1525
The Mam army from Malacatán
The day after Momostenango falls, Gonzalo de Alvarado marches on Huehuetenango with his 40 horsemen, 80 Spanish foot and about 2,000 Mexican and K'iche' allies. Near Malacatán, now Malacatancito, a Mam army of 5,000 warriors comes out against him. The Mam advance across the plain in battle formation.
The Spanish cavalry charges and throws the Mam ranks into disorder, and the infantry and the allies cut down the warriors who survive the charge. Gonzalo de Alvarado kills the Mam leader Canil Acab with his lance, and with his death the Mam army’s resistance breaks. The survivors flee to the hills.
Horsemen with lances in Diego Muñoz Camargo’s History of Tlaxcala, about 1585Wikimedia Commons, Diego Muñoz Camargo, Public domain (LienzoTlaxcalaJinetes.jpg)
Alvarado enters Malacatán unopposed and finds only the sick and the elderly there. Messengers from the town’s leaders come down from the hills and offer unconditional surrender, which he accepts.
Sources
- W. George Lovell, Conquest and Survival in Colonial Guatemala (3rd ed. 2005), p. 61.
- Francis Gall, Los Gonzalo de Alvarado, conquistadores de Guatemala (1967), p. 39.
Prev: Gonzalo de Alvarado marches on the MamNext: The fight at the northern entrance