CAMPAIGN AGAINST MIXCO.
It was during, or immediately after, the suppression of this revolt that the Spaniards accomplished perhaps their greatest achievement during the whole Guatemalan conquest. This was the storming of the city of Mixco, deemed impregnable.[XXVII-17] Mixco was one of the most important strongholds in the Cakchiquel kingdom, being so fortified by nature as to require little from art. Situated on an eminence surrounded on all sides by precipices, it was accessible only by a steep path, wide enough for but a single person, and interrupted here and there by places which could only with difficulty be climbed.[XXVII-18] On the top of this eminence was a great plain, capable of supporting a population of eight or nine thousand.
Learning that the Mixcans had determined to resist Spanish rule, and were encouraging other tribes to fortify themselves in similar impregnable positions, Alvarado regarded the reduction of the place as an absolute necessity. He therefore sent an advance force of two companies of foot-soldiers and one of cavalry, under the command of his brother Gonzalo, to invest Mixco until he should be able to assume command in person. The captains commanding under Gonzalo, Alonso de Ojeda, Luis de Vivar, and Hernando de Chaves, were men of high courage and experience; yet they not only accomplished nothing, but suffered so much from the stones and arrows of the enemy,[XXVII-19] provisions likewise beginning to fail, that Gonzalo was about to raise the siege when the lieutenant-general arrived with reinforcements.[XXVII-20] Although fully recognizing the difficulty and danger of the undertaking there were two incentives which urged Alvarado forward to its achievement: he loved what was difficult and dangerous, and he well knew that there could be no permanent subjugation of the country with this stronghold in the hands of the enemy. A council of war was held and the capture of Mixco resolved on. The first attempt was unsuccessful, as were indeed the second and third, until days and weeks went by without any seeming progress. Then the Spaniards tried stratagem, and while feigning an assault by means of scaling-ladders at a place where the precipice was lower than elsewhere, they suddenly made a rush up the pathway, which they hoped to find undefended. The Mixcans were prepared, however, and received the Spaniards with such heavy discharges of missiles that they were forced to retire in confusion. While the officers were in consultation shortly after, a strong body of native warriors was reported near at hand, which proved to be Chignautecs, allies of the Mixcans.[XXVII-21] Their intentions were evident, and soon the two armies were engaged in hot contest. Notwithstanding that great havoc was made by the arquebuses and cross-bows, and still more by the cavalry, the Chignautecs maintained the fight with such stubbornness that after the loss of a large number of Tlascaltecs and the wounding of many Spaniards a retrograde movement was decided on.
FIGHT WITH THE CHIGNAUTECS.
Upon an occasion like the present, where the object to be gained, the taking of a stronghold, partook more of the nature of single combat than of general battle, here and elsewhere upon a campaign of this kind, it was not uncommon to see feats of individual prowess cropping out on both sides. It was the field of glory to the soldier, limited usually to the field, as the world was the general's field of glory. I will mention one such exhibition in connection with this fight against the Chignautecs. In the hazardous retreat one of the cavalrymen, García de Aguilar, is in the extreme rear, subject to the fiercest assaults of the pursuing warriors. In truth, his body is interposed between the two contending armies. Obviously, if the enemy cannot put him out of the way they are unable to harm the others; every effort is therefore made to maim his horse, or otherwise to capture him; and he is at length cut off from his comrades and quickly surrounded by over four hundred of the dusky foe, each eager to inflict the coup de grace. But Aguilar is by no means vanquished yet. Though presently unseated, he maintains for some time a desperate struggle, striking with deadly effect upon the enemy. Then he loses his sword, and nothing remains to him but a dagger. It is not in this instance the bravery of the man that astonishes so much as his extraordinary muscular power. The horse, by kicking and plunging, prevents capture, while Aguilar, circumscribed by threatening death, exhibits almost superhuman strength. No blow dealt to kill or stun, no attempt to seize him, can stop the quick stroke of that strong right arm as it drives the keen steel straight into the assailants' vitals. With wounds and ever increasing exertion, however, he grows weaker; but capture signifies immolation. To be gazed at, helpless on a heathen altar, an offering to odious gods—the thought is horrible—and the fatal dagger is still, by swift movements, driven to the hilt. And now the battle cry of Santiago to the rescue! rings in his ears and tells of succor; he hears a leaden sound, as of crushed bone and flesh, and the whistle of descending blades, and knows that help is at hand. Six horsemen have plunged into the unequal contest, and they scatter the swarthy foe like sheep. They gather round their countryman, support his exhausted frame, and carry him wounded and faint to a place of safety. The courage, strength, and skill of this single man, and the valor displayed in his rescue, so impressed the Chignautecs that they retired disheartened, regarding their efforts of no avail against such beings,[XXVII-22] and they returned to their homes.
The siege had now lasted a month. On the third day after the retrograde movement, which resulted in victory, the Spaniards determined to make another attempt upon the place, and were on the point of assault when an ambassador arrived from the Chignautecs tendering their submission, and bringing the customary presents of gold, green plumes, and costly mantles. It was, however, stipulated on their part that this act of allegiance should be kept secret until the fall of Mixco; at the same time the envoy intimated that their caciques would communicate privately to Alvarado a secret that would be of service to him. Alvarado received this message favorably, and sent back the emissary with every mark of consideration, expressing his willingness to hear what the chiefs had to say.
The distance from Mixco to Chignauta was nine leagues; and in three days, during which Alvarado had refrained from active operations, the principal caciques arrived at his camp. They were attended by a large retinue and a number of natives bearing presents of great aboriginal value and a large quantity of provisions. The disclosure made by the caciques was to the effect that there existed a subterranean passage from the stronghold, having an outlet in the woods near the river bank. By this the Mixcans could escape, they said, even if the Spaniards succeeded in storming the height. The outlet they were willing to disclose, as they owed no allegiance to the Mixcans, who had incited them to take up arms against the Spaniards. They moreover suggested that an ambuscade should be placed near the mouth.[XXVII-23]
THE FALL OF MIXCO.
A force of forty men, cross-bowmen and cavalry, commanded by Alonso Lopez de Loarca, was accordingly despatched to the exit of the passage,[XXVII-24] and thereupon Alvarado determined once more to attempt to storm the place. The front man of the storming line bore a shield, and behind him followed a cross-bowman; then succeeded another shield-bearer, supported by an arquebusier. This alternate order afforded protection and at the same time admitted of assault.[XXVII-25] The file thus formed was led by Bernardino de Arteaga, who had asked for the dangerous post as a favor, and succeeded in covering his name with honor. Calling on God and Santiago, they began the ascent of the narrow ridge, which widened as it joined the cliff. While moving as rapidly as possible, so that the showering stones and arrows might have less effect, they nevertheless plied cross-bow and arquebuse with deadly effect. They had almost reached a wider place in the ridge, where four men might walk abreast, when the gallant Arteaga was felled with a heavy stone, breaking his leg, but with indomitable will he struggled on, supported by his comrade Diego Lopez de Villanueva.[XXVII-26] Despite the terrible resistance they reached the broader space near the cliff, which was packed with defenders so eager for a blow at the assailants that many were crowded off the precipice by those behind. But the stormers were by this time enabled to fall partially into line and ply their blades. A hand-to-hand contest followed, and the ground soon became thickly strewn with the bodies of slain Mixcans, among which were heaps of lopped-off heads and limbs. More Spaniards and auxiliaries came rapidly forward to aid in the slaughter as ground could be cleared for them to stand on. The natives fought with desperation, but height after height was lost to them, until their victorious foe gained at last the plain above. There the Spaniards found fresh forces to oppose them. But the Mixcans were by this time overawed by the extraordinary achievement of the Spaniards; and as they marked these merciless white foemen, the first who had ever planted foot within the precincts of their famed and formidable stronghold, as they saw them moving onward and upward, invincible as fate, it is no wonder that their hearts sank with despair. Their opposition was wholly spiritless; they broke and fled at the first charge. What followed was frightful, surpassing even the terrible scenes to which these man-killers on both sides were accustomed. To escape the fierce onslaught of the Spaniards some of the Mixcans plunged headlong down the cliffs, the dull thud of their bodies, as they struck upon the rocks, sounding ghostly echoes in the ravine below. Some attempted escape by the now deserted path by which the assailants had come, but these were captured by the camp guard. Some fled by the subterranean caverns, but were pursued and many taken prisoners before they reached the outlet, while those who had previously withdrawn thither with the women and children, under the care of several caciques, on emerging at the outlet were assailed by Loarca, and most of them captured.[XXVII-27]
Thus terminated this remarkable exploit of the conquerors. The city was burned, the stronghold destroyed, and the population removed to the site of the present town of the same name, situated in the Valle de las Vacas.[XXVII-28]