The Battle of Hastings

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CHRONOLOGY OF THE BATTLE

Battle of Hasting is between Normandy led by Duke William II versus King Harold in 1066. These battles occurred at Senlac Hill, 7 miles from Hasting, England. The cause that led to the battle is the rival for English Crown after death of Edward the Confessor (King of England). Three contenders involved:[19]

- King of Norway Harald ‘Hardrada’, alleged agreement between King Hardicanute and King Magnus .[20]

- Duke William of Normandy.

- The Saxon Harold, son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex.

The chronology of event as per Table1

Date

Event

5th January 1066

-Death of Edward The confessor. England's high council has appoint Harold Godwindson the Earl of Wessex as King Harold II.

-King Of Norway, Harald Hadrada at the North Sea saw a great opportunity to get throne in England. He was assisted by Tostig, brother of Harold Godwindson own.[21]

- Duke William intention to claim the English throne, has been promised by Edward and Harold when he was captured by Duke William at the coast of Ponthieu near Normandy.[22]

April.

-Haley’s comets visible in the sky. Wiliam stating it is “the presage of (Harolds) doom”[23].

20 September

-Norwegian king, ‘Hadrada’ and Tostig Godwinson won the Battle of Fulford near York where they defeated the Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria.[24]

21st-25th Sept

-Harold led his army from the South of England to York to defend threat of Vikings Invasion! The Stamford Bride Battle occurred and Harold defeated Kings Harald Hadrada and the Vikings[25].

27-28th Sep

-Willim and his army landed at Pevensey Beach in Sussex. The Normand invasion begin.[26]

29 Sep

Hasting was occupied by Duke William at South coast of England

13 Oct 106

-Negotiation attempt between two parties. William stand with his claimed demand King Harold to give up his position or facing the battle. King Harold disagrees with the option.[27]

14 Oct 1066

-Battle of Hasting began between King Harold and Duke William.

-Harold positions about 5000 army weary and footsore men on Senlac Ridge. His battle plan is to purely defend by ready behind famous Saxon shield wall waiting for Norman to break them. This strategy really works for them.[28] They almost win the battle. Saxon army believe Norman retrieve. They broke their barricade.

-King Haarold was killed. Norman won the war.

Table 1. Chronology Of Event

ORDER OF BATTLE (ORBAT)

Franco- Norman Army. The army consists of three main type of soldiers, They are archers, infantry and cavalrymen. They are also professional background in the team. The numbers more or less 2500 cavalry, 3500 infantrymen and 1000 archers.[29] Weapon that been utilized are short bow, 4 ft long drawn to body, chain mail with effective range 50 yards, crossbow, leather hauberks, spear and sword, battle mace.[30]

Anglo Saxon Army. Harold’s army is about 4000 from the best army they have. The rest are part time soldiers total of Harold an army of around 8000 consisting of cavalry, infantry and archers. They fought on foot and vulnerable to missile. Main weapon was great two handed axe, sharp curved blade spears of one foot diameter on a handle over three feet in length, short axes, homemade swords and farm implements and armed with lances and swords.[31]

Tactics used by both army. The tactic used by Harold is only the age old defensive shield wall. William never stopped changing tactics and resulting his resounding victory. He initially carried out infantry advance. As the infantry advance failed to break the defensive shield war, William changed his tactic to a cavalry charge. He then decided to use rolling cavalry attack. He finally used a combined attack. In the combined attack, he also used up to 1000 archers to provide showers of arrows.[32]

MAP AND LOCATION

Map and location for the battle as per diagram 2 and diagram 3 below.[33]

[pic 1]

Diagram 2. Map of the battle

[pic 2]

Diagram 3. Position of army during the battle.

BATTLE ANALYSIS

The circumstances that led to the Battle of Hastings compelled Harold to hasten his reaction to achieve speed and surprise. It was the reason he had to move to the south before his forces could arrive after defeating the Tostig and Harold Hardrada. On the other hand, their failure induced for William to accelerate his effort to invade the island. The situation for Harold was such dire that he had to accumulate troops as he moved in the country topping an estimated 7000 troops for the battle. One-third of it was archers and the rest infantry with only a minuscule cavalry. William’s men were an estimated 10,000 and half of it was equally divided between archers and cavalry. Therefore, from the very onset, William was at an advantage for an offensive battle.

The William’s advantageous position also was one of the contributing factors for Harold to hasten his manoeuvre. He initially planned to intercept the Normans at the beachhead, but he was too late. They finally caught up at Hastings. Due to this unexpected interception, he was wise in his decision to go for a defensive battle, and occupying high ground with a well-fortified defence. Had he not timely decided, he could not have made to the area where he laid his defences. He occupied the Calf hill few miles south of Hastings and paused to engage the Normans. In many battles before and after the Battle Hastings, the concept of holding high ground defences have worked out well for the defenders. The famous battle of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg in the American