The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo Vol 1 Part 36

As soon as the Mexicans espied the dead body of their monarch, they broke out into loud lamentations, and moaned bitterly; but still continued the attack upon us, and that with increased fury. "Now," they hollowed out, "we will make you pay dearly for the death of our monarch, and the insult you have offered to our G.o.ds! Is it now you beg peace of us? Only come out, and we will show you what terms we mean to make with you!" Many such like insulting speeches they threw out against us, and added, that they had now selected a monarch whose heart was placed in the right spot, and whom we should not so easily deceive with our lies as we had the good-natured Motecusuma. "Don't trouble yourselves,"

continued they, "about his burial, but think of your own graves, for, in a couple of days, not a single one of you will be left alive!"

Under such like threats, and vehement yells, they attempted to fire our quarters at various points. As it was very evident to us that we could not hold out much longer, it was determined, in a council of war, that we should abandon the metropolis, and continue the war outside on the main land, where we could destroy the plantations.

In this our proposed retreat, the cavalry was to form the vanguard, and at all stakes to break through the enemy's ranks, or drive them into the lake, even if we were to sacrifice all our horses in the attempt.

Previous to taking this step, we determined on making such dreadful havoc among the Mexican troops, that they might allow us to depart in peace from the fear of still greater losses. This resolve was carried out the day following with unshaken bravery. We mowed down great numbers of the enemy, set fire to about twenty houses, and had fought our way almost up to the main land; but though we suffered much, and purchased this partial success with above twenty killed, it availed us nothing, for we could not gain possession of any of the bridges, which, besides being half burnt down, were defended by strong bodies of the enemy. Even those places where the horse might have found a way through the water, the enemy had now rendered impa.s.sable by sharp stakes which they had driven in. Thus we were beset on all sides by perils of various natures.

In this last sally of our cavalry, which happened on a Thursday, there were, besides Sandoval, Lares, Dominiguez, Leon, Morla, and other brave cavalry officers, many of Narvaez's horse, who, however, showed the utmost fear, as they had not yet experienced, as we old soldiers of Cortes had, what it was to fight against Indians.

CHAPTER CXXVIII.

_How we come to the determination of leaving Mexico secretly at night; and what further happened._

In this way our strength daily diminished, while that of the enemy increased. Several of our men had been killed, and most of us were wounded. Our courage was of no avail against such vast crowds, who kept up a constant attack upon us both during day and night time. Our powder was fast diminishing,[87] and provisions and water were beginning to fail. Motecusuma was gone, and the peace we solicited was refused. All the bridges on the causeways, along which we had to make good our retreat, had been destroyed by the enemy; in short death was staring at us on every hand. It was, therefore, at last determined, in a council of war, that we should leave the city, and choose the night-time to effect our purpose, when the enemy was generally less vigilant. To make more sure, we resolved to despatch one of the chief papas we had taken with many other prisoners, to the Mexicans on the evening preceding the night we contemplated making our retreat, to request of them to allow us to march quietly out of the city within the s.p.a.ce of eight days, as we intended to leave them all the gold we possessed.

On this our determination one of the soldiers named Botello had had great influence. This man was an Italian by birth, and was remarkable for his honesty and great intelligence. He had been at Rome, and many believed he could conjure up the dead; some said he had a _spiritus familiaris_, and many of us commonly called him the astrologer.

Botello had, four days previously, announced, that, by means of his secret art, he had discovered that every one of us would be killed if we did not leave Mexico on a certain night. He had likewise prophesied of Cortes that great misfortunes awaited him; he would lose his property and honour, but again rise to eminence and riches. Similar horoscopes drawn by him were frequently mentioned by our men.

As we shall again have to mention this Botello, we must now see what preparations were going on for our retreat; the first and most important of which was, the construction of a moveable bridge, out of strong beams, which was to serve in pa.s.sing the ca.n.a.ls where the former bridges had been burnt down by the enemy. Four hundred Tlascallans, a.s.sisted by 150 of our men, were to take charge of this bridge; were to fix it in the proper place each time it was required, then remove it again, and so on, until the whole of us with our baggage and cannon had pa.s.sed the several openings. The transport of our heavy guns was intrusted to 250 Tlascallans and fifty of our men. Sandoval, Lugo, Ordas, and Tapia, formed the vanguard; these were to clear the streets of the enemy, and for that purpose were reinforced by eight or ten of Narvaez's officers, whose names I will not mention, and 100 of our strongest and most nimble young soldiers. Cortes himself was to take his station, supported by Oli, Avila, Bernardino de Tapia, besides other officers and fifty soldiers, between the baggage, our Indian female servants and the prisoners, in order to render a.s.sistance wherever it was most required.

The rear-guard was to be commanded by Leon and Alvarado, consisting of the main body of the cavalry, 100 foot, and the greater part of Narvaez's troops. Dona Marina and Dona Luisa, with the prisoners, were to be guarded by 300 Tlascallans and thirty Spaniards.

After these arrangements had been made, and night was fast approaching, Cortes ordered his chamberlain Christobal de Guzman to see that all the gold, silver, and other valuable matters were brought together in one apartment. The royal treasurers, Alonso Avila and Gonzalo Mexia, were then desired to deduct the emperor's portion, and load eight of our wounded horses and eighty Tlascallans with it. The greater part of the treasure consisted of broad bars of gold, with which the horses and men were as heavily laden as possible.

Cortes then called his private secretary Pedro Hernandez, and the other royal secretaries, and spoke to them as follows: "Put down in writing and bear witness that I have done all which lay in my power to save this treasure, which is valued at 700,000 pesos. You see it is impossible to load any more of it on the Indian porters and the eight horses; I will, therefore, allow the soldiers to take as much away with them as they can conveniently carry, that this treasure may not fall into the hands of these Mexican dogs."

As soon as Narvaez's men and many of our old soldiers heard this, they stowed away as much as they could. For myself, whose failing had never been to covet gold, I took four chalchihuis stones out of a small box, and secreted them between my cuira.s.s. Cortes soon after gave this box in safe keeping to his steward, and I do think he would have demanded the said four chalchihuis stones back again of me if I had not quickly secreted them. This small treasure proved afterwards of the greatest value to me towards the curing of my wounds, and in procuring myself food.

All matters being now properly ordered, and the mode of our retreat settled, we began to move forward. It was about the hour of midnight, and rather dark, a thin mist hung over the town, and a gentle rain was falling.

The moment we began to move forward in the above-mentioned order, the rear-guard being already in motion, and our moveable bridge fixed, and Sandoval, with his body of horse, and Cortes, with those under his command, and many other soldiers, had pa.s.sed across, the wild war music and loud yells of the Mexicans suddenly burst forth. "Up, up, Tlatelulco!" they cried; "out with your canoes! The teules are running away: cut off their retreat over the bridges!"

And before we had time to look about us, we were attacked by vast bodies of the enemy, and the whole lake was instantly covered with canoes, so that we were unable to move on any further, although many of our men had already pa.s.sed the moveable bridge. Now the most obstinate conflict ensued for the possession of this, and, as misfortunes never come singly, it happened that two of our horses should slide out on the wet planks, become unmanageable, and roll over into the lake. This caused the bridge itself to overbalance and fall down. A number of Mexicans that instant fell furiously on us, and, though we exerted ourselves to the utmost, and cut down numbers of the enemy, we were unable to recover the bridge. As, however, those behind, kept continually pushing on those in front, the opening in the ca.n.a.l was speedily filled up with dead horses and their riders, who were inevitably lost if they were unable to swim. The unmerciful enemy now attacked us from all sides. A number of Tlascallans and our Indian female servants were carried off, with the baggage and cannon; numbers of our men were drowned, and no less a number, who were trying to save themselves by swimming, were taken prisoners by those in the canoes. It was heart-rending to behold this scene of misery, and to hear the moans and pitiful cries for a.s.sistance.

"Help! help! I am drowning," cried one here: "help me, they are killing me!" cried another there. Here one called upon the name of the Virgin Mary for a.s.sistance; and there another upon Santiago de Compostella!

Here another, who had managed to get to the water's edge, implored us to lift him out; yonder, again, was another clambering over the dead bodies. Many, when they had reached the high road, imagined themselves safe, but here they only met with denser crowds of the foe. Does any believe that there was a man amongst us who still observed the order of retreat as it was first regulated? That man would, indeed, have been a fool who had thought of anything else but of his own safety! Cortes, with the officers and soldiers who were with him, acted similarly, and dashed away, unmindful of the men, at full gallop, over the bridge, and strove to gain the main land: besides which, it must be acknowledged that our cavalry was quite useless here. Exposed on every side to the enemy's arrows and lances, pelted with stones from the housetops, they had also to encounter a forest of our own swords, which the enemy had captured and fixed to their long lances, so that it was a wonder each time a horse with its rider escaped. Neither could we defend ourselves in the water, as the wet had rendered our muskets and crossbows totally useless, while the darkness of the night made every movement uncertain.

All our attempts to keep together were fruitless. What did it avail us if, at times, thirty or forty of us managed to make a stand, and boldly faced about? By this means we certainly advanced forward a little, yet none of us would have escaped alive, if, in the end, every one had not strove to save his own life. Thus sadly did we fare in that night, and had it been day we should have fared much worse. Indeed, if the Almighty had not lent us extraordinary powers, every man of us would have been killed! It was really terrific to see the immense crowds which fell upon us from all sides, and the number of canoes which were merely waiting for the moment to carry off the prisoners, all of whom were destined to be sacrificed to their G.o.ds! It was a fearful sight indeed!

I shall never forget how at one time about fifty of us had got together, and the Mexicans, while they fell upon us, constantly cried out, "O, O, Luilones!" meaning thereby, You wish to live, do you, you varlets? It was only by dint of heavy blows and hard fighting we were able to cut our way through.

At last, as we were approaching the main land near Tlacupa, where the vanguard, under Sandoval, with a large body of the cavalry and of our foot had arrived, we recognized the voices of Oli, Morla, and Sandoval, who were thus addressing Cortes: "Only consider for a moment, general, we are here indeed on safe ground, but there are still such numbers of our men in the streets behind the bridges, who will be inevitably lost unless we hurry back to their a.s.sistance. Up to this moment but few have been able to cut their way through, and these are all covered with wounds."

To which Cortes gave the sorrowful answer, "That it was a real wonder every time one of us escaped; if, however, they turned back to the bridges, they would certainly be lost with horses and all."

Nevertheless Cortes, Oli, Avila, Sandoval, Morla, and Dominiguez, turned back and took with them six or seven of the cavalry and a few of the foot who had escaped without a wound. They had not advanced far before they came up with Alvarado. He had lost his brown mare and was coming on limping with one foot, heavily wounded, with lance in hand, having only seven of his Spanish soldiers and eight Tlascallans left, all dripping with blood.

Cortes and those who had accompanied him now returned, and we took up a position close to Tlacupa. But even here the Mexicans had by this time arrived, and were stirring up the inhabitants of this town, of Escapuzalco, and of Tenayuacan against us.

Here again the Mexicans, who had fastened on our swords to their long pikes, set hard upon us, and we had enough to do to maintain our ground.

When Cortes came up with Alvarado and his few followers, and learnt the fate of those left behind, tears flowed from his eyes; for Alvarado and Leon had had above twenty horse and more than one hundred foot with them in the rear-guard. All these, with nearly the whole of the cavalry, and above one hundred and fifty other men of the old and new troops, had perished with Leon. Alvarado related, that after he and his men had all lost their horses, he managed to get together about eighty men, and with these he succeeded in pa.s.sing over the first opening by clambering over the baggage, dead men and horses. Although I am not sure whether he said that he pa.s.sed the opening by stepping over the dead bodies, I know that at this bridge more than 200 men, with Leon at their head, were cut to pieces by the enemy, notwithstanding all their courageous fighting. At the second bridge again, it was merely through G.o.d's mercy that Alvarado had saved himself, as all the ca.n.a.ls and streets were crowded by the enemy.

It was also at this bridge of sorrows that the well-known leap of Alvarado was said to have taken place. At that time, indeed, none of us took notice whether he leaped well or not; for every one had enough to do to escape from the hands of the merciless enemy. I am, however, inclined to believe that this leap was nothing more than what Alvarado told Cortes himself, how he had made his bridge over the ca.n.a.l by clambering over the baggage, dead bodies, and drowned horses; for the water was too deep in that place for him to have swung across the opening by means of his lance, and the width of the ca.n.a.l too great, however nimble Alvarado may have been, for him to have leaped across. It would have been an impossibility I am sure to have crossed it by means of his lance or by leaping. I myself can speak from eyewitness; for the following year when we marched against Mexico, and surrounded the town on all sides, I often came in contact with the enemy at that bridge which now bears the name of Alvarado's leap. At that time the Mexicans had blocked up the pa.s.sage with palisade and breastwork, and I very frequently spoke with my fellow-soldiers about the circ.u.mstance, but none of them ever thought such a leap possible. What people thought of it at the time itself the reader will see from the following anecdote.

Among Garay's troops there was a certain Ocampo who came to Mexico: this man possessed much wit and was always writing pasquils, or libelling some one or other. Among other things he wrote a good deal of scandal and falsehood respecting our officers, and accused Alvarado, that he had left Leon with upwards of 200 men and the whole of our cavalry which composed the rear-guard, in the lurch, and that in order to save his own life he had taken the Alvarado's leap indeed, in accordance with the old proverb: Leap and save your life![88]

As I have above mentioned, we had certainly reached Tlacupa, but had not escaped all danger there, for here again great numbers of Mexicans, with the troops of Tlacupa, Escapuzalco, Tenayuacan, and of the surrounding districts, continually a.s.sailed us; but it was from the maise plantations they did us most injury, and here we lost three more of our men, who had been previously wounded. The best thing we could therefore do was to quit this terrible neighbourhood as soon as possible. Some few of the Tlascallans knew a bye-road to Tlascalla, and they safely conducted us to a row of houses which stood on a rising ground, and here we quartered ourselves in a temple, which had also the appearance of a fortress. During the whole of this march the Mexicans continually hara.s.sed our troops, and greatly annoyed us with their arrows, slings, and lances. The reader must not be displeased if I am forced to depict the same miserable scenes over again.

It was not until we had reached this temple that we were able to defend ourselves successfully. Here we lighted several fires, and dressed our wounds.

After the conquest of Mexico, we turned this building into a church, and dedicated it to our dear lady _de los remedios_. This church in course of time became very celebrated, and to this day numerous people make pilgrimages to that place, particularly females, from Mexico.

We found, however, nothing to eat here, and it was grievous indeed to see with what miserable rags we were obliged to dress our wounds, which had become chilled by the cold, and this increased their severity. But what grieved us most was the great loss of horses, and of so many of our brave companions. Of our old troops there were missing Leon, Salcedo, Morla, the brave lancer Lares, and several others. And yet I merely mention these few; for if I wished to mention the names of all those whom we had to mourn, I should not finish so easily. Most of Narvaez's men met with their death at the bridges, from the weight of the gold with which they had overburdened themselves. The Tlascallans, who had charge of the crown treasures, shared a similar fate. The astrologer Botello[89] found no protection in all his art, and perished with many others. Even Motecusuma's sons,[90] and other princes we had taken prisoners, met with their deaths in that dreadful night.[91]

Before coming to any determination as to what our next step should be, we proceeded to consider our present condition. The whole of us were wounded, and only twenty-three horses had escaped alive; our cannon were all lost, and we had not a grain of powder left; there were but few crossbows remaining, though these, with the arrows, might speedily be replaced. Besides all this, the enemy were day and night at our heels, and we no longer knew on what footing we stood with our friends of Tlascalla. Nevertheless, we resolved to continue our march towards that country, and we set out at midnight. Our guides, with the Tlascallans, marched in advance; those who were more severely wounded, and obliged to use the support of a stick, were placed in the centre; and those who were not capable of moving at all were bound fast to the horses of those who were unable to fight. All who could bear arms were stationed in the flanks, and had some of the cavalry to support them; while the rear-guard was composed of the remaining horse. The Tlascallans who were wounded likewise marched in the centre, and those who were still capable of defending themselves joined our ranks, that we might be ready to receive an attack at any point, as the Mexicans were still close at our heels, yelling most hideously, and crying out from time to time, "Go on!

go on! not one of you will escape alive!" At that moment we did not exactly understand what they meant, but soon after we discovered it, as we shall presently see.

I must not, however, forget to mention how greatly rejoiced we were to find that Dona Marina and Dona Luisa, who had left Mexico with the vanguard, were quite safe; but the greater part of our other Indian females, who had been presented to us by the Mexicans and Tlascallans, had not been so fortunate; almost the whole of these perished at the bridges.

On this day's march we arrived at a considerable township, named Quauht.i.tlan, once the property of Alonso de Avila; there likewise we were received with reviling language, stones, and arrows, all of which we patiently endured. We fared no better in the numerous other small villages we pa.s.sed through, while the pursuing Mexicans were continually increasing in numbers. They strove to lock us in on all sides, and sent forth so many stones, arrows, and lances upon us, while we were pa.s.sing through a narrow defile, that two more of our men were killed who had been dangerously wounded in the last conflict, and also one of our horses; besides that, numbers of us were wounded. We certainly destroyed some of the enemy in return, but the number was small.

This night we quartered ourselves in a few straggling houses, and supped off the horse which had been killed.[92] The next morning early we continued our route, and marched in closer order than on the day previous, the half of our cavalry being always in advance. We had marched to the distance of about four miles along an open plain, where we considered ourselves in safety, when three of our horse came galloping up to inform us that the fields were covered with Mexicans, who were lying in wait for us. We were not a little dismayed at this intelligence; however, our courage did not flag so far as to prevent us from making immediate preparations for battle, and we determined to defend ourselves to the last. We halted for a few moments, and Cortes gave instructions for the cavalry to dash in a body full gallop upon the enemy, to aim at the face, and break their line. Our infantry were to direct their blows and thrusts at the enemy's lower quarters. In this way it was said we should be certain to revenge our dead and wounded, if it pleased the Almighty to spare our lives in the approaching battle.

We then commended ourselves to G.o.d and the holy Virgin, and boldly rushed forth upon the enemy, under the cry of _Santiago! Santiago!_ Our cavalry charged the enemy's line five abreast, and broke it, we rushing in after them close at their heels. What a terrific battle and remarkable victory was this! How we fought man to man! and those dogs like the very furies themselves! and many of our men did they kill and wound with their pikes and huge broad swords.[93]

The level ground, however, was uncommonly favorable for the manoeuvres of our horse, which every now and then gallopped at full speed in upon the enemy, and then retired, to watch another favorable opportunity.

Although both horse and rider were severely wounded, yet they continued to fight most valiantly. It seemed as if we who formed the cavalry had double our usual strength; for, though we were covered with wounds, and each moment received fresh ones, yet we never gave them thought, but kept dashing in upon the foe without intermission. Cortes, Oli, Alvarado (who had borrowed a horse from one of Narvaez's men), and Sandoval, though all covered with wounds, were always present where the danger was greatest. Neither did Cortes omit to cheer us on by the most animating words, and to bring under our notice what a fine booty we should make of the enemy's rich apparel and ornamental weapons. But it was above all glorious to hear the brave and spirited Sandoval cry out, "On, my fellow-soldiers? this day the victory must be ours! Our trust is in G.o.d!

We shall not lose our lives here, for G.o.d has destined us for better things!"

In this way we continued fighting courageously, for G.o.d and the blessed Virgin strengthened us, and St. Santiago de Compostella certainly came to our a.s.sistance; and one of Quauhtemoctzin's chief officers, who was present at the battle, beheld him with his own eyes, as he afterwards affirmed. At this moment it pleased the Almighty that Cortes' attention should be drawn to that part of the enemy's troops where the Mexican general-in-chief was stationed with the flying standard, clothed in the richest armour, shining with gold, and a penache of large white feathers on his head. As soon as Cortes espied him among his glittering retinue, he cried out to Alvarado, Sandoval, Oli, Avila, and many other officers, "Follow me, my brave companions; these are the men we must attack!" The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when they commended themselves to G.o.d, and gallopped among the enemy; Cortes poised his lance, and made a rush at the Mexican commander-in-chief, who dropped the standard; our other officers at the same moment cutting down the other chiefs, by whom he was immediately surrounded.[94]

The Mexican generalissimo was about to s.n.a.t.c.h up the standard again and flee; but Juan de Salamanca, a native of Ontiveras, gallopped after him on his splendid horse, and brought him to the ground, wrested the standard from his hand, and the rich bunch of feathers from his head, and presented both to Cortes, who had made the first run at the chief.

Salamanca was subsequently rewarded for this piece of heroism; for a few years afterwards the emperor allowed him to a.s.sume a bunch of feathers in his coat of arms, which his descendants bear to this day.

After the Mexican chief had fallen and the royal standard was lost, and numbers of the enemy killed, they began to give way, and then fled. Our cavalry, however, kept close at their heels, and punished them severely.

Now, indeed, we no longer felt our wounds, nor hunger, nor thirst, and it appeared to us all as if we were beginning the attack with renewed vigour! Our friends of Tlascalla had likewise changed into real lions, and hacked in furiously among the enemy with, the broad swords they had captured.

After our cavalry had returned from the pursuit, we offered up thanks unto the Almighty for this victory, and our escape from the hands of so numerous an enemy; for the Spaniards had never before in India encountered so vast an army as on this occasion. It was composed of the flower of the joint armies of Mexico, Tezcuco, and of Xaltocan; while every Indian had entered the battle with the determination that not a soul of us should escape alive. It was also evident, from the richness of their arms and apparel, that a greater portion were officers and men of distinction.

Near to the place where this terrible and b.l.o.o.d.y battle was fought lay the township of Otumpan, by which name this battle will be known through all times to come. The Mexicans and Tlascallans have given a faithful representation of it in their numerous paintings of the battles we fought up to the conquest of Mexico.

For memory's sake, I must here note down that we marched into Mexico on the 24th of June, 1520, to Alvarado's a.s.sistance, with an army of nearly 1400 men, among which there were seventy-nine horse, eighty crossbow-men, and a like number of musketeers, with above 2000 Tlascallan troops, and a fine park of artillery. On the 10th[95] of July following we commenced our retreat, and on the 14th we fought the battle of Otumpan.

I must now likewise recount the loss we sustained in that time. In five days, including the battle of Otumpan, we lost in killed, and those who were taken prisoners, above 870 of our troops, and above 1200 Tlascallans; to which must be added 72 men and five Spanish females, all of Narvaez's division, whom the Mexicans put to death in Tustepec. About the same time the Mexicans likewise murdered old Juan de Alcantara, and three others, who were on their road from Vera Cruz to Mexico to receive their share of the gold. Thus these persons not only lost their gold, but their lives also. Indeed, if it be well considered, it will be found that none of us derived any blessings from the gold the Indians gave us.

The reason why Narvaez's troops suffered more at the bridges than those of Cortes', was from their having overloaded themselves with gold, the weight of which prevented them from swimming, and otherwise enc.u.mbered their movements.