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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41426 ***
+
+ANNALS OF A FORTRESS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE LAND OF OHET.]
+
+
+   ANNALS OF A FORTRESS.
+
+   BY
+   E. VIOLLET-LE-DUC.
+
+   TRANSLATED BY BENJAMIN BUCKNALL,
+   ARCHITECT.
+
+   [Illustration]
+
+   BOSTON:
+   JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY,
+   LATE TICKNOR & FIELDS, AND FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO.
+
+   1876.
+
+
+   UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, & CO.,
+   CAMBRIDGE.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+
+The Fortress whose transmutations during successive ages are so vividly
+described in the following pages is an ideal one; its supposed situation
+is on the Cousin, an affluent of the Saône. The practical genius of the
+author indicates the position which, in view of the new eastern
+frontier, should be fortified in order to command the Saône.
+
+To his unrivalled talent as an architect, Monsieur Viollet-le-Duc adds
+the highest qualifications of the military engineer. In this branch of
+applied science he is a recognised authority; and it may not be out of
+place to notice here that he was frequently consulted by the late
+Emperor respecting the permanent defences of the country. It is not too
+much to assert that if his recommendations had been carried out the
+investment of Paris would have been rendered impossible, whilst the
+progress of the German invasion elsewhere would have been attended with
+greater difficulties. As colonel of engineers, no officer displayed
+greater energy, skill, or bravery, in the defence of the city; and every
+operation planned and directed by him during the siege was successful.
+Within two or three days after the signing of the armistice, the
+Germans had done their utmost to destroy all evidences of their works of
+investment. Nothing, however, had escaped the vigilant eye of M.
+Viollet-le-Duc. In that brief space of time he had surveyed and
+accurately noted all these works of investment; plans and descriptions
+of which are given in his interesting memoir of the siege. Upon the
+outbreak of the Commune, he was solicited by its chiefs to take the
+military command; and had he not made a timely escape would probably
+have paid the penalty of his life for refusing that questionable honour.
+From his retreat at Pierrefonds he was recalled by General MacMahon, to
+assist the Versailles troops in re-entering Paris. It is deserving of
+mention that in his absence a devoted band of craftsmen thrice gallantly
+defended his house from being burnt and pillaged.
+
+In presenting the _Histoire d'une Forteresse_ in an English form, the
+translator has considered it impossible to do justice to the original
+without adhering to its archaic style and manner; and aware that a
+translation must lose something either in point of sense or style, his
+chief aim has been to give a faithful rendering of the sense.
+
+   BENJAMIN BUCKNALL,
+   _Architect._
+
+   OYSTERMOUTH, SWANSEA,
+   _February 11, 1875._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+                                                                PAGE
+THE FIRST RETREAT                                                 1
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE OPPIDUM                                                      11
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE FIRST SIEGE                                                  26
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE COST OF DEFENDERS                                            65
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE SECOND SIEGE                                                 69
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE PERMANENT CAMP--FOUNDATION OF A CITÉ                         90
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE FORTIFIED CITÉ                                               97
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE THIRD SIEGE                                                 108
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE FEUDAL CASTLE                                               157
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE FOURTH SIEGE                                                178
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE FIRST DEFENCES AGAINST FIRE ARTILLERY                       226
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE FIFTH SIEGE                                                 239
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE CITÉ OF LA ROCHE-PONT IS FORTIFIED BY ERRARD DE BAR-LE-DUC,
+ENGINEER TO THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE       275
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE SIXTH SIEGE                                                 282
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE TOWN OF LA ROCHE-PONT IS FORTIFIED BY M. DE VAUBAN          304
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE SEVENTH SIEGE                                               315
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+CONCLUSION                                                      354
+
+
+EXPLANATION OF SOME OF THE TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN THIS BOOK    385
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+FIG.                                                            PAGE
+
+ 1. MAP OF THE LAND OF OHET                          _Frontispiece_.
+
+    THE SAPPER                                           _Vignette_.
+
+ 2. THE OPPIDUM                                                  14
+
+ 3. RAMPART OF THE OPPIDUM                                       15
+
+ 4. GATES OF THE OPPIDUM                                         16
+
+ 5. THE NÉMÈDE AND THE DRUIDS' DWELLINGS                         16
+
+    FIRST SIEGE.--SIGILD AND TOMAR                               32
+
+ 6.   "     "     WOODEN TOWERS OF THE OPPIDUM                   35
+
+ 7.   "     "     ADVANCED WORK OF THE OPPIDUM                   46
+
+ 8.   "     "     ASSAULT ON THE OPPIDUM                         55
+
+ 9. THE TOWN AND CITÉ D'AVON (WAR OF THE GAULS)                  70
+
+10. SECOND SIEGE.--THE ROMAN 'AGGER' AND 'VINEÆ'                 79
+
+11.   "      "     A STIMULUS                                    80
+
+12.   "      "     THE MOVABLE TOWER                             82
+
+13.   "      "     ATTACK ON THE STRONGHOLD OF THE OPPIDUM       86
+
+14. THE ROMAN PERMANENT CAMP                                     91
+
+15. GATES OF THE CAMP                                            93
+
+16. THE GALLO-ROMAN TOWN. CITY JULIANA      (_to face_)          99
+
+17. SECTION OF THE RAMPART WALL                                 103
+
+18. PLANS OF THE NORTH GATE                                     104
+
+19. VIEW OF THE NORTH GATE                                      105
+
+20. GENERAL VIEW OF THE GREAT SOUTHERN TÊTE DE PONT             106
+
+21. THIRD SIEGE.--THE AGGER                                     123
+
+22.   "     "     WORK BEFORE THE EAST GATE                     124
+
+23.   "     "     THE 'VALLUM'                                  125
+
+24.   "     "     THE NORTHERN SALIENT                          126
+
+25.   "     "     BURNING OF THE WOODEN BRIDGE                  128
+
+26.   "     "     THE ATTACK--THE MOVABLE BRIDGE INTENDED FOR
+                  CROSSING THE SMALL ARM OF THE RIVER ABONIA    131
+
+27.   "     "     THE AGGER                                     139
+
+28.   "     "     THE ONAGER BATTERY                            141
+
+29.   "     "     THE MINE AND COUNTER MINE                     142
+
+30.   "     "     THE BREACH MINE                               145
+
+31.   "     "     DEFENCE OF THE BREACH                         146
+
+32.   "     "     THE BREACH OCCUPIED BY THE ASSAILANTS         147
+
+33.   "     "     MINING BENEATH THE NORTH-WEST CORNER TOWER    151
+
+34.   "     "     MINING BENEATH THE NORTHERN RAMPART WALL      153
+
+35. THE OLD CASTLE OF LA ROCHE-PONT                             167
+
+36. THE CASTLE OF LA ROCHE-PONT OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY (_to face_)
+                                                                168
+
+37. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE CASTLE OF LA ROCHE-PONT              172
+
+38. BRETÈCHE OF THE BRIDGE                                      184
+
+39. FOURTH SIEGE.--THE BURGUNDIAN INTRENCHMENT OF CONTRAVALLATION
+                                                                185
+
+40.   "      "     NIGHT SORTIE OF THE GARRISON OF THE CASTLE
+                                                  (_to face_)   187
+
+41.   "      "     THE BESIEGERS GET POSSESSION OF THE BARBICAN 191
+
+42.   "      "     THE CAT                                      193
+
+43.   "      "     THE BOSSON      (_to face_)                  197
+
+44.   "      "     THE BREACH AND THE BURNING OF THE NORTH GATE 199
+
+45.   "      "     THE TAKING OF THE BAILEY (_to face_)         210
+
+46.   "      "     THE SMALL BOSSON                             212
+
+47.   "      "     THE MOVABLE TOWER      (_to face_)           222
+
+48. THE TOWN OF LA ROCHE-PONT IS FORTIFIED BY CHARLES THE BOLD  228
+
+49. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE NORTHERN BOULEVARD AND FRONT         230
+
+50. MASONRY TOWER FOR ARTILLERY                                 231
+
+51. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF BOULEVARD AND RAMPARTS                   233
+
+52. TÊTE DE PONT AND CAVALIER                                   237
+
+53. FIFTH SIEGE.--ATTACK ON THE NORTHERN BOULEVARD              243
+
+54.   "     "     DEFENCE OF THE NORTHERN BOULEVARD             249
+
+55.   "     "     ASSAULT ON THE BOULEVARD                      253
+
+56.   "     "     ATTACK OF THE OLD FRONT       (_to face_)     255
+
+57. FIFTH SIEGE.--THE OLD NORTH GATE BATTERED BY FIRE ARTILLERY 256
+
+58.   "     "     TAKING OF AN ARTILLERY TOWER  (_to face_)     266
+
+59. THE BASTIONS OF ERRARD DE LE BAR-LE-DUC                     277
+
+60. THE NORTH WORK                                              279
+
+61. ONE OF THE BASTIONS                                         280
+
+62. SIXTH SIEGE.--GALAS' WORKS OF APPROACH                      289
+
+63.   "     "     THE ATTACK ON ONE OF THE BESIEGERS' PLACE D'ARMES
+                                                (_to face_)     290
+
+64.   "     "     FORCIA'S PLAN OF SIEGE                        298
+
+65. VAUBAN'S DEFENCES                                           305
+
+66. VAUBAN'S OUTWORK                                            307
+
+67. SECTIONS OF THE OUTWORK                                     309
+
+68. TRACE OF THE OUTWORK                                        311
+
+69. REVÊTEMENT OF THE BASTIONS                                  313
+
+70. SEVENTH SIEGE.--THE THEORETICAL ATTACK OF VAUBAN'S WORK
+                                                (_to face_)     337
+
+71.    "      "     THE THIRD PARALLEL AND THE CROWNING OF THE COUVERT WAY
+                                                (_to face_)     338
+
+72.    "      "     CAPTAIN ALLAUD'S ADVANCED WORK              341
+
+73.    "      "     SECTIONS AND INTERIOR VIEW OF THE WORK      347
+
+74.    "      "     CAPTAIN ALLAUD'S CRÉMAILLÈRE WORK           341
+
+75.    "      "     ATTACK ON THE WORKS OF COUNTER-APPROACH     347
+
+76. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ATTACK AND DEFENCE       358
+
+77. DITTO                                                       358
+
+78. DITTO                                                       359
+
+79. APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE: "WHAT DEFENDS SHOULD ITSELF BE DEFENDED"
+                                                                361
+
+80. ILLUSTRATION OF THE ALTERED CONDITIONS NECESSITATED BY ARTILLERY
+    OF LONG RANGE                                               362
+
+81. PLAN OF FORTRESS SHOWING HOW THOSE CONDITIONS ARE MET       364
+
+82. BLOCK PLAN OF THE DETACHED FORTS                            365
+
+83. THEORETICAL PLAN OF A MODERN FORTRESS                       366
+
+84. EMPLOYMENT OF THE POLYGONAL SYSTEM, DETACHED FORTS          372
+
+85. DEFENSIVE SYSTEM OF GREAT INTRENCHED CAMP                   375
+
+
+
+
+ANNALS OF A FORTRESS.
+
+
+   "Je sçais bien qu'il faut perdre, qu'il faut gaigner, et n'y a rien
+   d'imprenable; mais desirez cent mil fois plustost la mort si tous
+   moyens ne vous deffaillent, que dire ce méchant et vilain mot: 'JE LA
+   RENDS.'"--_Comment._ de MONTLUC.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_THE FIRST RETREAT._
+
+
+Many winters, as we are told by the old men of the district, have passed
+since human beings first settled in the land of Ohet, a somewhat
+extensive valley of varying breadth, traversed by a winding stream
+running southward till it flows into a great river.
+
+The sides of the valley present a series of hills of moderate height,
+descending by gentle slopes where it widens, and more abruptly where it
+narrows. On the steeper hill-sides grey crags jut out, and the ground is
+strewn with fragments of rock. Ascending the stream for some three hours'
+walk from the point where it joins the great river, we find on the right
+another stream separating into several small branches in a more elevated
+valley. In summer, some of these branches dry up, others form pools,
+whose banks are covered with reeds and water-lilies. The inhabitants of
+the vale dread this valley, which they believe to be haunted by evil
+spirits. It is dangerous to wander there, because of the number of bogs
+covered over with leaves and decaying branches in which the unwary sink.
+The forest in this valley is so dense, the plants and bushes are so
+thickly interlaced with the trunks and branches of dead trees, that
+the rays of the sun hardly penetrate through it, and only illuminate
+pools of water covered with a mantle of green. A kind of promontory
+divides the two water-courses at this point (Frontispiece--Fig. 1);--the
+river running from the north-west, and the smaller stream from the
+north-north-east. This elevated part of the country is covered with
+thick woods, and the inhabitants of the valley seldom go there except
+to hunt the wild ox, the boar, the wolf, and the deer. Beyond, the
+country seems a wilderness; and strangers who occasionally visit the
+inhabitants of the vale to exchange amber, copper, gold, salt, and
+coarse woollen or hempen fabrics for skins of beasts, never come except
+by the way where flows the great river. The occupants live in families,
+in the open spaces amid the woods and on the banks of the rivers,
+inhabiting conical huts, made with stakes set in the ground, joined
+at the top, and covered with branches, earth, and rushes. The father
+of the family occupies one of these huts with his wife and children,
+and as his sons grow up, they build another cabin and take a companion.
+
+The products of the chase and fishing, with the wild roots which they
+dry and crush between stones, are their only means of subsistence; they
+do not till the soil, nor have they any flocks or herds. Our informants
+add that they never had to fight men like themselves, and that if any
+disputes arise between the families, they call together the oldest
+chiefs of the other families to arbitrate between them. Those who are
+unwilling to submit to their judgment are banished from the valley,
+together with their families; they descend the shores of the great
+river, and are no more heard of.
+
+When these old men are further asked whether there were other human
+beings before them settled in the valley, they answer that there were;
+but that they were small men--dwarfs--who ate earth, and had no bows and
+arrows to kill the wild beasts, nor hooks to catch fish, nor canoes to
+cross the river; that at the approach of the present inhabitants, these
+dwarfs disappeared, and took refuge underground, whence they came out
+sometimes in the night to do mischief--to cut the fastenings of boats,
+or sink the boats themselves--to cause children at the breast to die, or
+to break the bows, or warn the animals of the forest of an intended
+chase, so that they might get out of the way.
+
+For some time a report has been current--brought by strangers who have
+found their way along the river into the valley--that an alien race of
+great stature and strength, with fair hair, and mounted on horses, have
+already overspread the neighbouring countries, driving away their
+inhabitants, or killing those who do not fly at their approach; speaking
+an unknown tongue, and undertaking nothing without first deliberating in
+great numbers, and consulting the elders and women, sparing none but
+children, and employing these in labours of all kinds. This news has
+spread great consternation in the valley; the chiefs of the families
+meet together, and determine to watch by turns at the mouth of the
+river; young men posted at regular intervals are to give warning, by
+loud cries, of the arrival of the fair-haired people, so that all the
+inhabitants of the valley may be quickly warned, and take refuge with
+their families in the woods situated on the promontory which divides the
+river from the smaller stream at their confluence; lastly, each is to
+furnish himself with provisions such as will be sufficient for a
+hunting expedition of several days; and then they will consult as to
+what course shall be adopted.
+
+Meantime, the elders of the people take counsel. They decide that at the
+first cry of alarm, and while the invaders are entering the valley by
+one of the banks, all the inhabitants of that side shall cross in the
+boats to the opposite side shore, in order to unite with those who
+inhabit that side, and that all together they shall hasten to bring
+their cargoes to the point where the valley divides, so as to moor the
+boats below the promontory on the left bank above the mouth of the
+stream; that the women, children, and old men shall take refuge on the
+promontory, so that the able-bodied, thus separated from the fair-haired
+men by the river and the rivulet, will be able to deliberate whether
+they should use their bows or fly to the forest above. Some days after,
+just when the sun is beginning to decline, the valley resounds with the
+cry of alarm, a hundred times repeated, announcing that the fair-haired
+people are advancing and entering the valley on the western side.
+
+Immediately the whole country--silent but a few minutes before--begins
+to be filled with a continued hum; most of the inhabitants of the right
+hasten in their boats to the left bank; but some, either through
+negligence, or because they have been away from their dwellings, cannot
+follow the advice of the elders.
+
+In the meantime, the invaders advance with caution: first, a detachment
+mounted on horses are seen riding round the woods, assembling in the
+openings, and appearing to deliberate before going further. A body of
+them have captured some unhappy loiterers among the inhabitants of the
+valley, who, fastened with cords, are driven onwards by their captors,
+and closely interrogated, but they do not understand what is said to
+them.
+
+In a little while, at every visible point in the direction of the river,
+the valley appears dotted with men on foot and on horseback, and with
+chariots; and every now and then shouts arise. The sun sinks upon the
+horizon, but the shouting continues to be heard, and the columns of
+smoke ascend from all sides; night comes, the valley appears lit up with
+fires, and silence gradually supervenes.
+
+Assembled at the foot of the promontory, along the banks of the two
+streams, the men of the land of Ohet have concealed their boats among
+the bulrushes; they have sent up the women, the children, and the aged
+to the plateau; they dare not light any fires, lest they should attract
+the attention of the invaders. The night is spent in fruitless
+deliberation; some bold young hunters propose to take advantage of the
+sleep of the fair-haired people to cross the river and fall upon them as
+they would upon wild beasts, and to kill them all with their stone
+hatchets; but the chiefs of the families consider that they are too few
+in number for the execution of any such design; they urge that this body
+of invaders is perhaps followed by others, that they have horses and can
+easily escape, that they appear to be tall and strong; and, moreover,
+that they do not appear to have killed the inhabitants they met with, as
+the strangers had reported.
+
+At break of day the valley echoes with unusual sounds, such as the
+inhabitants of the land of Ohet had never heard before. It is not the
+shouting of men, nor the songs of women, nor the bellowing of wild
+bulls. These noises spread terror among the fugitives. They all abandon
+the boats and climb the promontory; there, in the woods, they can see
+through the trees what is taking place in the valley: They soon perceive
+a numerous body of men on the opposite side, not far from the river.
+Some canoes which had been forgotten are being guided up the stream by
+the invaders. They go through the rushes, unfasten the boats, and draw
+them up with loud cries on the shore opposite the promontory. These
+cries are answered from other quarters, and the whole body rush to the
+shore. But at this juncture the chiefs seem to interfere; they parley
+for some time, and appear to threaten those who are impatient to get
+into the boats, often pointing to the plateau above. The main body
+retire again from the shore, and a dozen men only get into two boats,
+which make for the opposite bank at the foot of the promontory. With
+them are two of the inhabitants of the land of Ohet, tied by the neck
+with leathern thongs. They land together, put the captives before them,
+and ascend to the plateau. The twelve fair-haired men are armed with
+sticks, terminated by a long, bright, metal point. Some hold bows in
+their hands, with the arrows in place. They are dressed in short tunics
+of ornamented stuffs, their arms bare, and their legs up to the knee
+bound round with leathern thongs, to which are fastened covered sandals.
+About their loins is a belt of skin, to which is suspended a bag, also
+of skin, with the hair of the animal preserved, two knives--one long,
+the other very short--and a hatchet, the blade of which is of bronze;
+their necks and wrists are adorned with strings of large glass beads, or
+with circlets of metal. Many have their hair fastened on the top of
+their heads, with large pins of bone or bronze; others have their hair
+divided into long tresses. Their beards have been carefully removed,
+while their moustaches reach down to their breasts. Their aspect is
+terrible, for they are tall; their light blue eyes, inclosed by black
+lines, sparkle like diamonds beneath bushy brows dyed of a brilliant
+red.
+
+Approaching to within fifty paces of the brow of the promontory, where
+the ground is somewhat clear, they stop, and one of the captives speaks
+thus: "The fair-haired people have captured several of us; they have
+done us no harm; they have not burned our huts, nor killed the women and
+children. They wish to live in peace with us always, on the same ground.
+They will not hinder us from hunting or fishing, or from remaining with
+our wives and children. They say that the land is good, and can support
+a much greater number of inhabitants than it does now. They bring an
+abundance of things useful to man. They teach youths to ride, and to use
+arms against evil men. They say in fine that we have nothing to fear,
+and that you may return to your dwellings.
+
+"I am told all this by one of their people who speaks as we do, and who
+once lived in our valley, from which he was banished. They also say that
+if you will not return to your homes and live in peace with them, they
+will kill us all like wild beasts, for they are both numerous and
+strong. They will await your answer here until the sun reaches the
+middle of its daily course. This is all we have to say."
+
+Several of the elders of the valley then came out of the wood and
+advanced towards the captives; but the party of fair-haired men made
+signs to them to come no farther, and fitted their arrows to the strings
+of their bows. The captive who had already spoken, again addressed them:
+"Do not come any nearer; deliberate among yourselves, and give an answer
+quickly. This is all we have to say."
+
+The old men thereupon assembled, and having cut some branches of trees
+on which they seated themselves, one of them spoke thus: "These
+fair-haired people with painted faces are more numerous than we; they
+have murderous, weapons, and horses, and are brave; we are not able to
+drive them out of the valley; if they desire to live with us in peace,
+as they say they do, why not consider them as friends? Is it to their
+advantage to kill us? No. They possess many things which we have not,
+and are provided with what they need. Have you not observed the flocks
+and herds, the loaded waggons, and the women and children that accompany
+them? They are not empty-handed robbers. Let us accept the conditions
+they offer us."
+
+One of the hunters, among the bravest in the valley, then rose and spoke
+in his turn: "Why do these people with painted faces come into our
+valley? It is to take possession of it and drive us away. They are
+strangers to us, and we have never done them any harm. Why do they not
+remain where they were born? Will there be fish enough in the river and
+enough wild animals in the forest to feed them and us? They will take
+all and leave us nothing. Fighting against them is impossible, it is
+true--but we can fly. There are other valleys and other rivers not far
+off. Let us take our wives and children with us; I know the woods as far
+as three days' journey. Let us leave our huts and our boats, and go and
+settle far away from these strangers." After the utterance of these
+contrary opinions a hundred voices were raised; some supporting the
+advice of the old man, others that of the hunter.
+
+A few young men even wished to fall upon the little troop of strangers
+and massacre them.
+
+Some of the most venerated of the inhabitants of the Val d'Ohet tried
+more than once to impose silence and make themselves heard, but the
+tumult continuing to increase, the assembly was broken up into groups,
+and the women began to cry out and lament and the children to weep.
+Meanwhile the little party of fair-haired men had begun to cut some
+bushes and briars and to make a rampart with them.
+
+Not long afterwards twelve boats crossed the river, and sixty of the
+strangers came and joined the first twelve. These were bearing twelve
+oval shields of wicker-work covered with skin. They set up these shields
+by means of stakes driven in the ground, and placed themselves behind
+them; only their heads painted red and blue and their sparkling eyes
+remained visible. They were laughing together loudly.
+
+Midday was at hand, and confusion continued to prevail among the
+fugitives. Then were heard again those strange sounds which had so much
+alarmed the unhappy inhabitants of Ohet at dawn; and the shore opposite
+to the promontory was covered with a multitude of fair-haired men in
+several detachments, all armed. They began to cross the river, and to
+seat themselves in a line on the shore beneath the plateau. Then the
+captive who had already spoken advanced alone toward the forest, and
+when he was within hearing, said: "My friends, my brethren, you are
+going to be attacked: and we are to be killed before your eyes. Have
+pity on yourselves--have pity on us; come down to the fair-haired men;
+they will do you no sort of harm; they have respected your houses and
+the women that have fallen into their hands. Do not hope to defend
+yourselves, for they will kill you with their keen weapons!" At this
+last appeal the fugitives became silent, and one of the inhabitants of
+the valley, who had remained since the morning without speaking a word,
+rose up. He was a short, robust man, of dark complexion and crisp hair;
+he was well known as a skilful carpenter, and the best boats were his
+handy work. "There is no more time for discussion," said he. "Let those
+who wish to stay in the valley come out from the wood, and let the rest
+hide themselves as quickly as possible in the forest. They will be able
+to fly with their families; for the strangers do not know how many we
+are. As for myself, I remain where I was born." A great number assembled
+round the carpenter with acclamations, accompanied by their wives and
+children; and all together without a moment's delay showed themselves to
+the troop of strangers. "We will return to our dwellings," was all the
+carpenter said to the captive interpreter, and then they advanced
+towards the little camp.
+
+Many had bows and stone hatchets. "Throw down your arms," said the
+captive; "throw down your arms, you have no need of them." The invaders
+who had taken up their position on the shore, dividing into two bodies,
+were rapidly climbing the sides of the promontory, to the right and
+left; so that in a few minutes the carpenter and his companions were
+surrounded by an innumerable crowd, which penetrating the mass of the
+fugitives, separated them into small parties and took possession of the
+few weapons which had been retained by some of their number.
+
+The strangers laughed, skipped, and leaned their brows on the breasts of
+the inhabitants of the valley in token of good will. Thus some hundreds
+of the natives went down towards the river surrounded by their new
+guests. They were compelled to get into the boats, and they went back to
+their houses, which had been completely pillaged. Many of the huts
+remained vacant, and the new-comers took possession of them, without
+troubling themselves much respecting the inhabitants and what had become
+of them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_THE OPPIDUM._
+
+
+Two centuries later, the land of Ohet had assumed a new aspect, and its
+name was changed. It was then called the Valley of Avon.
+
+Beautiful fields, affording pasture to flocks and herds, carpeted the
+slopes of the bordering hill; while in the vale below ripened harvests
+of barley and rye. The uplands were still covered with forest, and on
+all sides wooden houses peeped out from the meadows, with their
+inclosures of palisades painted in lively colours.
+
+The marshes of the rivulet were drained, and at the summit of the
+promontory was to be seen cutting the sky the talus of an _Oppidum_
+which commanded the valley and the two streams. Its origin was as
+follows:--
+
+Not long after the invasion of the fair-haired people, the inhabitants
+of the valley who had fled into the woods had re-appeared, accompanied
+by a great multitude of men of the same race, and at dawn had fallen
+with great violence and loud cries upon the strangers.
+
+The latter, not expecting an attack, defended themselves as best they
+could; but the younger and more active among them assembled on the
+promontory, where they waited until night. Then they descended
+noiselessly, crossed the stream, and fell in their turn upon the men of
+the ancient race, who thought to repossess themselves of the valley. The
+greater number were asleep; many had dispersed in search of food and
+plunder. The young fair-haired men massacred a vast number of them,
+making no distinction between the old inhabitants who had remained in
+their homes and those who presented themselves as enemies; the women and
+children alone were spared.
+
+After a council of the elders, and after having consulted the women, it
+was decided that in order to prevent fresh surprises, and to protect the
+inhabitants of the valley, they should form a vast camp on the
+promontory, where in case of alarm the people of the valley of Avon
+could take refuge with their families, their flocks and herds,
+provisions and arms, defy every attack, and resume the offensive at the
+opportune moment.
+
+The summit of the promontory was therefore cleared; every able-bodied
+man was required to give one day's work in four till the camp was
+finished; and those of the old inhabitants who had escaped the massacre,
+as well as the children and women, had to labour without ceasing at the
+circumvallations. The women prepared food for the workmen, and the
+children carried earth in baskets or brought branches of trees which
+were mingled with the earth.
+
+Following exactly the verge of the plateau, the chiefs of the eight
+tribes settled in the valley marked out the boundary of the camp, its
+entrances, its defences, the retreat of the elders, the place for the
+cattle, that of the huts for the families, and lastly the site proper
+for the erection of the Némède--the sacred inclosure--the sanctuary of
+Belen and the dwellings of the Druids.
+
+First, with the aid of strong levers of wood hardened by fire, the
+stones which obtruded above the level of the plateau were forced out and
+arranged on the perimeter described; then upon this layer, behind which
+was heaped coarse gravel mixed with earth, were placed trunks of trees,
+crosswise, four feet apart. The width of the base was twenty feet. The
+interval between the trunks was filled with stones, earth, and branches.
+Then another layer of stones mingled with earth, then three rows of
+trunks of trees, laid this time lengthwise, bound together with strong
+bands of green withy, always with gravel between. On this a third layer
+of stones, more trunks of trees across, overlapping the others, and a
+topping of gravel, of turf and soil, forming the rampart walk.
+
+Stakes were placed upright, five feet apart, and firmly driven three
+feet down into the rampart on the outer edge, serving to fix, by means
+of osier bands, wattled hurdles five feet six inches high, so as to form
+a continuous parapet pierced with loop-holes.
+
+The rampart rose to a height of five feet. The inclosure completed, the
+Druids marked out the area allotted to the eight tribes. To each of them
+was given a circular space of two hundred feet in diameter; the huts
+were disposed in two rings around the perimeter; in the middle was the
+paddock for the animals and the hut of the chief.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE OPPIDUM.]
+
+The general view of the camp is given in Fig. 2, with the rampart, the
+two entrances, the sunk approaches, defended on the other side by a
+mound raised with the earth excavated to form these approaches, and the
+eight circles allotted to the tribes; at A, the Némède and the dwelling
+of the Druids and Druidesses, surrounded by the sacred inclosure. Wells
+were sunk in each of the circles of the tribes, and in the inclosure of
+the Némède.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
+
+Fig. 3 gives the section of the rampart with its terrace-walk, A, for
+the defenders, and, at intervals, the inclines, B, affording an easy
+means for ascending to the terrace-walk. The entrances were masked by a
+mound forming an advanced work, and leaving two ways out along the
+ramparts. Fig. 4 shows how these entrances were disposed. The two
+extremities of the rampart were strengthened by a wider embankment, H,
+affording space for a numerous assemblage of defenders. Here is shown
+the screen thrown up outside the cutting, and at K the sunken road with
+its mound, L.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
+
+Fig. 5 represents the Némède, with its inclosure and the dwellings of
+the Druids.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
+
+The camp finished--except the habitations of the tribes, whose site was
+only marked by circles of stones--a certain number of young men were put
+to live there, who replaced each other every day. Arriving there at
+sunset, they remained in the camp until the beginning of the next night.
+Those of the former inhabitants of the valley who still lived were
+forbidden to enter the camp on pain of death.
+
+The tribes prospered, enriching themselves with the produce of the earth
+and with their cattle. Some, having discovered copper ore in the
+neighbourhood, manufactured arms and utensils. There were also potters
+who wrought skilfully in clay. At certain periods of the year, merchants
+brought to the valley stuffs, salt, spices, and even wine in leathern
+bottles. They took in exchange articles of bronze, skins, cheese, and
+corn.
+
+The tribes, not having had any fresh attacks to resist during a
+lengthened period, left off guarding the camp, which was rarely visited
+except on occasion of certain solemnities and of assemblies convoked by
+the Druids. The latter lived by themselves, surrounded by their college,
+within the vast inclosure which they cultivated, and where their sheep
+and cattle grazed. The ramparts, whose timber work had decayed, had
+sunk, and presented only a slight elevation. They were overgrown with
+vegetation in several places. But in the peaceful state in which the
+tribes were living, no one thought of repairing these defences.
+
+The inhabitants of the valley had been frequently embroiled with the
+neighbouring tribes, and had often come to blows with them; but peace
+was soon restored, for none of these groups of tribes cherished the
+intention of subjugating its neighbours and seizing their territory.
+
+Nevertheless repose was irksome to them, and their youths would often
+quit the valley in quest of adventures, and to see the world.
+
+About 389 B.C., a great number of men, attracted by the seductive
+eloquence of a Brenn--a chief elected by certain tribes to command
+distant expeditions--had quitted their hearths in the hope of amassing
+wealthy spoils in the southern lands beyond the mountains. Two years
+having passed away, a small number made their appearance again in the
+valley; they brought with them gold and costly fabrics, and marvellous
+were the tales they told of the countries they had traversed, and in
+which they had been incessantly fighting.
+
+They had seen cities environed by strong stone walls, and filled with
+magnificent public buildings and sumptuous mansions--richly fertile
+regions, where the vine and luscious fruits of every kind were
+cultivated.
+
+Among other results of adventure, it was observed that those who
+returned from these distant expeditions had lost the habit of peaceful
+industry; and although more than half their comrades had perished by the
+way, their dreams were still of battles, and plunder, and adventures.
+They were idle, insolent, and irascible, and even aspired to a kind of
+lordship over the peaceable families that lived by industry. The latter
+had at first joyfully welcomed the unhoped-for return of these warriors;
+and had listened with admiration to the stories of their prowess and
+adventures recited around the family hearth; but their imperious
+bearing, their idleness and boasting, were beginning to become
+intolerable. Every day saw new quarrels arise, which generally ended in
+blood. The wives of these heroes were still more insolent than the
+warriors themselves, and presumed to treat their dependents as slaves,
+such as were those of the ladies in the countries so gloriously
+traversed by their husbands.
+
+Things being in this state, the tribes of the valley had been summoned
+to a meeting in the old camp, according to custom, to deliberate on
+their common interests, and to endeavour to put an end to feuds. The
+men always repaired to these assemblies armed; the women used to come
+bringing food and drink; for these meetings were usually terminated by
+festivities lasting the whole night.
+
+On the morning of the day appointed, the sound of trumpets re-echoed
+through the valley, and from every quarter the inhabitants might be seen
+flocking towards the hill. A wooden bridge had long since been built
+over the river near the mouth of the rivulet. When the chiefs of the
+tribes, accompanied by the mass of the people, presented themselves at
+the bridge, they found it occupied by the warriors, whose ranks had been
+increased by a large number of young men of the valley, and even other
+warriors, strangers to the tribes.
+
+"It is at the camp and not here that the people meet," said one of the
+chiefs; "let us pass over." "You shall not pass," replied one of the
+warriors, "without listening to the conditions we propose." "We have
+neither conditions to submit to nor conditions to impose," rejoined the
+first; "the men of this country are free, and the land is theirs, in the
+valley and on the mountain; let us pass on!" "It will be by force then,"
+replied the warrior, half unsheathing his sword.
+
+A long-continued cry of indignation followed this defiance, and arms
+began to glitter in the sun among the crowd like flashes of lightning.
+The chiefs, however, imposed silence, and held the crowd in check. Then
+advancing in concert to the entrance of the bridge, one of them spoke
+thus:--"What do you want? Do you not belong to our tribes? Have you not
+flocks, and wives, and children born in the valley? What conditions do
+you aim to impose upon us--us who are your equals? Speak! What can you
+ask for more than you already possess? What wrongs have been done you?
+Why bring with you men who are strangers to the country, whom we do not
+know, and who have no claim to an interest among us?" "Answer him,
+answer him, Sigild," said all the warriors with one voice. Sigild
+advanced. He was a handsome young man, a native of the valley, tall and
+slight, with a mild look, and a beard just appearing; his breast covered
+with a small bronze cuirass which glittered in the sun: his white arms
+were bare, and adorned with bracelets of gold. He disdained a helmet,
+and his blonde hair, fastened at the top of his head with a long golden
+pin, fell down over his back; _chases_[1] wrought in bright colours
+covered his legs; his waist was girt with a kind of scarf, which was
+gracefully thrown back over the shoulder and left arm. A narrow buckler
+and a sword hung at his side. He smiled, made a sign with his hand as if
+requesting silence, and said:--"Friends and brethren, we are all
+free--all of the same blood; we ought to remain united to conquer those
+who desire to plunder or to enslave us. Consider, however, that you have
+among you the élite of the warriors who have conquered powerful nations,
+and have spread the renown of the Gallic name beyond the mountains. Many
+have died in battle; but do not those who have returned to you after so
+many trials, bringing, with them a rich booty and having acquired skill
+in arms, deserve some consideration from you? Inured to war and always
+ready to shed their blood, are they not more fitted to defend your
+hearths than men who have done nothing but tend cattle and till the
+soil? They do not, however, ask you to keep them in idleness, or to
+consider them as chiefs or masters; their only wish is to defend you.
+They know to what extent you are encompassed by rapacious and envious
+men, who, jealous of the prosperity of your valley, are cherishing the
+most sinister designs against you. They know this because they have seen
+many peoples of whose existence you do not dream, though they are close
+to your borders. Lulled by a prolonged security, you are not in a
+condition to resist a serious attack. Now these warriors--your
+relations, your brothers, your friends, of the same blood as
+yourselves--have been considering with painful anxiety this state of
+repose in which you are living. They have, therefore, formed the
+intention--they, as men of war, to occupy the camp, to fortify it
+effectually, to make it a reliable place of refuge in case of invasion,
+and to defend themselves in it to the death. Is there any wrong in this?
+As to these warriors, whom you regard as strangers, they are brethren in
+arms who have fought side by side with us beyond the mountains, but who
+no longer finding their abodes on returning to their valleys devastated
+by marauders, ask an asylum with us. Besides, if they do not belong to
+your tribes, are they not Gauls like ourselves?
+
+"We have wished to say this to you here, and not in the place of
+rendezvous itself, in the fear lest our intentions should be
+misunderstood amid so great a concourse. If our proposals, conceived
+with a view to the common interest, appear to you just, and if you still
+persist in holding the assembly on the height above, we will go before
+you to the camp, and will remain there when you return to your
+habitations.
+
+"As for us, devoting ourselves to those new functions which we are
+competent to discharge, we will make of this camp a stronghold
+impregnable to any enemy that might dare to attack us." A long murmur
+followed this discourse and the chiefs of the tribes looked wistfully at
+each other.
+
+The most venerable of them, advancing in his turn replied thus: "Sigild,
+your words are fair; but the act to which you and your companions are
+committing yourselves at this moment is insulting, and aims a blow at
+the liberty of the inhabitants of the valley. You parade before us
+imaginary dangers, with a view to remaining on that height under the
+pretext of defending our families, but really in order to separate
+yourselves from us and act according to your good pleasure. Tell us who
+will support you and take care of your cattle while you are remaining on
+the height under arms, waiting for an enemy who perhaps will never make
+his appearance? Sole masters of the bridge and the two streams, you will
+be able, if you choose, to debar the inhabitants of the valley from
+hunting in the woods that extend behind the camp, and from fishing in
+the waters of the upper stream which furnish the best supply. We shall
+thus be at your discretion. If the assembly thinks it desirable to
+strengthen the fortifications of the camp, every inhabitant of the
+valley will take his share in the work--yourselves with the rest. If it
+shall be necessary to defend the inclosure, all who are in a condition
+to bear arms must engage in the defence; for all are equally interested
+in protecting their families, in repelling an enemy, and not exposing
+themselves to insult. Come, then, with us to the camp; we will
+deliberate on all that concerns the interests of the tribes, and you
+will only have to submit, like ourselves, to the result of our
+deliberation. As to the new-comers, if they ask for an asylum, you know
+that it will not be refused them; but they must fulfil the conditions
+imposed upon foreigners wishing to live among us. Moreover, we shall
+have to consult the Ovates."
+
+Thrusting back Sigild, who was preparing to give an answer, the first
+warrior, who had spoken so insolently, advanced to the edge of the
+bridge in front of the chiefs of the tribes, and putting aside their
+arms, he said, "No one shall pass; all this parleying is useless; go
+back to your houses; we will hold the camp."
+
+At these words a thousand voices arose, and in spite of the endeavours
+of the chiefs to restrain them, the crowd of the men of the valley
+rushed forward like a torrent. Swords were drawn on both sides, and the
+clash of arms was mingled with the cries of the two parties. The
+imprecations of the women dispersed along the shore, and who were urging
+the men towards the bridge, were heard above the clamour of the
+multitude. The party that was endeavouring to obstruct the passages
+recoiled for the moment, with a view to concentrate themselves on the
+narrowest point; and, as the warriors had crowded together on the bridge
+to hear what was being said on both sides, and many had even mounted on
+the wooden parapets, this movement from front to rear threw confusion
+into the closely-packed mass, and several fell into the river.
+
+At sight of this a shout, followed by an immense burst of laughter,
+issued from the groups assembled on the shore; and the defenders of the
+bridge, and those who were advancing to meet them, having no conception
+of the cause of this laughter, stopped and looked behind them on either
+side.
+
+But the warriors who had fallen from the bridge into the water,
+embarrassed by their clothes and shackled by their armour, although able
+to swim, were being swept down by the current, with a rapidity increased
+by the swollen state of the river. They were all but engulfed in the
+rapid torrent. Two boats were fastened to the bank on the valley side;
+in a moment some of the spectators pushed off in them, and rowing with
+might and main, and with the help of poles, had soon rescued the
+half-drowned warriors and brought them to the shore.
+
+Three had lost consciousness; every assistance was afforded them, and
+the women especially lavished upon them the most assiduous attention.
+
+The result of this episode was the intermingling of the parties; the
+defenders of the bridge had advanced on the shore as far as the middle
+of the passage, and were surrounding the handsome Sigild, who, with a
+smile upon his lips, was answering all the questions addressed to him by
+reassuring words. He might be seen slightly shrugging his shoulders and
+shaking his head in graceful fashion. An armed struggle was no longer
+possible, and the war-cry had been exchanged for laughter. A more
+compact group, however, consisting of members of the two parties, were
+keeping up a lively discussion along one of the parapets of the bridge,
+when one of the inhabitants of the valley, to whom the attention of
+those surrounding him seemed to be directed, mounted the hand-rail with
+agility, and, fastening his buckler to his shoulder, plunged into the
+river.
+
+He soon re-appeared, and swimming with vigour and address, gained a
+footing on the bank at the base of the promontory.
+
+The hurraing on the opposite shore recommenced; in an instant the two
+boats were filled by men of the valley, and others crossed swimming,
+partly aided by the boats, which soon reached the other side. Some
+vessels towed across conveyed considerable numbers--so many, indeed,
+that the holders of the bridge saw themselves placed between two hostile
+bodies, should they persist in their resolution. The laughter was kept
+up on both sides, and was communicated even to the warriors posted on
+the passage. The knot of defenders became less and less dense, and if
+they did not retreat _en masse_--which would have called forth a fresh
+burst of hilarity--they were gradually retiring. Soon the platform of
+the bridge was deserted by all but the surly instigator of the strife,
+whose insolent words had almost occasioned a sanguinary struggle. He
+indeed was not laughing; when he saw himself abandoned he threw his
+sword into the river, and making himself a passage through the crowd, he
+bent his steps towards the valley. The handsome Sigild, surrounded by
+the greater part of the warriors, was on his way upwards towards the
+camp, and the whole multitude was following him.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: _Chases_--a kind of trousers divided down the legs and
+fastened with bandelets.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_THE FIRST SIEGE._
+
+
+Thirty years after the event just related, the valley of Avon still
+preserved its smiling aspect and was covered with rustic habitations;
+there might be seen, however, in front of and behind the bridge just
+mentioned, two groups of houses in pretty close proximity: the first in
+the direction of the valley, the second on the lower slopes of the
+plateau. A considerable number of boats were moored on the two banks
+below the bridge, and were receiving or discharging packages covered
+with wrappers made of rushes. On the top of the promontory was seen the
+outline of a rampart made of stone, wood, and earth, but with square
+towers composed in great part of timber and wattle-work, about a hundred
+paces apart. Outside the inclosure rose palisades of no great height, in
+front of a ditch six feet wide by three or four feet deep. The entrances
+to the Oppidum, which still occupied the place previously indicated,
+were amply environed outside by stakes connected by branches of trees.
+At the lower end of the two sunk roads were raised besides two towers of
+timber and wattle-work.
+
+Grave events had been the cause of these changes.
+
+The meeting announced in the preceding chapter had taken place on the
+plateau. The uproar and confusion that prevailed threatened a sanguinary
+conclusion. The warriors insisted on adhering to the programme sketched
+by the handsome Sigild, and on reserving to themselves the privilege of
+guarding the camp.
+
+The chiefs of the tribes would not agree to this. The Ovates, the wisest
+among the Druids, had been consulted. But their responses, of a somewhat
+ambiguous character, did not satisfy the multitude.
+
+The latter (the Ovates) declared in the first place, that the Némède
+could not be touched without drawing down the gravest calamities upon
+the tribes; that the flocks belonging to the college must be allowed to
+graze undisturbed on the plateau; and that if any peril threatened the
+inhabitants of the valley, they, the Druids, would be able to give
+timely warning to the defenders. During this deliverance the handsome
+Sigild wore his accustomed smile and suavely shook his head in his usual
+manner, but said not a word. The Druidesses, seated along the inclosure
+of the Némède, their hands on their knees in a musing attitude, appeared
+to take no part in the discussion. The men were divided into groups, and
+it seemed as if no decision would be arrived at before sunset. Hunger
+and thirst began to be keenly felt, and the women were spreading on the
+turf the provisions they had brought. At this juncture one of the
+Druidesses, at the solicitation of her companions, advanced into the
+midst of the assembly. She was young, tall, and dressed in a long white
+robe--a kind of dalmatic without a girdle; and her bare arms were
+adorned with bracelets of black glass. On seeing her every voice was
+hushed, and surrounded by her companions, who had followed her, she
+spoke thus:--
+
+"You who are assembled here, who live in peace, thinking you have no
+enemy to fear, are unable calmly to deliberate and adopt a wise
+resolution. How will it be when the enemy is upon you? And I warn you
+that such an enemy is near; he is preparing his arms and reckoning his
+spoils in the pillage of your flocks and the plunder of your houses;
+indeed he is already rejoicing in a victory which he deems certain
+because he knows you are not in a condition to act in concert to resist
+him.
+
+"Abandon this place, which you are incapable of defending, since you
+know not how to fortify it; return to your houses, and await in careless
+ease the hour of peril." Around the young woman, pale with emotion, and
+who spoke without a gesture or a movement, as if the words she was
+slowly pronouncing had issued from a statue, the multitude had assembled
+in a compact mass. A tremulous agitation ran through the crowd like the
+breeze through the corn. Then, by one of those instinctive movements
+which sway the multitude, all eyes were turned towards Sigild. The
+latter, standing in front of the Druidess, who had remained rigid as a
+statue on the stone that served her as a tribune, had his eyes fixed on
+the ground contrary to his usual custom, as if he could not endure the
+fire of all these glances directed towards him.
+
+Through the murmurs of the crowd the name of Sigild could be vaguely
+distinguished. "Let Sigild be our Brenn!" said a voice. Immediately
+thousands of voices repeated, "Let Sigild be our Brenn!" It seemed then
+as if all those who a few minutes before were of opinions widely
+contrary had but a single thought, a single soul, a single voice.
+
+Sigild was therefore proclaimed Brenn, and the night passed in joyous
+festivities.
+
+Whether the young Druidess had been informed of the projects formed
+against the happy inhabitants of the valley of Avon, or whether
+inspiration or chance had led to the coincidence, only a few months had
+passed since the meeting in question, when they observed certain
+strangers roaming about the hills, who speedily disappeared when the
+inhabitants began to question them; and subsequently a larger number of
+merchants than was customary, arrived in the valley. They were insolent,
+endeavoured to embroil themselves with the inhabitants, and uttered
+menaces when their assumptions were met by reason; and several of them
+who were expelled from the country threatened to return and avenge
+themselves.
+
+One day, in fact, the heights that surrounded the valley appeared
+occupied one after the other by troops of armed men.
+
+Meanwhile Sigild, elected Brenn, had lost no time. He had first
+assembled around him all his old companions in arms; and many young men
+who preferred a life of war to the peaceful pursuits of the shepherd or
+the husbandman had also joined him.
+
+The new Brenn had gold, and on occasions would pay men to work at the
+Oppidum. Full of respect and deference for the Druids, he had
+embellished the Némède; and seemed to engage in no undertaking till he
+had consulted the Ovates. He gave them the produce of his hunting
+expeditions, and had caused a decree to be made that the fishery above
+the bridge should be reserved for the college.
+
+The camp was assuming day by day a more formidable aspect, but the Brenn
+and his men, with the college of the Druids, were the only persons
+entitled to sojourn there. As on former occasions, every man of the
+valley was obliged to devote one day in four to the work of
+fortification; moreover, the inhabitants of the Val d'Avon supplied the
+warriors with provisions. They were, however, beginning to murmur, and
+to complain of the exactions of the latter; and things would probably
+have not long continued on this footing, when the threatened enemy
+appeared.
+
+The sound of trumpets was immediately heard in the camp: it was the
+signal agreed upon; and the unfortunate families of the valley might be
+seen rushing in disorder towards the bridge, driving their cattle before
+them, and carrying with them on their backs or in waggons their most
+valued property, with provisions, clothes, and even furniture. The
+bridge not being wide enough for the passage of the distracted multitude
+who were thronging towards it, boats were heavily laden with people, and
+many foundered.
+
+The armed bands that had appeared on the hills, whether as a matter of
+prudence or because they were waiting for the command to advance, made
+no haste to descend into the valley, and night came without a single
+enemy having quitted his post of observation.
+
+This night was a painful one for the inhabitants of the valley. It was
+autumn, and the cold was already beginning to be felt. They were
+arriving breathless in the camp, covered with sweat; the sharp air of
+the night was freezing their limbs. They were calling to or searching
+for each other in the crowd, and although space was not wanting, it
+seemed as if this multitude would never succeed in housing itself on the
+plateau. Fires were being lighted, and the warriors, Sigild's
+companions, were hastening to and fro on horseback among the distracted
+crowd, endeavouring to make themselves heard and to introduce a little
+order into this confusion; for each tribe had had its quarters traced
+out for it by the wise foresight of the Brenn. But those who had arrived
+first at any spot were loath to quit it and take up their baggage again
+to carry it elsewhere. The animals were lowing or bleating, the children
+were crying, and the women lamenting. The valley presented a quite
+different spectacle; animated the night before, lighted up by the
+household fires that sparkled through the trees, and filled with the
+sounds of evening, it was now silent and deserted; not a light nor the
+least appearance of life could be distinguished. A pale fog was diffused
+over the meadows. At nightfall Sigild ordered the barriers of the camp
+to be closed, prohibiting, on pain of death, their being opened to any
+person whatever. Thus many belated families had to await the return of
+day below the ramparts.
+
+With smiling countenance the Brenn was leisurely traversing on horseback
+the various quarters of the camp: he was addressing all he met, and his
+gentle, penetrating voice seemed to restore order and silence wherever
+it was heard. His words and counsels, and the fatigue that was taking
+possession of the crowd, had soon caused an appearance of calm to
+succeed the confusion that prevailed at first. Then the Brenn re-entered
+the hut he had caused to be constructed for himself on the projecting
+summit of the promontory, in front of the Némède, and summoned Tomar
+into his presence.
+
+Tomar was one of the stranger warriors whom Sigild had kept near him
+after the meeting above mentioned. Had these foreign warriors been
+forced to quit their native regions in consequence of the devastation of
+their estates and the ruin of their families, as the Brenn had affirmed;
+or had they been banished by their countrymen for certain misdeeds? We
+cannot say. Certain it is that they were devoted body and soul to
+Sigild, who on his part was in a position liberally to reward their
+devotion. Tomar was of medium height, and his large head, on a short
+neck bristling with harsh, thick hair, seemed to move with difficulty.
+His face also preserved a kind of immobility; and but for his grey eyes,
+which, under his bushy eyebrows, seemed to penetrate in every
+direction, the man might have been taken for a rough-hewn image of wood.
+With curved back, long arms, always falling down by the side of his
+body, and legs heavy and bent, Tomar could nevertheless perform a march
+of twelve hours in succession without turning his head. Yet at the end
+of the journey this automaton-like being had seen all that was visible
+through the whole route, and could give an account of what he had
+observed with the most minute exactness and in the most perfect
+sequence. He could speak many Gallic dialects, but no one--not even
+Sigild--knew his past history. Tomar rarely laughed. A travelling
+merchant had brought an ape into the valley; and witnessing the grimaces
+of this specimen of the quadrumana, Tomar burst into a fit of laughter.
+It was almost the only time that he had permitted himself such an
+ebullition, and if any one wanted to provoke anything like a smile upon
+his rigid countenance, he must mention the ape.
+
+[Illustration: SIGILD AND TOMAR.]
+
+As his manner was, Tomar entered the Brenn's hut as noiselessly as a
+cat, and placing himself before Sigild said, "Here I am!" "Tomar, I rely
+upon thy aid." "Yes." "Thou wilt go out of the camp without a single
+person--mind, a single person--suspecting thy departure." "Yes." "Thou
+wilt go to the border of the Sequani; thou understandest? Thou wilt
+speak to Ditovix; thou understandest?" "Yes." "Thou wilt ask him for
+five hundred warriors who have nothing to lose." "Yes." "Thou wilt tell
+him that these warriors will find here lands and wealth." "Yes." "Thou
+wilt conduct them through the forests, getting all the information thou
+canst." "Yes." "Thou wilt require three days to go; one day to arrange
+matters with Ditovix; to assemble the five hundred warriors, six days;
+to bring them here, four days; altogether fourteen days. The evening of
+the fourteenth, dating from to-morrow morning, thou and the five hundred
+warriors will be at a distance of three miles from the camp, towards the
+north, in the woods. At sunset thou wilt place a pole at the top of one
+of the highest trees; when the first quarter of the night has expired
+thou will hoist a lighted faggot on the summit of the pole. Thy warriors
+will be under arms, and you will immediately rush upon the enemies
+between us and you. We shall make a sally at the same time, and fall
+upon them." "The enemies will be there?" "The enemies are sure to be
+there, because if they wish to besiege the camp they cannot take up any
+other position. They are sure to be there." "Very well, I set out."
+"Listen! if you meet any parties of the enemy, say that you have been
+wronged by us, and that you are seeking vengeance, knowing that we are
+on the point of yielding to them. They will either accept or refuse your
+co-operation. If they accept it, the warriors of Ditovix will occupy a
+part of the enemy's camp, and at the signal agreed on will spread
+confusion on all sides, while we make a sortie from the ramparts, and
+fall upon them; if they refuse it, you will pretend to be greatly
+irritated, but will affect to retire, and at the close of the day you
+will return to the place mentioned." "But if the enemy occupy that
+spot?" "They will not occupy it, because we shall compel them to
+concentrate their forces around us. Stop, here is gold, and a ring well
+known to Ditovix. Listen further. During the attack, as it will be at
+midnight, the warriors thou bringest and our men, not being acquainted
+with each other, might engage in mutual slaughter. Before the battle let
+each of thy men put on a necklace of grass, and set fire to everything
+that can burn. That will be easy; the enemy will make himself a shelter
+with branches: we shall wear necklaces like yours, and will light fires
+on our side. Next, when making the attack, let all thy men shout
+'Sigild!' Ours will answer with the same cry. To ensure the lighting of
+the fires, take burning embers in earthen vessels; let there be at least
+one of these to every five men. If the enemy accept your aid, keep as
+much as possible in separate quarters, so that it will not be difficult
+for you to make your grass necklaces, and you will have your lighted
+fires to use, while you will also avail yourselves of the fire made by
+the enemy. But if through distrust they separate you into small parties,
+arrange beforehand your signals of attack, and instead of grass
+necklaces, have the right leg bare.... Fourteen days!" "I understand."
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
+
+Sigild had surrounded the camp with a number of wooden towers placed on
+the old rampart, which had been strengthened. These towers, whose
+appearance is shown in Fig. 6, were made of trunks of trees piled one
+upon another, and framed at their extremities. They projected from the
+rampart. At their summit was constructed a wooden floor surrounded by a
+parapet of wattling; and this floor was reached by means of a ladder
+placed inside the tower. The under story gave shelter to the men charged
+with the defence of the towers, and who watched from the top. If they
+perceived any suspicious movement without, it was their duty to give the
+alarm by blowing a horn. Sigild had fixed the number of men for each
+tower at twenty. Two of these twenty men remained day and night on the
+platform, the day and the night being each divided into four parts;
+there were eight men on duty during the day and eight during the night.
+Of the four remaining, the first was constituted chief of the tower; the
+second was intrusted with the stores, and the distribution of food and
+munitions; the third was to be at the disposal of the chief of the
+tower, to carry messages and seek for help in case of need; and the
+business of the fourth was to repair the injuries caused to the defences
+in the event of an attack.
+
+As the circumvallation measured four thousand five hundred paces, and
+the towers were one hundred paces apart, there were forty-five towers,
+including the stronger and loftier ones placed on the two sides of the
+entrances. Nine hundred men sufficed to guard them. Sigild had taken the
+precaution of having a store of timber and branches brought within the
+inclosure of the Oppidum. By his care the wells had been deepened, and a
+trench dug outside the ramparts, towards the north. In addition to the
+flocks that habitually grazed within the camp, a great number of cattle
+had been brought by the fugitives to the plateau. But it would not have
+been possible to feed all these animals if stores of fodder had not been
+laid in beforehand. Accordingly, great stacks of grass had been placed
+along beside the rampart, thatched with reeds.
+
+Between the towers the guarding of the ramparts was intrusted to a
+thousand men, put under the order of fifty-three chiefs; the two
+entrances were under the command of warriors of tried courage, and well
+known to Sigild.
+
+This garrison, consisting of about two thousand men, had long been
+settled in the camp, and had partly executed the work of its
+fortification. As to the fugitives, they might have amounted to twelve
+thousand; and out of this number two thousand at least were able to
+fight, were provided with arms, and had been habituated to endurance.
+
+In place of the original huts, which had fallen to decay, Sigild had
+formed a kind of _halles_, or vast sheds. There were eight of these
+sheds; one for every tribe. In front of each were disposed, at regular
+distances, circular fire-places, formed with flat stones, and intended
+for cooking. As soon as the sun appeared above the horizon a confused
+sound of voices succeeded to the silence which had gradually fallen upon
+the plateau. But Sigild had not lost time during the night. Orders had
+been given to his trusty followers; eight mounted chiefs, followed by
+armed men, went among the multitude of fugitives, and pointed out to
+each tribe the locality that had been assigned it. Whether through
+lassitude, or from a sense of danger, the multitude obeyed, and towards
+the middle of the day the camp had ceased to present the appearance of
+disorder it exhibited the evening before. Around the sheds, which were
+insufficient for such a number of families, might be seen men making
+huts with branches. The larger animals were fastened to stakes, and
+browsed on the grass which had not been too much trodden; the sheep were
+folded, and the women were preparing the day's repast; in every quarter
+the children were running about, and seemed to enjoy this new life. As
+to the warriors, they silently kept watch on the ramparts and the
+towers.
+
+In the morning the valley was filled with a thick mist, and the hills
+were visible on either side above it; upon their ridges was no sign of
+the enemy, and from the white vapour which hid the valley, not a sound
+issued. Had the enemy withdrawn? Was it a false alarm?
+
+From the camp the course of the river was scarcely distinguishable
+beneath the thick cloud of mist which covered it. Towards the end of
+the first quarter of the day Sigild sent out a detachment of a hundred
+men, with orders to explore the bridge and the banks of the river and
+rivulet. If no enemy appeared they were to follow the course of the
+latter and to reconnoitre towards the north; they were to avoid engaging
+with the enemy. Ten men were to remain upon the bridge to collect
+brushwood, and set fire to it the moment they saw the enemy in the
+valley. Gradually the fog dispersed, and at noon the sun shone out in
+all its splendour through the whole extent of the valley. Nothing broke
+the silence, the air was still, and in the distance, cattle that had
+been forgotten were seen quietly grazing. Many of the fugitives wished
+to leave the camp and return to their houses, with a view to remaining
+there, or to fetch articles which they had been unable to bring away.
+Sigild doubled the posts at the gates, with orders not to let any one go
+out. He went from one to another, trying to make the people understand
+that the enemy, far from withdrawing, was only waiting an occasion to
+seize the unwary who attempted to return to their homes. "They are in
+ambush," he urged; "they hope that you will relapse into security and
+will become their prey without a struggle; for though they covet your
+goods, they are still more anxious to get possession of your persons:
+they will carry you off to sell you, your wives and your children, as
+slaves among the nations beyond the mountains." Despite this warning,
+however, a great number were crowding towards the points of exit, and
+the armed men had hard work to keep the multitude back, when there
+arrived at the eastern entrance fifty of the warriors sent by Sigild to
+reconnoitre. They were covered with mud and sweat. When interrogated by
+the Brenn, they said that about three thousand paces from the camp,
+towards the north, among the woods, and although they were proceeding
+cautiously, they saw themselves all at once surrounded by the enemy:
+that many of them had been killed or captured; that they owed their
+escape only to their knowledge of the neighbourhood, and that they
+effected it by rushing into a narrow ravine filled with underwood and
+decayed trunks of trees, and leading down to the rivulet, not far from
+the camp. "Your chief is killed?" said the Brenn. "We do not know." "You
+left him behind you!" "We had orders to avoid any engagement." "You have
+not abandoned your arms?" "We have our arms." "Go and take rest." In an
+instant the entrances were clear, and the crowd returned in silence to
+its camping grounds.
+
+Sigild then went to the northern end of the camp; he looked long through
+the depths of the forest; then he summoned to this front five hundred
+armed men from the tribes, besides those who were at their post; he
+stationed them behind the parapet, and ordered them to keep silence. He
+went into each of the towers raised on that side, and spoke in a low
+voice to each of the chiefs. Then all at once a shout arose from the
+southern side of the plateau. The Brenn mounted his horse and rode off
+hastily in that direction; but on his way he was told that the bridge
+was on fire, and that the ten warriors stationed there were coming in by
+the western gate.
+
+"You have seen the enemy?" said Sigild, when the ten warriors made their
+appearance. "We have seen them: they were advancing in a strong body
+towards the bridge, endeavouring to screen themselves behind the reeds
+and willows." Then Sigild selected a hundred men from among his best
+warriors, and posted them on the slopes of the plateau outside the
+western gate, ordering them to pile up underwood and trunks of trees in
+the sunken road, to keep behind on the banks, and not use their bows
+and slings till they saw the enemy near the barricade; and if they
+attempted an assault on this point in a considerable body, to retire
+within and occupy the ramparts, helping those intrusted with their
+defence. In reality, however, the Brenn did not anticipate any serious
+attack on that side, which was difficult of approach. He thought the
+enemy would not attempt an assault with a river at their back, even
+should they succeed in crossing it. His attention was once more directed
+to the north. On this side, in fact, the camp is separated only by a
+slight hollow from the adjacent plateau, which widens and affords space
+for the gathering of a large number of troops, and a secure retreat in
+case of failure. He had also ascertained that the enemy already occupied
+the wide, forest-covered plateau.
+
+Sigild again rode through the whole length of the camp at a walking
+pace, uttering here and there words of encouragement whenever he
+encountered looks of alarm. His calmness, his frank and agreeable
+expression, reassured the most timid. Night fell by the time he reached
+the ramparts on the northern side. Silence still reigned in the woods.
+When it was quite dark, some boys were let down by his orders over the
+parapet, loaded with bundles of straw and dry grass; their instructions
+were to untie these bundles in the ditch sunk at this point at the foot
+of the escarpment. Then with the help of poles held down to them the
+children climbed back again. Sigild allowed only a few small fires to be
+lighted, screened by the height of the rampart, and all awaited the
+issue. The Brenn walked about conversing in a low voice with some of his
+trusty men, and the warriors standing around the smouldering fires,
+which threw a red glare upon them, exchanged only a few low and hurried
+words. Now and then a laugh escaped, but it was immediately stifled.
+The guard of the rampart had orders to keep a good look out, and if they
+perceived the enemy, to raise no cry. They were to give the alarm only
+by throwing clods of turf on the fires. They were not to show their
+heads above the wattle parapet. The night was clear, but there was no
+moon.
+
+At the middle of the first quarter of the night one of the chiefs came
+down from the rampart walk and approached the Brenn.
+
+"The enemy are coming," said he.
+
+"What proof hast thou?"
+
+"I heard the cracking of dead branches." Sigild ascended the rampart
+surrounded by several warriors. "To your posts!" he said, in a low
+voice. That very moment some clods of earth fell upon the fires,
+scattering a shower of sparks.
+
+Sigild and the watchmen had observed certain forms of a whitish
+appearance that seemed to be creeping towards the counterscarp. Some of
+them let themselves down into the ditch, and pushing one another up
+scaled the escarpment; they succeeded in reaching the wattling. Hearing
+no sound inside, they turned round and helped up others. When about
+fifty were at the top of the escarpment, poles were handed to them
+furnished with hooks, which they fixed into the wattling: then those who
+had remained on the counterscarp pulled the poles with all their force.
+
+The wattling gave way, and the assailants rushed on to the rampart walk.
+Thrust back by the swords of the defenders, the greater number rolled
+down to the bottom of the fosse. Then, in accordance with the orders of
+the Brenn, flaming brands were thrown among the straw placed at the
+bottom of the ditch; it took fire, and, spreading a bright light,
+brought into view a broad front of enemies. From the summits of the
+towers the slings and bows discharged a shower of stones and arrows upon
+them. Many of the defenders were preparing to cross the debris of the
+wattling and get down the escarpment to throw themselves upon the enemy,
+but the Brenn stopped them, threatening with death any who should quit
+the rampart. The surprise had failed, and the ranks of the enemy wavered
+and retired out of range of the missiles.
+
+The Brenn, however, caused the wattling to be repaired as far as
+circumstances allowed, and doubled the ranks of the defenders on the
+rampart, as well to present a firm front to the assailants as to hold
+back the men of the foremost rank whom the enemy should seek to pull
+down into the ditch. Besides this, he formed between each tower small
+bodies of twenty men, who were to hasten to the weak points and to hurl
+down any of the assailants who should gain a footing on the rampart.
+Then he sent some of his trusty men on horseback to the eastern and
+western fronts, to convey intelligence, or to give warning in the event
+of attacks being made on several points at once.
+
+Scarcely were these measures taken when the enemy were seen returning in
+considerable strength to the ditch; with loud cries they rushed up the
+escarpment. They were warmly received, and the ditch was being filled
+with the dead and wounded, facilitating the passage of those who
+followed, especially as many bore fascines. After two attempts the
+assailants gained a footing on one of the ramparts; but the reserve
+bodies attacked them in front, while the men from the towers issuing
+right and left took them in flank.
+
+Whether the lighted straw had not been quite extinguished, or the
+besieged had thrown more burning brands into the ditch, some fascines
+took fire, burning the wounded, who uttered the most dreadful cries.
+
+The attack languished, and at length the leaders of the besieging host
+gave the signal for retreat.
+
+A certain number of the assailants had remained alive in the power of
+the besieged, and Sigild gave orders that they should be guarded and not
+put to death. As to the wounded lying within the ramparts, they were
+killed.
+
+Towards the middle of the night fires were seen to be lighted in the
+woods, about a thousand paces from the camp. The besieged had lost a few
+men only, but the ditch was filled with the enemy's dead and wounded.
+The groans of the latter were the only interruption to the quiet of the
+night.
+
+Sigild slept not; he kept half the warriors on vigorous guard during the
+third quarter of the night, and the other half during the last quarter.
+
+Those who were not on guard slept around the fires. The Brenn, when the
+assault was over, had sent messengers to the chiefs of the eight tribes
+to acquaint them with the happy result of this first engagement.
+
+At break of day the Brenn had the prisoners brought before him. Two or
+three of them spoke the language of the valley, but with a foreign
+accent.
+
+Clothed in drawers laced around, and a tunic of undyed wool, with a
+broad strap which served them for a girdle, they looked not unlike some
+of those merchants who occasionally came into the valley to barter
+yellow amber and bronze for corn, cheese, tanned hides, and wool. "Why
+do you come to attack us?" said Sigild. "We have been driven from the
+lands we have inhabited from the most ancient times, by hordes from the
+north. These men have killed many of us, taken away our wives, and
+murdered our children: the stronger among us have combined together,
+and crossing a wide river on rafts, we have travelled onwards towards
+the setting sun, seeking a home. Two days' journey from this spot we
+were told that this country is good and can afford sustenance to many;
+so we have come hither.
+
+"When our chiefs saw that you shut yourselves up in this place,
+regarding us as enemies, they told us we must first make ourselves
+masters of the camp. We obeyed. We are only doing to you what has been
+done to us." "Why not have sent some of your number to ask of us what
+you required?" "I do not know." "You have come as enemies, and as
+enemies we have received you. How many are you?" "A great many." "Go
+seek your chiefs and tell them that if by nightfall their entire host
+have not quitted the land of Avon, the captives we have made here shall
+suffer." "I will not go." "Why?" "Because our chiefs will not leave this
+land. Put us to death; for if any of your party have fallen into the
+hands of our men, they are doomed to death to avenge our comrades killed
+this night." "Good." Sigild ordered that the captives should be fettered
+till he had decided on their fate.
+
+The Brenn was very anxious that the enemy should take up a position
+towards the north, opposite to the weak point of the Oppidum.
+Accordingly he was continually reconnoitring on the eastern and western
+fronts as far as the river and the other side of the rivulet, to prevent
+the besiegers from establishing themselves in either quarter. Upon the
+steep sides of the plateau, opposite the burnt bridge, Sigild had placed
+a small camp guarded by two hundred men. The reconnoitring parties,
+which he sent out in large numbers, had orders to bring back into the
+camp all the fodder and strayed cattle they could find, engaging the
+enemy only when they encountered them in small bodies.
+
+But the invaders did not seem to be contemplating another assault. They
+took up their quarters in the woods to the north and on the slopes of
+the hills, right and left, leaving between them and the camp the river
+and the rivulet; marauding parties might also be seen in the valley,
+foraging, and pillaging the deserted dwellings. On the other side of the
+destroyed bridge they formed a wide palisading strengthened by
+barricading of timber; and two days afterwards they had constructed a
+floating bridge on the river, formed with trunks of trees fastened
+together and kept in place by a kind of dam made with piles of timber
+fixed in the bed of the river and inclined up the stream.
+
+It was evident that the besiegers were in no hurry; that they were
+living upon the provisions left in the valley; and that it was their
+intention to reduce the besieged by famine.
+
+In fact the inhabitants of the Val d'Avon had been able to carry with
+them only a small quantity of provisions. They had their cattle, but
+these being badly fed and crowded together were dying in great numbers;
+the cows ceased to give milk, and the store of forage was rapidly
+diminishing.
+
+On the sixth day of the investment, the chiefs of the tribes proposed to
+the Brenn to cut their way through the enemy's lines while their men
+still preserved their strength entire, and not to wait till the utter
+failure of provisions should place them at the mercy of the invaders. Of
+course the Brenn opposed this proposition, declaring that the day of
+deliverance would come, and that they must have patience. Nevertheless
+it was of great consequence to him that the enemy should concentrate his
+forces on the northern side. Accordingly, one evening at nightfall, he
+collected two bodies of men, one at the eastern, the other at the
+western gate. He had observed that the enemy used to prepare their
+morning meal just before noon, and that of the evening at sunset. After
+the evening repast they were heard singing and shouting.
+
+When the opportune moment arrived he divided each of his bodies into
+two. The first two halves were to march along the ramparts parallel to
+one another till they reached the woods; there they were to rush on the
+two flanks of the besiegers' outposts; they were not to prolong the
+attack, but to fall back with all speed to the northern salient of the
+Oppidum. An issue would be open at this point. In the meantime, the two
+other halves would unite, provided with stakes, before this salient,
+where, with the aid of palisading, they would make an advanced work
+(Fig. 7) and then fall back one hundred paces to the right and left.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
+
+The men who guarded the north front had orders to cut an opening in the
+rampart twenty paces wide, and to throw fascines and clods of turf into
+the ditch, and have wattles ready to close the opening instantly.
+
+The first two detachments, therefore, set out in silence; that on the
+western side left a little before the one on the east, so as to arrive
+at the same time on the enemy's flank. The two other detachments
+preceded them, and stationing themselves at the northern extremity of
+the Oppidum, drove in their stakes according to the instructions given,
+and then fell back to right and left. A fine autumnal rain was falling,
+and the ground was slippery. Some time elapsed before the two
+detachments found themselves in sight of the enemy's camp. The besiegers
+had no outposts; but their army encamped in front of the Oppidum, and at
+a distance of about six hundred paces from it, was intrenched behind
+barricades of timber; the intrenchment presented an extended front.
+Their men might be seen around the fires, talking loudly, singing, and
+drinking cider and mead, of which they had found abundance in the houses
+of the valley. An attack on this front was not to be thought of; they
+must get round it. So the two detachments separated farther and farther
+from each other, and advanced with the greatest difficulty along the
+bogs and under the woods in momentary fear of being seen by the enemy.
+At length the one which was manoeuvring on the right reached the end of
+the front, got under cover, and awaited the signal, which was to be
+given by the one on the left by the blowing of a horn; for the Brenn had
+calculated that the former would reach the extremity of the front before
+the latter.
+
+The time, however, was getting on, and Sigild, who had advanced with
+several warriors on horseback along the verge of the wood, still heard
+nothing. He sent two of his warriors to ascertain where the two
+detachments were; they had great difficulty in making their way through
+the wood, while the enemy's fires, which they saw in the distance
+through the trees, only added to their difficulties, by preventing them
+from seeing the ground they were riding over. The right front of the
+enemy towards the river formed a lengthened curve, and the left
+detachment kept advancing parallel with the front without finding a
+point of attack.
+
+Midnight had passed when this detachment found itself at last before an
+opening left in the barricade, but this opening formed an interior
+angle, which rendered the attack very hazardous. The detachment waited
+until all was silent in the camp. The fires, fed only at irregular
+intervals, cast here and there a fluctuating light, and fewer shadows
+were passing before the braziers.
+
+One of the warriors sent by Sigild was approaching; he considered that
+the attack on this point should not be deferred, and that the enemy must
+be surprised during his first sleep.
+
+One of the men gave the signal agreed upon, and the troops rushed
+through the opening, slaying all before them with terrific shouts,
+scattering the fires and forming in triangle, so as to prevent the enemy
+from getting round them. They did not proceed very far, for at the cries
+of the assailants and of the wounded, men were seen to rise up on every
+side and hasten towards the point of attack. The little troop then
+closed, and ceasing to advance, turned and fled back towards the
+Oppidum, following the verge of the wood along the steep banks of the
+river. A long-continued shout was then heard on the enemy's left; the
+attack had begun on that side also.
+
+Whether the enemy, which had started in pursuit of the left detachment,
+had succeeded in getting round it, or whether the detachment itself lost
+its way in the darkness, it was unable to regain the plateau in time,
+and continued to follow the course of the river.
+
+As to the troop detached on the right, being less distant from the
+Oppidum, directly it found itself pressed by a numerous body of the
+enemy, it retired in good order, and went direct to the angle of the
+intrenchments, as had been arranged, hotly pursued by the crowd of
+besiegers. At the same time most of the enemy's forces that had started
+in pursuit of the left detachment were coming on the ground.
+
+The Brenn had anticipated the contingency of the attack which he had
+arranged not succeeding in every point. Despite the darkness, he saw
+that his people were not in advance, as they ought to have been, of the
+hostile warriors who were making their appearance on his left; he
+therefore quickly retired within the outwork of stakes which had been
+formed by his orders, and commanded the straw fires to be lighted.
+
+The two detachments in ambuscade to the right and left outside the
+rampart had orders to refrain from attack till a signal agreed upon had
+been given. At the barrier of stakes, then, there arrived at the same
+time the right detachment in flight, that portion of the enemy who were
+in close pursuit of them, and those who were looking for the errant left
+detachment.
+
+A great number entered pell-mell into the triangular space formed by the
+stakes. It became the scene of an indescribable _mêlée_; those who were
+defending the wattling which closed the breach dared not make any
+openings for their brethren-in-arms whom they saw engaged with the
+enemy. The Brenn struck into the midst of the crowd trying to rally his
+men. He succeeded in cutting his way up to the wattling, against which
+he leaned his back; and the warriors of the right detachment being
+encouraged by his example, presented a head to the enemy, whose numbers,
+however, continually augmented. A few minutes more and they would have
+been swept down by the multitude of the assailants; the last comers were
+urging on those in front of them, and the wattling and the warriors who
+defended it would have been borne down by the tide. The Brenn, with his
+long sword, was making a circle of dead and wounded around him. Then
+shouting over the parapet to give the signal, the sound of trumpets
+arose above the yells of the combatants. The enemy seemed to hesitate
+for a moment; then, closing into a compact body, they rushed upon the
+barricade, which gave way as if swept by a torrent.
+
+At the same instant loud shouts were heard on each of the enemy's
+flanks; the two troops in ambuscade attacked the confused column outside
+the rampart....
+
+The combat did not cease until daybreak. Those of the enemies who had
+succeeded in penetrating into the Oppidum were killed or captured. The
+triangle of broken stakes was strewn in every direction with the dead.
+The enemy, disconcerted by the two simultaneous flank attacks, and
+finding himself cut in two, was no longer able in the darkness to
+concert an assault, and retired. Nevertheless, those who had been taken
+in the outwork and at the gap of the Oppidum fought obstinately to the
+last, and the captives who were driven before the Brenn were all more
+less severely wounded.
+
+Sigild was covered with blood and dirt; his great black horse had been
+killed in the last _mêlée_, and he himself had been trampled on.
+
+He ascended the nearest tower, and saw that the enemy remained not far
+off; they were forming a contravallation of barricading three hundred
+paces from the Oppidum. Their attitude was threatening, and it was to be
+feared that they meditated another attack. The Brenn, therefore, had the
+gap immediately repaired and the parapet strengthened with strong
+stakes about two feet apart. Besides this, he sunk a second ditch with
+intrenchment in a concave line, within the northern salient of the
+Oppidum. This intrenchment could not be seen from without. He contrived
+an egress at either end against a tower. The object was attained; the
+enemy was concentrating himself in front of the weak salient of the
+Oppidum, and was drawing nearer. The defenders, however, ignorant of the
+motives which had induced the Brenn to attempt the hazardous sortie of
+the previous night, shook their heads and appeared anxious. If two or
+three hundred of the enemy had been killed, they had lost nearly as
+many.
+
+The women whose husbands were dead were filling the camp with their
+lamentations. Yet it was essential that Sigild should possess the
+confidence of his brethren in arms till the _dénoûment_ he had prepared
+should arrive. He called together the chiefs of the tribes. "You see
+plainly," said he, "that we cannot break through the lines which inclose
+the camp. The enemy are very numerous and daring, and not to be
+disconcerted. Besides, can we think of leaving here the aged, the women,
+and the children to become their prey! It is very certain that even if a
+troop of brave warriors could cut their way through such a host of
+enemies, the women, the aged, and the children could not follow them.
+
+"My object in the sortie of last night was to force the enemy to
+concentrate all his forces towards the north; which he will be all the
+more disposed to do, as it is the weakest point of the Oppidum. When we
+have thus drawn him to that side, obliging him to withdraw from the
+hill-sides, we will go down on a dark night into the valley, cross the
+river by a bridge which I shall have in readiness and which fifty men
+will be able to put in place, and fly towards the river. When we find
+that we have no more provisions left than we are able to take with us,
+friends with whom I am in communication will guide us to some
+neighbouring tribes of our race, and who will give us a hearty welcome,
+because they want help in cultivating the broad lands they possess. You
+may therefore bid the tribes and the warriors take courage: every
+contingency is provided for. But if the plan is to succeed, we must not
+allow the enemy a moment's peace while we remain here."
+
+Having nothing better to suggest, the chiefs of the tribes appeared to
+put faith in Sigild's words. His confident air, his good looks, the
+energy he displayed, and the care he took to make himself acquainted
+with everything, continued to secure for him the sympathy of the
+unfortunate refugees.
+
+In the little camp above the burnt bridge he had, in accordance with the
+plan stated, some light rafts made which could be readily fastened
+together. He went frequently to see the work, and appeared to attach
+great importance to it. He ordered that the captives who were badly
+wounded should be killed; the others taken in the last engagement were
+supplied with food in abundance. Confined in a sort of pit surrounded by
+stakes, they could not observe what was going on in the camp. Well
+guarded in the daytime, they were by Sigild's orders scarcely watched
+during the night, on the supposition that some would contrive to escape
+and would make the enemy believe that there was no scarcity of
+provisions, which was exactly what happened. One night, three of the
+stoutest captives succeeded in getting out of the pit, and gliding along
+the ramparts, regained the besieger's camp. Then Sigild had the others
+killed.
+
+Of the warriors not engaged in guarding the ramparts, the Brenn had
+formed four corps of three to five hundred men each; and at certain
+times of the day and night he sent them down by one or other of the
+gates to harass the enemy on one side of his camp, or at both sides at
+once. Neither party suffered much loss in these skirmishes, whose only
+result was to keep the besiegers in constant suspense, to weary them and
+oblige them to concentrate their forces. It was also evident that the
+enemy were preparing for a general assault. They were seen accumulating
+faggots, cutting long poles, and making wicker screens.
+
+On the morning of the fourteenth day of the siege only a few scattered
+parties were seen on the surrounding hills, while in the valley the
+palisading formed opposite to the ruined bridge and the raft bridge were
+alone still occupied by a considerable number of troops. "It is
+certain," said Sigild, to the chiefs of the tribes, "that the enemy is
+preparing to attack us. We must resist this assault with vigour, and
+then we will take advantage of his exhaustion and disorder to carry out
+our plan of flight." The besieger's preparations appeared formidable,
+and the camp opposite the northern salient of the Oppidum presented a
+busy scene. Sigild on his part neglected no means of resistance, though
+he calculated on the arrival of the troops summoned to their relief in
+the evening. He had the towers well supplied with stones and darts: on
+the ramparts he strengthened the wattle parapet, and increased the
+number of inclines for reaching it easily.
+
+Both sides were preparing for a decisive conflict. The intrenchment made
+behind the salient was well manned, and the Brenn trained his men to
+pass out in a body through the two egresses formed at the extremities of
+the intrenchment, so as to take the assailants in flank.
+
+That day however, passed without fighting. At sunset the Brenn ascended
+one of the towers, and attentively examined the horizon. His attendants
+thought he was watching the movements of the enemy; he was, in fact,
+waiting for Tomar's signal. The night passed, and no signal appeared.
+
+Repressing all signs of the serious anxiety that had oppressed him
+through this tedious night, the sun had no sooner arisen than the Brenn
+disposed his men at the points he thought likely to be attacked.
+
+The enemy had formed in two large bodies three hundred paces from the
+Oppidum; they had accumulated in front of them an immense quantity of
+faggots, beams, and wattles. The sun was already high above the horizon
+when they began to move. First came a line of warriors under cover of
+wicker shields, which protected them from darts and stones.
+
+In this way they reached the counterscarp of the ditch, despite of
+missiles from the towers. There they fixed the wicker shields, and
+behind these a great number of the enemy bearing faggots gradually
+posted themselves. Then over this screen they threw a great quantity of
+these faggots into the ditch. When they judged that there were enough of
+them, they threw flaming brands upon them.
+
+The besieged had no means of counteracting this kind of attack. They
+showered darts and stones in abundance upon the assailants, but only
+wounded a few of them; nor did they seem to mind these missiles. The
+wind blew from the north-west. The faggots were soon kindled, and the
+smoke and sparks blinded the defenders. Three of the towers took fire,
+as well as the wattling of the ramparts.
+
+Sigild, calm and unmoved, had withdrawn his men behind the second
+intrenchment. "The enemy," said he, "will not be able to pass till all
+is consumed; that will take time; let him mount the rampart and cry
+victory. Then will be our time for action." In fact, the green wood
+burned badly, and produced much smoke; the besieged threw bushes and
+chips on the red-hot faggots to feed the fire, and it continued burning.
+The enemy were becoming impatient; the besieged looked on cheerfully.
+About the middle of the afternoon, however, the fire went out at some
+points; the besiegers threw earth and trunks of trees into the ditch,
+and, perceiving no defenders, thought that the ramparts being intenable
+were abandoned. With shouts they rushed on to the slopes, leaped the
+half-consumed wattling, and meeting with no resistance, descended in a
+close body into the camp (Fig. 8). There they were greeted by a sudden
+shower of darts and stones; but they unhesitatingly rushed upon the
+intrenchment, which presented only a slight elevation and a shallow
+ditch, thinking to carry it easily.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
+
+But the intrenchment was strong, and furnished with thick pointed
+stakes. The assailants, urging forward and aiding each other, gained its
+ridge; they were received with swords and pikes, and fell back dying
+upon their comrades; others filled their places. The bodies of the
+wounded, which in some places gradually filled up the ditch, afforded
+them a passage. Many of the enemy had succeeded in throwing themselves
+into the midst of the defenders, and in opening deep passages among them
+which were instantly occupied by the most daring. The deep front which
+the Brenn had formed behind the intrenchment was broken. Then it was
+that he unmasked the two egresses at the extremities, sending out from
+both the troops of chosen warriors, who, keeping close along the
+deserted rampart, fell upon the dense stream of assailants. So compact
+was the crowd, and so great the pressure against the intrenchment, that
+they had scarcely room to move. The two detachments above mentioned were
+mowing away before them to enable them to advance. But the enemy kept
+pouring in, and the space regained was immediately filled with fresh
+assailants, who, disregarding the attacks on their flanks, pushed
+furiously on to the centre.
+
+The bodies of the slain and the faggots had filled the ditch for the
+length of a hundred paces, and the loosened stakes formed but a slight
+protection to the defenders. The noise of the attack brought a great
+number of women hurrying to the spot. They might be seen with bare arms,
+raising stones above their heads, and hurling them with shrill cries
+against the breasts of the assailants, or despatching the wounded that
+had fallen inside the intrenchment with the culinary wooden pestles used
+for pounding herbs and flesh in hollow stones. A shout was raised, the
+crowd of assailants opened, and a hundred men were seen steadily
+advancing, bearing on their shoulders an enormous trunk of a tree, and
+surrounded by warriors armed with axes. This column overthrowing all in
+its passage, whether friend or foe, made a wide lane in the
+intrenchment, strewn with dead and wounded. The beam was already more
+than half way through on the inside of the defences when the women ran
+in, and rushing like she-wolves on the flanks of the column, passed
+between the warriors, and clung to the legs of the bearers. The enormous
+beam swayed, toppled over, and bore down in its fall both assailants and
+defenders by its vast weight. Sigild profiting by the confusion, then
+dashed into the breach, followed by a troop of warriors which he had not
+without difficulty kept in reserve. In his return he cut himself a
+passage through the crowd of assailants. Seeing this movement, the
+warriors who had issued from the two ends of the inner intrenchment
+redoubled their efforts. Others rushed on to the rampart-walk by the
+side issues of the intrenchment, and fell upon the enemies within or
+without the rampart. The latter, cramped within this narrow space, and
+with their centre broken through, were unable to use their arms. Some
+fell and were suffocated. Those who were on the projecting part of the
+rampart began to turn and fly into the midst of their advancing
+comrades, who not seeing what was taking place behind the rampart, were
+for compelling them to return to the battle.
+
+The crowd fell into confusion, and disregarding the voice of the chiefs,
+accumulated in such masses in the ditch, the escarpments and the
+rampart-walk, that it could act only by its weight, and offered itself
+to attack without power of defence. Most threw down their bucklers which
+hampered their movements.
+
+Sigild kept advancing, and all the warriors not engaged in defending the
+intrenchment formed behind him in a column which became denser each
+moment. As soon as they were outside the intrenchment, these warriors
+turned about and threw themselves on the bulk of the assailants, who
+were separated into two masses. Caught as in a pair of pincers by
+Sigild's band, and by those coming from the terminal egresses of the
+intrenchment, they were slaughtered without resistance.
+
+In vain did the chiefs of the enemy sound a retreat. The bulk of
+assailants, who were massed between the rampart and the intrenchment,
+could neither advance nor recede. Very few succeeded in rejoining their
+companions. Fatigue alone stayed the defenders; it was no longer a
+combat but a massacre.
+
+Although the warriors of the Val d'Avon had suffered considerable loss,
+the success of the defence had intoxicated them, and they were eager to
+take advantage of the disorder of the enemy to sally forth from the
+Oppidum and fall upon them. Sigild was obliged to swear to them by the
+most terrible of oaths, that their vengeance would be more effective by
+delay.
+
+He told them, moreover, that the enemy were very numerous, and that the
+losses they had suffered had not weakened them to such a degree as to
+render them contemptible; that they were burning for revenge, and that
+to attack them in their camp was to give them the very opportunity they
+desired. The authority of the chiefs of the tribes of the Druids had,
+however, to be appealed to, to keep the warriors within the Oppidum.
+
+Night fell on the narrow battle-field covered with the dead and wounded.
+The Brenn took re-possession of the ramparts, had the wattle parapet
+hastily repaired, the enemy's wounded put to death, and his own carried
+into the middle of the camp, where they were consigned to the care of
+the women; then he ascended one of the unburnt towers of that front,
+hoping to perceive Tomar's signal. But the night was hazy, and the fires
+of the enemy three or four hundred paces distant were scarcely visible.
+
+It was evident that Tomar could not have lighted his fire, or if he had
+lighted it, it was impossible to see it through the haze.
+
+The warriors after the laborious day, chilled by the autumn fog, were
+sleeping around their fires. The cries of victory had been exchanged for
+a death-like silence, broken only by the groans of some of the wounded
+who had been forgotten.
+
+The Brenn was considering whether it would not be wise to follow the
+plan which he had indicated to the chiefs of the tribes--to leave the
+camp before daybreak by crossing the river on a line of rafts, before
+the enemy had time to effect a fresh assault. Provisions would certainly
+fail them soon. But how move this multitude! The warriors needed rest.
+"One more day," he said to himself; "and if I have no news of Tomar, I
+still must consider it." Then he went out and ordered to the point
+attacked a body of warriors some hundreds strong, who, having guarded
+the unbroken part of the ramparts during the assault, and having taken
+no part in the conflict, were fresh and vigorous. Some women even
+mounted the towers. He enjoined all of them to give the alarm vigorously
+if they saw the enemy approaching the ramparts, so as to rouse the
+sleeping warriors. He despatched several of his trusty friends to the
+other fronts of the camp, with injunctions to watch the approaches, and
+to send out scouts through the gates to ascertain any movements outside,
+and to light fires a little way from the ramparts, so as to illuminate
+the immediate vicinity. He proceeded towards the southern extremity of
+the Oppidum, and saw that the little camp above the bridge that had been
+destroyed was guarded; but also perceived through the mist the fires of
+the enemy in the valley opposite this point.
+
+It was midnight, and Sigild, exhausted by fatigue, returned to the
+northern side and retired to rest beneath one of the towers. Some of his
+friends kept watch outside around a large fire.
+
+The Brenn was sleeping, when a hand placed on his shoulder awaked him.
+By the light of a resin torch he saw Tomar standing by him. "Is it
+really thou, Tomar?" said he, thinking he was dreaming. "It is I."
+"Alone?" "Alone here; the warriors are down there; the fog rendered the
+signal useless: I am come." "Hast thou been seen?" "Thy warriors sleep,
+no one has recognised me; a woman told me thou wert here." "Why a day
+late?" "Ditovix has assembled a thousand warriors." "Ah, Ditovix is with
+them." A cloud passed over the brow of the Brenn. "He is a noble
+fellow," said he, after a pause. "Thou knowest that we were attacked
+yesterday?" "I know it; I saw the field of the slain. The enemy are
+numerous; they cannot turn back, to-morrow they will make another
+attack--they are resolved to succeed." "And then?" "Then Ditovix is to
+fall upon them before midday, when he knows the conflict is begun."
+"Well?" "If I do not go back to Ditovix, or if he hears nothing from
+you, he will make the attack." "Remain with us, then; thou art sure that
+we shall be assailed in the morning?" "I passed along the enemy's
+camp--they are preparing for a fresh assault; and there are warriors
+following the course of the river to attack the west side also."
+
+There was not a moment to lose. Sigild called his friends together, and
+informed them that a final effort must be made--that the enemy, harassed
+on their rear by neighbouring tribes, must either get possession of the
+Oppidum that very day or perish. Tomar was represented as having passed
+the previous day in the besiegers' camp, and become acquainted with the
+position of affairs.
+
+No one doubted the veracity of Tomar, who, so far from exaggerating,
+never told a quarter of what he knew.
+
+Sigild scarcely had at his disposal, after the various assaults that had
+taken place, three thousand men in a condition to fight, deducting the
+troop stationed opposite the burnt bridge. He divided his forces into
+three bodies, one of about twelve hundred men to defend the northern
+ramparts, the second of eight hundred posted on the western rampart, and
+the third of a thousand men which he kept in the centre of the Oppidum
+under his own direct command.
+
+At the other posts around the Oppidum he placed men unaccustomed to
+fight and unprovided with arms, but who were yet able to offer some
+resistance if the enemy should present themselves. Women were posted in
+the towers away from the points of expected attack. Their only duty was
+to hurl stones at the assailants.
+
+The day broke slowly owing to the thick vapours obscuring the sky;
+nevertheless the warriors, encouraged by the words of the Brenn and by
+their success the day before, awaited the enemy full of ardour. The
+Druids, informed by Sigild of the arrival of help, traversed the camp
+announcing that the hour of deliverance had come, and that the souls of
+those who should fall were secure of the most glorious future. The
+Druidesses, with dishevelled hair, fastened sacred boughs to the
+wattling of the ramparts.
+
+A body of the enemy about two thousand strong now became distinctly
+visible opposite the western front of the Oppidum, with the river at its
+back. Towards the end of the first quarter of the day, this troop
+climbed the escarpment and stopped an arrow's flight off. It then
+divided itself into eight parties, each of which, provided with faggots,
+proceeded towards one of the towers. The assailants were received with
+a shower of arrows and stones. They advanced nevertheless without
+wavering, and heaped up the faggots at the foot of the towers, not
+without considerable loss on their side; for the besieged hurled on them
+over the parapets large pebbles and trunks of trees.
+
+The assailants tried several times to set fire to the faggots, but the
+wood was damp, and the defenders threw baskets of wet earth on the
+incipient flames.
+
+The assault on the western side had continued for some time, when a vast
+number of the enemy threw themselves on the northern salient, whose
+towers were partly destroyed.
+
+As on the previous day, they rushed in such a compact mass upon the
+salient, that they were not long in effecting a breach.
+
+Sigild then sent out five hundred men by the western gate to take the
+assaulting column in flank, whilst he proceeded with the five hundred of
+the reserve body straight to the salient. By the time he had reached
+this point the enemy was already within the rampart, and his forces were
+sheltered behind the intrenchment.
+
+On seeing the heaps of the slain with which this quarter was strewed,
+the fury of the enemy appeared to be redoubled, and they swept along
+like a flood through a wide breach. Thinking themselves at last masters
+of the Oppidum, they fell in disorder upon the troops led by Sigild.
+This body, disposed crescent-wise, formed as it were a second
+intrenchment, which the assailants vainly endeavoured to break through.
+
+The five hundred men who had gone out by the eastern gate had reached
+the left flank of the throng of besiegers, when a tremendous shout arose
+from the enemy's camp.
+
+Horsemen came galloping at the top of their speed towards the Oppidum.
+The attacking host wavered. Assailed on their flank they made scarcely
+any resistance, and a movement of disorderly retreat became more and
+more clearly manifest.
+
+Those who had gained a footing within the rampart, seeing themselves no
+longer supported, or rather forced on by new-comers, turned and fled
+with all haste towards the wood.
+
+Sigild perceived that Ditovix was making his attack; then, collecting
+his warriors and summoning all the men from the various parts of the
+defences, he formed a dense column, and overthrowing the assailants who
+were betwixt him and the rampart, passed it and rejoined the warriors
+already outside: "Now," cried he, "forward! the enemy is ours; let not
+one escape."
+
+The wretched besiegers, hemmed in between the warriors of Ditovix and
+those led by Sigild, although twice as numerous as the forces of their
+opponents united, became utterly disorganized, no longer thought of
+defending themselves, and rushing now to one side, now to the other, met
+death everywhere.
+
+Many attempted to fly towards the river or the rivulet; but at an
+intimation from Sigild, Tomar, who had remained in the Oppidum, sent the
+warriors posted on the ramparts in pursuit of them.
+
+The assailants on the western front, seeing the disorder into which
+their party had been thrown on the plateau, had got down towards the
+banks. On that side the warriors poured forth by the western gate, broke
+the bridge of rafts, and fell upon the enemy hemmed in by the river.
+
+Those of the besiegers who did not meet their death that day, perished
+of cold or hunger in the endeavour to escape pursuit. A thousand,
+however, were taken; among others those who guarded the palisade in the
+valley. They were slain in the Némède in presence of the Druids and
+Druidesses. Most of the bodies were thrown into the river, and for
+several days the dwellers on the banks of the river found corpses
+entangled among the reeds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_THE COST OF DEFENDERS._
+
+
+Ditovix and his warriors had done their duty bravely; the tribes of the
+Val d'Avon regarded them as saviours, and when the unfortunate besieged
+went back to their devastated homes, they cheerfully divided the little
+that remained to them with the new-comers.
+
+In the enemy's camp were found provisions, the fruits of pillage, and
+upon the bodies of the slain a little gold, and arms; and all this was
+equally distributed. But winter was approaching, the fodder that had
+been collected was dispersed, the animals lost or consumed, the stores
+of grain destroyed. The means of subsistence had to be procured from the
+merchants, and the allies to be fed. Scarcity prevailed in this valley,
+so prosperous a month before. Its saviours were exacting, and began to
+ask where was that wealth and plenty which had been promised them.
+
+Quartered in the Oppidum with the warriors of Sigild, the followers of
+Ditovix assumed a domineering air on the strength of the service
+rendered to the inhabitants of the Val d'Avon, and whose importance they
+were incessantly magnifying. Quarrels arose continually, and it needed
+all the influence which Sigild had acquired among his people to moderate
+their angry feelings.
+
+Ditovix abstained from interference in these disputes. When assistance
+had been asked--he would say to Sigild,--his men had been promised
+wealth of all kinds; how could he remonstrate with them if they were
+left to die of want?
+
+Ditovix had brought a thousand warriors to aid the inhabitants of the
+Val d'Avon; and, in spite of the losses suffered during the action, a
+month after the dispersion of the enemy's army the number of these
+auxiliaries was found to have unaccountably increased.
+
+The Druids then interfered; they represented to Ditovix that though he
+and his warriors had saved the families of the valley from total
+destruction, they were reduced to poverty; that if they died of hunger
+the same fate would befal his men, since there was nothing left to give
+them; and that in the common interest it was necessary to come to some
+understanding.
+
+Then Ditovix adopted a different attitude. "I should be willing to take
+my warriors back," said he, "but I cannot. They would refuse to follow
+me, and would give themselves up to excesses of all kinds. I can
+scarcely prevent their proceeding from murmurs to violence. I had to
+promise much to induce them to come, and they must be satisfied.
+Fighting has been their constant occupation--for the most part in the
+countries beyond the mountains. They are not fitted for tilling the soil
+or tending cattle. What do you propose?"--"What do you ask?" said the
+Druids. "I will call together the leading men among them, and explain
+the state of things; and will let you know what they want."
+
+Ditovix and Sigild consulted together, for both saw the necessity of
+securing the same advantages for the warriors of the valley and the
+auxiliaries, if they would avoid a collision. The two chiefs called in
+some of the principal merchants who frequented the valley, to induce
+them to furnish supplies in consideration of certain guarantees very
+advantageous to them.
+
+Matters being thus concluded between Sigild and Ditovix, they called
+their adherents together, and had no difficulty in getting them to
+accept the conditions on which they themselves had agreed.
+
+These conditions were as follows:--The Oppidum was to be placed under
+the guard of the warriors of the vale and the followers of Ditovix
+exclusively of all others. Their number amounted to nearly three
+thousand. The inhabitants of the valley were to give them one day in
+four to help them in executing the works necessary for defence or for
+building their dwellings. A fourth part of their crops and of their
+cattle was to be contributed by every family of the vale for the
+maintenance of the three thousand warriors. As Sigild and Ditovix took
+upon themselves to supply the wants of the people during the scarcity,
+all the merchandise was to be deposited beneath the promontory near the
+bridge; and the inhabitants were to receive and exchange it there, being
+forbidden under the severest penalties to treat directly with the
+merchants.
+
+Harsh as these fiscal arrangements were, they were obliged to accept
+them. Ditovix, loaded with valuable presents, quitted the Oppidum,
+leaving his followers, who accepted Sigild for their Brenn. The bridge
+was quickly restored, and there arose at either end dwellings and
+storehouses for the merchants and their merchandise. The chiefs of the
+warriors levied a toll on all the exchanges; they had the monopoly of
+the market, as they bought up all the produce that was exchanged.
+
+Notwithstanding the pressure of fiscal burdens, nay, even as a result of
+it, the inhabitants of the Val d'Avon secured a larger return from their
+land than formerly, and they had a greater number of cattle. Their
+commerce became more extensive, and the population increased. Many
+merchants came to live in the town built at the two extremities of the
+bridge.
+
+Thirty years therefore after the siege we have just described, the
+valley had become highly prosperous; though the inhabitants smarted
+under the domination of the warrior caste, and considered a quarter of
+their substance and of their labour a great deal too much to give to men
+who lived in idleness, and whose chiefs displayed an ostentatious
+luxury. Often, it is true, these warriors would undertake some
+expedition, from which all did not return to the valley; but those who
+came back safe and sound took care to enforce the payment of past dues,
+and would then spend days in eating and drinking, and were more exacting
+than ever.
+
+They recruited from among the youth of the valley, and even from among
+foreigners, for it was of importance to them that their numbers should
+not diminish.
+
+Gradually the remembrance of the events which had led to this state of
+things faded from the minds of the population. The grandchildren of the
+followers of Sigild and Ditovix regarded the privileges accorded to
+their ancestors as a birthright; while the tillers of the soil, and the
+shepherds and craftsmen of the vale, became accustomed to submission,
+and finally adopted the conviction that they had come into the world to
+serve and support the men who inhabited the Oppidum.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_THE SECOND SIEGE._
+
+
+Two centuries and a half had elapsed, and the Val d'Avon had become the
+centre of a numerous and wealthy district of the Lingones. At the base
+of the Oppidum, extending on both sides of the river, was a town-a
+mercantile _depôt_ of some importance; for as the river is navigable
+below the promontory, many boats coming from the Sequani ascended thus
+far, laden with merchandise brought from the south, and returned
+freighted with horses, tanned hides, ironwork, smoked and salted meat,
+timber, grains, cheese, &c. &c.
+
+The Oppidum was then partly covered with habitations and gardens
+belonging to the descendants of Sigild and Ditovix's warriors. Its
+ramparts, oftentimes repaired, were in imperfect condition; earthworks
+were to be seen there, with a few towers of dry stone walling--principally
+on the north side. The part of the town on the right bank was uninclosed,
+but that which stood on the southern slopes of the promontory was
+surrounded by dry stone walls which reached the ramparts of the Oppidum.
+A _tête de pont_, built of the same materials, appeared on the right
+bank nearly contiguous to the houses of the part of the town built on
+that side (Fig. 9).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 9--THE TOWN AND CITE D'AVON (WAR OF THE GAULS).]
+
+It must not be supposed that this town presented the aspect of our
+modern cities. It consisted of a series of inclosures of wood or dry
+stone walls, surrounding gardens, in the middle of which were built
+the houses--wooden buildings thatched with straw or reeds.
+
+On the southern point of the Oppidum, however--behind the Némède and
+commanding the valley--there rose a structure of wood and stone, which
+was conspicuous above the rampart (at A). It was the dwelling of the
+chief of the warriors and his Ambactes,[2] who were numerous.
+
+His name was Catognatus: rich by inheritance, he also farmed the tolls
+and taxes over a wide district of the Lingones, having thus greatly
+increased his wealth. By his liberality he had gained numerous
+partisans, and was always surrounded by a troop of cavaliers equipped
+and fed at his expense. By family alliances he had acquired considerable
+influence, extending even among the Ædui, and took part in the wars
+which that people were waging against the Arverni. He was able to muster
+five or six thousand warriors among his own adherents and those of his
+Ambactes.
+
+When Cæsar set out in pursuit of the Helvetian emigrants who persisted
+in passing through the Roman province to spread themselves in Gaul, the
+Ædui had promised to supply his troops with corn.
+
+The Helvetians, and close upon their track the Romans, had already
+passed the Avar,[3] and the promised grain had not arrived. The fact
+was, that certain persons of influence among the Ædui were opposed to
+the Romans, and, fearing that if once they got a footing in Gaul they
+would aim at subjugating it, were using every effort to prevent the
+fulfilment of the promises made by the magistrates of the principal city
+of the Ædui.
+
+Catognatus was one of the chiefs most actively opposed to the Romans,
+and had friends among Cæsar's auxiliaries who informed him of all that
+was going on in the Roman camp. On his side he communicated to the
+Helvetii whatever information he received respecting the movements or
+position of the Roman army.
+
+Cæsar having become acquainted with these manoeuvres through Liscus,
+took his measures accordingly; and after having in great part
+annihilated the emigrant horde of the Helvetii, when the scattered
+remnant sought refuge among the Lingones, he first sent couriers to
+prohibit the latter from aiding or sheltering the fugitives: then, after
+allowing his troops three days to recruit themselves, he pushed on again
+in pursuit of the Helvetii. These quickly submitted; but Cæsar had not
+forgotten the share which Catognatus had had in the matter of supplies
+promised by the Ædui, and while he was treating with the latter with a
+view to relieve part of Gaul from the tyranny of Ariovistus, he
+despatched a legion and some auxiliary troops to assure himself of the
+disposition of the Lingones, to seize Catognatus and the Helvetii whom
+he had harboured, and, if necessary, to chastise the inhabitants of the
+Val d'Avon--_i.e._, if they persisted in holding to their chief.
+
+Catognatus, who had his informants in Cæsar's army, was soon warned of
+the danger that threatened him.
+
+He had, in fact, given an asylum to some Helvetian fugitives, thereby
+raising the number of his men to nearly six thousand, supposing the
+warriors of the Val d'Avon willing to make a stand against the Roman
+troops. Assembling his Ambactes, therefore, and their principal
+retainers, he urged on their consideration the inconsiderable size of
+the Roman army; the fact that it was already distant from the frontiers
+of the province, and had been weakened by preceding conflicts; that
+though it had defeated the Helvetii in the open field, the issue would
+have been different if the enemy had been posted behind intrenchments;
+that they ought not to suffer the Romans to busy themselves with their
+affairs or differences, since they, the Gauls, did not interfere with
+the affairs of the provinces; that the Romans might justly prohibit the
+Helvetii from passing through Roman territory, but that they infringed
+the independence of their neighbours and allies when they presumed to
+keep order among them without being formally requested to do so; that he
+knew, moreover, that the Ædui, devoted though they seemed to the Romans,
+were only waiting for an opportunity to chastise their presumption; that
+Cæsar was going to divide his forces, and that if the men of the Val
+d'Avon resisted the troops sent against them, this would be the signal
+for a general rising which would be fatal to the Roman armies. He told
+them also that they ought to remember that their ancestors made the
+Romans tremble even in Rome, and that it was disgraceful to submit to
+the dictation of those whom they had formerly conquered.
+
+Catognatus also adopted the stratagem of sending emissaries to the
+houses of the people under the guise of travellers. They professed to
+have seen Cæsar's troops, and to have found them half-starved and
+utterly destitute; they affirmed that the best of them had been obliged
+frequently to retreat before the Helvetii; that they were reduced by
+three-fourths, and that the remainder of their army was composed of raw
+recruits and of auxiliaries, who were only waiting for an opportunity to
+return home.
+
+These reports, spread through the valley, were still more efficacious
+than Catognatus's discourse; for the Gauls have always been inclined to
+lend a willing ear to representations that flatter their desires,
+without inquiring whether they are true or false. If any of the older
+men shook their heads and said that it would be as well to know what
+was asked of them before assuming a hostile attitude, they were treated
+with contempt. Catognatus, seeing all the people inclined to resist, had
+trunks of trees mingled with earth and pebbles heaped up before the
+weaker points of the Oppidum.
+
+They re-dug the ditch before the walls of the left bank and surrounded
+with palisades the part of the city that had remained unprotected on the
+right bank. In addition to this, Catognatus had a cutting dug at a
+hundred paces from the Oppidum between its northern salient and the
+plateau. These works, hastily undertaken, were still unfinished when the
+arrival of the Roman troops was announced. The infantry were advancing
+in good order in the valley on the left bank, while the cavalry followed
+the hills on the same side. Not a man quitted the ranks to go and
+pillage the houses, and neither songs nor shouts were heard. The helmets
+of polished bronze worn by the legionaries were shining in the sun, and,
+seen from a distance, the troop resembled a long fiery serpent uncoiling
+in the meadows.
+
+From the elevated tower occupied by Catognatus the slightest movements
+of the Romans were visible. They soon deployed along the rivulet, their
+left being against the river and their right protected by the cavalry on
+the hills. The lieutenant, Titurius, then sent an envoy into the city.
+He was commissioned to announce to the magistrates that the Romans
+appeared as friends, but that since Catognatus had given an asylum to
+some of the Helvetii, and had notoriously exercised his power to prevent
+the Ædui from furnishing the supplies promised to the army commanded by
+Cæsar, and which had come into Gaul with the sole purpose of hindering
+the Helvetii from devastating,--that is, strictly in the character of
+allies,--they must deliver up the said Catognatus and the Helvetian
+refugees to the lieutenant Titurius without delay: that if this was done
+the Romans would only demand provisions for ten days,--a reasonable
+requirement, as between allies; after which they would return to the
+Ædui.
+
+Catognatus, surrounded by his principal Ambactes, was present in the
+assembly of the magistrates when the envoy delivered his commission.
+Seeing them hesitating, he replied to the summons as follows: "Here is
+the object of your search. I am Catognatus; I have afforded an asylum to
+certain of the Helvetii, who are my friends, and whose hospitality I
+myself have shared; I am allied with the Helvetii as I am allied with
+the Romans. If the Romans had been beaten by the Helvetii, and any of
+them escaped from massacre had taken refuge here, would they consider it
+honourable for me to give them up to their enemies, had they come here
+in arms to demand them? If such was the usual conduct of the Romans, I
+should blush to be their ally. To the vague accusation respecting the
+influence I am alleged to have exercised over the policy of the Ædui, I
+have nothing to reply. The Ædui act according to their own good
+pleasure, and it is not for me to interfere with them. The Romans should
+demand satisfaction of the Ædui if they have not fulfilled their
+engagements. As to myself, the Romans have asked nothing of me, and I
+have promised them nothing: what business have they here? If they had a
+message to send me, was it necessary that the bearer should be escorted
+by a legion? Is this how allies should treat each other? Go and tell the
+legate that we are at home here; that if he comes as a friend we shall
+treat him as a friend; but that if he presumes to dictate to us and
+treat us as children, we shall answer him as men who know how to act for
+themselves." "He is right! he is right!" was the unanimous exclamation
+of the Ambactes; and overwhelming the envoy with insults, they thrust
+him out. Catognatus had to interpose to prevent the crowd from tearing
+him to pieces.
+
+Titurius was instructed to show the greatest possible consideration for
+the inhabitants, that the neighbouring peoples might not be irritated;
+and to adhere scrupulously to the terms of the demand transmitted by the
+envoy--simply to require the surrender of the Helvetii and Catognatus.
+
+On the other hand, his orders were to accomplish the expedition with all
+possible despatch, as Cæsar had but a few legions with him. The legate,
+therefore, refrained from investing the city and the Oppidum, and, as he
+had no reason to fear the immediate arrival of help to the enemy, he
+judged it best to direct all his efforts to the plateau, hoping to take
+the fortress by a vigorous effort. It was, however, to be feared that if
+the Oppidum was taken by assault, Catognatus and a part of the Helvetii
+might succeed in escaping.
+
+At night, therefore, the legate was devising a plan by which, with the
+eight thousand men or thereabouts of which his force consisted, he might
+at the same time prevent all means of escape from within, and make a
+vigorous attack upon the Oppidum, when a centurion came to tell him that
+some of the inhabitants requested a private interview with him.
+
+The inhabitants in question were magistrates of the lower town....
+Falling at Titurius's feet, they told him with tears that it was with no
+good will they submitted to the dominion of Catognatus and his warriors;
+that the demands presented that day to the assembly by the envoy were
+nothing but reasonable, since the Helvetii had entered Gaul only as
+marauders, and that Catognatus had used his influence to embarrass the
+march of the Romans their allies, who had come to destroy the Helvetii;
+that they the magistrates had no authority over the warriors, and very
+little over the populace, enthralled as they were, and deceived by the
+agents of Catognatus; that this chief and his men had taken refuge in
+the Oppidum, and the part of the town situated at the extremity of the
+promontory, abandoning the part built on the right bank; that, in fact,
+they entreated the legate to occupy that part of the city with his
+troops, who would be well received, and who, they hoped, would not give
+themselves up to any excesses, since they were treated as friends.
+
+Titurius raised them, and, speaking kindly to them, promised to do what
+they asked; but, fearing treachery, stated that he must keep them as
+hostages. The magistrates surrendered themselves to his disposal,
+declaring that his troops would find the gates open, the posts
+unoccupied, and the inhabitants in great excitement, but by no means
+hostile, if they were well treated.
+
+On their arrival, the Romans had instituted a ferry on the river below
+the town. A reconnoitring party despatched immediately reported that the
+egresses were in fact free, and that no one appeared behind the walls.
+
+Titurius therefore invested all the egresses, and towards midnight a
+thousand men selected from among the auxiliaries were in possession of
+the lower town, without any sound of disturbance or sign of disorder. In
+the morning the Gallic warriors posted at the head of the bridge saw the
+Romans before them, and were vehement in their abuse of the inhabitants,
+threatening to burn the town as soon as they had driven away the Roman
+troops. Meantime, the Romans demolished several houses adjoining the
+head of the bridge, and made use of the _débris_ to form a semi-circular
+intrenchment of contravallation, ending against the river at its two
+extremities. Titurius established some posts along the rivulet; and on
+the larger stream above the city he constructed a bridge of boats
+guarded by two posts at either end. This accomplished, he removed with
+the bulk of his troops to the northern part of the plateau.
+
+Next day he examined the position, after having filled up a part of the
+intrenchment; but Catognatus had done away with the egresses of the
+northern front, and completed the rampart at this point. The assault was
+vigorously repulsed. This success emboldened the besieged, and they
+began to overwhelm the legate with sarcasms. Seeing that he could not
+take the Oppidum by storm, in presence of a determined and numerous body
+of men, he resolved upon a regular siege.
+
+Although the cutting dug by the defenders between the Oppidum and the
+plateau was only a bowshot from the rampart, in a few hours it was
+almost entirely filled up, consolidated, and levelled. Then Titurius had
+a great number of trees felled in the woods extending along the northern
+plateau, and brought in front of the camp.
+
+This wood being duly prepared, an _agger_ was commenced fifteen paces
+from the ramparts, in spite of the darts and stones hurled by the
+besieged.
+
+This _agger_ consisted of a terrace about a hundred paces long, ten feet
+high and twenty deep, with a gap in the middle twelve paces wide. From
+the two sides of this interval extended at right angles two galleries
+(_vineæ_), solidly constructed with trunks of trees and covered in;
+these galleries were about a hundred paces long. The _agger_ was made of
+trunks of trees piled up, mingled with earth, with inclines for reaching
+the summit. This was a work of some days; and as during that time the
+Romans made no attack, and thought only of protecting those engaged in
+it from the missiles thrown from the ramparts, the besieged did not
+cease to ridicule them (for they were within hearing), asking them if
+they were intending to build a city and pass the winter there. But one
+morning the warriors of the Oppidum saw a wooden tower rising at the
+extremity of the two galleries. This tower, the woodwork of which had
+been prepared beforehand, was set up within the day; its summit rose
+more than ten feet above the top of the towers of the rampart (Fig. 10).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
+
+The Gauls contemplated this structure with uneasiness, although they did
+not comprehend its importance; so Catognatus resolved to set fire to the
+works during the night. With this view he had placed on the ramparts,
+behind the wattling, barrels filled with pitch, grease, and dry sticks;
+then he placed two bodies in readiness to go out by the eastern and
+western gates, provided with vessels full of resin, tow, and grease.
+These troops were to make their way along the outside of the defences,
+and simultaneously attack the flanks of the besiegers, while the men
+posted on the ramparts were to remove a portion of the wattling, and to
+roll the barrels, after setting them on fire, against the _agger_ whose
+front was raised on the counterscarp of the ditch.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 11.]
+
+The Romans had been able to see these preparations from the summit of
+the tower; moreover, they stationed a strong guard on the flanks of the
+plateau every evening. The legate at nightfall had these points
+protected by stakes, and had a quantity of _stimuli_ (Fig. 11) driven
+into the ground outside. About the third hour of the night the besieged
+issued noiselessly from the two gates and came within half a bowshot of
+the Roman posts. At a signal given from the interior, the two bodies
+rushed at once on the besiegers' flanks. But even before they could
+reach the palisades, many of them, wounded by the _stimuli_, fell
+uttering cries of pain. Those who reached the besiegers' posts, thinned
+by the darts showered upon them, and hesitating on seeing so many of
+their party fall, were more inclined to fly than to continue the attack
+when they saw themselves in their turn taken in flank and rear by the
+besiegers. The defenders on the ramparts, whom the darkness of the night
+prevented from seeing clearly what was taking place, and not knowing
+whether the confusion arose from the flight of the Romans or of their
+own men, dared not discharge stones and arrows.
+
+Meanwhile the lighted barrels were being rolled in front of the
+galleries, which had already begun to take fire. By the glare of the
+flames they could see the Roman soldiers mount on the terrace carrying
+baskets full of wet earth, which they threw on the barrels; and the
+defenders killed or wounded many of them. At this moment some of the
+fugitives who had taken part in the two sorties, re-entered the camp
+calling out that they were pursued by the Romans.
+
+Catognatus had barely time to send troops to defend the two egresses and
+to protect the retreat of his men. He himself took up a position in the
+centre of the Oppidum with a chosen band, that he might be able to
+assist the quarter that should be most closely pressed. Aided by this
+diversion the Romans, less harassed by darts from the rampart, were able
+to extinguish the fire. They took advantage of the last hours of the
+night to advance the tower along the galleries by means of rollers, as
+far as the edge of the _agger_, and in the morning the warriors of the
+Val d'Avon were not a little surprised to see this ponderous wooden
+structure commanding the whole rampart and the towers of the defences.
+
+At dawn, showers of stones and arrows hurled from the top of the
+besiegers' tower prevented them from approaching the defences, and two
+catapults swept the part of the Oppidum in front of it with enormous
+missiles, which, hissing through the air, killed or shattered to
+fragments all they encountered. Two _onagri_ overwhelmed with stones the
+scaffolding set up by the defenders on their front to attack the
+_agger_, and smashed it in pieces.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 12.]
+
+A bridge was soon let down on the rampart from the face of the tower,
+and the Romans, advancing in good order, took possession of the defences
+(Fig. 12).
+
+Catognatus and his retainers, to the number of five or six hundred, had
+not expected this turn of events, and had taken refuge in the
+stronghold built beyond the Némède, at the southern part of the Oppidum.
+
+When the besiegers, whom no one thought any longer of resisting, were
+drawn up in force on the rampart, and had occupied the towers--killing
+those who occupied them rather as refugees than as defenders--they
+separated into three large bodies: the two wings marched along the inner
+side of the rampart, taking one after another the towers upon it, and
+entered the enclosures and houses, killing those who endeavoured to
+resist. The centre troop, drawn up in the form of a wedge, marched right
+on and swept the plateau. The unfortunate defenders fled, and crowded
+together along the side of the Némède. Many endeavoured to gain the
+stronghold, but the entrances were closed and the bridge destroyed.
+Catognatus was thus abandoning the greater part of his followers and
+leaving them to the mercy of the enemy. The warriors of the Val d'Avon
+threw away their arms, and with out-stretched hands implored quarter of
+the Romans. Titurius then stayed the slaughter, and told the defenders
+that if they gave up Catognatus and the Helvetii who had taken refuge
+among them, their lives should be spared. Pointing to the lofty fort,
+beyond the Némède, the besieged replied that it was not in their power
+to surrender Catognatus, who had taken refuge there with a small number
+of his followers, but that they would immediately deliver up the
+Helvetii still among them. The legate wishing to act with mildness,
+according to Cæsar's instructions, contented himself with this
+assurance. The Helvetii were immediately delivered up, and the people of
+Avon, disarmed and stripped of their warlike accoutrements, were sent
+back to the valley, with the exception of a hundred hostages. The few
+chiefs, however, who had remained among them, having been put in
+fetters, were to be kept, with a view to being placed at Cæsar's
+disposal. As to the Helvetii, who numbered five or six hundred, Titurius
+kept some as hostages; the rest, having been disarmed, were ordered to
+return to their country by the most direct route: provisions for the
+journey were distributed among them.
+
+The buildings of the Némède and its grove prevented Catognatus from
+seeing what was going on beneath its walls, but as he no longer heard
+war-cries nor the clash of arms, he concluded that his men had
+surrendered. As for himself and his retainers, knowing that they had no
+mercy to hope for, they prepared themselves for defence, and resolved to
+sell their lives as dearly as possible.
+
+A deep ditch partly cut in the rock separated the stronghold from the
+Némède. The defences consisted of an enclosure, made in Gallic fashion,
+of trunks of trees alternating with layers of stone surmounted by
+wattling. A large quadrangular tower, constructed in the same way,
+enclosing four stories, and terminated by a roof of reeds covering a
+crenelation, served as a place of retreat. Within the enclosure were
+wooden huts for the garrison; as the tower, which was only twenty paces
+wide by twenty deep, and whose walls were thick (about three paces),
+could barely contain a hundred men.
+
+Titurius reconnoitred the approaches. The ditch interrupted all
+communication with the Oppidum, and ended against its ramparts. Towards
+the south, the stronghold rose immediately over the escarpment, which on
+this side was so steep that no ditch had been required. But a palisade
+on the outside, fixed in a mound, prevented approach to the base of the
+stronghold. As stated before, the walls of the upper town occupying the
+southern slopes extended to the rampart of the Oppidum. But these walls
+had been abandoned by the warriors of Catognatus who had taken refuge in
+the stronghold. On quitting the upper town they had set fire to the
+bridge, seeing which, the Romans posted opposite the head of the bridge
+had passed this latter without meeting any resistance, and had succeeded
+in extinguishing the flames. The bridge was promptly repaired.
+
+The legate, therefore, effected a communication with his troops in the
+northern quarter, who were then occupying the upper town, and completely
+invested the stronghold. Time pressed, and as he had already lost twelve
+days before the Oppidum, haste was necessary.
+
+In the first place, he sent one of the Gallic prisoners to hold a parley
+with the defenders of the stronghold. He promised to spare their lives
+if they would give up their chief, and the Helvetii that might be among
+them. If, on the other hand, the attack was once commenced, they must
+expect to be all put to the sword.
+
+The messenger was received by a shower of stones, and returned bleeding
+to the legate, who could no longer hesitate. The order was given to fill
+up the ditch, and to speed the work; the centurions, employing threats
+and blows at need, compelled a good many of the vanquished to carry
+faggots and earth. Protecting themselves with mantelets, the Romans
+suffered only trifling loss, for the besieged had but few missiles.
+Besides, Titurius had brought up the engines of war, demolished those
+parts of the wall of the Némède which might embarrass the operations,
+and posted the best slingers and archers on the flanks, so that the
+rampart of the stronghold, riddled with projectiles, was scarcely
+tenable. At night the filling-in of the fosse was consolidated by
+timberwork, on which were spread brushwood and turf.
+
+At the first hour of the day a cohort advanced in slow march on the
+ground thus made, forming the _testudo_ (Fig. 13).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 13]
+
+Some of the defenders endeavoured to resist; but they were few in
+number, and exposed to the projectiles which the auxiliary troops of
+slingers and archers incessantly discharged upon them in an oblique
+direction. The rampart was soon taken; but darts, stones, and flaming
+balls of pitch and tow were hurled upon the assailants from the tower,
+and if they attempted to approach it, planks and pots filled with
+gravel. It was necessary, therefore, to set up screens on the rampart
+even; for to abandon that would have revived the courage of the
+defenders. Here the Romans lost several men, and many were wounded. To
+set fire to the tower was scarcely possible; for constructions of timber
+mingled with stone do not readily take fire Titurius, however, placed
+one of his catapults so that the projectiles thrown by it should reach
+the roof of the tower; and when satisfied that this object was attained
+(it was towards sunset), kept up a continuous discharge of burning
+missiles--consisting of darts wrapped in tow saturated with oil and
+tar--on the roof, which soon caught fire. The legate made sure that as
+the floors of the tower were of timber, the roof when it fell in would
+communicate the fire to the ground story; and in fact, the roof had not
+long fallen in when a dense column of smoke, accompanied by sparks which
+appeared as if issuing from a vast chimney, shot forth from the summit
+of the tower.
+
+Catognatus, and those of his followers who had crowded into the
+stronghold, despairing of maintaining it, then opened a concealed
+aperture, which gave egress on the sides of the upper town; and without
+bucklers, a sword in one hand, a flaming brand in the other, rushed with
+terrible cries on the Romans, who were keeping guard outside the
+palisading on that side, and who, surprised by this column of warriors,
+opposed but a feeble resistance, and made an attempt to rally and fall
+upon the flanks of the fugitives. It was night, and the slopes were
+steep, occupied here and there by houses and palisading enclosing
+gardens. The Romans were ill-acquainted with the ground, and often got
+into places whence there was no exit.
+
+Catognatus and his followers, reduced to about two hundred men, rapidly
+descended the paths with which they were familiar; and in passing threw
+their brands upon the thatched roofs, or into the barns filled with hay
+and straw. The inhabitants rushed out in bewilderment, not knowing
+whence the attack came. Seeing parties of Romans passing by seeking
+egress, entering the gardens and the houses, and breaking through the
+gates and barricades to reach Catognatus and his men, they cried
+"Treachery!" and threw stones at them, thinking their object was to burn
+and massacre. The women, with dishevelled hair, threw themselves in
+their path, covering them with abuse; others hurled furniture and
+whatever came to hand upon them from the windows. Rendered furious by
+these obstacles, by the failure of their pursuit, and the attacks of the
+inhabitants, and seeing it was useless to reason with these
+terror-stricken people, the Romans killed all they encountered.
+
+Hearing this outcry, and seeing the sky lit up by the flames, the legate
+guessed what had happened, and sent two cohorts over the ramparts on the
+town side, with injunctions to march with orderly pace down the paths,
+rallying the Roman troops, and driving the inhabitants before them. At
+the same time, he sent a centurion, by the bridge of boats which he had
+formed across the river above the town, to warn the Roman detachments
+that could be got together in the lower town and at the gateway of the
+bridge, not to let any one pass out from the upper town.
+
+Catognatus, with most of his warriors, had in fact got as far as the
+bridge; but he found it guarded by a body of Romans. He attempted to cut
+his way through them; but as the bridge was somewhat long, the
+enterprise was hazardous. The commander of the guard, an old soldier,
+had marshalled his men at the first alarm, seeing that this passage must
+be defended at any cost. Barricading the entrance with all the materials
+they could collect, they awaited the fugitives behind their bucklers.
+When Catognatus presented himself and--uttering the war-cry--sought to
+force his way through, he was met at close quarters with a shower of
+darts. The whole foremost rank of the fugitives fell right and left: the
+others, rendered frantic by despair, passed over their bodies and threw
+themselves upon the front of the Romans, who had now taken to their
+swords. A fearful struggle commenced, lighted only by the gleam of the
+conflagration. The Romans, having the glare in their faces, aimed badly,
+while the Gallic warriors knew where to strike.
+
+The column of fugitives began to melt before the Roman front, whose gaps
+were immediately filled up. Then came up the centurion, with fifty men
+whom he had rallied. Seeing themselves supported, the Roman guard took
+the offensive, and pressed on to the platform of the bridge, hewing down
+the remnant of the defenders of the Oppidum like bushes in a thicket.
+Not one of these warriors drew back; all met their death in the pass
+through which they had thought to make their way.
+
+It was with great difficulty that order was restored in the upper town,
+and only when they saw the Romans extinguishing the fires did the
+inhabitants begin to understand what had happened.
+
+Next morning the body of Catognatus was found lying on the bridge; his
+head was sent to Cæsar, and the expedition being terminated, Titurius
+led back the legion and the auxiliaries to their quarters among the
+Ædui.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 2: _Fideles_--warriors devoted to the chief.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The Saône.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_THE PERMANENT CAMP--FOUNDATION OF A CITÉ._
+
+
+Six years after the events just related, the siege of Alesia being
+terminated, Cæsar gave orders for the establishment of a permanent camp
+on the plateau of Avon--the site of the Gallic Oppidum.
+
+As the plateau was near the road connecting Châlons-sur-Saône with
+Langres, Cæsar judged it desirable to have at this point, which was
+naturally favourable for defence, a safe retreat for a numerous body of
+troops, more especially as the road passed through somewhat disturbed
+countries. The camp was to be sufficient in case of need for two legions
+and some auxiliaries--about twenty thousand men. Now, as the site of the
+Oppidum was much more extensive than was needed for a force of that
+strength, it was determined that the camp should be placed on the
+southern part of the plateau, whose level was elevated some few feet
+above the northern point, and which was separated from this extremity by
+a wide ditch.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 14.--THE ROMAN PERMANENT CAMP.]
+
+Fig. 14 gives a plan of the arrangement. A ditch thirty feet wide and
+seven feet deep divided the plateau obliquely from W.N.W. to E.S.E. At A
+was placed the Prætorian gate, and at B the Prætorium. At D was the
+Decuman gate. The two lateral gates, F, E, fronted east and west
+respectively. The sunken roadways of the Gauls had to be altered and
+made into metalled roads; they started right and left of the bridge, C,
+and followed the acclivities of the plateau, rising till they branched
+off at O into the road from Châlons to Langres. From these two lateral
+military roads there was an ascent to the gates E, D, F, the _place
+d'armes_, H, and the two side entrances of the small advanced camp, I,
+on the south point of the plateau. Thus the outer circuit could be
+traversed without difficulty.
+
+The ramparts of the town occupying the southern declivities of the
+promontory were destroyed, and the inhabitants obliged to settle on the
+other side of the river, either to the south-east or to the south. The
+head of the bridge, C, was repaired.
+
+The gates of the camp had good _claviculæ_, each with two towers
+constructed of dry walling, earth, and timber work (Fig. 15).
+
+At regular intervals along the _vallum_--which, except the front on the
+N.N.E., exactly followed the edge of the plateau--were erected towers,
+or rather watch-towers, of timber. In addition to the supply from the
+wells within the limits of the camp, the Romans collected the water of
+the springs on the northern plateau, by means of pipes made of trunks of
+trees bored lengthwise and joined end to end. This channel followed the
+roadway G, and conducted the water into six good cisterns, hollowed out
+in the rock and lined with cement. There was a cistern under the
+Prætorium, and two for each of the legions.
+
+On the western side palisades connected the smaller camp with the ditch
+sunk near the angle of the Prætorium; while on the eastern side of the
+plateau its escarpment rendered this precaution unnecessary.
+
+The engineer entrusted with the setting out had disposed the fosse in an
+oblique direction, as shown in Fig. 14, so as to present a larger front
+to assailants who, having taken the smaller camp, should present
+themselves on the _place d'armes_, H. The projecting angle was well
+defended by the Prætorium, and the obliquity of the _vallum_ enabled the
+defenders making a sortie by the Prætorian gate, and by that marked F,
+to take the enemy almost in rear, and to drive them over the eastern
+declivity of the plateau.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 15.]
+
+The rampart walk of the _vallum_ was raised three feet above the level
+of the camp, and was furnished with a cresting of stakes with wattling
+to retain the earth on the parapet (see Fig. 15). The fosse was twelve
+feet wide and seven deep, and was continued all round the camp, even on
+the sides where the declivities were steep.
+
+The Némède was demolished. The Druids had it re-erected on the plateau
+in front of the camp, to the south, at the entrance of the wood. The
+inhabitants of the Val d'Avon were enjoined, under penalty of seeing
+their town destroyed, to abstain from injuring these intrenchments while
+unoccupied; they were even charged to keep them in repair, and to supply
+provisions to the troops who should be quartered there to protect the
+country against the invasions of the barbarians; for as Gaul was then
+tranquilized internally, and brought under the Roman sway, there was
+nothing to fear, except the attacks of the Germans, who were continually
+threatening the north-eastern provinces.
+
+The camp was in fact occupied several times by Roman troops, and new
+works were successively planned and executed there. The country was
+fertile, and the position excellent, viz., between the large towns
+Châlons-sur-Saône (Cabillonum), Langres (Andrematunnum), and Autun
+(Bibracte). The camp received the name of _Aboniæ Castrum_, the town
+being thenceforth called Abonia--a name which it retained until the
+fourth century.
+
+It was from Abonia that Vindex set out with a party of troops, which he
+assembled in the plains of the Saône, to rouse Gaul in revolt against
+Nero, and to give the empire to Galba. After the death of the Gallic
+hero, Galba wished to testify his gratitude to the towns and countries
+that had declared in his favour: and Abonia then acquired the title and
+rights of _civitas_, and enjoyed a long peace.
+
+From the reign of Titus onwards, the camp was no longer appropriated
+exclusively to the troops. At the time when the Oppidum had been
+converted into a permanent camp, the whole of the plateau, its slopes,
+and part of the ground situated to the north, had been considered as
+_Ager Romanus_. It was what we should now call "crown land,"--_Ager
+Publicus_. The inhabitants, therefore, could not possess or build upon
+this land, or, if permitted to occupy a part, it was as usufructuaries,
+not as freeholders.
+
+This Roman law, which dated from the time of the Republic, and which at
+first affected all provincial soil, was never rigorously applied. Its
+enforcement would have been difficult, and the populations of the
+provinces, as well as those of Italy, solicited and easily obtained the
+_jus Italicum_, which consisted in the full possession of the soil, with
+liberty to use, to sell, and to transmit it by way of inheritance. When
+the imperial government was definitively established, the emperors
+favoured the development of the principle of private property; because
+the great landholders were then the only persons who could be considered
+as forming an aristocratic class, privileged, it is true, but, on the
+other hand, bearing the burden of special functions--such, for instance,
+as that of urban magistrature, then very onerous. It must be observed
+that the civic rights accorded by Rome extended not only to a town, but
+to the whole of the territory pertaining to it.
+
+As the Vale of Abonia possessed the _jus civitatis_, and the site of the
+camp remained unoccupied, the inhabitants petitioned that ground so well
+adapted to habitations should be restored to civil uses. It was then
+determined by the Emperor Vespasian that the _ager publicus_ of Abonia
+should be colonized. Colonization under the Roman empire meant the
+division solemnly made by the _agrimensores_, according to certain
+religious prescriptions, of a part of the _ager publicus_ into shares.
+
+These shares were unequal, and, although apportioned by lot among the
+colonists--that is to say, among the native inhabitants and the
+foreigners who presented themselves as applicants for their possession,
+it always happened--by what means we are unable to say--that the
+allotments fell according to the rank or fortune of the individual. The
+ancient Oppidum was therefore colonized.
+
+The remains of its ramparts soon disappeared; the wide fosse, which
+separated the large camp from the smaller one, became a road terminating
+by sloping paths in the level of the plateau; a theatre rose on the
+eastern declivity; water was brought in abundance, by a fine aqueduct of
+masonry, to baths constructed at the southern point, and to all the new
+habitations which soon arose on every side, surrounded by gardens. A
+temple, dedicated to Augustus, was erected on the site of the ancient
+Prætorium, on the very spot where stood the shrine of former days, and a
+second sacred edifice dedicated, say some, to Hercules--which is
+doubtful--took the place of the ancient southern stronghold. A forum and
+a basilica occupied the middle of the plateau. The _villæ_ spread beyond
+the circumvallation, and extended over the two declivities, east and
+west.
+
+The lower town continued to be occupied by the merchants, craftsmen,
+boatmen, and the poorer class; it extended along the two shores down the
+river. The bridge previously mentioned was rebuilt with stone, and a
+second bridge of timber was thrown across half a mile further up the
+stream, at the continuation of the sunken way by which the plateau was
+divided.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_THE FORTIFIED CITÉ._
+
+
+Three centuries of peace had caused the disappearance of the last
+vestiges of the ancient ramparts which surrounded the permanent camp of
+the Romans, then occupied by the cité of Abonia. But for many years the
+incursions of the Germans had disquieted some of the neighbouring
+countries. They had made their appearance among the Remi several times,
+and although they habitually presented themselves as defenders of the
+empire, or were actually called in by one party or the other during the
+civil discords by which Gaul was then rent, their conduct was that of
+enemies, not of allies. Finding the country attractive, they spread
+gradually among the eastern provinces, robbing, pillaging, and burning
+among the friends who invited their aid, as well as among the enemies
+they were going to attack. At their approach the rural districts were
+deserted, and the uninclosed towns hastily fortified.
+
+Reims, Langres, and Autun had repaired their defences. Sens had walled
+itself round with the materials of its chief public buildings. The vale
+of Abonia, which at that time contained about twenty thousand
+inhabitants, followed their example; and pulling down their public
+edifices and the deserted temples of the city, the urban population
+formed ramparts around the plateau and a fence around the lower towns.
+
+The works, however, undertaken in haste, were of no great account, and
+fortunately the Germans did not think of assailing them; but in the year
+359, Julian, having assumed the purple, betook himself to Gaul to drive
+out the barbarians. The siege of Autun raised, he passed through Abonia,
+found its situation excellent, and arranged the plan of a fortress,
+which after the battle of Strasburg and the defeat of Chnodomar, was
+carried into execution. Abonia thus fortified formed part of the second
+line of strong places established by Julian between Reims and Lyons, in
+anticipation of fresh invasions by the Germans.
+
+Gaul, although her sons had furnished the Roman army with its best
+soldiers for three centuries, had become unaccustomed to war at home.
+The Roman legions no longer consisted of troops such as those commanded
+by the Vespasians, the Tituses, and the Trajans. Composed principally of
+barbarians, they wanted cohesion, were not sustained by patriotism, and
+deposed their chiefs on the slightest pretext.
+
+The latter, moreover, too often appointed by a court governed by
+intrigue, were for the most part incapable, or eager to enrich
+themselves rather than to conquer the enemy. For these troops, composed
+of heterogeneous elements, and having no faith in the valour of the
+chiefs placed over them--for these populations, accustomed to peace and
+the well-being it secures--ramparts were necessary, behind which the
+defence of the territory might be organized; for in the open field, such
+was the terror inspired by the Germans that a prolonged resistance could
+not be reckoned upon. Julian, however, had shown that the troops in the
+pay of the empire, if well commanded, were still in a condition to fight
+the barbarians; but Julian was a philosopher; he understood his times,
+and could not shut his eyes to the unsound state of the imperial
+government, or at least believed the evil to lie so deep that he
+attempted to stay its progress by a return to paganism, hoping perhaps
+in this way to restore youth to the worn-out body.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 16.
+
+THE GALLO-ROMAN TOWN CITÉ JULIANA.]
+
+Julian had then about him Byzantine engineers who were very skilful in
+the art of fortifying places. This branch of knowledge is often
+developed among nations in proportion to the decay of military
+organization in the field. The conqueror of the Germans had caused the
+fortifications of Autun to be repaired and completed.
+
+Those of Abonia, which were less extensive, were carried out with
+completeness according to an entirely new plan, since there existed no
+traces of the ancient fortifications: the engineer Philostratus sent by
+Julian was therefore left to his own discretion.
+
+He began by clearing away the slopes of the ancient Oppidum along the
+verge of the plateau, thus removing some of the villæ that had not been
+destroyed at the time when the arrival of the Germans was expected (see
+Fig. 16). After having carefully studied the conformation of the ground,
+he perceived that the front of the city towards the north was weak,
+inasmuch as this front was most accessible to attack on account of the
+neighbouring plateau, whose level was but little below that of the site.
+He determined, therefore, to fall back, so as to get a more extended
+front. The front thus adopted was three hundred and fifty paces long.[4]
+Outside of this front he had a fosse sunk twenty feet wide in the
+bottom,[5] so as entirely to divide the tongue of land which connected
+the promontory with the northern plateau. This fosse terminated at the
+two declivities east and west. At each end the bottom of the fosse was
+furnished with palisades, and there was a descent into the fosse by
+means of a flight of steps contrived in one of the towers, as will
+presently be shown. Outside the fosse he formed a _vallum_ about four
+hundred paces in length, with an outwork containing a guardhouse and a
+watch-tower. The Roman road to Langres came to this point. On the
+eastern side, the aqueduct which brought water to the city followed the
+_vallum_, and was crenelated (_vide_ A). A gate was opened in the north
+front, flanked on the outside by two cylindrical towers. At the
+north-west angle arose a square tower high enough to afford a distant
+view of the valley at the bottom of which runs the river, and of the
+plateau; another square tower was built at the north-east angle, and
+between these two towers and the gate two other towers; so that between
+each tower there remained a space of about eighty feet.
+
+Philostratus remarked that a daring besieger might run in towards the
+west, between the river and the city, and attempt an assault towards the
+salient of the west front, which commanded a rather gentle escarpment.
+From the square tower, B, to the river, and set back a little, so as to
+be flanked by the western face of this tower, he formed a _vallum_, with
+a square tower at its extreme end, commanding the water-course. Further
+back was constructed a wooden bridge, connecting the two banks, and
+passing over the island of sand, C. Along the two escarpments the
+engineer followed almost exactly the sinuosities of the edge of the
+plateau, but placing the gates in the re-entering angles. Two gates were
+disposed on the western front, and one on the eastern, very near the
+situation of the ancient entrance to the _Oppidum_ on that side. These
+three gates were each flanked by two towers, like those on the north.
+The inclosure of the city, formed of a rampart rising twenty feet above
+the level of the ground, including the battlement, and nine feet thick,
+was thus strengthened by thirty-six towers, without reckoning those of
+the gates. At the southern extremity, on the site of the ancient retreat
+of Catognatus, was erected a _castellum_, or stronghold, separated from
+the city by a battlemented wall, and about one hundred and eighty feet
+away from the ramparts. At the southern extremity of the rampart, a
+square tower had to be built of greater height than the others, to
+overlook the vale of Abonia. Beneath this tower an egress was contrived,
+abutting on a massive wall, following the declivity of the ground, and
+crenelated on both sides; from the summit of which a descent could be
+made into the work, E, commanding the junction of the rivulet with the
+river, and the stone bridge constructed there. Upon the other bank was
+built a vast _tête de pont_. The eastern gate was furnished with an
+outwork commanding the road, G; on the northern flank of the north-west
+entrance a guardhouse commanded the vicinity of the gate. The approaches
+were improved, and a wooden bridge was thrown across at H, with a _tête
+de pont_ and work commanding the confluence of roads at that point.
+Building was prohibited on the western declivities--once occupied by
+houses and gardens--within a distance of one hundred and ten paces from
+the ramparts, or the military road, I; that is, habitations were allowed
+to remain or to be built outside the military bounds.[6] Inside the
+city, through the confusedly-grouped clusters of ancient houses,
+Philostratus had new roads cut,[7] with a view to establish a
+communication between the gates, and to facilitate the defence. At F was
+placed a forum, with a temple to Apollo at I (for Julian had caused a
+little Christian church, previously built in the city, to be
+demolished). A basilica was built at M, a _curia_ at N; and at T baths
+were erected. In the lower town, quay-walls, Q, kept the river within
+bounds; a vast market was disposed at R, and an emporium for merchandise
+at S. The town, or rather its suburbs, extended on the right bank, east
+as far as the middle of the island of sand, C, and south, to the lower
+side of the large _tête de pont_. These suburbs were simply inclosed by
+a _vallum_, as a safeguard against a sudden attack; for being commanded
+by higher ground they did not admit of defences adapted to resist a long
+siege.
+
+These works occupied several years, and were executed with resources
+drawn partly from the imperial treasury but chiefly from municipal
+imposts. Abonia was wealthy; but it suffered long from the burdens
+imposed upon it to render it secure against the incursions of the
+barbarians. Philostratus, moreover, had authority to make requisitions
+and levy dues, and he largely availed himself of it.
+
+The undertaking completed, this cité, thus transformed by the order of
+the emperor who had saved Gaul, received the name of Juliana. The valley
+alone preserved the name of Abonia.
+
+It may be desirable to give a few details explanatory of the defences.
+Fig. 17 gives the section of the rampart between the towers.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 17.]
+
+Its terrace, raised to an average height of fourteen feet above the
+ground-level of the plateau, had a flight of steps between the towers
+five feet wide. The merlons were six feet high, and the sill of the
+embrasures was three feet above the footway.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 18.]
+
+The rampart was constructed with two faces, of courses of small square
+stones, with courses of brick at intervals. The masonry between the two
+faces was of coarse rubble concrete. Outside, along the verge of the
+plateau, a fosse ten or twelve feet wide protected the base of the
+rampart and followed the projections of the towers. A narrow covered way
+was led along the counterscarp to facilitate surveillance and allow the
+patrol to go their rounds. Fig. 18 gives the plans of the northern gate
+with its two towers, at A on the ground level, at B on the level of the
+curtain battlements. In one of these towers was constructed a stair, C,
+leading down to a postern, D, and in each of them other flights of
+stairs, E, which afforded easy access to the higher stories. The gate,
+divided into two archways for entrance and exit, was surmounted by a
+gallery, G, at the level of the rampart-walk, forming a crenelation. The
+road crossed the fosse, F, over an arch, _a_, and a wooden platform,
+_b_, which could be easily removed in time of siege; and then upon the
+platform, H, a screen of woodwork was to be erected, completely masking
+the two archways. Outside the bridge, the stonework of which was
+battlemented, two small uncovered posts, I, defended the approaches, and
+a palisade, P, obliged all comers to make a circuit in order to cross
+the bridge. Fig. 19 shows this gate in perspective. Below the roofing
+was the crenelation, which constituted the effective defence of the
+towers. Moreover, at the level of the first story three openings were
+made, which in time of war were furnished with screens, and which
+afforded front and side views. Munitions of war were hoisted to the
+higher stories by means of pulleys suspended in the round-arched
+openings, K (_vide_ plan of the first story). The other gates were
+constructed on the same model, the outworks alone being different,
+according to the disposition of the ground.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 19]
+
+Fig. 20 gives a general view of the great _tête de pont_ on the south,
+the _place d'armes_ and the battlemented wall ascending to the square
+tower on the south angle of the cité, and the _castellum_. The square
+towers were not covered by roofs but by platforms, so as to allow
+catapults or _onagri_ to be placed upon them.[8]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 20.]
+
+With this design quadrangular towers of the kind described were raised
+at the salient angles of the defences, which were weak points, but
+which, on the other hand, facilitated the discharge of missiles over a
+more extensive field. In case a front was attacked, propulsive machines
+were set up behind the curtains on earthworks or wooden platforms.
+
+The city thus strongly fortified was in a position to resist and defy
+the attacks of the barbarians, who, at that period of their history,
+were unable to undertake the siege of a stronghold well planned and
+defended.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 4: A pace was equivalent to three feet.]
+
+[Footnote 5: The Gallic foot was the _pied du roi_ (thirteen inches).]
+
+[Footnote 6: The dark line indicates the habitations preserved, the red
+line the tenements rebuilt on the sites left unoccupied after the
+clearing necessary for the fortifications and their approaches.]
+
+[Footnote 7: These new roads are indicated by red lines.]
+
+[Footnote 8: The catapults could discharge bolts six feet long and very
+heavy. The _onagri_ hurled stones of sixty pounds weight to a maximum
+distance of two hundred and fifty paces.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_THIRD SIEGE._
+
+
+Whether the Burgundians crossed the Rhine at the solicitation of the
+Gauls, or to find more fertile settlements, or because the emperor
+Honorius had granted them a territory on the left bank of the river,
+certain it is that about the year 450 they were occupying the banks of
+the Saône, and had pushed their way northwards to the neighbourhood of
+Langres and Besançon, westwards as far as Autun, and southwards beyond
+Lyons. Having entered Gaul as allies--as auxiliaries of the tottering
+empire--they treated the inhabitants with a degree of consideration
+which was not shown by the Franks and other tribes that were gradually
+invading the west. They had indeed gained concessions of lands and gifts
+of herds but they were living on a footing of equality with the Gauls,
+and their presence resulted in a partition of property with the new
+comers rather than subjection to their sway. The establishment of the
+Burgundians on Gallic soil may be compared with that of those colonies
+of veterans whom Rome sent out formerly to various territories, whose
+position was similar to that of the original inhabitants, and who in the
+second generation were confounded with them.
+
+Gondebald, the third king of the Burgundians since their entrance on
+Gallic soil, was sovereign in the year 500. At that time the territory
+of this kingdom extended from Basle to Lorraine and Champagne, included
+the district round Macon, reached as far as the frontiers of Auvergne,
+and skirting the High Alps, followed the course of the Rhône to the
+shores of the Mediterranean. Juliana, including the city and fortress,
+with the district appertaining to it, was therefore clearly in
+Burgundian ground. The war undertaken by Clovis against Gondebald, and
+the defeat of the latter near Dijon, had indeed resulted in reducing the
+extent of Burgundy on the north-west; but Autun and even Dijon and
+Langres still remained in the hands of Gondomar, the second son of
+Gondebald since Childebert and Clotaire came and besieged him in the
+first of these three cities. Gondomar had been elected king of the
+Burgundians, after his eldest brother Sigismund had been deposed and
+condemned to monastic seclusion at Orleans by the sons of Clovis.
+Gondomar put his tenable places in a state of defence, collected an
+army, and after a battle with the Franks in Dauphiny, and in which
+Clodomir perished, resumed peaceable possession of his kingdom. Ten
+years later Clotaire and Childebert made a fresh attempt to destroy the
+menacing power of Gondomar. They wished to associate Theodoric with
+them; but as he was occupied with a war in Auvergne, he refused to
+accompany them. The two sons of Clovis therefore directed their forces
+in 532 towards Burgundy, and sat down before Autun, in which the king of
+the Burgundians had shut himself up.
+
+The cité was on the point of being taken; Gondomar succeeded in escaping
+with some of his troops, and took refuge in the cité Juliana, as one of
+the best munitioned strongholds of his kingdom, and the key to all the
+mountainous and wooded part of Burgundy.
+
+He was hoping to keep the troops of the Franks there till winter, and
+then to take advantage of the rigour of the season in that district to
+assume the offensive, with the aid of auxiliaries promised from the
+East.
+
+In fact, Clotaire and Childebert having taken Autun about the middle of
+the summer, led their army before the cité Juliana; for they could not
+think of pursuing their conquest while leaving this place on their
+flanks or behind them.
+
+Gondomar, having entered it about a fortnight before the arrival of the
+Franks, had caused the defences to be repaired and provided with all
+that was needed to sustain a long siege.
+
+The lower town, the cité, and the vale, contained at that time a
+population of about forty thousand souls, among whom might be reckoned
+at least ten thousand persons capable of bearing arms. Many had even
+become practically acquainted with war. For since the time of Julian
+Gaul had been the theatre of incessant struggles; and though the country
+surrounding Juliana had remained comparatively tranquil, its
+inhabitants, both Gauls and Burgundians, had been present at more than
+one engagement, especially since the definitive invasion of the men of
+the North. These barbarians, long the auxiliaries of the empire, had
+themselves learned the profession of war in the Roman school, and were
+making use of the military engines adopted by the imperial armies.
+
+Among the Franks, however, as among the Burgundians, the Roman standard
+of discipline was not attained, and these troops had not the firmness
+and tenacity which still distinguished the best soldiers commanded by
+the generals of the empire. On the other hand they were often brave even
+to temerity.
+
+The cité Juliana was well stored with provisions and munitions of every
+sort when the army of the Franks presented itself. Gondomar had not
+thought it possible to defend that part of the town situated on the
+right bank of the river of Abonia; for it was open, the habitations
+having been built beyond the line of Roman intrenchments, and the latter
+being commanded on the western front. He had contented himself with
+keeping the two _têtes de pont_; one, the smallest, up the stream,
+covering a wooden bridge; the other, the largest, a stone bridge. As
+soon as the enemy's approach was announced, Gondomar set fire to the
+foot-bridges spanning the river across the islet of sand.[9]
+
+The troops of Childebert and Clotaire debouched by the northern road and
+the western plateau, above the part of the town that had been abandoned.
+These troops therefore formed two bodies, separated by the river.
+Gondomar was a man of astuteness rather than a soldier; but he had with
+him a certain Clodoald, a veteran of long experience in arms, and who
+knew how to inspire confidence in the soldiers, as much by his bravery
+as by his rude and simple manners. Severe towards himself as well as
+towards others, and gifted with herculean strength, he used to punish
+every act of disobedience with his own hand, inflicting one unvarying
+penalty--death. In spite of, perhaps on account of this inflexibility,
+Clodoald soon became the idol of the city; while he was among them they
+could not doubt of success. He confounded the Franks with the Germans in
+the implacable hatred which he had vowed to the latter. Gondomar placed
+all the forces at his disposal under his command.
+
+The defences of the cité Juliana were just as Philostratus had left
+them; intact and massive, they defied all attack by main force. To take
+them a regular siege was necessary. The army of the Frank kings
+consisted of about forty thousand men when they had laid siege to
+Autun, and, deducting losses and desertions, it counted scarcely more
+than thirty-five thousand men on arriving before the city. It was,
+however, expecting to be reinforced. The body which presented itself on
+the northern plateau consisted of twenty thousand men, and that which
+appeared above the lower town of fifteen thousand. The lower town was
+nearly deserted; all the able-bodied men had taken refuge in the city,
+and had sent the women, children, and old men to the eastern hills.
+
+The main body of the Franks was therefore able to enter the lower town
+without striking a blow, and naturally enough, began to pillage it.
+Clodoald observed from the ramparts the disorder thus occasioned. At
+nightfall he despatched a thousand men to the _place d'armes_ at the
+south of the plateau, and reinforced the post that defended the _tête de
+pont_ on the right bank. The Franks engaged in plundering the town had
+scarcely taken notice of the large _tête de pont_ placed on the extreme
+right, but had given special attention to the smaller one opposite the
+wooden bridge. Towards the third hour of the night Clodoald had the
+gates opened, and led forth his men in silence. The Franks had scarcely
+kept a guard at this point. Surprised by Clodoald's attack, they went up
+again to the lower town, uttering cries of alarm.
+
+Many had encamped between the _Emporium_[10] and the _tête de pont_; the
+Burgundians passed round them, and attacking them unawares, drove into
+the river those who were not massacred. At the same time Clodoald set
+fire to the whole quarter. The wind was blowing from the south, and the
+habitations situated on the banks of the river soon presented a mass of
+flames. When, the Franks having rallied, their forces were on the point
+of taking the offensive, the Burgundians had already re-entered the
+_tête de pont_, and were re-ascending the plateau. The Franks had lost
+from four to five hundred men in this skirmish, while of the besieged
+not more than twenty men had been put _hors de combat_. This
+commencement brought joy to the city, and those who from the top of the
+ramparts saw their houses in flames, endured their ill-fortune
+patiently, thinking of the vengeance they might reasonably anticipate.
+
+Experienced in war as he was, Clodoald would not allow this ardour to
+cool. On the morning which followed this night so fatal to the Franks,
+he formed two bodies of two thousand men each, well armed with _angons_,
+_francisques_, and _scamasaxes_ (for throughout Gaul at that time these
+weapons were common to the Franks, the Gauls, and the Burgundians, with
+some slight variations). He ordered a body of about five hundred men to
+issue by the eastern gate of the southern _place d'armes_, to cross the
+rivulet, and make a show of intending to pass the river below the stone
+bridge of the valley, by means of light boats which four men could carry
+on their shoulders. These boats had been stowed away in the _place
+d'armes_. At the same time, one of the two bodies was to assemble in the
+northern outpost, which had not yet been attacked, and make a vigorous
+sortie. Clodoald himself, with a body of a thousand men, was to pass the
+eastern gate of the city, skirt the ramparts and the outpost, and come
+to sustain the attack and take the enemy in flank. The five hundred men
+furnished with boats were to limit themselves to such a pretence of
+crossing over as would be sufficient to attract the Franks to the spot;
+then the second troop was to pass the great _tête de pont_ and act as
+the occasion might suggest, either attacking the enemy on the march, if
+he followed the descent of the river, or keeping back the Franks coming
+from the lower town. A body of a thousand men were to fall upon the
+troop presenting itself on the banks of the river, and cut them to
+pieces or drown them.[11]
+
+This plan well explained to his lieutenants, the movement commenced
+about the fourth hour of the day. The two Frank kings had taken the
+command: Childebert of the troops encamped on the north, Clotaire of the
+body encamped on the west in the lower town. A bridge of rafts had been
+early constructed five hundred paces above the isle of sand, to
+establish a communication between the two bodies.
+
+It must be observed that after taking Autun, the two chiefs did not
+expect any serious resistance in the rest of Burgundy. On the strength
+of the reports that had reached them, they were persuaded that Gondomar
+had been killed, that the garrison of Autun constituted his best
+soldiers, and that the other strong towns would be defended, if at all,
+only by inexperienced men.
+
+The event of the preceding night, however, caused them to reconsider
+their judgment; and at the moment when the sortie on the north was
+taking place, the two chiefs were planning to take the _tête de pont_ by
+a vigorous effort, and at the same time to attack the northern outpost.
+
+The Franks are inclined, even more than the Gauls, to take for truth
+what they desire to find so; and the two kings were under the persuasion
+that the garrison within the city was small in number, and would be
+disconcerted by these two simultaneous attacks. Things were in this
+position when the Frank chiefs received the news that the line of
+investment on the north was attacked.
+
+By the term "line of investment" must not be understood a disposition of
+their forces presenting a complete analogy with the strategic
+arrangements of modern times. This line consisted of a body of men, one
+thousand strong, grouped somewhat confusedly behind a barricade of trees
+and brushwood, four hundred paces from the northern salient. A second
+body followed, consisting in great part of cavalry, dispersed in the
+woods at a hundred paces from the first line, and masking the encampment
+of Childebert, surrounded by the bulk of his troops.
+
+At the first alarm the two kings mounted their horses, and, hurrying
+along with them those who were equipped for fight, hastened to the field
+of action. The cavalry of the second line dashed forwards to aid the
+first, separating into two squadrons to attack the enemy on his flanks.
+
+Recovering from their first surprise, the Franks, protected to some
+extent by the barricades, were keeping their ground against the attack.
+A hand-to-hand conflict was commenced, but the Burgundians, as the more
+numerous, were beginning to outflank the enemy's line, when the Frank
+cavalry came up, and in their turn fell upon the two wings of the
+attack. The Burgundians were compelled to give ground, and were obliged
+to avail themselves of the barricades of branches and brushwood not to
+be outflanked. Their position, however, was becoming untenable, when
+Clodoald came up on the enemy's left flank. The Franks were
+panic-struck, for the troop conducted by Clodoald was marching in good
+order after the Roman fashion, in echelons, so as not to allow the
+cavalry to outflank their right wing. The left of the Franks took to
+flight, and their example was followed in turn by every part of the
+line. The Burgundians dashed forward in pursuit of them, but Clodoald,
+advancing to the front, brought his whole force to a stand, though not
+without difficulty.
+
+The fugitives, on the other hand, found themselves confronted with the
+main body of Childebert's army. Full of wrath, and upbraiding them with
+their cowardice, he compelled them to go back; and a body of ten
+thousand men soon presented themselves in sight of the Burgundians
+through the woods. The order for retreat was given; and they returned in
+good order, not re-entering by the outpost, but marching along the east
+front, under the protection of the ramparts. Childebert's irritation was
+such that he immediately sent a thousand men to seize upon the outpost,
+thinking it would be feebly guarded, since the defenders were outside
+the city; but the attack had been foreseen, and the Franks lost a
+hundred men in this fruitless attempt.
+
+On the southern side, the sortie of the Burgundians had been more
+decisively successful. The state of affairs was such as Clodoald had
+foreseen. The Franks, expecting the enemy to cross the river so as to
+outflank them on the right, had sent a thousand men to meet the
+Burgundians. The lieutenant of Clodoald had then sallied out from the
+great _tête de pont_ with his two thousand warriors. Drawing up half his
+force in a square, on the river side, with his front towards the lower
+town and his right supported by the _tête de pont_, he had dispatched
+the other half in all haste against the Frank troops on their way to
+oppose the passage.
+
+This troop, taken in flank and thinned by the darts hurled at them by
+the Burgundians in their boats, was broken up, and fled in utter
+confusion. The Franks remaining in the lower town, now learning that
+Childebert's army was attacked on the north, were uncertain whether they
+should march towards the southern side to support the troop lower down
+the river on the right bank, or betake themselves to the bridge of rafts
+to assist Childebert's army. This indecision rendered the attack on the
+Burgundians drawn up in square near the great _tête de pont_
+inefficient, and permitted the two thousand men who made the sortie to
+return without serious loss. The sortie on the north encountered more
+trying fortunes; it had left in the woods more than two hundred dead,
+and brought home as many wounded.
+
+The Franks had lost in these two conflicts more than six hundred men,
+without reckoning the wounded. Far from yielding to despondency,
+however, both chiefs and soldiers were full of rage, believing they
+should take the city in a few days, and that they had before them a
+garrison quite disposed to capitulate, so depressed did they suppose the
+Burgundians to have become by the capture of Autun: in twenty-four hours
+they had lost more than a thousand men, without having even approached
+the ramparts.
+
+The wounded Burgundians remaining in their hands were decapitated; and
+their heads, stuck on long poles, were ranged in a line at a hundred
+paces from the advanced work. This, however, did not constitute a
+countervallation sufficient to protect them from the sorties of the
+besieged. It was therefore decided that the army on the north side
+should dig a ditch at two hundred paces from the advanced work, which
+should extend from the river valley to that of the rivulet; the ditch to
+be about two thousand paces long, and behind this ditch, with the earth
+dug out and barricades (of branches), an intrenchment was to be raised.
+They could thus in the first place obviate any attack of the besieged at
+this point. In the second place, it was resolved to seize the great
+_tête de pont_. The only communication with the outside then left to the
+besieged would be the valley of the rivulet; but this valley was almost
+impracticable, full as it was of bogs and marshes; so that the
+inhabitants of the city could attempt nothing on this side. As to
+assistance from without, it was deemed out of the question then to
+expect any; in any case, to prevent the besieged from issuing by the
+eastern gate, a well-guarded work should be raised in front of it; next,
+to prevent the besieged from getting provisions, the country on the left
+bank of the river should be devastated. As regarded the aqueduct, it was
+discovered and cut off.
+
+These measures resolved upon, the besiegers set to work without loss of
+time. But Clodoald, who had been present at more than one siege, knew by
+experience that a garrison which had no expectation of help from
+without, has but one means of safety, viz. to allow the besieger no
+respite, especially at the commencement of the investment, when the
+enemy had not yet been able to complete his works and effect a close
+siege. Without knowing exactly what the army of the Franks had in
+contemplation, he knew its numerical force, and did not doubt that it
+commanded the services of some Latin engineers, as such was the case at
+the siege of Autun. Clodoald therefore divided his troops into eight
+bodies. The inclosure[12] being defended by forty-four towers, eleven
+hundred and eighty men were required to guard them, reckoning
+twenty-five men for each of the thirty-six towers of this inclosure, and
+thirty-five for each of the eight towers of the gates, or seventy men
+for each gate and its works. The post of each tower, it must be
+understood, was, in conformity with the military usages of the time,
+intrusted with the guard of the neighbouring curtain. The guard of the
+northern outwork required two hundred men; for the _place d'armes_ on
+the south, and the _têtes de pont_, five hundred men; to garrison the
+stronghold (_Castellum_) one hundred men; to watch the rampart on the
+north descending from the angle of the city to the river, and to guard
+its banks, six hundred men. Total for the ordinary guard of the
+defences, two thousand five hundred and eighty men. He distributed this
+first body so that the best troops occupied the _place d'armes_, the
+_têtes de pont_ and the advanced guard, as well as the front on this
+side. Clodoald constituted a second body of a thousand men, held in
+reserve in the middle of the city, to hasten at need to one or several
+of the points attacked. He had about six thousand men left, which he
+divided into six bodies of a thousand men each, thus distributed: two in
+the part of the town situated between the cité and the river, two in the
+neighbourhood of the northern gate, and two near the eastern gate. These
+six bodies were to be ready to make a sortie whenever the order was
+given.
+
+Clodoald retained under his own direct command the thousand men in
+reserve lodged in the middle of the cité. Then he provided for the wants
+of the garrison and the inhabitants living within the walls. A great
+quantity of provisions had been brought into the town by means of
+requisitions and according to Roman usage. These provisions were stored
+in the stronghold. The flocks and herds were driven to graze on the
+slopes of the plateau on the south and east. Timber in considerable
+quantity had also been laid in store. It was ranged along the interior
+of the curtain walls. In addition to its walls the town had vast
+cisterns, supplied by the aqueduct. This being cut off, Clodoald had the
+rain-water from the roofs collected in channels which led into these
+cisterns. Moreover, in the part of the town situated between the
+ramparts and the river there was a fine spring capable of supplying all
+the upper part of this quarter.
+
+Clodoald looked carefully to the lodging of his troops. Many of the
+soldiers had their families in the town; he would not allow the
+defenders to lodge in their houses. He had the public buildings arranged
+to receive the seven thousand men who did not habitually occupy the
+ramparts. Those who were charged with the guard were well lodged in the
+towers, the public buildings of the quarter, or outside the ramparts.
+Clodoald, as has been said, enjoyed the full confidence of his troops
+before the arrival of the Franks; but after the successful affairs of
+the first day, his men considered him as a kind of Providence, and
+blindly obeyed him. Accordingly, these arrangements were readily
+accepted and carried into execution. In details he had adopted the
+composition of the Roman cohort, and every chief of a corps was
+responsible for the execution of the orders he received under pain of
+death. As for the inhabitants, they were obliged to lend assistance
+whenever required; a refusal was capitally punished.
+
+Gondomar, whom we have scarcely had occasion to mention hitherto,
+inhabited the _Castellum_; and Clodoald manifested the greatest respect
+for him, acting as he said only according to his instructions; but for
+the garrison, the veritable chief was Clodoald.
+
+Having provided for what was most pressing, namely the organization of
+his force, he had two _onagri_ placed in the outwork the day following
+the engagements, and these _onagri_ began to hurl stones of sixty pounds
+weight on the Frank workmen engaged in the contravallation, two hundred
+paces from the salient, with such effect that the besiegers were forced
+to put back their fosse fifty paces out of range. The following night,
+Clodoald sent out a thousand men by the eastern gate, who, defiling by
+the road along the rampart, went and destroyed the first works of the
+Franks, and re-entered immediately; at the same time another sortie,
+effected through the south gate of the great _tête de pont_, surprised
+several men of the Frankish outposts. Their heads, fixed on stakes,
+were placed at the extremity of the northern outwork, as a response to
+the proceedings of the Franks. That very night, the enemy attempted to
+cross the river, aided by the islet of sand, in order to attack the
+ramping curtain on the north from behind; but they were unable to land,
+the quays being well lined with troops. Many of them were drowned.
+
+Things were proceeding rather unfavourably for the army of the Frank
+kings; it was accompanied, however, by an able Latin engineer, who had
+given proofs of his skill, especially at the siege of Autun. Childebert,
+exasperated by the success of the besieged, poured forth menaces against
+his own men as well as the enemy. He had not deigned to listen to the
+advice of his engineer, who since the arrival of the army before Juliana
+had been urging him to encamp on the north, and not to invest the town
+till he had reconnoitred its approaches. Consulted after the preliminary
+checks, Secondinus--that was the name of the Latin engineer--admitted
+that it was difficult to withdraw, since the army was engaged around the
+place; that the first thing to be done was to make it impossible for the
+besieged to make a sortie; and to effect this result--the latter being
+unable to issue without danger except by the eastern gate, and the
+_têtes de pont_--it was necessary to raise works in front of these
+points of egress, so as to close them completely; that it was hazardous
+and of little advantage to try to seize the great _tête de pont_ by a
+direct attack; but that it was necessary to occupy the western quarter
+below the ramparts, and therefore to cross the river; that then, by the
+same blow, the _têtes de pont_ and the ramping wall on the north would
+be lost to the besieged, and the southern _place d'armes_ endangered.
+
+Thereupon, trees were felled in the forest on the plateau, and the
+timberwork of the houses of the lower town brought away. A moat, filled
+from the river, surrounded the works of the great _tête de pont_; but
+those of the smaller one no longer possessed any; the fosse had long
+been filled up, and the besieged had neglected to sink it afresh. The
+south wall of the _Emporium_, which joined the northern shoulder of that
+smaller _tête de pont_, was crenelated, and in the hands of the
+defenders, including the square return on the road coming from the west.
+Thus half the area of the Emporium was commanded in its length by this
+wall.[13] Astride on this western road, Secondinus erected an _agger_
+which rested against the river, fifty paces from the square return, and
+on this agger he fixed up a work of framed timber, which commanded the
+enemy's rampart (Fig. 21). Around the great _tête de pont_, he contented
+himself with raising a contravallation, which cut off the two roads.
+Before the eastern gate of the city, the operation presented great
+difficulties, because of the steepness of the slope of the plateau.
+Every night, the besiegers' works were thrown down by the defenders, who
+had the advantage of the dominant position. Secondinus, after several
+unsuccessful attempts, was obliged to confine himself to forming beneath
+the ascent of the plateau a work of earth and timber, forming an arc of
+a circle, as in the accompanying sketch (Fig. 22).
+
+The besiegers could reach this work, which was out of range of the
+plateau, by a road descending gently towards the western arm of the
+rivulet.
+
+These works had not been executed without attempts on the part of the
+besieged to destroy them, nor without considerable loss on the part of
+the Franks. A fortnight, however, after the enemy's arrival, they were
+completed, and strongly guarded.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 21.]
+
+The enemy's troops were thus disposed around the cité:--The large
+encampment on the north plateau was occupied by twelve thousand men; the
+defenders of the great contravallation on the same side numbered two
+thousand. The body lodged in the lower town consisted of six thousand
+men; the guard of the work opposite the small _tête de pont_, five
+hundred; that of the contravallation around the great _tête de pont_,
+one thousand two hundred; the work raised at the bottom of the plateau
+facing the east gate contained one thousand two hundred men. Total:
+twenty-two thousand nine hundred men. There remained, deducting for
+losses since the commencement of the siege, about ten thousand soldiers,
+who scoured and devastated the country, collected provisions and forage,
+and formed a reserve corps, ready to make a fresh attempt when the
+propitious moment arrived.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 22.]
+
+These preparations rendered it clear to Clodoald that the enemy since
+his first checks was acting with method, and preparing for a decisive
+action. He had quickly perceived that his attack would be directed to
+the weak points of the fortress,--that is to say, the northern salient
+and the banks of the river opposite the western bend of the cité; he had
+therefore strongly barricaded all the roads of the town leading to the
+quay, and had strengthened the latter with a _vallum_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 23]
+
+In addition to this, two hundred paces behind the square tower on the
+river, to the north, he had run another vallum, _a_, _b_, through the
+houses and gardens, following the slopes of the plateau in an oblique
+direction, and joining the south-west gate (Fig. 23). The habitations
+had been left as a mask in front of this entrenchment; a few houses and
+fences only had been cleared away to give a free space outside.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 24.]
+
+Clodoald could not attempt anything before the northern salient, the
+enemy being there in front of him in force; but within the salient
+itself he sunk ditches with retrenchments of earth and stakes, as shown
+in Fig. 24. These works being low and masked were invisible to the enemy
+outside. Every night he sent out of the city, by the postern which led
+to the bottom of the wide fosse on the northern front, spies who
+rendered him an account of the operations of the enemy.
+
+At the end of the third week from the beginning of the siege, his spies
+reported a considerable degree of activity in the large camp; that
+faggots were being got ready, that the soldiers were preparing their
+arms, and that war-engines were being mounted. One of these spies, who
+crossed the river below the town and observed the attitude of the enemy
+encamped on the west, brought a similar report. Clodoald judged,
+therefore, that the besiegers were on the point of attempting a grand
+effort on the west and the north.
+
+On the morning of the twenty-third day of the siege, in fact, four
+_onagri_ planted on the work opposite the small _tête de pont_ swept the
+latter with stones so effectually that the defenders were scarcely
+sheltered behind the parapets, and could not work the engines placed at
+that point. At the same time, boats laden with inflammable materials
+were launched in the river above the wooden bridge. These boats,
+impelled in the direction required, were arrested by the piles of the
+bridge, and were not long in setting it on fire (Fig. 25). The defenders
+of the small _tête de pont_, seeing that their retreat was going to be
+cut off, abandoned the work, which was soon occupied by the Franks.
+Retired within the _place d'armes_ behind the bridge, the besieged
+could do nothing but watch the fire.
+
+[Illustration: FIG 25.]
+
+At the same time, shielded by wicker mantelets, a numerous troop of the
+enemy were advancing boldly against the north-east and north-west flanks
+of the northern salient. Filling up the fosse with faggots, the
+assailants rushed in a dense column against the rampart. The conflict
+was furious. Thanks to the stonework of the aqueduct the enemy were
+unable to break through the north-east flank; but they succeeded in
+gaining a footing[14] on the opposite one. The besieged were obliged to
+abandon the salient, retiring from one retrenchment to another, and
+with but slight loss, whereas the assailants had more than two hundred
+men killed on the rampart and in the ditches.
+
+At nightfall Clodoald with the three thousand men of his reserve corps
+issued suddenly by the central gate--the bridge of which, strongly
+barricaded, had remained in his possession--and fell upon the enemy: he
+killed a hundred more, but was unable to retake the work. Moreover, he
+anticipated another attack, and was not mistaken. Towards midnight the
+Franks took possession of the island of sand with the help of rafts, and
+there entrenched themselves in front of the quay. They were within
+bowshot, and arrows were discharged on both sides, but with little
+result.
+
+The loss of the advanced work had only the effect of animating the
+besieged, who were for immediately re-taking it. Clodoald had to calm
+their ardour by promising them to do better than retake it; adding, that
+just then he had another enterprise in view, and that the enemy was
+going to give them a fine opportunity of beating him.
+
+Clodoald strengthened the defences of the northern front, which could
+not be taken by storm; placed a strong body in the outwork of the
+eastern gate, with orders to defend it to the last man; and sent down as
+large a number of troops as they would hold into the two _places
+d`armes_ south and south-west. He strongly manned the oblique
+entrenchment descending to the edge of the water, and placed there a
+chief on whom he could depend, with special instructions.
+
+The next day passed without fighting. The Franks were engaged in
+intrenching themselves within the outwork against the north front, and
+destroying the _vallum_. They were bringing to the island timbers,
+fascines, earth, and stones, and were beginning to fill up the small
+arm with these materials. Sheltering themselves with wicker mantelets,
+they threw stones into the water, then fascines, in which large pebbles
+were inclosed to make them sink between the stones, then when these
+materials began to rise above the surface; they laid trunks of trees
+upon them across the stream, and between these fascines and clods of
+turf. The besieged could scarcely do anything to hinder these
+operations. Two _onagri_ sometimes hurled stones at the workmen; but
+they, well shielded and always in motion, were seldom struck. Towards
+evening the embankment was barely twenty feet from the quay wall, and
+the water--rather low at that season--ran through the sunken fascines
+without endangering the stability of the dam. The Franks continued all
+night working at the consolidation and enlargement of the causeway; then
+they brought timbers and ladders, and raised on its extremity about
+fifteen feet from the quay wall a stage of timberwork prepared
+beforehand. At daybreak the besieged perceived on the stage the end of a
+kind of bridge, furnished with a wicker mantelet, moving slowly forwards
+towards the edge of the quay (Fig. 26). Secondinus had the platform of a
+bridge framed ten feet wide: this platform, laid on rollers which rested
+on the inclined beams, was propelled by soldiers, aided by levers, and
+drawn by two cables wound on capstans fixed in advance. The men with the
+levers were screened by sheets of thick canvas stretched before them,
+which stopped the darts. All this time two catapults and two _onagri_
+showered long darts and stones on the _vallum_ of the quay; while
+slingers and archers rendered it impossible for the defenders to show
+themselves.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 26.--THE ATTACK--THE MOVABLE BRIDGE INTENDED FOR
+CROSSING THE SMALL ARM OF THE RIVER OF ABONIA.]
+
+The chief who commanded the latter, following the instructions of
+Clodoald, drew his men gradually away in the direction of the houses;
+and when the rolling bridge attained the ridge of the _vallum_ of the
+quay, not a single Burgundian remained behind this defence. The Franks
+rushed with loud shouts on the platform, threw down the wicker parapet,
+and spread themselves in great numbers over the deserted and silent
+quay. Dreading some ambuscade, they were in no hurry to ascend the
+slopes of the plateau, gentle though they were at this point, or to
+venture along the roads whose barricades appeared not to be guarded.
+They drew up along the quay in good order until they numbered about
+four thousand men. This did not take long; for as soon as the first few
+had passed from the stage to the _vallum_, the besiegers had placed
+beams across on which they laid logs, brushwood, and turf, and the
+bridge had thus attained a width of nearly thirty feet.
+
+A second body of considerable strength ready to sustain the first was
+assembled on the island, and a third body was approaching on the
+opposite bank.
+
+Secondinus was one of the first to reach the left bank, and he augured
+no good from the apparent inaction of the besieged. He desired that any
+advance should be made with caution, and not until a _tête de pont_ had
+been erected with stakes and _débris_ taken from the neighbouring
+houses. An exploring party sent into these houses found that they were
+deserted, while behind the barricades erected where the roads opened on
+the quay there were no defenders.
+
+He therefore ordered these barricades to be cleared away. All this took
+up time, and the Franks began to murmur loudly, asking if they had been
+sent across the river merely to guard the shores. Their chiefs insisted
+that the besieged had abandoned this part of the cité, as they had the
+lower town, that they had retired behind their walls, and that if
+advantage was not taken of their retreat, they would regain courage and
+come and attack the Franks in the night; that it was essential to occupy
+the ground vacated by them without loss of time, and take up a position
+beneath the walls, seizing in its rear the smaller _place d'armes_.
+Secondinus shook his head, and persevered in ordering measures of
+safety. Towards midday one of the Frank chiefs, still more impatient
+than the rest, called his men together and declared that there had been
+too long a delay, and that the slopes must be occupied. "Let the brave
+follow me, and those who are afraid remain here and find themselves
+sheltering-places!" and he and his followers made for the summit of the
+plateau. His example was quickly followed, and by various paths through
+the houses and gardens more than two thousand men ascended the slopes.
+
+Arrived at the _vallum_ formed on the slant, they were received by a
+shower of stones and darts. But soon recovering the surprise, and urged
+on by their chiefs, the Franks sprang up the escarpment. Their position,
+commanded as it was by the besieged, was unfavourable, and the first
+assault failed. They had to rally in the shelter afforded by the
+habitations and hedges left by Clodoald outside the _vallum_. Hearing
+the shouts of the onslaught, the troops left near the passage hurried in
+their turn up the hill. Secondinus then judged it expedient to get over
+a thousand men from among those who had remained in the island, giving
+excellent reasons for keeping them at that point.
+
+Seeing the reinforcement ascending the hill, the first assailants
+separated into three large parties, and at the word of command advanced
+anew against the _vallum_. The fall of the foremost did not arrest the
+new comers, who passed over their bodies. There were moments when the
+intrenchment seemed to be carried, for its ridge was crowned by Frank
+soldiers; but the defenders--independently of those who guarded the
+_vallum_--had also divided into compact bodies, which, in readiness
+behind, fell on the assaulting columns when their heads appealed above
+the ridge. Thus the conflict presented a series of captures and
+recaptures of the _vallum_, and it appeared as if the same turns of
+fortune would be repeated as long as the assailants and defenders were
+able to form bodies of soldiers. Many fell on both sides, for they
+fought hand to hand.
+
+Then it was that Clodoald, who held the smaller _place d'armes_ on the
+south-west, led forth a thousand men in good order, keeping along the
+river; he ordered those who occupied the large _place d'armes_ to pass
+on between him and the _vallum_, and to fall on the assailants in flank.
+From the right shore the Franks perceived this movement of Clodoald, and
+hurried towards the island to attack him and support those of their
+party who were on the left shore. But Clodoald had the start, and
+advanced by a direct road, whereas the enemy had to make a détour. In a
+few minutes, therefore, he came upon the body of Franks which, at the
+instance of Secondinus, was guarding the passage. He attacked it most
+vigorously, and cut down the first he met with. The Franks resisted,
+however, and, covering the embankment, formed in a square, with their
+right against the river. Fresh assailants passed over to the embankment,
+and took up such a position on the left that Clodoald's troop was on the
+point of being surrounded, and to free itself was obliged to make a
+movement in retreat, not without much loss--abandoning the left shore in
+order to reach the slopes and choose more advantageous ground.
+
+The second troop of Burgundians was then advancing on the flank of the
+besiegers, who were furiously storming the _vallum_. The assailants,
+attacked in flank, almost in rear--by reason of the direction of the
+_vallum_--gave way and ran down towards the passage, pursued by the
+Burgundians. Seeing himself thus supported, Clodoald assailed the foe
+with renewed energy. At that juncture came Gondomar sallying out from
+the western gate, with fresh troops to reinforce the defenders of the
+_vallum_. Seeing the enemy flying in all haste towards the passage, he
+concluded that his force was strong enough to press them vigorously,
+and, following the southern ramping wall, and then turning to the left,
+he attacked the enemy on the shore opposite the island. The Franks, thus
+attacked in front and on both flanks, with a narrow passage behind,
+offered a desperate resistance; but their very numbers were unfavourable
+to success, and they were overwhelmed with missiles hurled by Burgundian
+slingers posted in the houses on the slope.
+
+When night came not an enemy remained alive on the left shore; many had
+sought to reach the island by swimming, and a considerable number had
+also effected their escape by the embankment; but more than two thousand
+five hundred bodies remained along the _vallum_ and about the entrance
+of the passage. Clodoald had faggots and straw heaped on the movable
+bridge, which soon caught fire as well as the stage. The besieged lost a
+thousand, and Clodoald was wounded.
+
+The Burgundians had kept the western portion of the town, but they could
+not take the offensive in that quarter, since dense masses of the enemy
+presented themselves there.
+
+During the same day the Frank kings had made a feint of attacking the
+north front of the city; but the ramparts and the towers erected on this
+front could only be taken by a regular siege, and the Burgundian troops
+assigned to that quarter were more than sufficient to defy a serious
+attack.
+
+Retired within their tent, Childebert and his brother accused one
+another of the failure of their operations, but ultimately agreed in
+throwing on Secondinus the blame of their defeat. The latter, summoned
+into their presence, had to undergo the bitterest reproaches. "If,"
+replied the engineer, "your troops were disciplined--if they had not
+persisted in attacking the quarter, on which we had fortunately gained a
+footing, at haphazard--we should still be on that shore, and should
+have been able to-morrow to seize the whole of that region; not that I
+think it necessary to attack the cité on that front, but because we
+could thus have prevented any sortie, and might without risk attack the
+northern front and take it--which would only be an affair of time.
+
+"Not being in possession of the western quarter, all our siege works may
+be destroyed in a vigorous sortie; for the besieged are audacious--they
+have shown themselves so; and the ramping wall which descends to the
+river from the west corner will always put our attack on the north front
+of the cité at the mercy of a vigorous effort.
+
+"This ramping wall has no visible gates, but it will be easy for the
+besieged to make outlets if there are not already some hidden ones; and
+then under favour of night he can fall on the right flank of the attack,
+burn our works, and render the siege much longer and more uncertain in
+its issue. Each of our chiefs insists on commanding; and, brave though
+they all are, before a cité so well fortified and defended, blind
+bravery only involves you in useless perils. Obtain from them,
+therefore, an implicit obedience to your commands, and remember that
+your illustrious father owed his victories to the rigorous discipline
+which he succeeded in maintaining." This firm language did not fail to
+make an impression on the two kings, who, repressing their anger, began
+to deliberate coolly on the situation. It was decided to seize the great
+_tête de pont_, still in the hands of the besieged; to keep a strict
+watch on the shores of the river; and to attack the place along the
+whole extent of the northern front, comprising the ramping wall.
+
+The two kings decided that the chiefs of the various corps should obey
+Secondinus, whom they intrusted with the direction of their operations.
+The chiefs were assembled, and received from Childebert's own mouth the
+order not to engage in any enterprise except such as Secondinus should
+sanction. But these Franks had no liking for the Roman, as they called
+him, and received the admonition with a bad grace. Many raised
+objections, declaring that the slow proceedings of the Roman were the
+cause of their failures, and that if they might have their way the cité
+would soon be in their power. Childebert and his brother began to feel
+their resolution failing at these representations, and looked to
+Secondinus to reply. Addressing himself then to the chiefs who had
+accused him, he said: "Let those of you who have a plan of attack to
+offer, speak; let them explain by what methods they propose to force
+walls defended by men inured to war and well commanded; and if they can
+exhibit a plan superior to mine, I am ready to follow them like the
+humblest of their soldiers. But the kings and the whole army, before
+being called upon to advance, have a right to demand that their lives be
+not risked in an enterprise without definite purpose, and not presenting
+any chance of success." To this speech there was no response. "You, who
+spoke," said Childebert then to one of the chiefs, "what do you
+propose?"--"We took Autun by main strength; we invested the cité, made a
+breach in the wall, and entered it."--"Yes," replied Secondinus; "but
+Autun is not a cité built on the summit of escarpments like this; we
+were able to attack it from the level on two of its fronts, without
+having a river in the rear. Its walls, good though they were, were but
+ill defended, and our simultaneous attacks on two opposite points
+disconcerted the besieged. Here there is but a single front that can be
+attacked from the level; all the others crown escarpments, that could be
+easily defended, even without walls. Only two courses, then, are
+possible: either to invest the place so closely as to force it to
+surrender through want of provisions--which may be a tedious process,
+for the besieged are well provisioned, and the Frank army, which
+dislikes inaction, will melt away during such a blockade--or to attack
+the only vulnerable side, and concentrate all our forces on that point.
+
+"By proceeding regularly, this front will be in our power in three
+weeks. Then we shall be able to invest the _castellum_ closely, leaving
+a numerous body to prevent any sortie. It must surrender eventually, and
+in the meantime the kings will subdue the rest of Burgundy, without
+being delayed here." Many of the chiefs responded, proposing irrational
+plans of attack--appearing such, indeed, to the assembly; for though all
+agreed in blaming the conduct of the siege hitherto, no one could
+suggest a consistent plan of operation. Every proposition was therefore
+received with murmurs or ironical laughter. Seeing this, Childebert made
+a formal declaration that he and his brother were determined that
+Secondinus should be obeyed in all points, since no one had a desirable
+plan to propose; and the assembly separated. The two kings, remaining
+alone with the engineer, urged him to contrive for securing an immediate
+success that might cause the recent failures to be forgotten and restore
+confidence to the army.
+
+"The difficulty," replied Secondinus, "is to obtain such a success,
+without risk, with troops that do not strictly follow orders. What
+secures success in siege warfare is patience, assiduous labour, and
+rigid discipline; but your men are not patient, are not fond of digging,
+and are undisciplined. They prefer getting killed in an assault under
+unfavourable conditions to the safe, though painful, labour which in the
+course of some days would secure the capture of the place without much
+loss."
+
+Meantime the Frank army was reinforced by a body of about two thousand
+men, sent by Theodoric, who, having terminated his expedition into
+Auvergne, was reckoning on gaining some advantage from the war going on
+in Burgundy. These two thousand men were robust, but ill-armed, and
+little fitted for active war; but they were able to render great
+services in siege works. They were placed directly under the orders of
+Secondinus, who set them to work immediately, promising them a large
+share of the booty when the cité was taken.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 27.]
+
+We have seen that the northern salient had remained in the power of the
+Franks. Secondinus raised an _agger_ at this point, in front of the gate
+of the cité; and on the declivity of the plateau another _agger_
+opposite and on the counterscarp of the fosse of the ramping wall (Fig.
+27). The ridge of these works did not reach the level of the footway of
+the cité walls, but yet rose high enough to allow great stones to be
+discharged on the battlements by means of onagers, and to render the
+situation perilous to the defenders. The especial object of this was to
+occupy the besieged. Under shelter of these two earthworks, Secondinus
+had two mines commenced, one at the point A, the other at B, which,
+carried under the bottom of the dry ditches, were to penetrate beneath
+the walls. Clodoald, who had been rather severely wounded, was obliged
+to confide the superintendence of the defence to his lieutenants, who
+informed him of the besiegers' operations, and who believed that the
+Franks were going to raise timber works to command the walls, destroy
+the battlements, and throw bridges across. Nothing, however, favoured
+the supposition that such was the intention of the Franks, who limited
+themselves to furnishing the earthworks with screens to protect their
+engines. This apparent inactivity was a constant source of anxiety to
+Clodoald, who knew, through his spies, that the besiegers had received
+reinforcements. As he was unable to take the lead, he dared not direct
+his lieutenants to undertake any fresh sorties, and was obliged to
+content himself with recommending the most scrupulous vigilance.
+Trusting, moreover, to the solidity of the Roman walls and the rocky
+site of the plateau, he scarcely believed that mining could be rendered
+efficient; yet, in anticipation of such a contingency, he ordered that
+trusty men should be set to listen in the lower stories of the towers,
+and at the base of the walls opposite the face of attack; then he had
+platforms prepared behind the rampart to receive six machines, which
+discharged stones in abundance on the earthworks of the besiegers (Fig.
+28).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 28.]
+
+The Franks, on their side, were working vigorously at their two mining
+galleries, not without great difficulty, for they had at several points
+very hard rock to pierce. The excavated earth was heaped up within the
+earthwork, and could not be seen by the besieged. Till they reached the
+fosse the noise of the work could not be heard from the cité; but when
+the miners had arrived below the fosse, the men on guard in the town
+heard the sound of pickaxes dully reverberating through the night.
+Clodoald, informed of this, immediately gave orders to countermine,
+starting from the interior base of the rampart, and in the direction of
+the sound. On both sides, therefore, the miners were at work; but this
+did not prevent the projectile engines from being worked all day by both
+parties.
+
+In a fortnight the besiegers' tunnels were near enough for the workmen
+to hear the blows of the pickaxes in the rock. Clodoald was then in a
+condition to leave his dwelling; he examined what had been done, stopped
+the work, and listened attentively. He judged that the enemy's miners
+were digging obliquely under the wall, near the north gate (Fig. 29),
+while the countermine of the besieged followed the direction A B.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 29.]
+
+He thought he also perceived that the enemy's tunnel was on a higher
+level than his own. This seemed favourable to the plan he was intending
+to adopt, and with a view to greater safety, he sunk the floor of the
+countermine-tunnel still lower. On visiting the base of the ramping wall
+he heard no noise at this point, although his lieutenants said they had
+heard mining towards the upper third of the wall during the preceding
+days. The countermine-tunnel was also commenced opposite to the place
+where they thought they had heard the enemy's miners. Clodoald ordered a
+suspension of the work till the besiegers' operations were clearly
+understood.
+
+Next day, on the north front, it became evident that the
+countermine-tunnel was crossing that of the enemy, for the steps of the
+pioneers were heard above the ceiling.
+
+Clodoald then had the ceiling shored up along the sides of the tunnel,
+and ordered that the layers of stone forming the ceiling should be
+noiselessly removed by levers and crowbars, so as to render it as thin
+as possible below the point where footsteps had been heard.
+
+When this had been done to the extent of leaving only a very thin layer
+of rock, Clodoald had dry faggots, resin, tar, and all the inflammable
+materials that could be got, heaped up in the countermine tunnel; then,
+promising the most skilful of his miners a large reward on succeeding,
+he told him to break down this crust, and as soon as he perceived an
+opening, however small, to set fire to the faggots, retiring towards the
+entrance.
+
+In fact, a few minutes after the order had been given, the miner
+appeared at the entrance of the shaft, followed by a thick smoke. He
+reascended quickly, and this opening was stopped with planks and earth.
+
+From the hole made below the floor of the besiegers' gallery the smoke
+was rising into the tunnel, and suffocating the miners. They tried to
+stop up this orifice, but the necessary materials were not at hand; and
+the flame soon mounted high, as the hole produced a draft. The heat
+burst the stone to pieces, and the opening was becoming larger. The
+mining gallery was soon so filled with smoke that it was no longer
+possible to stay there and some of the miners fell suffocated before
+they could gain the somewhat distant mouth of the tunnel.
+
+The stir caused among the besiegers beyond the earthwork proved to
+Clodoald that the operations had been frustrated, and the mine rendered
+untenable. He then stopped up the entrance to the countermine, and when
+the smoke was dissipated, he resolved on examining the state of things
+for himself. The faggots were burning rapidly by reason of the draft,
+and the flame was roaring through the hole, which was becoming larger
+and larger. Fresh faggots were thrown on the fire with pitchforks, the
+limestone was cracking incessantly and falling in large slabs.
+
+Secondinus had heard the counterminers at work, but had not been able to
+ascertain the direction they were following, as they were excavating
+under the limestone bed in a clayey sand. He thought the galleries would
+meet some time or other, and that then there would be a struggle in the
+tunnel. Anticipating this, he had screens in readiness, hoping thus to
+remain master of his own gallery, and even to gain possession of the
+countermine.
+
+The event disconcerted his projects; no further progress was possible
+there. Along the ramping wall, Secondinus's miners had reached the sand,
+and were consequently no longer heard. He sent all his workmen,
+therefore, to this quarter, and had his galleries deeply excavated
+according to the plan (Fig. 30). Thanks to the yielding nature of the
+soil, this operation was completed the following night. The galleries
+were well propped and shored with dry wood taken from the houses of the
+lower town. Faggots smeared with tar were placed among these props, and
+at dawn were set fire to.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 30.]
+
+Clodoald's anxiety had brought him once more to this front of the
+defence, when a cracking noise was heard.... A wide piece of the wall,
+above the oblique intrenchment made by the besieged, immediately split,
+bent forward, and fell _en masse_ outside into the fosse. Clouds of
+smoke and dust arose, and the exulting cries of the Franks were heard
+from the cité.
+
+There was not a moment to lose: weak as he still was from his wound,
+Clodoald assembled all his men within call, and sent for a
+reinforcement. With the soldiers--about two hundred in number--who had
+hastened together at his first summons, he mounted to the summit of the
+crumbling wall (Fig. 31) to meet the assault.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 31.]
+
+When the dust and smoke were somewhat dispersed, he could see the
+Franks, about two thousand in number, drawn up on the earthwork,
+prepared to scale the ruins. Happily for the defenders, an engine
+mounted on the platform of the square tower at the angle of the cité[15]
+was quickly turned by those serving it, so as to discharge heavy stones
+on the van of the attack, killing or wounding many men at every volley;
+which forced the Franks to retreat until mantelets were brought up.
+This delay enabled the besieged to assemble on the breach, and to heap
+up fascines there--for the besiegers on their side were discharging a
+quantity of stones on this point--and to place planks so as to ascend to
+the summit of the crumbling wall more readily.
+
+All this occupied but a quarter of an hour, when the Franks ascended the
+_agger_ once more, protected by the mantelets, threw fascines into the
+space between the head of the wall and the slope of the _agger_, and
+rushed forward resolutely to the assault.
+
+The position of the besieged was disadvantageous, for they had behind
+them the escarpment produced by the thickness of the fallen wall, and a
+ground deeply creviced by the fall of the masonry; while this fallen
+wall gave the besiegers a slope of slight inclination, and of easy
+access.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 32.]
+
+The assault was vigorous and vigorously met, but the people of the cité
+had only a thin front to oppose to a compact assaulting column; and
+towards midday the Franks remained decidedly masters of the breach (Fig.
+32.) Clodoald had died in the fight, and with him more than a thousand
+Burgundians.
+
+The Franks on their side had sustained heavy loss, and the breach was
+literally covered with dead bodies. Either from fatigue, or because they
+feared some surprise, the besiegers allowed the remainder of the enemy's
+forces to re-enter the cité without pursuing them.
+
+They now possessed all the western part of the town lying between the
+river and the slopes of the plateau. Outside the cité the Burgundians
+occupied only the southern _place d'armes_ and the great _tête de pont_:
+the smaller _place d'armes_ of the bridge previously burned, being
+uninclosed on the side of its access, and not united with the ramparts,
+was evacuated.
+
+The Franks had no personal knowledge of Clodoald, and learned only from
+prisoners that this brave captain had been killed in the assault. They
+had his body sought for, and his head, fixed on a long pole, was placed
+before the north gate. This time the prisoners were spared, and sent as
+slaves to the royal domains.
+
+The cité Juliana was now shut in on all sides and reduced to its walls,
+which were able long to defy the attacks of the Franks. But Clodoald's
+death thoroughly disheartened the besiegers, and the Burgundian king was
+not energetic enough to replace his skilful lieutenant. On the evening
+of this unfortunate day, he assembled the chiefs of the defending forces
+to deliberate on the measures to be adopted. Accustomed to the bold
+enterprises of Clodoald, they thought themselves sufficiently numerous
+to attempt a sortie at two points--the southern _place d'armes_ and the
+eastern gate; they believed that the cité would be destitute of
+provisions in a few weeks, since they could get no more supplies from
+without, and they considered that this extremity and the disgraceful
+surrender that must follow should not be waited for. The sortie from the
+southern _place d'armes_ was to be supported by a body issuing through
+the south-west gate.
+
+Thus they could drive back the Franks as far as the wall which they had
+just passed. The sortie from the eastern gate would occupy them during
+this time, on the left side of the plateau.
+
+But while they were engaged in these deliberations, Secondinus
+understood well how to avail himself of the advantage so dearly bought.
+During the night he had an intrenchment made at some distance from the
+gate of the _place d'armes_, caused the road to be intercepted and the
+slopes of the cité covered with abatis of trees, and thereupon commenced
+without delay a mining tunnel under the descent from the castle to this
+_place d`armes_ to destroy the fortified wall.
+
+In the morning, therefore, when the Burgundians were preparing to pass
+the north gate from the great _place d'armes_, they saw before them a
+well-guarded intrenchment, bristling with pointed stakes and intertwined
+branches of trees. Reckoning, however, on the attack to be made by the
+body that was to issue by the south-west gate, they advanced resolutely
+against the intrenchment, whose defenders might thus be taken in the
+rear. But this contingency had been foreseen by Secondinus; another
+intrenchment at right angles was already raised before this gate, and
+the road cut off; the approaches being furnished with barricades. After
+losing a hundred men, therefore, the two bodies re-entered without
+having been able to execute their design. Originating power and
+promptness in execution were henceforth wanting to these brave people,
+who were, however, determined not to capitulate.
+
+Three days afterwards the descent to the _place d'armes_ was undermined,
+and part of it fell. The defenders of the post and of the _tête de
+pont_ were surprised, and had only time to retire in haste by the road
+ascending to the eastern gate: and some of them fell into the hands of
+the Franks.
+
+The cité was then completely surrounded within bowshot distance. No
+sortie could be of any serious use to the besieged; for Secondinus had
+established posts supported by intrenchments around the ramparts. Seeing
+the success of his last efforts, the Frank chiefs began to place more
+confidence in the Latin engineer, and were obedient to his orders.
+
+Then Secondinus resumed his attack on the north front, and began four
+mining galleries, making use of that which he had been forced to
+abandon. Three were led under the square tower of the north-west
+corner[16] (Fig. 33). The besieged soon heard the strokes of the miners'
+pickaxes, and attempted a countermine, starting from the tower itself,
+at A; but Clodoald was no longer there to direct the workmen, who,
+wishing to repeat the manoeuvre previously adopted, dug too deep,
+crossed the enemy's galleries underneath them, and had no clear
+perception what direction their sapping should take.
+
+The sounds they heard were diffused, and seemed to issue from several
+points; and, in fact, the Franks were working in more than one
+direction, and, as Secondinus ordered, immediately under the foundation;
+sometimes they were digging in the sand, and all noise ceased; sometimes
+they would meet with rock, and then the blows of the pioneers again
+became audible.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 33.]
+
+The countermine gallery, therefore, was winding about, and only weakened
+the basis on which the tower rested; and four days after the
+commencement of the work, it was supported only by dry props, greased
+and smeared with pitch. These being set on fire, the tower fell in,
+bringing down with it a large piece of the north wall. Anticipating this
+result, King Gondomar, who, after Clodoald's death, took the command in
+the cité, had ordered an interior retrenchment to be raised, with a
+strong wooden tower in the middle of the curve, projectile engines being
+placed behind. He had sufficient time to complete these works after the
+fall of the tower; for the breach was scarcely practicable, and was
+stoutly defended. The Franks were two days in getting possession of it
+and occupying the corner of the cité in front of the retrenchment, not
+without having lost two or three hundred men.
+
+Secondinus interdicted the advance of the troops, who were eager to
+storm the retrenchment and take it by main force; and this time he was
+listened to. He had timber and mantelets brought, and gave orders for
+the erection, on the very ruins of the angle, of a tower of green wood,
+which he took care to protect with woollen blankets and fresh hides. The
+engines of the defenders did not cease to discharge large stones at the
+workmen, which greatly hindered them and killed many; but the Franks had
+acquired confidence, and worked incessantly night and day with
+enthusiastic ardour.
+
+Twice the defenders of the cité endeavoured to sally forth from their
+retrenchments to drive off the assailants and destroy their works; they
+met with a warm reception, especially as the Franks could avail
+themselves of the ruins as a rampart.
+
+On their side projectile engines were hurling stones and darts on the
+rampart walks of the extremities of the curtains that remained standing,
+and made it impossible for the defenders to remain there. As soon as
+anyone showed himself, showers of arrows were aimed at him. These
+rampart walks were repeatedly furnished with mantelets, which were soon
+thrown down by the stones from the engines. The wooden tower of the
+besiegers was rising rapidly, and at the end of the second day
+overtopped that of the retrenchment. An engine was planted at the top,
+which incessantly discharged heavy stones on the works of the
+Burgundians. The latter kept the old countermine gallery on the north
+front; but they had not been able to extend it, because blocks of stone
+had been thrown by the besiegers into the connecting opening, and were
+replaced by others when the besieged ventured to remove them. The
+enemy's miners were no longer heard on this side. The reason was that
+Secondinus, having become better acquainted with the nature of the
+soil, had perceived that by digging deeper he found a stratum of sand
+easy to work in and carry away. From the old abortive gallery, however,
+which the besieged could not speedily enter, he had conducted two
+oblique tunnels, in an inverse direction and at a deep level, descending
+into the sand, under the foundations of the curtain; one of them, A,
+gradually rose again obliquely as far as the inner side of the ramparts
+(Fig. 34). He expected in this way to make an entrance into the cité in
+any case.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 34.]
+
+But a thick bed of limestone prevented the ceiling from being speedily
+penetrated. The gallery was far enough from that marked B, intended to
+undermine the curtain wall, not to be destroyed by its fall, and he
+reckoned on making use of it on occasion.
+
+Five days had been spent in these labours, and on the fifth day--that is
+to say, the next day after the fall of the square tower of the
+corner--the curtain near the north gate was undermined for a length of
+thirty paces. The stays and props were set on fire during the night, and
+in the morning the curtain sank down into the fosse, separating into two
+masses. The Franks immediately threw a quantity of fascines into the
+fosse, brought ladders, and rushed in great numbers on the ruined wall,
+which still rose about six feet above the interior level of the cité.
+The Burgundians, taken by surprise, could scarcely offer any resistance
+to this escalade, and their efforts were at most confined to hindering
+the assailants from crossing the breach. The position of the defenders
+was one of the most unfavourable that can be imagined, especially as
+they had raised no retrenchment at this point. They barricaded
+themselves, however--making use of the houses, and hurling a quantity of
+projectiles from the top of the neighbouring tower upon the assailants;
+and the struggle was prolonged. Then it was that Secondinus sent workmen
+to destroy the ceiling of the mine gallery, A, which terminated on the
+inside of the wall. In four hours this was effected, and the besieged
+saw a large hole on their left. In a few seconds this gaping orifice
+poured forth a stream of enemies, who spread themselves along the wall,
+outflanked the defenders, and hurried towards the gate to burst it open.
+
+The guard that defended this gate were massacred, and the doors being
+smashed with axes and battering-rams, fresh troops were enabled to get
+into the city. The town was taken, but the conflict was being kept up in
+the streets and houses. Night came on, and the defenders of the
+retrenchment, perceiving that the enemy had got round them, had retired
+in haste towards the interior of the cité.
+
+The Franks no longer gave ear to the orders of their chief, but rushed
+in small bands into every opening that presented itself, burning,
+killing, and pillaging; many of them fell in with numerous bodies of
+the besieged and met their death.
+
+The women, mad with fury, threw tiles, furniture, logs of wood, and
+stones upon the Franks dispersed in the streets. As most of the houses
+were of timber, the fire, fanned by a wind from the west, spread rapidly
+in every direction. Besiegers and besieged fought till they were
+surrounded with flames. It was a series of isolated struggles, in which
+the voices of the chiefs on either side were unable to make themselves
+heard.
+
+Gondomar, with about a thousand men, had taken refuge in the castle; and
+from the summit of its towers the Burgundian king could see his faithful
+cité burning, and hear the shouts of the victors and the vanquished
+approaching nearer and nearer the walls of this last retreat. He had
+been unwilling to close the gates, that he might gather in the
+unfortunate defenders; and towards the end of the night these, driven
+into the southern extremity of the cité by the enemy and the fire, began
+then to arrive in crowds, many being wounded, and among them women and
+children. The castle was being filled, and the enemy was approaching; so
+the bridge was thrown into the fosse and the gates were shut.
+
+Engrossed with pillage, the Franks allowed the day which succeeded this
+disastrous night to pass by without attempting anything against the
+castle; and not before evening could the Frank king restore any degree
+of order in the burning cité.
+
+There were not enough provisions in the castle to feed its numerous
+occupants for forty hours. This was just what Secondinus anticipated;
+accordingly he had no difficulty in persuading the Frank king to rest
+content with investing the stronghold. Gondomar, overwhelmed with grief,
+and seeing his helplessness, sought death by throwing himself from the
+top of one of the towers. The fugitives were forced to surrender at
+discretion, and most of them were carried away into slavery.
+
+The Frank kings destroyed the most important of the defensive works, so
+as to render the cité Juliana incapable of sustaining a siege. But those
+Roman works were massive; and two centuries afterwards the remains of
+the towers and ramparts still presented an imposing mass of ruins. The
+plateau was then a waste, and the ruins were overgrown with a luxuriant
+vegetation; only a few shepherds' huts were to be seen in this desolated
+region. On the western declivity, between the river and the ancient
+ramparts, extended a poor little town, whose population did not amount
+to more than twelve or fifteen hundred souls.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 9: See Fig. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 10: See Fig. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 11: See the plan, Fig. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 12: See Fig. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 13: See Fig. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 14: See Fig. 24.]
+
+[Footnote 15: See B, Fig. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 16: See B, Fig. 16.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_THE FEUDAL CASTLE._
+
+
+In the year 1180, the valley had again become a fertile and prosperous
+district. Several villages had arisen along the course of the river; and
+a town of some importance covered, as in former times, the western
+slopes of the old cité Juliana, and extended on the opposite shore. This
+town was then called Saint Julien. How was it that the cité founded by
+the Emperor Julian the Apostate had changed its appellation of Juliana
+for that of Saint Julien? We shall not attempt to explain the fact. It
+will suffice to say, that about the eighth century a legend arose
+respecting a companion of Lucian, Bishop of Beauvais, named Julian, a
+native of the Val d'Abonia, who had been martyred with Maximian a short
+time before his holy bishop. His body, transferred to the place of his
+birth, had there wrought numerous miracles, and was then resting in the
+crypt of the church placed under his invocation, and which was the
+appanage of a rich abbey, situated at the northern extremity of the
+plateau. On the site in question, therefore, was to be found the city
+and abbey of Saint Julien, and the castle of Roche-Pont, occupied by the
+lords of Roche-Pont. As for the valley, it had preserved pretty nearly
+its old name; it was the Val d'Abonia. Ever since the ninth century the
+lords of Roche-Pont had been possessors of the vale, the town, the lands
+contiguous, and the forests stretching northwards on the plateaux; they
+claimed descent by the female side from the ancient kings of Burgundy,
+and were rich and powerful. One of their ancestors engaged in a war
+against King Robert, in the year 1005, and had contributed greatly to
+the failure of that prince's expedition into Burgundy. On the submission
+of this province at a later date to the king, the lord of Roche-Pont had
+made conditions that had notably improved his domain. This lord was the
+founder of the Clunisian abbey which stood on the north of the plateau;
+he had endowed it with the uncultivated lands of the rivulet valley. The
+monks soon made a capital domain of this valley, by taking advantage of
+the little water-course, which never failed. With the aid of dams they
+secured very productive pools; waterfalls turned mills, worked forges,
+and irrigated fair meadows for flocks and herds, and, on the slope of
+southern aspect, vineyards renowned for their fine produce.
+
+There were occasional misunderstandings between the abbots of Saint
+Julien and the lords of Roche-Pont. According to their foundation
+charter, they claimed to be perfectly independent of the lordship of
+Roche-Pont--indeed, of all superiority but that of Rome--and to have
+complete suzerainty over the lands they possessed; they refused to
+render feudal dues to the castle, and on several occasions disputes
+resulted in acts of violence. Then the abbots appealed to the Duke of
+Burgundy; men of war interfered in the contest; and, as a matter of
+course, the vassals had to pay the costs.
+
+One of the abbots, a restless and ambitious man, had presumed to
+commence fortifying the abbey, and had persisted in doing so in spite of
+the opposition of the lord of Roche-Pont. The lord had consequently laid
+waste the abbey domain. The fraternity then appealed to the king of
+France, who had intervened in the dispute. After much litigation and
+cost to both sides, it had been decided that the abbey might be
+surrounded by a wall without towers, and that in the event of a war in
+which the interests of the suzerain were concerned, the lord of
+Roche-Pont should garrison the abbey at the expense of the latter.
+
+The retainers of the abbey and those of the lord continued,
+nevertheless, in a permanent state of antagonism; and not a year passed
+in which there were not differences to be settled on this score at the
+court of the duke.
+
+The castle of the lords of Roche-Pont was built on the remains of the
+_castellum_ of the cité Juliana, and about the year 1182 it was very old
+and dilapidated.
+
+Anseric de la Roche-Pont was at that time its owner. He was a young man
+of ardent temperament and ambitious disposition, married to a niece of
+the Count of Nevers, deceased in 1176--an alliance which had increased
+his possessions. He bore with impatience his subjection to the Duke of
+Burgundy, and in endeavouring to shake it off, his first step was to
+rebuild his old castle, and put it in a condition to defy every attack.
+Anseric de la Roche-Pont was encouraged in these ideas of independence
+by one of his uncles, an old seigneur, who, having spent fifteen years
+of fighting in Syria, had returned, worn out and impoverished, to
+Burgundy. Anseric had given him an asylum in his declining years, and he
+soon acquired an influence over the mind of his nephew, and even of his
+niece. During the long winter evenings, the recital of adventures beyond
+seas, to which the Baron Guy knew how to give a life-like interest,
+would inflame the breast of the young lord. Often on such occasions the
+latter would rise and pace the hall, with sparkling eyes and clenched
+hands, stung with shame at his own inactivity, and consumed by the
+desire of some nobler occupation than killing boars, and disputing with
+monks concerning mill or fishery rights. At such moments the old baron,
+far from seeking to calm his nephew's ardour, would seek to direct it to
+a more attainable end than the conquest of towns in Syria. The Baron Guy
+was a personage of remarkable idiosyncrasy--physically an elderly man,
+tall and angular, and somewhat bent by the weight of arms: his head,
+still covered with rough grey locks, square in the crown, exhibiting
+projecting cheek-bones, and--beneath shaggy eyebrows--eyes of sombre
+green, deeply sunk in their orbits. His wide mouth with its thin lips
+showed, when he laughed--which rarely happened--rows of sharp white
+teeth. When he was relating long stories, seated, his hands on his knees
+and his head bent down, the light of the wax tapers fell only on his
+bushy hair, his high cheek-bones, and nose. Sometimes, at exciting
+passages in the recital, his head would slowly rise and, still in shade,
+his eyes would send forth flashes which reminded one of distant
+lightning.
+
+Morally, the Baron Guy is not so easily described. He hated monks--but
+that is neither here nor there--and adored children; which is proof of a
+happily constituted disposition. But the baron had seen so much of men
+and things that it is not to be wondered at that there existed in his
+mind a shade of scepticism, if such a term can be applied to the
+_désenchantement_ of a noble at the end of the twelfth century. The
+baron had, we say, acquired a marked influence over the mind of his
+nephew; but to Anseric's two children their great-uncle was as indulgent
+as possible. He was no less complaisant to his niece; she alone could
+succeed in lighting up that stern visage with a ray of cheerfulness.
+
+The very high and noble dame Jeanne Eleanor de la Roche-Pont was a
+woman of middle height. When animated, her somewhat oval face reflected
+a lively intelligence; her eyes of light azure then assumed the hue of
+the _lapis-lazuli_, and her complexion, habitually pale, was suffused
+with a rosy flush. She had a bewitching smile, though her mouth was
+slightly drooping; her swan-like neck, and the exquisite contour of her
+figure, lent to all her movements a perfect grace, rendered still more
+charming by an address and vivacity which was the delight of the old
+baron.
+
+The baron, therefore, would pass whole hours with his eyes fixed on his
+niece, as if he wished to study the least gestures of the Lady de la
+Roche-Pont, and discover the marvellous mechanism in which their grace
+and beauty originated. High-spirited on occasions, Eleanor was capable
+of the greatest devotion and absolute self-sacrifice for those dear to
+her. Her vassals loved her, and used to call her _la Gentil-Dame_.
+
+It has seemed necessary to describe at some length persons who will play
+an important part in the course of this narrative. Events were, in fact,
+more ruled by the individual in feudal times than during any other
+period. The personal character of a noble exercised a preponderating
+influence around him for good or evil.
+
+The Baron Guy, worn out, impoverished, and childless, was essentially
+one of those sensitive spirits, bruised by contact with men and events,
+which, having lost all elasticity where their own interests are
+concerned, direct their entire energy and their need of something to
+which to attach themselves, towards an object apparently distant or
+fragile. The baron had certainly an affection for his nephew; but as far
+as he alone was concerned, he would, have contented himself with leaving
+him to hunt peacefully on his domains, and helping him at need; but for
+his niece and her two children--handsome boys of five and eight years
+old respectively--he had a love amounting to adoration, and which formed
+the chief interest of his life. To him it seemed that for beings so dear
+in his eyes the castle de la Roche-Pont and its domain were a very
+pitiful heritage; and we may question whether even the duchy of Burgundy
+would have appeared to him worthy of their acceptance.
+
+Ambitions of this _indirect_ character, as they may be called, are the
+most insatiable and tenacious; they are of the kind stimulating to the
+most daring enterprises, because they are disinterested and
+irresponsible.
+
+When the Baron Guy spoke of the fortresses built by the Franks in
+Palestine and Syria, he never failed to enumerate their towers, to
+describe their lofty walls, their fair and strong defences; and,
+invariably instituting a comparison between the wonderful fortresses of
+Margat, Krak, Antarseus, Laodicea, Antioch, Ascalon, Giblet, and many
+others, and the castle de la Roche-Pont, he exhibited the latter as a
+mere hovel fit only for serfs to hide their heads in.
+
+When the baron's discourse took this turn--and it frequently
+did--Anseric's face clouded over. Eleanor looked down, blushed, and went
+to look for the children.
+
+One evening, as the baron had been complaisantly expatiating on the
+advantageous site and solid construction of the castle of Krak, which he
+had seen commenced shortly before his departure from Syria, and which
+was to exceed in extent and strength the other Christian fortresses,
+Anseric suddenly interrupted the recital. "Uncle," said he, "the
+position of the castle de la Roche-Pont appears to me as good as that of
+the knights beyond sea; and if it is only a question of making more
+solid towers and higher walls than ours are, the thing is easy:--what do
+you say to it?" The baron did not raise his head. "Yes," he replied,
+"but you must resolve upon it." "Well, if I did resolve upon it?"
+"Perhaps you might, my good nephew; but he who builds a strong castle
+must expect to see it attacked." "Well, what then?" "Why, you will have
+to defend it, my good nephew." "And have we not men and ourselves?"
+"Yes, we shall indeed want men--men accustomed to fighting; and we shall
+want arms and mangonels; moreover, the work must be done quickly if you
+would avoid an attack before it is finished; and remember the duke's
+court is not far off, and he will perhaps be curious to come and see for
+himself what the Sire de la Roche-Pont is about." "The duke! the duke!
+what business has the duke to inquire whether I am rebuilding my castle?
+It is my affair, not his!" "The monks of the abbey, too, they will go
+and complain to my lord duke (though he shows no great deference for
+these white, black, or grey habits), and will persuade him that in
+building a stronger castle your object is to lay hands more readily on
+the wealth of the Church; whereas the duke prefers to keep the convent
+treasures for himself." "As to the monks," said Eleanor, "you need be
+under no anxiety about them; leave the matter in my hands, and I engage
+that they shall give you no trouble." "Eh! what what will you do, _belle
+amie_?" replied Anseric. "Will you let me act as I think best?" "By all
+means; as you please, _belle amie_."
+
+It must be observed that Eleanor--as a wife and a lady of high
+descent--entered into the baron's views, though without letting it
+appear that she did so; and her most cherished desire was to leave to
+her firstborn the finest domain in the province. As allied to the house
+of Nevers, she had no liking for the duke; and the feudal bonds which
+connected her domain with the duchy of Burgundy were perhaps a greater
+annoyance to her than to her husband.
+
+Next day Eleanor sent for the abbot, under the pretext of having
+something of importance to communicate to him. The abbot was a little
+man of pale complexion, with sharp black eyes, and always elegantly
+attired, as far as was permitted by the order of Cluny, which in point
+of costume was then very tolerant. He came to the castle on a handsome
+mule, richly caparisoned, followed by two monks, also mounted. Wine and
+sweetmeats were offered them on their arrival, and when the abbot was in
+Eleanor's presence, she spoke thus to him: "Sir abbot, you are aware in
+what veneration I hold your sacred abbey, and how much I desire to add
+something to its splendour; if my lord and myself have not done so
+hitherto, it is because we have been waiting for a favourable
+opportunity. My lord and myself are happy that such an opportunity
+presents itself while you are ruling the abbey, because we have a
+particular and profound esteem for you personally. While, then, what we
+propose to do has for its object the securing to ourselves the more
+especial protection of the holy apostles, Peter and Paul, it is also
+prompted by consideration for your own virtues and wise administration.
+
+"Our castle is very old and ruinous; my lord is intending to have it
+repaired; and to draw down upon its walls the benediction of heaven, he
+thinks of building within its inclosure a handsome chapel, which will be
+served by your fraternity as you shall direct, and which will
+consequently be dependent on the abbey. An annual revenue of a hundred
+livres will be devoted to the maintenance of the chapel, to be raised
+from our estate of Try. Moreover, your dependency of Vieil-Bois is
+unsightly and dilapidated; my lord wishes to have it rebuilt, and to
+assign for its support, which is at present insufficient, twenty-five
+days' labour in such vineyards of our domain as are near that
+dependency."
+
+At each of these announcements the abbot bent his head in courteous
+submission. "Lady," replied he, "the abbey of Saint Julien, founded by
+one of my lord's ancestors, will be delighted by the new donations you
+graciously promise. Though it has witnessed with sorrow the differences
+that have sometimes arisen between the lords of Roche-Pont and its
+abbots, it has never ceased to address prayers to God, to the Blessed
+Virgin, and the holy apostles Peter and Paul, for the illustrious house
+of its founders; and in the words that have proceeded to-day from your
+gracious mouth, what it will appreciate beyond the announcement of your
+intended gifts, is the assurance that its privileges and its
+independence will receive fresh guarantees of that protection which was
+accorded to it in the past."
+
+"Assuredly," replied Eleanor; "we shall take care that no harm is done
+you or your vassals; and, the charter we shall give you will expressly
+mention our desire to respect the immunities of the abbey, and if need
+be, to enforce that respect on others. Moreover, sir abbot, you are not
+ignorant that in these unhappy times the property of the Church is not
+always respected, even by those who ought to defend them. You know the
+trials the abbey of Vezelay has experienced: it is our intention to
+shelter the cloister of Saint Julien from these insults; and there is no
+surer means of protecting your abbey than putting the castle in a state
+of defence."
+
+On his way back, the abbot asked himself what could be the cause of this
+new turn in affairs. He re-entered the monastery, however, none the less
+gratified; and after vespers a _Te Deum_ was sung.
+
+"To-morrow, my dear lord," said Eleanor to her husband, when all met at
+supper, "you may set about rebuilding your castle; the abbot of Saint
+Julien will not feel himself aggrieved." "A good fairy has intervened,
+no doubt," said the Baron Guy; "we are bound to proceed." "By the bodies
+of the saints!" said Anseric, when he learned the conditions by which
+the abbot's acquiescence was to be secured, "you propose to build so
+much for the Church, _belle amie_, that there will remain nothing for
+the castle!" "In good sooth," replied the baron, "I am not so very well
+pleased that these monks should get a footing among us." "Pshaw! we will
+put the chapel in the bailey;[17] and if we have to defend the castle,
+the monks will remain outside." "But why, sir uncle, are you always so
+severe upon the good monks?" "Ah! gentle fairy, if you had seen them, as
+I have, in lands beyond the sea, you would agree with me that it is the
+worst breed----" "Come, do not blaspheme, sir uncle; here we are in a
+Christian land--not among the Saracens."
+
+A few days afterwards, in fact, Anseric set the labourers to work. The
+burgh and the villages of the domain had to furnish their contingent in
+men, and in draught cattle and carts; materials were not wanting in the
+vicinity. Kilns were erected for burning lime, and the forest supplied
+timber in abundance. Baron Guy, in virtue of his military knowledge,
+undertook the office of director. He sent secretly for a master of the
+works--a native of Troyes, whom he had known in Palestine. This person
+was kindly received at the castle, was well provided for and newly
+clothed, but carefully watched, lest he should take it into his head to
+run away. The plans of the new castle were devised by himself and the
+baron. Use was made of a part of the Roman fortifications which still
+existed. But the reader must know the position of the buildings then
+occupying the plateau (Fig. 35) to understand what is to follow.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 35.--THE OLD CASTLE DE LA ROCHE-PONT.]
+
+At A was the castle of la Roche-Pont, erected on the Roman remains, and
+composed of irregular buildings out of repair; at B the cloister of the
+abbey; and at C its church: at D the abbot's building.
+
+The monastery was bounded on the west by the ruins of the ancient Roman
+enclosure, and on the other three sides by battlemented walls, with a
+few turrets.
+
+At E was the pleasance of the abbey; at F that of the castle.[18] Two
+fine mills, dependencies of the castle, stood at G; and at H was the
+pond, filled by the pent water of the stream.
+
+The upper town, built on the western incline of the plateau, contained
+two parish churches, I and K. A wooden bridge, with mills belonging to
+the castle, existed at L, another wooden bridge at M, and the Roman
+stone bridge at N.
+
+On the right bank were several houses with gardens. At O the road along
+the plateau branched into two--one leading to the entrance of the abbey,
+the other to that of the castle. At P was a breadth of cultivated land,
+and at R the forest, which extended in a northerly direction more than
+two thousand paces. Of the ancient ramping wall of the Romans, S, and of
+the enclosure, T, there existed only heaps of _débris_. These remains,
+overgrown with vegetation, formed, nevertheless, an elevation which it
+was possible to defend.
+
+This sketch of the general topography premised, we proceed to explain
+the dispositions adopted in the building of the new castle (Fig.
+36).[19] At O existed a fosse, which was re-excavated. A barbican
+stood at A, entered on the left side.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 36
+
+THE CASTLE OF LA ROCHE PONT. 12TH CENTURY.]
+
+The main entrance of the castle, with its drawbridge, was necessarily
+placed at B. This gate had to be protected by two towers. Upon a part of
+the ancient Roman north front, five towers were planned, whose curtains
+were to join the two ancient towers, Y, which were repaired and
+re-crowned. A wide space, C, therefore necessarily remained behind this
+foremost defence. It was the _bailey_, a fore-court or outer-court, in
+which were laid out the chapel, E, promised to the abbot; stables, D;
+and outbuildings, F, upon a Roman ruin. At P was sunk a second fosse for
+the protection of the castle, whose gateway was disposed at G. A postern
+gave egress at H. The ancient Roman wall, M, received a new crowning,
+and three new towers were to add to its strength.
+
+At I were laid the foundations of the donjon--partly on ancient
+masonry--a donjon defended by a chemise and ditch. The buildings
+designed for habitation were situated at K, with a chapel at I. At the
+extremities of the ditch, P, cuttings were contrived in the two Roman
+curtains, to intercept, if necessary, all communication between the
+defences of the bailey and those of the castle. This contrivance was
+also adopted for the two curtains abutting on the donjon.
+
+The baron spent his whole time, ever since the decision come to by his
+nephew, with the master of the works, Alain of Troyes; while the workmen
+first called in cleared the ground and levelled the Roman ruins, and
+quantities of stone, sand, gravel, and timber were brought in, and the
+ditches and trenches for the foundations were excavated by the forced
+labour of the tenants.
+
+The baron designed to erect opposite the plateau (the point of attack) a
+great front, slightly convex, to screen the projections, W. He wished
+to have a wide barbican in the middle of this front, in which to collect
+the troops intended for sorties, and to shelter them in case of retreat.
+He had observed that in all the good defences erected by the Christians
+in Syria the entrances were so disposed that the assailant was obliged
+to present his right flank to the defender--with good reason, since the
+left is protected by the shield or buckler. The position of the gate, C,
+of the castle had been the subject of considerable study and discussion
+on the part of the baron and his master of works. The latter wanted to
+place it parallel with the front, but the baron insisted on its forming
+a decided angle with the entrance of the bailey. The master of the works
+urged that the left-hand tower of this gate, G, would then form a
+projection insufficiently defended, and open to attack; but the baron
+maintained that if the besiegers endeavoured to attack or mine this
+tower, they would be commanded obliquely by the tower, R; that by giving
+sinuosities to this front of the castle all points of the bailey would
+be commanded; that the principal gate was thus well masked; that nothing
+more would be needed than to give a considerable thickness to the walls
+and a greater diameter to the entrance towers; and lastly, if the enemy
+succeeded in reducing the projecting tower on the right hand, a
+barricade might still be raised from S to T, and the defence prolonged,
+with the favourable consideration that if this tower of the salient were
+thrown down, the other would remain intact and would command the breach.
+
+The postern, H, was also the subject of lengthened consideration on both
+sides. This postern was necessary to secure the provisioning of the
+castle without encumbering the main entrance. Placed near the angle
+tower, U, which the enemy could not attack because of the steep
+escarpment of the plateau, the postern was well protected by that
+tower; moreover it was to be surmounted by a quadrangular work with
+double portcullis and double doors; lastly, a _braie_,[20] X, defended
+its approach. It was agreed, moreover, that the great central habitable
+part of the castle, erected on the remains of the square Roman towers,
+should be crenelated, and should command the curtain, and consequently
+the two entrances. Wells existed or were sunk at _p_.
+
+Every part having been thus carefully determined, the works were
+vigorously prosecuted. The baron was always at hand, and persisted in
+seeing everything for himself. The north front of the bailey, and the
+chapel, E, were first begun. This exterior work did not greatly alter
+the appearance of things; but the donjon was next commenced. And when
+this tower, whose diameter was ninety feet, had reached an elevation of
+thirty, its aspect had become formidable. The townspeople viewed from a
+distance this huge mass rising on the point of the plateau, and began to
+wonder what their lord was intending to do with such an enormous tower.
+The abbot was somewhat disquieted; but he was so handsomely entertained
+at the castle that he gave no sign of dissatisfaction, especially as the
+great chapel of the bailey promised to be very beautiful.
+
+Fortunately for Anseric, the Duke of Burgundy had at that time some
+rather important matters in hand--a misunderstanding with the King of
+France. Philip Augustus gave him considerable uneasiness, and at such a
+time he did not wish to alienate his nobility. More than two years thus
+passed without anything of serious consequence occurring to the lord of
+the castle. By that time the building was very nearly finished. We give
+a bird's-eye view of it (Fig. 37), taken from the north-east angle.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 37.--BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE CASTLE OF LA
+ROCHE-PONT.]
+
+Nothing was talked of throughout the province but the beauty and
+strength of the new castle of Roche-Pont, and there were men of family
+in the neighbourhood, envious of the wealth and connections of Anseric,
+who did their best to represent him to the duke as an ambitious person,
+impatient of the feudal ties which bound him to his suzerain. It was
+even insinuated that the Sieur de la Roche-Pont, on the strength of his
+descent, aimed at nothing less than supplanting the duke; and that he
+had already begun to intrigue for that object with the king of France
+and with Pierre de Courtenai, who had married Agnes, sister of the last
+Count of Nevers and aunt of Eleanor; that his tenants were crushed under
+the burden of forced labours; and that the duke ought not to allow one
+of his vassals to oppress the poor people thus, in order to erect a
+castle surpassed in strength by none in Burgundy.
+
+As only too frequently happens, malevolence was thus suggesting to
+Anseric the course he should pursue to fulfil his ambitious designs.
+
+The Duke of Burgundy (Hugh III.) was anything but a protector of
+ecclesiastical property. The abbot of Saint Julien knew this; so that,
+although he was troubled in mind by the defensive preparations of the
+lord of Roche-Pont, and augured no good to the abbey from the vicinity
+of so strong a castle, he did not dare to manifest his fears, or
+endeavour to communicate them to the ducal court; for he was perhaps
+more afraid of the duke's intervention than of the power of his
+immediate neighbour.
+
+At length Hugh was moved, and lent an ear to all that was reported
+concerning the character and intentions of his vassal. An opportunity
+soon offered of revealing his real intentions. While Anseric had enemies
+and enviers at the ducal court, he had also some friends; and they did
+not fail to inform him of the sinister impressions produced in the
+duke's mind respecting him, and which he took no trouble to conceal. He
+had been heard to say that he would soon go and try whether the fortress
+of La Roche-Pont was as strong as was asserted. Prudence was not the
+duke's forte, any more than reticence. He had sent a body of his
+men-at-arms to examine matters closely. Now, the duke's men-at-arms had
+acquired the habits of their master; they were great robbers and
+plunderers. Whether they acquitted themselves of their mission I cannot
+say; but certain it is that they plundered some hamlets and set fire to
+several granges belonging to the abbey of Saint Julien.
+
+The monks were greatly disquieted, and did not fail to complain to the
+lord of Roche-Pont.
+
+The fief of Roche-Pont lay under the obligation to send every year to
+the Duke of Burgundy, as its feudal dues, six war horses caparisoned. It
+was the custom of the lord of Roche-Pont on this occasion to present
+himself at the ducal court after Easter. The current year was 1185.
+Anseric did not appear at court, and did not send the six horses. Hugh
+demanded them; Anseric replied that the duke's men, plunderers and
+brigands as they were, had themselves taken off the horses that were
+destined for him; and that it was their place to give them up to their
+master; that as for himself and the abbot of Saint Julien, they claimed
+compensation for damages, and demanded that the plunderers should be
+hanged on the public gallows. Moreover, that he, Anseric, was aware that
+the Duke of Burgundy lent an ear to the malevolent insinuations of the
+enemies of Roche-Pont, and he would choose his own time for giving them
+the lie.
+
+At this haughty answer Hugh's anger was roused, and he swore that he
+would take no rest till the castle of Roche-Pont was razed to the
+ground, should it cost him a fourth of his dukedom.
+
+Baron Guy had observed the storm increasing not without a secret joy;
+but though he liked fighting, and cherished an unbounded ambition, he
+was a prudent man, and one who--like all who had long sojourned in the
+East--knew how to intrigue and to secure the favour of circumstances.
+Most of those old knights of Syria joined the character of the
+diplomatist to that of soldier, in consequence of their relations with
+the court of Constantinople and the Saracens.
+
+After Anseric's reply, there was no alternative but to prepare for war,
+and war _à outrance_. But, however strong the place might be, Baron Guy
+knew well that every besieged fortress must, in the end, fall into the
+besieger's hands, if it is not relieved. Anseric had no army to bring
+into the open field against the duke's; he could assemble two hundred
+and fifty men-at-arms--which would imply a total of about twelve hundred
+fighting men, as each man-at-arms was accompanied by three or four
+fighting men. Adding to this body the men in the town who owed service
+to the lord, a garrison of fifteen to eighteen hundred men might be
+reckoned upon.
+
+Baron Guy had therefore a long conference with Eleanor and Anseric the
+evening after the answer had been sent to the duke; when it was resolved
+that the Lady de la Roche-Pont, with a sufficient retinue, should repair
+to the court of the king of France, promising him liege-homage for the
+lordship of Roche-Pont; and asking help from him against the Duke of
+Burgundy, who was devastating the lands of his vassal, and plundering
+the estates of the abbey of Saint Julien without cause or reason. Baron
+Guy had some motives for believing that these overtures would be
+favourably received; but he refrained from saying all he knew about the
+matter. He advised his niece to take the abbot in her train, if
+possible, or, at any rate, some of the fraternity, authorised by him.
+
+Dame Eleanor undertook the commission without making the least
+objection, and, with apparent calmness, though her heart was ready to
+burst under her slender corset.
+
+She employed the night with her women in making preparations for her
+journey, and early in the morning sent for the abbot. The abbot, who
+foresaw but too clearly--whatever might happen--the devastation of the
+abbey domains, gave vent to repeated sighs, protested, and denounced the
+barbarity of the times, but came to no resolution. "Sir abbot," said
+Eleanor to him, at length, "with or without you or your monks I am going
+to set out this morning; would you rather plead your cause yourself, or
+have it pleaded by a woman?" "Ah! most gracious lady," replied the
+abbot, "can I quit my flock when the wolf is preparing to devour it?"
+"Well, then, give me three of your monks." "Yes, you are right--it must
+be--it must be." "Let them be here on horseback in an hour." "Yes, noble
+lady, they shall be here, under the protection of God and the Holy
+Virgin!" "But, before all things, sir abbot, not a word about this
+journey, and do not let the brotherhood know where I am taking them."
+"Yes, certainly; the fraternity are to understand that they are sent to
+some dependency or some neighbouring abbey." "Very good, but make
+haste!" Dame Eleanor, weeping, embraced her children, her husband and
+uncle; but, drying her tears as she mounted her palfrey, she presented
+herself to her small retinue with a calm countenance. "Fair niece," said
+Baron Guy to her, just as she was waiting on the horse-block, "the duke
+will certainly do his utmost to be here as quickly as he can. He might
+possibly arrive before your return. If it should be so, proceed with
+caution, conceal yourself and your train at the vavasor's,--Pierre
+Landry's--two leagues hence, in the valley; he will be informed of your
+intention, look out for your return, and give me news of you. Then we
+shall see what can be done."
+
+The Lady de la Roche-Pont's train consisted of a dozen trusty men,
+retainers of the castle, commanded by a veteran knight of prudence and
+experience, with two women and the three monks. The party was supposed
+by the servants at the castle, to be making a visit to the Lady de
+Courtenai, Eleanor's aunt.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 17: Outer court.]
+
+[Footnote 18: "The pleasance" was a garden, planted with fruit trees and
+groves, which served for a place of promenade, and for divers outdoor
+pastimes.]
+
+[Footnote 19: In this figure the black tint indicates the Roman
+substructions preserved and surmounted by new works; the yellow the
+Roman buildings entirely razed; the red the defences added by the lord
+of La Roche-Pont; and the grey the domestic buildings rebuilt or
+repaired.]
+
+[Footnote 20: An outer wall of no great height.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_THE FOURTH SIEGE._
+
+
+The Duke of Burgundy was making all speed to reduce his vassal. In the
+space of a fortnight he had gathered six or seven thousand men, and was
+beginning his march. Anseric and Baron Guy had not failed to make the
+most of this respite. They provisioned the castle for three months at
+least. They fabricated four large trebuchets and half-a-dozen catapults.
+Timber in sufficient quantity had been cut in the forest for making
+hoardings, palisades, and wooden defences. Thirty stone-cutters were
+constantly at work making projectiles of sixty and a hundred pounds
+weight for the mangonels. Each workman could produce ten in a day, and
+at the end of a fortnight they had amassed a store of four thousand five
+hundred. In the town, cross-bows and quarrels were being made; for the
+townsmen who had to render service were bound to come armed, equipped,
+and provided with missiles in sufficient quantity. There were archers
+also, for whom arrows of ashwood, bows of yew, and cords of long-fibred
+hemp were being made.
+
+Although the lord of Roche-Pont could not, as stated above, assemble
+more than eighteen hundred men, and therefore could not contemplate
+defending the whole plateau--that is to say, the castle and the
+abbey--Baron Guy, who had reasons for it, urged him not to allow the
+enemy to occupy the monastery without defending it, even were it
+feebly. "You ought to defend the monastery," he would say to his nephew,
+"whenever the interests of the suzerain are involved; and since
+henceforth you are going to do homage for your fief to the king of
+France, he is your suzerain; his interests, therefore, are involved, and
+it is your duty to defend the abbey."
+
+To this specious reasoning Anseric could find nothing to answer. The
+northern wall of the abbey was therefore put in a state of defence; they
+connected its north-east angle with the _débris_ of the Roman wall still
+existing on the edge of the plateau by a strong palisade and ditch, and
+barricaded the western brow above the town, between the abbey and the
+bailey of the castle.
+
+The abbot had made a show of opposing these works, asserting with reason
+that the abbey was not at war with the Duke of Burgundy, and did not
+refuse its customary homage. But Baron Guy, as an old crusader, was a
+casuist of the first order, and, relying on the letter of the charter,
+maintained that the lord of Roche-Pont was fighting for the cause of his
+suzerain, and that consequently he must be faithful to the stipulations
+respecting the abbey. These debates did not stop the workmen; and
+although the abbot had sent for his vassals with a view to guard the
+monastery, they were in no hurry to obey his summons, believing that
+they were not in a condition to resist Anseric's vassals, and preferring
+to await the result of what was being done before taking any side.
+
+The baron also had a trench dug from the south-east angle of the abbey
+wall to the eastern ridge of the plateau; then he had the trench covered
+with timbers and faggots, and the turf replaced above it, so as to leave
+no external sign of its existence. Outside the barbican of the castle
+and the ditch was raised a strong palisade which protected its
+circumference, leaving between it and the wall a space of twenty paces,
+and which gave lists thirty paces wide in front of the counterscarp of
+the ditch.
+
+The twenty-second day after Anseric's answer (the 5th of May), the
+duke's troops appeared on the plateau before the abbey. The first comers
+spread themselves in the town, and were beginning to plunder it, when
+the duke interposed, and, contrary to his wont, gave orders that the
+inhabitants and their property should be respected. Listening to wise
+counsels for once, he was intending to separate the interests of
+Anseric's vassals from those of their lord, to isolate the latter, and
+thus subdue him more easily. So that very evening he issued a
+proclamation by sound of trumpet through the whole town, to the effect
+that he was attacking the lord of Roche-Pont only, who had been declared
+a felon for having broken his fealty to the Duke of Burgundy; that the
+inhabitants of the town and of the valley would be respected as long as
+they did not take part with the lord of Roche-Pont; that from this day
+forwards they were free of all dues and services towards the said lord;
+but that those who should be convicted of taking part with him should be
+hanged as traitors to their lawful lord, the Duke of Burgundy. A herald
+presented himself before the walls of the abbey, and in a loud voice
+uttered the same proclamation.[21] But the baron had foreseen this
+contingency, and all the townsmen who had come in arms at Anseric's
+summons were shut up in the castle. He had appointed for the defence of
+the abbey, only men on whom he could rely--men who were directly
+dependent on Anseric, and attached to his fortunes--with some of those
+adventurers whose services were enlisted in any wars that might arise,
+and who, having no ties of family or country, used to fight for those
+who paid them best.
+
+These defenders of the abbey were scarcely more than one hundred
+resolute men. They received the herald's proclamation with derisive
+shouts, answering that they knew no other lord but the king of France;
+and that if it came to hanging, they could play at that game quite as
+well as the duke's people. During the night two mangonels were mounted
+opposite the north wall of the monastery, and had soon dismantled the
+defences; but Anseric's men had retrenched themselves in the building
+behind that wall; and when the Burgundians advanced with ladders to
+scale the wall, they received them with a shower of darts, which killed
+some of the assailants.
+
+Nevertheless, the besiegers mounted the wall and descended into the long
+narrow court enclosed by the building. There they were exposed to the
+stones and _débris_ of timber which the defenders threw at them out of
+the windows. The east court was barricaded, and Anseric, with about
+twenty men, was guarding the barricades. He defended it bravely for a
+good hour, and the Burgundians, fighting in a narrow space, sustained
+some losses. They succeeded, however, in breaking open a door of the
+building, and rushed into the cloister. There they were still exposed to
+the darts and stones hurled at them by some of the defenders posted on
+the north side of the church.
+
+A body of Burgundians began to attack the south-east barricade, outside
+the enclosure, to take the abbey in the rear. It was there that the
+baron was posted, with about fifty men. The combat was severe and
+sanguinary, and before withdrawing, seeing that the defenders were
+gradually abandoning the abbey, he had the faggots in the trench behind
+set on fire.
+
+Already Anseric and his men were on the road to the _château_, and were
+sheltered by the defences of the barbican. Guy rejoined them, pursued by
+a large body of Burgundians. But a thick smoke soon began to issue from
+the trench, and the assailants who were coming up, seeing the ground
+undermined beneath them, dared not advance. On this Guy and Anseric fell
+upon those who had ventured within bowshot of the barbican, and killed a
+good number of them. Excited by the struggle, and exasperated by the
+resistance they met with, the duke's men entered the various buildings
+of the abbey, killing the wounded, and plundering. Fire, kindled by the
+defenders or the Burgundians, soon reached the cloister and the roof of
+the church.
+
+The poor monks, assembled in the choir during the struggle, were soon
+forced to quit this retreat; for burning brands were falling on the
+pavement through the holes in the vaulted ceiling. It was already night,
+and many were massacred by the drunken soldiery. Most of them had
+cowered down trembling in a vaulted chamber on the ground floor. It was
+there that the duke found them when he entered the burning abbey. The
+abbot threw himself on his knees; but the irritated duke repulsed him
+harshly, saying: "Sir abbot, it ill becomes ecclesiastics to fight
+against their lord; and if I do not have you and your monks hanged, you
+may thank your habit. Begone, and tell your brethren of your
+_forfeitures_!" Vainly did the abbot protest his innocence, and
+asseverate that if the abbey had been defended, it was against his will;
+and the duke, whose anger seemed to gather warmth at every word the
+father spoke, ended by ordering his men to drive out all the monks.
+
+The unhappy fraternity, perishing of hunger, betook themselves to the
+town, where some kindly-disposed persons took them in; but the duke
+would not allow this, and proclaimed next day that every inhabitant who
+should give shelter to a monk should be hanged. Collecting some
+provisions, therefore, they started for Cluny on foot.
+
+The duke had given orders to extinguish the flames, for he was intending
+to reside in the abbey during the siege of the castle; but there
+remained no part of it fit for habitation except the abbot's dwelling,
+situated north of the church.[22]
+
+Retired within the castle, after having lost a fourth of their men who
+had been engaged in the struggle, Anseric and the baron were making
+their final arrangements. The troops who had re-entered with them were
+in high spirits, for they had inflicted sensible losses on the enemy;
+and thought of nothing but defending themselves to the uttermost. Guy
+was delighted, and his sombre visage was lighted up with an air of
+gaiety.
+
+"We are getting on bravely," said he to his nephew, when they were
+alone, "bravely, I say: now that the abbey is burned we are sure to be
+aided by the king of France; we have made a capital commencement." "But
+these poor monks; what has become of them? Ah! my worthy uncle, it would
+have been better to leave them alone; we should now have some thirty
+brave fellows more here, and should not have to reproach ourselves with
+having caused the convent to be burned and the monks massacred,
+perhaps." "Stay, stay, my good nephew; monks always get out of their
+difficulties, and they are sure to be able to restore their abbey.
+Besides, it is the duke's men who have burned it! Besides, was it not
+our duty to defend it? Say no more about it. Jean Otté will get out
+to-night by the donjon postern. He is a rough sort of fellow, but a
+cunning blade; in five days he will be with our gentle Eleanor, and
+tell how that the noble duke has sacked the abbey, and burned all the
+monkery! It's capital! capital!"
+
+On either side about a dozen prisoners had been taken. The next morning,
+May 7th, the people of the castle saw three of these unhappy men hanging
+up, by the duke's orders, on the trees of the pleasance. Immediately
+three Burgundian prisoners were hanged on the battlements of the
+barbican.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 38.]
+
+None of the bridges had been destroyed by the besieged. They were
+occupied by the duke's men, and defended each by a good _bretèche_ (Fig.
+38), to hinder any communication from one bank to the other. The south
+wall of the abbey was strengthened by palisades joining the two ridges
+west and east of the plateau. A guard was posted in the two mills
+belonging to the monastery,[23] and a wooden tower built by the side of
+the rivulet, below the south-east part of the castle.
+
+These first measures adopted, the duke had a ditch dug, with a mound
+crossing the pleasance of the castle within bowshot, and connecting the
+two ridges. This intrenchment of contravallation was strengthened by two
+wooden towers, one at each end, with an outlet near each of them, and
+one in the middle (Fig. 39). The castle was thus completely invested
+(May 15th).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 39.]
+
+While these works were being executed, there were trifling skirmishes
+every day between the defenders and the besiegers. They were trying each
+other's strength, but nothing serious was attempted. The duke bent his
+whole strength towards preventing the lord of Roche-Pont and his men
+from escaping: he was taking his time. Baron Guy was often closeted with
+a certain individual whom he called his chaplain, and who had
+accompanied him from Palestine. In the castle, this so-called chaplain
+never went by any other name than the _Saracen_. He was a tall, thin
+personage, with dark brown skin, black eyes and hair, always dressed in
+a coarse grey surtout. He spoke little, and drank nothing but water; but
+never failed to be present at mass in the chapel of the castle, and
+would remain long hours in prayer. The baron asserted that he was a monk
+of the order of Bethlehem. Whatever he was, he had charge of the sick,
+and possessed remedies for wounds of all kinds. He was gentle in manner,
+never looked a woman in the face, was a scholar, and would read aloud so
+as to charm the most delicate ears. His official name was Brother
+Jerome. Now, during the leisure which the enemy left the besieged (who
+were not sufficiently numerous to offer any hindrance to the siege works
+of the Burgundians, and could do nothing but keep a careful look-out),
+it was remarked at the castle that the baron and Brother Jerome passed
+whole hours together, in the lower apartment of one of the towers, of
+which they alone had the key. Their clothes were often observed to be
+blackened when they came out.
+
+It was the eighth day of the investment, which appeared now to be
+complete (May 22nd). The baron had a secret conference with his nephew
+and Brother Jerome in the evening, and about six o'clock, orders were
+given to prepare one of the largest trebuchets, whose framing had been
+transported thither during the preceding night, at the western end of
+the lists, outside the ditch.
+
+About two o'clock in the morning, the engine was mounted, the night
+being still completely dark, as it would be at that season. They then
+tried its range against the right-hand tower of the besiegers'
+contravallation, with stones; and when the proper range had been
+secured--a point ascertained by the noise of the projectiles that fell
+on the woodwork--Brother Jerome placed in the lowered pouch of the
+stone-propeller a barrel provided with a match, and giving orders to let
+go the beam of the engine, set fire to the match with a brand taken from
+a brasier kindled for the purpose.
+
+With a whizzing sound, the end of the beam traced a bow of fire, and the
+barrel was shot forth, leaving a long and luminous trail behind it; it
+struck the wooden tower, and in bursting spread a sheaf of white flames
+which seemed to cling to the woodwork. The engine, lowered anew, sent a
+second barrel and a third. The wooden tower then resembled a furnace
+(Fig. 40).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 40.--NIGHT SORTIE OF THE GARRISON OF THE CASTLE.]
+
+Great was the agitation among the guard of the besiegers, and the
+defenders could hear their shouts from the ramparts. Taking advantage of
+their confusion, Anseric had the barrier of the lists opened, and
+followed by two hundred men, went at full speed to the contravallation,
+passed through the central gate, which was but slightly guarded, and
+turned to the left, passing along the interior of the enemy's earthwork.
+
+The Burgundians had betaken themselves to the tower to try to extinguish
+the flames. The besieged rushed upon the disorderly mass, most of them
+being unarmed. The baron had also gone out with a second body to protect
+his nephew's retreat. The duke heard the shouting from the abbey, saw
+the fire, and immediately gave orders to march forward. But during the
+last hours of night, men are not very active. Before help arrived,
+Anseric had had time to kill or put to flight all who were guarding the
+contravallation. He could therefore re-enter the lists at his leisure,
+and without having lost a single man; some few being wounded. Daylight
+revealed to the duke the smoking remains of one of his towers.
+
+This sally raised the courage of the besieged; none of them, except
+those who had been in the wars of the Crusaders, knew the effects of
+the Greek fire. They deemed themselves, thenceforth, invincible. This
+was the baron's object in planning this attack, whose result was
+otherwise of little value to the besieged.
+
+In place of the wooden tower that had been burned, the duke had a
+platform raised, consisting of wicker-work and turf, on which was placed
+a substantial floor of beams to receive a _trebuchet_ which swept the
+lists, and almost reached the barbican. Then he raised a second
+platform, in the very centre of the front of the contravallation, with a
+mangonel, whose projectiles fell right into the barbican. To these
+engines the besieged opposed the first trebuchet, and another mounted in
+the barbican. But on neither side was any great damage effected by them
+during a whole day's working, for as soon as the soldiers saw the beam
+of the enemy's engine lowered, they got out of the way. The besiegers
+enlarged the central platform, and were then able to mount the mangonels
+upon it, which succeeded in utterly destroying the trebuchet set up in
+the barbican, and the palisades in front, and in dismantling the
+battlements. The garrison of the castle were obliged to cower down
+against the walls, if they would avoid abandoning the works. When the
+besiegers deemed the palisades indefensible, and the battlements
+sufficiently broken down, the signal was given for the assault (May
+25th).
+
+In the first place, protected by mantelets or by their bucklers, the
+archers and crossbowmen advanced to about sixty paces from the barbican,
+forming an arc of a circle around it--the archers in the front rank, the
+crossbowmen behind. Immediately one of the defenders showed himself on
+the rampart, he was hit. The garrison, sheltered as far as possible by
+the remains of the merlons, and by their bucklers, replied as best they
+could, but ineffectually, for their situation was a very trying one.
+Not wishing to risk his men's lives uselessly, Anseric made them lie
+flat on their faces on the rampart, so as to be ready at the moment of
+assault.
+
+Two bodies of Burgundians then advanced, provided with ladders having
+hooks, and with planks, which they threw over the little ditch of the
+palisade. Some resolute men defended the palisade, but it was so broken
+by the projectiles that these defenders had to abandon it. Then about
+thirty ladders were set up against the barbican, and strings of men
+climbed their rounds; but the garrison succeeded in unhooking the
+ladders and throwing down the assailants; others, making use of the
+_débris_ of the merlons, crushed them. Those of the assailants who
+reached the summit were received with blows of bills, boarspears, and
+crowbars.
+
+The foot of the barbican was already covered with dead and wounded, with
+the _débris_ of ladders, and stones. From the towers of the bailey gate
+skilful crossbowmen, well protected, hit most of those assailants who
+succeeded in mounting on the remains of the parapet. The assault, three
+times renewed, was as often repelled, with considerable loss to the
+Burgundians. The assailants had burst in the gate of the barbican; but
+the baron, seeing that the lists could not be defended, had caused the
+gate to be barricaded, leaving only a narrow egress to allow the last
+defenders of the palisades to re-enter. As soon as these had got in,
+beams and barrels were heaped up against this gate. On this side the
+assailants were exposed to the projectiles hurled from the towers and
+curtains of the bailey. They succeeded, however, in setting up mantelets
+to protect them, and throwing sulphur and resin on these remains of the
+gate, set it on fire. The flames were communicated to the barricade, but
+the defenders incessantly brought up fresh pieces of wood, and night
+came without the enemy having been able to occupy the work. He
+nevertheless maintained his position around the barbican, sheltered
+behind fascines and mantelets, and piling against its walls trunks of
+trees, clods of turf, and mattresses taken from the scattered houses;
+while a trebuchet was incessantly discharging stones on the area of the
+defence. The besieged had abandoned it since midnight, and had thrown
+down the bridge giving entrance to the bailey.
+
+At sunrise, therefore (May 26th), the Burgundians were able to get
+within the walls of the barbican without opposition, but they found
+themselves directly exposed to the projectiles thrown from the defences
+of the bailey, which were provided with hoarding. It was not without
+loss that the besiegers got a lodgment within the barbican, a
+considerable length of whose wall they threw down. Then, having cleared
+the breach, they set to work to bring forward a _cat_ which had been
+framed together beforehand out of range, at some distance from the
+contravallation, while two terraces were being raised outside the walls
+of the barbican, and abutting against them (Fig. 41).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 41.--THE BESIEGERS GET POSSESSION OF THE BARBICAN.]
+
+The Burgundians could not undertake a new attack before these works were
+completed. Baron Guy determined to avail himself of this respite. Behind
+the left-hand curtain of the bailey gate, he set up the two remaining
+trebuchets on a wooden platform, and then connected the corner of the
+chapel and the corner of the building D, belonging to the stables, by a
+good palisading with a ditch.[24] The trebuchets were mounted within
+this palisading, forming an interior retrenchment. The timbers of the
+hoarding were thoroughly wetted and smeared with mud--as far as the
+enemy's attacks permitted. This precaution was not useless, for the
+Burgundians soon discharged on these hoardings, with their catapults,
+darts furnished with tow dipped in pitch and lighted. The besieged,
+armed with poles to which were fastened pieces of wet blanket,
+extinguished these missiles without much trouble; for the flame had not
+the intensity of the Greek fire, and did not cling to the wood. In fact
+the tow would sometimes be extinguished in its passage.
+
+In twelve hours the trebuchets of the besieged were mounted, and began
+to hurl stones of sixty and a hundred pounds weight on the barbican
+occupied by the enemy, and even beyond, which annoyed them excessively;
+for not seeing the engines, they were unable to aim in return--except by
+guess--with the mangonels they had set up on the terraces; and all the
+projectiles passed over the heads of the defenders. During three days no
+change occurred in the situation on either side. The Burgundians,
+however, had succeeded in filling up the fosse on the right of the
+bailey gate; and they had thrown so many stones with their mangonels
+against the hoarding of the neighbouring towers, that these timber
+defences fell to pieces; but the stone battlement behind remained
+intact, and the defenders were still perfectly sheltered behind their
+merlons, whence they sent showers of quarrels and arrows.
+
+The fosse having been filled up (May 30th), the _cat_ advanced, rolling
+on planks between the two terraces, through the breach of the barbican.
+Then as the filling in of the fosse had an inclination towards the
+curtain, the _cat_ of itself went striking its iron muzzle against the
+wall (Fig. 42). Thereupon the besieged threw down on its double-sloped
+roof huge stones, beams, and small barrels of Greek fire. But the roof
+was solidly plated with iron; its slopes greatly inclined, and covered
+with earth and wetted mattresses, allowed the stones, beams, and
+barrels to slip off right and left. Men placed within the _cat_ thrust
+away the inflammable projectiles with long forks, so that they might not
+set fire to the sides of the gallery. This latter was preserved,
+therefore, despite the efforts of the besieged, and the miners,
+protected by its roof, set to work at the base of the wall.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 42.--THE CAT.]
+
+The following night Baron Guy determined to make a last effort to set
+the _cat_ on fire. The working of the miners could be heard. Beneath the
+gate B[25] of the bailey, there was a drain which discharged the
+rain-water of the court into the ditch. This mouth had been in great
+part walled up when the enemy presented themselves before the place. The
+floor of the bridge, in falling, had moreover hidden it from the
+besiegers. The baron had the walling removed noiselessly with crowbars,
+and when the opening was large enough to allow a man to pass, he chose
+three determined fellows who, with Brother Jerome, slid down into the
+ditch. Crawling up the mound which supported the _cat_, they slipped
+beneath its gallery two small barrels of Greek fire. Lighting the match
+with the aid of a preparation which the brother brought in a box, they
+went back as they had come, and the mouth of the drain was again walled
+up.
+
+From the summit of the neighbouring towers the besieged had then the
+pleasure of seeing the barrels spread streams of white flames, which,
+clinging to the timbers of the gallery, set it on fire.
+
+The more water the besiegers threw on the flames the more intense they
+became, so they began to try turf and mould. The defenders then
+recommenced throwing beams and stones on the roof of the _cat_; then
+more barrels of Greek fire, bundles of straw, and faggots.
+
+In spite of the efforts of the Burgundians, the gallery being quite
+filled with suffocating smoke, was no longer tenable. They were forced
+to abandon it; and it was with great difficulty that they were able to
+preserve from the fire about eighteen feet by cutting it away with axes.
+The besieged on their side had not been able to prevent part of the
+remains of the hoardings above the _cat_ from catching fire; but these
+hoardings were already past service, and their efforts were confined to
+preventing the fire from extending right and left. The entire head of
+the _cat_ against the wall and twenty feet of its length was burned. The
+operations of the miners were not much advanced, still they had already
+removed enough material to give shelter to two men from the projectiles
+falling from the ramparts. Under favour of night, therefore, some
+pioneers returned to the mine-hole by creeping under the _débris_ of the
+_cat_. The darkness was great and the defenders did not observe them.
+But Brother Jerome was on the watch for suspicious sounds, and soon came
+to inform the baron that they were mining again. "Well," said the
+latter, "let us repeat yesterday's manoeuvre; send men out through the
+mouth of the drain which these Burgundians are so stupid as not to have
+looked for; and let some good thrusts of the knife relieve us of these
+burrowers; but let there be no noise!" The mouth of the drain was once
+more unwalled, and Brother Jerome with his three companions in the
+previous exploit, armed with long knives and gliding along the wall,
+reached the hole of the mine. Three pioneers, intent on their work, were
+noiselessly killed; a fourth, who was outside hidden in the _débris_ of
+the _cat_ to watch, slept, heard nothing, and remained there unperceived
+by Brother Jerome and his companions. Waking up soon afterwards he
+called in a low voice to his comrades ... there was no answer; he felt
+with his hand, touched a dead body--then a second, then a third.
+Terrified and not daring to return to the Burgundians from fear (a very
+reasonable one) of being hanged, he followed the wall, came to the
+_débris_ of the bridge, and found himself in front of the mouth of the
+drain, which was being silently walled up for the third time. Only a
+dark lantern threw its faint light on the workmen who were visible
+through the small opening which remained to be closed. The Burgundian
+comprehended, and immediately determined what to do. "A deserter!" said
+he in a low voice at the orifice. "Thy hand!" replied Brother Jerome.
+The hand appeared at the entrance of the hole, and the whole body was
+forcibly dragged through, not without excoriations, by the friar and one
+of his companions. The new comer was disarmed and conducted before
+Anseric and the baron as soon as the mouth of the drain had been
+securely closed. The poor wretch remained trembling before the two
+Seigneurs and naïvely recounted what had happened to him. He was a young
+man from Sémur, in Auxois, who, like most of his countrymen, was not
+wanting in intelligence. He gave all the information demanded of him
+concerning the duke's army: "Listen attentively to what I say," said the
+baron: "if the castle is taken, thou wilt be hanged by us before the
+first Burgundian enters. If the duke's men take the castle, thou wilt be
+hanged by them, to a certainty. If thou servest us faithfully and the
+duke's troops are obliged to raise the siege, the Lord of Roche-Pont
+will take thee into his service: what is thy calling?" "A harness-maker"
+"Well then! thou shalt be attached to his stables--shall he not, my
+worthy nephew?" "Certainly; and if he aids us efficiently, and if events
+show us that he speaks the truth, he shall have two pounds of silver on
+the raising of the siege."
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 43.--THE BOSSON.]
+
+These last words completely loosened the harness-maker's tongue; and he
+told all that he knew as to the number of the engines, the arrangements
+of the besiegers, the posts they guarded, and the towers of the
+contravallation; after which he was sent to the servants' hall, where he
+soon made friends with Anseric's dependants. Friar Jerome, however, was
+ordered not to lose sight of him.
+
+It was not before the time when the miners were to be relieved (by
+another set) that the Burgundians discovered what had happened. The
+vanished harness-maker was strongly suspected of having assassinated his
+comrades while at work; they sought for him--to no purpose, of course.
+
+Before sunrise the baron commenced a countermine at the point indicated
+by the deserter, inside the bailey wall. "If thou mistakest by so much
+as a yard," said the baron to the harness-maker, "thou shalt be hanged."
+
+The work was carried on by both parties, and towards the close of the
+day the miners and counterminers met and attacked each other in their
+close quarters with crowbars and pickaxes. The Burgundians and the Lord
+of Roche-Pont each sent men to seize the mines. A barrel of Greek fire
+dislodged the duke's men; but the masonry of the wall, whose mortar had
+not thoroughly set, cracked above the mine. Seeing this, the Burgundians
+next night, making use of the rescued portion of the _cat_, set up a
+kind of front-work, formed of pieces of timber; and in the morning
+brought a _bosson_, or battering-ram on wheels (Fig. 43), with which
+they set to work to batter the base of the wall. At each blow the
+masonry was shaken, and stones fell down within and without.
+
+The besieged tried to break the _bosson_, by letting fall great pieces
+of timber on its head, and to set fire to the timber; but these had
+been wetted, covered with mud, and filled round with manure at the
+bottom: the parapet was so well swept by the duke's mangonels and by the
+crossbow men that it was scarcely possible to retain a footing on it.
+Besides the men upon this wall, shaken as it was and vibrating at every
+blow of the ram, lost their self-possession and did not do their best;
+while the _bosson_ held out, especially as the assailants had put large
+pieces of timber in an inclined position against the wall, which caused
+the beams thrown by the besieged to slide off.
+
+At the end of three hours of continued effort, the wall gave way, and a
+piece about twelve feet long fell on the bosson. The Burgundians
+immediately bringing up planks and ladders rushed to the assault through
+the narrow breach. The struggle was severe, and the garrison themselves,
+mounted on the ruins of the wall, fought bravely and maintained their
+front unbroken.
+
+From the parts of curtains that remained intact and from the towers the
+defenders showered darts and stones on the assaulting column. The
+trebuchets within the rampart continued to send stones which, passing
+over the heads of the defenders and assailants on the breach, struck
+those who were gathered around the remains of the _cat_, and made wide
+lanes among them. By the evening, the Burgundians were masters of the
+breach; but seeing the interior rampart before them they did not venture
+to descend, but took up a position on the breach, protected by mantelets
+and fascines.
+
+The same evening they set miners to work between the tower of the
+north-west angle and its neighbour; reckoning on thus getting round the
+retrenchment by passing through a second breach.[26] They likewise took
+possession of the two rampart walks of the curtain in which the breach
+had been made; but the tower of the gate and that on the left were still
+holding out at eight o'clock in the evening.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 44.]
+
+An hour later, the assailants being masters of the rampart walk in that
+quarter, set fire to the roofs of these towers (Fig. 44), which the
+defenders were forced to abandon.
+
+In the morning, therefore, the gate was in the power of the enemy. The
+defenders still held the rampart walk to the east and west of the
+towers that had been burned, had raised barricades, and were determined
+to contest the position inch by inch.
+
+The assailants as well as the defenders needed rest. Notwithstanding
+their progress, the Burgundians were suffering considerable losses,
+while of the force in the castle there were only a hundred killed and
+wounded. By a kind of tacit agreement the day following the assault
+passed without fighting. The duke, alarmed at the losses he had already
+sustained, determined not to continue the attack without taking every
+precaution; for his men were complaining that they were always made to
+fight unprotected against soldiers carefully shielded, and asserting
+that even if they got as far as the donjon, there would not be a man
+left in the duke's army to enter it.
+
+That day was spent by the Burgundians in thoroughly protecting their
+quarters on the breach, in placing a catapult, then in crenelating the
+back walls of the towers, of which they had got possession, and in
+constructing a kind of wooden tower provided with a second catapult at
+the interior opening of the gateway. The defenders, on the other hand,
+made a second retrenchment from the angle of the building D of the
+stabling to the western curtain, and a strong barricade from the angle
+of the chapel choir E, to the neighbouring tower. Next, in front of the
+main gateway of the castle, a _bretèche_, or outwork with palisading to
+protect the men in case of retreat. It was evident that next day, the
+6th of June, a decisive action would render the Burgundians masters of
+the bailey, even if they did not exert themselves to the utmost; but the
+defenders were resolved that they should pay dearly for their success.
+Anseric, firmly resolved to resist to the last extremity, and to perish
+under the ruins of his donjon, congratulated himself on Eleanor's
+absence, and regretted that his children were not with her. The noble
+lady was, however, not far off. The evening of the day that had been
+entirely employed in preparations for attacking and defending the
+bailey, she and her escort had arrived at the dwelling of the vavassor,
+Pierre Landry, who had immediately despatched a trusty messenger to the
+castle.
+
+At the base of the donjon was pierced a slanting aperture one foot six
+inches square, which, opening into the lower hall, ended in the rampart
+walk left between the great tower and its outer inclosure. From this
+rampart walk a subterranean passage made along the foundations of the
+Roman wall, descended the slope of the plateau for a length of sixty
+feet, and opened out in an old quarry overgrown with brambles. Two
+strong iron gratings closed this tunnel. Watchmen were posted night and
+day in this passage; they were let down and hoisted up through the
+inclined shaft of the donjon by means of a carriage worked by a
+windlass.
+
+By this passage Anseric had often sent out and brought in spies, who at
+night made their way furtively among the Burgundian posts. Now in the
+dead of night, Pierre Landry's messenger presented himself at the
+entrance of the subterranean passage, gave the signal agreed upon, and
+handed to the watchman a little box, saying that he was awaiting the
+answer hidden in the quarry. The box was immediately transmitted to
+Anseric. Eleanor informed him of her return, and said that she would
+contrive to re-enter the castle with her train the following night by
+the donjon postern. Anseric hardly knew whether to rejoice or grieve at
+this return. But the baron called his attention to a flower which
+Eleanor had attached to the end of the vellum on which the letter was
+written, and which was a token of good news.
+
+On the morning of the 6th of June the Burgundians were in no hurry to
+attack; they contented themselves with sending darts inside the
+retrenchment, with their catapults and quarrels and arrows in great
+numbers from the top of the abandoned towers; they were replied to from
+the top of the church, the stabling, and the great towers of the castle
+gateway. About three o'clock in the afternoon, the miners engaged (as
+above mentioned) at the north-west curtain, threw down a part of it. The
+duke had thus three openings into the bailey; this last breach, the one
+effected two days before, and the gateway. Baron Guy advised that time
+and men should not be lost in defending this second breach, since they
+were intrenched behind; but, thanks to the corner tower, he was able to
+resist the immediate capture of the rampart of the curtains on that
+side. The defenders occupying the tower Y[27] were thus cut off. Anseric
+sent them a note by means of an arrow, urging them to hold out as long
+as possible. Fortunately this tower had no doors opening on the bailey,
+and no perceptible communication except with the ramparts. Now those
+adjacent to this tower still remained in the power of the occupants of
+the castle; as the Burgundians only possessed the defences of the middle
+part of the front. About five o'clock the signal for the assault was
+given. Three columns entered in good order by the two breaches and the
+gateway, and rushed, protected by their shields and bucklers, against
+the palisading, resolutely throwing themselves into the little ditch, in
+spite of the missiles which the defenders, who still possessed the tower
+Y and its curtains, hurled upon them from behind.
+
+An egress had been left in the strong barricade which connected the
+angle of the chapel choir with the adjacent tower.
+
+Anseric and a party of his best men issued by this outlet and fell upon
+the flank of the attack, which fell back in disorder.
+
+Then other egresses well masked were opened on the front of the
+retrenchment, and the defenders resumed the offensive. They very nearly
+regained possession of these breaches and of the gateway; but the duke,
+on seeing his force in disorder, brought up his reserves, and the three
+bodies of assailants, four times more numerous than the defenders,
+obliged the latter to retire again behind their retrenchments. Then
+about seven o'clock in the evening--for the combat was prolonged without
+decisive success on either side, and the days are long at this period of
+the year--the two catapults discharged a quantity of darts furnished
+with burning tow on the roof of the stabling and of the chapel. The men
+of the castle exclusively occupied with the defence of the retrenchment,
+had no time to think of extinguishing the fire, more especially as the
+crossbowmen stationed on the defences of the bailey, now in the hands of
+the Burgundians, struck every defender showing himself on these
+buildings. The fire, therefore, soon gained the roofs. During the attack
+on the retrenchment, the duke resolved to get rid of the defenders
+remaining in his rear in the tower Y, and who annoyed the assailants. He
+called to them by a herald, that they could no longer hope for relief,
+that if they did not instantly surrender they should all be put to the
+sword. These brave men sent, as their only reply to the herald, a
+crossbow bolt, which wounded him. Then the duke, much irritated, ordered
+straw and faggots to be collected within the bailey and in the outside
+ditch, and all the wood they might have at hand, and set fire to, in
+order to smoke out the rebels. Very soon, in fact, the tower was licked
+by curls of flame, and communicated the fire to the hoarding and roof.
+Not one man cried "quarter!" for all seeing the fire gaining them, and
+blinded by the smoke, had retreated by a subterranean passage which from
+this tower communicated with the gateway of the castle--it was a Roman
+work preserved beneath the ancient curtain.[28] In withdrawing, they had
+stopped up the outlet of this passage, which, moreover, was soon filled
+up by the smoking _débris_ of the tower floors. The duke was persuaded
+that they had perished in the flames rather than surrender, and that set
+him gravely thinking.
+
+To the last glimmering of daylight succeeded, for the combatants, the
+illumination of these three fires.
+
+It seemed as if the heavens were bent on adding to the horror of the
+scene. The day had been fiercely hot; a storm soon arose accompanied by
+gusts of wind from the south-west, which blew down the smoke and strewed
+burning brands over the combatants.
+
+At one time Anseric began to resume the offensive with his best soldiers
+by the barricade of the chapel; then transporting himself to the
+opposite palisade, he debouched along the western rampart upon the
+assailants, who on this side tried to get round the stable building. The
+direction of the wind was most unfavourable to the Burgundians; they
+received full in their faces both the smoke and the sparks from the
+western building. The attack languished, despite the efforts of the duke
+to obtain a decided advantage, and to bring his united force to bear on
+one point. A pouring rain and fatigue stopped the combatants about nine
+o'clock in the evening.
+
+They almost touched one another, being only separated by the
+retrenchment. The rain fell so heavily that, in every direction,
+assailants and defenders sought shelter, until there remained none but
+the watchmen within and without the palisading.
+
+At nightfall, Eleanor and her escort, habited as Burgundian soldiers,
+departed on horseback from the house of the vavassor, Pierre Landry, and
+under his guidance. They ascended the valley in silence, and saw before
+them the outline of the castle in dark relief before the sky, lit up by
+the fires. With hearts full of anxiety, none dared to express their
+fears.... What was burning? Was the enemy already within the bailey? Had
+he succeeded in setting fire to the northern defences of the castle?
+Having got to within two bowshots of the wooden tower, erected by the
+duke, at the junction of the river with the stream, they kept along the
+latter, forded it below the mill, left their horses there under the care
+of the vavassor's men, and ascended a-foot the slope of the plateau in
+the direction of the quarry. But at some distance from the opening,
+Pierre Landry, who was walking in front, perceived through the rain some
+men occupying the point of the plateau beneath the outer wall of the
+donjon. The duke had in fact sent some parties to watch the environs of
+the castle during the combat, and especially the base of the donjon,
+supposing, with reason, that this defence possessed a postern, as was
+usual, and fearing, that if the assault turned in his favour, the
+garrison, in despair of maintaining the defence any longer, after the
+taking of the bailey, might attempt to escape by some secret outlets.
+
+Pierre Landry turned back towards Eleanor's escort and communicated to
+it this disagreeable discovery. To enter the quarry was not to be
+thought of. What was to be done?...
+
+The vavassor concealed Eleanor, her two women, the three monks, and the
+twelve men-at-arms, as well as their captain, in the best way he could,
+and made his way along the escarpment by creeping through the
+underwood. Flashes of distant lightning enabled him from time to time to
+make out the eastern walls of the castle. No troop appeared on that
+side; he advanced therefore gradually as far as the foot of the rampart.
+
+After the combat, Anseric, full of anxiety, and without stopping to
+change his martial accoutrements, covered with mud and blood, had
+hastened towards the postern of the donjon. There he had learned from
+his watchmen that the environs of the outer wall were occupied by the
+Burgundians about bowshot distant, that they were numerous, well
+shielded, and communicated with another post established beneath the
+western rampart, and with a third on the eastern side.
+
+Anseric felt a cold sweat cover his face; but he said to himself that
+the vavassor was cautious, and certainly would not come and throw
+himself blindly into the snare. He thought for the moment of sallying
+with his bravest men by the postern to fall on the troop; but to what
+purpose? The latter would quickly be supported, the post of the wooden
+tower would take to their arms, and all chance of getting Eleanor and
+her party in would be compromised. It would be better to send away his
+wife and to await events.... But how communicate with her? It was
+impossible to send her a message. He then remounted the steps of the
+postern in anxious thought. The baron came that way, and Anseric related
+everything to him.
+
+"Nothing is lost, dear nephew; we will get Eleanor in, for it is
+necessary that we should know from herself the result of her mission;
+that must influence, one way or the other, the sequel of our
+defence..... Leave me to act.... Brother Jerome is an intelligent
+fellow; we will consult together....
+
+"In the meanwhile, go and watch without from the top of the eastern
+ramparts; for, whether Pierre Landry comes alone or with our party, it
+can only be by that side, since he cannot cross the river whose bridges
+are guarded. He must have crossed the rivulet in order to get to the
+outlet of the postern. Go, look and listen attentively!".... Anseric,
+ascending the eastern defences, enjoined on his men the greatest
+silence, and put his ear to the listening places--first in one tower
+then in the next; but he only heard the dripping of the rain on the
+roofs, and the sighing of the wind. In a little while the baron and
+brother Jerome, provided with a long rope, came to seek him. "Make
+yourself easy, dear nephew; Brother Jerome is first going to
+reconnoitre.... But call four men to help us."
+
+A board was fastened transversely to one end of the cord; this end was
+thrown over the outside through one of the embrasures, while the cord
+was held by the four men. Brother Jerome, with his grey dress tucked up,
+a large knife at his belt, put his feet on the board, grasped the cord
+with both hands, and he was gently let down. When the rope was slack,
+the brother was at the foot of the rampart, and they waited.
+
+At the end of half-an-hour, which seemed an age to Anseric, a slight
+movement given to the cord intimated that brother Jerome was returning.
+The cord tightened, and the four men had soon hoisted the brother up to
+the merlons. "Well?" said Anseric. "The vavassor is there; I was very
+nearly killing him, taking him for a Burgundian, for he has the dress of
+one; it was he who recognised me and called me by my name." "Well! well!
+Eleanor?"--"All are there concealed, for the Burgundians are not far
+off; in this diabolical weather they are earthed like rabbits; no time
+must be lost. Let down a _barquette_ at the end of the cord; we will
+hoist up the Lady Eleanor, and the others afterwards, if the Burgundians
+let us."
+
+The _barquette_ was quickly brought, and firmly attached to the cord,
+then let down; a shake of the rope intimated that Pierre Landry was
+below: soon after, a second shake intimated that the _barquette_ was
+loaded. They hoisted, and dame Eleanor very soon showed her face at the
+battlement; all hands lifted her to the arms of her husband. The two
+women, the captain, the eleven men-at-arms, and the three monks were
+thus hoisted, without mishap, but were wetted to the skin.
+
+In spite of the loss of the bailey, and the death of a good number on
+their side, Anseric's men were full of joy when at dawn the defenders
+were told that an army of the King of France was coming to their relief,
+and that it was only a question of continuing the defence a few days
+longer.
+
+Eleanor's mission had perfectly succeeded. The king, Philip Augustus,
+who appeared to hesitate at first, had quickly determined when the
+messenger Jean Otté came to tell Eleanor of the burning of the abbey.
+The king had desired to see this messenger, and the latter, who knew
+whom he had to deal with, had recounted how the duke's men, without
+warning, without any provocation, had taken possession of the monastery,
+had set it on fire, had massacred some of the monks, and driven out
+those who remained. Soon after, a letter from the abbot of Cluny came to
+confirm the fact, imploring the justice of the king.
+
+Eleanor, as a woman who knew what she was about, had not failed to make
+known to the suzerain that the dearest wish of her husband and herself
+for a long while had been to put the fief of La Roche-Pont into the
+hands of the king: that they should not, however, have declined the
+homage rendered to the duke for the fief, if that noble had not, by his
+violence and the plundering of his men, provoked this decision on their
+part; that far from being the protector of his vassals, the said duke
+was bent upon ruining them: and that if he (the king of France)
+presented himself on the domain of Roche-Pont, he would be received
+there as the sole and puissant justiciary, alone worthy to govern.
+
+The opportunity was too tempting for Philip Augustus not to be eager to
+avail himself of it. To lessen the power of a great vassal under so
+plausible a pretext, and with the rights of the case in his favour,
+accorded too completely with his general policy to allow him to display
+less than the full measure of that vigour and firmness for which he was
+so distinguished. Eleanor quitted the court with the assurance that, a
+few days after her return to Roche-Pont, the royal army would confront
+the forces of the Duke of Burgundy.
+
+The grand point, therefore, was to sustain the enemy's attacks with
+firmness. The defenders numbered no more than a thousand men capable of
+offering an effective resistance; but the perimeter of the defence was
+sensibly diminished, for it was impossible to recover the inclosure of
+the bailey. They must limit themselves to the castle walls, arresting
+the progress of the Burgundians as far as possible. The baron made no
+great account of the retrenchment raised between the stables and the
+chapel; but he considered it of the greatest importance to preserve the
+west part of the bailey as long as possible, for the north flank of the
+castle gate evidently presented a weak point, although it was defended
+by three towers. The baron, convinced that the duke was not sparing of
+the lives of his men, had no doubt that by sacrificing a thousand
+soldiers, this front might be broken into in forty-eight hours; the
+works designed to bear upon this point must therefore be interrupted at
+all risks. The building, D,[29] of the stabling had been burned; but
+fortunately the lateral wall of the building looking eastward was part
+of the Roman curtain, of thick and solid construction. Between this
+building and the castle ditch the enemy could not pass. He could only
+attack by the breach made on the side of the tower, Y, or by the
+interval left between this tower and the building, D, that had been
+burned. The tower, V, of the western angle had remained in the hands of
+the defenders. It was wide and solidly built, resting on the Roman
+substruction, and covered by a platform on vaulting. Towards daybreak
+the baron had caused two trebuchets remaining within the palisade to be
+dismounted with all speed. Their timbers were carried into the court of
+the castle, for, as he foresaw that the palisaded retrenchment would not
+hold out long, he did not wish these engines to be taken possession of
+by the Burgundians. A strong catapult had been reserved in the western
+corner tower V. The baron had it mounted on the platform by daylight,
+not without difficulty.[30] But that a clear idea may be formed of what
+follows, we must give a plan indicating the position of the enemy, and
+the state of the defences (Fig. 45).[31]
+
+[Illustration: FIG 45
+
+THE TAKING OF THE BAILEY]
+
+On the morning of the 7th of June the defenders were still in possession
+of the retrenchment C, of that marked A A, and of the barricade B; at H
+a strong palisade, with a _bretèche_, had been erected before the
+entrance at the very commencement of the siege. At D' another palisade
+arose in front of the ditch; at E was a second retrenchment, before the
+postern entrance; and at G a strong barricade. The building, F, part of
+the old Roman construction, crenelated at the top, might hold out for
+some time. The towers, V, M, _m_, _m'_, and V' were still in the hands
+of the defenders, and could take the assailants in the rear, should they
+attempt to enter the chapel, I, and the stables, D, that had been
+burned.
+
+Anseric and his uncle came to the determination to abandon the
+retrenchment, A A. To defend it was only to lose men, since the enemy
+could not venture into the return formed by the two towers of the gate
+and the building F. It was preferable to direct all their efforts to C,
+for this was evidently the point of attack.
+
+About five o'clock in the morning, therefore, the retrenchment, A A, was
+abandoned; and in fact the Burgundians contented themselves with making
+gaps in it without advancing further. In the early morning the duke had
+directed a quantity of burning darts on the roof of the tower, M; but
+the catapult planted by the defenders on that of the angle, V, greatly
+annoyed the assailants grouped outside, who were preparing to make a
+vigorous attack through the breach C.
+
+It was about noon that the duke gave orders for a simultaneous attack on
+two points; the roof of the tower, M, was already on fire. The first
+attack was vigorously directed to the retrenchment C. The second made a
+gap in the crenelated walls of the chapel, the intention being to get
+possession of the palisade E. At the same time, two catapults planted
+outside were showering burning darts upon the roofs of the towers _m_,
+_n'_ and V, while a trebuchet was destroying the hoarding and
+battlements with volleys of stones.
+
+The defenders posted on the summit of the tower, V, by discharging
+stones and quarrels on the flanks of the assailants, who were
+impetuously assaulting the retrenchment, C, did them much damage, their
+bucklers not availing to protect them in front and flank; and from the
+narrow front of the castle, skilful archers discharged arrows in
+abundance over the heads of their own party on the assailants who
+presented themselves at the breach, C; for they were within bowshot.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 46.]
+
+Seeing they could make no impression, the duke withdrew his men, and had
+mantelets brought forward and placed perpendicularly to the wall, and
+fronting the tower in the angle, and then a small bosson on wheels--its
+head strongly armed with a solid iron point. The wheels of this bosson
+were screened (Fig. 46), to shelter those engaged in working it. Twenty
+men under shelter, with heavy crowbars, were awaiting the effect of the
+bosson. The fourth time it encountered the palisade a dozen stakes were
+greatly shaken, and the cross-rails broken. Then the pioneers, armed
+with crowbars, set about bringing down the shaken stakes, or at least
+turning them aside. The assaulting column threw itself upon the
+openings. There was a hand-to-hand fight, and so densely were they
+pressed together, that the men posted in the tower at the corner dared
+not shoot for fear of wounding their comrades.
+
+On the opposite side the Burgundians had succeeded in making a wide gap
+in the wall south of the chapel; and screened by its ruins, they
+attacked the angle of the retrenchment E.[32] From the east curtain,
+however, the garrison discharged stones and arrows on their rear; and
+this assault was but feeble, as the duke was entirely occupied with
+directing the others.
+
+Anseric defended this point by the desire of the baron, who had urged
+him to resume the offensive, supported by the building F, however
+difficult the undertaking might be.
+
+One of the men posted at the defences of the gate hurried down, and,
+passing the postern, came and told him that the retrenchment, C, was
+forced and his people in great danger at this point. Anseric, therefore,
+taking two hundred and fifty men whom he had with him, issued from the
+retrenchment by its eastern extremity, rushed furiously on the
+assailants, threw them into disorder, and leaving forty brave soldiers
+to defend the gap in the chapel, and the barricade, B, that had remained
+almost intact, traversed the area of the bailey in an oblique direction,
+crossed the retrenchment, A, which was partly destroyed, and fell on the
+left flank of the assailants, uttering the war-cry: "Roche-Pont!
+Roche-Pont!" ... The Burgundians, surprised by this unforeseen attack
+and not knowing whence these soldiers came, abandoned the retrenchment,
+the bosson, and even the breach, C.
+
+The baron's troops, seeing this, plucked up courage, and killing all
+that had remained within the bailey, occupied the breach, _c_, once
+more, while Anseric was occupying the barricade, C. The bosson was
+destroyed with hatchets, and the mantelets left by the enemy were put in
+readiness for repairing the broken-down palisades.
+
+The duke was furious, and had broken his sword on the backs of the
+runaways. But no further attempt could be made that day, and the
+advantages he had gained with so much trouble were jeopardized. The
+defenders were seen barricading the breaches, and he could hear the
+cries of the unfortunate men who had remained in the bailey, and were
+being pitilessly massacred.
+
+The Burgundians had lost more than two thousand men since the
+commencement of the siege; and on the 7th of June the duke's army
+amounted to no more than four thousand five hundred or five thousand men
+at most. The besieged were reduced to about a thousand; but they were
+full of hope, and assured of success, while the besiegers were losing
+confidence. Their advantages had been gained only by enormous
+sacrifices, and this last affair threatened altogether to "demoralize"
+them.
+
+The duke had reckoned on taking the place in a month at most; and now at
+the end of thirty-two days he found that he had lost the third of his
+army without being much more advanced than the second day after his
+arrival. Order and method had been wanting in the various phases of the
+siege; this he could see when it was rather too late. If, instead of
+pursuing their advantages in the centre of the front of the bailey, the
+besiegers had contented themselves with taking the barbican, so as to
+hinder any sortie from that side, and if with good earthworks they had
+advanced under cover against the western end of this front towards the
+tower, M,[33] directing all their efforts to this point and raising a
+movable tower, they would be in possession of the western court, would
+destroy in succession the works on their right, would be able to protect
+themselves against offensive re-action on their left, and would attack
+the castle on its weak side; that is, between the gate towers and that
+marked Q. Thus they might take in the rear all the eastern defences,
+moving along the western curtain by successive breaches.
+
+The duke, it is true, was not acquainted with the place, and believed
+that in making a wide breach in its centre he was striking at its heart.
+
+These reflections occurred to him too late; he could not draw back, and
+it was necessary to act with decision. Assembling his chief captains,
+therefore, in the evening, he announced that a decisive effort must be
+made; representing it as evident--in spite of the check just
+experienced--that if they could gain a permanent footing in the western
+court of the bailey, they could soon break into the castle on the flank
+of the gateway defence, and this flank once seized the castle would be
+theirs. The soldiers, rather ashamed of the panic that had lost them the
+advantages they had acquired, cast the blame of the failure upon each
+other; and those who had been the first to run away were bent upon
+vindicating their bravery. So that when, on the morning of the 8th of
+June, the order was given for attacking the lost breach, _c_, and every
+preparation had been made for protecting their position within the
+bailey, the Burgundians were eager to advance.
+
+A vigorous return to the charge was expected by the garrison, and the
+baron concluded that the breach, _c_, would be attacked. Part of the
+night, therefore, had been occupied in strongly barricading this
+breach. Two Burgundian catapults and a trebuchet covered the breach with
+darts and stones, so that the defenders had to shelter themselves to the
+right and left behind the remains of the curtains; and about ten o'clock
+the barricade was destroyed and only a heap of rubbish remained. The
+palisade of the retrenchment in the rear was also damaged, and the
+projectiles that were showered upon this point precluded the defenders
+from repairing it. Then the first attacking column advanced, passed
+through the breach, and reached the palisades. Anseric, posted behind
+the building, D (belonging to the stables), was on the point of taking
+this column in flank, as on the previous day, but a second troop rushed
+through the breach, and the Lord of Roche-Pont was all but taken. With
+great difficulty he and his men retreated to the outwork of the gate,
+and brought aid to the defenders of the western court. The surging host
+of the Burgundians was continually increasing, the palisade was taken,
+and the second palisade, D, was the scene of a desperate struggle
+between assailants and defenders. The garrison could not bring their
+forces to bear on this point, and Anseric feared they might be cut off,
+and not be able to retire into the outwork of the gate, H; he therefore
+ordered a retreat in the evening, while from the three towers and the
+curtain of the castle, quarrels and arrows were showered on the
+assailants confined in the court.
+
+The tower, V, which still remained in the hands of the besieged, took
+the Burgundians in the rear; and the latter employed all the rest of the
+day in securing themselves in front and in flank, while the duke had the
+tower, M, undermined.
+
+The door of the tower, V, opening into the bailey, had been broken in;
+but the stairs were so well barricaded with stones and _débris_ that it
+was impossible to clear it; and even should this be done the assailants
+would be easily overpowered by the defenders.
+
+A wooden bridge connected the curtain of the bailey on this side with
+the corner tower of the castle. By means of a catapult the Burgundians
+succeeded in throwing combustibles on it, which obliged the defenders to
+abandon the tower, V, in haste. They were seen re-entering the castle
+just when the flames were beginning to consume the bridge. The roof of
+the tower, Q, was all but set on fire; and the defenders had great
+difficulty in arresting the progress of the flames.
+
+If Anseric had had five hundred more men he might from the central court
+have resumed the offensive at the moment when the Burgundians were
+trying to gain a lodgment in the western court. But he had lost a
+hundred men in the last engagement, and had no more soldiers than were
+absolutely necessary for the defence of the castle. In the evening the
+central part of the bailey was occupied by the Burgundians, who took up
+their quarters there, and intrenched themselves securely this time.
+
+Next morning, the 9th of June, the tower, M, being undermined, fell, and
+the breach, _c_, was proportionately widened. The ditch was filled up,
+and the tower, V, occupied by the Burgundians. The defenders, before
+they abandoned it, had set fire to the catapult mounted on the platform.
+
+The crown of the tower, Q, in the corner of the castle, rose more than
+twenty feet above the curtain, and thus hindered the Burgundians from
+moving at will on the rampart-walk of this curtain, which was not
+furnished with covered hoarding.
+
+The whole of the 10th of June was employed by the Burgundians in
+completing their works in the western court of the bailey, clearing the
+breach, _c_, and working at a wooden movable tower, designed to attack
+and command the rampart between the gate and the corner tower, Q, of the
+castle; for this rampart, raised on the rock, could not be undermined.
+The duke, aware by this time of the strength of the place, and supposing
+the defenders to be more numerous than they really were, was unwilling
+henceforth to run any hazards. As far as was possible he manned the tops
+of the ramparts of that part of the bailey which was in his possession,
+succeeded in setting fire to the roofs and floors of the towers _m_ and
+_m'_, and commenced a mining attack on the tower _v'_. It was no longer
+the interest of the defenders to guard these works, which weakened them
+to no purpose. They therefore evacuated them, threw down the bridge
+uniting the eastern rampart of the bailey with the corner tower, and
+retired permanently within the castle. Meantime the Burgundians were
+working at their movable tower outside the old palisade, C, that had
+been destroyed, and covered the outside with fresh hides to preserve it
+from the Greek fire. They filled up the ditch in front of the tower
+_p_,[34] not without difficulty protecting themselves with fascines and
+mantelets.
+
+On the 20th of June the tower was completed, and the road for it
+constructed of strong planks firmly fastened as far as the filling up of
+the ditch. For the few last days the enemy had been incessantly working
+the catapults and two trebuchets against the crest of the defences of
+the castle between the gate and the tower, Q, and had tried to set fire
+to the hoarding and roofs; but these ramparts were higher than those of
+the bailey, and the baron had covered all the timbers with hides and
+blankets always kept wet, so that the flaming darts of the Burgundians
+were ineffectual against them. The roofs, too, were carefully watched.
+The hoarding, however, was almost entirely destroyed by the projectiles,
+and its _débris_ had been removed by the garrison, as only embarrassing
+the defence. The whole of the crown of the tower, P, was greatly
+damaged, especially as it did not rise above the crest of the curtain.
+Seeing the enemy's preparations, the baron mounted a strong mantelet of
+thick wood and a catapult on the platform of this tower, P, which had no
+roof. Then, to meet every contingency, he had a strong retrenchment made
+from the angle, _t_, to the opposite tower, behind the tower, Q.
+
+In the evening of this day, the 20th of June, the wooden tower began to
+be moved, borne along on huge rollers. As soon as it was about thirty
+yards from the rampart, the baron had the catapult directed upon it, and
+sent against it cases of Greek fire fixed near the iron points of the
+darts. The fresh hides protected it well, and the points did not stick
+in the wood; so the fire fell on the ground, and the Burgundians, under
+cover of the base-work of the tower, flung off the flaming cases by
+means of forks. This gave them plenty to do, and the tower advanced but
+slowly, while the further it proceeded the greater was the chance of its
+taking fire. The baron, who had but a small quantity of Greek fire
+remaining, was afraid to waste it. Already five cases had been thrown
+without effect; so he resolved to wait till the tower was close to the
+ramparts.
+
+At this time of the year (June 21) the nights are not completely dark,
+and day breaks early. At two o'clock in the morning the wooden tower was
+on the counterscarp of the ditch. The mound that filled it presented a
+slope towards the ramparts, and was covered with planks. At a signal,
+the tower, urged on from behind by means of twenty powerful levers,
+rolled quickly along its inclined plane and came into collision with the
+summit of the tower P, above which it rose ten feet. The shock made the
+walls tremble, and a shower of stones and darts was poured upon the
+defenders from the top of the wooden tower. Then a bridge fell noisily
+on the head of the tower above-mentioned, shattered the mantelets and
+the catapult; and the assailants, uttering formidable shouts, leaped on
+the platform.
+
+Anseric was at the top of the tower, Q, and Baron Guy was posted on the
+battlements of the gate. Both of them, rushing towards the curtains,
+attacked in their turn the assaulting column on this narrow rampart;
+many on both sides fell within the court, and were killed or had their
+limbs broken.
+
+Numbers conferred no advantage, since it was impossible to deploy; so
+that the crowd of assailants that continued to pour forth from the
+wooden tower had to fight on the right and the left in a space six feet
+wide. The staircase of the tower, P, having been blocked up, the enemy
+could not get down through it; so that, driven into a corner on the
+platform of the tower, they had to make their way along one curtain or
+the other. Anseric, at the head of his troop, was cutting an ensanguined
+road before him with a long-handled axe. At his side, his men, armed
+with pikes and hooks, stabbed or grappled with and threw down the wall
+those who attempted to approach their lord. These unfortunate men fell
+from a height of twenty-five feet on the _débris_ of hoarding which the
+garrison had thrown down within, to clear the rampart walk.
+
+The crossbowmen, posted at the top of the wooden tower, discharged
+quarrels on the two bands; but the men were well protected with armour,
+and the quarrels rebounded from their helmets or were arrested by their
+hauberks. Friar Jerome, armed with an enormous mace, mounted on a
+merlon, felled all who came within his reach.
+
+The duke, remaining at the bottom of the wooden tower, and supposing the
+rampart taken, was urging on his men-at-arms that they might follow up
+with overwhelming numbers those who had first reached the rampart.
+Thanks to Anseric's efforts and those of the baron, there was some
+amount of delay at the top of the tower, and the exit from the bridge
+could not be readily effected. The assailants who were coming up behind
+the front of the assault were pressing upon those before them, and this
+pressure only increased the confusion.
+
+By dint of numbers, however, the Burgundians succeeded in gaining a
+footing on the tower; and the two bands of defenders were not
+sufficiently numerous to thrust them back. Seeing that they were going
+to be absolutely overwhelmed, the baron called Father Jerome, who,
+leaping from merlon to merlon, succeeded in reaching him.
+
+A word spoken in the friar's ear made him run towards the neighbouring
+tower belonging to the gate. A moment afterwards and a strong crossbow
+mounted on the upper story of the work, behind the hoarding, shot
+quarrels, to which cases of Greek fire were fastened, against the sides
+of the wooden tower, which was not so well protected by skins as its
+front. The friar took a cool aim at the exposed part of the timbers,
+chiefly about seven or eight feet above the base of the tower. He had
+ten of these cases left, and all were aimed with a sure hand, being
+attached to strong quarrels, whose points were well sharpened. Four of
+the quarrels failed to stick, but the six others were fixed firmly in
+the timber, and the cases they bore spread a tenacious and burning lava
+over the wood.
+
+At the first moment the Burgundians, absorbed in the attack, did not
+perceive the danger. Those who had reached the top of the tower could
+not be aware of it.
+
+The duke was one of the first to see the thick smoke issuing from the
+kindled wood. Immediately he gave orders for the extinction in all haste
+of the fire with the aid of small hand-ladders; but as soon as anyone
+mounted one of these ladders, a dozen archers and crossbowmen posted in
+the gate tower made him their mark. Four or five men had been killed or
+wounded before the level of the flame was reached. Inside, the soldiers
+who, like a rising flood, were ascending to the top of the tower, soon
+found themselves surrounded by the suffocating smoke produced by the
+Greek fire. Some were the more eager to mount, others hesitated and were
+for going down. "Now! to the rescue! Arde le beffroi!" cried Friar
+Jerome, coming to rejoin the baron's troop, which was almost driven into
+a corner close to the tower; and with his long mace he took the lead,
+breaking heads and arms. "Arde le beffroi!" he shouted at every blow.
+"Roche-Pont! Roche-Pont! Arde le beffroi!" shouted, in its turn, the
+baron's small troop (Fig. 47). Anseric's men, who were crowded up in the
+corner tower, re-echoed this cry.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 47.--THE MOVABLE TOWER.]
+
+The Burgundians, however, did not retreat; in fact, if they had wished
+to do so, they could not. They tried to place ladders to get down into
+the court, but they were too short. "Burgundy! Burgundy!" shouted the
+assailants, in their turn. "Place prise! Place prise!"
+
+The grey light of dawn faintly illumined this scene of carnage, and its
+pale, cold gleams mingled with the ruddy glow of the fire. The smoke,
+driven by a breeze from the north-east, beat down upon the combatants,
+and sometimes hindered them from seeing each other; but the struggle
+raged on. Heaps of the dead and wounded--the latter being speedily
+dispatched by menials posted in the court to resist any who should
+try to get down into it--lay at the interior base of the curtains.
+
+Although Anseric and the baron had ordered those who remained in the two
+neighbouring towers (that of the angle and that of the gate) not to quit
+their post under any pretext, and not to unbar the gates till the two
+troops were absolutely driven back upon those defences, these brave men,
+seeing so fine an opportunity of routing the Burgundians, and observing
+the weakness of the two bands of the defenders compared with the host of
+assailants, opened the gates and sallied forth to help their comrades.
+
+Eleanor and her waiting-women, with some of the wounded, perceiving the
+critical state of affairs (for the combat took place in front of the
+western inhabited part of the castle), had proceeded along the western
+curtain and had reached the corner tower, Q,[35] behind the troop
+commanded by Anseric. The lady of the castle was the first to encourage
+the men on guard there to go out, saying that she knew well enough how
+to bar the doors. As to the wounded who were with her, they posted
+themselves as best they could at the hoarding, to shoot at the enemy
+outside and the compact mass of Burgundians engaged on the platform of
+the tower. These two reinforcements arrived very opportunely. The new
+comers, fresh and vigorous, made their way, some on the tops of the
+merlons, others on the _débris_ of the hoarding, and relieved their
+comrades exhausted by the struggle.
+
+The fire was catching the framework of the tower, and the Burgundians
+soon found their retreat cut off. Those who had gained the rampart,
+however, sold their lives dearly, and the struggle did not cease till
+the flames of the burning tower curled round the platform and the
+rampart walk.
+
+Nearly five hundred Burgundians were killed, wounded, taken prisoners,
+or burned. The sparks of fire, driven by the wind, were borne down upon
+the roof and the hoarding of the tower at the angle, and it caught fire
+about six o'clock in the morning.
+
+The day was a fortunate one for the defenders, but they had lost nearly
+two hundred in killed and wounded. Anseric had been struck by several
+quarrels that pierced his hauberk, and was covered with blood. The
+baron, that he might be more at his ease in fighting, feeling himself
+oppressed by his helmet, had taken it off during the struggle, and had a
+large wound in his head. They hastened to throw over the battlements the
+bodies of the slain Burgundians upon the last blazing timbers of the
+tower, and to bury in the court the dead that had fallen there. All in
+the castle were exhausted with fatigue. Eleanor and her attendants were
+engaged in dressing wounds and in bringing food and drink to the various
+posts. The lady of the castle preserved her tranquil countenance and
+gentle look amid these sanguinary scenes, and during the whole day and
+through the following night she did not cease to render aid to all who
+needed it. "Fair niece," said the baron to her, while she was dressing
+his wound, "if the king's army does not make haste it will find no more
+defenders to deliver; but we have given the duke some trouble, and if he
+goes on he, too, may have to return to his court alone."
+
+The 22nd of June passed without fighting. The duke had a _cat_
+constructed with a view to sapping the rampart at its base--which seemed
+the more feasible, since the destruction of its hoarding and the burning
+of the tower in the angle deprived the defenders of the means of
+opposing the sapping effectually. The garrison could see the enemy
+engaged in this work in the bailey behind the mantelets, and they
+accumulated within the rampart all the materials they could procure,
+with a view to blocking up the mouth of the mine at the moment it
+reached the court.
+
+On the morning of the 25th of June, the watch posted on the gateway
+tower were much surprised at seeing not a single Burgundian in the
+bailey. They went immediately to inform Anseric and the baron. "It is
+either a ruse, or the king's army is coming," said the latter; "let
+there be a sharp look-out in every quarter." They ascended the donjon.
+The posts on the south were abandoned. The _cat_ and the mantelets
+remained in the bailey as well as the trebuchets. About noon the baron
+sent out ten men with the deserter, who was to conduct them to the
+various points occupied by the Burgundian captains. In three hours' time
+they returned, saying that they had met only some laggards, who had fled
+at their approach, and some wounded; that the encampment was utterly
+deserted, but there were some waggons and military engines left.
+
+The duke having been informed of the advance of the king's army, which
+was only a day's march from the castle, had decamped in the night,
+abandoning his material of war.
+
+Great was the joy at La Roche-Pont. The inhabitants of the town soon
+came and confirmed the news. The last of the Burgundians had departed
+about noon, not without leaving many of their men on the field; for, in
+spite of the injunctions of the duke, the inhabitants of the lower town
+of Saint-Julien had been considerably plundered and had driven out the
+last of the soldiers with stones and pike thrusts.
+
+Soon afterwards the Sieur de la Roche-Pont did homage for his fief to
+King Philip Augustus; and the monks re-entered their abbey, for the
+repair of which the king gave five hundred livres.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 21: See Fig. 35.]
+
+[Footnote 22: See Fig. 35.]
+
+[Footnote 23: See G, Fig. 35.]
+
+[Footnote 24: See Fig. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 25: See Fig. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 26: See Fig. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 27: See Fig. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 28: See Fig. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 29: See Fig. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 30: See the general bird's-eye view, Fig. 37.]
+
+[Footnote 31: The parts of the castle marked red are those taken by the
+Burgundians; those marked black are still retained by the defenders. At
+_a_ is marked the breach in the barbican; at _b_ the filling up of the
+fosse and the first breach made in the curtain; at _c_ the second
+breach. At _o o_ are seen the Burgundian posts established on the night
+of the 6th and 7th of June; at _x_ the outline of the subterranean
+passage of the refuge postern of the donjon; at _z_ the quarry; at P the
+route traversed by Pierre Landry and Eleanor's escort; at R their place
+of concealment, and at S the point where they were got into the castle
+by means of a rope.]
+
+[Footnote 32: See Fig. 45.]
+
+[Footnote 33: See Fig. 45.]
+
+[Footnote 34: See Fig. 45.]
+
+[Footnote 35: See Fig. 45.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_THE FIRST DEFENCES AGAINST FIRE ARTILLERY._
+
+
+King John had possessed himself of the duchy of Burgundy and united it
+with the crown; he resigned it in favour of his son Philip, who, as is
+well known, had distinguished himself on the fatal day of Poictiers.
+From that epoch till the time of Charles the Bold, the duchy had
+remained in the hands of the descendants of King John; and although the
+dukes of Burgundy were very warlike, and had formed a league with the
+English against the crown of France, in consequence of the quarrel that
+arose in 1400 between Philip and the Duke Louis d'Orleans, brother of
+Charles VI., the duchy was relatively at peace, while the north of
+France, as far as the Loire, was in the power of foreigners.
+
+After the death of Charles the Bold before Nancy, King Louis XI. lost no
+time in despatching to the province of Burgundy La Trémoille, baron of
+Craon, who, acting in concert with the Prince of Orange, soon reduced
+the whole province into subjection to the king of France; this was in
+1477.
+
+The town of La Roche-Pont (at that time the abbey alone preserved the
+name of Saint-Julien, and the town had adopted that of the castle) had
+been deemed by Charles the Bold worthy of special attention. Recognising
+the advantageous site of the place and the importance of its strategic
+position, this prince had adapted the ancient defences to the new mode
+of attack. The old castle of La Roche-Pont, several times repaired,
+still showed some of its defences dating from the end of the twelfth
+century, the donjon being particularly well preserved; but the abbey and
+the entire plateau had been surrounded by a new wall by Philip, about
+1380, and the town had been rebuilt within this enclosure, the right
+bank of the larger stream being completely abandoned. At the end of the
+fourteenth century there existed only a suburb on the slopes of the
+plateau along the left bank, and this suburb had no other defence than a
+wall of inconsiderable strength on the north. The great-grandson of
+Anseric, Sieur de la Roche-Pont, having died without male heirs, the
+fief of La Roche-Pont had reverted to the Duke Philip, who, as well as
+his successors, appointed the governors of the town and castle,
+henceforth a ducal domain.
+
+The enclosure of the town had been rebuilt in great part on the Roman
+foundations. It consisted of a substantial wall rising about twenty-four
+feet above the outside ground level, without machicoulis, strengthened
+with cylindrical towers thirty-six feet in height surrounded by
+machicoulis and covered with conical roofs. Machicoulis formed also the
+upper defence of the curtains and towers of the castle, whose plan had
+not been changed.
+
+This place had not suffered any attack since the date of these new
+works, and it was intact under Charles the Bold. During his struggle in
+the north with the people of Ghent and Hainault, and as a precaution
+against the intrigues of Louis XI., he had thought it needful to put the
+town of La Roche-Pont in a good state of defence. Now, limited though
+its efficiency was, the artillery of the king of France already played a
+sufficiently important part in sieges to render it necessary to provide
+against its effects. The duke therefore raised several boulevards to
+replace the walls and receive artillery. (Fig. 48.)
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 48.--THE TOWN OF LA ROCHE-PONT IS FORTIFIED BY
+CHARLES THE BOLD.]
+
+As shown in our plan, the bailey of the castle no longer existed. It was
+replaced by a wide ditch, A, of little depth; its bottom was on a level
+with the two boulevards, B and C. A third boulevard surrounded the base
+of the donjon externally, in the place of the ancient _chemise_. This
+boulevard commanded the stone bridge rebuilt in the fourteenth century
+on the Roman piers. Before the north front was raised an isolated
+boulevard of earth, D, of slight elevation, but commanding the road of
+the plateau. At the angles of the north front two large towers, E, F,
+adapted to receive cannon, flanked the angles and were in a position to
+sweep the boulevard, D. Set back on the eastern side, a similar tower,
+G, commanded the valley of the rivulet. Two boulevards, H and I, forming
+projections beneath the defences of the fourteenth century, commanded
+the course of the river, and could cross their fire with the boulevard
+B, and the tower E. A boulevard was also raised on the eastern salient
+at K.
+
+The faubourg had preserved its two parish churches, and a convent of
+Jacobins had been built at L, on lands bought by Saint Louis while the
+fief of La Roche-Pont was still directly dependent on the crown of
+France.
+
+The abbey of Saint-Julien, O, had diminished its enclosure, and yielded
+a part of its estates. Houses arose in its ancient pleasance, whose
+perimeter had been somewhat altered. These habitations were within its
+liberties and belonged to the abbey, which granted them on lease.
+
+At M, a parish church under the invocation of Our Lady had been built
+towards the end of the thirteenth century, when the lord of La
+Roche-Pont, wanting money, sold some lands--formerly belonging to the
+castle--for building. At N was the market-place. Three gates gave
+admission to the _cité_: one on the north, called Saint-Julien's gate;
+one on the east, Mill-gate; and the third on the south-east, called
+Castle-gate.
+
+We must enter into some details respecting the new defences raised under
+Charles the Bold. Figure 49 presents a bird's-eye view of the northern
+boulevard, D, with the _cité_ front in the background, its gate of the
+fourteenth century, and the two great corner towers.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 49.]
+
+Fig. 50 A gives the plan of one of these towers at the level of the
+lower battery, and B its section through _a_, _b_.
+
+These towers were forty yards in diameter on the outside, and consisted
+of a low battery, whose floor was six feet beneath the upper level of
+the plateau. The descent to this low battery was by a slope ending in an
+octagonal hall whose vaults rested on four great cylindrical pillars.
+Three chambers with embrasures for three large cannons opened into this
+hall. By the galleries, C, there was a communication between two of
+these chambers and two other smaller ones pierced with embrasures for
+culverins. From the descent D, two passages, E, gave access to two
+chambers, F, likewise arranged with embrasures to receive two large
+guns.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 50.--MASONRY TOWER FOR ARTILLERY.]
+
+The barrel vaults of these rooms had openings to allow the smoke to
+escape. Small powder magazines, G, opened near each of the chambers, and
+five large lunettes pierced in the vaults of the central hall gave air
+and light to the interior. At H, a well was connected with a cistern
+constructed under the central hall, as indicated in section B. This
+cistern was supplied by rain-water falling on the platform and
+discharged by four pipes passing down through the inner walls. Two
+winding staircases connected the lower battery with the platform and the
+curtains of the fourteenth century, I I, and allowed of a descent
+through two posterns, K, into the braie, L, defended by an epaulement, a
+palisade, and narrow ditch. Flanks, _l_, raked the salient of this
+braie. The curtain, whose rampart walk rose six feet above the level of
+the platform, closed the gorge of the tower, as shown in section B at N.
+Two watch-towers, P, were built in the thickness of the parapet, pierced
+with nineteen embrasures for small pieces. This parapet was not too high
+for arbalisters to shoot over its slope. A wide incline, R, facilitated
+the getting up of guns and the ascent of men to the platform.
+
+Fig. 51 presents a bird's-eye view of boulevard _I_,[36] with the
+ramparts of the fourteenth century. These boulevards were earthworks,
+and their interior surface was four yards below the level of the
+plateau. The boulevards, B and C, raised at the western angles of the
+castle, had their platforms on a level with the bottom of the ditch, as
+mentioned above. Having thus described the general plan and the details,
+we proceed to narrate the events of which the town of La Roche-Pont was
+the theatre in 1477 and 1478.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 51.]
+
+With a view to securing the aid of the Prince of Orange, after the death
+of Duke Charles, Louis XI. had been most liberal to him in promises, one
+of which was that he would place in his hands all the strong towns of
+Burgundy that belonged to the estate of the Prince of Orange, his
+grandfather, and which Duke Charles had forestalled.
+
+But when the Seigneur de Craon had taken possession of these places he
+would not give them up, notwithstanding the demands made upon him by the
+Prince, and the apparent orders of King Louis XI.
+
+The marriage between the daughter of Charles the Bold, sole heiress of
+his domains, and Maximilian, Duke of Austria, took place in the
+meantime. The latter proceeded to recover possession of the duchy of
+Burgundy, and had a conference with the Prince of Orange, exasperated at
+the non-fulfilment of the promises made him; while the province was soon
+to a large extent roused against the French, whom the Seigneur de Craon,
+eager for gain, and by no means faithful in accomplishing his
+engagements, rendered detestable.
+
+The Seigneur de Craon had left in the town of La Roche-Pont only a
+somewhat feeble garrison. At the instigation of the agents of
+Maximilian, who was filling the country with emissaries, the inhabitants
+barricaded themselves one evening in the streets, and attacked the
+French posts. The latter, small in number, and indifferently commanded,
+took refuge in the castle after having lost some soldiers. The castle
+was ill supplied with provisions and munitions. Surrounded by the
+townspeople, the garrison could not hold their position long; so that
+one night it escaped on the south side, passing right through the
+Burgundian posts to join the Seigneur de Craon's army near Dijon. The
+inhabitants immediately hoisted the Cross of Burgundy on the keep, and
+hastened to Maximilian to inform him of the success of the rising, and
+to ask assistance against a return of the king's armies; for they were
+scarcely in a condition to defend themselves. Maximilian sent them a
+body of twelve hundred Germans, Swiss, and Brabançons, with cannon,
+munitions, and engineers. The first thing these troops did on arriving
+was to commit some depredations in the environs and the western
+faubourg, after which they set about the defence of the place.
+
+The Sire de Montcler had been invested with the command of the foreign
+troops and of those he was able to collect together in the town and
+neighbourhood. He was an active, enterprising, and rather shrewd man, of
+noble bearing and handsome countenance, in the prime of life, capable of
+enforcing obedience, and trusting to himself alone in getting his orders
+executed. He had soon decided on his plans.
+
+The able-bodied population of the town amounted to about two thousand
+men, half of whom were in a condition to render effective service, and
+were accustomed to war. Some days after the arrival of the foreign
+troops, some Burgundian lords who favoured the young duchess, and were
+much incensed against the Seigneur de Craon--who, for no other reason
+than to get money, had plundered their estates and taken away their most
+valuable property--assembled at La Roche-Pont. They brought with them
+two hundred lances and some convoys of provisions. The effective
+garrison might therefore be said to amount to three thousand fighting
+men, of whom five hundred were horse--each lance being followed by an
+esquire.
+
+The place was not in a good state of defence; the braies were much
+dilapidated, the earthen boulevards crumbling away, while the ditches
+wanted clearing out. No piece was mounted. There were neither gabions
+nor fascines nor stakes for palisades. The Sire de Montcler made the
+following arrangement:--All, whether captains, soldiers, pioneers,
+inhabitants of the town, men or women, were to go every morning before
+daybreak to the posts assigned them beforehand, on pain of death. And
+with a view to impressing this order on all, gallows were set up in the
+various wards, which bore the following names: Tower ward (on the
+North); Saint-Julien's ward (including the abbey and the eastern part of
+the _cité_ opposite the monastery); Saint-Louis's ward (situated between
+the abbey and the castle, on the west); the Mill ward, looking towards
+the east. The tenants of the abbey had claimed exemption from the
+service, but the Sire de Montcler had paid no attention to their claims
+any more than to those of the abbot, whose gardens and buildings served
+as a central arsenal. Two or three obstinate burgesses had been hanged,
+and since then none had failed in his duty. At noon all went to dinner,
+and returned at two o'clock to work till nightfall. The women and the
+children from eleven to sixteen years of age carried earth in baskets
+and traies; and the soldiers, pioneers, and townsmen, under the
+direction of the engineers, began to restore the parapets of the
+boulevards, cleared out the ditches and restored the braies again. A
+sawing machine was established at the mill and cut wood to make
+palisades. In a few days the inhabitants, who had at first thought this
+very hard work and regretted having driven away the French garrison, had
+become habituated to this life of fatigue, and endured it quite
+cheerfully. Singing and laughing were heard in every quarter while the
+work was going on. It might have been supposed that they were engaged in
+a _fête_.
+
+The governor had not overlooked the supply of provisions. It was the end
+of the summer. All the harvest produce of the neighbourhood had been
+ordered to be brought into the town. A pair of millstones, which were
+still available after the establishment of the saw-mill, was at work
+night and day. All the provisions stored in the houses were to be
+deposited in the abbey or the castle, on pain of death, and the
+inhabitants received their several rations like the soldiers. A large
+store of grain and vegetables laid up in the abbey considerably
+increased the supplies of provisions. The Sire de Montcler had of
+course laid hands on these provisions.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 52.]
+
+The old men and young children were occupied in making gabions and
+cutting turf for the taluses of the boulevards. Behind the north front
+the governor had a good trench dug, demolishing some houses, with
+retrenchment and good gabionades on the flanks for artillery. The north
+wall of the abbey was terraced and united to the east curtain by a
+retrenchment with a ditch.
+
+The Sire de Montcler was a good-humoured man, familiar with all, present
+everywhere and talking to everybody; and, thanks to his jocular and
+pleasant ways, the good people saw their houses demolished and the soil
+of their gardens taken away to make ditches and epaulements without
+being greatly distressed.
+
+When everything was well prepared for the defence, however, the governor
+sent away all useless mouths. Women, children, and old men had to seek
+an asylum in the environs. After this, the western faubourg was burned
+to prevent its being occupied by the troops of Louis XI.
+
+A _tête du pont_ had been formed on the right bank outside the
+drawbridge (Fig. 52), with a large cavalier on the left bank; the two
+other bridges were destroyed. On the plateau towards the north arose, in
+front of the boulevard D,[37] an intrenchment of earth, with barricades
+of trees and large gabions screening two culverins. The boulevards and
+towers on the north were armed with bombards.
+
+Every night the governor took care to reconnoitre the environs.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 36: See the general plan, Fig. 48.]
+
+[Footnote 37: See Fig. 48.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_THE FIFTH SIEGE._
+
+
+The 4th of September, 1478, the army of King Louis XI. was reported by a
+company of horsemen to be half a day's march from the town. This army,
+consisting of five hundred lances and infantry, forming a total of about
+six thousand men, was commanded by Messire Charles d'Amboise, lord of
+Chaumont, a sage and moderate man, no plunderer as his predecessor had
+been, and as valiant a man of war as he was a clever politician.
+
+Messire Charles d'Amboise was expecting a reinforcement of twelve
+hundred Swiss; for he had been able to push his interests so ably with
+some of the gentry of the Cantons by offering them attractive
+advantages, that they had resolved to furnish him with troops.
+
+Besides the four florins and a half a month which he gave to each man,
+Messire Charles d'Amboise paid for this service twenty thousand francs
+to the cities of Berne, Lucerne, Zurich, Solerne, and twenty thousand to
+the private individuals who undertook the recruiting. For which
+consideration, a body of Swiss troops for the service of the king was to
+be raised, amounting to six thousand infantry.
+
+The king's army took with it a good and powerful artillery, consisting
+of twelve large bombards, twenty-four spiroles, veuglaires and
+ribeaudequins, without reckoning fire-arms and the munitions for this
+ordnance. Thus accompanied it marched slowly and in good order, well
+guarded on its flanks.
+
+Some of the Burgundian lords, with about forty lances, having wished to
+try the strength of the French previous to their arrival before the
+city, suffered for their adventurous spirit; for they left half their
+number on the field. The governor, therefore, commanded that no one
+should go out without his orders. The first troops of Messire Charles
+d'Amboise showed themselves at nightfall on the northern side of the
+plateau, just beyond the range of boulevard D[38], and began to install
+themselves, setting up between them and the town, mantelets brought on
+carts, and fixed with the help of stakes driven in the ground. When it
+became quite dark, the Sire de Montcler tried to attack them; but
+perceiving that this vanguard was efficiently sustained by a large body
+posted in the rear, he retired after a slight skirmish.
+
+Next day, the 5th of September, Messire Charles d'Amboise sent some
+scouts into the lower town, and on the eastern side towards the mills,
+which he took without striking a blow, for they were not guarded.
+Immediately, some bombs were discharged at these mills, and the
+besiegers were obliged to abandon them for the moment, for at the second
+discharge one of the roofs fell in. The Sire de Montcler organized his
+troops as follows:--
+
+  In each of the four wards mentioned above, 200 armed men from the town
+    were intrusted with the guard and defence of the ramparts           800
+  There remained 500 Burgundian foot soldiers, among whom there were
+    bombardiers and culverineers                                        150
+  Skilled javelin men, archers, and arbalisters                         250
+  Pioneers                                                              100
+  The Germans who were not on friendly terms with the inhabitants were
+    posted in reserve in the abbey, amounting to                        800
+  And in the castle, amounting to                                       400
+  The men-at-arms, partly in the abbey                                  200
+  Partly in the castle                                                  200
+  Partly in the neighbourhood of the gates                               50
+                                                                      -----
+                                    Total of force                    2,950
+                                                                      -----
+
+It was evident that the garrison was not numerous enough to attempt
+sorties; it had already enough to do to guard its defences in presence
+of a besieging army amounting to nearly six thousand men; an army
+moreover which might receive reinforcements. The governor was clearly
+awake to the facts, and felt that he must economise his strength.
+
+He resolved, therefore, to limit himself at least for the moment to an
+energetic defence; but this did not prevent him from sending messengers
+to Maximilian before the complete investment, to ask him to intervene
+and send a corps of relief, if he did not wish to see the place fall
+into the hands of the king of France, which would certainly happen if it
+were left to itself. But he added it would resist to the last, and he
+could answer for the disposition of the garrison.
+
+On his side, Messire Charles d'Amboise seemed not to wish to precipitate
+matters; he hanged several soldiers who had been guilty of acts of
+pillage in the neighbourhood, and ordered that the dwellers in the
+suburbs should be considerately treated. By the evening of the 8th of
+September the town was completely invested. A body, consisting of three
+thousand two hundred men, remained encamped on the northern plateau,
+acting in conjunction with five hundred men posted among the ruins of
+the lower town and three hundred men behind the walls on the lower
+slopes of the hills on the east.[39] Most of the cavalry occupied the
+right shore of the larger stream and the valley on the south. A body of
+about five hundred men blockaded the _tête du pont_, and had orders to
+seize it when a favourable occasion offered. That night some pieces of
+artillery were brought into position on the lower slopes of the eastern
+hills to command all the eastern declivity of the _cité_. Some were
+assigned to the body of troops blockading the _tête du pont_.
+
+The besiegers' artillery was thus disposed:--
+
+                                                            Veuglaires,
+                                                 Bombards.    Spiroles.
+
+   Attack on the northern boulevard                  4              2
+   Battery on the slopes of the eastern hills        2              4
+   Before the _tête du pont_                                        4
+   On the western slopes of the plateau commanding
+     the lower town                                                 2
+   Park of reserve                                   6             12
+                                                    --             --
+   Total                                            12             24
+                                                    --             --
+
+The artillery of the besieged consisted of:--
+
+                                                 Bombards.    Culverins.
+
+   On the platforms of the three great northern
+     towers                                          3              3
+   In the casemated batteries of these towers                       6
+   On the earthwork in front of the northern
+     boulevard                                                      2
+   On the northern boulevard                         1              2
+   On the boulevards B, C, H, I, K                   5              5
+   On the cavalier commanding the bridge             1              2
+   Reserve in the abbey and the castle               4              8
+                                                    --             --
+   Totals                                           14             28
+                                                    --             --
+
+On the 10th of September the besiegers began a cavalier in form of a
+horseshoe, three hundred paces from the boulevard, E, towards the
+north-east, to rake its gorge at A (Fig. 53). This cavalier was armed
+with two bombards and a spirole. Northwards, on the side of the road, a
+second cavalier, B, was also provided with two bombards. Next was
+commenced an earthwork, running obliquely with traverses, to reach from
+this cavalier in a south-west direction as far as the edge of the
+plateau near the defenders' intrenchment C, D. The great boulevard, E,
+of the defence was armed with a bombard and two culverins, and two other
+culverins flanked the intrenchment C, D. On the morning of the 17th of
+September, the four bombards of the besiegers sent into the boulevard
+stone balls two hundred pounds weight, which very much damaged the
+gorge, and about noon dismounted the bombard and one of the culverins.
+The besieged had answered their fire as well as they could, both from
+the boulevard and the two great towers G, H. But it was only the balls
+of the bombard mounted on the platform of the tower H, that reached the
+cavalier A. Those of the tower G only rolled as far as the slope of the
+cavalier B. The governor might have mounted other bombards on the
+boulevard E; but he was afraid of losing the pieces, and preferred
+reserving them for the defence at close quarters. On the 18th the
+besieger had terminated his earthwork as far as the point I, and there
+he brought up a veuglaire to dismount the flank culverin C. At this
+point some men were lost on both sides; for the besiegers sent among
+those engaged in the works large balls of stone and leaden bullets,
+fired from the bombards of the tower G, and from small cannon.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 53.]
+
+On the 18th of September, at daybreak, the bombards of the cavaliers, A
+and B, redoubled their fire on the boulevard; then Messire Charles
+d'Amboise, having massed a body of four hundred men at the point, I,
+sheltered by gabions and fascines put up during the night; at the word
+of command this body fell upon the flank, C, which was vigorously
+defended for an hour. After this the Sire de Montcler, observing that
+the besiegers were continually sending reinforcements to this point,
+withdrew his troops into the barbican, K, and the boulevard, E, which
+enabled the artillerymen posted in the tower, G, to keep up a brisk fire
+from their bombard and their small cannon upon the assailants.
+
+From the boulevard, E, the besieged, in spite of the projectiles they
+received in their rear, sheltering themselves as best they could,
+discharged volleys of stones with their culverins on the point occupied
+by the enemy. The latter sought to avoid them by descending a short
+distance below the ridge of the plateau; but they were none the less
+exposed there to the fire from the tower, G. They brought up gabions and
+fascines, and endeavoured to gain a footing on this flank, not without
+some loss, when about three o'clock in the afternoon another attack was
+contrived against the flank, D. Passing round the end of the
+intrenchment, and hastening with all speed along the slopes, the enemy
+attempted to take the defenders in the rear. This attack was
+unsuccessful. Those who served the bombards and culverins of the tower,
+H, seized the right moment for discharging volleys against this column
+of assailants, which made deep lanes in the battalions. These, moreover,
+who were retired within the barbican, precipitated down the slopes those
+of the enemy who had already passed beyond the intrenchment; and the
+struggle ceased towards evening, the besieger occupying the point C
+alone, without being able to advance. He was endeavouring to find
+shelter there, both against the projectiles and against any attack in
+retaliation. The citizens had lost only a few men and a culverin. The
+enemy reckoned one hundred and fifty dead, and a large number of
+wounded.
+
+During the night the Sire de Montcler brought up fascines, casks, and
+timber _débris_ with which he raised a barricade connecting the barbican
+with the boulevard along the road, and a second connecting the eastern
+extremity of the intrenchment, D, with the fausse-braie of the tower, H,
+along the ridge of the plateau. He brought up one of the reserve
+culverins, and mounted it in the centre of the first barricade, then,
+with gabions, he strengthened the shelters and parados of the boulevard.
+The bombard was remounted as well as it could be, and directed against
+the point, C, of the intrenchment. And a second bombard was brought from
+the abbey to the platform of the tower G.
+
+On his side, Messire Charles d'Amboise had not remained inactive. At the
+point, I, an earthwork was raised with gabionades, and two bombards were
+brought thither. The point captured was strengthened by great gabions,
+all covered with fascines, and well furnished with small cannon. These
+works were scarcely terminated when the day broke (September 19th). It
+was the besieged who began to direct the fire of their bombard from the
+boulevard, E, against the point C.
+
+Immediately one of the bombards from the platform, I, replied, while
+the other discharged balls on the tower G, whose pieces were not slow in
+responding. Then the bombards of the cavaliers A and B joined in as on
+the previous day. The fire of these five pieces, converging at once on
+the boulevard, soon threw down the gabionades, killed most of the
+artillerymen, and dismounted the bombard a second time. This defence was
+no longer tenable. However, the governor would not yet abandon the
+advanced work: protecting his men as best he could along the interior
+slopes, he sent for five hundred Germans held in reserve in the abbey,
+and when duly marshalled, at a signal agreed upon, all the pieces of the
+tower G, the culverins of the barricade, and another culverin that had
+remained in battery on the boulevard, fired at once on the point C; and
+immediately putting himself at the head of the Germans and one hundred
+volunteers, among whom were most of the Burgundian men-at-arms, crossed
+the barricade and charged the enemy's position, who, surprised by this
+bold attack, defended themselves but feebly, and were partly driven on
+the slopes of the plateau. Messire Charles d'Amboise, who was on the
+platform I, seeing this rebuff, threw two large battalions, held in
+reserve behind the earthwork, against the intrenchment between the point
+C and the boulevard.
+
+His men crossed the obstacle quickly enough, in spite of the barricade
+and the defenders posted at this point, and attacked the troop of the
+besieged in flank and in rear. In the midst of this _mêlée_, the
+artillerymen on both sides were prevented from firing; it was a combat
+with sharp weapons only. The Sire de Montcler found himself much
+jeopardised when, from the barbican and the boulevard, those who were on
+the field, although they had orders not to quit their posts, fell in
+their turn on the troop of besiegers. Immediately dividing his forces
+into two bodies, the governor was able with one to hold his ground
+against the assailants thrown on the slopes, and with the other to make
+head against the French, in their turn attacked on both sides.
+
+The conflict was sanguinary. The besiegers, driven back against the
+intrenchment, could neither deploy nor manoeuvre. Messire Charles
+d'Amboise sent a reinforcement, but the bombardiers of the tower G, at
+the risk of killing some of their own party, discharged stone balls and
+leaden bullets over the intrenchment at the fresh troops. Some
+well-aimed shots threw this battalion into confusion, as the soldiers
+could not see what was taking place in the interior, and were besides
+exposed to projectiles thrown by defenders mounted on the salient of the
+intrenchment. In fact the utmost these last comers could do was to
+facilitate the retreat of their comrades, which had become a very
+perilous one. The outwork was therefore recovered by the besieged--were
+they able to keep it?
+
+Messire Charles d'Amboise saw that it was not prudent to hurry on an
+attack, and that in the face of a resolute garrison he must determine to
+proceed methodically. As the last rays of daylight faded the besiegers
+had all repassed the intrenchment conquered the day before, and were
+leaving on the field more than a hundred dead, wounded, and prisoners.
+
+They had been obliged to abandon the culverin they had seized. The
+wounded were transported to the abbey and consigned to the care of the
+monks, who attended to them as well as to the wounded among the
+besieged. The prisoners were shut up in the castle, where they were well
+treated. Some Swiss were among them.
+
+It was painful to the Sire de Montcler to abandon the outwork after this
+success; but it was evident that the besiegers would make new efforts to
+seize it, since the place was accessible only on that side, and many
+men must be sacrificed in retaining it. Now the garrison had suffered in
+the last struggle losses at least equivalent to those of the enemy; and
+these losses could not be repaired, while the troops of the king of
+France would be reinforced, if necessary. The Swiss prisoners, when
+questioned, had not concealed the fact that the enemy might reckon upon
+a fresh body of their own countrymen, five hundred in number, before
+long.
+
+At nightfall therefore the governor assembled the captains of the
+various posts and the Burgundian lords, and spoke to them as
+follows:--"Gentlemen, our troops have displayed courage and intelligence
+in this day's struggle; and this assures us success, with the help of
+God. Though inferior to the enemy in numbers, we have defended and
+recovered the outwork; it would therefore be possible to keep it. Yet we
+cannot do so without directing all our means of resistance to this
+point, and imposing a severe task on the garrison. We should be rapidly
+exhausting our strength, while the enemy, which is much more numerous
+than we, can employ fresh troops every day. It would seem wise, then, to
+abandon this outwork, exposed to the batteries of the enemy, and to
+retire behind the ramparts; but besides the disinclination which men of
+honour must feel for retreating, after a success has been gained, and
+not trying to avail themselves of the advantages they have secured,
+there is the consideration that if we abandon the boulevard this defence
+will be turned against us by the besieger, and will support him in
+attacking our front. I have, therefore, resolved to unite this boulevard
+with the extremities of the curtains by two intrenchments, which will be
+flanked by the towers. This very night we must begin; and if we have not
+finished the works to-morrow morning we must defend our present
+intrenchment, that we may secure time to finish the new one. Be so good,
+therefore, as to assemble the townspeople in their various quarters
+within an hour, and let them be in readiness on the ground to work at
+the said intrenchments."
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 54]
+
+The orders of the governor were peremptory, and about nine o'clock four
+hundred workmen, and even women, issued by the north gate to raise the
+earthworks marked out on the ground by the engineer (Fig. 54). This
+intrenchment consisted of a small ditch with an earthwork surmounted by
+stakes, rubbish from the demolition of houses in the town, fascines, and
+barrels filled with earth. On the western side it started from the
+boulevard at N, and joined the fosse of the curtain at L, leaving a
+passage of twenty-four feet between its extremity and the ditch. On the
+eastern side it reached the entrance of the boulevard O, and followed
+the line O M, with a similar passage at M. At R and P two culverins were
+mounted, protected by strong gabionades. On the enemy's side an
+embankment, with platform and gabions, had been raised at S, and the two
+bombards of the cavalier, B, were mounted on this platform. At T,
+Messire Charles d'Amboise had placed a culverin, protected by a
+gabionade.
+
+The bombards of the cavalier B were replaced by three veuglaires to
+crush the battery S, if the besieged, taking the offensive, endeavoured
+to seize it.
+
+On the morning of the 20th of September the works of the besieged were
+almost completed, or at any rate were high enough to present an obstacle
+to the assailant. The boulevard, E, had been well furnished with
+fascines and gabions that very night. The bombard, remounted, swept the
+point C, and the two culverins the exterior. The intrenchment, C D, was
+strongly occupied by the defenders at the break of day with small cannon
+and powerful catapults. The barricades on the flanks, V and X, were
+strengthened. The Sire de Montcler sent two hundred men to the
+boulevard, E, with orders to keep under cover as far as possible, and to
+use their weapons only in case of the intrenchment being forced. The
+attack commenced about six o'clock. The two bombards, S, discharged
+stone balls on the salient of the intrenchment and on the boulevard; at
+the same time the two pieces, I and T, directed their fire on the
+epaulement, C, and the interval, S T, was occupied by arbalisters and
+men who served the small cannon under cover of mantelets. From the
+cavalier, A, the bombards continued to discharge balls broadcast on the
+boulevard E, as on the previous days. From the platform of this cavalier
+A, Messire Charles d'Amboise had observed the intrenchment which the
+besieged had raised during the night; he therefore resolved to bring all
+his efforts to bear on the salient and the boulevard. With this view,
+about eight o'clock, he brought up two culverins at Y, which, protected
+by gabions, were also made to do duty. The besieged replied only with
+their small cannon and the two culverins of the epaulements, C and D,
+and their arbalisters. They were husbanding their fire for the moment of
+assault. At noon, the salient of the intrenchment was broken down, and
+the escarpment of the boulevard was greatly damaged. The defenders were
+driven from their position at Z; their culverin, C, was dismounted, and
+the western epaule rendered untenable. They dispersed or took refuge
+along the intrenchment from Z to D, which was less exposed. The Sire de
+Montcler gave orders to return within the second intrenchment. They
+brought away the culverin D, which was mounted at the extremity L; but
+they were obliged to leave the piece C after having spiked it. As soon
+as Charles d'Amboise saw the besieged abandon his intrenchment he ceased
+firing, and, having marshalled an assaulting column furnished with
+ladders, poles, and cutlasses, ordered it to cross the ruined salient
+and assault the boulevard without giving the enemy breathing time. This
+was the moment for which the commandant was waiting. As soon as he saw
+this column begin to move and pass the intrenchment, he directed upon it
+a simultaneous fire from the pieces of the two towers G and H, the two
+culverins mounted on the boulevard, and all the small cannon. The
+assaulting column, thus taken obliquely and in front, hesitated and
+fell back; when it was greeted by a shower of crossbow bolts from the
+ramparts of the boulevard. It rallied, however, behind the battery S,
+which discharged a volley upon the boulevard, and, turning slightly on
+its right so as at least to shelter itself from the fire of the tower H,
+it passed the intrenchment once more and threw its scaling ladders on
+the escarpment of the boulevard. The defenders sustained the assault
+resolutely. The tower, G, then began to fire on the assailants as well
+as the culverins brought up at L and P.
+
+The besiegers suffered severe losses. On two occasions some of their
+number reached the parapet, but could not hold their ground. They did
+not fall back, however; and most of them heated by the fight, not
+obeying or not hearing the voice of their captains, advanced along the
+new intrenchment N L, hoping to force it, for it was but weak. In fact,
+in a few moments this defence was passed, and the assailants then
+endeavoured to take the boulevard by the gorge. The defenders posted
+between C and M seeing themselves taken in rear, took refuge, some in
+the boulevard and others in barbican K. A hand to hand fight began in
+this triangle. In this _mêlée_ the garrison dared not shoot from the
+curtain. The Sire de Montcler, who was in the barbican, then put himself
+at the head of his men and encouraged them by saying that the enemy was
+taken in a snare from which he could not escape; he sallied forth in
+good order, driving the scattered assailants before him as far as the
+gorge of the boulevard, which was crowded by the defenders, crying
+"Burgundy! Burgundy!" (Fig. 55). The works of this boulevard were
+commanded by a cool-headed captain, who was able to prevent his men from
+being disturbed by the struggle going on behind them; and who
+maintained his ground against the assault--now diminishing in
+vigour--issued from the gorge, and rallying all the panic-stricken
+soldiers who were massed together at this point, rushed on the enemy.
+The French were then obliged to retreat as best they could, not without
+leaving many of their men on the field. But it was evident that the
+boulevard P could hold out no longer. Surrounded by the enemy's fire,
+and the outer intrenchment taken, a fresh assault would place it in the
+power of the enemy. Its parapets were ruined, and its three pieces
+disabled. All night the besiegers occupied both sides of the
+intrenchments N, L, O, M and kept up an incessant fire to hinder the
+besieged from reinforcing this defence. The Sire de Montcler determined,
+though with regret, and only to avoid a useless sacrifice of life, to
+give the orders required for bringing back into the town such pieces of
+ordnance as were still serviceable. He was obliged to abandon the
+bombard, of which indeed the besiegers could make no use. Two of the
+five culverins were placed on the platforms of the great towers, and the
+three others on terraces raised behind the curtain, together with three
+pieces taken from the reserve.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 55.--ASSAULT ON THE BOULEVARD.]
+
+On the morning of the 21st of September, the besiegers found the outwork
+abandoned; but in occupying it themselves they were exposed to the fire
+of the two great bombards of the towers and of ten culverins, which did
+not cease to fire on the boulevard and the intrenchment.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: 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).[40]
+
+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.[41] 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.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 57]
+
+The Sire de Montcler decided that he must at all risks retard the
+besieger's progress if he could do nothing more. He reckoned that in two
+days the enemy would be able to effect a breach, either by his cannon or
+by mining, and that then the _cité_ must be taken; for the garrison
+could not long hold out behind the interior retrenchments. In the
+cannonade of the preceding days the Sire de Montcler had lost but few
+men, and his reserve force had not been drawn upon. He therefore got
+them under arms about nine o'clock, summoned a troop of one hundred
+well-mounted horsemen, and gave the following orders:--The hundred
+horsemen, accompanied by a hundred _coutilliers_ on foot, were to sally
+forth by the eastern gate against the post established at the mills,
+attack the small encampment installed in the meadows below, fall back by
+the road skirting the plateau on the east side, skirmish on the
+outskirts of the French camp, or cut down the posts they came upon on
+their way, and then return at full speed to the east gate. A second body
+of a hundred foot soldiers was to be at the cross road above the mills
+to protect their retreat. During these attacks, designed to attract the
+enemy's attention to the left, a troop of five hundred men on foot would
+issue from a masked postern giving egress below the front of the abbey
+on the west, and filing off along the ramparts, vigorously attack the
+cavalier C, and the battery A, spike the pieces, and do all possible
+damage. It was to retire by the same way, protected by the western
+ramparts.
+
+Messire Charles d'Amboise was too experienced a warrior to fail in
+pushing his advantage. He knew that success, especially in sieges,
+ultimately accrues to him who leaves the enemy no repose, and does not
+fall asleep when his first advantage has been gained. The north front of
+the place was rendered powerless; but an energetic governor of a town
+may, in a single night, accumulate many obstacles, devise a hundred
+stratagems, and very greatly hinder the efficiency of an attack. Charles
+d'Amboise had therefore resolved to have fascines conveyed to the ditch
+by a body of a thousand men, some yards from the great tower of the
+corner G, and to attempt an escalade, while the ordnance, firing on this
+tower at discretion, hindered the defenders from fortifying the platform
+again. He had observed the embrasure on the flank of this tower raking
+the ditch, and had summoned a body of twenty men, furnished with
+mattresses, and pieces of wood to mask it. As regarded the
+_fausse-braie_, that was ruined, and could not present any serious
+obstacle.
+
+The Sire de Montcler had some reason to expect a night attack; but he
+intended to be beforehand with it, and crush it in the bud. "Whatever
+happens," he said to the troops ordered for the sorties, "act according
+to your instructions: do not allow yourselves to be diverted by any
+attempt at an assault; on the contrary, execute the orders given you to
+the letter. We are still numerous enough to sustain an attack."
+
+At a quarter past ten the two detachments were in the act of issuing
+forth by the eastern gate and by the abbey postern. The governor then
+mounted the _débris_ of the defences of the tower at the corner C, and
+attentively examined the attitude of the enemy. The fires they had
+lighted were no longer to be seen; but, on listening, he heard
+indistinct sounds along the works of the besieger. The sky was overcast,
+and drops of rain were in falling. The Sire de Montcler descended to the
+lower battery; all the embrasures fronting the exterior were in ruins,
+and all the pieces of ordnance covered with rubbish. The embrasure of
+the flank was intact, and the small piece with which it was furnished
+was in good condition. He had it loaded in his presence with nails and
+old iron, and gave orders to those serving it not to fire till they saw
+the enemy a few paces off; behind this piece he had a second placed
+similarly loaded, so that two volleys might be discharged one after the
+other. Then he went up again to the rampart walk of the curtain, and
+himself drew up his men, who were armed with long bills and good daggers
+and axes. He next visited the ruined gate. It presented such a pile of
+rubbish that the enemy would not have been able to pass it in the night;
+nevertheless in every corner he posted troops, with orders not to use
+their weapons till they found themselves face to face with the enemy, to
+observe absolute silence, and not to shout during the fight. This done,
+he placed a reserve of two hundred men behind the interior retrenchment,
+and fifty men, furnished with tarred bundles of straw, on the ridge of
+this retrenchment, with orders to kindle them when they heard the cry
+"Burgundy!"
+
+About three-quarters past ten the Sire de Montcler again ascended the
+platform of the corner tower, and recognised the presence of the enemy
+some yards from the ditch. Notwithstanding the darkness, he could see a
+black mass deploying in silence; then he heard the fascines rolling into
+the fosse and the wood cracking under the men's feet. In a few minutes,
+about fifty ladders were set up against the curtain, and each of them
+was covered by the enemy. These ladders were provided with hooks at the
+top and stays along the sides, so that the defenders could not throw
+them down: two, however, fell, dragging the assailants with them.
+
+At this moment the small pieces of ordnance on the flank of the tower
+fired, and the cries of the wounded resounded from the ditch, while
+three more ladders were broken and fell. The hosts of assailants surged
+over on the rampart walk, and at the cry of "Burgundy!" the fires having
+been kindled, the encounter with keen weapons in this narrow space
+presented the strangest spectacle.
+
+The artillery of the besieged was then directed to the flank of the
+curtain and the exterior, from the platform of the corner tower; while
+shouts arose from this battery, and the five hundred Burgundians who
+were ordered to the sortie on the west began an attack, and the troops
+that were preparing to reinforce the assault turned their backs to the
+town to fall on this attacking body.
+
+The Sire de Montcler heard shouting in the distance on the north-east
+side, and saw a bright gleam through the darkness. He then went down to
+bring his reserves to the curtain. The French, however, succeeded in
+getting to the top of the rampart, and reached the corner tower. The few
+men who were on the summit of the dismantled platform struggled bravely
+until the moment when the reserve sent by the governor, ascending the
+incline on which the artillery was posted, fell on the French, and drove
+them back to the rampart walk of the curtain. The assailants then
+forming in a column on the rampart walk, directed a vigorous attack
+against the tower. From the interior retrenchment, showers of bolts,
+arrows, and small-shot were discharged upon them in flank; and although
+they had bucklers, the French lost a great many. As the rampart walk was
+narrow, the head of the column could present only three men abreast, and
+was met by a compact mass of defenders. It was not advancing; the
+soldiers in the rear, who were exposed to darts in flank, were pressing
+on those before them in order to force the platform and fight. In this
+press many fell mutilated within the town. One of the culverineers of
+the tower, aided by a dozen men, had succeeded during the struggle in
+getting a culverin out of the rubbish and carrying it without its
+carriage, loaded, into the midst of the group of Burgundians defending
+the passage. Thrusting the mouth of the piece between their legs, he
+fired it: the ball, and the stones with which the bore of the culverin
+had been filled, made a frightful lane in the compact body of the
+French: some leaped down into the town, others ran towards the towers of
+the gateway, and several climbed the parapet to regain their ladders.
+The Burgundians made another rush along the rampart, killing all who
+resisted.
+
+But at that juncture a large body of the French issued forth through the
+gate of the lower battery. By aid of pickaxes and crowbars they had
+succeeded, after filling up the ditch with fascines, in enlarging the
+openings of two of the embrasures, already broken down by the cannon;
+then, throwing into these openings lighted bundles of straw and tar
+mixed with gunpowder so as to drive away the defenders, they had made
+their way into the interior at the risk of being themselves suffocated
+by the smoke, and rushing towards the gate, killing the few that had
+remained in the battery, they had forced the doors and made an entrance
+for their comrades by the same road. Issuing forth into the town they
+ascended the incline at full speed.[42] The cry Of victory on the part
+of the Burgundians was answered by cries of "France! d'Amboise!" These
+shouts revived the courage of the French who had remained on the
+rampart, and they renewed the attack. The Sire de Montcler despatched
+his last reserves against the new comers, but they continued to pour out
+on level ground and fought valiantly. Their number was increasing every
+moment, and they succeeded in driving back the reserves to the
+retrenchment. The Burgundians, cooped up on the platform of the tower,
+surrendered after having lost half their men. Messire Charles d'Amboise
+ordered that they should be honourably treated. The tower of the
+north-west salient was in the power of the enemy, as well as the whole
+of the curtain stretching from this tower to the north gate.
+
+Day was breaking when the combat ceased, and some hours' repose were
+needed on both sides. The corner tower was lost to the besieged; the
+governor strongly barricaded the adjoining tower opening on to the
+curtain, and placed a number of small cannon in the upper story of this
+tower. He had done the same on the broken summit of the western tower of
+the gate. He wished to hinder the enemy from gaining ground on the
+curtains, and outflanking--particularly on his right--the retrenchment
+connected with the old wall surrounding the abbey, and meeting the tower
+on the north-east corner.[43]
+
+A short time before the end of the struggle, the two bodies destined for
+the sorties were on their return, the foot soldiers through the abbey
+postern, and the men-at-arms, not through the east gate, but through
+that near the castle on the west. The foot soldiers brought in a hundred
+prisoners; the horse had lost a third of their party. The fortune of
+these two bodies had been as follows:--The foot soldiers, operating on
+the left, had come upon the enemy unawares, making their way through the
+brushwood of the western slope of the plateau as far as the gorge of the
+enemy's battery, C,[44] had fallen on the guard, spiked the guns, and,
+taking advantage of the confusion, had taken the attacking column in
+flank, had entered the battery, A, whose pieces they had also spiked,
+but, seeing themselves too far advanced, had beat a retreat, descending
+the slopes straight towards the west. As they were not vigorously
+pursued, they had entered the lower town, surprised and captured two
+bodies of guards, set fire to some huts erected by the besiegers, and
+regained the town. Charles d'Amboise, at first surprised by the audacity
+of the attack, but quickly perceiving that it could do him no serious
+damage, had given the strictest orders that nothing should divert his
+men from the assault, and had contented himself with sending against the
+troops of the besieged two or three hundred men to keep them back and
+compel them to seek the slopes, without troubling to pursue them. The
+men-at-arms had followed the governor's instructions, had fallen upon
+the small encampment above the mills, and, leaving the _coutilliers_
+there to complete their commission (the latter had re-entered about two
+o'clock in the morning by the east gate), they had pursued the road
+indicated as far as the base of the plateau, and had arrived without
+hindrance at the boundary of the French camp, charging the posts in a
+direct line at full speed.
+
+This attack had thrown confusion into that part of the camp which was
+occupied by the baggage, the carts, and camp servants. Stacks of forage
+had caught fire amid the disorder thus occasioned. But the assailants
+had soon observed three or four hundred horsemen close upon them; they
+had then made straight for the north, and buried themselves in the thick
+woods upon their right; they next wheeled towards the left, reached the
+banks of the stream, whose left bank they followed without interruption,
+but with the loss of a third of their comrades, who had strayed, or been
+captured or killed. They supposed they had fallen in with a body of the
+French in the lower town, and were preparing to pass it at a gallop, but
+they turned out to be the Burgundian foot soldiers.
+
+Charles d'Amboise, at the first report of this attack on the rear of the
+camp, had been much disquieted, supposing that succour had arrived; but
+being soon correctly informed, had sent out men-at-arms to cut off this
+body of adventurers, and was only the more eager for the assault.
+
+Messire Charles d'Amboise was accustomed (in this respect differing from
+the warriors of the time) to surround himself with young captains of
+intelligence and energy, who kept him constantly informed of all that
+took place in the army, during the march and on the field. When the
+information furnished was found to be exact, and was reported in cool
+discretion and without exaggeration, Charles d'Amboise would praise
+these young officers in presence of all his captains, and recompense
+them liberally. If, on the contrary, the reports were false or tainted
+with exaggeration, or incomplete, he would inflict severe and public
+censure on the reporters, and assign them some subaltern and humiliating
+duty, such as guarding the baggage or superintending the camp servants.
+
+When Charles d'Amboise learned next morning the damage caused on the
+border of the camp by a few Burgundian men-at-arms, the loss of his men
+encamped at the mill and in the lower town, and the spiking of six of
+his pieces of ordnance, he was much annoyed, but could not refrain from
+saying to his captains: "We have to do with brave men, who defend
+themselves valiantly. I beg you, gentlemen, to take care that their
+wounded and prisoners be treated with all the respect due to soldiers
+who do their duty." Then about the second hour of the day he sent a
+herald to the retrenchment of the besieged, to ask a parley with the
+governor. The Sire de Montcler having ascended the terrace, the herald
+spoke as follows: "Sir Governor! Monseigneur Charles d'Amboise,
+commanding the army of our lord the king of France, sends me to you to
+require of you to render up the town and castle of Roche-Pont, which you
+are withholding contrary to the treaties and defending against their
+lawful lord. Henceforward the said _cité_ is in the power of the army of
+our lord the king of France, and a longer resistance will only cause the
+useless loss of a great number of brave men. In consideration of your
+brave and noble defence, Monseigneur Charles d'Amboise will let you go
+forth--you and your men--with your lives and property. May God have you
+in his keeping and guide you to a wise decision." "Sir messenger,"
+replied the governor, "Messire Charles d'Amboise is a captain too well
+acquainted with war to think himself master of the town and castle of
+Roche-Pont because he has got possession of a tower and a curtain. He
+knows what it has cost him to advance even so far; and there is still a
+considerable space between this retrenchment and the castle, and the
+castle is good and defensible. I acknowledge no other lawful lords of
+Burgundy, and of this city in particular, than the Duchess of Burgundy,
+daughter of the noble and puissant Duke Charles, and her illustrious
+husband Maximilian. I am here to defend their property against all
+comers, and I will defend it as long as I have a sword in my hand.
+Nevertheless, tell Messire Charles d'Amboise that if he is willing to
+exchange prisoners, man for man, I am prepared to do so. If he prefers
+to leave things as they are, I give him my word of honour that his
+people are being well treated."
+
+"Well, then," said Charles d'Amboise, when the herald had conveyed this
+answer to him, "this _cité_ will be damaged for a long time to come!"
+
+During the 24th of September, the rain did not cease to fall in
+torrents. Besiegers and besieged were at a hundred paces from each
+other. They were employed in burying the dead, whose numbers were
+especially great on the side of the French, and both were preparing for
+a fresh struggle, though the bad weather greatly impeded the workers.
+Figure 58 shows the position of the besieged and the besiegers.[45]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 58
+
+TAKING OF AN ARTILLERY TOWER.]
+
+After the losses sustained since the commencement of the siege, the
+garrison scarcely reckoned more than two thousand available men, for
+typhus was already devastating the town; three-fourths of the wounded
+crowded together in the abbey were attacked by it. The good monks tended
+them with their utmost care, but they themselves were largely sacrificed
+to the contagion; and of a community of a hundred and fifty in number
+scarcely more than fifty survived. The progress of the besieger,
+however, seemed only to increase the determination of the inhabitants,
+and the women worked heartily at the defences. They were the first to
+cry shame on those of the defenders who manifested despondency.
+
+During the night between the 24th and 25th, the Sire de Montcler
+strengthened the retrenchment. From A to B[46] he took advantage of the
+ancient enclosure-wall of the abbot's pleasance, then occupied by
+dwellings. A culverin was mounted on a terrace at B. The retrenchment
+leading from C to D, which had been made of earth and the _débris_ of
+the houses demolished at this point, was armed with three culverins at
+C, at E, and D.
+
+The French on their side had cleared the platform of the conquered
+tower, G, had well gabioned the parapet, and mounted three pieces
+pointed at the retrenchment, and a spirole directed against the tower,
+K, which remained in the power of the Burgundians.
+
+The women, children, and old men were employed in strengthening also the
+second retrenchment, I, M, behind the abbey wall, and the junction, M,
+N. This second retrenchment was armed with three pieces. Places of
+egress were reserved at the extremities and through the gate, O, of the
+abbey.
+
+The rain continued during the 25th of September, which passed without
+any serious engagement. The combatants were trying one another's
+strength. The garrison was not numerous enough to allow of their
+leaving a post at the _tête du pont_. This work was abandoned on the
+night between the 25th and 26th, and the enemy entered it without
+striking a blow.
+
+But as they were fired on by the bombard of boulevard I,[47] they did
+not advance along the ascent, but took shelter behind the cavalier of
+the left bank. The Sire de Montcler conjectured, however, that the
+French were preparing a real or feigned attack on this side.
+
+During the night, thirty-six feet of the northern curtain, near the
+tower, G, fell into the ditch, reaching from _a_ to _b_; the miners had
+been working for two days to accomplish this. On the morning of the 26th
+of September, the besiegers opened fire against the retrenchment. The
+dominant position of the tower, G, gave them a great advantage; and
+though the garrison did their best to reply, the culverins, C and D,
+were dismounted and the gabions thrown down about noon, when orders were
+given for the assault. A strong column of infantry advanced through the
+breach, _a b_, cutlasses in hand, and in fine order. But from the
+platform of the tower, F, which had remained in the power of the
+Burgundians, two culverins fired simultaneously on this column. Messire
+Charles d'Amboise supposed that the pieces in this tower had been
+silenced, and so they had been. But during the night, the Sire de
+Montcler had hoisted up three of the small pieces of the lower battery
+through the vault holes, and had masked them under the rubbish of the
+parapets. This discharge produced disorder in the column of the
+assailants. Fortunately for them, the pieces of the outer boulevard, in
+the power of the French, began to fire in their turn on the platform of
+the tower, P, and soon silenced the Burgundian spiroles.
+
+The assault was vigorous, well directed and well sustained, while from
+without the French did not cease firing on the gate and tower F, so that
+those of the garrison who had remained in the upper works of the gate
+had to abandon them and escape by the curtain and tower F.
+
+Messire Charles d'Amboise, standing on the breach, _a b_, was
+continually sending reinforcements to the assailants, and when he saw
+his people too fatigued he would replace them by fresh troops. The
+Burgundians had not enough men to do the like, so that about four
+o'clock they were exhausted, and some were beginning to file off along
+the ramparts. At length a vigorous effort forced the centre of the
+retrenchment, and the French pushed forward through the street running
+along the old wall of the abbey. The Sire de Montcler, however,
+retreated in good order in three columns, two along the ramparts, and
+the third by the road in the middle. When he saw his men sheltered
+behind the second retrenchment, he discharged the _pierrier_ placed at
+M, and the culverin mounted at I, so that the assailants fell back in
+disorder. Then, followed by some brave men--his last reserve--he fell on
+the French coming along by the abbey and the western rampart. From the
+top of this rampart the assailants were also exposed to a shower of
+darts. Night was advancing: the brave men who had kept close to the
+governor were urging forward, attempting to recapture the first
+retrenchment. Many of the Burgundians who had retired behind the second
+retrenchment, seeing the enemy fall back, began to issue forth in their
+turn, filled with fresh ardour.
+
+Messire Charles d'Amboise, however, was able to keep his troops at the
+first retrenchment, and had some small pieces brought up which fired on
+the groups of Burgundians who were still distinguishable in the
+torchlight.
+
+The combat lasted thus for two hours more, in the midst of confusion,
+and the Sire de Montcler was obliged to sound the retreat several times
+to rally his troops.
+
+In this engagement he had lost nearly five hundred men taken, killed, or
+wounded. About ten o'clock at night there was silence on both sides; the
+Sire de Montcler, retreating to the second retrenchment, sent back all
+his men who had remained on the ramparts beyond this retrenchment, and
+prepared to defend this last line vigorously--the castle being his only
+refuge should that be taken. But on reviewing his troops, he observed
+the absence of a body of five hundred Germans, whom he had posted in the
+abbey to protect the retreat of the defenders of the first retrenchment.
+
+These Germans, seeing the unfavourable position of affairs, and taking
+advantage of the general confusion during the last struggle, had gone
+away through the abbey postern.
+
+The governor had only a thousand men remaining. He endeavoured to
+persuade his men that the Germans were shut up in the castle by his
+orders; but few were deceived by this, for it was evident to all that
+after the taking of the corner tower the Germans scarcely cared to fight
+for a cause which had no great interest for them, and which they
+regarded as lost.
+
+The fate of these runaways was, by the way, miserable enough. To support
+themselves they took to plundering in the outskirts, were surprised by a
+corps of French gendarmerie employed as scouts round the camp, and put
+to the sword or hanged as thieves. The few who succeeded in escaping
+perished under the blows of the peasants in arms against marauders.
+
+It seemed hard to the Sire de Montcler to abandon his second
+retrenchment without awaiting an attack; so as he had scarcely any need
+to economise the provisions in the town, he had a double ration
+distributed to his men, and encouraged them by cheering words,
+preserving his animation in mien and gesture when among them. He told
+them that succour would soon arrive, and that if they resisted a few
+days longer Charles d'Amboise would be obliged to raise the siege.
+
+Having examined the retrenchment, and posted men in the houses behind
+and in the northern building of the abbey, the Sire de Montcler was
+preparing to take some repose, when he was informed that along the
+slopes, above the bridge, the sentinels posted on the boulevards thought
+they perceived some movement on the part of the enemy. He went
+immediately towards that quarter, and saw in effect a black mass that
+appeared to be advancing up the slope like the rising tide, opposite to
+the boulevard, B.[48]
+
+To summon the garrison of the castle and to draw them up in this
+boulevard--they were only two hundred in number--required only a few
+minutes. The escarpment of this boulevard, whose platform was on the
+level of the castle ditch, rose but slightly above the acclivities
+(about twelve feet). Before the assailant had placed his ladders, the
+governor fired on that moving mass, which the darkness of the night did
+not completely hide from view. The balls from the culverin and the
+bombards made furrows among them; shouts were heard, and the assailants,
+separating into two columns, set up their ladders on the two flanks of
+the boulevard.
+
+Nearly at the same instant the second retrenchment was vigorously
+assaulted, and to facilitate this night attack, the assailants set fire
+to the houses between the first and second retrenchment. Thus, having
+the fire at their back, they could clearly see the defenders, while the
+latter were blinded by this mass of flame, whence the French seemed to
+issue like black shades. The Sire de Montcler was hastening on horseback
+from one point of attack to another, cheering on his men, and exposing
+himself to the projectiles; and both the attacks were well sustained.
+From the abbey building the arbalisters and bearers of small cannon
+inflicted very serious loss on the assailants, who, despairing of
+forcing the retrenchment at this point, were moving towards the
+junction, M N.
+
+It was evident to the brave governor that the place was lost, and that
+nothing was left for him to do but to rally the remains of the garrison
+in the castle, if he could reach it. But he was determined that this
+retreat should cost the enemy dear. He therefore sent a reserve which he
+was keeping in the abbey to reinforce the defenders of the boulevard,
+B.[49] This reserve consisted of a hundred men at most; but they were
+brave fellows; their orders were to defend the boulevard at all cost,
+and if they were outflanked to return into the castle as soon as
+possible, to raise the bridge, and not let it down again till they saw
+him return with the remains of the garrison through the enemy, through
+whom he would force a passage.
+
+Then he took up his position resolutely at the head of the _débris_,
+which still defended the retrenchment, and, availing himself of the
+houses and the abbey walls, he gave way only step by step, obliging the
+enemy to besiege every house and every enclosure, and taking advantage
+of the lanes and passages to resume the offensive, and inflict losses on
+the French. Exasperated by this, the latter set fire to the houses which
+they could not break open. The abbey resisted for more than two hours
+after the besieger had taken the retrenchment. The defenders, seeing
+their retreat cut off, fought with desperation; for the postern was
+occupied outside by a large body of men. The church and the principal
+buildings were in flames.
+
+The Sire de Montcler maintained the struggle in the streets and houses
+of the town till daybreak, and then debouched with four or five hundred
+men who remained to him in the open space before the castle. He found it
+almost entirely occupied by the enemy, whom some brave men were still
+resisting.
+
+He rallied this greatly diminished body, and entered the castle, whose
+bridge was immediately raised. The town was taken, but much damaged, as
+Messire Charles d'Amboise had predicted. He gave the strictest orders to
+stay the flames and stop pillage, and to save the lives of the unarmed
+inhabitants. But there were many victims. The wounded and sick shut up
+in the abbey had perished in the flames; women, old men, and children,
+were lying on the pavement and in the houses. The 27th and 28th of
+September were spent by the French in re-establishing order among the
+troops after the combat of the night, in removing the wounded and
+burying the dead. Messire Charles d'Amboise, during the two preceding
+days, had lost a thousand men; he was anxious to end the struggle.
+During the night of the 28th, therefore, he had twelve pieces of
+ordnance brought up in front of the castle, provided them with
+gabionades, and once more sent a herald to summon the garrison to
+surrender.
+
+The reply was that the garrison would not surrender till it saw itself
+incapacitated from continuing the struggle.
+
+On the morning of the 29th the twelve pieces began to open fire against
+the defences of the gate. The besieged could only answer the attack with
+small pieces mounted on the summit of the towers. But in the evening all
+these summits were dismantled, the roofs pierced, and the
+machicolations destroyed.
+
+Moreover, in the course of the 30th of September and 1st of October,
+four large bombards were mounted in front of the outer tower of the
+gate. In the evening this tower was falling in ruins into the ditch.
+
+Messire Charles d'Amboise, before commencing the assault, again proposed
+to the governor to capitulate. The latter then appeared on the ruins,
+and declared that he would surrender the castle on condition of being
+allowed to quit it with his troops, their lives and baggage being
+spared, and with colours flying, and to go wherever they chose.
+
+Charles d'Amboise on his side, then came forward on the breach, and gave
+his word of honour that these conditions should be granted. The two
+captains then approached and held out their hands to each other.
+
+The city and castle of Roche-Pont were again subjected to King Louis XI.
+The Sire de Montcler had but five hundred fighting men left; and even of
+these there were a full third wounded. Messire Charles d'Amboise gave
+them a safe-conduct, ordered that they should be supplied with
+provisions, and entertained the Sire de Montcler and his captains at his
+table. Two days afterwards they took their departure for Flanders with
+the foreign troops that were still with them.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 38: See Fig. 48.]
+
+[Footnote 39: See the topographical map, Fig. 1.]
+
+[Footnote 40: In this figure the parts coloured red indicate the works
+occupied by the besieger and the direction of his fire.]
+
+[Footnote 41: See Fig. 56.]
+
+[Footnote 42: See Fig. 50.]
+
+[Footnote 43: See Fig. 48.]
+
+[Footnote 44: See Fig. 56.]
+
+[Footnote 45: The black lines show the part of the defence still
+occupied by the besieged, the red lines the parts gained by the
+besiegers.]
+
+[Footnote 46: Fig. 58.]
+
+[Footnote 47: See Fig. 48.]
+
+[Footnote 48: See Fig. 48.]
+
+[Footnote 49: See Fig. 58.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_THE CITÉ OF LA ROCHE-PONT IS FORTIFIED BY ERRARD DE BAR-LE-DUC,
+ENGINEER TO THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING OF FRANCE AND OF NAVARRE._
+
+
+In 1606, Henry IV. had succeeded in subjugating the religious and feudal
+factions that had imperilled France for more than thirty years. He
+cherished great designs which his skilful policy, his patriotic soul,
+his military talents and the advantageous alliances he was able to form,
+promised to render successful. But Henry IV. left nothing to chance, and
+would not embark in any enterprise after his accession to the throne,
+till he had made every preparation to insure its success.
+
+When he saw the moment arriving at which he could effectually intervene
+in the affairs of Germany--a part of which had its eyes directed to
+France, and was only waiting for a signal from the Louvre to escape from
+the incessant rivalries of the princes and from religious
+contentions--he took measures not only to facilitate a successful
+intervention abroad, but to strengthen his frontiers and establish
+depôts and centres for provisioning his troops. Assured of the good-will
+of the Swiss and tranquil as regarded Italy--thanks to the alliances he
+had formed in that Peninsula--and wishing to act at once in the east,
+and on the Pyrenean side, he turned his attention to the defences of
+Roussillon and of the line which unites Burgundy with Champagne.
+
+Henry IV. had been engaged in partisan warfare; but then he had only his
+own life at stake. As a sovereign he thought it his duty not to run
+risks; and before launching into the great enterprises he had in view,
+and which might change the face of Europe, he wished to put fortune on
+his side as far as possible. For more than six years, in concert with
+Sully, he had lost not a day or an hour in preparing for France, which
+had been a prey to civil war and invasion at the end of the sixteenth
+century, a future of the noblest order, and which might have secured to
+it the most honourable destiny, if the hand of an assassin had not in a
+single day destroyed hopes founded in a wise policy and the most
+thoughtful foresight.
+
+This prince knew by experience that in war a check is always possible,
+even when fortune is, or seems to be, entirely on our side, and that the
+talent of a general consists in his ability to discover new resources
+after a reverse. Success in arms is secure in proportion to the
+foresight exercised in preventing a first reverse from becoming a
+disaster. Henry IV. therefore set about preparing a good line of retreat
+and supply in the rear of the army, which he was intending to lead in
+person towards the east. He put in a state of defence the towns and
+important strategic points from Châlons-sur-Saône, passing through
+Beaune, Dijon, Langres, along the course of the Haute-Marne, and from
+Langres to Chaumont, Saint-Dizier, Châlons, Reims, Laon, Péronne, and
+Amiens. Verdun and Metz had been visited by him, with a view to
+examining their defences. At Metz he had ordered works of considerable
+importance. The town of La Roche-Pont was comprised in that portion of
+this line of defence which lay between Dijon and Langres. The engineer
+Errard de Bar-le-Duc had been entrusted with these operations, beginning
+with Châlons-sur-Saône. He had, we may observe, merited the confidence
+reposed in him by the king, for he had given proofs of considerable
+ability and ingenuity.
+
+Errard de Bar-le-Duc made use of the ancient walls, considering them
+suitable for defence at close quarters; but he constructed works outside
+which would command the country, and force the besieger to commence his
+operations at a distance of one thousand or one thousand two hundred
+yards. The system of boulevards was still maintained, but these, instead
+of presenting only an isolated obstacle, defended each other by crossing
+their fire, and were, in fact, true bastions.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 59.--THE BASTIONS OF ERRARD DE BAR-LE-DUC.]
+
+The three great round towers on the north of the _cité_ of La Roche-Pont
+were then much dilapidated. Errard had them terraced, and then
+surrounded them with earthworks with walled escarpments. Towards the
+plateau fronting the north he had a great tenaille constructed with a
+double ditch and ravelin. Fig. 59 gives the plan of the _cité_ after the
+operations planned by Errard. Besides the works just mentioned,
+indicated at A, B, C and D, the king's engineer raised the bastions, E,
+F, G, H, and I, which crossed their fires, and whose orillons masked
+small pieces designed to flank the old ramparts.
+
+Most of the old towers were lowered and terraced to receive cannon. The
+ancient castle, of which little more than the donjon and some
+outbuildings remained, was surrounded by a bastioned enclosure, with a
+tenaille on the town side.
+
+The lower town, towards the west, though reduced to narrow dimensions,
+continued nearly in the condition already described. As to the upper
+town, after the conflagration of the last siege, it had been rebuilt in
+a very indifferent style. Under Francis I., the abbey had been
+secularised, and its ancient church was served by a Chapter. The old
+stone bridge near the outflow of the rivulet still existed, and at O was
+a second wooden bridge connecting the two shores. The bridge, P, had
+fallen into ruins and had not been rebuilt.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 60.]
+
+From the bastion, B, to the river, and from the bastion, D, to the pool,
+Errard built two fronts, K and L, _à crémaillères_,[50] to command the
+slopes of the plateau on the right and left, and to hinder an assailant
+from occupying a position on the east and west flanks of the _cité_.
+
+For the time, these works appeared strong, and the axiom in
+fortifications, "What offers itself as a defence ought to be defended,"
+was already pretty generally adhered to. Fig. 60 gives the northern work
+which was destined to sweep the plateau, and to render difficult the
+approach to the cité on this its very accessible side. This work
+consisted of a ravelin, A, whose height above the level of the plateau
+was not more than six feet; next of a first tenaille, B, with orillons,
+eighteen feet above the plateau, and a second tenaille, C, three feet
+above the level of the tenaille, B. Two bastions, D and F, enveloped the
+two great towers, G and H, which were terraced. The platforms of the
+latter rose three feet above the platforms of the bastions. The gate, I,
+of the fourteenth century, had been preserved and repaired, and the
+curtains, K, terraced to receive cannon.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 61.]
+
+The road passed over the right face of the ravelin, and thence at right
+angles to the centre of the tenailles. A wide fosse, E, protected the
+exterior works, and a second fosse, L, the curtain of the second
+tenaille.
+
+Fig. 61 gives a sketch in perspective of the bastion, F.[51] No use,
+however, was made of these defences till about thirty years after their
+construction.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 50: In plan not straight, but broken by a series of returns
+each in advance of the other.]
+
+[Footnote 51: Of the general plan, Fig. 59.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_THE SIXTH SIEGE._
+
+
+About the beginning of July, 1636, France, governed by the Cardinal de
+Richelieu, saw its northern frontier invaded by the too celebrated Jean
+de Weert, with an army of Hispano-Belgians, to which the empire had
+added a numerous body of cavalry, composed of Poles, Hungarians, and
+Croats. These allied troops advanced into Picardy, and Paris was, for
+the moment, anticipating a siege; but the enemy were delayed by the
+siege of Corbie, and, having taken this town, in which they left a
+garrison, they retired for fear of being taken in rear by the Dutch.
+
+The French army soon came in its turn to besiege and retake Corbie. At
+the same time, an attack on Burgundy had been concerted by the Imperial
+troops, while the army of Condé was besieging Dôle, which was holding
+out for the Spaniards. But the Imperialist army having had to wait long
+for the necessary reinforcements, did not start at the same time as that
+of the Hispano-Belgians, and did not cross the frontier till the 22nd of
+October; which gave time for the French troops employed at the siege of
+Corbie to pass into Burgundy, to assemble the troops of the province,
+and to receive the reinforcements sent to the Prince de Condé by the
+Duke of Weimar and the Cardinal de la Valette. Being unable to raise the
+siege of Dôle, the Imperialists directed their course to the Saône,
+which they passed, and sent a body to seize the little _cité_ of La
+Roche-Pont, the capture of which would give them a centre for attacking
+Dijon or Langres, and enable them to isolate the Prince de Condé. The
+town of La Roche-Pont was but scantily furnished with artillery, and had
+a garrison of only a thousand men, when the Imperialist forces presented
+themselves before it on the 2nd of November. They numbered six thousand
+men, and brought with them thirty pieces of ordnance, of which twelve
+were of large calibre. They were commanded by Galas, and were expecting
+to take the place in a few days, for the captains knew by their scouts
+that the garrison was weak, scantily provisioned and unprepared for an
+attack.
+
+However, Count Rantzau had been sent by the French generals to
+re-victual Saint-Jean-de-Losne and La Roche-Pont, and to place an
+experienced captain in the latter. The count arrived before La
+Roche-Pont two days previous to the Germans; he left a thousand men
+there, with Rincourt as governor--ordnance munitions and a convoy of
+provisions; but having only two or three thousand men left him, he
+thought himself not in a condition to attack the Imperialist army, and
+therefore marched to Saint-Jean-de-Losne, which he entered on the 2nd of
+November, in the teeth of the Germans, who were already beginning to
+invest the town. Immediately on his arrival before La Roche-Pont, Galas
+summoned the place, offering the garrison the most favourable
+conditions, and the inhabitants respect for their persons and property.
+The envoy of the Imperialist general was sent back as he had come, and
+attack and defence were respectively prepared for.
+
+Rincourt's nature was one of those which are apparently nonchalant and
+cold, fond of repose, and never appearing discomposed; he was of middle
+height, with a little embonpoint. His pale face, blonde hair, and dull
+blue eyes, would be deemed no indication of a soul of firm temper, but
+rather of one quite destitute of elasticity--an _esprit blasé_, or at
+least an impassive disposition. Rincourt had however given proof of his
+ability on many occasions, and Count de Rantzau, who knew him well,
+esteemed him highly. On leaving him in the place, he had given him these
+simple instructions--"Hold out here to the last man: for the rest act as
+you judge best." To Galas's messenger, Rincourt had replied: "My
+instructions are to defend the place, and I shall defend it."
+
+Rincourt, while making the arrangements necessary for the defence, and
+enquiring into the stores of provisions, was aware that if he allowed
+himself to be shut up at once in the town, the enemy would have made a
+breach in less than a week, and the taking of La Roche-Pont would be at
+most an affair of fifteen or twenty days. The stock of provisions
+scarcely admitted of so long a resistance; and at this time of the year
+it was difficult to add to them, even if the place were not closely
+invested. The governor resolved, therefore, to take the initiative and
+to hinder the enemy's approach-works to such an extent, that however
+favourable the weather might be, the enemy would have difficulty in
+maintaining his position.
+
+He sent for the mayor and notables of the town, and asked them what they
+intended to do, and whether the inhabitants would remain at home with
+their hands folded, while the king's men were fighting to defend the
+town. They assured him that, on the contrary, the inhabitants were
+disposed to defend themselves, and that even the women would mount the
+ramparts if necessary; that all of them knew how the enemy had behaved
+in Picardy, and thought that the worst course was to trust to their
+promises, and that if they must die, it was better to die fighting. "If
+it be so," replied the governor, "and if your acts respond to your
+words, you may be assured that the Germans will not enter this place;
+but, you must be doing. Have you any artillerymen among the
+inhabitants?" "We have some; all our young men are hardy and robust, and
+many know how to make use of musket and pike." "Well, assemble them
+to-night, and let all the volunteers, armed or unarmed, be with you
+to-morrow morning, in the open space before the castle. Whatever you
+hear this evening, do not let your attention be diverted from this
+object, and do not be alarmed."
+
+When night arrived (and it comes early on the 2nd of November), Rincourt
+prepared for the transport of two small pieces of cannon, and ordered two
+hundred men to mount their horses--for he had some cavalry--accompanied
+by four hundred foot soldiers; took care that the artillerymen should be
+at their guns in the works of the tenaille, leaving their captains
+precise instructions; summoned four hundred men to appear at three
+o'clock in the morning; and about ten o'clock sallied forth with his
+six hundred men and two guns through the gate of the outwork.
+
+The night was foggy and perfectly dark. The governor had taken the
+precaution to envelope the wheels of his two guns with pieces of cloth
+and canvas, and to have the crowbars, powder spoons, and rammers,
+carried by the servers, to avoid noise. On issuing from the ravelin, he
+directed the two cannons obliquely right and left, so as to keep them
+within musket shot from the centre column; the cavalry was escorting
+them. He himself, with his three or four hundred foot soldiers, marched
+straight for the enemy's outposts. About a thousand yards from the
+outwork he met them, making soup in front of their fires. Falling
+suddenly on the sentinels and neighbouring posts, he threw himself into
+the very heart of the enemy dispersed among the orchards, and killing
+all who resisted, drove them before him.
+
+In conformity with the instructions they had received, the artillerymen
+then brought their pieces into position, and fired right and left
+towards the two extremities of the encampment. The Imperialists believed
+themselves attacked along the whole extent of their front, and took some
+time to concert their defence.
+
+As soon as Rincourt saw the enemy drawn up in considerable numbers
+before him, he hastily drew off the right and left of his small band
+towards the two guns and the cavalry. The Germans then advanced in a
+compact, but not very orderly body, looking for the assailant, and not
+knowing whether they should go towards the east or west of the plateau
+in pursuit of him. Then, after a renewed discharge of the pieces, the
+two small French corps, cavalry and infantry, rushed upon the flanks of
+the column, killed or took about a hundred men, and fell back with all
+speed to the outwork, protected by volleys discharged with as good aim
+as circumstances allowed from the bastions of the tenaille.
+
+This affray terminated at midnight, without loss. Rincourt sent his men
+to rest, and at three o'clock in the morning sallied forth once more
+with the four hundred foot soldiers, summoned for that hour; this time
+without cannon or cavalry. He went along the western edge of the
+plateau, and when he saw himself within musket shot of the advanced
+posts, drawing out his musketeers in a long line, he commanded a general
+discharge; then moving off obliquely, he executed the same movements a
+few seconds afterwards, on the eastern side, after which he retired.
+
+The enemy were completely puzzled by these attacks. They had passed the
+whole of the night on the look-out, and in the morning determined to
+establish their first lines about a mile from the tenaille, placing
+advanced posts behind intrenchments hastily thrown up. They then opened
+the trench about half a mile distant.
+
+Throughout the day the heavy guns mounted on the platforms of the
+tenaille kept up a fire on these advanced posts, killed some men and
+overthrew the intrenchments. During the night of the 3rd of November,
+Rincourt, who had observed that a considerable body of the enemy was
+advancing up the river, perhaps with the view of passing the night
+there, and attacking the front K[52] in the rear with cannon, sent out
+two hundred of his infantry, under efficient command, through the
+ravelin of the outwork, and made a sortie with three hundred men through
+the gate of the front, K. He attacked the posts along the river, while
+the first troop was skirmishing with the advanced posts established
+along the western slopes of the plateau. When the first troop saw itself
+too much pressed, it rapidly descended the western slope to rally
+Rincourt's force, who on his side was retreating after having thrown the
+enemy into confusion.
+
+The besiegers, however, being on their guard, went in pursuit of the
+five hundred men from the town with vigour, and in increasing numbers.
+But this had been foreseen by the governor; and a second body of four
+hundred men, which during the action issued in its turn from the
+ravelin, descended the western slopes at full speed, and fell upon the
+flank of the Imperialists.
+
+On this the five hundred men commanded by Rincourt faced about. There,
+also, two or three hundred Germans were killed, wounded, or threw
+themselves into the water. The losses of the French were insignificant.
+
+While these continual alarms in some degree fatigued and disconcerted
+the besiegers, who did not suppose they had before them a garrison
+numerous enough to dare to act on the offensive, they restored
+confidence to the besieged, and gave them a high idea of the military
+talents of the governor.
+
+Rincourt continued to preserve his cool aspect and nonchalant demeanour,
+though he was constantly on the alert, and gave his orders with
+precision. Seeing the turn things were taking the _dizainiers_ of the
+town assured the governor of their entire devotion, and of the good-will
+of the volunteers, who deemed themselves capable of guarding the
+ramparts unaided; he might therefore commence operations outside in full
+confidence, and "amuse" the enemy. This was exactly what Rincourt
+wanted.
+
+The Imperialists in the meantime continued to advance with their trench.
+On the evening of the 5th of November it was fifteen hundred feet from
+the salient, and in the rear there was a pretty good _place d'armes_,
+surrounded by an epaulement with cannon at the angles and abatis of
+trees, at the foot of the bank. Every night the governor found means to
+disquiet the enemy, often at intervals of two or three hours, so as to
+keep him incessantly in alarm.
+
+Galas, in the meanwhile, had sent two pieces of ordnance to the right
+bank of the stream out of sight of the besieged, and on the 7th of
+November he mounted them on this bank so as to attack the front _à
+crémaillère_, K,[53] in the rear. The wooden bridge had been burned by
+the besieged, and the stone bridge barricaded and furnished with a
+cavalier on the left bank, which swept the right bank. Behind the houses
+of the western faubourg, Rincourt established a battery armed with three
+cannons, which had been taken from the arsenal during the night. On the
+morning of the 8th of November the houses which masked the three pieces
+having been thrown down, these guns opened their fire against the
+besieger's battery, which was soon silenced.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 62.]
+
+That same day the trench was nine hundred feet from the outwork, and a
+second _place d'armes_ was commenced at this point (Fig. 62). The
+governor resolved to overthrow the enemy's works. At two o'clock in the
+morning he first sent out a troop of five hundred men to attack the
+_place d'armes_ on the west, while a second troop of two hundred men was
+to attack it on the east, and himself going out with four hundred men to
+continue the offensive, if the former had a chance of succeeding, or to
+protect its retreat. His men were armed with pikes, cutlasses, grenades,
+and pistols.
+
+The besieger had at this point from twelve to fifteen hundred men to
+protect the workmen. The first troop of the garrison advanced resolutely
+against the flank, throwing grenades into the trenches, and destroying
+the gabions and fascines. They were soon attacked by all the Germans
+posted at this point; but knowing that they were going to be immediately
+reinforced, they maintained their position in the middle of the _place
+d'armes_, making use of every obstacle to intrench themselves. This
+struggle was visible only through some bivouac fires at a considerable
+distance, and the explosions of the grenades. The townspeople, that they
+might recognise each other, had put shirts over their buff coats, or
+their _pourpoints_. The second troop soon arrived from the east, and a
+part of the besiegers was thus attacked on both sides. The latter
+retired, and rallying about a hundred paces behind the _place d'armes_,
+attacked in their turn the people of the town on the two flanks; the
+struggle recommenced with violence, the French not being willing to
+abandon the place. They would, however, have been ultimately overwhelmed
+by numbers, if Rincourt had not come up in the midst of the _mêlée_ with
+his reserve of four hundred men (Fig. 63). He fell upon one of the
+flanks of the numerous troop of the Germans without uttering a sound.
+These then fell into confusion, and commenced a speedy retreat. Soon, in
+spite of the officers, the route was complete, and the fugitives went
+off and alarmed the neighbouring posts, and even the camp, asserting
+that they had been surprised by a large body that had come to succour
+the besieged.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 63.--NIGHT SORTIE--THE ATTACK ON ONE OF THE
+BESIEGERS' PLACE D'ARMES.]
+
+Galas was not certain whether this was a concerted sortie or whether
+succour had reached the besieged between his lines and the place.
+Collecting all the troops at his disposal, and ordering two or three
+hundred men to mount their horses, he betook himself to the abandoned
+works. Rincourt had not waited for him; but having damaged the trench
+for the length of a hundred paces, scattered the gabions, set fire to
+heaps of fascines, spiked two guns, which the enemy had abandoned,
+broken open some casks of munitions, and taken away the tools of the
+pioneers, retreated with his men. This sortie had cost him about fifty
+men; he brought back his wounded.
+
+When Galas came up none but the dead of both parties and some wounded
+remained in the works. In his anger, he broke his cane on the back of
+the first soldiers he met with, calling them cowards and traitors, and
+threatening to decimate the whole troop entrusted with the guard of the
+trench. The mischief could not be repaired in the few hours of night
+that were left. They were quite bewildered in the midst of these
+scattered gabions and trenches filled up at some points; and when day
+appeared the besieged discharged three or four volleys from the tenaille
+in the midst of this confused host, which then retreated to the first
+_place d'armes_.
+
+To increase his embarrassment, about ten o'clock in the morning, a
+message sent from Saint-Jean-de-Losne informed the Imperialist general
+that this insignificant town was holding out, that the continual sorties
+of the garrison were fatiguing the troops, that the siege would be
+longer than was supposed at first, and that, in fact, his presence would
+be necessary to direct the attack and make head against the Count de
+Rantzau, who was occupying the town.
+
+The possession of Saint-Jean-de-Losne, which he supposed was already in
+the hands of his troops, was still more important to the Imperialists
+than that of La Roche-Pont. For Saint-Jean-de-Losne secured to the
+Germans the passage of the Saône; but if this town held out they might
+be cut off by the Prince de Condé, who, on raising the siege of Dôle, or
+taking that place, would fall upon the rear of the Imperial army.
+
+Galas was therefore much embarrassed. To raise the siege of La
+Roche-Pont, and to march with all his forces against the Prince de
+Condé, was perhaps the wisest part to take, but this would have
+interfered with the plan of the campaign on which the Imperialists
+founded the most brilliant hopes; it would have been to abandon that
+conquest of Burgundy which a few days before Germany had regarded as
+certain; it would have been a manifest check at the very commencement of
+the campaign.
+
+Galas therefore adopted a middle course, which in war is always the
+least desirable; he resolved to leave before La Roche-Pont sufficient
+troops to invest it closely, knowing that the place had not provisions
+sufficient to last long, and to finish the siege of Saint-Jean-de-Losne.
+This place fallen, he might resume his original plan.
+
+On the evening of the 9th of November, after having appointed a
+commander for the troops remaining before La Roche-Pont, and leaving his
+instructions, he quitted the camp to go and rejoin the army before
+Saint-Jean-de-Losne.
+
+These instructions were in substance as follows--the establishment of a
+line of investment around the place and the continuance of the attack on
+the northern salient, under good protection and taking the time
+necessary for the works. He had also a plan made out for a battery of
+bomb mortars. He had sent for four of these engines to bombard the
+town.[54] Galas's lieutenant was of Italian origin, and was named
+Forcia: he was an impetuous man, serviceable for a bold stroke, a great
+talker, a fairly skilful engineer, but wanting in persistency and
+perseverance, and continually changing his plans. By dint of flattery
+and the admiration he manifested on all occasions for the military
+talents of Galas, Forcia had succeeded in persuading him that no one was
+better fitted than himself to act for the general, to enter into his
+designs, and put his plans in execution. Forcia, we say, had appeared to
+appreciate the wisdom of Galas's designs, and had promised to follow his
+instructions implicitly and to the letter. But where is the flatterer,
+however astute, who does not leave in the mind of the person
+flattered--however wanting in judgment--a feeling of mistrust.
+Accordingly Galas in quitting the camp of La Roche-Pont, had instructed
+a young lieutenant who acted as his secretary, and whom he left with
+Forcia, to take note of all that transpired and to keep him informed of
+the minutest details by frequent messages.
+
+Rincourt allowed his troops the night of the 9th for repose, as half the
+garrison had been engaged the night before. On the morning of the 10th
+one of the spies whom he was careful to employ in the country, and even
+in the camp of the enemy, came to inform him that Galas had departed the
+evening before with an inconsiderable escort, and that the Imperialist
+troops were placed under the command of one of his lieutenants. This
+news set the governor gravely thinking; he knew that Saint-Jean-de-Losne
+was still holding out, and he gained a glimpse of the real state of
+affairs. Devoted to the Count de Rantzau, he felt it his duty more than
+ever to give the enemy so much to do as to render it impossible for him
+to think of reducing the number of troops assembled around La
+Roche-Pont, to reinforce those engaged in the siege of
+Saint-Jean-de-Losne.
+
+The garrison was full of confidence and determination; and the militia
+of the town asked to share in the sorties. This militia consisted of a
+body of about twelve hundred men, which Rincourt had divided into
+companies of one hundred men each, commanded by ten subalterns and a
+captain. He had divided these companies into two battalions of six
+hundred men each. The first was composed of the robuster men who had had
+some experience in arms; the second was composed of the householders,
+men of mature age inexperienced in war. These latter were especially
+employed as guards of the ramparts, as a daily and nightly patrol, and
+as a police for the town. With the regular troops, therefore, the
+governor had at his disposal, even after the losses he had sustained,
+and after leaving in the town artillerymen enough to man the guns, about
+two thousand two hundred men.
+
+The women of Roche-Pont had also offered their services. Rincourt formed
+them into brigades of ten; and their duty was to bring ammunition,
+prepare the provisions, repair military accoutrements, and make fascines
+and bags.
+
+Even since the enemy's arrival, the governor had been able to get some
+cattle, grain, and fodder into the town, affording a supply for sixteen
+days longer.
+
+He had good hopes of getting rid of the Germans before the end of this
+period. The townspeople, moreover, were rationed like the garrison, and
+the inhabitants were obliged under pain of death to deposit all the
+provisions they had in the public storehouses. The two churches of the
+upper town had been converted into hospitals for the wounded.
+
+If the spirits of the garrison were kept up and even raised, such was by
+no means the case with the Imperialists. Forcia lost no time in announcing
+to the German troops that he was appointed commander-in-chief; he called
+the captains together and thought it incumbent upon him to address them
+in a somewhat long and high-flown discourse, accompanied by theatrical
+gestures.
+
+This had but a slight effect on the minds of the officers, who were for
+the most part veterans, and who had no great respect for Forcia. They
+returned to their quarters, therefore, somewhat depressed, and auguring
+no good for the prospects of the siege. Following the instructions left
+him by Galas, Forcia gave orders for the complete investment of the
+place.
+
+Deducting the losses suffered since the beginning of the siege, and the
+desertions, Forcia when entrusted with the command had little more than
+five thousand men. The object to be secured was to maintain at the point
+of attack a body of troops numerous enough to prevent the sorties of the
+garrison from not being formidable to them, and to distribute around the
+_cité_ posts sufficiently well connected and defended to cut off all
+communication between the town and the outside; for it was certain that
+the inhabitants would be reduced to famine before many days elapsed.
+
+Prudence therefore demanded that a line of contravallation should be
+established, and provided with artillery, that every point should be
+efficiently guarded, and that the garrison should be so occupied as to
+make vigorous sorties impossible. These tactics must infallibly result
+in the surrender of the town at no distant time. Such were in substance
+the instructions of Galas. But Forcia had a more ambitious aim; these
+methods appeared to him tedious and unworthy of him; and he saw himself
+in imagination master of the place, and sending the news of its
+capitulation to Galas in a message worthy of ancient Rome.
+
+Still he dared not formally disregard his instructions, but he resolved
+merely to affect compliance with them, eager to show the army how an
+engineer of first-rate ability can conduct a siege. He believed that
+three thousand men would be enough to keep the besieged in awe on the
+north, to prosecute the approach-works vigorously and to take the place.
+With two thousand men he made sure of intercepting all communication
+between the inhabitants and the outside. Accordingly he established a
+post of two hundred men along the river on the left bank, two hundred
+yards from the angle of the curtain K;[1] a second post of two hundred
+men on the right bank, in front of the destroyed wooden bridge O; a
+third post of one hundred men, opposite the ancient bridge P; a fourth
+post of three hundred men, two hundred yards from the stone bridge; a
+fifth post of three hundred men along the rivulet to the south-east of
+the escarpment of the castle; a sixth post of two hundred men behind the
+embankment of the mills on the east; and a seventh post of three hundred
+men above the pool to the north-east--in all sixteen hundred men. Four
+hundred men were commissioned to connect these principal posts, or to
+strengthen them at need. The rampart L[55], prevented the besieger from
+making his way between the pool and the town, the fifth, sixth, and
+seventh posts communicated with headquarters only by a long détour, and
+could not be supported by the posts of the right bank unless a bridge
+were thrown across below the stone bridge. This was a serious
+disadvantage. Forcia had no idea of taking possession of the stone
+bridge by a sudden attack, as this passage was commanded by a cavalier
+and by the bastions of the castle. He preferred throwing a bridge across
+below to put his posts in communication with each other.
+
+Wishing to keep all his artillery to batter the place and to effect a
+breach quickly, he did not provide any of these posts with guns, but
+contented himself with ordering them to erect a strong palisading, and
+to raise epaulements for shelter. The instructions he gave were wanting
+in precision, but he often cited Cæsar and Vegetius and Frontinus, and
+some of the great captains who had shed a lustre on Italy in the
+preceding century. While urging vigilance on his captains he merely went
+with them to reconnoitre the ground, and to determine their posts; but
+did not trouble himself further to know whether his orders were
+understood and strictly carried out. The investment was only a
+concession made to the general-in-chief, and his attention was entirely
+given to the attack on the north. He could not even avoid observing in
+presence of his officers that up to that time the works had been feebly
+conceived and executed; a remark which soon reached the ears of Galas.
+
+Rincourt took advantage of the respite allowed him by the besieger to
+organize his little garrison more effectually. We have seen that he had
+six hundred militiamen capable of acting outside the ramparts. He set
+about equipping these men, who were but imperfectly armed. The castle
+contained a hundred muskets, which he distributed to those who knew best
+how to use this weapon, but had not been provided with it. The rest he
+armed with strong pikes, breach-knives, and partisans. Not counting
+artillerymen, he had remaining sixteen hundred soldiers--three hundred
+being horsemen--whom he formed into four bodies of four companies of
+infantry of eighty men each, commanded by a captain, and three companies
+of horsemen, one hundred strong.
+
+The town contained thirty-two pieces of ordnance of various calibre.
+There were sixteen mounted in the north work; two on the cavalier behind
+the bridge; one in the bastion of the donjon; two in the bastion F[56]
+and one in each of the seven other bastions; in all twenty-eight. Two
+were placed in the tenaille of the castle, and two were kept in reserve.
+The enemy's arrangements were soon made known to the governor, either
+through spies or the reconnaissances made by his best officers, or
+himself personally; he took care not to disturb the carrying out of
+those arrangements, and contented himself with doubling the guard at the
+bridge, which was raised to two hundred men.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 64.]
+
+During the night of the 11th of November, Forcia had a second breach
+opened, and marked out the approach-works, as shown in Fig. 64. Besides
+the two _places d'armes_ A and B, already marked out, he planned a
+third, C, to be reached by a new trench D, next two batteries at G and
+F, for two pieces each, and a battery for two mortars H. He had the
+first trench lengthened at I, with a piece at its extremity sweeping the
+curtain K. Two pieces mounted in the _place d'armes_ B commanded the
+battery F, and the surroundings; a piece mounted at E commanded the
+battery G; and a piece mounted in the _place d`armes_ C swept the
+outside of the western battery. He thought he should thus provide for
+every contingency. If the besieged determined to attempt some bold
+stroke, they could not advance far, and if they succeeded in taking
+either of the batteries G, F, he could crush them. The two batteries G,
+F were intended to silence the fire of the north-west salient and of the
+left half of the tenaille. That done, he could--secure against the
+right-hand fire--advance as far as the counterscarp, set up a breach
+battery, and take the place by the north-west salient. Meanwhile, the
+mortar battery would render the right of the work untenable, crush the
+defenders of the ancient terraced walls, damage the gates, and prevent
+the besieged from attempting anything at this point. The plan was not
+badly conceived; nothing remained but to execute it.
+
+The phlegmatic governor had the gabionades of the work strengthened, and
+traverses and _paréclats_ raised, especially on the platforms of the two
+great towers. He had shelter places arranged on the platforms of the
+earthworks. Moreover he kept up a continual fire on the workmen, so that
+they could scarcely make any advance except during the night. Sometimes
+at ten o'clock at night, sometimes at midnight, at two o'clock in the
+morning, or shortly before daybreak, Rincourt would alarm the enemy's
+camp by sorties of no importance considered with reference to the final
+result, but which greatly exhausted the besiegers.
+
+These sorties were effected by one or two companies while the others
+rested. In this way he exercised the militia, and accustomed them to
+fighting.
+
+By the 15th of November the besieger's works had scarcely made any
+progress. However the _place d'armes_ C was made, as also the parallel
+which connected it with the _place d'armes_ B; and the trenches were
+commenced which were to lead to the two batteries. The bomb-mortars were
+mounted, and began to fire towards evening. But they produced more noise
+than damage to the besieged. Their fire was badly directed, and most of
+the bombs burst too soon or too late. The besieged became accustomed to
+them, and kept out of their way when they saw them coming. For a dozen
+bombs fired the first evening, two men were wounded, and one
+gun-carriage damaged.
+
+On the morning of the 25th of November the weather, hitherto fine,
+suddenly changed. About nine a fine snow fell, and was soon after
+followed by a deluge of rain, accompanied by squalls. During the night
+of the 15th, the men on guard in the trenches were up to their knees in
+water; it was impossible to work. The rain continued regular and heavy
+during the whole of the 16th. Rincourt took advantage of this
+disagreeable state of the weather. The bridge which had been thrown
+across the river by the Imperialists, below the stone bridge, consisted
+of a floor six feet wide, laid partly on trestles, partly on boats
+collected in the valley and linked together. This was a clumsy
+contrivance, for the water on beginning to rise lifted the boats
+proportionately so that it was extremely difficult to maintain the
+connexion between the floor resting on the boats and that laid on the
+trestles. Accordingly in spite of the rain the besiegers worked all day
+on the 16th to prevent the rupture of this bridge. The governor who
+passed all that day in examining the environs, had perceived from the
+top of the platform of the cavalier the precarious condition of the
+besieger's bridge, and at night he had some large trunks of trees thrown
+over the parapet of the stone bridge, which struck against the boats and
+trestles and impeded the current, which kept on rising. At midnight
+twenty of these trunks had accumulated against the boats, and the river
+continuing to rise, the bridge was carried away. A light appearing for
+an instant at a certain point of the valley of Abonne apprised Rincourt
+of the destruction of the bridge. The signal was given by one of the
+spies.
+
+Secure, therefore, against being cut off on his right by the
+Imperialists, the governor sent out three hundred militiamen and three
+companies of soldiers, kept under arms after supper, by the western
+gate, next to the castle; and another three hundred of the militia, and
+two companies by the eastern gate. This second troop was commissioned to
+make for the causeway of the pool, attack the enemy's post established
+beyond the embankment, outflank it on his right and pursue it hotly
+along the rivulet. Rincourt commanded the foremost troop of six hundred
+men. He descended the slope of the bridge, crossed the rivulet by means
+of planks and trestles which he had ready prepared behind the cavalier,
+and attacked the post of three hundred men established at two hundred
+yards below the stone bridge. Finding themselves attacked by a body much
+more numerous than themselves, they quitted the bivouacs in all haste,
+and set off along the left bank of the rivulet to join the second post
+(consisting) of three hundred men established between them and the dam,
+as the bridge was broken. This was just what Rincourt anticipated. At
+the same time, in an opposite direction the post at the pool embankment
+was in flight, pursued by the second troop of the besieged,--depending
+on getting the support of the post at the rivulet and that of the
+bridge, since they were outflanked on their right. These two posts--that
+of the bridge and that of the embankment--retreating as fast as the
+nature of the ground permitted in an inverse direction, to the post at
+the rivulet, the latter supposed it was an attack, and fired several
+arquebusades at the two troops of these outposts. They recognised each
+other with difficulty, and these eight hundred men thus collected, saw
+themselves attacked on two sides by Rincourt and the second troop of the
+besieged. The combat did not last long, in consequence of the confusion
+into which they were thrown as much as through the numerical
+inferiority. Few resisted, many sought the marshes, and two or three
+hundred laid down their arms and begged for quarter. Of those who had
+betaken themselves right and left to the marshes, about a hundred
+managed to reach the camp in the morning, the others were killed by the
+peasants.
+
+Forcia, informed in the middle of the night of the attack on his
+south-eastern posts, got a thousand men under arms. But the weather
+continued as bad as ever; the captains obeyed with a very ill grace;
+they had lost all confidence, and it was not until daylight that Galas's
+lieutenant was able to go down into the valley. His three posts were
+taken, and he found from two to three hundred men dead or wounded on the
+banks of the rivulet.
+
+Rincourt had quietly gone up again into the town with his two troops and
+his prisoners by the castle gate, about three o'clock in the morning. He
+had not lost more than fifty men, killed, wounded, or strayed. Forcia
+returned to the camp about ten o'clock in the morning. But from the top
+of the donjon, at the first glimmering of daylight, the governor had
+seen the troop of Imperialists defiling in the direction of the posts
+that had been taken. Without an instant's delay, placing himself at the
+head of four companies of foot soldiers, fresh and ready for the
+struggle, and of his three hundred horsemen, and after having fired
+several volleys on the besieger's works, he courageously sallied forth
+by the ravelin and rushed impetuously upon the trenches. The enemy,
+taken by surprise, without a commander, and out of heart, fled, and
+Rincourt succeeded in spiking the guns of the two foremost _places
+d'armes_, spiking and throwing down the mortars along the slopes,
+breaking the gun-carriages, overthrowing the gabionades, and taking a
+quantity of workmen's tools.
+
+When Forcia returned, it was to learn this fresh disaster. His captains
+murmured loudly. He called them cowards and ignoramuses, and they
+retorted sharply, and abuse was lavished on both sides. Happily for
+Forcia a messenger came from Galas that evening enjoining him to raise
+the siege of Roche-Pont and to fall back upon the Saône without an
+hour's delay.
+
+Saint-Jean-de-Losne had held out and had suffered no damage; the
+Imperialists, surprised by the inundations, and fearing to be cut off by
+the French army, determined on returning home.
+
+If that French army had been led by a Rantzau and a Rincourt, not a
+German would have repassed the frontier; but the Duke of Weimar and the
+Cardinal de la Valette, who might have destroyed the invaders, were by
+no means energetic in the pursuit. The Imperialists, however, lost in
+this expedition, by which they hoped to gain the most brilliant
+advantages, all their baggage, a good part of their artillery, and a
+third of their force.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 52: See Fig. 59.]
+
+[Footnote 53: See Fig. 59.]
+
+[Footnote 54: Bombs, invented by the Dutch in the beginning of the
+seventeenth century, were already used in sieges.]
+
+[Footnote 55: See Fig. 59.]
+
+[Footnote 56: See Fig. 59.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_THE TOWN OF LA ROCHE-PONT IS FORTIFIED BY M. DE VAUBAN._
+
+
+Born at Saint-Leger de Foucheret, in the middle of Burgundy, Vauban, who
+loved and was well acquainted with this beautiful province, had occasion
+to visit Roche-Pont several times. The situation of the fortress and its
+strategical position attracted his notice, and suggested a plan
+connecting this little town with a line starting with Besançon, passing
+through Dôle, Auxonne, La Roche-Pont, Langres, Neufchâteau, Toul,
+Pont-à-Mousson, Metz, Thionville, Longwy, Montmédy, Sedan, Mézières,
+Rocroy, Avesnes, Maubeuge, Valenciennes, Lille, and ending at
+Dunquerque. The date was 1680; it was a second line. Would to Heaven it
+had always been maintained by works accommodated to the means of attack!
+but if the French know how to take, they are but remiss in keeping what
+they have taken.
+
+The fortress of La Roche-Pont was exposed to attack only from the
+northern plateau, and the artillery of Vauban's time could make a
+serious impression only on that side, as the town was protected on its
+two sides, east and west, by escarpments and two water-courses.
+Batteries placed on the hills east and west were either dominated by the
+artillery of the town or must have been placed at a distance of eighteen
+hundred yards--_i.e._, out of range--to attain the level of the
+ramparts. Vauban decided therefore to construct outside the ancient town
+a large work on the north, which should command the plateau. At the same
+time--for he was economical of the money of the state--he thought he
+might avail himself of part of Errard's works, especially the bastions
+which that engineer had raised on the east and west fronts, and improve
+the defence of the castle, which would then become a good stronghold.
+Besides this he planned works, only revetted at the base, along the
+river, to protect the lower town. On the rivulet side, in like manner,
+he planned a flanked front for musketry, to secure that side from
+approach, and to keep some land useful either for the cultivation of
+vegetables in case of siege, or for pasturage. A weir placed at the
+mouth of the rivulet, with a flood gate, allowed the inhabitants to
+inundate the meadows situated on the east of the escarpment.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 65.--VAUBAN'S DEFENCES.]
+
+Fig. 65 presents the general plan of the works laid out by Vauban. At
+first he had thought of making on the north, before the front fortified
+by Errard de Bar-le-Duc, a horn-work before a demi-lune; but he could
+not thus effectually sweep the divergent points of the plateau. He
+determined, therefore, on the plan given in Fig. 65, making use of a
+part of the northern revetments of Errard de Bar-le-Duc. In advance of
+the northern front, in lieu of the narrow and contracted defences of
+Errard,[57] he made a great demi-lune, A (Fig. 65), with a tenaille
+behind, and next the bastioned work, B, which swept the whole plateau.
+As to the rest of the town, making use of the old bastions, he strongly
+flanked them and disposed the stronghold as shown by the plan, D. The
+roads of the upper town were widened and improved, and the houses
+detached from the ramparts. The ancient bridge at C had been destroyed
+by a swelling of the river, and was not rebuilt; but at P, in 1675, a
+new stone bridge was built, with a _tête du pont_ of earthwork. At O a
+foot-bridge still existed in 1680. The town had again extended along the
+left bank, and the importance of the _cité_ above was diminishing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 66.--VAUBAN'S OUTWORK.]
+
+Fig. 66 presents on a larger scale the plan of the outwork constructed
+by Vauban. Before the three fronts of this work, demi-lunes with
+tenailles behind defended the approaches.
+
+Four barracks were built at _a_. Cavaliers arose on the bastions, and
+the covered ways, with their _places d'armes_, were furnished with
+traverses. In the event of this work being taken, the main body of the
+fortress could still hold out some days.
+
+Fig. 67 gives the sections of these works, which were cased with
+masonry, presenting a strong defence which only a regular siege could
+affect.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 67.]
+
+But it is desirable to point out the reasons that determined the plan of
+this work, and the method adopted by the illustrious engineer.
+
+Vauban fortified according to the nature of the position, and was not
+one of those _esprits routiniers_ who, when once a certain system has
+made good its claims, insist on applying it on all occasions.
+
+The fortresses, which, like that of La Roche-Pont, are situated at the
+extremity of a promontory and present only a narrow front to the
+besieger, assuredly give certain advantages to the defence, since they
+have scarcely to fear more than one attack and are accessible only on
+one side; but this position is not without its drawbacks, especially if,
+as in the present instance, a fan-shaped plateau spreads outside the
+fortress; for then the besiegers sweep the defences with converging
+fires, to which the besieged can oppose only a narrow front unprovided
+with considerable flankments. On the east side the large bastion, in
+the middle of which Vauban had left standing the fifteenth-century
+tower, which thus gave him a good revetted cavalier, sufficiently
+flanked the eastern brow of the outer plateau; but on the western side
+such a flankment failed entirely, on account of the outward bend caused
+by the promontory. To obviate these disadvantages Vauban inclined his
+capital some paces eastwards.[58]
+
+He had thought at first of suppressing the south flanks of the two
+extreme bastions, but in that case the exteriors of the east and west
+faces of these bastions would have been too slanting to sweep the crests
+of the plateau effectively, while the two curtains answered this object.
+Besides, the enemy could not then, without risk, commence his trenches
+on the slopes of the plateau and rapidly approach fronts insufficiently
+flanked. Vauban therefore set out the plan of the great outwork
+according to the following method (Fig. 68):--To the outside he gave a
+length of 180 toises, or 1,156 feet. To the western side, _a c_, 1,120
+feet; to the eastern side, _b d_, 1,054 feet--that is, he placed the
+points _c_ and _d_ according with the edge of the plateau; the two
+angles _a_ and _b_ being equal to one another. On the centre of the side
+_a b_ of the polygon he erected the perpendicular, _e f_, having a
+length equal to one-sixth of _a b_. From this extreme point, _f_, were
+drawn the lines of defence, _a g_, _b h_, on which the lengths of the
+faces of the bastion, _a k_, _b i_, were set off equal to two-sevenths
+of the outer side, _a b_. To find the flanks of the bastion, according
+to the method usually adopted in these defences, points _k_ and _i_, he
+described arcs of a circle, _k l_, taking _i k_ as the radius. The point
+of intersection of this arc with the line _b h_ gave the length and the
+direction of the flank of the bastion; but, not having been able to
+trace a regular half-hexagon, and the angles _a_ and _b_ being less
+obtuse than those of a regular hexagon, by proceeding in this manner,
+the gorges of the bastion would have been too contracted. Therefore, to
+determine the flank of the bastion, from the points _i_ and _k_, he let
+fall perpendiculars to the lines of defence, _a g_, _b h_, and the
+point _h_ gave the re-entering angle in the curtain, _h g_, parallel to
+the side _a b_. This exposed the flanks a little too much, but enabled
+them to sweep the outsides more effectively, and in this particular case
+that was the principal consideration.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 68.]
+
+The width of the ditch of the main work was fixed at 112 ft. 7 in., to
+the rounding of the counterscarp; and this was determined by a tangent
+to this rounding, drawn from the angle of the epaule of the opposite
+bastion.
+
+The ditches being dry, Vauban sunk cunettes in the middle, 23 ft. 4 in.
+wide and 6 ft. 8 in. deep. Double caponnières connected the tenailles
+with the demi-lunes. The demi-lune was set out as follows:--Taking _g k_
+as radius, the arc _k m_ was drawn. Its meeting with the perpendicular,
+_e f_, prolonged, gave the point of intersection _m_, the salient of the
+demi-lune. From _m_, the face _m n_ was directed upon a point, _o_,
+taken on the face of the bastion at 31 ft. 3 in. from the angle of the
+epaule, _i_. The width of the covered way was fixed at 31 ft. 3 in., and
+that of the glacis at 124 ft. 4 in. The internal _places d'armes_ were
+100 ft. across the demi-gorge and 133 ft. 4 in. along the faces. These
+_places d'armes_ were closed by traverses. The ditch of the demi-lune
+was 89 ft. 7 in. in width. The tenailles, _g_, constructed in the
+direction of the lines of defence, were 43 ft. 9 in. wide at the base.
+
+Cavaliers were made on the bastions to obtain convenient views over the
+slopes of the plateau. Their faces and sides, parallel to those of the
+bastions, had to be placed at a considerable distance from the
+epaulements, in order that the un-cased external foot of the talus might
+leave the necessary room for the easy working of the pieces of
+artillery.[59]
+
+The same method was followed for the sides _a c_ and _b d_. The width of
+the ditch was increased to 100 ft., and the great demi-lune, _t_, was so
+formed that its faces had a length of 332 ft. and its narrow sides 66
+ft. The old bastions restored and enlarged, _u v_, were armed with
+cavaliers, and the escarp of these bastions was 6 ft. 6-1/2 in. higher
+than that of the bastions of the outwork,[60] which difference, for that
+matter, was favoured by the conformation of the ground.
+
+All the escarps and counterscarps were cased with strong masonry, with
+counterforts in the terre-plein; as shown in the sections of Fig. 67 and
+Fig. 69.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 69.]
+
+The works communicated with each other by posterns. As the fortress of
+La Roche-Pont was only assailable on one side, the number of cannon
+necessary for its defence might be, it appeared, in proportion to its
+extent, inconsiderable. The number amounted to thirty twenty-four
+pounders, ten twelve-and four-pounders to arm the demi-lunes.
+
+At the end of the reign of Louis XIV., the efforts of the coalition were
+directed towards the north-eastern frontiers, and the garrison of La
+Roche-Pont did not get a view of the enemy. However, during the course
+of the eighteenth century, this fortress was kept in passable condition.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 57: See Fig. 60.]
+
+[Footnote 58: See Fig. 65.]
+
+[Footnote 59: See Fig. 67, the section on E, F.]
+
+[Footnote 60: See Fig. 67, the sections on G H and I K.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_THE SEVENTH SIEGE._
+
+
+On the 31st of December, 1813, the grand army of Bohemia, one hundred
+and eighty thousand men strong, and commanded by Prince Schwartzenberg,
+crossed the Rhine at Bâle, entered Switzerland, and penetrated into
+France. Its right bore down on Belfort, Colmar, and Strasburg, its
+centre marched for Langres, its left for Dijon. The same day the
+Prussians were crossing the Rhine at Mayence. The invasion of the
+eastern frontier had to be met by sixty thousand men, at most, echeloned
+between Epinal and Langres; and this force consisted only of dispirited
+soldiers and of recruits scarcely knowing how to use their arms. Prince
+Schwartzenberg's army--which had some reason to fear being attacked on
+the side of Savoy by the forces commanded by Prince Eugene, and knew
+that the _débris_ of the army of Spain had orders to make for Lyons with
+all speed--wishing to secure its base of operation, left detachments
+before Bésançon, Dôle, along the Saône and between Dijon and Langres,
+with injunctions to occupy the most favourable strategic position. La
+Roche-Pont was to be taken; and the generalissimo of the Bohemian army
+imagined that it was not in a condition to hold out eight-and-forty
+hours, for he knew that it had no garrison, and that the citizens were
+little disposed to defend themselves.
+
+Among the inhabitants of La Roche-Pont were some royalist families,
+whose emissaries had assured the commander-in-chief of the Bohemian army
+that the whole population were impatiently awaiting the arrival of the
+Allies to declare for the Bourbons. Prince Schwartzenberg was too
+clear-sighted, and knew too well to what illusions the royalists were
+ready to yield themselves, to place an unlimited faith in these
+statements; and he was anxious not to encounter serious obstacles during
+his first stages, that he might put himself as speedily as possible in
+communication with his allies on their way from the north-east. He
+therefore informed the royalists of La Roche-Pont that it was
+undesirable to provoke a political manifestation on his march; that the
+best means of assuring the success of the Allies was to remain quiet;
+that his troops, in conformity with the proclamation issued by the
+coalition on entering French territory, would respect property; that
+they were not animated by a spirit of vengeance, and that their glory
+would consist in concluding peace as quickly as possible, so as to
+restore to Europe the repose it so much needed.
+
+In the meantime Napoleon, on learning that the German troops had entered
+France from the south through Basle, had sent pressing orders into the
+Bourbonnais, Auvergne, and Burgundy, to make a levy of conscripts as
+soon as possible and send them to Paris. At the same time the depôts of
+Dauphiny and Provence, as also the conscripts in the eastern
+departments, were to assemble at Lyons to close to the enemy the
+approaches from Switzerland and Savoy, and if necessary to operate on
+his rear.
+
+The prefects of Burgundy, Picardy, and Normandy, and of Touraine and
+Brittany, were to appeal to the communes to form companies of National
+Guards _d'élite_, who were to march to Paris, Meaux, Montereau, and
+Troyes.
+
+These arrangements were hardly made in time to present a serious
+obstacle to the invaders. The civil authorities and the regular troops
+began to make a hasty retreat before the armies of the coalition, and
+were leaving the inhabitants to themselves without arms or guidance. It
+thus happened that some bodies of troops coming from the south found
+themselves in an isolated position, and uncertain whether they ought to
+continue their route or fall back. Such a case happened on the Saône;
+three battalions of infantry, certain artillerymen called to Vincennes
+to assemble at the great central depôt which the Emperor was organising
+there, and some detachments of various arms making their way for Dijon,
+to push on thence towards Troyes--found themselves on the flank of the
+left column of the army of Bohemia. They retraced their steps, and made
+a rather long détour, hoping to get beyond the enemy's right, and resume
+the route for Troyes through Beaune, Sémur, Montbard, and
+Châtillon-sur-Seine; but surprised by bad weather and snow, during a
+night march in the mountains of the Côte-d'Or, they lost their way, and
+found themselves in the morning at Saint-Seine, which was already
+occupied by a body of Austrian pioneers. The French were much limited in
+point of munitions, and had no artillery. They could not force the
+passage, and were obliged to fall back into the valley of Suzon, hoping
+still to find the road from Dijon to Langres clear. But at
+Thil-le-Châtel they came upon another body of the enemy, and had to
+retire towards the small town of La Roche-Pont, for it was evident that
+they were cut off. The colonel who commanded this small column was
+instructed, should it be impossible to reach Langres, to take up a
+position at Auxonne or at La Roche-Pont, to keep his ground there, and
+to form a nucleus of defence until the arrival of Augereau's force,
+which was to march from Lyons through Macon, Châlon, and Gray, to fall
+on the rear of Prince Schwartzenberg.
+
+Such were the events that had happened at this juncture at La
+Roche-Pont. Conformably to the last orders transmitted by the prefect,
+companies of National Guards had been promptly organised. The
+inhabitants of La Roche-Pont, like their neighbours of Auxonne, Dôle,
+and Saint-Jean-de-Losne, preserve military habits; and sieges--not
+without reason, as we have seen--are a tradition among them. There were
+always companies of archers and arbalisters at La Roche-Pont during the
+Middle Ages, and at a later date bombardiers and artillerymen. Under the
+Consulate La Roche-Pont had been a depôt for the army concentrated
+between Dijon and the Swiss frontier to pass the Saint-Bernard, and
+munitions had been stored there; some siege pieces had also been placed
+there, and still remained. At the approach of Prince Schwartzenberg's
+army the population of La Roche-Pont was in agitation; and even before
+the prefectoral instructions had arrived, three companies of National
+Guards, one of which was of artillerymen, had been spontaneously formed.
+All had old muskets of the time of the Revolution, or good hunting
+weapons. The lower town, occupied in great part by rich families, of
+which several were devoted to the royal cause, did not share in these
+preparations for war. Some indiscreet revelations made the upper town
+aware of the intrigues of the royalists. The mayor was a man who had
+been conspicuous for his devotion to the Emperor while the Empire had
+been in vigour; but who, seeing its fortunes decline, became daily more
+and more of a royalist.
+
+If he had not actively opposed, he had at least obstructed the formation
+of a company of National Guards _d'élite_, endeavouring to gain time.
+The little citadel of La Roche-Pont was occupied by a company of sixty
+veterans, for the most part invalided, under the orders of an old
+one-armed captain of engineers, who had served in almost all the
+campaigns of the Empire. When it was known that the enemy had entered
+France, Captain Allaud--that was his name--had asked for orders from
+Dijon, but had not received them. However, he employed his men in
+restoring and replenishing the arsenal. He enjoyed a certain amount of
+authority in the upper town. The male population of the _cité_, composed
+in great part of men who had been soldiers--all the youth had left in
+the first months of 1813--never called Captain Allaud anything but "the
+Governor," and had applied to him to form companies, only asking for
+munitions. Now the arsenal of La Roche-Pont contained a good supply of
+powder and balls, about twenty old bronze pieces of small calibre, six
+twenty-four pounders, two howitzers, four small mortars, and about a
+hundred muskets past service. The six gendarmes remaining till then at
+La Roche-Pont had been summoned to Dijon at the beginning of January.
+
+Captain Allaud asked for co-operation in repairing the arms, making
+cartouches and cartridges, repairing the parapets, the traverses, and
+epaulements, and fabricating gabions and fascines; and the women made
+bags for earth,--as if it had been possible to sustain a siege with the
+sixty veterans and the three companies of National Guards, forming a
+total of two hundred and sixty men. The Prefect of Dijon had transmitted
+the order for these select companies of National Guards to fall back
+upon Langres, but the order had not arrived. The royalists shrugged
+their shoulders on seeing these two hundred and sixty National Guards
+exercising on the platform of the outwork, and went so far as to joke in
+the places of public resort about Captain Allaud's _garrison_. He could
+not put up with raillery, and talked aloud to his men about running
+their swords through the jokers. High words and even blows were
+exchanged in the _cafés_. The mayor ventured to interpose his authority;
+he was insulted and called a traitor, and the captain was informed of
+the intrigues set on foot by the royalists. At night the captain had the
+gates of the _cité_ shut, and the antagonism between the upper and lower
+town was increasing in violence. "If the Austrians come," said the
+captain, "the houses of these royalist traitors will be the first marks
+for our balls!" Both parties became excited, and the mayor had the
+impudence to ask the captain on whose authority he was acting. "I am the
+_commandant de place_," replied the veteran, "since there is no other
+officer here, and La Roche-Pont is a defensible place.... To prove it to
+you I arrest you!" And he had the mayor conducted to the citadel.
+
+Great was the excitement in the town, but the royalists were in a feeble
+minority, and dared not stir. They cried "Vive le Gouverneur!" in the
+taverns. The mob attempted to plunder the mayor's house, which was
+situated on the _cité_, and the captain had great difficulty in putting
+down the disturbance. "Rascals!" cried he to the fellows who were
+already breaking in the doors of the house, "I will have you shot like
+dogs. Sacrebleu! you can break open doors; we shall see whether you have
+so much pluck when the Germans come! Here," added he, turning to a dozen
+veterans, who were following him, "clear the place of this _canaille_!"
+and, setting the example, he dealt blows in abundance with the flat of
+his sword on the backs of the plunderers.
+
+It was the morning following this riot when the French corps above
+spoken of presented itself before La Roche-Pont. It was welcomed in the
+upper town with every demonstration of joy. An army come to their help
+magnificently accoutred and provided would not have been better
+received. But this troop, exhausted by fatigue, and having eaten nothing
+for twenty-four hours, without artillery or munitions, had all the
+appearance of a band of fugitives. Covered with mud, and scantily
+clothed, these poor soldiers seemed scarcely able even to defend
+themselves. But in such times of distress, so much do people cling to
+any semblance of hope, that the sight of a friendly uniform revives
+every heart. Seeing themselves so well received, these brave fellows
+made their entrance into the city in good order, and presented when
+defiling through the streets, in spite of their exhaustion, a martial
+appearance which redoubled the enthusiasm of the inhabitants. A colonel,
+three chiefs of battalions, and some captains, of whom one belonged to
+the artillery, composed the staff. Two hours after their arrival, these
+soldiers, most of whom had seen much service, having rested well and
+brushed themselves up, presented a very different appearance.
+
+The news brought by this small corps proved clearly enough that there
+was no time to lose, if they wanted to put the town of La Roche-Pont in
+a condition to defend itself with honour, if not with hope of success.
+The colonel, of course, took the command; his name was Dubois. He had
+been in the campaign in Portugal, then in Russia, whence he had returned
+captain, and having been appointed _chef de bataillon_ in the Saxon
+campaign, he had distinguished himself at Dresden, and had been a
+colonel from the date of the battle of Leipzig. He was a man of about
+thirty, but appeared to be much older. He had scarcely seen anything but
+the disastrous side of French glory. His countenance, therefore, did not
+bear that impress of confidence which was exhibited by many of his
+brethren in arms, who had been less tried than himself by the
+misfortunes of the times. Of the war in Spain he had seen only the
+miseries, the privations, the failure of order, the utter
+disintegration. With Ney on the return from Moscow he had learned what
+the performance of duty is without the prestige of glory. At Dresden,
+the regiment to which he was attached had lost half its men; and the
+disaster of Leipzig had followed. With each grade in his promotion was
+associated a mournful date.
+
+Colonel Dubois had an appearance of coldness that served to hide his
+natural timidity and profound distrust of his fellow-men. It must be
+allowed that there were reasons for his distrust of men and things.
+Entering the service at the age of twenty as a common soldier, though he
+belonged to an honourable family in Poitou and had spent his earliest
+years in the bosom of his family, he had seen only the sinister side of
+warfare, and his first companions in arms did not respond to his ideal
+of the soldier's character. It was still worse when he went to Spain.
+His delicate nature had fallen back on itself, and allowed no sign of
+pity or even sympathy for anyone to be visible. Yet so profoundly does
+what we call "heart" imprint itself on every action, even when its
+possessor attempts to conceal its slightest manifestation, that this
+man, in appearance so cold, and who was not known to have a friend,
+exercised a moral authority over his soldiers which was very rare at
+that time.
+
+The soldier--an infallible judge in this matter--is able to discover the
+weak side of the officer; but he only esteems him and confides entirely
+in him when he recognises besides military talents a soul of energetic
+vigour and a heart that beats in unison with his own. The soldier's
+glance can penetrate without difficulty a cold and harsh exterior, and
+soon discovers whether this appearance conceals insufficiency,
+stupidity, or pride; or whether it is only the countenance of a man
+accustomed to command--the exterior of a soul really accessible to all
+human sentiments.
+
+In an action Dubois could see his men fall without the slightest show of
+emotion, and would not permit a soldier to leave his place to help them;
+but after the battle he was the first and the most attentive in
+relieving the wounded, and would take no rest till they were carried to
+the ambulances.
+
+Of the three battalions (they were not complete) which he commanded, two
+belonged to his own regiment; the third was composed of fragments drawn
+from all sides. Nevertheless, after two or three days' march, all these
+men, as well as the companies of various arms which he was to lead to
+Troyes, knew Colonel Dubois better perhaps than he knew himself. These
+brave men, after some hours' rest were well satisfied to submit to
+circumstances and remain under the orders of their Colonel de _Bois_, as
+they used to call him--and thought it a fine joke to defend themselves
+in this _nest_ of La Roche-Pont, cut off from all help.
+
+Though in concert with Captain Allaud he made the most needful
+preparations for defence--were it only to save his own honour--Colonel
+Dubois wished to ascertain whether it was possible to reach Langres and
+Troyes without compromising his troops. He therefore instructed a young
+orderly officer of energy and intelligence, by whom he was
+accompanied--giving him two attendants and two guides from the town and
+known to the captain, all mounted--to reconnoitre the route and return
+as quickly as possible.
+
+We have seen that before the colonel's arrival the defenders numbered
+three hundred and twenty men, of whom sixty were veterans. Among these
+men about fifty were capable of serving the guns, having been
+artillerymen. The troop brought by the colonel consisted of three
+battalions, in all one thousand four hundred and fifty men, twenty-five
+artillerymen, and thirty dismounted horsemen; total, one thousand eight
+hundred and twenty-five men, including officers.
+
+Provisions were the first question. The colonel, having learned the
+arrest of the mayor, summoned him into his presence, and soon heard the
+confession of the municipal magistrate. He gave him to understand that
+the proofs of his royalist intrigues were sufficient to justify his
+being shot there and then, and that the only means of avoiding this
+unpleasant necessity was to set about provisioning the city without a
+moment's delay. He added that he only commanded the vanguard of a _corps
+d'armée_, marching from Lyons in the rear of the enemy, while the
+Emperor was to take them in front: it was important therefore for the
+town of La Roche-Pont to be in a position to resist for some days, and
+if it were obliged to surrender for want of provisions, the Emperor's
+Government would lay blame on the mayor, as having an understanding with
+the enemy, and then it was all over with him.
+
+The poor mayor, more dead than alive, promised everything, and swore by
+all the saints that he was devoted to the Emperor, and that in
+four-and-twenty hours the fortress should be supplied with all the
+provisions that could be found in the neighbourhood. "I don't know what
+there may be in the neighbourhood," replied the colonel; "you probably
+_do_; but I have to tell you that by four o'clock to-morrow
+afternoon--it is now a quarter-past six--there must be on this spot,
+first, rations of meal, meat, and wine for a garrison of two thousand
+men for twenty-five days at least; secondly, the inhabitants of the town
+must also be provisioned for thirty days; and that if this is not done,
+I shall be unfortunately obliged to send you back to your place of
+confinement, where you will await the decision of the Emperor's
+Government; I am going to give you twenty men to accompany you and help
+you. Planton! ask the major to come here!" "But, colonel," said the
+mayor, "you must be aware that at this time of the year I shall have
+great difficulty--" "You prefer then to return to prison immediately?"
+interrupted the colonel. "Major!" said he when this officer was
+introduced, "Monsieur le maire de la Roche-Pont engages to provision the
+town within twenty-four hours. Here is a list of what is required. You
+will accompany him, and have twenty pressed men with you--thirty if you
+want them. You must begin at once. I wish you good luck, Monsieur le
+maire." Addressing himself to the major, while the mayor was retiring,
+pale and covered with perspiration, in spite of the cold: "Do not suffer
+this man to go out of your sight, he is a Royalist; keep him at work,
+and bring him back here with the provisions." "I understand, colonel."
+It was many years since the upper and lower town of La Roche-Pont had
+been so animated. The upper town resounded with the noise of arms, of
+the excavators going to the works, of guns being taken from the arsenal
+and mounted in the batteries, and of the repairing of the carriages. In
+another part the carpenters were at work making platforms. As in former
+times, women mingled with the workmen and brought bundles of willows cut
+from the side of the pool to make gabions. Behind every window some were
+to be seen sewing bags for earth. Wheelwrights were repairing wheels;
+and all engaged were singing and laughing as if they were preparing for
+a fête. The meal and forage carts were coming in, while pigs, cows, and
+sheep were rendering the streets almost impassable.
+
+The lower town presented a different aspect: the _cafés_ were full, and
+all were talking at once and very loud. The mayor, followed by the
+major, who kept close to his elbow, and by his staff of assistants, was
+making his visits to the shops and houses.
+
+The whole of the population was at the windows or at the door-sills.
+Carts were got ready, and the twenty pressed men filled them in no time;
+if horses could not be found to draw them, the workmen pushed at the
+wheels. Some large houses, however, remained closely shut.
+
+They had to go through the valley and visit the farmers and millers of
+the neighbourhood. Many inhabitants of the upper town went down in
+search of hams, meal, and grains. The grocers' shops and the pork shops
+were emptied one after the other; provisions were rising in price, so
+that the last ham was sold, at three o'clock in the afternoon, for sixty
+francs.
+
+At four o'clock the mayor, followed like his shadow by the major,
+presented himself before the colonel and gave him the list of all the
+provisions he had been able to bring into the upper town. The colonel
+bade him sit down, and examined the account carefully, asking many
+questions and appealing to the major's testimony respecting the
+correctness of the statements. The twenty-five days' rations for the two
+thousand men were found complete, thanks to a good stock of un-ground
+corn which made up for what was wanting in meal.
+
+The colonel expressed himself satisfied, especially as they had found in
+the castle some few hundred-weight of biscuit in good condition. "Thank
+you, Monsieur le maire," said he; "you must be fatigued, and may return
+home; but as I am not unaware of the ill-feeling of some bad sort of
+people towards you, you shall have a man on guard posted at your door;
+and I must beg you not to quit your house except to go to your office,
+which fortunately is situated in the upper town, which will enable you,
+when we are invested, to fulfil your functions with the zeal you have
+just manifested.
+
+"I will also beg you to make arrangements without delay for an ambulance
+with fifty beds duly furnished--suppose we say to-night--and to send me
+the surgeons of the town, if there are any at La Roche-Pont, this very
+evening.... Major! accompany Monsieur le maire while he attends to this
+business, so that no harm may befal him...."
+
+That same day, at eight o'clock in the evening, the reconnaissance
+returned and reported what they had seen.
+
+The enemy was at Gray near Champlitte, and was occupying the roads
+between Gray and Thil-le-Châtel. His force had been seen at Bèze, about
+eighteen miles from La Roche-Pont. Communication between Dijon and
+Langres was cut off: and although the enemy had not occupied that town,
+he was forming a curtain between it and the north to mask his ulterior
+movements.
+
+The circumstantial details given by his orderly officer confirmed the
+colonel in the idea that the army of Bohemia was paying but little
+attention to what was taking place in his rear, but was pushing on
+towards the capital by the basin of the Seine. "Ah!" said the colonel,
+when he had heard every particular from the young officer, "if we only
+had twenty thousand of those men who were lost in Russia, we could make
+these German and Russian gentlemen pay dearly for their temerity, and
+few of them would see the other side of the Rhine again."
+
+Colonel Dubois therefore determined to follow the second part of his
+instructions. He sent a reliable man, selected by Captain Allaud, to
+Auxonne to inform the governor of the place--if the town was not already
+occupied--that he was holding La Roche-Pont, that he was in a condition
+to defend himself there for some time, and that he should wish all
+isolated detachments and any provisions or munitions that had no
+particular destination to be sent to him.
+
+Up to the 15th of January the town of La Roche-Pont had not seen a
+single enemy. The centre column of Prince Schwartzenberg's army was
+marching in the direction of Gray along the heights of the Seine and
+Marne basins, and avoiding the Lower Saône. This delay had allowed
+additional munitions to be brought into the town, and the garrison
+increased by some recruits who, not being able to join their regiments,
+were wandering about without orders. Four pieces of field artillery,
+whose carriages were out of repair, had also been got into the town. The
+colonel had put himself in communication with Lyons; and Marshal
+Augereau, still hoping to commence offensive operations, had confirmed
+the previous orders that had been given--that is to say, to hold La
+Roche-Pont, and to gain all possible information respecting the enemy's
+movements in the north.
+
+Towards the end of January the great army of Bohemia had some grounds
+for apprehending an attack on its rear; and Prince Schwartzenberg knew
+that from Macon along the ascent of the Saône, and as far as the
+countries intersected by hills which form a part of Upper Burgundy, a
+nucleus of resistance was being formed which might at any moment take
+the offensive and embarrass him greatly. After the battle of Brienne
+(29th of January), as the result of which the Prussians were thrown back
+by Napoleon on La Rothière, the sovereigns assembled in Prince
+Schwartzenberg's neighbourhood deliberated as to whether they should
+stop short at Langres or risk advancing alone against the troops
+commanded by the Emperor.
+
+This indecision with regard to ulterior operations led to a more
+effective concentration and the occupation of a circle of wider radius
+around Langres.
+
+Orders were then given to a body of four thousand of the allied
+Bavarians and Austrians to invest La Roche-Pont, and to guard the route
+from Lyons to Langres.
+
+It was not till the 1st of February that the front of this corps showed
+itself before La Roche-Pont.
+
+Colonel Dubois had not been wasting time: the garrison was provisioned
+for more than six weeks, and munitions were not wanting. This superior
+officer had put everything in order; and his troops, motley in
+appearance, certainly, but well rested and full of confidence, amounted
+at that time to more than nineteen hundred men, of whom twelve hundred
+were experienced soldiers who might be relied upon. The works on the
+north were well armed and the defences in good condition, duly furnished
+with palisades, traverses, and appliances for shelter.
+
+On the evening of the 2nd of February, some of the enemy's horse were
+caracoling at a distance of about two hundred yards from the works; this
+bravado cost them about a dozen men.
+
+The enemy, however, did not seem desirous of undertaking a regular
+siege, but took up a position about a mile from the northern salient; he
+sent detachments to occupy the faubourg on the left bank, and raised an
+encampment on the eastern hills.
+
+The colonel had blown up the stone-bridge and destroyed the
+foot-bridges.
+
+On the morning of the 4th of February an envoy appeared on the glacis
+and handed on to the governor of the place a summons from General
+Werther, demanding the surrender of La Roche-Pont to the troops of the
+allied princes. The garrison would be allowed to retire southwards with
+arms, baggage, and field artillery.
+
+The colonel replied that the place was sufficiently strong and well
+provided; it would not capitulate till the moment when the breaches were
+no longer tenable; and he judged that the defence could not be prolonged
+to any purpose.
+
+The following night Colonel Dubois sent out a hundred men to try the
+strength of the enemy's outposts and reconnoitre their positions.
+
+By the end of the two following days--the 5th and 6th--the investment
+was almost complete, and the communication with the surrounding country
+interrupted. On the evening of the 9th there came another summons from
+the enemy's general, declaring that if the place were not surrendered
+within twenty-four hours the bombardment would commence. The colonel
+replied as before.
+
+In fact, on the 10th of February a mortar battery opened fire, first on
+the northern salient, about eight o'clock in the evening. The bombs
+produced no effect, and in ten hours' bombardment only eight men had
+been struck, the roof of one of the barracks broken in, and two
+gun-carriages damaged.
+
+The pieces of large calibre mounted on the cavaliers of the bastions of
+the work did not begin to fire on the mortar battery until daybreak, and
+silenced it about noon. The enemy appeared then to limit his efforts to
+the investment; and it was not till the 17th of February, probably in
+consequence of news received from the north, that he appeared to decide
+on a regular siege. Perhaps until this moment he had not the needful
+appliances.
+
+On the night of the 17th, the first parallel was commenced about six
+hundred yards from the salient of the re-entering _place d'armes_ (Fig.
+70), as also the communications between this parallel and the depôts.
+About two o'clock in the morning the governor sent out a hundred and
+fifty men, who charged the advanced posts protecting the workmen on the
+western side of the plateau, and forced their passage through to the
+trench; put the sappers to rout, took some of their tools, and then,
+seeing themselves taken in flank, rushed up the slopes of the plateau,
+and re-entered by the postern of the lower town, protected by the fires
+of the demi-bastion.
+
+On the 18th of February those who worked by day finished what their
+comrades, told off for night work, had commenced; and the engineers
+fixed in the parallel the prolongations of the works of the place, which
+they were intending to ricochet, with a view to planting the first
+batteries. By the method in which the besieger was proceeding, Colonel
+Dubois and Captain Allaud had no difficulty in perceiving that they had
+to do with a methodical enemy, who would conduct his attack according to
+the rules of the art, and would employ the acknowledged methods of
+approach against the main work of La Roche-Pont. The commander of the
+Bavarian engineers, in fact, had drawn out the plan of siege as
+exhibited in Fig. 70.
+
+On the night of the 18th of February he commenced the ricochet batteries
+of the first parallel, and the boyaux of communication that were to lead
+to the second parallel; the works were continued by day. He was
+intending to direct the siege in the method we are going to describe.
+
+On the third night the batteries of the first parallel were completed so
+as to fire in concert at daybreak.
+
+The fourth night, supposing the artillery of the besieged to be
+silenced, they would commence the second parallel, and the fifth night
+the counter-batteries parallel and perpendicular to the faces to be
+cannonaded.
+
+The sixth night would be occupied with the continuation of the
+counter-batteries and the commencement, by sap, of the zigzags about as
+far as one hundred and sixty yards from the crest of the salient angles
+of the covered way.
+
+During the seventh night the construction of the counter-batteries would
+be finished, and they would dig the demi-parallels.
+
+On the eighth night they would continue to advance by sap in zigzag, and
+arm the demi-parallel with howitzers and mortars, to commence their fire
+at daybreak at the same time as the counter-batteries.
+
+On the ninth night the sap-fronts would reach the glacis fifty or sixty
+yards from the salient angles of the covered way, and the zigzags would
+enter the third parallel, which they would continue by day.
+
+On the tenth night the works would be completed, the third parallel
+should be finished, and batteries of stone mortars planted there.
+
+On the eleventh night they were to drive two saps a length of twenty-six
+or thirty yards, right and left, of the capital (Fig. 71). They would
+dig the circular trenches, and then advance straight on the capital by
+double sap to within range of hand-grenades; twenty-six to thirty yards
+from the salient of the _places d'armes_. Protected by the fire of the
+third parallel, this work would be continued by day.
+
+The twelfth night would be employed in tracing the trench cavalier by
+means of two saps; these works were to be terminated by day.
+
+The thirteenth night, starting from the extremities of the trench
+cavaliers near the capitals, by double sap, they would crown the salient
+angles of the covered way. At daybreak these crownings would be
+finished, and the construction of the counter-batteries commenced. They
+would get down by means of two saps (Fig. 71) to the _place d'armes_,
+to establish a lodgment parallel to the rounding of the ditches.
+
+If necessary, they would drive right and left of the crowning two saps
+which would meet each other in the middle of this crowning. A fourth
+parallel would, if necessary, be established, on which they would then
+place the stone mortars of the third parallel. If this fourth parallel
+was not needed, they would advance from the third parallel by means of a
+double sap directly upon the salient of the re-entering _place d'armes_.
+
+The fourteenth night the crowning was to be extended along the branches
+of the covered way as far as the first traverse. The construction of the
+counter-batteries, and that of the fourth parallel, would be continued.
+If this fourth parallel were not required, the saps would reach to the
+salient of the re-entering _place d'armes_, which they would crown. At
+daybreak the breach batteries would be commenced.
+
+On the fifteenth night these works would be completed; then, if they had
+been obliged to dig a fourth parallel, they would diverge from that in
+two saps which would unite to form a strong traverse, under shelter of
+which these saps would reach as far as the salient of the re-entering
+_place d'armes_, which they would crown by extending that crowning right
+and left. They would then have to commence the descent of the ditch.
+
+During the sixteenth night the breach batteries would be terminated, and
+would begin firing. They would work at the descent of the ditch. If
+possible, they would get down into the _place d'armes_ to install
+themselves and plant a battery of stone mortars there.
+
+The seventeenth night would be occupied in finishing the descent to the
+ditch, and they would commence the epaulement of the passage.
+
+During the eighteenth night they would begin to make a breach, and
+advance the passage of the ditch of the breach, which should be effected
+in the morning.
+
+During the nineteenth night they would reconnoitre the breach, and the
+sappers would render it practicable. They would terminate the
+epaulements of the passage of the ditch, that the assault might be made
+next day.
+
+Thus, according to the plan of the siege, in nineteen times twenty-four
+hours the place would be in the power of the enemy.
+
+The lines were fixed upon, and General Werther did not doubt of success,
+as he did not imagine that La Roche-Pont could be succoured, and was
+aware of the weakness of the garrison and the inefficient character of
+its artillery.
+
+Nevertheless, these theoretic calculations were somewhat disconcerted by
+the energy of the defence.
+
+Colonel Dubois had not men enough to act efficiently at a distance; he
+did his utmost to economise his strength, and contented himself with
+impeding the works at the commencement with his artillery. This
+consisted, as we have seen, of--
+
+   Guns of various calibre   20
+   Twenty-four pounders       6
+   Howitzers                  2
+   Mortars                    4
+   Field-pieces               4
+                             --
+   Total of ordnance         36
+                             ==
+
+A dozen stone mortars and rampart rifles formed the rest of the
+artillery. The arsenal contained also a certain supply of hand-grenades
+and fireworks.
+
+At length, on the 20th of February, the batteries of the first parallel,
+to the number of ten, opened their fire. Each of them was armed with
+three guns; the first on the right (of the besieger), à ricochet, raked
+the covered way in front of the right face of the left bastion (of the
+besieged). The second swept the right face of the left demi-lune; the
+third, the left face of the middle demi-lune; the fourth, à ricochet,
+raked the covered way in front of the left face of the left bastion; the
+fifth swept the salient of the demi-lune; the sixth swept the right face
+of that demi-lune; the seventh, à ricochet, raked the covered way in
+front of the left face of the right bastion; the eighth, à ricochet,
+raked the left face of the demi-lune in the centre; the ninth swept the
+left face of the right demi-lune; and the tenth, à ricochet, raked the
+covered way before the left face of the right bastion. Four mortars were
+mounted between the batteries 4 and 5, 6 and 7. Captain Allaud did not
+doubt that the principal attack would be directed to the left bastion;
+he had the gorge of this bastion therefore retrenched during the night.
+The six twenty-four pounders were placed in battery on the cavaliers of
+the bastions of the main defence, and well sheltered by traverses and
+blindages. These six pieces concentrated their fire on the fourth and
+fifth batteries of the besieger, and succeeded in silencing their fire
+about noon. Then they fired on battery No. 3, and before night silenced
+its three guns also. The guns in battery on the cavaliers of the
+bastions of the work were sufficiently well sheltered not to be in
+danger from the enemy's projectiles, to which they responded only
+feebly. But on the night of the 20th February the plans of the besieger
+had to be modified. At midnight the colonel ordered five hundred men to
+arm, put horses to his four field-pieces, whose wheels had been covered
+with rags and wool, and going out by the left demi-lune, he had two
+pieces placed on the right and two on the left of the road, two hundred
+yards in front of the glacis, and, on the road itself, the two
+howitzers, a hundred yards behind. Then he advanced resolutely towards
+the communicating boyau, between the third and fourth of the enemy's
+batteries, whose fire had been silenced. The posts offered but a slight
+resistance; the sappers fled, abandoning the trench, and were pursued to
+the batteries at the point of the bayonet.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 70.
+
+THE THEORETICAL ATTACK ON VAUBAN'S WORK.]
+
+The reinforcements then arrived, and the colonel drew back his men
+quietly, by echelons, to the guns. These then opened a simultaneous fire
+on the enemy with grape; and the five hundred men advanced once more,
+and brought back some prisoners, but seeing themselves again attacked by
+a superior force, fell back. This time the Germans did not go beyond
+their trenches, but contented themselves with a few volleys of grape at
+random. This skirmish did not last more than half an hour. At one
+o'clock A.M. Captain Allaud placed two hundred workmen at a distance of
+two hundred and fifty yards in front of the face of the left demi-lune
+No. 1, crossed by the road, to commence a trench at this point (Fig.
+72). These workmen were protected by a post of one hundred men, and the
+two howitzers left on the road. This work consisted of two redans, with
+massive traverse-shelters (see A). It was sufficiently advanced at
+daybreak to be able to shelter the workmen. When the enemy, who had
+begun his work again at the trench boyaux, B and C, in order to commence
+the second parallel, perceived at early dawn the new work executed by
+the besieged, he hastened to bring the fire of battery No. 1 upon it,
+for batteries 2, 3, and 4 had not yet been remounted. But from the
+cavaliers of the bastions No. I. and V., six guns in two hours silenced
+this battery, No. 1, in spite of the besieger's batteries, 5 and 6. The
+day thus passed in cannonading, and the Germans could not continue their
+boyau of communication, B, which was raked by one of the howitzers which
+the besieged had placed behind the great traverse of the salient of
+the redan on the left. They had to modify the direction of the trench,
+and follow the dotted line, _a b_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 71.
+
+THE THIRD PARALLEL AND CROWNING OF THE COVERED-WAY.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 72.]
+
+During the night of the 21st of February, Captain Allaud completed his
+redans, enlarged the traverses, and set up blindages for seven guns; and
+in the morning the work presented on the inner side the appearance
+(Fig. 73). The gun on the left, A, directed its fire on battery No. 1;
+the two guns on the left return, B C, on battery No. 4; the pieces D E,
+of the right return, on battery No. 1; and the two pieces F G, of the
+right face, on battery No. 6.[61] But this did not hinder the
+bastions V., VI., I., II., and III. from firing on these batteries.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 73.]
+
+That same night, however, the besieger had been able to start his second
+parallel; but he was evidently embarrassed on his right, and was
+modifying his plan on this side. He seemed to be giving up an attempt on
+the place by the salient of bastion No. 2, and was working actively on
+his left.
+
+During the 22nd of February, the besiegers could not restore battery No.
+1, because the besieged kept up a constant discharge on this point. They
+succeeded only at nightfall in remounting their guns in batteries 2 and
+3; and having determined the range before night, discharged the balls of
+two guns on the salients of the redans. About midnight Colonel Dubois
+sent out five hundred men, who, traversing the western ridge of the
+plateau, attacked battery No. 1. A few moments afterwards, a second
+troop of four hundred men attacked the two batteries, 2 and 3; and the
+besieger having been dislodged from battery No. 1, the first troop of
+the besieged came and formed in line of musketry between battery No. 2
+and the salient of the redan on the right; while fusiliers posted at the
+trench, A,[62] and one of the howitzers, swept the ground as far as
+battery No. 1, in order to hinder the enemy from taking the sortie in
+the rear.
+
+This operation was completely successful; not only were the works of
+battery No. 1 damaged, and the three guns with which it was armed (the
+carriages belonging to these guns, as stated above, were already
+broken), but around batteries 2 and 3 there was a very sharp struggle
+which resulted in the Germans being repulsed, the guns rendered useless,
+the munitions scattered, and the gabions and earth-bags thrown down. A
+body of a hundred men had also been posted by the colonel on the slopes
+of the plateau to hinder the enemy from making his way along that
+escarpment to attack the work A.
+
+Under favour of this sortie, two hundred workmen had been placed by
+Captain Allaud along the western ridge of the plateau, to raise a new
+work, B C D (Fig. 74), which consisted of three new redans presenting
+three batteries each for two guns, traced _en crémaillère_, and
+separated by strong traverses. By the morning of the 23rd of February
+the first battery, B, was sufficiently strong to resist projectiles.
+
+Moreover, this battery could not be immediately attacked by battery No.
+1, which was abandoned, and whose guns were useless. Forty-eight hours
+at least were required to enable the besieger to restore batteries 2 and
+3. Batteries 4 and 5 must change their embrasures to direct their fire
+on this battery B, and only batteries 6 and 7 could sweep the redans A
+and B. Now these batteries, 6 and 7, received the fire of the two guns
+of the right face of the right-hand redan, of the two guns of the right
+face of the bastion II., of the two guns of the left face of the bastion
+III., and of a gun of the right face of the demi-lune 2. Every moment it
+was necessary to repair the gabionades, and replace the earth-bags; and
+since the beginning of the day the enemy had had ten artillerymen
+killed, and as many more wounded, in these two batteries.
+
+The German engineer, who had so methodically traced the successive
+operations of the siege, was evidently embarrassed by the strategy of
+the besieged. It was in his opinion barbarous, absolutely contrary to
+rules, and showed an ignorance of, and contempt for the art of
+fortification, which must end in disaster.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 74.]
+
+During the night of the 23rd of February the Germans were finishing
+their second parallel, except in the north-west side. They gave the
+eastern branch of this parallel an inclination towards the south,[63]
+and commenced the batteries 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Battery 13, of two
+guns, was to rake the work A.
+
+But that same night Captain Allaud terminated the second battery, C,
+started the third, D, had an intrenchment made on the ridge of the
+plateau, and raised an epaulement, E, to sweep the slopes, with a good
+parados.
+
+If the besieged succeeded in finishing and arming these works, the
+batteries 11 and 12 of the besieger would be taken obliquely, the boyaux
+of communication would be for the most part raked, and the siege would
+have to be recommenced. The German general was in a very bad humour, and
+blamed the commander of the engineers, who, with his plan on the table,
+endeavoured to show that his siege had been duly arranged, according to
+all the rules of the art; that the ignorant temerity of these Frenchmen
+could not be foreseen, and that if the Germans acted with vigour, they
+would be made bitterly to repent of thus advancing wedge-like on the
+flank of the attack; that such a thing had never been seen, and that if
+they concentrated three batteries on this salient in the air, they would
+soon crush it.
+
+On the morning of the 24th of February two twenty-four pounders, placed
+in battery on the left face of bastion VIII., opened fire on batteries
+13, 14, and 15 of the besieger, which they raked, and damaged greatly
+before they were completely finished. This time the German general
+proceeded from ill-humour to passion and even menaces; so that the
+unfortunate officer of the engineers, repairing to these batteries after
+a violent scene to raise traverses and rectify the line, which he
+asserted had not been executed conformably to his instructions, had his
+head broken by a splinter from a gun-carriage.
+
+The direction of the engineering was then given to a young officer, who,
+after a conference with General Werther, modified the plan of the
+attack. During the 24th of the month there was scarcely any firing on
+either side, the besieger firing only at long intervals. The French
+garrison, which was anxious to economise its munitions, scarcely
+replied, but worked with ardour at perfecting its advanced works on the
+west.
+
+A sortie effected during the night of the 24th, to ascertain whether the
+enemy was re-taking possession of batteries 1, 2, and 3, only
+encountered advanced posts, which retired after a feeble resistance.
+These three batteries were in the condition to which they had been
+reduced by the preceding sortie.
+
+Captain Allaud employed the whole of the night in strengthening the
+batteries B, C, D. They were armed with six guns, which on the morning
+of the 25th swept the boyaux of communication and a whole branch of the
+second parallel.
+
+The Germans scarcely replied, and seemed to be abandoning their works.
+
+They were probably going to try another attack. The colonel was somewhat
+disquieted at Captain Allaud's novel strategy, which, in face of a bold
+assailant, presented grave perils. The calmness of the enemy made him
+fear some unexpected design; perhaps a strenuous attack on that salient
+which, if it were taken, would furnish the besiegers with an excellent
+position for rapidly establishing breach batteries against demi-lune No.
+I, and bastion II. This salient therefore must be defended at any cost,
+since they had been led to establish it in order to disconcert the
+systematic attack of the Germans. Moreover, if they lost it, they would
+probably lose at the same time most of the guns that armed it; and the
+defence had only a restricted number.
+
+Thirteen guns armed the advanced work. The two howitzers were placed in
+battery, one at the extremity of the salient D, pointed at battery No.
+1, the other in the right re-entering _place d'armes_ of the demi-lune
+No. 1. Two guns were also placed on the right face of the demi-lune; two
+guns on the front, between the bastions I. and II., and two guns on the
+right and left faces of this bastion, to sweep the advanced works if
+they were taken. In all, nineteen guns and two howitzers. Besides, the
+ridge of the plateau was well defended by a good trench-shelter with
+traverses, that the work might not be able to be taken by assault in
+rear by the escarpment. One of the twenty-four pounders was placed in
+battery in the bastion V. of the main work, in the direction of its
+capital, to sweep this slope.
+
+On the 25th of February only a few cannon-shots were exchanged. The
+mortar batteries of the besieger concentrated their fire on the western
+redan, without doing much damage; but during the night of the 25th the
+fire of the bombs was so incessant that it became difficult to labour at
+these works. It continued during the 26th, but the besieged dismounted
+three of these mortars with the guns left on the bastions II. and III.
+The besieged on his side placed the two mortars in battery on the front
+between these two bastions, and sent projectiles into the batteries 11
+and 12.
+
+During the 26th of the month (the weather being clear) the enemy was
+seen to be erecting three batteries on the north-west, evidently
+directed against the batteries A, B, C, D, to crush them. They could not
+reply to their fire; the colonel therefore decided that they should
+bring back into the town temporarily the six guns of the batteries B, C,
+D. The bombs continued to fall into the works during the whole night of
+the 26th; and on the morning of the 27th the fire of the three batteries
+of the enemy, erected six hundred and fifty yards behind the abandoned
+battery No. 1, was opened against the redans B, C, D; it lasted the
+whole night of the 27th, damaged the blindages very severely, and threw
+down the traverses. On the morning of the 28th the _crémaillère_ ceased
+to be tenable, but the work A had not been seriously injured. The
+howitzer placed at D had been brought back behind the great traverse F
+surmounted with a banquette.
+
+About nine o'clock the enemy resumed possession of the battery No. 1,
+installed four field-pieces there in spite of the fire of the bastions
+I. and II., and threw an assaulting column against the damaged works D,
+C, B. This was what the colonel anticipated. The column encountered the
+fire of the three guns left in the redans A, the howitzer, and a front
+of fusiliers posted on the great traverse F. Bending to the right and
+defiling below the crest of the plateau, this column was able to seize
+the work B, C, D, without excessive loss; and, sheltered behind the
+ruins of the earthworks, it was able to keep its ground there while the
+field-pieces of the battery No. 1 cleared off the defenders of the great
+traverse F. The colonel, however, had brought in again the guns left in
+work A, and gave orders to his men to fall back. But at this juncture,
+from the demi-lune No. 1, the bastions I. and II. and the curtain
+between these bastions, twenty-two guns and some stone mortars poured a
+tremendously heavy fire into the abandoned work, inflicting very serious
+loss on the besieger, who was endeavouring to hold his ground there.
+This cannonade lasted till noon. The colonel, supposing the enemy to be
+giving way, sallied forth at the head of eight hundred men and fell on
+the posts which the Germans had begun to fortify. He had his attack
+sustained by the two howitzers. The work was retaken, but not without
+the loss of about a hundred men. The great point was to keep it. About
+two o'clock two field-pieces conveyed behind the ruined epaulements of
+batteries 2 and 3, and the four of battery No. 1, once more overwhelmed
+the salient with small bombs, balls, and grape. The bastions I., II.,
+and III. replied immediately, and dismounted some of the enemy's pieces,
+which were ill-protected by the battered-down epaulements. The colonel
+made his men lie down behind the traverses C, B, F, and awaited a second
+assault; which was in fact attempted about four o'clock, as the enemy
+believed the outwork was once more abandoned. The assaulting columns
+passed the first epaulement; but as soon as they found themselves in the
+last redan, D, they were received by a discharge of muskets almost at
+arm's length, from behind the traverse C (Fig. 75), followed by a
+bayonet charge; this time two hundred Germans remained on the field, and
+the remains of the assaulting column fell back in disorder to the
+batteries, which recommenced firing and went on till nightfall.
+
+The besieged remained masters of the place, but under the converging
+fire of the enemy they could not maintain this wedge-shaped and badly
+flanked position. There was no advantage in keeping it, sufficient to
+compensate for the loss they would suffer in resisting fresh attacks.
+However, the colonel was unwilling to abandon the redans without cost to
+the enemy. The evening was employed in charging three powder-mines under
+the salients A and B, and raising earthworks to protect themselves as
+well as they could. All this night of the 28th of February the bombs
+fell thick on the outwork: the men were still tolerably protected on the
+_débris_ of the blindages. On the morning of the 1st of March the German
+artillery recommenced firing on the redans more briskly than the day
+before, from the three batteries behind and from battery No. 6.
+
+The colonel withdrew his men into the town, and left only one platoon,
+well sheltered, with orders to fire the mines only when the enemy
+thought himself covered by the epaulement of the redan A, and was
+endeavouring to take up his position there.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 75.--ATTACK ON THE WORKS OF COUNTER-APPROACH.]
+
+The 1st of March passed by without a new assault being attempted by the
+besiegers. "They will try it to-night," thought Colonel Dubois. He went
+back about seven o'clock in the evening into the salient, to make
+certain that the train was well laid; and to encourage his men, he
+reinforced them with twenty fusiliers, enjoining upon them, when they
+saw their enemy, to make such a pretence of defending themselves as
+should be sufficient to draw him on; but to fall back promptly after
+setting fire to the train.
+
+The bombardment was recommenced about eight o'clock, but at ten ceased
+for a time; and the colonel, who had ascended the cavalier of bastion
+II., thought the enemy was about to make a fresh attempt. In fact,
+notwithstanding the darkness of the night, he saw black masses spreading
+successively through the works D, C, and B[64]. On arriving at the
+traverse F, they were received by a volley of musketry, to which they
+responded by a well-sustained fire. A mass of the enemy might be seen
+moving along the traverse F, and halting outside the redans A. At this
+moment three successive explosions were heard which made the ground
+tremble, succeeded by loud cries. The order was given: from the
+demi-lune No. 1. and bastions I. and II., all the pieces fired together
+on the outwork for half an hour; after which two hundred men of the
+garrison sallied forth and rushed on the enemy. The outwork contained
+only dead and wounded. Captain Allaud then went out in his turn with two
+hundred volunteer workmen, to fill up the trenches and destroy obstacles
+as far as possible. About midnight the bombs fell once more on the
+corner of the defence, and orders were given to retire within the
+fortress, so as to avoid unnecessary loss.
+
+The siege had lasted twelve days, and the second parallel, which ought
+to have been terminated on the sixth day, was not finished. The garrison
+reckoned about a hundred and fifty men killed and wounded; but they had
+inflicted more serious losses on the besiegers.
+
+General Werther found the affair a very tedious one, and was much
+annoyed. Some royalists, who had mansions in the faubourg on the other
+side of the river Abonne, were on very friendly terms with the troops of
+the coalition, and manifested their impatience and anger against "this
+handful of _brigands_" who were holding the upper town and prolonging a
+useless struggle. The German general was very anxious to come to terms
+with the garrison: four hundred of his men were already _hors de
+combat_, and he thought this a great expenditure in taking this "nest,"
+which was supposed to be without a garrison or munitions. The news he
+had lately received from the north was more encouraging, but he was
+urged to finish the business.
+
+One of the most zealous of the royalists, who were constantly in the
+German camp, proposed therefore to pay a visit to the governor, to
+inform him that Napoleon's armies were retreating at every point, that
+the capture of Paris was imminent, that the Bourbons would soon return
+amid the acclamations of the whole of France, and to urge the
+uselessness of a longer defence.
+
+General Werther readily acceded to the proposal, and on the 2nd of
+March, Baron de X*** presented himself at the outpost with a German
+envoy. The colonel received the German officer and the baron in a room
+in one of the ruined barracks. The German envoy first asked for an
+exchange of prisoners. This was readily granted by the colonel. Then
+the Baron de X*** began in his turn to explain the object of his visit.
+
+Scarcely had he begun when the colonel stopped him: "I do not know, and
+do not desire to know, sir, whether you come here to speak for yourself
+alone or as the representative of a certain number of your countrymen;
+but I will answer you briefly and clearly. I am here on the authority of
+superior orders to defend the place against the enemies of the country.
+The political inducements which you urge have not the slightest weight
+with me. I utterly ignore them. I shall not surrender the place unless
+compelled by force or ordered to do so by the Emperor's Government.
+Permit me to add, sir, that the part you are performing to-day is not an
+honourable one. What do you think of it, _Monsieur le capitaine_?" added
+he, turning to the German officer. The latter merely bowed slightly.
+"The prisoners shall be exchanged this very day, if you desire it, man
+for man," said the colonel, rising. "As to you, sir, if you had not come
+here protected by a flag of truce, I should have you tried, and probably
+shot before the garrison, ere sunset." And dismissing his two visitors,
+the governor enjoined on the officer commissioned to accompany them back
+to the outposts not to allow them to have any communication with anyone.
+
+The besieger from this day forwards was but slow in carrying on his
+approach works; he contented himself with terminating the second
+parallel and setting up three batteries of six pieces each, which opened
+fire on the 6th of March upon the faces right and left of bastions II.
+and III., and on the left face of demi-lune No. 2, with the evident
+intention of making a breach at four hundred yards' distance. Three
+mortar batteries covered the works with bombs. The Germans were
+evidently intending to keep the garrison occupied, and put it out of
+heart; waiting the chance of political events to put the place in their
+hands. Of the four thousand men under General Werther's command, and who
+had been reduced to three thousand four hundred by the losses sustained,
+it was necessary to send one thousand to Troyes; only two thousand five
+hundred men therefore remained before La Roche-Pont. Besides, the
+general had received orders to run no risks, but limit himself to a
+surveillance of the passages from the Saône to the Marne, and blockading
+the garrison of La Roche-Pont, keeping it sufficiently employed to
+prevent its taking the offensive, but without losing men in the capture
+of so insignificant a place. On the other hand, the royalists of the
+lower town were constantly predicting the end of hostilities and the
+return of the Bourbons.
+
+On the 12th of March news was received at headquarters that Napoleon had
+received a check before Laon, that Marmont's force had been routed, and
+that the allied troops were in full march on Paris. The royalists
+thought that the moment had come for another application to General
+Werther to induce him to complete the capture. They were anxious to be
+the first in Burgundy to declare for the Bourbons, and the cautious
+deliberation of the general of the allied troops exasperated them. He,
+too, would have liked to get possession of the place before the
+anticipated cessation of hostilities. He therefore sent another envoy to
+Colonel Dubois, to give him the latest news of the armies of the
+coalition, to inform him that the Allies were just about to enter Paris,
+which was now without defence, and to summon him to surrender in order
+to avoid a useless effusion of blood; and to say that if he refused to
+capitulate he must expect rigorous measures, which he, General Werther,
+would rather avoid, and of which the governor alone would have to bear
+the responsibility. Colonel Dubois' answer was exactly the same as
+before. He said he could not capitulate, as his defences remained
+entire.
+
+During the night of the 12th of March, two mortar batteries were planted
+on the hill slopes of the right bank, and opened fire in the evening on
+the faubourg of the left bank. The _flèche_ which served as a _tête du
+pont_ was broken down by the shells. The German general thought he
+should thus induce the townspeople to insist on the governor's promptly
+capitulating. Some of the houses in this faubourg caught fire, and the
+inhabitants took refuge in the upper town. The garrison could not
+respond to the fire of the mortar batteries, as they had no more guns of
+large calibre. The six twenty-four pounders were employed to oppose the
+enemy's batteries on the north, and they could not disarm the bastions
+on this side. To complete their distress typhus broke out among the
+wounded in the _cité_.
+
+Provisions, too, were becoming scarce, and the garrison was placed on
+half rations.
+
+On the plateau the cannonade on both sides was continuing, and the
+escarpments of the two bastions II. and III. were much damaged. As the
+enemy found nothing more to destroy or burn in the lower town on the
+right bank, he began his approaches on the 15th of March, and
+established a demi-parallel with two fresh batteries during the night
+(of the 15th and following day), of four guns each. This was, however,
+not accomplished without difficulty, for these batteries were only three
+hundred yards from the faces of bastions II. and III., whose cavaliers
+still preserved three guns of large calibre. But on the 18th and 19th of
+March twenty-six guns were brought to bear against the works, and
+succeeded in throwing down the parapets and dismounting the guns of the
+besieged.
+
+During the night of the 19th of March, the colonel endeavoured to mount
+the cannon that still remained to him; but these pieces of small calibre
+could effect nothing against the enemy's works. However, the breaches
+made in the salients of demi-lune No. 2 and of bastion II., were not
+practicable; and the colonel, wishing to reserve the little artillery he
+had left, for the moment of assault, retrenched the gorge of bastion
+II., withdrew its cannon within the fortification and waited the issue.
+Not to keep his soldiers idle he occupied them at night in trifling
+sorties which fatigued the besieger. He kept the covered ways in good
+repair as far as the enemy's fire allowed, and prepared camouflets and
+_chicanes_ for the moment when the assailant should try to ascend the
+counterscarp.
+
+On the 25th of March the third parallel was finished. The place was
+thenceforth only defended by musketry, and a few stone mortars, and
+grenades, which small sallying parties threw into the trenches at night.
+
+The approaches to crown the covered way and set up breach batteries were
+advancing but slowly, thanks to the activity of the garrison, whose
+courage seemed redoubled in seeing the enemy approaching and which
+defended its glacis foot by foot.
+
+On the 1st of April came the news of the capitulation of Paris, the
+abdication of the Emperor, and the order to suspend hostilities. The
+garrison was allowed to retire to Nevers, through Auxonne, Beaune, Autun
+and Château-Chinon.
+
+On the 5th of April Colonel Dubois quitted La Roche-Pont at the head of
+seven hundred soldiers of all arms, who were all the able-bodied men
+left him.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 61: See for the numbers of the enemy's batteries, Fig. 72.]
+
+[Footnote 62: See Fig. 72.]
+
+[Footnote 63: See Fig. 74.]
+
+[Footnote 64: See Fig. 74.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_CONCLUSION._
+
+
+Notwithstanding its bastioned enclosure and great outwork which was
+still existing in 1870, exactly as Vauban had planned it, the town of La
+Roche-Pont could not have held out forty-eight hours before the German
+artillery. A few batteries to the north, on the plateau, and on the west
+and east on the sides of the hills placed at nearly two miles distant
+would have overwhelmed the place with projectiles without a possibility
+of replying; for in September 1870 the small arsenal of La Roche-Pont
+contained only six cast iron guns, and four bronze pieces with smooth
+bore, two thousand pounds of powder and two or three hundred solid
+balls.
+
+It was not attacked, though bodies of the enemy showed themselves not
+far from its walls.
+
+Its garrison consisted then of a guard of the engineers and a brigade of
+gendarmes.
+
+The inhabitants of La Roche-Pont are, however, patriotic, and mention
+with pride the numerous sieges they have experienced.
+
+They had organized their national guard as early as August, including an
+artillery corps. It is true they had not been able to supply these
+National Guards with more than a hundred flint guns which were lying in
+the citadel, and about thirty muzzle-loading guns. These brave people
+were not less determined to defend themselves, and began to cast
+bullets and make cartridges. They had not the pain of seeing the Germans
+there.
+
+In 1871, a French captain of engineers, having been in General
+Bourbaki's army, had entered Switzerland with the _débris_ of the corps.
+
+Captain Jean had received a bullet in his breast, not far from the
+frontier, and had been taken up by some peasants in the environs of
+Pontarlier, and saved by some Swiss custom house officers who had
+conveyed him to Lausanne, where he had received the most careful
+attention. We might give a touching account of that sad period of our
+disasters; and indeed we must write it if it is to be on record at all,
+for the Swiss are not the people to make a parade of the zealous
+kindness they displayed on this occasion in saving our harassed,
+famished, and frozen soldiers. Peasants and townspeople set out amid the
+snows of the Jura, to guide and to give shelter to our disbanded and
+wandering regiments. Some sacrificed their lives in this service of
+humanity, and emulated each other in offering an asylum and giving
+assistance to our exhausted soldiers. The behaviour of these excellent
+people has excited universal admiration.
+
+Captain Jean was living at Lausanne when Monsieur N.... an officer on
+half pay happened to be there. His medical attendants thought that the
+climate would contribute to the cure of the wounded man, who had
+obtained a congé in the hope of regaining health under the clement skies
+of this part of the lake of Geneva. His sister had come to join him and
+was doing all for his cure that the tenderest affection could suggest.
+His strength was however not returning and alarming symptoms continued.
+
+Captain Jean was from La Roche-Pont; he was on intimate terms with
+Monsieur N.... and the conversation often turned on the recent war and
+the resources which through ignorance or inability had not been
+employed; and they frequently spoke of this beautiful province of
+Burgundy, placed on the flank of the invasion, and which was so well
+adapted to mask and protect an offensive movement, if they had had an
+army of reserve with its right supported by Besançon and its left by
+Dijon, and abundantly supplied from the basins of the Rhône and the
+Saône.
+
+The Captain used to employ his leisure in studying the defence of his
+dear little town whose history he knew so well and which he deemed a
+strategic position of some importance.
+
+Monsieur N.... spent nearly a month in the company of this amiable and
+well-informed man, whose feelings were deeply affected by our disasters;
+but whose active mind sought in these misfortunes themselves a means of
+instruction, and an opportunity for developing the resources and
+advantages peculiar to France. This was an inexhaustible subject of
+conversation for the two friends, and they would continue talking till
+the sister interposed her authority as nurse to enjoin silence and rest.
+
+In December 1871, Monsieur N.... received the following letter at Paris,
+accompanied by a bundle of papers.
+
+"LAUSANNE, _December 10th, 1871_.
+
+"SIR,
+
+"My dearly loved brother died in my arms the day before yesterday, his
+death being the result of his wound and also perhaps of grief for our
+late disasters,--deeply affected as he was by the indelible recollection
+of the sufferings he had witnessed.
+
+"He retained his consciousness to the last, and I am fulfilling one of
+his most urgent requests in sending you these papers. It is the only
+souvenir he can bequeath to you--as he said to me the day before his
+death--of the hours you so kindly devoted to a poor invalid.
+
+"My brother often spoke to me of you; you were able to appreciate his
+excellencies and noble character, and will receive his bequest, I doubt
+not, as a mark of the profound esteem he had for you.
+
+"As for myself I cannot quit a neighbourhood where I have lived with my
+brother, and where we have met with so much sympathy."
+
+
+_Extracts from Captain Jean's papers._
+
+Attack implies a shock or onset; defence is a resistance to this onset.
+Whether a piece of ordnance discharges a ball against a plate of iron,
+or a casing of masonry, or an earthwork; or an assaulting column climbs
+a breach, the problem is substantially the same; in either case we have
+to oppose to the impulsive force a resistance that will neutralise its
+effect.
+
+When there were no projectile weapons, or their range was
+inconsiderable, only a normal resistance had to be opposed to the
+shock--a man to a man--or if the effect was to be rendered certain, two
+men to one. But when projectile arms acquired a longer range, the
+_position_ of the attack and defence became a question of importance.
+Thus were evolved for combatants in open ground the elements of tactics,
+and for fortification, arrangements of a more and more complicated
+character.
+
+It is evident, for example, that when it came to a close engagement--a
+hand-to-hand struggle with an adversary; if the latter found himself
+placed behind a circular enclosure, the obstacle that protected him
+would give him a considerable advantage--an advantage that could only be
+compensated for by renewing the attack.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 76.]
+
+To make this very simple principle intelligible at a glance, suppose
+(Fig. 76) a circular enclosure containing forty defenders separated from
+each other about a yard apart; a hand-to-hand struggle can only be
+carried on with a number equal to that of the defenders--or nearly
+so--and these under cover. It is no use for the assailants to assemble
+as at _A_, they can only present a front equal to that of the defence,
+and if this is energetic, the triangle _a_, _b_, _c_, will be effective
+only at _c_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 77.]
+
+But let us suppose the attacking body to possess projectile arms (Fig.
+77), and instead of encountering the circular enclosure, the assailants
+to set up their engines between _A_ and _B_ within fair range. They will
+overwhelm the segment _d_, _c_, _e_, of the circle with projectiles,
+while the defenders will be able to oppose only an inferior number of
+engines to the convergent fire.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 78.]
+
+To compensate in part for this inferiority the defending party adds
+appendages to the enclosure (Fig. 78 A), which allow an almost equal
+front of defence to be opposed to the attacking front, as regards the
+number of projectile weapons, and very superior in point of elevation
+and protection. But the attacking force will thus naturally arrange its
+engines as seen at B. Thus the projectiles sent from _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_,
+_e_, converge upon the salient C. The defence adds the new appendages D
+D, and if the engines are well protected, it can make the projectiles
+_g_, _h_, _i_, converge on the engine K and crush it, secondly the
+projectiles _l_, _g_, _h_, on engine _m_ and destroy it, and so on.
+
+Besides, these appendages have the further advantage of giving side
+views over the circumvallation itself and masking its foot.
+
+This principle regulates and will always regulate attack and defence;
+distances alone modify its applications.
+
+The more eccentric the defence is, the more distant must be the attack,
+and the wider the perimeter it must occupy; but it should be observed,
+that the more widely the defence is extended, the more open its flanks
+are to attack; these flanks therefore must also be capable of being
+defended, for every obstacle that offers only its own resisting force,
+without being protected by the action of a neighbouring obstacle, is
+soon destroyed.
+
+Whether fortifications or plans of battle are in question, the same
+principle comes into play. "Every part should defend its neighbour and
+be defended by it." It is clear that the solution of the problem becomes
+more and more difficult in proportion to the enlargement of the range of
+projectile weapons, and the extent of fronts of fortification or lines
+of battle.
+
+Vauban, and most of the engineers who were his rivals and successors,
+had resolved the problem in view of the range of the artillery of the
+period.
+
+Suppose a hexagon (Fig. 79), fortified according to Vauban's first
+method, it is evident that all the parts of the circumference of one
+thousand, and even one thousand eight hundred yards, are commanded by
+the curtains, the faces of the bastions and the demi-lunes. If the
+fortress stands in a level country, the enemy cannot occupy any point in
+that circumference without being exposed to its fire.
+
+To raise his first parallel and first batteries, he would have to begin
+his works at the limit of the range of the rampart guns; and, as we saw
+in Fig. 70, he must erect these batteries sufficiently near the place to
+enable their fire to tell upon the defences--_i.e._, at eight or nine
+hundred yards. At this distance the curtains could be swept, the faces
+and flanks raked, and the parapets thrown down. As the projectiles
+reached either point blank, or under an angle of about 10° when the ball
+rebounded, the besieged could protect himself against it for a very
+considerable time, and keep his own artillery intact.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 79.]
+
+But as the range of siege pieces in the present day extends to eight or
+nine thousand yards, the conditions both for the besieged and the
+besieger are very different. Hence (Fig. 80) the enemy raises his
+batteries on two or three fronts of the circumference, taking advantage
+of the rise in the ground, a wall, or a wood to protect his works, and
+when all is ready, he unmasks these batteries, and covers a segment of
+the fortress with a quantity of explosive projectiles, which, reaching
+it at an angle of 25° to 30° burst, no matter where--_dans le tas_, to
+use a common expression--the distance not allowing an aim at flanks or
+faces in particular--the besieger being in fact unable to distinguish
+them. Supposing the besieged able to maintain his artillery and reply,
+exposed as he is to the deluge of iron on his face and flanks, he has to
+aim at eccentric points which may vary, to whose position he has no clue
+but the smoke of the guns, and at an enemy, who, taking advantage of an
+indefinite amount of space to make his arrangements and shelter his men,
+is completely free. But to maintain his artillery and preserve his men
+and munitions, the besieged has only a space relatively limited to move
+in; he is soon encumbered with _débris_ of all kinds, every movement is
+difficult for him, and he has not even room to repair damages. He tires
+himself out to no great purpose. If the attack has maintained its fire
+at a long range for several days, it has introduced such confusion into
+a great part of the defences, that in two or three nights afterwards the
+first parallel may be commenced at about one thousand yards, it may be
+well armed and protected by batteries _en retraite_ and trench-shelters,
+so as to discourage sorties and allow of an advance to crown the covered
+ways. In what state are the works of the besieged by this time? The
+flanks of the bastions are as much damaged as their faces, the
+demi-lunes are untenable, and the ditches partly filled up; disorder and
+confusion prevail on all sides. No breach is practicable, certainly; but
+all the works are seriously injured on three or four fronts, and at one
+thousand yards distance, a breach may be made, and that a wide one. The
+garrison may sustain the assault to the last, and sell the possession of
+the _débris_ of its work dearly; but in this case the final result is
+not doubtful.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 80.]
+
+In proportion to the length of the trajectory, therefore, the defence
+must remove its defensive arrangement from the centre of the place.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 81.]
+
+If each front of Vauban's defence was about four hundred yards in
+length, it ought to be from thirteen to fourteen thousand yards now
+(Fig. 81). That is to say, the side of the hexagon which was four
+hundred yards--_i.e._, from one salient of a bastion to another--should
+be fourteen hundred yards. Let A be the main body of the fortress--on a
+plain suppose; forts will be erected at B and C, the zone of action of
+each of these works being eight thousand yards, they will protect each
+other and cross their fires without the possibility of their projectiles
+falling into the fortress if any of them should be in the power of the
+enemy.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 82.]
+
+Fig. 82 presents the block plan of each of those forts B and C, to whose
+interior arrangements we shall return. But by this excessive lengthening
+of the _capitals_, the forts B (Fig. 81), may be swept along the whole
+extent of the arc of a circle _a b_ (more than the third of the
+circumference); they occupy the points of a triangle, and if one of them
+were taken the enemy would be able to batter two of the forts C. It is
+therefore necessary, with an extended radius, to multiply the defences,
+and to enable them to protect each other in a more effective manner.
+This is the method indicated in Fig. 83.
+
+Here we have a dodecagon. The forts of the outer zone are seven thousand
+yards apart, and the works, A, flank each other; a second zone of forts
+B commands the latter, if required, and the zone of action of these
+second works extends beyond the outer line of forts. Railways are
+required to connect the forts of each zone, and to put them in
+communication with the body of the place.
+
+This extension of the fields of defence may, according to the nature of
+the ground, be divided into two zones with a central nucleus.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 83.]
+
+The interior zone would consist of permanent works, forming an _enceinte
+de préservation_; a line of forts at intervals sufficiently
+strengthened, in case of war, by field works.
+
+The exterior zone would be fixed by occupying strategic points well
+chosen and considered beforehand, forming small camps protected by
+temporary works, and affording security to a numerous army, whose
+manoeuvres the enemy could not espy.
+
+The expenditure entailed by such a system of defence is unquestionably
+enormous. But as respects this question there is to all appearance an
+unwillingness to realize exactly the new state of things produced by
+artillery of long range.
+
+The expenditure involved in the successive systems of defence from
+ancient times downwards has been a continually increasing one. The wall
+built round Paris by Philippe-Augustus, would not cost, the running
+yard, as much as that of Charles V.; the latter, again, must have been
+less expensive than the bastioned fronts of Louis XIII., and these again
+would be far from necessitating the outlay (_i.e._ estimated by the
+running yard, and reckoning detached forts) occasioned by the
+fortification of Paris under Louis Philippe. Similarly the mounting of
+four or five trebuchets, and the movable towers required for attacking a
+fortified place before fire artillery was employed, cost less than the
+manufacture of the artillery used at the siege of Turin in 1535. The
+latter again would be far less costly than the French and English
+artillery at the siege of Sebastopol. Whereas at the time when
+smooth-bore guns were used a place might be attacked with about sixty
+pieces, five times the quantity are needed now; since it is necessary to
+operate over a much more extensive area.
+
+War is therefore a game which tends to become more and more costly, and
+especially siege warfare. Are we then to conclude that nations will
+become disgusted with warfare on account of the frightful expense it
+involves? This is not probable.
+
+At the present day, as in times past, that which costs most is defeat.
+With forty millions well laid out in France, before the war of 1870, and
+from forty to eighty millions spent in the war itself, we probably
+should not have had to pay the four hundred millions which this war cost
+us, and we should not have lost two provinces which are certainly worth
+still more than that sum.
+
+Parsimony in military preparations, in times of serious change, such as
+ours, is ruinous.
+
+The principles to be followed may be summed up as follows: Commit
+yourself to no superfluous outlay, but spend all that is necessary.
+Besides, is it after all certain that a good system of territorial
+defence is so costly as some allege?
+
+Is it a question of building something like a Chinese Wall on our
+eastern frontier? Is it likely that if a few strong positions rendered
+impregnable without unnecessary works enabled us to keep an army of
+observation two hundred thousand strong, secure from any surprise in the
+elevated valleys bounded by the ranges of hills which stretch from the
+Jura along Belfort, Remiremont, Epinal, Langres and Dijon, and border
+the right bank of the Saône as far as Lyons, the Germans would be in a
+hurry to make their way a second time to Paris? If they experienced the
+slightest check on such a route, if they were obliged even to halt, what
+would become of them?
+
+The essential consideration therefore is a good choice of positions;
+shelter from the approach of an invasion on the flanks, and the
+avoidance of enormous expenditure in the attempt to defend all points.
+Let us suppose that Metz had been rendered impregnable, or at least so
+provided with defences that it could have held out for six months; and
+certainly the thing was possible. In the first place we should not have
+lost that town, and secondly the war, notwithstanding our deficiencies
+in soldiers and in artillery, might have taken quite another turn.
+Greater sacrifices on the part of the enemy, more prudence, and a still
+greater loss of men, would have been required to constrain us to a peace
+accepted before the cannon's mouth.
+
+War is made now a-days with armies a million strong; this is all very
+well while the invading force meets no very serious obstacle, either in
+front of it or on its flanks; when the combinations which such a vast
+display of forces necessitates are not disturbed at any point, and when
+the strategic operations upon the ground succeed each other with perfect
+precision, as one might trace them on a map in our studies. But these
+enormous agglomerations of men could give rise in a single day to
+appalling perils, after a grave check on one of their flanks. Such
+masses can be advanced, fed, and manoeuvred only by means of a very
+complicated, and therefore delicate and easily deranged machinery. The
+Germans asserted that by the possession of Alsace and a part of Lorraine
+we had a hold upon Germany. Now their country is almost dove-tailed into
+France. The future will show whether that will greatly benefit them.
+
+In 1870 and 1871 we saw what could be accomplished by the little
+fortress of Belfort; which was perhaps the only one among our strong
+places possessing guns of long range, and a garrison well commanded and
+determined to defend itself.
+
+It persisted in maintaining the offensive over a circle of from twelve
+to sixteen miles, thanks to a few rifled cannon with which the ramparts
+were furnished, and which protected sorties through a radius of three to
+four miles. For a month it hindered the planting of siege batteries;
+and, in spite of a bombardment of seventy-three days, the town had only
+four of its houses burned. This defence is instructive, and shows that
+the old defensive system has had its day.
+
+During the siege the batteries of the besieged hardly suffered at all,
+and had recourse to indirect firing--that is, they fired over the
+barracks from the gorge of the castle without seeing the mark, but
+regulating by observation. This indirect firing, which took no account
+of the plan of the crests of the defence, and which thus enabled a
+powerful fire to be directed to any point, without regarding the faces,
+produced a great effect on the batteries of the enemy, who, on his side,
+could not see these guns, and did not know how to regulate his fire.
+
+The question, therefore, remains undecided; and, though a long range
+enables the attack to envelope each work more decidedly with its fires,
+each battery of the besieger may be subjected to the fire of a greater
+number of guns by the defence. At Paris, the forts which are by no means
+planned in view of the present long range, enabled a weak and
+inexperienced garrison, whose _morale_ was none of the firmest, to
+execute sorties with success to a distance of two miles and a half.[65]
+
+With good troops, then, we might have raised in one night, works which
+would have enabled us to resume the offensive, and to push further on,
+to break the line of contravallation, and seriously to embarrass the
+besieger. It is not therefore proved that long ranges give a greater
+advantage to the attack than to the defence, while, on the other hand,
+the long range of rifled cannon may be affirmed to be favourable to the
+defence; but it would be so only on the condition of the works being
+planned in view of the new action of artillery, and not according to old
+traditions, however glorious. The destructive power of explosive
+projectiles puts obstacles in the way of the besieger's approaches; and,
+in fact, during the late war we never saw employed that old mode of
+approach with a view to attacking by breach and crossing the ditch.
+
+The Germans were not so stupid as to employ these classical methods.
+They took up their position on favourable and often commanding points,
+at three thousand eight hundred to four thousand two hundred yards
+around our fortresses, which adhered to the old defensive system adapted
+to ranges of two thousand two hundred yards at most; and covered with
+shells our works and the towns they were supposed to protect, without
+risk to a single sapper. We thought that odious and unreasonable; like
+those nobles of the fifteenth century, who thought it an abominable
+shame that their feudal nests should be breached with bombards, and
+declared that the trade of war was thereby damaged. But suppose we
+should some day condescend to practical consideration, when these old
+flanked fronts fall into disesteem, and the new generation of military
+engineers determine to admit that we have to do with artillery of long
+range, and to take advantage of the fact, a certain degree of
+superiority might be doubtless given to defence over attack.
+
+How ought these isolated forts, which are destined to replace the
+salients of our old fortresses, to be planned? They should afford ample
+space for a large number of fires--even indirect fires--in case of need;
+consequently extended faces and short flankings--that is, as shallow as
+possible, and perfectly open gorges. They should efficiently protect the
+works of counter-approach, and consider defence at close quarters as a
+question of only secondary importance; for very seldom would there be
+occasion for it, if indeed the case ever presented itself, which is
+doubtful.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 84.]
+
+Referring to the general defensive system shown in Fig. 83, and required
+the plan of one of the forts, A, the result will be Fig. 84, giving the
+work at the lower level at C, and at the level of the batteries at D.
+The counterscarp should be cased up to at least sixteen or seventeen
+feet above the bottom of the ditch.
+
+The escarp should be made with tipped earth. The masonry works should
+all be covered and secured from being enfiladed; they form casemates
+inside E. Beneath the terracings, powder magazines, F, and the passages
+communicating with the _oiseaux_ or lower _orillons_, G, protected by
+the counterscarp and the covered way, and which are used only if the
+enemy attempts to pass the ditch. The faces and flanks on the outside
+are planned on angles sufficiently obtuse to cross their fires. The two
+faces in the plan (Fig. 84) may be armed with eight guns and the flanks
+with six guns. This work is separated from that of the gorge by a
+traverse that efficiently protects this gorge, which possesses its
+flanks, armed with four guns and its orillons.
+
+From the work of the gorge is a communication into the fort by a covered
+caponnière, forming traverse in the direction of the _capital_ or centre
+line. The gorge is defended by a curtain for the riflemen, and, at need,
+for small pieces of artillery. At need also, on the terre-plein of the
+work of the gorge may be mounted guns of long range, affording an
+indirect fire in the circumference of a semi-circle, over the great
+traverse H, if the parapets of the faces are damaged by the fire of the
+enemy.
+
+Fausse-braies consisting of palings are fixed in the ditch at ten feet
+from the base of the escarp, to hinder the fallen _débris_ of the escarp
+from filling up the ditch, and to enable its passage to be defended. The
+well-covered internal masonry works prevent the accumulation of earth on
+the interior platforms, and afford casemates, which enable the garrison
+to take rest in perfect security; at any rate along the two faces and
+the great traverse. Blindages can be set up on the traverses of the
+batteries, and can be easily repaired every night, as well as the escarp
+of tipped earth.
+
+It would be difficult to say how many projectiles it would require to
+render such a work untenable; since we have seen in the siege of Paris,
+that a marine battery erected on tipped earth on the military road
+between the forts of Rosny and de Noisy, armed with three guns, had been
+a mark for the German shells during twenty-four days, without any of its
+guns having been dismounted, or its escarp suffering more than could be
+made good each night.
+
+Permanent works should, however, only be established with the utmost
+circumspection:--1. Because they require a very considerable outlay. 2.
+Because they are necessarily familiar to, and for a long while studied
+by the enemy, who takes his measures accordingly.
+
+The important point is to possess an accurate acquaintance with the
+ground to be defended, and only to establish permanent works in second
+line, and on points incontestably favourable for defence, supposing an
+artillery of even a still longer range than the present.
+
+Every centre to be defended should therefore possess works sufficient to
+prevent a surprise; and in addition at a distance of six to eight
+thousand yards, a line of forts, crossing their fires if possible, or at
+any rate connected by strong batteries; and lastly, at a distance of
+about four thousand yards, positions previously examined and known,
+suitable for placing very simple works of field fortification, but which
+at a given moment may offer a resistance sufficient to permit movements
+on a grand scale--and delay the formation of an enemy's batteries.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 85.--DEFENSIVE SYSTEM OF THE GREAT INTRENCHED CAMP.]
+
+In applying these principles to the defence of the town of La
+Roche-Pont, whose strategical position is one of major importance, since
+it connects Besançon with Dijon, and forms a salient on the flanks of an
+army which manoeuvres from Epinal and from Vesoul upon Langres and
+Chaumont, it would be necessary to construct around this place, whose
+old fortifications are no longer of any value (Fig. 85) eight forts, A,
+on the brows of the plateaus which surround the town, and thirteen
+batteries or redoubts, B, a little behind or to command the meeting of
+the river Abonne with the Saône and enfilade the valleys. Thus the group
+of roads which from the point C lead to Langres and Champlitte, from D
+to Dijon and Beaune, from E to Besançon and Dôle, from F to Gray and
+from G to Saint-Jean-de-Losne, would be occupied. A _tête du pont_ H,
+protected by batteries which would dominate the Saône, would enable an
+army to manoeuvre on both banks.
+
+This passive defence would occupy a perimeter of forty miles, and the
+zone of action of the permanent works, a perimeter of sixty miles.
+
+The purely passive defence would require, for the eight forts, four
+thousand eight hundred men; for the thirteen batteries two thousand men;
+for the guard of the intermediary trenches and the service of the
+_enceinte de préservation_, not including the forts and batteries,
+eighteen thousand men; reserve in the fortress, two thousand five
+hundred men; total, twenty-seven thousand three hundred men, whilst the
+effective investment would require an army of one hundred thousand men.
+But if this great intrenched camp contained an army of a hundred and
+fifty thousand men in addition to the troops necessary for the passive
+defence, this army could besides, on a very extended perimeter or on
+some advantageous points, occupy within the zone of action of the forts,
+an _enceinte de combat_ defended by field works, which would enable it
+to assume the offensive at the opportune moment.
+
+The armament of the forts would consist of a hundred and sixty guns of
+large calibre, and that of the batteries of forty-five guns of long
+range. With the reserve park this would give a total of two hundred and
+thirty pieces of ordnance.
+
+Harnessed guns would be also necessary to support the trenches of the
+passive defence.
+
+   Each fort would cost about £48,900. The eight together      £391,200
+   Each battery or redoubt would cost about £6,000. The
+       thirteen together                                         78,000
+                                                               --------
+                                                Total          £469,200
+                                                               ========
+
+To make head against an invasion at all points at once has always been a
+difficult problem to solve; and it is still more so if we confine
+ourselves to the defensive, for the enemy starts from a base of
+operation with a view to concentrating himself upon a point unknown to
+the defenders. The latter has therefore only a line to oppose to the
+apex of a triangle of action. He must limit himself to preserving the
+heart of the country and certain districts that are already naturally
+protected, and which allow him to operate on the flanks of the invading
+forces; regions behind which lie extensive tracts of country from which
+supplies may be drawn.
+
+Let us suppose that on the zone of defence of which La Roche-Pont forms
+the centre, an army of a hundred and fifty thousand men were assembled,
+which was able to reach Belfort through Besançon or by the road from
+Vesoul to Langres through Gray or Châtillon-sur-Seine through Dijon,
+these towns of Besançon, Vesoul, Langres, and Dijon being themselves in
+a condition to arrest the enemy's advance: the latter in attempting to
+make his way to Paris would be obliged either to watch this zone with an
+army of three hundred thousand men, or to move, and that with extreme
+caution, along the Lunéville and Nancy routes.
+
+If a defensive zone of the same importance is disposed on the north, a
+point becomes very dangerous, especially if the capital is provided
+with an _enceinte de préservation_, and an _enceinte de combat_ allowing
+an army to manoeuvre.
+
+Three hundred thousand men therefore would be required to watch the
+defensive zone of Burgundy and the same number that of the north, and
+four hundred thousand men to invest Paris; total, one million, without
+reckoning the troops required for keeping open the communication between
+the three armies and guarding the base of operations.
+
+It follows that the slightest check might entail a serious disaster.
+
+As the army of Metz under the ramparts of the town was not able to
+manoeuvre, the two hundred thousand men employed in blockading it were
+rendered inactive for two months.
+
+If the French army had been able to move within a perimeter of 60 miles,
+with a good supply of provisions, it would have reduced three hundred
+thousand men to inaction; since the Germans, who leave nothing to
+chance, reckon--and not unreasonably--that on the field it is desirable
+to be at least two to one. It would seem then that the art of war
+now-a-days--as far as resistance to an invader is concerned--consists
+not in endeavouring to defend any extensive lines which may be taken or
+outflanked, but in establishing a small number of centres of defence,
+sufficiently remote from each other and connected by a system of
+railways in the rear; which are capable of holding out long, and which
+compel the enemy either to divide in order to watch them or to take
+them, or to expose his flanks to an attack if he leaves them alone, or
+to see himself cut off from his base of operations if he advances _en
+masse_ against one of them without covering himself against the
+others....
+
+But we must confess to a limited confidence in fortifications on this
+immense scale. It is certain that they are ruinous: it is not certain
+that they are effective in proportion to the enormous expense they
+occasion.
+
+The men-at-arms of the fifteenth century cased themselves and their
+horses in iron to resist crossbow bolts, lance-thrusts, and strokes of
+axe or sword. Fire artillery, which at first aimed at nothing more than
+substituting powder for the mechanism of engines worked by counterpoise
+or ropes, and like these discharged only stone balls, becomes improved
+and uses iron balls and leaden bullets; and instead of being ponderous
+and fixed as formerly, moves on wheels and is rendered easily
+manageable, and at the beginning of the sixteenth century places pistols
+and arquebusses in the hands of foot-soldiers and horsemen. What plan do
+the men-at-arms adopt? They thicken the plates of their armour and line
+them so thoroughly that they are no longer fit for a charge. This method
+lasts about fifty years, until it is perceived that the best way to
+enable cavalry to face artillery, so as not to be crushed by it, is to
+allow it to move rapidly.
+
+Cannon are made whose balls pierce through and through the wooden planks
+of a vessel. Immediately these planks are cased with iron. To-day's
+balls are resisted by the vessel's sides. The plates of iron are doubled
+... and forthwith the penetrating force of the projectiles is increased;
+but those of the next day pierce them. Steel is made to take the place
+of iron: but after thousands upon thousands have been spent the
+projectile has always the best of it. But it happens in a naval
+engagement that an Admiral steams at full speed right athwart an enemy's
+ship and sinks it! In fact it is by rapidity of movement and facility in
+manoeuvring that victories at sea are ensured much more than by
+increased protective plating.
+
+And in the art of fortification we are exactly at the same point as
+were the men-at-arms of the end of the fifteenth century, who heaped
+plates on plates to protect themselves from artillery. It is time the
+art of fortification should be modified.
+
+It will be objected that a vessel or a horseman can move about, but that
+a fortress is immovable, and that consequently passive force cannot here
+be replaced by active force or agility. This is a mistake. Though a
+fortress cannot be moved, the defensive system of a district can and
+ought to be studied, in view of various contingencies. In future warfare
+the plan of temporary fortification ought to play a principal part and
+may be made to do so. In other terms, an army ought to be able to
+fortify itself everywhere, and take advantage of every position. It is
+temporary fortification therefore which it is desirable to render easy,
+prompt, and efficacious, in order to defeat the combinations studied
+beforehand by the enemy, to reduce him in certain cases to the
+defensive, when he was hoping to attack, and to embarrass his movements
+on the great scale by unforeseen resistance at a point which he expected
+to pass with ease, and oblige him incessantly to modify his plans by
+rapidly executed arrangements for defence.
+
+Vauban's fortresses have had their day; who can conjecture what may be
+accomplished in a future war by the system of defence of which an
+example has just been presented?
+
+Still the most reliable fortress for a country is a good and
+well-commanded army, and a well-educated, brave, and intelligent
+population, resolved to make every sacrifice rather than undergo the
+humiliation of a foreign occupation.
+
+Captain Jean's papers contained many other critical remarks which cannot
+be recorded here. These documents sufficiently indicate that, whatever
+may have been said about the matter, there were among our officers some
+who worked, and many who had anticipated the dangers to which we were
+exposed by a blind confidence in our valour and an utter ignorance of
+the progress made by our enemies. Indeed among these papers of Captain
+Jean's, numerous notes, dated 1866, 1867, 1868, show the inefficiency of
+the defensive system then recognised in France, and the necessity of
+providing our strong places with works adapted to the recent progress in
+artillery.
+
+Will the town of La Roche-Pont witness the realisation of Captain Jean's
+projects, or is its military history closed for ever? The future will
+show.
+
+In the meantime it is engaged in cultivating its vineyards, and its
+suburbs are invading once more the slopes of the plateau on the south
+and the west. The lower part of its donjon of the 12th century is still
+visible above the escarpment of the little citadel, and antiquaries can
+discover Roman basements at some points in its wall. When cellars are
+excavated, Gallo-Roman coins are sometimes found with broken pieces of
+red and black pottery, charred wood, and even flint hatchets.
+
+These evidences of the antiquity of the cité are deposited in a small
+museum which also contains sculptures taken from the abbey and the
+castle.
+
+If you go to La Roche-Pont, ascend the ruins of the donjon. From this
+elevated point the view on a clear spring morning is very fine; towards
+the south it extends as far as the Saône, showing the little river
+Abonne, winding along the vale through meadows and orchards. On the
+north spreads the plateau covered with clumps of trees, and bounded only
+by the blue outlines of the hills of the Haute-Marne. At your feet the
+town with its ramparts looks like a vessel moored at the extremity of a
+promontory. We are reminded then of all the events which this little
+nook of ground has witnessed, of the ruins that have been accumulated by
+human passion, and the blood that has been so lavishly shed. We fancy we
+hear the shouts with which these walls have so often echoed.
+
+Nature however remains the same; the meadows continue to be enamelled
+with flowers, and clothe with a mantle of beauty the ruins that have
+been heaped up by the fury of men. A feeling of deep sadness comes over
+us, and we say to ourselves: "What use is it all?" "What use!" replies
+at once a voice in the depth of our our soul. "What is the use of
+independence? What good is the love of our country? What use is the
+memory of self-sacrifice?" Do not blaspheme, Egoistic Philosophy; be
+silent before centuries of struggle--before that layer upon layer of the
+bones of the dead, and those heaps of successive ruins which have formed
+our country's soil. Though often ravaged, this hill has never been
+abandoned by its inhabitants; the more affronts it has had to sustain,
+the more its children have become attached to its side, the more they
+hold to the soil that has been impregnated with the blood of their
+ancestors, and the more hatred they feel towards those who would attempt
+to detach them from this ancestral tomb. This is patriotism; and it is
+the only human passion that can be dignified with the title of holy. War
+makes nations, and war raises them again when they sink down under the
+influence of material interests. War is struggle, and we find struggle
+everywhere in nature; it secures greatness and duration to the best
+educated, the most capable, the noblest, the most worthy to survive. And
+in the present day more than ever, success in war is the result of
+intelligence and of that which develops intelligence--Work.
+
+Whenever what is called fraternity between nations shall become a
+reality, the reign of senile barbarism and of shameful decay will not be
+far distant.
+
+Before this rock on which so many generations have fought to defend
+their independence, to resist aggression and to keep the rapacious
+foreigner at a distance, it is not an expression of regret that is
+called for--it is rather of homage to the dead which hearts full of
+gratitude cannot withhold. They do not ask for tears but for imitation.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 65: The battle of Champigny had extended our lines to four
+thousand six hundred and twenty yards from the Fort de la
+Faisanderie.]
+
+
+
+
+EXPLANATION
+
+OF SOME OF THE TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN THIS BOOK.
+
+
+AGGER (Latin), terrace, or platform, which the Romans raised before the
+fronts attacked, for the purpose of setting up their projectile
+machines, securing a commanding position, and masking the troops
+assembled for an assault.
+
+BAILEY, fore-court; court of the outer works, or yard. The stables and
+the lodgings for the garrison were usually disposed in the bailey of the
+strong castles of the Middle Ages (see p. 169).
+
+BALISTA (Latin, _onager_), an engine for propelling stones, worked by
+means of strongly-twisted cords.
+
+BARBICAN, exterior defence protecting an entrance, and allowing a large
+assemblage of men to prepare for sorties, or to protect a retreat.
+Barbicans were either of masonry or earth, or constructed of a simple
+palisade. They were always of a circular form (see p. 169).
+
+BASTION, an earthwork, cased externally with masonry, salient beyond the
+main body of the fortress, and possessing two faces, two flanks, and a
+gorge, so as to sweep the ground without, to cross the fires, and to
+flank the curtains. The gorge of bastions is open, closed, or
+retrenched. Bastions are said to be full when their _terre-plein_ is
+level with the curtains; empty, when their _terre-plein_ is beneath that
+level; armed with a cavalier, when upon their _terre-plein_ is raised a
+battery of earth which commands the country without over the parapets
+(see p. 278, 310).
+
+BOULEVARD, an earthwork--in use at the time when fire artillery had
+attained a certain degree of importance--for placing cannon outside
+ancient defences still preserved. Boulevards were of all forms--square,
+circular, and triangular (see p. 229).
+
+BRAIE, an exterior defence of trifling height, protecting the foot of
+the ramparts, and hindering the enemy's approach.
+
+BRETÈCHE, timber construction intended to strengthen and to flank a
+front or a salient (see p. 184).
+
+CAT, timber gallery, low and long, covered with a longitudinal very
+pointed and strongly ironed roof. Placed on wheels, these galleries were
+advanced to the foot of the walls, after the ditch was filled up, and
+enabled the miners to begin working into the masonry under cover. The
+name _rat_ was given to these galleries in some provinces.
+
+CATAPULT, engine for shooting large darts by means of a powerful bow.
+
+CAVALIER, earthwork raised in the middle of a bastion, or upon any point
+of the defence, to command the exterior. In the sixteenth century the
+besieging armies erected cavaliers around defences to mount cannon upon
+them. Our siege batteries are the modern analogues of these works (see
+p. 237, 312).
+
+CHEMISE, exterior inclosure of a donjon; the chemise of the donjon
+consists of a wall which leaves a space of some yards between it and the
+donjon. A postern with a drawbridge gives a communication between one of
+the rooms of the donjon and the rampart walk of the chemise (see p.
+201).
+
+CLAVICULA (Latin), exterior defence, raised outside the gates of a camp,
+and which obliged those who endeavoured to enter to present their flank
+to the defenders of the ramparts (see p. 92).
+
+COVERED WAY, road formed on the counterscarp and protected by the relief
+of the glacis (see p. 307).
+
+COUNTERSCARP, is the casing of the ditch which is opposite to the
+defence.
+
+DEMI-LUNE, low work, disposed before a curtain between two bastions,
+separated from the main body of the fortress by a ditch, and possessing
+two faces and two short flanks (see p. 306).
+
+DONJON OR KEEP, chief retreat of the defenders of a strong castle. The
+donjon was always separated from the defences of the castle, and put in
+direct communication with the exterior (see p. 169).
+
+ESCARP is that part of a revetment of fortifications which fronts the
+exterior, from the bottom of the ditch to the parapet or crenelation.
+
+FAUSSE-BRAIE, palisade or trench, with parapet, defending the bottom of
+the ditch, low enough to be masked by the relief of the counterscarp.
+
+GLACIS, sloping ground which extends from the counterscarp of the ditch
+towards the country, and masks the covered ways as well as the escarp.
+
+HOARDING, wooden gallery which in time of war was put outside
+crenelations to enable the defenders to see the foot of the ramparts and
+towers, and to throw stones and materials of all kinds upon assailants
+attempting to approach.
+
+LIST, interval left between the exterior defences and those of the body
+of the place (see p. 180).
+
+MACHICOULIS--The wooden hoarding being easily set on fire, it was
+replaced in France, about the end of the thirteenth century, by stone
+corbels carrying a crenelation of masonry, and leaving intervals between
+them for throwing materials upon the assailants who approached the foot
+of the walls. In Syria, the Christians had adopted the machicoulis as
+early as the beginning of the thirteenth century.
+
+MANGONEL, engine for propelling large stones from a kind of sling
+attached to the longer arm of a movable beam heavily weighted at its
+other extremity.
+
+MERLON, solid space in the parapet between two embrasures. During the
+Middle Ages the merlons were usually perforated in the middle by a
+loop-hole. In time of war the battlements were masked by mantelets of
+wood, which could be raised at discretion by means of an axle turning in
+two iron collars let into the upper angles of the merlons.
+
+MOVABLE TOWER, timber tower which was mounted on rollers and was
+advanced to the walls for the purpose of assault. The movable towers
+were made to command the battlements, and the upper story was furnished
+with a bridge which fell upon the crest of the ramparts of the towers
+(see p. 218).
+
+OISEAU, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a small masonry work
+which, disposed at the salient angles in the ditch, swept the latter and
+was intended to bar the passage. The _oiseaux_ were masked by the
+counterscarp. In modern polygonal fortifications this plan has been
+re-adopted (see p. 373).
+
+OPPIDUM (Latin), a citadel or fortified strategical position, among the
+Gallic populations. Many Roman camps were formed at the epoch of the
+conquest of Gaul, on the Gallic _oppida_, which were only a kind of
+intrenched camps formed upon elevated plateaux. Several of our French
+towns occupy the sites of ancient _oppida_--Langres, Laon, Béziers,
+Carcassone, Uzerche, Sainte-Reine (Alesia), Le Puy-en-Velay,
+Semur-en-Auxois, Avalon, Puy d'Issolu, &c.
+
+ORILLON, projecting part of faces of bastions, intended to mask the
+flanks and to shield the guns which arm these flanks (see p. 280).
+
+PARADOS, mound of earth disposed behind the guns in battery, to shelter
+them as well as the servers from reverse firing.
+
+PARALLEL, trench parallel to the sides of the polygon of a fortress,
+supplying a covered communication for planting and serving the siege
+batteries. Formerly these parallels were required for approaching and
+planting the breach batteries. These parallels communicated with each
+other by trench boyaux traced in zigzags, so as not to be raked by the
+fires of the place (see p. 330).
+
+PARÉCLAT, epaulment of earth, or formed with gabions raised on the
+ramparts, or in the middle of bastions, to shelter the defenders from
+the splinters of bombs and shells.
+
+PLACE D'ARMES, space defended by an epaulment, intended to enclose a
+body of men and to protect it from projectiles (see pp. 288, 307).
+
+POSTERN, secondary gate, small gate, generally masked (see p. 170).
+
+RAMPART, epaulment raised with the earth taken from the ditch sunk on
+the outer side; also a wall crowned with a parapet and rampart walk. It
+signifies a permanent defence.
+
+RAVELIN, name originally given to demi-lunes. A work consisting of two
+faces, open at the gorge, low, and intended to sweep the exterior
+between two bastions (see p. 279).
+
+REDAN, work presenting a salient angle and a re-entering angle (see p.
+305).
+
+RETRENCHMENT, a work made to augment the defensive strength of a place
+within the permanent fortifications, so as to present a fresh obstacle
+should the latter fall into the power of the enemy; the retrenchment
+consists of an epaulment of earth raised with the material from the
+ditch sunk on the outside.
+
+STIMULUS (Latin), barbed iron crook, which, fixed on a short stake stuck
+in the ground or in the bottom of conical holes, protected the
+approaches of a defence (see p. 80).
+
+TENAILLE, work consisting of a curtain having at each extremity two
+demi-bastions (see pp. 278, 306).
+
+TRAVERSE, a mound of earth disposed across covered ways, _terre pleins_,
+bastions, and curtains, to shield the guns and the defenders against
+enfilade, oblique, or ricochet fire (see p. 335).
+
+TREBUCHET, engine for propelling large stones, very similar to the
+mangonel, but whose counterpoise was suspended from the beam instead of
+being fixed to it.
+
+TRENCH, road sunk in the ground, the earth being thrown up on one side
+only, or on both sides, for enabling the approach of places under cover.
+
+TRENCH-SHELTER, temporary defence, consisting of an exterior epaulment
+made with the earth taken from a trench, in a way to shield the soldiers
+upon a front, around a camp or a post, and enable them to fire under
+cover. The trench-shelter is destined to play an important part since
+fire-arms have acquired a long range and a rapid discharge. The Romans,
+in their day, made use of trench-shelters in the field.
+
+VINEA (Latin), a wooden mantlet, also a timber gallery, set up
+perpendicularly to the _agger_, and which affords approach to the
+platform under cover. The wooden towers intended to attack the ramparts
+of the besieged were rolled forward on these wooden galleries (see p.
+83).
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Annals of a Fortress, by E. Viollet-le-Duc
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41426 ***