Overview:
Castillon was the final engagement of the Hundred Years War. After being driven out of Northern France the previous few years, Henry VI sent a new army to Bordeaux in Southwestern France in attempt to maintain at least some territory in France. In July 1453 the English forces attacked a French force that was besieging the town of Castillon. The attacked was repulsed, the English were routed and Shrewsbury was killed. Bordeaux became French territory and the final English survivors sailed for home.
It took the Winter of 1452-1453 before Charles could raise another army, but in April 1453 his forces advanced again on Aquitaine, led this time by the Lord of Clermont, with Jean Bureau once again commanding the artillery, and the Breton Jean, Count of Penthiévre leading the gens d'ordonnance. This force was too large for Talbot to attack, but when it split into smaller contingents to besiege various towns in the Medoc and along the Dordogne valley, Talbot at once marched from Bordeaux.
During the winter he had received reinforcements under his son, Lord de Lisle, and with an Anglo-Gascon force of some 6,000 men, he intended to attackthe main French force besieging the town of Castillon, 30 miles Southeast of the city. Talbot had now been in arms against the French for the best part of fifty years and was well into his seventies, an old man in any age.
Talbot arrived at Castillon before dawn on 17th July, overrunning a detachment of French archers, whom he pursued with his cavalry towards the main French camp, here, under advise from Jean Bureau, the French, anticipating an English assault had entrenched themselves strongly, throwing up walls of earth and tree-trunks and erecting artillery positions containing over 300 guns of various calibre, many of which were hastily switched from the town walls to cover the approach of the English army.
A little thought or a brief reconnaissance might have shown Talbot the inadvisability of leading his men against such a strong position, but a huge cloud of dust over the enemy camp, caused by the French bring their horses into shelter, seemed to indicate fleeing cavalry. Thinking the French were in retreat, Talbot did not hesitate. Keeping to the terms agreed for his release at Falaise, in which he had sworn never again to wear armour against the king of France, he rode into battle unarmed and unarmoured, mounted on a white pony, sending wave after wave of men-of-arms and archers forward against the French lines. As at Formigny, it was a slaughter.
French artillery broke up the English advance and, when the advance faltered, the gens d'ordonnance charged out to cut down the scattered knots of dazed archers and men-at-arms. Much had changed since Crécy and artillery had come to dominate the battlefield.
In the midst of the battle, Talbot sat on his pony, waving his men on to the attack, until a cannonball killed his horse, trapping him under it's weight, and a French man-at-arms leapt over the parapet to finish him of with a battle-axe.
Elsewhere in the field his only son, the Lord de Lisle, was brought down and killed in the rout. With both of their leaders dead the English soldiers were hustled back to the banks of the Dordogne, where they made a final stand before breaking, many drowned in their headlong scramble to the West and the shelter of Bordeaux. Next day, the French let Talbot's herald roam the battlefield searching for his master, who was recognised only by a missing tooth.
Talbot's body was carried back to England and now lies buried at Whitchurch in Shropshire, but a column, preserved by the local people still marks where he fell beside the river on the site of the last and most decisive battle of the Hundred Years War.
Sweeping forward from Castillon, the French army was again before Bordeaux on 23rd July and after a three-month siege, the city finally surrendered on 19th October. This time, King Charles was not so lenient.
He demanded a fine of 100,000 gold crowns and banished those Gascon lords, like the Captal de Buch, who had welcomed the return of the English after their first evacuation. The war that had begun over the Duchy of Aquitaine in 1337 had come to an end in the Duchy in 1453, 116 years after it all began.
Battle of Castillon (2)
The Battle of Castillon was the last battle fought between the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War.
After the French capture of Bordeaux in 1451, the Hundred Years' War seemed at an end. However, after three hundred years of English rule the citizens of Bordeaux considered themselves English and sent messengers to Henry VI of England demanding he recapture the province.
On October 17, 1452, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury landed near Bordeaux with a force of 3,000 men-at-arms and archers. The French garrison was ejected by the citizens of Bordeaux, who then gleefully opened the gates to the English. Most of Gascony followed Bordeaux’s example and welcomed the English home.
During the winter month Charles VII of France gathered his armies in readiness for the campaigning season. When spring arrived Charles advanced toward Bordeaux simultaneously along three different routes with three armies.
Talbot received another 3,000 men to face this new problem, but it was still an inadequate number to hold back the thousands of Frenchmen on Gascony’s borders. When the leading French army lay siege to Castillon, Talbot abandoned his original plans (acceding to the pleas of the town commanders) and set out to relieve it. The French commander, Jean Bureau, in fear of Talbot, ordered his 7,000 to 10,000 men to encircle their camp with a ditch and palisade, and deploy his 300 cannon on the parapet.
Talbot approached the French camp on 17 July 1453, arriving before his main body of troops with an advance guard of 1,300 mounted men. He routed a similar sized force of French archers in the woods before the French encampment, giving his men a large boost of morale. A few hours after this preliminary skirmish, a messenger from the town reported to Talbot’s resting troops (they had marched through the night) that the French army was in full retreat and that hundreds of horsemen were fleeing the fortifications. From the town walls a huge dust clouded could be seen heading off into the distance.
Talbot hastily reorganized his men and charged down towards the French camp, only to find the parapets defended by thousands of fully armed archers and hundreds of cannon. Surprised but undaunted, Talbot gave the signal to attack the French army that outnumbered his own force six to one.
Once battle started, Talbot received a thin trickle of men from his leading foot units. After an hour French reinforcements arrived and charged his right flank. The English army gave way, pursued instantly by the French main body of troops.
During the rout Talbot’s horse was killed by a cannon ball and he fell trapped beneath it, until a Frenchman wielding a battle-axe recognized him and killed him.
Following Henry VI's episode of insanity in 1453 and the subsequent outbreak of the Wars of the Roses, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their claim to the French throne and lost all their land on the continent (except for Calais). |
Date: 17 Jul 1453
Location: France
Outcome: French victory
Principal Combatants.
English Leadership: John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, Henry VI
English Strength: 4,500 men
English Casualties: -
French Leadership: Jean Bureau, Charles VII
French Strength: 7-10,000 men
French Casualties: -
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Overview
