Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The campaigns of the army, 1562–76
- 2 The camp and army of the king
- 3 The army in the field
- 4 “The footmen of the king”
- 5 The gendarmes
- 6 The artillery train
- 7 In search of a battle: Dreux, 1562
- 8 The defense of Chartres, 1567–68
- 9 A host of strangers: The army's presence on campaign, 1568–69
- 10 The destruction of an army: The siege of La Rochelle, 1573
- 11 Paying for war
- Conclusion: The limits to action
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN HISTORY
3 - The army in the field
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The campaigns of the army, 1562–76
- 2 The camp and army of the king
- 3 The army in the field
- 4 “The footmen of the king”
- 5 The gendarmes
- 6 The artillery train
- 7 In search of a battle: Dreux, 1562
- 8 The defense of Chartres, 1567–68
- 9 A host of strangers: The army's presence on campaign, 1568–69
- 10 The destruction of an army: The siege of La Rochelle, 1573
- 11 Paying for war
- Conclusion: The limits to action
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN HISTORY
Summary
“QUITE A FINE AND GREAT ARMY”
Monsieur du Lude, by my last letter, you will have heard of the victory God gave me over those who took up arms against me, and that if night had not separated us, I would have had my way with them completely. Since then, what remains of them fled from Saint Denis in great panic, for fear that I would make them a return visit; as they were leaving, I was forced to send after them my brother, the duke of Anjou, whom I have made my lieutenant general, with all the forces I have with me here, which makes quite a fine and great army.
Thus with a mixture of pride and belligerency, Charles IX announced to the governor of Poitou in a letter of November 26, 1567, that his army had begun the pursuit of the Huguenots who had been forced to lift their blockade of Paris two weeks earlier by the battle of Saint-Denis. In the last chapter, we identified some of the difficulties involved in raising forces of the magnitude used by the crown during the civil wars. Though large forces were raised in each war, in no case did all the troops arrive at the same time, nor were they ever all assembled together at one place.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The King's ArmyWarfare, Soldiers and Society during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562–76, pp. 67 - 85Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996