Battle of Rio San Gabriel The Battle of Rio San Gabriel , fought on January 8 , 1847 , was a decisive action of the California campaign of the Mexican – American War and occurred at a ford of the San Gabriel River , at what are today parts of the cities of Whittier , Pico Rivera and Montebello , about ten miles south - east of downtown Los Angeles . Background . After the Battle of San Pasqual , the battered Army of the West commanded by General Stephen W . Kearny went to the headquarters of Commodore Robert F . Stockton at San Diego , California . Stockton ' s next objective was to recapture Pueblo de Los Angeles . That settlement had been previously captured by Stockton ' s forces but was left in the command of Captain Archibald Gillespie and had been lost to the Californio militia , commanded by General José María Flores . Kearny and Stockton initially disputed the right of command . Although Kearny had superior orders from the United States War Department , he had previously sent most of his troops back to Santa Fe , New Mexico , believing that the war in California had ended , and his remaining force sustained heavy losses in the United States defeat at the Battle of San Pasqual . Stockton had a larger force and was familiar with the area , so Kearny did not initially dispute Stockton ' s command of the campaign to recapture Los Angeles . Stockton departed San Diego in late December with a force of over 600 Sailors and Marines , as well as Kearny ' s remaining force of about sixty dragoon s . Battle . U . S . scouts discovered the Mexican position at a key ford along the San Gabriel River on January 7 , 1847 . Approaching from the south , Stockton and Kearny planned a crossing for the next day . The U . S . forces were formed into a hollow square with the artillery and baggage in the center . Kearny ordered the artillery unlimbered to cover the crossing , but Stockton countered the order and began to move across the river . The crossing proved to be especially difficult because Flores was in a good position to contest the crossing from the high banks across the river , and the ford had patches of quicksand at the bottom of the knee deep water . The U . S . 560 man force came under fire as it crossed , but because of a lack of sufficient guns and ammunition , and inadequate gunpowder , the Californio ' s artillery proved to be ineffective . The U . S . officers and men manhandled their cannon across while the forward quarter of the square took cover on the river edge . Stockton personally helped unlimber and direct the artillery , which silenced both Californio cannons . Kearny led and commanded the assault force while Stockton stayed with the guns . The left flank of the square took a Californio riverbank position and held it against a counterattack from Militia Lancers shouting " Viva Los Californios " . Then the whole square charged forward shouting " " New Orleans , New Orleans " " , in honor of Andrew Jackson ' s great victory against Great Britain there that day thirty - one years before . The charge took the heights , and Flores withdrew his smaller force . The battle had lasted an hour and a half , and the battle was decisive in the campaign for control of Los Angeles , and Alta California . General Kearny ' s official report of the battle : < br > " Headquarters Army of the West , Ciudad de Los Angeles , Upper California , January 12 , 1847 . < br > SIR , - - I have the honor to report , that at the request of Commodore R . F . Stockton ( who in September last assumed the titled of Governor of California ) , I consented to take command of an expedition to this place – capital of the country – and that on the 29th of December , I left San Diego with about five hundred men , consisting of sixty dismounted dragoons , under Captain Turner ; fifty California volunteers , and the remainder of marines and sailors , with a battery of artillery . Lieutenant Emory , topographical engineers , acted as assistant adjutant - general . Commodore Stockton accompanied us . We proceeded on our route without seeing the enemy till the 8th instant , when they showed themselves in full force of six hundred mounted men , with four pieces of artillery , under their Governor Flores , occupying the heights in front of us , which commanded the crossing of the river San Gabriel , and they ready to oppose our further progress . The necessary disposition of our troops was immediately made , by covering our front with a strong party of skirmishers , placing our wagons and baggage train in rear of them , and protecting the flanks and rear with the remainder of the command . We then proceeded , forded the river , carried the heights , and drove the enemy from them after an action of about one and a half hours , during which they made a charge upon our left flank , which was repulsed ; soon after which , they retreated and left us in possession of the field , on which we encamped that night . < br > Aftermath . Stockton and Kearny stayed on the field overnight and resumed the pursuit the next day , thinking to overwhelm Flores ' troops in the Battle of La Mesa , at the confluence of the San Gabriel and Los Angeles River s in present day Vernon . The Americans suffered 6 casualties as opposed to 40 for the Californios . On January 10 the U . S . forces reoccupied Los Angeles , and Archibald Gillespie was able to raise the same U . S . Flag over the house which he was forced to bring down a year before during the Siege of Los Angeles . After Los Angeles and the whole of southern California was secured , the command issue between Stockton and Kearny heated up once again . Stockton , who had been the initial military governor of California , later granted that post to his aide , Lieutenant - Colonel ( later General ) John C . Fremont . Kearny , based on his more recent orders from the War Department , asserted that post for himself but was initially ignored , and Fremont represented the United States at the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13 , 1847 , at Campo de Cahuenga . Based on that snub , Kearny later brought charges against Fremont . A court - martial did convict Fremont , but President James Polk later pardoned him . Some historians believe that the Battle of Rio San Gabriel was under - reported because of the influence of the politically ambitious Frémont and his father - in - law Senator Thomas Hart Benton , in order to make Frémont look better by downplaying Stockton and Kearny . Others believed that if reports were made of the brave and resistant Californio Lancers , recruiting for the US Army would be difficult , motivation for the Mexicans would be great , and the US Congress would further divide over this war . On January 10 , 1847 , Stockton established his headquarters on Wine Street , now known as Olvera Street , in the pueblo settlement of Ciudad de Los Angeles and assisted in setting up a civil government ; that home is still standing as part of the historic area . He left California overland on June 20 , 1847 , and arrived at Washington , D . C . on about December 1 . He later served in the United States Senate , representing New Jersey . Kearny left California in August 1847 for Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , and was reassigned to the war in Mexico . The site of the battle is now registered as California Historical Landmark # 385 . The memorial , marked by a plaque flanked by two cannons , is located at the corner of Washington Blvd . and Bluff Rd . in Montebello . Volunteers in costume re - enact the battle annually . Published in 1886 ( indexed at end of volume 24 )