Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/160

134 134 ITALIAN WARS. PART II. Heroism of Paredes and Bayard. Twelfth with very important commands. He was not deficient in energy of character, or military science. But it required powers of a higher order than his to bring the army under subordination, and renew its confidence under present circumstances. The Italians, disgusted with the treatment of their for- mer chief, deserted in great numbers. The great body of the French chivalry, impatient of their present unhealthy position, dispersed among the adjacent cities of Fondi, Itri, and Gaeta, leaving the low country around the Tower of the Garigli- ano to the care of the Swiss and German infantry. Thus, while the whole Spanish army lay within a mile of the river, under the immediate eye of their commander, prepared for instant service, the French were scattered over a country more than ten miles in extent, where, without regard to military disci- pline, they sought to relieve the dreary monotony of a camp, by all the relaxations which such com- fortable quarters could afford .^° It must not be supposed, that the repose of the two armies was never broken by the sounds of war. More than one rencontre, on the contrary, with va- rious fortune, took place, and more than one display of personal prowess by the knights of the two na- tions, as formerly at the siege of Barleta. The Spaniards made two unsuccessful efforts to burn the enemy's bridge; but they succeeded, on the other hand, in carrying the strong fortress of Rocca 30 Gamier, Hist, de France, torn. p. 329. — Machiavelli, Lcgazione V. pp. 440-443. — Giovio, Vitae Prima a Roma, let. 44. — St. Illust. Virorum, fol. 2G4, 2G5. — Geiais, ]Iist. de Louys XII., pp. Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. lib. 6, 173, 174.