ded by Charles and his immediate
lieutenants. The remainder were unreliable mercenaries and the still
more unreliable troops of Campobasso already pledged to the foe. La
Marche estimates Rene's force at twelve thousand and adds: "The Duke
of Burgundy was far behind, for, on my conscience, he had not two
thousand fighting men."[17]

The allies adopted a plan of battle proposed by a Lorrainer, Vautrin
Wuisse. The first manoeuvre was to divert the foe and turn him towards
the woods, and then to attack his centre, which would at the same
time be pressed at the front by the Lorraine forces, headed by Rene
himself. The plan succeeded in every point. Surprised that they dared
take the offensive, Charles was alert to the harsh cries of the "bull"
of Uri and the "cow" of Unterwalden, which were heard across the
woods. A sudden presentiment saddened him. Putting on his helmet, he
accidentally knocked off the lion bearing the legend _Hoc est signum
Dei_. He replaced it and plunged into the melee.

The onslaught was terrific. Galeotto's troops and the duke's were the
only ones to make sturdy resistance. The right wing of the army gave
way under the fierce assault of the Swiss. The cry, "_Sauve qui
pent_!" raised possibly by Campobasso's traitors, produced a terrible
rout. Three quarters of the troops were in flight, while the duke
still fought on with superhuman ferocity.

Galeotto, seeing that the day was lost, protected his own mercenaries
as best he could, while Campobasso completed the treason that he had
plotted with Rene, which had been partially accomplished four days
previously, and calmly took up his position on the bridge of Bouxieres
on the Meurthe, to make prisoners for the sake of ransom. Then the
besieged made a sudden sortie which increased the disorder. The battle
proper was of short duration, with little bloodshed, but the pursuit
was sanguinary in the extreme, because the Burgundian army had left no
loophole open for retreat.

The Swiss pursued the fugitives hotly as far as Bouxieres and
inflicted carnage right and left on the route. It was easy work. The
morasses were traps and the Burgundians, encumbered with their arms,
found it impossible to free themselves, when they once were entangled.
They fell like flies before the fury of the mountaineers. The
Lorrainers and Alsatians were more humane or more mercenary, for they
took prisoners instead of killing indiscriminately. Charles fought
desperately to the ve