May 16, 1364
Battle of Cocherel
Charles II “the Bad” of Navarre had designs on the Duchy of Burgundy, which the newly crowned Charles V of France wished to give to his brother, Philip II. England supported Navarre’s claim and the opposing armies met at Cocherel, in eastern Normandy.
The king of France's forces were led by Bertrand du Guesclin, though Jean, Count of Auxerre was the highest-ranking noble present. There were knights from Burgundy, Brittany, Picardy, Paris and Gascony. Total strength, foot and mounted, was about 3000.
The forces of Navarre were commanded by the Gascon noble Jean de Grailly, Captal de Buch and consisted of 800-900 knights and 4-5000 soldiers from Normandy, Gascony and England, including 300 English archers. The English and Gascons consisted mainly of routier companies that had been operating in Brittany and Western France. These were free-lance sometime mercenaries, sometine brigands, who lived by raiding and extorting from the surrounding countryside.
The Navarrese army was lined up in 3 “battles”. It took up a defensive position, with the archers forming wedges along the front, a standard tactic for English armies of the period. In the past when the opposing army had advanced then they would be cut to pieces by the archers; however in this battle, du Guesclin managed to break the defensive formation with a feigned retreat, which tempted English knight Sir John Jouel and his battalion from their hill in pursuit. Captal de Buch and his company followed. A flank attack by du Guesclin's reserve then won the day.
Captal de Busch was captured. After his release the following year, he defected to the French and was made lord of Nemours by Charles V. However, he soon returned his allegiance to the English, and in 1367 he went to Spain with the Black Prince, fighting at the Battle of Navarette (see posting), where he would gain a measure of revenge against du Guesclin.
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