Wikipedia

Battle of Fornovo: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→Analysis: Copyedit (minor)
Don't attach numbers with sources that give completely different figures. Introduction and battle restored.
Line 22:
| commander1 = {{flagicon|Kingdom of France|valois}} King [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]]
| commander2 = [[File:Coat of arms of the House of Gonzaga (1433).svg|17px]] [[Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua|Francesco Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua]]{{sfn|Mallett|Shaw|2012|p=31}}
| strength1 = 10,000–12000–11,000 men{{efn|"''The French army of 10,000-11,000 men came down the valley of the Taro towards Parma. Gonzaga had about 20,000 troops...''".{{sfn|Mallett|Shaw|2012|p=31}}}}{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=303}}<ref>Bernardo Corio, ''Storia di Milano'', p. 585</ref>
| strength2 = 14,000–2020,000{{sfn|Mallett|Shaw|2012|p=31}}{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}<ref>Bernardo Corio, ''Storia di Milano''-21,500 men{{sfn|Dupuy|1993|p. 588</ref><ref>Vincenzo Alberici, Massimo Predonzani, ''Le guerre d'Italia. Dalla spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia alla battaglia di Fornovo'', pp. 177–178</ref>=462}}
| casualties1 = *100{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=304}}–200 killed{{sfn|Dupuy|1993|p=462}}{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}
| casualties1 = * 1,000 killed, 1,000 captured{{sfn|Dupuy|1993|p=438}}{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}<ref>Trevor Dupuy, ''Harper Encyclopedia of Military History'' p. 462</ref>{{sfn|Nicolle|2005|p=43}}<ref>Vincenzo Alberici, Massimo Predonzani, ''Le guerre d'Italia. Dalla spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia alla battaglia di Fornovo'', pp. 177–178</ref><ref>Gianfranco Cimino, ''Fornovo 1495'', pp. 214–291</ref><ref>Lino Lionello Ghirardini, ''La battaglia di Fornovo: un dilemma della storia'', pp. 188–193</ref>
*200 wounded{{sfn|Dupuy|1993|p=462}}{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}
| casualties2 = * 2,000–3,500 killed and wounded{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=304}}<ref>Trevor Dupuy, ''Harper Encyclopedia of Military History'', p. 462</ref>{{sfn|Nicolle|2005|p=43}}<ref>Gianfranco Cimino, ''Fornovo 1495'', pp. 214–291</ref>
| casualties2 = *3,350{{sfn|Dupuy|1993|p=462}}-3,500 killed{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=304}}
| units2 = [[Stradioti]]
|campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Italian War of 1494–1498}}
{{Campaignbox Italian Wars}}
}}
The '''Battle of Fornovo''' took place {{convert|30|km|abbr=in}} southwest of the city of [[Parma]] on 6 July 1495. It was fought as [[Charles VIII of France|King Charles VIII]] of [[Kingdom of France|France]] left [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]] upon hearing the news of the grand coalition assembled against him. Despite the numerical advantage of their opponents, the French came out triumphant of the engagement and Charles was able to break through and march his army out of Italy. The battleIt was anonetheless [[pyrrhicdevoid victory]]of forany thestrategic Frenchresult whoas abandonedall of their conquests in the [[Italian Peninsula]] andwere lost all the loot taken during the campaignabandoned. Fornovo was the first bigmajor pitched battle of the [[Italian Wars]] (1494–1559).
 
==Background==
Line 54 ⟶ 55:
==Battle==
[[File:Hallebardes-p1000544.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Examples of Swiss halberds}}]]
The battle began in the early afternoon with an exchange of artillery shells that generated more fear and disorder than casualties. The cavalry on the right wing led by Galeazzo Sanseverino attacked the French vanguard without suffering much damage from the French artillery, perhaps also due to the conditions of the terrain that made the artillery difficult to maneuver. The French vanguard responded with a charge of the mounted knights led by Trivulzio. Both sides soon found themselves fighting on banks full of ditches, twigs and thorns. The French finally prevailed by sending the Swiss [[halberd]]iers against the Milanese cavalry, which was unable to fight on such an unfavorable terrain.{{cn|date=November 2021}}
 
On 27 June the Venetians and their allies established camp near [[Fornovo di Taro]] ({{Coord|44|41|N|10|06|E}}), some 30&nbsp;km southwest of [[Parma]], to wait for the French. They would not have to wait long, but the [[Venetian Senate]] was not unanimous on fighting the French. Some members wanted to attack the rear guard of the French to try to seize their loot, while others cautioned that Italy was risking too much in this battle as this was just one French army and others could potentially be called upon.
Gonzaga's cavalry had attacked, followed by the infantry, the French center and there Rodolfo Gonzaga had fallen. Bernardino Fortebraccio's cavalry had bypassed the French rearguard together with Duodo's [[stradioti]], attacking it on the flank but with a certain delay due to the unusually high water of the river. After an hour of fighting Gonzaga’s troops were repulsed, while the light cavalry of Fortebraccio, after a brief skirmish, with the stradioti and part of the Venetian infantry, devoted themselves to plundering the French baggage. Fortebraccio, unable to reorganize his men, withdrew from the fray. The Count of Pitigliano conducted the last attacks with little effect. The Venetian administrators and Niccolò Orsini, who took advantage of the opportunity to free himself from the French, tried to convince many fugitives to return by saying that the battle was almost won.<ref>Francesco Guicciardini, ''Storia d'Italia'', p. 9</ref>{{sfn|Nicolle|2005|p=43}}<ref>Vincenzo Alberici, Massimo Predonzani, ''Le guerre d'Italia. Dalla spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia alla battaglia di Fornovo'', pp. 177–178</ref>
 
On July 4, [[Ercole d'Este]], Duke of [[Ferrara]], Charles' strongest ally in Italy, wrote to him and informed him that the Senate had not yet decided on an action. But Charles was anxious, seeing the enemy numbers growing, while he himself had no hope of reinforcements for the time being. When an effort to sway the undecided forces of Parma was thwarted by the Venetians, Charles instead sent a messenger to request free passage to return to France, but the Venetians replied that he would have to restore all his conquests before such could be considered. The messenger, having scouted the troops, reported back to Charles. The 40 soldiers Charles subsequently sent to reconnoiter were attacked and quickly routed by the [[Stradioti]], mostly Albanian mercenaries from the Balkans.{{sfn|Birtachas|2018|p=327-328}}
After more than an hour of fighting, the French withdrew to a hill. The Venetians willing to pursue them were too few and both sides set up camp. The French lost more than a thousand men, while the Venetians more than two thousand but the nobles on both sides were either isolated or dead.{{sfn|Nicolle|2005|p=43}}<ref>Vincenzo Alberici, Massimo Predonzani, ''Le guerre d'Italia. Dalla spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia alla battaglia di Fornovo'', pp. 177–178</ref><ref>Lino Lionello Ghirardini, ''La battaglia di Fornovo: un dilemma della storia'', p. 139</ref> Charles lost all his booty, valued at more than 300,000 ducats. A one-day truce was declared to bury the dead who, along with the wounded, were stripped by the Italian infantry and local inhabitants. Rodolfo Gonzaga, son of the Marquis of Mantua Ludovico III Gonzaga, was among the casualties. At the end of the truce, Charles withdrew from the battlefield, marching on into Lombardy and returning to France.{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}{{sfn|Nicolle|2005|p=43}}<ref>Gianfranco Cimino, ''Fornovo 1495'', p. 149</ref><ref>Lino Lionello Ghirardini, ''La battaglia di Fornovo: un dilemma della storia'', p. 157</ref>
 
Two days later, on July 6, Charles decided to offer battle because the French were short of provisions. South of Milan, the path of his army of some 10,000 French and Swiss was blocked by 20,000 Venetians and Mantuans under Gonzaga.{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=303}} The League army took position on the right side of the Taro river and the French decided to keep to the left bank. Charles organized his army in battle groups. The first battle consisted of about 2,500 men and was led by [[Gian Giacomo Trivulzio]]. The second, the largest, was led by Charles himself. The final battle, about 1,400 men, was led by [[Francesco Secco]]. There was in addition a large infantry force of spearmen. The French artillery was arranged in front of the first line, as well as on the side of the Taro, protecting the second line.
 
Melchiorre Trevisan promised the League soldiers the spoils of battle if they were victorious, igniting their combat ardor. Francesco Gonzaga divided his forces into nine lines. His battle plan was to distract the first and middle groups of the French with two lines while outflanking the rear. Once the French groups were disorganized, the rest of the Italian troops would attack.
 
Instead of the usual feckless and nearly bloodless affair then common in Italian condottieri warfare, the French opened with an artillery bombardment, intending to kill as many of their opponents as possible.{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=303-304}} Then they charged with their heavy cavalry, destroying and scattering the disordered Italian ranks in just minutes.{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=304}} The fight was perhaps more memorable for the ineffectiveness of artillery on either side, other than the psychological effect achieved by the French guns. Of the 100 French and 3,500 Italian dead, one eyewitness estimated that fewer than 10 men were killed by cannon fire.{{sfn|Nolan|2006|p=304}} After the battle, Charles then marched on into Lombardy and returned to France.{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=361}}
 
Both parties strove to present themselves as the victors in the battle.{{sfn|Mallett|Shaw|2012|p=31}} The battle was reported in Venice as a victory, and was recorded and celebrated as such. But the French had won their battle, fighting off superior numbers and proceeding on their march.{{efn|The battle of Fornovo, by which Charles forced his way past the enemy who stood in his path, was not an indecisive action but a definite victory for France.{{sfn|Taylor|1921|p=14}}}}{{sfn|Taylor|1921|p=14}}{{sfn|Setton|1978|p=493–494}}{{sfn|Mallett|Shaw|2012|p=31}} The League took much higher casualties and could not prevent the French army from crossing Italian lands on its way back to France.{{sfn|Setton|1978|p=493–494}}
 
==Aftermath==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fornovo"