On August 10, 1847, United States Navy Commodore William Shubrick had resumed command of the Pacific Squadron. His first orders upon retaking command
was the sending of sloops-of-war USS Dale and USS Portsmouth along with the frigate Congress to commence a new blockade of Mazatlán, Guaymas and San
Blas.
When the Dale arrived alone at La Paz in mid-September, the commander of the U.S. occupation force there, Lieutanant Colonel Henry S. Burton,
persuaded the Dale's commander, Thomas O'Selfridge, to sail for Loreto and Mulegé to prevent the landing of supplies from Guaymas and to secure a
pledge of neutrality from the Mexican inhabitants.
On September 30, the Dale entered the port of Mulegé under British colors. After Dale was anchored, it lowered the British flag and raised the Stars
and Stripes. Lieutenant Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven of Dale, tried to go ashore, but was prevented by a party of Mexicans. He then suggested
boats seize the Mexican Navy schooner Magdalena, which lay in anchor.
Craven and fifty men in four boats rowed to the schooner and towed her back to the Dale. After discovering her bottom was full of holes from
scuttling, they burned their prize and continued a blockade. On October 1, Commander Selfridge sent a letter ashore warning the Mexican authorities to
lay down their arms, to preserve neutrality and to abstain from contact with the mainland.
Captain Pineda replied by stating that he refused to be neutral and is in protest against the Dale's use of British flag to enter the port, and
boasted he would recapture La Paz which had recently been captured.
[edit] Battle
Pineda's defiance did not go unanswered. At 2:00 pm that afternoon, Lieutenant Craven with seventeen marines and fifty-seven sailors clambered into
their boats and rowed up a creek that led to the heart of the town. The party landed on the creek's right bank. Just after landing, USS Dale began her
bombardment which reportedly had little effect.
Now on shore, the American marines and sailors proceeded to a nearby hill, covered with armed Mexicans, apparently a militia force. Lieutenant Craven
suspected the hill to be where the Mexicans would make their stand. Before reaching the hill, however, a shot was fired from a window of a nearby
house and from a thicket to the American's left.
USS Dale bombarding Mulege during the engagement, a small captured schooner is also depicted.
Immediately, Craven dispatched a small force to attack and burn the house while he attacked the thicket. The house was burned and Lieutenant Craven
encountered noone in the brush, obviously meaning the Mexicans fired and quickly withdrew, typical militia tactics.
The United States lieutenant then refocused on the hill. After marching a short distance further, to a height which commanded the Mexican held hill,
Craven issued the following order;
"Men, we are to go to the top of that hill. If we are fired on in ascending, it wil break our order, as the hill is so steep. As soon as the fire from
the enemy commences, let the word be, ever man for the top of the hill, be who reaches it first is the best man!"
With this order and few words of encouragement, the Americans attacked. The hill, as stated was steep and covered in cactus, the Mexicans abandoned it
before the Americans approached and maneuvered to several hidden positions overlooking one side of the hill near the above mentioned creek. Once the
American fighting men were at the hill's summit, Craven ordered his men to rest. The Americans did not encounter resistance while climbing the hill.
The creek at Mulege.
When the Craven's men began preparing for a short break, the Mexicans opened fire from their concealed positions behind rocks and foliage, another
ambuscade. The American forces responded with several volleys of return fire which forced the Mexicans to flee up the creek. Craven did not pursue the
retreating Mexicans, instead he headed back towards the shore. The Mexicans repulsed the American attack, thus resulting in a Mexican victory at the
battle.
Marching through town, Lieutenant Craven's men were again attacked by Mexican insurgents firing from their homes and bushes on the left side of the
stream. An American launch floating off Mulegé, armed with a cannon, was then ordered to bombard the Mexican homes where some of the enemy fire had
originated from.
The landing force attacked also. Craven later reported that after attacking the homes and bushes, the Mexicans hastily retreated up and into the
surrounding hills, thus ending the fighting that day. Craven then proceeded to take his men back aboard the Dale after driving the Mexican garrison
from their town.
[edit] Aftermath
The Mexican victory at Mulege ensured that Baja Peninsula would remain a Mexican territory and not be annexed by the United States of America.
Mexican casualties are unknown but Craven wrote later on in his report: "...it is supposed we killed many of the enemy, as our fire upon them was in
heavy volleys." Lieutenant Craven reported only two men slightly wounded. After the battle at Mulegé, USS Dale set sails for La Paz, with a small
schooner in tow, captured at Mulegé without incident. Once at La Paz, Dale's commander chartered another small schooner from an American citizen
living at La Paz.
The schooner, christened USS Libertad, was originally a Mexican Navy vessel of the same name, captured by USS Cyane exactly a year earlier on October
1, 1846, at Loreto and apparently sold to an American business man, Peter Davisin, in La Paz for commerce. She was armed and placed under the command
of Lieutenant Craven.Cypress - 5-29-2012 at 03:42 PM
Howard, Thanks for he history lesson!GregN - 5-29-2012 at 03:51 PM
The Mexican Captain Manual Pineda was the real hero of that battle. There's a statue of him at the town's entrance. I have a short article about him
and the battle in my book Baja Legends.rockman - 7-15-2012 at 06:02 PM
There is a large-format book, "Naval sketches of the War in California", Random House, 1939.
The text is by Capt. D.W.Knox, USN, with a forward by F.D.R. (ex Secretary of the Navy). But more importantly, it contains 28 watercolor paintings by
an artist on the USS Dale. They are the only contemporary paintings of the war in the Sea of Cortes known to exist.
The battle of Mulege is shown in 3 paintings, including the burning of the captured schooner Magdalena. The Libertad is also depicted at Pto
Escondido.
The text description of the Mulege battle is rather biased in favor of the Americans when compared to better-researched reports.
One good reference is easily found in many libraries, Baja California in the Mexican War, 1846- 1848, by Peter Gerhard, in The Pacific Historical
Review, Vol. 14, No. 4. (Dec., 1945), pp. 418-424.
Painting of the battle hangs in Ruben's Farmacia in Mulege
Pompano - 7-15-2012 at 06:40 PM
Well....there are a few other paintings of the battle.
While maybe not of Louvre Museum quality, this is a local artist's portrayal of those events in the US Navy/ Mulege War of 1847. The artists name
appears to be a Sr. Fontes, a well-known family name in Mulege.
It hangs on the wall of Ruben's farmacia in the Mulege center square...zocalo.
Mmm ... tal vez la pintura por los números, tal vez?
[Edited on 7-16-2012 by Pompano]Jack Swords - 7-15-2012 at 06:44 PM
And the watercolor artist was gunner W.H. Meyers aboard the USS Dale. His paintings were from the other point of view. Isn't history great?Pompano - 7-15-2012 at 07:01 PM
Jack Swords, I couldn't agree more about history and facts.
Winston Churchill sumed it up accurately with this quote:
"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
Appears that the different artists were much the same in their paintings 'message'. DianaT - 7-15-2012 at 10:28 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Jack Swords
And the watercolor artist was gunner W.H. Meyers aboard the USS Dale. His paintings were from the other point of view. Isn't history great?
It is why I love history so much---- so few facts and so many points of view.
