Stephen W. Kearny
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Portrait of Stephen Kearny |
Stephen Watts Kearny (
August 30,
1794–
October 31,
1848) was a
United States Army officer, noted for action in the southwest during the
Mexican-American War, in particular in the conquest of
California. He was renowned in his lifetime as the "Father of the U.S. Cavalry". The
Kearny code, which sought to govern government behavior towards
Californios, was named after him. Kearny is pronounced "Kar-ney" (IPA pronunciation: [ˈkɑɹni]) and not "Ker-ney."
Early years
Kearny was born in
Newark, New Jersey. His family had come from
Ireland, where they had been named "O'Kearny". Kearny attended public schools and began studies at
Columbia College of Missouri in 1811, leaving school after two years at the outbreak of the
War of 1812 to join the Army. During the war he was cited for bravery and promoted to Captain. He was made a prisoner of war, briefly, after the
Battle of Queenston Heights.
The western frontier
Immediately following the war he was assigned to the western frontier under the command of Gen.
Henry Atkinson, In
1819, he was a member of the Atkinson expedition to explore the
Yellowstone River in present-day
Montana and
Wyoming. The 1819 expedition reached only as far as present-day
Nebraska, where it founded Cantonment Missouri (later
Fort Atkinson). He was also on a follow-up expedition in
1825 that reached the mouth of the Yellowstone. During his travels with the Army, he kept extensive journals of the route, and of his interactions with
Native Americans.
In
1826, he was appointed as the first commander of the new
Jefferson Barracks in
Missouri. While stationed at the barracks, he was often invited to nearby
Missouri as a guest of
William Clark of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition. It was there that he met Clark's stepdaughter, whom he later married. They eventually had eleven children, although not all survived to adulthood.
While at the barracks, he organized a unit of
dragoons along the lines of a cavalry outfit. It is from this first unit that the U.S. Cavalry eventually grew, earning him his nickname. The unit was stationed at
Fort Leavenworth in present-day
Kansas, and Kearney was promoted to the rank of Colonel. He was also appointed commander of the Army's Third Military Department, charged with protecting the frontier and preserving peace among the various tribes of Native Americans on the
Great Plains. By the early
1840s, when emigrants began traveling along the
Oregon Trail through his command area, he often ordered his men to escort emigrants on the trail across the plains so they could avoid attacks from Native Americans. The practice of military escort of wagon trains would grow into official government policy in the following decades. As part of the effort to protect emigrants, Kearney established a new post along
Table Creek near present-day
Nebraska City, Nebraska, at a spot Kearney had explored on his earlier Yellowstone expeditions. The outpost acquired the name "Fort Kearny". The Army realized the spot was not well-chosen, however, and the outpost was moved to the present location of
Fort Kearny along the
Platte River in central Nebraska.
Mexican-American War
At the outset of the Mexican-American War, Kearny proceeded to
Santa Fe, New Mexico at the head of a force of 1,700, taking control of the area and becoming its military governor on
August 18,
1846. He ensured that a civilian government was in place there by the end of one month.
With his mission in Santa Fe complete, Kearny set out for
California on
September 25 with a much smaller unit (about 300 men). This group, after having suffered significant attrition during the march, were fought to a standstill at the
Battle of San Pasqual. The surviving force was able to unite with
naval forces based in
San Diego, under the command of Commodore
Robert F. Stockton. This combined force consolidated control of San Diego in December, and in January of 1847 and won the battles of
San Gabriel and
La Mesa taking control of
Los Angeles.
Kearny, as ranking Army officer, asserted the right to be in command of the area at the end of hostilities, beginning a rivalry with Stockton. When Mexican forces in the area capitulated on
January 13, however, they did so to neither Stockton nor Kearney, but rather to Stockton's aide, Lt. Col.
John C. Frémont. Stockton seized upon this and appointed Frémont military governor of the area. Kearny appealed to
Washington, and upon receiving confirmation of his authority took command, having Frémont relieved and arrested (he was later convicted at
court-martial, but was quickly pardoned by the President).
Governorship and last years
Kearny remained military governor of California through August, at which point he returned east to
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and later proceeded to
Mexico, where he was appointed governor of
Veracruz and later of
Mexico City. He was promoted to
major general In September 1848, over the heated opposition of Senator
Thomas Hart Benton (Frémont's father-in-law), but died in
St. Louis, Missouri the following month as a result of a tropical disease he had contracted while in Veracruz.
Legacy
Kearny is the namesake of
Kearney, Nebraska (with an extra "e"). Some schools named after S. W. Kearny are,
Kearny Elementary in Santa Fe, New Mexico,
Kearny High School in Kearny Mesa, San Diego, California, and
Kearny Street, a major street in downtown
San Francisco is also named for him.
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General Stephen Watts Kearny
