There had been no fighting between the…
July 1851 CE
Heintzelman has occupied his time with mapping the area, noting the depths of the Colorado, and recording temperatures.
The hottest it got according to Heintzelman was 121 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ultimately the problem of maintaining a post, surrounded by two vast deserts, has become intolerable, so Captain Heintzelman is ordered to withdraw his company in July 1851 for Santa Ysabel and then to San Diego.
He leaves ten men and Lieutenant Thomas William Sweeny to guard the ferry.
Their orders are to continue protecting the area from hostiles and to prevent immigrants from settling on Yuman soil.
A day before departing, Heintzelman gathers some Yuman chiefs together where he informs them of the situation.
Lieutenant Sweeny is an Irish immigrant who had become a hero known as "Fighting Tom" during the Mexican War.
He is also very disliked by Heintzelman and will later lead Irish rebels in the Fenian War.