He therefore commenced his retreat towards Calais; but, being closely pursued by the French army, chose a good position near the village of Cressy, where he determined to await in tranquillity the arrival of the enemy.

He disposed his army in excellent order, and hoped that the eagerness of the French to give him battle and to prevent his retreat would hurry them on to some rash action. He drew up his army on a gentle ascent, and divided them into three lines. The first was commanded by the Prince of Wales, the second by the Earls of Arundel and Northampton, and the last the king had under his own care, by which he purposed either to bring succour to the two first lines, to secure a retreat, in case of any misfortune, or to push his advantage against the enemy. He had likewise the precaution to throw up trenches on his flanks, (or sides of the army) in order to secure himself from the numerous bodies of French who might assail him from that quarter. He placed all his baggage behind him in a wood, which he also secured by an intrenchment.

King Edward rode through the ranks of his army with such an air of cheerfulness as conveyed the highest confidence into every beholder. He addressed the soldiers on the perils of their present situation, and the necessity of united courage and valour in obtaining success. It is related by some historians that Edward, besides the resources which he found in his own genius and presence of mind, employed also a new invention against the enemy, and placed in his front some pieces of artillery, the first that had been made use of on any remarkable occasion in Europe. The cannon first framed were so clumsy, and of such

difficult management, that men were not immediately sensible of their use and efficacy; and even to the present times improvements have been continually made on this famous engine, which, though it seems contrived for the destruction of mankind and the overthrow of empires, has, in the issue, rendered battles less bloody, and given greater stability to civil society. The invention of artillery was at this time known in France as well as in England, but Philip, in his hurry to overtake the enemy, had probably left his cannon behind him, which he regarded as a useless encumbrance.

All his other movements showed the same imprudence and recklessness. Impelled by anger a dangerous counsellor--and trusting to the number of his forces, which greatly exceeded those of Edward, he thought that all depended on forcing an engagement with the English, and that if he could reach the enemy in their retreat, the victory on his side was perfectly certain. He made a hasty march in some confusion, but after he had advanced about two leagues, some gentlemen brought him intelligence that they had seen the English drawn up in great order awaiting his arrival. "They therefore advised him to defer the combat till the ensuing day, when his army would have recovered from their fatigue, and might be disposed in better order than their present hurry had permitted them to observe. Philip himself agreed with this counsel, but owing to the impatience of the French nobility, found it impossible to put it in execution.

One division of the French army pressed upon another, as orders to stop were not promptly conveyed to all of them. This immense body was not governed by sufficient discipline to be manageable, and the

French army, imperfectly formed into three lines, arrived, already tired and disordered, in presence of the enemy. The first line, consisting of fifteen thousand Genoese cross-bowmen, was commanded by Anthony Doria and Charles Grimaldi ; the second was led by the Count of Alencon, brother to the king; the king himself was at the head of the third.

Besides the French monarch, there were no less than three crowned heads in this engagement: the King of Bohemia, the King of the Romans, and the King of Majorca, with all the nobility and great vassals of the crown of France. The army now consisted of above 120,000 men, more than three times the number of the enemy; but the genius of one man was superior to the advantage of all this force and splendour.

The English, on the approach of the enemy, kept their ranks firm and immovable, and the Genoese first began the attack. There had happened a little before the engagement, a thunder-shower, which had moistened and relaxed the strings of the Genoese cross-bows; their arrows for this reason fell short of the enemy. The English archers, taking their bows out of their cases, poured in a shower of arrows upon this multitude who were opposed to them, and soon threw them into disorder. The Genoese fell back upon the heavyarmed cavalry of the Count of Alencon, who, enraged at their cowardice, ordered his troops to put them to the sword.

The artillery fired amongst the crowd, the English archers continued to pour in their arrows, and nothing was to be seen in that vast body but hurry and confusion, terror and dismay. The young Prince of Wales had the presence of mind to take advantage of this situation, and to lead on his line to the charge. The

French cavalry, however, recovering somewhat their order, and encouraged by the example of their leader, made a stout resistance; and having at last cleared themselves of the Genoese runaways, advanced upon their enemies, and by their superior numbers began to hem them round. The Earls of Arundel and Northampton now advanced their line to sustain the prince, who, ardent in his first feats of arms, set an example of valour which was imitated by all his followers.

The battle became for some time hot and furious, and the Earl of Warwick, fearing the issue of the contest, despatched a messenger to King Edward, and entreated him to send succour to the relief of the prince. Edward had chosen his station on the top of the hill, and he surveyed in calmness the scene of action. When the messenger accosted him, his first question was, "whether the prince were slain or wounded?" On receiving an answer in the negative, "Return," said he, "to my son, and tell him that I reserve the honour of the day for him. I am confident that he will show himself worthy of the honour of knighthood which I so lately conferred upon him. He will be able without my assistance to repel the enemy."

This speech, being reported to the prince and his attendants, inspired them with fresh courage. They made an attack with redoubled vigour on the French, in which the Count of Alencon was slain. The whole line of cavalry was thrown into disorder; the riders were killed or dismounted; the Welsh infantry rushed into the throng, and their long knives cut the throats of all who had fallen. Nor was any quarter given that day by the victors.

The King of France advanced in vain with the rear to sustain the line commanded by his brother.

He

found them already discomfited, and the example of their rout increased the confusion which was before but too prevalent in his own body. He had himself a horse killed under him, he was dismounted, and, though left almost alone, seemed still determined to maintain the combat, when John of Hainault seized the reins of his bridle, turned about his horse, and carried him off the field of battle.

The whole French army took to flight, and was followed and put to the sword without mercy by the enemy, till the darkness of the night put an end to the pursuit. The king, on his return to the camp, flew into the arms of the Prince of Wales, and exclaimed, "My brave son, persevere in your honourable course. You are my son, for valiantly have you acquitted yourself to-day. You have shown yourself worthy of empire."

This battle, which is known by the name of the Battle of Cressy, began after three o'clock in the afternoon, and continued till evening. The next morning was foggy; and as the English observed that many of the enemy had lost their way in the night and in the mist, they employed a stratagem to bring them into their power. They erected on the hills some French standards which they had taken in the battle, and all who were allured by this false signal were put to the sword, and no quarter given them. In excuse for this cruelty, it was stated that the French king had given like orders to his troops; but the real reason probably was that the English, in their present situation, did not choose to be encumbered with prisoners.

On the day of battle, and on the day following, there fell by a moderate calculation twelve hundred French knights, fourteen hundred gentlemen, four thousand