Siege of Montargis - Misplaced Pages

1427 siege during the Hundred Years' War

Siege of Montargis

The Siege of Montargis, illustration of the manuscript of Martial d'Auvergne, Les Vigiles de Charles VII, Paris, BnF, circa 1484.

Date	15 July – 5 September 1427 (1427-07-15 – 1427-09-05) (1 month and 3 weeks)
Location	Montargis, Centre-Val de Loire, France47°59′52″N 2°44′00″E / 47.9978°N 2.7333°E / 47.9978; 2.7333
Result	French victory

Belligerents

France

England

Commanders and leaders

Jean de Dunois
La Hire

Earl of Warwick

Strength

Garrison
Relief army: 1,600

3,000 men
Artillery

Casualties and losses

Unknown

1,000 men
Artillery and baggage

v t e Hundred Years' War Lancastrian phase (1415–1453)
1415–1420 Harfleur Agincourt Valmont 1st Caen Rouen 2nd La Rochelle 1421–1428 Baugé Meaux Cravant La Brossinière Verneuil St. James Montargis 1428–1430 Orléans Herrings Loire Jargeau Meung-sur-Loire Beaugency Patay Reims Paris Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier La Charité Compiègne 1435–1444 Gerberoy St. Denis Paris Calais Creil Pontoise Tartas Dieppe 1449–1450 Normandy campaign of 1449–1450 Formigny 2nd Caen Falaise Cherbourg 1450–1453 Gascon campaign of 1450–1453 Blanquefort 1st Bordeaux Martignas Castillon 2nd Bordeaux

Hundred Years' War
Lancastrian phase (1415–1453)

1415–1420

1421–1428

1428–1430

1435–1444

1449–1450

1450–1453

The siege of Montargis (15 July – 5 September 1427) took place during the Hundred Years War. A French relief army under Jean de Dunois routed an English force led by the Earl of Warwick.

Prelude

In June 1427, John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford ordered Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick to capture the French stronghold of Montargis, situated on high ground between the Loing and Vernisson rivers, crisscrossed by canals and held by a sizeable and well-supplied garrison. Warwick led a force 3,000 men supported by artillery and laid siege to the place on 15 July 1427.

Siege

Despite a constant artillery bombardment, the English made little progress by early September. Dauphin Charles sent a relief force of 1,600 men under the command of Jean de Dunois and La Hire. Dunois informed the garrison of his arrival and laid out a battle plan. Dunois' force appeared south of town, and as the English tried to attack them across a wooden bridge, Montargis' defenders opened the town's sluice gates, sweeping away the bridge and cutting the English army in two. The garrison and Dunois attacked the English from both sides and Warwick's army lost one third of its troops and all of its artillery and baggage as it fled.

Aftermath

The victory was a major boost for French morale and advanced the military fame of Dunois.

Citations

^ Wagner 2006, p. 219.
Barker 2010, p. 89.

References

Barker, Juliet R. V. (2010). Conquest : the English kingdom of France in the Hundred Years War. London: Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-12202-1.
Wagner, John A. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0313327360.

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