thedrifter
01-10-06, 11:54 AM
January 16, 2006
The Lore of the Corps
Marines take historic Halls of Montezuma
By Don Burzynski
Special to the Times
In one of the most historic battles of the Mexican War, Marines secured the Halls of Montezuma.
In 1847, Army Gen. Winfield Scott, commanding general, sent American troops to attack Mexico City.
Since Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had massed most of his army south of the city, Scott decided to attack from the west. That side was guarded by the Hill of Chapultepec, which was 600 yards by 200 feet high surrounded by a 12-foot wall. A school that was once a palace topped the hill, making it a fearsome objective to assault. But once they took Chapultepec, the Americans could move on the causeways leading into Mexico City.
On Sept. 13, the Americans launched their attack at 8 a.m. Army Brig. Gen. John Quitman led the 4th Division, which included Marines.
An assault of 120 handpicked Marines and soldiers attacked the hill from the south, fighting hand-to-hand with bayonets as they struggled up the steep hill. Americans reached the castle and raised an American flag over the fortress at 9:30 a.m.
Marine Capt. George Terrett led 1st Lt. John Simms, 2nd Lt. Charles Henderson (son of the Corps’ commandant at the time, Col. Archibald Henderson) and 36 leathernecks in pursuit of enemy troops as they fell back toward the city. Terrett and his Marines raced up the San Cosme causeway under heavy fire. Twenty infantrymen led by Army Lt. Ulysses S. Grant (future general and president) joined them as they fought their way up the causeway toward the city’s heavily defended San Cosme Gate.
Simms and Henderson attacked the gate with 85 men. They found it was too heavily defended, so Simms and Marine Lt. Jabez Rich led seven Marines to attack from the left side of the same gate. Henderson, who was wounded in the leg, simultaneously attacked from the front. Together, they seized San Cosme Gate after taking six casualties.
Once Chapultepec fell, Quitman moved his division under fire up the Belen causeway toward the Belen gate. They were stopped at the gate by the intense Mexican defense. Finally, the Marines and soldiers took the Belen gate in the afternoon, and it was dark when Terrett’s men took the San Cosme Gate. At dawn the next day, Quitman and Worth prepared to assault the two entrances to the city, but Santa Anna had pulled out.
Quitman’s men raced through the crowded streets into the Grand Plaza and took the Mexican National Plaza, where before had stood the Halls of Montezuma. The Marines were stationed to guard the palace, and Scott found the streets secured when he marched into the city.
During the battle at Chapultepec, 90 percent of the Marine officers and noncommissioned officers who fought were killed. After the war, Marine commissioned and noncommissioned officers added scarlet stripes to their blue dress trousers, which are now referred to as “blood stripes,” to commemorate the Marines’ blood shed at Chapultepec.
The writer is a War of 1812 re-enactor. He can be reached at dburzynski2003@yahoo.com.
Ellie
The Lore of the Corps
Marines take historic Halls of Montezuma
By Don Burzynski
Special to the Times
In one of the most historic battles of the Mexican War, Marines secured the Halls of Montezuma.
In 1847, Army Gen. Winfield Scott, commanding general, sent American troops to attack Mexico City.
Since Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had massed most of his army south of the city, Scott decided to attack from the west. That side was guarded by the Hill of Chapultepec, which was 600 yards by 200 feet high surrounded by a 12-foot wall. A school that was once a palace topped the hill, making it a fearsome objective to assault. But once they took Chapultepec, the Americans could move on the causeways leading into Mexico City.
On Sept. 13, the Americans launched their attack at 8 a.m. Army Brig. Gen. John Quitman led the 4th Division, which included Marines.
An assault of 120 handpicked Marines and soldiers attacked the hill from the south, fighting hand-to-hand with bayonets as they struggled up the steep hill. Americans reached the castle and raised an American flag over the fortress at 9:30 a.m.
Marine Capt. George Terrett led 1st Lt. John Simms, 2nd Lt. Charles Henderson (son of the Corps’ commandant at the time, Col. Archibald Henderson) and 36 leathernecks in pursuit of enemy troops as they fell back toward the city. Terrett and his Marines raced up the San Cosme causeway under heavy fire. Twenty infantrymen led by Army Lt. Ulysses S. Grant (future general and president) joined them as they fought their way up the causeway toward the city’s heavily defended San Cosme Gate.
Simms and Henderson attacked the gate with 85 men. They found it was too heavily defended, so Simms and Marine Lt. Jabez Rich led seven Marines to attack from the left side of the same gate. Henderson, who was wounded in the leg, simultaneously attacked from the front. Together, they seized San Cosme Gate after taking six casualties.
Once Chapultepec fell, Quitman moved his division under fire up the Belen causeway toward the Belen gate. They were stopped at the gate by the intense Mexican defense. Finally, the Marines and soldiers took the Belen gate in the afternoon, and it was dark when Terrett’s men took the San Cosme Gate. At dawn the next day, Quitman and Worth prepared to assault the two entrances to the city, but Santa Anna had pulled out.
Quitman’s men raced through the crowded streets into the Grand Plaza and took the Mexican National Plaza, where before had stood the Halls of Montezuma. The Marines were stationed to guard the palace, and Scott found the streets secured when he marched into the city.
During the battle at Chapultepec, 90 percent of the Marine officers and noncommissioned officers who fought were killed. After the war, Marine commissioned and noncommissioned officers added scarlet stripes to their blue dress trousers, which are now referred to as “blood stripes,” to commemorate the Marines’ blood shed at Chapultepec.
The writer is a War of 1812 re-enactor. He can be reached at dburzynski2003@yahoo.com.
Ellie