A citizen of Zurich, one Leonard Bourkhard, who was ill-disposed towards the reformer, said to him in a harsh tone, "Well, Master Ulric, what do you say about this business? Are the radishes salt enough?......who will eat them now?"[1210] "I," replied Zwingle, "and many a brave man who is here in the hands of God; for we are his in life and in death."—"And I too—I will help eat them," resumed Bourkhard immediately, ashamed of his brutality,—"I will risk my life for them." And he did so, and many others with him, adds the chronicle.
It was four o'clock; the sun was sinking rapidly; the Waldstettes did not advance, and the Zurichers began to think that the attack would be put off till the morrow. In fact, the chiefs of the Five Cantons seeing the great banner of Zurich arrive, the night near at hand, and the impossibility of crossing under the fire of the Zurichers the marsh and the ditch that separated the combatants, were looking for a place in which their troops might pass the night. "If, at this moment, any mediators had appeared," says Bullinger, "their proposals would have been accepted."
BATTLE OF CAPPEL.
The soldiers, observing the hesitation of their chiefs, began to murmur loudly. "The big ones abandon us," said one. "The captains fear to bite the fox's tail," said another. "Not to attack them," cried they all, "is to ruin our cause." During this time a daring man was preparing the skilful manœuvre that was to decide the fate of the day. A warrior of Uri, John Jauch, formerly bailiff of Sargans, a good marksman and experienced soldier, having taken a few men with him, moved towards the right of the army of the Five Cantons, crept into the midst of the clump of beech-trees that, by forming a semicircle to the east, unite the hill of Ifelsberg to that of the Granges,[1211] found the wood empty, arrived to within a few paces of the Zurichers, and there, hidden behind the trees, remarked unperceived the smallness of their numbers, and their want of caution. Then, stealthily retiring, he went to the chiefs at the very moment the discontent was on the point of bursting out. "Now is the time to attack the enemy," cried he. "Dear gossip," replied Troquer, captain-in-chief of Uri, "you do not mean to say that we should set to work at so late an hour; besides, the men are preparing their quarters, and everybody knows what it cost our fathers at Naples and Marignan for having commenced the attack a little before night. And then it is Innocents' day, and our ancestors have never given battle on a feast-day."[1212]—"Don't think about the Innocents of the calendar," replied Jauch, "but let us rather remember the innocents that we have left in our cottages." Gaspard Goldli of Zurich, brother of the commander of the Granges, added his entreaties to those of the warrior of Uri. "We must either beat the Zurichers to-night," said he, "or be beaten by them to-morrow. Take your choice."
AMBUSCADE.
All was unavailing; the chiefs were inflexible, and the army prepared to take up its quarters. Then the warrior of Uri, understanding like his fellow-countryman Tell that great evils require great remedies, drew his sword and cried: "Let all true confederates follow me."[1213] Then hastily leaping to his saddle, he spurred his horse into the forest;[1214] and immediately arquebusiers, soldiers from the Adige, and many other warriors of the Five Cantons, especially from Unterwalden—in all about 300 men, rushed into the wood after him. At this sight Jauch no longer doubts of the victory of the Waldstettes. He dismounts and falls upon his knees, "for," says Tschudi, "he was a man who feared God." All his followers do the same, and together invoke the aid of God, of his holy mother, and of all the heavenly host, They then advance; but soon the warrior of Uri, wishing to expose no one but himself, halts his troops, and glides from tree to tree to the verge of the wood. Observing that the enemy was as incautious as ever, he rejoins his arquebusiers, leads them stealthily forward, and posts them silently behind the trees of the forest,[1215] enjoining them to take their aim so as not to miss their men. During this time the chiefs of the Five Cantons, foreseeing that this rash man was about to bring on the action, decided against their will, and collected their soldiers around the banners.
VIII. The Zurichers, fearing that the enemy would seize upon the road that led to their capital, were then directing part of their troops and their guns to a low hill by which it was commanded. At the very moment that the invisible arquebusiers stationed among the beech trees were taking their aim, this detachment passed near the little wood. The deepest silence prevails in this solitude: each one posted there picks out the man he desires to bring down, and Jauch exclaims: "In the name of the Holy Trinity—of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost—of the Holy Mother of God, and of all the heavenly host—fire!" At the word the deadly balls issue from the wood, and a murderous carnage in the ranks of Zurich follows this terrible discharge. The battle, which had begun four hours ago, and which had never appeared to be a serious attack, now underwent an unforeseen change. The sword was not again to be returned to the scabbard until it had been bathed in torrents of blood. Those of the Zurichers who had not fallen at this first discharge, lie flat on the ground, so that the balls pass over their heads; but they soon spring up, saying: "Shall we allow ourselves to be butchered? No! let us rather attack the enemy!" Lavater seizes a lance, and rushing into the foremost rank exclaims: "Soldiers, uphold the honour of God and of our lords, and behave like brave men!" Zwingle, silent and collected, like nature before the bursting of the tempest, was there also halberd in hand. "Master Ulric," said Bernard Sprungli, "speak to the people and encourage them." "Warriors!" said Zwingle, "fear nothing. If we are this day to be defeated, still our cause is good. Commend yourselves to God!"
The Zurichers quickly turn the artillery they were dragging to another quarter, and point it against the wood; but their bullets, instead of striking the enemy, only reach the top of the trees, and tear off a few branches that fall upon the skirmishers.[1216]
Rychmuth, the landamman of Schwytz, came up at a gallop to recall the volunteers; but seeing the battle begun, he ordered the whole army to advance. Immediately the five banners moved forward.