Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap, whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon St Crispins day.”So wrote William Shakespeare or at least they are Shakespeare’s re-imagining of the words of King Henry V before the Battle Of Agincourt on October 25 1415.
The speech the playwrite invented for England’s warrior king in the hour of his greatest travail was probably based on the written record of Henry’s actual words before that famous battle in a French cornfield nearly 600 years ago.
Henry, pressing the tenuous English claim to the crown of France and trying to unite his kingdom behind him after his father’s usurpation launched an invasion a mere two years after his succession.
Reaching France late in the fighting season he subdued the fortified town of Harfleur after a spirited siege again immortalized in Shakespeare’s magnificent play.
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!”
Unfortunately taking the town had caused great hardship for Henry’s own army and casualties combined with dysentery left him in a precarious strategic situation, a worn out force with nothing but a small toe hold in France and an expected counter attack from the French king seemingly imminent.
The noble elite, effectively the General Staff of a medieval army, advised Henry to withdraw, leave a small garrison at Harfleur and return to England in triumph.
But capturing one small town hardly signaled to his subjects at home that it had been a glorious campaign and ignoring sane advice Henry announced to his beleaguered host that he desired to see more of “his” French realm.
In 1415 Calais, several hundred kilometres to the north of Harfleur was an English possession, garrisoned by friendly troops.
Henry decided to march through hostile French territory and embark to England from Calais. An insult the French could not let pass without answering.
For several days Henry force marched his sorry band through the unfriendly countryside. No one in this part of the world proclaimed him king and his woe-begotten soldiers, forbidden from plundering the land, felt that fate was against them and illness and hunger began to take an even greater toll.
A massive French army had gathered at Rouen under the Constable of France and soon began their march to intercept the English usurper.
Henry could not find an unguarded crossing of the river Somme for several days and his army drifted deeper into hostile France. He was finally caught and cornered by the French at a little village called Agincourt.
The English army, battered by disease and weakened through lack of supplies was outnumbered at least six to one. Most of those in Henry’s band thought they would never live to see another sunrise. It was then that the leadership skills of King Henry V really came to the fore.
One of Henry’s commanders upon seeing the size of the French army commented that he wished he had brought several more archers from England as he felt they would regret not having them. Henry heard this comment and remarked that he would not wish for anymore men to be with them. This was their fight and the glory they would win that day would be theirs alone and those left behind in England would feel themselves lesser men for not having been at Agincourt. This is the genesis of Shakespeare’s speech.
“We few we happy few.”
History tells us that Henry V, personally leading his army and distinguishing himself in the battle, saving the life of his brother who had been knocked down in the ensuing melee, won a great victory which has gone down in history as a great military triumph against the odds. And I’m sure for many years after, those who had followed the king to hell and back would tell the tale in the pubs and to their families and many an old soldier would, ” strip his sleeve and show his scars and say, these wounds I had on Crispin’s day”.
I was reminded of Henry V and his appeal to his men yesterday when Australia’s latest Victoria Cross recipient received his medal from the Governor General. He thanked those who he had fought with the day he had performed the action which led to his award stating modestly that he would not have been able to do it without them. Generous praise for his comrades who were also awarded decorations by the truckload. And rightly so.
As an Australian I felt a little like those left behind in England while Henry V won everlasting glory for himself on the field of Agincourt.
I think most would look at Daniel Keighran VC and his ilk and “hold their manhoods cheap” when observing this great young Australian.
I will sleep soundly tonight knowing that this nation can still produce such men and although some may yet shed their blood and sacrifice their lives, it is our duty to honour them and make sure their heroics are not forgotten.
Call me a fool for being romantic in the face of such a conflict where people lose their lives everyday but war is a business which will never be eradicated and that we have such magnificent men in our defence force should be a comfort to our country. The nation that forgets it’s history and it’s heroes is barely a nation at all.
To our brave warriors of Afghanistan….I salute you.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 