On 24 October 1415, the English army retreating towards its stronghold at Calais found its path blocked by a much larger French force. Disaster loomed for Henry V’s expedition at a place called Agincourt. The mood in the English camp was further dampened by “heavy rain almost the whole night through”, according to one chronicler.
The medieval campaigning season ended in early autumn, and Henry’s army had been hurrying to get back before the bad weather. But the overnight rain worked to his advantage when the armies faced each other across a waterlogged field. The French opened with a half-hearted cavalry attack, easily driven back by the English longbowmen. This churned up the muddy ground and made it even more difficult to cross.
The mass of heavily armoured French knights advanced on foot, “where they sank up to their knees” through a hail of arrows. Those who fell had difficulty rising again. Large numbers were trampled into the mud and drowned or suffocated. When the exhausted French knights finally reached the English lines, they could “scarcely lift their weapons”. Their opponents, fresher and more lightly armoured, fought with vigour. After three hours’ fighting the French army was defeated, a decisive victory for King Henry and the mud.
