We Now Found It
Necessary To Retreat, Which We Did With The Utmost Order Till We Came To
The Pass
At the broken bridge, which was occupied by the enemy in canoes;
and as the others pressed upon our rear,
We were forced to throw ourselves
into the lake and to get over any way we could. Those who could not swim
got entangled among the concealed ditches and pits in the shallow water,
where the enemy closed in upon us, wounding the whole party, and even
taking five of our soldiers alive. The vessels which came to our relief
were unable to approach, on account of the pallisades, and they lost two
of their soldiers on this occasion. It was wonderful we were not all
destroyed at this dangerous pass. At one time I was laid hold of by a
number of the enemy; but God gave me strength to disengage my arm, and
with the assistance of my good sword, I extricated myself from their grasp.
Though wounded, I escaped to the dry ground, where I fainted and remained
for some time insensible, owing to my great exertions and the loss of
blood. When the enemy had me in their clutches, I recommended myself to
the aid of God and his blessed Mother, and they heard my prayer: Glory be
to them for all their mercies! From the time that we had cleared the
flanks of our post by the destruction of the houses, Alvarado had brought
a part of his cavalry thither; and one of them, who had crossed along with
us at the broken bridge, lost both his horse and his own life. Fortunately
all the rest were then with Alvarado in Tacuba; for if they had been with
us they must have all been destroyed from the tops of the houses and
temples, as the action took place almost within the city of Mexico. The
enemy was much elated by the success of this day, and continued to assail
our posts day and night. Cortes was much displeased at the defeat we had
sustained, which he attributed to our having neglected his orders; which
were always to fill up the cuts in the causeway as we advanced, by means
of timber and rubbish.
In the space of four days, counting from our late defeat, we filled up the
great aperture at the broken bridge, and established our advanced post at
this place, but lost six of our soldiers in the course of this operation.
The enemy established a post directly in front of us, which they secured
by a ditch and parapet, so as to protect themselves from our shot. They
made a large fire in front of their post, by which they were concealed
from our view, except when they had occasion to renew the fire, which was
sometimes extinguished by the frequent heavy rains which prevailed at this
season. They kept profound silence on guard, except when interrupted by
loud whistling, which they used as signals.
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