ta Fe was reached. He was to continue his march to California, and set
out for this purpose on the 25th of September, on a journey as long and
difficult as that he had already made. He reached the Californian soil
only to find that Colonel Fremont had nearly finished the work set for
him, and a little more fighting added the great province of California to
the American conquests. Thus had a small body of men occupied and
conquered a vast section of northern Mexico and added some of its richest
possessions to the United States.

THE SECOND CONQUEST OF THE CAPITAL OF MEXICO.

The ancient city of Mexico, the capital of the Aztecs and their Spanish
successors, has been the scene of two great military events, its siege and
capture by Cortez the conqueror in 1521, and its capture by the American
army under General Scott in 1847, three and a quarter centuries later. Of
the remarkable career of Cortez we have given the most striking incident,
the story of the thrilling _Noche triste_ and the victory of Otumba. A
series of interesting tales might have been told of the siege that
followed, but we prefer to leave that period of mediaeval cruelty and
injustice and come down to the events of a more civilized age.

One of the most striking scenes in the campaign of 1847 was the taking of
the fortified hill of Chapultepec, but before describing this we may
briefly outline the events of which it formed the dramatic culmination.
Vera Cruz, "the city of the True Cross," founded by Cortez in 1520, was
the scene of the American landing, and was captured by the army under
General Scott in March, 1847. Then, marching inland as Cortez had done
more than three centuries before, the American army, about twelve thousand
strong, soon began to ascend the mountain-slope leading from the torrid
sea-level plain to the high table-land of the old Aztec realm.

Sixty miles from Vera Cruz the American forces came to the mountain-pass
of Cerro Gordo, where Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, awaited the
invaders with an army of thirteen thousand men. The heights overhanging
the road bristled with guns, and the lofty hill of Cerro Gordo was
strongly fortified, rendering the place almost impregnable to an attack
from the direction of Vera Cruz. Scott was too able a soldier to waste the
lives of his men in such a perilous assault, and took the wiser plan of
cutting a new road along the mountain-slopes and through ravines out of
sight of the enem