From the very beginning of the war, the policy of the Catholic sovereigns had been directed even more to depriving their enemies of the means of sustaining hostilities than to the winning of battles, the storming of cities, or the occupation of provinces. Every precaution had been taken to prevent the emirs of Morocco, connected with the dynasty of Granada by ties of blood, community of religious belief, and bonds of friendship and sympathy, from assisting their brethren in their extremity. The traditions of centuries united the reigning families of Granada and Fez; and, while their intimacy had been frequently interrupted by invasion and territorial disputes, the general tenor of their intercourse had been far from inimical, and the African sultans had rarely turned a deaf ear to the supplications of their kinsmen oppressed or insulted by the menacing encroachments of the Christian power. Thoroughly alive to the importance of depriving their antagonists of this formidable resource, the Spaniards had early established a vigilant patrol of armed vessels along the southern coast of the Mediterranean. This patrol was maintained with such rigor that, while nominally instituted to prevent the conveyance of men and supplies to Granada, it practically amounted to a strict blockade of every Mauritanian port, and practically involved the confiscation of all vessels trading to that part of the coast of Africa. Without the possession of a naval power adequate to resist the Spanish fleet, the Emir of Fez, cut off from the commerce of the Mediterranean, had suffered seriously in his revenues, as well as from the deprivation of those articles of foreign luxury essential to the pleasures of an elegant and voluptuous court. Actuated by the powerful motives of self-interest, the African prince despatched a splendid embassy to Cordova deploring the condition to which the maritime interests of his kingdom had been reduced by the unmerited harshness of the Christian monarchs, soliciting an alliance, and requesting, in the most respectful terms, the withdrawal of the fleet. As a proof of the good-will of his master, the Moorish envoy brought with him many beautiful and costly gifts. The embassy was received with every mark of distinction by the Spanish sovereigns; assurances of friendship and consideration were transmitted with all the pomp and formality of Castilian etiquette to the Sultan of Fez; but the alliance was declined; and while the strictness of the blockade was somewhat relaxed, so far as the intercourse of neutrals was concerned, the scrutiny of the ports, and the visitation of outgoing vessels suspected of hostile designs, were continued with all their vexatious severity.
With the desertion of their African brethren the cause of the Spanish Moslems became indeed desperate. The only hope of foreign succor lost, abandoned to their own resources, incessantly torn by faction, their bravest warriors sacrificed to tribal enmity, with division in the council, treason in the camp, and incompetency and cowardice in the field, it is one of the most remarkable facts in the history of their hopeless struggle that it could have been so long maintained in the face of an enemy growing stronger with every battle, of great numerical superiority, furnished with every improved means of aggressive warfare, and supplied with provisions by a territory ten times larger and vastly more populous than their own.
With the keen discernment born of natural shrewdness and the strategical experience acquired in repeated campaigns, some of them attended with serious disaster, Ferdinand and Isabella resolved hereafter to use every resource for the reduction of the principal remaining Moorish cities, well aware that the acquisition of any place of importance would be immediately followed by the submission of a large extent of contiguous and dependent territory. The most wealthy and best fortified stronghold still held by the Moslems was Malaga. To reduce it would require not only a numerous fleet and a powerful army, but the subjugation of every town in the vicinity which could either aid the garrison or obstruct the progress of the besiegers. Of these, Marbella, from whose walls Gibraltar and Ceuta were plainly visible, and the situation of whose harbor offered a convenient refuge to any vessels that might escape the vigilance of the Spanish cruisers, was the next point towards which the efforts of the Catholic monarchs were directed. A letter was sent to the city, and a submissive response received. But the tenor of this epistle, while apparently ingenuous, to the Spanish mind, familiar with the crafty stratagems of infidel duplicity, conveyed the impression that it had been framed merely for the purpose of gaining time. As the importance of the object to be obtained was paramount, it was determined to move the entire army from Ronda to Marbella, a distance of only eight leagues, but through a region never before traversed by so numerous a force, and whose natural difficulties were unequalled by those of any other portion of the Peninsula. As soon as the Spaniards arrived, Marbella was evacuated; Montemayor and twelve other towns of the district tendered their allegiance; and the King, advancing, pitched his tent within a league of Malaga.
The hardships endured by the troops upon this march exceeded any to which they had hitherto been subjected, except those resulting from the defeat of the Ajarquia. Aside from the tremendous and unintermitting exertions required for the transportation of artillery and munitions of war along steep paths and over almost inaccessible mountains, the defective commissary arrangements produced a famine. For days both men and horses were compelled to subsist on herbs and palmettoes; and at Marbella the suffering was still intense, as the ships laden with supplies, detained by contrary winds, were prevented from reaching the harbor. The Moors, informed by their scouts of the enfeebled condition of the soldiers, made a furious attack upon the baggage-train while it was entangled in a narrow pass between the mountains and the sea. The muleteers and their escort, separated from their comrades, and, by the nature of the ground, rendered incapable of successful defence, were instantly thrown into confusion. The Grand Master of Alcantara, who commanded the rear-guard, by dint of hard fighting finally extricated himself from his perilous situation, where, had the Moors exhibited a little more perseverance, a catastrophe might have ensued that would have jeopardized the safety of the entire Christian army.
The appearance of the King of Spain with a force of imposing numbers, and part of the siege-train which had levelled with such ease the formidable walls of Ronda, struck with consternation the inhabitants of Malaga, unprepared as they were for the contest which was finally to determine the fate of their lives and fortunes. But it soon became evident that their foes were in no condition to sustain the labors of a siege. The privations of a long and arduous campaign could not have reduced an army to greater distress than that now afflicting the soldiers of Ferdinand. They tottered with weakness as they marched, some even dropped fainting in the ranks. It was with difficulty that the stragglers could be collected—such was the laxity of discipline—or the sick and the exhausted be rescued from the scouting parties of the enemy that constantly hung upon their flanks, and whose tender mercies were slavery and death. The famishing horses, unable to bear the weight of their riders, were led by the bridle, and many of them were abandoned. The pack-saddles and the carts used for the commissariat were empty. In this forlorn plight the army, after some days, succeeded in reaching Antequera, where an opportunity was afforded for thorough recuperation preparatory to the resumption of hostilities.
No circumstance in the history of the Reconquest more clearly demonstrates the decline of Moslem intrepidity and spirit than this unmolested retreat of the Christians. In expectation of a siege, all the available forces of the kingdom had been concentrated at Malaga. They were commanded by the famous Al-Zagal, one of the greatest captains of his time, a veteran versed in every stratagem of war, the idol of his soldiers, the hero of many a successful expedition. The country through which the exhausted and disorganized force must pass was of such a character that in many localities a handful of determined men might easily withstand a host. The condition of the Spaniards, who were scarcely able to walk, precluded the possibility of a formidable resistance. And yet, with every advantage on their side, with the enemy impeded by an invaluable artillery train which could not be defended from a bold attack, with the fascinating prospect of a royal capture to excite the emulation of the daring, with the certainty of valuable spoil and martial glory to inflame the ambitious, the Moors dared not seize what was almost within their grasp.
Of the numerous governors who had, in succession, been placed in charge of the important fortress of Alhama, Don Gutierre de Padilla, an official of high rank in the military order of Calatrava, now enjoyed that responsible and perilous distinction. The absence of the cavalry of Granada, summoned to the defence of Malaga, afforded an opportunity for booty which the rapacious instincts of that officer were unable to resist. A foray was made, which swept from the very suburbs of the capital a large number of cattle and sheep and a few unfortunate captives. During their return the Christians unexpectedly encountered Al-Zagal with the flower of the Moslem troops. In the engagement which followed, the Christians were utterly routed, and the few who escaped were pursued to the gates of Alhama.
His energy, his reputation for knowledge of war, and his executive ability, had, a short time before, gained for that old warrior the precarious and barren honor of the crown. The people of Granada, awed and irritated by the capture of Ronda, demanded with one voice the recognition of Al-Zagal as king. His recent successful exploit greatly increased his popularity. Oppressed with his growing infirmities, Muley Hassan readily consented to abdicate, and to surrender to his brother the shadow, as he had long enjoyed the substance, of power. While the streets were ringing with the shouts of the people, who hailed with enthusiasm the accession of a new and warlike sovereign, Muley Hassan, conducted by his slaves to a litter, left for the last time the city which had been the scene of so many victories and so many calamities during his long and diversified career. Almuñecar was selected as his temporary residence, its strong position rendering it easy to be defended by land, while its proximity to the sea left open, in case of necessity, a way of escape to the coast of Africa. His abdication, although recognized as a political necessity by the aged King, was too much for his proud and sensitive spirit, broken by disease and filial ingratitude. A few months afterwards he expired, unattended save by his immediate family, at Mondujar, in the valley of Lecrin.
It was the request of the dying monarch that his body should be interred, not with those of his ancestors, whose reigns had been immortalized by the glories of arms, of arts, of letters, in the noble pantheon of the Alhambra, but, as became his misfortunes and his sorrows, in some solitude, far from the haunts of men. In accordance with his wishes, the summit of the Sierra Nevada was chosen as the place of sepulture, and there, covered with eternal snows, rest the bones of the fierce warrior whose name was once the terror of the frontier, while the peak of Muley Hassan forms a far more noble and enduring monument than the splendid tombs of silver and alabaster, long since broken and scattered to the winds, which once enclosed the remains of the members of his royal line.
The accession of Al-Zagal was signalized by a brilliant achievement which confirmed the wisdom of the popular movement which had raised him to the throne. Ferdinand had formed the project of besieging Moclin, whose proximity to Granada made it a point of great advantage, and which, according to information furnished by treacherous spies, was negligently guarded. With a view to cutting off reinforcements, the Count of Cabra, with ten thousand men, was sent forward to surround the city at night. Al-Zagal, duly apprised of this design, anticipated the arrival of the Christians, and with a force of twenty thousand soldiers strengthened the garrison, and placed an ambuscade in a narrow defile through which the path of the invaders lay. The Spaniards, bent on plunder and scattered in confusion, were suddenly encompassed by a host of enemies. Surprised themselves when they had hoped to strike the enemy unawares, and demoralized by the sudden attack in the darkness, they were slaughtered almost without resistance, and the Count of Cabra, severely wounded, experienced great difficulty in avoiding capture. The pursuit extended for a league; the terrified fugitives were pierced, as they fled, with the Moslem lances; and Al-Zagal, with a long train of prisoners and the horses and arms secured in the skirmish, again entered the Alhambra in triumph. As a result of this reverse the siege of Moclin was for the time abandoned; and the arms of Ferdinand were turned against the double fortress of Cambil and Al-Rabal near Jaen, which region had for years been annoyed by the Moorish freebooters that infested it, and at every opportunity swooped down upon the fertile plains around that city, bearing away to their inaccessible stronghold everything within their reach. The fortress resisted but a few hours after having been subjected to the fire of the Spanish cannon; and this success, added to the surprise of Zalea, an outpost castle near Alhama, by the governor of the latter city, to some extent compensated for the disaster of Moclin.