Maximilian in Mexico: A Woman's Reminiscences of the French Intervention 1862-1867. Sara Yorke Stevenson
tion>
Sara Yorke Stevenson
Maximilian in Mexico: A Woman's Reminiscences of the French Intervention 1862-1867
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4064066166083
Table of Contents
Part I. The Triple Alliance, 1861–62 I. El Dorado … … … 1 II. The New "Napoleonic Idea". … 7 III. M. De Saligny And M. Jecker … 17 IV. The Allies In Mexico … … 24 V. Rupture Between The Allies. … 36
Part II. The French: Intervention, 1862–64 I. The Author Leaves Paris For Mexico . . 47 II. Puebla And Mexico—General De Lorencez—General Zaragoza . 66 III. The Siege of Puebla—General Forey—General Ortega . .82 IV. The French In The City Of Mexico—The Regency … 93
Part III. The Empire Of Maximilian I, 1864–65 I. Marshal Bazaine … . … 117 II. A Bed Of Roses In A Gold-Mine. … 125 III. Thorns … … … 136
Part IV. The Awakening I. "A Cloud No Bigger Than A Man's Hand" … 161 II. La Debacle … . … 188 III. Comedy And Tragedy. … 207 IV. General Castelnau. … . 232 V. The End Of The French Intervention … 256
Part V. The End I. Queretaro, 1867 … … 269
Appendices
A. The Bando Negro (Black Decree) Proclamation Of Emperor Maximilian,
October 3, 1865. … 309
B. Treaty Of Miramar, Signed On April 10, 1864 . . 315
List Of Illustrations
Frontsview Page
Napoleon III, Eugenie, And Duc De Morny . . 9
Maximilian Gold Coin … … 19
Agustin De Iturbide … . … 29
Miguel Miramon … … 39
President Benito Pablo Juarez. … . 49
General Prim … . … . 59
Porfirio Diaz … … … 69
Matias Romero … . … . 79
From "Mexico and The United States," by permission of G.P.Putnam's Sons.
Chapultepec, Maximilian's Palace. … 89
Empress Charlotte … . … 99
Colonel Van Der Smissen … … 109
Marechal Bazaine And Madame La Marechale . 119
Matthew Fontaine Maury. … 129
After a Photograph By D. H. Anderson.
Comte De Thun De Hohenstein. … . 143
Photographed By Merille.
Count Von Funfkirkchen … . … 153
From Photograph By Montes De Oca.
Ex-Confederate Generals In Mexico … 171
Dr. William M. Gwin … . … 183
From A Steel-Engraving By A. B. Walter For "The Democratic Review."
General Mejia. … 195
Marquis De Gallifet … . … 211
After Photograph By Nadar.
Colonel Tourre, Third Zouaves. … 227
After Photograph By Montes De Oca.
Comte De Bombelles … . … 239
After Photograph By Aubert & Co.
General Castelnau … . … 251
Colonel Dupin … … … 263
Surrender of Maximilian, May 15, 1867 … 275
Don Pedro Rincon Gallardo. … 283
From A Photograph By Cruces y Campa.
Guard And Sergeant Who Shot Maximilian . . 291
Last Day Of Maximilian … . … 297
The Calvary Of Queretaro, Showing Where Maximilian, Mejia, And Miramon
Were Shot … 300
The Last Moments Of Maximilian. … 301
The Hack In Which Maximilian Was Taken To The Place Of Execution. … .304
Monuments Marking The Place of Execution . . 307
PRELUDE
In offering these pages to the public, my aim is not to write a historical sketch of the reign of Maximilian of Austria, nor is it to give a description of the political crisis through which Mexico passed during that period. My only desire is to furnish the reader with a point of view the value of which lies in the fact that it is that of an eyewitness who was somewhat more than an ordinary spectator of a series of occurrences which developed into one of the most dramatic episodes of modern times.
Historians too often present their personages to the public and to posterity as actors upon a stage—I was about to say as puppets in a show—whose acts are quite outside of themselves, and whose voices express emotions not their own. They appear before the footlights of a fulfilled destiny; and their doubts, their weaknesses, are concealed, along with their temptations, beneath the paint and stage drapery lent them by the historian who, knowing beforehand the denouement toward which their efforts tended, unconsciously assumes a like knowledge on their part. They are thus often credited with deep-laid motives and plans which it may perhaps have been impossible for them to entertain at the time.
To those who lived with them when they were MAKING history, these actors are all aglow with life. They are animated by its passions, its impulses. They are urged onward by personal ambition, or held back by selfish considerations. They are not characters in a drama; they are men of the world, whose official acts, like those of the men about us to-day, are influenced by their affections, their family complications, their prejudices, their rivalries, their avarice, their vanity. The circumstances of their private life temporarily excite or depress their energies, and often give them a new and unlooked-for direction; and the success or failure of their undertakings may be recognized as having been the result of their individual limitations, of their personal ignorance of the special conditions with which they were called upon to cope, or of their short-sightedness.
In this lies the importance of private recollections. The gossip of one epoch forms part of the history of the next. It is therefore to be deplored that those whose more or less obscure lives run their course in the shadow of some public career