A Narrative of the Expedition of Hernando De Soto

A Narrative of the Expedition of Hernando De Soto by a Gentleman of Elvas is a first hand account of Desoto’s exploration of Florida from 1539-1540. Desoto and after his death the succeeding leader of the expedition are referred to as “the Governor” throughout the book. A Narrative of the Expedition of Hernando De Soto is a very thought provoking piece with important lessons about military tactics, ethics, economics, and government.

In the conflicts between the Native Americans and the Spanish, the Spanish suffered far fewer casualties. This was largely due to their success and skill at close combat. In the first few battles which were draws, the Spanish and natives traded arrows. The battles were inconclusive because the natives were quick and agile and very difficult to hit while the Spanish were armored and consequently nearly impossible to kill. The Spanish received the worst injuries during these first engagements because they received many wounds from arrows hitting their unarmored regions.

The Spanish eventually became almost invincible. The key to their success was the horse. The Native Americans were much better athletes than the Spanish as well as being much taller. When natives ran away from the Spaniards, the author invariably commented on how quickly they ran. Natives typically had to be chased them down by either dogs or horsemen. The horse allowed the Spanish to bridge the separation and come into close combat with the natives while reducing the time spent within arrow range. The horse also gave them a height advantage to make up for their lack of physical stature.

In many of the battles the Gentleman from Elvas writes about a small number of horsemen and footmen fending off massively larger numbers of enemy soldiers. The Spanish frequently sent off parties of 10-15 horsemen who had no trouble dealing with any enemies they met while traveling. The Spanish footmen also had an advantage in combat with the natives, but it was not nearly as significant as the horsemen.

The Spanish success may be due in part to the Spanish history of fighting the Arabs in Spain during the Reconquista. The Arabs are generally horsemen and prefer to fight from a distance with bows and arrows while Europeans tend to prefer heavily armored close combat. Consequently, the Spanish were used to fighting against archers with far more mobility than the Native Americans.

In the Spanish dealings with the Indians I was surprised at how cruelly the Natives were treated and especially how the Spanish made no attempt to justify their behavior. It seems that they did not see anything morally questionable about it. The author simply stated actions which they had done as if there was nothing questionable about them. Some of these actions include capturing and/or killing random Indians they met as they traveled. They also made Indians serve them as slaves; they took food from the Indians without paying them. This is especially surprising since the book appears to be written for the general public of Spain.

In this story one can see the danger to society of a centralized government. With centralized control all that must be done to control the society is to capture the key person in the government. The Native Americans seemed to have chiefs who had absolute powers. They had the power to kill their own people at will and order them into slavery. The chief could give his subjects as slaves to the Spanish or tell the Indians to give up their food. In a less totalitarian society, the leader wouldn’t have been able to give the Spanish complete control even if he had wished.

The native attempts to fight the Spanish were all centrally organized. The Spanish were not constantly harassed with hit and run attacks or forced to deal with a free thinking independent people. Instead they sometimes fought pitched battles with the armies of powerful leaders but were otherwise left alone.

The book also illustrates how a government can easily tax a society into oblivion. There were a few thousand Spanish soldiers at the beginning of the trip and far less than 1000 by the time they returned home. A number this large should have easily been able to be supported by the surplus crops of a region the size of the Southeastern United States (the area through which they traveled). Unfortunately, the Spanish simply took whatever they wanted without paying. At a price of zero, demand is unlimited. It appears that the Spanish completely consumed the corn supplies of this entire region. Towards the end of their journey they couldn’t find anywhere to go because none of the tribes had any corn left to steal because the Spanish had eaten it all. In the battle between a predatory governing class and subservient serf class, an out of control government will bring the entire society to the point of extinction.