Fatigued as all were, and weakened from battle, Cortés resolved nevertheless to push on toward Tlascala the same day, fearing that the enemy might be shamed into a rally, or receive such reinforcements to their already immense numbers as to encourage them to return.
In this he was not mistaken, for Cuitlahuatzin had ordered Tezcuco, Chalco, and neighboring districts to send larger forces, and so insure an assumed victory for the Otumban army.
The reinforcements appear to have been already in motion when news came of the defeat, accompanied by the rumor that a Tlascaltec army was on the way to aid the Spaniards. The hasty march eastward of the fugitives offered in itself sufficient encouragement for straggling marauders from the surrounding villages to follow in their wake and harass them with occasional missiles.47
By night the town of Temalacayocan48 was reached, and here the army obtained some food and camped in and around the temple. Badly wounded as he was, Cortés took charge of the watch, for sleep had no power over his mind at that moment. Before him rose invitingly the ranges of the Tlascaltec border, where he hoped to find a haven. It was only hope, however; for Cortés came not as before, heralded as the invincible conqueror, to whose bravery and deeds the warlike republic was delighted to offer homage; nor with the vision of the mighty Montezuma bending before him; nor with the prospect of entering to assume control of a great empire. All this was changed. He had lost his former prestige, and could present himself only as a fugitive to seek protection for a remnant of his army. And this at the hands of those who might yet smart under the stigma of defeat by a handful, and who might