all of the latter contributed to the capture of the
former. The two works were only some four hundred and fifty yards
apart; and as soon as we were in possession of the
_tete-de-pont_, a captured four-pounder was turned and fired,
first by Captain Larkin Smith, and next by Lieutenant Snelling,
both of the 8th Infantry, several times upon the convent. In the
same brief interval, Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan (also of Worth's
division) gallantly brought two of his guns to bear at a short
range from the San Antonio road, upon the principal face of the
work and on the tower of the church, which in the obstinate
contest, had been often refilled with some of the best
sharpshooters of the enemy.

Finally, twenty minutes after the _tete-de-pont_ had been carried
by Worth and Pillow, and at the end of a desperate conflict of
two hours and a half, the church or convent, the citadel of the
strong line of defence along the rivulet of Churubusco, yielded
to Twiggs' division, and threw out on all sides signals of
surrender. The white flags, however, were not exhibited until the
moment when the 3d Infantry, under Captain Alexander, had cleared
the way by fire and bayonet, and had entered the work. Captain I.
M. Smith and Lieutenant O. L. Shepherd, both of that regiment,
with their companies, had the glory of leading the assault. (p. 320)
The former received the surrender, and Captain Alexander
instantly hung out from the balcony the colors of the gallant 3d.
Major Dimick, with a part of the 1st Artillery, serving as
infantry, entered nearly abreast with the leading troops.

Captain Taylor's field battery, attached to Twiggs' division,
opened its effective fire at an early moment upon the outworks of
the convent and the tower of its church. Exposed to the severest
fire of the enemy, the captain, his officers and men, won
universal admiration; but at length, much disabled in men and
horses, the battery was by superior orders withdrawn from the
action thirty minutes before the surrender of the convent.

Those corps, excepting Taylor's battery, belonged to the brigade
of Brigadier-General P. F. Smith, who closely directed the whole
attack with his habitual coolness and ability: while Riley's
brigade, the 2d and 7th Infantry, under Captain T. Morris and
Lie