Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/426



EL MOLINO DEL REY.

ith a victorious enemy knocking at the gates of the Capital, and the booming thunder of their artillery echoing through the valley, the Mexican government and people had cause for alarm and apprehension. Their last stronghold was at the mercy of the conqueror. They had been steadily driven from one defence to another,—and the final overwhelming defeat at Contreras and Churubusco, filled the city with consternation. In this season of tribulation there was no !ack of counsellors. Some, mindful of the heroism displayed by their gallant kinsmen at Saragossa, exhorted their countrymen to convert every house into a fortification, and, if summoned to surrender, to return, as their only answer, "War, to the knife!" Others appealed to the memories of Iturbide, Hidalgo, and Morelos, the. heroes of Mexican Independence, and entreated their descendants to imitate their bravery and daring. The enemies of Santa Anna attributed the disasters which had befallen the armies of the republic, to his incompetency as a commander; but this was no time for unavailing complaints. The peril was imminent,—the crisis immediate. There was but one alternative:—