| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY, a History
of The Mexican people (Chapter 1) |
| by Prof. German Estrada - April, 2005 |
CHAPTER 1 THE FOREFATHERS (part 30th) continues ....
2
THE CONQUEST OF TENOCHTITLÁN
Once out of food and water, the Spaniards could do nothing but try to escape. On a rainy night, the Spaniards, attempting to catch the Aztecs off guard, began to leave their quarters, but not before taking what they could of the gold and silver. Narváez's men, the greediest, took everything they could carry, which cost them dearly because heavily loaded they fell easy prey to the Aztecs. To get across the open canals in the causeway, Cortés had a portable bridge built to transport them from breach to breach until the mainland was reached. Just as the Spaniards were putting down the portable bridge at the first breach, Aztecs sentinels sounded the alarm and hordes of warriors, yelling for the blood of their enemies, fell upon them. A hailstorm of arrows and stones followed them, from both land and water since lakes were filled with Aztec canoes. When the portable bridge stuck, the plight of the Spaniards knew no limits, every Spaniard had to ford the breaches in the causeway as best he could.
Fewer than half of the Spaniards survived that night. Much f the gold and silver jewelry sank to the bottom of the lakes, along with its bearers. Among the 869 Spaniards killed or sacrificed by the Aztecs were 5 Spanish women who had accompanied Narváez, their nude bodies flung into the lakes. Only Doña Marina and 2 others escaped. Over 1,200 of the Tlaxcalans perished. Also lost were weapons, cannon, and horses. When it was all over, legend has it, Cortés sat under a huge cypress and wept. It was June 30, 1520 , the famous Noche Triste (Sad Night). The road of the retreat led to Tlaxcala, where, Cortés prayed, his old allies might still offer him refuge and time to heal wounds. The Tlaxcalans, to the joy of the Spaniards, received them as friends.
Even when everything appeared lost, the stubborn Cortés refused to accept defeat, swearing to return and capture Tenochtitlan . Happily for the Spaniards, Dame Fortune smiled on them. Spanish ships from Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica had dropped anchor in Veracruz, bringing soldiers. Horses, and guns. By persuasion and the use of gold, Spaniards loyal to Cortés at Veracruz got the new arrivals to join hands for the campaign ahead. At Tlaxcala, Cortés regrouped his forces and set about
subduing the town lying between the coast and Tenochtitlan . When their inhabitants proved recalcitrant, or shielded Aztec garrisons, Cortés soldiers, with the help of the Tlaxcalan allies, killed them. The women, as well as the gold, went to the Spaniards; Cortés and his captains, wrote Bernal Díaz, kept the beautiful ones. At this point, moreover, the Spaniards acquired a new ally: smallpox. The disease, it appears, arrived with one of Narváez's men, killing thousands of Aztecs
just as the Spaniards made their entrance at Texcoco. Among the dead was Cuitláhuac. "The Indian," the old accounts tell "had never had such a disease."
For his siege at Tenochtitlan , Cortés counted on some eighty thousand men. Of that number, fewer that 600 hundred were Spaniards, forty of them cavalry. The foot soldiers were armed with swords, lances, and crossbows. Cannon totaled nine, but their effectiveness was limited by the short supply of gunpowder. Tlaxcala, as well as Cholula and Tepeaca, furnished most of the native warriors, who wielded bows and arrows and long pikes. Cortés also counted on thirteen brigantines, small vessels built by the Spaniards for an attack by water on Tenochtitlan . The brigantines rid the lakes of Aztec canoes.
Source: From the book Triumphs and Tragedy, a History of the Mexican People by his author Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, and with his authorization. (. (W.W. Norton & Company. New York-London).
We'll continue with the 31 st part of the Second Chapter of this fascinating book.
estradanav@yahoo.com
Prof. Germán
Estrada is the author of the best selling book, "México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know
About... But Nobody Told You..." available in Puerto
Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc., Books,
Books as well as directly from the author by internet.
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