Research topic: Chapultepec

Chapultepec [Aztec,=grasshopper hill], 1,600 acres (650 hectares), park in Mexico City. It was originally developed as a residence for Aztec rulers. A castle built on a hill there in the late 18th cent. as a summer home for the Spanish viceroys later became the traditional home of the rulers of Mexico. Chapultepec, heavily fortified, was the scene of spectacular fighting during the Mexican War ; U.S. Gen. Winfield Scott ordered the storming of Chapultepec on Sept. 12, 1847, and it fell the next day. Nevertheless, its heroic defenders, particularly the "boy heroes" from the adjoining... Read more