Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/79

53 RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS. 55 duke of Nemours, accordingly, having taken up his chapter position, sent a trumpet into the place to defy the. '. Great Captain to the encounter ; but the latter re- turned for answer, that " he was accustomed to choose his own place and time for fighting, and would thank the French general to wait till his men found time to shoe their horses, and burnish up their arms." At length, Nemours, after remain- ing some days, and finding there was no chance of decoying his wily foe from his defences, broke up his camp and retired, satisfied with the empty hon- ors of his gasconade. No sooner had he fairly turned his back, than F°e"nch^w1• Gonsalvo, whose soldiers had been restrained with ^" difficulty from sallying out on their insolent foe, ordered the whole strength of his cavalry under the command of Diego de Mendoza, flanked by two corps of infantry, to issue forth and pursue the French. Mendoza executed these orders so prompt- ly, that he brought up his horse, which were some- what in advance of the foot, on the rear-guard of the French, before it had got many miles from Bar- leta. The latter instantly halted to receive the charge of the Spaniards, and, after a lively skirmish of no great duration, Mendoza retreated, followed by the incautious enemy, who, in consequence of their irregular and straggling march, were detached from the main body of their army. In the mean time, the advancing columns of the Spanish infantry, which had now come up with the retreating horse, unexpectedly closing on the enemy's flanks, threw them into some disorder, which became complete