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On the 15th, however, there was very sharp fighting both at Freteval and Moree, and on the morning of the 16th our Gatlings went forward to support the second division of our army corps, which was being hard pressed by the Germans. All at once, however, orders for a general retreat arrived, Chanzy having at last decided to fall back on Le Mans.
He had rounded off his dominions; he had conquered the county of Cahors; he had recovered the Vexin and the border castles of Fréteval and Amboise; the fiefs of William of Boulogne had passed into his hands on William's death; he was master of Nantes and Dol, and lord of Britanny; he had been appointed Protector of Flanders.
It contained, according to our French authorities, the very probable agreement that the points in dispute between the two kings should be submitted to the decision of the curia regis of France, and Philip was allowed to retain the lordships of Issoudun and Freteval, which he had previously occupied, as pledges for the carrying out of the treaty.
Loyalty among the people there was none; even Anjou, the home of their race, drifted towards Philip as steadily as Poitou. But in warlike ability Richard was more than Philip's peer. He held him in check on the Norman frontier and surprised his treasure at Fréteval while he reduced to submission the rebels of Aquitaine.
He swiftly agreed to every conceivable concession on every hand. He met the papal messengers and bent to their terms of reconciliation. On the 20th of July he had a conference with Louis near Fréteval in Touraine, and next day the kings parted amicably. On the 22d an interview between the king and the archbishop followed.
On the 11th, the 12th, and the 13th December we were continually marching, always going in the direction of the guns. We went from Ecoman to Moree, to Saint Hilaire-la-Gravelle, and thence to the Chateau de Rougemont near Freteval, a spot famous as the scene of a victory gained by our Richard Coeur-de-Lion over Philip Augustus.
The German Advance Westward Gambetta at Le Mans The "Army of Brittany" and Count de Keratry The Camp of Conlie The Breton Marching Division Keratry resigns The Champigny Sortie from Paris The dilatory D'Aurelle The pitiable 20th Army Corps Battles of Beaune-la-Rolande and Loigny Loss of Orleans D'Aurelle superseded by Chanzy Chanzy's Slow Retreat The 21st Corps summoned to the Front I march with the Breton Division Marchenoir and Freteval Our Retreat Our Rearguard Action at Droue Behaviour of the Inhabitants We fight our Way from Fontenelle to Saint Agil Guns and Quagmires Our Return to Le Mans I proceed to Bennes and Saint Malo.
We passed from the department of the Sarthe into that of Loir-et-Cher, going on until we reached a little place called Ville-aux-Cleros, where we spent the night under uncomfortable conditions, for it snowed. Early the following day we set out again, and, leaving Vendome a couple of miles or so away on our right, we passed Freteval and camped on the outskirts of the forest of Marchenoir.
The Archbishop was allowed to return after a reconciliation with the king at Fréteval, and the Kentishmen flocked around him with uproarious welcome as he entered Canterbury. "This is England," said his clerks, as they saw the white headlands of the coast.
The war went on a few weeks longer with no decisive results. Philip destroyed Evreux, but fell back from Freteval so hastily, to avoid an encounter with Richard, that he lost his baggage, including his official records, and barely escaped capture himself.
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