the next night he lay near Tortona, where he passed the river Scrivia, which Fracasse[430] was to have defended, for the garrison of Tortona supported the Duke of Milan, and were commanded by him: but when he was informed by our quarter-masters that the king intended not to remain, he retired into the town, and sent us word, that he would furnish us with what provisions we pleased; and he faithfully performed his promise; for when our whole army marched under the walls of the town, Fracasse came out (in his armour) to wait upon the king, but attended only by two persons; he excused himself as handsomely as he could for not quartering us in the town, sent us out more provisions, (so that our army was plentifully furnished,) and came again at night, to pay his respects to the king in his tent. But you must know he was of the house of St. Severino, brother to the Count di Cajazzo, and the Lord Galeas; and not long before had served the king in Romagna, as has been already observed. From thence our next march was to Nizza della Paglia[431], which belongs to the Marquisate of Montferrat; and glad we were to reach that place; for then we were safe, and in the country of our friends. Before our arrival there, the enemy’s light horse, under the command of the Count di Cajazzo, were perpetually at our heels, and gave us great disturbance; for few of our horse were willing to be in the rear, and the nearer we approached to a place of security, the more difficult it was to persuade them to fight. Some say this is the nature of the French, and Italian authors have written, that in their attacks they are more than men, but less than women in their retreats. The first part of their character I believe, for certainly upon a charge they are the fiercest nation in the world (I mean their cavalry); but at the end of an engagement, there is no nation in the world but is less daring and courageous than they were in the beginning of the action. CH. XIV.—How the Swiss secured the French army in its retreat.—1495. But to continue this discourse: Our rear was brought up by three hundred Swiss, with several field-pieces, and a strong body of hackbutters, who drove off the Estradiots, who were not numerous. However, the grand army which had fought us was pursuing with all possible diligence, but as they began their march a day after us, and were heavily armed, they could not get up to us; so that we lost not a man in our retreat, nor could they ever come within twenty miles of our rear. When they found they could not come up with us, (and perhaps they never desired it,) they turned off towards Novara, where, as we said before, the Duke of Milan and the Venetians had another army; but if they could have reached us, soon after we began our retreat, in all probability they had succeeded better than in the valley of Fornovo.