Looting and local resistance break the Legion Noire

Only the regulars and grenadiers held together under Tate and Lieutenant Saint-Léger, leaving roughly 600 reliable troops. About 900 others dispersed through farms, villages, and churches in search of food, alcohol, and plunder. Burning religious material and attacking communities contradicted the expedition's promise of political liberation. Their violence destroyed any realistic prospect of Welsh support and exposed isolated soldiers to capture or attack by local residents. The collapse demonstrates how discipline and political legitimacy were inseparable in an operation built around attracting an uprising.