of each other; and in their rear, in front of the city, were the fortifications of Churubusco. General Scott, with the whole American army was, therefore, apparently hemmed in between the lakes and the Pedregal on his flanks; the Mexican fortifications and army in front; and the steep mountains towards Cuernavaca in his rear. He was obliged, accordingly, either to retreat by the defiles through which he had advanced from Chalco,—to climb the steeps behind him and pass them to the tierra caliente,—to force the position in front at the hacienda of San Antonio,—or to burst the barrier of the Pedregal on his left, and, sweeping round the rim of the valley, to advance towards the capital through the village of San Angel. Such were some of the dangers and difficulties that menaced Scott on his arrival at San Agustin. He was in the heart of the enemy's country, in front of a capital aroused by pride, patriotism and despair, and possessing all the advantages of an accurate knowledge of the ground on which it stood, or by which it was surrounded. Scott, on the other hand, like the mariner in storm on a lee shore, was obliged to feel his way along the dangerous coast with the lead, and could not advance with that perfect confidence which is ever the surest harbinger of success.
The reconnoissances of the American engineers which had been pushed boldly, in front, on the main road, to the north, by the hacienda of San Antonio, soon disclosed the difficulty in that direction. But among the mass of information which the American General received at Puebla, his engineers learned that there was a pathway through this Pedregal whose route had been indicated by the spies with sufficient distinctness and certainty to justify a hope that he might be able to render it practicable for his whole army, and, thus, enable him to turn the right flank of the Mexicans' strongest positions. There is no doubt, as subsequent events demonstrated, that the ground in the neighborhood of Contreras, where the road descends from the mountains and barrancas towards San Angel was of great importance to