Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/384



CONTRERAS AND CHURUBUSCO.

eneral Scott left Puebia, in person, on the 8th of August, and on the same day overtook, and then continued with, the leading division under General Twiggs. The different corps of his army moved forward, en echelon, being at no time beyond five hours, or supporting distance, apart. The city of Mexico is something more than ninety miles from Puebla. The road ascends gradually through a fertile rolling country, checquered with beautiful gardens and hedges of cactus, with fields of maize and plantations of the aloe, until it reaches the tierra fria, or cold region, "the third and last of the great natural terraces into which the country is divided." Here the feathery palm gives place to the evergreen, and the fruits and vegetation of the tropics, make room for those usually found in more northern climes. Leaving Cholula to the south, on the third day of their march the Americans arrived at the pass of Rio Frio, ten thousand feet above the level