ROBERT FIELD STOCKTON
(1795-1866)

Stockton came from a distinguished New Jersey family and was the grandson of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He had a long military career that began in 1811 as a Midshipman in the Navy. He took part in the defense of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, subsequently serving in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Africa. A passionate politician, he maintained close relationships with U. S. Presidents Andrew Jackson and John Tyler. Stockton was an innovator who advocated advances in naval technology and armaments. He supported experiments with screw propulsion and designed the 12-inch gun known as the "Peacemaker". On 28 February 1844 then Captain Stockton invited President Tyler and other dignitaries for a cruise down the Potomac River on his ship, the Princeton, the navy's first screw steamer. During the cruise Stockton demonstrated his wrought iron gun. Unfortunately, his knowledge of metallurgy was not extensive. After several successful firings the gun burst, cutting a swath through the bystanders. Eight people were killed and nine wounded. Among the dead were U. S. Secretary of State (and former Secretary of the Navy) Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Gilmer, Senator David Gardner, and Captain Beverley Kennon, Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repairs. Stockton was slightly injured.

After a tour off Texas during the spring and summer of 1845, Stockton received orders to join the U. S. Navy's Pacific Squadron. He arrived off Monterey in July 1846 and assumed command from Commodore John Drake Sloat.  Commodore Stockton became immediately embroiled in the confusing political and military situation in California. He issued a controversial proclamation calling for the restoration of order under U. S. rule and, enlisting the support of Col. John C. Fremont's Bear Flag detachment, completed the occupation of California which he proclaimed a U. S. territory on 17 August 1846. The Californios, seeking their own independence, organized a revolt in southern California and recaptured Los Angeles in September. Three months later, Stockton's forces, reinforced with troops under Gen. Stephen W. Kearny, began reoccupation. After skirmishes at San Gabriel and other spots near Los Angeles, Stockton captured the town for a second time in early January 1847. Having quelled the uprising, Stockton and Kearny argued over control of the new Californian government, leading to Stockton's replacement.

Stockton left the Navy in 1850 and served in the U. S. Senate for two years. He took no active role in America's Civil War and died in 1866.

CHRISTOPHER "KIT" CARSON
(1809-1868)

A trapper, guide, Indian agent and soldier, Kit Carson was illiterate until the last few years of his life. He ran away from his Kentucky home at the age of 16 and spent the rest of his life in the West. In 1846 he was a hunter and guide in John C. Fremont's third expedition to California. After the outbreak of the Bear Flag Revolt in June, 1846, Carson joined Fremont's citizen-soldier brigade. Later that month, three Californios thought to be spies were caught near San Rafael by Carson's three-man guard team. Carson sought instructions from Fremont who responded: "Mr. Carson, I have no use for prisoners, so do your duty". The three prisoners were summarily shot by Carson and his two companions.

When the California Battalion was organized in July, 1846 Carson was appointed a second lieutenant. The new battalion sailed to San Diego, raised the flag there, and proceeded north over land to occupy Los Angeles on 13 August 1846. In September, Carson met Stephen W. Kearny and his forces in New Mexico and returned to California with him. On 6 December 1846 Kearny's forces were badly beaten at San Pasqual by Gen. Andres Pico's California Lancers and were surrounded by them at San Bernardo the next day. On learning that Carson was with Kearny, Gen. Pico warned his sentinels to be vigilant or "se escapara el lobo" (the wolf will escape). Carson, along with Midshipman Edward F. Beale and Chemuctah, a Delaware Indian, crept through the lancers' lines under cover of darkness and escaped to San Diego, some thirty miles away, where U. S. troops were dispatched to Kearny's rescue. Later, with the regrouped U. S. forces, Carson moved northward from San Diego, participating in a skirmish at San Gabriel on 8 January, and in the second occupation of Los Angeles on 10 January 1847, where Carson rejoined Fremont, now a Lieutenant Colonel commanding the Regiment of Mounted Rifles, U. S. Army.