Battle of Hastings

“ There is something singularly attractive in the country-side around Battle Abbey, by reason of its having been the site of that great struggle which really created England—the battle of Hastings. It was on Caldbeck Hill, on the evening of the 14th of October 1066, that the Norman trumpets blared forth their pæan of victory. ”

“ These infantry nations, without any infantry system comparable to that of the Greeks and Romans, succumbed in turn to the crowd of mounted warriors—not like the Greeks and Romans for want of good military qualities, but for want of an organization which would have distributed their fighting powers to the best advantage. One has only to study the battle of Hastings to realize how completely the infantry masses of the English slipped from the control of their leaders directly the front ranks became seriously engaged. ”

“ Historical students are beginning to realize that it is not enough to know about the battle of Hastings without understanding the causes and forces that led to it and proceeded from it, and the daily lives and thoughts of those who took part in it, from captain to spearman. ”

“ At length, according to Wace (to whose ample account of the battle I am principally indebted) ," the English stood ready to their post, the Normans still moving on; and when they drew near, the English were to be seen stirring to and fro; men going and coming; troops ranging themselves in order; some with their colour rising, others turning pale; some making ready their arms, others raising their shields; the brave man rousing himself to the fight, the coward trembling at the approaching danger." ”

“ On the political causes of the battle I shall say nothing: they are well known to all. And on the events which succeeded William's landing at Pevensey on the 28th of September up to the fatal day—October the 14th, 1066, I have already contributed some remarks which have been published in the Society's transactions. [3] You will therefore have the goodness to consider the Norman duke as intrenched in his temporary castellum at Hastings, and the unfortunate Harold as having erected his standard and fixed his gonfanon upon this spot. ”

“ There, too, was the young knight Toustains Rtz-Rou le Blanc, bearing the sacred gonfanon which the pope had blessed and presented to William. This had been offered, in turn, to Raol de Conches, the hereditary standard-bearer of Normandy, and to Walter Giffard, but declined, by the former on the ground of his desiring the more useful service of the sword, by the latter on account of his bald and hoary head. "I shall be in the battle," he cried, "and you have not any man who will serve you more truly; I will strike with my sword till it shall be dyed in your enemies' blood!" ”

“ Fac-simile of Miniatures in the MS. of Prudentius. (Imp. Library of Paris.)
In the Bayeux tapestry we see the army of William that fought the battle of Hastings composed of three different bodies of troops: the archers, light infantry, armed with arrows and darts; foot-soldiers, or Heavy infantry, using weightier arms, and clad in iron mail; and cavalry, in the midst of which figures the Duke William (Fig. 47) .
The costume exhibits little variety; only two sorts of accoutrements are observable; one very plain, worn by men who have no helmet, is evidently that of an inferior soldier ”

“ It is signed by two lords, nine knights, and forty-eight esquires, who engage to aid Hastings against all persons within the kingdom, and to raise as many men as they can, to be armed at the expense of Hastings. Upon Edward's return in March 1471 Hastings was instrumental in bringing over Clarence to his side, and was present at their first interview thereupon at Banbury. At the battle of Barnet Hastings commanded the third division, which was opposed to that of Montague, and included three thousand mounted horsemen. ”

“ Later Lord Hastings had assumed command of a submarine and had made
Jack his first officer and Frank his second officer.
Through many a tight place the lads had gone safely, though they had faced death more than once, and faced it calmly and bravely. Also, at this period of the war, they had seen service in many seas. They had been engaged in the first battle of the North Sea, when Great Britain had struck her first hard blow; they had participated in the sinking of the German Atlantic squadron near the Falkland islands, off the coast of Argentina, in South America ”

“ The Carmen, with admirable latitude of expression, says, that William killed "two thousands, besides innumerable other thousands!" Ordericus tells us, from the information of eye-witnesses, that the Normans lost 15,000 men. "How great think you," asks the monk of Battle, "must have been the slaughter of the conquered, when that of the conquerors is reported, upon the lowest computation, to have exceeded ten thousand?" ”

“ Night is a long ways off.”
“In the meantime,” said Lord Hastings, “I don’t know of anything better than to watch the progress of the battle.”
“We shall have to get closer than this if we expect to see anything,” declared Lord Hastings.
He gave the command for fifteen knots, and gradually the D-16 forged ahead of the Queen Elizabeth and stood out before the whole fleet. ”

“ The English army set forth from London on Thursday, October 12th, and marched inevitably, it being the most direct route, by the line of country through which runs the Hastings Road of our own day. So speedily did the troops set out to meet their foe, that by Friday night Harold had pitched his camp on this hill of Senlac, eight miles from Hastings, on the site of this town of Battle.
A very ancient oak, known as the “Watch Oak,” stands in the private garden of a house on the bye-road to the right entering Battle. ”

“ A cry now ran through the Norman host that the duke had fallen in the disaster at Malfosse, and the varlets [38] who had been set to guard the harness, seeing the sad loss of life in the fosse, began to quit their post and to fly from the impending danger. But William having been apprised of the report, and seeing numbers running away, hastened to stop them. Brandishing a spear with his right hand in a menacing manner, and at the same time removing his helmet with his left, he cried out, "Look! I am alive, and with God's help I will yet conquer." ”

“ They now proceeded to march from Telham Hill, and to cross the valley which separates that elevation from the one upon which Harold's army was encamped; the graceful and gradually rising spot upon which "the Abbey of the Battel" now rears its time-stained turrets. A finer site for a camp cannot be conceived: almost in its whole circumference bounded by low, and, in those days, marshy ground, it was difficult of access to the attacking army, and proportionably easy of defence ”

“ In the spring of 1644 Hastings attacked Nottingham, and distinguished himself in Rupert's relief of Newark (Hutchinson, Memoirs, ed. 1885, i. 300, 385; Rushworth, v. 308) . In May 1645 he joined the king's army before Leicester, and was made governor of that place after its capture (Diary of Richard Symonds, pp. 181, 184) . On 18 June, four days after the battle of Naseby, Hastings surrendered Leicester to Fairfax, obtaining leave for the garrison to march away without their arms (Sprigge Anglia Rediviva, ed. 1854, p. 54) . Hastings held out in Ashby until 28 Feb. 1645–6. ”

“ Across the road from the house is a little knoll which is [104] called "The Soldiers' Graves," [232] even to this day, for therein sleep two British soldiers whose summons undoubtedly came from behind the Nelson bowlders.
About a sixth of a mile yet farther along, stood the home of Samuel Hastings, near the Lexington boundary line, yet within the town of Lincoln. Hastings was a member of Capt. Parker's Lexington Company, [233] and was present and in line for action when Pitcairn gave that first order to fire. ”

“ Now if even contemporary accounts of modern battles are found to differ inter sese in some essential particulars, it must be a matter of great difficulty to frame an intelligible history, of the sanguinary conflicts of ancient times from the materials furnished us by partial and often incompetent chroniclers, and written from oral traditions at periods considerably subsequent to the transactions themselves. ”

“ It was the aim of the British government to align Greece and Roumania on the side of the Allies. Realizing that they could not hope to accompany Lord Hastings, and not wishing to remain idle longer, Frank and Jack had requested Lord Hastings to have them assigned on active duty at once. Lord Hastings promised to do his best.
And this was the reason that Frank Chadwick and Jack Templeton found themselves aboard H.M.S. Queen Mary when she steamed out to the North Sea on an evening in the last week of May, 1916. ”

“ It would appear that the conflict sometimes degenerated into mere skirmishes and personal encounters; and the historians, particularly Wace, give us some very interesting episodes of this kind, which, from internal evidence, would seem to have been furnished to him by eye-witnesses. One of these may be quoted:—
"On the other side was an Englishman who much annoyed the French, continually assaulting them with a keen-edged hatchet. ”

“ This method of fighting particularly impressed William at Hastings, and no doubt the English employed it with great skill. But whereas the most important part of William’s army was the cavalry, Harold’s army consisted entirely of foot soldiers. The Thanes and other important men might be able to ride up to the scene of battle on horseback, but they dismounted for the fight. The “packed shield” formation they proceeded to employ consisted, as is seen in the Tapestry, of a thick wedge of men, widening out from about two in front to an uncertain number at the base ”

“ He had a helmet made of wood, which he fastened down to his coat, and laced round his neck, so that no blows could reach his head. The ravage he was making was seen by a gallant Norman knight, who rode a horse that neither fire nor water could stop in its course when its lord urged it on. The knight spurred, and his horse carried him on well till he charged the Englishman, striking him over the helmet, so that it fell down over his eyes; and as he stretched out his hand to raise it and uncover his face, the Norman cut off his right hand, so that his hatchet fell to the ground. ”

“ You are already acquainted with him.”
“What manner of man is Lord Ashley?” questioned Kearns. “He interests me.”
“Lord Ashley, Vice-Chancellor and Master of the Imperial Household,” replied General Mainwarren, “is a soldier who earned a reputation for daring and dash during the early part of the late war with Russia. He was severely wounded at the battle of Pedrofski and retired during the rest of the campaign. His actual military rank is Captain of the Imperial Guards—a position which carries with it the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.” ”

“ My oldest brother Joshua Thomas Hastings was a home guard soldier and a teacher in Bolivar, Missouri, when the battle of Springfield was fought and General Lyon was killed. After the battle the Home Guards and Union men in general in that part of the state, had (using a war word) to skedaddle for their lives. My brother tried to make his escape to Kansas but three times was arrested by confederate scouts. ”

“ Hastings (61) , a popular holiday and health resort in Sussex; occupies a fine situation on the coast, with lofty cliffs behind, 33 m. E. of Brighton; has a splendid esplanade 3 m. long, parks, public gardens, &c., and ruins of a castle.
Hastings, Battle Of, fought on 14th October 1066, on Senlac Hill, 6 m. NW. of Hastings (where now stands the little town of Battle) , between William, Duke of Normandy and Harold II., King of England; victory rested with the Normans, and Harold was slain on the field.
Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquis of, Governor-General of India ”

“ When the naval campaign was concluded, Hastings joined the troops engaged in the siege of Nauplia. That force was exposed to the greatest danger by the irruption of a large Turkish army into the Morea, commanded by Dramali Pasha. While engaged in defending the little fort of Bourdzi in the port of Nauplia, and under the guns of that fortress, he became intimately acquainted with Mr Hane, a young artillery officer, who subsequently served under his orders with great distinction. At this time Hastings raised a company of fifty men, whom he armed and equipped at his own expense. ”

“ She is first in your thoughts, I am sure," advised the Stroke, with a perceptible shade of disbelief. "Just let her see that you are sound and lusty, that's what she will care most about. She will be sorry for your sake, not for her own."
Throwing himself across his cot, Hastings looked out of the nearest window, down the river to where the flag above the Harvard Quarters slashed the sky like a ribbon of flame. There were the enemy whom he had helped to defeat, and now it seemed an honorable thing, greatly to be desired, even to row on a beaten crew. ”

“ After this most of the lazy circling planes rose and made off to the left, while a few assigned to guard duty circled above the retreating cavalry, as they moved off slowly in the opposite direction.
Two belated members of the troop, who had lost their horses, flung themselves down to rest for a moment in the lengthening shadow of the oak tree.
"Oh Gawd!" said one, as he panted and mopped his forehead. "Oh Gawd! I was scared! That damned shrapnel bursting right over us and no chance to fight back or get away. It ain't no fair fighting like that—you can't get at 'em." ”