Then with a much inferior force, he set out to give battle to the Mexican leader; but the latter no sooner learned of his coming, than he fled with all his men.

Finding it impossible to force him to give battle, Fremont encamped near the town, where he waited until joined by Commodore Stockton and a company of marines.
The junction effected, they marched upon Los Angeles which immediately fell into their hands.

Long before this, Fremont had become impressed with the necessity of having some communication with Washington.

In one sense it may be said he was all at sea, for he was without positive instructions, at a critical period, when it was most important that his line of policy should be clearly defined by his government.
But the matter of communicating with headquarters, thousands of miles away, was infinitely more difficult and serious than it is today.

A vast, wild, perilous and almost unknown tract stretched between the Pacific and Atlantic, across which it required weeks and sometimes months for an express rider to make his way.