Battles of Mexico Lines of Operations of the U.S. Army Under the Command of Major General Winfield Scott on the 8th, 12th, and 13th of September

The end of the Mexican-American War, visualized.

After a series of defeats prompted retreat to the outskirts of Mexico City, General Santa Anna prepared his troops for a final defense of the capital in the last stages of the Mexican-American War. U.S. troops under the command of General Winfield Scott first engaged the Mexican army at Molina Del Rey (the King’s Mill), about two miles southeast of the city, on September 8th.

A second battle, at Chapultepec, was fought a few days later; prior to the final assault on the gates on September 13th. The course of events can be seen as they unfolded across the five days on this map, drawn by Lieutenant Edmund Lafayette Hardcastle and published in a government report the same year, in 1847.

The initial assault took place in the center left and eventually engulfed the city in the upper right, though the image extends far enough south to include the town of Churubusco. It was here, about a fortnight earlier, that Santa Anna lost another engagement to Scott and his troops on their retreat to Mexico City.