World Power

by Brian Boyington

  Juarez and Maximillian dispatched General Porfirio Diaz and 15,000 soldiers to end the revolt. Diaz was a hero of the struggle against the French and was a trusted ally of Juarez. However, Diaz had quietly become very disenchanted with Juarez when he joined the Emperors government. The two armies met on the plains near San Luis Potosi. There, Diaz and Zuloaga agreed to join forces and oust both Juarez and Maximillian. After a celebration, the combined armies marched on Mexico City and invested the city.

  Negotiations began with the Juarez and Maximilian government and continued for a week. With no agreement forthcoming, Diaz and Zuloaga ordered the assault to begin. Following a vigorous defense, Maximillian and Juarez, anticipating the arrival of a relief force, retired to the fortress of Chapultepec. The fortress was formidable, and they held out for an additional two weeks.

  The relief force of 15,000 soldiers finally arrived, having been delayed by poor logistics and bad roads. With the arrival of forces loyal to the government, the Diaz and Zuloaga army was itself besieged in Mexico City. Pitched battles raged inside and outside the city, which quickly exhausted both armies. Finally, all the parties reached a negotiated settlement.

  Maximillian abdicated, and the monarchy ended. Juarez, Diaz, and Zuloaga formed an Executive Triumvirate and agreed to share power. Maximillian and the Royal Family accepted exile. On May 5, 1869, Maximillian, Carlotta and the grandsons of Iturbide sailed from Vera Cruz into exile in Cuba.

  The triumvirate, consisting of bitter rivals, were unable to govern. With disarray in the government, chaos quickly took hold. Wealthy landowners formed their militias for the protection of their estates. Federal armies sent to suppress the bandits often joined them. In other instances, the army generals became warlords, staking out their territories. Chaos reigned throughout the country. Mexico was in the process of dissolution.

  The violence spilled over into Texas with the massacre of 50 citizens of El Paso. A separate attack struck Brownsville, where the citizenry fled to the safety of Fort Brown. The bandits pillaged and burned the settlement before being attacked by the fort’s garrison. The bandits were driven out of Brownsville and pursued back into Mexico, where they were finally defeated. The few who survived suffered summary court-martial and execution.

  President Lincoln sent General Joseph Johnson and 50,000 soldiers to secure the border. General Johnson exulted in his new command. He vigorously pursued the bandits in a six-month campaign through the northern states of Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Baja. Johnson wisely enlisted hundreds of Comanche warriors to act as scouts and to facilitate in the defeat of their traditional enemies, the Apaches, who had taken the opportunity to raid and burn local settlements.

  Johnson’s cavalry and Comanche warriors decimated the bandits during several separate engagements. The bandit armies finally consolidated and made a last stand in Sonora, where they sustained a crushing defeat. Johnson pursued escaping remnants into Baja where they were trapped and wiped out.

  Johnson’s army was now in control of Northern Mexico. Isolated bandit gangs still raided. Wealthy landowners sought out Johnson, asking for protection. In return, the landowners provided cattle as provisions, horses as remounts for the cavalry, and draft horses for the supply wagons. Small villages, defenseless against the bandits, sent emissaries requesting protection. Johnson granted these requests. In return, the villagers provided supplies consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables to Johnson’s army. Wherever he went, Johnson strung telegraph lines to provide him a basis of communication. On December 1, 1869, Lincoln appointed him military governor of occupied Mexico.

  Mexico City, December 1869.

  Fractures within the Executive Triumvirate were very apparent. Juarez, Diaz, and Zuloaga were secretly forming alliances, then quickly betraying the alliance to obtain a better deal. They watched with dread as the army of Joseph Johnson marched through, then occupied northern Mexico. Their forces, often feuding, had frequent brief clashes, as if testing out each other’s fortitude. As their feuding continued, their area of control shrank.

  Juarez had effective control of Mexico City, the Federal District of Mexico, Morales and Michoacán. Diaz dominated the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. Zuloaga controlled Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, and Puebla. Clashes between the armies devastated the area, with shifting alliances regularly shifting the balance of power, until a betrayal shifted in one of the other directions. All the while, Maximillian bided his time and formed alliances.

  Spain

  The Glorious Revolution overthrew Queen Isabella. Her Prime Minister, General Francisco Serrano supported the rebels, then convinced her to abdicate and escape to France. On October 3, Serrano was declared Regent, during a search for a future king from among Isabella's relatives. Isabella’s eleven-year-old son, Alfonso fled to France with her, and rumors about his paternity disqualified him from succession.

  Four years earlier, Serrano was Captain General of Cuba and an ally of Maximillian. With Serrano in power in Spain, Maximillian appealed to him for support of an attempt by Maximillian to regain his throne.

  Serrano agreed and authorized material support and vessels to transport Maximillian and his followers to Vera Cruz. Spanish soldiers were not allowed to accompany Maximillian, due to fears of intervention by the United States.

  Secret negotiations took place between agents for Maximillian and the Governor of the State of Vera Cruz, Francisco Hernandez y Hernandez; who, for his active support, was promised the position of Prime Minister. On February 1, 1870, Maximillian, his 20-year-old heir Salvador de Iturbide, and 1000 Mexican exiles landed unopposed in Vera Cruz. Hernandez y Hernandez, a former general, had gathered an army of 10,000 soldiers to join with Maximillian.

  Together, the combined Army first marched against Zuloaga. The opposing armies met for battle at the border town of Cordoba. Observing Maximillian’s standard, Zuloaga’s army, exhausted by the constant conflict, deserted in mass and hailed Maximillian as Emperor.

  Zuloaga was arrested and charged with treason. Devastated by being abandoned by his followers, Zuloaga admitted to the charges, pledged his loyalty to Maximillian and accepted exile in Cuba. The enlarged army then marched towards Mexico City.

  Juarez led his army to confront Maximillian in Puebla. There it was soundly defeated, and Juarez retreated into Mexico City. Two days later Maximillian marched into Mexico City. Cheering crowds hailed him shouting: “Viva El Emperador.” When his army reached the fortress of Chapultepec, he found an honor guard waiting; with the body of Juarez hanging from a gallows.

  One week later, a message from General Diaz arrived seeking terms of surrender. Maximillian offered Diaz safe conduct to Mexico City. There Diaz knelt before his emperor, kissed his ring, and pledged his loyalty. Maximillian accepted Diaz’s pledge of fealty and allowed him to retire to his estates in Oaxaca.

  On March 15, 1870, Maximillian, accompanied by his consort Empress Carlotta and his heirs Salvador de Iturbide and seven-year-old Agustin de Iturbide, was coroneted for the second time as Emperor of Mexico.

  Chapter 19

  March 30, 1870.

  The vote by the legislature of the State of New York accomplished the ¾’s majority to ratify the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish certified the Amendment. Parades, parties, and celebrations occurred in many cities. A grand celebration took place in Washington, DC. A massive reviewing platform with red, white, and blue buntings adorned the front of the Capitol steps.

  On April 3 the celebratory parade marched past the Capitol Building. President Lincoln and his family sat in the middle of the reviewing platform. Vice President Grant and his wife Julia sat across the aisle. A spectator standing at the edge of the road turned quickly, shouted: “Death to all Tyrants” and threw a grenade at the presidential party. Major Robert Lincoln reacted quickly, swatted the grenade down and protected his mother with his body. The grenade exploded just below floor level with the force of the blast showering the President
ial party with dozens of wood splinters. President Lincoln covered his face with his arms, however, was struck by numerous splinters in his legs, abdomen, chest, and armpits. The force of the blast knocked him backward, bleeding heavily.

  His assailant, later identified as Horatio Mudd, tried to escape but was knocked down by witnesses, kicked, stomped and severely beaten. Vice-President Grant shouted for the soldiers to intervene stating: “I want that man alive.” Horatio Mudd was arrested and brought to police headquarters and jailed.

  Severely wounded, President Lincoln staggered up the stairs into the Capitol Building. Military physicians, skilled in treating battlefield wounds rushed to his side. Chloroform administered by drops into a cloth the shape of a cone provided anesthetic. Within an hour the splinters were removed, and the bleeding stopped. Lincoln woke up 10 minutes later, and at first seemed to be making a steady recovery. One week after surgery the signs of sepsis became evident. Carbolic Acid was used to clean the wounds. Initially, that treatment seemed to work. However, the internal bacterial infection was relentless. Two weeks later with his fever mounting, Lincoln had difficulty breathing and became delirious. He mercifully slipped into a coma.

  Vice President Grant was alerted and came to the White House to be at his friend’s bedside. On April 24, with his family surrounding him, President Lincoln’s breathing became shallow, then stopped. Vice President Grant was escorted to another room and immediately sworn in as the 17th President of the United States.

  On April 26, President Lincoln’s casket was placed in the White House East Room on a 15-foot tall catafalque with a black draped canopy for private viewing. Early the next morning, soldiers moved the catafalque to the Capitol Rotunda. Lincoln’s casket followed in a funeral cortege which marched from the White House. There the casket laid in state for two days. At 7 am on April 29, an honor guard moved the casket to the depot where a funeral train waited. Over 10,000 persons lined the street as the honor guard passed. The train departed on a ten-day journey to Springfield, Illinois.

  More than a million persons witnessed as the train rode past on the rails at a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour from Washington DC to Springfield Illinois. From the train station, a funeral cortege escorted Lincoln’s flag-draped casket to Oak Ridge Cemetery. At 1 pm on May 9, at the specific orders of Mary Todd Lincoln, the body was laid to rest in a sarcophagus in the receiving vault until the construction of a permanent tomb. Following an attempt by grave robbers to steal the body, President Grant ordered the erection of a guard house, with Honor Guards manning the post.

  The nation was outraged, and also in deep mourning. The interrogations of Horatio Mudd had uncovered a conspiracy hatched by the Ku Klux Klan. Seven other local co-conspirators were rounded up, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Carpenters erected a large gallows. With thousands of onlookers shouting insults, the convicted Klansmen defiantly marched up the platform. No last words were permitted, and no prayers provided. With black hoods on their heads, the executioner tightened the nooses on their necks and pulled the lever. A spontaneous cheer erupted as the eight men dropped through the trap door.

  Congress subsequently passed a series of Suppression Laws aimed against the Klan. The laws mandated severe punishment for any act of violence by a Klansman. With severe enforcement, Klan membership sharply dropped. The phrase: Your name is Mudd became a derisive term for arrested Klan members.

  Chapter 20

  June 15, 1870, New Orleans, Louisiana.

  Secretary of State Hamilton Fish arrived by railroad. His purpose was to convene a peace conference between the United States and Mexico. Presiding was Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Noah Hayes Swayne. Representing Mexico was the Prime Minister Francisco Hernandez y Hernandez. Foreign participants included the ambassadors of Spain, France, The North German Confederation, and Great Britain. Also present was General Joseph E Johnson, a stark reminder that 50,000 United States troops were currently occupying northern Mexico. Each of the participants started with opening statements urging for a peaceful settlement.

  Hernandez y Hernandez stood up to present the Mexican position. He began: “The government of the Empire of Mexico did not authorize or participate in the incursion of bandit rebels into the United States. We sincerely regret the loss of life and the destruction of property due to the actions of these rebels. The reaction of the United States military went far beyond the doctrine of hot pursuit, and destruction of the rebels. The United States has occupied four of our states including Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Baja. They have also established a military government and are collecting taxes; all of which rightly belongs to the Empire of Mexico. My government’s goal of this conference is to rectify these wrongs with the restoration of our territories.”

  Secretary Fish stood up, displaying an amused look on his face: “He began: Mr. Prime Minister, you speak eloquently, but you misunderstand the reality that confronts you. When Mexican forces grievously attacked, the United States, Mexico was a bandit country, without a meaningful government with warlords vying for power everywhere, including your Capitol. That war spilled over our borders, committed massacres of our citizens, and the destruction of two of our cities. Simply driving them back was not sufficient to protect our citizens along our extensive common border. The warlords responsible needed to be eliminated, which General Johnson so masterfully accomplished. Your citizens came to us for protection from the warlords who had troubled them for most of a year. We provided, what you could not, and your people assisted to pay our expenses.”

  Fish paused for a few moments and walked around the front of the room. He resumed by saying: “While all that is certainly true, it would appear that over the past months your government has stabilized itself; and is ready to assert its control. That control must include respect for the borders of the United States of America. I have before me a draft of a treaty, which can be the basis to normalize our relations.”

  Secretary Fish’s assistant handed out copies to the attendees. Fish waited until they had the opportunity to read the text. He then had his assistant read the document.

  Provision 1.

  The United States of America, to gain compensation for the invasion from Mexico and the costs of defeating that invasion, will forthwith annex the Baja Peninsula, in its entirety into the United States of America.

  Provision 2.

  The United States of America will restore the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila to Mexican authority.

  Provision 3.

  The army of the United States of America will commence its withdrawal from the above mention States upon the ratification of the provisions contained in this document.

  Provision 4

  The government of the United States of America will recognize Emperor Maximillian as the legitimate Head of State of the Empire of Mexico, and his heirs as his legitimate successors.

  Provision 5

  Full diplomatic relations will resume between the United States of America and the Empire of Mexico.

  Prime Minister Hernandez y Hernandez rose to his feet, looking at the assembled ambassadors for any support he began to protest the annexation of the Baja Peninsula. Observing the various ambassador’s blank expressions, he looked at Secretary Fish. With a stern look, Secretary Fish intimidated The Prime Minister to resume his seat.

  Fish, looking directly at Prime Minister Hernandez y Hernandez and declared: “President Grant instructed me to advise you that these provisions are non-negotiable. I suggest you examine the full scope of this agreement and present it to your Emperor. Until Mexico signs this treaty, the United States Army will continue its protective stance in Northern Mexico.”

  Judge Swayne gaveled the conference into a recess, to be reconvened the next morning at 9 am. During the recess, Hernandez y Hernandez met privately with the ambassadors of France and Spain. They both sympathized with his plight and Mexico’s loss of territory. They also pointed out that the treaty would return north
ern Mexico, recognize Maximillian as Emperor of Mexico, and legitimize the succession of his heirs. The Baja Peninsula, which was mostly uninhabited was a small price to pay.

  Hernandez y Hernandez then met with the ambassadors of the United Kingdom and The North German Confederation. Sir Edward Thornton, the United Kingdom’s Ambassador, was the principal architect of the Triple Alliance war pitting Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina against Paraguay. He understood power politics and advised Hernandez y Hernandez that the treaty offered Mexico its best option. Mexico had no chance in a war with the United States, and could not expect any foreign support.

  Baron Von Stuben, representing the North German Confederation provided the same advice. Mexico could not win a stand-alone war against the United States, and stand-alone she certainly would.

  That evening Justice Noah Hayes Swayne hosted a dinner party in the grand ballroom at the Hotel Royal. All the attendees and their delegations attended. The atmosphere was relaxed, and the delegations mixed freely.

  During the festivities, Hamilton Fish and Hernandez Y Hernandez went onto the balcony to smoke cigars. There they were able to talk freely, and Hernandez y Hernandez agreed to sign the treaty.