Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/99

73 VICTORY OF CERIGNOLA. 73 spirits. At length, to relieve them, he commanded chapter XII that each trooper should take one of the infantry on — '- — - his crupper, setting the example himself by mount- ing a German ensign behind him on his own horse. In this way, the whole armv arrived earlv in the Encamps be. •^ "^ "^ fore Ceri- afternoon before Cerignola, a small town on an §""'^- eminence about sixteen miles from Barleta, where the nature of the ground afforded the Spanish gen- eral a favorable position for his camp. The sloping sides of the hill were covered with vineyards, and its base was protected by a ditch of considerable depth. Gonsalvo saw at once the advantages of the ground. His men were jaded by the march ; but there was no time to lose, as the French, who, on his departure from Barleta, had been drawn up under the walls of Canosa, were now rapidly ad-* vancing. All hands were put in requisition, there- fore, for widening the trench, in which they planted sharp-pointed stakes ; while the earth which they excavated enabled them to throw up a parapet of considerable height on the side next the town. On this rampart he mounted his little train of artillery, consisting of thirteen guns, and behind it drew up his forces in order of battle. ^^ 17 Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, merits at the base of the hill, " that fol. 253-255. — Guicciardini, Is- the victory was owing, not to the toria, Ub. 5, p. 303. — Chronica del skill of the commander, nor the Gran Capitan, cap. 75,76. — 'Zu- valor of the troops, but to a mound rita, Anales, torn. v. lib. 5, cap. 27. and a ditch." This ancient mode — Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. of securing- a position, which had 256. — Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. fallen into disuse, was revived after 16, 17. this, according to the same author, Giovio says, that he had heard and came into general practice Fabrizio Colonna remark more than among the best captains of the age. once, in allusion to the intrench- Ubi supra. VOL. III. 10