Mr. Hammond to the Secretary to the Admiralty Foreign Office, March 20, 1862 Sir, I have laid before Earl Russell your letter of the 18th instant, and its inclosure from Rear Admiral Maitland, in which he points out that he had been waiting for nearly a month at Panama in expectation of hearing from Sir C. Wyke. I am to request that you will state to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, in reply, that Sir C. Wyke could not send instructions to Rear Admiral Maitland until it was ascertained whether the attitude of the Mexican Government would be hostile or pacific. It appears from telegrams in the newspapers that no hostilities had taken place on the side of Vera Cruz so late as the 21st of February. It is to be feared that if negotiations are broken off, the allies, both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, will be involved in hostilities at the commencement or in the middle of the unhealthy season. Rear Admiral Maitland should, therefore, be instructed not to hold Acapulco, or Mazatlan, or San Blas in a season when the health of his crews might be endangered by such occupation, and that in the event of hostilities between the allies and Mexico, he is to confine himself during the sickly season to such measures of blockade, and protection of the trade of Great Britain, France and Spain, as he may find practicable in concert with the French Admiral. (Signed) E. HAMMOND 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