[GB Beta] The Battle of Hastings 1066 C.E.

[Agamemnon]

OOC: Thanks guys, I'm glad I finally made a good account of myself. Congrats, Fred. Great game, Maj. Both of you have some rep as well.

[Majonga]

The Battle of Hastings 1066 C.E.

"I must ask...will you make one last charge into battle, with your King? Any man who so wishes, give me the roar of a lion!" - Harald II, King of England



Close English Victory
(ahistorical)

English Losses: 2,076 men (642 men Killed, 974 Wounded and 460 Missing)

Norman Losses: 1,580 men (438 men Killed, 663 Wounded and 479 Missing)

Synopsis:
The Battle of Hastings was fought on the 14th of October 1066. It was a lengthy and hard fought battle between two very equal sides. Duke William of Normandy was forced to counter attack against Harold's army encamped on Caldbec hill. Mostly due to his weak strategic position and a very real threat of being cut off from supply. He was therefore forced into taking an uncharacteristic risk to seek battle on the 14th, marching his army to take up position on Telham Hill, not half a mile from Harold's position. William held his army at Telham hill for most of the morning, hoping to encourage Harald to move out onto open ground and attack William's position.

The stratagem failed. Harold's army was tired from their epic march southwards and Harold himself was very aware of William's need to break out from the Hastings Peninsula. The English army maintained their position, drawn up on three divisions on the wooded slopes of Caldbec Hill. Around about Mid-day, William was forced to attack and he sent forward his infantry to take up position on Senlac Ridge, drawing his cavalry out onto his far right. His plan was likely to draw the English into attacking his line, then flanking it with his cavalry. For the most part, this plan succeeded. Despite Harold's excellent handling off his skirmishers, the Norman archers forced the English army to attack forward.

Harold's deployment, which was well positioned to provide reserves to a defensive line, originally hampered his attack as his forces collided with each other and his assault came piecemeal. A chance to hit Harold's force on it's unprepared flank was lost mostly due to William's inability to get his cavalry into position, and was furthered hampered by the woods which covered the English flank. Unlike William's position on the flank, Harold's central position within his forces, made for much easier command and control and he was therefore able to hold off William's attacks on his flank with his Wessex division and throw in his uncommitted troops against the Far left of the Norman army. His attack here succeeded in cracking the Norman shield-wall and routing a large number of William's infantry. Had Harold pressed on, he may have broken the Norman line entirely. However the rout his Huskarls on the Norman right, drew him away from the fighting as he raced to rally them.

In Harold's absence the English attack stalled and William was able to reform his line, thanks to the stiff resistance of his Breton troops. His first cavalry attack repulsed and he himself wounded, William regrouped his cavalry and charged again. This was his final gamble, if his charge failed to break the English flank, his infantry would eventually break under the mounting pressure from the English. His charge was initially successful throwing back the Wessex division in disorder. However, Harold was able to rally his troops and reform them to meet William's attack. The Flemish Knights, who were to charge down on the rear of Harold's new line, were intercepted by Harold and his reformed Huskarls. Despite being seriously wounded, Harold was able to hold the Flemish at bay. William's charge was stalled by the reformed English troops. Had William been able to reform and charge again, he may have been able to break the exhausted English line, especially with uncommitted infantry advancing to support his attack.

However luck was with Harold when William was killed by a thrown spear as he rallied his men. William's death spelled victory for the English. As news reached the Norman lines they began to flee and the Norman army disintegrated. Despite Harold being seriously wounded and the English taking significantly higher losses in the actual fighting, they were able to hold off the Norman attack and as the sun set, Caldbec Hill and the road to London remained in English hands.

Historical Impact of the Battle:
The Battle of Hastings, was for the most part, like its sister battle at Stamford bridge, a nonentity. Harold's victory at the battle served only to maintain the existing status quo in England. Harold himself was able to legitimise his reign, but did little to halt the slow decline of the English economic system. The battle did however, in some respects safeguard the British Celtic church from Rome. At least, for a lot longer than if the Normans succeeded. Harold himself is well remembered as a skilled military leader and was later heroised for his defence of the British Isles against foreign invasion. His strategy and tactics during the autumn of 1066 have been the subject of much study by military theorists who often proclaim him one of the greatest generals Britain ever produced.

The death of William the Bastard, aside from putting an end to Norman ambitions in England, was to have dramatic effects on Normandy. The Duchy had been held together by William's Iron rule for decades and with his fall, the Duchy collapsed into infighting. He was succeeded by his sons William Rufus and Robert, but neither of them were able to unite the Duchy for any lengthy period of time. Normandy therefore declined in the years after Hastings, leaving Sicily as the only bastion of Norman success in Europe. Hastings remains a great 'What if' battle, as many historians have theorised on the drastic changes that England would have undertaken had William succeeded in his conquest.