In company with the king were, his eldest son, Louis duke of Acquitaine, the dukes of Orleans, of Bourbon, of Bar and of Bavaria, the counts of Vertus, of Alençon, of Richemont, of Vendôme, of Auxerre, of la Marche, of la Marle, of Eu, of Roussy, the archbishop of Sens, the bishop of Laon, and the count of Armagnac. The lord Charles d'Albreth, constable of France, was also with the king, and some other knights and esquires of the van division, consisting of three thousand men at arms at least, without including archers, so that the whole of the royal army may be estimated at about two hundred thousand persons of all sorts. The king's quarters at Vailly were in a house which had belonged to the Templars about a cannon-shot from the town, and the duke of Acquitaine was lodged very near him. Soon after, the duke of Bourbon and others of the van division made an entrance early in the morning into the suburbs of Vaudemont, and there established themselves, in spite of the resistance from Arras, but it was not without a severe conflict. On another day, the duke of Bar, the count de Marle and the count d'Armagnac, with the rear division, made good a lodgement on the opposite side, in the suburbs of Belle-mocte, so that the city of Arras was now so completely surrounded that scarcely a single person could venture out without being taken, although, during the siege, there were daily sallies made from the town, sometimes on foot, at others on horseback. The besieged often made sallies from two and even three gates within an hour's time, and on these occasions, as it was afterwards known, they gained more than they lost; for, during the siege, they brought into the place upward of twelve score prisoners, and great numbers were in these sallies always left dead on the field. One particular skirmish took place near the river Scarpe, between the suburbs of Belle-mocte and the postern of Arras, which was very fatal to the besiegers. A party from the vanguard had crossed the river on a plank, one at a time, to the number of six or seven score, purposing to make an attack on the postern; but the besieged instantly sallied forth to combat them, and drove them back to the plank,--when they, finding they could not repass without much danger, rallied and forced their enemies to retreat to the postern. At length by the valour of a man at arms, called Perceval le Grand, who was the leader of the townsmen, they were again forced to the water's edge, and so vigorously attacked that fifty at least were killed on the spot, or made prisoners: from fifteen to twenty were drowned in attempting to cross the river, whose bodies, in armour, were dragged out on the following day.