Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/173

147 I THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM NAPLES. 147 was the despondency of its garrison, however, that chapter this strong position, vv^hich bade defiance a few '. months before to the most desperate efforts of Spanish valor, was now surrendered witliout a struggle. The same feeling of despondency had communicated itself to the garrison of Gaeta ; and, before Navarro could bring the batteries of mount Orlando to bear upon the city, a flag of truce arrived from the marquis of Saluzzo with proposals for capitulation. This was more than the Great Captain could capituiatiou •■ of Gaeta. have ventured to promise himself. The French were in great force ; the fortifications of the place in excellent repair ; it was well provided with artil- lery and ammunition, and with provisions for ten days at least ; while their fleet, riding in the har- bour, afforded the means of obtaining supplies from Leghorn, Genoa, and other friendly ports. But the French had lost all heart ; they were sorely wasted by disease ; their buoyant self-confidence was gone, and their spirits broken by the series of reverses, which had followed without interruption from the first hour of the campaign, to the last dis- astrous affair of the Garigliano. The very elements seemed to have leagued against them. Further efforts they deemed a fruitless struggle against des- tiny ; and they now looked with melancholy longing to their native land, eager only to quit these ill- omened shores for ever. The Great Captain made no difficulty in granting such terms, as, while they had a show of liberality, secured him the most important fruits of victory.