The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-02-05
M Il XICO.

yveirxD AUa MeiIa Regarding the ssnd-
ing of American Troops 90 RSgaRd-
Protest Oftho Commander ofthe Franch
Fleet An the Rio Grande-r rhe Prospects
Of tbe Liberals, Etc.
BROWNSVILLE, TExAs January 2l. "A few days
since CO1tinas determined to visit Bagdad ane
with some few OF his ragged followers started
down the river. Hearing OF his approach, Col
ope Enrique Me,ia, Wb0 had been lett IN com
maud by Fscobedo, hastily crossed the river TO
the An eJican shore The renowned 0andit,
-. q, ,.r,,Nino the city, proposed TO assume
opOm Olp',iroatd. ar mt the American officer who,
with detacnment OF mSa., was ptosec.lls to,'n,.ls
the city from p'llage and P0''' 'oo,o,1e1 "C.,S,1
under his orders, refused TO reoyT. oi
any Liberal officer save a. sdbordlna8
Eecobedo, and would not allow any plunder'n2'
and 50 COrtlnas returned TO this city disguised.
There are ut present IN the. place elgntysiX
Mexican soldiers being portion OF the lmpe-
rial troops which turned over to the Liberals
when the city was captured. These men are
quietly at work upon the torthcations. The
American troops are on guard over tne houses
and property, with instructions as mChuoheu III
the correspondence below.
General Escobedo recently left here for the
purpose, as he stated, OF joining MS command az
Cnmargo, and with the ultimate view OF invest
ing anu capturing Matamoras. Since then ne
has not bean heard from, and rdmor now has IT
that he has Joined the Inperialiss. While this
is to the highest extent improbable, 1t would not
surprise me at any time to learn that he had
TTir-rrausr-. ;,r1rIuty the results OF his efforts
al karmonizing the discordant elements whlcn
make up the Liberal party here nave nov % pSeu
Ol q character to encoura ge the r cOnIlhuauoo.
Il. Clsy Ora wtord, who came down mere sVmS
weeks since with so loud flourish Of trumpets,
only succeeded in spending lew thousand dol
lars, and demoralzing some OF the negro
soldiers. And this practically ends the short
campaign, II it NAV be d1gnlheo Dy that Title,
resulting IN the capture OF Bagda1.
The BagdaO affair is regarded here as q great
practical Joke, and certainly the incidents as
they occurred are calculated to excite auehter.
1t has however its serious SIDE; thousands Ot
dollars worth OF property hds been destroyed,
many have been driven from their homes, and,
doubtless, had it not been ior the protechon eX-
tended l. by the American commander, the place
would nave been laid iG a.nes
AS " j be seen by the correspondence below,
General Wetzel intends investigating the facts
come cIed with the caisure. / am assured that
this will be searching and thorough, and doubt
less such steps will be taken as a due regard for
the neutr9lity laws may demand. Already
several parties connected with the pillag1g of
the place have been arrested AMI brought here.
They will be placed on trial at an early day.
The prospects OF the Liberals upon the Rio
Grande are very gloomy, and this on account OF
the utter inability Of the leaders. Maximllian
has not more than twenty-five hundred men on
this border and yet the Liberal cnles nave not
energy and capacity enough to drive them from
it. II the condition of the Liberal cause through
out Mexico is we'll exempliied on tins frontier
Cognlze it or base any political action upon it,
and this despite the fact hat the people are re.
publiCans at heart, and would be happy to see
Macmillan driven from the country, so they
could be assured OF a Government which would
protect them in their hives ald property.
CoRREsPoNDENoE BETWEEN GENERALS wEITzEL
AND MHJIA
HEADouARrERs DISTRICT OF TIRE RIO GRANDE
BROWNSVILLE Texas, January Is, 1S63.-MaJor-
Gene al IomBS MGjla, commanding line OF the Rio
GIande.-Geueral am directed by the Major
Gcneral commanding the Department of Texas to
ex PLAN to you the tor sendiug guard OF my
soldiers TO Bagdad, and the orders winch gave
them.
Is9nt three hundred men of my command to Bag.
dad at the request OF General E5cobedO. They are
still there. The act OF pure hum lnItY the
interests of the peaceful citizens Bagdad and had
relation to the cause for which the opposing forces
NV OF ders 10 the commanding officer are that he
should preserve the peace ana protect property and
lite in BaCdad; that ne should bey no orders but
tboe emanatno from his slperors on fins side. tba
under no circumstances she ulp he perform any mill
tary service either party; that If attack be
made ON the town he remain, if not too much ex-
posed and if the French were successful he meet the
commanding officer under flag OF truce aud explain
the for his being there, and then Withdraw
but that, in case his men were very much exposed
TO withdraw at any time when, IN hIs Judgment, it
OuG hit to be done.
circumstances of the capture of bagdad.
am, sir, very respectfully, your obed't servant,
G WEITzEL, Aajor-G eneral comma ndng.
IMPERIAL ARMY MEXICO, MEJIA's DIyIsioS
HEADQUARTERS, MATAMoRAs. January 10. 1865
General-in met;-Generat-l nave the honor to
acknowledge receipt OF your note dated yesterday
have gwen my government notice of all the occur-
ances that have taken place in Bagdad.
Accept General, the assurance of my most parti-
To Major General WEITzEL, etc.
1t will be seen that the 'little Indian" is non
cOmmittal and not communicative
THE FRENCH NAVAL COMMANDER PROTESTS.
Soon after the capture of Bagdad the COM
mander of the French feet off the mouth of the
Rio Grande called upon Brevet Major W. Z.
Clark at BraZos, and requested permission to
march body of marines belonging to his com.
mand from Brownsville to Brazos to JON their
ship there.
The request was forwarded by telegraph to
General Weitzel, who granted it as an act OF
courtesy to a friendly nation, stipulating that il
would not be regarded as a precedent. The
French officer here learned for the first time that
the American soldiers were in Bsgdad, and,
returned to his ship and sailed away, doubtless
for Vera Cruz He left behind him the following
protest.
ON BOARD WAR STEAMER "TARrAR." OFF
BAeDAD, January 10, l866-General-Yo our troops
have crossed the Rio GTande. They are at Bagdad
at this moment. Whatever may be the pretext i
protest in the name of the French Cioyernment
against this invasion OF Mexican territory.
HENRY DE LIE blanche
The commander OF the French man-ot-war stationed
To the General commanding United States forces
on the Rio Grande
It is anticipated here that the act of General
Weitzel in placing troops in Bagdad although
the city was thereby saved from pllage and
destruction, will be construed as q hostile act
and that efforts will be made to embroil the
country in difficulty on that account.
/ may remark in this connection, that the
course of General WeitZel in this affair Il
approved by his official superior.