Commodore Jones immediately hastened from the port of Callao to Lima, where, in a conversation with the American chargé d'affaires, Mr. Pickett, he formed the decided opinion that there would be war not only with Mexico but with Great Britain also.[27] Accordingly, he lost no time in preparing for sea, and on the 7th of September, sailed for the coast of Mexico.
On the 19th of October, Jones arrived at Monterey, in the frigate United States, accompanied by the Cyane, Captain Stribling. They did not communicate with the shore or endeavor, in any authentic way, to ascertain the state of our political relations; but at four o'clock in the afternoon, Captain Armstrong, the flag captain of the United States, landed, and delivered to the acting governor, Don Juan Alvarado, a letter from Commodore Jones, requiring the immediate surrender of the place, with its forts, castles, ammunitions and arms, to the United States, in order to save it from the horrors of war, which would be the immediate consequences of a refusal to submit. Alvarado, upon this summons, consulted the military and civil authorities; and, finding that the garrison consisted of only twenty-nine men, that the artillery was composed of eleven pieces, entirely useless from the rottenness of their carriages, and that the whole number of muskets and carbines, good and bad, did not exceed a hundred and fifty, he surrendered the place, which was taken possession of by the Americans early on the 20th of October. The articles of capitulation signed on the occasion provide, that the Mexican soldiers shall march out with colors flying, and shall remain as prisoners of war until they can be sent to Mexico, and that the inhabitants shall be protected in their persons and property, so long as they conduct themselves properly, and do not infringe the laws of the United States. Commodore Jones at the same time issued a proclamation to the Californians, declaring that "he came in arms as the representative of a powerful nation, against which the existing government of Mexico had engaged in war, but not with the intention of spreading dismay among the peaceful inhabitants," and inviting them to submit to the authority of a government which would protect them forever in the enjoyment of liberty.
The evening and night of the 20th passed quietly; but, on the next day, the commodore seems to have reflected on the results of a bloodless conquest which was even more easily won than the victories of Cortéz and Pizarro three hundred years before. Learning that there was late and pacific news from Mexico, and, forthwith despatching his private secretary and chaplain to seek for it, they discovered, in the office of the Mexican commissary, several packages containing unopened files of gazettes, as late as the 4th of August. "The general tone of the articles,"—says the commodore,—"relating to the United States, in these papers, was pacific, whilst the certainty that Mexico had not commenced hostilities against us, up to the 22d of August, was established by private commercial letters from Mazatlan." Thus, it seemed to him, that the crisis had passed; that his victory was barren, that the reported cession of the Californias to England was untrue and could not have been prevented even by his valor. The war which had been recklessly undertaken upon surmises or newspaper articles, and stimulated by the sailing of an English fleet with sealed orders, came to an end as it began—by Mexican journals.
Accordingly, on the 21st of the month, Commodore Jones addressed another letter to the acting governor, Alvarado, announcing that information received since the capture of the place, left him no reason to doubt that the difficulties between Mexico and the United States had been adjusted; and that, being anxious to avoid all cause of future controversy, he was ready to restore the place, with its forts and property, to the Mexicans, in the same condition in which they were before the seizure. Monterey was therefore at once evacuated by the Americans, and reoccupied by the Mexicans, whose flag, on being rehoisted, was saluted by our ships.
If the commodore of our squadron had prudently despatched his secretary and chaplain on a pacific mission of inquiry under a flag of truce, immediately upon his arrival, it is extremely probable that they would either have discovered on the 20th the newspapers they found on the 21st, or have received the commercial letter which terminated the capture. This would have prevented an angry diplomatic correspondence; it would have allayed the irritation of national sensibility, and, whilst it saved us from the imputation of attempting to intimidate a weak power, would not have subjected our forces to the mortification of mistake upon such grievous subjects as peace and war. The Mexican papers, of course, viewed the matter as a national insult; and the government gazette, published in the capital, unequivocally asserted that Commodore Jones attacked Monterey, agreeably to orders from his government, with the view of conquering California, but that finding the country in a state of defence, (for which thanks were due to President Santa Anna and his efficient minister of war,) he was obliged to abandon his plan and invent a story for his justification.[28]
It is scarcely possible for a citizen of the United States to take a different view of the subject without a full knowledge of the facts; for it could hardly be believed that the commander of a naval station, during a period of profound peace, would venture to summon towns to surrender, to land forces, take prisoners, and hoist our national flag on friendly soil, without the authority or connivance of his government.[29]
FOOTNOTES:
[19] This river is known by various names in different authors. By some it is called Rio Bravo, by others, Rio del Norte, and by others, again, Rio Grande. I shall adhere to the latter throughout this work.
[20] See the Natchez Daily Courier of 18th January, 1843, for an excellent article on Mexico, signed Ego et Alter.
[21] Report No. 1096 to the H. of R., 27th congress, 2d session.