The Battle of Hastings (The Failed Conquest)

The battle of Hastings was one of the most decisive battles in the history of the Europe and probably the world as well. It stopped the Normans from taking England, forcing them to focus on France instead. Meanwhile, the English remained the dominate force in the British isles, and mostly free of external influence.

Although the battle of Hastings lasted around 2 months, it still goes by that name, as it was the only major engagement during that time, while the rest was mostly guerrilla fighting. The battle was also responsible for about 80% of the conflicts casualties, excluding civilians.

The Conflict Begins
With the Normans already landed, the news soon reached Harold, who was in London, returning after having taken out a large Norse invasion. He knew that he could not beat the Normans with the force he had with him, so he sent for his troops that he left in northern England, to increase his force. He also took the opportunity to recruit troops from nearby villages, ad get support from several nearby dukes.

With his army assembled within a few weeks, Harold began to march South, towards Hastings. On the way, he picked up many more soldiers, bring the total to about 17,000 for the first battle. In addition, during this time, the army was subdivided, with Harold putting various Dukes and Earls in charge, so he did not have to handle them all.

Meanwhile, William had made a small wooden fortress, and was raiding nearby villages, trying to force a final conflict before Harold manged to build a bigger army. His plan was to defeat Harold, and then quickly take London, effectively ending English resistance. To do this, he wanted to win a offensive victory, and effectively destroy Harold's army in one battle.

The Battle
Although he had a numerically superior force, Harold decided not to show his true force to William, to keep him off balance. So while around 10,000 of his soldiers took up defense positions, the other 8,000 began to hide across the nearby countryside, to attack the Normans flanks. The troops dug in, and prepared for combat. Harold himself was in the front lines, directing and encouraging troops.

William took notice of the dug in troops, and began to have his subordination to gather his troops for an advance. This action took about 2 hours, and his army was assembled by 6:00 am. His force began the short march to the hill were Harold encamped, observed by scouts. Despite all the preparation William was still unaware of the hidden troops. Finally, at around, 7:00 Am, local time, the battle began. The Normans charged the English repeatedly, trying to break their line and split the army in half. Four separate charges took place, each becoming more brutal and longer than the last. The forth was the most deadly, causing an estimated 1,200 total causalities. While the English took high causalities, due to the hidden men, they were in a much more advantageous position at the end of this part of the battle.

At this point, Harold reinforcements came out, switching the battle from a defensive fight to a mobile battle on mostly open ground. The Normans were vastly outnumbered, as well as surrounded, and soon found themselves with no option but to retreat. With much of his leadership dead, it was a challenge to rally his troops for a retreat, and thus the Normans continued to take casualties.

As William began his retreat, he soon found the English closing in, and quickly, lead by Harold himself. He knew that there was no way to escape without sacrificing some troops, so he decided to send around 400 troops to break up the English lines. The maneuver came at a huge surprise to the English, and they took almost 200 causalities, including King Harold, who was wounded, went missing, eventually to be recovered by a field surgeon, and left unrecognized for several weeks.

The End of The War
Even with Harold, missing, the English still vastly outnumbered the Normans, and began to force them back to the shore. William attempted several times to rally his troops to fight, but each time, his disorganized army failed him, and he was forced to continue retreating. Most of his troops wanted to go home, and he could do nothing to change their minds, especially in the face of the larger English army.

Edger's arrival did the Normans no favors either, as he gave stronger leadership, and many more troops. At this point, William decided to make a full evacuation of England, in order to preserve his force. He moved his troops to various ports, and moved his fleet to gather them. The last days before evacuation were brutal, but eventually, the war ended. Willa was goe from England, and England would Never have to fight the Normans again.