The duke afterwards ordered all his horsemen and infantry, of which
there were more than two thousand cavalry and ten thousand footmen, to
assemble by daybreak at the Metauro, a river five miles distant from
Fano, and await him there. He found himself, therefore, on the last day
of December at the Metauro with his men, and having sent a cavalcade of
about two hundred horsemen before him, he then moved forward the
infantry, whom he accompanied with the rest of the men-at-arms.
Fano and Sinigalia are two cities of La Marca situated on the shore of
the Adriatic Sea, fifteen miles distant from each other, so that he who
goes towards Sinigalia has the mountains on his right hand, the bases
of which are touched by the sea in some places. The city of Sinigalia
is distant from the foot of the mountains a little more than a bow-shot
and from the shore about a mile. On the side opposite to the city runs
a little river which bathes that part of the walls looking towards
Fano, facing the high road. Thus he who draws near to Sinigalia comes
for a good space by road along the mountains, and reaches the river
which passes by Sinigalia. If he turns to his left hand along the bank
of it, and goes for the distance of a bow-shot, he arrives at a bridge
which crosses the river; he is then almost abreast of the gate that
leads into Sinigalia, not by a straight line, but transversely. Before
this gate there stands a collection of houses with a square to which
the bank of the river forms one side.
The Vitelli and Orsini having received orders to wait for the duke, and
to honour him in person, sent away their men to several castles distant
from Sinigalia about six miles, so that room could be made for the men
of the duke; and they left in Sinigalia only Oliverotto and his band,
which consisted of one thousand infantry and one hundred and fifty
horsemen, who were quartered in the suburb mentioned above. Matters
having been thus arranged, the Duke Valentino left for Sinigalia, and
when the leaders of the cavalry reached the bridge they did not pass
over, but having opened it, one portion wheeled towards the river and
the other towards the country, and a way was left in the middle through
which the infantry passed, without stopping, into the town.