“The Dauphin concealed the number of his slain, by causing them to be immediately committed to the flames; but six hundred dead horses found on the field sufficiently evinced the magnitude of his loss. Fearful of such another victory, he drew off his forces into Alsace, committed depredations on both sides of the Rhine, and gave the Emperor ample reason to repent of having, called in such auxiliaries. After his retreat, the burghers of Basle gathered the bodies of the Confederates, and with solemn obsequies buried them in the churchyard of St. Jacob.”[38] Six thousand French are reported to have fallen. Æneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II., was present at the council of Basle, and gives a lively description of the battle in one of his letters. “Here was fought a stern and piteous battle. The Swiss tore the bloody arrows from their bodies; those even who had a hand lopped off rushed on the enemy and took a life in exchange for their own. Four Armagnacs attacked one Switzer, and felled him, when a comrade rushed upon them, grasping his battle–axe, and slew two; the others fled. He carried off the yet breathing body to his comrades. Behind the Swiss there was a walled orchard, which they thought would protect them, so that they would only have to fight to the front. But the Germans and Armagnacs undermined the wall, which was the chief cause of the destruction of the Swiss. They fought in front and to the rear, man to man, sword to sword. The Swiss, like lions, forced their way unconquered through the army, slaying and overturning all, as men who know that they fight with no hope of victory, but to avenge their death: the battle lasted from the dawn till evening. At length the Swiss fell amidst the mighty host of the enemy, not conquered, but rather weary with conquering. A mournful and most bloody victory was it to the Armagnacs, and the field remained in their possession, from their superiority, not in bravery, but in numbers.” The law of Sempach, which is mentioned above, furnishes a good specimen of the simplicity and resolution of the Swiss character. Modern treaties of alliance are hardly so brief, so emphatic, or so well observed.