Combat· Mexican-American War
Capture of Monterey
The first formal seizure of California for the United States.
On 7 July 1846, with war declared against Mexico, Commodore John Sloat's Pacific Squadron, the Savannah, Cyane, and Levant, lay off Monterey, the capital of Alta California, and put a landing force of about two hundred and fifty seamen and Marines ashore. The town was taken without resistance and the American flag raised over the customs house. The bloodless capture opened the rapid American occupation of California: within weeks the flag went up at Yerba Buena, Sonoma, San Diego, and Los Angeles in quick succession. Marines formed the core of the landing party and of the garrison left to hold the place. No casualties resulted. The taking of Monterey, the seat of Mexican authority in the province, was the decisive first step in detaching California from Mexico and bringing it under American control during the war.
Podcast episodes on Mexican-American War
Record no. 55