No Harm, No Foul? (Model 1836 Flintlock)

On this day in history, 19 October 1842, elements of the United States Navy and Marines heroically seized a fort in Monterey, CA (then a Mexican possession) from the Mexican defenders. There was only one blemish to this story... we weren't at war with Mexico and taking of the fort occurred as part of a misunderstanding!

After receiving (false) word that war had broken out between the US and Mexico a three ship squadron, headed by the USS United States, sailed to Monterey in order to head off suspected British action. Fifty Marines and a hundred Sailors stood ready to storm the battlements, but the 58 Mexican Soldiers wisely declined to give battle and the city and fort were seized without casualties.
The next day, upon learning that we were in fact NOT at war with Mexico, the US freed the Mexican troops and saluted the Mexican flag as way of formal apology.

This well worn flintlock pistol could have been there, serving onboard the ships or with the landing party. The Model 1836 was the last standard issue flintlock pistol produced for US forces, and is considered by many to be one of the most attractive. It is a .54 caliber smoothbore, and features a swinging ramrod beneath the barrel.

This example was made by Robert Johnson in Middletown, Connecticut in 1840 so could have made it out to the west coast by 1842. The little bent "dish" on the top is a fairly rudimentary rear sight , although the combination of this and the smoothbore barrel probably only led to accuracy a relatively short ranges.

​These pistols were phased out by the m1842, a similar looking pistol but produced in percussion. Many of these were converted over to percussion, and continued to serve up through the Civil War.