and the Castle of Perote, where they captured a large amount of arms and artillery. Pursuing their march over the great plateau a portion of the army under General Worth captured, on the 22d of May, the large and important city of Puebla. a city containing, to-day, 70,000 inhabitants, and celebrated for the number of its churches, convents, and cotton mills.
Santa Anna, the irrepressible, again gathered a small army and opposed the march of Worth, but was obliged to retire with loss. The Congress and the politicians passed valuable time in squabbles amongst themselves, instead of rallying the people as a unit to repel the advancing enemy. But the courage of the nation was not broken, and, unfortunate as he had been, the people still looked to Santa Anna to yet lead them to victory. While they were passing their time in dissensions. General Scott had gradually quartered all his forces in Puebla, whence he sent fruitless missions to negotiate for peace.
An army of twenty-five or thirty thousand Mexicans was soon gathered in the threatened capital. As soon as it was found that General Taylor would not advance farther southward, the army of General Valencia, which had opposed him, was withdrawn to Mexico, while from the south came General Alvarez with a large body of Pinto Indians. Both coasts were now in our possession, and merchandise passing in and out of the country as in times of peace, only a slight duty being retained by our commander for the maintenance of the war.
[A. D. 1847.] On the 7th of August General Scott left Puebla, and pushed on towards the city of Mexico with ten thousand enthusiastic soldiers. They surmounted the mountain barriers that hemmed the lovely valley in from the world outside, and finally looked upon the city they were soon to conquer. Three hundred and twenty-eight
