The following are California State Militia units that were active in the state of California between 1851 and 1861, prior to the American Civil War.
The Mariposa War, also known as the Yosemite Indian War, was a conflict between the United States and the indigenous people of California's Sierra Nevada in the 1850s. The war was fought primarily in Mariposa County and surrounding areas, and was sparked by the discovery of gold in the region. As a result of the military expedition, the Mariposa Battalion became the first non-indigenous group to enter Yosemite Valley and the Nelder Grove.
The Department of the Pacific or Pacific Department was a major command (Department) of the United States Army from 1853 to 1858. It replaced the Pacific Division, and was itself replaced by the Department of California and the Department of Oregon.
California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular U.S. Army units sent east, in the area west of the Rocky Mountains, maintaining and building numerous camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist activity and securing the New Mexico Territory against the Confederacy. The State of California did not send its units east, but many citizens traveled east and joined the Union Army there, some of whom became famous.
The Stockton Blues was a California state militia unit organized in 1857 and disbanded in 1861 due to secessionist dissension. Union men then reformed under the Stockton Union Guard, 1861–1866.
The Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War consists of major military operations in the United States on the Pacific Ocean and in the states and Territories west of the Continental Divide. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific that included the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, the territories of Washington, Utah, and later Idaho.
The California Army National Guard is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Army, and part of the National Guard of the United States. The California Army National Guard is composed of 18,450 soldiers. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.
Mariposa Battalion was a California Militia unit formed in 1851 to defeat the Ahwahnechee and Chowchillas in the Mariposa War, a part of the California genocide.
Andrew Jackson King, or A. J. King, was a lawman, lawyer, legislator and judge in 19th Century Los Angeles County, California.
James Freeman Curtis II, participant in the 1849 California Gold Rush, Chief of Police of San Francisco, officer in the California state militia and volunteer in the American Civil War.
Bald Hills War (1858–1864) was a war fought by the forces of the California Militia, California Volunteers and soldiers of the U.S. Army against the Chilula, Lassik, Hupa, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, Whilkut and Wiyot Native American peoples.
Edwin Augustus Rigg (1822–1882), 49er, was a military officer in the American Civil War and the Apache Wars.
Isaac Green Messec, sometimes Messic or Messick (1823–1901) was a Texas Ranger, 49er, miner, businessman, California State Militia Captain, county sheriff, sergeant-at-arms of the California State Senate and rancher, a well-known figure in political and mining circles early in the history of the State of California.
William Chauncey Kibbe was a California pioneer and the third Adjutant General of California. He oversaw the California Militia from its beginnings through most of the American Civil War.
Charles Stewart Drew, also known as C.S. Drew, was a representative in the legislature of the Oregon Territory of the United States and quartermaster general of the territorial militia in the 1850s. During the American Civil War, he was a Union Army officer, serving in the 1st Oregon Cavalry regiment. He eventually reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1864, he led an Army reconnaissance party into southeastern Oregon. The expedition, known as the Owyhee Reconnaissance, traveled through uncharted country from Fort Klamath to Fort Boise and back. Drew was the author of two historically important military reports; one documented Indian attacks on American settlers in the Oregon Territory and the other was his report of the Owyhee Reconnaissance.
William W. Twist (182?-1861) was possibly a Canadian native, a volunteer soldier in the Mexican American War in California, Sheriff of Santa Barbara County and captain of California Militia in Los Angeles. He was killed in action as a captain of artillery in the Mexican Army.
Camp at Pardee's Ranch was a military post at Pardee's Ranch from 1858 until the end of the Bald Hills War for U.S. Army troops, California State Militia or California State Volunteers.
Myron Norton (1822–1886), was an American attorney, and an officer in the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, fighting in the Mexican–American War, and remained in California afterward to become active in both San Francisco and Los Angeles legal circles and politics. He drafted California's first state constitution.
The California Indian Wars were a series of wars, battles, and massacres between the United States Army, and the Indigenous peoples of California. The wars lasted from 1850, immediately after Alta California, acquired during the Mexican–American War, became the state of California, to 1880 when the last minor military operation on the Colorado River ended the Calloway Affair of 1880.
Nathaniel Holly Gates, also known as Colonel Gates for most of his life, (1811–1889) was an American pioneer lawyer and Oregon state legislator. He was an active Democrat throughout his life. He served four terms in Oregon's territorial legislature. This included one term as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives during the 1858 legislative session. After Oregon became a state in 1859, he served one two-year term in the Oregon House of Representatives and one four-year term in the Oregon State Senate. Before immigrating to Oregon, Gates lived and worked as a lawyer in Ohio and Iowa. After moving to Oregon, he settled in The Dalles and opened a law practice there. He helped develop that community and served as the city's mayor five times in non-consecutive terms.