Hey there folks I got a little question regarding medieval battle formations.

Maybe it's because of movies, video games or later historical battle that I always held the notion that armies were deployed in one or more lines across a battlefield, wider than it was deep. However recently I came across some text which suggests something else. I knew many medieval commanders divided their army into separate entities such as vanguard, mainguard and rearguard, and that sometimes separate entities of the army were called 'battles'. Of course the vanguard would be at the front of an army traveling and I read quite a few primary sources in which the vanguard engages an enemy position first while the rest of the army has to catch up. I read that in pitched battles these guard or battles as they were called were deployed in a more linear formation with the vanguard holding the left, mainguard the middle and the rearguard the right (or the other way around).

I'd imagined this is something sensible to do as it allows your army to engage the most of its soldiers, protect it's flanks and overlap the enemies flanks. However in some pitched battle it almost appears as if these larger formation were deployed in a column formation rather than a wider line formation. In the battle of Crecy the crossbowmen of the French were send forward to Skirmish a little ahead of the main army and when they retreated they threw the first group of horsemen that followed them in confusion.

Then there is the famous battle of Agincourt

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When the French observed the English thus advance, they drew up each under his banner, with his helmet on his head: they were, at the same time, admonished by the constable, and others of the princes, to confess their sins with sincere contrition and to fight boldly against the enemy. The English loudly sounded their trumpets as they approached, and the French stooped to prevent the arrows hitting them on the visors of their helmets; thus the distance was now but small between the two armies, although the French had retired some paces. Before, however, the general attack commenced, numbers of the French were slain and severely wounded by the English bowmen. At length the English gained on them so much, and were so close, that excepting the front line, and such as had shortened their lances, the enemy could not raise their hands against them. The division under sir Clugnet de Brabant, of eight hundred men-at-arms, who were intended to break through the English archers, were reduced to seven score, who vainly attempted it. True it is, that sir William de Saveuses, who had been also ordered on this service, quitted his troop, thinking they would follow him, to attack the English, but he was shot dead from off his horse. The others had their horses so severely handled by the archers, that, smarting from pain, they galloped on the van division and threw it into the utmost confusion, breaking the line in many places. The horses were become unmanageable, so that horses and riders were tumbling on the ground, and the whole army was thrown into disorder, and forced back on some lands that had been just sown with corn. Others, from fear of death, fled; and this caused so universal a panic in the army that great part followed the example. The English took instant advantage of the disorder in the van division, and, throwing down their bows, fought lustily with swords, hatchets, mallets, and bill-hooks, slaying all before them. Thus they came to the second battalion that had been posted in the rear of the first; and the archers followed close king Henry and his men-at-arms. Duke Anthony of Brabant, who had just arrived in obedience to the summons of the king of France, threw himself with a small company (for, to make greater haste, he had pushed forward, leaving the main body of his men behind), between the wreck of the van and the second division; but he was instantly killed by the English, who kept advancing and slaying, without mercy, all that opposed them, and thus destroyed the main battalion as they had done the first. They were, from time to time, relieved by their varlets, who carried off the prisoners; for the English were so intent on victory, that they never attended to making prisoners, nor pursuing such as fled. The whole rear division being on horseback, witnessing the defeat of the two others, began to fly, excepting some of its principal chiefs.

As we can see the first wave consisted of 800 men at arms on horseback followed by three battles/guards. Again each entity of the army was routed piecemeal and brought chaos and confusion unto the next in line.

Another battle of the 100 years war which saw a similar setup (and resulted in the same side winning again) was the battle of Nájera in which Bertrand du Guesclin commanded the first division while the king of Castile commanded a second part a bit further back.

The last battle I will name which appears to have followed a similar pattern occurred during the siege of Neuss, what follows are two eyewitness accounts of the same battle. Here the positioning of the army is described in detail.

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As to our news, last Tuesday 23 May the Emperor struck camp in order to approach nearer our siege, but he only passed a wood which was very near him and pitched camp on this side of the wood. As soon as we were definitely informed of his move, which was at about 10.00 a.m., we at once caused the household troops and the companies of our ordinance to take the field, leaving our said siege defended and provided with sufficient forces to resist the sallies of the people in the town and to prevent those beyond the Rhine, who were in considerable force, from crossing to this side to help and revictual those in the town. After making these dispositions for the defence of our siege we took the field and marshalled all our troops on this side of a river which was between us and the Emperor, in the following way. Deployment of the first battle In the first battle [we posted] all the infantry, pikemen of our ordinance, and the English archers both of Messire Jehan Middleton’s company and of our household and guard, together with the infantry belonging to [the companies of] the lords of Fiennes, Roeux, Céquy, Haines, and Peene and other enfeoffed lords. [Among] all these pikemen were intermingled the archers in groups of four, so that there was a pikeman between every group of archers. On the right wing of these infantrymen we posted Messire Jehan Middleton’s mounted men-at-arms, as well as those of Jacques Galliot’s company, all in a single squadron, with the count of Campebasse and all his men as the reserve for this wing. On the left wing of the infantry we posted the enfeoffed lords and their men-at-arms with the count of Celane and his company, all in one squadron and, for their reserve, the two companies of Messires Anthoine and Pierre de Lignanne, also in a single squadron. We appointed our cousin, councillor, and chamberlain the count of Chimay [commander-in-]chief of this battle. Deployment of the second battle In the centre of the second battle we placed the squadron of chamberlains and gentlemen of our chamber and, in reserve, the mounted guards under the command of Messire Olivier de la Marche, our maître d’hôtel, as their captain. In a squadron behind and some distance to the right of the said chamberlains and gentlemen of our chamber [we placed] all the archers of our ordinary guard and all the archers from the companies of Messire Regnier de Brochuysen, the lord of Chanteraine, George de Menton, Jehan de Longueval and Regnier de Vanperghe. The last three of these were knighted that day. On the right wing of the said archers we posted the men-at-arms of the companies of the said Messire Regnier de Brochuysen and Chanteraine with, in reserve, the men-at-arms of the companies of the said Messire George de Menton, Jehan de Longueval and Regnier de Vanperghe, all in one squadron. On the left wing of the said chamberlains and gentlemen of our chamber we posted the archers of our bodyguard and those of the companies of Philippe de Berghes, who was knighted then, and of Philippe Loycette, and on the flank of these archers all the men-at-arms of the companies of the said Messire Philippe de Berghes and Loycette in a single squadron with, as their reserve, the gentlemen of the four estates of our household, in one squadron, commanded by Messire Guillaume de St. Seigne, also our maître d’hôtel, and, under him, by the chiefs of the said four estates. This battle was commanded by the lord of Humbercourt, also our cousin, councillor, and chamberlain, as commander-in-chief in the place of our first chamberlain, [together with] the count of Joigny and the lord of Bièvres. [ Linked Image ] Order of march, river-crossing After these battles had been organized in this way a certain amount of time elapsed, more than was necessary, because the companies did not arrive soon enough at their appointed places. Nevertheless, regardless of the time, we crossed the said river at a ford which was not too deep, firm with a good bottom and, because of the narrowness of the said ford, we made the reserve of the right wing of the first battle march across it in files, the men-at-arms with their coustilliers (light cavalry/mounted infantry) and pages on their right and likewise in file after them went the right wing and all the archers of pikemen of this wing. Then followed the archers and pikemen of the left wing and, after the wing, its reserve, and, in just the same way, the second battle crossed, the reserve of the right wing followed by the wing , the archers of the same wing, and all the rest of the second battle in similar order to the first. After the reserve of the left wing, which consisted of the gentlemen of the four estates, our guard, which constituted the reserve for the said squadron of chamberlains and gentlemen of our chamber, crossed over. Deployment on the other side of the river Because their camp, which backed on to the Rhine, extended towards us, and we were nearest to this end of it, the enemy, thinking that we would come this way, had placed most of their artillery there. They had even trained the artillery in the encampment on the far side of the Rhine to fire in front of this end of their said camp where they thought we would attack. But, in crossing the river, we made all the above-mentioned formations advance to the left of the said camp, that is to our right, and move towards the above mentioned wood which they had passed through on the way to their camp, and we made all the formations and their reserves extend into the same order in which they had been on this side of the river. With regard to our artillery, we passed it over a bridge near the ford after the said battles, which, because they had been in order and crossed the ford as described above, were very quickly reorganized so that, when we crossed the said bridge after the artillery rather than passing through the ford after the said battles, we found they had all crossed over and were in excellent order. They were a very fine sight. It is a fact that on our arrival we moved them further towards the said wood to dodge the fire from over the Rhine and from the side where most of the [enemy] artillery was placed, as well as to gain the sun and the wind which was causing great deal of thick and stinging dust, and so that we could approach the left-hand side of the Emperor’s camp, where it was fortified, but not so well as on the other side. battle We gave the cry of Notre Dame! Monseigneur St. George! and our usual cry of Bourgogne! but, before we made any of our formations march, we moved up our artillery three or four bow-shots in front of us, together with the Italian infantry which had not been in any of the above-mentioned formations, so that it fired at and shot into the Emperor’s camp in such a way that no complete tents, pavilions or lodgings were left standing and people could only remain there with great difficulty. Then, in the name of God, of our Lady and of Monseigneur St. George we gave the signal for the troops to march. This done, the trumpets began to sound and everyone marched joyfully and with smiling faces, making the sign of the cross and recommending themselves to God; the English, according to their custom, making the sign of the cross on the ground and kissing it. Then they all shouted the above-mentioned cry. Because the Germans held a [certain] hillock we caused Jacques Galiot to march there. He formed the right wing of the [first] battle with the count of Campebasse as his reserve. They captured it, and the Germans were forced to flee over the flat ground between the hillock and their camp. During the capture of this hillock several of the Emperor’s people were killed. Realizing that they needed to defend and guard this flat ground to protect the security of their camp, a large number [of the enemy] sallied out both on foot and on horseback and attacked the said Jacques, who was forced to retreat towards the count, his reserve. He had gone some distance ahead of him at the first attack but now the count advanced with his reserve as Jacques fell back on him and they attacked again together and broke the enemy, putting them to flight back to the camp. Here too several of the enemy were killed. Jacques and the count had no archers with them, for the count of Chimay had marched his men too far to the left, so it was not possible at this moment to attempt anything else against the enemy and, because of the artillery fire from the camp, Jacques and the count withdrew down a valley. After this retreat more troops than before, both infantry and cavalry, sallied out of the Emperor’s camp to attack Jacques and the count, who let us know of this. So we had to send them the reserve of the right wing of the second battle, comprising Messires George de Menton, Jehan de Longueval and Regnier de Vanperghe and, immediately afterwards, we sent the reserve of the squadron of our chamberlains, that is, the guards under Messire Olivier de la Marche, and, because they needed archers, we ordered off the entire right wing of archers of the second battle. But the men of this wing, under the command of Messire Regnier de Brochuysen and the lord of Chanteraine, moved quicker than their archers who, because they were on foot, could not keep up with them, and these companies, of Messire Regnier, the lord of Chanteraine and our guard, united with Jacques and the count without waiting for the archers and attacked the [enemy] force which had sallied out, in which were the duke of Saxony and other princes, and drove them back into their camp but, because they did not have with them the archers of the right wing of the second battle, which we had sent them, they were forced by the artillery fire to withdraw to the above-mentioned valley. After this retreat, all the princes came out, deploying the imperial banner, which the duke of Saxony carried, accompanied by all their cavalry and a great number of infantrymen, to attack our people. They forced the right wing of the first battle and its reserve back onto the right wing of the second battle and its reserve, both wings and reserves falling back as far as our guard, which held firm. Seeing this, we took a squadron which had not yet been allocated and went with it towads the right, in order to charge the enemy. We advanced as far as our guard and the archers of the right wing of the [second] battle, in order to charge the enemy on our left, and we personally rallied and reorganized the squadrons which were dispirited and disordered. This done we attacked the said princes again, who were in considerable force of horse and foot, and they were broken and shattered. Many fled, about six or eight hundred horse towards Cologne. The rest stayed in great disorder in their camp. Our artillery continued to fire with such effect that it disrupted everything in their camp. Part of their infantry, up to two or three thousand of them, hoped to save themselves by boat, but a certain number were drowned. They threw their baggage into the boats in such a disorderly fashion that a good deal of it came floating down the Rhine, together with the dead and drowned, to the island were we had established part of our siege. It was then reported to us that the left wing and the reserves of the first battle, commanded by the count of Chimay, had beaten back the enemy in much disorder to their camp, so we decided to make all the formations advance to attack the [enemy] transport and, with this intention, we moved our artillery to where it could be most effectively used against the defenders of the said transport. But before this could be accomplished the light failed and night made it impossible for us to see everything, so that we could advance no further. By the grace of God we returned in such a way as to bring back everything safe and sound and at pur leisure, for it took us a good four hours to return to our siege. And, though their artillery fire was amazingly heavy and concentrated, nonetheless by the grace of God, our Lady and Monseigneur St. George, there were only three dead and six wounded among our people.

*Death count appears to only account for notable deaths

A second account of the same battle.

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On 23 May the Emperor with his army came and lodged nearer this lord [duke’s] camp, half a league from it, where he was below a hillock. At once the duke was happy and full of good cheer as it is possible to say, hoping to give battle to the enemy. He gave orders to those who had to defend the camp, so that the town remained besieged and so that certain places were furnished with men-at-arms to stop the enemy sallying forth. He ordered some conductieri with their men-at-arms to advance to a plain near, or rather next to, the camp, from which there was a bridge convenient to cross over. His lordship armed himself from head to foot in my presence joking with me the whole time. Armed, he went to the church near his pavilion to pray to our glorious Lady, then straight away mounted on a fine courser, he had some sixty big artillery pieces, bombards, spingarde and spingardelle, set forward in the above-mentioned plain while organizing the squadrons, the battle and the wings. … Then he made his troops cross the bridge en masse, in all about 12,000 picked combatants turned out like St. George. Certainly I never saw people so resolved either to die or to return victorious and advancing with such spirit, as these. The duke laughed and seemed to be jubilant. He presented himself with these squadrons in front of the Emperor’s camp, which he found was already fortified with wagons and ditches with the [enemy] fully prepared behind the stockade, with much artillery. At about 20.00 hours the duke’s artillery and large spingarde began to fire among the enemy and they replied in terrible fashion so that it seemed like hell, and as if the world would be destroyed by thunder and fire. Then they attacked the leading squadrons with some infantry composed of hand-gunners but these were driven back and numbers of them were killed by our infantry. Afterwards a squadron of about 2,000 horse with many hand-gunners came out and, by command of the duke, Jacobo Galeoto and the count of Campobasso with the Italians assaulted them and drove them ignominiously behind the barricades. Then they reinforced themselves, so that 3,000 horse and about 6,000 hand-gunners on foot came out, their rear well protected by others. To bring them out further, Jacobo Galeoto and the count pretended to flee and, having gone some distance, they turned and pressed them so close that their horses passed over the bodies of many of their infantry, and again they drove them behind the barricades, killing a good many, with such impetus that many of our people penetrated inside. Here at the barriers the fight continued until dark night. … I was in the field during this engagement and I saw the duke applying himself in person here and there admirably in organizing and commanding. He has a mind like Caesar’s … I have never seen anyone so assured as his lordship. The [shots from] spingarde and bombards flew furiously around his horse, yet he did not care. … It required no small spirit to have left the siege and the fortified camp to go and assault the Emperor and all the power of Germany, which has not been so united for 200 years and to have returned with such a honour.

Now having said all this my question boils down to this: Did these medieval generals arrange their army in a column like shape with successive lines of soldiers arranged deep rather than wide, or am I misinterpreting the text? And, provided the answer to the first question is yes, why did they arrange their army in such a manner? Was it a lack of space that left them unable to deploy their army in full width or is there some kind of tactical consideration?

Cheers!

Having reread the account of the skirmish at Neuss (I don't think it's such a major battle since it didn't really receive a hugely prominent mention in most contemporary sources), I decided to draw a series of maps to show my simplified interpretation/understanding of what happened throughout the fight. We start with the initial deployment, where the Burgundian army had crossed the river and redeployed off towards the left flank of the Imperial camp rather than straight to its front.



Then the initial movement, with the two squadrons of cavalry from the right wing of the first battle peeling off to seize dominating terrain (a hillock) on the right and Galeoto's lead squadron driving off the small Imperial force posted there.



A fresh force sallies out from the Imperial camp and beats Galeoto back.



Galeoto then links up with his reserve/trailing squadron under Campobasso and their united force drives the Imperials back.



The engagement continues to snowball; the Imperials send out an even larger force, while Galeoto and Campobasso are reinforced by forces from the second battle since the first battle had moved too far to the left to send aid in time.



Having beaten back the Imperials for the third time but unable to press on since the archers on foot were still lagging behind, the right-wing force decides to regroup and reorganise into three lines partially corresponding to their original organisation: Galeoto and Campobasso from the first battle in the first line, the reinforcement squadrons from the second battle (except the guards) in the second line, and the guards and the infantry archers in the third. Note that the depth of the lines (and the size of the forces) in this right-wing engagement are probably hugely exaggerated relative to the actual space these forces would have occupied on the ground. This is probably the only moment in the battle where your question about the "column of lines" really applies; we don't know why the reorganised force decided to deploy itself in this particular manner, but I think it must have had something to do with wanting to utilise the command and deployment arrangements already devised for the army (i.e. the first battle leading, second battle trailing) rather than having to devise a completely new command and deployment plan on the spot.



Now comes the climatic moment, where an Imperial force larger than the previous ones breaks through the first and the second battles but is successfully stopped by the squadron of guards acting as a last reserve. Here the Duke of Burgundy leads an uncommitted squadron around the Burgundian right to strike the Imperial left flank, but there is no clear indication of which component this squadron came from so I've decided not to depict it.



Note that I had moved Chimay's and Humbercourt's forces -- the main bodies of the first and second battles, respectively -- in an incremental fashion under the assumption that Chimay's first battle must eventually reach the Imperial camp somehow by the time the cavalry skirmish on the right was building up to its climax. There was no further information about the components of Humbercourt's force (the second battle) that didn't join the fighting on the right, so again I've decided not to place them in any definite location on the map for this last phase.

On the whole, the engagement looks like a classic cavalry fight with its see-saw dynamics -- something we see on a much larger scale in the Western Desert campaign of WW2.

Thanks for the illustration that clears things up quite a bit. In my mind the army was actually deployed way deeper which would indeed be a bit odd. I had hoped to reply a bit earlier but promptly forgot about it.

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Of course, we can look at the example of Agincourt in greater detail. If the French plan had been followed to the letter, they would have had at least a reasonable chance of winning. But the English probably knew that the French had some sort of plan that would crush them if they didn't do anything about it, and all accounts agree that the English were the first to make a move by advancing into shooting distance and provoking the French to attack. This was where the French plan unraveled; the English shooting successfully baited the cavalry reserves of the first French battle into a premature and unsupported attack rather than waiting until the first battle had pinned down the English line and then striking them in both flanks. Enguerrand de Monstrelet even went so far as to hint that after the initial English success at baiting and then repelling the initial French cavalry attack, the English force followed it up by charging down upon the French first battle -- quite contrary to the orthodox modern interpretation of the English waiting for the French attack behind their prepared defences. (For the record, I find it easier to believe that the English won by counterattacking rather than just defending.) So the short answer is: the French did have a good plan that involved pinning down the English with the first battle and then enveloping the English flanks, but the proactive English movements basically pre-empted that plan and prevented it from being put into action. It also highlights the command, control, and communication problems that have plagued armies throughout history, but especially before the advent of portable two-way radios; it would have been difficult enough for the French commander to devise a new plan on the spot, but the toughest part would be communicating such an alternate plan to the unengaged second and third battles. What those battles knew was what they could see, and when the third battle saw that the first and second battles had been unexpectedly broken, it essentially chose to save its skin rather than entering the fray only to suffer the same fate. That brings up the question of what the second battle was doing; the accounts we have don't agree on enough details to really let us figure out whether the interval between it and the first battle was too small, so that it didn't have the time and space to turn to the left or right and clear a lane for the first battle to retreat when its assault failed; or too large, so that it was too late to came to the first battle's aid and was only able to launch a separate piecemeal assault after the first battle had been broken.

Ah the way I read it I thought it was part of the plan to engage the enemy with cavalry first, something which had failed so many times I could hardly imagine Boucicaut would have tried it again. A provoked attack seems more logical. As for the second line, doesn't the source describe the broken remnants of the first line throwing it in confusion? It's also possible they bunched up a little

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thus the distance was now but small between the two armies, although the French had retired some paces.

which might the vanguard went back further than the main line.

Then there is this bit:

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At length the English gained on them so much, and were so close, that excepting the front line, and such as had shortened their lances, the enemy could not raise their hands against them.

Which also suggest it was a relatively messy affair. What I also find striking is that he talks about lances and not pollaxes. In fact quite a number of battles being depicted show dismounted man-at-arms fighting with lances rather than pollaxes, though this is diverging from the original topic.

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The others had their horses so severely handled by the archers, that, smarting from pain, they galloped on the van division and threw it into the utmost confusion, breaking the line in many places.

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and the whole army was thrown into disorder, and forced back on some lands that had been just sown with corn. Others, from fear of death, fled; and this caused so universal a panic in the army that great part followed the example.

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Duke Anthony of Brabant, who had just arrived in obedience to the summons of the king of France, threw himself with a small company (for, to make greater haste, he had pushed forward, leaving the main body of his men behind), between the wreck of the van and the second division; but he was instantly killed by the English, who kept advancing and slaying, without mercy, all that opposed them, and thus destroyed the main battalion as they had done the first.

Perhaps the second line was also disrupted by fleeing troops, maddened horses and compressed so badly the men could hardly fight, but this is just conjecture.

There are two other battles in which the Vanguard seems to have engaged a numerical larger force such as the Battle of Stoke field and the Battle of Nájera.

[ Linked Image ]

The picture has no source so I have no way of knowing what good it is.

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After midnight the trumpets sounded in king Henry's host. Then every man made him ready. At the second blast they drew out of their lodgings and ordered three battles. The first had sir Bertram of Guesclin, lord Robert of Roquebertin and the earl Dune of Aragon ; and there were all the strangers, as well of France as of other countries, and there were two barons of Hainault, the lord d'Antoing and sir Alard lord of Briffeuil : there was also the Begue of Villaines, the Begue of Villiers, sir John of Berguettes, sir Gawain of Bail- leul, the Alemant of Saint-Venant, who was there made knight, and divers other of France, Aragon and Provence and of the marches thereabout. There was well in that battle four thousand knights and squires well armed and dressed after the usage of France. The second battle had the earl dontello and his brother the earl Sancho, and in that battle with the gene- tours there were fifteen thousand afoot and a-horseback, and they drew them a little aback on the left hand of the first, battle. The third battle and the greatest of all governed king Henry himself; and in his company there were a seven thousand horsemen and threescore thousand afoot, with the cross-bows : so in all three battles he was a fourscore and six thousand a-horse- back and afoot. Then king Henry leapt on a strong mule after the usage of the country and rode from battle to battle, right sweetly praying every man that day to employ himself to defend and keep their honour, and so he shewed himself so cheer- fully that every man was joyful to behold him. Then he went again to his own battle, and by that time it was daylight, and then about the sun -rising he ad- vanced forth toward Navaret to find his enemies, in good order of battle ready to fight. The prince of Wales at the breaking of the day was ready in the field arranged in battle, and advanced forward in good order, for he knew well he should encounter his enemies. So there were none that went before the marshals' battles but such currours as were appointed : so thus the lords of both hosts knew by the report of their currours that they should shortly meet. So they went forward an hosting pace each toward other, and when the sun was rising up, it was a great beauty to behold the battles and the armours shining against the sun. So thus they went forward till they approached near together : then the prince and his company went over a little hill, and in the descending thereof they perceived clearly their enemies coming toward them. And when they were all descended down this mountain, then every man drew to their battles and kept them still and so rested them, and every man dressed and apparelled himself ready to fight. Then anon after, the English- men and Gascons alighted off their horses and every man drew under their own banner and standard in array of battle ready to fight. It was great joy to see and consider the banners and pennons and the noble armoury ^ that was there. Then the battles began a little to advance, and then the prince of Wales opened his eyen and regarded toward heaven, and joined his hands together and said : ' Very God, Jesu Christ,^ who hath formed and created me, consent by your benign grace that I may have this day victory of mine enemies, as that I do is in a rightful quarrel, to sustain and to aid this king chased out of his own heritage, the which giveth me courage to advance my- self to re-establish him again into his realm.' And first the duke of Lancaster and sir John Chandos' battle assembled with the battle of sir Bertram of Guesclin and of the marshal sir Arnold d'Audrehem, who were a four thousand men of arms. So at the first brunt there was a sore encounter with spears and shields, and they were a certain space or any of them could get within other. There was many a deed of arms done and many a man reversed and cast to the earth, that never after was relieved. And when these two first battles were thus assembled, the other battles would not long tarry behind, but approached and assembled together quickly. And so the prince and his battle came on the earl Sancho's battle, and with the prince was king don Peter of Castile and sir Martin de la Carra, who represented the king of Navarre. And at the first meeting that the prince met with the earl Sancho's battle, the earl and his brother fled away without order or good array, and wist not why, and a two thousand spears with him. So this second battle was opened and anon discomfited, for the captal of Buch and the lord Clisson and their company came on them afoot and slew and hurt many of them. Then the prince's battle with king don Peter came and joined with the battle of king Henry, whereas there were three- score thousand men afoot and a-horseback. There the battle began to be fierce and cruel on all parts, for the Spaniards and Castilians had slings, wherewith they cast stones in such wise, that therewith they clave and brake many a bassenet and helm and hurt many a man and overthrew them to the earth ; and the archers of England shot fiercely and hurt [the] Spaniards grievously and brought them to great mis- chief. The one part cried, ' Castile for king Henry ! ' and the other part, ' Saint George, Guyenne ! ' And the first battle, as the duke of Lancaster and sir John Chandos and the two marshals sir Guichard d'Angle and sir Stephen Cosington, fought with sir Bertram of Guesclin and with the other knights of France and of Aragon. There was done many a deed of arms, so it was hard for any of them to open other's battle. Divers of them held their spears in both their hands, foining and pressing each at other, and some fought with short swords and daggers. Thus at the begin- ning the Frenchmen and they of Aragon fought valiantly, so that the good knights of England endured much pain. That day sir John Chandos was a good knight and did under his banner many a noble feat of arms. He adventured himself so far, that he was closed in among his enemies and so sore overpressed that he was felled down to the earth ; and on him there fell a great and big man of Castile called Martin Fer- rant, who was greatly renowned of hardi- ness among the Spaniards, and he did his intent to have slain sir John Chandos, who lay under him in great danger. Then sir John Chandos remembered of a knife that he had in his bosom and drew it out and strake this Martin so in the back and in the sides that he wounded him to death, as he lay on him. Then sir John Chandos turned him over and rose quickly on his feet, and his men were there about him, who had with much pain broken the press to come to him, whereas they saw him felled. (Here Froissart praises most English and French knights to high heaven while saying the Spanish were slightly less good, decided not to include it) This was a marvellous dangerous battle, and many a man slain and sore hurt. The commons of Spain according to the usage of their country with their slings they did cast stones with great violence and did much hurt, the which at the beginning troubled greatly the Englishmen : but when their cast was past and that they felt the sharp arrows hght among them, they could no longer keep their array. With king Henry in his battle were many noble men of arms, as well of Spain as of Lisbon, of Aragon and of Portugal, who acquitted them right nobly and gave it not up so lightly, for valiantly they fought with spears, javelins, archegayes and swords ; and on the wing of king Henry's battle there were certain well mounted, who always kept the battle in good order, for if the battle opened or brake array in any side, then they were ever ready to help to bring them again into good order. So these Englishmen and Gascons, or they had the advantage, they bought it dearly, and won it by noble chivalry and great prowess of arms : and for to say truth, the prince himself was the chief flower of chivalry of all the world, and had with him as then right noble and valiant knights and squires : and a little beside the prince's battle was the king of Mallorca and his company, fighting and acquitting themselves right valiantly, and also there was the lord Martin de la Carra represent- ing the king of Navarre, who did right well his devoir. The battle that was best fought and longest held together was the company of sir Bertram of Guesclin, for there were many noble men of arms who fought and held together to their powers, and there was done many a noble feat of arms. And on the English part specially there was sir John Chandos, who that day did like a noble knight and governed and counselled that day the duke of Lancaster in like manner as he did before the prince at the battle of Poitiers, wherein he was greatly renowned and praised, the which was good reason ; for a valiant man and a good knight, acquitting himself nobly among lords and princes, ought greatly to be re- commended : for that day he took no heed for taking of any prisoner with his own hands, but always fought and went forward ; but there was taken by his company under his banner divers good knights and squires of Aragon and of France, and specially sir Bertram of Guesclin, sir Arnold d'Audre- hem, sir Begue of Villaines and more than threescore prisoners. So thus finally the battle of sir Bertram of Guesclin was discomfited, and all that were therein taken and slain, as well they of France as of Aragon. There was slain the Begue of Villiers, and taken the lord Antoing of Hainault, the lord Briff'euil, sir Gawain of Bailleul, sir John of Berguettes, sir Ale- mant of Saint -Venant and divers other. Then drew together these banners, the banner of the duke of Lancaster, of sir John Chandos and of the two marshals, and the pennon of Saint George, and went all together on the battle of king Henry and cried with a high voice, * St. George, Guyenne ! ' Then the Spaniards and their company were sore put aback. The captal of Buch and the lord Clisson fought vali- antly, and also sir Eustace d'Aubrecicourt, sir Hugh Calverley, sir soudic, sir John Devereux and other acquitted themselves that day right nobly. The prince shewed himself like a noble knight and fought valiantly with his enemies. On the other side king Henry acquitted himself right valiantly, and recovered and turned again his people that day three times. For after that the earl don Tello and a three thou- sand horsemen with him were departed from the field, the other began then greatly to be discomfited and were ever ready to fly after their company ; but then ever king Henry was before them and said, 'Fair lords, what do you? Wherefore will ye thus forsake and betray me? Sith ye have made me king and set the crown on my head and put the heritage of Castile into my hands, return and help to keep and defend me, and abide with me ; for by the grace of God, or it be night, all shall be ours ' : so that these words or such-like encouraged his people in such wise, that it made them to abide longer in the field, for they durst not fly for shame when they saw their king and their lord so valiantly fight and speak so amiably : so that there died more than a thousand and five hundred persons, that might well have saved them- selves and have taken the time to their advantage, an the love that they had to their lord and king had not been. When the battle of the marshals were passed through their enemies and had dis- comfited the greatest number of them,^ so that the Spaniards could not sustain nor defend them any longer, but began to fly away in great fear without any good array or order toward the city of Nazres, and so passed by the great river,^ so that for any words that king Henry could say they would not return, and when the king saw the mischief and discomfiture of his people and that he saw no recovery, then he called for his horse and mounted thereon and put himself among them that fled ; bm he took not the way to Nazres, for fe of enclosing, but then took another eschewing all perils, for he knew well tba' if he were taken, he should die without mercy. Then the Englishmen and GaS' cons leapt a-horseback and began to ch the Spaniards, who fled away sore discom fited to the great river. And at the entr of the bridge of Nazres there was a hideous shedding of blood, and many a man slain and drowned ; for divers leapt into the water, the which was deep and hideous ; they thought they had as lief to be drowned as slain. And in this chase among other there were two valiant knights of Spain bearing on them the habit of religion, the one called the great prior of Saint James and the other the great master of Cala- trava ; they and their company to save themselves entered into Nazres, and they were so near chased at their back by Eng- lishmen and Gascons, that they ^ won the bridge, so that there was a great slaughter ; and the Englishmen entered into the city after their enemies, who were entered into a strong house of stone. Howbeit, incon- tinent it was won by force, and the knights taken and many of their men slain and all the city overrun and pilled, the which was greatly to the Englishmen's profit.

A nice description of how individual combat could appear in the press of two lines is located somewhere in there. I cannot validate the numbers of combatants involved but they seems a little high to me.

As for your drawings which are quite nicely made: Did you include the initial infantry engagement? Are these infantry under the command of Chimay?

Quote:

At about 20.00 hours the duke’s artillery and large spingarde began to fire among the enemy and they replied in terrible fashion so that it seemed like hell, and as if the world would be destroyed by thunder and fire. Then they attacked the leading squadrons with some infantry composed of hand-gunners but these were driven back and numbers of them were killed by our infantry.

Najera is always a pretty tough nut to crack. But in any case virtually all interpretations I've seen of the battle sees the advance of the French vanguard as the start of a multi-phased attack plan, which (once again) was foiled by proactive English movements. What's clear from all the sources is that Bertrand du Guesclin's vanguards kept on fighting for very long time, remaining unbroken despite heavy pressure. This was exactly what a heavily-armed but outnumbered vanguard should do, and the plan failed not because the vanguard failed but because the rest of the army didn't really pull their weight in the engagement (or were prevented from doing so). Indeed, David Nicolle's interpretation in his Osprey book on late medieval warfare interprets it as having the French vanguard be the first heavy unit to enter the fray and the very last one the break.

Pieter B. wrote:

As for your drawings which are quite nicely made: Did you include the initial infantry engagement? Are these infantry under the command of Chimay?

No, since I don't see it as a separate part of the engagement. It was probably just part of one of the initial back-and-forth exchanges between Galeoto's detachment and the Imperial outpost/advance forces. After all, nowhere it is said that Galeoto's force was exclusively made up of cavalry -- or that the initial German infantry advance was "driven back" by the infantry, only that "numbers of them were killed by our infantry." And the next sentence mentioned a joint assault by both Galeoto and Campobasso, which hints that the first encounter was the one handled by Galeoto and his forces before he linked up with Campobasso.