Battle of Contreras

The Battle of Contreras, also known as the Battle of Padierna, took place during August 19–20, 1847, in the final encounters of the Mexican-American War. In the Battle of Churubusco, fighting continued the following day. During the march on Mexico City, the U.S. army under Major General Winfield Scott found its way north blocked by a strong Mexican force at the "el peñon" (near the current airport of Mexico City). Scott settled down at "peña pobr... more

The Battle of Contreras, also known as the Battle of Padierna, took place during August 19–20, 1847, in the final encounters of the Mexican-American War. In the Battle of Churubusco, fighting continued the following day. During the march on Mexico City, the U.S. army under Major General Winfield Scott found its way north blocked by a strong Mexican force at the "el peñon" (near the current airport of Mexico City). Scott settled down at "peña pobre" on the southwest of Mexico City, and from Zacatepet hill, sent a force west across the "pedregal", a lava field, to the town of San Jerónimo to flank the Valencia's Mexican position at "Rancho Padierna", on Contreras. Mexican commander and President Antonio López de Santa Anna dispatched the "Army of the North" of about 5,000 soldiers under Gabriel Valencia to flank the Americans. The Battle of Contreras or Padierna began on August 19 of 1847, and culminated at dawn on August 20, on the outskirts of Mexico City, at Padierna, among the... less