On May 5th Alférez Sanchez left San Francisco with about forty men and a swivel-gun. On the morning of the 7th, his force having been increased at San José by the addition of vecinos and Indian auxiliaries, he reached the spot where the foe was posted in a thick wood on the river of the Laquisimes. The fight, opened by the enemy, raged all day, muskets being used on one side and arrows with a few muskets on the other. The swivel-gun proved to be damaged and ineffective, while the muskets of the foe were loaded with powder only. No advantage was gained, and at sunset Sanchez withdrew his men to a short distance. Next morning he divided his force into six parties of six men each. He stationed one to guard the horses and ammunition, and two others to protect the flanks and prevent the escape of the foe, while with the other three, under corporals Piña, Berreyesa, and Soto, he marched up to the edge of the wood. As before, the fight lasted all day, and as before, nothing was effected; though two of Piña's men, who were so rash as to enter the wood, were killed. Ammunition being exhausted, the men tired out, and the weather excessively hot, the siege was abandoned, and Estanislao left unconquered. Two soldiers had been killed and eight wounded, while eleven of the Indian allies were also wounded, one of them mortally. About the losses of the foe nothing was known.[1]
- ↑ Sanchez, Compaña contra Estanislao y sus Indios sublevados, 1829, MS. Dated at S. José on May 10th. Great praise was awarded to the troops for gallantry, and especially to Corp. Soto and privates Manuel Peña and Lorenzo Pacheco. May 5th, departure of Sanchez from S. Francisco. Dept. Rec.,
accomplishing nothing. Osio, Hist. Cal., MS., 126-30, describes such an expedition under Sergt Soto, during which there was a fight; while Bojorges, Recuerdos, MS., 14-17, says it was under Corp. Pacheco and returned without a fight, as did the second expedition according to Osio. In any case, it is evident that both writers confound this entrada more or less with later ones. March 1, 1829, P. Duran to Martinez, complaining of a new attack by Estanislao on the mission Indians. Arch. Arzob., M.S., v. pt i. 53–4. April 26th, Martinez to alcalde of S. José, asking for supplies and men for an expedition to start next Sunday. The conduct of the Indians is shameful, especially the challenges of Estanislao. S. José, Arch., MS., vi. 10. May 6th (probably an error in date), gov. orders Martinez to send Alf. Sanchez with as many soldiers as possible, the S. José militia, and a swivel-gun on a raid against the Indians. Dept. Rec., MS., vii. 149.
