He  was  careful,  too,  of  the  just  rights  of  neutral  powers,  to  the
entire  satisfaction  of  their  representatives.  On  this  point  the  sense


COMMODORE    DAVID    CONXKI;.  243

of  obligation  to  him  is  well  expressed  in  a  letter  from  the  senior
British  naval  officer  on  the  station,  who  says : —

"  Permit  me,  before  you  leave  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  express  my
sense  of  the  kind  and  considerate  courtesy  witli  which  my  count  r\-
men  have  invariably  been  treated  by  you  while  commanding  the
United  States  naval  forces.  Although  ever  strict  in  maintaining
your  just  belligerent  rights,  you  have,  sir,  caused  the  evils  neces-
sarily attendant  on  a  state  of  warfare  to  fall  as  lightly  as  possible
on  the  subjects  of  neutral  nations,  and  in  prosecuting  the  war
against  your  enemy,  you  have  contrived  to  win  even  his  gratitude
by  having  on  every  possible  occasion  mercifully  spared  the  poor  and
helpless."

One  of  the  earliest  measures  of  Commodore  Conner  was  to  open
regular  channels  of  communication  with  the  interior  of  Mexico,
through  which  was  transmitted  to  him  the  earliest  intelligence  of
the  movements  of  the  enemy.  For  information  thus  obtained,  both
Taylor  and  Scott  were  greatly  indebted  to  him,  as  is  frequently
acknowledged  in  their  correspondence,  since  published  among  the
executive  documents  of  the  year  1847.  Nor  was  this  the  limit  of
the  aid  afforded  by  him  to  those  distinguished  officers.  The  assis-
tance of  his  vessels  was  lent  in  the  first  movement  of  the  army  to
the  position  that  was  afterwards  called  Fort  Brown.  When  Tay-
lor's communications  with  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  and  his
depots  there  were  threatened  by  the  enemy,  Conner  appeared  off
the  Brazos  and  landed  a  force  of  seamen  and  marines  for  the  defence
of  the  menaced  positions ;  and  subsequently  boats  and  men  from
his  squadron  co-operated  in  the  movement  upon  the  town  of  Mata-
moras.
