The Express.
London, England, 1847-07-02 00:00:00

THE RIVER PLATE.

The following rem;&l3leaoeuicen, communicated
as it appears to the resident ministers of England and France
in Monte Video, fell somehow into the ion of General
Oribe, and was forthwith by him e public, although it
does not appear to be yet known here. It is a letter from
General Munoz, the minister of war in Monte Video, to the
acting president of the republic, and exhibits in forcible lan-
guage the deplorable tad disastrous state of affairs there
"To 11. E. the President,—l feel it my duty, summarily,
to expose to you our real situation, in order that your
excellency after its examination in council may, by efficacious
I measures, remedy a state of things so alarming and perilous.
" Tne disasters of the Uruguay and Rio Negro have caused
us the loss of several important points on these riven,
and the army which operated under the orders of Brigadier-
Gyneral Fructuom Rivera has been destroyed without any
other successful feat than that of Paysandu, the taking of
which cost the irreparable loss of more than a third of our
troops. The remains of this army are at Martin Garcia, in
the most complete destitution, and surrounded with more
than 2,500 persons of both sexes andell ages, which naturally
adds to the lamentable consequences of this disaster. All
that are assembled in the isle Martin Garcia, and all that are
dispersed in the isles of the Uruguay, present the most
afflicting aspect of misery and desolation. Your exc.:Betsey
has seen by the official communications of the commandant
of Colonia, that that place was almost completely dis-
mantled, and in want of arms and munitions of all kinds.
The government, not being able to spare one only
of the troops so few in number which defend the
capital, ordered General Rivera to place 200 of the
men he had saved from his disaster at the disposal of Com-
mandant Reboil°. Gen. Rivera has not obeyed this order,
which reached him in the isle Vizcaino, so that Colonia,
without regular garrison, has for its defence only the vessels
left before the place by the chiefs of the Anglo French
squadron. The pnition of Maldonado, notwithstanding the
sacrifice we have made in sending a reinforcement of 80 men,
causes me continual inquietude. The capital, whose preserva-
tion is the basis of our resistance to the pretensions of Roses
and Oribe, and in which the governments of France and Eng-
land are compromised, now offers, Senor President, an aspect
positively alarming. The duration of a service so long and so
monotonous has produced general discouragement. In the
native corps discipline is relaxed to such a point that the
cymmanders are obliged to be excessively. tolerant in order
to obtain any attention to duty. The spirit of party,
imprudently excited, has frequently had recourse to means
which have unchained all the bad passions of the lowest
class of the army. Hence the great spring of discipline is
broken, and we have been powerless to re-establish it. The
destitution, the loss of a large number of officers whom it is
impossible to replace, and many other causes, have converted
this deplorable situation into a normal state, and the main-
tenance of the army in the right line is as precarious as the
life of a sick mart struck with an aneurism at the heart. The
personnel of the corps which defends the exterior part of the
entrenchments does not exceed 700 men, whose indiscipline
is such that it is with difficulty if, for the night service, 500
can be got together. The works begun for the defence of
the place ought to be promptly finished, bat for that con-
siderable sums of money due to the workmen are
necessary. Our park (of artillery) is without ammuni-
tion of any sort. Without the balls which we have
borrowed from the brig Cagancha, the batteries of Mal-
donado and Colonies would be completely unserviceable. Those
of the capital have not wherewith to make more than 25
discharges. We have only 308 arrobas of powder left for
the daily use of the arsenal. The pieces placed on our forti-
fications are mounted on frames incapable of withstanding
two or three discharges. We are therefore in urgent went
of powder, lead, and cannon hall. As to muskets, we have
only the 500 received this month. 70 have been sent to
Maldonado; with the rest we have to arm the 200 men now
enrolling, and the 200 Piscainos. who entered yesterday.
Consequently there are no means of providing for the arming
of Colonia. The army, Senor President, is quite naked.
The last clothing we have given it is now no better than
miserable raga. This is but a very imperfect sketch of the
material and moral state of the forces at the disposal
of the government. I must now call your attention to
some facts which in other circumstances would be of little
gravity, but now may compromise the defence of the capital,
confided not only to the government, but at the same time to
the powers which lead us their support. Under the pretest
that injustice has been done to General Riverai in depriving
him of the title of general iu-chfef of the army of operations,
the spirit of party is busy in sowing distrust, and it is possible
that from one moment to another one of those confliets may
arrive from which we have already had so much to suffer.
We have hitherto triumphed over them ; but, at the point
where matters now are, it is not clear that we should be so
fortunate. Your excellency knows that soon after the dis-
asters of the Uruguay and Rio Negro, and in the first days
of my entrance into office, the ministers of France and Eng-
land signified to its that if we allowed Rivera to retain the
title of general-in-chief they would suspend their relit.
Cons with the government, and withdraw from the republic
the support of their forces. We replied to their excellencies
that the army having been destroyed, (fennel Rivera could
not preserve an illusory and ridiculous command; hut that
notwithstanding the government hoped to be able to make
his services useful for the good of the country. Neverth,
leas the spirit of party has not hesitated on this pretext to
spread alarming reports. More still, Senor President, I
know that, even in the assembly of notables, they labour to
raise difficulties in the way of the government, and deprive
it of the legal resources far continuing the defence of the
country. Such is our situation; we are in want of every-
thing, because we have nothing. My efforts are powerless toto
contend with such difficulties. My responsibility will be
covered if your excellency will tie pleased to communicate
my report to the ministers of France and England, inter-
ested in the preservation of the government menaced, in my
opinion, with a certain fall, if such a state of things should
be prolonged /or any time.—FKANCISCO J. hitrana.—Monte
Video, Feb. 22, IRV.
•