The Stockton Blues was a California state militia unit organized in 1857 and disbanded in 1861 due to secessionist dissension. Union men then reformed under the Stockton Union Guard, 1861–1866.[1]
George Henry Tinkham, California men and events: time 1769-1890, 2nd revised ed., Record Publishing Company, 1915, pg. 192, note h. "When the war broke out there was a general commotion among the state militia. Many of the members of the various companies were friendly to the South, while others stood firmly for the Union. The Marysville Rifles took the oath of allegiance to the government. They expelled their captain, who refused to take the oath. The National Guard, San Francisco, offered their services to General Sumner for three months' time to guard the forts. The Stockton Blues disbanded. Immediately the Union members organized a new company, the Union Guard. The ranks were soon filled, and they tendered their services to the government, to serve where called."
