According to Diaz, much of the Spanish success in Mexico was the result of Spanish valor. During one of the skirmishes, Diaz describes the Aztec soldiers as “great warriors” with “fearful broadswords”. He chronicles in detail the strength of the Indian force – and how the Spanish forces “could not endure [the attack]”. Before long however, Diaz is recounting the amount of damage that the Indians took. In examples like this, it seems to me that Diaz exaggerates the opposition in order to make the Spanish victory more impressive.
Throughout his account, Diaz rarely mentions that the Aztecs and Spaniards are not on an even playing field. Although he does not hide the fact that the Spaniards have cannons and muskets, it is not a point of emphasis. However, in my view, the superiority of Spanish weaponry could well be the major cause of Spanish victory. In one episode, Diaz writes that they were attacked by Indian forces “so numerous that they covered the whole plain”. According to Diaz, Spaniards are victorious not because “Mesa, our artilleryman, killed many of them with his cannon”, but because of the “strokes and thrusts of our swords”. However, Diaz may reveal the true impact of the cannon in one scene when the Indians are attacking and a single cannon ball is “discharged and [kills] many Indians”. Diaz says that without the cannon shot, “the enemy would have killed [all the Spanish soldiers]”. In another encounter, the Spaniards are saved “only by a miracle of swordplay”. In emphasizing the swords over the artillery, Diaz accentuates the bravery associated with hand-to-hand fighting, rather than the impersonal nature of the cannon.
Indian forces allied with the Spaniards may have been another major factor in Spanish victory, but Diaz rarely gives his allies much credit. He generally mentions them at the beginning and end of battle sequences, as in, “about two hundred soldiers and our Indian allies”. For all we know, the Indians could vastly outnumber their Spanish allies. There is little or no mention of their valor during battle, and Diaz doesn’t mention them again until reciting casualty counts. Diaz gives a hint as to the importance of their Indian collaborators when he writes that, “when we found ourselves with so few [Indian] allies we were distressed”. At times, it seems as though the Indians are the proverbial “cannon fodder”. In one battle, Diaz mentions casually that many Spanish soldiers are wounded, but then goes on to specify that over 1,000 Indian allies have been injured. The amount of allies killed could mean that the Indians were often used as the first line of defense. The Indian allies were also invaluable to information gathering, communication, and intelligence. Their knowledge of the terrain was similarly important.
Bernal Diaz wrote one of the most valuable historical accounts of his time. It is probably the most accurate and comprehensive record of the Spanish campaign in Mexico. However, it is not without faults. Diaz had an agenda: to glorify the Spanish soldiers. He exaggerated Spanish victories by neglecting to mention the true odds during battles. It is quite possible that in many of the encounters between Aztecs and Spaniards, the Spaniards (and especially their Indian allies) outnumbered their opponents. These allies are neglected by Diaz in his account, and never given the credit they deserved in the Spanish conquest. The Spaniards also had a major advantage in weaponry: cannons, muskets, and horses. This advantage is downplayed by Diaz, who instead focuses on Spanish bravery. None of this changes the fact that Diaz’s account is an invaluable record of the events, but it does show that Diaz had an agenda and misconstrued many of the details.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, 91
