U. Consul to Wright, April 18, 1862

General WRIGHT,

Commanding Army of the Pacific, San Francisco :

SIR: I received on the 20th ultimo from Chihuahua, from a reliable private correspondent, a letter of date 21st of February, and to-day from same, and same place, one of date 22d of March, and as they contain important information in regard to the movements of the rebel army in Arizona and thereabouts, I submit by this, the first opportunity, the following extracts. My correspondent of February 21 says:

General Sibley with about 3,100 Texans is at Fort Thorn, busy preparing to go up and attack Fort Craig, and will leave as soon as he is joined by 600 men now near El Paso. Fort Craig, 1 am informed, is defended by about 4,000 men, and 3 000 more are within hailing distance, and that they are very anxious to have the Texans come, as they feel confident they can defeat them. ‘The New Mexicans, it is said are united and will act as one man, although there are plenty of rumors to the contrary, but it is believed that these reports are put into circulation for the purpose of enticing the Texans into a trap and then destroying their army. Your friend Mills after his arrest as a spy, imprisonment for six weeks, part of the time in irons was released, remained in E1 Paso several weeks, then got a horse and went to Fort Craig by way of Salt Lake, and I hear is now on Colonel Roberts staff with the rank of captain. I have an idea that the Texans will be routed, and that on their way down they will commit all kinds of depredations and that they will respect neither persons nor property, and that they will clean out the valley of the Rio Grane The Texans are badly armed and short of provisions. Flour and beef is all they have; coffee and bacon they have none. As I look at the matter they cannot afford to remain inactive, and a move up into New Mexico before May will prove fatal to them. They have acted about El Paso in such a manner as to enrage the whole community against them, All Mexicans are down on them, and they will find very little sympathy when they return. The officers have no control over them, and they do just as they please, and you know what men off a long trip please to do; females neither in nor out of their houses are safe. Blankets, onions, wine, and everything they can lay their hands on they carry off. Judge Hart has the ear of General Sibley, who is influenced more or less by him, and he (Hart) is a Northern man born, owning property in New York and Washington, headquarters in New Jersey. I can’t see how it can be.

The letter of March 22 says:

Everything about El Paso at last date, February 23, was quiet. General Sibley with 2,200 men had gone from Fort Thorn to Fort Craig, encamped within two miles of the fort for two or three days, and invited the Federals to battle, but they refused to leave their intrenchments. He then retired to Fort Thorn again, but was again on the point of leaving for New Mexico, leaving Craig to the left and behind him, go to Albuquerque, capture all the supplies supposed to be there, and return to the Mesilla Valley. It is now ascertained beyond a doubt that there are over 7,000 men in Fort Craig, and in other parts of New Mexico about 1,500 more Federals; that the people are all united and will resist to the last. My opinion is that General Sibley cannot take it. It is also said that Sibley is drunk more than half the time, and that Colonel Green has taken the command. Colonel Baylor with 150 men went to Corralitas, surrounded Zuloaga’s house and searched for Indians. Those who were there then escaped toward the mountains, but were captured and shot. It created considerable excitement here.

Mr. Alden, formerly U. S. consul at Guaymas, goes to San Francisco by this steamer. He has copies of correspondence from General Sibley addressed to the Governor of the State of Sonora, and will submit it to you. The purport of it is that they propose the occupation and annexation of that State, and Sibley asks, as you will observe, the privilege of establishing a depot at Guaymas, and that should it be granted it shall not be abused. The grand aim and object of the leading men of Western Texas, Hart, of El Paso, Crosby, and others, is to annex to Texas Chihuahua and Sonora, and I am of the opinion that they will on the receipt of the news of defeat in the South cause a diversion from New Mexico toward Sonora, providing they can get transportation, grain, «e., enough to reach the Gila. The Texans are becoming daily more hateful to the Mexicans, and the Sonoranians fully appreciate the outrages constantly being committed on the soil of Mexico all along the Rio Grande. The atrocities of Baylor’s men, mentioned above, occurred some 150 miles south of the lower border of Arizona, and an outrage committed upon the property and people of a man so influential and popular as José Maria Zuloaga will not be overlooked, but these circumstances will serve to revive the hatred of the Chihuahuanians to the Texans, and no doubt result in open hostilities on the part of Sonora and Chihuahua on one hand and Texas on the other. I trust that these items of news may be serviceable to the cause of Government, and assure you that in any way I can co-operate with you for that purpose you may command ine.

respectfully,