worse
condition. The Count Francesco, as soon as the season would permit, took
the field with his army, and the Venetians having again covered the lake
with their galleys, he determined first of all to drive the duke from
the water; judging, that this once effected, his remaining task would be
easy. He therefore, with the Venetian fleet, attacked that of the duke,
and destroyed it. His land forces took the castles held for Filippo,
and the ducal troops who were besieging Brescia, being informed of
these transactions, withdrew; and thus, the city, after standing a three
years' siege, was at length relieved. The count then went in quest
of the enemy, whose forces were encamped before Soncino, a fortress
situated upon the River Oglio; these he dislodged and compelled to
retreat to Cremona, where the duke again collected his forces, and
prepared for his defense. But the count constantly pressing him more
closely, he became apprehensive of losing either the whole, or the
greater part, of his territories; and perceiving the unfortunate step
he had taken, in sending Niccolo into Tuscany, in order to correct his
error, he wrote to acquaint him with what had transpired, desiring him,
with all possible dispatch, to leave Tuscany and return to Lombardy.

In the meantime, the Florentines, under their commissaries, had drawn
together their forces, and being joined by those of the pope, halted at
Anghiari, a castle placed at the foot of the mountains that divide the
Val di Tavere from the Val di Chiane, distant four miles from the
Borgo San Sepolcro, on a level road, and in a country suitable for the
evolutions of cavalry or a battlefield. As the Signory had heard of the
count's victory and the recall of Niccolo, they imagined that without
again drawing a sword or disturbing the dust under their horses' feet,
the victory was their own, and the war at an end, they wrote to the
commissaries, desiring them to avoid an engagement, as Niccolo could
not remain much longer in Tuscany. These instructions coming to the
knowledge of Piccinino, and perceiving the necessity of his speedy
return, to leave nothing unattempted, he determined to engage the enemy,
expecting to find them unprepared, and not disposed for battle. In this
determination he was confirmed by Rinaldo, the Count di Poppi, and other
Florentine exiles, who saw their inevitable ruin in the departure of
Niccolo, and hoped, that if he engaged the enemy, they would either
be victor