Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-02-06
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THE SITUATION IN MEXICO.
the Haysna Cores onaanee Of the \. Y. Herald
Nothing IS more unrelisble than Mexican
Ii from a French source, al is c%Oulsur
ne rose; if from the Jpagisfas, or p~artisens OF
President Juarez, no army Of crusaders, " belt
ed knights an g. tb8k,' ever did such marvellous
ieass o. performed such heroic deeds IS 8 the
Of the republic and the Constitution are
doing or going 70 do when the invaders over
take them, and if our news comes from the
friends Of Almonts everything g5es swimmingly
for them, and their lesder is to be the saeior Of
the nation. Most Of orr news comes, I think,
FROM French sources; for we near of almost
nothing bus "upheavings' Of the people IN
favCr Of a new order Of things and the over
throw Of President JusIez, whose cause, We are
told, is daily and hourly dwindHng to the most
insignificant proportions. Yet there is one fact
well worthy Of notes strikingly homogeneous
with such report, and strongly contradictory Of
much that We hear 50 mach that my conf
denoe in French ve5selly has been much shaken.
That fact is, that President 3uaraz has assem-
bled the Congress ST tho eountry's representa-
tives, il which every Slate has q Voice; and
that same Congress has given its unanimous
support to Jnarez, as may be seen from the
address to the Mexican people, issued shortly
after assemblng-a translated copy Of which 1
sent you IN g former letter. II this fact be not
a testimony to The popularity and ability Of
Juarez, then l ara at a loss to know what to
think Of il.
This Congress hss voted to prosecute the war
against the French with vigor, and furnish all
the means they can commend. This, then, is
necessarily the vote of all Mexico through her
official organ, the Legislature, and Is either the
expression Of the real sentiments of her people,
or Congress ceases to be q representative body.
IF the French Invasion be based on the p~Tetense
or supposition that the MeIicans desire a change
Of governmental system, Napoleon ought to re-
ire 10 presence of fact which coutTadicts such
an assertion in the most solemn manner posi-
bic. That this is the excuse, and the sole ex-
case, is evident from the history of the past
twelve months, or, moro properly, since the
breach Of he Soledad agreement, so well told
by Gen. PIN in his long and, in some respects,
very able speech ii in the Spanish CoTtes.
The General shows plainly that the French
/ Emperor has been duped by Almonie, whom he
thoroughly exposes and convicts Of falsehood.
Is duped the proper eEpressien4 I use It with
q charitable intention, for [ inclined to believe 8
rUmor wAieh jus. now prevails in Fsgis-t6at
the French intend retiring from Mexico. Be
/ that as it may, let us see what the late news
from that unfortunate country amounts to.
The Vera Cruzaa0 Of December 10TH, says
that Gen. Dobla5o marched from Guanajuato to
unite his forces with those Of Losads and others
occupying GHdslaiara that he was attacked
and routed on the way, snd committed suicide
to ayoid falling prisoner. This news comes by
way Of Jalapa
From he ssnle source We learn that there Is
q serious misunderstanding between Generals
Or;egs and Comonfort, ard tha6 desertions from
the Mexican garrison of Pusbla sra very nu-
meroUs, on account of the great scarcity Of
money and provisions III thai place Also, tast
4 conspiracy had been diseogered in the brig
sde Of Gen OHorau, and that Eve officers had
been shot.
President Juarez had been to Pnebla aud dis
tributed medals among those who repulssd the
French on the 9th Of Nay, last year.
a French officer, NJ Tnorouse, has bought
Eve bundled moro mules in Santiago de Cuba,
which are now on the way to Vera Cruz, on
board the steamer AHisr.
The English steamer O5sian brought us
dates the other day 70 ths 81 inst. This vessel
hsd been frejehted by the French government
to take artillery to Vera Cruz, in order to arm 9
couple Of war vessels which had been converted
into transports. The news she brings is con
tained in s letter to sha Diario dc Ia Marina
from which I extract the following:
The French forces are Distributed a. follows:
In San AuQustin del Pelmar. san Andres Chal-
cbicomuia and Orzsba, rom eleven TO eiget
Thousand mea; IN P-r0te and los Yigas, . like
number. Mssquez has bis camp at Ibis latter
poiut, With something less than one tb0ussrd
men. In Tsmpieo not quite four thousand.
The forces which were in Ilac9tslpsn aud Alva-
Tado have evacuated those places. The remain
der Of t1e tweEtv-eight thousand that compose
the French expedti1naTy army is inside up By
the garrison Of Vera Cruz and various small de-
tachnaenis in the neighborhood. Reinforcssients
are expected by the end Of this month, which
can be forwarded Immediately to tho interior By
the new railroad to Orzaba, which Is is said
viii be ready for use by that time. Those REIN
foreements are to consist Of two divisions of the
imperial guard. Of az least fifteen thousand eff
fsciive men.
If The Above figures and localities be correctly
given, we may have some idea of the aetual po-
siion Of the French army As an offses, we
have similar data ia regard to the Mexican
army, now concentrating at Pu6bla
In P0ebls 25,000 regular troops and 10000
volunteers. BstWeen there and the capital are
two divisions, intended to serve as reinforce
ments or protect Q retreat. This force is esti-
mated at from TO 600 to 1900 In the capital
there are 1900 more, among whom, however,
must be included the home guard. In Qaere
taro there is a division Of eight thousand men,
sn1 The contingent from the State of Guerrero,
under Alvarez, amounts to twelve or fourteen
thousand These figures give us a total of about
eighty thousand men-a sufficiently powerful
ioIcts UAe MlSat suppose 10 OElFe me fTeucl
out Of the country but it must be Remembered
that the Mexican troops are badly fed and worse
armed
This fortifcatons Of Pueblo now consist of
ten forts, mounting 200 guns. Those of the
capital are armed with about the same number.
Nearly the entire Of the French artillery is
between Jalaps and Los Vigas.
Smallpox Of 3 malignant type has made its
appearance at Vera Cruz, much to the conster-
nation of the authorities, who contemplate
building q ~lazsrstto to protect the city as much
as possible from the contagion spreading.
a letter from OFizaba, dated December 81,
says there is 8 report that Juarez is to retire
from tie Presidency, to be succeeded by either
Ortaga or Comonfort; but there is no reliance
to be placed on such a Jumor, coming from
such a place. The same letter announces the
arrival st Orizabs of q messenger from MaiiR,
who says he took $500,000 and twenty thou
sand muskess from Gen. D5blsdo. The writer
says the sum of money nsy be exaggerated,
but that it viii certainly reach 100000 An
other letter gives the names Of certain Mexican
leaders who have joined the French. One
named TrujeqHe, presented himself with two
hundred cavalry The ether had also some
forces.
We expect news from Mexico every day.