Battle of Cempoala

The Battle of Cempoala was fought on 27 May 1520 at Cempoala, Mexico between the forces of Pánfilo de Narváez and the forces of Hernán Cortés, which were supported by a small number of indigenous soldiers.

Battle of Cempoala
Part of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire

Area of Cempoala where the battle took place
Date27 May 1520
Location
Cempoala, Mexico
19°26′50.3″N 96°24′13.2″W
Result Cempoala victory
Belligerents
Cempoala
Spanish Empire		 Governorate of Cuba
Commanders and leaders
Xicomecoatl (WIA)
Hernán Cortés		 Pánfilo de Narváez (WIA) (POW)
Strength
266 Spanish
Indigenous force unknown, but small

Between 550 to 750 Spanish:

  • ~80 horsemen
  • ~80 riflemen
  • ~10 artillery
Casualties and losses
4 Spanish killed
Many Spanish wounded

Indigenous losses unknown		 5 killed
Many wounded

Background

Cortés was leading an expedition in eastern Mexico, amassing treasures in an attempt to convince the King of Spain to authorize his conquest enterprise to be left out of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar’s control. When Velázquez heard about this, he was furious. He decided to send Pánfilo de Narváez to regain control of the expedition. On March 5, Narváez departed for Mexico.[1]

Voyage

The voyage was chaotic from the start. Heavy storms sank 6 of the 19 ships, killing about 50 men. Several of the ships split up and Narváez didn’t land until April 22. López Ayllón de la Audiencia de Santo Domingo, the representative for the King of Spain, arrived early.[2]

Planning

Immediately after landing, Narváez attacked a small coastal garrison led by Gonzalo de Sandoval, but he defeated him and he lost several prisoners, which were sent to Cortes to warn him of the danger.[2] In Mid-May, Cortes left Tenochtitlan to deal with Narváez.[1] Narváez took advantage of his numerical superiority and captured the city of Cempoala, making it his base of operations.[2]

Battle

On May 27, Cortés launched a surprise attack on Narváez's forces in the middle of the night with just 266 soldiers. Due to heavy rainfall, he was able to capture cavalry and artillery quickly.[2] Narváez's forces retreated to the main temple of Cempoala, but were forced out when Cortés's forces prepared to attack it.[2] In the ensuing chaos, Narváez was hit by a pike in the eye, wounding him badly and soon after he was captured.[2] During the battle, Xicomecoatl, the ruler of the city of Cempoala, was stabbed by one of Narváez's soldiers and badly wounded. After the battle, Cortés, upon being notified of his ally’s wounds, ordered him to be taken to his room for his wounds to be cured.[3]

Aftermath

Narváez was taken prisoner for two years and most of his men were convinced by Cortés to join by offering the riches of Tenochtitlan.[2]

Smallpox Outbreak

Several of Narváez's soldiers had smallpox and during the battle it spread to some of Cortés's forces, many of whom went to Tenochtitlan, spreading smallpox to the Native Americans. The subsequent pandemic killed millions of Native Americans, killing up to 80-90% of Native Americans.[2][4]

References
  1. Minster, Christopher (16 March 2019). "Timeline of Hernan Cortes' Conquest of the Aztecs". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  2. Brokmann, Carlos. "La expedición de Pánfilo de Narváez y la Batalla de Cempoala en 1520". Noticonquista UNAM (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  3. del Castillo, Bernal Díaz (1632). Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (PDF) (in Spanish). Madrid: Imprenta del Reyno. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  4. Barton, Marc (28 February 2018). "Smallpox and the conquest of Mexico". Past Medical Study. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
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