This illustration by Carl Nebel was published in George Wilkins Kendall's classic work The War Between the United States and Mexico Illustrated.

Gen. John A. Quitman and his division were the first American troops to enter the main plaza the morning of September 14, 1847, at about 7 a.m.  The American flag was hoisted over the National Palace.  Quitman and an engineer officer, P. G. T. Beauregard, went into the Palace to see how it could be utilized in the event the American force came under attack. Quitman then sent Beauregard to notify Scott and Worth, who were at Alameda, that the Palace and Grand Plaza had been taken.

In this illustration, the National Palace appears on the right, the American flag triumphantly overhead.  On the left is the estate of Senór Boca Negra, former Mexican Minister to the United States, on the corner of the Plateros, one of the main streets.  This estate home, built as a palace for the Viceroy of Spain in the 18th Century, became the Aztec Club. In the center is the Cathedral.  Commander-in-Chief Winfield Scott rides a white horse, in the foreground, with a small dragoon escort, while infantry, cavalry and artillery can be seen elsewhere.