Chevauchée

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A Chevauchée ( French for "cavalry" or "cavalry attack") was a form of medieval warfare in which mounted units were used to advance into enemy territory for several weeks to plunder and pillage the territory there.

Strategy and tactics

A Chevauchée could combine a whole range of economic, political and military goals, the concrete weighting of which depended on the respective initial situation:

  • The enemy is weakened economically by the pillaging of their territory .
  • The values ​​obtained through the looting can turn out to be significantly higher than the expenditures for the Chevauchée.
  • Domestically, the enemy is weakened because the medieval legitimation of rule, namely the protection of the country and its people, can obviously not be guaranteed.
  • The enemy can possibly be forced into a field battle , although he actually wants to avoid it.
  • A Chevauchée is cheaper and quicker to organize than a campaign lasting several months , as not so many men and investments are required.

In addition to these overarching goals, a Chevauchée was characterized by a number of specific projects and actions in its implementation:

  • The enemy's villages are looted and sacked for booty.
  • The enemy's fields and plantations are being burned to disrupt the enemy's food supplies.
  • Enemy dignitaries and nobles are to be taken hostage in order to obtain ransom and political leverage.
  • Fortified and strongly defended positions of the enemy are bypassed.

Most of the time, Chevauchées led to large waves of escape in entire regions, during which the inhabitants of unattacked villages fled to the safety of the surrounding fortified castles and cities.

History of the Chevauchée

The earliest regular use of the Chevauchée occurred during the Reconquista on the Iberian Peninsula . Since the almost permanent conflict between the various Christian and Muslim rulers, which lasted for about six hundred years, could not be carried out permanently with large standing armies, the chevachée became a frequently practiced tactic.

The Chevauchée tactics did not experience their peak phase until the Hundred Years' War . There it was used by both sides, but especially by the English, on a larger scale and more systematically than ever before. The English often used Chevauchées to put the enemy under pressure even without their own large troops. Most of these Chevauchées were carried out by smaller groups of mounted people (a few hundred) - less often by several thousand. After they had already been successful in the second Scottish War of Independence against Edward III. had been used, they became characteristic of the English strategy of warfare in France in the 1340s and 50s. But the French also made use of Chevauchées, although these were mostly smaller and primarily pursued the aim of undermining English rule in the occupied territories and taking important English personalities hostage. According to the historian Kelly DeVries, the Chevauchée gained increasing importance as a tactic during the Hundred Years War, especially after the first waves of plague . Due to the large number of epidemic victims, it became more difficult to recruit enough soldiers for a larger army. In addition to the aristocratic armies, some free companies were also known for using this tactic.

At the turn of the 15th century, the Chevauchée as a tactic increasingly faded into the background. With the increasing concentration of fortunes in cities and the emergence of firearms, the siege and conquest of cities came more and more into the focus of warfare. In addition, the English controlled many large French cities (including Caen , Falaise , Cherbourg and Rouen ) at this time and politically the actual conquest of other territories in southern France came to the fore.

Well-known Chevauchées

  • In 1347 after the fall of Calais , Edward III. to undertake two larger Chevauchées on French territory. One was led into Artois by the Black Prince , the second led Henry of Grosmont through Nord-Pas-de-Calais and culminated in the Battle of Saint-Omer .
  • In 1355 the Black Prince led a Chevauchée from Bordeaux to the French Mediterranean coast. The goal should be the conquest of Toulouse , which had to be dropped because of the strong defenses there. Nonetheless, the English are wreaking havoc, and the Count of Armagnac lost much political standing due to his inability to defend the region.
  • As early as 1356, the Black Prince led another Chevauchée into French territory, which ultimately provoked the French to react and culminated in the Battle of Maupertuis , in which the French King Jean II was captured.
  • During the 1370s Robert Knolles and John of Gaunt led several larger Chevauchées into French territory, but no major successes were achieved.
  • In 1380 Thomas of Woodstock led a campaign in support of John V, Duke of Brittany . Since the French did not fight him, he instead led a Chevauchée to Nantes. Before the city could be captured, Charles VI paid . 50,000 Ecú to Woodstock for the withdrawal of his troops.

Popular culture

In the Chevauchée board game developed by Skirmisher Publishing LLC , it is the player's task to complete a successful raid through enemy territory.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Aberth p. 85
  2. ↑ In particular by James Douglas during the raids on northern England.