Chapter 37 - Page 2

find them unprepared, and not disposed
for battle. In this determination he was confirmed by Rinaldo, the
Count di Poppi, and other Florentine exiles, who saw their inevitable
ruin in the departure of Niccolo, and hoped, that if he engaged the
enemy, they would either be victorious, or vanquished without
dishonor. This resolution being adopted, Niccolo led his army,
unperceived by the enemy, from Citta di Castello to the Borgo, where
he enlisted two thousand men, who, trusting the general's talents and
promises, followed him in hope of plunder. Niccolo then led his forces
in battle array toward Anghiari, and had arrived within two miles of
the place, when Micheletto Attendulo observed great clouds of dust,
and conjecturing at once, that it must be occasioned by the enemy's
approach, immediately called the troops to arms. Great confusion
prevailed in the Florentine camp, for the ordinary negligence and want
of discipline were now increased by their presuming the enemy to be at
a distance, and they were more disposed to fight than to battle; so
that everyone was unarmed, and some wandering from the camp, either
led by their desire to avoid the excessive heat, or in pursuit of
amusement. So great was the diligence of the commissaries and of the
captain, that before the enemy's arrival, the men were mounted and
prepared to resist their attack; and as Micheletto was the first to
observe their approach, he was also first armed and ready to meet
them, and with his troops hastened to the bridge which crosses the
river at a short distance from Anghiari. Pietro Giampagolo having
previous to the surprise, filled up the ditches on either side of the
road, and leveled the ground between the bridge and Anghiari, and
Micheletto having taken his position in front of the former, the
legate and Simoncino, who led the troops of the church, took post on
the right, and the commissaries of the Florentines, with Pietro
Giampagolo, their captain, on the left; the infantry being drawn up
along the banks of the river. Thus, the only course the enemy could
take, was the direct one over the bridge; nor had the Florentines any
other field for their exertions, excepting that their infantry were
ordered, in case their cavalry were attacked in flank by the hostile
infantry, to assail them with their cross bows, and prevent them from
wounding the flanks of the horses crossing the bridge. Micheletto
bravely withstood the enemy's charge upon the bridge; but Astorre and
Francesco Piccinino coming up, with a picked body of men, attacked him
so vigorously, that he was compelled to give way, and was pushed as
far as the foot of the hill which rises toward the Borgo d'Anghiari;
but they were in turn repulsed and driven over the bridge, by the