BATTLE OF CAPPEL.
But already Jauch's skirmishers, rushing from among the trees, had fallen impetuously upon the Zurichers, charging with their long and pointed halberds. "Heretics! sacrilegists!" cried they, "we have you at last!"—"Man-sellers, idolaters, impious Papists!" replied the Zurichers, "is it really you?" At first a shower of stones fell from both parties and wounded several; immediately they come to close quarters. The resistance of the Zurichers was terrible.[1217] Each struck with the sword or with the halberd: at last the soldiers of the Five Cantons were driven back in disorder. The Zurichers advanced, but in so doing lost the advantages of their position, and got entangled in the marsh. Some Roman-catholic historians pretend that this flight of their troops was a stratagem to draw the Zurichers into the snare.[1218]
In the mean time the army of the Five Cantons hasten through the wood. Burning with courage and with anger, they eagerly quicken their steps; from the midst of the beech-trees there resounded a confused and savage noise—a frightful murmur; the ground shook; one might have said that the forest was uttering a horrible roar, or that witches were holding their nocturnal revels.[1219] In vain do the bravest of the Zurichers offer an intrepid resistance: the Waldstettes have the advantage in every quarter. "They are surrounding us," cried some. "Our men are fleeing," said others. A man from the canton of Zug mingling with the Zurichers, and pretending to be of their party, exclaims: "Fly, fly, brave Zurichers, you are betrayed!" Thus everything is against Zurich. Even the hand of Him who is the disposer of battles, turns against this people. Thus was it also in times of old that God frequently chastised his own people of Israel by the Assyrian sword. A panic terror seizes upon the bravest, and the disorder spreads everywhere with frightful rapidity.
THE BANNER IN DANGER.
In the meanwhile the aged Schweizer had raised the great banner with a firm hand, and all the picked men of Zurich were drawn up around it; but soon their ranks were thinned. John Kammli, charged with the defence of the standard, having observed the small number of combatants that remained upon the field of battle, said to the banneret: "Let us lower the banner, my lord, and save it, for our people are flying shamefully:"—"Warriors, remain firm," replied the aged banneret, whom no danger had ever shaken. The disorder augmented—the number of fugitives increased every minute; the old man stood fast, amazed and immoveable as an aged oak beaten by a frightful hurricane. He received unflinchingly the blows that fell upon him, and alone resisted the terrible storm. Kammli seized him by the arm: "My lord," said he again, "lower the banner, or else we shall lose it: there is no more glory to be reaped here!" The banneret, who was already mortally wounded, exclaimed: "Alas! must the city of Zurich be so punished!" Then, dragged off by Kammli, who held him by the arm, he retreated as far as the ditch. The weight of years, and the wounds with which he was covered, did not permit him to cross it. He fell in the mire at the bottom, still holding the glorious standard, whose folds dropped on the other bank.
The enemy ran up with loud shouts, being attracted by the colours of Zurich, as the bull by the gladiator's flag. Kammli seeing this, unhesitatingly leaps to the bottom of the ditch, and lays hold of the stiff and dying hands of his chief, in order to preserve the precious ensign, which they tightly grasped. But it is in vain; the hands of the aged Schweizer will not loose the standard. "My lord banneret!" cried this faithful servant, "it is no longer in your power to defend it." The hands of the banneret, already stiffened in death, still refuse; upon which Kammli violently tears away the sacred standard, leaps upon the other bank, and rushes with his treasure far from the steps of the enemy. The last Zurichers at this moment reach the ditch, they fall one after another upon the expiring banneret, and thus hasten his death.
THE BANNER SAVED.
Kammli, however, having received a wound from a gunshot, his march was retarded, and soon the Waldstettes surround him with their swords. The Zuricher, holding the banner in one hand, and his sword in the other, defends himself bravely. One of the Waldstettes catches hold of the staff—another seizes the flag itself and tears it. Kammli with one blow of his sword cuts down the former, and striking around him, calls out: "To the rescue, brave Zurichers! save the honour and the banner of our lords." The assailants increase in number, and the warrior is about to fall, when Adam Næff of Wollenwyd rushes up sword in hand, and the head of the Waldstette who had torn the colours rolls upon the plain, and his blood gushes out upon the flag of Zurich. Dumysen, member of the Smaller Council, supports Næff with his halberd, and both deal such lusty blows, that they succeed in disengaging the standard-bearer. He, although dangerously wounded, springs forward, holding the blood-stained folds of the banner in one hand, which he carries off hastily, dragging the staff behind him. With fierce look and fiery eye, he thus passes sword in hand through the midst of friends and enemies: he crosses plains, woods, and marshes, everywhere leaving traces of his blood, which flows from numerous wounds. Two of his enemies, one from Schwytz, the other from Zug—were particularly eager in his pursuit. "Heretic! villain!" cried they, "surrender and give us the banner."—"You shall have my life first," replied the Zuricher. Then the two hostile soldiers, who were embarrassed by their cuirasses, stopped a moment to take them off. Kammli took advantage of this to get in advance: he ran; Huber, Dumysen, and Dantzler of Naenikon were at his side. They all four thus arrived near Husen, half-way up the Albis. They had still to climb the steepest part of the mountain. Huber falls covered with wounds. Dumysen, the colonel-general, who had fought as a private soldier, almost reaches the church of Husen, and there he falls lifeless: and two of his sons, in the flower of youth, soon lie stretched on the battle-field that has drunk their father's blood. Kammli takes a few steps further; but halts erelong, exhausted and panting, near a hedge that he would have to clear, and discovers his two enemies, and other Waldstettes running from all sides, like birds of prey, towards the wavering standard of Zurich. The strength of Kammli sinks rapidly, his eyes grow dim, thick darkness surrounds him: a hand of lead fastens him to the ground. Then, mustering all his expiring strength, he flings the standard on the other side of the hedge, exclaiming: "Is there any brave Zuricher near me? Let him preserve the banner and the honour of our lords! As for me, I can do no more!" Then casting a last look to heaven, he adds: "May God be my helper!" He fell exhausted by this last effort. Dantzler, who came up, flung away his sword, sprung over the hedge, seized the banner, and cried, "With the aid of God, I will carry it off." He then rapidly climbed the Albis, and at last placed the ancient standard of Zurich in safety. God, on whom these warriors fixed all their hopes, had heard their prayers, but the noblest blood of the republic had been spilt.
The enemy were victorious at all points. The soldiers of the Five Cantons, and particularly those of Unterwalden, long hardened in the wars of the Milanese, showed themselves more merciless towards their confederates than they had ever been towards foreigners. At the beginning of the battle, Goldli had taken flight, and soon after he quitted Zurich for ever. Lavater, the captain-general, after having fought valiantly, had fallen into the ditch. He was dragged out by a soldier, and had escaped.
TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER.