_How the Mexicans made war upon us, and the battles we fought with
them._
Cortes, on his march to Mexico, had often bragged to his officers of the
great authority and power he then possessed. They should see how the
inhabitants would come out from all parts to meet him, and receive him
with every splendour; that he was now complete master of Mexico, and
Motecusuma and his grandees would not dare to dispute his commands
henceforth, but would bring him gold in abundance.
But when Cortes found how the aspect of affairs had changed at Tezcuco,
that no one stirred a foot to give the splendid reception he had boasted
of, that none of the principal personages showed themselves, that even
the worst of provisions were brought him with great reluctance, and
found this ill feeling towards us show itself even more strongly in
Mexico, and that although he had returned with additional troops, the
inhabitants no longer furnished him with provisions, his pride turned
into moroseness and anger, so much so that when Motecusuma sent two of
his grandees to announce that he was desirous of paying Cortes a visit,
as he had something to communicate to him, he said, "He might go to the
devil! since he would not allow any weekly markets to be held, nor any
provisions to be sent us."
When our other chief officers, Leon, Oli, Avila, and Lugo heard this,
they said to him, "Moderate your anger, general, and remember what great
honours this monarch has heaped upon us, the kindnesses we have received
from him, and how amiable his disposition is: for, had he not existed,
the Mexicans would long ago have feasted on our bodies; nor ought you to
forget that he has sought your alliance by offering you his daughter in
marriage."
These words carried with them the idea of a reproach, and, consequently,
only served the more to embitter his feelings, and he burst out as
follows: "Why should I stand upon any further ceremony with this dog?
Did he not secretly connive with Narvaez, and now refuses us
provisions?"
"Our opinion is," returned the other officers, "that he does nothing
more than his present situation would prompt him to do, and that he acts
most prudently."
Cortes, however, relied upon the strength of his troops, and would not
allow his anger to be pacified in any way, but commissioned the two
Mexican grandees to tell their master that he must issue immediate
orders for the re-opening of the markets, otherwise he should find
himself obliged to take other steps. Both these Mexicans had understood
the reviling language used by Cortes against their monarch, and also how
our other officers had remonstrated with him on that account. They knew
these officers well; for they had by turns been captains of the guard
which was placed over their monarch's person, and knew they were greatly
attached to him. They therefore repaired, either in the bitterness of
their hearts, or because the attack upon us had already been determined
upon, and related to Motecusuma what they had heard; and scarcely a
quarter of an hour had elapsed before one of our men came running up
heavily wounded. He had been at Tlacupa, a town near Mexico, to fetch
thence some women belonging to Cortes' household, and the daughter of
Motecusuma, whom Cortes had given in charge of the king of Tlacupa, her
relative, when we marched against Narvaez. This man also related that he
had found the town of Tlacupa and the high road filled with warriors.
They took the women away and wounded him in two different places. If he
had not escaped out of their hands, they would have thrown him into a
canoe, and have sacrificed him to their gods. They had also destroyed
one of the bridges over the causeway.
When Cortes and some of us soldiers heard this, we began to look very
serious, for those among us who had been several times engaged with the
Indians knew, from experience, with what vast crowds they always entered
the field of battle, and, although our numbers had been greatly
augmented, and that there was little doubt but we should defend
ourselves courageously, yet we were well aware of our dangerous
position. We soldiers also knew that we should run great risk of losing
our lives either from hunger or from the advantages which the enemy
would have over us in such a strongly fortified city. Cortes, after
questioning the man who had come from Tlacupa, despatched Ordas with 400
men, mostly armed with crossbows and muskets, and a few horse, to see
what truth there was in his statement. He recommended him, however, to
avoid, if possible, all hostilities, and to settle the affair amicably.
Ordas had scarcely reached half-way down the causeway when he was met by
a vast body of Mexicans, who, with those posted on the tops of the
houses, attacked him so furiously that eight of his men were killed at
the first onset, and most of them wounded, Ordas himself in three
several places. He found it impossible to move on any further, and he
therefore gradually retreated to our quarters. On his retreat he lost
another excellent soldier named Lezcano, who had done wonders with his
broadsword.
If the body of warriors was vast which had fallen upon Ordas, that which
at the same instant attacked our quarters was by far more so; and so
vigorously did they assail us with lances, arrows, and stones, that, in
an instant, forty of our men were wounded, twelve of whom subsequently
died. The numbers who attacked us in front, from behind, and from the
tops of the houses, were so vast that Ordas was unable, for a length of
time, to cut his way through. Our cannon, muskets, crossbows, and
lances, did, certainly, great havoc among the enemy's ranks, who, in
fact, rushed in upon our weapons; yet they continued the combat with the
same fury, and closed their ranks more firmly, nor could we drive them
back a single inch. It was only after a good deal of hard fighting that
Diego and his men were able to regain our quarters, though with
twenty-three soldiers less than when he had left it, and the rest all
wounded: add to which, the enemy's numbers were every moment increasing;
nor did they spare abusive language, calling us old women, ragged
scoundrels, and such like beautiful names. But the loss we sustained at
present was nothing to what we subsequently suffered. They even carried
their audacity so far as to throw fire into our quarters, while one body
attacked us in front and another from behind, so that we should soon
have been suffocated by the flames and smoke if we had not succeeded in
putting out the fire by throwing quantities of earth on it, and by
pulling down the apartments from which the fire was spreading.
The combat continued the whole day until late at night, during which
time they continued to throw such quantities of stones and lances into
our quarters, that the place was literally covered with them. In the
meantime we had to dress our wounds, to repair the damage done to our
buildings, and get some rest till the next morning. As soon as day began
to dawn, Cortes determined to sally out with the whole of his troops,
including those of Narvaez and the cannon, either to beat the enemy out
of the field altogether, or at least to give them a greater proof of our
power than we had been able to do on the previous day. The Mexicans, it
seemed, had also determined to do their utmost, and they not only
fought with uncommon bravery but came in overwhelming numbers, so that
every instant they poured in fresh men to the attack. Indeed ten
thousand Trojan Hectors, and as many Rolands, would in vain have tried
to break through the enemy's ranks! At this moment even, that battle is
fresh in my memory; but no words can describe the unyielding
stubbornness of the foe. All the volleys from our heavy guns and muskets
were to no purpose; it was in vain we rushed forward upon them, and
killed from thirty to forty of their numbers at a time; their ranks
still remained firmly closed, while their courage seemed to increase
with every loss. Whenever we did drive them back into the streets to
some distance, they had merely retreated in order that we should follow
them, and by so doing be drawn further away from our quarters, when they
hoped more easily to surround us, and so render our escape impossible.
And sure enough by these retrograde movements they invariably made the
greatest destruction among our ranks. Neither did it avail us anything
whenever we set fire to any of the houses; for, as I have above
mentioned, it was only possible to pass from one house to another by
means of wooden drawbridges. If the latter were drawn up we had to wade
through deep water to gain another house. But our men suffered most from
those of the enemy's troops who pelted them with stones and lances from
the housetops. Indeed I cannot imagine how I thus coolly relate all that
passed. Three or four of our men who had previously served in the
Italian wars, swore over and over again that they had never witnessed
such furious fighting, neither in the wars with the king of France, nor
even in those with the grand Turk himself. Indeed it was no easy matter
for us to retreat to our head-quarters, so desperately did they assail
us under the most horrible sound of drums, pipes and trumpets,
accompanied by the most obscene and abusive language. This day we lost
ten or twelve men, and none of us escaped without a wound. We passed the
night in deliberations and in preparing for another attack. We now
resolved that after the lapse of two days as many of us as were healthy
should sally out with two moving towers. These we had strongly put
together of wood, and were so constructed, that under each of them
twenty-five of our men could stand to move them along. These towers
contained loopholes, from which our heavy guns could be fired; besides
that there was space enough for a number of musketeers and crossbow-men.
At the side of these towers marched a strong body of musketeers and
crossbow-men, as also the whole of our horse, who were from time to time
to charge the enemy at full gallop. The construction of these towers
and the repairing of several small breaches which the enemy had made in
our quarters, occupied us the whole of the following day, so that we
could not sally out till the next.
The enemy, however, continued their attacks upon our quarters, not
merely from ten or twelve, but from twenty different points at once; so
that what with the constructing of the towers, repairing the breaches,
and beating off our assailants who had fixed ladders to our quarters, we
had enough to do. The whole of us, they cried out, were to be sacrificed
to their gods, our hearts were to be torn from our bodies, the blood was
to be drawn from our veins, and our arms and legs were to be eaten up at
their festivals. The remaining parts of our bodies would be thrown to
the tigers, lions and serpents, which they kept in cages; these had not
been fed for these two days, in order that they might devour our flesh
the more greedily. Our gold and other things would be their booty, and
they told the Tlascallans they should be locked up in cages where they
fattened people for their sacrifices. Only deliver us up our monarch
Motecusuma,--added they with great vehemence; while their noise and
their attacks continued through the whole night.
As soon as day had fully broken forth, we commended ourselves to the
Almighty, and sallied out with our war-towers. This time again we killed
a great number of the enemy; but with all our fighting we could not
force them to yield ground, and if they had fought courageously the two
previous days, they stood the more firm this time, and fought
desperately. We however determined, if it were even to cost us all our
lives, to push forward to the great temple of Huitzilopochtli. I will
not detail the severe struggle we had against one house in particular,
which was very strongly fortified, nor the critical position our horse
were placed in. For whenever our cavalry galloped in upon the enemy's
ranks, our horses were assailed by so many arrows, stones and lances,
that they were immediately covered with wounds; while their riders,
however courageously they fought, could make but little impression upon
the foe. If they pushed further on, the Mexicans either jumped into the
canals or into the lake, where the cavalry could not follow them, and
where a whole forest of lances stared them in the face: equally
fruitless were all our attempts to set fire to their houses, or pull
them down, as they stood, in the midst of the water, and were connected
to each other by drawbridges only. If at times we did succeed in firing
a house, it took a whole day in burning down, nor did the fire spread,
from the buildings being at too great distance from each other, and
their being surrounded by water, so that all our efforts that way
completely failed. At last we succeeded in fighting our way up to the
foot of the great temple, but at that instant a body of above four
thousand of the enemy rushed up the steps for its defence; besides that,
other troops were already stationed on the top of this building, armed
with long lances, stones and arrows. For a length of time the guns of
our towers and the attacks of our cavalry could make no impression on
the enemy, while our horses were scarcely able to step firmly on the
smooth pavement of the court yards, but every moment slipped out and
fell down. Though our cannon mowed down ten or fifteen of the enemy at a
time, and a great many others were cut down by our sabres, yet their
numbers were so vast that we could not beat them back, we therefore now
determined to quit our towers, which were almost broken into pieces; and
leaving them at the foot of the temple, we began fighting our way up the
steps of the building.
Here Cortes displayed astonishing courage, though this, I may say, was
never wanting in him. What a bloody and terrific conflict was this! The
reader should have seen how we were covered with blood and wounds! Above
forty of our men lay dead at our feet; but at last, with the aid of
Providence, we succeeded in reaching the point where we had erected the
image of the holy Virgin. It was, however, no longer there; for
Motecusuma, as we subsequently learnt, had either, out of veneration or
fear, taken it away, and put it carefully by. We now set fire to the
Mexican idols, and part of the chapel was on this occasion burnt down,
with Huitzilopochtli and Tetzcatlipuca. While we were occupied with this
work, the battle on the platform continued without intermission; for
here stood a number of priests, and more than three or four thousand of
the principal Mexicans, who fell upon us with great fury, and even beat
us back again down the steps of the temple. Nor was it these alone who
here set upon us; but numbers of warriors also annoyed us from the
landings and battlements of this building, so that we scarcely knew
which way to turn our arms.
We had now made every possible exertion, and undergone the greatest
perils. Our towers were smashed to pieces, the whole of us were covered
with wounds, and forty-six of our men had been killed. We therefore
determined to retreat to our quarters in the best way we could. But our
position for the moment was not bettered by this step; for the Mexicans
now fell upon us in terrific crowds both in our rear and in our flanks:
it is impossible to imagine the sight unless one had seen it. Neither
have I at all mentioned the numbers who attacked our quarters after we
had sallied out, and the difficulty our men had who were left behind to
prevent the enemy from setting fire to them. In this battle we took two
chief papas prisoners, whom Cortes ordered to be kept in close custody.
I have seen many pictures among the Mexicans and Tlascallans which
represented our storming this great temple. In their eye it was
considered a piece of astonishing heroism. In these pictures they had
not omitted to depict our killed, and how great numbers of us were
wounded, with the blood streaming from our bodies. And indeed it was no
trifling matter, after our towers had been destroyed, to storm this
great building, and set fire to the idols, considering that it was
defended so vigorously by large bodies of the enemy, both from the
platform and from the landings, and by those who were stationed in the
open space below.
The retreat to our quarters was no less perilous; and if the multitude
through which we had to cut our way was vast, that in front of our
quarters was no less so. We just arrived in time, for the enemy had
already made breaches in the walls, and a good many had forced their way
through them into the rooms. Our arrival certainly put a stop to their
dangerous progress, but they did not discontinue, during the rest of the
day and all night, to annoy us with their lances, stones, and arrows,
under the most terrible yells. Notwithstanding all this, we had during
the night to assist our wounded, to bury our dead, repair the breaches,
and take repose for the next day's battle. We also held a council of
war, to deliberate what mode of attack we should next adopt, that we
might not sustain so great a loss of men; but every plan that was
proposed seemed insufficient. To all our calamities was added the bad
disposition of Narvaez's soldiers, who cursed Cortes, and even the
governor of Cuba in every possible manner, who they said had torn them
away from the delightful repose and security which they enjoyed on their
respective farms, to be harassed to death in this country. These fellows
seemed altogether to have lost their senses, and they lent a deaf ear to
everything that was said to them.
After lengthened deliberations, we came to the determination of suing
the Mexicans for peace, and asking their permission to quit the city.
But daylight had scarcely broken forth when our quarters were again
attacked at all points by innumerable bodies of the enemy. Their
excessive fury in attack, their stubborn firmness, their desperate
thrusts and yells, were all more terrific than on the previous days;
while our cannon and other firearms seemed to make no impression on
them.
In this moment of danger Cortes determined that Motecusuma should
address the infuriated multitude from the top of the building, and
desire them to stay hostilities, as we had determined to leave the city.
When this offer was made known to Motecusuma in the name of Cortes, he
is said to have exclaimed, in the height of grief, "Why does Malinche
now turn to me?--to me, who am tired of life, and who could wish never
again to hear his name mentioned, for it is he who has plunged me into
all this misery!" Motecusuma obstinately refused to comply with Cortes'
request, and is said to have further exclaimed, "I will neither see nor
hear anything more of this man. I put no longer any faith in his
deceitful words, his promises, and his specious lies."
Upon this father Olmedo and Oli went and spoke to him in the most
affectionate terms, to persuade him to alter his determination. "Alas!"
replied the monarch, "for all this, it is now too late. I am convinced
that the Mexicans, whatever my wishes might be, will not grant any
cessation of arms. They have already raised another cazique to the
throne, and are fully determined that none of you shall leave this place
alive. For myself, I am convinced you will every one of you meet with
your death in this city."
In the end, however, Motecusuma was prevailed upon to accompany them.
Under cover of a strong division of our troops he advanced to the
battlements of our quarters, and began to address the Mexicans in the
most affectionate manner, desiring them to put a stop to their
hostilities, for the teules were going to leave the city. The instant
the Mexican generals recognized their king they ordered their men to
cease firing. Four of them advanced to a spot where they could easily
discourse with the monarch; and thus, with tears in their eyes, they
addressed him: "Alas! great king, your own misfortune, and that of your
children and your relatives, afflicts us sorely. But we dare not hide
from you that we have raised one of your cousins to the throne of this
country."
Here they named the new monarch. It was the king of Iztapalapan,
Cuitlahuatzin, and not Quauhtemoctzin, for he did not ascend the throne
until two months after. "They were forced," continued they, "to
prosecute the war, for they had promised their gods to do so, and had
sworn to them not to desist until every one of the teules was killed.
They had daily in vain prayed to their gods Huitzilopochtli and
Tetzcatlipuca to deliver him out of the enemy's power, and they would
hold him in greater veneration than before; and they hoped he would
pardon their present conduct."
Several of our men had covered Motecusuma with their shields while he
was addressing the enemy; but as the attack was now momentarily
suspended, they were not so very particular in shielding his person.
Unfortunately, the hostilities immediately again commenced, and before
it could be prevented he was struck by an arrow, and three stones from a
sling, by which he was wounded in the arm, leg, and in his head; so that
the unhappy monarch was forced to be carried back to his apartment. We
were immediately going to bandage up his wounds, and begged of him to
take something strengthening; but he refused everything, and, contrary
to all expectation, we soon heard that he had expired. Cortes, his
officers, and all of us, shed tears for this unfortunate monarch; indeed
many of our men, who had been in constant attendance on him, mourned for
him as if they had lost a parent. Even father Olmedo himself, who never
for a moment left his side, and who, notwithstanding all his efforts,
had not been able to convert him to Christianity, could not refrain from
shedding tears. And no one will feel surprised at this who knew what a
very kind-hearted person Motecusuma was.
He was said to have reigned seventeen years up to the day of his death.
Mexico never had a better monarch; and, with regard to his personal
courage, he had fought three several duels respecting some disputed
territory, and had each time come off victorious.