[3] This prince, whom Diaz names Coadlavaca, was brother to Montezuma, prince of Iztapalapan, and Tlachcocoatl, or grand general of the Mexican army.--E.
After the death of Montezuma, Cortes sent two of our prisoners, a nobleman and a priest, with a message to the new sovereign Cuitlahuatzin, to inform him of the melancholy event, which had happened by the hands of his own subjects; to express our grief on the occasion; and our wish that Montezuma might be interred with that respect which was due to his exalted character. Cortes likewise informed these messengers, that he did not acknowledge the right of the sovereign whom the Mexicans had chosen, as the throne ought to belong to the son of the great Montezuma, or to his cousin, who was now a prisoner in our quarters. He desired them also to say, if they would desist from hostilities, we would immediately march out of their city. He then ordered the body of Montezuma to be carried out by six nobles, and attended by most of the priests whom we had taken prisoners, desiring them to deliver the body of their deceased monarch to the Mexican chiefs, according to his dying injunctions. We could hear the exclamations of sorrow which were expressed by the people, at the sight of the body of their late sovereign; but our message was unavailing, as they recommenced their attack on our quarters with the utmost violence, threatening that in two days we should all pay with our lives for the death of their king and the dishonour of their gods, as they had now a sovereign whom we could not deceive as we had done by the good Montezuma.
Our situation was now exceedingly alarming, and on the day after the death of Montezuma, we made another sally towards that part of the city which contained many houses built on the firm ground, meaning to do all the injury we could, and, taking advantage of the causeway, to charge through the enemy with our cavalry, hoping to intimidate them by severe military execution, so as to induce them to grant us a free passage; we accordingly forced our way to that part of the city, where we burnt down about twenty houses, and very nearly reached the firm land[4]. But the injury we did the enemy was dearly purchased by the death of twenty of our soldiers, and we were unable to gain possession of any of the bridges, which were all partly broken down, and the enemy had constructed barricades or retrenchments in various places to obstruct the cavalry, wherever they could have done most essential service. Thus our troubles and perplexities continually increased, and we were forced again to fight our way back to our quarters. In this sally, which took place on a Thursday, Sandoval and others of our cavalry acted with great bravery; but those who came with Narvaez, not having been accustomed to such service, were timorous in comparison with our veterans. The number and fury of our enemies increased daily, while our force was diminished by each successive attack, and from our wounds we were become less able for resistance. Our powder was almost entirely expended; provisions and water became scarce; our friend Montezuma was no more; all our proposals for peace were rejected; the bridges by which we might have retreated were broken down; and in fine nothing but death in its direst form of immolation to their horrible idols appeared before us. In this state almost bordering on despair, it was resolved by Cortes in a consultation with all his confidential officers and soldiers, to make an attempt to quit the city during the night, as we were in expectation to find the enemy less upon their guard than in the day time. In order to deceive them, a message was sent by one of their chief priests who had been made prisoner, engaging to give up all the treasure in our possession, if they would give us permission within eight days to quit the city. Four days before this, one Botello, who pretended to be an astrologer, predicted that if we did not leave Mexico on this very night, that none of us would ever get out of it alive, adding many other foolish particulars to his prophecy.
[4] The expression in the text, of having nearly reached the firm land, is rather obscure, and may possibly mean that they had nearly forced their way along one of the causeways leading from the insular city to the continental shore of the lake.--E.
As it was determined to endeavour to force our way from the city, a portable bridge of very strong timber was prepared for enabling us to pass over the canals or passages in the causeway, where the enemy had broken down the bridges; and one hundred and fifty of our soldiers, with four hundred Tlascalan allies, were appointed for conveying, guarding, and placing this bridge. The advanced guard of an hundred of our youngest and most active men, was commanded by Sandoval, assisted by Azevedo, De Lugo, De Ordas, and De Tapia, with eight of the captains that came with Narvaez. The rear guard of an hundred men, mostly those of Narvaez, and the greater part of our cavalry, was confided to Alvarado and Velasquez de Leon. Donna Marina and Donna Luisa, with the Mexican chiefs who were prisoners, were placed under an escort of thirty Spanish soldiers and three hundred Tlascalans: Our general, with Avila, Oli, and other officers, and fifty soldiers, formed a body of reserve to act where they might be most needed. The rest of our soldiers and allies, with the baggage, formed a main body along with which the prisoners and their especial escort was to move, under protection of the van and rear guards. By the time that all these arrangements were completed, it drew towards night, and Cortes caused all the gold, which had hitherto been kept in his apartment, to be brought into the great hall of our quarters, when he desired Avila and Mexia, the kings officers, to take charge of what belonged to his majesty, assigning them eight wounded horses and above fourscore Mexicans for its conveyance. When these were loaded with all the gold they were able to carry, a great deal more remained heaped up in the saloon. Cortes then desired his secretary Hernandez and other notaries to bear witness that he could no longer be responsible for this gold; and desired the soldiers to take as much as they pleased, saying it were better for them to have it, than to leave it to their Mexican enemies. Upon this many of the soldiers of Narvaez, and some even of our veterans, loaded themselves with treasure. I was never avaricious, and was now more intent on saving my life than on the possession of riches: I took the opportunity, however, of carrying off four calchihuis from a casket, though Cortes had ordered his major-domo to take especial care of this casket and its contents, and these jewels were of infinite use to me afterwards, as a resource against famine, as they are highly prized by the Indians. The memorable night of our leaving Mexico, was dark, with much mist and some rain. Just before midnight, the detachment having charge of the portable bridge moved off from our quarters, followed in regular succession by the other divisions of our army. On coming to the first aperture in the causeway of Tacuba or Tlacopan, by which we retreated as being the shortest, the bridge was laid across, and was passed by the vanguard, the baggage, artillery, part of the cavalry, the Tlascalans with the gold. Just as Sandoval and his party had passed, and Cortes with his body of reserve, the trumpets of the enemy were heard, and the alarm was given on every side, the Mexicans shouting out, "Tlaltelulco! Tlaltelulco[5]! out with your canoes! the teules are marching off, assail them at the bridges!" In an instant the enemy assailed us on every side, some on the land and others in their canoes, which swarmed on the lake and the canals on both sides of our road, and so numerous were they and so determined that they entirely intercepted our line of march, especially at the broken bridges, and from this moment nothing but confusion and dismay prevailed among our troops. It rained so heavily that some of the horses became restive and plunged into the water with their riders; and to add to our distress our portable bridge was broken down at this first gap, and it was no longer serviceable. The enemy attacked us with redoubled fury, and as our soldiers made a brave resistance, the aperture became soon choked up with the dead and dying men and horses, intermixed with artillery, packs and bales of baggage, and those who carried them, all heaped up in the water. Many of our companions were drowned at this place, and many were forced into canoes and hurried away to be sacrificed. It was horrible to hear the cries of these unfortunate captives, calling upon us for aid which we were unable to give, and invoking the blessed Virgin and all the saints in vain for deliverance. Others of our companions escaped across those gaps in the causeway, by clambering over the confused mass of dead bodies and luggage by which they were filled, and were calling out for assistance to help them up on the other side; while many of them, thinking themselves in safety when they got to the firm ground, were there seized by the Mexicans, or killed with war clubs. All the regularity which had hitherto guided our march was now utterly lost and abandoned. Cortes and all the mounted officers and soldiers galloped off along the causeway, providing for their own immediate safety, and leaving all the rest to save ourselves as we best might: Nor can I blame them for this procedure, as the cavalry could do nothing against the enemy, who threw themselves into the water on both sides of the causeway when attacked, while others, by continual flights of arrows from the houses, or with long lances from the canoes on each side, killed and wounded the men and horses. Our powder was all expended, so that we were unable to do any injury to the Mexicans in the canoes. In this situation of utter confusion and derout, the only thing we could do was by uniting together in bands of thirty or forty, to endeavour to force our way to the land: When the Indians closed upon us, we exerted our utmost efforts to drive them off with our swords, and then hurried our march to get over the causeway as soon as possible. Had we waited for each other, or had our retreat been in the day, we had all been inevitably destroyed. The escape of such as made their way to land, was due to the mercy of God who gave us strength to force our way; for the multitudes that surrounded us, and the melancholy sight of our companions hurried away in the canoes to instant sacrifice, was horrible in the extreme. About fifty of us, mostly soldiers of Cortes, with a few of those who came with Narvaez, stuck together in a body, and made our way along the causeway through infinite difficulty and danger. Every now and then strong parties of Indians assailed us, calling us luilones, their severest term of reproach, and using their utmost endeavours to seize us. As soon as we thought them within reach, we faced about and repelled them with a few thrusts of our swords, and then resumed our march. We thus proceeded, until at last we reached the firm ground near Tacuba, where Cortes, Sandoval, De Oli, Salcedo, Dominguez, Lares, and others of the cavalry, and such of the infantry as had got across the bridge before it was broken down, had already arrived[6].
[5] Tlaltelulco was the name of that division of the city of Mexico through which the Spaniards marched in their way towards the causeway of Tacuba, and was probably used to summon the inhabitants of that quarter to the attack.--E.
[6] Clavigero, II. 116, says that the miserable remnant of the Spaniards assembled in Popotla, a village near Tacuba or Tlacopan. Diaz is often negligent of dates, but we learn in a subsequent passage, that this disastrous retreat from Mexico was on the 1st of July 1520.--E.
On our approach, we heard the voices of Sandoval, De Oli, and Morla, calling on Cortes to return to the assistance of those who were still on the causeway, who loudly complained of being abandoned. Cortes replied, that it was a miracle any should have escaped, and that all who returned to the bridges would assuredly be slain: Yet he actually did return with ten or twelve of the cavalry and such of the infantry as had escaped unhurt, and proceeded along the causeway to attempt the succour of such as might be still engaged. He had not gone far when he met Alvarado badly wounded, accompanied by three of our soldiers, four of those belonging to Narvaez, and eight Tlascalans, all severely wounded and covered with blood. These Alvarado assured him were all that remained of the rear-guard, Velasquez de Leon and about twenty of the cavalry, and above an hundred of the infantry, who had belonged to his division, being all slain, or made prisoners and carried away to be sacrificed. He said farther, that after all the horses were slain, about eighty had assembled in a body and passed the first gap on the heaps of luggage and dead bodies; that at the other bridge the few who now accompanied him were saved by the mercy of God. I do not now perfectly recollect in what manner he passed that last aperture, as we were all more attentive to what he related of the death of Velasquez and above two hundred of our unhappy companions. As to that last fatal bridge, which is still called Salto de Alvarado, or the Leap of Alvarado, we were too much occupied in saving our own lives to examine whether he leaped much or little. He must, however, have got over on the baggage and dead bodies; for the water was too deep for him to have reached the bottom with his lance, and the aperture was too wide and the sides too high for him to have leaped over, had he been the most active man in the world. In about a year after, when we besieged Mexico, I was engaged with the enemy at that very bridge which was called Alvarados Leap, where the enemy had constructed breastworks and barricades, and we all agreed that the leap was impossible. One Ocampo, a soldier who came with Garay, who used to amuse himself with lampoons, made one on this supposed feat of Alvarado, saying, "That fear made him give that prodigious leap, leaving Velasquez and two hundred more to their fate as he leaped for his life." As Cortes found, by the information of Alvarado, that the causeway was entirely filled by the enemy, who must have intercepted all the rest of our companions, he returned to Tacuba, where all who had escaped were now collected. Messengers had been already sent from Mexico, ordering all the people of Tacuba, Ezcapuzalco, Tenajocan, and other neighbouring cities on that side of the lake, to collect and attack us; and they now began to surround us in the inclosed courts of Popotla where we had taken shelter, harassing us with stones and arrows, and even attacking us with lances, many of which were headed with the swords which we lost during our retreat. We defended ourselves against this attack as well as we could, and made several sallies to drive them off. But, as the enemy continually increased in number, it was determined to endeavour to reach Tlascala, for which purpose we set out under the direction of six or seven of our allies who were well acquainted with the country. After a fatiguing march by an indirect road, during which we were much harassed by the enemy, who plied us with stones and arrows, we reached some houses on a hill near a temple, where we defended ourselves, and took such care as we could of our wounds; but could get no provisions. After the conquest of Mexico, a church was built on the site of this temple, and dedicated to Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, our Lady of Succour, to which many ladies and other inhabitants of Mexico, now go in procession to pay nine days devotion[7].
[7] This place is about nine miles W.N.W. from Mexico, and only about a mile and a half from Tacuba. Its Mexican name, according to Clavigero, was Otoncalpolco. It is almost in an opposite direction from the road to Tlascala, but was probably chosen on purpose to avoid the populous hostile vale of Mexico, and to get as soon as possible among the hills, and among some of the conquered tribes who bore the Mexican yoke with impatience. Clavigero says that the Spaniards procured at this place some refreshments from a tribe of Otomies, who inhabited two neighbouring hamlets.--E.
Our wounds had become extremely painful from cold, and want of proper dressings, and we now bound them up as well as we could. We had to deplore the loss of great numbers of our valiant companions, most of the soldiers of Narvaez having lost their lives by being overloaded with gold. Poor Botello the astrologer was killed among the rest. The sons of Montezuma, Cacamatzin who had been prince of Tezcuco, and all the other prisoners, among whom were some Mexican princes, lost their lives on this fatal night of our retreat from Mexico. All our artillery were lost. We had only twenty-three horses remaining, and very few crossbows; and our situation was melancholy and desperate in the extreme, having no other resource but to endeavour to reach Tlascala, and even there our reception was exceedingly uncertain[8]. After dressing our wounds, and making arrows for our crossbows, during which employment we were incessantly harassed in our present post, we proceeded at midnight on our march, under the direction of our faithful Tlascalans. Some of those who were badly wounded had to walk with the aid of crutches; others were assisted on each side by some of their companions; and those who were utterly unable to support themselves were placed upon lame horses. Thus, making head against the enemy with as many of the infantry as could bear arms, and having the cavalry who were able to act in front and on our flanks, with the wounded Spaniards and allies in the centre, we marched on continually harassed by the enemy, who reviled us, saying that we should soon meet our destruction; words that we did not then understand. I have forgot to mention the satisfaction we all enjoyed at finding Donna Marina and Donna Luisa had been saved in our retreat from Mexico. Having crossed among the first, they had been brought safe to Popotla by the exertions of two brothers of Donna Luisa, all the rest of the female Indians having been lost in the retreat.