Among those who were breveted for gallantry in the severe battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec was 2d Lieut. [Ulysses S.] Grant, of the 4th Infantry.

"At the end of another series of arduous and brilliant operations of more than forty-eight hours' continuance this glorious army hoisted, on the morning of the 14th, the colors of the United States on the walls of this palace."
[Winfield Scott's Report written at the National Palace of Mexico, September 18, 1847.]

"The victory of the 8th at the Molino del Rey was followed by daring reconnaissances on the part of our distinguished Engineers Captain [Robert E.] Lee, Lieutenants [Pierre G. T.] Beauregard, Stevens, and [Zealous B.] Tower. Their operations were directed principally to the south--toward the gates of the Piedad, San Angel (Mino Perdido), San Antonio, and the Paseo de la Viga.

"This city stands on a slight swell of ground, near the center of an irregular basin, and is girdled by a ditch in its greater extent a navigable canal of great breadth and depth very difficult to bridge in the presence of an enemy, and serving at once for drainage, custom-house purposes, and military defense, leaving eight entrances or gates over arches, each of which we found defended by a system of strong works that seemed to require nothing but some men and guns to be impregnable.

"Outside and within the cross fires of those gates we found to the south other obstacles but little less formidable.

". . .After a close personal survey of the southern gates, covered by Pillow's division and Riley's brigade of [David E.] Twiggs' with four times our numbers concentrated in our immediate front I determined on the 11th to avoid that network of obstacles, and to seek by a sudden diversion to the southwest and west less unfavorable approached.

". . .The stratagem against the south was admirably executed throughout the 12th and down to the afternoon of the 13th, when it was too late for the enemy to recover from the effects of his delusion. The first step in the new movement was to carry Chapultepec, a natural and isolated mound, of great elevation, strongly fortified at its base, on its acclivities, and heights.

". . .In the course of the same night (that of the 11th) heavy batteries, within easy ranges, were established. No. 1, on our right, under the command of Captain [Richard C.] Drum, 4th Artillery (relieved late next day, for some hours, by Lieutenant Andrews of the 3d), and No. 2, commanded by Lieutenant [Peter V.] Hagner, Ordnance both supported by [John A.] Quitman's division. No. 3 and 4 on the opposite side, supported by Pillows' division, were commanded, the former by Captain [William T. H.] Brooks and Lieut. [Samuel S.] Anderson, 2d Artillery, alternately, and the latter by Lieutenant [Charles P.] Stone, Ordnance. The batteries were traced by Captain [Benjamin] Huger and Captain [Robert E.] Lee, engineer, and constructed by them with the able assistance of the young officers of those corps and the artillery.

". . .The bombardment and cannonade, under the direction of Captain [Benjamin] Huger, were commenced early in the morning of the 12th."

Here follows a description of the storm of Chapultepec. The report resumes:

"The following are the officers and corps most distinguished in those brilliant operations: The Voltigeur regiment, in two detachments, commanded, respectively, by Colonel Andrews and Lieutenant-Colonel [Joseph E. Johnston], the latter mostly in the lead . . . the storming party of Worth's division under Captain McKenzie, 2d Artillery, with Lieutenant Selden, 8th Infantry, early on the ladder and badly wounded; Lieutenant Armistead, 6th Infantry, the first to leap into a ditch to plant a ladder; Lieutenants Rodgers, of the 4th and J. P. Smith, of the 5th Infantry both mortally wounded; the 9th Infantry, under Colonel Ransom, who was killed while gallantly leading that gallant regiment; the 15th Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Howard and Major [Samuel] Woods . . . .Colonel Clarke's brigade (Worth's division), consisting of the 5th, 8th, and 6th Regiments of Infantry, commanded, respectively, by Captain Chapman, Major Montgomery, and Lieut. Edward Johnson, the latter specially noticed, with Lieutenants [James] Longstreet (badly wounded, advancing, colors in hand), Pickett, and Merchant, the last three of the 8th Infantry . . . . and another detachment, a portion of the storming party (Twiggs' division, serving with [John A.] Quitman), under Lieutenant [William] Steele, 2d Infantry, after the fall of Lieutenant Gantt, 7th Infantry.

"In this connection it is but just to recall the decisive effect of the heavy batteries Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, commanded by those excellent officers Captain [Richard C.] Drum, 4th Artillery, assisted by Lieutenants Benjamin and [Fitz John] Porter, of his own company; Captain [Horace] Brooks and Lieutenant [Samuel S.] Anderson, 2d Artillery, assisted by Lieutenant Russell, 4th Infantry, a volunteer; Lieutenants [Peter V.] Hagner and [Charles P.] Stone, of the Ordnance, and Lieutenant Andrews, 3d Artillery, the whole superintended by Captain [Benjamin] Huger, Chief of Ordnance with this army, an officer distinguished by every kind of merit. The mountain howitzer battery, under Lieutenant [Jesse L.] Reno of the Ordnance, deserves also to be particularly mentioned. Attached to the Voltigeurs, it followed the movements of that regiment and again won applause.

"In adding to the list of individuals of conspicuous merit I must limit myself to a few of the many names which might be enumerated: Captain [Joseph L.] Hooker assistant adjutant-general, who won special applause successively in the staffs of Pillow and [George] Cadwalader; Lieutenant [Mansfield] Lovell, 4th Artillery (wounded), chief of [John A.] Quitman's staff; Captain [Francis N.] Page, assistant adjutant-general (wounded), and Lieutenant [Richard P.] Hammond, 3d Artillery, both of [Hamilton L.] Shield's staff, and Lieutenant [Earl] Van Dorn (7th Infantry), aide-de-camp to Brigadier-General [Persifor F.] Smith.

"These operations all occurred on the west, southeast, and heights of Chapultepec. To the north and at the base of the mound, inaccessible on that side, the 11th Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel [Paul O.] Hébert; the 14th, under Colonel Trousdale, and Captain [John B.] Magruder's field battery, 1st Artillery one section advanced under Lieutenant Jackson all of Pillow's division had at the same time some spirited affairs against superior numbers, driving the enemy from a battery in the road and capturing a gun. In these the officers and corps named gained merited praise.

". . .Here (at the Belen Gate) of the heavy battery (4th Artillery) Captain Drum and Lieutenant Benjamin were mortally wounded and Lieutenant [Fitz John] Porter, its third in rank, slightly. The loss of these two most distinguished officers the Army will long mourn.

". . .The capital, however, was not taken by any one or two corps, but by the talent, the science, the gallantry, the prowess of this entire army.

". . .And I reassert, upon accumulated and unquestionable evidence, that in not one of those conflicts (the battles in the Valley of Mexico) was this army opposed by fewer than three and a half times its numbers--in several of them by a yet greater excess.

". . .In conclusion I beg to enumerate once more, with due commendation and thanks, the distinguished staff officers, general and personal, who, in our last operations in front of the enemy, accompanied me and communicated orders to every point and through every danger. Lieutenant-Colonel Hitchcock, acting Inspector-General; Major [William] Turnbull and Lieutenant [Edmund L.] Hardcastle, Topographical Engineers; Major [Edmund] Kirby, Chief Paymaster; Captain [James R.] Irwin, Chief Quartermaster; Captain [John B.] Grayson, Chief Commissary; Capt. [Henry L.] Scott, Chief in the Adjutant-General's Department; Lieutenant Williams, Aid-de-camp; Lieutenant [George W.] Lay, Military Secretary; Major J. P. Gaines, Kentucky Cavalry volunteer Aide-de-camp; Captain [Robert E.] Lee, so constantly distinguished, also bore important orders from me (September 13) until he fainted from a wound and the loss of two nights' sleep at the batteries. Lieutenants [Pierre G. T.] Beauregard, Stevens, and [Zealous B.] Tower, all wounded, were employed with the divisions, and Lieuts. [Gustavus W.] Smith and [George B.] McClellan with the company of Sappers and Miners. Those five lieutenants of Engineers, like their captain, won the admiration of all about them. The Ordnance officers, Captain [Benjamin] Huger, Lieutenants [Peter V.] Hagner, [Charles P.] Stone, and [Jesse L.] Reno, were highly effective and distinguished at the several batteries; and I must add that Captain [Justus] McKinstry, assistant quartermaster, at the close of the operations executed several important commissions for me as a special volunteer."

During the action in front of the San Cosmo Gate, Captain [Horace] Brooks, in command of a detachment of the 2d Artillery, and Lieut. [Ulysses S.] Grant, with a detachment of the 4th Infantry, attacked and, after a very hard fight, carried a breastwork defended by a large force of the enemy. To hasten this result it was necessary to bring forward a piece of artillery along the causeway swept by the enemy's fire. This was done by Lieut. [Henry Jackson] Hunt, 2d Artillery, whose detachment lost more than half its numbers; but the move was decisive.

Of this incident General [William J.] Worth, the division commander, said in his report: "It has never been my fortune to witness a more brilliant exhibition of courage and conduct."

Some of the most furious combats of the war were among those of the minor expeditions. The following will serve as a specimen:

"On the morning of the 6th (December, 1846) Kearny's command met and defeated at San Pasqual, about 40 miles from San Diego, a body of Mexicans under Gen. Andreas Pico. Kearny had at this time about 300 men, composed of Companies B and C, 1st Dragoons, and volunteers. The action was severe, the 1st Dragoons losing 3 officers -- Captains Moore and Johnston and Lieutenant Hammond--and 14 men killed, and about all the dragoons were wounded, principally with lance thrusts. General Kearny himself received two wounds; Lieutenant Warner, of the Topographical Engineers, three; and Captain Gillespie, of the volunteers, three. Kearny was compelled to remain at San Bernardino until the 11th on account of wounds, but reached and occupied San Diego December 12."
[Wainwright, Capt. R. P. P.  Historical Sketch of the 1st U. S. Cavalry.]