That day saw the triumphal entry of US forces into the capital, a day symbolizing the Mexicans’ heroic resistance.
Chapultepec Castle was defended by fewer than a thousand men, including some Military School cadets who were stationed there.
That September 13, after two days of fierce bombardment, the invaders attacked Chapultepec Castle. At the foot of the ramp, and due to their enormous numerical superiority, they destroyed the active battalion of San Blas, killing its leader, Colonel Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl and nearly all his soldiers.
The invaders subsequently advanced, with flags flying, toward the castle, killing our soldiers while the last defenders of our national flag continued to shoot at them: the young Military College cadets.
Tradition has recorded the names of six of the students, whom the people have gratefully called “The Boy Heroes,” who died fighting with the invaders in close combat: Lieutenant Juan de la Barrera and cadets Agustín Melgar, Francisco Márquez, Fernando Montes de Oca, Vicente Suárez and Juan Escutia.