nearly three to one
`` The suggestion does you credit , '' replied my comrade , good-humouredly ; `` and we will make a beginning in the morning by beating Cossé . '' Knowing that we had lost our sleep the previous night , Roger did not stay long , and as soon as our attendance on the Admiral was over we went to bed , or rather lay down inside the tent , muffled in our cloaks . The morning of June 27 , 1570 , opened bright and clear , and we looked forward with hope , if not exactly with confidence , to the approaching battle . The enemy were nearly three to one , but , as Roger had said , our men were all picked troops , hardy , resolute fellows , filled with intense zeal , and fighting for what they believed to be right . They greeted Coligny with deafening cheers , when , after breakfast , and our simple morning service , he rode along the lines , accompanied by Henry of Bearn and the young Condé . These gallant youths each commanded a regiment , and their flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes told how ardently they burned to distinguish themselves . `` There are the enemy , my lads , '' said Coligny , in his grave , measured tones , `` and we must beat them .