Stephen Watts Kearny

In Dream West (1986), Brigadier General Stephen Watts Kearny is cast as the villain.  In the first episode of the miniseries, an animus is established between Kearny and Fremont.  Fremont requested a cannon for his expedition, which Kearny reluctantly provided.  In conversation, Kearny asked what year Fremont graduated West Point.  Fremont did not attend West Point.  Kearny clearly looks down on him for this failing.  That is peculiar since Kearny was not a West Point graduate either.  In fact, though both had attended college, neither managed to complete their degrees.  In the second episode, Kearny and Fremont clash about who is in charge in California.  In the final episode, Kearny is a witness at Fremont's court martial, a court martial instigated by Kearny.  His final appearance in the series is to plead for forgiveness from Jessie Benton Fremont before he died from Yellow Fever.  Kearny deserved better.

Stephen Watts Kearny was born in 1794.  He dropped out of Columbia to join the Army when the War of 1812 began.  He was captured at the Battle of Queenstown.  His bravery at that battle earned him the rank of Captain.  After the war, Kearny stayed with the army and was posted on the frontier.

In 1819, he was part of the Yellowstone Expedition.  The expedition failed spectacularly, getting bogged down in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  The following year, he was part of another expedition, this one exploring and mapping the territory between Council Bluffs and Fort Snelling (Minneapolis, MN).

In 1825, Major Kearny was part of General Atkinson's Rocky Mountain Expedition.  Nearly 500 troops traveled from Fort Atkinson (Omaha, NE) up the Missouri River, replicating Lewis and Clark's travels.

The following year, he supervised the building of Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, where none other than William Clark lived.  Kearny courted and married William Clark's step-daughter, Mary Radford.

In 1833, Lt. Colonel Kearny was made second in command of the newly formed 1st Dragoon Regiment, based in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  In 1836, he rose to Colonel and became the commander of the 1st Dragoons.

With all this western experience, it is unsurprising that Brigadier General Kearny was made commander of the Army of the West when the Mexican-American War was declared.  His westward march was surprisingly uneventful.  He captured Santa Fe, New Mexico without firing a shot.  He then set out for California, unaware that Commodore Stockton and Lt. Col. Fremont had already captured it.  He learned of those events when he met Kit Carson on the road.  Based on Carson's reports, Kearny sent two-thirds of his men back to Santa Fe and continued to California.  By the time he arrived, the state was in rebellion.

The Battle of San Pasqual

Having learned of a band of Californios in the area, Kearny decided to attack.  However, his men were poorly mounted; they had just suffered a trek across the southwestern deserts.  The rain made the gunpowder damp and surprise had been lost.  The Dragoons charged in a ragged line.  By contrast, the Californios had excellent horses and were armed with lances.  The Dragoons were no match and only the presence of a cannon saved them.

Kearny thus arrived in San Diego with a pitiful and beaten force.  Compared to Fremont's California Battalion and Stockton's sailors and marines, Kearny was all bark and no bite.  He conceded command to Stockton and joined in the retaking of Los Angeles.  When Stockton sailed away and Commodore Shubrick took over the Pacific fleet, Kearny made his move for command.  The Mormon Battalion and New York volunteers arrived to give him the biggest army in California.  He had been sent to take California and he outranked Fremont.  Fremont continued to balk and earned himself a court martial.

Fremont's court martial lasted 3 months, concluding in February 1848.  Afterwards, Kearny was sent to Mexico as military governor of Vera Cruz and then Mexico City.  He contracted Yellow Fever and was sent home.  He died in St. Louis in October, 1848.

Fremont put Kearny in an impossible situation.  Should he have just endured insubordination?  Certainly not.  In the best of times, Kearny was known to be difficult.  He was a harsh man who made few friends.  This is not the sort of soldier to forgive and forget.  On the other hand, Fremont was a national hero.  President Polk attempted to split the difference by nixing the punishment while affirming the verdict.

The Conquest of New Mexico and California

In 1878, Brigadier General Philip St. George Cooke penned The Conquest of New Mexico and California: An Historical and Personal Narrative.  It opens in July of 1846, when Cooke was a lieutenant in the 1st Dragoons.  Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny had been given command of the Army of the West and set out to conquer New Mexico and California.  Shortly after arriving in New Mexico, Kearny ordered Cooke to ride ahead and demand the surrender of Santa Fe.  After a refusal, he departed with the witty comment, "I'll call again in a week."  Indeed, when he came back with the rest of the army, Santa Fe fell without a shot fired.  The army spent the next month securing the territory before Kearny set out for California.  He had not gone far when word of the Mormon Battalion arrived.  Its original commander, Colonel James Allen, had died.  Kearny placed Cooke in charge of the battalion and ordered him to make a road to California.  And here follows a rather dreary accounting of a trek across the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona via the Gila River.  There are the occasional bits of excitement (battle with wild bulls, Charboneaux's encounter with bears, the capture of Tucson), but it is mostly a bland narrative of thirst and starvation.  Upon his arrival in California, Cooke abandons his personal chronicle and relates the reports of others.  Thus, he details Kearny's disastrous battle as San Pasqual, squabbles with Fremont and Stockton, and the successful campaign to recapture Los Angeles.  He also outlines some battles in the bay area.  The allocation of his battalion is only vaguely discussed.

Mostly disappointing.  Being a first-person account, I had expected a lot more.  Not surprisingly, his desert crossing sounds like a balance sheet; 6 mules died today, acquired 11 mules from local Indians, no water in 2 days, etc.  That was surely important information, but it makes for very dry reading.  Of note, he did detail Fremont's march south, which saw multiple encounters with Californios who managed to delay the California Battalions' arrival in Los Angeles.  I do not recall reading that before.  Of course, Kearny captured Los Angeles without Fremont but his coming from the north while Kearny was approaching from the south would surely have made defending the city more difficult.  Here was a rare success for the Californios.

Cooke resigned his position as the Lt. Colonel of the Mormon Battalion in May 1847 and, once again just a lieutenant, joined Kearny on the march back to Fort Leavenworth.

This is a book only for the diehard historian.  Skip.

Doniphan's Epic March

With the start of the Mexican-American War, President Polk launched an ambitious plan of attack.  He would have three armies press into Mexico, seizing the territory he wanted to annex.  There would be the Army of Occupation (General Zachary Taylor's forces on the Rio Grande), the Army of the Center (General John E. Wool in San Antonio who would march for Chihuahua), and the Army of the West (Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny who would secure New Mexico and California).  Of course, the US Army was tiny, fewer than 10,000 regular troops.  As such, volunteers were needed.  In Missouri, the 1st Missouri Mounted Volunteers were raised and joined Colonel Kearny at Fort Leavenworth.  As a volunteer regiment, the men elected their officers.  Alexander Doniphan, a noted lawyer from Liberty, MO, was chosen as Colonel.  Doniphan's Regiment (856 men) constituted the largest part of Kearny's army and this made him the second in command of the Army of the West!

The march across Kansas began in late June.  By mid-August, the army had captured New Mexico without firing a shot.  Kearny claimed the territory for the US and put Doniphan in charge of establishing a government for the region.  When Kearny left for California in September, Doniphan was left as military governor.  Now responsible for the populace, Doniphan set out to treat with the native tribes, most notably the Navajo.  He secured peace, in theory, before he set off to meet General Wool.  He started toward El Paso in early December.  On Christmas Day, the 1st Missouri had its first battle.  They defeated a larger Mexican force at El Brazito and marched into El Paso soon after.  There was no sign of General Wool.

General Wool had left San Antonio in September and marched to Monclova.  Rather than go to Chihuahua, he was ordered to reinforce General Taylor at Saltillo.  Of course, Doniphan didn't know this.  Doniphan waited in El Paso just long enough for the artillery to arrive then marched toward Chihuahua.  On the last day of February, the 1st Missouri once again met a larger Mexican force.  Moreover, they were entrenched.  By flanking the Mexican positions and using their wagons as mobile armor, the Americans trounced the Mexican forces.  Soon after, they occupied Chihuahua City.

The 1st Missouri were not suited to garrison duty.  Also, the one-year enlistment was drawing to a close.  Doniphan sent an express to General Wool to find out what he should do.  The orders came in late April: march to Saltillo.  On the way, a detachment of Doniphan's forces assisted Mexicans in recovering kidnapped women and children along with cattle from a band of Comanche.  When the 1st Missouri arrived in Saltillo, General Wool saw a ragged bunch of unshaved men, no two of whom wore the same uniform.  He congratulated them on their victories, thanked them for their service, and sent them on their way back to Missouri.  When they met General Taylor outside Monterrey, he offered similar sentiments.  The men liked his informal attire.

Joseph C. Dawson III has written an outstanding book, offering a detailed account of all facets of Doniphan's March, from the raising of the companies from specific counties along the Missouri River to the fate of the more noteworthy survivors (especially as regards the Civil War).  The audacity of Doniphan to march such a small army deep into enemy territory and succeed is something to behold.  It is no wonder he was compared with Xenophon, a Greek general who successfully fought his way out of enemy territory.  Here is a straight history book that is a real page turner!

Highly recommended.

Kearny's March

In 1846, both military forces and civilian wagon trains crossed the Missouri River and set out for the West.  Winston Groom, author of Forest Gump, details the various movements and shows how they formed the American West.

Stephen Watts Kearny was the commander on the western frontier, based in Fort Levenworth.  Father of the American Cavalry, he was ordered by President Polk to march his 300 dragoons, a regiment of mounted Missouri Volunteers, and a battalion of Mormons west and capture Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Once secured, he was to continue on to California and claim it for the United States.  Having captured New Mexico without firing a shot, most likely thanks to bribing the territorial governor, Kearny spent a month in the area to make sure all was well before moving on to California.  At this point, he dispatched the mounted Missouri Volunteers - commanded by Colonel Alexander Doniphan - to make his way south for the planned rendezvous with General Wool and his army at Chihuahua.  Kearny would take his dragoons directly to California while Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke would build a road to California with the Mormon Battalion.  Kearny had hardly begun when he met Kit Carson, who was returning from California.  The state was already conquered!

Kit Carson had set out for California in 1845 with John C. Fremont the Pathfinder.  Fremont had a force of 60 heavily armed men who had been traipsing through California.  Even though he could not have known the war had begun, he aided local American settlers in the Bear Flag Revolt.  With the help of the US Navy, the state was captured in short order.  Fremont had enlisted the California Brigade of 300 men and worked hand in glove with Commodore Stockton.  Fremont had sent Kit Carson with the news.  When Kearny arrived, Fremont - who was part of the army - chose to follow Stockton's orders rather than those of an army general.  This did not end well for him and led to his court martial.

Meanwhile, Doniphan and his Missourians headed down the Rio Grande and, north of El Paso, had a battle with a Mexican Army.  Despite their unkempt appearance and lax discipline, they soundly trounced their opponents.  Doniphan waited in El Paso for news from General Wool, eventually learning that he had been redirected to Saltillo to fortify General Taylor's position.  Though it was never intended that the volunteer regiment would act alone against Chihuahua, Doniphan boldly struck into the desert to capture the city.  At the end of February 1847, Doniphan attacked a much larger Mexican Army, where his ragamuffin army once again trounced the Mexicans.

The Mormons had had a difficult time in the American Midwest.  Bounced from state to state on account of growing discrimination, the Mormons finally fled west with plans of leaving the United States altogether.  They were camped on the banks of the Missouri River.  As chance would have it, President Polk requested that the Mormons raise a battalion from their ranks and join the war.  Brigham Young saw this as an income stream and a way to get many of the Saints beyond the intolerance of the Midwest.  Soon, 500 Mormons were enlisted at Fort Levenworth and marched to New Mexico.  Too slow to keep pace with Kearny, they also had to take an alternative route to accommodate their wagons.  On the way, the Mormon Battalion fought wild bulls and captured Tucson.

Leaving from Independence, MO, the Donner-Reed Party joined a large wagon train on the Oregon Trail.  However, they had California in mind and left the larger train to take the untried Hastings Cutoff which was said to save 300 miles.  Of course, the route was impractical for wagons.  They tried to race through the pass before the snows arrived but instead got trapped when snows arrived before they were through.  With nowhere near enough food to survive winter in the mountains, starvation and cannibalism followed.  In the spring, after the survivors were rescued, General Kearny went through the pass and saw the carnage.

Where most of the books that cover the Mexican-American War focus on the campaigns of Taylor and Scott, this one is almost exclusively concerned with the western theater of the war, though there is a chapter detailing the Battle of Monterrey, which was part of Taylor's Campaign in Northern Mexico.  Here is an outstanding account of the various westward movements that took place in 1846 and 1847, opening the American West to a flood of immigrants.

Highly recommended.

The Journal of Lt. John McHenry Hollingsworth

John McHenry Hollingsworth joined the First New York Volunteers in August of 1846 in response to the call for troops in the Mexican War.  The New York Volunteers were dispatched to California, by sea!  Setting sail in September, the regiment did not arrive in San Francisco until April of 1847.  By then, all the fighting in California was done.  So it was that Hollingsworth found himself in garrison duty in Los Angeles until he was mustered out of the service in September 1848.  Before setting sail, every man knew it was a one-way trip; return expenses would be on them.  As such, the near penniless Hollingsworth and many of his fellows set out for the Gold Rush!  Sadly, a year of effort gained him nothing and he returned to the east coast.

The first half of the journal concerns his time aboard the Susan Drew.  Hollingsworth did not like sailing and found the voyage dreary; he was prone to sea sickness.  He offered considerable details to the stops in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and also Valparaiso, Chile.  During the trip, he had the opportunity to taste porpoise and shark, neither of which he liked.  Also of note, the troops spent much of the voyage in some state of mutiny.  He doesn't go into much detail other than to describe it as mutiny.  During the rare stop at port, the men were soon drunk.

The next quarter of the journal details Hollingsworth's time as a soldier in California.  Surprisingly, many of his entries concern fandangos, parties, and balls.  He details several women he courted or met, showing considerable interest in a couple.  His military service was uneventful, a mix of paperwork, guard duty, service on courts martial, and surveys of the surroundings.  Though some rumors of a Mexican Army or a California uprising reach him, nothing comes of them.

The final quarter covers his traveling to the Gold Rush with his comrades.  This is mostly a series of misfortunes that left him no richer than when he started.  After a year of seeking his fortune, he opted to return home.  Of course, his closing thoughts are that he had partaken in a great achievement, having been in California as it dramatically transformed from a sleepy Mexican province to a vibrant American territory.  Despite his failure to enrich himself, he did win the admiration of those around him.  He was elected to transport the new California constitution to Washington DC.

I was drawn to the journal as it concerned a volunteer during the Mexican-American War, but Hollingsworth missed the war.  The war in California was over when he arrived.  His efforts at courting the ladies of California never resulted in a wife, so he missed there too.  Lastly, despite heading to the gold fields in 1848 and beating the Gold Rush of 1849, he missed out here too.  The most interesting bits of his adventure were when he spent time with Kit Carson and chatted with General Kearny, two men who were participants rather than observers.

Just okay.

Death Valley Days: The Firebrand

It is 1846 in Los Angeles and Captain Gillespie of the US Marines has declared martial law.  The city had surrendered without a fight in August and Gillespie was left as military commander.  Former Governor Pio Pico and his brother Andres Pico meet with Gillespie to protest his measures.  However, Gillespie promises to intensify them.  When Gillespie later arrives at a local saloon to arrest a blustering drunkard, Andres has had too much.  He incites the populace to rise up against the Americans.  Despite warnings from his elder brother, Andres sets out with a force of 80 men to confront the army of General Stephen Watts Kearny.  Though he beats them, he sees the wisdom of his brother's counsel and proposes surrender.  However, when told he would be treated as an outlaw and sent to prison for his attack on the American army, he threatens to fight on.  Meanwhile in San Diego, General Kearny meets with Commodore Stockton, declaring his desire for vengeance and exaggerating the force that defeated him at San Pasqual.  Will Andres and Kearny fight again for a final bloody massacre?

Andres Pico is the titular Firebrand, a man eager to fight an unwinnable war.  The episode leaves out much of the history but gets the gist correct.  Lt. Archibald Gillespie had been left in charge of Los Angeles by John C. Fremont and then promptly triggered a revolt.  The ride of Juan Flacco detailed part of this story.  Andres and his band of Californio Lancers trounced two companies of US Dragoons at San Pasqual in early December 1846 (this battle happens entirely off screen, missing a great chance for some action in this snoozefest of an episode).  Of note, Gillespie had joined Kearny by this time and was present at the battle.  Kit Carson managed to reach San Diego and summon reinforcements from Commodore Stockton to assist/rescue the threatened dragoon column.  Though the show implies this was the only battle, Kearny did get his opportunity to fight.  The battles of Rio San Gabriel (Jan 8, 1847) and La Mesa (Jan 9, 1847) preceded the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga (Jan 13, 1847). 

The casting is uninspired.  These actors are playing random roles with little regard to the real people.  The Pico brothers come off best, which is appropriate as this is their story.  The uniforms aren't correct.  The actor playing Fighting Bob Stockton is bald, the one playing General Kearny has a mustache, and a random Mexican drunkard has a revolver (uncommon in the era).  Overall, I was embarrassed for Ronald Reagan that he did the intro and outro for this turkey.

Skip.