HASTINGS, BATTLE OF.—Fought, October 14th, 1066. In the beginning of summer, William embarked his powerful army of 60,000 men on board a fleet of 300 sail; and, after some small opposition from the weather, landed at Pevensey, on the coast of Sussex, tranquilly.
“Harold, who seemed resolved to defend his right to the crown, and retain that sovereignty which he had received from the people, who only had a right to bestow it, was now returning, flushed with conquest, from defeating the Norwegians, who had invaded the kingdom, with all the forces he had employed in that expedition, and all he could invite or collect in the country through which he passed. His army was composed of active and valiant troops, in high spirits, strongly attached to their king, and eager to engage.
On the other hand, the army of William consisted of the flower of the continent, and had long been inured to danger. The men of Britanny, Boulogne, Flanders, Poictou, Maine, Orleans, France, and Normandy, were all voluntarily united under his command. England never before nor ever since, saw two such armies drawn up to dispute its crown.
The day before the battle, William sent an offer to Harold to decide the quarrel between them by single combat, and thus to spare the blood of thousands: but Harold refused, and said he would leave it to the God of armies to determine. Both armies, therefore, that night pitched in sight of each other, expecting the dawning of the day with impatience. The English passed the night in songs and feasting; the Normans in devotion and prayer.
The next morning, at seven as soon as day appeared, both armies were drawn up in array against each other. Harold appeared in the centre of his forces, leading on his army on foot, that his men might be more encouraged, by seeing their king exposed to an equality of danger. William, fought on horseback, leading on his army, that moved at once, singing the songs of Roland, one of the famous chiefs of their country. The Normans began to fight with their cross-bows, which, at first, galled and surprised the English; and, as their ranks were closed, their arrows did great execution. But soon they came to closer fight, and the English with their bills hewed down their adversaries with great slaughter. Confusion was spreading among the ranks, when William, who found himself on the brink of destruction, hastened with a select band to the relief of his forces. His presence restored the suspense of battle; he was seen in every place, endeavouring to pierce the ranks of the enemy, and had three horses slain under him. At length, perceiving that the English continued impenetrable, he pretended to give ground, which, as he expected, drew the enemy from their ranks, and he was instantly ready to take advantage of their disorder. Upon a signal given the Normans immediately returned to the charge with greater fury than before, broke the English troops, and pursued them to a rising ground. It was in this extremity that Harold was seen flying from rank to rank, rallying and inspiring his troops with vigour; and though he had toiled all day, till near night-fall, in front of his Kentish men, yet he still seemed unabated in force or courage, keeping his men to the post of honour.
Once more, therefore, the victory seemed to turn against the Normans, and they fell in great numbers, so that the fierceness and obstinacy of this memorable battle was often renewed by the courage of the leaders, whenever that of the soldiers began to slacken. Fortune at length determined a victory that valour was unable to decide.
Harold, making a furious onset at the head of his troops against the Norman heavy armed infantry, was shot into the brains by an arrow; and his two valiant brothers, fighting by his side, shared the same fate. He fell with his sword in his hand, amidst heaps of slain.”
HAVRE-DE-GRACE.—Defended for the Huguenots by the English in 1562. Bombarded several times by the British Navy. Successfully attacked for three days from July 6th to 9th, 1759. Again bombarded in 1794 and 1795—and again by Sir Richard Strachan in 1798. Declared in a state of blockade 1803; and the attempts of the British to burn the shipping here signally failed, August 7th, 1804.
HERARA, BATTLE OF.—In Arragon.—In this battle, Don Carlos of Spain, in his struggle for his hereditary right to the throne of that kingdom, encountered, at the head of 12,000 men, and defeated General Buerens, who had not half the number of the Queen’s troops. The loss of Buerens was about 1000 killed and wounded. Fought, August 24th, 1837.
HERRINGS, BATTLE OF THE.—Vertot says that this battle, fought in 1429, received its name from the following ludicrous occasion. The Duc de Bourbon, in attempting to intercept a convoy on the road to the English Camp, before Orleans, was severely beaten. It was a convoy of salt-fish—and this action has ever since been called by the above name.