Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-12-09
BATTLES OF MEXICO---CAPTURE
OF THE CITY.

National Palace of Mexico,
Sept. Is, 1847.
SIR: At the end of another series OF
arduous and brilliant operations, .:
more than forty ght hours cont'nu-
ance, this glorious army ho's'ed' on
the morning Of the l4'h, the colors OF
the United States on the walls OF this
palace.
The victory o. the 9Th, at the Mo-
limos del Rey, was followed by daring
recon noissances on the part Of our DIS.
tinguished engineers--Capt. Lee,
Lieuts. Beuregard, Stevens, and Tow
er-Maj. Smith, senior, being sick,
and Capt. Mason, third in rank,
wounded. Their operations were dl
greeted principally to the south, to-
wards the gates of the Piedac, San
Angel, (Nino Perdido,) San Antonio,
and :he Paseo de la Viga.
This city stands on slight swell of
ground, near the centre of an irregular
basin, and is girdled with ditch in its
greater extent--a navigable canal Of
great breadth and dep,h-yery diff
.ult TO bridge in the presence of an en-
envy, and serving at once for drainage,
custom-house purposes, and military
defence; leaving eight entrances or
ga'es, over arches-each of which we
found defended by system Of strong
works, that seemed 20 require nothing
but some men and guns to be lnpreg-
nab!e.
Outside and within the cross fires
Of those gates, we found TO the south
other obstacles but little less tormida-
b!e. All Ike approaches near the city
are over elevated causeways, cut IN
many places TO oppose us) and flank
ed, on both sides, by bitches, also Of
unusual dimensions. The numerous
cross roads are fanked, in like man.
ner, having bridges at :he 'intersec-
tions, recently broken. The mead
ows thus checkered, are, moreover, in
many spots, under water or marshy
for, il will be remembered, we were in
the midst Of the vet season, though
with lessrrain than usual, and we could
no, wait for the fall Of the neighboring
lakes and The consequent drainage of
the wet grounds at the edge of the city
the lowest in the whole basin.
After a close personal survey of the
southern gates, covered by Pillows di-
vision and RiIey's brigade Of Fwiggs'
with four times our numbers con-
centrated in our immediate 'front.'
determined, on the llih, to avoid that
network Of obstacles, and to seek, oy
a sudden inversion, 10 the southwest
and west, less unfavorable approach
0S. --
To economic the lives of our gall
liant officers and men, as well as TO in
sure success, it became indispensable
that this resolution should be long
masked from-tte enemy; and again,
that the new movement, when discov-
cred should be mistaken for faint, and
the ole as indicating our true and ulti.
mate point of attack. f..'..
Accordingly, on the spot, the 11th,
l ordered Qn:tman's division from
Coyoacan, to join Pillow, BY daylight,
before the southern gates, and then
that the two ma jor generals, with their
divisions, should, by night, proceed
1.-TWO miles to join me at Tacubaya,
where | was quartered with Worth's
division. Twiegs, with Riley's brig
ade and Capt. rayIor's and Steptoe's
field batteries latter of 70 pound
ers,-was left in front of those gates,
to manouvre, to threaten, or to make
false attacks, in order to occupy and
deceive the enemy. Twiggs' other
brigade Smith's) was left at support
ing distance, in the rear, at San An
gel, till the morning of the 18th, and
also to support our general depot at
scoac. The stratagem against the
south was admirably executed through
out the 18th and down to the afternoon
ofthe 18th when it was too late for
the enemy to recover from the efft cts
of his delusion. 8.T
The first step in the new movement
was to carry Chapultepec, a natural
and isolated mound, of great elevation,
strongly fortified at its base, on its ac-
clivities and heights. Besides nu-
merous garrison, here was the military
college Of the republic, with large
number of sub lieutenants and other
students. Those works were in d.
rect gpn-shot Of the village of Tacu-
baya; and, until carried, we could not
approach the city on the west, with
out making a-circuit too vide and too
hazardous, r III
In The course Of the same night
s(that Of the 18th heavy batteries with
in easy ranges were established. No.
l, on our right, under the command Of