and varied; but, ultimately,
success crowned the zeal and gallantry of our troops, ably (p. 321)
directed by their distinguished commander, Brigadier-General
Shields. The 9th, 12th and 15th regiments, under Colonel Ransom,
Captain Wood, and Colonel Morgan respectively, of Pierce's
brigade (Pillow's division), and the New York and South Carolina
Volunteers, under Colonels Burnett and Butler respectively, of
Shields' own brigade (Quitman's division), together with the
mountain howitzer battery, now under Lieutenant Reno of the
Ordnance Corps, all shared in the glory of this action, our
_fifth_ victory in the same day.

Brigadier-General Pierce, from the hurt of the evening before,
under pain and exhaustion, fainted in the action. Several other
changes in command occurred on this field. Thus Colonel Morgan
being severely wounded, the command of the 15th Infantry devolved
on Lieutenant-Colonel Howard; Colonel Burnett receiving a like
wound, the command of the New York Volunteers fell to
Lieutenant-Colonel Baxter; and, on the fall of the lamented
Colonel P. M. Butler, earlier badly wounded, but continuing to
lead nobly in the hottest of the battle, the command of the South
Carolina Volunteers devolved, first, on Lieutenant-Colonel
Dickenson, who being severely wounded (as before in the siege of
Vera Cruz), the regiment ultimately fell under the orders of
Major Gladden.

Lieutenants David Adams and W. R. Williams of the same corps;
Captain Augustus Quarks and Lieutenant J. B. Goodman of the 15th,
and Lieutenant E. Chandler, New York Volunteers, all gallant
officers, nobly fell in the same action.

Shields took three hundred and eighty prisoners, including
officers; and it cannot be doubted that the rage of the conflict
between him and the enemy, just in the rear of the _tete-de-pont_
and the convent, had some influence on the surrender of those
formidable defences.

As soon as the _tete-de-pont_ was carried, the greater part of
Worth's and Pillow's forces passed that bridge in rapid pursuit
of the flying enemy. These distinguished generals, coming up with
Brigadier-General Shields, now also victorious, the three
continued to press upon the fugitives to within a mile and a half
of the capital. Here, Colonel Harney, with a small part