The Aztecs do not appear to have gone much beyond threats until after the Spanish retirement from Tlacopan, but two days after their return to Tezcuco, Chalcan messengers appeared with such supplications that Sandoval was despatched to their aid with twenty horse, three hundred infantry, and a force of allies,9 largely reinforced at Chalco by Huexotzincas, Quauhquechollans, and Chalcans. On arriving before Chimalhuacan,10 he found the enemy drawn up in battle array in three large divisions. A rush at the invaders was made. The cavalry met them, breaking their ranks and throwing them into confusion. Retiring to more broken ground, where they were comparatively safe from the horses, they rallied to face the infantry, but the well directed volleys of fire-arms and cross-bows proved another surprise, which prepared the way for an effective charge from swordsmen and lancers. Now the retreat assumed more the form of a flight, the Spaniards pursuing eagerly. During this operation Gonzalo Dominguez was thrown from his horse, which fell upon him, inflicting such injuries that he died within a few days. In him the army lost one of its most dashing horsemen, and the equal of any in daring.
The troops then retired to the town for the night. Next day they marched to Huastepec, the objective point of the expedition, where fifteen thousand Mexicans, composed partly of the defeated forces, attacked them with such energy that five horses and a number of soldiers were wounded. The Spaniards soon routed them, and chased the fleeing through the town, a number taking refuge in a stronghold. While a portion of the troops, together with the Tlascaltecs, dispersed in quest of the rich spoil, and the cavalry were tending their horses, the fugitive garrison stole back to the town and fought their way to the stronghold near the square, where they took