A History of Verona Page: 217 of 493
x (i. e. xi), 403, [1] p. : front., maps, fold. geneal. tab. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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196 A HISTORY OF VERONA
quite unprepared for a pitched battle, and the majority of the
leaders urged Cangrande to stand on the defensive, but he,
thinking only of how he could win eternal glory, decided to
attack before the enemy could reach the camp, and charged
them at once with his finest cavalry, about a thousand strong.
The Paduan vanguard, consisting of the citizen foot, broke at
once, but the main body under Gorz stood its ground, and Cangrande,
seeing that he was hopelessly outnumbered, began to
fall back in good order. But before he could reach shelter, the
enemy's horse were upon him, and a fierce hand-to-hand fight
began, which ended in the capture of the Scaligeri banner and
the complete rout of the Veronese. Cangrande was again
struck by an arrow, this time in the leg, and would have been
taken had not his nephew Cecchino come to his aid. The
Scaliger now lost all his nerve, turned tail and fled headlong
like the veriest coward. Unable to get into the camp, because
the drawbridges were all up, he started off across country for
Monselice, hotly pursued by some Paduans. Once more he
only just escaped capture, for his horse fell at the ditch he himself
had made, and, wounded as he was, he could not mount
alone. But his followers came up in the nick of time, lifted him
into the saddle, a peasant pointed out a bridge which led
to the Monselice road, and he was off again. Meanwhile,
the peasant stopped the pursuit by breaking down the bridge,
and so Cangrande was able to spare his tired horse, and jog
along at ease, with helmet flung back that he might get the air.
It seemed doubtful, however, if his horse could carry him to
Monselice, but presently another peasant, noting its condition,
offered him his own mare, and at last he reached the town in
safety, though worn out with fatigue, and with the arrow still
sticking in his leg. In all his life Cangrande had never been
so disgraced, and he was never again the same man. It was
more than two years before he appeared in the field, nor did
he ever again display the dare-devil recklessness of his earlier
days.
When their invincible leader had set them such an example,
it was small wonder that the rank and file of the Veronese
army made no stand. After a short attempt to hold the camp
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Allen, A. M. A History of Verona, book, 1910; New York. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1025/m1/217/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .