Battle of Agnadello

Part of the War of the League of Cambrai

Date	14 May 1509
Location	Near Agnadello, between Milan and Bergamo, present-day Italy
Result	Decisive French victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of France

Republic of Venice

Commanders and leaders

Louis XII
Gian Giacomo Trivulzio
Louis de la Trémoille
Charles II d'Amboise

Bartolomeo d'Alviano (POW)

Strength

30,000

8,000

Casualties and losses

Unknown

4,000+

The Battle of Agnadello, also known as Vailà, was one of the most significant battles of the War of the League of Cambrai and one of the major battles of the Italian Wars.

On 15 April 1509, a French army under the command of Louis XII left Milan and invaded Venetian territory. To oppose its advance, Venice had massed a mercenary army near Bergamo, jointly commanded by the Orsini cousins, Bartolomeo d'Alviano and Niccolò di Pitigliano. The Orsini had orders to avoid a direct confrontation with the advancing French, and spent the next several weeks engaged in light skirmishing.

By 9 May, however, Louis had crossed the Adda River at Cassano d'Adda. Alviano and Pitigliano, encamped around the town of Treviglio, disagreed on how to deal with Louis, since Alviano wanted to attack the French in defiance of his orders; they finally decided to move south towards the Po River in search of better positions.

On 14 May, as the Venetian army moved south, Alviano's rearguard, commanded by Piero del Monte and Saccoccio da Spoleto, was attacked by a French detachment under the Charles II d'Amboise, who had massed his troops around the village of Agnadello. Alviano, who was at Pandino, hurried back to position his forces, numbering around eight thousand, on a ridge overlooking some vineyards. Charles II attempted to attack, first with cavalry and then with Swiss pikemen, but the French, forced to march up a hillside crossed with irrigation ditches, which were soon filled with mud from the pouring rain, were unable to breach the Venetian lines.

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Wikipedia