Sir J. Crampton to Earl Russell - (Received November 25) Madrid, November 19, 1861. My Lord, I have the honour to transmit, in translation, an extract from the official "Gazette" of this day's date, containing two Royal Decrees, the one appointing General Prim to be Commandant-in-chief of the expeditionary corps to Mexico; the other appointing him to be Plenipotentiary for the settlement of the questions pending with the Republic of Mexico. Inclosure 1 Extract from the Madrid "Gazette" of November 19, 1861. War Department. Royal Decree In consideration of the qualifications of Lieutenant-General Don Juan Prim, Marquis of Castillejos, I name him Commandant-in-chief of the expeditionary corps to Mexico. Given in the Palace, November 3, 1861. (Signed by the Royal Hand.) The Minister of War (signed) Leopoldo O'Donnell. Inclosure 2 Extract from the Madrid "Gazette" of November 19, 1861. Department of State. Royal Decree In consideration of the peculiar qualifications of Don Juan Prim, Count of Rens, Marquis of Castillejos, I appoint him my Plenipotentiary for the settlement of the questions pending with the Republic of Mexico. Given in the Palace, November 17, 1861. (Signed by the Royal Hand.) The Minister of State (signed) Saturnino Calderon Collantes. Sir J. Crampton to Earl Russell - (Received December 22) Madrid, December 10, 1861. My Lord, On the receipt of your Lordship's despatch of the 4th instant, I immediately informed Marshal O'Donnell that, in the present state of our relations with the United States, Her Majesty's Government proposed to send one line-of-battle ship and two frigates only, to form part of the expedition to Mexico. (signed) JOHN F. CRAMPTON Sir J. Crampton to Earl Russell - (Received December 22) Madrid, December 15, 1861. My Lord, I have communicated to M. Calderon Collantes the substance of your Lordship's despatch of the 28th ultimo, giving the history of the negotiations between Sir C. Wyke and the Mexican Government, and the result which had been reached; and acquainting me, at the same time, with the view which Her Majesty's Government take of this transaction. I told M. Calderon Collantes that the terms obtained by Sir Charles Wyke fulfil, generally speaking, the separate requirements of Great Britain: but I added that the agreement which had been thus come to with the Mexican Government in no way altered the position of Her Majesty's Government as regards the Convention which Great Britain had concluded with France and Spain. That Convention, I observed, affords, in fact, the only security that the terms agreed upon by the Mexican Government on this occasion shall be better observed than former stipulations and engagements. The advantage, therefore, of having obtained the consent of the Mexican Government to these conditions, consists in the precision with which the British demands have been stated, and the assent of the Mexican authorities to the terms laid before them. The task of the British Commissioners was, I remarked, thus rendered easy, and the work of our respective Missions would be facilitated; but it was the opinion of Her Majesty's Government that it would greatly add to that facility if the Government of the Queen of Spain should be able to communicate to them the terms which Her Catholic Majesty's Government would think it necessary to require for the reparation of the wrongs they had sustained at the hands of Mexico, and the safety of their subjects in the future. M. Calderon replied that he entirely entered into the views of Her Majesty's Government in this respect, and that as far as Spain was concerned, nothing could be easier than to state with precision the terms which she on her part would require of the Mexican Government. These terms are, in fact, embodied in the Convention concluded with Miramon, and confirmed by the Treaty Mon-Almonte, which had been repudiated by the succeeding Government of Mexico upon the same monstrous principle which the Mexican Government had attempted to oppose to the demands of Sir C. Wyke, viz., that the actual authorities do not consider themselves responsible to foreign nations for the acts of their predecessors. Upon the fulfilment of these engagements the Spanish Government would insist, and all that they would demand in addition to them would be, the infliction of due punishment upon the perpetrators of the assassinations which had since been committed upon Spanish subjects. This, he considered however, to be a capital point; for if the Mexican Government was unable or unwilling to administer justice in such flagrant cases, what hope could we entertain of their fulfilling other engagements? If the lives of British subjects had in any instance been sacrificed, he presumed that as a matter of course the punishment of the assassins would be made by Her Majesty's Government a primary condition to any arrangement with the Mexican Government. In conclusion, M. Calderon expressed the opinion that the readiest way of coming to the understanding proposed by Her Majesty's Government with a view to facilitating the negotiations, would be that the Commissioners of Spain and England should be instructed by their respective Governments to communicate to each other the terms which each would think it necessary to insist upon in satisfaction for past wrongs, and as security for the future observance of international duties by Mexico. (signed) JOHN F. CRAMPTON Back to Table of Contents: Booklet No. 8, Mexico 1861-67 Back to El Dorado List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by The South and Central Military Historians Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com