Dec. 13 Americans routed a Mexican advanced party about twenty miles from the city, inflicting some loss and suffering none (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1083–4; Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1121). The Mexican blockade was evaded easily by bribery.
(Fortifications) Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1120 (Halleck), 1131 (Shubrick); [76]J. P. Anaya, Mar. 11, 1848. (Safe) Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1083 (Shubrick).
(S. Blas) Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1084 (Shubrick); comte. gen. of Jalisco, Jan. 11; Feb. 22, 1848; Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1127 (Bailey), 1128 (Chatard). S. Blas was blockaded under a fresh notice issued Jan. 1, in consequence of the delay. (Manzanillo) Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1129 (Shubrick); princ. comte., Colima, Jan. 18; comte. gen. Jalisco, Feb. 1, 29. Altata was blockaded Feb. 13 by a hired schooner, the Triton ([76]comte. gen. Sinaloa, Feb. 21). (Expeditions) Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1133–7, 1158–61; comte. gen. Jalisco, Feb. 1. Jan. 31 Shubrick reported that not one Mexican cannon was mounted on the coast except at Acapulco (Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1129). Early in Nov., 1847, T. A. C. Jones set out from the east to meet the Ohio at Valparaiso and succeed Shubrick.
[28.] The fort at Acapulco was now in a ruinous condition. The cannon were removed and (it was reported) sold by Juan Alvarez. Shubrick ([47]Aug. 11, 1847) said it was worse than useless to blockade Mazatlán without blockading S. Blas, because vessels unable to enter at M. would then enter at S. B. and pay duties to the Mexicans. He forcibly urged upon Scott and Col. Mason, commanding in California, the importance of providing troops (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1035; [61]Dec. 6, 1847), and Mason sent as far as Oregon for volunteers (Sherman, Memoirs, i, 38); but every effort to find men was in vain ([61]Mason, May 19, 1848). All that Mason could spare went to Lower California. With the men who were ashore Shubrick said he could have sealed up the west coast (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1084).
Mason to Stockton, Jan. 11, 1847. S. José was occupied Mar. 30; S. Lucas Apr. 3; La Paz Apr. 13. In August two companies of N. Y. volunteers under Lt. Col. Burton arrived on the ground. The passing of men and munitions from the mainland to the Peninsula was promptly cut off by our navy. The towns of Mulejé (opposite Guaymas) and Comandú, several hundred miles to the north of La Paz, were the centres of the opposition. Citizens of the former under Vicente Mejía and of the latter under J. M. Moreno, all commanded by Manuel Pineda, marched south with no little devotion. Pineda moved against La Paz (held by Burton); the other two leaders against S. José (held by Lieut. Heywood of the navy). The latter were repulsed without much difficulty, but only the arrival of the Cyane, Dec. 8, ended a series of small skirmishes at La Paz. In Jan. S. José had to undergo a more serious attack. By the twelfth our garrison (27 marines, 15 seamen, some 20 volunteers) found itself, after a desultory siege of about three weeks, in a critical situation; but on the fourteenth Du Pont arrived in the Cyane, and this ensured the defeat of the Mexicans on the following day. March 22 about 150 American troops, who had left Monterey Mar. 5, arrived at La Paz. Burton, having now about 270 men, assumed the offensive, and the skirmish of Mar. 30 at Todos Santos (without loss on the American side) ended the hostilities. The American casualties in all the skirmishing were insignificant. For the principal documents see Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 103–12, 1055–64, 1086–8, 1095–1102, 1110–2, 1117–8, 1122–7, 1129–31, 1137–55; Ho. 17; 31, 1; Sen. 18; 31, 1, pp. 293, 299, 488–504; Du Pont, Official Despatches, 23, 31, 35; [76]Pineda to comte. gen. Sonora, Oct. 3, 1847; [47]Shubrick, Dec. 4, 21; [76]Princ. comte. of Mulejé to V. Mejía, Oct. 3; [76]Pineda and Mejía, Oct. 3; [76]Relaciones to Guerra, Feb. 26, 1848. U. S. Naval Instit. Proceeds., xiv, pp. 304–25.
[29.] [13]Bankhead, no. 168, 1846. London Times, Jan. 30, 1847. [73]Bermúdez de Castro, nos. 441, 445, 1847. [163]Semmes to Conner, Sept. 29, 1850. Conner, Home Squadron, 3–4, 21. Bennett, Monitor, 40–1. [162]Matson to Conner, Mar. 28, 1847. [162]Mason to Id.., Nov. 29, 1846, priv. and confid. Richardson, Messages, iv, 570–2. [13]Giffard to Bankhead, May 27, 1846. [166]Shubrick to Conner, Aug. 19, 1845, priv. Buchanan, Works, vii, 240–1, 290–2. [47]Conner, June 30, 1846.
Spain complained of us, but unjustly. Some thought inefficiency was shown by the number of American vessels lost (besides the Somers and the Truxtun, the Boston, the Hecla and the Neptune were wrecked, the Perry and the Cumberland were damaged, and some minor losses were suffered), but considering the character of the coast this opinion seems unfair. An important feature of the war was the demonstration of the superiority of steam vessels.
[30.] [76]Lavallette, proclam., Oct. 26, 1847. Apuntes, 375–9. Conner, Home Squadron, 14. Negrete, Invasión, iii, 139–46; app., 399. Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1092 (articles), 1109, 1129–33 (Shubrick). [47]Letter to Shubrick, Dec. 23, 1847. [47]Lavallette, orders, 5, 6, 1847; 3, 5, 1848. Semmes, Service, 85–7. Gaxiola, Invasión, 166–81, 217, 223. Duties to the amount of $150,000 were collected. Conner reported, June 30, 1846, that the blockade had deprived Mexico of $500,000 in duties. This paragraph belongs logically in chap. xxxi, but is placed here to complete the subject.
XXXI. THE AMERICANS AS CONQUERORS
[1.] For the conduct of naval men see pp. 208–9 and [note 30] of that chapter.