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12 Battle of Jarnac. [1669
Jarnac; but the impetuous charge of the Duke of Montpensier left him
no time to retire, and in spite of desperate efforts on his own part and
that of d'Andelot, La Noue and others in command under him, he was
forced back. Conde presently came up, with the bulk of the Huguenot
cavalry, and by a furious charge checked the Royalists for a moment; but
was himself charged in flank by the reiters under Tavannes and Anjou.
The Huguenots were routed; Conde' continuing to fight till he was
surrounded and borne down. He had hardly given his sword to his
captor, d'Argens, when Montesquiou, captain of Anjou's guard, shot
him dead. Among the prisoners were La Noue and Rosny, father
of the future Duke of Sully. But, though defeated, the Huguenots were
not discouraged. Their leaders soon reassembled at Cognac, where the
Queen of Navarre joined them. Her son, the Duke of Vendome, then
about fifteen years old, was proclaimed head of the party, and the young
Prince of Conde associated with him. The command-in-chief of the
army was entrusted to the Admiral.
The King and his mother were at this time at Metz, whither they
had gone partly for security and partly for greater facility of communication
with Alva in the Netherlands and with Margrave Philibert
of Baden, from both of whom reinforcements were expected. On the
other side it was known that Duke Wolfgang of Zweibriicken (Deux-
Ponts) was about to bring a powerful force of German troops to the aid
of the Protestants ; and it was all-important to prevent these, if possible,
from crossing the Loire. The Dukes of Aumale and Nemours, who
commanded in the east, though strengthened by the accession of nearly
5000 men duly sent by Alva, did nothing beyond feebly opposing the
passage of the Armancon at Nuits by the German invaders. About
May 10 the Germans reached La Charite, which was taken by assault after
a short bombardment, thus securing their passage of the Loire. Thence
after crossing the Vienne a little above Limoges, they effected a junction
with the Admiral's forces at Saint-Yrieix on June 23. The Duke of
Zweibriicken had, however, died a few days before; some thought from
over-indulgence in the wines of southern France. He was succeeded in
the command by Count Wolrad of Mansfeld. William of Orange, with
his brothers Lewis and Henry of Nassau, was in the army. Anjou, who
had been engaged in reducing some small places in Saintonge and
Perigord, now brought his army to Limoges, where his mother joined
him. He soon moved to La Rochelabeille, nearer to the Huguenot
position, and a few indecisive skirmishes took place, chiefly notable as
having afforded to the young Prince of Navarre his first experience of
actual fighting. Before long, however, the wiser heads among the
Catholics decided to leave the opposing forces to the disintegrating
effects of a summer spent in a half-ravaged country, and withdrew their
army to Touraine. The Protestant army, from which Montgomery
had been detached for operations in Guienne and Gascony, followed into