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PresentsЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕ.On 14^th October 934 years ago, one battle change England forever!!!!!!!!

Harold Marches on William
On Tuesday, 10 October, Harold felt he had sufficient troops to occupy the ridge at Caldbec Hill and contain William. Leaving London, with every Housecarl and other soldier, he set out for the Hastings Peninsula. Harold arrived in the afternoon of Friday, 13 October, with 4,000-4,500 men; 1,500-2,000 of these being Housecarls and 2,500 fyrdmen. There he was met by about 3,500 more fyrdmen, swelling his ranks to 7,500-8,000 men. Immediately, Harold began deploying his army along Sentlac Ridge on the southern side of the hill. This ridge was 1,000 yards long & flanked on both sides by marshes. William's only exit from the peninsula to the mainland was now blocked.

William Musters His Army and Moves to Telham Hill
Harold's sudden appearance at Caldbec Hill with his army caught William completely by surprise. His men were out scavenging for food, and pillaging and ravaging throughout the peninsula & he had to quickly gather them together. William decided to attack Harold as soon as possible the next day, since the sooner he could force battle the more advantageous it would be for him. On 14 October 1066, William moved forward to a point approximately 200 yards from where Harold had deployed his army. By 9 a.m., his preparations were complete.

The Battlefield and the Armies
The ridge that the English army occupied was approximately 1000 yards long. The wargame today illustrates the battlefield and the disposition of the two armies when the battle began between 9 and 10 a.m. Using his Housecarls, Harold formed a shield-wall from one end of Senlac Ridge to the other. The front rank was composed of groups of Housecarls and Thegns (nobles) who were placed between the inexperienced and ill-armed fyrdmen. All troops in this first rank formed the shield-wall The Housecarls and Thegns were predominantly armed with heavy, two-handed axes and were well armored. The fyrdmen, on the other hand, were armed with homemade swords, maces, spears, javelins & daggers. Both flanks of Senlac Ridge fell off steeply and were cut by deep ravines. Beyond this, numerous deep streams and marshy ground made it impossible for infantry and cavalry to maneuver. Harold, therefore, did not have to worry about an attack on his flanks; all attacks must come from the front. The slope that William's army had to climb to reach the English was comparatively gentle.

William's army was about 8,000 strong and consisted of about 1,000 archers, 4,000 infantrymen, and 3,000 cavalry (knights). He formed the army into three divisions:

The division on the left was composed of about 2,500 Bretons and troops from Anjou and Maine. Alan Fergent, Count of Brittany, was in command.
The division on the right was composed of about 2,500 French and Flemish troops. Roger de Montgomerie commanded it.
The central division was composed of about 3,000 Normans and was under the personal command of William.
Each division was composed of three ranks (actually three major elements, each consisting of several ranks). First were the archers, then the infantry and lastly the cavalry.

Harold's and William's Battle Plans
Harold's battle plan was simply to remain on the ridge, with his shield-wall holding firm against the assaults of the enemy. Eventually, as the day wore on and William's army began to tire and his losses began to mount appreciably from the constant uphill attacks against the impenetrable shield-wall, he expected an opportunity to counter-attack with his relatively fresh troops and rout and annihilate William's army.

William planned a coordinated attack of hammer blows. He would begin with the archers sending a shower of arrows into the English. Then the infantry would pass through the ranks of the archers and enter into a short hand-to-hand combat with the English manning the shield-wall. They would then fall back behind the archers and the cavalry would dash forward to take their turn against the English. In addition, each of the three divisions would be attacking semi-independently and therefore could be in various stages of attack at the same moment in time.

The First Attack

The battle began after 9 a.m. on 14 October 1066, when the archers of all three divisions moved forward to about 100 yards of the English and fired their arrows directly at the shield-wall, causing a few casualties among the English. The archers then retired as the infantry moved forward to assault the shield-wall in hand-to-hand combat. As they got within range of the English spears, javelins and rocks, many were killed or wounded. Those who made it to the shield-wall found the Housecarls and fyrdmen to be more than a match and quickly retreated. Next, the cavalry came forward for its first attack of the day but fared no better than infantrymen before them did. This first attack almost ended in disaster for William. The unexpectedly high rate of casualties from this first onslaught coupled with the ensuing confusion and noise came close to causing a general panic throughout his army.

The Bretons, being the left-hand division and on the most gently sloping ground, had reached the English well ahead of the center and right and were overwhelmed by the unexpected fierceness of their adversaries. The Breton cavalry was quickly beaten off and galloped back to their starting position to regroup. A crowd of archers, infantrymen, unhorsed knights, and riderless horses followed them.

The sight of the Bretons fleeing in disorder caused a great number of Harold's less disciplined fyrdmen to burst through the shield-wall and pursue them down the hill. With this mass of English streaming down the hill, William's central and right divisions, which were now in the dangerous position of being attacked on their left flank, wisely stopped their forward advance and pulled back until they were on line with the Breton division.

Restoring order within the Norman division, William quickly ordered those knights to attack the exposed flank of the fyrdmen and cut them to pieces. The knights quickly herded all but a few who of the unfortunate fyrdmen onto a and there slaughtered them.

During a lull in the battle, William regrouped the Breton division. This division consisted of the least experienced of his troops. William admonished their commander to ensure that, during the next attacks, his division should stay on line with the central division during the advance; not to get ahead of it or behind it. This cohesion between the two divisions would serve to protect the Breton division.

Harold utilized the lull to warn the fyrdmen against committing such a foolhardy act again. The English dead were moved to the rear of the shield-wall and the gaps that they left were filled by the best and most experiences troops that were left. The dead and wounded of William's army who were within the shield-wall were moved in front of it to provide an obstacle.

The Second and Succeeding Attacks
William commenced his second attack shortly before noon. It was a repeat of the first attack; first archers firing their arrows straight at the shield-wall, followed by the infantrymen slogging up the hill to fight hand-to-hand with the English, then the cavalry in an attempt to break through the shield-wall with their sheer weight and superior stance. This time, however, the Breton division did not recoil and the attack came off smoothly, as planned.

William maintained this rhythm through the early afternoon. The repeated attacks were causing him a great number of casualties but he could clearly see that the English line was thinning and that it would only be a matter of time before he would finally breach it and win the battle. Harold's younger brothers, Leofwine and Gyrth, were killed by Norman knights who broke through the shield-wall and penetrated into the deepest English ranks. Also during this period, William joined his knights on a charge and was unhorsed when a Housecarl axed his horse. His knights protected him until he was again mounted.

The Last Assault
William had a brilliant idea that would prove decisive. Instead of his archers firing directly at the English shield-wall, which had been having little effect, he directed them to aim very high so that their arrows would arc over the shield-wall and plunge into the ranks behind them. All of a sudden, the protection that the shield-wall had afforded was gone and Harold began taking tremendous casualties, even among those at his command post. The shield-wall collapsed as casualties mounted and as men decided to try to save their lives rather than die on the spot. At about 5 p.m., with the shield-wall fast disintegrating, a band of Norman knights passed through it, penetrated to Harold's command post, and killed him. One of these knights, Ivo of Ponthieu, went so far as to mutilate Harold's body by hacking off his limbs. Harold's death signaled victory & the English crown for William.

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