The problem
that now lay before General Scott was a very different one from that which
Cortez had faced in his siege of the city. In his day Mexico was built on
an island in the centre of a large lake, which was crossed by a number of
causeways, broken at intervals by canals whose bridges could be removed.
During the centuries that succeeded this lake had disappeared, low, marshy
lands occupying its site. The city, however, was still reached by
causeways, eight in number, raised about six feet above the marsh level.
In these ended the five main roads leading to the city. A large canal
surrounded the capital, and within its circle were smaller ones, all now
filled with water, as this was the rainy season. The problem of bridging
these under fire was one of the difficulties that confronted the
Americans.
General Scott decided to approach the city by the causeways of San Cosme,
Belen, and Tacubaya, which were defended by formidable works, the
outermost of which was Molino del Rey, a fortified position at the foot of
a slope beyond which a grove of cypresses led to the hill of Chapultepec.
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