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 victorious, or vanquished without dishonor. This resolution being
adopted, Niccolo led his army, unperceived by the enemy, from Citta di
Castello to the Borgo, where he enlisted two thousand men, who, trusting
the general's talents and promises, followed him in hope of plunder.
Niccolo then led his forces in battle array toward Anghiari, and
had arrived within two miles of the place, when Micheletto Attendulo
observed great clouds of dust, and conjecturing at once, that it must
be occasioned by the enemy's approach, immediately called the troops to
arms. Great confusion prevailed in the Florentine camp, for the ordinary
negligence and want of discipline were now increased by their presuming
the enemy to be at a distance, and they were more disposed to fight than
to battle; so that everyone was unarmed, and some wandering from the