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Does anyone have any army lists for this battle? Or at the very least for the Venetians? I’d also appreciate any info on Venetian infantry - weaponry in particular. Thanks Steve
Argh! Neither are for sale on those links. Not even the kindle version. The search goes on....
This information is from Peter Sides’ DBR scenario booklet, ‘Renaissance Battles’ volume one:Gendarmes - one very large unit of 1500 plus a smaller unit of 200Venetian pike - three units each of approx 3500 pike and 1500 crossbowsRomandiole pike - 3000Italian skirmish infantry - armed with arquebus/crossbow 2000Stradioti - 3000Medium artillery - unfortunately only given as two models, so probably between 12 and 20 actual pieces
The French victory at Agnadello marked the first and heaviest defeat for Venice. According to historians, the two armies were roughly equal in number but not in the quality of troops. Each side’s infantry numbered 20,000 men, but King Louis XII’s army included 7,500 veteran Swiss mercenaries. By contrast, the Venetians fielded 10,000 Italian mercenaries (provisionati) with 10,000 ordinanze or cernide, a peasant militia recruited in the Serenissima’s domains. Obviously, the militia was not uniformly disciplined or trained. The French cavalry numbered between 2,300 and 3,000 – the larger number appears in the transalpine sources. These were considered the best in Europe and outnumbered the 1,800 Venetian heavy horsemen. Venice’s light cavalry provided its only numerical advantage, with more than 4,000 horse archers and Dalmatian irregulars (stradiotti) against 3,000 French.The Battle of Agnadello, also called Ghiaradadda, only involved part of the opposing armies. Each side marched in column towards the village of Pandino from different directions when the Venetian rearguard encountered the French vanguard near Agnadello. Because of the considerable distance between the head and end of the columns, every unit did not participate in the battle. Under the command of Niccolo Orsini, Count of Pitigliano, the Venetian army was divided into four formations or colonnelli. Only the third and fourth colonnelli were involved in the fighting. The chronicler Marin Sanudo accurately reports the Venetian army’s composition. Concerning the fourth colonnello, he states: “the men-atarms were 440, led by the governor Bartolomeo d'Alviano, second in command of the army, then there were 200 to 300 light horses and 7,000 foot soldiers”. These forces largely comprised of mercenaries and militiamen. Captain Pietro del Monte commanded 2,200 provisionati infantrymen.At least one thousand of his troops were mercenary soldiers: 300 from Giacomo della Sassetta, 620 under Turchetto da Lodi, and another 300 from Pelegnino della Bandera, who took the place of the Albanian Colonel Mora. The brave Saccoccio da Spoleto commanded another corps of 1,720 mercenary soldiers. These included 570 men from his own company, 250 German mercenaries led by a certain Todeschino, and 900 infantrymen from Vicenza, probably militia, commanded by Giacomo da Ravenna. The cernide of Friuli and Padua provided another 3,000 militiamen, 1,500 from each region. A distinguished combatant at the Battle of Cadore, Girolamo Granchio of Mantua, led the militiamen from Friuli. A Greek, Captain Gregheto, led the Paduan Militiamen.