St. George for EnglandHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
St. George for England
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Great Britain -- History -- Edward III, 1327-1377 -- Fiction
Seeing that he was now too late, because of De Clisson's sortie, Charles
of Blois recalled his army from the attack, in which he could only have
suffered heavily from the arrows of the archers and the missiles from
the walls. The same day, he learned from some prisoners captured in the
sortie, of the undiminished spirit of the garrison, and that Hennebon
was amply supplied with provisions brought by sea. His own army was
becoming straitened by the scarcity of supplies in the country round,
he therefore determined at once to raise the siege, and to besiege some
place where he would encounter less serious resistance.
Accordingly, next morning he drew off his army and marched to Carhaix.
Shortly afterwards the news came that the Earl of Northampton and Robert
of Artois, with their force, had sailed, and Don Louis, with the Genoese
and other Italian mercenaries, started to intercept them with a
large fleet. The fleets met off the island of Guernsey, and a severe
engagement took place, which lasted till night. During the darkness
a tremendous storm burst upon them and the combatants separated. The
English succeeded in making their way to Brittany and landed near
Vannes. The Spaniards captured four small ships which had been separated
in the storm from their consorts, but did not succeed in regaining the
coast of Brittany, being driven south by the storm as far as Spain. The
Earl of Northampton at once laid siege to Vannes, and Sir Walter Manny
moved with every man that could be spared from Hennebon to assist him.
As it was certain that the French army would press forward with all
speed to relieve the town, it was decided to lose no time in battering
the walls, but to attempt to carry it at once by assault. The walls,
however, were so strong that there seemed little prospect of success
attending such an attempt, and a plan was therefore determined upon by
which the enemy might be thrown off their guard. The assault commenced
at three points in the early morning and was continued all day. No great
vigour, however, was shown in these attempts which were repulsed at all
points.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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