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GUIDE FOR
SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED
MAINTENANCE
DECEMBER 2003
American Bureau of Shipping
Incorporated by Act of Legislature of
the State of New York 1862
Copyright  2003
American Bureau of Shipping
ABS Plaza
16855 Northchase Drive
Houston, TX 77060 USA

This Page Intentionally Left Blank

Foreword
In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of proactive maintenance techniques by Owners
for repair and maintenance of machinery onboard vessels and offshore structures. The resulting
preventative maintenance programs developed as a result of applying these techniques are being used
by the vessel’s crew and shore-based repair personnel. There have been numerous advances in
condition monitoring technology, trending and increasingly more powerful planned maintenance
software as a result of increased business competition. Since 1978, ABS has cooperated with Owners
on developing and implementing preventative maintenance programs. In 1984, ABS issued its first
Guide for Survey Based on Preventative Maintenance Techniques with subsequent updates in 1985,
1987, 1995 and then inclusion in the Rules for Survey After Construction – Part 7 in mid 2002.
However, machinery systems have continued to become larger and more complex, requiring skilled
operators with specialized knowledge of the machinery and systems onboard. This Guide for Survey
Based on Reliability-centered Maintenance was developed to provide vessel and other marine
structure Owners, managers and operators with a tool to develop a maintenance program using
techniques applied in other industries for machinery systems within a maintenance philosophy
referred to as Reliability-centered Maintenance (RCM). With the application of RCM principles,
maintenance is evaluated and applied in a rational manner that provides the most value to a vessel’s
Owner/manager/operator. Accordingly, improved equipment and system reliability onboard vessels
and other marine structures can be expected by the application of this philosophy.
An additional purpose of this Guide is to introduce RCM as a part of overall risk management. By
understanding the risk of losses associated with equipment failures, a maintenance program can be
optimized. This optimization is achieved by allocating maintenance resources to equipment
maintenance according to risk impact on the vessel. For example, RCM analysis can be employed to:
• Identify functional failures with the highest risk, which will then be focused on for further
analyses
• Identify equipment items and their failure modes that will cause high-risk functional failures
• Determine maintenance tasks and maintenance strategy that will reduce risk to acceptable levels
Reliability-centered maintenance is a process of systematically analyzing an engineered system to
understand:
• Its functions
• The failure modes of its equipment that support these functions
• How then to choose an optimal course of maintenance to prevent the failure modes from
occurring or to detect the failure mode before a failure occurs
• How to determine spare holding requirements
The objective of RCM is to achieve reliability for all of the operating modes of a system.
An RCM analysis, when properly conducted, should answer the following seven questions:
1. What are the system functions and associated performance standards?
2. How can the system fail to fulfill these functions?
3. What can cause a functional failure?
4. What happens when a failure occurs?
5. What might the consequence be when the failure occurs?
6. What can be done to detect and prevent the failure?
7. What should be done if a maintenance task cannot be found?
ABS GUIDE FOR SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE . 2003 iii

Typically, the following tools and expertise are employed to perform RCM analyses:
• Failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA). This analytical tool helps answer
Questions 1 through 5.
• RCM decision flow diagram. This diagram helps answer Questions 6 and 7.
• Design, engineering and operational knowledge of the system.
• Condition-monitoring techniques.
• Risk-based decision making (i.e., the frequency and the consequence of a failure in terms of its
impact on safety, the environment and commercial operations).
This process is formalized by documenting and implementing the following:
• The analyses and the decisions taken
• Progressive improvements based on operational and maintenance experience
• Clear audit trails of maintenance actions taken and improvements made
Once these are documented and implemented, this process will be an effective system to ensure
reliable and safe operation of an engineered system. Such a maintenance management system is
called an RCM system.
The final result of the RCM analysis is a comprehensive preventative maintenance plan for those
equipment items selected for analysis. Therefore, the approach used in the ABS Guide for Survey
Based on Preventative Maintenance Techniques (PM Guide) has been applied in this Guide.
This Guide becomes effective immediately upon publication.
We welcome your feedback. Comments or suggestions can be sent electronically to rdd@eagle.org.
ABS GUIDE FOR SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE . 2003
iv

GUIDE FOR
SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED
MAINTENANCE
CONTENTS
SECTION 1 General....................................................................................1
1 Application .............................................................................1
2 Objective ................................................................................1
3 Classification Notations..........................................................1
4 Definitions ..............................................................................2
5 Program Conditions and Administration ................................6
5.1 Age of Vessel....................................................................6
5.2 Surveys .............................................................................7
5.3 Damages...........................................................................7
5.4 Computerized System.......................................................7
5.5 Engineering Review ..........................................................7
5.6 Survey and Maintenance Intervals....................................7
5.7 Implementation Survey .....................................................8
5.8 Spares Holding..................................................................8
5.9 Sustainment ......................................................................8
5.10 Annual Confirmation Survey .............................................8
5.11 Cancellation of Program....................................................8
FIGURE 1 Diagram for RCM Program Administration ..................9
SECTION 2 RCM Analysis Requirements ..............................................11
1 Introduction ..........................................................................11
2 RCM Team Setup ................................................................11
3 Procedures...........................................................................12
4 Initial RCM Analysis Submittal.............................................14
4.1 Overview.........................................................................14
4.2 System Definition ............................................................15
4.3 System Block Diagrams and Functions...........................15
4.4 Identification of Functional Failures.................................16
4.5 Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis
(FMECA) .........................................................................16
4.6 Selection of the Failure Management Tasks...................19
ABS GUIDE FOR SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE . 2003 v

5 Spares Holding Determination.............................................21
5.1 Stock-out Effect on End Effects.......................................22
5.2 Spares Holding Decisions ...............................................22
6 RCM Sustainment................................................................23
6.1 Trend Analysis.................................................................23
6.2 Maintenance Requirements Document Reviews.............23
6.3 Task Packaging Reviews ................................................24
6.4 Age Exploration Tasks ....................................................24
6.5 Failures............................................................................24
6.6 Relative Ranking Analysis...............................................25
6.7 Other Activities ................................................................25
6.8 Sustainment Process Results..........................................26
7 Documentation Requirements .............................................26
7.1 RCM Analysis Documentation.........................................26
7.2 Spares Holding Documentation.......................................28
7.3 RCM Sustainment Documentation ..................................28
8 Special Conditions For Certain Equipment..........................29
8.1 Steam Turbine.................................................................29
8.2 Internal Combustion Engines ..........................................29
8.3 Electrical Switch Gear and Power Distribution Panels ....30
8.4 Permanently Installed Monitoring Equipment ..................30
9 Condition-monitoring Techniques........................................30
TABLE 1 Example Operating Modes and Operating Context...31
TABLE 2 Example Function and Functional Failure List...........32
TABLE 3 Example Bottom-up FMECA Worksheet ...................33
TABLE 4 Example Consequence/Severity Level Definition
Format........................................................................34
TABLE 5 Probability of Failure (i.e., Frequency, Likelihood)
Criteria Example Format............................................36
TABLE 6 Risk Matrix Example Format......................................36
TABLE 7 Failure Characteristic and Suggested Failure
Management Tasks ...................................................37
TABLE 8 Example Maintenance Task Selection Worksheet ....38
TABLE 9 Summary of Maintenance Tasks ...............................39
TABLE 10 Summary of Spares Holding Determination ..............40
FIGURE 1 Diagram for RCM Analysis.........................................13
FIGURE 2 Example Partitioning of Functional Groups ...............41
FIGURE 3 Example System Block Diagram................................42
FIGURE 4 Simplified Task Selection Flow Diagram ...................43
FIGURE 5 RCM Task Selection Flow Diagram...........................44
FIGURE 6 Spares Holding Decision Flow Diagram ....................46
FIGURE 6A Example of Use of Spares Holding Decision Flow
Diagram......................................................................47
FIGURE 7 Process to Address Failures and Unpredicted
Events ........................................................................48
vi

SECTION 3 Onboard Documentation.....................................................49
1 Onboard Documentation......................................................49
1.1 Condition-monitoring Tasks ............................................49
1.2 Planned-maintenance Tasks...........................................49
1.3 Combination of Condition-monitoring and
Planned-maintenance Tasks...........................................50
1.4 Failure-finding Tasks.......................................................50
1.5 Any Other Applicable and Effective Tasks ......................50
1.6 Spares Holding................................................................50
1.7 RCM Sustainment...........................................................50
SECTION 4 Implementation Survey........................................................51
1 General ................................................................................51
SECTION 5 Owner’s Annual RCM Report..............................................53
1 General ................................................................................53
2 Condition-monitoring Tasks – Annual..................................53
3 Planned-maintenance Tasks – Annual................................54
4 For Items Covered by a Combination of Condition-
monitoring and Planned-maintenance Tasks ......................54
5 For Items Covered by Failure-finding Tasks........................54
6 For Items Covered by any other Applicable and Effective
Tasks....................................................................................54
7 RCM Sustainment................................................................54
8 Report Exceptions................................................................55
SECTION 6 Annual Confirmation Survey of RCM Program .................57
1 Survey Requirements ..........................................................57
SECTION 7 Overhauls and Damage Repairs.........................................59
1 Overhauls.............................................................................59
2 Damage Repairs..................................................................59
SECTION 8 Fees, Information, Offices...................................................61
1 Fees .....................................................................................61
2 Information...........................................................................61
3 ABS Technical Offices Responsible for RCM......................61
APPENDIX 1 Additional Resources ..........................................................63
Related Standards ............................................................................63
Related Publications .........................................................................63
Condition Monitoring and Dynamic Monitoring Standards ...............64
ABS GUIDE FOR SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE . 2003 vii

APPENDIX 2 Suggested Failure Modes for Marine Machinery
Equipment and Components.............................................. 65
TABLE 1 Electrical Equipment ..................................................66
TABLE 2 Mechanical Equipment...............................................67
TABLE 3 Piping Equipment.......................................................70
TABLE 4 Control Equipment .....................................................73
TABLE 5 Lifting Equipment .......................................................74
TABLE 6 Electrical Components...............................................75
TABLE 7 Mechanical Components ...........................................76
TABLE 8 Piping Components....................................................80
TABLE 9 Structural Components ..............................................82
TABLE 10 Rigging Components .................................................83
APPENDIX 3 Failure-finding Maintenance Task Interval ........................ 85
1 Introduction ..........................................................................85
2 Statistical View of Hidden Failures ......................................85
3 Failure-finding Task Applicability and Effectiveness............86
4 Determining Failure-finding Maintenance Task Interval ......87
4.1 Mathematical Determination of Failure-finding Task
Interval.............................................................................87
4.2 Using Guidelines to Determine Failure-finding Task
Interval.............................................................................88
5 Failure-finding Maintenance Task Intervals.........................89
TABLE 1 Example of Failure-finding Task Interval Rules .........88
TABLE 2 Example of Failure-finding Task Intervals Based on
MTTF..........................................................................88
TABLE 3 Failure-finding Maintenance Task Interval
Estimates ...................................................................89
FIGURE 1 Effect of a Failure-finding Task ..................................86
APPENDIX 4 Overview of Condition-monitoring Techniques and
Potential-Failure Interval Data ............................................ 91
1 Introduction ..........................................................................91
2 Condition Monitoring Categories .........................................91
2.1 Corrosion Monitoring .......................................................92
2.2 Thermography.................................................................92
2.3 Dynamic Monitoring.........................................................92
2.4 Oil Analysis and Tribology...............................................92
2.5 Nondestructive Testing....................................................92
2.6 Electrical Condition Monitoring........................................92
2.7 Performance Monitoring ..................................................92
2.8 Tabular Listing of Techniques .........................................93
viii

3 Guidance for Condition-monitoring Interval
Determination.......................................................................93
3.1 Introduction .....................................................................93
3.2 Condition-monitoring Maintenance Task Applicability
and Effectiveness............................................................94
3.3 Determining Condition-monitoring Maintenance Task
Intervals ..........................................................................94
TABLE 1 Corrosion Monitoring..................................................96
TABLE 2 Thermography............................................................96
TABLE 3 Dynamic Monitoring ...................................................97
TABLE 4 Oil Analysis and Tribology .........................................98
TABLE 5 Nondestructive Testing ............................................100
TABLE 6 Electrical Condition Monitoring ................................102
TABLE 7 Performance Monitoring...........................................103
TABLE 8 Suggested P-F Intervals ..........................................104
ABS GUIDE FOR SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE . 2003 ix

S E C T I O N 1 General
1 Application
The following are procedures and conditions under which a properly conducted Reliability-centered
Maintenance (RCM) analysis and the resulting preventative maintenance plan may be credited as
satisfying the requirements of Special Continuous Survey of Machinery.
No preventative maintenance plan supersedes the judgment of an ABS Surveyor, nor does it waive
ABS Surveyor attendance for damage, representative overhaul of main engines, generator engines and
steering gear, general electrical insulation condition and resistance tests, electrical devices functional
tests, reduction gear teeth examinations, hydrostatic tests of pressure vessels, tests and verification of
safety devices such as relief valves, overspeed trips, emergency shut-offs, low-oil pressure trips, etc.,
as required by the ABS Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels (Steel Vessel Rules), including
the ABS Rules for Survey After Construction – Part 7 (Rules for Survey).
It is a prerequisite that the machinery in this program be on a Special Continuous Survey of
Machinery (CMS) cycle.
2 Objective
The objective of this Guide is to provide requirements which reduce the risk to personnel, the vessel
or marine structure, other vessels or structures and the environment and which reduce the economic
consequences due to a machinery failure which may otherwise occur more frequently if a rational
maintenance strategy, as provided for by this Guide, was not applied. This is achieved by applying
the analysis methodology provided in this Guide to develop a rational maintenance plan. By using
RCM principles, maintenance is evaluated and applied in a rational manner. Functional failures with
the highest risk are identified and then focused on. Equipment items and their failure modes that will
cause high-risk functional failures are identified for further analyses. Maintenance tasks and
maintenance strategies that will reduce risk to acceptable levels are determined. Spare parts
inventories are determined based on the maintenance tasks developed and a risk assessment. An
RCM sustainment procedure is instituted to continually monitor and optimize maintenance.
Accordingly, improved equipment and system reliability can be expected.
With an effective preventative maintenance plan, credit towards the requirements of Special
Continuous Survey of Machinery may be provided.
3 Classification Notations
The RCM Program is to be approved by an ABS Technical Office. Upon completion of a satisfactory
Implementation Survey, a “Certificate of Approval for Reliability-centered Maintenance Program” is
to be issued by the attending Surveyor. A notation, if appropriate, will be entered in the Record.
ABS GUIDE FOR SURVEY BASED ON RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE . 2003 1

4
Section 1 General
In general, any machinery systems subject to Special Periodical Survey listed in 7-6-2/3 “Special
Periodical Surveys – Machinery”, Section 7-8-2 “Shipboard Automatic and Remote-control Systems
– Special Periodical Surveys”, or applicable sections in Part 7, Chapter 9 “Survey Requirements for
Additional Systems and Services” of the Rules for Survey may be selected for RCM analysis and
development of a preventative maintenance plan. There are other Special Periodical Survey
requirements listed in other Rules and Guides not listed here for which machinery systems may be
selected for analysis. The vessel’s Owner may specifically request review of other machinery not
subject to Special Periodical Survey.
When the RCM Program is approved for the equipment related to:
i) The propulsion system, including as applicable: prime mover(s), reduction gears, shafting,
propeller or other thrusting device, all auxiliary systems providing, cooling, control, electrical
power, exhaust, fuel, lubrication and equipment related to the steering or other directional
control system, the RCM Program will be assigned and distinguished in the Record with the
class notation RCM (PROP).
ii) The fire extinguishing system (see 7-6-2/1.1.8 of the Rules for Survey), the RCM Program
will be assigned and distinguished in the Record with the class notation RCM (FIRE).
iii) The cargo handling (cargo pumps, associated piping for internal and independent tanks) and
safety equipment (i.e., inert gas system, vapor emission control) for a tanker, liquefied gas
carrier or chemical carrier, the RCM Program will be assigned and distinguished in the
Record with the class notation RCM (CARGO).
When the RCM Program is approved for both propulsion and fire extinguishing systems, the RCM
Program will be assigned and distinguished in the Record with the class notation RCM (MACH).
When the RCM Program is approved for systems and equipment used in connection with drilling and
the drilling system and the drilling system is in compliance with the Guide for the Certification of
Drilling Systems, the RCM Program will be distinguished in the Record with the class notation RCM
(CDS).
The Owner may select particular systems or equipment for which RCM analysis is desired. Any
machinery items not covered by the RCM analysis are to be surveyed and credited in the usual way in
accordance with the Rules for Survey.
Definitions
The following definitions are applied to the terms used in this Guide.
ABS Recognized Condition Monitoring Company. The reference to this term refers to those
companies whom ABS has identified as an External Specialist. Please refer to Subsection 8/2.
Baseline data. The baseline data refer to condition monitoring indications – usually vibration records
on rotating equipment – established with the equipment item or component operating in good order,
when the unit first entered the Program; or the first condition-monitoring data collected following an
overhaul or repair procedure that invalidated the previous baseline data. The baseline data are the
initial condition-monitoring data to which subsequent periodical condition-monitoring data is
compared.
Cause. See failure cause.
Component. The hierarchical level below equipment items. This is the lowest level for which the
component: can be identified for its contribution to the overall functions of the functional group; can
be identified for its failure modes; is the most convenient physical unit for which the preventative
maintenance plan can be specified.
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KEARNY’S
MARCH
So fine an opportunity for adventure appealed instantly to the bold,
hardy and energetic young fellows of Missouri, and as early as June
6 volunteers were hurrying into the service at Fort Leavenworth—a
square of wooden buildings, with a blockhouse at each corner and a
plot of grass in the middle—which crowned a high bluff on the
Missouri River about 312 miles from St. Louis; and about 1660
troops were soon assembled at that point. Of Kearny’s dragoons
there were some 300. The First Regiment of Missouri Mounted
Volunteers—which chose Alexander W. Doniphan as colonel—
numbered about 860. The artillery, including nearly 250 men,
consisted of “Battery A” of St. Louis under Captain Weightman and a
company under Captain Fischer, a graduate of the Prussian artillery
service, and formed a battalion commanded by Major M. L. Clark, a
West Pointer.[3] There were also two small companies of volunteer
infantry, a St. Louis mounted body of about one hundred called the
Laclede Rangers, which Kearny attached to his regulars, about fifty
Delaware and Shawnee Indians, and finally, though by no means last
in importance, a Roman Catholic priest familiar with the Spanish
language.[4]

GENERAL KEARNY’S MARCH
Without lingering to complete the outfit, Kearny sent the command
off by sections. June 5 a detachment of the dragoons advanced. By
the twenty-eighth all of Doniphan’s regiment were on the march for
Santa Fe and—none of them cared how much farther; and two days
later Weightman’s fine brass cannon, gleaming radiantly in the bright
sunshine, wheeled into the trail. For several days the troops had to
break their way through a rough country, but about fifteen miles
south of the Kansas River they struck the Santa Fe road, a broad,
well marked, natural highway running toward the southwest.[6]

Council Grove, the famous rendezvous of Indians and frontiersmen,
was the last place from which a single person could safely return;
and now for nearly four weeks not one “stick of timber” was to cheer
the eye. After pressing on in the same direction to the Arkansas, the
troops left the main trail, marched wearily along the northern bank
of the river—ascending about seven feet in each mile—till they were
beyond the great bend, and finally, crossing the shallow stream,
turned their faces toward Bent’s Fort, a protected trading post,
which stood near the present site of Las Animas, Colorado, about
650 miles from Fort Leavenworth. Belts had been tightened over and
over again by this time. Drinking water that no horse would touch
had sickened many a tough rider. Mosquitos and buffalo gnats had
tormented the flesh day and night. Faces had been scorched by
siroccos, and tongues had swollen with thirst. Many had become so
tired that a rattlesnake in the blanket seemed hardly worth minding,
and so utterly wretched that in blind fury they sometimes raved and
cursed like maniacs. Out of one hundred fine horses belonging to
Battery A sixty had perished. Yet in places there had been cool
breezes, carpets of brilliant and spicy flowers, great herds of buffalo,
curious mirages, and inspiring glimpses of Pike’s Peak, the towering
outpost of the Rockies.[6]
At length on July 29 Kearny escorted by Doniphan’s regiment gained
the rendezvous, a grassy meadow on the Arkansas about nine miles
below the Fort. There within a few days the Army of the West
assembled,[5] and two additional companies of the dragoons, which
had made an average of twenty-eight miles a day from Fort
Leavenworth, joined their regiment. Nor were the troops alone.
Several merchants had left Independence about the first of May.
Notified by order of the government that war had begun, they had
stopped here; and the Colonel found under his protection more than
four hundred wagons and merchandise worth upwards of a million.
[6]
Armijo, for his part, had received ample warnings. In March the
central government informed him that war might be expected, and
authorized him to make preparations for defence. By June 17 news

of the coming invasion reached Santa Fe, and nine days later the
first caravan of the season confirmed it. Manuel Alvarez, the
American consul, endeavored now to persuade Armijo that it would
“be better for himself and the people under his government to
capitulate, and far preferable” to become Americans than to be
citizens of a country so disordered and so impotent as Mexico; but
while his advisers and subordinates fancied they could obtain offices
under an elective system, and “were rather easily won over,” the
governor himself probably could not believe that people so long
robbed and oppressed would choose the wolf as their shepherd.
Besides, he doubtless had some national spirit and some desire to
justify his gratuitous title of general. After confirming the news
further by a spy, he sent south on July 1 an appeal for aid—
representing the Americans as 6000 in number—and began to
prepare for defence. A letter from Ugarte, the comandante general
of Chihuahua, stating that he could set out on a moment’s notice
with five hundred cavalry and as many infantry, seemed
encouraging, and no doubt Armijo was aware that Durango, too, had
been ordered by the authorities at Mexico to aid him.[7]
Meanwhile reinforcements for Kearny were gathering in his rear. On
the third of June Marcy informed the governor of Missouri that if
Sterling Price, then a member of the Missouri legislature, and certain
other citizens of the state would raise and organize a thousand
mounted men—that is to say, a regiment and a battalion—to follow
Kearny promptly, they would be appointed to the chief commands.
This method of getting troops aroused considerable opposition
among the people, for it ignored the militia system and the
aspirations of the militia officers, and many felt that a politician like
Price was unfit for the command; but young men were ready to
volunteer under any sort of conditions that promised a chance to
reach the front, and about the time Kearny left Fort Bent this new
force, including artillery under regular officers, was mustered into
the service at Fort Leavenworth.[8]
At the same time steps were taken to obtain reinforcements of a
totally different character. A large number of Mormons, recently

driven from Nauvoo, Illinois, had gathered at Council Bluffs, and
were planning to settle in California. It was important that feelings of
hostility toward this country should not prevail among them, and
apparently their assistance, not only on the coast but in New Mexico,
might be valuable. Kearny was therefore authorized to accept a body
of these emigrants not larger than a quarter of his entire force, and
about five hundred of them were enlisted in June and taken to Fort
Leavenworth by Captain Allen of the First Dragoons. Allen soon died,
but under Lieutenant Smith of the same regiment this party marched
for Santa Fe.[8]
On July 31 Kearny issued a proclamation, which declared that he
was going to New Mexico “for the purpose of seeking union with,
and ameliorating the condition of its inhabitants,” urged them to
follow their usual vocations, and promised that all who should
pursue this course would be protected in their civil and religious
rights; and the next day he addressed Armijo in the same strain,
telling him that resistance would not only be in vain, but would
cause the people to suffer, and adding that submission would be
greatly for his interest and for theirs.[9] Captain Cooke of the
dragoons was made the bearer of this communication, and with an
escort of twelve picked men he went forward under a white flag.[16]
August 1 the “long-legged infantry,” who were almost able to
outmarch the cavalry, left the rendezvous, and on the following day
the so-called army was all in motion. After crossing the Arkansas a
little way above the Fort, it soon turned off to the southwest, and
followed in general the line of the present Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railroad. Before long the troops found on the right a high
range of mountains, thrusting up twin peaks into the region of
perpetual snow, while the gleaming wall of the far Rockies came
every day nearer; and on the left gazed over wide plains—broken
with ridge, plateau or butte—which stretched away toward the east,
until one could not say where earth and sky met. Near the present
boundary of New Mexico began the ascent of Raton Pass; and the
men, winding up the rugged valley, discovered most beautiful
flowers. But they were hardly in a condition to enjoy them, for the

KEARNY’S
POLITICAL
ACTION
rations—cut down one half or more—consisted of flour stirred up in
water, fried, and eaten with a little pork; and the implacable Kearny,
an embodiment of energy and resolution, hurried them along by
marches that were almost incredibly hard. What lay ahead nobody
knew. It was not even certain that the present scanty rations would
hold out. But the watchword was always, Forward; and even the
magnificent views at the summit of the Pass, where Raton Mountain
upreared a series of castellated pinnacles somewhat like those of the
Ichang gorge on the upper Yangtse River, attracted but little
attention.[16]
August 15, at the new and unimportant village of
Las Vegas began Kearny’s political work. From the
flat roof of a house the General—for his
commission as brigadier general had now
overtaken him—said to the people substantially this: “For some time
the United States has considered your country a part of our territory,
and we have come to take possession of it. We are among you as
friends—not as enemies; as protectors—not as conquerors; for your
benefit—not your injury. I absolve you from all allegiance to the
Mexican government and to Armijo.[10] They have not defended you
against the Indians, but the United States will. All who remain
peaceably at home shall be safeguarded in person and in property.
Their religion also shall be protected. A third of my army are Roman
Catholics. I was not brought up in that faith myself, yet I respect
your creed, and so does my government. But listen! If any one
promises to be quiet and is found in arms against me, I will hang
him. Resistance would be useless. There are my soldiers, and many
more are coming. You, then, who are in office will now take the oath
of allegiance to the United States, and I will support your
authority.”[16]
Tecolote also, at the bottom of the valley, witnessed a scene of this
kind; and the next day, crossing the swift Pecos, Kearny followed a
similar course at the red adobe town of San Miguel. Here the alcalde
said he would rather wait until after the capture of Santa Fe. “It is
enough for you to know, Sir, that I have captured your town,” was

the stern reply. Doubtless, in their muddled way, the people
wondered at this first illustration of liberty; but with characteristic
politeness, timidity and guile they wrinkled their faces as if pleased.
In spite of orders and sentinels the fields of waving corn, full of ears
just prime for roasting, suffered a little; but Kearny paid for the
damage, and that at least was appreciated.[16]
By this time officers sent forward to learn the state of public
sentiment at the city of Taos, an important seat of the Pueblo
Indians, and at Santa Fe had returned with unwelcome reports, and
several American residents had brought warnings of danger. The
activity of Mexican spies—kindly treated when captured, and in some
cases released at once with friendly messages—proved that Armijo
was alert; and on August 14 his reply to the note sent by Cooke,
while proposing that Kearny halt and that negotiations be opened,
informed the General that the people were rising en masse to
defend the province, and that Armijo would place himself at their
head.[11] Fifteen hundred dragoons had reached or were near Santa
Fe, it was reported; and at a natural gateway, cutting a ridge about
four hundred feet high, a hostile force was said to be waiting. On
hearing this news all the weary men and their drooping steeds came
to life. The banners and guidons were unfurled. “To horse!” blared
the trumpets; “Trot! Gallop! Charge!” And with sabres glittering
under a brilliant sun the troopers dashed round a sharp turn into the
pass, while the artillery thundered after them, and the infantry
scrambled over the ridge. Not an enemy was found; but the reports
agreed that Apache Canyon, some distance farther on, would be
stiffly and strongly defended.[16]
This was extremely serious news. To march nearly 2000 soldiers
eight or nine hundred miles through a wilderness involved fearful
risks, and the expedition was now at the breaking point. The men
had become travel-worn and half-starved; many, if not all, were
suffering from the effects of the water, loaded with acrid salts, which
they had been drinking; the horses generally were on their last legs;
and hundreds of horses and mules actually could not march another
day. It had already been necessary to attach cattle to the

CROSS-
CURRENTS
ammunition wagons, and the cannon were now dragged along with
extreme difficulty. The provisions had practically been exhausted.
And here lay a defile seven or eight miles long, guarded by several
thousand militia, a force of regulars and considerable artillery.[16]
As these facts indicate, the New Mexicans did not
seem willing to justify Polk’s expectations.
Whatever Armijo’s own opinions, public sentiment
appeared to demand action. There existed a good
deal of warlike spirit in the province, and naturally the prospect of an
armed invasion excited resentment. The ignorant and suspicious
people were easily persuaded, after their hard experience under
Mexican rule, that the Americans were coming to take their
property; and the priests added, that besides abusing the women
these ruffians would brand them on the cheek as mules were
branded. August 8 the governor therefore issued a proclamation,
summoning the people to take up arms in the cause of “sacred
independence”; the prefect of Taos and presumably other local
authorities followed his example; and several thousand of the
people,[12] Mexicans or Indians, many of them armed only with
bows and arrows, clubs or lariats, but all apparently eager to fight,
were placed at Apache Canyon under Colonel Manuel Pino.[16]
At this juncture, however, Cooke, a Chihuahua merchant named
González and one James Magoffin, a jovial and rich Kentucky
Irishman, prominent in the caravan trade and long a resident of
Chihuahua, arrived at Santa Fe. Magoffin had been introduced by
Senator Benton to Polk, and after some talk had consented to act as
a sort of informal commissioner to Armijo in the interest of peaceful
relations. He now argued, according to the very reasonable
statement of the governor, that American rule would enhance the
price of real estate and make New Mexico prosperous.[13]
Undoubtedly he dwelt upon the impossibility of successful
resistance; and probably he suggested—though Armijo’s avarice
required no hint on this point—that should cordial feelings prevail,
the duties on the approaching merchandise, a fortune in themselves,

would be paid at the Santa Fe customhouse, where the governor
could handle them.[16]
On the other hand, no aid was coming from the south. The 1500
dragoons were not even phantasmal. Ugarte’s cheering statement
that he could bring 1000 men to New Mexico had no doubt been
intended, and no doubt was understood, as mere stimulation.
According to the latest returns, New Mexico, Chihuahua, Durango
and Zacatecas together had less than 2000 poorly equipped and
poorly subsisted troops, the greater part of whom were the
scattered and almost worthless Presidials. The general government,
when officially notified of the coming invasion, merely issued a few
nugatory orders and expressed “profound regret.” The people’s
loyalty to the government and especially to the governor appeared
uncertain. Armijo understood that he was not a general, and no
doubt understood also that he was a coward; and for all these
reasons he decided—though wavering to the end—that hostilities
were to be avoided, should that be possible. Diego Archuleta also,
one of the chief military officers, was approached by Magoffin, and
under genial manipulation proved to be much less bloodthirsty than
had been supposed. Consul Alvarez, it will be recalled, had
previously found the subordinate officials tractable, and it may safely
be supposed in general that very little desire to fight the Americans
existed in the governor’s entourage.[16]
Pino seems to have felt differently, however, and when Armijo was
on the road to the canyon, August 16, with two or three hundred
soldiers and about eight guns, he received a message from that
officer threatening to come and fetch him, if he did not join the
militia. This augured ill, and the augury proved correct. The people
demanded to be led against the enemy, but Armijo said the
Americans were too strong. Pino offered to attack if he could have a
part of the regulars, but the governor was determined to keep them
all for his own protection. Then he was called a traitor, and retaliated
by calling the people disloyal and cowardly. They threatened him;
and he, more afraid of his own army than of Kearny’s, urged the
militia to go home and let the regulars do the fighting. Threatened

OPPOSITION
COLLAPSES
again, he forbade the people to come near his camp; and finally he
turned his cannon in their direction.[16]
In reality the people themselves had no great hunger for battle.
Besides detesting Armijo, they were doubtless influenced by much
lurking anti-Mexican or pro-American sentiment; had probably
learned to question the diabolical intentions attributed to Kearny’s
troops; were fully aware in a general way of American superiority;
and felt deeply impressed by tales about the great number of the
invaders, their long train, their many guns, their enormous horses
and the terrible men themselves—an army, in short, such as they
had never dreamed of before. The quarrels of their leaders both
disgusted and disheartened them; and they began to think, too, of
their lives, families and property. August 17, therefore, they broke
up, and went every man his own way. A council of the regular
officers favored retreat. The Presidials deserted or were dismissed;
the cannon were spiked and left in the woods; and in about two
weeks Armijo—though offered personal security and freedom at
Santa Fe—turned up at Chihuahua with ninety dragoons. He had
proved not exactly a traitor, perhaps;[14] but certainly not a patriot,
and still more certainly, if that was possible, not a hero.[16]
The result was that on August 17 a fat alcalde rode
up to Kearny on his mule at full speed, and with a
roar of laughter cried, “Armijo and his troops have
gone to hell and the Canyon is all clear.” The news
was confirmed; and early the next day, instead of turning the pass
by a difficult and circuitous route, of which the General had learned,
the Americans advanced boldly, though still with caution, on their
last hard march—twenty-eight miles to Santa Fe. Just beyond the
defile, at a position that might easily have been made impregnable,
were found light breastworks, a sort of abatis, a spiked cannon, and
tracks which guided some of Clark’s men to the rest of Armijo’s
ordnance. At three o’clock, after receiving a note of welcome from
Vigil, the acting governor, General Kearny, riding at the head of the
troops, came in sight of the town. Neither man nor beast had been
allowed to stop for food that day, and the column dragged heavily;

NEW MEXICO
OCCUPIED
but the rear was up three hours later, and then, leaving the artillery
on a commanding hill, the rest of the troops eagerly entered Santa
Fe.[16]
Alas, the Mecca of so many dreams and hopes was promptly
rechristened “Mud Town,” for it proved to be only a straggling
collection of adobe hovels lying in the flat sandy valley of a mountain
stream, where a main line of the Rockies came to an end amidst a
gray-brown, dry and barren country.[15] Even the palace, a long one-
story adobe building, had no floor; and after partaking of
refreshments, addressing the people in his usual tone of mingled
courtesy and firmness, and listening to the salute of thirteen guns
which greeted the raising of the Stars and Stripes, Kearny had to
sleep on its carpeted ground, while most of the troops, too
exhausted to eat, camped on the hill.[16]
The next day Kearny delivered a more formal
address, but the style of his remarks was the same
as before; and his kindly, simple, determined
manner produced an excellent impression.
Thundering vivas answered him; and then Vigil, basing his remarks
on the conviction that “no one in the world has resisted successfully
the power of the stronger,” expressed a joyless yet hopeful
acceptance of the situation. We now belong to a great and powerful
nation, he said, and we are assured that a prosperous future awaits
us. Such of the officials as desired to retain their places then took an
oath of allegiance to the United States. The following day chiefs of
the Pueblo Indians came in and submitted, and on the twenty-
second Kearny issued a proclamation. This embodied the same
assurances and warnings as the addresses, but it added that
western as well as eastern New Mexico was to be occupied, that all
the inhabitants were claimed as American citizens, and that a free
government would be established as soon as possible.[17]
By this time a fort, named after Marcy, had begun to be visible on
the hill. The site was not well adapted for a regular work; but as it
commanded the town perfectly at a distance of about six hundred

yards from the palace, and was not commanded by any eminence, it
served the purpose admirably. One point, however, still caused
anxiety. There seemed to be danger that the Río Abajo district,
supported by troops from the south, might rise against the invaders;
and reports came that pointed toward precisely such an event.
Kearny went down the river, therefore, on September 2 with seven
hundred men. But he found no enemy. The Americans were
everywhere well received and entertained. Ugarte had indeed left El
Paso del Norte for New Mexico on August 10, but his troops
numbered only four hundred; they had little ammunition and no
artillery; Armijo discouraged him by saying that 6000 Americans
were on their way south; the prospect of marching eighteen days—a
part of the time in a desert—was not inviting; and so the expedition
went home. Kearny returned to Santa Fe on September 11, and
about noon on the twenty-fifth he set out with his effective dragoons
for California, dreaming of a new conquest.[17]

DONIPHAN AND
HIS MEN
XV
CHIHUAHUA
December, 1846—May, 1847
Foreseeing that more troops would go to Santa Fe than New Mexico
would require, Kearny had written to General Wool on August 22
that he would have the surplus join that officer at Chihuahua,[1] and
shortly before marching for the coast he gave orders that Price with
his command, Clark’s artillery, a part of the Laclede Rangers and the
two companies of infantry should hold Santa Fe, and that Doniphan’s
men should execute this plan; but on October 6 an order was
received from him that Doniphan should first ensure the security of
the people by settling matters with the Eutaw and Navajo Indians.
September 28 Price arrived, and by the twentieth of October, 1220
new Missouri volunteers and 500 Mormons were on the scene. The
Eutaws had now been reduced, it was believed, to a peaceable
frame of mind; and while the warlike and superior Navajos proved a
harder problem, a remarkable seven-weeks campaign amid snow
and mountains, which ended with a treaty, seemed to ensure their
good behavior. The caravans bound for Chihuahua, becoming
alarmed, had now stopped at Valverde, a point not far south of the
wretched settlement named Socorro, and begged for protection.
Without losing time, therefore, Doniphan concentrated his force at
Valverde by December 12, and with 856 effectives, all mounted and
armed with rifles, prepared to set out on a long, adventurous march
into an unknown and hostile country.[6]
No less extraordinary than such an undertaking
were the commander and the men who undertook
it. Doniphan was a frontier lawyer, entirely
unacquainted with military science, but a born

leader. When in Washington during the civil war he stood back to
back with Abraham Lincoln, it is said, and overtopped that son of
Anak by half an inch. The only distinguished man he had ever met
that “came up to the advertisement,” was the President’s comment.
High cheek bones, a prominent chin, thinnish and tightly closed lips,
a mop of carroty hair parted well down on the left, a beard of the
same hue under his chin, small, deep-set eyes, a strongly built nose,
spare cheeks and a ruddy complexion told of enterprise, daring,
endurance, wary judgment and kind, sincere impulses. In council he
was shrewd and in danger fearless, with always a twinkle in his eye,
a smile on his lips, and a cheering, well-timed pleasantry on his
tongue.[6]
His men, recruited from the rural districts, had felt they were
scorned a little by the St. Louis contingent, and had vowed to show
them what “country boys” were made of; but they proposed to do it
in their own way. While the city men had uniforms and military
discipline, the riflemen neither had nor wanted such
embarrassments. As every officer was a man of their own choice,
they felt at liberty to choose also how far to respect and obey him.
Doniphan, who loved his “boys” like a father, was loved in return,
and they were ready to do anything for him; but a minor authority
who meddled with their reserved rights, whatever these might
happen to be, was likely to hear some vigorous cursing. Any form of
manly dissipation was to their taste, as a rule; and they despised all
carefulness, all order, all restraint. Yet they were “good fellows” at
heart, and as full of fight as gamecocks; and now—on half rations,
no salt and no pay[2]—they felt ready for whatever Mexico could
offer.[6]
At Valverde Doniphan heard that forces were coming from
Chihuahua to defend El Paso, some two hundred miles from Socorro,
and sent an order to Santa Fe that Major Clark with six guns and
one hundred men should march as soon as possible to his
assistance; but without waiting for him the command advanced in
three sections on the fourteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth of
December. Below Valverde the Rio Grande makes a great bend

towards the west, and runs through a wild, mountainous region; and
hence travellers bound for the south left it on the right. Adopting this
course, the Americans now marched for ninety or ninety-five miles
through the dreaded Jornada del Muerto (Dead Man’s Journey),
where they found no settlements except some prairie-dog towns,
little vegetation except sage brush, and no water at all. At the
coldest season of the year, when sentries at Santa Fe were having
their feet frozen, to make such a march at an elevation of more than
a mile and a quarter without fuel or tents[3] was clearly a good
beginning. At Dona Ana, the only settlement between El Paso—sixty
or sixty-five miles farther on—and Valverde, the straggling command
was supposed to concentrate; but the concentration seemed rather
nominal. Dirty, unshaven and ragged, the troops marched almost as
they pleased. They were determined to survive, go ahead and fight,
but little else appeared to them requisite. It was now reported that
seven hundred soldiers and six guns were awaiting them at El Paso;
but on December 23 the command moved on.[6]
The likelihood of invasion from the north had long been foreseen by
the authorities of Chihuahua, and the expediency of making a stand
at the threshold was obvious. But the citizens of El Paso, the border
town, who were practical, industrious and thrifty people, had been
greatly influenced, like those of New Mexico, by interest in the
caravan business, contact with American traders and wagoners, and
acquaintance with the ideas and methods of the United States.
Almost openly, men said the town would thrive more under
American rule, argued that it was the intention of the government at
Mexico to sacrifice the people for the aggrandizement of its partisans
and the privileged classes, pointed out that no substantial forces had
come north, and asserted that what soldiers had arrived were under
orders to withdraw without fighting, and leave the citizens to be
punished for their loyalty.[6]
Public spirit fell to a low ebb, and there it remained. No one thought
it endangered health to shout “Viva México!” But it was believed by
many that in a community so honeycombed with treason, active,
determined efforts in her cause would be liable to bring on an attack

SKIRMISH AT EL
BRAZITO
of cold steel or lead in some dorsal area; and when the governor of
Chihuahua sent the prefect instructions on September 19 to retire,
on the approach of the enemy, with all the armed forces, cattle and
provisions, collect the resources of the district, and fight stubbornly
on the guerilla system, no intention of obeying this order could be
observed. October 12 an expedition designed to forestall invasion set
out for the north; but at Dona Ana some of the troops—covertly
stimulated by officers—became insubordinate; the commander
understood public sentiment well enough to take their side; the
whole body returned at full speed to El Paso; and the prefect dared
not, or did not wish, to discipline anybody.[6]
There were now on the scene and in arms about four hundred and
fifty troops and apparently about seven hundred National Guards
with four guns.[4] In general two accepted schools of thought
divided the soldiery. Some were for not fighting hard, and some—
including most of the Presidials and National Guards—for not fighting
at all; while the few and unpopular zealots felt paralyzed by a want
of confidence. Colonel Cuylti, the commander, belonged to the
second school of thought; and on the evening before he was to
move against Doniphan, whose march had been reported about a
week before, he fell sick with a subjective disability officially
diagnosed as brain fever, and set out for Chihuahua with his
accommodating surgeon. Lieutenant Colonel Vidal succeeded to the
command and also, it would seem, to the disability, for after
proclaiming martial law and pitching his camp some three miles from
El Paso, he concluded to halt. The American van, described as
consisting of about three hundred straggling countrymen in tatters
without artillery, could be surrounded and lanced like so many
rabbits, he said; but he was not personally in the mood for sport,
and hence conceded this pleasure to the second in command, Brevet
Lieutenant Colonel Ponce de León, assigning to him at least five
hundred men[5] and a 2-pound howitzer.[6]
At about three o’clock on Christmas afternoon
Doniphan, with less than five hundred of his
careless, confident volunteers, reached a level spot

on the eastern bank of the Rio Grande named Temascalitos, though
often called El Brazito, approximately thirty miles from El Paso.
Pickets and sentries—but not supper—being superfluous, the men
scattered in search of water, fuel and other conveniences. Mexican
scouts were observing their operations; but, strong in conscious
rectitude, the Missourians neither knew nor cared what the enemy
were about. Suddenly armed men could be seen in fine order on a
hill about half a mile distant. The rally was sounded. The volunteers
rushed for their arms, and with all speed they were loosely formed
as a line of infantry, bent back at the extremities toward the river,
and resting at the left on the wagons of the caravan.[6]
With graceful consideration Ponce gave them time by sending a
lieutenant with a black flag to demand that Doniphan should present
himself. Otherwise, added the messenger, we shall charge and take
him, neither giving nor asking quarter. “Charge and be damned!”
was of course the reply; and the Mexicans then advanced, opening
fire at about four hundred yards from our line. Several volleys were
delivered while the Americans, either lying down or standing firmly
with cocked rifles, withheld their fire. But the powder of the
Mexicans was mostly bad, they shot high, and their little gun was
mismanaged.[6]
By this time they had come within easy range. At command the
American volunteers now fired with great effect, and a flanking
movement against the wagons was received with equal spirit by the
traders and their men. Evidently there was a mistake. These fellows
were not rabbits; and the Presidials and El Paso militia, candidly
recognizing Vidal’s blunder, retired in disorder, compelling the rest of
the body to do the same. Speed now compensated for any possible
want of courage; and a party of fifteen or twenty mounted
Americans, who pursued the enemy for miles, could not bring any of
them to a stand. Doniphan’s loss amounted to seven men slightly
wounded; that of the Mexicans to a howitzer captured and perhaps
a hundred men killed or wounded; and this farcical brush, lasting
thirty or forty minutes in all, has figured in American annals as the
“battle” of Brazito.[6]

EL PASO
OCCUPIED
The Mexican troops now evacuated the district; the
National Guards disbanded; and presently a
humble deputation from El Paso was explaining to
Doniphan that arms had been taken up by the
citizens under compulsion. Two days after the skirmish, therefore,
amid a general appearance of satisfaction, he and his rough troopers
concluded they had reached paradise. Along the Rio Grande, mostly
on the southern side, ten or twelve thousand people occupied
settlements extending downstream for many miles. Above, there
was a dam; and artificial streams from that point not only irrigated
the rich fields and vineyards, but watered the orchards, in which
many of the houses were buried, and freshened the long and regular
streets, which not only were shaded by lines of trees full of lively
and tuneful birds, but were kept neat by daily sweeping. To drill,
practice twice a day at the targets, and feast on the abundant fruits
in such a place was a most agreeable change from the Jornada del
Muerto.[11]
El Paso did not prove, however, to be exactly a paradise. Unlimited
self-indulgence led to considerable sickness, and several men died. It
led also to disorders and to outrages on the people, and before long
two lieutenants, both intoxicated, fought with dirks. Moreover it was
now learned that Wool had not gone to Chihuahua,[7] that great
preparations for resistance were making there, and that a serious
insurrection—purposely exaggerated by the Mexican reports—had
occurred in the rear.[8] The boldest appeared therefore to be the
wisest course—to push forward, and conquer or die.[9] But without
cannon only the second alternative was possible, and the artillery did
not arrive. Price was in fact extremely unwilling to part with it, and
owing to this and other difficulties Clark was unable to set out for El
Paso until January 10. Then his men encountered even more painful
hardships than Doniphan’s had undergone, for they had to struggle
with snow—to say nothing of almost perishing with hunger, and
being nearly buried in a sandstorm; and it was not until February 5
that men, guns and wagons joined the impatient command.[11]

Three days afterwards the belated expedition set out on its march
for Chihuahua—nearly three hundred miles distant—with 924
effective soldiers, besides about three hundred traders and
teamsters, who were sworn into the service by Doniphan and
elected a merchant named Owens as their major. About seven
hundred of the troops belonged to the First Missouri regiment, about
one hundred to Clark’s artillery, and about one hundred to a body
named the Chihuahua Rangers, made up at Santa Fe.[10] There
were four 6-pounders, two 12-pound howitzers, and about 315
goods-wagons besides the wagons belonging to the companies and
the commissary department, each with its quota of attendants; and
as the column, with every banner unfurled, wound into the distance
as far as the eye could see, it made a gallant and picturesque sight.
It was exposed to a rear attack from Sonora; but that state, while
alive to the opportunity, had not the means to take advantage of it.
[11]
Troubles enough presented themselves, however. The country was
bare and monotonous, producing little except the crooked mezquite
and an occasional willow. A desert sixty-five miles wide and another
nearly as large had to be crossed. Heat alternated with cold, and
one day it was necessary to kindle fires repeatedly to warm
benumbed limbs. Tents were blown down by storms. More than once
no fuel and no water could be had for days. Antelopes and hares
could frequently be seen; but the tarantulas, rattlesnakes and
copperheads were far more numerous, and far more willing to be
intimate. One day, when the army was in camp at a lake, the grass
took fire, and in an instant a small flame went scudding off, burning
a narrow trail. Soon this was driven by a whirlwind up the mountain
side, spreading into a vast blaze; and then, gathering force, it rolled
back upon the camp like a tidal wave. By arts known to the
plainsman almost everything was saved; but with a fearful roaring
and crackling a surge of fire swept over the encampment, proving
how great the danger had been.[11]
The state of things in the country farther south could not easily be
ascertained, for the authorities at Chihuahua had cut off all

THE SITUATION
AT CHIHUAHUA
communication with the north; but there were hostile spies, and
some of them, taken prisoners, had to give instead of obtaining
information. About seven hundred Mexican cavalry—said to be twice
as many—were discovered in front looking for a favorable opening,
which they did not find. At length, crossing a handsome plain on
February 27, the expedition came at nightfall to the hacienda of El
Sauz, and learned that strong fortifications had been erected at the
Sacramento River, fifteen miles farther on. That was the next
watering-place, and evidently it would have to be fought for; so a
halt was made and a plan devised. “Cheer up, boys,” said Doniphan
with a twinkle; “To-morrow evening I intend to have supper with the
Mexicans on the banks of a beautiful spring.”[11]
As early as August, 1846, Chihuahua had expected
this visit; and the governor, saying that Kearny’s
army had occupied New Mexico “as easily as it
would have pitched its tents in the desert,” seemed
ready to let the operation be repeated in his own state. Perhaps he
was merely weak, but the same pro-American influences of a
commercial nature that we have observed at El Paso and Santa Fe
were rife about him, and there was also much sentiment in favor of
establishing the northern provinces as an independent republic
under the protection of the United States. Over against these ideas,
however, and possibly because of them, existed a peculiarly intense
hatred of us, exasperated now by the loss of New Mexico and the
fear of American outrages.[13]

EL PASO TO ROSALES
Near the end of August the governor was
forced out, and Angel Trias, an active,
ambitious man, rich, and most unfriendly to
the Americans, took his place; and the great
body of the citizens, either anxious to defend
themselves against invasion or dreading to
be thought disloyal, rallied about him. The
central government became interested,
ordered several northern states to aid
Chihuahua, and instructed Reyes,
comandante general of Zacatecas, to assume
the defence of New Mexico, Chihuahua and
Durango. But embarrassments then arose;
delays ensued; and Santa Anna, according to
his policy of concentrating the military
strength of the country under his own
command and disregarding non-essential
territory, frowned upon all national efforts to
defend the northern frontier. It was now
November; and the government, appointing
the unpopular Heredia comandante general
at Chihuahua, yielded to Santa Anna’s views.
[13]
Trias, however, did not abandon hope. The
resources of the state were scanty indeed.
The effective colonial method of protecting the border had long since
been given up, and Indian raids, beginning about 1831, had fast
impoverished the haciendas. During the past year, perhaps because
the savages believed the Mexican troops would be required for the
war, these incursions had been worse than ever before. A single
party of Comanches had numbered more than eight hundred. It was
indispensable, therefore, to employ some of the military forces in the
protection of the settlements; but more than 10,000 men were
enrolled in the National Guard, and Trias felt sure that Chihuahua

THE
SACRAMENTO
POSITION
state was inherently strong enough to defeat Doniphan, whose
approach was duly reported.[13]
The chief needs were money and armament. Artillery had been
practically unknown in that region, but it was found possible to cast
and mount a number of pieces, and infantry soldiers learned to use
them. Arms were gathered and repaired; ammunition and clothing
were manufactured; and by dint of local borrowing the expenses
were met. Santa Anna finally had 255 men sent from Durango; and
in the end nearly 1200 mounted troops (many of them Presidials),
some 1500 infantry including about seventy regulars of the Seventh
Regiment, 119 artillery, probably more than 1000 rancheros armed
with long knives (machetes) and rude lances, ten brass cannon
ranging from 4-pounders to 9-pounders, and nine musketoons on
carriages appear to have been assembled.[12] The men were
enthusiastic and eagerly obedient, and the leaders—Heredia for chief
and Trias as second in command—felt proud of their army. As for the
Brazito affair, which had caused much discouragement, it seemed
now like a bad dream.[13]

BATTLE OF SACRAMENTO
Feb. 28, 1847
February 10 a portly, handsome officer arrived at Chihuahua. This
was General García Conde, and the next day he and the other chiefs,
after reconnoitring the pass at the Sacramento River, fifteen or
eighteen miles to the north, decided to make a stand at that point. It
was a wise decision. The stream, running here toward the east, was
crossed at a ford by the route from El Paso, which had a north and
south direction. Rather more than two miles north of the river and
approximately parallel with it, there was a broad watercourse, now
dry and sandy, known as the Arroyo Seco, which after crossing the
El Paso highway continued in its easterly course about a mile and a

half, turned then toward the south, and joined the river about a mile
and a half below the ford. Along the northern bank of the Arroyo lay
a road, which extended on the eastern side of the highway to the
junction of this watercourse with the Sacramento, while on the
western side, bending toward the south, it crossed that river three
miles or so above the ford, passed the hacienda of El Torreón,
penetrated a defile in the steep and rocky foothills thrust out here by
the western cordillera, and rejoined the highway about six miles
farther on toward Chihuahua. A triangular block of rugged hills lay
thus between this road, the highway and the river, the northeastern
corner of which (called Sacramento Hill) almost reached the solid
adobe buildings of Sacramento hacienda near the ford.[13]
Between the river and the Arroyo lay elevated ground cut straight
across by the highway. The portion west of the highway was a fairly
smooth plateau ascending very gently toward the western cordillera,
but the other part rose immediately east of the highway about fifty
feet, and formed—roughly speaking—a square one and a half miles
on a side, with a broad, smooth hollow in the middle that debouched
at the southeastern corner toward the Sacramento, and a
dominating hill called the Cerro Frijoles at the northeastern corner,
toward which the square sloped up. On the north and west edges of
the square the Mexicans constructed a series of well-planned and
well-executed redoubts alternating with breastworks—which
extended from Cerro Frijoles at the northeast to what we may call
Fort N at the southwest—supplemented near the ford with
fortifications on both banks of the river, and finally with a redoubt
halfway up Sacramento Hill; and these works commanded perfectly
the highway, the Arroyo road and the valley of the river. The Torreón
route seemed impracticable for the American wagons, but even here
fortifications were erected; and still others guarded the Arroyo near
its junction with the Sacramento. The principal camp lay in the
hollow of the square, which not only protected the troops but
concealed both their numbers and their movements.[13]
In a word, the position consisted essentially of a tongue of land
crossed near its elevated tip by the El Paso highway, with the

THE BATTLE OF
SACRAMENTO
Sacramento River and the Arroyo Seco on its edges, a series of
fortifications round its tip, and an answering fortification beyond the
river on a hill. It seemed to bar the way of the Americans
completely. The Mexicans felt sure that it did so, and on the evening
of February 27, jubilant and boastful, they even talked of recovering
New Mexico. Anyhow these presumptuous and contemptible Yankees
were to be cut up, and the booty would include a caravan worth a
million. Yet influential Chihuahuans had a financial interest in that
caravan,[13] and one may be sure they were not asleep.[14]
Next morning the Americans awoke early. Already
the horses had been carefully inured to explosions
of powder. Now swords were filed, rifles loaded
afresh, straps tested, and even the linch-pins of
the wagons inspected; and by daybreak the command set out. To
make it compact, ready for attack from any quarter and perplexing
to hostile observers, the wagons were formed in four well-separated
columns of about one hundred each; the artillery and most of the
troops marched between these columns, and the companies of Reid,
Parsons and Hudson—regarded as proper cavalry and not simply
mounted men—rode in front as advance guard and screen; and in
this formation, with banners and guidons flaunting to impress the
enemy, it rolled forward through a valley about four miles wide,
bounded on each hand by a massive, barren cordillera,[15] until at
about half-past one the troops, coming in sight of the Mexican
works, noticed a quick, sharp flash there: the Mexican cavalry
drawing their sabres.[17]
Doniphan and his principal officers now galloped ahead, and at a
distance of two or three miles reconnoitred most carefully with
glasses the Mexican position. It looked impregnable; and when the
command was about a mile and a half distant from it, the Colonel—
first ordering his cavalry screen to keep on advancing—turned the
main body sharply to the right, intending to cross the Arroyo Seco
higher up, and gain the plateau there. It was a brilliant scheme but
perilous. Good troops, not encumbered with artillery or baggage,
might undertake such a manoeuvre even in the face of the enemy,

but with four hundred wagons, most of them extremely heavy, it
seemed impossible for untrained volunteers to cross the Arroyo, and
mount the high bank of the plateau; yet not only was it a chief part
of the soldiers’ business to protect the wagons, but it looked as if
the wagons might soon be needed to protect the soldiers. Hence this
desperate attempt had to be made. Heredia observed it
immediately; and, concluding that the Americans were aiming, as a
last hope, to avoid his works and follow the Torreón route, he
instructed García Conde, the chief cavalry officer, to hold them in
check until the artillery and infantry could arrive and finish them.[17]
But these Americans were no ordinary men; and while they had little
fear of death, it was their belief that defeat would mean dungeons
and torture. After marching for some distance with all possible speed
up the Arroyo road, they stopped at the point selected. Instantly
shovels, pickaxes, crowbars and ropes were out of the supply
wagon, and for a few moments the sand flew as if electrified. Then
the drivers yelled like Apaches; the mules were stimulated by every
art known to drivers; and the swaying wagons headed for the
ravine. At the brink many of the frightened animals, twisting their
necks back till they almost broke, stopped short; but the men
pushed them along, and down they all plunged, floundering, biting
and kicking. Across the deep, sandy bottom they were driven or
dragged amid shouts, curses and “hell let loose,” as a soldier put it;
and then came the real struggle—the opposite ascent, forty or fifty
feet high. Wild with excitement, pain and fright, the animals exerted
every nerve, scrambling, jumping, rearing and panting; the
teamsters yelled and flogged; and the soldiers tugged and lifted at
the wheels, or pulled with hundreds of ropes. In a few minutes, as it
seemed, the incredible was done, and the command, forming on the
plateau as before, advanced. Already the Mexican horse were
dashing on, brandishing their lances in the sun, fluttering their bright
pennons, and waving a black flag decorated with a skull and
crossbones; but, as Doniphan did not appear to be making for El
Torréon, they concluded to halt, and let the infantry and artillery
overtake them.[17]

It was now a little before three o’clock, and when enough ground
had been gained so that the traders and teamsters could make the
caravan into a fort, Major Clark’s trumpeter sounded “Trot!” and
Battery A emerged from the masking wagons. “Form battery, action
front, load and fire at will!” rang out Weightman’s clear voice; and at
a range of about half a mile solid shot, chain-shot and shells,
perfectly aimed, saluted the lancers, who had never listened to such
music before. Three rounds, and they broke. With great efforts they
were rallied, but the fourth round sent them flying to the camp; and
Ponce de Léon, the hero of El Brazito, who had led the advance, also
led the flight. The infantry, now exposed to the American fire,
caught the panic, and at the sound of the cannon-balls men
crouched or lay down.[17]
An artillery duel followed. Most of the Mexican projectiles, falling
short and bounding once or twice, lost enough velocity to become
visible, and the Americans—laughing till the tears furrowed their
dusty cheeks—quickly became expert in dodging them. After a time,
however, the Mexicans discontinued their fire; and Doniphan, as the
last of the wagons had come up, did the same, wishing to form
again and advance. Heredia now reoccupied his works; but the
original defensive attitude could but very imperfectly be resumed,
and the former confidence was gone. The whole plan of the battle
had been blown to pieces, it was seen. The splendid fortifications
now meant very little; the boasted cavalry were demoralized; the
prospect of plundering the wagons had vanished, and the Brazito
rout became a fact once more. Heredia ordered two guns to occupy
the fort on Sacramento Hill, and rake the Americans from that
elevated point; and several other pieces went there without orders,
abandoning the redoubts. A great portion of the infantry leaked
away, and soon Heredia did the same.[17]
The Americans felt correspondingly elated; and, obliquing toward the
right in order to avoid the principal mass of the works and approach
the ford, they moved on toward Forts N and O, into which Trias,
observing their approach, now threw the best of his troops—the
regular infantry and a part of the Second Durango squadron. “Storm

the fort, storm the fort!” shouted the Americans; and at the proper
distance Weightman and the howitzer section were ordered to
charge the work at N, supported by the companies of Reid, Parsons
and Hudson.[16] This order failed to reach Parsons and Hudson, but
Reid and others advanced all the same. Unfortunately a deep gully
was soon encountered in front of the fort, and the assailants found
themselves at a loss. With a few backers Major Owens, who seems
to have desired to die, rushed across, emptied his pistols into the
midst of the enemy, and fell. Still others dismounted and skirmished.
The howitzers, galloping to the left, succeeded in turning the gully,
and unlimbered within fifty yards of the enemy, while a part of Reid’s
troopers, now supported by Hudson’s, did the same, and then
charged at O. Entrance to the fort was gained.[17]
But the enemy there and in the adjacent breastworks, proved too
strong, and the Americans, veering again to the left, passed along
the front of the fortifications, drawing their fire and shooting with
some effect, but discovering no place for a serious blow. The fall of
Owens, who was supposed by the Mexicans to be our leader, and
the failure of the attack upon the fort encouraged the enemy. Trias
and García Conde managed to rally some lancers for a charge, and
artillerymen with two guns prepared to follow them. Before such
odds a few of our howitzer force gave way.[17]
The rest did not. A round of canister scattered the lancers, and then
a large body of Americans, rushing in at a gallop, threw themselves
from their horses. Parsons’ and Hudson’s men joined them, and all
pressed up the slope of O together, firing at will. The Mexicans
learned quickly not to show their heads. Raising their muskets above
the parapets at arm’s length and blazing away without effect, they
soon used up their ammunition. By this time the Americans, bravely
aided by the howitzers, were near their goal. Rifles were dropped. A
rush was made. “With a whoop and a yell and a plunge,” wrote a
soldier, “we were over into their fort, man to man, grappling in a
merciless fray, neither giving nor receiving quarter.” Six-shooters,
knives and even stones were made to serve, and in a moment the
fort was taken.[17]

CHIHUAHUA
TAKEN
Meantime Clark’s guns had repulsed a body of cavalry that were
making for the wagons, and then, in coöperation with Parsons and
the force of dismounted troopers, he silenced and captured the
works north of Fort O, while other troops took N, went down into the
valley, and occupied the fortifications near the river. It was now five
o’clock, and the battle had been gained. Yet not quite. The guns on
Sacramento Hill, where many of the Mexican infantry and cavalry
had taken refuge, were annoying, even though aimed so high as to
do no actual harm; and Clark turned some pieces in that direction.
The range was 1225 yards; but the first shot dismounted a cannon,
and, as a soldier remarked, every shell knew its place. Soon
Weightman took the howitzers across the river. A part of the
Americans flanked the redoubt on one side by scaling the mountain,
and then a wild gallop up the road on the other side to its rear
ended the fighting. Pursuit followed, but under the first beams of the
moon Doniphan’s command re-assembled on the field of victory. Not
a man had lost his life except Owens, and only five had been
wounded. Of the Mexicans three hundred had been killed, it was
thought, and an equal number wounded. Forty at least were
captured, and also great numbers of horses, mules, sheep and
cattle, and quantities of provisions and ammunition.[17]
Further resistance was out of the question, for the
Mexican army scattered, and the Presidials and
National Guards fled to their homes;[18] and the
next day Chihuahua, a city of about 14,000
inhabitants, was peaceably occupied. Obviously, however, this
triumph did not end the difficulties of the Americans. To remain in
the enemy’s country with no prospect of reinforcement was perilous,
yet the traders and their merchandise could not be left without
protection, and the Mexicans were said to be in great force near
Saltillo. Doniphan therefore undertook to make an arrangement with
the state and city authorities that would free him from responsibility.
But the negotiations failed, for while the officials did not refuse
protection, they would not promise to remain neutral during the war,
as Doniphan insisted; and Heredia proved no less obstinate.[19]

Doniphan then determined to retaliate and also appeal to their fears
by marching for Durango, and by capturing on his way the town of
El Parral, where Heredia and the state government had taken refuge.
April 5, leaving about three hundred men to protect the merchants,
he set out with the rest of his command, and in three days made
fifty miles. Then he received notice that large Mexican forces were
approaching, and at once retraced his steps. Concluding soon,
however, that Doniphan had been hoaxed and no Mexicans were
coming, the men grew impatient. Their term of service was to end
on May 31; and as they had been poorly fed nearly all of the time,
and for nine months had received no money from the government,
they naturally felt dissatisfied.[19]
Doniphan seems to have renewed his negotiations, therefore, with
the state authorities; but as large quantities of the merchandise had
already been sold regularly or smuggled into circulation under the
cover of night, he doubtless cared less about the matter than before.
A Missouri trader named John Collins, who had undertaken with a
party of thirteen fearless men to reach Wool and obtain instructions,
returned on April 23 from his daring journey of more than a
thousand miles, and in two sections the command set out for Saltillo
a few days later. May 21, after a series of hardships and perils, a
certain amount of lawlessness, and a little fighting with the Indians,
they arrived near that point.[20] The next day Wool reviewed them.
In honor of the occasion they tried to improve their appearance, but
it still suggested a classic line, “The beggars have come to town.”
Some were dressed like the Mexicans and some like the Comanches,
and all were described by their commander as “ragged.”[21]
A few days later they were greeted by Taylor at Monterey; and
finally, after passing down the Rio Grande and sailing to New
Orleans, they regained Missouri, where they had for rewards a
speech of congratulations from Senator Benton, the unstinted
admiration of their fellow-citizens, a series of banquets and
barbecues, and the consciousness of having aided certain American,
Mexican and European traders to dispose of their wares. They had,
however, done more than promote commerce. They had built a large

stone into the edifice of American prestige in Mexico, and had
gained for themselves a notable place in military history.[21]

THE
CALIFORNIANS
XVI
THE CALIFORNIA QUESTION
1836–1846
Under Mexican rule California, the Golden West, was anything but
golden. It was poor, shiftless and pitiful; unprotected, undeveloped,
unenlightened, unconsidered; helpless and almost hopeless.
Although the province extended from the Pacific to the Rocky
Mountains, only a strip some fifty miles wide was occupied by white
men, and but a small part of that fraction consisted of farms
regularly owned. The famous missions, wrecked by the Mexican
government, lay in ruins. In ten degrees of latitude there was but
one considerable seaport, Monterey, a village of about one hundred
small houses; and the only other sizable town, Los Angeles,
contained some 1500 persons, with perhaps an equal number in
places depending upon it. The total population in 1845 amounted
probably to something like 10,000 whites, 5000 Indians in the stage
of civilization represented by the breech-clout, and 10,000 other
savages. The real inhabitants were the countless horses and cattle,
which roamed for the most part at will. More than half bore the mark
of a branding iron; but probably the greater number even of these
rendered no service to humanity, and many had not even a technical
owner.[4]
The Californians were genial, kindly, hospitable,
faithful in their married life and gracefully polite;
but in the view of many, if not the majority,
courage and truthfulness were either follies or
luxuries, and no element of practical efficiency entered into their
composition. A man got up some time before noon. He would not
work or even walk. He neither read nor thought. A monotonous diet

of beef, beans, wine, brandy and chocolate, supplemented with
cigarettes and a guitar, satisfied his appetite perfectly. What he
demanded next was a horse. As an infant he had begun life with a
ride to be baptized, and the saddle was his real home.[4]
Given a dashing steed with a long, flowing mane, an arching neck, a
broad chest, full flanks, slender legs and the gentle but fiery eye that
proved its Arabian descent, the Californian was fairly on the road to
happiness; and when dressed up in his dark, glazed sombrero with a
conical crown, wide brim and betasselled silver cord, his close blue
jacket, flashy shawl (serape) and red sash—possibly fringed with
gold—his loose trousers, decorated like his jacket with silver buttons
and slashed below the knee to reveal snow-white drawers, his
buckskin leggins and his mammoth spurs—as big as a small plate—
he felt completely satisfied.[4]

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