(1458) [SMITH lo COMMANDANT]
Consulate of the U.S.A., Matamoras, December l2, 1835. Sir: I have this moment received a representation made by some of the passengers and part of the crew of the American schooner Hannah Elizabeth, slating, in substance, that they set sail on board said vessel, laden with a cargo of dry goods and provisions, from the port of New Orleans, on the 13th ultimo, hound for the port of l\'latagorda, Texas; that, on the I 8th day of the same month, the said vessel stranded on the bar in attempting to enter Matagorda bay, in which situation she was fired into by the Mexican armed schooner General Bravo, and boarded by twenty-two armed soldiers, who forcibly took five American passengers, the master, and three of the·crew, from the wreck, on board the Bravo, where they were immediately chained in the hold of that vessel, so that they could neither sit up or lie down al full length; in which condition they remained until the 2d instant, when they were landed in this port in a naked, feeble condition, and placed under a guard of soldiers, having been pillaged of the most of their clothes and furnished with a very scanty allowance of provisions during a close confinement of fourteen days. Since their arrival al the Brazos de Santiago, they have not only been subjected to a rigid confinement, and suffered severely in consequence of the inclemency of the season, but they have been altogether dependent for their supply of provisions to the disinterested kindness of their countryman, Mr. Savage, a resident of that place. It appears, by the preceding statement, that the prisoners have been shamefully ill-treated; and, as they have been forcibly taken out of an American vessel, sailing under the protection of the flag of the United States, it becomes mu duty lo demand the cause of their capture and imprisonment.
I have the honor, &c.k D. W. Smith.
To the Principal Commandant of the Stale of Tamaulipas.
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