Sketches of the campaign in northern Mexico : in eighteen hundred forty-six and seven / by an officer of the First Regiment of Ohio volunteers.

THE FIGHT IN THE CITY. 199
open a fire upon the central parts of the town. Colonel
Wood's regiment of Rangers dismounted, and joined the
attacking party. They were excellent marksmen, and their
equipments were most suitable for the work in hand. The
Americans, no longer annoyed by the Mexican artillery,
seized upon the nearest houses, and mounting to the roofs or
breaking through. walls, slowly forced their way toward the
heart of the beleaguered city. They were soon engaged,
and now upon more equal terms, in a desperate conflict with
the defenders. House after house, and square after square,
were wrested from them. The Mexicans fought in sullen
silence, while our men, assured of victory, made the welkin
ring with their cheers.
In the meantime, General Worth, supposing from the
heavy fire on our side of the town, that General Taylor was
conducting a main assault, and that orders fbr his co-operation, having to travel a circuit of several miles, had miscarried, organized two column of attack, and descending firom
the Obispado, launched his steady and enthusiastic battalions
once more upon the foe. Bragg's and Ridgely's light artillery were brought in on the east side, and Duncan'b and
Mackail's on the west side of the city. Sections of these
batteries thundered simultaneously through the principal
streets, advancin g after every discharge. The enemy thus
pressed between two fires, slowly retired, defending every
wall and house-top with the heroic fortitude that has characterized their race in resisting sieges. Soon after midday, as
if by mutual consent, both parties took a short breathingspell, and a deathlike stillness pervaded the streets, which