The following year (1847), during the first term of Col. José Mariano Monterde Segura as commandant, the Mexican–American War reached Mexico City and the Military Academy. On September 11 cadets of the Academy were involved in fighting on the Condress Estate. On September 13 Chapultepec Castle and its surroundings became the site of the historic Battle of Chapultepec. Its Mexican Army defenders, under the leadership of Nicolás Bravo, former President of the Republic and a veteran of the war of independence, included about 200 members of the Corps of Cadets, aged between 13 and 19. At the end of the battle five cadets - Juan Escutia (who reportedly leapt to his death wrapped in the Flag of Mexico), Agustin Melgar, Francisco Marquez, Fernando Montes de Oca, and Vicente Suárez; plus faculty member Lieutenant of Juan de la Barrera - all refused to retreat and died in a final stand as the "young heroes" of Academy legend. An unknown proportion of the other cadets became casualties or prisoners during the earlier stages of the battle.