two thousand
horse, in addition to a considerable number of German mercenaries.
Montgomery,[173] who commanded the Protestants, had barely eight hundred
trained soldiers.[174] The rest of the scanty garrison was composed of
those of the citizens who were capable of bearing arms, to the number of
perhaps four thousand more. But this handful of men instituted a stout
resistance. After frequently repulsing the assailants, the double fort of
St. Catharine, situated near the Seine, on the east of the city, and
Rouen's chief defence, was taken rather by surprise than by force. Yet,
after this unfortunate loss, the brave Huguenots fought only with the
greater desperation. Their numbers had been reinforced by the accession of
some five hundred Englishmen of the first detachment of troops which had
landed at Havre on the third of October, and whom Sir Adrian Poynings had
assumed the responsibility of sending to the relief of the beleaguered
capital of Normandy.[175] With Killigrew of Pendennis for their captain,
they had taken advantage of a high tide to pass the obstructions of boats
filled with stone and sand that had been sunk in the river opposite
Caudebec, and, with the exception of the crew of one barge that ran
ashore, and eleven of whom were hung by the Roman Catholics, "for having
entered the service of the Huguenots contrary to the will of the Queen of
England," they succeeded in reaching Rouen.[176]

These, however, were not the only auxiliaries upon whom the Huguenot chief
could count. The women were inspired with a courage that equalled, and a
determination that surpassed, that of their husbands and brothers. They
undertook the most arduous labors; they fought side by side on the walls;
they helped to repair at night the breaches which the enemy's cannon had
made during the day; and after one of the most sanguinary conflicts during
the siege, it was found that there were more women killed and wounded than
men. Yet the courage of the Huguenots sustained them throughout the
unequal struggle. Frequently summoned to surrender, the Rouenese would
listen to no terms that included a loss of their religious liberty. Rather
than submit to the usurpation of the Guises, they preferred to fall with
arms in their hands.[177] For fall they must. D'Andelot was on his way
with the troops he had laboriously collected in Germany; another band of
three thousand Englishmen was only detained by the adverse winds; Conde
himself was report