The Decisive Battles of World History

Lecture 15: 1521 Tenochtitlán—Aztecs vs. Conquistadors

x In 1518, the governor of New Spain selected a minor nobleman

named Hernán Cortés to lead an expedition to conquer Mexico.

Cortés landed in Mexico in early 1519 with approximately 500

men. His soldiers were an unruly lot motivated by varying degrees

of greed and piety. The majority were Castilian Spaniards, and most

were already well-trained and experienced.

x All were equipped with high-quality Spanish steel swords and steel

helmets that gave good protection to their heads. Many also had

high-quality steel body armor, consisting of either solid breastplates

or chain mail. Cortés also had some crossbowmen, whose weapons

could accurately propel a deadly dart more than 200 meters, and a

number of Spanish-Arabian war horses; the men who rode them were

highly experienced and would play a key role in the battles to come.

x The army of Cortés also included some soldiers equipped with

technologically advanced weapons: the arquebusiers, who carried

an early type of gun; though heavy, awkward, and slow, this weapon

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These were crude and small but still had a sizable shock value

against those who had not previously encountered such weapons.

x Finally, Cortés had a pack of large, vicious, trained war dogs. They

do not feature much in Spanish accounts of the expedition, but

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vividly drawn in the codices of the Aztecs, suggesting that they may

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The Invasion of Mexico

x Cortés landed at Veracruz and began marching inland to

Tenochtitlán. Because he had to leave some men to secure the ships

and the coast, the force he led to conquer the Aztecs consisted of

merely 300 soldiers. Of these, 40 had crossbows, 20 had arquebuses,

and 15 were mounted on horses. In addition, he had three cannons

and his pack of war dogs.