"La Noche Triste" - "The Night of Sorrows"

[Niku]

La Noche Triste ("The Night of Sorrows", literally "The Sad Night") was an important event during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, wherein Hernán Cortés, his army of Spanish conquistadors, and their native allies were driven out of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

Spoiler

 

Cortés' expedition arrived at Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, taking up residence in a specially designated compound in the city. Soon thereafter, suspecting treachery on the part of their hosts, the Spaniards took Moctezuma II, the Aztec king or Tlatoani, hostage. Though Moctezuma followed Cortés' instructions in continually assuring his subjects that he had been ordered by the gods to move in with the Spaniards and that he had done so willingly, the Aztecs suspected otherwise. During the following 98 days, Cortés and his native allies, the Tlaxcaltecas, were increasingly unwelcome guests in the capital.

On the night of July 1, 1520, Cortez's large army left their compound and headed west, toward the Tlacopan causeway. The causeway was apparently unguarded, and the Spaniards made their way out of their complex unnoticed, winding their way through the sleeping city under the cover of a rainstorm. Before reaching the causeway, they were noticed by Aztec warriors known as the Eagle Warriors, who sounded the alarm.[2]:298,305 [discuss] First by a woman drawing water, and then by the priest of Huītzilōpōchtli from atop Templo Mayor.

The fighting was ferocious. As the Spaniards and their native allies reached the causeway, hundreds of canoes appeared in the waters alongside to harry them. The Spaniards fought their way across the causeway in the rain. Weighed down by gold and equipment, some of the soldiers lost their footing, fell into the lake, and drowned. Amid a vanguard of horsemen, Cortés pressed ahead and reached dry land at Tacuba, leaving the rest of the expedition to fend for itself in the treacherous crossing.

Seeing the wounded survivors straggle into the village, Cortés and his horsemen turned back to the causeway, where they encountered Pedro de Alvarado, unhorsed and badly wounded, in the company of a handful of Spaniards and Tlaxcaltecas. According to Bernal Díaz del Castillo, it was at this point that tears came to Cortés' eyes, as he realized the extent of the debacle.

Cortés, Alvarado and the strongest and most skilled of the men had managed to fight their way out of Tenochtitlan, although they were all bloodied and exhausted. Cortés himself had been injured in the fighting. All of the artillery had been lost, as had most of the horses.

The sources are not in agreement as to the total number of casualties suffered by the expedition. Cortés himself claimed that 154 Spaniards were lost along with over 2,000 native allies. Thoan Cano, another eyewitness to the event, said that 1170 Spaniards died, but this number probably exceeds the total number of Spaniards who took part in the expedition. Francisco López de Gómara, who was not himself an eyewitness, estimated that 450 Spaniards and 4,000 allies died.

 

The Night of Sorrows - La Noche Triste by Arfelan Nest, en Flickr

More pics on the album.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/arfelan/f5Dq0u
Hope you like it.
Thanks for watching.

[MaceWindu]

Wow, it's great that you present this as a panorama! It captures the spirit of the battle! So much cool action here! Though the story behind it is quite tragic... Never truly liked these colonization type stories...

[Jack Sassy]

Quite the build there!

 

Truly enough, story behind it is a tragic one. Natives didn't deserve what happened to them.

 

On a more positive note, I like the busy look this build has and in my opinion it's a fair representation of such event. Amazing job! 

[jtooker]

Great action.  The panoramic shot works very well along this bank.  The angle of the wall is just right!

[Tezclatipoca]

A great MOC for such a sad event.

You managed to show how this night was a cruel fight without being too much gore, I apreciate that.

[Niku]

Thanks for the feedback. I am happy with the result, making the right angle on the road was interesting. 
I tried to pack many action as for the viewer imagine what would be the fate of some of the figs.
After the build I wish only to add two things, maybe a standard for the mexica warriors, and wood logs to help
the road construction. (on the first, it can be imagined as they had little time to dress up, they didnt put any of their more elaborate weaponry) 
(On the second, I really dont have that many log pieces) 
In any case glad you liked it. 

On a more serious note. War always are a tragedy.
I really like to study history as an amateur (there have been so many vile and noble cases everywhere).
And I'm not trying to glorify or victimize either side.
Rather, I think that it always leaves us lessons to learn from past mistakes and try to be better.
And to see both the worst and the best of the human spirit in such conditions.

 

[blackdeathgr]

Beautiful build from an era not oftenly visited

[Niku]

Thanks blackdeath, is a period with very interesting concepts and ideas to build. :)