In the afternoon of July 10, the English expedition, which consisted of forty-two ships-of-war and thirty-four transports, with 6,000 infantry and 100 cavalry on board, arrived off Saint-Martin-de-Ré, the principal town of the Île de Ré, opposite La Rochelle. If Buckingham had made his descent upon Fort Louis, as the Huguenots who accompanied him desired, this fortress, shut in between the English and the Rochellois, must inevitably have been captured, as Toiras, who, on the death of the Maréchal de Praslin in the preceding year, had succeeded him as governor of Aunis, had withdrawn the greater part of its garrison to strengthen Saint-Martin-de-Ré, and the result of the fall of Fort-Louis would have been disastrous to France. But the Rochellois had so far refused to commit themselves definitely to an alliance with England; and, apart from this, there were reasons which made Buckingham particularly anxious to get possession of Ré. If it should fall into English hands, it would be a veritable thorn in the side of French, and to a less degree of Spanish, commerce, since its ports within the still waters of the straits which divided it from the mainland would afford an admirable lair for privateers; while its proximity to the Protestant populations of South-Western France would open the door to a skilful use of religious and political intrigue. Its salt marshes, moreover, would afford a very valuable source of revenue to the English exchequer. On the morning of the 12th a council of war was held, as a result of which it was decided that Sir William Becher, accompanied by Soubise and an agent of Rohan, should proceed to La Rochelle to ascertain whether the citizens were prepared to accept the hand which his Britannic Majesty was holding out to them, and that the troops should be landed at once. Toiras had collected about 1,000 foot and 200 horse to oppose the landing, which began about five o’clock in the afternoon, under cover of the fire from the ships. There was a painful lack of discipline amongst the troops, which was not surprising, considering that they were chiefly composed of raw material; and the first boatloads which disembarked gathered in clusters along the beaches instead of falling into line. Buckingham, cudgel in hand, hurried up and down “beating some and threatening others”; but when two regiments were on shore, he was obliged to return to the fleet to do the like there, as some of the troops showed a marked disinclination to leave the shelter of the ships.