A while ago I wrote about the Spanish encounter with the Maya in Yucatan. If you would like read it click the Maya tag below.
Today we will see how Spanish cavalry fought the warriors of Tlaxcala. We should note that none of those warriors had ever seen a horse before let alone fought cavalry. I want to have a closer look at how these
interactions played out.
Our guide throughout is Bernal Diaz who was there and fighting in the infantry:
“Our cavalry was to gallop up three abreast, with lances
fixed, and run the Indians full in the face.”
The target for such charges was the Tlaxcala commanders, easily
recognisable from their banners and splendid war suits.
The cavalry, moving faster than any Indian
had ever seen, sought to drive their locked lances through the faces of the foe. A killing blow. Formidable indeed. The horsemen then rode off at speed, and
turned, ready to repeat the deadly deed.
The Tlaxcala, to their immense credit, tended not to panic,
at least not while their formation held.
Sometimes things went wrong for the cavalry, on occasion fatally wrong. Consider this encounter with an advance party of 30 Tlaxcala warriors:
“Cortes ordered some of our cavalry to go in
among them, and try, if possible, to capture one, but not to inflict any
wounds. These were followed at a distance by five others, to assist them should
they fall into an ambush.”
There were 30 Indians “They had broad swords, which are
used with both hands, the edges of which are made of hard flint, and are
sharper than our steel swords. They were also armed with shields, lances, and
had feathers stuck in their hair.” I’d
put the Spanish cavalry at 8 to 10 men.
The 30 Indians “Began to retreat slowly, and arranged
themselves again in order, whenever our men attempted to take any of them
prisoners. They defended themselves right valiantly with their swords and
lances, wounding several of our horses. The blood of our men now also began to
boil, who, in return, killed five of the Indians.”
Many more Indians appeared and the Spanish horsemen “Now
immediately closed their ranks.” before retiring. This tells us the had been making discrete repeat
charges at individual targets in the style outlined above. The Spanish could not expect to replace lost
horses and no Caballero yearned to join the infantry. Perhaps the horsemen could have prevailed against odds of three to one. I doubt they could have done so without seriously risking a dead horse. The cost would have outweighed the benefit.
What happened next was "At that moment a swarm of more than 3000 Tlascallans rushed
furiously from an ambush, pouring forth a shower of arrows upon our cavalry,
who now immediately closed their ranks. At the same time we fired among them
with our cannon, and so at last we obliged the enemy to give ground, though
they fought bravely and with a good deal of manœuvring. On our side we had four
wounded, of whom one died a few days after, if I still remember rightly.
Seventeen of the enemy lay dead, and the number of their wounded was very
considerable. As it was growing very late they continued to retreat, and we to
follow them."
The Tlaxcalan rank and file was about two thirds archers as best as I can tell. We can note that the advance party of thirty men do not use bows. Bernal only mentions their melee weapons. This indicates that they were elite close fighting warriors appropriately tasked with the dangerous job of acting as bait. When the ordinary fellows arrive so do the arrows.
The casualty ratio testifies to the Spanish advantages in weaponry. All the same we can clearly see the Tlaxcalans fought in formation within a defined command and control system. The cannon must have been a shock and one which could not be countered and so the Tlaxcalans withdrew out of range.
Here is another encounter:
“The chief object of the enemy was to capture one of our
horses, in which they did not altogether fail; for, as Pedro de Moron on his
well-trained mare, attended by three others of our cavalry, was attempting to
break through the enemy's ranks, the Indians wrenched the lance out of his
hand, and fell furiously upon him with their broad swords, wounding him
severely. They gave his mare such a terrific cut with the same weapon in the
neck, that the animal instantly fell down dead. If Moron's three companions had
not immediately hastened to his assistance, he would have shared his horse's
fate; for this gave our whole company time to come up.”
Once again, we have a small group of cavalry who seek to
break up the foe’s formation.
Observe,
the Tlaxcala are keen to fully understand the new threat posed by horsemen. Orders have been given to secure a horse. They are carried out regardless of danger. Those so tasked understood what they needed to do to
capture the horse.
As it happened de Moron
died of his wounds on the same day as his mount.
The bold section of the quotation above seems to have given rise to the idea that Indian flint or obsidian edged weapons could decapitate a horse. That is not what Bernal tells us. Nor does any other contemporary account say so. Horses could be and were killed but not by decapitation.
The Spanish were well aware of the risk to their
precious horses and issued strict instructions to minimise it.
“At the same time, they
were to be particularly upon their guard that the enemy did not lay hold of the
lances with their hands; should such, however, be the case, the rider was to
keep the tighter hold of his lance, give his horse the spur, and either by a
sudden jerk wrest it out of the enemy's grasp, or drag him along with it.”
Furthermore:
“It was also the particular duty of our cavalry not
to leave each other in the lurch, always to attack in full gallop, and only aim
at the face and eyes.”
We can see then how the Spanish used their cavalry. It was with care and economy.
Subsequently, the Tlaxcala became allied to the Spanish. The reasons for this are fully comprehensible. Tlaxcala was locked into an existential struggle with the Aztecs and it was one they could not hope to win. They could have wiped out the Spanish but then what? The threat from Mexico remained and European diseases were already decimating the population.
They made a bargain that allowed for survival and marched for Tenochtitlan. We see the allies above, note the Atl Atl darts and sling stones flying.
Interestingly both sides considered themselves to be the senior partner. Without Tlaxcala Cortez would not have prevailed in Mexico. A subsequent bigger Spanish expedition of course might have done so regardless of the stance of Tlaxcala.
I was hoping to locate an image Tlaxcala warrior with a Spanish sword for this piece. For such gifts were then made. Alas, I could not. Post Conquest of Mexico such swords had to be returned. This I think resolved the issue of who truly was the senior partner in the alliance.
The Indian with a Spanish sword was a recurring Spanish nightmare as is well attested by the colonial legislation of New Spain. We may have a closer look at this in another post.
