General Taylor having successfully invaded Northern Mexico moved the base of active operations to Vera Cruz on the east coast. In January 1847, the 4th Infantry was taken by sea to the port of Vera Cruz and after a siege, the city capitulated. General Scott commanding the Army at Vera Cruz ordered the advance on the capital, Mexico City, in April. On 17 April and 18th General Scott's forces moved through the mountain pass at Gerro Gordo, where General Santa Anna lost his wooden leg in a hasty retreat. The Mexican soldiers fought well and the pass was won only after desperate attacks. Garrison duty At the finish of the war the 4th Infantry left from Vera Cruz, and reached Camp Jeff Davis, Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 23 July 1848. The regiment was ordered to proceed by sea to New York and to take station at several different points on the lakes, between Mackinac and Plattsburgh. Ordinary garrison duties were performed until June 1852. The regiment was consolidated at Fort Columbus, New York, to board the SS Ohio and travel to Aspinwall, on the Isthmus of Panama on 5 July 1852. Their mission was to travel across the Isthmus of Panama and set up camp on the Pacific coast to protect early settlers of the Pacific Northwest. After a long journey on the overcrowded ship (1,100 officers, men and camp followers) the regiment safely reached Aspinwall on 16 July 1852. The rainy season was at its height on the Isthmus and cholera was raging. Transportation was lacking for the trip across the Isthmus of Panama, the jungles, mountains, and rivers were difficult to cross; and cholera decimated the organization as well as the families who accompanied the men. The total deaths from cholera, fever, and allied diseases from the time the regiment arrived on the Isthmus to a few weeks after the arrival at Benicia on the west coast, amounted to one officer and 106 enlisted men. On arrival on the Pacific coast, the regiment was distributed among many small posts. Vancouver Barracks, Fort Townsend, Fort Hoskins, Fort Humboldt, Fort Dalles, Fort Steilacoom, Fort Jones, Fort Boise, Fort Lane, Fort Reading, Fort Yamhill, Orford, Fort Walla Walla, Crook, Fort Ter-Waw, Fort Cascades, Fort Simcoe, Fort Gaston, Chehalis, Fort Yuma, and Fort Mohave were all garrisoned and many of them built by the 4th Infantry at some time between 1852 and 1861.