For the 1842 incident at Monterey, see Capture of Monterey

Capture of Monterey

The Capture of Monterey by United States Navy forces occurred in 1842. After hearing false news that war had broken out between the United States and Mexico, the commander of the Pacific Squadron Thomas ap Catesby Jones sailed from Lima, Peru with three warships to Monterey, California...

.

For the Battle in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

--See: Battle of Monterrey

Battle of Monterrey

In the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican-American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North was defeated by U.S...

The so-called Battle of Monterey, at Monterey, California

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...

, was waged on July 7, 1846, during the Mexican-American War. The United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 captured the town unopposed. The action made the ongoing Bear Flag Revolt superfluous.

Preliminaries

Prior to the Mexican-American War the Californio

Californio

Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...

 forces had already driven the Mexican appointed Governor Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...

 and most of his soldiers from Alta 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,...

. The Californio Governor, Pio Pico

Pío Pico

Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...

, with about 100 poorly armed and poorly equipped soldiers, was nominally in charge in Alta California and had consolidated his forces in Pueblo de Los Angeles

Pueblo de Los Angeles

El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles was the Spanish civilian pueblo founded in 1781, which by the 20th century became the American metropolis of Los Angeles....

—the largest city then in California with about 3,500 residents.

The main forces available to the United States in California were the about 400-500 bluejacket sailors and U.S. Marines

History of the United States Marine Corps

The history of the United States Marine Corps began with the founding of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775 to conduct ship-to-ship fighting, provide shipboard security and discipline enforcement, and assist in landing forces. Its mission evolved with changing military doctrine and...

 on board the five ships 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...

 there. Speculating that war with Mexico over Texas etc. was very possible, the U.S. Navy

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...

 had sent several additional naval vessels to the Pacific in 1845 and 1846 to protect U.S. interests there and prevent possible British action. It took about 200 days, on average, for ships to travel the over-12000 miles (19,312.1 km) trip from 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 get to California. More ships assigned to the Pacific Squadron would continue to arrive from 1846 to 1847.

Hostilities between U.S. and Mexican forces had been underway in Texas

History of Texas

European conquistadors first arrived in the region now known as Texas in 1519, finding the region populated by various Native American tribes...

 since April 1846 resulting in a formal declaration of war on May 13, 1846, by the U.S. Congress. On May 17, 1846, unofficial word reached the U.S. Navy fleet of four vessels at anchor in the harbor of Mazatlan

Mazatlán

Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio for which the city serves as the municipal seat is Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, that hostilities had begun between Mexico and the United States. Commodore (Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

) John D. Sloat

John D. Sloat

John Drake Sloat was a commodore in the United States Navy who, in 1846, claimed California for the United States.-Life:...

, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron, dispatched his flagship, the Frigate , and the Sloop

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

  to Monterey harbor where they arrived on July 2, 1846. They joined the sloop which was already there. There were U.S. fears that the British might try to annex California to satisfy British creditors. The British Pacific Station

Pacific Station

The Pacific Station, often referred to as the Pacific Squadron, was one of the geographical divisions into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities...

's ships off California were stronger in ships, guns and men.

Battle

Hearing word of the Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma, California

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...

 and the arrival of the large British 2,600 ton, 600 man, man-of-war , flagship under Sir George S. Seymour, outside Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....

, Sloat was finally stirred to action. On July 7, 1846—seven weeks after war had been declared, Sloat instructed the captains of the ships of the Pacific Squadron in Monterey Bay to occupy Monterey with their Marines and Navy sailors. The Californio soldiers had already left the town's defenses and gone to Los Angeles. They would have had no gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

 to use in their few cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 even if they some had stayed. About fifty Marines and about 100 bluejacket U.S. Navy sailors landed unopposed and captured Monterey without incident. They raised the flag of the United States

Flag of the United States

The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...

 without firing a shot. The only shots fired were a 21 gun salute to the new U.S. flag fired by each of the U.S. Navy ships in the harbor. The British ships observed but took no action.

Aftermath

After the occupation of Monterey the rest of the small towns in California surrendered very quickly without a shot being fired. Once it was seen that the U.S. Navy was taking action the Bear Flag Revolt was quickly converted into an annexation as the California Bear Flag

Flag of California

The Bear Flag is the official flag of the state of California. The precursor of the flag was first flown during the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt and was also known as the Bear Flag.-Design:...

 was swapped for the U.S. flag. The Bear Flag revolutionaries were soon combined with 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...

's 60 man exploratory force to form the U.S. sponsored 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:...

 under the command of Frémont. The California Battalion, which varied from 160 to 400 men, drew regular army wages and were used to garrison and maintain order in the towns that had surrendered. This freed 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...

, who had taken over by July 21, 1846, Pacific Squadron's Marines and sailors to go on to do other activities.

Sloat's famous declaration, annexing California to the United States, was met with bitterness and anger by some Californios who had a wide variety of opinions on the subject.