Vela Nunnez, His Own Brother, Was Made Captain-General Of The
Troops.
Diego de Urbina maestre de campo, or major general, and Juan de
Aguire serjeant-major, or adjutant general.
Without including the citizens,
his army amounted to 600 men; of whom 100 were cavalry, 200 musqueteers,
and the remaining 300 armed with pikes. On purpose to arm these soldiers,
he caused a considerable number of musquets to be made, some of which were
of iron, and others of cast metal, which he procured by melting down some
of the bells belonging to the great church.
Besides frequently exercising his troops to perfect them in their
discipline, he occasionally caused false alarms to be given that he might
ascertain their disposition towards him, as it was much suspected that the
majority were by no means hearty in the cause. Having some suspicion of
Vaca de Castro, the former governor, whom he had lately allowed to be a
prisoner at large on parole not to leave the city, and believing that he
had some secret intelligence with his former friends and dependents, the
viceroy ordered a false alarm one day about noon, reporting that Gonzalo
was near at hand; and when the troops were all assembled in the great
square, he sent his brother-in-law, Diego Alvarez de Cueto to arrest Vaca
de Castro. At the same time he arrested Don Pedro de Cabrera, Hernan Mexia
de Gusman, Lorenco de Aldana, Melchior Ramirez, and Baltazar Ramirez his
brother-in-law, all of whom he sent prisoners on board a ship comanded by
Jeronimo de Zurbano.
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