Towards evening, however, they had succeeded in opening a wide breach in the boulevard, opposite the gorge, and inclosing the latter. They were occupied all night in restoring its slopes and parapets in front of the town, and raising platforms and mounting three bombards on the boulevard.
Fig. 56— Attack on the old front.
At the two epaulements of the intrenchment C, D they raised two gabioned cavaliers, and placed a bombard and two veuglaires on each of them.
On the 21st of September, these works having been terminated by noon in spite of the fire of the besieged, one of the bombards of the boulevard discharged its stone balls at the gate, the two others at the two towers. At the same time the veuglaires of the cavaliers fired on these towers with iron balls and the bombards with their stone balls. These projectiles left only feeble traces on the masonry, but often threw down the gabionades and the parapets, and dismounted the pieces ([Fig. 56]). [17]
This artillery fight lasted till evening; on both sides pieces had been dismounted or were silenced; and the whole of the night was employed both by besieger and besieged in replacing the cannon on their repaired carriages or in bringing up new pieces.
Messire Charles d'Amboise was irritated; the affair was advancing but slowly. He had already received pressing letters from the king; for Louis XI. was afraid that a prolonged resistance would determine the other parts of Burgundy which had remained faithful to the court of France, to declare for the young duchess. He knew that emissaries of Maximilian were going through the province and endeavouring to persuade the authorities of the great towns that the king's army was feeble and disheartened; seeing that, in spite of formidable artillery, twenty days had not enabled it to make any impression on the little city of Roche-Pont.
Although the besiegers concentrated their fire, the number of pieces mounted by them was inferior to that of the cannon of the besieged. The stone balls of the bombards did no great damage to the defences. Messire Charles d'Amboise, therefore, during the night intervening between the 22nd and 23rd, raised a cavalier at A, strongly gabioned and terraced, and armed it with three large culverins. On the morning of the 23rd of September the corner tower, G, received the fire of five pieces loaded with iron ball and of a bombard discharging stone balls. After two hours' fire all the defences of the platform were knocked down and the three pieces dismounted, the embrasures of the tower battery shattered, and the defenders killed or wounded. Then orders were given that the tower should be fired upon only by two pieces from the cavalier C; and the fire of the three culverins of the cavalier A, and the three bombards of the boulevard, concentrated their fire on the gate and its barbican. Towards the end of the day this fine gate presented the appearance shown in [Fig. 57]. In the evening the besieger's pieces that had not been dismounted—that is to say, two culverins of the battery A, a veuglaire of the cavalier, and one of the bombards of the boulevard—concentrated their fire on the terrace P, of the besieged.[See [Fig. 56].] By evening the wall was dismantled, the gabionades tumbled down, and only one of the three culverins was available. However there was no breach, and an assault could not be attempted.
