Reflections 1st March
Our Cortés Moment?
Most people think that Cortés burned his ships when he landed in the New World.
What he actually did, I find much more interesting. In July 1519, facing a mutinous crew on an unfamiliar coast, Cortés ordered his ships systematically dismantled. Everything reusable, ropes, cannons, timber, even nails, was salvaged and repurposed. The sailors became soldiers. The hulls were scuttled, with only one ship kept back and sent to Spain carrying letters and treasure to the King, maintaining a single line of communication with the old structure while closing off retreat.
He didn’t destroy capability. He recomposed it, redistributing the resources of an old configuration into a new one suited to the situation he actually faced.
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