Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/428

376 While making his preparations at Coyoacan, on the morning of the 21st, to take up the necessary battering or assaulting positions, to authorize him to summon the city to surrender, General Scott was waited on by General Mora y Villamil, who came out to propose a truce. The terms which were suggested being unsatis- factory, the American commander dispatched his con- templated note to Santa Anna, omitting the summons to surrender, and signifying his willingness to consent to an armistice with a view to negotiation. On the same day a reply was received from Alcorta, the Mexi- can Minister of War, accepting the proposition, and stating that Generals Mora y Villamil and Quijano had been appointed Commissioners on the part of the Mexi- can government, to settle the terms of the armistice. Generals Quitman, P. F. Smith, and Pierce, were se- lected by General Scott to represent the American army; and on the 21th instant, the armistice, signed by the Commissioners, was duly ratified by the command- ers of the two armies.