When Gen. Winfield Scott landed his troops on the beaches near Vera Cruz in what was to be the drive to capture Mexico City and end the Mexican War, he was happily surprised to encounter no resistance on the beachhead. Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana was engaged up north with Zachary Taylor, suffering an ignoble defeat at Buena Vista (which the Napoleon of the West, in a glorious display of chutzpah, announced as a victory over the American forces) and was unable to oppose Scott's landing, but this does not explain why nobody managed to greet the U.S. troops on the beach and protect the Halls of Montezuma. The Americans met no opposition because the Mexican troops not accompanying Santa Ana were busy fighting to suppress the "Polko" rebellion.
