2nd January 2005
**** under construction ****
Cortes visited Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) twice, being besieged there the first time, and beseiging the town on his return. Both these episodes make interesting scenarios, though you will need home made rules to cover the action due to the particular circumstances of warfare in the New World.
In general, the city was extremely large by standards of the day in Europe, housing over 100,000 people. The city was the hub for a large empire based upon control of the surrounding districts, where the wealth of the districts was funnelled into the city. This created a rich culture within the city, but severely deprived much of the surrounding cultures. Below are a few views out to other sites of images of the city.
Captain Alonso's Map from Berkeley University (contemporary map)
The city was founded on an island in Lake Texcoco, and grew from there. It was connected to towns on the the lake's shoreline by three main stone causeways which were about 8 yards wide. These connected to Tepeaca to the north (2mile length), Tacuba to the west (5mile length) and the southern causeway stopped first at the lake village of Acachinanco before splitting into two, then the main leg going further south and splitting again to either Coyoacan or Iztapalapa. At this junction were a number of 'towers' or shrines. Each leg ended up being about 5miles long to reach the final destination in total. In general along the causeway were isolated small villages and temple towers.
These causeways were formed of a number of lengths each connected by a timber bridge over a deep channel. The channels allowed for the passage of canoes while the bridges could be raised in times of trouble to cut off the causeways. The Spanish had great troubles with these causeways and bridges until they hit upon the idea of trying to capture the bridges, then infill the channels. Initially they retreated at night only to find the Aztecs had cleared away the rubble they had placed, and even deepened the channels. To counter this the Spanish 'bastioned' each crossing as they captured it and only proceeded to the next when the channel had been securely filled in. They then found themselves over extended and as they moved on the Aztecs would try and capture prior crossings by canoe and demolish them to cut the Spanish off.
On their initial escape from the the city, the Spanish build a mobile bridge to cross the causeway channels, which was only partly successful.
Along the causeway and the edges of the main city, the dwellings were constructed on poles out of the water line. The rooves of these structures were flat, and during the seiges had battlements constructed so that the Aztecs could fight from the rooves. Access to these houses was either by canoe or small bridges to the causeway and each other. While made of timber, these houses burnt poorly taking a full day to burn down, and because of the isolation of each house on stumps in the water, fire did not readily spread from structure to structure. Eventually the Spanish pulled these down by hand and used the rubble to fill in the causeway channels.
The Aztecs operated in large warbands, based upon family/clan lines under the leadership of local heroes, who were defined by their special suits and back banners.
Tactically the Aztecs attacked with a preliminary barrage of missile weapons, followed by assaults in close formation. The success of the missile weapons bears some scrutiny, as Diaz often describes them being quite thick in delivery, yet at times very few Spaniards are killed or wounded, while other times they seem to do some damage. At times he describes all the Spaniards being wounded, but they all return to the fight. Therefore there must be something in the attacks or defences which minimise the effects of the missile weapons. This may well be in the armour of the Spanish. A number of times Diaz mentions that the Spanish suffered more heavily in the retreat, and ended up conducting fighting withdrawals at all times.
On the battlefield the Aztecs tried every ruse and subterfuge thinkable. They often employed fake flight to draw an enemy into a prepared trap. Ambushes were common, particularly at choke points, and a policy of encirclement with superior numbers was a prefered tactic. The Aztecs adapted reasonably well to being charged by cavalry on the causeways, constructing barricades to retreat behind, fighting from the safety of adjoining houses, and also diving of the causeways into the adjoining reeds march where the cavalry could not follow. Here they would jump into canoes and escape.
They used their own mobile cavalry, their canoes, as quick means of moving around the lake and encircling the Spanish. They had about 2000 canoes at their disposal for movement of warriors, which could house between several and a dozen warriors per canoe. The larger canoes were refered to as piraguas.
Where military means failed, they would try and sort of bargaining they could come up with to protect themselves and cast themselves in a better light, including fake obedience. On the other hand, they were also bluntly honest when captured and questioned and revealed the Aztec battle plans to the Spanish, so they were then better prepared to resist them.
It is debatable how much the Aztecs were trying to capture the Spanish rather than kill them. They were under clear instructions at different times to capture as many of them as possible during what the Aztecs believed were going to be final battles. The captured Spanish were to sacrificed to the Aztec gods, having their hearts ripped out, and their dismembered arms and legs sent around the Aztec towns as proof of their fate, before they were then eaten. No doubt great honour and rewards would have been accorded those who captured the Spanish, particularly as this was the usual method of Aztec warfare. Therefore I believe that the great Aztec captains would have made a definite effort to capture the Spanish, especially their captains.
The Aztecs under Montezuma lived under a shifting and tenuous leadership. Many provinces suffered severely under the Aztecs and deeply resented their control, but were powerless to fight back. The Aztecs employed harsh tactics and reprisals on their subject peoples, heavily taxing them, taking villagers for sacrifice, and raping their women. Most villages and towns of any size kept prisoners in timber cages, whom they fattened up for sacrifice and then eating. Before making any major decisions Montezuma sacrificed several people to get some sign of what to do. The Aztecs also sacrificed prisoners to appease their gods and to grant favours and victory in upcoming battles. In areas were revolts were common, or on the Empires border, the Aztecs stationed large garrisons to keep control.
Once the Spanish passed through many provinces, the locals would switch sides to escape the Aztec oppression, going so far as to supply warriors, food, and information. This also applied to the main Aztec towns, where different factions vied for control, some sympathetic to Montezuma, others wishing to see a new change in leadership. Most played the Spanish for their own needs within the power play for the Empire. As Spanish victories mounted, the number of subject towns looking to change side increased, though their loyalty to the Spanish cause may have only been marginal.
Bernal Diaz mentions that during the Cortes expedition, the Spanish wore their armour at all times, even while asleep, for they were ever fearful of their lives. I say that we were on alert, but I do no thave to repeat this so often, since we never took off our armour, gorgets, or leggings by night or day... We slept in our armour and sandals with our weapons close by.
He goes as far as mentioning that while they held Montezuma captive, they were in the habit of doffing their helm. [I was a young man in those days and I used to doff my helmet very respectfully every time I went on guard or entered his (Montezuma's) presence, and later Doffing our helmets most respectfully, we expressed our deep thanks...]. Also during the first assault on Tenochtitlan, he says "We marched along with our arms in our hands, for we were never parted from them by night or day, and we were almost collapsing under the weight of our armour and the drenching rain. During the second seige of Tenochtitlan, Cortes proclaimed rules of conduct for the soldiers that included: ..that all soldiers should wear very good armour, well quilted, and a gorget, headpiece, leggings and shield... and ...that no soldier, horseman, crossbowmne, and musketeer should sleep except in complete armour and with his sandals on his feet, except in case of severe wounds or sickness.
During a prior expedition to the central American coast where they had landed upon the Island of Cozumel, Diaz wrote "for although they continued to shoot at us we were all wearing padded cotton armour."
In preparing for the expedition to Tenochtitlan, 'as there was much cotton in the country around Havana, we made ourselves well padded armour.' [Diaz]
Also 'Cortes then gave orders to all his soldiers to furbish up their arms, and to the blacksmiths in town to make helmets...'
Bernal Diaz mentions that the cavalry were ever ready for action, even while asleep, the horses were kept bridled and saddled. They appear to be armoured, for Diaz says or tell how they wounded our horses, which were useless to us. For though they charged the enemy bands, they received so many arrows, darts, and stones that, well armoured though they were, they could not break the enemies ranks.
Cavalry operated in small groups of three to five, charging into the enemy then retreating to repeat the process. Essentially they were breaking the enemies formations and causing fear.
Early in the campaign at Tabasco, the horses are mentioned as having 'little bells attached to [their] breastplates.'
The Spanish used the Tlascalans as an auxiliary arm, keeping them in separate fighting units. They found that during the battles for the causeways, the Tlascalans became uncontrollable and that it was safer for the Spanish to position them behind out of the way so that they did not impact on formations and retreat lines. The Tlascalans fought very well and with high morale throughout the campaign until the Spanish started suffering heavily. Still the hatred between Aztec and Tlascalan was so ingrained that they would never have changed side.
Cortes took 10 brass canon and four falconets.
During the first siege of Tenochtitlan, the Spanish build four mobile wooden towers, capable of holding 25 men each with loopholes and apertures to be manned by crossbows and musketeers. They used them for one sally out to one of the temples, and by the time they reached it the towers were destroyed.
During the final siege of Tenochtitlan Cortes had 13 'launches' or sloops built to command the lakes surrounding the city. They were of varying but similar size. They were manned by 12 crossbowmen and musketeers, with 12 rowers and a captain for a crew of 25, and carried falconets and boat guns (I take to be swivel guns). With a good breeze behind them, the Spanish used them to over run the Aztec canoes and throw their warriors into the lake. The Aztecs countered this by starting to plant spiked logs in the lake for the ships to run aground on. This for a time frightened the Spanish enough that they curtailed their sailing on the lake until they realised that with some speed up they could effectively knock the logs out of the way, and so they returned to the offensive.
These boats were used to tie down the flanks of the Spanish as they advanced along the causeways. They were also used at night to intercept the Aztec canoes that were bringing supplies into the city. The Aztecs countered this by trying to lure them into a trap, and then the Spanish set a counter trap after that which so worried the Aztecs that they tried no more to trap the sloops. After an initial assault on an island, Cortes split the fleet up, retiring one ship from duty as he had little enough men to man it and it was the lightest craft.
Cortes first went to Tenochtitlan with 400 men
He returned to relieve Alverado reinforced by the soldiers from Narvaez who totalled 1300 soldiers, including 97 cavalry, 80 crossbowmen, 80 musketeers, plus 2000 Tlascalans. They escaped with 440 soldiers including 20 cavalry, 12 crossbowmen and 7 musketeers plus 1000 Tlascalans.
The final seige of Tenochtitlan Cortes set out with 20,000 Tlascalans, which was increased when they arrived at Tenochtitlan. He split his forces thus:
Tacuba: Pedro de Alvorado with 150 soldiers, 30 horsemen, 18 musketeers and crossbowmen, and 8000 Tlascalans. The foot soldiers were split into 3 companies under Jorge de Alvorado, Gutierrez de Badajoz, and Andres de Monjaraz, while Pedro took direct command of the horsemen. Was eventually sent 4 ships to support him.
Coyoacan: Cristobel de Olid with 175 soldiers, 30 horsemen, 20 crossbowmen and musketeers, and 8000 Tlascalans. The foot soldiers were split into three companies under Andres de Tapia, Frncisco Verdugo, and Francisco de Lugo, with Cristobel in charge of the horsemen. Was eventually combined under Cortes, who kept 6 ships with him.
Iztapalapa: Gonzalo de Sandoval with 150 soldiers, 24 horsemen, fourteen musketeers and crossbowmen, and 8000 warriors from Chalco, Huexetzinco and other allied towns. The foot soldiers were split into two companies under Luis Marin and Pedro de Ircio with Gonzalo in charge of the horsemen. After making an initial start at Iztapalapa, Cortes transfered these beleagered troops to Tepeaquilla. Was eventually sent two ships.
Cortes initially commanded the 13 sloops before joining Sandoval.
The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz, translation by JM Cohen 1963 - Penguin classics ISBN 0-14-044123-9
The Conquistadors by Terence Wise 1980 - Osprey Publishing ISBN 0-85045-357-7
The Conquistador 1492-1550 by Eric Pohl 2001 - Osprey Publishing ISBN 1-84176-175-3