Señor Matias Romero to William H. Seward, February 23, 1866

Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward

Mr. Secretary: Continuing the transmission to your department of documents coming into my bands that may give a just idea of events now occurring in Mexico, I have the honor to enclose the documents mentioned in the accompanying index, showing recent transactions on the eastern military line of the Mexican republic.

Nos. 1 and 2 show what the Mexican patriots are doing on the eastern line, comprising the States of Vera Cruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Chiapas, for the independence and institutions of the republic—efforts that would be attended with better success if they had arms and ammunition, very difficult to procure in their actual position.

No. 3 contains the most important part of the republican general Don Ignacio Alatorre’s official report on his defence of the town of Tlapacoyam, where his forces conducted themselves with the greatest courage.

Nos. 4 and 5 contain the correspondence between Lieutenant Colonel Zach, of the so-called imperial forces in the north, and General Alatorre, in regard to exchange of prisoners. That correspondence shows the necessity in which the invaders of Mexico are placed to acknowledge the absurdity of the usurper Maximilian’s decree of the 3d of October, where the republican forces are denied the rights of belligerents; for though that decree is used to shoot the defenders of independence at certain times, on other occasions the invaders or their adherents, prompted by interest, exchange prisoners formally, and thus confess that the national forces are not composed of highway robbers.

No. 6 gives the official report of General Lazaro Muñoz on his victory at Espinal, State of Vera Cruz.

No. 7 is the report of Colonel Luis P. Figueroa on his occupation of the city of Villa Alta, in the State of Oaxaca.

No. 8 contains the terms of capitulation at Papantla, (State of Vera Cruz,) where General Alatorre retired after his defence of Tlapacoyam, and which was given up to Lieutenant Colonel Zach and his Austrian soldiers. It will also be seen in this treaty that belligerent rights are necessarily granted to the republican forces. The cause of General Alatorre’s surrender is explained in General Garcia’s letter to President Juarez, marked No. 2

No. 9 is Don Mariano Ramos’s account of the cruel treatment to which he was subjected while he was prisoner at Tezuitlan, of which district he was political chief under the constitutional government. This account, the original of which is in my possession, exhibits the conduct of the enemies of the Mexican republic, even towards the most respectable citizens who have the misfortune to fall into their hands.

No. 10 is a very interesting account General Porfirio Diaz gives, in a private letter, of all his movements, after his escape from the Puebla prison, on the 20th of September last. This brief narrative is another proof of the courage and bravery of this patriot general; and it shows the determination of the people of the Mexican republic to resist the empire as long as they have arms and other means to carry on the war.

Nos. 11 and 12, containing the official reports of the French agent, Luciano Prieto, to the usurper, show that Colonel Figueroa attacked the city of Tehuantepec, in the State of Oaxaca, on the 7th of January last, with a force of two thousand men. This information, coming from a French source, cannot be doubted, and proves that the contest in Mexico, so far from being at an end, as the French would have us believe, is hardly begun, and that the Mexican people continue to struggle for their independence and their institutions through the whole territory of the republic.

I avail myself of the occasion to renew to you, Mr. Secretary, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration.