Siege of Château Gaillard
| Siege of Château Gaillard | |||||||||
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| Part of Normandy campaigns of 1202–1204 | |||||||||
 The fortress of Château Gaillard's ruins today. The outer bailey is shown at the front of the Château, while the inner bailey is the tower far to the right. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
.svg){kind=small} Kingdom of France
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 Duchy of Normandy Kingdom of England
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Philip II of France
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John, King of England Roger de Lacy |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 6,500-8,500 | Garrison 100-200. Relieving force 8,000-10,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| unknown | unknown | ||||||||
The Siege of Château Gaillard was a part of Philip II's campaign to conquer the king of England's continental properties. The French king besieged Château Gaillard, a Norman fortress, for six months. The Anglo-Normans were beaten in the battle and the consequence was the fall of Normandy.
King Philip wished to take control of Normandy. The castle at Château Gaillard was the key to the campaign, but he did not move against it directly. Instead he attacked a number of lesser castles in the surrounding area, effectively isolating Château Gaillard and ensuring that his operations were not threatened by nearby forces. Having done as much as possible to prevent the relief of the castle, Philip then set about reducing it by siege. It would be a slow process, for Château Gaillard was a powerful fortress. The defenders were of course tied to their base, the castle. They could come out to make local counterattacks, but for the most part they had to simply remain within the defenses and try to counter the moves that Philip made. The Anglo-Normans took the precaution of destroying the bridge, making a river crossing difficult. Philip's forces first filled the ditch and broke through the palisade that defended it. This gave access to the castle proper, and it was necessary before any real operations could be undertaken. A bridge of boats, defended by ingenious floating towers mounted on boats, was set up to allow the French army to move back and forth. With his communications secure and access to the castle now gained, Philip began the work of reducing its defenses.
The English sent two forces to relieve the castle. Under cover of darkness, one force was to row up the river and destroy the bridge of boats, which would cut the French forces in two. Meanwhile, a land force under William the Marshal was to attack one part of the French army which, with their backs to the river and unable to retreat, could be destroyed. The relief went awry. The land attack was completely successful at first, but the French were able to retreat over the bridge of boats, as the river assault had not arrived in time. In addition to troops and crews, the boats were heavily laden with supplies for the garrison, and took much longer than planned to row upstream against current and tide. The French were thus able to re-group and counter-attack, driving off the English land forces. By the time the boats reached the bridge, the French were ready from them, and drove them off with considerable loss. went under cover of darkness, but it was heavily unsuccessful. John then abandoned his attempt to raise the siege. One contemporary chronicler states that he was twenty miles away before the rest of his army realised he'd gone. The garrison surrendered shortly afterwards.
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Wikipedia