How the Black Prince operated in France: 1355 Chevauchee
In 1355 the Black Prince used a Chevauchee, that is a rapid deployment into enemy territory, against the French. It was designed to surprise towns, villages, and fortifications. Along the way, the raiders would destroy mills and bridges and plunder supplies. These raids, which could go deep into enemy held lands, are called chevauchees.
22 January 1356 Letter from Sir John Wingfield to Sir Richard Stafford
“Most dear lord and trustworthy friend, as for news since you left, this is to tell you that five [six] fortified towns have surrendered, namely Port Ste Marie, Clairac, Tonneins, Bourg St Pierre, Castelsagrat and Brassac, and seventeen [lists 18] castles, that is, Quiller, Buzet, Lavaignac, two castles called Bolougne which are very close to each other, Montjoie, Virech, Fresquenet, Montendre, Pusdechales, Montpon, Montagnac, Vauclair, Benevent, Listrac, Plassac, Crudestablison and Montreal. Sir John Chandos, Sir James Audley and your men who are with them, and the other Gascons in their company, Sir Baldwin Botecourt and his company, and Sir Reginald Cobham took the town called Castelsagrat by assault, and the bastard de Lisle, who was captain of the town was killed as they attacked by an arrow which went through his head. Sir Reginald has turned back towards Lanedac and Sir Baldwin towards Brassac, with their troops; and Sir John and Sir James with their men have stayed at Castelsagrat, and have enough of all kinds of supplies to last until midsummer, except only for fresh fish and greens, according to their letters. So you do not need to worry about your own men in the town, three hundred footsoldiers and a hundred and fifty archers. And they have raided towards Agen, burning and destroying all their mills, and have burnt and broken all the bridges across the Garonne, and taken a castle outside the town and garrisoned it.[i]”
By splitting the main force into compact units, the Black Prince could strike in several directions at once. This made it incredibly hard for the French to defend against English attacks. If they made assumptions about likely targets and concentrated men and artillery pieces in that location, they left other sites under strength. Raiding groups such as these did not need to stay in fixed locations, they could move quickly and were not reliant upon baggage trains. Leaving small garrisons in Castles that they seized enabled a large amount of territory to be captured and controlled in a short space of time, without risking everything in a pitched battle.
The Black Prince’s Chevauchee of 1355 had included the Sack of Narbonne, in October.
[i] Ed Barber, R. The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince: From Contemporary Letters [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=65guwR0EVE0C&pg=PA55&dq=22+january&ei=U-mXYNnVA8vo-QGVlKGYBQ&cd=5#v=onepage&q=22%20january&f=false] Page 55
Featured Image
Carcassone fell to the Black Prince in his Chevauchee of 1355. By Chensiyuan – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia.
