Battle of Ceresole
The two armies stared at each other throughout the morning of 14 April. Enghien and del Vasto both took the opportunity to liaise with their captains during this period. As part of these consultations, Monluc was awarded control of all the arquebusiers in the old bands. The battle began with an artillery duel, which lasted for three hours and was viciously contested. Early in the afternoon, there was a skirmish of arquebusiers, between those of the old band under the seigneur de Monluc and those of the Imperial right of the prince of Salerno. This battle focused around the southernmost limit of the battle line, at the Alfiere cascina near the plateau. Having captured the cascina, control of it was in flux for the next few hours, each side alternating possession until it was finally definitively won by the Imperials. Throughout this action the French artillery had thundered away, supporting Monluc's arquebusiers in the south and firing on the German and Spanish infantry in the north. Due to the distance between the two armies the French artillery achieved little. Indeed the French had hoped to site their artillery on the cascina. This combat came to an end at around 16:00. With the Imperial artillery near the cascina now in a position where it might actually threaten the old bands, this induced in them the desire to advance rather than continue to be subject to attacks. The light cavalry of the French and Imperial wings now surged forward into a new combat. On the French right, the cavalry of the seigneur de Thermes crashed into the Italian cavalry facing them, scattering Baglioni's force. In the north, the seigneur de Dampierre enjoyed similar success against the Imperial cavalry of the prince of Sulmona. This success was not uncomplicated however, in the headiness of the advance, de Thermes' cavalry got tangled with the prince of Salerno's pikeman, with Thermes being unhorsed and captured. Meanwhile, the seigneur de Dampierre was forced to reorganise after his advance.
While the French cavalry was advancing, much of their infantry remained motionless. This was not the same in the Imperial camp, which began two parallel movements. Near the north of the line, the Spanish and German veteran infantry began moving forward to fight the Gruyères, Provençal and Italian royal infantry. Further down the line, the fifteen bands of German landsknechts in Imperial service made their advance.
The advance of the northern veteran infantry against Enghien's part of the line overran the French artillery batteries in their path, with horses and gunners killed, and ammunition torched. Meanwhile, to the south, the old bands of French infantry had been intending to advance on Salerno's Italians but were now faced with the advance of the landsknechts on their left flank. They therefore moved to confront this advancing force, as did the landsknechts longtime rivals, the Swiss. As the two sides enmeshed with one another in a push of pikes, the Imperial landsknechts counted on their numbers to allow them move against the flanks of their opponents. The French meanwhile worked to broaden their front. In addition to the pikes, Gascon arquebusiers were also involved in this melee. The French came out of this melee well, pushing the landsknechts back and inducing heavy casualties.
The aim of the Imperial advance in the north was to isolate the Swiss of Enghien's centre. The French left wing fell into crisis. The Gruyères infantry collapsed with the Imperial onslaught. As the Gruyères infantry fled back into the Provençal and Italian infantry of the sieur de Dros they too were thrown into chaos and flight. Some of the French baggage also departed the field. The Spanish infantry were thus able to cleave their way through them. With this local triumph on the field, the Spanish and German veteran infantry hoped to swing into the French flanks, like had been accomplished with great effect at the battle of Pavia. The poor performance of the Gruyères earned them the apathy of the French.
It was now that the French gendarmerie undertook two charges. The one, a hundred men-at-arms led by the seigneur de Boutières against that of the marquis del Vasto; the other by the comte d'Enghien against the Spanish of the centre left. Del Vasto was perched on the rightmost edge of the German landsknechts and, faced with Boutières charge his force withdrew. Exploiting their success, Boutières gendarmes now looked to support the Swiss and French infantry in their fight with the landsknechts. This strike was delivered effectively against the rear rows of the landsknechts. The cavalries success was imitated by the men of the seigneur de Thermes. Together these efforts doomed the landsknechts, which fell into a state of panic. Neither the Florentines nor the forces of the prince of Salerno intervened to support the landsknechts. Surrounded, the landsknecht force was cut to pieces. Knives were used to kill the wounded. Those landsknechts that had thrown down their weapons and surrendered, were killed by the Swiss. Even landsknechts that had fallen into the hands of those that wished to spare them were cut down. Guinand notes that this violence was not unusual, particularly between the Swiss and landsknechts, who were rivals. The pursuit of the landsknechts terminated in front of Ceresole when word arrived that part of the Imperial army had yet to be defeated.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Enghien's charge brought together 600 cavalrymen in several waves of what Sournia describes as "imprudent" strikes. They looked to hit at the flank of the Spanish infantry. However, by this point the Spanish were developing the system of the tercio which combined the use of arquebuses and pikes. This was not the same kind of infantry as the French might have faced in prior decades. Enghien's charge was able only to break a corner of the Spanish formation, but could not shake the wider unit. Among those shot in the first wave was the seigneur d'Assier. Many of the French horses were killed in the attack, including that which belonged to Enghien. Unable to deliver the decisive blow he had envisioned, even with the support of the forces of the seigneur de Dampierre, the Imperial infantry continued its pursuit of the routing French left. In Pellegrini's estimation, Enghien's charge kept open the possibility of French victory. Indeed, this is the opinion of the contemporary memoirist du Bellay, who argues that Enghien's force temporarily slowed del Vasto's old bands, which was critical for stopping them from marching into the rear of the Swiss and Gascons and bringing about an Imperial victory. Due to rises and falls in the ground, Enghien's ability to command the wider French army and know the state of the broader battle was lost as soon as he began his charge. He was therefore unaware of the destruction of the German landsknechts and the withdrawal of Salerno's Italians in the wake of the landsknechts defeat. With this limited information, Enghien despaired the battle as having been lost. Enghien began to withdraw towards Carmagnola, however he was intercepted by his maître de camp (camp master) Saint-Julien who urged him to turn around, as his army was victorious and not defeated.
The Imperial right of the Spanish and German soldiers, now found themselves sandwiched between the returning elements of the French left who had been retreating from the battlefield, and the Gascon and Swiss bands who had terminated their pursuit towards Ceresole. Realising they were advancing alone, and having been appraised of the defeat of the rest of the Imperial army, the Imperial right halted itself. This force now began to retreat, pursued by Enghien's cavalry, as well as some infantry that had rallied. The force faced the French infantry coming from Ceresole. After a little while, much of this force surrendered. Knowing they would find small mercy at the hands of the infantry, the Spanish and German infantry worked to surrender to the French cavalry, crowding around them.
The prince of Salerno ordered a retreat. The battle concluded with the pursuit of those Imperials who were still withdrawing until night fell.
