Combat· Mexican-American War
Battle of San Gabriel
The decisive engagement of the reconquest of southern California.
On 8 January 1847 the combined force of Stockton and Kearny, around six hundred Marines, sailors, dragoons, and California Battalion men, marched on Los Angeles and found the Californios under Flores holding the bluffs above the ford of the San Gabriel River. The defenders fired down on the crossing, but American artillery and a bayonet charge dislodged them from the heights and forced the passage of the river. Several Americans were wounded; none were killed. The victory broke the main Californio position and opened the road to the capital. By chance the battle fell on the thirty-second anniversary of Jackson's victory at New Orleans. San Gabriel, with the action at La Mesa the next day, effectively decided the campaign in the south and led directly to the American reentry into Los Angeles.
Podcast episodes on Mexican-American War
Record no. 335