1847
Battle of Chapultepec
The setting
Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City, Mexico
Fortified hilltop castle (a former military academy) above causeways approaching the capital
Reveal the outcome
Recorded sideUnited States
Recorded resultVictory
Following an artillery bombardment, U.S. forces stormed the castle with scaling ladders and seized the height, opening the gates of Mexico City; the capital fell the next day.
How the atlas explains it
Coordinated bombardment then escalade overwhelmed a smaller garrison on commanding ground; capturing the height collapsed the western defenses of the capital.
What followed
Last major battle before the fall of Mexico City; remembered in Mexico for Los Ninos Heroes (the young cadets) and in the U.S. Marines' Hymn ('the Halls of Montezuma').