The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-26
MODERN WARFARE DATES
 FROM BATTLE OF CRECY

i This may be said to be the birthday | of that grim and terrible institution i known as modern warfare, for it was
 in the battle of Crecy, fought 569 years ago today, August 26, 1346, that 1 cannon and gunpowder were first us | ed. Moreover, it was in this bloody conflict in northeren France that Ed ward, the sixteen year old t'BIack | Prince" and son of Edward III of England, inaugurated an entirely new system of military tactics It was the latter, rather than the crude cannon which for the English so com plete and sweeping victory over the hosts of France and her allies, al- though some historians say that the guns, although inflicting little real dama ge, were of great assistance in creating consternation and confusion in the ranks of the enemy.
 Crecy -Ponthieu, or Cressy the scene of this mem orab1e conflict. Is in northwestern France, in the depart ment of Somme. It is situated on the Nave, twelve miles north Of Abbe- vile and about forty miles south of Calais, the great German objective in the present war. The passing Of the centuries has wrought little change in Crecy, and it is still a mere villa ge quaint and quiet, and so far little dis turbed by the terrible conflict nov being waged not far away. The peo-
 
 of the mighty and destructive guns which are the descendants of the iron hooped leather kegs which served as cannon in the battle of 569 years ago.
 The battle of Crecy marked the deathb1ow to the old order of knight hood and chivalry and inaugurated the era in which the artil1erymen and infantry armed with guns supplanted the mounted and mailed knights and the archers.
 The cannon 1ISad a Craov Uraro
 cipaI1y effective in frightening the horses of the French knights. The cannon balls were propelled through the air only a short distance and then rolled along the ground. and any or dinarily agile man could easily dodge the missiles.
 It was an invasion of France by King Edward III. of England which led to the battle of Crecy. Philip VI. of France raised a large army to drive out the. invaders. In this pro ! Ject the French were assisted by the blind King John of Mohenia, King James of Majorca and Duke Ralph 1 of Lorraine. The forces of France and her allies are Various1y estimated at from ,0OO to 130, 900 men, while the ] English army is said to have mum bered from 16,0o0 to 4O,000. It is l certain that the English were out numbered two to one when they met the French at Crecy on the afternoon of August 26. 1346.
 Edward the Black Prince, although only Is, had command of the van guard or first of the three divisions into which the army was divided. The French vanguard was composed of some 10000 Genoese archers, support ed by the first line of ,French knights. | A furious rainstorm had just passed, and the. bowstrings of the Genoese crossb bowmen were so wet as to be almost useless. The English archers had protected their bows from the rain and they soon drove the Genoese back in wild confusion. Philip, fur iouS at their retreat, ordered the French knights to slay the Genoese, and, while the enemy was engaged in fighting each other. the English bow men were firing steadily and clamly into the mob. The English men-at- arms had dismounted from their horses, and,-t led by Prince Edward, attacked the enemy. King James, with a third of the English army, re- mained aloof from the conflict, de- claring that the honor and glory of the. day should belong to his son alone
 By engaging the French on foot the English had a decided advantage, as the roar of the cannon scared the
 horses of the French men-at-arms and added to the confusion. By his new tactics Prince Edward won the day, and the flower of French chiv- airy, including a dozen scions of roy falty, was slain.