Battle of Colhuacatonco

Battle of Colhuacatonco
Part of the Siege of Tenochtitlan and the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
The moment Hernán Cortés was captured by the Mexica upon being ambushed, moments before being rescued. 1773 reproduction of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala.
Date 30 June 1521 Location Mainly in and around Colhuacatonco calpolli, Cuepopan campan, Tenochtitlan, Mexica Empire (modern-day Cuauhtémoc borough, Mexico City) 19°26′36″N 99°08′07″W / 19.44339°N 99.13528°W / 19.44339; -99.13528 Result Mexica victory
Belligerents
Mexica Empire: Tenochtitlan Tlatelolco	Spanish Empire Republic of Tlaxcala
	Supported by:[1] Cholollan Huejotzingo Texcoco Chalco Tlalmanalco Xochimilco
Commanders and leaders
Cuauhtémoc Ecatzin Popocatzin	Hernán Cortés (WIA) Gonzalo de Sandoval (WIA) Pedro de Alvarado Julián de Alderete Andrés de Tapia (WIA) Jorge de Alvarado
Strength
Thousands of warriors and many war canoes.	Over 300 Spanish infantry, 15 or 16 horses, and tens of thousands of indigenous warriors.[2] 7 brigantines and over 3,000 war canoes.
Casualties and losses
Many killed and wounded.	Spanish forces: c. 66 captured and later killed. Several killed in action and many wounded. 8 horses killed (probably 4 of them captured and later killed). One brigantine captured. One or two light artillery pieces lost. Indigenous allies: c. 2,000 killed or captured to be later killed. Hundreds wounded.

The Battle of Colhuacatonco^[3] was fought on 30 June 1521 during the late stages of the Siege of Tenochtitlan between Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces and the Mexica Empire (also typically referred as Aztec Empire). It is regarded as the most important victory achieved by the Mexica during the siege.^[4]

The battle was fought as a result of the Spanish soldiers growing dissatisfied with the lack of progress done during the siege thus far, as the Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces had failed to take any important amount of territory since the beginning of June. Captain Hernán Cortés of the Spanish decided to launch a massive assault onto the city to take the market of Tlatelolco. The Spanish faced a much stronger resistance than expected and were eventually forced to retreat, suffering their worst losses since La Noche Triste and the Battle of Otumba a year earlier.

Though much of the fighting occurred elsewhere in Tlatelolco, northern Tenochtitlan and Tacuba, the battle became known as such because most of the fighting occurred in this neighborhood; the Spaniards suffered their worst losses in this battle in this site.^[5]

The battle became famous among modern historians as a result of the Spanish defeat, which was perceived as humiliating and retroactively seen as a demonstration of indigenous resistance against colonialism even in the most dire circumstances,^[6] as by this point the city was already facing widespread starvation and disease and yet still achieved victory,^[7] though the battle did not stop the city from falling to the Spanish Empire in August of the same year. The battle also became famous because Cortés narrowly escaped death during the fighting, as he was captured by multiple Mexica warriors, who typically didn't spare their prisoners,^[8] before he was rescued.