Señor Matias Romero to William H. Seward, February 10, 1866

Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward

Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to transmit to you, for the information of the government of the United States, a copy of the “official paper of the constitutional government of the Mexican republic,” vol. ii, No. 3, published in the city of El Paso del Norte, on the 11th of January last, in which the official despatches of General Escobedo, commanding officer of the northern army corps, to the minister of war and marine, of the 14th and 25th of November, 1865, were inserted, communicating what happened during the siege of Matamoras, at the end of October last, and the occupation and abandonment of Monterey by the forces under his command, on the 22d, 23d and 24th of November last.

I also enclose fragments of two letters I have received from reliable persons residing in Tampico and Vera Cruz, dated the 14th and 20th of January last. They both contain important particulars of the state of affairs in Mexico.

I profit by this opportunity to renew to you, Mr. Secretary, the assurance of my most distinguished consideration.

[Translation.]

In the New Era of the 30th December last, No. 2, a paper published by the enemy in Chihuahua, we find the following report, taken from a San Luis paper. We insert it to show that even the enemy confesses the facts about Monterey; but he adds that General Escobedo was subsequently routed, which is entirely false, as his communications show:

EXPEDITIONARY COUPS OF MEXICO—COMMANDANCY OF THE NORTHEAST—THE GENERAL COMMANDING.

San Luis Potosi, November 29, 1860.

Mr. Prefect: I have just received from Monterey the notice that the dissidents attacked that city on the 22d instant, with a force of one thousand men. On the 24th they got possession of the greater part of the city, while the imperial troops remained in the citadel. Aid having arrived from Saltillo on the morning of the 25th, and General Jeanningros having returned hastily from Monclova, the enemy retreated precipitately, but was overtaken at Lerna river and completely routed, with great loss. We had but one man killed and ten wounded on our side, two of which are officers.

Receive, Mr. Prefect, the assurances of my distinguished consideration. General commanding the northeast,

[Translation.]

Since my last, the city of Victoria, the capital of this State, has been reoccupied by the liberal forces under General Mendez, who, as we are told by the French, has augmented his force with two or three hundred negroes from Texas, which is, however, quite doubtful.

Stirring events are now of frequent occurrence in this State, and the liberals are moving with much energy. The forces under Mendez have recently captured two hundred and fifty freight mules near Tancasnequi, with a large quantity of merchandise. This is another severe check upon the commerce between this port and San Luis Potosi, and fully exposes the impotency of the so-called imperial power to control this country or to secure any real or stable hold upon it. But the end of this imperial farce is fast approaching, and little Maximilian will return to his great and good friend with his brutal decree of the 3d of October last as a testimonial of his disgrace, and to follow him with the memory of the assassinations that have taken place under it of thousands of defenceless Mexicans, whose only crime was that they loved their native land.

Dupin has returned to Vera Cruz, with the brevet of brigadier general, and has taken command of the contra-guerillas in that State. It is impossible to know what will be the result of his operations; but if the liberals are now as determined near Vera Cruz and Tabasco as they have been elsewhere, he may, from their numbers, meet with that retributive justice at their hands which his infamous crimes and assassinations, and the ravages he has committed in this State, demand. Yesterday one hundred and fifty French troops arrived here from Vera Cruz. They are to be sent to Tancasnequi. The attempt to open communication with security to the interior is, however, a failure.

[Translation.]

Among the merchants of this place, as elsewhere, there are persons of different political opinions; but, with the exception of the French houses, all are open in their expressions against Maximilian and his miserably managed government. The multitude of vessels-of-war and commerce which enter and arrive at this port, and the cars which pass through the city, and which are constantly arriving and departing, make so much stir that you might think Vera Cruz a place of real commercial importance. But all this is delusive. Nearly all the effects that arrive are for the French army, and are a drain upon the country instead of yielding it benefit. These effects pay no duty, and the French merchants connected with the army, under the guise of this privilege, are doing the most scandalous contraband trade that has ever been seen in this or any other country. For the discharge of vessels that do not carry the French flag there are a thousand difficulties placed in the way. The wharf is very limited in its capacity, and is not over three hundred feet in length by thirty in width. Of this nearly all is monopolized by the French for the discharge of their effects. The ordinary commerce has scarcely any space at all.

When there are many vessels discharging, this ridiculous mole or wharf is quite insufficient for ordinary purposes; so you can imagine what are the inconveniences to the regular trade at the present time. The same can be said with regard to the transportation hence to the interior. Everything is monopolized by the military and the French, and the charge by the railroad for the twenty leagues hence to Paso del Macho is so great that the merchants have petitioned for the wagons to be allowed to come down to Vera Cruz, as formerly; but this has been peremptorily refused by the military authorities.

With regard to Maximilian and his court, we have constantly the most ridiculous accounts. All seems the veriest farce. Carlotta asked of General Bazaine the little sum of $500,000 for her journey to Yucatan, which she procured; but the modest request of Maximilian for a single million of dollars to expend on the repairs of some castle he has recently purchased in Europe was refused. How thin the veil that covers all these proceedings. Do they think the people do not know where the money comes from that is distributed with so lavish a hand on these journeys, all under the guise of the personal charity of these Austrians, who are fattening on the toil and blood of poor Mexico? In the palace at the city of Mexico there are now no longer any public offices. You know the immense size of that edifice, yet all is wanted for the court and its hangers-on. Consequently the various ministries, with their subordinate offices, have all had to be removed to other buildings, which have been purchased or hired for that purpose, many of them at scandalous rates, of French subjects, who purchased them at the sale of the church property. Such is the economy of this “highly civilized” government that was to do so much for “barbarous” Mexico. The annual estimate of expenditures passed by the last congress, in 1862 or 1863, was, for the entire expense of the national government, a little over eight million dollars. The expenses of this Austrian-French government are over fifty million dollars per annum. The salary of Maximilian is one million dollars; that of Benito Juarez thirty thousand dollars. And yet it is urged that Mexico is to be benefited by all this. Is there more security now than before? Is there more legitimate commerce, more prosperity, more tranquillity, after this four years of war and bloodshed?

I have been reliably informed that latterly more than eight thousand packages of ordnance stores have been transported from this place to the city of Mexico. The French have worked at this with such activity that there are now six great depots of such supplies in the city of Mexico, without counting those at Puebla and the immense supplies of such material which already existed at Mexico and in the interior. For what are these preparations? The United States government should be well informed of all that goes on here, and there cannot be too close a watch kept upon all preparations of this nature.

The guerillas are again upon the railroad, and yesterday the train coming in from Paso del Mancho was attacked by them with loss of several lives. The road is principally guarded by the Egyptian negroes. Among so many classes of foreign soldiers as are here great confusion and clashing exist. The Austrians and the Belgians may be said to amount to nothing; the only force that is at all to be dreaded is the French; their troops are always kept well in hand and are efficient.