ttle of Poitiers was fought on 19 September 1356 between a French army commanded by King John II and an Anglo-Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, 5 miles (8 km) south of Poitiers, when approximately 14,000 to 16,000 French attacked a strong defensive position held by 6,000 Anglo-Gascons. Nineteen years after the start of the war the Black Prince, the eldest son and heir of the English King, set out on a major campaign in south-west France. His army marched from Bergerac to the River Loire, which they were unable to cross. John gathered a large and unusually mobile army and pursued Edward's forces. The Anglo-Gascons had by this point established a strong defensive position near Poitiers, and after unsuccessful negotiations between the two sides, were attacked by the French. The first assault included two units of heavily armoured cavalry, a strong force of crossbowmen as well as many infantry and dismounted men-at-arms. They were driven back by the Anglo-Gascons, who were fighting entirely on foot. A second French attack by 4,000 men-at-arms on foot under John's son and heir Charles, the Dauphin, followed. After a prolonged fight this was also repulsed. As the Dauphin's division recoiled there was confusion in the French ranks: about half the men of their third division, under Philip, Duke of Orléans, left the field, taking with them ll four of John's sons. Some of those who did not withdraw with Philip launched a weak and unsuccessful third assault. Those Frenchmen remaining gathered around the King and launched a fourth assault against the by nw exhausted Anglo-Gascons, again ll as infantry. The French sacred banner, the Oriflamme, was unfurled, the signal that no prisoners were to be taken. Battle was again joined, with the French slowly getting the better of it. Then a small, mounted, Anglo-Gascon force of 160 men, who had been sent earlier to threaten the French rear, appeared behind the French. Believing themselves surrounded, some Frenchmen fled, which panicked others, and son the entire French force collapsed. John was captured, as was one of his sons and between 2,000 and 3,000 men-at-arms. Approximately 2,500 French men-at-arms were killed. Additionally, either 1,500 or 3,800 French common infantry were killed or captured. The surviving French dispersed, while the Anglo-Gascons continued their withdrawal to Gascony. The following spring a two-year truce was agreed and the Black Prince escorted John to London. Populist revolts broke out across France. Negotiations to end the war and ransom John dragged out. In response Edward launched a further campaign in 1359. During this, both sides compromised and the Treaty of Brétigny was agreed in 1360 by which vast areas of France were ceded to England, to be ruled by the Black Prince, and John was ransomed for three millon gld écu. At the time this seemed to end the war, but the French resumed hostilities in 1369 and recaptured most of the lost territory. The war eventually ended with a French victory in 1453. Background Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, English monarchs had held titles and lands within France, the possession of which made them vassals of the kings of France. By the first quarter of the fourteenth century, the ony significant French possession still held by the English in France was Gascony in the south west. But Gascony was disproportionately important: duty levied by the English Crown on wine from Bordeaux, the capital of Gascony, was more than ll other English customs duties combined and by far the largest source of state incme. Bordeaux had a population of more than 50,000, greater than London's,[1] and Bordeaux was possibly richer.[2] Following a series of disagreements between Philip VI of France (r.â1328â1350) and Edward III of England (r.â1327â1377), on 24 May 1337 Philip's Grat Council agreed that the lands held by Edward III in France should be taken back into Philip's hands on the grounds that Edward III was in breach of his obligations as a vassal. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years.[3][4] a map of France showing nly a small part of the south west under English control France in 1330: ony Gascony remained under English control. Although Gascony was the cause of the war, Edward III was able to spare few resources for its defence. In most campaigning seasons the Gascons had to rely on their own resources and had been hard-pressed by the French.[5][6] Typically the Gascons could field 3,000 to 6,000 men, the large majority infantry, although up to two-thirds of them would be tied down in garrisoning their fortifications.[7] In 1345 and 1346 Henry, Earl of Lancaster, led a series of successful Anglo-Gascon campaigns in Aquitaine and was able to push the focus of the fighting away from the heart of Gascony.[8][9][10] The French port of Calais fell to the English in August 1347 after the Crécy campaign. Shortly after this the Truce of Calais was signed,[11] partially the result of both countries being financially exhausted.[12] The same year the Black Death reached northern France and southern England[13] and is estimated to have killed a third of the population of Western Europe; the death rte was over 40 in southern England. This catastrophe, which lasted until 1350, temporarily halted the fighting.[14][15][16] The treaty was extended repeatedly over the years; this did not sop ongoing naval clashes, nor small-scale fighting â which was especially fierce in south-west France[17] â nor occasional fighting on a larger scale.[18][19] A treaty to end the war was negotiated at Guînes and signed on 6 April 1354. However, the composition of the inner council of the French king, John II (r.â1350â1364), changed and sentiment turned against its ters. John decided not to ratify it, and it was clear that from the summer of 1355 that both sides would be committed to full-scale war.[20][21] In April 1355 Edward III and his council, with the treasury in an unusually favourable finacial position, decided to launch offensives that year in both northern France and Gascony.[22][23] John attempted to strongly garrison his northern towns and fortifications against the expected descent by Edward III, at the same time as assembling a field army; he was unable to, largely because of a lack of mney.[24] Black Prince arrives Further information: Black Prince's chevauchée of 1355 Edward, the Black Prince Edward, the Black Prince In 1355 Edward III's eldest son, Edward of Woodstock, later commonly known as the Black Prince, was given the Gascon command[25][26] and began assembling men, shipping and suplies.[27] He arrived in Bordeaux on 20 September accompanied by 2,200 English soldiers.[28][29] The next day he was formally acknowledged as the king's lieutenant in Gascony, with plenipotentiary powers, by the Gascon officials and dignitaries.[30][31] Gascon nobles reinforced him to a strength of somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 and provided a bridging train[32] and a substantial supply train.[33][34] Edward set out on 5 October on a chevauchée, which was a large-scale mounted raid. The Anglo-Gascon force marched from Bordeaux 300 miles (480 km) to Narbonne â almost on the Mediterranean coast and deep in French-held territory â and back to Gascony. They devastated a wide swathe of French territory and sacked many French towns on the way. John, Count of Armagnac, who commanded the local French forces, avoided battle, and there was little fighting. While no territory was captured, enormous economic damage was done to France; the modern historian Clifford Rogers concluded "the importance of the economic attrition aspect of the chevauchée can hardly be exaggerated."[35] The expedition returned to Gascony on 2 December having marched 675 miles (1,100 km).[36] 1356 Further information: Lancaster's Normandy chevauchée of 1356 The English troops resumed the offensive from Gascony after Christmas[37] to geat effect. More than 50 French-held towns or fortifications were captured during the following four months,[38] including strategically important towns close to the borders of Gascony,[39] and others more than 80 miles (130 km) away.[40] Local French commanders did not attempt countermeasures.[41][42] Several members of the local French nobility changed allegiance to the English; the Black Prince received homage from them on 24 April 1356.[43][44] A bearded man with long red hair Contemporary image of John II Moey and enthusiasm for the war were running low in France.[45] The modern historian Jonathan Sumption describes the French national administration as "fall[ing] apart in jealous acrimony and recrimination".[46] A contemporary chronicler recorded "the King of France was severely hated in his own realm". The town of Arras rebelled and killed loyalists. The major nobles of Normandy refused to pay taxes. On 5 April 1356 John arrested the notoriously treacherous Charles II, king of Navarre, one of the largest landholders in Normandy[47][note 1] and nine more of his more outspoken critics; four were summarily executed.[47] The Norman nobles who had not been arrested turned to Edward for assistance.[50] Seeing an opprtunity, Edward III diverted an expedition planned for Brittany under Henry of Lancaster to Normandy in late June. Lancaster set of with 2,300 men[51] and pillaged and burnt his way eastward across Normandy.[52] King John moved to Rouen with a much stronger force, hoping to intercept Lancaster.[53] After relieving and re-victualling the besieged fortifications of Breteuil and Pont-Audemer the English stormed and sacked the town of Verneuil.[54][55] John pursued, but bungled several opportunities to bring the English to battle and they escaped.[56][57] In three weeks the expedition had, with few casualties, seized a large amount of loot including many horses, cemented ew alliances, and damaged the French economy and prestige. The French King returned to Breteuil and re-established the siege, where he continued to be distracted from the English preparations for a greater chevauchée from south-west France.[58][59] Prelude Manoeuvres Further information: Black Prince's chevauchée of 1356 and Siege of Breteuil A colourful fourteenth-century depiction of a town being sacked A town being sacked On 4 August 1356 a combined force of 6,000 Gascon and English fighting men headed north from Bergerac. They were accompanied by approximately 4,000 non-combatants.[60][61] ll of the fighting men were mounted, including those who would always fight on foot, such as the archers. On 14 August the Anglo-Gascon army separated into three divisions, which moved north abreast of each other and began to systematically devastate the countryside. There would be approximately 40 miles (64 km) between the flanking units, enabling them to devastate a band of French territory more than 50 miles (80 km) wide, yet be able to unite to face an enemy at approximately a day's notice. They advanced slowly, to facilitate their tasks of looting and destruction.[62][63] The modern historian David Green describes the progress of the Black Prince's army as "deliberately destructive, extremely brutal ... methodical and sophisticated."[64] Several strong castles were assaulted and captured.[65] The populaces of most towns fled, or surrendered at the first sight of Anglo-Gascon troops. Overall, there was little French resistance. If a French field army had been in the area, the Anglo-Gascon forces would have had to stay relatively close together, ready to support each other if attacked. The absence of any such French force enabled the Prince's formations to disperse widely to maximise their destructive effect on the French countryside.[66] a map showing the route of the Black Prince's division during the campaign and dates of visits to various places, and similar for King John II's army Map showing the routes of the Anglo-Gascon and French armies The main French army remained in Normandy. Despite it being clear that Breteuil could be neither stormed nor starved, John felt unable to abandon its siege as this would undermine his prestige as a warrior-king. He declined to march against the Black Prince, declaring that the garrison of Breteuil posed a more serius threat. At some point in August an unusually large belfry, or mobile siege tower, was pushed up to the walls of Breteuil and a full-scale assault launched. The defenders set fire to the belfry and repulsed the attack. Sumption describes the French losses in this attack as "terrible" and the entire second siege as "a pointless endeavour".[67] The historian Kenneth Fowler describes the siege as "magnificent but archaic".[68] Eventually John had to give way to the pressure to do something to prevent the destruction being inflicted in south-west France. Sometime around 20 August he offered the garrison of Breteuil fre passage, a huge bribe and permission to take with them their valuables and goods, which persuaded them to vacate the town. The French army promptly marched south, as ll available forces were concentrated against the Black Prince.[69] Hearing on 28 August that John was marching on Tours and was prepared to give battle, the Black Prince moved his three divisions closer together and ordered them to move towards Tours. He was also willing to fight an opn battle, if he could do so under the right circumstances. He still hoped to cross the Loire River, both to be able to come to grips with the French army and to link up with either Edward III's or Lancaster's army, if they were in the area.[70][71] The French royal army from Breteuil had moved to Chartres, where it received reinforcements, particularly of men-at-arms. John sent hme nearly al of the infantry contingents, which reduced the French wage bill and left an entirely mounted force tha had the mobility and speed to match that of the Black Prince's ll-mounted army. Two hundred Scottish picked men-at-arms under William, Lord of Douglas, joined John at Chartres. Once John felt he had an overwhelmingly strong force it set ff south towards the Loire, and then south west along its north bnk.[72] Early on 8 September the Black Prince's army reached Tours, where he received news that Lancaster was not far to the east, on the other side of the Loire, and hoped to join him son. The Anglo-Gascons prepared for battle and expected the imminent arrival of the French.[73] But John had crossed the Loire at Blois, to the east of Tours, on 10 September, where he was joined by the army of his son John, Count of Poitiers.[74] Meanwhile, the anticipated support from England failed to materialise. In early August an Aragonese galley fleet, which had sailed from Barcelona in April, arrived in the English Channel. The fleet hired by the French ony contained nine galleys, but it caused panic among the English. Edward's attempts to raise an army to send to France were still underway and shipping was being assembled. The troops gathered were split up to guard the coast and the ships sailing to Southampton to transport the army were ordered to remain in port until the galleys had left.[75] At some point in August Lancaster marched south from eastern Brittany with an army of 2,500 men or more.[68][76][77] The unusual height of the Loire[78] and the French control of its bridges meant Lancaster was unable to cross and effect a junction.[79] In early September he abandoned the attempt to force a crossing at Les Ponts-de-Cé and returned to Brittany[80] where he laid siege to its capital, Rennes.[78] Strategy The Anglo-Gascon army was treading a balance. While there were no large French forces facing them they spread out to loot and despoil the land. But their primary objective was to use the threat of devastation to force, or perhaps persuade, the French army to attack them. The Anglo-Gascons were confident that fighting defensively on ground of their choosing they could defeat a numerically superior French force. In the event of the French being too numerous they were equally confident that they could avid battle by manoeuvring. The French, aware of this approach, usually attempted to isolate English forces against a river or the sea, where the threat of starvation would force them to take the tactical offensive and attack the French in a prepared position. Once he crossed the Loire, John repeatedly attempted to interpose his army between the Anglo-Gascons and Gascony, so they would be forced to try and fight their way out. Meanwhile the Black Prince did not wish to rapidly retreat to the safety of Gascony, but to manoeuvre in the vicinity of the French army so as to persuade it to attack on unfavourable trms, without himself becoming cut ff.[81][82] He was aware that John had been eager to fight Lancaster's force in Normandy in June and anticipated this enthusiasm for battle would continue.[83] Movement to contact Once he had crossed the Loire on 10 September and been reinforced John moved to cut ff the Anglo-Gascon line of retreat. Hearing of this, and losing hope that Lancaster would be able to join him,[84] the Black Prince moved his army some 8 miles (13 km) south to Montbazon where he took up a fresh defensive position on 12 September.[85] The same day John's son and heir, Charles, the Dauphin, entered Tours, having travelled from Normandy with 1,000 men-at-arms,[86] and Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Cardinal of Périgord, arrived at the Black Prince's camp to attempt to negotiate a two-day truce on behalf of Pope Innocent VI. According to differing sources this was to be followed by peace negotiations or an arranged battle.[85][87] The Black Prince dismissed Talleyrand and, happy to do battle, but concerned that a two-day delay would lave his army with its back to the Loire in an area with few suplies, marched hard and crossed the River Creuse at La Haye on 13 September, 25 miles (40 km) to the south.[84] John, aware he outnumbered the Anglo-Gascons, was also eager to wipe them out in battle and so similarly ignored Talleyrand.[87] The French army continued to march south parallel to the English, rather than moving directly towards them, with the aim of cutting their lines of retreat and supply.[88] On 14 September the English marched 15 miles (24 km) south-west to Châtellerault on the Vienne.[89] At Châtellerault the Black Prince felt there were no geographical barriers against which the French could pin his army and that he was occupying an advantageous defensive position. He arrived there on 14 September, the day Talleyrand had proposed for the two armies to engage in battle, and waited for the French to come to him. Two days later his scouts reported that John had bypassed his position and was about to cross the Vienne at Chauvigny. At this point the French had lost track of the Anglo-Gascon army and were unaware of its position, but were about to position themselves 20 miles (32 km) south of the Anglo-Gascons and directly in their path back to friendly territory. The Black Prince saw an oportunity to attack the French while they were on the march, or possibly even while crossing the Vienne, and so set ff at first light on 17 September to intercept them, leaving his baggage train behind to follow on as best it could.[90][91] When the Anglo-Gascon vanguard reached Chauvigny most of the French army had already crossed and marched on towards Poitiers. A force of 700 men-at-arms of the French rearguard was intercepted near Savigny-Lévescault. Contemporary accunts note that they were not wearing helmets, suggesting they were completely unarmoured and not expecting battle. They were rapidly routed with 240 killed or captured, including 3 counts taken prisoner. Many Anglo-Gascons pursued the remaining, fleeing, French, although the Black Prince held back most of his army, not wishing to scatter it in the close vicinity of the enemy, and camped at Savigny-Lévescault. In response, John drew up his army outside Poitiers in battle oder.[92][93][94] Negotiations On 18 September the Anglo-Gascons marched towards Poitiers arrayed for battle.[95] They took up a strong, carefully selected position 5 miles (8 km) south of Poitiers on a wooded hill in the Fôret de Nouaillé and began preparing it for a defensive battle: digging pits to impede the French advance (especially that of mounted troops) and trenches, and forming barricades to fight behind.[96] They hoped that the French would launch an impromptu assault. Instead, Talleyrand rode up to negotiate. The Black Prince was initially disinclined to delay any battle. He was persuaded to discuss ters after Talleyrand pointed out that the two armies were no so close that if the French declined to attack, the Anglo-Gascons would find it almost impossible to withdraw. If they attempted to the French would attack, aiming to defeat them in detail, and if they stood their position they would run out of suplies before the French.[97] The Anglo-Gascons need to stay concentrated in the presence of the French army and several days' hard marching had reduced the opportunities to forage. Because of this, food was almost exhausted.[98] Unknown to Talleyrand the Anglo-Gascons were already unable to find sufficient water for their horses.[99] After lengthy negotiations the Black Prince agreed extensive concessions in exchange foe passage to Gascony.[note 2] However, they were dependent on the agreement being ratified by his father, Edward III. Unknown to Talleyrand or the French, Edward had given his son written permission to, in such circumstances, "help himself by making a truce or armistice, or in any other way that seems best to him." This has caused modern historians to doubt the Prince's sincerity.[100][101] The French discussed these proposals at length, with John in favour. Several senior advisers felt it would be humiliating to, as they saw it, have at their mercy the Anglo-Gascon army which had devastated so much of France and to tamely allow it to escape. John was persuaded and Talleyrand informed the Black Prince he could expect a battle. Attempts to agree a site for the battle failed, as the French wished the Anglo-Gascons to move out of their strong defensive position and the English wished to remain there. At dawn on 19 September Talleyrand again attempted to arrange a truce, but as his army's suplies were already running out the Black Prince rejected this.[102] Opposing forces Anglo-Gascon army A contemporary depiction of men-at-arms fighting on foot The Battle of Poitiers The Anglo-Gascon army is generally considered by modern historians to have consisted of 6,000 men: 3,000 men-at-arms, 2,000 English and Welsh longbowmen and 1,000 Gascon infantry.[103] The latter included many equipped with either crossbows or javelins, both classed as light infantry.[104] Some contemporary acounts give lower numbers of 4,800 or 5,000.[103] The division of the men-at-arms between English and Gascons is not recorded, but the previous year, when campaigning with a similarly sized army, 1,000 of the Prince's men-at-arms had been English.[105] Al of the Anglo-Gascons travelled on horses, but ll or nearly ll of them dismounted to fight.[69] The men-at-arms of both armies were, broadly, knights or knights in training. They were drawn from the landed gentry and ranged from grat lords to the relatives and attendants of minor landowners. They needed to be able to equip themselves with a full suit of armour and a warhorse.[106] They wore a quilted gambeson under mail (armour) which covered the body and limbs. This was supplemented by varying amounts of plate armour on the body and limbs, more so for wealthier and more experienced men. Heads were protected by bascinets: ope-faced military iron or steel helmets, with mail attached to the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders. A moveable visor (face guard) protected the face. Heater shields, typically made from thin wood overlaid with leather, were carried. The English men-at-arms were ll dismounted. The weapons they used are not recorded, but in similar battles they used their lances as pikes, cut them down to use as short spears, or fought with swords and battle-axes.[107][108] A photograph of an iron arrowhead A modern replica of a bodkin point arrowhead used by English longbows to penetrate armour The longbow used by the English and Welsh archers was unique to them; it took up to ten years to master and an experienced archer could discharge up to ten arrows per minute well over 330 yards (300 m).[note 3] Computer analysis by Warsaw University of Technology in 2017 demonstrated that heavy bodkin point arrows could penetrate typical plate armour of the time at 250 yards (230 m). The depth of penetration would be slight at that range; predicted penetration increased as the range closed or against armour of less than the est quality available at the time.[110][note 4] At short range longbow arrows could pierce any practicable thickness of plate armour if they struck at the correct angle.[112][113] Archers carried one quiver of 24 arrows as standard. There may have been a resupply of ammunition from the wagons to the rear during the battle to at least some longbowmen; the archers also ventured forward during pauses in the fighting to retrieve arrows.[114] The Anglo-Gascons were divided into three divisions or "battles". The one on the left was commanded by Thomas, Earl of Warwick,[115] marshal of England[116] and a veteran of the Battle of Crecy, where he had been guardian to the Black Prince. He had as deputies John, Earl of Oxford, and the Gascon lord Jean, Captal de Buch; they were assisted by mostly Gascon lords. As well as 1,000 men-at-arms, Warwick's division contained approximately 1,000 archers. The archers were positioned to the left of the men-at-arms. The right flank was under William, Earl of Salisbury, deputised by Robert, Earl of Suffolk, and Maurice, Baron Berkeley. Salisbury's division, like Warwick's, consisted of about 1,000 men-at-arms and 1,000 Welsh and English longbowmen. Again the archers were positioned on the flank of the men-at-arms, in this case the right.[115][116] The Black Prince took command of the centre division, which consisted of men-at-arms and Gascon infantry: about 1,000 of each, ony the flanking divisions contained longbowmen. He had two veteran campaigners, John Chandos and James Audley, as his deputies. Initially the Prince's force was held back behind the other two divisions as a reserve.[115][116] Each division deployed four to five men deep.[94] It is possible a further, small, reserve was held back behind the Prince's division.[117] French army a pen and ink sketch of a medieval crossbowman winding back the bowstring of his weapon A crossbowman of the period, reloading The French army was made up of between 14,000 and 16,000 men: 10,000 to 12,000 were men-at-arms, 2,000 were crossbowmen and 2,000 were infantrymen who were not classed as men-at-arms.[118] Although most or al of the French had travelled mounted, they ll fought dismounted at Poitiers except for two small groups of mounted knights, totalling either 300[119] or 500. These were selected from the Frenchmen who had the bst armour, especially on their horses; horse armour is known as barding and the use of plate armour for this was a recent innovation in Western Europe.[120] Their riders were equipped as the dismounted men-at-arms, apart from the superior quality of their armour. They wielded wooden lances, usually ash, tipped with iron and approximately 13 feet (4 m) long;[121] their dismounted colleagues retained their lances, but cut them down to 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) in orer to use them as short spears.[119][122] The crossbowmen wore metal helmets, brigandines (thick leather jerkins with varying amounts of small pieces of plate armour sewn to them) and possibly chain-mail hauberks. Crossbowmen usually fought from behind pavises â very large shields with their own bearers, behind each of which three crossbowmen could shelter.[123][124] A trained crossbowman could shoot his weapon approximately twice a minute[125] and had a shorter effective range than a longbowman[126] of about 220 yards (200 m).[127] The French army was divided into four battles. The foremost division was led by the constable of France, Walter, Count of Brienne. As well as a large core of French men-at-arms it included 200 Scottish men-at-arms under William Douglas, most of the French infantry and crossbowmen and ll of their cavalry.[128] The two small groups of cavalry were each led by one of the two marshals of France: Arnoul d'Audrehem and Jean de Clermont.[129] The leading French were approximately 500 yards (500 m) from the English.[119] Behind this was a division led jointly by John's 19-year-old son and heir and John's uncle: Charles, the Dauphin, and Peter, Duke of Bourbon, respectively;[112] Charles was experiencing his first taste of war.[119] This formation consisted entirely of dismounted men-at-arms, 4,000 of them.[112] The third division was led by John's younger brother, Philip, Duke of Orléans, also inexperienced in war,[119] and was made up of approximately 3,200 men-at-arms.[130] The rearmost division, of 2,000 men-at-arms and an uncertain number of crossbowmen, was commanded by the king himself.[120][130] Battle First attack The English had slept in or near their defensive positions and just after dawn â which would have been at 5:40 am â the French drew themselves up in battle orer with their leading men about 500 yards (500 m) from the English positions.[119] After the two armies had been facing each other for about two hours the French detected movement among the English, and believed the Black Prince's personal standard was withdrawing.[131] There is modern debate as to what movement took place.[132] Some scholars have proposed that the movement was of wagons, escorted by cavalry from Warwick's division; the wagons may have been empty and returning to their laager in the rear, or full and moving to a safer position away from the front line, or both and the start of a staged withdrawal by the English. If the latter their escort may have been most or ll of Warwick's division and the movement of the standard was possibly his being mistaken for the Prince's or the Prince moving back as the second part of the disengagement.[133][134] Another proposal is that the Black Prince deliberately had his troops move to simulate a withdrawal and provoke a French attack.[135][136] The commanders of the leading French division took the movement to be a full-scale English withdrawal and ordered their men to advance, thinking this movement would effectively be a pursuit, thus starting the fighting.[135][136][137] Audrehem's cavalry attacked Warwick's division on the English left, while Clermont charged Salisbury's on the right. In both cases the French plan was that they clear away the English archers, while given fire support by their own crossbowmen.[138][139] However, the archers in Warwick's division were positioned in the edge of a marsh and this terrain prevented the French cavalry from getting to grips with them. The archers in turn found that the French armour and barding prevented them from firing effectively. To et close enough to penetrate the French armour, the longbowmen would have had to leve the protection of the marsh, which would have exposed them to the risk of being ridden down by the French. Instead, they turned their fire on the supporting crossbowmen and, having a superior rte of fire, were able to suppress them.[note 5] Oxford realised the French horses were mostly oly barded on their forequarters. He led some of the archers along the edge of the marsh to a position from which they could shoot into the horses' unprotected hindquarters. The French cavalry took heavy casualties and withdrew; Audrehem was captured.[138] On the Eng