The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 68

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Southwestern Historical Quarterly

for the Indians continued to arrive. The total number of the
enemy was variously estimated, some of the Spaniards saying that
there were six thousand warriors altogether, of whom five hundred
were mounted. Parrilla conservatively stated that they were at
least as numerous as his own force. As a check on these estimates
it is worth noting that the Taovavas alone had more than five
hundred warriors, according to Athanase de M6zieres. Parrilla had
three hundred men engaged in the fight.34
During the period of these observations, Parrilla had arranged
his troops. The main body of Spaniards was placed in the center,
the mission Indians and the Tlascaltecos on the right wing, and
the Apaches, with some Spaniards, on the left. "The attack was
delayed until we should take counsel, but the enemy, who con-
sidered himself secure in his fortress, both on the outside and on
the inside began to fire and attempted to cut off our retreat into
the woods in order to place our troops between two fires as they
sent troops to both flanks." Parrilla's object was to stop the
enemy's fire by an overwhelming rush and then to.force entrance
to the stockade by means of the winding road. His intentions
were thwarted by the Indian attack, but he did not lose sight of
his objective and continually tried to gain the initiative. Time
after time the Spaniards charged only to be stopped by the con-
centrated fire of the defenders. In return, the Indians outside
the palisade would make sudden attacks and then just as quickly
retreat to the fosse, where they would be met by Indians on foot
who gave them loaded muskets in exchange for their empty ones.
The Taovayas chief was the spirited leader of these attacks. "Their
captain showed in all his movements a well ordered valor and a
great dexterity in the management of his horse and arms. He
had a jacket of white buckskin, a helmet of the same material
with flesh-colored plumes, and was mounted on a well-kept horse
that was suited to that kind of warfare. He had many men sim-
ilarly equipped, but none of such spirit and conduct, and all were
encouraged by his fighting." The chieftain fell in one of these
attacks, but buoyed up by their success and by the noise of fifes
and drums from within the stockade, the Indians kept up their
attacks. Even the possession of the cannon did not aid the Span-
34Idem, pp. 11-13.

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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/76/ocr/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.

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