aptain Jones reached Monterey on the 19th of
October, and though he saw nothing of the "Dublin," he at once
insisted on the surrender of the place. The next day he learned that
his action had been premature and made what amends he could. So the
navy really struck the first official blow that led to this war.

When war had been declared, the Pacific squadron did not learn of it
until after the victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Captain
Sloat, in command, at once took prompt action. Landing two hundred and
fifty seamen and marines under Captain Mervine, he captured Monterey
on the 2d of July. A week later he formally took possession of the
splendid bay of San Francisco and the neighboring country. He also
occupied Sutter's Fort, on Sacramento River, and the towns of Bodega
and Sonoma. In this war it will be noticed throughout this narrative
that the naval forces were constantly required to do shore duty, a
duty to which they were unaccustomed but which they performed with
entire efficiency. The Mexicans had no navy worthy of the name and the
American sailors were auxiliary to the soldiers. Though untrained to
this kind of service, and though it was always hard, and sometimes
quite ungrateful, they responded to orders with entire cheerfulness;
when the service was most perilous then the blue-jackets entered upon
it with a gayety that laughed at danger.

On the 19th of July, Fremont and his corps of topographical engineers
met Captain Sloat and thereafter co-operated with him. In the "Cyane,"
Commander Du Pont, Fremont was sent to San Diego with one hundred and
fifty riflemen and that place was occupied. On the 30th of July, the
"Congress" took possession of San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, the
seat of the Mexican government in California. About this time the
command of the Pacific squadron devolved upon Captain Robert F.
Stockton, who was not a whit less vigilant than his predecessors had
been. Having all the California seaports, Captain Stockton planned an
expedition against Los Angeles before the well-armed Mexican soldiers
in the province could be brought together. He landed three hundred and
fifty sailors and marines and established a camp at San Pedro. Captain
Stockton's biographer says: "There were only about ninety muskets in
the whole corps. Some of the men were armed with carbines, others had
only pistols, swords, or boarding-pikes. They presented a motley and
peculiar appearance, with great variet