THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS
Opening of the Campaign (1428-29)
In 1428 the English advanced into the Loire Valley. Their objective was Orléans, one of the key strategic, fortified cities on the Loire River [others: being Angers, Tours, and Blois] and formidable bastions of the Valois cause. Orléans, in particular, was a bridghead south into the regions of Berry, of the Bourbonnais, and of Poitou, which were the vital substance in maintaining the 'king of Bourges'. If these were conquered, Charles VII would be left only with Languedoc and Dauphiné.
One year after being repulsed from siege of Montargis, the earl of Salisbury returned to France, landing in June at Calas with 6,000 English troops. Duke Bedford added another 4,000 from garrisons of Normandy, and this army proceeded to retake Chartres and four nearby towns by late August 1428. The English went on to take Janville and some minor towns enroute. Janville and one of the small towns, Puiset, had to be assaulted. Salisbury then drove on south to the Loire, where he captured easily Meung on 8 September. Beaugency was besieged 20-25 September, and forced to surrender 26 September. After securing these towns downstream of Orléans, Salisbury sent William de la Pole upstream to attacked Jargeau on 7 October. The town was taken in three days, and Chateauheuf (upstream 10 miles) also fell. La Pole joined Sailsbury at Olivet, a southern suburb of Orléans, on 12 October, 1428. Having to deploy some of their force as garrisons in the many captured towns, the English force before Orléans was estimated to have been about 4,000.
Initial Assault and Partial Investment
The southern side of Orléans had a approx 400 yards wide river and a stone bridge of nineteen arches. The north end of the bridge entered Orléans via a gatehouse. The south end had a two-towered fortress gatehouse, called 'Les Tourelles'. A drawbridge connected Les Tourelles to the a barbican on the river's southern bank. This barbican [called a 'boulevard' in many accounts] was an enclosed compound, with earthwork, wood timber, and part masonry walls.
The English concentrated their initial attacks at the southern entrance to Orléans. They bombarded the barbican and Les Tourelles with siege artillery for two days, before attempting a direct assault. When the English began minning, the French defenders abandoned the barbican, and soon after Les Tourelles on 23 October 1429. The French withdrew partly across the stone bridge over the river, destroying one of the arches south of the 'bastille' [another towered gatehouse] on the Ile de St-Antoine, over which the bridge passed. The English occupied the barbican, repaired their own bombardment damage to Les Tourelles, and further fortified the convent of Les Augustins (just south of of the barbican). The English also appear to have destroyed one of the bridge arches just north of Les Tourelles [Some authors believe that this too was destroyed by the French when withdrawing].
On 24 October, the English commander, Salisbury, ascended one of the two towers to survey the French positions. A cannon ball from one of the French wall guns crashed through the window. Debris from the shot tore away half of the English commander's face. He died about a week later in the city of Meung.
The earl of Suffolk assumed command. He withdrew forces from Orléans, leaving only Glasdale with a small garrison in Les Tourelles. Bedford sent lords Talbot and Scales with more reinforcements. They arrived on 1 Dec 1428. Suffolk was replaced in command by Talbot, and the the English troops were ordered back to their positions in front of Orléans. Talbot positioned the majority of the English to the north bank, and constructed a large siegework around the church of St. Laurent [Bastille de St-Laurent (west of the city)] which became his headquarters. Other siegeworks constructed were: Bastille de Ile de Charlemagne (an island in the river, south of St Laurent), and on the south bank, around the church of St. Prive [Bastille on Champ de St-Prive]. Glasdale occupied Les Tourelles and Les Augustins.
The English continued to construct a complex of strongoints in an attempt to surround the land approach to Orléans. However, the English managed to cover only the nortwest area with the Bastaille de la Croix Boissé, Bastille dez Douze Pierres, Bastille de Pressoir-ars, and Bastille de St-Pouair. The last three were given nicknames by the English: 'London', 'Rouen', and 'Paris'. These 'bastilles' were connected by a fosse and extended to the north, in an arc from St Laurent.
To the east of Orléans, Suffolk constructed a strongpoint at the church of St. Loup [Bastille de St-Loup], and another on the south bank of the Loire around the church of St. Jean Le Blanc [Bastille de St-Jean Le Blanc].
During the winter of 1428-29, the English were reinforced by approximately 1,500 Burgundians. It appears that they were used to cover the large gap in the siege besieging positions to the north and east of the city. A suspected siegework near the large forest to the northeast was never finished. Orléans' Defenses and Preparations. Anticipating the English siege, the people of Orléans further fortified their town, and burned the suburbs so as to deny the English food or any comfort. The garrison numbered only five hundred men, but many were experienced soldiers. The citizens formed thirty-four militia companies, and assigned crews to defend each of the thirty-four city wall towers. Orléans was well equipped with gunpowder artillery and, it appears as the events unfold, had better managed guns than was the case of the besiegers.
Jean de Orléans, known as 'the Bastard of Orléans' [though he did not yet hold the title as 'comte de Dunois', he will be referred to as 'Dunois' in this text], entered Orléans soon after Salisbury's death. Dunois was accompanied by six or seven hundred soldiers. Others followed, until gradually there were about seven thousand in Orléans. Dunois would be the war-leader for the defense of the city. However, he would be 'out-ranked' by some of the other nobleman who held important command positions in the make-shift, royal army of Charles VII at this time. While Dunois could direct specific operations in the city's defense, he had no authority in any grand strategy or employment of forces outside of the city.
By January 1429, Charles VII had assembled a relief force to go to Orléans. In February, this relief army deployed to Blois. This army was led by the traditional group of nobles, who decided to intercept a simple English resupply train from Paris. The outcome was to be known as 'the Day of the Herrings'. This disaster for the French is covered on another page, at The Battle of the Herrings.
The Relief (1429)
Following the disaster of 'the Day of the Herrings' in February, the situtation looked ominous for the city's survival. The English continued to strengthen their circumvallations. They evidently planned to reduce the town by famine. Four months had passed, and provisions in the town began to be scarce. In the town, the situtation became serious as some of the French nobility disgracefully abandoned the city. Charles VII appeared distant to the situtation, if not indolent. However, two fortunate developments altered the empending course of events. First there was the defection of the Burgundians from the siege operations. In a strange twist, this occured due to the city, in despair, making an offer in February 1429 to be put under the protection of the duc de Bourgogne. This proposal was refused by the English regent, Bedford. This sparked a rift in the Anglo-Burgundian alliance, and Philippe de Bourgogne withdrew his contingents from the siege during March. The reverse was significant enough that some suspect that the offer was a ploy inspired by the French court. Whatever the origin of the offer, the net effect was to draw down even further the seriously undersized besieging force. The city of Orléans could not be entirely cut-off and supplies, and some reinforcements as well as more professional warriors did reach the city.
Almost concurrently, a more significant development occured at Chinon, where Charles VII (age 26) held court in early March. On 4 March, a girl of about 19 years, arrived in the city after a long journy under light escort from her home region at the distant eastern edge of the realm. She was Jeanne Darc, better known in history, and so addressed further in this text, as 'Jeanne d'Arc'. During her time she was called 'la Pucelle' ('the Maid'), or 'Jeannette'.
Jeanne's journey was evidence that the fate of Orléans had aroused feelings in other parts of France. She met with Charles, whom she addressed as 'my Dauphin' on 6 March. Her simple requst was to lead an army to the relief of Orléans. Her 'authority' and 'credentials' for such a mission were based upon 'voices' of saints who had been instructing her for some years. The real 'miracle' in her story is that she was seriously received by this cynical court. The court had been alerted of her arrival and there was already rumored public interest and sympathy to offset the significant suspicions of a witchcraft that surrounded such event in this era. Nevertheless, Jeanne passed examinations for virginity and for possible heresy. Soon after she was provided special armor and a mount, and sent to join a recently raised army at Blois.
Much of Jeanne's story is controversial, though documented as much as anyone's in history -- unless they wrote a daily diary. Her appearance on the scene definitely reflected a significant segiment of popular emotion in France in support of the Valois cause. She came from a village that had suffered many raids by bands of English and Burgundian 'grandes compagnies'. While the situtation caused fustration toward the French authorities, it created even stronger resentment toward the English. Although in the same general region there were villages that associated with the Burgundians, if not necessarily with the English.
Jeanne came upon the scene with strongly held religious beliefs. Reportedly as early as 1423, 'her voices' (no one else heard them) directed her to go forth and save France and its king, Charles VII. Militarily it is not important whether she heard the voices so much as she believed that she did. The next important aspects about her were her self-confidence, and ability to see the immedieate situation in simple terms that often cut through the cautious concerns of the experienced warriors who accompanied her. Her decisions were successful in many instanaces, and she was quickly supported where she errored -- at least in the summer operations of 1429.
The brief, dramatic story of Jeanne d'Arc that began when she departed from her home in the duchy of Bar focus around five journeys, or expeditions, that are summarized in a separate webpage: Les chevauchées de Jeanne d'Arc. A link to this is provided at the bottom of this page. This page concerns only her 'second' chevauchée of 1429, that was the relief of Orléans and evolved into the broader 'Loire Valley Campaign'.
By the time Jeanne's 'army' began its march to relieve Orléans, the besiegers were not in much better straits than the city. Some estimates had the English reduced to 5,000 or less due to losses and desertions. In the city, the French defenders were a mixture of mercenaries and adventurous noblemen motivated by individual interests, only a few considered themselves in the service of the king or held long term interests in the city.
On 28 April, Jeanne d'Arc accompanied the army that marched out of Blois and proceeded along the south bank of the Loire. She did not 'lead' this army, as she was not aware of its exact route, and discovered later that the avenue of march and the exact mission were not as she had thought. The army's route of march avoided English outposts and arrived upstream, or northeast, of Orléans. Jeanne was reportedly angered that the relief army was on the southern bank and not directly facing the main English force beseiging Orléans, which was on the northern bank. She was compelled to cross to the northern bank to meet Dunois at Chécy [Chezy], upstream and east of Orléans. It was apparant that Jeanne did not appreciate that the purpose of the 'upstream' location was to facilitae moving the supplies the army had escorted on the final leg by barges into the city of Orléans, downstream. Another problem for Jeanne was the fact that she could cross the Loire with only a few others to the northern bank. The 'relief' army she was with was actually only an 'escort' for her and the supplies. If the army were ever to enter Orléans as a 'relief' force it had to return to Blois and march up the northen bank. There were simply no fordable locations upstream of Blois. No doubt, the French commanders knew of this well beforehand. The safe convoy of supplies and the deliverance of 'the Maid' were the real mission at the moment.
The supplies were barged in during a diversionary attack (ordered by Dunois) against the only English fort east of the city. Jeanne spent the night of the 28th at Chécy, and entered Orléans, via the Burgundy Gate on the east, on the evening of 29 April 1429.
French 4-7 May Attacks
Once in the city of Orléans, Jeanne d'Arc spent the first few days appearing on the city's ramparts before the enemy positions, yelling out threats and enduring English insults. (The distances between the walls of the city and the English strongpoints suggest astounding vocal projection on the part of the participants.) On 30 April, she went to the rampart of the small, wooden fort that the French had constructed south of the 'bastille' on Ile de St-antoine, and just north of one of the destroyed arches to the bridge. [This fort is referred to in some accounts as 'Ile Belle-Croix', after the small island which supported the arch at that point.] From the ramparts, Jeanne held a shouting verbal exchange with the English captain, William Glasdale. With an escort, Jeanne approached the English siege position twice, to inquire about her two heralds whom the English held prisoners.
On 1 May, Dunois departed Orléans to retreive the Royal army from Blois. The following two days Jeanne rode about the city, mounting the ramparts to reconnoiter the English. On 3 May, she participated in the procession celebrating the 'Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross'.
Dunois and Gilles de Rais returned to Orléans along the north bank of the Loire on 4 May. They entered the city by either the Parisis gate or Burgundy gate. To allow for supplies they were escorting to get into the city, Dunois instigated what was to have been a mere diversionary attack against the isolate English 'bastille' at St. Loup, to the east of Orléans. What began as a skirmish evolved by mid-afternoon into a mini-battle between the St. Loup garrison and the French. Awakened from a mid-day sleep, Jeanne mounted her horse and exited the Burgundy gate. She was followed by large force of the town militia who joined in the fight. The English siege commander, Talbot, started to lead a force from his position, and were the English troops were concentrated, west of the city. Dunois countered Talbot's move by launching an attack from the city against the English 'bastille' of St. Pouair (Paris). Talbot was forced to divert his relief force to defend St. Pouair, leaving St. Loup to be overwhelmed by the French.
On 5 May, The English evacuated some of their 'bastilles' south of the Loire, to concentrate their strength at the complex at Les Tourelles (including the barbican and the fortified convent of Les Augustins), and to a lesser extent at the 'bastille' at St. Jean-le-Blanc.
On 6 May, Jeanne accompanied a force of militia and men-at-arms out through the Burgundy gate and down to the banks of the Loire. They crossed the river in boats to Ile-aux-Toiles. Seeing the size of the French force approaching, the English garrison at St. Jean Le Blanc withdrew to Les Augustins. From Ile-aux-Toiles, the French constructed a ponton-bridge to reach the southern bank. As the English had already abandoned the St. Jean Le Blanc 'bastille', the first French infantry to cross immediatley turned west to assault the fortified convent of Les Augustins. As the infantry executed their piecemeal attack (a large number of the French were still crossing over Ile-aux-Toiles), the La Hire and Jeanne d'Arc assembled a small number of mounted men-at-arms to the west of the 'bastille' St. Jean Le Blanc.
At Les Augustins, the English had about 500 men, who repulsed the initial French attacks with arrows, crossbow bolts and canonballs. The French militia repeated several assualts throughout the afternoon. Their goal was to fill the ditched with faggots in an effort to set fire to the wooden outworks. The assault lost steam by late afternoon. Recognizing the weakening in the French efforts, the English launched a counter attack. La Hire, who had completed assembling a small host of mounted men-at-arms, countered by launching a French charge which threw the English back into their fortifications. The French infantry militia regained their agressivness with the arrival of some reinforcements that had crossed the river. A final French assault managed to break into the Augustins. All the time, Talbot was unable to send aid due to Dunois launching sorties against the Englsh 'bastille' at St. Laurent. Jeanne particiapted in the assault on Augustins and reportedly was 'wounded' in the foot by stepping on a chausse-trappe.
During the night of 6 May, Talbot withdrew the garrisons from the bastilles at St. Privie and Ile de Charlemagne, and concenrated his forces on the north bank. This left the English garrison on the south bank isolated in Les Tourelles and its adjacent barbican. The day ended with the French occupation of St Jean le Blanc and Les Augustins.
Besides Jeanne, Dunois, Alençon, La Hire, and Ponton de Xaintrailles the French mem-at-arms most mentioned in various accounts of this 'liberation of Orléans' are: the marechal de Rais, sieur de Gaucourt, sieur de Graville, Guillaume de Chaumont, sieur de Guitry, Raimon Arnaut, sieur de Coarraze [?]e Béarn, Denis de Chailly, Louis de Culen, Florent d'Illiers, Le Bourg de Masquaren, Thibaut de Termes, and Archambault de Villars. Also mentioned are some 'gunners' who were noted to play the roll of marksmen, or 'sharpshooters' using what had to be small guns -- usually called 'culverins'. From the range that these gunners 'picked-off' individuals it is doubtful if these were true handguns. However, they were certainly not crew-served bombardment pieces. One of the gunners was a Spaniard called Alfonso de Patada, mentioned taking part in the attacks of 4 and 7 March. Another was 'master' Jean de Montesiler from Lorraine, who was very active from the early days of the siege.
French attacks on 7 May 1429
Jeanne spent the night of 6 May at Orléans. On the morning of 7 May, she crossed the river and joined the other commanders that had gathered to the east of Les Tourelles and its adjacent barbican [or 'boulevard']. The barbican was an imposing earth, wood, and stone walled enclosure. Part of the wall may have consisted of narrow masonry walled buildings [based upon a drawing of a much later date, and the top such structures could have served as ramparts]. This barbican was surrounded by a water-filled moat on all but its north side, which bordered the river. On the barbican's east side was a drawbridge leading over the moat. Another drawbridge was at the entrance to the north that led to Les Tourelles itself.
The French launched a probing attack around 0800. It was determined to fill the ditch with faggots. The militia was assigned the task. The task was completed about 1300 hours. Jeanne accompanied the army when it moved forward with scaling ladders. She was felled by an arrow as she attempted to climb one of the ladders. [Her second injury -- her first serious one.]
Jeanne's wound (just below the shoulder and neck line) was painful and forced her to withdraw from the assault. As the day progressed, the French became discouraged in their efforts, and Dunois considered calling off the attack for the day. Jeanne persuaded him to delay doing so as she retired to pray privately. In the meantime, her standard was held by a soldier called 'Le Basque', who advanced to the moat before the barbican with the banner as Jeanne returned from her praying. The accounts are confusing whether Jeanne attempted to take her banner, or that others may have directed that the banner be waved in an effort to rally another attack. Whatever provoked the jesture, the appearance of Jeanne's banner advancing to the wall of the barbican incited a vigorous final response by the French, who successfully penetrated the barbican.
Concurrenlty, the French had floated a fired barge beneath the drawbridge between Les Tourelles and the barbican. The fire weakened the bridge so that it collapsed as the English commander and his last contingent of soldiers attempted to cross and retreat into the gatehouse. Meantime, militia from the city spanned the destroyed sections of the bridge between Les Tourelles and the city, and assaulted the gatehouse from the north. This attack resulted in seizure of Les Tourelles. Late in the evening of 7 March, Jeanne and many of the French warriors returned to Orléans by way of the Loire bridge.
The next morning, 8 May, the English came out from their remaining bastilles northwest of the city and formed up for battle. It is assumed that the English commander, Suffolk, positioned what longbowmen he had in usual English tactical position for the time. But the French forces, emerged from behind the city walls, did not oblige. Jeanne is reported to have counseled against an attack, and instead directed that a Sunday mass be conducted in the open. It should also be noted that several of her companions-in-arms had experienced first hand the feutility of advancing into another Crecy, etc. Fortunately there were not present some high nobles who would recklessly push aside prudence. The English were left with no option but to turn and to withdraw from Orléans. Some of the French proceeded to conduct minor attacks upon the English column retreating to Meung.