Poitiers 1356: The Capture of a King (Campaign) [Paperback]

With Poitiers 1356, Osprey's Campaign series has now covered all the "classic" battles of the Hundred Years War (the other titles are Crecy, Agincourt and Orleans). Osprey's medieval expert Dr. David Nicolle provides an excellent summary of the Black Prince's raid into France in 1356 and the resultant Battle of Poitiers. As usual, Nicolle's work is erudite, if a bit short on humanity and military insight.

Dr. Nicolle begins Poitiers 1356 with a very good introduction that outlines how the English had established themselves in southwest France in Gascony, and the impact of the Black Death on military operations. The author explains how the English launched deep penetration raids from their coastal enclaves; the raids were designed to disrupt the French economy and to undermine the legitimacy of the French monarchy. It was the raid in 1356 by the heir to the English throne, the Black Prince, that led to the Battle of Poitiers. In the section on opposing commanders, the author provides capsule biographies on the Black Prince and five other English leaders, and the French King John II and five other French leaders. The section on opposing armies is a bit overly brief, providing only the barest details on the composition of either army (while Nicolle notes that estimates vary widely on the size of the French army, it would have been nice if he had provided some information on what these varying opinions said). Whatever the size of the French army, it is clear that the armies of Poitiers were smaller than previous armies in the Hundred Years War, primarily due to the Black Death. While Nicolle notes that the Black Prince's army was a mix of English and local Gascon mercenaries, he gives no clue as to the relative balance (how much was Gascon?). The author also outlines in the section on opposing plans that while the Black Prince sought to avoid battle, the French king's primary intent was to cut off and destroy the enemy invaders in a large battle.

Dr. Nicolle spends about twenty pages describing the Black Prince's raid from Bordeaux deep into central France, the gathering of the French army and its pursuit. It is clear that the French demonstrated superior operational art in outmaneuvering the English and cutting off their retreat near Poitiers. Although poor reconnaissance undermined the French tactical operations, the English were brought to battle according to the French operational plan. The author then spends about thirty pages describing the tactical conduct of the Battle of Poitiers on 19 September 1356. As Nicolle describes it, the Anglo-Gascons selected a good defensive position (with their backs to the woods blocking retreat?) behind a solid hedgerow and with flanks anchored on impassable marshes. The French had learned a few lessons from earlier defeats at the hands of English longbows so they elected to launch a massive frontal attack with three divisions in echelon of dismounted men-at-arms. The main attack was preceded by two unplanned cavalry charges on the flanks which were repulsed. In short, the first echelon was defeated and withdrew, the second echelon left the field without orders and the third echelon (with the French king) launched a final surge into the English line. Unlike Crecy, Poitiers had a considerable amount of close combat and the French came close to achieving at least a draw if not a victory. However, the Anglo-Gascon counterattack shattered the third echelon and captured the French king. Nicolle is a bit vague on losses: he notes that the French suffered about 3,000 dead and over 2,000 captured but does not mention Anglo-Gascon losses (other sources suggest about 2,000 killed and wounded or about 25% casualties, which indicates a fairly close battle). By any measure, Poitiers was a major military disaster for France.

Poitiers 1356 includes five 2-D maps (France from 1346-1355; Operations in France, January-August 1356; the French Assemble; the French Pursuit; France from Poitiers to the Treaty of Brétigny, 1360), three 3-D "Birds Eye View" maps (the French Mounted Charges; Attack of the French Main Body; the Anglo-Gascon counterattack) and three color battle scenes (the looting of Vierzon; English longbow men at Poitiers; the capture of King John II). Unfortunately, much of the tactical action is hidden in the crease of the full-page 3-D maps - a common problem with Osprey maps - and a zoomed-in 2-D map would have been better to display Anglo-Gascon dispositions behind the hedge. Like most Medieval battles, Poitiers was fought in a very small area and these 3-D maps are better designed for "larger" battles of the 18th or 19th Century (keeping in mind that no Medieval tactical weapons had ranges beyond a few hundred meters). The battle scenes by Graham Turner are excellent, but it would have been better to have an "action" scene of the French attack at Poitiers rather than the relatively bland scene of English looting. Dr. Nicolle also provides an excellent bibliography and good notes on the battlefield today.

Dr. David Nicolle is undoubtebly one of Osprey's most credible authors, an authority in his own right. In his newest installment, Poitiers 1356, he brings us a solid histroy lesson not unlike his many other titles.

In my opinon, I believe Poitiers was one of his better books (Ive read about seven of his books). He presents easy-to-understand, flowing material (albiet dry) about the background events leading to this battle. At the time of Poitiers, France was decimated by the Plauge, and Nicolle goes as far to say that almost half of France's population where wiped out because of it. The new King John II (the French king who's captured) had a herculean task of keeping his country together, as well as fighting off the English who didn't spare France a day of mercy, plauge or no plauge.

But this book's main asset is the style in which Nicolle shows eyewitness accounts. This book is loaded with them, greatly harmonizing the author's common dryness in the book with colourful first-hand images. Nicolle nevers says a single truly colourful line in the whole book, leaving it to Froissart and other eyewitnesses to do the job for him (which they do marvelously).

The most touching of these accounts is written by Froissart, being the King's surrendur to an English-employed French Knight: "..it fortunatley happened that this knight...said in good French, 'Sire, sire, surrendur yourself.' The King, who found himself very disagreeably situated, turneding to him asked, 'To whom shall I surrender myslef? Where is my cousin, the Prince of Wales? If I could see him I would like to speak to him.' 'Sire.' replied Sir Denis, 'he is not here, but surrendur yourself to me, and I will lead you to him.' 'Who are you?' said the King. 'Sire, I am sir Denis de Morbeke, a knight from Artois; but I serve the King of England because I cannot belong to France, having forfeited all I possesed there.' The King thus gave him his right hand glove, and said, 'I surrendur myself to you.'

The one major flaw in this book is the editing; on a few of the 2D maps there are some major errors concerning dates (such as the error that the French army marched 40 miles in less than a day on the map when it only did ten in the reading). It threw me off for some minutes until I got a bearing of the situation by reading that section over and over again.

The maps are great, the material interesting and flowing, and the accounts of the battle are excellent. Just keep an eye out for the map errors...highly recommended!

An excellent detailed study of the events leading up to the Black Prince's summer 1356 chevauchee, the first two months of the raid itself, the battle of Poitiers, and its aftermath.