Governor Frémont--at the head of sixty-five men, under cover of a thick
fog. The morning was auspicious for such purposes, yet the Captain was
not surprised; and the twenty-one rifles which he controlled were
quickly brought to bear on the assailants, who retired soon afterward
with three of their number killed and several wounded; and at daylight
the remainder were driven from the town, with the loss of several taken
prisoners, by a few men under Lieutenant Hensley, and Doctor Gilchrist,
of the navy.

The insurgents who were thus expelled from the city formed a nucleus
around which the disaffected gathered; and as the party gained strength
day by day, it harassed the little garrison and killed one of its
number. There was but little concert of action in its ranks, however;
and as the rival aspirants to power struggled for authority, while the
numbers rapidly increased, the efficiency of the insurgents was but
slightly increased. At length, in a spirit of compromise, Captain
Antonio Flores was urged to take the command of the party, and
reluctantly accepted it; and he soon found himself at the head of six
hundred men armed with lances, _escopetas_, and a brass six-pounder,
light and well mounted.

In the mean time the little garrison had found an old honeycombed iron
six-pounder, and had drilled out the spike, cleaned and mounted it, and
by melting the lead pipes of a distillery had provided--unknown to the
insurgents--thirty rounds of ball and grape for it. Two other pieces
having been added to this, on the following day, the little garrison and
its gallant commander resolved to die rather than surrender,
notwithstanding the extreme efforts which had been made to strengthen
its position, and the great fatigue which was incident thereto. To
render his little party still more secure, however, on September 27th