The Battle of San Pasqual

The Battle of San Pasqual

Katie Baldridge

Carl Coughlan

History 111

March 6, 2005

Katie Baldridge

Carl Coughlan

History 111

March 6, 2005

The Battle of San Pasqual

The battle of San Pasqual was one of the many battles fought against Americans to protect their land. The greedy American government was determined to conquer California from Mexico and make it part of the union. The mass migration of immigrants caused the widespread of people to flee south.

Mexico had departed from Spain in 1821. California wanted to manage their own affairs however, they lacked self government. Pio Pico was the civil governor and Jose Castro was the military comandante. The two men held great hostility toward each other. They divided California's land and raised armies for themselves. These divisions of armies led to future problems, due to the lack of unity between the two.

The United States Navy arrived in Monterey on July 2, 1846. "The two California leaders made a half-hearted attempt at cooperation" (Johns 2). The two men and their followers met at a ranch near San Luis Obispo to agree on an opposition towards the American forces. The lack of trust within one another led the two armies to march in separate units to Los Angeles.

Upon the troops arrival in Los Angeles Castro wrote a letter to Commodore Robert F. Stockton demanding to discuss a way of preventing war. Stockton wrote back concluding that the men must allow American forces to raise an American flag in California.

Baldridge 2

The American flag represented that California was America's land. Stockton also claimed that a treaty would be issued after the flag was inputted in the California soil. Castro refused to take the American negotiation. Castro soon spread the word of American disgrace to Governor Pico, and he also informed him that he was vacating the land due to a lack of resources. He claimed the resources were unable to carry on a war. Pico soon followed with the same intentions.

"Following the departures of Pio Pico and Jose Castro, the United States naval forces entered Los Angeles without opposition and raised the stars and stripes on August 31, Stockton appointed Captain Archibald Gillespie military commandant of the town, with instruction to be vigilant, firm and strict, and by no means permit anyone to escape" (Johns 3). California natives soon grew angry with Gillespie's demands and lodged an attack on him; the Americans won the small battle. And, four days later California won another attack at Chino Rancho of Isaac Williams. "Encouraged by their success, the local inhabitants then gathered a large force which surrounded the detachment in the pueblo and forced Gillespie to evacuate his post on Sept, 30" (Johns 5).

The attacks led to uproar of excitement among the California citizens. The citizens appointed a new official leader by the name of Jose Maria Flores. Flores was a lieutenant in the Mexican army under the command of Castro. "The Californians issued a proclamation on September 24, 1846, calling for the populace to take up arms against the invaders and drive them out of the territory" (Farris 8). The revolts led many Americans to flee into the mountains of Santa Barbara. California wanted the invaders out of the

Baldridge 3

land. "Pio Pico, now in Sonora, wrote the Mexican government on November 15, joyfully describing the victory of the California troops in Los Angeles, the government

praised Flores for his success of the war, but went on to say, the central government has too many of its own problems and failed to send the desperately needed assistance to remote California" (Farris).

Don Andres Pico, the younger brother of Pio, now commanded