Information from combined eye witness reports of AR
Johnston, WH Emory, HS Turner, SW Kearney and others
WARNER’S RANCHERO
2nd, 3rd – The Dragoons ascended a divide. The narrow valley leading to the summit was covered in timber and long grass. Both sides had green oak. (1) It was the first time large trees had been seen since leaving the US. They left valley and ascended the hills to the mouth where the land was covered with mesquite. It was slow and painful progress. Emerging from these, in the distance, was the Aqua Caliente waving with green grass which held the Warner (2) ranch. Jonathan Trumball Warner’s ranch was about 60 miles from San Diego. They arrived at Warner’s very unexpectedly as the ranch ‘suddenly burst’ into view at the bottom of the hill. Crows and wolves were seen in number.
Reached Warner’s about 3 p.m. on the route leading to
Sonora, SW Kearney called it a ‘frontier settlement’.
Mr. Robedeaux was the company’s interpreter.
Mr. Warner’s American looking backwoods house was adobe (3) and covered with a thatched roof. Around it were more thatched roofs with more than half naked Indians occupying them.
Ranch occupied by an American from Connecticut, now on the road to Sonora, a prisoner in the American’s hands. A man named William Marshall from New Hampshire (4) was in charge at Warner’s.
In evening the Dragoons camped at Stokes St. Isabelle (4), a ranch or old mission in better condition than Warner’s. The rancheros live in a feudal style, each with dependent Indians living near the house. The only wild game about was wild pigeons, hares and ducks – no great number of the first or latter.
There was no fire to be had to warm them, but plenty to eat and drink. The only chimney/fire in the ranch was in the kitchen. The Dragoons ate heartily of stewed and roast mutton, grapes and tortillas. The wine was abominable. Seven men ate in a single meal a full grown fat sheep
Edward Stokes was an Englishman. The Dragoons met him first when he was brought to camp at Warner’s by Warner’s man, Marshall. Stokes wore a black velvet suit with a hunting coat and trousers. The trousers were cut at the knee and open on the side to show his white drawers beneath. He wore black buckskin leggings and heels with 6 inch spurs. Stokes had a broad merry face. He was going to San Diego on the 4th and took a letter from General Kearney (5). Stokes was a former sailor who took to farming. He owned several ranches. Stokes had large amounts of stock. 1000 head of cattle. He was neutral in the war (6).
Seignior Bill or ‘Beel’ was Stokes’ Major Domo and had the keys to Stokes holdings. Bill was an English merchant man and a deserter. He had lived in the mountains for 10 years and acquired a little property and some knowledge of Spanish. ‘The sailor was visible in all of his acts’. (WHE) Bill promised to find carts to transport the Dragoons baggage to San Diego. He treated them with ‘distinguished hospitality’. Bill told them he could raise 300 men in a few hours if necessary.
Warner’s Ranchero: Area approaching Warner’s had live oak trees (4) and lofty pines on mountain tops. Nature made a ‘pretty successful attempt to clothe herself’ with shrubs and trees and grass in abundance, not green. Area preceding ranch a ‘good place for stock but not for grain’. ARJ
Near Warner’s house (7) was the source of the Aqua Caliente. The spring discharged from a great fissure of rock above it in a large volume. Draining down the same valley was a cool spring at 45 degrees. At this place the Indians had made pools for bathing – cool in summer, warm in winter. Sometimes they immersed themselves at night to keep warm. The warm spring had a temperature of 137 degrees. The smell of sulphurated hydrogen was intense when approaching.
Wheat on the ranch was large, white and bald. Produced very great. One could sew 35 bushels and reap 1000.
Approach to Stokes Santa Isabelle: Vegetation very much changed, no flower or fruit (too late in the season). Land good, surrounded by high barren mountains. Seasons too dry to cultivate without irrigation. Live oak scattered about in clumps, large stones, luxuriant grass
March to San Pasqual: Although it was the rainy season, no flowing streams were crossed after Santa Isabelle. The ground was destitute of grass. Camp was in a valley overgrown with live oak and other shrubbery.
The group passed over the mountain and had traveled app.10 miles (to San Pasqual).
Near Warner’s: Camp was pitched on the road to the Pueblo, leading a little north of west. To the south, down the valley of the Caliente, lay the road to San Diego
Camped on the meadow to the south of the Ranchero
‘Indians get $3 a month’ and flogged. ARJ There was great poverty among the Indians. They had no fires or coverings. The Indians were miserable – worse off than the worst treated slave. They seemed to live off of the offal of their masters. (WHE) They told the Dragoons they had been happier under the missions. 10 years before a change had taken place. The good priests were removed and those who removed them took over. Emory said that the ‘naked Indians of the ranchero gathered around our fires.’ In the evening the chief of the Indians made a speech to SW Kearney about keeping the peace. Told the soldiers that they should work hard.
Approach to Warner’s: Furious wind as they approached the coastal range, and then calm. Found it curious. Thermometer was 30 degrees. Flying clouds, trembling ground.
High wind all night and greater part of the day.
Approach to Stokes: The morning was murky. Cold wind. It rained heavily all day. Cloudy and drizzling, beating rain. The Dragoons were drenched to the skin.
Approach to San Pasqual: Cold rainy day. Besides the rain, a heavy fog obscured the landscape and little could be seen of the country during the day’s journey. The night was too dark to distinguish character of enemy.
After the battle: Night was cold and damp. Sleep impossible
Morning excessively cold, wet to the skin
ACTION DEC.2nd
The Dragoons camped ¼ mile west of the warm spring. They were determined to remain where they were until word was brought of what the fate of the Americans in the banditos hands was. The banditos (or ‘country people’) were said to be very savage, killing their own people and those who refused to join them.
They were informed that Commodore Stockton (8) was in San Diego with the larger part of the naval force. A letter was sent to Stockton via Stokes.
Marshall told the Dragoons that the Mexicans were still in possession of Monterey and San Francisco, and that they (the Dragoons) were now near the enemy’s stronghold where he drew his supplies, horses, cattle and men. He told them that the US was in possession of the pass to Sonora by which the enemy expected to retreat if defeated. This pass was also the way the enemy intended to communicate with Mexico and send prisoners. They were also told that the Mexicans were in arms in Pueblo de los Angeles.
Marched 18 miles that day, 994 all together
ACTION DEC. 3rd
150 horses and mules were taken on the road to San Diego 15 miles hence (from Warner’s). 25 to 27 men went to get them under command of 2nd Lt. John W. Davidson, accompanied by Kit Carson (9). Lt. Davidson returned with 75 animals at 1 p.m., 30 of which were ‘serviceable’. The majority were worthless. Frenchmen, Englishmen and Chileans followed behind him, claiming their riding animals from the group. The animals belonged to Flores**, the rebel. Also captured were several guns and lances, and one rifle. The animals not taken into service were driven along with the rest and hidden in a safe place.
ACTION DEC. 4th
Started at 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. from Warner’s toward Stokes’ ranch, taking the route to San Diego. The Dragoons marched app. 15 miles in the rain through the valley of Rio Isabel and encamped at Santa Isabelle. Their intention was to communicate with the naval forces there and establish a depot. They were told there that app. 80 men (Mexicans) were camped at a distance. The distance they were supposed to be at varied from 16 to 30 miles by report, making it uncertain for the Dragoons to make a dash in the dark. So they chose to sleep until morning.
They took dinner in two shifts – the Dragoons taking the dinner intended for the officers first so that they had to wait two hours while Seignior Bill cooked another.
Seignior Bill told SW Kearney (10) about a party of Mexicans at some mission on the road ahead, who had 500 animals. ‘I suppose we should try and capture these gentlemen’. (WHE) This was the village of San Pasqual.
ACTION DEC. 5th
The Dragoons marched from Stokes ranch toward Santa Maria with Seignior Bill as a guide. Bill had drunk too much the night before and was in a humor to chase wild horses the next morning. He was thrown from his horse and refused to go any farther. SW Kearney forced him to continue with guards on either side of him so he could not run. Bill led them astray once, but soon corrected the mistake.
On the way they met Capt. Archibald Gillespie (11), Lt. Beale (12) and Midshipman Duncan of the navy with 35 men with one small 4 lb gun, sent from San Diego with a dispatch for SW Kearney (13) by Commodore Stockton to give what information they possessed of the enemy. 6 or 700 were said to be in arms in the field throughout the territory, determined to oppose the Americans and resisting authority. These Mexicans were said to have extra horses at San Pasqual, 3 leagues distant. Gillespie camped soon after they met.
Kearney’s men passed on to Santa Maria 8 miles distant, arriving at Santa Maria 40 miles distant from San Diego after dark. There they were told that the enemy was in force 9 miles distant.
Finding wood and water but no grass there, they pressed on to a canón some 2 miles below, camping in a grove of live oak. In this area there was no water except the severe rain.
A party of the enemy was reported in the vicinity. At first it was decided Capt. Benjamin D. Moore (14) would take 60 men and make a night attack. Then, instead, SW Kearney sent Lt. Thomas C. Hammond, 1st Dragoons, with 3 men to reconnoiter the enemy. Lt. Hammond found the banditos some miles distant, but was discovered. As he ran off, the Mexicans gave three cheers. This put the enemy on the ‘qui vive’. (WHE) Hammond returned at about 2 a.m. (Hammond had with him a Californio deserter, Rafael Machado). Since they were on the main road to San Diego, with all the by-ways of escape behind them, it was deemed necessary to attack.
About 2 a.m. the call to horse was sounded.
ACTION DEC. 6th
All were afoot at 2 a.m. It had rained all the night before. Their arms were not reloaded, but ‘boots and saddles’ was the word. ‘Off we went in search of adventure’. (DrJG)
Two miles from camp the Dragoons met with Capt. Gillespie and his men who fell in with them.
They marched 9 miles before daybreak over a hilly country. Lt. William H. Emory (15) rode with General Kearney and Mr. Warner. Emory took four of his party with him, but left Messrs. Bestor and Stanly with the rest, 6 in number, to take care of the baggage, etc. Major Swords (16), along with 30 men, was left in the rear in charge of supplies.
Robinson was assigned to command the advanced guard of 12 Dragoons. They were mounted on the best horses the company had. His guard was followed by 50 Dragoons with Capt. Moore in command. Moore’s men rode on the tired mules they had ridden from Sante Fe (1050 miles). They were followed by about 20 volunteers of Gillespie’s, and then came the 2 mountain howitzers with Dragoons to manage them under charge of Lt. Davidson. These were followed by the remainder of the Dragoons, volunteers & citizens employed by the officers who were placed under the command of Major Swords, with orders to follow on the trail with the baggage. Another 15 men were left behind with Gillespie’s 4 lb gun.
The group passed over the mountain and had traveled app.10 miles when they came in sight of enemy fires. Within a mile of those fires, their light ‘shone brightly’. (WHE)
The advance guard, preceding General Kearney and his party, marched down the mountain and as soon as they reached the plain, the shout and charge was commenced. fighting men 85 in total. 160 Californios under Andres Pico (17).
Capt. Johnston ordered a trot and then a furious charge, and soon the Dragoons were engaged in hand to hand conflict with a superior force. The whole group was under ‘continuous fire’. After running the ‘broken down mules’ and horses some ¾ mile, the enemy fired. (DrJG) Our ‘advance was perfectly at their mercy’. Dr. John Griffin said that the action showed ‘decidedly more courage than conduct’. (He believed the first charge was a mistake on the part of Capt Johnston and the second, on the part of Capt. Moore.)
Johnston’s stand was made in front of the ranchero called ‘San Pasqual’. For 5 minutes the enemy held their ground before breaking and fleeing.
After the first volley, Capt. Moore led off rapidly in pursuit following the Mexicans. He ordered the charge continued with 15 men in line and not 40 all together. The enemy retreated about another ½ mile and rallied, and came at the Americans with lances. American firearms discharged by this time were wet and not working. (18)
Where Griffin was, balls whistled about ‘infernally’ for a while, but he said it was not light enough to discern anything like the line of the enemy. From the flashing of the guns on the left Griffin could see, however, that there was a considerable row.
A Mexican came dashing past Griffin somewhere along the line and was shot by Lt. Beale. Then another came past and was shot, and then a third – which turned out to be one of Gillespie’s men. Griffin kept him from being killed.
Finally the men rallied and a howitzer was used to drive the Mexicans off. The company lost the other howitzers when its mules went wild and ran away with it. Of the three men with the gun, one was killed and the other two desperately wounded.
As day dawned and the smoke cleared, the Dragoons commenced collecting their dead and wounded: 18 officers and men were killed and 13 wounded. Killed in battle were 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, 10 Privates of the 1st Dragoons, 1 Vol. Private and one man, an engineer in the Topographical Dept.
The first of the wounded Dr. Griffin saw was Lt. Thomas C. Hammond. He was lanced on the left side between the 8th and 9th ribs. Griffin sent him to the rear and said he would return to tend him. Then he met SW Kearney and saw his wounds. After that the doctor returned to the rear and ‘nearly dropped my flint’ when he was accosted. He used an empty pistol to fend the Mexican off. Next Griffin came across Capt. Gillespie with a wound directly over his heart. He learned Moore had been killed and that Lt. Hammond (Moore’s brother-in-law) had received his wound trying to save him. Capt. Moore was lanced and killed just previous to the final retreat. Lt. Hammond, also lanced, survived a few hours.
A large body of horsemen was seen in the rear after the battle and fears were entertained for Major Swords and the baggage and so General Kearney sent Lt. Emory back to check on him. T. Emory met Swords at the foot of the hill, a mile in the rear of the enemy’s first position. Returning to San Pasqual, he scoured the village for dead and wounded. The first object to meet his eyes was the ‘manly figure’ of Capt. Johnston. Johnston was perfectly lifeless, the ball having passed directly through the ‘center of his head’.
Johnston’s watch had been stolen by looters. Nothing was left of it but a fragment of the gold chain by which it had been suspended from his neck. Sgt. Falls and another Dragoon took charge of his body and carried it to camp. Capt. Johnston and one dragoon were the only ones to be either killed or wounded by balls.
Mr. Robedeaux, the company’s interpreter killed
After the battle orders were given to pack the bodies on mules with the intention of carrying them to San Diego, but not enough strong animals were left and so they were buried instead, as secretly as possible, at night for fear of looters. The dead were placed under a willow tree to the east of camp. The howling of myriad wolves was the only accompaniment to the burials. The animals had been attracted by smell of blood.
Capt. Henry Smith Turner (19) took over command as General Kearney’s wounds were grave.
SW Kearney wanted to charge the Californios again, but was talked out of it
All of the 6th was engaged in tending to the wounded.
Word was sent to San Diego for wheel carriages to be brought to cart the wounded.
ACTION DEC. 7th
The Dragoons made ambulances for the wounded and interred the dead, and then left on the march.
Small parties of the enemy were seen hanging about in sight all day
Footnotes:
(1) Green oak.
It is green oak
when the trees are first felled. It is much
softer, full of sap and can be cut more easily. Green oak conservatories are
constructed using large cuts of oak held together by beech pins. These tighten
as the green oak dries and shrinks pulling the whole construction together.
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/advice/conservatory/oak-conservatory.html
(2)
Jonathan Trumball Warner. Warner,
an American trapper, settled in Los Angeles in 1833, and in 1846 obtained the
area now known as Warner Ranch. For a history of this ranch see Joseph J. Hill,
The History of Warner’s Ranch and Its Environs (Los Angeles: Privately
Printed), 1927. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
(3)
Live oak. They are massive. The
trees grow on short, thick trunks, reaching a height of 40 to 60 feet at
maturity. The live oak is the broadest-spreading of all oaks. Its large canopy
will typically spread to nearly twice its height, which means it can shade an
area of more than 100 feet. The trunk can grow anywhere from 3 to more than 6
feet wide. The tree's wow factor lies in its width, rather than its height, with
limbs that run horizontally and sometimes sweep the ground under the massive
weight. The name derives from foliage that is evergreen through the winter
months (except in its northernmost regions) when other deciduous trees stand
bare. Its wood is hard and strong, drying to a weight of 55 pounds per cubic
foot, which puts it among the heaviest of any tree in North America.
While the species now is used primarily as a landscape or street tree,
during colonial times its hard wood made it ideal for the shipbuilding industry.
http://www.americanforests.org/productsandpubs/magazine/archives/2003fall/inprofile.php
(3) Adobe. Adobe
is one of the oldest building materials in use. It is basically just dirt that
has been moistened with water, sometimes with chopped straw or other fibers
added for strength, and then allowed to dry in the desired shape. Commonly adobe
is shaped into uniform blocks that can be stacked like bricks to form walls, but
it can also be simply piled up over time to create a structure. The best adobe
soil will have between 15% and 30% clay in it to bind the material together,
with the rest being mostly sand or larger aggregate. Too much clay will shrink
and crack excessively; too little will allow fragmentation. Sometimes adobe is
stabilized with a small amount of cement or asphalt emulsion added to keep it
intact where it will be subject to excessive weather. Adobe blocks can be formed
either by pouring it into molds and allowing it to dry, or it can pressed into
blocks with a hydraulic or leverage press. Adobe can also be used for floors
that have resilience and beauty, colored with a thin slip of clay and polished
with natural oil. Adobe buildings that have substantial eaves to protect the
walls and foundations to keep the adobe off the ground will require less
maintenance than if the walls are left unprotected.
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/adobe.htm
(4) Santa Isabel
near present-day Julian, was established as an asistencia, or
sub-mission, of the San Diego Mission in 1818.
Viva Los
Californios! The Battle of San Pasqual by Sally Cavell Johns http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
(5) Capt. Edward
Stokes, another Englishman, who arrived by way of Honolulu, married Doña Refugio,
the daughter of José Joaquín Ortega. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/books/pourade/silver/silverchapter3.htm
Edward Stokes married
into a family with strong blood connections to the PICO FAMILY. His wife was the
niece of two men who helped shape California's history. Andrés Pico
led the Californios in the fighting against the Americans, while his brother,
Pio Pico became governor in 1845, and was the last Mexican governor of
California. http://www.mountainvalleyranch.com/Stokes-Pico%20Family.htm
(6) Edward Stokes:
The 5th of December, 1846 found the
American troops encamped on the lands of Rancho Santa Maria, and enjoying a
California-style fiesta thrown in their honor by Edward Stokes. But alas,
while "wining and dining" the American soldiers, it is speculated
the owners of Rancho Santa Maria, the Edward Stokes family, remained
sympathetic to their kinsman, and warned them about the American troops; after
all it was Uncle Andres Pico, who was commanding the Californios encamped at the
near-by Indian Pueblo of San Pasqual. http://www.mountainvalleyranch.com/battle.htm
(7) Warner
Springs. The area known today
as Warner Springs Ranch was originally called Kupa, after the indigenous people
who first settled it. The valley's location at the headwaters of the San Luis
Rey River, and the hot springs found there, made it “a natural way station on
any route from the south or east through the Arizona desert to the coast of
California,” according to “Introduction to the Cupeño People,” published
by the Cupeño Cultural Center. The
original Mexican land grant for the region was bestowed “without prejudice to
the indigenes (native peoples).” The original grantee, Jose Antonio Pico,
failed as a rancher. In 1844, the property was turned over to Juan Jose Warner.
Warner's grant didn't mention the Cupeños at all, according to a 1973 history
of the Cupeños, “Mulu'wetam: The First People,” by Jane Hill and Rosinda
Nolasquez. The grant described the land as “vacant and abandoned,” evidently
a reference to the buildings that had been built by the Indians under the
supervision of Franciscan fathers from Mission San Luis Rey.
That description of vacant land flies in the face of other contemporary
accounts of lands under cultivation for grain and vineyards, and of cattle being
herded, with much of the work being done by Indians.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070128/news_lz1mi28wewere.html
(6) William
Marshall, the son of Joel and Hannah Marshall,2 was born in Providence, Rhode Island about the year
1827. Nothing is known of his childhood. He apparently came to San Diego aboard
the ship Hope in 1844 when he was about seventeen years old.3 His arrival has not been verified other than by his
own statement. Two whalers named Hope were in Hawaii in the fall of 1844.
One, a ship of 316 tons, sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts on December 18,
1843. The other, a ship of 471 tons, departed Providence, Rhode Island on
September 15, 1842.4
Marshall does not appear on the crew list of either ship.5
One other possibility
must be considered. Bancroft claims8 that Marshall was a deserter from the Hopewell,
a whaler of 413 tons which sailed from Warren, Rhode Island on August 1, 18449 and arrived at San Diego in 1845. Upon what authority
Bancroft makes his claim is not known. A crew list for Hopewell has not
been found in the National Archives. It should be noted, however, that years
later one of San Diego's American pioneers, Philip Crosthwaite,10 stated that he had come to San Diego on Hopewell
with a companion named Rhead. They deserted and hid until the ship left and then
flipped a coin to see which would get the only berth on another ship returning
to the United States. Crosthwaite lost the toss and remained at San Diego. In
his reminiscences he does not mention Marshall. Had they come on the same ship
it seems likely that Crosthwaite would have mentioned it.
Consequently, the
only evidence of Marshall's arrival is his own statement. By whatever means he
arrived, Marshall elected to stay at San Diego. During this period much trading
was carried on along the California coast and San Diego was a principal port. It
was possible for a seaman to find work at the hide houses at La Playa, the
anchorage on Point Loma, and if one wished to sever his connections with the
sea, he had only to walk across the flats three or four miles to the little
village of San Diego.
In 1846 Marshall
located at Agua Caliente (Warner Springs),11
possibly for health reasons, since the hot springs had a reputation for
medicinal value even then. If Marshall had become debilitated during his time at
sea or while at La Playa it would be natural to go to such a place to
recuperate.
It is likely,
however, that Marshall went to Agua Caliente to work for Juan Jose Warner. Agua
Caliente was within the limits of a rancho, Valle de San Jose, which had been
granted to Warner in late 1844.12
Warner and his family moved to the ranch about 1845, living in an adobe near the
hot springs.13
In May, 1846 the
United States declared war on Mexico, and a few months later warships of the
United States Navy occupied San Diego Bay. In the fall of that year a United
States reconnaissance patrol visited Warner's Ranch and arrested Warner when it
was felt he was not loyal to the United States. He was confined at San Diego.
Within days, General Stephen W. Kearny arrived at Warner's Ranch with about 100
men after an overland march from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lt. William H. Emory, a
member of this force, reported that he found the ranch was
in charge of a young fellow from New Hampshire [sic] named Marshall. We
ascertained from him that his employer was a prisoner to the Americans at San
Diego, that the Mexicans were still in possession of the whole country except
that port, San Francisco and Monterey; that we were near the heart of the
enemy's stronghold, whence he drew his supplies of men, cattle and horses, and
that we were now in possession of the great pass to Sonora. . .
Marshall spoke of a Mr. Stokes, an Englishman, who
lived fifteen miles distant, on the road to San Diego. The general at once
despatched Marshall to him, and in three hours he appeared at our camp... He
confirmed all that Marshall had said.14
In contrast to
Warner, Marshall appears to have been completely cooperative with the American
forces. He provided what information he had on California affairs, but was of
little use otherwise to General Kearny. It may be that he was too young to be
trusted with dispatches for San Diego, since Stokes took them. Other
possibilities are that Marshall was suspect since his employer was incarcerated,
or that with Warner gone Marshall was needed at the ranch to care for Mrs.
Warner and her children. Four days later General Kearny's force, together with a
detachment from San Diego which had met him, fought with the Californians at San
Pasqual. William Marshall, the
Wickedest Man in California: A reappraisal.
Leland E. Bibb http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/76winter/marshall.htm
(8) Stockton and
Stokes. At his headquarters in
San Diego, Commodore Stockton received the message carried by Edward Stokes. The
Englishman had come bearing a letter from Warner's Ranch, written and sent
by Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny. In his letter to Stockton, Kearny announced his
arrival with United States Army troops, a force of 120-odd dragoons, officially
designated the Army of the West. Stockton immediately sent out a detachment of
his men to greet the Army of the West. The two forces met up in the
Ballena Valley, thirty-five miles outside of San Diego.
The 5th of December, 1846 found the American troops encamped on the lands of Rancho Santa Maria, and enjoying a California-style fiesta thrown in their honor by Edward Stokes. But alas, while "wining and dining" the American soldiers, it is speculated the owners of Rancho Santa Maria, the Edward Stokes family, remained sympathetic to their kinsman, and warned them about the American troops; after all it was Uncle Andres Pico, who was commanding the Californios encamped at the near-by Indian Pueblo of San Pasqual.
http://www.mountainvalleyranch.com/battle.htm
Robert Stockton was born at Princeton, New Jersey into a political
family; his father Richard Stockton was a U.S. Senator and
Representative, and his grandfather, another Richard Stockton, signed the Declaration of Independence.
Robert was appointed a midshipman
in the U.S. Navy at the age of 16, serving at sea and
ashore during the War of 1812. After that conflict, Lieutenant
Stockton was assigned to ships operating in the Mediterranean,
in the Caribbean and off the coast of West
Africa. He was the first naval officer to act against the slave trade
and captured several slave ships. Stockton along with Dr. Ayrs of the
colonization society negotiated a treaty that led to the founding of the state
of Liberia.
During the later 1820s
and into the 1830s,
he primarily devoted his attention to business affairs in New
Jersey. The birth of his son John P. Stockton, later also a U.S. Senator
representing New Jersey, occurred during this time.
In 1838, Stockton resumed
active naval service as a captain. He served in the European area, but took
leave in 1840
to undertake political work. Offered the post of U.S. Secretary of the Navy by President John
Tyler in 1841,
he declined the offer, but worked successfully to gain support for the
construction of an advanced steam warship with a battery of very heavy guns.
This ship became USS Princeton, the Navy's first
screw-propelled steamer. The ship was designed by John
Ericsson. Stockton commanded her when she was completed in 1843. Although he was the
deviser of a defective gun, Captain Stockton was absolved of responsibility for
the February 1844
explosion of the gun, the Peacemaker, on board the ship. The explosion
killed two cabinet officers and several others.[citation needed]
With the temporary title of Commodore, Stockton commanded naval forces in
the eastern Pacific Ocean, and was instrumental in taking California
from Mexico
at the Battle of Rio San Gabriel and Battle
of La Mesa. He served as the first military governor of California. (Wikipedia)
(9) Kit Carson. Born in Madison County, Kentucky
near the city of Richmond, Carson was raised in Franklin, Missouri, where his family moved
before his second birthday. Carson's father, Lindsey Carson, was a farmer of Scots-Irish
descent, who had fought in the Revolutionary War under General
Wade Hampton. There were a total of fifteen Carson children: five by
Lindsey Carson's first wife, and ten by Kits mother, Rebecca Robinson. Kit was
the eleventh child in the family. The Carson family settled on a tract of land
owned by the sons of Daniel Boone, who had purchased the land from
the Spanish, prior to the Louisiana Purchase. The Boone and Carson
families became good friends, working, socializing, and intermarrying.
Kit was seven when his father was
killed by a falling tree while clearing land. Lindsey Carson's death reduced the
Carson family to a desperate poverty, forcing young Kit to drop out of school to
work on the family farm, as well as engage in hunting. At age 14, Kit was
apprenticed to a saddlemaker (David Workman) in the settlement of Franklin,
Missouri. Franklin was situated at the eastern end of the Santa
Fe Trail, which had opened two years earlier. Many of the clientele
at the saddleshop were trappers and traders, from whom Kit would hear their
stirring tales of the Far West. Carson is reported to have found work in the
saddle shop suffocating: he once stated "the business did not suite me, and
I concluded to leave [The workman's saddle shop]".
At sixteen, Carson secretly signed
on with a large merchant caravan heading to Santa Fe tending the horses, mules, and
oxen. During the winter of 1826-1827
he stayed with Matthew Kinkead, a trapper and explorer, in Taos,
New Mexico which was known as the capital of the fur trade in the
Southwest. Kinkead had been a friend of Carson's father in Missouri, and Kit
began learning the skills of a trapper from him. Additionally he learned
languages and became fluent in Spanish, Navajo, Apache, Cheyenne, Arapaho,
Paiute, Shoshone, and Ute.
After gaining experience along the Santa
Fe Trail and in Mexico on various expeditions, Carson signed on with Ewing
Young and forty other fur men in the Spring of 1829, his first official
outing as a trapper. The journey took the band into unexplored Apache country
along the Gila
River. Ewing's group was approached and attacked by Apache Indians.
It was during this encounter that Carson shot and killed one of the attacking
Indians, the first time circumstances required him to act in a way that resulted
in another's death.
Carson attended an annual mountain
man rendezvous during the summer of 1835 (at age 24) which was held that year along the Green
River in southwestern Wyoming.
He became interested in an Arapahoe woman whose name was Singing Grass (Waa-ni-beh), whose
tribe was camped nearby. Singing Grass is said to have been popular at the
rendevous, and also caught the attention of a French-Canadian trapper, Joseph
Chouinard. When Singing Grass chose Carson over Chouinard, the rejected suitor
became belligerent. Chouinard is reported to have disrupted the camp, and
finally it seems Carson could tolerate the situation no longer. Words between
the two were exchanged, and Carson and Chouinard charged each other on horses
with drawn pistols: Carson blew off the thumb of his opponent, while Chouinard's
shot missed. This incident is said to have made Carson renowned among the
mountain men, but was considered to be uncharacteristic conduct for him.
Carson considered his years as a
trapper to be "the happiest days of my life". Accompanied by Singing
Grass, he worked with the Hudson Bay Company, as well as the renowned
frontiersman Jim Bridger, trapping beaver along the Yellowstone,
Powder,
and Big
Horn Rivers, and was found throughout what is now Colorado,
Utah, Wyoming,
Idaho,
and Montana.
Carson's first child, a daughter, was born in 1837, named Adeline. The
couple's second daughter was born in 1839. Sadly, Carson's wife developed a fever shortly after the
child's birth, and died.
At this time, the nation was
undergoing a severe depression (see Panic
of 1837). The fur industry was undermined by changing fashion styles:
a new demand for silk hats replaced the demand for beaver fur. Also, the
trapping industry had devastated the beaver population; this combination of
facts ended the need for trappers. Carson stated, "Beaver was getting
scarce, it became necessary to try our hand at something else". [1]
He attended the last mountain man
rendevous, held in the summer of 1840 (again at Green River) and moved on to Bent's Fort, finding
employment as a hunter. Carson married a Cheyenne woman in 1841 but this marriage
lasted only several months. By 1842 he met and became engaged to the daughter of a prominent Taos
family: Josefa Jaramillo. After receiving instruction from Padre Antonio José Martínez, he was baptized
into the Catholic Church in 1842. When he was 34, he
married 14-year-old Josefa, his third wife, on February 6, 1843. They raised
fifteen children, the descendants of whom remain in the Arkansas Valley of
Colorado
Carson decided early in 1842 to return east to
bring his daughter Adeline to live with relatives near Carson's former home of
Franklin, for the purpose of providing her with an education. That summer he met
John C. Frémont on a Missouri
River steamboat in Missouri. Frémont was preparing to lead his
first expedition and was looking for a guide to take him to South Pass. The two
men made acquaintance, and Carson offered his services, as he had spent much
time in the area. The five month journey, made with 25 men, was a success, and
Fremont's report was published was published by Congress. His report "touched off a
wave of wagon caravans filled with hopeful emigrants" heading West.
Frémont's success in the first
expedition lead to his second expedition, undertaken in the summer of 1843, which proposed to map
and describe the second half of the Oregon
Trail, from South
Pass to the Columbia River. Due to his proven skill as a
guide in the first expedition, Carson services were again requested. This
journey took them along the Great
Salt Lake into Oregon, establishing all the land in the Great
Basin to be land-locked, which contributed greatly to the
understanding of North American geography at the time. Their trip brought them
into sight of Mount
Rainier, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount
Hood.
One purpose of this expedition had
been to locate the Buenaventura, a major east-west river that
was believed to connect the Great Lakes with the Pacific
Ocean. Though its existence was accepted as scientific fact at the
time, it was not to be found: Frémont's second expedition established that this
mystical river was a fable.
The second expedition became
snowbound in the Sierra Nevadas that winter, and was in
danger of mass starvation: however, Carson's expertise pulled them through, in
spite of being half-starved-their mules "ate one another's tails and the
leather of the pack saddles." The expedition moved south into the Mojave
Desert, enduring attacks by Indians, which killed one man. Also, when
the expedition had crossed into California, they had officially invaded Mexico. The threat of
military intervention by that country sent Fremont's expedition further
southeast, into Nevada, at a watering hole known as Las Vegas. The party
traveled on to Bent's
Fort, and by August, 1844
returned to Washington, over a year after their departure.
Another Congressional report on Fremont's expedition was published. By the time
of the second report in 1845,
Frémont and Carson were becoming nationally famous.
Somewhere along this route, Frémont
and party came across a Mexican man and a boy who were survivors of an ambush by
a band of Indians, who had killed two men, staked two women to the ground and
mutilated them, and stolen 30 horses. Carson and fellow mountain man Alex Godey
took pity on the two survivors. They tracked the Indian band for 2 days, and
upon locating them, rushed into their encampment. They killed two Indians,
scattered the rest, and returned with the horses.
"More than any other single factor or incident, [the Mojave Desert
incident] from Frémont's second expedition report is where the Kit Carson
legend was born….." Sides, Blood and Thunder, pp. 61-4
On June 1, 1845 John Frémont and
55 men left St. Louis, with Carson as guide, on the third expedition. The stated
goal was to "map the source of the Arkansas River", on the east side
of the Rocky Mountains. But upon reaching the Arkansas, Frémont suddenly made a
hasty trail straight to California, without explanation. Arriving in the
Sacramento Valley in early winter 1846, he promptly sought to stir up patriotic
enthusiasm among the American settlers there. He promised that if war with
Mexico started, his military force would "be there to protect them."
Frémont nearly provoked a battle with General Jose Castro near Monterey, which
would have likely resulted in the annilation of Frémont's group, due to the
superior numbers of the Mexican troops. Frémont then fled Mexican-controlled
California, and went north to Oregon, finding camp at Klamath Lake.
No watchman was posted on the night
of May 9, 1846, when Carson awoke to the sound of a thump. Jumping up, he saw
his friend and fellow trapper Basil Lajeunesse sprawled in blood. He called an
alarm and immediately everyone else came to: they were under attack by Indians
estimated to be several dozen in number. By the time the assailants were beaten
off, two other members of Frémonts group were dead. The one dead warrior was
judged to be a Klamath Lake Indian. Frémont's group fell into "an angry
gloom." Carson was beside himself, and Fremont reports he smashed away at
the dead warriors face until it was pulp. Fremont, Memoirs, p. 492.
To avenge the deaths of his
expedition members, Frémont chose to attack a Klamath Indian fishing village
named Dokdokwas, at the junction of the Williamson River and Klamath Lake, which
took place May 10, 1846. The action completely destroyed the village, and
involved the massacre of women and children. After the burning of the village,
Carson was nearly killed by a Klamath warrior later that day: his gun misfired,
and the warrior drew to fire a poison arrow; but Frémont, seeing Carson's
predicament, trampled the warrior with his horse. Carson stated felt that he
owed Frémont his life due to this incident.
The tragedy of Dokdokwas is deepened by the fact that most scholars now
agree that Frémont and Carson, in their blind vindictiveness, probably chose
the wrong tribe to lash out against: In all likelihood the band of Indians that
had killed [Frémont's three men] were from the neighboring Modocs….The
Klamaths were culturally related to the Modocs, but the two tribes were bitter
enemies". Sides, Blood and Thunder, p. 87
Turning south from Klamath Lake, Frémont
led his expedition back down the Sacramento Valley, and slyly promoted an
insurrection of American settlers, which he then took charge of once
circumstances had adequately developed, known as the Bear Flag Revolt. Events escalated when a
group of Mexicans murdered two American rebels. Frémont then intercepted three
Mexican men on June 28, 1846, crossing the San Francisco Bay, who landed near
San Quentin. Frémont provided Carson with indirect and ambiguous orders to
execute these three men in revenge for the deaths of the two Americans, which
Carson promptly carried out. [2]
Frémont's California Battalion
next moved south to the provincial capital of Monterey and met Commodore Robert
Stockton there in mid-July of 1846. Stockton had sailed into harbor
with two American warships and taken claim to Monterey for the United States.
Learning that the war with Mexico was underway, Stockton
made plans to capture Los Angeles and San Diego, and proceed on to Mexico City.
He joined forces with Frémont, and made Carson a lieutenant, thus initiating
Carson's military career.
Frémont's unit arrived in San
Diego on one of Stockton's ships on July 29, 1846, and took over the town
without resistance. Stockton, traveling on a separate warship, claimed Santa
Barbara a few days later. Meeting up and joining forces in San Diego, they
marched to Los Angeles and claimed this town without any challenge, and Stockton
declared California to be United States territory on August 17, 1846. The
following day, August 18, Stephen
Watts Kearney rode into Santa Fe, New Mexico with his Army of the
West and declared the New Mexican territory conquered.
Stockton and Frémont were eager to
announce the conquest of California to President Polk, and wished for Carson to
carry their correspondence overland to the President. Carson accepted the
mission, and pledged to cross the continent within 60 days. He left Los Angeles
with 15 men and 6 Delaware Indians on September 5.
Thirty one days later on October 6,
Carson chanced to meet Kearney and his 300 dragoons at the deserted village of
Valverde. [3]
Kearney was under orders from the Polk Administration to subdue both New Mexico
and California, and set up governments there. Learning that California was
already conquered, he sent 200 of his men back to Santa Fe, and ordered Carson
to guide him back to California so he could stabilize the situation there.
Kearney sent the mail on to Washington by another courier.
For the next six weeks, Lt. Carson
guided Kearny and the 100 dragoons west along the Gila River over very rugged
terrain, arriving at the Colorado River on November 25. On some parts of the
trail mules died at a rate of almost 12 a day. By December 5, three months after
leaving Los Angeles, Carson had brought Kearney's men to within 25 miles their
destination of San Diego.
A Mexican courier was captured en
route to Sonora Mexico carrying letters to General Jose Castro that reported a
Mexican revolt which had recaptured California from Commodore Stockton: all the
costal cities now were back under Mexican control, except for San Diego, where
the Mexicans had Stockton pinned down and under siege. Kearney was himself in
perilous danger, as his force was reduced both in numbers and in a state of
physical exhaustion: they had to come out of the Gila River trail and confront
the Mexican forces, or risk perishing in the desert.
While approaching San Diego,
Kearney sent a rancher ahead to notify Commodore Stockton of his presence. The
rancher, Edward Stokes, returned with 39 American troops and information that
several hundred Mexican dragoons under Capt Andres Pico were camped at the
Indian village of San Pasqual, lying on the route between him and Stockton.
Kearney decided to raid Pico inorder to capture fresh horses, and sent out a
scouting party on the night of Dec 5-6.
The scouting party encountered a
barking dog in San Pasqual, and Captain Pico's troops were aroused from their
sleep. Having been detected, Kearney decided to attack, and organized his troops
to advance on San Pasqual. A complex battle evolved, where twenty-one Americans
were killed and many more wounded: many from the long lances of the Mexican
caballeros, who also displayed expert horsemanship. By the end of the second
day, December 7, the Americans were nearly out of food and water, low on
ammunition and weak from the journey along the Gila River. They faced starvation
and possible annilation by the Mexican troops who vastly outnumbered them, and
Kearney ordered his men to dig in on top of a small hill.
Kearney then sent Carson and two
other men to slip through the siege and get reinforcements. Carson, Edward
Beale, and an Indian left on the night of December 8 for San Diego which was 25
miles away. Because their canteens made too much noise, they were left along the
path. Because their boots also made too much noise, Carson and Beale removed
them and tucked them under their belts; but these were lost, and Carson and
Beale traveled the distance to San Diego barefoot through desert, rock, and
cactus.
By December 10, Kearney had decided
all hope was gone, and planned to attempt a breakout the next morning: but that
night, 200 American troops on fresh horsed arrived, the Mexican army dispersed
with the new show of strength. Kearney was able to arrive in San Diego by
December 12. This action contributed to the prompt reconquest of California by
the American forces. (wikipedia)
(11) Captain Archibald Gillespie came to
California by way of Mexico as a secret agent for President Polk. He delivered a
message to Thomas Larkin and then joined Frémont's exploring party. Werner H.
Marti, Messenger of Destiny (San Francisco: J. Howell-Books, 1960).
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
(12) Lt. Beale, a grandson of Commodore Thomas
Truxtum, was serving on the Congress and later made six overland
transcontinental crossings. He had charge of the experimental use of camels in
the southwest. Stephen Bonsal, Edward Fitzgerald Beale (New York: G. P.
Putnam’s sons, 1912). http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
(13) Stephan Watts Kearny.
Born in New Jersey in 1794, joined the army as a first lieutenant in
1812. After twenty-one years of service in the army he reached the rank of
lieutenant-colonel. He established the civil government in Santa Fé, New Mexico
before marching to California. He was Governor of California from March to June
of 1847 and died the following year in St. Louis, Missouri. Dwight L. Clarke, Stephen
Watts Kearny. Soldier of the West (Norman, University of Oklahoma Press),
1961. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
(14)
Benjamin D. Moore originally joined the Navy as a midshipman in 1829. He
left the Navy and joined a battalion of Mounted Rangers in 1832 with the rank of
First Lieutenant. In June of 1837 he was a captain in the First Regiment of
Dragoons. His service record may be found in a letter dated January 16, 1936,
written by Richard J. Duval, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland,
on file at the Sierra Museum, San Diego. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
During his second stint in the
army, he was successively promoted from lieutenant
to captain and finally to major. He specialized in
mapping the United States border, including the Texas-Mexico border, the
United States-Canadian
border(1844–1866) and the Gadsen
Purchase (1854–1857).
In 1844, Emory served in an
expedition that produced a new map of Texan claims westward to the Rio
Grande River. He came to public attention as the author of the Notes
of a Military Reconnaissance
from Fort Leavenworth in Missouri
to San Diego, California, published by the
Thirtieth United States Congress
in 1848. This report described terrain and rivers, cities and forts and made observations about Indians, Mexicans,
primarily in New Mexico Territory, Arizona
Territory and Southern California.
It was and is considered one of the important chronicles and descriptions of the
historic Southwest, particularly noted for its maps. Emory was a reliable and
conscientous cartographer.
During the Mexican-American War, Emory served in the
Southwest and in California as Chief Topographical Engineer and later served as Adjutant
General in the Army
of the West under General Stephen
W. Kearny. After a brief return to Washington he returned to Mexico and
served under George Hughes (another Engineer officer) as the
executive officer of a regiment of Maryland volunteers.
(Wikipedia)
(16)
Thomas Swords, Major: Thomas
Swords was born November 1, 1806 and attended the US. Military Academy,
1825-1829. He was assigned to the Quartermaster Department in 1834 and was
promoted to Captain in 1837. Swords was Chief Quartermaster of the Military
Department of the Pacific from 1857-61. During the Civil War, he was Chief
Quartermaster of the Army of the Cumberland and Ohio. He was Quartermaster of
the Departments of Tennessee and Cumberland after the Civil War. A Quartermaster
is an army officer who provides clothing and supplies for the troops. In 1838
Thomas Swords married Charlotte Cotheal, who joined him at Fort Scott in 1843.
(She was the sister of Catherine or Kate Cotheal who was engaged to AR Johnston.)
At the age of 35, Swords brought considerable experience to Fort Scott, where he
oversaw the construction of the post between 1842 - 1846. Capt. and Mrs. Swords
resided with their slaves in Officer's Quarters He retired from active service
February 22, 1869, and died at New York City, March 20, 1886. http://www.nps.gov/archive/fosc/FORT/OfficersRow/offsword.html
(17) General Don
Andrés Pico (1810-1876) was an influential Mexican-Californian
in the mid-19th Century. He was born to José María Pico and Maria Eustaquia Lopez in San Diego, California.
In 1845, Andres Pico and Juan Manso were granted a nine-year lease for
the San Fernando Valley. Pico, at that time a 35-year old rancher, lived in Los
Angeles. He ran cattle on his ranch and made the Mission his rancho home.
During the Mexican-American War Pico commanded the
Mexican forces in California and was Mexican Governor of Alta
California in opposition to the U.S. provisional government. In 1846
Pico successfully led an attack on forces commanded by U.S. general Stephen Watts Kearny at San Pascual.
However, fearing Kearny might execute him, Pico signed with the American
commander John C. Frémont, the Treaty of Cahuenga January 13, 1847, which ended
the war in California. After
California became an American state, Pico remained in California,
retained his extensive landholdings, and served as a state senator from San Diego in 1860 and
1861 as a Breckenridge Democrat a Southern
sympathizer. (Wikipedia)
(18) Carbine
rifle. The
dragoons had the Hall breech-loading carbine which was the first military arm to
use percussion ignition. The men complained that the cold made it difficult to
reload the weapons if they managed to fire in the first place. William H. Dunne,
"Notes on San Pasqual," MS, Bancroft Library, 1878, p. 64. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
(19) Henry Smith Turner, The Original Journals of Henry Smith
Turner, ed. by Dwight L. Clarke (Norman, University of Oklahoma Press,
1966), pp. 86 - 122; and Lieutenant0Colonel W. H. Emory, "Notes of a
Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in
California," 30th Cong., 1st Sess., House Executive Document No. 41,
pp. 105 - 13. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
**General
José Mariá Flores (1818 – 1866) was born in New Spain, an officer in the Mexican Army and was a member of la otra
banda was appointed Governor and Commandant General pro tem of Alta California from 1846 to 1847. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/sanpasqual.htm
BATTLE OF SAN PASQUAL, UPPER CALIFORNIA,