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316 you will be mindful to protect the persons and interests of citizens of the United States, and should you ascertain beyond a doubt that the Mexican government has declared war against us, you will employ the force under your command to the best advantage. The Mexican ports on the Pacific are said to be open and defenceless. If you ascertain with certainty that Mexico has declared war against the United States, you will at once blockade or occupy such ports as your force may admit."

Other ports were taken with equal ease; and the navy having joined forces with the army of Colonel Fremont, the Americans entered the capital of Alta California, on the 13th of August, and took possession of the government house without a show of opposition, issuing at once a proclamation announcing the conquest of the department.

Meanwhile General Taylor, greatly reinforced by volunteer troops sent from the United States, advanced into the interior of the country though the state of Nueva Leon, bordering upon the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico, and approached its capital, the other Monterey. It lies at the eastern base of a range of hills, in a valley of great fertility, which is capable of supporting a large population. The main road from the Rio Grande to the city of Mexico leads from the east through a cultivated country, directly through the city, and continues by a pass through the Sierra, by Saltillo, and on to a desert region between Saltillo and San Luis de Potosi. A rivulet, the San Juan de Monterey, rises in this pass and crosses the valley. Monterey stands