Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-07-14
THE MEXICAN FRONTIER.

y
one side or the other.
THE MEXICAN FRONTIER.
The recent intelligence ofthe cross
ing of Red river by portion of
General Ord's command on the from
tier gives matter for serious reflec-
ton. That our readers may be ac-
quainted with the facts, we give the
despatch of Lieut-COlOnel Shafter to
Gen. Ord and that of Gen. Ord
himself to the War Department at
Washington.
To General Ord:
had all ready to cross tomorrow in sup
port of Lieutenant Bullies's Twenty fourth
Infantry and Lieutenant Hunts Tenth cav
airy. This morning, at two o'clock, Bullies
came in alone, having ridden one hundred
and forty miles in thlrty-SiX hours. In COM
ing down from Fort Davis he struck the trail
of the Indians from Gillespie county, half
way between the PecOs and the Rio Grande,
just before the night of the twenty fourth
of June, and only three or four hours behind
them. He followed it to the Rio Grande,
and crossed the river, drowning TWO OF his
as they were resting. He attacked them at
once, and the Indians retreated to the noun
tains. After an engagement of one hour
they all managed TO escape, some OF them
wounded. Bullies got all the horses but two.
The fifty reported by General ClitZ as pass
ing Point Rock Spring are all accounted
for. Eight were left on the trail, six Were
killed while the rangers were on the trail,
nine killed while Bullies was on their trail,
two were taken away by the Indians, and
twenty three were captured by BullieS. He
also found at the camp parts of the harness
taken from johnson, on the NueceS, showing
that some of the band had scattered after
that affair and had got with party raiding
in Gillespie county, probably joining them
in Mexico, as they went out ten days first.
| Bullies reports the Indians as being Lipans,
and that he saw no signs to indicate that
they were near their village; this is likely
near some of the towns. ordered the cOmpa-
mics to stop as they are until your orders are
received. The trail followed by BullieS is the
only plain trail we know of and have lately
crossed, and as the Indians who made it
have been caught / will not go on without
further orders, as Lieutenant BullieS reports
it impossible to follow the trail from where
he struck them, and scouting on the other
side would have to be for Indian camps
or anything else that might turn up.
SKATER.
Lieutenant-Colonel Twenty fourth Infantry
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, July Z.
Adiutant General Townsend, Washington. >:
The following has Just been received. 1t
accords win my reply 10 5reVlno IS letter
y
day. 1 telegraphed Shafter that there was
no necessity of following the trail of the
Indians to the place where they have al
ready been punished by Bullies, but to look
close for that made by the party that raided
on the Nueces.
JBrigadier-General.
FORT CLARK, TEXAS, July Z.
This action was strictly in accord
ance with the instructions which
had been dispatched to Gen. Ord by
the Secretary of War, and has al
ready been approved in Washing
ton.
We have no scruples whatever
against the following these maraud-
ers into Mexican territory so long as
neither of the pretending govern
ments of that unhappy country
shows itself able or willing to deal
with the depredatOrs who are con-
tinually plundering the inhabitants
of the left bank of the Rio Grande.
Nor should we even consider that
the United States government was
transcending the law of nations in
recognizing one of the conflicting
governments of that country and
making treaties with it while it dis
regarded the acts of the other. Self
protection justifies all this; if there
is no government on the right bank
of the Rio Grande competent to Sc
cure us from depredations we have
a right to do it ourselves, and re
shall certainly do it. But now comes
very difficult question to decide.
SHALL WE ACQUIRE MORE TERRI
TORY FROM MEXICO? OF our right
to do so under the circumstances we
make no question, and we argue the
point simply from considerations of
eXpediency.
The scheme of annexation which
has been put forward more or less
definitely by some of our journals as
contemplated by our government,
compromises the acquisition of the
Mexican States of Sonora, Chihau-
hau, COahaila, NuevO Leon, Sinoloa,
Durango and parts of Zacatecas and
NuevO Leon, and would give us a
natural boundary of $50 miles in
stead of an artificial one of $40
miles; moreover, it would cOnfine
the jurisdiction of Mexico to States
which it really does in some sense
govern, so that treaties in relation to
border difficulties would have some
chance of being carried out.
All these are most important adj
vantages to secure; especially the
reduction in the length of the bOr-
der line. SO long as Mexico and the
United States exist as separate gov
ernments there will no doubt be Dor
der troubles, and the shorter the
line along which those troubles ex-
list the better.
But the question which really
troubles us is the government ofthe
newly acquired States, should they
be annexed.
Our political system does not adj
NIT of the government Ofany terri
tory as tributary; theattempt to do
so would soon lead to innovations
which would gradually break up
our system of self-govemment, and
establishin its placed centralized i'm
perialism; on the other hand, toad
NIT these States into our union as
sovereign States, would be a most
dangerous experiment. The Span
ish races of Mexico, Central Ameri-
ca and South America have, so far,
tried for over half a century to es-
tablish a settled system of govern
ment ON the model of our institu-
tions, and everywhere signally fail
ed. They have either had no fixed
government or submitted Temporal
rily to the despotic rule of such mil