Accordingly, on June 11th, Lieutenant Fremont, assisted
by Captain Merritt and fourteen of the settlers, had attacked and
captured an escort of horses destined for General Castro's
troops--Lieutenant Arce, fourteen men, and two hundred horses remaining
in his hands as the trophies of his victory. On the 15th the military
post of Sonoma was surprised, and General Vallejo, Captain Vallejo,
Colonel Greuxdon and several other officers, nine pieces of brass
cannon, two hundred fifty stands of muskets, and other stores and arms
were taken; and on the 25th the military commandant of the Province, who
had moved toward the post with a heavy force to retake it, was attacked
by Lieutenant Fremont and twenty men, and completely routed. Having thus
cleared that part of the Province north of the Bay of San Francisco of
the enemy, it is said that on July 5th Captain Fremont had assembled the
American settlers at Sonoma, addressed them upon the dangers of their
situation, and recommended a declaration of independence and war on
Mexico as the only remedy; and that the hardy frontiersmen promptly
accepted the proposal and raised the flag of independent California--a
bear and a star on a red ground.
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