John II of France

John II of France.
The Black Prince's chevauchée was a large-scale mounted raid carried out by an Anglo-Gascon force under the command of Edward, the Black Prince (depiction shown), between 5 October and 2 December 1355 during the Hundred Years' War. John, Count of Armagnac, who commanded the local French forces, avoided battle, and there was little fighting during the campaign. The Anglo-Gascon force of 4,000–6,000 men marched from Bordeaux in English-held Gascony 300 miles (480 km) to Narbonne and back to Gascony, devastating a wide swathe of French territory and sacking many French towns on the way. During the four months following Christmas, more than 50 French-held towns or fortifications were captured. In August 1356 the Black Prince headed north on another chevauchée with 6,000 men; he was intercepted by the main French army, 11,000 strong, at Poitiers, where he decisively defeated them and captured King John II.