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THE FALL OF MAXIMILIAN'S EMPIRE.
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Maximillian and his officers were the prisoners of President Juarez.[1]
When the Prince cast his lot for good or ill with those that had offered him a crown and a throne, he fully appreciated the dangers of his situation, but with his characteristic gallantry braved all perils. The end had now come, and he was a prisoner in the hands of fierce and angry men. The intelligence caused no surprise to Commander Roe, who had long expected it, and had matured his plans. Knowing, as he and others did, the difference in the temperaments of the people of Mexico and of the United States; knowing also to what desperate
- ↑ It is not generally known that the officer to whom the Prince delivered up his sword was an American, Colonel Geo. M. Green.
This gentleman went to Mexico in the darkest days of her desperate struggle, at the head of a body of fellow countrymen, mostly veterans of the Union armies, but reinforced afterwards by many gallant ex-wearers of the gray. At the Rio Grande, the extreme limit of Mexican territory, they met President Juarez, pursued and harassed by the Imperial forces, but still undaunted. Drawing fresh inspiration from the appearance of this staunch little band, he formally enrolled it in his army as the "Legion of Honor," and issued a fresh appeal to his despairing countrymen, in which he but thinly veiled the hope of armed assistance from the United States Government. The patriots rallied; from that hour the tide of battle turned. From Chihuahua to Querétaro victory followed victory, unchecked save in one instance: surprised by a superior force at Zacatecas, the Liberal army was completely routed, and so impetuous was the charge of the enemy that Juarez and all his Cabinet would probably have been captured, and the Liberal government extinguished, but for the Legion of Honor, who threw themselves into the narrow defile of the Bufa and checked the onslaught long enough for them to escape.
When the remains of the devoted Carlotta regiment surrendered to the Legion of Honor at Querétaro, Colonel Green allowed Prince Maximilian to retain his sword, and took him, in custody, to General Corona.
