Battle of the Herrings

Timeline

1. 1429Paris–Orléans road · FranceThe English besieged Orléans from October 1428. With Lent approaching, Paris organized about three hundred supply wagons loaded with crossbow bolts, cannonballs and barrels of herring, escorted south by Fastolf. The French and Scottish forces decided to intercept them on open plains near Rouvray, attempting to cut off the besieging army's food and munitions.
2. 1429Rouvray battlefield · Loire ValleyFastolf formed the wagons into a laager staked with spikes, his force far outnumbered by the three to four thousand Franco-Scottish troops. French artillery damaged some wagons, but about four hundred Scottish infantry charged before Clermont's prohibition, forcing the bombardment to stop. Longbows and crossbows fired from behind the laager, and French cavalry were blocked by caltrops. The English then sallied out and attacked the disordered flanks and rear, routing the coalition.
3. 1429Orléans · Loire ValleyThe convoy regrouped and delivered the supplies to the besieging English. The French and Scots lost about four to five hundred men, and Dunois barely escaped with his life. Inside Orléans, Clermont was blamed for cowardice; he and the wounded Dunois left the city with about two thousand men, and the garrison seriously considered surrender. Only when Joan of Arc arrived in April and May and launched the Loire campaign was the siege reversed. Legend holds that Joan prophesied the defeat at Vaucouleurs the same day, prompting Baudricourt to allow her to depart.