Stockton, Robert F

Stockton, Robert F(ield)

(born Aug. 20, 1795, Princeton, N.J., U.S.—died Oct. 7, 1866, Princeton) U.S. naval officer. He joined the U.S. navy and rose to the rank of commander (1838). When the Mexican War broke out, he took command of U.S. land and naval forces in present-day California and proceeded to capture Los Angeles, a Mexican stronghold, on Aug. 13, 1846. Four days later, he set up a civil government and formally annexed California to the U.S., naming himself governor. Along with Col. Stephen Kearny and his troops he defeated an uprising by native Mexicans and ceded the entire province to the U.S. In 1850 he resigned from the navy and was elected to the U.S. Senate. Stockton, Calif., is named in his honour.