After Marching About A League,
We Saw The Enemy Advancing Towards Us In The Plain, Making A Vast Noise Of
Trumpets, Horns, And Drums.
They wore plumes of feathers on their heads,
having their faces painted black, red, and white, all wearing defensive
Armour of quilted cotton with large shields, and bearing lances,
two-handed swords or maces, darts, large bows and arrows, and slings.
Their numbers covered the whole plain, and they immediately rushed
forwards to the attack, wounding above seventy of our soldiers at the
first discharge of their arrows, and one man named Saldana, was slain
outright by an arrow which pierced him under the ear. They closed upon us
with great bravery, fighting us hand to hand, while we maintained our
ground with firmness, using our cannon, muskets, cross-bows, and swords
as well as we could. After some time, they drew off a little, but in this
they had rather the advantage by means of their bows and arrows, though
our cannon made vast havock among their crowded bodies, which were at such
a distance as enabled our gunners to fire among them to the greatest
possible advantage. At every discharge of the cannon, they shouted,
whistled, and sounded all their warlike instruments, calling out lala!
lala! and throwing straw and dust in the air, as if to prevent our seeing
the destruction produced among them by our artillery. I advised de Ordas
to close with the enemy, which he objected to, saying that they
outnumbered us thirty for one; yet we did advance, and as they wished to
avoid encountering our sharp swords, they inclined towards a marsh. We
were all this time exceedingly anxious for the arrival of Cortes and the
cavalry, being afraid that he had met with some disaster; and were at
length rejoiced when we saw him approaching to our relief on the rear of
the Indians, who were so entirely occupied in their attack on us that they
did not perceive him till he came dashing among them. The ground was quite
level and open, most of the horses strong and active, and the riders brave
and expert; so that they charged through among the crowded Indians in
every direction, and we renewed our efforts to make them give way,
encouraged by this seasonable assistance. The Indians were astonished
beyond measure at this novel and unexpected attack, believing the horse
and rider to be one strange ferocious animal, and instantly fled into the
adjacent woods and marshes, leaving the field of battle to us.
Cortes informed us after the battle, that his march had been much retarded
by bad ground, and by the attacks of some detached bodies of the enemy,
who had wounded five of his men and eight horses. Being thus victorious,
the cavalry dismounted, and we assembled under a grove of trees, where we
gave thanks to GOD and his blessed mother for our victory. A town was
afterwards founded on the field of battle, named Santa Maria della
Vittoria[8], in memory of this victory.
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