The Battle of Poitiers 1356 (16 page)

Sir William Trussel

The Trussel family had served in the administration of Cheshire since the early years of the fourteenth century. William’s military service with the prince commenced when he rode in the
grande chevauchée
. He received letters of protection on 9 November 1355 and continued to serve throughout the winter lull and at Poitiers where, as a bachelor of the prince’s household, he was one of Edward’s bodyguards. He was rewarded with an annuity of £40 from the Chester exchequer on 16 November 1363, although it would be surprising if this was the first such grant he received from the Black Prince.

He accompanied the prince to Aquitaine in 1363 but it not certain if he was involved in the Spanish campaign. He was certainly summoned to the 1369 muster at Northampton and therefore fought in France in the defence of the principality. He died on 12 February 1380.

Robert Ufford, earl of Suffolk
⁴⁴

He was born on 9 August 1298 and was granted seisin of his father’s lands on 19 May 1318 and those of his mother (Cecily, daughter and co-heir of Robert Valoinges) on 16 August 1325. He had been the second son but his brother died, allowing Robert to inherit. In March 1324 he was abroad in the service of Edmund, earl of Kent. He was created earl of Suffolk on 16 March 1337. He fought in the first division at Crécy and at the siege of Calais. He became a knight of the garter in c.1349 and was the titular head of the prince’s council in c.1355 although he had been associated with it since 1337. He accompanied the prince on the 1355 expedition and fought in the Reims campaign. He died on 4 November 1369.

John Vere, 7th earl of Oxford, 1312–60
⁴⁵

He had livery of his lands in 1331 and in the following year set out on a pilgrimage to Compostella. Matters closer to home were at the forefront in 1333 when he was a witness to Edward III’s treaty at Berwick. He was again in service in Scotland in 1335. The opening of the Hundred Years War saw him fighting abroad. In 1340 he was in Flanders and in 1342, in Brittany. The latter year also saw his participation in the Dunstable tournament. John returned to Brittany in 1345 with the earl of Northampton and they secured a victory over the forces of Charles de Blois. He sailed again in 1346 to take part in the Normandy campaign, and at Crécy he fought in the first division. He was again in arms with the Black Prince in 1355–6. He was one of Edward’s chief advisors at Poitiers and he remained in Bordeaux while negotiations began for the ransom of the king of France. Vere died at the siege of Reims in 1360 and was buried at Colne priory.

Roger de la Warre

The son of John and Margaret (Holand), he was born on 30 November 1326. He first saw military service in 1346 when he was knighted with the prince at La Hogues and fought in his division at Crécy. He was also involved in the Calais siege and received his inheritance in 1349. He was again in military service in 1355 and in the raid of the following year he was involved in the skirmish at Romorantin and later fought at Poitiers where he claimed to capture Jean.
⁴⁶

Along with a number of the prince’s close military associates, his involvement in the Reims campaign was in the king’s division. During this he was captured in 1360 but soon ransomed. He was first summoned to parliament in 1362 but spent much of the following years in Aquitaine. He was first mentioned on the list of those noted as part of the prince’s household on travelling to Bordeaux in 1363. He may not have remained in the principality continually but certainly spent much of the time of the principality with Edward in France. He was a knight of the prince’s household and a councillor in Aquitaine.

According to Chandos Herald, he fought in the Spanish campaign in 1367. After the resumption of the war he fought under Gaunt’s command in Picardy and Caux from July to November 1369. He died in Gascony on 27 August 1370.

Sir John Wingfield

He first came to prominence in the service of the earl of Surrey and then William Montague, earl of Salisbury with whom he served at Crécy and Calais. By 1351 he transferred to the employ of the prince of Wales and became a bachelor of his household, steward of his lands, chief councillor and ‘governor of the prince’s business’.
⁴⁷
As such he was responsible for the routine central administration of the prince’s estates and with other councillors was the decider of policy and controlled the activities of the privy seal. He held these offices until his death in 1361.

During the 1355–6 campaigns he was responsible for administration. During the preparation for the Reims campaign he was a central figure in acquiring revenue for the operation. He borrowed 20,000 marks on behalf of the prince. Despite this administrative role he appears to have fought in all of the prince’s campaigns in the 1350s. He was sent to consult with the king over the implementation of the treaty of Brétigny. His daughter and heir, Katherine, married Michael la Pole, the future earl of Suffolk.

APPENDIX II:

Wargaming the
Battle of Poitiers

(written with Martin Tweedy Smith)

There are many problems with the precise reconstruction of the battle of Poitiers and those wishing to replay the encounter should come to their own conclusions in several cases as to the number and types of troops involved and the manner in which they were armed and armoured. The available sources are much less precise regarding French than Anglo-Gascon forces. Details are given below regarding the development of the various forces throughout the 1355–6 campaign.

Black Prince’s 1355 retinue according to indenture made with Edward III

This included troops from:

Cheshire: 300 (Leaders: John Hide, Robert Legh [Macclesfield], Robert Brown [Eddisbury], Hamon Mascy, Hugh Golbourne [Wirral & Broxtowe], John Griffyn [Nantwich])

Flintshire: 100

North Wales: 140 (Leader: Grouno ap Griffyth)

This was augmented by troops led by the earls of Oxford, Salisbury, Suffolk and Warwick, Reginald Cobham and Sir John Lisle (d. 1355) who were the chief recruiting captains.

Total:

1,000+ men-at-arms

1,000+ mounted archers

400 foot archers

c. 170 Welsh troops

The
chevauchée
also included sizeable contingents from Gascony.

During the break in campaigning during the winter-spring of 1355–6, Richard Stafford returned to England in search of reinforcements, particularly archers as well as supplies.

1356 Anglo-Gascon reinforcements:

600 archers (300+ from Cheshire)

1356 Anglo-Gascon re-supplying:

1,000 bows} probably not acquired, forced to requisition all available

2,000 sheaves of arrows} stocks in Cheshire and ensure continuous production

30 baggage horses + others

30 grooms

Assorted victuals – wheat, oats, fish, salt pork

1356 Anglo-Gascon Army

The army that rode out in 1356 was further augmented by contingents led by a number of Gascon noblemen.

Composition of Army

3,000–4,000 men-at-arms.

This total includes knights and esquires – all knights were men-at-arms but not all men-at-arms were knights – as well as ‘lesser’ troops. English infantry units were not uniform in size nor were the proportions of different troop types. However, the army was possibly divided into groups of twenty (led by a vintenar) and 100 men (led by a centenar), these were often put in command of foreign troops to improve communication. See below for equipment.

Captal de Buch’s cavalry detachment: 60 men-at-arms, 100 mounted archers (fought on foot).

2,500–3,000 archers

Armour: leather jerkin or mail shirts, often also a helmet.

Arms: longbow, sword/dagger.

Longbow – range: 300-400 yards. Rate of fire: 15-20 arrows per minute.

The best bows were made of Spanish or home-grown yew but also elm, wych elm and ash were used. They may have had draw- weights of up to 150 lbs. The arrows were 30–36 inches in length (made of many different woods) and carried bodkin arrow-heads which could pierce plate armour at close range. Two sheaves of arrows were probably carried by each archer = 48 arrows.

NB - mounted/horsed archers fought on foot.

1,000 light troops

Armour - padded jackets/aketons and helmets

Arms: spear, sword/dagger

Commanders

Vanguard/left flank: Warwick, Oxford, captal de Buch - 1,000+ archers, 500 men-at-arms, 500 light infantry (note captal’s cavalry strike in later stages)

Centre: Black Prince, Chandos, Audley, Cobham, Burghersh, Loryng, Trussel, Alan Cheyne – 2,000+ men-at-arms

Rearguard/right flank: Salisbury, Suffolk - 1,000+ archers, 500+ men-at-arms, 500 light infantry.

The disposition of the Anglo-Gascon army within these three main divisions is uncertain; the numbers given above may act as a guide but should not be regarded as more than hypothetical. It is probable that the archers were divided between the vanguard and rearguard and that the prince’s ‘battle’ was composed solely of dismounted knights and men-at-arms.

Other notable Anglo-Gascon knights and members of the prince’s retinue and household

Ralph Basset of Drayton, Alan Cheyne, Stephen Cosington, Thomas Felton, Edward Despenser, Elie de Pommiers, Maurice Berkeley, Richard Stafford, John Wingfield, Baldwin Botetourt, Roger Cotesford, Dietrich Dale, Henry Aldrington, William Bakton, Robert Egremont, Geoffrey Hamelyn, John Henxteworth, Henry Berkhamsted, John Pailington

French Army

Composition of Army

8,000 men-at-arms (including knights and esquires)

See below for equipment

2,000 crossbowmen

Armour: ridged ‘kettle’ hat, mail hauberk or brigandine and coif, possibly plate greaves.

Shield: pavise – large shield with a prop so could be erected in front of the soldier during the reloading procedure.

Crossbow – range: 200–300 yards. Rate of fire: five quarrels per minute.

5,000–6,000 light infantry troops

Most were poorly trained (3,000–4,000 militia) mainly recruited using the ‘feudal’
ban
and
arrière-ban
.

Armour: padded leather jerkin; simple iron helmet/war hat/’kettle’ hat; chain-mail collar.

Arms: halberd, sword/dagger.

Those better armed (2,000), including some of the men-at-arms were equipped as follows:

Armour: Lorigone (mail hauberk), bascinet, coat-of-plates, large pavise or smaller tablachos shield.

Arms: halberd or barde – a long-hafted axe with a thrusting point, sword/dagger.

Commanders

1st division: Dauphin Charles, Louis d’Anjou, Jean de Berri, William Douglas, the duke of Bourbon, the lords of Saint-Venant and Landas, and Thomas de Voudenay; Tristan de Maignelay (ducal standard-bearer) – 3,000+ men-at-arms/light infantry

2nd division: Philippe d’Orléans – 3,000+ men-at-arms/light infantry (over half left field without engaging the English)

3rd division:King Jean,Philip (future duke of Burgundy), count of Dammartin, Philippe of Valois, the counts of Ponthieu, Eu, Longueville, Sancerre and Dammartin, Charny - royal standard-bearer - 5,000+ men-at-arms/light infantry (including 2,000 select men-at-arms) + 500 crossbowmen

Vanguard: Gautier de Brienne (constable, led troops on foot), the lords of Aubigny and Ribemont and a German contingent under the leadership of the counts de Sarrebruck, Nassau and Nidau – 2,000+ men-at-arms/light infantry + 1,500 crossbowmen

Marshals:Jean de Clermont, Arnoul d’Audrehem – 300-500 cavalry (knights and esquires, heavily armoured)

Other notable French and allied knights

Eustace de Ribbemont, standard-bearer; Sir William Douglas (rode with Audrehem, brought 200 Scottish men-at-arms); Hugues de Chatillon

French Captives

Those wishing to recreate the battle accurately should note the period at which troops were dismissed from the field and the point at which captives were taken – see the description of the battle for further details.

Jean II; Prince Philip; Arnoul d’Audrehem; Jacques de Bourbon, count of Ponthieu; Jean d’Artois, count of Eu; Guillaume de Melun, archbishop of Sens; Bernard, count of Ventadour; Pierre d’Aumont; Count of Vendome; Count of Tancarville; Count of Auxerre; Count of Joigny; Count of Longueville; Lord Derval; Lord Daubigny; Count of Nassau; Count of Saarbrucken.

French casualties

Duke of Bourbon;Walter de Brienne, constable; Renaud Chauvel, bishop of Chalons; Jean de Clermont; Renaud V de Pons.

Further Details: English and French Men-at-Arms (including knights banneret/bachelor and esquires)

The men-at-arms, comprising, in the main, the broad ranks of the aristocracy and a number of professional soldiers were armed similarly in England and France. Apart from the small cavalry detachments led by Clermont and Audrehem, the French fought on foot in order to counter the attacks of Anglo-Welsh archers.

Similarly the Anglo-Gascon force fought on foot but had access to the horses which had carried the bulk of the army from Bordeaux to Poitiers. Some of these were remounted in the later stages of the battle and led in an encircling manoeuvre by the captal de Buch and possibly James Audley.