Upon receiving intelligence that the royal court was travelling toward Paris, Condé left the southwest along with his supporters, among them La Rochefoucauld.

The royal army's disposition was as such:  the court was at Gien, Turenne was at Briare, while Marshall Charles de Monchy d'Hocquincourt had imprudently advanced his forces to the village of Bléneau.

Condé ambushed the Marshall's soldiers during the night of April 6/7th and destroyed part of the royal army, compelling d'Hocquincourt to withdraw toward Auxerre.

La hardiesse de cette action qui n'était pourtant pas téméraire, car le Maréchal de Turenne s'était posté fort avantageusement, sauva l'Etat : tout était perdu s'il eût voulu se ménager davantage.

The hard-fought nature of this action was not reckless, for Turenne posted himself very well, saving the state: had he wished to hold back for his own sake, all would have been lost.