Asentejo's first battle

The first battle of Asentého is the battle between the invading Spaniards on the island of Tenerife and the local indigenous people, known as the Guanches . The Spaniards were commanded by Adelantado (“the military governor”) Alonso Fernandez de Lugo , who sold his property to finance the conquest of Tenerife.

Asentejo's first battle
Asentejo's first battle
date of	May 31, 1494
A place	La Matanza de Asentejo , Tenerife , Spain
Total	the guanches won
Opponents
Kingdom of Castile and Leon , Guanches , European allies guanches
Commanders
Alonso Fernandez de Lugo Tinguaro Bencomo
Forces of the parties
about 1120 about 300 at Tinguaro and 3000 at Bencomo
Losses
about 900-1000 no information

Fernandez de Lugo was encouraged by the fact that the missionaries had already begun to convert the Tenerife Guanches to Christianity, and several tribal groups of the Guanches were friendly to the Castilians (known in Spanish as Bandos de Paz). Fernandez de Lugo landed with troops in Anyaso, near modern Santa Cruz de Tenerife , at the end of April, and erected a fortified camp - El Real de Santa Cruz. Moving deep into the island, Fernandez de Lugo strengthened allied relations with friendly tribes and tried to reach the same agreement with other groups, including Taoro. Mensei Taoro Bencomo refused the terms proposed by Fernandez de Lugo and set about building a coalition that could withstand the invaders.

Castile troops crossed the territory of modern San Cristobal de la Laguna and entered the area of ​​Asentejo. The Castilians entered the Barranco de San Antonio gorge, most likely without reconnaissance and reconnaissance of the area . The Castilians were protected by armor and shields, they were armed with crossbows , arquebuses and one artillery gun. The Guanches, armed only with wooden spears, slings and stones, rushed to the invaders from the slopes of the gorge. The slopes were covered with a dense tree-like shrub, which greatly impeded the movement of Spanish horse troops. The Guanche army, numbering about 3,300 people, took advantage of the maneuverability and thorough knowledge of the area. A detachment of 300 men ambushed the vanguard of the Spanish troops, then the main forces of the islanders struck the rear guard. Under the leadership of Fernandez Lugo, there were 1,120 troops. According to researchers, from 900 to 1000 of them died in the first battle of Asentejo. Fernandez de Lugo himself escaped by dropping the red cloak of Adelantado and disguising himself as a soldier. Together with the remnants of his army, he sailed to the island of Gran Canaria .

The city, built on the site of the battle, is called La Matanza de Asentejo (“The Asentejo Massacre”). This was the largest defeat in the history of Spanish conquests in the Atlantic, in terms of losses suffered by Spain.