hills of loose sand, and almost impassable thickets of chapparal, covered the ground of operations. Through these, by their own hands, and on their backs, soldiers, both regular and volunteer, dragged their provisions, their equipments, and munitions of war, under the rays of a sun already hot in a tropical climate. The sands of this peculiar region are so light, that during the existence of a "norther," (a so-called wind of the Gulf,) if a man would lie down for an hour or two, he would inevitably be buried in the floating drifts! He must therefore, at this season, seek shelter in chapparals. In such circumstances-under the distant fire of the enemy's fortresses, and in the midst of sharp skirmishes-the investment was completed. The lines of siege were five miles in length, and on that whole distance provisions must be carried and communications kept up with dépôts, and with ships at sea. In this the officers and seamen of the navy co-operated with those of the army in the most gallant and skilful manner.

During this part of the siege a "norther" prevailed, which rendered it impossible to land heavy ordnance. On the 17th a pause occurred in the storm, and ten mortars, four twenty-four-pound guns, and some howitzers were landed. On the night of the 18th the trenches were opened, and, the engineers with the sappers and miners leading the way, the army gradually closed in nearer the city.

On the 22d of March-seven of the ten-inch mortars being in battery, and other works in progress-General Scott summoned the governor of Vera Cruz to surrender the city. The governor, who was also governor of the castle, chose to consider the summons to surrender that, as well as the city, and rejected the proposition. On the

P

return of the flag, the mortar-battery, at the distance of eight hundred yards from the city, opened its fire on the city, and continued to fire during the day and night.

On the 24th the batteries were reinforced with twentyfour-pounders and paixhan guns. On the 25th all the batteries were in "awful activity." Terrible was the

scene! The darkness of night was illuminated with blazing shells circling through the air. The roar of artillery and the heavy fall of descending shot were heard through the streets of the besieged city. The roofs of buildings were on fire. The domes of churches reverberated with fearful explosions. The sea was reddened with the broadsides of ships. The castle of San Juan returned, from its heavy batteries, the fire, the light, the smoke, the noise of battle. Such was the sublime and awfully terrible scene, as beheld from the trenches of the army, from the 22d to the 25th of March, when the accumulated science of ages, applied to the military art, had, on the plains of Vera Cruz, aggregated and displayed the fulness of its destructive power.

On the evening of the 25th instant, the consuls of European powers residing in Vera Cruz, made application, by memorial, to General Scott for a truce, to enable them and the women and children of the city to retire. To this General Scott replied-that a truce could only be granted on application of General Morales, the governor, with a view to surrender;1 that safeguards had already been sent to the foreign consuls, of which they had refu sed to avail themselves; that the blockade had been left open to consuls and neutrals to the 22d proximo; and

'Scott's Official Report of March 25, 1847.

that the case of women and children, with their hardships and distresses, had been fully considered before one gun was fired.

The memorial represented that the batteries had already a terrible effect on the city-and by this, and other evidence, it was now clear that a crisis had arrived. The city must either be surrendered, or it must be consigned to inevitable and most melancholy destruction.

Accordingly, early on the morning of the 26th of March, General Landero, on whom the command had been devolved by General Morales, made overtures of surrender. Arrangements had been made by Scott for carrying the city by assault on that very day. The proposition of the Mexican general made this unnecessary, and Generals Worth and Pillow, with Colonel Totten, that distinguished officer of the engineer corps, who had conducted the siege, were appointed commissioners on the part of the American army, to treat with others appointed by the governor of Vera Cruz. Late on the night of the 27th the articles of capitulation were signed and exchanged.

On the 29th of March the official despatch of General Scott announced that the flag of the United States floated over the walls of Vera Cruz and the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. The regular siege of the city had continued from the day of investment, the 12th of March, to the day the articles of capitulation were signed, the 27th, making a period of fifteen days, in which active, continuous, and vigorous operations were carried on. During this time. our army had thrown three thousand ten-inch shells, two hundred howitzer shells, one thousand paixhan shot, and two thousand five hundred round-shot, weighing on the whole about half a million of pounds! Most effective