ncesco Gonzaga, Marquis of
Mantua, was the general of the Venetian forces; and on him, therefore,
fell the real responsibility of the battle.

De Comines remarks on the imprudence of the allies, who allowed Charles
to advance as far as Fornovo, when it was their obvious policy to have
established themselves in the village and so have caught the French
troops in a trap. It was a Sunday when the French marched down upon
Fornovo. Before them spread the plain of Lombardy, and beyond it the
white crests of the Alps. "We were," says De Comines, "in a valley
between two little mountain flanks, and in that valley ran a river which
could easily be forded on foot, except when it is swelled with sudden
rains. The whole valley was a bed of gravel and big stones, very
difficult for horses, about a quarter of a league in breadth, and on the
right bank lodged our enemies." Any one who has visited Fornovo can
understand the situation of the two armies. Charles occupied the village
on the right bank of the Taro. On the same bank, extending downward
towards the plain, lay the host of the allies; and in order that Charles
should escape them, it was necessary that he should cross the Taro, just
below its junction with the Ceno, and reach Lombardy by marching in a
parallel line with his foes.

All through the night of Sunday it thundered and rained incessantly; so
that on the Monday morning the Taro was considerably swollen. At seven
o'clock the king sent for De Comines, who found him already armed and
mounted on the finest horse he had ever seen. The name of this charger
was Savoy. He was black, one-eyed, and of middling height; and to his
great courage, as we shall see, Charles owed life upon that day. The
French army, ready for the march, now took to the gravelly bed of the
Taro, passing the river at a distance of about a quarter of a league
from the allies. As the French left Fornovo, the light cavalry of their
enemies entered the village and began to attack the baggage. At the same
time the Marquis of Mantua, with the flower of his men-at-arms, crossed
the Taro and harassed the rear of the French host; while raids from the
right bank to the left were constantly being made by sharp-shooters and
flying squadrons. "At this moment," says De Comines, "not a single man
of us could have escaped if our ranks had once been broken." The French
army was divided into three main bodies. The vanguard consisted of some
three hundred and fifty men-at