David McDowall Hannay

“ With his veterans of the Granadine war, foot soldiers armed with sword and buckler, or arquebuses and crossbows, and light cavalry, trained to unsleeping vigilance, capable of long marches, and of an endurance unparalleled among the soldiers of the time, he could carry on a guerrillero warfare which wore down his opponents, who suffered far more than the Spaniards from the heat. ”

“ When the king of Naples had been despoiled, the French and Spaniards quarrelled over the booty. The Great Captain now found himself with a much outnumbered army in the presence of the French. The war was divided into two phases very similar to one another. During the end of 1502 and the early part of 1503 the Spaniards stood at bay in the entrenched camp at Barletta near the Ofanto on the shores of the Adriatic. He resolutely refused to be tempted into battle either by the taunts of the French or the discontent of his own soldiers. ”

“ When, therefore, the Catholic sovereigns decided to support the Aragonese house of Naples against Charles VIII. of France, Gonzalo was chosen by the influence of the queen, and in preference to older men, to command the Spanish expedition. It was in Italy that he won the title of the Great Captain; Guicciardini says that it was given him by the customary arrogance of the Spaniards, but it was certainly accepted as just by all the soldiers of the time of whatever nationality. ”