in William
F. Small, First Pennsylvania Infantry, was ordered to dig through the
walls of the houses until he had gained a point which would command a
barricade that had been thrown up by the Mexicans. The enemy was
driven off, leaving seventeen dead on the ground; the barricade was
then burned. Hostile parties were constantly annoying the garrison,
until two companies of the First Pennsylvania regiment were sent out
and dispersed them. Many skirmishes took place, which invariably
resulted disastrously to the enemy.

General Joseph Lane's efforts to exterminate the roving bands of
_guerillos_ and _rancheros_ involved great rapidity of movement, and
he had officers and men under his command eminently fit for such
service. One of the most pestiferous of the _guerillo_ leaders was a
Catholic priest called Padre Juarata. He seemed to be everywhere at
once, and notwithstanding his party was frequently met by the
Americans, sometimes surrounded and always beaten, yet the Padre
adroitly managed to get out of every trap and escape. Being a priest,
he was always ready and willing to administer the last rites of the
Church to friend or foe.

While the army was at Puebla, General Scott organized a company of
Mexicans under command of one Dominguez, which was regularly mustered
into the service of the United States. A battalion of deserters from
the American army, known as the San Patricio Battalion, composed
almost wholly of Europeans, was organized under the command of one
O'Riley. These two commands met in battle in the convent of
Churubusco, and fought each other with great desperation. The Mexicans
under Dominguez entered Churubusco with the American army, and met the
execration of their countrymen, who denounced them as traitors. The
American deserters (the San Patricio Battalion) were captured at
Churubusco, tried by court-martial, and all but sixteen sentenced to
death and executed. Some were pardoned, and O'Riley, their leader, was
branded with the letter D on his cheek and released. This clemency was
shown him because he deserted before hostilities commenced.

The number of American troops engaged at Churubusco on August 19th and
20th was four thousand five hundred. The entire force engaged at
Churubusco was about seven thousand four hundred. General Scott's
estimate of the Mexican force on August 20th, including Contreras,
Churubusco, and the road between San Antonio and Churubusco, the
Portales, and the road to the