IV/76 Early Burgundian

Proposed:

Duncan Head

Proposal

Add:

Infantry with leaden war-hammers – Irr Bd (X) @  6 AP     0-2

Justification:

During the Dauphiné campaign of 1430 which culminated in the Battle of Anthon, a unit in the Burgundian army of Louis de Chalon, Prince of Orange, was armed with large war-hammers or mauls:

“… un document établi d’après le témoigngage de l’écuyer Héracle Ferrière, neveu du capitain d’Anthon, fait état d’une unité de fantassins armés de “maillets” de plomb, sortes de marteaux à long manche et à deux têtes et destinés à frapper les armures des chevaliers et à les assommer. Ces maillets avaient été acheminés de Bourgogne jusqu’à Anthon sur sept mules et déchargés la veille de la bataille.”

(Gaillard, p.30)

Or, roughly, “… a document based on the testimony of the squire Héracle Ferrière, nephew of the captain of Anthon, reports a unit of foot-soldiers armed with leaden “mallets”, a kind of hammers with long hafts and two heads, intended to break the armour of knights and knock them out. These mallets were transported from Burgundy to Anthon on seven mules, and unloaded the day before the battle.”

These war-hammers were probably five feet or so long, with a lead-weighted double hammer-head and possibly a central spike prolonging the haft. They might be similar to the English archer’s maul – though I don’t think we have a very clear image of that weapon – but there is no indication here that they were for the use of archers, and Gaillard regards them as the weapons of one unit not armed in the “conventional” way with bow, crossbow or spear.

How many men were issued with these weapons depends on how many you can get on a mule. Discussions on the ancmed list produced weights between 3.5 kg and 6 kg, and mule load capacities of 100-150 kg. Any but the most optimistic of these figures results in fewer hammer-men than one DBMM element.

However Anthon was a small battle, and the Burgundian (or “Orangeist”) army is estimated at only 3,500-4,000 men (of whom about 1,500 mounted) – smaller than a normal DBMM army at perhaps 7-8 elements of mounted and 8-10 of foot. The question then is, how far should this contingent be multiplied up to fit a normal-scale list. I have been cautious at two elements.

References:

Gaillard, Philippe, La Bataille d’Anthon - 11 Juin 1430 (“Les Batailles Oubliées” series, Historic’One, Annecy-le-Vieux, 1998)

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ancmed/ thread entitled “Of mallets and mules”, starting msg 65875 of 1st March 2009.