Sketch Of The Life And Services Of Vice

Author : Stephen Cooper Ayres
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331338345
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (383 download)

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Download or read book Sketch of the Life and Services of Vice Admiral Stephen C. Rowan, U. S. Navy (Classic Reprint) written by Stephen Cooper Ayres and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-13 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Sketch of the Life and Services of Vice Admiral Stephen C. Rowan, U. S. Navy His timely arrival there was fortunate as he was actively engaged in the war with Mexico until it ended. It was in the conflict with Mexico that Rowan had his first experience in actual war. It was there that he received his first baptism of fire and a training which helped to develop those qualities which made him so conspicious as an officer in the more serious conflict with the South in the early sixties. Let us for a moment glance at the situation on the Pacific Coast in 1846. Upper and lower California belonged to Mexico. There was a Governor, but the Franciscan monks in the various missions which they had established in the beautiful valleys were the real power. Mexico had too much trouble of her own near home, since she threw off the yoke of Spain, to pay much attention to California, which in a commercial way was not as much an asset as a liability. The priests had converted and in a measure tamed and partly civilized the stupid and lazy Indians which they found on and near the Coast. Texas had been lost to Mexico by revolt and had been admitted into the Union in 1845. There were on the Coast about two thousand pioneer settlers from the States, with some English and Irish. A colony of Russians had located in the northern part, but between the settlers and Roman Church which practically controlled the land, there was no bond of sympathy. Many of these settlers were discharged sailors and soldiers, hunters, trappers and adventurers, who loved the wild life this region afforded. Our Government looked with jealous eyes on this beautiful land which Fremont had visited twice previously and was now exploring for the third time. His was a scientific expedition, with instructions not to break the peace. He had a band of about sixty hardy fellows, pathfinders like himself, well mounted and well armed with Kit Carson as guide. Our fleet on the Pacific was commanded by Commodore Sloat. They had visited the various ports, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Mazatlan and Guaymas. From 1845 to 1848, Rowan was executive officer of the Cyane which joined the Pacific squadron on December 24, 1845. The squadron was composed of five vessels, the Savannah being the flag ship. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.