Annals of a Fortress Part 15

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 _cite_: 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 _cite_ front in the background, its gate of the fourteenth century, and the two great corner towers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 pa.s.sages, E, gave access to two chambers, F, likewise arranged with embrasures to receive two large guns.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 pa.s.sing 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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, pa.s.sing 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 a.s.sistance 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 Brabancons, 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 n.o.ble 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 d.u.c.h.ess, 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--a.s.sembled 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 a.s.signed 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 _cite_ 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 a.r.s.enal. 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 _fete_.

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 _tete 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 hors.e.m.e.n 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 sh.o.r.e of the larger stream and the valley on the south. A body of about five hundred men blockaded the _tete 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 _cite_. Some were a.s.signed to the body of troops blockading the _tete 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 _tete 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 -- --