Battle of Dominguez Rancho

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The Battle of Dominguez Rancho, or the Battle of the Old Woman's Gun, was a military engagement of the Mexican–American War that took place on October 8–9, 1846, within Manuel Dominguez's 75,000-acre (30,000 ha) Rancho San Pedro. Captain José Antonio Carrillo, leading fifty California troops, successfully held off an invasion of Pueblo de Los Angeles by some 300 United States Marines, capturing for the first time in the few instances of U.S. history the U.S. Colors upon the battlefield, while under the command of US Navy Captain William Mervine, who was attempting to recapture the town after the Siege of Los Angeles. By strategically running horses across the dusty Dominguez Hills, while transporting their single small cannon to various sites, Carrillo and his troops fooled the Americans into thinking they had encountered a large enemy force. Faced with heavy casualties and the superior fighting skills displayed by the Californios, the remaining Marines were forced to retreat to their ships docked in San Pedro Bay.