The early operations of the Duke of Savoy were at first intended to deceive the enemy.  The army, after advancing as far into Picardy as the town of Vervins, which they burned and pillaged, made a demonstration with their whole force upon the city of Guise.  This, however, was but a feint, by which attention was directed and forces drawn off from Saint Quentin, which was to be the real point of attack In the mean time, the Constable of France, Montmorency, arrived upon the 28th July (1557), to take command of the French troops.  He was accompanied by the Marechal de Saint Andre and by Admiral Coligny.  The most illustrious names of France, whether for station or valor, were in the officers’ list of this select army.  Nevers and Montpensier, Enghien and Conde, Vendome and Rochefoucauld, were already there, and now the Constable and the Admiral came to add the strength of their experience and lofty reputation to sustain the courage of the troops.  The French were at Pierrepoint, a post between Champagne and Picardy, and in its neighborhood.  The Spanish army was at Vervins, and threatening Guise.  It had been the opinion in France that the enemy’s intention was to invade Champagne, and the Duc de Nevers, governor of that province, had made a disposition of his forces suitable for such a contingency.  It was the conviction of Montmorency, however, that Picardy was to be the quarter really attacked, and that Saint Quentin, which was the most important point at which the enemy’s progress, by that route, towards Paris could be arrested, was in imminent danger.  The Constable’s opinion was soon confirmed by advices received by Coligny.  The enemy’s army, he was informed, after remaining three days before Guise, had withdrawn from that point, and had invested Saint Quentin with their whole force.

This wealthy and prosperous city stood upon an elevation rising from the river Somme.  It was surrounded by very extensive suburbs, ornamented with orchards and gardens, and including within their limits large tracts of a highly cultivated soil.  Three sides of the place were covered by a lake, thirty yards in width, very deep at some points, in others, rather resembling a morass, and extending on the Flemish side a half mile beyond the city.  The inhabitants were thriving and industrious; many of the manufacturers and merchants were very rich, for it was a place of much traffic and commercial importance.

Teligny, son-in-law of the Admiral, was in the city with a detachment of the Dauphin’s regiment; Captain Brueuil was commandant of the town.  Both informed Coligny of the imminent peril in which they stood.  They represented the urgent necessity of immediate reinforcements both of men and supplies.  The city, as the Admiral well knew, was in no condition to stand a siege by such an army, and dire were the consequences which would follow the downfall of so important a place.  It was still practicable, they wrote, to introduce succor, but every day diminished