by Griff Hosker
As we sat, one evening in May, the Prince began to plan what he would do next. “I have some monies of my own left to me by my grandfather, John of Gaunt, I will use those. How much is the shortfall and the pay for the army, Sir John?”
The steward scanned his documents, “A little short of nineteen hundred pounds, sire.”
I saw the Prince considering. He nodded, “I will pay that from my own coffers. When Glendower is defeated, I will reclaim it from him! Pay the men and prepare to leave. We head directly for Harlech. We know that the land will be scorched and there will be nought to eat. Each man will carry his own provisions. We will move quickly. We leave in two days.” He smiled at me, “I know that the first thing the men will do when they are paid is to spend a great portion of it on ale and whores. I would not ride with men who have thick heads. This way they go to war with two of their appetites satisfied!” He had wisdom beyond his years. His father would not have thought of that. He would just have left and not considered his men.
We did not head for Machynlleth instead we made directly for Harlech. The Welsh had spies and scouts out and they knew we were coming. The castles of Aberystwyth and Harlech were important to the Welsh for they were the southernmost castles of the northern ring. If the Welsh were able to reduce them then the greater part of Wales could be protected from the English. If they could take Shrewsbury then Glendower would have a secure kingdom.
The Welsh met us north of the castle. Whoever led them, and I did not recognise the standards, was clever enough to keep his men far enough away from the castle to eliminate the possibility of a sortie into their rear whilst giving them the opportunity to flee south to Aberystwyth. The Welsh arrayed themselves before us. They used the standard formation which most armies used at that time. There were groups of archers in long, narrow blocks and between them were dismounted men with spears and shields. They had two groups of mounted men and they lined up on the flanks.
The Prince looked at his steward and then me, “They expect us to line up in the same way as they do.”
I nodded, “It is like the chess games you and I played, Prince Henry. He moves a pawn and we counter it.”
“And that plays into his hands for he has superior numbers of men on foot. Sir William, I would have you lead half of the men at arms and place them on the right. I will lead the rest and the knights on the left. Sir John, I would have you form the archers into three long lines across our front.”
He looked surprised, “But if the enemy horse attack them then they will be slaughtered!”
“Aye, but we will prevent that, eh Sir William? Have the archers on the extreme left and right leave a gap between their files so that our men at arms and knights can pass through. I will sound the horn three times when we are to attack, Sir William.”
“Aye, Prince Henry.” It was a good plan but not without risks. As I waved my arm for my men to follow me, I turned to Harry. “I will ride Hawk this day and you will ride Hart. You will need to be close behind me with a spare spear. Watch yourself.”
“Do not fear, I am not the child who first went to war and watched you and my brother fight. Now I know what I must do.”
Once in position and mounted on my warhorse I turned to the men I would be leading. There were almost two hundred men. The better part was my own men. “When the horn sounds, we pass between the archers. For that reason, we form up now in those lines. The men of Weedon will lead. That is not because they are better but they know me and the way I fight. Our aim is to destroy their horsemen and then turn and destroy the rest. Do not worry about their archers. Our archers will duel with them and today the Welsh will see who is better! Do not worry about forming lines because speed is of the essence. Hit them and hit them hard!”
As I donned my helmet, they cheered and banged their spears and lances against their mailed hands. They roared my name. Some of them had shields. They were the ones who wore no plate. All of my men had greaves and breastplates. The Welsh archers would not be wasting bodkins for when they loosed their arrows, they would be loosing them at archers!
Sir John Stanley had the men formed. I saw that Alan of the Woods and my men were in the centre. The Prince’s standard was lowered and then raised. I heard Sir John shout, “Loose!” and two and a half thousand arrows flew towards the enemy. They had fewer archers but the cloud which came towards us was heavy enough. The long thin columns of archers meant that their arrows did not land, as ours did, on the same spot, some were shorter and some were longer. Two arrows struck me behind the rear rank of archers, they bounced from my plate. They were wasting war arrows. The duel lasted for ten flights and I saw that both sides had losses. I prayed that there were none amongst my men.
Then the horn sounded and I spurred Hawk, “For God, England, and Prince Harry!” The men all cheered and we rode through the narrow gaps left by the archers. They were only three men deep and we burst before the archers. They would concentrate their arrows on the centre of the Welsh line as soon as we had cleared their front. The Welsh knights and mounted men at arms were less than a hundred and fifty paces from us. They had been caught unawares for they must have thought the three lines of archers precluded a mounted attack. They began to charge but, from a standing start, they would hit us at the walk whilst we, although not in a line of riders boot to boot, would hit them at the gallop for already Hawk’s legs had opened and he was eating up the ground.
As was my practice I looked for a knight who looked to be a leader. He would have a Welsh dragon somewhere on his surcoat. I spied one who had a blue dragon. He also had a lance but he rode a courser and not a warhorse. A war horse would be wasted at a siege. It meant my horse was bigger and would be far more aggressive. We also had the advantage that we were slightly uphill from them. I would use every advantage I had. He came at me so that it would be lance to lance. He was trying to negate my warhorse. He wore a full face, boar’s snout, basinet. I had the better vision but I risked splinters in the eyes. It was a risk worth taking. I had more experience in a charge than any knight I knew, for I had been doing it longer. I allowed the Welsh knight to think he had chosen the correct side to attack. Although we were at the gallop Hawk had a little more speed left in him and when we were ten paces apart, I pricked his side and, as he leapt forward, I stood in my stirrups and lunged forward with my lance. My sudden burst of speed took the Welshman by surprise. He had intended to strike a few heartbeats later. My lance smashed into his chest. I had put all of my force behind the strike and the lance head splintered and shattered. Pieces of wood flew from it. He had a cantle but that merely held him more firmly against the strike of the lance. He threw his arms up and the spear fell.
I shouted, “Harry, take him, prisoner! He is hurt!” I knew that Harry would be close for he had seen me shatter my spear and he would be fetching me another. I drew my sword and did not wait for the response. Hawk had, quite literally, the bit between his teeth. He was under control but only just and, for once, I was glad that I did not have a shield to worry about. His snapping jaws made the horse of the Welsh man at arms flinch as he struck at me with his spear. It grazed along my side but my swinging sword connected with his helmet. It was an open sallet basinet like mine and the edge drove through his nose and into his skull. He tumbled to the ground.
And then I was through the mounted men at arms and knights. I looked around and saw that I still had ten men with me. Raising my sword, I pointed to the left and shouted, “Follow me!”
I turned Hawk who had finally begun to tire and charged towards the dismounted men at arms who guarded the flanks of the archers. I saw that our archers had won the duel of the archers and more Welsh archers lay dead than alive. The arrows had also thinned the men at arms and our sudden flank attack took them by surprise. Spears came around to defend the flank but Hawk had a mail hood on his head. The first spear slid along the links and I swung my sword upwards. The Welshman had a mail hauberk but my long sword swept up, under the split and into his groin. As Hawk rode
into the mass of men at arms my sword slice upwards into unprotected flesh. The spear fell as he dropped to the ground in an attempt to hold in his guts. I reined in and pulled back on the reins as I stood Hawk on his hind legs. It was a terrifying sight for the men at arms and archers. They began to run even before his mighty hooves smashed into their bodies. One archer and a man at arms were a little slower than the others and they paid with their lives. I saw that we had turned this flank and, ahead of me, I saw that the Prince and his knights had also driven deep into the enemy ranks.
My men at arms and I worked our way through the archers and men at arms who fled our archers. Almost two thousand men were now charging them. I struck flesh and metal. My sword soon became an iron bar but that still cracked open skulls and broke arms. The fleeing mob flooded across the river. Armour was discarded along with weapons. No matter what happened at Aberystwyth one army was destroyed. It was noon by the time the slaughter had ended. There were ten knights and their squires captured. I wondered if Prince Henry would be so draconian this time.
The gates of the castle were opened and we entered. I saw a new side to the Prince that day. The constable of the castle had been at his wit’s end for they had almost run out of food and his men were at the point of mutiny. The Prince addressed all of them in the inner ward, “You have all served England well and you shall be rewarded. We have ten knights for ransom. The garrison of Aberystwyth will each receive half of that ransom and you will be paid for the time you have served without pay. England does not forget!”
Cries of, “Prince Harry! And “England!” rang out.
My men at arms had all survived but we had losses amongst my archers. Matthew the Millerson and Christopher White Arrow both died of their wounds. We had been shriven before the battle but they had lived long enough for the priests we had with us to give them absolution. Both were single men. I would not have to explain to families how two brave men had died.
We waited a sennight at Harlech. Men and animals needed to recover. The Prince also waited for the ships bringing the supplies to arrive. We had captured not only weapons but animals and food. The Welsh had stopped us taking them from their farms but they had obligingly brought them to Harlech and we benefitted. We then headed down the coast to Aberystwyth. Once again, the Welsh took all that they had and headed into the mountains. The men besieging Aberystwyth also heard of our approach. Perhaps news of the victory we had enjoyed reached them for they broke the siege before we arrived. By the last week in June the north of Wales was, once again, surrounded by English castles and all that the Welsh held were the mountains. The Prince was happy about that and we headed back to Shrewsbury. We had our ransom and we had our victory. More importantly, the Prince had learned to lead men on the battlefield. It was a good lesson and soon his leadership skills would be put to a more severe test.
We reached Shrewsbury and I believe that the Prince would have released my men and me, had we not heard disquieting news from the south. Glendower was marching down the Tywi valley. He had begun to take English castles. We had taken the north from him and, perhaps, he saw the south as a better opportunity to defeat the English. We sent the news to King Henry who was at Northampton gathering men to go to the aid of Hotspur in the north. The Scots were gathering another army.
That evening some of Prince Henry’s earlier doubts returned. “Perhaps I should take this army and head south to defeat Glendower. This might be our opportunity to end the rebellion.”
I looked at Sir John who nodded for me to speak. He was a good steward but it was I who knew warfare. “That would be a grave error, lord. We would leave Shrewsbury unprotected. Your father is in the east and if an enemy could take Shrewsbury then they would, effectively, cut Wales off from England. We know that Chester supports any who oppose your father.”
“But the men of South Wales; do I abandon them?”
Sir John shook his head, “Lord Carew is there and we have good castles. The ones they have taken are of little importance. Carmarthen, Pembroke and Kidwelly can hold out and we have to trust to the men there. They have not yet been called to battle. It is their time, my Prince.”
Prince Harry looked from me to Sir John and then nodded, “And you believe, Sir William, that there will be a threat to us here?”
“I do.”
“Then we prepare for a siege. My father will come soon enough but until then we wait behind our walls, for I do not have enough knights yet to face another army.”
On the ninth of July, we heard the news that I had been expecting but which came as a surprise to the rest of the country. Hotspur evaded the Earl of Westmoreland and, taking a small army, reached Chester where he raised the standard of rebellion. He had finally shown his true colours and he was within a day’s march of Shrewsbury. War had come and he had managed to split the forces of King Henry and his son. The Prince sent to the Earl of Worcester and asked him to bring his men to our aid. We had to find as many men as we could to defend the walls. War had come and we were unready!
Chapter 18
The King sent a messenger to tell us that he was moving towards us and that Hotspur had moved to Sandiway in Cheshire where the men of Cheshire were flocking to his standard. Prince Henry summoned me on the eighteenth of July when the Earl of Worcester arrived with the men of Worcester. With the extra men, the Prince felt more confident. I did not for I did not trust Worcester. He was a Percy!
The Prince sent for me as soon as the news and the Earl of Worcester arrived. While the Earl settled in the Prince spoke to me in private. “I know your opinion of the Earl, that he is a Percy, but we can no longer choose with whom we fight. He commands the men of Worcester and I wish you to put aside your feelings about the Percy family. I know you were correct about his uncle and about Glendower and for that I am deeply indebted but I will not have dissension amongst my lords. The Earl has not shown any traits which would suggest he is disloyal. When he lived in my home in London, he was a good friend and guide.”
I did not trust him but I had no evidence, this time, to back up my feelings. “Of course, Prince Henry!”
“Good. I would have you and your men seek Hotspur at Sandiway. I need to know when they march south. Do not risk yourself, or your men for we will need you in this battle but I would have warning of the arrival of the enemy.”
“Aye, lord.” As I turned to leave, I saw the Earl of Worcester as he entered the Great Hall. He smiled with his mouth but in his eyes, I saw enmity. I merely nodded as I passed him. He brought with him many men from Worcester but I, for one, would have preferred to fight with fewer of his men but soldiers that we could rely upon.
I took Hart this time. We would, at worst, be skirmishing and I would not need my warhorse. We headed north with my scouts in a screen before us. Sandiway was not a large town but it was well positioned and just fifty miles from Shrewsbury. We made a camp in the forest of Delamere just five miles from the rebels. We had seen the smoke from their fires as we neared them. Knowing where they were was not good enough. We needed numbers and we needed the names of the lords who led them. There was little point in sending my men to ascertain that information. I would have to go with them. I selected the men I would take and none of my men were happy with the situation but I would not be deflected from my purpose. Harry was annoyed that I left him behind.
We had taken spare horses for the ride and the eight of us rode them. I took Stephen the Tracker and archers with me. We would be watching the camp under the cover of the night and none were better than my archers at hiding. I also took archers for there were many Cheshire archers and I hoped that we could mingle with the ones already there. I wore a plain surcoat and cloak. If I was seen by Percy or Sir Edward then I was undone for they knew my face. July meant very long days and although our horses were tired, we reached the camp just after the sun had set. I hoped that the night’s cloak would hide me. We left the horses, with Alf the Grim to watch them, and headed across the fields to the camp. The fires made it almost like
daylight in parts. We would avoid those areas which were lit by them.
We were half a mile from the camp when Stephen the Tracker and Much Longbow stopped. There were other men in the forest. I hid my face and moved away from the others. I listened to the conversation.
Much had an easy way about him, “Well met, friend. Why are you leaving the camp? Does the food not please?”
I heard a grim laugh, “What does not please is the fact that many of our friends came to see what was this gathering and they have been forced to join Hotspur’s army. We are no rebels. King Henry may not be the best of kings but he is our king.”
“Thank you for your advice, whence go you?”
“We head for Lincoln and you?”
“We were going to the camp to see if the pay was better than that of the King but we will now head for Chester.”
“Farewell.”
I waited until they had departed before joining Stephen and Much, “You heard, lord?”
“I heard. We will not enter the camp. String your bows and we will examine it from a distance.”
It had been fortunate that we had met the archers or else we could have been forced into Hotspur’s army. We were helped by the fact that we had to pass one of the horse herds There were more than two thousand horses and they were constantly moving. We slipped amongst them. They had been gathered in a walled field with just one gate and we avoided that one for it would be guarded. The number of horses suggested a large number of mounted men. When we reached the wall, I found that we could see into the camp. The light from the campfires would limit the view those in the camp had of the land beyond the camp. We would be hidden but they would be seen. I realised that there was no way that we would be able to examine the whole camp and any numbers we came up with would be an estimate only. I sent my men left and right so that we could share our findings when we returned to Shrewsbury.