and the
eagle, serpent and cactus were displayed. But the turret was disputed
hotly by a few young Mexicans--boys almost--military cadets there.
Seeing their beloved flag about to fall into the hands of the--to
them--hated _Yankees_,[20] they fought to the last drop, and, rather
than the standard should be captured, one of them, wrapping it round
his body, leaped from the turret and was dashed to pieces on the stones
below!

[Footnote 20: The designation of Yankee is very generally used in
Spanish-American, for the Americans--not, however, in an offensive
sense.]

[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC.]

But we anticipate. The first battle between the forces of Mexico and
the United States was fought at Palo Alto in the north, in May, 1846;
the command of the former being under General Arista, and the latter
under General Zachary Taylor, but the Mexicans were defeated. Texas had
been declared a part of the American Union in the previous year
(December, 1845), and the military occupation by the Americans of
Mexican territory--for the boundaries were ill-defined--formed the
culminating _casus belli_. Torn by dissensions at home, and betrayed by
the treachery of her own generals--among them the traitorous
Paredes--Mexico was in no position to face a war with her powerful
neighbour. Following on the battle of Palo Alto, Santa-Anna, who had
returned, had been elected President, but had declared he could serve
his country best by leading its army, and he advanced against the
Americans under Taylor. Previous to this, the Americans, with a force
of 6,700 men, had taken the city of Monterrey--a pretty, Spanish-built
town far within the border of Mexico, which had been established by one
of the viceroys--notwithstanding that the Mexicans, 10,000 strong,
under General Ampudea, had defended it. The engagement under Santa-Anna
lasted for two days--the battle of Buena Vista, February, 1847. Its
issue long hung in the balance, and although the Americans gained the
victory, it was a doubtful and indecisive one.

The American Government now decided to push the war to the end. But
serious obstacles discouraged the attempt to march upon the capital of
Mexico. The vast stretches of appalling desert which at that time
formed that part of the continent of North America--now included in
Texas, Chihuahua, and Coahuila--were waterless, and without resources,
and beaten by a fiery sun; conditions which to-day, in some parts of
the regi