Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/68

 the very day on which the messenger arrived the men of Tábor set out on their march to Prague; they numbered 9,000 warriors, and were, as had become customary, accompanied by many priests, women and children. The four captains of the people led the expedition, but supreme command was here already tacitly granted to Žižka. A considerable garrison was left at Tábor, which afterwards successfully repulsed an attack by Lord Ulrich of Rosenberg, who had now abandoned the national party, and who was aided in his attack by some Austrian troops sent by the Archduke Albert, son-in-law of Sigismund. The Táborites did not reach Prague unmolested. When crossing the Sazava river near Pořič they were attacked by a large royalist force led by Lord Peter Konopišt of Sternberg—their old enemy—and by the Italian condottiere Pipa of Ozora, who somewhat later played a considerable part in the Hussite wars. The royalist forces were, however, routed by Žižka after a short skirmish. The Táborites now reached Prague on May 20 without any further hindrance. When the Táborite columns, preceded by the priests who—as was now customary—carried the Sacrament in a monstrance before the soldiers, entered the city gates they were enthusiastically greeted and welcomed by the townsmen. Sigismund, whose forces were approaching Prague in the direction of the Sazava, retired on Stara Boleslav (Alt Bunzlau), evidently not wishing to encounter the Hussites in a pitched battle before the arrival of the numerous crusaders, who were expected from Germany.

Shortly after the arrival of the Táborites the citizens of Prague received another considerable reinforcement. The citizens of Žatec (Saaz), Loun and Slané sent to Prague an army consisting of several thousand men. As the Bohemian peasants and even the townsmen were then little accustomed to warfare, they, particularly at the beginning of the Hussite war, generally chose knights or nobles as their leaders. Thus this small army of townsmen was led by the Utraquist knights Bradatý and Obrovec, who brought with them a small force of cavalry,