Watson Webb to William H. Seward, October 24, 1868

Mr. Webb to Mr. Seward.

Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith the continuance of my correspondence with Rear-Admiral Davis, numbered 3, 4, 5, and 6; No. 2 having already been forwarded with my-dispatch No. 74, via England.

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In my second letter to the admiral I give only an extract from my hasty private note, written at the consulate, and asking a boat to be sent me. To show that my only object in suppressing any part of that note was to save time and labor, I now place the entire note before you. It was as follows:

Consulate, 12½.

My Dear Admiral: I inclose for your perusal a letter from Washburn. I think we should talk this matter over, and see if anything can be done to relieve the two members of the United States legation, so outrageously seized by Lopez. It is one of those cases in which to do nothing is to do wrong: and it appears to me that the mere fact of sending up a force to look after our people would, at least, avert much reproach that will otherwise fall upon us.

As to sending Washburn from the La Plata in a United States gunboat, that is quite Unnecessary. Our government has brought him down from Asuncion, and that is demonstration sufficient. Now our duty is to look after the other members of the legation. No matter who appointed them our obligation is equally binding. But I will come to you at two, or a little sooner. I have an appointment at the foreign office at 1 o’clock, and write this that you may turn the matter over in your mind before I join you. If your boat is at the landing at a quarter of two, I shall doubtless be there.

Your friend,

WEBB.

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This accounts for my reception by the admiral, as detailed in my second note to him, marked 4, and dated October 9, when he declined doing anything; and especially to hurry his departure, fixed for the 10th, and get off on Thursday, the 8th. I told him he left me no alternative but to address to him an official note, recapitulating all I had said, and urging him to take up the Paraguay every vessel of his squadron of light draught of water, five in number. He said he hoped I would do nothing of the kind. I replied that it was my duty so to do, and make a requisition upon him for the employment of the squadron in the present emergency, and having done that, the responsibility of refusing to act would rest upon him. He answered, “I will write in reply, I do not choose to respond to your call. No, I will not say I do not choose to; I will reply, that on my arrival at the river I will investigate the matter.” I rejoined, “there is nothing to investigate. I have placed in your hands Mr. Washburn’s report to me; and that, and his letter to the British minister at Buenos Ayres, cover the whole ground.” In answer to this he said that Washburn’s letter was not worthy of credit, as his fears for his life had disqualified him as a witness; he was a frightened man, and his letter to me showed that he had not yet recovered from his fears. I insisted that I knew Washburn, and indorsed all he had written, and that he, the admiral, had no right to listen to, or put faith in, what others said. We then agreed that our official differences of opinion in regard to a question of duty need not and should not cause any change in our personal relations. * * * *

Judge then of my surprise at the receipt of his letter of the 8th. He is an exceedingly weak man, notwithstanding his accomplishments, and has those about him who have led him astray. One thing is certain; we cannot both be right, and one of us should be severely censured, if not recalled.

I will not attempt to describe the general feeling of indignation among Americans at the inaction of our squadron and the contemptuous terms in which intelligent men of all nationalities speak of us. To show that neither our government nor its minister are to blame in this, I inserted in a card defending Mr. Washburn, which I published yesterday, a paragraph to which I call your personal attention. You will find that card inclosed.

General McMahon arrived in the steamer Mississippi on the 21st and called on the 22d, after having been on board the flag-ship both on the 21st and 22d. Before showing me his instructions from you, he inquired if there would be any obstructions to his going up the Paraguay to Asuncion. I asked if he had any such purpose in view. He said that he had; that Admiral Davis intended to take him to the river next week, when he would change his flag to one of the smaller vessels (the Pawnee) and take him up to Asuncion, in order that he might present his credentials to Lopez and liberate Bliss and Masterman. * *

He said there were so many versions of what had occurred that he could not decide what to do until he reached the river. I replied, “That is an error; there is but one version of the facts of the case to which you or I or the admiral can refer, or which we can receive, and that version is contained in the official report of your predecessor, the duly accredited minister of the United States to Paraguay, and indorsed by me from my knowledge of the man and his official character.”

I then placed in his hands for perusal, my correspondence with Admiral Davis. What subsequently passed between us may be gathered from the following letter, which I addressed to him yesterday; but which was not sent until to-day.

I should have stated sooner that when the Brazilian Times announced, on the 8th, that the United States squadron was under orders for the river, Admiral Davis, who had that day written me the exceedingly offensive note which called forth my second letter, addressed the editor of that paper as follows:

Flag-ship Guerriere, October 9, 1868.

My Dear Sir: I am very much obliged to you for the two papers which you very kindly sent me, and I shall have the pleasure of saying this in person on my return from Petropolis.

I see in these papers that you take an interest in the movements of my squadron, but that the source of your information is incorrect. Not only is the squadron not under orders for the La Plata, but no single vessel of the squadron is under sailing orders at this moment for any place.

Very truly yours,

C. H. DAVIS, Rear-Admiral.

William Sculley, Editor and Proprietor of the Anglo-Brazilian Times.

I learn that the English have two gunboats up the Paraguay, and they are hourly expecting a third to arrive, which will be immediately sent up to join the Linnet and Beacon. France, Italy, and Portugal have one each. Lopez refused to give up his English prisoners to the English secretary of legation, Mr. Gould, who was on board the Linnet, and that gentleman immediately left to report to his minister at Buenos Ayres. Lopez then sent word to the French gunboat Decidee, that he was willing to release the Englishmen.

Mr. Washburn writes me under date of the 14th October, confirming the previous report that Lopez had shot both Ms brothers and his sister, the widow of General Barrios, who committed suicide some months ago to escape torture. And Mr. Matthew, the English envoy at this court, writes me as follows. Although his note is marked “private,” I have his permission to send it to you:

Private.]

October 15, 1868.

My Dear General: Will you allow me to ask what steps you are taking in consequence of the treatment of your legation in Paraguay? If the last letter published as from Mr. Bliss was genuine, its tone, I am sorry to say, confirms the belief that it was written under torture.

Rumors of all kinds are, of course, rife, and I frankly confess that I expected ere this to have heard of some decided course of action, and I should he very sorry to see the prestige of the United States in this land affected by any unsuitable delay or hesitation in a case that seems worse than ours in Abyssinia.

Indeed, I almost question whether all nations should not unite in bringing this monster to his senses. The latest accounts I see assert that Lopez had ordered his sister and his brothers to execution.

With best regards to Mrs. Webb, believe me, my dear general, most traly yours.

G. BUCKLEY MATTHEW.

His Excellency General Webb, &c., &c., &c.

My only reply was a statement of the fact that Rear-Admiral Davis ignored my right to have any opinion on the subject, while his admiral, Ramsay, promptly responded to his calls, and sent every vessel he had up the Paraguay, and will send up the gunboat to arrive.

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Very respectfully, your obedient servant,