A Blunder That Led to Catastrophe for Many Lives
Unfortunately for the French knights who charged at Agincourt, the terrain and field conditions were against them. The muddy fields, the weight of their heavy armor, the rows of sharpened stakes in their path, and the rain of arrows doomed them. The charge wallowed to a halt, and a throng of disorganized French milled about in front of the English positions. They were attacked, and within minutes, the entire first wave was killed or captured. A second French wave attacked, but was beaten back. While this was going on, King Henry received mistaken reports of a French attack on his rear.
Henry judged that he lacked the men to guard thousands of prisoners, and ordered the captives executed. By the time he realized the reports were mistaken and ordered a halt to the executions, about 2,000 prisoners had been massacred. In a final blunder, the French sent in their third and last wave, but it was also repulsed. Henry then ordered his small contingent of knights to mount up and charge the French, who, thoroughly demoralized by now, were routed. Casualties were about 600 English killed vs 10,000 French dead on the field of battle, plus another 2000 executed prisoners.
