The Battle of La Roche Derrien

The Battle of La Roche-Derrien was fought in 1347 during the night between English and French forces. Approximately 4-5000 French, Breton & Genoese mercenary's (The Largest field army ever assembled by Duke Charles of Blois) laid siege to the town of La Roche-Derrien in hope of luring Sir Thomas Dagworth, the commander of the only standing English field army in Brittany at the time, into an open pitched battle. Charles of Blois in an effort to defeat the hated English Longbowmen gave orders to setup 4 encampments around the towns 4 gates. Weak palisade's were established to give cover to his men, his thinking being that the archers couldn't kill what they could not see. Duke Charles gave his men strict orders to stay in their encampments so as not to be easy targets for the dreaded archers. When Dagworths relief army, less than 1/4 of the French force, arived at La Roche-Derrien they attacked the eastern (main) encampment and successfully fell into the trap laid by Duke Charles. Dagworths main force was assailed with crossbow bolts from front and rear and after a short time Dagworth himself was forced to surrender. Duke Charles thinking he had won the battle and that Brittany was effectively his lowered his guard. However a sorte from the town comprised mainly of townsfolk armed with axes and farming implements came from behind Charles lines, the archers and men at arms who remained from the initial assault now rallied with the towns garisson to cut down Charle's forces. Charles was forced to surrender and was taken for randsom. His strict orders to his commanders to stay in their encampments was his eventual downfall as the english forces managed to clear each encampment one by one. The success of the battle is one of the untold stories of the hundred years war and relied greatly on the effectivness of the English Longbow which could pierce plate armour with ease.

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