The State of California, being located far away from the more
active scenes of the war, was not called upon to furnish troops for immediate
service against Confederate soldiers, and no quota was assigned it; yet during
the war calls were made upon it for several regiments and battalions,
aggregating more than sixteen thousand men, besides five hundred who were
enlisted within its borders and became part of the quota of the State of
Massachusetts, and eight companies raised for Washington Territory. With the
exception of those enlisted for Massachusetts, the California forces took no
part in any of the great battles of the war; yet the service they rendered was
of as great importance as that rendered by those from other States. It was as
severe, entailing long and fatiguing marches across burning deserts and among
almost inaccessible mountains. They were engaged in hundreds of fights with
Indians and small forces of Confederate troops on the frontiers, in
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Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1867 by Brig.-Gen. Richard H. Orton, pub. 1890