Battle of Baugé

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Baugé
partof=the Hundred Years' War


caption=
date=March 21, 1421
place=Baugé, France
result=Franco-Scottish victory
combatant1=Kingdom of France
Kingdom of Scotland
combatant2=Kingdom of England
commander1=John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan,
Gilbert de Lafayette, Constable of France
commander2=Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence †
strength1=6,000
strength2=10,000
casualties1=light
casualties2=heavy

The Battle of Baugé, fought between the English and the Franco-Scots on March 21, 1421 in Baugé, France, east of Angers, was a major defeat for the English in the Hundred Years' War. The English army was led by the king's brother Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, while the Franco-Scots were led by both John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan, and Gilbert de Lafayette, the Constable of France. English strength was 10,000 men, against the French-Scots' 6,000.

The battle

While Henry was in England raising fresh levies in 1421, his brother Thomas the Duke of Clarence led less than 1,500 [Seward, Desmond. "The Hundred Years War"] men south towards the Loire. They set about besieging the castle at Bauge when a Scottish army of 6,000 men commanded by the Earl of Buchan made contact with them the day before Good Friday. A truce was reached, lasting until Monday, so that the combatants could properly observe the religious occasion of Easter. The English lifted their siege and withdrew to nearby Beaufort, while the Scots camped at La Lude. However, early in the afternoon of Saturday Scottish scouts reported that the English had broken the truce and were advancing upon the Scots, hoping to take them by surprise. The Scots rallied hastily and battle was joined at a bridge which the Duke of Clarence, with banner unfurled for battle, sought to cross. A detachment of a few hundred men under Sir Robert Stewart of Ralston, reinforced by the retinue of Hugh Kennedy, held the bridge and prevented passage long enough for the Earl of Buchan to rally the rest of his army, whereupon they made a fighting retreat to the town where the English archers would be ineffective.

Both armies now joined in a bitter melee that lasted until nightfall. During the melee Sir John Carmichael of Douglasdale broke his lance unhorsing the Duke of Clarence; since that day the Carmichael coat of arms displays an armoured hand holding aloft a broken lance in commemoration of the victory. Once on the ground, the Duke was killed by Sir Alexander Buchanan. The English dead included the Lord Roos, Sir John Grey and Gilbert de Umfraville, whose death directly led to the extinction of the male line of that illustrious family, well known to the Scots since the Wars of Independence. The Earl of Somerset and his brother were captured by Laurence Vernon (later elevated to the rank of knight for his conduct), the Earl of Huntingdon was captured by Sir John Sibbald, and Lord Fitz Walter was taken by Henry Cunningham. On hearing of the Scottish victory, Pope Martin V passed comment by reiterating a common mediaeval saying, that "the Scots are well-known as an antidote to the English." In the summer of 1421 the Dauphin campaigned north of the Loire and retook much territory. In gratitude to the Scots he made Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, Lieutenant-General of the French forces and conferred upon him the title of Duke of Touraine. Sir John Stuart of Darnley received the lands of Aubigny-sur-Nere and Concressault. The Earl of Buchan was made Constable of France. In 1422 the Dauphin created the "hundred men-at-arms of the King's bodyguard", known as the "Hundred Lances of France", to supplement the 24 archers of the Guarde Ecossaise. The Hundred Lances eventually became the company known as the Gendarmerie of France who distinguished themselves at Fontenoy in 1745. John Carmichael was elected bishop of Orléans in 1426, and was one of the 6 bishops to attend the coronation of the Dauphin as Charles VII in 1429 at Rheims. Hugh Kennedy, known to the French as Canede, was granted the right to quarter his coat of arms with the fleur de lys of France.

ee also

*Auld Alliance

References

External links

* [http://www.siol-nan-gaidheal.com/bauges.htm Siol nan Gaidheal. The day the Scots saved France.]