The army, of which M. d'Elbee became the leader, now returned to Poitou,
and gained a great victory at Chatillon; but here many of them forgot
the mercy they had usually shown, and, enraged by the sight of their
burnt cottages, wasted fields, and murdered relatives, they fell upon
the prisoners and began to slaughter them. M. de Lescure, coming in
haste, called out to them to desist. 'No, no,' cried M. de Marigny; 'let
me slay these monsters who have burnt your castle.' 'Then, Marigny,'
said his cousin, 'you must fight with me. You are too cruel; you will
perish by the sword.' And he saved these unhappy men for the time; but
they were put to death on their way to their own army.
The cruelties of the Republicans occasioned a proclamation on the part
of the Royalists that they would make reprisals; but they could never
bring themselves to act upon it. When M. de Lescure took Parthenay, he
said to the inhabitants, 'It is well for you that it is I who have taken
your town; for, according to our proclamation, I ought to burn it; but,
as you would think it an act of private revenge for the burning of
Clisson, I spare you'.
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