The First Army Destroyed By Small Arms - The battle that changed history on this day
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The Battle of Cerignola was fought in the year 1503 between the armies of France and Spain during the Italian Wars. The French had fielded a professional army that had been outfitted with the best heavy equipment of the day. The French force comprised roughly 9,000 soldiers made up of heavily armored cavalry and Swiss pikemen. The heavily armored main force was supported by 40 cannons. Such army composition was designed to crush other similarly composed European armies in the field during major meeting engagements.
By comparison, the Spanish force comprised only 6,300 men and they had only 20 cannons — half that of the French. At the outset, it looked like the French army was poised for an easy victory.
But the Spanish had a secret weapon that the French had not expected.
At this point in history, cannons had become a regular feature during warfare. 15th-century cannons were used to support cavalry charges and to bring down the stone walls of Medieval towns and cities. However, small arms wielded by individual soldiers had not become as prevalent on the battlefield.
Until now.
On April 28th, 1503, the Spanish fielded a force of over 1,000 arquebus wielding soldiers and the results were devastating.
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https://medium.com/short-history/the...s-60e2d03915c6