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13 “That Journal on the Rio Grande” Following the downfall of Maximilian, the Ranchero editors fired off a continuous stream of dire predictions of never-ending revolutions and anarchy in Mexico for generations to come. Although Maximilian may have been viewed by some as a despot and a French puppet, he was extolled by the Ranchero editors as a man of the people, a ruler who practiced democratic and republican principles. “Maximilian was just as much a subject of the established law as the meanest subject in the empire. . . . He was called Emperor and so he was Emperor, but he was the most liberal of living republicans . There was none of the Hapsburg [Austrian royal family] in him. He was scrupulously honest; and as fearless as he was generous, and as noble as liberal.”1 Such adulation is surprising, as earlier, following their hasty flight from Matamoros, the editors had been extremely critical of Maximilian. The emperor had issued an order that all captured enemies found armed were to be tried by summary court-martial and executed within twenty-four hours. This was in response to a similar decree issued by the republicans. Outraged, the editors accused French emperor Napoleon III and “his man Friday, the august Maximilian,” of having “destroyed government—introduced anarchy , and its hellish train of consequences—murder, robbery, the violation of women, the starvation of children, and what more the Lord only knows.” They further added, “If Mexico suffered and bled under French rule, her miseries have been increased a hundred fold under the policy of Maximilian .”2 But the situation had changed drastically since then, and Maximilian, who was executed by a firing squad along with his leading generals, was now viewed as a martyr. On June 28, 1867, the lead column of the Ranchero, with thick black borders, announced: “Max, Miramon, Mejia and Castillo were deliberately murdered at Queretaro, Mexico, on the morning of June 19th, 1867, by Benito Juarez. We dress our paper in mourning to-day, out of respect for the memory of the murdered heroes, Maximilian, Miramon, Mejia that journal on the rio grande" " 1 and Castillo.” The Ranchero provided lurid details of the executions, and by 2:30 that afternoon a second edition of the newspaper had sold out. The newly restored president of Mexico, Benito Juárez, now became a Ranchero target. “That little, dark and deep designing Indian, drunk with blood, mescal and plunder, dreams for himself under the name of President the perpetual governing of that unfortunate country.” Juárez was further vilified as a “treacherous, perfidious Indian savage,” and “the most abandoned of earth’s awful wretches” that had “made Maximilian a great hero and himself a great Indian monster.” Colonel Miguel Lopez, who had betrayed the emperor he had served, was considered a far worse traitor than Benedict Arnold, whose treachery, according to Henry, was due to “extenuating circumstances .” Lopez, on the other hand, had been “actuated by the spirit of the devil. When the name of Benedict Arnold shall be revered, applauded and worshipped that of Miguel Lopez will remain a foul blot and a living abomination in the [minds?] of all civilized people.” To those likening Maximilian to the filibuster William Walker, Henry responded by attacking the man who had once tried to rule Nicaragua. Walker, he insisted, was “an arrant, unscrupulous filibuster without character and without power to make himself respected as a belligerent.” Maximilian, on the other hand, was “the accepted ruler by all prominent Mexicans,” and his government “was recognized and still is recognized by all other civilized governments.” Henry ignored the fact that Maximilian was never recognized by the United States. Allowances were made for Maximilian’s controversial “Black Decree,” which the editors had condemned earlier. They now contended that the policy was only an “experiment to see if the highway warfare then existing could not be stopped and peace be permanently established.” Furthermore, the editorial contended, Maximilian had never enforced the decree, which was aimed solely at “roving bands of robbers, persistent enemies of government.” Had Henry been aware of the crucial role played by Phil Sheridan in bringing about Maximilian’s downfall, he would have had additional reason to loathe the general. Weapons and ammunition had been smuggled across the border into the hands of the insurgents through Sheridan’s complicity. During the winter of 1865–66, thirty thousand muskets had been sent to Juarez’s forces from the Baton Rouge Arsenal.3 Among prominent Mexican Liberals...

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