numbers were written upon their Helmets in great Characters calling them the first second third and fourth c. And not content with this every Soldier had the number of his File and the number of his place in that File engraven upon his Buckler Your Companies being in this manner made distinguishable by their Colours and accustomed to their Ranks and Files by practice and experience it is no hard matter though they be disordered to rally and reduce them suddenly again for as soon as the Colours are stuck down in the ground they are immediately visible and the Captains and Officers knowing which are their own repair themselves and dispose their Soldiers immediately to their places and when those on the left have placed themselves on the left hand and those which belong to the right hand on the right the Soldiers directed by their rules and the difference of their Colours fall immediately into their Ranks as easily as we put together the Staffes of a Barrel when we have marked them before These things if learned with diligence and exercise at first are quickly attained and hardly forgot for your raw men are directed by the old and in time a Province by these exercises might be made very fit for the War It is necessary therefore to teach them how to turn all together when to face about in the Rear or the Flanks and make Rear and Flank of the first Ranks when occasion is offered And this is no hard matter to do seeing it is sufficient that every man faces to that side he is commanded and where they turn their faces that is the Front True it is when they face to the Flank their Ranks do not hold their proportion because the distance betwixt the Front and the Rear is thereby much lessened and the distance betwixt the extremity of the Flanks is much encreased which is quite contrary to the genuine order of a Battalia for which cause great practice and discretion is required to rectifie it and yet this may be remedied by themselves But that which is of greater consequence and which requires more practice is when an Officer would turn his whole Company together as if it were a single man or a solid and massy body of it self And this requires longer experience than the other For if you would have it turn to the left the left corner must stand still and they who are next them march so leisurely that they in the right may not be put to run if they be it will breed confusion But because it always happens that when an Army marches from place to place that the Companies which are not in the Front are forced to fight in the Flanks or Rear so that one and the same Company is many times compelled to face about to the Flanks and Rear at one and the same time that these Companies therefore may in this exigence hold their old proportion according to what is said before it is necessary that they have Pikes in that Flank which is most likely to be attacked and Capidieci Captains and other Officers in their proper places CHAP. X. To range a Company in such order that it may be ready to face the Enemy on which side soever he comes Fabr. WHen you have marshalled your fourscore Files five in a File you are to put all your Pikes into the first twenty Files and place five of your Corporals in the head of them and five in the Rear The other 60 Files which follow are Bucklers all and consist of 300 men So then the first and last File of every Company are to be Corporals The Captain with his Ensign and Drum is to stand in the midst of the first hundred of Bucklers and every Centurion at the head of his Division When they are in this order if you desire to have your Pikes on the left hand you are to double them Company by Company from the right Flank if you would have them on the right you are to double from the left and this is the way by which a Company turns with the Pikes upon one Flank with their Officers at the Head and the Rear of them and their Captain in the midst and it is the form which is observed in a march But upon the approach of an Enemy when they would make a Front of a Flank they have no more to do but to command that all of them face about to that Flank where the Pikes are and in so doing the whole Battalia turns with its Files and Officers at the same time in the manner aforesaid for unless it be the Centurions they are all in their old places and the Centurions can quickly be there But when a Battalia marches in the Front and is in danger to be engaged in the Rear the Files are to be so ordered that the Pikes may be readily behind and to do this there needs no more but whereas usually in every Battalia every Century has five Files of Pikes in the Front those five Files may be placed in the Rear and in all other places the same order to be observed as before Cosimo If my memory fails not you said that this way of exercise is in order to the uniting these Battalia's into an Army and that this practice is sufficient to direct them in that But if it should happen this Squadron of 450 Foot should be to fight singly and by its self how would you order it then Fabritio He who commands them is to judge where his Pikes are to be disposed and place them as he thinks fit which is not at all consistant with what I have prescribed before for though that be a way to be observed in Battel upon an union or conjunction of several Squadrons yet it may serve as a rule in what ever condition you fall into But in showing you the two other ways which I recommended for the ordering of a Battalia I will satisfie you farther CHAP. XI To draw up a Company with two horns or another with a Piazza or vacuity in the middle TO come to the way of drawing up a Battalia or Squadron with two horns or points I say you must order your 80 Files five in a File after this manner In the midst you must place a Centurion with 25 Files two of Pikes to the left and three of Bucklers to the right when those five are disposed bring up the other twenty with twenty Files and File-leaders all of them to be placed betwixt the Pikes and the Bucklers only those who carry Pikes are to stand with the Pikes After these twenty five Files are so placed draw up another Centurion with fifteen Files of Bucklers after which the Constable or Captain is to draw into the middle with his Drum and his Colours with other fifteen Files of Bucklers This being performed the next to march up is the third Centurion who is to be at the head of 25 Files of 5 in a File three Bucklers to the left
20 files and twenty men in a file This makes two squares or very near for though there be as many men on one side as the other yet towards the head they joyn together so as one flank may touch the other but on the other side their distance is at least two yards one from the other so that the square is longer from the Rear to the Front than from one flank to another And because we are to speak often of the fore part the hinder part and the sides of this Battalia or Company and of the whole Army when joyned you must know that when I say the head or the front I mean the fore part of the Battel when I say the shoulders I mean the hinder part and when I say the flanks I mean the sides The fifty Velites in ordinary do not mingle with the rest of the files but when the Battalia is formed they are disposed by its flanks The other way of drawing up a Company is this and because it is better than the first I resolve to describe it so plain that you shall understand it as well as it were before your eyes I suppose you remember of what number of men of what Officers it is composed and what Arms it is to carry The form therefore of this Battalia is of twenty files twenty men in a file five files of Pikes in the front and fifteen files of Bucklers in the rear Two Centurions in the front and two in the rear which the ancients called Tergiductores The Constable or Captain with his Colours and Drum is to stand in the space betwixt the five files of Pikes and the fifteen files of Bucklers Corporals upon the flank of every file one so that each of them may have his men by his side those who are on the right hand will have them on their left those on the left on their right the fifty Velites are to be drawn up on the flanks and rear Now that your Soldiers may put themselves into this posture in their ordinary march it is to be done in this manner You are first to reduce your Battalia into 80 files five men in a file leaving your Velites either in the front or the rear but they must be sure to be placed without this order Every Centurion is to be at the head of twenty files five of Pikes are to be immediately behind him and the rest Bucklers The Constable or Captain is to stand with his Drum and Colours in the space betwixt the Pikes and the rest of the Bucklers belonging to the second Centurion and may take up the place of three of the Bucklers Of the Capidieci or Corporals twenty are to stand in the flank of the files of the first Centurion upon the left hand and twenty upon the flank of the last Centurion upon the right hand And it is to be observed that every Corporal who leads the Pikes is to have a Pike in his hand and they who lead the Scudi are to have Bucklers in theirs Having put your files into this order and being desirous upon their march to reduce them into a Battalia to make head against an Enemy you must cause the first Centurion with his first twenty files to make a halt and the second Centurion to continue his march to the right all along by the sides of those twenty files which stand firm till he comes cheek by jole with the first Centurion where he also makes his stand and then the third marching on likewise on the right hand by the flank of the said files advances till he be even with the other two Centurions and then he making his stop and so the rest which being done two of the Centurions only are to depart from the front into the rear of the Battalia which by this means is in the same order as I said before The Velites are to be drawn up by the side as they are disposed in the first way which is called redoubling by a right line for the second way redoubles them in the flanks The first way is more easie this is more orderly and useful and may be better corrected and reformed to your mind for in the first you are obliged to conform to your number for five doubled make ten ten twenty twenty forty so that if you would double your files in a right line you cannot make a front of fifteen five and twenty thirty nor thirty five but you must go where the number will carry you And therefore it happens every day upon particular rencounters that it is necessary to make head with 7 or 800 foot and in so doing to double in a right line would undo you For these reasons this way pleases me best and the difficulties therein are easily removed by exercise and practice I say then that nothing is of greater importance than to have Souldiers which can put themselves instantly into their ranks and to learn that it is necessary to exercise them in these Companies at home to teach them the quick and the slow march to advance or retreat and to pass thorow streights and difficult places without disturbing their order For Soldiers that can do that well are good Soldiers and may be called old Soldiers though they never looked an Enemy in the face whereas on the contrary if a man has been in a thousand Battels and understands not that he is but a Novice and a fresh-water Soldier This is only as to closing their ranks upon a march when they are in small files but having closed their files and being afterwards broken by some accident either from the place or the Enemy to rally and recollect themselves then there lies the difficulty and importance which requires great exercise and practice and by the ancients was endeavoured with much industry In this case it is necessary therefore to do two things CHAP. IX The manner of rallying Soldiers after a rout and to make them face about a whole Company at a time Fabr. WHen a Squadron is broken to rally and bring them again suddenly into order two things are convenient first that several Colours or Countermarks be assigned to every Battalia and secondly to observe this rule that the same Foot stand still in the same Files For example if a Soldier 's place was formerly in the second File let him continue in that File and not only in that File but in the same place and in order to that as I said before several Countermarks are necessary And first it is convenient that the Ensigns and Colours of each Company be so handsomly distinguished that being joyned with other Squadrons they may know one another Next that the Captains and Centurions have Plumes of Feathers of Scarfs or something that may make them conspicuous and remarkable and last of all as being of more importance the Capidieci or Corporals are to be so accoutred that they may be known and of this the ancients were so extraordinarily curious that their
has taken his part willingly I do not think Battista will refuse Battista Hitherto I have suffered my self to be governed and am resolved to do so for the future let me desire you therefore Seignor Fabritio to pursue your discourse and hold us excused if we interrupt you with these kind of demands Fabr. As I told you before you do me a very great kindness for this interruption and changing of persons rather refreshes than troubles my fancy But to follow our business I say that it is now high time that we dispose our Army into its quarters for you know every thing desires rest and security for to repose without security is not properly to repose I do fancy you would rather have had me lodg'd my Army first and march'd and fought them afterwards but we have done quite contrary and indeed not without necessity for being to show how an Army in a march was to quit that form and put it self into a posture to fight it was necessary first to show how they were to be drawn up for a Battel But to return I say that if you would have your Camp safe you must have it strong and well ordered The discretion of the General puts it in good order but it is art or situation that makes it defensible and strong The Grecians were so curious in this point that they would never encamp but where there was some River or Wood or Bank or other natural rampart to defend them But the Romans stood not so much upon the strength of the situation as their own ways of fortification nor would they ever encamp but where according to their own Discipline they could draw up their Army For this reason the Romans observed one constant form in their encampments for they would rather make the situation of the place comply with their methods than permit their customs to comply with the situation but with the Grecians it was otherwise because following the condition and form of the place it was necessary that they varied the manner of their encampment and the form of their Camp The Romans therefore where the situation was weak supplyed it by art and industry And because in this discourse I have proposed the Romans for a President I shall not leave them in my manner of encampment nevertheless I shall not follow their practice in every thing but picking and selecting such parts as I think most agreeable with our times I have told you often how the Romans in their Consular Armies had two Legious of Romans consisting of about 11000 Foot and 600 Horse they had moreover about 11000 more Foot sent in by their Friends and Allies to their assistance but this was a rule their Auxilaries never exceeded the number of the Legions unless it were in Horse and in them they were not so curious I have told you likewise how in all their battels their Legions were placed in the middle and their Auxiliaries in the flanks and it was the same in their encampments as you may read in such Authors as make any mention of their History I will not therefore be so exact in my relation I shall content my self only to tell you in what order I would lodge my Army at present and you will understand by that what I have borrowed from the Romans You know that in imitation of their Legions I have taken two Battalions consisting of 6000 Foot and 300 Horse of service for the Battalion you know into what Companies into what Arms and into what names I divided them You know how in ordering my Army to march and to fight I have said nothing of more men only what was to be done was to be done by doubling their ranks not by any reinforcement of men But being now to shew you the manner of encamping I think it not convenient to stick to my two Battalions but to unite our whole Army composed according to the model of the Romans of two Battalions and as many Auxiliaries which I do the rather that the form of our Camp may be the more compleat by the reception of a compleat Army which in my other demonstrations I have not thought altogether so necessary Being therefore to lodge a compleat Army of 24000 Foot and two thousand Horses of service to be divided into four Battalions two of Natives and two of Strangers I would take this way CHAP. II. The form of a Camp Fabr. HAving found a place convenient for my Camp I would set up my Standard in the midst of a square of fifty yards deep The four sides of that square should respect the four quarters of the World and look East West North and South In this square I would set up the Generals Pavilion and because I think it discreet and in part the practice of the Ancients I would divide my men which carry arms from them who have none and those who are free from those who are incumbred All or the greatest part of my arm'd men I would lodge towards the East my men that were disarm'd and incumbred I would lodge towards the West making my front towards the East and my rear towards the West and the North and South should be my flanks To distinguish the quarters of those which bore arms I would take this course I would draw a line from the Standard towards the East of 680 yards long Then I would draw two other lines with the first in the middle of the same length but each of them at a distance of fifteen yards from the first at the end of these lines I would have my Eastern Port and the space betwixt the two outward lines should make a Street which should go from that Gate to the General 's quarters and take up a space of thirty yards in bredth and 630 in length for the General 's quarter would take up fifty and this should be called the General 's street Then I would cause another street to be drawn out from North to South and it should pass by the end of the General 's street not far from the General 's quarter towards the East which should contain in length 1250 yards for it should take up all the bredth of the Camp and be called the Cross-street Having design'd the General 's quarters and these two Streets I would mark out quarters for the two Battalions that were my own Subjects and one of them I would dispose on the right hand of the General 's street and the other on the left And then passing over the Cross-street I would assign 32 lodgments on the left hand of the General 's street and as many on the right leaving betwixt the sixteenth and seventeenth lodgment a space of thirty yards wide as a traverse way to pass thorow all the lodgments of the Battalions I would lodge the Captains of the men at Arms at the front of those two orders of lodgments which joyn to the Cross-street and their men at Arms in the fifteen lodgments that are next
them so as every lodgment should contain ten men at Arms the whole number that I have allotted to each Battalion being an hundred and fifty The Captains lodgments should â—â—orty yards wide and ten in lenght and you must take notice that when I say wide I mean from North to South and when long from East to West The lodgment for the private men at arms should be fifteen yards long and thirty wide In the other fifteen lodgments which follow on both sides of the street which begin at the traverse way and should have the same allowance of ground as I have given to the other I would dispose my light horse And because there are likewise of them belonging to each Battalion 150 I would put ten of them into each of the fifteen lodgments and the sixteenth I would reserve for the Captain with the same space of ground as is allowed to the Captain of the men at arms and so the lodgments of the horse of the two Battalions should come down to the middle of the General 's Street and be a direction to the quartering of the foot as I shall shew You have seen how I have lodged the 300 horse of both Battalions with their Officers in 32 lodgments set up near the General 's Street and beginning at the Cross-street and how betwixt the sixteenth and the seventeenth there was resâ—rved a space of thirty yards to make a cross-way Being therefore to lodge the twenty Battalia's or Companies in the two ordinary Battalions I would appoint lodgments for every two Battalia's behind the lodgments of the horse and they should each of them contain in length 15 yards and in bredth thirty according to the dimensions of the horse-lodgment and they should be so close that they should touch one another In the first lodgment on each side butting upon the Cross-street I would lodge the Captain of each Company over against the lodgment of the Captain of the men at Arms and this lodgment alone should be twenty yards wide and ten long In the other fifteen lodgments which succeed on both sides as far as the traverse way I would quarter a Company of foot which being 450 should be disposed 30 to a lodgment The other 15 lodgments should be set up on each side by the lodgments of the light horse with the same dimensions of ground and on each side I would place a Battalia of foot In the last lodgment on each side I would place the Captain of the Company right over against the Captain of the light horse with a space of ten yards in length and twenty in bredth and so these two first ranks of lodgments would be half horse and half foot but because as I said before these horses are all horses of service which have no proper persons either to dress or to feed them I would have the foot which are quartered behind obliged to look to them and for so doing they should be exempt from other duties in the Camp and this was the method of the Romans After this I would leave a space of thirty yards on each side which should make streets and be called one of them the first Street on the left hand and the other the first Street on the right I would then on each side set up another row of 32 lodgments with their backs one to the other with the same spaces as I assigned to the other and having separated sixteen of them as with the rest to make a traverse way I would dispose in each side four Companies with their Captains at the head of them and other Officers in the rear After I had left on both sides a distance of thirty yards for a way which on one side should be called the second Street on the right hand and on the other side the second Street on the left hand I would set up another rank of 32 lodgments with the same distances and separations where I would lodge on each side four Companies with their Officers and by doing this all the Cavalry and the Companies of both the Battalions would be lodged in three rows of lodgments and the General 's quarter in the middle The two Battalions of Auxiliaries having made them to consist of the same number of men I would quarter on both sides of the two ordinary Battalions with the same number of rows and in the same order as they placing first one order of lodgments consisting half of horse and half of foot distant from the next order thirty foot which distance should make a Street and be called on one side the third Street on the right hand and on the other side the third Street on the left hand And then I would make on each side two more rows of lodgments with the same distances and distinctions as in the lodgments of the other Battalions which should make two other Streets and be called according to their number and the hand on which they are placed so that this whole Army will be lodged in twelve double rows of lodgments and there will be thirteen Streets reckoning the General 's Street and the Cross-street when I have design'd my circumference and appointed my lodgments for my four Battalions I would leave a space betwixt the lodgments and the trenches of an hundred yards broad which should go round my Camp and if you compute all the spaces you will find that from the middle of the General 's lodgment to the East Gate are 680 yards There are two other spaces one from the General 's quarter to the South Gate and the other from the same place to the North Gate each of them 635 yards commencing at the Center Substracting afterwards from each of these spaces fifty yards for the General 's quarter and five and forty more on each side for a Piazza and thirty yards for a Street that divides each of the said spaces in the middle and an hundred yards round betwixt the lodgments and the trenches there remains on all sides for lodgments a space of four hundred yards wide and an hundred long measuring the lenght with the space which is taken up by the General 's quarter then dividing the said length in the middle there will be on each side of the General forty lodgments in length fifty yards and twenty wide which in all will be 80 in which the general Officers of the Battalions should be quartered the Trâ—â—surers the Mastres de Campe and all such as have any Office in the Army leaving some spaces empty for strangers or such Voluntiers as follow the Wars meerly out of affection to the General on the back-side of the General 's quarters I would make a Street from South to North thirty yards broad and it should be called Front-street and run along all the 80 lodgments abovesaid From this Front-street by the General 's quarter I would have another Street that should go from thence to the West Gate thirty yards wide answering both for situation and
Brescians should yield thereupon they solicited the Count very earnestly both by letters and Messages that he would attempt to relieve them The Count perceiving his hopes of doing it by the Lake absolutely defeated and his way by the fields impossible by reason of the Trenches and Bulwarks which were so numerous and strong and an Army to make them good so that to venture among them would be inevitable destruction the way by the Mountains having been succesful to him at Verona he resolved to try it once more for the relief of Brescia Having pitched upon his way the Count departed from Zeno and by the Val d' Acri marching to the Lake of St. Andrea he pass'd to Forboli and Penda upon the Lake di Garda from whence he advanced to Tenna and sate down before it it being necessary that Castle should be taken before he could get into Brescia Nicolo having intelligence of his design marched his Army to Pischiera and from thence joyning with the Marquess of Mantoua and a commanded party of his best-men he proceeded to engage the Count who giving him battle Nicolo was beaten his Army dispersed many of them taken Prisoners and those which escaped many of them fled to their Camp and many of them to the Fleet. Nicolo got off himself into Tenna and night being come concluding if he stayed till morning he could never get farther to avoid a certain danger he exposed himself to a doubtful Of all his retinue Nicolo had only one servant with him a lusty stong German and one that had always been very faithful to him Nicolo persuaded his German that if he would put him into a sack he might carry him off to some secure place upon his shoulders as some luggage of his Masters The Enemy lay round before the Castle but transported and secure upon their Victory the day before without any Order or guards by which means the German found no great difficulty in the business for putting himself into the habit of a freebooter and Mounting his Master upon his shoulders he passed thorow their whole Camp and brought him safe to his party This Victory had it been improved as happily as it was gained might have given more relief to Brescia and more felicity to the Venetians but being ill managed they had little reason to exult and Brescia remaining in the same necessity as before for Nicolo was no sooner returned to the forces which he had left behind but he set all his wits to work which way he might exploit some new thing to attone for his loss and obstruct the relief of the Town he knew himself the situation of the Citadel of Verona and had learned from the Prisoners taken in that War not only that it was ill guarded but the way how it might easily be surprized he believed therefore that fortune had presented him with an opportunity of recovering his honor and converting his Enemies joy into sadness and sorrow Verona is in Lombardy seated at the foot of those Mountains which divide Italy from Germany so that it stands partly upon the Hill and partly upon the plain the River Adice rises in the vally di Trento and running into Italy does not extend himself immediately thorow the plains but banding to the left hand among the Mountains it comes at length to the City and passes thorow the midst of it yet not so as to divide it into equal parts for towards the plain it is much greater then towards the Mountains upon the rising part of the City there are two Castles one of them called San Piero and the other San Felice which appear stronger in their situation than their walls and do by it command the whole Town In the plain on this side the Adice behind the wall of the City there are two Fortresses about a thousand paces distant one from the other of which the one is called the old Citadel and the other the new On the inside of one of them there passes a wall to the other and is in respect of the other walls which fetch a compass as the string to a bow All the space betwixt these two walls is full of Inhabitants and called the Borg of San Zeno. These two Castles and the Burg Nicolo designed to surprize believing it would be no difficult matter both because of the former negligence of the Guards which he presumed after the late Victory would be much greater and of an opinion he had that no enterprize was so feasible as that which the Enemy believed was impossible to be done Having drawn out a party of choice Men in order to his design he joyned with the Marquess of Mantoua and marching in the night to Verona he scaled the new Citadel and tooke it without being perceived and then forcing upon the Port di S. Antoine the signal was given to his Horse and they marched all of them into the Town Those of the old Citadel who were upon the Guard hearing the noise when the Sentinels in the other Citadel were knock'd on the head and when the Gate of S. Antoine was broken up believing it was the Enemy cryed out to the People to Arm and fell a ringing their Bels. The Citizens taking the alarm came together in great Confusion those of them who had most courage got to their Arms and retreated with them to the Palace of the Rettori in the mean time Nicolo's Souldiers had plundered the Borgo di S. Zeno and advancing towards the Town the Citizens perceiving the Dukes forces was entred and no way left to defend themselves advised the Venetian Rettori to retire into the fortresses and preserve themselves and their goods for as they said it would be much better to do so and attend better fortune than by endeavouring to avoid the present danger to be knock'd on the Head and the whole City pillaged hereupon the Rettori and all the Venetians betook themselves to the Castle of S. Felice and several of the principal Citizens went to meat Nicolo and the Marquess of Mantoua to beg of them that they would rather possess that City rich and with honor than poor to their disgrace especially seeing they had not by an obstinate defence deserved preferment from their old Masters or hatred from their new The Marquess and Nicolo having encouraged them what they could they protected them from plunder as much as was possible and because they were confident the Count would immediately address himself to the recovery of the Town they contrived with all imaginable industry to get the Fort into their hands but what they could not take they block'd up with ditches and trenches cut about to obstruct the Enemy from relieving them The Count Francesco was with his Army at Tenna where upon the first report of this surprize he believed it but vain afterwards understanding the truth he resolved by a more than ordinary speed to recompence his former negligence and expiate its disgrace And though all the chief
his design to Eight of his principal intimates amongst whom Don Michael and Monsignor d' Euna were two and appointed that when Vitellozzo Pagolo Ursini the Duke de Gravina and Oliverotto should come to meet him two of his Favourites should be sure to order it so as to get one of the Ursini betwixt them assigning every couple his man and entertain them till they came to Sinigaglia with express injunction not to part with them upon any terms till they were brought to the Dukes Lodgings and taken into Custody After this he ordered his whole Army Horse and Foot which consisted of 2000 of the first and 10000 of the latter to be ready drawn up upon the banks of the Metauro about five miles distant from Fano and to expect his arrival Being come up to them upon the Metauro he commanded out two hundred Horse as a Forlorn and then causing the Foot to march he brought up the Reer himself with the remainder Fano and Sinigaglia are two Cities in la Marca seated upon the bank of the Adriatick Sea distant one from the other about 15 miles so that travelling up towards Sinigaglia the bottom of the Mountains on the right hand are so near the Sea they are almost wash'd by the water at the greatest distance they are not above two miles The City of Sinigaglia from these Mountains is not above a flight shot and the Tide comes up within less than a Mile By the side of this Town there is a little River which runs close by the wall next Fano and is in sight of the Road So that he who comes to Sinigaglia passes a long way under the Mountains and being come to the River which runs by Sinigaglia turns on the left hand upon the bank which within a bow shot brings him to a Bridge over the said River almost right against the Gate before the Gate there is a little Bourg with a Market-place one side of which is shouldred up by the bank of the River The Vitelli and Ursini having concluded to attend the Duke themselves and to pay their personal respects to make room for his Men had drawn off their own and disposed them into certain Castles at the distance of six miles only they had left in Sinigaglia Oliveretto with a party of about 1000 Foot and 150 Horse which were quartered in the said Bourg Things being in this order Duke Valentine approached but when his Horse in the Van came up to the Bridge they did not pass but opening to the right and left and wheeling away they made room for the Foot who marched immediately into the Town Vitellozzo Pagolo and the Duke de Gravina advanced upon their Mules to wait upon Duke Valentine Vitellozzo was unarm'd in a Cap lin'd with green very sad and melancholy as if he had had some foresight of his destiny which considering his former courage and exploits was admired by every body And it is said that when he came from his house in order to meeting Duke Valentine at Sinigaglia he took his last leave very solemnly of every body He recommended his Family and its fortunes to the chief of his Officers and admonished his Grand-children not so much to commemorate the fortune as the magnanimity of their Ancestors These three Princes being arrived in the presence of Duke Valentine saluted him with great civility and were as civilly received and each of them as soon as they were well observed by the persons appointed to secure them were singled and disposed betwixt two of them But the Duke perceiving that Oliveretto was wanting who was left behind with his Regiment and had drawn it up in the Market-place for the greater formality he wink'd upon Don Michael to whom the care of Oliveretto was assign'd that he should be sure to provide he might not escape Upon this intimation Don Michael clap'd spurs to his Horse and rid before and being come up to Oliveretto he told him it was inconvenient to keep his Men to their Arms for unless they were sent presently to their quarters they would be taken up for the Dukes wherefore he persuaded him to dismiss them and go with him to the Duke Oliveretto following his Counsel went along with him to the Duke who no sooner saw him but he call'd him to him and Oliveretto having paid his Ceremony fell in with the rest Being come into the Town and come up to the Duke's Quarters they all dismounted and attended him up where being carried by him into a private Chamber they were instantly Arrested and made Prisoners The Duke immediately mounted and commanded their Soldiers should be all of them disarmed Oliveretto's Regiment being so near at hand were plundered into the bargain The Brigades which belong'd to Vitelli and Ursini being at greater distance and having notice of what had hapned to their Generals had time to unite and remembring the Discipline and Courage of their Masters they kept close together and marched away in spight both of the Country people and their Enemies But Duke Valentine's Soldiers not content with the pillage of Oliveretto's Soldiers fell foul upon the Town and had not the Duke by the death of several of them repressed their insolence Sinigaglia had been ruined The night coming on and the tumults appeased the Duke began to think of his Prisoners resolved Vitellozzo and Oliveretto should die and having caused them to be guarded into a convenient place he commanded they should be strangled but they said nothing at their deaths that was answerable to their lives for Vitellozzo begged only that the Pope might be supplicated in his behalf for a plenary indulgence Oliveretto impeached Vitellozzo and lay'd all upon his back Pagolo and the Duke de Gravina were continued alive till the Duke had information that his Holiness at Rome had seized upon the Cardinal Orsino the Arch-bishop of Florence and Messer Iacopo da Santa Croce upon which News on the 18th of Ianuary they also were both strangled in the Castle of Piene after the same manner THE STATE OF FRANCE IN An Abridgment written by Nicolo Machiavelli Secretary of FLORENCE THE Kings and Kingdom of France are at this time more rich and more powerful than ever and for these following Reasons First The Crown passing by succession of Blood is become rich because in case where the King has no Sons to succeed him in his paternal Estate it falls all to the Crown and this having many times hapned has been a great corroboration as particularly in the Dutchy of Anjou and at present the same is like to fall out to this King who having no Sons the Dutchy of Orleans and State of Milan his hereditary Countries are like to devolve upon the Crown So that at this day most of the good Towns in France are in the Crown and few remaining to particular persons A second great Reason of the strength of that King is That whereas heretofore France was not entire but subject to
their liberty with it and turn'd Subjects to the Latins Livy tells us the same thing for says he the Latin Army was in nothing inferiour to the Romans their courage the same their constancy the same and their numbers the same if the Romans had any advantage it was in their Generals which indeed were better than the Latins and it is expressed by several both Latins and Romans who have left an account of that Battel to posterity that where-ever Manlius had been that side would certainly have conquered In this Battel there were two things very exemplary and remarkable One of the Consuls to keep his Souldiers firm in their obedience and preserve their Military Discipline caused his own Son to be slain for transgressing his Orders though he gain'd the Victory by the means The other devoted himself freely to death for the good of his Country for the dispute was like to be very hard fighting against the Latins who as Livy tells us had the same Language the same Customs the same Arms the same Discipline with the Romans the Soldiers the Captains the Tribunes both in one Army and the other had been Comerades and served formerly together not only in the same Army or Garison but in the same Company and Band. It was necessary therefore being equal in their numbers and equal in their courage that something extraordinary should be done that might render the Soldiers fiercer and more obstinate to overcome upon which fierceness and obstinacy the whole hopes of the victory did depend for whilst there is any such in the breasts of the Soldiers they never think of running but press still on for victory and prize and because there was more of this constancy and fortitude in the breasts of the Romans than in the breasts of the Latins partly the destiny and partly the bravery of the Consuls effected that for the good success of their Army and the preservation of their Discipline Torquatus killed his Son and Decius himself Titus Livius in his description of the equality of their force gives us an exact account of the Orders which they observed in their Armies and Fights and he has done it so largely I need not repeat it all but shall only select what I think most particularly remarkable and what if observed by the Generals of our days might have prevented very great disorders I say then that according to Livy's description their Armies were divided into three principal Schieri or Squadrons The first consisted of their Hastati which were most of them young men in the flower of their age digested into Manipuli or small parties and disposed at a certain distance with Pikes or Darts in their hands from whence they were called Hastati The second Squadron was as numerous as the first and divided into as many Manipuli but their distance was something greater and it consisted of choice men from whence they were called Principes The third and last Squadron was the biggest of the three and had almost as many in it as both the other and this was made up of the ancientest and most experienced Soldiers whom they called Triarii They too had their certain distances but something greater than in either of the other In their Battels the Hastati were in the Van the Principes behind them and the Triarii in the Rear To every one of these Squadrons there was a body of Horse which being drawn up in two divisions and disposed one of the right and the other on the left hand of the Army represented two wings and were therefore called Ala. These three Squadrons preceded and followed one another exactly but the Hastati in the first Squadron were drawn up closer That being to receive the first impetus of the Enemy they might endure it the better The Principes that followed them was not in such close order but were disposed at more distance to the end that if the Hastati should be forced to retire they might be received into that Squadron without disorder or confusion But the Triarii were drawn up with greater spaces and intervals than both the other and for the same reason that if they were repulsed that might fall back among them and make an entire Body together Being drawn up in this order the Hastati began the sight if they were over-powred by the Enemy and forced to give ground they fell back to the Principes and uniting with them renewed the fight in one body if they were both of them too weak and unable to bear up against the Enemy they retreated gradually into the spaces betwixt the Triarii and then all the three Squadrons being joyned the whole Army charged in a body and if they were beaten farewel there was no more reserves but the Battel was lost and because whenever the Triarii was engaged the whole Army was in â—â—nger this Proverb grew very frequent Res reducta est ad Triarios Things are now at the Extremity The Generals of our times having laid aside all the old discipline of the Romans have neglected this among the rest to their no little prejudice For he that draws up his Army in a posture with two such reserves must be beaten three times before he can be utterly defeated whereas once beating will do the Enemies business But he that trusts only to the first shock as the Christian Armies do generally now may easily be broken the least disorder or relaxation of courage puting all to the rout And that which is the reason why our Armies are so quickly defeated is because they have lost the old way of falling back one body into another and rallying three times For whoever draws up his Army according to Modern Custom does it with one of these two inconveniences He either draws up his several Squadrons shoulder to shoulder and by enlarging his Ranks makes his Files very thin which weakens his Army very much by leaving the distance so small betwixt the Front and the Rear or else he draws them up deeper according to the manner of the Romans but then their Files are so close that if the Front be beaten there being no spaces in the Battel to receive them they entangle and confound one another so as the Front being repulsed falls foul upon the middle Squadron and both of them upon the third whereby they are embarrassed and hindred from advancing or receiving the Enemy in any order and the whole Battel is lost The Spanish and French Armies at the Battel of Ravenna where Monsieur de Foix the French General was slain fought very well being drawn up according to the mode of our times with their Fronts so extended that their Battalions were much more in wideness than depth and his was done in respect of the ground which in that place was very spacious and large for being sensible that retreats are more difficult where the Files are too deep they drew them up large in the Front to prevent it as much as possible But when they
continually upon them they would become grievous to the Subject and give them occasion to complain of you Cosimo What numbers would you have and how would you Arm them Fab. You are too quick and pass from one thing to another I 'll answer you to that in another place when I have told you how the Foot are to be Armed and prepared for a field Battel THE SECOND BOOK CHAP. I. What arms were most used by the Ancients in their Wars Fabr. WHen you have raised your men the next thing is to furnish them with Arms and before you do that I think it not amiss to examine what Arms were most used by the Ancients and choose the best The Romans divided their Infantry into those who were compleatly and those who were slightly armed Those who were lightly armed were called Velites under which name all were comprehended who carried Bows and Slings and Darts the greatest part of them had Casques upon their heads for their defence and a kind of Buckler upon their arm They fought in no order and at distance from those who were arm'd compleatly Their Arms consisted of a Head-piece or Morrion which came down to the Shoulders a Brigandine down to their knees their legs and arms were covered with Greeves and Gauntlets a Buckler covered with Iron about two yards long and one broad an Iron ring about it without to keep off the blows and another within to keep it from the dirt when it was lay'd upon the ground Their offensive Weapons were a Sword at their left thigh about a yard and half long with a Dagger on their right side They carried a Dart in their hand which they called Pilum which upon a a Charge they darted at the Enemy These were the Arms with which the Romans conquered the whole world And though some of their ancient Writers do give them a Spear in form of a Spit I do not see how such a Weapon could be handled by one that carried such a Buckler for it was too heavy to be managed with one hand besides unless it were in the Front where they had room to make use of them it was impossible to use them in their ranks for the nature of Battels is such as I shall show hereafter that they do always contract and keep close as being in much less danger than when they are drawn up looser and at a distance So that in that close order all Arms that are above two yards long are not to be used for having a Spear that is to be managed with both hands if your Buckler were no hinderance it could not hurt your Enemy when he was near If you take it in one hand and manage your Buckler with the other you must take it in the middle and then there will be so much of it behind that they who come after you will hinder you from handling it So that it is true either the Romans had no such Hastae or if they had they made but little use of them For if you read the History of Titus Livius in the description of all his Battels you will scarce ever find he mentions those Hastae but tells you all along that having darâ—ed their Pila they fell to the Sword My opinion therefore is that this Hasta be lay'd aside and that in imitation of the Romans we make use of their Sword and Buckler and other Arms without troubling our selves with that The Grecians for their defence did not arm so heavily as the Romans but for offence they relyed more upon the Spear than the Sword especially the Macedonian Phalanx who carried of those Javelins which they called Sarissae with which they brake the Enemies Battels and kept their own firm and entire And though some Writers say that they also had their Bucklers yet I know not for the reasons abovesaid how they could consist Besides in the Battel betwixt Paulus Emilius and Perseus King of Macedon I do not remember that any mention was made of any-Bucklers but only of their Sarissae and yet the Romans had much ado to overcome them So that my opinion is the Macedonian Phalanx was just such a Body as the Swizzers Battalion whose whole force lyes in their 〈◊〉 The Romans were likewise accustomed to adorn their Soldiers with Plumes of Feathers in their Caps which renders an Army beautiful to their Friends and terrible to their Enemies In the first beginning of the Roman Wars their Horse used a round Shield a Helmet upon their Heads and all the rest of their body naked their offensive Arms were a Sword and Javelin with a long thin spike at the end of it and so being incumbered with Shield and Javelin they could use neither of them well and being unarmed they were more exposed to the Enemy Afterwards they came to arm themselves like their Foot only their Shield was a little shorter and squarer their Launce or Javelin thicker with pikes at each end that if by accident one of them should miscarry the other might be serviceable With these Arms both for Horse and Foot my Country-men the Romans went thorow the whole world and by the greatness of their successes 't is likely they were as well accounted as any Army ever was And Titus Livius in many places of his History makes it credible where comparing the Armies of the Enemies says But the Romans for courage fashion of their Arms and discipline were before them all And for that reason I have chosen to speak particularly rather of the Conqueror's Arms than the Arms of the Conquered It follows now that I say something of the way of Arming at present CHAP. II. Of the Arms which are used at present and of the invention of the Pike Fabritio THe Soldiers of our times do wear for defensive Arms Back and Breast and for offensive a Launce nine yards long which they call a Pike with a Sword by their side rather round than sharp These are generally the Arms which they wear at this day few wear Greaves and Gantlets and none at all Head-pieces Those few who have no Pikes do carry Halbards the staff three yards long and the head like an Axe They have among them Musquetiers who with their Fire Arms do the same Service which was done formerly by the Bows and Slings This manner of arming with Pikes was found out by the Germans and particularly by the Swizzers who being poor and desirous to preserve their liberty were and are still necessitated to contend against the ambition of the Princes of Germany who are rich and able to entertain Horse which the Swizzers are not able to do So that their Force consisting principally in Foot being to defend themselves against the Enemies Horse they were obliged to revive the old way of drawing up and find out Arms that might defend them against them This necessity put them upon continuing or reviving the old Orders without which as every wise-man knows the Foot would be useless for which cause they
that each of these two Companies should be ranged directly behind the extremity of the three precedent Companies and the space left betwixt them should be 91 yards By these means all the Companies thus disposed should extend themselves in front 161 yards and in depth 20. After this I would extend the Pikes extraordinary along the flanks of all the Companies on the left hand at about twenty yards distance and I would make of them 140 ranks of seven in a rank so that they should secure all the left flank in depth of the ten Battalia's drawn up as I said before and I would reserve forty files of them to guard the Baggage and the unarmed people in the rear distributing their Corporals and other Officers in their respective places The three Constables or Captains I would place one at the head of them another in the midst and a third in the rear who should execute the Office of a Tergiductor who was always placed in the rear of the Army But to return to the front of the Army I say that after the Pikes extraordinary I would place the Velites extraordinary which are 500 and allow them a space of forty yards By the side of these on the left hand I would place my men at Arms with a space of 150 yards after them I would advance my light Horse at the same distance as I allowed to my men at Arms. As to the Velites in ordinary I would leave them about their Battalia's which should take up the space which I left betwixt each Company unless I found it more expedient to put them under the Pikes extraordinary which I would do or not do as I found it more or less for my advantage The Captain General of the Battalion should be placed in the space betwixt the first and second orders of Battalia's or else at the head of them or else in the space betwixt the last of the first five Battalia's and the Pikes extraordinary as I found it most convenient he should have about him 30 or 40 select men all brave and experienc'd and such as understood how to execute their Commission with prudence and how to receive and repel a charge and I would have the Captain General in the midst of the Drums and the Colours This is the order in which I would dispose my Battalion on the left wing which should contain half the Army and take up in breadth 511 yards and in depth as much as I have said before without reckoning the space that was possessed by the Pikes extraordinary which should be as a Shield to the people without Arms and take up a space of about a hundred yards The other Battalion I would dispose on the right side leaving betwixt the two Battalions a distance of about 30 yards having order'd it as the other At the head of that space I would place some pieces of Artillery behind which should stand the Captain General of the whole Army with the Drums the Standard or chief Ensign and two hundred choice men about him most of them on foot and amongst them ten or more fit to execute any command The General himself should be so mounted and so arm'd that he might be on Horseback and on foot as necessity required As to the Artillery ten pieces of Cannon would be enough for the taking of a Town In the Field I would use them more for defence of my Camp than for any Service in Battel My smaller pieces should be of 10 or 15 pound carriage and I would place them in the front of the whole Army unless the Country was such that I could dispose them securely in the flank where the Enemy could not come at them This form and manner of ranging an Army and putting it in order may do the same things in a Battel as was done either in the Macedonian Phalanx or the Legion of the Romans for the Pikes are in the front and all the foot placed in their ranks so that upon any charge or engagement with the Enemy they are able not only to bear and sustain them but according to the custom of the Phalanx to recruit and reinforce their first rank out of those which are behind On the other side if they be over-power'd and attack'd with such violence that they are forced to give ground they may fall back into the intervals of the second Battalia behind them and uniting with them make up their body and charge them briskly again And if the second Battalia is not strong enough to relieve them they may retire to the third and fight all together in conjunction so that by this order as to the business of a Battel we may supply and preserve our selves according to the Grecian and the Roman way both As to the strength of an Army it cannot be ordered more strong because the two wings are exactly well fortified with Officers and Arms nor is there any thing weak but the rear where the people which follow the Camp without Arms are disposed and they are guarded with the Pikes extraordinary so that the Enemy cannot assault them any where but he will find them in very good order neither is the rear in any great danger because an Enemy can be hardly so strong as to assault you equally on all sides if you found he was so strong you would never take the Field against him But if he was three times as many and as well ordered as you if he divides and weakens himself to attack you in several places beat him in one and his whole enterprize is lost As to the Enemies Cavalry though they out-number you you are safe enough for the Pikes which encompass you will defend you from any impression from them though your own Horse be repulsed The chief Officers are moreover plac'd in the flank so as they may commodiously command and as readily obey and the spaces which are left betwixt one Battalia and the other and betwixt one rank and another serve not only to receive those who are distressed but gives room for such persons as are sent forward and backward with orders from the Captain Add as I told you at first as the Romans had in their Army about 24000 men I would have our Army consist of the same number and as the Auxiliaries took their method of Fighting and their manner of drawing up from the Legions so those Soldiers which you would joyn to your two Battalions should take their form and discipline from them These things would be very easie to imitate should you have but one example for by joyning either two other Battalions to your Army or adding as many Auxiliaries you are in no confusion you have no more to do but to double your ranks and whereas before you put ten Battalia's in the left wing put twenty now or else you may contract or extend them as your place and Enemy will give leave Luigi In earnest Sir I am so well possess'd of your Army that
length to the General 's Street and it should be called the Piazza-Street Having settled these two Streets I would order a Piazza or Market-place and it should be at the end of the Piazza-street over against the General 's lodging and not far from the Front-street I would have it square and every square to contain 121 yards on the right and left hand of this Market-place I would have two rows of lodgments each of them double and consisting of eight lodgments in length twelve yards and in bredth thirty so that on each side of the Piazza I would have sixteen lodgments with that in the middle so that in all they would be 32 in which I would place those horse which remain undisposed of that belong to the Auxiliary squadrons if these would not be sufficient to receive them I would consign them some of the lodgments about the General 's quarters especially those which look towards the trenches It remains now that we lodge the Pikes and the Velites extraordinary which I have assigned to each Battalion which as you know consisted besides the ten Companies of a thousand Pikes extraordinary and five hundred Velites So that the two Battalions had 2000 Pikes extraordinary and 1000 Velites extraordinary and the Auxiliaries had the same so that we have still 6000 foot to lodge which I would dispose in that part toward the West and along the ditch From the end of the Front-street towards the North leaving a space of 100 yards betwixt that and the ditch I would have a row of five double lodgments which should contain in length all of them 75 yards and 60 in bredth so as when the bredth is divided there shall belong to each lodgment 15 yards in length and thirty in breadth and because there will be but ten lodgments in this rank there shall be lodged 300 foot 30 in a lodgment After that leaving a space of 31 yards I would set up in the same manner and with the same distances another row of five double lodgments and after that another till they came to be five rows of five double lodgments in all fifty placed in a right line from the North all of them ten yards from the foss and should entertain 1500 foot Turning then towards the West Gate in all that space from them to the said Gate I would have five other double orders in the same manner and with the same spaces but with a distance of but 15 yards from one row to another where I would lodge 1500 foot more And so all the Velites and Pikes extraordinary of both the proper Battalions should be lodged from the North Gate to the West Gate according to the turning of the trenches and should be distributed into 100 lodgments in ten rows ten lodgments in a row The Pikes and the Velites extraordinary of the two Auxiliary Battalions should be lodged in the same manner betwixt the West Gate and the South as the trenches incline in ten rows ten lodgments in a row as I said of the other the Captains or their Lieutenants may take such quarters as they think most convenient on that side towards the trenches The Artillery I would dispose every where upon the banks of the trenches and in all the other space which remains towards the West I would bestow all the baggage and servants and impediments of the Army By impediments you must understand and you know it very well the ancients intended all their train and whatever else was necessary for an Army besides the Souldiers as Carpenters Smiths Shoomakers Engineers and Cannoneers though these indeed might be numbred among the Soldiers Butchers with their Beefs and their Muttons Cooks Pastry-men and all that prepared meat for the Army and in short all other professions which followed the Camp for subsistence they reckoned likewise among them all the carriages for publick provisions and arms I would not make any particular distinction of lodgments only I would order the Streets so as that they might not be taken up by them As to the other spaces betwixt the Streets which would be four in all I would consign them in general to all the said impediments that is one to the Butchers another to the Artificers and Masters of several Professions a third to the carriages for Provisions a fourth for the carriages for Arms. The Streets that I would have left free should be the Street to the Piazza the Front-Street and another Street called the middle Street which should begin in the North and pass thorow the middle of the Market-street or Street to the Piazza towards the South which on the West side should do the same service as the Traverse-street does on the East And besides this I would have another back-street along by the lodgments of the Pikes and the Velites extraordinary and I would have all these Streets thirty spaces wide The Artillery I would place afterwards upon the trenches on the hinder part of the Camp Battista I do acknowledge my ignorance nor do I think it reproachful where it is not my profession to be otherwise nevertheless I am very well pleased with your order only I would desire you to resolve me two doubts one is why you make the Streets and the spaces about the lodgments so large the other which troubles me most is how you would employ the spaces which you design for the lodgments Fabr. You must understand I assign 30 yards to the breadth of the Streets that a Battalia of foot may march together a breast for if you remember I told you often that each Company took up in breadth betwixt 25 and 30 yards That the space betwixt the trench and the lodgments should be 100 yards broad is very necessary for drawing up the Battalia's managing the Artillery conveying and disposing of the booty besides the convenience of retiring upon occasion and making new Ramparts and new Intrenchments within Moreover the lodgments are better at that distance from the trenches as being farther from fire-works and other things which an enemy might cast in among them as to your second demand I do not intend that every space that I have designed for a lodgment should be covered with one Tent or one Pavilion only but that it should be employed as is most commodious for those who are to lodge there with more or fewer Tents as they please provided they do not exceed their allowance of ground To make a just distribution of these lodgments you must have persons that are well vers'd and experienced in that affair and good Architects who as soon as the General has made choice of his place can immediately put it into form distribute the lodgments by dividing the Streets and distinguishing the places for the several lodgments with a cord and pikes thrust into the ground with so much dexterity that all things shall be presently in order And if you would prevent confusion you must turn your Camp always one way that every man may know in