Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/44

20 20 WAR OF GRANADA. PART don his position. At the same time the rising vested by sea and land. ground on the seaside was carried by the Spaniards under the commander of Leon and Garcilasso de la Vega, who, dividing their forces, charged the Moors so briskly in front and rear, that they were compel- led to retreat on the neighbouring fortress of Ge- balfaro. ^ Malaga in- As it was cvening before these advantages were vested bv a Cj 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 mar- quis 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 sea- shore. 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 harbour under the command of the Catalan admiral, Requesens, and effectually cut off all communication by water. ^° 9 Pulfrar, Reyes Cat61icos, cap. MS., cap.83.— Pulgar, Reyes Ca- 75. — Sulnzar cle Mendoza, Cr6n. tolicos, cap. 76. — Carbajal, Ana- del Gran Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 64. les, MS., ailo 1487. 10 Bernaldoz, Reyes Catolicos,