Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/165

139 THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES. 139 gliano, by establishing a bridge at a point opposite chapter • XV Suzio, a small place garrisoned by the French, on '- — the right bank, about four miles above their head- quarters. 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 constitu- tions and invincible courage. They celebrated the day, however, with all the devotional feeling, and the imposing solemnities, with which it is commem- orated 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. In the mean while, the materials for the bridge nanofat- ' => tack. were 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 •* Giovio, Vitas Tllust. Virorum, toria, torn. i. lib. 6, pp. 329, 330. pp. 267, 268. — Ulloa, Vita di Car- — Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a lo v., fol. 22. — Guicciardini, Is- Roma, let. 36.