IMPORTANCE OF MEXICAN POSITIONS AT MOLINO DEL REY. 411 



crowned hill. The Mexican array was found to consist of an ex- 

 tended line of cavalry and infantry, sustained by a field battery of 

 four guns, either occupying directly or supporting a system of de- 

 fences collateral to the castle and summit; but as the forces were 

 skilfully masked a very inadequate idea of the extent of the lines was 

 obtained. Captain Mason's reconnoissance on the morning of the 

 same day, represented the enemy's left as resting on and occupying 

 the group of strong stone buildings at the Molino adjacent to the 

 grove at the foot of Chapultepec and directly under the castle's 

 guns. The right of his line rested on the Casa Mata, at the foot 

 of the ridge sloping gradually to the plain below from the heights 

 above Tacubaya; while, midway between these buildings, were 

 the field battery and infantry forces disposed on either side to sup- 

 port it. This reconnoissance indicated that the centre was the 

 weak point of the position, and that its left flank was the strongest. 

 In the Mill or Molino, on the left, was the brigade of General 

 Leon, reinforced by the brigade 5 of General Rangel ; in the Casa 

 Mata, on the right, was the brigade of General Perez; and on the 

 intermediate ground was the brigade of General Ramirez, with sev- 

 eral pieces of artillery. The Mexican reserve was composed of 

 the 1st and 3d light, stationed in the groves of Chapultepec, while 

 the cavalry consisting of 4,000 men, rested at the hacienda of Mo- 

 rales, not very far from the field. Such was the arrangement 

 of the Mexican forces made by Santa Anna in person on the 7th 

 of September, though it has been alleged by Mexican writers that 

 it was somewhat changed during the following night. The wily 

 chief had not allowed the time to pass during the negotiation be- 

 tween Trist and the Commissioners in political discussion alone. 

 Regarding the failure of the treaty as most probable, he had striven 

 to strengthen once more the military arm of his nation, and the first 

 result of this effort was demonstrated in his disposition of troops at 

 El Molino del Rey. The Americans' attack upon Chapultepec, as 

 commanding the nearest and most important access, to the city had 

 been foreseen by him as soon as the armistice ended, and as a mili- 

 tary man, he well knew that the isolated hill and castle could not be 

 protected by the defenders within its walls alone or by troops sta- 

 tioned either immediately at its base or on the sloping road along 

 its sides. 



General Scott's plan of assault upon the city seems now to have 

 been matured, though it required several days for full development 

 according to the reconnoissances of his engineers. He designed to 

 make the main assault on the west and not on the south of the city. 



