Conquest of California
Encyclopedia
The "Conquest of California" or Conquest of Alta California by the United States covers the initial 1846 period of the Mexican-American War in Alta California
, the present day state of California
, United States. The Conquest of California was marked by a series of small battles over 1846.
, stationed in Monterey, on hearing rumors of war tried to keep peace between the Americans and the small Mexican military garrison commanded by José Castro. American army captain John C. Frémont
with about 60 well-armed men had entered California in December 1845 and was making a slow march to Oregon when they received word that war between Mexico and the U.S. was imminent.
. They made up a flag and raised the "Bear Flag" over Sonoma. Days later the U.S. Army, led by Fremont, took over on June 23. The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic
." No government was ever organized but the Bear Flag Revolt has become part of the state's folklore.
being extensively reinforced till it had roughly half the U.S. Navy's ships
. Since it took 120 to over 200 days to sail from the ports on the east coast around Cape Horn
to the ports in Hawaii and California these movements had to be made well in advance of any possible conflict to be effective. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, the squadron's ships operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local ports of call in the Hawaiian Islands and on the Pacific coast. Their orders were in the event of war to capture the ports and cities of California. Commodore John Drake Sloat, commander of the Pacific Squadron
, on hearing of a possible state of war between Mexico and the United States and the Bear Flag Revolt
in Sonoma, ordered his naval forces to start occupying ports in Northern California. The ships USS Savannah
with USS Cyane and captured
the Alta Californian capital city of Monterey on 7 July 1846 without firing a shot. Two days later on 9 July, captured San Francisco (then Yerba Buena) without firing a shot. On July 15, Sloat transferred his command to Commodore Robert F. Stockton
, a much more aggressive leader. Definitive news reached Stockton in July that war had been declared between the U. S. and Mexico. Stockton's Pacific Squadron
s 400 to 650 Marines
and Blue Jackets (sailors), taken from several ships, were the only major U. S. ground force in California. The rest of Stockton's men were needed to man his vessels. To supplement his small force of Marines and sailors Commodore Stockton authorized John C. Frémont
of the U. S. Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers
to organize a volunteer militia of about 160 men—the California Battalion
. They were to act primarily as occupation forces to free up Stockton's Marines and sailors. The California Battalion's core was based in large part around the approximate 30 army personnel and 30 scouts, guards,ex-fur trappers, Indians, geographers, topographers and cartogaphers
in Fremont's exploration force. The American Marines, sailors and militia easily took over the cities and ports of northern California; within days they controlled Monterey
, San Francisco
, Sonoma
, Sutter's Fort
in Sacramento
and other small towns in Northern California. Nearly all were occupied without a shot being fired. The southern cities and ports rapidly followed suit with almost no blood shed.
s, primarily located in Southern California around Los Angeles
. Many of these, lived on the 455 ranchos
that had slightly more than 8600000 acres (34,803 km²) claimed (nearly all bestowed by the local governor to friends) averaging about 18900 acres (76.5 km²) each. Most of the over 2,000 American immigrants (nearly all adult males) lived in the northern half of California. Most of them approved of the change in government and gave only token resistance to Stockton and Fremont's forces.
fled from Los Angeles. When Stockton's forces entered Los Angeles unresisted on August 13, 1846, the nearly bloodless conquest of California seemed complete. Stockton, however, left too small a force (36 men) in Los Angeles, and the Californio
s, acting on their own and without help from Mexico, led by José Mariá Flores
, forced the small American garrison to retire in late September.
Soon afterwards, 200 reinforcements sent by Stockton, led by US Navy Captain William Mervine were repulsed in the Battle of Dominguez Rancho
on October 7–9, near San Pedro, where 14 U.S. Marines were killed. Meanwhile, General Kearny with a much reduced squadron of 100 dragoons finally reached California after a grueling march across New Mexico, Arizona and the Sonoran Desert
. On December 6, 1846, they fought the Battle of San Pasqual
near San Diego, California, where 18 of Kearny's troop were killed—the largest American casualties lost in battles in California.
area on January 8, 1847, linking up with Frémont's men and with American forces totaling 660 troops, they fought the Californios in the Battle of Rio San Gabriel
and the next day they fought the Battle of La Mesa
. The last significant body of Californios surrendered to American forces January 12, 1847, marking the end of the war in California.
" was signed on January 13, 1847, and essentially terminated hostilities in California. The treaty was drafted in English and Spanish by José Antonio Carrillo
, approved by American Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Frémont
and Mexican Governor Andrés Pico
at Campo de Cahuenga
in what is now North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
. It was later ratified by Fremont's superiors: Commodore Robert F. Stockton
and General Stephen Kearny
(brevet rank).
of New York was asked to raise a volunteer regiment of ten companies of 77 men each to go to California with the understanding that they would be muster out and stay in California. They were designated the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
and took part in the California Campaign and the Pacific Coast Campaign
. In August and September 1846 the regiment trained and prepared for the trip to California. Three private merchant ships, Thomas H Perkins, Loo Choo, and Susan Drew, were chartered, and the sloop was assigned convoy detail. On 26 September the four ships sailed for California. Fifty men who had been left behind for various reasons sailed on 13 November 1846 on the small storeship USS Brutus. The Susan Drew and Loo Choo reached Valparaíso, Chile by 20 January 1847 and they were on their way again by 23 January. The Perkins did not stop until San Francisco, reaching port on 6 March 1847. The Susan Drew arrived on 20 March and the Loo Choo arrived on 26 March 1847, 183 days after leaving New York. The Brutus finally arrived on 17 April 1847.
After desertions and deaths in transit the four ships brought 648 men to California. The companies were then deployed throughout Upper-Alta and Lower-Baja California (captured by the Navy, but later negotiated away) from San Francisco to La Paz, Mexico. The ship Isabella sailed from Philadelphia on 16 August 1846, with a detachment of one hundred soldiers, and arrived in California on 18 February 1847, the following year, at about the same time that the ship Sweden arrived with another detachment of soldiers. These soldiers were added to the existing companies of Stevenson's 1st New York Volunteer Regiment. These troops essentially took over nearly all of the Pacific Squadron's on-shore military and garrison
duties and the California Battalion
's garrison duties.
The Mormon Battalion
served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men were led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular United States Army
senior officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march, at nearly 2,000 miles in length from Council Bluffs, Iowa
to San Diego, California
. This remains one of the longest single military march in U.S. history.
The Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego, California
on January 29, 1847, after a march of some 1,900 miles from Iowa. For the next five months until their discharge on July 16, 1847 in Los Angeles
, the battalion trained and did garrison duties in several locations in southern California
before their discharge. Discharged members of the Mormon Battalion were helping build a sawmill for John Sutter
when gold was discovered there in January 1848 starting the California Gold Rush
.
In January 1847 Army lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman
and about 100 regular U.S. Army soldiers arrived in Monterey. American forces in the pipeline continued to dribble into California.
, signed in February, 1848, marked the end of the Mexican-American War. In that treaty Mexico formally ceded Alta California and its other northern territories east through Texas
for $15,000,000. This largely unsettled territory constituted nearly half of its claimed territory with about 1% (about 45,000) of its then population of about 4,500,000.
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, the present day state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States. The Conquest of California was marked by a series of small battles over 1846.
Beginnings
When war was declared on May 13, 1846, between the United States and Mexico, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for definite word of war to get to California. U.S. consul Thomas O. LarkinThomas O. Larkin
Thomas Oliver Larkin was an early American emigrant to Alta California and a signer of the original California Constitution. He was the United States' first and only consul to the California Republic.-Early years:...
, stationed in Monterey, on hearing rumors of war tried to keep peace between the Americans and the small Mexican military garrison commanded by José Castro. American army captain John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
with about 60 well-armed men had entered California in December 1845 and was making a slow march to Oregon when they received word that war between Mexico and the U.S. was imminent.
Bear Flag Revolt
On June 15, 1846, some 30 settlers, mostly Americans, staged a revolt and seized the small Mexican garrison in SonomaSonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
. They made up a flag and raised the "Bear Flag" over Sonoma. Days later the U.S. Army, led by Fremont, took over on June 23. The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic
California Republic
The California Republic, also called the Bear Flag Republic, is the name used for a period of revolt against Mexico initially proclaimed by a handful of American settlers in Mexican California on June 14, 1846, in Sonoma. This was shortly before news of the Mexican–American War had reached the area...
." No government was ever organized but the Bear Flag Revolt has become part of the state's folklore.
Naval engagement and taking of California's Mexican ports
Prior to the Mexican-American War rumors of a possible conflict led to the U.S. Pacific SquadronPacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
being extensively reinforced till it had roughly half the U.S. Navy's ships
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Since it took 120 to over 200 days to sail from the ports on the east coast around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
to the ports in Hawaii and California these movements had to be made well in advance of any possible conflict to be effective. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, the squadron's ships operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local ports of call in the Hawaiian Islands and on the Pacific coast. Their orders were in the event of war to capture the ports and cities of California. Commodore John Drake Sloat, commander of the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
, on hearing of a possible state of war between Mexico and the United States and the Bear Flag Revolt
California Republic
The California Republic, also called the Bear Flag Republic, is the name used for a period of revolt against Mexico initially proclaimed by a handful of American settlers in Mexican California on June 14, 1846, in Sonoma. This was shortly before news of the Mexican–American War had reached the area...
in Sonoma, ordered his naval forces to start occupying ports in Northern California. The ships USS Savannah
USS Savannah (1842)
The second USS Savannah was a frigate in the United States Navy. She was named after the city of Savannah, Georgia.Savannah was begun in 1820 at the New York Navy Yard, but she remained on the stocks until 5 May 1842, when she was launched...
with USS Cyane and captured
Battle of Monterey
-Preliminaries:Prior to the Mexican-American War the Californio forces had already driven the Mexican appointed Governor Manuel Micheltorena and most of his soldiers from Alta California...
the Alta Californian capital city of Monterey on 7 July 1846 without firing a shot. Two days later on 9 July, captured San Francisco (then Yerba Buena) without firing a shot. On July 15, Sloat transferred his command to Commodore Robert F. Stockton
Robert F. Stockton
Robert Field Stockton was a United States naval commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican-American War. He was a naval innovator and an early advocate for a propeller-driven, steam-powered navy. Stockton was from a notable political family and also served as a U.S...
, a much more aggressive leader. Definitive news reached Stockton in July that war had been declared between the U. S. and Mexico. Stockton's Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
s 400 to 650 Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and Blue Jackets (sailors), taken from several ships, were the only major U. S. ground force in California. The rest of Stockton's men were needed to man his vessels. To supplement his small force of Marines and sailors Commodore Stockton authorized John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
of the U. S. Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
to organize a volunteer militia of about 160 men—the California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
. They were to act primarily as occupation forces to free up Stockton's Marines and sailors. The California Battalion's core was based in large part around the approximate 30 army personnel and 30 scouts, guards,ex-fur trappers, Indians, geographers, topographers and cartogaphers
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
in Fremont's exploration force. The American Marines, sailors and militia easily took over the cities and ports of northern California; within days they controlled Monterey
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Sonoma
Sonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
, Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is a state-protected park in Sacramento, California which includes Sutter's Fort and the California State Indian Museum. Begun in 1839 and originally called "New Helvetia" by its builder, John Sutter, the fort was a 19th century agricultural and trade colony in...
in Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
and other small towns in Northern California. Nearly all were occupied without a shot being fired. The southern cities and ports rapidly followed suit with almost no blood shed.
Californios and the war
Prior to the U.S. occupation there were approximately 1,500 local Hispanic men (and about 6,500 women and children), commonly called CalifornioCalifornio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s, primarily located in Southern California around Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Many of these, lived on the 455 ranchos
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
that had slightly more than 8600000 acres (34,803 km²) claimed (nearly all bestowed by the local governor to friends) averaging about 18900 acres (76.5 km²) each. Most of the over 2,000 American immigrants (nearly all adult males) lived in the northern half of California. Most of them approved of the change in government and gave only token resistance to Stockton and Fremont's forces.
Battle in Los Angeles
In Southern California, Mexican General José Castro and Governor Pío PicoPío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
fled from Los Angeles. When Stockton's forces entered Los Angeles unresisted on August 13, 1846, the nearly bloodless conquest of California seemed complete. Stockton, however, left too small a force (36 men) in Los Angeles, and the Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s, acting on their own and without help from Mexico, led by José Mariá Flores
José Mariá Flores
General José María Flores was an officer in the Mexican Army and was a member of la otra banda. He was appointed Governor and Comandante General pro tem of Alta California from 1846 to 1847.-Mexican-America War:...
, forced the small American garrison to retire in late September.
Soon afterwards, 200 reinforcements sent by Stockton, led by US Navy Captain William Mervine were repulsed in the Battle of Dominguez Rancho
Battle of Dominguez Rancho
The Battle of Dominguez Rancho or The Battle of the Old Woman's Gun was a military engagement of the Mexican-American War...
on October 7–9, near San Pedro, where 14 U.S. Marines were killed. Meanwhile, General Kearny with a much reduced squadron of 100 dragoons finally reached California after a grueling march across New Mexico, Arizona and the Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
. On December 6, 1846, they fought the Battle of San Pasqual
Battle of San Pasqual
The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican-American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley community of the city of San Diego, California. On December 6 and December 7, 1846, General Stephen W...
near San Diego, California, where 18 of Kearny's troop were killed—the largest American casualties lost in battles in California.
Final conquest
Stockton rescued Kearny's surrounded forces and with their combined force, they moved northward from San Diego, entering the Los Angeles BasinLos Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...
area on January 8, 1847, linking up with Frémont's men and with American forces totaling 660 troops, they fought the Californios in the Battle of Rio San Gabriel
Battle of Rio San Gabriel
The Battle of Rio San Gabriel fought on January 8, 1847 was a decisive action of the California campaign of the Mexican-American War and occurred at a ford of the San Gabriel River, at what are today parts of the cities of Whittier, Pico Rivera and Montebello, about ten miles south-east of downtown...
and the next day they fought the Battle of La Mesa
Battle of La Mesa
The Battle of La Mesa of the Mexican-American War occurred on January 9, 1847, in present-day Vernon, California, the day after the Battle of Rio San Gabriel during the California Campaign.-Background:...
. The last significant body of Californios surrendered to American forces January 12, 1847, marking the end of the war in California.
Treaty of Cahuenga
The "Treaty of CahuengaTreaty of Cahuenga
The Treaty of Cahuenga, also called the "Capitulation of Cahuenga," ended the fighting of the Mexican-American War in Alta California in 1847. It was not a formal treaty between nations but an informal agreement between rival military forces in which the Californios gave up fighting...
" was signed on January 13, 1847, and essentially terminated hostilities in California. The treaty was drafted in English and Spanish by José Antonio Carrillo
José Antonio Carrillo
Captain José Antonio Ezequiel Carrillo was a Californio rancher, officer, and politician in the early years of Mexican Alta California and U.S...
, approved by American Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
and Mexican Governor Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico was a Californio who became a successful rancher, served as a military commander during the Mexican-American War; and was elected to the state assembly and senate after California became a state, when he was also commissioned as a brigadier general in the state militia.-Early...
at Campo de Cahuenga
Campo de Cahuenga
The Campo de Cahuenga, near the historic Cahuenga Pass in present day Studio City, Los Angeles, California, was an adobe ranch-house on the Rancho Cahuenga where the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed between Lieutenant Colonel John C. Frémont and General Andrés Pico in 1847, ending hostilities in...
in what is now North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
North Hollywood is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, along the Tujunga Wash. It is bounded on the south by Moorpark Street and the Ventura Freeway, on the southwest by Burbank Blvd...
. It was later ratified by Fremont's superiors: Commodore Robert F. Stockton
Robert F. Stockton
Robert Field Stockton was a United States naval commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican-American War. He was a naval innovator and an early advocate for a propeller-driven, steam-powered navy. Stockton was from a notable political family and also served as a U.S...
and General Stephen Kearny
Stephen W. Kearny
Stephen Watts Kearny surname also appears as Kearney in some historic sources; August 30, 1794 October 31, 1848), was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican-American War, especially the conquest...
(brevet rank).
California Reinforcements
In July 1846, Colonel Jonathan D. StevensonJonathan D. Stevenson
Jonathan Drake Stevenson was born in New York; won a seat in the New York State Assembly ; was the commanding officer of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers during the Mexican-American War in California; entered California mining and real estate businesses; and died in San Francisco on...
of New York was asked to raise a volunteer regiment of ten companies of 77 men each to go to California with the understanding that they would be muster out and stay in California. They were designated the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, for service in California and during the war with Mexico, was raised in 1846 during the Mexican American War by Jonathan D. Stevenson. Accepted by the United States Army on August 1846 the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers was transported around Cape Horn to...
and took part in the California Campaign and the Pacific Coast Campaign
Pacific Coast Campaign
The Pacific Coast Campaign refers to United States naval operations against targets along Mexico's Pacific Coast during the Mexican-American War. It excludes engagements of the California Campaign in Alta California. The objective of the campaign was to capture Mazatlan, a major Mexican seaport...
. In August and September 1846 the regiment trained and prepared for the trip to California. Three private merchant ships, Thomas H Perkins, Loo Choo, and Susan Drew, were chartered, and the sloop was assigned convoy detail. On 26 September the four ships sailed for California. Fifty men who had been left behind for various reasons sailed on 13 November 1846 on the small storeship USS Brutus. The Susan Drew and Loo Choo reached Valparaíso, Chile by 20 January 1847 and they were on their way again by 23 January. The Perkins did not stop until San Francisco, reaching port on 6 March 1847. The Susan Drew arrived on 20 March and the Loo Choo arrived on 26 March 1847, 183 days after leaving New York. The Brutus finally arrived on 17 April 1847.
After desertions and deaths in transit the four ships brought 648 men to California. The companies were then deployed throughout Upper-Alta and Lower-Baja California (captured by the Navy, but later negotiated away) from San Francisco to La Paz, Mexico. The ship Isabella sailed from Philadelphia on 16 August 1846, with a detachment of one hundred soldiers, and arrived in California on 18 February 1847, the following year, at about the same time that the ship Sweden arrived with another detachment of soldiers. These soldiers were added to the existing companies of Stevenson's 1st New York Volunteer Regiment. These troops essentially took over nearly all of the Pacific Squadron's on-shore military and garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
duties and the California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
's garrison duties.
The Mormon Battalion
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men were led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
senior officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march, at nearly 2,000 miles in length from Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
to San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. This remains one of the longest single military march in U.S. history.
The Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
on January 29, 1847, after a march of some 1,900 miles from Iowa. For the next five months until their discharge on July 16, 1847 in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, the battalion trained and did garrison duties in several locations in southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
before their discharge. Discharged members of the Mormon Battalion were helping build a sawmill for John Sutter
John Sutter
Johann Augus Sutter was a Swiss pioneer of California known for his association with the California Gold Rush by the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall and the mill making team at Sutter's Mill, and for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, the...
when gold was discovered there in January 1848 starting the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
.
In January 1847 Army lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
and about 100 regular U.S. Army soldiers arrived in Monterey. American forces in the pipeline continued to dribble into California.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe HidalgoTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
, signed in February, 1848, marked the end of the Mexican-American War. In that treaty Mexico formally ceded Alta California and its other northern territories east through Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
for $15,000,000. This largely unsettled territory constituted nearly half of its claimed territory with about 1% (about 45,000) of its then population of about 4,500,000.
See also
Category: California Campaign - Mexican American War- History of California to 1899History of California to 1899Human history in California begins with indigenous Americans first arriving in California some 13,000-15,000 years ago. Exploration and settlement by Europeans along the coasts and in the inland valleys began in the 16th century...
Further reading
- Hubert Howe Bancroft. The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol 22 (1886), History of California 1846-48; complete text online; famous, highly detailed narrative written in 1880s. Also at of California,VOL. V. 1846-1848
- Harlow, Neal California Conquered: The Annexation of a Mexican Province 1846–1850, ISBN 0-520-06605-7, (1982)
- Hittell, Theodore Henry. History of California vol 2 (1885) online
- Nevins, Allan. Fremont: Pathmarker of the West, Volume 1: Fremont the Explorer (1939, rev ed. 1955)
- Rawls, James and Walton Bean. California: An Interpretive History (8th ed 2003), college textbook; the latest version of Bean's solid 1968 text