the confidence of their sympathizers. The effort to procure a loan from the government at Washington had been rejected in congress,[1] but private coffers were opening more freely every day among bankers, traders, and others.[2] Arms and ammunition were obtained in any quantity,[3] and a large number of volunteers offered themselves, more indeed than it was thought needful or prudent to accept.[4]
In pursuance of the plan for withdrawing the French troops, Billot had retired on the 31st of January, 1866, from Chihuahua, leaving it in charge of a Mexican garrison, sustained by the Indian tribes which had pronounced for the empire and proved its stanchest adherents;[5] but erelong the whole country was in revolt. Chihuahua fell in March into the hands of Luis Terrazas, the Juarist governor. Allende, Batopilas, and other places revolted; and the posts still held at Parral, Cerro Gordo, and to the south had to be evacuated.[6] The province of Durango also responded, from the beginning of the year, to the liberation movement, especially as the French in July fell back on its
- ↑ Only by a small majority, however. See U. S. H. Jour., 353, etc., and H. Res., 80, 30th cong. 1st sess.
- ↑ Instance alone the advances reported by García, Libro Mayor, MS., from California, $15,500 from Wilman & Brothers, and $24,000 from General Vallejo and three other native Californians. In Vega, Doc., i.-ii., we find lists of loans and contributions from the same state, and in Legac. Jex., i.-ii., correspondence on loans generally, especially on pp. 03-103, 461-95.
- ↑ See Romero, Contratos en E. U. por Mex., 1-590, for a history of contracts for war material and other supplies, including money, obtained in the U. S.; also Vega, Depósito, MS., Doc., etc. Eldridge of San Francisco figured among the creditors for $64,000. See also notes on similar points for previous years.
- ↑ Col Green brought from San Francisco 27 American officers who had served in the union war.Gen. Vega followed with a larger number, and Major McNulty, from Texas, with more than a dozen, not to mention other parties of officers and private soldiers. Over threescore, serving under Aranda in Dec. 1866, were organized into a company, as the American legion of honor. García, Libro Mayor, MS.; Vega, Doc., iii.; Overland Monthly, vii. 445-8; S. F. Bulletin, Sept. 14, 1966; S. F. Times, Jan. 11, 1967; Legac. Mex., Circ., ii., passim; Caballero, Hist. Alm., 47-8; Edwards' Shelby's Exped., 22-5, 41-3, on confederate enlistments.
- ↑ Notably in the districts of Cusihuiriachic, Concepcion, Abasolo, and Guerrero.
- ↑ Maximilian almost commanded Bazaine in May to retake Chihuahua, and Castagny was actually ordered to prepare at Durango a new expedition, with the intention to push as far as Paso del Norte; but the new instructions from France caused the movement to be suspended. Niox., Expéd. du Mex., 580.
