Tactics
Archery is not very accurate at extreme distances, so generals massed longbowmen in order to create a 'cloud of arrows.' A skilful general would alternate flights of arrows with cavalry charges and sometimes flank attacks to demoralise the enemy. The arrows were used in volleys and not aimed at specific targets until the enemy was quite close. Although bowmen were still deadly at close range, they were light troops unsuited to prolonged hand-to-hand combat and were vulnerable to a committed attack by cavalry. Consequently they were often deployed behind physical barricades, such as stakes and poles driven into the ground; at Agincourt, they were deployed behind boggy ground. This practice discouraged offensive battle tactics because the longbow was most effective when an opposing army charged. Longbowmen were vulnerable to attack until their defensive barricade was complete, as happened, for example at Patay in 1429.
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