FOR WILLIAM, JUST GETTING HIS ARMY TO HASTINGS PROVED TO BE A MAJOR LOGISTICAL FEAT, ONE THAT NEITHER PHILIP II, NAPOLEON, NOR HITLER WOULD LATER BE ABLE TO EMULATE.
WITH SPECIAL AUTHORIZATION OF THE CITY OF BAYEUX
HAD WILLIAM OF NORMANDY had the ability to peer ahead through the mists of time and foresee the forlorn results of the plans that would be made to conquer England
via a cross-channel invasion in the years 1588, 1805, and 1940, he might well have been tempted to call off his own venture and content himself with ruling over Normandy.
Even without the gift of prophetic foresight, Duke William must have had a strong appreciation of the difficulty of the task he set for himself—that of conquering England and taking the throne over Harold’s dead body. Militarily, this would be difficult enough. Harold had a reputation as a very capable commander, and the forces at his disposal were formidable, at least numerically. The elite of the English troops were the housecarls, full-time foot soldiers maintained by each of the four Earls of Wessex, Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia Each housecarl carried a shield, a spear, and a sword, but the most dangerous and frightening weapon used by the English was the two-handed battle axe, which could easily cleave the best Norman armour.
Before William could even hope to defeat the English, he had to solve the equally difficult challenge bf embarking his own force on transport ships, navigating ;the treacherous and stormy English Channel, and keeping his troops fed and supplied throughout a potentially long and hard campaign.
WITH SPECIAL AUTHORIZATION OF THE CITY OF BAYEUX
No doubt, this was an immense undertaking. Questions remain, however, over just how immense. There are indications that even in William’s own day, historians sympathetic to his cause tried to downplay the difficulty he had in raising and equipping his invasion fleet, attributing delays in making the Channel crossing solely to unfavourable weather. Inadvertently, though, William of Poitiers, a priest in William’s service, seems to have let the truth slip out when he recorded a speech William gave to inspire his troops. Referring to Harold’s preparations to defend England, Duke William said “He spends his money in vain: he dissipates his gold without making his position any stronger.” In contrast, he boasted, “The problem of shipping will not prevent us [from confiscating j Harold’s lands], because we shall soon have enough vessels.” Apparently, that very issue had been the cause of enough concern that William felt the need to reassure his supporters.
Records dating from William’s own time, or shortly thereafter, disagree over the size of the fleet. Various reports indicate that it consisted of 696 vessels, or 700, or maybe 782, or any of several other figures, up to a fantastical 11,000. The sources are equally unclear about how many of these vessels were purpose-built for the invasion. Mention by some writers of the presence of carpenters and shipwrights in William’s army, as well as images on the Bayeaux Tapestry depicting woodsmen felling trees and workers building ships, attest to William’s need to construct at least a part of his fleet from scratch. Historian C.M. Gillmore, however, has argued that building the entire fleet would have required the sacrifice of virtually every tree in Normandy. Nevertheless, the logistics of transporting William’s army across the Channel must have been comparable to those that ultimately got the better of Philip II of Spain, Napoleon, and Hitler. Even if William had been successful in gathering all the transport vessels he needed from throughout France, the effort of stocking supplies, loading men and horses, and then unloading his army in England, would have been daunting.
Just a hint of this reality inhabits the somewhat exaggerated account of William of Poitiers:
“ WITH ADMIRABLE PRUDENCE, William ordered the provision of ships, arms, men, and supplies, and all other things necessary for war; almost all Normandy was devoted to the task, and it would take too long to describe the preparations in detail. Equally, he made arrangements for the governing and security of Normandy in his absence….”