Battle of Chapultepec in the Mexican-American War

The Battle of Chapultepec was fought September 12-13, 1847, during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). With the start of the war in May 1846, American troops led by Major General Zachary Taylor scored quick victories at the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma before crossing the Rio Grande to strike the fortress city of Monterrey. Assaulting Monterrey in September 1846, Taylor captured the city after a costly battle. After the Monterreys capitulation, he annoyed President James K. Polk when he gave the Mexicans an eight-week armistice and permitted Monterreys defeated garrison to go free.   With Taylor and his army holding Monterrey, debate commenced in Washington regarding American strategy moving forward. Following these conversations, it was decided that a campaign against the Mexican capital at Mexico City would be critical to winning the war. As a 500-mile march from Monterrey over difficult terrain was recognized as impractical, the decision was made to land an army on the coast near Veracruz and march inland. This choice made, Polk was next required to select a commander for the campaign. Scotts Army Though popular with his men, Taylor was an ardent Whig who had publicly criticized Polk on several occasions. Polk, a Democrat, would have preferred a member of his own party, but lacking a qualified candidate, he chose Major General Winfield Scott.   A Whig, Scott was seen as posing less of a political threat. To create Scotts army, the bulk of Taylors veteran units were directed to the coast. Left south of Monterrey with a small force, Taylor successfully defeated a much larger Mexican force at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. Landing near Veracruz in March 1847, Scott captured the city and began marching inland. Routing the Mexicans at Cerro Gordo the following month, he drove towards Mexico City winning battles at Contreras and Churubusco in the process. Nearing the edge of the city, Scott attacked the Molino del Rey (Kings Mills) on September 8, 1847, believing there to be a cannon foundry there. After hours of heavy fighting, he captured the mills and destroyed the foundry equipment. The battle was one of the bloodiest of conflict with the Americans suffering 780 killed and wounded and the Mexicans 2,200. Next Steps Having taken Molino del Rey, American forces had effectively cleared many of the Mexican defenses on the western side of the city with the exception of Chapultepec Castle. Situated atop a 200-foot hill, the castle was a strong position and served as the Mexican Military Academy. It was garrisoned by fewer than 1,000 men, including the corps of cadets, led by General Nicolà ¡s Bravo. While a formidable position, the castle could be approached via a long slope from Molino del Rey. Debating his course of action, Scott called a council of war to discuss the armys next steps. Meeting with his officers, Scott favored assaulting the castle and moving against the city from the west. This was initially resisted as the majority of those present, including Major Robert E. Lee, desired to attack from the south. In the course of the debate, Captain Pierre G.T. Beauregard offered an eloquent argument in favor of the western approach which swung many of the officers into Scotts camp. The decision made, Scott began planning for the assault on the castle. For the attack, he intended to strike from two directions with one column approaching from the west while the other struck from the southeast. Armies Commanders United States Major General Winfield Scott7,180 men Mexico General Antonio Lopez de Santa AnnaGeneral Nicholas Bravoaround 1,000 men near Chapultepec The Assault At dawn on September 12, American artillery began firing on the castle. Firing through the day, it halted at nightfall only to resume the next morning. At 8:00 AM, Scott ordered the firing to stop and directed the attack to move forward. Advancing east from Molino del Rey, Major General Gideon Pillows division pushed up the slope spearheaded by an advance party led by Captain Samuel Mackenzie. Advancing north from Tacubaya, Major General John Quitmans division moved against Chapultepec with Captain Silas Casey leading the advance party. Pushing up the slope, Pillows advance successfully reached the walls of the castle but soon stalled as Mackenzies men had to wait for the storming ladders to be brought forward. To the southeast, Quitmans division encountered a dug-in Mexican brigade at the intersection with the road leading east into the city. Ordering Major General Persifor Smith to swing his brigade east around the Mexican line, he directed Brigadier General James Shields to take his brigade northwest against Chapultepec. Reaching the base of the walls, Caseys men also had to wait for ladders to arrive. Ladders soon arrived on both fronts in large numbers allowing the Americans to storm over the walls and into the castle. The first over the top was Lieutenant George Pickett. Though his men mounted a spirited defense, Bravo was soon overwhelmed as the enemy attacked on both fronts. Pressing the assault, Shields was severely wounded, but his men succeeded in pulling down the Mexican flag and replacing it with the American flag. Seeing little choice, Bravo ordered his men to retreat back to the city but was captured before he could join them (Map). Exploiting the Success Arriving on the scene, Scott moved to exploit the capture of Chapultepec. Ordering Major General William Worths division forward, Scott directed it and elements of Pillows division to move north along the La Verà ³nica Causeway then east to assault the San Cosmà © Gate. As these men moved out, Quitman re-formed his command and was tasked with moving east down the Belà ©n Causeway to conduct a secondary attack against the Belà ©n Gate. Pursuing the retreating Chapultepec garrison, Quitmans men soon encountered Mexican defenders under General Andrà ©s Terrà ©s. Using a stone aqueduct for cover, Quitmans men slowly drove the Mexicans back to the Belà ©n Gate. Under heavy pressure, the Mexicans began to flee and Quitmans men breached the gate around 1:20 PM. Guided by Lee, Worths men did not reach the intersection of the La Verà ³nica and San Cosmà © Causeways until 4:00 PM. Beating back a counterattack by Mexican cavalry, they pushed towards the San Cosmà © Gate but took heavy losses from the Mexican defenders. Fighting up the causeway, American troops knocked holes in the walls between buildings to advance while avoiding Mexican fire. To cover the advance, Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant hoisted a howitzer to the bell tower of the San Cosmà © church and began firing on the Mexicans. This approach was repeated to the north by US Navy Lieutenant Raphael Semmes. The tide turned when Captain George Terrett and a group of US Marines were able to attack the Mexican defenders from the rear. Pushing forward, Worth secured the gate around 6:00 PM. Aftermath In the course of the fighting at the Battle of Chapultepec, Scott suffered around 860 casualties while Mexican losses are estimated at around 1,800 with an additional 823 captured. With the citys defenses breached, Mexican commander General Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna elected to abandon the capital that night. The following morning, American forces entered the city. Though Santa Anna conducted a failed siege of Puebla shortly thereafter, large-scale fighting effectively ended with Mexico Citys fall. Entering into negotiations, the conflict was ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in early 1848. The active participation in the fighting by the US Marine Corps led to the opening line of the Marines Hymn, From the Halls of Montezuma...

Homosexuality in Victorian and Elizabethan Literature.

Alexander Lucero AP English 12 Yu 5.17.12 Homosexuality Portrayed in Literature: Threat To Yourself and Those Around You The Victorian era and Elizabethan era had many homophobic attributes, just as todays society does. Gothic writers of the Victorian Age played off of the fear and immorality of homosexuality and used those feelings as a basis for their novels. Bram Stoker told a story about a vampire that challenged the Victorian gender roles and managed to reverse them, making men faint like women, and making women powerful like men, and called it Dracula. Mary Shelley created a a physical being out of a mans suppressed homosexuality due to his Victorian male upbringing; a man named Frankenstein. Robert Stevenson described what†¦show more content†¦People believe that by allowing homosexuals to marry that it will threaten â€Å"the sanctity of marriage†. Homosexual men are infamous for being promiscuous, at least that is the label that has been placed on most if not all homosexual men, and for this reason sexually transmitted diseases have become something expected of them. This must have been a belief in the Victorian era, since syphilis was the disease that was feared and said to have come from sodomy. In this era, violence from society also attacked homosexuality. Homosexuals were hung, or lynched. (Sadownick par. 5) This history of homophobia shows that it grows in society from a persons upbringing. Things occur in a persons life that cause them to act in certain ways and believe specific things. The public hatred of gay men taught the generations that being gay was wrong, and that people that were gay needed to be punished. Homophobia was strong in the days of the Gothic writers, and though it has weakened, it still affects people in todays society. It even dates back to the Renaissance days, and is presented by Dante Aligheri is his Inferno. And for this reason doth the smallest round/ Seal with its signet Sodom[...]†. Sodom is a city known for crude sexual acts, which is where sodomy gets its name from. Since the Inferno is a world created by Dante, he believes that sodomy is a sin that is worse than suicide, and decides to put it just before the entranceShow MoreRelatedThe Twelfth Night, By Oscar Wilde1158 Words   |  5 Pageslove and courtship by altering the gender roles of Elizab ethan society. In the beginning of the play, Olivia has recently lost her husband. Due to her unbearable grief, she commits herself to seclusion and celibacy for the next seven years. In the meantime, the powerful nobleman Orsino has fallen madly in love with Olivia. As Olivia exhibits passiveness and becomes the object of desire of a man, she follows the conventional feminine norms of Elizabethan era England. However, feminine gender roles are

American International Group Free Essays

AIG holding company deals with insurance as well as other activities that are related to insurance in America with its operations through several subsidiaries. The primary activities of the company incorporate the general insurance as well as life insurances and the operation services dealing with retirement. The company also undertakes financial services as well as financial management. We will write a custom essay sample on American International Group or any similar topic only for you Order Now The operating segments of the company allows for the provision of insurance, the provision of services as well as products to business bodies and the individuals alike in over 130 countries together with their jurisdictions. The company was involved in a sale of about a half of its stakes in the city airport of London. The company also made a sale of the security portfolios that backs the residential mortgage to Maiden Lane (David John 7). AIG happened to be on of the reputable insurance organizations in America just prior to the sudden collapse of the company around the ninth month of 2008. The actual cause of the collapse was a heavy weight involving bad debts as a result of the insurance that the company made against securities backed by mortgages. Federal Reserve initially took the initiative of bailing the company with an infusion involving over eighty five billion US dollars. Despite of this initiative, the trend of the losses was on the increase leading to the announcement by the treasury of a fresh rescue package in November of the same year. This package was a result of the escalating cost to the extent of US $ 150 billion (The NY Times par. 1). On the third month of 2009, the federal states government made an agreement for the provision of an extra US $ 30 billion to the company with more soft terms. The extent of the loan was on the upward side and the extent of the loss of the company was in the tune of US $ 61. 7 billion (The NY Times par. 2). This was a mega loss on a quarterly basis that was recorded in history. In its history, the company received an intervention from the American government for four times for the purpose of the aversion of its bankrupsy. The interventions have resulted to the escalation of the government shares in the company to the extent of 80%. The interventions occurred in the form loans amounting to over US $ 60 billion, preferred shares acquisition amounting to US $ 40 billion. An additional US $ 50 billion was invested in the company with the objectives of soaking up of the toxic assets of the company (The NY Times par. 2). This company was faced by outrage of significant magnitude on the realization of the fact that bonuses amounting to over US$ 165 million had been paid in the recent past to the members involved in the unit of trade that was instrumental to the collapse of the company. This was an incident that took place in the 15th day of March. This prompted President Obama to direct the treasury to assess the possibility of the blockage of the payments as well as its recovery (The NY Times par. 4). This was followed by a hearing composed of a highly emotional congress led by the chief executive Edward Liddy. The executive requested all of the employees whose annual income is above US $ 100 000 who had participated in the payout of the bonus to refund half of it. This had the reflection of the disgust the public as well as the political arena were exposed to due to the action of rewarding the individuals who took part in the collapse of the company and distressing the economy. Majority of them expressed their desire to refund the full amount of what they had been awarded (The NY Times par. 6). Although this company has its roots in the United States, its origin is actually Asia. The founder of the company was a veteran of the First World War named Cornelius V. Stars. The focus of the company in 1960 was the increments of the share of the company of the business of life insurance as well as writing unusual coverage. These include examples of kidnapping insurance as well as protection suits by the officers and the directors of companies. The problems of this company have their accommodation in the financial units that are based in London. The group offering financial services ties the security and value of the homes of the vendor. The decline in the value of the homes as well as the value of the mortgages was the contributing factor of the problems of the company. The distress of the company was preceded by the unusual period associated with turmoil (The NY Times par. 12). The early part of 2005 was characterized by questions regarding the company’s financial transaction that brought about the improvement of the earnings of the company. The complex structure of the company as well as its aggressive approach is a reflection of the company’s determination for the creation of an empire of a global standard whose operations were to complement the business (The NY Times par. 12). Works Cited The NY Times. American International Group 26th March 2009 March 19 2009 http://topics. nytimes. com/topics/news/business/companies/american_international_gro up/index. html David, Frost. John, Greenya. American International Group. NY: U. S. News and World Report, 1988. How to cite American International Group, Papers