Editing Siege of Orléans (section)

===Salisbury's approach===
[[Image:View of Orléans 1428 - Project Gutenberg etext 19488.jpg|thumb|left|500px|Orléans in 1428–9, the time of the siege]]

Between July and October, the Earl of Salisbury swept through the countryside southwest of Paris – recovering [[Nogent-le-Roi]], [[Rambouillet]] and the area around [[Chartres]].{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=381}} Then, rather than continuing southwest to Angers, Salisbury turned abruptly southeast towards Orléans instead. Pressing towards the Loire, Salisbury seized [[Le Puiset]] and [[Janville, Eure-et-Loir|Janville]] (with some difficulty) in August. From there, rather than descending directly on Orléans from the north, Salisbury skipped over the city to seize the countryside west of it. He reached the river [[Loire]] at [[Meung-sur-Loire]], which he promptly seized (a detachment of his men crossed the river then to plunder the abbey of [[Cléry-Saint-André|Cléry]]).{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=381}}{{sfn|Cousinot's ''Pucelle''|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a1v9GCEt5KAC&pg=PA257 257]}} He pressed a little downriver, in the direction of Blois, to take the bridge and castle of [[Beaugency]].{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=381}} Salisbury crossed the Loire at the point, and turned up to approach Orléans from the south. He arrived at [[Olivet, Loiret|Olivet]], just one mile south of Orléans, on 7 October.{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=382}} In the meantime, an English detachment, under John de la Pole, brother of the Earl of Suffolk, had been sent to seize the regions upriver, east of Orléans: [[Jargeau]] fell on 5 October,{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=381}} [[Châteauneuf-sur-Loire]] immediately after, while further upriver, the Burgundians took [[Sully-sur-Loire]].{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=382}} Orléans was cut off and surrounded.

Manning the defenses of Orléans, John of Dunois had watched the tightening English noose and took care to prepare the city for siege. Dunois correctly anticipated that the English would aim for the bridge, nearly one quarter mile (400&nbsp;m) long, that led from the south shore of the Loire into the centre of the city of Orléans on the north shore. The bridge passed over the riverine island of St. Antoine, an optimal location for Salisbury to position English cannon within range of Orléans city centre.{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=382}} At the southern end of the bridge was a turreted [[gatehouse]], ''Les Tourelles'', which stood in the river, connected by a [[drawbridge]] to the southern bank. Dunois rapidly erected a large earthwork [[bastion|bulwark]] (''Boulevart'') on the south shore itself, which he packed with the bulk of his troops, thus creating a large fortified complex to protect the bridge.{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=[https://ia802606.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/6/items/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif.zip&file=lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_0457.tif&scale=8&rotate=0 383]}} Just across from the Boulevart was an [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[friary]], which could be used as a flanking firing position on any approach to the bridge, although it seems Dunois decided not to make use of it. On his orders, the southern suburbs of Orléans were evacuated and all structures leveled to prevent giving the English cover.{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=[https://ia802606.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/6/items/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif.zip&file=lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_0457.tif&scale=8&rotate=0 383]}}