St. Crispin's Day October 25th 1415, Etching, 5 inch x 7 inch

St. Crispin's Day October 25th 1415, Etching, 5 inch x 7 inch, by Larry Vienneau

The Battle of Agincourt

Raven had been following a mob of English men and horses. He had been feasting on the garbage and waste for miles.  As he flew, he saw a vast host of 30,000 iron-clad Frenchmen and horses awaiting the 9,000 exhausted, filthy English. Raven flew to the ruins of an ancient castle to watch the confrontation. But the two forces made camp and the next morning both armies simply stared at each other, unwilling to make the first move. The French-mounted knights were aligned in a vast line that could easily sweep the English aside. Raven's stomach was empty, and he was impatient.  He decided to move things along. He saw an armored French horse with a gaudy black feather plume; it was the perfect hiding place.  A mounted charge was supposed to be an ordered prodding advance that would bring death to English archers. He landed atop the horse's head, hidden by the black plume. He leaned over and bit down on the unprotected ear of the horse so hard that the horse broke rank. Other knights saw this and all wanted to be first to the slaughter and all raced forward. Soon the entire force began a mad dash through thick mud and a hail of arrows.

By the end of the day, 7,000 Frenchmen and 400 Englishmen lay lifeless in a sodden field of mud and blood.

England’s King Henry V had a great victory and Raven’s stomach was full.