An Analysis Of Henry V's Victory At The Battle Of Agincourt

On October 25, 1415, Henry V, the young king of England, led his army to victory at the Battle of Agincourt in France. Henry V will soon become the heir to the French throne and marry the French Princess Catherine. A few days before the battle, King Henry V made his way across the English Channel with 11,000 men and had seized Harfleur. After five weeks, Harfleur surrendered. Unfortunately for Henry, he had lost half of his men due to disease and battle casualties. He ordered is army to march to Calais, where he would meet the English fleet and return to England. However, at Agincourt, a huge French army of 20,000 men awaited, greatly outnumbering the exhausted English archers and knights. Henry then gave his soldiers his famous inspiring speech, "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."
On the morning of October 25, the battle commenced. The English stood their ground and the French Knights who were gradually slowed down by their heavy armour, began a slow advance across the battlefield. The French faced a fierce attack of wooden arrows from the English archers, who had advanced longbows. The Frenchman tried and failed to take over the English positions. As more and more French knights made their way onto the bloody battlefield, their fatigue overwhelmed them and could not fight back at their enemy. At this point, Henry could see a great opportunity and ordered his lightly equipped archers to leave their positions and rush forward into the battlefield with swords and axes to massacre the Frenchman

About 6,000 Frenchmen lost their lives during this bloody battle, and English casualties only stood around several hundred. Although Henry was at a disadvantage with his army, he had won one of the greatest victories in English military