...y (the citizens said 15,000, which I knew, of course, was exaggerated) had passed through that point the afternoon previous, going towards Monterey, one of the passes designated in my instructions to Brigadier-General Robertson . I halted for a short time to procure some rations; and examining my map, I saw that this force could either attempt to force one of those gaps, or foiled in that (as I supposed they would be), it ...