THE END.
It was the brains and statesmanship of Wm. L. Marcy,
when he was secretary of war under President Polk,
that inaugurated and generaled the movements that
resulted in our securing possession of California—by
his expeditions, sent by sea and by land, of regular
forces, followed by the volunteer regiment of one
thousand men, under the command of Col. Jonathan
Stevenson, as the following able State paper indicates:
[Confidential.]
[Illustration: W.L. Marcy]
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, June 3, 1846.
SIR.—I herewith send you a copy of my letter
to the governor of Missouri for an additional force
of one thousand mounted men. The object of thus
adding to the force under your command is not, as you
will perceive, fully set forth in that letter, for
the reason that it is deemed prudent that it should
not, at this time, become a matter of public notoriety;
but to you it is proper and necessary that it should
be stated.
It has been decided by the president to be of the
greatest importance in the pending war with Mexico
to take the earliest possession of Upper California.
An expedition with that view is hereby ordered, and
you are designated to command it. To enable you
to be in sufficient force to conduct it successfully
this additional force of a thousand mounted men has
been provided, to follow you in the direction of Santa
Fe, to be under your orders or the officer you may
leave in command at Santa Fe.
It cannot be determined how far this additional force
will be behind that designated for the Santa Fe expedition,
but it will not probably be more than a few weeks.
When you arrive at Santa Fe with the force already
called, and shall have taken possession of it, you
may find yourself in a condition to garrison it with
a small part of your command (as the additional force
will soon be at that place), and with the remainder,
press forward to California. In that case you
will make such arrangements as to being followed by
the reinforcements before mentioned, as in your judgment
may be deemed safe and prudent. I need not say
to you that in case you conquer Santa Fe (and with
it will be included the department of the State of
New Mexico), it will be important to provide for retaining
safe possession of it. Should you deem it prudent
to have still more troops for the accomplishment of
the object herein designated, you will lose no time
in communicating that opinion on that point, and all
others connected with the enterprise, to this department.
Indeed you are hereby authorized to make a direct
requisition for it upon the governor of Missouri.
