on the messenger's return he would take it by force. The order was obeyed at once, Rocha's men retired toward the city, and Sepúlveda came out in person to tell the Monterey chief that the stronghold of the patriots was at his disposal. Alvarado accordingly occupied the mission with his army late in the afternoon of the 21st, and next day reported his success to his associates in the north.[1]
On January 21st, before the fall of San Fernando was known in the city, a meeting of the ayuntamiento was held, at which Pio Pico, Joaquin Ortega, and Martin S. Cabello, having presented their credentials as representatives of San Diego, were added to the comisionados appointed and instructed on the 17th, and the instructions were modified or enlarged so as
- ↑ Alvarado, Carta en que relata la campaña de S. Fernando, MS. The writer does not state what the agreement was, but simply says it differed very slightly from the established plan. He says his men were anxious to fight, and were with difficulty restrained. The agreement is given in Los Angeles, Arch., MS., iv. 249-50; Dept. St. Pap., MS., xi. 64-5, and is literally as follows: 'The citizen Juan B. Alvarado, governor of the free and sovereign state of Alta California, declares his acceptance of the resolution passed by the illustrious ayuntamiento of the city of Los Angeles on the 17th inst, and by virtue of the extraordinary faculties with which he is invested, does hereby conform to all that is contained in the articles expressed in the aforesaid resolution. Field of San Fernando, Jan. 20, 1837. Juan B. Alvarado, Lic. Cosme Peña, secretary.' Osio, Hist. Cal., MS., 343-8, says that Alvarado was surprised and delighted at getting such favorable terms at such a critical moment, when the most he had hoped for was to be allowed to rule over the regions north of Sta Bárbara. The 'friend of Sepúlveda' was sad to think of the mothers of Los Angeles, and Alvarado, on learning the cause of his melancholy, promised that during his rule the decree of religious tolerance should not be enforced, and the girls should not be encouraged to marry protestants, Jews, and heretics. This author says nothing of the attempt to prevent Alvarado from remaining in the south. He says it was a hard task for Sepúlveda and his 'friend,' not only to curb their own wrath, but to calm the warlike leaders at S. Fernando, especially Rocha, who raved like a madman, declaring that in future he would take a barber with him in his campaigns to bleed him, since it was the only way ever to see blood in Californian wars. Jan. 23d, Cárlos Carrillo writes to Vallejo, expressing his joy at the triumph of 'our cause.' Vallejo, Doc., MS., iv. 14. On Jan. 31st the current news at S. Diego was that the northern leaders had surrendered! So writes Alcalde Estudillo to the comandante of fronteras, who had been ordered to send aid, but had not done so because he learned from 'unofficial sources' that it would be useless. S. Diego, Arch., MS., 165. May 26th, Comandante Martinez at S. Francisco has learned of the victory at S. Fernando over 270 men. Dept. St. Pap., MS., iv. 161-2. Mention of the S. Fernando campaign in Janssens, Vida, MS., 87-9; Ávila, Notas, MS., 20; Botello, Anales, MS., 27; Nidever's Life, MS., 85-8.
