triumph could have no great influence upon the course of the war. An action of a far more important character had a less satisfactory result.
When Jean de Vienne learnt of the transfer of Cherbourg to the English. he summoned the allied Spanish squadron, then probably consisting of twelve ships, to make rendezvous with him off the town. and himself proceeded thither with twenty-five ships of the french Royal Navy and some smaller craft. Before he could be joined by his friends, he fell in with the fleet of Salisbury and Arundel, which though numerically superior, was made up of less powerful vessels. The English attacked with confidence; but the French held their own until the Spaniards arrived on the scene, and decided the fortunes of the day. Sir Peter Courtenay,[1] or one of the other sons of the Earl of Devon, appears to have commanded the English rear, and, by the gallantry of his conduct, to have saved his friends from utter annihilation; but his division was sacrificed, and he himself was taken prisoner.[2]
This was early in July. It left the French free, for the time, to blockade Cherbourg and to control the Channel. The Duke of Lancaster, having collected a large force at Southampton, sailed to the relief of Cherbourg in August, with Salisbury in naval command. The number of his ships is unknown, but they had on board eight thousand archers and four thousand men-at-arms. Jean de Vienne was not strong enough to oppose so great a force, and retired up the Seine, while Lancaster threw reinforcements into Cherhourg, and then attacked St. Malo, where he captured a few small vessels of no importance, and landed troops to lay formal siege to the town.[3]
Here he made the crucial mistake of neglecting the "potential fleet." Jean de Vienne was not defeated. not blockaded, not even watched. He quitted the Seine with his Spanish allies, crossed the Channel, ravaged the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, burnt Fowey, and returned unmolested, and with a rich booty.[4]
St. Malo proved quite strong enough to defend itself: and, as winter approached, Lancaster raised the siege, and returned to Southampton.[5]
