Mexica: A History Podcast
Mexica: A History Podcast
Cortés, Extremadura and the New World (Ep 2)
Cortés, Extremadura and the New World.
In Episode 2, we explore Extremadura Spain, home of some of the most vicious conquistadors where Cortes was raised. The narrative follows Cortes from his childhood in the small town of Medellin to his first lessons in genocide in Cuba through the climactic battles with the Maya.
Part 1 – Extremadura, Home of Conquistadors
Part 2 – Life in the Indies
Part 3 – Tabasco
Part 4 – Taking of Potonchan
Part 5 – Battle of Cintla
Episode 2 Credits
Written, produced and performed by Jeremy Lipps.
~ Music ~
Intro Coda, acoustic guitar by Valentin Sosnitskiy
Fuego de Mateo by downforthecount
Araucanian war song by downforthecount
guitar percussion by bangcorrupt
Daniel Birch, www.danielbirchmusic.com
Sustained Light
The Gates Are Locked
taiko drum sequence for looping the sacrifice by infinita08
intro by lost dream
~ Sound Effects ~
water-lapping by ceivh93
Barcelona street restaurants near Sagrada Familia by nimlos
horses muffled hooves on dirt by craigsmith_r
jungle-tropical-birds-and-insects by mikeypme
canoe in flooded forest by reinsamba
ambiance night wildlife by inspectorj
campfire sound by sterckxs
three cannon shots by originalmaja
timber tree falling by matt_beer
ambient battle noise swords and shouting by phranzen
pain schwester by repdac3
dog barking single by inspectorj
musket 2 shots by kmarz1
steps park by hannagreen
arrow cutting through the air by bruno auzet
walla cuban men yell bball1 natural by kyles
horse galloping by max headroom
mercado 05 by dobroide
horse snort by bruno auzet
horses jingle jangle by craigsmith_r
canadian horse running by vero marengere
All music was sourced from www.freemusicarchive.org
Sound FX via www.FreeSound.org
Episode 2 - Cortes, Extremadura and the New World
Last time in Episode 1: We learned about Moctezuma, emperor of the Aztec Triple Alliance and explored life in the Mexica capital Tenochtitlan. Troubling visions had the Emperor concerned for the future, and visitors from far away had already touched the Aztec world.
The green, earthy water of the Grijalva River cut across the crystalline blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico as it flowed out into the sea, past the hull of Cortes’ anchored ship. His ship, a 100-ton vessel called a Nao, was the largest of the fleet of 11 brought from Cuba. Cortes looked out at the rich emerald shores of Tabasco, clusters of mangroves lined the sandy banks. Less than a year earlier Captain Grijalva had lost 16 men to combat with local Maya who had defended the nearby town of Chompoton. Two years prior Captain Cordoba lost more than 50 men in battles at Cape Catoche and Chompoton. The Maya had proven they were capable of inflicting death on the Spanish.
The sky was still pink with the rising sun on the morning of March 12, 1519. Small waves lapped against the ship’s side. A light haze hung over the river and the humid, warm air pressed against Cortes’ skin and filled his nostrils, heavy with the scent of vegetation. Behind him the sun was breaking, beads of sweat had formed on Cortes’ brow as he scoured the shore, knowing there were thousands of warriors out there. Red and black birds zipped around, conducting their business before the heat picked up. Cortes ordered the boats lowered and the men to be brought ashore. In all Cortes had brought more than 500 soldiers, crossbowmen and arquebusiers, as well as some smaller cannons. There were also 16 horses stabled below deck on the various ships.
When Grijalva entered this river the year before in 1518 he was greeted by canoes full of nervous Maya warriors. These were Chief Tabscoob’s men, one of the local Maya leaders for whom the modern state of Tabasco is named. Ultimately Grijalva ended up staying peacefully for a week and trading for food and small amounts of gold. Cortes was back a year later in 1519, to pick up the scent of gold again. He had planned with his usual precaution and paired it with his cunning objectives - those two elements; prepared caution and cunning, would propel Cortes through one of the most improbable and bloody military marches in all of human history.
Part 1 - Extremadura: Home of Conquistadors
Extremadura lies in the landlocked western part of Spain, the border with Portugal is 60 miles to its west, 200 miles almost directly south is the Rock of Gibraltar. The name, Extremadura, means distant and hard place and the people and geography live up to the name. The sun punishes the land in the summer and droughts are part of life in this arid plain. The region was one of the most important in the Roman Empire as part of the western silver trade. When the Roman Empire collapsed, so did much of the economy leaving behind only ruins, the difficult land and the tough people who stayed to work it.
This hard place was the origin of many of the fiercest and cruelest Conquistadors. From Extremadura came Francisco de Orellana, who explored the Amazon. Vasco Nunez de Balboa who was the first European to see the Pacific from the Americas. Sebastian Vizcaino who eventually explored California. And of course, Francisco Pizarro, who brought the Inca Empire to an end with the murder of Atahualpa. Pizarro was a distant cousin of Hernan Cortes, through his mother. Conquest would come to be a family affair.
Nestled along the southern bank of the Guadiana River, and surrounded by smooth farm-covered hills is the town of Medellin. The small town had narrow streets built in a semi-circle pattern out from a main central plaza where the Cortes family lived. The town was established by and named for the Roman General Quintus Metellus Pius, as a military stronghold in the Westernmost provinces. In 1519 Medellin was part of the Kingdom of Castile, under the reign of Charles V.
In this town of Medellin likely in the year 1485 Hernan Cortes was born to modest nobility of humbler means. The Cortes home was comfortable and the family was supported by paid help.
His father, Martin Cortes de Monroy was a cavalry captain in the Castilian military. His mother, Catalina Pizarro Altamirano was described as a pious woman from a respectable noble family. Behind both families were honorable lineages, but like all people in this region, wealth was not robust and most people scraped a living from the land or military service.
Rumors are told of Hernan’s sickly nature as an infant, even near death once until an act of faith by Maria de Esteban, Cortes’ wet nurse, saved him with prayer, the graces of St. Peter and presumably the nutrients of her own milk. Because of this family miracle Cortes would take St Peter on as his personal guardian and patron.
The teenaged Cortes was a mischievous kid who caused problems for his well-regarded mother. Having run through the streets of Medellin for long enough, his parents had him sent to Salamanca to live with his aunt Ines and her husband, a grammar teacher. They hoped he might return with the Latin and writing skills needed to become a lawyer but instead the young Cortes lasted only two years and returned to Medellin to the chagrin of his parents, Catalina and Martin.
Stories of Columbus’s discovery of the Indies and the gold arriving back in Spain were drawing men across the sea. The men of Extremadura were fleeing the barren hills and stagnant economy for the hope of glory and, with God’s grace, gold. This idea appealed to Cortes as well. He didn’t need to look far for a connection to the adventures of the New World. A family friend, Nicolas de Ovando, had been appointed governor of Hispaniola and was setting off soon to take his new appointment. It was arranged that the 16-year-old Cortes would travel with Ovando to the Indies.
The story goes that one evening, while apparently headed to the quarters of a married woman, Cortes fell from a high wall and injured his leg. Although he scampered away from the angry husband, he was not able to save his spot with the Ovando fleet. Somewhat lost and frustrated, Hernan Cortes decided, once he healed, to join the Great Captain Cordoba on his quest to conquer southern Italy.
Cortes, somewhat aimless with a vague plan to make his way to Italy only made it as far as the southern coast of Spain. After a year, he returned to his parents in Medellin with a decision: he was going to the Indies to make a life for himself. Just glad their son had committed to a plan, Martin and Catalina Cortes gave the 17-year-old Hernan their blessing and some money for the next steps of his life.
Part 2 - Life in the Indies
In 1504 at age 19, Cortes took a spot aboard the ship of one Captain Quintero, who seems to have been a rather unsavory fellow given that he tried to sneak off before the rest of the fleet to sell his goods. A storm damaged Quintero’s boat and he returned to the Canaries in shame, his dirty plot to sell his goods first at inflated rates, foiled by a storm. Eventually the fleet made it to Hispaniola, with some amount of fearful wayward sailing.
Once ashore in Santo Domingo, now a booming colony and the main port in the Americas, the young Cortes found the estate of his family friend Nicolas de Ovando, who eventually set Cortes up with an encomienda, or a plot of land and Taino slaves. Ovando also made Cortes Notary of Azua and with these entitled beginnings the most notorious of the conquistadors established himself in the New World. His first taste of genocide came in Hispaniola when an ambitious man named Diego Velazquez recruited Cortes to join him in a mission to put down a rebellion of Taino people. These stubborn indigenous people continued to fight after the Spanish governor, Ovando had their warrior queen Anacaona hanged.
After Cortes spent a few simple years farming the land with slave labor in Hispaniola, Velazquez came calling again in 1511. Today, the island of Hispaniola is split into the two countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This time he asked Cortes to join him on the island of Cuba on an expedition funded by Diego Columbus, unrelated to Christopher, to enslave the people and use the land. While there Cortes learned military tactics he would deploy later on the mainland. He also impressed Velazquez and earned himself another encomienda on Cuba.
Cuba was good to Cortes and he built himself a modest fortune in Baracoa as a farmer and gold miner. His life there was not short of adventure and womanizing eventually led to a tenuous marriage to Catalina Xuarez, the sister of his business partner. The Xuarez sisters came over from Spain looking for rich husbands and Cortes fit the bill. After some casual flirtations and a proposal, Cortes found himself with cold feet and had to be coerced into the marriage.
While married life may have kept Cortes on his toes he was surely more interested in the expeditions to the mainland beyond Cuba that were beginning to sail. In 1517 Francisco Hernandez Cordoba took 110 men on three ships to the mainland in search of slaves. When he returned later Cordoba himself was mortally wounded, having taken arrows from Maya warriors at Champoton. Cordoba only returned with half his crew, most of them wounded and rotten, and with little gold to show for it. Of great fortune to Cortes was that the Cordoba Expedition did return with two Maya captives who had begun to learn Spanish and were baptized as Christians. Now named James and Melchior, they would come to be critical to Cortes and his mission two years later.
While the Cordoba Expedition had not ended well, Diego Velazquez had seen enough gold and silver to put together a new expedition under the guidance of his relative Juan de Grijalva. In May of 1518 Grijalva sailed along Cuba then south toward Yucatan and ended up landing on the coastal island of Cozumel. Grijalva sailed Northwest from Cozumel past Cape Catoche, where the previous year Cordoba had the first violent exchange with Maya warriors. The clash between Cordoba and the Maya at Catoche cost the Spanish two men and wounded another 11. At Chompoton, Cordoba lost another 26 men. With at least 50 Spanish lives already claimed between Cordoba and Gijalva’s efforts, Cortes knew there would be violence and death. When Velasquez turned to Cortes for his turn Cortes would be ready to bring violence to the mainland.
In December of 1518 Cortes was almost set to go but his one-time mentor and Governor of Cuba, Diego Velazquez was having second thoughts about sending the increasingly bold Cortes. After dwelling on it Velazquez decided to recall the expedition, Cortes was too flamboyant, too arrogant and gathering quite the expedition together. He dispatched a messenger with orders to stop the launch. One of Cortes’s allies got wind of the order and beat the notice to Cortes, urging him to set sail immediately before the order could arrive.
And with that, Cortes hastily set off in December, 1518 due West.
Part 3 - Tabasco
On the shore, hidden in the mangroves and among the palm trees, and even in plain sight on the sandy stretches of the river bank Maya warriors had begun to assemble. Dressed for battle with rich red and green feathered headdresses and shields, all armed with clubs or bows. The ranking men had wooden frames on their backs supporting large displays of feathers that marked their ranke and affiliation. Even women and children had come to get a glimpse of the strange men on the mountainous ships. They remembered trading with Grijalva for blue glass beads the year before and and yearned for more.
“Lower the boats,” Cortes ordered. The boats splashed into the water.
“Grijalva traded for food and gold here. We will attempt to trade and go to their town just beyond the trees,” Cortes said to Pedro de Alvarado and Bernal Diaz, who had been on the Grilava expedition the year before.
Both the soldier Diaz and Captain Alvarado remembered the tense encounter of the prior year, the circling canoes full of warriors, and how it narrowly spun out into a skirmish. Only through the Maya translators Melchior and Julian, was Grijalva able to avoid conflict and open trade. Grijalva, Alvarado and Diaz escaped this area without harm and a modest amount of gold. It was the lone bright spot in the two previous expeditions of Cordoba and Grijalva.
“And what if they want war?” Alvarado asked. Diaz turned to Cortes, awaiting a response.
Cortes looked back at his men, “Then they shall have it.” he replied.
Cortes was already on unsteady legal ground as he had intentionally left Cuba in a hurry to avoid orders to cancel the expedition by his one-time friend Diego Velazquez. So Cortes wanted everything by the book. He ensured the Royal Notary Diego de Godoy and his translators were in the same boat with him, the speakers and the recorder. He planned to go above Velazquez to the King himself, Charles V of the Hapsburg Dynasty and soon to be Holy Roman Emperor.
The men rowed up the green water of the Grijalva River. Maya warriors continued to mass on the shores and among the mangrove swamps, some moving with the Spanish boats along the shore. Diaz and Alvarado were alarmed by the clear shift in aggression since their last visit. Maya canoes were put into the water and they paddled directly at the Spanish boats. Cortes urged his Spanish translators to work toward trade and peace.
Through the trees they could see raised stone platforms and a wooden barricade, and thousands of men ready for war. Cortes ordered the boats toward the swampy area nearest the town. As they did so a canoe with an older man of high status approached the Spanish boats. This captain sat low in the center of the canoe, a small, but richly decorated red headdress of feathers, a cloak of rough Maya cotton on his shoulders. Aguilar spoke first, “Do not be afraid we have brought gifts to trade. We have not come for war” he said in Maya, learned after eight years of captivity in a Maya town after a shipwreck. The story of how Aguilar came to be Cortes’s translator is quite extraordinary in itself, and includes evidence of perhaps the first mainland Mestizo children, of both Indigenous and European ancestry. The concept of Mestizo, or mixed Indigenous and European ancestry is a central theme in Mexican culture. This idea stands apart from the United States’ even more heavy handed extermination of indigenous people.
Despite Aguilar’s attempts at negotiations the Maya head man insisted they depart or find themselves at war. Cortes knew he could not take on this group of warriors with the small contingent he had brought and that his odds would be better with his cannons and more men. So it was agreed that the head man would return to their town Potonchan and present Cortes’s offers of trade and knowledge in exchange for allowing them to visit the town. In the morning the head man would return with food, water and the chief’s answer. With that Cortes and his men made camp on a sandy spit in the middle of the river across from the mangroves that separated them from the town of Potonchan.
Having already met with several of the men from the Grijalva expedition, Cortes had been made aware of a footpath through the swamp that led to the back of the town. As dusk fell upon their camp Cortes took full advantage of the darkness. He ordered a few men to scout the path. The cannons were brought in from the large ships still anchored at the mouth of the river and made ready for action the next day. The artilleryman Mesa oversaw this operation. Cortes ordered his best bowmen to check the crossbows and ensure each was cleaned, ready and had back up parts. The men settled into camp, started fires and ate whatever meager rations were left while Cortes and his captains ate the turkey, squash and other foods the Maya had brought that day.
In the Maya town the people also prepared for war. The offers of peace and trade were but a ruse for the Maya as well. Chief Tabscoob was not unfamiliar with the Spanish after having met with Grijalva personally a year prior. He knew of the conflicts both previous Spanish expeditions had with his neighbors. He knew of Spanish savagery. He ordered the women, children and provisions moved out of Potonchan while the warriors gathered around fires to tell stories of victory, and to dance and sing. Sacrifices were made. War had come again to the Maya of Tabasco.
Out on the dark sandy island the Spanish could see the orange glow over the village, trees lit up with the light of fires, they could hear the faintest sound of cheering and singing coming through the darkness across the mangrove swamp and smooth flowing water of the Grijalva. The Maya Chief Tabscoob was under political pressure from other Maya chiefs for being too friendly with Grijalva the previous year. He had little choice in how he could deal with Cortes and now his diplomatic efforts to get Cortes to leave had failed. With his countrymen at his back, war was the only option.
Part 4 - Taking of Potonchan
The next morning, March 13, Father Olmedo said mass on the sandy island and Cortes quickly set his plan in motion. It was cool, but one could already feel the humidity undermining the night’s fading reprieve from the heat. Cortes ordered Captain de Avila to take 100 men along the path they scouted the night before and to wait in hiding until they heard gunfire before attacking. Cortes and another 300 men climbed into the boats and smaller brigantines, cannons already on board, and set out up river toward the mangrove swamp. Again the Maya warriors had filled the shoreline, some dressed in heavy, layers of cotton armor, others only in heavy loin cloths wrapped high on their backs, covering their kidneys and groin. The men wore face paint and tight little headdresses, armed with shields, bows, slings and spears. Unlike the day before when they were silent, this time they shouted and whooped, horns were blowing, drums were beating and there were no women and children.
Before the Spanish could get close to the shore Maya dugout canoes emerged from the mangroves and surrounded the Spanish. There was tension, and a few men yelled warnings from both Spanish and Maya boats but no more than words flew. The men of one canoe offered a small amount of food and a new head man stood to speak, insisting, sternly, that they depart.
Aguilar turned to Cortes and the notary and reiterated the emissary’s words, “He said to take this food, water and small treasure and return to our land.”
Through Aguilar, Cortes replied it was not enough food and water and that he wanted to come to the town himself and meet with Tabscoob, draw water and trade.
The Maya contingent offered the meager food again and pleaded with Aguilar, asking for them to leave. Cortes refused, “Tell them I was ordered by the great King of Castille Charles V, to explore this land in the name of our Lord and Savior with or without the permission of its inhabitants.”
Cortes urged Aguilar to ask again, to ensure they would not have peace for the record, he made sure the Royal Notary Godoy was nearby to witness his righteous behavior. Again the Maya refused Cortes admission to their town, the emissary sat down in the canoe and his oarsmen backed the canoe away, then turned and paddled toward the mangrove swamp through the flotilla of Maya canoes. Once the headman was clear a volley of arrows and stones was the final answer. The Spaniards began rowing the boats desperately toward the shore, through the gauntlet of canoes and projectiles. They ran the boats as far into the swampy mangrove as they could, splashed into the waist-deep muddy water and began to struggle ashore under a rain of arrows, darts and rocks. The metal helmets, shields and chest plates of the Spanish were enough to deflect many of the projectiles with a solid clang. Occasionally the darts or stones would find a gap and knock a man down for a moment or two. Rarely were the injuries severe.
It was then Cortes unleashed the cannons from the brigantines further out in the river. The shots ripped through the mangroves, shattering tree and bone alike. The sound alone put many of the Maya men on the ground. The thunderous sound and smoke were like something from the underworld. Once that initial fog lifted the groaning of the wounded Maya began to rise above the stunned battlefield. All around Maya men lay mangled, or peppered by wood and steel shrapnel, some dead, others groaning and straining with the last of their life. The Spanish used this moment to push inland, their Spanish steel slicing easily through cotton armor and Native flesh. Cortes ordered another volley of cannon shots, further scattering the Maya ranks.
The Maya army had retreated to the barricades of Potonchan, having lost the mangrove swamp to the advancing Spanish. This was the largest Maya town in the area, home to about 20,000 people. Out of the swamp, up the grassy bank and onto the dusty main road Cortes’s men managed to reach the city walls and began to pry the barricades down. The fight moved into the packed dirt streets of Potonchan. From the doorways and roofs of adobe and thatched houses Maya archers fired on them. As long as the armored Spanish soldiers kept their shields up, helmets on and their wits the arrows and darts rarely hit their mark.
Cortes and the frontal assault pushed toward the sacred square in the center while Captain de Avila and his 100 foot soldiers arrived at the rear of the village, which effectively caused the remaining 150 or so Maya to flee. By early evening Cortes and his men were setting up camp in the courtyard of the sacred square and pillaging what little was left in the village. There were 14 wounded Spanish. Scouts spotted 18 dead Maya, many floating in the mangroves. Given how quickly they fled, and how few dead there were, Cortes determined only a small defensive Maya force of about 400 had been left to protect the village. The bulk of the Maya army was still out there, waiting.
The next morning Cortes, knowing his men were hungry and food low, sent two contingents out to find or negotiate for food if possible. Cortes wanted Melchior, the Maya translator captured by Cordoba two years previous, to go and translate but no one could find him. In the dark of the night Melchior had stripped off his European clothes, hung them in a tree outside camp and slipped into the darkness of his native land. This made Cortes bitter, having been outsmarted and losing a valuable asset. Cortes still had Julian and Aguilar. So Captain Pedro de Alvarado took 100 men and Francisco de Lugo took another 100 in separate directions to search for food.
De Lugo’s men marched through some swampy areas to the West for about a mile before emerging onto a wide plain full of maize fields. The golden fields of maize stalks stretched for miles, dotted by small adobe outbuildings and bounded to the West by a low green treeline. The men were overjoyed at the sight of such bountiful farmland, thoughts of full bellies filled their minds. The joy faded quickly; through the cornstalks eyes stared back, the Spaniards could see Maya warriors standing among the maize. As the men marched along the trail, just feet from armed warriors the tension gripped men on both sides. The Spanish readied their weapons. Captain de Lugo shouted, “Halt! Indian Battle formations ahead.”
Before them, coming down the trail in the opposite direction were thousands of Maya warriors headed towards the Spanish camp to finish this invasion. Both sides were caught off guard. Immediately there is shouting, arrows begin to fly, swords slashed and the sounds of war and chaos filled the farmlands. The skirmish kicked up a dust storm in the crisp morning air, maize was trampled and slashed. Across the swamp Pedro de Alvarado and his men heard the sound of musket fire and with haste he changed course to support de Lugo’s men.
Once the Maya warriors were in full attack de Lugo pulled his men together and rallied his crossbowmen and muskets to keep a steady volley. Greatly outnumbered, they circled up and hunkered down, keeping their swords to the enemy as arrows and darts rained down on them. Spanish swords had fatally opened a few Maya men who lay gutted and bleeding before them, others had taken crossbow bolts or musket balls and were dragged off into the dust. After a brisk jog of a mile Alvarado and his men arrived, catching the Maya by surprise. The battle continued but the Spanish were able to get the upper hand and the Maya again dissolved into the maize fields.
When it was over 15 Maya lay dead and two Spanish men had been killed, with another 11 wounded. Three Maya captives were taken back to camp. That night of March 13, 1519 the Spanish tended to the wounded, buried two of their soldiers, said mass and again scavenged whatever little corn or game they could to sustain themselves for another day. From those captives Cortes learned their translator Melchior had fled to the Maya, and explained the Spanish were just men and to attack with everything they had. After the defeat at Potonchan, he had been sacrificed for bad counsel. Cortes also learned the Maya had pulled together several great armies to crush the Spanish, some of those armies had taken part in the maize field skirmish. The captives were released with a message for Tabscoob; welcome us or face the swords and cannons.
The morning of March 15, 1519 a small contingent of Maya nobles came to visit Cortes to negotiate. They brought a small amount of gold and food and again pleaded with Cortes to take this meager gift and leave. Again Cortes told them he could not leave, he talked about King Charles, the Lord Jesus Christ and his Holy Mother Mary, but the gold was pulled aside and examined closely. The Maya nobles were sent away with a heavy message for Chief Tabscoob - the Spanish were coming.
Cortes ordered the horses to be brought ashore, the first ever domesticated horses to set foot on mainland North America. The horses were unsteady at first after several weeks below deck, but they quickly gained their footing. Cortes had brought 16 horses with him from Cuba, and he planned to deploy 13 the next day on a push inland. He also made sure to have the full contingent of 500 soldiers ready. Wounded men from the previous day’s skirmishes were brought back to the ships and tended to.
By the fire that night in the sacred square of Potonchan, Cortes planned and strategized for all possible outcomes. The strategy was to push inland in search of the Maya great army, and to meet with Tabscoob to secure the subjugation of the Yokot’an Maya. Cortes was no stranger to the complete eradication of indigenous populations. He had participated in genocide in Cuba and Hispaniola. Crush them militarily, convert them, put the survivors to work on Encomiendas, or slave-labor ranches. That was the plan.
Part 5 - Battle of Cintla
Dawn broke over the Atlantic Ocean and the Spanish men began to wake and wander about camp, relieving themselves and seeking food. Father Olmedo said mass at their makeshift altar and the soldiers began to fall into their units. Captain Diego de Ordaz was to lead the infantry and ranged units along the main footpath that led to the site of the last skirmish in the maize fields, a farming community called Cintla. Cortes would take the 13-horse cavalry along high ground to the West that kept the horses out of swampland with the goal of flanking the Maya army.
When they reached the site of the previous day’s skirmish they could see thousands of Maya soldiers in battle formations preparing to move down the same path to attack the Spanish camp. It was as if the maize had sprouted soldiers overnight, the entire plain was covered with warriors dressed for battle.
Immediately the Maya archers, slingers and spear throwers launched a massive assault. The Maya needed to crush the Spanish and put an end to this destructive foreign presence. Tabscoob had pulled together the combined forces of seven other municipalities for this final battle. At the end of the day this would remain Maya country or the Maya would be forced into Spanish subjugation.
Arrows, stones and darts flew, causing minor wounds to a few Spaniards, while muskets and cannons roared casting violent death upon the Maya. The battlefield was a wide plain striped with irrigation canals, which made it difficult to move quickly. The Spanish found themselves surrounded on all sides taking arrows and swooping blows from brave club-wielding warriors willing to risk steel swords. With every blast of the cannons or guns the Maya jumped in surprise and shouted and whooped, but continued to fight.
Captain Ordaz, becoming frustrated from the constant rain of projectiles, poor footing and noting the mounting number of wounded, focussed on the absence of Cortes and the cavalry.
“Where is Cortes?” asked Ordaz.
“I don’t know but we can’t sit here much longer. Let’s make a push and get at them with our swords.” Diaz said to the Captain.
“No, don’t break ranks. There’s high ground over there. We should be able to use the cannons to better effect. Let’s push in that direction” Ordaz ordered.
The huddled mass of soldiers was able to push their way toward a high
patch of ground between the irrigated maize fields. Once on the stable ground the artillery began to reap devastating blow after devastating blow to the Maya ranks. Their will to charge was weakening. The Maya attacked in close formation making them easy targets for Mesa and his cannons. Now almost two hours into the battle and the arrows, stones and darts rained down, taking a significant toll on the Spanish. But still no horsemen.
Just when the men felt they would break under the overwhelming numbers of Maya, one of the horsemen arrived and smashed through the line of warriors, sending bodies in all directions as the rider slashed through the Maya men with his sword, trampling others beneath the dappled gray mare he rode. The Spanish soldiers cheered as the horseman wreaked havoc on so many Maya, giving them a chance to regroup. The rider disappeared into the dust again.
A brief silence settled over the battlefield as the Maya and Spanish strained to see or hear the horseman who had reaped such destruction just moments before. Then, through the silence a rumbling could be heard growing louder, until the hearty sound of thundering hooves, chain mail and heavy leather was overwhelming. Through the dust clouds burst Cortes and his 12 armored horsemen; swords and lances pierced flesh, cracked skulls, and crunched through shoulder blades. Men were knocked to the ground, hooves crushed organs and pulverized bones. The tactical and psychological effect of the horses was catastrophic. The Maya had never seen such beasts, nor felt the force of such crushing military might. Their tactic of staying away from Spanish swords while shooting projectiles had been shattered by the horses speed and range.
With the horses causing such chaos and destruction, Ordaz ordered the foot soldiers to charge and they quickly slashed their way through any Maya still willing to fight. After the cavalry had arrived there was little resistance. The Maya warriors melted into the forests and maize fields, the battle was over. They had faced the cannons and guns bravely, they took the Spanish steel but the horses were just too much.
Once the battlefield had settled, and the only Maya left were the dead and groaning near-dead, Cortes and his captains gathered in the shade of nearby trees. Cortes gave thanks to his patron, St Peter, and congratulated his men. With that the first gaping wound in the Indigenous American world was opened up. The Yokot’an Maya had fallen. Later Spanish expeditions would aim for the genocide of other Maya people in the Yucatan and further South.
The soldiers walked the battlefield, among the trampled stalks of maize, searching for anything edible or of value. They counted more than 500 dead and dying Maya. Bernal Diaz stepped among the dead, near him, a young Maya warrior lay belly down in the mud, his innards strewn out beside him. His breathing was deep and labored, each breath creating a deep ghastly croaking sound, the young man’s eyes were open wide in shocked fear. All around them dying men groaned, some shouting. The injuries ranged from slash wounds to those violently mangled by cannon shot. The scent of blood, and human filth wafted through the air.
The injured Spanish, numbering at least 70, were collected and sent back to the ships for treatment and rest, the horse’s wounds were filled with fat from the fallen Maya. The translator Aguilar interrogated five captives, two of whom were captains, and suggested they be given a message for Chief Tabscoob. Cortes agreed, and sent a peace offer with the men.
Given that it was Lady Day, a feast day for the Virgin Mary, and that she had apparently blessed the men with victory against overwhelming odds, Cortes decided to call this place Santa Maria de la Victoria. This first settlement would not last long, but it did represent the first toehold on the new continent.
The next day in Potonchan, Chief Tabscoob arrived with a contingent of about 30 nobles. He also had with him 20 slave women that he gifted to Cortes along with a small amount of gold, silver and food. The Maya leaders asked to retrieve their fallen warriors. This time Tabscoob laid the will of his people at the feet of Cortes, Charles V and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A cross was placed at the top of the main pyramid.
Next, in Episode 3: The Mexica ambassadors Tentlil and Cuitlalpitoc meet Cortes on the coast as the Spanish settle in San Juan de Ulua and discover political divides on the continent.
