Santa Anna had insisted upon it as of the "highest importance"; but
want of money hindered and at times checked operations. During the
armistice a little progress was made, and September 9, under the
direction of a competent engineer and of the President himself, the
work began in earnest. But alterations in plan, a lack of implements,
a shortage of materials, the general confusion and the want of time
naturally made thoroughness impossible. Chapultepec was therefore
a fort but not really a fortress. It stood alone, too, without the
supporting positions that a fortress must have; and shot and shell
could penetrate the defences of the college on the summit of the hill
almost everywhere. Even the parapets were not ready; and instead of
the 2000 men required for an adequate garrison of the buildings and
works, only a few hundreds occupied them. Their elevation merely
hindered approach--not assault--and artillery could largely offset that
advantage. To hold the grove was essential, for without it the garrison
above could not obtain supplies or even water; and here the want of
adequate defences had a still worse effect, since large forces could
not be protected against artillery.[28.11]
[Illustration: BATTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC]
Yet for 7180 available Americans including those required to make a
feint against the southern front--an "army" that had to contemplate
still harder work beyond, and could not afford severe losses
here--Chapultepec meant a great deal. In general the position formed an
approximate rectangle about three fourths of a mile in length by one
fourth of a mile in width, bounded at its western end by El Molino and
on the other sides with high stone walls. In the south wall, at about
its middle point, there was an opening covered on the outside by a
sand-bag redan (B), unarmed. From the main gateway in the eastern end
the causeway of Belén struck off toward the city, another road--guarded
here by a cut and by two batteries--ran toward Tacubaya, and a third,
after running westwardly into the rectangle and a little way up the
slope until it arrived at a 4-pounder in a circular redoubt (C),
flanked with an infantry entrenchment (D), turned sharply toward the
northeast, and finally climbed to the summit.[28.12]
[Illustration: BLINDAGE AT CHAPULTEPEC.]
Here on a rectangular level space or terre-plein, supported at the
eastern end by an almost vertical precipice and on the other sides
by high, parapeted walls, rose the masonry buildings of the military
college, skilfully though incompletely reinforced with sand-bags and
screens of timber (blindage), supplemented with parapeted azoteas, and
surrounded with ten effective guns, heavy and light. A deep, broad
fosse at the base of the western wall, mines below that, and finally,
half-way down the slope, a redan (E) strengthened this end, where
the incline was gentlest. In swamps at the western foot of the hill
stood a large grove of huge cypresses--extending also toward the main
gateway--through which ran an east and west road commanded by this
redan (E) and also by the wall of the fort. Beyond the grove came a
north-and-south ditch, intended for drainage, with a redan-breastwork
(A)--looking westward--at its northern end; and finally, after
traversing level and open fields for about a quarter of a mile toward
the west, one arrived at El Molino. Placed so conspicuously in view,
150 or 200 feet in height, Chapultepec seemed to deserve its popular
reputation of impregnability, and the American soldiers gazed at the
white walls on the summit, transfigured in the sunlight, with dread if
not with consternation.[28.12]
Late in the afternoon, September 11, Quitman's division ostentatiously
presented itself at La Piedad, but after dark both his and Pillow's
moved to Tacubaya, leaving Twiggs with Brevet Colonel Riley's brigade
and Steptoe's and Taylor's field pieces behind. During the night two
16's and an eight-inch howitzer under Drum were placed behind bushes on
the road from Tacubaya to Mexico, about 1000 yards from Chapultepec,
and a similar howitzer with a 24-pounder, masked in the same way, south
of El Molino under Hagner; and these batteries (Nos. 1 and 2) opened
fire the next morning (September 12). Later in the day a 16-pound siege
gun and an eight-inch howitzer (Battery No. 3) and a ten-inch mortar
(No. 4), planted nearer the mill, joined in the work. Chapultepec
replied; and, as usual, the Mexican artillerymen--of whom there was
a full complement--did well, occasionally knocking sand-bags from
the American parapets, while our own gunners, warned by the burst of
smoke, took shelter at each discharge. Meantime Steptoe, in the hope
of deceiving the Mexicans as to Scott's purpose, made as much noise as
possible opposite the San Antonio garita.[28.13]
During these preparations the Mexicans passed their days in a state
of fever. Reports that our army had only half-rations cheered them,
and Scott's deceptive manoeuvres were attributed by many to indecision
or timidity. On the eleventh a review and a valiant proclamation from
the President recalled his "victory" of 1829 over the Spaniards. But
a sense of weakness and confusion, the loss of friends, the continual
alarms, the marchings and countermarchings, and the ominous clang
of the bells kept them sad and anxious. Santa Anna, for his part,
displayed as usual a remarkable activity and a remarkable want of
judgment and method. During the night of September 9 he set perhaps
2000 men at work--one hour each--on the southern fortifications,
and the parapets rose as if by enchantment. Not knowing where Scott
would strike, he broke his army into a number of detachments, and
shifted troops and guns frequently according to his notion of the
probabilities, while always maintaining a reserve. But he lost himself
in a maze of details; and on the eleventh, deceived by the rather weak
American feint, he unwisely drew men and cannon from Chapultepec and
Belén.[28.14]
[SEPTEMBER 12]
Early the next morning, however, the reports of spies and the roar of
Scott's heavy guns enlightened him. Troops were hurried to the real
point of danger. With all speed he went there himself, ordered his best
engineers to work on the fortifications near the main gateway of the
Chapultepec enclosure, and posted troops close by. But there was little
he could do. More and more accurately the American batteries fired and
kept on firing. Two of the best cannon in the fort were disabled. The
buildings of the college suffered, the garrison suffered more, and
their morale suffered most of all, for except the engineers and gunners
the men felt utterly helpless. When Santa Anna entered the rectangle
unattended to reconnoitre, a shell burst near him and covered his red
pony with dirt. Toward evening General Bravo, the commander of the
position, came down, reported to him that the garrison were cowed, and
demanded fresh troops; but Santa Anna could see no use of sending them
forward to be destroyed on the way or else demoralized after arriving.
They should be provided, he said, at the critical moment.[28.15]
Scott saw, however, as the day waned, that Huger's expectations would
not be realized--that an assault would be necessary. For this last
resort preparations had in fact been made. The troops and the ladders
were now ready. Fearing the Mexicans would repair the damages under
cover of night he thought at first of delivering the blow at once; but
he concluded that it was now too late in the day, that his guns could
soon dispose of repairs and reinforcements, and that a morning attack
would give many hours for pursuing the advantages gained. Engineers
proceeded to mend and improve our own batteries, and the generals met
for a conference. Here the plans were finally decided upon. Quitman's
division and a forlorn hope of about 265 selected officers and men from
Twiggs's division, under Captain Casey of the Second Infantry, were to
advance by the Tacubaya road; and Pillow's, preceded by a similar party
from Worth's division, led by Captain McKenzie of the Second Artillery,
was to attack by way of El Molino and the grove. Then every one betook
himself to his post. But Pillow felt discontented. "We shall be
defeated," said Worth privately; and even Scott admitted to Hitchcock,
"I have my misgivings."[28.16]
[BATTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC]
At daybreak--about half-past five--the next morning a signal gun broke
the stillness, and then our batteries opened. For two hours or so they
hurled shot and shells at the fort, and then for some thirty minutes
grape, canister and shells were poured into the grove. At about eight
o'clock, as if by common consent, they stopped--but only to burst forth
again with new fury.[28.17]
That one momentary pause was the command to attack. Colonel Trousdale,
with the Eleventh and Fourteenth Infantry and a section of Magruder's
field battery under the "Stonewall" Jackson of our civil war, moved
some distance eastward from near El Molino by the Anzures causeway
along the northern side of the rectangle, to prevent reinforcement
and embarrass escape in that quarter. Lieutenant Colonel Johnston
with four companies of the gray Voltigeurs advanced outside the south
wall, drove the Mexicans from the redan (B) and from the wall, behind
which they had been standing on platforms, passed through the opening,
captured the circular redoubt (C) and the breastwork near it (D), and
opened fire on the southern parapet of the fort. Reno's howitzers,
taken from El Molino eastward into the fields, poured shells upon the
grove and the Mexican entrenchments (A and E). Four other Voltigeur
companies under Colonel Andrews, after crossing those open fields,
rushed with loud cheers into the swamp; and the Ninth and the Fifteenth
Infantry, deploying into line, followed them closely. Decorated with
long, hanging moss, the venerable cypresses, dear alike to Cortez
and to Montezuma, seemed like the fit guardians of some mystical and
melancholy religion; but now hurrahs and sharp flashes and the terrible
crash of cannon-balls amidst the branches broke their shadowy silence,
and the Americans, wallowing through the mire, drove the Mexican
skirmishers from tree to tree, from the grove, and at last from the
battle.[28.17]
Clearly it was time for Santa Anna to support the garrison. Attempts
had been made to repair the fort during the night, but no adequate
materials could be found there. A cannon had burst. The dead and
wounded lay about. There were no surgeons, no medical supplies. The
expected reinforcements did not appear. Most of the students, gallant
lads in gray uniforms and gaily tasselled blue caps, withdrew by
command. Bravo--thickset and erect, with deep eyes and a powerful
chin--though he was cold and unenterprising, had flawless courage,
and he stood with folded arms or marched calmly from post to post.
But the infantry of the garrison--hungry, exhausted, stunned,
hopeless--cowered behind the parapets. Many had to be driven to their
places, and some had to be fired on. Even the engineers and gunners
felt despondent.[28.17]
But Santa Anna could not see what to do. No doubt the hill was to be
attacked from the grove, but the enemy seemed likely to assault by the
Tacubaya causeway also, and Trousdale, he fancied, might come round
by a road that skirted the eastern end of the rectangle to strike his
rear. Besides, the officers and men showed no desire to challenge
the American artillery by marching up the hill, and he understood
well enough himself how few of them could probably reach the fort. At
length, however, he strengthened the forces on the Tacubaya road, and
sent most of the San Blas Activo battalion to Bravo. At the circular
redoubt this corps met the Americans, and not many of them lived to go
farther.[28.17]
East of the grove, Andrews with his Voltigeurs and Reno with his
howitzers turned a little to the right and united with Johnston. This
left the Ninth a clear front. Colonel Ransom had promised, the day
before, that he and his men would go into the fort or die. Proudly
erect, sword in hand, the beau-ideal of a soldier, he strode in front
up the steepest part of the slope, while the Fifteenth marched on his
left. The breastwork (E) was captured; and then, coming in view of the
fort--its buildings almost hidden in smoke, its parapets a sheet of
flame, the air filled with the hiss and shriek and roar of missiles--he
waved his sword, shouted, "Forward, the Ninth!" and fell dead with a
bullet in his forehead. A terrible cry rose from his men: "Ransom has
fallen--the Colonel is shot!" Wild for revenge they all charged on, and
a part of them reached the fosse.[28.17]
But there had been some mistake. The ladders had been entrusted to
raw men, it was said; perhaps they had not been started off in time;
apparently some of the bearers had left their places and hurried on;
some had been killed and others frightened. Anyhow the ladders did
not arrive. Like the Voltigeurs on their right, the Ninth and the
Fifteenth sought shelter behind rocks and stumps and fired at the
parapet; and the tardy storming party, which was to have passed through
them, feeling no desire to get between the two lines of fire and really
unable to do anything without ladders, halted.[28.17]
The men were fairly safe. Their muskets taught most of the enemy to
keep down behind the parapet. The rest of the Mexicans fired very
badly, and the Americans near the wall could not be reached by the
cannon. But the attack was making no progress. Time passed--five, ten,
fifteen dreadful minutes, and still no ladders could even be seen.
The American batteries, which had been firing over the heads of our
troops, could no longer do it safely. The ardor of battle was cooling.
Low mounds that looked like graves, but in reality were the mines, lay
under our men, and a Mexican lieutenant of engineers had orders to
fire them at the right moment. Santa Anna with perhaps 4000 or even
5000 reserves so near--might he not come round the hill? Scott's whole
gazing army, back even to Lieutenant Mayne Reid at Battery No. 2, was
seized with a horrible fear. Pillow, lying at the foot of the hill
painfully hurt in the ankle, sent for the whole of Worth's division,
which was supporting him as a reserve, and begged Worth to make "great
haste" or it would be "too late."[28.17]
There was, however, a nearer source of help. When the signal for attack
was given, Quitman's division--preceded by forty pioneers under Captain
Reynolds of the Marines, Casey's forlorn hope, and 120 stormers from
the volunteer division led by Major Twiggs of the Marines--advanced on
the Tacubaya causeway until about 200 yards from the gateway batteries.
To support it, repel a body of Mexicans on its right, ward off any
force that might approach from the city, perhaps turn those batteries,
and if possible gain the Mexican rear, General Smith struck off into
the meadows and pushed on despite the ditches; and Captain Drum and
Lieutenant Benjamin, each with a single gun, and Lieutenant Hunt with
two of Duncan's pieces advanced by the road, firing on those batteries
or at the hill and fort as opportunities offered.[28.17]
On each side of the causeway ran a ditch that was almost a canal and
cramped the troops not a little; and a terrible fire of artillery and
musketry from the meadows, the front, the wall of the rectangle and the
fort on the hill-top greeted them. Quitman had reconnoitred here the
day before, and thought he understood the problem; but the Mexicans had
made further preparations afterwards, and when he ordered a charge, it
was checked, and Twiggs and Casey fell. Ahead of him, partly enfilading
the road, blazed at least five guns, and some of the best soldiers
in the Mexican army--commanded by General Rangel--occupied the stone
buildings near them, while others fired from behind the wall near
the gateway. Under this concentrated and awful storm the Americans
recoiled, and sheltered themselves near a bend in the road by lying
down, getting into the ditches or occupying some houses. Here, too, the
offensive was blocked; the attack failed.[28.17]
But "the issue of battle lies in the hearts of men," and the will of
every American heart was Victory. Lieutenant Reid, hurrying over from
the battery with two companies, dropped on the slope, but his men went
forward. By Quitman's order the New York and the Second Pennsylvania
regiments left the Tacubaya causeway, under a heavy fire waded the
ditches on the left and rear to the redan (B), and charged through the
opening, while the Palmettoes, finding a break in the same wall, made
a little farther east by an American cannon, enlarged it with their
bayonets and squeezed through. Shields and the commanders of the New
York and Pennsylvania regiments were wounded, but the troops kept on.
Clarke's brigade, sent forward by Worth, hastened up the western slope,
and when Lieutenant Longstreet of the Eighth fell, Lieutenant Pickett
seized the colors. For some reason the mines failed to explode; and at
last the ladders came up.[28.17]
Shouting and yelling, the Voltigeurs, the Ninth and Fifteenth, some of
McKenzie's and the foremost of Quitman's men, all closely intermingled,
and brilliant with flags and the sparkle of arms, crowded to the fosse.
The first ladders, with all the bold fellows upon them, were thrown
down, but in a moment so many more were placed, side by side, that
fifty could go up abreast. The blue Voltigeur flag, now full of holes,
was planted on the parapet. A tide of brave Americans overflowed the
fort. Resistance was vain. A little before half-past nine Bravo gave
up his diamond-hilted sword, and the tricolor, that had been waving
placidly amidst the uproar, came down with a jerk.[28.17]
Fire was opened then upon the Mexicans at the gateway below, and
fearless Captain Roberts of Casey's storming party, at the head of all
the troops on the causeway and supported by General Smith's brigade,
carried the gateway batteries. Many from Quitman's and Smith's commands
rushed to the summit, dealing with flying enemies as they went. Scott
himself came up--the hero of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. The men pressed
round him. He told them how glad he was, and how proud of them; and how
proud their country, their wives, their sisters and their sweethearts
would be; and it seemed as if such cheering had never been heard,
anywhere in the world, before.[28.17]
Exultant but weary, the soldiers now looked about them as they took
breath. From this eyrie the whole wonderful Valley of Mexico could be
surveyed. All round the west the great wall of rugged mountains closed
it in, and two vast, snowy peaks guarded its portal on the east. As if
reluctantly the mountains gradually subsided into verdant hills and a
wide plain, enamelled in a thousand soft hues. The broad, smooth lakes
gleamed like molten silver. The gold of ripening grain, penciled lines
of pale-green maguey, cottages radiant in the sun like the sails of
distant ships, country-houses and villas half hiding in foliage, and
many straight, converging avenues, lined with trees, delighted the
eye. In the midst, clear-cut as a medallion, lay the city of Mexico,
the capital, its roofs and towers black with people; and there, just
yonder, stood the Halls of the Montezumas, the Jerusalem of these
ardent young crusaders. Unfortunately breastworks, redoubts, cannon and
a Mexican army were still to be reckoned with. Santa Anna had probably
lost not more than 1800 killed, wounded and missing this day, and
apparently Scott's loss had been about one fourth as great.[28.18]
[QUITMAN'S OPERATIONS]
But the Americans quickly prepared to advance--first of all, Quitman.
Naturally a certain discretion had been given to the commanding
generals, and he intended to make the most of it. Looking from the
hill along the Belén causeway, he saw a wide avenue divided through
the middle by a stone aqueduct some eight feet wide and fifteen feet
high, resting on heavy arches and pillars of masonry. Owing to fine
weather the road was unusually firm. A small number of troops, fleeing
in the utmost confusion, could be seen upon it, but at only one point
fortifications. Borrowing all of Pillow's troops except the Fifteenth
Infantry, which remained to hold Chapultepec and guard the prisoners,
he quietly gave orders that his men should assemble near the main
gateway. At once the inspiring words began to circulate, "Quitman's
division to the city!" and as soon as possible the Rifles, in their
crimson sashes, were leading the march forward. About a mile on, a
two-gun battery, with a field redan at its right on the marsh, blocked
the way. For an hour or so Drum used a small gun upon it. Then the
Rifles, after creeping along the aqueduct from arch to arch, took it
by assault, and the march continued toward the fortifications at the
garita.[28.19]
[Illustration: THE CITADEL IN 1840.]
As at the other garitas, no gates existed here, but a ditch and a
parapet blocked one half of the causeway and a zigzag redoubt the
other. Just at the north was the stone house intended for guards and
customs officials, beyond which lay the wide _Paseo_ (Promenade).
South, on the Piedad road, were artillery and infantry that could fire
through the arches. Inside the garita, buildings extending toward the
east offered shelter, and in open ground a little more toward the
north and about 300 yards distant, the extensive edifice called the
citadel, protected with a wall and a wet ditch, constituted a serious
obstacle.[28.19]
Santa Anna, after acting like a madman when Chapultepec fell, came to
this garita. General Terrés, a brave old Spaniard, commanded here with
about 180 infantry and some artillerymen. Santa Anna gave him three
guns of medium power, and stationed General Ramírez in the Paseo,
Brevet General Argüelles on the opposite side, and General Perdigón
Garay and Colonel Barrios in the rear with substantial reserves.[28.19]
On approaching this formidable position, Quitman encountered a
withering storm of bullets, grape and solid shot from both sides and
the front, and suffered rather severely. But Drum and Benjamin, iron
men, bringing up as soon as possible a long 18-pounder and a 24-pound
howitzer on the opposite sides of the aqueduct, dampened the ardor of
the Mexicans not a little, and splinters from the masonry did havoc
among the sheltered artillerymen at the garita. Some troops already
beaten at Chapultepec and at the intermediate battery soon became
demoralized. At about one o'clock rumors crept in that Americans from
the southern front were turning the position. Ramírez, Garay, Argüelles
and Barrios retired without the formality of saying good-by; and
Terrés, whose cannon ammunition had failed, withdrew prudently to the
citadel with two of the guns and about seventy panicky men, the remnant
of his garrison. The Rifles now dashed over the parapet; and at exactly
twenty minutes past one a tall, slender man with short, bristling,
grayish hair stood on it, smoking a cigar and waving a red handkerchief
tied to a rifle. It was Quitman, self-possessed but exultant; and
in a few moments the Palmetto colors and the green banner of the
Rifles, with its blazing gold eagle, were flying at the portal of the
city.[28.19]
The advance then continued for some little distance, and, as the
ammunition of our two heavy guns had been exhausted, the captured
Mexican 8-pounder was made to do good service. But Santa Anna, who
had thought the position safe and gone on to San Cosme, soon arrived
with ordnance and troops. The citadel was reinforced, and infantry and
cannon were placed at other points. Quitman's last artillery cartridges
were used, and under the enemy's fire no more could be brought up.
Solid shot cut down both Drum and Benjamin. Our infantry had to retire
to the vicinity of the garita. Attempts were then made to strengthen
the position; but they did not accomplish very much. Ammunition gave
out entirely, and firing ceased. The enemy grew bolder. Again and
again they charged, and though repulsed they did not appear to be
discouraged. By this time every member of Quitman's staff, Beauregard,
his engineer officer, and all his artillery officers had been killed or
wounded, and he longed anxiously for night.[28.19]