General Twiggs set out on the road to Jalapa. General Scott fol

18. On the next day the victorious army entered Jalapa. The strong castle of Perote was taken without resistance. Turning southward, General Scott next led his army against the ancient city of Puebla. Though inhabited by eighty thousand people, no defence was made or attempted. Scott here waited for reïnforcements from Vera Cruz.

19. By the 7th of August, the American army was increased to eleven thousand men. General Scott again began his march upon the capital. The army swept through the passes of the Cordilleras to look down on THE VALLEY OF MEXICO. Never before had the American soldiery beheld such a scene-a living landscape of green fields, villages, and lakes.

20. At Ayotla, fifteen miles from the capital, General Scott wheeled to the south, around Lake Chalco, and thence westward to San Augustin. The city of Mexico could be approached only by causeways leading across marshes and the beds of bygone lakes. At the ends of these causeways were massive gates strongly defended. To the left were Contreras, San Antonio, and Molino del Rey. Directly in front were the powerful defences of Churubusco and Chapultepec. These various positions were held by Santa Anna with more than thirty thousand Mexicans.

21. On the 20th of August, Generals Pillow and Twiggs stormed the Mexican position at Contreras. In seventeen minutes six thou

sand Mexicans, under General Valencia, were driven in utter rout from their fortifications. A few hours afterward General Worth carried San Antonio. This was the second victory. General Pillow led a column against one of the heights of Churubusco; and after a terrible assault the position was carried. This was the third triumph. Gen

GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT.

Scott rejected their proposals, rested his men until the 7th of September, and then renewed hostilities. On the next morning, General Worth stormed Molino del Rey and Casa de Mata, the western defences of Chapultepec. The guns were next brought to bear on Chapultepec itself, and on the 13th, that citadel was carried by storm. Through the San Cosme and Belen gates the conquering army swept into the suburbs of Mexico.

23. During the night, Santa Anna and the officers of the government fled from the city. On the following morning, forth came a deputation from the city to beg for mercy; but General Scott,

tired of trifling, turned them away with contempt. "Forward!" was the order that rang along the lines at sunrise. The war-worn regiments swept into the famous city, and at seven o'clock the flag of the Union floated over the halls of the Montezumas.

24. On leaving his capital, Santa Anna turned about to attack the hospitals at Puebla. Here eighteen hundred sick men had been left in charge of Colonel Childs. For several days a gallant resistance was made by the garrison, until General Lane, on his march to the capital, fell upon the besiegers and scattered them. It was the closing stroke of the war.

25. The military power of Mexico was completely broken. It only remained to determine the conditions of peace. In the winter of 1847-48, American ambassadors met the Mexican Congress at Guadalupe Hidalgo, and on the 2d of February, a treaty was concluded. By the terms of settlement the boundary-line between Mexico and the United States was established on the Rio Grande from its mouth to the southern limit of New Mexico; thence westward along the southern, and northward along the western, boundary of that territory to the Gila; thence down that river to the Colorado; thence westward to the Pacific. New Mexico and Upper California were relinquished to the United States. Mexico guaranteed the free navigation of the Gulf of California, and the river Colorado. The United States agreed to surrender all places in Mexico, to pay that country fifteen million dollars, and to assume all debts due from the Mexican government to American citizens.

26. A few days after the signing of the treaty, a laborer, employed by Captain Sutter to cut a mill-race on the American fork of Sacramento River, discovered some pieces of gold in the sand. The news spread as if borne on the wind. From all quarters adventurers came flocking. For a while there seemed no end to the discoveries. Straggling gold-hunters sometimes picked up in a few hours the value of five hundred dollars. The intelligence went flying to the ends of the world. Men thousands of miles away were crazed with excitement. Thousands of adventurers started overland to California. Before the end of 1850, San Francisco had grown to be a city of fifteen thousand inhabitants. In September of that year, California was admitted into the Union; and by the close of 1852, the State had a population of more than a quarter of a million.

27. In the first summer of President Polk's administration the country was called to mourn the death of General Jackson. The veteran warrior and statesman died at his home, called the Hermitage, in Tennessee. On the 23d of February, 1848, ex-President John Quincy Adams died at the city of Washington. He was struck with paralysis in the House of Representatives, where he had so many times electrified the nation with his eloquence.

28. In 1848 Wisconsin, last of the great States formed from the North-western Territory, was admitted into the Union. The new commonwealth came with a population of two hundred and fifty thousand. Another presidential election was already at hand. General Lewis Cass of Michigan was nominated by the Democrats, and General Zachary Taylor by the Whigs. As the candidate of the new Free-Soil party, ex-President Martin Van Buren was put forward. The real contest, however, lay between Generals Cass and Taylor. The memory of his recent victories in Mexico made General Taylor the favorite with the people, and he was elected by a large majority. As Vice-President, Millard Fillmore, of New York, was chosen.

RECAPITULATION.

Sketch of Polk.-Texas ratifies the annexation.-General Taylor sent to defend the country.-The boundary question.-Taylor ordered to the Rio Grande.-He establishes a post at Point Isabel.-Builds Fort Brown.-Beginning of hostilities.Taylor fights the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.-The news in the United States.-Declaration of War.--Plan of the campaigns.-General Wool musters the forces.-Taylor captures Matamoras and Monterey.-An armistice.Santa Anna made President of Mexico.-Saltillo is taken by Worth.-Victoria by Patterson.-Wool advances.-Kearney captures Santa Fé.-And marches to the Pacific coast.-The deeds of Colonel Fremont.-Rebellion of the Californians.Monterey, San Diego, and Los Angelos taken.-Battle of San Gabriel.-The battles of Colonel Doniphan.-Taylor's and Wool's forces ordered to the coast.-Critical condition of Taylor's army.-Approach of Santa Anna.-Battle of Buena Vista.— Scott besieges and captures Vera Cruz.-Marches against the capital.-Battle of Cerro Gordo.-Jalapa, Perote, and Puebla are taken.-The army passes the Cordilleras.-Reaches Ayotla.-The approaches and fortifications of the city.-Storming of Contreras and San Antonio.-Churubusco is carried.-The Mexicans driven back to Chapultepec.-Scott rests his army.-Molino del Rey and Casa de Mata are stormed.-Chapultepec is taken.-Flight of the Mexican government.-The American army enters the city.-Santa Anna attacks the hospitals at Puebla.Downfall of the Mexican authority.-The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.-Its terms.-The discovery of Gold in California.-Death of Jackson and John Quincy Adams.-Wisconsin is admitted.-The canvass for President.-Rise of the FreeSoil party.-Election of Taylor to the presidency.

CHAPTER LVI.

ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE, 1849-1853.

HE new President was a Virginian by birth, a soldier by profession. During the war of 1812, he distinguished himself in the Northwest. In the Seminole War he bore a part, but earned his greatest

PRESIDENT TAYLOR.

was held at Monterey in September of 1849.

Mexico. His administration began

with a violent agitation on the question of slavery in the territories. 2. In his first message the President advised the

people of Cal

ifornia to pre pare for admission into the Union.

The advice was promptly accepted. A convention

A constitution pro

hibiting slavery was framed, submitted to the people, and adopted.