10/25/1415 St Crispian's day & battle of Agincourt

[Ray Newman]

St. Crispian's day and the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt -- 1415 -- when the English longbow decimated the French knights on French soil. As Shakespeare wrote:

"That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day:
Then shall our names,
familiar in his mouth as household words;
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

--Wm. Shakespeare, "Henry V"

The Bard had a way with words to say the least.

[Bill in Oregon]

Thank you, Ray. Bless their memory.

[jeepnik]

Proving that stand off weapons are to be desired. Today we have Tomahawks that pretty much do the same thing, just from even further away.

[Griff]

Thanks, I needed that... I'm off the City Council to beard the monsters in their den!

[2ndovc]

Wow, almost forgot! thank you for the reminder. I've always loved that!


jb

[Grizz]

it was a very close thing for the British. they were getting the run-around from shadowing forces, were mal-nourished, were losing men to sickness, and were nearly unable to fight.

they out-generaled the French, out-shot them, and were aided by the mirey clay that slowed the horse charges.
the French thought they were fighting for their honour, the British were fightning for their lives. and somehow forget every detail of what they learned when the Normans came calling.

hope those with better recall than mine will straighten up the record,

IIRC,

[piller]

Proof that iron tipped arrows defeated plate armor on that day. My Sergeants and the West Point graduates still favored direct frontal assault with massed troops in the open back when I was in. MILES gear showed that we lost every time, and we were told that it would work if we just did it better. Some bad ideas just cannot be removed from military minds.

[Grizz]

Piller, that's interesting and terrifying, the "modern" bit.

I think the bodkins defeated the horses, and the knights on the ground couldn't fight effectively, and of course the bodkins did defeat their armor.

They had, I 'think', a plan to envelope the English in a pincer movement that was nullified when the English moved forward enough to preclude the plan forcing the French to advance through a choke point, and the French never put forces behind the English ... they all collected in front so no one would miss out on the party. out-generaled. wrong party.

wikipedia has a lot more than I can remember

and Shakespeare for that matter

[Malamute]

For those not familiar with the battle,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

Bernard Cornwell wrote a very enjoyable historical fiction work based on Agincourt (and so tilted). I listened to it on disc from the local library. Twice I believe.

[Old Ironsights]

Proof that iron tipped arrows defeated plate armor on that day. My Sergeants and the West Point graduates still favored direct frontal assault with massed troops in the open back when I was in. MILES gear showed that we lost every time, and we were told that it would work if we just did it better. Some bad ideas just cannot be removed from military minds.

Snerk.

I was at PLDC doing a MILES op when we saw opfor crossing a power-line cut. I carrying Miss Piggy when we got the fist and took a knee. The opfor were about 600yds away give or take. "Out of Range" quoth the squad leader.

"Not for Miss Piggy", said I, and popped a single round from the belt, rifle style.

Opfor troop starts the "Who, Me?" MILES patdown.

We slink off to our Objective... grinning.

[2ndovc]

For those not familiar with the battle,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

Bernard Cornwell wrote a very enjoyable historical fiction work based on Agincourt (and so tilted). I listened to it on disc from the local library. Twice I believe.

Great read! Love his books.

jb