Darwin French Doctor Erasmus Darwin French was an American man of adventure . He was born in 1822 in New York State , trained as a doctor and then enlisted in the army , later becaming a silver prospector . He married Miss Cornelia S . Cowles , daughter of Judge Cowles of San Diego in 1858 . They had two sons Alfred and Addison . Early years . Dr French was born in the State of New York on January 20 , 1822 . He was the son of Harvey and Amanda Hazelton French . His father was a veteran of the War of 1812 . He attended local schools before moving to Michigan where he attended Albion Seminary . While in Hillsdale County he studied medicine and practiced as a doctor for some years . In 1843 he went to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas where he enlisted in the US Army at the start of the Mexican American War and entered the service as a private even though he was a practicing physician in civilian life . Middle years . Dr French ’ s goal was to make his fortune in the world and he set out to do just that in December 1845 . His plans were interrupted by the war . After he was discharged in early 1847 , he resumed his quest for adventure , he purchased a large ranch northeast of Los Angeles in the late 1840s , assisted some lost settlers who had mistakenly wandered through California ’ s Death Valley , and opened a mining town in south central California . The residents of that town named the village after Dr . French — they called it Darwin , California . The town is still in existence as of 2005 . Dr French had heard that there was a possible silver lode if the midst of Death Valley . Despite the fact that this inferno had never been explored , Dr French led an expedition into the Valley in 1850 but found no silver . Again in 1860 , Darwin led another party into Death Valley in a second attempt to find silver , again without success . Nonetheless , the route he took is laid out for tourists to observe in the Death Valley National Park . Two other landmarks are named after him , Darwin Falls and Darwin Wash . The journey of General Kearny and his Army of the West ( a small band of warriors ) across the wilderness of southwestern United States has been the subject of many books and articles . Dr French shared in that journey and demonstrates his ability to capture a vivid account of the battle in which he fought . He also has given us a chance to share in the emotion of the event in his stirring poem about the battle of San Pasqual . The Battle of San Pasqual , Dec . 6 , 1846 . Dictation from Poway , California by Dr . E . D . French , July 7 , 1887 Poem . The Battle of San Pasgual by Dr . E . D . French , circa 1847 . Twenty new graves must be made today ; < br > Twenty cold bodies to be laid away . < br > Or bury them down in one single bed ; < br > In one single tomb let them rest with the dead . < br > At the lone midnight hour they were carried along , < br > No salute could be fired — no funeral song ; < br > For our battle had been in the land of the foe , < br > And now in dark silence to the tomb they must go : < br > We kindred were there to embalm with a tear , < br > The last dying moments to friendship so dear ; < br > Nor even to weep on that desolate night ; < br > As their loved ones were buried forever from sight . < br > Long had we marched through the heat and the rain ; < br > Crossed the great rivers that swept through the plain ; < br > Encountered the mountains that stood in our way , < br > And passed through the forest without fear or delay . < br > We came to the border — the Mexican land ; < br > To mountains of granite , and rivers of sand , < br > Marched through deep passes and narrow defiles , < br > ‘ Till we came to the valley of sun light and smiles , — < br > Here our flag we raised high for the breezes were free , < br > As we came to the city of Santa Fe . < br > Now echo of cannon pealed loud through the air , < br > The American troops in full conquest were there : < br > And we marched through the streets of that time honored place , < br > And seized the domain of the Mexican race . < br > Nor yet was our halting , for onward we pressed ; < br > To reach the Pacific ; the shore of the west : — < br > The great rocky mountains we passed in our glee , < br > Intent to embrace the white waves of the Sea . < br > California was reached , and her vales of renown , < br > Were spread in their beauty like gems in a crown . < br > The journey to us was like a parade < br > Or some pleasure seeking , holiday made . < br > But here just at dawn when all nature was still , < br > The foe we attacked at the base of the hill , < br > And e ’ re in our triumph the conquest could gain ; < br > In the tide of the fight our companions were slain . < br > So down in the willows beneath the dark cloud , < br > Which rolled in the sky like a burial shroud ; < br > We laid the brave men that so suddenly died ; < br > E ’ re they marched o ’ er the land they had barely espied . < br > Then peaceful their sleep in the lone grave shall be , < br > They shall feel no more wounds — no more battle shall see . < br > No foe with their chargers and lances draw nigh — < br > No grief e ’ re their zephyr ’ soft sigh . < br > Farewell ; we have left thee ; companions in arms ; < br > Our lives may be joyful , or filled with alarms — < br > Whatever our joy or sorrow may be , < br > We ’ ll remember the graves by the one willow tree . Sources . This account was written in Dr French ' s hometown of Poway , California , a small town located north of San Diego . In 1887 , Dr French was asked to provide his own eye witness account of the final decisive battle for the future state of California in the Mexican – American War of 1846 . Dr French was a participant in that battle , the battle of San Pasqual . This account is a typewritten copy of a microfilm of the original dictation on file in the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley . The original dictation was done by hand but there is no way to determine whether or not it was written by Dr French or written by a clerk to whom he delivered the dictation . The typewritten copy is as near as possible an exact representation of the original manuscript including the original spelling and punctuation .