These men, too, were alreadytrained and successful soldiers, held together both by a common religionand by the hope of spoil. There were twelve thousand of them by the mostprobable estimate,--for Musa had sent reinforcements,--and they hadagainst them from five to eight times their number. But of the Spaniardsonly a small part were armed or drilled, or used to warfare, and greatmultitudes of them had to put their reliance in clubs, slings, axes, andshort scythes. The cavalry were on the wings, where Luis found himself,with Count Julian and Archbishop Oppas to command them. Soon, however, DonAlonzo and Luis were detached, with others, to act as escort to the king,Don Rodrigo.The battle began soon after daybreak on Sunday, July 19, 711. As theSpanish troops advanced, their trumpets sounded defiance and were answeredby Moorish horns and kettledrums. While they drew near, the shouts of theSpaniards were drowned in the _lelie_ of the Arabs, the phrase _Laila-ha ella-llah_--there is no deity but God. As they came nearer yet,there is a tradition that Rodrigo looking on the Moslem, said, "By thefaith of the Messiah, these are the very men I saw painted on the walls ofthe cave at Toledo." Yet he certainly bore himself like a king, and herode on the battle-field in a chariot of ivory lined with gold, having asilken awning decked with pearls and rubies, while the vehicle was drawnby three white mules abreast.
Pages:
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122