St. Joan of Arc & the Truth about Snipers & Why Tyrants like Hitler Always Hate Them

In recent days I have been amazed and sickened by some of the vicious comments I have heard directed at Chris Kyle, the soldier portrayed in the new movie American Sniper, and I felt I could help people better understand the truth about snipers and why they are so feared and hated by the kind of people making the negative comments.  In St. Joan of Arc’s army soldiers that functioned as snipers were as important to her military success as they are today to the success of modern military operations.  One man in particular in St. Joan’s army known as Master John the Culveriner became legendary precisely because he was so deadly at long range with a weapon called the hand culverin which was the medieval forerunner to a long range rifle.  In the famous Journal of the Siege of Orleans he is recorded as being particularly hated by the English for picking off so many of them with his weapon.  There were also many men in St. Joan’s army that carried crossbows which was of course the weapon that William Tell became famous for using as a sniper. Considering that St. Joan of Arc has been hailed by military historians as the very flower of chivalry if St. Joan had felt that the function of a sniper was in any way illegal, unethical or contrary to honorable warfare then she would have put an end to the practice immediately since she had no tolerance for evil down to the point of even forbidding swearing among her men.  Obviously St. Joan considered snipers to be an honorable part of warfare that aided and protected her own men and ultimately helped to defeat the enemy and put an end to warfare as soon as possible which was always her greatest goal in war.

“Why did Schiller have to immortalize
that Swiss sniper [William Tell]!”- Adolf Hitler

If snipers were considered a proper part of warfare by someone as pure of heart and close to God as St. Joan of Arc then let us consider exactly who it is and why it is that certain people hate snipers so much and go to such lengths to denigrate them.  The most famous portrayal of a sniper in all of history is of course that of the Swiss sniper William Tell.  Of the many versions of the story that have been written the one by the Poet of Freedom Friedrich Schiller is particularly inspiring because it shows how one patriotic individual can effectively fight back against a tyrant and win.  This message is extremely disturbing to tyrants like Adolf Hitler who, despite his great desire to want to use the intellectual legacy of Schiller to legitimize his Nazi regime, had Schiller’s play about William Tell banned in 1938.  Today’s tyrants and their agents are no different than Hitler and will do anything and everything they can to try to keep people from learning the truth about snipers exactly because they are such a lethal threat to their maintaining control.  Ultimately in condemning brave soldiers like Chris Kyle the haters are really revealing their true colors and what they really stand for which is the suppression of freedom.  It is too bad that these kind of people can not learn the lesson from Hitler’s failed attempt to control the world because despite all their efforts they will never defeat freedom loving people precisely because there will always be heroic snipers like William Tell and Chris Kyle to prove dramatically to the world that one individual can effectively fight back and win.

As an addendum let me explain to all the loyal readers of this blog that this article is a prime example of why the Maid of Heaven Foundation was begun which I introduced to everyone earlier this month on St. Joan’s birthday.   In keeping with our mission to inspire people to Love God and Live Free like St. Joan of Arc this article is a lot more than just a history lesson.  I will of course continue to write articles specifically about Joan of Arc’s history but I feel that the greatest way that I can ever honor St. Joan and every soldier like her that has ever fought for freedom is to do everything I can to make sure that the world we live in is as free as possible.  RIP Chris Kyle!

Anniversary of Joan's Great Victory at Patay

Today is the anniversary of Joan's great victory at the Battle of Patay, which was the most overwhelming victory that she achieved in her brilliant military career. After the battle of Orleans the English military leaders were concerned but still confident they could defeat the French when they engaged in combat. After the overwhelming victory by Joan of Arc at Patay the English leaders realized they were in serious trouble and that Joan was a real military commander to be feared. While this was indeed Joan’s most overwhelming victory where she annihilated an English army of a least six thousand while losing only a handful of men I have never felt that she receives proper credit for this great victory by the French by most modern historians. I wrote a good article a few years back about Joan of Arc and the Battle of Patay that relies heavily upon the words of the people present and clearly shows just how much Joan was responsible for the victory at Patay. Please read it and decide for yourself exactly how much credit Joan deserves: 

Joan of Arc & the Battle of Patay

Joan's Longest Day!

"The next day May 7, 1429 would be long 

and hard, but would end with spectacular success.

You asked Father Pasquerel to always stay near 

your side, so he could aid you in your distress.

'Tomorrow blood will flow from my body, above 

the breast,' to the father you had to confess."

 from Maid of Heaven

On May 7 in 1429 at Orleans St. Joan of Arc led her forces against the seemingly impregnable fortress Les Tourelles. During the course of the fighting Joan was severely wounded when an arrow pierced her body just above her breast. Without Joan to lead them the soldiers and their commanders quickly lost their resolve fearing the worst without Joan and the assault on Les Tourelles appeared as if it would end in failure. Then the miraculous occurred when Joan re-appeared on the battlefield and seized her banner and lead the French army forward to make another assault upon Les Tourelles. Jean d'Aulon, who was the head of Joan's military household, later recalled the amazing turn of events: ". . . the lords and the captains who were with her, seeing that they could not well gain it this day, considering how late it was and also that they were all very tired and worn out, agreed among them to sound the retreat for the army. This was done, and, at the sound of the trumpet call, each one retreated for the day. During this retreat, [d'Aulon] who had been carrying the standard of the Pucelle and still holding it upright in front of the boulevard was fatigued and worn-out, and gave the standard to one named Le Basque, who was with the Lord of Villars. And because [d'Aulon] knew Le Basque to be a brave man, and he feared that harm would come from the retreat, and that the fortress and the Boulevard would remain in the hands of the enemy, he had the idea that if the standard were pushed ahead, due to the great affection in which it was held by the soldiers, they could by this means win the boulevard. And then [d'Aulon] asked Le Basque if he would follow him when he entered and went to the foot of the boulevard; he said and swore he would this. And then [d'Aulon] entered the ditch and went up to the base of the side of the Boulevard, covering himself with a shield for fear the stones, and left his companion on the other side, believing that he would follow him step-by-step. But when the Pucelle saw her standard in the hand of Le Basque, because she believed that she had lost it, as [d'Aulon] who had been carrying it had gone into the trench, she came and took the standard by the end in such a way that he had to let it go, crying, "Ha! My standard! My standard!" And she shook the standard in such a way that the one who is testifying imagined that others might think that she was making a sign to the others by doing this. And then he who was speaking cried: "Ha, Basque! Is this what you promised me?" And then Le Basque tugged at the standard that he dragged it from the hand of the Pucelle, and after this, he went to [d'Aulon] and brought the standard. Because of these things, all those in the army of the Pucelle gathered together and rallied again, assailed this boulevard in such great fierceness that, a short time afterwards, the boulevard and the fortress were taken by them, and abandoned by the enemy, and the French entered the city of Orleans by the bridge . . ."
This was indeed Joan of Arc's Longest Day!

Anniversary of Joan of Arc Entering Orleans

On April 29, 1429, Joan of Arc arrived  with her army before the city of Orleans and was greeted by the military commander of the city Jean Count of Dunois known as the Bastard of Orleans.  Joan was not at all happy that her captains had not chosen the most direct route to Orleans and displayed her anger in responding to the greeting by Dunois:   "Are you the Bastard of Orleans? Was it you who gave counsel that I come here, on this side of the river, and that I am not to go directly where are Talbot and the English?" Joan went on to say:

"In God's name, the counsel of our Lord is safer and wiser than yours. You have thought to deceive me, and you deceive yourself still more; for I bring you better succor than ever came to any knight or city whatever, seeing that it is the succor of the King of Heaven. Nevertheless, it comes to you not through love of me; it proceeds from God himself, who at the request of Saint Louis and Saint Charlemagne, has had pity for the city of Orleans, and has not wished that the enemy should at the same time possess the person the duke and his city."

Despite Joan’s harsh words, Dunois was thrilled at the arrival of Joan and her army and later described how he felt that the circumstances of her arrival and a miraculous changing of the wind that aided in their crossing of the river Loire into the town led him to believe Joan could only have been sent by God:

“And she crossed the river Loire with La Hire and myself, and we entered all together the town of Orleans. These are the reasons why I think that Joan, and all her deeds in war and in battle, were rather God's work than man's: the sudden changing of the wind, I mean, after she had spoken, which gave hope of aid, and the bringing in of the provisions in spite of the English, who were much stronger than the royal army, and the fact, furthermore, that this young girl swore that she had had a vision in which Saint Louis and Saint Charlemagne prayed to God for the safety of the King and of this city."

To learn more about Joan’s famous entry into Orleans visit this page at MaidOfHeaven.com about Orleans and Joan of Arc.