Main Battle
A few hours after this preliminary skirmish, a messenger from the town reported to Talbot's troops, as they rested from a night long march, that the French army was in full retreat, and that hundreds of horsemen were fleeing the fortifications. From the town walls, a huge dust cloud could be seen heading off into the distance. Unfortunately for Talbot, they were only camp followers ordered to leave before the upcoming battle.
Talbot hastily reorganized his men and charged down towards the French camp, only to find the parapets defended by thousands of archers and crossbowmen in addition to hundreds of cannon. Surprised but undaunted, Talbot signaled his soldiers to attack the French army. Talbot didn't take part in the battle directly. He had been previously captured and paroled, and thus was not allowed to take arms against the French.
English troops charged the camp across a ditch, only to be met with a hail of arrows and quarrels, and a fierce barrage of gun, cannon and small arms fire. The concentrated fire could be due to the fact that the ditch followed, probably accidentally, the former bed of a small stream, giving a bastionned look to defenses.
Once battle started, Talbot received a thin trickle of men from his leading footmen. After an hour, the cavalry of the Breton army sent by the Duke of Brittany arrived and charged his right flank. The English gave way, pursued instantly by the main French body of troops.
During the rout, Talbot's horse was killed by a cannon ball and he fell, trapped beneath it, until a Frenchman, a Francs Archer, recognized him and killed him with a hand-axe. His death, and the subsequent recapture of Bordeaux three months later, effectively ended the Hundred Years' War.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Castillon
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