Churubusco

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

BATTLE OF, fought in Mexico, Aug. 20, 1847. After the bat- Contreras, fought on the same ter having a special service in the prayer Santa Ana, with some 27,000 men, made a stand at this hamlet, on the river Churubusco, 6 miles S. of the City of Mexico, to resist the advance of the United States army under General Scott. Churubusco had the strongly fortified convent of San Pablo and an elevated causeway with a stone bridge across the river. Generals Worth and Pillow attacked and carried the bridge; the convent, after holding out two and one-half hours, yielded to General Twiggs. General Shields, who had been engaged on the right, joined in the pursuit, which extended nearly to the City of Mexico. Of 8,000 United States troops in the two actions there were 139 killed and 926 wounded; the Mexicans lost 4,000 killed and wounded, 3,000 prisoners, 37 guns, many small arms, and much ammunition. of islands known as the Chusan Archipelago; lies off the coast of China, about 40 miles N. E. of Ningpo. It has an area of over 230 square miles, and a population of about 250,000; and although mountainous in the center, it is generally fertile, and everywhere carefully cultivated. Ting-hai, the capital, a walled town about 3 miles in circumference, is, from its position on the route between Canton and Peking close to the great ports of Shanghai and Ningpo, a place of both strategic and commercial importance, and its land-locked harbor is a busy shipping center. There are few manufactures, but its carved work and silver wares are in repute, and cordage, matting, and fans are exported. It was taken by the British in 1840, 184 and held till 1841, the close of the war; and in 1860 it was again occupied by an English force. Pop. 30,000 to 40,000. The most remarkable of the surrounding group is the sacred island of Pu-tu, a mile E. of Chusan, covered with Buddhist temples, pagodas, and monasteries, and inhabited by upward of 1,000 monks. The chief monastery is one of the richest in China.