Californios Strengths And Weaknesses

The Battle of San Pasqual was a conflict between Californios and Americans during the Mexican-American War. The battle took place in present-day California between the indigenous people, named Californios, and the United States (U.S.) Army. By analysing this battle with the Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1 Warfighting it becomes clear that the Californios had strengths in leadership, training, and combat power (U.S. Marine Corps, 1997). Even with these strengths, the battle is still debated on who was the successor between the two countries. This paper reflects the success of the Californios because of their specific actions during the Battle of San Pasqual.
Major Andrés Pico, the commander of the Californios, exhibited great leadership skills that relate directly to MCDP 1. A key topic that stood out was his initiative on the battlefield in which he exploited the U.S. Army communication and equipment weakness. Major Pico was quoted as saying "could not resist the temptation" to attack the Americans because their pursuit was so disorderly and their appearance, on mules, aroused the contempt of his followers…” (Regan, 2016). Although the U.S. Army took the
The Californios people consisted on families of multi-generations that heavily relied on horseback riding. It can be assumed that most of these people were trained to ride horses at a relatively young age. To exemplify their proficiency, it has been documented that the Californios captured bears by lasso from horseback riding to gather food or entertainment (Oakland Museum of California). I relate this to the MCDP 1 in which Californios trained in basic combat skills that proved to be a great advantage among the U.S. Army. Although the Californios training proved to be advantageous, the overall combat power was the final factor that allowed them to be