Mexican War veteran. Asa M. Bowen of Co. K Dragoons (light cavalry) was a young man of 24 when he mounted his stead in the early morning hours of December 6, 1846. He was about to participate in the Battle of San Pasqual which has since by characterized by historians as "the bloodiest, most hotly contested encounter fought during the conquest of California." Asa and the other soldiers were about 40 miles outside of San Diego and under the command of General Stephen Kearney, although that day they were being led into battle for Captain Abraham Johnston. Captain Johnston led a furious charge into a brief skirmish with the Californios which quickly resulted in Captain Johnston's death. The dragoons gave chase to the Californios soon finding themselves in disarray. "From behind a rock point, slightly hidden from view, the Californios turned upon their pursuers who realized too late, the folly of their charge." Asa later recounted that "a million Californios" seemed to descend upon the unfortunate dragoons. Within 30 minutes, 18 American lay dead, and about the same number were wounded. The following day, the remaining dragoons were trapped on nearby Mule Hill without food, water, or wood for fire during the cold December nights. It was the arrival of the sailors and Marines from San Diego on December 11 that allowed the soldiers to escape the Californios who eventually surrendered. The following month, on January 9, 1847, the final battle of the Mexican War (in California) took place. January 9, 1847, the Americans fought and won the Battle of La Mesa. On January 12, the last significant body of Californios surrendered to U.S. forces, and marked the end of armed resistance in California; the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed the next day, on January 13, 1847. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago signed February 2, 1848 formally ended the Mexican War (1846-1848).

Asa M. Bowen was born in Ohio. In the Sausalito News on January 26, 1888, the was a notation that Asa Bowen was granted a government pension for his military service. He is buried at the Veteran's Cemetery in Yountville, California.

(Several quotes about the Battle of San Pasqual from "Viva Los Californios: The Battle of San Pasqual" by Sally Cavell Johns, article in the San Diego Historical Quarterly, Fall 1973)