This is an account of the Spanish and Maya clash at Potochan as recorded by the Conquistadore Bernal Diaz. It repays study and, as we shall see, poses a challenge.
The Spanish had a rough time and eventually ran for their lives. They ran like sensible men, for they had fought very hard against great odds to no avail.
The Maya liked to snaffle a captive or two but their prime aim in combat was to kill the enemy. They also knew all about the Spanish. The Spanish did not know anything much about the Maya.
Both sides had a varied repetoire of tactics. Bernal is an honest and reliable, and very readable, narrator. Let’s look at his account of the fight and see what we learn.
This is how the Maya turned out for battle:
“They had all their cotton cuirasses on, which reached to their knees, and were armed with bows, lances, shields, and swords. The latter were shaped like our broadswords, and are wielded with both hands. They also had slings and stones, their bunches of feathers on, and their whole bodies painted with white, brown, and black colours.”
A treat for the serious painter there. Now consider the Maya array:
“They had on their feather-knots, and were provided with drums, bows, lances, shields, and joined themselves to the others who had arrived in the night. They divided themselves into different bodies, surrounded us on all sides,”
This is how the Maya fought, first missilery:
“and commenced pouring forth such showers of arrows, lances, and stones, that more than eighty of our men were wounded at the first onset.”
Note the level of casualties caused by this. Consider the nature of the wounds:
“And sure enough our captain was wounded in no less than twelve different places by their arrows. I myself had three; one of which was in my left side and very dangerous, the arrow having pierced to the very bone. Others of our men were wounded by the enemy's lances,”
Then the Maya came on:
“They next rushed furiously forward and attacked us man to man: some with their lances, others with their swords and arrows, and all this with such terrible fury that we were compelled also to show them earnest.”
Bernal and his comrades defended themselves:
“We dealt many a good thrust and blow amongst them, keeping up at the same time an incessant fire with our muskets and crossbows; for while some loaded others fired. At last, by dint of heavy blows and thrusts we forced them to give way;”
If you have ever seen a Spanish sword of the period you can imagine the damage done. Regardless, the Maya were not daunted, and recall too, the advantages of metal and gunpowder were in play:
“they did not retreat further than was necessary, in order that they might still continue to hem us in in all safety; constantly crying out in their language, Al calachoni, al calachoni; which signifies, kill the chief!”
Pause and consider, the Maya have retreated beyond immediate danger but are still in the game. They wish to disrupt the Spanish command. Maya missilery recommences. Their close fighters were awaiting their moment.
The Spanish now knew they could not prevail.
“The whole of us were wounded, many shot through the neck, and more than fifty of our men were killed. In this critical situation we determined to cut our way manfully through the enemy's ranks and make for the boats, which fortunately lay on the coast near at hand. We therefore firmly closed our ranks and broke through the enemy.”
This they did with courage and some difficulty:
“At that moment you should have heard the whizzing of their arrows, the horrible yell they set up, and how the Indians provoked each other to the combat, at the same time making desperate thrusts with their lances.”
Bernal concludes his account with an audit:
“We found that fifty-seven of our men were missing, besides the two whom the Indians had carried off alive, and five whom we had thrown overboard, who had died in consequence of their wounds and extreme thirst. The battle lasted a little longer than half an hour.”
The challenge is to produce a set of rules that can reflect this type of combat. I thought I'd give it a go. Grim as it sounds I think wounds are the way in. I'll have more to say shortly and it, to my regret, won't be for the squeamish. There isn't another way to do it.
The next part of this series will analyse what happened at Potochan and elsewhere. Then we will have a look at the Spanish Tlaxcallan encounter. Following that, we will get to the Aztecs. At the end of the process I hope to have a set of rules that reflect the Bernal Diaz experience of war in Meso-America.
My next post will be on the Great Italian Wars. I've written the first draft of a set of rules and I'm busily painting up the combatants. Expect lots of pics and a few test games.
