The Battle of La Paz was an engagement of the

Pacific Coast Campaign The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. The belligerents were

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

troops against Mexican

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, commanded by

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...

officers. The battle occurred on November 16 and 17, 1847.

Background

In late September, Captain Manuel Pineda Muñoz of the

began to assemble a large militia force of farmers and ranchers to defend the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

region of Mexico from the invading United States military. Hundreds of men were among Pineda's ranks. In March and April 1847, the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, an American volunteer regiment from

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, arrived in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Their mission was to reinforce the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, occupying various Mexican ports to the south and also to take ports themselves. Lieutenant Colonel Henry S. Burton, of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, was in command. On May 30, 1847, Burton received orders to embark the sloop-of-war USS ''Lexington'' with companies A and B and proceed to La Paz for its capture.Nunis, D.B., editor, ''The Mexican War in Baja California'', 1977, Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, On 21 July, 115 men from the Seventh Regiment of New York Volunteers landed peacefully at La Paz.

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

E. Gould Buffum, of Company B, later described the port city: "The houses were all of adobe, plastered white, and thatched with the leaves of the palm tree, and were most delightfully cool. The whole beach was lined with palms, date, fig, tamarind and coconut trees, their delicious fruit hanging down on them in clusters." Following the Battle of Mulege, Pineda, as ''Commandante en Jefe de la Guerilla Guadalupana'', set up a provisional capital at San Antonio, raised taxes for defense, started resistance in Oct. at San Jose del Cabo, Comondu and Mulege, and plundered any American sympathizers. By Nov., Pineda had 300-500 insurgents gathered at San Antonio. Before departing to capture Mazatlan on 11 Nov.,

William Shubrick William Branford Shubrick (October 31, 1790 – May 27, 1874) was an officer in the United States Navy. His active-duty career extended from 1806 to 1861, including service in the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War; he was placed on the ret ...

landed 4 sailors and 20 marines at San Jose del Cabo. Burton's La Paz garrison occupied two houses on the plain commanding the town, on the south side of The Arroyo, with a breastwork of palm logs in front of the officer's house for the 6-pounders. Additionally, Burton's men used palm logs to barricade the space between the officer's quarters, the church and a house on the west side of town.

Battle

At 2 AMBurton's report, 1848, in ''The Mexican War in Baja California'', Nunis, D.B., editor, 1977, Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, on 16 Nov., Pineda's brigade of 200 men attacked the American garrison of La Paz, from the north side of The Arroyo with infantry, while the cavalry waited in the east and south waiting to charge. Pineda's men fired upon the Americans for about an hour before stopping, waiting until 9 AM to advance, but their advance slackened by 2 PM. Pineda with 50 men was able to burn former governor Francisco Palacios de Miranda's house, and briefly occupy a house on the lower part of town, before spherical case shot and

canister shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various ...

forced their retreat, killing 6. On the morning of 17 Nov., Burton's spherical case shot drove some Mexicans from another house, after which he destroyed the houses on the north side of The Arroyo, strengthened his breastworks, and the roofs of the houses he occupied.

Aftermath

Pineda's men withdrew but continued to hover about the garrison, eventually resulting in the Siege of La Paz.

Background

Battle

Aftermath

References

Further reading