The Rebellion Continued

1511



Salazar's arrival at Caparra with a handful of wounded and exhausted

men revealed to Ponce the danger of his situation. Ponce knew that it

was necessary to strike a bold blow, and although, including the

maimed and wounded, he had but 120 men at his disposal, he prepared at

once to take the offensive.



Sending a messenger to la Espanola with the news of the insurrection

and demand for reenforcements, which, seeing his strained relations

with the Admiral, there was small chance of his obtaining, he

proceeded to divide his force in four companies of 30 men to each, and

gave command to Miguel del Toro, the future founder of San German, to

Louis de Anasco, who later gave his name to a province, to Louis

Almanza and to Diego Salazar, whose company was made up exclusively of

the maimed and wounded, and therefore called in good-humored jest the

company of cripples.



Having learned from his scouts that Guaybana was camped with 5,000 to

6,000 men near the mouth of the river Coayuco in the territory between

the Yauco and Jacagua rivers, somewhere in the neighborhood of the

city which now bears the conqueror's name, he marched with great

precaution through forest and jungle till he reached the river. He

crossed it during the night and fell upon the Indians with such

impetus that they believed their slain enemies to have come to life.

They fled in confusion, leaving 200 dead upon the field.



The force under Ponce's command was too small to follow up his victory

by the persecution of the terror-stricken natives; nor would the

exhausted condition of the men have permitted it, so he wisely

determined to return to Caparra, cure his wounded soldiers, and await

the result of his message to la Espanola.



Oviedo and Navarro, whose narratives of these events are repeated by

Abbad, state that the Boriquen Indians, despairing of being able to

vanquish the Spaniards, called the Caribs of the neighboring islands

to their aid; that the latter arrived in groups to make common cause

with them, and that some time after the battle of Coayuco, between

Caribs and Boriquenos, 11,000 men had congregated in the Aymaco

district.



But Mr. Brau calls attention to the improbability of such a

gathering. "Guaybana," he says, "had been able, after long

preparation, to bring together between 5,000 and 6,000 warriors - of

these 200 had been slain, and an equal number, perhaps, wounded and

made prisoners, so that, to make up the number of 11,000, at least as

many Caribs as the entire warrior force of Boriquen must have come to

the island in the short space of time elapsed since the first battle.

The islands inhabited by the Caribs - Santa Cruz, San Eustaquio, San

Cristobal, and Dominica - were too distant to furnish so large a

contingent in so short a time, and the author we are quoting justly

remarks that, admitting that such a feat was possible, they must have

had at their disposition a fleet of at least 200 canoes, each capable

of holding 20 men, a number which it is not likely they ever

possessed."



There is another reason for discrediting the assertions of the old

chroniclers in this respect. The idea of calling upon their enemies,

the Caribs, to make common cause with them against a foe from whom the

Caribs themselves had, as yet, suffered comparatively little, and the

ready acceptance by these savages of the proposal, presupposes an

amount of foresight and calculation, of diplomatic tact, so to speak,

in both the Boriquenos and Caribs with which it is difficult to credit

them.



The probable explanation of the alleged arrival of Caribs is that some

of the fugitive Indians who had found a refuge in the small islands

close to Boriquen may have been informed of the preparations for a

revolt and of the result of the experiment with Salcedo, and they

naturally came to take part in the struggle.



On hearing of the ominous gathering Ponce sent Louis Anasco and Miguel

del Toro with 50 men to reconnoiter and watch the Indians closely,

while he himself followed with the rest of his small force to be

present where and when it might be necessary. Their approach was soon

discovered, and, as if eager for battle, one cacique named

Mabodomaca, who had a band of 600 picked men, sent the governor an

insolent challenge to come on. Salazar with his company of cripples

was chosen to silence him. After reconnoitering the cacique's

position, he gave his men a much-needed rest till after midnight, and

then dashed among them with his accustomed recklessness. The Indians,

though taken by surprise, defended themselves bravely for three hours,

"but," says Father Abbad, "God fought on the side of the Spaniards,"

and the result was that 150 dead natives were left on the field, with

many wounded and prisoners. The Spaniards had not lost a man, though

the majority had received fresh wounds.



Ponce, with his reserve force, arrived soon after the battle and found

Salazar and his men resting. From them he learned that the main body

of the Indians, to the number of several thousand, was in the

territory of Yacueeca (now Anasco) and seemingly determined upon the

extermination of the Spaniards.



The captain resolved to go and meet the enemy without regard to

numbers. With Salazar's men and the 50 under Anasco and Toro he

marched upon them at once. Choosing an advantageous position, he gave

orders to form an entrenched camp with fascines as well, and as

quickly as the men could, while he kept the Indians at bay with his

arquebusiers and crossbowmen each time they made a rush, which they

did repeatedly. In this manner they succeeded in entrenching

themselves fairly well. The crossbowmen and arquebusiers went out from

time to time, delivered a volley among the close masses of Indians

and then withdrew. These tactics were continued during the night and

all the next day, much to the disgust of the soldiers, who, wounded,

weary, and hungry, without hope of rescue, heard the yells of the

savages challenging them to come out of their camp. They preferred to

rush among them, as they had so often done before. But Ponce would not

permit it.



Among the arquebusiers the best shot was a certain Juan de Leon. This

man had received instructions from Ponce to watch closely the

movements of Guaybana, who was easily distinguishable from the rest by

the "guanin," or disk of gold which he wore round the neck. On the

second day, the cacique was seen to come and go actively from group to

group, evidently animating his men for a general assault. While thus

engaged he came within the range of Leon's arquebus, and a moment

after he fell pierced by a well-directed ball. The effect was what

Ponce had doubtless expected. The Indians yelled with dismay and ran

far beyond the range of the deadly weapons; nor did they attempt to

return or molest the Spaniards when Ponce led them that night from the

camp and through the forest back to Caparra.



This was the beginning of the end. After the death of Guaybana no

other cacique ever attempted an organized resistance, and the partial

uprisings that took place for years afterward were easily suppressed.

The report of the arquebus that laid Guaybana low was the death-knell

of the whole Boriquen race.



The name of the island remained as a reminiscence only, and the island

itself became definitely a dependency of the Spanish crown under the

new name of San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico.