Twelve Volunteers succumbed to illness while awaiting the arrival of the overland arm of the expedition under Captain Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada, who arrived a month later. Still short of provisions, however, the lot of the soldiers improved very little. Despite these privations, the Volunteers participated in the Portola expedition that established San Diego and Monterey, and remained as the first garrison of the Presidio of Monterey, under Fages' command. Volunteers accompanied Fages on expeditions to explore the San Francisco Bay region in 1770 and 1772.