Heavy warbows came into their own in western Europe when they began to be deployed in mass volleys, the so-called “arrow storm,” by the Normans. The primary purpose of the arrow storm was to disrupt, weaken, and dishearten an advancing enemy before they could close in for battle. The arrow storm proved more effective at this than firearms until the advent of the repeating rifle and the machine gun—which replaced the arrow storm with a lead storm.

The heyday of longbow archery began during the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453). Longbows proved to be more than a match for the armored knights of France at the Battles of Sluys (1340), Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356), and Agincourt (1415). But they weren’t always victorious. Their lines were smashed at the Battle of Verneuile (1424), and their positions were overrun before they had time to erect their defenses at the Battle of Patay (1429).

Despite what you might have heard, or seen on TV, there was no standard formation for English archers. They were usually deployed on the flanks of the men-at-arms; but sometimes, like at Agincourt, they could be intermingled with the men-at-arms. The famous wedge formation is probably a myth created by a misreading of the available evidence. Archers could also be sent forward to flank the enemy, engage in ambushes, or be deployed to protect the baggage train. They could be deployed behind trenches or stakes or both with their arrows stuck in the ground at their sides where they would be readily available. 

Most archers also had hand weapons to protect themselves when the battle closed, including spears, swords, maces, hammers, axes, etc. At Poitiers, the English archers ran out of arrows and ran forward to pull arrows from their half-dead victims. The medieval pictures of archery show the archers with arrows stuck in their belts rather than in the ground. This seems to have been a common, though dangerous way of carrying arrows.

Archers were most often deployed on the flanks or at the center of the field in combination with pikes or spearmen. The purpose of placing the archers on the flanks was to disrupt both the cavalry and the infantry. Archer positions could be defeated if they were charged before they set up their defenses as happened at the Battle of Patay in 1429, or if the flank could be turned. To avoid this, archers sometimes stationed themselves in swampy ground where cavalry could not close with them. We’ll pick up with some more fun history facts regarding archery tactics next month. Until then,

Cheers,
James