Sir Mowbray at Agincourt

In August 1415, 12.000 english soldiers reached the normann coast, and after besieging the town of Harfleur, it became the new english terminal by sea. One month later, the army was affected by a serious epidemic, and the king Henry V decided to move half of his troups to the area around Calais. In the meanwhile 20.000 french soldiers gathered in Rouen, ready to face the invader. After one night under the pouring rain the two armies faced on the morning of 25 October in a large valley near Azincourt. The french troups were drawn up in three lines: the cavalry - the van - the infantry - in the middle - , and the crossbowmen - the rearguard .The english army, 6000 soldiers only, in bad state of health, was drawn up in one single line with the archers on both ends. After waiting for several hours, Henry V decided to move forward, in order to provoke the reation of the enemy. The powerful french cavalry replied to the attack of the archers, but got stuck in the mud and was stopped by the english arrows. The battle turned into a hand-to-hand and ended up with the success of the english troups, thanks to the archers who left thier bows on the ground and plunged themselves into the frey. The french soldiers, too slow in their heavy armour, became an easy target for their rivals, who were agile and quick becouse had no breastplate on. The bloody action caused many deaths not only among the soldiers, but also among the noblemen, such as the duke of Orleans and the duke of Alencon for the french army, and the duke of York for the english army. The duke of York was killed by a strong hit on his head, and the king of England himsefl runned the risk to die in the same way: he was saved by his helmet, while the crown was seriously damaged. The Azincourt battle was the last important victory of the english army during the "Hundred years' war".