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This Land is My Land
We left but a mystery grave
By Clifford D. Cope
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 Clifford D. Cope
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-6977-3
Chapter One
España to Cuba
A few days before sailing from the port of San Lúcar Don Hernando ordered a muster to be held in the port staging area. Several thousand people gathered around to see the pass and review that would be performed by all who wanted to join this expedition. There were thirty ships in the port, mostly loaded with supplies. The captains and crews had been assigned. A muster of all the ships had been held just the day before, but Don Hernando was very unhappy with the turnout. There were plenty of willing soldiers and workers but there was quite a difference of dress and attitude. The few Portuguese soldiers under the command of Andrés de Vasconcelos were dressed in full battle gear. They were the best looking in their armor and with their fine weapons. The Portuguese foot soldiers, dressed in chain mail and cotton armor, holding their long pikes or swords, stood in a rigid formation ready for orders. They appeared ready for the call to battle. The Portuguese cavaliers stood alongside the pikemen and crossbowmen, as if ready to charge into a battle that very day. The Castilians were dressed as if they were going to a grand party for the king in their silk stockings and shirts.
Don Hernando stood upon a balcony and gave a very short, dissatisfied speech to all. Yelling into the crowd, he said, "I have come here today and found you all unprepared. I will not select those going today. I now order a muster tomorrow morning at this same time. I will only accept those that show their best in readiness as I see you are. I have assigned captains of each ship and captains of each foot soldier company as well as each company of harquebusiers, the cavalry, and the crossbowmen. However, I can see your orders have not been carried out as I asked. We are not going to a banquet or a walk in the woods. We are preparing to take on an adventure that has never been done before. I should say it has been tried, but unsuccessfully. Now we are going to succeed. Tomorrow, I expect to stand here and see the whole expedition standing tall and ready. I will be here in this room and expect to see my captains at this moment."
With that, he turned and walked into the room from the balcony. On the ground, Andrés de Vasconcelos turned and faced his men. He thanked them for standing as he had ordered them to and then began questioning them on their final preparation.
A Castilian captain approached Andrés and said, "I want to congratulate you and your men on your appearance and manner. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Don Diego Garcia de Paredes. I am the captain of the San Juan galleon you see now in port. We arrived only last night. I will be transporting mostly horses, about sixty I believe. My Father was the chief magistrate of Barcarrota and enjoys the life of city administration, whereas I want adventure and a chance to get rich from the precious treasures of the land."
Andrés gave a slight bow and introduced himself. "I am happy to see you speak our language of Portuguese; I am the captain of the Buena Fortuna, another of the galleons we have ready to sail. I just met our commander, Don Hernando a few days ago; I was given this appointment and am glad to share this position with you. My soldiers here do not know much about this man, but we are ready to go to the New World and partake of its riches, as others have in the large land mass in the south of this New World called Tierra Firme. Please tell us all that you would like."
Andrés motioned for his soldiers to gather around and listen to what Don Diego had to say. After all, they needed to take no further actions, as many others did.
Don Diego said, "Well, your commander's name is, Don Hernando Méndez de Soto y Gutiérrez Cardenosa. Whatever you do, do not refer to him as Fernando; he is not Portuguese, he is Castilian from Villanueva de Barcarrota, which is very close to the border of your country. As you can see, he is a well-built man in stature and good looking to most; he is looked up to by many, as you have just seen here today. He is also known to sometimes have a short temper, or corto de razones. There were times he made snap decisions or showed violent actions, such as the attack on the Inca ruler Atabalipa that he is famous for. However, he is not one to send in his soldiers and then wait behind them. He has been known to go in first for the attack, or sometimes second, but he never waits behind. He rides a horse as well as the best cavalrymen. He grew up riding horses and has talked about how he loved hunting Indians on horseback in Peru and Nicaragua. He is a leader who fits his title of El Adelantado, which is the Captains General or the one who stands out front. He was born and raised in the Extremadura region of what in now becoming the new country of España. His Father, Francisco Mendez, was from Jerez provinces in Extremadura. His mother, Leonor Arias Tinoca, was from the provinces of Badajoz, also in Extremadura, which makes him of a hijodalgo lineage. He first went to work for Pedràrias Dàvila in Peru and Nicaragua. With his great courage and skills, Pedràrias soon made him a captain of cavalry. He led the conquering of the city of Cuzco and many places in the New World, where he built his own name. He entered into a partnership with another Castilian by the name of Don Hernàn Ponce de León in the silk trade from the city of Granada, Nicaragua. This man is still there in Tierra Firme, getting richer. People say that Don Hernando came back with over one hundred thousand pesos' worth of gold. It is for sure that he did become rich because he is paying for this complete adventure.
"Soon after he returned here to España, he married Doña Isabel de Bobadilla, the daughter of Pedrárias Dávila. It is also said that he has three illegitimate children, a daughter out of marriage by the name of Doña Marìa de Soto, who remains in Nicaragua where she was born to an Indian women. He also claims a son, Andrès de Soto and another daughter named Leonor de Soto, whose mother was the daughter of the Inca ruler named Huayna Capac. I do not know of one time he has ever talked about these children. He is a man who has always selected excellent staff members, like you and me, of course. However, he will allow you to make decisions on your own once he has given you a task to perform. He will not butt in and tell your soldiers what to do. He respects your rank and position. But then he expects all others to respect his rank and position when all else fails, and you are to speak of him or refer to him as Your Lordship. He is known for harsh punishment also."
After a bit of talking, Andrés looked behind Diego and could see a couple of soldiers standing as their captain talked. He noticed that they were carrying harquebus muskets and asked if he could look at one.
"Yes, you may even shoot one if you would like," Diego answered as he motioned his soldiers forward and told them to hand their harquebus's over to the Portuguese. "We are going to go down to the rocky shore area and allow each soldier to fire at least five shots for practice."
He then turned to the soldier standing next to him and said, "This is Pedro Moreno, he is in charge of the harquebusiers, and they will be on my ship. Please, bring your soldiers along and shoot with us."
Andrés handed the harquebus he was holding back to the Castilian soldier who had handed it to him for viewing. He turned to his men and told them to follow along and get some experience with the new weapon to them. The Portuguese were mainly swordsmen; some carried a pike or lance as well. As they walked together with the Castilians, they continued to talk.
Andrés asked, "I have heard bits and pieces of the stories that were told by Alvar Núnez Cabeza de Vaca after his return to España from this northern part of the New World. These stories helped to encourage my soldiers to want to go on this adventure, but they also wonder why this man, Cabeza de Vaca, does not go with Don Hernando?"
Diego looked over to Andrés and then behind him at the soldiers following and quietly said, "Ahhhh, the great secret! I do not know what the truth is but only what I have heard. I have heard that Cabeza de Vaca and the king had a secret meeting and that he was sworn to silence about whether there were riches to be found in this land named La Florida, founded by Ponce de León for España just a few years ago in 1513. It is said that Don Hernando asked him to come along, but there was a disagreement between the two and that he chose not to join Don Hernando. It is said, that he asked Don Hernando for money to buy his own ship to take on the voyage and that Don Hernando declined to loan him the money. Maybe there was the idea that Cabeza de Vaca wanted to go to the New World again but when there, he would go out on his own. It is well known, that Don Hernando will not tolerate anyone trying to go around him or to act insubordinate to him. There are two of de Vaca's relatives going with the armada; therefore, I would think there is some truth in what de Vaca has said about riches to be had. They are Cristóbal de Espindola and our Field Marshal, Baltasar de Gallegos. So maybe they have been told where the riches are and they will inform Don Hernando of that location.
"I feel that our lord Don Hernando is certain about what he is doing. After all, he has seen how Pizarro became rich and acquired a great name and title by overthrowing the Incas of Peru. He has also seen how Cortés has done the same in Nueva España, or what is being called México by some. Now I believe he sees competition going north from there. He wants to become rich again, for he has spent all he has on this voyage. He also wants the name and title, if not more than his adversaries have acquired."
The group arrived at a location on the shore a distance from the ships and crowds, where they could fire into the rocks without any danger of hurting anyone. When they came to the firing position that had been used before, as one could see by the wooden targets down range, they all stopped. Two soldiers were standing by a little fire they had made. They did not make the fire for warmth or for cooking. It was made in order that the harquebusiers could light their match cords. In order to fire an harquebus, one had to maintain a burning rope or match cord in the firing lock mechanism.
Pedro Moreno ordered six soldiers to come forward and assume a firing position. A couple took up a kneeling position behind some rocks, and the others placed support rods in the ground. Moreno then gave them the command to load. They each quickly placed the stock of the musket on the ground and opened a pouch hanging on their belt. They retrieved a lead ball about the size of a playing marble and placed it in the palm of their hand. They then grabbed the powder flask hanging from a cord over their shoulder. From the flask, they each poured enough powder in their open palm to just cover the lead shot. They then removed the lead shot and poured the powder down the muzzle of the musket. Then, they took a small piece of wet cloth from their mouths and placed it over the muzzle. The lead shot was put on the cloth and pushed down the bore of the musket until it was firmly seated at the bottom. The musket was then brought up and rested on a monopod. A small amount of powder was poured into the flash pan on the side of the barrel. The weapon was now ready to fire. As they became ready, each soldier stood ready to fire, looking down range.
When all were ready, Moreno gave the command to fire. As each man slowly pulled the match lever or trigger mechanism, the match cord was lowered to the flash pan and ignited the powder. The harquebus fired with a loud crack, and each soldier's upper body was rapidly pushed back. A large plume of smoke blasted out of each muzzle and obscured the shooters for a few seconds. The targets were about fifty paces away, and they could see who hit the white painted circles on the boards and who did not. The harquebus was a new weapon to the world of warfare, slow loading, cumbersome and not very accurate. However, it was frighten to those who had never seen it.
The soldiers waiting their turn began badgering the group that just shot and took their place in the firing positions. Andrés heard some of his soldiers snickering and told his men that they will soon have the chance do better, and they also will be watched. The white circles that had been painted on the planks were about one foot in diameter. After the second round was fired, it was clear this weapon was not very accurate but was awesome to see and hear. Andrés and his volunteers did not shoot very accurately either; after fifty shots, about twenty hit the spot. Don Diego Garcia and his soldiers left and went to prepare themselves for tomorrow, while Andrés and his men stayed behind. His crossbowmen wanted to shoot crossbow bolts at the targets for practice.
Seven crossbowmen took up a position, loaded their crossbows, and fired. Seven bolts hit their spot. The soldiers turned and bragged about their shooting. It was much more accurate and faster than the harquebus.
One of the few men, who had not shot stepped forward, drew his sword, held it up in the air, and said, "Yes, you can shoot and hit well at a distance. However, remember that you will need me by your side. Because in the time it will take you to reload, the enemy will advance on you and cut your throat. When it comes down to a fight, this is what I want in my hand."
His sword had a length of about one vara, or the length from one's nose to the fingertip of an outstretched arm. The hand guard or pommel was in the shape of a downturned crown with a cross cut into each end piece. The steel blade was shiny and flexible, as could be seen when he grabbed the tip and bent it slightly as he returned it to its sheath.
Andrés gave them a smile and then said, "Soldiers, we have seen this newly developed weapon that, if nothing else, will scare the hell out of these infidels we are about to encounter, and yes, I agree that the primary weapon is the sword and the crossbow. However, the ultimate weapon will be that we work together and become rich. Let's us go now and find something to eat."
They gathered their belongings and headed off to find an open patio café. As they walked, Andrés said to them, "With our different skills and weapons, I believe it is going to be important when dealing with our adversary in La Florida because we will be on his land in his field. I have heard that the Indians of La Florida are also skilled with their bows and arrows and are not afraid to fight. So we must remain together and protect each other as well as the Castilians and others we are with."
As the two small companies of Castilians and Portuguese returned to the port near the ships, they found a senior seaman talking with a priest as they looked out over the ships. As they got closer, the seaman turned to harquebus Captain Diego Garcia and said, "Sir, I beg your pardon but I do not understand this young man here very well. He is from France and speaks only French with just a bit of Castilian knowledge. He wants a tour of the ship he will be sailing on and where he will sleep. I am under orders of my captain at this time and do not have time to spend with him. Would you be kind and help him?"
Don Diego told the sailor that he would help the man and sent him on his way. Don Diego then turned to Moreno and said, "We will see you in the inn when you are finished talking with the priest." Pedro Moreno dropped out of the ranks and stayed behind with the priest. He stood beside the priest, looked out toward the ships, and said, "Okay, Priest, here is your tour. You see that large ship there?" He pointed to the flagship, which was turned sideways to them. "That is a galleon; the front part of the ship is called the bow. The rear of the ship is called the stern. If you are standing on the ship looking to the front, the right side is called the starboard and the left is port." The French priest stood quietly and looked out at the ships and then toward Moreno, who turned and glanced at the priest and then back to the ship. "Now you see the highest portion of the ship there on the stern?"
"Yes," the priest barely got in.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from This Land is My Land by Clifford D. Cope Copyright © 2011 by Clifford D. Cope. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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