Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/467

Rh afterward took possession of the city and castle, which were placed under the command of Worth.

In the siege of Vera Cruz the loss on the side of the Americans was insignificant, being only 67 in killed and wounded, eleven of whom were killed. The Mexicans suffered much more severely, and 1,000 is perhaps not too low an estimate of the killed alone. The spoils taken, according to the official statements sent to the American government, comprised 5,000 stands of arms, 400 pieces of ordnance, and a large quantity of ordnance stores.

Scott's bombardment of Vera Cruz and his refusal to yield to the appeal of the consuls produced in the country the deepest indignation; and in the Mexican publications of the day no epithet is spared in qualifying his course of action as barbarous and inhuman. Nor were foreign nations — which under similar circumstances would have acted in precisely the same manner — behindhand in condemning him. But with the lapse of time the matter has been judged with more calmness and proper justice, and there are not