by General Taylor, had induced that Mexican chief to make the most extensive preparations for opposing the victorious advance of General Scott. Vera Cruz, the principal Mexican town on the seaboard, had fallen; and, after winning several other victories toward the interior, the army of the centre was now on its way to the capital of Mexico. Two strong positions had to be taken before the city could be assaulted -Molino del Rey, (the King's Mill,) and the castle of Chapultepec. In the advance on this important point, Lieutenant Hancock drew his sword in his earliest fights for his country. He was under the immediate command of Captain Hoffman, of the Sixth Infantry. The assault was made on the works of the enemy by the platoon in charge of Lieutenant Hancock, in company with Lieutenants Armistead, Sedgwick, Buckner, and Rosecrans-the last named having volunteered for the occasion from the Fifth Infantry.

By order of General Worth, the battalion of the Sixth Infantry, in command of Captain Hoffman, formed in column and repeatedly charged the battery of the enemy. Lieutenant Hancock was now under fire for nearly the first time, like others of our officers and men. The Second Artillery, under Captain Brooks and Lieutenants Daniels and Sedgwick, aided materially in our assault. The charge of our troops

was continued until the enemy was driven from the field.

At three o'clock in the morning of the 8th of September, 1847, he moved with the troops on the as saulted batteries. The grey light of coming day had not yet tipped the heights around, when the two twenty-four-pounders placed in position opened on the solid stone walls of the enemy. No reply came; and it was at first supposed that the Mexicans had abandoned the post. It soon appeared, however, that they had only changed their place of defence, and were beginning, from a new and unexpected point, to pour grape and round shot on our advancing flanks. It is inferred, from some circumstances afterwards revealed, that the Mexican commander had been informed of the manner of our approach by foreign spies. The assault of the enemy was severe; cutting down our men in large numbers, killing and wounding eleven out of fourteen of our officers, and a like proportion in the ranks. On perceiving their temporary advantage, the Mexicans rushed on our lines with their usual savage ferocity, and murdered our wounded troops in cold blood.

Reinforcements were now thrown rapidly forward by General Worth, who resolutely attacked the Mexican flank. The Mexican General Leon, who headed

a spirited sortie from the walls of Molino del Rey, was wounded, several officers of high rank were killed, and the enemy driven back. The access to the foe was sought in a variety of ways. The walls were scaled by our daring men, the top of the building reached by cutting holes in the solid stone, by means of their bayonets; the main gate was soon forced, and the troops rushed through with a shout that woke the echoes of the space beyond. A combat ensued, hand to hand. Door after door fell before the intrepid Americans; rank after rank of the Mexicans were swept before them; until a white flag of surrender appeared on the battered parapets.

The

It was a sanguinary battle- by many considered the most so of any during the Mexican war. enemy had a very strong position, entrenched on a commanding hill, surrounded by massive stone walls, and outnumbered us three to one. But we carried the post against all these odds, capturing eight hundred prisoners, although at a fearful loss of life in our own ranks.

The next battle in which the young Lieutenant participated was that of the castle of Chapultepec. The edifice stands on a high, rocky promontory, nearly precipitous, and commands the entire country for miles around. The western slope is the only

point where the approach is at all gradual, and this is covered by a dense chapparal and forest, where the ground is ragged with rocks.

On the 13th of September, of the same year, the battalion of the Sixth Infantry to which then Adjutant Hancock was attached, moved out from the conquered post of Molino del Rey toward Chapultepec. It was at the early dawn. The shadows hung deep from tree to tree, from rock to rock. A large force of Mexicans lay hidden in the darkness. Our men felt their way along, when, coming all at once into a comparatively open space, they found themselves confronted by the frowning battlements of the castle. The fight began instantly. An American colorbearer rushed forward to the ramparts, followed, with loud cheers, by a body of our men, who quickly placed ladders against the embattled walls, and began to scale them. Shout now followed shout as the soldiers sprang up the ladders and bounded over the wall, in the very face of the enemy. The Mexicans were taken completely by surprise. They stood a moment in suspense, astonished at the audacity of the Americans, and then dashed down, some of them headlong, over the precipitous rocks. Shot and shell poured in upon the works, like an iron torrent; and it was not long ere the strong castle was a mass

of ruins. A large number of prisoners surrendered to our gallant troops among them General Bravo,

and the surviving students of the Mexican National Military School.

The part taken by the Sixth Infantry in this brilliant battle is worthy of special mention. It was all the time actively engaged, including the command of Lieutenant Hancock, moving out from Molino del Rey by the left flank, and soon reaching the grove at the base of Chapultepec. A portion dashed up the hill in advance, of whom Hancock was one-the remainder joining from the left base of the castle, whither it had been detached to cut off the retreat of the enemy until the whole regiment, with a grand huzza, swept into the thickest of the fight. The colors of the command were advanced into the enclosures of the castle, and the troops rallied gallantly around them. Entering the streets beyond, they found themselves confronted by a breast work of masonry, and a large body of the enemy posted behind it. From this barricade and the tower and windows of the adjacent church, the street was swept by the fire of artillery and infantry. But our men moved steadily on. They passed to the rear, flanking the Mexicans, and reaching a large building, which they entered by force, and, commanding the