General

The Battle of San Diego Bay: The Day American Sailors Fired on a Spanish Fort

By Hedda ParashosOctober 4, 2026

On March 22, 1803, American sailors aboard the brig Lelia Byrd exchanged cannon fire with Spanish soldiers at Fort Guijarros on Point Loma. It was the only naval battle ever fought in San Diego Bay, and most locals have never heard of it.

On the morning of March 22, 1803, cannons fired across San Diego Bay. Spanish soldiers at Fort Guijarros answered with their own guns. An American trading ship called the Lelia Byrd was trying to run the harbor, and neither side was willing to back down.

This is the only naval battle ever fought in San Diego Bay, and if you live here, there's a good chance you've never heard of it.

What Led to the Battle of San Diego Bay

The Lelia Byrd was a two-masted American brig operating out of Boston, captained by William Shaler and part-owned by Richard Cleveland. In the early 1800s, American ships routinely worked the Pacific coast trading in sea otter pelts, which were worth a fortune in Chinese markets. Spain controlled Alta California and jealously guarded its ports. Foreign ships trading without a Spanish license were breaking the law, and the Spanish authorities knew it.

When the Lelia Byrd arrived in San Diego Bay in early 1803, Spanish officials at the presidio discovered she was carrying contraband sea otter pelts. They detained several members of the crew and held the pelts as leverage. Shaler and Cleveland refused to simply hand over their cargo and walk away from the profit. After tense negotiations went nowhere, they made a decision that took nerve: they would sail out of the harbor by force.

As the Lelia Byrd made her move toward open water, the Spanish soldiers at Fort Guijarros opened fire. The fort sat at Ballast Point, the rocky tip of Point Loma where the bay narrows before meeting the Pacific. The Lelia Byrd returned fire. For a short, sharp stretch of time, cannon shot crossed San Diego Bay in both directions.

How the Battle Ended

Neither side did significant damage to the other. The Lelia Byrd took some hits but stayed afloat and kept moving. Fort Guijarros, which historians have noted was not particularly well armed or well supplied at the time, could not stop the ship. The Lelia Byrd broke through and escaped into the Pacific.

Shaler and Cleveland later published accounts of the incident. Shaler's narrative appeared in the American Register in 1808 and is one of the earliest detailed written descriptions of San Diego Bay and the surrounding area. His account described the presidio, the fort, and the California coast in terms that American readers had almost no other way to access at the time. In that sense, a smuggling run that ended in gunfire also produced one of the first substantial American documents about this region.

You can read Shaler's original account through the Library of Congress, which holds early American periodicals and historical records from this period.

What Remains Today

Fort Guijarros, whose name translates to "fort of cobblestones" in Spanish, no longer stands. The site at Ballast Point on Point Loma is now part of Naval Base Point Loma and sits within what was once Cabrillo National Monument territory. The National Park Service has documented the fort's history, and archaeological work in the late twentieth century uncovered portions of the original structure.

Ballast Point itself carries a long history. It got its name from the practice of sailing ships dropping ballast stones there before loading cargo. Today, most people know the name from the craft brewery that operated on the point before relocating. The Spanish-era story underneath all of that is far older.

For anyone interested in San Diego's early history, Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma is the closest you can get to standing where this battle of San Diego Bay took place. The views from that headland, out over the bay entrance, make it easy to picture a small brig making a desperate run for open water while soldiers scrambled at the cannon.

Why This Story Still Matters

San Diego has a long habit of underselling its own history. People move here for the weather, the coast, the quality of life, and never learn that the harbor outside their window was once a contested stretch of water where two powers exchanged fire over sea otter pelts.

The battle of San Diego Bay was small by military standards. No one died. The fort held no strategic importance in a global sense. But it captures something real about this region in the early 1800s: California was a borderland, and the rules of ownership were being tested from every direction, by American traders, by Spanish authorities, and eventually by the forces that would reshape the entire continent.

Knowing that history doesn't change the view from Point Loma. It deepens it.

If you're curious about other layers of San Diego's story, browse the Palisade Realty blog for more local history and community coverage from across the region.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where exactly did the battle of San Diego Bay take place?

The exchange of cannon fire happened at the entrance to San Diego Bay near Ballast Point, the narrow tip of Point Loma. Fort Guijarros stood at that location to control access to the harbor. The site is now part of Naval Base Point Loma.

Was anyone killed in the 1803 battle of San Diego Bay?

Historical accounts indicate no fatalities on either side. The Lelia Byrd sustained some damage but escaped through the harbor entrance. The Spanish garrison at Fort Guijarros lacked the firepower to stop the ship from breaking through.

Can you visit the site of Fort Guijarros today?

The fort no longer stands, but the general area at Ballast Point is accessible through Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma, which is maintained by the National Park Service. The monument preserves history from multiple periods, including the Spanish colonial era, and offers views across the exact stretch of water where the battle took place.

Source: sarsandiego.org