At this juncture it was said that the Vírgen de los Remedios appeared, and by casting dust into the eyes of the foe enabled the Spaniards to effect their escape with little loss into the temple. “By this time,” writes Cortés, “we had not a horse that could run, or a horseman who could lift an arm, or a foot-soldier who could move.”9
A few additional intrenchments were thrown up, and the necessary guards posted to watch the baffled enemy, who perceiving the strength of the place contented themselves with flinging their missiles and filling the air with shouts. Feeling comparatively secure, the troops abandoned themselves to rest round blazing fires. The food found in the place, although insufficient for the demands of the half-starved men, afforded some comfort, which was increased by grateful sleep.10
Thus were refreshed the wounded and disheartened. And with grateful hearts the remnant of the brave army returned thanks to God for deliverance.
Some, however, attributed their escape to the presence among them of the image of the Vírgen de los Remedios, which Rodriguez de Villafuerte is said to have afterward placed in the great temple of Mexico. It had been brought here by the owner, although some supposed it might have come over of its own accord, as it is said to have miraculously done in later times when detained in Mexico against its will.11
Some years after the Noche Triste it was found on this hill under a bush, by a converted cacique named Juan de Tobar, who kept it for a long time, and then by divine direction built a hermitage for it on the hill, where it had been found. The many miracles reported of the shrine induced the City of Mexico in 1574 to adopt it as a patron, and by the following year the simple chapel was replaced by a fine temple worthy of the sanctity of the image which has absorbed so large a share of holy pilgrimage.12
The review held on Remedios Hill revealed the full extent of the blow suffered, “one which Spaniards alone could have endured,” says Peter