celebrated Henry Navarre IV, King of France, when waging war to bring Normandy under his sway, stayed in the ancient Hartshorn Inn situated North-East of the present Rue Pierre Trévin, where his room was kept intact until the mid-19th century. French Revolution 1789–1799: The majority of the population joined the Revolutionary forces against the Royalist guerrillas (chouannerie). Napoleonic Wars 1803–1815: after Waterloo, several Prussian general staffs took over the mayor's house. World War I 1914–1918: The town lost 57 of her sons. World War II 1939–1945: Écouché became a centre of Resistance activities and the scene of intense fighting during the Falaise Pocket, completing the hard fought Battle of Normandy. 6 June 1944 was the first bombing with major civilian casualties. Medieval fortifications The description of Écouché as a CASTRUM found in 12th century charters is a form of language indicating a "ville bateice", meaning a town without walls, fortified only with palisades and featuring a wooden stronghold atop the feudal mound or motte (motte castrale, motte feudal). The Écouché palissades, however, were reinforced with a belt of water, or moat, made up of the natural rivers and some ditches filled with water from the rivers. As an example, the Angevine ditch was 8 metres (26 ft)wide and 1.80 metres (6 ft)deep. Defences like this trench were only useful against minor assaults like roving bands of unemployed soldiers or brigands. But the town kept its moats for a long time. They were in a bad state at the beginning of the 16th century and the inhabitants secured permission from King François I to raise a tax on the retail sale of drinks in order to restore the moats, and extend them towards the Udon marshes. In 1589 further work was carried out by the prisoners of the Duke of Montpensier. Over the years sector after sector silted up and in the 17th century the moats around the mound were sold by their owner, the feudal lord, as a building site. More recently, others disappeared when the railway line became a two-way track in 1910. The name of one street, the Rue des Fossés Meslet, keeps the memory of the moats in mind. Entry to the town was by four gates provided with watch-towers: Bourges Gate, later Saint-Mathurin Gate, towards Argentan, near where the city hall or mairie is. Saint Nicholas Gate, towards Boucé and Carrouges Udon Gate, towards Brittany Falaise