ly reasonable, as spearmen
on foot would be able to check the fiercest charge of horse, if only
the horse could be exposed to a shower of arrows. The English army was
drawn up in three corps, two of them in the front line. The Black
Prince was in command of one of the two bodies in front, whilst the
king himself took charge of the third corps, which acted as a reserve
in the rear.

13. =The Battle of Crecy. August 26, 1346.=--When Philip drew nigh in
the evening his host was weary and hungry. He ordered his knights to
halt, but each one was thinking, not of obeying orders, but of
securing a place in the front, where he might personally distinguish
himself. Those in the rear pushed on, and in a few minutes the whole
of the French cavalry became a disorganised mob. Then Philip ordered
15,000 Genoese crossbowmen to advance against the enemy. At the best a
crossbow was inferior to the English long-bow, as it was weaker in its
action and consumed more time between each shot. To make matters
worse, a heavy shower of rain had wetted the strings of the unlucky
Genoese, rendering their weapons useless. The English had covers for
their bows, and had kept them dry. The thick shower of their arrows
drove the Genoese back. Philip took their retreat for cowardice. "Kill
me those scoundrels!" he cried, and the French knights rode in amongst
them, slaughtering them at every stride. Then the French horsemen
charged the English lines. Some one amongst the Black Prince's retinue
took alarm, and hurried to the king to conjure him to advance to the
son's assistance. Edward knew better. "Is he dead?" he asked, "or so
wounded that he cannot help himself?" "No, sire, please God," was the
reply, "but he is in a hard passage of arms, and he much needs your
help." "Return," answered the king, "to those that sent you, and tell
them not to send to me again so long as my son lives; I command them
to let the boy win his spurs." The French were driven off with
terrible slaughter, and the victory was won. It was a victory of foot
soldiers over horse soldiers--of a nation in which all ranks joined
heartily together over one in which all ranks except that of the
gentry were despised. Edward III. had contributed a high spirit and a
keen sense of honour, but it was to the influence of Edward I.--to his
wide and far-reaching statesmanship, and his innovating military
genius--that the victory of Crecy was really due.

14. =Battle of Nevill's Cross, and the