Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/478

426 did coaches; horse and foot, officers and soldiers, camp followers and citizens — a motley mass — mingled together in confusion.

At one o'clock in the morning of the 14th, a deputation from the ayuntamiento, or city council, came to the advanced post of General Worth, announcing that the officers of the national government and the army had commenced retiring from the city, and that they were authorized to confer with the General-in-chief of the American forces. On their arrival at the head-quarters of General Scott, they informed him of the evacuation, and demanded terms of capitulation in favor of the church, the citizens, and the municipal authorities. They were promptly informed by General Scott that he would sign no capitulation; that the city had been virtually in his possession, from the time when a lodgement had been made on the previous day; that he regretted the escape of the Mexican troops; that he should levy a moderate contribution for special purposes; and that "the American army should come under no terms not self-imposed — such only as its own honor, the dignity of the United States, and the spirit of the age," demanded and required.

Upon the termination of the interview with the city deputation, General Scott dispatched orders to Generals Worth and Quitman, to advance slowly and cautiously towards the heart of the city. At six o'clock, the head of General Worth's division had reached the street leading direct from the Alameda to the plaza mayor, on which the National Palace, containing the halls of Congress and the executive offices of the national government, is situated; and it would have been the first to arrive at "that goal of general ambition," had it