Page:Into Mexico with General Scott (1920).djvu/330

 of the Drum and Steptoe batteries rumbled behind.

The drums of the Worth regiments rolled, the men cheered gallantly. With measured tread the Quitman column passed on, its bands playing "Hail, Columbia!," "Washington's March," and "Yankee Doodle." Presently there was a still louder burst of cheers, and the united strains of the "Star Spangled Banner." From the flag pole of the national palace the Stars and Stripes had broken out; raised, as was afterward learned, by Captain Roberts of the Rifles. He had been foremost in the Quitman storming columns up Chapultepec hill.

Lieutenant Beauregard, of the engineers, bandaged from a wound, dashed from the plaza, evidently bearing dispatches. About eight o'clock the clatter of hoofs sounded. The Dragoons were coming. Then—

"Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah for Old Fuss and Feathers!"

General Scott, plumed and girted and gloved, in full uniform complete, towered at the front. Led by Colonel Harney and Major Sumner, the dragoons, their mounted band in the advance, at a carry sabers, filled the street from curb to curb. They, too, were spick and span.

"Hail to the Chief!" That was the tune being played. The general and escort swept by at a rapid trot, while the bands and the field music of the Worth column likewise played "Hail to the Chief." The Mexican spectators forgot themselves, and cheered and clapped. No one could deny that the chief and his cavalry made a splendid sight.

"Column—forward—quick time—march!"