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necessary to any very decided, and successful operations against the enemy, but :i;ievertheless, It occurs to me that much may be done to anoy them, From what we have learned from the newspapers, pub- lished at Austin, I should conclude, that there would be no use in em- ploy[ing] an army on the Rio Grande, If Arista is disposed [to] a suspension of hostilities, it will be as much as we can ask from him, better, than to take poss [ession] of the Country by a Military force, because we [can] avoid, by it an expense, that we are in no condition to incur. It seems to me that it would be sound policy to embrace, any pacific overtures, he may make, and use such means as we can move immediately against the Capitol, This in the [prJesent posture of our affairs can only be done in a [lim]itted way, by destroying, the com- merce of Vera Cruz [and] Tampico One of our vessells of war and two or three [pr]ivateers could effect this ohject. It may be objected that many portions of the Republic of Mexico, like the Northern provinces, and the extreme South may wish to encourage friendly rela- tions with us, and that there will be great difficulty in -discriminating between those, who. would be friends, and the enemy, To obviate this objection, I would suggest the appointment, of Judge Webb to go down to Yucatan, with powers, to enter into friendly relations with such of the Revolted provinces, as were disposed to be friendly, That he should remain there long enough to effect this object, and further that any information [gi]ven by him, to our naval officers and Privateers, should [be] obligatory, on them, as to what provinces of the old Republic [of] Mexico, should be treated as friends. I am informed r tha]t Capt Wheelright, if had a privateers, letter [wo]uld sail in a fortnight or three weeks, and [on]e of our Schooners could immediately go down with Judge Webb, and then cruize against the enemy, I can perceive no sort of objection to giving privateers letters to Capt Wheeright, it will be only useing such means agairn;t the enemy a[s] have been uniformly sanctioned by the usages of of [sic] the most christian and civilised nations, and will hardly be expected, that, our Government sh[ould] in its infancy dictate a new code of morality to the nations of the earth. I hope to see you soon at the City of Austin. I would have written to you soon after your return 'to Austin, but I then ex- pected to have been up at Court, but was prevented, there are many things I would like to talk about to you I congratulate you most sin- cerely on the restoration of your health and beg you to believe me with Great Respect Your Sincere frnd & Obdt Servnt Gen M B Lamar Abner S. ~ipscomb P. S. I am very anxious, if your Excellency sh[ould] concur in opinion, with me, that Capt-Wheelright should go soon, with all possibly despatch, and time, can be saved, by forwarding the papers, for him, to Judge Webb or Mr Jacks[on] with blanks, as to. the name, and tonage of the Schoo[ner]
Yr
ASL
[Addressed]
[Endorsed]
His Excellency
A. S. Lipscomb 29th June 1841
Gen. M B Lamar
City of Austin
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