Walter's first step on assuming the command was to examine thoroughly
into the capabilities of defence of the place, to see that the well was
in good order, and the supply of water ample, and to send out a foraging
party, which, driving in a number of beasts and some cart-loads of
forage, would supply his garrison for some time. The castle he found
was less strong than it looked. The walls were lightly built, and were
incapable of withstanding any heavy battering. The moat was dry, and
the flanking towers badly placed, and affording little protection to the
faces of the walls; however, the extent of the defences was small, and
Walter felt confident that with the force at his command he could resist
any sudden attack, unless made in overwhelming force, so that all the
faces of the wall could be assaulted at the same time. He had a large
number of great stones brought in to pile against the gate, while others
were brought into the central keep, similarly to defend the door should
the outer wall be carried. He appointed Ralph as his lieutenant, and
every day, leaving him in charge of the castle, rode through the country
for many miles round, with twenty men-at-arms, to convince himself
that no considerable force of the enemy were approaching. These
reconnaissances were not without some danger and excitement, for several
times bodies of the country people, armed with scythes, axes, and
staves, tried to intercept them on their return to the castle, and
once or twice Walter and his men had to fight their way through their
opponents. Contrary to the custom of the times, Walter gave orders to
his men not to slay any when resistance had ceased.
“They are but doing what we ourselves should do did French garrisons
hold our castles at home, and I deem them in no way to be blamed for the
efforts which they make to slay us. In self-defence, of course, we must
do our best, and must kill in order that we may not ourselves be slain;
but when they are once routed, let them go to their homes. Poor people,
the miseries which this war has brought upon them are great, and there
is no wonder that they hate us.”
This leniency on Walter's part was not without good effect. When the
country people found that the garrison of the castle of Pres did not
carry fire and sword through the villages around, that they took only
sufficient for their needs, and behaved with courtesy to all, their
animosity to a great extent subsided. No longer did the women and
children of the little villages fly to the woods when they saw the gleam
of Walter's approaching spears, but remained at their avocations,
and answered willingly enough the questions which he asked them as to
whether they had heard aught of the movements of French troops. So far
as possible, Walter refrained from seizing the cattle or stores of grain
of the poorer classes, taking such as he needed from the lands of the
wealthy proprietors, all of whom had left the country, and were either
with the French army or sheltering in Paris. Five of his best mounted
men Walter chose as messengers, and one rode each day to New Town with
the news which had been gathered, returning on the following day, and
then resting his horse for three days before again setting out.
Night and day sentries were placed on the walls, for although Walter
heard nothing of any body gathering in his immediate vicinity, a force
might at any moment issue from Amiens and appear suddenly before the
place. Such was indeed what really took place, and at daybreak one
morning Walter was aroused by the news that the sentinels saw a large
body of men rapidly approaching. The horse of the messenger next on
duty stood, as usual, saddled and bridled in readiness, and without a
moment's delay Walter ordered the man to mount and ride to the prince,
and to give news that the castle was assailed, but by how large a force
he could not as yet say.
The instant the messenger had started through the gates Walter ascended
to the walls; he saw at once that the party was a strong one; for
although still at some distance, and but dimly seen in the gray morning
light, he judged that it must contain at least a thousand men-at-arms.
At this moment a call from the sentry on the other side of the castle
was heard, and hastening thither, Walter saw that another body nearly as
numerous as the first were approaching from the side of Calais, having
made a detour so as to place themselves between the castle and the army,
to which news would naturally be sent of their coming. Walter watched
his messenger, who had now ridden half a mile towards the approaching
body. Suddenly he saw him turn his horse and ride off at right angles to
the road.
“He sees them,” he said, “and is going to try to ride round them. I
fear that there is but little hope of his escaping, seeing that they are
between him and Calais, and that assuredly some among them must be as
well or better mounted than himself.” As he spoke a party of horsemen
were seen to detach themselves from the flank of the French column
and to gallop off at full speed to intercept the messenger; the latter
diverged more and more from his course, but he was constantly headed
off by his pursuers, and at last, seeing the impossibility of getting
through them, he again turned his horse's head and galloped off towards
the castle, which he reached a few hundred yards only in advance of his
foes.
“I could not help it, Sir Walter,” he said, as he galloped in at the
gate. “I found that although Robin is fast, some of those horsemen had
the turn of speed of me, and that it was impossible that I could get
through; so deeming that I should do more service by coming to strike
a blow here than by having my throat cut out in the fields, I made the
best of my way back.”
“Quite right, Martin!” Walter said. “I should have been grieved had you
thrown your life away needlessly. I saw from the first that your escape
was cut off. And now, men, each to his place; but first pile up the
stones against the gate, and then let each man take a good meal, for it
is like enough to be long before we get a chance of doing so again.”
Again ascending to the walls Walter saw that the first body of
men-at-arms he had perceived was followed at a distance by a strong
force of footmen having with them some large wagons.
“I fear,” he said to Ralph, “that they have brought machines with them
from Amiens, and in that case they will not be long in effecting a
breach, for doubtless they know that the walls are but weak. We shall
have to fight stoutly, for it may be days before the news of our leaguer
reaches the camp. However, I trust that the prince will, by tomorrow
night, when he finds that two days have elapsed without the coming of
my usual messenger, suspect that we are besieged and will sally forth to
our assistance. And now let us to breakfast, for we shall need all our
strength today, and you may be sure that French will lose no time in
attacking, seeing that assistance may shortly arrive from Calais.”
There were but few preparations to be made. Each man had had his post
assigned to him on the walls in case of an attack, and piles of stones
had been collected in readiness to cast down upon the heads of those
attempting an assault. Cauldrons were carried up to the walls and filled
with water, and great fires were lighted under them. In half an hour
the French infantry had reached the spot, but another two hours elapsed
before any hostile movement was made, the leaders of the assailants
giving their men that time to rest after their long march. Then a stir
was visible among them, and they were seen to form in four columns, each
about a thousand strong, which advanced simultaneously against opposite
sides of the castle. As soon as their intentions were manifest Walter
divided his little force, and these, gathering in four groups upon
the walls, prepared to resist the assault. To four of his most trusty
men-at-arms he assigned the command of these parties, he himself and
Ralph being thus left free to give their aid where it was most needed.
The assailants were well provided with scaling-ladders, and advanced
with a number of crossbow-men in front, who speedily opened a hot fire
on the walls. Walter ordered his archers to bide their time, and not to
fire a shot till certain that every shaft would tell. They accordingly
waited until the French arrived within fifty yards of the wall, when
the arrows began to rain among them with deadly effect, scarce one but
struck its mark--the face of an enemy. Even the closed vizors of the
knights and chief men-at-arms did not avail to protect their wearers;
the shafts pierced between the bars or penetrated the slits left open
for sight, and many fell slain by the first volley. But their numbers
were far too great to allow the columns being checked by the fire of so
small a number of archers; the front ranks, indeed, pressed forward more
eagerly than before, being anxious to reach the foot of the wall, where
they would be in comparative shelter from the arrows.
The archers disturbed themselves in no way at the reaching of the wall
by the heads of the columns; but continued to shoot fast and true
into the mass behind them, and as these were, for the most part, less
completely armed than their leaders, numbers fell under the fire of
the sixty English bowmen. It was the turn of the men-at-arms now.
Immediately the assailants poured into the dry moat and sought to raise
their ladders the men-at-arms hurled down the masses of stones piled
in readiness, while some poured buckets of boiling water over them. In
spite of the loss they were suffering the French raised their ladders,
and, covering their heads with their shields, the leaders strove to gain
the walls. As they did so, some of the archers took post in the flanking
towers, and as with uplifted arms the assailants climbed the ladders,
the archers smote them above the joints of their armour beneath the
arm-pits, while the men-at-arms with pike and battle-axe hewed down
those who reached the top of the ladders. Walter and Ralph hastened from
point to point encouraging the men and joining in the defence where the
pressure was hottest; and at last, after two hours of vain effort and
suffering great loss, the assailants drew off and the garrison had
breathing time.
“Well done, my men!” Walter said, cheeringly; “they have had a lesson
which they will remember, and if so be that they have brought with them
no machines we may hold out against them for any time.”
It was soon manifest, however, that along with the scaling-ladders the
enemy had brought one of their war-machines. Men were seen dragging
massive beams of timber towards the walls, and one of the wagons was
drawn forward and upset on its side at a distance of sixty yards from
the wall, not, however, without those who drew it suffering much from
the arrows of the bowmen. Behind the shelter thus formed the French
began to put together the machine, whose beams soon raised themselves
high above the wagon.
In the meantime groups of men dragged great stones laid upon a sort of
hand sledge to the machine, and late in the afternoon it began to cast
its missiles against the wall. Against these Walter could do little. He
had no sacks, which, filled with earth, he might have lowered to cover
the part of the walls assailed, and beyond annoying those working the
machines by flights of arrows shot high in the air, so as to descend
point downwards among them, he could do nothing.
The wall crumbled rapidly beneath the blows of the great stones, and
Walter saw that by the following morning a breach would be effected.
When night fell he called his men together and asked if any would
volunteer to carry news through the enemy to the prince. The enterprise
seemed well-nigh hopeless, for the French, as if foreseeing that such
an attempt might be made, had encamped in a complete circle round the
castle, as was manifest by the position of their fires. Several
men stepped forward, and Walter chose three light and active
men--archers--to attempt the enterprise. These stripped off their steel
caps and breastpieces, so that they might move more quickly, and when
the French fires burned low and all was quiet save the creak of the
machine and the dull heavy blows of the stones against the wall, the
three men were lowered by ropes at different points, and started on
their enterprise. A quarter of an hour later the garrison heard shouts
and cries, and knew that a vigilant watch had been set by the French,
and that one, if not all, of their friends had fallen into their hands.
All night long the machine continued to play.
An hour before daylight, when he deemed that the enemy's vigilance
would be relaxed, Walter caused himself with Ralph and twelve of his
men-at-arms to be lowered by ropes from the wall. Each rope had a loop
at the bottom in which one foot was placed, and knots were tied in
order to give a better grasp for the hands. They were lowered at a short
distance from the spot at which the machine was at work; all were armed
with axes, and they made their way unperceived until within a few yards
of the wagon. Then there was a cry of alarm, and in a moment they rushed
forward among the enemy. The men working the machine were instantly cut
down, and Walter and his party fell upon the machine, cutting the
ropes and smashing the wheels and pulleys and hewing away at the timber
itself. In a minute or two, however, they were attacked by the enemy,
the officer in command having bade a hundred men lie down to sleep close
behind the machine in case the garrison should attempt a sortie. Walter
called upon Ralph and four of the men-at-arms to stand beside him while
the others continued their work of destruction. The French came up in a
tumultuous body, but, standing so far apart that they could wield their
axes, the English dealt such destruction among their first assailants
that these for a time recoiled. As fresh numbers came up, encouraged
by their leader they renewed the attack, and in spite of the most
tremendous efforts Walter and his party were driven back. By this time,
however, so much damage had been done to the machine that it would be
some hours before it could be repaired, even if spare ropes and other
appliances had been brought with it from Amiens; so that, reinforced by
the working party, Walter was again able to hold his ground and after
repulsing a fresh onslaught of the enemy he gave the word for his men to
retire at full speed.
The French were so surprised by the sudden disappearance of their foes
that it was a moment or two before they started in pursuit, and Walter
and his men had gained some thirty yards before the pursuit really
commenced.
The night was a dark one, and they considerably increased this advantage
before they reach the foot of the wall, where the ropes were hanging.
“Has each of you found his rope?” Walter asked.
As soon as an affirmative answer was given he placed his foot in the
loop and shouted to the men above to draw up, and before the enraged
enemy could reach the spot the whole party were already some yards above
their heads. The archers opened fire upon the French, doing, in spite of
the darkness, considerable execution, for the men had snatched up their
arms at the sudden alarm, and had joined the fray in such haste that
many of them had not had time to put on their steel caps. There was
noise and bustle in the enemy's camp, for the whole force were now under
arms, and in their anger at the sudden blow which had been struck them
some bodies of men even moved forward towards the walls as if they
intended to renew the assault of the previous day; but the showers
of arrows with which they were greeted cooled their ardour and they
presently retired out of reach of bowshot. There was a respite now for
the besiegers. No longer every few minutes did a heavy stone strike the
walls.
The morning's light enabled the defenders of the castle to see the
extent of the damage which the battering machine had effected. None
too soon had they put a stop to its work, for had it continued its
operations another hour or two would have effected a breach.
Already large portions of the wall facing it had fallen, and other
portions were so seriously damaged that a few more blows would have
levelled them.
“At any rate,” Walter said to Ralph, “we have gained a respite; but even
now I fear that if the Black Prince comes not until tomorrow he will
arrive too late.”
The French, apparently as well aware as the garrison of the necessity
for haste, laboured at the repair of the machine. Bodies of men started
to cut down trees to supply the place of the beams which had been
rendered useless. Scarcely had the assault ceased when horsemen were
despatched in various directions to seek for fresh ropes, and by dint of
the greatest exertions the machine was placed in position to renew its
attack shortly after noon.
By two o'clock several large portions of the damaged wall had fallen,
and the debris formed a slope by which an assaulting column could rush
to the bridge. As soon as this was manifest the French force formed for
the assault and rushed forward in solid column.
Walter had made the best preparation possible for the defence. In the
courtyard behind the breach his men had since morning been driving a
circle of piles, connected by planks fastened to them. These were some
five feet high, and along the top and in the face next to the breach
sharp-pointed spikes and nails had been driven, rendering it difficult
in the extreme for anyone to climb over. As the column of the assailants
approached Walter placed his archers on the walls on either side of the
breach, while he himself, with his men-at-arms, took his station in the
gap and faced the coming host. The breach was some ten yards wide, but
it was only for about half this width that the mound of broken stones
rendered it possible for their enemies to assault, consequently there
was but a space of some fifteen feet in width to be defended. Regardless
of the flights of arrows, the French, headed by their knights and
squires, advanced to the assault, and clambering up the rough stones
attacked the defenders.
Walter, with Ralph and three of his best men-at-arms, stood in the front
line and received the first shock of the assault. The roughness and
steepness of the mound prevented the French from attacking in regular
order, and the very eagerness of the knights and squires who came first
in contact with their enemies was a hindrance to them. When the columns
were seen gathering for the assault Walter had scattered several barrels
full of oil and tar which he found in the cellars over the mound in
front of the breach, rendering it greasy and slippery, and causing the
assailants to slip and stagger and many to fall as they pressed forward
to the assault. Before the fight commenced he had encouraged his
soldiers by recalling to them how a mere handful of men had at Cressy
withstood for hours the desperate efforts of the whole of the French
army to break through their line, and all were prepared to fight to the
death.
The struggle was a desperate one. Served by their higher position, and
by the difficulties which the French encountered from the slipperiness
of the ground and their own fierce ardour to attack, Walter and his
little band for a long time resisted every effort. He with his sword
and Ralph with his heavy mace did great execution, and they were nobly
seconded by their men-at-arms. As fast as one fell another took his
place. The breach in front of them was cumbered with dead and red with
blood. Still the French poured upwards in a wave, and the sheer weight
of their numbers and the fatigue caused by the tremendous exertions
the defenders were making began to tell. Step by step the English were
driven back, and Walter saw that the defence could not much longer be
continued. He bade one of his men-at-arms at once order the archers to
cease firing, and, leaving the walls, to take refuge in the keep, and
thence to open fire upon the French as they poured through the breach.
When he found that this movement had been accomplished Walter bade the
men-at-arms fall back gradually. A gap had been left in the wooden fence
sufficient for one at a time to pass, and through this the men-at-arms
retired one by one to the keep until only Walter and five others were
left. With these Walter flung himself suddenly upon the assailants and
forced them a few feet down the slope. Then he gave the word, and all
sprang back, and leaping down from the wall into the courtyard ran
through the barrier, Walter and Ralph being the last to pass as the
French with exulting shouts leapt down from the breach. There was
another fierce fight at the barrier. Walter left Ralph to defend this
with a few men-at-arms while he saw that all was in readiness for
closing the door rapidly in the keep. Then he ran back again. He was but
just in time. Ralph indeed could for a long time have held the narrow
passage, but the barriers themselves were yielding. The French were
pouring in through the breach, and as those behind could not see the
nature of the obstacle which arrested the advance of their companions
they continued to push forward, and by their weight pressed those in
front against the spikes in the barrier. Many perished miserably on
these. Others, whose armour protected them from this fate, were crushed
to death by the pressure; but this was now so great that the timbers
were yielding. Walter, seeing that in another moment they would be
levelled, gave the word, sprang back with Ralph and his party, and
entered the keep just as with a crash the barrier fell and the French
poured in a crowd into the courtyard. Bolting the door the defenders of
the keep piled against it the stones which had been laid in readiness.
The door was on the first floor, and was approached by a narrow flight
of stone steps, up which but two abreast could advance. In their first
fury the French poured up these steps, but from the loopholes which
commanded it the English bowmen shot so hard that their arrows pierced
the strongest armour. Smitten through vizor and armour, numbers of the
bravest of the assailants fell dead. Those who gained the top of the
steps were assailed by showers of boiling oil from an upper chamber
which projected over the door, and whose floor was pierced for this
purpose, while from the top of the keep showers of stones were poured
down. After losing great numbers in this desperate effort at assault the
French drew off for a while, while their leaders held council as to the
best measures to be taken for the capture of the keep.
After a time Walter from the summit saw several bodies of men detach
themselves from the crowd still without the castle and proceed into the
country. Two hours later they were seen returning laden with trunks of
trees. These were dragged through the breach, and were, in spite of the
efforts of the archers and of the men-at-arms with their stones, placed
so as to form a sort of penthouse against one side of the keep. Numbers
of the soldiers now poured up with sacks and all kinds of vessels which
they had gathered from the surrounding villages, filled with earth. This
was thrown over the beams until it filled all the crevices between them
and formed a covering a foot thick, so that neither boiling oil nor
water poured from above could penetrate to injure those working beneath
its shelter. When all was ready a strong body armed with picks and
crowbars entered the penthouse and began to labour to cut away the wall
of the keep itself.
“Their commander knows his business,” Walter said, “and the device is an
excellent one. We can do nothing, and it only depends upon the strength
of the wall how long we can hold out. The masonry is by no means good,
and before nightfall, unless aid comes, there will be nought for us but
death or surrender.”