📅 On This Day in Military History
1 event across history
Named for its unglamorous cargo, this engagement saw English commander John Fastolf escorting a supply convoy of salt herring to the besieging forces at Orléans. A Franco-Scottish force intercepted the convoy near Rouvray. Fastolf, outnumbered, formed a defensive laager of supply wagons studded with sharpened stakes and repulsed the attackers with longbow fire — essentially repeating the Agincourt formula on a smaller scale. The French and Scottish cavalry were routed. The herrings reached Orléans.
The Battle of the Herrings seemed to confirm that England's hold on France was unbreakable. French morale collapsed to its nadir. It was precisely this despair that made the arrival of Joan of Arc weeks later so electrifying — her mission began in the darkest hour of the French cause.
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