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RINE

Maj Gen Lionel C. Mo
Brig Gen F. R. Zie

Col W. W. Culp, A
Col J. F. Franklin. A
Col A. S. Buynoski,

Col J. L. Frink, Jr..

Col E. C. Dunn, A

Col 0. G. Kinney Col V. W Hobson

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MILITARY REVIEW-Published monthly by U. S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Entered as second-class matter August 31, 1934. at the Post Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Subscription rates: $3.50 (US currency) a year in the United States, United States military post offices, and those countries which are members of the Pan-American Postal Union (including Spain): $4.50 a year in all other countries.

BE

Colonel V. J. Gregory, United States Air Force Reserve, Retired

THIS military heroine is just as signifi

cant today as in the days when kings ruled ! the earth. She remains a timeless source of inspiration to military students as well as to the literati of all nations.

Novelists in a dozen lands have dipped their quills in a fountain of tears, enveloping her in a miasmal cloud of the supernatural. In drama she is depicted as a saint in the first act; in the second she is condemned, and burned in the third. Historians, attempting to appraise her military status, largely have fallen into the error of fiction writers and dramatists.

Joan of Arc

Superstitious nonsense to the contrary, the facts are clear. Joan of Arc achieved her objectives. As the French chef de guerre she crushed the English invaders in a series of brilliant battles, leading to the termination of the 100-year-old war between France and England.

Her first and greatest victory undoubtedly was at Orleans where she forced the English to raise the siege. Wounded while leading an assault against Les Tourelles, a twin-towered fortress, she plucked out the arrow shaft, rallied and cried, "My banner touches the wall, the place is yours." She was at the head of her troops, mounted on a horse, not a broomstick.

Situation in France

The situation in France at that time was critical. France had two masters, one f whom was the infant son of the late King Henry V of England. His protector,

Uncle John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, sat in Paris and governed northern France. The other master was the Dauphin who, although proclaimed King Charles VII, was denied the throne of his native land by the Treaty of Troyes. He was pliant, tractable, and permitted himself to be pushed around by his own courtiers.

Further, France was split by a factional fight. The Burgundians and Armagnacs carried on a bitter conflict. Roving bands of undisciplined soldiers and vandals pillaged and robbed. The people were dispirited, poverty stricken,.and miserable. It was not a happy land.

Journey to Chinon

In the village of Domremy, province of Lorraine, lived Joan, daughter of peasant parents, Jacques and Isabelle d'Arc. She listened to travelers passing through the village who brought disturbing stories of an impending English invasion. They reported that the Duke of Bedford had besieged Orleans on 12 October 1428. This city which sprawled along the northern banks of the Loire was the gateway to southern France. It was feared that if the duke succeeded in overpowering the city, he would attack the southern provinces and gather the entire nation under a foreign flag. Joan brooded and dreamed, decided to help the Dauphin. She was 16.

She faced rugged opposition in attempting to reach the Dauphin who had his court in Chinon Castle. Joan confided in her father who scoffed at her dreams, rid

The Maid of Orleans swept away the feudal pattern of life. Her victoies were achieved not by witchcraft, as charged, but by sound military rinciples applied with foresight, initiative, and inspired leadership

iculed her aims, and ordered her to go about the routine chores at home and in the field. Dedicated to a devout cause, Joan detached herself from her family, and persuaded the military governor in nearby Vaucouleurs to escort her to Chinon.

Cool Reception

The reception was chilly. Joan, however, was not dismayed when the Dauphin failed to welcome her with open arms. He yawned as she talked to him and turned her over to his prelates, military advisors, and lace-sleeved dandies. Joan was humiliated, lodged in the tower of Coudray, but she took the beating like a soldier. What was needed, she concluded ruefully, was a bolt of lightning to make them sit up and take notice.

While the Dauphin and his advisors were twiddling their thumbs, the Duke of Bedford continued pounding the gates of Orleans. Joan resumed her pleas. The French generals, garbed in colorful uniforms, their chests full of glittering medals, merely smiled. They said in effect, "See here, Joan, if we captains, who are capable tacticians and experienced in the art of warfare, cannot upset the English, how can you hope to cope with them? You know absolutely nothing about maneuvers and yet you desire to lead our army. Your plan is preposterous. Go home to your sheep."

The Dauphin Impressed

Joan persisted. Finally, the Dauphin was impressed by Joan's conviction, sincerity, loyalty, and perseverance. He estimated

Colonel V. J. Gregory is the author of "Echoes From the Bayou" which appeared in the October 1957 issue of the MILITARY REVIEW. A veteran of World Wars I and II, he retired in 1954 after 33 years of active and reserve duty in the Field Artillery and the Air Force. He attended the Universities of Missouri and Minnesota, and completed war courses at the Fort Sill School of Fire and the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. An ardent student of military history, he now is engaged in publication work.

that he had little to lose by giving he: chance. He already had been advised t Orleans would have to yield. The Engl appeared invincible. The French li simply dissolved when confronted tough English yeomen armed with yew bows and steel-tipped shafts. Dauphin issued the necessary orders. Joan was buckled in shining arm mounted on a horse, given a white ban and placed at the head of 5,000 cavali The column moved toward besieged leans. Joan revealed that she was an pert horsewoman, the equal of Jean Dunois, the general charged with the fense of the besieged city. On the ma she endured the privations and hards of the soldiers. She drove off hordes female camp followers, forbade curs and instilled the spirit of victory in troops. Soldiers sang as they swung al the dusty road. In this maneuver tl was no evidence of witchcraft.

Battle of Orleans

Joan had planned a direct approac Orleans and depended upon Dunois to g her. The French general, however, sidering Joan's plan too hazard brought her army to a point opposite city on the south side of the Loire. pleased by the deception on the par the French flower of chivalry, Joan braided him. As a consequence of this trary piece of business, the relief su boats were delayed in reaching the sieged city.

On 28 April 1429 Joan crossed the r and advanced between the strongest f an action which surprised and paral the English. Direct action confounded enemy.

Joan found Orleans blockaded by a ries of 60 bastides or redoubts in addi to a number of large forts, all of w garrisoned 10,000 English troops manded by the Earl of Suffolk. The pl ous commander, Duke of Salisbury,

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