_How Cortes reviews the whole of his troops at Tezcuco; and of his
further dispositions for conducting the siege of Mexico._
After Cortes had thus acquainted our allies with his designs against
Mexico, he determined to review the whole of his troops, and selected
for this purpose the second day of Easter. This review was held in the
large square of Tezcuco, and our muster-roll gave the following numbers:
Eighty-four horse; six hundred and fifty foot soldiers, of whom some
were armed with swords and shields, and others with lances; one hundred
and ninety-four crossbow-men and musketeers.
Out of these troops he selected the men who were to serve on the
thirteen brigantines; each of which required twelve rowers and a
captain, with twelve crossbow-men and musketeers. In this way the
thirteen brigantines required two hundred and eighty men, who, with the
additional number of artillerymen, amounted to three hundred and
twenty-five. Next the cannon, with the necessary powder was distributed
among them; and when all this was done, Cortes published the articles of
war, which ran as follows:
First of all it was forbidden under a heavy penalty to blaspheme either
against our Lord Jesus Christ, his blessed mother, the holy apostles, or
against any of the saints in general.
Secondly, no one was to ill-use any of our allies, take anything from
them, not even of the booty they might make, whether this consisted of
gold, silver, jewels, or of anything else; for we were to bear in mind
that they joined us in this war at our own particular request.
Thirdly, none of the men, either during day or night time, were to leave
our head-quarters, whether to fetch provisions from any of the townships
allied to us, or for any other purpose whatever. Any one found guilty of
this would be severely punished.
Fourthly, every soldier was to supply himself with a sufficient number
of arms and keep them in proper order; for we were to remember how well
the Mexicans were provided with everything in the shape of weapons.
Fifthly, all gambling for horses or weapons was strictly forbidden.
Lastly, none of the men, whatever company they belonged to, were to lay
themselves down to rest without being completely armed and were to keep
their shoes on, to which an exception was merely granted in cases of
urgent necessity when a person was severely wounded, or unable to do
duty; for we should be prepared to receive the enemy at a moment's
notice.
Besides these the usual articles of war were again read over, which,
among other things, threatened punishment of death to the sentinel who
deserted his post or fell asleep while on duty. The same punishment
would be inflicted on any soldier who left his quarters without his
captain's permission, or who left his commanding officer in a moment of
danger and took to flight.