Everything about Battle Of Arbedo totally explained
In 1419,
Uri and
Obwalden bought the
Bellinzona stronghold from the
Sacco barons, but were unable to defend it adequately. When, in 1422, they rejected the
Milanese proposal to buy back the fortified town, their troops stationed in
Bellinzona were put to rout by the
Visconti army under the command of
Francesco Bussone, called «
Il Carmagnola». An attempt to reconquer the fortified area with the support of other
confederates led to the Battle of
Arbedo on the 30th of June of the same year.
The battle was fought near
Arbedo, a village 3 km north of
Bellinzona. The Count of
Carmagnola led the
Lombard forces of the
Duchy against the
Swiss and was victorious.
The
Swiss were mainly equipped with
halberds and, had an initial success against the
Lombard cavalry charge. Then
Carmagnola brougth his
crossbowmen forward, while dismounting his
cavalry. The dismounted
men-at-arms used
lance which outreached the
halberds. The
Swiss were further under pressure by the
crossbow fire on the flanks.
The
Milanese force began to push back the
Swiss, who were only saved from total disaster by the appearance of a band of foragers, who the
Milanese were convinced represented a major new force. When the
Milanese force pulled back to reform, the
Swiss fled the battlefield, having taken heavy casualties.
The victory secured
Bellinzona and the
Leventina to the
Duchy. In addition the
Duchy gained the
Val d'Ossola, thus the
Swiss losing all the territorial gains they'd made. The defeat, discouraged the
Swiss expansionist intentions towards
Lake Maggiore for a long time. It was the defeat at
Arbedo, that made the
Swiss increase the number of
pikemen.
Sources
- P. Pieri: Il Rinascimento e la crisi militare italiana
- M. Mallett: Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy
- E. Pometta: Come il Ticino venne in potere degli Svizzeri. Bellinzona
- A. Battistella: Il conte di Carmagnola
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