Did Cortés burn, or sink, his ships? And why?

Was this leadership or something else?

Motivation? Leadership? Coercion? How do leaders convince their people to follow them into danger? What do leaders say or do to persuade others?

In 1519 Hernan Cortés led a fleet of eleven ships along with about 600 soldiers and salors men from Cuba to the Yucatan Peninsula. They moved further up the coast to the Aztec nation, or modern -day Mexico. This was the beginning of a tragic, epic story that led a few years later to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire.

The fleet landed near present-day Veracruz, where they established a town and a fort. Cortés then made plans to move inland to seek land, gold, and other treasures. Reports show that Cortés met with some of the local people and representatives of the Aztecs and other groups, some of whom were not loyal to the Aztecs and their Emperor, Montezuma.

From these conversations, Cortés may have learned that he and his men would be facing stronger resistance than he first expected. This may have led to events that are well known, but may also be a bit inaccurate.

One of the most reported stories is that Cortés had his ships burned in order to convince his men they had no other choice but to follow him. Without their ships, there was no way for them to escape, so they had to follow Cortés. I found many stories about this, and there are even paintings showing the burning of the ships. I did a Google search for “Cortés burning his ships” and came up with many results. The following picture is a screenshot of the images that popped up.

Clearly, this is a well-known story. This makes for a memorable tale, but most historians now write that this was not how the events happened.

Most now agree that Cortés had his men remove most of the metal and other usable materials from the ships, and then had them sunk. This could been partly to persuade his men to follow him. Other reports, which reasonable to me, are that Cortés realized he would need as many men as possible for his move into the interior, and that by sinking the ships, the sailors manning the ships would have no choice but to go with the soldiers. The following photo comes from an article from University of Miami News, “Searching for the lost ships of Cortés,” about researchers looking for evidence of the Spanish fleet.

Interestingly, many have used the “burn your ships” concept to stress the idea of committing to a goal or effort. I found evidence of this as far back as The Art of War by Sun Tzu, an ancient book many see as a practical guide for waging war: “When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody that you have no hankering after home.”

Some credit Roman emperor Julius Caesar with a similar line: “If you want to take the island, burn the boats!” There are many examples of people and organizations still using this message. It seems to have become standard message about focusing on a goal and perhaps the importance or even necessity of sacrificing to achieve something.

It is interesting that “sink your ships” has not stuck with people as much as “burn the boats.” I wonder why. Maybe because something about burning the ships seems more drastic than sinking them? Or, could it be as simple as the alliteration of the “B”s?

Regardless, there seems to be no argument that Cortés had his ships destroyed before he began his invasion of the Aztec territory. Whether he was a successful leader or a tyrant is a question for another day.

Please leave your comments below and let me know what you think about this story. What is your take on the Aztecs and the Conquistadors? If you find this interesting, please check out my other articles. Also, please consider become a paid or free subscriber. It would also be great if you could share this post with others interested in the history of the Aztecs and the

Spanish Conquest.

Thanks for reading,

Will Granger

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