Description:

JOHN Y. MASON PROMOTES A HERO OF THE BATTLE OF SANTA CLARA
JOHN Y. MASON (1799 – 1859) 16th and 18th Secretary of the Navy, the 18th Attorney General of the United States, and U.S. Minister to France. Fine association partly-printed D.S., 1p. 4to., Navy Dept., Mar. 6, 1849, the promotion of WARD MARSTON to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. Fine. The Battle of Santa Clara was a skirmish during the Mexican–American War, fought on January 2, 1847. In late December, the former Californio military commander of Yerba Buena and a rancher from the San Mateo peninsula, Francisco Sanchez, imprisoned the American Mayor of Yerba Buena, Washington Bartlett, and five of his men, who were all engaged in a foraging raid on the peninsula. Californios were angry at United States immigrants settling on their ranchos. After receiving the news of the abduction on December 29, Commodore Montgomery in San Francisco ordered Marine Captain Ward Marston to rescue Bartlett and his men. Marston's men killed and wounded a small number of Californios before the latter fled. However, Marston signed a peace treaty a few days later in which Americans agreed to respect the Californios' property rights. It was the only engagement of its type in Northern California during the war.

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April 2, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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