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The Battle of Clyst St Mary
The surviving Cornish fighters retreated into Clyst St Mary to be joined by 6,000 men sent by Humphrey Arundell. Russell waited until the following day, August 5th, to launch his assault upon the village. He chose a three-pronged attack, the central force being led by Sir William Francis. He broke through the barricades in spite of the hail of Cornish armour-piercing arrows and, sensing success, Russell ordered other divisions to follow.
At this point, a ruse turned the assault into a farce. Sir Thomas Pomeroy, a trumpeter, a drummer and a small detachment of men had hidden themselves in a furze-brake and, as the English forces approached, the trumpeter and drummer sounded the charge. This, and the sudden appearance of armed men, created panic. Russell’s men fled back up the road to the windmill, leaving wagons containing cannon, gunpowder and shot in the road to be gleefully seized by the Cornishmen.
Had the Cornish forces included cavalry, this confusion could have been turned into a victory that might have changed the course of history, but Russell was quick to see the weakness. Reforming his forces, his next assault on Clyst St Mary was merciless. Many houses on either side of the main street were packed with armed men, including the feared archers, and Russell ordered these to be set ablaze. The Cornish defenders fled from the flames only to be cut down by volleys of arquebus fire or by the charge of Russell’s own cavalry. Russell, however, lost one of his own officers, Sir William Francis, killed by slingshot fire. The Cornish were determined to fight or die and, eventually, Russell won the day leaving a thousand Cornish dead and many more taken prisoner.
Russell’s advance across a river bridge was blocked by a single gunner, the Breton John Hammon, who again demonstrated his accuracy by shooting down a lone man that had been sent onto the bridge to take him out. While this was going on, though, another contingent had forded the river to take out the brave gunner from behind.
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