Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

 of the Mexican Army

Mexican Army

The Mexican Army is the combined land and air branch and largest of the Mexican Military services; it also is known as the National Defense Army. It is famous for having been the first army to adopt and use an automatic rifle, , in 1899, and the first to issue automatic weapons as standard issue...

, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

, Commandant-General

Commandant-General

Commandant-General is a rank in several counties and is generally equivalent to that of Commandant.-Italy:Comandante generale , in Fascist Italy's MVSN, was the title of the head of the Blackshirts, held by Benito Mussolini from 1922 to 1943.Nowadays, is the title held by the commander of the...

 and Inspector of the Department of the California

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,...

. He received this appointment by the President of Mexico

President of Mexico

The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...

, Antonio López de Santa Anna

Antonio López de Santa Anna

Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...

 and served from December 30, 1842 until his ouster in 1845.

Micheltorena was instrumental in the privatisation of California land. With loyalties firmly seated in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, he faced criticism, opposition and eventually war from the Californios.
He led a rag-tag team of soldiers comprising criminals of lower-class mixed ancestry

Multiracial

The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...

, who were derisively referred to as cholo

Cholo

Cholo is an ethnic slur created by Hispanic criollos in the 16th century, and it has been applied to individuals of mixed or pure American Indian ancestry, or other racially mixed origin. The precise usage of "cholo" has varied widely in different times and places...

s. They were insufficient to sustain him in the 1845 Battle of Providencia

Battle of Providencia

Battle of Providencia took place in 1845 on Rancho Providencia in the San Fernando Valley of southern California....

 against Juan Bautista Alvarado

Juan Bautista Alvarado

Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo was a Californio and twice Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1837, and 1838 to 1842.-Early years:...

.