is the town of Pontremoli.  Leaving that in ashes on June 29, the French army, distressed for provisions and in peril among those melancholy hills, pushed onward with all speed.  They knew that the allied forces, commanded by the Marquis of Mantua, were waiting for them at the other side upon the Taro, near the village of Fornovo.  Here, if anywhere, the French ought to have been crushed.  They numbered about 9,000 men in all, while the allies were close upon 40,000.  The French were weary with long marches, insufficient food, and bad lodgings.  The Italians were fresh and well cared for.  Yet in spite of all this, in spite of blind generalship and total blundering, Charles continued to play his part of fortune’s favorite to the end.  A bloody battle, which lasted for an hour, took place upon the banks of the Taro.[1] The Italians suffered so severely that, though they still far outnumbered the French, no persuasions could make them rally and renew the fight.  Charles in his own person ran great peril during this battle; and when it was over, he had still to effect his retreat upon Asti in the teeth of a formidable army.  The good luck of the French and the dilatory cowardice of their opponents saved them now again for the last time.

[1] The action at Fornovo lasted a quarter of an hour, according to De Comines.  The pursuit of the Italians occupied about three quarters of an hour more.  Unaccustomed to the quick tactics of the French, the Italians, when once broken, persisted in retreating upon Reggio and Parma.  The Gonzaghi alone distinguished themselves for obstinate courage, and lost four or five members of their princely house.  The Stradiots, whose scimitars ought to have dealt rudely with the heavy French men-at-arms, employed their time in pillaging the Royal pavilion, very wisely abandoned to their avarice by the French captains.  To such an extent were military affairs misconstrued in Italy, that, on the strength of this brigandage, the Venetians claimed Fornovo for a victory.  See my essay ‘Fornovo,’ in Sketches and Studies in Italy, for a description of the ground on which the battle was fought.

On July 15, Charles at the head of his little force marched into Asti and was practically safe.  Here the young king continued to give signal proofs of his weakness.  Though he knew that the Duke of Orleans was hard pressed in Novara, he made no effort to relieve him; nor did he attempt to use the 20,000 Switzers who descended from their Alps to aid him in the struggle with the league.  From Asti he removed to Turin, where he spent his time in flirting with Anna Soleri, the daughter of his host.  This girl had been sent to harangue him with a set oration, and had fulfilled her task, in the words of an old witness, ’without wavering, coughing, spitting, or giving way at all.’  Her charms delayed the king in Italy until October 19, when he signed a treaty at Vercelli with the Duke of Milan.  At this moment