New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-03-28
Especial Correspondence Of the crescent.l
FROM THE RIO GRANDE.
" .o.aa nIa~;eo March Il.

| The organization OF Eenan cIcie tooA P ie's
in Brownsville last Sunday. 1t was enuued th
ao,Leary Circle, ,No.2, of Brownsville, Texas,
| and Mr.. Frank 3. Macmanus, formerly OF Nes
tOrleans. where he was at one time connected WIZ
tha nress.l was elected Center of the Circle. Tn
members are respectable, and considerable enthr
i siasm is manifested. --y.g
The marty Of United States eolored troops VIII
Il violated Mexican family in Brownsville and mul
4 dered their protector, Mr. Martinez, (the particr
lars of which gave in my last,) or party be
Heved to be the guilty ones, have been arreste
and are III jail One of them, at least, is identife
by six witnesses.
We have advices from Monterey to the Sth ms
Gen. Douay had arrived with the remainder of hi
army, 5000 strong. The whole number of Impt
rial troops now occupying Chihuahua, Montere.
Victoria and Matamoros is put down at 20 900.
TWAS stated that General Douay intended divit
ing his command into divisions, to send out in dill
ferent directions, for the purpose Of securing th
country and cleaning out the Liberals generally
One division Of 1000 was under marching orders
supposed to be for the Rio Grande.
The ubiquitous and never.to-be caught Cortins
was reported to have gone to the San Fernando
| to meet Juan Jose de Ia Garza, who cleared out
from Victoria when Colonel Dupin and his lmpe-
rialist Contra Guerrillas reached that place.
The town Of Parras, garrisoned BY 100 Imperial
troops, was threatened by the Liberals, and zen.
Douay had sent force out there to drive them
of.
A conversation in Spanish to the following effect
took place in cofeehouse in Brownsville the
other day: Agay-lookng Mexican pleasantly adj
dressed Frenchman who understood the Ian
guage, saying Excuse me, my friend, but it
seems 10 me we've met somewhere" 81 can't
remember ever having met YOU anywhere, ''replied
the other. " That's strange said the Mexican
G / was sure had met you; but now are you right
sure you never saw me anywhere ~ The French
man, taking good look at him, said, " am very
certain never met you before in my life'' swell.
then, I'm mistaken in the man, that's all, and beg
your pardon. VIII you take drink, my friend y
The Frenehman accepted, and they drank and sep
arated. The cream Of this interview consisted in
the fact that the two had met, and that the
Frenchman knew the Mexican the moment he saw
him. The Mexican was one Of the gang of rob
oers who recently pillaged the steamer Monte
yuma. The Frenchman was on beard at the time,
md it was this very robber who had stripped him
II his watch and boots, and clothes, even to his
asst shirt. The Frenchman declined recognizing
i'm, or having him arrested, because if he did So
le felt sure Of being spotted and murdered BY
others of the gang. Sweet state of society,
sn'tit? @
sIIs # March l6, 1866.
Last night between seven and eight o'clock the
office Of the Southern Express Company in
Brownsville was broken into by robbers, who car
ried off the safe, "a small one which two or three
stout men could carry easily,) to the chapparal,
some three-quarters of mile distant, where they
broke the lock and helped themselves to $50, 900,
Of which $4,000 was in gold and the rest in green
backs, the latter done up in numerous packages,
being mostly from officers and soldiers of the army
10 their families or business correspondents in the
States. nit. 4
The safe contained $4,000. and strangely
nough, when it was found at daylight there re-
NAMED in tia few dollars in gold and about
10000 in greenbacks.
The leaving of this money in the safe is vari-
'usly construed by different parties, who give
What they consider gnnd for their opinions
And while these people discuss the matter for
heir own entertainment, the Brownsville police
md the government detectives are quietly at
york in their way, in search of clue to the
obbers.
Mfr. Hoyt, the agent of the Express Company,
ecently felt that the safe was not large enough
+ heavy enough for safety in the office, and ran
acked Matamoros for larger one. Such an one /
9 found, and bargained for at reasonable price,
at when he found he would have to pay sixty
pillars duty on it before it could cross the river
J abandoned the purchase.
The house was not safe one, either. The rear
the office, through which entrance was effected, Il
,ened on a large back yard or interior space,
ed by different people in other houses, and occu.
ed BY some persons living in tents. MI
Last night, at Brazos, an attempt was made to
b the same company's messenger, on his way to
IS place, having arrived on the Crescent. There
Is guard outside the room, and it is believed
IS man dozed and was chloroformed. When the
bbers effected their entrance into the room, Mr..
'uby, the messenger, and another man who sleptin
9 room, sprang up with their reyolvers, and the
bbers retreated in such haste that they had no
ae to mark them. The above robbery and at
npted robbery, with the late robbery of the |
ne company at Galveston, seems to show the |
istence Of q regular gang, organized for the ex-
sss purpose Of robbing express companies. |
ir. Hoyt has offered $4,000 reward for recov-
I Of the money, and conviction of the thieves. {
ssrs, John Price and Whitby, detective officers, s
ertise an offer of $4,000 to the thieves for the
I'm Of the money, and no questions asked. Il
here has been a bloody and heroic affair at !
ras, which have previously mentioned as be-
garrisoned by a force of I50 Imperial troops,
threatened by the Liberals. Parras is some
re in the Monterey section of country. Il
nee receiving adyioes Of the critical state Of !
rs there, dated to the sth inst, later adyices +
out date have been received, giving the grand d
,uement. @ n
to Liberals, estimated to be 1900 strong, 9
u attacked the town. Baron de Briant, the
ch commandment of the place, tookrefuge with b
80 men in a stone church. Soon seeing that b
,ase was desperate he left SO men in the Il
Oh and with the other 100 attempted to get !"
# the town to go after reinforcements. The u
rails surrounded him and killed him, and killed "
wounded nearly all his men; only four ont of Us
hundred escaping. S9 TT
e Liberals then beseiged the church, and its IS
occupants bravely held out against them until tn
Douay came to their relief. This officer sN
led his command before entering the town, 70
suddenly attacking the Liberals from both tn
;, completely routed them. The engagement en-
short but bloody. The rout was complete. an
Liberals stampeding in every direction. Among ev
killed Of the Liberals was Naranio, the officer ms
nd in command.
evionsly to the above affair, Col. Quiroga had me
ed out from Montery several times in differ. re,
dire afinur md gd;cnnrsod ~, \ 81,