Second; 1567–1568Saint-Denis; Chartres Third; 1568–1570Jarnac; La Roche-l'Abeille; Poitiers; Orthez; Moncontour; Saint-Jean d'Angély; Arney-le-Duc Fourth; 1572–1573Mons; Sommières; Sancerre; La Rochelle Fifth; 1574–1576Dormans Sixth; 1577La Charité-sur-Loire; Issoire; Brouage Seventh; 1580La Fère War of the Three Henrys (1585–1589)Coutras; Vimory; Auneau; Day of the Barricades Succession of Henry IV of France (1589–1594)Arques; Ivry; Paris; Château-Laudran; Rouen; Caudebec; Craon; 1st Luxembourg; Blaye; Morlaix; Fort Crozon Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598)2nd Luxembourg; Fontaine-Française; Ham; Le Catelet; Doullens; Cambrai; Calais; La Fère; Ardres; Amiens The Battle of Dreux was fought on 19 December 1562 between Catholics and Huguenots.

They began with a slight disadvantage because they had not posted sufficient scouts around their march, largely because Coligny had persuaded Condé that the Catholics would not attack and therefore there was some confusion about the line of battle.

Although the Catholics were superior in numbers and their infantry was much more experienced they were severely lacking in heavy cavalry, the main offensive weapon of set battles in the period.

The remaining Protestant cavalry, now exhausted after several hours of combat, retreated in fairly good order but it was during this withdrawal that Condé was captured.

However, Guise had ordered his final reliable infantry regiment, a veteran French unit under Martigues, to form a square just south of Blainville.

Ambroise Paré, a surgeon sent from Paris to tend the wounded gentlemen, described how, '[he] observed for a good league all around the ground completely covered [with dead bodies], all dispatched in less than two hours[3]'.

A lot of wounded men, left on the field at the end of the day, succumbed to shock and cold during the bitter night which was as recalled by trooper Jean de Mergey, 'the coldest I ever felt[4]'.

[5] With the death of Saint-André and the capture of Montmorency in the battle, the Duke of Guise was left in unchallenged military command of the crown's war effort, thwarting Catherine de' Medici's plans for a negotiated settlement and making inevitable a final confrontation at Orléans.

Conversely, both sides decided that the German Landsknechts were poor troops and therefore ceased to employ them for the early civil wars; however, they would prove their worth later during sieges, where their versatility made them much more effective than the Swiss whose failure to use firearms severely limited their use.

Even when they did win impressive victories, they were unable to move fast enough to take full advantage and seize Protestant strongholds so the results of these battles were more often than not disappointing.