208 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[period II. 



through the intervals of the clumps of spearmen, and 

 left them to withstand the onset of the English chivalry. 

 The Scottish infantry stood as firm as rocks, and the 

 horses at that time not being heavily armoured, were 

 wounded and killed in great numbers, throwing the 

 whole force into confusion, and paving the way for an 

 attack of the cavalry under Bruce, which completed the 

 victory. From this time we begin to see the great 

 influence of the English archers.^ 



At the battle of Halidon Hill, near Bev'v>^ck, in 1333, 

 the Scottish cavalry dismounted to charge m)i'e steadily. 

 They were, however, received with such valour by 

 King Edward, and were so galled by the English 

 archers, that they were thrown into disorder and utterly 

 routed. 



The battles of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, three 

 of the most gallantly contested and decisive victories of 

 that age, were won neither by the nobility of England 

 nor the feudal tenants, for these classes were fully 

 matched in the French army, but the success was entirely 

 due to the matchless skill and bravery of the English 

 bowmen. 



In the first action, that of Crecy, in 1346, Edward 

 III. had an army consisting of 4,000 men-at-arms, 

 10,000 archers, 10,000 Welsh infantry, and 6,000 Irish. 

 These Welsh and Irish troops were of a light and irre- 

 gular character, of no use in the front line of action, but 

 well fitted for following up a pursuit. Cannon were 

 used in this action, and it is said to have been the very 

 earliest instance of their use in a pitched battle among 

 civilised nations. The battle of Crecy is noted as a great 

 epoch in the art of war for several reasons. In the first 

 place, on account of the introduction of gunpowder, a 

 discovery which revolutionized the art of war, and in 

 which improvements have been and are continually being 

 made ever since. 



The mechanical skill of the day was not sufficient 

 however to render the use of gunpowder very efficacious. 

 The inventive faculty seems to have been far in advance 



1 Burton, ii. 383, 384. 



