During The Whole Battle Our
Cavalry Produced Admirable Effects, By Incessant Charges Through The
Thickest Of The Enemy.
We in some measure owed our safety, under God, to
the unwieldy multitude of the enemy, so that some of the divisions could
never get up to the attack.
One of the grand divisions, composed of the
warriors dependant on _Guaxocinga_, was prevented from taking any share in
the battle by _Chichemecatecle_[7], their commander, who had been provoked
by some insulting language by Xicotencatl respecting his conduct in the
preceding engagement, of which circumstance we received information
afterwords. The circumstance of these divisions not joining in the battle,
slackened the ardour of the rest, more especially after they had
experienced the terrible effects of our cavalry, artillery, and other
offensive weapons; and one of their greatest chiefs being killed, they at
length drew off from the fight, and were pursued to a short distance by
our cavalry. In this great battle, one only of our soldiers was killed,
but seventy men and all our horses were wounded. I had two wounds, one by
an arrow and the other by a stone, but they were not sufficient to make me
unfit for duty. Thus again masters of the field, we gave thanks to God for
his merciful preservation, and returned to our former post, first burying
our dead companion in one of the subterraneous houses, which was filled up
and levelled, that his body might not be discovered by the enemy. We
passed the ensuing night in a most comfortless situation, not being able
to procure even oil and salt, and exposed to excessive cold winds from the
snowy mountains.
Cortes sent a fresh message by three of our prisoners and those who had
carried his former message, demanding a free passage to Mexico, and
threatening to destroy the whole country in case of refusal. On their
arrival at Tlascala, they found the chiefs much cast down at their
repeated losses, yet unwilling to listen to our proposals. They sent for
their priests and wizards, who pretended to foretel future events by
casting lots, desiring them to say if the Spaniards were vincible, and
what were the best means of conquering us; likewise demanding whether we
were men or superior beings, and what was our food. The wizards answered,
that we were men like themselves, subsisting upon ordinary food, but did
not devour the hearts of our enemies as had been reported; alleging that
though invincible by day, we might be conquered at night, as we derived
all our power from the influence of the sun. Giving credit to this
response, Xicotencatl received orders to make an immediate attack on our
quarters during the night. He marched accordingly with ten thousand
warriors, and made a night attack on our post in three places at once: But
our outposts kept too good guard to be taken by surprise, and we were
under arms in a moment to receive them. They met with so warm a reception,
that they were soon forced to turn their backs; and as it was clear
moon-light, our cavalry pursued them with great effect, so that they
returned to their camp heartily repenting of their night attack; insomuch
that it was reported they sacrificed two of their priests for deceiving
them to their hurt. In this action one only of our allies was killed, and
two Spaniards wounded; but our situation was far from consolatory. Besides
being dreadfully hard harassed by fatigue, we had lost fifty-five of our
soldiers from wounds, sickness, and severity of the weather, and several
were sick. Our general and Father Olmedo were both ill of fevers: And we
began to think it would be impossible for us to reach Mexico, after the
determined resistance we had experienced from the Tlascalans.
In this extremity several of the officers and soldiers, among whom I was
one, waited on Cortes, and advised him to release his prisoners and to
make a fresh offer of friendship with the Tlascalans through these people.
He, who acted on all occasions like a good captain, never failing to
consult with us on affairs of importance, agreed with our present advice,
and gave orders accordingly. Donna Marina, whose noble spirit and
excellent judgment supported her on all occasions of danger, was now of
most essential service to us, as indeed she often was; as she explained in
the most forcible terms to these messengers, that if their countrymen did
not immediately enter into a treaty of peace with us, that we were
resolved to march against their capital, and would utterly destroy it and
their whole nation. Our messengers accordingly went to Tlascala, where
they waited on the chiefs of the republic, the principal messenger bearing
our letter in one hand, as a token of peace, and a dart in the other as a
signal of war, as if giving them their choice of either. Having delivered
our resolute message, it pleased GOD to incline the hearts of these
Tlascalan rulers to enter into terms of accommodation with us. The two
principal chiefs, named Maxicatzin and Xicotencatl the elder[8],
immediately summoned the other chiefs of the republic to council, together
with the cacique of Guaxocingo the ally of the republic, to whom they
represented that all the attacks which they had made against us had been
ineffectual, yet exceedingly destructive to them; that the strangers were
hostile to their inveterate enemies the Mexicans, who had been continually
at war against their republic for upwards of an hundred years, and had so
hemmed them in as to deprive them of procuring cotton or salt; and
therefore that it would be highly conducive to the interests of the
republic to enter into an alliance with these strangers against their
common enemies, and to offer us the daughters of their principal families
for wives, in order to strengthen and perpetuate the alliance between us.
This proposal was unanimously agreed upon by the council, and notice was
immediately sent to the general of this determination, with orders to
cease from hostilities.
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