Still, when morning broke and they saw their own great superiority in numbers and strength, they gathered confidence, and thought indeed that the English army could not escape them. And between nine and ten they advanced to battle, bending their heads so that the arrows might not pierce through their visors.
King Henry had heard mass at the break of day, and then mounting his grey charger had arranged his troops for the battle, the archers forming the right and left wings. He rode through the ranks and harangued the soldiers, pointing out the danger of their position, from which the only escape was victory. He reminded them of those other battles in which their fathers and grandfathers, wearied and outnumbered, had fought and conquered, and then dismounting from his horse he placed himself at the head of the infantry and led the attack. Twice they halted to take breath, and twice they came on with a great shout, while a shower of arrows rushed through the air into the vanguard of the French army. The English archers were slightly armed and poorly dressed, but strong and active; they wore an axe or sword at their girdle and carried a pike to force their way through the thickest of the fight. In the French army there was neither order nor discipline. The King and his sons were not present as at Crécy and Poitiers, and the princes would obey no other leader. Those who were not placed in the vanguard refused to stay with their men but pressed forward to join the line of cavaliers in heavy armour who bore the noblest names in France, and stood in the front of the battle.
A squadron of cavalry was ordered to charge; they were the flower of the French troops. They came on impetuously at a gallop, but the ground was soft with deep mud, the horses slipped, floundered, and became unmanageable, a flight of arrows falling amongst them added to their confusion, they turned and fled. Then the English throwing down bows and pikes, seized their swords and axes and rushed into the thick of the fight. They broke through the first division, but when they came to the second and third there were no leaders, as they had all gone to the front ranks. The subalterns could not lead the soldiers, who hesitated, wavered, and at last gave way, and the battle became a rout. The English were too few in number to pursue as they dared not separate, and Henry seeing a troop coming up, and thinking the enemy were being reinforced, gave the order to put the prisoners to death, which command began to be carried out, but presently, seeing that the troop was also retreating, the King ordered the massacre to be stopped, which was at once done, but not before many lives had been sacrificed, and a deep stain inflicted upon his name.