ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT 345 artillery, followed, and the enemy were defeated and driven from the field. It was the first battle fought in thirty-one years with any foe other than Indians, by American soldiers. Grant was in that first conflict of half a century, as he was in the last ones. The Mexicans had fled from this first considerable battle of the war to Re saca de la Palma, where they had established themselves in a strong position. Taylor attacked them the next day, and though their force was triple that of their assailants, they were again defeated and routed. The Mexicans fought with dogged courage, however they may be judged from the events of the war. Three months later, General Taylor marched upon Monterey with an army reinforced to 6,000 men. It was strongly fortified, but the city was captured after a hard- fought battle. In the midst of the conflict in the town, while the Mexicans were disputing its possession from the windows of the strongly constructed houses, the ammuni- tion of the brigade to which Grant was attached was exhausted, and it became necessary to send for a fresh supply. It was a service of extreme peril, and a vol- unteer was called for to perform it. Grant was a bold rider, and he promptly offered himself to execute the dangerous mission. Mounting a very spirited horse, he resorted to the Indian fashion of hanging at the side of his steed so that the body of the animal protected him against the shots from the windows, and he passed safely through the street. With a sufficient escort he succeeded in con- veying a load of ammunition to the point where it was needed. Soon after the battle of Monterey, Grant's regiment was sent to Vera Cruz to reinforce the larger army that was to march under General Scott to the " Halls of the Montezumas.' Lieutenant Grant, as a careful, substantial, and energetic officer, was selected for the important position of quartermaster of the Fourth Regiment. The army proceeded on its uninterrupted career of victory till the capital of Mexico was in its possession. The heights of Cerro Gordo were stormed and carried, and Grant, as usual, was in the thickest of the fight. The first considerable obstacle after the capture of Vera Cruz having been re- moved, the army proceeded on its march to the City of Mexico, occupying Jalapa and Castle Perote on the way ; but at Puebla the forces were so reduced by sick- ness, death, and the expiration of enlistments as to compel a halt. For three months General Scott was compelled to wait for reinforcements ; but when he could muster 1 1,000 effective men, a very small number for the conquest of a coun try, he resumed his march, and in August arrived in the vicinity of the capital. Outside of the causeways leading to the city were the strongholds of Chapultepec and Cherubusco, and batteries mountmg a hundred guns. Chapultepec was a fortification one hundred and fifty feet above the average level of the ground. A front of nine hundred feet bristled with cannon. Be- hind it was a mill called El Molino del Rey, fortified and garrisoned, which de- fended the approach to the castle. The capture of this work was assigned to General Worth, to whose command the Fourth Regiment belonged. The as- sault was a desperate one, for it was " the last ditch " of the Mexicans ; but it
