The Neapolitan troops, led by Queen Joan's second husband Louis of Taranto, were in the fortified town of Capua.

Most of King Louis 's troops were Italian and German mercenaries and English longbowmen, considered unreliable; his more loyal Hungarian knights were unsuitable for the siege of fortresses.

To cover this manoeuvre he ordered Niccolò Gaetano, Count of Fondi, to attack the bridgehead of river Volturno with the Hungarian and German cavalry and Lombard infantry.

Some days later Queen Joan sailed to Provence, followed by her husband; subsequently the Kingdom of Naples fell to King Louis.

Louis' Italian army contained German mercenary infantry, Hungarian heavy knights and light cavalry from Hungary, and remarkable English longbowmen.