Mazarin lost no time, but, at the head of a body of troops which he had raised in Germany, he entered France, and being immediately joined by the royal army in Champagne, he advanced at once across the country towards Poitiers. All that Condé had foreseen now took place: the Fronde, the Parliament, the people, were astonished and indignant at the unexpected return of the hated minister. The Duke of Orleans obtained a decree from the Parliament of Paris, commanding all governors of towns to arrest him in his progress; a reward of fifty thousand crowns was offered for his head; an army was raised by the Duc de Beaufort, who effected his junction with the Duke de Nemours, the strongest partisan of the Prince de Condé, and their united forces were joined by a large body of Spaniards, which had been promised some time before. At the same time the Duke de Rohan, governor of Anjou, declared for Condé, with the whole province that he commanded, and every part of the empire seemed rising at once against the authority of the Court.
Monsieur de Villardin now found that it was no longer a time for hesitation, and that if all the royalists remained inactive, the constitution of the country itself must be overthrown. The greater part of the regiment which had served with him at Bordeaux had been again collected by his orders in Brittany; three or four more troops were easily raised in the Orleanois; the whole had been more perfectly disciplined during the time he had remained in inactivity than they had ever been before, and the moment that he heard of the general revolt, he despatched couriers to the Court at Poitiers, to announce that he was on his march to support its cause, with an effective force of twelve hundred men. This reinforcement was a matter of no small consequence to a royal army in those days; and the pleasure that this news occasioned to the young King and his Court was greatly increased from the circumstances of the time at which Monsieur de Villardin's declaration arrived, and from the hope it held out of others following his example.
A new era was now opening for me. One of the troops of Monsieur de Villardin's regiment, raised by the authority of the King himself, had been given to me, and the high road to honour and promotion was now thrown wide before me. The political events which I have narrated above had occupied a considerable space of time, so that I was now more than seventeen. The little property which the kindness of Lord Masterton and of Monsieur de Villardin had bestowed upon me, was more than sufficient for all my wants and wishes; my troop was as fine and well disciplined a one as any in the service; and on the twenty-eighth of February I commenced my march with Monsieur de Villardin, full of all the hopes of youth, although I had been prematurely taught the experience of manhood. I do not know that such a combination of the two is either pleasant or beneficial to him who possesses them; and I do believe that nature's plan is the best, in joining youthful inexperience to youthful passions. For my own part, I may safely say, that having by the circumstances of my early days been carried too far forward all through life, I have always found that it was painful to be older than one's years.
We conducted our march as rapidly as possible towards Poitiers, and I remember nothing worth relating that occurred on the way. We found, however, at that town, that the Court and army had proceeded to Saumur, and following it thither, with only a day's halt, we again approached the Loire. We were welcomed with infinite joy, and I was presented by Monsieur de Villardin to the minister and to the young King, by both of whom I was treated with great kindness. The former was an elderly man of mild and insinuating manners, but with nothing either impressive or graceful in his demeanour: the latter was a youth of a fine intelligent countenance, but apparently far more occupied with the thoughts of field sports and courtly gallantries than affairs of state or war.
The royal army at this time was commanded by Marshals Turenne and d'Hocquincourt; and Monsieur de Villardin immediately received such an appointment under the command of the former as suited his rank and experience. We found, however, that our long march to Saumur might have been spared us, for within four days after our arrival, it was announced that, quiet being restored in Anjou, and the Prince de Condé being kept in check by the Count de Harcourt and the Maréchal de Gramont, the King intended to return immediately to Paris, in order to take measures against the combined force of Spaniards and insurgents which was rapidly traversing Champagne, and advancing towards the Nivernois. The next morning the order to march was given; and following the course of the Loire, for the purpose of securing the large towns situated upon that river, we passed through Tours, Amboise, and Blois, finding the country in general loyal, and willing to receive the royal army. Orleans, however, shut her gates against us; and as our own force was small, while the enemy, to the number of fifteen thousand men, had already entered the Orleanois, the attempt to reduce the city by force would have been in vain.
Both the Court and the generals were now eager to meet the Dukes of Nemours and Beaufort, who commanded the adverse force on the other side of the river, and between whom dissensions were said to exist which were likely to neutralise entirely the superiority of their forces: but none, certainly, was more desirous of dislodging them from their post than Monsieur de Villardin, inasmuch as they occupied a position extending from Montargis to the Loire, in a line drawn directly between Loris and Virmont, at the latter of which places we had left Mademoiselle de Villardin, now a pretty little girl of about eleven years old. Ere anything else could be attempted, it was necessary to secure the bridge of Gergeaux, lest the enemy should pass the river and fall upon our rear. This, however, was not to be done without some trouble, as the bridge had already been seized by M. de l'Etouf, Lieutenant-General of the enemy's force, who had found time to effect a lodgment, and place his cannon, before sufficient troops could be brought up to dispute the possession.
Here, however, the genius of Turenne at once remedied all difficulties. Without ammunition, and with only two hundred men, he kept possession of the little town, erected a barricade upon the bridge, defended it for two hours against an immensely superior force, and yielded not a step till a sufficient reinforcement arrived to enable him to drive back the enemy and blow up the bridge.
Although not present at the beginning of the affair, I obtained leave to ride on before the party destined to support Monsieur de Turenne, and brought him the first news of its approach; nor throughout all the scenes of the kind that I have witnessed, did I ever behold a man who, in the midst of danger and excitement, displayed such calm, unmoved tranquillity. He neither looked vehement, nor heated, nor anxious, but, in the midst of the enemy's fire, which was tremendous, listened to my report as if I had been giving him an invitation to dinner.
As soon as we had secured our rear by the destruction of the bridge of Gergeaux, we marched direct upon Gien, and passing the Loire by the bridge at that town, took up a position at the distance of about fifteen miles from the enemy, in order to ascertain their exact situation before hazarding any very bold stroke with our inferior force. The Court established itself at Gien; and Turenne fixed his head-quarters at Briare, while the Maréchal d'Hocquincourt took up his at Blênau. But it was now discovered that forage, which had been scarce along the whole line of our march, was not to be had in any sufficient quantity, and the cavalry was obliged to disperse in troops amongst the villages, in a semicircle of about twenty miles to the right, left, and rear, of our general position.
Monsieur de Villardin was obliged to remain with Turenne, but he directed me to post my troop as near as possible to the park and château of Virmont; though, as a part of the enemy's advanced guard occupied the little village of that name, I could not approach so near as I could wish. We found, however, upon inquiry, that our adversaries were behaving with much courtesy to the people of the country, and that the château of Monsieur de Villardin had as yet been respected; but, nevertheless, he was extremely anxious to withdraw his daughter and household, if possible, from so exposed a situation; and, on taking my leave of him, I promised to negotiate with the officer who occupied the village, in order to carry his wish into effect.