Street Fighting in the Calle de Iturbide, 1846
Monterrey, which had resisted Spanish troops during Mexico’s war for independence (1820–1821), was captured by the Americans only after bloody house-to-house fighting in the Mexican War (1846–1848). Protected by thick walls and shuttered windows, Mexican defenders pour a withering fire on the dark-uniformed American troops and buckskin-clad frontier fighters. A large Catholic cathedral looms in the background, its foundations obscured by the smoke from the Mexicans’ cannons. West Point Museum, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY.