 Two of the three Gascon Estates of , the provincial assembly of English Gascony, agreed to fund an English army for a 6-month siege of the town of Tartas.They also requested Huntingdon that Thomas Rempston should lead the besieging force, due to the large size of the defending garrison.Rempston positioned his army, numbering about 100 men-at-arms, 400 archers, and several artillery pieces, around the town's walls on 31 August.