Battle of Ardres

Battle of Ardres
Part of Hundred Years' War
Brignais ( 1362 ).The French army is defeated by the Great Companies , bands of ravaging mercenaries to France during the war of Hundred Years
Date 6 June 1351 Location Ardres, Pas-de-Calais, France 50°51′20″N 1°58′42″E Result French Victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Lord of Beaujeu †	Baron Beauchamp
Strength
Unknown	600 men
Casualties and losses
Unknown, but much lighter	600 killed or captured

The Battle of Ardres was fought on 6 June 1351 between French and English forces near the town of Ardres, Pas de Calais during the Hundred Years War. The French won.

Prelude

The new English commander of Calais John de Beauchamp had been leading a raid around the region surrounding Saint-Omer with a force of some 300 men-at-arms and 300 mounted archers, when he was discovered by a French force led by Édouard I de Beaujeu, Lord of Beaujeu, the French commander on the march of Calais, near Ardres. The French moved to surround the English, trapping them upon a bend on the river. Beaujeu made all of his men dismount before they attacked, after lessons were learned from the 1349 Battle of Lunalonge under similar conditions when they kept too many of their men mounted, dividing their forces too quickly, which caused the French to lose the battle.

The battle

In the fighting, Édouard I de Beaujeu was killed, but with the help of reinforcements from the garrison of Saint-Omer, the French defeated the English. John Beauchamp was one of many English captured.