Stephen W. Kearny | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Military Governor of New Mexico | |
| In office August 1846 – September 1846 | |
| Preceded by | Juan Bautista Vigil y Alarid |
| Succeeded by | Sterling Price |
| 4th Military Governor of California | |
| In office February 23, 1847 – May 31, 1847 | |
| Preceded by | Robert F. Stockton |
| Succeeded by | Richard Barnes Mason |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stephen Watts Kearny (1794-08-30)August 30, 1794 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | October 31, 1848(1848-10-31) (aged 54) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Spouse | Mary Radford |
| Children | 11 (5 of whom survived childhood) |
| Profession | Soldier |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch/service | Dragoons[1] |
| Years of service | 1812–1848 |
| Rank |  Brigadier General BrevetMajor General |
| Unit | Cantonment Missouri |
| Commands | Jefferson Barracks The Old Guard  1st U.S. DragoonsArmy of the West Veracruz Mexico City |
| Battles/wars | |
Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelledKearney) (/ˈkɑːrni/KAR-nee)[2] (August 30, 1794 – October 31, 1848) was one of the foremostantebellumfrontier officers of theUnited States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in theMexican–American War, especially theConquest of California. TheKearny Code, proclaimed on September 22, 1846, inSanta Fe, established the law and government of the newly acquired territory of New Mexico and was named after him. His nephew was Major GeneralPhilip Kearny ofAmerican Civil War fame.
Stephen Watts Kearny was the fifteenth and youngest child of Philip and Susanna Watts Kearny. His father, who was of Irish ancestry (the family name had originally been O'Kearny), was a successful wine merchant and landowner inPerth Amboy, New Jersey, before the start of theAmerican Revolution (1775–1783).[3] Kearny was born inNewark, New Jersey, the son of Philip Kearny Sr. and Susanna Watts. His maternal grandparents were the wealthy merchant Robert Watts of New York and Mary Alexander, the daughter of Major General "Lord Stirling"William Alexander and Sarah "Lady Stirling" Livingston of American Revolutionary War fame. Stephen Watts Kearny attendedColumbia University inNew York City for two years. He joined theNew York militia as an ensign in 1812.[4]
In the late 1820s, after his career was established, Kearny met, courted, and married Mary Radford, the stepdaughter ofWilliam Clark of theLewis and Clark Expedition. The couple had eleven children, of whom six died in childhood. He was the uncle ofPhilip Kearny, aUnion general in the American Civil War who was killed at theBattle of Chantilly.[4]
In 1812, Kearny was commissioned as a first lieutenant in theWar of 1812 in the13th Infantry Regiment in the U.S. Army. On October 13, 1812, during theBattle of Queenston Heights, Kearny andLieutenant ColonelWinfield Scott led a charge that took the British position, but the British retook it when the "untrained militiamen"[5] did not reinforce the U.S. regulars who had taken the objective. "Humiliated, Kearny and Scott were forced to surrender"; wounded and captured, he and Scott spent several months in captivity before being paroled. This experience hardened his prejudice against militias for the rest of his army career.[6] Kearny was promoted to captain on April 1, 1813. After the war, he chose to remain in the U.S. Army and was promoted tobrevet major in 1823; major in 1829; and lieutenant colonel in 1833. He was assigned to thewestern frontier under the command of GeneralHenry Atkinson. In 1819, he was a member of the expedition to explore theYellowstone River in present-dayMontana andWyoming. TheYellowstone Expedition of 1819 journeyed only as far as present-dayNebraska, where it established Cantonment Missouri, later renamedFort Atkinson. Kearny was also on the 1825 expedition that reached the mouth of the Yellowstone River. During his travels, he kept extensive journals, including his interactions with Native Americans.[4]
In 1826,Captain Kearny was appointed as the first commander of the newJefferson Barracks inMissouri south ofSt. Louis.[7] While stationed there, he was often invited to the nearby city, the center of fur trade, economics, and politics of the region. By way ofMeriwether Lewis Clark, Sr., he was invited as a guest ofWilliam Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
In 1833,Lieutenant Colonel Kearny was appointed second in command of the newly organized1st Dragoon Regiment.[6] The U.S. Cavalry eventually grew out of this regiment, which was re-designated the1st United States Cavalry in 1861, earning Kearny his nickname "father of the United States Cavalry". The regiment was stationed atFort Leavenworth in present-dayKansas, and Kearny was promoted to the rank of colonel in command of the regiment in 1836. He was also made commander of the Army's Third Military Department, charged with protecting the frontier and preserving peace among the tribes of Native Americans on theGreat Plains.[4]
By the early 1840s, when emigrants began traveling along theOregon Trail, Kearny often ordered his men to escort the travelers across the plains to avoid attack by the Native Americans. The practice of the military's escorting settlers' wagon trains would become official government policy in succeeding decades. To protect the travelers, Kearny established a new post alongTable Creek near present-dayNebraska City, Nebraska. The outpost was namedFort Kearny. However, the Army realized that the site was not well chosen, and the post was moved to its present location on thePlatte River in central Nebraska.
In May 1845, Kearny marched his 1st Dragoons of 15 officers and 250 men in a column of twos out the gates of Ft. Leavenworth for a nearly four-month-long reconnaissance into theRocky Mountains and theSouth Pass, "the gateway toOregon." The Dragoons traveled light and fast, hauling 17 supply wagons and driving 50 sheep and 25 cattle. Kearny's Dragoons covered nearly 20 miles (32 km) a day. Upon their approach toFt. Laramie, they had traveled nearly 600 miles (970 km) in four weeks. "Barely two weeks later Kearny and his troopers stood atop South Pass, held a regimental muster on thecontinental divide, and turned toward home."[8] He marched his Dragoons down the Rocky Mountains, past the future site ofDenver, Colorado, thenBent's Fort, then onto theSanta Fe Trail. When they returned to Ft. Leavenworth on August 24, 1845, they had successfully conducted a reconnaissance of over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) in 99 days. "The march of the 1st dragoons was trulyan outstanding example of cavalry mobility."[8]
At the outset of theMexican–American War, Kearny was promoted tobrigadier general on June 30, 1846, and took a force of about 2,500 men toSanta Fe, New Mexico. HisArmy of the West (1846) consisted of 1,600 men in the volunteer First and Second Regiments of Fort Leavenworth, Missouri Mounted Cavalry regiment underAlexander Doniphan; an artillery and infantry battalion; 300 of Kearny's1st U.S. Dragoons (mounted infantrymen)[9] and about 500 members of theMormon Battalion. With this force, and due largely to the behind the scenes and coordinated efforts of U.S.President Polk, New Mexico Governor Armijo, and the American merchant James Wiley Magoffin, who had 20 years of trading experience in Mexico; Kearny was able to comply with the president's wishes, and conquer New Mexico without firing a shot.[10][11]
Kearny established a joint civil and military government, appointingCharles Bent, a prominent Santa Fe Trail trader living inTaos, New Mexico as acting civil. He divided his forces into four commands: one, under Col.Sterling Price, appointed military governor, was to occupy and maintain order in New Mexico with his approximately 800 men; a second group under Col.Alexander William Doniphan, with a little over 800 men was ordered to captureEl Paso, in the state ofChihuahua, Mexico and then join up with GeneralJohn E. Wool;[12] the third command of about 300dragoons mounted on mules, he led under his command to California along theGila River trail. The Mormon Battalion, mostly marching on foot under Lt. Col.Philip St. George Cooke, was directed to follow Kearny with wagons to blaze a new southern wagon route to California.
On theplaza in Santa Fe, a monument marks a fateful day. Gen. Kearny had entered the city after routing the militia of New Mexico under the command of Governor Armijo and entered a city then undefended but very hostile. He marched to theplaza in front of the Palacio Real, and took down the flag of the state of New Mexico, which he thought was the flag of Mexico. In its place he hoisted the Stars and Stripes and gave the speech which is summarized on the monument. New Mexico was then a state with a democratically constituted government, which Kearny overthrew, installing in its place under theKearny Code a military dictatorship. The next year, in 1847, three men pressed the case for the restoration of New Mexico's statehood and its admission to the American Union:Zachary Taylor,Abraham Lincoln, and Kearny's rival,John Charles Frémont. New Mexico's statehood and self-government were not restored until 1912.
Kearny, perorders fromPresident Polk, set out to "conquer and take possession ofCalifornia"[13] on September 25, 1846, with a force of 300 men. En route he encounteredKit Carson, a scout ofJohn C. Frémont'sCalifornia Battalion, carrying messages back toWashington, D.C., on the status of hostilities in California. Kearny learned that California was, at the time of Carson's last information, under American control of the marines and bluejacket sailors of CommodoreRobert F. Stockton of theU.S. Navy'sPacific Squadron and Frémont'sCalifornia Battalion. Kearny asked Carson to guide him back to California while he sent Carson's messages east with a different courier. Kearny sent 200 dragoons back to Santa Fe believing that California was secure. After traveling almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km) his weary 100 dragoons and most of his nearly worn-out mounts were replaced by untrained mules purchased from a mule herder's herd being driven to Santa Fe from California. On a trip across theColorado Desert[14] toSan Diego Kearny encountered marine MajorArchibald H. Gillespie and about 30 men with news of an ongoingCalifornio revolt inLos Angeles.
On a wet day, December 6, 1846, Kearny's forces encounteredAndrés Pico (Californio GovernorPio Pico's brother) and a force of about 150CalifornioLancers. With most of his men mounted on weary untrained mules, his command executed an uncoordinated attack of Pico's force. They found most of their powder wet and pistols and carbines would not fire. They soon found their mules and cavalry sabers were poor defense against Californio Lancers mounted on well-trained horses. Kearny's column, along with the small force of Marines and volunteer militia, suffered defeat. About 18 men of Kearny's force were killed; retreating to a hill top to dry their powder and treat their wounded, they were surrounded by Andre Pico's forces. Kearny was slightly wounded in this encounter, theBattle of San Pasqual. Kit Carson got through Pico's men and returned to San Diego. Commodore Stockton sent a combined force ofU.S. Marine and U.S. Navy bluejacket sailors under Capt.Archibald H. Gillespie (USMC),[15] and LieutenantEdward F. Beale (USN), to relieve Kearny's column. The U.S. forces quickly drove out the Californios. In January 1847 a combined force of about 600 men consisting of Kearny's dragoons, Stockton's marines and sailors, and two companies of Frémont'sCalifornia Battalion won theBattle of Rio San Gabriel and theBattle of La Mesa and retook control of Los Angeles on January 10, 1847. The Californio forces in California capitulated on January 13 to Lt. Col. John C. Frémont and hisCalifornia Battalion. TheTreaty of Cahuenga ended the fighting of the Mexican–American War in Alta California on that date. Kearny and Stockton decided to accept the liberal terms offered by Frémont to terminate hostilities, despiteAndrés Pico's breaking his earlier, solemn pledge that he would not fight U.S. forces.
As the ranking Army officer, and per orders from President Polk,[13] Kearny claimed command of California at the end of hostilities despite the fact that California was initially brought under U.S. control by Commodore Stockton's,[a]Pacific Squadron's forces. This began a rivalry with Stockton, whose rank was equivalent to a rear admiral (lower half) today. Kearny had the same equivalent rank (one star) and unfortunately, theWar Department had not worked out a protocol for who would be in charge. Stockton seized on the treaty of capitulation and appointed Frémontmilitary governor of California.
In July 1846, Col.Jonathan D. Stevenson of New York was asked to raise a volunteer regiment of 10 companies of 77 men each to go to California with the understanding that they would muster out and stay in California. They were designated the1st Regiment of New York Volunteers and fought in theCalifornia Campaign and thePacific Coast Campaign. In August 1846 and September the regiment trained and prepared for the trip to California. Three private merchant ships,Thomas H Perkins,Loo Choo andSusan Drew, were chartered, and the sloopUSS Preble was assigned convoy detail. On 26 September the four ships left New York for California. Fifty men who had been left behind for various reasons sailed on November 13, 1846, on the small storeship USS Brutus. TheSusan Drew andLoo Choo reachedValparaíso, Chile by January 20, 1847, and after getting fresh supplies, water and wood were on their way again by January 23. ThePerkins did not stop until San Francisco, reaching port on March 6, 1847. TheSusan Drew arrived on March 20 and theLoo Choo arrived on March 16, 183 days after leaving New York. TheBrutus finally arrived on April 17.
After desertions and deaths in transit the four ships brought 648 men to California. The companies were then deployed throughout Upper (Alta) and Lower (Baja) California from San Francisco toLa Paz, Mexico. These troops finally allowed Kearny to assume command of California as ranking Army officer. The troops essentially took over all of thePacific Squadron's on-shore military andgarrison duties and theCalifornia Battalion andMormon Battalion's garrison duties as well as someBaja California duties.
With all these reinforcements in hand Kearny assumed command, appointed his own territorial military governor and ordered Frémont to resign and accompany him back toFort Leavenworth, Kansas. On Kearny and Frémont's trip back east on theCalifornia Trail, accompanied by some members of the Mormon Battalion who had re-enlisted, they found and buried some of theDonner Party's remains on their trip over theSierra Nevadas. Once at Fort Leavenworth, Frémont was restricted to barracks and ordered court-martialed for insubordination and willfully disregarding an order. Acourt martial convicted Frémont and ordered that he receive adishonorable discharge, but PresidentJames K. Polk quickly commuted Frémont's sentence due to services he had rendered over his career. Frémont resigned his commission in disgust and settled in California.[16] In 1847 Frémont purchased theRancho Las Mariposas, a large land grant in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains nearYosemite, which proved to be rich in gold. Frémont was later elected one of the first U.S. senators from California and was the first presidential candidate of the newRepublican Party in 1856.
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Kearny remained military governor of California until May 31, when he set out overland across the California Trail to Washington, D.C., and was welcomed as a hero.[17] He was appointed governor ofVeracruz, and later ofMexico City. He also received a brevet promotion tomajor general in September 1848, over the heated opposition of Frémont's father-in-law, SenatorThomas Hart Benton.
After contractingyellow fever in Veracruz, Kearny had to return to St. Louis. He died there on October 31, 1848, at the age of 54. He was buried atBellefontaine Cemetery, now aNational Historic Landmark in St. Louis.
HistorianAllan Nevins, examining his attacks on Frémont, states that Kearny:
was a stern-tempered soldier who made few friends and many enemies-- who has been justly characterized by the most careful historian of the period,Justin H. Smith, as "grasping, jealous, domineering, and harsh." Possessing these traits, feeling his pride stung by his defeat at San Pasqual, and anxious to assert his authority, he was no sooner in Los Angeles than he quarreled bitterly with Stockton; and Frémont was not only at once involved in this quarrel, but inherited the whole burden of it as soon as Stockton left the country.[18]
Kearny "was simply, a professional soldier's soldier, and he "may have been the only general in the Mexican War whodid not long to become president.[19]
Kearny is the namesake ofKearny, Arizona andKearney, Nebraska.Kearny, New Jersey near Kearny's place of birth, is named after his nephew,Philip Kearny, Jr. of American Civil War fame. Many schools are named after Kearny, including Kearny Elementary in Santa Fe, New Mexico andKearny High School in the San Diego neighborhood ofKearny Mesa.Kearny Street, in downtown San Francisco, is also named for him, as is a street within Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.Camp Kearny in San Diego, a U.S. military base which operated from 1917 to 1946 on the site of today'sMarine Corps Air Station Miramar, was named in his honor.Fort Kearny in Nebraska is also named for him.
Two U.S.postage stamps relate to Kearny.Scott catalog number 970, printed in 1948, commemorates Fort Kearny, and number 944, issued in 1946, the capture of Santa Fe. The accuracy of the latter's depiction has been questioned.[20]
Actor Robert Anderson (1920–1996) played General Kearny in the 1966 episode "The Firebrand" of thesyndicatedwesterntelevision series,Death Valley Days.Gregg Barton was cast asCommodoreRobert F. Stockton, withGerald Mohr asAndrés Pico and Will Kuluva asPio Pico. The episode is set in 1848 with the establishment ofCalifornia Territory and the tensions between the outgoingMexican government and the incoming American governor.[21]
Stephen W. Kearny is the default name of the United States hero unit inAge of Empires III: Definitive Edition.
| U.S. Military Admin(1846–1851) |  | |
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| U.S. Territory(1851–1912) | ||
| State(since 1912) | ||
| Under Spain (1769–1822) |  | |
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| Under Mexico (1822–1846) | ||
| Under U.S. military (1846–1850) | ||
| U.S. state (since 1850) | ||
