Battle of Castillon

Overview

The Battle of Castillon was a battle between the forces of England and France which took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne. On the day of the battle, the English commander, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, mistakenly believing that the enemy was retreating, led a relatively small advance force of his army in an attack on a strongly fortified French encampment without waiting for reinforcements. Talbot then refused to withdraw even after realising the strength of the French position, allowing the French artillery to destroy his reinforcements piecemeal. Castillon was the first major European battle won through the extensive use of field artillery.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Castillon, fought in Gascony on 17 July 1453, is conventionally regarded as the concluding engagement of the Hundred Years' War, ending more than a century of intermittent Anglo-French conflict over the French crown and English territorial holdings on the continent. The English force suffered approximately 4,000 casualties, and the death of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury — one of the most prominent English commanders of the war — at Castillon effectively ended English military capacity to contest Gascony. The battle's outcome secured French control over the region and extinguished the last significant English foothold in France outside Calais. Beyond its place in the Hundred Years' War, Castillon holds a wider significance in military history as the first major European battle decided through the extensive use of field artillery, marking a shift in the conduct of open engagements that would define warfare in the coming centuries.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (7)