PART II. and fiction. The chronicler might innocently encroach sometimes on the province of the poet, and the poet occasionally draw the theme of his visions from the pages of the chronicler. Such, in fact, was the case; and the romantic Muse of Italy, then coming forth in her glory, did little more than give a brighter flush of color to the chimeras of real life. The characters of living heroes, a Bayard, a Paredes, and a La Palice, readily supplied her with the elements of those ideal combinations, in which she has so gracefully embodied the perfections of chivalry.32 66 32 Compare the prose romances of D'Auton, of the loyal serviteur" of Bayard, and the no less loyal biographer of the Great Captain, with the poetic ones of Ariosto, Berni, and the like. "Magnanima menzogna! or quando è il vero Si bello, che si possa a te preporre ?" CHAPTER XV. ITALIAN WARS.-ROUT OF THE GARIGLIANO.-TREATY WITH 1503, 1504. Gonsalvo crosses the River. Consternation of the French. -Action near Gaeta.- Hotly contested. - The French defeated.- Gaeta surrenders. Public Enthusiasm.-Treaty with France. - Review of Gonsalvo's Military Conduct. Results of the Campaign. XV. Gonsalvo secures the Orsini. SEVEN weeks had now elapsed, since the two CHAPTER armies had lain in sight of each other without any decided movement on either side. During this time, the Great Captain had made repeated efforts to strengthen himself, through the intervention of the Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Rojas,' by reinforcements from Rome. His negotiations were chiefly directed to secure the alliance of the Orsini, a powerful family, long involved in a bitter feud with the Colonnas, then in the Spanish service. A reconciliation between these noble houses was at length happily effected; and Bartolomeo d' Alviano, the head of the Orsini, agreed to enlist under 1 He succeeded Garcilasso de la Vega at the court of Rome. Oviedo says, in reference to the illustrious house of Rojas, "En todas las historias de España no se hallan tantos caballeros de un linage y VOL. III. 18 nombre notados por valerosos ca- PART II. Assumes the offensive. the Spanish commander with three thousand men. This arrangement was finally brought about through the good offices of the Venetian minister at Rome, who even advanced a considerable sum of money towards the payment of the new levies.2 The appearance of this corps, with one of the most able and valiant of the Italian captains at its head, revived the drooping spirits of the camp. Soon after his arrival, Alviano strongly urged Gonsalvo to abandon his original plan of operations, and avail himself of his augmented strength to attack the enemy in his own quarters. The Spanish commander had intended to confine himself wholly to the defensive, and, too unequal in force to meet the French in the open field, as before noticed, had intrenched himself in his present strong position, with the fixed purpose of awaiting the enemy there. Circumstances had now greatly changed. original inequality was diminished by the arrival of the Italian levies, and still further compensated by the present disorderly state of the French army. He knew, moreover, that in the most perilous enterprises, the assailing party gathers an enthusiasm and an impetus in its career, which counterbalance large numerical odds; while the party taken by sur prise is proportionably disconcerted, and prepared, as it were, for defeat before a blow is struck. From these considerations, the cautious general acquiesced in Alviano's project to cross the Gari The 48, 57.- Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 14, sec. 4, 5.- Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. pp. 364, 365. XV. gliano, by establishing a bridge at a point opposite CHAPTER Suzio, a small place garrisoned by the French, on the right bank, about four miles above their headquarters. The time for the attack was fixed as soon as possible after the approaching Christmas, when the French, occupied with the festivities of the season, might be thrown off their guard." This day of general rejoicing to the Christian world at length arrived. It brought little joy to the Spaniards, buried in the depths of these dreary morasses, destitute of most of the necessaries of life, and with scarcely any other means of resisting the climate, than those afforded by their iron constitutions and invincible courage. They celebrated the day, however, with all the devotional feeling, and the imposing solemnities, with which it is commemorated by the Roman Catholic church; and the exercises of religion, rendered more impressive by their situation, served to exalt still higher the heroic constancy, which had sustained them under such unparalleled sufferings. tack. In the mean while, the materials for the bridge Plan of atwere collected, and the work went forward with such despatch, that on the 28th of December all was in readiness for carrying the plan of attack into execution. The task of laying the bridge across the river was intrusted to Alviano, who had charge of the van. The central and main division of the army under Gonsalvo was to cross at the same 3 Giovio, Vitæ Illust. Virorum, pp. 267, 268.- Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22. -Guicciardini, Is toria, tom. i. lib. 6, pp. 329, 330. PART II. Consternation of the French. point; while Andrada at the head of the rear-guard was to force a passage at the old bridge, lower down the stream, opposite to the Tower of the Garigliano. The night was dark and stormy. Alviano performed the duty intrusted to him with such silence and celerity, that the work was completed without attracting the enemy's notice. He then crossed over with the van-guard, consisting chiefly of cavalry, supported by Navarro, Paredes, and Pizarro; and, falling on the sleeping garrison of Suzio, cut to pieces all who offered resistance. The report of the Spaniards having passed the river spread far and wide, and soon reached the head-quarters of the marquis of Saluzzo, near the Tower of the Garigliano. The French commanderin-chief, who believed that the Spaniards were lying on the other side of the river, as torpid as the snakes in their own marshes, was as much astounded by the event, as if a thunderbolt had burst over his head from a cloudless sky. He lost no time, however, in rallying such of his scattered forces as he could assemble, and in the mean while despatched Ives d'Allègre with a body of horse to hold the enemy in check, till he could make good his own retreat on Gaeta. His first step was to demolish the bridge near his own quarters, cutting the moorings of the boats and turning them adrift down the 4 Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 110.- Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 189. Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, fol. 266.-Zurita, Historia del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 60. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 270.- Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 84. |