Siege of Atella
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Siege of Atella | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the First Italian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
League of Venice: Kingdom of Spain Kingdom of Naples Republic of Venice Papal States |
 France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Gonzalo de Cordoba Ferdinand II of Naples Francesco II Gonzaga Cesare Borgia |
Gilbert of Monpensier | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1,900 Spanish Unknown number of allies | 5,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 600 | 3,100 | ||||||
The siege of Atella was the concluding battle of the First Italian War, where the French headquarters in Atella was besieged and eventually taken by the League of Venice. The League's forces were commanded by Castilian general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, who received the nom de guerre El Gran Capitán ("The Great Captain") for his success in the siege.
Ferdinand II had managed to drive French general Gilbert, Count of Montpensier back to his base in Atella, exciting the Neapolitan troops by making up a promise of German reinforcements sent by Maximilian I. However, he decided not to try to take the place without the presence of Fernández de Córdoba, who at the time operated in Calabria. The Castilian considered eminent to secure their Calabrian rear guard before attempting a final attack on the French base, but he accepted to rendezvous with Ferdinand.[1][2]
Córdoba left Calabria with a small force of 400 cavalry and 1000 infantry handpicked by him. He marched through land, but the renown gained with his success in guerrilla warfare against the French gave him pass led several French-aligned positions to surrender on the way. After being reinforced by another 500 men sent from Spain, he reached Atella seventeen days later.[1] Awaiting for him were Ferdinand II, the Papal captain Cesare Borgia and the Venetian commander Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, who agreed to hand command to Córdoba.[3]