A San Deigo County Side Trip in the History of the Civil War

It rates only a brief notice even in the most detailed histories of the conflict. And it was not mentioned in the 11-hour PBS series “The Civil War.”

But the only skirmish of the Civil War to take place in California was in the backcountry of San Diego’s North County.

It was a bloodless confrontation between Union cavalry troopers and a “desperate set of men” led by Daniel Showalter, a hot-tempered secessionist and state assemblyman from Mariposa County.

Showalter had killed another assemblyman in a duel in Marin County in May, 1861, the state’s last political duel. Six months later, he took off for Texas to join the Confederacy.

By the time he reached Temecula, he had accumulated 17 fellow travelers: would-be adventurers, unemployed mule skinners, transplanted Southerners, etc.

The War Department was sorely worried about pro-Confederate (Copperhead) sentiment in Southern California. An appeal by President Lincoln for Union volunteers had been unsuccessful (unlike Northern California, where enlistment was high).

Two 24-pound guns were sent to reinforce the small garrison at Market Street and Kettner Boulevard in what is now downtown San Diego.

Showalter and his motley crew slid into the San Luis Rey Valley and tiptoed past the newly established Camp Wright near Santa Ysabel.

Their stealth proved insufficient. A patrol spotted them at Minter’s Ranch on Nov. 29.

They did not resist capture. A Union major wrote to his superiors: “They have pack mules and are well-outfitted out, and (are) a desperate set of men.”

The captives all wrote letters of allegiance to the Union. Not good enough. They were sent to a pesthole of an Army prison at Yuma (then in San Diego County) for a few months.

Upon his release, Showalter continued to Texas and enlisted. He fought for the South in Texas and Arkansas, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

If Showalter or any of his band ever returned to San Diego County, it is not recorded. No reunions or anything.

The Great Cover-Up

Art, life and other things.

* North County cover-up.

The landlord for Lou’s Records on Old Highway 101 in Encinitas made his storekeeper-tenants cover the genitals on three papier-mache figures--two female, one male--displayed on a poster for an album by the hard-rock group Jane’s Addiction.

The poster, with brown strips now covering certain areas, remains in the store’s front window.

So does a hand-drawn sign expressing the staff’s opinion of the incident: “Censorship Is Un-American.”

“It’s ridiculous,” assistant manager Danielle Soto said. “I’ve seen more anatomically correct figures at a museum.”

* Headline in the (North County) Beach News: “Group opposes poop pipe plan.”

Translation: Environmentalists don’t want Escondido to dump more sewage in the ocean off Cardiff.

* Ads are starting to appear for “The Godfather Part III,” which opens in December, with Al Pacino as the aging, graying Don Corleone.

In the ads, Pacino looks a lot like Chris Petti, the reputed mobster who goes on trial this week for the Silberman caper. No kidding.

* Ad in the Daily Aztec: “Professional male seeks attractive coed escort.”

For women who are tired of dating amateur males.

Before Halloween?

Noted.

* Beat the holiday rush, celebrate early.

The downtown San Diego law firms of Monaghan & Strauss and Virginia C. Nelson have scheduled their Christmas party for Oct. 19.

* Richard T. Silberman’s full legal tab is said to be $2.1 million.

That’s $600,000 already paid, $1.5 million still owed.

* The race for sheriff has descended to name-calling. Politely.

Jack Drown calls Jim Roache a “professional politician.” Roache calls Drown a “career bureaucrat.”