The Battle of La Capelle 23rd October 1339

By Steve Cast

A 100 years war “What if” battle

This is the first in my series of “What if” battles based on confrontations that could have turned into actual battles during the 100 years war but didn’t so for one reason or another.  This particular one happened during Edward III first campaign in France and would have been the first battle of the 100 years war.  His first ventures into France were a complete disaster and a lot of people will be unaware of this only knowing about his great victory at Crecy and his sons at Poitiers.  The reason he survived these early years in France was because of the reluctance of Philip VI to engage with his enemy in battle which eventually undermined his authority and the respect of his court.  Had he done so then the 100 years war may have only been a foot note in our history books.

I shall try to cut a long story short which will be difficult so apologies for the lengthy brief but I thought that people would be interested in just how different things were in Edward III early years.  Edward had for many years had great difficulty in paying homage to Philip for his domains in Gascony in France because not only he but others thought that he had more right to the throne of France than Philip and this culminated in Gascony being taken away from him in 1338.  For the past year a phony war had been going on with Edward building up an alliance in the Low Countries whilst the French lingered around the fringes of Gascony threatening to invade.

With an army of approximately 4,000 men Edward sailed from Ipswich in 350 ships and landed in Antwerp in July 1338.  The rest of his army was to be made up of his allies consisting of the Duke of Brabant, the Count of Hainault, the Duke of Guelders, the Margrave of Juliers and a host of lesser princes who had all come together in Antwerp to greet the King and present their accounts.  This alliance had been forged together into a rather flimsy coalition with large payments of money being made to Edwards allies that had bankrupted England and of which a lot were still outstanding.  These so called “Allies” were still reluctant to commit themselves to Edwards cause until payment had been made in full.

Edwards’s whole strategy in forming the alliance had been based on the sale of English wool which wasn’t going according to plan.  He was selling at a loss just so that he could get cash to pay his allies.  He also had to borrow money from merchant bankers such as the Bardi in Italy at extortionate rates of up to 50%, he mortgaged the great crown and secured other loans by giving up hostages such as the Earl of Lancaster as guarantors.  When the campaign ended Edwards debt would be over £300,000 which was equivalent to 10 years of revenue for the King.  In fact poor old Edward was having such a bad time of it that on his first night in Antwerp he narrowly escaped death when the lodgings that had been hired for him were accidently burned down by his servants, this did not bode well for the campaign ahead.

The French were well aware that the “alliance” had major problems and were hoping that it would peter out but when Philip heard that the English had landed he quickly began to muster his troops.  Still hoping that the alliance would collapse and not wanting to antagonise Edwards’s allies, instead of attacking Flanders Philip began attacking garrisons in Gascony.  Bottled up in Antwerp and still pleading with his “allies” Edward could only watch as these garrisons were picked off one by one.

With financial transactions still going on between him and his allies, by the 14^th August 1339 Edward was in such financial straits that he couldn’t even afford to pay his own men and had to play his final card.  He told his allies that he would lead his own army into France without them and confront the French alone, and if he should be killed in battle then he would at least have died honourably.  This galvanised them and they grudgingly replied that they would follow him but only with yet more stringent bonds placed against Edward.

On 20^th September 1339 Edward marched on Cambrai and formally summoned the garrison to surrender which it refused to do, so the city was invested.  Edward was hoping to draw the French army into a quick and decisive battle thus ending his financial woes.  The nearest French army was 65 miles away in Compiegne.  Philip was reluctant to send this to the aid of the garrison, the first of many decisions that would earn him a reputation for timidity, because Cambrai was in Imperial territory and he didn’t want to antagonise Edwards’s allies whilst there was still the possibility that they would desert him.

By the beginning of October it was clear to Edward that he was not achieving what he wanted.  He hadn’t subdued Cambrai, a city that he had little use for, and he was not bringing Philip to battle.  On the 9^th October Edward raised the siege and marched into France.  During its first day Edwards’s army destroyed 55 villages in the Diocese of Noyon alone and a year later these same villages still lay abandoned.  Apparently the sky glowed red in the night and the countryside could be seen burning for 15 miles around.

Philip VI joined his main army at Peronne where the two armies came within a mile of each other on the 14^th October.  On hearing this Edward decamped and crossed the river Oise taking the town of Origny and burning it to the ground.  However things weren’t going so well in Edwards’s army.  The English had organised their supplies very thoroughly but his allies, thinking that there would be a quick and decisive battle, had not.  On the 17^th they came before him and told him they intended to withdraw before they starved.  However their bemoaning was soon silenced when they were reminded of the closeness of the French.  Philip sent Edward a formal challenge to battle for either the 21^st or 22^nd but Edward refused because his army was spread out on a broad front in a bend in the river Oise which cut off its line of retreat so it was decided to withdraw the army so it could follow the river eastwards burning and pillaging as it went.

On the 21^st October Edward called a halt between the small town of Capelle and the village of La Flamengrie.  The French were about half a day behind and stopped on the 22^nd at Buirenfosse and intended to attack on the 23^rd.

Sir John Sears of the English Army

Early in the morning the French Vanguard advanced a short distance from the French camp and waited for its orders, but none came.  There was a dispute going on in Philips tent about whether to give battle at all.  Scouts had discovered that the Allied army had dug a trench in front of it and to make things worse the French army had been marching through territory wasted by Edwards men and it was hungry and thirsty.  Making yet another timid decision Philip ordered the Vanguard to retreat and wait for the allies to attack.  From the English lines the retreat of the vanguard was noticed at once and soon afterwards the French were seen digging trenches and drawing large tree trunks in front of their positions.  Edward and his commanders conferred, to keep the army drawn up was unthinkable because they too were short of food and water and to attack would be suicide so it was decided to withdraw.  Edward however saw no pleasure in this as it marked the failure of his campaign.

So there we have it the “Battle” of Capelle.  Tonight’s game will be “What if” the French had attacked?  As with most medieval battles suffice to say that no one knows for certain where the Allies formed up, all that is known is that they chose ground that gently sloped away from la Flamengrie towards the French positions with the forest of Nouvion preventing any outflanking manoeuvre and the road junction of La Capelle blocking any eastward movement of the enemy.

The gaming table

Sir Micheal of the Pines

As with most medieval battles the actual battlefield is very hard to get accurate information especially one where a battle didn’t actually occur!  So from what information I’ve managed to ascertain and looking at topographical maps of the area, the area in question is very high up.  La Capelle is 500ft above sea level and the terrain where the Allies deployed was on a steep slope with cultivated land to slow the progress of the French.

Personally I think that the Allies would have formed up between La Cappelle which was garrisoned by Flemish troops and the forest of Nouvion therefore protecting both of their flanks.

So on the table anything forward of the Allied position (The hill) is classed as being downhill and the Allies will get a terrain advantage because of this.

Victory conditions

The French win if King Edward is captured or at least 2/3 of the allied army is pushed off the rear of the hill.

The Allies win if:

1    1.   At least 2/3 of the army or more is still forward of the rear of the hill and Edward III is still in command.

A draw will be adjudicated if:

1.   The allied army is still forward of the rear of the hill and their army strength is below 2/3.