With the Black Prince

by William Osborn Stoddard

  CHAPTER VII.

  THE GREAT PLAN OF THE KING.

  The exact place of the landing of King Edward had been at a harborcalled St. Vast, northerly from Cape La Hogue, and the King of Francebelieved him still at sea, on his way to Gascony or Guienne, that therehe might strike a blow for the sadly beset forces of the Earl of Derby.There was no need for camping long on the shore that the English forcesmight be put into good marching order. Even as they landed their properdivisions were assigned them. When the next morning sun arose, it wasknown to all that the king had named the Earl of Arundel his constable,to abide with himself; also that he had named the Earl of Warwick andSir Geoffrey of Harcourt marshals of the army. The left wing was to becommanded on the march by Sir Geoffrey, and the right wing by the earl.All who were to be with the earl, however, were moving along the coast,southerly, in the morn. In like manner went the fleet, taking manyprizes of armed ships and merchantmen.

  It was the earl's first errand to take or to disable a place calledBarfleur, where was a very strong castle, that from it might come forthno harm to any English force to be left at the St. Vast landing.

  Side by side rode Richard and his uncle, and the earl questioned himmuch of his doings on the Golden Horn.

  "Thou hast done well," he said, "but I like it not that thou art withme. It were better thou shouldst ride with Harcourt. Seest thou notthat, as we are ordered now, he will lead the van and I the rear guard?I shall take these towns and many another, but he will be first at Caen,and that is the prize of Normandy."

  "I hear 'tis a great place," said Richard, "but I like it that to us itis given to strike the first blow in France."

  Even as he spoke a mounted scout came galloping back to report thatBarfleur was in sight, and that English war ships were sailing into theharbor.

  The earl drew rein and raised his baton, uttering no word; but a hundredor so of men-at-arms who were behind him shouted loudly and dashed by,spurring toward the front.

  "Thy bowmen next!" shouted the earl to Richard. "Follow the knightsclosely. The pikemen are already far ahead. If it be God's will, we willsweep the town in an hour."

  Hotly rushed Richard's blood as he pressed on, followed by threehundred of the archers of Arden. Hardly he knew what time had passedafter that until he found himself halted to watch while axemen batteredat a town gate and pikemen placed ladders to mount a wall. His archersmeantime were making targets of whoever might show himself among thewall battlements.

  "Is this the way a town is taken?" he exclaimed. "I deemed there weremore delay. There go the good knights, up the ladders and through thegate! 'Twas but badly made, to be broken in so soon. On, men of Arden!Follow me!"

  Follow they did, and some good archery work befell them after theyentered the town, but the English were even too many for the capture andpillage of so small a place.

  "It was no battle, my Lord," Richard said to the earl two hours later,as they met in the great square in the center of the town. "But we havetaken Barfleur."

  "That have we," said the earl, "and that is all. Look yonder!"

  Across long rows of intervening houses gazed the young captain as theearl pointed. There was a rocky height, and upon it arose the towers andthe turreted walls of a great castle.

  "I see," said Richard. "It hath a strong look. How shall we take it?"

  "Not at all," replied the earl marshal, laughing. "He who holdeth itfor the King of France refused to yield it, and well he may. We couldhammer at it in vain all summer. All the need is to hem in the garrisonsomewhat by the taking of the town. The English army will march on andwaste no time. Take thou therefore a lesson in good war craft. Thy kingwill make no blunder of throwing away strength upon mere stone work on ahill calling itself a castle."

  "I will bear it in mind," said Richard. "I would have thought it mustneeds be taken."

  Loud laughed the earl marshal, but already his officers were recallingthe troops from the sacking of the town, that all his force might turnagain to rejoin the army of the king, that had been marching northward.

  Stretched out along the roads and levels, but moving steadily, were allthe divisions of the forces of King Edward. The last of them, with muchmunition of war, was even now disembarking from the shipping at St.Vast, for it taketh care and time to transfer horses and matters ofweight from a deck to a beach. When the night fell all camps were madewith care, as became good generalship, although there was fair certaintythat no considerable armed force of foemen could be near at hand.

  Morn came, and in its first hours Richard was galloping on to the centerwith a writing from the Earl of Warwick to the king, but to the princewas it delivered, and he read.

  "This to my father," said he heartily; "but I am glad that the earlshould please to have thee with me and with Harcourt. And thou hast seena town taken? Never the same saw I, and I know not how I am to win spurstramping these roads without a French man-at-arms in sight!"

  Nevertheless he went to the king and came again, and they twain rode ontogether talking of the war.

  "The earl sendeth word," said the prince, "that he will waste no timenor men in vainly besieging the castle of Cherbourg. We need it not, butwe shall sack Carenton before to-morrow night."

  "Knoweth the king," asked Richard, "at what place mustereth the host ofFrance?"

  "Our last news," replied the prince, "putteth Philip in Aquitaine, fullfar away from Paris. Were the king so minded he could get there first."

  "And take the capital city of France?" exclaimed Richard. "That weregrand! We shall press onward, then?"

  "That will we," said the prince, "but not to take a city we can nothold. Small good were it to be shut up there by half the hosts ofEurope. But we can draw away the French from Derby's front, and we canwin Calais."

  "Win Calais by a march through Normandy?" sprang from the lips ofRichard. "I see not well how that can be. What were Calais, comparedwith Paris?"

  "It is the sorest thorn in the side of England, saith my father,"replied the prince. "Even the Channel and the British seas are but halfour own while that harbor is a refuge for the fleets of France and anesting place for all manner of pirates. We must take and hold it, as wehold Dover. It hath but one strong defense."

  "I have heard that its walls are strong," said Richard, "and that it canstand a long siege by sea and land."

  "Long and hard it well may be," laughed the prince, "but sieges have anend, and towns are taken if the besiegers themselves be not routed intheir camps. The defense of Calais against us is this army of the Kingof France. Until that shall be utterly beaten the town is safe. Thouwilt yet see clearly the wisdom of the king."

  There was another night's camping and the Carenton town surrendered, butthe castle thereof detained Earl Warwick and his power during two moredays, while the main host marched on. Town after town that lay along itsbroad road of desolation either opened its gates without resistance orwas shortly stormed and plundered. Long lines of wains were all thewhile traveling back to St. Vast and other seaports, that the shipsmight convey the captured goods and treasures to safe keeping inEngland.

  This was the manner of all warring in those days, and sore was thedistress of the people of Normandy. They were brave enough, but they hadneither great captains nor any central body of an army whereunto theymight rally. For their mere numbers they could have eaten up the Englisharmy, but what are numbers that are scattered vainly over a greatprovince?

  Daily did the prince and Richard draw nearer to each other, as theyfound occasion for meeting; but the duties of the young heir of Wartmontwere now with the advance, under Sir Geoffrey of Harcourt. Smallfighting had he seen, but many a deed of pillage that was sad to lookupon, and he was learning how terrible a thing is war.

  "God keep it from merry England!" he often thought, and yet he knew thatall the messengers from home brought rumors that a Scottish host wasgathering fast to take advantage of King Edward's absence.

  "Evil to them!" he said angrily. "If the good archbishop be alsotrain
ing the men of the north counties and the middle, I trust SirRobert Johnstone will face them with bowmen as good as are those ofLongwood and Arden. We can give him no aid, but to-morrow we shall getto Caen."

  The prince was with the king that night and Richard saw him not. Nor wasthere message for him to carry in the morn, but there came to him asummons from Marshal de Harcourt.

  "Richard of Wartmont," said his captain when they met, "Sir ThomasHolland and Sir Peter Legh, with knights and men-at-arms, form theadvance on Caen. With them go thou and double thy number of the archersof Arden. With thee will also be the Irish and the Welsh, for I learnthat the people of this town have gone mad with conceit. They will faceus outside of their walls. If we may break their front, we may enterCaen in their foolish company."

  Like word went back to the king, praying him to hasten, that he mightsee his standard lifted over the capital of Normandy.

  Good was the planning of De Harcourt, for, as the English van emergedearly that day, behold a numerous but motley and ill-ordered array ofarmed citizens and country folk, drawn out to meet them. With them weremany knights and men-at-arms, but the marshal spoke truly when he saidof them:

  "An army that is not an army. We will scatter them like chaff!"

  "Seest thou yonder town?" asked Sir Thomas Holland of Richard, as theypaused on the brow of a low hill to let the bowmen come up.

  Richard looked earnestly, for the walls were wide-reaching, and theyseemed to be high and strong. On one side of the great town arose acastle of surpassing splendor, and he had heard that the Governor ofCaen, Sir John de Blargny, held it with three hundred Genoesecrossbowmen and other forces. There were church spires also, and ofthese arose one higher than the rest, at which Sir Thomas pointed withhis lance.

  "In a crypt of that church," he said, "rest the bones of William theConqueror. From this town did he and his host march to the overthrow ofKing Harold at Hastings."

  Richard gazed in silence, but he heard strange words among the bowmenbehind him, speaking the ancient tongue.

  "'Tis good hearing," said Guy the Bow. "As he and his Normans did toEngland, so have the Saxons under King Edward done to Normandy. Theconquest is ours this time!"

  "The tables are turned," said Ben of Coventry, "and rare hath been theplundering. But we have yet fought no fight like that of Hastings. Untilthen we shall not be even with the French. I shall shoot closely thatday when it shall come."

  Deep, therefore, was the bitterness that grew from the old time. Alas,that it did not cease, and that during centuries more the old feudrankled murderously in the hearts of Englishmen, so that even theirNorman kings made use of it as a power whereby to rally armies to fightthe outland men beyond the sea!

  Forward now dashed the English van, all shouting loudly, but no battledid await them. Mayhap they were in greater force than the men of Caenexpected, or that the latter bethought them suddenly how good were stonewalls to fight behind. At all events, there were few volleys of arrowssent before the French muster broke and ran back in confusion toward theopen gates.

  "Forward!" shouted Sir Thomas. "The middle gateway! There be goodknights there, all tangled in the press. They can neither fight norflee. Brave ransom to be won! Press on!"

  Even he and his own knights could make little better speed than mightthe bowmen on foot, but the French men-at-arms were already jammed oneagainst another in the narrow passage by which they had hoped to retreatinto the city. There could be no closing of the gate, but over it was asmall fortalice, with a broad stairway leading up to it. Down sprang thegood knights, for here seemed a refuge, as if it were a place whereinthey might defend themselves.

  Much rather was it a trap in which they were to be taken helplessly. Invain they manned the battlements, for up the stairway after them pouredRichard Neville's bowmen and axemen, with Sir Thomas Holland, Sir PeterLegh, and a dozen other knights.

  "Down with them, Richard of Wartmont!" shouted Guy the Bow, and theshafts began to fly.

  But in front of the Frenchmen in that tower stepped forth a knight ingorgeous armor, who shouted boldly:

  "Sir Thomas Holland, dost thou not know thine old-time comrade againstthe Prussian heathen and the Saracens of Grenada? I am the Count of Euand Guignes, Constable of France, and with me is the Count ofTancarville. These all be knights of note. But we are betrayed to thinehand by these cowardly townspeople."

  So they surrendered all, while through the gateway below dashed SirGeoffrey of Harcourt, his men-at-arms, and a great tide of spearmen andbowmen. At no great distance behind them rode the king and the prince,and it was but little before the Earl of Northampton raised the royalstandard over that very gateway fort in token that Caen had fallen.

  The walls were won, indeed, but not the whole town or the castle. On tothe center and to the townhall pressed Harcourt, and with him now wasRichard. Every house was a small fort, however, and all doors wereclosed and barred. Not for their goods only, but for their very lives,did the inhabitants of Caen believe themselves to be contending. In theupper stories and garrets of the buildings had they prepared munitionsof heavy stones, beams, and the like, and these did they now rain downupon the ranks of the English soldiery. Many were slain or woundedthereby. Brave knights were stricken from their horses to lie helplessupon the pavement.

  All these things were witnessed by the king himself when he and theprince and those who were with them rode through the gate of the city.An angry man was he to be stoned and to narrowly escape destruction in astreet of a place which he had already taken.

  Sir Geoffrey and his men were at the townhall now, and one of theirfirst works had been to search for and to seize the official records andarchives. It had been better for Normandy if all these things hadperished, but none had looked for so sudden an entry of the English, sothat the writings remained. These were delivered to the king on hisarrival. He read from page to page, and his hot wrath burned yet morehotly. Among the captured manuscripts was one under the seal royal ofFrance, and it was a covenant between the King and the people of Caenand of Normandy for their service against the English king. Already hadthere been good proof that the Normans had greatly favored an invasionof England like that of William the Conqueror. Here was fresh proofthereof, with more that was as poison.

  Fierce and hasty was the next speech of the angry king, for he commandedthat the city should be given up to sack and pillage, without mercy toman or woman. It had been a terrible deed to do, for the soldiery weregreatly enraged already, and some of their deeds had been cruel. Wellwas it then for all that Sir Geoffrey of Harcourt was a wise man andhumane as well as a good war captain, for he spoke plainly to KingEdward.

  "Dear sire," he said, "restrain thy courage a little, I pray thee, andbe satisfied with what thou hast done. Thou hast a long journey beforethou shalt get to Calais, where thou intendest to go."

  Much more he said and argued, and all the while the king grew calmer.

  "Sir Geoffrey," he replied at last, "thou art our marshal; thereforeorder as thou shalt please, for this time we wish not to interfere."

  Nevertheless, in the speech of the marshal had been published the secretcounsel of the king and the real purpose of the campaign from before thearmy left England. There were those even in later days who maintainedthat Edward had sailed at a venture, and had marched at random, withoutset plan or purpose, but they knew him not very well, nor did they hearhis chief captain answer him at Caen thus early in the campaign.

  Out rode then Sir Geoffrey from street to street, with bannersdisplayed, declaring full mercy to the townsfolk if they would ceasefighting, and commanding, on pain of death, that no English soldiershould harm or insult either man or woman.

  So the massacre was stayed, but for all that there was vast plundertaken.

  Richard was with the prince once more for a little while, and to him hespoke of the purpose of the Normans to invade England.

  "They thought to do as in Harold's time," he said. "There had been greatmischief, truly, if they could have
landed."

  "Not so," replied the prince. "I heard Sir Geoffrey and the king on thathead. No other battle of Hastings could have come, for the Archbishop ofYork hath force enough to face the Scots. King Harold had to fight andbeat the Welsh first, and then the Northmen under Hardrada, before heturned, with what army he had left, to meet William of Normandy. Aninvasion now would meet the whole array of England at one field, withWelsh and Irish many thousands. Moreover, in England there were neitherforts nor castles in Harold's day, while now there are too many for thepeace of the realm. So said my royal father, for the castles can bewell held even against the power of the king."

  "The Saxons fought well," said Richard.

  "Aye, that did they," replied the prince, "and well do we know that thouand thine are of them. Wilt thou tell me, Richard of Wartmont, why thouand thy Saxons all are so strong for the Crown? Are we not of Normanblood?"

  "Yea, that ye are," said Richard, "but of Saxon royalty of descent aswell. We all do know that truth. But above all do the people of everykindred look to see the king stand between them and the barons. So arewe his lithsmen, nor can any take us out of his hand. He is our king!"

  "Stay where thou art!" exclaimed the prince; "I will bear that word tothe king ere it is cold in my thought."

  Away he rode, and he had to dismount and enter the townhall before hecould have speech with his father. That which he said was heard by noother ears, but the face of the king grew red with pleasure.

  "Truly," he said low-voiced, "the youth and his people are wiser than Iknew! Herein is a point of statecraft fit to be an heirloom of theBritish kings. I will wear it. The king of the people hath no need tofear the power of his barons. I have seen it long. There shall be moreand larger parliaments henceforth, and the Commons may speak their willfreely. I am less at the bidding of my proud earls. I have henceforth nofear of Philip of France, but I must win Calais, if only for the good ofmy merchantmen. We will march thither speedily, as soon as I shall havesmitten hard this huge mustering of Philip the unwise."

  The prince came not back, nor did he afterward give to Richard the wordsof the king; but the writers who in due season recorded the history ofthose times had many things to write concerning the kindly relationsthat grew up between Edward and the Commons, especially all merchantsand artisans and seafaring men.

  There were days of seeming rest for the army, but these were largelyspent in good training, lest discipline should have been injured on themarch. On one of these days came a summons from Sir Geoffrey of Harcourtto Richard Neville, and when he obeyed it he found the two marshalstogether. Earl Warwick was the first to speak.

  "Good news for thee, Richard," he said. "Thy gateway fort was a finetrap for thy fortune. The king hath purchased of Sir Thomas Holland, SirPeter Legh, and the knights and thee, the ransom of the Constable ofFrance and Lord Tancarville. He payeth twenty thousand rose nobles ofgold, and thy share will be made good. All thy other prizes will be sureto thee in my own hand, for I send all to thy mother at Warwick. Thouwilt be richer than was ever thy father, if thou shalt hold on as thouhast begun."

  Great was the joy of Richard, and earnest were his thanks to the kindlyearl; but he had now to hear from his commander.

  "Hearken thou well," he said. "Take thou thine own companies and such asshall be named to thee by Sir Peter Legh. March out at the northern gateand follow the road he will name to thee. Speak not to any concerningthy errand, and thou thyself hast need to know no more. But if anystranger shall attempt to march with thee, slay thou him on the spot."

  "See that thou obey in silence," added the earl. "I trust in God that Ishall see thee again, but do thou thy duty utterly caring not for thyblood or thy life."

  Richard bowed low, for his heart was dancing within him at the prospectof new adventure, and he did but say:

  "God save the king! And I pray thee, tell my mother I did my dutyutterly."

  "Go thou," said the earl.

  "Haste thee also," came from Sir Geoffrey, "for thine is the vanguard."

  O what pride for one so young--to be ordered to the front of a secretforay!

  Nevertheless, in the very street, as Richard rode to the camp of hisbowmen, he was met and halted by the prince.

  "Richard of Wartmont," he said, but not loudly, "thou hast thy orders?"

  Richard bowed low.

  "So have I mine!" exclaimed the prince. "Not all the fortune of thiscampaign is to be thine alone. Thou shalt see me with my sword outbefore thou art older. There are blows to strike, and I am to be in the_melee_, as becomes me. Haste thee now, and fare thee well until I seethee again."

  It had been ill to answer in words, but Richard bowed again and rodeonward.

  It was at the gate that he met Sir Peter Legh with further instructions.A good knight was Sir Peter and broad in the shoulders, but he stood afathom and half a handbreadth in his stature--a sore antagonist for anyman to face in field or tourney, and having experience of many ahard-fought field.

  "Thou of Wartmont," he said dryly, "since I am to have company of theeand thine, well. It is De Harcourt's word to me. He is my commander.Thou mayest lead older and better men fairly enough. I will tell theewhat to do."

  "I was ahead of all but thee in the gate of Caen," responded Richard alittle freely, for he was but young in temper. "Thou wilt not find me apace behind thee if so be there is fighting or climbing to be done."

  "That there will be," growled Sir Peter. "Thou art nimble enough, butother men are bigger in the bones. But it is said of thee that thou hastgood fortune, and that is a grand thing in a fray. I will go to thy menwith thee and learn what timber I am to build with."

  So strong in the minds of all men was the belief that even more thanlance or sword or counsel was the thing they called fortune. But betterfor the army and for the taking of Calais were the long preparation andthe subtle wisdom of Edward the Third.

  Few were the words of Sir Peter as they twain rode onward, save to givehis youthful comrade full and clear directions as to the road by whichhe was to march. He knew, however, that the burly knight eyed him keenlyfrom time to time, as if he were trying to read what value he might haveas a soldier.

  Then came they to the camp, and Sir Peter turned his eyes in like mannerupon Guy the Bow and the men of Longwood.

  "I ask the marshal's pardon," he grumbled testily. "If their chief beonly a boy, his clansmen are long in the legs. Every man a pardonedoutlaw, I am told, and half of kin to the Neville. Look you!" he spokeloudly to Guy the Bow, "ye all are to march with Richard of Wartmont."

  "Aye, Sir Peter," said Guy. "He is our captain. We have fought for himere this, shoulder to shoulder."

  "Thou art malapert!" exclaimed Sir Peter. "Guard thou thy tongue, lest Iteach thee a lesson thou needest. The lash is near thee!"

  Hot as fire glowed the brown cheeks of Guy the Bow, and he strode onepace nearer.

  "I know thee, Sir Peter Legh," he said. "Thou art a good lance enough,but who gave thee the ill wisdom to speak of the lash to the freearchers of Arden?"

  Right well astonished was Sir Peter, for at every side, as he lookedbeyond Guy, did the tall foresters spring to their feet, and full ascore of them had arrows on the string. He heard rough speaking in atongue which he did not fully understand, but one voice that was louderthan the rest was of ordinary English.

  "We are not dogs, nor serfs, nor villains," it declared, "that we shouldbe whipped for free speech. We are free men. If yonder man-at-armslayeth but a finger upon Guy the Bow or upon my Lord of Wartmont, I willsend this shaft through his midriff."

  "Richard Neville, what meaneth this?" exclaimed Sir Peter Legh. "Whosemen are these?"

  "We belong to the Wartmont, under the Earl of Warwick," spoke out Benof Coventry, "and through the earl we are the king's men. Look thou wellto that."

  "Sir Peter," said Richard sturdily, "there was no cause of offense tothee."

  "These, then, are yeomen?" asked Sir Peter, with a grim smile that meantmuch.

  "Never w
as collar of serf upon the neck of an archer of Arden," repliedRichard. "Free they were born, and free they will die. And I swear tothee that my father's son will die here with them ere they are harmed."

  The knight was wiser than he had seemed, for he did but laugh loudly.

  "I have no quarrel to pick with Earl Warwick or with thee, or with thydeerstealers," he said. "Bring them along. These were with thee whenthou didst take La Belle Calaise? Pirates every man. But they are whatthou wilt need to have with thee if thou art to follow Sir ThomasHolland and me. The old one-eyed Saracen fighter will lead where nonebut brave hearts may go."

  All the men heard him, and bows were promptly lowered. Said Guy the Bow:

  "My speech was not malapert for such as I am, Sir Knight. Thou didst illto threaten freemen. But it may be, if thou art in a press, thou wilt bepleased to hear at thy side the twanging of the good bows of Longwoodand Wartmont."

  "That will I, merry men all," said Sir Peter heartily. "Well do I knownow why ye were chosen by Harcourt. Ye are of the old midland breed ofwolves that die silent but biting. 'Tis your proverb."

  More did he say as he walked among them; but he inspected their weapons,as became a captain, and there came also pack beasts laden with sheavesof arrows, that every quiver might be full.

  "Richard of Wartmont," he said at parting, "there is naught but goodwill between me and thee. English am I, and greatly do I like thy men.We were but a lost people if our yeomanry were no higher spirited thanare the slavish rabble that will swarm behind the nobles of France andtheir unwise, cunning king. As for him, he will find that the doubletongue fitted to cheat by an embassage is of small value in the righthandling of an army. He may learn something yet from our Edward ofEngland. Unless Geoffrey of Harcourt is a false witness, and unless theking's plan goeth too far astray, Calais will ere long be but an Englishport. Meet thou me as I bade thee, for I must go."

  Even so he did, but Richard remained to complete the right ordering ofhis command. Anxious indeed was he, and he brought to mind every lessonof war that he had learned in England or on the march. Who could tell,he thought darkly, what desperate venture might be at hand? Carelesscaptains do but throw away what heedful men might win. Above all was itheavy upon his mind that on this occasion he and his had been chosen toguard the prince himself, as being such as the king could rely upon tothe very death.

  "So, if he dieth," said he, "I and mine will not return to face theking. Where lieth his body, there will mine be found, and all the men ofArden and Longwood with me."

  Also in like manner responded the archers themselves when he arrayedthem and told them, passing the word from man to man:

  "We are the Black Prince's comrades, this day and night. It is theking's trust."

  "We will keep trust," they said.