Henry V: The Background, Strategies, Tactics and Battlefield Experiences of the Greatest Commanders of History Paperback Read Online Free Page A

recapture of Anglesey by English forces shipped
    over from Ireland cut off a major source of supplies for the rebels.
    By the summer of 1407 Prince Henry felt in a strong enough position to
    put Aberystwyth, one of Glendower's remaining strongholds, under siege.
    Assembling some 600 men-at-arms and 1,800 archers, and well supplied with
    cannon, the siege dragged on for over a year until the castle surrendered in
    the autumn, as described by The First English Life of Henry V:
    How so be a greate part of them, seeinge their confederates thus vanquished, and
    themselues thus oppressed by the Prince, fledd foe refuge into a greate and
    stronge Castle in Wales called Amberrstmch [Aberystwyth], wherevnto the
    Prince layed his siege, and assaulted it by mynes and all manner of engines that
    were thought needful for the distruccion of them and of there Castle;
    he made manie vigorous assaults and skirmishes for the oppression of them.
    And on his partie the Siege was not wthout the paine and disease of the Prince
    and his companie, in so much the more noyous vnto them that were lodged
    wthin the Castell, not in plaine fields but in roughe and thicke woods, for wth
    such manner woods and Castells it was environed. And also it was that time
    winter, wch was cause to them of incredible colde and paine. Neuertheless this
    most virtuous Prince, not wearied wth paine, after he had longe assieged this
    castell to the Kings greate cost and expences, and not wthout the effusion of
    much bloud, obtained the Castell, and subdued the residue of Wales vnder the
    Kings obeysance.
    The fall of Harlech to the prince in March 1409 left the Welsh Revolt largely
    subdued. Though Glendower would remain at large and isolated guerrilla
    attacks still occurred throughout the principality, no major centres of
    resistance remained and Prince Henry felt free to turn his attention towards
    England and the growing issues over intervention in France. One benefit of
    Henry's years of campaigning in Wales was that he had built up his own
    retinue, consisting of men such as Thomas, Earl of Arundel, and Richard,
    Earl of Warwick, who would serve him well in his later campaigns in France.
    Plans for France
    From the year 1409 Prince Henry became increasingly influential in the
    affairs of state as part of his role on the king's council. This was partly owing
    to the increased disability of Henry IV, who removed himself from a lot of
    the day-to-day business of running the kingdom, and partly owing to Prince
    Henry's increased political maturity. As he had developed a military retinue,
    so he now surrounded himself with a political faction, based largely around
    his Beaufort uncles - Henry, Bishop of Winchester, John, Earl of Somerset,
    and Thomas, Earl of Dorset. This faction gained power in the royal council
    at the expense of the established chancellor, Archbishop Arundel, and the
    treasurer, Sir John Tiptoft. The two opposing groups had very different
    attitudes to the situation in France.

    The state of political affairs in France had become particularly poisonous
    following the murder of Louis of Orleans by John the Fearless, Duke of
    Burgundy, in November 1407, This solidified factions that had been
    developing in the French court into two groups - the Burgundians and the
    Armagnacs, named after Bernard, Count of Armagnac. The country was
    slipping into a state of near civil war and both sides sought English military
    support in their struggles.
    Henry and his advisors sought to ally themselves with the Burgundians in
    1410-11, sending an expedition under the Earl of Arundel that fought
    alongside the Burgundians at the battle of Saint-Cloud in October 1411.
    However, in November of the same year Henry IV recovered and Prince Henry
    and his faction found themselves out of favour at court and the English
    position on France was reversed, with Henry IV and his council signing the
    Treaty of Bourges with the Armagnacs in May 1412. This was followed up by
    an