Battle of Castagnaro
Battle of Castagnaro | |||||||
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An aerial perspective of the battle, showing the Paduan army, commanded by Sir John Hawkwood, outflanking and defeating the Veronese. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Army of Verona |
Army of Padua White Company | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ostasio da Polenta (POW )Giovanni dell'Ischia |
John Hawkwood Francesco Novello da Carrara | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
≈ 11,000–16,000 men with ( 12,000-16000 reserves, mostly peasants)[1] |
Total: ≈ 7,000-9,200 men
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
(4,000–7,000 total casualties)
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The Battle of Castagnaro was fought on 11 March 1387 at
The army of Verona was led by
Castagnaro is hailed as Sir John Hawkwood's greatest victory.[3] Following a Fabian-like strategy, Hawkwood goaded the Veronese into attacking him on a field of his own choosing, by laying waste to the Veronese lands nearby.
Drawing his forces up on the far side of a canal, and anchoring his right flank on a patch of woods, Hawkwood waited until the Veronese had committed to attacking across a
Hawkwood had left a copy of his standard behind his forces, then had led his cavalry into the woods to his right. At a given signal — supposedly, a flaming arrow — the copy of his standard dropped, and Hawkwood's cavalry burst from the woods on the Veronese left, with his real standard in front. At the point of impact, Hawkwood is said to have cast his commander's baton into the Veronese ranks and ordered his men to retrieve it for him.
Per Trease, it is said that Hawkwood's battle cry that day was a grim play on the Paduan war-cry of Carro! ("Cart!", from the coat of arms of the House of Da Carrara) — in Hawkwood's rendition, it became Carne! ("Flesh!").
The Veronese tried to intervene with their reserve of 2,500 cavalry commanded by Captain General Giovanni degli Ordelaffi and Ostasio da Polenta. However, the road was blocked by Hawkwood's forces, and Giovanni degli Ordelaffi and Ostasio da Polenta were captured; 1,900 of the cavalry fled, but were pursued and many were captured.[4] The corps of infantry and Veronese peasants commanded by Giovanni da Isola remained intact on the battlefield, but was destroyed after it refused to surrender.[4]
References
- OCLC 645185716.
- OCLC 263302508.
- ^ Geoffrey Trease, The Condottieri, 1971
- ^ a b Temple-Leader, John; Marcotti, Giuseppe. Sir John Hawkwood (L'Acuto) story of a condottiere. p. 201.
Further reading
- Devries, Kelly and Capponi, Niccolo. Castagnaro 1387; Hawkwood's Great Victory Osprey Campaign Series #337. Osprey Publishing (2019). ISBN 9781472833518