Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1865-07-01
Bile ON THE RIO GRANDE.

French Officers Fired ON by U. 8. Senti.
nel-The French Commander on the Ram.
page-He Expresses his Utter Contempt
"t0'' General Brown-He Calls him
!" Mr." and Reads him a Lecture
By the New Orleans steamer arrived to-day,
we nave some interesting news from the Rio
GIande; Inere is an immense deal of fighting
material gathering on both sides of the river
French and American-and il will REQUIRE the
utmost discretion on the part o. the command
ers on both sides, to keep the peace. Here is
case in point. -.
On Sunday evening, the 1Ith instant, at half
past five O'Clock. two officers of the Foreign
Legion, coming from Santa Cruz. .dismounted
from their horses, and at the moment of re-
mounting they were fired on from the Texan
bank by a man placed there as sentinel On
being informed of this affair, the commander of
the French troops addressed the following letter
TO General Brown, commanding the troops at
Brownsville:
MATAMoRAs, June IL, 1865
General: One Of your soldiers, stationed above
Brownsyille, fired on two of my officers when
coming from Santa Cruz.
You have no diplomatic character, no letter
of fcredentials-nor l.
] therefore write to you simply as q private
individual, in order to express my utter con-
tempt for the wanton offence committed by one
OF the men for whom you are responsible.
BARON DE BRIAN.
Military Commander Of the detachment of the
Legion.
planned of may be inferred from the following
in the Matamoras Commerce
In order to let the readers of the Commerce
know what would be the punishment of a
French soldier, if one of them should be con-
victed of having wantonly fired at any foreign
soldier, we translate the following article of
war. inserted in four languages in the lirret of
each soldier:
"Attack without order or provocation against
the troops of an allied or neutral power
Death"
This little book the lirret, is a precious refer.
ence in which every soldier tempted into the
preparation of any crime, may find imme-
diately what will be his reward.
Are the Yankee soldiers furnished with q
irret
The same paper Of the 18th of June contains
another letter from the indignant and bel
ligerent Baron, in the course of which he says
he has received no answer yet from General
Brown.
[Extract from the Baron's Second Letterl
'The epaulettes of a General are sacred I'm
his sight They represent a career full of dignity
and honored by arduous service. They are
the erownng reward of forty years Of self-de-
'.All the European Generals, and many in
the New World, have these glorious claims;
thus the commandant has felt happy and hon
ored by being placed ut the service OF his Ex-
"If these officers who reckon on many years
OF service, and can point to such brilliant
letter in more or less violent terms, they would
treat II as so much waste paper The COW.
ardice or rascality of him who would have
had the impudence to write it, would deserve
nothing more
"But, if q man, taken out of some shop, one
knows not which. is improviseda general from
one day to another, and without even the most
trfling military exploit in his history, pretends
to claim superiority over persons who have
seen twenty years of service and campaigns;
why then, in truth, but little notice should be
taken of him. unless one might cause himself
to be aroused once or twice at night to have a
hearty laugh over him.
s'In fact, to feel vexed at him would be dis
graceful to so many officers, who, the world
over, respect the military hierarchy, and who
form kind Of brotherhood among themselves.
"The levelling method of proceeding must be
used, a method which those persons abuse,
when they endeavor to place themselves on a
footing with those who have grown gray under
the harness, after nobly deyoting their whole
life.
This is the reason why the Commandant,
who reverences military services and will
never permit them to be prostituted, has writ
| ten somewhat cavalierly to Mr.. Brown, as an
| individual.''
This is nothing, if not Frenchy. We are Gu
| rous to hear what notice of it was taken by
..Mr." Brown.-Exp.)-N'Y 7. Express.