History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic, vol 2 | Page 9

Vega, who,
dividing their forces, charged the Moors so briskly in front and rear,
that they were compelled to retreat on the neighboring fortress of
Gebalfaro. [9]
As it was evening before these advantages were obtained, the army did
not defile into the plains around Malaga before the following morning,
when dispositions were made for its encampment. The eminence on the
sierra, so bravely contested, was assigned as the post of greatest danger
to the marquis duke of Cadiz. It was protected by strong works lined
with artillery, and a corps of two thousand five hundred horse and
fourteen thousand foot was placed under the immediate command of
that nobleman. A line of defence was constructed along the declivity

from this redoubt to the seashore. Similar works, consisting of a deep
trench and palisades, or, where the soil was too rocky to admit of them,
of an embankment or mound of earth, were formed in front of the
encampment, which embraced the whole circuit of the city; and the
blockade was completed by a fleet of armed vessels, galleys and
caravels, which rode in the harbor under the command of the Catalan
admiral, Requesens, and effectually cut off all communication by water.
[10]
The old chronicler Bernaldez warms at the aspect of the fair city of
Malaga, thus encompassed by Christian legions, whose deep lines,
stretching far over hill and valley, reached quite round from one arm of
the sea to the other. In the midst of this brilliant encampment was seen
the royal pavilion, proudly displaying the united banners of Castile and
Aragon, and forming so conspicuous a mark for the enemy's artillery,
that Ferdinand, after imminent hazard, was at length compelled to shift
his quarters. The Christians were not slow in erecting counter-batteries;
but the work was obliged to be carried on at night, in order to screen
them from the fire of the besieged. [11]
The first operations of the Spaniards were directed against the suburb,
on the land side of the city. The attack was intrusted to the count of
Cifuentes, the nobleman who had been made prisoner in the affair of
the Axarquia, and subsequently ransomed. The Spanish ordnance was
served with such effect, that a practicable breach was soon made in the
wall. The combatants now poured their murderous volleys on each
other through the opening, and at length met on the ruins of the breach.
After a desperate struggle the Moors gave way. The Christians rushed
into the enclosure, at the same time effecting a lodgment on the rampart;
and, although a part of it, undermined by the enemy, gave way with a
terrible crash, they still kept possession of the remainder, and at length
drove their antagonists, who sullenly retreated step by step, within the
fortifications of the city. The lines were then drawn close around the
place. Every avenue of communication was strictly guarded, and every
preparation was made for reducing the town by regular blockade. [12]
In addition to the cannon brought round by water from Velez, the
heavier lombards, which from the difficulty of transportation had been
left during the late Siege at Antequera, were now conducted across
roads, levelled for the purpose, to the camp. Supplies of marble bullets

were also brought from the ancient and depopulated city of Algezira,
where they had lain ever since its capture in the preceding century by
Alfonso the Eleventh. The camp was filled with operatives, employed
in the manufacture of balls and powder, which were stored in
subterranean magazines, and in the fabrication of those various kinds of
battering enginery, which continued in use long after the introduction
of gunpowder. [13]
During the early part of the siege, the camp experienced some
temporary inconvenience from the occasional interruption of the
supplies transported by water. Rumors of the appearance of the plague
in some of the adjacent villages caused additional uneasiness; and
deserters, who passed into Malaga, reported these particulars with the
usual exaggeration, and encouraged the besieged to persevere, by the
assurance that Ferdinand could not much longer keep the field, and that
the queen had actually written to advise his breaking up the camp.
Under these circumstances, Ferdinand saw at once the importance of
the queen's presence in order to dispel the delusion of the enemy, and to
give new heart to his soldiers. He accordingly sent a message to
Cordova, where she was holding her court, requesting her appearance
in the camp.
Isabella had proposed to join her husband before Velez, on receiving
tidings of El Zagal's march from Granada, and had actually enforced
levies of all persons capable of bearing arms, between twenty and
seventy years of age, throughout Andalusia, but subsequently
disbanded them, on learning the discomfiture of the Moorish army.
Without hesitation, she now set forward, accompanied by