Combat· Mexican-American War
Mule Hill siege and relief
The rescue of Kearny's trapped command after San Pasqual.
Pushing on toward San Diego, the exhausted and wounded Army of the West found the road blocked by harassing Californio cavalry and took refuge on a low rise that became known as Mule Hill, where the men subsisted on their pack animals. Unable to break through, Kearny sent messengers, among them Kit Carson and Lieutenant Beale, slipping through the enemy lines to summon help from San Diego. In response a relief column of about two hundred Marines and sailors under Lieutenant Gray marched out from the port and reached the surrounded force, allowing Kearny's command to come safely into San Diego on 12 December. The relief saved the Army of the West from possible annihilation. No Marines were lost in the operation, which was the kind of timely intervention by the squadron's landing force that repeatedly proved decisive in California.
Podcast episodes on Mexican-American War
Record no. 333