Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1847-12-15
OFFICIAL DISPATCHES.
BATTLE or MOLINO DEL. RAY
Report GE GesaCrRl Worth.
HEADQUAKrEKs, l>t DIVISION,
TacuuaVn Sent 10 lrAT.

SIR: Under the lnconsenlcnt cifcumstan.
ces incident to recent battle, aud dcrAnge.
mcnt from loss of comtnsnders-staN com
missioned and non commissioned Il.
mid the active scenes resulting therefrom
proceed to make report, in obedience to
the orders Of the Gencral-iM- chief, of the
battle Of III Molino del Ray, fought ind
won on The StIl of September, lS47, by the
lst division, reinforced as follows:
lst. Three sQnadrons Of Dragons. and
one company of mounted rihemcn-21O men
under Ma jor Summer. I'd dragons.
ID. Three pieces Of field artillery, under
Capt. Drum.
Sd. Two ba,tering guns, ia FOUNDERS, ),
under Capt. Huger.
4th. CadwaIader's brigade, 1e4 strong,
consisting Of the volt igcur regiment, the lIh
and I4th regiments ot.ininntry.
Having, in the course Of the Tth accom-
panied the Gcneral-in chief on 4 rcconnois-
sance of the formidable dispositions of the
enemy near ard around the castle of Cha
pultepec. they were found to exhibit an ex-
tended line Of cavalry and infantry. sustain
cd by field battery Of four guus--occupy-
ing directly, or sustaining, system of de-
fences collateral to the castle and summit.
This examination gave fair observation Of
the conhguration OF the grounds, and the eX
tent Of the enemy's force; but, as appeared
in the sequel, an inadequate idea of the ne
ture of his defences-they being skilltully
masked
The General in chief ordered that my d.
vision, reinforced as before mentioned,
shoult attack and carry those lines and de-
fences, capture the enemy,s artillery, de-
stroy the machinery and material supposed
to be in the boundary, El Molno del Rey;)
but limiting the operations to that extent.
After which, my command was to be imms-
diute)y withdrawn to its position in the viii
uge of Tacubaya. ..5 -....
A close and daring reconnaissance, by
Capt. Mason Of the engineers, made on the
morning of the 7th, represented tile enemy g
lines collateral to Chapultepec to be as fol-
lows: His left rested upon, and occupied a
group of strong stone buildings, called FL
Moiino del Key. adjoining tue grove at the
foot of the hill of Chapultepec, and directly
under the guns of the castle which crowns
It's summit. The right Of his line rested up
on another stone building, called Casa Ma
ia, situated at the foot of the ridge that
slopes gradually from the heights above the
village Of Tacubaya to the plain below. Mid
way between these buildings was the cne-
my's field battery, and his infantry forces
were disposed on either side to support it.
This reconnaissance was Verified by Capt.
Mason and Col. Duncan, on the afternoon
of the same day. The result indicated that
the centre was the weak point of the enc
my's position; and that his flanks were the
strong points, his left flank being the stron-
ger.
! AS the enemy's system Of defence was
connected with the hill and castle Of Cha
pultepec and as my operations were limit
ed to specific object, it became necessary
to insolate the work 10 be accomplished,
from the castle Of Chapultepec and it's i'm
mediate defence9. TO effect this object, the
following dispositions were ordered: Col.
Garland's brigade to take position on the
right, strengthened by two pieces of Capt.
Drums battery, to look to lei Moline del
Key, as well as any support Of this position
from Chapultepec: ard nlso within sustain
ing distance otthe assauting party and the
battcring guns, which, under Capt. Huger,
were placed on the ridge, five or six hun
dred yards from III Molino del Rey. to bat
ter and loosen this position from Chapulte-
pee. An assauting party Of five hundred
picked men and officers, un.ler command Of
Breyet Major George Wright, 9Th infantry,
was also posted ON the ridge TO the left Of
the battering guns, to force the enefny's
centre. The Cd (Clark'a) brigade. ths COM
Inand Of which dcvo.yed on Colonel McIn-