Thomas of Argos

Last updated

Thomas of Argos (Greek : Θωμάς εξ Άργους in the primary source) was the captain of a battalion of Greek stratioti who served as mercenaries with the English army during Henry VIII's wars against the Scots. Some details about Thomas' action are recorded by his contemporary Nikandros Noukios, who followed as a non-combatant the English invasion of Scotland in 1545 and the expedition to Boulogne in 1546. A part of Noukios' manuscript (originally in Greek) was published in English in 1841. [1] A consequent part of the original manuscript, continuing the narration about Thomas, was published by the Greek historian Andreas Moustoxydes. [2]

Thomas was the head of a unit of stratioti [3] from the Peloponnese and is described as a man of "courage, prudence and experience in wars". Noukios followed Thomas and the English army to the River Tweed between England and Scotland where the light cavalry of stratioti made incursions against the Scots.

Noukios describes a confrontation between Thomas' unit of about 550 men and a superior group of some 1,000 French during the Siege of Boulogne. He gives a description of the unorthodox tactics, typical of the stratioti light cavalry, against a numerically superior unit of heavy armored cavalry. Before the battle Thomas boosted the courage of his men with this short speech:

Comrades, as you see we are in the extreme parts of the world, under the service of a King and a nation in the farthest north. And nothing we brought here from our country other than our courage and bravery. Thus, bravely we stand against our enemies, because their numbers cannot match our virtue. We are children of the Greeks(*) and we are not afraid of the barbarian horde. ... Therefore, courageous and orderly let us march to the enemy, ... and let us prove with our action the famous since olden times virtue of the Greeks(*)
(*) Έλληνες (Hellenes) in the original Greek text.

The Greeks ambushed the French coming from Boulogne in early dawn and with maneuvers caused them to retreat in disarray. The battle was carried out mainly with lances and swords leaving 35 Greeks and 360 French dead. Thomas was wounded during that battle. Henry VIII praised his bravery and granted him an annual salary.

After the Boulogne expedition Thomas returned to England and Noukios departed to Italy.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courage</span> Ability to deal with fear

Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Marston Moor</span> 1644 battle of the First English Civil War

The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639–1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Marquess of Newcastle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicander</span> 2nd century BC Greek scientist and poet

Nicander of Colophon, Greek poet, physician and grammarian, was born at Claros, near Colophon, where his family held the hereditary priesthood of Apollo. He flourished under Attalus III of Pergamum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Spurs</span> 1513 battle of the War of the League of Cambrai

The Battle of the Spurs or (Second) Battle of Guinegate took place on 16 August 1513. It formed a part of the War of the League of Cambrai, during the Italian Wars. Henry VIII and Maximilian I were besieging the town of Thérouanne in Artois. Henry's camp was at Guinegate, now called Enguinegatte. A large body of French heavy cavalry under Jacques de La Palice was covering an attempt by light cavalry to bring supplies to the besieged garrison. English and Imperial troops surprised and routed this force. The battle was characterised by the precipitate flight and extensive pursuit of the French. During the pursuit, a number of notable French leaders and knights were captured. After the fall of Thérouanne, Henry VIII besieged and took Tournai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Pinkie</span> Part of the Rough Wooing (10 September 1547)

The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns, it was part of the conflict known as the Rough Wooing and is considered to have been the first modern battle in the British Isles. It was a catastrophic defeat for Scotland, where it became known as "Black Saturday". A highly detailed and illustrated English account of the battle and campaign authored by an eyewitness William Patten was published in London as propaganda four months after the battle.

<i>Arete</i> Greek philosophical concept

Arete is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to "excellence" of any kind—especially a person or thing's "full realization of potential or inherent function." The term may also refer to excellence in "moral virtue."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skirmisher</span> Light infantry or light cavalry soldier

Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an irregular open formation that is much more spread out in depth and in breadth than a traditional line formation. Their purpose is to harass the enemy by engaging them in only light or sporadic combat to delay their movement, disrupt their attack, or weaken their morale. Such tactics are collectively called skirmishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Simpson Knox</span> Scottish Victoria Cross recipient (1828–1897)

Brevet Major John Simpson Knox was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phalanx</span> Infantry formation

The phalanx was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons tightly packed together. The term is particularly used to describe the use of this formation in ancient Greek warfare, although the ancient Greek writers used it to also describe any massed infantry formation, regardless of its equipment. Arrian uses the term in his Array against the Alans when he refers to his legions. In Greek texts, the phalanx may be deployed for battle, on the march, or even camped, thus describing the mass of infantry or cavalry that would deploy in line during battle. They marched forward as one entity.

<i>Laches</i> (dialogue) Socratic dialogue written by Plato

The Laches is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. Participants in the discourse present competing definitions of the concept of courage.

Greeks in the United Kingdom are British residents and citizens of full or partial Greek heritage, or Greeks who emigrated to and reside in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratioti</span> Military unit

The Stratioti or Stradioti were mercenary units from the Balkans recruited mainly by states of Southern Europe and Central Europe from the 15th century until the middle of the 18th century. They pioneered light cavalry tactics in European armies in the early modern era.

The Hellenistic armies is a term which refers to the various armies of the successor kingdoms to the Hellenistic period, emerging soon after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, when the Macedonian empire was split between his successors, known as the Diadochi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became the 6th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Dragoons in 1751. The regiment also fought with distinction in the Charge of the Union Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo and again as part of the successful Charge of the Heavy Brigade against superior numbers at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. The First World War sounded the death knell for mounted cavalry as it became apparent that technology had moved forward with greater destructive power and made horsed cavalry redundant on the modern battlefield. The British Army reorganised and reduced its cavalry corps by disbanding or amalgamating many of its famous cavalry regiments. The Inniskillings was one of those affected. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with 5th Dragoon Guards to form 5th/6th Dragoons in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Berwick (1560)</span> Treaty between Scottish nobles and England

The Treaty of Berwick was negotiated on 27 February 1560 at Berwick-upon-Tweed. It was an agreement made by the representative of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the Duke of Norfolk, and the group of Scottish nobles known as the Scottish Lords of the Congregation. The purpose was to agree the terms under which an English fleet and army would come to Scotland to expel the French troops who were defending the Regency of Mary of Guise. The Lords were trying both to expel the French and to effect the Scottish Reformation, and this led to rioting and armed conflict.

<i>Leonidas at Thermopylae</i> Painting by Jacques-Louis David

Leonidas at Thermopylae is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The work currently hangs in the Louvre in Paris, France. David completed the massive work 15 years after he began, working on it from 1799 to 1803 and again in 1813–1814. Leonidas at Thermopylae was purchased, along with The Intervention of the Sabine Women, in November 1819 for 100,000 francs by Louis XVIII, the king of France. The piece depicts the Spartan king Leonidas prior to the Battle of Thermopylae. David's pupil Georges Rouget collaborated on it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir John Swinton, 14th of that Ilk</span> Scottish landowner and soldier (c.1350–1402)

Sir John Swinton, 14th of that Ilk, great-grandson of Henry de Swinton who appears on the Ragman Roll, was a distinguished soldier and statesman in the reigns of Robert II of Scotland and Robert III of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rough Wooing</span> 16th century war between Scotland and England

The Rough Wooing, also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the Auld Alliance and prevent Scotland being used as a springboard for future invasion by France, partly to weaken Scotland, and partly to force the Scottish Parliament to confirm the existing marriage alliance between Mary, Queen of Scots, and the English heir apparent Edward, son of King Henry VIII, under the terms of the Treaty of Greenwich of July 1543. An invasion of France was also contemplated. Henry declared war in an attempt to force the Scottish Parliament to agree to the planned marriage between Edward, who was six years old at the start of the war, and the infant queen, thereby creating a new alliance between Scotland and England. Upon Edward's accession to the throne in 1547 at the age of nine, the war continued for a time under the direction of the Duke of Somerset, before Somerset's removal from power in 1549 and replacement by the Duke of Northumberland, who wished for a less costly foreign policy than his predecessor. It was the last major conflict between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Sacramento (Kentucky)</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Sacramento was an engagement of the American Civil War that took place in Sacramento, Kentucky on December 28, 1861. Confederate cavalry under Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, numbering between 200 and 300, attacked, encircled and defeated a Union force of 500 under Major Eli H. Murray which had been watering south of the town after moving across the bank of the Green River. Though exact casualty information is disputed, with differing accounts from each side, several eyewitnesses attested to the personal courage of Forrest, and the Confederate commander was praised by his superiors for his bravery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Chechenskiy</span>

Alexander Nikolayevich Chechenskiy was a Russian major general in the Russian imperial cavalry of Chechen descent. He participated in the War of the Fourth Coalition and Patriotic War of 1812 among many other conflicts.

References

  1. Nicander Nucius (1841). Rev. J.A. Cramer (ed.). The second book of the travels of Nicander Nucius of Corcyra. London. p. 90.
  2. Moustoxydes Andreas (1856), Nikandros Noukios, in the periodical Pandora, vol. 7, No. 154, 15 Augh. 1856, p. 222 In Greek language.
  3. J. Theodore Bent, 'Estraidiots'. The Antiquary, 11 (1885, Feb), pp. 44–47. [Note: The article includes some biographical notes on Nikandros Noukios.]