On 19 March 43 BC, Pansa, the other new consul, was also sent north from Rome to join up with Hirtius (his fellow consul) and Octavian, at Forum Gallorum. Pansa had four legions of recruits. Antony marched on 14 April with his praetorian cohort, the II and the XXXV legions, light-armed troops, and a strong body of cavalry to cut Pansa off before he could reach the senatorial armies. Antony assumed that Pansa had only four legions of raw recruits, but the previous night Hirtius had dispatched the "Legio Martia" and Octavian's praetorian cohort to assist Pansa. Antony prepared a deadly ambush against these hardened veterans, as well as Pansa's recruits, in the marshes along the Via Aemilia. The Battle of Forum Gallorum was fierce and bloody; Pansa's troops were routed and their commander mortally wounded. However, instead of gaining a decisive victory, Antony was forced to withdraw when a legion of reinforcements sent by Hirtius crashed into his own exhausted ranks. This turned the fortunes of the battle. Antony's legions were beaten and retreated to Mutina.