CHAPTER I.
The day had not far advanced, when some one, shaking me by the arm, roused me from my sleep, and, looking up, I found Stuart already up and fully armed.
"Come," he said, "De Cerons, come, you will be called a sluggard. I have just had a message from the admiral, who is at Bassac, and my people have come on there with the baggage. The same messenger brings a message to you, begging you to come and report more fully what took place yesterday at Cognac. It would seem that intelligence has been received from that side which leads to some apprehension."
I shook my head. "They will make no attempt there," I replied. "However, I will be up and out in a moment."
"I will see your horses ready," replied Stuart; and, ere they were well prepared, I was myself down in the courtyard.
Leaving some brief orders for Moric Endem, who did not appear, I rode away with my companion, followed by his attendants and some four or five of my own men. The light was still gray in the dull March morning, but everything was quite quiet and still, and nothing, as we passed along, would have given to any eye the slightest indication of warring armies in the immediate neighbourhood, or of the approach of a speedy and sanguinary conflict. We went on, talking of the position and situation of the armies, and Stuart seemed perfectly confident, from what he had heard the night before, that any attempt of the enemy to pass the Charente at Chateauneuf would be frustrated in a moment.
"There is Soubise," he said, "and Montgomery, and La Loue, with plenty of forces to guard the passage, at all events, till the rest of the army could come up; and they dare not attempt it before the force which the admiral can bring into the field."
Scarcely, however, were the words out of his mouth, when a trooper at full gallop overtook us. It proved to be one of my own people, who came on waving his hand for us to stop, and exclaimed, the moment that he came up, "In God's name, return, seigneur! The enemy have passed the river by the bridge and a bridge of boats. I have myself seen ten or twelve cornets of horse, with the great blue standard among them. The whole vanguard has passed already, I am sure; and there is a bridge of boats built just below the other bridge."
"I fear this is Some negligence on La Loue's part," I said, turning to Stuart; "I have always remarked that he is the most negligent of commanders. I will go back, but I fear we shall have to fight, and we are in no condition to do it. For Heaven's sake, Stuart, ride on, and let the admiral know."
These were all the words that were spoken; and Stuart, waving his hand, galloped off, while I hurried back as fast as possible to the village. Half a dozen messengers, going at full speed towards the quarters of the admiral and the Prince de Condé, met me before I reached Triac, but passed without speaking; and just before my quarters I found Moric Endem, with my own troop and the horse arquebusiers, drawn up in order to march. Without a moment's delay we hurried out from the village, and the next moment the whole scene of the commencing battle was beneath our eyes.
The beautiful meadows, which there sweep down to the bank of the river, were now filled with the royal troops in all the splendid array of war: cornets, and standards, and waving plumes, and gay-coloured cassocks lined the whole side of the river, while over the bridge of Chateauneuf, and over a bridge of boats constructed during the night, the rear guard of the Catholic army was passing, with cymbal, and trumpet, and drum, the clang of which, borne by the wind, reached the hill where I stood.
Some half a mile before the great body of the Catholics were a number of squadrons of horse, charging, with levelled lances, two or three small bands of Huguenots, who, though contending with them gallantly, were evidently contending in vain. We could see the lances shivered and the horses go over, but still the Protestant cavalry was driven back towards a large pond confined within some raised causeways, and a rivulet which meandered in silver brightness through the meadows at the foot of the hill. Other small bodies of Protestant horse were seen coming up at full speed to the aid of their companions; but more effectual assistance appeared at that moment; for, drawing out from between the walls of a little hamlet, I perceived four or five companies of infantry, which I immediately knew to be that gallant and determined body, Puyviault's arquebusiers, who advanced rapidly towards the causeway of the tank, and opened a sharp fire upon the advancing squadrons of the Catholic cavalry.
This was all seen as we rode on down the hill; but, the moment after, the sound of a trumpet on the right called my attention in that direction, and I saw a small party of our own horse, perhaps consisting of a hundred and fifty or two hundred men, galloping down in the same direction as myself. Recognising at their head one whose skill and talents were already remarkable, now celebrated as La Noue, together with Asier and La Loue, whose vigour and determination, in all moments of actual conflict, seldom failed to inspire their soldiers to the greatest efforts, I made what speed I could to join them, and was hailed gladly, though there was no pausing to speak or to draw a rein.
On we galloped, four a breast, down the road till we had passed some hedges that intersected the slope of the hill, and then, spreading out, charged the enemy's cavalry just as they were passing the causeway on the right of the tank. Puyviault at the same moment renewed his fire upon the enemy, and we drove them back in great confusion for two or three hundred yards.
As all that we could hope to do, however, was so long to delay the enemy in the meadows by the river as to enable the admiral and the Prince de Condé to gain a good position on the heights, La Noue gave the order to wheel, and keep upon the same line with the infantry; but, on looking round, we saw that Puyviault, attacked on the left hand, had been forced to retreat, and that Martigue, with his fire-eating cavalry, had passed round on the other side of the tank, and was already on our flank.
We had no time for preparation; the Catholics were upon us with a rapidity and an energy worthy of admiration; Martigue was within ten paces of me when I turned my horse; and, calling out, "Ha, the cornet! the cornet! à moi, à moi, Monsieur de Cerons!" he spurred on upon me.
I met him as best I might, but our little band was broken by their impetuous charge in every direction: La Noue and the rest were making the best of their way back towards the infantry of Puyviault, and the men following by twos and threes, as they could disentangle themselves; and, after several sharp blows, I found that I must either get away from Martigue or suffer myself to be taken, and therefore, drawing a pistol from the holster, I shot his horse in the throat, and the animal went down at once.
"That is not fair!" he cried, as the horse fell with him.
"I had no other resource," shouted I, as I galloped on. "You see I am left alone."
Thus saying, I made my way back to the rest as fast as I could, and found our little cavalry once more rallied and supporting Puyviault, who, with admirable skill and determination, was keeping the enemy at bay as long as possible, maintaining every little hedge and every little wall with his arquebusiers, taking advantage of each little rise and fall of the ground, and fighting every step as he slowly retreated towards the village where I had slept the preceding night. To him, I cannot help saying, more than to any one else, is to be attributed that the battle did not prove more disastrous to the Protestants than it ultimately did.
In the mean time La Noue exclaimed to me, "Retreat into the village, De Cerons, as fast as possible, and maintain yourself in it as long as you can, for there is Martigue dashing up towards it on the right, and will cut us off if he is not prevented."
Taking the shorter road, I was there before the Catholic leader, and received him at the entrance of the principal road or street, if I may so call it, with a charge which, though it could not be long sustained, drove him back for some way, and enabled La Noue and the rest to retire in good order.
Asier came to my assistance in a moment or two after, exclaiming in a gay tone, "Now, Fortune's favourite, let us see how long you and I, De Cerons, can keep out the enemy!"
"Not long, Asier," I replied, "I fear; both your numbers and mine are somewhat thinned since the beginning of this morning; and see, there are six more cornets coming up the hill to join Martigue. Ha, Moric!" I continued, as I turned round to look at the numbers of my men, "I thought you were gone, my poor fellow. Are there any more coming up?"
"Two will be here in a minute, seigneur," replied Moric; "I sent them to see the valets, and horse-boys, and baggage out at the other end of the town. Ah, Master Martigue," he exclaimed, seeing that the enemy had paused for a single instant, and ridden round a little to the right, "I've stopped that gap for you. There's a road between two houses there," he said, "but I have upset a wagon across it."
Good Moric's precaution, however, did not avail us for long. Martigue himself again charged us in front; and though the narrowness of the road enabled us to stand against him firmly, yet we saw that a party of his men were busy in removing the wagon which had been overturned; and, after protracting the resistance as long as possible, we effected our retreat only just as the enemy were pouring in upon our flank. Puyviault, however, was by this time safe; and as we issued forth from the other side of the village and mingled with the foremost of the enemy, the glad sight appeared of D'Andelot coming up at the head of a considerable body of horse, while a long hedge of spears was seen rising over the slope, and giving notice that the admiral or the Prince de Condé would be in the field in a few minutes.
The enemy perceived this at the same moment that we did, and pursued no farther; Martigue hastening to strengthen himself in the village, in order to maintain it, if possible, till the royal troops came up. D'Andelot halted his men for a moment, in order not to charge friends and enemies together, and welcomed us, as we rode up, with nothing but courage and confidence in his tone, exclaiming, "Ah, brave Asier! ah, De Cerons! Gallantly done, gentlemen; gallantly done! Rally your men, and let us at them again! Now each man do as he sees me do!" And, as soon as we were in line, he spurred on again upon the village.
Martigue, confident in his numbers and his courage, had by this time drawn out a part of his cavalry beyond the houses, and we spurred forward upon them with a determination equal to their own. I was at the distance of about twenty paces from D'Andelot, who had no lance; but I saw him gallop up to a gay-looking cavalier opposite to him, armed from head to foot; and, putting past his spear, he struck him under the visor with the gauntlet of his left hand, which at the same time held his reins, and at that single blow dashed up the covering of his enemy's face; at the very same moment, with his right, he pointed a pistol under his opponent's helmet and fired. The man fell dead from his horse, and D'Andelot passed on at once through the line.[[3]]
Though we certainly did not follow D'Andelot's order in doing as he did, yet we did our best. Martigue's troops were driven again into the village, the streets of which became a terrible slaughter-house. In a few minutes the admiral himself, with a large body of cavalry, came up to support us, and the Catholics were driven out at the other side, and over the hill for nearly half a mile.
Their operations had all been well-arranged, however. By the time we had proceeded thus far, we were suddenly assailed by a tremendous discharge of firearms; and Martigue, finding himself supported by the Count de Brissac, with a fresh body of cavalry and sixteen hundred arquebusiers, horse and foot, resumed the offensive, while we were driven back in considerable confusion, from the incessant and well-directed fire kept up upon us by what were called the old bands of Brissac.
The position that we had attained, however, though we had gained it but for a moment, showed us the whole Royalist army on this side of the river, the Duc de Montpensier advancing up the slope with at least ten thousand men, and the division of the Duke of Anjou following in fine order towards the tank which I have before mentioned.
After retreating for about three or four hundred yards, the troops got into somewhat better order, and the admiral took care to seize the opportunity of restoring confidence by wheeling with a small force as if to charge Martigue. He did not do so, however; but, after looking round him for a moment, seeking, it would seem, some one he could trust, he beckoned me up to him, and said in a low tone, "Monsieur de Cerons, you fear nothing, I think."
"I trust not, sir," I replied.
"The battle must be general, I imagine," he said; "there is no avoiding it. I wish some one to ride towards Jarnac to the Prince de Condé, without the loss of a moment or a step of ground, to tell him to bring up the main body of the troops, and charge in order to extricate his vanguard. We will maintain the ground till he comes. The straight road runs along the whole line of those arquebusiers; whoever undertakes the task must endure their fire. Will you go? Take three men with you if you do."
I merely bowed my head in reply, spoke a word or two to Moric Endem, leaving him in the command of my surviving men, and, accompanied by Andriot and two troopers, galloped off as hard as I could go towards Jarnac. Either the arquebusiers for some time did not see me, or mistook me for some of their own people as I came galloping rapidly towards them, for they suffered me to pass half along the line without firing a shot at me. There, however, they seemed to discover their mistake, and, at the distance of not more than a hundred yards, opened upon me one of the most tremendous fires that I ever remember to have seen. Poor Andriot was down in a moment; but there was no possibility of stopping, and on I went at the full gallop.
About thirty or forty yards farther, a ball struck my cuirass, but glanced off without entering, and a second passed through the crest of my casque. Two or three went through the cassock I wore above my arms, and one ball just grazed the lower part of my bridle-hand sufficiently to deluge my glove in blood. It then struck the pommel of the saddle and bounded off. I was now within twenty yards of the end of the line; but, ere I reached it, another of my men was knocked off his horse; and if the arquebusiers had been wise enough to fire at the chargers instead of the riders, not one of us would have escaped to bear the admiral's message to the Prince de Condé. The last shot that was received was in my left shoulder; but it was of no importance, and did not even disable my arm.
I now continued my course in safety, but without relaxing my speed, and opened the visor of my casque both to get some air and to see more distinctly whether we were followed. Such was not the case, however; and at the top of the hill I saw the squadrons of the admiral, and could perceive the group in which he stood watching my course, perhaps with some anxiety. At the distance of about two miles I heard the sound of some trumpets behind a little wood in advance, and going on at the same quick pace, I came, in a moment after, upon some thirty or forty horsemen, covered with white cassocks, and bearing the cornet of the Prince de Soubise.
"Where is the Prince de Condé?" I demanded "Where is the prince? I bear him a message from the admiral."
"He is coming up that narrow road," replied one of the gentlemen. "Having heard firing, we supposed that some affair was taking place, and are now marching up towards Triac."
"The whole van are engaged," I replied; and, without more words, rode on and met the prince at the head of three or four hundred horse, almost all gentlemen of high quality, and distinguished in arms. The prince was speaking gayly; and, the moment he saw me, he exclaimed, "Ah, De Cerons! what news do you bear? So the enemy has crossed the river, we hear. But, good heavens, your surcoat is pierced in twenty places, and you are bleeding from the hand and shoulder."
"That is nothing, my lord," I replied. "The enemy have passed the river, the vanguard has been engaged these two hours, and the admiral has sent me to say to your highness that a general battle is inevitable, and to beg you to charge in order to disentangle the advance."
"Instantly," replied the prince, his bright eye flashing with a light which I never saw anywhere but in them. "Martinet, you ride back instantly, and hurry the advance of the main battle. Chouppes, ride on with Languilliers to Soubise, and you three, with your men, gallop as fast as you can towards Triac, to clear the ground a little while we come up. De Cerons, you stay with me, as you have seen all that is passing, and can guide us well. Now on, my men!" And, putting the whole troop into a quicker pace, he led the way, till we came out half way down the hill up which the Royalist army had been advancing when I left the field.
The aspect of everything, however, was now very much changed; the admiral had retreated beyond Triac; Brissac occupied the village; Martigue had taken ground to the right thereof; the Duke of Montpensier was at the top of the rise, and the main body of the Catholics, under the Duke of Anjou, occupied the rest of the ground towards Chateauneuf.
The gallant Puyviault, however, and his men, stretching out and menacing the flank of Martigue's troops, afforded us the means of joining our line to that of the admiral; and had the whole of the Prince de Condé's division been upon the field, we might still, perhaps, have gained the day. Such not being the case, and, by one accident or another, the prince having received but tardy information of what was taking place, the situation of the admiral seemed to all of us who were on the lower ground more perilous than it really was.
Condé halted for a moment, as if to consider and to communicate with the admiral; and, had it not been for the arrival at that instant of a small body of German Protestants who were with the army, in all probability such counsels would have been held as would have prevented the fatal results of that day's field. Condé, however, saw our auxiliaries arrive with joy and satisfaction; not that he hoped to save the battle by the rash, and desperate conduct he was prepared to pursue, but he thought that, at all events, he should be enabled to disentangle the troops of the admiral by a strong diversion in his favour; and, the moment that the arrival of the Germans was known, I heard him call loudly for his casque.
At this time, though we were within shot of the arquebusiers, and a ball or two fell every now and then among us, he had nothing on his head but a small cap of crimson velvet. The page who bore his helmet, however, came but slowly; the different officers who were round about pressed up eagerly towards the prince; the horses were furious and eager to proceed; and Condé himself, having one arm in a sling, from an accident he had met with, restrained his own charger with difficulty from dashing forward into the midst of the enemy's ranks.
At length the page brought up the casque, and one or two persons were assisting him to place it on his head: his standard had been carried forward, bearing, written in letters of gold, "Doux le peril pour Christ et le pais!" the Count of Rochefoucault was mounting a fresh horse, to accompany him into the mêlée; and, turning round towards me, the prince was asking, "Know you, De Cerons, whose cornets of horse those are upon the hill?" when, in a moment, I saw the charger that La Rochefoucault was about to mount lash out with both his feet towards the prince, whose horse seemed to stagger with the blow it received.
The velvet cap he had in his hand dropped to the ground, but that was the only expression (if it may be so called) of pain which escaped him. To my horror and astonishment, however, on approaching, I saw that the horse had broken his leg, and that the bone was absolutely protruding through the thick leather boot.
Exclamations of grief and distress burst from the lips of all around: but the prince waved his hand, exclaiming, "Silence!" And, a moment after, he added, "Behold, you true nobles of France, that which has occurred! Follow me to finish well what our brave friends have already so well begun! and remember this day, as you fight, in what state Louis of Bourbon leads you to the charge, 'for Christ and for his country!'"
As he spoke he pulled down the visor of his helmet, bent his head over his saddle-bow, gave the rein to his horse, and dashed like fury upon the flank of the Duke of Anjou's division. There was an immense body of men-at-arms before us, amounting, it is said, in all, to two thousand men; and the moment we began the charge, two regiments of reiters, amounting to two thousand five hundred men, and eight hundred lancers, with a small body of horse arquebusiers, swept round and hemmed us in; and yet it is extraordinary what that charge of the Prince de Condé did. There was not one man of us that hour who then spurred on his horse, and did not believe that his life was at a close, and he must sell the remnant dearly.
The light-horse which were in front gave way before us in a moment; the Duke of Guise and his men-at-arms were driven back upon La Valette; the regiments, of Chravigny and Nevers were cast into confusion; and, to use the words of another eyewitness, "In brief, the prince and his troop seemed like a thunderbolt."
But all that we could do was over in ten minutes. The regiment of the young Prince d'Auvergne came forward to support the rest, and in a gallant charge separated our small troop into parties: his father, the Duke of Montpensier, wheeled two regiments upon us to support his son; Martigue came down from the hill to have a share in our destruction, and, separated one from the other, we each fought with desperation against that party of the adversary which happened to be nearest to us. I was cutting my way on, attending to little else, and dealing the best blows I could with my heavy sword, when I suddenly received a pistol-ball in my right arm, which made it drop powerless by my side. An instant after, before any one could take advantage of my situation, my horse was killed under me, and fell at once to the ground, jamming firmly my right leg between the saddle and the earth, so that it was impossible for me to extricate myself.
The Catholic men-at-arms who were nearest to me, apparently conceived that I was myself killed, and one of them passed over me; but I was not only uninjured, except from the wounds I have mentioned, but was also painfully sensible of all the horrors that were passing around me. It is utterly impossible to give anything like the slightest idea of the scene that took place before my eyes. Sometimes I was left almost totally alone, beholding nothing but clouds of dust, and dim, uncertain figures whirling hither and thither; in another instant, one, two, three, perhaps fifty or sixty of the combatants, were close about me, and their horses nearly treading upon me at every instant. Thrice, indeed, they did strike me with their hoofs, but my armour luckily protected me.
At length I saw a charger all bloody, mounted by one whose aspect I knew full well. He was then at about twenty yards from me, and was riding rapidly up the hill where the ground was somewhat more clear. But at that very instant, two cavaliers, bearing red crosses on their shoulders, galloped fiercely forward upon him; and I saw that, though the horse exerted his utmost force to obey his rider's will, and though the rider urged him still on with eager speed, yet the gallant beast, bleeding from more than one wound, wavered as it struggled on, and the rider, with his head bent low, could scarcely keep himself in the saddle.
The other two, fresh and apparently unhurt, were up with him in a moment; and seeing that it was in vain to contend, with not a friend near him, without power to resist, without strength either in himself or in his horse to fly, Condé gave his left-hand gauntlet to one of those who approached him, and at the very same moment his horse stumbled and fell beneath him. As he lay, I saw him raise the visor of his helmet, and show his face to the gentleman to whom he had surrendered, whose name I afterward found was Argence.
The moment he saw the face of the prince, Argence sprang from his horse and attempted to aid Condé in rising; but then, seeing the state of his leg, he bore rather than assisted him to the foot of a small hawthorn-tree, and placed his back against the bank that supported it.
This was nearer to me than before, and the next instant two or three other gentlemen came up, and dismounting beside the captive prince, were talking to him in a quiet tone, when Montesquieu, whom I had seen several times before, and knew for his brutality, rode slowly up, and looked down upon me as I lay. My visor being down, he could not see whether I was dead or alive; and I remained quite still, though I held tight the pistol which I had drawn from my saddle-bow, determined not to surrender to him, but to shoot him with my left hand if he molested me. I believe he was looking for some unarmed point to stab me with his sword, in order to ascertain whether I was living or dead; but, not finding any, he had taken his pistol in his hand, as if to shoot me, in order to make all sure.
At that very instant, however, one of the others rode up from the hawthorn-tree, saying, "They have taken the Prince de Condé, there, Montesquieu."
"Taken!" exclaimed the brute, in a furious tone. "Kill him! kill him!--Mortbleu!" and, dashing forward, he levelled his pistol at the head of the unfortunate prince, and fired. Condé's head first fell back up against the bank, and then, rolling over with a convulsive motion, he fell dead at the feet of Argence, who turned angrily upon Montesquieu, and seemed to reproach him with what he had done.
After that I saw no more of them, for a company of horse came sweeping along between me and the spot at a somewhat slow pace, though Martigue was at their head. I knew his character well; though fierce, bold, and courageous as a lion, he was noble and generous-minded too; and as he passed within about ten paces of me, I called loudly upon his name. He did not hear me himself, but a young officer who was behind exclaimed, looking round, "Who calls Monsieur de Martigue?"
"It is I," I cried, lifting up my left hand, "I, a gentleman and a knight, wish to speak with him."
The young officer called his commander's attention, who turned his horse and rode up to me. "Who are you, and what do you want?" he said, looking down upon me without dismounting.
"I am De Cerons," I replied; "and, of all men in the army, wish to surrender to you;" and at the same time I raised my visor.
"Ah, you young tiger!" he cried, "have I got you. If I did right, I believe I should drop a lance into you. But, however, I suppose that must not be, and so I will give you some supper instead; for you have lost the day, young man, as I suppose you know."
"But too well," I replied, sadly; and Martigue, turning to some of those who followed, said, "There, help him up, and take care of him. Look to his wounds, too; for it is a pity that any one who has gone through a day like this should die at the end of it."
Thus saying, he rode on and left me.