om this stage to the fall of the capital, completing the conquest of
the country, Bonner's account gives a graphic recital of events. The
city was held by Americans from September 14, 1847, the day they entered
it, until the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (February 2,
1848), which ended the war.

With the energy that characterized Santa Anna throughout the Mexican
War, he had prepared for a desperate defence. Civil strife had been
silenced, funds raised, an army of twenty-five thousand men mustered,
and every precaution taken which genius could suggest or science
indicate. Nature had done much for him. Directly in front of the
invading army lay the large lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco. These
turned, vast marshes, intersected by ditches and for the most part
impassable, surrounded the city on the east and the south--on which side
Scott was advancing--for several miles. The only approaches were by
causeways; and these Santa Anna had taken prodigious pains to guard. The
national road to Vera Cruz--which Scott must have taken had he marched
on the north side of the lakes--was commanded by a fort mounting
fifty-one guns on an impregnable hill called El Penon. Should he turn
the southern side of the lakes, a field of lava, deemed almost
impassable for troops, interposed a primary obstacle; and fortified
positions at San Antonio, San Angel, and Churubusco, with an intrenched
camp at Contreras, were likewise to be surmounted before the southern
causeways could be reached. Beyond these there yet remained the
formidable castle of Chapultepec and the strong enclosure of Molino del
Rey, to be stormed before the city gates could be reached. Powerful
batteries had been mounted at all these points, and ample garrisons
detailed to serve them. The bone and muscle of Mexico were there.

Goaded by defeat, Santa Anna never showed so much vigor; ambition fired
Valencia; patriotism stirred the soul of Alvarez; Canalizo, maddened by
the odium into which he had fallen, was boiling to regain his soubriquet
of the "Lion of Mexico." With a constancy equal to anything recorded of
the Roman Senate, the Mexican Congress, on learning of the defeat at
Cerro Gordo, had voted unanimously that anyone opening negotiations with
the enemy should be deemed a traitor; and the citizens with one accord
had ratified the vote. Within six months Mexico had lost two splendid
armies in two pitched battles against the troops now advancing against
the cap