DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH. 271 bourg, where operations of greater magnitude were carrying on. Having thus resolved, they waited till the tide should serve, in no apprehension of immediate danger: the mareschal took his breakfast, mounted on horseback, and rode to reconnoitre the place, to which the enemy had advanced: he found that they had entered the camp, and had set fire to a house, so near to Villebon's quarters, that they might have been attacked there to great advantage, if any good order had been observed, and prompt measures taken; and when he was expediting the departure of the baggage, upon this information which made him more sensible of his insecurity, intelligence came that the enemy were crossing the water at a point near Gravelines, where it was fordable an hour earlier than at the place where he must pass. Upon this he countermanded the baggage; and, concluding that the intention was to interpose between him and Calais, for the purpose of cutting off his supplies, ordered Villebon immediately to cross with the cavalry, the old French troops, the legionaries, and the Germans, remaining himself with some 500 harquebussiers, and two companies of horse, to secure his rear against any sally from Gravelines. He was upon the bank of the river, in a place from whence he could see nothing of the enemy, and little of his own troops after they had crossed; but it was not long before he was informed that the enemy were in motion, and that it was advisable for him to join the main body with all speed. Till this time the French appear to have been very ill informed of Egmond's strength, or of his intentions. That able commander had with him about 12,000 foot and 3500 horse, chiefly Belgians, but part were Germans, and part Spanish veterans, who were then esteemed, not undeservedly, the best troops in the world. M.de Thermes neither expected to find himself in the presence of such an enemy, nor thought they could have brought so many guns against him, his own artillery consisting only of six culverins and three falcons. The river, however, protected his rear, and the sea, as he supposed, his right; the left he endeavoured to cover with his carriages, and placed his guns in front, leaving ample room for his cavalry, with his best troops to support them. One charge of the enemy they repelled, though not without considerable loss. Egmond's horse was killed under him as he led the charge, and M. de Thermes at one time thought the day had been his own. But at this time a fire was opened upon him from the sea by ten English ships, part of a large fleet, which, coming in sight of the action, had hastened thither in the hope of bearing a part in it. It was a most effectual part: the French were exposed to their fire without any means of resistance or of retreat; behind them was the town, "from whence came thick hail shot of artillery,” and in front, and upon their flank, a superior enemy: their German troops gave way first, and they were totally defeated with great slaughter; they who escaped falling into the hands of the peasantry, who, in hope of this opportunity, had collected in great numbers, men and women, under cover of Egmond's army, and now exacted cruel vengeance for the outrages and cruelties which they had themselves endured. The number slain on the field is estimated by the French at 1500; a greater number fell by the hands of the peasantry: a few fugitives were all who escaped from captivity or death. The mareschal himself was made prisoner with Villebon, Senarpont, D'Annebault, and many other distinguished persons. Not a few ran into the sea, and perished there the English saved some 200* from * Quos cum in profundum mergere potuissent, ad ludibrium servatos in Britanniam quasi in triumphum ad reginam adducere maluerunt. Thuanus, 570. Holinshed, 118, 119. Coll. du Mém. 39. pp. 255-242. 338-353. Guise has been accused of remaining inactive at this time, in hope that some disgrace might be brought upon M. de Thermes, against whom he bore an old hatred of this there is neither proof nor probability. But that blame was believed to attach to some high quarter appears from what Rabutin says: "M'est fort difficile de déduire et narrer certainement tout le faict de ceste adventure, tant pour n'y avoir esté present, que pour en estre les rapports si différens et partiaux, que la vérité s'y trouve le plus souvent masquée et dissimulée; et par ainsi, en la cuidant quelquefois ensuivre, on fait bien souvent tort et injure à qui l'honneur appartient, oultre FAILURE IN BRETAGNE. 273 drowning, and carried them to England as living witnesses of this memorable defeat. 66 The ships which had borne so important a part in this action belonged to a fleet under the then high admiral Edward lord Clinton, who had been ordered to join Philip's admiral with all the queen's ships of war; that while the French king was engaged in the field, these combined fleets might "endamage some of his countries by way of invasion, and surprise some of his towns." Brest in particular, as well because of its convenient situation for receiving succours and supplies from England, as because it was known not to be well garrisoned," was thought the best mark to "be shot at for the time."'—" It is verily believed," says the chronicler," that if the admirals of England and Flanders had been present there with their navies, as the said other few ships of England were, and upon this sudden had attempted Calais, with the aid of the countie Egmond, having his power present, the town of Calais might have been recovered again with as little difficulty, and haply in as short time, as it was before gained by the duke of Guise. But the said admirals, as it ap peared, knew nothing thereof." They had, indeed, then formed a junction; but following their prescribed course, met at the place appointed, and sailing, with sevenscore ships of war, wind and weather favouring, appeared before the haven of Conquet one morning at break of day. Upon their arrival they sounded their trumpets, as June the manner was," and, with a thundering peal of great 29. ordnance, roused the inhabitants of that unfortunate town. There they landed, in spite of any resistance that could be opposed to so unexpected an attack: soon mastering the town, they "put it to the saccage, with a great abbey, and many pretty towns and villages thereabout;" then marched some way into the country, burning and destroying, till, tired of devastation, and satisfied with booty, the English returned to the coast and re-em, 66 que ce, que pour le jourd'huy à la trop tenir de près et declairer il n'y va que de la vie." P. 236. 66 barked. But the Flemings, who were more rapacious and less wary, ventured further inland, and being encountered by the power of the country, lost 400 or 500 men before they could regain their ships. That power, indeed, increased so rapidly, and the signs of preparation were so manifest, that, upon intelligence how the duc d'Estampes was near at hand with a force of some 20,000 men*, the commanders thought it not advisable to make any attempt upon Brest. Yet, in hope to do some farther exploit, they lay hovering on the coast a while; till, after many attempts to land, finding every where more appearance of loss than of gain, they returned from an expedition, which, had it not been for the part that it had casually borne in the battle of Gravelines, would have been worse than useless. That battle coming like an afterclap after their discomfiture at St. Quentins, dispirited the French as much as the conquest of the English pale had elated them, and disposed the king of France to treat for peace upon terms which he would otherwise have disdained. § * Rabutin (255.) says he had assembled from 7000 to 8000 horse, and from 12,000 to 15,000 foot; ce que j'ay bien voulu adjouster icy, he adds, pour faire paroître en combien d'endroits, tant sur terre que sur mer, la guerre se demenoit pour la querelle de ces deux princes, et combien aussi de divers estranges maux adviennent au pauvre peuple, par le moyen et occasion d'icelles guerres. + During the negotiations the French contended that "Calais alone was not sufficient to recompense the damages done to them by the English, it being by their help that their towns were taken by the Spaniards; and many villages in Bretagne having been burnt and sacked by the English fleet, and an infinite mass of money spent to prohibit their landings." Čamden's Elizabeth, p. 21. It is remarkable that Ocland, who describes this expedition as if it had been a glorious one, dates it before the loss of Calais, in one of those Latin poems which were enjoined by authority to be read in all grammar schools: Acta hæc sextili; gelido dein mense Decembri Plures imbelles, miles fuit unus et alter, Intra urbem, et multos non sustinet unus et alter, Some contemporary hand has written in the margin of my copy opposite to this last line the bishop of Winchester. Ce fut à peu près la second tome de la déroute de S. Quentin. Coll. des Mem. 39. p. 242. n. 66 Holinshed, 119. Rabutin, 251-255. Thuanus, 570. This battle, he says, quæ acceptam superiore anno cladem, ex quâ Gallia paullatim recreari ceperat, geminato infortunio cumulavit, et regem armorum pertæsum, PEACE WITH ENGLAND. 275 This During the negotiations queen Mary died. The loss of Calais is believed to have accelerated, if it did not cause, her death: "When I am dead and opened," she said, "ye shall find Calais lying in my heart!" The restitution of that town was earnestly required by Philip, both as a point of honour because England had been drawn into the war for his interest, and as a point of policy, because it was for the benefit of the Netherlands that it should belong to England rather than France. But when Elizabeth declined his offer of marriage, which she could not have accepted without stigmatizing her mother, and bastardizing herself; and when she manifested her intention of supporting the protestant faith, the Spanish ministers relaxed in their demands. encouraged the cardinal of Lorraine to assert, that the king of Spain, if he loved justice, ought to require that Calais should be delivered to his niece the queen of Scots, then dauphiness, in right of her just claim to be queen of England. The French, on their part, proposed, that the eldest daughter of the dauphiness should marry the eldest son of Elizabeth, and receive Calais for her dowry; and that that place should be retained by France till the marriage were effected between these two persons, - neither of whom then were in existence, nor, as it happened, ever afterwards. The English refused to entertain a proposal which was obviously intended only to work delay; and the Spaniards proposed that Calais should be put into their hands, till France and England could come to an agreement concerning it. To this neither France nor England would agree; Elizabeth then opened a separate negotiation with France, and soon concluded a peace, by the articles of which it was stipulated that France should retain Calais, and its appurtenances, for eight years: eight foreign merchants were bound for the payment of 500,000 crowns, as a penalty, if it were not restored at the expiration of that quæ illi hactenus irriserant, otii cupidine vel ad iniquas pacis condiciones flexit." |