Editing Siege of Orléans (section)

==Early stages of the siege==

===Assault on the Tourelles===

[[Image:Siege orleans.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury]] is fatally injured (illustration from ''[[Charles VII of France|Vigiles de Charles VII]]'').]]

The siege of Orléans formally began on 12 October 1428, and initiated with an artillery bombardment that began on 17 October. The English assaulted the Boulevart on 21 October, but the assaulters were held back by French missile fire, rope nets, scalding oil, hot coals and quicklime.{{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]}}{{sfn|Cousinot's ''Pucelle''|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a1v9GCEt5KAC&pg=PA261 261]}} The English decided against a new frontal attack, and set about mining the bulwark. The French countermined, fired the [[pit prop]]s and fell back to the Tourelles on 23 October. But the Tourelles itself was taken by storm the next day, 24 October.{{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]}} The departing French blew up some of the bridge arches to prevent a direct pursuit.

With the fall of the Tourelles, Orléans seemed doomed. But the timely arrival of the [[Jean de Brosse|Marshal de Boussac]] with sizeable French reinforcements prevented the English from repairing and crossing the bridge and seizing Orléans immediately.{{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]}} The English suffered another setback two days later, when the Earl of Salisbury was struck in the face by debris kicked up in cannon fire while supervising the installation of the Tourelles. English operations were suspended while Salisbury was carried off to Meung to recover, but after lingering for about a week, he died of his injuries.{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|pp=[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]–[https://ia802606.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/6/items/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif.zip&file=lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_0458.tif&scale=8&rotate=0 384]}}{{sfn|DeVries|1999|p=61}}

===The investment===
The lull in English operations following Salisbury's injury and death gave the citizens of Orléans time to knock out the remaining arches of the bridge on their end, disabling the possibility of a quick repair and direct assault. The new siege commander appointed by Bedford in mid-November, [[William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk|William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk]] resolved on surrounding the city and starving it into submission. He did not have enough men to [[Investment (military)|invest]] the city with continuous trenchlines, so he set up a series of [[outwork]]s, (''bastides''). Over the next few months, seven strongholds were set up on the north bank, and four on the south bank, with the small riverine isle of Charlemagne (west of Orléans) commanding the bridges connecting the two banks.{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=[https://ia802606.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/6/items/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif.zip&file=lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_0458.tif&scale=8&rotate=0 384]}}

In the winter, a Burgundian force numbering about 1,500 men arrived to support the English besiegers.

The establishment of the outworks was not without difficulty. The French garrison sallied out repeatedly to harass the builders, and systematically destroyed other buildings (notably, all the churches) in the suburbs to prevent them serving as shelter for the English during the winter months. By the Spring of 1429, the English outworks covered only the south and west of the city, with the northeast basically left open (nonetheless swarming with English patrols). Sizeable contingents of French men-at-arms could push aside the patrols and move in and out of the city, but the entry of any lighter-escorted provisions and supplies was firmly blocked, there and further afield.{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=[https://ia802606.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/6/items/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif.zip&file=lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_0458.tif&scale=8&rotate=0 384]}}

[[File:Siege Orleans.jpg|thumbnail|left|350px|English outworks during the siege of Orléans.]]

On the south bank, the English center was the bridge complex, composed of the Tourelles-Boulevart and the now-fortified Augustines. Guarding the approach to the bridge from the east was the bastille of St. Jean-le-Blanc, while to the west of the bridge complex was the bastille of Champ de St. Privé. St. Privé also guarded the bridge to the island of Charlemagne (which had another bastille). On the north bank of the Loire, on the other side of Charlemagne bridge, was the bastille of St. Laurent, the largest English bulwark and the nerve center of English operations. Above that were a series of smaller outworks, in order: the bastille de la Croiz Boisse, the bastille des Douze Pierres (nicknamed "London"), the bastille de Pressoir Aps (nicknamed "Rouen") and, just north of the city, the bastille de St. Pouair (nicknamed "Paris"), all on top of the main roads.{{sfn|Cousinot's ''Pucelle''|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a1v9GCEt5KAC&pg=PA265 265]}} Then came the great northeastern gap, although its back was mostly covered by thick forest of the Bois d'Orléans. Finally, some 2&nbsp;km east of the city, on the north bank, there was the isolated bastille of St. Loup.

Orléans's position seemed gloomy. Although the French still held isolated citadels like [[Montargis]] to the northeast and [[Gien]] upriver,{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=[https://ia802606.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/6/items/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif.zip&file=lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_tif/lancasterandyor01ramsgoog_0463.tif&scale=8&rotate=0 387]}} any relief would have to come from [[Blois]], to the southwest, exactly where the English had concentrated their forces. Provisions convoys had to follow dangerous circuitous routes swinging around to reach the city from the northeast. Few made it through, and the city soon began to feel the pinch. Should Orléans fall, it would effectively make the recovery of the northern half of France all but impossible, and prove fatal to the Dauphin Charles's bid for the crown. When the French [[Estates General (France)|Estates]] met at [[Chinon]] in September 1428, they pressed the Dauphin to make peace with [[Philip III of Burgundy]] "at any price".{{sfn|Ramsay|1892|p=[https://ia601407.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/11/items/lancasterandyor00ramsgoog/lancasterandyor00ramsgoog_tif.zip&file=lancasterandyor00ramsgoog_tif/lancasterandyor00ramsgoog_0457.tif&scale=8&rotate=0 386] n4}}