Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/347

323 CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO. 323 awaited his approach, but fled shamefully, before chapter they had time to discharge a second volley of ar- ' rows, leaving the battle to the Swiss. These lat- ter, exhausted by the sufferings of the siege, and dispirited by long reverses, and by the presence of a new and victorious foe, did not behave with their wonted intrepidity, but, after a feeble resistance, abandoned their position, and retreated towards the city. Gonsalvo, having gained his object, did not care to pursue the fugitives, but instantly set about demolishing the mills, every vestige of which, in a few hours, was swept from the ground. Three days after, he supported the Neapolitan troops in an assault on Ripa Candida, and carried that important post, by means of which Atella maintained a communication with the interior. ^° Thus cut off from all their resources, and no capitulation of Montpen- longer cheered by hopes of succour from their own ^'^'^• country, the French, after suffering the severest privations, and being reduced to the most loathsome aliment for subsistence, made overtures for a ca- pitulation. The terms were soon arranged with the king of Naples, who had no desire but to rid his country of the invaders. It was agreed, that, if the French commander did not receive assist- ance in thirty days, he should evacuate Atella, and cause every place holding under him in the kingdom of Naples, with all its artillery, to be sur- 30 Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, itan, cap. 28. — Quintana, Espa- lib. 4, p. 133. — Idem, Vita Magni iloles Celebres, torn. i. p. 229. — Gonsaivi, pp. 220, 221. — Zurita, Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, Hist, del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 9. cap. 27. — Chronica del Gran Cap-