Alexander, Cortez, or both?

[Dinosaur]

Many years ago, I heard or read that Alexander the Great burned his ships when invading the Persian Empire, making it imperative that his army win over the Persian since retreat to Greece was no longer possible.

Recently a drama on the SciFi channel atribiuted this action to Cortez when he landed in Mexico.

I always believed the story about Alexander and do not believe that Cortez did likewise.

Does any body here know if either, neither, or both stories are true?

 

[Redoubtable]

Both are true, though Cortez did, unlike Alexander, bury the sails in an undisclosed location. He did this since his Spanish crew could build new hulls with the virgin lumber of the Americas but were without a way to produce replacement sail-cloth.