1. Dave Martin History 141 Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Agincourt 1415 and the Long Bow
Dr. David Chandler of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst tells us Edward III first developed
tactics against the Scotts using the English Long Bow. It was the number one most devastating
weapon until the development of the more accurate forms of firearms. The English Long Bow is
a six foot long, one hundred fifty pound pull piece of ash that can propel a cloth yard shaft,
pulled back to the ear nearly 1000 feet per second, which can penetrate solid plate armor six to
twelve inches. The arrows were provided with a whole range of arrow heads for different
requirements. The most usual point was the narrow steel point for armor piercing. This point
could be three to eight inches long.
The effective range of the Long Bow ranged from 400 hundred yards maximum to 200 yards
normal and at 60 yards was absolutely lethal. A good archer can fire ten shots per minute. At
any one minute, a single archer could have three arrows in the air. Multiply this by 5,000
archers and an army could have 15,000 arrows in the air at one time. This type of massed aerial
attack would decimate mounted heavy cavalry and infantry alike.
Archers took a longtime to train. A bowman starting as a boy was trained to hold out his arm
with a small weight hanging from his hand. Over time this weight would be increased so as an
adult, the archers arm and shoulder would be very strong, able to hold the bow straight out
from the shoulder. This was the secret to the use of the long bow. Archers were the more
expensive members of the common members of the army at 6p 3f. Archers were used at sea as
well, firing from long distances to clear both the rigging and decks of an enemy ship.

2. Dave Martin History 141 Tuesday, July 19, 2011
King Henry V 1413 – 1422, an experienced soldier whose father usurped the thrown, needed to
divert his nobles to a cause that would unite Englishmen behind him. Henry V resolved to
pursue his claim to the French thrown by force. A single minded and ruthless politician, Henry
created an army of 2000 knights and men at arms, 8000 archers. Using over 1500 ships, his
army took three days to cross from Southampton to Harfleur. It is interesting to note the
similarity to the Allied invasion of Europe, “D-Day”, 550 years later.
Using tactics that took full advantage of the Long Bow, Henry V was able to defeat French
forces numbering well over three times his numbers. Henry formed his army into three phalanx
separated between and flanked by delta shaped groupings of his archers. The French nobles
tended to charge using their knights mounted on war horses and would be wiped out by
multiple volleys of arrows long before they reached Henry’s lines. They were often caught
exposed to crossfire from the English archers.
The battle of Agincourt was a complete disaster for the French. Henry V, using his superior
tactics and weaponry, the English Long Bow, was able to defeat a much larger French force in a
series of running battles from Harfleur to Agincourt. Henry was expecting reinforcements from
Calais, however, the French King Phillip with his overly confident nobles caught up with Henry’s
exhausted forces, forcing Henry into a defensive battle. Refusing to wait for the full army to
assemble, the impetuous French nobles charged recklessly into the waiting ranks of the English
archers. Horses and Knights were pinned under hails of raining death. The French Nobility was
destroyed for generations and Henry gained control of more French territory than anyone.