Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Fortieth Congress

Mr. Asboth to Mr. Seward

No. 14.]

Legation of the United States, Buenos Ayres, February 25, 1867.

Sir: In connection with my report of the 8th instant, marked No. 12, containing a copy of my note, No. 5, addressed February 6th, to the Argentine minister for foreign affairs, with the proposition submitted by you on the part of the United States, to each of the belligerents in the Paraguay war, for the re-establishment of peace, I have now the honor to inform you that Señor de Elizalde has sent me, on the 18th instant, another evasive answer, a full copy of which, in the original Spanish, you will please find in enclosure A, whilst a literal translation of it I have the honor herewith to append, viz:

Office of Foreign Relations, Buenos Ayres, February 18, 1867.

M. le Ministre: Pressing business of the public service has prevented the government from taking into consideration your excellency’s note of the 16th instant, and from communicating to your excellency the resolution it has adopted of coming to an agreement with its allies as to the answer to that note, and whilst doing so to-day, I have to beg that your excellency will be pleased to excuse this delay.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your excellency the expression of my highest consideration and regard.

RUFINO DE ELIZALDE.

His Excellency the Minister Resident of the United States of America, General Alexander Asboth.

Before the receipt of the above note, I deemed it proper to address, on the 16th instant, the following letter to Rear-Admiral Godon, United States navy, off Montevideo, viz:

Legation of the United States, Buenos Ayres, February 16, 1867.

Sir: On the 7th of this month I had the honor to transmit to you a duplicate of my official note, No. 5, addressed the previous day to the Argentine minister for foreign affairs, and requested that you would be pleased to place it in the hands of the Uruguay minister for foreign affairs, for the information and friendly consideration of his government.

From that note you will have perceived that the war, which has for some time been waging between Paraguay on the one side and Brazil, the Argentine Republic, and Uruguay on the other, is attended to with deep concern by the people and government of the United States, and that the President having been called upon by the House of Representatives to renew the efforts he had heretofore made for the promotion of peace and harmony in South America, has now submitted specific propositions to the several belligerents with a view to the speedy termination of the Paraguay war.

I therefore deem it of paramount importance that the diplomatic representative of the United States in Paraguay should not only be in full possession of the views and intentions of our government on the subject, but that he should also have the means of communicating with the least possible delay to the Department of State the manner in which the friendly offer of the United States mediation is received by the government to which he is accredited.

No information has reached me from the Hon. Mr. Washburn since the report of the 29th of December last, of his official letter dated the 25th of the same month, and I have in consequence thought it proper to state in my last report to our government of the 8th instant, marked No. 12, that should I remain longer without direct news from Mr. Washburn, I would request you, as the United States admiral on the station, to place a steamer at my disposal, and go myself up to Paraguay to exchange despatches and confer with Mr. Washburn in person, in order to further the carrying out as speedily and as fully as possible the instructions from our government and the spirit of the resolution of the United States Congress in regard to the restoration of peace and harmony in the La Plata and Parana republics.

The steamer which arrived yesterday from the seat of war failed again to bring me news from Mr. Washburn, and having received no reply whatever from the Argentine minister of foreign affairs to the propositions which I was instructed by the State Department to lay before the Argentine government, I have therefore the honor now to request, agreeably with my foregoing statement to our government, that you may be pleased to give your orders for my being conveyed by one of the United States steamers of your squadron, with as little delay as possible, to such a point up the river as will enable me to hold personal intercourse with Mr. Washburn.

Should the requirements of the service be compatible with your absence from Montevideo for a few days, I need scarcely add how much more agreeable would become to me the discharge of what I consider, in the actual complications of political affairs here, an imperative duty, if you would join the expedition and do me the honor to associate yourself with me in my endeavors to give prompt and full effect to the above views of our government, and in the prosecution of a negotiation as important as it is delicate.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. ASBOTH.

Rear-Admiral S. W. Godon, U. S. N., Commanding South Atlantic Squadron.

Under enclosure B, I have the honor to forward in continuation to enclosure B, with my report No. 12, of 8th instant, my daily notes of political events in the river Plata, from the 9th to the 24th of this month. And under enclosure C you will please find a series of well-written leading articles of the “Tribuna,” advocating strongly the acceptance of the United States mediation towards the restoration of peace and the dissolution of the alliance with Brazil.

From these notes and extracts, as well as from the contents of my several former reports on the Paraguay war, you will perceive that while not only an overwhelming majority of the people in the Argentine and Uruguay republics, but also the great mass of the people in Brazil are tired of the war, and anxious for peace. The Emperor of Brazil with his army and navy is pushing on the war with the utmost vigor, and is determined to attempt as soon as possible another decisive blow to crush Paraguay; and also that it seems to be the established policy of the Argentine government to continue to afford, in spite of the internal struggle that is convulsing the republic, its moral support at least to Brazil in a war which the resolution of the United States House of Representatives styles “destructive of commerce and injurious and prejudicial to republican institutions.”

In accordance with this policy, the Argentine government is manoeuvring to procrastinate the actual taking into consideration the offered mediation of the United States until Brazil, now in reality the only combatant in the field against Paraguay, is allowed sufficient time to strike effectively the long-aimed fatal blow at a republic exhausted, as it must be, in her isolation by the long protracted war of the triple alliance, and thus, in the event of the ultimate subjugation of Paraguy, removing all occasion for the friendly mediation of the United States, consolidate undisturbed monarchical preponderance in the La Plata and Parana regions, with, moreover, full commercial control over the interior of South America.

Under these circumstances, and in view both of the reported anxiety of the blockaded republic of Paraguay to accept the mediation of the United States and of the difficulty of our minister at Asuncion to communicate with your department, I venture to express the confident hope that you will approve of my above letter to Rear-Admiral Godon as being the only course left to me by which I could further the humane views of the United States government in support of the common interests of the distressed South American people at large.

It was while influenced by these sentiments that I received, on the 22d instant, an official reply from Rear-Admiral Godon, stating that he has given the subject-matter of my letter proper consideration, and proposes to come to Buenos Ayres for a day or two in the Shamokin, with the view of meeting my wishes, if possible.

While enclosing, marked D, a copy of the note of Rear-Admiral Godon, I beg leave to report that I had the honor of a visit from the admiral the day before yesterday, (23d instant,) on which occasion he informed me verbally that he could not comply fully with my wishes, but would make such arrangements as might enable me to send through a messenger the despatches from your department to our minister in Paraguay, and bring in exchange his letters for you and myself. I requested that he would be pleased to give me this answer officially in writing, but he deferred it to a future occasion. Yesterday I went to see him at his rooms, and requested again a written answer, so as to enable me to report to you on the subject by this mail. The admiral deemed it proper, however, to postpone once more his compliance with my request, on the ground of its being Sunday. I felt, I confess, greatly disappointed, believing as I do that each day’s delay will increase the troubles of my colleague, Mr. Washburn, and lessen the chances of a friendly mediation—the prayer of millions of sorrowing people who consider it as the safest move not only to bring the Paraguay war to a satisfactory termination but also to quell effectively civil war here and secure true internal peace and friendly harmony in South America for the speedy development of the untold wealth of its virgin soil.

The Nacion Argentina, (government organ,) in its number of the day before yesterday, (23d instant,) makes the following remark, which reads in English thus:

Persons thoroughly well informed confirm the version we gave yesterday concerning the negotiation of peace by the United States assuring us that the Imperial government has hastened to communicate to the Argentine and Oriental governments the pretensions of the United States, in order that the allied governments may concert the best manner of rejecting them. Indeed, the great reserve maintained with regard to the mediation leads to the belief that the allied governments are treating this matter very cautiously.

Admiral Godon told me yesterday of the assurance given to him by Señor Octaviano, in Montevideo, that if Brazil were to accept any mediation it would certainly be that of the United States, while the same high Brazilian functionary confidently asserted about the same time to Señor Don Benigno G. Vigil, the Peruvian chargé d’affaires at Montevideo, that if the allies should consent to a friendly mediation it would certainly not be to that of the United States, but to that of the Pacific republics, and this assertion was made after the representatives of the Pacific republics had simultaneously and solemnly protested against the provisioning of Spanish men-of-war in the ports of Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo.

I am authorized by Señor Blest Gana, the Chilian chargé d’affaires, and through him by Señor Vigil, to take, if thought proper, official notice of these conflicting assurances of Señor Octaviano, and as I do not consider it improbable that he may ere long represent the allies in Washington, I have deemed it incumbent upon me to inform you of the above circumstances.

Time, I venture to repeat, is what the allies are manœuvring to gain in order to enable Marshal Marquis Caxias to make another combined attack upon Curupaiti, which, as rumor says, he will attempt on the 6th of March, with a force reckoned in a supplement to the Brazil and River Plate Mail of January 22d, and by the Standard of the 23d instant, respectively, as follows:

There is no news of special importance from Brazil. The following is a list of the naval forces of Brazil at present in the Platine waters, as published by the Diario de Rio:

Steamers, 21; guns, 133; horse-power, 1,920; officers, 348; men, 1,898. Iron-clads, 9; guns, 47; horse-power, 1,680; officers, 178; men, 1,079. Gun-boats, 2; guns, 6; horsepower, 120; officers, 18; men, 77. Sailing ships, 3; guns, 26; horse-power, —; officers, 38; men, 197. Despatch boats, 5; guns, 3; horse-power, 1,300; officers, 95; men, 412. Total vessels, 40; guns, 215; horse-power, 5,020; officers, 678; men, 3.663.

IMPERIAL FORCES IN PARAGUAY.

The Brazilian army in Paraguay is reckoned up at 35,000 men. The naval strength consists of the following vessels:

Steam gun-boats, 10; guns, 67; horse-power, 980; men, 1,144. Steamers, 7; guns, 17; horse-power, 265; men, 520. Iron-clads, 9; guns, 47; horse-power, 1,770; men, 978. Bombs, 2; guns, 6; horsepower, 120; men, 95. Sailing ships, 2; guns, 5; horse-power, —; men, 69. Despatch boats, 5; guns, 5; horse-power, 1,300; men, 507. Total vessels, 35; guns, 147; horse-power, 4,435; men, 3,313.

In such a critical state of affairs I can but regret that Admiral Grodon should delay my communicating with Mr. Washburn, whilst he has a number of vessels at his disposal at Montevideo that can safely steam up the river at its present high-water mark.

In conclusion I beg to report relative to the revolution in the provinces of Cuyo that the attitude of Cordova, with its new inscrutable Governor Dr. Luque, is becoming daily more important; however, the cynosure of the eyes of the great mass of the people in San José, the home of the veteran General Urquiza, who remains still passive.

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. ASBOTH.

Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

P. S.—After closing my mail for the packet steamer Arno, I called at noon on Rear-Admiral Godon, by appointment to visit with him his excellency the vice-president, when he handed to me a second note in answer to my above request of 16th instant, for a steamer to enable me to communicate in person with the Hon. Mr. Washburn. In this note the admiral states that he cannot as yet reply in detail to my referred communication, but takes the occasion to inform me that as soon as he reaches Montevideo he will order the United States steamer Wasp to this place, with instructions to receive any despatches I may have to send to Mr. Washburn, and then proceeding to Tuyuti, the headquarters of the allied army, obtain permission for an officer to pass and deliver said despatches to Mr. Washburn, waiting a sufficient time for any return communications he may have to send either to the State Department or to myself.

Thus Rear-Admiral Godon seems to coincide with me in the propriety of sending a steamer for the exchange of official despatches with Mr. Washburn, but is not disposed to lend himself to make it the occasion of my simultaneously holding an interview with our minister in Paraguay; and while I have the honor to enclose, marked E, a full copy of Rear-Admiral Godon’s note, I am really at a loss to account for this unwillingness on his part to assist in carrying out the double object I had in view, viz: the exchange of despatches and a personal conference with Mr. Washburn. So much the less can I understand his reluctance to facilitate my proposed interview with Mr. Washburn, since it would not have entailed upon him any additional risk, responsibility, or cost, whilst it would certainly have materially contributed to bring about an advantageous solution of the pending negotiation, more in conformity with the spirit both of your instructions and of the resolution of the United States Congress.

Although I feel well assured that the admiral is actuated, as I am, by the same sincere desire to promote the best interests of our government, nevertheless I deem it proper, while submitting without further comment our conflicting views to your decision, to request at the same time that you may be pleased to define for my future guidance the reciprocal duties and obligations incumbent upon ministers resident and admirals abroad under similar circumstances.

A. ASBOTH.

Memoranda of political events in the River Plate from the 9th to the 24th February, 1867.

February 9.—The police is actively engaged in making arrests in connection with the alleged revolutionary suppression of the night: before last. The Tribuna states that little importance is to be attached to the affair, whilst the Nacion Argentina makes the most of it, and insists it was the intention of the revolutionaries to assassinate the ministers Elizalde and Rawson, and the Governor Alsina.

The Brazilian minister Octaviano presented yesterday to the government at Montevideo his letters of recall.

February 10.—An order is published by the chief of police directing all citizens of the Uruguay republic who had held military employment in the same, but reside now here, to present themselves within 48 hours to the respective commissary of police, and give their names, rank, and domicile, under penalty of a line of 200 paper dollars, or six days’ imprisonment.

Señor Octaviano, in presenting his letter of recall the day before yesterday, at Montevideo, expressed the high regard entertained by Brazil for the Uruguay republic, and alluded to the sincere desire of the former to see the latter prosperous and independent. General Flores, in reply, expressed his regret at the departure of the minister, who, by the efficient discharge of his duties, has helped so much to make closer the bonds that unite the two nations.

February 11.—Two battalions from the Argentine army at Tuyuti arrived on the 9th instant at Rosario, destined for the interior, in support of General Paunero. On the 8th instant there was a stormy debate in the provincial house of representatives of Entre Rios, on the subject of the suppression of newspapers by order of the national government.

February 12.—Advices from Rio de Janeiro are to the effect that the Emperor is determined to push on the war with renewed vigor.

February 13.—It is reported that Admiral Viscount Tamandaré will shortly return to the liver Plata and resume supreme command of the Brazilian squadron.

The Tribuna contains a leading article strongly in favor of mediation and peace, and for a dissolution of the alliance. Don Mariano Varela, the provincial minister of finance, being one of the proprietors of the paper, the fact of his advocating so strenuously the mediation or the United States is very significant.

February 14.—The Tribuna of to-day has another powerful leader advocating peace through the mediation of the United States.

The Marquis de Caxias, steam transport, with the Argentine troops on board from the seat of war to Rosario, burst one of her boilers in the port of Corrientes on the 9th instant. The list of killed and wounded is officially reported as 106, of which more than half were among the killed.

February 15.—On the 12th instant Don Tomas Fortimafco de Brito presented to General Flores, in Montevideo, his credentials, withdrawing him from the post of charge d’affaires, and accrediting him as special plenipotentiary, vice Octaviano, retired. The usual decrees have been promulgated by the Uruguay government, recognizing Mr. de Brito in his new capacity. His successor as charge d’affaires is Don Julio Henrique de Mello Alvini.

From the interior we hear that a portion of Arredondo’s force has reached Rio Cuarto and effected a junction with General Paunero, whose position is still very critical.

Arrests here in town and in the country are still the order of the day.

The Tribuna has another remarkable leader on the question of the mediation of the United States and peace with Paraguay.

February 16.—1,400 more Argentine soldiers having been sent from Tuyuti to Rosario in addition to the 1,200 that marched with Colonel Arredondo, President Mitre himself arrived in Rosario, on the 13th instant, in the Guarda National, Argentine war steamer, with a bodyguard of 300 men. Thus about 3,000 of the Argentine contingent have been already withdrawn from the allied army, to be employed against the Mendoza reaction. Marquis de Caxias has succeeded President Mitre as commander-in-chief of the allied army.

News has come of riots in the town of Cordova portending a revolutionary rising in the whole province.

The Tribuna still continues to advocate for mediation and peace.

February 17.—The Tribuna, in a leading article relative to President Mitre’s arrival in Rosario, and of his having been obliged to give up the command-in-chief of the allied army, argues that the alliance is de facto dissolved, since the equilibrium at headquarters no longer exists, and one of the principal provisions of the alliance, that the direction of the war should be confided to a republican state, being no longer carried out, the alliance itself must cease, or else there would be a well-founded apprehension for an absolute preponderance of Brazil in the war.

The Standard publishes President Mitre’s order of the day on leaving the allied army, as follows:

The President of the republic and General-in-chief of the army to his companions in arms:

Soldiers: While you have been sustaining with bravery the glory of the Argentine flag in front of the foreign enemy that dared to insult it, and pouring out your precious blood at its foot to secure to the republic the blessings of liberty and peace, some traitors, taking a cowardly advantage of your sacrifices, have committed the crime of disturbing the public peace in open rebellion against the law. I can assure you that the rebellion shall be promptly suffocated and the treason adequately punished, for which object some of your companions have already marched, and who will be sufficient to secure the peace of the republic; but if not, a sufficient number will be despatched, until the institutions of the country shall triumph. I also assure you that whatever may happen, and at whatever cost, the war in which we are engaged will be prosecuted vigorously with the powerful elements now at the command of the allied armies, until it shall reach a glorious termination.

In order to achieve this important result in the shortest possible time, I am obliged to separate myself temporarily from you—you at whose side I have shared for the space of two years the perils and glories of this memorable campaign. Soon I trust to return to share them again with you, until we shall obtain the crowning triumph.

I leave in command the same generals, chiefs, and officers as have always led you to victory, and whose orders you must obey now as before, showing the same courtesy, the same valor, and the same discipline as have made you the admiration of the whole republic. Until I return to share again your noble labors, I salute you as your general and friend,

BARTOLOME MITRE.

Headquarters Tuyuti, February 9, 1867.

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February 18.—The arrests of citizens in Buenos Ayres and in the country are still continuing.

Two Brazilian transports with troops arrived in Montevideo on the 16th instant.

February 19.—News from the interior announce that the province of Rioja has declared itself for the insurrection. Thus there are already four provinces in open rebellion against the national government, viz: Mendoza, San Juan, San Luis, and Rioja.

Governor San Roman of Rioja, with Colonel Igarzabal, the commander of the national forces, were obliged to flee to the neighboring province of Catamara with barely fifty men. A new federal governor for Rioja was elected, whose name is Alvarez.

Notwithstanding the rumors of a proximate peace, the Argentine government has sent forth fresh orders for horses.

Marshal Osorio, with his reserve corps of only 1,300 men, is reported as advancing towards Santa Anna.

February 20.—The Brazilian official account of the bombardment of Curupaiti on the 2d instant is published to-day. On the morning of the2d at 5 a. m. the vanguard, consisting of the iron-clads Bahia Mariz y Barros, Tamandaré and Columbus weighed anchor; they were shortly afterwards followed by the flag-ship Silvado, the Herval, Barroso, and Cabral, who opened fire on the Paraguayan batteries at 6 a. m. At first the Paraguayans did not reply, but when the Columbus, followed by the floating battery Fort de Corinbra and the Chartar Riachuelo and Curvas, took up an advantageous position above, and continued their fire on the fort, Curupaiti replied vigorously with thirteen large guns, keeping up a steady fire on the imperial camp. The Brazilian land forces made at the same time a charge under command of General Argallo, but were repulsed at the abatis, and had to retire to enable the squadron to reopen its fire, which lasted until 9 a. m., with the only result, however, of destroying a portion of the Paraguayan earthworks. The Paraguayans handled their guns with precision. The iron-clad Silvado had her commander killed by a round shot. The Barroso had six men disabled, including the second lieutenant. The iron-clad Cabral was pierced from side to side by a ball. The Bahia received thirteen balls. The Mariz y Barros had a shot through her turret, while another struck her close to the water’s edge. The Herval was nearly sunk by a shot three inches below water mark, and a second entered her case-mating. The Columbus lost her cable. The Tamandaré was the only one not injured.

Meanwhile the Emperor of Brazil is granting titles and orders for freeing slaves to enlist. Many decorations have besides been conferred in connection with the levying of troops. The Emperor has also sent the order of the Rose to General Acosta and Colonel Larragvitia (Orientals) for their attention in landing Brazilian soldiers at Montevideo.

From the seat of war it is reported that Marquis Caxias is preparing to make another attack by land and by water on the Paraguayan lines early in March.

On the 18th instant another Brazilian transport with troops for the army arrived at Montevideo.

News from the interior continues very unsatisfactory. General Paunero is urging President Mitre to join him, while the Vice-President, Dr. Paz, is equally pressing that he should come to Buenos Ayres. Felipse Saa has been made governor of San Luis. Minister Octaviano left Montevideo on the 17th for Rio de Janeiro.

February 21.—A steamer from Corrientes arrived yesterday, but brings no news from the seat of war. From the interior we hear that Colonel Arredondo’s whole division has at last effected a junction with General Paunero. President Mitre’s return to Buenos Ayres seems to be postponed for same days.

Señor de Brito, the new special envoy of Brazil, is expected shortly in Buenos Ayres to hold a conference with the Argentine government relative to the proposed United States mediation.

The “Tribuna” in an article published to-day, headed the situation, says: “The rebellion which originated in a mutiny of prisoners in Mendoza has been gradually taking importance, and is to-day mistress of four provinces, Mendoza, San Juan, San Luis and Rioja, and, being able to provide itself with any amount of arms and ammunition from Chile, can bring into the field a large force. It counts moreover with the tolerance, if not the sympathy, of Cordova, Entre Rioz, and Corrientes. The seven remaining provinces of the confederation, Buenos Ayres, Santa Fé, Santiago, Tucunmn, Catamarca, and Jujuy, are alone, apparently, true to the national government, whose elements to combat the rebellion are the following: General Paunero, with Colonel Arredondo’s division, can muster about 4,000 men of the line, who will form the main army of the interior and advance against the rebels, whose vanguard is said to be at El Moro, province of San Luis. The national guard of Catamarca, Tucuman, and Satta, amounting to about 4,500 men, under General A. Taboada, after incorporating themselves with the Santiago national guards, who, commanded by General M. Taboada, have been placed in observation on the frontier of the province of Cordova and Santiago, will march upon Rioja and San Juan, and while Colonel Conera with the second division Buenos Ayres and a battery of rifled guns will post himself in the town of Cordova to meet unforeseen emergencies, four other battalions, that will by this time have reached Rosario from Tuyute, with a regiment of cavalry, will either be stationed in Trangle Muerto as a corps of reserve or advance in support of General Paunero.” The article concludes by saying that although the political horizon is darkened by an approaching heavy storm, the national government has sufficient means at its disposal to conjure it off by acting with energy and promptness.

February 22.—The “Tribuna” says that the mediation is the theme of everybody’s conversation, and wonders at the reserve of the government, advising, at the same time, Señor de Elizalde to publish the official notes that have passed on the subject.

The “Nacion Argentina” gives the following characteristic résume of the situation: “The Paraguay war waits for the war in the interior, the war in the interior waits for the operations that are about to be undertaken, the operations wait for the government, the government waits for President Mitre.”

Further rows are reported to have occurred in Cordova.

February 23.—The “Nacion Argentina” announces the arrival in a few days of Señor Don Domingo F. Sarmiento, from the United States, to assume one of the ministerial portfolios here, and predicts, in consequence, a change in the policy of the Argentine government. Señor de Brito, Brazilian special envoy, arrived here today and had a long private conference with Señor de Elizalde. His official reception by the Argentine government will take place the day after to-morrow. Rear-Admiral Godon arrived also to-day on board the Shamokin.

February 24—It is stated that President Mitre is awaiting in Rosario for the rest of the Argentine troops from Paraguay previous to taking his departure for Buenos Ayres.

Admiral Godon to Mr. Asboth

U. S. Flag-Ship Brooklyn, Montevideo, February 21, 1867.

Sir: Your communication of the 16th of February, in which you request me to place a vessel at your disposal, &c., has been received.

I have given the subject-matter of your letter proper consideration, and propose to go to Buenos Ayres for a day or two in the Shamokin, with the view of meeting your wishes if possible.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. W. GODON, Rear-Admiral, Commanding South Atlantic Squadron.

Major General Asboth, Minister Resident of the United States, Buenos Ayres.

Admiral Godon to Mr. Asboth

U. S. Flag-ship Shamokin, Buenos Ayres, February 25, 1867.

Sir: At present I am not able to reply in detail to your communication requesting me to put a vessellat your disposition to enable you to communicate in person with Mr. Washburn, United States minister resident in Paraguay.

I take this occasion, however, to inform you that as soon as I reach Montevideo, I will direct the Wasp to proceed to this place and receive any despatches you may have to send to Mr. Washburn, and thence proceeding to Tuyuti, the headquarters of the allied armies, obtain permission for an officer to proceed with the despatches to Mr. Washburn, and deliver them, waiting a sufficient time to receive from him any return despatches he may have to send, either to the government or to yourself.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. W. GODON, Rear-Admiral, Commanding South Atlantic Squadron.

Major General Asboth, Minister Resident of the United States, Buenos Ayres.