[1] In the early summer of 1423, the French Dauphin Charles assembled an army at Bourges intending to invade Burgundian territory.

This French army contained a large number of Scots under John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, who was commanding the entire mixed force, as well as Spanish and Lombard mercenaries.

[3] The combined English and Burgundian forces were led by Jean de Toulongeon, Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury, with Lord Willoughby as second in command.

[8] The allied army marched throughout 30 July and that evening, 6 kilometres (4 mi) short of Cravant, sighted the enemy.

The following day, having assessed the enemy position as too strong, they crossed the river Yonne and attempted to reach Cravant by another route.

[citation needed] Seeing the Dauphinists were suffering casualties and becoming disordered, Salisbury took the initiative and his army began to cross the waist-high river, some 50 metres wide, under a covering barrage of arrows from the English archers.

While the Anglo-Burgundians were fighting, the Burgundian knights in Cravant came out from the fortress following the lord of Chastellux and launched a devastating cavalry charge against the Dauphinist forces which completely broke their lines.