Agincourt
This week seems to be a time for anniversaries of English battles: Trafalgar was on the 21st, and today, 25th October 1415 is the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt. From a review of Agincourt in the Economist this week:
The king mounted on a small grey horse and without his heralds, rides out in the damp morning over the field of battle to see where he will deploy his men. Then, at his order, 5000 English archers firing up to 20 arrows a minute fill the sky with death.
The French lost more than 5,000 men, with another 1,000 taken prisoner. 130 Englishmen fell. More on the battle here and here.
“England confides that every man will do his duty” was Nelson’s original wording before Lieutenant Pasco asked Nelson if he could substitute the word ‘expects’ for ‘confides’ as that was in the telegraphic vocabulary whereas confides would have to be spelt. These interesting details and more here. The BBC History magazine is not as clear about how the battle progressed and why Nelson’s tactics were effective.
Not all triumphs however, as on this same day, is also the anniversary of the charge of the immortal Light Brigade.