Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1846-12-31
Whole Number 34G.

Wv neV' "ou'u CC-opeIalc III Inc puTSuk
/: of Castro and his forces. The flag Of
independence was hauled down, and that
o OF The United States hoisled amidst tie
hearty greetings and to the grea, Joy Of
the American settlers and the forces I'm.
/, der the command Of Colonel Fremont.
: The combined pursuit was rapidly con.
'Inued, aud on The 18th of August, Com
, modore Stockton and Colonel Fremont,
with detachment of marines from the
squadron and some rhcmen, entered the
City CT The Anges--wihout resistance or
objection, the Governor General, Pico,
the Commandant General, Castro, and all
) 'he MeMcans authorities having fed and
dispersed. Commodore Stockton took
possession Of the whole country as q con.
quest Of the United States, and appointed
Colonel Fremont governor under the law
o! nations, to assume the functions of that
office when he should return to the squad.
ron.
Thus, in the short space of sixty days
from the first decisive movement this con.
quest was achieved, by small body Of
men, to an extent beyond their own OK
pectaton; for the Mexican authorities
proclaimed it conquest, not merely Of
The northern Part, but Of the whole pro-
vince OF the CALIFORNIA;.
The Commandant General, Castro, ON
the 9th of August, from his camp at the
Mesa, and next day ION the road TO Som
ora" announced this result to the people,
together with the actual flight aud disrer-
sion Of the former authorities; and at The
same time he officially communicated the
facts OF The conquest TO the French, Eng
llsh, and S parish consuls in California;
and, to crown the whole, the official paper
ofthe Mexican government on the 10Th
Of October, in laying these official COM
mOnicatIons before the public, introduced
them with the emphatic declaration"
The loss Gfthe Cait0rnias is cOnsummat.
ed, " The whole province was yielded up
to the United States, and is now in our
military occupancy. A small part of the
troops sent Out TO subject this province
will constitute, i, is presumed, sufficient
force to retain our possession, and the re-
malnder will be disposable, for other oh.
iccts Of war.
In the foregoing remarks have prescn.
ted to your consideration the destination
and operation Of the public forces since
The commencement Of the war with Mexi.
CO. When its exisiance was recognized
by Congress in May last, our entire mill.
tary force, then stationed at different
points in our widely extended country, did
not exceed 7,G4O men. Our preparation
for large expansion Of the army, and
"a '"e} Vdar Hn'1yiPg q On military ope-
=" ' "a. respects quite defcien, ss
an " "rmv "em5nded to the want, s0c en-
to more than 81, 600 men, TO be sent form
on several d ferent and distant expedl.
tions, could not at once be made.
The duties of this department have
been, since the commencement of the war.
arduous and embarrassing, and its unre-
milted efforts have been directed 10 d is
charging them in the manner best calcuIa-
ted to facilitate The operations Of our forces
in the field. To these forces belonges
the merit Of the successes which have at
tended their movements, and these sue
eesscs are not inconsiderable. By tho
operations of The land and naval forces We
are now in military possession of the de-
parlment of Tamaulipas, Of the right bank
Of the Rio Grande for several hundred
miles from its mouth, and Of the depart
mcnt of New Leon Coahua and Chi
huahua are, in effect, wres,cd from The
control of Mexico; all Mexican Authority.
both civiI and military, has been displaced
in New Mexico and the CALIFORNIA;, and
these large and important provinces are
in our qnlet occupation, Such are the
achievements of our arms within the short
period OF seven months from the COM
of war, suddenly forced ur-
on US, when our force in the field was less
han three thousand effective men, with
hostile army of double its numerical
strength prepared 10 assai it, and exull-
my in the confident hope of a decisive
victory.
In relation 10 The further prosecution Of
he war the Secretary says
Authority was given at the last session
IF Congress TO increase the rank and file
If the regiments in the regular service TO
more than double the former number
Prompt measures were taken TO procure
recruits; but they have no, been attended
With the desired effect. When filled up
o the maximum allowed by law and execu-
i've appreciation, our regular forces will
je l6'00S officers and men; but it does
10, now exceed 1880. The want ofbel-
er success in recruiting is, | apprehend.
mainly to be ascrihed to the large number
IT volunteers which has in the meantime
,cen called out The volunteer service is
egarded generally by our citizens asprel-
able to that in the regular army; aud as
ong as volunteers are expected to be called
or, it will be difficult to fill the ranks of
ocular regiments, unless additional in
ucemenls are offered, or the terms Of
ervce modified. A small pecuniary
county given at the time of the enlistment,
r land at the end of the term of service,
rond, it is believed, have most henef-
ial effect. Probably an equal favorable
esull would flow from annexing condi-