Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-09-04

cAOSS VI the year 1900 the french In
vasion of Mexico had cost Louis Ma
poleon 1885, 900 and 11,414 troops /
Many of the men in the Juarez forces
were recruited from the United States
army when our war was over, and it |
is said that Gen. Sheridan when in
Command at Brownsville gave to Juarez
and his troops no less than 10000 |
muskets.
When the French army captured |
Mexico City in 1863, council of 80 |
members was appointed by the French |
commander, Forey, and this council |
in turn elected committee OF three
to whom was intrusted the supreme
executive authority. On July 10, 1863,
just month after the fight of Juarez,
an assembly of notable men at Mexico
City proclaimed Mexico an empire of
Louis Napoleon, and went through the
form of rendering the crown to Maxi
milan, archduke of Austria. Maxi
milan accepted the crown On condition
that the action of the assembly of not
ables be ratified by vote of the Next
can people. He also laid down the
condition that the European nations
would give sufficient guarantees that
the throne would be protected from
dangers that might threaten it." In
view of after-happenings and betrayals,
this has note of tragic warning. The
farce of nominally securing the Mexi.
can popular vote was easily enough
accomplished by Marshal Bazaine, the
French army of occupation having now
risen to $4,000 men. Napoleon III
then signed the treaty of Miramar, by
which he bound himself to maintain
the French army in Mexico until the
army of the empire should be thor
oughly organized.
On May, 30, 1864, Macmillan, with
the Empress Carlotta, daughter of
Leopold l, king of Belgium, landed at
Vera Cruz. The ceremony of invest
ing him as emperor of Mexico had
been gone through at Miramar, his
Swiss chalet at the head of the Adri-
attic. With the empress he proceeded
to Mexico City, and then established
, his brilliant court at Chapultepec.
Macmillan announced that his mission
was the ''rajuver alton of Mexico"
But ne knew nothing of the country or
of the people over whom he had come
to rule. He was anxious to conciliate
all parties, but he soon found himself
without the support of any. He had a
praiseworthy but impractical desire to
rule without leaning on the French
for support, and he neglected their rep
resentatives until, suddenly he came to
realize that the foreign army, hated
equally by all his subjects, was in
reality the only foundation upon
which his throne rested. Finally, in
despair of accomplishing anything by
conciiiatory means, he swung too far
to the other extreme, and was per-
) suaded to issue decree October 3,
declaring that all persons bearing
arms against the empire were bandits,
and if caught would be tried by
court-martial and shot Within a
month four highly esteemed republi-
can officers had been executed in ac
cordance with his decree, and all hope
of popular support for the empire bad
been destroyed.
!. Meantime the United States govern
ment having been relieved of its EN-
barrassments by the fall of the con-
federacy and the end of the civil war
was now in a position to make it clear
to Napoleon III that his Intervention
in Mexico would no longer be suffered.
Maximilian's life was the sacrifice
that Napoleon paid. In May. 1866,
Macmillan received dispatches that
all French troops in Mexico would be
2 Withdrawn. Maximilian's first i'm
: pulse was to abdicate and he would
probably have done so had not Car
Ilotta, his wife, dissuaded him and
|. undertaken to go to Europe to use
l her influence with Napoleon and ether
potentates. When she reached Paris
3 Napoleon at first refused to see her.
+ and then brutally asked her to leave
, France. The pope gave her no better
consideration, her mind failed and she
, became hopelessly insane. She was
, taken to the chateau of Laeken, and
: then to the chateau of Bouchoutte,
: near Brussels, where, bereft of reason,
! she still lives, perhaps less to be pit
J led than Eugene, empires of the
! French. since Eugene can remember
while she cannot.
Again Macmillan would nave abdi-
Gated but the French commissioners
by Napoleon III were unable to agree
to the terms which he stipulated. He
therefore unfortunately accepted the
offer of Gems Miramon and Marquee,
who promised to raise force suffi-
cient to replace the French troops and
: maintain his empire. The church
; party urged him to remain, promising
It's support, and he established his
Headquarters at Queretaro. The
| final tragedy soon came. At Queret-
arc he was surrounded by the Next
can republican army in the early part
, of March, 1867. On May IA plans
were made for a sortie by which the
emperor might escape to Mexico City
or the coast Before such plans could
be carried out, Col Miguel Lopez IA
vorite of the emperor and empress,
who had received many favors from