prince and his advisors rush the men forward in a bid to finish the crossing by the end of the day.

 The column continues towards the second ford whilst portions of the army are yet to cross the Garonne - the two rivers now effectively split the Anglo-Gascon army into three parts, making them vulnerable to attack.

 As the afternoon progresses, the invaders begin taking position on high ground, in the town of Falgarde.

 During the following hours, more elements of the army set up camp around the town.

 Finally, by nightfall it�s apparent that the audacious crossing paid off, as the entire Anglo-Gascon army safely crossed the two rivers and encamped for the night, while the French are none the wiser.

 Still in Toulouse when the invaders resumed marching, Armagnac completely failed to contest the Anglo-Gascon crossing.

 Now, the road to Languedoc is open and the Black Prince�s men eagerly push on towards the province�s rich countryside, villages, towns and cities.

 Left to fend for themselves by their French lords, defiant locals in many towns decide to fight back against the invaders, but are mercilessly punished for their resistance as the Anglo-Gascons decimate entire populations and completely wipe some of the towns off the map.

 It is in these towns that some of the most barbaric atrocities take place, brutal even by medieval standards.

 After reaching Narbonne, the Anglo-Gascon army turns home, and they finally sight the French army.

 But the ever reluctant Armagnac merely keeps shadowing the invaders, watching as they proceed with total destruction on their return route.

 On several occasions, the Black Prince deploys his men for battle, only to see the French retreating.

 After crossing the Garonne a second time, the Anglo-Gascons even try to chase Armagnac�s army, but the Count clearly wants to avoid a set piece battle at all cost.

 Apart from minor skirmishes between scouts and foraging parties, this trend continues all the way to Gascony.

 During the last of these close encounters, the Black Prince, in frustration, declared: �The battle is won since the enemy left the battlefield�.

 Upon re-entering friendly territory, Gascon contingents of the army begin to disperse.

 For the Anglo-Gascons, the benefits of the 1355 raid into Armagnac and Languedoc are evident in the form of considerable financial rewards - one thousand carts of booty and ransoms for prisoners taken.

 But more importantly, the raid severely impacts King John's financial ability to wage war: Over 500 villages, towns, cities and castle are destroyed

 If smaller settlements are taken into account, another 500 hamlets are razed, rural infrastructure destroyed, and the countryside burned.

 Across the region, the population is displaced or decimated.

 Atrocities that took place in 1355, remained in French folklore well into the 20th century.

 Devastation of the region causes a direct tax loss.

 Before the raid, around 20% of all taxes collected by the French crown used to come from Languedoc.

 Tax exemption is given to devastated areas to speed up reconstruction.

 This would go on for several years, putting further strain on tax collection.

 Estates of Languedoc declare that their armies will only fight in defense of Languedoc, which significantly reduces France�s manpower by locking tens of thousands of troops in the south of the country.

 Persuading the clergy to contribute to the war effort also becomes problematic in some areas, further denting the royal treasury.

 But now, the French King is poised to irradicate the Black Prince and his army.

 He is about to begin assembling a large army in the north, and a major battle is fast approaching.