PART Battle of April 28. It was within half an hour of sunset when the duke de Nemours gave orders for the attack, and, Cerignola. putting himself at the head of the gendarmerie on the right, spurred at full gallop against the Spanish left. The hostile armies were nearly equal, amounting to between six and seven thousand men each. The French were superior in the number and condition of their cavalry, rising to a third of their whole force; while Gonsalvo's strength lay chiefly in his infantry, which had acquired a lesson of tactics under him, that raised it to a level with the best in Europe. Death of As the French advanced, the guns on the Spanish left poured a lively fire into their ranks, when a spark accidentally communicating with the magazine of powder, the whole blew up with a tremendous explosion. The Spaniards were filled with consternation; but Gonsalvo, converting the misfortune into a lucky omen, called out, "Courage, soldiers, these are the beacon lights of victory! We have no need of our guns at close quarters." In the mean time, the French van under Nemours, advancing rapidly under the dark clouds of smoke, which rolled heavily over the field, were unexpectedly brought up by the deep trench, of whose existence they were unapprized. Some of the horse were precipitated into it, and all received a sudden check, until Nemours, finding it impossible to force the works in this quarter, rode along their front in search of some practicable passage. In doing this, he necessarily exposed his flank to the fatal aim of the Spanish arque busiers. A shot XII. from one of them took effect on the unfortunate CHAPTER young nobleman, and he fell mortally wounded from his saddle. At this juncture, the Swiss and Gascon infantry, briskly moving up to second the attack of the now disordered horse, arrived before the intrenchments. Undismayed by this formidable barrier, their commander, Chandieu, made the most desperate attempts to force a passage; but the loose earth freshly turned up afforded no hold to the feet, and his men were compelled to recoil from the dense array of German pikes, which bristled over the summit of the breast-work. Chandieu, their leader, made every effort to rally and bring them back to the charge; but, in the act of doing this, was hit by a ball, which stretched him lifeless in the ditch; his burnished arms, and the snow-white plumes above his helmet, making him a conspicuous mark for the enemy. French. All was now confusion. The Spanish arquebus- Rout of the iers, screened by their defences, poured a galling fire into the dense masses of the enemy, who were mingled together indiscriminately, horse and foot, while, the leaders being down, no one seemed capable of bringing them to order. At this critical moment, Gonsalvo, whose eagle eye took in the whole operations of the field, ordered a general charge along the line; and the Spaniards leaping their intrenchments, descended with the fury of an avalanche, on their foes, whose wavering columns, completely broken by the violence of the shock, were seized with a panic, and fled, scarcely offering PART II. Their loss. any resistance. Louis d'Ars, at the head of such of the men-at-arms as could follow him, went off in one direction, and Ives d'Allègre, with his light cavalry, which had hardly come into action, in another; thus fully verifying the ominous prediction of his commander. The slaughter fell most heavily on the Swiss and Gascon foot, whom the cavalry under Mendoza and Pedro de la Paz rode down and cut to pieces without sparing, till the shades of evening shielded them at length from their pitiless pursuers. 20 Prospero Colonna pushed on to the French encampment, where he found the tables in the duke's tent spread for his evening repast; of which the Italian general and his followers did not fail to make good account. A trifling incident, that well illustrates the sudden reverses of war. The Great Captain passed the night on the field of battle, which, on the following morning, presented a ghastly spectacle of the dying and the dead. More than three thousand French are computed by the best accounts to have fallen. The loss of the Spaniards, covered as they were by their defences, was inconsiderable. 21 All the enemy's 20 Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 75.-Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 396, 397.-Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 5, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xvi. -Giovio, Vitæ Illust. Virorum, ubi sup.-Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. pp. 303, 304. - St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., pp. 171, 172.Brantôme, Œuvres, tom. ii. disc. 8. 21 Giovio, Vitæ Illust. Virorum, fol. 255. Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 15.- Bernal XII. artillery, consisting of thirteen pieces, his baggage, CHAPTER and most of his colors fell into their hands. Never was there a more complete victory, achieved too within the space of little more than an hour. The body of the unfortunate Nemours, which was recognised by one of his pages from the rings on the fingers, was found under a heap of slain, much disfigured. It appeared that he had received three several wounds, disproving, if need were, by his honorable death the injurious taunts of Allègre. Gonsalvo was affected even to tears at beholding the mutilated remains of his young and gallant adversary, who, whatever judgment may be formed of his capacity as a leader, was allowed to have all the qualities which belong to a true knight. With him perished the last scion of the illustrious house of Armagnac. Gonsalvo ordered his remains to be conveyed to Barleta, where they were laid in the cemetery of the convent of St. Francis, with all the honors due to his high station. 22 the enemy The Spanish commander lost no time in following Pursuit of up his blow, well aware that it is quite as difficult to improve a victory as to win one. The French PART II. D'Aubigny defeated. to agree on any plan of operations, or any point on which to rally in case of defeat. They accordingly scattered in different directions, and Pedro de la Paz was despatched in pursuit of Louis d'Ars, who threw himself into Venosa, 23 where he kept the enemy at bay for many months longer. Paredes kept close on the scent of Allègre, who, finding the gates shut against him wherever he passed, at length took shelter in Gaeta on the extreme point of the Neapolitan territory. There he endeavoured to rally the scattered relics of the field of Cerignola, and to establish a strong position, from which the French, when strengthened by fresh supplies from home, might recommence operations for the recovery of the kingdom. The day after the battle of Cerignola the Spaniards received tidings of another victory, scarcely less important, gained over the French in Calabria, the preceding week. 24 The army sent out under Portocarrero had reached that coast early in March; but, soon after its arrival, its gallant commander fell ill and died.25 The dying general named Don Fer 23 It was to this same city of Venusium that the rash and unfortunate Varro made his retreat, some seventeen centuries before, from the bloody field of Cannæ. Liv. Hist. lib. 22, cap. 49. 24 Giovio Vita Illust. Virorum, fol. 255.- Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 256. Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 80. Friday, says Guicciardini, alluding no doubt to Columbus's discoveries, as well as these two victories, was observed to be a lucky day to the Spaniards; according to |