Combat· Mexican-American War
Defense of San Jose against Mexican attacks
The first serious test of the small Baja garrison, a foretaste of the siege to come.
Word reached Lieutenant Heywood's little command at San José del Cabo that a Mexican attack was impending, and the Americans stood to in defense as the Baja resistance under Pineda moved against the southern posts. Skirmishing followed in and around the town in mid-to-late November 1847. Three Americans were wounded in the fighting, one of them a Marine, and the garrison held its ground. The action was small but pointed: it showed that the easy occupation of the spring had given way to a real contest for Lower California, with the Mexicans now pressing the isolated American posts. It set the stage for the heavier siege of San José that the garrison would have to withstand in January and February 1848, when Heywood's defense became one of the notable small-unit Marine actions of the war.
Podcast episodes on Mexican-American War
Record no. 342