hundred. They might now have entered the city of Mexico in triumph, but General Scott preferred to bear the olive branch, rather than the palm. As he advanced to Tacubaya, [August 21], within three miles of the city, a flag came from Santa Anna to ask for an armistice, preparatory to negotiations for peace.' It was granted, and Nicholas P. Trist, who had been appointed, by the United States government, a commissioner to treat for peace, went into the capital [August 24] for the purpose. Scott made the palace of the archbishop, at Tacubaya, his head-quarters, and there anxiously awaited the result of the conference, until the 5th of September, when Mr. Trist returned, with the intelligence that his propositions were not only spurned with scorn, but that Santa Anna had violated the armistice by strengthening the defenses of the city. Disgusted with the continual treachery of his foe, Scott declared the armistice at an end, on the 7th of September, and prepared to storm the capital.

The first demonstration against the city was on the morning of the 8th of September, when less than four thousand Americans attacked fourteen thousand Mexicans, under Santa Anna, at El Molinos del Rey (the King's Mills) near Chepultepec. They were at first repulsed, with great slaughter; but returning to the attack, they fought desperately for an hour, and drove the Mexicans from their position. Both parties suffered dreadfully. The Mexicans left almost a thousand dead on the field, and the Americans lost about eight hundred. And now the proud Chepultepec was doomed. It was a lofty hill, strongly fortified, and the seat of the military school of Mexico. It was the last place to be defended outside the suburbs of the city. Scott erected four heavy batteries to bear upon it, on the night of the 11th of September; and the next day [September 12, 1847], a heavy cannonade and bombardment commenced. On the 12th, the assailants commenced a furious charge, routed the enemy, with great slaughter, and unfurled the American flag over the shattered castle of Chepultepec. The Mexicans fled to the city along an aqueduct, pursued by General Quitman' to its very gates. That night, Santa Anna and his army, with the officers of government, fled from the doomed capital; and at four o'clock the following morning [September 14], a deputation from the city authorities. waited upon General Scott, and begged him to spare the town and treat for peace. He would make no terms, but ordered Generals Worth and Quitman' to move forward, and plant the stripes and stars upon the National Palace. The victorious generals entered at ten o'clock, and on the Grand Plaza,' took formal possession of the Mexican Empire. Order soon reigned in the capital. Santa Anna made some feeble efforts to regain lost power, and failed. He appeared before Puebla on the 22d of September, where Colonel Childs had been besieged since the 13th. The approach of General Lane frightened him away; and in a battle with the troops of that leader at Huamantla, Santa

Note 1, page 242.

John A. Quitman is a native of New York, and is now [1856] about fifty-seven years of age. He led volunteers to the Mexican war, and was breveted and presented with a sword by Congress, for his gallantry. He was Governor of Mississippi in 1851.

3 The approach of each was along separate aqueducts. See map, page 493. Place. This is the large public square in the city of Mexico.

Anna was defeated.

On the 18th of October he was again defeated at Atlixco, and there his troops deserted him. Before the close of October, he was a fugitive, stripped of every commission, and seeking safety, by flight, to the shores of the Gulf. The president of the Mexican Congress assumed provisional authority; and on the 2d of February, 1848, that body concluded a treaty of peace, with commissioners of the United States at Gaudaloupe Hidalgo. This treaty was finally agreed to by both governments, and on the 4th of July following, President Polk proclaimed it. It stipulated the evacuation of Mexico by the American army, within three months; the payment of three millions of dollars in hand, and twelve millions of dollars, in four annual instalments, by the United States to Mexico, for the territory acquired by conquest; and in addition, to assume debts due certain citizens of the United States to the amount of three millions five hundred thousand dollars. It also fixed boundaries, and otherwise adjusted matters in dispute. New Mexico and California now became Territories of the United States.

During the same month that a treaty of peace was signed at Gaudaloupe Hidalgo, a man employed by Captain Sutter, who owned a mill twenty-five miles up the American fork of the Sacramento River, discovered gold. It was very soon found in other localities, and during the summer, rumors of the fact reached the United States. These rumors assumed tangible form in President Polk's message in December, 1848; and at the beginning of 1849, thousands were on their way to the land of gold. Around Cape Horn, across the Isthmus of Panama, and over the great central plains of the continent, men went by hundreds; and far and wide in California, the precious metal was found. From Europe and South America, hundreds flocked thither; and the Chinese came also from Asia, to dig gold. The dreams of the early Spanish voyagers, and those of the English who sought gold on the coasts of Labrador, and up the rivers in the middle of the continent,* have been more than realized. Hundreds yet [1856]. continue to go thither, and the gold seems inexhaustible."

3

2

The war with Mexico, and the settlement of the Oregon boundary question with Great Britain, were the most prominent events, having a relation to foreign powers, which distinguished Mr. Polk's administration. Two measures of a domestic character, appear prominently among many others which mark his administration as full of activity. These were the establishment of an independent treasury system,' by which the national revenues are collected in gold and silver, or treasury notes, without the aid of banks; and a revision of the tariff laws in 1846, by which protection to American manufacturers was lessened. It was during the last year of his administration that Wisconsin was admitted [May 29, 1848] into the Union of States, making the whole number thirty. At about this time, the people of the Union were preparing for another presidential election. The popularity which General Taylor had gained by his brilliant victories in Mexico, caused him to be nominated for that exalted station, in many parts of the Union, even before he returned home;" and he was

chosen to be a candidate for that office, by a national convention held at Philadelphia in June, 1848. His opponent was General Lewis Cass, of Michigan, now [1856] United States senator from that State.' General Taylor was elected by a large majority, with Millard Fillmore, of New York, as Vice

President.

CHAPTER XIII.

TAYLOR'S ADMINISTRATION. [1849-1850.]

THE 4th of March, 1849, was Sunday, and the inauguration of Zachary Taylor, the twelfth President of the United States, did not take place until the

of

next day. Again people had gathered at the Federal city from all parts the Union, and the day being pleasant, though cloudy, a vast concourse were

2

1 Note 2, page 424.

Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia, in November, 1784. He went with his father to Ke tucky the following year, and his childhood was passed near the present city of Louisville. He entered the United States army in 1807. He was a distinguished subaltern during the war of 1812-15, and attained the rank of major. He was of great service in the Florida War [page; and when hostilities with Mexico appeared probable, he was sent in that direction, and, as we have seen, displayed great skill and bravery. He died in July, 1850, having performed the dis of President for only sixteen months.