This was 60 miles (97 kilometres) east of Bordeaux and controlled an important bridge over the Dordogne River. The French in the region were under the command of Bertrand de l'Isle-Jourdain, who was assembling his forces at the communications centre and strategically important town of Bergerac. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Rather than continue a war of sieges he determined to strike directly at the French before they could concentrate their forces. Buy French Atlantic Coast Marco Polo Map: Dordogne, Aquitaine, Gascogne (Marco Polo Maps) 01 by Marco Polo (ISBN: 9783829737876) from Amazons Book Store. After two weeks of further recruiting and consolidation of his forces Derby decided on a change of strategy. The majority were veterans of earlier campaigns. On 9 August Derby arrived in Bordeaux with 500 men-at-arms, 1,500 English and Welsh archers, 500 of them mounted on ponies to increase their mobility,and ancillary and support troops, such as a team of 24 miners. Large areas were left effectively undefended. Except for the Pyrenees Mountains, which rise in the south, lowlands predominate in Aquitaine. The Armagnac region spreads over three rural departments, the Gers, the Landes and a small part of the Lot-et-Garonne. The few French troops not garrisoning fortifications immobilised themselves with sieges of English-controlled fortifications: Casseneuil in the Agenais Monchamp near Condom and Montcuq, a strong but strategically insignificant castle south of Bergerac. Tucked away in South-West France, Gascony with its lush, rolling landscape, is the home of Armagnac, the oldest spirit in France, which celebrated 700 years of history in 2010. They had some successes, but their main effect was to tie down most of the French garrisons in the region and to cause them to call for reinforcements – to no avail. Local French groups joined them, and several minor nobles threw in their lot with the Anglo-Gascons. Dordogne is located in: France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Dordogne. Meanwhile, small independent parties of Gascons raided across the region. The French issued an urgent call to arms.
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He left the Gascons to prosecute this and proceeded to Langon, south of Bordeaux, to set up a second siege.
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Stafford carried out a short march north to besiege Blaye. The Gascons captured the large, weakly garrisoned castles of Montravel and Monbreton on the Dordogne in early June both were taken by surprise and their seizure broke the tenuous Truce of Malestroit. Get information on The Basque Country, Gascony, and Hautes-Pyrenees Travel Guide - Expert Picks for your Vacation hotels, restaurants, entertainment, shopping, sightseeing, and activities. The Gascons, primed by Stafford to expect Derby's arrival in late May and sensing the French weakness, took the field without him. Bad weather forced his fleet of 151 ships to shelter in Falmouth for several weeks en route, finally departing on 23 July.
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Derby's force embarked at Southampton at the end of May 1345.