Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/140

 CHAPTER X.

HE only co-operation which the marshal was able to afford to the imperial government consisted in the proper management of the war; for article 6 of the treaty of Miramar formally prohibited his intervening in any branch of the Mexican administration. Maximilian reigned in full independence, and, whatever might be the condition of domestic affairs, the responsibility rested on the ministers of the crown, though it is true that they had already begun to release themselves of it.

The head-quarters authorities, whose duty it was to strive against these tendencies, and to keep strictly to their own functions, exerted themselves, at the appeal of the imperial family, to lay down the basis of a new military formation which would double the forces of the foreign legion and the Austro-Belgian brigade. The commander-in-chief took upon himself to demand from his government authority to form nine battalions of Mexican cazadores (chasseurs), and to introduce into them a French list of officers, as offering a further guarantee to the court of Mexico.

In a few months, nine battalions of cazadores, of ten companies each, making up an average of 400 effectives