check the Mexican lancers and infantry, under Generals Alvarez and Rangel, occupying the slopes north and west of Chapultepec. Several feints were made by the enemy, but they did not attempt to molest General Pillow.
The permanent garrison of Chapultepec probably did not much exceed 1,000 men, commanded by General Bravo; [1] but there was a force at least 6000 strong in the adjoining grounds, and within supporting distance. on the outside, in rear, and towards the city. The eléves of the military school, under their superintendent, General Monterde, also aided in the defence of the post. There were ten pieces of artillery in the castle, some of which were of very heavy calibre. The heights were dotted all over with bastions, parapets, redoubts, and batteries. There Was a battery of three guns on the Tacubaya road, at the south-east angle of the inclosure, flanked by a one-gun battery, sweeping the low grounds between it and the causeway, a short distance to the west; and a few hundred yards beyond the latter, there was another battery. About four hundred yards east of the mill, on the road passing along the north side of Chapultepec, there was
- ↑ General Bravo, in his official report dated September 14th, 1817, states that the garrison of Chapultepec numbered only 833, many of whom deserted before the assault; and that, although be repeatedly applied to Santa Anna and General Rangel for assistance, none was rendered. It is extremely difficult, as is the case with most accounts of the Mexican officers, to reconcile this statement with facts about which there can be no question. Nearly five hundred dead bodies were found after the assault, in the castle and outworks of Chapultepec; numbers were seen to escape over the northern and eastern walls; and there Were over seven hundred taken prisoners, including, with the commander, five generals, and more than a hundred subordinate officers. The actual garrison may not have exceeded l,000 men but the supporting force certainly could not have remained inactive.
