The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-07-03
MEXICO.

|
THE ALLEGED FIRING UPON FRENCH
OFFICERS AT MATAMoRAs BY AMERI-
CAN TROOPS" DIPLOMATIC" CORES
| PONDENCE. ,sfsa
| From the Matamoras Commerce, June13l
On Sunday evening, the 18th instant,
! at halfApast 5 o'clock, two officers Of the
Foreign Legion, coming from Santa
Cruz, dismounted from their horses, and
at the moment of remounting thew were
fired on from the Texas bank by man
placed there as sentinel. On being in
| formed OF this affair, the commander of
the French troops addressed the follow
ing letter to General Brown, command
ing the troops at Brownsville:
"r. MArAMoRAs, June IL.
GENERAL:-One of your soldiers, sta
toned above Brownsville, fired on two
of my officers when coming from Santa
Cruz.
You have no diplomatic character, no
letter of credentials-nor I.
l therefore write to you simply as
private individual, in order to express
my utter contemptfor the wanton offense
committed by one of the men for whom
you are responsible.
BARON DE BRIAN
Commander of the Detachment Of the
Legion.
General Brown paid no attention to
this delicate note, it seems, whereupon
the belligerent DE Brian favored him
with another letter.
MArAxoRAs, June 10, 1865.
Mr.. BROWN: The epaulets of gene
raj are sacred in his sight. They repre-,
sent career full Of dignity, and honor
ed by arduous service. They are the
browning reward of forty years of self
denial and devotion. All the European
generals, and many in the New World,
have these glorious claims; thus the
commandment has felt happy and honor
ed by being placed at the service of his
excellency General Mejia. If these of.
ficers who reckon on many years of SER
vice. and can point to such brilliant re-
cords, should receive from any subaltern
a letter, in more or less violent terms,
they would treat 1t as SO much waste pa
per. The cowardice or rascality of him
who would have had the impudence
to write it, would deserve nothing more.
But, if man, taken out of some shop,
one knows not which, is improvised a
general from one day to another, and
without even the most trifling military
exploit in his history, pretends to claim
a superiority over persons who. have
seen twenty years of service and cam
paigns, 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 hearty laughover him. In fact;
to feel vexed at him would be disgrace
full to so many officers, who, the world
over, respect the military hierarchy, and
who form kind of brotherhood among
themselves. The dwelling method OF
proceeding must be used, method
which those persons abuse, when they
endeavor to place themselves on foot
ing with those who have grown grey
under the harness, after nobly devoting
their whole life. This is the reason
why the commandment who reverences
military services, and will never permit
them to be prostituted, has written
somewhat cavalierly to Mr.. Brown, as
an individual.
BARON DE BRIAN,
Commander of the Detachment Of the
Legion.
AN IMPERIAL1sT PAPERS COMMENTS ON
"MR." BROWNS cOURsE--A "LIvRET''
SUGGESTED.
In order to let the readers of the COM
merce know what would be the punish
ment of French soldier, If one Of them
should be convicted of having wantonly
fired at any foreign soldier, we translate
the following article of war, inserted In
four languages in the Hwet of each SOL
der:
Attack without order or provocation
against the troops of an allied or neutral
pOwer--death.
| This little book, the Huret, Is a pre-
cious reference in which every soldier
tempted into the perpetration of crime,
may find Immediately what will be his
reward. Are the Yankee soldiers fur
nished with kvrets