St. George for England Read online

  The voyage was short and favourable, and the expedition landed at LaHogue, on the small peninsula of Cotentin, without opposition. Six dayswere spent at La Hogue disembarking the men, horses, and stores, andbaking bread for the use of the army on the march. A detachment advancedand pillaged and burnt Barileur and Cherbourg and a number of smalltowns and castles.

  In accordance with custom, at the commencement of the campaign a courtwas held, at which the Prince of Wales was dubbed a knight by hisfather. A similar honour was bestowed upon a number of other youngaspirants, among whom was Walter Somers, who had been highly recommendedfor that honour to the king by Sir Walter Manny.

  The force was now formed into three divisions--the one commanded bythe king himself, the second by the Earl of Warwick, and the third byGodfrey of Harcourt. The Earl of Arundel acted as Lord High Constable,and the Earl of Huntingdon, who was in command of the fleet, followedthe army along the sea-coast. Valognes, Carentan, and St. Lo werecaptured without difficulty, and the English army advanced by rapidmarches upon Caen, plundering the country for six or seven leagueson each side of the line of march. An immense quantity of booty wasobtained. As soon as the news of Edward's landing in Normandy reachedParis, Phillip despatched the Count d'Eu, Constable of France, with theCount of Tankerville and 600 men-at-arms, to oppose Edward at Caen. TheBishop of Bayeux had thrown himself into that city, which was alreadygarrisoned by 300 Genoese. The town was not defensible, and the onlychance of resistance was by opposing the passage of the riverHorn, which flowed between the suburbs and the city. The bridgewas barricaded, strong wooden towers were erected, and such was theconfidence of the inhabitants and their leaders that Edward's promise ofprotection for the person and property of the citizens was rejected withscorn, and the whole male population joined the garrison in the defenceof the bridge. Marching through the deserted suburbs the English armyattacked the bridge with such vehemence that although the enemy defendedthe barricades gallantly they were speedily forced, and the Englishpoured into the town. Before the first fury of the attack was over near5000 persons were slain. The Count of Tankerville, 140 knights, and asmany squires were made prisoners. The plunder was so enormous as to besufficient to cover the whole expenses of the expedition, and this withthe booty which had been previously acquired was placed on board shipand despatched to England, while the king marched forward with his army.At Lisieux he was met by two cardinals sent by the pope to negotiatea truce; but Edward had learned the fallacy of truces made with KingPhillip, and declined to enter into negotiations. Finding that Rouen hadbeen placed in a state of defence and could not be taken without a longsiege he left it behind him and marched along the valley of the Eure,gathering rich booty at every step.

  But while he was marching forward a great army was gathering in hisrear. The Count of Harcourt brother of Godfrey, called all Normandy toarms. Every feudal lord and vassal answered to the summons, and beforeEdward reached the banks of the Seine a formidable army had assembled.

  The whole of the vassals of France were gathering by the orders of theking at St. Denis. The English fleet had now left the coast, and Edwardhad only the choice of retreating through Normandy into Brittany orof attempting to force the passage of the Seine, and to fight his waythrough France to Flanders. He chose the latter alternative, and marchedalong the left bank of the river towards Paris, seeking in vain to finda passage. The enemy followed him step by step on the opposite bank, andall the bridges were broken down and the fords destroyed.

  Edward marched on, burning the towns and ravaging the country untilhe reached Poissy. The bridge was as usual destroyed, but the piles onwhich it stood were still standing, and he determined to endeavour tocross here. He accordingly halted for five days, but despatched troopsin all directions, who burned and ravaged to the very gates of Paris.The villages of St. Germain, St. Cloud, Bourg la Reine, and many otherswithin sight of the walls were destroyed, and the capital itself throwninto a state of terror and consternation. Godfrey of Harcourt was thefirst to cross the river, and with the advance guard of English fellupon a large body of the burghers of Amiens, and after a severe fightdefeated them, killing over five hundred. The king himself with hiswhole force passed on the 16th of August.

  Phillip, with his army, quitted St. Denis, when he heard that theEnglish army had passed the Seine, and by parallel marches endeavouredto interpose between it and the borders of Flanders. As his force wasevery hour increasing he despatched messengers to Edward offering himbattle within a few days on condition that he would cease to ravage thecountry; but Edward declined the proposal, saying that Phillip himselfby breaking down the bridges had avoided a battle as long as he could,but that whenever he was ready to give battle he would accept thechallenge. During the whole march the armies were within a few leaguesof each other, and constant skirmishes took place between bodiesdetached from the hosts.

  In some of these skirmishes Walter took part, as he and the other newlymade knights were burning to distinguish themselves. Every day theprogress of the army became more difficult, as the country peopleeverywhere rose against them, and several times attempted to make astand but were defeated with great loss. The principal towns were founddeserted, and even Poix, which offered great capabilities of defence,had been left unguarded. Upon the English entering, the burghers offeredto pay a large ransom to save the town from plunder. The money was to bedelivered as soon as the English force had withdrawn, and Walter Somerswas ordered by the king to remain behind with a few men-at-arms toreceive the ransom.

  No sooner had the army departed than the burghers, knowing that theFrench army was close behind, changed their minds, refused to pay theransom, and fell upon the little body of men-at-arms. Although takenquite by surprise by the act of treachery Walter instantly rallied hismen although several had been killed at the first onslaught. He, withRalph and two or three of the staunchest men, covered the retreat ofthe rest through the streets, making desperate charges upon the body ofarmed burghers pressing upon them. Ralph fought as usual with a maceof prodigious weight, and the terror of his blows in no slight degreeenabled the party to reach the gate in safety, but Walter had no idea ofretreating further. He despatched one of his followers to gallop at fullspeed to overtake the rear-guard of the army, which was still but twomiles distant, while with the rest he formed a line across the gate andresisted all the attempts of the citizens to expel them.

  The approach to the gate was narrow, and the overwhelming number of theburghers were therefore of little avail. Walter had dismounted his forceand all fought on foot, and although sorely pressed they held theirground until Lords Cobham and Holland, with their followers, rode up.Then the tide of war was turned, the town was plundered and burnt, andgreat numbers of the inhabitants slain. Walter gained great creditfor holding the gate, for had he been driven out, the town could haveresisted, until the arrival of Louis, all assaults of the English.

  The river Somme now barred the passage of Edward. Most of the bridgeshad been destroyed, and those remaining were so strongly fortified thatthey could not be forced.

  The position of the English was now very critical. On one flank andin front were impassable rivers. The whole country was in arms againstthem, and on their rear and flank pressed a hostile army fourfold theirstrength. The country was swampy and thinly populated, and flour andprovisions were only obtained with great difficulty. Edward, on findingfrom the reports of his marshals who had been sent to examine thebridges, that no passage across the river could be found, turnedand marched down the river towards the sea, halting for the night atOisemont.

  Here, a great number of peasantry attempted a defence, but were easilydefeated and a number of prisoners taken. Late in the evening the Earlof Warwick, who had pushed forward as far as Abbeville and St. Valery,returned with the news that the passages at those places were asstrongly guarded as elsewhere, but he had learnt from a peasant thata ford existed somewhere below Abbeville, although the man was himselfignorant of its position.

  Edward at once calle
d the prisoners belonging to that part of thecountry before him, and promised to any one who would tell him wherethe ford lay his freedom and that of twenty of his companions. A peasantcalled Gobin Agase stepped forward and offered to show the ford, whereat low tide twelve men could cross abreast. It was, he said, called "LaBlanche Tache".