BATTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC

Battle of Chapultepec

During the Mexican–American War, United States forces under Major General Winfield Scott advanced on Mexico City, meeting fierce resistance at fortified positions west of the capital. A bloody attack at Molino del Rey on September 8th cleared some of the outer defenses but did not yet open the road into the city. Five days later, attention turned to Chapultepec, a hilltop fortress and military academy that dominated the approaches. American infantry, artillery, and engineers worked together to batter the defenses and then storm the heights in hard fighting that included a prominent role for the United States Marine Corps. Once Chapultepec fell, the causeways leading directly into Mexico City lay open, and resistance within the capital quickly crumbled. The battle imprinted itself on American memory, later echoed in the Marine Corps hymn’s reference to “the Halls of Montezuma,” and it marked a decisive moment in a controversial war that reshaped both nations’ maps.