Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: A Biography

by Kenneth Hotham Vickers

1421] SIEGE OF DREUX

By this time the army had been considerably reinforced. The lords who had come over with Henry had contrived to make up their appointed numbers, Gloucester at all events having his full complement of four hundred men,[395] and several of the English captains, already in France, had brought their contingents to the main body.[396] Since the death of Clarence Gloucester had been practically second in command. Hitherto his elder brother had taken precedence of him, not only by reason of his age, but also on account of his greater experience, though it would seem that in siege operations Gloucester had always been regarded as the better soldier. At any rate the siege of Dreux was now committed to his care, though Henry himself was with the army.[397] With Gloucester the King of Scots was associated in command, but it would seem that this had a political rather than a military significance; James had never seen a siege in his life, save as an unwilling spectator of the fall of Melun, but as a captain in Henry’s army he was meant to exemplify the rapprochement between the English and Scotch, which had been initiated whilst Henry was at home. The young King’s long captivity was nearing a close; he was to have three months’ leave of absence in Scotland at the end of the campaign, which was to be a preliminary to his final enlargement. Moreover, on behalf of the Scotch the Earl of Douglas had agreed to enter the English service with four hundred men in the ensuing year.[398]

Though James was nominally joint commander, the burden of the siege naturally fell on Gloucester, and he invested the town on July 18. The fortifications were particularly strong, and situated as it was under the brow of a rocky eminence of considerable height, with an almost impregnable castle on the summit and a double moat around it, the task seemed no easy one. Gloucester, however, found a vineyard adjoining the castle which, though strengthened by a wall and tower, was the weak spot of the defences. While keeping a close watch around the rest of the town, he concentrated his attack on this point, and by means of diligent mining under cover of a heavy cannonade he was able to drive the defenders out of the vineyard, and so secured a better position from which to attack the town itself. On August 8 the garrison, being hard pressed, and despairing of help from the Dauphin, who showed no sign of leaving his position behind the Loire, agreed to surrender if not relieved within twelve days. On August 20 the English troops entered the town.[399]

Hitherto Henry’s military operations had not extended beyond Normandy, for the siege of Dreux had only been undertaken to safeguard the Duchy. Now he began to see that it was impossible to secure France by the same means that he had employed to secure Normandy. Already his forces were thinned by the necessity of garrisoning the towns that he had taken, and he could not attempt to garrison the whole of France in this way. On the other hand, the disastrous results of his grandfather’s famous march through France showed him the danger of any operation far removed from his base. His one hope was to goad the Dauphin to action. He had hoped that the siege of Dreux might draw the French to attempt its relief,[400] and that was one reason why he had confided the attack to the care of Gloucester, while he himself awaited a relieving force. These tactics having failed, he determined to seek out the Dauphin, and compel him to give battle. Only the prestige of a second Agincourt could make his title of ‘Regent of France’ anything but a name, or induce Frenchmen generally to accept him as their future King. It was with joy, therefore, that he learned towards the end of August that the French were collecting their forces on the Loire not far from Beaugency, and he hastened to move from Dreux to meet the enemy.

We have no evidence to prove that Gloucester took part in this expedition, for he is not once mentioned by the chroniclers after the siege of Dreux, though we know that he was still in France in March 1422,[401] and that the operations of the English were confined to the main body under Henry. In all probability, therefore, Gloucester took part in the march on Beaugency and shared the King’s disappointment on learning that the French troops had dispersed. For fifteen days the English waited for a French attack, whilst the Earl of Suffolk tried to get in touch with the enemy on the south side of the river. The Armagnac refused to offer battle, for they had not forgotten the method by which the armies of Edward III. had been driven from France, and Henry had to rest content with the capture of Beaugency. Further tarrying in this ‘unfruitful country’ had now become impossible; men and beasts were dying of starvation; so with a heavy heart Henry turned eastwards. The suburbs of Orleans were captured, but an attack on the town itself was deemed impossible, and the army passed on to Villeneuve-le-Roi, which surrendered on September 22. By October 6 the English had invested the town of Meaux.[402]

1421] GLOUCESTER’S RETURN TO ENGLAND

Throughout this siege, which lasted for five months, we find no mention of Gloucester, even in the pages of the chronicler Elmham. It is very improbable that this would have been the case if he had been present at the siege, for not only was he second in command of the army, but his prowess in siege operations was such that some important post must have been assigned to him had he been there. It seems possible that before the army advanced to Meaux, Gloucester was sent to protect Paris and its environs. Exeter, its former governor, was now with the army, and Gloucester may have been deputed to guard the capital, and at the same time keep up communication between the English army and its Norman base.[403] This, however, is nothing more than conjecture, for we lose sight of him entirely till about March, when he crossed over to England.[404]

Gloucester’s journey to England was undertaken to exchange posts once more with Bedford. When Henry had sailed from Dover in the previous year he had left the kingdom in his brother’s care, and Catherine, who was expecting her confinement, had been left behind also. On December 6 the future King Henry VI. had been born,[405] and the Queen had prepared to rejoin her husband as soon as her health should permit her to travel. Bedford was commissioned to accompany her, and so his younger brother was sent to replace him in England.[406] As early as February 7 Gloucester’s lieutenant at Dover had had instructions to prepare ships for the voyage,[407] but Bedford and the Queen did not actually sail till May,[408] and before this Gloucester had taken over the management of the kingdom. His commission as Regent has not survived, and the earliest document signed during this regency is dated May 25,[409] but before this, on St. George’s Day (April 23), he had presided at a Chapter of the Garter as the King’s representative, and had supervised the arrangements made for the fees now allotted to the Garter King-of-Arms, whose office had been created by Henry to commemorate the victory of Agincourt.[410]

This last campaign in France was but an isolated incident in the life of Duke Humphrey. His future policy was not affected thereby, but his return to England, and his position of independence in close proximity to the fascinating Countess of Hainault, was to make its influence felt. The regency was outwardly quite uneventful, but it left its mark on Gloucester’s life. Henry cannot have foreseen the danger of putting his brother in the way of temptation, probably he did not regard it as a temptation, and still more probable is it that he had not the faintest conception of the hidden elements in Humphrey’s character. He had known him only as an able soldier and a careful administrator under his direction. The forces which were moulding the Duke’s attitude had not yet all appeared, and so it was with no misgivings for the future that the King once more appointed his youngest brother his representative in England. It is, however, probable that during the short four months of this regency Humphrey began to dream of ambitions over seas in the midst of pleasant dallyings with Jacqueline. At least Duke and Countess had every opportunity to become better acquainted, till in August the former had to postpone his hopes of continental aggrandisement, since his position and rights at home became the question of the moment, when England learnt the death of her beloved King.

1422] DYING WISHES OF HENRY V.