In the late summer (1569) Montgomery victoriously returned from Béarn, having reached the highest point of his reputation. Within six weeks he had gathered an army, marched leagues through a strange and hostile country, crossed the Garonne and raised a siege against equal forces, and turned the Catholic conquest of Béarn into defeat. It seemed a dream both to friend and foe. Nobly did his enemy say: “In all the wars there never was performed a more notable exploit.” If Montgomery had failed, Coligny would have had no place to retire to after the loss of Moncontour. For he came from that field of Protestant overthrow with the relics of an army only, mostly gentry and reiters, for the infantry was almost all cut to pieces or captured, without baggage, without money, even the horses needing to be reshod. It was well that the admiral could throw himself into the arms of Montgomery and the viscounts who enriched him with the spirit of their success and drew thousands, literally, to the Huguenot standard by the magic of their achievements. His following increased so rapidly that by the time he reached Montpellier he again had between ten and twelve thousand men.[1409] On January 3, 1570, Coligny and Montgomery united their forces. The dissension between Montluc[1410] and Damville gave them and the viscounts almost unrestrained freedom in Upper Gascony and Languedoc, where they grew enormously rich on the spoils of war, and carried their depredations to the very walls of Toulouse which was actually invested from January 22 to February 20, 1570.[1411] [Illustration: Voyage of the Princes after the Battle of Moncontour Oct. 1569 July, 1570 in blue —— Montgomery’s Itinerary in Bigorre and Gascony, July-Nov. 1569 in black —— Union of Coligny and Montgomery in Dec. 1569 at Port St. Marie. ——} ——} Conjectured route ]