AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF THE CITY OF MEXICO. 419

amid the shouts of the exulting army to whose triumphs his prudence and genius had so greatly contributed. It was a proud moment for Scott, and he might well have flushed with excitement as he ascended the Palace stairs and sat down in the saloon which had been occupied by so many Viceroys, Ministers, Presidents and Generals, to write the brief order announcing his occupation of the capital of Mexico. Yet the elation was but momentary. The cares of conquest were now exchanged for those of preservation. He was allowed no interval of repose from anxiety. His last victories had entirely disorganized the Republic. There was no longer a national government, a competent municipal authority, or even a police force which could be relied on to regulate the fallen city. Having accomplished the work of destruction, the responsibility of reconstruction was now imposed upon him; and first among his duties was the task of providing for the safety and subordination of that slender band which had been so suddenly forced into a vast and turbulent capital.

NOTE. We shall record as very interesting historical facts, the numbers with which General Scott achieved his victories in the valley.

Final attack on city after dead huleel, wounded, 6,000
garrison of Mixcoac and Chapultepec,

"On the other hand," says Scott in his despatch of 18th September, 1847, "this small force has beaten on the same occasions, in view of the capital, the whole Mexican army, composed, at the beginning, of thirty odd thousand men, posted always in chosen positions, behind entrenchments or more formidable defences of nature and art; - killed or wounded of that number more than 7,000 officers and men,— taken 3,730 prisoners, one-seventh officers, including 13 generals, of whom 3 had been Presidents of this Republic;-captured more than 20 colors and standards, 75 pieces of ordnance, besides 57 wall pieces, 20,000 small arms, and an immense quantity of shot, shells and powder." See Ex. Doc. No. 1 Senate, 30th Congress, 1st Session, p. 384.

CHAPTER XVII.

1847-1850.

ATTACK OF THE CITY MOB ON THE ARMY

QUITMAN GOVERNOR

PEÑA PRESIDENT-CONGRESS ORDERED-
-SIEGE OF PUEBLA-
LANE'S, LALLY'S AND CHILDS'S VICTORIES

BROKEN UP-MEXICAN POLITICS

GUERRILLEROS

- ANAYA PRESIDENT

PEACE

NEGOTIATIONS-SCOTT'S DECREE-PEÑA PRESIDENT-SANTA ANNA AND LANE-SANTA ANNA LEAVES MEXICO FOR JAMAICATREATY ENTERED INTO ITS CHARACTER-SANTA CRUZ DE ROSALES COURT OF INQUIRY INTERNAL TROUBLES AMBAS

TREATY RATIFIED EVACUATION

REVOLUTIONARY ATTEMPTS -CONDITION OF MEXICO SINCE THE WAR CHARACTER OF SANTA ANNA NOTE ON THE MILITARY CRITICS.

SCARCELY had the divisions of the American army, after the enthusiastic expression of their joy, begun to disperse from the great square of Mexico in search of quarters, when the populace commenced firing upon them from within the deep embrasures of the windows and from behind the parapet walls of the house tops. This dastardly assault by the mob of a surrendered city lasted for two days, until it was terminated by the vigorous military measures of General Scott. Yet it is due to the Mexicans to state that this horrible scheme of assassination was not countenanced by the better classes, but that the base outbreak was altogether owing to the liberation of about two thousand convicts by the flying government on the previous night. These miscreants,-the scum and outcasts of Mexico-its common thieves, stabbers and notorious vagrants,banded with nearly an equal number of the disorganized army, had already thronged the Palace when Quitman arrived with his division, and it was only by the active exertion of Watson's marines, that the vagrant crowd was driven from the edifice.

General Quitman was immediately appointed civil and military Governor of the conquered capital, and discharged his duties under the martial law proclaimed by Scott on the 17th September. The general order of the Commander-in-Chief breathes the loftiest spirit of self-respect, honor and national consideration. He points out clearly the crimes commonly incident to the occupation of subdued cities, and gives warning of the severity with which their perpetrators will be punished. He protects the administration of justice among the Mexicans in the courts of the country. He places the

CONGRESS ORDERED

SIEGE OF PUEBLA.

421

city, its churches, worship, convents, monasteries, inhabitants and property, under the special safe-guard of the faith and honor of the American army. And finally, instead of demanding, according to the custom of many generals in the old world, a splendid ransom from the opulent city, he imposed upon it a trifling contribution of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,-twenty thousand of which he devoted to extra comforts for the sick and wounded; ninety thousand to purchase blankets and shoes for gratuitous distribution among the common soldiers, while but forty thousand were reserved for the military chest. This act of clemency and consideration is in beautiful contrast with the last malignant spitefulness of the conquered army, whose commander, unable to overthrow the invaders in fair combat, had released at midnight, the desperadoes from his prisons, with the hope that assassination might do the work which military skill and honorable valor had been unable to effect.

Meanwhile Santa Anna despatched a circular from the town of Guadalupe recounting to the Governors of the different States the loss of the capital, and, on the 16th, he issued a decree requiring Congress to assemble at Querétrao, which was designated as the future seat of government. As president and politician, he at once saw that he could do nothing more without compromising himself still further. Resigning, therefore, the executive chair in favor of his constitutional successor, Señor Peña-y-Peña, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he despatched General Herrera with four thousand troops to Querétaro, and departed to assail the Americans in Puebla. On the 18th he evacuated Guadalupe, and took the road to the eastward, with two thousand cavalry commanded by General Alvarez. He knew that the communication with our base of operations in that quarter was seriously interrupted if not entirely cut off; and he vainly hoped to recover his military préstige by some brilliant feat of arms over detached or unequal squadrons.

When Scott marched into the valley of Mexico, Puebla was left in charge of Colonel Childs, with four hundred efficient men and nearly eighteen hundred in his hospitals. The watchful commander and his small band preserved order until the false news of Mexican success at Molino del Rey was received. But, at that moment, the masses, joined by about three thousand troops under General Rea, a brave and accomplished Spaniard, rose upon, and besieged the slender garrison. On the 22d, Santa Anna arrived, and increasing the assailants to nearly eight thousand, made the most vigorous efforts during the six following days and nights to dislodge the Americans from the position they had seized.