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Two Views on the Battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy, fought on Saturday, August 26, 1346 was the one of the most significant battles during the Hundred Years War. Countless historians have written and debated just how the smaller English forces were able to defeat their French opponents. We are able to present two critiques of the campaign and battle from a pair of highly regarded historians from this field: Kelly DeVries and Clifford Rogers. In his book Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century: Discipline, Tactics, and Technology, Professor DeVries examines the role of the infantry, and the nature of infantry tactics, in nineteen battles fought in England and Europe between 1302 and 1347, in most of which it was the infantry which secured victory. The battles analysed in detail are: Courtrai, Arques, Mons-en-Pevele, Loudon Hill, Kephissos, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, Cassel, Dupplin Moor, Halidon Hill, Laupen, Morlaix, Staveren, Vottem, Crecy, Neville's Cross, and the infantry ambushes: Morgarten, Auberoche, and La Roche-Derrien. The following is his chapter on: Readers can contrast that account with the one found in War Cruel and Sharp: English Strategy under Edward III, 1327-1360, by Professor Rogers. The winner of the 2003 Verbruggen Prize, this book offers a reassessment of the military and political strategies which Edward III and the Black Prince employed in their wars with Scotland and France. Using a narrative framework, he makes the case that the Plantagenets' ultimate success came from adapting the strategy which Robert Bruce had used to force the 'Shameful Peace' on England in 1328. Unlike previous historians, he argues that the quest for decisive battle underlay Edward's strategy in every campaign he undertook, though the English also utilized sieges and ferocious devastation of the countryside to advance their war efforts. The following item is his chapter: "To make an end to the war by battle": The Crécy Chevauchee, 1346 Both books are available from Boydell & Brewer. |