Battle of Crecy  26th August 1346. On 12th July Edward III landed in Normandy with his army and marching north plundered the countryside. King Philip VI assembled an army to stop Edward and tracked them across the Somme River. When Edward reached Crecy he stopped and ordered his army to take up defensive positions. King Philip surveyed the English positions and decided to postpone his attack until August 27th. However, the French vanguard pressed forward too far and so committed the entire army to the battle. The hired Genoese crossbowmen began the assault but came under severe attack from the English longbows and so fled to the rear. King Philip then ordered his cavalry to charge resulting in a huge loss of horse and man under the barrage of arrows which rained down on them. By the end of the night after several unsuccessful assaults the French army was reduced by a third and King John of Luxemburg was dead. Edward then turned towards Calais.
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