Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

THE ARMY ON THE MARCH
Many of the instructions within the surviving ordinances are concerned with the
discipline and organization of the army as it campaigned. As we have seen they
stipulated that no one should march in advance of the banners of the constable and
marshal, nor leave the line ol march without permission.
Keeping an army together on the march was vital. Desertion was a common fear:
less so when armies were operating far from home or amongst the knights and men-
at-arms, but even in the Holy Land men were able to drift away from the army to
return home, whilst injunctions like that given for the Agincourt campaign instructing
all members of the army to wear a red cross as an identifying badge, and the regular
taking of musters, applied to not just the shire levies and town militias but to all
including the men-at-arms and knights.
In the immediate vicinity of the enemy, or with the expectation ol battle, it was vital
that a commander keep his army concentrated and in good order. As we have seen
medieval armies were small. As such if they dispersed on the march the individual elements
could be relatively easy to pick off. Their small size also meant that they were often difficult
to find. The threat of being ambushed or blundering into the enemy encouraged a cautious
commander to keep his forces together so that the army might more easily be deployed
for battle. For that reason the order of march was
often identical to the order of battle.
A wise commander would dispatch some of his
troops to reconnoitre the line ol march, reporting
on the strength of garrisons and the defences ol
towns along the route of march. In both the Crecy
and Agincourt campaigns scouts were sent to
locate crossing points on the Somme. Locating the
enemy army and judging his strength was also a
priority. Whilst these tasks might be assigned to
non-knightly dpeculatored, men like the hobelar
Robert le Brut, paid to 'spy out the passings and
haunts of the enemy', knights themselves were no
less capable.
We have already read about William
Marshal spying on the French army in 1189.
In 1066, after landing at Pevensey at the start ol
the Hastings campaign, 'William [the Conqueror]
was quick to investigate the region and its
CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE
An English army on the
march, mid-14th century.
The men-at-arms ride
behind the banner of
St George and two
commanders, one of
whom carries a 'wand'
of command. (© British
Library)