Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 2.djvu/161

Rh and the maguey—was not adequately made out, they analyzed the situation correctly otherwise. Then, to prevent errors, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Duncan and two engineers did the work a second time; and Scott and Worth also made observations. Information that he deemed thoroughly safe led the commander-in-chief to believe that guns needed for the defence of the city were now under construction at El Molino, and he desired Worth to have a party destroy the works and material during the coming night—in his opinion an easy task—and immediately retire. At Worth's request, however, a daybreak attack and, as the natural consequence, a broader plan were decided upon.

Accordingly, the first gray light of September 8 found the Americans waiting to assault the position. One cannon

guarded the road from Mexico to Tacubaya. Brevet Colonel Garland's brigade and Captain Drum of the Fourth Artillery with his two Buena Vista 6-pounders were directly south of El Molino, at a distance of about 400 yards from it, to ward off a flank attack from Chapultepec, threaten the mill, and be ready to assist as might be necessary. On the ridge, not far to their left, stood Captain Huger with two 24-pound siege guns, Brevet Major Wright's party of stormers—twelve officers with five companies of 100 men each, drawn during the night from the