CHAPTER IV

BATTLE OF ]ARNAC (MARCH 13, 1569)

T HE pacification made at Longjumeau in March 1568was

never effective, since local hostilities continued in many
corners of the realm: but (such as it was) it was officiallyin
operation for just six months. Queen Catherine had made
her surprising surrender to the Protestants merely in arder to
secure the disbandment of their formidable arrny, and-most
of all-the return of the great mass of German auxiliaries to
their own country. The King actually advanced 300,000 gold
cus to pay them off.
The royal troops, on the other hand, were not dismissed,
and the Queen made contracts for several thousand 1talian
mercenaries, to be levied by the Pope and the Duke of Tuscany,
-who were not destined to arrive till next year. In August
the mask was dropped, and an attempt was made to kidnap
Cond and Coligny, who were staying in the country at the
Prince's chteau of Noyers. Warned in time, they fled with
their families to La Rochelle, and sent a protest to Paris against
the general non-execution of the Treaty of Longjumeau. The
Queen replied by dismissing the Chancellor I'Hpital, the
one genuine advocate of peace, and by causing the Parliament
of Paris to publish an edict declaring toleration at an end,
depriving all Protestant officials of their posts, and ordering
all ministers of the Reformed religion to quit France in fifteen
days (September 28).
War had come again, and all over the south and west of
the land the H uguenots once more rushed to arms; this time
the struggle was complicated with the first serious outbreak of
insurrection in the Spanish N etherlands- Louis of N assau had
entered Friesland, to be victorious at Heiligerlee and sadly
beaten at ]emmingen (July 21). His elder brother, William the
Silent, who had invaded Brabant with a large German mer-
cenary force, as will be told elsewhere.! was conducting his
1 See below, p. 558.
43l
1568] OUTBREAK OF THE 'THIRD TROUBLES' 433
unlucky campaign with the aid of many H uguenots of the
north, who joined him under Genlis, the man who had led the
left wing at the battle of St. Denis in the preceding year.
Though not beaten in battle by Alva, he was foiled and out-
maneeuvred, and finally forced across the French frontier in
November ; his reiters mutinied and deserted him, and he
reached Strasburg with a mere remnant of his once formidable
arrny, mainly consisting of Genlis's Huguenots and his own
personal retainers. All that had been accomplished by the
Netherland insurrection was to distract Alva from interfering
in French affairs during the autumn and winter of 1568. It
is true that William and his brother Louis, untamed by their
disasters, set themselves to gather new levies in Germany,
with the aid of their ever-constant ally the Elector Palatine.
Butthese could not be ready till the spring of 1569, and mean-
whileCond and Coligny had to do what they could with their
ownresources.
These were greater than might have been expected-not
onlydid three-quarters of Poitou, Angoumois, and Saintonge
fal!into the hands of their local supporters, but a very large
bodyof friends from the south-east forced their way through
manydangers, and joined Cond in upper Poitou in the end
ofOctober. This, unlike most of the Huguenot armies, was a
popularlevy from regions where Protestantism prevailed in all
classesof society-it is said to have numbered 16,000 foot to
only500 horse, and of the foot the large majority were arque-
busiers,and the pikemen very few.! It resulted-a thing un-
commonin these wars-that the Huguenots, for once, had an
armyequal in numbers to the royal troops for the moment,
thoughthe bulk of it was composed of raw, untrained infantry.
hastilyembodied and thrown into new regiments.
The Queen-Dowager had been taken somewhat by surprise
at the consequences of her projected coup-d'tat against the
Protestant leaders. Not only had they escaped, but a third
of France had flared up into insurrection. Her troops were
scattered, and her treasury empty; there was no help to be
gotfrom Alva in Flanders, who had his own hands full. It
wasonly by the middle of November that a royal army had
beencollected on the Loire, under the nominal command of
lIt was to a strong column of this force that the disaster happened, which is
mentionedon p. 406, when 3000 arquebusiers, caught in the open without pikes,
wereexterminated by the royalist cavalry, when they tried to form a bataillon
di pa,ade.
28
 434 THE WARS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY [MARCH

the eighteen-year-old Henry of Anjou, but really directed by

Gaspard de Tavannes, an experienced and unscrupulous
soldier, of military talent much superior to old Montmorency,
who had led the earlier royalist armies. It amounted to 6000
Swiss and 10,000 French infantry, with some 4000 horse.
The Italian mercenaries had not yet come up, and no Spaniards
could be got from Flanders. But the troops under the Duke
of Montpensier, which had failed to intercept the Huguenot
reinforcements from the south, had moved up to join the main
body.
Then followed a very indecisive campaign between Poitiers
and Saumur, in which neither party would cornmit itself to a
general action, when it discovered the enemy in a good position,
though there were several lively affairs of outposts. Winter
weather of the most bitter sort-the hardest December of
the century, it is said-having set in, the two arroies stood
blocked opposite each other 'with a fierce and equal
countenance,' till 'the universal murmurs of the soldiers on
both sides no longer permitted the generals to hold the
open field among the ice and the blasts, and they separated
on the fourth day. The Duke of Anjou drew back to
Chinon, and dispersed his army in the Limousin, while the
Prince and the Admiral retired to N iort.' 1 The retreat was
no easy matter-the sleet was continuous, the foot-soldier fell
down every three paces, the cavalry had to dismount, because
their horses slipped on every puddle. Many men died of
sheer cold, more of dysentery caused by chills. The royalist
army suffered, if possible, more than the Huguenots, because
they were worse fed." There was an immense amount of
desertion on both sides-young soldiers quitting the ranks and
making for the nearest place where they could find shelter and
food, after which they went home. It was calculated that each
army lost 6000 or 7000 men before the retreat and the campaign
were overo
N either side could pull itself together for an effort till the
hard frost carne to an end in February. But there were minor
events in the depth of winter-the successful defence of San-
cerre by its citizens ended in J anuary; a new H uguenot arrny
was raised by the ' Seven Vicomtes of Quercy' in Guyenne,
and paralysed the royalist forces in the south. Elizabeth of
England, warned by her mistake as to Havre in 1562, sent the
1 Castelnau's Memoirs, v. p. It7. 2 La Noue, pp. 956-7.
 THE SURPRISE OF CHATEAUNEUF 435
insurgents not auxiliary troops but ;100,000 in gold angels,
delivered at La Rochelle. The royalist army was reinforced
by 2000 Catholic reiters, raised in the ecclesiastical electorates
of Germany by the Rhinegrave Philibert and a Margrave of
Baden.
Early in March, Anjou, or rather his mentor Tavannes,
tookthe offensive, intending to cut off Cond and Coligny from
the levies of their co-religionists in Guyenne, and crossed to
thesouth bank of the Charente to the east of Angoulrne. The
Huguenot generals occupied the opposite bank, and had all
thebridges in their hands. Tavannes, intent on bringing them
toaction, succeeded in seizing the little town of Chateauneuf,
whichlies on the south side of the river, at the end of a long
loopof its course, secretly repaired its broken bridge, and laid
anotherof boats close to it, thus having good means of crossing.
TheHuguenots were dispersed along the other bank, guarding
many passages. Coligny's corps was nearer Chateauneuf,
Cond'sa good many miles away at Cognac. Tavannes next
madean ostentatious forced march along the south bank of
theCharente towards Cognac, in order to attract the enemy's
attention, and then brought back his army after dark, and
passedit alJ successfully over the two bridges at Chateauneuf.
Colignyhad left 200 horse and two regiments of infantry to
watchthe passage, but the officers in cornmand.! finding the
riverbanks cold and inhospitable, very improperly took up
quartersin villages some miles back from the water, and were
surprisedat dawn on the r jth by finding that the Royalists
wereacross the river in overpowering force, without having
hadto fire a shot.f It was only when their vanguard under
Bironwas a mile forward on the opposite bank that fifty
Huguenothorse discovered it, and turned back in haste to
warnColigny. This was a typical instance of carelessness
amongofficers of the noblesse, of which contemporary critics
sooften make mention. The troops, horse and foot, which
ought to have watched Chateauneuf, made an attempt to
fighta 'detaining action' at Vibrac, but were soon driven
offwith loss.
Coligny had to collect his troops in haste from scattered
bilJets,in order to make a front, and to send the disastrous

1 Apparently La Lou was the person mainly responsible: he was a hard fighter,
incautious.
I La Noue, p. 557.
436 THE WARS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY [MAR,13

news to Cond at Cognac, begging for instant support. Mean-

while he took up a position behind a rivulet, the Guirlande,
at right angles to the Charente, with his headquarters at Bassac;
he had intended to go back still farther and join the Prince,
but, before he had got all his troops together, found himself so
closely pressed that he had to turn and fight, rather than be
caught in full retreat.!
The rivulet which falls into the Charente in front of Bassac
had a limited number of points of easy passage owing to pools
and marshy spots, and offered a fair ground for a detaining
action; but the Catholics pressed on with all possible speed
and in overpowering numbers, being aware that they had less
than half the Huguenot army before them, and might dispose
of it before Cond could come upon the field. The infantry
of their vanguard crossed at one point and drove the enemy's
arquebusiers out of Triac, and entrenched itself there. The
cavalry of the vanguard under Martigues, Coss-Brissac, and
the young Duke of Guise-who was then seeing his first field
at the age of eighteen-crossed the rivulet at another point,
and rode down four cornets of H uguenot horse under the
famous La Noue, who was taken prisoner.P They then gol
engaged with the Admiral's main body. Meanwhile the res!
of Anjou's army had come upon the field and deployed-in
three great bodies of infantry-French regiments on the flanks,
the Swiss in the centre with the artillery. Between the Swiss
and the right-hand column of infantry was the ' rnain-battle '
of Anjou's horse; the 2000 German reiters under the Rhine-
grave formed the extreme southern end of the line; some
companies of light horse under La Valette covered the
other flank, rather in front of the infantry of the northern
column.
The Admiral's troops, both horse and foot, were giving
way, though still maintaining a desperate resistance, when
Cond carne upon the field, not with the whole of his corps,
but with the bulk of his cavalry. The infantry were still miles
behind on the road, returning from their unlucky march
toward Cognac. The Prince was at a height of spiritual
exaltation-a Scot would have said that he was 'fey.' When
1 One of his columns, 3000 South-French infantry, guarding his cannon and baggage,
had been started off early for retreat, and got so far forward on the road to Angoul/me
that it did not get back in time for the battle.
2 He was 'exchanged ' soon after, against Lessac, the lieutenant of the Duke01
Guise.
 DEATH OF CON D 437
hewas putting on his helm, the horse of his brother-in-law, the
Countof Rochefoucault, reared against him, and broke one of
hebones of his leg by an unlucky blow of its hoof. Instead
ofdismounting, he raised himself in his saddle and cried,
I Gentlemen of France, the long-expected hour has come, see
inwhat a state Louis of Bourbon can go into battle, fighting
forChrist and fatherland,' and with that he spurred into the
fray,with his personal retinue--twenty-five gentlemen of the
houseof La Vergne--immediately behind him, and some score
ofcompanies of gendarmerie--under Rochefoucault, the Count
ofChoisy, Rosny (the father of the famous Sully), and others
alhis heels. Coligny at the same time rallied his horse, and
advancedon the Prince's left-the Catholic chronicler says that
hischarge was assez molle, with tired troops.
But the thrust which Cond gave to the battle was for the
momentdecisive; the royalist vanguard was turned to com-
~Ieterout, and -driven back against the cavalry of the main
body. At the same time the Huguenot light horse under
Fontraillesdrove in the royalist light horse of La Valette to
Ihenorth end of the battle, and thrust it against the infantry
columnof Anjou's right wing. But the numerical odds were
toogreat-on the one flank Fontrailles' squadrons failed to
breakthe royalist infantry-he himself was unhorsed and
madeprisoner among the pikes. His followers broke and left
thefield. Coligny's charge ' petered out' on the other flank.
In the centre Cond, fighting furiously and not unsuccess-
mUy with the royalist gendarmerie, was suddenly charged in
nankby the 2000 reiters of the Rhinegrave, from Anjou's left
nng. This settled the day-the H uguenots were ridden
aown,though they fought most desperately and refused to
By.! Fifteen of Cond's bodyguard of twenty-five were killed,
andmany scores of the best of the noblesse with them. The
Princehirnself was unhorsed, and being unable to stand
becauseof his broken leg, was dragged up by a common
oldier. He saw a gentleman named d' Argens riding by, and
surrenderedto him, handing over his sword and gauntlet.
D'Argenshad him carried to the rear, and while he was con-
versing with this officer and another named St. J ean, Montes-
~uiou, a Gascon adventurer, captain of the guard to the Duke
ofAnjou,carne up and deliberately shot him dead from behind,
witha pistol ball through his head. Whether this was done
1 Castelnau, v. p. 135.
438 THE WARS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY [MAR. 13

by Anjou's orders, or merely to curry favour with him by

this disgusting exploit, is uncertain. Anjou is said to have
given sinister hints to some of his confidants.! and his whole
life speaks for itself; on the other hand, Montesquiou wasa
ruffian quite capable of acting on his own inspiration, if he
thought a murder likely to win him prornotion.P
Thus ended a most genial and inspiring leader, but a very
bad general. The records of his three fights, Dreux, Sto Denis,
and J arnac, show that he had no idea of winning save by
headlong cavalry charges, led by himself in persono In this
last campaign he had been completely outgeneralled by
Tavannes, who lured him to fight with a half-assembled arrny
against very superior numbers. But after the event of StoDenis,
Cond may have thought that numbers did not much matter
-he had on that occasion brought off his troops with Iittle 1055
after engaging against fivefold odds. His personal qualities
-his wild courage, and gay and chivalrous bearing-had made
him the most popular figure in France; even the Catholic
chroniclers speak of him with respect and regret, and only
marvel that he should have taken up the Huguenot cause.
They can only expIain it by personal ambition, not making
any allowance for a genuine dislike to the state of the Roman
Church as then existing, or for a wish to foil the Queen.
Dowager's Machiavellian policy as fatal to France.
Cond's cavalry having been cut to pieces, the Admiral
drew off his own troops, foot and horse, as best he could, and
retreated to Sto Jean d'Angely, where he picked up such ofhis
own corps as had not arrived in time for the battle. He was
not pursued with any vigour. Cond's infantry and the
shattered remains of his gendarmerie rallied at Cognac. The
loss to the Huguenots had been 'more in quality than in
quantity, , as de Thou remarks-of 400 dead half were genile
men of high quality-the Nte of the party-and the prisoners
(mostly wounded) were numerous also. Castelnau gives long
lists of both; among the prisoners were La N oue, Rosny, with
the ex-bishop of Cominges, who had thrown off his mitre and
joined the Protestants, and Fontrailles who had commanded
the light horse companies. Robert Stuart, the Scot who \Vas
credited with the deaths of the President Minard and the
Constable Montmorency, was shot in cold blood after the
1 Brantme alleges this, but s not the best of authorities.
2 He was killed not long after at the siege of Sto .Tean d' Angely.
1569] SMALL RESULTS OF ]ARNAC 439

battle, as Anjou confessed in a letter, for his crimes.' 1 The

I

loss of the Catholics was small-zoo to 300 only-almost all

in the cavalry, and included only a few persons of note.
The course of the campaign reflects much credit on Tavannes
-we need not give any of the glory to the Duke of Anjou,
though he was, of course, hailed officially as the victor, and
couldpose as a Catholic hero. His whole character and career
suffice to show that neither courage nor decision were his
strong points; though he could plot a murder, or conduct an

Scale 01' .Miles

IJ 6 "1tl R. 1;.

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE BATTLE OF JARNAC, MARCH 13, 1569.

intrigue,or make a sudden display of piety or cruelty, he was

nogeneral.

N.B.-The best authorities for the battle are La oue on

the Protestant and Castelnau on the Catholic side, but in-
cidentalhelp can be got from many minor sources. 1 found
the plan-panorama in the Cluny Museum, and Perissot and
Tourterelle's engraving most useful; they name each unit in
botharmies.
1 It is not quite certain that Stuart killed either of them-though it was generally
sobelieved. Some of the contemporary chroniclers say that, at Sto Denis, when
theConstable had delivered his blow at Stuart, some one shot him straightway.
And the assassination of Minard was never Iegally brought horne to this wandering
Scot, though he was held to be the culprit. Anjou, in his Ietter which mentions
Stuart'sexecution, calls him the man guilty of the murder of Minard, and of other
crimes.'