Below are listed names of those mentioned in the many texts, who joined Cortes. Gómara reports that just before departing Cuba for Mexico Cortés had 550 Spaniards, plus another 50 sailors, 200 indigenous Cuban porters, several “Negroes,” a few indigenous women and 16 horses. In a letter to the Spanish men held captive by the Maya near Cozumel, Cortés says “550 Spaniards.”
Díaz records a count of men at Cozumel: 508 men, not counting ships pilots and captains and sailors which counted 100. 16 horses. 11 ships, 13 musketeers, 32 crossbowmen, 10 brass guns, 4 falconets, unknown number of crossbowmen (Diaz p. 58-59).
Those that participated in the earlier Cordoba or Grijalva expeditions are noted. Many were career mercenaries, sailors and merchants and signed up for multiple expeditions, including Bernal Díaz, who was on all three. Most points have a citation.
See My Sources for citations.
- * denotes people mentioned for the first time after Narvaez’s men joined Cortes in Cempoala, meaning they potentially were not present for the initial march to Tenochtitlan.
- GRIJ denotes men who participated in the 1518 Grijalva Expedition.
- CORD denotes men who participated in the 1517 Cordoba Expedition.