The hamlet or scattered houses of Churubusco, formed a strong military position on the borders of the stream which crosses the highway, and, besides the fortified and massive convent of San Pablo, it was guarded by a tête de pont with regular bastions and curtains at the head of a bridge over which the road passes from the hacienda of San Antonio to the city. The stream was a defence;—the nature of the adjacent country was a defence;—and here the fragments of the Mexican army,—cavalry, artillery and
infantry, had been collected from every quarter,—panic stricken, it is true,—yet apparently resolved to contest the passage of the last outwork of importance in front of the garita of San Antonio Abad.
When Worth and Pillow reached this point, Twiggs had already been sometime hotly engaged in attacking the embattled convent. The two advancing Generals immediately began to manœuvre closely upon the tête de pont, which was about four hundred and fifty yards east of the convent, where Twiggs still earnestly