Such an edict was the culmination of what Coligny had been pushing for throughout 1561. In early 1562 Coligny again tried to support a colonial venture, this time the colony of Fort Caroline in Spanish Florida led by Jean Ribault, it would prove a failure. Road to civil war The edict of Saint-Germain was the final straw for the lieutenant general, Navarre, who broke with the regency and urged Guise to hurry back so they could represent a united front against Catherine's policy. Having lost Navarre, Catherine's government was left with only the Châtillons and Condé as a basis for support. Conscious of the increasing hostility, Coligny in turn withdrew from court to his estates on 22 February, abandoning Catherine. On his way back to Paris, the Duke of Guise's men were responsible for a massacre at the town of Wassy. Arriving in Paris on 16 March to a heroes welcome for his deeds, Condé heavily outnumbered in the city by the dukes men, would depart on 23 March. The prince headed to Orléans, where, on 2 April he raised the standard of rebellion, seizing the city and issuing a manifesto denouncing the 'imprisonment of the king'. Coligny had linked up with him several days prior, their forces conjoining at Meaux on March 27. He wrote to Catherine at this time, defending the arming of his men as being customary for a gentleman, and suggested they were necessary due to 'Guise's designs against him.' First War Momentum With the outbreak of civil war, many cities across France rose up and declared themselves for Condé's cause. These included Rouen, Tours, Blois, Lyon. During the initial months of conflict, the crown was caught on the back foot, and much negotiations followed in the coming months. Coligny defended his support of the rebellion in letters to both Catherine and his uncle Montmorency, castigating the Constable for allying himself with his families enemy, the Guise. By June the royal army was ready to take the offensive, their main force marching on Orléans, causing Condé to disperse his troops to avoid them being pinned down in a siege. With the threat on the capital removed and Blois recently retaken, the royal army dispersed flying columns to clear the area around Paris. The main force marched on Bourges, quickly reducing it in early September. Condé and Coligny meanwhile, had been negotiating the Treaty of Hampton Court