Thus Multitudes Of Unfortunate Souls Were
Hurried Into Eternity, Without An Opportunity Of Being Received Into The
Bosom Of The Holy Catholic Church.
At this time, such of our soldiers as
had been in distant garrisons, applied to Cortes to receive their shares
of the gold which had been got in Mexico.
As far as I can remember, he
referred them to a place in Tlascala, desiring that two persons might be
sent to receive it at that place; and I shall have occasion to mention
the result hereafter.
[1] The date is supplied in the text from attentive consideration of dates
mentioned by Diaz in the sequel, and in this date Clavigero, II. 97,
agrees. Diaz gives no account of the strength of Cortes on the present
occasion, but afterwards mentions 206 soldiers, with five horsemen and
two gunners, independent of 70 more who joined under Sandoval from the
garrison of Villa Rica. This would make the whole force 285 soldiers,
against 1400 who were under the command of Narvaez. - E.
[2] No such place is to be found in the map of Clavigero, nor in that
recently published by Humbolt. - E.
[3] These numbers, as arranged for the attack on Narvaez, only amount to
230 men. At the occupation of Mexico the Spanish army is said to have
been about 450, besides the garrison of Villa Rica. Eighty-three men
are stated to have been left in Mexico under the command of Alvarado,
which would still leave 367 to march under Cortes for Chempoalla, to
which 70 being added from Villa Rica under Sandoval, would raise the
amount of the army now under Cortes to about 437 men, so that about
207 are unaccounted for in the arrangement for the attack, besides
Ordas, and other eminent captains are not now mentioned in the text.
We may, therefore, reasonably conclude, that these captains and the
unaccounted for remaining force of Cortes, were left at the ford of
the river, about a league from Chempoalla, as a rear guard, on which
to retreat in case of a defeat, or may have formed a main body for the
assault.
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