by Griff Hosker
“I will think on your words, Captain Philip.”
And I did. It took us two days to reach London and I had made my mind up long before reaching the Thames. I would continue to fight for England.
Chapter 5
We found the King at Eltham Palace along with his son. Edward, Duke of Cornwall. The young Prince was to be important in my life but that day was the first time I had met him. He was just ten years of age but seemed a very serious young man who was most interested in our report. Also, there was Henry, Earl of Derby, who had led King Edward’s army in Scotland. Captain Philip had me with him, not least because he was able to use me as a human crutch. He still could not walk well. I saw that day how kings treat their people. The Captain was not offered a chair because no one sat in the presence of the King! The other reason was to confirm the disaster of Portsmouth. As two of the few to have survived from the garrison our testimony would be important.
Captain Philip gave an honest account of the events and he did not try to garner himself in glory.
The King nodded thoughtfully when he had finished and said, “I know, Captain, that you will answer me truthfully. Could aught have been done to save the ships and the town?”
He shook his head, “With the numbers of men we had, the wooden walls and the lack of a fleet then no. Had Sir Walter Manny been close, with the fleet, then we could have defeated the French but otherwise, we were doomed to lose.”
He looked at Lord Henry, “It is as I feared! We need to make our defences of stone and build a fleet.”
“And that takes money, my lord, and if we spent money on those then we could not afford the men. Now that we have the support of Europe then we just need money.”
The King sat back in his chair, “Then I need to go to the moneylenders once more. How many men can you muster, Earl?”
Lord Henry rubbed his beard, “We have, perhaps, five hundred men at arms and I could muster six hundred archers.”
“Not a great army but one which will have to do. Sail for Dunkerque and join with the Count of Flanders and the Count of Hainault. Try to draw the French towards you. I will secure the loan and follow you there. I will have Salisbury and Suffolk join me.” They all nodded. He seemed to see me for the first time, “Is this the young archer both of you mentioned to me?” I was shocked and surprised that either of them had spoken to the King about me.
“He is, King Edward, and he helped to save not only me but four other archers. Sadly, they later died but that was not Hawkwood’s fault.”
The King nodded, “And will you serve your king, Hawkwood?”
“It would be my honour.”
“Then take him, Lord Henry. Captain Philip will command the archers and he shall be a gentleman and paid accordingly.”
“Thank you, King Edward.”
“You will earn the extra pay, Captain, for our archers will be the difference between success and failure. I am afraid that we may have to empty the gaols to fill the ranks of archers. If we cannot afford to pay them then let us offer them freedom if they please us.”
And so we rode, once more, to Dover. There were still some men there who had fought at Cadzand and the Earl of Derby’s men were also there. We learned that the Duke of Lancaster, Lord Henry’s father, who was one of the richest men in England, had settled a large sum on his eldest son and Lord Henry was using that to help his cousin, the King. While Captain Philip rode with his lordship I was relegated to the baggage but I did not mind. The King knew my name. I wished that my father could know about this and my mother. She would be proud, and he would be apoplectic with rage! Both outcomes would please me!
When we reached the camp, I found I knew some of the archers but none of them were my tent mates and I was saddened. I got on well enough with the other archers but the four with whom I had first served had a special bond with me and from the moment we set foot in France I felt different and a little alone. I was not distant with my fellow archers, indeed I got on well with them all but none were close to me. I did not confide in them as I had with Harry and Silent Simon. All my fears and hopes were kept inside, just for me! I was helped by the fact that I no longer looked like a new archer. I had a gambeson and helmet and the gambeson, with the red cross, showed wear and tear. The others knew I had fought. The story of my rescue of Captain Philip at Portsmouth was also widely known and as I had not sought aggrandisement, others thought well of me. That and the nods I received from lords like Lord Henry, Sir Robert Fitzwalter and Sir Richard also told them that I was an archer of repute. Although there were archers who had been with us at Cadzand there were others, the men who had come from Lancashire and Derby with his lordship, for whom this would be a new experience. In addition, there were the men who had been released from gaols with the promise of freedom. All I met asked me about the ships and the crossing. I was honest with them for that was one part of the campaign that I would not enjoy. This would not, however, be a raid like Cadzand. We would be landing at Dunkerque and riding forth into enemy land. We would neither know the land nor the language. When we had been on Cadzand I had vaguely recognised a couple of the Flemish words but other than that it was like the language Dai the Taff had spoken to fellow Welshmen; incomprehensible.
Once more I was to be paid as a mounted archer and I would be with the van. It was a place of honour. It also meant I would take Megs with me. I found myself confiding in Megs in the same way I had confided in my tent mates. I am not sure if any of my words made sense to her, but she sometimes nodded and just the speaking of the words to her gave me comfort. The other person I spoke to each day was Captain Philip who used me as a sort of servant while he was recovering. The healers told him to keep off the injured foot for at least a week and so he gave his commands from his tent. I often summoned his centenars and vintenars and that also enhanced my position. The men who gave commands on the battlefield chatted easily with me. I think that also made it harder for the other archers to become close to me. Soldiers like clear divisions between those who give the orders and those who follow them. Robert of Nantwich had been close to the four of us but not the others. We knew what he was like, but they feared his wrath. I was neither fish nor fowl and men distrust that which they do not know.
It was the same fleet which had taken us to Cadzand which gathered off Dover and Sir Walter Manny commanded. This time I had the confidence to speak with the sailors. They liked Sir Walter and told me that once we had been landed then they were going back to Sluys to entice the French into battle. I had had an inkling of this as I had caught some of the conversation between Lord Henry, the King and Captain Philip. The coast of England had too many places where the French could attack and cause mischief and the only way to guarantee that they could not hurt us, as they had at Southampton and Portsmouth, was to destroy or, at the very least, damage the fleet. I was just worried that we might lose and then we would be stranded on the island of Englishmen in France that was Dunkerque!
This time we had a flatter crossing, for it was shorter, and a dry landing for there was a stone quay. We were also welcomed by Englishmen and there were so many of us that it was English which was spoken in most of the taverns and inns. By the time we landed Captain Philip was almost fully recovered and the day after, he led the mounted archers to scout out the Flemish and French defences. The Flemish had tired of their French overlords for King Philip had had many Flemish executed after Cadzand, blaming them for the attack. Sir Walter Manny and his fleet, off Sluys, would encourage them to rise in revolt against King Philip. We were sent to find weaknesses.
The land south of Cambrai was known as Cambresis and even I, a relative novice, saw that it was an area which was ripe for the plucking. The land was flat and suited mounted men. All that we had to do was to take Cambrai. The walls were stone walls and it looked to be well defended. As our band of two hundred archers drew up outside the town walls, Captain Philip spoke to his officers. We were a good six hundred paces from the walls and beyond the range of crossbows. As
he was speaking, I saw the gates open and men at arms and crossbowmen raced out aggressively. Our time in Dover had not been wasted and Captain Philip roared out, “Horse holders! String bows!”
I was now more than a competent rider and I put that down to Megs being such a good horse. I let her reins drop knowing that Jacob, the designated horse holder, would have no trouble with her. I was in position before anyone and that included the vintenar. I could string my full-sized bow easily and I had dyed my fletch so that I knew which arrow to draw. The crossbows were the danger and I drew a war arrow which would tear through the padded jackets of the crossbowmen. We all hated crossbows and the men who used them. Any fool who could pull back a string could use one, but it took years and God’s touch to make an archer. I had an arrow nocked even as Jack of Tarporley, our vintenar, shouted, “Nock!”
I had never faced so many crossbows before. Hitherto I had seen them used from walls and the decks of ships. Here I saw that the men who used them had to kneel and to use their knee for support when they released them. A crossbow is not a thing of beauty, it is ugly and front heavy. A longbow is a craftsman made object and a joy to use. While we could send volleys, they had to send their bolts almost individually. The fact that we had to dismount and, in some cases, string bows, meant that they were in position and sending their bolts at us first. They drew first blood and some of our men were hit. I smiled when I saw some bolts fall short.
“Draw!”
I pulled back and heard the reassuring creak of the bow.
“Release!”
Even as the arrows flew, we all took a second arrow from our war bags. The crossbowmen had to stand and put their foot in the stirrup to draw back the string using the spanning hooks attached to their belts. In the time it took to do that we had sent three arrows each. The French managed one more ragged flutter of bolts before the horn sounded and the French pulled back. They left the ground littered with bodies. We cheered until Captain Philip shouted, “Silence! Mount your horses and tend to the wounded.” As we did so he added, “John Hawkwood, find me a wounded man to question!”
I had slung my bow and mounted Megs before the words had stopped echoing. I knew time was not on my side. The crossbowmen would be on their walls as soon as they could and if they had forty crossbows aimed at me then one would hit! I saw that we had killed at least thirty crossbowmen and one man at arms. The wounded who could, were hurrying back into the town. I saw one crossbowman whose leg was pinned to the ground. The arrow had struck his shin and he looked in agony.
I stopped Megs and leapt from her back. With the reins on the ground, she would graze. The French soldier had a helmet and a leather brigandine. When he saw me, he tried to reach his sword. From the walls, I heard shouts and a couple of bolts came in my direction. They were half-heartedly released as they did not wish to harm their own man. I took my hand axe and, reversing it, hit him on the back of the head to stun him. He fell back and I jammed my axe back into my belt. I snapped off the arrow and picked him up. I threw his body over Megs’ neck and then mounted her. More bolts flew at me and one clanged off my helmet making my ears ring. I had outstayed my welcome. The other archers cheered as I rode back, and I saw that Captain Philip was grinning.
“I hope you have not killed him!”
“Just a gentle tap, Captain.”
“Bring forth the spare horse and tie him to it. Let us return to the army! We have enough now to tell Lord Henry.”
My standing rose even higher that day but the proud smile from my Captain was all that I needed. Of course, I had also taken the purse from the Frenchman as I had ridden back and so I was in profit. I also took his bascinet helmet which was a good one.
When we camped for the night the prisoner answered every question. He was encouraged by the fact that Captain Philip would not allow our healer to tend to his wound until he did. The commander of the garrison was Étienne de la Baume who was the grandmaster of the French crossbows. It explained the aggressive nature of their defence. There were three hundred of them in the town and men at arms too. That posed a problem for while crossbows were not a real problem on the battlefield when used from inside a town or a castle, they could be effective. You could kill the operator, and another could use the devil’s machine.
Three days after we returned to Dunkerque, King Edward and his eldest son arrived with more men. We were ready to go to war and the whole army headed back to Cambrai. The King surrounded the town and the entire cohort of archers ringed it. King Edward demanded the surrender of the town and, of course, de la Baume refused. We advanced behind a line of men at arms and sent wave after wave of arrows at the walls. Crossbow bolts slammed into the shields of the men at arms. Some fell and some of the bolts hit archers. When we had exhausted our supply, we withdrew and King Edward, Lord Henry, the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk retired to come up with a plan. This was not Aberdeen. The wall was made of stone and they had stone towers. The stronghold would require a good plan for us to reduce it.
A day later and we were ready to go again. Ladders were made although I did not envy the men who would use them. These were not knights but men at arms who hoped for a reward from the King. It was as we were lining up that the French unleashed a new weapon and one I had never seen before. From their walls, a metal tube disgorged flame and such a crack as to make us all think that a thunderstorm was overhead. There was a whistling sound, and something flew towards one of the tents, tearing a hole in it and setting it alight. Some men cowered but I stood and watched, fascinated. This happened ten times along the wall. Whatever weapon it was they had ten of them. The missiles they sent appeared to do little damage save setting alight two tents and killing an unfortunate horse. They did, however, dishearten the men. The French prisoner we had taken was still with us and King Edward himself questioned him. The prisoner was quite happy to tell us that they were a metal tube called a cannone, he said it was an Italian word, and that they used a black powder and flame to send a rock at an enemy. I learned this later on. I watched the men on the wall beavering away. They must have been reloading. The cannone fired a second time. We saw the tongue of fire, like a dragon, spew forth and there was a smell of sulphur in the air. This time all ten weapons were used at once and a black cloud filled the ground before the walls.
I turned to Captain Philip, “Captain, I am guessing that these weapons take as long to reload as a crossbow and that while they are reloading, they are both vulnerable and blind.”
He gave me a shrewd look, “They do not frighten you?”
“Two burned tents and a dead horse? I think not.”
“Let us see if you are right.”
The King and his advisers, with men carrying shields before them, advanced so that they could observe these cannone in action. I learned the word for I was close by Captain Philip when Lord Henry told him. “They are metal tubes which throw rocks at us. The flames cannot hurt us. We know that trebuchet and mangonels are only useful against walls.”
“Aye, Lord Henry. Hawkwood here seems to think that they take a long time to load and while they do so the smoke and the fact that they appear to have to lean out to load them makes them vulnerable.”
The Earl nodded, “Then the next time they belch forth, take some of your men and see if they can hit the men operating these machines!”
It took a long time for the cannone to be ready and Captain Philip had, by then, gathered his chosen men and told us what he intended. “Mark where these weapons are and when they loose their rocks we run forward, hidden from the walls by the smoke and loose three arrows in swift succession to see if we can rid the walls of the men.”
As soon as the cannone cracked we ran, knowing that we were hidden. We needed no order and I had marked the place already where I would stop. I nocked a war arrow, drew back and loosed. I heard a cry for others were loosing their arrows too. I heard shouts and the crossbows cracked. The difference was that we knew where the parapet was to be found but we were hidden. After my third arr
ow, I ran back. As the smoke cleared so we saw the effect. Two archers had been hit and lay on the ground but there were five of the French lying before the walls. For the next seven days, we duelled with the French until they decided that the cannone were not worth the effort. The men who operated them were highly skilled. It allowed King Edward to assault the walls.
The archers had an easier time when we began our next attack for we were more than one hundred and fifty paces from the walls. Our task was to keep the enemy from pushing away the ladders or using their crossbows. We did not always succeed, and some men fell to their deaths. Once they made the walls then we had to stop and, in that interval, the men at arms were driven back. We spent five fruitless weeks attacking. We lost men and so did the French, but no gains were made and then we had a message that the French were sending an army to relieve Cambrai. The message said it was a large army and so we headed back to Dunkerque. It was a disappointment to all of us for although we had been paid there had been no booty!
The plain of Cambresis was a rich one and we plundered and pillaged our way back to the toe hold which England retained in France. Sir Richard Elfingham was left with a strong garrison at the castle of Thun-l'Eveque which was not far from Cambrai while the rest of us advanced to La Capelle where there was a ridge backed by a wood and we proceeded to make a defensive position. We hewed down saplings, sharpened them and placed them before and around the archers. The horsemen were dismounted and formed a block between the two sets of archers, and we waited. We did not go hungry for we had taken a great deal from the farms on the plains of Cambresis and we emptied the forests of game!
When the French did arrive, it was a huge army but, as we were to find out six years later, size did not always matter. It was an allied army with no one in real command. King Edward impressed me with his defensive strategy. The French and their allies could attack but it would be uphill and with fifteen hundred arrows raining down on them. Here their crossbows would be of little use as we were on the heights and could outrange them. What we, the ordinary archers, could not possibly know was that King Edward had persuaded the Flemish to change sides so that when their contingent left the French army and their cities threw out the French soldiers, King Philip was isolated and he fell back to Paris. The battle never took place and we did not have to draw a bow, but we won the war.