The Battle of Blanstack

After the capture and plunder of Caen, the English army marched east along the Seine , while the French troops retreated in front of the advancing enemy, using what later became known as “scorched earth tactics,” trying to make the British starve. This strategy failed when on August 14 the British captured an unprotected ford on the Seine in Poissy and built a pontoon bridge to cross the river. This threatened Paris and caused concern among the French population, but in fact it created an advantage for the French, as the English army was now sandwiched between the rivers Seine and Somme. Each bridge and ford across the rivers was taken under heavy protection, King Philip VI moved his headquarters to Amiens , and then led his army to the plain between the rivers in an attempt to track down the English army.

Edward III, meanwhile, was determined to break the French blockade of the Somme and probed the fords at several points in late August, recklessly attacking Anzest and Pont Remy, after which he began to slowly move north along the west bank of the river, trying to find a ford. He was followed by the French army, which, however, could not find a convenient place to attack. On August 23, a French detachment attacked the British at Boissemont, but was defeated and killed, and the city burned to the ground. On the evening of August 24, the English army camped in the city of Ashe, while the French army was only six miles from Abbeville , guarding the bridge. During the night, Edward was informed by a local Englishman or a French captive that there was a small ford Blanchetta (“Blanchetaque” - “White Stones”), which was probably not guarded just four kilometers away, near the village of Senville. Edward immediately turned the camp in the middle of the night and directed his entire army towards the river.

On arriving at the river, the British discovered that the French had better equipped their positions than previously thought. The crossing was guarded by 3,500 soldiers under the command of the experienced French general Godemar du Foix. Another problem was the tide, which - just ten miles from the coast - was high, and it was not known whether the water level would drop to an acceptable level in the next few hours. During this time, both sides prepared in battle, and Edward decided it was time to attack. By that time, the English soldiers, hungry and exhausted by the march, were in a decline in morale. The French forces were lined up along the sloping coast, they were the best soldiers led by 500 knights in the center.

At around 8 a.m., 100 English mounted knights and squires began to wade under the direction of Reginald de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobem, and William de Bogun, 1st Earl of Northampton. They were supported by a large number of archers who began to shower French positions with a hail of arrows, covering the breakthrough of their knights. Genoese crossbowmen in the French service were not able to answer in the same way - the other side of the river was beyond the reach of their crossbows. The battle ensued on the banks of the river: King Edward threw new forces into the breakthrough, seizing bridgeheads on the French shore. The combination of infantry attacks and accurate longbow shooting forced the French forces to retreat until their lines broke and they fled to Abbeville , pursued by the British cavalry.

An hour and a half after the French lines were hacked, the entire English army crossed the ford and moved north into the countryside rich in food. The French were so sure that the British could not break their defenses on the Somme that they moved troops from this region to other areas, and the British were able to replenish supplies, burning the cities of Neuille sur Mer and Le Crotoy. King Philip tried to pursue the enemy and even captured some of the slowest convoys of the English army, but Edward used a respite to prepare a position at Crescia , where he met the French army the next day.

Without a victory at Blanchtak, Edward would not be able to feed his army, nor find a position to win in his most famous battle at Crescy two days later. It is difficult to judge the consequences of a possible British defeat at Blanstack, but it could well mean the end for Edward and his army. The losses of the parties are not clear, it is estimated that about 2,000 French soldiers were killed in battle or in the retreat that followed. The English casualties are less well known, but appear to have been significantly less than the French.

• Jonathan Sumption. (1990). The Hundred Years War, Vol 1, Trial by Battle. ISBN 0-571-13895-0
• AH Burne. (1955). The Crecy War. ISBN 1-85367-081-2