THE CHAPTER I. SPANIARDS AND THEIR ALLIES COMMENCE THE SIEGE. DEFEAT OF THE MEXICANS ON THE LAKE.-MEXICO ENTIRELY INVESTED.-COUNCIL SUMMONED BY THE MEXICAN KING. RESULT OF THE FIRST GENERAL ATTACK.-THE VARIOUS SUCCESSES OF ALVARADO'S DIVISION.-IMPATIENCE OF THE SOLDIERS. THE SECOND GENERAL ATTACK.-THE SPANIARDS DEFEATED. CHAPTER II. CONSEQUENCES OF THE DEFEAT. THE SIEGE LANGUISHES. CORTEZ SENDS AID TO HIS INDIAN ALLIES. THE ALLIES RETURN TO THE CAMP OF CORTEZ.-THE SIEGE IS PRESSED.THE MEXICANS WILL NOT TREAT WITH CORTEZ.-MEXICO IS TAKEN. CHAPTER I. THE SPANIARDS AND THEIR ALLIES COMMENCE THE SIEGE.DEFEAT OF THE MEXICANS ON THE LAKE.-MEXICO ENTIRELY INVESTED.-COUNCIL SUMMONED BY THE MEXICAN KING.-RESULT OF THE FIRST GENERAL ATTACK.THE VARIOUS SUCCESSES OF ALVARADO'S DIVISION.-IMPATIENCE OF THE SOLDIERS. THE SECOND GENERAL ATTACK.-THE SPANIARDS DEFEATED. CORTE (ORTEZ formed his troops into three divisions, placing one under the command of Pedro de Alvarado, another under Cristoval de Olid, and the third under Gonzalo de Sandoval, the alguazil mayor. Pedro de Alvarado had thirty horsemen, eighteen cross-bowmen or musketeers, and a hundred and fifty men with sword and buckler. Twenty thousand Tlascalan warriors accompanied this division, under the command of Xicotencatl, el mozo. Alvarado's division* was to take up its quarters at Tlacuba. The second division, commanded by Cristoval de Olid, the maestre de campo, consisted of thirty-three horsemen, eighteen cross-bowmen or musketeers, and a hundred and sixty swordsmen. A body of more than twenty thousand Indian allies accompanied this force, which was to take up its position in Cuyoacan. Sandoval, the alguazil mayor, had under his command twenty-four horsemen, four musketeers, thirteen cross-bowmen, and a hundred and fifty swordsmen, fifty of them being picked young men; a sort of body * BERNAL DIAZ, the historian, was in this division. guard, as I conceive, to Cortez.* The Indian allies who accompanied this division amounted to more than thirty thousand, being all who came from Huaxocingo, Cholula, and Chalco. This division was to march to Iztapalapa, destroy it, pass on by a causeway under cover of the brigantines, and unite with Olid's division at Cuyoacan, in the neighborhood of * "Mancebos escogidos, que yo trahía en mi Compañía."-LORENZANA, p. 236. which the alguazil mayor was to choose a spot for his camp. There were left, to man the brigantines, more than three hundred men, most of them good seamen-each brigantine having twenty-five men, with six crossbowmen or musketeers. Contrary to the advice of the principal personages* in his army, but very wisely, Cortez had determined to lead this division himself; for, as he afterward remarked, the key† of the whole war was in the ships. Previously, however, to the first division of the army leaving for Tezcuco, an incident occurred which might have been fraught with the most serious consequences. To regulate the behavior of men toward each other is always one of the greatest difficulties for the general of an allied army, and one that requires the nicest management. Cortez did all that he could, by good rules, stringently maintained, to make his Spaniards behave well to his Indians. It happened, however, that a Spaniard inflicted some personal injury upon a cousin of Xicotencatl the younger, the Tlascalan prince who had formerly commanded the armies of that republic against Cortez. Whether in consequence of this new disgust, or from his old grudge, or, as some say, from the wish to see a Tlascalan lady,‡ Xicoten * "Aunque yo deseaba mucho irme por la Tierra, por dar órden en los Reales, como los Capitanes eran Personas de quien se podia muy bien fiar lo que tenian entre manos, y lo de los Bergantines importaba mucha importancia, y se requeria gran concierto, y cuidado, determiné de me meter en ellos, porque la mas aventura, y riesgo era el que se esperaba por el Agua, aunque por las Personas Principales de mi Compañía me fue requerido en formar, que me fuesse con las Guarniciones, porque ellos pensaban, que ellas llevaban lo mas peligroso."-LORENZANA, p. 240. "La llave de toda la Guerra estaba en ellos."-LORENZANA, p. 242. See TORQUEMADA, lib. iv., cap. 90. |