U.S. Commodore John Drake Sloat, commander of…

U.S. Commodore John Drake Sloat, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron, near Mazatlan, Mexico, had received orders to seize San Francisco Bay and blockade California ports when he was positive that war had begun.

Sloat had set sail for Monterey, reaching it on July 1.

Upon hearing of the events in Sonoma and Frémont's involvement, Sloat erroneously believed Frémont to be acting on orders from Washington and orders his forces to occupy Monterey on July 7 and raise the American flag.