Rendezvous with History
The Aztec Club's Sesquicentennial Tour

On to Vera Cruz!

The following morning we set out from Mexico City on board our luxurious bus for the journey south and east toward Vera Cruz. We followed faithfully, in reverse, the path of our ancestors -- much of the way traversing the National Highway which parallel the dirt trails, mountains and plains the advancing force took.

There was little visible evidence of those battles this day. We visited Cholula, the colonial city famous for its 365 churches and gigantic Teocali, and saw Rosario Chapel and the magnificent Cathedral at Puebla. We stopped for lunch at the quaint Molino San José del Puente before proceeding along the road to Vera Cruz.

Following our epicurean meal, we continued on through Perote, Jalapa and Cerro Gordo before arriving at Vera Cruz late Sunday evening.

At Vera Cruz

Fiesta Americana Hotel - Vera Cruz

We "camped" the next two evenings at Fiesta Americana, a new five-star hotel located on the very beach, opposite Sacrificio Island, where the Marines landed in 1847.

We relived the amphibious landing, which was composed of 67 surf boats, each holding 75 men, under cover of the guns of our fleet, commanded by Commodore Conner, with brilliant naval officers that included Commodores Matthew C. Perry and Josiah Tatnall, and Captain John Henry Aulick, who commanded the Naval Battery and signed the Articles of Capitulation on behalf of the Navy. It is this first amphibious landing that the Marine Corps Hymn memorializes as "the Halls of Montezuma".

The Beachfront of Fiesta American Hotel facing Sacrificios Island

Sacrificios Island, where the
U. S. Marines amphibious landing occurred

We visited the Castle San Juan d'Ulloa, the fortress upon which for three days and nights five American siege batteries, commanded alternately by Captain Aulick, Captain Robert E. Lee and Captain Isaac Mayo, rained red ruin. On the morning of March 25th General Landero, commanding the Mexican Garrison of the city and castle, sent in a flag of truce with overtures of surrender.

Castle at San Juan d'Ulloa

Castle at San Juan d'Ulloa

Castle at San Juan d'Ulloa

Having actually traveled the same routes, we gained a much better understanding of the Mexican War experiences of our forefathers, and the sacrifices made by both sides during that war.

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