WRITINGS OF S~M HOUSTON, 1860
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to be a doubt upon the subject. Genl Scott, in his communication of March 19, says : "The recent disturbances on our side of the lower Rio Grande were commenced by Texans, and carried on (vainly) by and betw~en them. Cortinas and most of his brigands are natives of Texas. A brother horse-thief burned a house belonging to the mother of Cortinas, living in Texas, consequent on a quarrel about dividing the stolen property. Cortinas retaliated, and hence our side of the river for many miles has been devastated. But few, if any, Mexicans from the opposite side took part in the disturbances. There was no attack from the Mexican side upon our boat, the ltanchero, loaded with provisions. Her colors were not rent with bullets" &c I am happy to be able to state that this opinion is not enter- tained by yourself, for in your communication to Congress of March 5, 1860, you state: "But upon the call of the governor of Texas, and upon unde- niable proof of outrages committed upon. our soil, I did not hesi- tate to order a concentration of all the force upon that frontier which the exigencies of the service elsewhere would allow." Nor was the opinion, "that few, if any Mexicans from the opposite side took part in the disturbances," entertained by Major Heintzelman. In his note on the Texan commissioners of February 2, 1860, he says: "I have but one company of cavalry at my disposal and this force I consider entirely inadequate for the. security of the frontier, as I am not authorized to cross the river into Mexico, where the marauders recruit and organize, and to where they flee fo1· safety when pursued." Sworn testimony taken by the Texan commissioners going to show that much the larger portion of the forces under Cortinas came from the Mexican side of the river, has also been submitted to your Department. No property belonging to the mother of Cortinas has been destroyed except a jacal burnt by the command of Major Heintzel- man during the engagement of the 24th December. Cortinas had, previous to that occasion, entered Brownsville and murdered several citizens. He had intrenched himself, and at the head of a band of outlaws, mostly from Mexico, bid defiance to the American authorities. How Colonel Brown, in the face of these facts, could report that these disturbances were commenced
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