His battery being thus begun, he continued the same by the space of two days, with such terrible thundering of great artillery, that, by the report of [F. de] Rabutin a French writer, there were, in those few days, discharged well near to the number of 8,000 or 9,000 cannon shot.
Through the violence whereof, by the 20th of the said month, the said great Bulwark was laid wide open, and the breach made reasonable and easy enough for the assault; nevertheless, the said Duke (being a man of war, and nothing ignorant of what devices be commonly used in forts and besieged towns to entrap and damage the assailants) afore he would put the persons of his good soldiers to the hazard of the assault, caused the breach to be viewed once or twice by certain forward and skilful soldiers; who, mounting the top of the breach, brought report that the place was saultable [assaultable]. Nevertheless, to make the climb more easy; he caused certain harquebussiers to pass over the ditch, and to keep the defendants occupied with shot, while certain pioneers with mattocks and shovels, made the breach more plain and easy. [See Churchyard's account of this assault at p. [209]. He was one of the defenders.]
Which thing done accordingly, he gave order to Monsieur D'Andelot, Colonel of the French Footmen, that he, with his Bands, should be in readiness to give the assault, when sign should be given.
In which meantime, the Duke withdrew himself to an higher ground; from whence he might plainly discover the behaviour as well of his soldiers in giving the assault, as also of the defendants in answering the same. And not perceiving so many of the English part appearing for the defence, as he looked for; he gave order forthwith, that a regiment of his most forward Lance Knights [the Reiters] should mount the breach to open the first passage, and that Monsieur D'Andelot with his Bands of the French, should back them.
Which order was followed with such hot haste and desperate hardiness, that, entering a deep ditch full of water, from the bottom whereof to the top of the breach was well forty feet, without fear either of the water beneath or the fire above, they mounted the breach: and whereas the Duke had prepared divers bridges made of plank-boards, borne up with caske and empty pipes [i.e., barrels of the size of a Pipe] tied one to another, for his men to pass the said ditch; many of the said assailants, without care of those bridges, plunged into the water, and took the next way to come to the assault.
Which hot haste notwithstanding, the said assailants were, in this first assault, so stoutly repulsed and put back by the defendants, being furnished with great store of wild fire and fricassees for the purpose, that they were turned down headlong, one upon another, much faster than they came up: not without great waste and slaughter of their best and most brave soldiers; to the small comfort of the stout Duke, who, as is said before, stood, all this while, upon a little hill to behold this business. Wherefore, not enduring this sight any longer, as a man arraged [enraged], he ran among his men; so reproving some and encouraging others, that the assault was foot hot renewed with much more vehemence and fury than before: and with no less obstinacy and desperation received by the defendants; whereby all the breach underneath was filled with French carcases.
This notwithstanding, the Duke still redoubled his forces with fresh companies; and continued so many assaults, one upon another, that at the last charge, being most vehement of all others, our men being tired, and greatly minished in the number by slaughter and bloody wounds, were, of fine [sheer] force, driven to avoid, and give place of entry to the enemy.
Which was not done without a marvellous expense of blood, on both sides. For, of the French part, there were slain and perished in these assaults, above the number of 800 or 900 [Churchyard says, at p. [214], 4,000]: and of the English, but little fewer [800, p. [214]]; amongst whom the greatest loss lighted on the Spaniards, who took upon them the defence of the said Mary Bulwark: insomuch, as the report went, that of the 500 [or rather 450; whereof but 50 were Spaniards, the rest English and Burgundians, see p. [209]] brave soldiers which King Philip sent thither for succour, under the conduct of a valiant Spanish Captain, called Mount Dragon, there were not known to have come away any number worth the reckoning, but all were either slain, maimed or taken.
These outrageous assaults were given to the Castle of Guisnes, on St. Sebastian's day, the 20th of January aforesaid.
At the end of which day, there were also gained from the English, two other principal Bulwarks of the said Castle; which, being likewise made assaultable by battery, were taken by the Almains [? Swiss], who entered in by the breaches.