CONQUEST OP CALIFORNIA. 429 
hundred men with two pieces of artillery. The U. S. 
sloop of war Dale cruized for some time in the vicinity, 
and afforded protection to the garrison in La Paz, but 
Commodore Shubrick ordered the Dale to Guaymas, and 
cut him off from all assistance and means of escape in 
case he was attacked. The enemy collected their whole 
disposable force and marched against this little garrison. 
The battle was begun on the morning of the 16th at two 
o’clock, a loud roll of musketry followed by shouts, giv¬ 
ing the sleeping soldiers of the garrison the first notice 
of an enemy’s approach. The Americans stood to their 
posts amid a shower of bullets, although the night was 
so dark that they could only tell the presence of the foe 
by the flashing of the musketry. They brought their 
cannon to bear in the direction of the enemy’s position, 
and a few discharges was followed by a complete silence. 
At daybreak the enemy was seen to be posted on a hill 
a quarter of a mile distant, waiting until the women and 
children had been removed from the town to renew the 
attack. The garrison availed themselves of the pause 
to fortify the roofs of their quarters with bales of cotton 
yarn. The enemy gained possession of some thick cac¬ 
tus bushes surrounding the camp, and kept up a heavy 
fire from nine o’clock until night. They could not be 
seen except when the flash of their guns displayed their 
presence, and all the stratagems of the garrison failed to 
induce them to come nearer. The Americans had one 
man killed. In the afternoon the enemy entered the 
town and burned the houses of all who had been favor¬ 
able to the Americans. They suffered for this barbarity, 
however, on their return from its perpetration, for as 
they passed a low hill in front of the American barracks, a 
fire of grape and canister was opened upon them, which 
spread death among the ranks and drove them back. The 
next day passed in much the same manner, the Ameri¬ 
cans improving each cessation in the fighting to strength- 
