When the Union Helped Mexico Independence
Norman Rozeff
October 2009
Mexico, more often than not has looked at its giant neighbor to the north with suspicion. In the 19th century heavy-handed intrusions, frequently leading to loss of territory, have been reason enough to be skeptical of American intentions. It may come as a surprise then for readers to learn of events in which the U. S. acted to promote the independence and physical integrity of Mexico. Of course, this country's self-interests also played a role.
As the American Civil War drew to a close, Federal political and military leaders in Washington became concerned with what might happen to Confederate States of America armed forces after a ceasefire was reached. The thought was that soldiers in Texas, with their armament, would slip south of the border into Mexico. There they might side with the Hapsburg Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian who had been proclaimed Emperor of Mexico. Maximilian was waging a war with native forces lead by Benito Juarez. Additionally the possibility existed that the lightly-secured border could then be breached by a combined force aimed at returning Texas and regions to its west to the fold of Mexico.
This being the situation, on May 17, 1865 Major General Philip H. Sheridan was assigned the command west of the Mississippi and ordered to proceed to the West without delay. The letter of instruction stated "Your duty is to restore Texas, and that part of the Louisiana held by the enemy, to the Union in the shortest practicable time, in a way most effectual for securing permanent peace."
To succeed he was to be given about 25,000 men of all arms. Lt-General Ulysses S. Grant was even more specific when he wrote among other instructions: "Place a strong force on the Rio Grande, holding it at least to a point opposite Camargo, and above that of supplies can be procured." Grant later added: " I think the Rio Grande should be strongly held, whether the forces in Texas surrender or not, and that no time should be lost in getting troops there. If war is to be made, they will be in the right place." He then went on to ensure Sheridan that additional forces would be available if called for. By the end of 1865 the total number of American military men along the border was said to number 52,000.
Sheridan was ready to move but greatly disappointed in that he wouldn't be able to remain in Washington until after the Grand Review scheduled for the 23rd and 24th of May. He wished to share the this victory honor with the troops that had been under his command.
Grant, however, in a personal meeting with Sheridan, provided him an additional motive for the urgent action. He stated that "he looked upon the invasion of Mexico by Maximilian as part of the rebellion itself because of the encouragement that invasion had received from the Confederacy, and that our success in putting down secession would never be complete till the French and Austrian invaders were compelled to quit the territory of our sister republic. With regard to this matter, though, he said it would be necessary for me to act with great circumspection, since the Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, was much opposed to the use of our troops along the border in any active way that would be likely to involve us in a war with European powers."
Pictured are some of the leaders, from left: 1. General Philip H. Sheridan, 2. General U. S. Grant, 3. Juan Nepomucena Cortina, 4. Maxmillian in Mexico City, 5. General Tomas Majia, 6. President of Mexico Benito Juarez. (Pictures are thumbnails, click to enlarage.)
The French occupation of Mexico had come about through a series of miscalculations on the part of former Chief Justice of Mexico and then President, Benito Pablo Juarez. In 1857 and 1858 civil war had broken out between the liberals led by Juarez and the conservatives. In 1859 the U. S. recognized Juarez as the legitimate President. That year after issuing a church confiscation decree, Juarez also suspended all payments to foreign creditors. This was followed by the seizure of the port of Vera Cruz by France, British, and Spain. The latter two were repaid, but not France. This provided Louis Napoleon Bonaparte a pretext to proclaim a Mexican monarchy that was soon accepted by the conservatives. The ten obscure general, Porfirio Diaz, routed the French in the battle at Puebla on May 5, 1862. The Cinco de Mayo brought about a French escalation. Initially the French overcame Liberal military opposition. Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph of Austria was offered the throne. Maximilian came to Mexico on May 28, 1864 accompanied by his wife Charlotta, who was the daughter of the King of the Belgiums, and Austrian and Belgium troops.
The 25,000 American troops embarked from City Point, Virginia. Sheridan himself went to St. Louis from where he took a steamboat to New Orleans. When he reached the mouth of the Red River in Louisiana he received word from General Canby that General Edmund Kirby-Smith, commanding the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department had surrendered under terms similar to that of Lee at Gettysburg. However, Sheridan believed that the surrender was not carried out in good faith, "particularly by Texas troops." He would later learn that they had marched off to the interior of the State "in several organized bodies, carrying with them their camp equipage, arms, ammunition, and even some artillery, with the ultimate purpose of going to Mexico." This knowledge was to color Sheridan's actions from that time forward.
As a consequence Sheridan broke the forces under him into two units. One, under General J. F. Herron set out for Houston and San Antonio. The Fourth Corps was split between Victoria and San Antonio The bulk of the Twenty-fifth Corps under General Frederick Steele went to Brazos Santiago with a goal to hold Brownsville and the line of the Rio Grande. Once here its object was to prevent the escaping Confederates from joining forces with Maximilian. In June Sheridan himself went to Brownsville in an effort to impress the Imperialists.
In May 1864 construction of a unique railroad had begun. Sheridan gave orders to rush the completion of the railroad from the Brazos Santiago docks south across Boca Chica and on to Clarksville, a distance of about 18 miles. It would abet the movement of supplies for the forces to come. This became the Valley's first, albeit short-lived, railroad.
Scouts and spies were sent out along the border and into northern Mexico in order to check on the movement of Imperial forces and also the state of ex-confederates. General Steele made a show of force along the Rio Grande and asked the Imperialist General, Tomas Mejia, in Matamoros to return certain armaments and munitions that had been turned over to him by fleeing Confederates. The fact was that after the last battle of the Civil War at Palmito Hill, the ranking Confederate general in South Texas, James E. Slaughter, over the objection of Col. John "Rip" Ford, had sold Mejia artillery for 20,000 silver pesos. Slaughter intended to keep the proceeds for himself or the no longer existing Confederacy, but Ford rightfully insisted that the money belonged to the troops. Ford arrested Slaughter at pistol-point, confiscated the silver, and distributed the funds as back pay to the Calvary of the West.
At first Mejia was intimidated almost to the point that he was ready to withdraw from the region. Then word from Washington and a softening of the American stance allowed him the continued occupation of the city. At this point Maximilian's army came to possess all the accessible sections of Mexico. The Republic under President Juarez almost succumbed.
Hardly circumspect, Sheridan on his own initiative took aggressive action. Going to San Antonio he reviewed Merritt's cavalry and the Fourth Corps stationed there. He then took a cavalry regiment to Fort Duncan across from Piedras Negras, Mexico on the Rio Grande. Once here he opened communications with President Juarez through one of the latter's staff. The word of this spread quickly, and rumors flew that additional troops from San Antonio might soon be on the way. Naturally this inspired those promoting the Liberal cause. The deception was further strengthened when inquiries were circulated in Mexico about the availability of forage. These reports and demonstrations were effective, for the Imperialists were so alarmed that they withdrew French and Austrian troops from Matamoros and practically the whole of northern Mexico as far as Monterrey. General Mejia, however, with his pro-Imperialist Mexican soldiers continued to garrison Matamoros.
This retreat encouraged the Juaristas. A considerable number of army recruits were collected at Camargo, Mier, and other points. Meanwhile Juan Nepomucena Cortina commenced to harass the defenders of Matamoras and kept them tied up. Sheridan in a duplicitous action purposely left arms and ammunition on the U.S. side of the border but allowed them to fall into the hands of the Liberals under General Escobedo, who Sheridan profiled as "a man of much force of character." Complaints in a correspondence by the French Minister sent to the State Department were passed directly on to Sheridan. Washington again directed the preservation of strict neutrality.
Unhappy with the leadership of either General Cortina or General Antonio Canales, Sheridan turned to the older General, Jose Maria Jesus Carvajal (also spelled Carabajal), with whom he was not impressed. After the French invasion the Texas–born and bilingual Carvajal had been made a General of Division, sent to the U. S. on a delicate mission, and entrusted to purchase arms, munitions of war, war vessels, and issue bonds of his country to the extent of thirty million dollars. For this his nation was indebted.
Mejia, pressured by Cortina and Canales, had recently abandoned Matamoros. After visiting Carvajal in Matamoros Sheridan came away with the strong conviction that the aged general was unsuitable. He recommended Major Young as a liaison and a go-between.
Major Young took it upon himself to recruit in New Orleans a band of men to act as bodyguards for Carvajal, but before they arrived Canales had deposed Carvajal. Later these mercenaries tried to reach Escobedo to provide the same service. Their party was attacked on American soil by ex-Confederates and renegade Mexican rancheros. Young was killed and a number of his men were drowned as they attempted to escape across the river. Twenty did escape and joined Escobedo, but they were in no shape to do much for him.
Juarez's term as President of the Mexican Republic expired in December 1865, but due to the circumstances he continued in office by proclamation. This was despite the Mexican Constitution provision designating the President of the Supreme Court for the succession. This individual, Ortega, was in the U.S. and now came forward to claim the presidency. He proceeded to New Orleans and then sailed for Brazos Santiago. Sheridan sent instructions to Col. Sedgewick, commanding Brownsville, and who also had soldiers in Matamoros protecting neutral merchants there, to arrest Ortega and turn him over to Escobedo after Escobedo took authorized control of Matamoros. This was executed and Ortega was removed from further machinations.
During the winter and spring of 1865-66 Sheridan covertly supplied arms and ammunition to the Liberals. As many as 30,000 muskets came from the Baton Rouge Arsenal alone. By mid-summer Juarez, now with a good size army, had possession of the whole Rio Grande border region.
With words flying that French troops were to be withdrawn, Empress Carlotta sailed home to beg assistance from Napoleon III. Her pleas fell on deaf ears, for on January 10, 1867 Napoleon sent a message to the French consul in New Orleans. It read in part:
"Do not compel the Emperor to abdicate, but do not delay the departure of the troops; bring back all those who will not remain there."
The abandoned Maximilian held on until the spring. Taken prisoner at Santiago de Queretaro, he was tried and executed (June 19, 1867). Secretary of State Seward tried to save Maximilian from execution. His message passed through Sheridan at New Orleans. Sheridan sped it on to Tampico from where one of his scouts, Sgt. White, carried it cross-country. Seward's entreaty was refused. General Tomas Mejia was also executed by a firing squad. The fact was that Maximilian had shown little mercy to his opponents when he had the upper hand. His reign from April 10, 1864 was little more than three years.
It is clear that the appearance of American forces along the border keyed resistance for partisans of the Republic. As Sheridan was to write: "Our appearance in such force along the border permitted Liberal leaders, refugees from their homes, to establish rendezvous whence they could promulgate their plans in safety, while the countenance thus given the cause, when hope was well-nigh gone, incited the Mexican people to renewed resistance. Beginning again with scant means, for they had lost about all, the Liberals saw their cause, under the influence of such significant and powerful backing, progress and steadily grow so strong that within two years Imperialism had receive its death-blow."
That twist in history is how the Union helped to secure Mexico's independence. Benito Juarez remained in power until his death in 1872. In 1877 the hero of Puebla, Porfirio Diaz, became President and remained in office for 30 years.