The successful storming of Chapultepec Palace, located in a commanding position on a hill outside Mexico City, led to the fall of the Mexican capitol and the end of the war between the United States and Mexico. James Walker, a naturalized American of English origin, had gone to Mexico in the late 1830s and was residing in Mexico City at the time of the 1847 American invasion. Walker made his way to the American forces and volunteered as an interpreter. He thus was present at the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec where he made sketches of the battle scenes. At the conclusion of the war, Walker returned to New York where he produced paintings based on his sketches. It is likely that he also supervised the production of this unusually large chromolithograph, as it is virtually identical to the original painting. Captain Benjamin Stone Roberts, who is cited as the painting’s owner, is credited with raising the American flag over the fallen Chapultepec Palace.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.