THE KING OF FRANCE ORDERS THE COUNTS DE DUNOIS, D'EU, AND DE ST POL TO JOIN HIM, AS HE INTENDED TO MARCH TO ROUEN, WHENCE, AFTER REMAINING THREE DAYS HE RETURNS.—SOME OF THE INHABITANTS OF ROUEN ARE NEAR DELIVERING UP THE CITY TO HIM.—THE DUKE OF BRITTANY BESIEGES FOUGERES.—CONDE IS TAKEN.
In the month of October, the king of France ordered the count de Dunois, and the lords in his company who had subdued Argentan, to join him: and likewise the counts d'Eu and de St Pol; for it was his intention to march to reduce Rouen to his obedience. They hastily complied with his orders, insomuch that their armies were soon in the plains of Neufbourg[51], and assembled on the opposite side of the river, toward Rouen.
The king of France departed from Louviers, attended by the king of Sicily and his nobles, and advanced to Pont de l'Arche,—when the inhabitants came out with great joy, to welcome him on his arrival. He thence sent heralds without delay to summon Rouen to surrender, that all oppressions might be avoided by a voluntary submission: but the english garrison, aware on what embassy the heralds came, would not let them approach the walls, nor would they hear their summons, ordering them, at the same time, to make haste and return, under pain of death. They reported to the king all they had seen and heard, who, having learnt the answers the English had given to his heralds, commanded the army to cross the bridge at Pont de l'Arche, which was done under the conduct of the count de Dunois, and thence to proceed to Rouen. They remained before that city for three days with a multitude of men at arms and soldiers of all descriptions; but during these three days, the army suffered so greatly from the continual rains and storms that the whole was nearly destroyed.
Notwithstanding the severity of the weather, the garrison made many sallies, in which very gallant deeds of prowess were done; and a french esquire, called the bastard de Forbier, was made prisoner by reason of his horse falling under him. The french lords drew their army up in battle-array before the walls, and sent the king's heralds, a second time to summon the city to surrender; but as the English would not suffer them to approach near enough to be heard by the people, they were forced to return as before, which was quite contrary to every rule of chivalry; for heralds are always allowed the liberty of freely going and coming, to deliver their messages, provided such messages do not contain any thing treasonable.
The heralds, having made their report to the count de Dunois on their return, and he having considered that there seemed at present no chance that the city would surrender, and that the severity of the weather had much weakened his army, and worse was to be expected during the winter, which was nigh at hand, marched back to Pont de l'Arche, and quartered his men in the villages round that town. On the day of this retreat, the king of France had come with the king of Sicily to a nunnery within a league and a half of Rouen; but the king of France returned to his former quarters at Pont de l'Arche, while the king of Sicily remained until all the companies had marched for their cantonments near to Pont de l'Arche.
Shortly after, the king received intelligence that some of the inhabitants of Rouen had gained two towers that commanded part of the walls, and that they would admit them by this way into the city. On this information, the count de Dunois was ordered with the army to undertake the business, who marched off, on the 16th day of October, in handsome array.
On their arrival before Rouen, the army was drawn up fronting the new castle, whence two detachments were ordered,—the one to the gate of the Carthusians, and the gate Beauvoisienne, under the command of the counts de Dunois, de Nevers, d'Eu, and de St Pol, having with them many knights and esquires. The other detachment was to take post between the place appropriated to the execution of criminals and the walls of the city, under the command of the counts de Clermont, de Chartres, the viscount de Lomaigne and others. Each remained in battle-array until two hours after midday, when a person sallied out of the city on horseback, and told the above-mentioned commanders that some of the townsmen had gained, and kept by force, two towers, purposely to introduce, by their means, the king's army into the town.
Upon this, the count de Dunois, and the other lords in the detachment before the gate of the Carthusians, ordered their archers to march towards that part of the walls between these two towers,—and the count and his companions instantly dismounted and advanced to the foot of the walls, against which they raised the few scaling ladders they had, and made all diligence to mount them.
On this occasion were made knights the count de Nevers, the lord Concresault, Brunet de Long-champ, the lord de Pleu-martin, Pierre de la Fayette, the lord de Graville, master William Cousinot, Jacques de la Rivierre the bailiff of Nivernois, Robert de Hurenville, who all exerted themselves manfully to scale the walls, so that there were more than thirty Frenchmen who were on the battlements or within the town.
The lord Talbot now advanced, with about three hundred men, planting his banner on the wall, charged the French most valiantly, to repulse those who had made good their entrance into the town. They, however, fought well,—and great part saved themselves by leaping into the ditches, being forced thereto by the arrows of the english archers. Those who could not thus escape were put to death, or made prisoners,—and the English became masters of the wall and of these two towers. At this attack, from fifty to sixty French, including those of the townsmen who had assisted them, were killed or taken; and several, in attempting to escape, destroyed themselves. A few saved themselves from the towers: others had their legs broken by their fall, and such as remained were inhumanly slaughtered; so that it was an abomination to see the torrents of blood that ran in streams from the two towers.