La Noche Triste

La Noche Triste ("The Night of Sorrows")
Part of Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
The battle of La Noche Triste.
Date June 30 – July 1, 1520 Location Shores of Lake Texcoco, Mexico Result Decisive tactical Aztec victory; Spanish strategic victory
Belligerents
Spain Tlaxcallān	Triple Alliance
Commanders and leaders
Hernán Cortés (WIA) Pedro de Alvarado (WIA)	Cuitláhuac
Strength
varies; likely 600–1000 Spanish and 20,000 native allies	50,000 warriors; likely more in reserves
Casualties and losses
Between 400 and 800 Spanish killed, drowned, or captured; between 2,000 and 4,000 native allies killed or captured	Light

Decisive tactical Aztec victory;

La Noche Triste ("The Night of Sorrows", literally "The Sad Night") on June 30, 1520, was an important event during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, wherein Hernán Cortés and his army of Spanish conquistadors and native allies fought their way out of the Mexican capital at Tenochtitlan following the death of the Aztec king Moctezuma II; who had been held hostage by the Spaniards.

Cortés' expedition arrived at Tenochtitlan, the Mexica capital, on November 8, 1519, taking up residence in a specially designated compound in the city. Soon thereafter, suspecting treachery on the part of their hosts, the Spaniards took Moctezuma II, the king or Hueyi Tlatoani of the Mexica, hostage. Though Moctezuma followed Cortés' instructions in continually assuring his subjects that he had been ordered by the gods to move in with the Spaniards and that he had done so willingly, the Aztecs suspected otherwise. During the following 98 days, Cortés and his native allies, the Tlaxcaltecas, were increasingly unwelcome guests in the capital.

In June 1520, news from the Gulf coast reached Cortés that a much larger party of Spaniards had been sent by Governor Velázquez of Cuba to arrest Cortés for insubordination. Leaving Tenochtitlan in the care of his trusted lieutenant, Pedro de Alvarado, Cortés marched to the coast, where he defeated the Cuban expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez sent to capture him. When Cortés told the defeated soldiers about the riches of Tenochtitlan, they agreed to join him. Reinforced by Narvaez's men, Cortés headed back to Tenochtitlan.

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Wikipedia