ion of the enemy. At 8 A.M. the firing from the former ceased, and
the attack commenced. Quitman advanced along the Tacubaya road, Pillow
from the Molino del Rey, which he had occupied on the evening before.
Between the Molino and the castle lay first an open space, then a grove
thickly planted with trees; in the latter, Mexican sharpshooters had
been posted, protected by an intrenchment on the border of the grove.
Pillow sent Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston with a party of _voltigeurs_ to
turn this work by a flank movement; it was handsomely accomplished; and
just as the _voltigeurs_ broke through the redan, Pillow, with the main
body, charged it in front and drove back the Mexicans. The grove gained,
Pillow pressed forward to the front of the rock; for the Mexican shot
from the castle batteries, crashing through the trees, seemed even more
terrible than it really was, and the troops were becoming restless.

The Mexicans had retreated to a redoubt half way up the hill; the
_voltigeurs_ sprang up from rock to rock, firing as they advanced, and
followed by Hooker, Chase, and others, with parties of infantry. In a
very few minutes the redoubt was gained, the garrison driven up the
hill, and the _voltigeurs_, Ninth, and Fifteenth were in hot pursuit
after them. The firing from the castle was very severe. Colonel Ransom,
of the Ninth, was killed, and Pillow himself was wounded. Still the
troops pressed on till the crest of the hill was gained. There some
moments were lost owing to the delay in the arrival of scaling-ladders,
during which two of Quitman's regiments and Clarke's brigade reenforced
the storming party. When the ladders came, numbers of men rushed forward
with them, leaped into the ditch, and planted them for the assault.

Lieutenant Selden was the first man to mount. But the Mexicans collected
all their energies for this last moment. A tremendous fire dashed the
foremost of the stormers into the ditch, killing Lieutenants Rogers and
Smith and clearing the ladders. Fresh men instantly manned them, and,
after a brief struggle, Captain Howard, of the _voltigeurs_, gained a
foothold on the parapet. M'Kenzie, of the forlorn hope, followed; and a
crowd of _voltigeurs_ and infantry, shouting and cheering, pressed after
him, and swept down upon the garrison with the bayonet. Almost at the
same moment, Johnston, of the _voltigeurs_, who had led a small party
round to the gate of the castle, broke it open and effected an entr