But We Too Had Now Serious Cause Of Alarm, As Our
Gunpowder Was Almost Entirely Expended.
At this critical moment, and most
fortunately for us, a vessel arrived at Villa Rica with soldiers and
ordnance stores, all of which, together with the men, were immediately
sent to Cortes by Rangel, who commanded at Villa Rica.
This vessel
belonged to an armament which had been fitted out by Lucas Vasquez de
Aillon, and which had been destroyed or dispersed near Florida. On the
arrival of this reinforcement, Cortes and all the army determined to make
a grand push for the great square in that part of the city called
Tlaltelolco, as it would become an excellent place of arms, on account of
some principal temples and other strong buildings which were there
situated. For this purpose, each of our divisions continued their daily
efforts to advance in our usual cautious manner. Cortes got possession of
a small square in which were some temples, on the beams of which many of
the heads of our sacrificed companions were placed, their hair and beards
being much grown. I could not have believed this, if I had not myself seen
them three days afterwards, when our party had worked their way to the
same place, after having filled up three canals. In twelve days afterwards,
they were all reverently buried by us in that place where the Church of
the Martyrs is now built.
Our detachment under Alvarado continued to advance, and at last forced the
enemy from the barricades they had thrown up to defend the great square,
which cost us two hours hard fighting. Our cavalry was now of most
essential service in the large space which was now laid open, and drove
the enemy before them into the temple of the god of war, which stood in
the middle of the great square. Alvarado determined to gain possession of
the temple; for which purpose he divided his forces into three bodies, one
of which, commanded by Guttierrez de Badajoz, he ordered to gain
possession of the temple, while with the other two he occupied the
attention of the enemy below. A large force of the enemy, headed by the
priests, occupied the platform of the temple, with all its idol
sanctuaries and galleries, and repulsed the troops of Guttierrez, driving
them down the steps. The body to which I belonged was now ordered by
Alvarado to their support. We advanced boldly to the assault, and having
ascended to the platform, we drove the enemy from the post, of which we
took possession, setting fire to their abominable idols, and planting our
standard in triumph on the summit of the temple. The view of this signal
of victory greatly rejoiced Cortes, who would fain have joined us; but he
was still a quarter of a league from the place, and had many ditches to
fill as he advanced. In four days more, both he and Sandoval had worked
their way up to the great square of Tlaltelolco, where they joined us, and
thus communications from all our three attacks were opened up to the
centre of Mexico.
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