Its defences were weak and old-fashioned and its main riverside defenses were seriously compromised. Madeleine, feasting on captured food and wine The Aftermath Īlthough the town was not carried immediately, its fate was sealed. It would appear they failed to carry the town immediately, though they remained in control of the bridge. The Anglo-Gascons launched an attack on the gate and damaged it by fire. The garrison had by this time got the gates shut, although this trapped a number of their comrades outside, to be captured or killed. Attempts to drop the portcullis on the Barbican on the north end of the bridge were thwarted by a wounded horse falling in the gateway and the Anglo-Gascons pressed on to attack the town itself. The pursuers pressed on to the bridge, which was jammed with fleeing Frenchmen, now taking casualties from the English archers on the river bank. Because the pursuit was so close, it was impossible to close the gates on the Barbican at the south end of the bridge and it was overrun. Madeleine suburb of Bergerac, at the south end of the bridge. The French were routed and a running fight now took place as they fled toward the St. They were subject to a barrage of English archery and struck by a charge by the Anglo-Gascon cavalry. The French, either lured from Bergerac by a ruse or in the process of withdrawing from Montcuq, were caught on the road by the Anglo-Gascon army. Fowler believes it was on the road from Montcuq to Bergerac. Rogers makes the case for the road between St. Exactly where the battle took place is unknown. It would also force the lifting of the siege of the nearby allied castle of Montcuq and sever communications between French forces north and south of the Dordogne.ĭerby's army moved fast and took the French forces round Bergerac by surprise. The capture of the town, which had good river supply links to Bordeaux, would provide the Anglo-Gascon army with a forward base to carry the war to the French. After a council of war, it was decided to strike at the major town of Bergerac, where there was an important bridge over the Dordogne River. Stafford had to this point pursued a cautious strategy of small scale sieges. Derby marched his force to rendezvous with Stafford at the siege of Langdon, where he took command of the combined force. There was already a small English force in the Duchy, commanded by the Earl of Stafford, Seneschal of Gascony, and the somewhat larger forces of the Gascon Lords. ĭerby had with him 500 men-at-arms, 500 mounted archers and 1000 English and Welsh foot archers. Due to bad weather, his fleet was forced to shelter in Falmouth for several weeks en route, finally departing on 23rd. While circumstances would dictate that the main army never reached the continent, Derby's force embarked at Southampton at the end of May. March 1345 and received a contract to raise a force of 2000 men in England, plus further troops in Gascony itself. Henry of Grosmont was appointed the King's Lieutenant in Gascony on 13th. The Earl of Northampton would lead a small force to Brittany, a slightly larger force would proceed to Gascony under the command of the Earl of Derby and the main force would accompany Edward to France or Flanders. Along with the Battle of Auberoche later in the year, it marked in change in military balance of power in the region and was the first of a series of victories which would lead to Henry of Grosmont being called "one of the best warriors in the world" by a contemporary chronicler Įdward III had determined early in 1345 to attack France on three fronts. An Anglo-Gascon Army commanded by Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Derby, defeated a French force under Henri de Montigny, Seneschal of Périgord, outside the walls of Bergerac, leading to the loss of the town. The Battle of Bergerac was fought in August 1345.
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