Second Italian War, the imperial armies of France and Spain were battling for supremacy on the Italian peninsula. When they met at the town of Cerignola in southern Italy, the forces of Spain, under the command of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, were outnumbered by the French and their pike-wielding Swiss mercenary friends. But the Spanish had something going for them: 1,000 well-positioned arquebusiers, aka guys with guns. French heavy cavalry, backed up by the Swiss pikemen, did what European armies had done for decadesthey charged. Hundreds of French soldiers, including their leader Louis dArmagnac, Duke of Nemours, were cut down by the Spanish fusillade, again and again. The Battle of Cerignola was a game-changer in the history of warfare, considered first big European battle won mostly through the use of small arms. And the Duke of Nemours possibly has the dubious distinction of being the first general to be gunned down in combat. Live by the sword, die by small arms fire.