Mr. Washburn to Mr. Seward
Sir: Your despatches Nos. 01, 62, and 63 were received by me on the 12th ultimo, having been forwarded to the allied camp by General Asboth, and thence transmitted through the military lines.
I have nothing new of importance to communicate in regard to the political or military aspect of affairs. There has been no fighting of any importance for nearly ten months. The only information we have of any movement of the allies is that a Brazilian force of some 2,000, more or less, made its appearance on the Rio Apa, a tributary of the upper Paraguay, at a point some 250 leagues to the northward. This force, I am assured by Minister Berges, was entirely destroyed, and their supplies taken by the Paraguayans. But I cannot learn that there is any better prospect of a serious or general attack of the main army than there was nine months ago. The exhaustion of these people is sad to view? but there seem no signs of their giving in. Should the war last much longer there must be an end of the Paraguayan race, for there will be no men to continue it. There have been some attempts at recruiting recently, but all the men fit for soldiers had been taken before, and these last were nearly all boys from 10 to 14 years of age. Some old men who, in former conscriptions, were considered too old and feeble for soldiers have now been taken, and many are expecting that the women will next be called upon. This season of the year is very unfavorable for the health of the troops.
The rains have been heavy, and the strength of the Paraguay position consists very much in the swamps and marshes among which the camp is situated. The soldiers being scantily fed and poorly clothed, the suffering and mortality on both sides must be great; how great, we have no means of knowing, as everything at the camp is kept very secret and we at the capital know little of what is going on there. If Brazil can continue this war without fighting long enough, it must win at last by mere superiority of numbers, and then it can turn with its whole force to the destruction of the Argentine and Uruguay republics. The three countries will make rich dowries for the daughters of the Emperor, and will give a fine chance for the perpetuation of the influence and power of the ancient and imperial houses of Bourbon and Braganza. I am as confident as I can be of anything in the future that this war against Paraguay will be succeeded by another on a larger scale between the allies themselves, and that the great final struggle of republicanism or monarchy in South America, in which other nations will take a great interest if not an active part, will be fought out and decided in the river Plata. In my former despatches I have endeavored to show how important it is to the United States that the imperial government should net succeed in its ambitious projects, and how desirable it is that some means may be devised, through mediation or otherwise, by which the final catastrophe of the extermination of a brave people may be averted. But as yet I see no signs of a relinquishment of the unequal contest.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.