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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9896-8.txt b/9896-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..26d8e2c --- /dev/null +++ b/9896-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9822 @@ +Project Gutenberg's My Days of Adventure, by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: My Days of Adventure + The Fall of France, 1870-71 + +Author: Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +Posting Date: December 5, 2011 [EBook #9896] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 28, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team from images +generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale +de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + + + + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + THE FALL OF FRANCE, 1870-71 + + By Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + + +Le Petit Homme Rouge + +Author of "The Court of the Tuileries 1852-70" etc. + + +With A Frontispiece + +London, 1914 + + + + +THE PEOPLE'S WAR + + O husbandmen of hill and dale, + O dressers of the vines, + O sea-tossed fighters of the gale, + O hewers of the mines, + O wealthy ones who need not strive, + O sons of learning, art, + O craftsmen of the city's hive, + O traders of the man, + Hark to the cannon's thunder-call + Appealing to the brave! + Your France is wounded, and may fall + Beneath the foreign grave! + Then gird your loins! Let none delay + Her glory to maintain; + Drive out the foe, throw off his sway, + Win back your land again! + +1870. E.A.V. + + + +PREFACE + + +While this volume is largely of an autobiographical character, it will be +found to contain also a variety of general information concerning the +Franco-German War of 1870-71, more particularly with respect to the second +part of that great struggle--the so-called "People's War" which followed +the crash of Sedan and the downfall of the Second French Empire. If I have +incorporated this historical matter in my book, it is because I have +repeatedly noticed in these later years that, whilst English people are +conversant with the main facts of the Sedan disaster and such subsequent +outstanding events as the siege of Paris and the capitulation of Metz, +they usually know very little about the manner in which the war generally +was carried on by the French under the virtual dictatorship of Gambetta. +Should England ever be invaded by a large hostile force, we, with our very +limited regular army, should probably be obliged to rely largely on +elements similar to those which were called to the field by the French +National Defence Government of 1870 after the regular armies of the Empire +had been either crushed at Sedan or closely invested at Metz. For that +reason I have always taken a keen interest in our Territorial Force, well +realizing what heavy responsibilities would fall upon it if a powerful +enemy should obtain a footing in this country. Some indication of those +responsibilities will be found in the present book. + +Generally speaking, however, I have given only a sketch of the latter part +of the Franco-German War. To have entered into details on an infinity of +matters would have necessitated the writing of a very much longer work. +However, I have supplied, I think, a good deal of precise information +respecting the events which I actually witnessed, and in this connexion, +perhaps, I may have thrown some useful sidelights on the war generally; +for many things akin to those which I saw, occurred under more or less +similar circumstances in other parts of France. + +People who are aware that I am acquainted with the shortcomings of the +French in those already distant days, and that I have watched, as closely +as most foreigners can watch, the evolution of the French army in these +later times, have often asked me what, to my thinking, would be the +outcome of another Franco-German War. For many years I fully anticipated +another struggle between the two Powers, and held myself in readiness to +do duty as a war-correspondent. I long thought, also, that the signal for +that struggle would be given by France. But I am no longer of that +opinion. I fully believe that all French statesmen worthy of the name +realize that it would be suicidal for France to provoke a war with her +formidable neighbour. And at the same time I candidly confess that I do +not know what some journalists mean by what they call the "New France." To +my thinking there is no "New France" at all. There was as much spirit, as +much patriotism, in the days of MacMahon, in the days of Boulanger, and at +other periods, as there is now. The only real novelty that I notice in the +France of to-day is the cultivation of many branches of sport and athletic +exercise. Of that kind of thing there was very little indeed when I was a +stripling. But granting that young Frenchmen of to-day are more athletic, +more "fit" than were those of my generation, granting, moreover, that the +present organization and the equipment of the French army are vastly +superior to what they were in 1870, and also that the conditions of +warfare have greatly changed, I feel that if France were to engage, +unaided, in a contest with Germany, she would again be worsted, and +worsted by her own fault. + +She fully knows that she cannot bring into the field anything like as many +men as Germany; and it is in a vain hope of supplying the deficiency that +she has lately reverted from a two to a three years' system of military +service. The latter certainly gives her a larger effective for the first +contingencies of a campaign, but in all other respects it is merely a +piece of jugglery, for it does not add a single unit to the total number +of Frenchmen capable of bearing arms. The truth is, that during forty +years of prosperity France has been intent on racial suicide. In the whole +of that period only some 3,500,000 inhabitants have been added to her +population, which is now still under 40 millions; whereas that of Germany +has increased by leaps and bounds, and stands at about 66 millions. At the +present time the German birth-rate is certainly falling, but the numerical +superiority which Germany has acquired over France since the war of 1870 +is so great that I feel it would be impossible for the latter to triumph +in an encounter unless she should be assisted by powerful allies. Bismarck +said in 1870 that God was on the side of the big battalions; and those +big battalions Germany can again supply. I hold, then, that no such +Franco-German war as the last one can again occur. Europe is now virtually +divided into two camps, each composed of three Powers, all of which would +be more or less involved in a Franco-German struggle. The allies and +friends on either side are well aware of it, and in their own interests +are bound to exert a restraining influence which makes for the maintenance +of peace. We have had evidence of this in the limitations imposed on the +recent Balkan War. + +On the other hand, it is, of course, the unexpected which usually happens; +and whilst Europe generally remains armed to the teeth, and so many +jealousies are still rife, no one Power can in prudence desist from her +armaments. We who are the wealthiest nation in Europe spend on our +armaments, in proportion to our wealth and our population, less than any +other great Power. Yet some among us would have us curtail our +expenditure, and thereby incur the vulnerability which would tempt a foe. +Undoubtedly the armaments of the present day are great and grievous +burdens on the nations, terrible impediments to social progress, but they +constitute, unfortunately, our only real insurance against war, justifying +yet to-day, after so many long centuries, the truth of the ancient Latin +adage--_Si vis pacem, para bellum_. + +It is, I think, unnecessary for me to comment here on the autobiographical +part of my book. It will, I feel, speak for itself. It treats of days long +past, and on a few points, perhaps, my memory may be slightly defective. +In preparing my narrative, however, I have constantly referred to my old +diaries, note-books and early newspaper articles, and have done my best to +abstain from all exaggeration. Whether this story of some of my youthful +experiences and impressions of men and things was worth telling or not is +a point which I must leave my readers to decide. + +E.A.V. + +London, _January_ 1914. + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + + II. THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + + III. ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + + IV. FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + + V. BESIEGED + + VI. MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + + VII. FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +VIII. FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + + IX. THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + + X. WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + + XI. BEFORE LE MANS + + XII. LE MANS AND AFTER + +XIII. THE BITTER END + + INDEX + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + + +I + +INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + +The Vizetelly Family--My Mother and her Kinsfolk--The _Illustrated Times_ +and its Staff--My Unpleasant Disposition--Thackeray and my First +Half-Crown--School days at Eastbourne--Queen Alexandra--Garibaldi--A few +old Plays and Songs--Nadar and the "Giant" Balloon--My Arrival in France-- +My Tutor Brossard--Berezowski's Attempt on Alexander II--My Apprenticeship +to Journalism--My first Article--I see some French Celebrities--Visits to +the Tuileries--At Compiègne--A few Words with Napoleon III--A +"Revolutionary" Beard. + + +This is an age of "Reminiscences," and although I have never played any +part in the world's affairs, I have witnessed so many notable things and +met so many notable people during the three-score years which I have +lately completed, that it is perhaps allowable for me to add yet another +volume of personal recollections to the many which have already poured +from the press. On starting on an undertaking of this kind it is usual, I +perceive by the many examples around me, to say something about one's +family and upbringing. There is less reason for me to depart from this +practice, as in the course of the present volume it will often be +necessary for me to refer to some of my near relations. A few years ago a +distinguished Italian philosopher and author, Angelo de Gubernatis, was +good enough to include me in a dictionary of writers belonging to the +Latin races, and stated, in doing so, that the Vizetellys were of French +origin. That was a rather curious mistake on the part of an Italian +writer, the truth being that the family originated at Ravenna, where some +members of it held various offices in the Middle Ages. Subsequently, after +dabbling in a conspiracy, some of the Vizzetelli fled to Venice and took +to glass-making there, until at last Jacopo, from whom I am descended, +came to England in the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth. From that time +until my own the men of my family invariably married English women, so +that very little Italian blood can flow in my veins. + +Matrimonial alliances are sometimes of more than personal interest. One +point has particularly struck me in regard to those contracted by members +of my own family, this being the diversity of English counties from which +the men have derived their wives and the women their husbands. References +to Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, +Leicestershire, Berkshire, Bucks, Suffolk, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and +Devonshire, in addition to Middlesex, otherwise London, appear in my +family papers. We have become connected with Johnstons, Burslems, +Bartletts, Pitts, Smiths, Wards, Covells, Randalls, Finemores, Radfords, +Hindes, Pollards, Lemprières, Wakes, Godbolds, Ansells, Fennells, +Vaughans, Edens, Scotts, and Pearces, and I was the very first member of +the family (subsequent to its arrival in England) to take a foreigner as +wife, she being the daughter of a landowner of Savoy who proceeded from +the Tissots of Switzerland. My elder brother Edward subsequently married a +Burgundian girl named Clerget, and my stepbrother Frank chose an American +one, _née_ Krehbiel, as his wife, these marriages occurring because +circumstances led us to live for many years abroad. + +Among the first London parishes with which the family was connected was +St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, where my forerunner, the first Henry +Vizetelly, was buried in 1691, he then being fifty years of age, and where +my father, the second Henry of the name, was baptised soon after his birth +in 1820. St. Bride's, Fleet Street, was, however, our parish for many +years, as its registers testify, though in 1781 my great-grandfather was +resident in the parish of St. Ann's, Blackfriars, and was elected +constable thereof. At that date the family name, which figures in old +English registers under a variety of forms--Vissitaler, Vissitaly, +Visataly, Visitelly, Vizetely, etc.--was by him spelt Vizzetelly, as is +shown by documents now in the Guildhall Library; but a few years later he +dropped the second z, with the idea, perhaps, of giving the name a more +English appearance. + +This great-grandfather of mine was, like his father before him, a printer +and a member of the Stationers' Company. He was twice married, having by +his first wife two sons, George and William, neither of whom left +posterity. The former, I believe, died in the service of the Honourable +East India Company. In June, 1775, however, my great-grandfather married +Elizabeth, daughter of James Hinde, stationer, of Little Moorfields, and +had by her, first, a daughter Elizabeth, from whom some of the Burslems +and Godbolds are descended; and, secondly, twins, a boy and a girl, who +were respectively christened James Henry and Mary Mehetabel. The former +became my grandfather. In August, 1816, he married, at St. Bride's, Martha +Jane Vaughan, daughter of a stage-coach proprietor of Chester, and had by +her a daughter, who died unmarried, and four sons--my father, Henry +Richard, and my uncles James, Frank, and Frederick Whitehead Vizetelly. + +Some account of my grandfather is given in my father's "Glances Back +through Seventy Years," and I need not add to it here. I will only say +that, like his immediate forerunners, James Henry Vizetelly was a printer +and freeman of the city. A clever versifier, and so able as an amateur +actor that on certain occasions he replaced Edmund Kean on the boards when +the latter was hopelessly drunk, he died in 1840, leaving his two elder +sons, James and Henry, to carry on the printing business, which was then +established in premises occupying the site of the _Daily Telegraph_ +building in Fleet Street. + +In 1844 my father married Ellen Elizabeth, only child of John Pollard, +M.D., a member of the ancient Yorkshire family of the Pollards of Bierley +and Brunton, now chiefly represented, I believe, by the Pollards of Scarr +Hall. John Pollard's wife, Charlotte Maria Fennell, belonged to a family +which gave officers to the British Navy--one of them serving directly +under Nelson--and clergy to the Church of England. The Fennells were +related to the Brontë sisters through the latter's mother; and one was +closely connected with the Shackle who founded the original _John Bull_ +newspaper. Those, then, were my kinsfolk on the maternal side. My mother +presented my father with seven children, of whom I was the sixth, being +also the fourth son. I was born on November 29, 1853, at a house called +Chalfont Lodge in Campden House Road, Kensington, and well do I remember +the great conflagration which destroyed the fine old historical mansion +built by Baptist Hicks, sometime a mercer in Cheapside and ultimately +Viscount Campden. But another scene which has more particularly haunted me +all through my life was that of my mother's sudden death in a saloon +carriage of an express train on the London and Brighton line. Though she +was in failing health, nobody thought her end so near; but in the very +midst of a journey to London, whilst the train was rushing on at full +speed, and no help could be procured, a sudden weakness came over her, and +in a few minutes she passed away. I was very young at the time, barely +five years old, yet everything still rises before me with all the +vividness of an imperishable memory. Again, too, I see that beautiful +intellectual brow and those lustrous eyes, and hear that musical voice, +and feel the gentle touch of that loving motherly hand. She was a woman of +attainments, fond of setting words to music, speaking perfect French, for +she had been partly educated at Evreux in Normandy, and having no little +knowledge of Greek and Latin literature, as was shown by her annotations +to a copy of Lemprière's "Classical Dictionary" which is now in my +possession. + +About eighteen months after I was born, that is in the midst of the +Crimean War, my father founded, in conjunction with David Bogue, a +well-known publisher of the time, a journal called the _Illustrated +Times_, which for several years competed successfully with the +_Illustrated London News_. It was issued at threepence per copy, and an +old memorandum of the printers now lying before me shows that in the +paper's earlier years the average printings were 130,000 copies weekly--a +notable figure for that period, and one which was considerably exceeded +when any really important event occurred. My father was the chief editor +and manager, his leading coadjutor being Frederick Greenwood, who +afterwards founded the _Pall Mall Gazette_. I do not think that +Greenwood's connection with the _Illustrated Times_ and with my father's +other journal, the _Welcome Guest_, is mentioned in any of the accounts of +his career. The literary staff included four of the Brothers Mayhew-- +Henry, Jules, Horace, and Augustus, two of whom, Jules and Horace, became +godfathers to my father's first children by his second wife. Then there +were also William and Robert Brough, Edmund Yates, George Augustus Sala, +Hain Friswell, W.B. Rands, Tom Robertson, Sutherland Edwards, James +Hannay, Edward Draper, and Hale White (father of "Mark Rutherford"), and +several artists and engravers, such as Birket Foster, "Phiz." Portch, +Andrews, Duncan, Skelton, Bennett, McConnell, Linton, London, and Horace +Harrall. I saw all those men in my early years, for my father was very +hospitably inclined, and they were often guests at Chalfont Lodge. + +After my mother's death, my grandmother, _née_ Vaughan, took charge of the +establishment, and I soon became the terror of the house, developing a +most violent temper and acquiring the vocabulary of the roughest market +porter. My wilfulness was probably innate (nearly all the Vizetellys +having had impulsive wills of their own), and my flowery language was +picked up by perversely loitering to listen whenever there happened to be +a street row in Church Lane, which I had to cross on my way to or from +Kensington Gardens, my daily place of resort. At an early age I started +bullying my younger brother, I defied my grandmother, insulted the family +doctor because he was too fond of prescribing grey powders for my +particular benefit, and behaved abominably to the excellent Miss Lindup of +Sheffield Terrace, who endeavoured to instruct me in the rudiments of +reading, writing, and arithmetic. I frequently astonished or appalled the +literary men and artists who were my father's guests. I hated being +continually asked what I should like to be when I grew up, and the +slightest chaff threw me into a perfect paroxysm of passion. Whilst, +however, I was resentful of the authority of others, I was greatly +inclined to exercise authority myself--to such a degree, indeed, that my +father's servants generally spoke of me as "the young master," regardless +of the existence of my elder brothers. + +Having already a retentive memory, I was set to learn sundry +"recitations," and every now and then was called upon to emerge from +behind the dining-room curtains and repeat "My Name is Norval" or "The +Spanish Armada," for the delectation of my father's friends whilst they +lingered over their wine. Disaster generally ensued, provoked either by +some genial chaff or well-meant criticism from such men as Sala and +Augustus Mayhew, and I was ultimately carried off--whilst venting +incoherent protests--to be soundly castigated and put to bed. + +Among the real celebrities who occasionally called at Chalfont Lodge was +Thackeray, whom I can still picture sitting on one side of the fireplace, +whilst my father sat on the other, I being installed on the hearthrug +between them. Provided that I was left to myself, I could behave decently +enough, discreetly preserving silence, and, indeed, listening intently to +the conversation of my father's friends, and thereby picking up a very odd +mixture of knowledge. I was, I believe, a pale little chap with lank fair +hair and a wistful face, and no casual observer would have imagined that +my nature was largely compounded of such elements as enter into the +composition of Italian brigands, Scandinavian pirates, and wild Welshmen. +Thackeray, at all events, did not appear to think badly of the little boy +who sat so quietly at his feet. One day, indeed, when he came upon me and +my younger brother Arthur, with our devoted attendant Selina Horrocks, +in Kensington Gardens, he put into practice his own dictum that one could +never see a schoolboy without feeling an impulse to dip one's hand in +one's pocket. Accordingly he presented me with the first half-crown I ever +possessed, for though my father's gifts were frequent they were small. It +was understood, I believe, that I was to share the aforesaid half-crown +with my brother Arthur, but in spite of the many remonstrances of the +faithful Selina--a worthy West-country woman, who had largely taken my +mother's place--I appropriated the gift in its entirety, and became +extremely ill by reason of my many indiscreet purchases at a tuck-stall +which stood, if I remember rightly, at a corner of the then renowned +Kensington Flower Walk. This incident must have occurred late in +Thackeray's life. My childish recollection of him is that of a very big +gentleman with beaming eyes. + +My grandmother's reign in my father's house was not of great duration, as +in February, 1861, he contracted a second marriage, taking on this +occasion as his wife a "fair maid of Kent," [Elizabeth Anne Ansell, of +Broadstairs; mother of my step-brother, Dr. Frank H. Vizetelly, editor of +the "Standard Dictionary," New York.] to whose entry into our home I was +at first violently opposed, but who promptly won me over by her +unremitting affection and kindness, eventually becoming the best and +truest friend of my youth and early manhood. My circumstances changed, +however, soon after that marriage, for as I was now nearly eight years old +it was deemed appropriate that I should be sent to a boarding-school, both +by way of improving my mind and of having some nonsense knocked out of me, +which, indeed, was promptly accomplished by the pugnacious kindness of my +schoolfellows. Among the latter was one, my senior by a few years, who +became a very distinguished journalist. I refer to the late Horace Voules, +so long associated with Labouchere's journal, _Truth_. My brother Edward +was also at the same school, and my brother Arthur came there a little +later. + +It was situated at Eastbourne, and a good deal has been written about it +in recent works on the history of that well-known watering-place, which, +when I was first sent there, counted less than 6000 inhabitants. Located +in the old town or village, at a distance of a mile or more from the sea, +the school occupied a building called "The Gables," and was an offshoot of +a former ancient school connected with the famous parish church. In my +time this "academy" was carried on as a private venture by a certain James +Anthony Bown, a portly old gentleman of considerable attainments. + +I was unusually precocious in some respects, and though I frequently got +into scrapes by playing impish tricks--as, for instance, when I combined +with others to secure an obnoxious French master to his chair by means of +some cobbler's wax, thereby ruining a beautiful pair of peg-top trousers +which he had just purchased--I did not neglect my lessons, but secured a +number of "prizes" with considerable facility. When I was barely twelve +years old, not one of my schoolfellows--and some were sixteen and +seventeen years old--could compete with me in Latin, in which language +Bown ended by taking me separately. I also won three or four prizes for +"excelling" my successive classes in English grammar as prescribed by the +celebrated Lindley Murray. + +In spite of my misdeeds (some of which, fortunately, were never brought +home to me), I became, I think, somewhat of a favourite with the worthy +James Anthony, for he lent me interesting books to read, occasionally had +me to supper in his own quarters, and was now and then good enough to +overlook the swollen state of my nose or the blackness of one of my eyes +when I had been having a bout with a schoolfellow or a young clodhopper of +the village. We usually fought with the village lads in Love Lane on +Sunday evenings, after getting over the playground wall. I received +firstly the nickname of Moses, through falling among some rushes whilst +fielding a ball at cricket; and secondly, that of Noses, because my nasal +organ, like that of Cyrano de Bergerac, suddenly grew to huge proportions, +in such wise that it embodied sufficient material for two noses of +ordinary dimensions. Its size was largely responsible for my defeats when +fighting, for I found it difficult to keep guard over such a prominent +organ and prevent my claret from being tapped. + +Having generations of printers' ink mingled with my blood, I could not +escape the unkind fate which made me a writer of articles and books. +In conjunction with a chum named Clement Ireland I ran a manuscript school +journal, which included stories of pirates and highwaymen, illustrated +with lurid designs in which red ink was plentifully employed in order to +picture the gore which flowed so freely through the various tales. +My grandmother Vaughan was an inveterate reader of the _London Journal_ +and the _Family Herald_, and whenever I went home for my holidays I used +to pounce upon those journals and devour some of the stories of the author +of "Minnegrey," as well as Miss Braddon's "Aurora Floyd" and "Henry +Dunbar." The perusal of books by Ainsworth, Scott, Lever, Marryat, James +Grant, G. P. R. James, Dumas, and Whyte Melville gave me additional +material for storytelling; and so, concocting wonderful blends of all +sorts of fiction, I spun many a yarn to my schoolfellows in the dormitory +in which I slept--yarns which were sometimes supplied in instalments, +being kept up for a week or longer. + +My summer holidays were usually spent in the country, but at other times I +went to London, and was treated to interesting sights. At Kensington, in +my earlier years, I often saw Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort with +their children, notably the Princess Royal (Empress Frederick) and the +Prince of Wales (Edward VII). When the last-named married the "Sea-King's +daughter from over the sea"--since then our admired and gracious Queen +Alexandra--and they drove together through the crowded streets of London +on their way to Windsor, I came specially from Eastbourne to witness that +triumphal progress, and even now I can picture the young prince with his +round chubby face and little side-whiskers, and the vision of almost +tearfully-smiling beauty, in blue and white, which swept past my eager +boyish eyes. + +During the Easter holidays of 1864 Garibaldi came to England. My uncle, +Frank Vizetelly, was the chief war-artist of that period, the predecessor, +in fact, of the late Melton Prior. He knew Garibaldi well, having first +met him during the war of 1859, and having subsequently accompanied him +during his campaign through Sicily and then on to Naples--afterwards, +moreover, staying with him at Caprera. And so my uncle carried me and his +son, my cousin Albert, to Stafford House (where he had the _entrée_), and +the grave-looking Liberator patted us on the head, called us his children, +and at Frank Vizetelly's request gave us photographs of himself. I then +little imagined that I should next see him in France, at the close of the +war with Germany, during a part of which my brother Edward acted as one of +his orderly officers. + +My father, being at the head of a prominent London newspaper, often +received tickets for one and another theatre. Thus, during my winter +holidays, I saw many of the old pantomimes at Drury Lane and elsewhere. I +also well remember Sothern's "Lord Dundreary," and a play called "The +Duke's Motto," which was based on Paul Féval's novel, "Le Bossu." I +frequently witnessed the entertainments given by the German Reeds, Corney +Grain, and Woodin, the clever quick-change artist. I likewise remember +Leotard the acrobat at the Alhambra, and sundry performances at the old +Pantheon, where I heard such popular songs as "The Captain with the +Whiskers" and "The Charming Young Widow I met in the Train." Nigger +ditties were often the "rage" during my boyhood, and some of them, like +"Dixie-land" and "So Early in the Morning," still linger in my memory. +Then, too, there were such songs as "Billy Taylor," "I'm Afloat," "I'll +hang my Harp on a Willow Tree," and an inane composition which contained +the lines-- + + "When a lady elopes + Down a ladder of ropes, + She may go, she may go, + She may go to--Hongkong--for me!" + +In those schoolboy days of mine, however, the song of songs, to my +thinking, was one which we invariably sang on breaking up for the +holidays. Whether it was peculiar to Eastbourne or had been derived from +some other school I cannot say. I only know that the last verse ran, +approximately, as follows: + + "Magistrorum is a borum, + Hic-haec-hoc has made his bow. + Let us cry: 'O cockalorum!' + That's the Latin for us now. + Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, + Off to Greece, for we are free! + Helter, skelter, melter, pelter, + We're the lads for mirth and spree!" + +For "cockalorum," be it noted, we frequently substituted the name of some +particularly obnoxious master. + +To return to the interesting sights of my boyhood, I have some +recollection of the Exhibition of 1862, but can recall more vividly a +visit to the Crystal Palace towards the end of the following year, when I +there saw the strange house-like oar of the "Giant" balloon in which +Nadar, the photographer and aeronaut, had lately made, with his wife and +others, a memorable and disastrous aerial voyage. Readers of Jules Verne +will remember that Nadar figures conspicuously in his "Journey to the +Moon." Quite a party of us went to the Palace to see the "Giant's" car, +and Nadar, standing over six feet high, with a great tangled mane of +frizzy flaxen hair, a ruddy moustache, and a red shirt _à la_ Garibaldi, +took us inside it and showed us all the accommodation it contained for +eating, sleeping and photographic purposes. I could not follow what he +said, for I then knew only a few French words, and I certainly had no idea +that I should one day ascend into the air with him in a car of a very +different type, that of the captive balloon which, for purposes of +military observation, he installed on the Place Saint Pierre at +Montmartre, during the German siege of Paris. + +A time came when my father disposed of his interest in the _Illustrated +Times_ and repaired to Paris to take up the position of Continental +representative of the _Illustrated London News_. My brother Edward, at +that time a student at the École des Beaux Arts, then became his +assistant, and a little later I was taken across the Channel with my +brother Arthur to join the rest of the family. We lived, first, at +Auteuil, and then at Passy, where I was placed in a day-school called the +Institution Nouissel, where lads were prepared for admission to the State +or municipal colleges. There had been some attempt to teach me French at +Eastbourne, but it had met with little success, partly, I think, because +I was prejudiced against the French generally, regarding them as a mere +race of frog-eaters whom we had deservedly whacked at Waterloo. Eventually +my prejudices were in a measure overcome by what I heard from our +drill-master, a retired non-commissioned officer, who had served in the +Crimea, and who told us some rousing anecdotes about the gallantry of +"our allies" at the Alma and elsewhere. In the result, the old sergeant's +converse gave me "furiously to think" that there might be some good in the +French after all. + +At Nouissel's I acquired some knowledge of the language rapidly enough, +and I was afterwards placed in the charge of a tutor, a clever scamp named +Brossard, who prepared me for the Lycée Bonaparte (now Condorcet), where I +eventually became a pupil, Brossard still continuing to coach me with a +view to my passing various examinations, and ultimately securing the usual +_baccalauréat_, without which nobody could then be anything at all in +France. In the same way he coached Evelyn Jerrold, son of Blanchard and +grandson of Douglas Jerrold, both of whom were on terms of close +friendship with the Vizetellys. But while Brossard was a clever man, he +was also an unprincipled one, and although I was afterwards indebted to +him for an introduction to old General Changarnier, to whom he was +related, it would doubtless have been all the better if he had not +introduced me to some other people with whom he was connected. He lived +for a while with a woman who was not his wife, and deserted her for a girl +of eighteen, whom he also abandoned, in order to devote himself to a +creature in fleshings who rode a bare-backed steed at the Cirque de +l'Impératrice. When I was first introduced to her "behind the scenes," she +was bestriding a chair, and smoking a pink cigarette, and she addressed me +as _mon petit_. Briefly, the moral atmosphere of Brossard's life was not +such as befitted him to be a mentor of youth. + +Let me now go back a little. At the time of the great Paris Exhibition of +1867 I was in my fourteenth year. The city was then crowded with +royalties, many of whom I saw on one or another occasion. I was in the +Bois de Boulogne with my father when, after a great review, a shot was +fired at the carriage in which Napoleon III and his guest, Alexander II of +Russia, were seated side by side. I saw equerry Raimbeaux gallop forward +to screen the two monarchs, and I saw the culprit seized by a sergeant of +our Royal Engineers, attached to the British section of the Exhibition. +Both sovereigns stood up in the carriage to show that they were uninjured, +and it was afterwards reported that the Emperor Napoleon said to the +Emperor Alexander: "If that shot was fired by an Italian it was meant for +me; if by a Pole, it was meant for your Majesty." Whether those words were +really spoken, or were afterwards invented, as such things often are, by +some clever journalist, I cannot say; but the man proved to be a Pole +named Berezowski, who was subsequently sentenced to transportation for +life. + +It was in connection with this attempt on the Czar that I did my first +little bit of journalistic work. By my father's directions, I took a few +notes and made a hasty little sketch of the surroundings. This and my +explanations enabled M. Jules Pelcoq, an artist of Belgian birth, whom my +father largely employed on behalf of the _Illustrated London News_, to +make a drawing which appeared on the first page of that journal's next +issue. I do not think that any other paper in the world was able to supply +a pictorial representation of Berezowski's attempt. + +I have said enough, I think, to show that I was a precocious lad, perhaps, +indeed, a great deal too precocious. However, I worked very hard in those +days. My hours at Bonaparte were from ten to twelve and from two to four. +I had also to prepare home-lessons for the Lycée, take special lessons +from Brossard, and again lessons in German from a tutor named With. Then, +too, my brother Edward ceasing to act as my father's assistant in order to +devote himself to journalism on his own account, I had to take over a part +of his duties. One of my cousins, Montague Vizetelly (son of my uncle +James, who was the head of our family), came from England, however, to +assist my father in the more serious work, such as I, by reason of my +youth, could not yet perform. My spare time was spent largely in taking +instructions to artists or fetching drawings from them. At one moment I +might be at Mont-martre, and at another in the Quartier Latin, calling on +Pelcoq, Anastasi, Janet Lange, Gustave Janet, Pauquet, Thorigny, Gaildrau, +Deroy, Bocourt, Darjou, Lix, Moulin, Fichot, Blanchard, or other artists +who worked for the _Illustrated London News_. Occasionally a sketch was +posted to England, but more frequently I had to despatch some drawing on +wood by rail. Though I have never been anything but an amateurish +draughtsman myself, I certainly developed a critical faculty, and acquired +a knowledge of different artistic methods, during my intercourse with so +many of the _dessinateurs_ of the last years of the Second Empire. + +By-and-by more serious duties were allotted to me. The "Paris Fashions" +design then appearing every month in the _Illustrated London News_ was for +a time prepared according to certain dresses which Worth and other famous +costumiers made for empresses, queens, princesses, great ladies, and +theatrical celebrities; and, accompanying Pelcoq or Janet when they went +to sketch those gowns (nowadays one would simply obtain photographs), I +took down from _la première_, or sometimes from Worth himself, full +particulars respecting materials and styles, in order that the descriptive +letterpress, which was to accompany the illustration, might be correct. + +In this wise I served my apprenticeship to journalism. My father naturally +revised my work. The first article, all my own, which appeared in print +was one on that notorious theatrical institution, the Claque. I sent it to +_Once a Week_, which E. S. Dallas then edited, and knowing that he was +well acquainted with my father, and feeling very diffident respecting the +merits of what I had written, I assumed a _nom de plume_ ("Charles +Ludhurst") for the occasion, Needless to say that I was delighted when +I saw the article in print, and yet more so when I received for it a +couple of guineas, which I speedily expended on gloves, neckties, and a +walking-stick. Here let me say that we were rather swagger young fellows +at Bonaparte. We did not have to wear hideous ill-fitting uniforms like +other Lycéens, but endeavoured to present a very smart appearance. Thus +we made it a practice to wear gloves and to carry walking-sticks or canes +on our way to or from the Lycée. I even improved on that by buying +"button-holes" at the flower-market beside the Madeleine, and this idea +"catching on," as the phrase goes, quite a commotion occurred one morning +when virtually half my classmates were found wearing flowers--for it +happened to be La Saint Henri, the _fête_-day of the Count de Chambord, +and both our Proviseur and our professor imagined that this was, on our +part, a seditious Legitimist demonstration. There were, however, very few +Legitimists among us, though Orleanists and Republicans were numerous. + +I have mentioned that my first article was on the Claque, that +organisation established to encourage applause in theatres, it being held +that the Parisian spectator required to be roused by some such method. +Brossard having introduced me to the _sous-chef_ of the Claque at the +Opéra Comique, I often obtained admission to that house as a _claqueur_. +I even went to a few other theatres in the same capacity. Further, +Brossard knew sundry authors and journalists, and took me to the Café de +Suède and the Café de Madrid, where I saw and heard some of the +celebrities of the day. I can still picture the great Dumas, loud of voice +and exuberant in gesture whilst holding forth to a band of young +"spongers," on whom he was spending his last napoleons. I can also see +Gambetta--young, slim, black-haired and bearded, with a full sensual +underlip--seated at the same table as Delescluze, whose hair and beard, +once red, had become a dingy white, whose figure was emaciated and +angular, and whose yellowish, wrinkled face seemed to betoken that he was +possessed by some fixed idea. What that idea was, the Commune subsequently +showed. Again, I can see Henri Rochefort and Gustave Flourens together: +the former straight and sinewy, with a great tuft of very dark curly hair, +flashing eyes and high and prominent cheekbones; while the latter, tall +and bald, with long moustaches and a flowing beard, gazed at you in an +eager imperious way, as if he were about to issue some command. + +Other men who helped to overthrow the Empire also became known to me. My +father, whilst engaged in some costly litigation respecting a large +castellated house which he had leased at Le Vésinet, secured Jules Favre +as his advocate, and on various occasions I went with him to Favre's +residence. Here let me say that my father, in spite of all his interest in +French literature, did not know the language. He could scarcely express +himself in it, and thus he always made it a practice to have one of his +sons with him, we having inherited our mother's linguistic gifts. Favre's +command of language was great, but his eloquence was by no means rousing, +and I well remember that when he pleaded for my father, the three judges +of the Appeal Court composed themselves to sleep, and did not awaken until +the counsel opposed to us started banging his fist and shouting in +thunderous tones. Naturally enough, as the judges never heard our side of +the case, but only our adversary's, they decided against us. + +Some retrenchment then became necessary on my father's part, and he sent +my step-mother, her children and my brother Arthur, to Saint Servan in +Brittany, where he rented a house which was called "La petite Amélia," +after George III's daughter of that name, who, during some interval of +peace between France and Great Britain, went to stay at Saint Servan for +the benefit of her health. The majority of our family having repaired +there and my cousin Monty returning to England some time in 1869, I +remained alone with my father in Paris. We resided in what I may call a +bachelor's flat at No. 16, Rue de Miromesnil, near the Elysée Palace. The +principal part of the house was occupied by the Count and Countess de +Chateaubriand and their daughters. The Countess was good enough to take +some notice of me, and subsequently, when she departed for Combourg at the +approach of the German siege, she gave me full permission to make use, if +necessary, of the coals and wood left in the Chateaubriand cellars. + +In 1869, the date I have now reached, I was in my sixteenth year, still +studying, and at the same time giving more and more assistance to my +father in connection with his journalistic work. He has included in his +"Glances Back" some account of the facilities which enabled him to secure +adequate pictorial delineation of the Court life of the Empire. He has +told the story of Moulin, the police-agent, who frequently watched over +the Emperor's personal safety, and who also supplied sketches of Court +functions for the use of the _Illustrated London News_. Napoleon III +resembled his great-uncle in at least one respect. He fully understood the +art of advertisement; and, in his desire to be thought well of in England, +he was always ready to favour English journalists. Whilst a certain part +of the London Press preserved throughout the reign a very critical +attitude towards the Imperial policy, it is certain that some of the Paris +correspondents were in close touch with the Emperor's Government, and that +some of them were actually subsidized by it. + +The best-informed man with respect to Court and social events was +undoubtedly Mr. Felix Whiteburst of _The Daily Telegraph_, whom I well +remember. He had the _entrée_ at the Tuileries and elsewhere, and there +were occasions when very important information was imparted to him with a +view to its early publication in London. For the most part, however, +Whitehurst confined himself to chronicling events or incidents occurring +at Court or in Bonapartist high society. Anxious to avoid giving offence, +he usually glossed over any scandal that occurred, or dismissed it airily, +with the _désinvolture_ of a _roué_ of the Regency. Withal, he was an +extremely amiable man, very condescending towards me when we met, as +sometimes happened at the Tuileries itself. + +I had to go there on several occasions to meet Moulin, the +detective-artist, by appointment, and a few years ago this helped me to +write a book which has been more than once reprinted. [Note] I utilized in +it many notes made by me in 1869-70, notably with respect to the Emperor +and Empress's private apartments, the kitchens, and the arrangements made +for balls and banquets. I am not aware at what age a young fellow is +usually provided with his first dress-suit, but I know that mine was made +about the time I speak of. I was then, I suppose, about five feet five +inches in height, and my face led people to suppose that I was eighteen or +nineteen years of age. + +[Note: The work in question was entitled "The Court of the Tuileries, +1852-1870," by "Le Petit Homme Rouge"--a pseudonym which I have since used +when producing other books. "The Court of the Tuileries" was founded in +part on previously published works, on a quantity of notes and memoranda +made by my father, other relatives, and myself, and on some of the private +papers of one of my wife's kinsmen, General Mollard, who after greatly +distinguishing himself at the Tchernaya and Magenta, became for a time an +aide-de-camp to Napoleon III.] + +In the autumn of 1869, I fell rather ill from over-study--I had already +begun to read up Roman law--and, on securing a holiday, I accompanied my +father to Compiègne, where the Imperial Court was then staying. We were +not among the invited guests, but it had been arranged that every facility +should be given to the _Illustrated London News_ representatives in order +that the Court _villegiatura_ might be fully depicted in that journal. I +need not recapitulate my experiences on this occasion. There is an account +of our visit in my father's "Glances Back," and I inserted many additional +particulars in my "Court of the Tuileries." I may mention, however, that +it was at Compiègne that I first exchanged a few words with Napoleon III. + +One day, my father being unwell (the weather was intensely cold), I +proceeded to the château [We slept at the Hôtel de la Cloche, but +had the _entrée_ to the château at virtually any time.] accompanied only +by our artist, young M. Montbard, who was currently known as "Apollo" in +the Quartier Latin, where he delighted the _habitués_ of the Bal Bullier +by a style of choregraphy in comparison with which the achievements +subsequently witnessed at the notorious Moulin Rouge would have sunk into +insignificance. Montbard had to make a couple of drawings on the day I +have mentioned, and it so happened that, whilst we were going about with +M. de la Ferrière, the chamberlain on duty, Napoleon III suddenly appeared +before us. Directly I was presented to him he spoke to me in English, +telling me that he often saw the _Illustrated London News_, and that the +illustrations of French life and Paris improvements (in which he took so +keen an interest) were very ably executed. He asked me also how long I had +been in France, and where I had learnt the language. Then, remarking that +it was near the _déjeuner_ hour, he told M. de la Ferrière to see that +Montbard and myself were suitably entertained. + +I do not think that I had any particular political opinions at that time. +Montbard, however, was a Republican--in fact, a future Communard--and I +know that he did not appreciate his virtually enforced introduction to the +so-called "Badinguet." Still, he contrived to be fairly polite, and +allowed the Emperor to inspect the sketch he was making. There was to be a +theatrical performance at the château that evening, and it had already +been arranged that Montbard should witness it. On hearing, however, that +it had been impossible to provide my father and myself with seats, on +account of the great demand for admission on the part of local magnates +and the officers of the garrison, the Emperor was good enough to say, +after I had explained that my father's indisposition would prevent him +from attending: "Voyons, vous pourrez bien trouver une petite place pour +ce jeune homme. Il n'est pas si grand, et je suis sûr que cela lui fera +plaisir." M. de la Ferrière bowed, and thus it came to pass that I +witnessed the performance after all, being seated on a stool behind some +extremely beautiful women whose white shoulders repeatedly distracted my +attention from the stage. In regard to Montbard there was some little +trouble, as M. de la Ferrière did not like the appearance of his +"revolutionary-looking beard," the sight of which, said he, might greatly +alarm the Empress. Montbard, however, indignantly refused to shave it off, +and ten months later the "revolutionary beards" were predominant, the +power and the pomp of the Empire having been swept away amidst all the +disasters of invasion. + + + +II + +THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + +Napoleon's Plans for a War with Prussia--The Garde Mobile and the French +Army generally--Its Armament--The "White Blouses" and the Paris Riots--The +Emperor and the Elections of 1869--The Troppmann and Pierre Bonaparte +Affairs--Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham--The Ollivier Ministry--French +Campaigning Plans--Frossard and Bazaine--The Negotiations with Archduke +Albert and Count Vimeroati--The War forced on by Bismarck--I shout "A +Berlin!"--The Imperial Guard and General Bourbaki--My Dream of seeing a +War--My uncle Frank Vizetelly and his Campaigns--"The Siege of Pekin"-- +Organization of the French Forces--The Information Service--I witness the +departure of Napoleon III and the Imperial Prince from Saint Cloud. + + +There was no little agitation in France during the years 1868 and 1869. +The outcome first of the Schleswig-Holstein war, and secondly of the war +between Prussia and Austria in 1866, had alarmed many French politicians. +Napoleon III had expected some territorial compensation in return for his +neutrality at those periods, and it is certain that Bismarck, as chief +Prussian minister, had allowed him to suppose that he would be able to +indemnify himself for his non-intervention in the afore-mentioned +contests. After attaining her ends, however, Prussia turned an unwilling +ear to the French Emperor's suggestions, and from that moment a +Franco-German war became inevitable. Although, as I well remember, +there was a perfect "rage" for Bismarck "this" and Bismarck "that" in +Paris--particularly for the Bismarck colour, a shade of Havana brown--the +Prussian statesman, who had so successfully "jockeyed" the Man of Destiny, +was undoubtedly a well hated and dreaded individual among the Parisians, +at least among all those who thought of the future of Europe. Prussian +policy, however, was not the only cause of anxiety in France, for at the +same period the Republican opposition to the Imperial authority was +steadily gaining strength in the great cities, and the political +concessions by which Napoleon III sought to disarm it only emboldened it +to make fresh demands. + +In planning a war on Prussia, the Emperor was influenced both by national +and by dynastic considerations. The rise of Prussia--which had become head +of the North German Confederation--was without doubt a menace not only to +French ascendency on the Continent, but also to France's general +interests. On the other hand, the prestige of the Empire having been +seriously impaired, in France itself, by the diplomatic defeats which +Bismarck had inflicted on Napoleon, it seemed that only a successful war, +waged on the Power from which France had received those successive +rebuffs, could restore the aforesaid prestige and ensure the duration of +the Bonaparte dynasty. + +Even nowadays, in spite of innumerable revelations, many writers continue +to cast all the responsibility of the Franco-German War on Germany, or, to +be more precise, on Prussia as represented by Bismarck. That, however, is +a great error. A trial of strength was regarded on both sides as +inevitable, and both sides contributed to bring it about. Bismarck's share +in the conflict was to precipitate hostilities, selecting for them what he +judged to be an opportune moment for his country, and thereby preventing +the Emperor Napoleon from maturing his designs. The latter did not intend +to declare war until early in 1871; the Prussian statesman brought it +about in July, 1870. + +The Emperor really took to the war-path soon after 1866. A great military +council was assembled, and various measures were devised to strengthen the +army. The principal step was the creation of a territorial force called +the Garde Mobile, which was expected to yield more than half a million +men. Marshal Niel, who was then Minister of War, attempted to carry out +this scheme, but was hampered by an insufficiency of money. Nowadays, I +often think of Niel and the Garde Mobile when I read of Lord Haldane, +Colonel Seely, and our own "terriers." It seems to me, at times, as if the +clock had gone back more than forty years. + +Niel died in August, 1869, leaving his task in an extremely unfinished +state, and Marshal Le Boeuf, who succeeded him, persevered with it in a +very faint-hearted way. The regular army, however, was kept in fair +condition, though it was never so strong as it appeared to be on paper. +There was a system in vogue by which a conscript of means could avoid +service by supplying a _remplaçant_. Originally, he was expected to +provide his _remplaçant_ himself; but, ultimately, he only had to pay a +sum of money to the military authorities, who undertook to find a man to +take his place. Unfortunately, in thousands of instances, over a term of +some years, the _remplaçants_ were never provided at all. I do not suggest +that the money was absolutely misappropriated, but it was diverted to +other military purposes, and, in the result, there was always a +considerable shortage in the annual contingent. + +The creature comforts of the men were certainly well looked after. My +particular chum at Bonaparte was the son of a general-officer, and I +visited more than one barracks or encampment. Without doubt, there was +always an abundance of good sound food. Further, the men were well-armed. +All military authorities are agreed, I believe, that the Chassepot +rifle--invented in or about 1866--was superior to the Dreyse needle-gun, +which was in use in the Prussian army. Then, too, there was Colonel de +Reffye's machine-gun or _mitrailleuse_, in a sense the forerunner of the +Gatling and the Maxim. It was first devised, I think, in 1863, and, +according to official statements, some three or four years later there +were more than a score of _mitrailleuse_ batteries. With regard to other +ordnance, however, that of the French was inferior to that of the Germans, +as was conclusively proved at Sedan and elsewhere. In many respects the +work of army reform, publicly advised by General Trochu in a famous +pamphlet, and by other officers in reports to the Emperor and the Ministry +of War, proceeded at a very slow pace, being impeded by a variety of +considerations. The young men of the large towns did not take kindly to +the idea of serving in the new Garde Mobile. Having escaped service in the +regular army, by drawing exempting "numbers" or by paying for +_remplaçants_, they regarded it as very unfair that they should be called +upon to serve at all, and there were serious riots in various parts of +France at the time of their first enrolment in 1868. Many of them failed +to realize the necessities of the case. There was no great wave of +patriotism sweeping through the country. The German danger was not yet +generally apparent. Further, many upholders of the Imperial authority +shook their heads in deprecation of this scheme of enrolling and arming so +many young men, who might suddenly blossom into revolutionaries and turn +their weapons against the powers of the day. + +There was great unrest in Paris in 1868, the year of Henri Rochefort's +famous journal _La Lanterne_. Issue after issue of that bitterly-penned +effusion was seized and confiscated, and more than once did I see vigilant +detectives snatch copies from people in the streets. In June, 1869, we had +general elections, accompanied by rioting on the Boulevards. It was then +that the "White Blouse" legend arose, it being alleged that many of the +rioters were _agents provocateurs_ in the pay of the Prefecture of Police, +and wore white blouses expressly in order that they might be known to the +sergents-de-ville and the Gardes de Paris who were called upon to quell +the disturbances. At first thought, it might seem ridiculous that any +Government should stir up rioting for the mere sake of putting it down, +but it was generally held that the authorities wished some disturbances to +occur in order, first, that the middle-classes might be frightened by the +prospect of a violent revolution, and thereby induced to vote for +Government candidates at the elections; and, secondly, that some of the +many real Revolutionaries might be led to participate in the rioting in +such wise as to supply a pretext for arresting them. + +I was with my mentor Brossard and my brother Edward one night in June when +a "Madeleine-Bastille" omnibus was overturned on the Boulevard Montmartre +and two or three newspaper kiosks were added to it by way of forming a +barricade, the purpose of which was by no means clear. The great crowd of +promenaders seemed to regard the affair as capital fun until the police +suddenly came up, followed by some mounted men of the Garde de Paris, +whereupon the laughing spectators became terrified and suddenly fled for +their lives. With my companions I gazed on the scene from the _entresol_ +of the Café Mazarin. It was the first affair of the kind I had ever +witnessed, and for that reason impressed itself more vividly on my mind +than several subsequent and more serious ones. In the twinkling of an eye +all the little tables set out in front of the cafés were deserted, and +tragi-comical was the sight of the many women with golden chignons +scurrying away with their alarmed companions, and tripping now and again +over some fallen chair whilst the pursuing cavalry clattered noisily along +the foot-pavements. A Londoner might form some idea of the scene by +picturing a charge from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus at the hour +when Coventry Street is most thronged with undesirables of both sexes. + +The majority of the White Blouses and their friends escaped unhurt, and +the police and the guards chiefly expended their vigour on the spectators +of the original disturbance. Whether this had been secretly engineered by +the authorities for one of the purposes I previously indicated, must +always remain a moot point. In any case it did not incline the Parisians +to vote for the Government candidates. Every deputy returned for the city +on that occasion was an opponent of the Empire, and in later years I was +told by an ex-Court official that when Napoleon became acquainted with the +result of the pollings he said, in reference to the nominees whom he had +favoured, "Not one! not a single one!" The ingratitude of the Parisians, +as the Emperor styled it, was always a thorn in his side; yet he should +have remembered that in the past the bulk of the Parisians had seldom, if +ever, been on the side of constituted authority. + +Later that year came the famous affair of the Pantin crimes, and I was +present with my father when Troppmann, the brutish murderer of the Kinck +family, stood his trial at the Assizes. But, quite properly, my father +would not let me accompany him when he attended the miscreant's execution +outside the prison of La Roquette. Some years later, however, I witnessed +the execution of Prévost on the same spot; and at a subsequent date I +attended both the trial and the execution of Caserio--the assassin of +President Carnot--at Lyons. Following Troppmann's case, in the early days +of 1870 came the crime of the so-called Wild Boar of Corsica, Prince +Pierre Bonaparte (grandfather of the present Princess George of Greece), +who shot the young journalist Victor Noir, when the latter went with +Ulrich de Fonvielle, aeronaut as well as journalist, to call him out on +behalf of the irrepressible Henri Rochefort. I remember accompanying one +of our artists, Gaildrau, when a sketch was made of the scene of the +crime, the Prince's drawing-room at Auteuil, a peculiar semi-circular, +panelled and white-painted apartment furnished in what we should call in +England a tawdry mid-Victorian style. On the occasion of Noir's funeral my +father and myself were in the Champs Elysées when the tumultuous +revolutionary procession, in which Rochefort figured conspicuously, swept +down the famous avenue along which the victorious Germans were to march +little more than a year afterwards. Near the Rond-point the _cortège_ was +broken up and scattered by the police, whose violence was extreme. +Rochefort, brave enough on the duelling-ground, fainted away, and was +carried off in a vehicle, his position as a member of the Legislative Body +momentarily rendering him immune from arrest. Within a month, however, he +was under lock and key, and some fierce rioting ensued in the north of +Paris. + +During the spring, my father went to Ireland as special commissioner of +the _Illustrated London News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette_, in order to +investigate the condition of the tenantry and the agrarian crimes which +were then so prevalent there. Meantime, I was left in Paris, virtually "on +my own," though I was often with my elder brother Edward. About this time, +moreover, a friend of my father's began to take a good deal of interest in +me. This was Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham, a member of the Clanmorris +family, and the regular correspondent of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ in Paris. +He subsequently became known as the author of various works on the +Bonapartes and the Bourbons, and of a volume of recollections of Paris +life, in which I am once or twice mentioned. Bingham was married to a very +charming lady of the Laoretelle family, which gave a couple of historians +to France, and I was always received most kindly at their home near the +Arc de Triomphe. Moreover, Bingham often took me about with him in my +spare time, and introduced me to several prominent people. Later, during +the street fighting at the close of the Commune in 1871, we had some +dramatic adventures together, and on one occasion Bingham saved my life. + +The earlier months of 1870 went by very swiftly amidst a multiplicity of +interesting events. Emile Ollivier had now become chief Minister, and an +era of liberal reforms appeared to have begun. It seemed, moreover, as if +the Minister's charming wife were for her part intent on reforming the +practices of her sex in regard to dress, for she resolutely set her face +against the extravagant toilettes of the ladies of the Court, repeatedly +appearing at the Tuileries in the most unassuming attire, which, however, +by sheer force of contrast, rendered her very conspicuous there. The +patronesses of the great _couturiers_ were quite irate at receiving such a +lesson from a _petite bourgeoise_; but all who shared the views expressed +by President Dupin a few years previously respecting the "unbridled luxury +of women," were naturally delighted. + +Her husband's attempts at political reform were certainly well meant, but +the Republicans regarded him as a renegade and the older Imperialists as +an intruder, and nothing that he did gave satisfaction. The concession of +the right of public meeting led to frequent disorders at Belleville and +Montmartre, and the increased freedom of the Press only acted as an +incentive to violence of language. Nevertheless, when there came a +Plebiscitum--the last of the reign--to ascertain the country's opinion +respecting the reforms devised by the Emperor and Ollivier, a huge +majority signified approval of them, and thus the "liberal Empire" seemed +to be firmly established. If, however, the nation at large had known what +was going on behind the scenes, both in diplomatic and in military +spheres, the result of the Plebiscitum would probably have been very +different. + +Already on the morrow of the war between Prussia and Austria (1866) the +Emperor, as I previously indicated, had begun to devise a plan of campaign +in regard to the former Power, taking as his particular _confidants_ in +the matter General Lebrun, his _aide-de-camp_, and General Frossard, the +governor of the young Imperial Prince. Marshal Niel, as War Minister, was +cognizant of the Emperor's conferences with Lebrun and Frossard, but does +not appear to have taken any direct part in the plans which were devised. +They were originally purely defensive plans, intended to provide for any +invasion of French territory from across the Rhine. Colonel Baron Stoffel, +the French military _attaché_ at Berlin, had frequently warned the War +Office in Paris respecting the possibility of a Prussian attack and the +strength of the Prussian armaments, which, he wrote, would enable King +William (with the assistance of the other German rulers) to throw a force +of nearly a million men into Alsace-Lorraine. Further, General Ducrot, who +commanded the garrison at Strasburg, became acquainted with many things +which he communicated to his relative, Baron de Bourgoing, one of the +Emperor's equerries. + +There is no doubt that these various communications reached Napoleon III; +and though he may have regarded both the statements of Stoffel and those +of Ducrot as exaggerated, he was certainly sufficiently impressed by them +to order the preparation of certain plans. Frossard, basing himself on the +operations of the Austrians in December, 1793, and keeping in mind the +methods by which Hoche, with the Moselle army, and Pichegru, with the +Rhine army, forced them back from the French frontier, drafted a scheme of +defence in which he foresaw the battle of Wörth, but, through following +erroneous information, greatly miscalculated the probable number of +combatants. He set forth in his scheme that the Imperial Government could +not possibly allow Alsace-Lorraine and Champagne to be invaded without a +trial of strength at the very outset; and Marshal Bazaine, who, at some +period or other, annotated a copy of Frossard's scheme, signified his +approval of that dictum, but added significantly that good tactical +measures should be adopted. He himself demurred to Frossard's plans, +saying that he was no partisan of a frontal defence, but believed in +falling on the enemy's flanks and rear. Yet, as we know, MacMahon fought +the battle of Wörth under conditions in many respects similar to those +which Frossard had foreseen. + +However, the purely defensive plans on which Napoleon III at first worked, +were replaced in 1868 by offensive ones, in which General Lebrun took a +prominent part, both from the military and from the diplomatic +standpoints. It was not, however, until March, 1870, that the Archduke +Albert of Austria came to Paris to confer with the French Emperor. +Lebrun's plan of campaign was discussed by them, and Marshal Le Boeuf and +Generals Frossard and Jarras were privy to the negotiations. It was +proposed that France, Austria, and Italy should invade Germany conjointly; +and, according to Le Boeuf, the first-named Power could place 400,000 men +on the frontier in a fortnight's time. Both Austria and Italy, however, +required forty-two days to mobilize their forces, though the former +offered to provide two army corps during the interval. When Lebrun +subsequently went to Vienna to come to a positive decision and arrange +details, the Archduke Albert pointed out that the war ought to begin in +the spring season, for, said he, the North Germans would be able to +support the cold and dampness of a winter campaign far better than the +allies. That was an absolutely correct forecast, fully confirmed by all +that took place in France during the winter of 1870-1871. + +But Prussia heard of what was brewing. Austria was betrayed to her by +Hungary; and Italy and France could not come to an understanding on the +question of Rome. At the outset Prince Napoleon (Jérome) was concerned in +the latter negotiations, which were eventually conducted by Count +Vimercati, the Italian military _attaché_ in Paris. Napoleon, however, +steadily refused to withdraw his forces from the States of the Church and +to allow Victor Emmanuel to occupy Rome. Had he yielded on those points +Italy would certainly have joined him, and Austria--however much Hungarian +statesmen might have disliked it--would, in all probability, have followed +suit. By the policy he pursued in this matter, the French Emperor lost +everything, and prevented nothing. On the one hand, France was defeated +and the Empire of the Bonapartes collapsed; whilst, on the other, Rome +became Italy's true capital. + +Bismarck was in no way inclined to allow the negotiations for an +anti-Prussian alliance to mature. They dragged on for a considerable time, +but the Government of Napoleon III was not particularly disturbed thereat, +as it felt certain that victory would attend the French arms at the +outset, and that Italy and Austria would eventually give support. +Bismarck, however, precipitated events. Already in the previous year +Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had been a candidate for the +throne of Spain. That candidature had been withdrawn in order to avert a +conflict between France and Germany; but now it was revived at Bismarck's +instigation in order to bring about one. + +I have said, I think, enough to show--in fairness to Germany--that the war +of 1870 was not an unprovoked attack on France. The incidents--such as the +Ems affair--which directly led up to it were after all only of secondary +importance, although they bulked so largely at the time of their +occurrence. I well remember the great excitement which prevailed in Paris +during the few anxious days when to the man in the street the question of +peace or war seemed to be trembling in the balance, though in reality that +question was already virtually decided upon both sides. Judging by all +that has been revealed to us during the last forty years, I do not think +that M. Emile Ollivier, the Prime Minister, would have been able to modify +the decision of the fateful council held at Saint Cloud even if he had +attended it. Possessed by many delusions, the bulk of the imperial +councillors were too confident of success to draw back, and, besides, +Bismarck and Moltke were not disposed to let France draw back. They were +ready, and they knew right well that opportunity is a fine thing. + +It was on July 15 that the Duc de Gramont, the Imperial Minister of +Foreign Affairs, read his memorable statement to the Legislative Body, and +two days later a formal declaration of war was signed. Paris at once +became delirious with enthusiasm, though, as we know by all the telegrams +from the Prefects of the departments, the provinces generally desired that +peace might be preserved. + +Resident in Paris, and knowing at that time very little about the rest of +France--for I had merely stayed during my summer holidays at such seaside +resorts as Trouville, Deauville, Beuzeval, St. Malo, and St. Servan--I +undoubtedly caught the Parisian fever, and I dare say that I sometimes +joined in the universal chorus of "À Berlin!" Mere lad as I was, in spite +of my precocity, I shared also the universal confidence in the French +army. In that confidence many English military men participated. Only +those who, like Captain Hozier of _The Times_, had closely watched +Prussian methods during the Seven Weeks' War in 1866, clearly realized +that the North German kingdom possessed a thoroughly well organized +fighting machine, led by officers of the greatest ability, and capable of +effecting something like a revolution in the art of war. + +France was currently thought stronger than she really was. Of the good +physique of her men there could be no doubt. Everybody who witnessed the +great military pageants of those times was impressed by the bearing of the +troops and their efficiency under arms. And nobody anticipated that they +would be so inferior to the Germans in numbers as proved to be the case, +and that the generals would show themselves so inferior in mental calibre +to the commanders of the opposing forces. The Paris garrison, it is true, +was no real criterion of the French army generally, though foreigners were +apt to judge the latter by what they saw of it in the capital. The troops +stationed there were mostly picked men, the garrison being very largely +composed of the Imperial Guard. The latter always made a brilliant +display, not merely by reason of its somewhat showy uniforms, recalling at +times those of the First Empire, but also by the men's fine _physique_ and +their general military proficiency. They certainly fought well in some of +the earlier battles of the war. Their commander was General Bourbaki, a +fine soldierly looking man, the grandson of a Greek pilot who acted as +intermediary between Napoleon I and his brother Joseph, at the time of the +former's expedition to Egypt. It was this original Bourbaki who carried to +Napoleon Joseph's secret letters reporting Josephine's misconduct in her +husband's absence, misconduct which Napoleon condoned at the time, though +it would have entitled him to a divorce nine years before he decided on +one. + +With the spectacle of the Imperial Guard constantly before their eyes, the +Parisians of July, 1870, could not believe in the possibility of defeat, +and, moreover, at the first moment it was not believed that the Southern +German States would join North Germany against France. Napoleon III and +his confidential advisers well knew, however, what to think on that point, +and the delusions of the man in the street departed when, on July 20, +Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt announced their intention +of supporting Prussia and the North German Confederation. Still, this did +not dismay the Parisians, and the shouts of "To Berlin! To Berlin!" were +as frequent as ever. + +It had long been one of my dreams to see and participate in the great +drama of war. All boys, I suppose, come into the world with pugnacious +instincts. There must be few, too, who never "play at soldiers." My own +interest in warfare and soldiering had been steadily fanned from my +earliest childhood. In the first place, I had been incessantly confronted +by all the scenes of war depicted in the _Illustrated Times_ and the +_Illustrated London News_, those journals being posted to me regularly +every week whilst I was still only a little chap at Eastbourne. Further, +the career of my uncle, Frank Vizetelly, exercised a strange fascination +over me. Born in Fleet Street in September, 1830, he was the youngest of +my father's three brothers. Educated with Gustave Doré, he became an +artist for the illustrated Press, and, in 1850, represented the +_Illustrated Times_ as war-artist in Italy, being a part of the time with +the French and at other moments with the Sardinian forces. That was the +first of his many campaigns. His services being afterwards secured by the +_Illustrated London News_, he next accompanied Garibaldi from Palermo to +Naples. Then, at the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States, he +repaired thither with Howard Russell, and, on finding obstacles placed in +his way on the Federal side, travelled "underground" to Richmond and +joined the Confederates. The late Duke of Devonshire, the late Lord +Wolseley, and Francis Lawley were among his successive companions. At one +time he and the first-named shared the same tent and lent socks and shirts +to one another. + +Now and again, however, Frank Vizetelly came to England after running the +blockade, stayed a few weeks in London, and then departed for America once +more, yet again running the blockade on his way. This he did on at least +three occasions. His next campaign was the war of 1866, when he was with +the Austrian commander Benedek. For a few years afterwards he remained in +London assisting his eldest brother James to run what was probably the +first of the society journals, _Echoes of the Clubs_, to which Mortimer +Collins and the late Sir Edmund Monson largely contributed. However, Frank +Vizetelly went back to America once again, this time with Wolseley on the +Red River Expedition. Later, he was with Don Carlos in Spain and with the +French in Tunis, whence he proceeded to Egypt. He died on the field of +duty, meeting his death when Hicks Pasha's little army was annihilated in +the denies of Kashgil, in the Soudan. + +Now, in the earlier years, when Frank Vizetelly returned from Italy or +America, he was often at my father's house at Kensington, and I heard +him talk of Napoleon III, MacMahon, Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel, Cialdini, +Robert Lee, Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and Captain Semmes. +Between-times I saw all the engravings prepared after his sketches, and I +regarded him and them with a kind of childish reverence. I can picture him +still, a hale, bluff, tall, and burly-looking man, with short dark hair, +blue eyes and a big ruddy moustache. He was far away the best known member +of our family in my younger days, when anonymity in journalism was an +almost universal rule. In the same way, however, as everybody had heard of +Howard Russell, the war correspondent of the _Times_, so most people had +heard of Frank Vizetelly, the war-artist of the _Illustrated_. He was, +by-the-by, in the service of the _Graphic_ when he was killed. + +I well remember being alternately amused and disgusted by a French +theatrical delineation of an English war correspondent, given in a +spectacular military piece which I witnessed a short time after my first +arrival in Paris. It was called "The Siege of Pekin," and had been +concocted by Mocquard, the Emperor Napoleon's secretary. All the "comic +business" in the affair was supplied by a so-called war correspondent of +the _Times_, who strutted about in a tropical helmet embellished with a +green Derby veil, and was provided with a portable desk and a huge +umbrella. This red-nosed and red-whiskered individual was for ever talking +of having to do this and that for "the first paper of the first country in +the world," and, in order to obtain a better view of an engagement, he +deliberately planted himself between the French and Chinese combatants. I +should doubtless have derived more amusement from his tomfoolery had I not +already known that English war correspondents did not behave in any such +idiotic manner, and I came away from the performance with strong feelings +of resentment respecting so outrageous a caricature of a profession +counting among its members the uncle whom I so much admired. + +Whatever my dreams may have been, I hardly anticipated that I should join +that profession myself during the Franco-German war. The Lycées "broke up" +in confusion, and my father decided to send me to join my stepmother and +the younger members of the family at Saint Servan, it being his intention +to go to the front with my elder brother Edward. But Simpson, the veteran +Crimean War artist, came over to join the so-called Army of the Rhine, and +my brother, securing an engagement from the _New York Times_, set out on +his own account. Thus I was promptly recalled to Paris, where my father +had decided to remain. In those days the journey from Brittany to the +capital took many long and wearisome hours, and I made it in a third-class +carriage of a train crowded with soldiers of all arms, cavalry, infantry, +and artillery. Most of them were intoxicated, and the grossness of their +language and manners was almost beyond belief. That dreadful night spent +on the boards of a slowly-moving and jolting train, [There were then no +cushioned seats in French third-class carriages.] amidst drunken and +foul-mouthed companions, gave me, as it were, a glimpse of the other side +of the picture--that is, of several things which lie behind the glamour of +war. + +It must have been about July 25 when I returned to Paris. A decree had +just been issued appointing the Empress as Regent in the absence of the +Emperor, who was to take command of the Army of the Rhine. It had +originally been intended that there should be three French armies, but +during the conferences with Archduke Albert in the spring, that plan was +abandoned in favour of one sole army under the command of Napoleon III. +The idea underlying the change was to avoid a superfluity of +staff-officers, and to augment the number of actual combatants. Both Le +Boeuf and Lebrun approved of the alteration, and this would seem to +indicate that there were already misgivings on the French side in regard +to the inferior strength of their effectives. The army was divided into +eight sections, that is, seven army corps, and the Imperial Guard. +Bourbaki, as already mentioned, commanded the Guard, and at the head of +the army corps were (1) MacMahon, (2) Frossard, (3) Bazaine, (4) +Ladmerault, (5) Failly, (6) Canrobert, and (7) Félix Douay. Both Frossard +and Failly, however, were at first made subordinate to Bazaine. The head +of the information service was Colonel Lewal, who rose to be a general and +Minister of War under the Republic, and who wrote some commendable works +on tactics; and immediately under him were Lieut.-Colonel Fay, also +subsequently a well-known general, and Captain Jung, who is best +remembered perhaps by his inquiries into the mystery of the Man with the +Iron Mask. I give those names because, however distinguished those three +men may have become in later years, the French intelligence service at the +outset of the war was without doubt extremely faulty, and responsible for +some of the disasters which occurred. + +On returning to Paris one of my first duties was to go in search of +Moulin, the detective-artist whom I mentioned in my first chapter. I found +him in his somewhat squalid home in the Quartier Mouffetard, surrounded by +a tribe of children, and he immediately informed me that he was one of the +"agents" appointed to attend the Emperor on the campaign. The somewhat +lavish Imperial _équipage_, on which Zola so frequently dilated in "The +Downfall," had, I think, already been despatched to Metz, where the +Emperor proposed to fix his headquarters, and the escort of Cent Gardes +was about to proceed thither. Moulin told me, however, that he and two of +his colleagues were to travel in the same train as Napoleon, and it was +agreed that he should forward either to Paris or to London, as might prove +most convenient, such sketches as he might from time to time contrive to +make. He suggested that there should be one of the Emperor's departure +from Saint Cloud, and that in order to avoid delay I should accompany him +on the occasion and take it from him. We therefore went down together on +July 28, promptly obtained admittance to the château, where Moulin took +certain instructions, and then repaired to the railway-siding in the park, +whence the Imperial train was to start. + +Officers and high officials, nearly all in uniform, were constantly going +to and fro between the siding and the château, and presently the Imperial +party appeared, the Emperor being between the Empress and the young +Imperial Prince. Quite a crowd of dignitaries followed. I do not recollect +seeing Emile Ollivier, though he must have been present, but I took +particular note of Rouher, the once all-powerful minister, currently +nicknamed the Vice-Emperor, and later President of the Senate. In spite of +his portliness, he walked with a most determined stride, held his head +very erect, and spoke in his customary loud voice. The Emperor, who wore +the undress uniform of a general, looked very grave and sallow. The +disease which eventually ended in his death had already become serious, +[I have given many particulars of it in my two books, "The Court of the +Tuileries, 1862-1870" (Chatto and Windus), and "Republican France, +1870-1912" (Holden and Hardingham).] and only a few days later, that is, +during the Saarbrucken affair (August 2), he was painfully affected by it. +Nevertheless, he had undertaken to command the Army of France! The +Imperial Prince, then fourteen years of age, was also in uniform, it +having been arranged that he should accompany his father to the front, and +he seemed to be extremely animated and restless, repeatedly turning to +exchange remarks with one or another officer near him. The Empress, who +was very simply gowned, smiled once or twice in response to some words +which fell from her husband, but for the most part she looked as serious +as he did. Whatever Emile Ollivier may have said about beginning this war +with a light heart, it is certain that these two sovereigns of France +realized, at that hour of parting, the magnitude of the issues at stake. +After they had exchanged a farewell kiss, the Empress took her eager young +son in her arms and embraced him fondly, and when we next saw her face we +could perceive the tears standing in her eyes. The Emperor was already +taking his seat and the boy speedily sprang after him. Did the Empress at +that moment wonder when, where, and how she would next see them again? +Perchance she did. Everything, however, was speedily in readiness for +departure. As the train began to move, both the Emperor and the Prince +waved their hands from the windows, whilst all the enthusiastic Imperial +dignitaries flourished their hats and raised a prolonged cry of "Vive +l'Empereur!" It was not, perhaps, so loud as it might have been; but, +then, they were mostly elderly men. Moulin, during the interval, had +contrived to make something in the nature of a thumb-nail sketch; I had +also taken a few notes myself; and thus provided I hastened back to Paris. + + + +III + +ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + +First French Defeats--A Great Victory rumoured--The Marseillaise, Capoul +and Marie Sass--Edward Vizetelly brings News of Forbach to Paris--Emile +Ollivier again--His Fall from Power--Cousin Montauban, Comte de Palikao-- +English War Correspondents in Paris--Gambetta calls me "a Little Spy"-- +More French Defeats--Palikao and the Defence of Paris--Feats of a Siege-- +Wounded returning from the Front--Wild Reports of French Victories--The +Quarries of Jaumont--The Anglo-American Ambulance--The News of Sedan-- +Sala's Unpleasant Adventure--The Fall of the Empire. + + +It was, I think, two days after the Emperor's arrival at Metz that the +first Germans--a detachment of Badeners--entered French territory. Then, +on the second of August came the successful French attack on Saarbrucken, +a petty affair but a well-remembered one, as it was on this occasion that +the young Imperial Prince received the "baptism of fire." Appropriately +enough, the troops, whose success he witnessed, were commanded by his late +governor, General Frossard. More important was the engagement at +Weissenburg two days later, when a division of the French under General +Abel Douay was surprised by much superior forces, and utterly overwhelmed, +Douay himself being killed during the fighting. Yet another two days +elapsed, and then the Crown Prince of Prussia--later the Emperor +Frederick--routed MacMahon at Wörth, in spite of a vigorous resistance, +carried on the part of the French Cuirassiers, under General the Vicomte +de Bonnemains, to the point of heroism. In later days the general's son +married a handsome and wealthy young lady of the bourgeoisie named +Marguerite Crouzet, whom, however, he had to divorce, and who afterwards +became notorious as the mistress of General Boulanger. + +Curiously enough, on the very day of the disaster of Wörth a rumour of a +great French victory spread through Paris. My father had occasion to send +me to his bankers in the Rue Vivienne, and on making my way to the +Boulevards, which I proposed to follow, I was amazed to see the +shopkeepers eagerly setting up the tricolour flags which they habitually +displayed on the Emperor's fête-day (August 15). Nobody knew exactly how +the rumours of victory had originated, nobody could give any precise +details respecting the alleged great success, but everybody believed in +it, and the enthusiasm was universal. It was about the middle of the day +when I repaired to the Rue Vivienne, and after transacting my business +there, I turned into the Place de la Bourse, where a huge crowd was +assembled. The steps of the exchange were also covered with people, and +amidst a myriad eager gesticulations a perfect babel of voices was +ascending to the blue sky. One of the green omnibuses, which in those days +ran from the Bourse to Passy, was waiting on the square, unable to depart +owing to the density of the crowd; and all at once, amidst a scene of +great excitement and repeated shouts of "La Marseillaise!" "La +Marseillaise!" three or four well-dressed men climbed on to the vehicle, +and turning towards the mob of speculators and sightseers covering the +steps of the Bourse, they called to them repeatedly: "Silence! Silence!" +The hubbub slightly subsided, and thereupon one of the party on the +omnibus, a good-looking slim young fellow with a little moustache, took +off his hat, raised his right arm, and began to sing the war-hymn of the +Revolution. The stanza finished, the whole assembly took up the refrain. + +Since the days of the Coup d'État, the Marseillaise had been banned in +France, the official imperial air being "Partant pour la Syrie," a +military march composed by the Emperor's mother, Queen Hortense, with +words by Count Alexandre de Laborde, who therein pictured a handsome young +knight praying to the Blessed Virgin before his departure for Palestine, +and soliciting of her benevolence that he might "prove to be the bravest +brave, and love the fairest fair." During the twenty years of the third +Napoleon's rule, Paris had heard the strains of "Partant pour la Syrie" +many thousand times, and, though they were tuneful enough, had become +thoroughly tired of them. To stimulate popular enthusiasm in the war the +Ollivier Cabinet had accordingly authorized the playing and singing of the +long-forbidden "Marseillaise," which, although it was well-remembered by +the survivors of '48, and was hummed even by the young Republicans of +Belleville and the Quartier Latin, proved quite a novelty to half the +population, who were destined to hear it again and again and again from +that period until the present time. + +The young vocalist who sang it from the top of a Passy-Bourse omnibus on +that fateful day of Wörth, claimed to be a tenor, but was more correctly a +tenorino, his voice possessing far more sweetness than power. He was +already well-known and popular, for he had taken the part of Romeo in +Gounod's well-known opera based on the Shakespearean play. Like many +another singer, Victor Capoul might have become forgotten before very +long, but a curious circumstance, having nothing to do with vocalism, +diffused and perpetuated his name. He adopted a particular way of dressing +his hair, "plastering" a part of it down in a kind of semi-circle over the +forehead; and the new style "catching on" among young Parisians, the +"coiffure Capoul" eventually went round the world. It is exemplified in +certain portraits of King George V. + +In those war-days Capoul sang the "Marseillaise" either at the Opéra +Comique or the Théâtre Lyrique; but at the Opera it was sung by Marie +Sass, then at the height of her reputation. I came in touch with her a few +years later when she was living in the Paris suburbs, and more than once, +when we both travelled to the city in the same train, I had the honour of +assisting her to alight from it--this being no very easy matter, as la +Sass was the very fattest and heaviest of all the _prime donne_ that I +have ever seen. + +On the same day that MacMahon was defeated at Wörth, Frossard was badly +beaten at Forbach, an engagement witnessed by my elder brother Edward, +[Born January 1, 1847, and therefore in 1870 in his twenty-fourth year.] +who, as I previously mentioned, had gone to the front for an American +journal. Finding it impossible to telegraph the news of this serious +French reverse, he contrived to make his way to Paris on a locomotive- +engine, and arrived at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil looking as black +as any coal-heaver. When he had handed his account of the affair to Ryan, +the Paris representative of the _New York Times_, it was suggested that +his information might perhaps be useful to the French Minister of War. So +he hastened to the Ministry, where the news he brought put a finishing +touch to the dismay of the officials, who were already staggering under +the first news of the disaster of Wörth. + +Paris, jubilant over an imaginary victory, was enraged by the tidings of +Wörth and Forbach. Already dreading some Revolutionary enterprise, the +Government declared the city to be in a state of siege, thereby placing it +under military authority. Although additional men had recently been +enrolled in the National Guard the arming of them had been intentionally +delayed, precisely from a fear of revolutionary troubles, which the +_entourage_ of the Empress-Regent at Saint Cloud feared from the very +moment of the first defeats. I recollect witnessing on the Place Venddme +one day early in August a very tumultuous gathering of National Guards who +had flocked thither in order to demand weapons of the Prime Minister, that +is, Emile Ollivier, who in addition to the premiership, otherwise the +"Presidency of the Council," held the offices of Keeper of the Seals and +Minister of Justice, this department then having its offices in one of the +buildings of the Place Vendôme. Ollivier responded to the demonstration by +appearing on the balcony of his private room and delivering a brief +speech, which, embraced a vague promise to comply with the popular demand. +In point of fact, however, nothing of the kind was done during his term of +office. + +Whilst writing these lines I hear that this much-abused statesman has just +passed away at Saint Gervais-les-Bains in Upper Savoy (August 20, 1913). +Born at Marseilles in July, 1825, he lived to complete his eighty-eighth +year. His second wife (née Gravier), to whom I referred in a previous +chapter, survives him. I do not wish to be unduly hard on his memory. He +came, however, of a very Republican family, and in his earlier years he +personally evinced what seemed to be most staunch Republicanism. When he +was first elected as a member of the Legislative Body in 1857, he publicly +declared that he would appear before that essentially Bonapartist assembly +as one of the spectres of the crime of the Coup d'Etat. But subsequently +M. de Morny baited him with a lucrative appointment connected with the +Suez Canal. Later still, the Empress smiled on him, and finally he took +office under the Emperor, thereby disgusting nearly every one of his +former friends and associates. + +I believe, however, that Ollivier was sincerely convinced of the +possibility of firmly establishing a liberal-imperialist _regime_. But +although various reforms were carried out under his auspices, it is quite +certain that he was not allowed a perfectly free hand. Nor was he fully +taken into confidence with respect to the Emperor's secret diplomatic and +military policy. That was proved by the very speech in which he spoke of +entering upon the war with Prussia "with a light heart"; for in his very +next sentences he spoke of that war as being absolutely forced upon +France, and of himself and his colleagues as having done all that was +humanly and honourably possible to avoid it. Assuredly he would not have +spoken quite as he did had he realized at the time that Bismarck had +merely forced on the war in order to defeat the Emperor Napoleon's +intention to invade Germany in the ensuing spring. The public provocation +on Prussia's part was, as I previously showed, merely her reply to the +secret provocation offered by France, as evidenced by all the negotiations +with Archduke Albert on behalf of Austria, and with Count Vimercati on +behalf of Italy. On all those matters Ollivier was at the utmost but very +imperfectly informed. Finally, be it remembered that he was absent from +the Council at Saint Cloud at which war was finally decided upon. + +At a very early hour on the morning of Sunday, August 7--the day following +Wörth and Forbach--the Empress Eugénie came in all haste and sore +distress from Saint Cloud to the Tuileries. The position was very serious, +and anxious conferences were held by the ministers. When the Legislative +Body met on the morrow, a number of deputies roundly denounced the manner +in which the military operations were being conducted. One deputy, a +certain Guyot-Montpeyroux, who was well known for the outspokenness of his +language, horrified the more devoted Imperialists by describing the French +forces as an army of lions led by jackasses. On the following day Ollivier +and his colleagues resigned office. Their position had become untenable, +though little if any responsibility attached to them respecting the +military operations. The Minister of War, General Dejean, had been merely +a stop-gap, appointed to carry out the measures agreed upon before his +predecessor, Marshal Le Boeuf, had gone to the front as Major General of +the army. + +It was felt; however, among the Empress's _entourage_ that the new Prime +Minister ought to be a military man of energy, devoted, moreover, to the +Imperial _régime_. As the marshals and most of the conspicuous generals of +the time were already serving in the field, it was difficult to find any +prominent individual possessed of the desired qualifications. Finally, +however, the Empress was prevailed upon to telegraph to an officer whom +she personally disliked, this being General Cousin-Montauban, Comte de +Palikao. He was certainly, and with good reason, devoted to the Empire, +and in the past he had undoubtedly proved himself to be a man of energy. +But he was at this date in his seventy-fifth year--a fact often overlooked +by historians of the Franco-German war--and for that very reason, although +he had solicited a command in the field at the first outbreak of +hostilities, it had been decided to decline his application, and to leave +him at Lyons, where he had commanded the garrison for five years past. + +Thirty years of Palikao's life had been spent in Algeria, contending, +during most of that time, against the Arabs; but in 1860 he had been +appointed commander of the French expedition to China, where with a small +force he had conducted hostilities with the greatest vigour, repeatedly +decimating or scattering the hordes of Chinamen who were opposed to him, +and, in conjunction with the English, victoriously taking Pekin. A kind of +stain rested on the expedition by reason of the looting of the Chinese +Emperor's summer-palace, but the entire responsibility of that affair +could not be cast on the French commander, as he only continued and +completed what the English began. On his return to France, Napoleon III +created him Comte de Palikao (the name being taken from one of his Chinese +victories), and in addition wished the Legislative Body to grant him a +_dotation_. However, the summer-palace looting scandal prevented this, +much to the Emperor's annoyance, and subsequent to the fall of the Empire +it was discovered that, by Napoleon's express orders, the War Ministry had +paid Palikao a sum of about £60,000, diverting that amount of money (in +accordance with the practices of the time) from the purpose originally +assigned to it in the Estimates. + +This was not generally known when Palikao became Chief Minister. He was +then what might be called a very well preserved old officer, but his lungs +had been somewhat affected by a bullet-wound of long standing, and this he +more than once gave as a reason for replying with the greatest brevity to +interpellations in the Chamber. Moreover, as matters went from bad to +worse, this same lung trouble became a good excuse for preserving absolute +silence on certain inconvenient occasions. When, however, Palikao was +willing to speak he often did so untruthfully, repeatedly adding the +_suggestio falsi_ to the _suppressio veri_. As a matter of fact, he, like +other fervent partisans of the dynasty, was afraid to let the Parisians +know the true state of affairs. Besides, he himself was often ignorant of +it. He took office (he was the third War Minister in fifty days) without +any knowledge whatever of the imperial plan of campaign, or the steps to +be adopted in the event of further French reverses, and a herculean task +lay before this septuagenarian officer, who by experience knew right well +how to deal with Arabs and Chinamen, but had never had to contend with +European troops. Nevertheless, he displayed zeal and activity in his new +semi-political and semi-military position. He greatly assisted MacMahon to +reconstitute his army at Châlons, he planned the organization of three +more army corps, and he started on the work of placing Paris in a state of +defence, whilst his colleague, Clément Duvernois, the new Minister of +Commerce, began gathering flocks and herds together, in order that the +city, if besieged, might have the necessary means of subsistence. + +At this time there were quite a number of English "war" as well as "own" +correspondents in Paris. The former had mostly returned from Metz, whither +they had repaired at the time of the Emperor's departure for the front. At +the outset it had seemed as though the French would allow foreign +journalists to accompany them on their "promenade to Berlin," but, on +reverses setting in, all official recognition was denied to newspaper men, +and, moreover, some of the representatives of the London Press had a very +unpleasant time at Metz, being arrested there as spies and subjected to +divers indignities. I do not remember whether they were ordered back to +Paris or whether they voluntarily withdrew to the capital on their +position with the army becoming untenable; but in any case they arrived in +the city and lingered there for a time, holding daily symposiums at the +Grand Café at the corner of the Ruè Scribe, on the Boulevards. + +From time to time I went there with my father, and amongst, this galaxy +of journalistic talent I met certain men with whom I had spoken in my +childhood. One of them, for instance, was George Augustus Sala, and +another was Henry Mayhew, the famous author of "London Labour and the +London Poor," he being accompanied by his son Athol. Looking back, it +seems to me that, in spite of all their brilliant gifts, neither Sala nor +Henry Mayhew was fitted to be a correspondent in the field, and they were +certainly much better placed in Paris than at the headquarters of the Army +of the Rhine. Among the resident correspondents who attended the +gatherings at the Grand Café were Captain Bingham, Blanchard (son of +Douglas) Jerrold, and the jaunty Bower, who had once been tried for his +life and acquitted by virtue of the "unwritten law" in connection with +an _affaire passíonelle_ in which he was the aggrieved party. For more +than forty years past, whenever I have seen a bluff looking elderly +gentleman sporting a buff-waistcoat and a white-spotted blue necktie, +I have instinctively thought of Bower, who wore such a waistcoat and such +a necktie, with the glossiest of silk hats and most shapely of +patent-leather boots, throughout the siege of Paris, when he was fond of +dilating on the merits of boiled ostrich and stewed elephant's foot, of +which expensive dainties he partook at his club, after the inmates of the +Jardin des Plantes had been slaughtered. + +Bower represented the _Morning Advertiser_. I do not remember seeing Bowes +of the _Standard_ at the gatherings I have referred to, or Crawford of the +_Daily News_, who so long wrote his Paris letters at a little café +fronting the Bourse. But it was certainly at the Grand Café that I first +set eyes on Labouchere, who, like Sala, was installed at the neighbouring +Grand Hotel, and was soon to become famous as the _Daily News_' "Besieged +Resident." As for Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who represented the _Morning +Post_ during the German Siege, I first set eyes on him at the British +Embassy, when he had a beautiful little moustache (which I greatly envied) +and wore his hair nicely parted down the middle. _Eheu! fugaces labuntur +anni_. + +Sala was the life and soul of those gatherings at the Grand Café, always +exuberantly gay, unless indeed the conversation turned on the prospects of +the French forces, when he railed at them without ceasing. Blanchard +Jerrold, who was well acquainted with the spy system of the Empire, +repeatedly warned Sala to be cautious--but in vain; and the eventual +result of his outspokenness was a very unpleasant adventure on the eve of +the Empire's fall. In the presence of all those distinguished men of the +pen, I myself mostly preserved, as befitted my age, a very discreet +silence, listening intently, but seldom opening my lips unless it were to +accept or refuse another cup of coffee, or some _sirop de groseille_ or +_grenadine_. I never touched any intoxicant excepting claret at my meals, +and though, in my Eastbourne days, I had, like most boys of my time, +experimented with a clay pipe and some dark shag, I did not smoke. My +father personally was extremely fond of cigars, but had he caught me +smoking one, he would, I believe, have knocked me down. + +In connection with those Grand Café gatherings I one day had a little +adventure. It had been arranged that I should meet my father there, and +turning into the Boulevards from the Madeleine I went slowly past what was +then called the Rue Basse du Rempart. I was thinking of something or +other--I do not remember what, but in any case I was absorbed in thought, +and inadvertently I dogged the footsteps of two black-coated gentlemen who +were deep in conversation. I was almost unconscious of their presence, and +in any case I did not hear a word of what they were saying. But all at +once one of them turned round, and said to me angrily: "Veux-tu bien t'en +aller, petit espion!" otherwise: "Be off, little spy!" I woke up as it +were, looked at him, and to my amazement recognized Gambetta, whom I had +seen several times already, when I was with my mentor Brossard at either +the Café de Suède or the Café de Madrid. At the same time, however, his +companion also turned round, and proved to be Jules Simon, who knew me +through a son of his. This was fortunate, for he immediately exclaimed: +"Why, no! It is young Vizetelly, a friend of my son's," adding, "Did you +wish to speak to me?" + +I replied in the negative, saying that I had not even recognized him from +behind, and trying to explain that it was purely by chance that I had been +following him and M. Gambetta. "You know me, then?" exclaimed the future +dictator somewhat sharply; whereupon I mentioned that he had been pointed +out to me more than once, notably when he was in the company of M. +Delescluze. "Ah, oui, fort bien," he answered. "I am sorry if I spoke as I +did. But"--and here he turned to Simon--"one never knows, one can never +take too many precautions. The Spaniard would willingly send both of us to +Mazas." By "the Spaniard," of course, he meant the Empress Eugénie, just +as people meant Marie-Antoinette when they referred to "the Austrian" +during the first Revolution. That ended the affair. They both shook hands +with me, I raised my hat, and hurried on to the Grand Café, leaving them +to their private conversation. This was the first time that I ever +exchanged words with Gambetta. The incident must have occurred just after +his return from Switzerland, whither he had repaired fully anticipating +the triumph of the French arms, returning, however, directly he heard of +the first disasters. Simon and he were naturally drawn together by their +opposition to the Empire, but they were men of very different characters, +and some six months later they were at daggers drawn. + +Events moved rapidly during Palikao's ministry. Reviving a former +proposition of Jules Favre's, Gambetta proposed to the Legislative Body +the formation of a Committee of National Defence, and one was ultimately +appointed; but the only member of the Opposition included in it was +Thiers. In the middle of August there were some revolutionary disturbances +at La Villette. Then, after the famous conference at Châlons, where +Rouher, Prince Napoleon, and others discussed the situation with the +Emperor and MacMahon, Trochu was appointed Military Governor of Paris, +where he soon found himself at loggerheads with Palikao. Meantime, the +French under Bazaine, to whom the Emperor was obliged to relinquish the +supreme command--the Opposition deputies particularly insisting on +Bazaine's appointment in his stead--were experiencing reverse after +reverse. The battle of Courcelles or Pange, on August 14, was followed two +days later by that of Vionville or Mars-la-Tour, and, after yet another +two days, came the great struggle of Gravelotte, and Bazaine was thrown +back on Metz. + +At the Châlons conference it had been decided that the Emperor should +return to Paris and that MacMahon's army also should retreat towards the +capital. But Palikao telegraphed to Napoleon: "If you abandon Bazaine +there will be Revolution in Paris, and you yourself will be attacked by +all the enemy's forces. Paris will defend herself from all assault from +outside. The fortifications are completed." It has been argued that the +plan to save Bazaine might have succeeded had it been immediately carried +into effect, and in accordance, too, with Palikao's ideas; but the +original scheme was modified, delay ensued, and the French were outmarched +by the Germans, who came up with them at Sedan. As for Palikao's statement +that the Paris fortifications were completed at the time when he +despatched his telegram, that was absolutely untrue. The armament of the +outlying forts had scarcely begun, and not a single gun was in position on +any one of the ninety-five bastions of the ramparts. On the other hand, +Palikao was certainly doing all he could for the city. He had formed the +aforementioned Committee of Defence, and under his auspices the fosse or +ditch in front of the ramparts was carried across the sixty-nine roads +leading into Paris, whilst drawbridges were installed on all these points, +with armed lunettes in front of them. Again, redoubts were thrown up in +advance of some of the outlying forts, or on spots where breaks occurred +in the chain of defensive works. + +At the same time, ships' guns were ordered up from Cherbourg, Brest, +Lorient, and Toulon, together with naval gunners to serve them. Sailors, +customhouse officers, and provincial gendarmes were also conveyed to Paris +in considerable numbers. Gardes-mobiles, francs-tireurs, and even firemen +likewise came from the provinces, whilst the work of provisioning the city +proceeded briskly, the Chamber never hesitating to vote all the money +asked of it. At the same time, whilst there were many new arrivals in +Paris, there were also many departures from the city. The general fear of +a siege spread rapidly. Every day thousands of well-to-do middle-class +folk went off in order to place themselves out of harm's way; and at the +same time thousands of foreigners were expelled on the ground that, in the +event of a siege occurring, they would merely be "useless mouths." In +contrast with that exodus was the great inrush of people from the suburbs +of Paris. They poured into the city unceasingly, from villas, cottages, +and farms, employing every variety of vehicle to convey their furniture +and other household goods, their corn, flour, wine, and other produce. +There was a block at virtually every city gate, so many were the folk +eager for shelter within the protecting ramparts raised at the instigation +of Thiers some thirty years previously. + +In point of fact, although the Germans were not yet really marching on +Paris--for Bazaine's army had to be bottled up, and MacMahon's disposed +of, before there could be an effective advance on the French capital--it +was imagined in the city and its outskirts that the enemy might arrive at +any moment. The general alarm was intensified when, on the night of August +21, a large body of invalided men, who had fought at Weissenburg or Worth, +made their way into Paris, looking battle and travel-stained, some with +their heads bandaged, others with their arms in slings, and others limping +along with the help of sticks. It is difficult to conceive by what +aberration the authorities allowed the Parisians to obtain that woeful +glimpse of the misfortunes of France. The men in question ought never to +have been sent to Paris at all. They might well have been cared for +elsewhere. As it happened, the sorry sight affected all who beheld it. +Some were angered by it, others depressed, and others well-nigh terrified. + +As a kind of set-off, however, to that gloomy spectacle, fresh rumours of +French successes began to circulate. There was a report that Bazaine's +army had annihilated the whole of Prince Frederick-Charles's cavalry, and, +in particular, there was a most sensational account of how three German +army-corps, including the famous white Cuirassiers to which Bismarck +belonged, had been tumbled into the "Quarries of Jaumont" and there +absolutely destroyed! I will not say that there is no locality named +Jaumont, but I cannot find any such place mentioned in Joanne's elaborate +dictionary of the communes of France, and possibly it was as mythical as +was the alleged German disaster, the rumours of which momentarily revived +the spirits of the deluded Parisians, who were particularly pleased to +think that the hated Bismarck's regiment had been annihilated. + +On or about August 30, a friend of my eldest brother Adrian, a medical +man named Blewitt, arrived in Paris with the object of joining an +Anglo-American ambulance which was being formed in connection with the Red +Cross Society. Dr. Blewitt spoke a little French, but he was not well +acquainted with the city, and I was deputed to assist him whilst he +remained there. An interesting account of the doings of the ambulance in +question was written some sixteen or seventeen years ago by Dr. Charles +Edward Ryan, of Glenlara, Tipperary, who belonged to it. Its head men were +Dr. Marion-Sims and Dr. Frank, others being Dr. Ryan, as already +mentioned, and Drs. Blewitt, Webb, May, Nicholl, Hayden, Howett, +Tilghmann, and last but not least, the future Sir William MacCormack. Dr. +Blewitt had a variety of business to transact with the officials of the +French Red Cross Society, and I was with him at his interviews with its +venerable-looking President, the Count de Flavigny, and others. It is of +interest to recall that at the outbreak of the war the society's only +means was an income of £5 6_s._ 3_d._, but that by August 28 its receipts +had risen to nearly £112,000. By October it had expended more than +£100,000 in organizing thirty-two field ambulances. Its total outlay +during the war exceeded half a million sterling, and in its various field, +town, and village ambulances no fewer than 110,000 men were succoured and +nursed. + +In Paris the society's headquarters were established at the Palace de +l'Industrie in the Champs Elysées, and among the members of its principal +committee were several ladies of high rank. I well remember seeing there +that great leader of fashion, the Marquise de Galliffet, whose elaborate +ball gowns I had more than once admired at Worth's, but who, now that +misfortune had fallen upon France, was, like all her friends, very plainly +garbed in black. At the Palais de l'Industrie I also found Mme. de +MacMahon, short and plump, but full of dignity and energy, as became a +daughter of the Castries. I remember a brief address which she delivered +to the Anglo-American Ambulance on the day when it quitted Paris, and in +which she thanked its members for their courage and devotion in coming +forward, and expressed her confidence, and that of all her friends, in the +kindly services which they would undoubtedly bestow upon every sufferer +who came under their care. + +I accompanied the ambulance on its march through Paris to the Eastern +Hallway Station. When it was drawn up outside the Palais de l'Industrie, +Count de Flavigny in his turn made a short but feeling speech, and +immediately afterwards the _cortége_ started. At the head of it were three +young ladies, the daughters of Dr. Marion-Sims, who carried respectively +the flags of France, England, and the United States. Then came the chief +surgeons, the assistant-surgeons, the dressers and male nurses, with some +waggons of stores bringing up the rear. I walked, I remember, between +Dr. Blewitt and Dr. May. On either side of the procession were members of +the Red Cross Society, carrying sticks or poles tipped with collection +bags, into which money speedily began to rain. We crossed the Place de la +Concorde, turned up the Rue Royale, and then followed the main Boulevards +as far, I think, as the Boulevard de Strasbourg. There were crowds of +people on either hand, and our progress was necessarily slow, as it was +desired to give the onlookers full time to deposit their offerings in the +collection-bags. From the Cercle Impérial at the corner of the Champs +Elysées, from the Jockey Club, the Turf Club, the Union, the Chemins-de- +Fer, the Ganaches, and other clubs on or adjacent to the Boulevards, came +servants, often in liveries, bearing with them both bank-notes and gold. +Everybody seemed anxious to give something, and an official of the society +afterwards told me that the collection had proved the largest it had ever +made. There was also great enthusiasm all along the line of route, cries +of "Vivent les Anglais! Vivent les Américains!" resounding upon every +side. + +The train by which the ambulance quitted Paris did not start until a very +late hour in the evening. Prior to its departure most of us dined at a +restaurant near the railway-station. No little champagne was consumed at +this repast, and, unaccustomed as I was to the sparkling wine of the +Marne, it got, I fear, slightly into my head. However, my services as +interpreter were requisitioned more than once by some members of the +ambulance in connection with certain inquiries which they wished to make +of the railway officials; and I recollect that when some question arose of +going in and out of the station, and reaching the platform again without +let or hindrance--the departure of the train being long delayed--the +_sous-chef de gare_ made me a most courteous bow, and responded: "À vous, +messieurs, tout est permis. There are no regulations for you!" At last the +train started, proceeding on its way to Soissons, where it arrived at +daybreak on August 29, the ambulance then hastening to join MacMahon, and +reaching him just in time to be of good service at Sedan. I will only add +here that my friend Dr. Blewitt was with Dr. Frank at Balan and Bazeilles, +where the slaughter was so terrible. The rest of the ambulance's dramatic +story must be read in Dr. Ryan's deeply interesting pages. + +Whilst the Parisians were being beguiled with stories of how the Prince of +Saxe-Meiningen had written to his wife telling her that the German troops +were suffering terribly from sore feet, the said troops were in point of +fact lustily outmarching MacMahon's forces. On August 30, General de +Failly was badly worsted at Beaumont, and on the following day MacMahon +was forced to move on Sedan. The first reports which reached Paris +indicated, as usual, very favourable results respecting the contest there. +My friend Captain Bingham, however, obtained some correct information-- +from, I believe, the British Embassy--and I have always understood that it +was he who first made the terrible truth known to one of the deputies of +the Opposition party, who hastened to convey it to Thiers. The battle of +Sedan was fought on Thursday, September 1; but it was only on Saturday, +September 3, that Palikao shadowed forth the disaster in the Chamber, +stating that MacMahon had failed to effect a junction with Bazaine, and +that, after alternate reverses and successes--that is, driving a part of +the German army into the Meuse!--he had been obliged to retreat on Sedan +and Mézières, some portion of his forces, moreover, having been compelled +to cross the Belgian frontier. + +That tissue of inaccuracies, devised perhaps to palliate the effect of the +German telegrams of victory which were now becoming known to the +incredulous Parisians, was torn to shreds a few hours later when the +Legislative Body assembled for a night-sitting. Palikao was then obliged +to admit that the French army and the Emperor Napoleon had surrendered to +the victorious German force. Jules Favre, who was the recognized leader of +the Republican Opposition, thereupon brought forward a motion of +dethronement, proposing that the executive authority should be vested in a +parliamentary committee. In accordance with the practice of the Chamber, +Farve's motion had to be referred to its _bureaux_, or ordinary +committees, and thus no decision was arrived at that night, it being +agreed that the Chamber should reassemble on the morrow at noon. + +The deputies separated at a very late hour. My father and myself were +among all the anxious people who had assembled on the Place de la Concorde +to await the issue of the debate. Wild talk was heard on every side, +imprecations were levelled at the Empire, and it was already suggested +that the country had been sold to the foreigner. At last, as the crowd +became extremely restless, the authorities, who had taken their +precautions in consequence of the revolutionary spirit which was abroad, +decided to disperse it. During the evening a considerable body of mounted +Gardes de Paris had been stationed in or near the Palais de l'Industrie, +and now, on instructions being conveyed to their commander, they suddenly +cantered down the Champs Elysées and cleared the square, chasing people +round and round the fountains and the seated statues of the cities of +France, until they fled by way either of the quays, the Rue de Rivoti, or +the Rue Royale. The vigour which the troops displayed did not seem of good +augury for the adversaries of the Empire. Without a doubt Revolution was +already in the air, but everything indicated that the authorities were +quite prepared to contend with it, and in all probability successfully. + +It was with difficulty that my father and myself contrived to avoid the +troopers and reach the Avenue Gabriel, whence we made our way home. +Meantime there had been disturbances in other parts of Paris. On the +Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle a band of demonstrators had come into collision +with the police, who had arrested several of them. Thus, as I have already +mentioned, the authorities seemed to be as vigilant and as energetic as +ever. But, without doubt, on that night of Saturday, September 3, the +secret Republican associations were very active, sending the _mot d'ordre_ +from one to another part of the city, so that all might be ready for +Revolution when the Legislative Body assembled on the morrow. + +It was on this same last night of the Empire that George Augustus Sala met +with the very unpleasant adventure to which I previously referred. During +the evening he went as usual to the Grand Café, and meeting Blanchard +Jerrold there, he endeavoured to induce him to go to supper at the Café du +Helder. Sala being in an even more talkative mood than usual, and--now +that he had heard of the disaster of Sedan--more than ever inclined to +express his contempt of the French in regard to military matters, Jerrold +declined the invitation, fearing, as he afterwards said to my father in my +presence, that some unpleasantness might well ensue, as Sala, in spite of +all remonstrances, would not cease "gassing." Apropos of that expression, +it is somewhat amusing to recall that Sala at one time designed for +himself an illuminated visiting-card, on which appeared his initials G. A. +S. in letters of gold, the A being intersected by a gas-lamp diffusing +many vivid rays of light, whilst underneath it was a scroll bearing the +appropriate motto, "Dux est Lux." + +But, to return to my story, Jerrold having refused the invitation; Sala +repaired alone to the Café du Helder, an establishment which in those +imperial times was particularly patronized by officers of the Paris +garrison and officers from the provinces on leave. It was the height of +folly for anybody to "run down" the French army in such a place, unless, +indeed, he wished to have a number of duels on his hands. It is true that +on the night of September 3, there may have been few, if any, military men +at the Helder. Certain it is, however, that whilst Sala was supping in the +principal room upstairs, he entered into conversation with other people, +spoke incautiously, as he had been doing for a week past, and on departing +from the establishment was summarily arrested and conveyed to the Poste de +Police on the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. The cells there were already more +or less crowded with roughs who had been arrested during the disturbance +earlier in the evening, and when a police official thrust Sala into their +midst, at the same time calling him a vile Prussian spy, the patriotism of +the other prisoners was immediately aroused, though, for the most part, +they were utter scamps who had only created a disturbance for the purpose +of filling their pockets. + +Sala was subjected not merely to much ill-treatment, but also to +indignities which only Rabelais or Zola could have (in different ways) +adequately described; and it was not until the morning that he was able to +communicate with the manager of the Grand Hotel, where he had his +quarters. The manager acquainted the British Embassy with his predicament, +and it was, I think, Mr. Sheffield who repaired to the Préfecture de +Police to obtain an order for Sala's liberation. The story told me at the +time was that Lord Lyons's representative found matters already in great +confusion at the Préfecture. There had been a stampede of officials, +scarcely any being at their posts, in such wise that he made his way to +the Prefect's sanctum unannounced. There he found M. Piétri engaged with a +confidential acolyte in destroying a large number of compromising papers, +emptying boxes and pigeon-holes in swift succession, and piling their +contents on an already huge fire, which was stirred incessantly in order +that it might burn more swiftly. Piétri only paused in his task in order +to write an order for Sala's release, and I have always understood that +this was the last official order that emanated from the famous Prefect of +the Second Empire. It is true that he presented himself at the Tuileries +before he fled to Belgium, but the Empress, as we know, was averse from +any armed conflict with the population of Paris. As a matter of fact, the +Prefecture had spent its last strength during the night of September 3. +Disorganized as it was on the morning of the 4th, it could not have fought +the Revolution. As will presently appear, those police who on the night of +the 3rd were chosen to assist in guarding the approaches to the Palais +Bourbon on the morrow, were quite unable to do so. + +Disorder, indeed, prevailed in many places. My father had recently found +himself in a dilemma in regard to the requirements of the _Illustrated +London News_. In those days the universal snap-shotting hand-camera was +unknown. Every scene that it was desired to depict in the paper had to be +sketched, and in presence of all the defensive preparations which were +being made, a question arose as to what might and what might not be +sketched. General Trochu was Governor of Paris, and applications were made +to him on the subject. A reply came requiring a reference from the British +Embassy before any permission whatever was granted. In due course a letter +was obtained from the Embassy, signed not, I think, by Lord Lyons himself, +but by one of the secretaries--perhaps Sir Edward Malet, or Mr. Wodehouse, +or even Mr. Sheffield. At all events, on the morning of September 4, my +father, being anxious to settle the matter, commissioned me to take the +Embassy letter to Trochu's quarters at the Louvre. Here I found great +confusion. Nobody was paying the slightest attention to official work. The +_bureaux_ were half deserted. Officers came and went incessantly, or +gathered in little groups in the passages and on the stairs, all of them +looking extremely upset and talking anxiously and excitedly together. I +could find nobody to attend to any business, and was at a loss what to do, +when a door opened and a general officer in undress uniform appeared on +the threshold of a large and finely appointed room. + +I immediately recognized Trochu's extremely bald head and determined jaw, +for since his nomination as Governor, Paris had been flooded with +portraits of him. He had opened the door, I believe, to look for an +officer, but on seeing me standing there with a letter in my hand he +inquired what I wanted. I replied that I had brought a letter from the +British Embassy, and he may perhaps have thought that I was an Embassy +messenger. At all events, he took the letter from me, saying curtly: +"C'est bien, je m'en occuperai, revenez cet après-midi." With those words +he stepped back into the room and carefully placed the letter on the top +of several others which were neatly disposed on a side-table. + +The incident was trivial in itself, yet it afforded a glimpse of Trochu's +character. Here was the man who, in his earlier years, had organized the +French Expedition to the Crimea in a manner far superior to that in which +our own had been organized; a man of method, order, precision, fully +qualified to prepare the defence of Paris, though not to lead her army in +the field. Brief as was that interview of mine, I could not help noticing +how perfectly calm and self-possessed he was, for his demeanour greatly +contrasted with the anxious or excited bearing of his subordinates. Yet he +had reached the supreme crisis of his life. The Empire was falling, a +first offer of Power had been made to him on the previous evening; and a +second offer, which he finally accepted, [See my book, "Republican +France," p. 8.] was almost imminent. Yet on that morning of +Revolution he appeared as cool as a cucumber. + +I quitted the Louvre, going towards the Rue Royale, it having been +arranged with my father that we should take _déjeuner_ at a well-known +restaurant there. It was called "His Lordship's Larder," and was +pre-eminently an English house, though the landlord bore the German name +of Weber. He and his family were unhappily suffocated in the cellars of +their establishment during one of the conflagrations which marked the +Bloody Week of the Commune. At the time when I met my father, that is +about noon, there was nothing particularly ominous in the appearance of +the streets along which I myself passed. It was a fine bright Sunday, and, +as was usual on such a day, there were plenty of people abroad. Recently +enrolled National Guards certainly predominated among the men, but the +latter included many in civilian attire, and there was no lack of women +and children. As for agitation, I saw no sign of it. + +As I was afterwards told, however, by Delmas, the landlord of the Café +Grétry, [Note] matters were very different that morning on the Boulevards, +and particularly on the Boulevard Montmartre. By ten o'clock, indeed, +great crowds had assembled there, and the excitement grew apace. The same +words were on all lips: "Sedan--the whole French army taken--the wretched +Emperor's sword surrendered--unworthy to reign--dethrone him!" Just as, in +another crisis of French history, men had climbed on to the chairs and +tables in the garden of the Palais Royal to denounce Monsieur and Madame +Véto and urge the Parisians to march upon Versailles, so now others +climbed on the chairs outside the Boulevard cafés to denounce the Empire, +and urge a march upon the Palais Bourbon, where the Legislative Body was +about to meet. And amidst the general clamour one cry persistently +prevailed. It was: "Déchéance! Déchéance!--Dethronement! Dethronement!" + +[Note: This was a little café on the Boulevard des Italiens, and was noted +for its quietude during the afternoon, though in the evening it was, by +reason of its proximity to the "Petite Bourse" (held on the side-walk in +front of it), invaded by noisy speculators. Captain Bingham, my father, +and myself long frequented the Café Grétry, often writing our "Paris +letters" there. Subsequent to the war, Bingham and I removed to the Café +Cardinal, where, however, the everlasting rattle of dominoes proved very +disturbing. In the end, on that account, and in order to be nearer to a +club to which we both belonged, we emigrated to the Café Napolitain. One +reason for writing one's copy at a café instead of at one's club was that, +at the former, one could at any moment receive messengers bringing late +news; in addition to which, afternoon newspapers were instantly +available.] + +At every moment the numbers of the crowd increased. New-comers continually +arrived from the eastern districts by way of the Boulevards, and from the +north by way of the Faubourg Montmartre and the Rue Drouot, whilst from +the south--the Quartier Latin and its neighbourhood--contingents made +their way across the Pont St. Michel and the Pont Notre Dame, and thence, +past the Halles, along the Boulevard de Sebastopol and the Rue Montmartre. +Why the Quartier Latin element did not advance direct on the Palais +Bourbon from its own side of the river I cannot exactly say; but it was, I +believe, thought desirable to join hands, in the first instance, with the +Revolutionary elements of northern Paris. All this took place whilst my +father and myself were partaking of our meal. When we quitted the +"Larder," a little before one o'clock, all the small parties of National +Guards and civilians whom we had observed strolling about at an earlier +hour, had congregated on the Place de la Concorde, attracted thither by +the news of the special Sunday sitting, at which the Legislative Body +would undoubtedly take momentous decisions. + +It should be added that nearly all the National Guards who assembled on +the Place de la Concorde before one o'clock were absolutely unarmed. At +that hour, however, a large force of them, equivalent to a couple of +battalions or thereabouts, came marching down the Rue Royale from the +Boulevards, and these men (who were preceded by a solitary drummer) +carried, some of them, chassepots and others _fusils-à-tabatière,_ having +moreover, in most instances, their bayonets fixed. They belonged to the +north of Paris, though I cannot say precisely to what particular +districts, nor do I know exactly by whose orders they had been assembled +and instructed to march on the Palais Bourbon, as they speedily did. But +it is certain that all the fermentation of the morning and all that +occurred afterwards was the outcome of the night-work of the secret +Republican Committees. + +As the guards marched on, loud cries of "Déchéance! Déchéance!" arose +among them, and were at once taken up by the spectators. Perfect +unanimity, indeed, appeared to prevail on the question of dethroning the +Emperor. Even the soldiers who were scattered here and there--a few +Linesmen, a few Zouaves, a few Turcos, some of them invalided from +MacMahon's forces--eagerly joined in the universal cry, and began to +follow the guards on to the Place de la Concorde. Never, I believe, had +that square been more crowded--not even in the days when it was known as +the Place Louis Quinze, and when hundreds of people were crushed to death +there whilst witnessing a display of fireworks in connection with the +espousals of the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, not even when it +had become the Place de la Révolution and was thronged by all who wished +to witness the successive executions of the last King and Queen of the old +French monarchy. From the end of the Rue Royale to the bridge conducting +across the Seine to the Palais Bourbon, from the gate of the Tuileries +garden to the horses of Marly at the entrance of the Champs Elysées, +around the obelisk of Luxor, and the fountains which were playing as usual +in the bright sunshine which fell from the blue sky, along all the +balustrades connecting the seated statues of the cities of France, here, +there, and everywhere, indeed, you saw human heads. And the clamour was +universal. The great square had again become one of Revolution, and yet +it remained one of Concord also, for there was absolute agreement among +the hundred thousand or hundred and fifty thousand people who had chosen +it as their meeting-place, an agreement attested by that universal and +never-ceasing cry of "Dethronement!" + +As the armed National Guards debouched from the Rue Royale, their solitary +drummer plied his sticks. But the roll of the drum was scarcely heard in +the general uproar, and so dense was the crowd that the men could advance +but very slowly. For a while it took some minutes to make only a few +steps. Meantime the ranks of the men were broken here and there, other +people got among them, and at last my father and myself were caught in the +stream and carried with it, still somewhat slowly, in the direction of the +Pont de la Concorde. I read recently that the bridge was defended by +mounted men of the Garde de Paris (the forerunner of the Garde +Républicaine of to-day); a French writer, in recalling the scene, +referring to "the men's helmets glistening in the sunshine." But that is +pure imagination. The bridge was defended by a cordon of police ranged in +front of a large body of Gendarmerie mobile, wearing the familiar dark +blue white-braided _képis_ and the dark blue tunics with white +aiguillettes. At first, as I have already said, we advanced but slowly +towards that defending force; but, all at once, we were swept onward by +other men who had come from the Boulevards, in our wake. A minute later an +abrupt halt ensued, whereupon it was only with great difficulty that we +were able to resist the pressure from behind. + +I at last contrived to raise myself on tiptoes. Our first ranks had +effected a breach in those of the sergents-de-ville, but before us were +the mounted gendarmes, whose officer suddenly gave a command and drew his +sword. For an instant I saw him plainly: his face was intensely pale. But +a sudden rattle succeeded his command, for his men responded to it by +drawing their sabres, which flashed ominously. A minute, perhaps two +minutes, elapsed, the pressure in our rear still and ever increasing. I do +not know what happened exactly at the head of our column: the uproar was +greater than ever, and it seemed as if, in another moment, we should be +charged, ridden over, cut down, or dispersed. I believe, however, that in +presence of that great concourse of people, in presence too of the +universal reprobation of the Empire which had brought defeat, invasion, +humiliation upon France, the officer commanding the gendarmes shrank from +carrying out his orders. There must have been a brief parley with the +leaders of our column. In any case, the ranks of the gendarmes suddenly +opened, many of them taking to the footways of the bridge, over which our +column swept at the double-quick, raising exultant shouts of "Vive la +République!" It was almost a race as to who should be the first to reach +the Palais Bourbon. Those in the rear were ever impelling the foremost +onward, and there was no time to look about one. But in a rapid vision, as +it were, I saw the gendarmes reining in their horses on either side of us; +and, here and there, medals gleamed on their dark tunics, and it seemed to +me as if more than one face wore an angry expression. These men had fought +under the imperial eagles, they had been decorated for their valour in the +Crimean, Italian, and Cochin-China wars. Veterans all, and faithful +servants of the Empire, they saw the _régime_ for which they had fought, +collapsing. Had their commanding officer ordered it, they might well have +charged us; but, obedient to discipline, they had opened their ranks, and +now the Will of the People was sweeping past them. + +None of our column had a particularly threatening mien; the general +demeanour was rather suggestive of joyful expectancy. But, the bridge once +crossed, there was a fresh pause at the gates shutting off the steps of +the Palais Bourbon. Here infantry were assembled, with their chassepots in +readiness. Another very brief but exciting interval ensued. Then the +Linesmen were withdrawn, the gates swung open, and everybody rushed up the +steps. I was carried hither and thither, and at last from the portico into +the building, where I contrived to halt beside one of the statues in the +"Salle des Pas Perdus." I looked for my father, but could not see him, and +remained wedged in my corner for quite a considerable time. Finally, +however, another rush of invaders dislodged me, and I was swept with many +others into the Chamber itself. All was uproar and confusion there. Very +few deputies were present. The public galleries, the seats of the members, +the hemicycle in front of the tribune, were crowded with National Guards. +Some were standing on the stenographers' table and on the ushers' chairs +below the tribune. There were others on the tribune stairs. And at the +tribune itself, with his hat on his head, stood Gambetta, hoarsely +shouting, amidst the general din, that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and his +dynasty had for ever ceased to reign. Then, again and again, arose the cry +of "Vive la République!" In the twinkling of an eye, however, Gambetta was +lost to view--he and other Republican deputies betaking themselves, as I +afterwards learnt, to the palace steps, where the dethronement of the +Bonapartes was again proclaimed. The invaders of the chamber swarmed after +them, and I was watching their departure when I suddenly saw my father +quietly leaning back in one of the ministerial seats--perhaps that which, +in the past, had been occupied by Billault, Rouher, Ollivier, and other +powerful and prominent men of the fallen _régime_. + +At the outset of the proceedings that day Palikao had proposed the +formation of a Council of Government and National Defence which was to +include five members of the Legislative Body. The ministers were to be +appointed by this Council, and he was to be Lieutenant-General of France. +It so happened that the more fervent Imperialists had previously offered +him a dictatorship, but he had declined it. Jules Favre met the General's +proposal by claiming priority for the motion which he had submitted at the +midnight sitting, whilst Thiers tried to bring about a compromise by +suggesting such a Committee as Palikao had indicated, but placing the +choice of its members entirely in the hands of the Legislative Body, +omitting all reference to Palikao's Lieutenancy, and, further, setting +forth that a Constituent Assembly should be convoked as soon as +circumstances might permit. The three proposals--Thiers', Favre's, and +Palikao's--were submitted to the _bureaux_, and whilst these _bureaux_ +were deliberating in various rooms the first invasion of the Chamber took +place in spite of the efforts of Jules Ferry, who had promised Palikao +that the proceedings of the Legislature should not be disturbed. When the +sitting was resumed the "invaders," who, at that moment, mainly occupied +the galleries, would listen neither to President Schneider nor to their +favourite Gambetta, though both appealed to them for silence and order. +Jules Favre alone secured a few moments' quietude, during which he begged +that there might be no violence. Palikao was present, but did not speak. +[Later in the day, after urging Trochu to accept the presidency of the new +Government, as otherwise "all might be lost," Palikao quitted Paris for +Belgium. He stayed at Namur during the remainder of the war, and +afterwards lived in retirement at Versailles, where he died in January, +1878.] Amidst the general confusion came the second invasion of the +Chamber, when I was swept off my feet and carried on to the floor of the +house. That second invasion precipitated events. Even Gambetta wished the +dethronement of the dynasty to be signified by a formal vote, but the +"invaders" would brook no delay. + +Both of us, my father and I, were tired and thirsty after our unexpected +experiences. Accordingly we did not follow the crowd back to the steps +overlooking the Place de la Concorde, but, like a good many other people, +we went off by way of the Place de Bourgogne. No damage had been done in +the Chamber itself, but as we quitted the building we noticed several +inscriptions scrawled upon the walls. In some instances the words were +merely "Vive la République!" and "Mort aux Prussiens!" At other times, +however, they were too disgusting to be set down here. In or near the Rue +de Bourgogne we found a fairly quiet wine-shop, where we rested and +refreshed ourselves with _cannettes_ of so-called Bière de Strasbourg. +We did not go at that moment to the Hôtel-de-Ville, whither a large part +of the crowd betook itself by way of the quays, and where the Republic +was again proclaimed; but returned to the Place de la Concorde, where some +thousands of people still remained. Everybody was looking very animated +and very pleased. Everybody imagined that, the Empire being overthrown, +France would soon drive back the German invader. All fears for the future +seemed, indeed, to have departed. Universal confidence prevailed, and +everybody congratulated everybody else. There was, in any case, one +good cause for congratulation: the Revolution had been absolutely +bloodless--the first and only phenomenon of the kind in all French +history. + +Whilst we were strolling about the Place de la Concorde I noticed that the +chief gate of the Tuileries garden had been forced open and damaged. The +gilded eagles which had decorated it had been struck off and pounded to +pieces, this, it appeared, having been chiefly the work of an enterprising +Turco. A few days later Victorien Sardou wrote an interesting account of +how he and others obtained admittance, first to the reserved garden, and +then to the palace itself. On glancing towards it I observed that the flag +which had still waved over the principal pavilion that morning, had now +disappeared. It had been lowered after the departure of the Empress. Of +the last hours which she spent in the palace, before she quitted it with +Prince Metternich and Count Nigra to seek a momentary refuge at the +residence of her dentist, Dr. Evans, I have given a detailed account, +based on reliable narratives and documents, in my "Court of the +Tuileries." + +Quitting, at last, the Place de la Concorde, we strolled slowly homeward. +Some tradespeople in the Rue Royale and the Faubourg St. Honoré, former +purveyors to the Emperor or the Empress, were already hastily removing the +imperial arms from above their shops. That same afternoon and during the +ensuing Monday and Tuesday every escutcheon, every initial N, every crown, +every eagle, every inscription that recalled the Empire, was removed or +obliterated in one or another manner. George Augustus Sala, whose recent +adventure confined him to his room at the Grand Hotel, spent most of his +time in watching the men who removed the eagles, crowns, and Ns from the +then unfinished Opera-house. Even the streets which recalled the imperial +_regime_ were hastily renamed. The Avenue de l'Impératrice at once became +the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne; and the Rue du Dix-Décembre (so called in +memory of Napoleon's assumption of the imperial dignity) was rechristened +Rue du Quatre Septembre--this being the "happy thought" of a Zouave, who, +mounted on a ladder, set the new name above the old one, whilst the plate +bearing the latter was struck off with a hammer by a young workman. + +As we went home on the afternoon of that memorable Fourth, we noticed that +all the cafés and wine-shops were doing a brisk trade. Neither then nor +during the evening, however, did I perceive much actual drunkenness. It +was rather a universal jollity, as though some great victory had been +gained. Truth to tell, the increase of drunkenness in Paris was an effect +of the German Siege of the city, when drink was so plentiful and food so +scarce. + +My father and I had reached the corner of our street when we witnessed an +incident which I have related in detail in the first pages of my book, +"Republican France." It was the arrival of Gambetta at the Ministry of the +Interior, by way of the Avenue de Marigny, with an escort of red-shirted +Francs-tireurs de la Presse. The future Dictator had seven companions with +him, all huddled inside or on the roof of a four-wheel cab, which was +drawn by two Breton nags. I can still picture him alighting from the +vehicle and, in the name of the Republic, ordering a chubby little +Linesman, who was mounting guard at the gate of the Ministry, to have the +said gate opened; and I can see the sleek and elderly _concierge_, who had +bowed to many an Imperial Minister, complying with the said injunction, +and respectfully doffing his tasselled smoking-cap and bending double +whilst he admitted his new master. Then the gate is closed, and from +behind the finely-wrought ornamental iron-work Gambetta briefly addresses +the little throng which has recognized him, saying that the Empire is +dead, but that France is wounded, and that her very wounds will inflame +her with fresh courage; promising, too, that the whole nation shall be +armed; and asking one and all to place confidence in the new Government, +even as the latter will place confidence in the people. + +In the evening I strolled with my father to the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, +where many people were congregated, A fairly large body of National Guards +was posted in front of the building, most of whose windows were lighted +up. The members of the New Government of National Defence were +deliberating there. Trochu had become its President, and Jules Favre its +Vice-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Henri Rochefort, released +that afternoon by his admirers from the prison of Sainte Pélagie, was +included in the administration, this being in the main composed of the +deputies for Paris. Only one of the latter, the cautious Thiers, refused +to join it. He presided, however, that same evening over a gathering of +some two hundred members of the moribund Legislative Body, which then made +a forlorn attempt to retain some measure of authority, by coming to some +agreement with the new Government. But Jules Favre and Jules Simon, who +attended the meeting on the latter's behalf, would not entertain the +suggestion. It was politely signified to the deputies that their support +in Paris was not required, and that if they desired to serve their country +in any way, they had better betake themselves to their former +constituencies in the provinces. So far as the Legislative Body and the +Senate, [Note] also, were concerned, everything ended in a +delightful bit of comedy. Not only were the doors of their respective +meeting halls looked, but they were "secured" with strips of tape and +seals of red wax. The awe with which red sealing-wax inspires Frenchmen is +distinctly a trait of the national character. Had there been, however, a +real Bonaparte in Paris at that time, he would probably have cut off the +aforesaid seals with his sword. + +[Note: The Senate, over which Rouher presided, dispensed quietly on +hearing of the invasion of the Chamber. The proposal that it should +adjourn till more fortunate times emanated from Rouher himself. A few +cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" were raised as the assembly dispersed. +Almost immediately afterwards, however, most of the Senators, including +Rouher, who knew that he was very obnoxious to the Parisians, quitted the +city and even France.] + +On the morning of September 5, the _Charivari_--otherwise the daily +Parisian _Punch_--came out with a cartoon designed to sum up the whole +period covered by the imperial rule. It depicted France bound hand and +foot and placed between the mouths of two cannons, one inscribed "Paris, +1851," and the other "Sedan, 1870"--those names and dates representing the +Alpha and Omega of the Second Empire. + + + +IV + +FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + +The Government of National Defence--The Army of Paris--The Return +of Victor Hugo--The German advance on Paris--The National Guard +reviewed--Hospitable Preparations for the Germans--They draw nearer +still--Departure of Lord Lyons--Our Last Day of Liberty--On the +Fortifications--The Bois de Boulogne and our Live Stock--Mass before +the Statue of Strasbourg--Devout Breton Mobiles--Evening on the +Boulevards and in the Clubs--Trochu and Ducrot--The Fight and Panic +of Chatillon--The Siege begins. + + +As I shall have occasion in these pages to mention a good many members +of the self-constituted Government which succeeded the Empire, it may be +as well for me to set down here their names and the offices they held. +I have already mentioned that Trochu was President, and Jules Favre +Vice-President, of the new administration. The former also retained his +office as Governor of Paris, and at the same time became Generalissimo. +Favre, for his part, took the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. With him and +Trochu were Gambetta, Minister of the Interior; Jules Simon, Minister of +Public Instruction; Adolphe Crémieux, Minister of Justice; Ernest Picard, +Minister of Finance; Jules Ferry, Secretary-General to the Government, and +later Mayor of Paris; and Henri Rochefort, President of the Committee of +Barricades. Four of their colleagues, Emmanuel Arago, Garnier-Pagès, +Eugène Pelletan, and Glais-Bizoin, did not take charge of any particular +administrative departments, the remainder of these being allotted to men +whose co-operation was secured. For instance, old General Le Flô became +Minister of War--under Trochu, however, and not over him. Vice-Admiral +Fourichon was appointed Minister of Marine; Magnin, an iron-master, +became Minister of Commerce and Agriculture; Frédéric Dorian, another +iron-master, took the department of Public Works; Count Emile de Kératry +acted as Prefect of Police, and Etienne Arago, in the earlier days, as +Mayor of Paris. + +The new Government was fully installed by Tuesday, September 6. It had +already issued several more or less stirring proclamations, which were +followed by a despatch which Jules Favre addressed to the French +diplomatic representatives abroad. As a set-off to the arrival of a number +of dejected travel-stained fugitives from MacMahon's army, whose +appearance was by no means of a nature to exhilarate the Parisians, the +defence was reinforced by a large number of Gardes Mobiles, who poured +into the city, particularly from Brittany, Trochu's native province, and +by a considerable force of regulars, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, +commanded by the veteran General Vinoy (then seventy years of age), who +had originally been despatched to assist MacMahon, but, having failed to +reach him before the disaster of Sedan, retreated in good order on the +capital. At the time when the Siege actually commenced there were in Paris +about 90,000 regulars (including all arms and categories), 110,000 Mobile +Guards, and a naval contingent of 13,500 men, that is a force of 213,000, +in addition to the National Guards, who were about 280,000 in number. +Thus, altogether, nearly half a million armed men were assembled in Paris +for the purpose of defending it. As all authorities afterwards admitted, +this was a very great blunder, as fully 100,000 regulars and mobiles might +have been spared to advantage for service in the provinces. Of course the +National Guards themselves could not be sent away from the city, though +they were often an encumbrance rather than a help, and could not possibly +have carried on the work of defence had they been left to their own +resources. + +Besides troops, so long as the railway trains continued running, +additional military stores and supplies of food, flour, rice, biscuits, +preserved meats, rolled day by day into Paris. At the same time, several +illustrious exiles returned to the capital. Louis Blanc and Edgar Quinet +arrived there, after years of absence, in the most unostentatious fashion, +though they soon succumbed to the prevailing mania of inditing manifestoes +and exhortations for the benefit of their fellow-countrymen. Victor Hugo's +return was more theatrical. In those famous "Châtiments" in which he had +so severely flagellated the Third Napoleon (after, in earlier years, +exalting the First to the dignity of a demi-god), he had vowed to keep out +of France and to protest against the Empire so long as it lasted, penning, +in this connection, the famous line: + + "Et s'il n'en reste qu'un, je serai celui-là!" + +But now the Empire had fallen, and so Hugo returned in triumph to Paris. +When he alighted from the train which brought him, he said to those who +had assembled to give him a fitting greeting, that he had come to do his +duty in the hour of danger, that duty being to save Paris, which meant +more than saving France, for it implied saving the world itself--Paris +being the capital of civilization, the centre of mankind. Naturally +enough, those fine sentiments were fervently applauded by the great poet's +admirers, and when he had installed himself with his companions in an open +carriage, two or three thousand people escorted him processionally along +the Boulevards. It was night-time, and the cafés were crowded and the +footways covered with promenaders as the _cortége_ went by, the escort +singing now the "Marseillaise" and now the "Chant du Départ," whilst on +every side shouts of "Vive Victor Hugo!" rang out as enthusiastically as +if the appointed "Saviour of Paris" were indeed actually passing. More +than once I saw the illustrious poet stand up, uncover, and wave his hat +in response to the acclamations, and I then particularly noticed the +loftiness of his forehead, and the splendid crop of white hair with which +it was crowned. Hugo, at that time sixty-eight years old, still looked +vigorous, but it was beyond the power of any such man as himself to save +the city from what was impending. All he could do was to indite perfervid +manifestoes, and subsequently, in "L'Année terrible," commemorate the +doings and sufferings of the time. For the rest, he certainly enrolled +himself as a National Guard, and I more than once caught sight of him +wearing _képi_ and _vareuse_. I am not sure, however, whether he ever did +a "sentry-go." + +It must have been on the day following Victor Hugo's arrival that I +momentarily quitted Paris for reasons in which my youthful but precocious +heart was deeply concerned. I was absent for four days or so, and on +returning to the capital I was accompanied by my stepmother, who, knowing +that my father intended to remain in the city during the impending siege, +wished to be with him for a while before the investment began. I recollect +that she even desired to remain with us, though that was impossible, as +she had young children, whom she had left at Saint Servan; and, besides, +as I one day jocularly remarked to her, she would, by staying in Paris, +have added to the "useless mouths," whose numbers the Republican, like the +Imperial, Government was, with very indifferent success, striving to +diminish. However, she only quitted us at the last extremity, departing on +the evening of September 17, by the Western line, which, on the morrow, +the enemy out at Conflans, some fourteen miles from Paris. + +Day by day the Parisians had received news of the gradual approach of +the German forces. On the 8th they heard that the Crown Prince of +Prussia's army was advancing from Montmirail to Coulommiers--whereupon the +city became very restless; whilst on the 9th there came word that the +black and white pennons of the ubiquitous Uhlans had been seen at La +Ferté-sous-Jouarre. That same day Thiers quitted Paris on a mission which +he had undertaken for the new Government, that of pleading the cause of +France at the Courts of London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Rome. Then, on +the 11th, there were tidings that Laon had capitulated, though not without +its defenders blowing up a powder-magazine and thereby injuring some +German officers of exalted rank--for which reason the deed was +enthusiastically commended by the Parisian Press, though it would seem to +have been a somewhat treacherous one, contrary to the ordinary usages of +war. On the 12th some German scouts reached Meaux, and a larger force +leisurely occupied Melun. The French, on their part, were busy after a +fashion. They offered no armed resistance to the German advance, but they +tried to impede it in sundry ways. With the idea of depriving the enemy of +"cover," various attempts were made to fire some of the woods in the +vicinity of Paris, whilst in order to cheat him of supplies, stacks and +standing crops were here and there destroyed. Then, too, several railway +and other bridges were blown up, including the railway bridge at Creil, so +that direct communication with Boulogne and Calais ceased on September 12. + +The 13th was a great day for the National Guards, who were then reviewed +by General Trochu. With my father and my young stepmother, I went to see +the sight, which was in many respects an interesting one. A hundred and +thirty-six battalions, or approximately 180,000 men, of the so-called +"citizen soldiery" were under arms; their lines extending, first, along +the Boulevards from the Bastille to the Madeleine, then down the Rue +Royale, across the Place de la Concorde and up the Champs Elysées as far +as the Rond Point. In addition, 100,000 men of the Garde Mobile were +assembled along the quays of the Seine and up the Champs Elysées from the +Rond Point to the Arc de Triomphe. I have never since set eyes on so large +a force of armed men. They were of all sorts. Some of the Mobiles, notably +the Breton ones, who afterwards gave a good account of themselves, looked +really soldierly; but the National Guards were a strangely mixed lot. They +all wore _képis_, but quite half of them as yet had no uniforms, and were +attired in blouses and trousers of various hues. Only here and there could +one see a man of military bearing; most of them struck happy-go-lucky +attitudes, and were quite unable to keep step in marching. A particular +feature of the display was the number of flowers and sprigs of evergreen +with which the men had decorated the muzzles of the _fusils-à-tabatière_ +which they mostly carried. Here and there, moreover, one and another +fellow displayed on his bayonet-point some coloured caricature of the +ex-Emperor or the ex-Empress. What things they were, those innumerable +caricatures of the months which followed the Revolution! Now and again +there appeared one which was really clever, which embodied a smart, +a witty idea; but how many of them were simply the outcome of a depraved, +a lewd, a bestial imagination! The most offensive caricatures of +Marie-Antoinette were as nothing beside those levelled at that unfortunate +woman, the Empress Eugénie. + +Our last days of liberty were now slipping by. Some of the poorest folk of +the environs of Paris were at last coming into the city, bringing their +chattels with them. Strange ideas, however, had taken hold of some of the +more simple-minded suburban bourgeois. Departing hastily into the +provinces, so as to place their skins out of harm's reach, they had not +troubled to store their household goods in the city; but had left them in +their coquettish villas and pavilions, the doors of which were barely +looked. The German soldiers would very likely occupy the houses, but +assuredly they would do no harm to them. "Perhaps, however, it might be as +well to propitiate the foreign soldiers. Let us leave something for them," +said worthy Monsieur Durand to Madame Durand, his wife; "they will be +hungry when they get here, and if they find something ready for them they +will be grateful and do no damage." So, although the honest Durands +carefully barred--at times even walled-up--their cellars of choice wines, +they arranged that plenty of bottles, at times even a cask, of _vin +ordinaire_ should be within easy access; and ham, cheese, sardines, +_saucissons de Lyon_, and _patés de foie gras_ were deposited in the +pantry cupboards, which were considerately left unlocked in order that the +good, mild-mannered, honest Germans (who, according to a proclamation +issued by "Unser Fritz" at an earlier stage of the hostilities, "made war +on the Emperor Napoleon and not on the French nation") might regale +themselves without let or hindrance. Moreover, the nights were "drawing +in," the evenings becoming chilly; so why not lay the fires, and place +matches and candles in convenient places for the benefit of the unbidden +guests who would so soon arrive? All those things being done, M. and Mme. +Durand departed to seek the quietude of Fouilly-les-Oies, never dreaming +that on their return to Montfermeil, Palaiseau, or Sartrouville, they +would find their _salon_ converted into a pigstye, their furniture +smashed, and their clocks and chimney-ornaments abstracted. Of course the +M. Durand of to-day knows what happened to his respected parents; he knows +what to think of the good, honest, considerate German soldiery; and, if he +can help it, he will not in any similar case leave so much as a wooden +spoon to be carried off to the Fatherland, and added as yet another trophy +to the hundred thousand French clocks and the million French nick-nacks +which are still preserved there as mementoes of the "grosse Zeit." + +On September 15, we heard of some petty skirmishes between Uhlans and +Francs-tireurs in the vicinity of Montereau and Melun; on the morrow the +enemy captured a train at Senlis, and fired on another near Chantilly, +fortunately without wounding any of the passengers; whilst on the same day +his presence was signalled at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, only ten miles +south of Paris. That evening, moreover, he attempted to ford the Seine at +Juvisy. On the 16th some of his forces appeared between Créteil and +Neuilly-sur-Marne, on the eastern side of the city, and only some five +miles from the fort of Vincennes. Then we again heard of him on the +south--of his presence at Brunoy, Ablon, and Athis, and of the pontoons by +which he was crossing the Seine at Villeneuve and Choisy-le-Roi. + +Thus the advance steadily continued, quite unchecked by force of arms, +save for just a few trifling skirmishes initiated by sundry +Francs-tireurs. Not a road, not a barricade, was defended by the +authorities; not once was the passage of a river contested. Here and there +the Germans found obstructions: poplars had been felled and laid across a +highway, bridges and railway tunnels had occasionally been blown up; but +all such impediments to their advance were speedily overcome by the enemy, +who marched on quietly, feeling alternately puzzled and astonished at +never being confronted by any French forces. As the invaders drew nearer +to Paris they found an abundance of vegetables and fruit at their +disposal, but most of the peasantry had fled, taking their live stock with +them, and, as a German officer told me in after years, eggs, cheese, +butter, and milk could seldom be procured. + +On the 17th the French began to recover from the stupor which seemed to +have fallen on them. Old General Vinoy crossed the Marne at Charenton with +some of his forces, and a rather sharp skirmish ensued in front of the +village of Mesly. That same day Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador, took +his departure from Paris, proceeding by devious ways to Tours, whither, a +couple of days previously, three delegates of the National Defence--two +septuagenarians and one sexagenarian, Crémieux, Glais-Bizoin, and +Fourichon--had repaired in order to take over the general government of +France. Lord Lyons had previously told Jules Favre that he intended to +remain in the capital, but I believe that his decision was modified by +instructions from London. With him went most of the Embassy staff, British +interests in Paris remaining in the hands of the second secretary, Mr. +Wodehouse, and the vice-consul. The consul himself had very prudently +quitted Paris, in order "to drink the waters," some time previously. +Colonel Claremont, the military attaché, still remained with us, but by +degrees, as the siege went on, the Embassy staff dwindled down to the +concierge and two--or was it four?--sheep browsing on the lawn. Mr. +Wodehouse went off (my father and myself being among those who accompanied +him, as I shall relate in a future chapter) towards the middle of +November; and before the bombardment began Colonel Claremont likewise +executed a strategical retreat. Nevertheless--or should I say for that +very reason?--he was subsequently made a general officer. + +A day or two before Lord Lyons left he drew up a notice warning British +subjects that if they should remain in Paris it would be at their own risk +and peril. The British colony was not then so large as it is now, +nevertheless it was a considerable one. A good many members of it +undoubtedly departed on their own initiative. Few, if any, saw Lord +Lyons's notice, for it was purely and simply conveyed to them through the +medium of _Galignani's Messenger_, which, though it was patronized by +tourists staying at the hotels, was seldom seen by genuine British +residents, most of whom read London newspapers. + +The morrow of Lord Lyons's departure, Sunday, September 18, was our last +day of liberty. The weather was splendid, the temperature as warm as that +of June. All Paris was out of doors. We were not without women-folk +and children. Not only were there the wives and offspring of the +working-classes; but the better halves of many tradespeople and bourgeois +had remained in the city, together with a good many ladies of higher +social rank. Thus, in spite of all the departures, "papa, mamma, and baby" +were still to be met in many directions on that last day preceding the +investment. There were gay crowds everywhere, on the Boulevards, on the +squares, along the quays, and along the roads skirting the ramparts. These +last were the "great attraction," and thousands of people strolled about +watching the work which was in progress. Stone casements were being roofed +with earth, platforms were being prepared for guns, gabions were being set +in position at the embrasures, sandbags were being carried to the +parapets, stakes were being pointed for the many _pièges-à-loups_, and +smooth earthworks were being planted with an infinity of spikes. Some guns +were already in position, others, big naval guns from Brest or Cherbourg, +were still lying on the turf. Meanwhile, at the various city gates, the +very last vehicles laden with furniture and forage were arriving from the +suburbs. And up and down went all the promenaders, chatting, laughing, +examining this and that work of defence or engine of destruction in such a +good-humoured, light-hearted way that the whole _chemin-de-ronde_ seemed +to be a vast fair, held solely for the amusement of the most volatile +people that the world has ever known. + +Access to the Bois de Boulogne was forbidden. Acres of timber had already +been felled there, and from the open spaces the mild September breeze +occasionally wafted the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, and the +grunting of pigs. Our live stock consisted of 30,000 oxen, 175,000 sheep, +8,800 pigs, and 6,000 milch-cows. Little did we think how soon those +animals (apart from the milch-cows) would be consumed! Few of us were +aware that, according to Maxime Ducamp's great work on Paris, we had +hitherto consumed, on an average, every day of the year, 935 oxen, 4680 +sheep, 570 pigs, and 600 calves, to say nothing of 46,000 head of poultry, +game, etc., 50 tons of fish, and 670,000 eggs. + +Turning from the Bois de Boulogne, which had become our principal ranch +and sheep-walk, one found companies of National Guards learning the +"goose-step" in the Champs Elysées and the Cours-la-Reine. Regulars were +appropriately encamped both in the Avenue de la Grande Armée and on the +Champ de Mars. Field-guns and caissons filled the Tuileries garden, whilst +in the grounds of the Luxembourg Palace one again found cattle and sheep; +yet other members of the bovine and ovine species being installed, +singularly enough, almost cheek by jowl with the hungry wild beasts of the +Jardin des Plantes, whose mouths fairly watered at the sight of their +natural prey. If you followed the quays of the Seine you there found +sightseers gazing at the little gunboats and floating batteries on the +water; and if you climbed to Montmartre you there came upon people +watching "The Neptune," the captive balloon which Nadar, the aeronaut and +photographer, had already provided for purposes of military observation. I +shall have occasion to speak of him and his balloons again. + +Among all that I myself saw on that memorable Sunday, I was perhaps most +struck by the solemn celebration of Mass in front of the statue of +Strasbourg on the Place de la Concorde. The capital of Alsace had been +besieged since the middle of August, but was still offering a firm +resistance to the enemy. Its chief defenders, General Uhrich and Edmond +Valentin, were the most popular heroes of the hour. The latter had been +appointed Prefect of the city by the Government of National Defence, and, +resolving to reach his post in spite of the siege which was being actively +prosecuted, had disguised himself and passed successfully through the +German lines, escaping the shots which were fired at him. In Paris the +statue of Strasbourg had become a place of pilgrimage, a sacred shrine, as +it were, adorned with banners and with wreaths innumerable. Yet I +certainly had not expected to see an altar set up and Mass celebrated in +front of it, as if it had been, indeed, a statue of the Blessed Virgin. + +At this stage of affairs there was no general hostility to the Church in +Paris. The _bourgeoisie_--I speak of its masculine element--was as +sceptical then as it is now, but it knew that General Trochu, in whom it +placed its trust, was a practising and fervent Catholic, and that in +taking the Presidency of the Government he had made it one of his +conditions that religion should be respected. Such animosity as was shown +against the priesthood emanated from some of the public clubs where the +future Communards perorated. It was only as time went on, and the defence +grew more and more hopeless, that Trochu himself was denounced as a +_cagot_ and a _souteneur de soutanes_; and not until the Commune did the +Extremists give full rein to their hatred of the Church and its ministers. + +In connection with religion, there was another sight which impressed me on +that same Sunday. I was on the point of leaving the Place de la Concorde +when a large body of Mobiles debouched either from the Rue Royale or the +Rue de Rivoli, and I noticed, with some astonishment, that not only were +they accompanied by their chaplains, but that they bore aloft several +processional religious banners. They were Bretons, and had been to Mass, I +ascertained, at the church of Notre Dame des Victoires--the favourite +church of the Empress Eugénie, who often attended early Mass there--and +were now returning to their quarters in the arches of the railway viaduct +of the Point-du-Jour. Many people uncovered as they thus went by +processionally, carrying on high their banners of the Virgin, she who is +invoked by the Catholic soldier as "Auzilium Christianorum." For a moment +my thoughts strayed back to Brittany, where, during my holidays the +previous year, I had witnessed the "Pardon" of Guingamp, + +In the evening I went to the Boulevards with my father, and we afterwards +dropped into one or two of the public clubs. The Boulevard promenaders had +a good deal to talk about. General Ambert, who under the Empire had been +mayor of our arrondissement, had fallen out with his men, through speaking +contemptuously of the Republic, and after being summarily arrested by some +of them, had been deprived of his command. Further, the _Official Journal_ +had published a circular addressed by Bismarck to the German diplomatists +abroad, in which he stated formally that if France desired peace she would +have to give "material guarantees." That idea, however, was vigorously +pooh-poohed by the Boulevardiers, particularly as rumours of sudden French +successes, originating nobody knew how, were once more in the air. +Scandal, however, secured the attention of many of the people seated in +the cafés, for the _Rappel_--Victor Hugo's organ--had that day printed a +letter addressed to Napoleon III by his mistress Marguerite Bellenger, who +admitted in it that she had deceived her imperial lover with respect to +the paternity of her child. + +However, we went, my father and I, from the Boulevards to the +Folies-Bergere, which had been turned for the time into a public club, and +there we listened awhile to Citizen Lermina, who, taking Thiers's mission +and Bismarck's despatch as his text, protested against France concluding +any peace or even any armistice so long as the Germans had not withdrawn +across the frontier. There was still no little talk of that description. +The old agitator Auguste Blanqui--long confined in one of the cages of +Mont Saint-Michel, but now once more in Paris--never wearied of opposing +peace in the discourses that he delivered at his own particular club, +which, like the newspaper he inspired, was called "La Patrie en Danger." +In other directions, for instance at the Club du Maine, the Extremists +were already attacking the new Government for its delay in distributing +cartridges to the National Guards, being, no doubt, already impatient to +seize authority themselves. + +Whilst other people were promenading or perorating, Trochu, in his room at +the Louvre, was receiving telegram after telegram informing him that the +Germans were now fast closing round the city. He himself, it appears, had +no idea of preventing it; but at the urgent suggestion of his old friend +and comrade General Ducrot, he had consented that an effort should be made +to delay, at any rate, a complete investment. In an earlier chapter I had +occasion to mention Ducrot in connexion with the warnings which Napoleon +III received respecting the military preparations of Prussia. At this +time, 1870, the general was fifty-three years old, and therefore still in +his prime. As commander of a part of MacMahon's forces he had +distinguished himself at the battle of Wörth, and when the Marshal was +wounded at Sedan, it was he who, by right of seniority, at first assumed +command of the army, being afterwards compelled, however, to relinquish +the poet to Wimpfen, in accordance with an order from Palikao which +Wimpfen produced. Included at the capitulation, among the prisoners taken +by the Germans, Ducrot subsequently escaped--the Germans contending that +he had broken his parole in doing so, though this does not appear to have +been the case. Immediately afterwards he repaired to Paris to place +himself at Trochu's disposal. At Wörth he had suggested certain tactics +which might have benefited the French army; at Sedan he had wished to make +a supreme effort to cut through the German lines; and now in Paris he +proposed to Trochu a plan which if successful might, he thought, retard +the investment and momentarily cut the German forces in halves. + +In attempting to carry out this scheme (September 19) Ducrot took with him +most of Vinoy's corps, that is four divisions of infantry, some cavalry, +and no little artillery, having indeed, according to his own account, +seventy-two guns with him. The action was fought on the plateau of +Châtillon (south of Paris), where the French had been constructing a +redoubt, which was still, however, in a very unfinished state. At daybreak +that morning all the districts of Paris lying on the left bank of the +Seine were roused by the loud booming of guns. The noise was at times +almost deafening, and it is certain that the French fired a vast number of +projectiles, though, assuredly, the number--25,000--given in a copy of the +official report which I have before me must be a clerical error. In any +case, the Germans replied with an even more terrific fire than that of the +French, and, as had previously happened at Sedan and elsewhere, the French +ordnance proved to be no match for that emanating from Krupp's renowned +workshops. The French defeat was, however, precipitated by a sudden panic +which arose among a provisional regiment of Zouaves, who suddenly turned +tail and fled. Panic is often, if not always, contagious, and so it proved +to be on this occasion. Though some of the Gardes Mobiles, notably the +Bretons of Ile-et-Vilaine, fought well, thanks to the support of the +artillery (which is so essential in the case of untried troops), other men +weakened, and imitated the example of the Zouaves. Duorot soon realized +that it was useless to prolong the encounter, and after spiking the guns +set up in the Châtillon redoubt, he retired under the protection of the +Forts of Vanves and Montrouge. + +My father and I had hastened to the southern side of Paris as soon as the +cannonade apprised us that an engagement was going on. Pitiful was the +spectacle presented by the disbanded soldiers as they rushed down the +Chaussée du Maine. Many had flung away their weapons. Some went on +dejectedly; others burst into wine-shops, demanded drink with threats, and +presently emerged swearing, cursing and shouting, "Nous sommes trahis!" +Riderless horses went by, instinctively following the men, and here and +there one saw a bewildered and indignant officer, whose orders were +scouted with jeers. The whole scene was of evil augury for the defence of +Paris. + +At a later hour, when we reached the Boulevards, we found the wildest +rumours in circulation there. Nobody knew exactly what had happened, but +there was talk of 20,000 French troops having been annihilated by five +times that number of Germans. At last a proclamation emanating from +Gambetta was posted up and eagerly perused. It supplied no details of the +fighting, but urged the Parisians to give way neither to excitement nor to +despondency, and reminded them that a court-martial had been instituted to +deal with cowards and deserters. Thereupon the excitement seemed to +subside, and people went to dinner. An hour afterwards the Boulevards were +as gay as ever, thronged once more with promenaders, among whom were many +officers of the Garde Mobile and the usual regiment of painted women. +Cynicism and frivolity were once more the order of the day. But in the +midst of it there came an unexpected incident. Some of the National Guards +of the district were not unnaturally disgusted by the spectacle which the +Boulevards presented only a few hours after misfortune had fallen on the +French arms. Forming, therefore, into a body, they marched along, loudly +calling upon the cafés to close. Particularly were they indignant when, on +reaching Brébant's Restaurant at the corner of the Faubourg Montmartre, +they heard somebody playing a lively Offenbachian air on a piano there. A +party of heedless _viveurs_ and _demoiselles_ of the half-world were +enjoying themselves together as in the palmy imperial days. But the piano +was soon silenced, the cafés and restaurants were compelled to close, and +the Boulevardian world went home in a slightly chastened mood. The Siege +of Paris had begun. + + + +V + +BESIEGED + +The Surrender of Versailles--Captain Johnson, Queen's Messenger--No more +Paris Fashions!--Prussians versus Germans--Bismarck's Hard Terms for +Peace--Attempts to pass through the German Lines--Chartreuse Verte as an +Explosive!--Tommy Webb's Party and the Germans--Couriers and Early +Balloons--Our Arrangements with Nadar--Gambetta's Departure and Balloon +Journey--The Amusing Verses of Albert Millaud--Siege Jokes and Satire--The +Spy and Signal Craze--Amazons to the Rescue! + + +It was at one o'clock on the afternoon of September 19 that the telegraph +wires between Paris and Versailles, the last which linked us to the +outside world, were suddenly cut by the enemy; the town so closely +associated with the Grand Monarque and his magnificence having then +surrendered to a very small force of Germans, although it had a couple of +thousand men--Mobile and National Guards--to defend it. The capitulation +which was arranged between the mayor and the enemy was flagrantly violated +by the latter almost as soon as it had been concluded, tins being only one +of many such instances which occurred during the war. Versailles was +required to provide the invader with a number of oxen, to be slaughtered +for food, numerous casks of wine, the purpose of which was obvious, and a +large supply of forage valued at £12,000. After all, however, that was a +mere trifle in comparison with what the present Kaiser's forces would +probably demand on landing at Hull or Grimsby or Harwich, should they some +day do so. By the terms of the surrender of Versailles, however, the local +National Guards were to have remained armed and entrusted with the +internal police of the town, and, moreover, there were to have been no +further requisitions. But Bismarck and Moltke pooh-poohed all such +stipulations, and the Versaillese had to submit to many indignities. + +In Paris that day the National Defence Government was busy in various +ways, first in imposing fines, according to an ascending scale, on all +absentees who ought to have remained in the city and taken their share of +military duty; and, secondly, in decreeing that nobody with any money +lodged in the Savings Bank should be entitled to draw out more than fifty +francs, otherwise two pounds, leaving the entire balance of his or her +deposit at the Government's disposal. This measure provoked no little +dissatisfaction. It was also on September 19, the first day of the siege, +that the last diplomatic courier entered Paris. I well remember the +incident. Whilst I was walking along the Faubourg Saint Honoré I suddenly +perceived an open _calèche_, drawn by a pair of horses, bestriding one of +which was a postillion arrayed in the traditional costume--hair à la +Catogan, jacket with scarlet facings, gold-banded hat, huge boots, and all +the other appurtenances which one saw during long years on the stage in +Adolphe Adam's sprightly but "impossible" opéra-comique "Le Postillon de +Longjumeau." For an instant, indeed, I felt inclined to hum the famous +refrain, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, qu'il était beau"--but many National Guards and +others regarded the equipage with great suspicion, particularly as it was +occupied by on individual in semi-military attire. Quite a number of +people decided in their own minds that this personage must be a Prussian +spy, and therefore desired to stop his carriage and march him off to +prison. As a matter of fact, however, he was a British officer, Captain +Johnson, discharging the duties of a Queen's Messenger; and as he +repeatedly flourished a cane in a very menacing manner, and the +door-porter of the British Embassy--a German, I believe--energetically +came to his assistance, he escaped actual molestation, and drove in +triumph into the courtyard of the ambassadorial mansion. + +At this time a great shock was awaiting the Parisians. During the same +week the Vicomtesse de Renneville issued an announcement stating that in +presence of the events which were occurring she was constrained to suspend +the publication of her renowned journal of fashions, _La Gazette Rose_. +This was a tragic blow both for the Parisians themselves and for all the +world beyond them. There would be no more Paris fashions! To what despair +would not millions of women be reduced? How would they dress, even +supposing that they should contrive to dress at all? The thought was +appalling; and as one and another great _couturier_ closed his doors, +Paris began to realize that her prestige was indeed in jeopardy. + +A day or two after the investment the city became very restless on account +of Thiers's mission to foreign Courts and Jules Favre's visit to the +German headquarters, it being reported by the extremists that the +Government did not intend to be a Government of National Defence but one +of Capitulation. In reply to those rumours the authorities issued the +famous proclamation in which they said; + + "The Government's policy is that formulated in these terms: + Not an Inch of our Territory. + Not a Stone of our Fortresses. + The Government will maintain it to the end." + +On the morrow, September 21, Gambetta personally reminded us that it was +the seventy-eighth anniversary of the foundation of the first French +Republic, and, after recalling to the Parisians what their fathers had +then accomplished, he exhorted them to follow that illustrious example, +and to "secure victory by confronting death." That same evening the clubs +decided that a great demonstration should be made on the morrow by way of +insisting that no treaty should be discussed until the Germans had been +driven out of France, that no territory, fort, vessel, or treasure should +be surrendered, that all elections should be adjourned, and that a _levée +en masse_ should be decreed. Jules Favre responded that he and his +colleagues personified Defence and not Surrender, and Rochefort--poor +Rochefort!--solemnly promised that the barricades of Paris should be begun +that very night. That undertaking mightily pleased the agitators, though +the use of the said barricades was not apparent; and the demonstrators +dispersed with the usual shouts of "Vive la République! Mort aux +Prussiens!" + +In connexion with that last cry it was a curious circumstance that from +the beginning to the end of the war the French persistently ignored the +presence of Saxons, Würtembergers, Hessians, Badeners, and so forth in the +invading armies. Moreover, on only one or two occasions (such as the +Bazeilles episode of the battle of Sedan) did they evince any particular +animosity against the Bavarians. I must have heard "Death to the +Prussians!" shouted at least a thousand times; but most certainly I never +once heard a single cry of "Death to the Germans!" Still in the same +connexion, let me mention that it was in Paris, during the siege, that the +eminent naturalist and biologist Quatrefages de Bréau wrote that curious +little book of his, "La Race Prussienne," in which he contended that the +Prussians were not Germans at all. There was at least some measure of +truth in the views which he enunciated. + +As I previously indicated, Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister of the +National Defence, had gone to the German headquarters in order to discuss +the position with Prince (then Count) Bismarck. He met him twice, first at +the Comte de Rillac's Château de la Haute Maison, and secondly at Baron de +Rothschild's Château de Ferrières--the German staff usually installing +itself in the lordly "pleasure-houses" of the French noble or financial +aristocracy, and leaving them as dirty as possible, and, naturally, bereft +of their timepieces. Baron Alphonse de Rothschild told me in later years +that sixteen clocks were carried off from Ferrières whilst King +(afterwards the Emperor) William and Bismarck were staying there. I +presume that they now decorate some of the salons of the schloss at +Berlin, or possibly those of Varzin and Friedrichsruhe. Bismarck +personally had an inordinate passion for clocks, as all who ever visited +his quarters in the Wilhelmstrasse, when he was German Chancellor, will +well remember. + +But he was not content with the clocks of Ferrières. He told Jules Favre +that if France desired peace she must surrender the two departments of the +Upper and the Lower Rhine, a part of the department of the Moselle, +together with Metz, Chateau Salins, and Soissons; and he would only grant +an armistice (to allow of the election of a French National Assembly to +decide the question of War or Peace) on condition that the Germans should +occupy Strasbourg, Toul, and Phalsburg, together with a fortress, such as +Mont Valerien, commanding the city of Paris. Such conditions naturally +stiffened the backs of the French, and for a time there was no more talk +of negotiating. + +During the earlier days of the Siege of Paris I came into contact with +various English people who, having delayed their departure until it was +too late, found themselves shut up in the city, and were particularly +anxious to depart from it. The British Embassy gave them no help in the +matter. Having issued its paltry notice in _Galignani's Messenger_, it +considered that there was no occasion for it to do anything further. +Moreover, Great Britain had not recognized the French Republic, so that +the position of Mr. Wodehouse was a somewhat difficult one. However, a few +"imprisoned" Englishmen endeavoured to escape from the city by devices of +their own. Two of them who set out together, fully expecting to get +through the German lines and then reach a convenient railway station, +followed the course of the Seine for several miles without being able to +cross it, and in spite of their waving pocket-handkerchiefs (otherwise +flags of truce) and their constant shouts of "English! Friends!" and so +forth, were repeatedly fired at by both French and German outposts. At +last they reached Rueil, where the villagers, on noticing how bad their +French was, took them to be Prussian spies, and nearly lynched them. +Fortunately, the local commissary of police believed their story, and they +were sent back to Paris to face the horseflesh and the many other +hardships which they had particularly desired to avoid. + +I also remember the representative of a Birmingham small-arms factory +telling me of his unsuccessful attempt to escape. He had lingered in Paris +in the hope of concluding a contract with the new Republican Government. +Not having sufficient money to charter a balloon, and the Embassy, as +usual at that time, refusing any help (O shades of Palmerston!), he set +out as on a walking-tour with a knapsack strapped to his shoulders and an +umbrella in his hand. His hope was to cross the Seine by the bridge of +Saint Cloud or that of Suresnes, but he failed in both attempts, and was +repeatedly fired upon by vigilant French outposts. After losing his way in +the Bois de Boulogne, awakening both the cattle and the sheep there in the +course of his nightly ramble, he at last found one of the little huts +erected to shelter the gardeners and wood-cutters, and remained there +until daybreak, when he was able to take his bearings and proceed towards +the Auteuil gate of the ramparts. As he did not wish to be fired upon +again, he deemed it expedient to hoist his pocket handkerchief at the end +of his umbrella as a sign of his pacific intentions, and finding the gate +open and the drawbridge down, he attempted to enter the city, but was +immediately challenged by the National Guards on duty. These vigilant +patriots observed his muddy condition--the previous day had been a wet +one--and suspiciously inquired where he had come from at that early hour. +His answer being given in broken French and in a very embarrassed manner, +he was at once regarded as a Prussian spy, and dragged off to the +guard-room. There he was carefully searched, and everything in his pockets +having been taken from him, including a small bottle which the sergeant on +duty regarded with grave suspicion, he was told that his after-fate would +be decided when the commanding officer of that particular _secteur_ of the +ramparts made his rounds. + +When this officer arrived he closely questioned the prisoner, who tried to +explain his circumstances, and protested that his innocence was shown by +the British passport and other papers which had been taken from him. "Oh! +papers prove nothing!" was the prompt retort. "Spies are always provided +with papers. But, come, I have proof that you are an unmitigated villain!" +So saying, the officer produced the small bottle which had been taken from +the unfortunate traveller, and added: "You see this? You had it in your +pocket. Now, don't attempt to deceive me, for I know very well what is the +nature of the green liquid which it contains--it is a combustible fluid +with which you wanted to set fire to our _chevaux-de-frise!_" + +Denials and protests were in vain. The officer refused to listen to his +prisoner until the latter at last offered to drink some of the terrible +fluid in order to prove that it was not at all what it was supposed to be. +With a little difficulty the tight-fitting cork was removed from the +flask, and on the latter being handed to the prisoner he proceeded to +imbibe some of its contents, the officer, meanwhile, retiring to a short +distance, as if he imagined that the alleged "spy" would suddenly explode. +Nothing of that kind happened, however. Indeed, the prisoner drank the +terrible stuff with relish, smacked his lips, and even prepared to take a +second draught, when the officer, feeling reassured, again drew near to +him and expressed his willingness to sample the suspected fluid himself. +He did so, and at once discovered that it was purely and simply some +authentic Chartreuse verte! It did not take the pair of them long to +exhaust this supply of the _liqueur_ of St. Bruno, and as soon as this was +done, the prisoner was set at liberty with profuse apologies. + +Now and again some of those who attempted to leave the beleaguered city +succeeded in their attempt. In one instance a party of four or five +Englishmen ran the blockade in the traditional carriage and pair. They had +been staying at the Grand Hotel, where another seven or eight visitors, +including Labouchere, still remained, together with about the same number +of servants to wait upon them; the famous caravanserai--then undoubtedly +the largest in Paris--being otherwise quite untenanted. The carriage in +which the party I have mentioned took their departure was driven by an old +English jockey named Tommy Webb, who had been in France for nearly half a +century, and had ridden the winners of some of the very first races +started by the French Jockey Club. Misfortune had overtaken him, however, +in his declining years, and he had become a mere Parisian "cabby." The +party sallied forth from the courtyard of the Grand Hotel, taking with it +several huge hampers of provisions and a quantity of other luggage; and +all the participants in the attempt seemed to be quite confident of +success. But a few hours later they returned in sore disappointment, +having been stopped near Neuilly by the French outposts, as they were +unprovided with any official _laisser-passer_. A document of that +description having been obtained, however, from General Trochu on the +morrow, a second attempt was made, and this time the party speedily +passed through the French lines. But in trying to penetrate those of the +enemy, some melodramatic adventures occurred. It became necessary, indeed, +to dodge both the bullets of the Germans and those of the French +Francs-tireurs, who paid not the slightest respect either to the Union +Jack or to the large white flag which were displayed on either side of +Tommy Webb's box-seat. At last, after a variety of mishaps, the party +succeeded in parleying with a German cavalry officer, and after they had +addressed a written appeal to the Crown Prince of Prussia (who was pleased +to grant it), they were taken, blindfolded, to Versailles, where +Blumenthal, the Crown Prince's Chief of Staff, asked them for information +respecting the actual state of Paris, and then allowed them to proceed on +their way. + +Captain Johnson, the Queen's Messenger of whom I have already spoken, also +contrived to quit Paris again; but the Germans placed him under strict +surveillance, and Blumenthal told him that no more Queen's Messengers +would be allowed to pass through the German lines. About this same time, +however, the English man-servant of one of Trochu's aides-de-camp +contrived, not only to reach Saint Germain-en-Laye, where his master's +family was residing, but also to return to Paris with messages. This young +fellow had cleverly disguised himself as a French peasant, and on the +Prefect of Police hearing of his adventures, he sent out several +detectives in similar disguises, with instructions to ascertain all they +could about the enemy, and report the same to him. Meantime, the Paris +Post Office was endeavouring to send out couriers. One of them, named +Létoile, managed to get as far as Evreux, in Normandy, and to return to +the beleaguered city with a couple of hundred letters. Success also +repeatedly attended the efforts of two shrewd fellows named Gême and +Brare, who made several journeys to Saint Germain, Triel, and even +Orleans. On one occasion they brought as many as seven hundred letters +with them on their return to Paris; but between twenty and thirty other +couriers failed to get through the German lines; whilst several others +fell into the hands of the enemy, who at once confiscated the +correspondence they carried, but did not otherwise molest them. + +The difficulty in sending letters out of Paris and in obtaining news from +relatives and friends in other parts of France led to all sorts of +schemes. The founder and editor of that well-known journal _Le Figaro_, +Hippolyte de Villemessant, as he called himself, though I believe that his +real Christian name was Auguste, declared in his paper that he would +willingly allow his veins to be opened in return for a few lines from his +beloved and absent wife. Conjugal affection could scarcely have gone +further. Villemessant, however, followed up his touching declaration by +announcing that a thousand francs (£40) a week was to be earned by a +capable man willing to act as letter-carrier between Paris and the +provinces. All who felt qualified for the post were invited to present +themselves at the office of _Le Figaro_, which in those days was +appropriately located in the Rue Rossini, named, of course, after the +illustrious composer who wrote such sprightly music round the theme of +Beaumarchais' comedy. As a result of Villemessant's announcement, the +street was blocked during the next forty-eight hours by men of all +classes, who were all the more eager to earn the aforesaid £40 a week as +nearly every kind of work was at a standstill, and the daily stipend of a +National Guard amounted only to 1_s._ 2-1/2_d._ + +It was difficult to choose from among so many candidates, but we were +eventually assured that the right man had been found in the person of a +retired poacher who knew so well how to circumvent both rural guards and +forest guards, that during a career of twenty years or so he had never +once been caught _in flagrante delicto_. Expert, moreover, in tracking +game, he would also well know how to detect--and to avoid--the tracks of +the Prussians. We were therefore invited to confide our correspondence to +this sagacious individual, who would undertake to carry it through the +German lines and to return with the answers in a week or ten days. The +charge for each letter, which was to be of very small weight and +dimensions, was fixed at five francs, and it was estimated that the +ex-poacher would be able to carry about 200 letters on each journey. + +Many people were anxious to try the scheme, but rival newspapers denounced +it as being a means of acquainting the Prussians with everything which was +occurring in Paris--Villemessant, who they declared had taken bribes from +the fallen Empire, being probably one of Bismarck's paid agents. Thus the +enterprise speedily collapsed without even being put to the proof. +However, the public was successfully exploited by various individuals who +attempted to improve on Villemessant's idea, undertaking to send letters +out of Paris for a fixed charge, half of which was to be returned to the +sender if his letter were not delivered. As none of the letters handed in +on these conditions was even entrusted to a messenger, the ingenious +authors of this scheme made a handsome profit, politely returning half of +the money which they received, but retaining the balance without making +the slightest effort to carry out their contract. + +Dr. Rampont, a very clever man, who was now our postmaster-general, had +already issued a circular bidding us to use the very thinnest paper and +the smallest envelopes procurable. There being so many failures among the +messengers whom he sent out of Paris with correspondence, the idea of a +balloon postal service occurred to him. Although ninety years or so had +elapsed since the days of the brothers Montgolfier, aeronautics had really +made very little progress. There were no dirigible balloons at all. Dupuy +de Lôme's first experiments only dated from the siege days, and Renard's +dirigible was not devised until the early eighties. We only had the +ordinary type of balloon at our disposal; and at the outset of the +investment there were certainly not more than half a dozen balloons within +our lines. A great city like Paris, however, is not without resources. +Everything needed for the construction of balloons could be found there. +Gas also was procurable, and we had amongst us quite a number of men +expert in the science of ballooning, such as it then was. There was Nadar, +there was Tissandier, there were the Godard brothers, Yon, Dartois, and a +good many others. Both the Godards and Nadar established balloon +factories, which were generally located in our large disused railway +stations, such as the Gare du Nord, the Gare d'Orléans, and the Gare +Montparnasse; but I also remember visiting one which Nadar installed in +the dancing hall called the Elysée Montmartre. Each of these factories +provided work for a good many people, and I recollect being particularly +struck by the number of women who were employed in balloon-making. Such +work was very helpful to them, and Nadar used to say to me that it grieved +him to have to turn away so many applicants for employment, for every day +ten, twenty, and thirty women would come to implore him to "take them on." +Nearly all their usual workrooms were closed; some were reduced to live on +charity and only very small allowances, from fivepence to sevenpence a +day, were made to the wives and families of National Guards. + +But to return to the balloon postal-service which the Government +organized, it was at once realized by my father and myself that it could +be of little use to us so far as the work for the _Illustrated London +News_ was concerned, on account of the restrictions which were imposed in +regard to the size and weight of each letter that might be posted. +The weight, indeed, was fixed at no more than three grammes! Now, there +were a number of artists working for the _Illustrated_ in Paris, first +and foremost among them being M. Jules Pelcoq, who must personally have +supplied two-thirds of the sketches by which the British public was kept +acquainted with the many incidents of Parisian siege-life. The weekly +diary which I helped my father to compile could be drawn up in small +handwriting on very thin, almost transparent paper, and despatched in +the ordinary way. But how were we to circumvent the authorities in regard +to our sketches, which were often of considerable size, and were always +made on fairly substantial paper, the great majority of them being +wash-drawings? Further, though I could prepare two or three drafts of our +diary or our other "copy" for despatch by successive balloons--to provide +for the contingency of one of the latter falling into the hands of the +enemy--it seemed absurd that our artists should have to recopy every +sketch they made. Fortunately, there was photography, the thought of which +brought about a solution of the other difficulty in which we were placed. + +I was sent to interview Nadar on the Place Saint Pierre at Montmartre, +above which his captive balloon the "Neptune" was oscillating in the +September breeze. He was much the same man as I had seen at the Crystal +Palace a few years previously, tall, red-haired, and red-shirted. He had +begun life as a caricaturist and humorous writer, but by way of buttering +his bread had set up in business as a photographer, his establishment on +the Boulevard de la Madeleine soon becoming very favourably known. There +was still a little "portrait-taking" in Paris during those early siege +days. Photographs of the celebrities or notorieties of the hour sold +fairly well, and every now and again some National Guard with means was +anxious to be photographed in his uniform. But, naturally enough, the +business generally had declined. Thus, Nadar was only too pleased to +entertain the proposal which I made to him on my father's behalf, this +being that every sketch for the _Illustrated_ should be taken to his +establishment and there photographed, so that we might be able to send out +copies in at least three successive balloons. + +When I broached to Nadar the subject of the postal regulations in regard +to the weight and size of letters, he genially replied: "Leave that to me. +Your packets need not go through the ordinary post at all--at least, here +in Paris. Have them stamped, however, bring them whenever a balloon is +about to sail, and I will see that the aeronaut takes them in his pocket. +Wherever he alights they will be posted, like the letters in the official +bags." + +That plan was carried out, and although several balloons were lost or fell +within the German lines, only one small packet of sketches, which, on +account of urgency, had not been photographed, remained subsequently +unaccounted for. In all other instances either the original drawing or one +of the photographic copies of it reached London safely. + +The very first balloon to leave Paris (in the early days of October) was +precisely Nadar's "Neptune," which had originally been intended for +purposes of military observation. One day when I was with Nadar on the +Place Saint Pierre, he took me up in it. I found the experience a novel +but not a pleasing one, for all my life I have had a tendency to vertigo +when ascending to any unusual height. I remember that it was a clear day, +and that we had a fine bird's-eye view of Paris on the one hand and of the +plain of Saint Denis on the other, but I confess that I felt out of-my +element, and was glad to set foot on _terra firma_ once more. + +From that day I was quite content to view the ascent of one and another +balloon, without feeling any desire to get out of Paris by its aerial +transport service. I must have witnessed the departure of practically all +the balloons which left Paris until I myself quitted the city in November. +The arrangements made with Nadar were perfected, and something very +similar was contrived with the Godard brothers, the upshot being that we +were always forewarned whenever it was proposed to send off a balloon. +Sometimes we received by messenger, in the evening, an intimation that a +balloon would start at daybreak on the morrow. Sometimes we were roused in +the small hours of the morning, when everything intended for despatch had +to be hastily got together and carried at once to the starting-place, +such, for instance, as the Northern or the Orleans railway terminus, both +being at a considerable distance from our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. +Those were by no means agreeable walks, especially when the cold weather +had set in, as it did early that autumn; and every now and again at the +end of the journey one found that it had been made in vain, for, the wind +having shifted at the last moment, the departure of the balloon had been +postponed. Of course, the only thing to be done was to trudge back home +again. There was no omnibus service, all the horses having been +requisitioned, and in the latter part of October there were not more than +a couple of dozen cabs (drawn by decrepit animals) still plying for hire +in all Paris. Thus Shanks's pony was the only means of locomotion. + +In the earlier days my father accompanied me on a few of those +expeditions, but he soon grew tired of them, particularly as his health +became affected by the siege diet. We were together, however, when +Gambetta took his departure on October 7, ascending from the Place Saint +Pierre in a balloon constructed by Nadar. It had been arranged that he +should leave for the provinces, in order to reinforce the three Government +delegates who had been despatched thither prior to the investment. Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had been previously urged to join those +delegates, but would not trust himself to a balloon, and it was thereupon +proposed to Gambetta that he should do so. He willingly assented to the +suggestion, particularly as he feared that the rest of the country was +being overlooked, owing to the prevailing opinion that Paris would suffice +to deliver both herself and all the rest of France from the presence of +the enemy. Born in April, 1838, he was at this time in his thirty-third +year, and full of vigour, as the sequel showed. The delegates whom he was +going to join were, as I previously mentioned, very old men, well meaning, +no doubt, but incapable of making the great effort which was made by +Gambetta in conjunction with Charles de Freycinet, who was just in his +prime, being the young Dictator's senior by some ten years. + +I can still picture Gambetta's departure, and particularly his appearance +on the occasion--his fur cap and his fur coat, which made him look +somewhat like a Polish Jew. He had with him his secretary, the devoted +Spuller. I cannot recall the name of the aeronaut who was in charge of the +balloon, but, if my memory serves me rightly, it was precisely to him that +Nadar handed the packet of sketches which failed to reach the _Illustrated +London News_. They must have been lost in the confusion of the aerial +voyage, which was marked by several dramatic incidents. Some accounts say +that Gambetta evinced no little anxiety during the preparations for the +ascent, but to me he appeared to be in a remarkably good humour, as if, +indeed, in pleasurable anticipation of what he was about to experience. +When, in response to the call of "Lachez tout!" the seamen released the +last cables which had hitherto prevented the balloon from rising, and the +crowd burst into shouts of "Vive la Republique!" and "Vive Gambetta!" the +"youthful statesman," as he was then called, leant over the side of the +car and waved his cap in response to the plaudits. [Another balloon, the +"George Sand," ascended at the same time, having in its car various +officials who were to negotiate the purchase of fire-arms in the United +States.] + +The journey was eventful, for the Germans repeatedly fired at the balloon. +A first attempt at descent had to be abandoned when the car was at an +altitude of no more than 200 feet, for at that moment some German soldiers +were seen almost immediately beneath it. They fired, and before the +balloon could rise again a bullet grazed Gambetta's head. At four o'clock +in the afternoon, however, the descent was renewed near Roye in the Somme, +when the balloon was caught in an oak-tree, Gambetta at one moment hanging +on to the ropes of the car, with his head downward. Some countryfolk came +up in great anger, taking the party to be Prussians; but, on learning the +truth, they rendered all possible assistance, and Gambetta and his +companions repaired to the house of the mayor of the neighbouring village +of Tricot. Alluding in after days to his experiences on this journey, the +great man said that the earth, as seen by him from the car of the balloon, +looked like a huge carpet woven chance-wise with different coloured wools. +It did not impress him at all, he added, as it was really nothing but "une +vilaine chinoiserie." It was from Rouen, where he arrived on the following +day, that he issued the famous proclamation in which he called on France +to make a compact with victory or death. On October 9, he joined the other +delegates at Tours and took over the post of Minister of War as well as +that of Minister of the Interior. + +His departure from the capital was celebrated by that clever versifier of +the period, Albert Millaud, who contributed to _Le Figaro_ an amusing +effusion, the first verse of which was to this effect: + + "Gambetta, pale and gloomy, + Much wished to go to Tours, + But two hundred thousand Prussians + In his project made him pause. + To aid the youthful statesman + Came the aeronaut Nadar, + Who sent up the 'Armand Barbes' + With Gambetta in its car." + +Further on came the following lines, supposed to be spoken by Gambetta +himself whilst he was gazing at the German lines beneath him-- + + "See how the plain is glistening + With their helmets in a mass! + Impalement would be dreadful + On those spikes of polished brass!" + +Millaud, who was a Jew, the son, I think--or, at all events, a near +relation--of the famous founder of _Le Petit Journal_, the advent of which +constituted a great landmark in the history of the French Press--set +himself, during several years of his career, to prove the truth of the +axiom that in France "tout finit par des chansons." During those anxious +siege days he was for ever striving to sound a gay note, something which, +for a moment, at all events, might drive dull care away. Here is an +English version of some verses which he wrote on Nadar: + +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! +He is as clever as Godard. + What a strange fellow is Nadar, +Although, between ourselves, as far + As art's concerned he knoweth naught. +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! + +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. +Some day he hopes unto the moon + To guide the course of a balloon. +Of 'airy navies' admiral soon, + We'll see him 'grappling in the blue'-- +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. + +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. +If poor Gambetta when up there, + Up in the kingdom of the air, +Does not find good cause to stare, + Why, Nadar will not be to blame. +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. + +At Ferrières, above the park, + Behold him darting through the sky, +Soaring to heaven like a lark. + At Ferrières above the park; +Whilst William whispers to Bismarck-- + 'Silence, see Nadar there on high!' +At Ferrières above the park + Behold him darting through the sky. + +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report, +Thou yellower than a pure Cambodian, + And far more daring than King Clodion, +We'll cast thy statue in collodion + And mount it on a gas retort. +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report! + +Perhaps it may not be thought too pedantic on my part if I explain that +the King Clodion referred to in Millaud's last verse was the legendary +"Clodion the Hairy," a supposed fifth-century leader of the Franks, +reputed to be a forerunner of the founder of the, Merovingian dynasty. +Nadar's hair, however, was not long like that of _les rois chevelue_, for +it was simply a huge curly and somewhat reddish mop. As for his +complexion, Millaud's phrase, "yellow as a pure Cambodian," was a happy +thought. + +These allusions to Millaud's sprightly verse remind me that throughout the +siege of Paris the so-called _mot pour rire_ was never once lost sight of. +At all times and in respect to everything there was a superabundance of +jests--jests on the Germans, the National and the Mobile Guard, the fallen +dynasty, and the new Republic, the fruitless sorties, the wretched +rations, the failing gas, and many other people and things. One of the +enemy's generals was said to have remarked one day: "I don't know how to +satisfy my men. They complain of hunger, and yet I lead them every morning +to the slaughterhouse." At another time a French colonel, of conservative +ideas, was said to have replaced the inscription "Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity," which he found painted on the walls of his barracks, by the +words, "Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery," declaring that the latter were far +more likely to free the country of the presence of the hated enemy. As for +the "treason" mania, which was very prevalent at this time, it was related +that a soldier remarked one day to a comrade: "I am sure that the captain +is a traitor!" "Indeed! How's that?" was the prompt rejoinder. "Well," +said the suspicious private, "have you not noticed that every time he +orders us to march forward we invariably encounter the enemy?" + +When Trochu issued a decree incorporating all National Guards, under +forty-five years of age, in the marching battalions for duty outside +the city, one of these Guards, on being asked how old he was, replied, +"six-and-forty." "How is that?" he was asked. "A few weeks ago, you told +everybody that you were only thirty-six." "Quite true," rejoined the +other, "but what with rampart-duty, demonstrating at the Hôtel-de-Ville, +short rations, and the cold weather, I feel quite ten years older than I +formerly did." When horseflesh became more or less our daily provender, +many Parisian _bourgeois_ found their health failing. "What is the matter, +my dearest?" Madame du Bois du Pont inquired of her husband, when he had +collapsed one evening after dinner. "Oh! it is nothing, _mon amie_" he +replied; "I dare say I shall soon feel well again, but I used to think +myself a better horseman!" + +Directly our supply of gas began to fail, the wags insinuated that Henri +Rochefort was jubilant, and if you inquired the reason thereof, you were +told that owing to the scarcity of gas everybody would be obliged to buy +hundreds of "_Lanternes_." We had, of course, plenty of sensations in +those days, but if you wished to cap every one of them you merely had to +walk into a café and ask the waiter for--a railway time-table. + +Once before I referred to the caricatures of the period, notably to those +libelling the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, the latter +being currently personified as Messalina--or even as something worse, and +this, of course, without the faintest shadow of justification. But the +caricaturists were not merely concerned with the fallen dynasty. One of +the principal cartoonists of the _Charivari_ at that moment was "Cham," +otherwise the Vicomte Amédée de Noé, an old friend of my family's. +It was he, by the way, who before the war insisted on my going to a +fencing-school, saying: "Look here, if you mean to live in France and be a +journalist, you must know how to hold a sword. Come with me to Ruzé's. +I taught your uncle Frank and his friend Gustave Doré how to fence many +years ago, and now I am going to have you taught." Well, in one of his +cartoons issued during the siege, Cham (disgusted, like most Frenchmen, at +the seeming indifference of Great Britain to the plight in which France +found herself) summed up the situation, as he conceived it, by depicting +the British Lion licking the boots of Bismarck, who was disguised as Davy +Crockett. When my father remonstrated with Cham on the subject, reminding +him of his own connexion with England, the indignant caricaturist replied: +"Don't speak of it. I have renounced England and all her works." He, like +other Frenchmen of the time, contended that we had placed ourselves under +great obligations to France at the period of the Crimean War. + +Among the best caricatures of the siege-days was one by Daumier, which +showed Death appearing to Bismarck in his sleep, and murmuring softly, +"Thanks, many thanks." Another idea of the period found expression in a +cartoon representing a large mouse-trap, labelled "France," into which a +company of mice dressed up as German soldiers were eagerly marching, their +officer meanwhile pointing to a cheese fixed inside the trap, and +inscribed with the name of Paris. Below the design ran the legend: "Ah! if +we could only catch them all in it!" Many, indeed most, of the caricatures +of the time did not appear in the so-called humorous journals, but were +issued separately at a penny apiece, and were usually coloured by the +stencilling process. In one of them, I remember, Bismarck was seen wearing +seven-league boots and making ineffectual attempts to step from Versailles +to Paris. Another depicted the King of Prussia as Butcher William, knife +in hand and attired in the orthodox slaughter-house costume; whilst in yet +another design the same monarch was shown urging poor Death, who had +fallen exhausted in the snow, with his scythe lying broken beside him, to +continue on the march until the last of the French nation should be +exterminated. Of caricatures representing cooks in connexion with cats +there was no end, the _lapin de gouttière_ being in great demand for the +dinner-table; and, after Gambetta had left us, there were designs showing +the armies of succour (which were to be raised in the provinces) +endeavouring to pass ribs of beef, fat geese, legs of mutton, and strings +of sausages over several rows of German helmets, gathered round a bastion +labelled Paris, whence a famished National Guard, eager for the proffered +provisions, was trying to spring, but could not do so owing to the +restraining arm of General Trochu. + +Before the investment began Paris was already afflicted with a spy mania. +Sala's adventure, which I recounted in an earlier chapter, was in a way +connected with this delusion, which originated with the cry "We are +betrayed!" immediately after the first French reverses. The instances of +so-called "spyophobia" were innumerable, and often curious and amusing. +There was a slight abatement of the mania when, shortly before the siege, +188,000 Germans were expelled from Paris, leaving behind them only some +700 old folk, invalids, and children, who were unable to obey the +Government's decree. But the disease soon revived, and we heard of +rag-pickers having their baskets ransacked by zealous National Guards, +who imagined that these receptacles might contain secret despatches or +contraband ammunition. On another occasion _Le Figaro_ wickedly suggested +that all the blind beggars in Paris were spies, with the result that +several poor infirm old creatures were abominably ill-treated. Again, a +fugitive sheet called _Les Nouvelles_ denounced all the English residents +as spies. Labouchere was one of those pounced upon by a Parisian mob in +consequence of that idiotic denunciation, but as he had the presence of +mind to invite those who assailed him to go with him to the nearest +police-station, he was speedily released. On two occasions my father and +myself were arrested and carried to guard-houses, and in the course of +those experiences we discovered that the beautifully engraved but +essentially ridiculous British passport, which recited all the honours and +dignities of the Secretary of State or the Ambassador delivering it, but +gave not the slightest information respecting the person to whom it had +been delivered (apart, that is, from his or her name), was of infinitely +less value in the eyes of a French officer than a receipt for rent or a +Parisian tradesman's bill. [That was forty-three years ago. The British +passport, however, remains to-day as unsatisfactory as it was then.] + +But let me pass to other instances. One day an unfortunate individual, +working in the Paris sewers, was espied by a zealous National Guard, who +at once gave the alarm, declaring that there was a German spy in the +aforesaid sewers, and that he was depositing bombs there with the +intention of blowing up the city. Three hundred Guards at once volunteered +their services, stalked the poor workman, and blew him to pieces the next +time he popped his head out of a sewer-trap. The mistake was afterwards +deplored, but people argued (wrote Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who sent the +story to The Morning Post) that it was far better that a hundred innocent +Frenchmen should suffer than that a single Prussian should escape. Cham, +to whom I previously alluded, old Marshal Vaillant, Mr. O'Sullivan, an +American diplomatist, and Alexis Godillot, the French army contractor, +were among the many well-known people arrested as spies at one or another +moment. A certain Mme: de Beaulieu, who had joined a regiment of Mobiles +as a _cantiniere_, was denounced as a spy "because her hands were so +white." Another lady, who had installed an ambulance in her house, was +carried off to prison on an equally frivolous pretext; and I remember yet +another case in which a lady patron of the Societe de Secours aux Blesses +was ill-treated. Matters would, however, probably be far worse at the +present time, for Paris, with all her apaches and anarchists, now includes +in her population even more scum than was the case three-and-forty years +ago. + +There were, however, a few authentic instances of spying, one case being +that of a young fellow whom Etienne Arago, the Mayor of Paris, engaged as +a secretary, on the recommendation of Henri Rochefort, but who turned out +to be of German extraction, and availed himself of his official position +to draw up reports which were forwarded by balloon post to an agent of the +German Government in London. I have forgotten the culprit's name, but it +will be found, with particulars of his case, in the Paris journals of the +siege days. There was, moreover, the Hardt affair, which resulted in the +prisoner, a former lieutenant in the Prussian army, being convicted of +espionage and shot in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire. + +Co-existent with "spyophobia" there was another craze, that of suspecting +any light seen at night-time in an attic or fifth-floor window to be a +signal intended for the enemy. Many ludicrous incidents occurred in +connexion with this panic. One night an elderly _bourgeois_, who had +recently married a charming young woman, was suddenly dragged from his bed +by a party of indignant National Guards, and consigned to the watch-house +until daybreak. This had been brought about by his wife's maid placing a +couple of lighted candles in her window as a signal to the wife's lover +that, "master being at home," he was not to come up to the flat that +night. On another occasion a poor old lady, who was patriotically +depriving herself of sleep in order to make lint for the ambulances, was +pounced upon and nearly strangled for exhibiting green and red signals +from her window. It turned out, however, that the signals in question were +merely the reflections of a harmless though charmingly variegated parrot +which was the zealous old dame's sole and faithful companion. + +No matter what might be the quarter of Paris in which a presumed signal +was observed, the house whence it emanated was at once invaded by National +Guards, and perfectly innocent people were often carried off and subjected +to ill-treatment. To such proportions did the craze attain that some +papers even proposed that the Government should forbid any kind of light +whatever, after dark, in any room situated above the second floor, unless +the windows of that room were "hermetically sealed"! Most victims of the +mania submitted to the mob's invasion of their homes without raising any +particular protest; but a volunteer artilleryman, who wrote to the +authorities complaining that his rooms had been ransacked in his absence +and his aged mother frightened out of her wits, on the pretext that some +fusees had been fired from his windows, declared that if there should be +any repetition of such an intrusion whilst he was at home he would receive +the invaders bayonet and revolver in hand. From that moment similar +protests poured into the Hôtel-de-Ville, and Trochu ended by issuing a +proclamation in which he said: "Under the most frivolous pretexts, +numerous houses have been entered, and peaceful citizens have been +maltreated. The flags of friendly nations have been powerless to protect +the houses where they were displayed. I have ordered an inquiry on the +subject, and I now command that all persons guilty of these abusive +practices shall be arrested. A special service has been organized in order +to prevent the enemy from keeping up any communication with any of its +partisans in the city; and I remind everybody that excepting in such +instances as are foreseen by the law every citizen's residence is +inviolable." + +We nowadays hear a great deal about the claims of women, but although the +followers of Mrs. Pankhurst have carried on "a sort of a war" for a +considerable time past, I have not yet noticed any disposition on their +part to "join the colours." Men currently assert that women cannot serve +as soldiers. There are, however, many historical instances of women +distinguishing themselves in warfare, and modern conditions are even more +favourable than former ones for the employment of women as soldiers. There +is splendid material to be derived from the golf-girl, the hockey-girl, +the factory- and the laundry-girl--all of them active, and in innumerable +instances far stronger than many of the narrow-chested, cigarette-smoking +"boys" whom we now see in our regiments. Briefly, a day may well come when +we shall see many of our so-called superfluous women taking to the +"career of arms." However, the attempts made to establish a corps of +women-soldiers in Paris, during the German siege, were more amusing than +serious. Early in October some hundreds of women demonstrated outside the +Hôtel-de-Ville, demanding that all the male nurses attached to the +ambulances should be replaced by women. The authorities promised to grant +that application, and the women next claimed the right to share the +dangers of the field with their husbands and their brothers. This question +was repeatedly discussed at the public clubs, notably at one in the Rue +Pierre Levée, where Louise Michel, the schoolmistress who subsequently +participated in the Commune and was transported to New Caledonia, +officiated as high-priestess; and at another located at the Triat +Gymnasium in the Avenue Montaigne, where as a rule no men were allowed to +be present, that is, excepting a certain Citizen Jules Allix, an eccentric +elderly survivor of the Republic of '48, at which period he had devised a +system of telepathy effected by means of "sympathetic snails." + +One Sunday afternoon in October the lady members of this club, being in +urgent need of funds, decided to admit men among their audience at the +small charge of twopence per head, and on hearing this, my father and +myself strolled round to witness the proceedings. They were remarkably +lively. Allix, while reading a report respecting the club's progress, +began to libel some of the Paris convents, whereupon a National Guard in +the audience flatly called him a liar. A terrific hubbub arose, all the +women gesticulating and protesting, whilst their _présidente_ +energetically rang her bell, and the interrupter strode towards the +platform. He proved to be none other than the Duc de Fitz-James, a lineal +descendant of our last Stuart King by Marlborough's sister, Arabella +Churchill. He tried to speak, but the many loud screams prevented him from +doing so. Some of the women threatened him with violence, whilst a few +others thanked him for defending the Church. At last, however, he leapt on +the platform, and in doing so overturned both a long table covered with +green baize, and the members of the committee who were seated behind it. +Jules Allix thereupon sprang at the Duke's throat, they struggled and fell +together from the platform, and rolled in the dust below it. It was long +before order was restored, but this was finally effected by a good-looking +young woman who, addressing the male portion of the audience, exclaimed: +"Citizens! if you say another word we will fling what you have paid for +admission in your faces, and order you out of doors!" + +Business then began, the discussion turning chiefly upon two points, the +first being that all women should be armed and do duty on the ramparts, +and the second that the women should defend their honour from the attacks +of the Germans by means of prussic acid. Allix remarked that it would be +very appropriate to employ prussic acid in killing Prussians, and +explained to us that this might be effected by means of little indiarubber +thimbles which the women would place on their fingers, each thimble being +tipped with a small pointed tube containing some of the acid in question. +If an amorous Prussian should venture too close to a fair Parisienne, the +latter would merely have to hold out her hand and prick him. In another +instant he would fall dead! "No matter how many of the enemy may assail +her," added Allix, enthusiastically, "she will simply have to prick them +one by one, and we shall see her standing still pure and holy in the midst +of a circle of corpses!" At these words many of the women in the audience +were moved to tears, but the men laughed hilariously. + +Such disorderly scenes occurred at this women's club, that the landlord of +the Triat Gymnasium at last took possession of the premises again, and the +ejected members vainly endeavoured to find accommodation elsewhere. +Nevertheless, another scheme for organizing an armed force of women was +started, and one day, on observing on the walls of Paris a green placard +which announced the formation of a "Legion of Amazons of the Seine," I +repaired to the Rue Turbigo, where this Legion's enlistment office had +been opened. After making my way up a staircase crowded with recruits, who +were mostly muscular women from five-and-twenty to forty years of age, the +older ones sometimes being unduly stout, and not one of them, in my +youthful opinion, at all good-looking, I managed to squeeze my way into +the private office of the projector of the Legion, or, as he called +himself, its "Provisional Chef de Bataillon." He was a wiry little man, +with a grey moustache and a military bearing, and answered to the name of +Félix Belly. A year or two previously he had unjustly incurred a great +deal of ridicule in Paris, owing to his attempts to float a Panama Canal +scheme. Only five years after the war, however, the same idea was taken up +by Ferdinand de Lesseps, and French folk, who had laughed it to scorn in +Belly's time, proved only too ready to fling their hard-earned savings +into the bottomless gulf of Lesseps' enterprise. + +I remember having a long chat with Belly, who was most enthusiastic +respecting his proposed Amazons. They were to defend the ramparts and +barricades of Paris, said he, being armed with light guns carrying some +200 yards; and their costume, a model of which was shown me, was to +consist of black trousers with orange-coloured stripes down the outer +seams, black blouses with capes, and black képis, also with orange +trimmings. Further, each woman was to carry a cartridge-box attached to a +shoulder-belt. It was hoped that the first battalion would muster quite +1200 women, divided into eight companies of 150 each. There was to be a +special medical service, and although the chief doctor would be a man, it +was hoped to secure several assistant doctors of the female sex. Little M. +Belly dwelt particularly on the fact that only women of unexceptionable +moral character would be allowed to join the force, all recruits having to +supply certificates from the Commissaries of Police of their districts, as +well as the consent of their nearest connexions, such as their fathers or +their husbands. "Now, listen to this," added M. Belly, enthusiastically, +as he went to a piano which I was surprised to find, standing in a +recruiting office; and seating himself at the instrument, he played for my +especial benefit the stirring strains of a new, specially-commissioned +battle-song, which, said he, "we intend to call the Marseillaise of the +Paris Amazons!" + +Unfortunately for M. Belly, all his fine projects and preparations +collapsed a few days afterwards, owing to the intervention of the police, +who raided the premises in the Rue Turbigo, and carried off all the papers +they found there. They justified these summary proceedings on the ground +that General Trochu had forbidden the formation of any more free corps, +and that M. Belly had unduly taken fees from his recruits. I believe, +however, that the latter statement was incorrect. At all events, no +further proceedings were instituted. But the raid sufficed to kill M. +Belly's cherished scheme, which naturally supplied the caricaturists of +the time with more or less brilliant ideas. One cartoon represented the +German army surrendering _en masse_ to a mere battalion of the Beauties of +Paris. + + + +VI + +MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + +Reconnaissances and Sorties--Casimir-Perier at Bagneux--Some of the Paris +Clubs--Demonstrations at the Hôtel-de-Ville--The Cannon Craze--The Fall of +Metz foreshadowed--Le Bourget taken by the French--The Government's Policy +of Concealment--The Germans recapture Le Bourget--Thiers, the Armistice, +and Bazaine's Capitulation--The Rising of October 31--The Peril and the +Rescue of the Government--Armistice and Peace Conditions--The Great +Question of Rations--Personal Experiences respecting Food--My father, in +failing Health, decides to leave Paris. + + +After the engagement of Châtillon, fought on September 19, various +reconnaissances were carried out by the army of Paris. In the first of +these General Vinoy secured possession of the plateau of Villejuif, east +of Châtillon, on the south side of the city. Next, the Germans had to +retire from Pierre-fitte, a village in advance of Saint Denis on the +northern side. There were subsequent reconnaissances in the direction of +Neuilly-sur-Marne and the Plateau d'Avron, east of Paris; and on +Michaelmas Day an engagement was fought at L'Hay and Chevilly, on the +south. But the archangel did not on this occasion favour the French, who +were repulsed, one of their commanders, the veteran brigadier Guilhem, +being killed. A fight at Châtillon on October 12 was followed on the +morrow by a more serious action at Bagneux, on the verge of the Châtillon +plateau. During this engagement the Mobiles from the Burgundian Côte d'Or +made a desperate attack on a German barricade bristling with guns, +reinforced by infantry, and also protected by a number of sharp-shooters +installed in the adjacent village-houses, whose window-shutters and walls +had been loop-holed. During the encounter, the commander of the Mobiles, +the Comte de Dampierre, a well-known member of the French Jockey Club, +fell mortally wounded whilst urging on his men, but was succoured by a +captain of the Mobiles of the Aube, who afterwards assumed the chief +command, and, by a rapid flanking movement, was able to carry the +barricade. This captain was Jean Casimir-Perier, who, in later years, +became President of the Republic. He was rewarded for his gallantry with +the Cross of the Legion of Honour. Nevertheless, the French success was +only momentary. + +That same night the sky westward of Paris was illumined by a great ruddy +glare. The famous Château of Saint Cloud, associated with many memories of +the old _régime_ and both the Empires, was seen to be on fire. The cause +of the conflagration has never been precisely ascertained. Present-day +French reference-books still declare that the destruction of the château +was the wilful act of the Germans, who undoubtedly occupied Saint Cloud; +but German authorities invariably maintain that the fire was caused by a +shell from the French fortress of Mont Valérien. Many of the sumptuous +contents of the Château of Saint Cloud--the fatal spot where that same war +had been decided on--were consumed by the flames, while the remainder were +appropriated by the Germans as plunder. Many very valuable paintings of +the period of Louis XIV were undoubtedly destroyed. + +By this time the word "reconnaissance," as applied to the engagements +fought in the environs of the city, had become odious to the Parisians, +who began to clamour for a real "sortie." Trochu, it may be said, had at +this period no idea of being able to break out of Paris. In fact, he had +no desire to do so. His object in all the earlier military operations of +the siege was simply to enlarge the circle of investment, in the hope of +thereby placing the Germans in a difficulty, of which he might +subsequently take advantage. An attack which General Ducrot made, with a +few thousand men, on the German position near La Malmaison, west of Paris, +was the first action which was officially described as a "sortie." It took +place on October 21, but the success which at first attended Ducrot's +efforts was turned into a repulse by the arrival of German reinforcements, +the affair ending with a loss of some four hundred killed and wounded on +the French side, apart from that of another hundred men who were taken +prisoners by the enemy. + +This kind of thing did not appeal to the many frequenters of the public +clubs which were established in the different quarters of Paris. All +theatrical performances had ceased there, and there was no more dancing. +Even the concerts and readings given in aid of the funds for the wounded +were few and far between. Thus, if a Parisian did not care to while away +his evening in a cafe, his only resource was to betake himself to one of +the clubs. Those held at the Folies-Bergère music-hall, the Valentino +dancing-hall, the Porte St. Martin theatre, and the hall of the Collège de +France, were mostly frequented by moderate Republicans, and attempts were +often made there to discuss the situation in a sensible manner. But folly, +even insanity, reigned at many of the other clubs, where men like Félix +Pyat, Auguste Blanqui, Charles Delescluze, Gustave Flourens, and the three +Ms--Mégy, Mottu, and Millière--raved and ranted. Go where you would, you +found a club. There was that of La Reine Blanche at Montmartre and that of +the Salle Favié at Belleville; there was the club de la Vengeance on the +Boulevard Rochechouart, the Club des Montagnards on the Boulevard de +Strasbourg, the Club des Etats-Unis d'Europe in the Rue Cadet, the Club du +Préaux-Clercs in the Rue du Bac, the Club de la Cour des Miracles on the +Ile Saint Louis, and twenty or thirty others of lesser note. At times the +demagogues who perorated from the tribunes at these gatherings, brought +forward proposals which seemed to have emanated from some madhouse, +but which were nevertheless hailed with delirious applause by their +infatuated audiences. Occasionally new engines of destruction were +advocated--so-called "Satan-fusees," or pumps discharging flaming +petroleum! Another speaker conceived the brilliant idea of keeping all the +wild beasts in the Jardin des Plantes on short commons for some days, then +removing them from Paris at the next sortie, and casting them adrift among +the enemy. Yet another imbecile suggested that the water of the Seine and +the Marne should be poisoned, regardless of, the fact that, in any such +event, the Parisians would suffer quite as much as the enemy. + +But the malcontents were not satisfied with ranting at the clubs. On +October 2, Paris became very gloomy, for we then received from outside the +news that both Toul and Strasbourg had surrendered. Three days later, +Gustave Flourens gathered the National Guards of Belleville together and +marched with them on the Hôtel-de-Ville, where he called upon the +Government to renounce the military tactics of the Empire which had set +one Frenchman against three Germans, to decree a _levée en masse_, to make +frequent sorties with the National Guards, to arm the latter with +chassepots, and to establish at once a municipal "Commune of Paris." On +the subject of sorties the Government promised to conform to the general +desire, and to allow the National Guards to co-operate with the regular +army as soon as they should know how to fight and escape being simply +butchered. To other demands made by Flourens, evasive replies were +returned, whereupon he indignantly resigned his command of the Belleville +men, but resumed it at their urgent request. + +The affair somewhat alarmed the Government, who issued a proclamation +forbidding armed demonstrations, and, far from consenting to the +establishment of any Commune, postponed the ordinary municipal elections +which were soon to have taken place. To this the Reds retorted by making +yet another demonstration, which my father and myself witnessed. Thousands +of people, many of them being armed National Guards, assembled on the +Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, shouting: "La Commune! La Commune! Nous voulons +la Commune!" But the authorities had received warning of their opponents' +intentions, and the Hôtel-de-Ville was entirely surrounded by National +Guards belonging to loyal battalions, behind whom, moreover, was stationed +a force of trusty Mobile Guards, whose bayonets were already fixed. Thus +no attempt could be made to raid the Hôtel-de-Ville with any chance of +success. Further, several other contingents of loyal National Guards +arrived on the square, and helped to check the demonstrators. + +While gazing on the scene from an upper window of the Cafe de la Garde +Nationale, at one corner of the square, I suddenly saw Trochu ride out +of the Government building, as it then was, followed by a couple of +aides-de-camp, His appearance was attended by a fresh uproar. The yells of +"La Commune! La Commune!" rose more loudly than ever, but were now +answered by determined shouts of "Vive la Republique! Vive Trochu! Vive le +Gouvernement!" whilst the drums beat, the trumpets sounded, and all the +Government forces presented arms. The general rode up and down the lines, +returning the salute, amidst prolonged acclamations, and presently his +colleagues, Jules Favre and the others--excepting, of course, Gambetta, +who had already left Paris--also came out of the Hotel-de-Ville and +received an enthusiastic greeting from their supporters. For the time, the +Reds were absolutely defeated, and in order to prevent similar +disturbances in future, Keratry, the Prefect of Police, wished to arrest +Flourens, Blanqui, Milliere, and others, which suggestion was countenanced +by Trochu, but opposed by Rochefort and Etienne Arago. A few days later, +Rochefort patched up a brief outward reconciliation between the contending +parties. Nevertheless, it was evident that Paris was already sharply +divided, both on the question of its defence and on that of its internal +government. + +On October 23, some of the National Guards were at last allowed to join in +a sortie. They were men from Montmartre, and the action, or rather +skirmish, in which they participated took place at Villemomble, east of +Paris, the guards behaving fairly well under fire, and having five of +their number wounded. Patriotism was now taking another form in the city. +There was a loud cry for cannons, more and more cannons. The Government +replied that 227 mitrailleuses with over 800,000 cartridges, 50 mortars, +400 carriages for siege guns, several of the latter ordnance, and 300 +seven-centimetre guns carrying 8600 yards, together with half a million +shells of different sizes, had already been ordered, and in part +delivered. Nevertheless, public subscriptions were started in order to +provide another 1500 cannon, large sums being contributed to the fund by +public bodies and business firms. Not only did the newspapers offer to +collect small subscriptions, but stalls were set up for that purpose in +different parts of Paris, as in the time of the first Revolution, and +people there tendered their contributions, the women often offering +jewelry in lieu of money. Trochu, however, deprecated the movement. There +were already plenty of guns, said he; what he required was gunners to +serve them. + +On October 25 we heard of the fall of the little town of Châteaudun in +Eure-et-Loir, after a gallant resistance offered by 1200 National Guards +and Francs-tireurs against 6000 German infantry, a regiment of cavalry, +and four field batteries. Von Wittich, the German general, punished that +resistance by setting fire to Châteaudun and a couple of adjacent +villages, and his men, moreover, massacred a number of non-combatant +civilians. Nevertheless, the courage shown by the people of Châteaudun +revived the hopes of the Parisians and strengthened their resolution to +brave every hardship rather than surrender. Two days later, however, Félix +Pyat's journal _Le Combat_ published, within a mourning border, the +following announcement: "It is a sure and certain fact that the Government +of National Defence retains in its possession a State secret, which we +denounce to an indignant country as high treason. Marshal Bazaine has sent +a colonel to the camp of the King of Prussia to treat for the surrender of +Metz and for Peace in the name of Napoleon III." + +The news seemed incredible, and, indeed, at the first moment, very few +people believed it. If it were true, however, Prince Frederick Charles's +forces, released from the siege of Metz, would evidently be able to march +against D'Aurelle de Paladines' army of the Loire just when it was hoped +that the latter would overthrow the Bavarians under Von der Tann and +hasten to the relief of Paris. But people argued that Bazaine was surely +as good a patriot as Bourbaki, who, it was already known, had escaped from +Metz and offered his sword to the National Defence in the provinces. A +number of indignant citizens hastened to the office of _Le Combat_ in +order to seize Pyat and consign him to durance, but he was an adept in the +art of escaping arrest, and contrived to get away by a back door. At the +Hôtel-de-Ville Rochefort, on being interviewed, described Pyat as a cur, +and declared that there was no truth whatever in his story. Public +confidence completely revived on the following morning, when the official +journal formally declared that Metz had not capitulated; and, in the +evening, Paris became quite jubilant at the news that General Carré de +Bellemare, who commanded on the north side of the city, had wrested from +the Germans the position of Le Bourget, lying to the east of Saint Denis. + +Pyat, however, though he remained in hiding, clung to his story respecting +Metz, stating in _Le Combat_, on October 29, that the news had been +communicated to him by Gustave Flourens, who had derived it from +Rochefort, by whom it was now impudently denied. It subsequently became +known, moreover, that another member of the Government, Eugène Pelletan, +had confided the same intelligence to Commander Longuet, of the National +Guard. It appears that it had originally been derived from certain members +of the Red Cross Society, who, when it became necessary to bury the dead +and tend the wounded after an encounter in the environs of Paris, often +came in contact with the Germans. The report was, of course, limited to +the statement that Bazaine was negotiating a surrender, not that he had +actually capitulated. The Government's denial of it can only be described +as a quibble--of the kind to which at times even British Governments stoop +when faced by inconvenient questions in the House of Commons--and, as we +shall soon see, the gentlemen of the National Defence spent a _très +mauvais quart d'heure_ as a result of the _suppressio veri_ of which they +were guilty. Similar "bad quarters of an hour" have fallen upon +politicians in other countries, including our own, under somewhat similar +circumstances. + +On October 30, Thiers, after travelling all over Europe, pleading his +country's cause at every great Court, arrived in Paris with a safe-conduct +from Bismarck, in order to lay before the Government certain proposals for +an armistice, which Russia, Great Britain, Austria, and Italy were +prepared to support. And alas! he also brought with him the news that Metz +had actually fallen--having capitulated, indeed, on October 27, the very +day on which Pyat had issued his announcement. There was consternation at +the Hôtel-de-Ville when this became known, and the gentlemen of the +Government deeply but vainly regretted the futile tactics to which they +had so foolishly stooped. To make matters worse, we received in the +evening intelligence that the Germans had driven Carré de Bellemare's men +out of Le Bourget after some brief but desperate fighting. Trochu declared +that he had no need of the Bourget position, that it had never entered +into his scheme of defence, and that Bellemare had been unduly zealous in +attacking and taking it from the Germans. If that were the case, however, +why had not the Governor of Paris ordered Le Bourget to be evacuated +immediately after its capture, without waiting for the Germans to re-take +it at the bayonet's point? Under the circumstances, the Parisians were +naturally exasperated. Tumultuous were the scenes on the Boulevards that +evening, and vehement and threatening were the speeches at the clubs. + +When the Parisians quitted their homes on the morning of Monday, the 31st, +they found the city placarded with two official notices, one respecting +the arrival of Thiers and the proposals for an armistice, and the second +acknowledging the disaster of Metz. A hurricane of indignation at once +swept through the city. Le Bourget lost! Metz taken! Proposals for an +armistice with the detested Prussians entertained! Could Trochu's plan and +Bazaine's plan be synonymous, then? The one word "Treachery!" was on every +lip. When noon arrived the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville was crowded with +indignant people. Deputations, composed chiefly of officers of the +National Guard, interviewed the Government, and were by no means satisfied +with the replies which they received from Jules Ferry and others. +Meantime, the crowd on the square was increasing in numbers. Several +members of the Government attempted to prevail on it to disperse; but no +heed was paid to them. + +At last a free corps commanded by Tibaldi, an Italian conspirator of +Imperial days, effected an entrance into the Hotel-de-Ville, followed by a +good many of the mob. In the throne-room they were met by Jules Favre, +whose attempts to address them failed, the shouts of "La Commune! La +Commune!" speedily drowning his voice. Meantime, two shots were fired by +somebody on the square, a window was broken, and the cry of the invaders +became "To arms! to arms! Our brothers are being butchered!" In vain did +Trochu and Rochefort endeavour to stem the tide of invasion. In vain, +also, did the Government, assembled in the council-room, offer to submit +itself to the suffrages of the citizens, to grant the election of +municipal councillors, and to promise that no armistice should be signed +without consulting the population. The mob pressed on through one room +after another, smashing tables, desks, and windows on their way, and all +at once the very apartment where the Government were deliberating was, in +its turn, invaded, several officers of the National Guard, subsequently +prominent at the time of the Commune, heading the intruders and demanding +the election of a Commune and the appointment of a new administration +under the presidency of Dorian, the popular Minister of Public Works. + +Amidst the ensuing confusion, M. Ernest Picard, a very corpulent, +jovial-looking advocate, who was at the head of the department of +Finances, contrived to escape; but all his colleagues were surrounded, +insulted by the invaders, and summoned to resign their posts. They refused +to do so, and the wrangle was still at its height when Gustave Flourens +and his Belleville sharpshooters reached the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville. +Flourens entered the building, which at this moment was occupied by some +seven or eight thousand men, and proposed that the Commune should be +elected by acclamation. This was agreed upon; Dorian's name--though, by +the way, he was a wealthy ironmaster, and in no sense a Communard--being +put at the head of the list. This included Flourens himself, Victor Hugo, +Louis Blanc, Raspail, Mottu, Delescluze, Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin, Rochefort, +Félix Pyat, Ranvier, and Avrial. Then Flourens, in his turn, entered the +council-room, climbed on to the table, and summoned the captive members of +the Government to resign; Again they refused to do so, and were therefore +placed under arrest. Jules Ferry and Emmanuel Arago managed to escape, +however, and some friendly National Guards succeeded in entering the +building and carrying off General Trochu. Ernest Picard, meanwhile, had +been very active in devising plans for the recapture of the Hôtel-de-Ville +and providing for the safety of various Government departments. Thus, when +Flourens sent a lieutenant to the treasury demanding the immediate payment +of _£600,000(!)_ the request was refused, and the messenger placed under +arrest. Nevertheless, the insurgents made themselves masters of several +district town-halls. + +But Jules Ferry was collecting the loyal National Guards together, and at +half-past eleven o'clock that night they and some Mobiles marched on the +Hôtel-de-Ville. The military force which had been left there by the +insurgents was not large. A parley ensued, and while it was still in +progress, an entire battalion of Mobiles effected an entry by a +subterranean passage leading from an adjacent barracks. Delescluze and +Flourens then tried to arrange terms with Dorian, but Jules Ferry would +accept no conditions. The imprisoned members of the Government were +released, and the insurgent leaders compelled to retire. About this time +Trochu and Ducrot arrived on the scene, and between three and four o'clock +in the morning I saw them pass the Government forces in review on the +square. + +On the following day, all the alleged conventions between M. Dorian and +the Red Republican leaders were disavowed. There was, however, a conflict +of opinion as to whether those leaders should be arrested or not, some +members of the Government admitting that they had promised Delescluze and +others that they should not be prosecuted. In consequence of this dispute, +several officials, including Edmond Adam, Keratry's successor as Prefect +of Police, resigned their functions. A few days later, twenty-one of the +insurgent leaders were arrested, Pyat being among them, though nothing was +done in regard to Flourens and Blanqui, both of whom had figured +prominently in the affair. + +On November 3 we had a plebiscitum, the question put to the Parisians +being: "Does the population of Paris, yes or no, maintain the powers of +the Government of National Defence?" So far as the civilian element--which +included the National Guards--was concerned, the ballot resulted as +follows: Voting "Yes," 321,373 citizens; voting "No," 53,585 citizens. The +vote of the army, inclusive of the Mobile Guard, was even more pronounced: +"Yes," 236,623; "No," 9063, Thus the general result was 557,996 votes in +favour of the Government, and 62,638 against it--the proportion being 9 to +1 for the entire male population of the invested circle. This naturally +rendered the authorities jubilant. + +But the affair of October 31 had deplorable consequences with regard to +the armistice negotiations. This explosion of sedition alarmed the German +authorities. They lost confidence in the power of the National Defence to +carry out such terms as might be stipulated, and, finally, Bismarck +refused to allow Paris to be revictualled during the period requisite for +the election of a legislative assembly--which was to have decided the +question of peace or war--unless one fort, and possibly more than one, +were surrendered to him. Thiers and Favre could not accept such a +condition, and thus the negotiations were broken off. Before Thiers +quitted Bismarck, however, the latter significantly told him that the +terms of peace at that juncture would be the cession of Alsace to Germany, +and the payment of three milliards of francs as an indemnity; but that +after the fall of Paris the terms would be the cession of both Alsace and +Lorraine, and a payment of five milliards. + +In the earlier days of the siege there was no rationing of provisions, +though the price of meat was fixed by Government decree. At the end of +September, however, the authorities decided to limit the supply to a +maximum of 500 oxen and 4000 sheep per diem. It was decided also that the +butchers' shops should only open on every fourth day, when four days' meat +should be distributed at the official prices. During the earlier period +the daily ration ranged from 80 to 100 grammes, that is, about 2-2/3 oz. +to 3-1/3 oz. in weight, one-fifth part of it being bone in the case of +beef, though, with respect to mutton, the butchers were forbidden to make +up the weight with any bones which did not adhere to the meat. At the +outset of the siege only twenty or thirty horses were slaughtered each +day; but on September 30 the number had risen to 275. A week later there +were nearly thirty shops in Paris where horseflesh was exclusively sold, +and scarcely a day elapsed without an increase in their number. Eventually +horseflesh became virtually the only meat procurable by all classes of the +besieged, but in the earlier period it was patronized chiefly by the +poorer folk, the prices fixed for it by authority being naturally lower +than those edicted for beef and mutton. + +With regard to the arrangements made by my father and myself respecting +food, they were, in the earlier days of the siege, very simple. We were +keeping no servant at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. The concierge of +the house, and his wife, did all such work as we required. This concierge, +whose name was Saby, had been a Zouave, and had acted as orderly to his +captain in Algeria. He was personally expert in the art of preparing +"couscoussou" and other Algerian dishes, and his wife was a thoroughly +good cook _à la française_. Directly meat was rationed, Saby said to me: +"The allowance is very small; you and Monsieur votre père will be able to +eat a good deal more than that. Now, some of the poorer folk cannot afford +to pay for butchers' meat, they are contented with horseflesh, which is +not yet rationed, and are willing to sell their ration cards. You can well +afford to buy one or two of them, and in that manner secure extra +allowances of beef or mutton." + +That plan was adopted, and for a time everything went on satisfactorily. +On a few occasions I joined the queue outside our butcher's in the Rue de +Penthièvre, and waited an hour or two to secure our share of meat, We were +not over-crowded in that part of Paris. A great many members of the +aristocracy and bourgeoisie, who usually dwelt there, had left the city +with their families and servants prior to the investment; and thus the +queues and the waits were not so long as in the poorer and more densely +populated districts. Saby, however, often procured our meat himself or +employed somebody else to do so, for women were heartily glad of the +opportunity to earn half a franc or so by acting as deputy for other +people. + +We had secured a small supply of tinned provisions, and would have +increased it if the prices had not gone up by leaps and bounds, in such +wise that a tin of corned beef or something similar, which one saw priced +in the morning at about 5 francs, was labelled 20 francs a few hours +later. Dry beans and peas were still easily procurable, but fresh +vegetables at once became both rare and costly. Potatoes failed us at an +early date. On the other hand, jam and preserved fruit could be readily +obtained at the grocer's at the corner of our street. The bread slowly +deteriorated in quality, but was still very fair down to the date of my +departure from Paris (November 8 [See the following chapter.]). Milk and +butter, however, became rare--the former being reserved for the hospitals, +the ambulances, the mothers of infants, and so forth--whilst one sighed in +vain for a bit of Gruyère, Roquefort, Port-Salut, Brie, or indeed any +other cheese. + +Saby, who was a very shrewd fellow, had conceived a brilliant idea before +the siege actually began. The Chateaubriands having quitted the house +and removed their horses from the stables, he took possession of the +latter, purchased some rabbits--several does and a couple of bucks--laid +in a supply of food for them, and resolved to make his fortune by +rabbit-breeding. He did not quite effect his purpose, but rabbits are so +prolific that he was repaid many times over for the trouble which he took +in rearing them. For some time he kept the affair quite secret. More than +once I saw him going in and out of the stables, without guessing the +reason; but one morning, having occasion to speak to him, I followed him +and discovered the truth. He certainly bred several scores of rabbits +during the course of the siege, merely ceasing to do so when he found it +impossible to continue feeding the animals. On two or three occasions +we paid him ten francs or so for a rabbit, and that was certainly +"most-favoured-nation treatment;" for, at the same period, he was charging +twenty and twenty-five francs to other people. Cooks, with whom he +communicated, came to him from mansions both near and far. He sold quite a +number of rabbits to Baron Alphonse de Rothschild's _chef_ at the rate of +£2 apiece, and others to Count Pillet-Will at about the same price, so +that, so far as his pockets were concerned, he in no wise suffered by the +siege of Paris. + +We were blessed with an abundance of charcoal for cooking purposes, and of +coals and wood for ordinary fires, having at our disposal not only the +store in our own cellars, but that which the Chateaubriand family had left +behind. The cold weather set in very soon, and firing was speedily in +great demand. Our artist Jules Pelcoq, who lived in the Rue Lepic at +Montmartre, found himself reduced to great straits in this respect, +nothing being procurable at the dealers' excepting virtually green wood +which had been felled a short time previously in the Bois de Boulogne and +Bois de Vincennes. On a couple of occasions Pelcoq and I carried some +coals in bags to his flat, and my father, being anxious for his comfort, +wished to provide him with a larger supply. Saby was therefore +requisitioned to procure a man who would undertake to convey some coals in +a handcart to Montmartre. The man was found, and paid for his services in +advance. But alas! the coals never reached poor Pelcoq. When we next saw +the man who had been engaged, he told us that he had been intercepted on +his way by some National Guards, who had asked him what his load was, and, +on discovering that it consisted of coals, had promptly confiscated them +and the barrow also, dragging the latter to some bivouac on the ramparts. +I have always doubted that story, however, and incline to the opinion that +our improvised porter had simply sold the coals and pocketed the proceeds. + +One day, early in November, when our allowance of beef or mutton was +growing small by degrees and beautifully less and infrequent--horseflesh +becoming more and more _en évidence_ at the butchers' shops, [Only 1-1/2 +oz. of beef or mutton was now allowed per diem, but in lieu thereof you +could obtain 1/4 lb. of horseflesh.] I had occasion to call on one of our +artists, Blanchard, who lived in the Faubourg Saint Germain. When we had +finished our business he said to me: "Ernest, it is my _fête_ day. I am +going to have a superb dinner. My brother-in-law, who is an official of +the Eastern Railway Line, is giving it in my honour. Come with me; +I invite you." We thereupon went to his brother-in-law's flat, where I was +most cordially received, and before long we sat down at table in a warm +and well-lighted dining-room, the company consisting of two ladies and +three men, myself included. + +The soup, I think, had been prepared from horseflesh with the addition of +a little Liebig's extract of meat; but it was followed by a beautiful leg +of mutton, with beans a la Bretonne and--potatoes! I had not tasted a +potato for weeks past, for in vain had the ingenious Saby endeavoured to +procure some. But the crowning triumph of the evening was the appearance +of a huge piece of Gruyère cheese, which at that time was not to be seen +in a single shop in Paris. Even Chevet, that renowned purveyor of +dainties, had declared that he had none. + +My surprise in presence of the cheese and the potatoes being evident, +Blanchard's brother-in-law blandly informed me that he had stolen them. +"There is no doubt," said he, "that many tradespeople hold secret stores +of one thing and another, but wish prices to rise still higher than they +are before they produce them. I did not, however, take those potatoes or +that cheese from any shopkeeper's cellar. But, in the store-places of the +railway company to which I belong, there are tons and tons of provisions, +including both cheese and potatoes, for which the consignees never apply, +preferring, as they do, to leave them there until famine prices are +reached. Well, I have helped myself to just a few things, so as to give +Blanchard a good dinner this evening. As for the leg of mutton, I bribed +the butcher--not with money, he might have refused it--but with cheese and +potatoes, and it was fair exchange." When I returned home that evening I +carried in my pockets more than half a pound of Gruyère and two or three +pounds of potatoes, which my father heartily welcomed. The truth about the +provisions which were still stored at some of the railway dépôts was soon +afterwards revealed to the authorities. + +Although my father was then only fifty years of age and had plenty of +nervous energy, his health was at least momentarily failing him. He had +led an extremely strenuous life ever since his twentieth year, when my +grandfather's death had cast great responsibilities on him. He had also +suffered from illnesses which required that he should have an ample supply +of nourishing food. So long as a fair amount of ordinary butcher's meat +could be procured, he did not complain; but when it came to eating +horseflesh two or three times a week he could not undertake it, although, +only a year or two previously, he had attended a great _banquet +hippophagique_ given in Paris, and had then even written favourably of +_viande de cheval_ in an article he prepared on the subject. For my own +part, being a mere lad, I had a lad's appetite and stomach, and I did not +find horseflesh so much amiss, particularly as prepared with garlic and +other savouries by Mme. Saby's expert hands. But, after a day or two, my +father refused to touch it. For three days, I remember, he tried to live +on bread, jam, and preserved fruit; but the sweetness of such a diet +became nauseous to him--even as it became nauseous to our soldiers when +the authorities bombarded them with jam in South Africa. It was very +difficult to provide something to my father's taste; there was no poultry +and there were no eggs. It was at this time that Saby sold us a few +rabbits, but, again, _toujours lapin_ was not satisfactory. + +People were now beginning to partake of sundry strange things. Bats were +certainly eaten before the siege ended, though by no means in such +quantities as some have asserted. However, there were already places where +dogs and cats, skinned and prepared for cooking, were openly displayed for +sale. Labouchere related, also, that on going one day into a restaurant +and seeing _cochon de lait_, otherwise sucking-pig, mentioned in the menu, +he summoned the waiter and cross-questioned him on the subject, as he +greatly doubted whether there were any sucking-pigs in all Paris. "Is it +sucking-pig?" he asked the waiter. "Yes, monsieur," the man replied. +But Labby was not convinced. "Is it a little pig?" he inquired. "Yes, +monsieur, quite a little one." "Is it a young pig?" pursued Labby, who +was still dubious. The waiter hesitated, and at last replied, "Well, I +cannot be sure, monsieur, if it is quite young." "But it must be young if +it is little, as you say. Come, what is it, tell me?" "Monsieur, it is a +guinea-pig!" Labby bounded from his chair, took his hat, and fled. He did +not feel equal to guinea-pig, although he was very hungry. + +Perhaps, however, Labouchere's best story of those days was that of the +old couple who, all other resources failing them, were at last compelled +to sacrifice their little pet dog. It came up to table nicely roasted, and +they both looked at it for a moment with a sigh. Then Monsieur summoned up +his courage and helped Madame to the tender viand. She heaved another +sigh, but, making a virtue of necessity, began to eat, and whilst she was +doing so she every now and then deposited a little bone on the edge of her +plate. There was quite a collection of little bones there by the time she +had finished, and as she leant back in her chair and contemplated them she +suddenly exclaimed: "Poor little Toto! If he had only been alive what a +fine treat he would have had!" + +To return, however, to my father and myself, I must mention that there was +a little English tavern and eating-house in the Rue de Miromesnil, kept by +a man named Lark, with whom I had some acquaintance. We occasionally +procured English ale from him, and one day, late in October, when I was +passing his establishment, he said to me: "How is your father? He seems to +be looking poorly. Aren't you going to leave with the others?" I inquired +of Lark what he meant by his last question; whereupon he told me that if I +went to the Embassy I should see a notice in the consular office +respecting the departure of British subjects, arrangements having been +made to enable all who desired to quit Paris to do so. I took the hint and +read the notice, which ran as Lark had stated, with this addendum: "The +Embassy _cannot_, however, charge itself with the expense of assisting +British subjects to leave Paris." Forthwith I returned home and imparted +the information I had obtained to my father. + +Beyond setting up that notice in the Consul's office, the Embassy took no +steps to acquaint British subjects generally with the opportunity which +was offered them to escape bombardment and famine. It is true that it was +in touch with the British Charitable Fund and that the latter made the +matter known to sundry applicants for assistance. But the British colony +still numbered 1000 people, hundreds of whom would have availed themselves +of this opportunity had it only come to their knowledge. My father +speedily made up his mind to quit the city, and during the next few days +arrangements were made with our artists and others so that the interests +of the _Illustrated London News_ might in no degree suffer by his absence. +Our system had long been perfected, and everything worked well after our +departure. I may add here, because it will explain something which +follows, that my father distributed all the money he could possibly spare +among those whom he left behind, in such wise that on quitting Paris we +had comparatively little, and--as the sequel showed--insufficient money +with us. But it was thought that we should be able to secure whatever we +might require on arriving at Versailles. + + + +VII + +FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +I leave Paris with my Father--Jules Favre, Wodehouse, and Washburne-- +Through Charenton to Créteil--At the Outposts--First Glimpses of the +Germans--A Subscription to shoot the King of Prussia--The Road to +Brie-Comte-Robert--Billets for the Night--Chats with German Soldiers--The +Difficulty with the Poorer Refugees--Mr. Wodehouse and my Father--On the +Way to Corbeil--A Franco-German Flirtation--Affairs at Corbeil--On the +Road in the Rain--Longjumeau--A Snow-storm--The Peasant of Champlan-- +Arrival at Versailles. + + +Since Lord Lyons's departure from Paris, the Embassy had remained in +the charge of the second Secretary, Mr. Wodehouse, and the Vice-Consul. +In response to the notice set up in the latter's office, and circulated +also among a tithe of the community by the British Charitable Fund, it was +arranged that sixty or seventy persons should accompany the Secretary and +Vice-Consul out of the city, the military attacheé, Colonel Claremont, +alone remaining there. The provision which the Charitable Fund made for +the poorer folk consisted of a donation of £4 to each person, together +with some three pounds of biscuits and a few ounces of chocolate to munch +on the way. No means of transport, however, were provided for these +people, though it was known that we should have to proceed to +Versailles--where the German headquarters were installed--by a very +circuitous route, and that the railway lines were out. + +We were to have left on November 2, at the same time as a number of +Americans, Russians, and others, and it had been arranged that everybody +should meet at an early hour that morning at the Charenton gate on the +south-east side of Paris. On arriving there, however, all the English who +joined the gathering were ordered to turn back, as information had been +received that permission to leave the city was refused them. This caused +no little consternation among the party, but the order naturally had +to be obeyed, and half angrily and half disconsolately many a disappointed +Briton returned to his recent quarters. We afterwards learnt that Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had in the first instance absolutely refused +to listen to the applications of Mr. Wodehouse, possibly because Great +Britain had not recognized the French Republic; though if such were indeed +the reason, it was difficult to understand why the Russians received very +different treatment, as the Czar, like the Queen, had so far abstained +from any official recognition of the National Defence. On the other hand, +Favre may, perhaps, have shared the opinion of Bismarck, who about this +time tersely expressed his opinion of ourselves in the words: "England no +longer counts"--so low, to his thinking, had we fallen in the comity of +nations under our Gladstone _cum_ Granville administration. + +Mr. Wodehouse, however, in his unpleasant predicament, sought the +assistance of his colleague, Mr. Washburne, the United States Minister, +and the latter, who possessed more influence in Paris than any other +foreign representative, promptly put his foot down, declaring that he +himself would leave the city if the British subjects were still refused +permission to depart. Favre then ungraciously gave way; but no sooner had +his assent been obtained than it was discovered that the British Foreign +Office had neglected to apply to Bismarck for permission for the English +leaving Paris to pass through the German lines. Thus delay ensued, and it +was only on the morning of November 8 that the English departed at the +same time as a number of Swiss citizens and Austrian subjects. + +The Charenton gate was again the appointed meeting-place. On our way +thither, between six and seven o'clock in the morning, we passed many a +long queue waiting outside butchers' shops for pittances of meat, and +outside certain municipal dépôts where after prolonged waiting a few +thimblesful of milk were doled out to those who could prove that they had +young children. Near the Porte de Charenton a considerable detachment of +the National Guard was drawn up as if to impart a kind of solemnity to the +approaching exodus of foreigners. A couple of young staff-officers were +also in attendance, with a mounted trumpeter and another trooper carrying +the usual white flag on a lance. + +The better-circumstanced of our party were in vehicles purchased for the +occasion, a few also being mounted on valuable horses, which it was +desired to save from the fate which eventually overtook most of the +animals that remained in Paris. Others were in hired cabs, which were not +allowed, however, to proceed farther than the outposts; while a good many +of the poorer members of the party were in specially engaged omnibuses, +which also had to turn back before we were handed over to a German escort; +the result being that their occupants were left to trudge a good many +miles on foot before other means of transport were procured. In that +respect the Swiss and the Austrians were far better cared-for than the +English. Although the weather was bitterly cold, Mr. Wodehouse, my father, +myself, a couple of Mr. Wodehouse's servants, and a young fellow who had +been connected, I think, with a Paris banking-house, travelled in an open +pair-horse break. The Vice-Consul and his wife, who were also accompanying +us, occupied a small private omnibus. + +Before passing out of Paris we were all mustered and our _laisser-passers_ +were examined. Those held by British subjects emanated invariably from the +United States Embassy, being duly signed by Mr. Washburne, so that we +quitted the city virtually as American citizens. At last the procession +was formed, the English preceding the Swiss and the Austrians, whilst in +the rear, strangely enough, came several ambulance vans flaunting the red +cross of Geneva. Nobody could account for their presence with us, but as +the Germans were accused of occasionally firing on flags of truce, they +were sent, perhaps, so as to be of service in the event of any mishap +occurring. All being ready, we crossed the massive drawbridge of the Porte +de Charenton, and wound in and out of the covered way which an advanced +redoubt protected. A small detachment of light cavalry then joined us, and +we speedily crossed the devastated track known as the "military zone," +where every tree had been felled at the moment of the investment. +Immediately afterwards we found ourselves in the narrow winding streets of +Charenton, which had been almost entirely deserted by their inhabitants, +but were crowded with soldiers who stood at doors and windows, watching +our curious caravan. The bridge across the Marne was mined, but still +intact, and defended at the farther end by an entrenched and loopholed +redoubt, faced by some very intricate and artistic chevaux-de-frise. Once +across the river, we wound round to the left, through the village of +Alfort, where all the villas and river-side restaurants had been turned +into military posts; and on looking back we saw the huge Charenton +madhouse surmounting a wooded height and flying a large black flag. At the +outset of the siege it had been suggested that the more harmless inmates +should be released rather than remain exposed to harm from chance German +shells; but the director of the establishment declared that in many +instances insanity intensified patriotic feeling, and that if his patients +were set at liberty they would at least desire to become members of the +Government. So they were suffered to remain in their exposed position. + +We went on, skirting the estate of Charentonneau, where the park wall had +been blown down and many of the trees felled. On our right was the fort of +Charenton, armed with big black naval guns. All the garden walls on our +line of route had been razed or loopholed. The road was at times +barricaded with trees, or intersected by trenches, and it was not without +difficulty that we surmounted those impediments. At Petit Créteil we were +astonished to see a number of market-gardeners working as unconcernedly as +in times of peace. It is true that the village was covered by the fire of +the Charenton fort, and that the Germans would have incurred great risk in +making a serious attack on it. Nevertheless, small parties of them +occasionally crept down and exchanged shots with the Mobiles who were +stationed there, having their headquarters at a deserted inn, on reaching +which we made our first halt. + +The hired vehicles were now sent back to Paris, and after a brief interval +we went on again, passing through an aperture in a formidable-looking +barricade. We then readied Créteil proper, and there the first serious +traces of the havoc of war were offered to our view. The once pleasant +village was lifeless. Every house had been broken into and plundered, +every door and every window smashed. Smaller articles of furniture, and so +forth, had been removed, larger ones reduced to fragments. An infernal +spirit of destruction had swept through the place; and yet, mark this, we +were still within the French lines. + +Our progress along the main street being suddenly checked by another huge +barricade, we wound round to the right, and at last reached a house where +less than a score of Mobiles were gathered, protected from sudden assault +by a flimsy barrier of planks, casks, stools, and broken chairs. This was +the most advanced French outpost in the direction we were following. We +passed it, crossing some open fields where a solitary man was calmly +digging potatoes, risking his life at every turn of his spade, but knowing +that every pound of the precious tuber that he might succeed in taking +into Paris would there fetch perhaps as much as ten francs. + +Again we halted, and the trumpeter and the trooper with the white flag +rode on to the farther part of the somewhat scattered village. Suddenly +the trumpet's call rang out through the sharp, frosty air, and then we +again moved on, passing down another village street where several gaunt +starving cats attempted to follow us, with desperate strides and piteous +mews. Before long, we perceived, standing in the middle of the road before +us, a couple of German soldiers in long great-coats and boots reaching to +the shins. One of them was carrying a white flag. A brief conversation +ensued with them, for they both spoke French, and one of them knew English +also. Soon afterwards, from behind a stout barricade which we saw ahead, +three or four of their officers arrived, and somewhat stiff and +ceremonious salutes were exchanged between them and the French officers in +charge of our party. + +Our arrival had probably been anticipated. At all events, a big and +very welcome fire of logs and branches was blazing near by, and whilst +one or two officers on either side, together with Colonel Claremont and +some officials of the British Charitable Fund, were attending to the +safe-conducts of her then Majesty's subjects, the other French and German +officers engaged in conversation round the fire I have mentioned. The +latter were probably Saxons; at all events, they belonged to the forces of +the Crown Prince, afterwards King, of Saxony, who commanded this part of +the investing lines, and with whom the principal English war-correspondent +was Archibald Forbes, freshly arrived from the siege of Metz. The recent +fall of that stronghold and the conduct of Marshal Bazaine supplied the +chief subject of the conversation carried on at the Créteil outposts +between the officers of the contending nations. Now and then, too, came a +reference to Sedan and the overthrow of the Bonapartist Empire. The entire +conversation was in French--I doubt, indeed, if our French custodians +could speak German--and the greatest courtesy prevailed; though the French +steadily declined the Hamburg cigars which their adversaries offered them. + +I listened awhile to the conversation, but when the safe-conduct for my +father and myself had been examined, I crossed to the other side of the +road in order to scan the expanse of fields lying in that direction. All +at once I saw a German officer, mounted on a powerful-looking horse, +galloping over the rough ground in our direction. He came straight towards +me. He was a well-built, middle-aged man of some rank--possibly a colonel. +Reining in his mount, he addressed me in French, asking several questions. +When, however, I had told him who we were, he continued the conversation +in English and inquired if I had brought any newspapers out of Paris. Now, +we were all pledged not to give any information of value to the enemy, but +I had in my pockets copies of two of the most violent prints then +appearing in the city--that is to say, _La Patrie en Danger_, inspired by +Blanqui, and _Le Combat_, edited by Felix Pyat. The first-named was all +sound and fury, and the second contained a subscription list for a +pecuniary reward and rifle of honour to be presented to the Frenchman who +might fortunately succeed in killing the King of Prussia. As the German +officer was so anxious to ascertain what the popular feeling in Paris +might be, and whether it favoured further resistance, it occurred to me, +in a spirit of devilment as it were, to present him with the aforesaid +journals, for which he expressed his heartfelt thanks, and then galloped +away. + +As I never met him again, I cannot say how he took the invectives and the +"murder-subscription." Perhaps it was not quite right of me to foist on +him, as examples of genuine Parisian opinion, two such papers as those I +gave him; but, then, all is fair not merely in love but in war also, and +in regard to the contentions of France and Germany, my sympathies were +entirely on the side of France. + +We had not yet been transferred to the German escort which was waiting for +us, when all at once we heard several shots fired from the bank of the +Marne, whereupon a couple of German dragoons galloped off in that +direction. The firing ceased as abruptly as it had begun, and then, +everything being in readiness so far as we were concerned, Colonel +Claremont, the Charitable Fund people, the French officers and cavalry, +and the ambulance waggons retraced their way to Paris, whilst our caravan +went on in the charge of a detachment of German dragoons. Not for long, +however, for the instructions received respecting us were evidently +imperfect. The reader will have noticed that we left Paris on its +southeastern side, although our destination was Versailles, which lies +south-west of the capital, being in that direction only some eleven miles +distant. Further, on quitting Créteil, instead of taking a direct route +to the city of Louis Quatorze, we made, as the reader will presently see, +an immense _détour,_ so that our journey to Versailles lasted three full +days. This occurred because the Germans wished to prevent us from seeing +anything of the nearer lines of investment and the preparations which had +already begun for the bombardment of Paris. + +On our departure from Créteil, however, our route was not yet positively +fixed, so we presently halted, and an officer of our escort rode off to +take further instructions, whilst we remained near a German outpost, where +we could not help noticing how healthy-looking, stalwart, and well-clad +the men were. Orders respecting our movements having arrived, we set out +again at a walking pace, perhaps because so many of our party were on +foot. Troops were posted near every side-road that we passed. Officers +constantly cantered up, inquiring for news respecting the position of +affairs in Paris, wishing to know, in particular, if the National Defence +ministers were still prisoners of the populace, and whether there was now +a Red Republic with Blanqui at its head. What astounded them most was to +hear that, although Paris was taking more and more to horseflesh, it was, +as yet, by no means starving, and that, so far as famine might be +concerned, it would be able to continue resisting for some months longer. +In point of fact, this was on November 8, and the city did not surrender +until January 28. But the German officers would not believe what we said +respecting the resources of the besieged; they repeated the same questions +again and again, and still looked incredulous, as if, indeed, they thought +that we were fooling them. + +At Boissy-Saint Léger we halted whilst the British, Austrian, and Swiss +representatives interviewed the general in command there. He was installed +in a trim little, château, in front of which was the quaintest sentry-box +I have ever seen, for it was fashioned of planks, logs, and all sorts of +scraps of furniture, whilst beside it lay a doll's perambulator and a +little boy's toy-cart. But we again set out, encountering near Gros-Bois a +long line of heavily-laden German provision-wagons; and presently, without +addressing a word to any of us, the officer of our escort gave a command, +his troopers wheeled round and galloped away, leaving us to ourselves. + +By this time evening was approaching, and the vehicles of our party drove +on at a smart trot, leaving the unfortunate pedestrians a long way in the +rear. Nobody seemed to know exactly where we were, but some passing +peasants informed us that we were on the road to Basle, and that the +nearest locality was Brie-Comte-Robert. The horses drawing the conveyances +of the Swiss and Austrian representatives were superior to those harnessed +to Mr. Wodehouse's break, so we were distanced on the road, and on +reaching Brie found that all the accommodation of the two inns--I can +scarcely call them hotels--had been allotted to the first arrivals. Mr. +Wodehouse's party secured a lodging in a superior-looking private house, +whilst my father, myself, and about thirty others repaired to the _mairie_ +for billets. + +A striking scene met my eyes there. By this time night had fallen. In a +room which was almost bare of furniture, the mayor was seated at a little +table on which two candles were burning. On either side of him stood a +German infantryman with rifle and fixed bayonet. Here and there, too, were +several German hussars, together with ten or a dozen peasants of the +locality. And the unfortunate mayor, in a state of semi-arrest, was +striving to comply with the enemy's requisitions of food, forage, wine, +horses, and vehicles, the peasants meanwhile protesting that they had +already been despoiled of everything, and had nothing whatever left. "So +you want me to be shot?" said the mayor to them, at last. "You know very +well that the things must be found. Go and get them together. Do the best +you can. We will see afterwards." + +When--acting as usual as my father's interpreter--I asked the mayor for +billets, he raised his arms to the ceiling. "I have no beds," said he. +"Every bit of available bedding, excepting at the inns, has been +requisitioned for the Prussian ambulances. I might find some straw, and +there are outhouses and empty rooms. But there are so many of you, and I +do not know how I can accommodate you all." + +It was not, however, the duty of my father or myself to attend to the +requirements of the whole party. That was the duty rather of the Embassy +officials, so I again pressed the mayor to give me at least a couple of +decent billets. He thought for a moment, then handed me a paper bearing a +name and address, whereupon we, my father and myself, went off. But it was +pitch-dark, and as we could not find the place indicated, we returned to +the _mairie_, where, after no little trouble, a second paper was given me. +By this time the poorer members of the party had been sent to sheds and so +forth, where they found some straw to lie upon. The address on my second +paper was that of a basket-maker, whose house was pointed out to us. We +were very cordially received there, and taken to a room containing a bed +provided with a _sommier élastique_. But there was no mattress, no sheet, +no blanket, no bolster, no pillow--everything of that kind having been +requisitioned for the German ambulances; and I recollect that two or three +hours later, when my father and myself retired to rest in that icy +chamber, the window of which was badly broken, we were glad to lay our +heads on a couple of hard baskets, having left our bags in Mr. Wodehouse's +charge. + +Before trying to sleep, however, we required food; for during the day we +had consumed every particle of a cold rabbit and some siege-bread which we +had brought out of Paris. The innkeepers proved to be extremely +independent and irritable, and we could obtain very little from them. +Fortunately, we discovered a butcher's, secured some meat from him, and +prevailed on the wife of our host, the basket-maker, to cook it for us. We +then went out again, and found some cafés and wine-shops which were +crowded with German soldiery. Wine and black coffee were obtainable there, +and whilst we refreshed ourselves, more than one German soldier, knowing +either French or English, engaged us in conversation. My own German was at +that time very limited, for I had not taken kindly to the study of the +language, and had secured, moreover, but few opportunities to attempt to +converse in it. However, I well remember some of the German soldiers +declaring that they were heartily sick of the siege, and expressing a hope +that the Parisians would speedily surrender, so that they, the Germans, +might return to the Fatherland in ample time to get their Christmas trees +ready. A good-looking and apparently very genial Uhlan also talked to me +about the Parisian balloons, relating that, directly any ascent was +observed, news of it was telegraphed along all the investing lines, that +every man had orders to fire if the aerial craft came approximately within +range, and that he and his comrades often tried to ride a balloon down. + +After a wretched night, we washed at the pump in the basket-maker's yard, +and breakfasted off bread and _café noir_. Milk, by the way, was as scarce +at Brie as in Paris itself, the Germans, it was said, having carried off +all the cows that had previously supplied France with the far-famed Brie +cheese. We now discovered that, in order to reach Versailles, we should +have to proceed in the first instance to Corbeil, some fifteen miles +distant, when we should be within thirty miles of the German headquarters. +That was pleasant news, indeed! We had already made a journey of over +twenty miles, and now another of some five-and-forty miles lay before us. +And yet, had we only been allowed to take the proper route, we should have +reached Versailles after travelling merely eleven miles beyond Paris! + +Under the circumstances, the position of the unfortunate pedestrians was a +very unpleasant one, and my father undertook to speak on their behalf to +Mr. Wodehouse, pointing out to him that it was unfair to let these +unfortunate people trudge all the way to Versailles. + +"But what am I to do?" Mr. Wodehouse replied. "I am afraid that no +vehicles can be obtained here." + +"The German authorities will perhaps help you in the matter," urged my +father. + +"I doubt it. But please remember that everybody was warned before leaving +Paris that he would do so at his own risk and peril, and that the Embassy +could not charge itself with the expense." + +"That is exactly what surprised me," said my father. "I know that the +Charitable Fund has done something, but I thought that the Embassy would +have done more." + +"I had no instructions," replied Mr. Wodehouse. + +"But, surely, at such a time as this, a man initiates his own +instructions." + +"Perhaps so; but I had no money." + +On hearing this, my father, for a moment, almost lost his temper. +"Surely, Mr. Wodehouse," said he, "you need only have gone to Baron de +Rothschild--he would have let you have whatever money you required." +[I have reconstructed the above dialogue from my diary, which I posted up +on reaching Versailles.] + +Mr. Wodehouse looked worried. He was certainly a most amiable man, but he +was not, I think, quite the man for the situation. Moreover, like my +father, he was in very poor health at this time. Still, he realized that +he must try to effect something, and eventually, with the assistance of +the mayor and the German authorities, a few farm-carts were procured for +the accommodation of the poorer British subjects. During the long interval +which had elapsed, however, a good many men had gone off of their own +accord, tired of waiting, and resolving to try their luck in one and +another direction. Thus our procession was a somewhat smaller one when we +at last quitted Brie-Comte-Robert for Corbeil. + +We met many German soldiers on our way--at times large detachments of +them--and we scarcely ever covered a mile of ground without being +questioned respecting the state of affairs in Paris and the probable +duration of its resistance, our replies invariably disappointing the +questioners, so anxious were they to see the war come to an end. This was +particularly the case with a young non-commissioned officer who jumped on +the step of Mr. Wodehouse's break, and engaged us in conversation whilst +we continued on our way. Before leaving us he remarked, I remember, that +he would very much like to pay a visit to England; whereupon my father +answered that he would be very much pleased to see him there, provided, +however, that he would come by himself and not with half a million of +armed comrades. + +While the German soldiers were numerous, the peasants whom we met on the +road were few and far between. On reaching the little village of +Lieusaint, however, a number of people rushed to the doors of their houses +and gazed at us in bewilderment, for during the past two months the only +strangers they had seen had been German soldiers, and they could not +understand the meaning of our civilian caravan of carriages and carts. At +last we entered Corbeil, and followed the main street towards the old +stone bridge by which we hoped to cross the Seine, but we speedily +discovered that it had been blown up, and that we could only get to the +other side of the river by a pontoon-bridge lower down. This having been +effected, we drove to the principal hotel, intending to put up there for +the night, as it had become evident that we should be unable to reach +Versailles at a reasonable hour. + +However, the entire hotel was in the possession of German officers, +several of whom we found flirting with the landlady's good-looking +daughter--who, as she wore a wedding ring, was, I presume, married. I well +recollect that she made some reference to the ladies of Berlin, whereupon +one of the lieutenants who were ogling her, gallantly replied that they +were not half so charming as the ladies of Corbeil. The young woman +appeared to appreciate the compliment, for, on the lieutenant rising to +take leave of her, she graciously gave him her hand, and said to him with +a smile: "Au plaisir de vous revoir, monsieur." + +But matters were very different with the old lady, her mother, who, +directly the coast was clear, began to inveigh against the Germans in good +set terms, describing them, I remember, as semi-savages who destroyed +whatever they did not steal. She was particularly irate with them for not +allowing M. Darblay, the wealthy magnate of the grain and flour trade, and +at the same time mayor of Corbeil, to retain a single carriage or a single +horse for his own use. Yet he had already surrendered four carriages and +eight horses to them, and only wished to keep a little gig and a cob. + +We obtained a meal at the hotel, but found it impossible to secure a bed +there, so we sallied forth into the town on an exploring expedition. On +all sides we observed notices indicating the rate of exchange of French +and German money, and the place seemed to be full of tobacconists' shops, +which were invariably occupied by German Jews trading in Hamburg cigars. +On inquiring at a café respecting accommodation, we were told that we +should only obtain it with difficulty, as the town was full of troops, +including more than a thousand sick and wounded, fifteen or twenty of whom +died every day. At last we crossed the river again, and found quarters at +an inferior hotel, the top-floor of which had been badly damaged by some +falling blocks of stone at the time when the French blew up the town +bridge. However, our beds were fairly comfortable, and we had a good +night's rest. + +Black coffee was again the only available beverage in the morning. No milk +was to be had, nor was there even a scrap of sugar. In these respects +Corbeil was even worse off than Paris. The weather had now changed, and +rain was falling steadily. We plainly had a nasty day before us. +Nevertheless, another set of carts was obtained for the poorer folk of our +party, on mustering which one man was found to be missing. He had fallen +ill, we were told, and could not continue the journey. Presently, +moreover, the case was discovered to be one of smallpox, which disease had +lately broken out in Paris. Leaving the sufferer to be treated at the +already crowded local hospital, we set out, and, on emerging from the +town, passed a drove of a couple of hundred oxen, and some three hundred +sheep, in the charge of German soldiers. We had scarcely journeyed another +mile when, near Essonnes, noted for its paper-mills, one of our carts +broke down, which was scarcely surprising, the country being hilly, the +roads heavy, and the horses spavined. Again, the rain was now pouring in +torrents, to the very great discomfort of the occupants of the carts, as +well as that of Mr. Wodehouse's party in the break. But there was no help +for it, and so on we drove mile after mile, until we were at last +absolutely soaked. + +The rain had turned to sleet by the time we reached Longjumeau, famous for +its handsome and amorous postilion. Two-thirds of the shops there were +closed, and the inns were crowded with German soldiers, so we drove on in +the direction of Palaiseau. But we had covered only about half the +distance when a snow-storm overtook us, and we had to seek shelter at +Champlan. A German officer there assisted in placing our vehicles under +cover, but the few peasants whom we saw eyeing us inquisitively from the +doors of their houses declared that the only thing they could let us have +to eat was dry bread, there being no meat, no eggs, no butter, no cheese, +in the whole village. Further, they averred that they had not even a pint +of wine to place at our disposal. "The Germans have taken everything," +they said; "we have 800 of them in and around the village, and there are +not more than a dozen of us left here, all the rest having fled to Paris +when the siege began." + +The outlook seemed bad, but Mr. Wodehouse's valet, a shrewd and energetic +man of thirty or thereabouts, named Frost, said to me, "I don't believe +all this. I dare say that if some money is produced we shall be able to +get something." Accordingly we jointly tackled a disconsolate-looking +fellow, who, if I remember rightly, was either the village wheelwright or +blacksmith; and, momentarily leaving the question of food on one side, we +asked him if he had not at least a fire in his house at which we might +warm ourselves. Our party included a lady, the Vice-Consul's wife, and +although she was making the journey in a closed private omnibus, she was +suffering from the cold. This was explained to the man whom we addressed, +and when he had satisfied himself that we were not Germans in disguise, he +told us that we might come into his house and warm ourselves until the +storm abated. Some nine or ten of us, including the lady I have mentioned, +availed ourselves of this permission, and the man led us upstairs to a +first-floor room, where a big wood-fire was blazing. Before it sat his +wife and his daughter, both of them good specimens of French rustic +beauty. With great good-nature, they at once made room for us, and added +more fuel to the fire. + +Half the battle was won, and presently we were regaled with all that they +could offer us in the way of food--that is, bread and baked pears, which +proved very acceptable. Eventually, after looking out of the window in +order to make quite sure that no Germans were loitering near the house, +our host locked the door of the room, and turning towards a big pile of +straw, fire-wood, and household utensils, proceeded to demolish it, until +he disclosed to view a small cask--a half hogshead, I think--which, said +he, in a whisper, contained wine. It was all that he had been able to +secrete. On the arrival of the enemy in the district a party of officers +had come to his house and ordered their men to remove the rest of his +wine, together with nearly all his bedding, and every fowl and every pig +that he possessed. "They have done the same all over the district," the +man added, "and you should see some of the châteaux--they have been +absolutely stripped of their contents." + +His face brightened when we told him that Paris seemed resolved on no +surrender, and that, according to official reports, she would have a +sufficiency of bread to continue resisting until the ensuing month of +February. In common with most of his countrymen, our host of Champlan held +that, whatever else might happen, the honour of the nation would at least +be saved if the Germans could only be kept out of Paris; and thus he was +right glad to hear that the city's defence would be prolonged. + +He was well remunerated for his hospitality, and on the weather slightly +improving we resumed our journey to Versailles, following the main road by +way of Palaiseau and Jouy-en-Josas, and urging the horses to their +quickest pace whilst the light declined and the evening shadows gathered +around us. + + + +VIII + +FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + +War-correspondents at Versailles--Dr. Russell--Lord Adare--David Dunglas +Home and his Extraordinary Career--His _Séances_ at Versallies--An Amusing +Interview with Colonel Beauchamp Walker--Parliament's Grant for British +Refugees--Generals Duff and Hazen, U.S.A.--American Help--Glimpses of +King William and Bismarck--Our Safe-Conducts--From Versailles to Saint +Germain-en-Laye--Trouble at Mantes--The German Devil of Destructiveness-- +From the German to the French Lines--A Train at Last--Through Normandy and +Maine--Saint Servan and its English Colony--I resolve to go to the Front. + + +It was dark when we at last entered Versailles by the Avenue de Choisy. We +saw some sentries, but they did not challenge us, and we went on until we +struck the Avenue de Paris, where we passed the Prefecture, every one of +whose windows was a blaze of light. King, later Emperor, William had his +quarters there; Bismarck, however, residing at a house in the Rue de +Provence belonging to the French General de Jessé. Winding round the Place +d'Armes, we noticed that one wing of Louis XIV's famous palace had its +windows lighted, being appropriated to hospital purposes, and that four +batteries of artillery were drawn up on the square, perhaps as a hint to +the Versaillese to be on their best behaviour. However, we drove on, and a +few moments later we pulled up outside the famous Hôtel des Réservoirs. + +There was no possibility of obtaining accommodation there. From its +ground-floor to its garrets the hotel was packed with German princes, +dukes, dukelets, and their suites, together with a certain number of +English, American, and other war-correspondents. Close by, however-- +indeed, if I remember rightly, on the other side of the way--there was a +café, whither my father and myself directed our steps. We found it crowded +with officers and newspaper men, and through one or other of the latter we +succeeded in obtaining comfortable lodgings in a private house. The +_Illustrated London News_ artist with the German staff was Landells, son +of the engraver of that name, and we speedily discovered his whereabouts. +He was sharing rooms with Hilary Skinner, the _Daily News_ representative +at Versailles; and they both gave us a cordial greeting. + +The chief correspondent at the German headquarters was William Howard +Russell of the _Times_, respecting whom--perhaps because he kept himself +somewhat aloof from his colleagues--a variety of scarcely good-natured +stories were related; mostly designed to show that he somewhat +over-estimated his own importance. One yarn was to the effect that +whenever the Doctor mounted his horse, it was customary for the Crown +Prince of Prussia--afterwards the Emperor Frederick--to hold his stirrup +leather for him. Personally, I can only say that, on my father calling +with me on Russell, he received us very cordially indeed (he had +previously met my father, and had well known my uncle Frank), and that +when we quitted Versailles, as I shall presently relate, he placed his +courier and his private omnibus at our disposal, in after years one of my +cousins, the late Montague Vizetelly, accompanied Russell to South +America. I still have some letters which the latter wrote me respecting +Zola's novel "La Débâcle," in which he took a great interest. + +Another war-correspondent at Versailles was the present Earl of Dunraven, +then not quite thirty years of age, and known by the courtesy title of +Lord Adare. He had previously acted as the _Daily Telegraph's_ +representative with Napier's expedition against Theodore of Abyssinia, and +was now staying at Versailles, on behalf, I think, of the same journal. +His rooms at the Hôtel des Réservoirs were shared by Daniel Dunglas Home, +the medium, with whom my father and myself speedily became acquainted. +Very tall and slim, with blue eyes and an abundance of yellowish hair, +Home, at this time about thirty-seven years of age, came of the old stock +of the Earls of Home, whose name figures so often in Scottish history. His +father was an illegitimate son of the tenth earl, and his mother belonged +to a family which claimed to possess the gift of "second sight." Home +himself--according to his own account--began to see visions and receive +mysterious warnings at the period of his mother's death, and as time +elapsed his many visitations from the other world so greatly upset the +aunt with whom he was living--a Mrs. McNeill Cook of Greeneville, +Connecticut [He had been taken from Scotland to America when he was about +nine years old.]--that she ended by turning him out-of-doors. Other +people, however, took an unhealthy delight in seeing their furniture +move about without human agency, and in receiving more or less ridiculous +messages from spirit-land; and in folk of this description Home found some +useful friends. + +He came to London in the spring of 1855, and on giving a _séance_ at Cox's +Hotel, in Jermyn Street, he contrived to deceive Sir David Brewster (then +seventy-four years old), but was less successful with another +septuagenarian, Lord Brougham. Later, he captured the imaginative Sir +Edward Bulwer (subsequently Lord Lytton), who as author of "Zanoni" was +perhaps fated to believe in him, and he also impressed Mrs. Browning, but +not Browning himself The latter, indeed, depicted Home as "Sludge, the +Medium." Going to Italy for a time, the already notorious adventurer gave +_séances_ in a haunted villa near Florence, but on becoming converted to +the Catholic faith in 1856 he was received in private audience by that +handsome, urbane, but by no means satisfactory pontiff, Pio Nono, who, +however, eight years later caused him to be summarily expelled from Rome +as a sorcerer in league with the Devil. + +Meantime, Home had ingratiated himself with a number of crowned heads-- +Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, in whose presence he gave _séances_ +at the Tuileries, Fontainebleau, and Biarritz; the King of Prussia, by +whom he was received at Baden-Baden; and Queen Sophia of Holland, who gave +him hospitality at the Hague. On marrying a Russian lady, the daughter of +General Count de Kroll, he was favoured with presents by the Czar +Alexander II, and after returning to England became one of the +"attractions" of Milner-Gibson's drawing-room--Mrs. Gibson, a daughter of +the Rev. Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, being one of the early English +patronesses of so-called spiritualism, to a faith in which she was +"converted" by Home, whom she first met whilst travelling on the +Continent. I remember hearing no little talk about him in my younger days. +Thackeray's friend, Robert Bell, wrote an article about him in _The +Cornhill_, which was the subject of considerable discussion. Bell, I +think, was also mixed up in the affair of the "Davenport Brothers," one of +whose performances I remember witnessing. They were afterwards effectively +shown up in Paris by Vicomte Alfred de Caston. Home, for his part, was +scarcely taken seriously by the Parisians, and when, at a _séance_ given +in presence of the Empress Eugénie, he blundered grossly and repeatedly +about her father, the Count of Montijo, he received an intimation that his +presence at Court could be dispensed with. He then consoled himself by +going to Peterhof and exhibiting his powers to the Czar. + +Certain Scotch and English scientists, such as Dr. Lockhart Robertson, Dr. +Robert Chambers, and Dr. James Manby Gully--the apostle of hydropathy, who +came to grief in the notorious Bravo case--warmly supported Home. So did +Samuel Carter Hall and his wife, William Howitt, and Gerald Massey; and he +ended by establishing a so-called "Spiritual Athenaeum" in Sloane Street. +A wealthy widow of advanced years, a Mrs. Jane Lyon, became a subscriber +to that institution, and, growing infatuated with Home, made him a present +of some £30,000, and settled on him a similar amount to be paid at her +death. But after a year or two she repented of her infatuation, and took +legal proceedings to recover her money. She failed to substantiate some of +her charges, but Vice-Chancellor Giffard, who heard the case, decided it +in her favour, in his judgment describing Home as a needy and designing +man. Home, I should add, was at this time a widower and at loggerheads +with his late wife's relations in Russia, in respect to her property. + +Among the arts ascribed to Home was that called levitation, in practising +which he was raised in the air by an unseen and unknown force, and +remained suspended there; this being, so to say, the first step towards +human flying without the assistance of any biplane, monoplane, or other +mechanical contrivance. The first occasion on which Home is said to have +displayed this power was in the late fifties, when he was at a château +near Bordeaux as the guest of the widow of Théodore Ducos, the nephew of +Bonaparte's colleague in the Consulate. In the works put forward on Home's +behalf--one of them, called "Incidents in my Life," was chiefly written, +it appears, by his friend and solicitor, a Mr. W.M. Wilkinson--it is also +asserted that his power of levitation was attested in later years by Lord +Lindsay, subsequently Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, and by the present +Earl of Dunraven. We are told, indeed, that on one occasion the last-named +actually saw Home float out of a room by one window, and into it again by +another one. I do not know whether Home also favoured Professor Crookes +with any exhibition of this kind, but the latter certainly expressed an +opinion that some of Home's feats were genuine. + +When my father and I first met him at Versailles he was constantly in the +company of Lord Adare. He claimed to be acting as the correspondent of a +Californian journal, but his chief occupation appeared to be the giving of +_séances_ for the entertainment of all the German princes and princelets +staying at the Hôtel des Réservoirs. Most of these highnesses and +mightinesses formed part of what the Germans themselves sarcastically +called their "Ornamental Staff," and as Moltke seldom allowed them any +real share in the military operations, they doubtless found in Home's +performances some relief from the _taedium vitae_ which overtook them +during their long wait for the capitulation of Paris. Now that Metz had +fallen, that was the chief question which occupied the minds of all the +Germans assembled at Versailles, [Note] and Home was called upon to +foretell when it would take place. On certain occasions, I believe, he +evoked the spirits of Frederick the Great, Napoleon, Blücher, and others, +in order to obtain from them an accurate forecast. At another time he +endeavoured to peer into the future by means of crystal-gazing, in which +he required the help of a little child. "My experiments have not +succeeded," he said one day, while we were sitting with him at the café +near the Hôtel des Réservoirs; "but that is not my fault. I need an +absolutely pure-minded child, and can find none here, for this French race +is corrupt from its very infancy." He was fasting at this time, taking +apparently nothing but a little _eau sucrée_ for several days at a +stretch. "The spirits will not move me unless I do this," he said. "To +bring them to me, I have to contend against the material part of my +nature." + +[Note: The Germans regarded it as the more urgent at the time of my +arrival at Versailles, as only a few data previously (November 9), the new +French Army of the Loire under D'Aurelle de Paladines had defeated the +Bavarians at Coulmiers, and thereby again secured possession of Orleans.] + +A couple of years later, after another visit to St. Petersburg, where, +it seems, he was again well received by the Czar and again married a lady +of the Russian nobility, Home's health began to fail him, perhaps on +account of the semi-starvation to which at intervals he subjected himself. +I saw him occasionally during his last years, when, living at Auteuil, he +was almost a neighbour of mine. He died there in 1886, being then about +fifty-three years old. Personally, I never placed faith in him. I regarded +him at the outset with great curiosity, but some time before the war +I had read a good deal about Cagliostro, Saint Germain, Mesmer, and +other charlatans, also attending a lecture about them at the Salle des +Conferences; and all that, combined with the exposure of the Davenport +Brothers and other spiritualists and illusionists, helped to prejudice me +against such a man as Home. At the same time, this so-called "wizard of +the nineteenth century" was certainly a curious personality, possessed, I +presume, of considerable suggestive powers, which at times enabled him to +make others believe as he desired. We ought to have had Charcot's opinion +of his case. + +As it had taken my father and myself three days to reach Versailles from +Paris, and we could not tell what other unpleasant experiences the future +might hold in store for us, our pecuniary position gave rise to some +concern. I mentioned previously that we quitted the capital with +comparatively little money, and it now seemed as if our journey might +become a long and somewhat costly affair, particularly as the German staff +wished to send us off through Northern France and thence by way of +Belgium. On consulting Landells, Skinner, and some other correspondents, +it appeared that several days might elapse before we could obtain +remittances from England. On the other hand, every correspondent clung to +such money as he had in his possession, for living was very expensive at +Versailles, and at any moment some emergency might arise necessitating an +unexpected outlay. It was suggested, however, that we should apply to +Colonel Beauchamp Walker, who was the official British representative with +the German headquarters' staff, for, we were told, Parliament, in its +generosity, had voted a sum of £4000 to assist any needy British subjects +who might come out of Paris, and Colonel Walker had the handling of the +money in question. + +Naturally enough, my father began by demurring to this suggestion, saying +that he could not apply _in formâ pauperis_ for charity. But it was +pointed out that he need do no such thing. "Go to Walker," it was said, +"explain your difficulty, and offer him a note of hand or a draft on the +_Illustrated_, and if desired half a dozen of us will back it." Some such +plan having been decided on, we called upon Colonel Walker on the second +or third day of our stay at Versailles. + +His full name was Charles Pyndar Beauchamp Walker. Born in 1817, he had +seen no little service. He had acted as an _aide-de-camp_ to Lord Lucan in +the Crimea, afterwards becoming Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon +Guards. He was in India during the final operations for the suppression of +the Mutiny, and subsequently in China during the Franco-British expedition +to that country. During the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 he was attached as +British Commissioner to the forces of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and +witnessed the battle of Königgratz. He served in the same capacity during +the Franco-German War, when he was at Weissenburg, Wörth, and Sedan. In +later years he became a major-general, a lieutenant-general, a K.C.B., and +Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards; and from 1878 until his retirement in +1884 he acted as Inspector General of military education. I have set out +those facts because I have no desire to minimise Walker's services and +abilities. But I cannot help smiling at a sentence which I found in the +account of him given in the "Dictionary of National Biography." It refers +to his duties during the Franco-German War, and runs as follows: "The +irritation of the Germans against England, and the number of roving +Englishmen, made his duty not an easy one, but he was well qualified for +it by his tact and geniality, and his action met with the full approval of +the Government." + +The Government in question would have approved anything. But let that +pass. We called on the colonel at about half-past eleven in the morning, +and were shown into a large and comfortably furnished room, where +decanters and cigars were prominently displayed on a central table. In ten +minutes' time the colonel appeared, arrayed in a beautiful figured +dressing-gown with a tasselled girdle. I knew that the British officer was +fond of discarding his uniform, and I was well aware that French officers +also did so when on furlough in Paris, but it gave my young mind quite a +shock to see her Majesty's military representative with King William +arrayed in a gaudy dressing-gown in the middle of the day. He seated +himself, and querulously inquired of my father what his business was. It +was told him very briefly. He frowned, hummed, hawed, threw himself back +in his armchair, and curtly exclaimed, "I am not a money-lender!" + +The fact that the _Illustrated London News_ was the world's premier +journal of its class went for nothing. The offers of the other +correspondents of the English Press to back my father's signature were +dismissed with disdain. When the colonel was reminded that he held a +considerable amount of money voted by Parliament, he retorted: "That is +for necessitous persons! But you ask me to _lend_ you money!" "Quite so," +my father replied; "I do not wish to be a charge on the Treasury. I simply +want a loan, as I have a difficult and perhaps an expensive journey before +me." "How much do you want?" snapped the colonel. "Well," said my father, +"I should feel more comfortable if I had a thousand francs (£40) in my +pocket." "Forty pounds!" cried Colonel Walker, as if lost in amazement. +And getting up from his chair he went on, in the most theatrical manner +possible: "Why, do you know, sir, that if I were to let you have forty +pounds, I might find myself in the greatest possible difficulty. +To-morrow--perhaps, even to-night--there might be hundreds of our +suffering fellow-countrymen outside the gates of Versailles, and I unable +to relieve them!" "But," said my father quietly, "you would still be +holding £3960, Colonel Walker." The colonel glared, and my father, not +caring to prolong such an interview, walked out of the room, followed by +myself. + +A good many of the poorer people who quitted Paris with us never repaired +to Versailles at all, but left us at Corbeil or elsewhere to make their +way across France as best they could. Another party, about one hundred +strong, was, however, subsequently sent out of the capital with the +assistance of Mr. Washburne, and in their case Colonel Walker had to +expend some money. But every grant was a very niggardly one, and it would +not surprise me to learn that the bulk of the money voted by Parliament +was ultimately returned to the Treasury--which circumstance would probably +account for the "full approval" which the Government bestowed on the +colonel's conduct at this period. He died early in 1894, and soon +afterwards some of his correspondence was published in a volume entitled +"Days of a Soldier's Life." On reading a review of that work in one of the +leading literary journals, I was struck by a passage in which Walker was +described as a disappointed and embittered man, who always felt that his +merits were not sufficiently recognized, although he was given a +knighthood and retired with the honorary rank of general. I presume +that his ambition was at least a viscounty, if not an earldom, and a +field-marshal's _bâton_. + +On leaving the gentleman whose "tact and geniality" are commemorated in +the "Dictionary of National Biography," we repaired--my father and I--to +the café where most of the English newspaper men met. Several were there, +and my father was at once assailed with inquiries respecting his interview +with Colonel Walker. His account of it led to some laughter and a variety +of comments, which would scarcely have improved the colonel's temper. I +remember, however, that Captain, afterwards Colonel Sir, Henry Hozier, the +author of "The Seven Weeks' War," smiled quietly, but otherwise kept his +own counsel. At last my father was asked what he intended to do under the +circumstances, and he replied that he meant to communicate with England as +speedily as possible, and remain in the interval at Versailles, although +he particularly wished to get away. + +Now, it happened that among the customers at the café there were two +American officers, one being Brigadier-General Duff, a brother of Andrew +Halliday, the dramatic author and essayist, whose real patronymic was also +Duff. My father knew Halliday through their mutual friends Henry Mayhew +and the Broughs. The other American officer was Major-General William +Babcook Hazen, whose name will be found occasionally mentioned in that +popular record of President Garfield's career, "From Log Cabin to White +House." During the Civil War in the United States he had commanded a +division in Sherman's march to the sea. He also introduced the cold-wave +signal system into the American army, and in 1870-71 he was following the +operations of the Germans on behalf of his Government. + +I do not remember whether General Duff (who, I have been told, is still +alive) was also at Versailles in an official capacity, but in the course +of conversation he heard of my father's interview with Colonel Walker, and +spoke to General Hazen on the subject. Hazen did not hesitate, but came to +my father, had a brief chat with him, unbuttoned his uniform, produced a +case containing bank-notes, and asked my father how much he wanted, +telling him not to pinch himself. The whole transaction was completed in a +few minutes. My father was unwilling to take quite as much as he had asked +of Colonel Walker, but General Hazen handed him some £20 or £30 in notes, +one or two of which were afterwards changed, for a handsome consideration, +by one of the German Jews who then infested Versailles and profited by the +scarcity of gold. We were indebted, then, on two occasions to the +representatives of the United States. The _laisser-passer_ enabling us to +leave Paris had been supplied by Mr. Washburne, and the means of +continuing our journey in comfort were furnished by General Hazen. I raise +my hat to the memory of both those gentlemen. + +During the few days that we remained at Versailles, we caught glimpses of +King William and Bismarck, both of whom we had previously seen in Paris in +1867, when they were the guests of Napoleon III. I find in my diary a +memorandum, dictated perhaps by my father: "Bismarck much fatter and +bloated." We saw him one day leaving the Prefecture, where the King had +his quarters. He stood for a moment outside, chatting and laughing noisily +with some other German personages, then strode away with a companion. He +was only fifty-five years old, and was full of vigour at that time, even +though he might have put on flesh during recent years, and therefore have +renounced dancing--his last partner in the waltz having been Mme. Carette, +the Empress Eugénie's reader, whom he led out at one of the '67 balls at +the Tuileries. Very hale and hearty, too, looked the King whom Bismarck +was about to turn into an Emperor. Yet the victor of Sedan was already +seventy-three years old. I only saw him on horseback during my stay at +Versailles. My recollections of him, Bismarck, and Moltke, belong more +particularly to the year 1872, when I was in Berlin in connexion with the +famous meeting of the three Emperors. + +My father and myself had kept in touch with Mr. Wodehouse, from whom we +learnt that we should have to apply to the German General commanding +at Versailles with respect to any further safe-conducts. At first we were +informed that there could be no departure from the plan of sending us out +of France by way of Epernay, Reims, and Sedan, and this by no means +coincided with the desires of most of the Englishmen who had come out of +Paris, they wishing to proceed westward, and secure a passage across the +Channel from Le Hâvre or Dieppe. My father and myself also wanted to go +westward, but in order to make our way into Brittany, my stepmother and +her children being at Saint Servan, near Saint Malo. At last the German +authorities decided to give us the alternative routes of Mantes and Dreux, +the first-named being the preferable one for those people who were bound +for England. It was chosen also by my father, as the Dreux route would +have led us into a region where hostilities were in progress, and where we +might suddenly have found ourselves "held up." + +The entire party of British refugees was now limited to fifteen or sixteen +persons, some, tired of waiting, having taken themselves off by the Sedan +route, whilst a few others--such as coachmen and grooms--on securing +employment from German princes and generals, resolved to stay at +Versailles. Mr. Wodehouse also remained there for a short time. Previously +in poor health, he had further contracted a chill during our three days' +drive in an open vehicle. As most of those who were going on to England at +once now found themselves almost insolvent, it was arranged to pay their +expenses through the German lines, and to give each of them a sum of fifty +shillings, so that they might make their way Channelwards when they had +reached an uninvaded part of France. Colonel Walker, of course, parted +with as little money as possible. + +At Versailles it was absolutely impossible to hire vehicles to take us as +far as Mantes, but we were assured that conveyances might be procured at +Saint Germain-en-Laye; and it was thus that Dr. Russell lent my father his +little omnibus for the journey to the last-named town, at the same time +sending his courier to assist in making further arrangements. I do not +recollect that courier's nationality, but he spoke English, French, and +German, and his services were extremely useful. We drove to Saint Germain +by way of Rocquencourt, where we found a number of country-folk gathered +by the roadside with little stalls, at which they sold wine and fruit to +the German soldiers. This part of the environs of Paris seemed to have +suffered less than the eastern and southern districts. So far, there had +been only one sortie on this side--that made by Ducrot in the direction of +La Malmaison. It had, however, momentarily alarmed the investing forces, +and whilst we were at Versailles I learnt that, on the day in question, +everything had been got ready for King William's removal to Saint Germain +in the event of the French achieving a real success. But it proved to be a +small affair, Ducrot's force being altogether incommensurate with the +effort required of it. + +At Saint Germain, Dr. Russell's courier assisted in obtaining conveyances +for the whole of our party, and we were soon rolling away in the direction +of Mantes-la-Jolie, famous as the town where William the Conqueror, whilst +bent on pillage and destruction, received the injuries which caused his +death. Here we had to report ourselves to the German Commander, who, to +the general consternation, began by refusing its permission to proceed. He +did so because most of the safe-conducts delivered to us at Versailles, +had, in the first instance, only stated that we were to travel by way of +Sedan; the words "or Mantes or Dreux" being afterwards added between the +lines. That interlineation was irregular, said the General at Mantes; it +might even be a forgery; at all events, he could not recognize it, so we +must go back whence we had come, and quickly, too--indeed, he gave us just +half an hour to quit the town! But it fortunately happened that in a few +of the safe-conducts there was no interlineation whatever, the words +"Sedan or Mantes or Dreux" being duly set down in the body of the +document, and on this being pointed out, the General came to the +conclusion that we were not trying to impose on him. He thereupon +cancelled his previous order, and decided that, as dusk was already +falling, we might remain at Mantes that night, and resume our journey on +the morrow at 5.45 a.m., in the charge of a cavalry escort. + +Having secured a couple of beds, and ordered some dinner at one of the +inns, my father and I strolled about the town, which was full of Uhlans +and Hussars. The old stone bridge across the Seine had been blown up by +the French before their evacuation of the town, and a part of the railway +line had also been destroyed by them. But the Germans were responsible for +the awful appearance of the railway-station. Never since have I seen +anything resembling it. A thousand panes of glass belonging to windows or +roofing had been shivered to atoms. Every mirror in either waiting or +refreshment-rooms had been pounded to pieces; every gilt frame broken into +little bits. The clocks lay about in small fragments; account-books and +printed forms had been torn to scraps; partitions, chairs, tables, +benches, boxes, nests of drawers, had been hacked, split, broken, reduced +to mere strips of wood. The large stoves were overturned and broken, and +the marble refreshment counter--some thirty feet long, and previously one +of the features of the station--now strewed the floor in particles, +suggesting gravel. It was, indeed, an amazing sight, the more amazing as +no such work of destruction could have been accomplished without extreme +labour. When we returned to the inn for dinner, I asked some questions. +"Who did it?" "The first German troops that came here," was the answer. +"Why did they do it?--was it because your men had cut the telegraph wires +and destroyed some of the permanent way?" "Oh no! They expected to find +something to drink in the refreshment-room, and when they discovered that +everything had been taken away, they set about breaking the fixtures!" +Dear, nice, placid German soldiers, baulked, for a few minutes, of some of +the wine of France! + +In the morning we left Mantes by moonlight at the appointed hour, +unaccompanied, however, by any escort. Either the Commandant had forgotten +the matter, or his men had overslept themselves. In the outskirts, we were +stopped by a sentry, who carried our pass to a guard-house, where a +noncommissioned officer inspected it by the light of a lantern. Then on we +went again for another furlong or so, when we were once more challenged, +this time by the German advanced-post. As we resumed our journey, we +perceived, in the rear, a small party of Hussars, who did not follow us, +but wheeled suddenly to the left, bent, no doubt, on some reconnoitering +expedition. We were now beyond the German lines, and the dawn was +breaking. Yonder was the Seine, with several islands lying on its bosom, +and some wooded heights rising beyond it. Drawing nearer to the river, we +passed through the village of Rolleboise, which gives its name to the +chief tunnel on the Western Line, and drove across the debatable ground +where French Francstireurs were constantly on the prowl for venturesome +Uhlans. At last we got to Bonnières, a little place of some seven or eight +hundred inhabitants, on the limits of Seine-et-Oise; and there we had to +alight, for the vehicles, which had brought us from Saint Germain, could +proceed no further. + +Fortunately, we secured others, and went on towards the village of +Jeufosse, where the nearest French outposts were established. We were +displaying the white flag, but the first French sentries we met, young +fellows of the Mobile Guard, refused for a little while to let us pass. +Eventually they referred the matter to an officer, who, on discovering +that we were English and had come from Paris, began to chat with us in a +very friendly manner, asking all the usual questions about the state of +affairs in the capital, and expressing the usual satisfaction that the +city could still hold out. When we took leave, he cordially wished us _bon +voyage_, and on we hastened, still following the course of the Seine, to +the little town of Vernon. Its inquisitive inhabitants at once surrounded +us, eager to know who we were, whence we had come, and whither we were +going. But we did not tarry many minutes, for we suddenly learnt that the +railway communication with Rouen only began at Gaillon, several leagues +further on, and that there was only one train a day. The question which +immediately arose was--could we catch it? + +On we went, then, once more, this time up, over, and down a succession of +steep hills, until at last we reached Gaillon station, and found to our +delight that the train would not start for another twenty minutes. All our +companions took tickets for Rouen, whence they intended to proceed to +Dieppe or Le Hâvre. But my father and I branched off before reaching the +Norman capital, and, after, arriving at Elbeuf, travelled through the +departments of the Eure and the Orne, passing Alençon on our way to Le +Mans. On two or three occasions we had to change from one train to +another. The travelling was extremely slow, and there were innumerable +stoppages. The lines were constantly encumbered with vans laden with +military supplies, and the stations were full of troops going in one and +another direction. In the waiting-rooms one found crowds of officers lying +on the couches, the chairs, and the tables, and striving to snatch a few +hours' sleep; whilst all over the floors and the platforms soldiers had +stretched themselves for the same purpose. Very seldom could any food be +obtained, but I luckily secured a loaf, some cheese, and a bottle of wine +at Alençon. It must have been about one o'clock in the morning when we at +last reached Le Mans, and found that there would be no train going to +Rennes for another four or five hours. + +The big railway-station of Le Mans was full of reinforcements for the Army +of the Loire. After strolling about for a few minutes, my father and I +sat down on the platform with our backs against a wall, for not a bench or +a stool was available. Every now and again some train prepared to start, +men were hastily mustered, and then climbed into all sorts of carriages +and vans. A belated general rushed along, accompanied by eager +_aides-de-camp_. Now and again a rifle slipped from the hand of some +Mobile Guard who had been imbibing too freely, and fell with a clatter on +the platform. Then stores were bundled into trucks, whistles sounded, +engines puffed, and meanwhile, although men were constantly departing, the +station seemed to be as crowded as ever. When at last I got up to stretch +myself, I noticed, affixed to the wall against which I had been leaning, a +proclamation of Gambetta's respecting D'Aurelle de Paladines' victory over +Von der Tann at Orleans. In another part of the station were lithographed +notices emanating from the Prefect of the department, and reciting a +variety of recent Government decrees and items of war news, skirmishes, +reconnaissances, and so forth. At last, however, our train came in. It was +composed almost entirely of third-class carriages with wooden seats, and +we had to be content with that accommodation. + +Another long and wearisome journey then began. Again we travelled slowly, +again there were innumerable stoppages, again we passed trains crowded +with soldiers, or crammed full of military stores. At some place where we +stopped there was a train conveying some scores of horses, mostly poor, +miserable old creatures. I looked and wondered at the sight of them. "They +have come from England," said a fellow-passenger; "every boat from +Southampton to Saint Malo brings over quite a number." It was unpleasant +to think that such sorry-looking beasts had been shipped by one's own +countrymen. However, we reached Rennes at last, and were there able to get +a good square meal, and also to send a telegram to my stepmother, +notifying her of our early arrival. It was, however, at a late hour that +we arrived at Saint Malo, whence we drove to La Petite Amelia at Saint +Servan. + +The latter town then contained a considerable colony of English people, +among whom the military element predominated. Quite a number of half-pay +or retired officers had come to live there with their families, finding +Jersey overcrowded and desiring to practise economy. The colony also +included several Irish landlords in reduced circumstances, who had quitted +the restless isle to escape assassination at the hands of "Rory of the +Hills" and folk of his stamp. In addition, there were several maiden +ladies of divers ages, but all of slender means; one or two courtesy lords +of high descent, but burdened with numerous offspring; together with a +riding-master who wrote novels, and an elderly clergyman appointed by the +Bishop of Gibraltar. I dare say there may have been a few black sheep in +the colony; but the picture which Mrs. Annie Edwardes gave of it in her +novel, "Susan Fielding," was exaggerated, though there was truth in the +incidents which she introduced into another of her works, "Ought We to +Visit Her?" On the whole, the Saint Servan colony was a very respectable +one, even if it was not possessed of any great means. Going there during +my holidays, I met many young fellows of my own age or thereabouts, and +mostly belonging to military families. There were also several charming +girls, both English and Irish. With the young fellows I boated, with the +young ladies I played croquet. + +Now, whilst my father and I had been shut up in Paris, we had frequently +written to my stepmother by balloon-post, and on some of our letters being +shown to the clergyman of the colony, he requested permission to read them +to his congregation--which he frequently did, omitting, of course, the +more private passages, but giving all the items of news and comments on +the situation which the letters contained. As a matter of fact, this +helped the reverend gentleman out of a difficulty. He was an excellent +man, but, like many others of his cloth, he did not know how to preach. In +fact, a year or two later, I myself wrote one or two sermons for him, +working into them certain matters of interest to the colony. During the +earlier part of the siege of Paris, however, the reading of my father's +letters and my own from the pulpit at the close of the usual service saved +the colony's pastor from the trouble of composing a bad sermon, or of +picking out an indifferent one from some forgotten theological work. My +father, on arriving at Saint Servan, secluded himself as far as possible, +so as to rest awhile before proceeding to England; but I went about much +as usual; and my letters read from the pulpit, and sundry other matters, +having made me a kind of "public character," I was at once pounced upon in +the streets, carried off to the club and to private houses, and there +questioned and cross-questioned by a dozen or twenty Crimean and Indian +veteran officers who were following the progress of the war with a +passionate interest. + +A year or two previously, moreover, my stepmother had formed a close +friendship with one of the chief French families of the town. The father, +a retired officer of the French naval service, was to have commanded a +local Marching Battalion, but he unfortunately sickened and died, leaving +his wife with one daughter, a beautiful girl who was of about my own age. +Now, this family had been joined by the wife's parents, an elderly couple, +who, on the approach of the Germans to Paris, had quitted the suburb where +they resided. I was often with these friends at Saint Servan, and on +arriving there from Paris, our conversation naturally turned on the war. +As the old gentleman's house in the environs of the capital was well +within the French lines, he had not much reason to fear for its safety, +and, moreover, he had taken the precaution to remove his valuables into +the city. But he was sorely perturbed by all the conflicting news +respecting the military operations in the provinces, the reported +victories which turned out to be defeats, the adverse rumours concerning +the condition of the French forces, the alleged scandal of the Camp of +Conlie, where the more recent Breton levies were said to be dying off like +rotten sheep, and many other matters besides. Every evening when I called +on these friends the conversation was the same. The ladies, the +grandmother, the daughter, and the granddaughter, sat there making +garments for the soldiers or preparing lint for the wounded--those being +the constant occupations of the women of Brittany during all the hours +they could spare from their household duties--and meanwhile the old +gentleman discussed with me both the true and the spurious news of the +day. The result of those conversations was that, as soon as my father +had betaken himself to England, I resolved to go to the front myself, +ascertain as much of the truth as I could, and become, indeed, a +war-correspondent on "my own." In forming that decision I was influenced, +moreover, by one of those youthful dreams which life seldom, if ever, +fulfils. + + + +IX + +THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + +First Efforts of the National Defence Delegates--La Motte-Rouge and his +Dyed Hair--The German Advance South of Paris--Moltke and King William-- +Bourges, the German Objective--Characteristics of Beauce, Perche, and +Sologne--French Evacuation of Orleans--Gambetta arrives at Tours--His +Coadjutor, Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet--Total Forces of the +National Defence on Gambetta's Arrival--D'Aurelle de Paladines supersedes +La Motte-Rouge--The Affair of Châteaudun--Cambriels--Garibaldi--Jessie +White Mario--Edward Vizetelly--Catholic Hatred of Garibaldi--The Germans +at Dijon--The projected Relief of Paris--Trochu's Errors and Ducrot's +Schemes--The French Victory of Coulmiers--Change of Plan in Paris--My +Newspaper Work--My Brother Adrian Vizetelly--The General Position. + + +When I reached Brittany, coming from Paris, early in the second fortnight +of November, the Provincial Delegation of the Government of National +Defence was able to meet the Germans with very considerable forces. But +such had not been the case immediately after Sedan. As I pointed out +previously--quite apart from the flower of the old Imperial Army, which +was beleaguered around Metz--a force far too large for mere purposes of +defence was confined within the lines with which the Germans invested +Paris. In the provinces, the number of troops ready to take the field was +very small indeed. Old Crémieux, the Minister of Justice, was sent out of +Paris already on September 12, and took with him a certain General Lefort, +who was to attend to matters of military organization in the provinces. +But little or no confidence was placed in the resources there. The +military members of the National Defence Government--General Trochu, its +President, and General Le Flò, its Minister of War, had not the slightest +idea that provincial France might be capable of a great effort. They +relied chiefly on the imprisoned army of Paris, as is shown by all their +despatches and subsequent apologies. However, Glais-Bizoin followed +Crémieux to Tours, where it had been arranged that the Government +Delegation should instal itself, and he was accompanied by Admiral +Fourichon, the Minister of Marine. On reaching the Loire region, the new +authorities found a few battalions of Mobile Guards, ill-armed and +ill-equipped, a battalion of sharpshooters previously brought from +Algeria, one or two batteries of artillery, and a cavalry division of four +regiments commanded by General Reyau. This division had been gathered +together in the final days of the Empire, and was to have been sent to +Mezieres, to assist MacMahon in his effort to succour Bazaine; but on +failing to get there, it had made just a few vain attempts to check the +Germans in their advance on Paris, and had then fallen back to the south +of the capital. + +General Lefort's first task was to collect the necessary elements for an +additional army corps--the 15th--and he summoned to his assistance the +veteran General de la Motte-Rouge, previously a very capable officer, but +now almost a septuagenarian, whose particular fad it was to dye his hair, +and thereby endeavour to make himself look no more than fifty. No doubt, +hi the seventeenth century, the famous Prince de Condé with the eagle +glance took a score of wigs with him when he started on a campaign; but +even such a practice as that is not suited to modern conditions of +warfare, though be it admitted that it takes less time to change one's wig +than to have one's hair dyed. The latter practice may, of course, help a +man to cut a fine figure on parade, but it is of no utility in the field. +In a controversy which arose after the publication of Zola's novel "La +Débâole," there was a conflict of evidence as to whether the cheeks of +Napoleon III were or were not rouged in order to conceal his ghastly +pallor on the fatal day of Sedan. That may always remain a moot point; but +it is, I think, certain that during the last two years of his rule his +moustache and "imperial" were dyed. + +But let me return to the National Defence. Paris, as I formerly mentioned, +was invested on September 19. On the 22nd a Bavarian force occupied the +village of Longjumeau, referred to in my account of my journey to +Versailles. A couple of days later, the Fourth Division of German cavalry, +commanded by Prince Albert (the elder) of Prussia, started southward +through the departments of Eure-et-Loir and Loiret, going towards Artenay +in the direction of Orleans. This division, which met at first with little +opposition, belonged to a force which was detached from the main army +of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and placed under the command of the +Grand-Duke Frederick Francis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Near this +"Armée-Abtheilung," as the Germans called it, was the first Bavarian army +corps, which had fought at Bazeilles on the day of Sedan. It was commanded +by General von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, commonly called Von der +Tann, _tout court_. + +As Prince Albert of Prussia, on drawing near to Artenay, found a good many +French soldiers, both regulars and irregulars, that is Francs-tireurs, +located in the district, he deemed it best to retire on Toury and +Pithiviers. But his appearance so far south had sufficed to alarm the +French commander at Orleans, General de Polhès, who at once, ordered his +men to evacuate the city and retire, partly on Blois, and partly on La +Motte-Beuvron. This pusillanimity incensed the Delegates of the National +Defence, and Polhès was momentarily superseded by General Reyau, and later +(October 5) by La Motte-Rouge. + +It is known, nowadays, that the Germans were at first perplexed as to the +best course to pursue after they had completed the investment of Paris. +Moltke had not anticipated a long siege of the French capital. He had +imagined that the city would speedily surrender, and that the war would +then come to an end. Fully acquainted with the tract of country lying +between the Rhine and Paris, he had much less knowledge of other parts of +France; and, moreover, although he had long known how many men could be +placed in the field by the military organisation of the Empire, he +undoubtedly underestimated the further resources of the French, and did +not anticipate any vigorous provincial resistance. His sovereign, King +William, formed a more correct estimate respecting the prolongation of the +struggle, and, as was mentioned by me in my previous book--"Republican +France"--he more than once rectified the mistakes which were made by the +great German strategist. + +The invader's objective with respect to central France was Bourges, the +old capital of Berry, renowned for its ordnance and ammunition works, and, +in the days when the troops of our Henry V overran France, the scene of +Charles VII's retirement, before he was inspirited either by Agnes Sorel +or by Joan of Arc. To enable an army coming from the direction of Paris to +seize Bourges, it is in the first instance necessary--as a reference to +any map of France will show--to secure possession of Orleans, which is +situated at the most northern point, the apex, so to say, of the course of +the Loire, and is only about sixty-eight miles from Paris. At the same +time it is advisable that any advance upon Orleans should be covered, +westward, by a corresponding advance on Chartres, and thence on +Châteaudun. This became the German plan, and whilst a force under General +von Wittich marched on Chartres, Von der Tann's men approached Orleans +through the Beauce region. + +From the forest of Dourdan on the north to the Loire on the south, and +from the Chartres region on the west to the Gatinais on the east, this +great grain-growing plateau (the scene of Zola's famous novel "La Terre") +is almost level. Although its soil is very fertile there are few +watercourses in Beauce, none of them, moreover, being of a nature to +impede the march of an army. The roads are lined with stunted elms, and +here and there a small copse, a straggling farm, a little village, may be +seen, together with many a row of stacks, the whole forming in late autumn +and in winter--when hurricanes, rain, and snow-storms sweep across the +great expanse--as dreary a picture as the most melancholy-minded +individual could desire. Whilst there is no natural obstacle to impede the +advance of an invader, there is also no cover for purposes of defence. All +the way from Chartres to Orleans the high-road is not once intersected by +a river. Nearly all of the few streams which exist thereabouts run from +south to north, and they supply no means of defence against an army coming +from the direction of Paris. The region is one better suited for the +employment of cavalry and artillery than for that of foot-soldiers. + +The Chartres country is better watered than Beaude. Westward, in both +of the districts of Perche, going either towards Mortagne or towards +Nogent-le-Rotrou, the country is more hilly and more wooded; and hedges, +ditches, and dingle paths abound there. In such districts infantry can +well be employed for defensive purposes. Beyond the Loir--not the Loire-- +S.S.W. of Chartres, is the Pays Dunois, that is the district of +Châteaudun, a little town protected on the north and the west by the Loir +and the Conie, and by the hills between which those rivers flow, but open +to any attack on the east, from which direction, indeed, the Germans +naturally approached it. + +Beyond the Loire, to the south-east of Beauce and Orleans, lies the +sheep-breeding region called Sologne, which the Germans would have had to +cross had they prosecuted their intended march on Bourges. Here cavalry +and artillery are of little use, the country abounding in streams, ponds, +and marshes. Quite apart, however, from natural obstacles, no advance on +Bourges could well be prosecuted so long as the French held Orleans; and +even when that city had fallen into the hands of the Germans, the presence +of large French forces on the west compelled the invaders to carry +hostilities in that direction and abandon their projected march southward. +Thus the campaign in which I became interested was carried on principally +in the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, and Sarthe, to +terminate, at last, in Mayenne. + +Great indiscipline prevailed among the troops whom La Motte-Rouge had +under his orders. An attack by Von der Tann to the north of Orleans on +October 10, led to the retreat of a part of the French forces. On the +following day, when the French had from 12,000 to 13,000 men engaged, they +were badly defeated, some 1800 of their men being put _hors de combat_, +and as many being taken prisoners. This reverse, which was due partly to +some mistakes made by La Motte-Rouge, and partly to the inferior quality +of his troops, led to the immediate evacuation of Orleans. Now, it was +precisely at this moment that Gambetta appeared upon the scene. He had +left Paris, it will be remembered, on October 7; on the 8th he was at +Rouen, on the 9th he joined the other Government delegates at Tours, and +on the 10th--the eve of La Motte-Rouge's defeat--he became Minister of War +as well as Minister of the Interior. + +Previously the portfolio for war had been held in the provinces by Admiral +Fourichon, with General Lefort as his assistant; but Fourichon had +resigned in connexion with a Communalist rising which had taken place at +Lyons towards the end of September, when the Prefect, Challemel-Lacour, +was momentarily made a prisoner by the insurgents, but was afterwards +released by some loyal National Guards. [See my book, "The Anarchists: +Their Faith and their Record," John Lane, 1911.] Complaining that General +Mazure, commander of the garrison, had not done his duty on this occasion, +Challemel-Lacour caused him to be arrested, and Fourichon, siding with the +general, thereupon resigned the War Ministry, Crémieux taking it over +until Gambetta's arrival. It may well be asked how one could expect the +military affairs of France to prosper when they were subordinated to such +wretched squabbles. + +Among the men whom Gambetta found at Tours, was an engineer, who, +after the Revolution of September 4, had been appointed Prefect of +Tarn-et-Garonne, but who, coming into conflict with the extremists of +Montauban, much as Challemel-Lacour had come into conflict with those of +Lyons, had promptly resigned his functions. His name was Charles Louis de +Saulces de Freycinet, and, though he was born at Foix near the Pyrenees, +he belonged to an ancient family of Dauphiné. At this period (October, +1870), Freycinet had nearly completed his forty-second year. After +qualifying as an engineer at the Ecole Polytechnique, he had held various +posts at Mont-de-Marsan, Chartres, and Bordeaux, before securing in 1864 +the position of traffic-manager to the Chemin de Fer du Midi. Subsequently +he was entrusted with various missions abroad, and in 1869 the Institute +of France crowned a little work of his on the employment of women and +children in English factories. Mining engineering was his speciality, but +he was extremely versatile and resourceful, and immediately attracted the +notice of Gambetta. Let it be said to the latter's credit that in that +hour of crisis he cast all prejudices aside. He cared nothing for the +antecedents of any man who was willing to cooperate in the defence of +France; and thus, although Freycinet came of an ancient-aristocratic +house, and had made his way under the Empire, which had created him first +a chevalier and then an officer of the Legion of Honour, Gambetta at once +selected him to act as his chef-de-cabinet, and delegate in military +affairs. + +At this moment the National Defence had in or ready for the field only +40,000 regular infantry, a like number of Mobile Guards, from 5000 to 6000 +cavalry, and about 100 guns, some of antiquated models and with very few +men to serve them. There were certainly a good many men at various +regimental dépôts, together with Mobile Guards and National Guards in all +the uninvaded provinces of France; but all these had to be drilled, +equipped, and armed. That was the first part of the great task which lay +before Gambetta and Freycinet. Within a month, however--leaving aside what +was done in other parts of the country--France had on the Loire alone an +army of 100,000 men, who for a moment, at all events, turned the tide of +war. At the same time I would add that, before Gambetta's arrival on the +scene, the National Defence Delegates had begun to concentrate some small +bodies of troops both in Normandy and in Picardy and Artois, the latter +forming the first nucleus of the Army of the North which Faidherbe +afterwards commanded. Further, in the east of France there was a force +under General Cambriels, whose object was to cut the German communications +in the Vosges. + +Von der Tann, having defeated La Motte-Rouge, occupied Orleans, whilst the +French withdrew across the Loire to La Motte-Beuvron and Gien, south and +south-east of their former position. Gambetta had to take action +immediately. He did so by removing La Motte-Rouge from his command, which +he gave to D'Aurelle de Paladines. The latter, a general on the reserve +list, with a distinguished record, was in his sixty-sixth year, having +been born at Languedoc in 1804. He had abilities as an organiser, and was +known to be a disciplinarian, but he was growing old, and looked +confidence both in himself and in his men. At the moment of D'Aurelle's +appointment, Von der Tann wished to advance on Bourges, in accordance with +Moltke's instructions, and, in doing so, he proposed to evacuate Orleans; +but this was forbidden by King William and the Crown Prince, and in the +result the Bavarian general suffered a repulse at Salbris, which checked +his advance southward. Still covering Bourges and Vierzon, D'Aurelle soon +had 60,000 men under his orders, thanks to the efforts of Gambetta and +Freyeinet. But the enemy were now making progress to the west of Orleans, +in which direction the tragic affair of Châteaudun occurred on October 18. +The German column operating on that side under General von Wittich, +consisted of 6000 infantry, four batteries, and a cavalry regiment, which +advanced on Châteaudun from the east, and, on being resisted by the +villagers of Varize and Civry, shot them down without mercy, and set all +their houses (about 130 in number) on fire. Nevertheless, that punishment +did not deter the National Guards of Châteaudun, and the Francs-tireurs +who had joined them, from offering the most strenuous opposition to the +invaders, though the latter's numerical superiority alone was as seven +to one. The fierce fight was followed by terrible scenes. Most of the +Francs-tireurs, who had not fallen in the engagement, effected a retreat, +and on discovering this, the infuriated Germans, to whom the mere name of +Franc-tireur was as a red rag to a bull, did not scruple to shoot down a +number of non-combatants, including women and children. + +I remember the excitement which the news of the Châteaudun affair +occasioned in besieged Paris; and when I left the capital a few weeks +later I heard it constantly spoken of. In vain did the Germans strive to +gloss over the truth. The proofs were too numerous and the reality was too +dreadful. Two hundred and thirty-five of the devoted little town's houses +were committed to the flames. For the first time in the whole course of +the war women were deliberately assaulted, and a couple of German Princes +disgraced their exalted station in a drunken and incendiary orgie. + +Meantime, in the east of France, Cambriels had failed in his attempt to +cut the German communications, and had been compelled to beat a retreat. +It must be said for him that his troops were a very sorry lot, who could +not be depended upon. Not only were they badly disciplined and addicted to +drunkenness, but they took to marauding and pillage, and were in no degree +a match for the men whom the German General von Werder led against them. +Garibaldi, the Italian Liberator, had offered his sword to France, soon +after the fall of the Second Empire. On October 8--that is, a day before +Gambetta--he arrived at Tours, to arrange for a command, like that of +Cambriels, in the east of France. The little Army of the Vosges, which was +eventually constituted under his orders, was made up of very heterogeneous +elements. Italians, Switzers, Poles, Hungarians, Englishmen, as well as +Frenchmen, were to be found in its ranks. The general could not be called +a very old man, being indeed only sixty-three years of age, but he had led +an eventful and arduous life; and, as will be remembered, ever since the +affair of Aspromonte in 1862, he had been lame, and had gradually become +more and more infirm. He had with him, however, two of his sons, Menotti +and Ricoiotti (the second a more competent soldier than the first), +and several, able men, such as his compatriot Lobbia, and the Pole, +Bosak-Hauké. His chief of staff, Bordone, previously a navy doctor, was, +however, a very fussy individual who imagined himself to be a military +genius. Among the Englishmen with Garibaldi were Robert Middleton and my +brother Edward Vizetelly; and there was an Englishwoman, Jessie White +Mario, daughter of White the boat-builder of Cowes, and widow of Mario, +Garibaldi's companion in arms in the glorious Liberation days. My brother +often told me that Mme. Mario was equally at home in an ambulance or in a +charge, for she was an excellent nurse and an admirable horsewoman as well +as a good shot. She is one of the women of whom I think when I hear or +read that the members of the completing sex cannot fight. But that of +course is merely the opinion of some medical and newspaper men. + +Mme. Mario contributed a certain number of articles to the _Daily News_. +So did my brother--it was indeed as _Daily News_ correspondent that he +first joined Garibaldi's forces--but he speedily became an orderly to the +general, and later a captain on the staff. He was at the battles of Dijon +and Autun, and served under Lobbia in the relief of Langres. Some French +historians of these later days have written so slightingly of the little +Army of the Vosges, that I am sorry my brother did not leave any permanent +record of his experiences. Garibaldi's task was no easy one. In the first +instance, the National Defence hesitated to employ him; secondly, they +wished to subordinate him to Cambriels, and he declined to take any such +position; not that he objected to serve under any superior commander +who would treat him fairly, but because he, Garibaldi, was a freethinker, +and knew that he was bitterly detested by the fervently Catholic generals, +such as Cambriels. As it happened, he secured an independent command. But +in exercising it he had to co-operate with Cambriels in various ways, and +in later years my brother told me how shamefully Cambriels acted more than +once towards the Garibaldian force. It was indeed a repetition of what had +occurred at the very outset of the war, when such intense jealousy had +existed among certain marshals and generals that one had preferred to let +another be defeated rather than march "at the sound of the guns" to his +assistance. + +I also remember my brother telling me that when Langres (which is in the +Haute Marne, west of the Aube and the Côte d'Or) was relieved by Lobbia's +column, the commander of the garrison refused at first to let the +Garibaldians enter the town. He was prepared to surrender to the Germans, +if necessary; but the thought that he, a devout Catholic, should owe any +assistance to such a band of unbelieving brigands as the Garibaldian +enemies of the Pope was absolutely odious to him. Fortunately, this kind +of feeling did not show itself in western France. There was, at one +moment, some little difficulty respecting the position of Cathélineau, the +descendant of the famous Vendéen leader, but, on the whole, Catholics, +Royalists, and Republicans loyally supported one another, fired by a +common patriotism. + +The failure of Cambriel's attempts to cut the German communications, and +the relatively small importance of the Garibaldian force, inspired +Gambetta with the idea of forming a large Army of the East which, with +Langres, Belfort, and Besançon as its bases, would vigorously assume the +offensive in that part of France. Moltke, however, had already sent +General von Werder orders to pursue the retreating Cambriels. Various +engagements, late in October, were followed by a German march on Dijon. +There were at this time 12,000 or 13,000 Mobile Guards in the Côte d'Or, +but no general in command of them. Authority was exercised by a civilian, +Dr. Lavalle. The forces assembled at Dijon and Beaune amounted, inclusive +of regulars and National Guards, to about 20,000 men, but they were very +badly equipped and armed, and their officers were few in number and of +very indifferent ability. Werder came down on Dijon in a somewhat +hesitating way, like a man who is not sure of his ground or of the +strength of the enemy in front of him. But the French were alarmed by his +approach, and on October 30 Dijon was evacuated, and soon afterwards +occupied by Werder with two brigades. + +Three days previously Metz had surrendered, and France was reeling under +the unexpected blow in spite of all the ardent proclamations with which +Gambetta strove to impart hope and stimulate patriotism. Bazaine's +capitulation naturally implied the release of the forces under Prince +Frederick Charles, by which he had been invested, and their transfer to +other parts of France for a more vigorous prosecution of the invasion. +Werder, after occupying Dijon, was to have gone westward through the +Nivernais in order to assist other forces in the designs on Bourges. But +some days before Metz actually fell, Moltke sent him different +instructions, setting forth that he was to take no further account of +Bourges, but to hold Dijon, and concentrate at Vesoul, keeping a watch on +Langres and Besançon. For a moment, however, 3600 French under an officer +named Fauconnet suddenly recaptured Dijon, though there were more than +10,000 Badeners installed there under General von Beyer. Unfortunately +Fauconnet was killed in the affair, a fresh evacuation of the Burgundian +capital ensued, and the Germans then remained in possession of the city +for more than a couple of months. + +In the west the army of the Loire was being steadily increased and +consolidated, thanks to the untiring efforts of Gambetta, Freycinet, +and D'Aurelle, the last of whom certainly contributed largely to the +organization of the force, though he was little inclined to quit his lines +and assume the offensive. It was undoubtedly on this army that Gambetta +based his principal hopes. The task assigned to it was greater than those +allotted to any of the other armies which were gradually assuming +shape--being, indeed, the relief of beleaguered Paris. + +Trochu's own memoirs show that at the outset of the siege his one thought +was to remain on the defensive. In this connexion it is held, nowadays, +that he misjudged the German temperament, that remembering the vigorous +attempts of the Allies on Sebastopol--he was, as we know, in the Crimea, +at the time--he imagined that the Germans would make similarly vigorous +attempts on Paris. He did not expect a long and so to say passive siege, a +mere blockade during which the investing army would simply content itself +with repulsing the efforts of the besieged to break through its lines. He +knew that the Germans had behaved differently in the case of Strasbourg +and some other eastern strongholds, and anticipated a similar line of +action with respect to the French capital. But the Germans preferred to +follow a waiting policy towards both Metz and Paris. It has been said that +this was less the idea of Moltke than that of Bismarck, whose famous +phrase about letting the Parisians stew in their own juice will be +remembered. But one should also recollect that both Metz and Paris were +defended by great forces, and that there was little likelihood of any +_coup de main_ succeeding; whilst, as for bombardment, though it might +have some moral, it would probably have very little material effect. Metz +was not really bombarded, and the attempt to bombard Paris was deferred +for several months. When it at last took place a certain number of +buildings were damaged, 100 persons were killed and 200 persons wounded--a +material effect which can only be described as absolutely trivial in the +case of so great and so populous a city. + +Trochu's idea to remain merely on the defensive did not appeal to his +coadjutor General Ducrot. The latter had wished to break through the +German lines on the day of Sedan, and he now wished to break through them +round Paris. Various schemes occurred to him. One was to make a sortie in +the direction of Le Bourget and the plain of Saint Denis, but it seemed +useless to attempt to break out on the north, as the Germans held Laon, +Soissons, La Fère, and Amiens. There was also an idea of making an attempt +on the south, in the direction of Villejuif, but everything seemed to +indicate that the Germans were extremely strong on this side of the city +and occupied no little of the surrounding country. The question of a +sortie on the east, across the Marne, was also mooted and dismissed for +various reasons; the idea finally adopted being to break out by way of +the Gennevilliers peninsula formed by the course of the Seine on the +north-west, and then (the heights of Cormeil having been secured) to cross +the Oise, and afterwards march on Rouen, where it would be possible to +victual the army. Moreover, instructions were to be sent into the +provinces in order that both the forces on the Loire and those in the +north might bear towards Normandy, and there join the army from Paris, in +such wise that there would be a quarter of a million men between Dieppe, +Rouen, and Caen. Trochu ended by agreeing to this scheme, and even +entertained a hope that he might be able to revictual Paris by way of the +Seine, for which purpose a flotilla of boats was prepared. Ducrot and he +expected to be ready by November 15 or 20, but it is said that they were +hampered in their preparations by the objections raised by Guiod and +Chabaud-Latour, the former an engineer, and the latter an artillery +general. Moreover, the course of events in the provinces suddenly caused a +complete reversal of Ducrot's plans. + +On November 9, D'Aurelle de Paladines defeated Von der Tann at Coulmiers, +west of Orleans. The young French troops behaved extremely well, but the +victory not being followed up with sufficient vigour by D'Aurelle, +remained somewhat incomplete, though it constrained the Germans to +evacuate Orleans. On the whole this was the first considerable success +achieved by the French since the beginning of the war, and it did much to +revive the spirits which had been drooping since the fall of Metz. Another +of its results was to change Ducrot's plans respecting the Paris sortie. +He and Trochu had hitherto taken little account of the provincial armies, +and the success of Coulmiers came to them as a surprise and a revelation. +There really was an army of the Loire, then, and it was advancing on Paris +from Orleans. The Parisian forces must therefore break out on the +south-east and join hands with this army of relief in or near the forest +of Fontainebleau. Thus, all the preparations for a sortie by way of +Gennevilliers were abandoned, and followed by others for an attempt in the +direction of Champigny. + +Such was roughly the position at the time when I reached Brittany and +conceived the idea of joining the French forces on the Loire and +forwarding some account of their operations to England. During my stay in +Paris with my father I had assisted him in preparing several articles, and +had written others on my own account. My eldest brother, Adrian Vizetelly, +was at this time assistant-secretary at the Institution of Naval +Architects. He had been a student at the Royal School of Naval +Architecture with the Whites, Elgars, Yarrows, Turnbulls, and other famous +shipbuilders, and on quitting it had taken the assistant-secretaryship in +question as an occupation pending some suitable vacancy in the Government +service or some large private yard. The famous naval constructor, E. J. +Reed, had started in life in precisely the same post, and it was, indeed, +at his personal suggestion that my brother took it. A year or two later he +and his friend Dr. Francis Elgar, subsequently Director of Dockyards and +one of the heads of the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, were assisting +Reed to run his review _Naval Science_. At the time of the Franco-German +war, however, my brother, then in his twenty-sixth year, was writing on +naval subjects for the _Daily News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette,_ edited +respectively by John Robinson and Frederick Greenwood. A few articles +written by me during my siege days were sent direct to the latter by +balloon-post, but I knew not what their fate might be. The _Pall Mall_ +might be unable to use them, and there was no possibility of their being +returned to me in Paris. My father, whom I assisted in preparing a variety +of articles, suggested that everything of this kind--that is, work not +intended for the _Illustrated London News_--should be sent to my brother +for him to deal with as opportunity offered. He placed a few articles with +_The Times_--notably some rather long ones on the fortifications and +armament of Paris, whilst others went to the _Daily News_ and the _Pall +Mall_. + +When, after coming out of Paris, I arrived in Brittany, I heard that +virtually everything sent from the capital by my father or myself had been +used in one or another paper, and was not a little pleased to receive a +draft on a Saint Malo banking-house for my share of the proceeds. This +money enabled me to proceed, in the first instance, in the direction of Le +Mans, which the Germans were already threatening. Before referring, +however, to my own experiences I must say something further respecting the +general position. The battle of Coulmiers (November 9) was followed by a +period of inaction on the part of the Loire Army. Had D'Aurelle pursued +Von der Tann he might have turned his barren victory to good account. But +he had not much confidence in his troops, and the weather was bad--sleet +and snow falling continually. Moreover, the French commander believed that +the Bavarian retreat concealed a trap. At a conference held between him, +Gambetta, Freyoinet, and the generals at the head of the various army +corps, only one of the latter---Chanzy--favoured an immediate march on +Paris. Borel, who was chief of D'Aurelle's staff, proposed to confine +operations to an advance on Chartres, which would certainly have been a +good position to occupy, for it would have brought the army nearer to the +capital, giving it two railway lines, those of Le Mans and Granville, for +revictualling purposes, and enabling it to retreat on Brittany in the +event of any serious reverse. But no advance at all was made. The Germans +were allowed all necessary time to increase their forces, the French +remaining inactive within D'Aurelle's lines, and their _morale_ steadily +declining by reason of the hardships to which they were subjected. The +general-in-chief refused to billet them in the villages--for fear, said +he, of indiscipline--and compelled them to bivouack, under canvas, in the +mud; seldom, moreover, allowing any fires to be kindled. For a score of +days did this state of affairs continue, and the effect of it was seen at +the battle of Beaune-la-Rolande. + +The responsibility for the treatment of the troops rests on D'Aurelle's +memory and that of some of his fellow-generals. Meantime, Gambetta and +Freycinet were exerting themselves to improve the situation generally. +They realized that the release of Prince Frederick Charles's forces from +the investment of Metz necessitated the reinforcement of the Army of the +Loire, and they took steps accordingly. Cambriels had now been replaced in +eastern France by a certain General Michel, who lost his head and was +superseded by his comrade Crouzat. The last-named had with him 30,000 men +and 40 guns to contend against the 21,000 men and the 70 guns of Werder's +army. In order to strengthen the Loire forces, however, half of Crouzat's +men and he himself received orders to approach Orleans by way of Nevers +and Gien, the remainder of his army being instructed to retire on Lyons, +in order to quiet the agitation prevailing in that city, which regarded +itself as defenceless and complained bitterly thereof, although there was +no likelihood at all of a German attack for at least some time to come. + +The new arrangements left Garibaldi chief commander in eastern France, +though the forces directly under his orders did not at this time exceed +5000 men, and included, moreover, no fewer than sixty petty free-corps, +who cared little for discipline. [There were women in several of these +companies, one of the latter including no fewer than eighteen amazons.] +A month or two previously the advent of from twenty to thirty thousand +Italian volunteers had been confidently prophesied, but very few of these +came forward. Nevertheless, Ricciotti Garibaldi (with whom was my brother +Edward) defeated a German force in a sharp engagement at Chatillon-sur- +Seine (November 19), and a week later the Garibaldians made a gallant +attempt to recapture the city of Dijon. Five thousand men, however, were +of no avail against an army corps; and thus, even if the Garibaldian +attack had momentarily succeeded, it would have been impossible to hold +Dijon against Werder's troops. The attempt having failed, the German +commander resolved to crush the Army of the Vosges, which fled and +scattered, swiftly pursued by a brigade under General von Keller. Great +jealousy prevailed at this moment among the French generals in command of +various corps which might have helped the Garibaldians. Bressolles, +Crevisier, and Cremer were at loggerheads. On November 30 the last-named +fought an indecisive action at Nuits, followed nearly three weeks later by +another in which he claimed the victory. + +Meantime, Crouzat's force, now known as the 20th Army Corps, had been +moving on Nevers. To assist the Loire Army yet further, General Bourbaki +had been summoned from the north-west of France. At the fall of the Empire +the defence in that part of the country had been entrusted to Fririon, +whom Espinet de la Villeboisnet succeeded. The resources at the disposal +of both those generals were very limited, confined, indeed, to men of the +regimental dépôts and some Mobile Guards. There was a deficiency both of +officers and of weapons, and in the early skirmishes which took place with +the enemy, the principal combatants were armed peasants, rural firemen, +and the National Guards of various towns. It is true that for a while the +German force consisted only of a battalion of infantry and some Saxon +cavalry. Under Anatole de la Forge, Prefect of the Aisne, the open town of +Saint Quentin offered a gallant resistance to the invader, but although +this had some moral effect, its importance was not great. Bourbaki, who +succeeded La Villeboisnet in command of the region, was as diffident +respecting the value of his troops as was D'Aurelle on the Loire. He had +previously commanded the very pick of the French army, that is the +Imperial Guard, and the men now placed under his orders were by no means +of the same class. Bourbaki was at this time only fifty-four years of age, +and when, after being sent out of Metz on a mission to the Empress Eugénie +at Hastings, he had offered his services to the National Defence, the +latter had given him the best possible welcome. But he became one of the +great military failures of the period. + +After the fall of Metz the Germans despatched larger forces under +Manteuffel into north-west France. Altogether there were 35,000 infantry +and 4000 cavalry, with 174 guns, against a French force of 22,000 men who +were distributed with 60 guns over a front of some thirty miles, their +object being to protect both Amiens and Rouen. When Bourbaki was summoned +to the Loire, he left Farre as chief commander in the north, with +Faidherbe and Lecointe as his principal lieutenants. There was bad +strategy on both sides, but La Fère capitulated to the Germans on November +26, and Amiens on the 29th. + +Meantime, the position in beleaguered Paris was becoming very bad. Some +ten thousand men, either of the regular or the auxiliary forces, were laid +up in hospital, less on account of wounds than of disease. Charcoal--for +cooking purposes according to the orthodox French system--was being +strictly rationed, On November 20 only a certain number of milch cows and +a few hundred oxen, reserved for hospital and ambulance patients, remained +of all the bovine live stock collected together before the siege. At the +end of November, 500 horses were being slaughtered every day. On the other +hand, the bread allowance had been raised from 750 grammes to a kilogramme +per diem, and a great deal of bread was given to the horses as food. +Somewhat uncertain communications had been opened with the provinces by +means of pigeon-post, the first pigeon to bring despatches into the city +arriving there on November 15. The despatches, photographed on the +smallest possible scale, were usually enclosed in quills fastened under +one or another of the birds' wings. Each balloon that left the city now +took with it a certain number of carrier-pigeons for this service. Owing, +however, to the bitter cold which prevailed that winter, many of the birds +perished on the return journey, and thus the despatches they carried did +not reach Paris. Whenever any such communications arrived there, they had +to be enlarged by means of a magic-lantern contrivance, in order that they +might be deciphered. Meantime, the aeronauts leaving the city conveyed +Government despatches as well as private correspondence, and in this wise +Trochu was able to inform Gambetta that the army of Paris intended to make +a great effort on November 29. + + + +X + +WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + +The German Advance Westward--Gambetta at Le Mans--The "Army of Brittany" +and Count de Kératry--The Camp of Conlie--The Breton Marching Division-- +Kératry resigns--The Champigny Sortie from Paris--The dilatory D'Aurelle-- +The pitiable 20th Army Corps--Battles of Beaune-la-Rolande and Loigny-- +Loss of Orleans--D'Aurelle superseded by Chanzy--Chanzy's Slow Retreat-- +The 21st Corps summoned to the Front--I march with the Breton Division-- +Marchenoir and Fréteval--Our Retreat--Our Rearguard Action at Droué-- +Behaviour of the Inhabitants--We fight our Way from Fontenelle to Saint +Agil--Guns and Quagmires--Our Return to Le Mans--I proceed to Bennes and +Saint Malo. + + +After the Châteaudun affair the Germans secured possession of Chartres, +whence they proceeded to raid the department of the Eure. Going by way of +Nogent-le-Roi and Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais, they seized the old +ecclesiastical town of Evreux on November 19, whereupon the French hastily +retreated into the Orne. Some minor engagements followed, all to the +advantage of the Germans, who on the 22nd attacked and occupied the +ancient and strategically important town of Nogent-le-Rotrou--the lordship +of which, just prior to the great Revolution, belonged to the family of +the famous Count D'Orsay, the lover of Lady Blessington and the friend of +Napoleon III. The occupation of Nogent brought the Germans to a favourable +point on the direct railway-line between Paris and Le Mans, the capital of +Maine. The region had been occupied by a somewhat skeleton French army +corps--the 21st--commanded by a certain General Fiereck. On the loss of +Nogent, Gambetta immediately replaced him by one of the many naval +officers who were now with the French armies, that is Post-Captain (later +Admiral) Constant Jaurès, uncle of the famous Socialist leader of more +recent times. Jaurès at once decided to retreat on Le Mans, a distance of +rather more than a hundred miles, and this was effected within two days, +but under lamentable circumstances. Thousands of starving men deserted, +and others were only kept with the columns by the employment of cavalry +and the threat of turning the artillery upon them. + +Directly Gambetta heard of the state of affairs, he hastened to Le Mans to +provide for the defence of that extremely important point, where no fewer +than five great railway lines converged, those of Paris, Alençon, Rennes, +Angers, and Tours. The troops commanded by Jaurès were in a very +deplorable condition, and it was absolutely necessary to strengthen them. +It so happened that a large body of men was assembled at Conlie, sixteen +or seventeen miles away. They formed what was called the "Army of +Brittany," and were commanded by Count Emile de Kératry, the son of a +distinguished politician and literary man who escaped the guillotine +during the Reign of Terror. The Count himself had sat in the Legislative +Body of the Second Empire, but had begun life as a soldier, serving both +in the Crimea and in Mexico, in which latter country he had acted as one +of Bazaine's orderly officers. At the Revolution Kératry was appointed +Prefect of Police, but on October 14 he left Paris by balloon, being +entrusted by Trochu and Jules Favre with a mission to Prim, in the hope +that he might secure Spanish support for France. Prim and his colleagues +refused to intervene, however, and Kératry then hastened to Tours, where +he placed himself at the disposal of Gambetta, with whom he was on terms +of close friendship. It was arranged between them that Kératry should +gather together all the available men who were left in Brittany, and train +and organize them, for which purposes a camp was established at Conlie, +north-west of Le Mans. + +Conlie was the first place which I decided to visit on quitting Saint +Servan. The most appalling rumours were current throughout Brittany +respecting the new camp. It was said to be grossly mismanaged and to be a +hotbed of disease. I visited it, collected a quantity of information, and +prepared an article which was printed by the _Daily News_ and attracted +considerable attention, being quoted by several other London papers and +taken in two instances as the text for leading articles. So far as the +camp's defences and the arming of the men assembled within it were +concerned, my strictures were fully justified, but certain official +documents, subsequently published, indicate that I was in error on some +points. The whole question having given rise to a good deal of controversy +among writers on the Franco-German War--some of them regarding Conlie as a +flagrant proof of Gambetta's mismanagement of military affairs--I will +here set down what I believe to be strictly the truth respecting it. + +The camp was established near the site of an old Roman one, located +between Conlie and Domfront, the principal part occupying some rising +ground in the centre of an extensive valley. It was intended to be a +training camp rather than an entrenched and fortified one, though a +redoubt was erected on the south, and some works were begun on the +northern and the north-eastern sides. When the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +reached Conlie after the battle of Le Mans, he expressed his surprise that +the French had not fortified so good a position more seriously, and +defended it with vigour. Both the railway line and the high-road between +Laval and Le Mans were near at hand, and only a few miles away there was +the old town of Sillé-le-Guillaume, one of the chief grain and cattle +markets of the region. There was considerable forest-land in the vicinity, +and wood was abundant. But there was no watercourse, and the wells of the +various adjacent little farms yielded but a very inadequate supply of +water for a camp in which at one moment some 40,000 men were assembled. +Thus, at the outset, the camp lacked one great essential, and such was the +case when I visited it in November. But I am bound to add that a source +was soon afterwards found in the very centre of the camp, and tapped so +successfully by means of a steam-pumping arrangement that it ended by +yielding over 300,000 litres of water per diem. The critics of the camp +have said that the spot was very damp and muddy, and therefore necessarily +unhealthy, and there is truth in that assertion; but the same might be +remarked of all the camps of the period, notably that of D'Aurelle de +Paladines in front of Orleans. Moreover, when a week's snow was followed +by a fortnight's thaw, matters could scarcely be different. [From first to +last (November 12 to January 7) 1942 cases of illness were treated in the +five ambulances of the camp. Among them were 264 cases of small-pox. There +were a great many instances of bronchitis and kindred affections, but not +many of dysentery. Among the small-pox cases 88 proved fatal.] + +I find on referring to documents of the period that on November 23, the +day before Gambetta visited the camp, as I shall presently relate, the +total effective was 665 officers with 23,881 men. By December 5 (although +a marching division of about 12,000 men had then left for the front) the +effective had risen to 1241 officers with about 40,000 men. [The rationing +of the men cost on an average about 7_d._ per diem.] There were 40 guns +for the defence of the camp, and some 50 field-pieces of various types, +often, however, without carriages and almost invariably without teams. +At no time, I find, were there more than 360 horses and fifty mules in the +camp. There was also a great scarcity of ammunition for the guns. +On November 23, the 24,000 men assembled in the camp had between them the +following firearms and ammunition:-- + + _Weapons_ _Cartridges_ + + Spencers (without bayonets) .. 5,000 912,080 + Chassepots .. .. .. .. 2,080 100,000 + Remingtons .. .. .. .. 2,000 218,000 + Snyders .. .. .. .. 1,866 170,000 + Muskets of various types .. .. 9,684 _Insufficient_ + Revolvers .. .. .. .. 500 _Sufficient_ + ______ + 21,130 + +Such things as guns, gun-carriages, firearms, cartridges, bayonets, and so +forth formed the subject of innumerable telegrams and letters exchanged +between Kératry and the National Defence Delegation at Tours. The former +was constantly receiving promises from Gambetta, which were seldom kept, +supplies at first intended for him being at the last moment sent in other +directions, according to the more pressing requirements of the hour. +Moreover, a good many of the weapons which Kératry actually received were +defective. In the early days of the camp, many of the men were given +staves--broom-sticks in some instances--for use at drill. + +When Gambetta arrived at Le Mans after Jaurès had retreated thither, he +learnt that action had become the more urgent as the Germans were steadily +prosecuting their advance. By orders of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, +to whose army these forces belonged, the French were followed to La +Ferté-Bernard; and whilst one German column then went west towards Saint +Cosme, another advanced southward to Vibraye, thus seriously threatening +Le Mans. Such was the position on November 23. Fortunately, Freycinet was +able to send Jaurès reinforcements which brought his effective to about +35,000 men, and at the same time Gambetta urged Kératry to prepare a +marching division of the men at Conlie. Early on the 24th, Gambetta (who, +by the way, had travelled from Tours to Le Mans at full speed on a railway +engine) visited the camp, and expressed his approval of all he saw there. +I caught a glimpse of him, muffled in his fur coat, and looking, as well +he might, intensely cold. His orders to Kératry were to proceed to Saint +Calais, and thence to the forest of Vibraye, so as to cover Le Mans on the +east. It took fourteen hours and twenty-one trains to convey the marching +division to Yvré l'Evêque on the Huisne, just beyond Le Mans. The +effective of the division was roughly 12,000 men, nearly all of them being +Breton Mobilisés. The artillery consisted of one battery of 12's, and one +of 4's, with the necessary horses, two batteries of 4's dragged by naval +volunteers, and several Gatling guns, which had only just been delivered. +These Gatlings, which at that time were absolutely unknown in France, were +not mounted, but packed in sections in sealed zinc cases, which were +opened in the railway vans on the journey, the guns being there put +together by a young naval officer and a couple of civilian engineers. A +little later the artillery of the force was augmented. + +After these troops had taken up position at Yvré, in order to prevent the +enemy from crossing the Huisne, various conferences were held between +Gambetta, Jaurès, and Kératry. General Le Bouëdec had been left in command +at Conlie, and General Trinité had been selected to command the marching +division of the Bretons. From the very outset, however, Kératry objected +to the plans of Gambetta and Jaurès, and, for the moment, the duties of +the Bretons were limited to participating in a reconnaissance on a +somewhat large scale--two columns of Jaurès' forces, under Generals Colin +and Rousseau, joining in this movement, which was directed chiefly on +Bouloire, midway between Le Mans and Saint Calais on the east. When +Bouloire was reached, however, the Germans who had momentarily occupied it +had retired, and the French thereupon withdrew to their former positions +near Le Mans. + +Then came trouble. Gambetta placed Kératry under the orders of Jaurès, and +Kératry would not accept the position. Great jealousy prevailed between +these two men; Kératry, who had served ten years in the French Army, +claiming that he knew a good deal more about military matters than Jaurès, +who, as I previously mentioned, had hitherto been a naval officer. In the +end Kératry threw up his command. Le Bouëdec succeeded him at Conlie, and +Frigate-Captain Gougeard (afterwards Minister of Marine in Gambetta's +Great Ministry) took charge of the Bretons at Yvré, where he exerted +himself to bring them to a higher state of efficiency. + +I must now refer to some other matters. Trochu had informed Gambetta of +his intention to make a sortie on the south-eastern side of Paris. The +plans adopted were mainly those of Ducrot, who took chief command. A +diversion made by Vinoy to the south of the city on November 29 gave the +Germans an inkling of what was intended, and proved a fruitless venture +which cost the French 1000 men. Another diversion attempted by General +Susbielle on November 30 led to a similar result, with a loss of 1200 men. +Ducrot, however, crossed the Marne, and very desperate fighting ensued at +Champigny and neighbouring localities. But Ducrot's force (less than +100,000 men) was insufficient for his purpose. The weather, moreover, was +extremely cold, the men had brought with them neither tents nor blankets, +and had to bivouac without fires. According to Trochu's memoirs there was +also an insufficiency of ammunition. Thus the Champigny sortie failed, +and the French retired to their former lines. [From November 30 to +December 3 the French lost 9482 men; and the Germans 5288 men.] + +At the very moment when the Army of Paris was in full retreat, the second +battle of Orleans was beginning. Gambetta and Freyoinet wished D'Aurelle +to advance with the Loire Army in order to meet the Parisians, who, if +victorious, were expected to march on Fontainebleau by way of Melun. In +the latter days of November D'Aurelle was still covering Orleans on the +north with the 15th and 16th army corps (Generals Martin des Pallieres and +Chanzy). On his left was the 17th under Durrieu, who, a few days later, +was succeeded by a dashing cavalry officer, General de Sonis. Near at +hand, also, there was the 18th army corps, to command which Bourbaki had +been summoned from northern France, his place being taken temporarily by +young General Billot, who was appointed to be his chief of staff. The +former Army of the East under Crouzat [This had now become the 20th Army +Corps.] was on the southern side of the Loire, somewhere between Gien and +Nevers, and it was in a very deplorable condition. Boots were wanted for +10,000 men, tents for a like number, and knapsacks for 20,000. In some +battalions there were only sufficient knapsacks for a quarter of the men, +the others carrying their clothes, provisions, and cartridges all +higgledy-piggledy in canvas bags. I once heard an eyewitness relate that +many of Crouzat's soldiers marched with their biscuits (four days' supply) +strung together like chaplets, which hung from their necks or shoulders. + +The Germans had heard of the removal of Crouzat's force to the Loire +country, and by way of creating a diversion the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +was ordered to march on Beaugenoy, southwest of Orleans. Meantime, +Gambetta and Freyoinet were vainly imploring D'Aurelle to advance. He made +all sorts of excuses. At one moment he offered to consider their plans-- +not to comply with them; at another he wished to wait for decisive news +from Trochu and Ducrot. Finally, instead of the five army corps resolutely +advancing in the direction of Paris, it was resolved just to open the way +with the 18th (Billot), the 20th (Crouzat), and some detachments of the +15th (Martin des Pallieres). The result was the sharp battle and serious +defeat of Beaune-la-Rolande (November 28), when the 18th corps behaved +extremely well, whilst the 20th, to whose deplorable condition I have just +referred, retreated after a little fighting; the men of the 15th on their +side doing little or nothing at all. In this engagement the French, whose +forces ought to have been more concentrated, lost 4000 men in killed and +wounded, and 1800 who were taken prisoners; the German loss not exceeding +1000 men. Four days later (December 2) came the very serious repulse of +Loigny-Poupry, in which the 15th, 16th, and 17th army corps were engaged. +The French then lost from 6000 to 7000 men (2500 of them being taken +prisoners), and though the German losses exceeded 4000, the engagement +ended by quite demoralising D'Aurelle's army. + +Under those conditions came the battle of Orleans on December 3 and 4--the +Germans now being under the chief command of that able soldier, Prince +Frederick Charles of Prussia, father of the Duchess of Connaught. On this +occasion D'Aurelle ordered the corps engaged at Loigny to retreat on his +entrenched camp. The 18th and 20th could not cooperate in this movement, +however; and on the three others being driven back, D'Aurelle instructed +Chanzy to retire on Beaugency and Marchenoir, but sent no orders to +Bourbaki, who was now on the scene of action. Finally, the commander-in- +chief decided to abandon his entrenched camp, the troops disbanded and +scattered, and Orleans was evacuated, the flight being so precipitate that +two of the five bridges across the Loire were left intact, at the enemy's +disposal. Moreover, the French Army was now dislocated, Bourbaki, with the +18th, and Des Pallières, with the 15th corps, being on the south of the +river, whilst the other three corps were on the northern side. The former +retired in the direction of Bourges and Nevers, whilst Chanzy, who was now +placed in chief command of the others, D'Aurelle being removed from his +post, withdrew gradually towards the forest of Marchenoir. In that second +battle of Orleans the French lost 20,000 men, but 18,000 of them were +taken prisoners. On their side, the Germans (who captured 74 guns) lost +fewer than 1800 men. + +For three days (December 8 to 10) Chanzy contested the German advance at +Villorceau, but on December 12 Blois had to be evacuated, and the army +withdrew to the line of the Loir in the neighbourhood of Vendôme. +Meantime, at the very moment when the fate of Orleans was being sealed, +orders reached Jaurès at Le Mans to advance to the support of the Loire +Army. I was lodging at an inn in the town, my means being too slender to +enable me to patronize any of the big hotels on the Place des Halles, +which, moreover, were crowded with officers, functionaries, and so forth. +I had become acquainted with some of the officers of the Breton division +under Gougeard, and on hearing that they were going to the front, I +managed to obtain from Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, +permission to accompany the column with one of the ambulance parties. Now +and again during the advance I rode in one of the vans, but for the most +part I marched with the men, this, moreover, being the preferable course, +as the weather was extremely cold. Even had I possessed the means (and at +most I had about £10 in my pocket), I could not have bought a horse at Le +Mans. I was stoutly clad, having a very warm overcoat of grey Irish +frieze, with good boots, and a pair of gaiters made for me by Nicholas, +the Saint Malo bootmaker, younger brother (so he himself asserted) of +Niccolini the tenor, sometime husband of Mme. Patti. + +There were from 10,000 to 12,000 men in our force, which now ranked as the +fourth division of the 21st army corps. Nearly all the men of both +brigades were Breton Mobilisés, adjoined to whom, however, perhaps for the +purpose of steadying them, were three or four very small detachments of +former regiments of the line. There was also a small contingent of the +French Foreign Legion, which had been brought from Algeria. Starting from +Yvré l'Evêque towards, noon on December 4, we marched to Ardenay, where +we spent the night. The weather was fine and dry, but intensely cold. +On the 5th we camped on some hills near the town of Saint Calais, moved +only a mile or two farther on the 6th--there being a delay in the receipt +of certain orders--then, at seven o'clock on the 7th, started in the +direction of Vendôme, marching for about twelve hours with only the +briefest halts. We passed from the department of the Sarthe into that +of Loir-et-Cher, going on until we reached a little place called +Ville-aux-Cleros, where we spent the night under uncomfortable conditions, +for it snowed. Early the following day we set out again, and, leaving +Vendôme a couple of miles or so away on our right, we passed Fréteval and +camped on the outskirts of the forest of Marchenoir. + +The night proved bitterly cold, the temperature being some fourteen +degrees (centigrade) below freezing-point. I slept huddled up in a van, +but the men generally were under canvas, and there was very little straw +for them to lie upon, in such wise that in the morning some of them +actually found their garments frost-bound to the ground! Throughout the +night of the 10th we heard guns booming in the distance. On the 11th, the +12th, and the 13th December we were continually marching, always going in +the direction of the guns. We went from Ecoman to Morée, to Saint +Hilaire-la-Gravelle, and thence to the Chateau de Rougemont near +Fréteval, a spot famous as the scene of a victory gained by our Richard +Coeur-de-Lion over Philip Augustus. The more or less distant artillery +fire was incessant both by day and by night; but we were only supporting +other divisions of the corps, and did not find ourselves actually engaged. +On the 15th, however, there was very sharp fighting both at Fréteval and +Morée, and on the morning of the 16th our Gatlings went forward to support +the second division of our army corps, which was being hard pressed by the +Germans. + +All at once, however, orders for a general retreat arrived, Chanzy having +at last decided to fall back on Le Mans. There was considerable confusion, +but at last our men set out, taking a north-westerly direction. Fairly +good order prevailed on the road, and the wiry little Bretons at least +proved that their marching powers were unimpaired. We went on incessantly +though slowly during the night, and did not make a real halt until about +seven o'clock on the following morning, when, almost dead-beat, we reached +a little town called Droué. + +Jaurès, I should mention, had received the order to retreat at about four +o'clock on the afternoon of December 16, and had speedily selected three +different routes for the withdrawal of the 21st army corps. Our division, +however, was the last to quit its positions, it being about eight o'clock +at night when we set out. Thus our march lasted nine hours. The country +was a succession of sinuous valleys and stiff slopes, and banks often +overlooked the roads, which were edged with oaks and bushes. There were +several streams, a few woods, and a good many little copses. Farms often +lay close together, and now and again attempts were made to buy food and +drink of the peasantry, who, upon hearing our approach, came at times with +lights to their thresholds. But they were a close-fisted breed, and +demanded exorbitant prices. Half a franc was the lowest charge for a piece +of bread. Considering how bad the men's boots were, the marching was very +good, but a number of men deserted under cover of the night. Generally +speaking, though there was a slight skirmish at Cloyes and an engagement +at Droué, as I shall presently relate, the retreat was not greatly +hampered by the enemy. In point of fact, as the revelations of more recent +years have shown, Moltke was more anxious about the forces of Bourbaki +than about those of Chanzy, and both Prince Frederick Charles and the +Grand Duke of Mecklenburg had instructions to keep a strict watch on the +movements of Bourbaki's corps. Nevertheless, some of the Grand Duke's +troops--notably a body of cavalry--attempted to cut off our retreat. When, +however, late on the 16th, some of our men came in contact with a +detachment of the enemy near Cloyes, they momentarily checked its +progress, and, as I have indicated, we succeeded in reaching Droué without +loss. + +That morning, the 17th, the weather was again very cold, a fog following +the rain and sleet of the previous days. Somewhat later, however, snow +began to fall. At Droué--a little place of about a thousand inhabitants, +with a ruined castle and an ancient church--we breakfasted as best we +could. About nine o'clock came marching orders, and an hour later, when a +large number of our men were already on their way towards Saint Agil, our +next halting-place, General Gougeard mounted and prepared to go off with +his staff, immediately in advance of our rear-guard. At that precise +moment, however, we were attacked by the Germans, whose presence near us +we had not suspected. + +It was, however, certainly known to some of the inhabitants of Droué, who, +terrified by all that they had heard of the harshness shown by the Germans +towards the localities where they encountered any resistance, shrank from +informing either Gougeard or any of his officers that the enemy was at +hand. The artillery with which our rear was to be protected was at this +moment on the little square of Droué. It consisted of a mountain battery +under Sub-Lieutenant Gouesse of the artillery, and three Gatlings under +Sub-Lieutenant De la Forte of the navy, with naval lieutenant Rodellec du +Porzic in chief command. Whilst it was being brought into position, +Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, galloped off to stop the +retreat of the other part of our column. The enemy's force consisted of +detachments of cavalry, artillery, and Landwehr infantry. Before our +little guns could be trained on them, the Landwehr men had already seized +several outlying houses, barns, and sheds, whence they strove to pick off +our gutiners. For a moment our Mobilisés hesitated to go forward, but +Gougeard dashed amongst them, appealed to their courage, and then led them +against the enemy. + +Not more than three hundred yards separated the bulk of the contending +forces, indeed there were some Germans in the houses less than two hundred +yards away. Our men at last forced these fellows to decamp, killing and +wounding several of them; whilst, thanks to Colonel Bernard's prompt +intervention, a battalion of the 19th line regiment and two companies of +the Foreign Legion, whose retreat was hastily stopped, threatened the +enemy's right flank. A squadron of the Second Lancers under a young +lieutenant also came to our help, dismounting and supporting Gougeard's +Mobilises with the carbines they carried. Realizing that we were in force, +the enemy ended by retreating, but not until there had been a good deal of +fighting in and around the outlying houses of Droué. + +Such, briefly, was the first action I ever witnessed. Like others, I was +under fire for some time, being near the guns and helping to carry away +the gunners whom the Germans shot from the windows of the houses in which +they had installed themselves. We lost four or five artillerymen in that +manner, including the chief officer, M. de Rodelleo du Porzic, whom a +bullet struck in the chest. He passed away in a little café whither we +carried him. He was, I believe, the last of his family, two of his +brothers having previously been killed in action. + +We lost four or five other officers in this same engagement, as well as a +Breton chaplain of the Mobilisés. Our total losses were certainly larger +than Gougeard subsequently stated in his official report, amounting in +killed and wounded, I think, to from 120 to 150 men. Though the officers +as a rule behaved extremely well--some of them, indeed, splendidly--there +were a few lamentable instances of cowardice. By Gougeard's orders, four +were placed under arrest and court-martialled at the end of the retreat. +Of these, two were acquitted, whilst a third was shot, and a fourth +sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a fortress. [From the formation of +the "Army of Brittany" until the armistice the total number of executions +was eleven. They included one officer (mentioned above) for cowardice in +presence of the enemy; five men of the Foreign Legion for murdering +peasants; one Franc-titeur for armed robbery, and four men (Line and +Mobile Guards) for desertion in presence of the enemy. The number would +have been larger had it been possible to identify and punish those who +were most guilty in the stampede of La Tuilerie during the battle of +Le Mans.] + +The enemy's pursuit having been checked, we eventually quitted Droué, but +when we had gone another three miles or so and reached a village called +Fontenelle, the Germans came on again. It was then about two o'clock in +the afternoon, and for a couple of hours or so, whilst we continued our +retreat, the enemy kept up a running cannonade, repeatedly endeavouring +to harass our rear. We constantly replied to their fire, however, and +steadily kept them off, losing only a few men before the dusk fell, when +the pursuit ceased. We afterwards plodded on slowly--the roads being in a +terrible condition--until at about half-past six o'clock we reached the +village of Saint Agil, where the staff installed itself at Count de +Saint-Maixent's stately renaissance château. + +The weather was better on December 18, for, though it was extremely cold, +the snow ceased falling. But we still had a formidable task before us. +The roads, as I have said, were wretched, and at Saint Agil we had to +contend with some terrible quagmires, across which we found it at first +impossible to get our guns, ammunition-vans, and baggage train. It became +necessary to lop and fell trees, and form with them a kind of bed over +which our impedimenta might travel. Hour after hour went by amidst +incessant labour. An ammunition waggon containing only half its proper +load required the efforts of a dozen horses to pull it over that morass, +whilst, as for the guns, each of the 12's required even more horses. +It was three o'clock on the afternoon of the 18th when the last gun was +got across. Three gun-carriages were broken during those efforts, but our +men managed to save the pieces. Late in the operations the Germans again +put in an appearance, but were held in respect by our Gatlings and +mountain-guns. Half an hour, however, after our departure from Saint Agil, +they entered the village. + +In a very wretched condition, half-famished and footsore, we went on, +through the sudden thaw which had set in, towards Vibraye, whose forest, +full in those days of wild boars and deer, stretched away on our left. +We were now in the department of the Sarthe, and, cutting across country +in the direction of the Huisne, we at last reached the ancient little +_bourg_ of Connerré, on the high-road running (left of the river) towards +Le Mans. There I took leave of our column, and, after buying a shirt and +some socks, hastened to the railway station--a mile and a half distant-- +hoping, from what was told me, that there might be some means of getting +to Le Mans by train, instead of accompanying our men along the highway. +At Connerré station I found a very good inn, where I at once partook of +the best meal that I had eaten since leaving Le Mans, sixteen days +previously. I then washed, put on my new shirt and socks, and went to +interview the station-master. After a great deal of trouble, as I had a +permit signed by Colonel Bernard, and wore an ambulance armlet, I was +allowed to travel to Le Mans in a railway van. There was no regular +service of trains, the only ones now running so far north being used for +military purposes. I got to Le Mans a few hours before our column reached +Yvré l'Evêque on the night of December 20, and at once sought a train +which would convey me to Rennes, if not as far as Saint Malo. Then came +another long, slow, dreary journey in a villainous wooden-seated +third-class carriage. It was between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning +when we reached Rennes. I still had about five-and-twenty francs in my +pocket, and knowing that it would not cost me more than a quarter of that +amount to get to Saint Malo, I resolved to indulge in a good _dejeuner_ at +the Hôtel de France. + +There was nobody excepting a few waiters in the long dining-room, but the +tables were already laid there. When, however, I seated myself at one of +them, the head-waiter came up declaring that I could not be accommodated, +as the tables were reserved for _ces messieurs_. I was inquiring who +_ces messieurs_ might be, when some of them entered the room in a very +swaggering manner. All were arrayed in stylish and brand-new uniforms, +with beautiful boots, and looked in the pink of condition. They belonged, +I found, to a free corps called the "Eclaireurs d'Ille-et-Vilaine," and +their principal occupations were to mess together copiously and then +stroll about the town, ogling all the good-looking girls they met. The +corps never went to the front. Three or four weeks afterwards, when I +again passed through Rennes--this second time with my father--Messieurs +les Eclaireurs were still displaying their immaculate uniforms and highly +polished boots amidst all the misery exhibited by the remnants of one of +Chanzy's _corps d'armée_. + +Though I was little more than a boy, my blood fairly boiled when I was +requested to give up my seat at table for these arrogant young fops. +I went to complain at the hotel _bureau_, but, being confronted there by +the landlady instead of by the landlord, I did not express my feelings so +strongly as I might have done. "Madame" sweetly informed me that the first +_déjeuner_ was entirely reserved for Messieurs les Eclaireurs, but that, +if I would wait till the second _déjeuner_ at noon, I should find ample +accommodation. However, I was not inclined to do any such thing. I thought +of all the poor, famished, shivering men whom I had left less than +twenty-four hours previously, and some of whom I had more than once helped +to buy bread and cheese and wine during our long and painful marches. +They, at all events, had done their duty as best they could, and I felt +highly indignant with the swaggering young bloods of Rennes, who were +content to remain in their native town displaying their uniforms and +enjoying themselves. Fortunately, such instances were very rare. + +Returning to the railway station, I obtained something to eat at the +refreshment-room, where I presently heard somebody trying to make +a waiter understand an order given in broken French. Recognizing a +fellow-countryman, I intervened and procured what he desired. I found that +he was going to Saint Malo like myself, so we made the journey together. +He told me that, although he spoke very little French, he had come to +France on behalf of an English boot-making firm in order to get a contract +from some of the military authorities. Many such people were to be found +in Brittany, at Le Mans, at Tours, and elsewhere, during the latter period +of the war. An uncle of mine, Frederick Vizetelly, came over, I remember, +and interviewed Freyeinet and others on behalf of an English small-arm +firm. I forget whether he secured a contract or not; but it is a +lamentable and uncontrovertible fact that many of the weapons and many of +the boots sold by English makers to the National Defence were extremely +defective. Some of the American weapons were even worse than ours. As for +the boots, they often had mere "composition soles," which were soon worn +out. I saw, notably after the battle of Le Mans, hundreds--I believe I +might say, without, exaggeration, thousands--of men whose boots were mere +remnants. Some hobbled through the snow with only rags wrapped round their +bleeding feet. On the other hand, a few of our firms undoubtedly supplied +satisfactory boots, and it may have been so in the case of the traveller +whom I met at Rennes. + +A few days after my return to Saint Malo, my cousin, Montague Vizetelly, +arrived there with a commission from the _Daily News_ to join Chanzy's +forces at Le Mans. Mr. Robinson, I was afterwards told, had put some +questions about me to my brother Adrian, and, on hearing how young I was, +had thought that I might not be equal to the occasion if a decisive battle +between Prince Frederick Charles and Chanzy should be fought. My cousin-- +then four-and-twenty years of age--was accordingly sent over. From that +time nearly all my war letters were forwarded to the _Pall Mall Gazette_, +and, as it happened, one of them was the first account of the great battle +of Le Mans, from the French side, to appear in an English paper. + + + +XI + +BEFORE LE MANS + +The War in various Regions of France--General Faidherbe--Battle of +Pont-Noyelles--Unreliability of French Official News--Engagement of +Nuits--Le Bourget Sortie--Battles of Bapaume and Villersexel--Chanzy's +Plan of Operations--The Affair of Saint Calais--Wretched State of some +of Chanzy's Soldiers--Le Mans and its Historical Associations--The +Surrounding Country--Chanzy's Career--Positions of his Forces--Advance +of Prince Frederick Charles--The first Fighting before Le Mans and its +Result. + + +Whilst Chanzy was retreating on Le Mans, and there reorganizing and +reinforcing his army, a variety of operations went on in other parts +of France. After the German occupation of Amiens, Moltke instructed +Manteuffel to advance on Rouen, which he did, afterwards despatching a +column to Dieppe; the result being that on December 9 the Germans, for +the first time, reached the sea-coast. Since December 3 Faidherbe had +taken the chief command of the Army of the North at Lille. He was +distinctly a clever general, and was at that time only fifty-two years of +age. But he had spent eleven years in Senegal, organizing and developing +that colony, and his health had been impaired by the tropical West African +climate. Nevertheless, he evinced no little energy, and never despaired, +however slender might be the forces under him, and however cramped his +position. As soon as he had reorganized the army entrusted to his charge, +he moved towards Amiens, and on December 23 and 24 a battle was fought at +Pont-Noyelles, in the vicinity of that town. In some respects Faidherbe +gained the advantage, but his success was a barren one, and his losses +were far greater than those of the Germans, amounting, indeed, to 2300 men +(apart from many deserters), whereas the enemy's were not more than a +thousand. Gambetta, however, telegraphed to the Prefects that a great +victory had been gained; and I remember that when a notice to that effect +was posted at the town-hall of Saint Servan, everybody there became +jubilant. + +Most of our war-news, or, at least, the earliest intelligence of any +important engagement, came to us in the fashion I have indicated, +townsfolk constantly assembling outside the prefectures, subprefectures, +and municipal buildings in order to read the day's news. At times it was +entirely false, at others some slight success of the French arms was +magnified into a victory, and a petty engagement became a pitched battle. +The news in the French newspapers was usually very belated and often quite +unreliable, though now and again telegrams from London were published, +giving information which was as near to the truth as the many English war +correspondents on both sides could ascertain. After the war, both +Frenchmen and Germans admitted to me that of all the newspaper +intelligence of the period there was nothing approaching in accuracy +that which was imparted by our British correspondents. I am convinced, +from all I heard in Paris, in Berlin, in Vienna, and elsewhere, during +the two or three years which followed the war, that the reputation of the +British Press was greatly enhanced on the Continent by the news it gave +during the Franco-German campaign. Many a time in the course of the next +few years did I hear foreigners inquire: "What do the London papers say?" +or remark: "If an English paper says it, it must be true." I do not wish +to blow the trumpet too loudly on behalf of the profession to which I +belonged for many years, but what I have here mentioned is strictly true; +and now that my days of travel are over, I should be glad to know that +foreigners still hold the British Press in the same high esteem. + +But, to return to my narrative, whilst the events I have mentioned were +taking place in Normandy and Northern France, Gambetta was vainly trying +to persuade Bourbaki to advance in the direction of Montargis. He also +wished to reinforce Garibaldi; but the enmity of many French officers +towards the Italian Liberator was so great that they would not serve with +him. General von Werder was at this time covering the siege of Belfort and +watching Langres. On December 18 there was an engagement at Nuits between +some of his forces and those led by the French commander Cremer, who +claimed the victory, but afterwards retreated towards Beaune. The French, +however, were now able to re-occupy Dijon. On the 21st another sortie was +made from Paris, this time on the north, in the direction of Le Bourget +and Ville-Evrard. Ducrot was again in command, and 200,000 men were got +together, but only 5000 were brought into action. There were a great many +desertions, and no fewer than six officers of one brigade alone were +court-martialled and punished for lack of courage. The affair appears to +have been arranged in order to quiet the more reckless elements in Paris, +who were for ever demanding "a great, a torrential sortie." In this +instance, however, there was merely "much ado about nothing." The truth +is, that ever since the Champigny affair both Trochu and Ducrot had lost +all confidence. + +On January 2 and 3, the French under Faidherbe, and the Germans under +Goeben, fought a battle at Bapaume, south of Arras. The former were by far +the more numerous force, being, indeed, as three to one, and Faidherbe is +credited with having gained a victory. But, again, it was only a barren +one, for although the Germans fell back, the French found it quite as +necessary to do the same. About a week previously the 16th French Army +Corps, with which Bourbaki had done little or nothing on the Loire, had +been removed from Vierzon and Bourges to join the Army of the East, of +which Bourbaki now assumed the chief command. The transport of the troops +proved a very difficult affair, and there was great disorder and, again, +many desertions. Nevertheless, on January 9, Bourbaki fought Werder at +Villersexel, in the vicinity of Vesoul, Montbéliard, and Belfort. In this +engagement there appear to have been serious mistakes on both sides, and +though Bourbaki claimed a success, his losses were numerically double +those of the Germans. + +Meantime Chanzy, at Le Mans, was urging all sorts of plans on Gambetta and +Freyeinet. In the first place he desired to recruit and strengthen his +forces, so sorely tried by their difficult retreat; and in order that he +might have time to do so, he wished Bourbaki to execute a powerful +diversion by marching in the direction of Troyes. But Gambetta and +Freyeinet had decided otherwise. Bourbaki's advance was to be towards the +Vosges, after which he was to turn westward and march on Paris with +150,000 men. Chanzy was informed of this decision on and about January 5 +(1871), and on the 6th he made a last attempt to modify the Government +plan in order that Bourbaki's march might be directed on a point nearer to +Paris. In reply, he was informed that it was too late to modify the +arrangements. + +With regard to his own operations, Chanzy's idea was to march towards the +capital when his forces were reorganized. His bases were to be the river +Sarthe, the town of Le Mans, and the railway-line running northward to +Alençon. Thence he proposed to advance to some point on the river Eure +between Dreux and Chartres, going afterwards towards Paris by such a route +as circumstances might allow. He had 130,000 men near Le Mans, and +proposed to take 120,000 with 350 field-pieces or machine-guns, and +calculated that he might require a week, or to be precise eight days, to +carry this force from Le Mans to Chartres, allowing for fighting on the +way. Further, to assist his movements he wished Faidherbe, as well as +Bourbaki, to assume the offensive vigorously as soon as he was ready. The +carrying out of the scheme was frustrated, however, in part by the +movements which the Government ordered Bourbaki to execute, and in part by +what may be called the sudden awakening of Prince Frederick Charles, who, +feeling more apprehensive respecting Bourbaki's movements, had hitherto, +in a measure, neglected Chanzy's doings. + +On December 22 Captain, afterwards General, de Boisdeffre [He was Chief of +the French Staff during the famous Dreyfus Case, in which his name was +frequently mentioned.] reached Le Mans, after quitting Paris in one of the +balloons, and gave Chanzy certain messages with which Trochu had entrusted +him. He brought nothing in writing, as what he had to communicate was +considered too serious to be committed to paper. Yet both my father and +myself could have imparted virtually the same information, which was but a +_secret de Polichinelle_. It concerned the date when the fall of Paris +would become inevitable. We--my father and myself--had said repeatedly at +Versailles and elsewhere that the capital's supply of food would last +until the latter days of January, and that the city (unless in the +meanwhile it were relieved) must then surrender. Authentic information to +that effect was available in Paris before we quitted it in November. +Of course Trochu's message to Chanzy was official, and carried greater +weight than the assertions of journalists. It was to the effect that it +would be necessary to negotiate a capitulation on January 20, in order to +give time for the revictualling of the city's two million inhabitants. +As it happened, the resistance was prolonged for another week or so. +However, Boisdeffre's information was sufficiently explicit to show Chanzy +that no time must be lost if Paris was to be saved. + +Some German cavalry--probably the same men who had pursued Gougeard's +column--showed themselves at Saint Calais, which is only some thirty +miles north-east of Le Mans, as early as December 18, but soon retired, +and no further advance of the enemy in that direction took place for +several days. Chanzy formed two flying columns, one a division under +General Jouffroy, and one a body of 4000 men under General Rousseau, for +the purpose of worrying the enemy and keeping him at a distance. These +troops, particularly those of Jouffroy, who moved towards Montoire and +Vendôme, had several small but none the less important engagements with +the Germans. Prince Frederick Charles, indeed, realised that Jouffroy's +operations were designed to ensure the security of Chanzy's main army +whilst it was being recruited and reorganized, and thereupon decided to +march on Le Mans and attack Chanzy before the latter had attained his +object. + +On Christmas Day a force of German cavalry, artillery, and infantry +descended upon Saint Calais (then a town of about 3500 inhabitants), +levied a sum of 17,000 francs, pillaged several of the houses, and +ill-treated a number of the townsfolk. When some of the latter ventured to +protest, pointing out, among other things, that after various little +engagements in the vicinity several wounded Germans had been brought into +the town and well cared for there, the enemy's commanding officer called +them a pack of cowards, and flung them 2000 francs of his recent levy, to +pay them, he said, for their so-called services. The affair was reported +to Chanzy, who thereupon wrote an indignant letter to the German general +commanding at Vendôme. It was carried thither by a certain M. de Vézian, a +civil engineer attached to Chanzy's staff, who brought back the following +reply: + +"Reçu une lettre du Général Chanzy. Un général prussien ne sachant pas +écrire une lettre de tel genre, ne saurait y faire une réponse par écrit. + +"Au quartier-général à Vendôme, 28 Décembre 1870." + +Signature (_illegible_). + +It was, perhaps, a pity that Chanzy ever wrote his letter of protest. +French generals were too much given to expressing their feelings in +writing daring that war. Deeds and not words were wanted. + +Meantime, the army was being slowly recruited. On December 13, Gambetta +had issued--none too soon--a decree authorising the billeting of the men +"during the winter campaign." Nevertheless, when Gougeard's troops +returned to Yvreé l'Evêque, they were ordered to sleep under canvas, like +many other divisions of the army. It was a great mistake. In that severe +weather--the winter was one of the coldest of the nineteenth century--the +men's sufferings were very great. They were in need, too, of many things, +new shoes, linen, great-coats, and other garments, and there was much +delay in providing for their more urgent requirements. Thus the number of +desertions was not to be wondered at. The commander-in-chief did his best +to ensure discipline among his dispirited troops. Several men were shot by +way of example. When, shortly before the battle of Le Mans, the 21st Army +Corps crossed the Huisne to take up positions near Montfort, several +officers were severely punished for riding in ambulance and baggage +waggons instead of marching with their men. + +Le Mans is not easily defended from an enemy advancing upon it from +eastern, north-eastern, and south-eastern directions. A close defence is +impossible by reason of the character of the country. At the time of which +I write, the town was one of about 37,000 inhabitants. Very ancient, +already in existence at the time of the Romans, it became the capital of +Maine. William the Conqueror seized it, but it was snatched from his son, +Robert, by Hélie de La Flêche. Later, Geoffrey, the First of the +Plantagenets, was buried there, it being, moreover, the birthplace of his +son, our Henry II. In after years it was taken from Richard Coeur-de-Lion +by Philip-Augustus, who assigned it, however, to Richard's widow, Queen +Berengaria. A house in the town is wrongly said to have been her +residence, but she undoubtedly founded the Abbaye de l'Epau, near Yvré +l'Evêque, and was buried there. It was at Le Mans that King John of +France, who surrendered to the Black Prince at Poitiers, was born; and in +the neighbouring forest, John's grandson, Charles VI, first gave signs of +insanity. Five times during the Anglo-French wars of the days of Henry V +and Henry VI, Le Mans was besieged by one or another of the contending +parties. The town again suffered during the Huguenot wars, and yet again +during the Revolution, when the Vendéens seized it, but were expelled by +Marceau, some 5000 of them being bayoneted on the Place de l'Epéron. + +Rich in associations with the history of England as well as that of +France, Le Mans, in spite of its accessibility--for railway lines coming +from five different directions meet there--is seldom visited by our +tourists. Its glory is its cathedral, strangely neglected by the numerous +English writers on the cathedrals of France. Here are exemplified the +architectural styles of five successive centuries, and, as Mérimée once +wrote, in passing from one part of the edifice to another, it is as if you +passed from one to another religion. But the supreme features of the +cathedral are its stained-glass windows, which include some of the very +oldest in the world. Many years ago, when they were in a more perfect +condition than they are now, Hucher gave reproductions of them in a rare +folio volume. Here, too, is the tomb of Queen Berengaria of England, +removed from the Abbaye de l'Epau; here, also, was formerly that of her +husband's grandfather, Geoffrey Plantagenet. But this was destroyed by +the Huguenots, and you must go to the museum to see all that remains of +it--that is, the priceless enamel _plaque_ by which it was formerly +surmounted, and which represents Geoffrey grasping his sword and his azure +shield, the latter bearing a cross and lions rampant--not the leoparded +lions passant of his English descendants. Much ink has flowed respecting +that shield during squabbles among heraldists. + +Judging by recent plans of Le Mans, a good many changes have taken place +there since the time of the Franco-German War. Various new, broad, +straight streets have been substituted for some of the quaint old winding +ones. The Pont Napoléon now appears to have become the Pont Gambetta, and +the Place, des Minimes is called the Place de la République. I notice also +a Rue Thiers which did not exist in the days when Le Mans was familiar to +me as an old-world town. In this narrative I must, of course, take it as +it was then, not as it is now. + +The Sarthe, flowing from north to south, where it is joined by its +tributary the Huisne, coming from the north-east, still divides the town +into two unequal sections; the larger one, on the most elevated part of +which stands the cathedral, being that on the river's left bank. At the +time I write of, the Sarthe was spanned by three stone bridges, a +suspension bridge, and a granite and marble railway viaduct, some 560 feet +in length. The German advance was bound to come from the east and the +south. On the east is a series of heights, below which flow the waters of +the Huisne. The views range over an expanse of varying elevation, steep +hills and deep valleys being frequent. There are numerous watercourses. +The Huisne, which helps to feed the Sarthe, is itself fed by a number of +little tributaries. The lowest ground, at the time I have in mind, was +generally meadow-land, intersected here and there with rows of poplars, +whilst the higher ground was employed for the cultivation of crops. Every +little field was circumscribed by ditches, banks, and thick hedges. + +The loftiest point of the eastern heights is at Yvré l'Evêque, which was +once crowned by a renaissance chateau, where Henry of Navarre resided when +he reduced Le Mans to submission. Northward from Yvré, in the direction of +Savigné, stretches the high plateau of Sargé, which on the west slopes +down towards the river Sarthe, and forms one of the most important of the +natural defences of Le Mans. Eastward, from Yvré, you overlook first the +Huisne, spanned at various neighbouring points by four bridges, but having +much of the meadow-land in its valley cut up by little water-channels for +purposes of irrigation--these making the ground additionally difficult for +an attacking force to traverse. Secondly, you see a long plateau called +Auvours, the possession of which must necessarily facilitate an enemy's +operations. Following the course of the railway-line coming from the +direction of Paris, you notice several pine woods, planted on former +heaths. Still looking eastward, is the village of Champagné, where the +slopes are studded with vines, whilst the plain is arable land, dotted +over with clumps of chestnut trees. North-east of Champagné is Montfort, +where Chanzy at first stationed the bulk of the 21st Army Corps under +Jaurès, this (leaving his flying columns on one side) being the most +eastern position of his forces at the time when the German advance began. +The right of the 21st Corps here rested on the Huisne. Its extreme left +extended northward towards the Sarthe, but a division of the 17th Corps +under General de Colomb guarded the Alençon (N.) and Conlie (N.W.) railway +lines. + +Confronted by the Huisne, the heights of Yvré and the plateaux of Sargé +and Auvours, having, for the most part, to keep to the high-roads--for, +bad as their state might be at that season, it was nothing compared with +the condition of the many narrow and often deep lanes, whose high banks +and hedges, moreover, offered opportunities for ambush--the Germans, it +was obvious, would have a difficult task before them on the eastern side +of Le Mans, even should they drive the 21st Corps from Montfort. The +approach to the town is easier, however, on the south-east and the south, +Here are numerous pine woods, but on going towards Le Mans, after passing +Parigné-l'Evêque (S.E.) and Mulsanne (S.), the ground is generally much +less hilly than on the east. There are, however, certain positions +favourable for defence. There is high ground at Changé, midway between the +road from Saint Calais to Le Mans, _viâ_ Yvré, and the road from Grand +Lucé to Le Mans _viâ_ Parigné. Over a distance of eight miles, moreover, +there extends--or extended at the time I refer to--a track called the +Chemin des Boeufs, suitable for defensive purposes, with high ground at at +least two points--Le Tertre Rouge, south-east of Le Mans, and La Tuilerie, +south of the town. The line of the Chemin des Boeufs and the position of +Changé was at first entrusted by Chanzy to the 16th Corps, whose +commander, Jauréguiberry, had his headquarters at the southern suburb of +Pontlieue, an important point affording direct access to Le Mans by a +stone bridge over the Huisne. + +When I returned to Le Mans from Saint Servan in the very first days of +January, Chanzy's forces numbered altogether about 130,000 men, but a very +large proportion of them were dispersed in different directions, forming +detached columns under Generals Barry, Curten, Rousseau, and Jouffroy. The +troops of the two first-named officers had been taken from the 16th Corps +(Jauréguiberry), those of Rousseau were really the first division of the +21st Corps (Jaurès), and those of Jouffroy belonged to the 17th, commanded +by General de Colomb. [The 16th and 17th comprised three divisions each, +the 21st including four. The German Corps were generally of only two +divisions, with, however, far stronger forces of cavalry than Chanzy +disposed of.] It is a curious circumstance that, among the German +troops which opposed the latter's forces at this stage of the war, there +was a division commanded by a General von Colomb. Both these officers had +sprung from the same ancient French family, but Von Colomb came from a +Huguenot branch which had quitted France when the Edict of Nantes was +revoked. + +Chanzy's other chief coadjutors at Le Mans were Jaurès, of whom I have +already spoken, and Rear-Admiral Jauréguiberry, who, after the general-in- +chief, was perhaps the most able of all the commanders. Of Basque origin +and born in 1815, he had distinguished himself as a naval officer in the +Crimean, Chinese, and Cochin China expeditions; and on taking service in +the army under the National Defence, he had contributed powerfully to +D'Aurelle's victory at Coulmiers. He became known among the Loire forces +as the man who was always the first to attack and the last to retreat. +[He looked somewhat older than his years warranted, being very bald, with +just a fringe of white hair round the cranium. His upper lip and chin were +shaven, but he wore white whiskers of the "mutton-chop" variety. Slim and +fairly tall, he was possessed of no little nervous strength and energy. In +later years he became Minister of Marine in the Waddington, the second +Freycinet, and the Duclerc cabinets.] + +Having referred to Chanzy's principal subordinates, it is fitting that I +should give a brief account of Chanzy himself. The son of an officer of +the First Empire, he was born at Nouart in the Argonne, and from his +personal knowledge of that region it is certain that his services would +have proved valuable during the disastrous march on Sedan, when, as Zola +has rightly pointed out in "La Débâcle," so many French commanding +officers were altogether ignorant of the nature and possibilities of the +country through which they advanced. Chanzy, however, like many others who +figured among the Loire forces, had begun life in the navy, enlisting in +that service when sixteen years of age. But, after very brief experience +afloat, he went to the military school of St. Cyr, passed out of it as a +sub-lieutenant in 1843, when he was in his twenty-first year, was +appointed to a regiment of Zouaves, and sent to Algeria. He served, +however, in the Italian campaign of 1859, became lieutenant-colonel of a +line regiment, and as such took part in the Syrian expedition of 1860-61. +Later, he was with the French forces garrisoning Rome, acquired a +colonelcy in 1864, returned to Algeria, and in 1868 was promoted to the +rank of general of brigade. + +At the outset of the Franco-German War, he applied for active service, but +the imperial authorities would not employ him in France. In spite of the +associations of his family with the first Empire, he was, like Trochu, +accounted an Orleanist, and it was not desired that any Orleanist general +should have an opportunity to distinguish himself in the contemplated +"march on Berlin." Marshal MacMahon, however, as Governor of Algeria, had +formed a high opinion of Chanzy's merits, and after Sedan, anxious as he +was for his country in her predicament, the Marshal, then a prisoner of +war, found a means of advising the National Defence to make use of +Chanzy's services. That patriotic intervention, which did infinite credit +to MacMahon, procured for Chanzy an appointment at the head of the 16th +Army Corps, and later the chief command of the Second Loire Army. + +When I first saw him in the latter days of 1870, he was in his +fifty-eighth year, well built, and taller than the majority of French +officers. His fair hair and fair moustache had become grey; but his blue +eyes had remained bright, and there was an expression of quiet resolution +on his handsome, well-cut face, with its aquiline nose and energetic jaw. +Such, physically, was the general whom Moltke subsequently declared to +have been the best that France opposed to the Germans throughout the war. +I never once saw Chanzy excited, in which respect he greatly contrasted +with many of the subordinate commanders. Jauréguiberry was sometimes +carried away by his Basque, and Gougeard by his Celtic, blood. So it was +with Jaurès, who, though born in Paris, had, like his nephew the Socialist +leader, the blood of the Midi in his veins. Chanzy, however, belonged to a +calmer, a more quietly resolute northern race. + +He was inclined to religion, and I remember that, in addition to the +chaplains accompanying the Breton battalions, there was a chief chaplain +attached to the general staff. This was Abbé de Beuvron, a member of +an old noble family of central France. The Chief of the Staff was +Major-General Vuillemot; the Provost-General was Colonel Mora, and the +principal aides-de-camp were Captains Marois and de Boisdeffre. Specially +attached to the headquarters service there was a rather numerous picked +force under General Bourdillon. It comprised a regiment of horse gendarmes +and one of foot gendarmes, four squadrons of Chasseurs d'Afrique, some +artillery provided chiefly with mountain-guns, an aeronautical company +under the brothers Tissandier, and three squadrons of Algerian light +cavalry, of the Spahi type, who, with their flowing burnouses and their +swift little Arab horses, often figured conspicuously in Chanzy's escort. +A year or two after the war, I engaged one of these very men--he was +called Saad--as a servant, and he proved most devoted and attentive; +but he had contracted the germs of pulmonary disease during that cruel +winter of 1870-71, and at the end of a few months I had to take him to the +Val-de-Grâce military hospital in Paris, where he died of galloping +consumption. + +The German forces opposed to Chanzy consisted of a part of the so-called +"Armée-Abtheilung" under the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, and the "Second +Army" under Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, the latter including the +3rd, 9th, 10th, and 13th Army Corps, and disposing of numerous cavalry +and nearly four hundred guns. The Prince ascertained that the French +forces were, in part, extremely dispersed, and therefore resolved to act +before they could be concentrated. At the outset the Germans came down on +Nogent-le-Rotrou, where Rousseau's column was stationed, inflicted a +reverse on him, and compelled him (January 7) to fall back on Connerré--a +distance of thirty miles from Nogent, and of less than sixteen from Le +Mans. On the same day, sections of Jouffroy's forces were defeated at +Epuisay and Poirier (mid-way between Le Mans and Vendôme), and also +forced to retreat. The French detachments (under Jouffroy, Curten, and +Barry) which were stationed along the line from Saint Calais to Montoire, +and thence to Saint Amand and Château-Renault--a stretch of some +five-and-twenty miles--were not strong enough to oppose the German +advance, and some of them ran the risk of having their retreat cut off. +Chanzy realized the danger, and on the morning of January 8 he despatched +Jauréguiberry to take command of all the troops distributed from the south +to the south-east, between Château-du-Loir and Château-Renault, and bring +them to Le Mans. + +But the 10th German Corps was advancing in these directions, and, after +an engagement with Barry's troops at Ruillé, secured positions round La +Chartre. This seriously threatened the retreat of the column under General +Curten, which was still at Saint Amand, and, moreover, it was a further +menace to Barry himself, as his division was distributed over a front of +fourteen miles near Château-du-Loir. Jauréguiberry, however, entreated +Barry to continue guarding the river Loir, in the hope of Curten being +able to retreat to that point. + +Whilst, however, these defensive attempts were being made to the south of +Le Mans, the Germans were pressing forward on the north-east and the +east, Prince Frederick Charles being eager to come in touch with Chanzy's +main forces, regardless of what might happen on the Loir and at Saint +Amand. On the north-east the enemy advanced to La Ferté Bernard; on the +east, at Vancé, a brigade of German cavalry drove back the French +cuirassiers and Algerians, and Prince Frederick Charles then proceeded as +far as Saint Calais, where he prepared for decisive action. One army corps +was sent down the line of the Huisne, another had orders to advance on +Ardenay, a third on Bouloire, whilst the fourth, leaving Barry on its left +flank, was to march on Parigné-l'Evêque. Thus, excepting a brigade of +infantry and one of cavalry, detached to observe the isolated Curten, and +hold him in check, virtually the whole of the German Second Army marched +against Chanzy's main forces. + +Chanzy, on his side, now ordered Jaurès (21st Corps) to occupy the +positions of Yvré, Auvours, and Sargé strongly; whilst Colomb (17th Corps) +was instructed to send General Pâris's division forward to Ardenay, thus +reducing Colomb's actual command to one division, as Jouffroy's column had +previously been detached from it. On both sides every operation was +attended by great difficulties on account of the very severe weather. +A momentary thaw had been followed by another sudden frost, in such wise +that the roads had a coating of ice, which rendered them extremely +slippery. On January 9 violent snowstorms set in, almost blinding one, and +yet the rival hosts did not for an hour desist from their respective +efforts. At times, when I recall those days, I wonder whether many who +have read of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow have fully realized what that +meant. Amidst the snowstorms of the 9th a force of German cavalry attacked +our extreme left and compelled it to retreat towards the Alençon line. +Rousseau's column being in a dangerous position at Connerré, Colin's +division of the 21st Corps was sent forward to support it in the direction +of Montfort, Gougeard with his Bretons also advancing to support Colin. +But the 13th German Corps attacked Rousseau, who after two engagements +was driven from Connerré and forced to retreat on Montfort and +Pont-de-Gennes across the Huisne, after losing in killed, wounded, and +missing, some 800 of his men, whereas the enemy lost barely a hundred. +At the same time Gougeard was attacked, and compelled to fall back on +Saint-Mars-la-Bruyére. + +But the principal event of the day was the defeat of General Paris's force +at Ardenay by a part of the 3rd German Corps. The latter had a superiority +in numbers, but the French in their demoralised condition scarcely put up +a fight at all, in such wise that the Germans took about 1000 prisoners. +The worst, however, was that, by seizing Ardenay, the enemy drove as it +were a wedge between the French forces, hampering their concentration. +Meantime, the 9th German Corps marched to Bouloire, which became Prince +Frederick Charles's headquarters. The 10th Corps, however, had not yet +been able to advance to Parigné l'Evêque in accordance with the Prince's +orders, though it had driven Barry back on Jupilles and Grand Lucé. The +sole advantage secured by the French that day was that Curten managed to +retreat from Château-Renault; but it was only on the night of the 10th, +when he could be of little or no use to Chanzy, that he was able to reach +Château-du-Loir, where, in response to Chanzy's urgent appeals, +Jauréguiberry had succeeded in collecting a few thousand men to reinforce +the troops defending Le Mans. + +For four days there had been fighting on one and another point, from the +north-east to the south of the town, the result being unfavourable to the +French. Chanzy, it is true, was at this critical moment in bad health. +According to one account which I heard at the time, he had had an attack +of dysentery; according to another, he was suffering from some throat +complaint, combined with violent neuralgic pains in the head. I do not +think, however, that his ill-health particularly affected the issue, which +depended so largely on the manner in which his plans and instructions were +carried out. The strategy adopted by the Germans at Sedan and in the +battles around Metz had greatly impressed the generals who commanded the +French armies during the second period of the war. One might really say +that they lived in perpetual dread of being surrounded by the enemy. If +there was a lack of concentration on Chanzy's part, if he sent out one and +another flying column, and distributed a considerable portion of his army +over a wide area, it was precisely because he feared some turning movement +on the part of the Germans, which might result in bottling him up at +Le Mans. + +The earlier instructions which Prince Frederick Charles forwarded to his +subordinates certainly seem to indicate that a turning movement was +projected. But after the fighting on January 9, when, as I have indicated, +the 3rd German Army Corps penetrated wedge-like into the French lines, the +Prince renounced any idea of surrounding Chanzy's forces, and resolved to +make a vigorous frontal attack before they could be reinforced by any of +the still outlying columns. In coming to this decision, the Prince may +well have been influenced by the result of the recent fighting, which had +sufficiently demonstrated the superiority of the German troops to show +that, under the circumstances, a frontal attack would be attended with far +less risk than if he had found himself faced by a really vigorous +antagonist. Captain Hozier, whom I had previously seen at Versailles, was +at this time acting as _Times_ correspondent with the Prince's army, and, +in subsequently reviewing the fighting, he expressed the opinion that the +issue of the Prince's operations was never for a moment doubtful. Still, +on all points but one, the French put up a fairly good defence, as I will +now show. + + + +XII + +LE MANS AND AFTER + +The real Battle of Le Mans begins (January 10)--Jouffroy and Pâris +are driven back--Gougeard's Fight at Champagné--The Breton Mobilisés +from Conlie--Chanzy's Determination--His Orders for January 11--He +inspects the Lines--Pâris driven from the Plateau of Auvours--Gougeard's +gallant re-capture of the Plateau--My Return to Le Mans--The Panic at La +Tuilerie--Retreat inevitable--Withdrawal of the French--Entry of the +Germans--Street Fighting--German Exactions--My Escape from Le Mans--The +French Retreat--Rear-Guard Engagements--Laval--My Arrest as a Spy--A +Dramatic Adventure. + + +Some more snow fell on the morning of January 10, when the decisive +fighting in front of Le Mans really began. On the evening of the 9th the +French headquarters was still without news of Generals Curten, Barry, +and Jouffroy, and even the communications with Jauréguiberry were of an +intermittent character. Nevertheless, Chanzy had made up his mind to give +battle, and had sent orders to Jauréguiberry to send Jouffroy towards +Parigné-l'Evêque (S.E.) and Barry towards Ecommoy (S. of Le Mans). But +the roads were in so bad a condition, and the French troops had been so +severely tried, and were so ill-provided for, that several of the +commander-in-chief's instructions could not be carried out. + +Jouffroy at least did his best, and after a hard and tiring march from +Grand Lucé, a part of his division reached Parigné in time to join in the +action fought there. But it ended disastrously for the French, one of +their brigades losing as many as 1400 men, and the Germans taking +altogether some 2000 prisoners. Jouffroy's troops then fell back to +Pontlieue, the southern suburb of Le Mans, in a lamentable condition, and +took care to place the Huisne between themselves and the Germans. In the +same direction Paris's demoralised, division, already worsted at Ardenay +on the previous day, was driven from Changé by the 3rd German Corps, which +took no fewer than 5000 prisoners. It had now almost cut the French +eastern and southern lines apart, threatening all direct communication +between the 21st and the 16th French Corps. Nevertheless, it was in a +dangerous position, having both of its flanks exposed to attack, one from +Yvré and Auvours, and the other from Pontlieue and the Chemin des Boeufs, +which last line was held by the 16th French Corps. + +Meantime, Gougeard's Bretons had been engaged at Champagné, quite a close +encounter taking place in the fields and on the vineyard slopes, followed +by a house-to-house fight in the village streets. The French were at last +driven back; but somewhat later, on the Germans retiring from Champagné, +they reoccupied the place. The result of the day was that, apart from the +somewhat hazardous success achieved by the 3rd German Corps, the enemy had +gained no great advantage. His 13th Corps had made but little progress, +his 9th had not been brought into action, and his 10th was as yet no +nearer than Grand Lucé. On the French side, Barry had at last reached +Mulsanne, thus covering the direct southern road to Le Mans, Jauréguiberry +being lower down at Ecommoy with some 9000 men of various arms and +regiments, whom he had managed to get together. As for Curten's division, +as it could not possibly reach the immediate neighbourhood of Le Mans in +time for the fighting on the 11th, it received orders to march on La Suze, +south-west of the imperilled town. During the 10th, moreover, Chanzy was +strengthened by the welcome arrival of several additional field-pieces and +a large number of horses. He had given orders to raise the Camp of Conlie, +but instead of the forty or fifty thousand men, which at an earlier period +it was thought that camp would be able to provide, he now only derived +from it some 9000 ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost undrilled +Breton Mobilisés. [On the other hand, as I previously related, the camp +had already provided the bulk of the men belonging to Gougeard's +division.] They were divided into six battalions--one of which came +from Saint Malo, the others from Rennes and Redon--and were commanded by +a general named Lalande. They proved to be no accession of strength; they +became, on the contrary, a source of weakness, and disaster, for it was +their behaviour which eventually sealed the fate of the Second Loire Army. + +But Chanzy, whatever his ailments might be, was personally full of energy +and determination. He knew, moreover, that two new army corps (the 19th +and the 25th) were being got ready to reinforce him, and he was still +resolved to give battle and hold on for another four or five days, when he +relied on compelling Prince Frederick Charles to retreat. Then, with his +reinforced army, he hoped to march once more in the direction of Paris. +Curiously enough, it was precisely on that critical day, January 10, that +Gambetta sent Trochu a despatch by pigeon-post, telling him that on the +20th, at the latest, both Chanzy and Bourbaki would be moving on the +capital, having between them over 400,000 men. + +But if Chanzy's spirits did not fail him, those of his men were at a very +low ebb indeed. He was repeatedly told so by subordinate commanders; +nevertheless (there was something Napoleonic in his character), he would +not desist from his design, but issued instructions that there was to be a +resolute defence of the lines on the 11th, together with a determined +effort to regain all lost positions. At the same time, the statements of +the divisional generals respecting the low _morale_ of some of the troops +were not left unheeded, for a very significant order went forth, namely, +that cavalry should be drawn up in the rear of the infantry wherever this +might appear advisable. The inference was obvious. + +Three divisions and Lalande's Breton Mobilisés were to hold the +south-eastern lines from Arnage along the track known as the Chemin des +Boeufs, and to link up, as well as possible, with Pâris's and Gougeard's +divisions, to which fell the duty of guarding the plateau of Auvours and +the banks of the Huisne. The rest of the 21st Corps (to which Gougeard's +division belonged) was to defend the space between the Huisne and the +Sarthe. Colomb's fragmentary force, apart from Pâris's division, was still +to cover Le Mans towards the north-east. Barry's men, on their expected +arrival, were to serve as reserves around Pontlieue. + +The morning of January 11 was bright. The snow had ceased falling, but lay +some inches thick upon the ground. In order to facilitate the passage of +troops, and particularly of military waggons, through the town, the Mayor +of Le Mans ordered the inhabitants to clear away as much of this snow as +possible; but it naturally remained undisturbed all over the countryside. +Little had been seen of Chanzy on the two previous days, but that morning +he mounted horse and rode along the lines from the elevated position known +as Le Tertre Rouge to the equally elevated position of Yvré. I saw him +there, wrapped in a long loose cloak, the hood of which was drawn over his +képi. Near him was his picturesque escort of Algerian Spahis, and while he +was conversing with some officers I pulled out a little sketch-book which +I carried, and tried to outline the group. An aide-de-camp who noticed me +at once came up to inquire what I was doing, and I therefore had to +produce the permit which, on returning to the front, I had obtained from +the Chief of the Staff. It was found to be quite in order, and I went on +with my work. But a few minutes later the general, having given his +orders, gathered up his reins to ride away. As he slowly passed me, he +gave me just one little sharp glance, and with a faint suspicion of a +smile remarked, "I will look at that another time." The aide-de-camp had +previously told him what my purpose was. + +That day the 3rd German Corps again resumed the offensive, and once more +drove Gougeard out of Champagné. Then the enemy's 9th Corps, which on +January 10 had done little or nothing, and was therefore quite fresh, was +brought into action, and made a resolute attack on the plateau of Auvours. +There was a fairly long fight, which could be seen from Yvré. But the +Germans were too strong for Pâris's men, who at last disbanded, and came, +helter-skelter, towards the bridge of Yvré in terrible confusion. Flight +is often contagious, and Gougeard, who had fallen back from Champagné in +fairly good order, feared lest his men should imitate their comrades. +He therefore pointed two field-pieces on the runaways, and by that means +checked their stampede. + +Having established themselves at the farther end of the plateau, the +Germans advanced very cautiously, constantly seeking cover behind the +various hedges. General de Colomb, to whose command Pâris's runaway +division belonged, insisted, however, that the position must be retaken. +Gougeard thereupon collected a very miscellaneous force, which included +regular infantry, mobiles, mobilisés, and some of Charette's Volontaires +de l'Ouest--previously known in Borne as the Pontifical Zouaves. Placing +himself at the head of these men, he made a vigorous effort to carry out +Colomb's orders. The French went forward almost at the charge, the Germans +waiting for them from behind the hedges, whence poured a hail of lead. +Gougeard's horse was shot under him, a couple of bullets went through his +coat, and another--or, as some said, a splinter of a shell--knocked off +his képi. Still, he continued leading his men, and in the fast failing +light the Germans, after repeated encounters, were driven back to the +verge of the plateau. + +That was told me afterwards, for at the moment I was already on my way +back to Le Mans, which I wished to reach before it was absolutely night. +On coming from the town early in the morning, I had brought a few eatables +in my pockets, but they had soon been consumed, and I had found it +impossible to obtain any food whatever at Yvré, though some of the very +indifferent local wine was procurable. Thus I was feeling very hungry as I +retraced my steps through the snow towards the little hostelry in the Rue +du Gué de Maulny, where I had secured accommodation. It was a walk of some +four or five miles, but the cold urged me on, and, in spite of the snow, +I made the journey fairly rapidly, in such wise that little more than an +hour later I was seated in a warm room in front of some steaming soup, +answering all sorts of questions as to what I had seen during the day, +and particularly whether _les nôtres_ had gained a victory. I could only +answer that the "Prussians" had taken Auvours, but that fighting was still +going on, as Gougeard had gone to recapture the position. At the moment, +indeed, that was the extent of my information. The landlord looked rather +glum and his daughter somewhat anxious, and the former, shaking his head, +exclaimed: "Voyez-vous, Monsieur l'Anglais, nous n'avons pas de chance-- +pas de chance du tout! Je ne sais pas à quoi ca tient, mais c'est comme +ca. Et, tenez, cela ne me surprendrait pas de voir ces sales Prussiens +dans la ville d'ici à demain!" ["We have no luck, no luck at all. +I don't know why, but there it is. And, do you know, it would not surprise +me to see those dirty Prussians in the town between now and to-morrow."] +Unfortunately for Le Mans and for France also, his forebodings were +accurate. At that very moment, indeed, a great disaster was occurring. + +Jauréguiberry had reached the southern suburb of Pontlieue at about nine +o'clock that morning after a night march from Ecommoy. He had divided his +miscellaneous force of 9000 men into three brigades. As they did not seem +fit for immediate action, they were drafted into the reserves, so that +their arrival was of no particular help that day. About eleven o'clock the +3rd German Corps, coming from the direction of Changé, attacked Jouffroy's +lines along the more northern part of the so-called Chemin des Boeufs, +and, though Jouffroy's men fought fairly well, they could not prevent +their foes from capturing the position of the Tertre Rouge. Still, the +enemy gained no decisive success in this direction; nor was any marked +result attained by the 13th German Corps which formed the extreme right of +the attacking forces. But Prince Frederick Charles had sent orders to +Voigts Rhetz, who was at Grand Lucé, [A brigade of cavalry kept up +communications between him and the 3rd Army Corps.] advance with the +10th Corps on Mulsanne, which the French had evacuated; and on reaching +Mulsanne, the same general received instructions to come to the support of +the 3rd Corps, which was engaged with Jouffroy's force. Voigts Rhetz's men +were extremely fatigued; nevertheless, the 20th Division of Infantry, +commanded by General Kraatz-Koschlau, went on towards the Chemin des +Boeufs, following the direct road from Tours to Le Mans. + +Here there was an elevated position known as La Tuilerie--otherwise the +tile-works--which had been fortified expressly to prevent the Germans from +bursting upon Le Mans from the direct south. Earth-works for guns had been +thrown up, trenches had been dug, the pine trees, so abundant on the +southern side of Le Mans, had been utilised for other shielding works, as +well as for shelter-places for the defending force. Unfortunately, at the +moment of the German advance, that defending force consisted of the +ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost untrained Breton Mobilisés, +[There were just a few old soldiers among them.] who, as I have already +related, had arrived the previous day from the camp of Conlie under the +command of General Lalande. It is true that near these men was stationed +an infantry brigade of the 6th Corps d'Armée, whose duty it was to support +and steady them. They undoubtedly needed to be helped, for the great +majority had never been in action before. Moreover, in addition to the +infantry brigade, there were two batteries of artillery; but I fear that +for the most part the gunners were little better than recruits. +Exaggerated statements have been made respecting the quality of the +firearms with which the Mobilisés were provided. Many of the weapons were +afterwards found to be very dirty, even rusty, but that was the result of +neglect, which their officers should have remedied. It is true, however, +that these weapons were for the most part merely percussion guns. Again, +it has been said that the men had no ammunition, but that statement was +certainly inaccurate. On the other hand, these Mobilisés were undoubtedly +very cold and very hungry--even as I myself was that day--no rations +having been served to them until late in the afternoon, that is, shortly +before they were attacked, at which moment, indeed, they were actually +preparing the meal for which they had so long been waiting. + +The wintry night was gathering round when Kraatz-Kosohlau found himself +with his division before the position of La Tuilerie. He could see that it +was fortified, and before attempting any further advance he fired a few +shells. The Mobilisés were immediately panic-stricken. They made no +attempt at defence; hungry though they were, they abandoned even their +pots and pans, and fled in the direction of Pontlieue, which formed, as it +were, a long avenue, fringed with factories, textile mills, bleaching +works, and so forth. In vain did their officers try to stop the fugitives, +even striking them with the flats of their swords, in vain did Lalande and +his staff seek to intercept them at the Rond Point de Pontlieue. Nothing +could induce them to stop. They threw away their weapons in order to run +the faster. At La Tuilerie not a gun was fired at the Germans. Even the +infantry brigade fell back, without attempting to fight. + +All this occurred at a moment when everybody thought that the day's +fighting was over. But Jauréguiberry appeared upon the scene, and ordered +one of his subordinates, General Lebouëdeo, to retake the lost position. +Lebouëdeo tried to do so with 1000 tired men, who had been in action +during the day, and failed. A second attempt proved equally futile. No +effort apparently was made to secure help from Barry, who was at Arnage +with 5000 infantry and two brigades of cavalry, and who might have fallen +on the left flank of the German Corps. La Tuilerie was lost, and with it +Le Mans was lost also. + +I was quietly sipping some coffee and reading the local newspapers--three +or four were published at Le Mans in those days--when I heard of that +disastrous stampede. Some of the men had reached the town, spreading the +contagion of fear as they came. Tired though I was, I at once went towards +the Avenue de Fontlieue, where the excitement was general. Gendarmes were +hurrying hither and thither, often arresting the runaways, and at other +times picking up weapons and cartridge-cases which had been flung away. So +numerous were the abandoned weapons and equipments that cartloads of them +were collected. Every now and then an estafette galloped to or from the +town. The civilians whom one met wore looks of consternation. It was +evident, indeed, to everybody who knew how important was the position of +La Tuilerie, that its capture by the Germans placed Le Mans in jeopardy. +When the two attempts to retake it had failed, Jauréguiberry urged +immediate retreat. This was rendered the more imperative by other events +of the night and the early morning, for, inspirited by their capture of La +Tuilerie, the Germans made fresh efforts in other directions, so that +Barry had to quit Arnage, whilst Jouffroy lost most of his positions near +the Chemin des Boeufs, and the plateau d'Auvours had again to be +evacuated. + +At 8 a.m. on January 12, Chanzy, after suggesting a fresh attempt to +recover La Tuilerie, which was prevented by the demoralisation of the +troops, was compelled to give a reluctant assent to Jauréguiberry's +proposals of retreat. At the same time, he wished the retreat to be +carried out slowly and methodically, and informed Gambetta that he +intended to withdraw in the direction of Aleneon (Orne) and Pré-en-Pail +(Mayenne). This meant moving into Normandy, and Gambetta pointed out that +such a course would leave all Brittany open to the enemy, and enable him +to descend without opposition even to the mouth of the Loire. Chanzy was +therefore instructed to retreat on Laval, and did so; but as he had +already issued orders for the other route, great confusion ensued, the new +orders only reaching the subordinate commanders on the evening of the +12th. + +From January 6 to 12 the French had lost 6000 men in killed and wounded. +The Germans had taken 20,000 prisoners, and captured seventeen guns and a +large quantity of army materiel. Further, there was an incalculable number +of disbanded Mobiles and Mobilisés. If Prince Frederick Charles had known +at the time to what a deplorable condition Chanzy's army had been reduced, +he would probably have acted more vigorously than he did. It is true that +his own men (as Von Hoenig has admitted) were, generally speaking, in a +state of great fatigue after the six days' fighting, and also often badly +circumstanced in regard to clothing, boots, and equipments. [Even when the +armistice arrived I saw many German soldiers wearing French sabots.] Such +things cannot last for ever, and there had been little or no opportunity +to renew anything since the second battle of Orleans early in December. +In the fighting before Le Mans, however, the German loss in killed and +wounded was only 3400--200 of the number being officers, whom the French +picked off as often as possible. + +On the morning of the 12th all was confusion at Pontlieue. Guns, waggons, +horsemen, infantrymen, were congregated there, half blocking up the bridge +which connects this suburb with Le Mans. A small force under General de +Roquebrune was gallantly striving to check the Germans at one part of the +Chemin des Boeufs, in order to cover the retreat. A cordon of gendarmes +had been drawn up at the railway-station to prevent it from being invaded +by all the runaways. Some hundreds of wounded men were allowed access, +however, in order that they might, if possible, get away in one of the +many trains which were being sent off as rapidly as possible. This service +was in charge of an official named Piquet, who acted with the greatest +energy and acumen. Of the five railway-lines meeting at Le Mans only two +were available, that running to Rennes _viâ_ Laval, and that running to +Angers. I find from a report drawn up by M. Piquet a little later, that he +managed to send off twenty-five trains, some of them drawn by two and +three engines. They included about 1000 vans, trucks, and coaches; that is +558 vans laden with provisions (in part for the relief of Paris); 134 vans +and trucks laden with artillery _matériel_ and stores, 70 vans of +ammunition, 150 empty vans and trucks, and 176 passenger carriages. On +securing possession of the station, however, the Germans still found there +about 200 vans and carriages, and at least a dozen locomotive engines. The +last train left at 2.45 p.m. I myself got away (as I shall presently +relate) shortly after two o'clock, when the station was already being +bombarded. + +General de Roquebrune having, at last, been compelled to withdraw from the +vicinity of the Chemin des Boeufs, the Germans came on to the long avenue +of Pontlieue. Here they were met by most of the corps of gendarmes, which, +as I previously related, was attached to the headquarters-staff under +General Bourdillon. These men, who had two Gatlings with them, behaved +with desperate bravery in order to delay the German entry into the town. +About a hundred of them, including a couple of officers, were killed +during that courageous defence. It was found impossible, however, to blow +up the bridge. The operation had been delayed as long as possible in order +to facilitate the French retreat, and when the gendarmes themselves +withdrew, there no longer remained sufficient time to put it into +execution. + +The first Germans to enter the town belonged to the 38th Brigade of +Infantry, and to part of a cavalry force under General von Schmidt. After +crossing the bridge of Pontlieue, they divided into three columns. One of +them proceeded up the Rue du Quartier de Cavalerie in the direction of the +Place des Jacobins and the cathedral. The second also went towards the +upper town, marching, however, by way of the Rue Basse, which conducted to +the Place des Halles, where the chief hotels and cafés were situated. +Meantime, the third column turned to the left, and hastened towards the +railway station. But, to their great amazement, their advance was +repeatedly checked. There were still a number of French soldiers in the +town, among them being Mobile Guards, Gendarmes, Franc-tireurs, and a +party of Marine Fusiliers. The German column which began to ascend the Rue +Basse was repeatedly fired at, whereupon its commanding officer halted his +men, and by way of punishment had seven houses set on fire, before +attempting to proceed farther. Nevertheless, the resistance was prolonged +at various points, on the Place des Jacobins, for instance, and again on +the Place des Halles. Near the latter square is--or was--a little street +called the Rue Dumas, from which the French picked off a dozen or twenty +Germans, so infuriating their commander that he sent for a couple of +field-pieces, and threatened to sweep the whole town with projectiles. + +Meantime, a number of the French who had lingered at Le Mans were +gradually effecting their escape. Many artillery and commissariat waggons +managed to get away, and a local notability, M. Eugène Caillaux--father +of M. Joseph Caillaux who was French Prime Minister during the latter half +of 1911, and who is now (Dec., 1913) Minister of Finances--succeeded in +sending out of the town several carts full of rifles, which some of the +French troops had flung away. However, the street-fighting could not be +indefinitely prolonged. It ceased when about a hundred Germans and a +larger number of French, both soldiers and civilians, had been killed. +The Germans avenged themselves by pillaging the houses in the Rue Dumas, +and several on the Place des Halles, though they spared the Hôtel de +France there, as their commander, Voigts Rhetz, reserved it for his own +accommodation. Whilst the bombardment of a part of the lower town +continued--the railway station and the barracks called the Caserne de +la Mission being particularly affected--raids were made on the French +ambulances, in one of which, on the Boulevard Négrier, a patient was +barbarously bayoneted in his bed, on the pretext that he was a +Franc-tireur, whereas he really belonged to the Mobile Guard. At the +ambulance of the École Normale, the sisters and clergy were, according to +their sworn statements, grossly ill-treated. Patients, some of whom were +suffering from smallpox, were turned out of their beds--which were +required, it was said, for the German wounded. All the wine that could be +found was drunk, money was stolen, and there was vindictive destruction on +all sides. + +The Mayor [The Prefect, M. Le Chevalier, had followed the army in its +retreat, considering it his duty to watch over the uninvaded part of the +department of the Sartha.] of Le Mans, M. Richard, and his two _adjoints_, +or deputies, went down through the town carrying a towel as a flag of +truce, and on the Place de la Mission they at last found Voigts Rhetz +surrounded by his staff. The General at once informed the Mayor that, in +consequence of the resistance of the town, it would have to pay a +war-levy of four millions of francs (£160,000) within twenty-four hours, +and that the inhabitants would have to lodge and feed the German forces as +long as they remained there. All the appeals made against these hard +conditions were disregarded during nearly a fortnight. When both the Mayor +and the Bishop of Le Mans solicited audiences of Prince Frederick Charles, +they were told by the famous Count Harry von Arnim--who, curiously enough, +subsequently became German Ambassador to France, but embroiled himself +with Bismarck and died in exile--that if they only wished to tender their +humble duty to the Prince he would graciously receive them, but that he +refused to listen to any representations on behalf of the town. + +A first sum of £20,000 and some smaller ones were at last got together in +this town of 37,000 inhabitants, and finally, on January 23, the total +levy was reduced, as a special favour, to £80,000. Certain German +requisitions were also to be set off against £20,000 of that amount; but +they really represented about double the figure. A public loan had to be +raised in the midst of continual exactions, which lasted even after the +preliminaries of peace had been signed, the Germans regarding Le Mans as a +milch cow from which too much could not be extracted. + +The anxieties of the time might well have sufficed to make the Mayor ill, +but, as a matter of fact, he caught small-pox, and his place had to be +taken by a deputy, who with the municipal council, to which several local +notabilities were adjoined, did all that was possible to satisfy the greed +of the Germans. Small-pox, I may mention, was very prevalent at Le Mans, +and some of the ambulances were specially reserved for soldiers who had +contracted that disease. Altogether, about 21,000 men (both French and +Germans), suffering from wounds or diseases of various kinds, were treated +in the town's ambulances from November 1 to April 15. + +Some thousands of Germans were billeted on the inhabitants, whom they +frequently robbed with impunity, all complaints addressed to the German +Governor, an officer named Von Heiduck, being disregarded. This individual +ordered all the inhabitants to give up any weapons which they possessed, +under penalty of death. Another proclamation ordained the same punishment +for anybody who might give the slightest help to the French army, or +attempt to hamper the German forces. Moreover, the editors, printers, and +managers of three local newspapers were summarily arrested and kept in +durance on account of articles against the Germans which they had written, +printed, or published _before_ Chanzy's defeat. + +On January 13, which chanced to be a Friday, Prince Frederick Charles made +his triumphal entry into Le Mans, the bands of the German regiments +playing all their more popular patriotic airs along the route which +his Royal Highness took in order to reach the Prefecture--a former +eighteenth-century convent--where he intended to install himself. On the +following day the Mayor received the following letter: + +"Mr. Mayor, + +"I request you to send to the Prefecture by half-past five o'clock this +afternoon 24 spoons, 24 forks, and 36 knives, as only just sufficient for +the number of people at table have been sent, and there is no means of +changing the covers. For dinner you will provide 20 bottles of Bordeaux, +30 bottles of Champagne, two bottles of Madeira, and 2 bottles of +liqueurs, which must be at the Prefecture at six o'clock precisely. +The wine previously sent not being good, neither the Bordeaux nor the +Champagne, you must send better kinds, otherwise I shall have to inflict +a fine upon the town. + +(Signed) "Von Kanitz." + +This communication was followed almost immediately afterwards by another, +emanating from the same officer, who was one of the Prince's +aides-de-camp. He therein stated (invariably employing, be it said, +execrable French) that the _café-au-lait_ was to be served at the +Prefecture at 8 a.m.; the _déjeuner_ at noon; and the dinner at 7.30 p.m. +At ten o'clock every morning, the Mayor was to send 40 bottles of +Bordeaux, 40 bottles of Champagne, 6 bottles of Madeira, and 3 bottles of +liqueurs. He was also to provide waiters to serve at table, and kitchen- +and scullery-maids. And Kanitz concluded by saying: "If the least thing +fails, a remarkable (_sic_) fine will be inflicted on the town." + +On January 15 an order was sent to the Mayor to supply at once, for the +Prince's requirements, 25 kilogrammes of ham; 13 kilos. of sausages; +13 kilos. of tongues; 5 dozen eggs; vegetables of all sorts, particularly +onions; 15 kilos. of Gruyère cheese; 5 kilos. of Parmesan; 15 kilos. +of best veal; 20 fowls; 6 turkeys; 12 ducks; 5 kilos. of powdered sugar. +[All the German orders and requisitions are preserved in the municipal +archives of Le Mans.] No wine was ever good enough for Prince Frederick +Charles and his staff. The complaints sent to the town-hall were +incessant. Moreover, the supply of Champagne, by no means large in such a +place as Le Mans, gave out, and then came all sorts of threats. The +municipal councillors had to trot about trying to discover a few bottles +here and there in private houses, in order to supply the requirements of +the Princely Staff. There was also a scarcity of vegetables, and yet there +were incessant demands for spinach, cauliflowers, and artichokes, and even +fruit for the Prince's tarts. One day Kanitz went to the house where the +unfortunate Mayor was lying in bed, and told him that he must get up and +provide vegetables, as none had been sent for the Prince's table. The +Mayor protested that the whole countryside was covered with snow, and that +it was virtually impossible to satisfy such incessant demands; but, as he +afterwards related, ill and worried though he was, he could not refrain +from laughing when he was required to supply several pounds of truffles. +Truffles at Le Mans, indeed! In those days, too! The idea was quite +ridiculous. + +Not only had the demands of Prince Frederick Charles's staff to be +satisfied, but there were those of Voigts Rhetz, and of all the officers +lodging at the Hôtel de France, the Hôtel du Dauphin, the Hôtel de la +Boule d'Or and other hostelries. These gentlemen were very fond of giving +dinners, and "mine host" was constantly being called upon to provide all +sorts of delicacies at short notice. The cellars of the Hôtel de France +were drunk dry. The common soldiers also demanded the best of everything +at the houses where they were billeted; and sometimes they played +extraordinary pranks there. Half a dozen of them, who were lodged at a +wine-shop in, I think, the Rue Dumas, broached a cask of brandy, poured +the contents into a tub, and washed their feet in the spirituous liquor. +It may be that a "brandy bath" is a good thing for sore feet; and that +might explain the incident. However, when I think of it, I am always +reminded of how, in the days of the Second Empire, the spendthrift Due de +Gramont-Caderousse entered the. Café Anglais in Paris, one afternoon, +called for a silver soup-tureen, had two or three bottles of champagne +poured into it, and then made an unrepentant Magdalen of the Boulevards, +whom he had brought with him, wash his feet in the sparkling wine. From +that afternoon until the Café Anglais passed out of existence no silver +soup-tureens were ever used there. + +I have given the foregoing particulars respecting the German occupation +of Le Mans--they are principally derived from official documents--just to +show the reader what one might expect if, for instance, a German force +should land at Hull or Grimsby and fight its way successfully to--let us +say--York or Leeds or Nottingham. The incidents which occurred at Le Mans +were by no means peculiar to that town. Many similar instances occurred +throughout the invaded regions of France. I certainly do not wish to +impute gluttony to Prince Frederick Charles personally. But during the +years which followed the Franco-German War I made three fairly long +stays at Berlin, putting up at good hotels, where officers--sometimes +generals--often lunched and dined. And their appetites frequently amazed +me, whilst their manners at table were repulsive. In those days most +German officers were bearded, and I noticed that between the courses at +luncheon and at dinner it was a common practice of theirs to produce +pocket-glasses and pocket-combs, and comb their beards--as well as the +hair on their heads--over the table. As for their manner of eating and the +noise they made in doing so, the less said the better. In regard to +manners, I have always felt that the French of 1870-71 were in some +respects quite entitled to call their enemies "barbarians"; but that was +forty-three years ago, and as time works wonders, the manners of the +German military element may have improved. + +In saying something about the general appearance of Le Mans, I pointed out +that the town now has a Place de la République, a Gambetta Bridge, a Rue +Thiers, and a statue of Chanzy; but at the period of the war and for a +long time afterwards it detested the Republic (invariably returning +Bonapartist or Orleanist deputies), sneered at Gambetta, and hotly +denounced the commander of the Loire Army. Its grievance against Chanzy +was that he had made it his headquarters and given battle in its immediate +vicinity. The conflict having ended disastrously for the French arms, the +townsfolk lamented that it had ever taken place. Why had Chanzy brought +his army there? they indignantly inquired. He might very well have gone +elsewhere. So strong was this Manceau feeling against the general--a +feeling inspired by the sufferings which the inhabitants experienced at +the time, notably in consequence of the German exactions--that fifteen +years later, when the general's statue (for which there had been a +national subscription) was set up in the town, the displeasure there was +very great, and the monument was subjected to the most shameful +indignities. [At Nouart, his native place, there is another statue of +Chanzy, which shows him pointing towards the east. On the pedestal is the +inscription; "The generals who wish to obtain the bâton of Marshal of +France must seek it across the Rhine"--words spoken by him in one of his +speeches subsequent to the war.] But all that has passed. Nowadays, both +at Auvours and at Pontlieue, there are monuments to those who fell +fighting for France around Le Mans, and doubtless the town, in becoming +more Republican, has become more patriotic also. + +Before relating how I escaped from Le Mans on the day when the retreat was +ordered, there are a few other points with which I should like to deal +briefly. It is tolerably well known that I made the English translation of +Emile Zola's great novel, "La Débâcle," and a good many of my present +readers may have read that work either in the original French or in the +version prepared by me. Now, I have always thought that some of the +characters introduced by Zola into his narrative were somewhat +exceptional. I doubt if there were many such absolutely neurotic +degenerates as "Maurice" in the French Army at any period of the war. I +certainly never came across such a character. Again, the psychology of +Stephen Crane's "Red Badge of Courage," published a few years after "La +Débâcle," and received with acclamations by critics most of whom had never +in their lives been under fire, also seems to me to be of an exceptional +character. I much prefer the psychology of the Waterloo episode in +Stendhal's "Chartreuse de Parme," because it is of more general +application. "The Red Badge of Courage," so the critics told us, showed +what a soldier exactly felt and thought in the midst of warfare. Unlike +Stendhal, however, its author had never "served." No more had Zola; and I +feel that many of the pictures which novelists have given us of a +soldier's emotions when in action apply only to exceptional cases, and are +even then somewhat exaggerated. + +In action there is no time for thought. The most trying hours for a man +who is in any degree of a sensitive nature are those spent in night-duty +as a sentry or as one of a small party at some lonely outpost. Then +thoughts of home and happiness, and of those one loves, may well arise. +There is one little point in connexion with this subject which I must +mention. Whenever letters were found on the bodies of men who fell during +the Franco-German War, they were, if this man was a Frenchman, more +usually letters from his mother, and, if he was a German, more usually +letters from his sweetheart. Many such letters found their way into print +during the course of the war. It is a well-known fact that a Frenchman's +cult for his mother is a trait of the national character, and that a +Frenchwoman almost always places her child before her husband. + +But what struck me particularly during the Franco-German War was that +the anxieties and mental sufferings of the French officers were much +keener than those of the men. Many of those officers were married, some +had young children, and in the silent hours of a lonely night-watch their +thoughts often travelled to their dear ones. I well remember how an +officer virtually unbosomed himself to me on this subject one night near +Yvré-l'Evêque. The reason of it all is obvious. The higher a man's +intelligence, the greater is his sense of responsibility and the force of +his attachments. But in action the latter are set aside; they only obtrude +at such times as I have said or else at the moment of death. + +Of actual cowardice there were undoubtedly numerous instances during the +war, but a great deal might be said in defence of many of the men who here +and there abandoned their positions. During the last months their +sufferings were frequently terrible. At best they were often only +partially trained. There was little cohesion in many battalions. There was +a great lack of efficient non-commissioned officers. Instead of drafting +regular soldiers from the _dépôts_ into special regiments, as was often +done, it might have been better to have distributed them among the Mobiles +and Mobilisés, whom they would have steadied. Judging by all that I +witnessed at that period, I consider it essential that any territorial +force should always contain a certain number of trained soldiers who have +previously been in action. And any such force should always have the +support of regulars and of efficient artillery. I have related how certain +Breton Mobilisés abandoned La Tuilerie. They fled before the regulars or +the artillery could support them; but they were, perhaps, the very rawest +levies in all Chanzy's forces. Other Breton Mobilisés, on other points, +fought very well for men of their class. For instance, no reproach could +be addressed to the battalions of St. Brieuo, Brest, Quimper, Lorient, and +Nantes. They were better trained than were the men stationed at La +Tuilerie, and it requires some time to train a Breton properly. That +effected, he makes a good soldier. + +Respecting my own feelings during that war, I may say that the paramount +one was curiosity. To be a journalist, a man must be inquisitive. It is +a _sine quâ non_ of his profession. Moreover, I was very young; I had no +responsibilities; I may have been in love, or have thought I was, but I +was on my own, and my chief desire was to see as much as I could. I +willingly admit that, when Gougeard's column was abruptly attacked at +Droué, I experienced some trepidation at finding myself under fire; but +firmness may prove as contagious as fear, and when Gougeard rallied his +men and went forward to repel the Germans, interest and a kind of +excitement took possession of me. Moreover, as I was, at least nominally, +attached to the ambulance service, there was duty to be done, and that +left no opportunity for thought. The pictures of the ambulances in or near +Sedan are among the most striking ones contained in "La Débâcle," and, +judging by what I saw elsewhere, Zola exaggerated nothing. The ambulance +is the truly horrible side of warfare. To see men lying dead on the ground +is, so to say, nothing. One gets used to it. But to see them amputated, +and to see them lying in bed suffering, often acutely, from dreadful +wounds, or horrible diseases--dysentery, typhus, small-pox--that is the +thing which tries the nerves of all but the doctors and the trained +nurses. On several occasions I helped to carry wounded men, and felt no +emotion in doing so; but more than once I was almost overcome by the sight +of all the suffering in some ambulance. + +When, on the morning of January 12, I heard that a general retreat had +been ordered, I hesitated as to what course I should pursue. I did not +then anticipate the street-fighting, and the consequent violence of the +Germans. But journalistic instinct told me that if I remained in the town +until after the German entry I might then find it very difficult to get +away and communicate with my people. At the same time, I did not think the +German entry so imminent as proved to be the case; and I spent a +considerable time in the streets watching all the tumult which prevailed +there. Now and again a sadly diminished battalion went by in fairly good +order. But numbers of disbanded men hurried hither and thither in +confusion. Here and there a street was blocked with army vans and waggons, +whose drivers were awaiting orders, not knowing which direction to take. +Officers and estafettes galloped about on all sides. Then a number of +wounded men were carried in carts, on stretchers, and on trucks towards +the railway-station. Others, with their heads bandaged or their arms in +slings, walked painfully in the same direction. Outside the station there +was a strong cordon of Gendarmes striving to resist all the pressure of a +great mob of disbanded men who wished to enter and get away in the trains. +At one moment, when, after quite a struggle, some of the wounded were +conveyed through the mob and the cordon, the disbanded soldiers followed, +and many of them fought their way into the station in spite of all the +efforts of the Gendarmes. The _mêlée_ was so desperate that I did not +attempt to follow, but, after watching it for some time, retraced my steps +towards my lodging. All was hubbub and confusion at the little inn, and +only with difficulty could I get anything to eat there. A little later, +however, I managed to tell the landlord--his name was Dubuisson--that I +meant to follow the army, and, if possible, secure a place in one of the +trains which were frequently departing. After stowing a few necessaries +away in my pockets, I begged him to take charge of my bag until some +future day, and the worthy old man then gave me some tips as to how I +might make my way into the station, by going a little beyond it, and +climbing a palisade. + +We condoled with one another and shook hands. I then went out. The +cannonade, which had been going on for several hours, had now become more +violent. Several shells had fallen on or near the Caserne de la Mission +during the morning. Now others were falling near the railway-station. +I went my way, however, turned to the right on quitting the Rue du +Gué-de-Maulny, reached some palings, and got on to the railway-line. +Skirting it, I turned to the left, going back towards the station. +I passed one or two trains, which were waiting. But they were composed of +trucks and closed vans. I might perhaps have climbed on to one of the +former, but it was a bitterly cold day; and as for the latter, of course +I could not hope to enter one of them. So I kept on towards the station, +and presently, without let or hindrance, I reached one of the platforms. + +Le Mans being an important junction, its station was very large, in some +respects quite monumental. The principal part was roofed with glass and +suggested Charing Cross. I do not remember exactly the number of lines of +metals running through it, but I think there must have been four or five. +There were two trains waiting there, one of them, which was largely +composed of passenger carriages, being crammed with soldiers. I tried to +get into one carriage, but was fiercely repulsed. So, going to the rear of +this train, I crossed to another platform, where the second train was. +This was made up of passenger coaches and vans. I scrambled into one of +the latter, which was open. There were a number of packing-cases inside +it, but there was at least standing room for several persons. Two railway +men and two or three soldiers were already there. One of the former helped +me to get in. I had, be it said, a semi-military appearance, for my grey +frieze coat was frogged, and besides, what was more important, I wore the +red-cross armlet given me at the time when I followed Gougeard's column. + +Almost immediately afterwards the train full of soldiers got away. The +cannonade was now very loud, and the glass roof above us constantly +vibrated. Some minutes elapsed whilst we exchanged impressions. Then, all +at once, a railway official--it may have been M. Piquet himself--rushed +along the platform in the direction of the engine, shouting as he went: +"Dépêchez! Dépêchez! Sauvez-vous!" At the same moment a stray artilleryman +was seen hastening towards us; but suddenly there came a terrific crash of +glass, a shell burst through the roof and exploded, and the unlucky +artilleryman fell on the platform, evidently severely wounded. We were +already in motion, however, and the line being dear, we got fairly swiftly +across the viaduct spanning the Sarthe. This placed us beyond the reach of +the enemy, and we then slowed down. + +One or two more trains were got away after ours, the last one, I believe, +being vainly assailed by some Uhlans before it had crossed the viaduct. +The latter ought then to have been blown up, but an attempt to do so +proved ineffectual. We went on very slowly on account of the many trains +in front of us. Every now and again, too, there came a wearisome stop. It +was bitterly cold, and it was in vain that we beat the tattoo with our +feet in the hope of thereby warming them. The men with me were also +desperately hungry, and complained of it so bitterly and so frequently, +that, at last, I could not refrain from producing a little bread and meat +which I had secured at Le Mans and sharing it with them. But it merely +meant a bite for each of us. However, on stopping at last at Conlie +station--some sixteen or seventeen miles from Le Mans--we all hastily +scrambled out of the train, rushed into a little inn, and almost fought +like wild beasts for scraps of food. Then on we went once more, still very +slowly, still stopping again and again, sometimes for an hour at a +stretch, until, half numbed by the cold, weary of stamping our feet, and +still ravenous, we reached the little town of Sillé-le-Guillaume, which is +not more than eight or nine miles from Conlie. + +At Sillé I secured a tiny garret-like room at the crowded Hôtel de la +Croix d'Or, a third-rate hostelry, which was already invaded by officers, +soldiers, railway officials, and others who had quitted Le Mans before I +had managed to do so. My comparatively youthful appearance won for me, +however, the good favour of the buxom landlady, who, after repeatedly +declaring to other applicants that she had not a corner left in the whole +house, took me aside and said in an undertone: "listen, I will put you in +a little _cabinet_ upstairs. I will show you the way by and by. But don't +tell anybody." And she added compassionately: "_Mon pauvre garçon_, you +look frozen. Go into the kitchen. There is a good fire there, and you will +get something to eat." + +Truth to tell, the larder was nearly empty, but I secured a little cheese +and some bread and some very indifferent wine, which, however, in my then +condition, seemed to me to be nectar. I helped myself to a bowl, I +remember, and poured about a pint of wine into it, so as to soak my bread, +which was stale and hard. Toasting my feet at the fire whilst I regaled +myself with that improvised _soupe-au-vin_, I soon felt warm and +inspirited once more. Hardship sits on one but lightly when one is only +seventeen years of age and stirred by early ambition. All the world then +lay before me, like mine oyster, to be opened by either sword or pen. + +At a later hour, by the light of a solitary guttering candle, in the +little _cabinet_ upstairs, I wrote, as best I could, an account of the +recent fighting and the loss of Le Mans; and early on the following +morning I prevailed on a railway-man who was going to Rennes to post my +packet there, in order that it might be forwarded to England _viâ_ Saint +Malo. The article appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, filling a page of +that journal, and whatever its imperfections may have been, it was +undoubtedly the first detailed account of the battle of Le Mans, from the +French side, to appear in the English Press. It so happened, indeed, that +the other correspondents with the French forces, including my cousin +Montague Vizetelly of _The Daily News_, lingered at Le Mans until it was +too late for them to leave the town, the Germans having effected their +entry. + +German detachments soon started in pursuit of the retreating Army of the +Loire. Chanzy, as previously mentioned, modified his plans, in accordance +with Gambetta's views, on the evening of January 12. The new orders were +that the 16th Army Corps should retreat on Laval by way of Chassillé and +Saint Jean-sur-Erve, that the 17th, after passing Conlie, should come +down to Sainte Suzanne, and that the 21st should proceed from Conlie to +Sillé-le-Guillaume. There were several rear-guard engagements during, the +retreat. Already on the 13th, before the 21st Corps could modify its +original line of march, it had to fight at Ballon, north of Le Mans. +On the next day one of its detachments, composed of 9000 Mobilisés of the +Mayenne, was attacked at Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, and hastily fell back, +leaving 1400 men in the hands of the Germans, who on their side lost only +_nine_! Those French soldiers who retreated by way of Conlie partially +pillaged the abandoned stores there. A battalion of Mobiles, on passing +that way, provided themselves with new trousers, coats, boots, and +blankets, besides carrying off a quantity of bread, salt-pork, sugar, and +other provisions. These things were at least saved from the Germans, who +on reaching the abandoned camp found there a quantity of military +_matériel_, five million cartridges, 1500 cases of biscuits and extract of +meat, 180 barrels of salt-pork, a score of sacks of rice, and 140 +puncheons of brandy. + +On January 14 the 21st Corps under Jaurès reached Sillé-le-Guillaume, and +was there attacked by the advanced guard of the 13th German Corps under +the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg. The French offered a good resistance, +however, and the Germans retreated on Conlie. I myself had managed to +leave Sillé the previous afternoon, but such was the block on the line +that our train could get no farther than Voutré, a village of about a +thousand souls. Railway travelling seeming an impossibility, I prevailed +on a farmer to give me a lift as far as Sainte Suzanne, whence I hoped to +cut across country in the direction of Laval. Sainte Suzanne is an ancient +and picturesque little town which in those days still had a rampart and +the ruins of an early feudal castle. I supped and slept at an inn there, +and was told in the morning (January 14) that it would be best for me to +go southward towards Saint Jean-sur-Erve, where I should strike the direct +highway to Laval, and might also be able to procure a conveyance. I did +not then know the exact retreating orders. I hoped to get out of the way +of all the troops and waggons encumbering the roads, but in this I was +doomed to disappointment, for at Saint Jean I fell in with them again. + +That day a part of the rear-guard of the 16th Corps (Jauréguiberry)--that +is, a detachment of 1100 men with a squadron of cavalry under General +Le Bouëdec--had been driven out of Chassillé by the German cavalry under +General von Schmidt. This had accelerated the French retreat, which +continued in the greatest confusion, all the men hastening precipitately +towards Saint Jean, where, after getting the bulk of his force on to the +heights across the river Erve, which here intersects the highway, +Jauréguiberry resolved on attempting to check the enemy's pursuit. Though +the condition of most of the men was lamentable, vigorous defensive +preparations were made on the night of the 14th and the early morning of +the following day. On the low ground, near the village and the river, +trees were felled and roads were barricaded; while on the slopes batteries +were disposed behind hedges, in which embrasures were cut. The enemy's +force was, I believe, chiefly composed of cavalry and artillery. The +latter was already firing at us when Jauréguiberry rode along our lines. +A shell exploded near him, and some splinters of the projectile struck +his horse in the neck, inflicting a ghastly, gaping wound. The poor beast, +however, did not fall immediately, but galloped on frantically for more +than a score of yards, then suddenly reared, and after doing so came down, +all of a heap, upon the snow. However, the Admiral, who was a good +horseman, speedily disengaged himself, and turned to secure another +mount--when he perceived that Colonel Beraud, his chief of staff, who had +been riding behind him, had been wounded by the same shell, and had fallen +from his horse. I saw the Colonel being carried to a neighbouring +farmhouse, and was afterwards told that he had died there. + +The engagement had no very decisive result, but Schmidt fell back to the +road connecting Sainte Suzanne with Thorigné-en-Charnie, whilst we +withdrew towards Soulge-le-Bruant, about halfway between Saint Jean and +Laval. During the fight, however, whilst the artillery duel was in +progress, quite half of Jauréguiberry's men had taken themselves off +without waiting for orders. I believe that on the night of January 15 he +could not have mustered more than 7000 men for action. Yet only two days +previously he had had nearly three times that number with him. + +Nevertheless, much might be pleaded for the men. The weather was still +bitterly cold, snow lay everywhere, little or no food could be obtained, +the commissariat refraining from requisitioning cattle at the farms, for +all through the departments for Mayenne and Ille-et-Vilaine cattle-plague +was raging. Hungry, emaciated, faint, coughing incessantly, at times +affected with small-pox, the men limped or trudged on despairingly. Their +boots were often in a most wretched condition; some wore sabots, others, +as I said once before, merely had rags around their poor frost-bitten +feet. And the roads were obstructed by guns, vans, waggons, vehicles of +all kinds. Sometimes an axle had broken, sometimes a horse had fallen dead +on the snow, in any case one or another conveyance had come to a +standstill, and prevented others from pursuing their route. I recollect +seeing hungry men cutting steaks from the flanks of the dead beasts, +sometimes devouring the horseflesh raw, at others taking it to some +cottage, where the avaricious peasants, who refused to part with a scrap +of food, at least had to let these cold and hungry men warm themselves at +a fire, and toast their horseflesh before it. At one halt three soldiers +knocked a peasant down because he vowed that he could not even give them a +pinch of salt. That done, they rifled his cupboards and ate all they could +find. + +Experience had taught me a lesson. I had filled my pockets with ham, +bread, hard-boiled eggs, and other things, before leaving Sainte Suzanne. +I had also obtained a meal at Saint Jean, and secured some brandy there, +and I ate and drank sparingly and surreptitiously whilst I went on, +overtaking one after another batch of weary soldiers. However, the +distance between Saint Jean and Laval is not very great. Judging by the +map, it is a matter of some twenty-five miles at the utmost. Moreover, I +walked only half the distance. The troops moved so slowly that I reached +Soulge-le-Bruant long before them, and there induced a man to drive me to +Laval. I was there on the afternoon of January 16, and as from this point +trains were still running westward, I reached Saint Servan on the +following day. Thus I slipped through to my goal, thereby justifying the +nickname of L'Anguille--the Eel--which some of my young French friends had +bestowed on me. + +A day or two previously my father had returned from England, and I found +him with my stepmother. He became very much interested in my story, and +talked of going to Laval himself. Further important developments might +soon occur, the Germans might push on to Chanzy's new base, and I felt +that I also ought to go back. The life I had been leading either makes or +mars a man physically. Personally, I believe that it did me a world of +good. At all events, it was settled that my father and myself should go to +Laval together. We started a couple of days later, and managed to travel +by rail as far as Rennes. But from that point to Laval the line was now +very badly blocked, and so we hired a closed vehicle, a ramshackle affair, +drawn by two scraggy Breton nags. The main roads, being still crowded with +troops, artillery, and baggage waggons, and other impedimenta, were often +impassable, and so we proceeded by devious ways, amidst which our driver +lost himself, in such wise that at night we had to seek a shelter at the +famous Chateau des Bochers, immortalized by Mme. de Sévigné, and replete +with precious portraits of herself, her own and her husband's families, in +addition to a quantity of beautiful furniture dating from her time. + +It took us, I think, altogether two days to reach Laval, where, after +securing accommodation at one of the hotels, we went out in search of +news, having heard none since we had started on our journey. Perceiving a +newspaper shop, we entered it, and my father insisted on purchasing a copy +of virtually every journal which was on sale there. Unfortunately for us, +this seemed highly suspicious to a local National Guard who was in the +shop, and when we left it he followed us. My father had just then begun to +speak to me in English, and at the sound of a foreign tongue the man's +suspicions increased. So he drew nearer, and demanded to know who and what +we were. I replied that we were English and that I had previously been +authorised to accompany the army as a newspaper correspondent. My +statements, however, were received with incredulity by this suspicious +individual, who, after one or two further inquiries, requested us to +accompany him to a guard-house standing near one of the bridges thrown +over the river Mayenne. + +Thither we went, followed by several people who had assembled during our +parley, and found ourselves before a Lieutenant of Gendarmes, on the +charge of being German spies. Our denouncer was most positive on the +point. Had we not bought at least a dozen newspapers? Why a dozen, when +sensible people would have been satisfied with one? Such extensive +purchases must surely have been prompted by some sinister motive. Besides, +he had heard us conversing in German. English, indeed! No, no! He was +certain that we had spoken German, and was equally certain of our guilt. + +The Lieutenant looked grave, and my explanations did not quite satisfy +him. The predicament was the more awkward as, although my father was +provided with a British passport, I had somehow left my precious military +permit at Saint Servan, Further, my father carried with him some documents +which might have been deemed incriminating, They were, indeed, +safe-conducts signed by various German generals, which had been used by us +conjointly while passing, through the German lines after making our way +out of Paris in November. As for my correspondent's permit, signed some +time previously by the Chief of the Staff, I had been unable to find it +when examining my papers on our way to Laval, but had consoled myself with +the thought that I might get it replaced at headquarters. [The red-cross +armlet which had repeatedly proved so useful to me, enabling me to come +and go without much interference, was at our hotel, in a bag we had +brought with us.] Could I have shown it to the Lieutenant, he might have +ordered our release. As it happened, he decided to send us to the Provost +Marshal. I was not greatly put out by that command, for I remembered the +officer in question, or thought I did, and felt convinced that everything +would speedily be set right. + +We started off in the charge of a brigadier-otherwise a corporal--of +Gendarmes, and four men, our denouncer following closely at our heels. My +father at once pointed out to me that the brigadier and one of the men +wore silver medals bearing the effigy of Queen Victoria, so I said to the +former, "You were in the Crimea. You are wearing our Queen's medal." + +"Yes," he replied, "I gained that at the Alma." + +"And your comrade?" + +"He won his at the Tohernaya." + +"I dare say you would have been glad if French and English had fought side +by side in this war?" I added. "Perhaps they ought to have done so." + +"_Parbleu!_ The English certainly owed us a _bon coup de main_, instead of +which they have only sold us broken-down horses and bad boots." + +I agreed that there had been some instances of the kind. A few more words +passed, and I believe that the brigadier became convinced of our English +nationality. But as his orders were to take us to the Provost's, thither +we were bound to go. An ever increasing crowd followed. Shopkeepers and +other folk came to their doors and windows, and the words, "They are +spies, German spies!" rang out repeatedly, exciting the crowd and +rendering it more and more hostile. For a while we followed a quay with +granite parapets, below which flowed the Mayenne, laden with drifting ice. +All at once, however, I perceived on our left a large square, where about +a hundred men of the Laval National Guard were being exercised. They saw +us appear with our escort, they saw the crowd which followed us, and they +heard the cries, "Spies! German spies!" Forthwith, with that disregard for +discipline which among the French was so characteristic of the period, +they broke their ranks and ran towards us. + +We were only able to take a few more steps. In vain did the Gendarmes try +to force a way through the excited mob. We were surrounded by angry, +scowling, vociferating men. Imprecations burst forth, fists were clenched, +arms were waved, rifles were shaken, the unruly National Guards being the +most eager of all to denounce and threaten us. "Down with the spies!" they +shouted. "Down with the German pigs! Give them to us! Let us shoot them!" + +A very threatening rush ensued, and I was almost carried off my feet. But +in another moment I found myself against the parapet of the quay, with my +father beside me, and the icy river in the rear. In front of us stood the +brigadier and his four men guarding us from the angry citizens of Laval. + +"Hand them over to us! We will settle their affair," shouted an excited +National Guard. "You know that they are spies, brigadier." + +"I know that I have my orders," growled the veteran. "I am taking them to +the Provost. It is for him to decide." + +"That is too much ceremony," was the retort. "Let us shoot them!" + +"But they are not worth a cartridge!" shouted another man. "Throw them +into the river!" + +That ominous cry was taken up. "Yes, yes, to the river with them!" Then +came another rush, one so extremely violent that our case seemed +desperate. + +But the brigadier and his men had managed to fix bayonets during the brief +parley, and on the mob being confronted by five blades of glistening +steel, its savage eagerness abated. Moreover, the old brigadier behaved +magnificently. "Keep back!" cried he. "I have my orders. You will have to +settle me before you take my prisoners!" + +Just then I caught the eye of one of the National Guards, who was shaking +his fist at us, and I said to him, "You are quite mistaken. We are not +Germans, but English!" + +"Yes, yes, _Anglais, Anglais_!" my father exclaimed. + +While some of the men in the crowd were more or less incredulously +repeating that statement, a black-bearded individual--whom I can, at this +very moment, still picture with my mind's eye, so vividly did the affair +impress me--climbed on to the parapet near us, and called out, "You say +you are English? Do you know London? Do you know Regent Street? Do you +know the Soho?" + +"Yes, yes!" we answered quickly. + +"You know the Lei-ces-terre Square? What name is the music-hall there?" + +"Why, the Alhambra!" The "Empire," let me add, did not exist in those +days. + +The man seemed satisfied. "I think they are English," he said to his +friends. But somebody else exclaimed, "I don't believe it. One of them is +wearing a German hat." + +Now, it happened that my father had returned from London wearing a felt +hat of a shape which was then somewhat fashionable there, and which, +curiously enough, was called the "Crown Prince," after the heir to the +Prussian throne--that is, our Princess Royal's husband, subsequently the +Emperor Frederick. The National Guard, who spoke a little English, wished +to inspect this incriminating hat, so my father took it off, and one of +the Gendarmes, having placed it on his bayonet, passed it to the man on +the parapet. When the latter had read "Christy, London," on the lining, he +once more testified in our favour. + +But other fellows also wished to examine the suspicious headgear, and it +passed from hand to hand before it was returned to my father in a more or +less damaged condition, Even then a good many men were not satisfied +respecting our nationality, but during that incident of the hat--a +laughable one to me nowadays, though everything looked very ugly when it +occurred--there had been time for the men's angry passions to cool, to a +considerable extent at all events; and after that serio-comical interlude, +they were much less eager to inflict on us the summary law of Lynch. A +further parley ensued, and eventually the Gendarmes, who still stood with +bayonets crossed in front of us, were authorized, by decision of the +Sovereign People, to take us to the Provost's. Thither we went, then, +amidst a perfect procession of watchful guards and civilians. + +Directly we appeared before the Provost, I realized that our troubles were +not yet over. Some changes had taken place during the retreat, and either +the officer whom I remembered having seen at Le Mans (that is, Colonel +Mora) had been replaced by another, or else the one before whom we now +appeared was not the Provost-General, but only the Provost of the 18th +Corps. At all events, he was a complete stranger to me. After hearing, +first, the statements of the brigadier and the National Guard who had +denounced us, and who had kept close to us all the time, and, secondly, +the explanations supplied by my father and myself, he said to me, "If you +had a staff permit to follow the army, somebody at headquarters must be +able to identify you." + +"I think that might be done," I answered, "by Major-General Feilding, +who--as you must know--accompanies the army on behalf of the British +Government. Personally, I am known to several officers of the 21st Corps-- +General Gougeard and his Chief of Staff, for instance--and also to some of +the aides-de-camp at headquarters." + +"Well, get yourselves identified, and obtain a proper safe-conduct," said +the Provost. "Brigadier, you are to take these men to headquarters. If +they are identified there, you will let them go. If not, take them to the +château (the prison), and report to me." + +Again we all set out, this time climbing the hilly ill-paved streets of +old Laval, above which the town's great feudal castle reared its dark, +round keep; and presently we came to the local college, formerly an +Ursuline convent, where Chanzy had fixed his headquarters. + +In one of the large class-rooms were several officers, one of whom +immediately recognized me. He laughed when he heard our story. "I was +arrested myself, the other day," he said, "because I was heard speaking in +English to your General Feilding. And yet I was in uniform, as I am now." + +The Gendarmes were promptly dismissed, though not before my father had +slipped something into the hand of the old brigadier for himself and his +comrades. Their firmness had saved us, for when a mob's passions are +inflamed by patriotic zeal, the worst may happen to the objects of its +wrath. + +A proper safe-conduct (which I still possess) was prepared by an +aide-de-camp on duty, and whilst he was drafting it, an elderly but +bright-eyed officer entered, and went up to a large circular stove to warm +himself. Three small stars still glittered faintly on his faded cap, +and six rows of narrow tarnished gold braid ornamented the sleeves of his +somewhat shabby dolman. It was Chanzy himself. + +He noticed our presence, and our case was explained to him. Looking at me +keenly, he said, "I think I have seen you before. You are the young +English correspondent who was allowed to make some sketches at +Yvré-l'Evêque, are you not?" + +"Yes, _mon genéral_," I answered, saluting. "You gave me permission +through, I think, Monsieur le Commandant de Boisdeffre." + +He nodded pleasantly as we withdrew, then lapsed into a thoughtful +attitude. + +Out we went, down through old Laval and towards the new town, my father +carrying the safe-conduct in his hand. The Gendarmes must have already +told people that we were "all right," for we now encountered only pleasant +faces. Nevertheless, we handed the safe-conduct to one party of National +Guards for their inspection, in order that their minds might be quite at +rest. That occurred outside the hospital, where at that moment I little +imagined that a young Englishman--a volunteer in the Sixth Battalion of +the Côtes-du-Nord Mobile Guards (21st Army Corps)--was lying invalided by +a chill, which he had caught during an ascent in our army balloon with +Gaston Tissandier. Since then that young Englishman has become famous as +Field-Marshal Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum. + +But the National Guards insisted on carrying my father and myself to the +chief café of Laval. They would take no refusal. In genuine French +fashion, they were all anxiety to offer some amends for their misplaced +patriotic impulsiveness that afternoon, when they had threatened, first, +to shoot, and, next, to drown us. In lieu thereof they now deluged us with +punch _à la française_, and as the café soon became crowded with other +folk who all joined our party, there ensued a scene which almost suggested +that some glorious victory had been gained at last by invaded and +unfortunate France. + + + +XIII + +THE BITTER END + +Battues for Deserters--End of the Operations against Chanzy--Faidherbe's +Battles--Bourbaki's alleged Victories and Retreat--The Position in Paris-- +The terrible Death Rate--State of the Paris Army--The Sanguinary Buzenval +Sortie--Towards Capitulation--The German Conditions--The Armistice +Provisions--Bourbaki's Disaster--Could the War have been prolonged?--The +Resources of France--The general Weariness--I return to Paris--The +Elections for a National Assembly--The Negotiations--The State of Paris-- +The Preliminaries of Peace--The Triumphal Entry of the Germans--The War's +Aftermath. + + +We remained for a few days longer at Laval, and were not again interfered +with there. A painful interest attached to one sight which we witnessed +more than once. It was that of the many processions of deserters whom the +horse Gendarmerie of the headquarters staff frequently brought into the +town. The whole region was scoured for runaways, many of whom were found +in the villages and at lonely farms. They had generally cast off their +uniform and put on blouses, but the peasantry frequently betrayed them, +particularly as they seldom, if ever, had any money to spend in bribes. +Apart from those _battues_ and the measures of all kinds which Chanzy took +to reorganise his army, little of immediate import occurred at Laval. +Gambetta had been there, and had then departed for Lille in order to +ascertain the condition of Faidherbe's Army of the North. The German +pursuit of Chanzy's forces ceased virtually at Saint Jean-sur-Erve. There +was just another little skirmish at Sainte Mélaine, but that was all. +[I should add that on January 17 the Germans under Mecklenburg secured +possession of Alengon (Chanty's original objective) alter an ineffectual +resistance offered by the troops under Commandant Lipowski, who was +seconded in his endeavours by young M. Antonin Dubost, then Prefect of the +Orne, and recently President of the French Senate.] Accordingly my father +and I returned to Saint Servan, and, having conjointly prepared some +articles on Chanzy's retreat and present circumstances, forwarded them to +London for the _Pall Mall Gazette_. + +The war was now fast drawing to an end. I have hitherto left several +important occurrences unmentioned, being unwilling to interrupt my +narrative of the fighting at Le Mans and the subsequent retreat. I feel, +however, that I now ought to glance at the state of affairs in other parts +of France. I have just mentioned that after visiting Chanzy at Laval +(January 19), Gambetta repaired to Lille to confer with Faidherbe. Let us +see, then, what the latter general had been doing. He was no longer +opposed by Manteuffel, who had been sent to the east of France in the hope +that he would deal more effectually than Werder with Bourbaki's army, +which was still in the field there. Manteuffel's successor in the north +was General von Goeben, with whom, on January 18, Faidherbe fought an +engagement at Vermand, followed on the morrow by the battle of Saint +Quentin, which was waged for seven hours amidst thaw and fog. Though it +was claimed as a French victory, it was not one. The Germans, it is true, +lost 2500 men, but the French killed and wounded amounted to 3500, and +there were thousands of men missing, the Germans taking some 5000 +prisoners, whilst other troops disbanded much as Chanzy's men disbanded +during his retreat. From a strategical point of view the action at Saint +Quentin was indecisive. + +Turning to eastern France, Bourbaki fought two indecisive engagements near +Villersexel, south-east of Vesoul, on January 9 and 10, and claimed the +victory on these occasions. On January 13 came another engagement at +Arcey, which he also claimed as a success, being congratulated upon it by +Gambetta. The weather was most severe in the region of his operations, and +the sufferings of his men were quite as great as--if not greater than-- +those of Chanzy's troops. There were nights when men lay down to sleep, +and never awoke again. On January 15,16, and 17 there was a succession of +engagements on the Lisaine, known collectively as the battle of Héricourt. +These actions resulted in Bourbaki's retreat southward towards Besançon, +where for the moment we will leave him, in order to consider the position +of Paris at this juncture. + +Since the beginning of the year, the day of the capital's surrender had +been fast approaching. Paris actually fell because its supply of food was +virtually exhausted. On January 18 it became necessary to ration the +bread, now a dark, sticky compound, which included such ingredients as +bran, starch, rice, barley, vermicelli, and pea-flour. About ten ounces +was allotted per diem to each adult, children under five years of age +receiving half that quantity. But the health-bill of the city was also a +contributory cause of the capitulation. In November there were 7444 deaths +among the non-combatant population, against 3863 in November, 1869. The +death-roll of December rose to 10,665, against 4214 in December the +previous year. In January, between sixty and seventy persons died from +small-pox every day. Bronchitis and pneumonia made an ever-increasing +number of victims. From January 14 to January 21 the mortality rose to no +less than 4465; from the latter date until January 28, the day of the +capitulation, the figures were 4671, whereas in normal times they had +never been more than 1000 in any week. + +Among the troops the position was going from bad to worse. Thousands of +men were in the hospitals, and thousands contrived to desert and hide +themselves in the city. Out of 100,705 linesmen, there were, on January 1, +no fewer than 23,938 absentees; while 23,565 units were absent from the +Mobile Guard, which, on paper, numbered 111,999. Briefly, one man out of +every five was either a patient or a deserter. As for the German +bombardment, this had some moral but very little material effect. Apart +from the damage done to buildings, it killed (as I previously said) about +one hundred and wounded about two hundred persons. + +The Government now had little if any confidence in the utility of any +further sorties. Nevertheless, as the extremist newspapers still clamoured +for one, it was eventually decided to attack the German positions across +the Seine, on the west of the city. This sortie, commonly called that of +Buzenval, took place on January 10, the day after King William of Prussia +had been proclaimed German Emperor in Louis XIV's "Hall of Mirrors" at +Versailles. [The decision to raise the King to the imperial dignity had +been arrived at on January 1.] Without doubt, the Buzenval sortie was +devised chiefly in order to give the National Guard the constantly +demanded opportunity and satisfaction of being led against the Germans. +Trochu, who assumed chief command, establishing himself at the fort of +Mont Valérien, divided his forces into three columns, led by Generals +Vinoy, Bellemare, and Ducrot. The first (the left wing) comprised +22,000 men, including 8000 National Guards; the second (the central +column) 34,500 men, including 16,000 Guards; and the third (the right +wing) 33,500 men, among whom were no fewer than 18,000 Guards. Thus the +total force was about 90,000, the National Guards representing about a +third of that number. Each column had with it ten batteries, representing +for the entire force 180 guns. The French front, however, extended over a +distance of nearly four miles, and the army's real strength was thereby +diminished. There was some fairly desperate fighting at Saint Cloud, +Montretout, and Longboyau, but the French were driven back after losing +4000 men, mostly National Guards, whereas the German losses were only +about six hundred. + +The affair caused consternation in Paris, particularly as several +prominent men had fallen in the ranks of the National Guard. On the night +of January 21, some extremists forced their way into the prison of Mazas +and delivered some of their friends who had been shut up there since the +rising of October 31. On the morrow, January 22, there was a demonstration +and an affray on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, shots being exchanged with +the result that people were killed and wounded. The Government gained the +day, however, and retaliated by closing the revolutionary clubs and +suppressing some extremist newspapers. But four hours later Trochu +resigned his position as Military Governor of Paris (in which he was +replaced by General Vinoy), only retaining the Presidency of the +Government. Another important incident had occurred on the very evening +after the insurrection: Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister, had then +forwarded a letter to Prince Bismarck. + +The Government's first idea had been merely to surrender--that is to open +the city-gates and let the Germans enter at their peril. It did not wish +to negotiate or sign any capitulation. Jules Favre indicated as much when, +writing to Bismarck, and certainly the proposed course might have placed +the Germans--with the eyes of the world fixed upon them--in a difficult +position. But Favre was no match for the great Prussian statesman. Formal +negotiations were soon opened, and Bismarck so contrived affairs that, as +Gambetta subsequently and rightly complained, the convention which Favre +signed applied far more to France as a whole than to Paris itself. In +regard to the city, the chief conditions were that a war indemnity of +£8,000,000 should be paid; that the forts round the city should be +occupied by the Germans; that the garrison--Line, Mobile Guard, and Naval +Contingent (altogether about 180,000 men)--should become prisoners of war; +and that the armament (1500 fortress guns and 400 field pieces) should be +surrendered, as well as the large stores of ammunition. On the other hand, +a force of 12,000 men was left to the French Government for "police duty" +in the city, and the National Guards were, at Favre's urgent but foolish +request, allowed to retain their arms. Further, the city was to be +provisioned. In regard to France generally, arrangements were made for an +armistice of twenty-one days' duration, in order to allow of the election +of a National Assembly to treat for peace. In these arrangements Favre and +Vinoy (the new Governor of Paris) were out-jockeyed by Bismarck and +Moltke. They were largely ignorant of the real position in the provinces, +and consented to very disadvantageous terms in regard to the lines which +the Germans and the French should respectively occupy during the armistice +period. Moreover, although it was agreed that hostilities should cease on +most points, no such stipulation was made respecting the east of France, +where both Bourbaki and Garibaldi were in the field. + +The latter had achieved some slight successes near Dijon on January 21 and +23, but on February 1--that is, two days after the signing of the +armistice--the Garibaldians were once more driven out of the Burgundian +capital. That, however, was as nothing in comparison with what befell +Bourbaki's unfortunate army. Manteuffel having compelled it to retreat +from Besançon to Pontarlier, it was next forced to withdraw into +Switzerland [Before this happened, Bourbaki attempted his life.] +(neutral territory, where it was necessarily disarmed by the Swiss +authorities) in order to escape either capture or annihilation by the +Germans. The latter took some 6000 prisoners, before the other men (about +80,000 in number) succeeded in crossing the Swiss frontier. A portion of +the army was saved, however, by General Billot. With regard to the +position elsewhere, Longwy, I should mention, surrendered three days +before the capitulation of Paris; but Belfort prolonged its resistance +until February 13, when all other hostilities had ceased. Its garrison, +so gallantly commanded by Colonel Denfert-Bochereau, was accorded the +honours of war. + +As I wrote in my book, "Republican France," the country generally was +weary of the long struggle; and only Gambetta, Freycinet, and a few +military men, such as Chanzy and Faidherbe, were in favour of prolonging +it. From the declaration of war on July 15 to the capitulation of Paris +and the armistice on January 28, the contest had lasted twenty-eight +weeks. Seven of those weeks had sufficed to overthrow the Second Empire; +but only after another one-and-twenty weeks had the Third Republic laid +down her arms. Whatever may have been the blunders of the National +Defence, it at least saved the honour of France, + +It may well be doubted whether the position could have been retrieved had +the war been prolonged, though undoubtedly the country was still possessed +of many resources. In "Republican France," I gave a number of figures +which showed that over 600,000 men could have been brought into action +almost immediately, and that another 260,000 could afterwards have been +provided. On February 8, when Chanzy had largely reorganized his army, he, +alone, had under his orders 4952 officers and 227,361 men, with 430 guns. +That careful and distinguished French military historian, M. Pierre +Lehautcourt, places, however, the other resources of France at even a +higher figure than I did. He also points out, rightly enough, that +although so large a part of France was invaded, the uninvaded territory +was of greater extent, and inhabited by twenty-five millions of people. He +estimates the total available artillery on the French side at 1232 guns, +each with an average allowance of 242 projectiles. In addition, there were +443 guns awaiting projectiles. He tells us that the French ordnance +factories were at this period turning out on an average 25,000 chassepots +every month, and delivering two million cartridges every day; whilst other +large supplies of weapons and ammunition were constantly arriving from +abroad. On the other hand, there was certainly a scarcity of horses, the +mortality of which in this war, as in all others, was very great. Chanzy +only disposed of 20,000, and the remount service could only supply another +12,000. However, additional animals might doubtless have been found in +various parts of France, or procured from abroad. + +But material resources, however great they may be, are of little avail +when a nation has practically lost heart. In spite, moreover, of all the +efforts of commanding officers, insubordination was rampant among the +troops in the field. There had been so many defeats, so many retreats, +that they had lost all confidence in their generals. During the period of +the armistice, desertions were still numerous. I may add, that if at the +expiration of the armistice the struggle had been renewed, Chanzy's plan-- +which received approval at a secret military and Government council held +in Paris, whither he repaired early in February--was to place General +de Colomb at the head of a strong force for the defence of Brittany, +whilst he, Chanzy, would, with his own army, cross the Loire and defend +southern France. + +Directly news arrived that an armistice had been signed, and that Paris +was once more open, my father arranged to return there, accompanied by +myself and my younger brother, Arthur Vizetelly. We took with us, I +remember, a plentiful supply of poultry and other edibles for distribution +among the friends who had been suffering from the scarcity of provisions +during the latter days of the siege. The elections for the new National +Assembly were just over, nearly all of the forty-three deputies returned +for Paris being Republicans, though throughout the rest of France +Legitimist and Orleanist candidates were generally successful. I remember +that just before I left Saint Servan one of our tradesmen, an enthusiastic +Royalist, said to me, "We shall have a King on the throne by the time you +come back to see us in the summer." At that moment it certainly seemed as +if such would be the case. As for the Empire, one could only regard it as +dead. There were, I think, merely five recognized Bonapartist members in +the whole of the new National Assembly, and most of them came from +Corsica. Thus, it was by an almost unanimous vote that the Assembly +declared Napoleon III and his dynasty to be responsible for the "invasion, +ruin, and dismemberment of France." + +The Assembly having called Thiers to the position of "Chief of the +Executive Power," peace negotiations ensued between him and Bismarck. They +began on February 22, Thiers being assisted by Jules Favre, who retained +the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, mainly because nobody else +would take it and append his signature to a treaty which was bound to be +disastrous for the country. The chief conditions of that treaty will be +remembered. Germany was to annex Alsace-Lorraine, to receive a war +indemnity of two hundred million pounds sterling (with interest in +addition), and secure commercially "most favoured nation" treatment from +France. The preliminaries were signed on February 26, and accepted by the +National Assembly on March 1, but the actual treaty of Frankfort was not +signed and ratified until the ensuing month of May. + +Paris presented a sorry spectacle during the weeks which followed the +armistice. There was no work for the thousands of artisans who had become +National Guards during the siege. Their allowance as such was prolonged in +order that they might at least have some means of subsistence. But the +unrest was general. By the side of the universal hatred of the Germans, +which was displayed on all sides, even finding vent in the notices set up +in the shop-windows to the effect that no Germans need apply there, one +observed a very bitter feeling towards the new Government. Thiers had been +an Orleanist all his life, and among the Paris working-classes there was a +general feeling that the National Assembly would give France a king. This +feeling tended to bring about the subsequent bloody Insurrection of the +Commune; but, as I wrote in "Republican France," it was precisely the +Commune which gave the French Royalists a chance. It placed a weapon in +their hands and enabled them to say, "You see, by that insurrection, by +all those terrible excesses, what a Republic implies. Order, quietude, +fruitful work, are only possible under a monarchy." As we know, however, +the efforts of the Royalists were defeated, in part by the obstinacy of +their candidate, the Comte de Chambord, and in part by the good behaviour +of the Republicans generally, as counselled both by Thiers and by +Gambetta. + +On March 1, the very day when the National Assembly ratified the +preliminaries of peace at Bordeaux, the Germans made their triumphal entry +into Paris. Four or five days previously my father had sent me on a +special mission to Bordeaux, and it was then that after long years I again +set eyes on Garibaldi, who had been elected as a French deputy, but who +resigned his seat in consequence of the onerous terms of peace. Others, +notably Gambetta, did precisely the same, by way of protesting against the +so-called "Devil's Treaty." However, I was back in Paris in time to +witness the German entry into the city. My father, my brother Arthur, and +myself were together in the Champs Elysées on that historical occasion. I +have related elsewhere [In "Republican France."] how a number of women of +the Paris Boulevards were whipped in the Champs Elysées shrubberies by +young roughs, who, not unnaturally, resented the shameless overtures made +by these women to the German soldiery. There were, however, some +unfortunate mistakes that day, as, for instance, when an attempt was +made to ill-treat an elderly lady who merely spoke to the Germans in the +hope of obtaining some information respecting her son, then still a +prisoner of war. I remember also that Archibald Forbes was knocked down +and kicked for returning the salute of the Crown Prince of Saxony. Some of +the English correspondents who hurried to the scene removed Forbes to a +little hotel in the Faubourg St. Honoré, for he had really been hurt by +that savage assault, though it did not prevent him from penning a graphic +account of what he witnessed on that momentous day. + +The German entry was, on the whole, fairly imposing as a military display; +but the stage-management was very bad, and one could not imagine that +Napoleon's entry into Berlin had in any way resembled it. Nor could it be +said to have equalled the entry of the Allied Sovereigns into Paris in +1814. German princelings in basket-carriages drawn by ponies did not add +to the dignity of the spectacle. Moreover, both the Crown Prince of Saxony +and the Crown Prince of Germany (Emperor Frederick) attended it in +virtually an _incognito_ manner. As for the Emperor William, his +councillors dissuaded him from entering the city for fear lest there +should be trouble there. I believe also that neither Bismarck nor Moltke +attended, though, like the Emperor, they both witnessed the preliminary +review of troops in the Bois de Boulogne. The German occupation was +limited to the Champs Elysées quarter, and on the first day the Parisians +generally abstained from going there; but on the morrow--when news that +the preliminaries of peace had been accepted at Bordeaux had reached the +capital--they flocked to gaze upon _nos amis les ennemis_, and greatly +enjoyed, I believe, the lively music played by the German regimental +bands. "Music hath charms," as we are all aware. The departure of the +German troops on the ensuing evening was of a much more spectacular +character than their entry had been. As with their bands playing, whilst +they themselves sang the "Wacht am Rhein" in chorus, they marched up the +Champs Elysées on their way back to Versailles, those of their comrades +who were still billeted in the houses came to the balconies with as many +lighted candles as they could carry. Bivouac fires, moreover, were burning +brightly here and there, and the whole animated scene, with its play of +light and shade under the dark March sky, was one to be long remembered. + +The Franco-German War was over, and a new era had begun for Europe. The +balance of power was largely transferred. France had again ceased to be +the predominant continental state. She had attained to that position for +a time under Louis XIV, and later, more conspicuously, under Napoleon I. +But in both of those instances vaulting ambition had o'er-leapt itself. +The purposes of Napoleon III were less far-reaching. Such ideas of +aggrandisement as he entertained were largely subordinated to his desire +to consolidate the _régime_ he had revived, and to ensure the continuity +of his dynasty. But the very principle of nationality which he more than +once expounded, and which he championed in the case of Italy, brought +about his ruin. He gave Italy Venetia, but refused her Rome, and thereby +alienated her. Further, the consolidation of Germany--from his own +nationalist point of view--became a threat to French interests. Thus he +was hoist chiefly by his own _pétard_, and France paid the penalty for his +errors. + +The Franco-German War was over, I have said, but there came a terrible +aftermath--that is, the rising of the Commune, some of the introductory +features of which were described by me in "Republican France." There is +only one fairly good history of that formidable insurrection in the +English language--one written some years ago by Mr. Thomas March. It is, +however, a history from the official standpoint, and is consequently +one-sided as well as inaccurate in certain respects. Again, the English +version of the History of the Commune put together by one of its +partisans, Lissagaray, sins in the other direction. An impartial account +of the rising remains to be written. If I am spared I may, perhaps, be +privileged to contribute to it by preparing a work on much the same lines +as those of this present volume. Not only do I possess the greater part of +the literature on the subject, including many of the newspapers of the +time, but throughout the insurrection I was in Paris or its suburbs. + +I sketched the dead bodies of Generals Clément Thomas and Lecomte only a +few hours after their assassination. I saw the Vendôme column fall while +American visitors to Paris were singing, "Hail, Columbia!" in the hotels +of the Rue de la Paix. I was under fire in the same street when a +demonstration was made there. Provided with passports by both sides, I +went in and out of the city and witnessed the fighting at Asnières and +elsewhere. I attended the clubs held in the churches, when women often +perorated from the pulpits. I saw Thiers's house being demolished; and +when the end came and the Versailles troops made their entry into the +city, I was repeatedly in the street-fighting with my good friend, Captain +Bingham. I recollect sketching the attack on the Elysée Palace from a +balcony of our house, and finding that balcony on the pavement a few hours +later when it had been carried away by a shell from a Communard battery at +Montmartre. Finally, I saw Paris burning. I gazed on the sheaves of flames +rising above the Tuileries. I saw the whole front of the Ministry of +Finances fall into the Rue de Rivoli. I saw the now vanished Carrefour de +la Croix Rouge one blaze of fire. I helped to carry water to put out the +conflagration at the Palais de Justice. I was prodded with a bayonet when, +after working in that manner for some hours, I attempted to shirk duty at +another fire which I came upon in the course of my expeditions. All that +period of my life flashes on my mind as vividly as Paris herself flashed +under the wondering stars of those balmy nights in May. + +My father and my brother Arthur also had some remarkable adventures. +There was one occasion when they persuaded a venturesome Paris cabman to +drive them from conflagration to conflagration, and this whilst the +street-fighting was still in progress. Every now and then, as they drove +on, men and women ran eagerly out of houses into which wounded combatants +had been taken, imagining that they must belong to the medical profession, +as nobody else was likely to go about Paris in such a fashion at such a +moment. Those good folk forgot the journalists. The service of the Press +carries with it obligations which must not be shirked. Journalism has +become, not merely the chronicle of the day, but the foundation of +history. And now I know not if I should say farewell or _au revoir_ to my +readers. Whether I ever attempt a detailed account of the Commune of Paris +must depend on a variety of circumstances. After three-and-forty years +"at the mill," I am inclined to feel tired, and with me health is not what +it has been. Nevertheless, my plans must depend chiefly on the reception +given to this present volume. + + + +INDEX + + + Adam, Edmond + Adare, Lord + Albert, Archduke + Albert, Prince (the elder), of Prussia + Alencon taken + Alexander II of Russia + Alexandra, Queen + Allix, Jules + Amazons of Paris + Ambert, General + Ambulances, Anglo-American + at Conlie + at Le Mans + author's impression of + Amiens + Arabs with Chanzy + Arago, Emmanuel + Etienne + Ardenay, + Armistice, conditions for an + concluded + Army, French, under the Empire + of Paris, _see also_ Paris + of Brittany + at the outset of National Defence + of the Vosges, _see also_ Garibaldi + of the East, _see also_ Bourbaki + of the Loire, _see also_ D'Aurelle, Goulmiers, + Chanzy, Le Mans, etc. + of the North, _see_ Faidheibe + at the end of war + _for German army see_ German _and names of commanders_ + Arnim, Count von + Artists, French newspaper + Assembly, _see_ National + Aurelle, _see_ D'Aurelle + Auvours plateau (Le Mans) + + Balloon service from Paris + Bapauine, battle of + Barry, General + Battues for deserters + Bazaine, Marshal + Beauce country + Beaumont, fight at + Beaune-la-Rolande, battle of + Belfort, siege of + Bellemare, General Carré de + Bellenger, Marguerite + Belly, Félix + Beraud, Colonel + Bernard, Colonel + Berezowski + Beuvron, Abbé de + Billot, General + Bingham, Captain Hon. D.A. + Bismarck, Prince + Blano, Louis + Blanchard, P. + Blanqui, Augusta, + Blewitt, Dr. Byron + Boisdeffre, Captain, later General de + Bonaparte, Lycée, _see_ Lycée + Bonaparte, Prince Pierre, _See also_ Napoleon + Bonnemains, General de + Boots, army + Bordone, General + Borel, General + Boulanger, General, his mistress + Bourbaki, General Charles + Bourbon, Palais, _see_ Legislative Body + Bourdillon, General + Bourges, + Bourget, Le, + Bower, Mr., + Bowles, T. Gibson, + Brie-Comte-Robert, + Brownings, the, + Bulwer, Sir E., + + Caillaux, E. and J., + Cambriels, General, + Canrobert, Marshal, + Capitulations, see Amiens, Belfort, Longwy, Metz, Paris, Sedan, + Strasbourg, Toul, etc. + Capoul, Victor, + Caricatures of the period, + Casimir-Perler, J.P., + Cathelineau, Colonel, + Chabaud-Latour, General, + Challemel-Lacour, + Cham (M. de Noé), + Chambord, Comte de, + Champagné, fighting at, + Champigny, sortie of, + Changé, fighting at, + Chanzy, General Alfred, + his early career and appearance, + his orders and operations with the Loire forces, + Charette, General Baron, + Chartres, + "Chartreuse de Parme, La", + Chassillé, fight at, + Chateaubriand, Count and Countess de + Châteaudun, fight at, + Châtillon, fight at, + Chemin des Boeufs (Le Mans), + "Claque," the, + Claremont, Colonel, + Clocks, German love of, + Clubs, Paris, + social + revolutionary + Colin, General, + Collins, Mortimer, + Colomb, General de, + Colomb, General von, + Commune of Paris, + attempts to set up a + rising of the + Condé, Prince de, + Conlie, camp of, + Connerré, + Corbeil, Germans at, + Correspondents, English, in Paris, + Coulmiers, battle of, + Couriers from Paris, + Cousin-Montauban, see Palikao. + Cowardice and panic, cases of, + Crane, Stephen, + Cremer, General, + Crémieux, Adolphe, + Crouzat, General, + Crown Prince of Prussia (Emperor Frederick), + Curten, General, + + Daily News, + Daily Telegraph, + Daumier, Honoré, + D'Aurelle de Paladines, General, + Davenport brothers, + "Débâcle, La," Zola's, + Dejean, General, + Delescluze, Charles, + Denfert-Rochereau, Colonel, + Des Pallières, General Martin, + Devonshire, late Duke of, + Dieppe, Germans reach, + Dijon, fighting at, + Doré, Gustave, + Dorian, Frédéric, + D'Orsay, Count, + Douay, + General Abel; + General Félix, + "Downfall, the," see Débâcle. + Droué, fight at, + Dubost, Antonin, + Ducrot, General, + Duff, Brigadier-General (U.S.A.), + Dumas, Alexandre, + Dunraven, Lord, see Adare. + Duvernois, Clément, + + "Echoes of the Clubs" + Edwardes, Mrs. Annie + Elgar, Dr. Francis + Elysée Palace + Emotions in war + Empress, _see_ Eugénie. + English attempts to leave Paris + exodus from + Eugénie, Empress + + Faidherbe, General + Failly, General de + Fashions, Paris + Favre, Jules + Feilding, Major-General + Fennell family + Ferry, Jules + Fitz-James, Duc de + Flourens, Gustave + Forbach, battle of + Forbes, Archibald + Forge, Anatole de la + Fourichon, Admiral + Franco-German War + cause and origin of + preparations for + outbreak of + first French armies + departure of Napoleon III for + Germans enter France + first engagements + news of Sedan + troops gathered in Paris + German advance on Paris + Châtillon affair + investment of Paris + French provincial armies + the fighting near Le Mans + the retreat to Laval + armistice and peace negotiations + _See also Paris, and names of battles and commanders_. + Frederick, Emperor, _see_ Crown Prince, + Frederick Charles, Prince, of Prussia + Freyoinet, Charles de Saulces de, + Frossard, General + + Galliffet, Mme. de + Gambetta, Léon + Garde, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, _and_ National. + Garibaldi, General + Garibaldi, Riciotti + Garnier-Pagès + Germans + early victories + alleged overthrow at Jaumont + Sedan + advance on Paris + expelled from Paris + love of clocks + Princes + strategy + exactions at Le Mans + officers' manners + entry into Paris + Glais-Bizoin + Godard brothers + Goeben, General von + Gougeard, General + Gramont, Duc Agénor de + Gramont-Cadèrousse, Duc de + Greenwood, Frederick + Guard, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, National. + + Halliday, Andrew + Hazen, General W. B. (U.S.A.) + Heiduck, General von + Héricourt, battle of + Home, David Dunglass + Horses in the War + Hozier, Captain, later Colonel, Sir H. + Hugo, Victor + + _Illustrated London News_ + _Illustrated Times_ + Imperial Guard + Imperial Prince + + Jarras, General + Jaumont quarries + Jaurégulberry, Admiral + Jaurès, Admiral + Jerrold, Blanchard + Johnson, Captain + Jouffroy, General + Jung, Captain + + Kanitz, Colonel von + Kean, Edmund + Kératry, Comte de + Kitchener, Lord + Kraatz-Koschlau, General von + + Laboughere, Henry, + Ladmirault, General de + La Ferté-Bernard + Lalande, General + La Malmaison sortie + La Motte-Rouge, General de + Landells + Langres + Laon, capitulation of + Laval, retreat on + adventure at + Leboeuf, Marshal + Lebouëdec, General + Lebrun, General + Lecomte, General + Ledru-Rollin + Le Flô, General + Lefort, General + Legislative Body, French (Palais Bourbon) + Le Mans + Chanzy at + town described + country around + fighting near + decisive fighting begins + retreat from + battle losses at + street fighting at + Germans at + their exactions + Chanzy's statue at + Lermina, Jules + Lewal, Colonel + Lipowski, Commandant + Lobbia, Colonel + Loigny-Poupry, battle + Longwy, capitulation + Lycée Bonaparte, now Condorcet + Lyons, Lord + + MacMahon, Marshal + Mme. de + Magnin, M. + Maine country + Malmaison, _see_ La Malmaison + Mans, _see_ Le Mans + Mantes, Germans at + Manteuffel, General von + Marchenoir forest + Mario, Jessie White + Marseillaise, the + Mayhew, brothers + Mazure, General + Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick Francis, Grand Duke of + Metz + Michel, General + Millaud, A., his verses + Middleton, Robert + Mobile Guard, + in Paris + Moltke, Marshal von + Monson, Sir Edmund + Montbard, artist + Mora, Colonel + Morny, Duc de + Motte Rouge, _see_ La Motte-Rouge + Moulin, artist + + Nadar, Jules Tournachon, called + Napoleon I + Napoleon III, + Napoleon (Jérôme), Prince + National Assembly elected + National Defence Government + confirmed by a plebiscitum + in the provinces + National Guard (Paris) + of Châteaudun + of Laval + _New York Times_ + Niel, Marshal + Noé, Vicomte de, _see_ Cham. + Nogent-le-Rotrou + Noir, Victor, assassinated + Nuits, fighting at + + Ollivier, Emile; + Madame + Orleans; + battle of + + Paladines, see D'Aurelle + Palikao, General de + _Pall Mall Gazette_ + Parigné l'Eveque + Paris, + cafés in; + riots in; + elections in; + early in the war; + defensive preparations; + fugitives and refugees; + wounded soldiers in; + Anglo-American ambulance in; + army and armament of; + Hugo's return to; + German advance on; + last day of liberty in; + live-stock in; + customary meat supply of; + clubs in; + defence of Châtillon; + siege begins; + attempts to leave; + first couriers from; + balloon and pigeon post; + siege jests; + spyophobia and signal craze in; + amazons of; + reconnaissances and sorties from; + news of Metz in; + demonstrations and riots in; + plebiscitum in; + food and rations in; + English people leave; + state of environs of; + steps to relieve; + bombardment of; + health of; + deserters in; + affray in; + capitulation of; + author returns to; + aspect after the armistice; + Germans enter; + rising of the Commune, _See also_ Revolution. + Paris, General + "Partant pour la Syrie" + Peace conditions + "Pekin, Siege of" + Pelcoq, Jules, artist + Pelletan, Eugène + Picard, Ernest + Pietri, Prefect + Pigeon-Post + Piquet, M. + Pius IX + Pollard family + Pontifical Zouaves + Pontlieue (Le Mans) + Pont-Noyelles, battle of + Postal-services, _see_ Balloon, Courier, Pigeon. + Prim, General + Prussians, not Germans + Pyat, Félix + + Quatrefages de Bréau + Quinet, Edgar + + Rampont, Dr. + "Red Badge of Courage" + Red Cross Society, French + Reed, Sir E. J. + Rennes + Retreat, Chanzy's, on Marchenoir forest; + on Le Mans; + on Laval; + Revolution of September 4. + Reyau, General + Richard, Mayor of Le Mans + Robinson, Sir John + Rochefort, Henri + Rochers, Château des + Rodellee du Ponzic, Lieutenant + Roquebrune, General de + Rothschild, Baron Alphonse de + Rouen, Germans reach + Rouher, Eugène + Rousseau, General + Russell, Sir William Howard + Ryan, Dr. C. E. + + Saint Agil + Saint Calais + Saint Cloud château destroyed + Saint Jean-sur-Erve + Saint Malo + Saint Quentin, + defence of; + battle of + Saint Servan + Sainte Suzanne + Sala, G.A. + Sardou, Victorien + Sass, Marie + Saxe-Meiningen, Prince of + Saxony, Crown Prince of + Schmidt, General von + Sedan, news of + Napoleon at + Senate, Imperial + Shackle + Sieges, _see_ Paris _and other places_ + Signal craze in Paris + Sillé-le-Guillaume + Simon, Jules + Skinner, Hilary + Sologne region + Songs, some Victorian + Sophia, Queen of Holland + Spuller, Eugène + Spyophobia in Paris + at Laval + Stendhal + Stoffel, Colonel + Strasbourg, siege of + Susbielle, General + + Tann, General von der + Tertre Rouge position (Le Mans) + Thackeray, W.M. + Thiers, Adolphe + Thomas, General Clément + Tibaldi + _Times_, the + Tissandier brothers + Toul capitulates + Treaty, _see_ Peace + Trochu, General + Troppmann + Tuilerie position (Le Mans) + Tuileries palace + + Uhrich, General + + Vaillant, Marshal + Valentin, Edmond + Vendôme column + Versailles during Paris siege + Villemessant, H. de + Villersexel, battle of + Villorceau, fighting at + Vimercati, Count + Vinoy, General + Vizetelly family + Vizetelly, Adrian + ------, Arthur + ------, Edward Henry + ------, Elizabeth Anne + ------, Ellen Elizabeth + ------, Ernest Alfred, parentage + men he saw in childhood + his passionate temper + at school at Eastbourne + at London sights + sees Garibaldi + and Nadar + goes to France + at the Lycée Bonaparte + his tutor Brassard + sees an attempt on Alexander H. + assists his father + his first article + sees famous Frenchmen + visits the Tuileries + goes to Compiègne + is addressed by Napoleon III + sees Paris riots + visits Prince Pierre's house + is befriended by Captain Bingham + dreams of seeing a war + has a glimpse of its seamy side + sees Napoleon III set out for the war + hears Capoul sing the "Marseillaise" + sees a demonstration + meets English newspaper correspondents + is called a little spy by Gambetta + with the Anglo-American ambulance + witnesses the Revolution + takes a letter to Trochu + sees Victor Hugo's return to Paris + witnesses a great review + describes Parish last day of liberty + sees Captain Johnson arrive + visits balloon factories + ascends in Nadar's captive balloon + sees Gambetta leave in a balloon + learns fencing + goes to a women's club + interviews the Paris Amazons + witnesses the demonstration of October 21 + and that of October 31 + food arrangements of his father and himself + leaves Paris + at Brie Comte-Robert + at Corbeil + at Champlan + at Versailles + visits Colonel Walker with his father + leaves Versailles + at Mantes + reaches Saint Servan + visits the Camp of Conlie + accompanies Gougeard's division to the front + in the retreat on Le Mans + receives the baptism of fire + has an amusing experience at Rennes + returns to Le Mans + sees and sketches Chanzy + witnesses part of the battle of Le Mans + sees the stampede from the tile-works + and the confusion at Le Mans + his views on German officers + on a soldier's emotions + on ambulances + escapes from Le Mans + at Sillé-le-Guillaume + at the fight of Saint Jean-sur-Erve + follows the retreat + returns to Laval + has a dramatic adventure there + returns to Paris + sees the Germans enter Paris + some of his experiences during the Commune + Vizetelly, Frank + ----, Francis (Frank) Horace + ----, Frederick Whitehead + ----, Henry + ----, Henry Richard (author's father) + ----, James Thomas George + ----, James Henry + ----, Montague + Voigts Rhetz, General von + Vosges, _see_ Army of the + Voules, Horace + + Walker, Colonel Beauchamp + War, emotions in + war-news in 1870 + _See also_ Franco-German War + Washburne, Mr. + Werder, General von + Whitehurst, Felix + William, King of Prussia, later Emperor + Wimpfen, General de + Wittich, General von + Wodehouse, Hon. Mr. + Wolseley, Field-Marshal Lord + + Yvré-l'Evéque + + Zola, Emile, his "La Débâcle" + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Days of Adventure, by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + +***** This file should be named 9896-8.txt or 9896-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/9/9896/ + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team from images +generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale +de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/9896-8.zip b/9896-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6dc090 --- /dev/null +++ b/9896-8.zip diff --git a/9896.txt b/9896.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a369cf4 --- /dev/null +++ b/9896.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9822 @@ +Project Gutenberg's My Days of Adventure, by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: My Days of Adventure + The Fall of France, 1870-71 + +Author: Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +Posting Date: December 5, 2011 [EBook #9896] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 28, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team from images +generously made available by the Bibliotheque nationale +de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + + + + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + THE FALL OF FRANCE, 1870-71 + + By Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + + +Le Petit Homme Rouge + +Author of "The Court of the Tuileries 1852-70" etc. + + +With A Frontispiece + +London, 1914 + + + + +THE PEOPLE'S WAR + + O husbandmen of hill and dale, + O dressers of the vines, + O sea-tossed fighters of the gale, + O hewers of the mines, + O wealthy ones who need not strive, + O sons of learning, art, + O craftsmen of the city's hive, + O traders of the man, + Hark to the cannon's thunder-call + Appealing to the brave! + Your France is wounded, and may fall + Beneath the foreign grave! + Then gird your loins! Let none delay + Her glory to maintain; + Drive out the foe, throw off his sway, + Win back your land again! + +1870. E.A.V. + + + +PREFACE + + +While this volume is largely of an autobiographical character, it will be +found to contain also a variety of general information concerning the +Franco-German War of 1870-71, more particularly with respect to the second +part of that great struggle--the so-called "People's War" which followed +the crash of Sedan and the downfall of the Second French Empire. If I have +incorporated this historical matter in my book, it is because I have +repeatedly noticed in these later years that, whilst English people are +conversant with the main facts of the Sedan disaster and such subsequent +outstanding events as the siege of Paris and the capitulation of Metz, +they usually know very little about the manner in which the war generally +was carried on by the French under the virtual dictatorship of Gambetta. +Should England ever be invaded by a large hostile force, we, with our very +limited regular army, should probably be obliged to rely largely on +elements similar to those which were called to the field by the French +National Defence Government of 1870 after the regular armies of the Empire +had been either crushed at Sedan or closely invested at Metz. For that +reason I have always taken a keen interest in our Territorial Force, well +realizing what heavy responsibilities would fall upon it if a powerful +enemy should obtain a footing in this country. Some indication of those +responsibilities will be found in the present book. + +Generally speaking, however, I have given only a sketch of the latter part +of the Franco-German War. To have entered into details on an infinity of +matters would have necessitated the writing of a very much longer work. +However, I have supplied, I think, a good deal of precise information +respecting the events which I actually witnessed, and in this connexion, +perhaps, I may have thrown some useful sidelights on the war generally; +for many things akin to those which I saw, occurred under more or less +similar circumstances in other parts of France. + +People who are aware that I am acquainted with the shortcomings of the +French in those already distant days, and that I have watched, as closely +as most foreigners can watch, the evolution of the French army in these +later times, have often asked me what, to my thinking, would be the +outcome of another Franco-German War. For many years I fully anticipated +another struggle between the two Powers, and held myself in readiness to +do duty as a war-correspondent. I long thought, also, that the signal for +that struggle would be given by France. But I am no longer of that +opinion. I fully believe that all French statesmen worthy of the name +realize that it would be suicidal for France to provoke a war with her +formidable neighbour. And at the same time I candidly confess that I do +not know what some journalists mean by what they call the "New France." To +my thinking there is no "New France" at all. There was as much spirit, as +much patriotism, in the days of MacMahon, in the days of Boulanger, and at +other periods, as there is now. The only real novelty that I notice in the +France of to-day is the cultivation of many branches of sport and athletic +exercise. Of that kind of thing there was very little indeed when I was a +stripling. But granting that young Frenchmen of to-day are more athletic, +more "fit" than were those of my generation, granting, moreover, that the +present organization and the equipment of the French army are vastly +superior to what they were in 1870, and also that the conditions of +warfare have greatly changed, I feel that if France were to engage, +unaided, in a contest with Germany, she would again be worsted, and +worsted by her own fault. + +She fully knows that she cannot bring into the field anything like as many +men as Germany; and it is in a vain hope of supplying the deficiency that +she has lately reverted from a two to a three years' system of military +service. The latter certainly gives her a larger effective for the first +contingencies of a campaign, but in all other respects it is merely a +piece of jugglery, for it does not add a single unit to the total number +of Frenchmen capable of bearing arms. The truth is, that during forty +years of prosperity France has been intent on racial suicide. In the whole +of that period only some 3,500,000 inhabitants have been added to her +population, which is now still under 40 millions; whereas that of Germany +has increased by leaps and bounds, and stands at about 66 millions. At the +present time the German birth-rate is certainly falling, but the numerical +superiority which Germany has acquired over France since the war of 1870 +is so great that I feel it would be impossible for the latter to triumph +in an encounter unless she should be assisted by powerful allies. Bismarck +said in 1870 that God was on the side of the big battalions; and those +big battalions Germany can again supply. I hold, then, that no such +Franco-German war as the last one can again occur. Europe is now virtually +divided into two camps, each composed of three Powers, all of which would +be more or less involved in a Franco-German struggle. The allies and +friends on either side are well aware of it, and in their own interests +are bound to exert a restraining influence which makes for the maintenance +of peace. We have had evidence of this in the limitations imposed on the +recent Balkan War. + +On the other hand, it is, of course, the unexpected which usually happens; +and whilst Europe generally remains armed to the teeth, and so many +jealousies are still rife, no one Power can in prudence desist from her +armaments. We who are the wealthiest nation in Europe spend on our +armaments, in proportion to our wealth and our population, less than any +other great Power. Yet some among us would have us curtail our +expenditure, and thereby incur the vulnerability which would tempt a foe. +Undoubtedly the armaments of the present day are great and grievous +burdens on the nations, terrible impediments to social progress, but they +constitute, unfortunately, our only real insurance against war, justifying +yet to-day, after so many long centuries, the truth of the ancient Latin +adage--_Si vis pacem, para bellum_. + +It is, I think, unnecessary for me to comment here on the autobiographical +part of my book. It will, I feel, speak for itself. It treats of days long +past, and on a few points, perhaps, my memory may be slightly defective. +In preparing my narrative, however, I have constantly referred to my old +diaries, note-books and early newspaper articles, and have done my best to +abstain from all exaggeration. Whether this story of some of my youthful +experiences and impressions of men and things was worth telling or not is +a point which I must leave my readers to decide. + +E.A.V. + +London, _January_ 1914. + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + + II. THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + + III. ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + + IV. FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + + V. BESIEGED + + VI. MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + + VII. FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +VIII. FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + + IX. THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + + X. WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + + XI. BEFORE LE MANS + + XII. LE MANS AND AFTER + +XIII. THE BITTER END + + INDEX + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + + +I + +INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + +The Vizetelly Family--My Mother and her Kinsfolk--The _Illustrated Times_ +and its Staff--My Unpleasant Disposition--Thackeray and my First +Half-Crown--School days at Eastbourne--Queen Alexandra--Garibaldi--A few +old Plays and Songs--Nadar and the "Giant" Balloon--My Arrival in France-- +My Tutor Brossard--Berezowski's Attempt on Alexander II--My Apprenticeship +to Journalism--My first Article--I see some French Celebrities--Visits to +the Tuileries--At Compiegne--A few Words with Napoleon III--A +"Revolutionary" Beard. + + +This is an age of "Reminiscences," and although I have never played any +part in the world's affairs, I have witnessed so many notable things and +met so many notable people during the three-score years which I have +lately completed, that it is perhaps allowable for me to add yet another +volume of personal recollections to the many which have already poured +from the press. On starting on an undertaking of this kind it is usual, I +perceive by the many examples around me, to say something about one's +family and upbringing. There is less reason for me to depart from this +practice, as in the course of the present volume it will often be +necessary for me to refer to some of my near relations. A few years ago a +distinguished Italian philosopher and author, Angelo de Gubernatis, was +good enough to include me in a dictionary of writers belonging to the +Latin races, and stated, in doing so, that the Vizetellys were of French +origin. That was a rather curious mistake on the part of an Italian +writer, the truth being that the family originated at Ravenna, where some +members of it held various offices in the Middle Ages. Subsequently, after +dabbling in a conspiracy, some of the Vizzetelli fled to Venice and took +to glass-making there, until at last Jacopo, from whom I am descended, +came to England in the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth. From that time +until my own the men of my family invariably married English women, so +that very little Italian blood can flow in my veins. + +Matrimonial alliances are sometimes of more than personal interest. One +point has particularly struck me in regard to those contracted by members +of my own family, this being the diversity of English counties from which +the men have derived their wives and the women their husbands. References +to Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, +Leicestershire, Berkshire, Bucks, Suffolk, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and +Devonshire, in addition to Middlesex, otherwise London, appear in my +family papers. We have become connected with Johnstons, Burslems, +Bartletts, Pitts, Smiths, Wards, Covells, Randalls, Finemores, Radfords, +Hindes, Pollards, Lemprieres, Wakes, Godbolds, Ansells, Fennells, +Vaughans, Edens, Scotts, and Pearces, and I was the very first member of +the family (subsequent to its arrival in England) to take a foreigner as +wife, she being the daughter of a landowner of Savoy who proceeded from +the Tissots of Switzerland. My elder brother Edward subsequently married a +Burgundian girl named Clerget, and my stepbrother Frank chose an American +one, _nee_ Krehbiel, as his wife, these marriages occurring because +circumstances led us to live for many years abroad. + +Among the first London parishes with which the family was connected was +St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, where my forerunner, the first Henry +Vizetelly, was buried in 1691, he then being fifty years of age, and where +my father, the second Henry of the name, was baptised soon after his birth +in 1820. St. Bride's, Fleet Street, was, however, our parish for many +years, as its registers testify, though in 1781 my great-grandfather was +resident in the parish of St. Ann's, Blackfriars, and was elected +constable thereof. At that date the family name, which figures in old +English registers under a variety of forms--Vissitaler, Vissitaly, +Visataly, Visitelly, Vizetely, etc.--was by him spelt Vizzetelly, as is +shown by documents now in the Guildhall Library; but a few years later he +dropped the second z, with the idea, perhaps, of giving the name a more +English appearance. + +This great-grandfather of mine was, like his father before him, a printer +and a member of the Stationers' Company. He was twice married, having by +his first wife two sons, George and William, neither of whom left +posterity. The former, I believe, died in the service of the Honourable +East India Company. In June, 1775, however, my great-grandfather married +Elizabeth, daughter of James Hinde, stationer, of Little Moorfields, and +had by her, first, a daughter Elizabeth, from whom some of the Burslems +and Godbolds are descended; and, secondly, twins, a boy and a girl, who +were respectively christened James Henry and Mary Mehetabel. The former +became my grandfather. In August, 1816, he married, at St. Bride's, Martha +Jane Vaughan, daughter of a stage-coach proprietor of Chester, and had by +her a daughter, who died unmarried, and four sons--my father, Henry +Richard, and my uncles James, Frank, and Frederick Whitehead Vizetelly. + +Some account of my grandfather is given in my father's "Glances Back +through Seventy Years," and I need not add to it here. I will only say +that, like his immediate forerunners, James Henry Vizetelly was a printer +and freeman of the city. A clever versifier, and so able as an amateur +actor that on certain occasions he replaced Edmund Kean on the boards when +the latter was hopelessly drunk, he died in 1840, leaving his two elder +sons, James and Henry, to carry on the printing business, which was then +established in premises occupying the site of the _Daily Telegraph_ +building in Fleet Street. + +In 1844 my father married Ellen Elizabeth, only child of John Pollard, +M.D., a member of the ancient Yorkshire family of the Pollards of Bierley +and Brunton, now chiefly represented, I believe, by the Pollards of Scarr +Hall. John Pollard's wife, Charlotte Maria Fennell, belonged to a family +which gave officers to the British Navy--one of them serving directly +under Nelson--and clergy to the Church of England. The Fennells were +related to the Bronte sisters through the latter's mother; and one was +closely connected with the Shackle who founded the original _John Bull_ +newspaper. Those, then, were my kinsfolk on the maternal side. My mother +presented my father with seven children, of whom I was the sixth, being +also the fourth son. I was born on November 29, 1853, at a house called +Chalfont Lodge in Campden House Road, Kensington, and well do I remember +the great conflagration which destroyed the fine old historical mansion +built by Baptist Hicks, sometime a mercer in Cheapside and ultimately +Viscount Campden. But another scene which has more particularly haunted me +all through my life was that of my mother's sudden death in a saloon +carriage of an express train on the London and Brighton line. Though she +was in failing health, nobody thought her end so near; but in the very +midst of a journey to London, whilst the train was rushing on at full +speed, and no help could be procured, a sudden weakness came over her, and +in a few minutes she passed away. I was very young at the time, barely +five years old, yet everything still rises before me with all the +vividness of an imperishable memory. Again, too, I see that beautiful +intellectual brow and those lustrous eyes, and hear that musical voice, +and feel the gentle touch of that loving motherly hand. She was a woman of +attainments, fond of setting words to music, speaking perfect French, for +she had been partly educated at Evreux in Normandy, and having no little +knowledge of Greek and Latin literature, as was shown by her annotations +to a copy of Lempriere's "Classical Dictionary" which is now in my +possession. + +About eighteen months after I was born, that is in the midst of the +Crimean War, my father founded, in conjunction with David Bogue, a +well-known publisher of the time, a journal called the _Illustrated +Times_, which for several years competed successfully with the +_Illustrated London News_. It was issued at threepence per copy, and an +old memorandum of the printers now lying before me shows that in the +paper's earlier years the average printings were 130,000 copies weekly--a +notable figure for that period, and one which was considerably exceeded +when any really important event occurred. My father was the chief editor +and manager, his leading coadjutor being Frederick Greenwood, who +afterwards founded the _Pall Mall Gazette_. I do not think that +Greenwood's connection with the _Illustrated Times_ and with my father's +other journal, the _Welcome Guest_, is mentioned in any of the accounts of +his career. The literary staff included four of the Brothers Mayhew-- +Henry, Jules, Horace, and Augustus, two of whom, Jules and Horace, became +godfathers to my father's first children by his second wife. Then there +were also William and Robert Brough, Edmund Yates, George Augustus Sala, +Hain Friswell, W.B. Rands, Tom Robertson, Sutherland Edwards, James +Hannay, Edward Draper, and Hale White (father of "Mark Rutherford"), and +several artists and engravers, such as Birket Foster, "Phiz." Portch, +Andrews, Duncan, Skelton, Bennett, McConnell, Linton, London, and Horace +Harrall. I saw all those men in my early years, for my father was very +hospitably inclined, and they were often guests at Chalfont Lodge. + +After my mother's death, my grandmother, _nee_ Vaughan, took charge of the +establishment, and I soon became the terror of the house, developing a +most violent temper and acquiring the vocabulary of the roughest market +porter. My wilfulness was probably innate (nearly all the Vizetellys +having had impulsive wills of their own), and my flowery language was +picked up by perversely loitering to listen whenever there happened to be +a street row in Church Lane, which I had to cross on my way to or from +Kensington Gardens, my daily place of resort. At an early age I started +bullying my younger brother, I defied my grandmother, insulted the family +doctor because he was too fond of prescribing grey powders for my +particular benefit, and behaved abominably to the excellent Miss Lindup of +Sheffield Terrace, who endeavoured to instruct me in the rudiments of +reading, writing, and arithmetic. I frequently astonished or appalled the +literary men and artists who were my father's guests. I hated being +continually asked what I should like to be when I grew up, and the +slightest chaff threw me into a perfect paroxysm of passion. Whilst, +however, I was resentful of the authority of others, I was greatly +inclined to exercise authority myself--to such a degree, indeed, that my +father's servants generally spoke of me as "the young master," regardless +of the existence of my elder brothers. + +Having already a retentive memory, I was set to learn sundry +"recitations," and every now and then was called upon to emerge from +behind the dining-room curtains and repeat "My Name is Norval" or "The +Spanish Armada," for the delectation of my father's friends whilst they +lingered over their wine. Disaster generally ensued, provoked either by +some genial chaff or well-meant criticism from such men as Sala and +Augustus Mayhew, and I was ultimately carried off--whilst venting +incoherent protests--to be soundly castigated and put to bed. + +Among the real celebrities who occasionally called at Chalfont Lodge was +Thackeray, whom I can still picture sitting on one side of the fireplace, +whilst my father sat on the other, I being installed on the hearthrug +between them. Provided that I was left to myself, I could behave decently +enough, discreetly preserving silence, and, indeed, listening intently to +the conversation of my father's friends, and thereby picking up a very odd +mixture of knowledge. I was, I believe, a pale little chap with lank fair +hair and a wistful face, and no casual observer would have imagined that +my nature was largely compounded of such elements as enter into the +composition of Italian brigands, Scandinavian pirates, and wild Welshmen. +Thackeray, at all events, did not appear to think badly of the little boy +who sat so quietly at his feet. One day, indeed, when he came upon me and +my younger brother Arthur, with our devoted attendant Selina Horrocks, +in Kensington Gardens, he put into practice his own dictum that one could +never see a schoolboy without feeling an impulse to dip one's hand in +one's pocket. Accordingly he presented me with the first half-crown I ever +possessed, for though my father's gifts were frequent they were small. It +was understood, I believe, that I was to share the aforesaid half-crown +with my brother Arthur, but in spite of the many remonstrances of the +faithful Selina--a worthy West-country woman, who had largely taken my +mother's place--I appropriated the gift in its entirety, and became +extremely ill by reason of my many indiscreet purchases at a tuck-stall +which stood, if I remember rightly, at a corner of the then renowned +Kensington Flower Walk. This incident must have occurred late in +Thackeray's life. My childish recollection of him is that of a very big +gentleman with beaming eyes. + +My grandmother's reign in my father's house was not of great duration, as +in February, 1861, he contracted a second marriage, taking on this +occasion as his wife a "fair maid of Kent," [Elizabeth Anne Ansell, of +Broadstairs; mother of my step-brother, Dr. Frank H. Vizetelly, editor of +the "Standard Dictionary," New York.] to whose entry into our home I was +at first violently opposed, but who promptly won me over by her +unremitting affection and kindness, eventually becoming the best and +truest friend of my youth and early manhood. My circumstances changed, +however, soon after that marriage, for as I was now nearly eight years old +it was deemed appropriate that I should be sent to a boarding-school, both +by way of improving my mind and of having some nonsense knocked out of me, +which, indeed, was promptly accomplished by the pugnacious kindness of my +schoolfellows. Among the latter was one, my senior by a few years, who +became a very distinguished journalist. I refer to the late Horace Voules, +so long associated with Labouchere's journal, _Truth_. My brother Edward +was also at the same school, and my brother Arthur came there a little +later. + +It was situated at Eastbourne, and a good deal has been written about it +in recent works on the history of that well-known watering-place, which, +when I was first sent there, counted less than 6000 inhabitants. Located +in the old town or village, at a distance of a mile or more from the sea, +the school occupied a building called "The Gables," and was an offshoot of +a former ancient school connected with the famous parish church. In my +time this "academy" was carried on as a private venture by a certain James +Anthony Bown, a portly old gentleman of considerable attainments. + +I was unusually precocious in some respects, and though I frequently got +into scrapes by playing impish tricks--as, for instance, when I combined +with others to secure an obnoxious French master to his chair by means of +some cobbler's wax, thereby ruining a beautiful pair of peg-top trousers +which he had just purchased--I did not neglect my lessons, but secured a +number of "prizes" with considerable facility. When I was barely twelve +years old, not one of my schoolfellows--and some were sixteen and +seventeen years old--could compete with me in Latin, in which language +Bown ended by taking me separately. I also won three or four prizes for +"excelling" my successive classes in English grammar as prescribed by the +celebrated Lindley Murray. + +In spite of my misdeeds (some of which, fortunately, were never brought +home to me), I became, I think, somewhat of a favourite with the worthy +James Anthony, for he lent me interesting books to read, occasionally had +me to supper in his own quarters, and was now and then good enough to +overlook the swollen state of my nose or the blackness of one of my eyes +when I had been having a bout with a schoolfellow or a young clodhopper of +the village. We usually fought with the village lads in Love Lane on +Sunday evenings, after getting over the playground wall. I received +firstly the nickname of Moses, through falling among some rushes whilst +fielding a ball at cricket; and secondly, that of Noses, because my nasal +organ, like that of Cyrano de Bergerac, suddenly grew to huge proportions, +in such wise that it embodied sufficient material for two noses of +ordinary dimensions. Its size was largely responsible for my defeats when +fighting, for I found it difficult to keep guard over such a prominent +organ and prevent my claret from being tapped. + +Having generations of printers' ink mingled with my blood, I could not +escape the unkind fate which made me a writer of articles and books. +In conjunction with a chum named Clement Ireland I ran a manuscript school +journal, which included stories of pirates and highwaymen, illustrated +with lurid designs in which red ink was plentifully employed in order to +picture the gore which flowed so freely through the various tales. +My grandmother Vaughan was an inveterate reader of the _London Journal_ +and the _Family Herald_, and whenever I went home for my holidays I used +to pounce upon those journals and devour some of the stories of the author +of "Minnegrey," as well as Miss Braddon's "Aurora Floyd" and "Henry +Dunbar." The perusal of books by Ainsworth, Scott, Lever, Marryat, James +Grant, G. P. R. James, Dumas, and Whyte Melville gave me additional +material for storytelling; and so, concocting wonderful blends of all +sorts of fiction, I spun many a yarn to my schoolfellows in the dormitory +in which I slept--yarns which were sometimes supplied in instalments, +being kept up for a week or longer. + +My summer holidays were usually spent in the country, but at other times I +went to London, and was treated to interesting sights. At Kensington, in +my earlier years, I often saw Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort with +their children, notably the Princess Royal (Empress Frederick) and the +Prince of Wales (Edward VII). When the last-named married the "Sea-King's +daughter from over the sea"--since then our admired and gracious Queen +Alexandra--and they drove together through the crowded streets of London +on their way to Windsor, I came specially from Eastbourne to witness that +triumphal progress, and even now I can picture the young prince with his +round chubby face and little side-whiskers, and the vision of almost +tearfully-smiling beauty, in blue and white, which swept past my eager +boyish eyes. + +During the Easter holidays of 1864 Garibaldi came to England. My uncle, +Frank Vizetelly, was the chief war-artist of that period, the predecessor, +in fact, of the late Melton Prior. He knew Garibaldi well, having first +met him during the war of 1859, and having subsequently accompanied him +during his campaign through Sicily and then on to Naples--afterwards, +moreover, staying with him at Caprera. And so my uncle carried me and his +son, my cousin Albert, to Stafford House (where he had the _entree_), and +the grave-looking Liberator patted us on the head, called us his children, +and at Frank Vizetelly's request gave us photographs of himself. I then +little imagined that I should next see him in France, at the close of the +war with Germany, during a part of which my brother Edward acted as one of +his orderly officers. + +My father, being at the head of a prominent London newspaper, often +received tickets for one and another theatre. Thus, during my winter +holidays, I saw many of the old pantomimes at Drury Lane and elsewhere. I +also well remember Sothern's "Lord Dundreary," and a play called "The +Duke's Motto," which was based on Paul Feval's novel, "Le Bossu." I +frequently witnessed the entertainments given by the German Reeds, Corney +Grain, and Woodin, the clever quick-change artist. I likewise remember +Leotard the acrobat at the Alhambra, and sundry performances at the old +Pantheon, where I heard such popular songs as "The Captain with the +Whiskers" and "The Charming Young Widow I met in the Train." Nigger +ditties were often the "rage" during my boyhood, and some of them, like +"Dixie-land" and "So Early in the Morning," still linger in my memory. +Then, too, there were such songs as "Billy Taylor," "I'm Afloat," "I'll +hang my Harp on a Willow Tree," and an inane composition which contained +the lines-- + + "When a lady elopes + Down a ladder of ropes, + She may go, she may go, + She may go to--Hongkong--for me!" + +In those schoolboy days of mine, however, the song of songs, to my +thinking, was one which we invariably sang on breaking up for the +holidays. Whether it was peculiar to Eastbourne or had been derived from +some other school I cannot say. I only know that the last verse ran, +approximately, as follows: + + "Magistrorum is a borum, + Hic-haec-hoc has made his bow. + Let us cry: 'O cockalorum!' + That's the Latin for us now. + Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, + Off to Greece, for we are free! + Helter, skelter, melter, pelter, + We're the lads for mirth and spree!" + +For "cockalorum," be it noted, we frequently substituted the name of some +particularly obnoxious master. + +To return to the interesting sights of my boyhood, I have some +recollection of the Exhibition of 1862, but can recall more vividly a +visit to the Crystal Palace towards the end of the following year, when I +there saw the strange house-like oar of the "Giant" balloon in which +Nadar, the photographer and aeronaut, had lately made, with his wife and +others, a memorable and disastrous aerial voyage. Readers of Jules Verne +will remember that Nadar figures conspicuously in his "Journey to the +Moon." Quite a party of us went to the Palace to see the "Giant's" car, +and Nadar, standing over six feet high, with a great tangled mane of +frizzy flaxen hair, a ruddy moustache, and a red shirt _a la_ Garibaldi, +took us inside it and showed us all the accommodation it contained for +eating, sleeping and photographic purposes. I could not follow what he +said, for I then knew only a few French words, and I certainly had no idea +that I should one day ascend into the air with him in a car of a very +different type, that of the captive balloon which, for purposes of +military observation, he installed on the Place Saint Pierre at +Montmartre, during the German siege of Paris. + +A time came when my father disposed of his interest in the _Illustrated +Times_ and repaired to Paris to take up the position of Continental +representative of the _Illustrated London News_. My brother Edward, at +that time a student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, then became his +assistant, and a little later I was taken across the Channel with my +brother Arthur to join the rest of the family. We lived, first, at +Auteuil, and then at Passy, where I was placed in a day-school called the +Institution Nouissel, where lads were prepared for admission to the State +or municipal colleges. There had been some attempt to teach me French at +Eastbourne, but it had met with little success, partly, I think, because +I was prejudiced against the French generally, regarding them as a mere +race of frog-eaters whom we had deservedly whacked at Waterloo. Eventually +my prejudices were in a measure overcome by what I heard from our +drill-master, a retired non-commissioned officer, who had served in the +Crimea, and who told us some rousing anecdotes about the gallantry of +"our allies" at the Alma and elsewhere. In the result, the old sergeant's +converse gave me "furiously to think" that there might be some good in the +French after all. + +At Nouissel's I acquired some knowledge of the language rapidly enough, +and I was afterwards placed in the charge of a tutor, a clever scamp named +Brossard, who prepared me for the Lycee Bonaparte (now Condorcet), where I +eventually became a pupil, Brossard still continuing to coach me with a +view to my passing various examinations, and ultimately securing the usual +_baccalaureat_, without which nobody could then be anything at all in +France. In the same way he coached Evelyn Jerrold, son of Blanchard and +grandson of Douglas Jerrold, both of whom were on terms of close +friendship with the Vizetellys. But while Brossard was a clever man, he +was also an unprincipled one, and although I was afterwards indebted to +him for an introduction to old General Changarnier, to whom he was +related, it would doubtless have been all the better if he had not +introduced me to some other people with whom he was connected. He lived +for a while with a woman who was not his wife, and deserted her for a girl +of eighteen, whom he also abandoned, in order to devote himself to a +creature in fleshings who rode a bare-backed steed at the Cirque de +l'Imperatrice. When I was first introduced to her "behind the scenes," she +was bestriding a chair, and smoking a pink cigarette, and she addressed me +as _mon petit_. Briefly, the moral atmosphere of Brossard's life was not +such as befitted him to be a mentor of youth. + +Let me now go back a little. At the time of the great Paris Exhibition of +1867 I was in my fourteenth year. The city was then crowded with +royalties, many of whom I saw on one or another occasion. I was in the +Bois de Boulogne with my father when, after a great review, a shot was +fired at the carriage in which Napoleon III and his guest, Alexander II of +Russia, were seated side by side. I saw equerry Raimbeaux gallop forward +to screen the two monarchs, and I saw the culprit seized by a sergeant of +our Royal Engineers, attached to the British section of the Exhibition. +Both sovereigns stood up in the carriage to show that they were uninjured, +and it was afterwards reported that the Emperor Napoleon said to the +Emperor Alexander: "If that shot was fired by an Italian it was meant for +me; if by a Pole, it was meant for your Majesty." Whether those words were +really spoken, or were afterwards invented, as such things often are, by +some clever journalist, I cannot say; but the man proved to be a Pole +named Berezowski, who was subsequently sentenced to transportation for +life. + +It was in connection with this attempt on the Czar that I did my first +little bit of journalistic work. By my father's directions, I took a few +notes and made a hasty little sketch of the surroundings. This and my +explanations enabled M. Jules Pelcoq, an artist of Belgian birth, whom my +father largely employed on behalf of the _Illustrated London News_, to +make a drawing which appeared on the first page of that journal's next +issue. I do not think that any other paper in the world was able to supply +a pictorial representation of Berezowski's attempt. + +I have said enough, I think, to show that I was a precocious lad, perhaps, +indeed, a great deal too precocious. However, I worked very hard in those +days. My hours at Bonaparte were from ten to twelve and from two to four. +I had also to prepare home-lessons for the Lycee, take special lessons +from Brossard, and again lessons in German from a tutor named With. Then, +too, my brother Edward ceasing to act as my father's assistant in order to +devote himself to journalism on his own account, I had to take over a part +of his duties. One of my cousins, Montague Vizetelly (son of my uncle +James, who was the head of our family), came from England, however, to +assist my father in the more serious work, such as I, by reason of my +youth, could not yet perform. My spare time was spent largely in taking +instructions to artists or fetching drawings from them. At one moment I +might be at Mont-martre, and at another in the Quartier Latin, calling on +Pelcoq, Anastasi, Janet Lange, Gustave Janet, Pauquet, Thorigny, Gaildrau, +Deroy, Bocourt, Darjou, Lix, Moulin, Fichot, Blanchard, or other artists +who worked for the _Illustrated London News_. Occasionally a sketch was +posted to England, but more frequently I had to despatch some drawing on +wood by rail. Though I have never been anything but an amateurish +draughtsman myself, I certainly developed a critical faculty, and acquired +a knowledge of different artistic methods, during my intercourse with so +many of the _dessinateurs_ of the last years of the Second Empire. + +By-and-by more serious duties were allotted to me. The "Paris Fashions" +design then appearing every month in the _Illustrated London News_ was for +a time prepared according to certain dresses which Worth and other famous +costumiers made for empresses, queens, princesses, great ladies, and +theatrical celebrities; and, accompanying Pelcoq or Janet when they went +to sketch those gowns (nowadays one would simply obtain photographs), I +took down from _la premiere_, or sometimes from Worth himself, full +particulars respecting materials and styles, in order that the descriptive +letterpress, which was to accompany the illustration, might be correct. + +In this wise I served my apprenticeship to journalism. My father naturally +revised my work. The first article, all my own, which appeared in print +was one on that notorious theatrical institution, the Claque. I sent it to +_Once a Week_, which E. S. Dallas then edited, and knowing that he was +well acquainted with my father, and feeling very diffident respecting the +merits of what I had written, I assumed a _nom de plume_ ("Charles +Ludhurst") for the occasion, Needless to say that I was delighted when +I saw the article in print, and yet more so when I received for it a +couple of guineas, which I speedily expended on gloves, neckties, and a +walking-stick. Here let me say that we were rather swagger young fellows +at Bonaparte. We did not have to wear hideous ill-fitting uniforms like +other Lyceens, but endeavoured to present a very smart appearance. Thus +we made it a practice to wear gloves and to carry walking-sticks or canes +on our way to or from the Lycee. I even improved on that by buying +"button-holes" at the flower-market beside the Madeleine, and this idea +"catching on," as the phrase goes, quite a commotion occurred one morning +when virtually half my classmates were found wearing flowers--for it +happened to be La Saint Henri, the _fete_-day of the Count de Chambord, +and both our Proviseur and our professor imagined that this was, on our +part, a seditious Legitimist demonstration. There were, however, very few +Legitimists among us, though Orleanists and Republicans were numerous. + +I have mentioned that my first article was on the Claque, that +organisation established to encourage applause in theatres, it being held +that the Parisian spectator required to be roused by some such method. +Brossard having introduced me to the _sous-chef_ of the Claque at the +Opera Comique, I often obtained admission to that house as a _claqueur_. +I even went to a few other theatres in the same capacity. Further, +Brossard knew sundry authors and journalists, and took me to the Cafe de +Suede and the Cafe de Madrid, where I saw and heard some of the +celebrities of the day. I can still picture the great Dumas, loud of voice +and exuberant in gesture whilst holding forth to a band of young +"spongers," on whom he was spending his last napoleons. I can also see +Gambetta--young, slim, black-haired and bearded, with a full sensual +underlip--seated at the same table as Delescluze, whose hair and beard, +once red, had become a dingy white, whose figure was emaciated and +angular, and whose yellowish, wrinkled face seemed to betoken that he was +possessed by some fixed idea. What that idea was, the Commune subsequently +showed. Again, I can see Henri Rochefort and Gustave Flourens together: +the former straight and sinewy, with a great tuft of very dark curly hair, +flashing eyes and high and prominent cheekbones; while the latter, tall +and bald, with long moustaches and a flowing beard, gazed at you in an +eager imperious way, as if he were about to issue some command. + +Other men who helped to overthrow the Empire also became known to me. My +father, whilst engaged in some costly litigation respecting a large +castellated house which he had leased at Le Vesinet, secured Jules Favre +as his advocate, and on various occasions I went with him to Favre's +residence. Here let me say that my father, in spite of all his interest in +French literature, did not know the language. He could scarcely express +himself in it, and thus he always made it a practice to have one of his +sons with him, we having inherited our mother's linguistic gifts. Favre's +command of language was great, but his eloquence was by no means rousing, +and I well remember that when he pleaded for my father, the three judges +of the Appeal Court composed themselves to sleep, and did not awaken until +the counsel opposed to us started banging his fist and shouting in +thunderous tones. Naturally enough, as the judges never heard our side of +the case, but only our adversary's, they decided against us. + +Some retrenchment then became necessary on my father's part, and he sent +my step-mother, her children and my brother Arthur, to Saint Servan in +Brittany, where he rented a house which was called "La petite Amelia," +after George III's daughter of that name, who, during some interval of +peace between France and Great Britain, went to stay at Saint Servan for +the benefit of her health. The majority of our family having repaired +there and my cousin Monty returning to England some time in 1869, I +remained alone with my father in Paris. We resided in what I may call a +bachelor's flat at No. 16, Rue de Miromesnil, near the Elysee Palace. The +principal part of the house was occupied by the Count and Countess de +Chateaubriand and their daughters. The Countess was good enough to take +some notice of me, and subsequently, when she departed for Combourg at the +approach of the German siege, she gave me full permission to make use, if +necessary, of the coals and wood left in the Chateaubriand cellars. + +In 1869, the date I have now reached, I was in my sixteenth year, still +studying, and at the same time giving more and more assistance to my +father in connection with his journalistic work. He has included in his +"Glances Back" some account of the facilities which enabled him to secure +adequate pictorial delineation of the Court life of the Empire. He has +told the story of Moulin, the police-agent, who frequently watched over +the Emperor's personal safety, and who also supplied sketches of Court +functions for the use of the _Illustrated London News_. Napoleon III +resembled his great-uncle in at least one respect. He fully understood the +art of advertisement; and, in his desire to be thought well of in England, +he was always ready to favour English journalists. Whilst a certain part +of the London Press preserved throughout the reign a very critical +attitude towards the Imperial policy, it is certain that some of the Paris +correspondents were in close touch with the Emperor's Government, and that +some of them were actually subsidized by it. + +The best-informed man with respect to Court and social events was +undoubtedly Mr. Felix Whiteburst of _The Daily Telegraph_, whom I well +remember. He had the _entree_ at the Tuileries and elsewhere, and there +were occasions when very important information was imparted to him with a +view to its early publication in London. For the most part, however, +Whitehurst confined himself to chronicling events or incidents occurring +at Court or in Bonapartist high society. Anxious to avoid giving offence, +he usually glossed over any scandal that occurred, or dismissed it airily, +with the _desinvolture_ of a _roue_ of the Regency. Withal, he was an +extremely amiable man, very condescending towards me when we met, as +sometimes happened at the Tuileries itself. + +I had to go there on several occasions to meet Moulin, the +detective-artist, by appointment, and a few years ago this helped me to +write a book which has been more than once reprinted. [Note] I utilized in +it many notes made by me in 1869-70, notably with respect to the Emperor +and Empress's private apartments, the kitchens, and the arrangements made +for balls and banquets. I am not aware at what age a young fellow is +usually provided with his first dress-suit, but I know that mine was made +about the time I speak of. I was then, I suppose, about five feet five +inches in height, and my face led people to suppose that I was eighteen or +nineteen years of age. + +[Note: The work in question was entitled "The Court of the Tuileries, +1852-1870," by "Le Petit Homme Rouge"--a pseudonym which I have since used +when producing other books. "The Court of the Tuileries" was founded in +part on previously published works, on a quantity of notes and memoranda +made by my father, other relatives, and myself, and on some of the private +papers of one of my wife's kinsmen, General Mollard, who after greatly +distinguishing himself at the Tchernaya and Magenta, became for a time an +aide-de-camp to Napoleon III.] + +In the autumn of 1869, I fell rather ill from over-study--I had already +begun to read up Roman law--and, on securing a holiday, I accompanied my +father to Compiegne, where the Imperial Court was then staying. We were +not among the invited guests, but it had been arranged that every facility +should be given to the _Illustrated London News_ representatives in order +that the Court _villegiatura_ might be fully depicted in that journal. I +need not recapitulate my experiences on this occasion. There is an account +of our visit in my father's "Glances Back," and I inserted many additional +particulars in my "Court of the Tuileries." I may mention, however, that +it was at Compiegne that I first exchanged a few words with Napoleon III. + +One day, my father being unwell (the weather was intensely cold), I +proceeded to the chateau [We slept at the Hotel de la Cloche, but +had the _entree_ to the chateau at virtually any time.] accompanied only +by our artist, young M. Montbard, who was currently known as "Apollo" in +the Quartier Latin, where he delighted the _habitues_ of the Bal Bullier +by a style of choregraphy in comparison with which the achievements +subsequently witnessed at the notorious Moulin Rouge would have sunk into +insignificance. Montbard had to make a couple of drawings on the day I +have mentioned, and it so happened that, whilst we were going about with +M. de la Ferriere, the chamberlain on duty, Napoleon III suddenly appeared +before us. Directly I was presented to him he spoke to me in English, +telling me that he often saw the _Illustrated London News_, and that the +illustrations of French life and Paris improvements (in which he took so +keen an interest) were very ably executed. He asked me also how long I had +been in France, and where I had learnt the language. Then, remarking that +it was near the _dejeuner_ hour, he told M. de la Ferriere to see that +Montbard and myself were suitably entertained. + +I do not think that I had any particular political opinions at that time. +Montbard, however, was a Republican--in fact, a future Communard--and I +know that he did not appreciate his virtually enforced introduction to the +so-called "Badinguet." Still, he contrived to be fairly polite, and +allowed the Emperor to inspect the sketch he was making. There was to be a +theatrical performance at the chateau that evening, and it had already +been arranged that Montbard should witness it. On hearing, however, that +it had been impossible to provide my father and myself with seats, on +account of the great demand for admission on the part of local magnates +and the officers of the garrison, the Emperor was good enough to say, +after I had explained that my father's indisposition would prevent him +from attending: "Voyons, vous pourrez bien trouver une petite place pour +ce jeune homme. Il n'est pas si grand, et je suis sur que cela lui fera +plaisir." M. de la Ferriere bowed, and thus it came to pass that I +witnessed the performance after all, being seated on a stool behind some +extremely beautiful women whose white shoulders repeatedly distracted my +attention from the stage. In regard to Montbard there was some little +trouble, as M. de la Ferriere did not like the appearance of his +"revolutionary-looking beard," the sight of which, said he, might greatly +alarm the Empress. Montbard, however, indignantly refused to shave it off, +and ten months later the "revolutionary beards" were predominant, the +power and the pomp of the Empire having been swept away amidst all the +disasters of invasion. + + + +II + +THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + +Napoleon's Plans for a War with Prussia--The Garde Mobile and the French +Army generally--Its Armament--The "White Blouses" and the Paris Riots--The +Emperor and the Elections of 1869--The Troppmann and Pierre Bonaparte +Affairs--Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham--The Ollivier Ministry--French +Campaigning Plans--Frossard and Bazaine--The Negotiations with Archduke +Albert and Count Vimeroati--The War forced on by Bismarck--I shout "A +Berlin!"--The Imperial Guard and General Bourbaki--My Dream of seeing a +War--My uncle Frank Vizetelly and his Campaigns--"The Siege of Pekin"-- +Organization of the French Forces--The Information Service--I witness the +departure of Napoleon III and the Imperial Prince from Saint Cloud. + + +There was no little agitation in France during the years 1868 and 1869. +The outcome first of the Schleswig-Holstein war, and secondly of the war +between Prussia and Austria in 1866, had alarmed many French politicians. +Napoleon III had expected some territorial compensation in return for his +neutrality at those periods, and it is certain that Bismarck, as chief +Prussian minister, had allowed him to suppose that he would be able to +indemnify himself for his non-intervention in the afore-mentioned +contests. After attaining her ends, however, Prussia turned an unwilling +ear to the French Emperor's suggestions, and from that moment a +Franco-German war became inevitable. Although, as I well remember, +there was a perfect "rage" for Bismarck "this" and Bismarck "that" in +Paris--particularly for the Bismarck colour, a shade of Havana brown--the +Prussian statesman, who had so successfully "jockeyed" the Man of Destiny, +was undoubtedly a well hated and dreaded individual among the Parisians, +at least among all those who thought of the future of Europe. Prussian +policy, however, was not the only cause of anxiety in France, for at the +same period the Republican opposition to the Imperial authority was +steadily gaining strength in the great cities, and the political +concessions by which Napoleon III sought to disarm it only emboldened it +to make fresh demands. + +In planning a war on Prussia, the Emperor was influenced both by national +and by dynastic considerations. The rise of Prussia--which had become head +of the North German Confederation--was without doubt a menace not only to +French ascendency on the Continent, but also to France's general +interests. On the other hand, the prestige of the Empire having been +seriously impaired, in France itself, by the diplomatic defeats which +Bismarck had inflicted on Napoleon, it seemed that only a successful war, +waged on the Power from which France had received those successive +rebuffs, could restore the aforesaid prestige and ensure the duration of +the Bonaparte dynasty. + +Even nowadays, in spite of innumerable revelations, many writers continue +to cast all the responsibility of the Franco-German War on Germany, or, to +be more precise, on Prussia as represented by Bismarck. That, however, is +a great error. A trial of strength was regarded on both sides as +inevitable, and both sides contributed to bring it about. Bismarck's share +in the conflict was to precipitate hostilities, selecting for them what he +judged to be an opportune moment for his country, and thereby preventing +the Emperor Napoleon from maturing his designs. The latter did not intend +to declare war until early in 1871; the Prussian statesman brought it +about in July, 1870. + +The Emperor really took to the war-path soon after 1866. A great military +council was assembled, and various measures were devised to strengthen the +army. The principal step was the creation of a territorial force called +the Garde Mobile, which was expected to yield more than half a million +men. Marshal Niel, who was then Minister of War, attempted to carry out +this scheme, but was hampered by an insufficiency of money. Nowadays, I +often think of Niel and the Garde Mobile when I read of Lord Haldane, +Colonel Seely, and our own "terriers." It seems to me, at times, as if the +clock had gone back more than forty years. + +Niel died in August, 1869, leaving his task in an extremely unfinished +state, and Marshal Le Boeuf, who succeeded him, persevered with it in a +very faint-hearted way. The regular army, however, was kept in fair +condition, though it was never so strong as it appeared to be on paper. +There was a system in vogue by which a conscript of means could avoid +service by supplying a _remplacant_. Originally, he was expected to +provide his _remplacant_ himself; but, ultimately, he only had to pay a +sum of money to the military authorities, who undertook to find a man to +take his place. Unfortunately, in thousands of instances, over a term of +some years, the _remplacants_ were never provided at all. I do not suggest +that the money was absolutely misappropriated, but it was diverted to +other military purposes, and, in the result, there was always a +considerable shortage in the annual contingent. + +The creature comforts of the men were certainly well looked after. My +particular chum at Bonaparte was the son of a general-officer, and I +visited more than one barracks or encampment. Without doubt, there was +always an abundance of good sound food. Further, the men were well-armed. +All military authorities are agreed, I believe, that the Chassepot +rifle--invented in or about 1866--was superior to the Dreyse needle-gun, +which was in use in the Prussian army. Then, too, there was Colonel de +Reffye's machine-gun or _mitrailleuse_, in a sense the forerunner of the +Gatling and the Maxim. It was first devised, I think, in 1863, and, +according to official statements, some three or four years later there +were more than a score of _mitrailleuse_ batteries. With regard to other +ordnance, however, that of the French was inferior to that of the Germans, +as was conclusively proved at Sedan and elsewhere. In many respects the +work of army reform, publicly advised by General Trochu in a famous +pamphlet, and by other officers in reports to the Emperor and the Ministry +of War, proceeded at a very slow pace, being impeded by a variety of +considerations. The young men of the large towns did not take kindly to +the idea of serving in the new Garde Mobile. Having escaped service in the +regular army, by drawing exempting "numbers" or by paying for +_remplacants_, they regarded it as very unfair that they should be called +upon to serve at all, and there were serious riots in various parts of +France at the time of their first enrolment in 1868. Many of them failed +to realize the necessities of the case. There was no great wave of +patriotism sweeping through the country. The German danger was not yet +generally apparent. Further, many upholders of the Imperial authority +shook their heads in deprecation of this scheme of enrolling and arming so +many young men, who might suddenly blossom into revolutionaries and turn +their weapons against the powers of the day. + +There was great unrest in Paris in 1868, the year of Henri Rochefort's +famous journal _La Lanterne_. Issue after issue of that bitterly-penned +effusion was seized and confiscated, and more than once did I see vigilant +detectives snatch copies from people in the streets. In June, 1869, we had +general elections, accompanied by rioting on the Boulevards. It was then +that the "White Blouse" legend arose, it being alleged that many of the +rioters were _agents provocateurs_ in the pay of the Prefecture of Police, +and wore white blouses expressly in order that they might be known to the +sergents-de-ville and the Gardes de Paris who were called upon to quell +the disturbances. At first thought, it might seem ridiculous that any +Government should stir up rioting for the mere sake of putting it down, +but it was generally held that the authorities wished some disturbances to +occur in order, first, that the middle-classes might be frightened by the +prospect of a violent revolution, and thereby induced to vote for +Government candidates at the elections; and, secondly, that some of the +many real Revolutionaries might be led to participate in the rioting in +such wise as to supply a pretext for arresting them. + +I was with my mentor Brossard and my brother Edward one night in June when +a "Madeleine-Bastille" omnibus was overturned on the Boulevard Montmartre +and two or three newspaper kiosks were added to it by way of forming a +barricade, the purpose of which was by no means clear. The great crowd of +promenaders seemed to regard the affair as capital fun until the police +suddenly came up, followed by some mounted men of the Garde de Paris, +whereupon the laughing spectators became terrified and suddenly fled for +their lives. With my companions I gazed on the scene from the _entresol_ +of the Cafe Mazarin. It was the first affair of the kind I had ever +witnessed, and for that reason impressed itself more vividly on my mind +than several subsequent and more serious ones. In the twinkling of an eye +all the little tables set out in front of the cafes were deserted, and +tragi-comical was the sight of the many women with golden chignons +scurrying away with their alarmed companions, and tripping now and again +over some fallen chair whilst the pursuing cavalry clattered noisily along +the foot-pavements. A Londoner might form some idea of the scene by +picturing a charge from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus at the hour +when Coventry Street is most thronged with undesirables of both sexes. + +The majority of the White Blouses and their friends escaped unhurt, and +the police and the guards chiefly expended their vigour on the spectators +of the original disturbance. Whether this had been secretly engineered by +the authorities for one of the purposes I previously indicated, must +always remain a moot point. In any case it did not incline the Parisians +to vote for the Government candidates. Every deputy returned for the city +on that occasion was an opponent of the Empire, and in later years I was +told by an ex-Court official that when Napoleon became acquainted with the +result of the pollings he said, in reference to the nominees whom he had +favoured, "Not one! not a single one!" The ingratitude of the Parisians, +as the Emperor styled it, was always a thorn in his side; yet he should +have remembered that in the past the bulk of the Parisians had seldom, if +ever, been on the side of constituted authority. + +Later that year came the famous affair of the Pantin crimes, and I was +present with my father when Troppmann, the brutish murderer of the Kinck +family, stood his trial at the Assizes. But, quite properly, my father +would not let me accompany him when he attended the miscreant's execution +outside the prison of La Roquette. Some years later, however, I witnessed +the execution of Prevost on the same spot; and at a subsequent date I +attended both the trial and the execution of Caserio--the assassin of +President Carnot--at Lyons. Following Troppmann's case, in the early days +of 1870 came the crime of the so-called Wild Boar of Corsica, Prince +Pierre Bonaparte (grandfather of the present Princess George of Greece), +who shot the young journalist Victor Noir, when the latter went with +Ulrich de Fonvielle, aeronaut as well as journalist, to call him out on +behalf of the irrepressible Henri Rochefort. I remember accompanying one +of our artists, Gaildrau, when a sketch was made of the scene of the +crime, the Prince's drawing-room at Auteuil, a peculiar semi-circular, +panelled and white-painted apartment furnished in what we should call in +England a tawdry mid-Victorian style. On the occasion of Noir's funeral my +father and myself were in the Champs Elysees when the tumultuous +revolutionary procession, in which Rochefort figured conspicuously, swept +down the famous avenue along which the victorious Germans were to march +little more than a year afterwards. Near the Rond-point the _cortege_ was +broken up and scattered by the police, whose violence was extreme. +Rochefort, brave enough on the duelling-ground, fainted away, and was +carried off in a vehicle, his position as a member of the Legislative Body +momentarily rendering him immune from arrest. Within a month, however, he +was under lock and key, and some fierce rioting ensued in the north of +Paris. + +During the spring, my father went to Ireland as special commissioner of +the _Illustrated London News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette_, in order to +investigate the condition of the tenantry and the agrarian crimes which +were then so prevalent there. Meantime, I was left in Paris, virtually "on +my own," though I was often with my elder brother Edward. About this time, +moreover, a friend of my father's began to take a good deal of interest in +me. This was Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham, a member of the Clanmorris +family, and the regular correspondent of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ in Paris. +He subsequently became known as the author of various works on the +Bonapartes and the Bourbons, and of a volume of recollections of Paris +life, in which I am once or twice mentioned. Bingham was married to a very +charming lady of the Laoretelle family, which gave a couple of historians +to France, and I was always received most kindly at their home near the +Arc de Triomphe. Moreover, Bingham often took me about with him in my +spare time, and introduced me to several prominent people. Later, during +the street fighting at the close of the Commune in 1871, we had some +dramatic adventures together, and on one occasion Bingham saved my life. + +The earlier months of 1870 went by very swiftly amidst a multiplicity of +interesting events. Emile Ollivier had now become chief Minister, and an +era of liberal reforms appeared to have begun. It seemed, moreover, as if +the Minister's charming wife were for her part intent on reforming the +practices of her sex in regard to dress, for she resolutely set her face +against the extravagant toilettes of the ladies of the Court, repeatedly +appearing at the Tuileries in the most unassuming attire, which, however, +by sheer force of contrast, rendered her very conspicuous there. The +patronesses of the great _couturiers_ were quite irate at receiving such a +lesson from a _petite bourgeoise_; but all who shared the views expressed +by President Dupin a few years previously respecting the "unbridled luxury +of women," were naturally delighted. + +Her husband's attempts at political reform were certainly well meant, but +the Republicans regarded him as a renegade and the older Imperialists as +an intruder, and nothing that he did gave satisfaction. The concession of +the right of public meeting led to frequent disorders at Belleville and +Montmartre, and the increased freedom of the Press only acted as an +incentive to violence of language. Nevertheless, when there came a +Plebiscitum--the last of the reign--to ascertain the country's opinion +respecting the reforms devised by the Emperor and Ollivier, a huge +majority signified approval of them, and thus the "liberal Empire" seemed +to be firmly established. If, however, the nation at large had known what +was going on behind the scenes, both in diplomatic and in military +spheres, the result of the Plebiscitum would probably have been very +different. + +Already on the morrow of the war between Prussia and Austria (1866) the +Emperor, as I previously indicated, had begun to devise a plan of campaign +in regard to the former Power, taking as his particular _confidants_ in +the matter General Lebrun, his _aide-de-camp_, and General Frossard, the +governor of the young Imperial Prince. Marshal Niel, as War Minister, was +cognizant of the Emperor's conferences with Lebrun and Frossard, but does +not appear to have taken any direct part in the plans which were devised. +They were originally purely defensive plans, intended to provide for any +invasion of French territory from across the Rhine. Colonel Baron Stoffel, +the French military _attache_ at Berlin, had frequently warned the War +Office in Paris respecting the possibility of a Prussian attack and the +strength of the Prussian armaments, which, he wrote, would enable King +William (with the assistance of the other German rulers) to throw a force +of nearly a million men into Alsace-Lorraine. Further, General Ducrot, who +commanded the garrison at Strasburg, became acquainted with many things +which he communicated to his relative, Baron de Bourgoing, one of the +Emperor's equerries. + +There is no doubt that these various communications reached Napoleon III; +and though he may have regarded both the statements of Stoffel and those +of Ducrot as exaggerated, he was certainly sufficiently impressed by them +to order the preparation of certain plans. Frossard, basing himself on the +operations of the Austrians in December, 1793, and keeping in mind the +methods by which Hoche, with the Moselle army, and Pichegru, with the +Rhine army, forced them back from the French frontier, drafted a scheme of +defence in which he foresaw the battle of Woerth, but, through following +erroneous information, greatly miscalculated the probable number of +combatants. He set forth in his scheme that the Imperial Government could +not possibly allow Alsace-Lorraine and Champagne to be invaded without a +trial of strength at the very outset; and Marshal Bazaine, who, at some +period or other, annotated a copy of Frossard's scheme, signified his +approval of that dictum, but added significantly that good tactical +measures should be adopted. He himself demurred to Frossard's plans, +saying that he was no partisan of a frontal defence, but believed in +falling on the enemy's flanks and rear. Yet, as we know, MacMahon fought +the battle of Woerth under conditions in many respects similar to those +which Frossard had foreseen. + +However, the purely defensive plans on which Napoleon III at first worked, +were replaced in 1868 by offensive ones, in which General Lebrun took a +prominent part, both from the military and from the diplomatic +standpoints. It was not, however, until March, 1870, that the Archduke +Albert of Austria came to Paris to confer with the French Emperor. +Lebrun's plan of campaign was discussed by them, and Marshal Le Boeuf and +Generals Frossard and Jarras were privy to the negotiations. It was +proposed that France, Austria, and Italy should invade Germany conjointly; +and, according to Le Boeuf, the first-named Power could place 400,000 men +on the frontier in a fortnight's time. Both Austria and Italy, however, +required forty-two days to mobilize their forces, though the former +offered to provide two army corps during the interval. When Lebrun +subsequently went to Vienna to come to a positive decision and arrange +details, the Archduke Albert pointed out that the war ought to begin in +the spring season, for, said he, the North Germans would be able to +support the cold and dampness of a winter campaign far better than the +allies. That was an absolutely correct forecast, fully confirmed by all +that took place in France during the winter of 1870-1871. + +But Prussia heard of what was brewing. Austria was betrayed to her by +Hungary; and Italy and France could not come to an understanding on the +question of Rome. At the outset Prince Napoleon (Jerome) was concerned in +the latter negotiations, which were eventually conducted by Count +Vimercati, the Italian military _attache_ in Paris. Napoleon, however, +steadily refused to withdraw his forces from the States of the Church and +to allow Victor Emmanuel to occupy Rome. Had he yielded on those points +Italy would certainly have joined him, and Austria--however much Hungarian +statesmen might have disliked it--would, in all probability, have followed +suit. By the policy he pursued in this matter, the French Emperor lost +everything, and prevented nothing. On the one hand, France was defeated +and the Empire of the Bonapartes collapsed; whilst, on the other, Rome +became Italy's true capital. + +Bismarck was in no way inclined to allow the negotiations for an +anti-Prussian alliance to mature. They dragged on for a considerable time, +but the Government of Napoleon III was not particularly disturbed thereat, +as it felt certain that victory would attend the French arms at the +outset, and that Italy and Austria would eventually give support. +Bismarck, however, precipitated events. Already in the previous year +Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had been a candidate for the +throne of Spain. That candidature had been withdrawn in order to avert a +conflict between France and Germany; but now it was revived at Bismarck's +instigation in order to bring about one. + +I have said, I think, enough to show--in fairness to Germany--that the war +of 1870 was not an unprovoked attack on France. The incidents--such as the +Ems affair--which directly led up to it were after all only of secondary +importance, although they bulked so largely at the time of their +occurrence. I well remember the great excitement which prevailed in Paris +during the few anxious days when to the man in the street the question of +peace or war seemed to be trembling in the balance, though in reality that +question was already virtually decided upon both sides. Judging by all +that has been revealed to us during the last forty years, I do not think +that M. Emile Ollivier, the Prime Minister, would have been able to modify +the decision of the fateful council held at Saint Cloud even if he had +attended it. Possessed by many delusions, the bulk of the imperial +councillors were too confident of success to draw back, and, besides, +Bismarck and Moltke were not disposed to let France draw back. They were +ready, and they knew right well that opportunity is a fine thing. + +It was on July 15 that the Duc de Gramont, the Imperial Minister of +Foreign Affairs, read his memorable statement to the Legislative Body, and +two days later a formal declaration of war was signed. Paris at once +became delirious with enthusiasm, though, as we know by all the telegrams +from the Prefects of the departments, the provinces generally desired that +peace might be preserved. + +Resident in Paris, and knowing at that time very little about the rest of +France--for I had merely stayed during my summer holidays at such seaside +resorts as Trouville, Deauville, Beuzeval, St. Malo, and St. Servan--I +undoubtedly caught the Parisian fever, and I dare say that I sometimes +joined in the universal chorus of "A Berlin!" Mere lad as I was, in spite +of my precocity, I shared also the universal confidence in the French +army. In that confidence many English military men participated. Only +those who, like Captain Hozier of _The Times_, had closely watched +Prussian methods during the Seven Weeks' War in 1866, clearly realized +that the North German kingdom possessed a thoroughly well organized +fighting machine, led by officers of the greatest ability, and capable of +effecting something like a revolution in the art of war. + +France was currently thought stronger than she really was. Of the good +physique of her men there could be no doubt. Everybody who witnessed the +great military pageants of those times was impressed by the bearing of the +troops and their efficiency under arms. And nobody anticipated that they +would be so inferior to the Germans in numbers as proved to be the case, +and that the generals would show themselves so inferior in mental calibre +to the commanders of the opposing forces. The Paris garrison, it is true, +was no real criterion of the French army generally, though foreigners were +apt to judge the latter by what they saw of it in the capital. The troops +stationed there were mostly picked men, the garrison being very largely +composed of the Imperial Guard. The latter always made a brilliant +display, not merely by reason of its somewhat showy uniforms, recalling at +times those of the First Empire, but also by the men's fine _physique_ and +their general military proficiency. They certainly fought well in some of +the earlier battles of the war. Their commander was General Bourbaki, a +fine soldierly looking man, the grandson of a Greek pilot who acted as +intermediary between Napoleon I and his brother Joseph, at the time of the +former's expedition to Egypt. It was this original Bourbaki who carried to +Napoleon Joseph's secret letters reporting Josephine's misconduct in her +husband's absence, misconduct which Napoleon condoned at the time, though +it would have entitled him to a divorce nine years before he decided on +one. + +With the spectacle of the Imperial Guard constantly before their eyes, the +Parisians of July, 1870, could not believe in the possibility of defeat, +and, moreover, at the first moment it was not believed that the Southern +German States would join North Germany against France. Napoleon III and +his confidential advisers well knew, however, what to think on that point, +and the delusions of the man in the street departed when, on July 20, +Bavaria, Wuertemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt announced their intention +of supporting Prussia and the North German Confederation. Still, this did +not dismay the Parisians, and the shouts of "To Berlin! To Berlin!" were +as frequent as ever. + +It had long been one of my dreams to see and participate in the great +drama of war. All boys, I suppose, come into the world with pugnacious +instincts. There must be few, too, who never "play at soldiers." My own +interest in warfare and soldiering had been steadily fanned from my +earliest childhood. In the first place, I had been incessantly confronted +by all the scenes of war depicted in the _Illustrated Times_ and the +_Illustrated London News_, those journals being posted to me regularly +every week whilst I was still only a little chap at Eastbourne. Further, +the career of my uncle, Frank Vizetelly, exercised a strange fascination +over me. Born in Fleet Street in September, 1830, he was the youngest of +my father's three brothers. Educated with Gustave Dore, he became an +artist for the illustrated Press, and, in 1850, represented the +_Illustrated Times_ as war-artist in Italy, being a part of the time with +the French and at other moments with the Sardinian forces. That was the +first of his many campaigns. His services being afterwards secured by the +_Illustrated London News_, he next accompanied Garibaldi from Palermo to +Naples. Then, at the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States, he +repaired thither with Howard Russell, and, on finding obstacles placed in +his way on the Federal side, travelled "underground" to Richmond and +joined the Confederates. The late Duke of Devonshire, the late Lord +Wolseley, and Francis Lawley were among his successive companions. At one +time he and the first-named shared the same tent and lent socks and shirts +to one another. + +Now and again, however, Frank Vizetelly came to England after running the +blockade, stayed a few weeks in London, and then departed for America once +more, yet again running the blockade on his way. This he did on at least +three occasions. His next campaign was the war of 1866, when he was with +the Austrian commander Benedek. For a few years afterwards he remained in +London assisting his eldest brother James to run what was probably the +first of the society journals, _Echoes of the Clubs_, to which Mortimer +Collins and the late Sir Edmund Monson largely contributed. However, Frank +Vizetelly went back to America once again, this time with Wolseley on the +Red River Expedition. Later, he was with Don Carlos in Spain and with the +French in Tunis, whence he proceeded to Egypt. He died on the field of +duty, meeting his death when Hicks Pasha's little army was annihilated in +the denies of Kashgil, in the Soudan. + +Now, in the earlier years, when Frank Vizetelly returned from Italy or +America, he was often at my father's house at Kensington, and I heard +him talk of Napoleon III, MacMahon, Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel, Cialdini, +Robert Lee, Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and Captain Semmes. +Between-times I saw all the engravings prepared after his sketches, and I +regarded him and them with a kind of childish reverence. I can picture him +still, a hale, bluff, tall, and burly-looking man, with short dark hair, +blue eyes and a big ruddy moustache. He was far away the best known member +of our family in my younger days, when anonymity in journalism was an +almost universal rule. In the same way, however, as everybody had heard of +Howard Russell, the war correspondent of the _Times_, so most people had +heard of Frank Vizetelly, the war-artist of the _Illustrated_. He was, +by-the-by, in the service of the _Graphic_ when he was killed. + +I well remember being alternately amused and disgusted by a French +theatrical delineation of an English war correspondent, given in a +spectacular military piece which I witnessed a short time after my first +arrival in Paris. It was called "The Siege of Pekin," and had been +concocted by Mocquard, the Emperor Napoleon's secretary. All the "comic +business" in the affair was supplied by a so-called war correspondent of +the _Times_, who strutted about in a tropical helmet embellished with a +green Derby veil, and was provided with a portable desk and a huge +umbrella. This red-nosed and red-whiskered individual was for ever talking +of having to do this and that for "the first paper of the first country in +the world," and, in order to obtain a better view of an engagement, he +deliberately planted himself between the French and Chinese combatants. I +should doubtless have derived more amusement from his tomfoolery had I not +already known that English war correspondents did not behave in any such +idiotic manner, and I came away from the performance with strong feelings +of resentment respecting so outrageous a caricature of a profession +counting among its members the uncle whom I so much admired. + +Whatever my dreams may have been, I hardly anticipated that I should join +that profession myself during the Franco-German war. The Lycees "broke up" +in confusion, and my father decided to send me to join my stepmother and +the younger members of the family at Saint Servan, it being his intention +to go to the front with my elder brother Edward. But Simpson, the veteran +Crimean War artist, came over to join the so-called Army of the Rhine, and +my brother, securing an engagement from the _New York Times_, set out on +his own account. Thus I was promptly recalled to Paris, where my father +had decided to remain. In those days the journey from Brittany to the +capital took many long and wearisome hours, and I made it in a third-class +carriage of a train crowded with soldiers of all arms, cavalry, infantry, +and artillery. Most of them were intoxicated, and the grossness of their +language and manners was almost beyond belief. That dreadful night spent +on the boards of a slowly-moving and jolting train, [There were then no +cushioned seats in French third-class carriages.] amidst drunken and +foul-mouthed companions, gave me, as it were, a glimpse of the other side +of the picture--that is, of several things which lie behind the glamour of +war. + +It must have been about July 25 when I returned to Paris. A decree had +just been issued appointing the Empress as Regent in the absence of the +Emperor, who was to take command of the Army of the Rhine. It had +originally been intended that there should be three French armies, but +during the conferences with Archduke Albert in the spring, that plan was +abandoned in favour of one sole army under the command of Napoleon III. +The idea underlying the change was to avoid a superfluity of +staff-officers, and to augment the number of actual combatants. Both Le +Boeuf and Lebrun approved of the alteration, and this would seem to +indicate that there were already misgivings on the French side in regard +to the inferior strength of their effectives. The army was divided into +eight sections, that is, seven army corps, and the Imperial Guard. +Bourbaki, as already mentioned, commanded the Guard, and at the head of +the army corps were (1) MacMahon, (2) Frossard, (3) Bazaine, (4) +Ladmerault, (5) Failly, (6) Canrobert, and (7) Felix Douay. Both Frossard +and Failly, however, were at first made subordinate to Bazaine. The head +of the information service was Colonel Lewal, who rose to be a general and +Minister of War under the Republic, and who wrote some commendable works +on tactics; and immediately under him were Lieut.-Colonel Fay, also +subsequently a well-known general, and Captain Jung, who is best +remembered perhaps by his inquiries into the mystery of the Man with the +Iron Mask. I give those names because, however distinguished those three +men may have become in later years, the French intelligence service at the +outset of the war was without doubt extremely faulty, and responsible for +some of the disasters which occurred. + +On returning to Paris one of my first duties was to go in search of +Moulin, the detective-artist whom I mentioned in my first chapter. I found +him in his somewhat squalid home in the Quartier Mouffetard, surrounded by +a tribe of children, and he immediately informed me that he was one of the +"agents" appointed to attend the Emperor on the campaign. The somewhat +lavish Imperial _equipage_, on which Zola so frequently dilated in "The +Downfall," had, I think, already been despatched to Metz, where the +Emperor proposed to fix his headquarters, and the escort of Cent Gardes +was about to proceed thither. Moulin told me, however, that he and two of +his colleagues were to travel in the same train as Napoleon, and it was +agreed that he should forward either to Paris or to London, as might prove +most convenient, such sketches as he might from time to time contrive to +make. He suggested that there should be one of the Emperor's departure +from Saint Cloud, and that in order to avoid delay I should accompany him +on the occasion and take it from him. We therefore went down together on +July 28, promptly obtained admittance to the chateau, where Moulin took +certain instructions, and then repaired to the railway-siding in the park, +whence the Imperial train was to start. + +Officers and high officials, nearly all in uniform, were constantly going +to and fro between the siding and the chateau, and presently the Imperial +party appeared, the Emperor being between the Empress and the young +Imperial Prince. Quite a crowd of dignitaries followed. I do not recollect +seeing Emile Ollivier, though he must have been present, but I took +particular note of Rouher, the once all-powerful minister, currently +nicknamed the Vice-Emperor, and later President of the Senate. In spite of +his portliness, he walked with a most determined stride, held his head +very erect, and spoke in his customary loud voice. The Emperor, who wore +the undress uniform of a general, looked very grave and sallow. The +disease which eventually ended in his death had already become serious, +[I have given many particulars of it in my two books, "The Court of the +Tuileries, 1862-1870" (Chatto and Windus), and "Republican France, +1870-1912" (Holden and Hardingham).] and only a few days later, that is, +during the Saarbrucken affair (August 2), he was painfully affected by it. +Nevertheless, he had undertaken to command the Army of France! The +Imperial Prince, then fourteen years of age, was also in uniform, it +having been arranged that he should accompany his father to the front, and +he seemed to be extremely animated and restless, repeatedly turning to +exchange remarks with one or another officer near him. The Empress, who +was very simply gowned, smiled once or twice in response to some words +which fell from her husband, but for the most part she looked as serious +as he did. Whatever Emile Ollivier may have said about beginning this war +with a light heart, it is certain that these two sovereigns of France +realized, at that hour of parting, the magnitude of the issues at stake. +After they had exchanged a farewell kiss, the Empress took her eager young +son in her arms and embraced him fondly, and when we next saw her face we +could perceive the tears standing in her eyes. The Emperor was already +taking his seat and the boy speedily sprang after him. Did the Empress at +that moment wonder when, where, and how she would next see them again? +Perchance she did. Everything, however, was speedily in readiness for +departure. As the train began to move, both the Emperor and the Prince +waved their hands from the windows, whilst all the enthusiastic Imperial +dignitaries flourished their hats and raised a prolonged cry of "Vive +l'Empereur!" It was not, perhaps, so loud as it might have been; but, +then, they were mostly elderly men. Moulin, during the interval, had +contrived to make something in the nature of a thumb-nail sketch; I had +also taken a few notes myself; and thus provided I hastened back to Paris. + + + +III + +ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + +First French Defeats--A Great Victory rumoured--The Marseillaise, Capoul +and Marie Sass--Edward Vizetelly brings News of Forbach to Paris--Emile +Ollivier again--His Fall from Power--Cousin Montauban, Comte de Palikao-- +English War Correspondents in Paris--Gambetta calls me "a Little Spy"-- +More French Defeats--Palikao and the Defence of Paris--Feats of a Siege-- +Wounded returning from the Front--Wild Reports of French Victories--The +Quarries of Jaumont--The Anglo-American Ambulance--The News of Sedan-- +Sala's Unpleasant Adventure--The Fall of the Empire. + + +It was, I think, two days after the Emperor's arrival at Metz that the +first Germans--a detachment of Badeners--entered French territory. Then, +on the second of August came the successful French attack on Saarbrucken, +a petty affair but a well-remembered one, as it was on this occasion that +the young Imperial Prince received the "baptism of fire." Appropriately +enough, the troops, whose success he witnessed, were commanded by his late +governor, General Frossard. More important was the engagement at +Weissenburg two days later, when a division of the French under General +Abel Douay was surprised by much superior forces, and utterly overwhelmed, +Douay himself being killed during the fighting. Yet another two days +elapsed, and then the Crown Prince of Prussia--later the Emperor +Frederick--routed MacMahon at Woerth, in spite of a vigorous resistance, +carried on the part of the French Cuirassiers, under General the Vicomte +de Bonnemains, to the point of heroism. In later days the general's son +married a handsome and wealthy young lady of the bourgeoisie named +Marguerite Crouzet, whom, however, he had to divorce, and who afterwards +became notorious as the mistress of General Boulanger. + +Curiously enough, on the very day of the disaster of Woerth a rumour of a +great French victory spread through Paris. My father had occasion to send +me to his bankers in the Rue Vivienne, and on making my way to the +Boulevards, which I proposed to follow, I was amazed to see the +shopkeepers eagerly setting up the tricolour flags which they habitually +displayed on the Emperor's fete-day (August 15). Nobody knew exactly how +the rumours of victory had originated, nobody could give any precise +details respecting the alleged great success, but everybody believed in +it, and the enthusiasm was universal. It was about the middle of the day +when I repaired to the Rue Vivienne, and after transacting my business +there, I turned into the Place de la Bourse, where a huge crowd was +assembled. The steps of the exchange were also covered with people, and +amidst a myriad eager gesticulations a perfect babel of voices was +ascending to the blue sky. One of the green omnibuses, which in those days +ran from the Bourse to Passy, was waiting on the square, unable to depart +owing to the density of the crowd; and all at once, amidst a scene of +great excitement and repeated shouts of "La Marseillaise!" "La +Marseillaise!" three or four well-dressed men climbed on to the vehicle, +and turning towards the mob of speculators and sightseers covering the +steps of the Bourse, they called to them repeatedly: "Silence! Silence!" +The hubbub slightly subsided, and thereupon one of the party on the +omnibus, a good-looking slim young fellow with a little moustache, took +off his hat, raised his right arm, and began to sing the war-hymn of the +Revolution. The stanza finished, the whole assembly took up the refrain. + +Since the days of the Coup d'Etat, the Marseillaise had been banned in +France, the official imperial air being "Partant pour la Syrie," a +military march composed by the Emperor's mother, Queen Hortense, with +words by Count Alexandre de Laborde, who therein pictured a handsome young +knight praying to the Blessed Virgin before his departure for Palestine, +and soliciting of her benevolence that he might "prove to be the bravest +brave, and love the fairest fair." During the twenty years of the third +Napoleon's rule, Paris had heard the strains of "Partant pour la Syrie" +many thousand times, and, though they were tuneful enough, had become +thoroughly tired of them. To stimulate popular enthusiasm in the war the +Ollivier Cabinet had accordingly authorized the playing and singing of the +long-forbidden "Marseillaise," which, although it was well-remembered by +the survivors of '48, and was hummed even by the young Republicans of +Belleville and the Quartier Latin, proved quite a novelty to half the +population, who were destined to hear it again and again and again from +that period until the present time. + +The young vocalist who sang it from the top of a Passy-Bourse omnibus on +that fateful day of Woerth, claimed to be a tenor, but was more correctly a +tenorino, his voice possessing far more sweetness than power. He was +already well-known and popular, for he had taken the part of Romeo in +Gounod's well-known opera based on the Shakespearean play. Like many +another singer, Victor Capoul might have become forgotten before very +long, but a curious circumstance, having nothing to do with vocalism, +diffused and perpetuated his name. He adopted a particular way of dressing +his hair, "plastering" a part of it down in a kind of semi-circle over the +forehead; and the new style "catching on" among young Parisians, the +"coiffure Capoul" eventually went round the world. It is exemplified in +certain portraits of King George V. + +In those war-days Capoul sang the "Marseillaise" either at the Opera +Comique or the Theatre Lyrique; but at the Opera it was sung by Marie +Sass, then at the height of her reputation. I came in touch with her a few +years later when she was living in the Paris suburbs, and more than once, +when we both travelled to the city in the same train, I had the honour of +assisting her to alight from it--this being no very easy matter, as la +Sass was the very fattest and heaviest of all the _prime donne_ that I +have ever seen. + +On the same day that MacMahon was defeated at Woerth, Frossard was badly +beaten at Forbach, an engagement witnessed by my elder brother Edward, +[Born January 1, 1847, and therefore in 1870 in his twenty-fourth year.] +who, as I previously mentioned, had gone to the front for an American +journal. Finding it impossible to telegraph the news of this serious +French reverse, he contrived to make his way to Paris on a locomotive- +engine, and arrived at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil looking as black +as any coal-heaver. When he had handed his account of the affair to Ryan, +the Paris representative of the _New York Times_, it was suggested that +his information might perhaps be useful to the French Minister of War. So +he hastened to the Ministry, where the news he brought put a finishing +touch to the dismay of the officials, who were already staggering under +the first news of the disaster of Woerth. + +Paris, jubilant over an imaginary victory, was enraged by the tidings of +Woerth and Forbach. Already dreading some Revolutionary enterprise, the +Government declared the city to be in a state of siege, thereby placing it +under military authority. Although additional men had recently been +enrolled in the National Guard the arming of them had been intentionally +delayed, precisely from a fear of revolutionary troubles, which the +_entourage_ of the Empress-Regent at Saint Cloud feared from the very +moment of the first defeats. I recollect witnessing on the Place Venddme +one day early in August a very tumultuous gathering of National Guards who +had flocked thither in order to demand weapons of the Prime Minister, that +is, Emile Ollivier, who in addition to the premiership, otherwise the +"Presidency of the Council," held the offices of Keeper of the Seals and +Minister of Justice, this department then having its offices in one of the +buildings of the Place Vendome. Ollivier responded to the demonstration by +appearing on the balcony of his private room and delivering a brief +speech, which, embraced a vague promise to comply with the popular demand. +In point of fact, however, nothing of the kind was done during his term of +office. + +Whilst writing these lines I hear that this much-abused statesman has just +passed away at Saint Gervais-les-Bains in Upper Savoy (August 20, 1913). +Born at Marseilles in July, 1825, he lived to complete his eighty-eighth +year. His second wife (nee Gravier), to whom I referred in a previous +chapter, survives him. I do not wish to be unduly hard on his memory. He +came, however, of a very Republican family, and in his earlier years he +personally evinced what seemed to be most staunch Republicanism. When he +was first elected as a member of the Legislative Body in 1857, he publicly +declared that he would appear before that essentially Bonapartist assembly +as one of the spectres of the crime of the Coup d'Etat. But subsequently +M. de Morny baited him with a lucrative appointment connected with the +Suez Canal. Later still, the Empress smiled on him, and finally he took +office under the Emperor, thereby disgusting nearly every one of his +former friends and associates. + +I believe, however, that Ollivier was sincerely convinced of the +possibility of firmly establishing a liberal-imperialist _regime_. But +although various reforms were carried out under his auspices, it is quite +certain that he was not allowed a perfectly free hand. Nor was he fully +taken into confidence with respect to the Emperor's secret diplomatic and +military policy. That was proved by the very speech in which he spoke of +entering upon the war with Prussia "with a light heart"; for in his very +next sentences he spoke of that war as being absolutely forced upon +France, and of himself and his colleagues as having done all that was +humanly and honourably possible to avoid it. Assuredly he would not have +spoken quite as he did had he realized at the time that Bismarck had +merely forced on the war in order to defeat the Emperor Napoleon's +intention to invade Germany in the ensuing spring. The public provocation +on Prussia's part was, as I previously showed, merely her reply to the +secret provocation offered by France, as evidenced by all the negotiations +with Archduke Albert on behalf of Austria, and with Count Vimercati on +behalf of Italy. On all those matters Ollivier was at the utmost but very +imperfectly informed. Finally, be it remembered that he was absent from +the Council at Saint Cloud at which war was finally decided upon. + +At a very early hour on the morning of Sunday, August 7--the day following +Woerth and Forbach--the Empress Eugenie came in all haste and sore +distress from Saint Cloud to the Tuileries. The position was very serious, +and anxious conferences were held by the ministers. When the Legislative +Body met on the morrow, a number of deputies roundly denounced the manner +in which the military operations were being conducted. One deputy, a +certain Guyot-Montpeyroux, who was well known for the outspokenness of his +language, horrified the more devoted Imperialists by describing the French +forces as an army of lions led by jackasses. On the following day Ollivier +and his colleagues resigned office. Their position had become untenable, +though little if any responsibility attached to them respecting the +military operations. The Minister of War, General Dejean, had been merely +a stop-gap, appointed to carry out the measures agreed upon before his +predecessor, Marshal Le Boeuf, had gone to the front as Major General of +the army. + +It was felt; however, among the Empress's _entourage_ that the new Prime +Minister ought to be a military man of energy, devoted, moreover, to the +Imperial _regime_. As the marshals and most of the conspicuous generals of +the time were already serving in the field, it was difficult to find any +prominent individual possessed of the desired qualifications. Finally, +however, the Empress was prevailed upon to telegraph to an officer whom +she personally disliked, this being General Cousin-Montauban, Comte de +Palikao. He was certainly, and with good reason, devoted to the Empire, +and in the past he had undoubtedly proved himself to be a man of energy. +But he was at this date in his seventy-fifth year--a fact often overlooked +by historians of the Franco-German war--and for that very reason, although +he had solicited a command in the field at the first outbreak of +hostilities, it had been decided to decline his application, and to leave +him at Lyons, where he had commanded the garrison for five years past. + +Thirty years of Palikao's life had been spent in Algeria, contending, +during most of that time, against the Arabs; but in 1860 he had been +appointed commander of the French expedition to China, where with a small +force he had conducted hostilities with the greatest vigour, repeatedly +decimating or scattering the hordes of Chinamen who were opposed to him, +and, in conjunction with the English, victoriously taking Pekin. A kind of +stain rested on the expedition by reason of the looting of the Chinese +Emperor's summer-palace, but the entire responsibility of that affair +could not be cast on the French commander, as he only continued and +completed what the English began. On his return to France, Napoleon III +created him Comte de Palikao (the name being taken from one of his Chinese +victories), and in addition wished the Legislative Body to grant him a +_dotation_. However, the summer-palace looting scandal prevented this, +much to the Emperor's annoyance, and subsequent to the fall of the Empire +it was discovered that, by Napoleon's express orders, the War Ministry had +paid Palikao a sum of about L60,000, diverting that amount of money (in +accordance with the practices of the time) from the purpose originally +assigned to it in the Estimates. + +This was not generally known when Palikao became Chief Minister. He was +then what might be called a very well preserved old officer, but his lungs +had been somewhat affected by a bullet-wound of long standing, and this he +more than once gave as a reason for replying with the greatest brevity to +interpellations in the Chamber. Moreover, as matters went from bad to +worse, this same lung trouble became a good excuse for preserving absolute +silence on certain inconvenient occasions. When, however, Palikao was +willing to speak he often did so untruthfully, repeatedly adding the +_suggestio falsi_ to the _suppressio veri_. As a matter of fact, he, like +other fervent partisans of the dynasty, was afraid to let the Parisians +know the true state of affairs. Besides, he himself was often ignorant of +it. He took office (he was the third War Minister in fifty days) without +any knowledge whatever of the imperial plan of campaign, or the steps to +be adopted in the event of further French reverses, and a herculean task +lay before this septuagenarian officer, who by experience knew right well +how to deal with Arabs and Chinamen, but had never had to contend with +European troops. Nevertheless, he displayed zeal and activity in his new +semi-political and semi-military position. He greatly assisted MacMahon to +reconstitute his army at Chalons, he planned the organization of three +more army corps, and he started on the work of placing Paris in a state of +defence, whilst his colleague, Clement Duvernois, the new Minister of +Commerce, began gathering flocks and herds together, in order that the +city, if besieged, might have the necessary means of subsistence. + +At this time there were quite a number of English "war" as well as "own" +correspondents in Paris. The former had mostly returned from Metz, whither +they had repaired at the time of the Emperor's departure for the front. At +the outset it had seemed as though the French would allow foreign +journalists to accompany them on their "promenade to Berlin," but, on +reverses setting in, all official recognition was denied to newspaper men, +and, moreover, some of the representatives of the London Press had a very +unpleasant time at Metz, being arrested there as spies and subjected to +divers indignities. I do not remember whether they were ordered back to +Paris or whether they voluntarily withdrew to the capital on their +position with the army becoming untenable; but in any case they arrived in +the city and lingered there for a time, holding daily symposiums at the +Grand Cafe at the corner of the Rue Scribe, on the Boulevards. + +From time to time I went there with my father, and amongst, this galaxy +of journalistic talent I met certain men with whom I had spoken in my +childhood. One of them, for instance, was George Augustus Sala, and +another was Henry Mayhew, the famous author of "London Labour and the +London Poor," he being accompanied by his son Athol. Looking back, it +seems to me that, in spite of all their brilliant gifts, neither Sala nor +Henry Mayhew was fitted to be a correspondent in the field, and they were +certainly much better placed in Paris than at the headquarters of the Army +of the Rhine. Among the resident correspondents who attended the +gatherings at the Grand Cafe were Captain Bingham, Blanchard (son of +Douglas) Jerrold, and the jaunty Bower, who had once been tried for his +life and acquitted by virtue of the "unwritten law" in connection with +an _affaire passionelle_ in which he was the aggrieved party. For more +than forty years past, whenever I have seen a bluff looking elderly +gentleman sporting a buff-waistcoat and a white-spotted blue necktie, +I have instinctively thought of Bower, who wore such a waistcoat and such +a necktie, with the glossiest of silk hats and most shapely of +patent-leather boots, throughout the siege of Paris, when he was fond of +dilating on the merits of boiled ostrich and stewed elephant's foot, of +which expensive dainties he partook at his club, after the inmates of the +Jardin des Plantes had been slaughtered. + +Bower represented the _Morning Advertiser_. I do not remember seeing Bowes +of the _Standard_ at the gatherings I have referred to, or Crawford of the +_Daily News_, who so long wrote his Paris letters at a little cafe +fronting the Bourse. But it was certainly at the Grand Cafe that I first +set eyes on Labouchere, who, like Sala, was installed at the neighbouring +Grand Hotel, and was soon to become famous as the _Daily News_' "Besieged +Resident." As for Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who represented the _Morning +Post_ during the German Siege, I first set eyes on him at the British +Embassy, when he had a beautiful little moustache (which I greatly envied) +and wore his hair nicely parted down the middle. _Eheu! fugaces labuntur +anni_. + +Sala was the life and soul of those gatherings at the Grand Cafe, always +exuberantly gay, unless indeed the conversation turned on the prospects of +the French forces, when he railed at them without ceasing. Blanchard +Jerrold, who was well acquainted with the spy system of the Empire, +repeatedly warned Sala to be cautious--but in vain; and the eventual +result of his outspokenness was a very unpleasant adventure on the eve of +the Empire's fall. In the presence of all those distinguished men of the +pen, I myself mostly preserved, as befitted my age, a very discreet +silence, listening intently, but seldom opening my lips unless it were to +accept or refuse another cup of coffee, or some _sirop de groseille_ or +_grenadine_. I never touched any intoxicant excepting claret at my meals, +and though, in my Eastbourne days, I had, like most boys of my time, +experimented with a clay pipe and some dark shag, I did not smoke. My +father personally was extremely fond of cigars, but had he caught me +smoking one, he would, I believe, have knocked me down. + +In connection with those Grand Cafe gatherings I one day had a little +adventure. It had been arranged that I should meet my father there, and +turning into the Boulevards from the Madeleine I went slowly past what was +then called the Rue Basse du Rempart. I was thinking of something or +other--I do not remember what, but in any case I was absorbed in thought, +and inadvertently I dogged the footsteps of two black-coated gentlemen who +were deep in conversation. I was almost unconscious of their presence, and +in any case I did not hear a word of what they were saying. But all at +once one of them turned round, and said to me angrily: "Veux-tu bien t'en +aller, petit espion!" otherwise: "Be off, little spy!" I woke up as it +were, looked at him, and to my amazement recognized Gambetta, whom I had +seen several times already, when I was with my mentor Brossard at either +the Cafe de Suede or the Cafe de Madrid. At the same time, however, his +companion also turned round, and proved to be Jules Simon, who knew me +through a son of his. This was fortunate, for he immediately exclaimed: +"Why, no! It is young Vizetelly, a friend of my son's," adding, "Did you +wish to speak to me?" + +I replied in the negative, saying that I had not even recognized him from +behind, and trying to explain that it was purely by chance that I had been +following him and M. Gambetta. "You know me, then?" exclaimed the future +dictator somewhat sharply; whereupon I mentioned that he had been pointed +out to me more than once, notably when he was in the company of M. +Delescluze. "Ah, oui, fort bien," he answered. "I am sorry if I spoke as I +did. But"--and here he turned to Simon--"one never knows, one can never +take too many precautions. The Spaniard would willingly send both of us to +Mazas." By "the Spaniard," of course, he meant the Empress Eugenie, just +as people meant Marie-Antoinette when they referred to "the Austrian" +during the first Revolution. That ended the affair. They both shook hands +with me, I raised my hat, and hurried on to the Grand Cafe, leaving them +to their private conversation. This was the first time that I ever +exchanged words with Gambetta. The incident must have occurred just after +his return from Switzerland, whither he had repaired fully anticipating +the triumph of the French arms, returning, however, directly he heard of +the first disasters. Simon and he were naturally drawn together by their +opposition to the Empire, but they were men of very different characters, +and some six months later they were at daggers drawn. + +Events moved rapidly during Palikao's ministry. Reviving a former +proposition of Jules Favre's, Gambetta proposed to the Legislative Body +the formation of a Committee of National Defence, and one was ultimately +appointed; but the only member of the Opposition included in it was +Thiers. In the middle of August there were some revolutionary disturbances +at La Villette. Then, after the famous conference at Chalons, where +Rouher, Prince Napoleon, and others discussed the situation with the +Emperor and MacMahon, Trochu was appointed Military Governor of Paris, +where he soon found himself at loggerheads with Palikao. Meantime, the +French under Bazaine, to whom the Emperor was obliged to relinquish the +supreme command--the Opposition deputies particularly insisting on +Bazaine's appointment in his stead--were experiencing reverse after +reverse. The battle of Courcelles or Pange, on August 14, was followed two +days later by that of Vionville or Mars-la-Tour, and, after yet another +two days, came the great struggle of Gravelotte, and Bazaine was thrown +back on Metz. + +At the Chalons conference it had been decided that the Emperor should +return to Paris and that MacMahon's army also should retreat towards the +capital. But Palikao telegraphed to Napoleon: "If you abandon Bazaine +there will be Revolution in Paris, and you yourself will be attacked by +all the enemy's forces. Paris will defend herself from all assault from +outside. The fortifications are completed." It has been argued that the +plan to save Bazaine might have succeeded had it been immediately carried +into effect, and in accordance, too, with Palikao's ideas; but the +original scheme was modified, delay ensued, and the French were outmarched +by the Germans, who came up with them at Sedan. As for Palikao's statement +that the Paris fortifications were completed at the time when he +despatched his telegram, that was absolutely untrue. The armament of the +outlying forts had scarcely begun, and not a single gun was in position on +any one of the ninety-five bastions of the ramparts. On the other hand, +Palikao was certainly doing all he could for the city. He had formed the +aforementioned Committee of Defence, and under his auspices the fosse or +ditch in front of the ramparts was carried across the sixty-nine roads +leading into Paris, whilst drawbridges were installed on all these points, +with armed lunettes in front of them. Again, redoubts were thrown up in +advance of some of the outlying forts, or on spots where breaks occurred +in the chain of defensive works. + +At the same time, ships' guns were ordered up from Cherbourg, Brest, +Lorient, and Toulon, together with naval gunners to serve them. Sailors, +customhouse officers, and provincial gendarmes were also conveyed to Paris +in considerable numbers. Gardes-mobiles, francs-tireurs, and even firemen +likewise came from the provinces, whilst the work of provisioning the city +proceeded briskly, the Chamber never hesitating to vote all the money +asked of it. At the same time, whilst there were many new arrivals in +Paris, there were also many departures from the city. The general fear of +a siege spread rapidly. Every day thousands of well-to-do middle-class +folk went off in order to place themselves out of harm's way; and at the +same time thousands of foreigners were expelled on the ground that, in the +event of a siege occurring, they would merely be "useless mouths." In +contrast with that exodus was the great inrush of people from the suburbs +of Paris. They poured into the city unceasingly, from villas, cottages, +and farms, employing every variety of vehicle to convey their furniture +and other household goods, their corn, flour, wine, and other produce. +There was a block at virtually every city gate, so many were the folk +eager for shelter within the protecting ramparts raised at the instigation +of Thiers some thirty years previously. + +In point of fact, although the Germans were not yet really marching on +Paris--for Bazaine's army had to be bottled up, and MacMahon's disposed +of, before there could be an effective advance on the French capital--it +was imagined in the city and its outskirts that the enemy might arrive at +any moment. The general alarm was intensified when, on the night of August +21, a large body of invalided men, who had fought at Weissenburg or Worth, +made their way into Paris, looking battle and travel-stained, some with +their heads bandaged, others with their arms in slings, and others limping +along with the help of sticks. It is difficult to conceive by what +aberration the authorities allowed the Parisians to obtain that woeful +glimpse of the misfortunes of France. The men in question ought never to +have been sent to Paris at all. They might well have been cared for +elsewhere. As it happened, the sorry sight affected all who beheld it. +Some were angered by it, others depressed, and others well-nigh terrified. + +As a kind of set-off, however, to that gloomy spectacle, fresh rumours of +French successes began to circulate. There was a report that Bazaine's +army had annihilated the whole of Prince Frederick-Charles's cavalry, and, +in particular, there was a most sensational account of how three German +army-corps, including the famous white Cuirassiers to which Bismarck +belonged, had been tumbled into the "Quarries of Jaumont" and there +absolutely destroyed! I will not say that there is no locality named +Jaumont, but I cannot find any such place mentioned in Joanne's elaborate +dictionary of the communes of France, and possibly it was as mythical as +was the alleged German disaster, the rumours of which momentarily revived +the spirits of the deluded Parisians, who were particularly pleased to +think that the hated Bismarck's regiment had been annihilated. + +On or about August 30, a friend of my eldest brother Adrian, a medical +man named Blewitt, arrived in Paris with the object of joining an +Anglo-American ambulance which was being formed in connection with the Red +Cross Society. Dr. Blewitt spoke a little French, but he was not well +acquainted with the city, and I was deputed to assist him whilst he +remained there. An interesting account of the doings of the ambulance in +question was written some sixteen or seventeen years ago by Dr. Charles +Edward Ryan, of Glenlara, Tipperary, who belonged to it. Its head men were +Dr. Marion-Sims and Dr. Frank, others being Dr. Ryan, as already +mentioned, and Drs. Blewitt, Webb, May, Nicholl, Hayden, Howett, +Tilghmann, and last but not least, the future Sir William MacCormack. Dr. +Blewitt had a variety of business to transact with the officials of the +French Red Cross Society, and I was with him at his interviews with its +venerable-looking President, the Count de Flavigny, and others. It is of +interest to recall that at the outbreak of the war the society's only +means was an income of L5 6_s._ 3_d._, but that by August 28 its receipts +had risen to nearly L112,000. By October it had expended more than +L100,000 in organizing thirty-two field ambulances. Its total outlay +during the war exceeded half a million sterling, and in its various field, +town, and village ambulances no fewer than 110,000 men were succoured and +nursed. + +In Paris the society's headquarters were established at the Palace de +l'Industrie in the Champs Elysees, and among the members of its principal +committee were several ladies of high rank. I well remember seeing there +that great leader of fashion, the Marquise de Galliffet, whose elaborate +ball gowns I had more than once admired at Worth's, but who, now that +misfortune had fallen upon France, was, like all her friends, very plainly +garbed in black. At the Palais de l'Industrie I also found Mme. de +MacMahon, short and plump, but full of dignity and energy, as became a +daughter of the Castries. I remember a brief address which she delivered +to the Anglo-American Ambulance on the day when it quitted Paris, and in +which she thanked its members for their courage and devotion in coming +forward, and expressed her confidence, and that of all her friends, in the +kindly services which they would undoubtedly bestow upon every sufferer +who came under their care. + +I accompanied the ambulance on its march through Paris to the Eastern +Hallway Station. When it was drawn up outside the Palais de l'Industrie, +Count de Flavigny in his turn made a short but feeling speech, and +immediately afterwards the _cortege_ started. At the head of it were three +young ladies, the daughters of Dr. Marion-Sims, who carried respectively +the flags of France, England, and the United States. Then came the chief +surgeons, the assistant-surgeons, the dressers and male nurses, with some +waggons of stores bringing up the rear. I walked, I remember, between +Dr. Blewitt and Dr. May. On either side of the procession were members of +the Red Cross Society, carrying sticks or poles tipped with collection +bags, into which money speedily began to rain. We crossed the Place de la +Concorde, turned up the Rue Royale, and then followed the main Boulevards +as far, I think, as the Boulevard de Strasbourg. There were crowds of +people on either hand, and our progress was necessarily slow, as it was +desired to give the onlookers full time to deposit their offerings in the +collection-bags. From the Cercle Imperial at the corner of the Champs +Elysees, from the Jockey Club, the Turf Club, the Union, the Chemins-de- +Fer, the Ganaches, and other clubs on or adjacent to the Boulevards, came +servants, often in liveries, bearing with them both bank-notes and gold. +Everybody seemed anxious to give something, and an official of the society +afterwards told me that the collection had proved the largest it had ever +made. There was also great enthusiasm all along the line of route, cries +of "Vivent les Anglais! Vivent les Americains!" resounding upon every +side. + +The train by which the ambulance quitted Paris did not start until a very +late hour in the evening. Prior to its departure most of us dined at a +restaurant near the railway-station. No little champagne was consumed at +this repast, and, unaccustomed as I was to the sparkling wine of the +Marne, it got, I fear, slightly into my head. However, my services as +interpreter were requisitioned more than once by some members of the +ambulance in connection with certain inquiries which they wished to make +of the railway officials; and I recollect that when some question arose of +going in and out of the station, and reaching the platform again without +let or hindrance--the departure of the train being long delayed--the +_sous-chef de gare_ made me a most courteous bow, and responded: "A vous, +messieurs, tout est permis. There are no regulations for you!" At last the +train started, proceeding on its way to Soissons, where it arrived at +daybreak on August 29, the ambulance then hastening to join MacMahon, and +reaching him just in time to be of good service at Sedan. I will only add +here that my friend Dr. Blewitt was with Dr. Frank at Balan and Bazeilles, +where the slaughter was so terrible. The rest of the ambulance's dramatic +story must be read in Dr. Ryan's deeply interesting pages. + +Whilst the Parisians were being beguiled with stories of how the Prince of +Saxe-Meiningen had written to his wife telling her that the German troops +were suffering terribly from sore feet, the said troops were in point of +fact lustily outmarching MacMahon's forces. On August 30, General de +Failly was badly worsted at Beaumont, and on the following day MacMahon +was forced to move on Sedan. The first reports which reached Paris +indicated, as usual, very favourable results respecting the contest there. +My friend Captain Bingham, however, obtained some correct information-- +from, I believe, the British Embassy--and I have always understood that it +was he who first made the terrible truth known to one of the deputies of +the Opposition party, who hastened to convey it to Thiers. The battle of +Sedan was fought on Thursday, September 1; but it was only on Saturday, +September 3, that Palikao shadowed forth the disaster in the Chamber, +stating that MacMahon had failed to effect a junction with Bazaine, and +that, after alternate reverses and successes--that is, driving a part of +the German army into the Meuse!--he had been obliged to retreat on Sedan +and Mezieres, some portion of his forces, moreover, having been compelled +to cross the Belgian frontier. + +That tissue of inaccuracies, devised perhaps to palliate the effect of the +German telegrams of victory which were now becoming known to the +incredulous Parisians, was torn to shreds a few hours later when the +Legislative Body assembled for a night-sitting. Palikao was then obliged +to admit that the French army and the Emperor Napoleon had surrendered to +the victorious German force. Jules Favre, who was the recognized leader of +the Republican Opposition, thereupon brought forward a motion of +dethronement, proposing that the executive authority should be vested in a +parliamentary committee. In accordance with the practice of the Chamber, +Farve's motion had to be referred to its _bureaux_, or ordinary +committees, and thus no decision was arrived at that night, it being +agreed that the Chamber should reassemble on the morrow at noon. + +The deputies separated at a very late hour. My father and myself were +among all the anxious people who had assembled on the Place de la Concorde +to await the issue of the debate. Wild talk was heard on every side, +imprecations were levelled at the Empire, and it was already suggested +that the country had been sold to the foreigner. At last, as the crowd +became extremely restless, the authorities, who had taken their +precautions in consequence of the revolutionary spirit which was abroad, +decided to disperse it. During the evening a considerable body of mounted +Gardes de Paris had been stationed in or near the Palais de l'Industrie, +and now, on instructions being conveyed to their commander, they suddenly +cantered down the Champs Elysees and cleared the square, chasing people +round and round the fountains and the seated statues of the cities of +France, until they fled by way either of the quays, the Rue de Rivoti, or +the Rue Royale. The vigour which the troops displayed did not seem of good +augury for the adversaries of the Empire. Without a doubt Revolution was +already in the air, but everything indicated that the authorities were +quite prepared to contend with it, and in all probability successfully. + +It was with difficulty that my father and myself contrived to avoid the +troopers and reach the Avenue Gabriel, whence we made our way home. +Meantime there had been disturbances in other parts of Paris. On the +Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle a band of demonstrators had come into collision +with the police, who had arrested several of them. Thus, as I have already +mentioned, the authorities seemed to be as vigilant and as energetic as +ever. But, without doubt, on that night of Saturday, September 3, the +secret Republican associations were very active, sending the _mot d'ordre_ +from one to another part of the city, so that all might be ready for +Revolution when the Legislative Body assembled on the morrow. + +It was on this same last night of the Empire that George Augustus Sala met +with the very unpleasant adventure to which I previously referred. During +the evening he went as usual to the Grand Cafe, and meeting Blanchard +Jerrold there, he endeavoured to induce him to go to supper at the Cafe du +Helder. Sala being in an even more talkative mood than usual, and--now +that he had heard of the disaster of Sedan--more than ever inclined to +express his contempt of the French in regard to military matters, Jerrold +declined the invitation, fearing, as he afterwards said to my father in my +presence, that some unpleasantness might well ensue, as Sala, in spite of +all remonstrances, would not cease "gassing." Apropos of that expression, +it is somewhat amusing to recall that Sala at one time designed for +himself an illuminated visiting-card, on which appeared his initials G. A. +S. in letters of gold, the A being intersected by a gas-lamp diffusing +many vivid rays of light, whilst underneath it was a scroll bearing the +appropriate motto, "Dux est Lux." + +But, to return to my story, Jerrold having refused the invitation; Sala +repaired alone to the Cafe du Helder, an establishment which in those +imperial times was particularly patronized by officers of the Paris +garrison and officers from the provinces on leave. It was the height of +folly for anybody to "run down" the French army in such a place, unless, +indeed, he wished to have a number of duels on his hands. It is true that +on the night of September 3, there may have been few, if any, military men +at the Helder. Certain it is, however, that whilst Sala was supping in the +principal room upstairs, he entered into conversation with other people, +spoke incautiously, as he had been doing for a week past, and on departing +from the establishment was summarily arrested and conveyed to the Poste de +Police on the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. The cells there were already more +or less crowded with roughs who had been arrested during the disturbance +earlier in the evening, and when a police official thrust Sala into their +midst, at the same time calling him a vile Prussian spy, the patriotism of +the other prisoners was immediately aroused, though, for the most part, +they were utter scamps who had only created a disturbance for the purpose +of filling their pockets. + +Sala was subjected not merely to much ill-treatment, but also to +indignities which only Rabelais or Zola could have (in different ways) +adequately described; and it was not until the morning that he was able to +communicate with the manager of the Grand Hotel, where he had his +quarters. The manager acquainted the British Embassy with his predicament, +and it was, I think, Mr. Sheffield who repaired to the Prefecture de +Police to obtain an order for Sala's liberation. The story told me at the +time was that Lord Lyons's representative found matters already in great +confusion at the Prefecture. There had been a stampede of officials, +scarcely any being at their posts, in such wise that he made his way to +the Prefect's sanctum unannounced. There he found M. Pietri engaged with a +confidential acolyte in destroying a large number of compromising papers, +emptying boxes and pigeon-holes in swift succession, and piling their +contents on an already huge fire, which was stirred incessantly in order +that it might burn more swiftly. Pietri only paused in his task in order +to write an order for Sala's release, and I have always understood that +this was the last official order that emanated from the famous Prefect of +the Second Empire. It is true that he presented himself at the Tuileries +before he fled to Belgium, but the Empress, as we know, was averse from +any armed conflict with the population of Paris. As a matter of fact, the +Prefecture had spent its last strength during the night of September 3. +Disorganized as it was on the morning of the 4th, it could not have fought +the Revolution. As will presently appear, those police who on the night of +the 3rd were chosen to assist in guarding the approaches to the Palais +Bourbon on the morrow, were quite unable to do so. + +Disorder, indeed, prevailed in many places. My father had recently found +himself in a dilemma in regard to the requirements of the _Illustrated +London News_. In those days the universal snap-shotting hand-camera was +unknown. Every scene that it was desired to depict in the paper had to be +sketched, and in presence of all the defensive preparations which were +being made, a question arose as to what might and what might not be +sketched. General Trochu was Governor of Paris, and applications were made +to him on the subject. A reply came requiring a reference from the British +Embassy before any permission whatever was granted. In due course a letter +was obtained from the Embassy, signed not, I think, by Lord Lyons himself, +but by one of the secretaries--perhaps Sir Edward Malet, or Mr. Wodehouse, +or even Mr. Sheffield. At all events, on the morning of September 4, my +father, being anxious to settle the matter, commissioned me to take the +Embassy letter to Trochu's quarters at the Louvre. Here I found great +confusion. Nobody was paying the slightest attention to official work. The +_bureaux_ were half deserted. Officers came and went incessantly, or +gathered in little groups in the passages and on the stairs, all of them +looking extremely upset and talking anxiously and excitedly together. I +could find nobody to attend to any business, and was at a loss what to do, +when a door opened and a general officer in undress uniform appeared on +the threshold of a large and finely appointed room. + +I immediately recognized Trochu's extremely bald head and determined jaw, +for since his nomination as Governor, Paris had been flooded with +portraits of him. He had opened the door, I believe, to look for an +officer, but on seeing me standing there with a letter in my hand he +inquired what I wanted. I replied that I had brought a letter from the +British Embassy, and he may perhaps have thought that I was an Embassy +messenger. At all events, he took the letter from me, saying curtly: +"C'est bien, je m'en occuperai, revenez cet apres-midi." With those words +he stepped back into the room and carefully placed the letter on the top +of several others which were neatly disposed on a side-table. + +The incident was trivial in itself, yet it afforded a glimpse of Trochu's +character. Here was the man who, in his earlier years, had organized the +French Expedition to the Crimea in a manner far superior to that in which +our own had been organized; a man of method, order, precision, fully +qualified to prepare the defence of Paris, though not to lead her army in +the field. Brief as was that interview of mine, I could not help noticing +how perfectly calm and self-possessed he was, for his demeanour greatly +contrasted with the anxious or excited bearing of his subordinates. Yet he +had reached the supreme crisis of his life. The Empire was falling, a +first offer of Power had been made to him on the previous evening; and a +second offer, which he finally accepted, [See my book, "Republican +France," p. 8.] was almost imminent. Yet on that morning of +Revolution he appeared as cool as a cucumber. + +I quitted the Louvre, going towards the Rue Royale, it having been +arranged with my father that we should take _dejeuner_ at a well-known +restaurant there. It was called "His Lordship's Larder," and was +pre-eminently an English house, though the landlord bore the German name +of Weber. He and his family were unhappily suffocated in the cellars of +their establishment during one of the conflagrations which marked the +Bloody Week of the Commune. At the time when I met my father, that is +about noon, there was nothing particularly ominous in the appearance of +the streets along which I myself passed. It was a fine bright Sunday, and, +as was usual on such a day, there were plenty of people abroad. Recently +enrolled National Guards certainly predominated among the men, but the +latter included many in civilian attire, and there was no lack of women +and children. As for agitation, I saw no sign of it. + +As I was afterwards told, however, by Delmas, the landlord of the Cafe +Gretry, [Note] matters were very different that morning on the Boulevards, +and particularly on the Boulevard Montmartre. By ten o'clock, indeed, +great crowds had assembled there, and the excitement grew apace. The same +words were on all lips: "Sedan--the whole French army taken--the wretched +Emperor's sword surrendered--unworthy to reign--dethrone him!" Just as, in +another crisis of French history, men had climbed on to the chairs and +tables in the garden of the Palais Royal to denounce Monsieur and Madame +Veto and urge the Parisians to march upon Versailles, so now others +climbed on the chairs outside the Boulevard cafes to denounce the Empire, +and urge a march upon the Palais Bourbon, where the Legislative Body was +about to meet. And amidst the general clamour one cry persistently +prevailed. It was: "Decheance! Decheance!--Dethronement! Dethronement!" + +[Note: This was a little cafe on the Boulevard des Italiens, and was noted +for its quietude during the afternoon, though in the evening it was, by +reason of its proximity to the "Petite Bourse" (held on the side-walk in +front of it), invaded by noisy speculators. Captain Bingham, my father, +and myself long frequented the Cafe Gretry, often writing our "Paris +letters" there. Subsequent to the war, Bingham and I removed to the Cafe +Cardinal, where, however, the everlasting rattle of dominoes proved very +disturbing. In the end, on that account, and in order to be nearer to a +club to which we both belonged, we emigrated to the Cafe Napolitain. One +reason for writing one's copy at a cafe instead of at one's club was that, +at the former, one could at any moment receive messengers bringing late +news; in addition to which, afternoon newspapers were instantly +available.] + +At every moment the numbers of the crowd increased. New-comers continually +arrived from the eastern districts by way of the Boulevards, and from the +north by way of the Faubourg Montmartre and the Rue Drouot, whilst from +the south--the Quartier Latin and its neighbourhood--contingents made +their way across the Pont St. Michel and the Pont Notre Dame, and thence, +past the Halles, along the Boulevard de Sebastopol and the Rue Montmartre. +Why the Quartier Latin element did not advance direct on the Palais +Bourbon from its own side of the river I cannot exactly say; but it was, I +believe, thought desirable to join hands, in the first instance, with the +Revolutionary elements of northern Paris. All this took place whilst my +father and myself were partaking of our meal. When we quitted the +"Larder," a little before one o'clock, all the small parties of National +Guards and civilians whom we had observed strolling about at an earlier +hour, had congregated on the Place de la Concorde, attracted thither by +the news of the special Sunday sitting, at which the Legislative Body +would undoubtedly take momentous decisions. + +It should be added that nearly all the National Guards who assembled on +the Place de la Concorde before one o'clock were absolutely unarmed. At +that hour, however, a large force of them, equivalent to a couple of +battalions or thereabouts, came marching down the Rue Royale from the +Boulevards, and these men (who were preceded by a solitary drummer) +carried, some of them, chassepots and others _fusils-a-tabatiere,_ having +moreover, in most instances, their bayonets fixed. They belonged to the +north of Paris, though I cannot say precisely to what particular +districts, nor do I know exactly by whose orders they had been assembled +and instructed to march on the Palais Bourbon, as they speedily did. But +it is certain that all the fermentation of the morning and all that +occurred afterwards was the outcome of the night-work of the secret +Republican Committees. + +As the guards marched on, loud cries of "Decheance! Decheance!" arose +among them, and were at once taken up by the spectators. Perfect +unanimity, indeed, appeared to prevail on the question of dethroning the +Emperor. Even the soldiers who were scattered here and there--a few +Linesmen, a few Zouaves, a few Turcos, some of them invalided from +MacMahon's forces--eagerly joined in the universal cry, and began to +follow the guards on to the Place de la Concorde. Never, I believe, had +that square been more crowded--not even in the days when it was known as +the Place Louis Quinze, and when hundreds of people were crushed to death +there whilst witnessing a display of fireworks in connection with the +espousals of the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, not even when it +had become the Place de la Revolution and was thronged by all who wished +to witness the successive executions of the last King and Queen of the old +French monarchy. From the end of the Rue Royale to the bridge conducting +across the Seine to the Palais Bourbon, from the gate of the Tuileries +garden to the horses of Marly at the entrance of the Champs Elysees, +around the obelisk of Luxor, and the fountains which were playing as usual +in the bright sunshine which fell from the blue sky, along all the +balustrades connecting the seated statues of the cities of France, here, +there, and everywhere, indeed, you saw human heads. And the clamour was +universal. The great square had again become one of Revolution, and yet +it remained one of Concord also, for there was absolute agreement among +the hundred thousand or hundred and fifty thousand people who had chosen +it as their meeting-place, an agreement attested by that universal and +never-ceasing cry of "Dethronement!" + +As the armed National Guards debouched from the Rue Royale, their solitary +drummer plied his sticks. But the roll of the drum was scarcely heard in +the general uproar, and so dense was the crowd that the men could advance +but very slowly. For a while it took some minutes to make only a few +steps. Meantime the ranks of the men were broken here and there, other +people got among them, and at last my father and myself were caught in the +stream and carried with it, still somewhat slowly, in the direction of the +Pont de la Concorde. I read recently that the bridge was defended by +mounted men of the Garde de Paris (the forerunner of the Garde +Republicaine of to-day); a French writer, in recalling the scene, +referring to "the men's helmets glistening in the sunshine." But that is +pure imagination. The bridge was defended by a cordon of police ranged in +front of a large body of Gendarmerie mobile, wearing the familiar dark +blue white-braided _kepis_ and the dark blue tunics with white +aiguillettes. At first, as I have already said, we advanced but slowly +towards that defending force; but, all at once, we were swept onward by +other men who had come from the Boulevards, in our wake. A minute later an +abrupt halt ensued, whereupon it was only with great difficulty that we +were able to resist the pressure from behind. + +I at last contrived to raise myself on tiptoes. Our first ranks had +effected a breach in those of the sergents-de-ville, but before us were +the mounted gendarmes, whose officer suddenly gave a command and drew his +sword. For an instant I saw him plainly: his face was intensely pale. But +a sudden rattle succeeded his command, for his men responded to it by +drawing their sabres, which flashed ominously. A minute, perhaps two +minutes, elapsed, the pressure in our rear still and ever increasing. I do +not know what happened exactly at the head of our column: the uproar was +greater than ever, and it seemed as if, in another moment, we should be +charged, ridden over, cut down, or dispersed. I believe, however, that in +presence of that great concourse of people, in presence too of the +universal reprobation of the Empire which had brought defeat, invasion, +humiliation upon France, the officer commanding the gendarmes shrank from +carrying out his orders. There must have been a brief parley with the +leaders of our column. In any case, the ranks of the gendarmes suddenly +opened, many of them taking to the footways of the bridge, over which our +column swept at the double-quick, raising exultant shouts of "Vive la +Republique!" It was almost a race as to who should be the first to reach +the Palais Bourbon. Those in the rear were ever impelling the foremost +onward, and there was no time to look about one. But in a rapid vision, as +it were, I saw the gendarmes reining in their horses on either side of us; +and, here and there, medals gleamed on their dark tunics, and it seemed to +me as if more than one face wore an angry expression. These men had fought +under the imperial eagles, they had been decorated for their valour in the +Crimean, Italian, and Cochin-China wars. Veterans all, and faithful +servants of the Empire, they saw the _regime_ for which they had fought, +collapsing. Had their commanding officer ordered it, they might well have +charged us; but, obedient to discipline, they had opened their ranks, and +now the Will of the People was sweeping past them. + +None of our column had a particularly threatening mien; the general +demeanour was rather suggestive of joyful expectancy. But, the bridge once +crossed, there was a fresh pause at the gates shutting off the steps of +the Palais Bourbon. Here infantry were assembled, with their chassepots in +readiness. Another very brief but exciting interval ensued. Then the +Linesmen were withdrawn, the gates swung open, and everybody rushed up the +steps. I was carried hither and thither, and at last from the portico into +the building, where I contrived to halt beside one of the statues in the +"Salle des Pas Perdus." I looked for my father, but could not see him, and +remained wedged in my corner for quite a considerable time. Finally, +however, another rush of invaders dislodged me, and I was swept with many +others into the Chamber itself. All was uproar and confusion there. Very +few deputies were present. The public galleries, the seats of the members, +the hemicycle in front of the tribune, were crowded with National Guards. +Some were standing on the stenographers' table and on the ushers' chairs +below the tribune. There were others on the tribune stairs. And at the +tribune itself, with his hat on his head, stood Gambetta, hoarsely +shouting, amidst the general din, that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and his +dynasty had for ever ceased to reign. Then, again and again, arose the cry +of "Vive la Republique!" In the twinkling of an eye, however, Gambetta was +lost to view--he and other Republican deputies betaking themselves, as I +afterwards learnt, to the palace steps, where the dethronement of the +Bonapartes was again proclaimed. The invaders of the chamber swarmed after +them, and I was watching their departure when I suddenly saw my father +quietly leaning back in one of the ministerial seats--perhaps that which, +in the past, had been occupied by Billault, Rouher, Ollivier, and other +powerful and prominent men of the fallen _regime_. + +At the outset of the proceedings that day Palikao had proposed the +formation of a Council of Government and National Defence which was to +include five members of the Legislative Body. The ministers were to be +appointed by this Council, and he was to be Lieutenant-General of France. +It so happened that the more fervent Imperialists had previously offered +him a dictatorship, but he had declined it. Jules Favre met the General's +proposal by claiming priority for the motion which he had submitted at the +midnight sitting, whilst Thiers tried to bring about a compromise by +suggesting such a Committee as Palikao had indicated, but placing the +choice of its members entirely in the hands of the Legislative Body, +omitting all reference to Palikao's Lieutenancy, and, further, setting +forth that a Constituent Assembly should be convoked as soon as +circumstances might permit. The three proposals--Thiers', Favre's, and +Palikao's--were submitted to the _bureaux_, and whilst these _bureaux_ +were deliberating in various rooms the first invasion of the Chamber took +place in spite of the efforts of Jules Ferry, who had promised Palikao +that the proceedings of the Legislature should not be disturbed. When the +sitting was resumed the "invaders," who, at that moment, mainly occupied +the galleries, would listen neither to President Schneider nor to their +favourite Gambetta, though both appealed to them for silence and order. +Jules Favre alone secured a few moments' quietude, during which he begged +that there might be no violence. Palikao was present, but did not speak. +[Later in the day, after urging Trochu to accept the presidency of the new +Government, as otherwise "all might be lost," Palikao quitted Paris for +Belgium. He stayed at Namur during the remainder of the war, and +afterwards lived in retirement at Versailles, where he died in January, +1878.] Amidst the general confusion came the second invasion of the +Chamber, when I was swept off my feet and carried on to the floor of the +house. That second invasion precipitated events. Even Gambetta wished the +dethronement of the dynasty to be signified by a formal vote, but the +"invaders" would brook no delay. + +Both of us, my father and I, were tired and thirsty after our unexpected +experiences. Accordingly we did not follow the crowd back to the steps +overlooking the Place de la Concorde, but, like a good many other people, +we went off by way of the Place de Bourgogne. No damage had been done in +the Chamber itself, but as we quitted the building we noticed several +inscriptions scrawled upon the walls. In some instances the words were +merely "Vive la Republique!" and "Mort aux Prussiens!" At other times, +however, they were too disgusting to be set down here. In or near the Rue +de Bourgogne we found a fairly quiet wine-shop, where we rested and +refreshed ourselves with _cannettes_ of so-called Biere de Strasbourg. +We did not go at that moment to the Hotel-de-Ville, whither a large part +of the crowd betook itself by way of the quays, and where the Republic +was again proclaimed; but returned to the Place de la Concorde, where some +thousands of people still remained. Everybody was looking very animated +and very pleased. Everybody imagined that, the Empire being overthrown, +France would soon drive back the German invader. All fears for the future +seemed, indeed, to have departed. Universal confidence prevailed, and +everybody congratulated everybody else. There was, in any case, one +good cause for congratulation: the Revolution had been absolutely +bloodless--the first and only phenomenon of the kind in all French +history. + +Whilst we were strolling about the Place de la Concorde I noticed that the +chief gate of the Tuileries garden had been forced open and damaged. The +gilded eagles which had decorated it had been struck off and pounded to +pieces, this, it appeared, having been chiefly the work of an enterprising +Turco. A few days later Victorien Sardou wrote an interesting account of +how he and others obtained admittance, first to the reserved garden, and +then to the palace itself. On glancing towards it I observed that the flag +which had still waved over the principal pavilion that morning, had now +disappeared. It had been lowered after the departure of the Empress. Of +the last hours which she spent in the palace, before she quitted it with +Prince Metternich and Count Nigra to seek a momentary refuge at the +residence of her dentist, Dr. Evans, I have given a detailed account, +based on reliable narratives and documents, in my "Court of the +Tuileries." + +Quitting, at last, the Place de la Concorde, we strolled slowly homeward. +Some tradespeople in the Rue Royale and the Faubourg St. Honore, former +purveyors to the Emperor or the Empress, were already hastily removing the +imperial arms from above their shops. That same afternoon and during the +ensuing Monday and Tuesday every escutcheon, every initial N, every crown, +every eagle, every inscription that recalled the Empire, was removed or +obliterated in one or another manner. George Augustus Sala, whose recent +adventure confined him to his room at the Grand Hotel, spent most of his +time in watching the men who removed the eagles, crowns, and Ns from the +then unfinished Opera-house. Even the streets which recalled the imperial +_regime_ were hastily renamed. The Avenue de l'Imperatrice at once became +the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne; and the Rue du Dix-Decembre (so called in +memory of Napoleon's assumption of the imperial dignity) was rechristened +Rue du Quatre Septembre--this being the "happy thought" of a Zouave, who, +mounted on a ladder, set the new name above the old one, whilst the plate +bearing the latter was struck off with a hammer by a young workman. + +As we went home on the afternoon of that memorable Fourth, we noticed that +all the cafes and wine-shops were doing a brisk trade. Neither then nor +during the evening, however, did I perceive much actual drunkenness. It +was rather a universal jollity, as though some great victory had been +gained. Truth to tell, the increase of drunkenness in Paris was an effect +of the German Siege of the city, when drink was so plentiful and food so +scarce. + +My father and I had reached the corner of our street when we witnessed an +incident which I have related in detail in the first pages of my book, +"Republican France." It was the arrival of Gambetta at the Ministry of the +Interior, by way of the Avenue de Marigny, with an escort of red-shirted +Francs-tireurs de la Presse. The future Dictator had seven companions with +him, all huddled inside or on the roof of a four-wheel cab, which was +drawn by two Breton nags. I can still picture him alighting from the +vehicle and, in the name of the Republic, ordering a chubby little +Linesman, who was mounting guard at the gate of the Ministry, to have the +said gate opened; and I can see the sleek and elderly _concierge_, who had +bowed to many an Imperial Minister, complying with the said injunction, +and respectfully doffing his tasselled smoking-cap and bending double +whilst he admitted his new master. Then the gate is closed, and from +behind the finely-wrought ornamental iron-work Gambetta briefly addresses +the little throng which has recognized him, saying that the Empire is +dead, but that France is wounded, and that her very wounds will inflame +her with fresh courage; promising, too, that the whole nation shall be +armed; and asking one and all to place confidence in the new Government, +even as the latter will place confidence in the people. + +In the evening I strolled with my father to the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, +where many people were congregated, A fairly large body of National Guards +was posted in front of the building, most of whose windows were lighted +up. The members of the New Government of National Defence were +deliberating there. Trochu had become its President, and Jules Favre its +Vice-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Henri Rochefort, released +that afternoon by his admirers from the prison of Sainte Pelagie, was +included in the administration, this being in the main composed of the +deputies for Paris. Only one of the latter, the cautious Thiers, refused +to join it. He presided, however, that same evening over a gathering of +some two hundred members of the moribund Legislative Body, which then made +a forlorn attempt to retain some measure of authority, by coming to some +agreement with the new Government. But Jules Favre and Jules Simon, who +attended the meeting on the latter's behalf, would not entertain the +suggestion. It was politely signified to the deputies that their support +in Paris was not required, and that if they desired to serve their country +in any way, they had better betake themselves to their former +constituencies in the provinces. So far as the Legislative Body and the +Senate, [Note] also, were concerned, everything ended in a +delightful bit of comedy. Not only were the doors of their respective +meeting halls looked, but they were "secured" with strips of tape and +seals of red wax. The awe with which red sealing-wax inspires Frenchmen is +distinctly a trait of the national character. Had there been, however, a +real Bonaparte in Paris at that time, he would probably have cut off the +aforesaid seals with his sword. + +[Note: The Senate, over which Rouher presided, dispensed quietly on +hearing of the invasion of the Chamber. The proposal that it should +adjourn till more fortunate times emanated from Rouher himself. A few +cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" were raised as the assembly dispersed. +Almost immediately afterwards, however, most of the Senators, including +Rouher, who knew that he was very obnoxious to the Parisians, quitted the +city and even France.] + +On the morning of September 5, the _Charivari_--otherwise the daily +Parisian _Punch_--came out with a cartoon designed to sum up the whole +period covered by the imperial rule. It depicted France bound hand and +foot and placed between the mouths of two cannons, one inscribed "Paris, +1851," and the other "Sedan, 1870"--those names and dates representing the +Alpha and Omega of the Second Empire. + + + +IV + +FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + +The Government of National Defence--The Army of Paris--The Return +of Victor Hugo--The German advance on Paris--The National Guard +reviewed--Hospitable Preparations for the Germans--They draw nearer +still--Departure of Lord Lyons--Our Last Day of Liberty--On the +Fortifications--The Bois de Boulogne and our Live Stock--Mass before +the Statue of Strasbourg--Devout Breton Mobiles--Evening on the +Boulevards and in the Clubs--Trochu and Ducrot--The Fight and Panic +of Chatillon--The Siege begins. + + +As I shall have occasion in these pages to mention a good many members +of the self-constituted Government which succeeded the Empire, it may be +as well for me to set down here their names and the offices they held. +I have already mentioned that Trochu was President, and Jules Favre +Vice-President, of the new administration. The former also retained his +office as Governor of Paris, and at the same time became Generalissimo. +Favre, for his part, took the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. With him and +Trochu were Gambetta, Minister of the Interior; Jules Simon, Minister of +Public Instruction; Adolphe Cremieux, Minister of Justice; Ernest Picard, +Minister of Finance; Jules Ferry, Secretary-General to the Government, and +later Mayor of Paris; and Henri Rochefort, President of the Committee of +Barricades. Four of their colleagues, Emmanuel Arago, Garnier-Pages, +Eugene Pelletan, and Glais-Bizoin, did not take charge of any particular +administrative departments, the remainder of these being allotted to men +whose co-operation was secured. For instance, old General Le Flo became +Minister of War--under Trochu, however, and not over him. Vice-Admiral +Fourichon was appointed Minister of Marine; Magnin, an iron-master, +became Minister of Commerce and Agriculture; Frederic Dorian, another +iron-master, took the department of Public Works; Count Emile de Keratry +acted as Prefect of Police, and Etienne Arago, in the earlier days, as +Mayor of Paris. + +The new Government was fully installed by Tuesday, September 6. It had +already issued several more or less stirring proclamations, which were +followed by a despatch which Jules Favre addressed to the French +diplomatic representatives abroad. As a set-off to the arrival of a number +of dejected travel-stained fugitives from MacMahon's army, whose +appearance was by no means of a nature to exhilarate the Parisians, the +defence was reinforced by a large number of Gardes Mobiles, who poured +into the city, particularly from Brittany, Trochu's native province, and +by a considerable force of regulars, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, +commanded by the veteran General Vinoy (then seventy years of age), who +had originally been despatched to assist MacMahon, but, having failed to +reach him before the disaster of Sedan, retreated in good order on the +capital. At the time when the Siege actually commenced there were in Paris +about 90,000 regulars (including all arms and categories), 110,000 Mobile +Guards, and a naval contingent of 13,500 men, that is a force of 213,000, +in addition to the National Guards, who were about 280,000 in number. +Thus, altogether, nearly half a million armed men were assembled in Paris +for the purpose of defending it. As all authorities afterwards admitted, +this was a very great blunder, as fully 100,000 regulars and mobiles might +have been spared to advantage for service in the provinces. Of course the +National Guards themselves could not be sent away from the city, though +they were often an encumbrance rather than a help, and could not possibly +have carried on the work of defence had they been left to their own +resources. + +Besides troops, so long as the railway trains continued running, +additional military stores and supplies of food, flour, rice, biscuits, +preserved meats, rolled day by day into Paris. At the same time, several +illustrious exiles returned to the capital. Louis Blanc and Edgar Quinet +arrived there, after years of absence, in the most unostentatious fashion, +though they soon succumbed to the prevailing mania of inditing manifestoes +and exhortations for the benefit of their fellow-countrymen. Victor Hugo's +return was more theatrical. In those famous "Chatiments" in which he had +so severely flagellated the Third Napoleon (after, in earlier years, +exalting the First to the dignity of a demi-god), he had vowed to keep out +of France and to protest against the Empire so long as it lasted, penning, +in this connection, the famous line: + + "Et s'il n'en reste qu'un, je serai celui-la!" + +But now the Empire had fallen, and so Hugo returned in triumph to Paris. +When he alighted from the train which brought him, he said to those who +had assembled to give him a fitting greeting, that he had come to do his +duty in the hour of danger, that duty being to save Paris, which meant +more than saving France, for it implied saving the world itself--Paris +being the capital of civilization, the centre of mankind. Naturally +enough, those fine sentiments were fervently applauded by the great poet's +admirers, and when he had installed himself with his companions in an open +carriage, two or three thousand people escorted him processionally along +the Boulevards. It was night-time, and the cafes were crowded and the +footways covered with promenaders as the _cortege_ went by, the escort +singing now the "Marseillaise" and now the "Chant du Depart," whilst on +every side shouts of "Vive Victor Hugo!" rang out as enthusiastically as +if the appointed "Saviour of Paris" were indeed actually passing. More +than once I saw the illustrious poet stand up, uncover, and wave his hat +in response to the acclamations, and I then particularly noticed the +loftiness of his forehead, and the splendid crop of white hair with which +it was crowned. Hugo, at that time sixty-eight years old, still looked +vigorous, but it was beyond the power of any such man as himself to save +the city from what was impending. All he could do was to indite perfervid +manifestoes, and subsequently, in "L'Annee terrible," commemorate the +doings and sufferings of the time. For the rest, he certainly enrolled +himself as a National Guard, and I more than once caught sight of him +wearing _kepi_ and _vareuse_. I am not sure, however, whether he ever did +a "sentry-go." + +It must have been on the day following Victor Hugo's arrival that I +momentarily quitted Paris for reasons in which my youthful but precocious +heart was deeply concerned. I was absent for four days or so, and on +returning to the capital I was accompanied by my stepmother, who, knowing +that my father intended to remain in the city during the impending siege, +wished to be with him for a while before the investment began. I recollect +that she even desired to remain with us, though that was impossible, as +she had young children, whom she had left at Saint Servan; and, besides, +as I one day jocularly remarked to her, she would, by staying in Paris, +have added to the "useless mouths," whose numbers the Republican, like the +Imperial, Government was, with very indifferent success, striving to +diminish. However, she only quitted us at the last extremity, departing on +the evening of September 17, by the Western line, which, on the morrow, +the enemy out at Conflans, some fourteen miles from Paris. + +Day by day the Parisians had received news of the gradual approach of +the German forces. On the 8th they heard that the Crown Prince of +Prussia's army was advancing from Montmirail to Coulommiers--whereupon the +city became very restless; whilst on the 9th there came word that the +black and white pennons of the ubiquitous Uhlans had been seen at La +Ferte-sous-Jouarre. That same day Thiers quitted Paris on a mission which +he had undertaken for the new Government, that of pleading the cause of +France at the Courts of London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Rome. Then, on +the 11th, there were tidings that Laon had capitulated, though not without +its defenders blowing up a powder-magazine and thereby injuring some +German officers of exalted rank--for which reason the deed was +enthusiastically commended by the Parisian Press, though it would seem to +have been a somewhat treacherous one, contrary to the ordinary usages of +war. On the 12th some German scouts reached Meaux, and a larger force +leisurely occupied Melun. The French, on their part, were busy after a +fashion. They offered no armed resistance to the German advance, but they +tried to impede it in sundry ways. With the idea of depriving the enemy of +"cover," various attempts were made to fire some of the woods in the +vicinity of Paris, whilst in order to cheat him of supplies, stacks and +standing crops were here and there destroyed. Then, too, several railway +and other bridges were blown up, including the railway bridge at Creil, so +that direct communication with Boulogne and Calais ceased on September 12. + +The 13th was a great day for the National Guards, who were then reviewed +by General Trochu. With my father and my young stepmother, I went to see +the sight, which was in many respects an interesting one. A hundred and +thirty-six battalions, or approximately 180,000 men, of the so-called +"citizen soldiery" were under arms; their lines extending, first, along +the Boulevards from the Bastille to the Madeleine, then down the Rue +Royale, across the Place de la Concorde and up the Champs Elysees as far +as the Rond Point. In addition, 100,000 men of the Garde Mobile were +assembled along the quays of the Seine and up the Champs Elysees from the +Rond Point to the Arc de Triomphe. I have never since set eyes on so large +a force of armed men. They were of all sorts. Some of the Mobiles, notably +the Breton ones, who afterwards gave a good account of themselves, looked +really soldierly; but the National Guards were a strangely mixed lot. They +all wore _kepis_, but quite half of them as yet had no uniforms, and were +attired in blouses and trousers of various hues. Only here and there could +one see a man of military bearing; most of them struck happy-go-lucky +attitudes, and were quite unable to keep step in marching. A particular +feature of the display was the number of flowers and sprigs of evergreen +with which the men had decorated the muzzles of the _fusils-a-tabatiere_ +which they mostly carried. Here and there, moreover, one and another +fellow displayed on his bayonet-point some coloured caricature of the +ex-Emperor or the ex-Empress. What things they were, those innumerable +caricatures of the months which followed the Revolution! Now and again +there appeared one which was really clever, which embodied a smart, +a witty idea; but how many of them were simply the outcome of a depraved, +a lewd, a bestial imagination! The most offensive caricatures of +Marie-Antoinette were as nothing beside those levelled at that unfortunate +woman, the Empress Eugenie. + +Our last days of liberty were now slipping by. Some of the poorest folk of +the environs of Paris were at last coming into the city, bringing their +chattels with them. Strange ideas, however, had taken hold of some of the +more simple-minded suburban bourgeois. Departing hastily into the +provinces, so as to place their skins out of harm's reach, they had not +troubled to store their household goods in the city; but had left them in +their coquettish villas and pavilions, the doors of which were barely +looked. The German soldiers would very likely occupy the houses, but +assuredly they would do no harm to them. "Perhaps, however, it might be as +well to propitiate the foreign soldiers. Let us leave something for them," +said worthy Monsieur Durand to Madame Durand, his wife; "they will be +hungry when they get here, and if they find something ready for them they +will be grateful and do no damage." So, although the honest Durands +carefully barred--at times even walled-up--their cellars of choice wines, +they arranged that plenty of bottles, at times even a cask, of _vin +ordinaire_ should be within easy access; and ham, cheese, sardines, +_saucissons de Lyon_, and _pates de foie gras_ were deposited in the +pantry cupboards, which were considerately left unlocked in order that the +good, mild-mannered, honest Germans (who, according to a proclamation +issued by "Unser Fritz" at an earlier stage of the hostilities, "made war +on the Emperor Napoleon and not on the French nation") might regale +themselves without let or hindrance. Moreover, the nights were "drawing +in," the evenings becoming chilly; so why not lay the fires, and place +matches and candles in convenient places for the benefit of the unbidden +guests who would so soon arrive? All those things being done, M. and Mme. +Durand departed to seek the quietude of Fouilly-les-Oies, never dreaming +that on their return to Montfermeil, Palaiseau, or Sartrouville, they +would find their _salon_ converted into a pigstye, their furniture +smashed, and their clocks and chimney-ornaments abstracted. Of course the +M. Durand of to-day knows what happened to his respected parents; he knows +what to think of the good, honest, considerate German soldiery; and, if he +can help it, he will not in any similar case leave so much as a wooden +spoon to be carried off to the Fatherland, and added as yet another trophy +to the hundred thousand French clocks and the million French nick-nacks +which are still preserved there as mementoes of the "grosse Zeit." + +On September 15, we heard of some petty skirmishes between Uhlans and +Francs-tireurs in the vicinity of Montereau and Melun; on the morrow the +enemy captured a train at Senlis, and fired on another near Chantilly, +fortunately without wounding any of the passengers; whilst on the same day +his presence was signalled at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, only ten miles +south of Paris. That evening, moreover, he attempted to ford the Seine at +Juvisy. On the 16th some of his forces appeared between Creteil and +Neuilly-sur-Marne, on the eastern side of the city, and only some five +miles from the fort of Vincennes. Then we again heard of him on the +south--of his presence at Brunoy, Ablon, and Athis, and of the pontoons by +which he was crossing the Seine at Villeneuve and Choisy-le-Roi. + +Thus the advance steadily continued, quite unchecked by force of arms, +save for just a few trifling skirmishes initiated by sundry +Francs-tireurs. Not a road, not a barricade, was defended by the +authorities; not once was the passage of a river contested. Here and there +the Germans found obstructions: poplars had been felled and laid across a +highway, bridges and railway tunnels had occasionally been blown up; but +all such impediments to their advance were speedily overcome by the enemy, +who marched on quietly, feeling alternately puzzled and astonished at +never being confronted by any French forces. As the invaders drew nearer +to Paris they found an abundance of vegetables and fruit at their +disposal, but most of the peasantry had fled, taking their live stock with +them, and, as a German officer told me in after years, eggs, cheese, +butter, and milk could seldom be procured. + +On the 17th the French began to recover from the stupor which seemed to +have fallen on them. Old General Vinoy crossed the Marne at Charenton with +some of his forces, and a rather sharp skirmish ensued in front of the +village of Mesly. That same day Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador, took +his departure from Paris, proceeding by devious ways to Tours, whither, a +couple of days previously, three delegates of the National Defence--two +septuagenarians and one sexagenarian, Cremieux, Glais-Bizoin, and +Fourichon--had repaired in order to take over the general government of +France. Lord Lyons had previously told Jules Favre that he intended to +remain in the capital, but I believe that his decision was modified by +instructions from London. With him went most of the Embassy staff, British +interests in Paris remaining in the hands of the second secretary, Mr. +Wodehouse, and the vice-consul. The consul himself had very prudently +quitted Paris, in order "to drink the waters," some time previously. +Colonel Claremont, the military attache, still remained with us, but by +degrees, as the siege went on, the Embassy staff dwindled down to the +concierge and two--or was it four?--sheep browsing on the lawn. Mr. +Wodehouse went off (my father and myself being among those who accompanied +him, as I shall relate in a future chapter) towards the middle of +November; and before the bombardment began Colonel Claremont likewise +executed a strategical retreat. Nevertheless--or should I say for that +very reason?--he was subsequently made a general officer. + +A day or two before Lord Lyons left he drew up a notice warning British +subjects that if they should remain in Paris it would be at their own risk +and peril. The British colony was not then so large as it is now, +nevertheless it was a considerable one. A good many members of it +undoubtedly departed on their own initiative. Few, if any, saw Lord +Lyons's notice, for it was purely and simply conveyed to them through the +medium of _Galignani's Messenger_, which, though it was patronized by +tourists staying at the hotels, was seldom seen by genuine British +residents, most of whom read London newspapers. + +The morrow of Lord Lyons's departure, Sunday, September 18, was our last +day of liberty. The weather was splendid, the temperature as warm as that +of June. All Paris was out of doors. We were not without women-folk +and children. Not only were there the wives and offspring of the +working-classes; but the better halves of many tradespeople and bourgeois +had remained in the city, together with a good many ladies of higher +social rank. Thus, in spite of all the departures, "papa, mamma, and baby" +were still to be met in many directions on that last day preceding the +investment. There were gay crowds everywhere, on the Boulevards, on the +squares, along the quays, and along the roads skirting the ramparts. These +last were the "great attraction," and thousands of people strolled about +watching the work which was in progress. Stone casements were being roofed +with earth, platforms were being prepared for guns, gabions were being set +in position at the embrasures, sandbags were being carried to the +parapets, stakes were being pointed for the many _pieges-a-loups_, and +smooth earthworks were being planted with an infinity of spikes. Some guns +were already in position, others, big naval guns from Brest or Cherbourg, +were still lying on the turf. Meanwhile, at the various city gates, the +very last vehicles laden with furniture and forage were arriving from the +suburbs. And up and down went all the promenaders, chatting, laughing, +examining this and that work of defence or engine of destruction in such a +good-humoured, light-hearted way that the whole _chemin-de-ronde_ seemed +to be a vast fair, held solely for the amusement of the most volatile +people that the world has ever known. + +Access to the Bois de Boulogne was forbidden. Acres of timber had already +been felled there, and from the open spaces the mild September breeze +occasionally wafted the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, and the +grunting of pigs. Our live stock consisted of 30,000 oxen, 175,000 sheep, +8,800 pigs, and 6,000 milch-cows. Little did we think how soon those +animals (apart from the milch-cows) would be consumed! Few of us were +aware that, according to Maxime Ducamp's great work on Paris, we had +hitherto consumed, on an average, every day of the year, 935 oxen, 4680 +sheep, 570 pigs, and 600 calves, to say nothing of 46,000 head of poultry, +game, etc., 50 tons of fish, and 670,000 eggs. + +Turning from the Bois de Boulogne, which had become our principal ranch +and sheep-walk, one found companies of National Guards learning the +"goose-step" in the Champs Elysees and the Cours-la-Reine. Regulars were +appropriately encamped both in the Avenue de la Grande Armee and on the +Champ de Mars. Field-guns and caissons filled the Tuileries garden, whilst +in the grounds of the Luxembourg Palace one again found cattle and sheep; +yet other members of the bovine and ovine species being installed, +singularly enough, almost cheek by jowl with the hungry wild beasts of the +Jardin des Plantes, whose mouths fairly watered at the sight of their +natural prey. If you followed the quays of the Seine you there found +sightseers gazing at the little gunboats and floating batteries on the +water; and if you climbed to Montmartre you there came upon people +watching "The Neptune," the captive balloon which Nadar, the aeronaut and +photographer, had already provided for purposes of military observation. I +shall have occasion to speak of him and his balloons again. + +Among all that I myself saw on that memorable Sunday, I was perhaps most +struck by the solemn celebration of Mass in front of the statue of +Strasbourg on the Place de la Concorde. The capital of Alsace had been +besieged since the middle of August, but was still offering a firm +resistance to the enemy. Its chief defenders, General Uhrich and Edmond +Valentin, were the most popular heroes of the hour. The latter had been +appointed Prefect of the city by the Government of National Defence, and, +resolving to reach his post in spite of the siege which was being actively +prosecuted, had disguised himself and passed successfully through the +German lines, escaping the shots which were fired at him. In Paris the +statue of Strasbourg had become a place of pilgrimage, a sacred shrine, as +it were, adorned with banners and with wreaths innumerable. Yet I +certainly had not expected to see an altar set up and Mass celebrated in +front of it, as if it had been, indeed, a statue of the Blessed Virgin. + +At this stage of affairs there was no general hostility to the Church in +Paris. The _bourgeoisie_--I speak of its masculine element--was as +sceptical then as it is now, but it knew that General Trochu, in whom it +placed its trust, was a practising and fervent Catholic, and that in +taking the Presidency of the Government he had made it one of his +conditions that religion should be respected. Such animosity as was shown +against the priesthood emanated from some of the public clubs where the +future Communards perorated. It was only as time went on, and the defence +grew more and more hopeless, that Trochu himself was denounced as a +_cagot_ and a _souteneur de soutanes_; and not until the Commune did the +Extremists give full rein to their hatred of the Church and its ministers. + +In connection with religion, there was another sight which impressed me on +that same Sunday. I was on the point of leaving the Place de la Concorde +when a large body of Mobiles debouched either from the Rue Royale or the +Rue de Rivoli, and I noticed, with some astonishment, that not only were +they accompanied by their chaplains, but that they bore aloft several +processional religious banners. They were Bretons, and had been to Mass, I +ascertained, at the church of Notre Dame des Victoires--the favourite +church of the Empress Eugenie, who often attended early Mass there--and +were now returning to their quarters in the arches of the railway viaduct +of the Point-du-Jour. Many people uncovered as they thus went by +processionally, carrying on high their banners of the Virgin, she who is +invoked by the Catholic soldier as "Auzilium Christianorum." For a moment +my thoughts strayed back to Brittany, where, during my holidays the +previous year, I had witnessed the "Pardon" of Guingamp, + +In the evening I went to the Boulevards with my father, and we afterwards +dropped into one or two of the public clubs. The Boulevard promenaders had +a good deal to talk about. General Ambert, who under the Empire had been +mayor of our arrondissement, had fallen out with his men, through speaking +contemptuously of the Republic, and after being summarily arrested by some +of them, had been deprived of his command. Further, the _Official Journal_ +had published a circular addressed by Bismarck to the German diplomatists +abroad, in which he stated formally that if France desired peace she would +have to give "material guarantees." That idea, however, was vigorously +pooh-poohed by the Boulevardiers, particularly as rumours of sudden French +successes, originating nobody knew how, were once more in the air. +Scandal, however, secured the attention of many of the people seated in +the cafes, for the _Rappel_--Victor Hugo's organ--had that day printed a +letter addressed to Napoleon III by his mistress Marguerite Bellenger, who +admitted in it that she had deceived her imperial lover with respect to +the paternity of her child. + +However, we went, my father and I, from the Boulevards to the +Folies-Bergere, which had been turned for the time into a public club, and +there we listened awhile to Citizen Lermina, who, taking Thiers's mission +and Bismarck's despatch as his text, protested against France concluding +any peace or even any armistice so long as the Germans had not withdrawn +across the frontier. There was still no little talk of that description. +The old agitator Auguste Blanqui--long confined in one of the cages of +Mont Saint-Michel, but now once more in Paris--never wearied of opposing +peace in the discourses that he delivered at his own particular club, +which, like the newspaper he inspired, was called "La Patrie en Danger." +In other directions, for instance at the Club du Maine, the Extremists +were already attacking the new Government for its delay in distributing +cartridges to the National Guards, being, no doubt, already impatient to +seize authority themselves. + +Whilst other people were promenading or perorating, Trochu, in his room at +the Louvre, was receiving telegram after telegram informing him that the +Germans were now fast closing round the city. He himself, it appears, had +no idea of preventing it; but at the urgent suggestion of his old friend +and comrade General Ducrot, he had consented that an effort should be made +to delay, at any rate, a complete investment. In an earlier chapter I had +occasion to mention Ducrot in connexion with the warnings which Napoleon +III received respecting the military preparations of Prussia. At this +time, 1870, the general was fifty-three years old, and therefore still in +his prime. As commander of a part of MacMahon's forces he had +distinguished himself at the battle of Woerth, and when the Marshal was +wounded at Sedan, it was he who, by right of seniority, at first assumed +command of the army, being afterwards compelled, however, to relinquish +the poet to Wimpfen, in accordance with an order from Palikao which +Wimpfen produced. Included at the capitulation, among the prisoners taken +by the Germans, Ducrot subsequently escaped--the Germans contending that +he had broken his parole in doing so, though this does not appear to have +been the case. Immediately afterwards he repaired to Paris to place +himself at Trochu's disposal. At Woerth he had suggested certain tactics +which might have benefited the French army; at Sedan he had wished to make +a supreme effort to cut through the German lines; and now in Paris he +proposed to Trochu a plan which if successful might, he thought, retard +the investment and momentarily cut the German forces in halves. + +In attempting to carry out this scheme (September 19) Ducrot took with him +most of Vinoy's corps, that is four divisions of infantry, some cavalry, +and no little artillery, having indeed, according to his own account, +seventy-two guns with him. The action was fought on the plateau of +Chatillon (south of Paris), where the French had been constructing a +redoubt, which was still, however, in a very unfinished state. At daybreak +that morning all the districts of Paris lying on the left bank of the +Seine were roused by the loud booming of guns. The noise was at times +almost deafening, and it is certain that the French fired a vast number of +projectiles, though, assuredly, the number--25,000--given in a copy of the +official report which I have before me must be a clerical error. In any +case, the Germans replied with an even more terrific fire than that of the +French, and, as had previously happened at Sedan and elsewhere, the French +ordnance proved to be no match for that emanating from Krupp's renowned +workshops. The French defeat was, however, precipitated by a sudden panic +which arose among a provisional regiment of Zouaves, who suddenly turned +tail and fled. Panic is often, if not always, contagious, and so it proved +to be on this occasion. Though some of the Gardes Mobiles, notably the +Bretons of Ile-et-Vilaine, fought well, thanks to the support of the +artillery (which is so essential in the case of untried troops), other men +weakened, and imitated the example of the Zouaves. Duorot soon realized +that it was useless to prolong the encounter, and after spiking the guns +set up in the Chatillon redoubt, he retired under the protection of the +Forts of Vanves and Montrouge. + +My father and I had hastened to the southern side of Paris as soon as the +cannonade apprised us that an engagement was going on. Pitiful was the +spectacle presented by the disbanded soldiers as they rushed down the +Chaussee du Maine. Many had flung away their weapons. Some went on +dejectedly; others burst into wine-shops, demanded drink with threats, and +presently emerged swearing, cursing and shouting, "Nous sommes trahis!" +Riderless horses went by, instinctively following the men, and here and +there one saw a bewildered and indignant officer, whose orders were +scouted with jeers. The whole scene was of evil augury for the defence of +Paris. + +At a later hour, when we reached the Boulevards, we found the wildest +rumours in circulation there. Nobody knew exactly what had happened, but +there was talk of 20,000 French troops having been annihilated by five +times that number of Germans. At last a proclamation emanating from +Gambetta was posted up and eagerly perused. It supplied no details of the +fighting, but urged the Parisians to give way neither to excitement nor to +despondency, and reminded them that a court-martial had been instituted to +deal with cowards and deserters. Thereupon the excitement seemed to +subside, and people went to dinner. An hour afterwards the Boulevards were +as gay as ever, thronged once more with promenaders, among whom were many +officers of the Garde Mobile and the usual regiment of painted women. +Cynicism and frivolity were once more the order of the day. But in the +midst of it there came an unexpected incident. Some of the National Guards +of the district were not unnaturally disgusted by the spectacle which the +Boulevards presented only a few hours after misfortune had fallen on the +French arms. Forming, therefore, into a body, they marched along, loudly +calling upon the cafes to close. Particularly were they indignant when, on +reaching Brebant's Restaurant at the corner of the Faubourg Montmartre, +they heard somebody playing a lively Offenbachian air on a piano there. A +party of heedless _viveurs_ and _demoiselles_ of the half-world were +enjoying themselves together as in the palmy imperial days. But the piano +was soon silenced, the cafes and restaurants were compelled to close, and +the Boulevardian world went home in a slightly chastened mood. The Siege +of Paris had begun. + + + +V + +BESIEGED + +The Surrender of Versailles--Captain Johnson, Queen's Messenger--No more +Paris Fashions!--Prussians versus Germans--Bismarck's Hard Terms for +Peace--Attempts to pass through the German Lines--Chartreuse Verte as an +Explosive!--Tommy Webb's Party and the Germans--Couriers and Early +Balloons--Our Arrangements with Nadar--Gambetta's Departure and Balloon +Journey--The Amusing Verses of Albert Millaud--Siege Jokes and Satire--The +Spy and Signal Craze--Amazons to the Rescue! + + +It was at one o'clock on the afternoon of September 19 that the telegraph +wires between Paris and Versailles, the last which linked us to the +outside world, were suddenly cut by the enemy; the town so closely +associated with the Grand Monarque and his magnificence having then +surrendered to a very small force of Germans, although it had a couple of +thousand men--Mobile and National Guards--to defend it. The capitulation +which was arranged between the mayor and the enemy was flagrantly violated +by the latter almost as soon as it had been concluded, tins being only one +of many such instances which occurred during the war. Versailles was +required to provide the invader with a number of oxen, to be slaughtered +for food, numerous casks of wine, the purpose of which was obvious, and a +large supply of forage valued at L12,000. After all, however, that was a +mere trifle in comparison with what the present Kaiser's forces would +probably demand on landing at Hull or Grimsby or Harwich, should they some +day do so. By the terms of the surrender of Versailles, however, the local +National Guards were to have remained armed and entrusted with the +internal police of the town, and, moreover, there were to have been no +further requisitions. But Bismarck and Moltke pooh-poohed all such +stipulations, and the Versaillese had to submit to many indignities. + +In Paris that day the National Defence Government was busy in various +ways, first in imposing fines, according to an ascending scale, on all +absentees who ought to have remained in the city and taken their share of +military duty; and, secondly, in decreeing that nobody with any money +lodged in the Savings Bank should be entitled to draw out more than fifty +francs, otherwise two pounds, leaving the entire balance of his or her +deposit at the Government's disposal. This measure provoked no little +dissatisfaction. It was also on September 19, the first day of the siege, +that the last diplomatic courier entered Paris. I well remember the +incident. Whilst I was walking along the Faubourg Saint Honore I suddenly +perceived an open _caleche_, drawn by a pair of horses, bestriding one of +which was a postillion arrayed in the traditional costume--hair a la +Catogan, jacket with scarlet facings, gold-banded hat, huge boots, and all +the other appurtenances which one saw during long years on the stage in +Adolphe Adam's sprightly but "impossible" opera-comique "Le Postillon de +Longjumeau." For an instant, indeed, I felt inclined to hum the famous +refrain, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, qu'il etait beau"--but many National Guards and +others regarded the equipage with great suspicion, particularly as it was +occupied by on individual in semi-military attire. Quite a number of +people decided in their own minds that this personage must be a Prussian +spy, and therefore desired to stop his carriage and march him off to +prison. As a matter of fact, however, he was a British officer, Captain +Johnson, discharging the duties of a Queen's Messenger; and as he +repeatedly flourished a cane in a very menacing manner, and the +door-porter of the British Embassy--a German, I believe--energetically +came to his assistance, he escaped actual molestation, and drove in +triumph into the courtyard of the ambassadorial mansion. + +At this time a great shock was awaiting the Parisians. During the same +week the Vicomtesse de Renneville issued an announcement stating that in +presence of the events which were occurring she was constrained to suspend +the publication of her renowned journal of fashions, _La Gazette Rose_. +This was a tragic blow both for the Parisians themselves and for all the +world beyond them. There would be no more Paris fashions! To what despair +would not millions of women be reduced? How would they dress, even +supposing that they should contrive to dress at all? The thought was +appalling; and as one and another great _couturier_ closed his doors, +Paris began to realize that her prestige was indeed in jeopardy. + +A day or two after the investment the city became very restless on account +of Thiers's mission to foreign Courts and Jules Favre's visit to the +German headquarters, it being reported by the extremists that the +Government did not intend to be a Government of National Defence but one +of Capitulation. In reply to those rumours the authorities issued the +famous proclamation in which they said; + + "The Government's policy is that formulated in these terms: + Not an Inch of our Territory. + Not a Stone of our Fortresses. + The Government will maintain it to the end." + +On the morrow, September 21, Gambetta personally reminded us that it was +the seventy-eighth anniversary of the foundation of the first French +Republic, and, after recalling to the Parisians what their fathers had +then accomplished, he exhorted them to follow that illustrious example, +and to "secure victory by confronting death." That same evening the clubs +decided that a great demonstration should be made on the morrow by way of +insisting that no treaty should be discussed until the Germans had been +driven out of France, that no territory, fort, vessel, or treasure should +be surrendered, that all elections should be adjourned, and that a _levee +en masse_ should be decreed. Jules Favre responded that he and his +colleagues personified Defence and not Surrender, and Rochefort--poor +Rochefort!--solemnly promised that the barricades of Paris should be begun +that very night. That undertaking mightily pleased the agitators, though +the use of the said barricades was not apparent; and the demonstrators +dispersed with the usual shouts of "Vive la Republique! Mort aux +Prussiens!" + +In connexion with that last cry it was a curious circumstance that from +the beginning to the end of the war the French persistently ignored the +presence of Saxons, Wuertembergers, Hessians, Badeners, and so forth in the +invading armies. Moreover, on only one or two occasions (such as the +Bazeilles episode of the battle of Sedan) did they evince any particular +animosity against the Bavarians. I must have heard "Death to the +Prussians!" shouted at least a thousand times; but most certainly I never +once heard a single cry of "Death to the Germans!" Still in the same +connexion, let me mention that it was in Paris, during the siege, that the +eminent naturalist and biologist Quatrefages de Breau wrote that curious +little book of his, "La Race Prussienne," in which he contended that the +Prussians were not Germans at all. There was at least some measure of +truth in the views which he enunciated. + +As I previously indicated, Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister of the +National Defence, had gone to the German headquarters in order to discuss +the position with Prince (then Count) Bismarck. He met him twice, first at +the Comte de Rillac's Chateau de la Haute Maison, and secondly at Baron de +Rothschild's Chateau de Ferrieres--the German staff usually installing +itself in the lordly "pleasure-houses" of the French noble or financial +aristocracy, and leaving them as dirty as possible, and, naturally, bereft +of their timepieces. Baron Alphonse de Rothschild told me in later years +that sixteen clocks were carried off from Ferrieres whilst King +(afterwards the Emperor) William and Bismarck were staying there. I +presume that they now decorate some of the salons of the schloss at +Berlin, or possibly those of Varzin and Friedrichsruhe. Bismarck +personally had an inordinate passion for clocks, as all who ever visited +his quarters in the Wilhelmstrasse, when he was German Chancellor, will +well remember. + +But he was not content with the clocks of Ferrieres. He told Jules Favre +that if France desired peace she must surrender the two departments of the +Upper and the Lower Rhine, a part of the department of the Moselle, +together with Metz, Chateau Salins, and Soissons; and he would only grant +an armistice (to allow of the election of a French National Assembly to +decide the question of War or Peace) on condition that the Germans should +occupy Strasbourg, Toul, and Phalsburg, together with a fortress, such as +Mont Valerien, commanding the city of Paris. Such conditions naturally +stiffened the backs of the French, and for a time there was no more talk +of negotiating. + +During the earlier days of the Siege of Paris I came into contact with +various English people who, having delayed their departure until it was +too late, found themselves shut up in the city, and were particularly +anxious to depart from it. The British Embassy gave them no help in the +matter. Having issued its paltry notice in _Galignani's Messenger_, it +considered that there was no occasion for it to do anything further. +Moreover, Great Britain had not recognized the French Republic, so that +the position of Mr. Wodehouse was a somewhat difficult one. However, a few +"imprisoned" Englishmen endeavoured to escape from the city by devices of +their own. Two of them who set out together, fully expecting to get +through the German lines and then reach a convenient railway station, +followed the course of the Seine for several miles without being able to +cross it, and in spite of their waving pocket-handkerchiefs (otherwise +flags of truce) and their constant shouts of "English! Friends!" and so +forth, were repeatedly fired at by both French and German outposts. At +last they reached Rueil, where the villagers, on noticing how bad their +French was, took them to be Prussian spies, and nearly lynched them. +Fortunately, the local commissary of police believed their story, and they +were sent back to Paris to face the horseflesh and the many other +hardships which they had particularly desired to avoid. + +I also remember the representative of a Birmingham small-arms factory +telling me of his unsuccessful attempt to escape. He had lingered in Paris +in the hope of concluding a contract with the new Republican Government. +Not having sufficient money to charter a balloon, and the Embassy, as +usual at that time, refusing any help (O shades of Palmerston!), he set +out as on a walking-tour with a knapsack strapped to his shoulders and an +umbrella in his hand. His hope was to cross the Seine by the bridge of +Saint Cloud or that of Suresnes, but he failed in both attempts, and was +repeatedly fired upon by vigilant French outposts. After losing his way in +the Bois de Boulogne, awakening both the cattle and the sheep there in the +course of his nightly ramble, he at last found one of the little huts +erected to shelter the gardeners and wood-cutters, and remained there +until daybreak, when he was able to take his bearings and proceed towards +the Auteuil gate of the ramparts. As he did not wish to be fired upon +again, he deemed it expedient to hoist his pocket handkerchief at the end +of his umbrella as a sign of his pacific intentions, and finding the gate +open and the drawbridge down, he attempted to enter the city, but was +immediately challenged by the National Guards on duty. These vigilant +patriots observed his muddy condition--the previous day had been a wet +one--and suspiciously inquired where he had come from at that early hour. +His answer being given in broken French and in a very embarrassed manner, +he was at once regarded as a Prussian spy, and dragged off to the +guard-room. There he was carefully searched, and everything in his pockets +having been taken from him, including a small bottle which the sergeant on +duty regarded with grave suspicion, he was told that his after-fate would +be decided when the commanding officer of that particular _secteur_ of the +ramparts made his rounds. + +When this officer arrived he closely questioned the prisoner, who tried to +explain his circumstances, and protested that his innocence was shown by +the British passport and other papers which had been taken from him. "Oh! +papers prove nothing!" was the prompt retort. "Spies are always provided +with papers. But, come, I have proof that you are an unmitigated villain!" +So saying, the officer produced the small bottle which had been taken from +the unfortunate traveller, and added: "You see this? You had it in your +pocket. Now, don't attempt to deceive me, for I know very well what is the +nature of the green liquid which it contains--it is a combustible fluid +with which you wanted to set fire to our _chevaux-de-frise!_" + +Denials and protests were in vain. The officer refused to listen to his +prisoner until the latter at last offered to drink some of the terrible +fluid in order to prove that it was not at all what it was supposed to be. +With a little difficulty the tight-fitting cork was removed from the +flask, and on the latter being handed to the prisoner he proceeded to +imbibe some of its contents, the officer, meanwhile, retiring to a short +distance, as if he imagined that the alleged "spy" would suddenly explode. +Nothing of that kind happened, however. Indeed, the prisoner drank the +terrible stuff with relish, smacked his lips, and even prepared to take a +second draught, when the officer, feeling reassured, again drew near to +him and expressed his willingness to sample the suspected fluid himself. +He did so, and at once discovered that it was purely and simply some +authentic Chartreuse verte! It did not take the pair of them long to +exhaust this supply of the _liqueur_ of St. Bruno, and as soon as this was +done, the prisoner was set at liberty with profuse apologies. + +Now and again some of those who attempted to leave the beleaguered city +succeeded in their attempt. In one instance a party of four or five +Englishmen ran the blockade in the traditional carriage and pair. They had +been staying at the Grand Hotel, where another seven or eight visitors, +including Labouchere, still remained, together with about the same number +of servants to wait upon them; the famous caravanserai--then undoubtedly +the largest in Paris--being otherwise quite untenanted. The carriage in +which the party I have mentioned took their departure was driven by an old +English jockey named Tommy Webb, who had been in France for nearly half a +century, and had ridden the winners of some of the very first races +started by the French Jockey Club. Misfortune had overtaken him, however, +in his declining years, and he had become a mere Parisian "cabby." The +party sallied forth from the courtyard of the Grand Hotel, taking with it +several huge hampers of provisions and a quantity of other luggage; and +all the participants in the attempt seemed to be quite confident of +success. But a few hours later they returned in sore disappointment, +having been stopped near Neuilly by the French outposts, as they were +unprovided with any official _laisser-passer_. A document of that +description having been obtained, however, from General Trochu on the +morrow, a second attempt was made, and this time the party speedily +passed through the French lines. But in trying to penetrate those of the +enemy, some melodramatic adventures occurred. It became necessary, indeed, +to dodge both the bullets of the Germans and those of the French +Francs-tireurs, who paid not the slightest respect either to the Union +Jack or to the large white flag which were displayed on either side of +Tommy Webb's box-seat. At last, after a variety of mishaps, the party +succeeded in parleying with a German cavalry officer, and after they had +addressed a written appeal to the Crown Prince of Prussia (who was pleased +to grant it), they were taken, blindfolded, to Versailles, where +Blumenthal, the Crown Prince's Chief of Staff, asked them for information +respecting the actual state of Paris, and then allowed them to proceed on +their way. + +Captain Johnson, the Queen's Messenger of whom I have already spoken, also +contrived to quit Paris again; but the Germans placed him under strict +surveillance, and Blumenthal told him that no more Queen's Messengers +would be allowed to pass through the German lines. About this same time, +however, the English man-servant of one of Trochu's aides-de-camp +contrived, not only to reach Saint Germain-en-Laye, where his master's +family was residing, but also to return to Paris with messages. This young +fellow had cleverly disguised himself as a French peasant, and on the +Prefect of Police hearing of his adventures, he sent out several +detectives in similar disguises, with instructions to ascertain all they +could about the enemy, and report the same to him. Meantime, the Paris +Post Office was endeavouring to send out couriers. One of them, named +Letoile, managed to get as far as Evreux, in Normandy, and to return to +the beleaguered city with a couple of hundred letters. Success also +repeatedly attended the efforts of two shrewd fellows named Geme and +Brare, who made several journeys to Saint Germain, Triel, and even +Orleans. On one occasion they brought as many as seven hundred letters +with them on their return to Paris; but between twenty and thirty other +couriers failed to get through the German lines; whilst several others +fell into the hands of the enemy, who at once confiscated the +correspondence they carried, but did not otherwise molest them. + +The difficulty in sending letters out of Paris and in obtaining news from +relatives and friends in other parts of France led to all sorts of +schemes. The founder and editor of that well-known journal _Le Figaro_, +Hippolyte de Villemessant, as he called himself, though I believe that his +real Christian name was Auguste, declared in his paper that he would +willingly allow his veins to be opened in return for a few lines from his +beloved and absent wife. Conjugal affection could scarcely have gone +further. Villemessant, however, followed up his touching declaration by +announcing that a thousand francs (L40) a week was to be earned by a +capable man willing to act as letter-carrier between Paris and the +provinces. All who felt qualified for the post were invited to present +themselves at the office of _Le Figaro_, which in those days was +appropriately located in the Rue Rossini, named, of course, after the +illustrious composer who wrote such sprightly music round the theme of +Beaumarchais' comedy. As a result of Villemessant's announcement, the +street was blocked during the next forty-eight hours by men of all +classes, who were all the more eager to earn the aforesaid L40 a week as +nearly every kind of work was at a standstill, and the daily stipend of a +National Guard amounted only to 1_s._ 2-1/2_d._ + +It was difficult to choose from among so many candidates, but we were +eventually assured that the right man had been found in the person of a +retired poacher who knew so well how to circumvent both rural guards and +forest guards, that during a career of twenty years or so he had never +once been caught _in flagrante delicto_. Expert, moreover, in tracking +game, he would also well know how to detect--and to avoid--the tracks of +the Prussians. We were therefore invited to confide our correspondence to +this sagacious individual, who would undertake to carry it through the +German lines and to return with the answers in a week or ten days. The +charge for each letter, which was to be of very small weight and +dimensions, was fixed at five francs, and it was estimated that the +ex-poacher would be able to carry about 200 letters on each journey. + +Many people were anxious to try the scheme, but rival newspapers denounced +it as being a means of acquainting the Prussians with everything which was +occurring in Paris--Villemessant, who they declared had taken bribes from +the fallen Empire, being probably one of Bismarck's paid agents. Thus the +enterprise speedily collapsed without even being put to the proof. +However, the public was successfully exploited by various individuals who +attempted to improve on Villemessant's idea, undertaking to send letters +out of Paris for a fixed charge, half of which was to be returned to the +sender if his letter were not delivered. As none of the letters handed in +on these conditions was even entrusted to a messenger, the ingenious +authors of this scheme made a handsome profit, politely returning half of +the money which they received, but retaining the balance without making +the slightest effort to carry out their contract. + +Dr. Rampont, a very clever man, who was now our postmaster-general, had +already issued a circular bidding us to use the very thinnest paper and +the smallest envelopes procurable. There being so many failures among the +messengers whom he sent out of Paris with correspondence, the idea of a +balloon postal service occurred to him. Although ninety years or so had +elapsed since the days of the brothers Montgolfier, aeronautics had really +made very little progress. There were no dirigible balloons at all. Dupuy +de Lome's first experiments only dated from the siege days, and Renard's +dirigible was not devised until the early eighties. We only had the +ordinary type of balloon at our disposal; and at the outset of the +investment there were certainly not more than half a dozen balloons within +our lines. A great city like Paris, however, is not without resources. +Everything needed for the construction of balloons could be found there. +Gas also was procurable, and we had amongst us quite a number of men +expert in the science of ballooning, such as it then was. There was Nadar, +there was Tissandier, there were the Godard brothers, Yon, Dartois, and a +good many others. Both the Godards and Nadar established balloon +factories, which were generally located in our large disused railway +stations, such as the Gare du Nord, the Gare d'Orleans, and the Gare +Montparnasse; but I also remember visiting one which Nadar installed in +the dancing hall called the Elysee Montmartre. Each of these factories +provided work for a good many people, and I recollect being particularly +struck by the number of women who were employed in balloon-making. Such +work was very helpful to them, and Nadar used to say to me that it grieved +him to have to turn away so many applicants for employment, for every day +ten, twenty, and thirty women would come to implore him to "take them on." +Nearly all their usual workrooms were closed; some were reduced to live on +charity and only very small allowances, from fivepence to sevenpence a +day, were made to the wives and families of National Guards. + +But to return to the balloon postal-service which the Government +organized, it was at once realized by my father and myself that it could +be of little use to us so far as the work for the _Illustrated London +News_ was concerned, on account of the restrictions which were imposed in +regard to the size and weight of each letter that might be posted. +The weight, indeed, was fixed at no more than three grammes! Now, there +were a number of artists working for the _Illustrated_ in Paris, first +and foremost among them being M. Jules Pelcoq, who must personally have +supplied two-thirds of the sketches by which the British public was kept +acquainted with the many incidents of Parisian siege-life. The weekly +diary which I helped my father to compile could be drawn up in small +handwriting on very thin, almost transparent paper, and despatched in +the ordinary way. But how were we to circumvent the authorities in regard +to our sketches, which were often of considerable size, and were always +made on fairly substantial paper, the great majority of them being +wash-drawings? Further, though I could prepare two or three drafts of our +diary or our other "copy" for despatch by successive balloons--to provide +for the contingency of one of the latter falling into the hands of the +enemy--it seemed absurd that our artists should have to recopy every +sketch they made. Fortunately, there was photography, the thought of which +brought about a solution of the other difficulty in which we were placed. + +I was sent to interview Nadar on the Place Saint Pierre at Montmartre, +above which his captive balloon the "Neptune" was oscillating in the +September breeze. He was much the same man as I had seen at the Crystal +Palace a few years previously, tall, red-haired, and red-shirted. He had +begun life as a caricaturist and humorous writer, but by way of buttering +his bread had set up in business as a photographer, his establishment on +the Boulevard de la Madeleine soon becoming very favourably known. There +was still a little "portrait-taking" in Paris during those early siege +days. Photographs of the celebrities or notorieties of the hour sold +fairly well, and every now and again some National Guard with means was +anxious to be photographed in his uniform. But, naturally enough, the +business generally had declined. Thus, Nadar was only too pleased to +entertain the proposal which I made to him on my father's behalf, this +being that every sketch for the _Illustrated_ should be taken to his +establishment and there photographed, so that we might be able to send out +copies in at least three successive balloons. + +When I broached to Nadar the subject of the postal regulations in regard +to the weight and size of letters, he genially replied: "Leave that to me. +Your packets need not go through the ordinary post at all--at least, here +in Paris. Have them stamped, however, bring them whenever a balloon is +about to sail, and I will see that the aeronaut takes them in his pocket. +Wherever he alights they will be posted, like the letters in the official +bags." + +That plan was carried out, and although several balloons were lost or fell +within the German lines, only one small packet of sketches, which, on +account of urgency, had not been photographed, remained subsequently +unaccounted for. In all other instances either the original drawing or one +of the photographic copies of it reached London safely. + +The very first balloon to leave Paris (in the early days of October) was +precisely Nadar's "Neptune," which had originally been intended for +purposes of military observation. One day when I was with Nadar on the +Place Saint Pierre, he took me up in it. I found the experience a novel +but not a pleasing one, for all my life I have had a tendency to vertigo +when ascending to any unusual height. I remember that it was a clear day, +and that we had a fine bird's-eye view of Paris on the one hand and of the +plain of Saint Denis on the other, but I confess that I felt out of-my +element, and was glad to set foot on _terra firma_ once more. + +From that day I was quite content to view the ascent of one and another +balloon, without feeling any desire to get out of Paris by its aerial +transport service. I must have witnessed the departure of practically all +the balloons which left Paris until I myself quitted the city in November. +The arrangements made with Nadar were perfected, and something very +similar was contrived with the Godard brothers, the upshot being that we +were always forewarned whenever it was proposed to send off a balloon. +Sometimes we received by messenger, in the evening, an intimation that a +balloon would start at daybreak on the morrow. Sometimes we were roused in +the small hours of the morning, when everything intended for despatch had +to be hastily got together and carried at once to the starting-place, +such, for instance, as the Northern or the Orleans railway terminus, both +being at a considerable distance from our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. +Those were by no means agreeable walks, especially when the cold weather +had set in, as it did early that autumn; and every now and again at the +end of the journey one found that it had been made in vain, for, the wind +having shifted at the last moment, the departure of the balloon had been +postponed. Of course, the only thing to be done was to trudge back home +again. There was no omnibus service, all the horses having been +requisitioned, and in the latter part of October there were not more than +a couple of dozen cabs (drawn by decrepit animals) still plying for hire +in all Paris. Thus Shanks's pony was the only means of locomotion. + +In the earlier days my father accompanied me on a few of those +expeditions, but he soon grew tired of them, particularly as his health +became affected by the siege diet. We were together, however, when +Gambetta took his departure on October 7, ascending from the Place Saint +Pierre in a balloon constructed by Nadar. It had been arranged that he +should leave for the provinces, in order to reinforce the three Government +delegates who had been despatched thither prior to the investment. Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had been previously urged to join those +delegates, but would not trust himself to a balloon, and it was thereupon +proposed to Gambetta that he should do so. He willingly assented to the +suggestion, particularly as he feared that the rest of the country was +being overlooked, owing to the prevailing opinion that Paris would suffice +to deliver both herself and all the rest of France from the presence of +the enemy. Born in April, 1838, he was at this time in his thirty-third +year, and full of vigour, as the sequel showed. The delegates whom he was +going to join were, as I previously mentioned, very old men, well meaning, +no doubt, but incapable of making the great effort which was made by +Gambetta in conjunction with Charles de Freycinet, who was just in his +prime, being the young Dictator's senior by some ten years. + +I can still picture Gambetta's departure, and particularly his appearance +on the occasion--his fur cap and his fur coat, which made him look +somewhat like a Polish Jew. He had with him his secretary, the devoted +Spuller. I cannot recall the name of the aeronaut who was in charge of the +balloon, but, if my memory serves me rightly, it was precisely to him that +Nadar handed the packet of sketches which failed to reach the _Illustrated +London News_. They must have been lost in the confusion of the aerial +voyage, which was marked by several dramatic incidents. Some accounts say +that Gambetta evinced no little anxiety during the preparations for the +ascent, but to me he appeared to be in a remarkably good humour, as if, +indeed, in pleasurable anticipation of what he was about to experience. +When, in response to the call of "Lachez tout!" the seamen released the +last cables which had hitherto prevented the balloon from rising, and the +crowd burst into shouts of "Vive la Republique!" and "Vive Gambetta!" the +"youthful statesman," as he was then called, leant over the side of the +car and waved his cap in response to the plaudits. [Another balloon, the +"George Sand," ascended at the same time, having in its car various +officials who were to negotiate the purchase of fire-arms in the United +States.] + +The journey was eventful, for the Germans repeatedly fired at the balloon. +A first attempt at descent had to be abandoned when the car was at an +altitude of no more than 200 feet, for at that moment some German soldiers +were seen almost immediately beneath it. They fired, and before the +balloon could rise again a bullet grazed Gambetta's head. At four o'clock +in the afternoon, however, the descent was renewed near Roye in the Somme, +when the balloon was caught in an oak-tree, Gambetta at one moment hanging +on to the ropes of the car, with his head downward. Some countryfolk came +up in great anger, taking the party to be Prussians; but, on learning the +truth, they rendered all possible assistance, and Gambetta and his +companions repaired to the house of the mayor of the neighbouring village +of Tricot. Alluding in after days to his experiences on this journey, the +great man said that the earth, as seen by him from the car of the balloon, +looked like a huge carpet woven chance-wise with different coloured wools. +It did not impress him at all, he added, as it was really nothing but "une +vilaine chinoiserie." It was from Rouen, where he arrived on the following +day, that he issued the famous proclamation in which he called on France +to make a compact with victory or death. On October 9, he joined the other +delegates at Tours and took over the post of Minister of War as well as +that of Minister of the Interior. + +His departure from the capital was celebrated by that clever versifier of +the period, Albert Millaud, who contributed to _Le Figaro_ an amusing +effusion, the first verse of which was to this effect: + + "Gambetta, pale and gloomy, + Much wished to go to Tours, + But two hundred thousand Prussians + In his project made him pause. + To aid the youthful statesman + Came the aeronaut Nadar, + Who sent up the 'Armand Barbes' + With Gambetta in its car." + +Further on came the following lines, supposed to be spoken by Gambetta +himself whilst he was gazing at the German lines beneath him-- + + "See how the plain is glistening + With their helmets in a mass! + Impalement would be dreadful + On those spikes of polished brass!" + +Millaud, who was a Jew, the son, I think--or, at all events, a near +relation--of the famous founder of _Le Petit Journal_, the advent of which +constituted a great landmark in the history of the French Press--set +himself, during several years of his career, to prove the truth of the +axiom that in France "tout finit par des chansons." During those anxious +siege days he was for ever striving to sound a gay note, something which, +for a moment, at all events, might drive dull care away. Here is an +English version of some verses which he wrote on Nadar: + +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! +He is as clever as Godard. + What a strange fellow is Nadar, +Although, between ourselves, as far + As art's concerned he knoweth naught. +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! + +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. +Some day he hopes unto the moon + To guide the course of a balloon. +Of 'airy navies' admiral soon, + We'll see him 'grappling in the blue'-- +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. + +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. +If poor Gambetta when up there, + Up in the kingdom of the air, +Does not find good cause to stare, + Why, Nadar will not be to blame. +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. + +At Ferrieres, above the park, + Behold him darting through the sky, +Soaring to heaven like a lark. + At Ferrieres above the park; +Whilst William whispers to Bismarck-- + 'Silence, see Nadar there on high!' +At Ferrieres above the park + Behold him darting through the sky. + +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report, +Thou yellower than a pure Cambodian, + And far more daring than King Clodion, +We'll cast thy statue in collodion + And mount it on a gas retort. +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report! + +Perhaps it may not be thought too pedantic on my part if I explain that +the King Clodion referred to in Millaud's last verse was the legendary +"Clodion the Hairy," a supposed fifth-century leader of the Franks, +reputed to be a forerunner of the founder of the, Merovingian dynasty. +Nadar's hair, however, was not long like that of _les rois chevelue_, for +it was simply a huge curly and somewhat reddish mop. As for his +complexion, Millaud's phrase, "yellow as a pure Cambodian," was a happy +thought. + +These allusions to Millaud's sprightly verse remind me that throughout the +siege of Paris the so-called _mot pour rire_ was never once lost sight of. +At all times and in respect to everything there was a superabundance of +jests--jests on the Germans, the National and the Mobile Guard, the fallen +dynasty, and the new Republic, the fruitless sorties, the wretched +rations, the failing gas, and many other people and things. One of the +enemy's generals was said to have remarked one day: "I don't know how to +satisfy my men. They complain of hunger, and yet I lead them every morning +to the slaughterhouse." At another time a French colonel, of conservative +ideas, was said to have replaced the inscription "Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity," which he found painted on the walls of his barracks, by the +words, "Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery," declaring that the latter were far +more likely to free the country of the presence of the hated enemy. As for +the "treason" mania, which was very prevalent at this time, it was related +that a soldier remarked one day to a comrade: "I am sure that the captain +is a traitor!" "Indeed! How's that?" was the prompt rejoinder. "Well," +said the suspicious private, "have you not noticed that every time he +orders us to march forward we invariably encounter the enemy?" + +When Trochu issued a decree incorporating all National Guards, under +forty-five years of age, in the marching battalions for duty outside +the city, one of these Guards, on being asked how old he was, replied, +"six-and-forty." "How is that?" he was asked. "A few weeks ago, you told +everybody that you were only thirty-six." "Quite true," rejoined the +other, "but what with rampart-duty, demonstrating at the Hotel-de-Ville, +short rations, and the cold weather, I feel quite ten years older than I +formerly did." When horseflesh became more or less our daily provender, +many Parisian _bourgeois_ found their health failing. "What is the matter, +my dearest?" Madame du Bois du Pont inquired of her husband, when he had +collapsed one evening after dinner. "Oh! it is nothing, _mon amie_" he +replied; "I dare say I shall soon feel well again, but I used to think +myself a better horseman!" + +Directly our supply of gas began to fail, the wags insinuated that Henri +Rochefort was jubilant, and if you inquired the reason thereof, you were +told that owing to the scarcity of gas everybody would be obliged to buy +hundreds of "_Lanternes_." We had, of course, plenty of sensations in +those days, but if you wished to cap every one of them you merely had to +walk into a cafe and ask the waiter for--a railway time-table. + +Once before I referred to the caricatures of the period, notably to those +libelling the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie, the latter +being currently personified as Messalina--or even as something worse, and +this, of course, without the faintest shadow of justification. But the +caricaturists were not merely concerned with the fallen dynasty. One of +the principal cartoonists of the _Charivari_ at that moment was "Cham," +otherwise the Vicomte Amedee de Noe, an old friend of my family's. +It was he, by the way, who before the war insisted on my going to a +fencing-school, saying: "Look here, if you mean to live in France and be a +journalist, you must know how to hold a sword. Come with me to Ruze's. +I taught your uncle Frank and his friend Gustave Dore how to fence many +years ago, and now I am going to have you taught." Well, in one of his +cartoons issued during the siege, Cham (disgusted, like most Frenchmen, at +the seeming indifference of Great Britain to the plight in which France +found herself) summed up the situation, as he conceived it, by depicting +the British Lion licking the boots of Bismarck, who was disguised as Davy +Crockett. When my father remonstrated with Cham on the subject, reminding +him of his own connexion with England, the indignant caricaturist replied: +"Don't speak of it. I have renounced England and all her works." He, like +other Frenchmen of the time, contended that we had placed ourselves under +great obligations to France at the period of the Crimean War. + +Among the best caricatures of the siege-days was one by Daumier, which +showed Death appearing to Bismarck in his sleep, and murmuring softly, +"Thanks, many thanks." Another idea of the period found expression in a +cartoon representing a large mouse-trap, labelled "France," into which a +company of mice dressed up as German soldiers were eagerly marching, their +officer meanwhile pointing to a cheese fixed inside the trap, and +inscribed with the name of Paris. Below the design ran the legend: "Ah! if +we could only catch them all in it!" Many, indeed most, of the caricatures +of the time did not appear in the so-called humorous journals, but were +issued separately at a penny apiece, and were usually coloured by the +stencilling process. In one of them, I remember, Bismarck was seen wearing +seven-league boots and making ineffectual attempts to step from Versailles +to Paris. Another depicted the King of Prussia as Butcher William, knife +in hand and attired in the orthodox slaughter-house costume; whilst in yet +another design the same monarch was shown urging poor Death, who had +fallen exhausted in the snow, with his scythe lying broken beside him, to +continue on the march until the last of the French nation should be +exterminated. Of caricatures representing cooks in connexion with cats +there was no end, the _lapin de gouttiere_ being in great demand for the +dinner-table; and, after Gambetta had left us, there were designs showing +the armies of succour (which were to be raised in the provinces) +endeavouring to pass ribs of beef, fat geese, legs of mutton, and strings +of sausages over several rows of German helmets, gathered round a bastion +labelled Paris, whence a famished National Guard, eager for the proffered +provisions, was trying to spring, but could not do so owing to the +restraining arm of General Trochu. + +Before the investment began Paris was already afflicted with a spy mania. +Sala's adventure, which I recounted in an earlier chapter, was in a way +connected with this delusion, which originated with the cry "We are +betrayed!" immediately after the first French reverses. The instances of +so-called "spyophobia" were innumerable, and often curious and amusing. +There was a slight abatement of the mania when, shortly before the siege, +188,000 Germans were expelled from Paris, leaving behind them only some +700 old folk, invalids, and children, who were unable to obey the +Government's decree. But the disease soon revived, and we heard of +rag-pickers having their baskets ransacked by zealous National Guards, +who imagined that these receptacles might contain secret despatches or +contraband ammunition. On another occasion _Le Figaro_ wickedly suggested +that all the blind beggars in Paris were spies, with the result that +several poor infirm old creatures were abominably ill-treated. Again, a +fugitive sheet called _Les Nouvelles_ denounced all the English residents +as spies. Labouchere was one of those pounced upon by a Parisian mob in +consequence of that idiotic denunciation, but as he had the presence of +mind to invite those who assailed him to go with him to the nearest +police-station, he was speedily released. On two occasions my father and +myself were arrested and carried to guard-houses, and in the course of +those experiences we discovered that the beautifully engraved but +essentially ridiculous British passport, which recited all the honours and +dignities of the Secretary of State or the Ambassador delivering it, but +gave not the slightest information respecting the person to whom it had +been delivered (apart, that is, from his or her name), was of infinitely +less value in the eyes of a French officer than a receipt for rent or a +Parisian tradesman's bill. [That was forty-three years ago. The British +passport, however, remains to-day as unsatisfactory as it was then.] + +But let me pass to other instances. One day an unfortunate individual, +working in the Paris sewers, was espied by a zealous National Guard, who +at once gave the alarm, declaring that there was a German spy in the +aforesaid sewers, and that he was depositing bombs there with the +intention of blowing up the city. Three hundred Guards at once volunteered +their services, stalked the poor workman, and blew him to pieces the next +time he popped his head out of a sewer-trap. The mistake was afterwards +deplored, but people argued (wrote Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who sent the +story to The Morning Post) that it was far better that a hundred innocent +Frenchmen should suffer than that a single Prussian should escape. Cham, +to whom I previously alluded, old Marshal Vaillant, Mr. O'Sullivan, an +American diplomatist, and Alexis Godillot, the French army contractor, +were among the many well-known people arrested as spies at one or another +moment. A certain Mme: de Beaulieu, who had joined a regiment of Mobiles +as a _cantiniere_, was denounced as a spy "because her hands were so +white." Another lady, who had installed an ambulance in her house, was +carried off to prison on an equally frivolous pretext; and I remember yet +another case in which a lady patron of the Societe de Secours aux Blesses +was ill-treated. Matters would, however, probably be far worse at the +present time, for Paris, with all her apaches and anarchists, now includes +in her population even more scum than was the case three-and-forty years +ago. + +There were, however, a few authentic instances of spying, one case being +that of a young fellow whom Etienne Arago, the Mayor of Paris, engaged as +a secretary, on the recommendation of Henri Rochefort, but who turned out +to be of German extraction, and availed himself of his official position +to draw up reports which were forwarded by balloon post to an agent of the +German Government in London. I have forgotten the culprit's name, but it +will be found, with particulars of his case, in the Paris journals of the +siege days. There was, moreover, the Hardt affair, which resulted in the +prisoner, a former lieutenant in the Prussian army, being convicted of +espionage and shot in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire. + +Co-existent with "spyophobia" there was another craze, that of suspecting +any light seen at night-time in an attic or fifth-floor window to be a +signal intended for the enemy. Many ludicrous incidents occurred in +connexion with this panic. One night an elderly _bourgeois_, who had +recently married a charming young woman, was suddenly dragged from his bed +by a party of indignant National Guards, and consigned to the watch-house +until daybreak. This had been brought about by his wife's maid placing a +couple of lighted candles in her window as a signal to the wife's lover +that, "master being at home," he was not to come up to the flat that +night. On another occasion a poor old lady, who was patriotically +depriving herself of sleep in order to make lint for the ambulances, was +pounced upon and nearly strangled for exhibiting green and red signals +from her window. It turned out, however, that the signals in question were +merely the reflections of a harmless though charmingly variegated parrot +which was the zealous old dame's sole and faithful companion. + +No matter what might be the quarter of Paris in which a presumed signal +was observed, the house whence it emanated was at once invaded by National +Guards, and perfectly innocent people were often carried off and subjected +to ill-treatment. To such proportions did the craze attain that some +papers even proposed that the Government should forbid any kind of light +whatever, after dark, in any room situated above the second floor, unless +the windows of that room were "hermetically sealed"! Most victims of the +mania submitted to the mob's invasion of their homes without raising any +particular protest; but a volunteer artilleryman, who wrote to the +authorities complaining that his rooms had been ransacked in his absence +and his aged mother frightened out of her wits, on the pretext that some +fusees had been fired from his windows, declared that if there should be +any repetition of such an intrusion whilst he was at home he would receive +the invaders bayonet and revolver in hand. From that moment similar +protests poured into the Hotel-de-Ville, and Trochu ended by issuing a +proclamation in which he said: "Under the most frivolous pretexts, +numerous houses have been entered, and peaceful citizens have been +maltreated. The flags of friendly nations have been powerless to protect +the houses where they were displayed. I have ordered an inquiry on the +subject, and I now command that all persons guilty of these abusive +practices shall be arrested. A special service has been organized in order +to prevent the enemy from keeping up any communication with any of its +partisans in the city; and I remind everybody that excepting in such +instances as are foreseen by the law every citizen's residence is +inviolable." + +We nowadays hear a great deal about the claims of women, but although the +followers of Mrs. Pankhurst have carried on "a sort of a war" for a +considerable time past, I have not yet noticed any disposition on their +part to "join the colours." Men currently assert that women cannot serve +as soldiers. There are, however, many historical instances of women +distinguishing themselves in warfare, and modern conditions are even more +favourable than former ones for the employment of women as soldiers. There +is splendid material to be derived from the golf-girl, the hockey-girl, +the factory- and the laundry-girl--all of them active, and in innumerable +instances far stronger than many of the narrow-chested, cigarette-smoking +"boys" whom we now see in our regiments. Briefly, a day may well come when +we shall see many of our so-called superfluous women taking to the +"career of arms." However, the attempts made to establish a corps of +women-soldiers in Paris, during the German siege, were more amusing than +serious. Early in October some hundreds of women demonstrated outside the +Hotel-de-Ville, demanding that all the male nurses attached to the +ambulances should be replaced by women. The authorities promised to grant +that application, and the women next claimed the right to share the +dangers of the field with their husbands and their brothers. This question +was repeatedly discussed at the public clubs, notably at one in the Rue +Pierre Levee, where Louise Michel, the schoolmistress who subsequently +participated in the Commune and was transported to New Caledonia, +officiated as high-priestess; and at another located at the Triat +Gymnasium in the Avenue Montaigne, where as a rule no men were allowed to +be present, that is, excepting a certain Citizen Jules Allix, an eccentric +elderly survivor of the Republic of '48, at which period he had devised a +system of telepathy effected by means of "sympathetic snails." + +One Sunday afternoon in October the lady members of this club, being in +urgent need of funds, decided to admit men among their audience at the +small charge of twopence per head, and on hearing this, my father and +myself strolled round to witness the proceedings. They were remarkably +lively. Allix, while reading a report respecting the club's progress, +began to libel some of the Paris convents, whereupon a National Guard in +the audience flatly called him a liar. A terrific hubbub arose, all the +women gesticulating and protesting, whilst their _presidente_ +energetically rang her bell, and the interrupter strode towards the +platform. He proved to be none other than the Duc de Fitz-James, a lineal +descendant of our last Stuart King by Marlborough's sister, Arabella +Churchill. He tried to speak, but the many loud screams prevented him from +doing so. Some of the women threatened him with violence, whilst a few +others thanked him for defending the Church. At last, however, he leapt on +the platform, and in doing so overturned both a long table covered with +green baize, and the members of the committee who were seated behind it. +Jules Allix thereupon sprang at the Duke's throat, they struggled and fell +together from the platform, and rolled in the dust below it. It was long +before order was restored, but this was finally effected by a good-looking +young woman who, addressing the male portion of the audience, exclaimed: +"Citizens! if you say another word we will fling what you have paid for +admission in your faces, and order you out of doors!" + +Business then began, the discussion turning chiefly upon two points, the +first being that all women should be armed and do duty on the ramparts, +and the second that the women should defend their honour from the attacks +of the Germans by means of prussic acid. Allix remarked that it would be +very appropriate to employ prussic acid in killing Prussians, and +explained to us that this might be effected by means of little indiarubber +thimbles which the women would place on their fingers, each thimble being +tipped with a small pointed tube containing some of the acid in question. +If an amorous Prussian should venture too close to a fair Parisienne, the +latter would merely have to hold out her hand and prick him. In another +instant he would fall dead! "No matter how many of the enemy may assail +her," added Allix, enthusiastically, "she will simply have to prick them +one by one, and we shall see her standing still pure and holy in the midst +of a circle of corpses!" At these words many of the women in the audience +were moved to tears, but the men laughed hilariously. + +Such disorderly scenes occurred at this women's club, that the landlord of +the Triat Gymnasium at last took possession of the premises again, and the +ejected members vainly endeavoured to find accommodation elsewhere. +Nevertheless, another scheme for organizing an armed force of women was +started, and one day, on observing on the walls of Paris a green placard +which announced the formation of a "Legion of Amazons of the Seine," I +repaired to the Rue Turbigo, where this Legion's enlistment office had +been opened. After making my way up a staircase crowded with recruits, who +were mostly muscular women from five-and-twenty to forty years of age, the +older ones sometimes being unduly stout, and not one of them, in my +youthful opinion, at all good-looking, I managed to squeeze my way into +the private office of the projector of the Legion, or, as he called +himself, its "Provisional Chef de Bataillon." He was a wiry little man, +with a grey moustache and a military bearing, and answered to the name of +Felix Belly. A year or two previously he had unjustly incurred a great +deal of ridicule in Paris, owing to his attempts to float a Panama Canal +scheme. Only five years after the war, however, the same idea was taken up +by Ferdinand de Lesseps, and French folk, who had laughed it to scorn in +Belly's time, proved only too ready to fling their hard-earned savings +into the bottomless gulf of Lesseps' enterprise. + +I remember having a long chat with Belly, who was most enthusiastic +respecting his proposed Amazons. They were to defend the ramparts and +barricades of Paris, said he, being armed with light guns carrying some +200 yards; and their costume, a model of which was shown me, was to +consist of black trousers with orange-coloured stripes down the outer +seams, black blouses with capes, and black kepis, also with orange +trimmings. Further, each woman was to carry a cartridge-box attached to a +shoulder-belt. It was hoped that the first battalion would muster quite +1200 women, divided into eight companies of 150 each. There was to be a +special medical service, and although the chief doctor would be a man, it +was hoped to secure several assistant doctors of the female sex. Little M. +Belly dwelt particularly on the fact that only women of unexceptionable +moral character would be allowed to join the force, all recruits having to +supply certificates from the Commissaries of Police of their districts, as +well as the consent of their nearest connexions, such as their fathers or +their husbands. "Now, listen to this," added M. Belly, enthusiastically, +as he went to a piano which I was surprised to find, standing in a +recruiting office; and seating himself at the instrument, he played for my +especial benefit the stirring strains of a new, specially-commissioned +battle-song, which, said he, "we intend to call the Marseillaise of the +Paris Amazons!" + +Unfortunately for M. Belly, all his fine projects and preparations +collapsed a few days afterwards, owing to the intervention of the police, +who raided the premises in the Rue Turbigo, and carried off all the papers +they found there. They justified these summary proceedings on the ground +that General Trochu had forbidden the formation of any more free corps, +and that M. Belly had unduly taken fees from his recruits. I believe, +however, that the latter statement was incorrect. At all events, no +further proceedings were instituted. But the raid sufficed to kill M. +Belly's cherished scheme, which naturally supplied the caricaturists of +the time with more or less brilliant ideas. One cartoon represented the +German army surrendering _en masse_ to a mere battalion of the Beauties of +Paris. + + + +VI + +MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + +Reconnaissances and Sorties--Casimir-Perier at Bagneux--Some of the Paris +Clubs--Demonstrations at the Hotel-de-Ville--The Cannon Craze--The Fall of +Metz foreshadowed--Le Bourget taken by the French--The Government's Policy +of Concealment--The Germans recapture Le Bourget--Thiers, the Armistice, +and Bazaine's Capitulation--The Rising of October 31--The Peril and the +Rescue of the Government--Armistice and Peace Conditions--The Great +Question of Rations--Personal Experiences respecting Food--My father, in +failing Health, decides to leave Paris. + + +After the engagement of Chatillon, fought on September 19, various +reconnaissances were carried out by the army of Paris. In the first of +these General Vinoy secured possession of the plateau of Villejuif, east +of Chatillon, on the south side of the city. Next, the Germans had to +retire from Pierre-fitte, a village in advance of Saint Denis on the +northern side. There were subsequent reconnaissances in the direction of +Neuilly-sur-Marne and the Plateau d'Avron, east of Paris; and on +Michaelmas Day an engagement was fought at L'Hay and Chevilly, on the +south. But the archangel did not on this occasion favour the French, who +were repulsed, one of their commanders, the veteran brigadier Guilhem, +being killed. A fight at Chatillon on October 12 was followed on the +morrow by a more serious action at Bagneux, on the verge of the Chatillon +plateau. During this engagement the Mobiles from the Burgundian Cote d'Or +made a desperate attack on a German barricade bristling with guns, +reinforced by infantry, and also protected by a number of sharp-shooters +installed in the adjacent village-houses, whose window-shutters and walls +had been loop-holed. During the encounter, the commander of the Mobiles, +the Comte de Dampierre, a well-known member of the French Jockey Club, +fell mortally wounded whilst urging on his men, but was succoured by a +captain of the Mobiles of the Aube, who afterwards assumed the chief +command, and, by a rapid flanking movement, was able to carry the +barricade. This captain was Jean Casimir-Perier, who, in later years, +became President of the Republic. He was rewarded for his gallantry with +the Cross of the Legion of Honour. Nevertheless, the French success was +only momentary. + +That same night the sky westward of Paris was illumined by a great ruddy +glare. The famous Chateau of Saint Cloud, associated with many memories of +the old _regime_ and both the Empires, was seen to be on fire. The cause +of the conflagration has never been precisely ascertained. Present-day +French reference-books still declare that the destruction of the chateau +was the wilful act of the Germans, who undoubtedly occupied Saint Cloud; +but German authorities invariably maintain that the fire was caused by a +shell from the French fortress of Mont Valerien. Many of the sumptuous +contents of the Chateau of Saint Cloud--the fatal spot where that same war +had been decided on--were consumed by the flames, while the remainder were +appropriated by the Germans as plunder. Many very valuable paintings of +the period of Louis XIV were undoubtedly destroyed. + +By this time the word "reconnaissance," as applied to the engagements +fought in the environs of the city, had become odious to the Parisians, +who began to clamour for a real "sortie." Trochu, it may be said, had at +this period no idea of being able to break out of Paris. In fact, he had +no desire to do so. His object in all the earlier military operations of +the siege was simply to enlarge the circle of investment, in the hope of +thereby placing the Germans in a difficulty, of which he might +subsequently take advantage. An attack which General Ducrot made, with a +few thousand men, on the German position near La Malmaison, west of Paris, +was the first action which was officially described as a "sortie." It took +place on October 21, but the success which at first attended Ducrot's +efforts was turned into a repulse by the arrival of German reinforcements, +the affair ending with a loss of some four hundred killed and wounded on +the French side, apart from that of another hundred men who were taken +prisoners by the enemy. + +This kind of thing did not appeal to the many frequenters of the public +clubs which were established in the different quarters of Paris. All +theatrical performances had ceased there, and there was no more dancing. +Even the concerts and readings given in aid of the funds for the wounded +were few and far between. Thus, if a Parisian did not care to while away +his evening in a cafe, his only resource was to betake himself to one of +the clubs. Those held at the Folies-Bergere music-hall, the Valentino +dancing-hall, the Porte St. Martin theatre, and the hall of the College de +France, were mostly frequented by moderate Republicans, and attempts were +often made there to discuss the situation in a sensible manner. But folly, +even insanity, reigned at many of the other clubs, where men like Felix +Pyat, Auguste Blanqui, Charles Delescluze, Gustave Flourens, and the three +Ms--Megy, Mottu, and Milliere--raved and ranted. Go where you would, you +found a club. There was that of La Reine Blanche at Montmartre and that of +the Salle Favie at Belleville; there was the club de la Vengeance on the +Boulevard Rochechouart, the Club des Montagnards on the Boulevard de +Strasbourg, the Club des Etats-Unis d'Europe in the Rue Cadet, the Club du +Preaux-Clercs in the Rue du Bac, the Club de la Cour des Miracles on the +Ile Saint Louis, and twenty or thirty others of lesser note. At times the +demagogues who perorated from the tribunes at these gatherings, brought +forward proposals which seemed to have emanated from some madhouse, +but which were nevertheless hailed with delirious applause by their +infatuated audiences. Occasionally new engines of destruction were +advocated--so-called "Satan-fusees," or pumps discharging flaming +petroleum! Another speaker conceived the brilliant idea of keeping all the +wild beasts in the Jardin des Plantes on short commons for some days, then +removing them from Paris at the next sortie, and casting them adrift among +the enemy. Yet another imbecile suggested that the water of the Seine and +the Marne should be poisoned, regardless of, the fact that, in any such +event, the Parisians would suffer quite as much as the enemy. + +But the malcontents were not satisfied with ranting at the clubs. On +October 2, Paris became very gloomy, for we then received from outside the +news that both Toul and Strasbourg had surrendered. Three days later, +Gustave Flourens gathered the National Guards of Belleville together and +marched with them on the Hotel-de-Ville, where he called upon the +Government to renounce the military tactics of the Empire which had set +one Frenchman against three Germans, to decree a _levee en masse_, to make +frequent sorties with the National Guards, to arm the latter with +chassepots, and to establish at once a municipal "Commune of Paris." On +the subject of sorties the Government promised to conform to the general +desire, and to allow the National Guards to co-operate with the regular +army as soon as they should know how to fight and escape being simply +butchered. To other demands made by Flourens, evasive replies were +returned, whereupon he indignantly resigned his command of the Belleville +men, but resumed it at their urgent request. + +The affair somewhat alarmed the Government, who issued a proclamation +forbidding armed demonstrations, and, far from consenting to the +establishment of any Commune, postponed the ordinary municipal elections +which were soon to have taken place. To this the Reds retorted by making +yet another demonstration, which my father and myself witnessed. Thousands +of people, many of them being armed National Guards, assembled on the +Place de l'Hotel de Ville, shouting: "La Commune! La Commune! Nous voulons +la Commune!" But the authorities had received warning of their opponents' +intentions, and the Hotel-de-Ville was entirely surrounded by National +Guards belonging to loyal battalions, behind whom, moreover, was stationed +a force of trusty Mobile Guards, whose bayonets were already fixed. Thus +no attempt could be made to raid the Hotel-de-Ville with any chance of +success. Further, several other contingents of loyal National Guards +arrived on the square, and helped to check the demonstrators. + +While gazing on the scene from an upper window of the Cafe de la Garde +Nationale, at one corner of the square, I suddenly saw Trochu ride out +of the Government building, as it then was, followed by a couple of +aides-de-camp, His appearance was attended by a fresh uproar. The yells of +"La Commune! La Commune!" rose more loudly than ever, but were now +answered by determined shouts of "Vive la Republique! Vive Trochu! Vive le +Gouvernement!" whilst the drums beat, the trumpets sounded, and all the +Government forces presented arms. The general rode up and down the lines, +returning the salute, amidst prolonged acclamations, and presently his +colleagues, Jules Favre and the others--excepting, of course, Gambetta, +who had already left Paris--also came out of the Hotel-de-Ville and +received an enthusiastic greeting from their supporters. For the time, the +Reds were absolutely defeated, and in order to prevent similar +disturbances in future, Keratry, the Prefect of Police, wished to arrest +Flourens, Blanqui, Milliere, and others, which suggestion was countenanced +by Trochu, but opposed by Rochefort and Etienne Arago. A few days later, +Rochefort patched up a brief outward reconciliation between the contending +parties. Nevertheless, it was evident that Paris was already sharply +divided, both on the question of its defence and on that of its internal +government. + +On October 23, some of the National Guards were at last allowed to join in +a sortie. They were men from Montmartre, and the action, or rather +skirmish, in which they participated took place at Villemomble, east of +Paris, the guards behaving fairly well under fire, and having five of +their number wounded. Patriotism was now taking another form in the city. +There was a loud cry for cannons, more and more cannons. The Government +replied that 227 mitrailleuses with over 800,000 cartridges, 50 mortars, +400 carriages for siege guns, several of the latter ordnance, and 300 +seven-centimetre guns carrying 8600 yards, together with half a million +shells of different sizes, had already been ordered, and in part +delivered. Nevertheless, public subscriptions were started in order to +provide another 1500 cannon, large sums being contributed to the fund by +public bodies and business firms. Not only did the newspapers offer to +collect small subscriptions, but stalls were set up for that purpose in +different parts of Paris, as in the time of the first Revolution, and +people there tendered their contributions, the women often offering +jewelry in lieu of money. Trochu, however, deprecated the movement. There +were already plenty of guns, said he; what he required was gunners to +serve them. + +On October 25 we heard of the fall of the little town of Chateaudun in +Eure-et-Loir, after a gallant resistance offered by 1200 National Guards +and Francs-tireurs against 6000 German infantry, a regiment of cavalry, +and four field batteries. Von Wittich, the German general, punished that +resistance by setting fire to Chateaudun and a couple of adjacent +villages, and his men, moreover, massacred a number of non-combatant +civilians. Nevertheless, the courage shown by the people of Chateaudun +revived the hopes of the Parisians and strengthened their resolution to +brave every hardship rather than surrender. Two days later, however, Felix +Pyat's journal _Le Combat_ published, within a mourning border, the +following announcement: "It is a sure and certain fact that the Government +of National Defence retains in its possession a State secret, which we +denounce to an indignant country as high treason. Marshal Bazaine has sent +a colonel to the camp of the King of Prussia to treat for the surrender of +Metz and for Peace in the name of Napoleon III." + +The news seemed incredible, and, indeed, at the first moment, very few +people believed it. If it were true, however, Prince Frederick Charles's +forces, released from the siege of Metz, would evidently be able to march +against D'Aurelle de Paladines' army of the Loire just when it was hoped +that the latter would overthrow the Bavarians under Von der Tann and +hasten to the relief of Paris. But people argued that Bazaine was surely +as good a patriot as Bourbaki, who, it was already known, had escaped from +Metz and offered his sword to the National Defence in the provinces. A +number of indignant citizens hastened to the office of _Le Combat_ in +order to seize Pyat and consign him to durance, but he was an adept in the +art of escaping arrest, and contrived to get away by a back door. At the +Hotel-de-Ville Rochefort, on being interviewed, described Pyat as a cur, +and declared that there was no truth whatever in his story. Public +confidence completely revived on the following morning, when the official +journal formally declared that Metz had not capitulated; and, in the +evening, Paris became quite jubilant at the news that General Carre de +Bellemare, who commanded on the north side of the city, had wrested from +the Germans the position of Le Bourget, lying to the east of Saint Denis. + +Pyat, however, though he remained in hiding, clung to his story respecting +Metz, stating in _Le Combat_, on October 29, that the news had been +communicated to him by Gustave Flourens, who had derived it from +Rochefort, by whom it was now impudently denied. It subsequently became +known, moreover, that another member of the Government, Eugene Pelletan, +had confided the same intelligence to Commander Longuet, of the National +Guard. It appears that it had originally been derived from certain members +of the Red Cross Society, who, when it became necessary to bury the dead +and tend the wounded after an encounter in the environs of Paris, often +came in contact with the Germans. The report was, of course, limited to +the statement that Bazaine was negotiating a surrender, not that he had +actually capitulated. The Government's denial of it can only be described +as a quibble--of the kind to which at times even British Governments stoop +when faced by inconvenient questions in the House of Commons--and, as we +shall soon see, the gentlemen of the National Defence spent a _tres +mauvais quart d'heure_ as a result of the _suppressio veri_ of which they +were guilty. Similar "bad quarters of an hour" have fallen upon +politicians in other countries, including our own, under somewhat similar +circumstances. + +On October 30, Thiers, after travelling all over Europe, pleading his +country's cause at every great Court, arrived in Paris with a safe-conduct +from Bismarck, in order to lay before the Government certain proposals for +an armistice, which Russia, Great Britain, Austria, and Italy were +prepared to support. And alas! he also brought with him the news that Metz +had actually fallen--having capitulated, indeed, on October 27, the very +day on which Pyat had issued his announcement. There was consternation at +the Hotel-de-Ville when this became known, and the gentlemen of the +Government deeply but vainly regretted the futile tactics to which they +had so foolishly stooped. To make matters worse, we received in the +evening intelligence that the Germans had driven Carre de Bellemare's men +out of Le Bourget after some brief but desperate fighting. Trochu declared +that he had no need of the Bourget position, that it had never entered +into his scheme of defence, and that Bellemare had been unduly zealous in +attacking and taking it from the Germans. If that were the case, however, +why had not the Governor of Paris ordered Le Bourget to be evacuated +immediately after its capture, without waiting for the Germans to re-take +it at the bayonet's point? Under the circumstances, the Parisians were +naturally exasperated. Tumultuous were the scenes on the Boulevards that +evening, and vehement and threatening were the speeches at the clubs. + +When the Parisians quitted their homes on the morning of Monday, the 31st, +they found the city placarded with two official notices, one respecting +the arrival of Thiers and the proposals for an armistice, and the second +acknowledging the disaster of Metz. A hurricane of indignation at once +swept through the city. Le Bourget lost! Metz taken! Proposals for an +armistice with the detested Prussians entertained! Could Trochu's plan and +Bazaine's plan be synonymous, then? The one word "Treachery!" was on every +lip. When noon arrived the Place de l'Hotel-de-Ville was crowded with +indignant people. Deputations, composed chiefly of officers of the +National Guard, interviewed the Government, and were by no means satisfied +with the replies which they received from Jules Ferry and others. +Meantime, the crowd on the square was increasing in numbers. Several +members of the Government attempted to prevail on it to disperse; but no +heed was paid to them. + +At last a free corps commanded by Tibaldi, an Italian conspirator of +Imperial days, effected an entrance into the Hotel-de-Ville, followed by a +good many of the mob. In the throne-room they were met by Jules Favre, +whose attempts to address them failed, the shouts of "La Commune! La +Commune!" speedily drowning his voice. Meantime, two shots were fired by +somebody on the square, a window was broken, and the cry of the invaders +became "To arms! to arms! Our brothers are being butchered!" In vain did +Trochu and Rochefort endeavour to stem the tide of invasion. In vain, +also, did the Government, assembled in the council-room, offer to submit +itself to the suffrages of the citizens, to grant the election of +municipal councillors, and to promise that no armistice should be signed +without consulting the population. The mob pressed on through one room +after another, smashing tables, desks, and windows on their way, and all +at once the very apartment where the Government were deliberating was, in +its turn, invaded, several officers of the National Guard, subsequently +prominent at the time of the Commune, heading the intruders and demanding +the election of a Commune and the appointment of a new administration +under the presidency of Dorian, the popular Minister of Public Works. + +Amidst the ensuing confusion, M. Ernest Picard, a very corpulent, +jovial-looking advocate, who was at the head of the department of +Finances, contrived to escape; but all his colleagues were surrounded, +insulted by the invaders, and summoned to resign their posts. They refused +to do so, and the wrangle was still at its height when Gustave Flourens +and his Belleville sharpshooters reached the Place de l'Hotel-de-Ville. +Flourens entered the building, which at this moment was occupied by some +seven or eight thousand men, and proposed that the Commune should be +elected by acclamation. This was agreed upon; Dorian's name--though, by +the way, he was a wealthy ironmaster, and in no sense a Communard--being +put at the head of the list. This included Flourens himself, Victor Hugo, +Louis Blanc, Raspail, Mottu, Delescluze, Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin, Rochefort, +Felix Pyat, Ranvier, and Avrial. Then Flourens, in his turn, entered the +council-room, climbed on to the table, and summoned the captive members of +the Government to resign; Again they refused to do so, and were therefore +placed under arrest. Jules Ferry and Emmanuel Arago managed to escape, +however, and some friendly National Guards succeeded in entering the +building and carrying off General Trochu. Ernest Picard, meanwhile, had +been very active in devising plans for the recapture of the Hotel-de-Ville +and providing for the safety of various Government departments. Thus, when +Flourens sent a lieutenant to the treasury demanding the immediate payment +of _L600,000(!)_ the request was refused, and the messenger placed under +arrest. Nevertheless, the insurgents made themselves masters of several +district town-halls. + +But Jules Ferry was collecting the loyal National Guards together, and at +half-past eleven o'clock that night they and some Mobiles marched on the +Hotel-de-Ville. The military force which had been left there by the +insurgents was not large. A parley ensued, and while it was still in +progress, an entire battalion of Mobiles effected an entry by a +subterranean passage leading from an adjacent barracks. Delescluze and +Flourens then tried to arrange terms with Dorian, but Jules Ferry would +accept no conditions. The imprisoned members of the Government were +released, and the insurgent leaders compelled to retire. About this time +Trochu and Ducrot arrived on the scene, and between three and four o'clock +in the morning I saw them pass the Government forces in review on the +square. + +On the following day, all the alleged conventions between M. Dorian and +the Red Republican leaders were disavowed. There was, however, a conflict +of opinion as to whether those leaders should be arrested or not, some +members of the Government admitting that they had promised Delescluze and +others that they should not be prosecuted. In consequence of this dispute, +several officials, including Edmond Adam, Keratry's successor as Prefect +of Police, resigned their functions. A few days later, twenty-one of the +insurgent leaders were arrested, Pyat being among them, though nothing was +done in regard to Flourens and Blanqui, both of whom had figured +prominently in the affair. + +On November 3 we had a plebiscitum, the question put to the Parisians +being: "Does the population of Paris, yes or no, maintain the powers of +the Government of National Defence?" So far as the civilian element--which +included the National Guards--was concerned, the ballot resulted as +follows: Voting "Yes," 321,373 citizens; voting "No," 53,585 citizens. The +vote of the army, inclusive of the Mobile Guard, was even more pronounced: +"Yes," 236,623; "No," 9063, Thus the general result was 557,996 votes in +favour of the Government, and 62,638 against it--the proportion being 9 to +1 for the entire male population of the invested circle. This naturally +rendered the authorities jubilant. + +But the affair of October 31 had deplorable consequences with regard to +the armistice negotiations. This explosion of sedition alarmed the German +authorities. They lost confidence in the power of the National Defence to +carry out such terms as might be stipulated, and, finally, Bismarck +refused to allow Paris to be revictualled during the period requisite for +the election of a legislative assembly--which was to have decided the +question of peace or war--unless one fort, and possibly more than one, +were surrendered to him. Thiers and Favre could not accept such a +condition, and thus the negotiations were broken off. Before Thiers +quitted Bismarck, however, the latter significantly told him that the +terms of peace at that juncture would be the cession of Alsace to Germany, +and the payment of three milliards of francs as an indemnity; but that +after the fall of Paris the terms would be the cession of both Alsace and +Lorraine, and a payment of five milliards. + +In the earlier days of the siege there was no rationing of provisions, +though the price of meat was fixed by Government decree. At the end of +September, however, the authorities decided to limit the supply to a +maximum of 500 oxen and 4000 sheep per diem. It was decided also that the +butchers' shops should only open on every fourth day, when four days' meat +should be distributed at the official prices. During the earlier period +the daily ration ranged from 80 to 100 grammes, that is, about 2-2/3 oz. +to 3-1/3 oz. in weight, one-fifth part of it being bone in the case of +beef, though, with respect to mutton, the butchers were forbidden to make +up the weight with any bones which did not adhere to the meat. At the +outset of the siege only twenty or thirty horses were slaughtered each +day; but on September 30 the number had risen to 275. A week later there +were nearly thirty shops in Paris where horseflesh was exclusively sold, +and scarcely a day elapsed without an increase in their number. Eventually +horseflesh became virtually the only meat procurable by all classes of the +besieged, but in the earlier period it was patronized chiefly by the +poorer folk, the prices fixed for it by authority being naturally lower +than those edicted for beef and mutton. + +With regard to the arrangements made by my father and myself respecting +food, they were, in the earlier days of the siege, very simple. We were +keeping no servant at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. The concierge of +the house, and his wife, did all such work as we required. This concierge, +whose name was Saby, had been a Zouave, and had acted as orderly to his +captain in Algeria. He was personally expert in the art of preparing +"couscoussou" and other Algerian dishes, and his wife was a thoroughly +good cook _a la francaise_. Directly meat was rationed, Saby said to me: +"The allowance is very small; you and Monsieur votre pere will be able to +eat a good deal more than that. Now, some of the poorer folk cannot afford +to pay for butchers' meat, they are contented with horseflesh, which is +not yet rationed, and are willing to sell their ration cards. You can well +afford to buy one or two of them, and in that manner secure extra +allowances of beef or mutton." + +That plan was adopted, and for a time everything went on satisfactorily. +On a few occasions I joined the queue outside our butcher's in the Rue de +Penthievre, and waited an hour or two to secure our share of meat, We were +not over-crowded in that part of Paris. A great many members of the +aristocracy and bourgeoisie, who usually dwelt there, had left the city +with their families and servants prior to the investment; and thus the +queues and the waits were not so long as in the poorer and more densely +populated districts. Saby, however, often procured our meat himself or +employed somebody else to do so, for women were heartily glad of the +opportunity to earn half a franc or so by acting as deputy for other +people. + +We had secured a small supply of tinned provisions, and would have +increased it if the prices had not gone up by leaps and bounds, in such +wise that a tin of corned beef or something similar, which one saw priced +in the morning at about 5 francs, was labelled 20 francs a few hours +later. Dry beans and peas were still easily procurable, but fresh +vegetables at once became both rare and costly. Potatoes failed us at an +early date. On the other hand, jam and preserved fruit could be readily +obtained at the grocer's at the corner of our street. The bread slowly +deteriorated in quality, but was still very fair down to the date of my +departure from Paris (November 8 [See the following chapter.]). Milk and +butter, however, became rare--the former being reserved for the hospitals, +the ambulances, the mothers of infants, and so forth--whilst one sighed in +vain for a bit of Gruyere, Roquefort, Port-Salut, Brie, or indeed any +other cheese. + +Saby, who was a very shrewd fellow, had conceived a brilliant idea before +the siege actually began. The Chateaubriands having quitted the house +and removed their horses from the stables, he took possession of the +latter, purchased some rabbits--several does and a couple of bucks--laid +in a supply of food for them, and resolved to make his fortune by +rabbit-breeding. He did not quite effect his purpose, but rabbits are so +prolific that he was repaid many times over for the trouble which he took +in rearing them. For some time he kept the affair quite secret. More than +once I saw him going in and out of the stables, without guessing the +reason; but one morning, having occasion to speak to him, I followed him +and discovered the truth. He certainly bred several scores of rabbits +during the course of the siege, merely ceasing to do so when he found it +impossible to continue feeding the animals. On two or three occasions +we paid him ten francs or so for a rabbit, and that was certainly +"most-favoured-nation treatment;" for, at the same period, he was charging +twenty and twenty-five francs to other people. Cooks, with whom he +communicated, came to him from mansions both near and far. He sold quite a +number of rabbits to Baron Alphonse de Rothschild's _chef_ at the rate of +L2 apiece, and others to Count Pillet-Will at about the same price, so +that, so far as his pockets were concerned, he in no wise suffered by the +siege of Paris. + +We were blessed with an abundance of charcoal for cooking purposes, and of +coals and wood for ordinary fires, having at our disposal not only the +store in our own cellars, but that which the Chateaubriand family had left +behind. The cold weather set in very soon, and firing was speedily in +great demand. Our artist Jules Pelcoq, who lived in the Rue Lepic at +Montmartre, found himself reduced to great straits in this respect, +nothing being procurable at the dealers' excepting virtually green wood +which had been felled a short time previously in the Bois de Boulogne and +Bois de Vincennes. On a couple of occasions Pelcoq and I carried some +coals in bags to his flat, and my father, being anxious for his comfort, +wished to provide him with a larger supply. Saby was therefore +requisitioned to procure a man who would undertake to convey some coals in +a handcart to Montmartre. The man was found, and paid for his services in +advance. But alas! the coals never reached poor Pelcoq. When we next saw +the man who had been engaged, he told us that he had been intercepted on +his way by some National Guards, who had asked him what his load was, and, +on discovering that it consisted of coals, had promptly confiscated them +and the barrow also, dragging the latter to some bivouac on the ramparts. +I have always doubted that story, however, and incline to the opinion that +our improvised porter had simply sold the coals and pocketed the proceeds. + +One day, early in November, when our allowance of beef or mutton was +growing small by degrees and beautifully less and infrequent--horseflesh +becoming more and more _en evidence_ at the butchers' shops, [Only 1-1/2 +oz. of beef or mutton was now allowed per diem, but in lieu thereof you +could obtain 1/4 lb. of horseflesh.] I had occasion to call on one of our +artists, Blanchard, who lived in the Faubourg Saint Germain. When we had +finished our business he said to me: "Ernest, it is my _fete_ day. I am +going to have a superb dinner. My brother-in-law, who is an official of +the Eastern Railway Line, is giving it in my honour. Come with me; +I invite you." We thereupon went to his brother-in-law's flat, where I was +most cordially received, and before long we sat down at table in a warm +and well-lighted dining-room, the company consisting of two ladies and +three men, myself included. + +The soup, I think, had been prepared from horseflesh with the addition of +a little Liebig's extract of meat; but it was followed by a beautiful leg +of mutton, with beans a la Bretonne and--potatoes! I had not tasted a +potato for weeks past, for in vain had the ingenious Saby endeavoured to +procure some. But the crowning triumph of the evening was the appearance +of a huge piece of Gruyere cheese, which at that time was not to be seen +in a single shop in Paris. Even Chevet, that renowned purveyor of +dainties, had declared that he had none. + +My surprise in presence of the cheese and the potatoes being evident, +Blanchard's brother-in-law blandly informed me that he had stolen them. +"There is no doubt," said he, "that many tradespeople hold secret stores +of one thing and another, but wish prices to rise still higher than they +are before they produce them. I did not, however, take those potatoes or +that cheese from any shopkeeper's cellar. But, in the store-places of the +railway company to which I belong, there are tons and tons of provisions, +including both cheese and potatoes, for which the consignees never apply, +preferring, as they do, to leave them there until famine prices are +reached. Well, I have helped myself to just a few things, so as to give +Blanchard a good dinner this evening. As for the leg of mutton, I bribed +the butcher--not with money, he might have refused it--but with cheese and +potatoes, and it was fair exchange." When I returned home that evening I +carried in my pockets more than half a pound of Gruyere and two or three +pounds of potatoes, which my father heartily welcomed. The truth about the +provisions which were still stored at some of the railway depots was soon +afterwards revealed to the authorities. + +Although my father was then only fifty years of age and had plenty of +nervous energy, his health was at least momentarily failing him. He had +led an extremely strenuous life ever since his twentieth year, when my +grandfather's death had cast great responsibilities on him. He had also +suffered from illnesses which required that he should have an ample supply +of nourishing food. So long as a fair amount of ordinary butcher's meat +could be procured, he did not complain; but when it came to eating +horseflesh two or three times a week he could not undertake it, although, +only a year or two previously, he had attended a great _banquet +hippophagique_ given in Paris, and had then even written favourably of +_viande de cheval_ in an article he prepared on the subject. For my own +part, being a mere lad, I had a lad's appetite and stomach, and I did not +find horseflesh so much amiss, particularly as prepared with garlic and +other savouries by Mme. Saby's expert hands. But, after a day or two, my +father refused to touch it. For three days, I remember, he tried to live +on bread, jam, and preserved fruit; but the sweetness of such a diet +became nauseous to him--even as it became nauseous to our soldiers when +the authorities bombarded them with jam in South Africa. It was very +difficult to provide something to my father's taste; there was no poultry +and there were no eggs. It was at this time that Saby sold us a few +rabbits, but, again, _toujours lapin_ was not satisfactory. + +People were now beginning to partake of sundry strange things. Bats were +certainly eaten before the siege ended, though by no means in such +quantities as some have asserted. However, there were already places where +dogs and cats, skinned and prepared for cooking, were openly displayed for +sale. Labouchere related, also, that on going one day into a restaurant +and seeing _cochon de lait_, otherwise sucking-pig, mentioned in the menu, +he summoned the waiter and cross-questioned him on the subject, as he +greatly doubted whether there were any sucking-pigs in all Paris. "Is it +sucking-pig?" he asked the waiter. "Yes, monsieur," the man replied. +But Labby was not convinced. "Is it a little pig?" he inquired. "Yes, +monsieur, quite a little one." "Is it a young pig?" pursued Labby, who +was still dubious. The waiter hesitated, and at last replied, "Well, I +cannot be sure, monsieur, if it is quite young." "But it must be young if +it is little, as you say. Come, what is it, tell me?" "Monsieur, it is a +guinea-pig!" Labby bounded from his chair, took his hat, and fled. He did +not feel equal to guinea-pig, although he was very hungry. + +Perhaps, however, Labouchere's best story of those days was that of the +old couple who, all other resources failing them, were at last compelled +to sacrifice their little pet dog. It came up to table nicely roasted, and +they both looked at it for a moment with a sigh. Then Monsieur summoned up +his courage and helped Madame to the tender viand. She heaved another +sigh, but, making a virtue of necessity, began to eat, and whilst she was +doing so she every now and then deposited a little bone on the edge of her +plate. There was quite a collection of little bones there by the time she +had finished, and as she leant back in her chair and contemplated them she +suddenly exclaimed: "Poor little Toto! If he had only been alive what a +fine treat he would have had!" + +To return, however, to my father and myself, I must mention that there was +a little English tavern and eating-house in the Rue de Miromesnil, kept by +a man named Lark, with whom I had some acquaintance. We occasionally +procured English ale from him, and one day, late in October, when I was +passing his establishment, he said to me: "How is your father? He seems to +be looking poorly. Aren't you going to leave with the others?" I inquired +of Lark what he meant by his last question; whereupon he told me that if I +went to the Embassy I should see a notice in the consular office +respecting the departure of British subjects, arrangements having been +made to enable all who desired to quit Paris to do so. I took the hint and +read the notice, which ran as Lark had stated, with this addendum: "The +Embassy _cannot_, however, charge itself with the expense of assisting +British subjects to leave Paris." Forthwith I returned home and imparted +the information I had obtained to my father. + +Beyond setting up that notice in the Consul's office, the Embassy took no +steps to acquaint British subjects generally with the opportunity which +was offered them to escape bombardment and famine. It is true that it was +in touch with the British Charitable Fund and that the latter made the +matter known to sundry applicants for assistance. But the British colony +still numbered 1000 people, hundreds of whom would have availed themselves +of this opportunity had it only come to their knowledge. My father +speedily made up his mind to quit the city, and during the next few days +arrangements were made with our artists and others so that the interests +of the _Illustrated London News_ might in no degree suffer by his absence. +Our system had long been perfected, and everything worked well after our +departure. I may add here, because it will explain something which +follows, that my father distributed all the money he could possibly spare +among those whom he left behind, in such wise that on quitting Paris we +had comparatively little, and--as the sequel showed--insufficient money +with us. But it was thought that we should be able to secure whatever we +might require on arriving at Versailles. + + + +VII + +FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +I leave Paris with my Father--Jules Favre, Wodehouse, and Washburne-- +Through Charenton to Creteil--At the Outposts--First Glimpses of the +Germans--A Subscription to shoot the King of Prussia--The Road to +Brie-Comte-Robert--Billets for the Night--Chats with German Soldiers--The +Difficulty with the Poorer Refugees--Mr. Wodehouse and my Father--On the +Way to Corbeil--A Franco-German Flirtation--Affairs at Corbeil--On the +Road in the Rain--Longjumeau--A Snow-storm--The Peasant of Champlan-- +Arrival at Versailles. + + +Since Lord Lyons's departure from Paris, the Embassy had remained in +the charge of the second Secretary, Mr. Wodehouse, and the Vice-Consul. +In response to the notice set up in the latter's office, and circulated +also among a tithe of the community by the British Charitable Fund, it was +arranged that sixty or seventy persons should accompany the Secretary and +Vice-Consul out of the city, the military attachee, Colonel Claremont, +alone remaining there. The provision which the Charitable Fund made for +the poorer folk consisted of a donation of L4 to each person, together +with some three pounds of biscuits and a few ounces of chocolate to munch +on the way. No means of transport, however, were provided for these +people, though it was known that we should have to proceed to +Versailles--where the German headquarters were installed--by a very +circuitous route, and that the railway lines were out. + +We were to have left on November 2, at the same time as a number of +Americans, Russians, and others, and it had been arranged that everybody +should meet at an early hour that morning at the Charenton gate on the +south-east side of Paris. On arriving there, however, all the English who +joined the gathering were ordered to turn back, as information had been +received that permission to leave the city was refused them. This caused +no little consternation among the party, but the order naturally had +to be obeyed, and half angrily and half disconsolately many a disappointed +Briton returned to his recent quarters. We afterwards learnt that Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had in the first instance absolutely refused +to listen to the applications of Mr. Wodehouse, possibly because Great +Britain had not recognized the French Republic; though if such were indeed +the reason, it was difficult to understand why the Russians received very +different treatment, as the Czar, like the Queen, had so far abstained +from any official recognition of the National Defence. On the other hand, +Favre may, perhaps, have shared the opinion of Bismarck, who about this +time tersely expressed his opinion of ourselves in the words: "England no +longer counts"--so low, to his thinking, had we fallen in the comity of +nations under our Gladstone _cum_ Granville administration. + +Mr. Wodehouse, however, in his unpleasant predicament, sought the +assistance of his colleague, Mr. Washburne, the United States Minister, +and the latter, who possessed more influence in Paris than any other +foreign representative, promptly put his foot down, declaring that he +himself would leave the city if the British subjects were still refused +permission to depart. Favre then ungraciously gave way; but no sooner had +his assent been obtained than it was discovered that the British Foreign +Office had neglected to apply to Bismarck for permission for the English +leaving Paris to pass through the German lines. Thus delay ensued, and it +was only on the morning of November 8 that the English departed at the +same time as a number of Swiss citizens and Austrian subjects. + +The Charenton gate was again the appointed meeting-place. On our way +thither, between six and seven o'clock in the morning, we passed many a +long queue waiting outside butchers' shops for pittances of meat, and +outside certain municipal depots where after prolonged waiting a few +thimblesful of milk were doled out to those who could prove that they had +young children. Near the Porte de Charenton a considerable detachment of +the National Guard was drawn up as if to impart a kind of solemnity to the +approaching exodus of foreigners. A couple of young staff-officers were +also in attendance, with a mounted trumpeter and another trooper carrying +the usual white flag on a lance. + +The better-circumstanced of our party were in vehicles purchased for the +occasion, a few also being mounted on valuable horses, which it was +desired to save from the fate which eventually overtook most of the +animals that remained in Paris. Others were in hired cabs, which were not +allowed, however, to proceed farther than the outposts; while a good many +of the poorer members of the party were in specially engaged omnibuses, +which also had to turn back before we were handed over to a German escort; +the result being that their occupants were left to trudge a good many +miles on foot before other means of transport were procured. In that +respect the Swiss and the Austrians were far better cared-for than the +English. Although the weather was bitterly cold, Mr. Wodehouse, my father, +myself, a couple of Mr. Wodehouse's servants, and a young fellow who had +been connected, I think, with a Paris banking-house, travelled in an open +pair-horse break. The Vice-Consul and his wife, who were also accompanying +us, occupied a small private omnibus. + +Before passing out of Paris we were all mustered and our _laisser-passers_ +were examined. Those held by British subjects emanated invariably from the +United States Embassy, being duly signed by Mr. Washburne, so that we +quitted the city virtually as American citizens. At last the procession +was formed, the English preceding the Swiss and the Austrians, whilst in +the rear, strangely enough, came several ambulance vans flaunting the red +cross of Geneva. Nobody could account for their presence with us, but as +the Germans were accused of occasionally firing on flags of truce, they +were sent, perhaps, so as to be of service in the event of any mishap +occurring. All being ready, we crossed the massive drawbridge of the Porte +de Charenton, and wound in and out of the covered way which an advanced +redoubt protected. A small detachment of light cavalry then joined us, and +we speedily crossed the devastated track known as the "military zone," +where every tree had been felled at the moment of the investment. +Immediately afterwards we found ourselves in the narrow winding streets of +Charenton, which had been almost entirely deserted by their inhabitants, +but were crowded with soldiers who stood at doors and windows, watching +our curious caravan. The bridge across the Marne was mined, but still +intact, and defended at the farther end by an entrenched and loopholed +redoubt, faced by some very intricate and artistic chevaux-de-frise. Once +across the river, we wound round to the left, through the village of +Alfort, where all the villas and river-side restaurants had been turned +into military posts; and on looking back we saw the huge Charenton +madhouse surmounting a wooded height and flying a large black flag. At the +outset of the siege it had been suggested that the more harmless inmates +should be released rather than remain exposed to harm from chance German +shells; but the director of the establishment declared that in many +instances insanity intensified patriotic feeling, and that if his patients +were set at liberty they would at least desire to become members of the +Government. So they were suffered to remain in their exposed position. + +We went on, skirting the estate of Charentonneau, where the park wall had +been blown down and many of the trees felled. On our right was the fort of +Charenton, armed with big black naval guns. All the garden walls on our +line of route had been razed or loopholed. The road was at times +barricaded with trees, or intersected by trenches, and it was not without +difficulty that we surmounted those impediments. At Petit Creteil we were +astonished to see a number of market-gardeners working as unconcernedly as +in times of peace. It is true that the village was covered by the fire of +the Charenton fort, and that the Germans would have incurred great risk in +making a serious attack on it. Nevertheless, small parties of them +occasionally crept down and exchanged shots with the Mobiles who were +stationed there, having their headquarters at a deserted inn, on reaching +which we made our first halt. + +The hired vehicles were now sent back to Paris, and after a brief interval +we went on again, passing through an aperture in a formidable-looking +barricade. We then readied Creteil proper, and there the first serious +traces of the havoc of war were offered to our view. The once pleasant +village was lifeless. Every house had been broken into and plundered, +every door and every window smashed. Smaller articles of furniture, and so +forth, had been removed, larger ones reduced to fragments. An infernal +spirit of destruction had swept through the place; and yet, mark this, we +were still within the French lines. + +Our progress along the main street being suddenly checked by another huge +barricade, we wound round to the right, and at last reached a house where +less than a score of Mobiles were gathered, protected from sudden assault +by a flimsy barrier of planks, casks, stools, and broken chairs. This was +the most advanced French outpost in the direction we were following. We +passed it, crossing some open fields where a solitary man was calmly +digging potatoes, risking his life at every turn of his spade, but knowing +that every pound of the precious tuber that he might succeed in taking +into Paris would there fetch perhaps as much as ten francs. + +Again we halted, and the trumpeter and the trooper with the white flag +rode on to the farther part of the somewhat scattered village. Suddenly +the trumpet's call rang out through the sharp, frosty air, and then we +again moved on, passing down another village street where several gaunt +starving cats attempted to follow us, with desperate strides and piteous +mews. Before long, we perceived, standing in the middle of the road before +us, a couple of German soldiers in long great-coats and boots reaching to +the shins. One of them was carrying a white flag. A brief conversation +ensued with them, for they both spoke French, and one of them knew English +also. Soon afterwards, from behind a stout barricade which we saw ahead, +three or four of their officers arrived, and somewhat stiff and +ceremonious salutes were exchanged between them and the French officers in +charge of our party. + +Our arrival had probably been anticipated. At all events, a big and +very welcome fire of logs and branches was blazing near by, and whilst +one or two officers on either side, together with Colonel Claremont and +some officials of the British Charitable Fund, were attending to the +safe-conducts of her then Majesty's subjects, the other French and German +officers engaged in conversation round the fire I have mentioned. The +latter were probably Saxons; at all events, they belonged to the forces of +the Crown Prince, afterwards King, of Saxony, who commanded this part of +the investing lines, and with whom the principal English war-correspondent +was Archibald Forbes, freshly arrived from the siege of Metz. The recent +fall of that stronghold and the conduct of Marshal Bazaine supplied the +chief subject of the conversation carried on at the Creteil outposts +between the officers of the contending nations. Now and then, too, came a +reference to Sedan and the overthrow of the Bonapartist Empire. The entire +conversation was in French--I doubt, indeed, if our French custodians +could speak German--and the greatest courtesy prevailed; though the French +steadily declined the Hamburg cigars which their adversaries offered them. + +I listened awhile to the conversation, but when the safe-conduct for my +father and myself had been examined, I crossed to the other side of the +road in order to scan the expanse of fields lying in that direction. All +at once I saw a German officer, mounted on a powerful-looking horse, +galloping over the rough ground in our direction. He came straight towards +me. He was a well-built, middle-aged man of some rank--possibly a colonel. +Reining in his mount, he addressed me in French, asking several questions. +When, however, I had told him who we were, he continued the conversation +in English and inquired if I had brought any newspapers out of Paris. Now, +we were all pledged not to give any information of value to the enemy, but +I had in my pockets copies of two of the most violent prints then +appearing in the city--that is to say, _La Patrie en Danger_, inspired by +Blanqui, and _Le Combat_, edited by Felix Pyat. The first-named was all +sound and fury, and the second contained a subscription list for a +pecuniary reward and rifle of honour to be presented to the Frenchman who +might fortunately succeed in killing the King of Prussia. As the German +officer was so anxious to ascertain what the popular feeling in Paris +might be, and whether it favoured further resistance, it occurred to me, +in a spirit of devilment as it were, to present him with the aforesaid +journals, for which he expressed his heartfelt thanks, and then galloped +away. + +As I never met him again, I cannot say how he took the invectives and the +"murder-subscription." Perhaps it was not quite right of me to foist on +him, as examples of genuine Parisian opinion, two such papers as those I +gave him; but, then, all is fair not merely in love but in war also, and +in regard to the contentions of France and Germany, my sympathies were +entirely on the side of France. + +We had not yet been transferred to the German escort which was waiting for +us, when all at once we heard several shots fired from the bank of the +Marne, whereupon a couple of German dragoons galloped off in that +direction. The firing ceased as abruptly as it had begun, and then, +everything being in readiness so far as we were concerned, Colonel +Claremont, the Charitable Fund people, the French officers and cavalry, +and the ambulance waggons retraced their way to Paris, whilst our caravan +went on in the charge of a detachment of German dragoons. Not for long, +however, for the instructions received respecting us were evidently +imperfect. The reader will have noticed that we left Paris on its +southeastern side, although our destination was Versailles, which lies +south-west of the capital, being in that direction only some eleven miles +distant. Further, on quitting Creteil, instead of taking a direct route +to the city of Louis Quatorze, we made, as the reader will presently see, +an immense _detour,_ so that our journey to Versailles lasted three full +days. This occurred because the Germans wished to prevent us from seeing +anything of the nearer lines of investment and the preparations which had +already begun for the bombardment of Paris. + +On our departure from Creteil, however, our route was not yet positively +fixed, so we presently halted, and an officer of our escort rode off to +take further instructions, whilst we remained near a German outpost, where +we could not help noticing how healthy-looking, stalwart, and well-clad +the men were. Orders respecting our movements having arrived, we set out +again at a walking pace, perhaps because so many of our party were on +foot. Troops were posted near every side-road that we passed. Officers +constantly cantered up, inquiring for news respecting the position of +affairs in Paris, wishing to know, in particular, if the National Defence +ministers were still prisoners of the populace, and whether there was now +a Red Republic with Blanqui at its head. What astounded them most was to +hear that, although Paris was taking more and more to horseflesh, it was, +as yet, by no means starving, and that, so far as famine might be +concerned, it would be able to continue resisting for some months longer. +In point of fact, this was on November 8, and the city did not surrender +until January 28. But the German officers would not believe what we said +respecting the resources of the besieged; they repeated the same questions +again and again, and still looked incredulous, as if, indeed, they thought +that we were fooling them. + +At Boissy-Saint Leger we halted whilst the British, Austrian, and Swiss +representatives interviewed the general in command there. He was installed +in a trim little, chateau, in front of which was the quaintest sentry-box +I have ever seen, for it was fashioned of planks, logs, and all sorts of +scraps of furniture, whilst beside it lay a doll's perambulator and a +little boy's toy-cart. But we again set out, encountering near Gros-Bois a +long line of heavily-laden German provision-wagons; and presently, without +addressing a word to any of us, the officer of our escort gave a command, +his troopers wheeled round and galloped away, leaving us to ourselves. + +By this time evening was approaching, and the vehicles of our party drove +on at a smart trot, leaving the unfortunate pedestrians a long way in the +rear. Nobody seemed to know exactly where we were, but some passing +peasants informed us that we were on the road to Basle, and that the +nearest locality was Brie-Comte-Robert. The horses drawing the conveyances +of the Swiss and Austrian representatives were superior to those harnessed +to Mr. Wodehouse's break, so we were distanced on the road, and on +reaching Brie found that all the accommodation of the two inns--I can +scarcely call them hotels--had been allotted to the first arrivals. Mr. +Wodehouse's party secured a lodging in a superior-looking private house, +whilst my father, myself, and about thirty others repaired to the _mairie_ +for billets. + +A striking scene met my eyes there. By this time night had fallen. In a +room which was almost bare of furniture, the mayor was seated at a little +table on which two candles were burning. On either side of him stood a +German infantryman with rifle and fixed bayonet. Here and there, too, were +several German hussars, together with ten or a dozen peasants of the +locality. And the unfortunate mayor, in a state of semi-arrest, was +striving to comply with the enemy's requisitions of food, forage, wine, +horses, and vehicles, the peasants meanwhile protesting that they had +already been despoiled of everything, and had nothing whatever left. "So +you want me to be shot?" said the mayor to them, at last. "You know very +well that the things must be found. Go and get them together. Do the best +you can. We will see afterwards." + +When--acting as usual as my father's interpreter--I asked the mayor for +billets, he raised his arms to the ceiling. "I have no beds," said he. +"Every bit of available bedding, excepting at the inns, has been +requisitioned for the Prussian ambulances. I might find some straw, and +there are outhouses and empty rooms. But there are so many of you, and I +do not know how I can accommodate you all." + +It was not, however, the duty of my father or myself to attend to the +requirements of the whole party. That was the duty rather of the Embassy +officials, so I again pressed the mayor to give me at least a couple of +decent billets. He thought for a moment, then handed me a paper bearing a +name and address, whereupon we, my father and myself, went off. But it was +pitch-dark, and as we could not find the place indicated, we returned to +the _mairie_, where, after no little trouble, a second paper was given me. +By this time the poorer members of the party had been sent to sheds and so +forth, where they found some straw to lie upon. The address on my second +paper was that of a basket-maker, whose house was pointed out to us. We +were very cordially received there, and taken to a room containing a bed +provided with a _sommier elastique_. But there was no mattress, no sheet, +no blanket, no bolster, no pillow--everything of that kind having been +requisitioned for the German ambulances; and I recollect that two or three +hours later, when my father and myself retired to rest in that icy +chamber, the window of which was badly broken, we were glad to lay our +heads on a couple of hard baskets, having left our bags in Mr. Wodehouse's +charge. + +Before trying to sleep, however, we required food; for during the day we +had consumed every particle of a cold rabbit and some siege-bread which we +had brought out of Paris. The innkeepers proved to be extremely +independent and irritable, and we could obtain very little from them. +Fortunately, we discovered a butcher's, secured some meat from him, and +prevailed on the wife of our host, the basket-maker, to cook it for us. We +then went out again, and found some cafes and wine-shops which were +crowded with German soldiery. Wine and black coffee were obtainable there, +and whilst we refreshed ourselves, more than one German soldier, knowing +either French or English, engaged us in conversation. My own German was at +that time very limited, for I had not taken kindly to the study of the +language, and had secured, moreover, but few opportunities to attempt to +converse in it. However, I well remember some of the German soldiers +declaring that they were heartily sick of the siege, and expressing a hope +that the Parisians would speedily surrender, so that they, the Germans, +might return to the Fatherland in ample time to get their Christmas trees +ready. A good-looking and apparently very genial Uhlan also talked to me +about the Parisian balloons, relating that, directly any ascent was +observed, news of it was telegraphed along all the investing lines, that +every man had orders to fire if the aerial craft came approximately within +range, and that he and his comrades often tried to ride a balloon down. + +After a wretched night, we washed at the pump in the basket-maker's yard, +and breakfasted off bread and _cafe noir_. Milk, by the way, was as scarce +at Brie as in Paris itself, the Germans, it was said, having carried off +all the cows that had previously supplied France with the far-famed Brie +cheese. We now discovered that, in order to reach Versailles, we should +have to proceed in the first instance to Corbeil, some fifteen miles +distant, when we should be within thirty miles of the German headquarters. +That was pleasant news, indeed! We had already made a journey of over +twenty miles, and now another of some five-and-forty miles lay before us. +And yet, had we only been allowed to take the proper route, we should have +reached Versailles after travelling merely eleven miles beyond Paris! + +Under the circumstances, the position of the unfortunate pedestrians was a +very unpleasant one, and my father undertook to speak on their behalf to +Mr. Wodehouse, pointing out to him that it was unfair to let these +unfortunate people trudge all the way to Versailles. + +"But what am I to do?" Mr. Wodehouse replied. "I am afraid that no +vehicles can be obtained here." + +"The German authorities will perhaps help you in the matter," urged my +father. + +"I doubt it. But please remember that everybody was warned before leaving +Paris that he would do so at his own risk and peril, and that the Embassy +could not charge itself with the expense." + +"That is exactly what surprised me," said my father. "I know that the +Charitable Fund has done something, but I thought that the Embassy would +have done more." + +"I had no instructions," replied Mr. Wodehouse. + +"But, surely, at such a time as this, a man initiates his own +instructions." + +"Perhaps so; but I had no money." + +On hearing this, my father, for a moment, almost lost his temper. +"Surely, Mr. Wodehouse," said he, "you need only have gone to Baron de +Rothschild--he would have let you have whatever money you required." +[I have reconstructed the above dialogue from my diary, which I posted up +on reaching Versailles.] + +Mr. Wodehouse looked worried. He was certainly a most amiable man, but he +was not, I think, quite the man for the situation. Moreover, like my +father, he was in very poor health at this time. Still, he realized that +he must try to effect something, and eventually, with the assistance of +the mayor and the German authorities, a few farm-carts were procured for +the accommodation of the poorer British subjects. During the long interval +which had elapsed, however, a good many men had gone off of their own +accord, tired of waiting, and resolving to try their luck in one and +another direction. Thus our procession was a somewhat smaller one when we +at last quitted Brie-Comte-Robert for Corbeil. + +We met many German soldiers on our way--at times large detachments of +them--and we scarcely ever covered a mile of ground without being +questioned respecting the state of affairs in Paris and the probable +duration of its resistance, our replies invariably disappointing the +questioners, so anxious were they to see the war come to an end. This was +particularly the case with a young non-commissioned officer who jumped on +the step of Mr. Wodehouse's break, and engaged us in conversation whilst +we continued on our way. Before leaving us he remarked, I remember, that +he would very much like to pay a visit to England; whereupon my father +answered that he would be very much pleased to see him there, provided, +however, that he would come by himself and not with half a million of +armed comrades. + +While the German soldiers were numerous, the peasants whom we met on the +road were few and far between. On reaching the little village of +Lieusaint, however, a number of people rushed to the doors of their houses +and gazed at us in bewilderment, for during the past two months the only +strangers they had seen had been German soldiers, and they could not +understand the meaning of our civilian caravan of carriages and carts. At +last we entered Corbeil, and followed the main street towards the old +stone bridge by which we hoped to cross the Seine, but we speedily +discovered that it had been blown up, and that we could only get to the +other side of the river by a pontoon-bridge lower down. This having been +effected, we drove to the principal hotel, intending to put up there for +the night, as it had become evident that we should be unable to reach +Versailles at a reasonable hour. + +However, the entire hotel was in the possession of German officers, +several of whom we found flirting with the landlady's good-looking +daughter--who, as she wore a wedding ring, was, I presume, married. I well +recollect that she made some reference to the ladies of Berlin, whereupon +one of the lieutenants who were ogling her, gallantly replied that they +were not half so charming as the ladies of Corbeil. The young woman +appeared to appreciate the compliment, for, on the lieutenant rising to +take leave of her, she graciously gave him her hand, and said to him with +a smile: "Au plaisir de vous revoir, monsieur." + +But matters were very different with the old lady, her mother, who, +directly the coast was clear, began to inveigh against the Germans in good +set terms, describing them, I remember, as semi-savages who destroyed +whatever they did not steal. She was particularly irate with them for not +allowing M. Darblay, the wealthy magnate of the grain and flour trade, and +at the same time mayor of Corbeil, to retain a single carriage or a single +horse for his own use. Yet he had already surrendered four carriages and +eight horses to them, and only wished to keep a little gig and a cob. + +We obtained a meal at the hotel, but found it impossible to secure a bed +there, so we sallied forth into the town on an exploring expedition. On +all sides we observed notices indicating the rate of exchange of French +and German money, and the place seemed to be full of tobacconists' shops, +which were invariably occupied by German Jews trading in Hamburg cigars. +On inquiring at a cafe respecting accommodation, we were told that we +should only obtain it with difficulty, as the town was full of troops, +including more than a thousand sick and wounded, fifteen or twenty of whom +died every day. At last we crossed the river again, and found quarters at +an inferior hotel, the top-floor of which had been badly damaged by some +falling blocks of stone at the time when the French blew up the town +bridge. However, our beds were fairly comfortable, and we had a good +night's rest. + +Black coffee was again the only available beverage in the morning. No milk +was to be had, nor was there even a scrap of sugar. In these respects +Corbeil was even worse off than Paris. The weather had now changed, and +rain was falling steadily. We plainly had a nasty day before us. +Nevertheless, another set of carts was obtained for the poorer folk of our +party, on mustering which one man was found to be missing. He had fallen +ill, we were told, and could not continue the journey. Presently, +moreover, the case was discovered to be one of smallpox, which disease had +lately broken out in Paris. Leaving the sufferer to be treated at the +already crowded local hospital, we set out, and, on emerging from the +town, passed a drove of a couple of hundred oxen, and some three hundred +sheep, in the charge of German soldiers. We had scarcely journeyed another +mile when, near Essonnes, noted for its paper-mills, one of our carts +broke down, which was scarcely surprising, the country being hilly, the +roads heavy, and the horses spavined. Again, the rain was now pouring in +torrents, to the very great discomfort of the occupants of the carts, as +well as that of Mr. Wodehouse's party in the break. But there was no help +for it, and so on we drove mile after mile, until we were at last +absolutely soaked. + +The rain had turned to sleet by the time we reached Longjumeau, famous for +its handsome and amorous postilion. Two-thirds of the shops there were +closed, and the inns were crowded with German soldiers, so we drove on in +the direction of Palaiseau. But we had covered only about half the +distance when a snow-storm overtook us, and we had to seek shelter at +Champlan. A German officer there assisted in placing our vehicles under +cover, but the few peasants whom we saw eyeing us inquisitively from the +doors of their houses declared that the only thing they could let us have +to eat was dry bread, there being no meat, no eggs, no butter, no cheese, +in the whole village. Further, they averred that they had not even a pint +of wine to place at our disposal. "The Germans have taken everything," +they said; "we have 800 of them in and around the village, and there are +not more than a dozen of us left here, all the rest having fled to Paris +when the siege began." + +The outlook seemed bad, but Mr. Wodehouse's valet, a shrewd and energetic +man of thirty or thereabouts, named Frost, said to me, "I don't believe +all this. I dare say that if some money is produced we shall be able to +get something." Accordingly we jointly tackled a disconsolate-looking +fellow, who, if I remember rightly, was either the village wheelwright or +blacksmith; and, momentarily leaving the question of food on one side, we +asked him if he had not at least a fire in his house at which we might +warm ourselves. Our party included a lady, the Vice-Consul's wife, and +although she was making the journey in a closed private omnibus, she was +suffering from the cold. This was explained to the man whom we addressed, +and when he had satisfied himself that we were not Germans in disguise, he +told us that we might come into his house and warm ourselves until the +storm abated. Some nine or ten of us, including the lady I have mentioned, +availed ourselves of this permission, and the man led us upstairs to a +first-floor room, where a big wood-fire was blazing. Before it sat his +wife and his daughter, both of them good specimens of French rustic +beauty. With great good-nature, they at once made room for us, and added +more fuel to the fire. + +Half the battle was won, and presently we were regaled with all that they +could offer us in the way of food--that is, bread and baked pears, which +proved very acceptable. Eventually, after looking out of the window in +order to make quite sure that no Germans were loitering near the house, +our host locked the door of the room, and turning towards a big pile of +straw, fire-wood, and household utensils, proceeded to demolish it, until +he disclosed to view a small cask--a half hogshead, I think--which, said +he, in a whisper, contained wine. It was all that he had been able to +secrete. On the arrival of the enemy in the district a party of officers +had come to his house and ordered their men to remove the rest of his +wine, together with nearly all his bedding, and every fowl and every pig +that he possessed. "They have done the same all over the district," the +man added, "and you should see some of the chateaux--they have been +absolutely stripped of their contents." + +His face brightened when we told him that Paris seemed resolved on no +surrender, and that, according to official reports, she would have a +sufficiency of bread to continue resisting until the ensuing month of +February. In common with most of his countrymen, our host of Champlan held +that, whatever else might happen, the honour of the nation would at least +be saved if the Germans could only be kept out of Paris; and thus he was +right glad to hear that the city's defence would be prolonged. + +He was well remunerated for his hospitality, and on the weather slightly +improving we resumed our journey to Versailles, following the main road by +way of Palaiseau and Jouy-en-Josas, and urging the horses to their +quickest pace whilst the light declined and the evening shadows gathered +around us. + + + +VIII + +FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + +War-correspondents at Versailles--Dr. Russell--Lord Adare--David Dunglas +Home and his Extraordinary Career--His _Seances_ at Versallies--An Amusing +Interview with Colonel Beauchamp Walker--Parliament's Grant for British +Refugees--Generals Duff and Hazen, U.S.A.--American Help--Glimpses of +King William and Bismarck--Our Safe-Conducts--From Versailles to Saint +Germain-en-Laye--Trouble at Mantes--The German Devil of Destructiveness-- +From the German to the French Lines--A Train at Last--Through Normandy and +Maine--Saint Servan and its English Colony--I resolve to go to the Front. + + +It was dark when we at last entered Versailles by the Avenue de Choisy. We +saw some sentries, but they did not challenge us, and we went on until we +struck the Avenue de Paris, where we passed the Prefecture, every one of +whose windows was a blaze of light. King, later Emperor, William had his +quarters there; Bismarck, however, residing at a house in the Rue de +Provence belonging to the French General de Jesse. Winding round the Place +d'Armes, we noticed that one wing of Louis XIV's famous palace had its +windows lighted, being appropriated to hospital purposes, and that four +batteries of artillery were drawn up on the square, perhaps as a hint to +the Versaillese to be on their best behaviour. However, we drove on, and a +few moments later we pulled up outside the famous Hotel des Reservoirs. + +There was no possibility of obtaining accommodation there. From its +ground-floor to its garrets the hotel was packed with German princes, +dukes, dukelets, and their suites, together with a certain number of +English, American, and other war-correspondents. Close by, however-- +indeed, if I remember rightly, on the other side of the way--there was a +cafe, whither my father and myself directed our steps. We found it crowded +with officers and newspaper men, and through one or other of the latter we +succeeded in obtaining comfortable lodgings in a private house. The +_Illustrated London News_ artist with the German staff was Landells, son +of the engraver of that name, and we speedily discovered his whereabouts. +He was sharing rooms with Hilary Skinner, the _Daily News_ representative +at Versailles; and they both gave us a cordial greeting. + +The chief correspondent at the German headquarters was William Howard +Russell of the _Times_, respecting whom--perhaps because he kept himself +somewhat aloof from his colleagues--a variety of scarcely good-natured +stories were related; mostly designed to show that he somewhat +over-estimated his own importance. One yarn was to the effect that +whenever the Doctor mounted his horse, it was customary for the Crown +Prince of Prussia--afterwards the Emperor Frederick--to hold his stirrup +leather for him. Personally, I can only say that, on my father calling +with me on Russell, he received us very cordially indeed (he had +previously met my father, and had well known my uncle Frank), and that +when we quitted Versailles, as I shall presently relate, he placed his +courier and his private omnibus at our disposal, in after years one of my +cousins, the late Montague Vizetelly, accompanied Russell to South +America. I still have some letters which the latter wrote me respecting +Zola's novel "La Debacle," in which he took a great interest. + +Another war-correspondent at Versailles was the present Earl of Dunraven, +then not quite thirty years of age, and known by the courtesy title of +Lord Adare. He had previously acted as the _Daily Telegraph's_ +representative with Napier's expedition against Theodore of Abyssinia, and +was now staying at Versailles, on behalf, I think, of the same journal. +His rooms at the Hotel des Reservoirs were shared by Daniel Dunglas Home, +the medium, with whom my father and myself speedily became acquainted. +Very tall and slim, with blue eyes and an abundance of yellowish hair, +Home, at this time about thirty-seven years of age, came of the old stock +of the Earls of Home, whose name figures so often in Scottish history. His +father was an illegitimate son of the tenth earl, and his mother belonged +to a family which claimed to possess the gift of "second sight." Home +himself--according to his own account--began to see visions and receive +mysterious warnings at the period of his mother's death, and as time +elapsed his many visitations from the other world so greatly upset the +aunt with whom he was living--a Mrs. McNeill Cook of Greeneville, +Connecticut [He had been taken from Scotland to America when he was about +nine years old.]--that she ended by turning him out-of-doors. Other +people, however, took an unhealthy delight in seeing their furniture +move about without human agency, and in receiving more or less ridiculous +messages from spirit-land; and in folk of this description Home found some +useful friends. + +He came to London in the spring of 1855, and on giving a _seance_ at Cox's +Hotel, in Jermyn Street, he contrived to deceive Sir David Brewster (then +seventy-four years old), but was less successful with another +septuagenarian, Lord Brougham. Later, he captured the imaginative Sir +Edward Bulwer (subsequently Lord Lytton), who as author of "Zanoni" was +perhaps fated to believe in him, and he also impressed Mrs. Browning, but +not Browning himself The latter, indeed, depicted Home as "Sludge, the +Medium." Going to Italy for a time, the already notorious adventurer gave +_seances_ in a haunted villa near Florence, but on becoming converted to +the Catholic faith in 1856 he was received in private audience by that +handsome, urbane, but by no means satisfactory pontiff, Pio Nono, who, +however, eight years later caused him to be summarily expelled from Rome +as a sorcerer in league with the Devil. + +Meantime, Home had ingratiated himself with a number of crowned heads-- +Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie, in whose presence he gave _seances_ +at the Tuileries, Fontainebleau, and Biarritz; the King of Prussia, by +whom he was received at Baden-Baden; and Queen Sophia of Holland, who gave +him hospitality at the Hague. On marrying a Russian lady, the daughter of +General Count de Kroll, he was favoured with presents by the Czar +Alexander II, and after returning to England became one of the +"attractions" of Milner-Gibson's drawing-room--Mrs. Gibson, a daughter of +the Rev. Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, being one of the early English +patronesses of so-called spiritualism, to a faith in which she was +"converted" by Home, whom she first met whilst travelling on the +Continent. I remember hearing no little talk about him in my younger days. +Thackeray's friend, Robert Bell, wrote an article about him in _The +Cornhill_, which was the subject of considerable discussion. Bell, I +think, was also mixed up in the affair of the "Davenport Brothers," one of +whose performances I remember witnessing. They were afterwards effectively +shown up in Paris by Vicomte Alfred de Caston. Home, for his part, was +scarcely taken seriously by the Parisians, and when, at a _seance_ given +in presence of the Empress Eugenie, he blundered grossly and repeatedly +about her father, the Count of Montijo, he received an intimation that his +presence at Court could be dispensed with. He then consoled himself by +going to Peterhof and exhibiting his powers to the Czar. + +Certain Scotch and English scientists, such as Dr. Lockhart Robertson, Dr. +Robert Chambers, and Dr. James Manby Gully--the apostle of hydropathy, who +came to grief in the notorious Bravo case--warmly supported Home. So did +Samuel Carter Hall and his wife, William Howitt, and Gerald Massey; and he +ended by establishing a so-called "Spiritual Athenaeum" in Sloane Street. +A wealthy widow of advanced years, a Mrs. Jane Lyon, became a subscriber +to that institution, and, growing infatuated with Home, made him a present +of some L30,000, and settled on him a similar amount to be paid at her +death. But after a year or two she repented of her infatuation, and took +legal proceedings to recover her money. She failed to substantiate some of +her charges, but Vice-Chancellor Giffard, who heard the case, decided it +in her favour, in his judgment describing Home as a needy and designing +man. Home, I should add, was at this time a widower and at loggerheads +with his late wife's relations in Russia, in respect to her property. + +Among the arts ascribed to Home was that called levitation, in practising +which he was raised in the air by an unseen and unknown force, and +remained suspended there; this being, so to say, the first step towards +human flying without the assistance of any biplane, monoplane, or other +mechanical contrivance. The first occasion on which Home is said to have +displayed this power was in the late fifties, when he was at a chateau +near Bordeaux as the guest of the widow of Theodore Ducos, the nephew of +Bonaparte's colleague in the Consulate. In the works put forward on Home's +behalf--one of them, called "Incidents in my Life," was chiefly written, +it appears, by his friend and solicitor, a Mr. W.M. Wilkinson--it is also +asserted that his power of levitation was attested in later years by Lord +Lindsay, subsequently Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, and by the present +Earl of Dunraven. We are told, indeed, that on one occasion the last-named +actually saw Home float out of a room by one window, and into it again by +another one. I do not know whether Home also favoured Professor Crookes +with any exhibition of this kind, but the latter certainly expressed an +opinion that some of Home's feats were genuine. + +When my father and I first met him at Versailles he was constantly in the +company of Lord Adare. He claimed to be acting as the correspondent of a +Californian journal, but his chief occupation appeared to be the giving of +_seances_ for the entertainment of all the German princes and princelets +staying at the Hotel des Reservoirs. Most of these highnesses and +mightinesses formed part of what the Germans themselves sarcastically +called their "Ornamental Staff," and as Moltke seldom allowed them any +real share in the military operations, they doubtless found in Home's +performances some relief from the _taedium vitae_ which overtook them +during their long wait for the capitulation of Paris. Now that Metz had +fallen, that was the chief question which occupied the minds of all the +Germans assembled at Versailles, [Note] and Home was called upon to +foretell when it would take place. On certain occasions, I believe, he +evoked the spirits of Frederick the Great, Napoleon, Bluecher, and others, +in order to obtain from them an accurate forecast. At another time he +endeavoured to peer into the future by means of crystal-gazing, in which +he required the help of a little child. "My experiments have not +succeeded," he said one day, while we were sitting with him at the cafe +near the Hotel des Reservoirs; "but that is not my fault. I need an +absolutely pure-minded child, and can find none here, for this French race +is corrupt from its very infancy." He was fasting at this time, taking +apparently nothing but a little _eau sucree_ for several days at a +stretch. "The spirits will not move me unless I do this," he said. "To +bring them to me, I have to contend against the material part of my +nature." + +[Note: The Germans regarded it as the more urgent at the time of my +arrival at Versailles, as only a few data previously (November 9), the new +French Army of the Loire under D'Aurelle de Paladines had defeated the +Bavarians at Coulmiers, and thereby again secured possession of Orleans.] + +A couple of years later, after another visit to St. Petersburg, where, +it seems, he was again well received by the Czar and again married a lady +of the Russian nobility, Home's health began to fail him, perhaps on +account of the semi-starvation to which at intervals he subjected himself. +I saw him occasionally during his last years, when, living at Auteuil, he +was almost a neighbour of mine. He died there in 1886, being then about +fifty-three years old. Personally, I never placed faith in him. I regarded +him at the outset with great curiosity, but some time before the war +I had read a good deal about Cagliostro, Saint Germain, Mesmer, and +other charlatans, also attending a lecture about them at the Salle des +Conferences; and all that, combined with the exposure of the Davenport +Brothers and other spiritualists and illusionists, helped to prejudice me +against such a man as Home. At the same time, this so-called "wizard of +the nineteenth century" was certainly a curious personality, possessed, I +presume, of considerable suggestive powers, which at times enabled him to +make others believe as he desired. We ought to have had Charcot's opinion +of his case. + +As it had taken my father and myself three days to reach Versailles from +Paris, and we could not tell what other unpleasant experiences the future +might hold in store for us, our pecuniary position gave rise to some +concern. I mentioned previously that we quitted the capital with +comparatively little money, and it now seemed as if our journey might +become a long and somewhat costly affair, particularly as the German staff +wished to send us off through Northern France and thence by way of +Belgium. On consulting Landells, Skinner, and some other correspondents, +it appeared that several days might elapse before we could obtain +remittances from England. On the other hand, every correspondent clung to +such money as he had in his possession, for living was very expensive at +Versailles, and at any moment some emergency might arise necessitating an +unexpected outlay. It was suggested, however, that we should apply to +Colonel Beauchamp Walker, who was the official British representative with +the German headquarters' staff, for, we were told, Parliament, in its +generosity, had voted a sum of L4000 to assist any needy British subjects +who might come out of Paris, and Colonel Walker had the handling of the +money in question. + +Naturally enough, my father began by demurring to this suggestion, saying +that he could not apply _in forma pauperis_ for charity. But it was +pointed out that he need do no such thing. "Go to Walker," it was said, +"explain your difficulty, and offer him a note of hand or a draft on the +_Illustrated_, and if desired half a dozen of us will back it." Some such +plan having been decided on, we called upon Colonel Walker on the second +or third day of our stay at Versailles. + +His full name was Charles Pyndar Beauchamp Walker. Born in 1817, he had +seen no little service. He had acted as an _aide-de-camp_ to Lord Lucan in +the Crimea, afterwards becoming Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon +Guards. He was in India during the final operations for the suppression of +the Mutiny, and subsequently in China during the Franco-British expedition +to that country. During the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 he was attached as +British Commissioner to the forces of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and +witnessed the battle of Koeniggratz. He served in the same capacity during +the Franco-German War, when he was at Weissenburg, Woerth, and Sedan. In +later years he became a major-general, a lieutenant-general, a K.C.B., and +Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards; and from 1878 until his retirement in +1884 he acted as Inspector General of military education. I have set out +those facts because I have no desire to minimise Walker's services and +abilities. But I cannot help smiling at a sentence which I found in the +account of him given in the "Dictionary of National Biography." It refers +to his duties during the Franco-German War, and runs as follows: "The +irritation of the Germans against England, and the number of roving +Englishmen, made his duty not an easy one, but he was well qualified for +it by his tact and geniality, and his action met with the full approval of +the Government." + +The Government in question would have approved anything. But let that +pass. We called on the colonel at about half-past eleven in the morning, +and were shown into a large and comfortably furnished room, where +decanters and cigars were prominently displayed on a central table. In ten +minutes' time the colonel appeared, arrayed in a beautiful figured +dressing-gown with a tasselled girdle. I knew that the British officer was +fond of discarding his uniform, and I was well aware that French officers +also did so when on furlough in Paris, but it gave my young mind quite a +shock to see her Majesty's military representative with King William +arrayed in a gaudy dressing-gown in the middle of the day. He seated +himself, and querulously inquired of my father what his business was. It +was told him very briefly. He frowned, hummed, hawed, threw himself back +in his armchair, and curtly exclaimed, "I am not a money-lender!" + +The fact that the _Illustrated London News_ was the world's premier +journal of its class went for nothing. The offers of the other +correspondents of the English Press to back my father's signature were +dismissed with disdain. When the colonel was reminded that he held a +considerable amount of money voted by Parliament, he retorted: "That is +for necessitous persons! But you ask me to _lend_ you money!" "Quite so," +my father replied; "I do not wish to be a charge on the Treasury. I simply +want a loan, as I have a difficult and perhaps an expensive journey before +me." "How much do you want?" snapped the colonel. "Well," said my father, +"I should feel more comfortable if I had a thousand francs (L40) in my +pocket." "Forty pounds!" cried Colonel Walker, as if lost in amazement. +And getting up from his chair he went on, in the most theatrical manner +possible: "Why, do you know, sir, that if I were to let you have forty +pounds, I might find myself in the greatest possible difficulty. +To-morrow--perhaps, even to-night--there might be hundreds of our +suffering fellow-countrymen outside the gates of Versailles, and I unable +to relieve them!" "But," said my father quietly, "you would still be +holding L3960, Colonel Walker." The colonel glared, and my father, not +caring to prolong such an interview, walked out of the room, followed by +myself. + +A good many of the poorer people who quitted Paris with us never repaired +to Versailles at all, but left us at Corbeil or elsewhere to make their +way across France as best they could. Another party, about one hundred +strong, was, however, subsequently sent out of the capital with the +assistance of Mr. Washburne, and in their case Colonel Walker had to +expend some money. But every grant was a very niggardly one, and it would +not surprise me to learn that the bulk of the money voted by Parliament +was ultimately returned to the Treasury--which circumstance would probably +account for the "full approval" which the Government bestowed on the +colonel's conduct at this period. He died early in 1894, and soon +afterwards some of his correspondence was published in a volume entitled +"Days of a Soldier's Life." On reading a review of that work in one of the +leading literary journals, I was struck by a passage in which Walker was +described as a disappointed and embittered man, who always felt that his +merits were not sufficiently recognized, although he was given a +knighthood and retired with the honorary rank of general. I presume +that his ambition was at least a viscounty, if not an earldom, and a +field-marshal's _baton_. + +On leaving the gentleman whose "tact and geniality" are commemorated in +the "Dictionary of National Biography," we repaired--my father and I--to +the cafe where most of the English newspaper men met. Several were there, +and my father was at once assailed with inquiries respecting his interview +with Colonel Walker. His account of it led to some laughter and a variety +of comments, which would scarcely have improved the colonel's temper. I +remember, however, that Captain, afterwards Colonel Sir, Henry Hozier, the +author of "The Seven Weeks' War," smiled quietly, but otherwise kept his +own counsel. At last my father was asked what he intended to do under the +circumstances, and he replied that he meant to communicate with England as +speedily as possible, and remain in the interval at Versailles, although +he particularly wished to get away. + +Now, it happened that among the customers at the cafe there were two +American officers, one being Brigadier-General Duff, a brother of Andrew +Halliday, the dramatic author and essayist, whose real patronymic was also +Duff. My father knew Halliday through their mutual friends Henry Mayhew +and the Broughs. The other American officer was Major-General William +Babcook Hazen, whose name will be found occasionally mentioned in that +popular record of President Garfield's career, "From Log Cabin to White +House." During the Civil War in the United States he had commanded a +division in Sherman's march to the sea. He also introduced the cold-wave +signal system into the American army, and in 1870-71 he was following the +operations of the Germans on behalf of his Government. + +I do not remember whether General Duff (who, I have been told, is still +alive) was also at Versailles in an official capacity, but in the course +of conversation he heard of my father's interview with Colonel Walker, and +spoke to General Hazen on the subject. Hazen did not hesitate, but came to +my father, had a brief chat with him, unbuttoned his uniform, produced a +case containing bank-notes, and asked my father how much he wanted, +telling him not to pinch himself. The whole transaction was completed in a +few minutes. My father was unwilling to take quite as much as he had asked +of Colonel Walker, but General Hazen handed him some L20 or L30 in notes, +one or two of which were afterwards changed, for a handsome consideration, +by one of the German Jews who then infested Versailles and profited by the +scarcity of gold. We were indebted, then, on two occasions to the +representatives of the United States. The _laisser-passer_ enabling us to +leave Paris had been supplied by Mr. Washburne, and the means of +continuing our journey in comfort were furnished by General Hazen. I raise +my hat to the memory of both those gentlemen. + +During the few days that we remained at Versailles, we caught glimpses of +King William and Bismarck, both of whom we had previously seen in Paris in +1867, when they were the guests of Napoleon III. I find in my diary a +memorandum, dictated perhaps by my father: "Bismarck much fatter and +bloated." We saw him one day leaving the Prefecture, where the King had +his quarters. He stood for a moment outside, chatting and laughing noisily +with some other German personages, then strode away with a companion. He +was only fifty-five years old, and was full of vigour at that time, even +though he might have put on flesh during recent years, and therefore have +renounced dancing--his last partner in the waltz having been Mme. Carette, +the Empress Eugenie's reader, whom he led out at one of the '67 balls at +the Tuileries. Very hale and hearty, too, looked the King whom Bismarck +was about to turn into an Emperor. Yet the victor of Sedan was already +seventy-three years old. I only saw him on horseback during my stay at +Versailles. My recollections of him, Bismarck, and Moltke, belong more +particularly to the year 1872, when I was in Berlin in connexion with the +famous meeting of the three Emperors. + +My father and myself had kept in touch with Mr. Wodehouse, from whom we +learnt that we should have to apply to the German General commanding +at Versailles with respect to any further safe-conducts. At first we were +informed that there could be no departure from the plan of sending us out +of France by way of Epernay, Reims, and Sedan, and this by no means +coincided with the desires of most of the Englishmen who had come out of +Paris, they wishing to proceed westward, and secure a passage across the +Channel from Le Havre or Dieppe. My father and myself also wanted to go +westward, but in order to make our way into Brittany, my stepmother and +her children being at Saint Servan, near Saint Malo. At last the German +authorities decided to give us the alternative routes of Mantes and Dreux, +the first-named being the preferable one for those people who were bound +for England. It was chosen also by my father, as the Dreux route would +have led us into a region where hostilities were in progress, and where we +might suddenly have found ourselves "held up." + +The entire party of British refugees was now limited to fifteen or sixteen +persons, some, tired of waiting, having taken themselves off by the Sedan +route, whilst a few others--such as coachmen and grooms--on securing +employment from German princes and generals, resolved to stay at +Versailles. Mr. Wodehouse also remained there for a short time. Previously +in poor health, he had further contracted a chill during our three days' +drive in an open vehicle. As most of those who were going on to England at +once now found themselves almost insolvent, it was arranged to pay their +expenses through the German lines, and to give each of them a sum of fifty +shillings, so that they might make their way Channelwards when they had +reached an uninvaded part of France. Colonel Walker, of course, parted +with as little money as possible. + +At Versailles it was absolutely impossible to hire vehicles to take us as +far as Mantes, but we were assured that conveyances might be procured at +Saint Germain-en-Laye; and it was thus that Dr. Russell lent my father his +little omnibus for the journey to the last-named town, at the same time +sending his courier to assist in making further arrangements. I do not +recollect that courier's nationality, but he spoke English, French, and +German, and his services were extremely useful. We drove to Saint Germain +by way of Rocquencourt, where we found a number of country-folk gathered +by the roadside with little stalls, at which they sold wine and fruit to +the German soldiers. This part of the environs of Paris seemed to have +suffered less than the eastern and southern districts. So far, there had +been only one sortie on this side--that made by Ducrot in the direction of +La Malmaison. It had, however, momentarily alarmed the investing forces, +and whilst we were at Versailles I learnt that, on the day in question, +everything had been got ready for King William's removal to Saint Germain +in the event of the French achieving a real success. But it proved to be a +small affair, Ducrot's force being altogether incommensurate with the +effort required of it. + +At Saint Germain, Dr. Russell's courier assisted in obtaining conveyances +for the whole of our party, and we were soon rolling away in the direction +of Mantes-la-Jolie, famous as the town where William the Conqueror, whilst +bent on pillage and destruction, received the injuries which caused his +death. Here we had to report ourselves to the German Commander, who, to +the general consternation, began by refusing its permission to proceed. He +did so because most of the safe-conducts delivered to us at Versailles, +had, in the first instance, only stated that we were to travel by way of +Sedan; the words "or Mantes or Dreux" being afterwards added between the +lines. That interlineation was irregular, said the General at Mantes; it +might even be a forgery; at all events, he could not recognize it, so we +must go back whence we had come, and quickly, too--indeed, he gave us just +half an hour to quit the town! But it fortunately happened that in a few +of the safe-conducts there was no interlineation whatever, the words +"Sedan or Mantes or Dreux" being duly set down in the body of the +document, and on this being pointed out, the General came to the +conclusion that we were not trying to impose on him. He thereupon +cancelled his previous order, and decided that, as dusk was already +falling, we might remain at Mantes that night, and resume our journey on +the morrow at 5.45 a.m., in the charge of a cavalry escort. + +Having secured a couple of beds, and ordered some dinner at one of the +inns, my father and I strolled about the town, which was full of Uhlans +and Hussars. The old stone bridge across the Seine had been blown up by +the French before their evacuation of the town, and a part of the railway +line had also been destroyed by them. But the Germans were responsible for +the awful appearance of the railway-station. Never since have I seen +anything resembling it. A thousand panes of glass belonging to windows or +roofing had been shivered to atoms. Every mirror in either waiting or +refreshment-rooms had been pounded to pieces; every gilt frame broken into +little bits. The clocks lay about in small fragments; account-books and +printed forms had been torn to scraps; partitions, chairs, tables, +benches, boxes, nests of drawers, had been hacked, split, broken, reduced +to mere strips of wood. The large stoves were overturned and broken, and +the marble refreshment counter--some thirty feet long, and previously one +of the features of the station--now strewed the floor in particles, +suggesting gravel. It was, indeed, an amazing sight, the more amazing as +no such work of destruction could have been accomplished without extreme +labour. When we returned to the inn for dinner, I asked some questions. +"Who did it?" "The first German troops that came here," was the answer. +"Why did they do it?--was it because your men had cut the telegraph wires +and destroyed some of the permanent way?" "Oh no! They expected to find +something to drink in the refreshment-room, and when they discovered that +everything had been taken away, they set about breaking the fixtures!" +Dear, nice, placid German soldiers, baulked, for a few minutes, of some of +the wine of France! + +In the morning we left Mantes by moonlight at the appointed hour, +unaccompanied, however, by any escort. Either the Commandant had forgotten +the matter, or his men had overslept themselves. In the outskirts, we were +stopped by a sentry, who carried our pass to a guard-house, where a +noncommissioned officer inspected it by the light of a lantern. Then on we +went again for another furlong or so, when we were once more challenged, +this time by the German advanced-post. As we resumed our journey, we +perceived, in the rear, a small party of Hussars, who did not follow us, +but wheeled suddenly to the left, bent, no doubt, on some reconnoitering +expedition. We were now beyond the German lines, and the dawn was +breaking. Yonder was the Seine, with several islands lying on its bosom, +and some wooded heights rising beyond it. Drawing nearer to the river, we +passed through the village of Rolleboise, which gives its name to the +chief tunnel on the Western Line, and drove across the debatable ground +where French Francstireurs were constantly on the prowl for venturesome +Uhlans. At last we got to Bonnieres, a little place of some seven or eight +hundred inhabitants, on the limits of Seine-et-Oise; and there we had to +alight, for the vehicles, which had brought us from Saint Germain, could +proceed no further. + +Fortunately, we secured others, and went on towards the village of +Jeufosse, where the nearest French outposts were established. We were +displaying the white flag, but the first French sentries we met, young +fellows of the Mobile Guard, refused for a little while to let us pass. +Eventually they referred the matter to an officer, who, on discovering +that we were English and had come from Paris, began to chat with us in a +very friendly manner, asking all the usual questions about the state of +affairs in the capital, and expressing the usual satisfaction that the +city could still hold out. When we took leave, he cordially wished us _bon +voyage_, and on we hastened, still following the course of the Seine, to +the little town of Vernon. Its inquisitive inhabitants at once surrounded +us, eager to know who we were, whence we had come, and whither we were +going. But we did not tarry many minutes, for we suddenly learnt that the +railway communication with Rouen only began at Gaillon, several leagues +further on, and that there was only one train a day. The question which +immediately arose was--could we catch it? + +On we went, then, once more, this time up, over, and down a succession of +steep hills, until at last we reached Gaillon station, and found to our +delight that the train would not start for another twenty minutes. All our +companions took tickets for Rouen, whence they intended to proceed to +Dieppe or Le Havre. But my father and I branched off before reaching the +Norman capital, and, after, arriving at Elbeuf, travelled through the +departments of the Eure and the Orne, passing Alencon on our way to Le +Mans. On two or three occasions we had to change from one train to +another. The travelling was extremely slow, and there were innumerable +stoppages. The lines were constantly encumbered with vans laden with +military supplies, and the stations were full of troops going in one and +another direction. In the waiting-rooms one found crowds of officers lying +on the couches, the chairs, and the tables, and striving to snatch a few +hours' sleep; whilst all over the floors and the platforms soldiers had +stretched themselves for the same purpose. Very seldom could any food be +obtained, but I luckily secured a loaf, some cheese, and a bottle of wine +at Alencon. It must have been about one o'clock in the morning when we at +last reached Le Mans, and found that there would be no train going to +Rennes for another four or five hours. + +The big railway-station of Le Mans was full of reinforcements for the Army +of the Loire. After strolling about for a few minutes, my father and I +sat down on the platform with our backs against a wall, for not a bench or +a stool was available. Every now and again some train prepared to start, +men were hastily mustered, and then climbed into all sorts of carriages +and vans. A belated general rushed along, accompanied by eager +_aides-de-camp_. Now and again a rifle slipped from the hand of some +Mobile Guard who had been imbibing too freely, and fell with a clatter on +the platform. Then stores were bundled into trucks, whistles sounded, +engines puffed, and meanwhile, although men were constantly departing, the +station seemed to be as crowded as ever. When at last I got up to stretch +myself, I noticed, affixed to the wall against which I had been leaning, a +proclamation of Gambetta's respecting D'Aurelle de Paladines' victory over +Von der Tann at Orleans. In another part of the station were lithographed +notices emanating from the Prefect of the department, and reciting a +variety of recent Government decrees and items of war news, skirmishes, +reconnaissances, and so forth. At last, however, our train came in. It was +composed almost entirely of third-class carriages with wooden seats, and +we had to be content with that accommodation. + +Another long and wearisome journey then began. Again we travelled slowly, +again there were innumerable stoppages, again we passed trains crowded +with soldiers, or crammed full of military stores. At some place where we +stopped there was a train conveying some scores of horses, mostly poor, +miserable old creatures. I looked and wondered at the sight of them. "They +have come from England," said a fellow-passenger; "every boat from +Southampton to Saint Malo brings over quite a number." It was unpleasant +to think that such sorry-looking beasts had been shipped by one's own +countrymen. However, we reached Rennes at last, and were there able to get +a good square meal, and also to send a telegram to my stepmother, +notifying her of our early arrival. It was, however, at a late hour that +we arrived at Saint Malo, whence we drove to La Petite Amelia at Saint +Servan. + +The latter town then contained a considerable colony of English people, +among whom the military element predominated. Quite a number of half-pay +or retired officers had come to live there with their families, finding +Jersey overcrowded and desiring to practise economy. The colony also +included several Irish landlords in reduced circumstances, who had quitted +the restless isle to escape assassination at the hands of "Rory of the +Hills" and folk of his stamp. In addition, there were several maiden +ladies of divers ages, but all of slender means; one or two courtesy lords +of high descent, but burdened with numerous offspring; together with a +riding-master who wrote novels, and an elderly clergyman appointed by the +Bishop of Gibraltar. I dare say there may have been a few black sheep in +the colony; but the picture which Mrs. Annie Edwardes gave of it in her +novel, "Susan Fielding," was exaggerated, though there was truth in the +incidents which she introduced into another of her works, "Ought We to +Visit Her?" On the whole, the Saint Servan colony was a very respectable +one, even if it was not possessed of any great means. Going there during +my holidays, I met many young fellows of my own age or thereabouts, and +mostly belonging to military families. There were also several charming +girls, both English and Irish. With the young fellows I boated, with the +young ladies I played croquet. + +Now, whilst my father and I had been shut up in Paris, we had frequently +written to my stepmother by balloon-post, and on some of our letters being +shown to the clergyman of the colony, he requested permission to read them +to his congregation--which he frequently did, omitting, of course, the +more private passages, but giving all the items of news and comments on +the situation which the letters contained. As a matter of fact, this +helped the reverend gentleman out of a difficulty. He was an excellent +man, but, like many others of his cloth, he did not know how to preach. In +fact, a year or two later, I myself wrote one or two sermons for him, +working into them certain matters of interest to the colony. During the +earlier part of the siege of Paris, however, the reading of my father's +letters and my own from the pulpit at the close of the usual service saved +the colony's pastor from the trouble of composing a bad sermon, or of +picking out an indifferent one from some forgotten theological work. My +father, on arriving at Saint Servan, secluded himself as far as possible, +so as to rest awhile before proceeding to England; but I went about much +as usual; and my letters read from the pulpit, and sundry other matters, +having made me a kind of "public character," I was at once pounced upon in +the streets, carried off to the club and to private houses, and there +questioned and cross-questioned by a dozen or twenty Crimean and Indian +veteran officers who were following the progress of the war with a +passionate interest. + +A year or two previously, moreover, my stepmother had formed a close +friendship with one of the chief French families of the town. The father, +a retired officer of the French naval service, was to have commanded a +local Marching Battalion, but he unfortunately sickened and died, leaving +his wife with one daughter, a beautiful girl who was of about my own age. +Now, this family had been joined by the wife's parents, an elderly couple, +who, on the approach of the Germans to Paris, had quitted the suburb where +they resided. I was often with these friends at Saint Servan, and on +arriving there from Paris, our conversation naturally turned on the war. +As the old gentleman's house in the environs of the capital was well +within the French lines, he had not much reason to fear for its safety, +and, moreover, he had taken the precaution to remove his valuables into +the city. But he was sorely perturbed by all the conflicting news +respecting the military operations in the provinces, the reported +victories which turned out to be defeats, the adverse rumours concerning +the condition of the French forces, the alleged scandal of the Camp of +Conlie, where the more recent Breton levies were said to be dying off like +rotten sheep, and many other matters besides. Every evening when I called +on these friends the conversation was the same. The ladies, the +grandmother, the daughter, and the granddaughter, sat there making +garments for the soldiers or preparing lint for the wounded--those being +the constant occupations of the women of Brittany during all the hours +they could spare from their household duties--and meanwhile the old +gentleman discussed with me both the true and the spurious news of the +day. The result of those conversations was that, as soon as my father +had betaken himself to England, I resolved to go to the front myself, +ascertain as much of the truth as I could, and become, indeed, a +war-correspondent on "my own." In forming that decision I was influenced, +moreover, by one of those youthful dreams which life seldom, if ever, +fulfils. + + + +IX + +THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + +First Efforts of the National Defence Delegates--La Motte-Rouge and his +Dyed Hair--The German Advance South of Paris--Moltke and King William-- +Bourges, the German Objective--Characteristics of Beauce, Perche, and +Sologne--French Evacuation of Orleans--Gambetta arrives at Tours--His +Coadjutor, Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet--Total Forces of the +National Defence on Gambetta's Arrival--D'Aurelle de Paladines supersedes +La Motte-Rouge--The Affair of Chateaudun--Cambriels--Garibaldi--Jessie +White Mario--Edward Vizetelly--Catholic Hatred of Garibaldi--The Germans +at Dijon--The projected Relief of Paris--Trochu's Errors and Ducrot's +Schemes--The French Victory of Coulmiers--Change of Plan in Paris--My +Newspaper Work--My Brother Adrian Vizetelly--The General Position. + + +When I reached Brittany, coming from Paris, early in the second fortnight +of November, the Provincial Delegation of the Government of National +Defence was able to meet the Germans with very considerable forces. But +such had not been the case immediately after Sedan. As I pointed out +previously--quite apart from the flower of the old Imperial Army, which +was beleaguered around Metz--a force far too large for mere purposes of +defence was confined within the lines with which the Germans invested +Paris. In the provinces, the number of troops ready to take the field was +very small indeed. Old Cremieux, the Minister of Justice, was sent out of +Paris already on September 12, and took with him a certain General Lefort, +who was to attend to matters of military organization in the provinces. +But little or no confidence was placed in the resources there. The +military members of the National Defence Government--General Trochu, its +President, and General Le Flo, its Minister of War, had not the slightest +idea that provincial France might be capable of a great effort. They +relied chiefly on the imprisoned army of Paris, as is shown by all their +despatches and subsequent apologies. However, Glais-Bizoin followed +Cremieux to Tours, where it had been arranged that the Government +Delegation should instal itself, and he was accompanied by Admiral +Fourichon, the Minister of Marine. On reaching the Loire region, the new +authorities found a few battalions of Mobile Guards, ill-armed and +ill-equipped, a battalion of sharpshooters previously brought from +Algeria, one or two batteries of artillery, and a cavalry division of four +regiments commanded by General Reyau. This division had been gathered +together in the final days of the Empire, and was to have been sent to +Mezieres, to assist MacMahon in his effort to succour Bazaine; but on +failing to get there, it had made just a few vain attempts to check the +Germans in their advance on Paris, and had then fallen back to the south +of the capital. + +General Lefort's first task was to collect the necessary elements for an +additional army corps--the 15th--and he summoned to his assistance the +veteran General de la Motte-Rouge, previously a very capable officer, but +now almost a septuagenarian, whose particular fad it was to dye his hair, +and thereby endeavour to make himself look no more than fifty. No doubt, +hi the seventeenth century, the famous Prince de Conde with the eagle +glance took a score of wigs with him when he started on a campaign; but +even such a practice as that is not suited to modern conditions of +warfare, though be it admitted that it takes less time to change one's wig +than to have one's hair dyed. The latter practice may, of course, help a +man to cut a fine figure on parade, but it is of no utility in the field. +In a controversy which arose after the publication of Zola's novel "La +Debaole," there was a conflict of evidence as to whether the cheeks of +Napoleon III were or were not rouged in order to conceal his ghastly +pallor on the fatal day of Sedan. That may always remain a moot point; but +it is, I think, certain that during the last two years of his rule his +moustache and "imperial" were dyed. + +But let me return to the National Defence. Paris, as I formerly mentioned, +was invested on September 19. On the 22nd a Bavarian force occupied the +village of Longjumeau, referred to in my account of my journey to +Versailles. A couple of days later, the Fourth Division of German cavalry, +commanded by Prince Albert (the elder) of Prussia, started southward +through the departments of Eure-et-Loir and Loiret, going towards Artenay +in the direction of Orleans. This division, which met at first with little +opposition, belonged to a force which was detached from the main army +of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and placed under the command of the +Grand-Duke Frederick Francis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Near this +"Armee-Abtheilung," as the Germans called it, was the first Bavarian army +corps, which had fought at Bazeilles on the day of Sedan. It was commanded +by General von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, commonly called Von der +Tann, _tout court_. + +As Prince Albert of Prussia, on drawing near to Artenay, found a good many +French soldiers, both regulars and irregulars, that is Francs-tireurs, +located in the district, he deemed it best to retire on Toury and +Pithiviers. But his appearance so far south had sufficed to alarm the +French commander at Orleans, General de Polhes, who at once, ordered his +men to evacuate the city and retire, partly on Blois, and partly on La +Motte-Beuvron. This pusillanimity incensed the Delegates of the National +Defence, and Polhes was momentarily superseded by General Reyau, and later +(October 5) by La Motte-Rouge. + +It is known, nowadays, that the Germans were at first perplexed as to the +best course to pursue after they had completed the investment of Paris. +Moltke had not anticipated a long siege of the French capital. He had +imagined that the city would speedily surrender, and that the war would +then come to an end. Fully acquainted with the tract of country lying +between the Rhine and Paris, he had much less knowledge of other parts of +France; and, moreover, although he had long known how many men could be +placed in the field by the military organisation of the Empire, he +undoubtedly underestimated the further resources of the French, and did +not anticipate any vigorous provincial resistance. His sovereign, King +William, formed a more correct estimate respecting the prolongation of the +struggle, and, as was mentioned by me in my previous book--"Republican +France"--he more than once rectified the mistakes which were made by the +great German strategist. + +The invader's objective with respect to central France was Bourges, the +old capital of Berry, renowned for its ordnance and ammunition works, and, +in the days when the troops of our Henry V overran France, the scene of +Charles VII's retirement, before he was inspirited either by Agnes Sorel +or by Joan of Arc. To enable an army coming from the direction of Paris to +seize Bourges, it is in the first instance necessary--as a reference to +any map of France will show--to secure possession of Orleans, which is +situated at the most northern point, the apex, so to say, of the course of +the Loire, and is only about sixty-eight miles from Paris. At the same +time it is advisable that any advance upon Orleans should be covered, +westward, by a corresponding advance on Chartres, and thence on +Chateaudun. This became the German plan, and whilst a force under General +von Wittich marched on Chartres, Von der Tann's men approached Orleans +through the Beauce region. + +From the forest of Dourdan on the north to the Loire on the south, and +from the Chartres region on the west to the Gatinais on the east, this +great grain-growing plateau (the scene of Zola's famous novel "La Terre") +is almost level. Although its soil is very fertile there are few +watercourses in Beauce, none of them, moreover, being of a nature to +impede the march of an army. The roads are lined with stunted elms, and +here and there a small copse, a straggling farm, a little village, may be +seen, together with many a row of stacks, the whole forming in late autumn +and in winter--when hurricanes, rain, and snow-storms sweep across the +great expanse--as dreary a picture as the most melancholy-minded +individual could desire. Whilst there is no natural obstacle to impede the +advance of an invader, there is also no cover for purposes of defence. All +the way from Chartres to Orleans the high-road is not once intersected by +a river. Nearly all of the few streams which exist thereabouts run from +south to north, and they supply no means of defence against an army coming +from the direction of Paris. The region is one better suited for the +employment of cavalry and artillery than for that of foot-soldiers. + +The Chartres country is better watered than Beaude. Westward, in both +of the districts of Perche, going either towards Mortagne or towards +Nogent-le-Rotrou, the country is more hilly and more wooded; and hedges, +ditches, and dingle paths abound there. In such districts infantry can +well be employed for defensive purposes. Beyond the Loir--not the Loire-- +S.S.W. of Chartres, is the Pays Dunois, that is the district of +Chateaudun, a little town protected on the north and the west by the Loir +and the Conie, and by the hills between which those rivers flow, but open +to any attack on the east, from which direction, indeed, the Germans +naturally approached it. + +Beyond the Loire, to the south-east of Beauce and Orleans, lies the +sheep-breeding region called Sologne, which the Germans would have had to +cross had they prosecuted their intended march on Bourges. Here cavalry +and artillery are of little use, the country abounding in streams, ponds, +and marshes. Quite apart, however, from natural obstacles, no advance on +Bourges could well be prosecuted so long as the French held Orleans; and +even when that city had fallen into the hands of the Germans, the presence +of large French forces on the west compelled the invaders to carry +hostilities in that direction and abandon their projected march southward. +Thus the campaign in which I became interested was carried on principally +in the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, and Sarthe, to +terminate, at last, in Mayenne. + +Great indiscipline prevailed among the troops whom La Motte-Rouge had +under his orders. An attack by Von der Tann to the north of Orleans on +October 10, led to the retreat of a part of the French forces. On the +following day, when the French had from 12,000 to 13,000 men engaged, they +were badly defeated, some 1800 of their men being put _hors de combat_, +and as many being taken prisoners. This reverse, which was due partly to +some mistakes made by La Motte-Rouge, and partly to the inferior quality +of his troops, led to the immediate evacuation of Orleans. Now, it was +precisely at this moment that Gambetta appeared upon the scene. He had +left Paris, it will be remembered, on October 7; on the 8th he was at +Rouen, on the 9th he joined the other Government delegates at Tours, and +on the 10th--the eve of La Motte-Rouge's defeat--he became Minister of War +as well as Minister of the Interior. + +Previously the portfolio for war had been held in the provinces by Admiral +Fourichon, with General Lefort as his assistant; but Fourichon had +resigned in connexion with a Communalist rising which had taken place at +Lyons towards the end of September, when the Prefect, Challemel-Lacour, +was momentarily made a prisoner by the insurgents, but was afterwards +released by some loyal National Guards. [See my book, "The Anarchists: +Their Faith and their Record," John Lane, 1911.] Complaining that General +Mazure, commander of the garrison, had not done his duty on this occasion, +Challemel-Lacour caused him to be arrested, and Fourichon, siding with the +general, thereupon resigned the War Ministry, Cremieux taking it over +until Gambetta's arrival. It may well be asked how one could expect the +military affairs of France to prosper when they were subordinated to such +wretched squabbles. + +Among the men whom Gambetta found at Tours, was an engineer, who, +after the Revolution of September 4, had been appointed Prefect of +Tarn-et-Garonne, but who, coming into conflict with the extremists of +Montauban, much as Challemel-Lacour had come into conflict with those of +Lyons, had promptly resigned his functions. His name was Charles Louis de +Saulces de Freycinet, and, though he was born at Foix near the Pyrenees, +he belonged to an ancient family of Dauphine. At this period (October, +1870), Freycinet had nearly completed his forty-second year. After +qualifying as an engineer at the Ecole Polytechnique, he had held various +posts at Mont-de-Marsan, Chartres, and Bordeaux, before securing in 1864 +the position of traffic-manager to the Chemin de Fer du Midi. Subsequently +he was entrusted with various missions abroad, and in 1869 the Institute +of France crowned a little work of his on the employment of women and +children in English factories. Mining engineering was his speciality, but +he was extremely versatile and resourceful, and immediately attracted the +notice of Gambetta. Let it be said to the latter's credit that in that +hour of crisis he cast all prejudices aside. He cared nothing for the +antecedents of any man who was willing to cooperate in the defence of +France; and thus, although Freycinet came of an ancient-aristocratic +house, and had made his way under the Empire, which had created him first +a chevalier and then an officer of the Legion of Honour, Gambetta at once +selected him to act as his chef-de-cabinet, and delegate in military +affairs. + +At this moment the National Defence had in or ready for the field only +40,000 regular infantry, a like number of Mobile Guards, from 5000 to 6000 +cavalry, and about 100 guns, some of antiquated models and with very few +men to serve them. There were certainly a good many men at various +regimental depots, together with Mobile Guards and National Guards in all +the uninvaded provinces of France; but all these had to be drilled, +equipped, and armed. That was the first part of the great task which lay +before Gambetta and Freycinet. Within a month, however--leaving aside what +was done in other parts of the country--France had on the Loire alone an +army of 100,000 men, who for a moment, at all events, turned the tide of +war. At the same time I would add that, before Gambetta's arrival on the +scene, the National Defence Delegates had begun to concentrate some small +bodies of troops both in Normandy and in Picardy and Artois, the latter +forming the first nucleus of the Army of the North which Faidherbe +afterwards commanded. Further, in the east of France there was a force +under General Cambriels, whose object was to cut the German communications +in the Vosges. + +Von der Tann, having defeated La Motte-Rouge, occupied Orleans, whilst the +French withdrew across the Loire to La Motte-Beuvron and Gien, south and +south-east of their former position. Gambetta had to take action +immediately. He did so by removing La Motte-Rouge from his command, which +he gave to D'Aurelle de Paladines. The latter, a general on the reserve +list, with a distinguished record, was in his sixty-sixth year, having +been born at Languedoc in 1804. He had abilities as an organiser, and was +known to be a disciplinarian, but he was growing old, and looked +confidence both in himself and in his men. At the moment of D'Aurelle's +appointment, Von der Tann wished to advance on Bourges, in accordance with +Moltke's instructions, and, in doing so, he proposed to evacuate Orleans; +but this was forbidden by King William and the Crown Prince, and in the +result the Bavarian general suffered a repulse at Salbris, which checked +his advance southward. Still covering Bourges and Vierzon, D'Aurelle soon +had 60,000 men under his orders, thanks to the efforts of Gambetta and +Freyeinet. But the enemy were now making progress to the west of Orleans, +in which direction the tragic affair of Chateaudun occurred on October 18. +The German column operating on that side under General von Wittich, +consisted of 6000 infantry, four batteries, and a cavalry regiment, which +advanced on Chateaudun from the east, and, on being resisted by the +villagers of Varize and Civry, shot them down without mercy, and set all +their houses (about 130 in number) on fire. Nevertheless, that punishment +did not deter the National Guards of Chateaudun, and the Francs-tireurs +who had joined them, from offering the most strenuous opposition to the +invaders, though the latter's numerical superiority alone was as seven +to one. The fierce fight was followed by terrible scenes. Most of the +Francs-tireurs, who had not fallen in the engagement, effected a retreat, +and on discovering this, the infuriated Germans, to whom the mere name of +Franc-tireur was as a red rag to a bull, did not scruple to shoot down a +number of non-combatants, including women and children. + +I remember the excitement which the news of the Chateaudun affair +occasioned in besieged Paris; and when I left the capital a few weeks +later I heard it constantly spoken of. In vain did the Germans strive to +gloss over the truth. The proofs were too numerous and the reality was too +dreadful. Two hundred and thirty-five of the devoted little town's houses +were committed to the flames. For the first time in the whole course of +the war women were deliberately assaulted, and a couple of German Princes +disgraced their exalted station in a drunken and incendiary orgie. + +Meantime, in the east of France, Cambriels had failed in his attempt to +cut the German communications, and had been compelled to beat a retreat. +It must be said for him that his troops were a very sorry lot, who could +not be depended upon. Not only were they badly disciplined and addicted to +drunkenness, but they took to marauding and pillage, and were in no degree +a match for the men whom the German General von Werder led against them. +Garibaldi, the Italian Liberator, had offered his sword to France, soon +after the fall of the Second Empire. On October 8--that is, a day before +Gambetta--he arrived at Tours, to arrange for a command, like that of +Cambriels, in the east of France. The little Army of the Vosges, which was +eventually constituted under his orders, was made up of very heterogeneous +elements. Italians, Switzers, Poles, Hungarians, Englishmen, as well as +Frenchmen, were to be found in its ranks. The general could not be called +a very old man, being indeed only sixty-three years of age, but he had led +an eventful and arduous life; and, as will be remembered, ever since the +affair of Aspromonte in 1862, he had been lame, and had gradually become +more and more infirm. He had with him, however, two of his sons, Menotti +and Ricoiotti (the second a more competent soldier than the first), +and several, able men, such as his compatriot Lobbia, and the Pole, +Bosak-Hauke. His chief of staff, Bordone, previously a navy doctor, was, +however, a very fussy individual who imagined himself to be a military +genius. Among the Englishmen with Garibaldi were Robert Middleton and my +brother Edward Vizetelly; and there was an Englishwoman, Jessie White +Mario, daughter of White the boat-builder of Cowes, and widow of Mario, +Garibaldi's companion in arms in the glorious Liberation days. My brother +often told me that Mme. Mario was equally at home in an ambulance or in a +charge, for she was an excellent nurse and an admirable horsewoman as well +as a good shot. She is one of the women of whom I think when I hear or +read that the members of the completing sex cannot fight. But that of +course is merely the opinion of some medical and newspaper men. + +Mme. Mario contributed a certain number of articles to the _Daily News_. +So did my brother--it was indeed as _Daily News_ correspondent that he +first joined Garibaldi's forces--but he speedily became an orderly to the +general, and later a captain on the staff. He was at the battles of Dijon +and Autun, and served under Lobbia in the relief of Langres. Some French +historians of these later days have written so slightingly of the little +Army of the Vosges, that I am sorry my brother did not leave any permanent +record of his experiences. Garibaldi's task was no easy one. In the first +instance, the National Defence hesitated to employ him; secondly, they +wished to subordinate him to Cambriels, and he declined to take any such +position; not that he objected to serve under any superior commander +who would treat him fairly, but because he, Garibaldi, was a freethinker, +and knew that he was bitterly detested by the fervently Catholic generals, +such as Cambriels. As it happened, he secured an independent command. But +in exercising it he had to co-operate with Cambriels in various ways, and +in later years my brother told me how shamefully Cambriels acted more than +once towards the Garibaldian force. It was indeed a repetition of what had +occurred at the very outset of the war, when such intense jealousy had +existed among certain marshals and generals that one had preferred to let +another be defeated rather than march "at the sound of the guns" to his +assistance. + +I also remember my brother telling me that when Langres (which is in the +Haute Marne, west of the Aube and the Cote d'Or) was relieved by Lobbia's +column, the commander of the garrison refused at first to let the +Garibaldians enter the town. He was prepared to surrender to the Germans, +if necessary; but the thought that he, a devout Catholic, should owe any +assistance to such a band of unbelieving brigands as the Garibaldian +enemies of the Pope was absolutely odious to him. Fortunately, this kind +of feeling did not show itself in western France. There was, at one +moment, some little difficulty respecting the position of Cathelineau, the +descendant of the famous Vendeen leader, but, on the whole, Catholics, +Royalists, and Republicans loyally supported one another, fired by a +common patriotism. + +The failure of Cambriel's attempts to cut the German communications, and +the relatively small importance of the Garibaldian force, inspired +Gambetta with the idea of forming a large Army of the East which, with +Langres, Belfort, and Besancon as its bases, would vigorously assume the +offensive in that part of France. Moltke, however, had already sent +General von Werder orders to pursue the retreating Cambriels. Various +engagements, late in October, were followed by a German march on Dijon. +There were at this time 12,000 or 13,000 Mobile Guards in the Cote d'Or, +but no general in command of them. Authority was exercised by a civilian, +Dr. Lavalle. The forces assembled at Dijon and Beaune amounted, inclusive +of regulars and National Guards, to about 20,000 men, but they were very +badly equipped and armed, and their officers were few in number and of +very indifferent ability. Werder came down on Dijon in a somewhat +hesitating way, like a man who is not sure of his ground or of the +strength of the enemy in front of him. But the French were alarmed by his +approach, and on October 30 Dijon was evacuated, and soon afterwards +occupied by Werder with two brigades. + +Three days previously Metz had surrendered, and France was reeling under +the unexpected blow in spite of all the ardent proclamations with which +Gambetta strove to impart hope and stimulate patriotism. Bazaine's +capitulation naturally implied the release of the forces under Prince +Frederick Charles, by which he had been invested, and their transfer to +other parts of France for a more vigorous prosecution of the invasion. +Werder, after occupying Dijon, was to have gone westward through the +Nivernais in order to assist other forces in the designs on Bourges. But +some days before Metz actually fell, Moltke sent him different +instructions, setting forth that he was to take no further account of +Bourges, but to hold Dijon, and concentrate at Vesoul, keeping a watch on +Langres and Besancon. For a moment, however, 3600 French under an officer +named Fauconnet suddenly recaptured Dijon, though there were more than +10,000 Badeners installed there under General von Beyer. Unfortunately +Fauconnet was killed in the affair, a fresh evacuation of the Burgundian +capital ensued, and the Germans then remained in possession of the city +for more than a couple of months. + +In the west the army of the Loire was being steadily increased and +consolidated, thanks to the untiring efforts of Gambetta, Freycinet, +and D'Aurelle, the last of whom certainly contributed largely to the +organization of the force, though he was little inclined to quit his lines +and assume the offensive. It was undoubtedly on this army that Gambetta +based his principal hopes. The task assigned to it was greater than those +allotted to any of the other armies which were gradually assuming +shape--being, indeed, the relief of beleaguered Paris. + +Trochu's own memoirs show that at the outset of the siege his one thought +was to remain on the defensive. In this connexion it is held, nowadays, +that he misjudged the German temperament, that remembering the vigorous +attempts of the Allies on Sebastopol--he was, as we know, in the Crimea, +at the time--he imagined that the Germans would make similarly vigorous +attempts on Paris. He did not expect a long and so to say passive siege, a +mere blockade during which the investing army would simply content itself +with repulsing the efforts of the besieged to break through its lines. He +knew that the Germans had behaved differently in the case of Strasbourg +and some other eastern strongholds, and anticipated a similar line of +action with respect to the French capital. But the Germans preferred to +follow a waiting policy towards both Metz and Paris. It has been said that +this was less the idea of Moltke than that of Bismarck, whose famous +phrase about letting the Parisians stew in their own juice will be +remembered. But one should also recollect that both Metz and Paris were +defended by great forces, and that there was little likelihood of any +_coup de main_ succeeding; whilst, as for bombardment, though it might +have some moral, it would probably have very little material effect. Metz +was not really bombarded, and the attempt to bombard Paris was deferred +for several months. When it at last took place a certain number of +buildings were damaged, 100 persons were killed and 200 persons wounded--a +material effect which can only be described as absolutely trivial in the +case of so great and so populous a city. + +Trochu's idea to remain merely on the defensive did not appeal to his +coadjutor General Ducrot. The latter had wished to break through the +German lines on the day of Sedan, and he now wished to break through them +round Paris. Various schemes occurred to him. One was to make a sortie in +the direction of Le Bourget and the plain of Saint Denis, but it seemed +useless to attempt to break out on the north, as the Germans held Laon, +Soissons, La Fere, and Amiens. There was also an idea of making an attempt +on the south, in the direction of Villejuif, but everything seemed to +indicate that the Germans were extremely strong on this side of the city +and occupied no little of the surrounding country. The question of a +sortie on the east, across the Marne, was also mooted and dismissed for +various reasons; the idea finally adopted being to break out by way of +the Gennevilliers peninsula formed by the course of the Seine on the +north-west, and then (the heights of Cormeil having been secured) to cross +the Oise, and afterwards march on Rouen, where it would be possible to +victual the army. Moreover, instructions were to be sent into the +provinces in order that both the forces on the Loire and those in the +north might bear towards Normandy, and there join the army from Paris, in +such wise that there would be a quarter of a million men between Dieppe, +Rouen, and Caen. Trochu ended by agreeing to this scheme, and even +entertained a hope that he might be able to revictual Paris by way of the +Seine, for which purpose a flotilla of boats was prepared. Ducrot and he +expected to be ready by November 15 or 20, but it is said that they were +hampered in their preparations by the objections raised by Guiod and +Chabaud-Latour, the former an engineer, and the latter an artillery +general. Moreover, the course of events in the provinces suddenly caused a +complete reversal of Ducrot's plans. + +On November 9, D'Aurelle de Paladines defeated Von der Tann at Coulmiers, +west of Orleans. The young French troops behaved extremely well, but the +victory not being followed up with sufficient vigour by D'Aurelle, +remained somewhat incomplete, though it constrained the Germans to +evacuate Orleans. On the whole this was the first considerable success +achieved by the French since the beginning of the war, and it did much to +revive the spirits which had been drooping since the fall of Metz. Another +of its results was to change Ducrot's plans respecting the Paris sortie. +He and Trochu had hitherto taken little account of the provincial armies, +and the success of Coulmiers came to them as a surprise and a revelation. +There really was an army of the Loire, then, and it was advancing on Paris +from Orleans. The Parisian forces must therefore break out on the +south-east and join hands with this army of relief in or near the forest +of Fontainebleau. Thus, all the preparations for a sortie by way of +Gennevilliers were abandoned, and followed by others for an attempt in the +direction of Champigny. + +Such was roughly the position at the time when I reached Brittany and +conceived the idea of joining the French forces on the Loire and +forwarding some account of their operations to England. During my stay in +Paris with my father I had assisted him in preparing several articles, and +had written others on my own account. My eldest brother, Adrian Vizetelly, +was at this time assistant-secretary at the Institution of Naval +Architects. He had been a student at the Royal School of Naval +Architecture with the Whites, Elgars, Yarrows, Turnbulls, and other famous +shipbuilders, and on quitting it had taken the assistant-secretaryship in +question as an occupation pending some suitable vacancy in the Government +service or some large private yard. The famous naval constructor, E. J. +Reed, had started in life in precisely the same post, and it was, indeed, +at his personal suggestion that my brother took it. A year or two later he +and his friend Dr. Francis Elgar, subsequently Director of Dockyards and +one of the heads of the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, were assisting +Reed to run his review _Naval Science_. At the time of the Franco-German +war, however, my brother, then in his twenty-sixth year, was writing on +naval subjects for the _Daily News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette,_ edited +respectively by John Robinson and Frederick Greenwood. A few articles +written by me during my siege days were sent direct to the latter by +balloon-post, but I knew not what their fate might be. The _Pall Mall_ +might be unable to use them, and there was no possibility of their being +returned to me in Paris. My father, whom I assisted in preparing a variety +of articles, suggested that everything of this kind--that is, work not +intended for the _Illustrated London News_--should be sent to my brother +for him to deal with as opportunity offered. He placed a few articles with +_The Times_--notably some rather long ones on the fortifications and +armament of Paris, whilst others went to the _Daily News_ and the _Pall +Mall_. + +When, after coming out of Paris, I arrived in Brittany, I heard that +virtually everything sent from the capital by my father or myself had been +used in one or another paper, and was not a little pleased to receive a +draft on a Saint Malo banking-house for my share of the proceeds. This +money enabled me to proceed, in the first instance, in the direction of Le +Mans, which the Germans were already threatening. Before referring, +however, to my own experiences I must say something further respecting the +general position. The battle of Coulmiers (November 9) was followed by a +period of inaction on the part of the Loire Army. Had D'Aurelle pursued +Von der Tann he might have turned his barren victory to good account. But +he had not much confidence in his troops, and the weather was bad--sleet +and snow falling continually. Moreover, the French commander believed that +the Bavarian retreat concealed a trap. At a conference held between him, +Gambetta, Freyoinet, and the generals at the head of the various army +corps, only one of the latter---Chanzy--favoured an immediate march on +Paris. Borel, who was chief of D'Aurelle's staff, proposed to confine +operations to an advance on Chartres, which would certainly have been a +good position to occupy, for it would have brought the army nearer to the +capital, giving it two railway lines, those of Le Mans and Granville, for +revictualling purposes, and enabling it to retreat on Brittany in the +event of any serious reverse. But no advance at all was made. The Germans +were allowed all necessary time to increase their forces, the French +remaining inactive within D'Aurelle's lines, and their _morale_ steadily +declining by reason of the hardships to which they were subjected. The +general-in-chief refused to billet them in the villages--for fear, said +he, of indiscipline--and compelled them to bivouack, under canvas, in the +mud; seldom, moreover, allowing any fires to be kindled. For a score of +days did this state of affairs continue, and the effect of it was seen at +the battle of Beaune-la-Rolande. + +The responsibility for the treatment of the troops rests on D'Aurelle's +memory and that of some of his fellow-generals. Meantime, Gambetta and +Freycinet were exerting themselves to improve the situation generally. +They realized that the release of Prince Frederick Charles's forces from +the investment of Metz necessitated the reinforcement of the Army of the +Loire, and they took steps accordingly. Cambriels had now been replaced in +eastern France by a certain General Michel, who lost his head and was +superseded by his comrade Crouzat. The last-named had with him 30,000 men +and 40 guns to contend against the 21,000 men and the 70 guns of Werder's +army. In order to strengthen the Loire forces, however, half of Crouzat's +men and he himself received orders to approach Orleans by way of Nevers +and Gien, the remainder of his army being instructed to retire on Lyons, +in order to quiet the agitation prevailing in that city, which regarded +itself as defenceless and complained bitterly thereof, although there was +no likelihood at all of a German attack for at least some time to come. + +The new arrangements left Garibaldi chief commander in eastern France, +though the forces directly under his orders did not at this time exceed +5000 men, and included, moreover, no fewer than sixty petty free-corps, +who cared little for discipline. [There were women in several of these +companies, one of the latter including no fewer than eighteen amazons.] +A month or two previously the advent of from twenty to thirty thousand +Italian volunteers had been confidently prophesied, but very few of these +came forward. Nevertheless, Ricciotti Garibaldi (with whom was my brother +Edward) defeated a German force in a sharp engagement at Chatillon-sur- +Seine (November 19), and a week later the Garibaldians made a gallant +attempt to recapture the city of Dijon. Five thousand men, however, were +of no avail against an army corps; and thus, even if the Garibaldian +attack had momentarily succeeded, it would have been impossible to hold +Dijon against Werder's troops. The attempt having failed, the German +commander resolved to crush the Army of the Vosges, which fled and +scattered, swiftly pursued by a brigade under General von Keller. Great +jealousy prevailed at this moment among the French generals in command of +various corps which might have helped the Garibaldians. Bressolles, +Crevisier, and Cremer were at loggerheads. On November 30 the last-named +fought an indecisive action at Nuits, followed nearly three weeks later by +another in which he claimed the victory. + +Meantime, Crouzat's force, now known as the 20th Army Corps, had been +moving on Nevers. To assist the Loire Army yet further, General Bourbaki +had been summoned from the north-west of France. At the fall of the Empire +the defence in that part of the country had been entrusted to Fririon, +whom Espinet de la Villeboisnet succeeded. The resources at the disposal +of both those generals were very limited, confined, indeed, to men of the +regimental depots and some Mobile Guards. There was a deficiency both of +officers and of weapons, and in the early skirmishes which took place with +the enemy, the principal combatants were armed peasants, rural firemen, +and the National Guards of various towns. It is true that for a while the +German force consisted only of a battalion of infantry and some Saxon +cavalry. Under Anatole de la Forge, Prefect of the Aisne, the open town of +Saint Quentin offered a gallant resistance to the invader, but although +this had some moral effect, its importance was not great. Bourbaki, who +succeeded La Villeboisnet in command of the region, was as diffident +respecting the value of his troops as was D'Aurelle on the Loire. He had +previously commanded the very pick of the French army, that is the +Imperial Guard, and the men now placed under his orders were by no means +of the same class. Bourbaki was at this time only fifty-four years of age, +and when, after being sent out of Metz on a mission to the Empress Eugenie +at Hastings, he had offered his services to the National Defence, the +latter had given him the best possible welcome. But he became one of the +great military failures of the period. + +After the fall of Metz the Germans despatched larger forces under +Manteuffel into north-west France. Altogether there were 35,000 infantry +and 4000 cavalry, with 174 guns, against a French force of 22,000 men who +were distributed with 60 guns over a front of some thirty miles, their +object being to protect both Amiens and Rouen. When Bourbaki was summoned +to the Loire, he left Farre as chief commander in the north, with +Faidherbe and Lecointe as his principal lieutenants. There was bad +strategy on both sides, but La Fere capitulated to the Germans on November +26, and Amiens on the 29th. + +Meantime, the position in beleaguered Paris was becoming very bad. Some +ten thousand men, either of the regular or the auxiliary forces, were laid +up in hospital, less on account of wounds than of disease. Charcoal--for +cooking purposes according to the orthodox French system--was being +strictly rationed, On November 20 only a certain number of milch cows and +a few hundred oxen, reserved for hospital and ambulance patients, remained +of all the bovine live stock collected together before the siege. At the +end of November, 500 horses were being slaughtered every day. On the other +hand, the bread allowance had been raised from 750 grammes to a kilogramme +per diem, and a great deal of bread was given to the horses as food. +Somewhat uncertain communications had been opened with the provinces by +means of pigeon-post, the first pigeon to bring despatches into the city +arriving there on November 15. The despatches, photographed on the +smallest possible scale, were usually enclosed in quills fastened under +one or another of the birds' wings. Each balloon that left the city now +took with it a certain number of carrier-pigeons for this service. Owing, +however, to the bitter cold which prevailed that winter, many of the birds +perished on the return journey, and thus the despatches they carried did +not reach Paris. Whenever any such communications arrived there, they had +to be enlarged by means of a magic-lantern contrivance, in order that they +might be deciphered. Meantime, the aeronauts leaving the city conveyed +Government despatches as well as private correspondence, and in this wise +Trochu was able to inform Gambetta that the army of Paris intended to make +a great effort on November 29. + + + +X + +WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + +The German Advance Westward--Gambetta at Le Mans--The "Army of Brittany" +and Count de Keratry--The Camp of Conlie--The Breton Marching Division-- +Keratry resigns--The Champigny Sortie from Paris--The dilatory D'Aurelle-- +The pitiable 20th Army Corps--Battles of Beaune-la-Rolande and Loigny-- +Loss of Orleans--D'Aurelle superseded by Chanzy--Chanzy's Slow Retreat-- +The 21st Corps summoned to the Front--I march with the Breton Division-- +Marchenoir and Freteval--Our Retreat--Our Rearguard Action at Droue-- +Behaviour of the Inhabitants--We fight our Way from Fontenelle to Saint +Agil--Guns and Quagmires--Our Return to Le Mans--I proceed to Bennes and +Saint Malo. + + +After the Chateaudun affair the Germans secured possession of Chartres, +whence they proceeded to raid the department of the Eure. Going by way of +Nogent-le-Roi and Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais, they seized the old +ecclesiastical town of Evreux on November 19, whereupon the French hastily +retreated into the Orne. Some minor engagements followed, all to the +advantage of the Germans, who on the 22nd attacked and occupied the +ancient and strategically important town of Nogent-le-Rotrou--the lordship +of which, just prior to the great Revolution, belonged to the family of +the famous Count D'Orsay, the lover of Lady Blessington and the friend of +Napoleon III. The occupation of Nogent brought the Germans to a favourable +point on the direct railway-line between Paris and Le Mans, the capital of +Maine. The region had been occupied by a somewhat skeleton French army +corps--the 21st--commanded by a certain General Fiereck. On the loss of +Nogent, Gambetta immediately replaced him by one of the many naval +officers who were now with the French armies, that is Post-Captain (later +Admiral) Constant Jaures, uncle of the famous Socialist leader of more +recent times. Jaures at once decided to retreat on Le Mans, a distance of +rather more than a hundred miles, and this was effected within two days, +but under lamentable circumstances. Thousands of starving men deserted, +and others were only kept with the columns by the employment of cavalry +and the threat of turning the artillery upon them. + +Directly Gambetta heard of the state of affairs, he hastened to Le Mans to +provide for the defence of that extremely important point, where no fewer +than five great railway lines converged, those of Paris, Alencon, Rennes, +Angers, and Tours. The troops commanded by Jaures were in a very +deplorable condition, and it was absolutely necessary to strengthen them. +It so happened that a large body of men was assembled at Conlie, sixteen +or seventeen miles away. They formed what was called the "Army of +Brittany," and were commanded by Count Emile de Keratry, the son of a +distinguished politician and literary man who escaped the guillotine +during the Reign of Terror. The Count himself had sat in the Legislative +Body of the Second Empire, but had begun life as a soldier, serving both +in the Crimea and in Mexico, in which latter country he had acted as one +of Bazaine's orderly officers. At the Revolution Keratry was appointed +Prefect of Police, but on October 14 he left Paris by balloon, being +entrusted by Trochu and Jules Favre with a mission to Prim, in the hope +that he might secure Spanish support for France. Prim and his colleagues +refused to intervene, however, and Keratry then hastened to Tours, where +he placed himself at the disposal of Gambetta, with whom he was on terms +of close friendship. It was arranged between them that Keratry should +gather together all the available men who were left in Brittany, and train +and organize them, for which purposes a camp was established at Conlie, +north-west of Le Mans. + +Conlie was the first place which I decided to visit on quitting Saint +Servan. The most appalling rumours were current throughout Brittany +respecting the new camp. It was said to be grossly mismanaged and to be a +hotbed of disease. I visited it, collected a quantity of information, and +prepared an article which was printed by the _Daily News_ and attracted +considerable attention, being quoted by several other London papers and +taken in two instances as the text for leading articles. So far as the +camp's defences and the arming of the men assembled within it were +concerned, my strictures were fully justified, but certain official +documents, subsequently published, indicate that I was in error on some +points. The whole question having given rise to a good deal of controversy +among writers on the Franco-German War--some of them regarding Conlie as a +flagrant proof of Gambetta's mismanagement of military affairs--I will +here set down what I believe to be strictly the truth respecting it. + +The camp was established near the site of an old Roman one, located +between Conlie and Domfront, the principal part occupying some rising +ground in the centre of an extensive valley. It was intended to be a +training camp rather than an entrenched and fortified one, though a +redoubt was erected on the south, and some works were begun on the +northern and the north-eastern sides. When the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +reached Conlie after the battle of Le Mans, he expressed his surprise that +the French had not fortified so good a position more seriously, and +defended it with vigour. Both the railway line and the high-road between +Laval and Le Mans were near at hand, and only a few miles away there was +the old town of Sille-le-Guillaume, one of the chief grain and cattle +markets of the region. There was considerable forest-land in the vicinity, +and wood was abundant. But there was no watercourse, and the wells of the +various adjacent little farms yielded but a very inadequate supply of +water for a camp in which at one moment some 40,000 men were assembled. +Thus, at the outset, the camp lacked one great essential, and such was the +case when I visited it in November. But I am bound to add that a source +was soon afterwards found in the very centre of the camp, and tapped so +successfully by means of a steam-pumping arrangement that it ended by +yielding over 300,000 litres of water per diem. The critics of the camp +have said that the spot was very damp and muddy, and therefore necessarily +unhealthy, and there is truth in that assertion; but the same might be +remarked of all the camps of the period, notably that of D'Aurelle de +Paladines in front of Orleans. Moreover, when a week's snow was followed +by a fortnight's thaw, matters could scarcely be different. [From first to +last (November 12 to January 7) 1942 cases of illness were treated in the +five ambulances of the camp. Among them were 264 cases of small-pox. There +were a great many instances of bronchitis and kindred affections, but not +many of dysentery. Among the small-pox cases 88 proved fatal.] + +I find on referring to documents of the period that on November 23, the +day before Gambetta visited the camp, as I shall presently relate, the +total effective was 665 officers with 23,881 men. By December 5 (although +a marching division of about 12,000 men had then left for the front) the +effective had risen to 1241 officers with about 40,000 men. [The rationing +of the men cost on an average about 7_d._ per diem.] There were 40 guns +for the defence of the camp, and some 50 field-pieces of various types, +often, however, without carriages and almost invariably without teams. +At no time, I find, were there more than 360 horses and fifty mules in the +camp. There was also a great scarcity of ammunition for the guns. +On November 23, the 24,000 men assembled in the camp had between them the +following firearms and ammunition:-- + + _Weapons_ _Cartridges_ + + Spencers (without bayonets) .. 5,000 912,080 + Chassepots .. .. .. .. 2,080 100,000 + Remingtons .. .. .. .. 2,000 218,000 + Snyders .. .. .. .. 1,866 170,000 + Muskets of various types .. .. 9,684 _Insufficient_ + Revolvers .. .. .. .. 500 _Sufficient_ + ______ + 21,130 + +Such things as guns, gun-carriages, firearms, cartridges, bayonets, and so +forth formed the subject of innumerable telegrams and letters exchanged +between Keratry and the National Defence Delegation at Tours. The former +was constantly receiving promises from Gambetta, which were seldom kept, +supplies at first intended for him being at the last moment sent in other +directions, according to the more pressing requirements of the hour. +Moreover, a good many of the weapons which Keratry actually received were +defective. In the early days of the camp, many of the men were given +staves--broom-sticks in some instances--for use at drill. + +When Gambetta arrived at Le Mans after Jaures had retreated thither, he +learnt that action had become the more urgent as the Germans were steadily +prosecuting their advance. By orders of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, +to whose army these forces belonged, the French were followed to La +Ferte-Bernard; and whilst one German column then went west towards Saint +Cosme, another advanced southward to Vibraye, thus seriously threatening +Le Mans. Such was the position on November 23. Fortunately, Freycinet was +able to send Jaures reinforcements which brought his effective to about +35,000 men, and at the same time Gambetta urged Keratry to prepare a +marching division of the men at Conlie. Early on the 24th, Gambetta (who, +by the way, had travelled from Tours to Le Mans at full speed on a railway +engine) visited the camp, and expressed his approval of all he saw there. +I caught a glimpse of him, muffled in his fur coat, and looking, as well +he might, intensely cold. His orders to Keratry were to proceed to Saint +Calais, and thence to the forest of Vibraye, so as to cover Le Mans on the +east. It took fourteen hours and twenty-one trains to convey the marching +division to Yvre l'Eveque on the Huisne, just beyond Le Mans. The +effective of the division was roughly 12,000 men, nearly all of them being +Breton Mobilises. The artillery consisted of one battery of 12's, and one +of 4's, with the necessary horses, two batteries of 4's dragged by naval +volunteers, and several Gatling guns, which had only just been delivered. +These Gatlings, which at that time were absolutely unknown in France, were +not mounted, but packed in sections in sealed zinc cases, which were +opened in the railway vans on the journey, the guns being there put +together by a young naval officer and a couple of civilian engineers. A +little later the artillery of the force was augmented. + +After these troops had taken up position at Yvre, in order to prevent the +enemy from crossing the Huisne, various conferences were held between +Gambetta, Jaures, and Keratry. General Le Bouedec had been left in command +at Conlie, and General Trinite had been selected to command the marching +division of the Bretons. From the very outset, however, Keratry objected +to the plans of Gambetta and Jaures, and, for the moment, the duties of +the Bretons were limited to participating in a reconnaissance on a +somewhat large scale--two columns of Jaures' forces, under Generals Colin +and Rousseau, joining in this movement, which was directed chiefly on +Bouloire, midway between Le Mans and Saint Calais on the east. When +Bouloire was reached, however, the Germans who had momentarily occupied it +had retired, and the French thereupon withdrew to their former positions +near Le Mans. + +Then came trouble. Gambetta placed Keratry under the orders of Jaures, and +Keratry would not accept the position. Great jealousy prevailed between +these two men; Keratry, who had served ten years in the French Army, +claiming that he knew a good deal more about military matters than Jaures, +who, as I previously mentioned, had hitherto been a naval officer. In the +end Keratry threw up his command. Le Bouedec succeeded him at Conlie, and +Frigate-Captain Gougeard (afterwards Minister of Marine in Gambetta's +Great Ministry) took charge of the Bretons at Yvre, where he exerted +himself to bring them to a higher state of efficiency. + +I must now refer to some other matters. Trochu had informed Gambetta of +his intention to make a sortie on the south-eastern side of Paris. The +plans adopted were mainly those of Ducrot, who took chief command. A +diversion made by Vinoy to the south of the city on November 29 gave the +Germans an inkling of what was intended, and proved a fruitless venture +which cost the French 1000 men. Another diversion attempted by General +Susbielle on November 30 led to a similar result, with a loss of 1200 men. +Ducrot, however, crossed the Marne, and very desperate fighting ensued at +Champigny and neighbouring localities. But Ducrot's force (less than +100,000 men) was insufficient for his purpose. The weather, moreover, was +extremely cold, the men had brought with them neither tents nor blankets, +and had to bivouac without fires. According to Trochu's memoirs there was +also an insufficiency of ammunition. Thus the Champigny sortie failed, +and the French retired to their former lines. [From November 30 to +December 3 the French lost 9482 men; and the Germans 5288 men.] + +At the very moment when the Army of Paris was in full retreat, the second +battle of Orleans was beginning. Gambetta and Freyoinet wished D'Aurelle +to advance with the Loire Army in order to meet the Parisians, who, if +victorious, were expected to march on Fontainebleau by way of Melun. In +the latter days of November D'Aurelle was still covering Orleans on the +north with the 15th and 16th army corps (Generals Martin des Pallieres and +Chanzy). On his left was the 17th under Durrieu, who, a few days later, +was succeeded by a dashing cavalry officer, General de Sonis. Near at +hand, also, there was the 18th army corps, to command which Bourbaki had +been summoned from northern France, his place being taken temporarily by +young General Billot, who was appointed to be his chief of staff. The +former Army of the East under Crouzat [This had now become the 20th Army +Corps.] was on the southern side of the Loire, somewhere between Gien and +Nevers, and it was in a very deplorable condition. Boots were wanted for +10,000 men, tents for a like number, and knapsacks for 20,000. In some +battalions there were only sufficient knapsacks for a quarter of the men, +the others carrying their clothes, provisions, and cartridges all +higgledy-piggledy in canvas bags. I once heard an eyewitness relate that +many of Crouzat's soldiers marched with their biscuits (four days' supply) +strung together like chaplets, which hung from their necks or shoulders. + +The Germans had heard of the removal of Crouzat's force to the Loire +country, and by way of creating a diversion the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +was ordered to march on Beaugenoy, southwest of Orleans. Meantime, +Gambetta and Freyoinet were vainly imploring D'Aurelle to advance. He made +all sorts of excuses. At one moment he offered to consider their plans-- +not to comply with them; at another he wished to wait for decisive news +from Trochu and Ducrot. Finally, instead of the five army corps resolutely +advancing in the direction of Paris, it was resolved just to open the way +with the 18th (Billot), the 20th (Crouzat), and some detachments of the +15th (Martin des Pallieres). The result was the sharp battle and serious +defeat of Beaune-la-Rolande (November 28), when the 18th corps behaved +extremely well, whilst the 20th, to whose deplorable condition I have just +referred, retreated after a little fighting; the men of the 15th on their +side doing little or nothing at all. In this engagement the French, whose +forces ought to have been more concentrated, lost 4000 men in killed and +wounded, and 1800 who were taken prisoners; the German loss not exceeding +1000 men. Four days later (December 2) came the very serious repulse of +Loigny-Poupry, in which the 15th, 16th, and 17th army corps were engaged. +The French then lost from 6000 to 7000 men (2500 of them being taken +prisoners), and though the German losses exceeded 4000, the engagement +ended by quite demoralising D'Aurelle's army. + +Under those conditions came the battle of Orleans on December 3 and 4--the +Germans now being under the chief command of that able soldier, Prince +Frederick Charles of Prussia, father of the Duchess of Connaught. On this +occasion D'Aurelle ordered the corps engaged at Loigny to retreat on his +entrenched camp. The 18th and 20th could not cooperate in this movement, +however; and on the three others being driven back, D'Aurelle instructed +Chanzy to retire on Beaugency and Marchenoir, but sent no orders to +Bourbaki, who was now on the scene of action. Finally, the commander-in- +chief decided to abandon his entrenched camp, the troops disbanded and +scattered, and Orleans was evacuated, the flight being so precipitate that +two of the five bridges across the Loire were left intact, at the enemy's +disposal. Moreover, the French Army was now dislocated, Bourbaki, with the +18th, and Des Pallieres, with the 15th corps, being on the south of the +river, whilst the other three corps were on the northern side. The former +retired in the direction of Bourges and Nevers, whilst Chanzy, who was now +placed in chief command of the others, D'Aurelle being removed from his +post, withdrew gradually towards the forest of Marchenoir. In that second +battle of Orleans the French lost 20,000 men, but 18,000 of them were +taken prisoners. On their side, the Germans (who captured 74 guns) lost +fewer than 1800 men. + +For three days (December 8 to 10) Chanzy contested the German advance at +Villorceau, but on December 12 Blois had to be evacuated, and the army +withdrew to the line of the Loir in the neighbourhood of Vendome. +Meantime, at the very moment when the fate of Orleans was being sealed, +orders reached Jaures at Le Mans to advance to the support of the Loire +Army. I was lodging at an inn in the town, my means being too slender to +enable me to patronize any of the big hotels on the Place des Halles, +which, moreover, were crowded with officers, functionaries, and so forth. +I had become acquainted with some of the officers of the Breton division +under Gougeard, and on hearing that they were going to the front, I +managed to obtain from Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, +permission to accompany the column with one of the ambulance parties. Now +and again during the advance I rode in one of the vans, but for the most +part I marched with the men, this, moreover, being the preferable course, +as the weather was extremely cold. Even had I possessed the means (and at +most I had about L10 in my pocket), I could not have bought a horse at Le +Mans. I was stoutly clad, having a very warm overcoat of grey Irish +frieze, with good boots, and a pair of gaiters made for me by Nicholas, +the Saint Malo bootmaker, younger brother (so he himself asserted) of +Niccolini the tenor, sometime husband of Mme. Patti. + +There were from 10,000 to 12,000 men in our force, which now ranked as the +fourth division of the 21st army corps. Nearly all the men of both +brigades were Breton Mobilises, adjoined to whom, however, perhaps for the +purpose of steadying them, were three or four very small detachments of +former regiments of the line. There was also a small contingent of the +French Foreign Legion, which had been brought from Algeria. Starting from +Yvre l'Eveque towards, noon on December 4, we marched to Ardenay, where +we spent the night. The weather was fine and dry, but intensely cold. +On the 5th we camped on some hills near the town of Saint Calais, moved +only a mile or two farther on the 6th--there being a delay in the receipt +of certain orders--then, at seven o'clock on the 7th, started in the +direction of Vendome, marching for about twelve hours with only the +briefest halts. We passed from the department of the Sarthe into that +of Loir-et-Cher, going on until we reached a little place called +Ville-aux-Cleros, where we spent the night under uncomfortable conditions, +for it snowed. Early the following day we set out again, and, leaving +Vendome a couple of miles or so away on our right, we passed Freteval and +camped on the outskirts of the forest of Marchenoir. + +The night proved bitterly cold, the temperature being some fourteen +degrees (centigrade) below freezing-point. I slept huddled up in a van, +but the men generally were under canvas, and there was very little straw +for them to lie upon, in such wise that in the morning some of them +actually found their garments frost-bound to the ground! Throughout the +night of the 10th we heard guns booming in the distance. On the 11th, the +12th, and the 13th December we were continually marching, always going in +the direction of the guns. We went from Ecoman to Moree, to Saint +Hilaire-la-Gravelle, and thence to the Chateau de Rougemont near +Freteval, a spot famous as the scene of a victory gained by our Richard +Coeur-de-Lion over Philip Augustus. The more or less distant artillery +fire was incessant both by day and by night; but we were only supporting +other divisions of the corps, and did not find ourselves actually engaged. +On the 15th, however, there was very sharp fighting both at Freteval and +Moree, and on the morning of the 16th our Gatlings went forward to support +the second division of our army corps, which was being hard pressed by the +Germans. + +All at once, however, orders for a general retreat arrived, Chanzy having +at last decided to fall back on Le Mans. There was considerable confusion, +but at last our men set out, taking a north-westerly direction. Fairly +good order prevailed on the road, and the wiry little Bretons at least +proved that their marching powers were unimpaired. We went on incessantly +though slowly during the night, and did not make a real halt until about +seven o'clock on the following morning, when, almost dead-beat, we reached +a little town called Droue. + +Jaures, I should mention, had received the order to retreat at about four +o'clock on the afternoon of December 16, and had speedily selected three +different routes for the withdrawal of the 21st army corps. Our division, +however, was the last to quit its positions, it being about eight o'clock +at night when we set out. Thus our march lasted nine hours. The country +was a succession of sinuous valleys and stiff slopes, and banks often +overlooked the roads, which were edged with oaks and bushes. There were +several streams, a few woods, and a good many little copses. Farms often +lay close together, and now and again attempts were made to buy food and +drink of the peasantry, who, upon hearing our approach, came at times with +lights to their thresholds. But they were a close-fisted breed, and +demanded exorbitant prices. Half a franc was the lowest charge for a piece +of bread. Considering how bad the men's boots were, the marching was very +good, but a number of men deserted under cover of the night. Generally +speaking, though there was a slight skirmish at Cloyes and an engagement +at Droue, as I shall presently relate, the retreat was not greatly +hampered by the enemy. In point of fact, as the revelations of more recent +years have shown, Moltke was more anxious about the forces of Bourbaki +than about those of Chanzy, and both Prince Frederick Charles and the +Grand Duke of Mecklenburg had instructions to keep a strict watch on the +movements of Bourbaki's corps. Nevertheless, some of the Grand Duke's +troops--notably a body of cavalry--attempted to cut off our retreat. When, +however, late on the 16th, some of our men came in contact with a +detachment of the enemy near Cloyes, they momentarily checked its +progress, and, as I have indicated, we succeeded in reaching Droue without +loss. + +That morning, the 17th, the weather was again very cold, a fog following +the rain and sleet of the previous days. Somewhat later, however, snow +began to fall. At Droue--a little place of about a thousand inhabitants, +with a ruined castle and an ancient church--we breakfasted as best we +could. About nine o'clock came marching orders, and an hour later, when a +large number of our men were already on their way towards Saint Agil, our +next halting-place, General Gougeard mounted and prepared to go off with +his staff, immediately in advance of our rear-guard. At that precise +moment, however, we were attacked by the Germans, whose presence near us +we had not suspected. + +It was, however, certainly known to some of the inhabitants of Droue, who, +terrified by all that they had heard of the harshness shown by the Germans +towards the localities where they encountered any resistance, shrank from +informing either Gougeard or any of his officers that the enemy was at +hand. The artillery with which our rear was to be protected was at this +moment on the little square of Droue. It consisted of a mountain battery +under Sub-Lieutenant Gouesse of the artillery, and three Gatlings under +Sub-Lieutenant De la Forte of the navy, with naval lieutenant Rodellec du +Porzic in chief command. Whilst it was being brought into position, +Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, galloped off to stop the +retreat of the other part of our column. The enemy's force consisted of +detachments of cavalry, artillery, and Landwehr infantry. Before our +little guns could be trained on them, the Landwehr men had already seized +several outlying houses, barns, and sheds, whence they strove to pick off +our gutiners. For a moment our Mobilises hesitated to go forward, but +Gougeard dashed amongst them, appealed to their courage, and then led them +against the enemy. + +Not more than three hundred yards separated the bulk of the contending +forces, indeed there were some Germans in the houses less than two hundred +yards away. Our men at last forced these fellows to decamp, killing and +wounding several of them; whilst, thanks to Colonel Bernard's prompt +intervention, a battalion of the 19th line regiment and two companies of +the Foreign Legion, whose retreat was hastily stopped, threatened the +enemy's right flank. A squadron of the Second Lancers under a young +lieutenant also came to our help, dismounting and supporting Gougeard's +Mobilises with the carbines they carried. Realizing that we were in force, +the enemy ended by retreating, but not until there had been a good deal of +fighting in and around the outlying houses of Droue. + +Such, briefly, was the first action I ever witnessed. Like others, I was +under fire for some time, being near the guns and helping to carry away +the gunners whom the Germans shot from the windows of the houses in which +they had installed themselves. We lost four or five artillerymen in that +manner, including the chief officer, M. de Rodelleo du Porzic, whom a +bullet struck in the chest. He passed away in a little cafe whither we +carried him. He was, I believe, the last of his family, two of his +brothers having previously been killed in action. + +We lost four or five other officers in this same engagement, as well as a +Breton chaplain of the Mobilises. Our total losses were certainly larger +than Gougeard subsequently stated in his official report, amounting in +killed and wounded, I think, to from 120 to 150 men. Though the officers +as a rule behaved extremely well--some of them, indeed, splendidly--there +were a few lamentable instances of cowardice. By Gougeard's orders, four +were placed under arrest and court-martialled at the end of the retreat. +Of these, two were acquitted, whilst a third was shot, and a fourth +sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a fortress. [From the formation of +the "Army of Brittany" until the armistice the total number of executions +was eleven. They included one officer (mentioned above) for cowardice in +presence of the enemy; five men of the Foreign Legion for murdering +peasants; one Franc-titeur for armed robbery, and four men (Line and +Mobile Guards) for desertion in presence of the enemy. The number would +have been larger had it been possible to identify and punish those who +were most guilty in the stampede of La Tuilerie during the battle of +Le Mans.] + +The enemy's pursuit having been checked, we eventually quitted Droue, but +when we had gone another three miles or so and reached a village called +Fontenelle, the Germans came on again. It was then about two o'clock in +the afternoon, and for a couple of hours or so, whilst we continued our +retreat, the enemy kept up a running cannonade, repeatedly endeavouring +to harass our rear. We constantly replied to their fire, however, and +steadily kept them off, losing only a few men before the dusk fell, when +the pursuit ceased. We afterwards plodded on slowly--the roads being in a +terrible condition--until at about half-past six o'clock we reached the +village of Saint Agil, where the staff installed itself at Count de +Saint-Maixent's stately renaissance chateau. + +The weather was better on December 18, for, though it was extremely cold, +the snow ceased falling. But we still had a formidable task before us. +The roads, as I have said, were wretched, and at Saint Agil we had to +contend with some terrible quagmires, across which we found it at first +impossible to get our guns, ammunition-vans, and baggage train. It became +necessary to lop and fell trees, and form with them a kind of bed over +which our impedimenta might travel. Hour after hour went by amidst +incessant labour. An ammunition waggon containing only half its proper +load required the efforts of a dozen horses to pull it over that morass, +whilst, as for the guns, each of the 12's required even more horses. +It was three o'clock on the afternoon of the 18th when the last gun was +got across. Three gun-carriages were broken during those efforts, but our +men managed to save the pieces. Late in the operations the Germans again +put in an appearance, but were held in respect by our Gatlings and +mountain-guns. Half an hour, however, after our departure from Saint Agil, +they entered the village. + +In a very wretched condition, half-famished and footsore, we went on, +through the sudden thaw which had set in, towards Vibraye, whose forest, +full in those days of wild boars and deer, stretched away on our left. +We were now in the department of the Sarthe, and, cutting across country +in the direction of the Huisne, we at last reached the ancient little +_bourg_ of Connerre, on the high-road running (left of the river) towards +Le Mans. There I took leave of our column, and, after buying a shirt and +some socks, hastened to the railway station--a mile and a half distant-- +hoping, from what was told me, that there might be some means of getting +to Le Mans by train, instead of accompanying our men along the highway. +At Connerre station I found a very good inn, where I at once partook of +the best meal that I had eaten since leaving Le Mans, sixteen days +previously. I then washed, put on my new shirt and socks, and went to +interview the station-master. After a great deal of trouble, as I had a +permit signed by Colonel Bernard, and wore an ambulance armlet, I was +allowed to travel to Le Mans in a railway van. There was no regular +service of trains, the only ones now running so far north being used for +military purposes. I got to Le Mans a few hours before our column reached +Yvre l'Eveque on the night of December 20, and at once sought a train +which would convey me to Rennes, if not as far as Saint Malo. Then came +another long, slow, dreary journey in a villainous wooden-seated +third-class carriage. It was between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning +when we reached Rennes. I still had about five-and-twenty francs in my +pocket, and knowing that it would not cost me more than a quarter of that +amount to get to Saint Malo, I resolved to indulge in a good _dejeuner_ at +the Hotel de France. + +There was nobody excepting a few waiters in the long dining-room, but the +tables were already laid there. When, however, I seated myself at one of +them, the head-waiter came up declaring that I could not be accommodated, +as the tables were reserved for _ces messieurs_. I was inquiring who +_ces messieurs_ might be, when some of them entered the room in a very +swaggering manner. All were arrayed in stylish and brand-new uniforms, +with beautiful boots, and looked in the pink of condition. They belonged, +I found, to a free corps called the "Eclaireurs d'Ille-et-Vilaine," and +their principal occupations were to mess together copiously and then +stroll about the town, ogling all the good-looking girls they met. The +corps never went to the front. Three or four weeks afterwards, when I +again passed through Rennes--this second time with my father--Messieurs +les Eclaireurs were still displaying their immaculate uniforms and highly +polished boots amidst all the misery exhibited by the remnants of one of +Chanzy's _corps d'armee_. + +Though I was little more than a boy, my blood fairly boiled when I was +requested to give up my seat at table for these arrogant young fops. +I went to complain at the hotel _bureau_, but, being confronted there by +the landlady instead of by the landlord, I did not express my feelings so +strongly as I might have done. "Madame" sweetly informed me that the first +_dejeuner_ was entirely reserved for Messieurs les Eclaireurs, but that, +if I would wait till the second _dejeuner_ at noon, I should find ample +accommodation. However, I was not inclined to do any such thing. I thought +of all the poor, famished, shivering men whom I had left less than +twenty-four hours previously, and some of whom I had more than once helped +to buy bread and cheese and wine during our long and painful marches. +They, at all events, had done their duty as best they could, and I felt +highly indignant with the swaggering young bloods of Rennes, who were +content to remain in their native town displaying their uniforms and +enjoying themselves. Fortunately, such instances were very rare. + +Returning to the railway station, I obtained something to eat at the +refreshment-room, where I presently heard somebody trying to make +a waiter understand an order given in broken French. Recognizing a +fellow-countryman, I intervened and procured what he desired. I found that +he was going to Saint Malo like myself, so we made the journey together. +He told me that, although he spoke very little French, he had come to +France on behalf of an English boot-making firm in order to get a contract +from some of the military authorities. Many such people were to be found +in Brittany, at Le Mans, at Tours, and elsewhere, during the latter period +of the war. An uncle of mine, Frederick Vizetelly, came over, I remember, +and interviewed Freyeinet and others on behalf of an English small-arm +firm. I forget whether he secured a contract or not; but it is a +lamentable and uncontrovertible fact that many of the weapons and many of +the boots sold by English makers to the National Defence were extremely +defective. Some of the American weapons were even worse than ours. As for +the boots, they often had mere "composition soles," which were soon worn +out. I saw, notably after the battle of Le Mans, hundreds--I believe I +might say, without, exaggeration, thousands--of men whose boots were mere +remnants. Some hobbled through the snow with only rags wrapped round their +bleeding feet. On the other hand, a few of our firms undoubtedly supplied +satisfactory boots, and it may have been so in the case of the traveller +whom I met at Rennes. + +A few days after my return to Saint Malo, my cousin, Montague Vizetelly, +arrived there with a commission from the _Daily News_ to join Chanzy's +forces at Le Mans. Mr. Robinson, I was afterwards told, had put some +questions about me to my brother Adrian, and, on hearing how young I was, +had thought that I might not be equal to the occasion if a decisive battle +between Prince Frederick Charles and Chanzy should be fought. My cousin-- +then four-and-twenty years of age--was accordingly sent over. From that +time nearly all my war letters were forwarded to the _Pall Mall Gazette_, +and, as it happened, one of them was the first account of the great battle +of Le Mans, from the French side, to appear in an English paper. + + + +XI + +BEFORE LE MANS + +The War in various Regions of France--General Faidherbe--Battle of +Pont-Noyelles--Unreliability of French Official News--Engagement of +Nuits--Le Bourget Sortie--Battles of Bapaume and Villersexel--Chanzy's +Plan of Operations--The Affair of Saint Calais--Wretched State of some +of Chanzy's Soldiers--Le Mans and its Historical Associations--The +Surrounding Country--Chanzy's Career--Positions of his Forces--Advance +of Prince Frederick Charles--The first Fighting before Le Mans and its +Result. + + +Whilst Chanzy was retreating on Le Mans, and there reorganizing and +reinforcing his army, a variety of operations went on in other parts +of France. After the German occupation of Amiens, Moltke instructed +Manteuffel to advance on Rouen, which he did, afterwards despatching a +column to Dieppe; the result being that on December 9 the Germans, for +the first time, reached the sea-coast. Since December 3 Faidherbe had +taken the chief command of the Army of the North at Lille. He was +distinctly a clever general, and was at that time only fifty-two years of +age. But he had spent eleven years in Senegal, organizing and developing +that colony, and his health had been impaired by the tropical West African +climate. Nevertheless, he evinced no little energy, and never despaired, +however slender might be the forces under him, and however cramped his +position. As soon as he had reorganized the army entrusted to his charge, +he moved towards Amiens, and on December 23 and 24 a battle was fought at +Pont-Noyelles, in the vicinity of that town. In some respects Faidherbe +gained the advantage, but his success was a barren one, and his losses +were far greater than those of the Germans, amounting, indeed, to 2300 men +(apart from many deserters), whereas the enemy's were not more than a +thousand. Gambetta, however, telegraphed to the Prefects that a great +victory had been gained; and I remember that when a notice to that effect +was posted at the town-hall of Saint Servan, everybody there became +jubilant. + +Most of our war-news, or, at least, the earliest intelligence of any +important engagement, came to us in the fashion I have indicated, +townsfolk constantly assembling outside the prefectures, subprefectures, +and municipal buildings in order to read the day's news. At times it was +entirely false, at others some slight success of the French arms was +magnified into a victory, and a petty engagement became a pitched battle. +The news in the French newspapers was usually very belated and often quite +unreliable, though now and again telegrams from London were published, +giving information which was as near to the truth as the many English war +correspondents on both sides could ascertain. After the war, both +Frenchmen and Germans admitted to me that of all the newspaper +intelligence of the period there was nothing approaching in accuracy +that which was imparted by our British correspondents. I am convinced, +from all I heard in Paris, in Berlin, in Vienna, and elsewhere, during +the two or three years which followed the war, that the reputation of the +British Press was greatly enhanced on the Continent by the news it gave +during the Franco-German campaign. Many a time in the course of the next +few years did I hear foreigners inquire: "What do the London papers say?" +or remark: "If an English paper says it, it must be true." I do not wish +to blow the trumpet too loudly on behalf of the profession to which I +belonged for many years, but what I have here mentioned is strictly true; +and now that my days of travel are over, I should be glad to know that +foreigners still hold the British Press in the same high esteem. + +But, to return to my narrative, whilst the events I have mentioned were +taking place in Normandy and Northern France, Gambetta was vainly trying +to persuade Bourbaki to advance in the direction of Montargis. He also +wished to reinforce Garibaldi; but the enmity of many French officers +towards the Italian Liberator was so great that they would not serve with +him. General von Werder was at this time covering the siege of Belfort and +watching Langres. On December 18 there was an engagement at Nuits between +some of his forces and those led by the French commander Cremer, who +claimed the victory, but afterwards retreated towards Beaune. The French, +however, were now able to re-occupy Dijon. On the 21st another sortie was +made from Paris, this time on the north, in the direction of Le Bourget +and Ville-Evrard. Ducrot was again in command, and 200,000 men were got +together, but only 5000 were brought into action. There were a great many +desertions, and no fewer than six officers of one brigade alone were +court-martialled and punished for lack of courage. The affair appears to +have been arranged in order to quiet the more reckless elements in Paris, +who were for ever demanding "a great, a torrential sortie." In this +instance, however, there was merely "much ado about nothing." The truth +is, that ever since the Champigny affair both Trochu and Ducrot had lost +all confidence. + +On January 2 and 3, the French under Faidherbe, and the Germans under +Goeben, fought a battle at Bapaume, south of Arras. The former were by far +the more numerous force, being, indeed, as three to one, and Faidherbe is +credited with having gained a victory. But, again, it was only a barren +one, for although the Germans fell back, the French found it quite as +necessary to do the same. About a week previously the 16th French Army +Corps, with which Bourbaki had done little or nothing on the Loire, had +been removed from Vierzon and Bourges to join the Army of the East, of +which Bourbaki now assumed the chief command. The transport of the troops +proved a very difficult affair, and there was great disorder and, again, +many desertions. Nevertheless, on January 9, Bourbaki fought Werder at +Villersexel, in the vicinity of Vesoul, Montbeliard, and Belfort. In this +engagement there appear to have been serious mistakes on both sides, and +though Bourbaki claimed a success, his losses were numerically double +those of the Germans. + +Meantime Chanzy, at Le Mans, was urging all sorts of plans on Gambetta and +Freyeinet. In the first place he desired to recruit and strengthen his +forces, so sorely tried by their difficult retreat; and in order that he +might have time to do so, he wished Bourbaki to execute a powerful +diversion by marching in the direction of Troyes. But Gambetta and +Freyeinet had decided otherwise. Bourbaki's advance was to be towards the +Vosges, after which he was to turn westward and march on Paris with +150,000 men. Chanzy was informed of this decision on and about January 5 +(1871), and on the 6th he made a last attempt to modify the Government +plan in order that Bourbaki's march might be directed on a point nearer to +Paris. In reply, he was informed that it was too late to modify the +arrangements. + +With regard to his own operations, Chanzy's idea was to march towards the +capital when his forces were reorganized. His bases were to be the river +Sarthe, the town of Le Mans, and the railway-line running northward to +Alencon. Thence he proposed to advance to some point on the river Eure +between Dreux and Chartres, going afterwards towards Paris by such a route +as circumstances might allow. He had 130,000 men near Le Mans, and +proposed to take 120,000 with 350 field-pieces or machine-guns, and +calculated that he might require a week, or to be precise eight days, to +carry this force from Le Mans to Chartres, allowing for fighting on the +way. Further, to assist his movements he wished Faidherbe, as well as +Bourbaki, to assume the offensive vigorously as soon as he was ready. The +carrying out of the scheme was frustrated, however, in part by the +movements which the Government ordered Bourbaki to execute, and in part by +what may be called the sudden awakening of Prince Frederick Charles, who, +feeling more apprehensive respecting Bourbaki's movements, had hitherto, +in a measure, neglected Chanzy's doings. + +On December 22 Captain, afterwards General, de Boisdeffre [He was Chief of +the French Staff during the famous Dreyfus Case, in which his name was +frequently mentioned.] reached Le Mans, after quitting Paris in one of the +balloons, and gave Chanzy certain messages with which Trochu had entrusted +him. He brought nothing in writing, as what he had to communicate was +considered too serious to be committed to paper. Yet both my father and +myself could have imparted virtually the same information, which was but a +_secret de Polichinelle_. It concerned the date when the fall of Paris +would become inevitable. We--my father and myself--had said repeatedly at +Versailles and elsewhere that the capital's supply of food would last +until the latter days of January, and that the city (unless in the +meanwhile it were relieved) must then surrender. Authentic information to +that effect was available in Paris before we quitted it in November. +Of course Trochu's message to Chanzy was official, and carried greater +weight than the assertions of journalists. It was to the effect that it +would be necessary to negotiate a capitulation on January 20, in order to +give time for the revictualling of the city's two million inhabitants. +As it happened, the resistance was prolonged for another week or so. +However, Boisdeffre's information was sufficiently explicit to show Chanzy +that no time must be lost if Paris was to be saved. + +Some German cavalry--probably the same men who had pursued Gougeard's +column--showed themselves at Saint Calais, which is only some thirty +miles north-east of Le Mans, as early as December 18, but soon retired, +and no further advance of the enemy in that direction took place for +several days. Chanzy formed two flying columns, one a division under +General Jouffroy, and one a body of 4000 men under General Rousseau, for +the purpose of worrying the enemy and keeping him at a distance. These +troops, particularly those of Jouffroy, who moved towards Montoire and +Vendome, had several small but none the less important engagements with +the Germans. Prince Frederick Charles, indeed, realised that Jouffroy's +operations were designed to ensure the security of Chanzy's main army +whilst it was being recruited and reorganized, and thereupon decided to +march on Le Mans and attack Chanzy before the latter had attained his +object. + +On Christmas Day a force of German cavalry, artillery, and infantry +descended upon Saint Calais (then a town of about 3500 inhabitants), +levied a sum of 17,000 francs, pillaged several of the houses, and +ill-treated a number of the townsfolk. When some of the latter ventured to +protest, pointing out, among other things, that after various little +engagements in the vicinity several wounded Germans had been brought into +the town and well cared for there, the enemy's commanding officer called +them a pack of cowards, and flung them 2000 francs of his recent levy, to +pay them, he said, for their so-called services. The affair was reported +to Chanzy, who thereupon wrote an indignant letter to the German general +commanding at Vendome. It was carried thither by a certain M. de Vezian, a +civil engineer attached to Chanzy's staff, who brought back the following +reply: + +"Recu une lettre du General Chanzy. Un general prussien ne sachant pas +ecrire une lettre de tel genre, ne saurait y faire une reponse par ecrit. + +"Au quartier-general a Vendome, 28 Decembre 1870." + +Signature (_illegible_). + +It was, perhaps, a pity that Chanzy ever wrote his letter of protest. +French generals were too much given to expressing their feelings in +writing daring that war. Deeds and not words were wanted. + +Meantime, the army was being slowly recruited. On December 13, Gambetta +had issued--none too soon--a decree authorising the billeting of the men +"during the winter campaign." Nevertheless, when Gougeard's troops +returned to Yvree l'Eveque, they were ordered to sleep under canvas, like +many other divisions of the army. It was a great mistake. In that severe +weather--the winter was one of the coldest of the nineteenth century--the +men's sufferings were very great. They were in need, too, of many things, +new shoes, linen, great-coats, and other garments, and there was much +delay in providing for their more urgent requirements. Thus the number of +desertions was not to be wondered at. The commander-in-chief did his best +to ensure discipline among his dispirited troops. Several men were shot by +way of example. When, shortly before the battle of Le Mans, the 21st Army +Corps crossed the Huisne to take up positions near Montfort, several +officers were severely punished for riding in ambulance and baggage +waggons instead of marching with their men. + +Le Mans is not easily defended from an enemy advancing upon it from +eastern, north-eastern, and south-eastern directions. A close defence is +impossible by reason of the character of the country. At the time of which +I write, the town was one of about 37,000 inhabitants. Very ancient, +already in existence at the time of the Romans, it became the capital of +Maine. William the Conqueror seized it, but it was snatched from his son, +Robert, by Helie de La Fleche. Later, Geoffrey, the First of the +Plantagenets, was buried there, it being, moreover, the birthplace of his +son, our Henry II. In after years it was taken from Richard Coeur-de-Lion +by Philip-Augustus, who assigned it, however, to Richard's widow, Queen +Berengaria. A house in the town is wrongly said to have been her +residence, but she undoubtedly founded the Abbaye de l'Epau, near Yvre +l'Eveque, and was buried there. It was at Le Mans that King John of +France, who surrendered to the Black Prince at Poitiers, was born; and in +the neighbouring forest, John's grandson, Charles VI, first gave signs of +insanity. Five times during the Anglo-French wars of the days of Henry V +and Henry VI, Le Mans was besieged by one or another of the contending +parties. The town again suffered during the Huguenot wars, and yet again +during the Revolution, when the Vendeens seized it, but were expelled by +Marceau, some 5000 of them being bayoneted on the Place de l'Eperon. + +Rich in associations with the history of England as well as that of +France, Le Mans, in spite of its accessibility--for railway lines coming +from five different directions meet there--is seldom visited by our +tourists. Its glory is its cathedral, strangely neglected by the numerous +English writers on the cathedrals of France. Here are exemplified the +architectural styles of five successive centuries, and, as Merimee once +wrote, in passing from one part of the edifice to another, it is as if you +passed from one to another religion. But the supreme features of the +cathedral are its stained-glass windows, which include some of the very +oldest in the world. Many years ago, when they were in a more perfect +condition than they are now, Hucher gave reproductions of them in a rare +folio volume. Here, too, is the tomb of Queen Berengaria of England, +removed from the Abbaye de l'Epau; here, also, was formerly that of her +husband's grandfather, Geoffrey Plantagenet. But this was destroyed by +the Huguenots, and you must go to the museum to see all that remains of +it--that is, the priceless enamel _plaque_ by which it was formerly +surmounted, and which represents Geoffrey grasping his sword and his azure +shield, the latter bearing a cross and lions rampant--not the leoparded +lions passant of his English descendants. Much ink has flowed respecting +that shield during squabbles among heraldists. + +Judging by recent plans of Le Mans, a good many changes have taken place +there since the time of the Franco-German War. Various new, broad, +straight streets have been substituted for some of the quaint old winding +ones. The Pont Napoleon now appears to have become the Pont Gambetta, and +the Place, des Minimes is called the Place de la Republique. I notice also +a Rue Thiers which did not exist in the days when Le Mans was familiar to +me as an old-world town. In this narrative I must, of course, take it as +it was then, not as it is now. + +The Sarthe, flowing from north to south, where it is joined by its +tributary the Huisne, coming from the north-east, still divides the town +into two unequal sections; the larger one, on the most elevated part of +which stands the cathedral, being that on the river's left bank. At the +time I write of, the Sarthe was spanned by three stone bridges, a +suspension bridge, and a granite and marble railway viaduct, some 560 feet +in length. The German advance was bound to come from the east and the +south. On the east is a series of heights, below which flow the waters of +the Huisne. The views range over an expanse of varying elevation, steep +hills and deep valleys being frequent. There are numerous watercourses. +The Huisne, which helps to feed the Sarthe, is itself fed by a number of +little tributaries. The lowest ground, at the time I have in mind, was +generally meadow-land, intersected here and there with rows of poplars, +whilst the higher ground was employed for the cultivation of crops. Every +little field was circumscribed by ditches, banks, and thick hedges. + +The loftiest point of the eastern heights is at Yvre l'Eveque, which was +once crowned by a renaissance chateau, where Henry of Navarre resided when +he reduced Le Mans to submission. Northward from Yvre, in the direction of +Savigne, stretches the high plateau of Sarge, which on the west slopes +down towards the river Sarthe, and forms one of the most important of the +natural defences of Le Mans. Eastward, from Yvre, you overlook first the +Huisne, spanned at various neighbouring points by four bridges, but having +much of the meadow-land in its valley cut up by little water-channels for +purposes of irrigation--these making the ground additionally difficult for +an attacking force to traverse. Secondly, you see a long plateau called +Auvours, the possession of which must necessarily facilitate an enemy's +operations. Following the course of the railway-line coming from the +direction of Paris, you notice several pine woods, planted on former +heaths. Still looking eastward, is the village of Champagne, where the +slopes are studded with vines, whilst the plain is arable land, dotted +over with clumps of chestnut trees. North-east of Champagne is Montfort, +where Chanzy at first stationed the bulk of the 21st Army Corps under +Jaures, this (leaving his flying columns on one side) being the most +eastern position of his forces at the time when the German advance began. +The right of the 21st Corps here rested on the Huisne. Its extreme left +extended northward towards the Sarthe, but a division of the 17th Corps +under General de Colomb guarded the Alencon (N.) and Conlie (N.W.) railway +lines. + +Confronted by the Huisne, the heights of Yvre and the plateaux of Sarge +and Auvours, having, for the most part, to keep to the high-roads--for, +bad as their state might be at that season, it was nothing compared with +the condition of the many narrow and often deep lanes, whose high banks +and hedges, moreover, offered opportunities for ambush--the Germans, it +was obvious, would have a difficult task before them on the eastern side +of Le Mans, even should they drive the 21st Corps from Montfort. The +approach to the town is easier, however, on the south-east and the south, +Here are numerous pine woods, but on going towards Le Mans, after passing +Parigne-l'Eveque (S.E.) and Mulsanne (S.), the ground is generally much +less hilly than on the east. There are, however, certain positions +favourable for defence. There is high ground at Change, midway between the +road from Saint Calais to Le Mans, _via_ Yvre, and the road from Grand +Luce to Le Mans _via_ Parigne. Over a distance of eight miles, moreover, +there extends--or extended at the time I refer to--a track called the +Chemin des Boeufs, suitable for defensive purposes, with high ground at at +least two points--Le Tertre Rouge, south-east of Le Mans, and La Tuilerie, +south of the town. The line of the Chemin des Boeufs and the position of +Change was at first entrusted by Chanzy to the 16th Corps, whose +commander, Jaureguiberry, had his headquarters at the southern suburb of +Pontlieue, an important point affording direct access to Le Mans by a +stone bridge over the Huisne. + +When I returned to Le Mans from Saint Servan in the very first days of +January, Chanzy's forces numbered altogether about 130,000 men, but a very +large proportion of them were dispersed in different directions, forming +detached columns under Generals Barry, Curten, Rousseau, and Jouffroy. The +troops of the two first-named officers had been taken from the 16th Corps +(Jaureguiberry), those of Rousseau were really the first division of the +21st Corps (Jaures), and those of Jouffroy belonged to the 17th, commanded +by General de Colomb. [The 16th and 17th comprised three divisions each, +the 21st including four. The German Corps were generally of only two +divisions, with, however, far stronger forces of cavalry than Chanzy +disposed of.] It is a curious circumstance that, among the German +troops which opposed the latter's forces at this stage of the war, there +was a division commanded by a General von Colomb. Both these officers had +sprung from the same ancient French family, but Von Colomb came from a +Huguenot branch which had quitted France when the Edict of Nantes was +revoked. + +Chanzy's other chief coadjutors at Le Mans were Jaures, of whom I have +already spoken, and Rear-Admiral Jaureguiberry, who, after the general-in- +chief, was perhaps the most able of all the commanders. Of Basque origin +and born in 1815, he had distinguished himself as a naval officer in the +Crimean, Chinese, and Cochin China expeditions; and on taking service in +the army under the National Defence, he had contributed powerfully to +D'Aurelle's victory at Coulmiers. He became known among the Loire forces +as the man who was always the first to attack and the last to retreat. +[He looked somewhat older than his years warranted, being very bald, with +just a fringe of white hair round the cranium. His upper lip and chin were +shaven, but he wore white whiskers of the "mutton-chop" variety. Slim and +fairly tall, he was possessed of no little nervous strength and energy. In +later years he became Minister of Marine in the Waddington, the second +Freycinet, and the Duclerc cabinets.] + +Having referred to Chanzy's principal subordinates, it is fitting that I +should give a brief account of Chanzy himself. The son of an officer of +the First Empire, he was born at Nouart in the Argonne, and from his +personal knowledge of that region it is certain that his services would +have proved valuable during the disastrous march on Sedan, when, as Zola +has rightly pointed out in "La Debacle," so many French commanding +officers were altogether ignorant of the nature and possibilities of the +country through which they advanced. Chanzy, however, like many others who +figured among the Loire forces, had begun life in the navy, enlisting in +that service when sixteen years of age. But, after very brief experience +afloat, he went to the military school of St. Cyr, passed out of it as a +sub-lieutenant in 1843, when he was in his twenty-first year, was +appointed to a regiment of Zouaves, and sent to Algeria. He served, +however, in the Italian campaign of 1859, became lieutenant-colonel of a +line regiment, and as such took part in the Syrian expedition of 1860-61. +Later, he was with the French forces garrisoning Rome, acquired a +colonelcy in 1864, returned to Algeria, and in 1868 was promoted to the +rank of general of brigade. + +At the outset of the Franco-German War, he applied for active service, but +the imperial authorities would not employ him in France. In spite of the +associations of his family with the first Empire, he was, like Trochu, +accounted an Orleanist, and it was not desired that any Orleanist general +should have an opportunity to distinguish himself in the contemplated +"march on Berlin." Marshal MacMahon, however, as Governor of Algeria, had +formed a high opinion of Chanzy's merits, and after Sedan, anxious as he +was for his country in her predicament, the Marshal, then a prisoner of +war, found a means of advising the National Defence to make use of +Chanzy's services. That patriotic intervention, which did infinite credit +to MacMahon, procured for Chanzy an appointment at the head of the 16th +Army Corps, and later the chief command of the Second Loire Army. + +When I first saw him in the latter days of 1870, he was in his +fifty-eighth year, well built, and taller than the majority of French +officers. His fair hair and fair moustache had become grey; but his blue +eyes had remained bright, and there was an expression of quiet resolution +on his handsome, well-cut face, with its aquiline nose and energetic jaw. +Such, physically, was the general whom Moltke subsequently declared to +have been the best that France opposed to the Germans throughout the war. +I never once saw Chanzy excited, in which respect he greatly contrasted +with many of the subordinate commanders. Jaureguiberry was sometimes +carried away by his Basque, and Gougeard by his Celtic, blood. So it was +with Jaures, who, though born in Paris, had, like his nephew the Socialist +leader, the blood of the Midi in his veins. Chanzy, however, belonged to a +calmer, a more quietly resolute northern race. + +He was inclined to religion, and I remember that, in addition to the +chaplains accompanying the Breton battalions, there was a chief chaplain +attached to the general staff. This was Abbe de Beuvron, a member of +an old noble family of central France. The Chief of the Staff was +Major-General Vuillemot; the Provost-General was Colonel Mora, and the +principal aides-de-camp were Captains Marois and de Boisdeffre. Specially +attached to the headquarters service there was a rather numerous picked +force under General Bourdillon. It comprised a regiment of horse gendarmes +and one of foot gendarmes, four squadrons of Chasseurs d'Afrique, some +artillery provided chiefly with mountain-guns, an aeronautical company +under the brothers Tissandier, and three squadrons of Algerian light +cavalry, of the Spahi type, who, with their flowing burnouses and their +swift little Arab horses, often figured conspicuously in Chanzy's escort. +A year or two after the war, I engaged one of these very men--he was +called Saad--as a servant, and he proved most devoted and attentive; +but he had contracted the germs of pulmonary disease during that cruel +winter of 1870-71, and at the end of a few months I had to take him to the +Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris, where he died of galloping +consumption. + +The German forces opposed to Chanzy consisted of a part of the so-called +"Armee-Abtheilung" under the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, and the "Second +Army" under Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, the latter including the +3rd, 9th, 10th, and 13th Army Corps, and disposing of numerous cavalry +and nearly four hundred guns. The Prince ascertained that the French +forces were, in part, extremely dispersed, and therefore resolved to act +before they could be concentrated. At the outset the Germans came down on +Nogent-le-Rotrou, where Rousseau's column was stationed, inflicted a +reverse on him, and compelled him (January 7) to fall back on Connerre--a +distance of thirty miles from Nogent, and of less than sixteen from Le +Mans. On the same day, sections of Jouffroy's forces were defeated at +Epuisay and Poirier (mid-way between Le Mans and Vendome), and also +forced to retreat. The French detachments (under Jouffroy, Curten, and +Barry) which were stationed along the line from Saint Calais to Montoire, +and thence to Saint Amand and Chateau-Renault--a stretch of some +five-and-twenty miles--were not strong enough to oppose the German +advance, and some of them ran the risk of having their retreat cut off. +Chanzy realized the danger, and on the morning of January 8 he despatched +Jaureguiberry to take command of all the troops distributed from the south +to the south-east, between Chateau-du-Loir and Chateau-Renault, and bring +them to Le Mans. + +But the 10th German Corps was advancing in these directions, and, after +an engagement with Barry's troops at Ruille, secured positions round La +Chartre. This seriously threatened the retreat of the column under General +Curten, which was still at Saint Amand, and, moreover, it was a further +menace to Barry himself, as his division was distributed over a front of +fourteen miles near Chateau-du-Loir. Jaureguiberry, however, entreated +Barry to continue guarding the river Loir, in the hope of Curten being +able to retreat to that point. + +Whilst, however, these defensive attempts were being made to the south of +Le Mans, the Germans were pressing forward on the north-east and the +east, Prince Frederick Charles being eager to come in touch with Chanzy's +main forces, regardless of what might happen on the Loir and at Saint +Amand. On the north-east the enemy advanced to La Ferte Bernard; on the +east, at Vance, a brigade of German cavalry drove back the French +cuirassiers and Algerians, and Prince Frederick Charles then proceeded as +far as Saint Calais, where he prepared for decisive action. One army corps +was sent down the line of the Huisne, another had orders to advance on +Ardenay, a third on Bouloire, whilst the fourth, leaving Barry on its left +flank, was to march on Parigne-l'Eveque. Thus, excepting a brigade of +infantry and one of cavalry, detached to observe the isolated Curten, and +hold him in check, virtually the whole of the German Second Army marched +against Chanzy's main forces. + +Chanzy, on his side, now ordered Jaures (21st Corps) to occupy the +positions of Yvre, Auvours, and Sarge strongly; whilst Colomb (17th Corps) +was instructed to send General Paris's division forward to Ardenay, thus +reducing Colomb's actual command to one division, as Jouffroy's column had +previously been detached from it. On both sides every operation was +attended by great difficulties on account of the very severe weather. +A momentary thaw had been followed by another sudden frost, in such wise +that the roads had a coating of ice, which rendered them extremely +slippery. On January 9 violent snowstorms set in, almost blinding one, and +yet the rival hosts did not for an hour desist from their respective +efforts. At times, when I recall those days, I wonder whether many who +have read of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow have fully realized what that +meant. Amidst the snowstorms of the 9th a force of German cavalry attacked +our extreme left and compelled it to retreat towards the Alencon line. +Rousseau's column being in a dangerous position at Connerre, Colin's +division of the 21st Corps was sent forward to support it in the direction +of Montfort, Gougeard with his Bretons also advancing to support Colin. +But the 13th German Corps attacked Rousseau, who after two engagements +was driven from Connerre and forced to retreat on Montfort and +Pont-de-Gennes across the Huisne, after losing in killed, wounded, and +missing, some 800 of his men, whereas the enemy lost barely a hundred. +At the same time Gougeard was attacked, and compelled to fall back on +Saint-Mars-la-Bruyere. + +But the principal event of the day was the defeat of General Paris's force +at Ardenay by a part of the 3rd German Corps. The latter had a superiority +in numbers, but the French in their demoralised condition scarcely put up +a fight at all, in such wise that the Germans took about 1000 prisoners. +The worst, however, was that, by seizing Ardenay, the enemy drove as it +were a wedge between the French forces, hampering their concentration. +Meantime, the 9th German Corps marched to Bouloire, which became Prince +Frederick Charles's headquarters. The 10th Corps, however, had not yet +been able to advance to Parigne l'Eveque in accordance with the Prince's +orders, though it had driven Barry back on Jupilles and Grand Luce. The +sole advantage secured by the French that day was that Curten managed to +retreat from Chateau-Renault; but it was only on the night of the 10th, +when he could be of little or no use to Chanzy, that he was able to reach +Chateau-du-Loir, where, in response to Chanzy's urgent appeals, +Jaureguiberry had succeeded in collecting a few thousand men to reinforce +the troops defending Le Mans. + +For four days there had been fighting on one and another point, from the +north-east to the south of the town, the result being unfavourable to the +French. Chanzy, it is true, was at this critical moment in bad health. +According to one account which I heard at the time, he had had an attack +of dysentery; according to another, he was suffering from some throat +complaint, combined with violent neuralgic pains in the head. I do not +think, however, that his ill-health particularly affected the issue, which +depended so largely on the manner in which his plans and instructions were +carried out. The strategy adopted by the Germans at Sedan and in the +battles around Metz had greatly impressed the generals who commanded the +French armies during the second period of the war. One might really say +that they lived in perpetual dread of being surrounded by the enemy. If +there was a lack of concentration on Chanzy's part, if he sent out one and +another flying column, and distributed a considerable portion of his army +over a wide area, it was precisely because he feared some turning movement +on the part of the Germans, which might result in bottling him up at +Le Mans. + +The earlier instructions which Prince Frederick Charles forwarded to his +subordinates certainly seem to indicate that a turning movement was +projected. But after the fighting on January 9, when, as I have indicated, +the 3rd German Army Corps penetrated wedge-like into the French lines, the +Prince renounced any idea of surrounding Chanzy's forces, and resolved to +make a vigorous frontal attack before they could be reinforced by any of +the still outlying columns. In coming to this decision, the Prince may +well have been influenced by the result of the recent fighting, which had +sufficiently demonstrated the superiority of the German troops to show +that, under the circumstances, a frontal attack would be attended with far +less risk than if he had found himself faced by a really vigorous +antagonist. Captain Hozier, whom I had previously seen at Versailles, was +at this time acting as _Times_ correspondent with the Prince's army, and, +in subsequently reviewing the fighting, he expressed the opinion that the +issue of the Prince's operations was never for a moment doubtful. Still, +on all points but one, the French put up a fairly good defence, as I will +now show. + + + +XII + +LE MANS AND AFTER + +The real Battle of Le Mans begins (January 10)--Jouffroy and Paris +are driven back--Gougeard's Fight at Champagne--The Breton Mobilises +from Conlie--Chanzy's Determination--His Orders for January 11--He +inspects the Lines--Paris driven from the Plateau of Auvours--Gougeard's +gallant re-capture of the Plateau--My Return to Le Mans--The Panic at La +Tuilerie--Retreat inevitable--Withdrawal of the French--Entry of the +Germans--Street Fighting--German Exactions--My Escape from Le Mans--The +French Retreat--Rear-Guard Engagements--Laval--My Arrest as a Spy--A +Dramatic Adventure. + + +Some more snow fell on the morning of January 10, when the decisive +fighting in front of Le Mans really began. On the evening of the 9th the +French headquarters was still without news of Generals Curten, Barry, +and Jouffroy, and even the communications with Jaureguiberry were of an +intermittent character. Nevertheless, Chanzy had made up his mind to give +battle, and had sent orders to Jaureguiberry to send Jouffroy towards +Parigne-l'Eveque (S.E.) and Barry towards Ecommoy (S. of Le Mans). But +the roads were in so bad a condition, and the French troops had been so +severely tried, and were so ill-provided for, that several of the +commander-in-chief's instructions could not be carried out. + +Jouffroy at least did his best, and after a hard and tiring march from +Grand Luce, a part of his division reached Parigne in time to join in the +action fought there. But it ended disastrously for the French, one of +their brigades losing as many as 1400 men, and the Germans taking +altogether some 2000 prisoners. Jouffroy's troops then fell back to +Pontlieue, the southern suburb of Le Mans, in a lamentable condition, and +took care to place the Huisne between themselves and the Germans. In the +same direction Paris's demoralised, division, already worsted at Ardenay +on the previous day, was driven from Change by the 3rd German Corps, which +took no fewer than 5000 prisoners. It had now almost cut the French +eastern and southern lines apart, threatening all direct communication +between the 21st and the 16th French Corps. Nevertheless, it was in a +dangerous position, having both of its flanks exposed to attack, one from +Yvre and Auvours, and the other from Pontlieue and the Chemin des Boeufs, +which last line was held by the 16th French Corps. + +Meantime, Gougeard's Bretons had been engaged at Champagne, quite a close +encounter taking place in the fields and on the vineyard slopes, followed +by a house-to-house fight in the village streets. The French were at last +driven back; but somewhat later, on the Germans retiring from Champagne, +they reoccupied the place. The result of the day was that, apart from the +somewhat hazardous success achieved by the 3rd German Corps, the enemy had +gained no great advantage. His 13th Corps had made but little progress, +his 9th had not been brought into action, and his 10th was as yet no +nearer than Grand Luce. On the French side, Barry had at last reached +Mulsanne, thus covering the direct southern road to Le Mans, Jaureguiberry +being lower down at Ecommoy with some 9000 men of various arms and +regiments, whom he had managed to get together. As for Curten's division, +as it could not possibly reach the immediate neighbourhood of Le Mans in +time for the fighting on the 11th, it received orders to march on La Suze, +south-west of the imperilled town. During the 10th, moreover, Chanzy was +strengthened by the welcome arrival of several additional field-pieces and +a large number of horses. He had given orders to raise the Camp of Conlie, +but instead of the forty or fifty thousand men, which at an earlier period +it was thought that camp would be able to provide, he now only derived +from it some 9000 ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost undrilled +Breton Mobilises. [On the other hand, as I previously related, the camp +had already provided the bulk of the men belonging to Gougeard's +division.] They were divided into six battalions--one of which came +from Saint Malo, the others from Rennes and Redon--and were commanded by +a general named Lalande. They proved to be no accession of strength; they +became, on the contrary, a source of weakness, and disaster, for it was +their behaviour which eventually sealed the fate of the Second Loire Army. + +But Chanzy, whatever his ailments might be, was personally full of energy +and determination. He knew, moreover, that two new army corps (the 19th +and the 25th) were being got ready to reinforce him, and he was still +resolved to give battle and hold on for another four or five days, when he +relied on compelling Prince Frederick Charles to retreat. Then, with his +reinforced army, he hoped to march once more in the direction of Paris. +Curiously enough, it was precisely on that critical day, January 10, that +Gambetta sent Trochu a despatch by pigeon-post, telling him that on the +20th, at the latest, both Chanzy and Bourbaki would be moving on the +capital, having between them over 400,000 men. + +But if Chanzy's spirits did not fail him, those of his men were at a very +low ebb indeed. He was repeatedly told so by subordinate commanders; +nevertheless (there was something Napoleonic in his character), he would +not desist from his design, but issued instructions that there was to be a +resolute defence of the lines on the 11th, together with a determined +effort to regain all lost positions. At the same time, the statements of +the divisional generals respecting the low _morale_ of some of the troops +were not left unheeded, for a very significant order went forth, namely, +that cavalry should be drawn up in the rear of the infantry wherever this +might appear advisable. The inference was obvious. + +Three divisions and Lalande's Breton Mobilises were to hold the +south-eastern lines from Arnage along the track known as the Chemin des +Boeufs, and to link up, as well as possible, with Paris's and Gougeard's +divisions, to which fell the duty of guarding the plateau of Auvours and +the banks of the Huisne. The rest of the 21st Corps (to which Gougeard's +division belonged) was to defend the space between the Huisne and the +Sarthe. Colomb's fragmentary force, apart from Paris's division, was still +to cover Le Mans towards the north-east. Barry's men, on their expected +arrival, were to serve as reserves around Pontlieue. + +The morning of January 11 was bright. The snow had ceased falling, but lay +some inches thick upon the ground. In order to facilitate the passage of +troops, and particularly of military waggons, through the town, the Mayor +of Le Mans ordered the inhabitants to clear away as much of this snow as +possible; but it naturally remained undisturbed all over the countryside. +Little had been seen of Chanzy on the two previous days, but that morning +he mounted horse and rode along the lines from the elevated position known +as Le Tertre Rouge to the equally elevated position of Yvre. I saw him +there, wrapped in a long loose cloak, the hood of which was drawn over his +kepi. Near him was his picturesque escort of Algerian Spahis, and while he +was conversing with some officers I pulled out a little sketch-book which +I carried, and tried to outline the group. An aide-de-camp who noticed me +at once came up to inquire what I was doing, and I therefore had to +produce the permit which, on returning to the front, I had obtained from +the Chief of the Staff. It was found to be quite in order, and I went on +with my work. But a few minutes later the general, having given his +orders, gathered up his reins to ride away. As he slowly passed me, he +gave me just one little sharp glance, and with a faint suspicion of a +smile remarked, "I will look at that another time." The aide-de-camp had +previously told him what my purpose was. + +That day the 3rd German Corps again resumed the offensive, and once more +drove Gougeard out of Champagne. Then the enemy's 9th Corps, which on +January 10 had done little or nothing, and was therefore quite fresh, was +brought into action, and made a resolute attack on the plateau of Auvours. +There was a fairly long fight, which could be seen from Yvre. But the +Germans were too strong for Paris's men, who at last disbanded, and came, +helter-skelter, towards the bridge of Yvre in terrible confusion. Flight +is often contagious, and Gougeard, who had fallen back from Champagne in +fairly good order, feared lest his men should imitate their comrades. +He therefore pointed two field-pieces on the runaways, and by that means +checked their stampede. + +Having established themselves at the farther end of the plateau, the +Germans advanced very cautiously, constantly seeking cover behind the +various hedges. General de Colomb, to whose command Paris's runaway +division belonged, insisted, however, that the position must be retaken. +Gougeard thereupon collected a very miscellaneous force, which included +regular infantry, mobiles, mobilises, and some of Charette's Volontaires +de l'Ouest--previously known in Borne as the Pontifical Zouaves. Placing +himself at the head of these men, he made a vigorous effort to carry out +Colomb's orders. The French went forward almost at the charge, the Germans +waiting for them from behind the hedges, whence poured a hail of lead. +Gougeard's horse was shot under him, a couple of bullets went through his +coat, and another--or, as some said, a splinter of a shell--knocked off +his kepi. Still, he continued leading his men, and in the fast failing +light the Germans, after repeated encounters, were driven back to the +verge of the plateau. + +That was told me afterwards, for at the moment I was already on my way +back to Le Mans, which I wished to reach before it was absolutely night. +On coming from the town early in the morning, I had brought a few eatables +in my pockets, but they had soon been consumed, and I had found it +impossible to obtain any food whatever at Yvre, though some of the very +indifferent local wine was procurable. Thus I was feeling very hungry as I +retraced my steps through the snow towards the little hostelry in the Rue +du Gue de Maulny, where I had secured accommodation. It was a walk of some +four or five miles, but the cold urged me on, and, in spite of the snow, +I made the journey fairly rapidly, in such wise that little more than an +hour later I was seated in a warm room in front of some steaming soup, +answering all sorts of questions as to what I had seen during the day, +and particularly whether _les notres_ had gained a victory. I could only +answer that the "Prussians" had taken Auvours, but that fighting was still +going on, as Gougeard had gone to recapture the position. At the moment, +indeed, that was the extent of my information. The landlord looked rather +glum and his daughter somewhat anxious, and the former, shaking his head, +exclaimed: "Voyez-vous, Monsieur l'Anglais, nous n'avons pas de chance-- +pas de chance du tout! Je ne sais pas a quoi ca tient, mais c'est comme +ca. Et, tenez, cela ne me surprendrait pas de voir ces sales Prussiens +dans la ville d'ici a demain!" ["We have no luck, no luck at all. +I don't know why, but there it is. And, do you know, it would not surprise +me to see those dirty Prussians in the town between now and to-morrow."] +Unfortunately for Le Mans and for France also, his forebodings were +accurate. At that very moment, indeed, a great disaster was occurring. + +Jaureguiberry had reached the southern suburb of Pontlieue at about nine +o'clock that morning after a night march from Ecommoy. He had divided his +miscellaneous force of 9000 men into three brigades. As they did not seem +fit for immediate action, they were drafted into the reserves, so that +their arrival was of no particular help that day. About eleven o'clock the +3rd German Corps, coming from the direction of Change, attacked Jouffroy's +lines along the more northern part of the so-called Chemin des Boeufs, +and, though Jouffroy's men fought fairly well, they could not prevent +their foes from capturing the position of the Tertre Rouge. Still, the +enemy gained no decisive success in this direction; nor was any marked +result attained by the 13th German Corps which formed the extreme right of +the attacking forces. But Prince Frederick Charles had sent orders to +Voigts Rhetz, who was at Grand Luce, [A brigade of cavalry kept up +communications between him and the 3rd Army Corps.] advance with the +10th Corps on Mulsanne, which the French had evacuated; and on reaching +Mulsanne, the same general received instructions to come to the support of +the 3rd Corps, which was engaged with Jouffroy's force. Voigts Rhetz's men +were extremely fatigued; nevertheless, the 20th Division of Infantry, +commanded by General Kraatz-Koschlau, went on towards the Chemin des +Boeufs, following the direct road from Tours to Le Mans. + +Here there was an elevated position known as La Tuilerie--otherwise the +tile-works--which had been fortified expressly to prevent the Germans from +bursting upon Le Mans from the direct south. Earth-works for guns had been +thrown up, trenches had been dug, the pine trees, so abundant on the +southern side of Le Mans, had been utilised for other shielding works, as +well as for shelter-places for the defending force. Unfortunately, at the +moment of the German advance, that defending force consisted of the +ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost untrained Breton Mobilises, +[There were just a few old soldiers among them.] who, as I have already +related, had arrived the previous day from the camp of Conlie under the +command of General Lalande. It is true that near these men was stationed +an infantry brigade of the 6th Corps d'Armee, whose duty it was to support +and steady them. They undoubtedly needed to be helped, for the great +majority had never been in action before. Moreover, in addition to the +infantry brigade, there were two batteries of artillery; but I fear that +for the most part the gunners were little better than recruits. +Exaggerated statements have been made respecting the quality of the +firearms with which the Mobilises were provided. Many of the weapons were +afterwards found to be very dirty, even rusty, but that was the result of +neglect, which their officers should have remedied. It is true, however, +that these weapons were for the most part merely percussion guns. Again, +it has been said that the men had no ammunition, but that statement was +certainly inaccurate. On the other hand, these Mobilises were undoubtedly +very cold and very hungry--even as I myself was that day--no rations +having been served to them until late in the afternoon, that is, shortly +before they were attacked, at which moment, indeed, they were actually +preparing the meal for which they had so long been waiting. + +The wintry night was gathering round when Kraatz-Kosohlau found himself +with his division before the position of La Tuilerie. He could see that it +was fortified, and before attempting any further advance he fired a few +shells. The Mobilises were immediately panic-stricken. They made no +attempt at defence; hungry though they were, they abandoned even their +pots and pans, and fled in the direction of Pontlieue, which formed, as it +were, a long avenue, fringed with factories, textile mills, bleaching +works, and so forth. In vain did their officers try to stop the fugitives, +even striking them with the flats of their swords, in vain did Lalande and +his staff seek to intercept them at the Rond Point de Pontlieue. Nothing +could induce them to stop. They threw away their weapons in order to run +the faster. At La Tuilerie not a gun was fired at the Germans. Even the +infantry brigade fell back, without attempting to fight. + +All this occurred at a moment when everybody thought that the day's +fighting was over. But Jaureguiberry appeared upon the scene, and ordered +one of his subordinates, General Lebouedeo, to retake the lost position. +Lebouedeo tried to do so with 1000 tired men, who had been in action +during the day, and failed. A second attempt proved equally futile. No +effort apparently was made to secure help from Barry, who was at Arnage +with 5000 infantry and two brigades of cavalry, and who might have fallen +on the left flank of the German Corps. La Tuilerie was lost, and with it +Le Mans was lost also. + +I was quietly sipping some coffee and reading the local newspapers--three +or four were published at Le Mans in those days--when I heard of that +disastrous stampede. Some of the men had reached the town, spreading the +contagion of fear as they came. Tired though I was, I at once went towards +the Avenue de Fontlieue, where the excitement was general. Gendarmes were +hurrying hither and thither, often arresting the runaways, and at other +times picking up weapons and cartridge-cases which had been flung away. So +numerous were the abandoned weapons and equipments that cartloads of them +were collected. Every now and then an estafette galloped to or from the +town. The civilians whom one met wore looks of consternation. It was +evident, indeed, to everybody who knew how important was the position of +La Tuilerie, that its capture by the Germans placed Le Mans in jeopardy. +When the two attempts to retake it had failed, Jaureguiberry urged +immediate retreat. This was rendered the more imperative by other events +of the night and the early morning, for, inspirited by their capture of La +Tuilerie, the Germans made fresh efforts in other directions, so that +Barry had to quit Arnage, whilst Jouffroy lost most of his positions near +the Chemin des Boeufs, and the plateau d'Auvours had again to be +evacuated. + +At 8 a.m. on January 12, Chanzy, after suggesting a fresh attempt to +recover La Tuilerie, which was prevented by the demoralisation of the +troops, was compelled to give a reluctant assent to Jaureguiberry's +proposals of retreat. At the same time, he wished the retreat to be +carried out slowly and methodically, and informed Gambetta that he +intended to withdraw in the direction of Aleneon (Orne) and Pre-en-Pail +(Mayenne). This meant moving into Normandy, and Gambetta pointed out that +such a course would leave all Brittany open to the enemy, and enable him +to descend without opposition even to the mouth of the Loire. Chanzy was +therefore instructed to retreat on Laval, and did so; but as he had +already issued orders for the other route, great confusion ensued, the new +orders only reaching the subordinate commanders on the evening of the +12th. + +From January 6 to 12 the French had lost 6000 men in killed and wounded. +The Germans had taken 20,000 prisoners, and captured seventeen guns and a +large quantity of army materiel. Further, there was an incalculable number +of disbanded Mobiles and Mobilises. If Prince Frederick Charles had known +at the time to what a deplorable condition Chanzy's army had been reduced, +he would probably have acted more vigorously than he did. It is true that +his own men (as Von Hoenig has admitted) were, generally speaking, in a +state of great fatigue after the six days' fighting, and also often badly +circumstanced in regard to clothing, boots, and equipments. [Even when the +armistice arrived I saw many German soldiers wearing French sabots.] Such +things cannot last for ever, and there had been little or no opportunity +to renew anything since the second battle of Orleans early in December. +In the fighting before Le Mans, however, the German loss in killed and +wounded was only 3400--200 of the number being officers, whom the French +picked off as often as possible. + +On the morning of the 12th all was confusion at Pontlieue. Guns, waggons, +horsemen, infantrymen, were congregated there, half blocking up the bridge +which connects this suburb with Le Mans. A small force under General de +Roquebrune was gallantly striving to check the Germans at one part of the +Chemin des Boeufs, in order to cover the retreat. A cordon of gendarmes +had been drawn up at the railway-station to prevent it from being invaded +by all the runaways. Some hundreds of wounded men were allowed access, +however, in order that they might, if possible, get away in one of the +many trains which were being sent off as rapidly as possible. This service +was in charge of an official named Piquet, who acted with the greatest +energy and acumen. Of the five railway-lines meeting at Le Mans only two +were available, that running to Rennes _via_ Laval, and that running to +Angers. I find from a report drawn up by M. Piquet a little later, that he +managed to send off twenty-five trains, some of them drawn by two and +three engines. They included about 1000 vans, trucks, and coaches; that is +558 vans laden with provisions (in part for the relief of Paris); 134 vans +and trucks laden with artillery _materiel_ and stores, 70 vans of +ammunition, 150 empty vans and trucks, and 176 passenger carriages. On +securing possession of the station, however, the Germans still found there +about 200 vans and carriages, and at least a dozen locomotive engines. The +last train left at 2.45 p.m. I myself got away (as I shall presently +relate) shortly after two o'clock, when the station was already being +bombarded. + +General de Roquebrune having, at last, been compelled to withdraw from the +vicinity of the Chemin des Boeufs, the Germans came on to the long avenue +of Pontlieue. Here they were met by most of the corps of gendarmes, which, +as I previously related, was attached to the headquarters-staff under +General Bourdillon. These men, who had two Gatlings with them, behaved +with desperate bravery in order to delay the German entry into the town. +About a hundred of them, including a couple of officers, were killed +during that courageous defence. It was found impossible, however, to blow +up the bridge. The operation had been delayed as long as possible in order +to facilitate the French retreat, and when the gendarmes themselves +withdrew, there no longer remained sufficient time to put it into +execution. + +The first Germans to enter the town belonged to the 38th Brigade of +Infantry, and to part of a cavalry force under General von Schmidt. After +crossing the bridge of Pontlieue, they divided into three columns. One of +them proceeded up the Rue du Quartier de Cavalerie in the direction of the +Place des Jacobins and the cathedral. The second also went towards the +upper town, marching, however, by way of the Rue Basse, which conducted to +the Place des Halles, where the chief hotels and cafes were situated. +Meantime, the third column turned to the left, and hastened towards the +railway station. But, to their great amazement, their advance was +repeatedly checked. There were still a number of French soldiers in the +town, among them being Mobile Guards, Gendarmes, Franc-tireurs, and a +party of Marine Fusiliers. The German column which began to ascend the Rue +Basse was repeatedly fired at, whereupon its commanding officer halted his +men, and by way of punishment had seven houses set on fire, before +attempting to proceed farther. Nevertheless, the resistance was prolonged +at various points, on the Place des Jacobins, for instance, and again on +the Place des Halles. Near the latter square is--or was--a little street +called the Rue Dumas, from which the French picked off a dozen or twenty +Germans, so infuriating their commander that he sent for a couple of +field-pieces, and threatened to sweep the whole town with projectiles. + +Meantime, a number of the French who had lingered at Le Mans were +gradually effecting their escape. Many artillery and commissariat waggons +managed to get away, and a local notability, M. Eugene Caillaux--father +of M. Joseph Caillaux who was French Prime Minister during the latter half +of 1911, and who is now (Dec., 1913) Minister of Finances--succeeded in +sending out of the town several carts full of rifles, which some of the +French troops had flung away. However, the street-fighting could not be +indefinitely prolonged. It ceased when about a hundred Germans and a +larger number of French, both soldiers and civilians, had been killed. +The Germans avenged themselves by pillaging the houses in the Rue Dumas, +and several on the Place des Halles, though they spared the Hotel de +France there, as their commander, Voigts Rhetz, reserved it for his own +accommodation. Whilst the bombardment of a part of the lower town +continued--the railway station and the barracks called the Caserne de +la Mission being particularly affected--raids were made on the French +ambulances, in one of which, on the Boulevard Negrier, a patient was +barbarously bayoneted in his bed, on the pretext that he was a +Franc-tireur, whereas he really belonged to the Mobile Guard. At the +ambulance of the Ecole Normale, the sisters and clergy were, according to +their sworn statements, grossly ill-treated. Patients, some of whom were +suffering from smallpox, were turned out of their beds--which were +required, it was said, for the German wounded. All the wine that could be +found was drunk, money was stolen, and there was vindictive destruction on +all sides. + +The Mayor [The Prefect, M. Le Chevalier, had followed the army in its +retreat, considering it his duty to watch over the uninvaded part of the +department of the Sartha.] of Le Mans, M. Richard, and his two _adjoints_, +or deputies, went down through the town carrying a towel as a flag of +truce, and on the Place de la Mission they at last found Voigts Rhetz +surrounded by his staff. The General at once informed the Mayor that, in +consequence of the resistance of the town, it would have to pay a +war-levy of four millions of francs (L160,000) within twenty-four hours, +and that the inhabitants would have to lodge and feed the German forces as +long as they remained there. All the appeals made against these hard +conditions were disregarded during nearly a fortnight. When both the Mayor +and the Bishop of Le Mans solicited audiences of Prince Frederick Charles, +they were told by the famous Count Harry von Arnim--who, curiously enough, +subsequently became German Ambassador to France, but embroiled himself +with Bismarck and died in exile--that if they only wished to tender their +humble duty to the Prince he would graciously receive them, but that he +refused to listen to any representations on behalf of the town. + +A first sum of L20,000 and some smaller ones were at last got together in +this town of 37,000 inhabitants, and finally, on January 23, the total +levy was reduced, as a special favour, to L80,000. Certain German +requisitions were also to be set off against L20,000 of that amount; but +they really represented about double the figure. A public loan had to be +raised in the midst of continual exactions, which lasted even after the +preliminaries of peace had been signed, the Germans regarding Le Mans as a +milch cow from which too much could not be extracted. + +The anxieties of the time might well have sufficed to make the Mayor ill, +but, as a matter of fact, he caught small-pox, and his place had to be +taken by a deputy, who with the municipal council, to which several local +notabilities were adjoined, did all that was possible to satisfy the greed +of the Germans. Small-pox, I may mention, was very prevalent at Le Mans, +and some of the ambulances were specially reserved for soldiers who had +contracted that disease. Altogether, about 21,000 men (both French and +Germans), suffering from wounds or diseases of various kinds, were treated +in the town's ambulances from November 1 to April 15. + +Some thousands of Germans were billeted on the inhabitants, whom they +frequently robbed with impunity, all complaints addressed to the German +Governor, an officer named Von Heiduck, being disregarded. This individual +ordered all the inhabitants to give up any weapons which they possessed, +under penalty of death. Another proclamation ordained the same punishment +for anybody who might give the slightest help to the French army, or +attempt to hamper the German forces. Moreover, the editors, printers, and +managers of three local newspapers were summarily arrested and kept in +durance on account of articles against the Germans which they had written, +printed, or published _before_ Chanzy's defeat. + +On January 13, which chanced to be a Friday, Prince Frederick Charles made +his triumphal entry into Le Mans, the bands of the German regiments +playing all their more popular patriotic airs along the route which +his Royal Highness took in order to reach the Prefecture--a former +eighteenth-century convent--where he intended to install himself. On the +following day the Mayor received the following letter: + +"Mr. Mayor, + +"I request you to send to the Prefecture by half-past five o'clock this +afternoon 24 spoons, 24 forks, and 36 knives, as only just sufficient for +the number of people at table have been sent, and there is no means of +changing the covers. For dinner you will provide 20 bottles of Bordeaux, +30 bottles of Champagne, two bottles of Madeira, and 2 bottles of +liqueurs, which must be at the Prefecture at six o'clock precisely. +The wine previously sent not being good, neither the Bordeaux nor the +Champagne, you must send better kinds, otherwise I shall have to inflict +a fine upon the town. + +(Signed) "Von Kanitz." + +This communication was followed almost immediately afterwards by another, +emanating from the same officer, who was one of the Prince's +aides-de-camp. He therein stated (invariably employing, be it said, +execrable French) that the _cafe-au-lait_ was to be served at the +Prefecture at 8 a.m.; the _dejeuner_ at noon; and the dinner at 7.30 p.m. +At ten o'clock every morning, the Mayor was to send 40 bottles of +Bordeaux, 40 bottles of Champagne, 6 bottles of Madeira, and 3 bottles of +liqueurs. He was also to provide waiters to serve at table, and kitchen- +and scullery-maids. And Kanitz concluded by saying: "If the least thing +fails, a remarkable (_sic_) fine will be inflicted on the town." + +On January 15 an order was sent to the Mayor to supply at once, for the +Prince's requirements, 25 kilogrammes of ham; 13 kilos. of sausages; +13 kilos. of tongues; 5 dozen eggs; vegetables of all sorts, particularly +onions; 15 kilos. of Gruyere cheese; 5 kilos. of Parmesan; 15 kilos. +of best veal; 20 fowls; 6 turkeys; 12 ducks; 5 kilos. of powdered sugar. +[All the German orders and requisitions are preserved in the municipal +archives of Le Mans.] No wine was ever good enough for Prince Frederick +Charles and his staff. The complaints sent to the town-hall were +incessant. Moreover, the supply of Champagne, by no means large in such a +place as Le Mans, gave out, and then came all sorts of threats. The +municipal councillors had to trot about trying to discover a few bottles +here and there in private houses, in order to supply the requirements of +the Princely Staff. There was also a scarcity of vegetables, and yet there +were incessant demands for spinach, cauliflowers, and artichokes, and even +fruit for the Prince's tarts. One day Kanitz went to the house where the +unfortunate Mayor was lying in bed, and told him that he must get up and +provide vegetables, as none had been sent for the Prince's table. The +Mayor protested that the whole countryside was covered with snow, and that +it was virtually impossible to satisfy such incessant demands; but, as he +afterwards related, ill and worried though he was, he could not refrain +from laughing when he was required to supply several pounds of truffles. +Truffles at Le Mans, indeed! In those days, too! The idea was quite +ridiculous. + +Not only had the demands of Prince Frederick Charles's staff to be +satisfied, but there were those of Voigts Rhetz, and of all the officers +lodging at the Hotel de France, the Hotel du Dauphin, the Hotel de la +Boule d'Or and other hostelries. These gentlemen were very fond of giving +dinners, and "mine host" was constantly being called upon to provide all +sorts of delicacies at short notice. The cellars of the Hotel de France +were drunk dry. The common soldiers also demanded the best of everything +at the houses where they were billeted; and sometimes they played +extraordinary pranks there. Half a dozen of them, who were lodged at a +wine-shop in, I think, the Rue Dumas, broached a cask of brandy, poured +the contents into a tub, and washed their feet in the spirituous liquor. +It may be that a "brandy bath" is a good thing for sore feet; and that +might explain the incident. However, when I think of it, I am always +reminded of how, in the days of the Second Empire, the spendthrift Due de +Gramont-Caderousse entered the. Cafe Anglais in Paris, one afternoon, +called for a silver soup-tureen, had two or three bottles of champagne +poured into it, and then made an unrepentant Magdalen of the Boulevards, +whom he had brought with him, wash his feet in the sparkling wine. From +that afternoon until the Cafe Anglais passed out of existence no silver +soup-tureens were ever used there. + +I have given the foregoing particulars respecting the German occupation +of Le Mans--they are principally derived from official documents--just to +show the reader what one might expect if, for instance, a German force +should land at Hull or Grimsby and fight its way successfully to--let us +say--York or Leeds or Nottingham. The incidents which occurred at Le Mans +were by no means peculiar to that town. Many similar instances occurred +throughout the invaded regions of France. I certainly do not wish to +impute gluttony to Prince Frederick Charles personally. But during the +years which followed the Franco-German War I made three fairly long +stays at Berlin, putting up at good hotels, where officers--sometimes +generals--often lunched and dined. And their appetites frequently amazed +me, whilst their manners at table were repulsive. In those days most +German officers were bearded, and I noticed that between the courses at +luncheon and at dinner it was a common practice of theirs to produce +pocket-glasses and pocket-combs, and comb their beards--as well as the +hair on their heads--over the table. As for their manner of eating and the +noise they made in doing so, the less said the better. In regard to +manners, I have always felt that the French of 1870-71 were in some +respects quite entitled to call their enemies "barbarians"; but that was +forty-three years ago, and as time works wonders, the manners of the +German military element may have improved. + +In saying something about the general appearance of Le Mans, I pointed out +that the town now has a Place de la Republique, a Gambetta Bridge, a Rue +Thiers, and a statue of Chanzy; but at the period of the war and for a +long time afterwards it detested the Republic (invariably returning +Bonapartist or Orleanist deputies), sneered at Gambetta, and hotly +denounced the commander of the Loire Army. Its grievance against Chanzy +was that he had made it his headquarters and given battle in its immediate +vicinity. The conflict having ended disastrously for the French arms, the +townsfolk lamented that it had ever taken place. Why had Chanzy brought +his army there? they indignantly inquired. He might very well have gone +elsewhere. So strong was this Manceau feeling against the general--a +feeling inspired by the sufferings which the inhabitants experienced at +the time, notably in consequence of the German exactions--that fifteen +years later, when the general's statue (for which there had been a +national subscription) was set up in the town, the displeasure there was +very great, and the monument was subjected to the most shameful +indignities. [At Nouart, his native place, there is another statue of +Chanzy, which shows him pointing towards the east. On the pedestal is the +inscription; "The generals who wish to obtain the baton of Marshal of +France must seek it across the Rhine"--words spoken by him in one of his +speeches subsequent to the war.] But all that has passed. Nowadays, both +at Auvours and at Pontlieue, there are monuments to those who fell +fighting for France around Le Mans, and doubtless the town, in becoming +more Republican, has become more patriotic also. + +Before relating how I escaped from Le Mans on the day when the retreat was +ordered, there are a few other points with which I should like to deal +briefly. It is tolerably well known that I made the English translation of +Emile Zola's great novel, "La Debacle," and a good many of my present +readers may have read that work either in the original French or in the +version prepared by me. Now, I have always thought that some of the +characters introduced by Zola into his narrative were somewhat +exceptional. I doubt if there were many such absolutely neurotic +degenerates as "Maurice" in the French Army at any period of the war. I +certainly never came across such a character. Again, the psychology of +Stephen Crane's "Red Badge of Courage," published a few years after "La +Debacle," and received with acclamations by critics most of whom had never +in their lives been under fire, also seems to me to be of an exceptional +character. I much prefer the psychology of the Waterloo episode in +Stendhal's "Chartreuse de Parme," because it is of more general +application. "The Red Badge of Courage," so the critics told us, showed +what a soldier exactly felt and thought in the midst of warfare. Unlike +Stendhal, however, its author had never "served." No more had Zola; and I +feel that many of the pictures which novelists have given us of a +soldier's emotions when in action apply only to exceptional cases, and are +even then somewhat exaggerated. + +In action there is no time for thought. The most trying hours for a man +who is in any degree of a sensitive nature are those spent in night-duty +as a sentry or as one of a small party at some lonely outpost. Then +thoughts of home and happiness, and of those one loves, may well arise. +There is one little point in connexion with this subject which I must +mention. Whenever letters were found on the bodies of men who fell during +the Franco-German War, they were, if this man was a Frenchman, more +usually letters from his mother, and, if he was a German, more usually +letters from his sweetheart. Many such letters found their way into print +during the course of the war. It is a well-known fact that a Frenchman's +cult for his mother is a trait of the national character, and that a +Frenchwoman almost always places her child before her husband. + +But what struck me particularly during the Franco-German War was that +the anxieties and mental sufferings of the French officers were much +keener than those of the men. Many of those officers were married, some +had young children, and in the silent hours of a lonely night-watch their +thoughts often travelled to their dear ones. I well remember how an +officer virtually unbosomed himself to me on this subject one night near +Yvre-l'Eveque. The reason of it all is obvious. The higher a man's +intelligence, the greater is his sense of responsibility and the force of +his attachments. But in action the latter are set aside; they only obtrude +at such times as I have said or else at the moment of death. + +Of actual cowardice there were undoubtedly numerous instances during the +war, but a great deal might be said in defence of many of the men who here +and there abandoned their positions. During the last months their +sufferings were frequently terrible. At best they were often only +partially trained. There was little cohesion in many battalions. There was +a great lack of efficient non-commissioned officers. Instead of drafting +regular soldiers from the _depots_ into special regiments, as was often +done, it might have been better to have distributed them among the Mobiles +and Mobilises, whom they would have steadied. Judging by all that I +witnessed at that period, I consider it essential that any territorial +force should always contain a certain number of trained soldiers who have +previously been in action. And any such force should always have the +support of regulars and of efficient artillery. I have related how certain +Breton Mobilises abandoned La Tuilerie. They fled before the regulars or +the artillery could support them; but they were, perhaps, the very rawest +levies in all Chanzy's forces. Other Breton Mobilises, on other points, +fought very well for men of their class. For instance, no reproach could +be addressed to the battalions of St. Brieuo, Brest, Quimper, Lorient, and +Nantes. They were better trained than were the men stationed at La +Tuilerie, and it requires some time to train a Breton properly. That +effected, he makes a good soldier. + +Respecting my own feelings during that war, I may say that the paramount +one was curiosity. To be a journalist, a man must be inquisitive. It is +a _sine qua non_ of his profession. Moreover, I was very young; I had no +responsibilities; I may have been in love, or have thought I was, but I +was on my own, and my chief desire was to see as much as I could. I +willingly admit that, when Gougeard's column was abruptly attacked at +Droue, I experienced some trepidation at finding myself under fire; but +firmness may prove as contagious as fear, and when Gougeard rallied his +men and went forward to repel the Germans, interest and a kind of +excitement took possession of me. Moreover, as I was, at least nominally, +attached to the ambulance service, there was duty to be done, and that +left no opportunity for thought. The pictures of the ambulances in or near +Sedan are among the most striking ones contained in "La Debacle," and, +judging by what I saw elsewhere, Zola exaggerated nothing. The ambulance +is the truly horrible side of warfare. To see men lying dead on the ground +is, so to say, nothing. One gets used to it. But to see them amputated, +and to see them lying in bed suffering, often acutely, from dreadful +wounds, or horrible diseases--dysentery, typhus, small-pox--that is the +thing which tries the nerves of all but the doctors and the trained +nurses. On several occasions I helped to carry wounded men, and felt no +emotion in doing so; but more than once I was almost overcome by the sight +of all the suffering in some ambulance. + +When, on the morning of January 12, I heard that a general retreat had +been ordered, I hesitated as to what course I should pursue. I did not +then anticipate the street-fighting, and the consequent violence of the +Germans. But journalistic instinct told me that if I remained in the town +until after the German entry I might then find it very difficult to get +away and communicate with my people. At the same time, I did not think the +German entry so imminent as proved to be the case; and I spent a +considerable time in the streets watching all the tumult which prevailed +there. Now and again a sadly diminished battalion went by in fairly good +order. But numbers of disbanded men hurried hither and thither in +confusion. Here and there a street was blocked with army vans and waggons, +whose drivers were awaiting orders, not knowing which direction to take. +Officers and estafettes galloped about on all sides. Then a number of +wounded men were carried in carts, on stretchers, and on trucks towards +the railway-station. Others, with their heads bandaged or their arms in +slings, walked painfully in the same direction. Outside the station there +was a strong cordon of Gendarmes striving to resist all the pressure of a +great mob of disbanded men who wished to enter and get away in the trains. +At one moment, when, after quite a struggle, some of the wounded were +conveyed through the mob and the cordon, the disbanded soldiers followed, +and many of them fought their way into the station in spite of all the +efforts of the Gendarmes. The _melee_ was so desperate that I did not +attempt to follow, but, after watching it for some time, retraced my steps +towards my lodging. All was hubbub and confusion at the little inn, and +only with difficulty could I get anything to eat there. A little later, +however, I managed to tell the landlord--his name was Dubuisson--that I +meant to follow the army, and, if possible, secure a place in one of the +trains which were frequently departing. After stowing a few necessaries +away in my pockets, I begged him to take charge of my bag until some +future day, and the worthy old man then gave me some tips as to how I +might make my way into the station, by going a little beyond it, and +climbing a palisade. + +We condoled with one another and shook hands. I then went out. The +cannonade, which had been going on for several hours, had now become more +violent. Several shells had fallen on or near the Caserne de la Mission +during the morning. Now others were falling near the railway-station. +I went my way, however, turned to the right on quitting the Rue du +Gue-de-Maulny, reached some palings, and got on to the railway-line. +Skirting it, I turned to the left, going back towards the station. +I passed one or two trains, which were waiting. But they were composed of +trucks and closed vans. I might perhaps have climbed on to one of the +former, but it was a bitterly cold day; and as for the latter, of course +I could not hope to enter one of them. So I kept on towards the station, +and presently, without let or hindrance, I reached one of the platforms. + +Le Mans being an important junction, its station was very large, in some +respects quite monumental. The principal part was roofed with glass and +suggested Charing Cross. I do not remember exactly the number of lines of +metals running through it, but I think there must have been four or five. +There were two trains waiting there, one of them, which was largely +composed of passenger carriages, being crammed with soldiers. I tried to +get into one carriage, but was fiercely repulsed. So, going to the rear of +this train, I crossed to another platform, where the second train was. +This was made up of passenger coaches and vans. I scrambled into one of +the latter, which was open. There were a number of packing-cases inside +it, but there was at least standing room for several persons. Two railway +men and two or three soldiers were already there. One of the former helped +me to get in. I had, be it said, a semi-military appearance, for my grey +frieze coat was frogged, and besides, what was more important, I wore the +red-cross armlet given me at the time when I followed Gougeard's column. + +Almost immediately afterwards the train full of soldiers got away. The +cannonade was now very loud, and the glass roof above us constantly +vibrated. Some minutes elapsed whilst we exchanged impressions. Then, all +at once, a railway official--it may have been M. Piquet himself--rushed +along the platform in the direction of the engine, shouting as he went: +"Depechez! Depechez! Sauvez-vous!" At the same moment a stray artilleryman +was seen hastening towards us; but suddenly there came a terrific crash of +glass, a shell burst through the roof and exploded, and the unlucky +artilleryman fell on the platform, evidently severely wounded. We were +already in motion, however, and the line being dear, we got fairly swiftly +across the viaduct spanning the Sarthe. This placed us beyond the reach of +the enemy, and we then slowed down. + +One or two more trains were got away after ours, the last one, I believe, +being vainly assailed by some Uhlans before it had crossed the viaduct. +The latter ought then to have been blown up, but an attempt to do so +proved ineffectual. We went on very slowly on account of the many trains +in front of us. Every now and again, too, there came a wearisome stop. It +was bitterly cold, and it was in vain that we beat the tattoo with our +feet in the hope of thereby warming them. The men with me were also +desperately hungry, and complained of it so bitterly and so frequently, +that, at last, I could not refrain from producing a little bread and meat +which I had secured at Le Mans and sharing it with them. But it merely +meant a bite for each of us. However, on stopping at last at Conlie +station--some sixteen or seventeen miles from Le Mans--we all hastily +scrambled out of the train, rushed into a little inn, and almost fought +like wild beasts for scraps of food. Then on we went once more, still very +slowly, still stopping again and again, sometimes for an hour at a +stretch, until, half numbed by the cold, weary of stamping our feet, and +still ravenous, we reached the little town of Sille-le-Guillaume, which is +not more than eight or nine miles from Conlie. + +At Sille I secured a tiny garret-like room at the crowded Hotel de la +Croix d'Or, a third-rate hostelry, which was already invaded by officers, +soldiers, railway officials, and others who had quitted Le Mans before I +had managed to do so. My comparatively youthful appearance won for me, +however, the good favour of the buxom landlady, who, after repeatedly +declaring to other applicants that she had not a corner left in the whole +house, took me aside and said in an undertone: "listen, I will put you in +a little _cabinet_ upstairs. I will show you the way by and by. But don't +tell anybody." And she added compassionately: "_Mon pauvre garcon_, you +look frozen. Go into the kitchen. There is a good fire there, and you will +get something to eat." + +Truth to tell, the larder was nearly empty, but I secured a little cheese +and some bread and some very indifferent wine, which, however, in my then +condition, seemed to me to be nectar. I helped myself to a bowl, I +remember, and poured about a pint of wine into it, so as to soak my bread, +which was stale and hard. Toasting my feet at the fire whilst I regaled +myself with that improvised _soupe-au-vin_, I soon felt warm and +inspirited once more. Hardship sits on one but lightly when one is only +seventeen years of age and stirred by early ambition. All the world then +lay before me, like mine oyster, to be opened by either sword or pen. + +At a later hour, by the light of a solitary guttering candle, in the +little _cabinet_ upstairs, I wrote, as best I could, an account of the +recent fighting and the loss of Le Mans; and early on the following +morning I prevailed on a railway-man who was going to Rennes to post my +packet there, in order that it might be forwarded to England _via_ Saint +Malo. The article appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, filling a page of +that journal, and whatever its imperfections may have been, it was +undoubtedly the first detailed account of the battle of Le Mans, from the +French side, to appear in the English Press. It so happened, indeed, that +the other correspondents with the French forces, including my cousin +Montague Vizetelly of _The Daily News_, lingered at Le Mans until it was +too late for them to leave the town, the Germans having effected their +entry. + +German detachments soon started in pursuit of the retreating Army of the +Loire. Chanzy, as previously mentioned, modified his plans, in accordance +with Gambetta's views, on the evening of January 12. The new orders were +that the 16th Army Corps should retreat on Laval by way of Chassille and +Saint Jean-sur-Erve, that the 17th, after passing Conlie, should come +down to Sainte Suzanne, and that the 21st should proceed from Conlie to +Sille-le-Guillaume. There were several rear-guard engagements during, the +retreat. Already on the 13th, before the 21st Corps could modify its +original line of march, it had to fight at Ballon, north of Le Mans. +On the next day one of its detachments, composed of 9000 Mobilises of the +Mayenne, was attacked at Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, and hastily fell back, +leaving 1400 men in the hands of the Germans, who on their side lost only +_nine_! Those French soldiers who retreated by way of Conlie partially +pillaged the abandoned stores there. A battalion of Mobiles, on passing +that way, provided themselves with new trousers, coats, boots, and +blankets, besides carrying off a quantity of bread, salt-pork, sugar, and +other provisions. These things were at least saved from the Germans, who +on reaching the abandoned camp found there a quantity of military +_materiel_, five million cartridges, 1500 cases of biscuits and extract of +meat, 180 barrels of salt-pork, a score of sacks of rice, and 140 +puncheons of brandy. + +On January 14 the 21st Corps under Jaures reached Sille-le-Guillaume, and +was there attacked by the advanced guard of the 13th German Corps under +the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg. The French offered a good resistance, +however, and the Germans retreated on Conlie. I myself had managed to +leave Sille the previous afternoon, but such was the block on the line +that our train could get no farther than Voutre, a village of about a +thousand souls. Railway travelling seeming an impossibility, I prevailed +on a farmer to give me a lift as far as Sainte Suzanne, whence I hoped to +cut across country in the direction of Laval. Sainte Suzanne is an ancient +and picturesque little town which in those days still had a rampart and +the ruins of an early feudal castle. I supped and slept at an inn there, +and was told in the morning (January 14) that it would be best for me to +go southward towards Saint Jean-sur-Erve, where I should strike the direct +highway to Laval, and might also be able to procure a conveyance. I did +not then know the exact retreating orders. I hoped to get out of the way +of all the troops and waggons encumbering the roads, but in this I was +doomed to disappointment, for at Saint Jean I fell in with them again. + +That day a part of the rear-guard of the 16th Corps (Jaureguiberry)--that +is, a detachment of 1100 men with a squadron of cavalry under General +Le Bouedec--had been driven out of Chassille by the German cavalry under +General von Schmidt. This had accelerated the French retreat, which +continued in the greatest confusion, all the men hastening precipitately +towards Saint Jean, where, after getting the bulk of his force on to the +heights across the river Erve, which here intersects the highway, +Jaureguiberry resolved on attempting to check the enemy's pursuit. Though +the condition of most of the men was lamentable, vigorous defensive +preparations were made on the night of the 14th and the early morning of +the following day. On the low ground, near the village and the river, +trees were felled and roads were barricaded; while on the slopes batteries +were disposed behind hedges, in which embrasures were cut. The enemy's +force was, I believe, chiefly composed of cavalry and artillery. The +latter was already firing at us when Jaureguiberry rode along our lines. +A shell exploded near him, and some splinters of the projectile struck +his horse in the neck, inflicting a ghastly, gaping wound. The poor beast, +however, did not fall immediately, but galloped on frantically for more +than a score of yards, then suddenly reared, and after doing so came down, +all of a heap, upon the snow. However, the Admiral, who was a good +horseman, speedily disengaged himself, and turned to secure another +mount--when he perceived that Colonel Beraud, his chief of staff, who had +been riding behind him, had been wounded by the same shell, and had fallen +from his horse. I saw the Colonel being carried to a neighbouring +farmhouse, and was afterwards told that he had died there. + +The engagement had no very decisive result, but Schmidt fell back to the +road connecting Sainte Suzanne with Thorigne-en-Charnie, whilst we +withdrew towards Soulge-le-Bruant, about halfway between Saint Jean and +Laval. During the fight, however, whilst the artillery duel was in +progress, quite half of Jaureguiberry's men had taken themselves off +without waiting for orders. I believe that on the night of January 15 he +could not have mustered more than 7000 men for action. Yet only two days +previously he had had nearly three times that number with him. + +Nevertheless, much might be pleaded for the men. The weather was still +bitterly cold, snow lay everywhere, little or no food could be obtained, +the commissariat refraining from requisitioning cattle at the farms, for +all through the departments for Mayenne and Ille-et-Vilaine cattle-plague +was raging. Hungry, emaciated, faint, coughing incessantly, at times +affected with small-pox, the men limped or trudged on despairingly. Their +boots were often in a most wretched condition; some wore sabots, others, +as I said once before, merely had rags around their poor frost-bitten +feet. And the roads were obstructed by guns, vans, waggons, vehicles of +all kinds. Sometimes an axle had broken, sometimes a horse had fallen dead +on the snow, in any case one or another conveyance had come to a +standstill, and prevented others from pursuing their route. I recollect +seeing hungry men cutting steaks from the flanks of the dead beasts, +sometimes devouring the horseflesh raw, at others taking it to some +cottage, where the avaricious peasants, who refused to part with a scrap +of food, at least had to let these cold and hungry men warm themselves at +a fire, and toast their horseflesh before it. At one halt three soldiers +knocked a peasant down because he vowed that he could not even give them a +pinch of salt. That done, they rifled his cupboards and ate all they could +find. + +Experience had taught me a lesson. I had filled my pockets with ham, +bread, hard-boiled eggs, and other things, before leaving Sainte Suzanne. +I had also obtained a meal at Saint Jean, and secured some brandy there, +and I ate and drank sparingly and surreptitiously whilst I went on, +overtaking one after another batch of weary soldiers. However, the +distance between Saint Jean and Laval is not very great. Judging by the +map, it is a matter of some twenty-five miles at the utmost. Moreover, I +walked only half the distance. The troops moved so slowly that I reached +Soulge-le-Bruant long before them, and there induced a man to drive me to +Laval. I was there on the afternoon of January 16, and as from this point +trains were still running westward, I reached Saint Servan on the +following day. Thus I slipped through to my goal, thereby justifying the +nickname of L'Anguille--the Eel--which some of my young French friends had +bestowed on me. + +A day or two previously my father had returned from England, and I found +him with my stepmother. He became very much interested in my story, and +talked of going to Laval himself. Further important developments might +soon occur, the Germans might push on to Chanzy's new base, and I felt +that I also ought to go back. The life I had been leading either makes or +mars a man physically. Personally, I believe that it did me a world of +good. At all events, it was settled that my father and myself should go to +Laval together. We started a couple of days later, and managed to travel +by rail as far as Rennes. But from that point to Laval the line was now +very badly blocked, and so we hired a closed vehicle, a ramshackle affair, +drawn by two scraggy Breton nags. The main roads, being still crowded with +troops, artillery, and baggage waggons, and other impedimenta, were often +impassable, and so we proceeded by devious ways, amidst which our driver +lost himself, in such wise that at night we had to seek a shelter at the +famous Chateau des Bochers, immortalized by Mme. de Sevigne, and replete +with precious portraits of herself, her own and her husband's families, in +addition to a quantity of beautiful furniture dating from her time. + +It took us, I think, altogether two days to reach Laval, where, after +securing accommodation at one of the hotels, we went out in search of +news, having heard none since we had started on our journey. Perceiving a +newspaper shop, we entered it, and my father insisted on purchasing a copy +of virtually every journal which was on sale there. Unfortunately for us, +this seemed highly suspicious to a local National Guard who was in the +shop, and when we left it he followed us. My father had just then begun to +speak to me in English, and at the sound of a foreign tongue the man's +suspicions increased. So he drew nearer, and demanded to know who and what +we were. I replied that we were English and that I had previously been +authorised to accompany the army as a newspaper correspondent. My +statements, however, were received with incredulity by this suspicious +individual, who, after one or two further inquiries, requested us to +accompany him to a guard-house standing near one of the bridges thrown +over the river Mayenne. + +Thither we went, followed by several people who had assembled during our +parley, and found ourselves before a Lieutenant of Gendarmes, on the +charge of being German spies. Our denouncer was most positive on the +point. Had we not bought at least a dozen newspapers? Why a dozen, when +sensible people would have been satisfied with one? Such extensive +purchases must surely have been prompted by some sinister motive. Besides, +he had heard us conversing in German. English, indeed! No, no! He was +certain that we had spoken German, and was equally certain of our guilt. + +The Lieutenant looked grave, and my explanations did not quite satisfy +him. The predicament was the more awkward as, although my father was +provided with a British passport, I had somehow left my precious military +permit at Saint Servan, Further, my father carried with him some documents +which might have been deemed incriminating, They were, indeed, +safe-conducts signed by various German generals, which had been used by us +conjointly while passing, through the German lines after making our way +out of Paris in November. As for my correspondent's permit, signed some +time previously by the Chief of the Staff, I had been unable to find it +when examining my papers on our way to Laval, but had consoled myself with +the thought that I might get it replaced at headquarters. [The red-cross +armlet which had repeatedly proved so useful to me, enabling me to come +and go without much interference, was at our hotel, in a bag we had +brought with us.] Could I have shown it to the Lieutenant, he might have +ordered our release. As it happened, he decided to send us to the Provost +Marshal. I was not greatly put out by that command, for I remembered the +officer in question, or thought I did, and felt convinced that everything +would speedily be set right. + +We started off in the charge of a brigadier-otherwise a corporal--of +Gendarmes, and four men, our denouncer following closely at our heels. My +father at once pointed out to me that the brigadier and one of the men +wore silver medals bearing the effigy of Queen Victoria, so I said to the +former, "You were in the Crimea. You are wearing our Queen's medal." + +"Yes," he replied, "I gained that at the Alma." + +"And your comrade?" + +"He won his at the Tohernaya." + +"I dare say you would have been glad if French and English had fought side +by side in this war?" I added. "Perhaps they ought to have done so." + +"_Parbleu!_ The English certainly owed us a _bon coup de main_, instead of +which they have only sold us broken-down horses and bad boots." + +I agreed that there had been some instances of the kind. A few more words +passed, and I believe that the brigadier became convinced of our English +nationality. But as his orders were to take us to the Provost's, thither +we were bound to go. An ever increasing crowd followed. Shopkeepers and +other folk came to their doors and windows, and the words, "They are +spies, German spies!" rang out repeatedly, exciting the crowd and +rendering it more and more hostile. For a while we followed a quay with +granite parapets, below which flowed the Mayenne, laden with drifting ice. +All at once, however, I perceived on our left a large square, where about +a hundred men of the Laval National Guard were being exercised. They saw +us appear with our escort, they saw the crowd which followed us, and they +heard the cries, "Spies! German spies!" Forthwith, with that disregard for +discipline which among the French was so characteristic of the period, +they broke their ranks and ran towards us. + +We were only able to take a few more steps. In vain did the Gendarmes try +to force a way through the excited mob. We were surrounded by angry, +scowling, vociferating men. Imprecations burst forth, fists were clenched, +arms were waved, rifles were shaken, the unruly National Guards being the +most eager of all to denounce and threaten us. "Down with the spies!" they +shouted. "Down with the German pigs! Give them to us! Let us shoot them!" + +A very threatening rush ensued, and I was almost carried off my feet. But +in another moment I found myself against the parapet of the quay, with my +father beside me, and the icy river in the rear. In front of us stood the +brigadier and his four men guarding us from the angry citizens of Laval. + +"Hand them over to us! We will settle their affair," shouted an excited +National Guard. "You know that they are spies, brigadier." + +"I know that I have my orders," growled the veteran. "I am taking them to +the Provost. It is for him to decide." + +"That is too much ceremony," was the retort. "Let us shoot them!" + +"But they are not worth a cartridge!" shouted another man. "Throw them +into the river!" + +That ominous cry was taken up. "Yes, yes, to the river with them!" Then +came another rush, one so extremely violent that our case seemed +desperate. + +But the brigadier and his men had managed to fix bayonets during the brief +parley, and on the mob being confronted by five blades of glistening +steel, its savage eagerness abated. Moreover, the old brigadier behaved +magnificently. "Keep back!" cried he. "I have my orders. You will have to +settle me before you take my prisoners!" + +Just then I caught the eye of one of the National Guards, who was shaking +his fist at us, and I said to him, "You are quite mistaken. We are not +Germans, but English!" + +"Yes, yes, _Anglais, Anglais_!" my father exclaimed. + +While some of the men in the crowd were more or less incredulously +repeating that statement, a black-bearded individual--whom I can, at this +very moment, still picture with my mind's eye, so vividly did the affair +impress me--climbed on to the parapet near us, and called out, "You say +you are English? Do you know London? Do you know Regent Street? Do you +know the Soho?" + +"Yes, yes!" we answered quickly. + +"You know the Lei-ces-terre Square? What name is the music-hall there?" + +"Why, the Alhambra!" The "Empire," let me add, did not exist in those +days. + +The man seemed satisfied. "I think they are English," he said to his +friends. But somebody else exclaimed, "I don't believe it. One of them is +wearing a German hat." + +Now, it happened that my father had returned from London wearing a felt +hat of a shape which was then somewhat fashionable there, and which, +curiously enough, was called the "Crown Prince," after the heir to the +Prussian throne--that is, our Princess Royal's husband, subsequently the +Emperor Frederick. The National Guard, who spoke a little English, wished +to inspect this incriminating hat, so my father took it off, and one of +the Gendarmes, having placed it on his bayonet, passed it to the man on +the parapet. When the latter had read "Christy, London," on the lining, he +once more testified in our favour. + +But other fellows also wished to examine the suspicious headgear, and it +passed from hand to hand before it was returned to my father in a more or +less damaged condition, Even then a good many men were not satisfied +respecting our nationality, but during that incident of the hat--a +laughable one to me nowadays, though everything looked very ugly when it +occurred--there had been time for the men's angry passions to cool, to a +considerable extent at all events; and after that serio-comical interlude, +they were much less eager to inflict on us the summary law of Lynch. A +further parley ensued, and eventually the Gendarmes, who still stood with +bayonets crossed in front of us, were authorized, by decision of the +Sovereign People, to take us to the Provost's. Thither we went, then, +amidst a perfect procession of watchful guards and civilians. + +Directly we appeared before the Provost, I realized that our troubles were +not yet over. Some changes had taken place during the retreat, and either +the officer whom I remembered having seen at Le Mans (that is, Colonel +Mora) had been replaced by another, or else the one before whom we now +appeared was not the Provost-General, but only the Provost of the 18th +Corps. At all events, he was a complete stranger to me. After hearing, +first, the statements of the brigadier and the National Guard who had +denounced us, and who had kept close to us all the time, and, secondly, +the explanations supplied by my father and myself, he said to me, "If you +had a staff permit to follow the army, somebody at headquarters must be +able to identify you." + +"I think that might be done," I answered, "by Major-General Feilding, +who--as you must know--accompanies the army on behalf of the British +Government. Personally, I am known to several officers of the 21st Corps-- +General Gougeard and his Chief of Staff, for instance--and also to some of +the aides-de-camp at headquarters." + +"Well, get yourselves identified, and obtain a proper safe-conduct," said +the Provost. "Brigadier, you are to take these men to headquarters. If +they are identified there, you will let them go. If not, take them to the +chateau (the prison), and report to me." + +Again we all set out, this time climbing the hilly ill-paved streets of +old Laval, above which the town's great feudal castle reared its dark, +round keep; and presently we came to the local college, formerly an +Ursuline convent, where Chanzy had fixed his headquarters. + +In one of the large class-rooms were several officers, one of whom +immediately recognized me. He laughed when he heard our story. "I was +arrested myself, the other day," he said, "because I was heard speaking in +English to your General Feilding. And yet I was in uniform, as I am now." + +The Gendarmes were promptly dismissed, though not before my father had +slipped something into the hand of the old brigadier for himself and his +comrades. Their firmness had saved us, for when a mob's passions are +inflamed by patriotic zeal, the worst may happen to the objects of its +wrath. + +A proper safe-conduct (which I still possess) was prepared by an +aide-de-camp on duty, and whilst he was drafting it, an elderly but +bright-eyed officer entered, and went up to a large circular stove to warm +himself. Three small stars still glittered faintly on his faded cap, +and six rows of narrow tarnished gold braid ornamented the sleeves of his +somewhat shabby dolman. It was Chanzy himself. + +He noticed our presence, and our case was explained to him. Looking at me +keenly, he said, "I think I have seen you before. You are the young +English correspondent who was allowed to make some sketches at +Yvre-l'Eveque, are you not?" + +"Yes, _mon general_," I answered, saluting. "You gave me permission +through, I think, Monsieur le Commandant de Boisdeffre." + +He nodded pleasantly as we withdrew, then lapsed into a thoughtful +attitude. + +Out we went, down through old Laval and towards the new town, my father +carrying the safe-conduct in his hand. The Gendarmes must have already +told people that we were "all right," for we now encountered only pleasant +faces. Nevertheless, we handed the safe-conduct to one party of National +Guards for their inspection, in order that their minds might be quite at +rest. That occurred outside the hospital, where at that moment I little +imagined that a young Englishman--a volunteer in the Sixth Battalion of +the Cotes-du-Nord Mobile Guards (21st Army Corps)--was lying invalided by +a chill, which he had caught during an ascent in our army balloon with +Gaston Tissandier. Since then that young Englishman has become famous as +Field-Marshal Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum. + +But the National Guards insisted on carrying my father and myself to the +chief cafe of Laval. They would take no refusal. In genuine French +fashion, they were all anxiety to offer some amends for their misplaced +patriotic impulsiveness that afternoon, when they had threatened, first, +to shoot, and, next, to drown us. In lieu thereof they now deluged us with +punch _a la francaise_, and as the cafe soon became crowded with other +folk who all joined our party, there ensued a scene which almost suggested +that some glorious victory had been gained at last by invaded and +unfortunate France. + + + +XIII + +THE BITTER END + +Battues for Deserters--End of the Operations against Chanzy--Faidherbe's +Battles--Bourbaki's alleged Victories and Retreat--The Position in Paris-- +The terrible Death Rate--State of the Paris Army--The Sanguinary Buzenval +Sortie--Towards Capitulation--The German Conditions--The Armistice +Provisions--Bourbaki's Disaster--Could the War have been prolonged?--The +Resources of France--The general Weariness--I return to Paris--The +Elections for a National Assembly--The Negotiations--The State of Paris-- +The Preliminaries of Peace--The Triumphal Entry of the Germans--The War's +Aftermath. + + +We remained for a few days longer at Laval, and were not again interfered +with there. A painful interest attached to one sight which we witnessed +more than once. It was that of the many processions of deserters whom the +horse Gendarmerie of the headquarters staff frequently brought into the +town. The whole region was scoured for runaways, many of whom were found +in the villages and at lonely farms. They had generally cast off their +uniform and put on blouses, but the peasantry frequently betrayed them, +particularly as they seldom, if ever, had any money to spend in bribes. +Apart from those _battues_ and the measures of all kinds which Chanzy took +to reorganise his army, little of immediate import occurred at Laval. +Gambetta had been there, and had then departed for Lille in order to +ascertain the condition of Faidherbe's Army of the North. The German +pursuit of Chanzy's forces ceased virtually at Saint Jean-sur-Erve. There +was just another little skirmish at Sainte Melaine, but that was all. +[I should add that on January 17 the Germans under Mecklenburg secured +possession of Alengon (Chanty's original objective) alter an ineffectual +resistance offered by the troops under Commandant Lipowski, who was +seconded in his endeavours by young M. Antonin Dubost, then Prefect of the +Orne, and recently President of the French Senate.] Accordingly my father +and I returned to Saint Servan, and, having conjointly prepared some +articles on Chanzy's retreat and present circumstances, forwarded them to +London for the _Pall Mall Gazette_. + +The war was now fast drawing to an end. I have hitherto left several +important occurrences unmentioned, being unwilling to interrupt my +narrative of the fighting at Le Mans and the subsequent retreat. I feel, +however, that I now ought to glance at the state of affairs in other parts +of France. I have just mentioned that after visiting Chanzy at Laval +(January 19), Gambetta repaired to Lille to confer with Faidherbe. Let us +see, then, what the latter general had been doing. He was no longer +opposed by Manteuffel, who had been sent to the east of France in the hope +that he would deal more effectually than Werder with Bourbaki's army, +which was still in the field there. Manteuffel's successor in the north +was General von Goeben, with whom, on January 18, Faidherbe fought an +engagement at Vermand, followed on the morrow by the battle of Saint +Quentin, which was waged for seven hours amidst thaw and fog. Though it +was claimed as a French victory, it was not one. The Germans, it is true, +lost 2500 men, but the French killed and wounded amounted to 3500, and +there were thousands of men missing, the Germans taking some 5000 +prisoners, whilst other troops disbanded much as Chanzy's men disbanded +during his retreat. From a strategical point of view the action at Saint +Quentin was indecisive. + +Turning to eastern France, Bourbaki fought two indecisive engagements near +Villersexel, south-east of Vesoul, on January 9 and 10, and claimed the +victory on these occasions. On January 13 came another engagement at +Arcey, which he also claimed as a success, being congratulated upon it by +Gambetta. The weather was most severe in the region of his operations, and +the sufferings of his men were quite as great as--if not greater than-- +those of Chanzy's troops. There were nights when men lay down to sleep, +and never awoke again. On January 15,16, and 17 there was a succession of +engagements on the Lisaine, known collectively as the battle of Hericourt. +These actions resulted in Bourbaki's retreat southward towards Besancon, +where for the moment we will leave him, in order to consider the position +of Paris at this juncture. + +Since the beginning of the year, the day of the capital's surrender had +been fast approaching. Paris actually fell because its supply of food was +virtually exhausted. On January 18 it became necessary to ration the +bread, now a dark, sticky compound, which included such ingredients as +bran, starch, rice, barley, vermicelli, and pea-flour. About ten ounces +was allotted per diem to each adult, children under five years of age +receiving half that quantity. But the health-bill of the city was also a +contributory cause of the capitulation. In November there were 7444 deaths +among the non-combatant population, against 3863 in November, 1869. The +death-roll of December rose to 10,665, against 4214 in December the +previous year. In January, between sixty and seventy persons died from +small-pox every day. Bronchitis and pneumonia made an ever-increasing +number of victims. From January 14 to January 21 the mortality rose to no +less than 4465; from the latter date until January 28, the day of the +capitulation, the figures were 4671, whereas in normal times they had +never been more than 1000 in any week. + +Among the troops the position was going from bad to worse. Thousands of +men were in the hospitals, and thousands contrived to desert and hide +themselves in the city. Out of 100,705 linesmen, there were, on January 1, +no fewer than 23,938 absentees; while 23,565 units were absent from the +Mobile Guard, which, on paper, numbered 111,999. Briefly, one man out of +every five was either a patient or a deserter. As for the German +bombardment, this had some moral but very little material effect. Apart +from the damage done to buildings, it killed (as I previously said) about +one hundred and wounded about two hundred persons. + +The Government now had little if any confidence in the utility of any +further sorties. Nevertheless, as the extremist newspapers still clamoured +for one, it was eventually decided to attack the German positions across +the Seine, on the west of the city. This sortie, commonly called that of +Buzenval, took place on January 10, the day after King William of Prussia +had been proclaimed German Emperor in Louis XIV's "Hall of Mirrors" at +Versailles. [The decision to raise the King to the imperial dignity had +been arrived at on January 1.] Without doubt, the Buzenval sortie was +devised chiefly in order to give the National Guard the constantly +demanded opportunity and satisfaction of being led against the Germans. +Trochu, who assumed chief command, establishing himself at the fort of +Mont Valerien, divided his forces into three columns, led by Generals +Vinoy, Bellemare, and Ducrot. The first (the left wing) comprised +22,000 men, including 8000 National Guards; the second (the central +column) 34,500 men, including 16,000 Guards; and the third (the right +wing) 33,500 men, among whom were no fewer than 18,000 Guards. Thus the +total force was about 90,000, the National Guards representing about a +third of that number. Each column had with it ten batteries, representing +for the entire force 180 guns. The French front, however, extended over a +distance of nearly four miles, and the army's real strength was thereby +diminished. There was some fairly desperate fighting at Saint Cloud, +Montretout, and Longboyau, but the French were driven back after losing +4000 men, mostly National Guards, whereas the German losses were only +about six hundred. + +The affair caused consternation in Paris, particularly as several +prominent men had fallen in the ranks of the National Guard. On the night +of January 21, some extremists forced their way into the prison of Mazas +and delivered some of their friends who had been shut up there since the +rising of October 31. On the morrow, January 22, there was a demonstration +and an affray on the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, shots being exchanged with +the result that people were killed and wounded. The Government gained the +day, however, and retaliated by closing the revolutionary clubs and +suppressing some extremist newspapers. But four hours later Trochu +resigned his position as Military Governor of Paris (in which he was +replaced by General Vinoy), only retaining the Presidency of the +Government. Another important incident had occurred on the very evening +after the insurrection: Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister, had then +forwarded a letter to Prince Bismarck. + +The Government's first idea had been merely to surrender--that is to open +the city-gates and let the Germans enter at their peril. It did not wish +to negotiate or sign any capitulation. Jules Favre indicated as much when, +writing to Bismarck, and certainly the proposed course might have placed +the Germans--with the eyes of the world fixed upon them--in a difficult +position. But Favre was no match for the great Prussian statesman. Formal +negotiations were soon opened, and Bismarck so contrived affairs that, as +Gambetta subsequently and rightly complained, the convention which Favre +signed applied far more to France as a whole than to Paris itself. In +regard to the city, the chief conditions were that a war indemnity of +L8,000,000 should be paid; that the forts round the city should be +occupied by the Germans; that the garrison--Line, Mobile Guard, and Naval +Contingent (altogether about 180,000 men)--should become prisoners of war; +and that the armament (1500 fortress guns and 400 field pieces) should be +surrendered, as well as the large stores of ammunition. On the other hand, +a force of 12,000 men was left to the French Government for "police duty" +in the city, and the National Guards were, at Favre's urgent but foolish +request, allowed to retain their arms. Further, the city was to be +provisioned. In regard to France generally, arrangements were made for an +armistice of twenty-one days' duration, in order to allow of the election +of a National Assembly to treat for peace. In these arrangements Favre and +Vinoy (the new Governor of Paris) were out-jockeyed by Bismarck and +Moltke. They were largely ignorant of the real position in the provinces, +and consented to very disadvantageous terms in regard to the lines which +the Germans and the French should respectively occupy during the armistice +period. Moreover, although it was agreed that hostilities should cease on +most points, no such stipulation was made respecting the east of France, +where both Bourbaki and Garibaldi were in the field. + +The latter had achieved some slight successes near Dijon on January 21 and +23, but on February 1--that is, two days after the signing of the +armistice--the Garibaldians were once more driven out of the Burgundian +capital. That, however, was as nothing in comparison with what befell +Bourbaki's unfortunate army. Manteuffel having compelled it to retreat +from Besancon to Pontarlier, it was next forced to withdraw into +Switzerland [Before this happened, Bourbaki attempted his life.] +(neutral territory, where it was necessarily disarmed by the Swiss +authorities) in order to escape either capture or annihilation by the +Germans. The latter took some 6000 prisoners, before the other men (about +80,000 in number) succeeded in crossing the Swiss frontier. A portion of +the army was saved, however, by General Billot. With regard to the +position elsewhere, Longwy, I should mention, surrendered three days +before the capitulation of Paris; but Belfort prolonged its resistance +until February 13, when all other hostilities had ceased. Its garrison, +so gallantly commanded by Colonel Denfert-Bochereau, was accorded the +honours of war. + +As I wrote in my book, "Republican France," the country generally was +weary of the long struggle; and only Gambetta, Freycinet, and a few +military men, such as Chanzy and Faidherbe, were in favour of prolonging +it. From the declaration of war on July 15 to the capitulation of Paris +and the armistice on January 28, the contest had lasted twenty-eight +weeks. Seven of those weeks had sufficed to overthrow the Second Empire; +but only after another one-and-twenty weeks had the Third Republic laid +down her arms. Whatever may have been the blunders of the National +Defence, it at least saved the honour of France, + +It may well be doubted whether the position could have been retrieved had +the war been prolonged, though undoubtedly the country was still possessed +of many resources. In "Republican France," I gave a number of figures +which showed that over 600,000 men could have been brought into action +almost immediately, and that another 260,000 could afterwards have been +provided. On February 8, when Chanzy had largely reorganized his army, he, +alone, had under his orders 4952 officers and 227,361 men, with 430 guns. +That careful and distinguished French military historian, M. Pierre +Lehautcourt, places, however, the other resources of France at even a +higher figure than I did. He also points out, rightly enough, that +although so large a part of France was invaded, the uninvaded territory +was of greater extent, and inhabited by twenty-five millions of people. He +estimates the total available artillery on the French side at 1232 guns, +each with an average allowance of 242 projectiles. In addition, there were +443 guns awaiting projectiles. He tells us that the French ordnance +factories were at this period turning out on an average 25,000 chassepots +every month, and delivering two million cartridges every day; whilst other +large supplies of weapons and ammunition were constantly arriving from +abroad. On the other hand, there was certainly a scarcity of horses, the +mortality of which in this war, as in all others, was very great. Chanzy +only disposed of 20,000, and the remount service could only supply another +12,000. However, additional animals might doubtless have been found in +various parts of France, or procured from abroad. + +But material resources, however great they may be, are of little avail +when a nation has practically lost heart. In spite, moreover, of all the +efforts of commanding officers, insubordination was rampant among the +troops in the field. There had been so many defeats, so many retreats, +that they had lost all confidence in their generals. During the period of +the armistice, desertions were still numerous. I may add, that if at the +expiration of the armistice the struggle had been renewed, Chanzy's plan-- +which received approval at a secret military and Government council held +in Paris, whither he repaired early in February--was to place General +de Colomb at the head of a strong force for the defence of Brittany, +whilst he, Chanzy, would, with his own army, cross the Loire and defend +southern France. + +Directly news arrived that an armistice had been signed, and that Paris +was once more open, my father arranged to return there, accompanied by +myself and my younger brother, Arthur Vizetelly. We took with us, I +remember, a plentiful supply of poultry and other edibles for distribution +among the friends who had been suffering from the scarcity of provisions +during the latter days of the siege. The elections for the new National +Assembly were just over, nearly all of the forty-three deputies returned +for Paris being Republicans, though throughout the rest of France +Legitimist and Orleanist candidates were generally successful. I remember +that just before I left Saint Servan one of our tradesmen, an enthusiastic +Royalist, said to me, "We shall have a King on the throne by the time you +come back to see us in the summer." At that moment it certainly seemed as +if such would be the case. As for the Empire, one could only regard it as +dead. There were, I think, merely five recognized Bonapartist members in +the whole of the new National Assembly, and most of them came from +Corsica. Thus, it was by an almost unanimous vote that the Assembly +declared Napoleon III and his dynasty to be responsible for the "invasion, +ruin, and dismemberment of France." + +The Assembly having called Thiers to the position of "Chief of the +Executive Power," peace negotiations ensued between him and Bismarck. They +began on February 22, Thiers being assisted by Jules Favre, who retained +the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, mainly because nobody else +would take it and append his signature to a treaty which was bound to be +disastrous for the country. The chief conditions of that treaty will be +remembered. Germany was to annex Alsace-Lorraine, to receive a war +indemnity of two hundred million pounds sterling (with interest in +addition), and secure commercially "most favoured nation" treatment from +France. The preliminaries were signed on February 26, and accepted by the +National Assembly on March 1, but the actual treaty of Frankfort was not +signed and ratified until the ensuing month of May. + +Paris presented a sorry spectacle during the weeks which followed the +armistice. There was no work for the thousands of artisans who had become +National Guards during the siege. Their allowance as such was prolonged in +order that they might at least have some means of subsistence. But the +unrest was general. By the side of the universal hatred of the Germans, +which was displayed on all sides, even finding vent in the notices set up +in the shop-windows to the effect that no Germans need apply there, one +observed a very bitter feeling towards the new Government. Thiers had been +an Orleanist all his life, and among the Paris working-classes there was a +general feeling that the National Assembly would give France a king. This +feeling tended to bring about the subsequent bloody Insurrection of the +Commune; but, as I wrote in "Republican France," it was precisely the +Commune which gave the French Royalists a chance. It placed a weapon in +their hands and enabled them to say, "You see, by that insurrection, by +all those terrible excesses, what a Republic implies. Order, quietude, +fruitful work, are only possible under a monarchy." As we know, however, +the efforts of the Royalists were defeated, in part by the obstinacy of +their candidate, the Comte de Chambord, and in part by the good behaviour +of the Republicans generally, as counselled both by Thiers and by +Gambetta. + +On March 1, the very day when the National Assembly ratified the +preliminaries of peace at Bordeaux, the Germans made their triumphal entry +into Paris. Four or five days previously my father had sent me on a +special mission to Bordeaux, and it was then that after long years I again +set eyes on Garibaldi, who had been elected as a French deputy, but who +resigned his seat in consequence of the onerous terms of peace. Others, +notably Gambetta, did precisely the same, by way of protesting against the +so-called "Devil's Treaty." However, I was back in Paris in time to +witness the German entry into the city. My father, my brother Arthur, and +myself were together in the Champs Elysees on that historical occasion. I +have related elsewhere [In "Republican France."] how a number of women of +the Paris Boulevards were whipped in the Champs Elysees shrubberies by +young roughs, who, not unnaturally, resented the shameless overtures made +by these women to the German soldiery. There were, however, some +unfortunate mistakes that day, as, for instance, when an attempt was +made to ill-treat an elderly lady who merely spoke to the Germans in the +hope of obtaining some information respecting her son, then still a +prisoner of war. I remember also that Archibald Forbes was knocked down +and kicked for returning the salute of the Crown Prince of Saxony. Some of +the English correspondents who hurried to the scene removed Forbes to a +little hotel in the Faubourg St. Honore, for he had really been hurt by +that savage assault, though it did not prevent him from penning a graphic +account of what he witnessed on that momentous day. + +The German entry was, on the whole, fairly imposing as a military display; +but the stage-management was very bad, and one could not imagine that +Napoleon's entry into Berlin had in any way resembled it. Nor could it be +said to have equalled the entry of the Allied Sovereigns into Paris in +1814. German princelings in basket-carriages drawn by ponies did not add +to the dignity of the spectacle. Moreover, both the Crown Prince of Saxony +and the Crown Prince of Germany (Emperor Frederick) attended it in +virtually an _incognito_ manner. As for the Emperor William, his +councillors dissuaded him from entering the city for fear lest there +should be trouble there. I believe also that neither Bismarck nor Moltke +attended, though, like the Emperor, they both witnessed the preliminary +review of troops in the Bois de Boulogne. The German occupation was +limited to the Champs Elysees quarter, and on the first day the Parisians +generally abstained from going there; but on the morrow--when news that +the preliminaries of peace had been accepted at Bordeaux had reached the +capital--they flocked to gaze upon _nos amis les ennemis_, and greatly +enjoyed, I believe, the lively music played by the German regimental +bands. "Music hath charms," as we are all aware. The departure of the +German troops on the ensuing evening was of a much more spectacular +character than their entry had been. As with their bands playing, whilst +they themselves sang the "Wacht am Rhein" in chorus, they marched up the +Champs Elysees on their way back to Versailles, those of their comrades +who were still billeted in the houses came to the balconies with as many +lighted candles as they could carry. Bivouac fires, moreover, were burning +brightly here and there, and the whole animated scene, with its play of +light and shade under the dark March sky, was one to be long remembered. + +The Franco-German War was over, and a new era had begun for Europe. The +balance of power was largely transferred. France had again ceased to be +the predominant continental state. She had attained to that position for +a time under Louis XIV, and later, more conspicuously, under Napoleon I. +But in both of those instances vaulting ambition had o'er-leapt itself. +The purposes of Napoleon III were less far-reaching. Such ideas of +aggrandisement as he entertained were largely subordinated to his desire +to consolidate the _regime_ he had revived, and to ensure the continuity +of his dynasty. But the very principle of nationality which he more than +once expounded, and which he championed in the case of Italy, brought +about his ruin. He gave Italy Venetia, but refused her Rome, and thereby +alienated her. Further, the consolidation of Germany--from his own +nationalist point of view--became a threat to French interests. Thus he +was hoist chiefly by his own _petard_, and France paid the penalty for his +errors. + +The Franco-German War was over, I have said, but there came a terrible +aftermath--that is, the rising of the Commune, some of the introductory +features of which were described by me in "Republican France." There is +only one fairly good history of that formidable insurrection in the +English language--one written some years ago by Mr. Thomas March. It is, +however, a history from the official standpoint, and is consequently +one-sided as well as inaccurate in certain respects. Again, the English +version of the History of the Commune put together by one of its +partisans, Lissagaray, sins in the other direction. An impartial account +of the rising remains to be written. If I am spared I may, perhaps, be +privileged to contribute to it by preparing a work on much the same lines +as those of this present volume. Not only do I possess the greater part of +the literature on the subject, including many of the newspapers of the +time, but throughout the insurrection I was in Paris or its suburbs. + +I sketched the dead bodies of Generals Clement Thomas and Lecomte only a +few hours after their assassination. I saw the Vendome column fall while +American visitors to Paris were singing, "Hail, Columbia!" in the hotels +of the Rue de la Paix. I was under fire in the same street when a +demonstration was made there. Provided with passports by both sides, I +went in and out of the city and witnessed the fighting at Asnieres and +elsewhere. I attended the clubs held in the churches, when women often +perorated from the pulpits. I saw Thiers's house being demolished; and +when the end came and the Versailles troops made their entry into the +city, I was repeatedly in the street-fighting with my good friend, Captain +Bingham. I recollect sketching the attack on the Elysee Palace from a +balcony of our house, and finding that balcony on the pavement a few hours +later when it had been carried away by a shell from a Communard battery at +Montmartre. Finally, I saw Paris burning. I gazed on the sheaves of flames +rising above the Tuileries. I saw the whole front of the Ministry of +Finances fall into the Rue de Rivoli. I saw the now vanished Carrefour de +la Croix Rouge one blaze of fire. I helped to carry water to put out the +conflagration at the Palais de Justice. I was prodded with a bayonet when, +after working in that manner for some hours, I attempted to shirk duty at +another fire which I came upon in the course of my expeditions. All that +period of my life flashes on my mind as vividly as Paris herself flashed +under the wondering stars of those balmy nights in May. + +My father and my brother Arthur also had some remarkable adventures. +There was one occasion when they persuaded a venturesome Paris cabman to +drive them from conflagration to conflagration, and this whilst the +street-fighting was still in progress. Every now and then, as they drove +on, men and women ran eagerly out of houses into which wounded combatants +had been taken, imagining that they must belong to the medical profession, +as nobody else was likely to go about Paris in such a fashion at such a +moment. Those good folk forgot the journalists. The service of the Press +carries with it obligations which must not be shirked. Journalism has +become, not merely the chronicle of the day, but the foundation of +history. And now I know not if I should say farewell or _au revoir_ to my +readers. Whether I ever attempt a detailed account of the Commune of Paris +must depend on a variety of circumstances. After three-and-forty years +"at the mill," I am inclined to feel tired, and with me health is not what +it has been. Nevertheless, my plans must depend chiefly on the reception +given to this present volume. + + + +INDEX + + + Adam, Edmond + Adare, Lord + Albert, Archduke + Albert, Prince (the elder), of Prussia + Alencon taken + Alexander II of Russia + Alexandra, Queen + Allix, Jules + Amazons of Paris + Ambert, General + Ambulances, Anglo-American + at Conlie + at Le Mans + author's impression of + Amiens + Arabs with Chanzy + Arago, Emmanuel + Etienne + Ardenay, + Armistice, conditions for an + concluded + Army, French, under the Empire + of Paris, _see also_ Paris + of Brittany + at the outset of National Defence + of the Vosges, _see also_ Garibaldi + of the East, _see also_ Bourbaki + of the Loire, _see also_ D'Aurelle, Goulmiers, + Chanzy, Le Mans, etc. + of the North, _see_ Faidheibe + at the end of war + _for German army see_ German _and names of commanders_ + Arnim, Count von + Artists, French newspaper + Assembly, _see_ National + Aurelle, _see_ D'Aurelle + Auvours plateau (Le Mans) + + Balloon service from Paris + Bapauine, battle of + Barry, General + Battues for deserters + Bazaine, Marshal + Beauce country + Beaumont, fight at + Beaune-la-Rolande, battle of + Belfort, siege of + Bellemare, General Carre de + Bellenger, Marguerite + Belly, Felix + Beraud, Colonel + Bernard, Colonel + Berezowski + Beuvron, Abbe de + Billot, General + Bingham, Captain Hon. D.A. + Bismarck, Prince + Blano, Louis + Blanchard, P. + Blanqui, Augusta, + Blewitt, Dr. Byron + Boisdeffre, Captain, later General de + Bonaparte, Lycee, _see_ Lycee + Bonaparte, Prince Pierre, _See also_ Napoleon + Bonnemains, General de + Boots, army + Bordone, General + Borel, General + Boulanger, General, his mistress + Bourbaki, General Charles + Bourbon, Palais, _see_ Legislative Body + Bourdillon, General + Bourges, + Bourget, Le, + Bower, Mr., + Bowles, T. Gibson, + Brie-Comte-Robert, + Brownings, the, + Bulwer, Sir E., + + Caillaux, E. and J., + Cambriels, General, + Canrobert, Marshal, + Capitulations, see Amiens, Belfort, Longwy, Metz, Paris, Sedan, + Strasbourg, Toul, etc. + Capoul, Victor, + Caricatures of the period, + Casimir-Perler, J.P., + Cathelineau, Colonel, + Chabaud-Latour, General, + Challemel-Lacour, + Cham (M. de Noe), + Chambord, Comte de, + Champagne, fighting at, + Champigny, sortie of, + Change, fighting at, + Chanzy, General Alfred, + his early career and appearance, + his orders and operations with the Loire forces, + Charette, General Baron, + Chartres, + "Chartreuse de Parme, La", + Chassille, fight at, + Chateaubriand, Count and Countess de + Chateaudun, fight at, + Chatillon, fight at, + Chemin des Boeufs (Le Mans), + "Claque," the, + Claremont, Colonel, + Clocks, German love of, + Clubs, Paris, + social + revolutionary + Colin, General, + Collins, Mortimer, + Colomb, General de, + Colomb, General von, + Commune of Paris, + attempts to set up a + rising of the + Conde, Prince de, + Conlie, camp of, + Connerre, + Corbeil, Germans at, + Correspondents, English, in Paris, + Coulmiers, battle of, + Couriers from Paris, + Cousin-Montauban, see Palikao. + Cowardice and panic, cases of, + Crane, Stephen, + Cremer, General, + Cremieux, Adolphe, + Crouzat, General, + Crown Prince of Prussia (Emperor Frederick), + Curten, General, + + Daily News, + Daily Telegraph, + Daumier, Honore, + D'Aurelle de Paladines, General, + Davenport brothers, + "Debacle, La," Zola's, + Dejean, General, + Delescluze, Charles, + Denfert-Rochereau, Colonel, + Des Pallieres, General Martin, + Devonshire, late Duke of, + Dieppe, Germans reach, + Dijon, fighting at, + Dore, Gustave, + Dorian, Frederic, + D'Orsay, Count, + Douay, + General Abel; + General Felix, + "Downfall, the," see Debacle. + Droue, fight at, + Dubost, Antonin, + Ducrot, General, + Duff, Brigadier-General (U.S.A.), + Dumas, Alexandre, + Dunraven, Lord, see Adare. + Duvernois, Clement, + + "Echoes of the Clubs" + Edwardes, Mrs. Annie + Elgar, Dr. Francis + Elysee Palace + Emotions in war + Empress, _see_ Eugenie. + English attempts to leave Paris + exodus from + Eugenie, Empress + + Faidherbe, General + Failly, General de + Fashions, Paris + Favre, Jules + Feilding, Major-General + Fennell family + Ferry, Jules + Fitz-James, Duc de + Flourens, Gustave + Forbach, battle of + Forbes, Archibald + Forge, Anatole de la + Fourichon, Admiral + Franco-German War + cause and origin of + preparations for + outbreak of + first French armies + departure of Napoleon III for + Germans enter France + first engagements + news of Sedan + troops gathered in Paris + German advance on Paris + Chatillon affair + investment of Paris + French provincial armies + the fighting near Le Mans + the retreat to Laval + armistice and peace negotiations + _See also Paris, and names of battles and commanders_. + Frederick, Emperor, _see_ Crown Prince, + Frederick Charles, Prince, of Prussia + Freyoinet, Charles de Saulces de, + Frossard, General + + Galliffet, Mme. de + Gambetta, Leon + Garde, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, _and_ National. + Garibaldi, General + Garibaldi, Riciotti + Garnier-Pages + Germans + early victories + alleged overthrow at Jaumont + Sedan + advance on Paris + expelled from Paris + love of clocks + Princes + strategy + exactions at Le Mans + officers' manners + entry into Paris + Glais-Bizoin + Godard brothers + Goeben, General von + Gougeard, General + Gramont, Duc Agenor de + Gramont-Caderousse, Duc de + Greenwood, Frederick + Guard, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, National. + + Halliday, Andrew + Hazen, General W. B. (U.S.A.) + Heiduck, General von + Hericourt, battle of + Home, David Dunglass + Horses in the War + Hozier, Captain, later Colonel, Sir H. + Hugo, Victor + + _Illustrated London News_ + _Illustrated Times_ + Imperial Guard + Imperial Prince + + Jarras, General + Jaumont quarries + Jauregulberry, Admiral + Jaures, Admiral + Jerrold, Blanchard + Johnson, Captain + Jouffroy, General + Jung, Captain + + Kanitz, Colonel von + Kean, Edmund + Keratry, Comte de + Kitchener, Lord + Kraatz-Koschlau, General von + + Laboughere, Henry, + Ladmirault, General de + La Ferte-Bernard + Lalande, General + La Malmaison sortie + La Motte-Rouge, General de + Landells + Langres + Laon, capitulation of + Laval, retreat on + adventure at + Leboeuf, Marshal + Lebouedec, General + Lebrun, General + Lecomte, General + Ledru-Rollin + Le Flo, General + Lefort, General + Legislative Body, French (Palais Bourbon) + Le Mans + Chanzy at + town described + country around + fighting near + decisive fighting begins + retreat from + battle losses at + street fighting at + Germans at + their exactions + Chanzy's statue at + Lermina, Jules + Lewal, Colonel + Lipowski, Commandant + Lobbia, Colonel + Loigny-Poupry, battle + Longwy, capitulation + Lycee Bonaparte, now Condorcet + Lyons, Lord + + MacMahon, Marshal + Mme. de + Magnin, M. + Maine country + Malmaison, _see_ La Malmaison + Mans, _see_ Le Mans + Mantes, Germans at + Manteuffel, General von + Marchenoir forest + Mario, Jessie White + Marseillaise, the + Mayhew, brothers + Mazure, General + Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick Francis, Grand Duke of + Metz + Michel, General + Millaud, A., his verses + Middleton, Robert + Mobile Guard, + in Paris + Moltke, Marshal von + Monson, Sir Edmund + Montbard, artist + Mora, Colonel + Morny, Duc de + Motte Rouge, _see_ La Motte-Rouge + Moulin, artist + + Nadar, Jules Tournachon, called + Napoleon I + Napoleon III, + Napoleon (Jerome), Prince + National Assembly elected + National Defence Government + confirmed by a plebiscitum + in the provinces + National Guard (Paris) + of Chateaudun + of Laval + _New York Times_ + Niel, Marshal + Noe, Vicomte de, _see_ Cham. + Nogent-le-Rotrou + Noir, Victor, assassinated + Nuits, fighting at + + Ollivier, Emile; + Madame + Orleans; + battle of + + Paladines, see D'Aurelle + Palikao, General de + _Pall Mall Gazette_ + Parigne l'Eveque + Paris, + cafes in; + riots in; + elections in; + early in the war; + defensive preparations; + fugitives and refugees; + wounded soldiers in; + Anglo-American ambulance in; + army and armament of; + Hugo's return to; + German advance on; + last day of liberty in; + live-stock in; + customary meat supply of; + clubs in; + defence of Chatillon; + siege begins; + attempts to leave; + first couriers from; + balloon and pigeon post; + siege jests; + spyophobia and signal craze in; + amazons of; + reconnaissances and sorties from; + news of Metz in; + demonstrations and riots in; + plebiscitum in; + food and rations in; + English people leave; + state of environs of; + steps to relieve; + bombardment of; + health of; + deserters in; + affray in; + capitulation of; + author returns to; + aspect after the armistice; + Germans enter; + rising of the Commune, _See also_ Revolution. + Paris, General + "Partant pour la Syrie" + Peace conditions + "Pekin, Siege of" + Pelcoq, Jules, artist + Pelletan, Eugene + Picard, Ernest + Pietri, Prefect + Pigeon-Post + Piquet, M. + Pius IX + Pollard family + Pontifical Zouaves + Pontlieue (Le Mans) + Pont-Noyelles, battle of + Postal-services, _see_ Balloon, Courier, Pigeon. + Prim, General + Prussians, not Germans + Pyat, Felix + + Quatrefages de Breau + Quinet, Edgar + + Rampont, Dr. + "Red Badge of Courage" + Red Cross Society, French + Reed, Sir E. J. + Rennes + Retreat, Chanzy's, on Marchenoir forest; + on Le Mans; + on Laval; + Revolution of September 4. + Reyau, General + Richard, Mayor of Le Mans + Robinson, Sir John + Rochefort, Henri + Rochers, Chateau des + Rodellee du Ponzic, Lieutenant + Roquebrune, General de + Rothschild, Baron Alphonse de + Rouen, Germans reach + Rouher, Eugene + Rousseau, General + Russell, Sir William Howard + Ryan, Dr. C. E. + + Saint Agil + Saint Calais + Saint Cloud chateau destroyed + Saint Jean-sur-Erve + Saint Malo + Saint Quentin, + defence of; + battle of + Saint Servan + Sainte Suzanne + Sala, G.A. + Sardou, Victorien + Sass, Marie + Saxe-Meiningen, Prince of + Saxony, Crown Prince of + Schmidt, General von + Sedan, news of + Napoleon at + Senate, Imperial + Shackle + Sieges, _see_ Paris _and other places_ + Signal craze in Paris + Sille-le-Guillaume + Simon, Jules + Skinner, Hilary + Sologne region + Songs, some Victorian + Sophia, Queen of Holland + Spuller, Eugene + Spyophobia in Paris + at Laval + Stendhal + Stoffel, Colonel + Strasbourg, siege of + Susbielle, General + + Tann, General von der + Tertre Rouge position (Le Mans) + Thackeray, W.M. + Thiers, Adolphe + Thomas, General Clement + Tibaldi + _Times_, the + Tissandier brothers + Toul capitulates + Treaty, _see_ Peace + Trochu, General + Troppmann + Tuilerie position (Le Mans) + Tuileries palace + + Uhrich, General + + Vaillant, Marshal + Valentin, Edmond + Vendome column + Versailles during Paris siege + Villemessant, H. de + Villersexel, battle of + Villorceau, fighting at + Vimercati, Count + Vinoy, General + Vizetelly family + Vizetelly, Adrian + ------, Arthur + ------, Edward Henry + ------, Elizabeth Anne + ------, Ellen Elizabeth + ------, Ernest Alfred, parentage + men he saw in childhood + his passionate temper + at school at Eastbourne + at London sights + sees Garibaldi + and Nadar + goes to France + at the Lycee Bonaparte + his tutor Brassard + sees an attempt on Alexander H. + assists his father + his first article + sees famous Frenchmen + visits the Tuileries + goes to Compiegne + is addressed by Napoleon III + sees Paris riots + visits Prince Pierre's house + is befriended by Captain Bingham + dreams of seeing a war + has a glimpse of its seamy side + sees Napoleon III set out for the war + hears Capoul sing the "Marseillaise" + sees a demonstration + meets English newspaper correspondents + is called a little spy by Gambetta + with the Anglo-American ambulance + witnesses the Revolution + takes a letter to Trochu + sees Victor Hugo's return to Paris + witnesses a great review + describes Parish last day of liberty + sees Captain Johnson arrive + visits balloon factories + ascends in Nadar's captive balloon + sees Gambetta leave in a balloon + learns fencing + goes to a women's club + interviews the Paris Amazons + witnesses the demonstration of October 21 + and that of October 31 + food arrangements of his father and himself + leaves Paris + at Brie Comte-Robert + at Corbeil + at Champlan + at Versailles + visits Colonel Walker with his father + leaves Versailles + at Mantes + reaches Saint Servan + visits the Camp of Conlie + accompanies Gougeard's division to the front + in the retreat on Le Mans + receives the baptism of fire + has an amusing experience at Rennes + returns to Le Mans + sees and sketches Chanzy + witnesses part of the battle of Le Mans + sees the stampede from the tile-works + and the confusion at Le Mans + his views on German officers + on a soldier's emotions + on ambulances + escapes from Le Mans + at Sille-le-Guillaume + at the fight of Saint Jean-sur-Erve + follows the retreat + returns to Laval + has a dramatic adventure there + returns to Paris + sees the Germans enter Paris + some of his experiences during the Commune + Vizetelly, Frank + ----, Francis (Frank) Horace + ----, Frederick Whitehead + ----, Henry + ----, Henry Richard (author's father) + ----, James Thomas George + ----, James Henry + ----, Montague + Voigts Rhetz, General von + Vosges, _see_ Army of the + Voules, Horace + + Walker, Colonel Beauchamp + War, emotions in + war-news in 1870 + _See also_ Franco-German War + Washburne, Mr. + Werder, General von + Whitehurst, Felix + William, King of Prussia, later Emperor + Wimpfen, General de + Wittich, General von + Wodehouse, Hon. Mr. + Wolseley, Field-Marshal Lord + + Yvre-l'Eveque + + Zola, Emile, his "La Debacle" + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Days of Adventure, by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + +***** This file should be named 9896.txt or 9896.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/9/9896/ + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team from images +generously made available by the Bibliotheque nationale +de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: My Days of Adventure + The Fall of France, 1870-71 + +Author: Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9896] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 28, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) +at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + THE FALL OF FRANCE, 1870-71 + + By Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + + +Le Petit Homme Rouge + +Author of "The Court of the Tuileries 1852-70" etc. + + +With A Frontispiece + +London, 1914 + + + + +THE PEOPLE'S WAR + + O husbandmen of hill and dale, + O dressers of the vines, + O sea-tossed fighters of the gale, + O hewers of the mines, + O wealthy ones who need not strive, + O sons of learning, art, + O craftsmen of the city's hive, + O traders of the man, + Hark to the cannon's thunder-call + Appealing to the brave! + Your France is wounded, and may fall + Beneath the foreign grave! + Then gird your loins! Let none delay + Her glory to maintain; + Drive out the foe, throw off his sway, + Win back your land again! + +1870. E.A.V. + + + +PREFACE + + +While this volume is largely of an autobiographical character, it will be +found to contain also a variety of general information concerning the +Franco-German War of 1870-71, more particularly with respect to the second +part of that great struggle--the so-called "People's War" which followed +the crash of Sedan and the downfall of the Second French Empire. If I have +incorporated this historical matter in my book, it is because I have +repeatedly noticed in these later years that, whilst English people are +conversant with the main facts of the Sedan disaster and such subsequent +outstanding events as the siege of Paris and the capitulation of Metz, +they usually know very little about the manner in which the war generally +was carried on by the French under the virtual dictatorship of Gambetta. +Should England ever be invaded by a large hostile force, we, with our very +limited regular army, should probably be obliged to rely largely on +elements similar to those which were called to the field by the French +National Defence Government of 1870 after the regular armies of the Empire +had been either crushed at Sedan or closely invested at Metz. For that +reason I have always taken a keen interest in our Territorial Force, well +realizing what heavy responsibilities would fall upon it if a powerful +enemy should obtain a footing in this country. Some indication of those +responsibilities will be found in the present book. + +Generally speaking, however, I have given only a sketch of the latter part +of the Franco-German War. To have entered into details on an infinity of +matters would have necessitated the writing of a very much longer work. +However, I have supplied, I think, a good deal of precise information +respecting the events which I actually witnessed, and in this connexion, +perhaps, I may have thrown some useful sidelights on the war generally; +for many things akin to those which I saw, occurred under more or less +similar circumstances in other parts of France. + +People who are aware that I am acquainted with the shortcomings of the +French in those already distant days, and that I have watched, as closely +as most foreigners can watch, the evolution of the French army in these +later times, have often asked me what, to my thinking, would be the +outcome of another Franco-German War. For many years I fully anticipated +another struggle between the two Powers, and held myself in readiness to +do duty as a war-correspondent. I long thought, also, that the signal for +that struggle would be given by France. But I am no longer of that +opinion. I fully believe that all French statesmen worthy of the name +realize that it would be suicidal for France to provoke a war with her +formidable neighbour. And at the same time I candidly confess that I do +not know what some journalists mean by what they call the "New France." To +my thinking there is no "New France" at all. There was as much spirit, as +much patriotism, in the days of MacMahon, in the days of Boulanger, and at +other periods, as there is now. The only real novelty that I notice in the +France of to-day is the cultivation of many branches of sport and athletic +exercise. Of that kind of thing there was very little indeed when I was a +stripling. But granting that young Frenchmen of to-day are more athletic, +more "fit" than were those of my generation, granting, moreover, that the +present organization and the equipment of the French army are vastly +superior to what they were in 1870, and also that the conditions of +warfare have greatly changed, I feel that if France were to engage, +unaided, in a contest with Germany, she would again be worsted, and +worsted by her own fault. + +She fully knows that she cannot bring into the field anything like as many +men as Germany; and it is in a vain hope of supplying the deficiency that +she has lately reverted from a two to a three years' system of military +service. The latter certainly gives her a larger effective for the first +contingencies of a campaign, but in all other respects it is merely a +piece of jugglery, for it does not add a single unit to the total number +of Frenchmen capable of bearing arms. The truth is, that during forty +years of prosperity France has been intent on racial suicide. In the whole +of that period only some 3,500,000 inhabitants have been added to her +population, which is now still under 40 millions; whereas that of Germany +has increased by leaps and bounds, and stands at about 66 millions. At the +present time the German birth-rate is certainly falling, but the numerical +superiority which Germany has acquired over France since the war of 1870 +is so great that I feel it would be impossible for the latter to triumph +in an encounter unless she should be assisted by powerful allies. Bismarck +said in 1870 that God was on the side of the big battalions; and those +big battalions Germany can again supply. I hold, then, that no such +Franco-German war as the last one can again occur. Europe is now virtually +divided into two camps, each composed of three Powers, all of which would +be more or less involved in a Franco-German struggle. The allies and +friends on either side are well aware of it, and in their own interests +are bound to exert a restraining influence which makes for the maintenance +of peace. We have had evidence of this in the limitations imposed on the +recent Balkan War. + +On the other hand, it is, of course, the unexpected which usually happens; +and whilst Europe generally remains armed to the teeth, and so many +jealousies are still rife, no one Power can in prudence desist from her +armaments. We who are the wealthiest nation in Europe spend on our +armaments, in proportion to our wealth and our population, less than any +other great Power. Yet some among us would have us curtail our +expenditure, and thereby incur the vulnerability which would tempt a foe. +Undoubtedly the armaments of the present day are great and grievous +burdens on the nations, terrible impediments to social progress, but they +constitute, unfortunately, our only real insurance against war, justifying +yet to-day, after so many long centuries, the truth of the ancient Latin +adage--_Si vis pacem, para bellum_. + +It is, I think, unnecessary for me to comment here on the autobiographical +part of my book. It will, I feel, speak for itself. It treats of days long +past, and on a few points, perhaps, my memory may be slightly defective. +In preparing my narrative, however, I have constantly referred to my old +diaries, note-books and early newspaper articles, and have done my best to +abstain from all exaggeration. Whether this story of some of my youthful +experiences and impressions of men and things was worth telling or not is +a point which I must leave my readers to decide. + +E.A.V. + +London, _January_ 1914. + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + + II. THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + + III. ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + + IV. FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + + V. BESIEGED + + VI. MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + + VII. FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +VIII. FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + + IX. THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + + X. WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + + XI. BEFORE LE MANS + + XII. LE MANS AND AFTER + +XIII. THE BITTER END + + INDEX + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + + +I + +INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + +The Vizetelly Family--My Mother and her Kinsfolk--The _Illustrated Times_ +and its Staff--My Unpleasant Disposition--Thackeray and my First +Half-Crown--School days at Eastbourne--Queen Alexandra--Garibaldi--A few +old Plays and Songs--Nadar and the "Giant" Balloon--My Arrival in France-- +My Tutor Brossard--Berezowski's Attempt on Alexander II--My Apprenticeship +to Journalism--My first Article--I see some French Celebrities--Visits to +the Tuileries--At Compiegne--A few Words with Napoleon III--A +"Revolutionary" Beard. + + +This is an age of "Reminiscences," and although I have never played any +part in the world's affairs, I have witnessed so many notable things and +met so many notable people during the three-score years which I have +lately completed, that it is perhaps allowable for me to add yet another +volume of personal recollections to the many which have already poured +from the press. On starting on an undertaking of this kind it is usual, I +perceive by the many examples around me, to say something about one's +family and upbringing. There is less reason for me to depart from this +practice, as in the course of the present volume it will often be +necessary for me to refer to some of my near relations. A few years ago a +distinguished Italian philosopher and author, Angelo de Gubernatis, was +good enough to include me in a dictionary of writers belonging to the +Latin races, and stated, in doing so, that the Vizetellys were of French +origin. That was a rather curious mistake on the part of an Italian +writer, the truth being that the family originated at Ravenna, where some +members of it held various offices in the Middle Ages. Subsequently, after +dabbling in a conspiracy, some of the Vizzetelli fled to Venice and took +to glass-making there, until at last Jacopo, from whom I am descended, +came to England in the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth. From that time +until my own the men of my family invariably married English women, so +that very little Italian blood can flow in my veins. + +Matrimonial alliances are sometimes of more than personal interest. One +point has particularly struck me in regard to those contracted by members +of my own family, this being the diversity of English counties from which +the men have derived their wives and the women their husbands. References +to Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, +Leicestershire, Berkshire, Bucks, Suffolk, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and +Devonshire, in addition to Middlesex, otherwise London, appear in my +family papers. We have become connected with Johnstons, Burslems, +Bartletts, Pitts, Smiths, Wards, Covells, Randalls, Finemores, Radfords, +Hindes, Pollards, Lemprieres, Wakes, Godbolds, Ansells, Fennells, +Vaughans, Edens, Scotts, and Pearces, and I was the very first member of +the family (subsequent to its arrival in England) to take a foreigner as +wife, she being the daughter of a landowner of Savoy who proceeded from +the Tissots of Switzerland. My elder brother Edward subsequently married a +Burgundian girl named Clerget, and my stepbrother Frank chose an American +one, _nee_ Krehbiel, as his wife, these marriages occurring because +circumstances led us to live for many years abroad. + +Among the first London parishes with which the family was connected was +St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, where my forerunner, the first Henry +Vizetelly, was buried in 1691, he then being fifty years of age, and where +my father, the second Henry of the name, was baptised soon after his birth +in 1820. St. Bride's, Fleet Street, was, however, our parish for many +years, as its registers testify, though in 1781 my great-grandfather was +resident in the parish of St. Ann's, Blackfriars, and was elected +constable thereof. At that date the family name, which figures in old +English registers under a variety of forms--Vissitaler, Vissitaly, +Visataly, Visitelly, Vizetely, etc.--was by him spelt Vizzetelly, as is +shown by documents now in the Guildhall Library; but a few years later he +dropped the second z, with the idea, perhaps, of giving the name a more +English appearance. + +This great-grandfather of mine was, like his father before him, a printer +and a member of the Stationers' Company. He was twice married, having by +his first wife two sons, George and William, neither of whom left +posterity. The former, I believe, died in the service of the Honourable +East India Company. In June, 1775, however, my great-grandfather married +Elizabeth, daughter of James Hinde, stationer, of Little Moorfields, and +had by her, first, a daughter Elizabeth, from whom some of the Burslems +and Godbolds are descended; and, secondly, twins, a boy and a girl, who +were respectively christened James Henry and Mary Mehetabel. The former +became my grandfather. In August, 1816, he married, at St. Bride's, Martha +Jane Vaughan, daughter of a stage-coach proprietor of Chester, and had by +her a daughter, who died unmarried, and four sons--my father, Henry +Richard, and my uncles James, Frank, and Frederick Whitehead Vizetelly. + +Some account of my grandfather is given in my father's "Glances Back +through Seventy Years," and I need not add to it here. I will only say +that, like his immediate forerunners, James Henry Vizetelly was a printer +and freeman of the city. A clever versifier, and so able as an amateur +actor that on certain occasions he replaced Edmund Kean on the boards when +the latter was hopelessly drunk, he died in 1840, leaving his two elder +sons, James and Henry, to carry on the printing business, which was then +established in premises occupying the site of the _Daily Telegraph_ +building in Fleet Street. + +In 1844 my father married Ellen Elizabeth, only child of John Pollard, +M.D., a member of the ancient Yorkshire family of the Pollards of Bierley +and Brunton, now chiefly represented, I believe, by the Pollards of Scarr +Hall. John Pollard's wife, Charlotte Maria Fennell, belonged to a family +which gave officers to the British Navy--one of them serving directly +under Nelson--and clergy to the Church of England. The Fennells were +related to the Bronte sisters through the latter's mother; and one was +closely connected with the Shackle who founded the original _John Bull_ +newspaper. Those, then, were my kinsfolk on the maternal side. My mother +presented my father with seven children, of whom I was the sixth, being +also the fourth son. I was born on November 29, 1853, at a house called +Chalfont Lodge in Campden House Road, Kensington, and well do I remember +the great conflagration which destroyed the fine old historical mansion +built by Baptist Hicks, sometime a mercer in Cheapside and ultimately +Viscount Campden. But another scene which has more particularly haunted me +all through my life was that of my mother's sudden death in a saloon +carriage of an express train on the London and Brighton line. Though she +was in failing health, nobody thought her end so near; but in the very +midst of a journey to London, whilst the train was rushing on at full +speed, and no help could be procured, a sudden weakness came over her, and +in a few minutes she passed away. I was very young at the time, barely +five years old, yet everything still rises before me with all the +vividness of an imperishable memory. Again, too, I see that beautiful +intellectual brow and those lustrous eyes, and hear that musical voice, +and feel the gentle touch of that loving motherly hand. She was a woman of +attainments, fond of setting words to music, speaking perfect French, for +she had been partly educated at Evreux in Normandy, and having no little +knowledge of Greek and Latin literature, as was shown by her annotations +to a copy of Lempriere's "Classical Dictionary" which is now in my +possession. + +About eighteen months after I was born, that is in the midst of the +Crimean War, my father founded, in conjunction with David Bogue, a +well-known publisher of the time, a journal called the _Illustrated +Times_, which for several years competed successfully with the +_Illustrated London News_. It was issued at threepence per copy, and an +old memorandum of the printers now lying before me shows that in the +paper's earlier years the average printings were 130,000 copies weekly--a +notable figure for that period, and one which was considerably exceeded +when any really important event occurred. My father was the chief editor +and manager, his leading coadjutor being Frederick Greenwood, who +afterwards founded the _Pall Mall Gazette_. I do not think that +Greenwood's connection with the _Illustrated Times_ and with my father's +other journal, the _Welcome Guest_, is mentioned in any of the accounts of +his career. The literary staff included four of the Brothers Mayhew-- +Henry, Jules, Horace, and Augustus, two of whom, Jules and Horace, became +godfathers to my father's first children by his second wife. Then there +were also William and Robert Brough, Edmund Yates, George Augustus Sala, +Hain Friswell, W.B. Rands, Tom Robertson, Sutherland Edwards, James +Hannay, Edward Draper, and Hale White (father of "Mark Rutherford"), and +several artists and engravers, such as Birket Foster, "Phiz." Portch, +Andrews, Duncan, Skelton, Bennett, McConnell, Linton, London, and Horace +Harrall. I saw all those men in my early years, for my father was very +hospitably inclined, and they were often guests at Chalfont Lodge. + +After my mother's death, my grandmother, _nee_ Vaughan, took charge of the +establishment, and I soon became the terror of the house, developing a +most violent temper and acquiring the vocabulary of the roughest market +porter. My wilfulness was probably innate (nearly all the Vizetellys +having had impulsive wills of their own), and my flowery language was +picked up by perversely loitering to listen whenever there happened to be +a street row in Church Lane, which I had to cross on my way to or from +Kensington Gardens, my daily place of resort. At an early age I started +bullying my younger brother, I defied my grandmother, insulted the family +doctor because he was too fond of prescribing grey powders for my +particular benefit, and behaved abominably to the excellent Miss Lindup of +Sheffield Terrace, who endeavoured to instruct me in the rudiments of +reading, writing, and arithmetic. I frequently astonished or appalled the +literary men and artists who were my father's guests. I hated being +continually asked what I should like to be when I grew up, and the +slightest chaff threw me into a perfect paroxysm of passion. Whilst, +however, I was resentful of the authority of others, I was greatly +inclined to exercise authority myself--to such a degree, indeed, that my +father's servants generally spoke of me as "the young master," regardless +of the existence of my elder brothers. + +Having already a retentive memory, I was set to learn sundry +"recitations," and every now and then was called upon to emerge from +behind the dining-room curtains and repeat "My Name is Norval" or "The +Spanish Armada," for the delectation of my father's friends whilst they +lingered over their wine. Disaster generally ensued, provoked either by +some genial chaff or well-meant criticism from such men as Sala and +Augustus Mayhew, and I was ultimately carried off--whilst venting +incoherent protests--to be soundly castigated and put to bed. + +Among the real celebrities who occasionally called at Chalfont Lodge was +Thackeray, whom I can still picture sitting on one side of the fireplace, +whilst my father sat on the other, I being installed on the hearthrug +between them. Provided that I was left to myself, I could behave decently +enough, discreetly preserving silence, and, indeed, listening intently to +the conversation of my father's friends, and thereby picking up a very odd +mixture of knowledge. I was, I believe, a pale little chap with lank fair +hair and a wistful face, and no casual observer would have imagined that +my nature was largely compounded of such elements as enter into the +composition of Italian brigands, Scandinavian pirates, and wild Welshmen. +Thackeray, at all events, did not appear to think badly of the little boy +who sat so quietly at his feet. One day, indeed, when he came upon me and +my younger brother Arthur, with our devoted attendant Selina Horrocks, +in Kensington Gardens, he put into practice his own dictum that one could +never see a schoolboy without feeling an impulse to dip one's hand in +one's pocket. Accordingly he presented me with the first half-crown I ever +possessed, for though my father's gifts were frequent they were small. It +was understood, I believe, that I was to share the aforesaid half-crown +with my brother Arthur, but in spite of the many remonstrances of the +faithful Selina--a worthy West-country woman, who had largely taken my +mother's place--I appropriated the gift in its entirety, and became +extremely ill by reason of my many indiscreet purchases at a tuck-stall +which stood, if I remember rightly, at a corner of the then renowned +Kensington Flower Walk. This incident must have occurred late in +Thackeray's life. My childish recollection of him is that of a very big +gentleman with beaming eyes. + +My grandmother's reign in my father's house was not of great duration, as +in February, 1861, he contracted a second marriage, taking on this +occasion as his wife a "fair maid of Kent," [Elizabeth Anne Ansell, of +Broadstairs; mother of my step-brother, Dr. Frank H. Vizetelly, editor of +the "Standard Dictionary," New York.] to whose entry into our home I was +at first violently opposed, but who promptly won me over by her +unremitting affection and kindness, eventually becoming the best and +truest friend of my youth and early manhood. My circumstances changed, +however, soon after that marriage, for as I was now nearly eight years old +it was deemed appropriate that I should be sent to a boarding-school, both +by way of improving my mind and of having some nonsense knocked out of me, +which, indeed, was promptly accomplished by the pugnacious kindness of my +schoolfellows. Among the latter was one, my senior by a few years, who +became a very distinguished journalist. I refer to the late Horace Voules, +so long associated with Labouchere's journal, _Truth_. My brother Edward +was also at the same school, and my brother Arthur came there a little +later. + +It was situated at Eastbourne, and a good deal has been written about it +in recent works on the history of that well-known watering-place, which, +when I was first sent there, counted less than 6000 inhabitants. Located +in the old town or village, at a distance of a mile or more from the sea, +the school occupied a building called "The Gables," and was an offshoot of +a former ancient school connected with the famous parish church. In my +time this "academy" was carried on as a private venture by a certain James +Anthony Bown, a portly old gentleman of considerable attainments. + +I was unusually precocious in some respects, and though I frequently got +into scrapes by playing impish tricks--as, for instance, when I combined +with others to secure an obnoxious French master to his chair by means of +some cobbler's wax, thereby ruining a beautiful pair of peg-top trousers +which he had just purchased--I did not neglect my lessons, but secured a +number of "prizes" with considerable facility. When I was barely twelve +years old, not one of my schoolfellows--and some were sixteen and +seventeen years old--could compete with me in Latin, in which language +Bown ended by taking me separately. I also won three or four prizes for +"excelling" my successive classes in English grammar as prescribed by the +celebrated Lindley Murray. + +In spite of my misdeeds (some of which, fortunately, were never brought +home to me), I became, I think, somewhat of a favourite with the worthy +James Anthony, for he lent me interesting books to read, occasionally had +me to supper in his own quarters, and was now and then good enough to +overlook the swollen state of my nose or the blackness of one of my eyes +when I had been having a bout with a schoolfellow or a young clodhopper of +the village. We usually fought with the village lads in Love Lane on +Sunday evenings, after getting over the playground wall. I received +firstly the nickname of Moses, through falling among some rushes whilst +fielding a ball at cricket; and secondly, that of Noses, because my nasal +organ, like that of Cyrano de Bergerac, suddenly grew to huge proportions, +in such wise that it embodied sufficient material for two noses of +ordinary dimensions. Its size was largely responsible for my defeats when +fighting, for I found it difficult to keep guard over such a prominent +organ and prevent my claret from being tapped. + +Having generations of printers' ink mingled with my blood, I could not +escape the unkind fate which made me a writer of articles and books. +In conjunction with a chum named Clement Ireland I ran a manuscript school +journal, which included stories of pirates and highwaymen, illustrated +with lurid designs in which red ink was plentifully employed in order to +picture the gore which flowed so freely through the various tales. +My grandmother Vaughan was an inveterate reader of the _London Journal_ +and the _Family Herald_, and whenever I went home for my holidays I used +to pounce upon those journals and devour some of the stories of the author +of "Minnegrey," as well as Miss Braddon's "Aurora Floyd" and "Henry +Dunbar." The perusal of books by Ainsworth, Scott, Lever, Marryat, James +Grant, G. P. R. James, Dumas, and Whyte Melville gave me additional +material for storytelling; and so, concocting wonderful blends of all +sorts of fiction, I spun many a yarn to my schoolfellows in the dormitory +in which I slept--yarns which were sometimes supplied in instalments, +being kept up for a week or longer. + +My summer holidays were usually spent in the country, but at other times I +went to London, and was treated to interesting sights. At Kensington, in +my earlier years, I often saw Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort with +their children, notably the Princess Royal (Empress Frederick) and the +Prince of Wales (Edward VII). When the last-named married the "Sea-King's +daughter from over the sea"--since then our admired and gracious Queen +Alexandra--and they drove together through the crowded streets of London +on their way to Windsor, I came specially from Eastbourne to witness that +triumphal progress, and even now I can picture the young prince with his +round chubby face and little side-whiskers, and the vision of almost +tearfully-smiling beauty, in blue and white, which swept past my eager +boyish eyes. + +During the Easter holidays of 1864 Garibaldi came to England. My uncle, +Frank Vizetelly, was the chief war-artist of that period, the predecessor, +in fact, of the late Melton Prior. He knew Garibaldi well, having first +met him during the war of 1859, and having subsequently accompanied him +during his campaign through Sicily and then on to Naples--afterwards, +moreover, staying with him at Caprera. And so my uncle carried me and his +son, my cousin Albert, to Stafford House (where he had the _entree_), and +the grave-looking Liberator patted us on the head, called us his children, +and at Frank Vizetelly's request gave us photographs of himself. I then +little imagined that I should next see him in France, at the close of the +war with Germany, during a part of which my brother Edward acted as one of +his orderly officers. + +My father, being at the head of a prominent London newspaper, often +received tickets for one and another theatre. Thus, during my winter +holidays, I saw many of the old pantomimes at Drury Lane and elsewhere. I +also well remember Sothern's "Lord Dundreary," and a play called "The +Duke's Motto," which was based on Paul Feval's novel, "Le Bossu." I +frequently witnessed the entertainments given by the German Reeds, Corney +Grain, and Woodin, the clever quick-change artist. I likewise remember +Leotard the acrobat at the Alhambra, and sundry performances at the old +Pantheon, where I heard such popular songs as "The Captain with the +Whiskers" and "The Charming Young Widow I met in the Train." Nigger +ditties were often the "rage" during my boyhood, and some of them, like +"Dixie-land" and "So Early in the Morning," still linger in my memory. +Then, too, there were such songs as "Billy Taylor," "I'm Afloat," "I'll +hang my Harp on a Willow Tree," and an inane composition which contained +the lines-- + + "When a lady elopes + Down a ladder of ropes, + She may go, she may go, + She may go to--Hongkong--for me!" + +In those schoolboy days of mine, however, the song of songs, to my +thinking, was one which we invariably sang on breaking up for the +holidays. Whether it was peculiar to Eastbourne or had been derived from +some other school I cannot say. I only know that the last verse ran, +approximately, as follows: + + "Magistrorum is a borum, + Hic-haec-hoc has made his bow. + Let us cry: 'O cockalorum!' + That's the Latin for us now. + Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, + Off to Greece, for we are free! + Helter, skelter, melter, pelter, + We're the lads for mirth and spree!" + +For "cockalorum," be it noted, we frequently substituted the name of some +particularly obnoxious master. + +To return to the interesting sights of my boyhood, I have some +recollection of the Exhibition of 1862, but can recall more vividly a +visit to the Crystal Palace towards the end of the following year, when I +there saw the strange house-like oar of the "Giant" balloon in which +Nadar, the photographer and aeronaut, had lately made, with his wife and +others, a memorable and disastrous aerial voyage. Readers of Jules Verne +will remember that Nadar figures conspicuously in his "Journey to the +Moon." Quite a party of us went to the Palace to see the "Giant's" car, +and Nadar, standing over six feet high, with a great tangled mane of +frizzy flaxen hair, a ruddy moustache, and a red shirt _a la_ Garibaldi, +took us inside it and showed us all the accommodation it contained for +eating, sleeping and photographic purposes. I could not follow what he +said, for I then knew only a few French words, and I certainly had no idea +that I should one day ascend into the air with him in a car of a very +different type, that of the captive balloon which, for purposes of +military observation, he installed on the Place Saint Pierre at +Montmartre, during the German siege of Paris. + +A time came when my father disposed of his interest in the _Illustrated +Times_ and repaired to Paris to take up the position of Continental +representative of the _Illustrated London News_. My brother Edward, at +that time a student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, then became his +assistant, and a little later I was taken across the Channel with my +brother Arthur to join the rest of the family. We lived, first, at +Auteuil, and then at Passy, where I was placed in a day-school called the +Institution Nouissel, where lads were prepared for admission to the State +or municipal colleges. There had been some attempt to teach me French at +Eastbourne, but it had met with little success, partly, I think, because +I was prejudiced against the French generally, regarding them as a mere +race of frog-eaters whom we had deservedly whacked at Waterloo. Eventually +my prejudices were in a measure overcome by what I heard from our +drill-master, a retired non-commissioned officer, who had served in the +Crimea, and who told us some rousing anecdotes about the gallantry of +"our allies" at the Alma and elsewhere. In the result, the old sergeant's +converse gave me "furiously to think" that there might be some good in the +French after all. + +At Nouissel's I acquired some knowledge of the language rapidly enough, +and I was afterwards placed in the charge of a tutor, a clever scamp named +Brossard, who prepared me for the Lycee Bonaparte (now Condorcet), where I +eventually became a pupil, Brossard still continuing to coach me with a +view to my passing various examinations, and ultimately securing the usual +_baccalaureat_, without which nobody could then be anything at all in +France. In the same way he coached Evelyn Jerrold, son of Blanchard and +grandson of Douglas Jerrold, both of whom were on terms of close +friendship with the Vizetellys. But while Brossard was a clever man, he +was also an unprincipled one, and although I was afterwards indebted to +him for an introduction to old General Changarnier, to whom he was +related, it would doubtless have been all the better if he had not +introduced me to some other people with whom he was connected. He lived +for a while with a woman who was not his wife, and deserted her for a girl +of eighteen, whom he also abandoned, in order to devote himself to a +creature in fleshings who rode a bare-backed steed at the Cirque de +l'Imperatrice. When I was first introduced to her "behind the scenes," she +was bestriding a chair, and smoking a pink cigarette, and she addressed me +as _mon petit_. Briefly, the moral atmosphere of Brossard's life was not +such as befitted him to be a mentor of youth. + +Let me now go back a little. At the time of the great Paris Exhibition of +1867 I was in my fourteenth year. The city was then crowded with +royalties, many of whom I saw on one or another occasion. I was in the +Bois de Boulogne with my father when, after a great review, a shot was +fired at the carriage in which Napoleon III and his guest, Alexander II of +Russia, were seated side by side. I saw equerry Raimbeaux gallop forward +to screen the two monarchs, and I saw the culprit seized by a sergeant of +our Royal Engineers, attached to the British section of the Exhibition. +Both sovereigns stood up in the carriage to show that they were uninjured, +and it was afterwards reported that the Emperor Napoleon said to the +Emperor Alexander: "If that shot was fired by an Italian it was meant for +me; if by a Pole, it was meant for your Majesty." Whether those words were +really spoken, or were afterwards invented, as such things often are, by +some clever journalist, I cannot say; but the man proved to be a Pole +named Berezowski, who was subsequently sentenced to transportation for +life. + +It was in connection with this attempt on the Czar that I did my first +little bit of journalistic work. By my father's directions, I took a few +notes and made a hasty little sketch of the surroundings. This and my +explanations enabled M. Jules Pelcoq, an artist of Belgian birth, whom my +father largely employed on behalf of the _Illustrated London News_, to +make a drawing which appeared on the first page of that journal's next +issue. I do not think that any other paper in the world was able to supply +a pictorial representation of Berezowski's attempt. + +I have said enough, I think, to show that I was a precocious lad, perhaps, +indeed, a great deal too precocious. However, I worked very hard in those +days. My hours at Bonaparte were from ten to twelve and from two to four. +I had also to prepare home-lessons for the Lycee, take special lessons +from Brossard, and again lessons in German from a tutor named With. Then, +too, my brother Edward ceasing to act as my father's assistant in order to +devote himself to journalism on his own account, I had to take over a part +of his duties. One of my cousins, Montague Vizetelly (son of my uncle +James, who was the head of our family), came from England, however, to +assist my father in the more serious work, such as I, by reason of my +youth, could not yet perform. My spare time was spent largely in taking +instructions to artists or fetching drawings from them. At one moment I +might be at Mont-martre, and at another in the Quartier Latin, calling on +Pelcoq, Anastasi, Janet Lange, Gustave Janet, Pauquet, Thorigny, Gaildrau, +Deroy, Bocourt, Darjou, Lix, Moulin, Fichot, Blanchard, or other artists +who worked for the _Illustrated London News_. Occasionally a sketch was +posted to England, but more frequently I had to despatch some drawing on +wood by rail. Though I have never been anything but an amateurish +draughtsman myself, I certainly developed a critical faculty, and acquired +a knowledge of different artistic methods, during my intercourse with so +many of the _dessinateurs_ of the last years of the Second Empire. + +By-and-by more serious duties were allotted to me. The "Paris Fashions" +design then appearing every month in the _Illustrated London News_ was for +a time prepared according to certain dresses which Worth and other famous +costumiers made for empresses, queens, princesses, great ladies, and +theatrical celebrities; and, accompanying Pelcoq or Janet when they went +to sketch those gowns (nowadays one would simply obtain photographs), I +took down from _la premiere_, or sometimes from Worth himself, full +particulars respecting materials and styles, in order that the descriptive +letterpress, which was to accompany the illustration, might be correct. + +In this wise I served my apprenticeship to journalism. My father naturally +revised my work. The first article, all my own, which appeared in print +was one on that notorious theatrical institution, the Claque. I sent it to +_Once a Week_, which E. S. Dallas then edited, and knowing that he was +well acquainted with my father, and feeling very diffident respecting the +merits of what I had written, I assumed a _nom de plume_ ("Charles +Ludhurst") for the occasion, Needless to say that I was delighted when +I saw the article in print, and yet more so when I received for it a +couple of guineas, which I speedily expended on gloves, neckties, and a +walking-stick. Here let me say that we were rather swagger young fellows +at Bonaparte. We did not have to wear hideous ill-fitting uniforms like +other Lyceens, but endeavoured to present a very smart appearance. Thus +we made it a practice to wear gloves and to carry walking-sticks or canes +on our way to or from the Lycee. I even improved on that by buying +"button-holes" at the flower-market beside the Madeleine, and this idea +"catching on," as the phrase goes, quite a commotion occurred one morning +when virtually half my classmates were found wearing flowers--for it +happened to be La Saint Henri, the _fete_-day of the Count de Chambord, +and both our Proviseur and our professor imagined that this was, on our +part, a seditious Legitimist demonstration. There were, however, very few +Legitimists among us, though Orleanists and Republicans were numerous. + +I have mentioned that my first article was on the Claque, that +organisation established to encourage applause in theatres, it being held +that the Parisian spectator required to be roused by some such method. +Brossard having introduced me to the _sous-chef_ of the Claque at the +Opera Comique, I often obtained admission to that house as a _claqueur_. +I even went to a few other theatres in the same capacity. Further, +Brossard knew sundry authors and journalists, and took me to the Cafe de +Suede and the Cafe de Madrid, where I saw and heard some of the +celebrities of the day. I can still picture the great Dumas, loud of voice +and exuberant in gesture whilst holding forth to a band of young +"spongers," on whom he was spending his last napoleons. I can also see +Gambetta--young, slim, black-haired and bearded, with a full sensual +underlip--seated at the same table as Delescluze, whose hair and beard, +once red, had become a dingy white, whose figure was emaciated and +angular, and whose yellowish, wrinkled face seemed to betoken that he was +possessed by some fixed idea. What that idea was, the Commune subsequently +showed. Again, I can see Henri Rochefort and Gustave Flourens together: +the former straight and sinewy, with a great tuft of very dark curly hair, +flashing eyes and high and prominent cheekbones; while the latter, tall +and bald, with long moustaches and a flowing beard, gazed at you in an +eager imperious way, as if he were about to issue some command. + +Other men who helped to overthrow the Empire also became known to me. My +father, whilst engaged in some costly litigation respecting a large +castellated house which he had leased at Le Vesinet, secured Jules Favre +as his advocate, and on various occasions I went with him to Favre's +residence. Here let me say that my father, in spite of all his interest in +French literature, did not know the language. He could scarcely express +himself in it, and thus he always made it a practice to have one of his +sons with him, we having inherited our mother's linguistic gifts. Favre's +command of language was great, but his eloquence was by no means rousing, +and I well remember that when he pleaded for my father, the three judges +of the Appeal Court composed themselves to sleep, and did not awaken until +the counsel opposed to us started banging his fist and shouting in +thunderous tones. Naturally enough, as the judges never heard our side of +the case, but only our adversary's, they decided against us. + +Some retrenchment then became necessary on my father's part, and he sent +my step-mother, her children and my brother Arthur, to Saint Servan in +Brittany, where he rented a house which was called "La petite Amelia," +after George III's daughter of that name, who, during some interval of +peace between France and Great Britain, went to stay at Saint Servan for +the benefit of her health. The majority of our family having repaired +there and my cousin Monty returning to England some time in 1869, I +remained alone with my father in Paris. We resided in what I may call a +bachelor's flat at No. 16, Rue de Miromesnil, near the Elysee Palace. The +principal part of the house was occupied by the Count and Countess de +Chateaubriand and their daughters. The Countess was good enough to take +some notice of me, and subsequently, when she departed for Combourg at the +approach of the German siege, she gave me full permission to make use, if +necessary, of the coals and wood left in the Chateaubriand cellars. + +In 1869, the date I have now reached, I was in my sixteenth year, still +studying, and at the same time giving more and more assistance to my +father in connection with his journalistic work. He has included in his +"Glances Back" some account of the facilities which enabled him to secure +adequate pictorial delineation of the Court life of the Empire. He has +told the story of Moulin, the police-agent, who frequently watched over +the Emperor's personal safety, and who also supplied sketches of Court +functions for the use of the _Illustrated London News_. Napoleon III +resembled his great-uncle in at least one respect. He fully understood the +art of advertisement; and, in his desire to be thought well of in England, +he was always ready to favour English journalists. Whilst a certain part +of the London Press preserved throughout the reign a very critical +attitude towards the Imperial policy, it is certain that some of the Paris +correspondents were in close touch with the Emperor's Government, and that +some of them were actually subsidized by it. + +The best-informed man with respect to Court and social events was +undoubtedly Mr. Felix Whiteburst of _The Daily Telegraph_, whom I well +remember. He had the _entree_ at the Tuileries and elsewhere, and there +were occasions when very important information was imparted to him with a +view to its early publication in London. For the most part, however, +Whitehurst confined himself to chronicling events or incidents occurring +at Court or in Bonapartist high society. Anxious to avoid giving offence, +he usually glossed over any scandal that occurred, or dismissed it airily, +with the _desinvolture_ of a _roue_ of the Regency. Withal, he was an +extremely amiable man, very condescending towards me when we met, as +sometimes happened at the Tuileries itself. + +I had to go there on several occasions to meet Moulin, the +detective-artist, by appointment, and a few years ago this helped me to +write a book which has been more than once reprinted. [Note] I utilized in +it many notes made by me in 1869-70, notably with respect to the Emperor +and Empress's private apartments, the kitchens, and the arrangements made +for balls and banquets. I am not aware at what age a young fellow is +usually provided with his first dress-suit, but I know that mine was made +about the time I speak of. I was then, I suppose, about five feet five +inches in height, and my face led people to suppose that I was eighteen or +nineteen years of age. + +[Note: The work in question was entitled "The Court of the Tuileries, +1852-1870," by "Le Petit Homme Rouge"--a pseudonym which I have since used +when producing other books. "The Court of the Tuileries" was founded in +part on previously published works, on a quantity of notes and memoranda +made by my father, other relatives, and myself, and on some of the private +papers of one of my wife's kinsmen, General Mollard, who after greatly +distinguishing himself at the Tchernaya and Magenta, became for a time an +aide-de-camp to Napoleon III.] + +In the autumn of 1869, I fell rather ill from over-study--I had already +begun to read up Roman law--and, on securing a holiday, I accompanied my +father to Compiegne, where the Imperial Court was then staying. We were +not among the invited guests, but it had been arranged that every facility +should be given to the _Illustrated London News_ representatives in order +that the Court _villegiatura_ might be fully depicted in that journal. I +need not recapitulate my experiences on this occasion. There is an account +of our visit in my father's "Glances Back," and I inserted many additional +particulars in my "Court of the Tuileries." I may mention, however, that +it was at Compiegne that I first exchanged a few words with Napoleon III. + +One day, my father being unwell (the weather was intensely cold), I +proceeded to the chateau [We slept at the Hotel de la Cloche, but +had the _entree_ to the chateau at virtually any time.] accompanied only +by our artist, young M. Montbard, who was currently known as "Apollo" in +the Quartier Latin, where he delighted the _habitues_ of the Bal Bullier +by a style of choregraphy in comparison with which the achievements +subsequently witnessed at the notorious Moulin Rouge would have sunk into +insignificance. Montbard had to make a couple of drawings on the day I +have mentioned, and it so happened that, whilst we were going about with +M. de la Ferriere, the chamberlain on duty, Napoleon III suddenly appeared +before us. Directly I was presented to him he spoke to me in English, +telling me that he often saw the _Illustrated London News_, and that the +illustrations of French life and Paris improvements (in which he took so +keen an interest) were very ably executed. He asked me also how long I had +been in France, and where I had learnt the language. Then, remarking that +it was near the _dejeuner_ hour, he told M. de la Ferriere to see that +Montbard and myself were suitably entertained. + +I do not think that I had any particular political opinions at that time. +Montbard, however, was a Republican--in fact, a future Communard--and I +know that he did not appreciate his virtually enforced introduction to the +so-called "Badinguet." Still, he contrived to be fairly polite, and +allowed the Emperor to inspect the sketch he was making. There was to be a +theatrical performance at the chateau that evening, and it had already +been arranged that Montbard should witness it. On hearing, however, that +it had been impossible to provide my father and myself with seats, on +account of the great demand for admission on the part of local magnates +and the officers of the garrison, the Emperor was good enough to say, +after I had explained that my father's indisposition would prevent him +from attending: "Voyons, vous pourrez bien trouver une petite place pour +ce jeune homme. Il n'est pas si grand, et je suis sur que cela lui fera +plaisir." M. de la Ferriere bowed, and thus it came to pass that I +witnessed the performance after all, being seated on a stool behind some +extremely beautiful women whose white shoulders repeatedly distracted my +attention from the stage. In regard to Montbard there was some little +trouble, as M. de la Ferriere did not like the appearance of his +"revolutionary-looking beard," the sight of which, said he, might greatly +alarm the Empress. Montbard, however, indignantly refused to shave it off, +and ten months later the "revolutionary beards" were predominant, the +power and the pomp of the Empire having been swept away amidst all the +disasters of invasion. + + + +II + +THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + +Napoleon's Plans for a War with Prussia--The Garde Mobile and the French +Army generally--Its Armament--The "White Blouses" and the Paris Riots--The +Emperor and the Elections of 1869--The Troppmann and Pierre Bonaparte +Affairs--Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham--The Ollivier Ministry--French +Campaigning Plans--Frossard and Bazaine--The Negotiations with Archduke +Albert and Count Vimeroati--The War forced on by Bismarck--I shout "A +Berlin!"--The Imperial Guard and General Bourbaki--My Dream of seeing a +War--My uncle Frank Vizetelly and his Campaigns--"The Siege of Pekin"-- +Organization of the French Forces--The Information Service--I witness the +departure of Napoleon III and the Imperial Prince from Saint Cloud. + + +There was no little agitation in France during the years 1868 and 1869. +The outcome first of the Schleswig-Holstein war, and secondly of the war +between Prussia and Austria in 1866, had alarmed many French politicians. +Napoleon III had expected some territorial compensation in return for his +neutrality at those periods, and it is certain that Bismarck, as chief +Prussian minister, had allowed him to suppose that he would be able to +indemnify himself for his non-intervention in the afore-mentioned +contests. After attaining her ends, however, Prussia turned an unwilling +ear to the French Emperor's suggestions, and from that moment a +Franco-German war became inevitable. Although, as I well remember, +there was a perfect "rage" for Bismarck "this" and Bismarck "that" in +Paris--particularly for the Bismarck colour, a shade of Havana brown--the +Prussian statesman, who had so successfully "jockeyed" the Man of Destiny, +was undoubtedly a well hated and dreaded individual among the Parisians, +at least among all those who thought of the future of Europe. Prussian +policy, however, was not the only cause of anxiety in France, for at the +same period the Republican opposition to the Imperial authority was +steadily gaining strength in the great cities, and the political +concessions by which Napoleon III sought to disarm it only emboldened it +to make fresh demands. + +In planning a war on Prussia, the Emperor was influenced both by national +and by dynastic considerations. The rise of Prussia--which had become head +of the North German Confederation--was without doubt a menace not only to +French ascendency on the Continent, but also to France's general +interests. On the other hand, the prestige of the Empire having been +seriously impaired, in France itself, by the diplomatic defeats which +Bismarck had inflicted on Napoleon, it seemed that only a successful war, +waged on the Power from which France had received those successive +rebuffs, could restore the aforesaid prestige and ensure the duration of +the Bonaparte dynasty. + +Even nowadays, in spite of innumerable revelations, many writers continue +to cast all the responsibility of the Franco-German War on Germany, or, to +be more precise, on Prussia as represented by Bismarck. That, however, is +a great error. A trial of strength was regarded on both sides as +inevitable, and both sides contributed to bring it about. Bismarck's share +in the conflict was to precipitate hostilities, selecting for them what he +judged to be an opportune moment for his country, and thereby preventing +the Emperor Napoleon from maturing his designs. The latter did not intend +to declare war until early in 1871; the Prussian statesman brought it +about in July, 1870. + +The Emperor really took to the war-path soon after 1866. A great military +council was assembled, and various measures were devised to strengthen the +army. The principal step was the creation of a territorial force called +the Garde Mobile, which was expected to yield more than half a million +men. Marshal Niel, who was then Minister of War, attempted to carry out +this scheme, but was hampered by an insufficiency of money. Nowadays, I +often think of Niel and the Garde Mobile when I read of Lord Haldane, +Colonel Seely, and our own "terriers." It seems to me, at times, as if the +clock had gone back more than forty years. + +Niel died in August, 1869, leaving his task in an extremely unfinished +state, and Marshal Le Boeuf, who succeeded him, persevered with it in a +very faint-hearted way. The regular army, however, was kept in fair +condition, though it was never so strong as it appeared to be on paper. +There was a system in vogue by which a conscript of means could avoid +service by supplying a _remplacant_. Originally, he was expected to +provide his _remplacant_ himself; but, ultimately, he only had to pay a +sum of money to the military authorities, who undertook to find a man to +take his place. Unfortunately, in thousands of instances, over a term of +some years, the _remplacants_ were never provided at all. I do not suggest +that the money was absolutely misappropriated, but it was diverted to +other military purposes, and, in the result, there was always a +considerable shortage in the annual contingent. + +The creature comforts of the men were certainly well looked after. My +particular chum at Bonaparte was the son of a general-officer, and I +visited more than one barracks or encampment. Without doubt, there was +always an abundance of good sound food. Further, the men were well-armed. +All military authorities are agreed, I believe, that the Chassepot +rifle--invented in or about 1866--was superior to the Dreyse needle-gun, +which was in use in the Prussian army. Then, too, there was Colonel de +Reffye's machine-gun or _mitrailleuse_, in a sense the forerunner of the +Gatling and the Maxim. It was first devised, I think, in 1863, and, +according to official statements, some three or four years later there +were more than a score of _mitrailleuse_ batteries. With regard to other +ordnance, however, that of the French was inferior to that of the Germans, +as was conclusively proved at Sedan and elsewhere. In many respects the +work of army reform, publicly advised by General Trochu in a famous +pamphlet, and by other officers in reports to the Emperor and the Ministry +of War, proceeded at a very slow pace, being impeded by a variety of +considerations. The young men of the large towns did not take kindly to +the idea of serving in the new Garde Mobile. Having escaped service in the +regular army, by drawing exempting "numbers" or by paying for +_remplacants_, they regarded it as very unfair that they should be called +upon to serve at all, and there were serious riots in various parts of +France at the time of their first enrolment in 1868. Many of them failed +to realize the necessities of the case. There was no great wave of +patriotism sweeping through the country. The German danger was not yet +generally apparent. Further, many upholders of the Imperial authority +shook their heads in deprecation of this scheme of enrolling and arming so +many young men, who might suddenly blossom into revolutionaries and turn +their weapons against the powers of the day. + +There was great unrest in Paris in 1868, the year of Henri Rochefort's +famous journal _La Lanterne_. Issue after issue of that bitterly-penned +effusion was seized and confiscated, and more than once did I see vigilant +detectives snatch copies from people in the streets. In June, 1869, we had +general elections, accompanied by rioting on the Boulevards. It was then +that the "White Blouse" legend arose, it being alleged that many of the +rioters were _agents provocateurs_ in the pay of the Prefecture of Police, +and wore white blouses expressly in order that they might be known to the +sergents-de-ville and the Gardes de Paris who were called upon to quell +the disturbances. At first thought, it might seem ridiculous that any +Government should stir up rioting for the mere sake of putting it down, +but it was generally held that the authorities wished some disturbances to +occur in order, first, that the middle-classes might be frightened by the +prospect of a violent revolution, and thereby induced to vote for +Government candidates at the elections; and, secondly, that some of the +many real Revolutionaries might be led to participate in the rioting in +such wise as to supply a pretext for arresting them. + +I was with my mentor Brossard and my brother Edward one night in June when +a "Madeleine-Bastille" omnibus was overturned on the Boulevard Montmartre +and two or three newspaper kiosks were added to it by way of forming a +barricade, the purpose of which was by no means clear. The great crowd of +promenaders seemed to regard the affair as capital fun until the police +suddenly came up, followed by some mounted men of the Garde de Paris, +whereupon the laughing spectators became terrified and suddenly fled for +their lives. With my companions I gazed on the scene from the _entresol_ +of the Cafe Mazarin. It was the first affair of the kind I had ever +witnessed, and for that reason impressed itself more vividly on my mind +than several subsequent and more serious ones. In the twinkling of an eye +all the little tables set out in front of the cafes were deserted, and +tragi-comical was the sight of the many women with golden chignons +scurrying away with their alarmed companions, and tripping now and again +over some fallen chair whilst the pursuing cavalry clattered noisily along +the foot-pavements. A Londoner might form some idea of the scene by +picturing a charge from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus at the hour +when Coventry Street is most thronged with undesirables of both sexes. + +The majority of the White Blouses and their friends escaped unhurt, and +the police and the guards chiefly expended their vigour on the spectators +of the original disturbance. Whether this had been secretly engineered by +the authorities for one of the purposes I previously indicated, must +always remain a moot point. In any case it did not incline the Parisians +to vote for the Government candidates. Every deputy returned for the city +on that occasion was an opponent of the Empire, and in later years I was +told by an ex-Court official that when Napoleon became acquainted with the +result of the pollings he said, in reference to the nominees whom he had +favoured, "Not one! not a single one!" The ingratitude of the Parisians, +as the Emperor styled it, was always a thorn in his side; yet he should +have remembered that in the past the bulk of the Parisians had seldom, if +ever, been on the side of constituted authority. + +Later that year came the famous affair of the Pantin crimes, and I was +present with my father when Troppmann, the brutish murderer of the Kinck +family, stood his trial at the Assizes. But, quite properly, my father +would not let me accompany him when he attended the miscreant's execution +outside the prison of La Roquette. Some years later, however, I witnessed +the execution of Prevost on the same spot; and at a subsequent date I +attended both the trial and the execution of Caserio--the assassin of +President Carnot--at Lyons. Following Troppmann's case, in the early days +of 1870 came the crime of the so-called Wild Boar of Corsica, Prince +Pierre Bonaparte (grandfather of the present Princess George of Greece), +who shot the young journalist Victor Noir, when the latter went with +Ulrich de Fonvielle, aeronaut as well as journalist, to call him out on +behalf of the irrepressible Henri Rochefort. I remember accompanying one +of our artists, Gaildrau, when a sketch was made of the scene of the +crime, the Prince's drawing-room at Auteuil, a peculiar semi-circular, +panelled and white-painted apartment furnished in what we should call in +England a tawdry mid-Victorian style. On the occasion of Noir's funeral my +father and myself were in the Champs Elysees when the tumultuous +revolutionary procession, in which Rochefort figured conspicuously, swept +down the famous avenue along which the victorious Germans were to march +little more than a year afterwards. Near the Rond-point the _cortege_ was +broken up and scattered by the police, whose violence was extreme. +Rochefort, brave enough on the duelling-ground, fainted away, and was +carried off in a vehicle, his position as a member of the Legislative Body +momentarily rendering him immune from arrest. Within a month, however, he +was under lock and key, and some fierce rioting ensued in the north of +Paris. + +During the spring, my father went to Ireland as special commissioner of +the _Illustrated London News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette_, in order to +investigate the condition of the tenantry and the agrarian crimes which +were then so prevalent there. Meantime, I was left in Paris, virtually "on +my own," though I was often with my elder brother Edward. About this time, +moreover, a friend of my father's began to take a good deal of interest in +me. This was Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham, a member of the Clanmorris +family, and the regular correspondent of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ in Paris. +He subsequently became known as the author of various works on the +Bonapartes and the Bourbons, and of a volume of recollections of Paris +life, in which I am once or twice mentioned. Bingham was married to a very +charming lady of the Laoretelle family, which gave a couple of historians +to France, and I was always received most kindly at their home near the +Arc de Triomphe. Moreover, Bingham often took me about with him in my +spare time, and introduced me to several prominent people. Later, during +the street fighting at the close of the Commune in 1871, we had some +dramatic adventures together, and on one occasion Bingham saved my life. + +The earlier months of 1870 went by very swiftly amidst a multiplicity of +interesting events. Emile Ollivier had now become chief Minister, and an +era of liberal reforms appeared to have begun. It seemed, moreover, as if +the Minister's charming wife were for her part intent on reforming the +practices of her sex in regard to dress, for she resolutely set her face +against the extravagant toilettes of the ladies of the Court, repeatedly +appearing at the Tuileries in the most unassuming attire, which, however, +by sheer force of contrast, rendered her very conspicuous there. The +patronesses of the great _couturiers_ were quite irate at receiving such a +lesson from a _petite bourgeoise_; but all who shared the views expressed +by President Dupin a few years previously respecting the "unbridled luxury +of women," were naturally delighted. + +Her husband's attempts at political reform were certainly well meant, but +the Republicans regarded him as a renegade and the older Imperialists as +an intruder, and nothing that he did gave satisfaction. The concession of +the right of public meeting led to frequent disorders at Belleville and +Montmartre, and the increased freedom of the Press only acted as an +incentive to violence of language. Nevertheless, when there came a +Plebiscitum--the last of the reign--to ascertain the country's opinion +respecting the reforms devised by the Emperor and Ollivier, a huge +majority signified approval of them, and thus the "liberal Empire" seemed +to be firmly established. If, however, the nation at large had known what +was going on behind the scenes, both in diplomatic and in military +spheres, the result of the Plebiscitum would probably have been very +different. + +Already on the morrow of the war between Prussia and Austria (1866) the +Emperor, as I previously indicated, had begun to devise a plan of campaign +in regard to the former Power, taking as his particular _confidants_ in +the matter General Lebrun, his _aide-de-camp_, and General Frossard, the +governor of the young Imperial Prince. Marshal Niel, as War Minister, was +cognizant of the Emperor's conferences with Lebrun and Frossard, but does +not appear to have taken any direct part in the plans which were devised. +They were originally purely defensive plans, intended to provide for any +invasion of French territory from across the Rhine. Colonel Baron Stoffel, +the French military _attache_ at Berlin, had frequently warned the War +Office in Paris respecting the possibility of a Prussian attack and the +strength of the Prussian armaments, which, he wrote, would enable King +William (with the assistance of the other German rulers) to throw a force +of nearly a million men into Alsace-Lorraine. Further, General Ducrot, who +commanded the garrison at Strasburg, became acquainted with many things +which he communicated to his relative, Baron de Bourgoing, one of the +Emperor's equerries. + +There is no doubt that these various communications reached Napoleon III; +and though he may have regarded both the statements of Stoffel and those +of Ducrot as exaggerated, he was certainly sufficiently impressed by them +to order the preparation of certain plans. Frossard, basing himself on the +operations of the Austrians in December, 1793, and keeping in mind the +methods by which Hoche, with the Moselle army, and Pichegru, with the +Rhine army, forced them back from the French frontier, drafted a scheme of +defence in which he foresaw the battle of Woerth, but, through following +erroneous information, greatly miscalculated the probable number of +combatants. He set forth in his scheme that the Imperial Government could +not possibly allow Alsace-Lorraine and Champagne to be invaded without a +trial of strength at the very outset; and Marshal Bazaine, who, at some +period or other, annotated a copy of Frossard's scheme, signified his +approval of that dictum, but added significantly that good tactical +measures should be adopted. He himself demurred to Frossard's plans, +saying that he was no partisan of a frontal defence, but believed in +falling on the enemy's flanks and rear. Yet, as we know, MacMahon fought +the battle of Woerth under conditions in many respects similar to those +which Frossard had foreseen. + +However, the purely defensive plans on which Napoleon III at first worked, +were replaced in 1868 by offensive ones, in which General Lebrun took a +prominent part, both from the military and from the diplomatic +standpoints. It was not, however, until March, 1870, that the Archduke +Albert of Austria came to Paris to confer with the French Emperor. +Lebrun's plan of campaign was discussed by them, and Marshal Le Boeuf and +Generals Frossard and Jarras were privy to the negotiations. It was +proposed that France, Austria, and Italy should invade Germany conjointly; +and, according to Le Boeuf, the first-named Power could place 400,000 men +on the frontier in a fortnight's time. Both Austria and Italy, however, +required forty-two days to mobilize their forces, though the former +offered to provide two army corps during the interval. When Lebrun +subsequently went to Vienna to come to a positive decision and arrange +details, the Archduke Albert pointed out that the war ought to begin in +the spring season, for, said he, the North Germans would be able to +support the cold and dampness of a winter campaign far better than the +allies. That was an absolutely correct forecast, fully confirmed by all +that took place in France during the winter of 1870-1871. + +But Prussia heard of what was brewing. Austria was betrayed to her by +Hungary; and Italy and France could not come to an understanding on the +question of Rome. At the outset Prince Napoleon (Jerome) was concerned in +the latter negotiations, which were eventually conducted by Count +Vimercati, the Italian military _attache_ in Paris. Napoleon, however, +steadily refused to withdraw his forces from the States of the Church and +to allow Victor Emmanuel to occupy Rome. Had he yielded on those points +Italy would certainly have joined him, and Austria--however much Hungarian +statesmen might have disliked it--would, in all probability, have followed +suit. By the policy he pursued in this matter, the French Emperor lost +everything, and prevented nothing. On the one hand, France was defeated +and the Empire of the Bonapartes collapsed; whilst, on the other, Rome +became Italy's true capital. + +Bismarck was in no way inclined to allow the negotiations for an +anti-Prussian alliance to mature. They dragged on for a considerable time, +but the Government of Napoleon III was not particularly disturbed thereat, +as it felt certain that victory would attend the French arms at the +outset, and that Italy and Austria would eventually give support. +Bismarck, however, precipitated events. Already in the previous year +Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had been a candidate for the +throne of Spain. That candidature had been withdrawn in order to avert a +conflict between France and Germany; but now it was revived at Bismarck's +instigation in order to bring about one. + +I have said, I think, enough to show--in fairness to Germany--that the war +of 1870 was not an unprovoked attack on France. The incidents--such as the +Ems affair--which directly led up to it were after all only of secondary +importance, although they bulked so largely at the time of their +occurrence. I well remember the great excitement which prevailed in Paris +during the few anxious days when to the man in the street the question of +peace or war seemed to be trembling in the balance, though in reality that +question was already virtually decided upon both sides. Judging by all +that has been revealed to us during the last forty years, I do not think +that M. Emile Ollivier, the Prime Minister, would have been able to modify +the decision of the fateful council held at Saint Cloud even if he had +attended it. Possessed by many delusions, the bulk of the imperial +councillors were too confident of success to draw back, and, besides, +Bismarck and Moltke were not disposed to let France draw back. They were +ready, and they knew right well that opportunity is a fine thing. + +It was on July 15 that the Duc de Gramont, the Imperial Minister of +Foreign Affairs, read his memorable statement to the Legislative Body, and +two days later a formal declaration of war was signed. Paris at once +became delirious with enthusiasm, though, as we know by all the telegrams +from the Prefects of the departments, the provinces generally desired that +peace might be preserved. + +Resident in Paris, and knowing at that time very little about the rest of +France--for I had merely stayed during my summer holidays at such seaside +resorts as Trouville, Deauville, Beuzeval, St. Malo, and St. Servan--I +undoubtedly caught the Parisian fever, and I dare say that I sometimes +joined in the universal chorus of "A Berlin!" Mere lad as I was, in spite +of my precocity, I shared also the universal confidence in the French +army. In that confidence many English military men participated. Only +those who, like Captain Hozier of _The Times_, had closely watched +Prussian methods during the Seven Weeks' War in 1866, clearly realized +that the North German kingdom possessed a thoroughly well organized +fighting machine, led by officers of the greatest ability, and capable of +effecting something like a revolution in the art of war. + +France was currently thought stronger than she really was. Of the good +physique of her men there could be no doubt. Everybody who witnessed the +great military pageants of those times was impressed by the bearing of the +troops and their efficiency under arms. And nobody anticipated that they +would be so inferior to the Germans in numbers as proved to be the case, +and that the generals would show themselves so inferior in mental calibre +to the commanders of the opposing forces. The Paris garrison, it is true, +was no real criterion of the French army generally, though foreigners were +apt to judge the latter by what they saw of it in the capital. The troops +stationed there were mostly picked men, the garrison being very largely +composed of the Imperial Guard. The latter always made a brilliant +display, not merely by reason of its somewhat showy uniforms, recalling at +times those of the First Empire, but also by the men's fine _physique_ and +their general military proficiency. They certainly fought well in some of +the earlier battles of the war. Their commander was General Bourbaki, a +fine soldierly looking man, the grandson of a Greek pilot who acted as +intermediary between Napoleon I and his brother Joseph, at the time of the +former's expedition to Egypt. It was this original Bourbaki who carried to +Napoleon Joseph's secret letters reporting Josephine's misconduct in her +husband's absence, misconduct which Napoleon condoned at the time, though +it would have entitled him to a divorce nine years before he decided on +one. + +With the spectacle of the Imperial Guard constantly before their eyes, the +Parisians of July, 1870, could not believe in the possibility of defeat, +and, moreover, at the first moment it was not believed that the Southern +German States would join North Germany against France. Napoleon III and +his confidential advisers well knew, however, what to think on that point, +and the delusions of the man in the street departed when, on July 20, +Bavaria, Wuertemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt announced their intention +of supporting Prussia and the North German Confederation. Still, this did +not dismay the Parisians, and the shouts of "To Berlin! To Berlin!" were +as frequent as ever. + +It had long been one of my dreams to see and participate in the great +drama of war. All boys, I suppose, come into the world with pugnacious +instincts. There must be few, too, who never "play at soldiers." My own +interest in warfare and soldiering had been steadily fanned from my +earliest childhood. In the first place, I had been incessantly confronted +by all the scenes of war depicted in the _Illustrated Times_ and the +_Illustrated London News_, those journals being posted to me regularly +every week whilst I was still only a little chap at Eastbourne. Further, +the career of my uncle, Frank Vizetelly, exercised a strange fascination +over me. Born in Fleet Street in September, 1830, he was the youngest of +my father's three brothers. Educated with Gustave Dore, he became an +artist for the illustrated Press, and, in 1850, represented the +_Illustrated Times_ as war-artist in Italy, being a part of the time with +the French and at other moments with the Sardinian forces. That was the +first of his many campaigns. His services being afterwards secured by the +_Illustrated London News_, he next accompanied Garibaldi from Palermo to +Naples. Then, at the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States, he +repaired thither with Howard Russell, and, on finding obstacles placed in +his way on the Federal side, travelled "underground" to Richmond and +joined the Confederates. The late Duke of Devonshire, the late Lord +Wolseley, and Francis Lawley were among his successive companions. At one +time he and the first-named shared the same tent and lent socks and shirts +to one another. + +Now and again, however, Frank Vizetelly came to England after running the +blockade, stayed a few weeks in London, and then departed for America once +more, yet again running the blockade on his way. This he did on at least +three occasions. His next campaign was the war of 1866, when he was with +the Austrian commander Benedek. For a few years afterwards he remained in +London assisting his eldest brother James to run what was probably the +first of the society journals, _Echoes of the Clubs_, to which Mortimer +Collins and the late Sir Edmund Monson largely contributed. However, Frank +Vizetelly went back to America once again, this time with Wolseley on the +Red River Expedition. Later, he was with Don Carlos in Spain and with the +French in Tunis, whence he proceeded to Egypt. He died on the field of +duty, meeting his death when Hicks Pasha's little army was annihilated in +the denies of Kashgil, in the Soudan. + +Now, in the earlier years, when Frank Vizetelly returned from Italy or +America, he was often at my father's house at Kensington, and I heard +him talk of Napoleon III, MacMahon, Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel, Cialdini, +Robert Lee, Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and Captain Semmes. +Between-times I saw all the engravings prepared after his sketches, and I +regarded him and them with a kind of childish reverence. I can picture him +still, a hale, bluff, tall, and burly-looking man, with short dark hair, +blue eyes and a big ruddy moustache. He was far away the best known member +of our family in my younger days, when anonymity in journalism was an +almost universal rule. In the same way, however, as everybody had heard of +Howard Russell, the war correspondent of the _Times_, so most people had +heard of Frank Vizetelly, the war-artist of the _Illustrated_. He was, +by-the-by, in the service of the _Graphic_ when he was killed. + +I well remember being alternately amused and disgusted by a French +theatrical delineation of an English war correspondent, given in a +spectacular military piece which I witnessed a short time after my first +arrival in Paris. It was called "The Siege of Pekin," and had been +concocted by Mocquard, the Emperor Napoleon's secretary. All the "comic +business" in the affair was supplied by a so-called war correspondent of +the _Times_, who strutted about in a tropical helmet embellished with a +green Derby veil, and was provided with a portable desk and a huge +umbrella. This red-nosed and red-whiskered individual was for ever talking +of having to do this and that for "the first paper of the first country in +the world," and, in order to obtain a better view of an engagement, he +deliberately planted himself between the French and Chinese combatants. I +should doubtless have derived more amusement from his tomfoolery had I not +already known that English war correspondents did not behave in any such +idiotic manner, and I came away from the performance with strong feelings +of resentment respecting so outrageous a caricature of a profession +counting among its members the uncle whom I so much admired. + +Whatever my dreams may have been, I hardly anticipated that I should join +that profession myself during the Franco-German war. The Lycees "broke up" +in confusion, and my father decided to send me to join my stepmother and +the younger members of the family at Saint Servan, it being his intention +to go to the front with my elder brother Edward. But Simpson, the veteran +Crimean War artist, came over to join the so-called Army of the Rhine, and +my brother, securing an engagement from the _New York Times_, set out on +his own account. Thus I was promptly recalled to Paris, where my father +had decided to remain. In those days the journey from Brittany to the +capital took many long and wearisome hours, and I made it in a third-class +carriage of a train crowded with soldiers of all arms, cavalry, infantry, +and artillery. Most of them were intoxicated, and the grossness of their +language and manners was almost beyond belief. That dreadful night spent +on the boards of a slowly-moving and jolting train, [There were then no +cushioned seats in French third-class carriages.] amidst drunken and +foul-mouthed companions, gave me, as it were, a glimpse of the other side +of the picture--that is, of several things which lie behind the glamour of +war. + +It must have been about July 25 when I returned to Paris. A decree had +just been issued appointing the Empress as Regent in the absence of the +Emperor, who was to take command of the Army of the Rhine. It had +originally been intended that there should be three French armies, but +during the conferences with Archduke Albert in the spring, that plan was +abandoned in favour of one sole army under the command of Napoleon III. +The idea underlying the change was to avoid a superfluity of +staff-officers, and to augment the number of actual combatants. Both Le +Boeuf and Lebrun approved of the alteration, and this would seem to +indicate that there were already misgivings on the French side in regard +to the inferior strength of their effectives. The army was divided into +eight sections, that is, seven army corps, and the Imperial Guard. +Bourbaki, as already mentioned, commanded the Guard, and at the head of +the army corps were (1) MacMahon, (2) Frossard, (3) Bazaine, (4) +Ladmerault, (5) Failly, (6) Canrobert, and (7) Felix Douay. Both Frossard +and Failly, however, were at first made subordinate to Bazaine. The head +of the information service was Colonel Lewal, who rose to be a general and +Minister of War under the Republic, and who wrote some commendable works +on tactics; and immediately under him were Lieut.-Colonel Fay, also +subsequently a well-known general, and Captain Jung, who is best +remembered perhaps by his inquiries into the mystery of the Man with the +Iron Mask. I give those names because, however distinguished those three +men may have become in later years, the French intelligence service at the +outset of the war was without doubt extremely faulty, and responsible for +some of the disasters which occurred. + +On returning to Paris one of my first duties was to go in search of +Moulin, the detective-artist whom I mentioned in my first chapter. I found +him in his somewhat squalid home in the Quartier Mouffetard, surrounded by +a tribe of children, and he immediately informed me that he was one of the +"agents" appointed to attend the Emperor on the campaign. The somewhat +lavish Imperial _equipage_, on which Zola so frequently dilated in "The +Downfall," had, I think, already been despatched to Metz, where the +Emperor proposed to fix his headquarters, and the escort of Cent Gardes +was about to proceed thither. Moulin told me, however, that he and two of +his colleagues were to travel in the same train as Napoleon, and it was +agreed that he should forward either to Paris or to London, as might prove +most convenient, such sketches as he might from time to time contrive to +make. He suggested that there should be one of the Emperor's departure +from Saint Cloud, and that in order to avoid delay I should accompany him +on the occasion and take it from him. We therefore went down together on +July 28, promptly obtained admittance to the chateau, where Moulin took +certain instructions, and then repaired to the railway-siding in the park, +whence the Imperial train was to start. + +Officers and high officials, nearly all in uniform, were constantly going +to and fro between the siding and the chateau, and presently the Imperial +party appeared, the Emperor being between the Empress and the young +Imperial Prince. Quite a crowd of dignitaries followed. I do not recollect +seeing Emile Ollivier, though he must have been present, but I took +particular note of Rouher, the once all-powerful minister, currently +nicknamed the Vice-Emperor, and later President of the Senate. In spite of +his portliness, he walked with a most determined stride, held his head +very erect, and spoke in his customary loud voice. The Emperor, who wore +the undress uniform of a general, looked very grave and sallow. The +disease which eventually ended in his death had already become serious, +[I have given many particulars of it in my two books, "The Court of the +Tuileries, 1862-1870" (Chatto and Windus), and "Republican France, +1870-1912" (Holden and Hardingham).] and only a few days later, that is, +during the Saarbrucken affair (August 2), he was painfully affected by it. +Nevertheless, he had undertaken to command the Army of France! The +Imperial Prince, then fourteen years of age, was also in uniform, it +having been arranged that he should accompany his father to the front, and +he seemed to be extremely animated and restless, repeatedly turning to +exchange remarks with one or another officer near him. The Empress, who +was very simply gowned, smiled once or twice in response to some words +which fell from her husband, but for the most part she looked as serious +as he did. Whatever Emile Ollivier may have said about beginning this war +with a light heart, it is certain that these two sovereigns of France +realized, at that hour of parting, the magnitude of the issues at stake. +After they had exchanged a farewell kiss, the Empress took her eager young +son in her arms and embraced him fondly, and when we next saw her face we +could perceive the tears standing in her eyes. The Emperor was already +taking his seat and the boy speedily sprang after him. Did the Empress at +that moment wonder when, where, and how she would next see them again? +Perchance she did. Everything, however, was speedily in readiness for +departure. As the train began to move, both the Emperor and the Prince +waved their hands from the windows, whilst all the enthusiastic Imperial +dignitaries flourished their hats and raised a prolonged cry of "Vive +l'Empereur!" It was not, perhaps, so loud as it might have been; but, +then, they were mostly elderly men. Moulin, during the interval, had +contrived to make something in the nature of a thumb-nail sketch; I had +also taken a few notes myself; and thus provided I hastened back to Paris. + + + +III + +ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + +First French Defeats--A Great Victory rumoured--The Marseillaise, Capoul +and Marie Sass--Edward Vizetelly brings News of Forbach to Paris--Emile +Ollivier again--His Fall from Power--Cousin Montauban, Comte de Palikao-- +English War Correspondents in Paris--Gambetta calls me "a Little Spy"-- +More French Defeats--Palikao and the Defence of Paris--Feats of a Siege-- +Wounded returning from the Front--Wild Reports of French Victories--The +Quarries of Jaumont--The Anglo-American Ambulance--The News of Sedan-- +Sala's Unpleasant Adventure--The Fall of the Empire. + + +It was, I think, two days after the Emperor's arrival at Metz that the +first Germans--a detachment of Badeners--entered French territory. Then, +on the second of August came the successful French attack on Saarbrucken, +a petty affair but a well-remembered one, as it was on this occasion that +the young Imperial Prince received the "baptism of fire." Appropriately +enough, the troops, whose success he witnessed, were commanded by his late +governor, General Frossard. More important was the engagement at +Weissenburg two days later, when a division of the French under General +Abel Douay was surprised by much superior forces, and utterly overwhelmed, +Douay himself being killed during the fighting. Yet another two days +elapsed, and then the Crown Prince of Prussia--later the Emperor +Frederick--routed MacMahon at Woerth, in spite of a vigorous resistance, +carried on the part of the French Cuirassiers, under General the Vicomte +de Bonnemains, to the point of heroism. In later days the general's son +married a handsome and wealthy young lady of the bourgeoisie named +Marguerite Crouzet, whom, however, he had to divorce, and who afterwards +became notorious as the mistress of General Boulanger. + +Curiously enough, on the very day of the disaster of Woerth a rumour of a +great French victory spread through Paris. My father had occasion to send +me to his bankers in the Rue Vivienne, and on making my way to the +Boulevards, which I proposed to follow, I was amazed to see the +shopkeepers eagerly setting up the tricolour flags which they habitually +displayed on the Emperor's fete-day (August 15). Nobody knew exactly how +the rumours of victory had originated, nobody could give any precise +details respecting the alleged great success, but everybody believed in +it, and the enthusiasm was universal. It was about the middle of the day +when I repaired to the Rue Vivienne, and after transacting my business +there, I turned into the Place de la Bourse, where a huge crowd was +assembled. The steps of the exchange were also covered with people, and +amidst a myriad eager gesticulations a perfect babel of voices was +ascending to the blue sky. One of the green omnibuses, which in those days +ran from the Bourse to Passy, was waiting on the square, unable to depart +owing to the density of the crowd; and all at once, amidst a scene of +great excitement and repeated shouts of "La Marseillaise!" "La +Marseillaise!" three or four well-dressed men climbed on to the vehicle, +and turning towards the mob of speculators and sightseers covering the +steps of the Bourse, they called to them repeatedly: "Silence! Silence!" +The hubbub slightly subsided, and thereupon one of the party on the +omnibus, a good-looking slim young fellow with a little moustache, took +off his hat, raised his right arm, and began to sing the war-hymn of the +Revolution. The stanza finished, the whole assembly took up the refrain. + +Since the days of the Coup d'Etat, the Marseillaise had been banned in +France, the official imperial air being "Partant pour la Syrie," a +military march composed by the Emperor's mother, Queen Hortense, with +words by Count Alexandre de Laborde, who therein pictured a handsome young +knight praying to the Blessed Virgin before his departure for Palestine, +and soliciting of her benevolence that he might "prove to be the bravest +brave, and love the fairest fair." During the twenty years of the third +Napoleon's rule, Paris had heard the strains of "Partant pour la Syrie" +many thousand times, and, though they were tuneful enough, had become +thoroughly tired of them. To stimulate popular enthusiasm in the war the +Ollivier Cabinet had accordingly authorized the playing and singing of the +long-forbidden "Marseillaise," which, although it was well-remembered by +the survivors of '48, and was hummed even by the young Republicans of +Belleville and the Quartier Latin, proved quite a novelty to half the +population, who were destined to hear it again and again and again from +that period until the present time. + +The young vocalist who sang it from the top of a Passy-Bourse omnibus on +that fateful day of Woerth, claimed to be a tenor, but was more correctly a +tenorino, his voice possessing far more sweetness than power. He was +already well-known and popular, for he had taken the part of Romeo in +Gounod's well-known opera based on the Shakespearean play. Like many +another singer, Victor Capoul might have become forgotten before very +long, but a curious circumstance, having nothing to do with vocalism, +diffused and perpetuated his name. He adopted a particular way of dressing +his hair, "plastering" a part of it down in a kind of semi-circle over the +forehead; and the new style "catching on" among young Parisians, the +"coiffure Capoul" eventually went round the world. It is exemplified in +certain portraits of King George V. + +In those war-days Capoul sang the "Marseillaise" either at the Opera +Comique or the Theatre Lyrique; but at the Opera it was sung by Marie +Sass, then at the height of her reputation. I came in touch with her a few +years later when she was living in the Paris suburbs, and more than once, +when we both travelled to the city in the same train, I had the honour of +assisting her to alight from it--this being no very easy matter, as la +Sass was the very fattest and heaviest of all the _prime donne_ that I +have ever seen. + +On the same day that MacMahon was defeated at Woerth, Frossard was badly +beaten at Forbach, an engagement witnessed by my elder brother Edward, +[Born January 1, 1847, and therefore in 1870 in his twenty-fourth year.] +who, as I previously mentioned, had gone to the front for an American +journal. Finding it impossible to telegraph the news of this serious +French reverse, he contrived to make his way to Paris on a locomotive- +engine, and arrived at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil looking as black +as any coal-heaver. When he had handed his account of the affair to Ryan, +the Paris representative of the _New York Times_, it was suggested that +his information might perhaps be useful to the French Minister of War. So +he hastened to the Ministry, where the news he brought put a finishing +touch to the dismay of the officials, who were already staggering under +the first news of the disaster of Woerth. + +Paris, jubilant over an imaginary victory, was enraged by the tidings of +Woerth and Forbach. Already dreading some Revolutionary enterprise, the +Government declared the city to be in a state of siege, thereby placing it +under military authority. Although additional men had recently been +enrolled in the National Guard the arming of them had been intentionally +delayed, precisely from a fear of revolutionary troubles, which the +_entourage_ of the Empress-Regent at Saint Cloud feared from the very +moment of the first defeats. I recollect witnessing on the Place Venddme +one day early in August a very tumultuous gathering of National Guards who +had flocked thither in order to demand weapons of the Prime Minister, that +is, Emile Ollivier, who in addition to the premiership, otherwise the +"Presidency of the Council," held the offices of Keeper of the Seals and +Minister of Justice, this department then having its offices in one of the +buildings of the Place Vendome. Ollivier responded to the demonstration by +appearing on the balcony of his private room and delivering a brief +speech, which, embraced a vague promise to comply with the popular demand. +In point of fact, however, nothing of the kind was done during his term of +office. + +Whilst writing these lines I hear that this much-abused statesman has just +passed away at Saint Gervais-les-Bains in Upper Savoy (August 20, 1913). +Born at Marseilles in July, 1825, he lived to complete his eighty-eighth +year. His second wife (nee Gravier), to whom I referred in a previous +chapter, survives him. I do not wish to be unduly hard on his memory. He +came, however, of a very Republican family, and in his earlier years he +personally evinced what seemed to be most staunch Republicanism. When he +was first elected as a member of the Legislative Body in 1857, he publicly +declared that he would appear before that essentially Bonapartist assembly +as one of the spectres of the crime of the Coup d'Etat. But subsequently +M. de Morny baited him with a lucrative appointment connected with the +Suez Canal. Later still, the Empress smiled on him, and finally he took +office under the Emperor, thereby disgusting nearly every one of his +former friends and associates. + +I believe, however, that Ollivier was sincerely convinced of the +possibility of firmly establishing a liberal-imperialist _regime_. But +although various reforms were carried out under his auspices, it is quite +certain that he was not allowed a perfectly free hand. Nor was he fully +taken into confidence with respect to the Emperor's secret diplomatic and +military policy. That was proved by the very speech in which he spoke of +entering upon the war with Prussia "with a light heart"; for in his very +next sentences he spoke of that war as being absolutely forced upon +France, and of himself and his colleagues as having done all that was +humanly and honourably possible to avoid it. Assuredly he would not have +spoken quite as he did had he realized at the time that Bismarck had +merely forced on the war in order to defeat the Emperor Napoleon's +intention to invade Germany in the ensuing spring. The public provocation +on Prussia's part was, as I previously showed, merely her reply to the +secret provocation offered by France, as evidenced by all the negotiations +with Archduke Albert on behalf of Austria, and with Count Vimercati on +behalf of Italy. On all those matters Ollivier was at the utmost but very +imperfectly informed. Finally, be it remembered that he was absent from +the Council at Saint Cloud at which war was finally decided upon. + +At a very early hour on the morning of Sunday, August 7--the day following +Woerth and Forbach--the Empress Eugenie came in all haste and sore +distress from Saint Cloud to the Tuileries. The position was very serious, +and anxious conferences were held by the ministers. When the Legislative +Body met on the morrow, a number of deputies roundly denounced the manner +in which the military operations were being conducted. One deputy, a +certain Guyot-Montpeyroux, who was well known for the outspokenness of his +language, horrified the more devoted Imperialists by describing the French +forces as an army of lions led by jackasses. On the following day Ollivier +and his colleagues resigned office. Their position had become untenable, +though little if any responsibility attached to them respecting the +military operations. The Minister of War, General Dejean, had been merely +a stop-gap, appointed to carry out the measures agreed upon before his +predecessor, Marshal Le Boeuf, had gone to the front as Major General of +the army. + +It was felt; however, among the Empress's _entourage_ that the new Prime +Minister ought to be a military man of energy, devoted, moreover, to the +Imperial _regime_. As the marshals and most of the conspicuous generals of +the time were already serving in the field, it was difficult to find any +prominent individual possessed of the desired qualifications. Finally, +however, the Empress was prevailed upon to telegraph to an officer whom +she personally disliked, this being General Cousin-Montauban, Comte de +Palikao. He was certainly, and with good reason, devoted to the Empire, +and in the past he had undoubtedly proved himself to be a man of energy. +But he was at this date in his seventy-fifth year--a fact often overlooked +by historians of the Franco-German war--and for that very reason, although +he had solicited a command in the field at the first outbreak of +hostilities, it had been decided to decline his application, and to leave +him at Lyons, where he had commanded the garrison for five years past. + +Thirty years of Palikao's life had been spent in Algeria, contending, +during most of that time, against the Arabs; but in 1860 he had been +appointed commander of the French expedition to China, where with a small +force he had conducted hostilities with the greatest vigour, repeatedly +decimating or scattering the hordes of Chinamen who were opposed to him, +and, in conjunction with the English, victoriously taking Pekin. A kind of +stain rested on the expedition by reason of the looting of the Chinese +Emperor's summer-palace, but the entire responsibility of that affair +could not be cast on the French commander, as he only continued and +completed what the English began. On his return to France, Napoleon III +created him Comte de Palikao (the name being taken from one of his Chinese +victories), and in addition wished the Legislative Body to grant him a +_dotation_. However, the summer-palace looting scandal prevented this, +much to the Emperor's annoyance, and subsequent to the fall of the Empire +it was discovered that, by Napoleon's express orders, the War Ministry had +paid Palikao a sum of about L60,000, diverting that amount of money (in +accordance with the practices of the time) from the purpose originally +assigned to it in the Estimates. + +This was not generally known when Palikao became Chief Minister. He was +then what might be called a very well preserved old officer, but his lungs +had been somewhat affected by a bullet-wound of long standing, and this he +more than once gave as a reason for replying with the greatest brevity to +interpellations in the Chamber. Moreover, as matters went from bad to +worse, this same lung trouble became a good excuse for preserving absolute +silence on certain inconvenient occasions. When, however, Palikao was +willing to speak he often did so untruthfully, repeatedly adding the +_suggestio falsi_ to the _suppressio veri_. As a matter of fact, he, like +other fervent partisans of the dynasty, was afraid to let the Parisians +know the true state of affairs. Besides, he himself was often ignorant of +it. He took office (he was the third War Minister in fifty days) without +any knowledge whatever of the imperial plan of campaign, or the steps to +be adopted in the event of further French reverses, and a herculean task +lay before this septuagenarian officer, who by experience knew right well +how to deal with Arabs and Chinamen, but had never had to contend with +European troops. Nevertheless, he displayed zeal and activity in his new +semi-political and semi-military position. He greatly assisted MacMahon to +reconstitute his army at Chalons, he planned the organization of three +more army corps, and he started on the work of placing Paris in a state of +defence, whilst his colleague, Clement Duvernois, the new Minister of +Commerce, began gathering flocks and herds together, in order that the +city, if besieged, might have the necessary means of subsistence. + +At this time there were quite a number of English "war" as well as "own" +correspondents in Paris. The former had mostly returned from Metz, whither +they had repaired at the time of the Emperor's departure for the front. At +the outset it had seemed as though the French would allow foreign +journalists to accompany them on their "promenade to Berlin," but, on +reverses setting in, all official recognition was denied to newspaper men, +and, moreover, some of the representatives of the London Press had a very +unpleasant time at Metz, being arrested there as spies and subjected to +divers indignities. I do not remember whether they were ordered back to +Paris or whether they voluntarily withdrew to the capital on their +position with the army becoming untenable; but in any case they arrived in +the city and lingered there for a time, holding daily symposiums at the +Grand Cafe at the corner of the Rue Scribe, on the Boulevards. + +From time to time I went there with my father, and amongst, this galaxy +of journalistic talent I met certain men with whom I had spoken in my +childhood. One of them, for instance, was George Augustus Sala, and +another was Henry Mayhew, the famous author of "London Labour and the +London Poor," he being accompanied by his son Athol. Looking back, it +seems to me that, in spite of all their brilliant gifts, neither Sala nor +Henry Mayhew was fitted to be a correspondent in the field, and they were +certainly much better placed in Paris than at the headquarters of the Army +of the Rhine. Among the resident correspondents who attended the +gatherings at the Grand Cafe were Captain Bingham, Blanchard (son of +Douglas) Jerrold, and the jaunty Bower, who had once been tried for his +life and acquitted by virtue of the "unwritten law" in connection with +an _affaire passionelle_ in which he was the aggrieved party. For more +than forty years past, whenever I have seen a bluff looking elderly +gentleman sporting a buff-waistcoat and a white-spotted blue necktie, +I have instinctively thought of Bower, who wore such a waistcoat and such +a necktie, with the glossiest of silk hats and most shapely of +patent-leather boots, throughout the siege of Paris, when he was fond of +dilating on the merits of boiled ostrich and stewed elephant's foot, of +which expensive dainties he partook at his club, after the inmates of the +Jardin des Plantes had been slaughtered. + +Bower represented the _Morning Advertiser_. I do not remember seeing Bowes +of the _Standard_ at the gatherings I have referred to, or Crawford of the +_Daily News_, who so long wrote his Paris letters at a little cafe +fronting the Bourse. But it was certainly at the Grand Cafe that I first +set eyes on Labouchere, who, like Sala, was installed at the neighbouring +Grand Hotel, and was soon to become famous as the _Daily News_' "Besieged +Resident." As for Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who represented the _Morning +Post_ during the German Siege, I first set eyes on him at the British +Embassy, when he had a beautiful little moustache (which I greatly envied) +and wore his hair nicely parted down the middle. _Eheu! fugaces labuntur +anni_. + +Sala was the life and soul of those gatherings at the Grand Cafe, always +exuberantly gay, unless indeed the conversation turned on the prospects of +the French forces, when he railed at them without ceasing. Blanchard +Jerrold, who was well acquainted with the spy system of the Empire, +repeatedly warned Sala to be cautious--but in vain; and the eventual +result of his outspokenness was a very unpleasant adventure on the eve of +the Empire's fall. In the presence of all those distinguished men of the +pen, I myself mostly preserved, as befitted my age, a very discreet +silence, listening intently, but seldom opening my lips unless it were to +accept or refuse another cup of coffee, or some _sirop de groseille_ or +_grenadine_. I never touched any intoxicant excepting claret at my meals, +and though, in my Eastbourne days, I had, like most boys of my time, +experimented with a clay pipe and some dark shag, I did not smoke. My +father personally was extremely fond of cigars, but had he caught me +smoking one, he would, I believe, have knocked me down. + +In connection with those Grand Cafe gatherings I one day had a little +adventure. It had been arranged that I should meet my father there, and +turning into the Boulevards from the Madeleine I went slowly past what was +then called the Rue Basse du Rempart. I was thinking of something or +other--I do not remember what, but in any case I was absorbed in thought, +and inadvertently I dogged the footsteps of two black-coated gentlemen who +were deep in conversation. I was almost unconscious of their presence, and +in any case I did not hear a word of what they were saying. But all at +once one of them turned round, and said to me angrily: "Veux-tu bien t'en +aller, petit espion!" otherwise: "Be off, little spy!" I woke up as it +were, looked at him, and to my amazement recognized Gambetta, whom I had +seen several times already, when I was with my mentor Brossard at either +the Cafe de Suede or the Cafe de Madrid. At the same time, however, his +companion also turned round, and proved to be Jules Simon, who knew me +through a son of his. This was fortunate, for he immediately exclaimed: +"Why, no! It is young Vizetelly, a friend of my son's," adding, "Did you +wish to speak to me?" + +I replied in the negative, saying that I had not even recognized him from +behind, and trying to explain that it was purely by chance that I had been +following him and M. Gambetta. "You know me, then?" exclaimed the future +dictator somewhat sharply; whereupon I mentioned that he had been pointed +out to me more than once, notably when he was in the company of M. +Delescluze. "Ah, oui, fort bien," he answered. "I am sorry if I spoke as I +did. But"--and here he turned to Simon--"one never knows, one can never +take too many precautions. The Spaniard would willingly send both of us to +Mazas." By "the Spaniard," of course, he meant the Empress Eugenie, just +as people meant Marie-Antoinette when they referred to "the Austrian" +during the first Revolution. That ended the affair. They both shook hands +with me, I raised my hat, and hurried on to the Grand Cafe, leaving them +to their private conversation. This was the first time that I ever +exchanged words with Gambetta. The incident must have occurred just after +his return from Switzerland, whither he had repaired fully anticipating +the triumph of the French arms, returning, however, directly he heard of +the first disasters. Simon and he were naturally drawn together by their +opposition to the Empire, but they were men of very different characters, +and some six months later they were at daggers drawn. + +Events moved rapidly during Palikao's ministry. Reviving a former +proposition of Jules Favre's, Gambetta proposed to the Legislative Body +the formation of a Committee of National Defence, and one was ultimately +appointed; but the only member of the Opposition included in it was +Thiers. In the middle of August there were some revolutionary disturbances +at La Villette. Then, after the famous conference at Chalons, where +Rouher, Prince Napoleon, and others discussed the situation with the +Emperor and MacMahon, Trochu was appointed Military Governor of Paris, +where he soon found himself at loggerheads with Palikao. Meantime, the +French under Bazaine, to whom the Emperor was obliged to relinquish the +supreme command--the Opposition deputies particularly insisting on +Bazaine's appointment in his stead--were experiencing reverse after +reverse. The battle of Courcelles or Pange, on August 14, was followed two +days later by that of Vionville or Mars-la-Tour, and, after yet another +two days, came the great struggle of Gravelotte, and Bazaine was thrown +back on Metz. + +At the Chalons conference it had been decided that the Emperor should +return to Paris and that MacMahon's army also should retreat towards the +capital. But Palikao telegraphed to Napoleon: "If you abandon Bazaine +there will be Revolution in Paris, and you yourself will be attacked by +all the enemy's forces. Paris will defend herself from all assault from +outside. The fortifications are completed." It has been argued that the +plan to save Bazaine might have succeeded had it been immediately carried +into effect, and in accordance, too, with Palikao's ideas; but the +original scheme was modified, delay ensued, and the French were outmarched +by the Germans, who came up with them at Sedan. As for Palikao's statement +that the Paris fortifications were completed at the time when he +despatched his telegram, that was absolutely untrue. The armament of the +outlying forts had scarcely begun, and not a single gun was in position on +any one of the ninety-five bastions of the ramparts. On the other hand, +Palikao was certainly doing all he could for the city. He had formed the +aforementioned Committee of Defence, and under his auspices the fosse or +ditch in front of the ramparts was carried across the sixty-nine roads +leading into Paris, whilst drawbridges were installed on all these points, +with armed lunettes in front of them. Again, redoubts were thrown up in +advance of some of the outlying forts, or on spots where breaks occurred +in the chain of defensive works. + +At the same time, ships' guns were ordered up from Cherbourg, Brest, +Lorient, and Toulon, together with naval gunners to serve them. Sailors, +customhouse officers, and provincial gendarmes were also conveyed to Paris +in considerable numbers. Gardes-mobiles, francs-tireurs, and even firemen +likewise came from the provinces, whilst the work of provisioning the city +proceeded briskly, the Chamber never hesitating to vote all the money +asked of it. At the same time, whilst there were many new arrivals in +Paris, there were also many departures from the city. The general fear of +a siege spread rapidly. Every day thousands of well-to-do middle-class +folk went off in order to place themselves out of harm's way; and at the +same time thousands of foreigners were expelled on the ground that, in the +event of a siege occurring, they would merely be "useless mouths." In +contrast with that exodus was the great inrush of people from the suburbs +of Paris. They poured into the city unceasingly, from villas, cottages, +and farms, employing every variety of vehicle to convey their furniture +and other household goods, their corn, flour, wine, and other produce. +There was a block at virtually every city gate, so many were the folk +eager for shelter within the protecting ramparts raised at the instigation +of Thiers some thirty years previously. + +In point of fact, although the Germans were not yet really marching on +Paris--for Bazaine's army had to be bottled up, and MacMahon's disposed +of, before there could be an effective advance on the French capital--it +was imagined in the city and its outskirts that the enemy might arrive at +any moment. The general alarm was intensified when, on the night of August +21, a large body of invalided men, who had fought at Weissenburg or Worth, +made their way into Paris, looking battle and travel-stained, some with +their heads bandaged, others with their arms in slings, and others limping +along with the help of sticks. It is difficult to conceive by what +aberration the authorities allowed the Parisians to obtain that woeful +glimpse of the misfortunes of France. The men in question ought never to +have been sent to Paris at all. They might well have been cared for +elsewhere. As it happened, the sorry sight affected all who beheld it. +Some were angered by it, others depressed, and others well-nigh terrified. + +As a kind of set-off, however, to that gloomy spectacle, fresh rumours of +French successes began to circulate. There was a report that Bazaine's +army had annihilated the whole of Prince Frederick-Charles's cavalry, and, +in particular, there was a most sensational account of how three German +army-corps, including the famous white Cuirassiers to which Bismarck +belonged, had been tumbled into the "Quarries of Jaumont" and there +absolutely destroyed! I will not say that there is no locality named +Jaumont, but I cannot find any such place mentioned in Joanne's elaborate +dictionary of the communes of France, and possibly it was as mythical as +was the alleged German disaster, the rumours of which momentarily revived +the spirits of the deluded Parisians, who were particularly pleased to +think that the hated Bismarck's regiment had been annihilated. + +On or about August 30, a friend of my eldest brother Adrian, a medical +man named Blewitt, arrived in Paris with the object of joining an +Anglo-American ambulance which was being formed in connection with the Red +Cross Society. Dr. Blewitt spoke a little French, but he was not well +acquainted with the city, and I was deputed to assist him whilst he +remained there. An interesting account of the doings of the ambulance in +question was written some sixteen or seventeen years ago by Dr. Charles +Edward Ryan, of Glenlara, Tipperary, who belonged to it. Its head men were +Dr. Marion-Sims and Dr. Frank, others being Dr. Ryan, as already +mentioned, and Drs. Blewitt, Webb, May, Nicholl, Hayden, Howett, +Tilghmann, and last but not least, the future Sir William MacCormack. Dr. +Blewitt had a variety of business to transact with the officials of the +French Red Cross Society, and I was with him at his interviews with its +venerable-looking President, the Count de Flavigny, and others. It is of +interest to recall that at the outbreak of the war the society's only +means was an income of L5 6_s._ 3_d._, but that by August 28 its receipts +had risen to nearly L112,000. By October it had expended more than +L100,000 in organizing thirty-two field ambulances. Its total outlay +during the war exceeded half a million sterling, and in its various field, +town, and village ambulances no fewer than 110,000 men were succoured and +nursed. + +In Paris the society's headquarters were established at the Palace de +l'Industrie in the Champs Elysees, and among the members of its principal +committee were several ladies of high rank. I well remember seeing there +that great leader of fashion, the Marquise de Galliffet, whose elaborate +ball gowns I had more than once admired at Worth's, but who, now that +misfortune had fallen upon France, was, like all her friends, very plainly +garbed in black. At the Palais de l'Industrie I also found Mme. de +MacMahon, short and plump, but full of dignity and energy, as became a +daughter of the Castries. I remember a brief address which she delivered +to the Anglo-American Ambulance on the day when it quitted Paris, and in +which she thanked its members for their courage and devotion in coming +forward, and expressed her confidence, and that of all her friends, in the +kindly services which they would undoubtedly bestow upon every sufferer +who came under their care. + +I accompanied the ambulance on its march through Paris to the Eastern +Hallway Station. When it was drawn up outside the Palais de l'Industrie, +Count de Flavigny in his turn made a short but feeling speech, and +immediately afterwards the _cortege_ started. At the head of it were three +young ladies, the daughters of Dr. Marion-Sims, who carried respectively +the flags of France, England, and the United States. Then came the chief +surgeons, the assistant-surgeons, the dressers and male nurses, with some +waggons of stores bringing up the rear. I walked, I remember, between +Dr. Blewitt and Dr. May. On either side of the procession were members of +the Red Cross Society, carrying sticks or poles tipped with collection +bags, into which money speedily began to rain. We crossed the Place de la +Concorde, turned up the Rue Royale, and then followed the main Boulevards +as far, I think, as the Boulevard de Strasbourg. There were crowds of +people on either hand, and our progress was necessarily slow, as it was +desired to give the onlookers full time to deposit their offerings in the +collection-bags. From the Cercle Imperial at the corner of the Champs +Elysees, from the Jockey Club, the Turf Club, the Union, the Chemins-de- +Fer, the Ganaches, and other clubs on or adjacent to the Boulevards, came +servants, often in liveries, bearing with them both bank-notes and gold. +Everybody seemed anxious to give something, and an official of the society +afterwards told me that the collection had proved the largest it had ever +made. There was also great enthusiasm all along the line of route, cries +of "Vivent les Anglais! Vivent les Americains!" resounding upon every +side. + +The train by which the ambulance quitted Paris did not start until a very +late hour in the evening. Prior to its departure most of us dined at a +restaurant near the railway-station. No little champagne was consumed at +this repast, and, unaccustomed as I was to the sparkling wine of the +Marne, it got, I fear, slightly into my head. However, my services as +interpreter were requisitioned more than once by some members of the +ambulance in connection with certain inquiries which they wished to make +of the railway officials; and I recollect that when some question arose of +going in and out of the station, and reaching the platform again without +let or hindrance--the departure of the train being long delayed--the +_sous-chef de gare_ made me a most courteous bow, and responded: "A vous, +messieurs, tout est permis. There are no regulations for you!" At last the +train started, proceeding on its way to Soissons, where it arrived at +daybreak on August 29, the ambulance then hastening to join MacMahon, and +reaching him just in time to be of good service at Sedan. I will only add +here that my friend Dr. Blewitt was with Dr. Frank at Balan and Bazeilles, +where the slaughter was so terrible. The rest of the ambulance's dramatic +story must be read in Dr. Ryan's deeply interesting pages. + +Whilst the Parisians were being beguiled with stories of how the Prince of +Saxe-Meiningen had written to his wife telling her that the German troops +were suffering terribly from sore feet, the said troops were in point of +fact lustily outmarching MacMahon's forces. On August 30, General de +Failly was badly worsted at Beaumont, and on the following day MacMahon +was forced to move on Sedan. The first reports which reached Paris +indicated, as usual, very favourable results respecting the contest there. +My friend Captain Bingham, however, obtained some correct information-- +from, I believe, the British Embassy--and I have always understood that it +was he who first made the terrible truth known to one of the deputies of +the Opposition party, who hastened to convey it to Thiers. The battle of +Sedan was fought on Thursday, September 1; but it was only on Saturday, +September 3, that Palikao shadowed forth the disaster in the Chamber, +stating that MacMahon had failed to effect a junction with Bazaine, and +that, after alternate reverses and successes--that is, driving a part of +the German army into the Meuse!--he had been obliged to retreat on Sedan +and Mezieres, some portion of his forces, moreover, having been compelled +to cross the Belgian frontier. + +That tissue of inaccuracies, devised perhaps to palliate the effect of the +German telegrams of victory which were now becoming known to the +incredulous Parisians, was torn to shreds a few hours later when the +Legislative Body assembled for a night-sitting. Palikao was then obliged +to admit that the French army and the Emperor Napoleon had surrendered to +the victorious German force. Jules Favre, who was the recognized leader of +the Republican Opposition, thereupon brought forward a motion of +dethronement, proposing that the executive authority should be vested in a +parliamentary committee. In accordance with the practice of the Chamber, +Farve's motion had to be referred to its _bureaux_, or ordinary +committees, and thus no decision was arrived at that night, it being +agreed that the Chamber should reassemble on the morrow at noon. + +The deputies separated at a very late hour. My father and myself were +among all the anxious people who had assembled on the Place de la Concorde +to await the issue of the debate. Wild talk was heard on every side, +imprecations were levelled at the Empire, and it was already suggested +that the country had been sold to the foreigner. At last, as the crowd +became extremely restless, the authorities, who had taken their +precautions in consequence of the revolutionary spirit which was abroad, +decided to disperse it. During the evening a considerable body of mounted +Gardes de Paris had been stationed in or near the Palais de l'Industrie, +and now, on instructions being conveyed to their commander, they suddenly +cantered down the Champs Elysees and cleared the square, chasing people +round and round the fountains and the seated statues of the cities of +France, until they fled by way either of the quays, the Rue de Rivoti, or +the Rue Royale. The vigour which the troops displayed did not seem of good +augury for the adversaries of the Empire. Without a doubt Revolution was +already in the air, but everything indicated that the authorities were +quite prepared to contend with it, and in all probability successfully. + +It was with difficulty that my father and myself contrived to avoid the +troopers and reach the Avenue Gabriel, whence we made our way home. +Meantime there had been disturbances in other parts of Paris. On the +Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle a band of demonstrators had come into collision +with the police, who had arrested several of them. Thus, as I have already +mentioned, the authorities seemed to be as vigilant and as energetic as +ever. But, without doubt, on that night of Saturday, September 3, the +secret Republican associations were very active, sending the _mot d'ordre_ +from one to another part of the city, so that all might be ready for +Revolution when the Legislative Body assembled on the morrow. + +It was on this same last night of the Empire that George Augustus Sala met +with the very unpleasant adventure to which I previously referred. During +the evening he went as usual to the Grand Cafe, and meeting Blanchard +Jerrold there, he endeavoured to induce him to go to supper at the Cafe du +Helder. Sala being in an even more talkative mood than usual, and--now +that he had heard of the disaster of Sedan--more than ever inclined to +express his contempt of the French in regard to military matters, Jerrold +declined the invitation, fearing, as he afterwards said to my father in my +presence, that some unpleasantness might well ensue, as Sala, in spite of +all remonstrances, would not cease "gassing." Apropos of that expression, +it is somewhat amusing to recall that Sala at one time designed for +himself an illuminated visiting-card, on which appeared his initials G. A. +S. in letters of gold, the A being intersected by a gas-lamp diffusing +many vivid rays of light, whilst underneath it was a scroll bearing the +appropriate motto, "Dux est Lux." + +But, to return to my story, Jerrold having refused the invitation; Sala +repaired alone to the Cafe du Helder, an establishment which in those +imperial times was particularly patronized by officers of the Paris +garrison and officers from the provinces on leave. It was the height of +folly for anybody to "run down" the French army in such a place, unless, +indeed, he wished to have a number of duels on his hands. It is true that +on the night of September 3, there may have been few, if any, military men +at the Helder. Certain it is, however, that whilst Sala was supping in the +principal room upstairs, he entered into conversation with other people, +spoke incautiously, as he had been doing for a week past, and on departing +from the establishment was summarily arrested and conveyed to the Poste de +Police on the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. The cells there were already more +or less crowded with roughs who had been arrested during the disturbance +earlier in the evening, and when a police official thrust Sala into their +midst, at the same time calling him a vile Prussian spy, the patriotism of +the other prisoners was immediately aroused, though, for the most part, +they were utter scamps who had only created a disturbance for the purpose +of filling their pockets. + +Sala was subjected not merely to much ill-treatment, but also to +indignities which only Rabelais or Zola could have (in different ways) +adequately described; and it was not until the morning that he was able to +communicate with the manager of the Grand Hotel, where he had his +quarters. The manager acquainted the British Embassy with his predicament, +and it was, I think, Mr. Sheffield who repaired to the Prefecture de +Police to obtain an order for Sala's liberation. The story told me at the +time was that Lord Lyons's representative found matters already in great +confusion at the Prefecture. There had been a stampede of officials, +scarcely any being at their posts, in such wise that he made his way to +the Prefect's sanctum unannounced. There he found M. Pietri engaged with a +confidential acolyte in destroying a large number of compromising papers, +emptying boxes and pigeon-holes in swift succession, and piling their +contents on an already huge fire, which was stirred incessantly in order +that it might burn more swiftly. Pietri only paused in his task in order +to write an order for Sala's release, and I have always understood that +this was the last official order that emanated from the famous Prefect of +the Second Empire. It is true that he presented himself at the Tuileries +before he fled to Belgium, but the Empress, as we know, was averse from +any armed conflict with the population of Paris. As a matter of fact, the +Prefecture had spent its last strength during the night of September 3. +Disorganized as it was on the morning of the 4th, it could not have fought +the Revolution. As will presently appear, those police who on the night of +the 3rd were chosen to assist in guarding the approaches to the Palais +Bourbon on the morrow, were quite unable to do so. + +Disorder, indeed, prevailed in many places. My father had recently found +himself in a dilemma in regard to the requirements of the _Illustrated +London News_. In those days the universal snap-shotting hand-camera was +unknown. Every scene that it was desired to depict in the paper had to be +sketched, and in presence of all the defensive preparations which were +being made, a question arose as to what might and what might not be +sketched. General Trochu was Governor of Paris, and applications were made +to him on the subject. A reply came requiring a reference from the British +Embassy before any permission whatever was granted. In due course a letter +was obtained from the Embassy, signed not, I think, by Lord Lyons himself, +but by one of the secretaries--perhaps Sir Edward Malet, or Mr. Wodehouse, +or even Mr. Sheffield. At all events, on the morning of September 4, my +father, being anxious to settle the matter, commissioned me to take the +Embassy letter to Trochu's quarters at the Louvre. Here I found great +confusion. Nobody was paying the slightest attention to official work. The +_bureaux_ were half deserted. Officers came and went incessantly, or +gathered in little groups in the passages and on the stairs, all of them +looking extremely upset and talking anxiously and excitedly together. I +could find nobody to attend to any business, and was at a loss what to do, +when a door opened and a general officer in undress uniform appeared on +the threshold of a large and finely appointed room. + +I immediately recognized Trochu's extremely bald head and determined jaw, +for since his nomination as Governor, Paris had been flooded with +portraits of him. He had opened the door, I believe, to look for an +officer, but on seeing me standing there with a letter in my hand he +inquired what I wanted. I replied that I had brought a letter from the +British Embassy, and he may perhaps have thought that I was an Embassy +messenger. At all events, he took the letter from me, saying curtly: +"C'est bien, je m'en occuperai, revenez cet apres-midi." With those words +he stepped back into the room and carefully placed the letter on the top +of several others which were neatly disposed on a side-table. + +The incident was trivial in itself, yet it afforded a glimpse of Trochu's +character. Here was the man who, in his earlier years, had organized the +French Expedition to the Crimea in a manner far superior to that in which +our own had been organized; a man of method, order, precision, fully +qualified to prepare the defence of Paris, though not to lead her army in +the field. Brief as was that interview of mine, I could not help noticing +how perfectly calm and self-possessed he was, for his demeanour greatly +contrasted with the anxious or excited bearing of his subordinates. Yet he +had reached the supreme crisis of his life. The Empire was falling, a +first offer of Power had been made to him on the previous evening; and a +second offer, which he finally accepted, [See my book, "Republican +France," p. 8.] was almost imminent. Yet on that morning of +Revolution he appeared as cool as a cucumber. + +I quitted the Louvre, going towards the Rue Royale, it having been +arranged with my father that we should take _dejeuner_ at a well-known +restaurant there. It was called "His Lordship's Larder," and was +pre-eminently an English house, though the landlord bore the German name +of Weber. He and his family were unhappily suffocated in the cellars of +their establishment during one of the conflagrations which marked the +Bloody Week of the Commune. At the time when I met my father, that is +about noon, there was nothing particularly ominous in the appearance of +the streets along which I myself passed. It was a fine bright Sunday, and, +as was usual on such a day, there were plenty of people abroad. Recently +enrolled National Guards certainly predominated among the men, but the +latter included many in civilian attire, and there was no lack of women +and children. As for agitation, I saw no sign of it. + +As I was afterwards told, however, by Delmas, the landlord of the Cafe +Gretry, [Note] matters were very different that morning on the Boulevards, +and particularly on the Boulevard Montmartre. By ten o'clock, indeed, +great crowds had assembled there, and the excitement grew apace. The same +words were on all lips: "Sedan--the whole French army taken--the wretched +Emperor's sword surrendered--unworthy to reign--dethrone him!" Just as, in +another crisis of French history, men had climbed on to the chairs and +tables in the garden of the Palais Royal to denounce Monsieur and Madame +Veto and urge the Parisians to march upon Versailles, so now others +climbed on the chairs outside the Boulevard cafes to denounce the Empire, +and urge a march upon the Palais Bourbon, where the Legislative Body was +about to meet. And amidst the general clamour one cry persistently +prevailed. It was: "Decheance! Decheance!--Dethronement! Dethronement!" + +[Note: This was a little cafe on the Boulevard des Italiens, and was noted +for its quietude during the afternoon, though in the evening it was, by +reason of its proximity to the "Petite Bourse" (held on the side-walk in +front of it), invaded by noisy speculators. Captain Bingham, my father, +and myself long frequented the Cafe Gretry, often writing our "Paris +letters" there. Subsequent to the war, Bingham and I removed to the Cafe +Cardinal, where, however, the everlasting rattle of dominoes proved very +disturbing. In the end, on that account, and in order to be nearer to a +club to which we both belonged, we emigrated to the Cafe Napolitain. One +reason for writing one's copy at a cafe instead of at one's club was that, +at the former, one could at any moment receive messengers bringing late +news; in addition to which, afternoon newspapers were instantly +available.] + +At every moment the numbers of the crowd increased. New-comers continually +arrived from the eastern districts by way of the Boulevards, and from the +north by way of the Faubourg Montmartre and the Rue Drouot, whilst from +the south--the Quartier Latin and its neighbourhood--contingents made +their way across the Pont St. Michel and the Pont Notre Dame, and thence, +past the Halles, along the Boulevard de Sebastopol and the Rue Montmartre. +Why the Quartier Latin element did not advance direct on the Palais +Bourbon from its own side of the river I cannot exactly say; but it was, I +believe, thought desirable to join hands, in the first instance, with the +Revolutionary elements of northern Paris. All this took place whilst my +father and myself were partaking of our meal. When we quitted the +"Larder," a little before one o'clock, all the small parties of National +Guards and civilians whom we had observed strolling about at an earlier +hour, had congregated on the Place de la Concorde, attracted thither by +the news of the special Sunday sitting, at which the Legislative Body +would undoubtedly take momentous decisions. + +It should be added that nearly all the National Guards who assembled on +the Place de la Concorde before one o'clock were absolutely unarmed. At +that hour, however, a large force of them, equivalent to a couple of +battalions or thereabouts, came marching down the Rue Royale from the +Boulevards, and these men (who were preceded by a solitary drummer) +carried, some of them, chassepots and others _fusils-a-tabatiere,_ having +moreover, in most instances, their bayonets fixed. They belonged to the +north of Paris, though I cannot say precisely to what particular +districts, nor do I know exactly by whose orders they had been assembled +and instructed to march on the Palais Bourbon, as they speedily did. But +it is certain that all the fermentation of the morning and all that +occurred afterwards was the outcome of the night-work of the secret +Republican Committees. + +As the guards marched on, loud cries of "Decheance! Decheance!" arose +among them, and were at once taken up by the spectators. Perfect +unanimity, indeed, appeared to prevail on the question of dethroning the +Emperor. Even the soldiers who were scattered here and there--a few +Linesmen, a few Zouaves, a few Turcos, some of them invalided from +MacMahon's forces--eagerly joined in the universal cry, and began to +follow the guards on to the Place de la Concorde. Never, I believe, had +that square been more crowded--not even in the days when it was known as +the Place Louis Quinze, and when hundreds of people were crushed to death +there whilst witnessing a display of fireworks in connection with the +espousals of the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, not even when it +had become the Place de la Revolution and was thronged by all who wished +to witness the successive executions of the last King and Queen of the old +French monarchy. From the end of the Rue Royale to the bridge conducting +across the Seine to the Palais Bourbon, from the gate of the Tuileries +garden to the horses of Marly at the entrance of the Champs Elysees, +around the obelisk of Luxor, and the fountains which were playing as usual +in the bright sunshine which fell from the blue sky, along all the +balustrades connecting the seated statues of the cities of France, here, +there, and everywhere, indeed, you saw human heads. And the clamour was +universal. The great square had again become one of Revolution, and yet +it remained one of Concord also, for there was absolute agreement among +the hundred thousand or hundred and fifty thousand people who had chosen +it as their meeting-place, an agreement attested by that universal and +never-ceasing cry of "Dethronement!" + +As the armed National Guards debouched from the Rue Royale, their solitary +drummer plied his sticks. But the roll of the drum was scarcely heard in +the general uproar, and so dense was the crowd that the men could advance +but very slowly. For a while it took some minutes to make only a few +steps. Meantime the ranks of the men were broken here and there, other +people got among them, and at last my father and myself were caught in the +stream and carried with it, still somewhat slowly, in the direction of the +Pont de la Concorde. I read recently that the bridge was defended by +mounted men of the Garde de Paris (the forerunner of the Garde +Republicaine of to-day); a French writer, in recalling the scene, +referring to "the men's helmets glistening in the sunshine." But that is +pure imagination. The bridge was defended by a cordon of police ranged in +front of a large body of Gendarmerie mobile, wearing the familiar dark +blue white-braided _kepis_ and the dark blue tunics with white +aiguillettes. At first, as I have already said, we advanced but slowly +towards that defending force; but, all at once, we were swept onward by +other men who had come from the Boulevards, in our wake. A minute later an +abrupt halt ensued, whereupon it was only with great difficulty that we +were able to resist the pressure from behind. + +I at last contrived to raise myself on tiptoes. Our first ranks had +effected a breach in those of the sergents-de-ville, but before us were +the mounted gendarmes, whose officer suddenly gave a command and drew his +sword. For an instant I saw him plainly: his face was intensely pale. But +a sudden rattle succeeded his command, for his men responded to it by +drawing their sabres, which flashed ominously. A minute, perhaps two +minutes, elapsed, the pressure in our rear still and ever increasing. I do +not know what happened exactly at the head of our column: the uproar was +greater than ever, and it seemed as if, in another moment, we should be +charged, ridden over, cut down, or dispersed. I believe, however, that in +presence of that great concourse of people, in presence too of the +universal reprobation of the Empire which had brought defeat, invasion, +humiliation upon France, the officer commanding the gendarmes shrank from +carrying out his orders. There must have been a brief parley with the +leaders of our column. In any case, the ranks of the gendarmes suddenly +opened, many of them taking to the footways of the bridge, over which our +column swept at the double-quick, raising exultant shouts of "Vive la +Republique!" It was almost a race as to who should be the first to reach +the Palais Bourbon. Those in the rear were ever impelling the foremost +onward, and there was no time to look about one. But in a rapid vision, as +it were, I saw the gendarmes reining in their horses on either side of us; +and, here and there, medals gleamed on their dark tunics, and it seemed to +me as if more than one face wore an angry expression. These men had fought +under the imperial eagles, they had been decorated for their valour in the +Crimean, Italian, and Cochin-China wars. Veterans all, and faithful +servants of the Empire, they saw the _regime_ for which they had fought, +collapsing. Had their commanding officer ordered it, they might well have +charged us; but, obedient to discipline, they had opened their ranks, and +now the Will of the People was sweeping past them. + +None of our column had a particularly threatening mien; the general +demeanour was rather suggestive of joyful expectancy. But, the bridge once +crossed, there was a fresh pause at the gates shutting off the steps of +the Palais Bourbon. Here infantry were assembled, with their chassepots in +readiness. Another very brief but exciting interval ensued. Then the +Linesmen were withdrawn, the gates swung open, and everybody rushed up the +steps. I was carried hither and thither, and at last from the portico into +the building, where I contrived to halt beside one of the statues in the +"Salle des Pas Perdus." I looked for my father, but could not see him, and +remained wedged in my corner for quite a considerable time. Finally, +however, another rush of invaders dislodged me, and I was swept with many +others into the Chamber itself. All was uproar and confusion there. Very +few deputies were present. The public galleries, the seats of the members, +the hemicycle in front of the tribune, were crowded with National Guards. +Some were standing on the stenographers' table and on the ushers' chairs +below the tribune. There were others on the tribune stairs. And at the +tribune itself, with his hat on his head, stood Gambetta, hoarsely +shouting, amidst the general din, that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and his +dynasty had for ever ceased to reign. Then, again and again, arose the cry +of "Vive la Republique!" In the twinkling of an eye, however, Gambetta was +lost to view--he and other Republican deputies betaking themselves, as I +afterwards learnt, to the palace steps, where the dethronement of the +Bonapartes was again proclaimed. The invaders of the chamber swarmed after +them, and I was watching their departure when I suddenly saw my father +quietly leaning back in one of the ministerial seats--perhaps that which, +in the past, had been occupied by Billault, Rouher, Ollivier, and other +powerful and prominent men of the fallen _regime_. + +At the outset of the proceedings that day Palikao had proposed the +formation of a Council of Government and National Defence which was to +include five members of the Legislative Body. The ministers were to be +appointed by this Council, and he was to be Lieutenant-General of France. +It so happened that the more fervent Imperialists had previously offered +him a dictatorship, but he had declined it. Jules Favre met the General's +proposal by claiming priority for the motion which he had submitted at the +midnight sitting, whilst Thiers tried to bring about a compromise by +suggesting such a Committee as Palikao had indicated, but placing the +choice of its members entirely in the hands of the Legislative Body, +omitting all reference to Palikao's Lieutenancy, and, further, setting +forth that a Constituent Assembly should be convoked as soon as +circumstances might permit. The three proposals--Thiers', Favre's, and +Palikao's--were submitted to the _bureaux_, and whilst these _bureaux_ +were deliberating in various rooms the first invasion of the Chamber took +place in spite of the efforts of Jules Ferry, who had promised Palikao +that the proceedings of the Legislature should not be disturbed. When the +sitting was resumed the "invaders," who, at that moment, mainly occupied +the galleries, would listen neither to President Schneider nor to their +favourite Gambetta, though both appealed to them for silence and order. +Jules Favre alone secured a few moments' quietude, during which he begged +that there might be no violence. Palikao was present, but did not speak. +[Later in the day, after urging Trochu to accept the presidency of the new +Government, as otherwise "all might be lost," Palikao quitted Paris for +Belgium. He stayed at Namur during the remainder of the war, and +afterwards lived in retirement at Versailles, where he died in January, +1878.] Amidst the general confusion came the second invasion of the +Chamber, when I was swept off my feet and carried on to the floor of the +house. That second invasion precipitated events. Even Gambetta wished the +dethronement of the dynasty to be signified by a formal vote, but the +"invaders" would brook no delay. + +Both of us, my father and I, were tired and thirsty after our unexpected +experiences. Accordingly we did not follow the crowd back to the steps +overlooking the Place de la Concorde, but, like a good many other people, +we went off by way of the Place de Bourgogne. No damage had been done in +the Chamber itself, but as we quitted the building we noticed several +inscriptions scrawled upon the walls. In some instances the words were +merely "Vive la Republique!" and "Mort aux Prussiens!" At other times, +however, they were too disgusting to be set down here. In or near the Rue +de Bourgogne we found a fairly quiet wine-shop, where we rested and +refreshed ourselves with _cannettes_ of so-called Biere de Strasbourg. +We did not go at that moment to the Hotel-de-Ville, whither a large part +of the crowd betook itself by way of the quays, and where the Republic +was again proclaimed; but returned to the Place de la Concorde, where some +thousands of people still remained. Everybody was looking very animated +and very pleased. Everybody imagined that, the Empire being overthrown, +France would soon drive back the German invader. All fears for the future +seemed, indeed, to have departed. Universal confidence prevailed, and +everybody congratulated everybody else. There was, in any case, one +good cause for congratulation: the Revolution had been absolutely +bloodless--the first and only phenomenon of the kind in all French +history. + +Whilst we were strolling about the Place de la Concorde I noticed that the +chief gate of the Tuileries garden had been forced open and damaged. The +gilded eagles which had decorated it had been struck off and pounded to +pieces, this, it appeared, having been chiefly the work of an enterprising +Turco. A few days later Victorien Sardou wrote an interesting account of +how he and others obtained admittance, first to the reserved garden, and +then to the palace itself. On glancing towards it I observed that the flag +which had still waved over the principal pavilion that morning, had now +disappeared. It had been lowered after the departure of the Empress. Of +the last hours which she spent in the palace, before she quitted it with +Prince Metternich and Count Nigra to seek a momentary refuge at the +residence of her dentist, Dr. Evans, I have given a detailed account, +based on reliable narratives and documents, in my "Court of the +Tuileries." + +Quitting, at last, the Place de la Concorde, we strolled slowly homeward. +Some tradespeople in the Rue Royale and the Faubourg St. Honore, former +purveyors to the Emperor or the Empress, were already hastily removing the +imperial arms from above their shops. That same afternoon and during the +ensuing Monday and Tuesday every escutcheon, every initial N, every crown, +every eagle, every inscription that recalled the Empire, was removed or +obliterated in one or another manner. George Augustus Sala, whose recent +adventure confined him to his room at the Grand Hotel, spent most of his +time in watching the men who removed the eagles, crowns, and Ns from the +then unfinished Opera-house. Even the streets which recalled the imperial +_regime_ were hastily renamed. The Avenue de l'Imperatrice at once became +the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne; and the Rue du Dix-Decembre (so called in +memory of Napoleon's assumption of the imperial dignity) was rechristened +Rue du Quatre Septembre--this being the "happy thought" of a Zouave, who, +mounted on a ladder, set the new name above the old one, whilst the plate +bearing the latter was struck off with a hammer by a young workman. + +As we went home on the afternoon of that memorable Fourth, we noticed that +all the cafes and wine-shops were doing a brisk trade. Neither then nor +during the evening, however, did I perceive much actual drunkenness. It +was rather a universal jollity, as though some great victory had been +gained. Truth to tell, the increase of drunkenness in Paris was an effect +of the German Siege of the city, when drink was so plentiful and food so +scarce. + +My father and I had reached the corner of our street when we witnessed an +incident which I have related in detail in the first pages of my book, +"Republican France." It was the arrival of Gambetta at the Ministry of the +Interior, by way of the Avenue de Marigny, with an escort of red-shirted +Francs-tireurs de la Presse. The future Dictator had seven companions with +him, all huddled inside or on the roof of a four-wheel cab, which was +drawn by two Breton nags. I can still picture him alighting from the +vehicle and, in the name of the Republic, ordering a chubby little +Linesman, who was mounting guard at the gate of the Ministry, to have the +said gate opened; and I can see the sleek and elderly _concierge_, who had +bowed to many an Imperial Minister, complying with the said injunction, +and respectfully doffing his tasselled smoking-cap and bending double +whilst he admitted his new master. Then the gate is closed, and from +behind the finely-wrought ornamental iron-work Gambetta briefly addresses +the little throng which has recognized him, saying that the Empire is +dead, but that France is wounded, and that her very wounds will inflame +her with fresh courage; promising, too, that the whole nation shall be +armed; and asking one and all to place confidence in the new Government, +even as the latter will place confidence in the people. + +In the evening I strolled with my father to the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, +where many people were congregated, A fairly large body of National Guards +was posted in front of the building, most of whose windows were lighted +up. The members of the New Government of National Defence were +deliberating there. Trochu had become its President, and Jules Favre its +Vice-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Henri Rochefort, released +that afternoon by his admirers from the prison of Sainte Pelagie, was +included in the administration, this being in the main composed of the +deputies for Paris. Only one of the latter, the cautious Thiers, refused +to join it. He presided, however, that same evening over a gathering of +some two hundred members of the moribund Legislative Body, which then made +a forlorn attempt to retain some measure of authority, by coming to some +agreement with the new Government. But Jules Favre and Jules Simon, who +attended the meeting on the latter's behalf, would not entertain the +suggestion. It was politely signified to the deputies that their support +in Paris was not required, and that if they desired to serve their country +in any way, they had better betake themselves to their former +constituencies in the provinces. So far as the Legislative Body and the +Senate, [Note] also, were concerned, everything ended in a +delightful bit of comedy. Not only were the doors of their respective +meeting halls looked, but they were "secured" with strips of tape and +seals of red wax. The awe with which red sealing-wax inspires Frenchmen is +distinctly a trait of the national character. Had there been, however, a +real Bonaparte in Paris at that time, he would probably have cut off the +aforesaid seals with his sword. + +[Note: The Senate, over which Rouher presided, dispensed quietly on +hearing of the invasion of the Chamber. The proposal that it should +adjourn till more fortunate times emanated from Rouher himself. A few +cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" were raised as the assembly dispersed. +Almost immediately afterwards, however, most of the Senators, including +Rouher, who knew that he was very obnoxious to the Parisians, quitted the +city and even France.] + +On the morning of September 5, the _Charivari_--otherwise the daily +Parisian _Punch_--came out with a cartoon designed to sum up the whole +period covered by the imperial rule. It depicted France bound hand and +foot and placed between the mouths of two cannons, one inscribed "Paris, +1851," and the other "Sedan, 1870"--those names and dates representing the +Alpha and Omega of the Second Empire. + + + +IV + +FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + +The Government of National Defence--The Army of Paris--The Return +of Victor Hugo--The German advance on Paris--The National Guard +reviewed--Hospitable Preparations for the Germans--They draw nearer +still--Departure of Lord Lyons--Our Last Day of Liberty--On the +Fortifications--The Bois de Boulogne and our Live Stock--Mass before +the Statue of Strasbourg--Devout Breton Mobiles--Evening on the +Boulevards and in the Clubs--Trochu and Ducrot--The Fight and Panic +of Chatillon--The Siege begins. + + +As I shall have occasion in these pages to mention a good many members +of the self-constituted Government which succeeded the Empire, it may be +as well for me to set down here their names and the offices they held. +I have already mentioned that Trochu was President, and Jules Favre +Vice-President, of the new administration. The former also retained his +office as Governor of Paris, and at the same time became Generalissimo. +Favre, for his part, took the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. With him and +Trochu were Gambetta, Minister of the Interior; Jules Simon, Minister of +Public Instruction; Adolphe Cremieux, Minister of Justice; Ernest Picard, +Minister of Finance; Jules Ferry, Secretary-General to the Government, and +later Mayor of Paris; and Henri Rochefort, President of the Committee of +Barricades. Four of their colleagues, Emmanuel Arago, Garnier-Pages, +Eugene Pelletan, and Glais-Bizoin, did not take charge of any particular +administrative departments, the remainder of these being allotted to men +whose co-operation was secured. For instance, old General Le Flo became +Minister of War--under Trochu, however, and not over him. Vice-Admiral +Fourichon was appointed Minister of Marine; Magnin, an iron-master, +became Minister of Commerce and Agriculture; Frederic Dorian, another +iron-master, took the department of Public Works; Count Emile de Keratry +acted as Prefect of Police, and Etienne Arago, in the earlier days, as +Mayor of Paris. + +The new Government was fully installed by Tuesday, September 6. It had +already issued several more or less stirring proclamations, which were +followed by a despatch which Jules Favre addressed to the French +diplomatic representatives abroad. As a set-off to the arrival of a number +of dejected travel-stained fugitives from MacMahon's army, whose +appearance was by no means of a nature to exhilarate the Parisians, the +defence was reinforced by a large number of Gardes Mobiles, who poured +into the city, particularly from Brittany, Trochu's native province, and +by a considerable force of regulars, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, +commanded by the veteran General Vinoy (then seventy years of age), who +had originally been despatched to assist MacMahon, but, having failed to +reach him before the disaster of Sedan, retreated in good order on the +capital. At the time when the Siege actually commenced there were in Paris +about 90,000 regulars (including all arms and categories), 110,000 Mobile +Guards, and a naval contingent of 13,500 men, that is a force of 213,000, +in addition to the National Guards, who were about 280,000 in number. +Thus, altogether, nearly half a million armed men were assembled in Paris +for the purpose of defending it. As all authorities afterwards admitted, +this was a very great blunder, as fully 100,000 regulars and mobiles might +have been spared to advantage for service in the provinces. Of course the +National Guards themselves could not be sent away from the city, though +they were often an encumbrance rather than a help, and could not possibly +have carried on the work of defence had they been left to their own +resources. + +Besides troops, so long as the railway trains continued running, +additional military stores and supplies of food, flour, rice, biscuits, +preserved meats, rolled day by day into Paris. At the same time, several +illustrious exiles returned to the capital. Louis Blanc and Edgar Quinet +arrived there, after years of absence, in the most unostentatious fashion, +though they soon succumbed to the prevailing mania of inditing manifestoes +and exhortations for the benefit of their fellow-countrymen. Victor Hugo's +return was more theatrical. In those famous "Chatiments" in which he had +so severely flagellated the Third Napoleon (after, in earlier years, +exalting the First to the dignity of a demi-god), he had vowed to keep out +of France and to protest against the Empire so long as it lasted, penning, +in this connection, the famous line: + + "Et s'il n'en reste qu'un, je serai celui-la!" + +But now the Empire had fallen, and so Hugo returned in triumph to Paris. +When he alighted from the train which brought him, he said to those who +had assembled to give him a fitting greeting, that he had come to do his +duty in the hour of danger, that duty being to save Paris, which meant +more than saving France, for it implied saving the world itself--Paris +being the capital of civilization, the centre of mankind. Naturally +enough, those fine sentiments were fervently applauded by the great poet's +admirers, and when he had installed himself with his companions in an open +carriage, two or three thousand people escorted him processionally along +the Boulevards. It was night-time, and the cafes were crowded and the +footways covered with promenaders as the _cortege_ went by, the escort +singing now the "Marseillaise" and now the "Chant du Depart," whilst on +every side shouts of "Vive Victor Hugo!" rang out as enthusiastically as +if the appointed "Saviour of Paris" were indeed actually passing. More +than once I saw the illustrious poet stand up, uncover, and wave his hat +in response to the acclamations, and I then particularly noticed the +loftiness of his forehead, and the splendid crop of white hair with which +it was crowned. Hugo, at that time sixty-eight years old, still looked +vigorous, but it was beyond the power of any such man as himself to save +the city from what was impending. All he could do was to indite perfervid +manifestoes, and subsequently, in "L'Annee terrible," commemorate the +doings and sufferings of the time. For the rest, he certainly enrolled +himself as a National Guard, and I more than once caught sight of him +wearing _kepi_ and _vareuse_. I am not sure, however, whether he ever did +a "sentry-go." + +It must have been on the day following Victor Hugo's arrival that I +momentarily quitted Paris for reasons in which my youthful but precocious +heart was deeply concerned. I was absent for four days or so, and on +returning to the capital I was accompanied by my stepmother, who, knowing +that my father intended to remain in the city during the impending siege, +wished to be with him for a while before the investment began. I recollect +that she even desired to remain with us, though that was impossible, as +she had young children, whom she had left at Saint Servan; and, besides, +as I one day jocularly remarked to her, she would, by staying in Paris, +have added to the "useless mouths," whose numbers the Republican, like the +Imperial, Government was, with very indifferent success, striving to +diminish. However, she only quitted us at the last extremity, departing on +the evening of September 17, by the Western line, which, on the morrow, +the enemy out at Conflans, some fourteen miles from Paris. + +Day by day the Parisians had received news of the gradual approach of +the German forces. On the 8th they heard that the Crown Prince of +Prussia's army was advancing from Montmirail to Coulommiers--whereupon the +city became very restless; whilst on the 9th there came word that the +black and white pennons of the ubiquitous Uhlans had been seen at La +Ferte-sous-Jouarre. That same day Thiers quitted Paris on a mission which +he had undertaken for the new Government, that of pleading the cause of +France at the Courts of London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Rome. Then, on +the 11th, there were tidings that Laon had capitulated, though not without +its defenders blowing up a powder-magazine and thereby injuring some +German officers of exalted rank--for which reason the deed was +enthusiastically commended by the Parisian Press, though it would seem to +have been a somewhat treacherous one, contrary to the ordinary usages of +war. On the 12th some German scouts reached Meaux, and a larger force +leisurely occupied Melun. The French, on their part, were busy after a +fashion. They offered no armed resistance to the German advance, but they +tried to impede it in sundry ways. With the idea of depriving the enemy of +"cover," various attempts were made to fire some of the woods in the +vicinity of Paris, whilst in order to cheat him of supplies, stacks and +standing crops were here and there destroyed. Then, too, several railway +and other bridges were blown up, including the railway bridge at Creil, so +that direct communication with Boulogne and Calais ceased on September 12. + +The 13th was a great day for the National Guards, who were then reviewed +by General Trochu. With my father and my young stepmother, I went to see +the sight, which was in many respects an interesting one. A hundred and +thirty-six battalions, or approximately 180,000 men, of the so-called +"citizen soldiery" were under arms; their lines extending, first, along +the Boulevards from the Bastille to the Madeleine, then down the Rue +Royale, across the Place de la Concorde and up the Champs Elysees as far +as the Rond Point. In addition, 100,000 men of the Garde Mobile were +assembled along the quays of the Seine and up the Champs Elysees from the +Rond Point to the Arc de Triomphe. I have never since set eyes on so large +a force of armed men. They were of all sorts. Some of the Mobiles, notably +the Breton ones, who afterwards gave a good account of themselves, looked +really soldierly; but the National Guards were a strangely mixed lot. They +all wore _kepis_, but quite half of them as yet had no uniforms, and were +attired in blouses and trousers of various hues. Only here and there could +one see a man of military bearing; most of them struck happy-go-lucky +attitudes, and were quite unable to keep step in marching. A particular +feature of the display was the number of flowers and sprigs of evergreen +with which the men had decorated the muzzles of the _fusils-a-tabatiere_ +which they mostly carried. Here and there, moreover, one and another +fellow displayed on his bayonet-point some coloured caricature of the +ex-Emperor or the ex-Empress. What things they were, those innumerable +caricatures of the months which followed the Revolution! Now and again +there appeared one which was really clever, which embodied a smart, +a witty idea; but how many of them were simply the outcome of a depraved, +a lewd, a bestial imagination! The most offensive caricatures of +Marie-Antoinette were as nothing beside those levelled at that unfortunate +woman, the Empress Eugenie. + +Our last days of liberty were now slipping by. Some of the poorest folk of +the environs of Paris were at last coming into the city, bringing their +chattels with them. Strange ideas, however, had taken hold of some of the +more simple-minded suburban bourgeois. Departing hastily into the +provinces, so as to place their skins out of harm's reach, they had not +troubled to store their household goods in the city; but had left them in +their coquettish villas and pavilions, the doors of which were barely +looked. The German soldiers would very likely occupy the houses, but +assuredly they would do no harm to them. "Perhaps, however, it might be as +well to propitiate the foreign soldiers. Let us leave something for them," +said worthy Monsieur Durand to Madame Durand, his wife; "they will be +hungry when they get here, and if they find something ready for them they +will be grateful and do no damage." So, although the honest Durands +carefully barred--at times even walled-up--their cellars of choice wines, +they arranged that plenty of bottles, at times even a cask, of _vin +ordinaire_ should be within easy access; and ham, cheese, sardines, +_saucissons de Lyon_, and _pates de foie gras_ were deposited in the +pantry cupboards, which were considerately left unlocked in order that the +good, mild-mannered, honest Germans (who, according to a proclamation +issued by "Unser Fritz" at an earlier stage of the hostilities, "made war +on the Emperor Napoleon and not on the French nation") might regale +themselves without let or hindrance. Moreover, the nights were "drawing +in," the evenings becoming chilly; so why not lay the fires, and place +matches and candles in convenient places for the benefit of the unbidden +guests who would so soon arrive? All those things being done, M. and Mme. +Durand departed to seek the quietude of Fouilly-les-Oies, never dreaming +that on their return to Montfermeil, Palaiseau, or Sartrouville, they +would find their _salon_ converted into a pigstye, their furniture +smashed, and their clocks and chimney-ornaments abstracted. Of course the +M. Durand of to-day knows what happened to his respected parents; he knows +what to think of the good, honest, considerate German soldiery; and, if he +can help it, he will not in any similar case leave so much as a wooden +spoon to be carried off to the Fatherland, and added as yet another trophy +to the hundred thousand French clocks and the million French nick-nacks +which are still preserved there as mementoes of the "grosse Zeit." + +On September 15, we heard of some petty skirmishes between Uhlans and +Francs-tireurs in the vicinity of Montereau and Melun; on the morrow the +enemy captured a train at Senlis, and fired on another near Chantilly, +fortunately without wounding any of the passengers; whilst on the same day +his presence was signalled at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, only ten miles +south of Paris. That evening, moreover, he attempted to ford the Seine at +Juvisy. On the 16th some of his forces appeared between Creteil and +Neuilly-sur-Marne, on the eastern side of the city, and only some five +miles from the fort of Vincennes. Then we again heard of him on the +south--of his presence at Brunoy, Ablon, and Athis, and of the pontoons by +which he was crossing the Seine at Villeneuve and Choisy-le-Roi. + +Thus the advance steadily continued, quite unchecked by force of arms, +save for just a few trifling skirmishes initiated by sundry +Francs-tireurs. Not a road, not a barricade, was defended by the +authorities; not once was the passage of a river contested. Here and there +the Germans found obstructions: poplars had been felled and laid across a +highway, bridges and railway tunnels had occasionally been blown up; but +all such impediments to their advance were speedily overcome by the enemy, +who marched on quietly, feeling alternately puzzled and astonished at +never being confronted by any French forces. As the invaders drew nearer +to Paris they found an abundance of vegetables and fruit at their +disposal, but most of the peasantry had fled, taking their live stock with +them, and, as a German officer told me in after years, eggs, cheese, +butter, and milk could seldom be procured. + +On the 17th the French began to recover from the stupor which seemed to +have fallen on them. Old General Vinoy crossed the Marne at Charenton with +some of his forces, and a rather sharp skirmish ensued in front of the +village of Mesly. That same day Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador, took +his departure from Paris, proceeding by devious ways to Tours, whither, a +couple of days previously, three delegates of the National Defence--two +septuagenarians and one sexagenarian, Cremieux, Glais-Bizoin, and +Fourichon--had repaired in order to take over the general government of +France. Lord Lyons had previously told Jules Favre that he intended to +remain in the capital, but I believe that his decision was modified by +instructions from London. With him went most of the Embassy staff, British +interests in Paris remaining in the hands of the second secretary, Mr. +Wodehouse, and the vice-consul. The consul himself had very prudently +quitted Paris, in order "to drink the waters," some time previously. +Colonel Claremont, the military attache, still remained with us, but by +degrees, as the siege went on, the Embassy staff dwindled down to the +concierge and two--or was it four?--sheep browsing on the lawn. Mr. +Wodehouse went off (my father and myself being among those who accompanied +him, as I shall relate in a future chapter) towards the middle of +November; and before the bombardment began Colonel Claremont likewise +executed a strategical retreat. Nevertheless--or should I say for that +very reason?--he was subsequently made a general officer. + +A day or two before Lord Lyons left he drew up a notice warning British +subjects that if they should remain in Paris it would be at their own risk +and peril. The British colony was not then so large as it is now, +nevertheless it was a considerable one. A good many members of it +undoubtedly departed on their own initiative. Few, if any, saw Lord +Lyons's notice, for it was purely and simply conveyed to them through the +medium of _Galignani's Messenger_, which, though it was patronized by +tourists staying at the hotels, was seldom seen by genuine British +residents, most of whom read London newspapers. + +The morrow of Lord Lyons's departure, Sunday, September 18, was our last +day of liberty. The weather was splendid, the temperature as warm as that +of June. All Paris was out of doors. We were not without women-folk +and children. Not only were there the wives and offspring of the +working-classes; but the better halves of many tradespeople and bourgeois +had remained in the city, together with a good many ladies of higher +social rank. Thus, in spite of all the departures, "papa, mamma, and baby" +were still to be met in many directions on that last day preceding the +investment. There were gay crowds everywhere, on the Boulevards, on the +squares, along the quays, and along the roads skirting the ramparts. These +last were the "great attraction," and thousands of people strolled about +watching the work which was in progress. Stone casements were being roofed +with earth, platforms were being prepared for guns, gabions were being set +in position at the embrasures, sandbags were being carried to the +parapets, stakes were being pointed for the many _pieges-a-loups_, and +smooth earthworks were being planted with an infinity of spikes. Some guns +were already in position, others, big naval guns from Brest or Cherbourg, +were still lying on the turf. Meanwhile, at the various city gates, the +very last vehicles laden with furniture and forage were arriving from the +suburbs. And up and down went all the promenaders, chatting, laughing, +examining this and that work of defence or engine of destruction in such a +good-humoured, light-hearted way that the whole _chemin-de-ronde_ seemed +to be a vast fair, held solely for the amusement of the most volatile +people that the world has ever known. + +Access to the Bois de Boulogne was forbidden. Acres of timber had already +been felled there, and from the open spaces the mild September breeze +occasionally wafted the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, and the +grunting of pigs. Our live stock consisted of 30,000 oxen, 175,000 sheep, +8,800 pigs, and 6,000 milch-cows. Little did we think how soon those +animals (apart from the milch-cows) would be consumed! Few of us were +aware that, according to Maxime Ducamp's great work on Paris, we had +hitherto consumed, on an average, every day of the year, 935 oxen, 4680 +sheep, 570 pigs, and 600 calves, to say nothing of 46,000 head of poultry, +game, etc., 50 tons of fish, and 670,000 eggs. + +Turning from the Bois de Boulogne, which had become our principal ranch +and sheep-walk, one found companies of National Guards learning the +"goose-step" in the Champs Elysees and the Cours-la-Reine. Regulars were +appropriately encamped both in the Avenue de la Grande Armee and on the +Champ de Mars. Field-guns and caissons filled the Tuileries garden, whilst +in the grounds of the Luxembourg Palace one again found cattle and sheep; +yet other members of the bovine and ovine species being installed, +singularly enough, almost cheek by jowl with the hungry wild beasts of the +Jardin des Plantes, whose mouths fairly watered at the sight of their +natural prey. If you followed the quays of the Seine you there found +sightseers gazing at the little gunboats and floating batteries on the +water; and if you climbed to Montmartre you there came upon people +watching "The Neptune," the captive balloon which Nadar, the aeronaut and +photographer, had already provided for purposes of military observation. I +shall have occasion to speak of him and his balloons again. + +Among all that I myself saw on that memorable Sunday, I was perhaps most +struck by the solemn celebration of Mass in front of the statue of +Strasbourg on the Place de la Concorde. The capital of Alsace had been +besieged since the middle of August, but was still offering a firm +resistance to the enemy. Its chief defenders, General Uhrich and Edmond +Valentin, were the most popular heroes of the hour. The latter had been +appointed Prefect of the city by the Government of National Defence, and, +resolving to reach his post in spite of the siege which was being actively +prosecuted, had disguised himself and passed successfully through the +German lines, escaping the shots which were fired at him. In Paris the +statue of Strasbourg had become a place of pilgrimage, a sacred shrine, as +it were, adorned with banners and with wreaths innumerable. Yet I +certainly had not expected to see an altar set up and Mass celebrated in +front of it, as if it had been, indeed, a statue of the Blessed Virgin. + +At this stage of affairs there was no general hostility to the Church in +Paris. The _bourgeoisie_--I speak of its masculine element--was as +sceptical then as it is now, but it knew that General Trochu, in whom it +placed its trust, was a practising and fervent Catholic, and that in +taking the Presidency of the Government he had made it one of his +conditions that religion should be respected. Such animosity as was shown +against the priesthood emanated from some of the public clubs where the +future Communards perorated. It was only as time went on, and the defence +grew more and more hopeless, that Trochu himself was denounced as a +_cagot_ and a _souteneur de soutanes_; and not until the Commune did the +Extremists give full rein to their hatred of the Church and its ministers. + +In connection with religion, there was another sight which impressed me on +that same Sunday. I was on the point of leaving the Place de la Concorde +when a large body of Mobiles debouched either from the Rue Royale or the +Rue de Rivoli, and I noticed, with some astonishment, that not only were +they accompanied by their chaplains, but that they bore aloft several +processional religious banners. They were Bretons, and had been to Mass, I +ascertained, at the church of Notre Dame des Victoires--the favourite +church of the Empress Eugenie, who often attended early Mass there--and +were now returning to their quarters in the arches of the railway viaduct +of the Point-du-Jour. Many people uncovered as they thus went by +processionally, carrying on high their banners of the Virgin, she who is +invoked by the Catholic soldier as "Auzilium Christianorum." For a moment +my thoughts strayed back to Brittany, where, during my holidays the +previous year, I had witnessed the "Pardon" of Guingamp, + +In the evening I went to the Boulevards with my father, and we afterwards +dropped into one or two of the public clubs. The Boulevard promenaders had +a good deal to talk about. General Ambert, who under the Empire had been +mayor of our arrondissement, had fallen out with his men, through speaking +contemptuously of the Republic, and after being summarily arrested by some +of them, had been deprived of his command. Further, the _Official Journal_ +had published a circular addressed by Bismarck to the German diplomatists +abroad, in which he stated formally that if France desired peace she would +have to give "material guarantees." That idea, however, was vigorously +pooh-poohed by the Boulevardiers, particularly as rumours of sudden French +successes, originating nobody knew how, were once more in the air. +Scandal, however, secured the attention of many of the people seated in +the cafes, for the _Rappel_--Victor Hugo's organ--had that day printed a +letter addressed to Napoleon III by his mistress Marguerite Bellenger, who +admitted in it that she had deceived her imperial lover with respect to +the paternity of her child. + +However, we went, my father and I, from the Boulevards to the +Folies-Bergere, which had been turned for the time into a public club, and +there we listened awhile to Citizen Lermina, who, taking Thiers's mission +and Bismarck's despatch as his text, protested against France concluding +any peace or even any armistice so long as the Germans had not withdrawn +across the frontier. There was still no little talk of that description. +The old agitator Auguste Blanqui--long confined in one of the cages of +Mont Saint-Michel, but now once more in Paris--never wearied of opposing +peace in the discourses that he delivered at his own particular club, +which, like the newspaper he inspired, was called "La Patrie en Danger." +In other directions, for instance at the Club du Maine, the Extremists +were already attacking the new Government for its delay in distributing +cartridges to the National Guards, being, no doubt, already impatient to +seize authority themselves. + +Whilst other people were promenading or perorating, Trochu, in his room at +the Louvre, was receiving telegram after telegram informing him that the +Germans were now fast closing round the city. He himself, it appears, had +no idea of preventing it; but at the urgent suggestion of his old friend +and comrade General Ducrot, he had consented that an effort should be made +to delay, at any rate, a complete investment. In an earlier chapter I had +occasion to mention Ducrot in connexion with the warnings which Napoleon +III received respecting the military preparations of Prussia. At this +time, 1870, the general was fifty-three years old, and therefore still in +his prime. As commander of a part of MacMahon's forces he had +distinguished himself at the battle of Woerth, and when the Marshal was +wounded at Sedan, it was he who, by right of seniority, at first assumed +command of the army, being afterwards compelled, however, to relinquish +the poet to Wimpfen, in accordance with an order from Palikao which +Wimpfen produced. Included at the capitulation, among the prisoners taken +by the Germans, Ducrot subsequently escaped--the Germans contending that +he had broken his parole in doing so, though this does not appear to have +been the case. Immediately afterwards he repaired to Paris to place +himself at Trochu's disposal. At Woerth he had suggested certain tactics +which might have benefited the French army; at Sedan he had wished to make +a supreme effort to cut through the German lines; and now in Paris he +proposed to Trochu a plan which if successful might, he thought, retard +the investment and momentarily cut the German forces in halves. + +In attempting to carry out this scheme (September 19) Ducrot took with him +most of Vinoy's corps, that is four divisions of infantry, some cavalry, +and no little artillery, having indeed, according to his own account, +seventy-two guns with him. The action was fought on the plateau of +Chatillon (south of Paris), where the French had been constructing a +redoubt, which was still, however, in a very unfinished state. At daybreak +that morning all the districts of Paris lying on the left bank of the +Seine were roused by the loud booming of guns. The noise was at times +almost deafening, and it is certain that the French fired a vast number of +projectiles, though, assuredly, the number--25,000--given in a copy of the +official report which I have before me must be a clerical error. In any +case, the Germans replied with an even more terrific fire than that of the +French, and, as had previously happened at Sedan and elsewhere, the French +ordnance proved to be no match for that emanating from Krupp's renowned +workshops. The French defeat was, however, precipitated by a sudden panic +which arose among a provisional regiment of Zouaves, who suddenly turned +tail and fled. Panic is often, if not always, contagious, and so it proved +to be on this occasion. Though some of the Gardes Mobiles, notably the +Bretons of Ile-et-Vilaine, fought well, thanks to the support of the +artillery (which is so essential in the case of untried troops), other men +weakened, and imitated the example of the Zouaves. Duorot soon realized +that it was useless to prolong the encounter, and after spiking the guns +set up in the Chatillon redoubt, he retired under the protection of the +Forts of Vanves and Montrouge. + +My father and I had hastened to the southern side of Paris as soon as the +cannonade apprised us that an engagement was going on. Pitiful was the +spectacle presented by the disbanded soldiers as they rushed down the +Chaussee du Maine. Many had flung away their weapons. Some went on +dejectedly; others burst into wine-shops, demanded drink with threats, and +presently emerged swearing, cursing and shouting, "Nous sommes trahis!" +Riderless horses went by, instinctively following the men, and here and +there one saw a bewildered and indignant officer, whose orders were +scouted with jeers. The whole scene was of evil augury for the defence of +Paris. + +At a later hour, when we reached the Boulevards, we found the wildest +rumours in circulation there. Nobody knew exactly what had happened, but +there was talk of 20,000 French troops having been annihilated by five +times that number of Germans. At last a proclamation emanating from +Gambetta was posted up and eagerly perused. It supplied no details of the +fighting, but urged the Parisians to give way neither to excitement nor to +despondency, and reminded them that a court-martial had been instituted to +deal with cowards and deserters. Thereupon the excitement seemed to +subside, and people went to dinner. An hour afterwards the Boulevards were +as gay as ever, thronged once more with promenaders, among whom were many +officers of the Garde Mobile and the usual regiment of painted women. +Cynicism and frivolity were once more the order of the day. But in the +midst of it there came an unexpected incident. Some of the National Guards +of the district were not unnaturally disgusted by the spectacle which the +Boulevards presented only a few hours after misfortune had fallen on the +French arms. Forming, therefore, into a body, they marched along, loudly +calling upon the cafes to close. Particularly were they indignant when, on +reaching Brebant's Restaurant at the corner of the Faubourg Montmartre, +they heard somebody playing a lively Offenbachian air on a piano there. A +party of heedless _viveurs_ and _demoiselles_ of the half-world were +enjoying themselves together as in the palmy imperial days. But the piano +was soon silenced, the cafes and restaurants were compelled to close, and +the Boulevardian world went home in a slightly chastened mood. The Siege +of Paris had begun. + + + +V + +BESIEGED + +The Surrender of Versailles--Captain Johnson, Queen's Messenger--No more +Paris Fashions!--Prussians versus Germans--Bismarck's Hard Terms for +Peace--Attempts to pass through the German Lines--Chartreuse Verte as an +Explosive!--Tommy Webb's Party and the Germans--Couriers and Early +Balloons--Our Arrangements with Nadar--Gambetta's Departure and Balloon +Journey--The Amusing Verses of Albert Millaud--Siege Jokes and Satire--The +Spy and Signal Craze--Amazons to the Rescue! + + +It was at one o'clock on the afternoon of September 19 that the telegraph +wires between Paris and Versailles, the last which linked us to the +outside world, were suddenly cut by the enemy; the town so closely +associated with the Grand Monarque and his magnificence having then +surrendered to a very small force of Germans, although it had a couple of +thousand men--Mobile and National Guards--to defend it. The capitulation +which was arranged between the mayor and the enemy was flagrantly violated +by the latter almost as soon as it had been concluded, tins being only one +of many such instances which occurred during the war. Versailles was +required to provide the invader with a number of oxen, to be slaughtered +for food, numerous casks of wine, the purpose of which was obvious, and a +large supply of forage valued at L12,000. After all, however, that was a +mere trifle in comparison with what the present Kaiser's forces would +probably demand on landing at Hull or Grimsby or Harwich, should they some +day do so. By the terms of the surrender of Versailles, however, the local +National Guards were to have remained armed and entrusted with the +internal police of the town, and, moreover, there were to have been no +further requisitions. But Bismarck and Moltke pooh-poohed all such +stipulations, and the Versaillese had to submit to many indignities. + +In Paris that day the National Defence Government was busy in various +ways, first in imposing fines, according to an ascending scale, on all +absentees who ought to have remained in the city and taken their share of +military duty; and, secondly, in decreeing that nobody with any money +lodged in the Savings Bank should be entitled to draw out more than fifty +francs, otherwise two pounds, leaving the entire balance of his or her +deposit at the Government's disposal. This measure provoked no little +dissatisfaction. It was also on September 19, the first day of the siege, +that the last diplomatic courier entered Paris. I well remember the +incident. Whilst I was walking along the Faubourg Saint Honore I suddenly +perceived an open _caleche_, drawn by a pair of horses, bestriding one of +which was a postillion arrayed in the traditional costume--hair a la +Catogan, jacket with scarlet facings, gold-banded hat, huge boots, and all +the other appurtenances which one saw during long years on the stage in +Adolphe Adam's sprightly but "impossible" opera-comique "Le Postillon de +Longjumeau." For an instant, indeed, I felt inclined to hum the famous +refrain, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, qu'il etait beau"--but many National Guards and +others regarded the equipage with great suspicion, particularly as it was +occupied by on individual in semi-military attire. Quite a number of +people decided in their own minds that this personage must be a Prussian +spy, and therefore desired to stop his carriage and march him off to +prison. As a matter of fact, however, he was a British officer, Captain +Johnson, discharging the duties of a Queen's Messenger; and as he +repeatedly flourished a cane in a very menacing manner, and the +door-porter of the British Embassy--a German, I believe--energetically +came to his assistance, he escaped actual molestation, and drove in +triumph into the courtyard of the ambassadorial mansion. + +At this time a great shock was awaiting the Parisians. During the same +week the Vicomtesse de Renneville issued an announcement stating that in +presence of the events which were occurring she was constrained to suspend +the publication of her renowned journal of fashions, _La Gazette Rose_. +This was a tragic blow both for the Parisians themselves and for all the +world beyond them. There would be no more Paris fashions! To what despair +would not millions of women be reduced? How would they dress, even +supposing that they should contrive to dress at all? The thought was +appalling; and as one and another great _couturier_ closed his doors, +Paris began to realize that her prestige was indeed in jeopardy. + +A day or two after the investment the city became very restless on account +of Thiers's mission to foreign Courts and Jules Favre's visit to the +German headquarters, it being reported by the extremists that the +Government did not intend to be a Government of National Defence but one +of Capitulation. In reply to those rumours the authorities issued the +famous proclamation in which they said; + + "The Government's policy is that formulated in these terms: + Not an Inch of our Territory. + Not a Stone of our Fortresses. + The Government will maintain it to the end." + +On the morrow, September 21, Gambetta personally reminded us that it was +the seventy-eighth anniversary of the foundation of the first French +Republic, and, after recalling to the Parisians what their fathers had +then accomplished, he exhorted them to follow that illustrious example, +and to "secure victory by confronting death." That same evening the clubs +decided that a great demonstration should be made on the morrow by way of +insisting that no treaty should be discussed until the Germans had been +driven out of France, that no territory, fort, vessel, or treasure should +be surrendered, that all elections should be adjourned, and that a _levee +en masse_ should be decreed. Jules Favre responded that he and his +colleagues personified Defence and not Surrender, and Rochefort--poor +Rochefort!--solemnly promised that the barricades of Paris should be begun +that very night. That undertaking mightily pleased the agitators, though +the use of the said barricades was not apparent; and the demonstrators +dispersed with the usual shouts of "Vive la Republique! Mort aux +Prussiens!" + +In connexion with that last cry it was a curious circumstance that from +the beginning to the end of the war the French persistently ignored the +presence of Saxons, Wuertembergers, Hessians, Badeners, and so forth in the +invading armies. Moreover, on only one or two occasions (such as the +Bazeilles episode of the battle of Sedan) did they evince any particular +animosity against the Bavarians. I must have heard "Death to the +Prussians!" shouted at least a thousand times; but most certainly I never +once heard a single cry of "Death to the Germans!" Still in the same +connexion, let me mention that it was in Paris, during the siege, that the +eminent naturalist and biologist Quatrefages de Breau wrote that curious +little book of his, "La Race Prussienne," in which he contended that the +Prussians were not Germans at all. There was at least some measure of +truth in the views which he enunciated. + +As I previously indicated, Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister of the +National Defence, had gone to the German headquarters in order to discuss +the position with Prince (then Count) Bismarck. He met him twice, first at +the Comte de Rillac's Chateau de la Haute Maison, and secondly at Baron de +Rothschild's Chateau de Ferrieres--the German staff usually installing +itself in the lordly "pleasure-houses" of the French noble or financial +aristocracy, and leaving them as dirty as possible, and, naturally, bereft +of their timepieces. Baron Alphonse de Rothschild told me in later years +that sixteen clocks were carried off from Ferrieres whilst King +(afterwards the Emperor) William and Bismarck were staying there. I +presume that they now decorate some of the salons of the schloss at +Berlin, or possibly those of Varzin and Friedrichsruhe. Bismarck +personally had an inordinate passion for clocks, as all who ever visited +his quarters in the Wilhelmstrasse, when he was German Chancellor, will +well remember. + +But he was not content with the clocks of Ferrieres. He told Jules Favre +that if France desired peace she must surrender the two departments of the +Upper and the Lower Rhine, a part of the department of the Moselle, +together with Metz, Chateau Salins, and Soissons; and he would only grant +an armistice (to allow of the election of a French National Assembly to +decide the question of War or Peace) on condition that the Germans should +occupy Strasbourg, Toul, and Phalsburg, together with a fortress, such as +Mont Valerien, commanding the city of Paris. Such conditions naturally +stiffened the backs of the French, and for a time there was no more talk +of negotiating. + +During the earlier days of the Siege of Paris I came into contact with +various English people who, having delayed their departure until it was +too late, found themselves shut up in the city, and were particularly +anxious to depart from it. The British Embassy gave them no help in the +matter. Having issued its paltry notice in _Galignani's Messenger_, it +considered that there was no occasion for it to do anything further. +Moreover, Great Britain had not recognized the French Republic, so that +the position of Mr. Wodehouse was a somewhat difficult one. However, a few +"imprisoned" Englishmen endeavoured to escape from the city by devices of +their own. Two of them who set out together, fully expecting to get +through the German lines and then reach a convenient railway station, +followed the course of the Seine for several miles without being able to +cross it, and in spite of their waving pocket-handkerchiefs (otherwise +flags of truce) and their constant shouts of "English! Friends!" and so +forth, were repeatedly fired at by both French and German outposts. At +last they reached Rueil, where the villagers, on noticing how bad their +French was, took them to be Prussian spies, and nearly lynched them. +Fortunately, the local commissary of police believed their story, and they +were sent back to Paris to face the horseflesh and the many other +hardships which they had particularly desired to avoid. + +I also remember the representative of a Birmingham small-arms factory +telling me of his unsuccessful attempt to escape. He had lingered in Paris +in the hope of concluding a contract with the new Republican Government. +Not having sufficient money to charter a balloon, and the Embassy, as +usual at that time, refusing any help (O shades of Palmerston!), he set +out as on a walking-tour with a knapsack strapped to his shoulders and an +umbrella in his hand. His hope was to cross the Seine by the bridge of +Saint Cloud or that of Suresnes, but he failed in both attempts, and was +repeatedly fired upon by vigilant French outposts. After losing his way in +the Bois de Boulogne, awakening both the cattle and the sheep there in the +course of his nightly ramble, he at last found one of the little huts +erected to shelter the gardeners and wood-cutters, and remained there +until daybreak, when he was able to take his bearings and proceed towards +the Auteuil gate of the ramparts. As he did not wish to be fired upon +again, he deemed it expedient to hoist his pocket handkerchief at the end +of his umbrella as a sign of his pacific intentions, and finding the gate +open and the drawbridge down, he attempted to enter the city, but was +immediately challenged by the National Guards on duty. These vigilant +patriots observed his muddy condition--the previous day had been a wet +one--and suspiciously inquired where he had come from at that early hour. +His answer being given in broken French and in a very embarrassed manner, +he was at once regarded as a Prussian spy, and dragged off to the +guard-room. There he was carefully searched, and everything in his pockets +having been taken from him, including a small bottle which the sergeant on +duty regarded with grave suspicion, he was told that his after-fate would +be decided when the commanding officer of that particular _secteur_ of the +ramparts made his rounds. + +When this officer arrived he closely questioned the prisoner, who tried to +explain his circumstances, and protested that his innocence was shown by +the British passport and other papers which had been taken from him. "Oh! +papers prove nothing!" was the prompt retort. "Spies are always provided +with papers. But, come, I have proof that you are an unmitigated villain!" +So saying, the officer produced the small bottle which had been taken from +the unfortunate traveller, and added: "You see this? You had it in your +pocket. Now, don't attempt to deceive me, for I know very well what is the +nature of the green liquid which it contains--it is a combustible fluid +with which you wanted to set fire to our _chevaux-de-frise!_" + +Denials and protests were in vain. The officer refused to listen to his +prisoner until the latter at last offered to drink some of the terrible +fluid in order to prove that it was not at all what it was supposed to be. +With a little difficulty the tight-fitting cork was removed from the +flask, and on the latter being handed to the prisoner he proceeded to +imbibe some of its contents, the officer, meanwhile, retiring to a short +distance, as if he imagined that the alleged "spy" would suddenly explode. +Nothing of that kind happened, however. Indeed, the prisoner drank the +terrible stuff with relish, smacked his lips, and even prepared to take a +second draught, when the officer, feeling reassured, again drew near to +him and expressed his willingness to sample the suspected fluid himself. +He did so, and at once discovered that it was purely and simply some +authentic Chartreuse verte! It did not take the pair of them long to +exhaust this supply of the _liqueur_ of St. Bruno, and as soon as this was +done, the prisoner was set at liberty with profuse apologies. + +Now and again some of those who attempted to leave the beleaguered city +succeeded in their attempt. In one instance a party of four or five +Englishmen ran the blockade in the traditional carriage and pair. They had +been staying at the Grand Hotel, where another seven or eight visitors, +including Labouchere, still remained, together with about the same number +of servants to wait upon them; the famous caravanserai--then undoubtedly +the largest in Paris--being otherwise quite untenanted. The carriage in +which the party I have mentioned took their departure was driven by an old +English jockey named Tommy Webb, who had been in France for nearly half a +century, and had ridden the winners of some of the very first races +started by the French Jockey Club. Misfortune had overtaken him, however, +in his declining years, and he had become a mere Parisian "cabby." The +party sallied forth from the courtyard of the Grand Hotel, taking with it +several huge hampers of provisions and a quantity of other luggage; and +all the participants in the attempt seemed to be quite confident of +success. But a few hours later they returned in sore disappointment, +having been stopped near Neuilly by the French outposts, as they were +unprovided with any official _laisser-passer_. A document of that +description having been obtained, however, from General Trochu on the +morrow, a second attempt was made, and this time the party speedily +passed through the French lines. But in trying to penetrate those of the +enemy, some melodramatic adventures occurred. It became necessary, indeed, +to dodge both the bullets of the Germans and those of the French +Francs-tireurs, who paid not the slightest respect either to the Union +Jack or to the large white flag which were displayed on either side of +Tommy Webb's box-seat. At last, after a variety of mishaps, the party +succeeded in parleying with a German cavalry officer, and after they had +addressed a written appeal to the Crown Prince of Prussia (who was pleased +to grant it), they were taken, blindfolded, to Versailles, where +Blumenthal, the Crown Prince's Chief of Staff, asked them for information +respecting the actual state of Paris, and then allowed them to proceed on +their way. + +Captain Johnson, the Queen's Messenger of whom I have already spoken, also +contrived to quit Paris again; but the Germans placed him under strict +surveillance, and Blumenthal told him that no more Queen's Messengers +would be allowed to pass through the German lines. About this same time, +however, the English man-servant of one of Trochu's aides-de-camp +contrived, not only to reach Saint Germain-en-Laye, where his master's +family was residing, but also to return to Paris with messages. This young +fellow had cleverly disguised himself as a French peasant, and on the +Prefect of Police hearing of his adventures, he sent out several +detectives in similar disguises, with instructions to ascertain all they +could about the enemy, and report the same to him. Meantime, the Paris +Post Office was endeavouring to send out couriers. One of them, named +Letoile, managed to get as far as Evreux, in Normandy, and to return to +the beleaguered city with a couple of hundred letters. Success also +repeatedly attended the efforts of two shrewd fellows named Geme and +Brare, who made several journeys to Saint Germain, Triel, and even +Orleans. On one occasion they brought as many as seven hundred letters +with them on their return to Paris; but between twenty and thirty other +couriers failed to get through the German lines; whilst several others +fell into the hands of the enemy, who at once confiscated the +correspondence they carried, but did not otherwise molest them. + +The difficulty in sending letters out of Paris and in obtaining news from +relatives and friends in other parts of France led to all sorts of +schemes. The founder and editor of that well-known journal _Le Figaro_, +Hippolyte de Villemessant, as he called himself, though I believe that his +real Christian name was Auguste, declared in his paper that he would +willingly allow his veins to be opened in return for a few lines from his +beloved and absent wife. Conjugal affection could scarcely have gone +further. Villemessant, however, followed up his touching declaration by +announcing that a thousand francs (L40) a week was to be earned by a +capable man willing to act as letter-carrier between Paris and the +provinces. All who felt qualified for the post were invited to present +themselves at the office of _Le Figaro_, which in those days was +appropriately located in the Rue Rossini, named, of course, after the +illustrious composer who wrote such sprightly music round the theme of +Beaumarchais' comedy. As a result of Villemessant's announcement, the +street was blocked during the next forty-eight hours by men of all +classes, who were all the more eager to earn the aforesaid L40 a week as +nearly every kind of work was at a standstill, and the daily stipend of a +National Guard amounted only to 1_s._ 2-1/2_d._ + +It was difficult to choose from among so many candidates, but we were +eventually assured that the right man had been found in the person of a +retired poacher who knew so well how to circumvent both rural guards and +forest guards, that during a career of twenty years or so he had never +once been caught _in flagrante delicto_. Expert, moreover, in tracking +game, he would also well know how to detect--and to avoid--the tracks of +the Prussians. We were therefore invited to confide our correspondence to +this sagacious individual, who would undertake to carry it through the +German lines and to return with the answers in a week or ten days. The +charge for each letter, which was to be of very small weight and +dimensions, was fixed at five francs, and it was estimated that the +ex-poacher would be able to carry about 200 letters on each journey. + +Many people were anxious to try the scheme, but rival newspapers denounced +it as being a means of acquainting the Prussians with everything which was +occurring in Paris--Villemessant, who they declared had taken bribes from +the fallen Empire, being probably one of Bismarck's paid agents. Thus the +enterprise speedily collapsed without even being put to the proof. +However, the public was successfully exploited by various individuals who +attempted to improve on Villemessant's idea, undertaking to send letters +out of Paris for a fixed charge, half of which was to be returned to the +sender if his letter were not delivered. As none of the letters handed in +on these conditions was even entrusted to a messenger, the ingenious +authors of this scheme made a handsome profit, politely returning half of +the money which they received, but retaining the balance without making +the slightest effort to carry out their contract. + +Dr. Rampont, a very clever man, who was now our postmaster-general, had +already issued a circular bidding us to use the very thinnest paper and +the smallest envelopes procurable. There being so many failures among the +messengers whom he sent out of Paris with correspondence, the idea of a +balloon postal service occurred to him. Although ninety years or so had +elapsed since the days of the brothers Montgolfier, aeronautics had really +made very little progress. There were no dirigible balloons at all. Dupuy +de Lome's first experiments only dated from the siege days, and Renard's +dirigible was not devised until the early eighties. We only had the +ordinary type of balloon at our disposal; and at the outset of the +investment there were certainly not more than half a dozen balloons within +our lines. A great city like Paris, however, is not without resources. +Everything needed for the construction of balloons could be found there. +Gas also was procurable, and we had amongst us quite a number of men +expert in the science of ballooning, such as it then was. There was Nadar, +there was Tissandier, there were the Godard brothers, Yon, Dartois, and a +good many others. Both the Godards and Nadar established balloon +factories, which were generally located in our large disused railway +stations, such as the Gare du Nord, the Gare d'Orleans, and the Gare +Montparnasse; but I also remember visiting one which Nadar installed in +the dancing hall called the Elysee Montmartre. Each of these factories +provided work for a good many people, and I recollect being particularly +struck by the number of women who were employed in balloon-making. Such +work was very helpful to them, and Nadar used to say to me that it grieved +him to have to turn away so many applicants for employment, for every day +ten, twenty, and thirty women would come to implore him to "take them on." +Nearly all their usual workrooms were closed; some were reduced to live on +charity and only very small allowances, from fivepence to sevenpence a +day, were made to the wives and families of National Guards. + +But to return to the balloon postal-service which the Government +organized, it was at once realized by my father and myself that it could +be of little use to us so far as the work for the _Illustrated London +News_ was concerned, on account of the restrictions which were imposed in +regard to the size and weight of each letter that might be posted. +The weight, indeed, was fixed at no more than three grammes! Now, there +were a number of artists working for the _Illustrated_ in Paris, first +and foremost among them being M. Jules Pelcoq, who must personally have +supplied two-thirds of the sketches by which the British public was kept +acquainted with the many incidents of Parisian siege-life. The weekly +diary which I helped my father to compile could be drawn up in small +handwriting on very thin, almost transparent paper, and despatched in +the ordinary way. But how were we to circumvent the authorities in regard +to our sketches, which were often of considerable size, and were always +made on fairly substantial paper, the great majority of them being +wash-drawings? Further, though I could prepare two or three drafts of our +diary or our other "copy" for despatch by successive balloons--to provide +for the contingency of one of the latter falling into the hands of the +enemy--it seemed absurd that our artists should have to recopy every +sketch they made. Fortunately, there was photography, the thought of which +brought about a solution of the other difficulty in which we were placed. + +I was sent to interview Nadar on the Place Saint Pierre at Montmartre, +above which his captive balloon the "Neptune" was oscillating in the +September breeze. He was much the same man as I had seen at the Crystal +Palace a few years previously, tall, red-haired, and red-shirted. He had +begun life as a caricaturist and humorous writer, but by way of buttering +his bread had set up in business as a photographer, his establishment on +the Boulevard de la Madeleine soon becoming very favourably known. There +was still a little "portrait-taking" in Paris during those early siege +days. Photographs of the celebrities or notorieties of the hour sold +fairly well, and every now and again some National Guard with means was +anxious to be photographed in his uniform. But, naturally enough, the +business generally had declined. Thus, Nadar was only too pleased to +entertain the proposal which I made to him on my father's behalf, this +being that every sketch for the _Illustrated_ should be taken to his +establishment and there photographed, so that we might be able to send out +copies in at least three successive balloons. + +When I broached to Nadar the subject of the postal regulations in regard +to the weight and size of letters, he genially replied: "Leave that to me. +Your packets need not go through the ordinary post at all--at least, here +in Paris. Have them stamped, however, bring them whenever a balloon is +about to sail, and I will see that the aeronaut takes them in his pocket. +Wherever he alights they will be posted, like the letters in the official +bags." + +That plan was carried out, and although several balloons were lost or fell +within the German lines, only one small packet of sketches, which, on +account of urgency, had not been photographed, remained subsequently +unaccounted for. In all other instances either the original drawing or one +of the photographic copies of it reached London safely. + +The very first balloon to leave Paris (in the early days of October) was +precisely Nadar's "Neptune," which had originally been intended for +purposes of military observation. One day when I was with Nadar on the +Place Saint Pierre, he took me up in it. I found the experience a novel +but not a pleasing one, for all my life I have had a tendency to vertigo +when ascending to any unusual height. I remember that it was a clear day, +and that we had a fine bird's-eye view of Paris on the one hand and of the +plain of Saint Denis on the other, but I confess that I felt out of-my +element, and was glad to set foot on _terra firma_ once more. + +From that day I was quite content to view the ascent of one and another +balloon, without feeling any desire to get out of Paris by its aerial +transport service. I must have witnessed the departure of practically all +the balloons which left Paris until I myself quitted the city in November. +The arrangements made with Nadar were perfected, and something very +similar was contrived with the Godard brothers, the upshot being that we +were always forewarned whenever it was proposed to send off a balloon. +Sometimes we received by messenger, in the evening, an intimation that a +balloon would start at daybreak on the morrow. Sometimes we were roused in +the small hours of the morning, when everything intended for despatch had +to be hastily got together and carried at once to the starting-place, +such, for instance, as the Northern or the Orleans railway terminus, both +being at a considerable distance from our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. +Those were by no means agreeable walks, especially when the cold weather +had set in, as it did early that autumn; and every now and again at the +end of the journey one found that it had been made in vain, for, the wind +having shifted at the last moment, the departure of the balloon had been +postponed. Of course, the only thing to be done was to trudge back home +again. There was no omnibus service, all the horses having been +requisitioned, and in the latter part of October there were not more than +a couple of dozen cabs (drawn by decrepit animals) still plying for hire +in all Paris. Thus Shanks's pony was the only means of locomotion. + +In the earlier days my father accompanied me on a few of those +expeditions, but he soon grew tired of them, particularly as his health +became affected by the siege diet. We were together, however, when +Gambetta took his departure on October 7, ascending from the Place Saint +Pierre in a balloon constructed by Nadar. It had been arranged that he +should leave for the provinces, in order to reinforce the three Government +delegates who had been despatched thither prior to the investment. Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had been previously urged to join those +delegates, but would not trust himself to a balloon, and it was thereupon +proposed to Gambetta that he should do so. He willingly assented to the +suggestion, particularly as he feared that the rest of the country was +being overlooked, owing to the prevailing opinion that Paris would suffice +to deliver both herself and all the rest of France from the presence of +the enemy. Born in April, 1838, he was at this time in his thirty-third +year, and full of vigour, as the sequel showed. The delegates whom he was +going to join were, as I previously mentioned, very old men, well meaning, +no doubt, but incapable of making the great effort which was made by +Gambetta in conjunction with Charles de Freycinet, who was just in his +prime, being the young Dictator's senior by some ten years. + +I can still picture Gambetta's departure, and particularly his appearance +on the occasion--his fur cap and his fur coat, which made him look +somewhat like a Polish Jew. He had with him his secretary, the devoted +Spuller. I cannot recall the name of the aeronaut who was in charge of the +balloon, but, if my memory serves me rightly, it was precisely to him that +Nadar handed the packet of sketches which failed to reach the _Illustrated +London News_. They must have been lost in the confusion of the aerial +voyage, which was marked by several dramatic incidents. Some accounts say +that Gambetta evinced no little anxiety during the preparations for the +ascent, but to me he appeared to be in a remarkably good humour, as if, +indeed, in pleasurable anticipation of what he was about to experience. +When, in response to the call of "Lachez tout!" the seamen released the +last cables which had hitherto prevented the balloon from rising, and the +crowd burst into shouts of "Vive la Republique!" and "Vive Gambetta!" the +"youthful statesman," as he was then called, leant over the side of the +car and waved his cap in response to the plaudits. [Another balloon, the +"George Sand," ascended at the same time, having in its car various +officials who were to negotiate the purchase of fire-arms in the United +States.] + +The journey was eventful, for the Germans repeatedly fired at the balloon. +A first attempt at descent had to be abandoned when the car was at an +altitude of no more than 200 feet, for at that moment some German soldiers +were seen almost immediately beneath it. They fired, and before the +balloon could rise again a bullet grazed Gambetta's head. At four o'clock +in the afternoon, however, the descent was renewed near Roye in the Somme, +when the balloon was caught in an oak-tree, Gambetta at one moment hanging +on to the ropes of the car, with his head downward. Some countryfolk came +up in great anger, taking the party to be Prussians; but, on learning the +truth, they rendered all possible assistance, and Gambetta and his +companions repaired to the house of the mayor of the neighbouring village +of Tricot. Alluding in after days to his experiences on this journey, the +great man said that the earth, as seen by him from the car of the balloon, +looked like a huge carpet woven chance-wise with different coloured wools. +It did not impress him at all, he added, as it was really nothing but "une +vilaine chinoiserie." It was from Rouen, where he arrived on the following +day, that he issued the famous proclamation in which he called on France +to make a compact with victory or death. On October 9, he joined the other +delegates at Tours and took over the post of Minister of War as well as +that of Minister of the Interior. + +His departure from the capital was celebrated by that clever versifier of +the period, Albert Millaud, who contributed to _Le Figaro_ an amusing +effusion, the first verse of which was to this effect: + + "Gambetta, pale and gloomy, + Much wished to go to Tours, + But two hundred thousand Prussians + In his project made him pause. + To aid the youthful statesman + Came the aeronaut Nadar, + Who sent up the 'Armand Barbes' + With Gambetta in its car." + +Further on came the following lines, supposed to be spoken by Gambetta +himself whilst he was gazing at the German lines beneath him-- + + "See how the plain is glistening + With their helmets in a mass! + Impalement would be dreadful + On those spikes of polished brass!" + +Millaud, who was a Jew, the son, I think--or, at all events, a near +relation--of the famous founder of _Le Petit Journal_, the advent of which +constituted a great landmark in the history of the French Press--set +himself, during several years of his career, to prove the truth of the +axiom that in France "tout finit par des chansons." During those anxious +siege days he was for ever striving to sound a gay note, something which, +for a moment, at all events, might drive dull care away. Here is an +English version of some verses which he wrote on Nadar: + +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! +He is as clever as Godard. + What a strange fellow is Nadar, +Although, between ourselves, as far + As art's concerned he knoweth naught. +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! + +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. +Some day he hopes unto the moon + To guide the course of a balloon. +Of 'airy navies' admiral soon, + We'll see him 'grappling in the blue'-- +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. + +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. +If poor Gambetta when up there, + Up in the kingdom of the air, +Does not find good cause to stare, + Why, Nadar will not be to blame. +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. + +At Ferrieres, above the park, + Behold him darting through the sky, +Soaring to heaven like a lark. + At Ferrieres above the park; +Whilst William whispers to Bismarck-- + 'Silence, see Nadar there on high!' +At Ferrieres above the park + Behold him darting through the sky. + +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report, +Thou yellower than a pure Cambodian, + And far more daring than King Clodion, +We'll cast thy statue in collodion + And mount it on a gas retort. +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report! + +Perhaps it may not be thought too pedantic on my part if I explain that +the King Clodion referred to in Millaud's last verse was the legendary +"Clodion the Hairy," a supposed fifth-century leader of the Franks, +reputed to be a forerunner of the founder of the, Merovingian dynasty. +Nadar's hair, however, was not long like that of _les rois chevelue_, for +it was simply a huge curly and somewhat reddish mop. As for his +complexion, Millaud's phrase, "yellow as a pure Cambodian," was a happy +thought. + +These allusions to Millaud's sprightly verse remind me that throughout the +siege of Paris the so-called _mot pour rire_ was never once lost sight of. +At all times and in respect to everything there was a superabundance of +jests--jests on the Germans, the National and the Mobile Guard, the fallen +dynasty, and the new Republic, the fruitless sorties, the wretched +rations, the failing gas, and many other people and things. One of the +enemy's generals was said to have remarked one day: "I don't know how to +satisfy my men. They complain of hunger, and yet I lead them every morning +to the slaughterhouse." At another time a French colonel, of conservative +ideas, was said to have replaced the inscription "Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity," which he found painted on the walls of his barracks, by the +words, "Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery," declaring that the latter were far +more likely to free the country of the presence of the hated enemy. As for +the "treason" mania, which was very prevalent at this time, it was related +that a soldier remarked one day to a comrade: "I am sure that the captain +is a traitor!" "Indeed! How's that?" was the prompt rejoinder. "Well," +said the suspicious private, "have you not noticed that every time he +orders us to march forward we invariably encounter the enemy?" + +When Trochu issued a decree incorporating all National Guards, under +forty-five years of age, in the marching battalions for duty outside +the city, one of these Guards, on being asked how old he was, replied, +"six-and-forty." "How is that?" he was asked. "A few weeks ago, you told +everybody that you were only thirty-six." "Quite true," rejoined the +other, "but what with rampart-duty, demonstrating at the Hotel-de-Ville, +short rations, and the cold weather, I feel quite ten years older than I +formerly did." When horseflesh became more or less our daily provender, +many Parisian _bourgeois_ found their health failing. "What is the matter, +my dearest?" Madame du Bois du Pont inquired of her husband, when he had +collapsed one evening after dinner. "Oh! it is nothing, _mon amie_" he +replied; "I dare say I shall soon feel well again, but I used to think +myself a better horseman!" + +Directly our supply of gas began to fail, the wags insinuated that Henri +Rochefort was jubilant, and if you inquired the reason thereof, you were +told that owing to the scarcity of gas everybody would be obliged to buy +hundreds of "_Lanternes_." We had, of course, plenty of sensations in +those days, but if you wished to cap every one of them you merely had to +walk into a cafe and ask the waiter for--a railway time-table. + +Once before I referred to the caricatures of the period, notably to those +libelling the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie, the latter +being currently personified as Messalina--or even as something worse, and +this, of course, without the faintest shadow of justification. But the +caricaturists were not merely concerned with the fallen dynasty. One of +the principal cartoonists of the _Charivari_ at that moment was "Cham," +otherwise the Vicomte Amedee de Noe, an old friend of my family's. +It was he, by the way, who before the war insisted on my going to a +fencing-school, saying: "Look here, if you mean to live in France and be a +journalist, you must know how to hold a sword. Come with me to Ruze's. +I taught your uncle Frank and his friend Gustave Dore how to fence many +years ago, and now I am going to have you taught." Well, in one of his +cartoons issued during the siege, Cham (disgusted, like most Frenchmen, at +the seeming indifference of Great Britain to the plight in which France +found herself) summed up the situation, as he conceived it, by depicting +the British Lion licking the boots of Bismarck, who was disguised as Davy +Crockett. When my father remonstrated with Cham on the subject, reminding +him of his own connexion with England, the indignant caricaturist replied: +"Don't speak of it. I have renounced England and all her works." He, like +other Frenchmen of the time, contended that we had placed ourselves under +great obligations to France at the period of the Crimean War. + +Among the best caricatures of the siege-days was one by Daumier, which +showed Death appearing to Bismarck in his sleep, and murmuring softly, +"Thanks, many thanks." Another idea of the period found expression in a +cartoon representing a large mouse-trap, labelled "France," into which a +company of mice dressed up as German soldiers were eagerly marching, their +officer meanwhile pointing to a cheese fixed inside the trap, and +inscribed with the name of Paris. Below the design ran the legend: "Ah! if +we could only catch them all in it!" Many, indeed most, of the caricatures +of the time did not appear in the so-called humorous journals, but were +issued separately at a penny apiece, and were usually coloured by the +stencilling process. In one of them, I remember, Bismarck was seen wearing +seven-league boots and making ineffectual attempts to step from Versailles +to Paris. Another depicted the King of Prussia as Butcher William, knife +in hand and attired in the orthodox slaughter-house costume; whilst in yet +another design the same monarch was shown urging poor Death, who had +fallen exhausted in the snow, with his scythe lying broken beside him, to +continue on the march until the last of the French nation should be +exterminated. Of caricatures representing cooks in connexion with cats +there was no end, the _lapin de gouttiere_ being in great demand for the +dinner-table; and, after Gambetta had left us, there were designs showing +the armies of succour (which were to be raised in the provinces) +endeavouring to pass ribs of beef, fat geese, legs of mutton, and strings +of sausages over several rows of German helmets, gathered round a bastion +labelled Paris, whence a famished National Guard, eager for the proffered +provisions, was trying to spring, but could not do so owing to the +restraining arm of General Trochu. + +Before the investment began Paris was already afflicted with a spy mania. +Sala's adventure, which I recounted in an earlier chapter, was in a way +connected with this delusion, which originated with the cry "We are +betrayed!" immediately after the first French reverses. The instances of +so-called "spyophobia" were innumerable, and often curious and amusing. +There was a slight abatement of the mania when, shortly before the siege, +188,000 Germans were expelled from Paris, leaving behind them only some +700 old folk, invalids, and children, who were unable to obey the +Government's decree. But the disease soon revived, and we heard of +rag-pickers having their baskets ransacked by zealous National Guards, +who imagined that these receptacles might contain secret despatches or +contraband ammunition. On another occasion _Le Figaro_ wickedly suggested +that all the blind beggars in Paris were spies, with the result that +several poor infirm old creatures were abominably ill-treated. Again, a +fugitive sheet called _Les Nouvelles_ denounced all the English residents +as spies. Labouchere was one of those pounced upon by a Parisian mob in +consequence of that idiotic denunciation, but as he had the presence of +mind to invite those who assailed him to go with him to the nearest +police-station, he was speedily released. On two occasions my father and +myself were arrested and carried to guard-houses, and in the course of +those experiences we discovered that the beautifully engraved but +essentially ridiculous British passport, which recited all the honours and +dignities of the Secretary of State or the Ambassador delivering it, but +gave not the slightest information respecting the person to whom it had +been delivered (apart, that is, from his or her name), was of infinitely +less value in the eyes of a French officer than a receipt for rent or a +Parisian tradesman's bill. [That was forty-three years ago. The British +passport, however, remains to-day as unsatisfactory as it was then.] + +But let me pass to other instances. One day an unfortunate individual, +working in the Paris sewers, was espied by a zealous National Guard, who +at once gave the alarm, declaring that there was a German spy in the +aforesaid sewers, and that he was depositing bombs there with the +intention of blowing up the city. Three hundred Guards at once volunteered +their services, stalked the poor workman, and blew him to pieces the next +time he popped his head out of a sewer-trap. The mistake was afterwards +deplored, but people argued (wrote Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who sent the +story to The Morning Post) that it was far better that a hundred innocent +Frenchmen should suffer than that a single Prussian should escape. Cham, +to whom I previously alluded, old Marshal Vaillant, Mr. O'Sullivan, an +American diplomatist, and Alexis Godillot, the French army contractor, +were among the many well-known people arrested as spies at one or another +moment. A certain Mme: de Beaulieu, who had joined a regiment of Mobiles +as a _cantiniere_, was denounced as a spy "because her hands were so +white." Another lady, who had installed an ambulance in her house, was +carried off to prison on an equally frivolous pretext; and I remember yet +another case in which a lady patron of the Societe de Secours aux Blesses +was ill-treated. Matters would, however, probably be far worse at the +present time, for Paris, with all her apaches and anarchists, now includes +in her population even more scum than was the case three-and-forty years +ago. + +There were, however, a few authentic instances of spying, one case being +that of a young fellow whom Etienne Arago, the Mayor of Paris, engaged as +a secretary, on the recommendation of Henri Rochefort, but who turned out +to be of German extraction, and availed himself of his official position +to draw up reports which were forwarded by balloon post to an agent of the +German Government in London. I have forgotten the culprit's name, but it +will be found, with particulars of his case, in the Paris journals of the +siege days. There was, moreover, the Hardt affair, which resulted in the +prisoner, a former lieutenant in the Prussian army, being convicted of +espionage and shot in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire. + +Co-existent with "spyophobia" there was another craze, that of suspecting +any light seen at night-time in an attic or fifth-floor window to be a +signal intended for the enemy. Many ludicrous incidents occurred in +connexion with this panic. One night an elderly _bourgeois_, who had +recently married a charming young woman, was suddenly dragged from his bed +by a party of indignant National Guards, and consigned to the watch-house +until daybreak. This had been brought about by his wife's maid placing a +couple of lighted candles in her window as a signal to the wife's lover +that, "master being at home," he was not to come up to the flat that +night. On another occasion a poor old lady, who was patriotically +depriving herself of sleep in order to make lint for the ambulances, was +pounced upon and nearly strangled for exhibiting green and red signals +from her window. It turned out, however, that the signals in question were +merely the reflections of a harmless though charmingly variegated parrot +which was the zealous old dame's sole and faithful companion. + +No matter what might be the quarter of Paris in which a presumed signal +was observed, the house whence it emanated was at once invaded by National +Guards, and perfectly innocent people were often carried off and subjected +to ill-treatment. To such proportions did the craze attain that some +papers even proposed that the Government should forbid any kind of light +whatever, after dark, in any room situated above the second floor, unless +the windows of that room were "hermetically sealed"! Most victims of the +mania submitted to the mob's invasion of their homes without raising any +particular protest; but a volunteer artilleryman, who wrote to the +authorities complaining that his rooms had been ransacked in his absence +and his aged mother frightened out of her wits, on the pretext that some +fusees had been fired from his windows, declared that if there should be +any repetition of such an intrusion whilst he was at home he would receive +the invaders bayonet and revolver in hand. From that moment similar +protests poured into the Hotel-de-Ville, and Trochu ended by issuing a +proclamation in which he said: "Under the most frivolous pretexts, +numerous houses have been entered, and peaceful citizens have been +maltreated. The flags of friendly nations have been powerless to protect +the houses where they were displayed. I have ordered an inquiry on the +subject, and I now command that all persons guilty of these abusive +practices shall be arrested. A special service has been organized in order +to prevent the enemy from keeping up any communication with any of its +partisans in the city; and I remind everybody that excepting in such +instances as are foreseen by the law every citizen's residence is +inviolable." + +We nowadays hear a great deal about the claims of women, but although the +followers of Mrs. Pankhurst have carried on "a sort of a war" for a +considerable time past, I have not yet noticed any disposition on their +part to "join the colours." Men currently assert that women cannot serve +as soldiers. There are, however, many historical instances of women +distinguishing themselves in warfare, and modern conditions are even more +favourable than former ones for the employment of women as soldiers. There +is splendid material to be derived from the golf-girl, the hockey-girl, +the factory- and the laundry-girl--all of them active, and in innumerable +instances far stronger than many of the narrow-chested, cigarette-smoking +"boys" whom we now see in our regiments. Briefly, a day may well come when +we shall see many of our so-called superfluous women taking to the +"career of arms." However, the attempts made to establish a corps of +women-soldiers in Paris, during the German siege, were more amusing than +serious. Early in October some hundreds of women demonstrated outside the +Hotel-de-Ville, demanding that all the male nurses attached to the +ambulances should be replaced by women. The authorities promised to grant +that application, and the women next claimed the right to share the +dangers of the field with their husbands and their brothers. This question +was repeatedly discussed at the public clubs, notably at one in the Rue +Pierre Levee, where Louise Michel, the schoolmistress who subsequently +participated in the Commune and was transported to New Caledonia, +officiated as high-priestess; and at another located at the Triat +Gymnasium in the Avenue Montaigne, where as a rule no men were allowed to +be present, that is, excepting a certain Citizen Jules Allix, an eccentric +elderly survivor of the Republic of '48, at which period he had devised a +system of telepathy effected by means of "sympathetic snails." + +One Sunday afternoon in October the lady members of this club, being in +urgent need of funds, decided to admit men among their audience at the +small charge of twopence per head, and on hearing this, my father and +myself strolled round to witness the proceedings. They were remarkably +lively. Allix, while reading a report respecting the club's progress, +began to libel some of the Paris convents, whereupon a National Guard in +the audience flatly called him a liar. A terrific hubbub arose, all the +women gesticulating and protesting, whilst their _presidente_ +energetically rang her bell, and the interrupter strode towards the +platform. He proved to be none other than the Duc de Fitz-James, a lineal +descendant of our last Stuart King by Marlborough's sister, Arabella +Churchill. He tried to speak, but the many loud screams prevented him from +doing so. Some of the women threatened him with violence, whilst a few +others thanked him for defending the Church. At last, however, he leapt on +the platform, and in doing so overturned both a long table covered with +green baize, and the members of the committee who were seated behind it. +Jules Allix thereupon sprang at the Duke's throat, they struggled and fell +together from the platform, and rolled in the dust below it. It was long +before order was restored, but this was finally effected by a good-looking +young woman who, addressing the male portion of the audience, exclaimed: +"Citizens! if you say another word we will fling what you have paid for +admission in your faces, and order you out of doors!" + +Business then began, the discussion turning chiefly upon two points, the +first being that all women should be armed and do duty on the ramparts, +and the second that the women should defend their honour from the attacks +of the Germans by means of prussic acid. Allix remarked that it would be +very appropriate to employ prussic acid in killing Prussians, and +explained to us that this might be effected by means of little indiarubber +thimbles which the women would place on their fingers, each thimble being +tipped with a small pointed tube containing some of the acid in question. +If an amorous Prussian should venture too close to a fair Parisienne, the +latter would merely have to hold out her hand and prick him. In another +instant he would fall dead! "No matter how many of the enemy may assail +her," added Allix, enthusiastically, "she will simply have to prick them +one by one, and we shall see her standing still pure and holy in the midst +of a circle of corpses!" At these words many of the women in the audience +were moved to tears, but the men laughed hilariously. + +Such disorderly scenes occurred at this women's club, that the landlord of +the Triat Gymnasium at last took possession of the premises again, and the +ejected members vainly endeavoured to find accommodation elsewhere. +Nevertheless, another scheme for organizing an armed force of women was +started, and one day, on observing on the walls of Paris a green placard +which announced the formation of a "Legion of Amazons of the Seine," I +repaired to the Rue Turbigo, where this Legion's enlistment office had +been opened. After making my way up a staircase crowded with recruits, who +were mostly muscular women from five-and-twenty to forty years of age, the +older ones sometimes being unduly stout, and not one of them, in my +youthful opinion, at all good-looking, I managed to squeeze my way into +the private office of the projector of the Legion, or, as he called +himself, its "Provisional Chef de Bataillon." He was a wiry little man, +with a grey moustache and a military bearing, and answered to the name of +Felix Belly. A year or two previously he had unjustly incurred a great +deal of ridicule in Paris, owing to his attempts to float a Panama Canal +scheme. Only five years after the war, however, the same idea was taken up +by Ferdinand de Lesseps, and French folk, who had laughed it to scorn in +Belly's time, proved only too ready to fling their hard-earned savings +into the bottomless gulf of Lesseps' enterprise. + +I remember having a long chat with Belly, who was most enthusiastic +respecting his proposed Amazons. They were to defend the ramparts and +barricades of Paris, said he, being armed with light guns carrying some +200 yards; and their costume, a model of which was shown me, was to +consist of black trousers with orange-coloured stripes down the outer +seams, black blouses with capes, and black kepis, also with orange +trimmings. Further, each woman was to carry a cartridge-box attached to a +shoulder-belt. It was hoped that the first battalion would muster quite +1200 women, divided into eight companies of 150 each. There was to be a +special medical service, and although the chief doctor would be a man, it +was hoped to secure several assistant doctors of the female sex. Little M. +Belly dwelt particularly on the fact that only women of unexceptionable +moral character would be allowed to join the force, all recruits having to +supply certificates from the Commissaries of Police of their districts, as +well as the consent of their nearest connexions, such as their fathers or +their husbands. "Now, listen to this," added M. Belly, enthusiastically, +as he went to a piano which I was surprised to find, standing in a +recruiting office; and seating himself at the instrument, he played for my +especial benefit the stirring strains of a new, specially-commissioned +battle-song, which, said he, "we intend to call the Marseillaise of the +Paris Amazons!" + +Unfortunately for M. Belly, all his fine projects and preparations +collapsed a few days afterwards, owing to the intervention of the police, +who raided the premises in the Rue Turbigo, and carried off all the papers +they found there. They justified these summary proceedings on the ground +that General Trochu had forbidden the formation of any more free corps, +and that M. Belly had unduly taken fees from his recruits. I believe, +however, that the latter statement was incorrect. At all events, no +further proceedings were instituted. But the raid sufficed to kill M. +Belly's cherished scheme, which naturally supplied the caricaturists of +the time with more or less brilliant ideas. One cartoon represented the +German army surrendering _en masse_ to a mere battalion of the Beauties of +Paris. + + + +VI + +MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + +Reconnaissances and Sorties--Casimir-Perier at Bagneux--Some of the Paris +Clubs--Demonstrations at the Hotel-de-Ville--The Cannon Craze--The Fall of +Metz foreshadowed--Le Bourget taken by the French--The Government's Policy +of Concealment--The Germans recapture Le Bourget--Thiers, the Armistice, +and Bazaine's Capitulation--The Rising of October 31--The Peril and the +Rescue of the Government--Armistice and Peace Conditions--The Great +Question of Rations--Personal Experiences respecting Food--My father, in +failing Health, decides to leave Paris. + + +After the engagement of Chatillon, fought on September 19, various +reconnaissances were carried out by the army of Paris. In the first of +these General Vinoy secured possession of the plateau of Villejuif, east +of Chatillon, on the south side of the city. Next, the Germans had to +retire from Pierre-fitte, a village in advance of Saint Denis on the +northern side. There were subsequent reconnaissances in the direction of +Neuilly-sur-Marne and the Plateau d'Avron, east of Paris; and on +Michaelmas Day an engagement was fought at L'Hay and Chevilly, on the +south. But the archangel did not on this occasion favour the French, who +were repulsed, one of their commanders, the veteran brigadier Guilhem, +being killed. A fight at Chatillon on October 12 was followed on the +morrow by a more serious action at Bagneux, on the verge of the Chatillon +plateau. During this engagement the Mobiles from the Burgundian Cote d'Or +made a desperate attack on a German barricade bristling with guns, +reinforced by infantry, and also protected by a number of sharp-shooters +installed in the adjacent village-houses, whose window-shutters and walls +had been loop-holed. During the encounter, the commander of the Mobiles, +the Comte de Dampierre, a well-known member of the French Jockey Club, +fell mortally wounded whilst urging on his men, but was succoured by a +captain of the Mobiles of the Aube, who afterwards assumed the chief +command, and, by a rapid flanking movement, was able to carry the +barricade. This captain was Jean Casimir-Perier, who, in later years, +became President of the Republic. He was rewarded for his gallantry with +the Cross of the Legion of Honour. Nevertheless, the French success was +only momentary. + +That same night the sky westward of Paris was illumined by a great ruddy +glare. The famous Chateau of Saint Cloud, associated with many memories of +the old _regime_ and both the Empires, was seen to be on fire. The cause +of the conflagration has never been precisely ascertained. Present-day +French reference-books still declare that the destruction of the chateau +was the wilful act of the Germans, who undoubtedly occupied Saint Cloud; +but German authorities invariably maintain that the fire was caused by a +shell from the French fortress of Mont Valerien. Many of the sumptuous +contents of the Chateau of Saint Cloud--the fatal spot where that same war +had been decided on--were consumed by the flames, while the remainder were +appropriated by the Germans as plunder. Many very valuable paintings of +the period of Louis XIV were undoubtedly destroyed. + +By this time the word "reconnaissance," as applied to the engagements +fought in the environs of the city, had become odious to the Parisians, +who began to clamour for a real "sortie." Trochu, it may be said, had at +this period no idea of being able to break out of Paris. In fact, he had +no desire to do so. His object in all the earlier military operations of +the siege was simply to enlarge the circle of investment, in the hope of +thereby placing the Germans in a difficulty, of which he might +subsequently take advantage. An attack which General Ducrot made, with a +few thousand men, on the German position near La Malmaison, west of Paris, +was the first action which was officially described as a "sortie." It took +place on October 21, but the success which at first attended Ducrot's +efforts was turned into a repulse by the arrival of German reinforcements, +the affair ending with a loss of some four hundred killed and wounded on +the French side, apart from that of another hundred men who were taken +prisoners by the enemy. + +This kind of thing did not appeal to the many frequenters of the public +clubs which were established in the different quarters of Paris. All +theatrical performances had ceased there, and there was no more dancing. +Even the concerts and readings given in aid of the funds for the wounded +were few and far between. Thus, if a Parisian did not care to while away +his evening in a cafe, his only resource was to betake himself to one of +the clubs. Those held at the Folies-Bergere music-hall, the Valentino +dancing-hall, the Porte St. Martin theatre, and the hall of the College de +France, were mostly frequented by moderate Republicans, and attempts were +often made there to discuss the situation in a sensible manner. But folly, +even insanity, reigned at many of the other clubs, where men like Felix +Pyat, Auguste Blanqui, Charles Delescluze, Gustave Flourens, and the three +Ms--Megy, Mottu, and Milliere--raved and ranted. Go where you would, you +found a club. There was that of La Reine Blanche at Montmartre and that of +the Salle Favie at Belleville; there was the club de la Vengeance on the +Boulevard Rochechouart, the Club des Montagnards on the Boulevard de +Strasbourg, the Club des Etats-Unis d'Europe in the Rue Cadet, the Club du +Preaux-Clercs in the Rue du Bac, the Club de la Cour des Miracles on the +Ile Saint Louis, and twenty or thirty others of lesser note. At times the +demagogues who perorated from the tribunes at these gatherings, brought +forward proposals which seemed to have emanated from some madhouse, +but which were nevertheless hailed with delirious applause by their +infatuated audiences. Occasionally new engines of destruction were +advocated--so-called "Satan-fusees," or pumps discharging flaming +petroleum! Another speaker conceived the brilliant idea of keeping all the +wild beasts in the Jardin des Plantes on short commons for some days, then +removing them from Paris at the next sortie, and casting them adrift among +the enemy. Yet another imbecile suggested that the water of the Seine and +the Marne should be poisoned, regardless of, the fact that, in any such +event, the Parisians would suffer quite as much as the enemy. + +But the malcontents were not satisfied with ranting at the clubs. On +October 2, Paris became very gloomy, for we then received from outside the +news that both Toul and Strasbourg had surrendered. Three days later, +Gustave Flourens gathered the National Guards of Belleville together and +marched with them on the Hotel-de-Ville, where he called upon the +Government to renounce the military tactics of the Empire which had set +one Frenchman against three Germans, to decree a _levee en masse_, to make +frequent sorties with the National Guards, to arm the latter with +chassepots, and to establish at once a municipal "Commune of Paris." On +the subject of sorties the Government promised to conform to the general +desire, and to allow the National Guards to co-operate with the regular +army as soon as they should know how to fight and escape being simply +butchered. To other demands made by Flourens, evasive replies were +returned, whereupon he indignantly resigned his command of the Belleville +men, but resumed it at their urgent request. + +The affair somewhat alarmed the Government, who issued a proclamation +forbidding armed demonstrations, and, far from consenting to the +establishment of any Commune, postponed the ordinary municipal elections +which were soon to have taken place. To this the Reds retorted by making +yet another demonstration, which my father and myself witnessed. Thousands +of people, many of them being armed National Guards, assembled on the +Place de l'Hotel de Ville, shouting: "La Commune! La Commune! Nous voulons +la Commune!" But the authorities had received warning of their opponents' +intentions, and the Hotel-de-Ville was entirely surrounded by National +Guards belonging to loyal battalions, behind whom, moreover, was stationed +a force of trusty Mobile Guards, whose bayonets were already fixed. Thus +no attempt could be made to raid the Hotel-de-Ville with any chance of +success. Further, several other contingents of loyal National Guards +arrived on the square, and helped to check the demonstrators. + +While gazing on the scene from an upper window of the Cafe de la Garde +Nationale, at one corner of the square, I suddenly saw Trochu ride out +of the Government building, as it then was, followed by a couple of +aides-de-camp, His appearance was attended by a fresh uproar. The yells of +"La Commune! La Commune!" rose more loudly than ever, but were now +answered by determined shouts of "Vive la Republique! Vive Trochu! Vive le +Gouvernement!" whilst the drums beat, the trumpets sounded, and all the +Government forces presented arms. The general rode up and down the lines, +returning the salute, amidst prolonged acclamations, and presently his +colleagues, Jules Favre and the others--excepting, of course, Gambetta, +who had already left Paris--also came out of the Hotel-de-Ville and +received an enthusiastic greeting from their supporters. For the time, the +Reds were absolutely defeated, and in order to prevent similar +disturbances in future, Keratry, the Prefect of Police, wished to arrest +Flourens, Blanqui, Milliere, and others, which suggestion was countenanced +by Trochu, but opposed by Rochefort and Etienne Arago. A few days later, +Rochefort patched up a brief outward reconciliation between the contending +parties. Nevertheless, it was evident that Paris was already sharply +divided, both on the question of its defence and on that of its internal +government. + +On October 23, some of the National Guards were at last allowed to join in +a sortie. They were men from Montmartre, and the action, or rather +skirmish, in which they participated took place at Villemomble, east of +Paris, the guards behaving fairly well under fire, and having five of +their number wounded. Patriotism was now taking another form in the city. +There was a loud cry for cannons, more and more cannons. The Government +replied that 227 mitrailleuses with over 800,000 cartridges, 50 mortars, +400 carriages for siege guns, several of the latter ordnance, and 300 +seven-centimetre guns carrying 8600 yards, together with half a million +shells of different sizes, had already been ordered, and in part +delivered. Nevertheless, public subscriptions were started in order to +provide another 1500 cannon, large sums being contributed to the fund by +public bodies and business firms. Not only did the newspapers offer to +collect small subscriptions, but stalls were set up for that purpose in +different parts of Paris, as in the time of the first Revolution, and +people there tendered their contributions, the women often offering +jewelry in lieu of money. Trochu, however, deprecated the movement. There +were already plenty of guns, said he; what he required was gunners to +serve them. + +On October 25 we heard of the fall of the little town of Chateaudun in +Eure-et-Loir, after a gallant resistance offered by 1200 National Guards +and Francs-tireurs against 6000 German infantry, a regiment of cavalry, +and four field batteries. Von Wittich, the German general, punished that +resistance by setting fire to Chateaudun and a couple of adjacent +villages, and his men, moreover, massacred a number of non-combatant +civilians. Nevertheless, the courage shown by the people of Chateaudun +revived the hopes of the Parisians and strengthened their resolution to +brave every hardship rather than surrender. Two days later, however, Felix +Pyat's journal _Le Combat_ published, within a mourning border, the +following announcement: "It is a sure and certain fact that the Government +of National Defence retains in its possession a State secret, which we +denounce to an indignant country as high treason. Marshal Bazaine has sent +a colonel to the camp of the King of Prussia to treat for the surrender of +Metz and for Peace in the name of Napoleon III." + +The news seemed incredible, and, indeed, at the first moment, very few +people believed it. If it were true, however, Prince Frederick Charles's +forces, released from the siege of Metz, would evidently be able to march +against D'Aurelle de Paladines' army of the Loire just when it was hoped +that the latter would overthrow the Bavarians under Von der Tann and +hasten to the relief of Paris. But people argued that Bazaine was surely +as good a patriot as Bourbaki, who, it was already known, had escaped from +Metz and offered his sword to the National Defence in the provinces. A +number of indignant citizens hastened to the office of _Le Combat_ in +order to seize Pyat and consign him to durance, but he was an adept in the +art of escaping arrest, and contrived to get away by a back door. At the +Hotel-de-Ville Rochefort, on being interviewed, described Pyat as a cur, +and declared that there was no truth whatever in his story. Public +confidence completely revived on the following morning, when the official +journal formally declared that Metz had not capitulated; and, in the +evening, Paris became quite jubilant at the news that General Carre de +Bellemare, who commanded on the north side of the city, had wrested from +the Germans the position of Le Bourget, lying to the east of Saint Denis. + +Pyat, however, though he remained in hiding, clung to his story respecting +Metz, stating in _Le Combat_, on October 29, that the news had been +communicated to him by Gustave Flourens, who had derived it from +Rochefort, by whom it was now impudently denied. It subsequently became +known, moreover, that another member of the Government, Eugene Pelletan, +had confided the same intelligence to Commander Longuet, of the National +Guard. It appears that it had originally been derived from certain members +of the Red Cross Society, who, when it became necessary to bury the dead +and tend the wounded after an encounter in the environs of Paris, often +came in contact with the Germans. The report was, of course, limited to +the statement that Bazaine was negotiating a surrender, not that he had +actually capitulated. The Government's denial of it can only be described +as a quibble--of the kind to which at times even British Governments stoop +when faced by inconvenient questions in the House of Commons--and, as we +shall soon see, the gentlemen of the National Defence spent a _tres +mauvais quart d'heure_ as a result of the _suppressio veri_ of which they +were guilty. Similar "bad quarters of an hour" have fallen upon +politicians in other countries, including our own, under somewhat similar +circumstances. + +On October 30, Thiers, after travelling all over Europe, pleading his +country's cause at every great Court, arrived in Paris with a safe-conduct +from Bismarck, in order to lay before the Government certain proposals for +an armistice, which Russia, Great Britain, Austria, and Italy were +prepared to support. And alas! he also brought with him the news that Metz +had actually fallen--having capitulated, indeed, on October 27, the very +day on which Pyat had issued his announcement. There was consternation at +the Hotel-de-Ville when this became known, and the gentlemen of the +Government deeply but vainly regretted the futile tactics to which they +had so foolishly stooped. To make matters worse, we received in the +evening intelligence that the Germans had driven Carre de Bellemare's men +out of Le Bourget after some brief but desperate fighting. Trochu declared +that he had no need of the Bourget position, that it had never entered +into his scheme of defence, and that Bellemare had been unduly zealous in +attacking and taking it from the Germans. If that were the case, however, +why had not the Governor of Paris ordered Le Bourget to be evacuated +immediately after its capture, without waiting for the Germans to re-take +it at the bayonet's point? Under the circumstances, the Parisians were +naturally exasperated. Tumultuous were the scenes on the Boulevards that +evening, and vehement and threatening were the speeches at the clubs. + +When the Parisians quitted their homes on the morning of Monday, the 31st, +they found the city placarded with two official notices, one respecting +the arrival of Thiers and the proposals for an armistice, and the second +acknowledging the disaster of Metz. A hurricane of indignation at once +swept through the city. Le Bourget lost! Metz taken! Proposals for an +armistice with the detested Prussians entertained! Could Trochu's plan and +Bazaine's plan be synonymous, then? The one word "Treachery!" was on every +lip. When noon arrived the Place de l'Hotel-de-Ville was crowded with +indignant people. Deputations, composed chiefly of officers of the +National Guard, interviewed the Government, and were by no means satisfied +with the replies which they received from Jules Ferry and others. +Meantime, the crowd on the square was increasing in numbers. Several +members of the Government attempted to prevail on it to disperse; but no +heed was paid to them. + +At last a free corps commanded by Tibaldi, an Italian conspirator of +Imperial days, effected an entrance into the Hotel-de-Ville, followed by a +good many of the mob. In the throne-room they were met by Jules Favre, +whose attempts to address them failed, the shouts of "La Commune! La +Commune!" speedily drowning his voice. Meantime, two shots were fired by +somebody on the square, a window was broken, and the cry of the invaders +became "To arms! to arms! Our brothers are being butchered!" In vain did +Trochu and Rochefort endeavour to stem the tide of invasion. In vain, +also, did the Government, assembled in the council-room, offer to submit +itself to the suffrages of the citizens, to grant the election of +municipal councillors, and to promise that no armistice should be signed +without consulting the population. The mob pressed on through one room +after another, smashing tables, desks, and windows on their way, and all +at once the very apartment where the Government were deliberating was, in +its turn, invaded, several officers of the National Guard, subsequently +prominent at the time of the Commune, heading the intruders and demanding +the election of a Commune and the appointment of a new administration +under the presidency of Dorian, the popular Minister of Public Works. + +Amidst the ensuing confusion, M. Ernest Picard, a very corpulent, +jovial-looking advocate, who was at the head of the department of +Finances, contrived to escape; but all his colleagues were surrounded, +insulted by the invaders, and summoned to resign their posts. They refused +to do so, and the wrangle was still at its height when Gustave Flourens +and his Belleville sharpshooters reached the Place de l'Hotel-de-Ville. +Flourens entered the building, which at this moment was occupied by some +seven or eight thousand men, and proposed that the Commune should be +elected by acclamation. This was agreed upon; Dorian's name--though, by +the way, he was a wealthy ironmaster, and in no sense a Communard--being +put at the head of the list. This included Flourens himself, Victor Hugo, +Louis Blanc, Raspail, Mottu, Delescluze, Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin, Rochefort, +Felix Pyat, Ranvier, and Avrial. Then Flourens, in his turn, entered the +council-room, climbed on to the table, and summoned the captive members of +the Government to resign; Again they refused to do so, and were therefore +placed under arrest. Jules Ferry and Emmanuel Arago managed to escape, +however, and some friendly National Guards succeeded in entering the +building and carrying off General Trochu. Ernest Picard, meanwhile, had +been very active in devising plans for the recapture of the Hotel-de-Ville +and providing for the safety of various Government departments. Thus, when +Flourens sent a lieutenant to the treasury demanding the immediate payment +of _L600,000(!)_ the request was refused, and the messenger placed under +arrest. Nevertheless, the insurgents made themselves masters of several +district town-halls. + +But Jules Ferry was collecting the loyal National Guards together, and at +half-past eleven o'clock that night they and some Mobiles marched on the +Hotel-de-Ville. The military force which had been left there by the +insurgents was not large. A parley ensued, and while it was still in +progress, an entire battalion of Mobiles effected an entry by a +subterranean passage leading from an adjacent barracks. Delescluze and +Flourens then tried to arrange terms with Dorian, but Jules Ferry would +accept no conditions. The imprisoned members of the Government were +released, and the insurgent leaders compelled to retire. About this time +Trochu and Ducrot arrived on the scene, and between three and four o'clock +in the morning I saw them pass the Government forces in review on the +square. + +On the following day, all the alleged conventions between M. Dorian and +the Red Republican leaders were disavowed. There was, however, a conflict +of opinion as to whether those leaders should be arrested or not, some +members of the Government admitting that they had promised Delescluze and +others that they should not be prosecuted. In consequence of this dispute, +several officials, including Edmond Adam, Keratry's successor as Prefect +of Police, resigned their functions. A few days later, twenty-one of the +insurgent leaders were arrested, Pyat being among them, though nothing was +done in regard to Flourens and Blanqui, both of whom had figured +prominently in the affair. + +On November 3 we had a plebiscitum, the question put to the Parisians +being: "Does the population of Paris, yes or no, maintain the powers of +the Government of National Defence?" So far as the civilian element--which +included the National Guards--was concerned, the ballot resulted as +follows: Voting "Yes," 321,373 citizens; voting "No," 53,585 citizens. The +vote of the army, inclusive of the Mobile Guard, was even more pronounced: +"Yes," 236,623; "No," 9063, Thus the general result was 557,996 votes in +favour of the Government, and 62,638 against it--the proportion being 9 to +1 for the entire male population of the invested circle. This naturally +rendered the authorities jubilant. + +But the affair of October 31 had deplorable consequences with regard to +the armistice negotiations. This explosion of sedition alarmed the German +authorities. They lost confidence in the power of the National Defence to +carry out such terms as might be stipulated, and, finally, Bismarck +refused to allow Paris to be revictualled during the period requisite for +the election of a legislative assembly--which was to have decided the +question of peace or war--unless one fort, and possibly more than one, +were surrendered to him. Thiers and Favre could not accept such a +condition, and thus the negotiations were broken off. Before Thiers +quitted Bismarck, however, the latter significantly told him that the +terms of peace at that juncture would be the cession of Alsace to Germany, +and the payment of three milliards of francs as an indemnity; but that +after the fall of Paris the terms would be the cession of both Alsace and +Lorraine, and a payment of five milliards. + +In the earlier days of the siege there was no rationing of provisions, +though the price of meat was fixed by Government decree. At the end of +September, however, the authorities decided to limit the supply to a +maximum of 500 oxen and 4000 sheep per diem. It was decided also that the +butchers' shops should only open on every fourth day, when four days' meat +should be distributed at the official prices. During the earlier period +the daily ration ranged from 80 to 100 grammes, that is, about 2-2/3 oz. +to 3-1/3 oz. in weight, one-fifth part of it being bone in the case of +beef, though, with respect to mutton, the butchers were forbidden to make +up the weight with any bones which did not adhere to the meat. At the +outset of the siege only twenty or thirty horses were slaughtered each +day; but on September 30 the number had risen to 275. A week later there +were nearly thirty shops in Paris where horseflesh was exclusively sold, +and scarcely a day elapsed without an increase in their number. Eventually +horseflesh became virtually the only meat procurable by all classes of the +besieged, but in the earlier period it was patronized chiefly by the +poorer folk, the prices fixed for it by authority being naturally lower +than those edicted for beef and mutton. + +With regard to the arrangements made by my father and myself respecting +food, they were, in the earlier days of the siege, very simple. We were +keeping no servant at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. The concierge of +the house, and his wife, did all such work as we required. This concierge, +whose name was Saby, had been a Zouave, and had acted as orderly to his +captain in Algeria. He was personally expert in the art of preparing +"couscoussou" and other Algerian dishes, and his wife was a thoroughly +good cook _a la francaise_. Directly meat was rationed, Saby said to me: +"The allowance is very small; you and Monsieur votre pere will be able to +eat a good deal more than that. Now, some of the poorer folk cannot afford +to pay for butchers' meat, they are contented with horseflesh, which is +not yet rationed, and are willing to sell their ration cards. You can well +afford to buy one or two of them, and in that manner secure extra +allowances of beef or mutton." + +That plan was adopted, and for a time everything went on satisfactorily. +On a few occasions I joined the queue outside our butcher's in the Rue de +Penthievre, and waited an hour or two to secure our share of meat, We were +not over-crowded in that part of Paris. A great many members of the +aristocracy and bourgeoisie, who usually dwelt there, had left the city +with their families and servants prior to the investment; and thus the +queues and the waits were not so long as in the poorer and more densely +populated districts. Saby, however, often procured our meat himself or +employed somebody else to do so, for women were heartily glad of the +opportunity to earn half a franc or so by acting as deputy for other +people. + +We had secured a small supply of tinned provisions, and would have +increased it if the prices had not gone up by leaps and bounds, in such +wise that a tin of corned beef or something similar, which one saw priced +in the morning at about 5 francs, was labelled 20 francs a few hours +later. Dry beans and peas were still easily procurable, but fresh +vegetables at once became both rare and costly. Potatoes failed us at an +early date. On the other hand, jam and preserved fruit could be readily +obtained at the grocer's at the corner of our street. The bread slowly +deteriorated in quality, but was still very fair down to the date of my +departure from Paris (November 8 [See the following chapter.]). Milk and +butter, however, became rare--the former being reserved for the hospitals, +the ambulances, the mothers of infants, and so forth--whilst one sighed in +vain for a bit of Gruyere, Roquefort, Port-Salut, Brie, or indeed any +other cheese. + +Saby, who was a very shrewd fellow, had conceived a brilliant idea before +the siege actually began. The Chateaubriands having quitted the house +and removed their horses from the stables, he took possession of the +latter, purchased some rabbits--several does and a couple of bucks--laid +in a supply of food for them, and resolved to make his fortune by +rabbit-breeding. He did not quite effect his purpose, but rabbits are so +prolific that he was repaid many times over for the trouble which he took +in rearing them. For some time he kept the affair quite secret. More than +once I saw him going in and out of the stables, without guessing the +reason; but one morning, having occasion to speak to him, I followed him +and discovered the truth. He certainly bred several scores of rabbits +during the course of the siege, merely ceasing to do so when he found it +impossible to continue feeding the animals. On two or three occasions +we paid him ten francs or so for a rabbit, and that was certainly +"most-favoured-nation treatment;" for, at the same period, he was charging +twenty and twenty-five francs to other people. Cooks, with whom he +communicated, came to him from mansions both near and far. He sold quite a +number of rabbits to Baron Alphonse de Rothschild's _chef_ at the rate of +L2 apiece, and others to Count Pillet-Will at about the same price, so +that, so far as his pockets were concerned, he in no wise suffered by the +siege of Paris. + +We were blessed with an abundance of charcoal for cooking purposes, and of +coals and wood for ordinary fires, having at our disposal not only the +store in our own cellars, but that which the Chateaubriand family had left +behind. The cold weather set in very soon, and firing was speedily in +great demand. Our artist Jules Pelcoq, who lived in the Rue Lepic at +Montmartre, found himself reduced to great straits in this respect, +nothing being procurable at the dealers' excepting virtually green wood +which had been felled a short time previously in the Bois de Boulogne and +Bois de Vincennes. On a couple of occasions Pelcoq and I carried some +coals in bags to his flat, and my father, being anxious for his comfort, +wished to provide him with a larger supply. Saby was therefore +requisitioned to procure a man who would undertake to convey some coals in +a handcart to Montmartre. The man was found, and paid for his services in +advance. But alas! the coals never reached poor Pelcoq. When we next saw +the man who had been engaged, he told us that he had been intercepted on +his way by some National Guards, who had asked him what his load was, and, +on discovering that it consisted of coals, had promptly confiscated them +and the barrow also, dragging the latter to some bivouac on the ramparts. +I have always doubted that story, however, and incline to the opinion that +our improvised porter had simply sold the coals and pocketed the proceeds. + +One day, early in November, when our allowance of beef or mutton was +growing small by degrees and beautifully less and infrequent--horseflesh +becoming more and more _en evidence_ at the butchers' shops, [Only 1-1/2 +oz. of beef or mutton was now allowed per diem, but in lieu thereof you +could obtain 1/4 lb. of horseflesh.] I had occasion to call on one of our +artists, Blanchard, who lived in the Faubourg Saint Germain. When we had +finished our business he said to me: "Ernest, it is my _fete_ day. I am +going to have a superb dinner. My brother-in-law, who is an official of +the Eastern Railway Line, is giving it in my honour. Come with me; +I invite you." We thereupon went to his brother-in-law's flat, where I was +most cordially received, and before long we sat down at table in a warm +and well-lighted dining-room, the company consisting of two ladies and +three men, myself included. + +The soup, I think, had been prepared from horseflesh with the addition of +a little Liebig's extract of meat; but it was followed by a beautiful leg +of mutton, with beans a la Bretonne and--potatoes! I had not tasted a +potato for weeks past, for in vain had the ingenious Saby endeavoured to +procure some. But the crowning triumph of the evening was the appearance +of a huge piece of Gruyere cheese, which at that time was not to be seen +in a single shop in Paris. Even Chevet, that renowned purveyor of +dainties, had declared that he had none. + +My surprise in presence of the cheese and the potatoes being evident, +Blanchard's brother-in-law blandly informed me that he had stolen them. +"There is no doubt," said he, "that many tradespeople hold secret stores +of one thing and another, but wish prices to rise still higher than they +are before they produce them. I did not, however, take those potatoes or +that cheese from any shopkeeper's cellar. But, in the store-places of the +railway company to which I belong, there are tons and tons of provisions, +including both cheese and potatoes, for which the consignees never apply, +preferring, as they do, to leave them there until famine prices are +reached. Well, I have helped myself to just a few things, so as to give +Blanchard a good dinner this evening. As for the leg of mutton, I bribed +the butcher--not with money, he might have refused it--but with cheese and +potatoes, and it was fair exchange." When I returned home that evening I +carried in my pockets more than half a pound of Gruyere and two or three +pounds of potatoes, which my father heartily welcomed. The truth about the +provisions which were still stored at some of the railway depots was soon +afterwards revealed to the authorities. + +Although my father was then only fifty years of age and had plenty of +nervous energy, his health was at least momentarily failing him. He had +led an extremely strenuous life ever since his twentieth year, when my +grandfather's death had cast great responsibilities on him. He had also +suffered from illnesses which required that he should have an ample supply +of nourishing food. So long as a fair amount of ordinary butcher's meat +could be procured, he did not complain; but when it came to eating +horseflesh two or three times a week he could not undertake it, although, +only a year or two previously, he had attended a great _banquet +hippophagique_ given in Paris, and had then even written favourably of +_viande de cheval_ in an article he prepared on the subject. For my own +part, being a mere lad, I had a lad's appetite and stomach, and I did not +find horseflesh so much amiss, particularly as prepared with garlic and +other savouries by Mme. Saby's expert hands. But, after a day or two, my +father refused to touch it. For three days, I remember, he tried to live +on bread, jam, and preserved fruit; but the sweetness of such a diet +became nauseous to him--even as it became nauseous to our soldiers when +the authorities bombarded them with jam in South Africa. It was very +difficult to provide something to my father's taste; there was no poultry +and there were no eggs. It was at this time that Saby sold us a few +rabbits, but, again, _toujours lapin_ was not satisfactory. + +People were now beginning to partake of sundry strange things. Bats were +certainly eaten before the siege ended, though by no means in such +quantities as some have asserted. However, there were already places where +dogs and cats, skinned and prepared for cooking, were openly displayed for +sale. Labouchere related, also, that on going one day into a restaurant +and seeing _cochon de lait_, otherwise sucking-pig, mentioned in the menu, +he summoned the waiter and cross-questioned him on the subject, as he +greatly doubted whether there were any sucking-pigs in all Paris. "Is it +sucking-pig?" he asked the waiter. "Yes, monsieur," the man replied. +But Labby was not convinced. "Is it a little pig?" he inquired. "Yes, +monsieur, quite a little one." "Is it a young pig?" pursued Labby, who +was still dubious. The waiter hesitated, and at last replied, "Well, I +cannot be sure, monsieur, if it is quite young." "But it must be young if +it is little, as you say. Come, what is it, tell me?" "Monsieur, it is a +guinea-pig!" Labby bounded from his chair, took his hat, and fled. He did +not feel equal to guinea-pig, although he was very hungry. + +Perhaps, however, Labouchere's best story of those days was that of the +old couple who, all other resources failing them, were at last compelled +to sacrifice their little pet dog. It came up to table nicely roasted, and +they both looked at it for a moment with a sigh. Then Monsieur summoned up +his courage and helped Madame to the tender viand. She heaved another +sigh, but, making a virtue of necessity, began to eat, and whilst she was +doing so she every now and then deposited a little bone on the edge of her +plate. There was quite a collection of little bones there by the time she +had finished, and as she leant back in her chair and contemplated them she +suddenly exclaimed: "Poor little Toto! If he had only been alive what a +fine treat he would have had!" + +To return, however, to my father and myself, I must mention that there was +a little English tavern and eating-house in the Rue de Miromesnil, kept by +a man named Lark, with whom I had some acquaintance. We occasionally +procured English ale from him, and one day, late in October, when I was +passing his establishment, he said to me: "How is your father? He seems to +be looking poorly. Aren't you going to leave with the others?" I inquired +of Lark what he meant by his last question; whereupon he told me that if I +went to the Embassy I should see a notice in the consular office +respecting the departure of British subjects, arrangements having been +made to enable all who desired to quit Paris to do so. I took the hint and +read the notice, which ran as Lark had stated, with this addendum: "The +Embassy _cannot_, however, charge itself with the expense of assisting +British subjects to leave Paris." Forthwith I returned home and imparted +the information I had obtained to my father. + +Beyond setting up that notice in the Consul's office, the Embassy took no +steps to acquaint British subjects generally with the opportunity which +was offered them to escape bombardment and famine. It is true that it was +in touch with the British Charitable Fund and that the latter made the +matter known to sundry applicants for assistance. But the British colony +still numbered 1000 people, hundreds of whom would have availed themselves +of this opportunity had it only come to their knowledge. My father +speedily made up his mind to quit the city, and during the next few days +arrangements were made with our artists and others so that the interests +of the _Illustrated London News_ might in no degree suffer by his absence. +Our system had long been perfected, and everything worked well after our +departure. I may add here, because it will explain something which +follows, that my father distributed all the money he could possibly spare +among those whom he left behind, in such wise that on quitting Paris we +had comparatively little, and--as the sequel showed--insufficient money +with us. But it was thought that we should be able to secure whatever we +might require on arriving at Versailles. + + + +VII + +FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +I leave Paris with my Father--Jules Favre, Wodehouse, and Washburne-- +Through Charenton to Creteil--At the Outposts--First Glimpses of the +Germans--A Subscription to shoot the King of Prussia--The Road to +Brie-Comte-Robert--Billets for the Night--Chats with German Soldiers--The +Difficulty with the Poorer Refugees--Mr. Wodehouse and my Father--On the +Way to Corbeil--A Franco-German Flirtation--Affairs at Corbeil--On the +Road in the Rain--Longjumeau--A Snow-storm--The Peasant of Champlan-- +Arrival at Versailles. + + +Since Lord Lyons's departure from Paris, the Embassy had remained in +the charge of the second Secretary, Mr. Wodehouse, and the Vice-Consul. +In response to the notice set up in the latter's office, and circulated +also among a tithe of the community by the British Charitable Fund, it was +arranged that sixty or seventy persons should accompany the Secretary and +Vice-Consul out of the city, the military attachee, Colonel Claremont, +alone remaining there. The provision which the Charitable Fund made for +the poorer folk consisted of a donation of L4 to each person, together +with some three pounds of biscuits and a few ounces of chocolate to munch +on the way. No means of transport, however, were provided for these +people, though it was known that we should have to proceed to +Versailles--where the German headquarters were installed--by a very +circuitous route, and that the railway lines were out. + +We were to have left on November 2, at the same time as a number of +Americans, Russians, and others, and it had been arranged that everybody +should meet at an early hour that morning at the Charenton gate on the +south-east side of Paris. On arriving there, however, all the English who +joined the gathering were ordered to turn back, as information had been +received that permission to leave the city was refused them. This caused +no little consternation among the party, but the order naturally had +to be obeyed, and half angrily and half disconsolately many a disappointed +Briton returned to his recent quarters. We afterwards learnt that Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had in the first instance absolutely refused +to listen to the applications of Mr. Wodehouse, possibly because Great +Britain had not recognized the French Republic; though if such were indeed +the reason, it was difficult to understand why the Russians received very +different treatment, as the Czar, like the Queen, had so far abstained +from any official recognition of the National Defence. On the other hand, +Favre may, perhaps, have shared the opinion of Bismarck, who about this +time tersely expressed his opinion of ourselves in the words: "England no +longer counts"--so low, to his thinking, had we fallen in the comity of +nations under our Gladstone _cum_ Granville administration. + +Mr. Wodehouse, however, in his unpleasant predicament, sought the +assistance of his colleague, Mr. Washburne, the United States Minister, +and the latter, who possessed more influence in Paris than any other +foreign representative, promptly put his foot down, declaring that he +himself would leave the city if the British subjects were still refused +permission to depart. Favre then ungraciously gave way; but no sooner had +his assent been obtained than it was discovered that the British Foreign +Office had neglected to apply to Bismarck for permission for the English +leaving Paris to pass through the German lines. Thus delay ensued, and it +was only on the morning of November 8 that the English departed at the +same time as a number of Swiss citizens and Austrian subjects. + +The Charenton gate was again the appointed meeting-place. On our way +thither, between six and seven o'clock in the morning, we passed many a +long queue waiting outside butchers' shops for pittances of meat, and +outside certain municipal depots where after prolonged waiting a few +thimblesful of milk were doled out to those who could prove that they had +young children. Near the Porte de Charenton a considerable detachment of +the National Guard was drawn up as if to impart a kind of solemnity to the +approaching exodus of foreigners. A couple of young staff-officers were +also in attendance, with a mounted trumpeter and another trooper carrying +the usual white flag on a lance. + +The better-circumstanced of our party were in vehicles purchased for the +occasion, a few also being mounted on valuable horses, which it was +desired to save from the fate which eventually overtook most of the +animals that remained in Paris. Others were in hired cabs, which were not +allowed, however, to proceed farther than the outposts; while a good many +of the poorer members of the party were in specially engaged omnibuses, +which also had to turn back before we were handed over to a German escort; +the result being that their occupants were left to trudge a good many +miles on foot before other means of transport were procured. In that +respect the Swiss and the Austrians were far better cared-for than the +English. Although the weather was bitterly cold, Mr. Wodehouse, my father, +myself, a couple of Mr. Wodehouse's servants, and a young fellow who had +been connected, I think, with a Paris banking-house, travelled in an open +pair-horse break. The Vice-Consul and his wife, who were also accompanying +us, occupied a small private omnibus. + +Before passing out of Paris we were all mustered and our _laisser-passers_ +were examined. Those held by British subjects emanated invariably from the +United States Embassy, being duly signed by Mr. Washburne, so that we +quitted the city virtually as American citizens. At last the procession +was formed, the English preceding the Swiss and the Austrians, whilst in +the rear, strangely enough, came several ambulance vans flaunting the red +cross of Geneva. Nobody could account for their presence with us, but as +the Germans were accused of occasionally firing on flags of truce, they +were sent, perhaps, so as to be of service in the event of any mishap +occurring. All being ready, we crossed the massive drawbridge of the Porte +de Charenton, and wound in and out of the covered way which an advanced +redoubt protected. A small detachment of light cavalry then joined us, and +we speedily crossed the devastated track known as the "military zone," +where every tree had been felled at the moment of the investment. +Immediately afterwards we found ourselves in the narrow winding streets of +Charenton, which had been almost entirely deserted by their inhabitants, +but were crowded with soldiers who stood at doors and windows, watching +our curious caravan. The bridge across the Marne was mined, but still +intact, and defended at the farther end by an entrenched and loopholed +redoubt, faced by some very intricate and artistic chevaux-de-frise. Once +across the river, we wound round to the left, through the village of +Alfort, where all the villas and river-side restaurants had been turned +into military posts; and on looking back we saw the huge Charenton +madhouse surmounting a wooded height and flying a large black flag. At the +outset of the siege it had been suggested that the more harmless inmates +should be released rather than remain exposed to harm from chance German +shells; but the director of the establishment declared that in many +instances insanity intensified patriotic feeling, and that if his patients +were set at liberty they would at least desire to become members of the +Government. So they were suffered to remain in their exposed position. + +We went on, skirting the estate of Charentonneau, where the park wall had +been blown down and many of the trees felled. On our right was the fort of +Charenton, armed with big black naval guns. All the garden walls on our +line of route had been razed or loopholed. The road was at times +barricaded with trees, or intersected by trenches, and it was not without +difficulty that we surmounted those impediments. At Petit Creteil we were +astonished to see a number of market-gardeners working as unconcernedly as +in times of peace. It is true that the village was covered by the fire of +the Charenton fort, and that the Germans would have incurred great risk in +making a serious attack on it. Nevertheless, small parties of them +occasionally crept down and exchanged shots with the Mobiles who were +stationed there, having their headquarters at a deserted inn, on reaching +which we made our first halt. + +The hired vehicles were now sent back to Paris, and after a brief interval +we went on again, passing through an aperture in a formidable-looking +barricade. We then readied Creteil proper, and there the first serious +traces of the havoc of war were offered to our view. The once pleasant +village was lifeless. Every house had been broken into and plundered, +every door and every window smashed. Smaller articles of furniture, and so +forth, had been removed, larger ones reduced to fragments. An infernal +spirit of destruction had swept through the place; and yet, mark this, we +were still within the French lines. + +Our progress along the main street being suddenly checked by another huge +barricade, we wound round to the right, and at last reached a house where +less than a score of Mobiles were gathered, protected from sudden assault +by a flimsy barrier of planks, casks, stools, and broken chairs. This was +the most advanced French outpost in the direction we were following. We +passed it, crossing some open fields where a solitary man was calmly +digging potatoes, risking his life at every turn of his spade, but knowing +that every pound of the precious tuber that he might succeed in taking +into Paris would there fetch perhaps as much as ten francs. + +Again we halted, and the trumpeter and the trooper with the white flag +rode on to the farther part of the somewhat scattered village. Suddenly +the trumpet's call rang out through the sharp, frosty air, and then we +again moved on, passing down another village street where several gaunt +starving cats attempted to follow us, with desperate strides and piteous +mews. Before long, we perceived, standing in the middle of the road before +us, a couple of German soldiers in long great-coats and boots reaching to +the shins. One of them was carrying a white flag. A brief conversation +ensued with them, for they both spoke French, and one of them knew English +also. Soon afterwards, from behind a stout barricade which we saw ahead, +three or four of their officers arrived, and somewhat stiff and +ceremonious salutes were exchanged between them and the French officers in +charge of our party. + +Our arrival had probably been anticipated. At all events, a big and +very welcome fire of logs and branches was blazing near by, and whilst +one or two officers on either side, together with Colonel Claremont and +some officials of the British Charitable Fund, were attending to the +safe-conducts of her then Majesty's subjects, the other French and German +officers engaged in conversation round the fire I have mentioned. The +latter were probably Saxons; at all events, they belonged to the forces of +the Crown Prince, afterwards King, of Saxony, who commanded this part of +the investing lines, and with whom the principal English war-correspondent +was Archibald Forbes, freshly arrived from the siege of Metz. The recent +fall of that stronghold and the conduct of Marshal Bazaine supplied the +chief subject of the conversation carried on at the Creteil outposts +between the officers of the contending nations. Now and then, too, came a +reference to Sedan and the overthrow of the Bonapartist Empire. The entire +conversation was in French--I doubt, indeed, if our French custodians +could speak German--and the greatest courtesy prevailed; though the French +steadily declined the Hamburg cigars which their adversaries offered them. + +I listened awhile to the conversation, but when the safe-conduct for my +father and myself had been examined, I crossed to the other side of the +road in order to scan the expanse of fields lying in that direction. All +at once I saw a German officer, mounted on a powerful-looking horse, +galloping over the rough ground in our direction. He came straight towards +me. He was a well-built, middle-aged man of some rank--possibly a colonel. +Reining in his mount, he addressed me in French, asking several questions. +When, however, I had told him who we were, he continued the conversation +in English and inquired if I had brought any newspapers out of Paris. Now, +we were all pledged not to give any information of value to the enemy, but +I had in my pockets copies of two of the most violent prints then +appearing in the city--that is to say, _La Patrie en Danger_, inspired by +Blanqui, and _Le Combat_, edited by Felix Pyat. The first-named was all +sound and fury, and the second contained a subscription list for a +pecuniary reward and rifle of honour to be presented to the Frenchman who +might fortunately succeed in killing the King of Prussia. As the German +officer was so anxious to ascertain what the popular feeling in Paris +might be, and whether it favoured further resistance, it occurred to me, +in a spirit of devilment as it were, to present him with the aforesaid +journals, for which he expressed his heartfelt thanks, and then galloped +away. + +As I never met him again, I cannot say how he took the invectives and the +"murder-subscription." Perhaps it was not quite right of me to foist on +him, as examples of genuine Parisian opinion, two such papers as those I +gave him; but, then, all is fair not merely in love but in war also, and +in regard to the contentions of France and Germany, my sympathies were +entirely on the side of France. + +We had not yet been transferred to the German escort which was waiting for +us, when all at once we heard several shots fired from the bank of the +Marne, whereupon a couple of German dragoons galloped off in that +direction. The firing ceased as abruptly as it had begun, and then, +everything being in readiness so far as we were concerned, Colonel +Claremont, the Charitable Fund people, the French officers and cavalry, +and the ambulance waggons retraced their way to Paris, whilst our caravan +went on in the charge of a detachment of German dragoons. Not for long, +however, for the instructions received respecting us were evidently +imperfect. The reader will have noticed that we left Paris on its +southeastern side, although our destination was Versailles, which lies +south-west of the capital, being in that direction only some eleven miles +distant. Further, on quitting Creteil, instead of taking a direct route +to the city of Louis Quatorze, we made, as the reader will presently see, +an immense _detour,_ so that our journey to Versailles lasted three full +days. This occurred because the Germans wished to prevent us from seeing +anything of the nearer lines of investment and the preparations which had +already begun for the bombardment of Paris. + +On our departure from Creteil, however, our route was not yet positively +fixed, so we presently halted, and an officer of our escort rode off to +take further instructions, whilst we remained near a German outpost, where +we could not help noticing how healthy-looking, stalwart, and well-clad +the men were. Orders respecting our movements having arrived, we set out +again at a walking pace, perhaps because so many of our party were on +foot. Troops were posted near every side-road that we passed. Officers +constantly cantered up, inquiring for news respecting the position of +affairs in Paris, wishing to know, in particular, if the National Defence +ministers were still prisoners of the populace, and whether there was now +a Red Republic with Blanqui at its head. What astounded them most was to +hear that, although Paris was taking more and more to horseflesh, it was, +as yet, by no means starving, and that, so far as famine might be +concerned, it would be able to continue resisting for some months longer. +In point of fact, this was on November 8, and the city did not surrender +until January 28. But the German officers would not believe what we said +respecting the resources of the besieged; they repeated the same questions +again and again, and still looked incredulous, as if, indeed, they thought +that we were fooling them. + +At Boissy-Saint Leger we halted whilst the British, Austrian, and Swiss +representatives interviewed the general in command there. He was installed +in a trim little, chateau, in front of which was the quaintest sentry-box +I have ever seen, for it was fashioned of planks, logs, and all sorts of +scraps of furniture, whilst beside it lay a doll's perambulator and a +little boy's toy-cart. But we again set out, encountering near Gros-Bois a +long line of heavily-laden German provision-wagons; and presently, without +addressing a word to any of us, the officer of our escort gave a command, +his troopers wheeled round and galloped away, leaving us to ourselves. + +By this time evening was approaching, and the vehicles of our party drove +on at a smart trot, leaving the unfortunate pedestrians a long way in the +rear. Nobody seemed to know exactly where we were, but some passing +peasants informed us that we were on the road to Basle, and that the +nearest locality was Brie-Comte-Robert. The horses drawing the conveyances +of the Swiss and Austrian representatives were superior to those harnessed +to Mr. Wodehouse's break, so we were distanced on the road, and on +reaching Brie found that all the accommodation of the two inns--I can +scarcely call them hotels--had been allotted to the first arrivals. Mr. +Wodehouse's party secured a lodging in a superior-looking private house, +whilst my father, myself, and about thirty others repaired to the _mairie_ +for billets. + +A striking scene met my eyes there. By this time night had fallen. In a +room which was almost bare of furniture, the mayor was seated at a little +table on which two candles were burning. On either side of him stood a +German infantryman with rifle and fixed bayonet. Here and there, too, were +several German hussars, together with ten or a dozen peasants of the +locality. And the unfortunate mayor, in a state of semi-arrest, was +striving to comply with the enemy's requisitions of food, forage, wine, +horses, and vehicles, the peasants meanwhile protesting that they had +already been despoiled of everything, and had nothing whatever left. "So +you want me to be shot?" said the mayor to them, at last. "You know very +well that the things must be found. Go and get them together. Do the best +you can. We will see afterwards." + +When--acting as usual as my father's interpreter--I asked the mayor for +billets, he raised his arms to the ceiling. "I have no beds," said he. +"Every bit of available bedding, excepting at the inns, has been +requisitioned for the Prussian ambulances. I might find some straw, and +there are outhouses and empty rooms. But there are so many of you, and I +do not know how I can accommodate you all." + +It was not, however, the duty of my father or myself to attend to the +requirements of the whole party. That was the duty rather of the Embassy +officials, so I again pressed the mayor to give me at least a couple of +decent billets. He thought for a moment, then handed me a paper bearing a +name and address, whereupon we, my father and myself, went off. But it was +pitch-dark, and as we could not find the place indicated, we returned to +the _mairie_, where, after no little trouble, a second paper was given me. +By this time the poorer members of the party had been sent to sheds and so +forth, where they found some straw to lie upon. The address on my second +paper was that of a basket-maker, whose house was pointed out to us. We +were very cordially received there, and taken to a room containing a bed +provided with a _sommier elastique_. But there was no mattress, no sheet, +no blanket, no bolster, no pillow--everything of that kind having been +requisitioned for the German ambulances; and I recollect that two or three +hours later, when my father and myself retired to rest in that icy +chamber, the window of which was badly broken, we were glad to lay our +heads on a couple of hard baskets, having left our bags in Mr. Wodehouse's +charge. + +Before trying to sleep, however, we required food; for during the day we +had consumed every particle of a cold rabbit and some siege-bread which we +had brought out of Paris. The innkeepers proved to be extremely +independent and irritable, and we could obtain very little from them. +Fortunately, we discovered a butcher's, secured some meat from him, and +prevailed on the wife of our host, the basket-maker, to cook it for us. We +then went out again, and found some cafes and wine-shops which were +crowded with German soldiery. Wine and black coffee were obtainable there, +and whilst we refreshed ourselves, more than one German soldier, knowing +either French or English, engaged us in conversation. My own German was at +that time very limited, for I had not taken kindly to the study of the +language, and had secured, moreover, but few opportunities to attempt to +converse in it. However, I well remember some of the German soldiers +declaring that they were heartily sick of the siege, and expressing a hope +that the Parisians would speedily surrender, so that they, the Germans, +might return to the Fatherland in ample time to get their Christmas trees +ready. A good-looking and apparently very genial Uhlan also talked to me +about the Parisian balloons, relating that, directly any ascent was +observed, news of it was telegraphed along all the investing lines, that +every man had orders to fire if the aerial craft came approximately within +range, and that he and his comrades often tried to ride a balloon down. + +After a wretched night, we washed at the pump in the basket-maker's yard, +and breakfasted off bread and _cafe noir_. Milk, by the way, was as scarce +at Brie as in Paris itself, the Germans, it was said, having carried off +all the cows that had previously supplied France with the far-famed Brie +cheese. We now discovered that, in order to reach Versailles, we should +have to proceed in the first instance to Corbeil, some fifteen miles +distant, when we should be within thirty miles of the German headquarters. +That was pleasant news, indeed! We had already made a journey of over +twenty miles, and now another of some five-and-forty miles lay before us. +And yet, had we only been allowed to take the proper route, we should have +reached Versailles after travelling merely eleven miles beyond Paris! + +Under the circumstances, the position of the unfortunate pedestrians was a +very unpleasant one, and my father undertook to speak on their behalf to +Mr. Wodehouse, pointing out to him that it was unfair to let these +unfortunate people trudge all the way to Versailles. + +"But what am I to do?" Mr. Wodehouse replied. "I am afraid that no +vehicles can be obtained here." + +"The German authorities will perhaps help you in the matter," urged my +father. + +"I doubt it. But please remember that everybody was warned before leaving +Paris that he would do so at his own risk and peril, and that the Embassy +could not charge itself with the expense." + +"That is exactly what surprised me," said my father. "I know that the +Charitable Fund has done something, but I thought that the Embassy would +have done more." + +"I had no instructions," replied Mr. Wodehouse. + +"But, surely, at such a time as this, a man initiates his own +instructions." + +"Perhaps so; but I had no money." + +On hearing this, my father, for a moment, almost lost his temper. +"Surely, Mr. Wodehouse," said he, "you need only have gone to Baron de +Rothschild--he would have let you have whatever money you required." +[I have reconstructed the above dialogue from my diary, which I posted up +on reaching Versailles.] + +Mr. Wodehouse looked worried. He was certainly a most amiable man, but he +was not, I think, quite the man for the situation. Moreover, like my +father, he was in very poor health at this time. Still, he realized that +he must try to effect something, and eventually, with the assistance of +the mayor and the German authorities, a few farm-carts were procured for +the accommodation of the poorer British subjects. During the long interval +which had elapsed, however, a good many men had gone off of their own +accord, tired of waiting, and resolving to try their luck in one and +another direction. Thus our procession was a somewhat smaller one when we +at last quitted Brie-Comte-Robert for Corbeil. + +We met many German soldiers on our way--at times large detachments of +them--and we scarcely ever covered a mile of ground without being +questioned respecting the state of affairs in Paris and the probable +duration of its resistance, our replies invariably disappointing the +questioners, so anxious were they to see the war come to an end. This was +particularly the case with a young non-commissioned officer who jumped on +the step of Mr. Wodehouse's break, and engaged us in conversation whilst +we continued on our way. Before leaving us he remarked, I remember, that +he would very much like to pay a visit to England; whereupon my father +answered that he would be very much pleased to see him there, provided, +however, that he would come by himself and not with half a million of +armed comrades. + +While the German soldiers were numerous, the peasants whom we met on the +road were few and far between. On reaching the little village of +Lieusaint, however, a number of people rushed to the doors of their houses +and gazed at us in bewilderment, for during the past two months the only +strangers they had seen had been German soldiers, and they could not +understand the meaning of our civilian caravan of carriages and carts. At +last we entered Corbeil, and followed the main street towards the old +stone bridge by which we hoped to cross the Seine, but we speedily +discovered that it had been blown up, and that we could only get to the +other side of the river by a pontoon-bridge lower down. This having been +effected, we drove to the principal hotel, intending to put up there for +the night, as it had become evident that we should be unable to reach +Versailles at a reasonable hour. + +However, the entire hotel was in the possession of German officers, +several of whom we found flirting with the landlady's good-looking +daughter--who, as she wore a wedding ring, was, I presume, married. I well +recollect that she made some reference to the ladies of Berlin, whereupon +one of the lieutenants who were ogling her, gallantly replied that they +were not half so charming as the ladies of Corbeil. The young woman +appeared to appreciate the compliment, for, on the lieutenant rising to +take leave of her, she graciously gave him her hand, and said to him with +a smile: "Au plaisir de vous revoir, monsieur." + +But matters were very different with the old lady, her mother, who, +directly the coast was clear, began to inveigh against the Germans in good +set terms, describing them, I remember, as semi-savages who destroyed +whatever they did not steal. She was particularly irate with them for not +allowing M. Darblay, the wealthy magnate of the grain and flour trade, and +at the same time mayor of Corbeil, to retain a single carriage or a single +horse for his own use. Yet he had already surrendered four carriages and +eight horses to them, and only wished to keep a little gig and a cob. + +We obtained a meal at the hotel, but found it impossible to secure a bed +there, so we sallied forth into the town on an exploring expedition. On +all sides we observed notices indicating the rate of exchange of French +and German money, and the place seemed to be full of tobacconists' shops, +which were invariably occupied by German Jews trading in Hamburg cigars. +On inquiring at a cafe respecting accommodation, we were told that we +should only obtain it with difficulty, as the town was full of troops, +including more than a thousand sick and wounded, fifteen or twenty of whom +died every day. At last we crossed the river again, and found quarters at +an inferior hotel, the top-floor of which had been badly damaged by some +falling blocks of stone at the time when the French blew up the town +bridge. However, our beds were fairly comfortable, and we had a good +night's rest. + +Black coffee was again the only available beverage in the morning. No milk +was to be had, nor was there even a scrap of sugar. In these respects +Corbeil was even worse off than Paris. The weather had now changed, and +rain was falling steadily. We plainly had a nasty day before us. +Nevertheless, another set of carts was obtained for the poorer folk of our +party, on mustering which one man was found to be missing. He had fallen +ill, we were told, and could not continue the journey. Presently, +moreover, the case was discovered to be one of smallpox, which disease had +lately broken out in Paris. Leaving the sufferer to be treated at the +already crowded local hospital, we set out, and, on emerging from the +town, passed a drove of a couple of hundred oxen, and some three hundred +sheep, in the charge of German soldiers. We had scarcely journeyed another +mile when, near Essonnes, noted for its paper-mills, one of our carts +broke down, which was scarcely surprising, the country being hilly, the +roads heavy, and the horses spavined. Again, the rain was now pouring in +torrents, to the very great discomfort of the occupants of the carts, as +well as that of Mr. Wodehouse's party in the break. But there was no help +for it, and so on we drove mile after mile, until we were at last +absolutely soaked. + +The rain had turned to sleet by the time we reached Longjumeau, famous for +its handsome and amorous postilion. Two-thirds of the shops there were +closed, and the inns were crowded with German soldiers, so we drove on in +the direction of Palaiseau. But we had covered only about half the +distance when a snow-storm overtook us, and we had to seek shelter at +Champlan. A German officer there assisted in placing our vehicles under +cover, but the few peasants whom we saw eyeing us inquisitively from the +doors of their houses declared that the only thing they could let us have +to eat was dry bread, there being no meat, no eggs, no butter, no cheese, +in the whole village. Further, they averred that they had not even a pint +of wine to place at our disposal. "The Germans have taken everything," +they said; "we have 800 of them in and around the village, and there are +not more than a dozen of us left here, all the rest having fled to Paris +when the siege began." + +The outlook seemed bad, but Mr. Wodehouse's valet, a shrewd and energetic +man of thirty or thereabouts, named Frost, said to me, "I don't believe +all this. I dare say that if some money is produced we shall be able to +get something." Accordingly we jointly tackled a disconsolate-looking +fellow, who, if I remember rightly, was either the village wheelwright or +blacksmith; and, momentarily leaving the question of food on one side, we +asked him if he had not at least a fire in his house at which we might +warm ourselves. Our party included a lady, the Vice-Consul's wife, and +although she was making the journey in a closed private omnibus, she was +suffering from the cold. This was explained to the man whom we addressed, +and when he had satisfied himself that we were not Germans in disguise, he +told us that we might come into his house and warm ourselves until the +storm abated. Some nine or ten of us, including the lady I have mentioned, +availed ourselves of this permission, and the man led us upstairs to a +first-floor room, where a big wood-fire was blazing. Before it sat his +wife and his daughter, both of them good specimens of French rustic +beauty. With great good-nature, they at once made room for us, and added +more fuel to the fire. + +Half the battle was won, and presently we were regaled with all that they +could offer us in the way of food--that is, bread and baked pears, which +proved very acceptable. Eventually, after looking out of the window in +order to make quite sure that no Germans were loitering near the house, +our host locked the door of the room, and turning towards a big pile of +straw, fire-wood, and household utensils, proceeded to demolish it, until +he disclosed to view a small cask--a half hogshead, I think--which, said +he, in a whisper, contained wine. It was all that he had been able to +secrete. On the arrival of the enemy in the district a party of officers +had come to his house and ordered their men to remove the rest of his +wine, together with nearly all his bedding, and every fowl and every pig +that he possessed. "They have done the same all over the district," the +man added, "and you should see some of the chateaux--they have been +absolutely stripped of their contents." + +His face brightened when we told him that Paris seemed resolved on no +surrender, and that, according to official reports, she would have a +sufficiency of bread to continue resisting until the ensuing month of +February. In common with most of his countrymen, our host of Champlan held +that, whatever else might happen, the honour of the nation would at least +be saved if the Germans could only be kept out of Paris; and thus he was +right glad to hear that the city's defence would be prolonged. + +He was well remunerated for his hospitality, and on the weather slightly +improving we resumed our journey to Versailles, following the main road by +way of Palaiseau and Jouy-en-Josas, and urging the horses to their +quickest pace whilst the light declined and the evening shadows gathered +around us. + + + +VIII + +FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + +War-correspondents at Versailles--Dr. Russell--Lord Adare--David Dunglas +Home and his Extraordinary Career--His _Seances_ at Versallies--An Amusing +Interview with Colonel Beauchamp Walker--Parliament's Grant for British +Refugees--Generals Duff and Hazen, U.S.A.--American Help--Glimpses of +King William and Bismarck--Our Safe-Conducts--From Versailles to Saint +Germain-en-Laye--Trouble at Mantes--The German Devil of Destructiveness-- +From the German to the French Lines--A Train at Last--Through Normandy and +Maine--Saint Servan and its English Colony--I resolve to go to the Front. + + +It was dark when we at last entered Versailles by the Avenue de Choisy. We +saw some sentries, but they did not challenge us, and we went on until we +struck the Avenue de Paris, where we passed the Prefecture, every one of +whose windows was a blaze of light. King, later Emperor, William had his +quarters there; Bismarck, however, residing at a house in the Rue de +Provence belonging to the French General de Jesse. Winding round the Place +d'Armes, we noticed that one wing of Louis XIV's famous palace had its +windows lighted, being appropriated to hospital purposes, and that four +batteries of artillery were drawn up on the square, perhaps as a hint to +the Versaillese to be on their best behaviour. However, we drove on, and a +few moments later we pulled up outside the famous Hotel des Reservoirs. + +There was no possibility of obtaining accommodation there. From its +ground-floor to its garrets the hotel was packed with German princes, +dukes, dukelets, and their suites, together with a certain number of +English, American, and other war-correspondents. Close by, however-- +indeed, if I remember rightly, on the other side of the way--there was a +cafe, whither my father and myself directed our steps. We found it crowded +with officers and newspaper men, and through one or other of the latter we +succeeded in obtaining comfortable lodgings in a private house. The +_Illustrated London News_ artist with the German staff was Landells, son +of the engraver of that name, and we speedily discovered his whereabouts. +He was sharing rooms with Hilary Skinner, the _Daily News_ representative +at Versailles; and they both gave us a cordial greeting. + +The chief correspondent at the German headquarters was William Howard +Russell of the _Times_, respecting whom--perhaps because he kept himself +somewhat aloof from his colleagues--a variety of scarcely good-natured +stories were related; mostly designed to show that he somewhat +over-estimated his own importance. One yarn was to the effect that +whenever the Doctor mounted his horse, it was customary for the Crown +Prince of Prussia--afterwards the Emperor Frederick--to hold his stirrup +leather for him. Personally, I can only say that, on my father calling +with me on Russell, he received us very cordially indeed (he had +previously met my father, and had well known my uncle Frank), and that +when we quitted Versailles, as I shall presently relate, he placed his +courier and his private omnibus at our disposal, in after years one of my +cousins, the late Montague Vizetelly, accompanied Russell to South +America. I still have some letters which the latter wrote me respecting +Zola's novel "La Debacle," in which he took a great interest. + +Another war-correspondent at Versailles was the present Earl of Dunraven, +then not quite thirty years of age, and known by the courtesy title of +Lord Adare. He had previously acted as the _Daily Telegraph's_ +representative with Napier's expedition against Theodore of Abyssinia, and +was now staying at Versailles, on behalf, I think, of the same journal. +His rooms at the Hotel des Reservoirs were shared by Daniel Dunglas Home, +the medium, with whom my father and myself speedily became acquainted. +Very tall and slim, with blue eyes and an abundance of yellowish hair, +Home, at this time about thirty-seven years of age, came of the old stock +of the Earls of Home, whose name figures so often in Scottish history. His +father was an illegitimate son of the tenth earl, and his mother belonged +to a family which claimed to possess the gift of "second sight." Home +himself--according to his own account--began to see visions and receive +mysterious warnings at the period of his mother's death, and as time +elapsed his many visitations from the other world so greatly upset the +aunt with whom he was living--a Mrs. McNeill Cook of Greeneville, +Connecticut [He had been taken from Scotland to America when he was about +nine years old.]--that she ended by turning him out-of-doors. Other +people, however, took an unhealthy delight in seeing their furniture +move about without human agency, and in receiving more or less ridiculous +messages from spirit-land; and in folk of this description Home found some +useful friends. + +He came to London in the spring of 1855, and on giving a _seance_ at Cox's +Hotel, in Jermyn Street, he contrived to deceive Sir David Brewster (then +seventy-four years old), but was less successful with another +septuagenarian, Lord Brougham. Later, he captured the imaginative Sir +Edward Bulwer (subsequently Lord Lytton), who as author of "Zanoni" was +perhaps fated to believe in him, and he also impressed Mrs. Browning, but +not Browning himself The latter, indeed, depicted Home as "Sludge, the +Medium." Going to Italy for a time, the already notorious adventurer gave +_seances_ in a haunted villa near Florence, but on becoming converted to +the Catholic faith in 1856 he was received in private audience by that +handsome, urbane, but by no means satisfactory pontiff, Pio Nono, who, +however, eight years later caused him to be summarily expelled from Rome +as a sorcerer in league with the Devil. + +Meantime, Home had ingratiated himself with a number of crowned heads-- +Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie, in whose presence he gave _seances_ +at the Tuileries, Fontainebleau, and Biarritz; the King of Prussia, by +whom he was received at Baden-Baden; and Queen Sophia of Holland, who gave +him hospitality at the Hague. On marrying a Russian lady, the daughter of +General Count de Kroll, he was favoured with presents by the Czar +Alexander II, and after returning to England became one of the +"attractions" of Milner-Gibson's drawing-room--Mrs. Gibson, a daughter of +the Rev. Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, being one of the early English +patronesses of so-called spiritualism, to a faith in which she was +"converted" by Home, whom she first met whilst travelling on the +Continent. I remember hearing no little talk about him in my younger days. +Thackeray's friend, Robert Bell, wrote an article about him in _The +Cornhill_, which was the subject of considerable discussion. Bell, I +think, was also mixed up in the affair of the "Davenport Brothers," one of +whose performances I remember witnessing. They were afterwards effectively +shown up in Paris by Vicomte Alfred de Caston. Home, for his part, was +scarcely taken seriously by the Parisians, and when, at a _seance_ given +in presence of the Empress Eugenie, he blundered grossly and repeatedly +about her father, the Count of Montijo, he received an intimation that his +presence at Court could be dispensed with. He then consoled himself by +going to Peterhof and exhibiting his powers to the Czar. + +Certain Scotch and English scientists, such as Dr. Lockhart Robertson, Dr. +Robert Chambers, and Dr. James Manby Gully--the apostle of hydropathy, who +came to grief in the notorious Bravo case--warmly supported Home. So did +Samuel Carter Hall and his wife, William Howitt, and Gerald Massey; and he +ended by establishing a so-called "Spiritual Athenaeum" in Sloane Street. +A wealthy widow of advanced years, a Mrs. Jane Lyon, became a subscriber +to that institution, and, growing infatuated with Home, made him a present +of some L30,000, and settled on him a similar amount to be paid at her +death. But after a year or two she repented of her infatuation, and took +legal proceedings to recover her money. She failed to substantiate some of +her charges, but Vice-Chancellor Giffard, who heard the case, decided it +in her favour, in his judgment describing Home as a needy and designing +man. Home, I should add, was at this time a widower and at loggerheads +with his late wife's relations in Russia, in respect to her property. + +Among the arts ascribed to Home was that called levitation, in practising +which he was raised in the air by an unseen and unknown force, and +remained suspended there; this being, so to say, the first step towards +human flying without the assistance of any biplane, monoplane, or other +mechanical contrivance. The first occasion on which Home is said to have +displayed this power was in the late fifties, when he was at a chateau +near Bordeaux as the guest of the widow of Theodore Ducos, the nephew of +Bonaparte's colleague in the Consulate. In the works put forward on Home's +behalf--one of them, called "Incidents in my Life," was chiefly written, +it appears, by his friend and solicitor, a Mr. W.M. Wilkinson--it is also +asserted that his power of levitation was attested in later years by Lord +Lindsay, subsequently Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, and by the present +Earl of Dunraven. We are told, indeed, that on one occasion the last-named +actually saw Home float out of a room by one window, and into it again by +another one. I do not know whether Home also favoured Professor Crookes +with any exhibition of this kind, but the latter certainly expressed an +opinion that some of Home's feats were genuine. + +When my father and I first met him at Versailles he was constantly in the +company of Lord Adare. He claimed to be acting as the correspondent of a +Californian journal, but his chief occupation appeared to be the giving of +_seances_ for the entertainment of all the German princes and princelets +staying at the Hotel des Reservoirs. Most of these highnesses and +mightinesses formed part of what the Germans themselves sarcastically +called their "Ornamental Staff," and as Moltke seldom allowed them any +real share in the military operations, they doubtless found in Home's +performances some relief from the _taedium vitae_ which overtook them +during their long wait for the capitulation of Paris. Now that Metz had +fallen, that was the chief question which occupied the minds of all the +Germans assembled at Versailles, [Note] and Home was called upon to +foretell when it would take place. On certain occasions, I believe, he +evoked the spirits of Frederick the Great, Napoleon, Bluecher, and others, +in order to obtain from them an accurate forecast. At another time he +endeavoured to peer into the future by means of crystal-gazing, in which +he required the help of a little child. "My experiments have not +succeeded," he said one day, while we were sitting with him at the cafe +near the Hotel des Reservoirs; "but that is not my fault. I need an +absolutely pure-minded child, and can find none here, for this French race +is corrupt from its very infancy." He was fasting at this time, taking +apparently nothing but a little _eau sucree_ for several days at a +stretch. "The spirits will not move me unless I do this," he said. "To +bring them to me, I have to contend against the material part of my +nature." + +[Note: The Germans regarded it as the more urgent at the time of my +arrival at Versailles, as only a few data previously (November 9), the new +French Army of the Loire under D'Aurelle de Paladines had defeated the +Bavarians at Coulmiers, and thereby again secured possession of Orleans.] + +A couple of years later, after another visit to St. Petersburg, where, +it seems, he was again well received by the Czar and again married a lady +of the Russian nobility, Home's health began to fail him, perhaps on +account of the semi-starvation to which at intervals he subjected himself. +I saw him occasionally during his last years, when, living at Auteuil, he +was almost a neighbour of mine. He died there in 1886, being then about +fifty-three years old. Personally, I never placed faith in him. I regarded +him at the outset with great curiosity, but some time before the war +I had read a good deal about Cagliostro, Saint Germain, Mesmer, and +other charlatans, also attending a lecture about them at the Salle des +Conferences; and all that, combined with the exposure of the Davenport +Brothers and other spiritualists and illusionists, helped to prejudice me +against such a man as Home. At the same time, this so-called "wizard of +the nineteenth century" was certainly a curious personality, possessed, I +presume, of considerable suggestive powers, which at times enabled him to +make others believe as he desired. We ought to have had Charcot's opinion +of his case. + +As it had taken my father and myself three days to reach Versailles from +Paris, and we could not tell what other unpleasant experiences the future +might hold in store for us, our pecuniary position gave rise to some +concern. I mentioned previously that we quitted the capital with +comparatively little money, and it now seemed as if our journey might +become a long and somewhat costly affair, particularly as the German staff +wished to send us off through Northern France and thence by way of +Belgium. On consulting Landells, Skinner, and some other correspondents, +it appeared that several days might elapse before we could obtain +remittances from England. On the other hand, every correspondent clung to +such money as he had in his possession, for living was very expensive at +Versailles, and at any moment some emergency might arise necessitating an +unexpected outlay. It was suggested, however, that we should apply to +Colonel Beauchamp Walker, who was the official British representative with +the German headquarters' staff, for, we were told, Parliament, in its +generosity, had voted a sum of L4000 to assist any needy British subjects +who might come out of Paris, and Colonel Walker had the handling of the +money in question. + +Naturally enough, my father began by demurring to this suggestion, saying +that he could not apply _in forma pauperis_ for charity. But it was +pointed out that he need do no such thing. "Go to Walker," it was said, +"explain your difficulty, and offer him a note of hand or a draft on the +_Illustrated_, and if desired half a dozen of us will back it." Some such +plan having been decided on, we called upon Colonel Walker on the second +or third day of our stay at Versailles. + +His full name was Charles Pyndar Beauchamp Walker. Born in 1817, he had +seen no little service. He had acted as an _aide-de-camp_ to Lord Lucan in +the Crimea, afterwards becoming Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon +Guards. He was in India during the final operations for the suppression of +the Mutiny, and subsequently in China during the Franco-British expedition +to that country. During the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 he was attached as +British Commissioner to the forces of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and +witnessed the battle of Koeniggratz. He served in the same capacity during +the Franco-German War, when he was at Weissenburg, Woerth, and Sedan. In +later years he became a major-general, a lieutenant-general, a K.C.B., and +Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards; and from 1878 until his retirement in +1884 he acted as Inspector General of military education. I have set out +those facts because I have no desire to minimise Walker's services and +abilities. But I cannot help smiling at a sentence which I found in the +account of him given in the "Dictionary of National Biography." It refers +to his duties during the Franco-German War, and runs as follows: "The +irritation of the Germans against England, and the number of roving +Englishmen, made his duty not an easy one, but he was well qualified for +it by his tact and geniality, and his action met with the full approval of +the Government." + +The Government in question would have approved anything. But let that +pass. We called on the colonel at about half-past eleven in the morning, +and were shown into a large and comfortably furnished room, where +decanters and cigars were prominently displayed on a central table. In ten +minutes' time the colonel appeared, arrayed in a beautiful figured +dressing-gown with a tasselled girdle. I knew that the British officer was +fond of discarding his uniform, and I was well aware that French officers +also did so when on furlough in Paris, but it gave my young mind quite a +shock to see her Majesty's military representative with King William +arrayed in a gaudy dressing-gown in the middle of the day. He seated +himself, and querulously inquired of my father what his business was. It +was told him very briefly. He frowned, hummed, hawed, threw himself back +in his armchair, and curtly exclaimed, "I am not a money-lender!" + +The fact that the _Illustrated London News_ was the world's premier +journal of its class went for nothing. The offers of the other +correspondents of the English Press to back my father's signature were +dismissed with disdain. When the colonel was reminded that he held a +considerable amount of money voted by Parliament, he retorted: "That is +for necessitous persons! But you ask me to _lend_ you money!" "Quite so," +my father replied; "I do not wish to be a charge on the Treasury. I simply +want a loan, as I have a difficult and perhaps an expensive journey before +me." "How much do you want?" snapped the colonel. "Well," said my father, +"I should feel more comfortable if I had a thousand francs (L40) in my +pocket." "Forty pounds!" cried Colonel Walker, as if lost in amazement. +And getting up from his chair he went on, in the most theatrical manner +possible: "Why, do you know, sir, that if I were to let you have forty +pounds, I might find myself in the greatest possible difficulty. +To-morrow--perhaps, even to-night--there might be hundreds of our +suffering fellow-countrymen outside the gates of Versailles, and I unable +to relieve them!" "But," said my father quietly, "you would still be +holding L3960, Colonel Walker." The colonel glared, and my father, not +caring to prolong such an interview, walked out of the room, followed by +myself. + +A good many of the poorer people who quitted Paris with us never repaired +to Versailles at all, but left us at Corbeil or elsewhere to make their +way across France as best they could. Another party, about one hundred +strong, was, however, subsequently sent out of the capital with the +assistance of Mr. Washburne, and in their case Colonel Walker had to +expend some money. But every grant was a very niggardly one, and it would +not surprise me to learn that the bulk of the money voted by Parliament +was ultimately returned to the Treasury--which circumstance would probably +account for the "full approval" which the Government bestowed on the +colonel's conduct at this period. He died early in 1894, and soon +afterwards some of his correspondence was published in a volume entitled +"Days of a Soldier's Life." On reading a review of that work in one of the +leading literary journals, I was struck by a passage in which Walker was +described as a disappointed and embittered man, who always felt that his +merits were not sufficiently recognized, although he was given a +knighthood and retired with the honorary rank of general. I presume +that his ambition was at least a viscounty, if not an earldom, and a +field-marshal's _baton_. + +On leaving the gentleman whose "tact and geniality" are commemorated in +the "Dictionary of National Biography," we repaired--my father and I--to +the cafe where most of the English newspaper men met. Several were there, +and my father was at once assailed with inquiries respecting his interview +with Colonel Walker. His account of it led to some laughter and a variety +of comments, which would scarcely have improved the colonel's temper. I +remember, however, that Captain, afterwards Colonel Sir, Henry Hozier, the +author of "The Seven Weeks' War," smiled quietly, but otherwise kept his +own counsel. At last my father was asked what he intended to do under the +circumstances, and he replied that he meant to communicate with England as +speedily as possible, and remain in the interval at Versailles, although +he particularly wished to get away. + +Now, it happened that among the customers at the cafe there were two +American officers, one being Brigadier-General Duff, a brother of Andrew +Halliday, the dramatic author and essayist, whose real patronymic was also +Duff. My father knew Halliday through their mutual friends Henry Mayhew +and the Broughs. The other American officer was Major-General William +Babcook Hazen, whose name will be found occasionally mentioned in that +popular record of President Garfield's career, "From Log Cabin to White +House." During the Civil War in the United States he had commanded a +division in Sherman's march to the sea. He also introduced the cold-wave +signal system into the American army, and in 1870-71 he was following the +operations of the Germans on behalf of his Government. + +I do not remember whether General Duff (who, I have been told, is still +alive) was also at Versailles in an official capacity, but in the course +of conversation he heard of my father's interview with Colonel Walker, and +spoke to General Hazen on the subject. Hazen did not hesitate, but came to +my father, had a brief chat with him, unbuttoned his uniform, produced a +case containing bank-notes, and asked my father how much he wanted, +telling him not to pinch himself. The whole transaction was completed in a +few minutes. My father was unwilling to take quite as much as he had asked +of Colonel Walker, but General Hazen handed him some L20 or L30 in notes, +one or two of which were afterwards changed, for a handsome consideration, +by one of the German Jews who then infested Versailles and profited by the +scarcity of gold. We were indebted, then, on two occasions to the +representatives of the United States. The _laisser-passer_ enabling us to +leave Paris had been supplied by Mr. Washburne, and the means of +continuing our journey in comfort were furnished by General Hazen. I raise +my hat to the memory of both those gentlemen. + +During the few days that we remained at Versailles, we caught glimpses of +King William and Bismarck, both of whom we had previously seen in Paris in +1867, when they were the guests of Napoleon III. I find in my diary a +memorandum, dictated perhaps by my father: "Bismarck much fatter and +bloated." We saw him one day leaving the Prefecture, where the King had +his quarters. He stood for a moment outside, chatting and laughing noisily +with some other German personages, then strode away with a companion. He +was only fifty-five years old, and was full of vigour at that time, even +though he might have put on flesh during recent years, and therefore have +renounced dancing--his last partner in the waltz having been Mme. Carette, +the Empress Eugenie's reader, whom he led out at one of the '67 balls at +the Tuileries. Very hale and hearty, too, looked the King whom Bismarck +was about to turn into an Emperor. Yet the victor of Sedan was already +seventy-three years old. I only saw him on horseback during my stay at +Versailles. My recollections of him, Bismarck, and Moltke, belong more +particularly to the year 1872, when I was in Berlin in connexion with the +famous meeting of the three Emperors. + +My father and myself had kept in touch with Mr. Wodehouse, from whom we +learnt that we should have to apply to the German General commanding +at Versailles with respect to any further safe-conducts. At first we were +informed that there could be no departure from the plan of sending us out +of France by way of Epernay, Reims, and Sedan, and this by no means +coincided with the desires of most of the Englishmen who had come out of +Paris, they wishing to proceed westward, and secure a passage across the +Channel from Le Havre or Dieppe. My father and myself also wanted to go +westward, but in order to make our way into Brittany, my stepmother and +her children being at Saint Servan, near Saint Malo. At last the German +authorities decided to give us the alternative routes of Mantes and Dreux, +the first-named being the preferable one for those people who were bound +for England. It was chosen also by my father, as the Dreux route would +have led us into a region where hostilities were in progress, and where we +might suddenly have found ourselves "held up." + +The entire party of British refugees was now limited to fifteen or sixteen +persons, some, tired of waiting, having taken themselves off by the Sedan +route, whilst a few others--such as coachmen and grooms--on securing +employment from German princes and generals, resolved to stay at +Versailles. Mr. Wodehouse also remained there for a short time. Previously +in poor health, he had further contracted a chill during our three days' +drive in an open vehicle. As most of those who were going on to England at +once now found themselves almost insolvent, it was arranged to pay their +expenses through the German lines, and to give each of them a sum of fifty +shillings, so that they might make their way Channelwards when they had +reached an uninvaded part of France. Colonel Walker, of course, parted +with as little money as possible. + +At Versailles it was absolutely impossible to hire vehicles to take us as +far as Mantes, but we were assured that conveyances might be procured at +Saint Germain-en-Laye; and it was thus that Dr. Russell lent my father his +little omnibus for the journey to the last-named town, at the same time +sending his courier to assist in making further arrangements. I do not +recollect that courier's nationality, but he spoke English, French, and +German, and his services were extremely useful. We drove to Saint Germain +by way of Rocquencourt, where we found a number of country-folk gathered +by the roadside with little stalls, at which they sold wine and fruit to +the German soldiers. This part of the environs of Paris seemed to have +suffered less than the eastern and southern districts. So far, there had +been only one sortie on this side--that made by Ducrot in the direction of +La Malmaison. It had, however, momentarily alarmed the investing forces, +and whilst we were at Versailles I learnt that, on the day in question, +everything had been got ready for King William's removal to Saint Germain +in the event of the French achieving a real success. But it proved to be a +small affair, Ducrot's force being altogether incommensurate with the +effort required of it. + +At Saint Germain, Dr. Russell's courier assisted in obtaining conveyances +for the whole of our party, and we were soon rolling away in the direction +of Mantes-la-Jolie, famous as the town where William the Conqueror, whilst +bent on pillage and destruction, received the injuries which caused his +death. Here we had to report ourselves to the German Commander, who, to +the general consternation, began by refusing its permission to proceed. He +did so because most of the safe-conducts delivered to us at Versailles, +had, in the first instance, only stated that we were to travel by way of +Sedan; the words "or Mantes or Dreux" being afterwards added between the +lines. That interlineation was irregular, said the General at Mantes; it +might even be a forgery; at all events, he could not recognize it, so we +must go back whence we had come, and quickly, too--indeed, he gave us just +half an hour to quit the town! But it fortunately happened that in a few +of the safe-conducts there was no interlineation whatever, the words +"Sedan or Mantes or Dreux" being duly set down in the body of the +document, and on this being pointed out, the General came to the +conclusion that we were not trying to impose on him. He thereupon +cancelled his previous order, and decided that, as dusk was already +falling, we might remain at Mantes that night, and resume our journey on +the morrow at 5.45 a.m., in the charge of a cavalry escort. + +Having secured a couple of beds, and ordered some dinner at one of the +inns, my father and I strolled about the town, which was full of Uhlans +and Hussars. The old stone bridge across the Seine had been blown up by +the French before their evacuation of the town, and a part of the railway +line had also been destroyed by them. But the Germans were responsible for +the awful appearance of the railway-station. Never since have I seen +anything resembling it. A thousand panes of glass belonging to windows or +roofing had been shivered to atoms. Every mirror in either waiting or +refreshment-rooms had been pounded to pieces; every gilt frame broken into +little bits. The clocks lay about in small fragments; account-books and +printed forms had been torn to scraps; partitions, chairs, tables, +benches, boxes, nests of drawers, had been hacked, split, broken, reduced +to mere strips of wood. The large stoves were overturned and broken, and +the marble refreshment counter--some thirty feet long, and previously one +of the features of the station--now strewed the floor in particles, +suggesting gravel. It was, indeed, an amazing sight, the more amazing as +no such work of destruction could have been accomplished without extreme +labour. When we returned to the inn for dinner, I asked some questions. +"Who did it?" "The first German troops that came here," was the answer. +"Why did they do it?--was it because your men had cut the telegraph wires +and destroyed some of the permanent way?" "Oh no! They expected to find +something to drink in the refreshment-room, and when they discovered that +everything had been taken away, they set about breaking the fixtures!" +Dear, nice, placid German soldiers, baulked, for a few minutes, of some of +the wine of France! + +In the morning we left Mantes by moonlight at the appointed hour, +unaccompanied, however, by any escort. Either the Commandant had forgotten +the matter, or his men had overslept themselves. In the outskirts, we were +stopped by a sentry, who carried our pass to a guard-house, where a +noncommissioned officer inspected it by the light of a lantern. Then on we +went again for another furlong or so, when we were once more challenged, +this time by the German advanced-post. As we resumed our journey, we +perceived, in the rear, a small party of Hussars, who did not follow us, +but wheeled suddenly to the left, bent, no doubt, on some reconnoitering +expedition. We were now beyond the German lines, and the dawn was +breaking. Yonder was the Seine, with several islands lying on its bosom, +and some wooded heights rising beyond it. Drawing nearer to the river, we +passed through the village of Rolleboise, which gives its name to the +chief tunnel on the Western Line, and drove across the debatable ground +where French Francstireurs were constantly on the prowl for venturesome +Uhlans. At last we got to Bonnieres, a little place of some seven or eight +hundred inhabitants, on the limits of Seine-et-Oise; and there we had to +alight, for the vehicles, which had brought us from Saint Germain, could +proceed no further. + +Fortunately, we secured others, and went on towards the village of +Jeufosse, where the nearest French outposts were established. We were +displaying the white flag, but the first French sentries we met, young +fellows of the Mobile Guard, refused for a little while to let us pass. +Eventually they referred the matter to an officer, who, on discovering +that we were English and had come from Paris, began to chat with us in a +very friendly manner, asking all the usual questions about the state of +affairs in the capital, and expressing the usual satisfaction that the +city could still hold out. When we took leave, he cordially wished us _bon +voyage_, and on we hastened, still following the course of the Seine, to +the little town of Vernon. Its inquisitive inhabitants at once surrounded +us, eager to know who we were, whence we had come, and whither we were +going. But we did not tarry many minutes, for we suddenly learnt that the +railway communication with Rouen only began at Gaillon, several leagues +further on, and that there was only one train a day. The question which +immediately arose was--could we catch it? + +On we went, then, once more, this time up, over, and down a succession of +steep hills, until at last we reached Gaillon station, and found to our +delight that the train would not start for another twenty minutes. All our +companions took tickets for Rouen, whence they intended to proceed to +Dieppe or Le Havre. But my father and I branched off before reaching the +Norman capital, and, after, arriving at Elbeuf, travelled through the +departments of the Eure and the Orne, passing Alencon on our way to Le +Mans. On two or three occasions we had to change from one train to +another. The travelling was extremely slow, and there were innumerable +stoppages. The lines were constantly encumbered with vans laden with +military supplies, and the stations were full of troops going in one and +another direction. In the waiting-rooms one found crowds of officers lying +on the couches, the chairs, and the tables, and striving to snatch a few +hours' sleep; whilst all over the floors and the platforms soldiers had +stretched themselves for the same purpose. Very seldom could any food be +obtained, but I luckily secured a loaf, some cheese, and a bottle of wine +at Alencon. It must have been about one o'clock in the morning when we at +last reached Le Mans, and found that there would be no train going to +Rennes for another four or five hours. + +The big railway-station of Le Mans was full of reinforcements for the Army +of the Loire. After strolling about for a few minutes, my father and I +sat down on the platform with our backs against a wall, for not a bench or +a stool was available. Every now and again some train prepared to start, +men were hastily mustered, and then climbed into all sorts of carriages +and vans. A belated general rushed along, accompanied by eager +_aides-de-camp_. Now and again a rifle slipped from the hand of some +Mobile Guard who had been imbibing too freely, and fell with a clatter on +the platform. Then stores were bundled into trucks, whistles sounded, +engines puffed, and meanwhile, although men were constantly departing, the +station seemed to be as crowded as ever. When at last I got up to stretch +myself, I noticed, affixed to the wall against which I had been leaning, a +proclamation of Gambetta's respecting D'Aurelle de Paladines' victory over +Von der Tann at Orleans. In another part of the station were lithographed +notices emanating from the Prefect of the department, and reciting a +variety of recent Government decrees and items of war news, skirmishes, +reconnaissances, and so forth. At last, however, our train came in. It was +composed almost entirely of third-class carriages with wooden seats, and +we had to be content with that accommodation. + +Another long and wearisome journey then began. Again we travelled slowly, +again there were innumerable stoppages, again we passed trains crowded +with soldiers, or crammed full of military stores. At some place where we +stopped there was a train conveying some scores of horses, mostly poor, +miserable old creatures. I looked and wondered at the sight of them. "They +have come from England," said a fellow-passenger; "every boat from +Southampton to Saint Malo brings over quite a number." It was unpleasant +to think that such sorry-looking beasts had been shipped by one's own +countrymen. However, we reached Rennes at last, and were there able to get +a good square meal, and also to send a telegram to my stepmother, +notifying her of our early arrival. It was, however, at a late hour that +we arrived at Saint Malo, whence we drove to La Petite Amelia at Saint +Servan. + +The latter town then contained a considerable colony of English people, +among whom the military element predominated. Quite a number of half-pay +or retired officers had come to live there with their families, finding +Jersey overcrowded and desiring to practise economy. The colony also +included several Irish landlords in reduced circumstances, who had quitted +the restless isle to escape assassination at the hands of "Rory of the +Hills" and folk of his stamp. In addition, there were several maiden +ladies of divers ages, but all of slender means; one or two courtesy lords +of high descent, but burdened with numerous offspring; together with a +riding-master who wrote novels, and an elderly clergyman appointed by the +Bishop of Gibraltar. I dare say there may have been a few black sheep in +the colony; but the picture which Mrs. Annie Edwardes gave of it in her +novel, "Susan Fielding," was exaggerated, though there was truth in the +incidents which she introduced into another of her works, "Ought We to +Visit Her?" On the whole, the Saint Servan colony was a very respectable +one, even if it was not possessed of any great means. Going there during +my holidays, I met many young fellows of my own age or thereabouts, and +mostly belonging to military families. There were also several charming +girls, both English and Irish. With the young fellows I boated, with the +young ladies I played croquet. + +Now, whilst my father and I had been shut up in Paris, we had frequently +written to my stepmother by balloon-post, and on some of our letters being +shown to the clergyman of the colony, he requested permission to read them +to his congregation--which he frequently did, omitting, of course, the +more private passages, but giving all the items of news and comments on +the situation which the letters contained. As a matter of fact, this +helped the reverend gentleman out of a difficulty. He was an excellent +man, but, like many others of his cloth, he did not know how to preach. In +fact, a year or two later, I myself wrote one or two sermons for him, +working into them certain matters of interest to the colony. During the +earlier part of the siege of Paris, however, the reading of my father's +letters and my own from the pulpit at the close of the usual service saved +the colony's pastor from the trouble of composing a bad sermon, or of +picking out an indifferent one from some forgotten theological work. My +father, on arriving at Saint Servan, secluded himself as far as possible, +so as to rest awhile before proceeding to England; but I went about much +as usual; and my letters read from the pulpit, and sundry other matters, +having made me a kind of "public character," I was at once pounced upon in +the streets, carried off to the club and to private houses, and there +questioned and cross-questioned by a dozen or twenty Crimean and Indian +veteran officers who were following the progress of the war with a +passionate interest. + +A year or two previously, moreover, my stepmother had formed a close +friendship with one of the chief French families of the town. The father, +a retired officer of the French naval service, was to have commanded a +local Marching Battalion, but he unfortunately sickened and died, leaving +his wife with one daughter, a beautiful girl who was of about my own age. +Now, this family had been joined by the wife's parents, an elderly couple, +who, on the approach of the Germans to Paris, had quitted the suburb where +they resided. I was often with these friends at Saint Servan, and on +arriving there from Paris, our conversation naturally turned on the war. +As the old gentleman's house in the environs of the capital was well +within the French lines, he had not much reason to fear for its safety, +and, moreover, he had taken the precaution to remove his valuables into +the city. But he was sorely perturbed by all the conflicting news +respecting the military operations in the provinces, the reported +victories which turned out to be defeats, the adverse rumours concerning +the condition of the French forces, the alleged scandal of the Camp of +Conlie, where the more recent Breton levies were said to be dying off like +rotten sheep, and many other matters besides. Every evening when I called +on these friends the conversation was the same. The ladies, the +grandmother, the daughter, and the granddaughter, sat there making +garments for the soldiers or preparing lint for the wounded--those being +the constant occupations of the women of Brittany during all the hours +they could spare from their household duties--and meanwhile the old +gentleman discussed with me both the true and the spurious news of the +day. The result of those conversations was that, as soon as my father +had betaken himself to England, I resolved to go to the front myself, +ascertain as much of the truth as I could, and become, indeed, a +war-correspondent on "my own." In forming that decision I was influenced, +moreover, by one of those youthful dreams which life seldom, if ever, +fulfils. + + + +IX + +THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + +First Efforts of the National Defence Delegates--La Motte-Rouge and his +Dyed Hair--The German Advance South of Paris--Moltke and King William-- +Bourges, the German Objective--Characteristics of Beauce, Perche, and +Sologne--French Evacuation of Orleans--Gambetta arrives at Tours--His +Coadjutor, Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet--Total Forces of the +National Defence on Gambetta's Arrival--D'Aurelle de Paladines supersedes +La Motte-Rouge--The Affair of Chateaudun--Cambriels--Garibaldi--Jessie +White Mario--Edward Vizetelly--Catholic Hatred of Garibaldi--The Germans +at Dijon--The projected Relief of Paris--Trochu's Errors and Ducrot's +Schemes--The French Victory of Coulmiers--Change of Plan in Paris--My +Newspaper Work--My Brother Adrian Vizetelly--The General Position. + + +When I reached Brittany, coming from Paris, early in the second fortnight +of November, the Provincial Delegation of the Government of National +Defence was able to meet the Germans with very considerable forces. But +such had not been the case immediately after Sedan. As I pointed out +previously--quite apart from the flower of the old Imperial Army, which +was beleaguered around Metz--a force far too large for mere purposes of +defence was confined within the lines with which the Germans invested +Paris. In the provinces, the number of troops ready to take the field was +very small indeed. Old Cremieux, the Minister of Justice, was sent out of +Paris already on September 12, and took with him a certain General Lefort, +who was to attend to matters of military organization in the provinces. +But little or no confidence was placed in the resources there. The +military members of the National Defence Government--General Trochu, its +President, and General Le Flo, its Minister of War, had not the slightest +idea that provincial France might be capable of a great effort. They +relied chiefly on the imprisoned army of Paris, as is shown by all their +despatches and subsequent apologies. However, Glais-Bizoin followed +Cremieux to Tours, where it had been arranged that the Government +Delegation should instal itself, and he was accompanied by Admiral +Fourichon, the Minister of Marine. On reaching the Loire region, the new +authorities found a few battalions of Mobile Guards, ill-armed and +ill-equipped, a battalion of sharpshooters previously brought from +Algeria, one or two batteries of artillery, and a cavalry division of four +regiments commanded by General Reyau. This division had been gathered +together in the final days of the Empire, and was to have been sent to +Mezieres, to assist MacMahon in his effort to succour Bazaine; but on +failing to get there, it had made just a few vain attempts to check the +Germans in their advance on Paris, and had then fallen back to the south +of the capital. + +General Lefort's first task was to collect the necessary elements for an +additional army corps--the 15th--and he summoned to his assistance the +veteran General de la Motte-Rouge, previously a very capable officer, but +now almost a septuagenarian, whose particular fad it was to dye his hair, +and thereby endeavour to make himself look no more than fifty. No doubt, +hi the seventeenth century, the famous Prince de Conde with the eagle +glance took a score of wigs with him when he started on a campaign; but +even such a practice as that is not suited to modern conditions of +warfare, though be it admitted that it takes less time to change one's wig +than to have one's hair dyed. The latter practice may, of course, help a +man to cut a fine figure on parade, but it is of no utility in the field. +In a controversy which arose after the publication of Zola's novel "La +Debaole," there was a conflict of evidence as to whether the cheeks of +Napoleon III were or were not rouged in order to conceal his ghastly +pallor on the fatal day of Sedan. That may always remain a moot point; but +it is, I think, certain that during the last two years of his rule his +moustache and "imperial" were dyed. + +But let me return to the National Defence. Paris, as I formerly mentioned, +was invested on September 19. On the 22nd a Bavarian force occupied the +village of Longjumeau, referred to in my account of my journey to +Versailles. A couple of days later, the Fourth Division of German cavalry, +commanded by Prince Albert (the elder) of Prussia, started southward +through the departments of Eure-et-Loir and Loiret, going towards Artenay +in the direction of Orleans. This division, which met at first with little +opposition, belonged to a force which was detached from the main army +of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and placed under the command of the +Grand-Duke Frederick Francis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Near this +"Armee-Abtheilung," as the Germans called it, was the first Bavarian army +corps, which had fought at Bazeilles on the day of Sedan. It was commanded +by General von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, commonly called Von der +Tann, _tout court_. + +As Prince Albert of Prussia, on drawing near to Artenay, found a good many +French soldiers, both regulars and irregulars, that is Francs-tireurs, +located in the district, he deemed it best to retire on Toury and +Pithiviers. But his appearance so far south had sufficed to alarm the +French commander at Orleans, General de Polhes, who at once, ordered his +men to evacuate the city and retire, partly on Blois, and partly on La +Motte-Beuvron. This pusillanimity incensed the Delegates of the National +Defence, and Polhes was momentarily superseded by General Reyau, and later +(October 5) by La Motte-Rouge. + +It is known, nowadays, that the Germans were at first perplexed as to the +best course to pursue after they had completed the investment of Paris. +Moltke had not anticipated a long siege of the French capital. He had +imagined that the city would speedily surrender, and that the war would +then come to an end. Fully acquainted with the tract of country lying +between the Rhine and Paris, he had much less knowledge of other parts of +France; and, moreover, although he had long known how many men could be +placed in the field by the military organisation of the Empire, he +undoubtedly underestimated the further resources of the French, and did +not anticipate any vigorous provincial resistance. His sovereign, King +William, formed a more correct estimate respecting the prolongation of the +struggle, and, as was mentioned by me in my previous book--"Republican +France"--he more than once rectified the mistakes which were made by the +great German strategist. + +The invader's objective with respect to central France was Bourges, the +old capital of Berry, renowned for its ordnance and ammunition works, and, +in the days when the troops of our Henry V overran France, the scene of +Charles VII's retirement, before he was inspirited either by Agnes Sorel +or by Joan of Arc. To enable an army coming from the direction of Paris to +seize Bourges, it is in the first instance necessary--as a reference to +any map of France will show--to secure possession of Orleans, which is +situated at the most northern point, the apex, so to say, of the course of +the Loire, and is only about sixty-eight miles from Paris. At the same +time it is advisable that any advance upon Orleans should be covered, +westward, by a corresponding advance on Chartres, and thence on +Chateaudun. This became the German plan, and whilst a force under General +von Wittich marched on Chartres, Von der Tann's men approached Orleans +through the Beauce region. + +From the forest of Dourdan on the north to the Loire on the south, and +from the Chartres region on the west to the Gatinais on the east, this +great grain-growing plateau (the scene of Zola's famous novel "La Terre") +is almost level. Although its soil is very fertile there are few +watercourses in Beauce, none of them, moreover, being of a nature to +impede the march of an army. The roads are lined with stunted elms, and +here and there a small copse, a straggling farm, a little village, may be +seen, together with many a row of stacks, the whole forming in late autumn +and in winter--when hurricanes, rain, and snow-storms sweep across the +great expanse--as dreary a picture as the most melancholy-minded +individual could desire. Whilst there is no natural obstacle to impede the +advance of an invader, there is also no cover for purposes of defence. All +the way from Chartres to Orleans the high-road is not once intersected by +a river. Nearly all of the few streams which exist thereabouts run from +south to north, and they supply no means of defence against an army coming +from the direction of Paris. The region is one better suited for the +employment of cavalry and artillery than for that of foot-soldiers. + +The Chartres country is better watered than Beaude. Westward, in both +of the districts of Perche, going either towards Mortagne or towards +Nogent-le-Rotrou, the country is more hilly and more wooded; and hedges, +ditches, and dingle paths abound there. In such districts infantry can +well be employed for defensive purposes. Beyond the Loir--not the Loire-- +S.S.W. of Chartres, is the Pays Dunois, that is the district of +Chateaudun, a little town protected on the north and the west by the Loir +and the Conie, and by the hills between which those rivers flow, but open +to any attack on the east, from which direction, indeed, the Germans +naturally approached it. + +Beyond the Loire, to the south-east of Beauce and Orleans, lies the +sheep-breeding region called Sologne, which the Germans would have had to +cross had they prosecuted their intended march on Bourges. Here cavalry +and artillery are of little use, the country abounding in streams, ponds, +and marshes. Quite apart, however, from natural obstacles, no advance on +Bourges could well be prosecuted so long as the French held Orleans; and +even when that city had fallen into the hands of the Germans, the presence +of large French forces on the west compelled the invaders to carry +hostilities in that direction and abandon their projected march southward. +Thus the campaign in which I became interested was carried on principally +in the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, and Sarthe, to +terminate, at last, in Mayenne. + +Great indiscipline prevailed among the troops whom La Motte-Rouge had +under his orders. An attack by Von der Tann to the north of Orleans on +October 10, led to the retreat of a part of the French forces. On the +following day, when the French had from 12,000 to 13,000 men engaged, they +were badly defeated, some 1800 of their men being put _hors de combat_, +and as many being taken prisoners. This reverse, which was due partly to +some mistakes made by La Motte-Rouge, and partly to the inferior quality +of his troops, led to the immediate evacuation of Orleans. Now, it was +precisely at this moment that Gambetta appeared upon the scene. He had +left Paris, it will be remembered, on October 7; on the 8th he was at +Rouen, on the 9th he joined the other Government delegates at Tours, and +on the 10th--the eve of La Motte-Rouge's defeat--he became Minister of War +as well as Minister of the Interior. + +Previously the portfolio for war had been held in the provinces by Admiral +Fourichon, with General Lefort as his assistant; but Fourichon had +resigned in connexion with a Communalist rising which had taken place at +Lyons towards the end of September, when the Prefect, Challemel-Lacour, +was momentarily made a prisoner by the insurgents, but was afterwards +released by some loyal National Guards. [See my book, "The Anarchists: +Their Faith and their Record," John Lane, 1911.] Complaining that General +Mazure, commander of the garrison, had not done his duty on this occasion, +Challemel-Lacour caused him to be arrested, and Fourichon, siding with the +general, thereupon resigned the War Ministry, Cremieux taking it over +until Gambetta's arrival. It may well be asked how one could expect the +military affairs of France to prosper when they were subordinated to such +wretched squabbles. + +Among the men whom Gambetta found at Tours, was an engineer, who, +after the Revolution of September 4, had been appointed Prefect of +Tarn-et-Garonne, but who, coming into conflict with the extremists of +Montauban, much as Challemel-Lacour had come into conflict with those of +Lyons, had promptly resigned his functions. His name was Charles Louis de +Saulces de Freycinet, and, though he was born at Foix near the Pyrenees, +he belonged to an ancient family of Dauphine. At this period (October, +1870), Freycinet had nearly completed his forty-second year. After +qualifying as an engineer at the Ecole Polytechnique, he had held various +posts at Mont-de-Marsan, Chartres, and Bordeaux, before securing in 1864 +the position of traffic-manager to the Chemin de Fer du Midi. Subsequently +he was entrusted with various missions abroad, and in 1869 the Institute +of France crowned a little work of his on the employment of women and +children in English factories. Mining engineering was his speciality, but +he was extremely versatile and resourceful, and immediately attracted the +notice of Gambetta. Let it be said to the latter's credit that in that +hour of crisis he cast all prejudices aside. He cared nothing for the +antecedents of any man who was willing to cooperate in the defence of +France; and thus, although Freycinet came of an ancient-aristocratic +house, and had made his way under the Empire, which had created him first +a chevalier and then an officer of the Legion of Honour, Gambetta at once +selected him to act as his chef-de-cabinet, and delegate in military +affairs. + +At this moment the National Defence had in or ready for the field only +40,000 regular infantry, a like number of Mobile Guards, from 5000 to 6000 +cavalry, and about 100 guns, some of antiquated models and with very few +men to serve them. There were certainly a good many men at various +regimental depots, together with Mobile Guards and National Guards in all +the uninvaded provinces of France; but all these had to be drilled, +equipped, and armed. That was the first part of the great task which lay +before Gambetta and Freycinet. Within a month, however--leaving aside what +was done in other parts of the country--France had on the Loire alone an +army of 100,000 men, who for a moment, at all events, turned the tide of +war. At the same time I would add that, before Gambetta's arrival on the +scene, the National Defence Delegates had begun to concentrate some small +bodies of troops both in Normandy and in Picardy and Artois, the latter +forming the first nucleus of the Army of the North which Faidherbe +afterwards commanded. Further, in the east of France there was a force +under General Cambriels, whose object was to cut the German communications +in the Vosges. + +Von der Tann, having defeated La Motte-Rouge, occupied Orleans, whilst the +French withdrew across the Loire to La Motte-Beuvron and Gien, south and +south-east of their former position. Gambetta had to take action +immediately. He did so by removing La Motte-Rouge from his command, which +he gave to D'Aurelle de Paladines. The latter, a general on the reserve +list, with a distinguished record, was in his sixty-sixth year, having +been born at Languedoc in 1804. He had abilities as an organiser, and was +known to be a disciplinarian, but he was growing old, and looked +confidence both in himself and in his men. At the moment of D'Aurelle's +appointment, Von der Tann wished to advance on Bourges, in accordance with +Moltke's instructions, and, in doing so, he proposed to evacuate Orleans; +but this was forbidden by King William and the Crown Prince, and in the +result the Bavarian general suffered a repulse at Salbris, which checked +his advance southward. Still covering Bourges and Vierzon, D'Aurelle soon +had 60,000 men under his orders, thanks to the efforts of Gambetta and +Freyeinet. But the enemy were now making progress to the west of Orleans, +in which direction the tragic affair of Chateaudun occurred on October 18. +The German column operating on that side under General von Wittich, +consisted of 6000 infantry, four batteries, and a cavalry regiment, which +advanced on Chateaudun from the east, and, on being resisted by the +villagers of Varize and Civry, shot them down without mercy, and set all +their houses (about 130 in number) on fire. Nevertheless, that punishment +did not deter the National Guards of Chateaudun, and the Francs-tireurs +who had joined them, from offering the most strenuous opposition to the +invaders, though the latter's numerical superiority alone was as seven +to one. The fierce fight was followed by terrible scenes. Most of the +Francs-tireurs, who had not fallen in the engagement, effected a retreat, +and on discovering this, the infuriated Germans, to whom the mere name of +Franc-tireur was as a red rag to a bull, did not scruple to shoot down a +number of non-combatants, including women and children. + +I remember the excitement which the news of the Chateaudun affair +occasioned in besieged Paris; and when I left the capital a few weeks +later I heard it constantly spoken of. In vain did the Germans strive to +gloss over the truth. The proofs were too numerous and the reality was too +dreadful. Two hundred and thirty-five of the devoted little town's houses +were committed to the flames. For the first time in the whole course of +the war women were deliberately assaulted, and a couple of German Princes +disgraced their exalted station in a drunken and incendiary orgie. + +Meantime, in the east of France, Cambriels had failed in his attempt to +cut the German communications, and had been compelled to beat a retreat. +It must be said for him that his troops were a very sorry lot, who could +not be depended upon. Not only were they badly disciplined and addicted to +drunkenness, but they took to marauding and pillage, and were in no degree +a match for the men whom the German General von Werder led against them. +Garibaldi, the Italian Liberator, had offered his sword to France, soon +after the fall of the Second Empire. On October 8--that is, a day before +Gambetta--he arrived at Tours, to arrange for a command, like that of +Cambriels, in the east of France. The little Army of the Vosges, which was +eventually constituted under his orders, was made up of very heterogeneous +elements. Italians, Switzers, Poles, Hungarians, Englishmen, as well as +Frenchmen, were to be found in its ranks. The general could not be called +a very old man, being indeed only sixty-three years of age, but he had led +an eventful and arduous life; and, as will be remembered, ever since the +affair of Aspromonte in 1862, he had been lame, and had gradually become +more and more infirm. He had with him, however, two of his sons, Menotti +and Ricoiotti (the second a more competent soldier than the first), +and several, able men, such as his compatriot Lobbia, and the Pole, +Bosak-Hauke. His chief of staff, Bordone, previously a navy doctor, was, +however, a very fussy individual who imagined himself to be a military +genius. Among the Englishmen with Garibaldi were Robert Middleton and my +brother Edward Vizetelly; and there was an Englishwoman, Jessie White +Mario, daughter of White the boat-builder of Cowes, and widow of Mario, +Garibaldi's companion in arms in the glorious Liberation days. My brother +often told me that Mme. Mario was equally at home in an ambulance or in a +charge, for she was an excellent nurse and an admirable horsewoman as well +as a good shot. She is one of the women of whom I think when I hear or +read that the members of the completing sex cannot fight. But that of +course is merely the opinion of some medical and newspaper men. + +Mme. Mario contributed a certain number of articles to the _Daily News_. +So did my brother--it was indeed as _Daily News_ correspondent that he +first joined Garibaldi's forces--but he speedily became an orderly to the +general, and later a captain on the staff. He was at the battles of Dijon +and Autun, and served under Lobbia in the relief of Langres. Some French +historians of these later days have written so slightingly of the little +Army of the Vosges, that I am sorry my brother did not leave any permanent +record of his experiences. Garibaldi's task was no easy one. In the first +instance, the National Defence hesitated to employ him; secondly, they +wished to subordinate him to Cambriels, and he declined to take any such +position; not that he objected to serve under any superior commander +who would treat him fairly, but because he, Garibaldi, was a freethinker, +and knew that he was bitterly detested by the fervently Catholic generals, +such as Cambriels. As it happened, he secured an independent command. But +in exercising it he had to co-operate with Cambriels in various ways, and +in later years my brother told me how shamefully Cambriels acted more than +once towards the Garibaldian force. It was indeed a repetition of what had +occurred at the very outset of the war, when such intense jealousy had +existed among certain marshals and generals that one had preferred to let +another be defeated rather than march "at the sound of the guns" to his +assistance. + +I also remember my brother telling me that when Langres (which is in the +Haute Marne, west of the Aube and the Cote d'Or) was relieved by Lobbia's +column, the commander of the garrison refused at first to let the +Garibaldians enter the town. He was prepared to surrender to the Germans, +if necessary; but the thought that he, a devout Catholic, should owe any +assistance to such a band of unbelieving brigands as the Garibaldian +enemies of the Pope was absolutely odious to him. Fortunately, this kind +of feeling did not show itself in western France. There was, at one +moment, some little difficulty respecting the position of Cathelineau, the +descendant of the famous Vendeen leader, but, on the whole, Catholics, +Royalists, and Republicans loyally supported one another, fired by a +common patriotism. + +The failure of Cambriel's attempts to cut the German communications, and +the relatively small importance of the Garibaldian force, inspired +Gambetta with the idea of forming a large Army of the East which, with +Langres, Belfort, and Besancon as its bases, would vigorously assume the +offensive in that part of France. Moltke, however, had already sent +General von Werder orders to pursue the retreating Cambriels. Various +engagements, late in October, were followed by a German march on Dijon. +There were at this time 12,000 or 13,000 Mobile Guards in the Cote d'Or, +but no general in command of them. Authority was exercised by a civilian, +Dr. Lavalle. The forces assembled at Dijon and Beaune amounted, inclusive +of regulars and National Guards, to about 20,000 men, but they were very +badly equipped and armed, and their officers were few in number and of +very indifferent ability. Werder came down on Dijon in a somewhat +hesitating way, like a man who is not sure of his ground or of the +strength of the enemy in front of him. But the French were alarmed by his +approach, and on October 30 Dijon was evacuated, and soon afterwards +occupied by Werder with two brigades. + +Three days previously Metz had surrendered, and France was reeling under +the unexpected blow in spite of all the ardent proclamations with which +Gambetta strove to impart hope and stimulate patriotism. Bazaine's +capitulation naturally implied the release of the forces under Prince +Frederick Charles, by which he had been invested, and their transfer to +other parts of France for a more vigorous prosecution of the invasion. +Werder, after occupying Dijon, was to have gone westward through the +Nivernais in order to assist other forces in the designs on Bourges. But +some days before Metz actually fell, Moltke sent him different +instructions, setting forth that he was to take no further account of +Bourges, but to hold Dijon, and concentrate at Vesoul, keeping a watch on +Langres and Besancon. For a moment, however, 3600 French under an officer +named Fauconnet suddenly recaptured Dijon, though there were more than +10,000 Badeners installed there under General von Beyer. Unfortunately +Fauconnet was killed in the affair, a fresh evacuation of the Burgundian +capital ensued, and the Germans then remained in possession of the city +for more than a couple of months. + +In the west the army of the Loire was being steadily increased and +consolidated, thanks to the untiring efforts of Gambetta, Freycinet, +and D'Aurelle, the last of whom certainly contributed largely to the +organization of the force, though he was little inclined to quit his lines +and assume the offensive. It was undoubtedly on this army that Gambetta +based his principal hopes. The task assigned to it was greater than those +allotted to any of the other armies which were gradually assuming +shape--being, indeed, the relief of beleaguered Paris. + +Trochu's own memoirs show that at the outset of the siege his one thought +was to remain on the defensive. In this connexion it is held, nowadays, +that he misjudged the German temperament, that remembering the vigorous +attempts of the Allies on Sebastopol--he was, as we know, in the Crimea, +at the time--he imagined that the Germans would make similarly vigorous +attempts on Paris. He did not expect a long and so to say passive siege, a +mere blockade during which the investing army would simply content itself +with repulsing the efforts of the besieged to break through its lines. He +knew that the Germans had behaved differently in the case of Strasbourg +and some other eastern strongholds, and anticipated a similar line of +action with respect to the French capital. But the Germans preferred to +follow a waiting policy towards both Metz and Paris. It has been said that +this was less the idea of Moltke than that of Bismarck, whose famous +phrase about letting the Parisians stew in their own juice will be +remembered. But one should also recollect that both Metz and Paris were +defended by great forces, and that there was little likelihood of any +_coup de main_ succeeding; whilst, as for bombardment, though it might +have some moral, it would probably have very little material effect. Metz +was not really bombarded, and the attempt to bombard Paris was deferred +for several months. When it at last took place a certain number of +buildings were damaged, 100 persons were killed and 200 persons wounded--a +material effect which can only be described as absolutely trivial in the +case of so great and so populous a city. + +Trochu's idea to remain merely on the defensive did not appeal to his +coadjutor General Ducrot. The latter had wished to break through the +German lines on the day of Sedan, and he now wished to break through them +round Paris. Various schemes occurred to him. One was to make a sortie in +the direction of Le Bourget and the plain of Saint Denis, but it seemed +useless to attempt to break out on the north, as the Germans held Laon, +Soissons, La Fere, and Amiens. There was also an idea of making an attempt +on the south, in the direction of Villejuif, but everything seemed to +indicate that the Germans were extremely strong on this side of the city +and occupied no little of the surrounding country. The question of a +sortie on the east, across the Marne, was also mooted and dismissed for +various reasons; the idea finally adopted being to break out by way of +the Gennevilliers peninsula formed by the course of the Seine on the +north-west, and then (the heights of Cormeil having been secured) to cross +the Oise, and afterwards march on Rouen, where it would be possible to +victual the army. Moreover, instructions were to be sent into the +provinces in order that both the forces on the Loire and those in the +north might bear towards Normandy, and there join the army from Paris, in +such wise that there would be a quarter of a million men between Dieppe, +Rouen, and Caen. Trochu ended by agreeing to this scheme, and even +entertained a hope that he might be able to revictual Paris by way of the +Seine, for which purpose a flotilla of boats was prepared. Ducrot and he +expected to be ready by November 15 or 20, but it is said that they were +hampered in their preparations by the objections raised by Guiod and +Chabaud-Latour, the former an engineer, and the latter an artillery +general. Moreover, the course of events in the provinces suddenly caused a +complete reversal of Ducrot's plans. + +On November 9, D'Aurelle de Paladines defeated Von der Tann at Coulmiers, +west of Orleans. The young French troops behaved extremely well, but the +victory not being followed up with sufficient vigour by D'Aurelle, +remained somewhat incomplete, though it constrained the Germans to +evacuate Orleans. On the whole this was the first considerable success +achieved by the French since the beginning of the war, and it did much to +revive the spirits which had been drooping since the fall of Metz. Another +of its results was to change Ducrot's plans respecting the Paris sortie. +He and Trochu had hitherto taken little account of the provincial armies, +and the success of Coulmiers came to them as a surprise and a revelation. +There really was an army of the Loire, then, and it was advancing on Paris +from Orleans. The Parisian forces must therefore break out on the +south-east and join hands with this army of relief in or near the forest +of Fontainebleau. Thus, all the preparations for a sortie by way of +Gennevilliers were abandoned, and followed by others for an attempt in the +direction of Champigny. + +Such was roughly the position at the time when I reached Brittany and +conceived the idea of joining the French forces on the Loire and +forwarding some account of their operations to England. During my stay in +Paris with my father I had assisted him in preparing several articles, and +had written others on my own account. My eldest brother, Adrian Vizetelly, +was at this time assistant-secretary at the Institution of Naval +Architects. He had been a student at the Royal School of Naval +Architecture with the Whites, Elgars, Yarrows, Turnbulls, and other famous +shipbuilders, and on quitting it had taken the assistant-secretaryship in +question as an occupation pending some suitable vacancy in the Government +service or some large private yard. The famous naval constructor, E. J. +Reed, had started in life in precisely the same post, and it was, indeed, +at his personal suggestion that my brother took it. A year or two later he +and his friend Dr. Francis Elgar, subsequently Director of Dockyards and +one of the heads of the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, were assisting +Reed to run his review _Naval Science_. At the time of the Franco-German +war, however, my brother, then in his twenty-sixth year, was writing on +naval subjects for the _Daily News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette,_ edited +respectively by John Robinson and Frederick Greenwood. A few articles +written by me during my siege days were sent direct to the latter by +balloon-post, but I knew not what their fate might be. The _Pall Mall_ +might be unable to use them, and there was no possibility of their being +returned to me in Paris. My father, whom I assisted in preparing a variety +of articles, suggested that everything of this kind--that is, work not +intended for the _Illustrated London News_--should be sent to my brother +for him to deal with as opportunity offered. He placed a few articles with +_The Times_--notably some rather long ones on the fortifications and +armament of Paris, whilst others went to the _Daily News_ and the _Pall +Mall_. + +When, after coming out of Paris, I arrived in Brittany, I heard that +virtually everything sent from the capital by my father or myself had been +used in one or another paper, and was not a little pleased to receive a +draft on a Saint Malo banking-house for my share of the proceeds. This +money enabled me to proceed, in the first instance, in the direction of Le +Mans, which the Germans were already threatening. Before referring, +however, to my own experiences I must say something further respecting the +general position. The battle of Coulmiers (November 9) was followed by a +period of inaction on the part of the Loire Army. Had D'Aurelle pursued +Von der Tann he might have turned his barren victory to good account. But +he had not much confidence in his troops, and the weather was bad--sleet +and snow falling continually. Moreover, the French commander believed that +the Bavarian retreat concealed a trap. At a conference held between him, +Gambetta, Freyoinet, and the generals at the head of the various army +corps, only one of the latter---Chanzy--favoured an immediate march on +Paris. Borel, who was chief of D'Aurelle's staff, proposed to confine +operations to an advance on Chartres, which would certainly have been a +good position to occupy, for it would have brought the army nearer to the +capital, giving it two railway lines, those of Le Mans and Granville, for +revictualling purposes, and enabling it to retreat on Brittany in the +event of any serious reverse. But no advance at all was made. The Germans +were allowed all necessary time to increase their forces, the French +remaining inactive within D'Aurelle's lines, and their _morale_ steadily +declining by reason of the hardships to which they were subjected. The +general-in-chief refused to billet them in the villages--for fear, said +he, of indiscipline--and compelled them to bivouack, under canvas, in the +mud; seldom, moreover, allowing any fires to be kindled. For a score of +days did this state of affairs continue, and the effect of it was seen at +the battle of Beaune-la-Rolande. + +The responsibility for the treatment of the troops rests on D'Aurelle's +memory and that of some of his fellow-generals. Meantime, Gambetta and +Freycinet were exerting themselves to improve the situation generally. +They realized that the release of Prince Frederick Charles's forces from +the investment of Metz necessitated the reinforcement of the Army of the +Loire, and they took steps accordingly. Cambriels had now been replaced in +eastern France by a certain General Michel, who lost his head and was +superseded by his comrade Crouzat. The last-named had with him 30,000 men +and 40 guns to contend against the 21,000 men and the 70 guns of Werder's +army. In order to strengthen the Loire forces, however, half of Crouzat's +men and he himself received orders to approach Orleans by way of Nevers +and Gien, the remainder of his army being instructed to retire on Lyons, +in order to quiet the agitation prevailing in that city, which regarded +itself as defenceless and complained bitterly thereof, although there was +no likelihood at all of a German attack for at least some time to come. + +The new arrangements left Garibaldi chief commander in eastern France, +though the forces directly under his orders did not at this time exceed +5000 men, and included, moreover, no fewer than sixty petty free-corps, +who cared little for discipline. [There were women in several of these +companies, one of the latter including no fewer than eighteen amazons.] +A month or two previously the advent of from twenty to thirty thousand +Italian volunteers had been confidently prophesied, but very few of these +came forward. Nevertheless, Ricciotti Garibaldi (with whom was my brother +Edward) defeated a German force in a sharp engagement at Chatillon-sur- +Seine (November 19), and a week later the Garibaldians made a gallant +attempt to recapture the city of Dijon. Five thousand men, however, were +of no avail against an army corps; and thus, even if the Garibaldian +attack had momentarily succeeded, it would have been impossible to hold +Dijon against Werder's troops. The attempt having failed, the German +commander resolved to crush the Army of the Vosges, which fled and +scattered, swiftly pursued by a brigade under General von Keller. Great +jealousy prevailed at this moment among the French generals in command of +various corps which might have helped the Garibaldians. Bressolles, +Crevisier, and Cremer were at loggerheads. On November 30 the last-named +fought an indecisive action at Nuits, followed nearly three weeks later by +another in which he claimed the victory. + +Meantime, Crouzat's force, now known as the 20th Army Corps, had been +moving on Nevers. To assist the Loire Army yet further, General Bourbaki +had been summoned from the north-west of France. At the fall of the Empire +the defence in that part of the country had been entrusted to Fririon, +whom Espinet de la Villeboisnet succeeded. The resources at the disposal +of both those generals were very limited, confined, indeed, to men of the +regimental depots and some Mobile Guards. There was a deficiency both of +officers and of weapons, and in the early skirmishes which took place with +the enemy, the principal combatants were armed peasants, rural firemen, +and the National Guards of various towns. It is true that for a while the +German force consisted only of a battalion of infantry and some Saxon +cavalry. Under Anatole de la Forge, Prefect of the Aisne, the open town of +Saint Quentin offered a gallant resistance to the invader, but although +this had some moral effect, its importance was not great. Bourbaki, who +succeeded La Villeboisnet in command of the region, was as diffident +respecting the value of his troops as was D'Aurelle on the Loire. He had +previously commanded the very pick of the French army, that is the +Imperial Guard, and the men now placed under his orders were by no means +of the same class. Bourbaki was at this time only fifty-four years of age, +and when, after being sent out of Metz on a mission to the Empress Eugenie +at Hastings, he had offered his services to the National Defence, the +latter had given him the best possible welcome. But he became one of the +great military failures of the period. + +After the fall of Metz the Germans despatched larger forces under +Manteuffel into north-west France. Altogether there were 35,000 infantry +and 4000 cavalry, with 174 guns, against a French force of 22,000 men who +were distributed with 60 guns over a front of some thirty miles, their +object being to protect both Amiens and Rouen. When Bourbaki was summoned +to the Loire, he left Farre as chief commander in the north, with +Faidherbe and Lecointe as his principal lieutenants. There was bad +strategy on both sides, but La Fere capitulated to the Germans on November +26, and Amiens on the 29th. + +Meantime, the position in beleaguered Paris was becoming very bad. Some +ten thousand men, either of the regular or the auxiliary forces, were laid +up in hospital, less on account of wounds than of disease. Charcoal--for +cooking purposes according to the orthodox French system--was being +strictly rationed, On November 20 only a certain number of milch cows and +a few hundred oxen, reserved for hospital and ambulance patients, remained +of all the bovine live stock collected together before the siege. At the +end of November, 500 horses were being slaughtered every day. On the other +hand, the bread allowance had been raised from 750 grammes to a kilogramme +per diem, and a great deal of bread was given to the horses as food. +Somewhat uncertain communications had been opened with the provinces by +means of pigeon-post, the first pigeon to bring despatches into the city +arriving there on November 15. The despatches, photographed on the +smallest possible scale, were usually enclosed in quills fastened under +one or another of the birds' wings. Each balloon that left the city now +took with it a certain number of carrier-pigeons for this service. Owing, +however, to the bitter cold which prevailed that winter, many of the birds +perished on the return journey, and thus the despatches they carried did +not reach Paris. Whenever any such communications arrived there, they had +to be enlarged by means of a magic-lantern contrivance, in order that they +might be deciphered. Meantime, the aeronauts leaving the city conveyed +Government despatches as well as private correspondence, and in this wise +Trochu was able to inform Gambetta that the army of Paris intended to make +a great effort on November 29. + + + +X + +WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + +The German Advance Westward--Gambetta at Le Mans--The "Army of Brittany" +and Count de Keratry--The Camp of Conlie--The Breton Marching Division-- +Keratry resigns--The Champigny Sortie from Paris--The dilatory D'Aurelle-- +The pitiable 20th Army Corps--Battles of Beaune-la-Rolande and Loigny-- +Loss of Orleans--D'Aurelle superseded by Chanzy--Chanzy's Slow Retreat-- +The 21st Corps summoned to the Front--I march with the Breton Division-- +Marchenoir and Freteval--Our Retreat--Our Rearguard Action at Droue-- +Behaviour of the Inhabitants--We fight our Way from Fontenelle to Saint +Agil--Guns and Quagmires--Our Return to Le Mans--I proceed to Bennes and +Saint Malo. + + +After the Chateaudun affair the Germans secured possession of Chartres, +whence they proceeded to raid the department of the Eure. Going by way of +Nogent-le-Roi and Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais, they seized the old +ecclesiastical town of Evreux on November 19, whereupon the French hastily +retreated into the Orne. Some minor engagements followed, all to the +advantage of the Germans, who on the 22nd attacked and occupied the +ancient and strategically important town of Nogent-le-Rotrou--the lordship +of which, just prior to the great Revolution, belonged to the family of +the famous Count D'Orsay, the lover of Lady Blessington and the friend of +Napoleon III. The occupation of Nogent brought the Germans to a favourable +point on the direct railway-line between Paris and Le Mans, the capital of +Maine. The region had been occupied by a somewhat skeleton French army +corps--the 21st--commanded by a certain General Fiereck. On the loss of +Nogent, Gambetta immediately replaced him by one of the many naval +officers who were now with the French armies, that is Post-Captain (later +Admiral) Constant Jaures, uncle of the famous Socialist leader of more +recent times. Jaures at once decided to retreat on Le Mans, a distance of +rather more than a hundred miles, and this was effected within two days, +but under lamentable circumstances. Thousands of starving men deserted, +and others were only kept with the columns by the employment of cavalry +and the threat of turning the artillery upon them. + +Directly Gambetta heard of the state of affairs, he hastened to Le Mans to +provide for the defence of that extremely important point, where no fewer +than five great railway lines converged, those of Paris, Alencon, Rennes, +Angers, and Tours. The troops commanded by Jaures were in a very +deplorable condition, and it was absolutely necessary to strengthen them. +It so happened that a large body of men was assembled at Conlie, sixteen +or seventeen miles away. They formed what was called the "Army of +Brittany," and were commanded by Count Emile de Keratry, the son of a +distinguished politician and literary man who escaped the guillotine +during the Reign of Terror. The Count himself had sat in the Legislative +Body of the Second Empire, but had begun life as a soldier, serving both +in the Crimea and in Mexico, in which latter country he had acted as one +of Bazaine's orderly officers. At the Revolution Keratry was appointed +Prefect of Police, but on October 14 he left Paris by balloon, being +entrusted by Trochu and Jules Favre with a mission to Prim, in the hope +that he might secure Spanish support for France. Prim and his colleagues +refused to intervene, however, and Keratry then hastened to Tours, where +he placed himself at the disposal of Gambetta, with whom he was on terms +of close friendship. It was arranged between them that Keratry should +gather together all the available men who were left in Brittany, and train +and organize them, for which purposes a camp was established at Conlie, +north-west of Le Mans. + +Conlie was the first place which I decided to visit on quitting Saint +Servan. The most appalling rumours were current throughout Brittany +respecting the new camp. It was said to be grossly mismanaged and to be a +hotbed of disease. I visited it, collected a quantity of information, and +prepared an article which was printed by the _Daily News_ and attracted +considerable attention, being quoted by several other London papers and +taken in two instances as the text for leading articles. So far as the +camp's defences and the arming of the men assembled within it were +concerned, my strictures were fully justified, but certain official +documents, subsequently published, indicate that I was in error on some +points. The whole question having given rise to a good deal of controversy +among writers on the Franco-German War--some of them regarding Conlie as a +flagrant proof of Gambetta's mismanagement of military affairs--I will +here set down what I believe to be strictly the truth respecting it. + +The camp was established near the site of an old Roman one, located +between Conlie and Domfront, the principal part occupying some rising +ground in the centre of an extensive valley. It was intended to be a +training camp rather than an entrenched and fortified one, though a +redoubt was erected on the south, and some works were begun on the +northern and the north-eastern sides. When the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +reached Conlie after the battle of Le Mans, he expressed his surprise that +the French had not fortified so good a position more seriously, and +defended it with vigour. Both the railway line and the high-road between +Laval and Le Mans were near at hand, and only a few miles away there was +the old town of Sille-le-Guillaume, one of the chief grain and cattle +markets of the region. There was considerable forest-land in the vicinity, +and wood was abundant. But there was no watercourse, and the wells of the +various adjacent little farms yielded but a very inadequate supply of +water for a camp in which at one moment some 40,000 men were assembled. +Thus, at the outset, the camp lacked one great essential, and such was the +case when I visited it in November. But I am bound to add that a source +was soon afterwards found in the very centre of the camp, and tapped so +successfully by means of a steam-pumping arrangement that it ended by +yielding over 300,000 litres of water per diem. The critics of the camp +have said that the spot was very damp and muddy, and therefore necessarily +unhealthy, and there is truth in that assertion; but the same might be +remarked of all the camps of the period, notably that of D'Aurelle de +Paladines in front of Orleans. Moreover, when a week's snow was followed +by a fortnight's thaw, matters could scarcely be different. [From first to +last (November 12 to January 7) 1942 cases of illness were treated in the +five ambulances of the camp. Among them were 264 cases of small-pox. There +were a great many instances of bronchitis and kindred affections, but not +many of dysentery. Among the small-pox cases 88 proved fatal.] + +I find on referring to documents of the period that on November 23, the +day before Gambetta visited the camp, as I shall presently relate, the +total effective was 665 officers with 23,881 men. By December 5 (although +a marching division of about 12,000 men had then left for the front) the +effective had risen to 1241 officers with about 40,000 men. [The rationing +of the men cost on an average about 7_d._ per diem.] There were 40 guns +for the defence of the camp, and some 50 field-pieces of various types, +often, however, without carriages and almost invariably without teams. +At no time, I find, were there more than 360 horses and fifty mules in the +camp. There was also a great scarcity of ammunition for the guns. +On November 23, the 24,000 men assembled in the camp had between them the +following firearms and ammunition:-- + + _Weapons_ _Cartridges_ + + Spencers (without bayonets) .. 5,000 912,080 + Chassepots .. .. .. .. 2,080 100,000 + Remingtons .. .. .. .. 2,000 218,000 + Snyders .. .. .. .. 1,866 170,000 + Muskets of various types .. .. 9,684 _Insufficient_ + Revolvers .. .. .. .. 500 _Sufficient_ + ______ + 21,130 + +Such things as guns, gun-carriages, firearms, cartridges, bayonets, and so +forth formed the subject of innumerable telegrams and letters exchanged +between Keratry and the National Defence Delegation at Tours. The former +was constantly receiving promises from Gambetta, which were seldom kept, +supplies at first intended for him being at the last moment sent in other +directions, according to the more pressing requirements of the hour. +Moreover, a good many of the weapons which Keratry actually received were +defective. In the early days of the camp, many of the men were given +staves--broom-sticks in some instances--for use at drill. + +When Gambetta arrived at Le Mans after Jaures had retreated thither, he +learnt that action had become the more urgent as the Germans were steadily +prosecuting their advance. By orders of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, +to whose army these forces belonged, the French were followed to La +Ferte-Bernard; and whilst one German column then went west towards Saint +Cosme, another advanced southward to Vibraye, thus seriously threatening +Le Mans. Such was the position on November 23. Fortunately, Freycinet was +able to send Jaures reinforcements which brought his effective to about +35,000 men, and at the same time Gambetta urged Keratry to prepare a +marching division of the men at Conlie. Early on the 24th, Gambetta (who, +by the way, had travelled from Tours to Le Mans at full speed on a railway +engine) visited the camp, and expressed his approval of all he saw there. +I caught a glimpse of him, muffled in his fur coat, and looking, as well +he might, intensely cold. His orders to Keratry were to proceed to Saint +Calais, and thence to the forest of Vibraye, so as to cover Le Mans on the +east. It took fourteen hours and twenty-one trains to convey the marching +division to Yvre l'Eveque on the Huisne, just beyond Le Mans. The +effective of the division was roughly 12,000 men, nearly all of them being +Breton Mobilises. The artillery consisted of one battery of 12's, and one +of 4's, with the necessary horses, two batteries of 4's dragged by naval +volunteers, and several Gatling guns, which had only just been delivered. +These Gatlings, which at that time were absolutely unknown in France, were +not mounted, but packed in sections in sealed zinc cases, which were +opened in the railway vans on the journey, the guns being there put +together by a young naval officer and a couple of civilian engineers. A +little later the artillery of the force was augmented. + +After these troops had taken up position at Yvre, in order to prevent the +enemy from crossing the Huisne, various conferences were held between +Gambetta, Jaures, and Keratry. General Le Bouedec had been left in command +at Conlie, and General Trinite had been selected to command the marching +division of the Bretons. From the very outset, however, Keratry objected +to the plans of Gambetta and Jaures, and, for the moment, the duties of +the Bretons were limited to participating in a reconnaissance on a +somewhat large scale--two columns of Jaures' forces, under Generals Colin +and Rousseau, joining in this movement, which was directed chiefly on +Bouloire, midway between Le Mans and Saint Calais on the east. When +Bouloire was reached, however, the Germans who had momentarily occupied it +had retired, and the French thereupon withdrew to their former positions +near Le Mans. + +Then came trouble. Gambetta placed Keratry under the orders of Jaures, and +Keratry would not accept the position. Great jealousy prevailed between +these two men; Keratry, who had served ten years in the French Army, +claiming that he knew a good deal more about military matters than Jaures, +who, as I previously mentioned, had hitherto been a naval officer. In the +end Keratry threw up his command. Le Bouedec succeeded him at Conlie, and +Frigate-Captain Gougeard (afterwards Minister of Marine in Gambetta's +Great Ministry) took charge of the Bretons at Yvre, where he exerted +himself to bring them to a higher state of efficiency. + +I must now refer to some other matters. Trochu had informed Gambetta of +his intention to make a sortie on the south-eastern side of Paris. The +plans adopted were mainly those of Ducrot, who took chief command. A +diversion made by Vinoy to the south of the city on November 29 gave the +Germans an inkling of what was intended, and proved a fruitless venture +which cost the French 1000 men. Another diversion attempted by General +Susbielle on November 30 led to a similar result, with a loss of 1200 men. +Ducrot, however, crossed the Marne, and very desperate fighting ensued at +Champigny and neighbouring localities. But Ducrot's force (less than +100,000 men) was insufficient for his purpose. The weather, moreover, was +extremely cold, the men had brought with them neither tents nor blankets, +and had to bivouac without fires. According to Trochu's memoirs there was +also an insufficiency of ammunition. Thus the Champigny sortie failed, +and the French retired to their former lines. [From November 30 to +December 3 the French lost 9482 men; and the Germans 5288 men.] + +At the very moment when the Army of Paris was in full retreat, the second +battle of Orleans was beginning. Gambetta and Freyoinet wished D'Aurelle +to advance with the Loire Army in order to meet the Parisians, who, if +victorious, were expected to march on Fontainebleau by way of Melun. In +the latter days of November D'Aurelle was still covering Orleans on the +north with the 15th and 16th army corps (Generals Martin des Pallieres and +Chanzy). On his left was the 17th under Durrieu, who, a few days later, +was succeeded by a dashing cavalry officer, General de Sonis. Near at +hand, also, there was the 18th army corps, to command which Bourbaki had +been summoned from northern France, his place being taken temporarily by +young General Billot, who was appointed to be his chief of staff. The +former Army of the East under Crouzat [This had now become the 20th Army +Corps.] was on the southern side of the Loire, somewhere between Gien and +Nevers, and it was in a very deplorable condition. Boots were wanted for +10,000 men, tents for a like number, and knapsacks for 20,000. In some +battalions there were only sufficient knapsacks for a quarter of the men, +the others carrying their clothes, provisions, and cartridges all +higgledy-piggledy in canvas bags. I once heard an eyewitness relate that +many of Crouzat's soldiers marched with their biscuits (four days' supply) +strung together like chaplets, which hung from their necks or shoulders. + +The Germans had heard of the removal of Crouzat's force to the Loire +country, and by way of creating a diversion the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +was ordered to march on Beaugenoy, southwest of Orleans. Meantime, +Gambetta and Freyoinet were vainly imploring D'Aurelle to advance. He made +all sorts of excuses. At one moment he offered to consider their plans-- +not to comply with them; at another he wished to wait for decisive news +from Trochu and Ducrot. Finally, instead of the five army corps resolutely +advancing in the direction of Paris, it was resolved just to open the way +with the 18th (Billot), the 20th (Crouzat), and some detachments of the +15th (Martin des Pallieres). The result was the sharp battle and serious +defeat of Beaune-la-Rolande (November 28), when the 18th corps behaved +extremely well, whilst the 20th, to whose deplorable condition I have just +referred, retreated after a little fighting; the men of the 15th on their +side doing little or nothing at all. In this engagement the French, whose +forces ought to have been more concentrated, lost 4000 men in killed and +wounded, and 1800 who were taken prisoners; the German loss not exceeding +1000 men. Four days later (December 2) came the very serious repulse of +Loigny-Poupry, in which the 15th, 16th, and 17th army corps were engaged. +The French then lost from 6000 to 7000 men (2500 of them being taken +prisoners), and though the German losses exceeded 4000, the engagement +ended by quite demoralising D'Aurelle's army. + +Under those conditions came the battle of Orleans on December 3 and 4--the +Germans now being under the chief command of that able soldier, Prince +Frederick Charles of Prussia, father of the Duchess of Connaught. On this +occasion D'Aurelle ordered the corps engaged at Loigny to retreat on his +entrenched camp. The 18th and 20th could not cooperate in this movement, +however; and on the three others being driven back, D'Aurelle instructed +Chanzy to retire on Beaugency and Marchenoir, but sent no orders to +Bourbaki, who was now on the scene of action. Finally, the commander-in- +chief decided to abandon his entrenched camp, the troops disbanded and +scattered, and Orleans was evacuated, the flight being so precipitate that +two of the five bridges across the Loire were left intact, at the enemy's +disposal. Moreover, the French Army was now dislocated, Bourbaki, with the +18th, and Des Pallieres, with the 15th corps, being on the south of the +river, whilst the other three corps were on the northern side. The former +retired in the direction of Bourges and Nevers, whilst Chanzy, who was now +placed in chief command of the others, D'Aurelle being removed from his +post, withdrew gradually towards the forest of Marchenoir. In that second +battle of Orleans the French lost 20,000 men, but 18,000 of them were +taken prisoners. On their side, the Germans (who captured 74 guns) lost +fewer than 1800 men. + +For three days (December 8 to 10) Chanzy contested the German advance at +Villorceau, but on December 12 Blois had to be evacuated, and the army +withdrew to the line of the Loir in the neighbourhood of Vendome. +Meantime, at the very moment when the fate of Orleans was being sealed, +orders reached Jaures at Le Mans to advance to the support of the Loire +Army. I was lodging at an inn in the town, my means being too slender to +enable me to patronize any of the big hotels on the Place des Halles, +which, moreover, were crowded with officers, functionaries, and so forth. +I had become acquainted with some of the officers of the Breton division +under Gougeard, and on hearing that they were going to the front, I +managed to obtain from Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, +permission to accompany the column with one of the ambulance parties. Now +and again during the advance I rode in one of the vans, but for the most +part I marched with the men, this, moreover, being the preferable course, +as the weather was extremely cold. Even had I possessed the means (and at +most I had about L10 in my pocket), I could not have bought a horse at Le +Mans. I was stoutly clad, having a very warm overcoat of grey Irish +frieze, with good boots, and a pair of gaiters made for me by Nicholas, +the Saint Malo bootmaker, younger brother (so he himself asserted) of +Niccolini the tenor, sometime husband of Mme. Patti. + +There were from 10,000 to 12,000 men in our force, which now ranked as the +fourth division of the 21st army corps. Nearly all the men of both +brigades were Breton Mobilises, adjoined to whom, however, perhaps for the +purpose of steadying them, were three or four very small detachments of +former regiments of the line. There was also a small contingent of the +French Foreign Legion, which had been brought from Algeria. Starting from +Yvre l'Eveque towards, noon on December 4, we marched to Ardenay, where +we spent the night. The weather was fine and dry, but intensely cold. +On the 5th we camped on some hills near the town of Saint Calais, moved +only a mile or two farther on the 6th--there being a delay in the receipt +of certain orders--then, at seven o'clock on the 7th, started in the +direction of Vendome, marching for about twelve hours with only the +briefest halts. We passed from the department of the Sarthe into that +of Loir-et-Cher, going on until we reached a little place called +Ville-aux-Cleros, where we spent the night under uncomfortable conditions, +for it snowed. Early the following day we set out again, and, leaving +Vendome a couple of miles or so away on our right, we passed Freteval and +camped on the outskirts of the forest of Marchenoir. + +The night proved bitterly cold, the temperature being some fourteen +degrees (centigrade) below freezing-point. I slept huddled up in a van, +but the men generally were under canvas, and there was very little straw +for them to lie upon, in such wise that in the morning some of them +actually found their garments frost-bound to the ground! Throughout the +night of the 10th we heard guns booming in the distance. On the 11th, the +12th, and the 13th December we were continually marching, always going in +the direction of the guns. We went from Ecoman to Moree, to Saint +Hilaire-la-Gravelle, and thence to the Chateau de Rougemont near +Freteval, a spot famous as the scene of a victory gained by our Richard +Coeur-de-Lion over Philip Augustus. The more or less distant artillery +fire was incessant both by day and by night; but we were only supporting +other divisions of the corps, and did not find ourselves actually engaged. +On the 15th, however, there was very sharp fighting both at Freteval and +Moree, and on the morning of the 16th our Gatlings went forward to support +the second division of our army corps, which was being hard pressed by the +Germans. + +All at once, however, orders for a general retreat arrived, Chanzy having +at last decided to fall back on Le Mans. There was considerable confusion, +but at last our men set out, taking a north-westerly direction. Fairly +good order prevailed on the road, and the wiry little Bretons at least +proved that their marching powers were unimpaired. We went on incessantly +though slowly during the night, and did not make a real halt until about +seven o'clock on the following morning, when, almost dead-beat, we reached +a little town called Droue. + +Jaures, I should mention, had received the order to retreat at about four +o'clock on the afternoon of December 16, and had speedily selected three +different routes for the withdrawal of the 21st army corps. Our division, +however, was the last to quit its positions, it being about eight o'clock +at night when we set out. Thus our march lasted nine hours. The country +was a succession of sinuous valleys and stiff slopes, and banks often +overlooked the roads, which were edged with oaks and bushes. There were +several streams, a few woods, and a good many little copses. Farms often +lay close together, and now and again attempts were made to buy food and +drink of the peasantry, who, upon hearing our approach, came at times with +lights to their thresholds. But they were a close-fisted breed, and +demanded exorbitant prices. Half a franc was the lowest charge for a piece +of bread. Considering how bad the men's boots were, the marching was very +good, but a number of men deserted under cover of the night. Generally +speaking, though there was a slight skirmish at Cloyes and an engagement +at Droue, as I shall presently relate, the retreat was not greatly +hampered by the enemy. In point of fact, as the revelations of more recent +years have shown, Moltke was more anxious about the forces of Bourbaki +than about those of Chanzy, and both Prince Frederick Charles and the +Grand Duke of Mecklenburg had instructions to keep a strict watch on the +movements of Bourbaki's corps. Nevertheless, some of the Grand Duke's +troops--notably a body of cavalry--attempted to cut off our retreat. When, +however, late on the 16th, some of our men came in contact with a +detachment of the enemy near Cloyes, they momentarily checked its +progress, and, as I have indicated, we succeeded in reaching Droue without +loss. + +That morning, the 17th, the weather was again very cold, a fog following +the rain and sleet of the previous days. Somewhat later, however, snow +began to fall. At Droue--a little place of about a thousand inhabitants, +with a ruined castle and an ancient church--we breakfasted as best we +could. About nine o'clock came marching orders, and an hour later, when a +large number of our men were already on their way towards Saint Agil, our +next halting-place, General Gougeard mounted and prepared to go off with +his staff, immediately in advance of our rear-guard. At that precise +moment, however, we were attacked by the Germans, whose presence near us +we had not suspected. + +It was, however, certainly known to some of the inhabitants of Droue, who, +terrified by all that they had heard of the harshness shown by the Germans +towards the localities where they encountered any resistance, shrank from +informing either Gougeard or any of his officers that the enemy was at +hand. The artillery with which our rear was to be protected was at this +moment on the little square of Droue. It consisted of a mountain battery +under Sub-Lieutenant Gouesse of the artillery, and three Gatlings under +Sub-Lieutenant De la Forte of the navy, with naval lieutenant Rodellec du +Porzic in chief command. Whilst it was being brought into position, +Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, galloped off to stop the +retreat of the other part of our column. The enemy's force consisted of +detachments of cavalry, artillery, and Landwehr infantry. Before our +little guns could be trained on them, the Landwehr men had already seized +several outlying houses, barns, and sheds, whence they strove to pick off +our gutiners. For a moment our Mobilises hesitated to go forward, but +Gougeard dashed amongst them, appealed to their courage, and then led them +against the enemy. + +Not more than three hundred yards separated the bulk of the contending +forces, indeed there were some Germans in the houses less than two hundred +yards away. Our men at last forced these fellows to decamp, killing and +wounding several of them; whilst, thanks to Colonel Bernard's prompt +intervention, a battalion of the 19th line regiment and two companies of +the Foreign Legion, whose retreat was hastily stopped, threatened the +enemy's right flank. A squadron of the Second Lancers under a young +lieutenant also came to our help, dismounting and supporting Gougeard's +Mobilises with the carbines they carried. Realizing that we were in force, +the enemy ended by retreating, but not until there had been a good deal of +fighting in and around the outlying houses of Droue. + +Such, briefly, was the first action I ever witnessed. Like others, I was +under fire for some time, being near the guns and helping to carry away +the gunners whom the Germans shot from the windows of the houses in which +they had installed themselves. We lost four or five artillerymen in that +manner, including the chief officer, M. de Rodelleo du Porzic, whom a +bullet struck in the chest. He passed away in a little cafe whither we +carried him. He was, I believe, the last of his family, two of his +brothers having previously been killed in action. + +We lost four or five other officers in this same engagement, as well as a +Breton chaplain of the Mobilises. Our total losses were certainly larger +than Gougeard subsequently stated in his official report, amounting in +killed and wounded, I think, to from 120 to 150 men. Though the officers +as a rule behaved extremely well--some of them, indeed, splendidly--there +were a few lamentable instances of cowardice. By Gougeard's orders, four +were placed under arrest and court-martialled at the end of the retreat. +Of these, two were acquitted, whilst a third was shot, and a fourth +sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a fortress. [From the formation of +the "Army of Brittany" until the armistice the total number of executions +was eleven. They included one officer (mentioned above) for cowardice in +presence of the enemy; five men of the Foreign Legion for murdering +peasants; one Franc-titeur for armed robbery, and four men (Line and +Mobile Guards) for desertion in presence of the enemy. The number would +have been larger had it been possible to identify and punish those who +were most guilty in the stampede of La Tuilerie during the battle of +Le Mans.] + +The enemy's pursuit having been checked, we eventually quitted Droue, but +when we had gone another three miles or so and reached a village called +Fontenelle, the Germans came on again. It was then about two o'clock in +the afternoon, and for a couple of hours or so, whilst we continued our +retreat, the enemy kept up a running cannonade, repeatedly endeavouring +to harass our rear. We constantly replied to their fire, however, and +steadily kept them off, losing only a few men before the dusk fell, when +the pursuit ceased. We afterwards plodded on slowly--the roads being in a +terrible condition--until at about half-past six o'clock we reached the +village of Saint Agil, where the staff installed itself at Count de +Saint-Maixent's stately renaissance chateau. + +The weather was better on December 18, for, though it was extremely cold, +the snow ceased falling. But we still had a formidable task before us. +The roads, as I have said, were wretched, and at Saint Agil we had to +contend with some terrible quagmires, across which we found it at first +impossible to get our guns, ammunition-vans, and baggage train. It became +necessary to lop and fell trees, and form with them a kind of bed over +which our impedimenta might travel. Hour after hour went by amidst +incessant labour. An ammunition waggon containing only half its proper +load required the efforts of a dozen horses to pull it over that morass, +whilst, as for the guns, each of the 12's required even more horses. +It was three o'clock on the afternoon of the 18th when the last gun was +got across. Three gun-carriages were broken during those efforts, but our +men managed to save the pieces. Late in the operations the Germans again +put in an appearance, but were held in respect by our Gatlings and +mountain-guns. Half an hour, however, after our departure from Saint Agil, +they entered the village. + +In a very wretched condition, half-famished and footsore, we went on, +through the sudden thaw which had set in, towards Vibraye, whose forest, +full in those days of wild boars and deer, stretched away on our left. +We were now in the department of the Sarthe, and, cutting across country +in the direction of the Huisne, we at last reached the ancient little +_bourg_ of Connerre, on the high-road running (left of the river) towards +Le Mans. There I took leave of our column, and, after buying a shirt and +some socks, hastened to the railway station--a mile and a half distant-- +hoping, from what was told me, that there might be some means of getting +to Le Mans by train, instead of accompanying our men along the highway. +At Connerre station I found a very good inn, where I at once partook of +the best meal that I had eaten since leaving Le Mans, sixteen days +previously. I then washed, put on my new shirt and socks, and went to +interview the station-master. After a great deal of trouble, as I had a +permit signed by Colonel Bernard, and wore an ambulance armlet, I was +allowed to travel to Le Mans in a railway van. There was no regular +service of trains, the only ones now running so far north being used for +military purposes. I got to Le Mans a few hours before our column reached +Yvre l'Eveque on the night of December 20, and at once sought a train +which would convey me to Rennes, if not as far as Saint Malo. Then came +another long, slow, dreary journey in a villainous wooden-seated +third-class carriage. It was between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning +when we reached Rennes. I still had about five-and-twenty francs in my +pocket, and knowing that it would not cost me more than a quarter of that +amount to get to Saint Malo, I resolved to indulge in a good _dejeuner_ at +the Hotel de France. + +There was nobody excepting a few waiters in the long dining-room, but the +tables were already laid there. When, however, I seated myself at one of +them, the head-waiter came up declaring that I could not be accommodated, +as the tables were reserved for _ces messieurs_. I was inquiring who +_ces messieurs_ might be, when some of them entered the room in a very +swaggering manner. All were arrayed in stylish and brand-new uniforms, +with beautiful boots, and looked in the pink of condition. They belonged, +I found, to a free corps called the "Eclaireurs d'Ille-et-Vilaine," and +their principal occupations were to mess together copiously and then +stroll about the town, ogling all the good-looking girls they met. The +corps never went to the front. Three or four weeks afterwards, when I +again passed through Rennes--this second time with my father--Messieurs +les Eclaireurs were still displaying their immaculate uniforms and highly +polished boots amidst all the misery exhibited by the remnants of one of +Chanzy's _corps d'armee_. + +Though I was little more than a boy, my blood fairly boiled when I was +requested to give up my seat at table for these arrogant young fops. +I went to complain at the hotel _bureau_, but, being confronted there by +the landlady instead of by the landlord, I did not express my feelings so +strongly as I might have done. "Madame" sweetly informed me that the first +_dejeuner_ was entirely reserved for Messieurs les Eclaireurs, but that, +if I would wait till the second _dejeuner_ at noon, I should find ample +accommodation. However, I was not inclined to do any such thing. I thought +of all the poor, famished, shivering men whom I had left less than +twenty-four hours previously, and some of whom I had more than once helped +to buy bread and cheese and wine during our long and painful marches. +They, at all events, had done their duty as best they could, and I felt +highly indignant with the swaggering young bloods of Rennes, who were +content to remain in their native town displaying their uniforms and +enjoying themselves. Fortunately, such instances were very rare. + +Returning to the railway station, I obtained something to eat at the +refreshment-room, where I presently heard somebody trying to make +a waiter understand an order given in broken French. Recognizing a +fellow-countryman, I intervened and procured what he desired. I found that +he was going to Saint Malo like myself, so we made the journey together. +He told me that, although he spoke very little French, he had come to +France on behalf of an English boot-making firm in order to get a contract +from some of the military authorities. Many such people were to be found +in Brittany, at Le Mans, at Tours, and elsewhere, during the latter period +of the war. An uncle of mine, Frederick Vizetelly, came over, I remember, +and interviewed Freyeinet and others on behalf of an English small-arm +firm. I forget whether he secured a contract or not; but it is a +lamentable and uncontrovertible fact that many of the weapons and many of +the boots sold by English makers to the National Defence were extremely +defective. Some of the American weapons were even worse than ours. As for +the boots, they often had mere "composition soles," which were soon worn +out. I saw, notably after the battle of Le Mans, hundreds--I believe I +might say, without, exaggeration, thousands--of men whose boots were mere +remnants. Some hobbled through the snow with only rags wrapped round their +bleeding feet. On the other hand, a few of our firms undoubtedly supplied +satisfactory boots, and it may have been so in the case of the traveller +whom I met at Rennes. + +A few days after my return to Saint Malo, my cousin, Montague Vizetelly, +arrived there with a commission from the _Daily News_ to join Chanzy's +forces at Le Mans. Mr. Robinson, I was afterwards told, had put some +questions about me to my brother Adrian, and, on hearing how young I was, +had thought that I might not be equal to the occasion if a decisive battle +between Prince Frederick Charles and Chanzy should be fought. My cousin-- +then four-and-twenty years of age--was accordingly sent over. From that +time nearly all my war letters were forwarded to the _Pall Mall Gazette_, +and, as it happened, one of them was the first account of the great battle +of Le Mans, from the French side, to appear in an English paper. + + + +XI + +BEFORE LE MANS + +The War in various Regions of France--General Faidherbe--Battle of +Pont-Noyelles--Unreliability of French Official News--Engagement of +Nuits--Le Bourget Sortie--Battles of Bapaume and Villersexel--Chanzy's +Plan of Operations--The Affair of Saint Calais--Wretched State of some +of Chanzy's Soldiers--Le Mans and its Historical Associations--The +Surrounding Country--Chanzy's Career--Positions of his Forces--Advance +of Prince Frederick Charles--The first Fighting before Le Mans and its +Result. + + +Whilst Chanzy was retreating on Le Mans, and there reorganizing and +reinforcing his army, a variety of operations went on in other parts +of France. After the German occupation of Amiens, Moltke instructed +Manteuffel to advance on Rouen, which he did, afterwards despatching a +column to Dieppe; the result being that on December 9 the Germans, for +the first time, reached the sea-coast. Since December 3 Faidherbe had +taken the chief command of the Army of the North at Lille. He was +distinctly a clever general, and was at that time only fifty-two years of +age. But he had spent eleven years in Senegal, organizing and developing +that colony, and his health had been impaired by the tropical West African +climate. Nevertheless, he evinced no little energy, and never despaired, +however slender might be the forces under him, and however cramped his +position. As soon as he had reorganized the army entrusted to his charge, +he moved towards Amiens, and on December 23 and 24 a battle was fought at +Pont-Noyelles, in the vicinity of that town. In some respects Faidherbe +gained the advantage, but his success was a barren one, and his losses +were far greater than those of the Germans, amounting, indeed, to 2300 men +(apart from many deserters), whereas the enemy's were not more than a +thousand. Gambetta, however, telegraphed to the Prefects that a great +victory had been gained; and I remember that when a notice to that effect +was posted at the town-hall of Saint Servan, everybody there became +jubilant. + +Most of our war-news, or, at least, the earliest intelligence of any +important engagement, came to us in the fashion I have indicated, +townsfolk constantly assembling outside the prefectures, subprefectures, +and municipal buildings in order to read the day's news. At times it was +entirely false, at others some slight success of the French arms was +magnified into a victory, and a petty engagement became a pitched battle. +The news in the French newspapers was usually very belated and often quite +unreliable, though now and again telegrams from London were published, +giving information which was as near to the truth as the many English war +correspondents on both sides could ascertain. After the war, both +Frenchmen and Germans admitted to me that of all the newspaper +intelligence of the period there was nothing approaching in accuracy +that which was imparted by our British correspondents. I am convinced, +from all I heard in Paris, in Berlin, in Vienna, and elsewhere, during +the two or three years which followed the war, that the reputation of the +British Press was greatly enhanced on the Continent by the news it gave +during the Franco-German campaign. Many a time in the course of the next +few years did I hear foreigners inquire: "What do the London papers say?" +or remark: "If an English paper says it, it must be true." I do not wish +to blow the trumpet too loudly on behalf of the profession to which I +belonged for many years, but what I have here mentioned is strictly true; +and now that my days of travel are over, I should be glad to know that +foreigners still hold the British Press in the same high esteem. + +But, to return to my narrative, whilst the events I have mentioned were +taking place in Normandy and Northern France, Gambetta was vainly trying +to persuade Bourbaki to advance in the direction of Montargis. He also +wished to reinforce Garibaldi; but the enmity of many French officers +towards the Italian Liberator was so great that they would not serve with +him. General von Werder was at this time covering the siege of Belfort and +watching Langres. On December 18 there was an engagement at Nuits between +some of his forces and those led by the French commander Cremer, who +claimed the victory, but afterwards retreated towards Beaune. The French, +however, were now able to re-occupy Dijon. On the 21st another sortie was +made from Paris, this time on the north, in the direction of Le Bourget +and Ville-Evrard. Ducrot was again in command, and 200,000 men were got +together, but only 5000 were brought into action. There were a great many +desertions, and no fewer than six officers of one brigade alone were +court-martialled and punished for lack of courage. The affair appears to +have been arranged in order to quiet the more reckless elements in Paris, +who were for ever demanding "a great, a torrential sortie." In this +instance, however, there was merely "much ado about nothing." The truth +is, that ever since the Champigny affair both Trochu and Ducrot had lost +all confidence. + +On January 2 and 3, the French under Faidherbe, and the Germans under +Goeben, fought a battle at Bapaume, south of Arras. The former were by far +the more numerous force, being, indeed, as three to one, and Faidherbe is +credited with having gained a victory. But, again, it was only a barren +one, for although the Germans fell back, the French found it quite as +necessary to do the same. About a week previously the 16th French Army +Corps, with which Bourbaki had done little or nothing on the Loire, had +been removed from Vierzon and Bourges to join the Army of the East, of +which Bourbaki now assumed the chief command. The transport of the troops +proved a very difficult affair, and there was great disorder and, again, +many desertions. Nevertheless, on January 9, Bourbaki fought Werder at +Villersexel, in the vicinity of Vesoul, Montbeliard, and Belfort. In this +engagement there appear to have been serious mistakes on both sides, and +though Bourbaki claimed a success, his losses were numerically double +those of the Germans. + +Meantime Chanzy, at Le Mans, was urging all sorts of plans on Gambetta and +Freyeinet. In the first place he desired to recruit and strengthen his +forces, so sorely tried by their difficult retreat; and in order that he +might have time to do so, he wished Bourbaki to execute a powerful +diversion by marching in the direction of Troyes. But Gambetta and +Freyeinet had decided otherwise. Bourbaki's advance was to be towards the +Vosges, after which he was to turn westward and march on Paris with +150,000 men. Chanzy was informed of this decision on and about January 5 +(1871), and on the 6th he made a last attempt to modify the Government +plan in order that Bourbaki's march might be directed on a point nearer to +Paris. In reply, he was informed that it was too late to modify the +arrangements. + +With regard to his own operations, Chanzy's idea was to march towards the +capital when his forces were reorganized. His bases were to be the river +Sarthe, the town of Le Mans, and the railway-line running northward to +Alencon. Thence he proposed to advance to some point on the river Eure +between Dreux and Chartres, going afterwards towards Paris by such a route +as circumstances might allow. He had 130,000 men near Le Mans, and +proposed to take 120,000 with 350 field-pieces or machine-guns, and +calculated that he might require a week, or to be precise eight days, to +carry this force from Le Mans to Chartres, allowing for fighting on the +way. Further, to assist his movements he wished Faidherbe, as well as +Bourbaki, to assume the offensive vigorously as soon as he was ready. The +carrying out of the scheme was frustrated, however, in part by the +movements which the Government ordered Bourbaki to execute, and in part by +what may be called the sudden awakening of Prince Frederick Charles, who, +feeling more apprehensive respecting Bourbaki's movements, had hitherto, +in a measure, neglected Chanzy's doings. + +On December 22 Captain, afterwards General, de Boisdeffre [He was Chief of +the French Staff during the famous Dreyfus Case, in which his name was +frequently mentioned.] reached Le Mans, after quitting Paris in one of the +balloons, and gave Chanzy certain messages with which Trochu had entrusted +him. He brought nothing in writing, as what he had to communicate was +considered too serious to be committed to paper. Yet both my father and +myself could have imparted virtually the same information, which was but a +_secret de Polichinelle_. It concerned the date when the fall of Paris +would become inevitable. We--my father and myself--had said repeatedly at +Versailles and elsewhere that the capital's supply of food would last +until the latter days of January, and that the city (unless in the +meanwhile it were relieved) must then surrender. Authentic information to +that effect was available in Paris before we quitted it in November. +Of course Trochu's message to Chanzy was official, and carried greater +weight than the assertions of journalists. It was to the effect that it +would be necessary to negotiate a capitulation on January 20, in order to +give time for the revictualling of the city's two million inhabitants. +As it happened, the resistance was prolonged for another week or so. +However, Boisdeffre's information was sufficiently explicit to show Chanzy +that no time must be lost if Paris was to be saved. + +Some German cavalry--probably the same men who had pursued Gougeard's +column--showed themselves at Saint Calais, which is only some thirty +miles north-east of Le Mans, as early as December 18, but soon retired, +and no further advance of the enemy in that direction took place for +several days. Chanzy formed two flying columns, one a division under +General Jouffroy, and one a body of 4000 men under General Rousseau, for +the purpose of worrying the enemy and keeping him at a distance. These +troops, particularly those of Jouffroy, who moved towards Montoire and +Vendome, had several small but none the less important engagements with +the Germans. Prince Frederick Charles, indeed, realised that Jouffroy's +operations were designed to ensure the security of Chanzy's main army +whilst it was being recruited and reorganized, and thereupon decided to +march on Le Mans and attack Chanzy before the latter had attained his +object. + +On Christmas Day a force of German cavalry, artillery, and infantry +descended upon Saint Calais (then a town of about 3500 inhabitants), +levied a sum of 17,000 francs, pillaged several of the houses, and +ill-treated a number of the townsfolk. When some of the latter ventured to +protest, pointing out, among other things, that after various little +engagements in the vicinity several wounded Germans had been brought into +the town and well cared for there, the enemy's commanding officer called +them a pack of cowards, and flung them 2000 francs of his recent levy, to +pay them, he said, for their so-called services. The affair was reported +to Chanzy, who thereupon wrote an indignant letter to the German general +commanding at Vendome. It was carried thither by a certain M. de Vezian, a +civil engineer attached to Chanzy's staff, who brought back the following +reply: + +"Recu une lettre du General Chanzy. Un general prussien ne sachant pas +ecrire une lettre de tel genre, ne saurait y faire une reponse par ecrit. + +"Au quartier-general a Vendome, 28 Decembre 1870." + +Signature (_illegible_). + +It was, perhaps, a pity that Chanzy ever wrote his letter of protest. +French generals were too much given to expressing their feelings in +writing daring that war. Deeds and not words were wanted. + +Meantime, the army was being slowly recruited. On December 13, Gambetta +had issued--none too soon--a decree authorising the billeting of the men +"during the winter campaign." Nevertheless, when Gougeard's troops +returned to Yvree l'Eveque, they were ordered to sleep under canvas, like +many other divisions of the army. It was a great mistake. In that severe +weather--the winter was one of the coldest of the nineteenth century--the +men's sufferings were very great. They were in need, too, of many things, +new shoes, linen, great-coats, and other garments, and there was much +delay in providing for their more urgent requirements. Thus the number of +desertions was not to be wondered at. The commander-in-chief did his best +to ensure discipline among his dispirited troops. Several men were shot by +way of example. When, shortly before the battle of Le Mans, the 21st Army +Corps crossed the Huisne to take up positions near Montfort, several +officers were severely punished for riding in ambulance and baggage +waggons instead of marching with their men. + +Le Mans is not easily defended from an enemy advancing upon it from +eastern, north-eastern, and south-eastern directions. A close defence is +impossible by reason of the character of the country. At the time of which +I write, the town was one of about 37,000 inhabitants. Very ancient, +already in existence at the time of the Romans, it became the capital of +Maine. William the Conqueror seized it, but it was snatched from his son, +Robert, by Helie de La Fleche. Later, Geoffrey, the First of the +Plantagenets, was buried there, it being, moreover, the birthplace of his +son, our Henry II. In after years it was taken from Richard Coeur-de-Lion +by Philip-Augustus, who assigned it, however, to Richard's widow, Queen +Berengaria. A house in the town is wrongly said to have been her +residence, but she undoubtedly founded the Abbaye de l'Epau, near Yvre +l'Eveque, and was buried there. It was at Le Mans that King John of +France, who surrendered to the Black Prince at Poitiers, was born; and in +the neighbouring forest, John's grandson, Charles VI, first gave signs of +insanity. Five times during the Anglo-French wars of the days of Henry V +and Henry VI, Le Mans was besieged by one or another of the contending +parties. The town again suffered during the Huguenot wars, and yet again +during the Revolution, when the Vendeens seized it, but were expelled by +Marceau, some 5000 of them being bayoneted on the Place de l'Eperon. + +Rich in associations with the history of England as well as that of +France, Le Mans, in spite of its accessibility--for railway lines coming +from five different directions meet there--is seldom visited by our +tourists. Its glory is its cathedral, strangely neglected by the numerous +English writers on the cathedrals of France. Here are exemplified the +architectural styles of five successive centuries, and, as Merimee once +wrote, in passing from one part of the edifice to another, it is as if you +passed from one to another religion. But the supreme features of the +cathedral are its stained-glass windows, which include some of the very +oldest in the world. Many years ago, when they were in a more perfect +condition than they are now, Hucher gave reproductions of them in a rare +folio volume. Here, too, is the tomb of Queen Berengaria of England, +removed from the Abbaye de l'Epau; here, also, was formerly that of her +husband's grandfather, Geoffrey Plantagenet. But this was destroyed by +the Huguenots, and you must go to the museum to see all that remains of +it--that is, the priceless enamel _plaque_ by which it was formerly +surmounted, and which represents Geoffrey grasping his sword and his azure +shield, the latter bearing a cross and lions rampant--not the leoparded +lions passant of his English descendants. Much ink has flowed respecting +that shield during squabbles among heraldists. + +Judging by recent plans of Le Mans, a good many changes have taken place +there since the time of the Franco-German War. Various new, broad, +straight streets have been substituted for some of the quaint old winding +ones. The Pont Napoleon now appears to have become the Pont Gambetta, and +the Place, des Minimes is called the Place de la Republique. I notice also +a Rue Thiers which did not exist in the days when Le Mans was familiar to +me as an old-world town. In this narrative I must, of course, take it as +it was then, not as it is now. + +The Sarthe, flowing from north to south, where it is joined by its +tributary the Huisne, coming from the north-east, still divides the town +into two unequal sections; the larger one, on the most elevated part of +which stands the cathedral, being that on the river's left bank. At the +time I write of, the Sarthe was spanned by three stone bridges, a +suspension bridge, and a granite and marble railway viaduct, some 560 feet +in length. The German advance was bound to come from the east and the +south. On the east is a series of heights, below which flow the waters of +the Huisne. The views range over an expanse of varying elevation, steep +hills and deep valleys being frequent. There are numerous watercourses. +The Huisne, which helps to feed the Sarthe, is itself fed by a number of +little tributaries. The lowest ground, at the time I have in mind, was +generally meadow-land, intersected here and there with rows of poplars, +whilst the higher ground was employed for the cultivation of crops. Every +little field was circumscribed by ditches, banks, and thick hedges. + +The loftiest point of the eastern heights is at Yvre l'Eveque, which was +once crowned by a renaissance chateau, where Henry of Navarre resided when +he reduced Le Mans to submission. Northward from Yvre, in the direction of +Savigne, stretches the high plateau of Sarge, which on the west slopes +down towards the river Sarthe, and forms one of the most important of the +natural defences of Le Mans. Eastward, from Yvre, you overlook first the +Huisne, spanned at various neighbouring points by four bridges, but having +much of the meadow-land in its valley cut up by little water-channels for +purposes of irrigation--these making the ground additionally difficult for +an attacking force to traverse. Secondly, you see a long plateau called +Auvours, the possession of which must necessarily facilitate an enemy's +operations. Following the course of the railway-line coming from the +direction of Paris, you notice several pine woods, planted on former +heaths. Still looking eastward, is the village of Champagne, where the +slopes are studded with vines, whilst the plain is arable land, dotted +over with clumps of chestnut trees. North-east of Champagne is Montfort, +where Chanzy at first stationed the bulk of the 21st Army Corps under +Jaures, this (leaving his flying columns on one side) being the most +eastern position of his forces at the time when the German advance began. +The right of the 21st Corps here rested on the Huisne. Its extreme left +extended northward towards the Sarthe, but a division of the 17th Corps +under General de Colomb guarded the Alencon (N.) and Conlie (N.W.) railway +lines. + +Confronted by the Huisne, the heights of Yvre and the plateaux of Sarge +and Auvours, having, for the most part, to keep to the high-roads--for, +bad as their state might be at that season, it was nothing compared with +the condition of the many narrow and often deep lanes, whose high banks +and hedges, moreover, offered opportunities for ambush--the Germans, it +was obvious, would have a difficult task before them on the eastern side +of Le Mans, even should they drive the 21st Corps from Montfort. The +approach to the town is easier, however, on the south-east and the south, +Here are numerous pine woods, but on going towards Le Mans, after passing +Parigne-l'Eveque (S.E.) and Mulsanne (S.), the ground is generally much +less hilly than on the east. There are, however, certain positions +favourable for defence. There is high ground at Change, midway between the +road from Saint Calais to Le Mans, _via_ Yvre, and the road from Grand +Luce to Le Mans _via_ Parigne. Over a distance of eight miles, moreover, +there extends--or extended at the time I refer to--a track called the +Chemin des Boeufs, suitable for defensive purposes, with high ground at at +least two points--Le Tertre Rouge, south-east of Le Mans, and La Tuilerie, +south of the town. The line of the Chemin des Boeufs and the position of +Change was at first entrusted by Chanzy to the 16th Corps, whose +commander, Jaureguiberry, had his headquarters at the southern suburb of +Pontlieue, an important point affording direct access to Le Mans by a +stone bridge over the Huisne. + +When I returned to Le Mans from Saint Servan in the very first days of +January, Chanzy's forces numbered altogether about 130,000 men, but a very +large proportion of them were dispersed in different directions, forming +detached columns under Generals Barry, Curten, Rousseau, and Jouffroy. The +troops of the two first-named officers had been taken from the 16th Corps +(Jaureguiberry), those of Rousseau were really the first division of the +21st Corps (Jaures), and those of Jouffroy belonged to the 17th, commanded +by General de Colomb. [The 16th and 17th comprised three divisions each, +the 21st including four. The German Corps were generally of only two +divisions, with, however, far stronger forces of cavalry than Chanzy +disposed of.] It is a curious circumstance that, among the German +troops which opposed the latter's forces at this stage of the war, there +was a division commanded by a General von Colomb. Both these officers had +sprung from the same ancient French family, but Von Colomb came from a +Huguenot branch which had quitted France when the Edict of Nantes was +revoked. + +Chanzy's other chief coadjutors at Le Mans were Jaures, of whom I have +already spoken, and Rear-Admiral Jaureguiberry, who, after the general-in- +chief, was perhaps the most able of all the commanders. Of Basque origin +and born in 1815, he had distinguished himself as a naval officer in the +Crimean, Chinese, and Cochin China expeditions; and on taking service in +the army under the National Defence, he had contributed powerfully to +D'Aurelle's victory at Coulmiers. He became known among the Loire forces +as the man who was always the first to attack and the last to retreat. +[He looked somewhat older than his years warranted, being very bald, with +just a fringe of white hair round the cranium. His upper lip and chin were +shaven, but he wore white whiskers of the "mutton-chop" variety. Slim and +fairly tall, he was possessed of no little nervous strength and energy. In +later years he became Minister of Marine in the Waddington, the second +Freycinet, and the Duclerc cabinets.] + +Having referred to Chanzy's principal subordinates, it is fitting that I +should give a brief account of Chanzy himself. The son of an officer of +the First Empire, he was born at Nouart in the Argonne, and from his +personal knowledge of that region it is certain that his services would +have proved valuable during the disastrous march on Sedan, when, as Zola +has rightly pointed out in "La Debacle," so many French commanding +officers were altogether ignorant of the nature and possibilities of the +country through which they advanced. Chanzy, however, like many others who +figured among the Loire forces, had begun life in the navy, enlisting in +that service when sixteen years of age. But, after very brief experience +afloat, he went to the military school of St. Cyr, passed out of it as a +sub-lieutenant in 1843, when he was in his twenty-first year, was +appointed to a regiment of Zouaves, and sent to Algeria. He served, +however, in the Italian campaign of 1859, became lieutenant-colonel of a +line regiment, and as such took part in the Syrian expedition of 1860-61. +Later, he was with the French forces garrisoning Rome, acquired a +colonelcy in 1864, returned to Algeria, and in 1868 was promoted to the +rank of general of brigade. + +At the outset of the Franco-German War, he applied for active service, but +the imperial authorities would not employ him in France. In spite of the +associations of his family with the first Empire, he was, like Trochu, +accounted an Orleanist, and it was not desired that any Orleanist general +should have an opportunity to distinguish himself in the contemplated +"march on Berlin." Marshal MacMahon, however, as Governor of Algeria, had +formed a high opinion of Chanzy's merits, and after Sedan, anxious as he +was for his country in her predicament, the Marshal, then a prisoner of +war, found a means of advising the National Defence to make use of +Chanzy's services. That patriotic intervention, which did infinite credit +to MacMahon, procured for Chanzy an appointment at the head of the 16th +Army Corps, and later the chief command of the Second Loire Army. + +When I first saw him in the latter days of 1870, he was in his +fifty-eighth year, well built, and taller than the majority of French +officers. His fair hair and fair moustache had become grey; but his blue +eyes had remained bright, and there was an expression of quiet resolution +on his handsome, well-cut face, with its aquiline nose and energetic jaw. +Such, physically, was the general whom Moltke subsequently declared to +have been the best that France opposed to the Germans throughout the war. +I never once saw Chanzy excited, in which respect he greatly contrasted +with many of the subordinate commanders. Jaureguiberry was sometimes +carried away by his Basque, and Gougeard by his Celtic, blood. So it was +with Jaures, who, though born in Paris, had, like his nephew the Socialist +leader, the blood of the Midi in his veins. Chanzy, however, belonged to a +calmer, a more quietly resolute northern race. + +He was inclined to religion, and I remember that, in addition to the +chaplains accompanying the Breton battalions, there was a chief chaplain +attached to the general staff. This was Abbe de Beuvron, a member of +an old noble family of central France. The Chief of the Staff was +Major-General Vuillemot; the Provost-General was Colonel Mora, and the +principal aides-de-camp were Captains Marois and de Boisdeffre. Specially +attached to the headquarters service there was a rather numerous picked +force under General Bourdillon. It comprised a regiment of horse gendarmes +and one of foot gendarmes, four squadrons of Chasseurs d'Afrique, some +artillery provided chiefly with mountain-guns, an aeronautical company +under the brothers Tissandier, and three squadrons of Algerian light +cavalry, of the Spahi type, who, with their flowing burnouses and their +swift little Arab horses, often figured conspicuously in Chanzy's escort. +A year or two after the war, I engaged one of these very men--he was +called Saad--as a servant, and he proved most devoted and attentive; +but he had contracted the germs of pulmonary disease during that cruel +winter of 1870-71, and at the end of a few months I had to take him to the +Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris, where he died of galloping +consumption. + +The German forces opposed to Chanzy consisted of a part of the so-called +"Armee-Abtheilung" under the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, and the "Second +Army" under Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, the latter including the +3rd, 9th, 10th, and 13th Army Corps, and disposing of numerous cavalry +and nearly four hundred guns. The Prince ascertained that the French +forces were, in part, extremely dispersed, and therefore resolved to act +before they could be concentrated. At the outset the Germans came down on +Nogent-le-Rotrou, where Rousseau's column was stationed, inflicted a +reverse on him, and compelled him (January 7) to fall back on Connerre--a +distance of thirty miles from Nogent, and of less than sixteen from Le +Mans. On the same day, sections of Jouffroy's forces were defeated at +Epuisay and Poirier (mid-way between Le Mans and Vendome), and also +forced to retreat. The French detachments (under Jouffroy, Curten, and +Barry) which were stationed along the line from Saint Calais to Montoire, +and thence to Saint Amand and Chateau-Renault--a stretch of some +five-and-twenty miles--were not strong enough to oppose the German +advance, and some of them ran the risk of having their retreat cut off. +Chanzy realized the danger, and on the morning of January 8 he despatched +Jaureguiberry to take command of all the troops distributed from the south +to the south-east, between Chateau-du-Loir and Chateau-Renault, and bring +them to Le Mans. + +But the 10th German Corps was advancing in these directions, and, after +an engagement with Barry's troops at Ruille, secured positions round La +Chartre. This seriously threatened the retreat of the column under General +Curten, which was still at Saint Amand, and, moreover, it was a further +menace to Barry himself, as his division was distributed over a front of +fourteen miles near Chateau-du-Loir. Jaureguiberry, however, entreated +Barry to continue guarding the river Loir, in the hope of Curten being +able to retreat to that point. + +Whilst, however, these defensive attempts were being made to the south of +Le Mans, the Germans were pressing forward on the north-east and the +east, Prince Frederick Charles being eager to come in touch with Chanzy's +main forces, regardless of what might happen on the Loir and at Saint +Amand. On the north-east the enemy advanced to La Ferte Bernard; on the +east, at Vance, a brigade of German cavalry drove back the French +cuirassiers and Algerians, and Prince Frederick Charles then proceeded as +far as Saint Calais, where he prepared for decisive action. One army corps +was sent down the line of the Huisne, another had orders to advance on +Ardenay, a third on Bouloire, whilst the fourth, leaving Barry on its left +flank, was to march on Parigne-l'Eveque. Thus, excepting a brigade of +infantry and one of cavalry, detached to observe the isolated Curten, and +hold him in check, virtually the whole of the German Second Army marched +against Chanzy's main forces. + +Chanzy, on his side, now ordered Jaures (21st Corps) to occupy the +positions of Yvre, Auvours, and Sarge strongly; whilst Colomb (17th Corps) +was instructed to send General Paris's division forward to Ardenay, thus +reducing Colomb's actual command to one division, as Jouffroy's column had +previously been detached from it. On both sides every operation was +attended by great difficulties on account of the very severe weather. +A momentary thaw had been followed by another sudden frost, in such wise +that the roads had a coating of ice, which rendered them extremely +slippery. On January 9 violent snowstorms set in, almost blinding one, and +yet the rival hosts did not for an hour desist from their respective +efforts. At times, when I recall those days, I wonder whether many who +have read of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow have fully realized what that +meant. Amidst the snowstorms of the 9th a force of German cavalry attacked +our extreme left and compelled it to retreat towards the Alencon line. +Rousseau's column being in a dangerous position at Connerre, Colin's +division of the 21st Corps was sent forward to support it in the direction +of Montfort, Gougeard with his Bretons also advancing to support Colin. +But the 13th German Corps attacked Rousseau, who after two engagements +was driven from Connerre and forced to retreat on Montfort and +Pont-de-Gennes across the Huisne, after losing in killed, wounded, and +missing, some 800 of his men, whereas the enemy lost barely a hundred. +At the same time Gougeard was attacked, and compelled to fall back on +Saint-Mars-la-Bruyere. + +But the principal event of the day was the defeat of General Paris's force +at Ardenay by a part of the 3rd German Corps. The latter had a superiority +in numbers, but the French in their demoralised condition scarcely put up +a fight at all, in such wise that the Germans took about 1000 prisoners. +The worst, however, was that, by seizing Ardenay, the enemy drove as it +were a wedge between the French forces, hampering their concentration. +Meantime, the 9th German Corps marched to Bouloire, which became Prince +Frederick Charles's headquarters. The 10th Corps, however, had not yet +been able to advance to Parigne l'Eveque in accordance with the Prince's +orders, though it had driven Barry back on Jupilles and Grand Luce. The +sole advantage secured by the French that day was that Curten managed to +retreat from Chateau-Renault; but it was only on the night of the 10th, +when he could be of little or no use to Chanzy, that he was able to reach +Chateau-du-Loir, where, in response to Chanzy's urgent appeals, +Jaureguiberry had succeeded in collecting a few thousand men to reinforce +the troops defending Le Mans. + +For four days there had been fighting on one and another point, from the +north-east to the south of the town, the result being unfavourable to the +French. Chanzy, it is true, was at this critical moment in bad health. +According to one account which I heard at the time, he had had an attack +of dysentery; according to another, he was suffering from some throat +complaint, combined with violent neuralgic pains in the head. I do not +think, however, that his ill-health particularly affected the issue, which +depended so largely on the manner in which his plans and instructions were +carried out. The strategy adopted by the Germans at Sedan and in the +battles around Metz had greatly impressed the generals who commanded the +French armies during the second period of the war. One might really say +that they lived in perpetual dread of being surrounded by the enemy. If +there was a lack of concentration on Chanzy's part, if he sent out one and +another flying column, and distributed a considerable portion of his army +over a wide area, it was precisely because he feared some turning movement +on the part of the Germans, which might result in bottling him up at +Le Mans. + +The earlier instructions which Prince Frederick Charles forwarded to his +subordinates certainly seem to indicate that a turning movement was +projected. But after the fighting on January 9, when, as I have indicated, +the 3rd German Army Corps penetrated wedge-like into the French lines, the +Prince renounced any idea of surrounding Chanzy's forces, and resolved to +make a vigorous frontal attack before they could be reinforced by any of +the still outlying columns. In coming to this decision, the Prince may +well have been influenced by the result of the recent fighting, which had +sufficiently demonstrated the superiority of the German troops to show +that, under the circumstances, a frontal attack would be attended with far +less risk than if he had found himself faced by a really vigorous +antagonist. Captain Hozier, whom I had previously seen at Versailles, was +at this time acting as _Times_ correspondent with the Prince's army, and, +in subsequently reviewing the fighting, he expressed the opinion that the +issue of the Prince's operations was never for a moment doubtful. Still, +on all points but one, the French put up a fairly good defence, as I will +now show. + + + +XII + +LE MANS AND AFTER + +The real Battle of Le Mans begins (January 10)--Jouffroy and Paris +are driven back--Gougeard's Fight at Champagne--The Breton Mobilises +from Conlie--Chanzy's Determination--His Orders for January 11--He +inspects the Lines--Paris driven from the Plateau of Auvours--Gougeard's +gallant re-capture of the Plateau--My Return to Le Mans--The Panic at La +Tuilerie--Retreat inevitable--Withdrawal of the French--Entry of the +Germans--Street Fighting--German Exactions--My Escape from Le Mans--The +French Retreat--Rear-Guard Engagements--Laval--My Arrest as a Spy--A +Dramatic Adventure. + + +Some more snow fell on the morning of January 10, when the decisive +fighting in front of Le Mans really began. On the evening of the 9th the +French headquarters was still without news of Generals Curten, Barry, +and Jouffroy, and even the communications with Jaureguiberry were of an +intermittent character. Nevertheless, Chanzy had made up his mind to give +battle, and had sent orders to Jaureguiberry to send Jouffroy towards +Parigne-l'Eveque (S.E.) and Barry towards Ecommoy (S. of Le Mans). But +the roads were in so bad a condition, and the French troops had been so +severely tried, and were so ill-provided for, that several of the +commander-in-chief's instructions could not be carried out. + +Jouffroy at least did his best, and after a hard and tiring march from +Grand Luce, a part of his division reached Parigne in time to join in the +action fought there. But it ended disastrously for the French, one of +their brigades losing as many as 1400 men, and the Germans taking +altogether some 2000 prisoners. Jouffroy's troops then fell back to +Pontlieue, the southern suburb of Le Mans, in a lamentable condition, and +took care to place the Huisne between themselves and the Germans. In the +same direction Paris's demoralised, division, already worsted at Ardenay +on the previous day, was driven from Change by the 3rd German Corps, which +took no fewer than 5000 prisoners. It had now almost cut the French +eastern and southern lines apart, threatening all direct communication +between the 21st and the 16th French Corps. Nevertheless, it was in a +dangerous position, having both of its flanks exposed to attack, one from +Yvre and Auvours, and the other from Pontlieue and the Chemin des Boeufs, +which last line was held by the 16th French Corps. + +Meantime, Gougeard's Bretons had been engaged at Champagne, quite a close +encounter taking place in the fields and on the vineyard slopes, followed +by a house-to-house fight in the village streets. The French were at last +driven back; but somewhat later, on the Germans retiring from Champagne, +they reoccupied the place. The result of the day was that, apart from the +somewhat hazardous success achieved by the 3rd German Corps, the enemy had +gained no great advantage. His 13th Corps had made but little progress, +his 9th had not been brought into action, and his 10th was as yet no +nearer than Grand Luce. On the French side, Barry had at last reached +Mulsanne, thus covering the direct southern road to Le Mans, Jaureguiberry +being lower down at Ecommoy with some 9000 men of various arms and +regiments, whom he had managed to get together. As for Curten's division, +as it could not possibly reach the immediate neighbourhood of Le Mans in +time for the fighting on the 11th, it received orders to march on La Suze, +south-west of the imperilled town. During the 10th, moreover, Chanzy was +strengthened by the welcome arrival of several additional field-pieces and +a large number of horses. He had given orders to raise the Camp of Conlie, +but instead of the forty or fifty thousand men, which at an earlier period +it was thought that camp would be able to provide, he now only derived +from it some 9000 ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost undrilled +Breton Mobilises. [On the other hand, as I previously related, the camp +had already provided the bulk of the men belonging to Gougeard's +division.] They were divided into six battalions--one of which came +from Saint Malo, the others from Rennes and Redon--and were commanded by +a general named Lalande. They proved to be no accession of strength; they +became, on the contrary, a source of weakness, and disaster, for it was +their behaviour which eventually sealed the fate of the Second Loire Army. + +But Chanzy, whatever his ailments might be, was personally full of energy +and determination. He knew, moreover, that two new army corps (the 19th +and the 25th) were being got ready to reinforce him, and he was still +resolved to give battle and hold on for another four or five days, when he +relied on compelling Prince Frederick Charles to retreat. Then, with his +reinforced army, he hoped to march once more in the direction of Paris. +Curiously enough, it was precisely on that critical day, January 10, that +Gambetta sent Trochu a despatch by pigeon-post, telling him that on the +20th, at the latest, both Chanzy and Bourbaki would be moving on the +capital, having between them over 400,000 men. + +But if Chanzy's spirits did not fail him, those of his men were at a very +low ebb indeed. He was repeatedly told so by subordinate commanders; +nevertheless (there was something Napoleonic in his character), he would +not desist from his design, but issued instructions that there was to be a +resolute defence of the lines on the 11th, together with a determined +effort to regain all lost positions. At the same time, the statements of +the divisional generals respecting the low _morale_ of some of the troops +were not left unheeded, for a very significant order went forth, namely, +that cavalry should be drawn up in the rear of the infantry wherever this +might appear advisable. The inference was obvious. + +Three divisions and Lalande's Breton Mobilises were to hold the +south-eastern lines from Arnage along the track known as the Chemin des +Boeufs, and to link up, as well as possible, with Paris's and Gougeard's +divisions, to which fell the duty of guarding the plateau of Auvours and +the banks of the Huisne. The rest of the 21st Corps (to which Gougeard's +division belonged) was to defend the space between the Huisne and the +Sarthe. Colomb's fragmentary force, apart from Paris's division, was still +to cover Le Mans towards the north-east. Barry's men, on their expected +arrival, were to serve as reserves around Pontlieue. + +The morning of January 11 was bright. The snow had ceased falling, but lay +some inches thick upon the ground. In order to facilitate the passage of +troops, and particularly of military waggons, through the town, the Mayor +of Le Mans ordered the inhabitants to clear away as much of this snow as +possible; but it naturally remained undisturbed all over the countryside. +Little had been seen of Chanzy on the two previous days, but that morning +he mounted horse and rode along the lines from the elevated position known +as Le Tertre Rouge to the equally elevated position of Yvre. I saw him +there, wrapped in a long loose cloak, the hood of which was drawn over his +kepi. Near him was his picturesque escort of Algerian Spahis, and while he +was conversing with some officers I pulled out a little sketch-book which +I carried, and tried to outline the group. An aide-de-camp who noticed me +at once came up to inquire what I was doing, and I therefore had to +produce the permit which, on returning to the front, I had obtained from +the Chief of the Staff. It was found to be quite in order, and I went on +with my work. But a few minutes later the general, having given his +orders, gathered up his reins to ride away. As he slowly passed me, he +gave me just one little sharp glance, and with a faint suspicion of a +smile remarked, "I will look at that another time." The aide-de-camp had +previously told him what my purpose was. + +That day the 3rd German Corps again resumed the offensive, and once more +drove Gougeard out of Champagne. Then the enemy's 9th Corps, which on +January 10 had done little or nothing, and was therefore quite fresh, was +brought into action, and made a resolute attack on the plateau of Auvours. +There was a fairly long fight, which could be seen from Yvre. But the +Germans were too strong for Paris's men, who at last disbanded, and came, +helter-skelter, towards the bridge of Yvre in terrible confusion. Flight +is often contagious, and Gougeard, who had fallen back from Champagne in +fairly good order, feared lest his men should imitate their comrades. +He therefore pointed two field-pieces on the runaways, and by that means +checked their stampede. + +Having established themselves at the farther end of the plateau, the +Germans advanced very cautiously, constantly seeking cover behind the +various hedges. General de Colomb, to whose command Paris's runaway +division belonged, insisted, however, that the position must be retaken. +Gougeard thereupon collected a very miscellaneous force, which included +regular infantry, mobiles, mobilises, and some of Charette's Volontaires +de l'Ouest--previously known in Borne as the Pontifical Zouaves. Placing +himself at the head of these men, he made a vigorous effort to carry out +Colomb's orders. The French went forward almost at the charge, the Germans +waiting for them from behind the hedges, whence poured a hail of lead. +Gougeard's horse was shot under him, a couple of bullets went through his +coat, and another--or, as some said, a splinter of a shell--knocked off +his kepi. Still, he continued leading his men, and in the fast failing +light the Germans, after repeated encounters, were driven back to the +verge of the plateau. + +That was told me afterwards, for at the moment I was already on my way +back to Le Mans, which I wished to reach before it was absolutely night. +On coming from the town early in the morning, I had brought a few eatables +in my pockets, but they had soon been consumed, and I had found it +impossible to obtain any food whatever at Yvre, though some of the very +indifferent local wine was procurable. Thus I was feeling very hungry as I +retraced my steps through the snow towards the little hostelry in the Rue +du Gue de Maulny, where I had secured accommodation. It was a walk of some +four or five miles, but the cold urged me on, and, in spite of the snow, +I made the journey fairly rapidly, in such wise that little more than an +hour later I was seated in a warm room in front of some steaming soup, +answering all sorts of questions as to what I had seen during the day, +and particularly whether _les notres_ had gained a victory. I could only +answer that the "Prussians" had taken Auvours, but that fighting was still +going on, as Gougeard had gone to recapture the position. At the moment, +indeed, that was the extent of my information. The landlord looked rather +glum and his daughter somewhat anxious, and the former, shaking his head, +exclaimed: "Voyez-vous, Monsieur l'Anglais, nous n'avons pas de chance-- +pas de chance du tout! Je ne sais pas a quoi ca tient, mais c'est comme +ca. Et, tenez, cela ne me surprendrait pas de voir ces sales Prussiens +dans la ville d'ici a demain!" ["We have no luck, no luck at all. +I don't know why, but there it is. And, do you know, it would not surprise +me to see those dirty Prussians in the town between now and to-morrow."] +Unfortunately for Le Mans and for France also, his forebodings were +accurate. At that very moment, indeed, a great disaster was occurring. + +Jaureguiberry had reached the southern suburb of Pontlieue at about nine +o'clock that morning after a night march from Ecommoy. He had divided his +miscellaneous force of 9000 men into three brigades. As they did not seem +fit for immediate action, they were drafted into the reserves, so that +their arrival was of no particular help that day. About eleven o'clock the +3rd German Corps, coming from the direction of Change, attacked Jouffroy's +lines along the more northern part of the so-called Chemin des Boeufs, +and, though Jouffroy's men fought fairly well, they could not prevent +their foes from capturing the position of the Tertre Rouge. Still, the +enemy gained no decisive success in this direction; nor was any marked +result attained by the 13th German Corps which formed the extreme right of +the attacking forces. But Prince Frederick Charles had sent orders to +Voigts Rhetz, who was at Grand Luce, [A brigade of cavalry kept up +communications between him and the 3rd Army Corps.] advance with the +10th Corps on Mulsanne, which the French had evacuated; and on reaching +Mulsanne, the same general received instructions to come to the support of +the 3rd Corps, which was engaged with Jouffroy's force. Voigts Rhetz's men +were extremely fatigued; nevertheless, the 20th Division of Infantry, +commanded by General Kraatz-Koschlau, went on towards the Chemin des +Boeufs, following the direct road from Tours to Le Mans. + +Here there was an elevated position known as La Tuilerie--otherwise the +tile-works--which had been fortified expressly to prevent the Germans from +bursting upon Le Mans from the direct south. Earth-works for guns had been +thrown up, trenches had been dug, the pine trees, so abundant on the +southern side of Le Mans, had been utilised for other shielding works, as +well as for shelter-places for the defending force. Unfortunately, at the +moment of the German advance, that defending force consisted of the +ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost untrained Breton Mobilises, +[There were just a few old soldiers among them.] who, as I have already +related, had arrived the previous day from the camp of Conlie under the +command of General Lalande. It is true that near these men was stationed +an infantry brigade of the 6th Corps d'Armee, whose duty it was to support +and steady them. They undoubtedly needed to be helped, for the great +majority had never been in action before. Moreover, in addition to the +infantry brigade, there were two batteries of artillery; but I fear that +for the most part the gunners were little better than recruits. +Exaggerated statements have been made respecting the quality of the +firearms with which the Mobilises were provided. Many of the weapons were +afterwards found to be very dirty, even rusty, but that was the result of +neglect, which their officers should have remedied. It is true, however, +that these weapons were for the most part merely percussion guns. Again, +it has been said that the men had no ammunition, but that statement was +certainly inaccurate. On the other hand, these Mobilises were undoubtedly +very cold and very hungry--even as I myself was that day--no rations +having been served to them until late in the afternoon, that is, shortly +before they were attacked, at which moment, indeed, they were actually +preparing the meal for which they had so long been waiting. + +The wintry night was gathering round when Kraatz-Kosohlau found himself +with his division before the position of La Tuilerie. He could see that it +was fortified, and before attempting any further advance he fired a few +shells. The Mobilises were immediately panic-stricken. They made no +attempt at defence; hungry though they were, they abandoned even their +pots and pans, and fled in the direction of Pontlieue, which formed, as it +were, a long avenue, fringed with factories, textile mills, bleaching +works, and so forth. In vain did their officers try to stop the fugitives, +even striking them with the flats of their swords, in vain did Lalande and +his staff seek to intercept them at the Rond Point de Pontlieue. Nothing +could induce them to stop. They threw away their weapons in order to run +the faster. At La Tuilerie not a gun was fired at the Germans. Even the +infantry brigade fell back, without attempting to fight. + +All this occurred at a moment when everybody thought that the day's +fighting was over. But Jaureguiberry appeared upon the scene, and ordered +one of his subordinates, General Lebouedeo, to retake the lost position. +Lebouedeo tried to do so with 1000 tired men, who had been in action +during the day, and failed. A second attempt proved equally futile. No +effort apparently was made to secure help from Barry, who was at Arnage +with 5000 infantry and two brigades of cavalry, and who might have fallen +on the left flank of the German Corps. La Tuilerie was lost, and with it +Le Mans was lost also. + +I was quietly sipping some coffee and reading the local newspapers--three +or four were published at Le Mans in those days--when I heard of that +disastrous stampede. Some of the men had reached the town, spreading the +contagion of fear as they came. Tired though I was, I at once went towards +the Avenue de Fontlieue, where the excitement was general. Gendarmes were +hurrying hither and thither, often arresting the runaways, and at other +times picking up weapons and cartridge-cases which had been flung away. So +numerous were the abandoned weapons and equipments that cartloads of them +were collected. Every now and then an estafette galloped to or from the +town. The civilians whom one met wore looks of consternation. It was +evident, indeed, to everybody who knew how important was the position of +La Tuilerie, that its capture by the Germans placed Le Mans in jeopardy. +When the two attempts to retake it had failed, Jaureguiberry urged +immediate retreat. This was rendered the more imperative by other events +of the night and the early morning, for, inspirited by their capture of La +Tuilerie, the Germans made fresh efforts in other directions, so that +Barry had to quit Arnage, whilst Jouffroy lost most of his positions near +the Chemin des Boeufs, and the plateau d'Auvours had again to be +evacuated. + +At 8 a.m. on January 12, Chanzy, after suggesting a fresh attempt to +recover La Tuilerie, which was prevented by the demoralisation of the +troops, was compelled to give a reluctant assent to Jaureguiberry's +proposals of retreat. At the same time, he wished the retreat to be +carried out slowly and methodically, and informed Gambetta that he +intended to withdraw in the direction of Aleneon (Orne) and Pre-en-Pail +(Mayenne). This meant moving into Normandy, and Gambetta pointed out that +such a course would leave all Brittany open to the enemy, and enable him +to descend without opposition even to the mouth of the Loire. Chanzy was +therefore instructed to retreat on Laval, and did so; but as he had +already issued orders for the other route, great confusion ensued, the new +orders only reaching the subordinate commanders on the evening of the +12th. + +From January 6 to 12 the French had lost 6000 men in killed and wounded. +The Germans had taken 20,000 prisoners, and captured seventeen guns and a +large quantity of army materiel. Further, there was an incalculable number +of disbanded Mobiles and Mobilises. If Prince Frederick Charles had known +at the time to what a deplorable condition Chanzy's army had been reduced, +he would probably have acted more vigorously than he did. It is true that +his own men (as Von Hoenig has admitted) were, generally speaking, in a +state of great fatigue after the six days' fighting, and also often badly +circumstanced in regard to clothing, boots, and equipments. [Even when the +armistice arrived I saw many German soldiers wearing French sabots.] Such +things cannot last for ever, and there had been little or no opportunity +to renew anything since the second battle of Orleans early in December. +In the fighting before Le Mans, however, the German loss in killed and +wounded was only 3400--200 of the number being officers, whom the French +picked off as often as possible. + +On the morning of the 12th all was confusion at Pontlieue. Guns, waggons, +horsemen, infantrymen, were congregated there, half blocking up the bridge +which connects this suburb with Le Mans. A small force under General de +Roquebrune was gallantly striving to check the Germans at one part of the +Chemin des Boeufs, in order to cover the retreat. A cordon of gendarmes +had been drawn up at the railway-station to prevent it from being invaded +by all the runaways. Some hundreds of wounded men were allowed access, +however, in order that they might, if possible, get away in one of the +many trains which were being sent off as rapidly as possible. This service +was in charge of an official named Piquet, who acted with the greatest +energy and acumen. Of the five railway-lines meeting at Le Mans only two +were available, that running to Rennes _via_ Laval, and that running to +Angers. I find from a report drawn up by M. Piquet a little later, that he +managed to send off twenty-five trains, some of them drawn by two and +three engines. They included about 1000 vans, trucks, and coaches; that is +558 vans laden with provisions (in part for the relief of Paris); 134 vans +and trucks laden with artillery _materiel_ and stores, 70 vans of +ammunition, 150 empty vans and trucks, and 176 passenger carriages. On +securing possession of the station, however, the Germans still found there +about 200 vans and carriages, and at least a dozen locomotive engines. The +last train left at 2.45 p.m. I myself got away (as I shall presently +relate) shortly after two o'clock, when the station was already being +bombarded. + +General de Roquebrune having, at last, been compelled to withdraw from the +vicinity of the Chemin des Boeufs, the Germans came on to the long avenue +of Pontlieue. Here they were met by most of the corps of gendarmes, which, +as I previously related, was attached to the headquarters-staff under +General Bourdillon. These men, who had two Gatlings with them, behaved +with desperate bravery in order to delay the German entry into the town. +About a hundred of them, including a couple of officers, were killed +during that courageous defence. It was found impossible, however, to blow +up the bridge. The operation had been delayed as long as possible in order +to facilitate the French retreat, and when the gendarmes themselves +withdrew, there no longer remained sufficient time to put it into +execution. + +The first Germans to enter the town belonged to the 38th Brigade of +Infantry, and to part of a cavalry force under General von Schmidt. After +crossing the bridge of Pontlieue, they divided into three columns. One of +them proceeded up the Rue du Quartier de Cavalerie in the direction of the +Place des Jacobins and the cathedral. The second also went towards the +upper town, marching, however, by way of the Rue Basse, which conducted to +the Place des Halles, where the chief hotels and cafes were situated. +Meantime, the third column turned to the left, and hastened towards the +railway station. But, to their great amazement, their advance was +repeatedly checked. There were still a number of French soldiers in the +town, among them being Mobile Guards, Gendarmes, Franc-tireurs, and a +party of Marine Fusiliers. The German column which began to ascend the Rue +Basse was repeatedly fired at, whereupon its commanding officer halted his +men, and by way of punishment had seven houses set on fire, before +attempting to proceed farther. Nevertheless, the resistance was prolonged +at various points, on the Place des Jacobins, for instance, and again on +the Place des Halles. Near the latter square is--or was--a little street +called the Rue Dumas, from which the French picked off a dozen or twenty +Germans, so infuriating their commander that he sent for a couple of +field-pieces, and threatened to sweep the whole town with projectiles. + +Meantime, a number of the French who had lingered at Le Mans were +gradually effecting their escape. Many artillery and commissariat waggons +managed to get away, and a local notability, M. Eugene Caillaux--father +of M. Joseph Caillaux who was French Prime Minister during the latter half +of 1911, and who is now (Dec., 1913) Minister of Finances--succeeded in +sending out of the town several carts full of rifles, which some of the +French troops had flung away. However, the street-fighting could not be +indefinitely prolonged. It ceased when about a hundred Germans and a +larger number of French, both soldiers and civilians, had been killed. +The Germans avenged themselves by pillaging the houses in the Rue Dumas, +and several on the Place des Halles, though they spared the Hotel de +France there, as their commander, Voigts Rhetz, reserved it for his own +accommodation. Whilst the bombardment of a part of the lower town +continued--the railway station and the barracks called the Caserne de +la Mission being particularly affected--raids were made on the French +ambulances, in one of which, on the Boulevard Negrier, a patient was +barbarously bayoneted in his bed, on the pretext that he was a +Franc-tireur, whereas he really belonged to the Mobile Guard. At the +ambulance of the Ecole Normale, the sisters and clergy were, according to +their sworn statements, grossly ill-treated. Patients, some of whom were +suffering from smallpox, were turned out of their beds--which were +required, it was said, for the German wounded. All the wine that could be +found was drunk, money was stolen, and there was vindictive destruction on +all sides. + +The Mayor [The Prefect, M. Le Chevalier, had followed the army in its +retreat, considering it his duty to watch over the uninvaded part of the +department of the Sartha.] of Le Mans, M. Richard, and his two _adjoints_, +or deputies, went down through the town carrying a towel as a flag of +truce, and on the Place de la Mission they at last found Voigts Rhetz +surrounded by his staff. The General at once informed the Mayor that, in +consequence of the resistance of the town, it would have to pay a +war-levy of four millions of francs (L160,000) within twenty-four hours, +and that the inhabitants would have to lodge and feed the German forces as +long as they remained there. All the appeals made against these hard +conditions were disregarded during nearly a fortnight. When both the Mayor +and the Bishop of Le Mans solicited audiences of Prince Frederick Charles, +they were told by the famous Count Harry von Arnim--who, curiously enough, +subsequently became German Ambassador to France, but embroiled himself +with Bismarck and died in exile--that if they only wished to tender their +humble duty to the Prince he would graciously receive them, but that he +refused to listen to any representations on behalf of the town. + +A first sum of L20,000 and some smaller ones were at last got together in +this town of 37,000 inhabitants, and finally, on January 23, the total +levy was reduced, as a special favour, to L80,000. Certain German +requisitions were also to be set off against L20,000 of that amount; but +they really represented about double the figure. A public loan had to be +raised in the midst of continual exactions, which lasted even after the +preliminaries of peace had been signed, the Germans regarding Le Mans as a +milch cow from which too much could not be extracted. + +The anxieties of the time might well have sufficed to make the Mayor ill, +but, as a matter of fact, he caught small-pox, and his place had to be +taken by a deputy, who with the municipal council, to which several local +notabilities were adjoined, did all that was possible to satisfy the greed +of the Germans. Small-pox, I may mention, was very prevalent at Le Mans, +and some of the ambulances were specially reserved for soldiers who had +contracted that disease. Altogether, about 21,000 men (both French and +Germans), suffering from wounds or diseases of various kinds, were treated +in the town's ambulances from November 1 to April 15. + +Some thousands of Germans were billeted on the inhabitants, whom they +frequently robbed with impunity, all complaints addressed to the German +Governor, an officer named Von Heiduck, being disregarded. This individual +ordered all the inhabitants to give up any weapons which they possessed, +under penalty of death. Another proclamation ordained the same punishment +for anybody who might give the slightest help to the French army, or +attempt to hamper the German forces. Moreover, the editors, printers, and +managers of three local newspapers were summarily arrested and kept in +durance on account of articles against the Germans which they had written, +printed, or published _before_ Chanzy's defeat. + +On January 13, which chanced to be a Friday, Prince Frederick Charles made +his triumphal entry into Le Mans, the bands of the German regiments +playing all their more popular patriotic airs along the route which +his Royal Highness took in order to reach the Prefecture--a former +eighteenth-century convent--where he intended to install himself. On the +following day the Mayor received the following letter: + +"Mr. Mayor, + +"I request you to send to the Prefecture by half-past five o'clock this +afternoon 24 spoons, 24 forks, and 36 knives, as only just sufficient for +the number of people at table have been sent, and there is no means of +changing the covers. For dinner you will provide 20 bottles of Bordeaux, +30 bottles of Champagne, two bottles of Madeira, and 2 bottles of +liqueurs, which must be at the Prefecture at six o'clock precisely. +The wine previously sent not being good, neither the Bordeaux nor the +Champagne, you must send better kinds, otherwise I shall have to inflict +a fine upon the town. + +(Signed) "Von Kanitz." + +This communication was followed almost immediately afterwards by another, +emanating from the same officer, who was one of the Prince's +aides-de-camp. He therein stated (invariably employing, be it said, +execrable French) that the _cafe-au-lait_ was to be served at the +Prefecture at 8 a.m.; the _dejeuner_ at noon; and the dinner at 7.30 p.m. +At ten o'clock every morning, the Mayor was to send 40 bottles of +Bordeaux, 40 bottles of Champagne, 6 bottles of Madeira, and 3 bottles of +liqueurs. He was also to provide waiters to serve at table, and kitchen- +and scullery-maids. And Kanitz concluded by saying: "If the least thing +fails, a remarkable (_sic_) fine will be inflicted on the town." + +On January 15 an order was sent to the Mayor to supply at once, for the +Prince's requirements, 25 kilogrammes of ham; 13 kilos. of sausages; +13 kilos. of tongues; 5 dozen eggs; vegetables of all sorts, particularly +onions; 15 kilos. of Gruyere cheese; 5 kilos. of Parmesan; 15 kilos. +of best veal; 20 fowls; 6 turkeys; 12 ducks; 5 kilos. of powdered sugar. +[All the German orders and requisitions are preserved in the municipal +archives of Le Mans.] No wine was ever good enough for Prince Frederick +Charles and his staff. The complaints sent to the town-hall were +incessant. Moreover, the supply of Champagne, by no means large in such a +place as Le Mans, gave out, and then came all sorts of threats. The +municipal councillors had to trot about trying to discover a few bottles +here and there in private houses, in order to supply the requirements of +the Princely Staff. There was also a scarcity of vegetables, and yet there +were incessant demands for spinach, cauliflowers, and artichokes, and even +fruit for the Prince's tarts. One day Kanitz went to the house where the +unfortunate Mayor was lying in bed, and told him that he must get up and +provide vegetables, as none had been sent for the Prince's table. The +Mayor protested that the whole countryside was covered with snow, and that +it was virtually impossible to satisfy such incessant demands; but, as he +afterwards related, ill and worried though he was, he could not refrain +from laughing when he was required to supply several pounds of truffles. +Truffles at Le Mans, indeed! In those days, too! The idea was quite +ridiculous. + +Not only had the demands of Prince Frederick Charles's staff to be +satisfied, but there were those of Voigts Rhetz, and of all the officers +lodging at the Hotel de France, the Hotel du Dauphin, the Hotel de la +Boule d'Or and other hostelries. These gentlemen were very fond of giving +dinners, and "mine host" was constantly being called upon to provide all +sorts of delicacies at short notice. The cellars of the Hotel de France +were drunk dry. The common soldiers also demanded the best of everything +at the houses where they were billeted; and sometimes they played +extraordinary pranks there. Half a dozen of them, who were lodged at a +wine-shop in, I think, the Rue Dumas, broached a cask of brandy, poured +the contents into a tub, and washed their feet in the spirituous liquor. +It may be that a "brandy bath" is a good thing for sore feet; and that +might explain the incident. However, when I think of it, I am always +reminded of how, in the days of the Second Empire, the spendthrift Due de +Gramont-Caderousse entered the. Cafe Anglais in Paris, one afternoon, +called for a silver soup-tureen, had two or three bottles of champagne +poured into it, and then made an unrepentant Magdalen of the Boulevards, +whom he had brought with him, wash his feet in the sparkling wine. From +that afternoon until the Cafe Anglais passed out of existence no silver +soup-tureens were ever used there. + +I have given the foregoing particulars respecting the German occupation +of Le Mans--they are principally derived from official documents--just to +show the reader what one might expect if, for instance, a German force +should land at Hull or Grimsby and fight its way successfully to--let us +say--York or Leeds or Nottingham. The incidents which occurred at Le Mans +were by no means peculiar to that town. Many similar instances occurred +throughout the invaded regions of France. I certainly do not wish to +impute gluttony to Prince Frederick Charles personally. But during the +years which followed the Franco-German War I made three fairly long +stays at Berlin, putting up at good hotels, where officers--sometimes +generals--often lunched and dined. And their appetites frequently amazed +me, whilst their manners at table were repulsive. In those days most +German officers were bearded, and I noticed that between the courses at +luncheon and at dinner it was a common practice of theirs to produce +pocket-glasses and pocket-combs, and comb their beards--as well as the +hair on their heads--over the table. As for their manner of eating and the +noise they made in doing so, the less said the better. In regard to +manners, I have always felt that the French of 1870-71 were in some +respects quite entitled to call their enemies "barbarians"; but that was +forty-three years ago, and as time works wonders, the manners of the +German military element may have improved. + +In saying something about the general appearance of Le Mans, I pointed out +that the town now has a Place de la Republique, a Gambetta Bridge, a Rue +Thiers, and a statue of Chanzy; but at the period of the war and for a +long time afterwards it detested the Republic (invariably returning +Bonapartist or Orleanist deputies), sneered at Gambetta, and hotly +denounced the commander of the Loire Army. Its grievance against Chanzy +was that he had made it his headquarters and given battle in its immediate +vicinity. The conflict having ended disastrously for the French arms, the +townsfolk lamented that it had ever taken place. Why had Chanzy brought +his army there? they indignantly inquired. He might very well have gone +elsewhere. So strong was this Manceau feeling against the general--a +feeling inspired by the sufferings which the inhabitants experienced at +the time, notably in consequence of the German exactions--that fifteen +years later, when the general's statue (for which there had been a +national subscription) was set up in the town, the displeasure there was +very great, and the monument was subjected to the most shameful +indignities. [At Nouart, his native place, there is another statue of +Chanzy, which shows him pointing towards the east. On the pedestal is the +inscription; "The generals who wish to obtain the baton of Marshal of +France must seek it across the Rhine"--words spoken by him in one of his +speeches subsequent to the war.] But all that has passed. Nowadays, both +at Auvours and at Pontlieue, there are monuments to those who fell +fighting for France around Le Mans, and doubtless the town, in becoming +more Republican, has become more patriotic also. + +Before relating how I escaped from Le Mans on the day when the retreat was +ordered, there are a few other points with which I should like to deal +briefly. It is tolerably well known that I made the English translation of +Emile Zola's great novel, "La Debacle," and a good many of my present +readers may have read that work either in the original French or in the +version prepared by me. Now, I have always thought that some of the +characters introduced by Zola into his narrative were somewhat +exceptional. I doubt if there were many such absolutely neurotic +degenerates as "Maurice" in the French Army at any period of the war. I +certainly never came across such a character. Again, the psychology of +Stephen Crane's "Red Badge of Courage," published a few years after "La +Debacle," and received with acclamations by critics most of whom had never +in their lives been under fire, also seems to me to be of an exceptional +character. I much prefer the psychology of the Waterloo episode in +Stendhal's "Chartreuse de Parme," because it is of more general +application. "The Red Badge of Courage," so the critics told us, showed +what a soldier exactly felt and thought in the midst of warfare. Unlike +Stendhal, however, its author had never "served." No more had Zola; and I +feel that many of the pictures which novelists have given us of a +soldier's emotions when in action apply only to exceptional cases, and are +even then somewhat exaggerated. + +In action there is no time for thought. The most trying hours for a man +who is in any degree of a sensitive nature are those spent in night-duty +as a sentry or as one of a small party at some lonely outpost. Then +thoughts of home and happiness, and of those one loves, may well arise. +There is one little point in connexion with this subject which I must +mention. Whenever letters were found on the bodies of men who fell during +the Franco-German War, they were, if this man was a Frenchman, more +usually letters from his mother, and, if he was a German, more usually +letters from his sweetheart. Many such letters found their way into print +during the course of the war. It is a well-known fact that a Frenchman's +cult for his mother is a trait of the national character, and that a +Frenchwoman almost always places her child before her husband. + +But what struck me particularly during the Franco-German War was that +the anxieties and mental sufferings of the French officers were much +keener than those of the men. Many of those officers were married, some +had young children, and in the silent hours of a lonely night-watch their +thoughts often travelled to their dear ones. I well remember how an +officer virtually unbosomed himself to me on this subject one night near +Yvre-l'Eveque. The reason of it all is obvious. The higher a man's +intelligence, the greater is his sense of responsibility and the force of +his attachments. But in action the latter are set aside; they only obtrude +at such times as I have said or else at the moment of death. + +Of actual cowardice there were undoubtedly numerous instances during the +war, but a great deal might be said in defence of many of the men who here +and there abandoned their positions. During the last months their +sufferings were frequently terrible. At best they were often only +partially trained. There was little cohesion in many battalions. There was +a great lack of efficient non-commissioned officers. Instead of drafting +regular soldiers from the _depots_ into special regiments, as was often +done, it might have been better to have distributed them among the Mobiles +and Mobilises, whom they would have steadied. Judging by all that I +witnessed at that period, I consider it essential that any territorial +force should always contain a certain number of trained soldiers who have +previously been in action. And any such force should always have the +support of regulars and of efficient artillery. I have related how certain +Breton Mobilises abandoned La Tuilerie. They fled before the regulars or +the artillery could support them; but they were, perhaps, the very rawest +levies in all Chanzy's forces. Other Breton Mobilises, on other points, +fought very well for men of their class. For instance, no reproach could +be addressed to the battalions of St. Brieuo, Brest, Quimper, Lorient, and +Nantes. They were better trained than were the men stationed at La +Tuilerie, and it requires some time to train a Breton properly. That +effected, he makes a good soldier. + +Respecting my own feelings during that war, I may say that the paramount +one was curiosity. To be a journalist, a man must be inquisitive. It is +a _sine qua non_ of his profession. Moreover, I was very young; I had no +responsibilities; I may have been in love, or have thought I was, but I +was on my own, and my chief desire was to see as much as I could. I +willingly admit that, when Gougeard's column was abruptly attacked at +Droue, I experienced some trepidation at finding myself under fire; but +firmness may prove as contagious as fear, and when Gougeard rallied his +men and went forward to repel the Germans, interest and a kind of +excitement took possession of me. Moreover, as I was, at least nominally, +attached to the ambulance service, there was duty to be done, and that +left no opportunity for thought. The pictures of the ambulances in or near +Sedan are among the most striking ones contained in "La Debacle," and, +judging by what I saw elsewhere, Zola exaggerated nothing. The ambulance +is the truly horrible side of warfare. To see men lying dead on the ground +is, so to say, nothing. One gets used to it. But to see them amputated, +and to see them lying in bed suffering, often acutely, from dreadful +wounds, or horrible diseases--dysentery, typhus, small-pox--that is the +thing which tries the nerves of all but the doctors and the trained +nurses. On several occasions I helped to carry wounded men, and felt no +emotion in doing so; but more than once I was almost overcome by the sight +of all the suffering in some ambulance. + +When, on the morning of January 12, I heard that a general retreat had +been ordered, I hesitated as to what course I should pursue. I did not +then anticipate the street-fighting, and the consequent violence of the +Germans. But journalistic instinct told me that if I remained in the town +until after the German entry I might then find it very difficult to get +away and communicate with my people. At the same time, I did not think the +German entry so imminent as proved to be the case; and I spent a +considerable time in the streets watching all the tumult which prevailed +there. Now and again a sadly diminished battalion went by in fairly good +order. But numbers of disbanded men hurried hither and thither in +confusion. Here and there a street was blocked with army vans and waggons, +whose drivers were awaiting orders, not knowing which direction to take. +Officers and estafettes galloped about on all sides. Then a number of +wounded men were carried in carts, on stretchers, and on trucks towards +the railway-station. Others, with their heads bandaged or their arms in +slings, walked painfully in the same direction. Outside the station there +was a strong cordon of Gendarmes striving to resist all the pressure of a +great mob of disbanded men who wished to enter and get away in the trains. +At one moment, when, after quite a struggle, some of the wounded were +conveyed through the mob and the cordon, the disbanded soldiers followed, +and many of them fought their way into the station in spite of all the +efforts of the Gendarmes. The _melee_ was so desperate that I did not +attempt to follow, but, after watching it for some time, retraced my steps +towards my lodging. All was hubbub and confusion at the little inn, and +only with difficulty could I get anything to eat there. A little later, +however, I managed to tell the landlord--his name was Dubuisson--that I +meant to follow the army, and, if possible, secure a place in one of the +trains which were frequently departing. After stowing a few necessaries +away in my pockets, I begged him to take charge of my bag until some +future day, and the worthy old man then gave me some tips as to how I +might make my way into the station, by going a little beyond it, and +climbing a palisade. + +We condoled with one another and shook hands. I then went out. The +cannonade, which had been going on for several hours, had now become more +violent. Several shells had fallen on or near the Caserne de la Mission +during the morning. Now others were falling near the railway-station. +I went my way, however, turned to the right on quitting the Rue du +Gue-de-Maulny, reached some palings, and got on to the railway-line. +Skirting it, I turned to the left, going back towards the station. +I passed one or two trains, which were waiting. But they were composed of +trucks and closed vans. I might perhaps have climbed on to one of the +former, but it was a bitterly cold day; and as for the latter, of course +I could not hope to enter one of them. So I kept on towards the station, +and presently, without let or hindrance, I reached one of the platforms. + +Le Mans being an important junction, its station was very large, in some +respects quite monumental. The principal part was roofed with glass and +suggested Charing Cross. I do not remember exactly the number of lines of +metals running through it, but I think there must have been four or five. +There were two trains waiting there, one of them, which was largely +composed of passenger carriages, being crammed with soldiers. I tried to +get into one carriage, but was fiercely repulsed. So, going to the rear of +this train, I crossed to another platform, where the second train was. +This was made up of passenger coaches and vans. I scrambled into one of +the latter, which was open. There were a number of packing-cases inside +it, but there was at least standing room for several persons. Two railway +men and two or three soldiers were already there. One of the former helped +me to get in. I had, be it said, a semi-military appearance, for my grey +frieze coat was frogged, and besides, what was more important, I wore the +red-cross armlet given me at the time when I followed Gougeard's column. + +Almost immediately afterwards the train full of soldiers got away. The +cannonade was now very loud, and the glass roof above us constantly +vibrated. Some minutes elapsed whilst we exchanged impressions. Then, all +at once, a railway official--it may have been M. Piquet himself--rushed +along the platform in the direction of the engine, shouting as he went: +"Depechez! Depechez! Sauvez-vous!" At the same moment a stray artilleryman +was seen hastening towards us; but suddenly there came a terrific crash of +glass, a shell burst through the roof and exploded, and the unlucky +artilleryman fell on the platform, evidently severely wounded. We were +already in motion, however, and the line being dear, we got fairly swiftly +across the viaduct spanning the Sarthe. This placed us beyond the reach of +the enemy, and we then slowed down. + +One or two more trains were got away after ours, the last one, I believe, +being vainly assailed by some Uhlans before it had crossed the viaduct. +The latter ought then to have been blown up, but an attempt to do so +proved ineffectual. We went on very slowly on account of the many trains +in front of us. Every now and again, too, there came a wearisome stop. It +was bitterly cold, and it was in vain that we beat the tattoo with our +feet in the hope of thereby warming them. The men with me were also +desperately hungry, and complained of it so bitterly and so frequently, +that, at last, I could not refrain from producing a little bread and meat +which I had secured at Le Mans and sharing it with them. But it merely +meant a bite for each of us. However, on stopping at last at Conlie +station--some sixteen or seventeen miles from Le Mans--we all hastily +scrambled out of the train, rushed into a little inn, and almost fought +like wild beasts for scraps of food. Then on we went once more, still very +slowly, still stopping again and again, sometimes for an hour at a +stretch, until, half numbed by the cold, weary of stamping our feet, and +still ravenous, we reached the little town of Sille-le-Guillaume, which is +not more than eight or nine miles from Conlie. + +At Sille I secured a tiny garret-like room at the crowded Hotel de la +Croix d'Or, a third-rate hostelry, which was already invaded by officers, +soldiers, railway officials, and others who had quitted Le Mans before I +had managed to do so. My comparatively youthful appearance won for me, +however, the good favour of the buxom landlady, who, after repeatedly +declaring to other applicants that she had not a corner left in the whole +house, took me aside and said in an undertone: "listen, I will put you in +a little _cabinet_ upstairs. I will show you the way by and by. But don't +tell anybody." And she added compassionately: "_Mon pauvre garcon_, you +look frozen. Go into the kitchen. There is a good fire there, and you will +get something to eat." + +Truth to tell, the larder was nearly empty, but I secured a little cheese +and some bread and some very indifferent wine, which, however, in my then +condition, seemed to me to be nectar. I helped myself to a bowl, I +remember, and poured about a pint of wine into it, so as to soak my bread, +which was stale and hard. Toasting my feet at the fire whilst I regaled +myself with that improvised _soupe-au-vin_, I soon felt warm and +inspirited once more. Hardship sits on one but lightly when one is only +seventeen years of age and stirred by early ambition. All the world then +lay before me, like mine oyster, to be opened by either sword or pen. + +At a later hour, by the light of a solitary guttering candle, in the +little _cabinet_ upstairs, I wrote, as best I could, an account of the +recent fighting and the loss of Le Mans; and early on the following +morning I prevailed on a railway-man who was going to Rennes to post my +packet there, in order that it might be forwarded to England _via_ Saint +Malo. The article appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, filling a page of +that journal, and whatever its imperfections may have been, it was +undoubtedly the first detailed account of the battle of Le Mans, from the +French side, to appear in the English Press. It so happened, indeed, that +the other correspondents with the French forces, including my cousin +Montague Vizetelly of _The Daily News_, lingered at Le Mans until it was +too late for them to leave the town, the Germans having effected their +entry. + +German detachments soon started in pursuit of the retreating Army of the +Loire. Chanzy, as previously mentioned, modified his plans, in accordance +with Gambetta's views, on the evening of January 12. The new orders were +that the 16th Army Corps should retreat on Laval by way of Chassille and +Saint Jean-sur-Erve, that the 17th, after passing Conlie, should come +down to Sainte Suzanne, and that the 21st should proceed from Conlie to +Sille-le-Guillaume. There were several rear-guard engagements during, the +retreat. Already on the 13th, before the 21st Corps could modify its +original line of march, it had to fight at Ballon, north of Le Mans. +On the next day one of its detachments, composed of 9000 Mobilises of the +Mayenne, was attacked at Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, and hastily fell back, +leaving 1400 men in the hands of the Germans, who on their side lost only +_nine_! Those French soldiers who retreated by way of Conlie partially +pillaged the abandoned stores there. A battalion of Mobiles, on passing +that way, provided themselves with new trousers, coats, boots, and +blankets, besides carrying off a quantity of bread, salt-pork, sugar, and +other provisions. These things were at least saved from the Germans, who +on reaching the abandoned camp found there a quantity of military +_materiel_, five million cartridges, 1500 cases of biscuits and extract of +meat, 180 barrels of salt-pork, a score of sacks of rice, and 140 +puncheons of brandy. + +On January 14 the 21st Corps under Jaures reached Sille-le-Guillaume, and +was there attacked by the advanced guard of the 13th German Corps under +the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg. The French offered a good resistance, +however, and the Germans retreated on Conlie. I myself had managed to +leave Sille the previous afternoon, but such was the block on the line +that our train could get no farther than Voutre, a village of about a +thousand souls. Railway travelling seeming an impossibility, I prevailed +on a farmer to give me a lift as far as Sainte Suzanne, whence I hoped to +cut across country in the direction of Laval. Sainte Suzanne is an ancient +and picturesque little town which in those days still had a rampart and +the ruins of an early feudal castle. I supped and slept at an inn there, +and was told in the morning (January 14) that it would be best for me to +go southward towards Saint Jean-sur-Erve, where I should strike the direct +highway to Laval, and might also be able to procure a conveyance. I did +not then know the exact retreating orders. I hoped to get out of the way +of all the troops and waggons encumbering the roads, but in this I was +doomed to disappointment, for at Saint Jean I fell in with them again. + +That day a part of the rear-guard of the 16th Corps (Jaureguiberry)--that +is, a detachment of 1100 men with a squadron of cavalry under General +Le Bouedec--had been driven out of Chassille by the German cavalry under +General von Schmidt. This had accelerated the French retreat, which +continued in the greatest confusion, all the men hastening precipitately +towards Saint Jean, where, after getting the bulk of his force on to the +heights across the river Erve, which here intersects the highway, +Jaureguiberry resolved on attempting to check the enemy's pursuit. Though +the condition of most of the men was lamentable, vigorous defensive +preparations were made on the night of the 14th and the early morning of +the following day. On the low ground, near the village and the river, +trees were felled and roads were barricaded; while on the slopes batteries +were disposed behind hedges, in which embrasures were cut. The enemy's +force was, I believe, chiefly composed of cavalry and artillery. The +latter was already firing at us when Jaureguiberry rode along our lines. +A shell exploded near him, and some splinters of the projectile struck +his horse in the neck, inflicting a ghastly, gaping wound. The poor beast, +however, did not fall immediately, but galloped on frantically for more +than a score of yards, then suddenly reared, and after doing so came down, +all of a heap, upon the snow. However, the Admiral, who was a good +horseman, speedily disengaged himself, and turned to secure another +mount--when he perceived that Colonel Beraud, his chief of staff, who had +been riding behind him, had been wounded by the same shell, and had fallen +from his horse. I saw the Colonel being carried to a neighbouring +farmhouse, and was afterwards told that he had died there. + +The engagement had no very decisive result, but Schmidt fell back to the +road connecting Sainte Suzanne with Thorigne-en-Charnie, whilst we +withdrew towards Soulge-le-Bruant, about halfway between Saint Jean and +Laval. During the fight, however, whilst the artillery duel was in +progress, quite half of Jaureguiberry's men had taken themselves off +without waiting for orders. I believe that on the night of January 15 he +could not have mustered more than 7000 men for action. Yet only two days +previously he had had nearly three times that number with him. + +Nevertheless, much might be pleaded for the men. The weather was still +bitterly cold, snow lay everywhere, little or no food could be obtained, +the commissariat refraining from requisitioning cattle at the farms, for +all through the departments for Mayenne and Ille-et-Vilaine cattle-plague +was raging. Hungry, emaciated, faint, coughing incessantly, at times +affected with small-pox, the men limped or trudged on despairingly. Their +boots were often in a most wretched condition; some wore sabots, others, +as I said once before, merely had rags around their poor frost-bitten +feet. And the roads were obstructed by guns, vans, waggons, vehicles of +all kinds. Sometimes an axle had broken, sometimes a horse had fallen dead +on the snow, in any case one or another conveyance had come to a +standstill, and prevented others from pursuing their route. I recollect +seeing hungry men cutting steaks from the flanks of the dead beasts, +sometimes devouring the horseflesh raw, at others taking it to some +cottage, where the avaricious peasants, who refused to part with a scrap +of food, at least had to let these cold and hungry men warm themselves at +a fire, and toast their horseflesh before it. At one halt three soldiers +knocked a peasant down because he vowed that he could not even give them a +pinch of salt. That done, they rifled his cupboards and ate all they could +find. + +Experience had taught me a lesson. I had filled my pockets with ham, +bread, hard-boiled eggs, and other things, before leaving Sainte Suzanne. +I had also obtained a meal at Saint Jean, and secured some brandy there, +and I ate and drank sparingly and surreptitiously whilst I went on, +overtaking one after another batch of weary soldiers. However, the +distance between Saint Jean and Laval is not very great. Judging by the +map, it is a matter of some twenty-five miles at the utmost. Moreover, I +walked only half the distance. The troops moved so slowly that I reached +Soulge-le-Bruant long before them, and there induced a man to drive me to +Laval. I was there on the afternoon of January 16, and as from this point +trains were still running westward, I reached Saint Servan on the +following day. Thus I slipped through to my goal, thereby justifying the +nickname of L'Anguille--the Eel--which some of my young French friends had +bestowed on me. + +A day or two previously my father had returned from England, and I found +him with my stepmother. He became very much interested in my story, and +talked of going to Laval himself. Further important developments might +soon occur, the Germans might push on to Chanzy's new base, and I felt +that I also ought to go back. The life I had been leading either makes or +mars a man physically. Personally, I believe that it did me a world of +good. At all events, it was settled that my father and myself should go to +Laval together. We started a couple of days later, and managed to travel +by rail as far as Rennes. But from that point to Laval the line was now +very badly blocked, and so we hired a closed vehicle, a ramshackle affair, +drawn by two scraggy Breton nags. The main roads, being still crowded with +troops, artillery, and baggage waggons, and other impedimenta, were often +impassable, and so we proceeded by devious ways, amidst which our driver +lost himself, in such wise that at night we had to seek a shelter at the +famous Chateau des Bochers, immortalized by Mme. de Sevigne, and replete +with precious portraits of herself, her own and her husband's families, in +addition to a quantity of beautiful furniture dating from her time. + +It took us, I think, altogether two days to reach Laval, where, after +securing accommodation at one of the hotels, we went out in search of +news, having heard none since we had started on our journey. Perceiving a +newspaper shop, we entered it, and my father insisted on purchasing a copy +of virtually every journal which was on sale there. Unfortunately for us, +this seemed highly suspicious to a local National Guard who was in the +shop, and when we left it he followed us. My father had just then begun to +speak to me in English, and at the sound of a foreign tongue the man's +suspicions increased. So he drew nearer, and demanded to know who and what +we were. I replied that we were English and that I had previously been +authorised to accompany the army as a newspaper correspondent. My +statements, however, were received with incredulity by this suspicious +individual, who, after one or two further inquiries, requested us to +accompany him to a guard-house standing near one of the bridges thrown +over the river Mayenne. + +Thither we went, followed by several people who had assembled during our +parley, and found ourselves before a Lieutenant of Gendarmes, on the +charge of being German spies. Our denouncer was most positive on the +point. Had we not bought at least a dozen newspapers? Why a dozen, when +sensible people would have been satisfied with one? Such extensive +purchases must surely have been prompted by some sinister motive. Besides, +he had heard us conversing in German. English, indeed! No, no! He was +certain that we had spoken German, and was equally certain of our guilt. + +The Lieutenant looked grave, and my explanations did not quite satisfy +him. The predicament was the more awkward as, although my father was +provided with a British passport, I had somehow left my precious military +permit at Saint Servan, Further, my father carried with him some documents +which might have been deemed incriminating, They were, indeed, +safe-conducts signed by various German generals, which had been used by us +conjointly while passing, through the German lines after making our way +out of Paris in November. As for my correspondent's permit, signed some +time previously by the Chief of the Staff, I had been unable to find it +when examining my papers on our way to Laval, but had consoled myself with +the thought that I might get it replaced at headquarters. [The red-cross +armlet which had repeatedly proved so useful to me, enabling me to come +and go without much interference, was at our hotel, in a bag we had +brought with us.] Could I have shown it to the Lieutenant, he might have +ordered our release. As it happened, he decided to send us to the Provost +Marshal. I was not greatly put out by that command, for I remembered the +officer in question, or thought I did, and felt convinced that everything +would speedily be set right. + +We started off in the charge of a brigadier-otherwise a corporal--of +Gendarmes, and four men, our denouncer following closely at our heels. My +father at once pointed out to me that the brigadier and one of the men +wore silver medals bearing the effigy of Queen Victoria, so I said to the +former, "You were in the Crimea. You are wearing our Queen's medal." + +"Yes," he replied, "I gained that at the Alma." + +"And your comrade?" + +"He won his at the Tohernaya." + +"I dare say you would have been glad if French and English had fought side +by side in this war?" I added. "Perhaps they ought to have done so." + +"_Parbleu!_ The English certainly owed us a _bon coup de main_, instead of +which they have only sold us broken-down horses and bad boots." + +I agreed that there had been some instances of the kind. A few more words +passed, and I believe that the brigadier became convinced of our English +nationality. But as his orders were to take us to the Provost's, thither +we were bound to go. An ever increasing crowd followed. Shopkeepers and +other folk came to their doors and windows, and the words, "They are +spies, German spies!" rang out repeatedly, exciting the crowd and +rendering it more and more hostile. For a while we followed a quay with +granite parapets, below which flowed the Mayenne, laden with drifting ice. +All at once, however, I perceived on our left a large square, where about +a hundred men of the Laval National Guard were being exercised. They saw +us appear with our escort, they saw the crowd which followed us, and they +heard the cries, "Spies! German spies!" Forthwith, with that disregard for +discipline which among the French was so characteristic of the period, +they broke their ranks and ran towards us. + +We were only able to take a few more steps. In vain did the Gendarmes try +to force a way through the excited mob. We were surrounded by angry, +scowling, vociferating men. Imprecations burst forth, fists were clenched, +arms were waved, rifles were shaken, the unruly National Guards being the +most eager of all to denounce and threaten us. "Down with the spies!" they +shouted. "Down with the German pigs! Give them to us! Let us shoot them!" + +A very threatening rush ensued, and I was almost carried off my feet. But +in another moment I found myself against the parapet of the quay, with my +father beside me, and the icy river in the rear. In front of us stood the +brigadier and his four men guarding us from the angry citizens of Laval. + +"Hand them over to us! We will settle their affair," shouted an excited +National Guard. "You know that they are spies, brigadier." + +"I know that I have my orders," growled the veteran. "I am taking them to +the Provost. It is for him to decide." + +"That is too much ceremony," was the retort. "Let us shoot them!" + +"But they are not worth a cartridge!" shouted another man. "Throw them +into the river!" + +That ominous cry was taken up. "Yes, yes, to the river with them!" Then +came another rush, one so extremely violent that our case seemed +desperate. + +But the brigadier and his men had managed to fix bayonets during the brief +parley, and on the mob being confronted by five blades of glistening +steel, its savage eagerness abated. Moreover, the old brigadier behaved +magnificently. "Keep back!" cried he. "I have my orders. You will have to +settle me before you take my prisoners!" + +Just then I caught the eye of one of the National Guards, who was shaking +his fist at us, and I said to him, "You are quite mistaken. We are not +Germans, but English!" + +"Yes, yes, _Anglais, Anglais_!" my father exclaimed. + +While some of the men in the crowd were more or less incredulously +repeating that statement, a black-bearded individual--whom I can, at this +very moment, still picture with my mind's eye, so vividly did the affair +impress me--climbed on to the parapet near us, and called out, "You say +you are English? Do you know London? Do you know Regent Street? Do you +know the Soho?" + +"Yes, yes!" we answered quickly. + +"You know the Lei-ces-terre Square? What name is the music-hall there?" + +"Why, the Alhambra!" The "Empire," let me add, did not exist in those +days. + +The man seemed satisfied. "I think they are English," he said to his +friends. But somebody else exclaimed, "I don't believe it. One of them is +wearing a German hat." + +Now, it happened that my father had returned from London wearing a felt +hat of a shape which was then somewhat fashionable there, and which, +curiously enough, was called the "Crown Prince," after the heir to the +Prussian throne--that is, our Princess Royal's husband, subsequently the +Emperor Frederick. The National Guard, who spoke a little English, wished +to inspect this incriminating hat, so my father took it off, and one of +the Gendarmes, having placed it on his bayonet, passed it to the man on +the parapet. When the latter had read "Christy, London," on the lining, he +once more testified in our favour. + +But other fellows also wished to examine the suspicious headgear, and it +passed from hand to hand before it was returned to my father in a more or +less damaged condition, Even then a good many men were not satisfied +respecting our nationality, but during that incident of the hat--a +laughable one to me nowadays, though everything looked very ugly when it +occurred--there had been time for the men's angry passions to cool, to a +considerable extent at all events; and after that serio-comical interlude, +they were much less eager to inflict on us the summary law of Lynch. A +further parley ensued, and eventually the Gendarmes, who still stood with +bayonets crossed in front of us, were authorized, by decision of the +Sovereign People, to take us to the Provost's. Thither we went, then, +amidst a perfect procession of watchful guards and civilians. + +Directly we appeared before the Provost, I realized that our troubles were +not yet over. Some changes had taken place during the retreat, and either +the officer whom I remembered having seen at Le Mans (that is, Colonel +Mora) had been replaced by another, or else the one before whom we now +appeared was not the Provost-General, but only the Provost of the 18th +Corps. At all events, he was a complete stranger to me. After hearing, +first, the statements of the brigadier and the National Guard who had +denounced us, and who had kept close to us all the time, and, secondly, +the explanations supplied by my father and myself, he said to me, "If you +had a staff permit to follow the army, somebody at headquarters must be +able to identify you." + +"I think that might be done," I answered, "by Major-General Feilding, +who--as you must know--accompanies the army on behalf of the British +Government. Personally, I am known to several officers of the 21st Corps-- +General Gougeard and his Chief of Staff, for instance--and also to some of +the aides-de-camp at headquarters." + +"Well, get yourselves identified, and obtain a proper safe-conduct," said +the Provost. "Brigadier, you are to take these men to headquarters. If +they are identified there, you will let them go. If not, take them to the +chateau (the prison), and report to me." + +Again we all set out, this time climbing the hilly ill-paved streets of +old Laval, above which the town's great feudal castle reared its dark, +round keep; and presently we came to the local college, formerly an +Ursuline convent, where Chanzy had fixed his headquarters. + +In one of the large class-rooms were several officers, one of whom +immediately recognized me. He laughed when he heard our story. "I was +arrested myself, the other day," he said, "because I was heard speaking in +English to your General Feilding. And yet I was in uniform, as I am now." + +The Gendarmes were promptly dismissed, though not before my father had +slipped something into the hand of the old brigadier for himself and his +comrades. Their firmness had saved us, for when a mob's passions are +inflamed by patriotic zeal, the worst may happen to the objects of its +wrath. + +A proper safe-conduct (which I still possess) was prepared by an +aide-de-camp on duty, and whilst he was drafting it, an elderly but +bright-eyed officer entered, and went up to a large circular stove to warm +himself. Three small stars still glittered faintly on his faded cap, +and six rows of narrow tarnished gold braid ornamented the sleeves of his +somewhat shabby dolman. It was Chanzy himself. + +He noticed our presence, and our case was explained to him. Looking at me +keenly, he said, "I think I have seen you before. You are the young +English correspondent who was allowed to make some sketches at +Yvre-l'Eveque, are you not?" + +"Yes, _mon general_," I answered, saluting. "You gave me permission +through, I think, Monsieur le Commandant de Boisdeffre." + +He nodded pleasantly as we withdrew, then lapsed into a thoughtful +attitude. + +Out we went, down through old Laval and towards the new town, my father +carrying the safe-conduct in his hand. The Gendarmes must have already +told people that we were "all right," for we now encountered only pleasant +faces. Nevertheless, we handed the safe-conduct to one party of National +Guards for their inspection, in order that their minds might be quite at +rest. That occurred outside the hospital, where at that moment I little +imagined that a young Englishman--a volunteer in the Sixth Battalion of +the Cotes-du-Nord Mobile Guards (21st Army Corps)--was lying invalided by +a chill, which he had caught during an ascent in our army balloon with +Gaston Tissandier. Since then that young Englishman has become famous as +Field-Marshal Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum. + +But the National Guards insisted on carrying my father and myself to the +chief cafe of Laval. They would take no refusal. In genuine French +fashion, they were all anxiety to offer some amends for their misplaced +patriotic impulsiveness that afternoon, when they had threatened, first, +to shoot, and, next, to drown us. In lieu thereof they now deluged us with +punch _a la francaise_, and as the cafe soon became crowded with other +folk who all joined our party, there ensued a scene which almost suggested +that some glorious victory had been gained at last by invaded and +unfortunate France. + + + +XIII + +THE BITTER END + +Battues for Deserters--End of the Operations against Chanzy--Faidherbe's +Battles--Bourbaki's alleged Victories and Retreat--The Position in Paris-- +The terrible Death Rate--State of the Paris Army--The Sanguinary Buzenval +Sortie--Towards Capitulation--The German Conditions--The Armistice +Provisions--Bourbaki's Disaster--Could the War have been prolonged?--The +Resources of France--The general Weariness--I return to Paris--The +Elections for a National Assembly--The Negotiations--The State of Paris-- +The Preliminaries of Peace--The Triumphal Entry of the Germans--The War's +Aftermath. + + +We remained for a few days longer at Laval, and were not again interfered +with there. A painful interest attached to one sight which we witnessed +more than once. It was that of the many processions of deserters whom the +horse Gendarmerie of the headquarters staff frequently brought into the +town. The whole region was scoured for runaways, many of whom were found +in the villages and at lonely farms. They had generally cast off their +uniform and put on blouses, but the peasantry frequently betrayed them, +particularly as they seldom, if ever, had any money to spend in bribes. +Apart from those _battues_ and the measures of all kinds which Chanzy took +to reorganise his army, little of immediate import occurred at Laval. +Gambetta had been there, and had then departed for Lille in order to +ascertain the condition of Faidherbe's Army of the North. The German +pursuit of Chanzy's forces ceased virtually at Saint Jean-sur-Erve. There +was just another little skirmish at Sainte Melaine, but that was all. +[I should add that on January 17 the Germans under Mecklenburg secured +possession of Alengon (Chanty's original objective) alter an ineffectual +resistance offered by the troops under Commandant Lipowski, who was +seconded in his endeavours by young M. Antonin Dubost, then Prefect of the +Orne, and recently President of the French Senate.] Accordingly my father +and I returned to Saint Servan, and, having conjointly prepared some +articles on Chanzy's retreat and present circumstances, forwarded them to +London for the _Pall Mall Gazette_. + +The war was now fast drawing to an end. I have hitherto left several +important occurrences unmentioned, being unwilling to interrupt my +narrative of the fighting at Le Mans and the subsequent retreat. I feel, +however, that I now ought to glance at the state of affairs in other parts +of France. I have just mentioned that after visiting Chanzy at Laval +(January 19), Gambetta repaired to Lille to confer with Faidherbe. Let us +see, then, what the latter general had been doing. He was no longer +opposed by Manteuffel, who had been sent to the east of France in the hope +that he would deal more effectually than Werder with Bourbaki's army, +which was still in the field there. Manteuffel's successor in the north +was General von Goeben, with whom, on January 18, Faidherbe fought an +engagement at Vermand, followed on the morrow by the battle of Saint +Quentin, which was waged for seven hours amidst thaw and fog. Though it +was claimed as a French victory, it was not one. The Germans, it is true, +lost 2500 men, but the French killed and wounded amounted to 3500, and +there were thousands of men missing, the Germans taking some 5000 +prisoners, whilst other troops disbanded much as Chanzy's men disbanded +during his retreat. From a strategical point of view the action at Saint +Quentin was indecisive. + +Turning to eastern France, Bourbaki fought two indecisive engagements near +Villersexel, south-east of Vesoul, on January 9 and 10, and claimed the +victory on these occasions. On January 13 came another engagement at +Arcey, which he also claimed as a success, being congratulated upon it by +Gambetta. The weather was most severe in the region of his operations, and +the sufferings of his men were quite as great as--if not greater than-- +those of Chanzy's troops. There were nights when men lay down to sleep, +and never awoke again. On January 15,16, and 17 there was a succession of +engagements on the Lisaine, known collectively as the battle of Hericourt. +These actions resulted in Bourbaki's retreat southward towards Besancon, +where for the moment we will leave him, in order to consider the position +of Paris at this juncture. + +Since the beginning of the year, the day of the capital's surrender had +been fast approaching. Paris actually fell because its supply of food was +virtually exhausted. On January 18 it became necessary to ration the +bread, now a dark, sticky compound, which included such ingredients as +bran, starch, rice, barley, vermicelli, and pea-flour. About ten ounces +was allotted per diem to each adult, children under five years of age +receiving half that quantity. But the health-bill of the city was also a +contributory cause of the capitulation. In November there were 7444 deaths +among the non-combatant population, against 3863 in November, 1869. The +death-roll of December rose to 10,665, against 4214 in December the +previous year. In January, between sixty and seventy persons died from +small-pox every day. Bronchitis and pneumonia made an ever-increasing +number of victims. From January 14 to January 21 the mortality rose to no +less than 4465; from the latter date until January 28, the day of the +capitulation, the figures were 4671, whereas in normal times they had +never been more than 1000 in any week. + +Among the troops the position was going from bad to worse. Thousands of +men were in the hospitals, and thousands contrived to desert and hide +themselves in the city. Out of 100,705 linesmen, there were, on January 1, +no fewer than 23,938 absentees; while 23,565 units were absent from the +Mobile Guard, which, on paper, numbered 111,999. Briefly, one man out of +every five was either a patient or a deserter. As for the German +bombardment, this had some moral but very little material effect. Apart +from the damage done to buildings, it killed (as I previously said) about +one hundred and wounded about two hundred persons. + +The Government now had little if any confidence in the utility of any +further sorties. Nevertheless, as the extremist newspapers still clamoured +for one, it was eventually decided to attack the German positions across +the Seine, on the west of the city. This sortie, commonly called that of +Buzenval, took place on January 10, the day after King William of Prussia +had been proclaimed German Emperor in Louis XIV's "Hall of Mirrors" at +Versailles. [The decision to raise the King to the imperial dignity had +been arrived at on January 1.] Without doubt, the Buzenval sortie was +devised chiefly in order to give the National Guard the constantly +demanded opportunity and satisfaction of being led against the Germans. +Trochu, who assumed chief command, establishing himself at the fort of +Mont Valerien, divided his forces into three columns, led by Generals +Vinoy, Bellemare, and Ducrot. The first (the left wing) comprised +22,000 men, including 8000 National Guards; the second (the central +column) 34,500 men, including 16,000 Guards; and the third (the right +wing) 33,500 men, among whom were no fewer than 18,000 Guards. Thus the +total force was about 90,000, the National Guards representing about a +third of that number. Each column had with it ten batteries, representing +for the entire force 180 guns. The French front, however, extended over a +distance of nearly four miles, and the army's real strength was thereby +diminished. There was some fairly desperate fighting at Saint Cloud, +Montretout, and Longboyau, but the French were driven back after losing +4000 men, mostly National Guards, whereas the German losses were only +about six hundred. + +The affair caused consternation in Paris, particularly as several +prominent men had fallen in the ranks of the National Guard. On the night +of January 21, some extremists forced their way into the prison of Mazas +and delivered some of their friends who had been shut up there since the +rising of October 31. On the morrow, January 22, there was a demonstration +and an affray on the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, shots being exchanged with +the result that people were killed and wounded. The Government gained the +day, however, and retaliated by closing the revolutionary clubs and +suppressing some extremist newspapers. But four hours later Trochu +resigned his position as Military Governor of Paris (in which he was +replaced by General Vinoy), only retaining the Presidency of the +Government. Another important incident had occurred on the very evening +after the insurrection: Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister, had then +forwarded a letter to Prince Bismarck. + +The Government's first idea had been merely to surrender--that is to open +the city-gates and let the Germans enter at their peril. It did not wish +to negotiate or sign any capitulation. Jules Favre indicated as much when, +writing to Bismarck, and certainly the proposed course might have placed +the Germans--with the eyes of the world fixed upon them--in a difficult +position. But Favre was no match for the great Prussian statesman. Formal +negotiations were soon opened, and Bismarck so contrived affairs that, as +Gambetta subsequently and rightly complained, the convention which Favre +signed applied far more to France as a whole than to Paris itself. In +regard to the city, the chief conditions were that a war indemnity of +L8,000,000 should be paid; that the forts round the city should be +occupied by the Germans; that the garrison--Line, Mobile Guard, and Naval +Contingent (altogether about 180,000 men)--should become prisoners of war; +and that the armament (1500 fortress guns and 400 field pieces) should be +surrendered, as well as the large stores of ammunition. On the other hand, +a force of 12,000 men was left to the French Government for "police duty" +in the city, and the National Guards were, at Favre's urgent but foolish +request, allowed to retain their arms. Further, the city was to be +provisioned. In regard to France generally, arrangements were made for an +armistice of twenty-one days' duration, in order to allow of the election +of a National Assembly to treat for peace. In these arrangements Favre and +Vinoy (the new Governor of Paris) were out-jockeyed by Bismarck and +Moltke. They were largely ignorant of the real position in the provinces, +and consented to very disadvantageous terms in regard to the lines which +the Germans and the French should respectively occupy during the armistice +period. Moreover, although it was agreed that hostilities should cease on +most points, no such stipulation was made respecting the east of France, +where both Bourbaki and Garibaldi were in the field. + +The latter had achieved some slight successes near Dijon on January 21 and +23, but on February 1--that is, two days after the signing of the +armistice--the Garibaldians were once more driven out of the Burgundian +capital. That, however, was as nothing in comparison with what befell +Bourbaki's unfortunate army. Manteuffel having compelled it to retreat +from Besancon to Pontarlier, it was next forced to withdraw into +Switzerland [Before this happened, Bourbaki attempted his life.] +(neutral territory, where it was necessarily disarmed by the Swiss +authorities) in order to escape either capture or annihilation by the +Germans. The latter took some 6000 prisoners, before the other men (about +80,000 in number) succeeded in crossing the Swiss frontier. A portion of +the army was saved, however, by General Billot. With regard to the +position elsewhere, Longwy, I should mention, surrendered three days +before the capitulation of Paris; but Belfort prolonged its resistance +until February 13, when all other hostilities had ceased. Its garrison, +so gallantly commanded by Colonel Denfert-Bochereau, was accorded the +honours of war. + +As I wrote in my book, "Republican France," the country generally was +weary of the long struggle; and only Gambetta, Freycinet, and a few +military men, such as Chanzy and Faidherbe, were in favour of prolonging +it. From the declaration of war on July 15 to the capitulation of Paris +and the armistice on January 28, the contest had lasted twenty-eight +weeks. Seven of those weeks had sufficed to overthrow the Second Empire; +but only after another one-and-twenty weeks had the Third Republic laid +down her arms. Whatever may have been the blunders of the National +Defence, it at least saved the honour of France, + +It may well be doubted whether the position could have been retrieved had +the war been prolonged, though undoubtedly the country was still possessed +of many resources. In "Republican France," I gave a number of figures +which showed that over 600,000 men could have been brought into action +almost immediately, and that another 260,000 could afterwards have been +provided. On February 8, when Chanzy had largely reorganized his army, he, +alone, had under his orders 4952 officers and 227,361 men, with 430 guns. +That careful and distinguished French military historian, M. Pierre +Lehautcourt, places, however, the other resources of France at even a +higher figure than I did. He also points out, rightly enough, that +although so large a part of France was invaded, the uninvaded territory +was of greater extent, and inhabited by twenty-five millions of people. He +estimates the total available artillery on the French side at 1232 guns, +each with an average allowance of 242 projectiles. In addition, there were +443 guns awaiting projectiles. He tells us that the French ordnance +factories were at this period turning out on an average 25,000 chassepots +every month, and delivering two million cartridges every day; whilst other +large supplies of weapons and ammunition were constantly arriving from +abroad. On the other hand, there was certainly a scarcity of horses, the +mortality of which in this war, as in all others, was very great. Chanzy +only disposed of 20,000, and the remount service could only supply another +12,000. However, additional animals might doubtless have been found in +various parts of France, or procured from abroad. + +But material resources, however great they may be, are of little avail +when a nation has practically lost heart. In spite, moreover, of all the +efforts of commanding officers, insubordination was rampant among the +troops in the field. There had been so many defeats, so many retreats, +that they had lost all confidence in their generals. During the period of +the armistice, desertions were still numerous. I may add, that if at the +expiration of the armistice the struggle had been renewed, Chanzy's plan-- +which received approval at a secret military and Government council held +in Paris, whither he repaired early in February--was to place General +de Colomb at the head of a strong force for the defence of Brittany, +whilst he, Chanzy, would, with his own army, cross the Loire and defend +southern France. + +Directly news arrived that an armistice had been signed, and that Paris +was once more open, my father arranged to return there, accompanied by +myself and my younger brother, Arthur Vizetelly. We took with us, I +remember, a plentiful supply of poultry and other edibles for distribution +among the friends who had been suffering from the scarcity of provisions +during the latter days of the siege. The elections for the new National +Assembly were just over, nearly all of the forty-three deputies returned +for Paris being Republicans, though throughout the rest of France +Legitimist and Orleanist candidates were generally successful. I remember +that just before I left Saint Servan one of our tradesmen, an enthusiastic +Royalist, said to me, "We shall have a King on the throne by the time you +come back to see us in the summer." At that moment it certainly seemed as +if such would be the case. As for the Empire, one could only regard it as +dead. There were, I think, merely five recognized Bonapartist members in +the whole of the new National Assembly, and most of them came from +Corsica. Thus, it was by an almost unanimous vote that the Assembly +declared Napoleon III and his dynasty to be responsible for the "invasion, +ruin, and dismemberment of France." + +The Assembly having called Thiers to the position of "Chief of the +Executive Power," peace negotiations ensued between him and Bismarck. They +began on February 22, Thiers being assisted by Jules Favre, who retained +the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, mainly because nobody else +would take it and append his signature to a treaty which was bound to be +disastrous for the country. The chief conditions of that treaty will be +remembered. Germany was to annex Alsace-Lorraine, to receive a war +indemnity of two hundred million pounds sterling (with interest in +addition), and secure commercially "most favoured nation" treatment from +France. The preliminaries were signed on February 26, and accepted by the +National Assembly on March 1, but the actual treaty of Frankfort was not +signed and ratified until the ensuing month of May. + +Paris presented a sorry spectacle during the weeks which followed the +armistice. There was no work for the thousands of artisans who had become +National Guards during the siege. Their allowance as such was prolonged in +order that they might at least have some means of subsistence. But the +unrest was general. By the side of the universal hatred of the Germans, +which was displayed on all sides, even finding vent in the notices set up +in the shop-windows to the effect that no Germans need apply there, one +observed a very bitter feeling towards the new Government. Thiers had been +an Orleanist all his life, and among the Paris working-classes there was a +general feeling that the National Assembly would give France a king. This +feeling tended to bring about the subsequent bloody Insurrection of the +Commune; but, as I wrote in "Republican France," it was precisely the +Commune which gave the French Royalists a chance. It placed a weapon in +their hands and enabled them to say, "You see, by that insurrection, by +all those terrible excesses, what a Republic implies. Order, quietude, +fruitful work, are only possible under a monarchy." As we know, however, +the efforts of the Royalists were defeated, in part by the obstinacy of +their candidate, the Comte de Chambord, and in part by the good behaviour +of the Republicans generally, as counselled both by Thiers and by +Gambetta. + +On March 1, the very day when the National Assembly ratified the +preliminaries of peace at Bordeaux, the Germans made their triumphal entry +into Paris. Four or five days previously my father had sent me on a +special mission to Bordeaux, and it was then that after long years I again +set eyes on Garibaldi, who had been elected as a French deputy, but who +resigned his seat in consequence of the onerous terms of peace. Others, +notably Gambetta, did precisely the same, by way of protesting against the +so-called "Devil's Treaty." However, I was back in Paris in time to +witness the German entry into the city. My father, my brother Arthur, and +myself were together in the Champs Elysees on that historical occasion. I +have related elsewhere [In "Republican France."] how a number of women of +the Paris Boulevards were whipped in the Champs Elysees shrubberies by +young roughs, who, not unnaturally, resented the shameless overtures made +by these women to the German soldiery. There were, however, some +unfortunate mistakes that day, as, for instance, when an attempt was +made to ill-treat an elderly lady who merely spoke to the Germans in the +hope of obtaining some information respecting her son, then still a +prisoner of war. I remember also that Archibald Forbes was knocked down +and kicked for returning the salute of the Crown Prince of Saxony. Some of +the English correspondents who hurried to the scene removed Forbes to a +little hotel in the Faubourg St. Honore, for he had really been hurt by +that savage assault, though it did not prevent him from penning a graphic +account of what he witnessed on that momentous day. + +The German entry was, on the whole, fairly imposing as a military display; +but the stage-management was very bad, and one could not imagine that +Napoleon's entry into Berlin had in any way resembled it. Nor could it be +said to have equalled the entry of the Allied Sovereigns into Paris in +1814. German princelings in basket-carriages drawn by ponies did not add +to the dignity of the spectacle. Moreover, both the Crown Prince of Saxony +and the Crown Prince of Germany (Emperor Frederick) attended it in +virtually an _incognito_ manner. As for the Emperor William, his +councillors dissuaded him from entering the city for fear lest there +should be trouble there. I believe also that neither Bismarck nor Moltke +attended, though, like the Emperor, they both witnessed the preliminary +review of troops in the Bois de Boulogne. The German occupation was +limited to the Champs Elysees quarter, and on the first day the Parisians +generally abstained from going there; but on the morrow--when news that +the preliminaries of peace had been accepted at Bordeaux had reached the +capital--they flocked to gaze upon _nos amis les ennemis_, and greatly +enjoyed, I believe, the lively music played by the German regimental +bands. "Music hath charms," as we are all aware. The departure of the +German troops on the ensuing evening was of a much more spectacular +character than their entry had been. As with their bands playing, whilst +they themselves sang the "Wacht am Rhein" in chorus, they marched up the +Champs Elysees on their way back to Versailles, those of their comrades +who were still billeted in the houses came to the balconies with as many +lighted candles as they could carry. Bivouac fires, moreover, were burning +brightly here and there, and the whole animated scene, with its play of +light and shade under the dark March sky, was one to be long remembered. + +The Franco-German War was over, and a new era had begun for Europe. The +balance of power was largely transferred. France had again ceased to be +the predominant continental state. She had attained to that position for +a time under Louis XIV, and later, more conspicuously, under Napoleon I. +But in both of those instances vaulting ambition had o'er-leapt itself. +The purposes of Napoleon III were less far-reaching. Such ideas of +aggrandisement as he entertained were largely subordinated to his desire +to consolidate the _regime_ he had revived, and to ensure the continuity +of his dynasty. But the very principle of nationality which he more than +once expounded, and which he championed in the case of Italy, brought +about his ruin. He gave Italy Venetia, but refused her Rome, and thereby +alienated her. Further, the consolidation of Germany--from his own +nationalist point of view--became a threat to French interests. Thus he +was hoist chiefly by his own _petard_, and France paid the penalty for his +errors. + +The Franco-German War was over, I have said, but there came a terrible +aftermath--that is, the rising of the Commune, some of the introductory +features of which were described by me in "Republican France." There is +only one fairly good history of that formidable insurrection in the +English language--one written some years ago by Mr. Thomas March. It is, +however, a history from the official standpoint, and is consequently +one-sided as well as inaccurate in certain respects. Again, the English +version of the History of the Commune put together by one of its +partisans, Lissagaray, sins in the other direction. An impartial account +of the rising remains to be written. If I am spared I may, perhaps, be +privileged to contribute to it by preparing a work on much the same lines +as those of this present volume. Not only do I possess the greater part of +the literature on the subject, including many of the newspapers of the +time, but throughout the insurrection I was in Paris or its suburbs. + +I sketched the dead bodies of Generals Clement Thomas and Lecomte only a +few hours after their assassination. I saw the Vendome column fall while +American visitors to Paris were singing, "Hail, Columbia!" in the hotels +of the Rue de la Paix. I was under fire in the same street when a +demonstration was made there. Provided with passports by both sides, I +went in and out of the city and witnessed the fighting at Asnieres and +elsewhere. I attended the clubs held in the churches, when women often +perorated from the pulpits. I saw Thiers's house being demolished; and +when the end came and the Versailles troops made their entry into the +city, I was repeatedly in the street-fighting with my good friend, Captain +Bingham. I recollect sketching the attack on the Elysee Palace from a +balcony of our house, and finding that balcony on the pavement a few hours +later when it had been carried away by a shell from a Communard battery at +Montmartre. Finally, I saw Paris burning. I gazed on the sheaves of flames +rising above the Tuileries. I saw the whole front of the Ministry of +Finances fall into the Rue de Rivoli. I saw the now vanished Carrefour de +la Croix Rouge one blaze of fire. I helped to carry water to put out the +conflagration at the Palais de Justice. I was prodded with a bayonet when, +after working in that manner for some hours, I attempted to shirk duty at +another fire which I came upon in the course of my expeditions. All that +period of my life flashes on my mind as vividly as Paris herself flashed +under the wondering stars of those balmy nights in May. + +My father and my brother Arthur also had some remarkable adventures. +There was one occasion when they persuaded a venturesome Paris cabman to +drive them from conflagration to conflagration, and this whilst the +street-fighting was still in progress. Every now and then, as they drove +on, men and women ran eagerly out of houses into which wounded combatants +had been taken, imagining that they must belong to the medical profession, +as nobody else was likely to go about Paris in such a fashion at such a +moment. Those good folk forgot the journalists. The service of the Press +carries with it obligations which must not be shirked. Journalism has +become, not merely the chronicle of the day, but the foundation of +history. And now I know not if I should say farewell or _au revoir_ to my +readers. Whether I ever attempt a detailed account of the Commune of Paris +must depend on a variety of circumstances. After three-and-forty years +"at the mill," I am inclined to feel tired, and with me health is not what +it has been. Nevertheless, my plans must depend chiefly on the reception +given to this present volume. + + + +INDEX + + + Adam, Edmond + Adare, Lord + Albert, Archduke + Albert, Prince (the elder), of Prussia + Alencon taken + Alexander II of Russia + Alexandra, Queen + Allix, Jules + Amazons of Paris + Ambert, General + Ambulances, Anglo-American + at Conlie + at Le Mans + author's impression of + Amiens + Arabs with Chanzy + Arago, Emmanuel + Etienne + Ardenay, + Armistice, conditions for an + concluded + Army, French, under the Empire + of Paris, _see also_ Paris + of Brittany + at the outset of National Defence + of the Vosges, _see also_ Garibaldi + of the East, _see also_ Bourbaki + of the Loire, _see also_ D'Aurelle, Goulmiers, + Chanzy, Le Mans, etc. + of the North, _see_ Faidheibe + at the end of war + _for German army see_ German _and names of commanders_ + Arnim, Count von + Artists, French newspaper + Assembly, _see_ National + Aurelle, _see_ D'Aurelle + Auvours plateau (Le Mans) + + Balloon service from Paris + Bapauine, battle of + Barry, General + Battues for deserters + Bazaine, Marshal + Beauce country + Beaumont, fight at + Beaune-la-Rolande, battle of + Belfort, siege of + Bellemare, General Carre de + Bellenger, Marguerite + Belly, Felix + Beraud, Colonel + Bernard, Colonel + Berezowski + Beuvron, Abbe de + Billot, General + Bingham, Captain Hon. D.A. + Bismarck, Prince + Blano, Louis + Blanchard, P. + Blanqui, Augusta, + Blewitt, Dr. Byron + Boisdeffre, Captain, later General de + Bonaparte, Lycee, _see_ Lycee + Bonaparte, Prince Pierre, _See also_ Napoleon + Bonnemains, General de + Boots, army + Bordone, General + Borel, General + Boulanger, General, his mistress + Bourbaki, General Charles + Bourbon, Palais, _see_ Legislative Body + Bourdillon, General + Bourges, + Bourget, Le, + Bower, Mr., + Bowles, T. Gibson, + Brie-Comte-Robert, + Brownings, the, + Bulwer, Sir E., + + Caillaux, E. and J., + Cambriels, General, + Canrobert, Marshal, + Capitulations, see Amiens, Belfort, Longwy, Metz, Paris, Sedan, + Strasbourg, Toul, etc. + Capoul, Victor, + Caricatures of the period, + Casimir-Perler, J.P., + Cathelineau, Colonel, + Chabaud-Latour, General, + Challemel-Lacour, + Cham (M. de Noe), + Chambord, Comte de, + Champagne, fighting at, + Champigny, sortie of, + Change, fighting at, + Chanzy, General Alfred, + his early career and appearance, + his orders and operations with the Loire forces, + Charette, General Baron, + Chartres, + "Chartreuse de Parme, La", + Chassille, fight at, + Chateaubriand, Count and Countess de + Chateaudun, fight at, + Chatillon, fight at, + Chemin des Boeufs (Le Mans), + "Claque," the, + Claremont, Colonel, + Clocks, German love of, + Clubs, Paris, + social + revolutionary + Colin, General, + Collins, Mortimer, + Colomb, General de, + Colomb, General von, + Commune of Paris, + attempts to set up a + rising of the + Conde, Prince de, + Conlie, camp of, + Connerre, + Corbeil, Germans at, + Correspondents, English, in Paris, + Coulmiers, battle of, + Couriers from Paris, + Cousin-Montauban, see Palikao. + Cowardice and panic, cases of, + Crane, Stephen, + Cremer, General, + Cremieux, Adolphe, + Crouzat, General, + Crown Prince of Prussia (Emperor Frederick), + Curten, General, + + Daily News, + Daily Telegraph, + Daumier, Honore, + D'Aurelle de Paladines, General, + Davenport brothers, + "Debacle, La," Zola's, + Dejean, General, + Delescluze, Charles, + Denfert-Rochereau, Colonel, + Des Pallieres, General Martin, + Devonshire, late Duke of, + Dieppe, Germans reach, + Dijon, fighting at, + Dore, Gustave, + Dorian, Frederic, + D'Orsay, Count, + Douay, + General Abel; + General Felix, + "Downfall, the," see Debacle. + Droue, fight at, + Dubost, Antonin, + Ducrot, General, + Duff, Brigadier-General (U.S.A.), + Dumas, Alexandre, + Dunraven, Lord, see Adare. + Duvernois, Clement, + + "Echoes of the Clubs" + Edwardes, Mrs. Annie + Elgar, Dr. Francis + Elysee Palace + Emotions in war + Empress, _see_ Eugenie. + English attempts to leave Paris + exodus from + Eugenie, Empress + + Faidherbe, General + Failly, General de + Fashions, Paris + Favre, Jules + Feilding, Major-General + Fennell family + Ferry, Jules + Fitz-James, Duc de + Flourens, Gustave + Forbach, battle of + Forbes, Archibald + Forge, Anatole de la + Fourichon, Admiral + Franco-German War + cause and origin of + preparations for + outbreak of + first French armies + departure of Napoleon III for + Germans enter France + first engagements + news of Sedan + troops gathered in Paris + German advance on Paris + Chatillon affair + investment of Paris + French provincial armies + the fighting near Le Mans + the retreat to Laval + armistice and peace negotiations + _See also Paris, and names of battles and commanders_. + Frederick, Emperor, _see_ Crown Prince, + Frederick Charles, Prince, of Prussia + Freyoinet, Charles de Saulces de, + Frossard, General + + Galliffet, Mme. de + Gambetta, Leon + Garde, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, _and_ National. + Garibaldi, General + Garibaldi, Riciotti + Garnier-Pages + Germans + early victories + alleged overthrow at Jaumont + Sedan + advance on Paris + expelled from Paris + love of clocks + Princes + strategy + exactions at Le Mans + officers' manners + entry into Paris + Glais-Bizoin + Godard brothers + Goeben, General von + Gougeard, General + Gramont, Duc Agenor de + Gramont-Caderousse, Duc de + Greenwood, Frederick + Guard, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, National. + + Halliday, Andrew + Hazen, General W. B. (U.S.A.) + Heiduck, General von + Hericourt, battle of + Home, David Dunglass + Horses in the War + Hozier, Captain, later Colonel, Sir H. + Hugo, Victor + + _Illustrated London News_ + _Illustrated Times_ + Imperial Guard + Imperial Prince + + Jarras, General + Jaumont quarries + Jauregulberry, Admiral + Jaures, Admiral + Jerrold, Blanchard + Johnson, Captain + Jouffroy, General + Jung, Captain + + Kanitz, Colonel von + Kean, Edmund + Keratry, Comte de + Kitchener, Lord + Kraatz-Koschlau, General von + + Laboughere, Henry, + Ladmirault, General de + La Ferte-Bernard + Lalande, General + La Malmaison sortie + La Motte-Rouge, General de + Landells + Langres + Laon, capitulation of + Laval, retreat on + adventure at + Leboeuf, Marshal + Lebouedec, General + Lebrun, General + Lecomte, General + Ledru-Rollin + Le Flo, General + Lefort, General + Legislative Body, French (Palais Bourbon) + Le Mans + Chanzy at + town described + country around + fighting near + decisive fighting begins + retreat from + battle losses at + street fighting at + Germans at + their exactions + Chanzy's statue at + Lermina, Jules + Lewal, Colonel + Lipowski, Commandant + Lobbia, Colonel + Loigny-Poupry, battle + Longwy, capitulation + Lycee Bonaparte, now Condorcet + Lyons, Lord + + MacMahon, Marshal + Mme. de + Magnin, M. + Maine country + Malmaison, _see_ La Malmaison + Mans, _see_ Le Mans + Mantes, Germans at + Manteuffel, General von + Marchenoir forest + Mario, Jessie White + Marseillaise, the + Mayhew, brothers + Mazure, General + Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick Francis, Grand Duke of + Metz + Michel, General + Millaud, A., his verses + Middleton, Robert + Mobile Guard, + in Paris + Moltke, Marshal von + Monson, Sir Edmund + Montbard, artist + Mora, Colonel + Morny, Duc de + Motte Rouge, _see_ La Motte-Rouge + Moulin, artist + + Nadar, Jules Tournachon, called + Napoleon I + Napoleon III, + Napoleon (Jerome), Prince + National Assembly elected + National Defence Government + confirmed by a plebiscitum + in the provinces + National Guard (Paris) + of Chateaudun + of Laval + _New York Times_ + Niel, Marshal + Noe, Vicomte de, _see_ Cham. + Nogent-le-Rotrou + Noir, Victor, assassinated + Nuits, fighting at + + Ollivier, Emile; + Madame + Orleans; + battle of + + Paladines, see D'Aurelle + Palikao, General de + _Pall Mall Gazette_ + Parigne l'Eveque + Paris, + cafes in; + riots in; + elections in; + early in the war; + defensive preparations; + fugitives and refugees; + wounded soldiers in; + Anglo-American ambulance in; + army and armament of; + Hugo's return to; + German advance on; + last day of liberty in; + live-stock in; + customary meat supply of; + clubs in; + defence of Chatillon; + siege begins; + attempts to leave; + first couriers from; + balloon and pigeon post; + siege jests; + spyophobia and signal craze in; + amazons of; + reconnaissances and sorties from; + news of Metz in; + demonstrations and riots in; + plebiscitum in; + food and rations in; + English people leave; + state of environs of; + steps to relieve; + bombardment of; + health of; + deserters in; + affray in; + capitulation of; + author returns to; + aspect after the armistice; + Germans enter; + rising of the Commune, _See also_ Revolution. + Paris, General + "Partant pour la Syrie" + Peace conditions + "Pekin, Siege of" + Pelcoq, Jules, artist + Pelletan, Eugene + Picard, Ernest + Pietri, Prefect + Pigeon-Post + Piquet, M. + Pius IX + Pollard family + Pontifical Zouaves + Pontlieue (Le Mans) + Pont-Noyelles, battle of + Postal-services, _see_ Balloon, Courier, Pigeon. + Prim, General + Prussians, not Germans + Pyat, Felix + + Quatrefages de Breau + Quinet, Edgar + + Rampont, Dr. + "Red Badge of Courage" + Red Cross Society, French + Reed, Sir E. J. + Rennes + Retreat, Chanzy's, on Marchenoir forest; + on Le Mans; + on Laval; + Revolution of September 4. + Reyau, General + Richard, Mayor of Le Mans + Robinson, Sir John + Rochefort, Henri + Rochers, Chateau des + Rodellee du Ponzic, Lieutenant + Roquebrune, General de + Rothschild, Baron Alphonse de + Rouen, Germans reach + Rouher, Eugene + Rousseau, General + Russell, Sir William Howard + Ryan, Dr. C. E. + + Saint Agil + Saint Calais + Saint Cloud chateau destroyed + Saint Jean-sur-Erve + Saint Malo + Saint Quentin, + defence of; + battle of + Saint Servan + Sainte Suzanne + Sala, G.A. + Sardou, Victorien + Sass, Marie + Saxe-Meiningen, Prince of + Saxony, Crown Prince of + Schmidt, General von + Sedan, news of + Napoleon at + Senate, Imperial + Shackle + Sieges, _see_ Paris _and other places_ + Signal craze in Paris + Sille-le-Guillaume + Simon, Jules + Skinner, Hilary + Sologne region + Songs, some Victorian + Sophia, Queen of Holland + Spuller, Eugene + Spyophobia in Paris + at Laval + Stendhal + Stoffel, Colonel + Strasbourg, siege of + Susbielle, General + + Tann, General von der + Tertre Rouge position (Le Mans) + Thackeray, W.M. + Thiers, Adolphe + Thomas, General Clement + Tibaldi + _Times_, the + Tissandier brothers + Toul capitulates + Treaty, _see_ Peace + Trochu, General + Troppmann + Tuilerie position (Le Mans) + Tuileries palace + + Uhrich, General + + Vaillant, Marshal + Valentin, Edmond + Vendome column + Versailles during Paris siege + Villemessant, H. de + Villersexel, battle of + Villorceau, fighting at + Vimercati, Count + Vinoy, General + Vizetelly family + Vizetelly, Adrian + ------, Arthur + ------, Edward Henry + ------, Elizabeth Anne + ------, Ellen Elizabeth + ------, Ernest Alfred, parentage + men he saw in childhood + his passionate temper + at school at Eastbourne + at London sights + sees Garibaldi + and Nadar + goes to France + at the Lycee Bonaparte + his tutor Brassard + sees an attempt on Alexander H. + assists his father + his first article + sees famous Frenchmen + visits the Tuileries + goes to Compiegne + is addressed by Napoleon III + sees Paris riots + visits Prince Pierre's house + is befriended by Captain Bingham + dreams of seeing a war + has a glimpse of its seamy side + sees Napoleon III set out for the war + hears Capoul sing the "Marseillaise" + sees a demonstration + meets English newspaper correspondents + is called a little spy by Gambetta + with the Anglo-American ambulance + witnesses the Revolution + takes a letter to Trochu + sees Victor Hugo's return to Paris + witnesses a great review + describes Parish last day of liberty + sees Captain Johnson arrive + visits balloon factories + ascends in Nadar's captive balloon + sees Gambetta leave in a balloon + learns fencing + goes to a women's club + interviews the Paris Amazons + witnesses the demonstration of October 21 + and that of October 31 + food arrangements of his father and himself + leaves Paris + at Brie Comte-Robert + at Corbeil + at Champlan + at Versailles + visits Colonel Walker with his father + leaves Versailles + at Mantes + reaches Saint Servan + visits the Camp of Conlie + accompanies Gougeard's division to the front + in the retreat on Le Mans + receives the baptism of fire + has an amusing experience at Rennes + returns to Le Mans + sees and sketches Chanzy + witnesses part of the battle of Le Mans + sees the stampede from the tile-works + and the confusion at Le Mans + his views on German officers + on a soldier's emotions + on ambulances + escapes from Le Mans + at Sille-le-Guillaume + at the fight of Saint Jean-sur-Erve + follows the retreat + returns to Laval + has a dramatic adventure there + returns to Paris + sees the Germans enter Paris + some of his experiences during the Commune + Vizetelly, Frank + ----, Francis (Frank) Horace + ----, Frederick Whitehead + ----, Henry + ----, Henry Richard (author's father) + ----, James Thomas George + ----, James Henry + ----, Montague + Voigts Rhetz, General von + Vosges, _see_ Army of the + Voules, Horace + + Walker, Colonel Beauchamp + War, emotions in + war-news in 1870 + _See also_ Franco-German War + Washburne, Mr. + Werder, General von + Whitehurst, Felix + William, King of Prussia, later Emperor + Wimpfen, General de + Wittich, General von + Wodehouse, Hon. Mr. + Wolseley, Field-Marshal Lord + + Yvre-l'Eveque + + Zola, Emile, his "La Debacle" + + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Days of Adventure, by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + +This file should be named 7mdad10.txt or 7mdad10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7mdad11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7mdad10a.txt + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) +at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: My Days of Adventure + The Fall of France, 1870-71 + +Author: Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9896] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 28, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) +at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + THE FALL OF FRANCE, 1870-71 + + By Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + + +Le Petit Homme Rouge + +Author of "The Court of the Tuileries 1852-70" etc. + + +With A Frontispiece + +London, 1914 + + + + +THE PEOPLE'S WAR + + O husbandmen of hill and dale, + O dressers of the vines, + O sea-tossed fighters of the gale, + O hewers of the mines, + O wealthy ones who need not strive, + O sons of learning, art, + O craftsmen of the city's hive, + O traders of the man, + Hark to the cannon's thunder-call + Appealing to the brave! + Your France is wounded, and may fall + Beneath the foreign grave! + Then gird your loins! Let none delay + Her glory to maintain; + Drive out the foe, throw off his sway, + Win back your land again! + +1870. E.A.V. + + + +PREFACE + + +While this volume is largely of an autobiographical character, it will be +found to contain also a variety of general information concerning the +Franco-German War of 1870-71, more particularly with respect to the second +part of that great struggle--the so-called "People's War" which followed +the crash of Sedan and the downfall of the Second French Empire. If I have +incorporated this historical matter in my book, it is because I have +repeatedly noticed in these later years that, whilst English people are +conversant with the main facts of the Sedan disaster and such subsequent +outstanding events as the siege of Paris and the capitulation of Metz, +they usually know very little about the manner in which the war generally +was carried on by the French under the virtual dictatorship of Gambetta. +Should England ever be invaded by a large hostile force, we, with our very +limited regular army, should probably be obliged to rely largely on +elements similar to those which were called to the field by the French +National Defence Government of 1870 after the regular armies of the Empire +had been either crushed at Sedan or closely invested at Metz. For that +reason I have always taken a keen interest in our Territorial Force, well +realizing what heavy responsibilities would fall upon it if a powerful +enemy should obtain a footing in this country. Some indication of those +responsibilities will be found in the present book. + +Generally speaking, however, I have given only a sketch of the latter part +of the Franco-German War. To have entered into details on an infinity of +matters would have necessitated the writing of a very much longer work. +However, I have supplied, I think, a good deal of precise information +respecting the events which I actually witnessed, and in this connexion, +perhaps, I may have thrown some useful sidelights on the war generally; +for many things akin to those which I saw, occurred under more or less +similar circumstances in other parts of France. + +People who are aware that I am acquainted with the shortcomings of the +French in those already distant days, and that I have watched, as closely +as most foreigners can watch, the evolution of the French army in these +later times, have often asked me what, to my thinking, would be the +outcome of another Franco-German War. For many years I fully anticipated +another struggle between the two Powers, and held myself in readiness to +do duty as a war-correspondent. I long thought, also, that the signal for +that struggle would be given by France. But I am no longer of that +opinion. I fully believe that all French statesmen worthy of the name +realize that it would be suicidal for France to provoke a war with her +formidable neighbour. And at the same time I candidly confess that I do +not know what some journalists mean by what they call the "New France." To +my thinking there is no "New France" at all. There was as much spirit, as +much patriotism, in the days of MacMahon, in the days of Boulanger, and at +other periods, as there is now. The only real novelty that I notice in the +France of to-day is the cultivation of many branches of sport and athletic +exercise. Of that kind of thing there was very little indeed when I was a +stripling. But granting that young Frenchmen of to-day are more athletic, +more "fit" than were those of my generation, granting, moreover, that the +present organization and the equipment of the French army are vastly +superior to what they were in 1870, and also that the conditions of +warfare have greatly changed, I feel that if France were to engage, +unaided, in a contest with Germany, she would again be worsted, and +worsted by her own fault. + +She fully knows that she cannot bring into the field anything like as many +men as Germany; and it is in a vain hope of supplying the deficiency that +she has lately reverted from a two to a three years' system of military +service. The latter certainly gives her a larger effective for the first +contingencies of a campaign, but in all other respects it is merely a +piece of jugglery, for it does not add a single unit to the total number +of Frenchmen capable of bearing arms. The truth is, that during forty +years of prosperity France has been intent on racial suicide. In the whole +of that period only some 3,500,000 inhabitants have been added to her +population, which is now still under 40 millions; whereas that of Germany +has increased by leaps and bounds, and stands at about 66 millions. At the +present time the German birth-rate is certainly falling, but the numerical +superiority which Germany has acquired over France since the war of 1870 +is so great that I feel it would be impossible for the latter to triumph +in an encounter unless she should be assisted by powerful allies. Bismarck +said in 1870 that God was on the side of the big battalions; and those +big battalions Germany can again supply. I hold, then, that no such +Franco-German war as the last one can again occur. Europe is now virtually +divided into two camps, each composed of three Powers, all of which would +be more or less involved in a Franco-German struggle. The allies and +friends on either side are well aware of it, and in their own interests +are bound to exert a restraining influence which makes for the maintenance +of peace. We have had evidence of this in the limitations imposed on the +recent Balkan War. + +On the other hand, it is, of course, the unexpected which usually happens; +and whilst Europe generally remains armed to the teeth, and so many +jealousies are still rife, no one Power can in prudence desist from her +armaments. We who are the wealthiest nation in Europe spend on our +armaments, in proportion to our wealth and our population, less than any +other great Power. Yet some among us would have us curtail our +expenditure, and thereby incur the vulnerability which would tempt a foe. +Undoubtedly the armaments of the present day are great and grievous +burdens on the nations, terrible impediments to social progress, but they +constitute, unfortunately, our only real insurance against war, justifying +yet to-day, after so many long centuries, the truth of the ancient Latin +adage--_Si vis pacem, para bellum_. + +It is, I think, unnecessary for me to comment here on the autobiographical +part of my book. It will, I feel, speak for itself. It treats of days long +past, and on a few points, perhaps, my memory may be slightly defective. +In preparing my narrative, however, I have constantly referred to my old +diaries, note-books and early newspaper articles, and have done my best to +abstain from all exaggeration. Whether this story of some of my youthful +experiences and impressions of men and things was worth telling or not is +a point which I must leave my readers to decide. + +E.A.V. + +London, _January_ 1914. + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + + II. THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + + III. ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + + IV. FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + + V. BESIEGED + + VI. MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + + VII. FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +VIII. FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + + IX. THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + + X. WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + + XI. BEFORE LE MANS + + XII. LE MANS AND AFTER + +XIII. THE BITTER END + + INDEX + + + + MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE + + + +I + +INTRODUCTORY--SOME EARLY RECOLLECTIONS + +The Vizetelly Family--My Mother and her Kinsfolk--The _Illustrated Times_ +and its Staff--My Unpleasant Disposition--Thackeray and my First +Half-Crown--School days at Eastbourne--Queen Alexandra--Garibaldi--A few +old Plays and Songs--Nadar and the "Giant" Balloon--My Arrival in France-- +My Tutor Brossard--Berezowski's Attempt on Alexander II--My Apprenticeship +to Journalism--My first Article--I see some French Celebrities--Visits to +the Tuileries--At Compiègne--A few Words with Napoleon III--A +"Revolutionary" Beard. + + +This is an age of "Reminiscences," and although I have never played any +part in the world's affairs, I have witnessed so many notable things and +met so many notable people during the three-score years which I have +lately completed, that it is perhaps allowable for me to add yet another +volume of personal recollections to the many which have already poured +from the press. On starting on an undertaking of this kind it is usual, I +perceive by the many examples around me, to say something about one's +family and upbringing. There is less reason for me to depart from this +practice, as in the course of the present volume it will often be +necessary for me to refer to some of my near relations. A few years ago a +distinguished Italian philosopher and author, Angelo de Gubernatis, was +good enough to include me in a dictionary of writers belonging to the +Latin races, and stated, in doing so, that the Vizetellys were of French +origin. That was a rather curious mistake on the part of an Italian +writer, the truth being that the family originated at Ravenna, where some +members of it held various offices in the Middle Ages. Subsequently, after +dabbling in a conspiracy, some of the Vizzetelli fled to Venice and took +to glass-making there, until at last Jacopo, from whom I am descended, +came to England in the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth. From that time +until my own the men of my family invariably married English women, so +that very little Italian blood can flow in my veins. + +Matrimonial alliances are sometimes of more than personal interest. One +point has particularly struck me in regard to those contracted by members +of my own family, this being the diversity of English counties from which +the men have derived their wives and the women their husbands. References +to Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, +Leicestershire, Berkshire, Bucks, Suffolk, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and +Devonshire, in addition to Middlesex, otherwise London, appear in my +family papers. We have become connected with Johnstons, Burslems, +Bartletts, Pitts, Smiths, Wards, Covells, Randalls, Finemores, Radfords, +Hindes, Pollards, Lemprières, Wakes, Godbolds, Ansells, Fennells, +Vaughans, Edens, Scotts, and Pearces, and I was the very first member of +the family (subsequent to its arrival in England) to take a foreigner as +wife, she being the daughter of a landowner of Savoy who proceeded from +the Tissots of Switzerland. My elder brother Edward subsequently married a +Burgundian girl named Clerget, and my stepbrother Frank chose an American +one, _née_ Krehbiel, as his wife, these marriages occurring because +circumstances led us to live for many years abroad. + +Among the first London parishes with which the family was connected was +St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, where my forerunner, the first Henry +Vizetelly, was buried in 1691, he then being fifty years of age, and where +my father, the second Henry of the name, was baptised soon after his birth +in 1820. St. Bride's, Fleet Street, was, however, our parish for many +years, as its registers testify, though in 1781 my great-grandfather was +resident in the parish of St. Ann's, Blackfriars, and was elected +constable thereof. At that date the family name, which figures in old +English registers under a variety of forms--Vissitaler, Vissitaly, +Visataly, Visitelly, Vizetely, etc.--was by him spelt Vizzetelly, as is +shown by documents now in the Guildhall Library; but a few years later he +dropped the second z, with the idea, perhaps, of giving the name a more +English appearance. + +This great-grandfather of mine was, like his father before him, a printer +and a member of the Stationers' Company. He was twice married, having by +his first wife two sons, George and William, neither of whom left +posterity. The former, I believe, died in the service of the Honourable +East India Company. In June, 1775, however, my great-grandfather married +Elizabeth, daughter of James Hinde, stationer, of Little Moorfields, and +had by her, first, a daughter Elizabeth, from whom some of the Burslems +and Godbolds are descended; and, secondly, twins, a boy and a girl, who +were respectively christened James Henry and Mary Mehetabel. The former +became my grandfather. In August, 1816, he married, at St. Bride's, Martha +Jane Vaughan, daughter of a stage-coach proprietor of Chester, and had by +her a daughter, who died unmarried, and four sons--my father, Henry +Richard, and my uncles James, Frank, and Frederick Whitehead Vizetelly. + +Some account of my grandfather is given in my father's "Glances Back +through Seventy Years," and I need not add to it here. I will only say +that, like his immediate forerunners, James Henry Vizetelly was a printer +and freeman of the city. A clever versifier, and so able as an amateur +actor that on certain occasions he replaced Edmund Kean on the boards when +the latter was hopelessly drunk, he died in 1840, leaving his two elder +sons, James and Henry, to carry on the printing business, which was then +established in premises occupying the site of the _Daily Telegraph_ +building in Fleet Street. + +In 1844 my father married Ellen Elizabeth, only child of John Pollard, +M.D., a member of the ancient Yorkshire family of the Pollards of Bierley +and Brunton, now chiefly represented, I believe, by the Pollards of Scarr +Hall. John Pollard's wife, Charlotte Maria Fennell, belonged to a family +which gave officers to the British Navy--one of them serving directly +under Nelson--and clergy to the Church of England. The Fennells were +related to the Brontë sisters through the latter's mother; and one was +closely connected with the Shackle who founded the original _John Bull_ +newspaper. Those, then, were my kinsfolk on the maternal side. My mother +presented my father with seven children, of whom I was the sixth, being +also the fourth son. I was born on November 29, 1853, at a house called +Chalfont Lodge in Campden House Road, Kensington, and well do I remember +the great conflagration which destroyed the fine old historical mansion +built by Baptist Hicks, sometime a mercer in Cheapside and ultimately +Viscount Campden. But another scene which has more particularly haunted me +all through my life was that of my mother's sudden death in a saloon +carriage of an express train on the London and Brighton line. Though she +was in failing health, nobody thought her end so near; but in the very +midst of a journey to London, whilst the train was rushing on at full +speed, and no help could be procured, a sudden weakness came over her, and +in a few minutes she passed away. I was very young at the time, barely +five years old, yet everything still rises before me with all the +vividness of an imperishable memory. Again, too, I see that beautiful +intellectual brow and those lustrous eyes, and hear that musical voice, +and feel the gentle touch of that loving motherly hand. She was a woman of +attainments, fond of setting words to music, speaking perfect French, for +she had been partly educated at Evreux in Normandy, and having no little +knowledge of Greek and Latin literature, as was shown by her annotations +to a copy of Lemprière's "Classical Dictionary" which is now in my +possession. + +About eighteen months after I was born, that is in the midst of the +Crimean War, my father founded, in conjunction with David Bogue, a +well-known publisher of the time, a journal called the _Illustrated +Times_, which for several years competed successfully with the +_Illustrated London News_. It was issued at threepence per copy, and an +old memorandum of the printers now lying before me shows that in the +paper's earlier years the average printings were 130,000 copies weekly--a +notable figure for that period, and one which was considerably exceeded +when any really important event occurred. My father was the chief editor +and manager, his leading coadjutor being Frederick Greenwood, who +afterwards founded the _Pall Mall Gazette_. I do not think that +Greenwood's connection with the _Illustrated Times_ and with my father's +other journal, the _Welcome Guest_, is mentioned in any of the accounts of +his career. The literary staff included four of the Brothers Mayhew-- +Henry, Jules, Horace, and Augustus, two of whom, Jules and Horace, became +godfathers to my father's first children by his second wife. Then there +were also William and Robert Brough, Edmund Yates, George Augustus Sala, +Hain Friswell, W.B. Rands, Tom Robertson, Sutherland Edwards, James +Hannay, Edward Draper, and Hale White (father of "Mark Rutherford"), and +several artists and engravers, such as Birket Foster, "Phiz." Portch, +Andrews, Duncan, Skelton, Bennett, McConnell, Linton, London, and Horace +Harrall. I saw all those men in my early years, for my father was very +hospitably inclined, and they were often guests at Chalfont Lodge. + +After my mother's death, my grandmother, _née_ Vaughan, took charge of the +establishment, and I soon became the terror of the house, developing a +most violent temper and acquiring the vocabulary of the roughest market +porter. My wilfulness was probably innate (nearly all the Vizetellys +having had impulsive wills of their own), and my flowery language was +picked up by perversely loitering to listen whenever there happened to be +a street row in Church Lane, which I had to cross on my way to or from +Kensington Gardens, my daily place of resort. At an early age I started +bullying my younger brother, I defied my grandmother, insulted the family +doctor because he was too fond of prescribing grey powders for my +particular benefit, and behaved abominably to the excellent Miss Lindup of +Sheffield Terrace, who endeavoured to instruct me in the rudiments of +reading, writing, and arithmetic. I frequently astonished or appalled the +literary men and artists who were my father's guests. I hated being +continually asked what I should like to be when I grew up, and the +slightest chaff threw me into a perfect paroxysm of passion. Whilst, +however, I was resentful of the authority of others, I was greatly +inclined to exercise authority myself--to such a degree, indeed, that my +father's servants generally spoke of me as "the young master," regardless +of the existence of my elder brothers. + +Having already a retentive memory, I was set to learn sundry +"recitations," and every now and then was called upon to emerge from +behind the dining-room curtains and repeat "My Name is Norval" or "The +Spanish Armada," for the delectation of my father's friends whilst they +lingered over their wine. Disaster generally ensued, provoked either by +some genial chaff or well-meant criticism from such men as Sala and +Augustus Mayhew, and I was ultimately carried off--whilst venting +incoherent protests--to be soundly castigated and put to bed. + +Among the real celebrities who occasionally called at Chalfont Lodge was +Thackeray, whom I can still picture sitting on one side of the fireplace, +whilst my father sat on the other, I being installed on the hearthrug +between them. Provided that I was left to myself, I could behave decently +enough, discreetly preserving silence, and, indeed, listening intently to +the conversation of my father's friends, and thereby picking up a very odd +mixture of knowledge. I was, I believe, a pale little chap with lank fair +hair and a wistful face, and no casual observer would have imagined that +my nature was largely compounded of such elements as enter into the +composition of Italian brigands, Scandinavian pirates, and wild Welshmen. +Thackeray, at all events, did not appear to think badly of the little boy +who sat so quietly at his feet. One day, indeed, when he came upon me and +my younger brother Arthur, with our devoted attendant Selina Horrocks, +in Kensington Gardens, he put into practice his own dictum that one could +never see a schoolboy without feeling an impulse to dip one's hand in +one's pocket. Accordingly he presented me with the first half-crown I ever +possessed, for though my father's gifts were frequent they were small. It +was understood, I believe, that I was to share the aforesaid half-crown +with my brother Arthur, but in spite of the many remonstrances of the +faithful Selina--a worthy West-country woman, who had largely taken my +mother's place--I appropriated the gift in its entirety, and became +extremely ill by reason of my many indiscreet purchases at a tuck-stall +which stood, if I remember rightly, at a corner of the then renowned +Kensington Flower Walk. This incident must have occurred late in +Thackeray's life. My childish recollection of him is that of a very big +gentleman with beaming eyes. + +My grandmother's reign in my father's house was not of great duration, as +in February, 1861, he contracted a second marriage, taking on this +occasion as his wife a "fair maid of Kent," [Elizabeth Anne Ansell, of +Broadstairs; mother of my step-brother, Dr. Frank H. Vizetelly, editor of +the "Standard Dictionary," New York.] to whose entry into our home I was +at first violently opposed, but who promptly won me over by her +unremitting affection and kindness, eventually becoming the best and +truest friend of my youth and early manhood. My circumstances changed, +however, soon after that marriage, for as I was now nearly eight years old +it was deemed appropriate that I should be sent to a boarding-school, both +by way of improving my mind and of having some nonsense knocked out of me, +which, indeed, was promptly accomplished by the pugnacious kindness of my +schoolfellows. Among the latter was one, my senior by a few years, who +became a very distinguished journalist. I refer to the late Horace Voules, +so long associated with Labouchere's journal, _Truth_. My brother Edward +was also at the same school, and my brother Arthur came there a little +later. + +It was situated at Eastbourne, and a good deal has been written about it +in recent works on the history of that well-known watering-place, which, +when I was first sent there, counted less than 6000 inhabitants. Located +in the old town or village, at a distance of a mile or more from the sea, +the school occupied a building called "The Gables," and was an offshoot of +a former ancient school connected with the famous parish church. In my +time this "academy" was carried on as a private venture by a certain James +Anthony Bown, a portly old gentleman of considerable attainments. + +I was unusually precocious in some respects, and though I frequently got +into scrapes by playing impish tricks--as, for instance, when I combined +with others to secure an obnoxious French master to his chair by means of +some cobbler's wax, thereby ruining a beautiful pair of peg-top trousers +which he had just purchased--I did not neglect my lessons, but secured a +number of "prizes" with considerable facility. When I was barely twelve +years old, not one of my schoolfellows--and some were sixteen and +seventeen years old--could compete with me in Latin, in which language +Bown ended by taking me separately. I also won three or four prizes for +"excelling" my successive classes in English grammar as prescribed by the +celebrated Lindley Murray. + +In spite of my misdeeds (some of which, fortunately, were never brought +home to me), I became, I think, somewhat of a favourite with the worthy +James Anthony, for he lent me interesting books to read, occasionally had +me to supper in his own quarters, and was now and then good enough to +overlook the swollen state of my nose or the blackness of one of my eyes +when I had been having a bout with a schoolfellow or a young clodhopper of +the village. We usually fought with the village lads in Love Lane on +Sunday evenings, after getting over the playground wall. I received +firstly the nickname of Moses, through falling among some rushes whilst +fielding a ball at cricket; and secondly, that of Noses, because my nasal +organ, like that of Cyrano de Bergerac, suddenly grew to huge proportions, +in such wise that it embodied sufficient material for two noses of +ordinary dimensions. Its size was largely responsible for my defeats when +fighting, for I found it difficult to keep guard over such a prominent +organ and prevent my claret from being tapped. + +Having generations of printers' ink mingled with my blood, I could not +escape the unkind fate which made me a writer of articles and books. +In conjunction with a chum named Clement Ireland I ran a manuscript school +journal, which included stories of pirates and highwaymen, illustrated +with lurid designs in which red ink was plentifully employed in order to +picture the gore which flowed so freely through the various tales. +My grandmother Vaughan was an inveterate reader of the _London Journal_ +and the _Family Herald_, and whenever I went home for my holidays I used +to pounce upon those journals and devour some of the stories of the author +of "Minnegrey," as well as Miss Braddon's "Aurora Floyd" and "Henry +Dunbar." The perusal of books by Ainsworth, Scott, Lever, Marryat, James +Grant, G. P. R. James, Dumas, and Whyte Melville gave me additional +material for storytelling; and so, concocting wonderful blends of all +sorts of fiction, I spun many a yarn to my schoolfellows in the dormitory +in which I slept--yarns which were sometimes supplied in instalments, +being kept up for a week or longer. + +My summer holidays were usually spent in the country, but at other times I +went to London, and was treated to interesting sights. At Kensington, in +my earlier years, I often saw Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort with +their children, notably the Princess Royal (Empress Frederick) and the +Prince of Wales (Edward VII). When the last-named married the "Sea-King's +daughter from over the sea"--since then our admired and gracious Queen +Alexandra--and they drove together through the crowded streets of London +on their way to Windsor, I came specially from Eastbourne to witness that +triumphal progress, and even now I can picture the young prince with his +round chubby face and little side-whiskers, and the vision of almost +tearfully-smiling beauty, in blue and white, which swept past my eager +boyish eyes. + +During the Easter holidays of 1864 Garibaldi came to England. My uncle, +Frank Vizetelly, was the chief war-artist of that period, the predecessor, +in fact, of the late Melton Prior. He knew Garibaldi well, having first +met him during the war of 1859, and having subsequently accompanied him +during his campaign through Sicily and then on to Naples--afterwards, +moreover, staying with him at Caprera. And so my uncle carried me and his +son, my cousin Albert, to Stafford House (where he had the _entrée_), and +the grave-looking Liberator patted us on the head, called us his children, +and at Frank Vizetelly's request gave us photographs of himself. I then +little imagined that I should next see him in France, at the close of the +war with Germany, during a part of which my brother Edward acted as one of +his orderly officers. + +My father, being at the head of a prominent London newspaper, often +received tickets for one and another theatre. Thus, during my winter +holidays, I saw many of the old pantomimes at Drury Lane and elsewhere. I +also well remember Sothern's "Lord Dundreary," and a play called "The +Duke's Motto," which was based on Paul Féval's novel, "Le Bossu." I +frequently witnessed the entertainments given by the German Reeds, Corney +Grain, and Woodin, the clever quick-change artist. I likewise remember +Leotard the acrobat at the Alhambra, and sundry performances at the old +Pantheon, where I heard such popular songs as "The Captain with the +Whiskers" and "The Charming Young Widow I met in the Train." Nigger +ditties were often the "rage" during my boyhood, and some of them, like +"Dixie-land" and "So Early in the Morning," still linger in my memory. +Then, too, there were such songs as "Billy Taylor," "I'm Afloat," "I'll +hang my Harp on a Willow Tree," and an inane composition which contained +the lines-- + + "When a lady elopes + Down a ladder of ropes, + She may go, she may go, + She may go to--Hongkong--for me!" + +In those schoolboy days of mine, however, the song of songs, to my +thinking, was one which we invariably sang on breaking up for the +holidays. Whether it was peculiar to Eastbourne or had been derived from +some other school I cannot say. I only know that the last verse ran, +approximately, as follows: + + "Magistrorum is a borum, + Hic-haec-hoc has made his bow. + Let us cry: 'O cockalorum!' + That's the Latin for us now. + Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, + Off to Greece, for we are free! + Helter, skelter, melter, pelter, + We're the lads for mirth and spree!" + +For "cockalorum," be it noted, we frequently substituted the name of some +particularly obnoxious master. + +To return to the interesting sights of my boyhood, I have some +recollection of the Exhibition of 1862, but can recall more vividly a +visit to the Crystal Palace towards the end of the following year, when I +there saw the strange house-like oar of the "Giant" balloon in which +Nadar, the photographer and aeronaut, had lately made, with his wife and +others, a memorable and disastrous aerial voyage. Readers of Jules Verne +will remember that Nadar figures conspicuously in his "Journey to the +Moon." Quite a party of us went to the Palace to see the "Giant's" car, +and Nadar, standing over six feet high, with a great tangled mane of +frizzy flaxen hair, a ruddy moustache, and a red shirt _à la_ Garibaldi, +took us inside it and showed us all the accommodation it contained for +eating, sleeping and photographic purposes. I could not follow what he +said, for I then knew only a few French words, and I certainly had no idea +that I should one day ascend into the air with him in a car of a very +different type, that of the captive balloon which, for purposes of +military observation, he installed on the Place Saint Pierre at +Montmartre, during the German siege of Paris. + +A time came when my father disposed of his interest in the _Illustrated +Times_ and repaired to Paris to take up the position of Continental +representative of the _Illustrated London News_. My brother Edward, at +that time a student at the École des Beaux Arts, then became his +assistant, and a little later I was taken across the Channel with my +brother Arthur to join the rest of the family. We lived, first, at +Auteuil, and then at Passy, where I was placed in a day-school called the +Institution Nouissel, where lads were prepared for admission to the State +or municipal colleges. There had been some attempt to teach me French at +Eastbourne, but it had met with little success, partly, I think, because +I was prejudiced against the French generally, regarding them as a mere +race of frog-eaters whom we had deservedly whacked at Waterloo. Eventually +my prejudices were in a measure overcome by what I heard from our +drill-master, a retired non-commissioned officer, who had served in the +Crimea, and who told us some rousing anecdotes about the gallantry of +"our allies" at the Alma and elsewhere. In the result, the old sergeant's +converse gave me "furiously to think" that there might be some good in the +French after all. + +At Nouissel's I acquired some knowledge of the language rapidly enough, +and I was afterwards placed in the charge of a tutor, a clever scamp named +Brossard, who prepared me for the Lycée Bonaparte (now Condorcet), where I +eventually became a pupil, Brossard still continuing to coach me with a +view to my passing various examinations, and ultimately securing the usual +_baccalauréat_, without which nobody could then be anything at all in +France. In the same way he coached Evelyn Jerrold, son of Blanchard and +grandson of Douglas Jerrold, both of whom were on terms of close +friendship with the Vizetellys. But while Brossard was a clever man, he +was also an unprincipled one, and although I was afterwards indebted to +him for an introduction to old General Changarnier, to whom he was +related, it would doubtless have been all the better if he had not +introduced me to some other people with whom he was connected. He lived +for a while with a woman who was not his wife, and deserted her for a girl +of eighteen, whom he also abandoned, in order to devote himself to a +creature in fleshings who rode a bare-backed steed at the Cirque de +l'Impératrice. When I was first introduced to her "behind the scenes," she +was bestriding a chair, and smoking a pink cigarette, and she addressed me +as _mon petit_. Briefly, the moral atmosphere of Brossard's life was not +such as befitted him to be a mentor of youth. + +Let me now go back a little. At the time of the great Paris Exhibition of +1867 I was in my fourteenth year. The city was then crowded with +royalties, many of whom I saw on one or another occasion. I was in the +Bois de Boulogne with my father when, after a great review, a shot was +fired at the carriage in which Napoleon III and his guest, Alexander II of +Russia, were seated side by side. I saw equerry Raimbeaux gallop forward +to screen the two monarchs, and I saw the culprit seized by a sergeant of +our Royal Engineers, attached to the British section of the Exhibition. +Both sovereigns stood up in the carriage to show that they were uninjured, +and it was afterwards reported that the Emperor Napoleon said to the +Emperor Alexander: "If that shot was fired by an Italian it was meant for +me; if by a Pole, it was meant for your Majesty." Whether those words were +really spoken, or were afterwards invented, as such things often are, by +some clever journalist, I cannot say; but the man proved to be a Pole +named Berezowski, who was subsequently sentenced to transportation for +life. + +It was in connection with this attempt on the Czar that I did my first +little bit of journalistic work. By my father's directions, I took a few +notes and made a hasty little sketch of the surroundings. This and my +explanations enabled M. Jules Pelcoq, an artist of Belgian birth, whom my +father largely employed on behalf of the _Illustrated London News_, to +make a drawing which appeared on the first page of that journal's next +issue. I do not think that any other paper in the world was able to supply +a pictorial representation of Berezowski's attempt. + +I have said enough, I think, to show that I was a precocious lad, perhaps, +indeed, a great deal too precocious. However, I worked very hard in those +days. My hours at Bonaparte were from ten to twelve and from two to four. +I had also to prepare home-lessons for the Lycée, take special lessons +from Brossard, and again lessons in German from a tutor named With. Then, +too, my brother Edward ceasing to act as my father's assistant in order to +devote himself to journalism on his own account, I had to take over a part +of his duties. One of my cousins, Montague Vizetelly (son of my uncle +James, who was the head of our family), came from England, however, to +assist my father in the more serious work, such as I, by reason of my +youth, could not yet perform. My spare time was spent largely in taking +instructions to artists or fetching drawings from them. At one moment I +might be at Mont-martre, and at another in the Quartier Latin, calling on +Pelcoq, Anastasi, Janet Lange, Gustave Janet, Pauquet, Thorigny, Gaildrau, +Deroy, Bocourt, Darjou, Lix, Moulin, Fichot, Blanchard, or other artists +who worked for the _Illustrated London News_. Occasionally a sketch was +posted to England, but more frequently I had to despatch some drawing on +wood by rail. Though I have never been anything but an amateurish +draughtsman myself, I certainly developed a critical faculty, and acquired +a knowledge of different artistic methods, during my intercourse with so +many of the _dessinateurs_ of the last years of the Second Empire. + +By-and-by more serious duties were allotted to me. The "Paris Fashions" +design then appearing every month in the _Illustrated London News_ was for +a time prepared according to certain dresses which Worth and other famous +costumiers made for empresses, queens, princesses, great ladies, and +theatrical celebrities; and, accompanying Pelcoq or Janet when they went +to sketch those gowns (nowadays one would simply obtain photographs), I +took down from _la première_, or sometimes from Worth himself, full +particulars respecting materials and styles, in order that the descriptive +letterpress, which was to accompany the illustration, might be correct. + +In this wise I served my apprenticeship to journalism. My father naturally +revised my work. The first article, all my own, which appeared in print +was one on that notorious theatrical institution, the Claque. I sent it to +_Once a Week_, which E. S. Dallas then edited, and knowing that he was +well acquainted with my father, and feeling very diffident respecting the +merits of what I had written, I assumed a _nom de plume_ ("Charles +Ludhurst") for the occasion, Needless to say that I was delighted when +I saw the article in print, and yet more so when I received for it a +couple of guineas, which I speedily expended on gloves, neckties, and a +walking-stick. Here let me say that we were rather swagger young fellows +at Bonaparte. We did not have to wear hideous ill-fitting uniforms like +other Lycéens, but endeavoured to present a very smart appearance. Thus +we made it a practice to wear gloves and to carry walking-sticks or canes +on our way to or from the Lycée. I even improved on that by buying +"button-holes" at the flower-market beside the Madeleine, and this idea +"catching on," as the phrase goes, quite a commotion occurred one morning +when virtually half my classmates were found wearing flowers--for it +happened to be La Saint Henri, the _fête_-day of the Count de Chambord, +and both our Proviseur and our professor imagined that this was, on our +part, a seditious Legitimist demonstration. There were, however, very few +Legitimists among us, though Orleanists and Republicans were numerous. + +I have mentioned that my first article was on the Claque, that +organisation established to encourage applause in theatres, it being held +that the Parisian spectator required to be roused by some such method. +Brossard having introduced me to the _sous-chef_ of the Claque at the +Opéra Comique, I often obtained admission to that house as a _claqueur_. +I even went to a few other theatres in the same capacity. Further, +Brossard knew sundry authors and journalists, and took me to the Café de +Suède and the Café de Madrid, where I saw and heard some of the +celebrities of the day. I can still picture the great Dumas, loud of voice +and exuberant in gesture whilst holding forth to a band of young +"spongers," on whom he was spending his last napoleons. I can also see +Gambetta--young, slim, black-haired and bearded, with a full sensual +underlip--seated at the same table as Delescluze, whose hair and beard, +once red, had become a dingy white, whose figure was emaciated and +angular, and whose yellowish, wrinkled face seemed to betoken that he was +possessed by some fixed idea. What that idea was, the Commune subsequently +showed. Again, I can see Henri Rochefort and Gustave Flourens together: +the former straight and sinewy, with a great tuft of very dark curly hair, +flashing eyes and high and prominent cheekbones; while the latter, tall +and bald, with long moustaches and a flowing beard, gazed at you in an +eager imperious way, as if he were about to issue some command. + +Other men who helped to overthrow the Empire also became known to me. My +father, whilst engaged in some costly litigation respecting a large +castellated house which he had leased at Le Vésinet, secured Jules Favre +as his advocate, and on various occasions I went with him to Favre's +residence. Here let me say that my father, in spite of all his interest in +French literature, did not know the language. He could scarcely express +himself in it, and thus he always made it a practice to have one of his +sons with him, we having inherited our mother's linguistic gifts. Favre's +command of language was great, but his eloquence was by no means rousing, +and I well remember that when he pleaded for my father, the three judges +of the Appeal Court composed themselves to sleep, and did not awaken until +the counsel opposed to us started banging his fist and shouting in +thunderous tones. Naturally enough, as the judges never heard our side of +the case, but only our adversary's, they decided against us. + +Some retrenchment then became necessary on my father's part, and he sent +my step-mother, her children and my brother Arthur, to Saint Servan in +Brittany, where he rented a house which was called "La petite Amélia," +after George III's daughter of that name, who, during some interval of +peace between France and Great Britain, went to stay at Saint Servan for +the benefit of her health. The majority of our family having repaired +there and my cousin Monty returning to England some time in 1869, I +remained alone with my father in Paris. We resided in what I may call a +bachelor's flat at No. 16, Rue de Miromesnil, near the Elysée Palace. The +principal part of the house was occupied by the Count and Countess de +Chateaubriand and their daughters. The Countess was good enough to take +some notice of me, and subsequently, when she departed for Combourg at the +approach of the German siege, she gave me full permission to make use, if +necessary, of the coals and wood left in the Chateaubriand cellars. + +In 1869, the date I have now reached, I was in my sixteenth year, still +studying, and at the same time giving more and more assistance to my +father in connection with his journalistic work. He has included in his +"Glances Back" some account of the facilities which enabled him to secure +adequate pictorial delineation of the Court life of the Empire. He has +told the story of Moulin, the police-agent, who frequently watched over +the Emperor's personal safety, and who also supplied sketches of Court +functions for the use of the _Illustrated London News_. Napoleon III +resembled his great-uncle in at least one respect. He fully understood the +art of advertisement; and, in his desire to be thought well of in England, +he was always ready to favour English journalists. Whilst a certain part +of the London Press preserved throughout the reign a very critical +attitude towards the Imperial policy, it is certain that some of the Paris +correspondents were in close touch with the Emperor's Government, and that +some of them were actually subsidized by it. + +The best-informed man with respect to Court and social events was +undoubtedly Mr. Felix Whiteburst of _The Daily Telegraph_, whom I well +remember. He had the _entrée_ at the Tuileries and elsewhere, and there +were occasions when very important information was imparted to him with a +view to its early publication in London. For the most part, however, +Whitehurst confined himself to chronicling events or incidents occurring +at Court or in Bonapartist high society. Anxious to avoid giving offence, +he usually glossed over any scandal that occurred, or dismissed it airily, +with the _désinvolture_ of a _roué_ of the Regency. Withal, he was an +extremely amiable man, very condescending towards me when we met, as +sometimes happened at the Tuileries itself. + +I had to go there on several occasions to meet Moulin, the +detective-artist, by appointment, and a few years ago this helped me to +write a book which has been more than once reprinted. [Note] I utilized in +it many notes made by me in 1869-70, notably with respect to the Emperor +and Empress's private apartments, the kitchens, and the arrangements made +for balls and banquets. I am not aware at what age a young fellow is +usually provided with his first dress-suit, but I know that mine was made +about the time I speak of. I was then, I suppose, about five feet five +inches in height, and my face led people to suppose that I was eighteen or +nineteen years of age. + +[Note: The work in question was entitled "The Court of the Tuileries, +1852-1870," by "Le Petit Homme Rouge"--a pseudonym which I have since used +when producing other books. "The Court of the Tuileries" was founded in +part on previously published works, on a quantity of notes and memoranda +made by my father, other relatives, and myself, and on some of the private +papers of one of my wife's kinsmen, General Mollard, who after greatly +distinguishing himself at the Tchernaya and Magenta, became for a time an +aide-de-camp to Napoleon III.] + +In the autumn of 1869, I fell rather ill from over-study--I had already +begun to read up Roman law--and, on securing a holiday, I accompanied my +father to Compiègne, where the Imperial Court was then staying. We were +not among the invited guests, but it had been arranged that every facility +should be given to the _Illustrated London News_ representatives in order +that the Court _villegiatura_ might be fully depicted in that journal. I +need not recapitulate my experiences on this occasion. There is an account +of our visit in my father's "Glances Back," and I inserted many additional +particulars in my "Court of the Tuileries." I may mention, however, that +it was at Compiègne that I first exchanged a few words with Napoleon III. + +One day, my father being unwell (the weather was intensely cold), I +proceeded to the château [We slept at the Hôtel de la Cloche, but +had the _entrée_ to the château at virtually any time.] accompanied only +by our artist, young M. Montbard, who was currently known as "Apollo" in +the Quartier Latin, where he delighted the _habitués_ of the Bal Bullier +by a style of choregraphy in comparison with which the achievements +subsequently witnessed at the notorious Moulin Rouge would have sunk into +insignificance. Montbard had to make a couple of drawings on the day I +have mentioned, and it so happened that, whilst we were going about with +M. de la Ferrière, the chamberlain on duty, Napoleon III suddenly appeared +before us. Directly I was presented to him he spoke to me in English, +telling me that he often saw the _Illustrated London News_, and that the +illustrations of French life and Paris improvements (in which he took so +keen an interest) were very ably executed. He asked me also how long I had +been in France, and where I had learnt the language. Then, remarking that +it was near the _déjeuner_ hour, he told M. de la Ferrière to see that +Montbard and myself were suitably entertained. + +I do not think that I had any particular political opinions at that time. +Montbard, however, was a Republican--in fact, a future Communard--and I +know that he did not appreciate his virtually enforced introduction to the +so-called "Badinguet." Still, he contrived to be fairly polite, and +allowed the Emperor to inspect the sketch he was making. There was to be a +theatrical performance at the château that evening, and it had already +been arranged that Montbard should witness it. On hearing, however, that +it had been impossible to provide my father and myself with seats, on +account of the great demand for admission on the part of local magnates +and the officers of the garrison, the Emperor was good enough to say, +after I had explained that my father's indisposition would prevent him +from attending: "Voyons, vous pourrez bien trouver une petite place pour +ce jeune homme. Il n'est pas si grand, et je suis sûr que cela lui fera +plaisir." M. de la Ferrière bowed, and thus it came to pass that I +witnessed the performance after all, being seated on a stool behind some +extremely beautiful women whose white shoulders repeatedly distracted my +attention from the stage. In regard to Montbard there was some little +trouble, as M. de la Ferrière did not like the appearance of his +"revolutionary-looking beard," the sight of which, said he, might greatly +alarm the Empress. Montbard, however, indignantly refused to shave it off, +and ten months later the "revolutionary beards" were predominant, the +power and the pomp of the Empire having been swept away amidst all the +disasters of invasion. + + + +II + +THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + +Napoleon's Plans for a War with Prussia--The Garde Mobile and the French +Army generally--Its Armament--The "White Blouses" and the Paris Riots--The +Emperor and the Elections of 1869--The Troppmann and Pierre Bonaparte +Affairs--Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham--The Ollivier Ministry--French +Campaigning Plans--Frossard and Bazaine--The Negotiations with Archduke +Albert and Count Vimeroati--The War forced on by Bismarck--I shout "A +Berlin!"--The Imperial Guard and General Bourbaki--My Dream of seeing a +War--My uncle Frank Vizetelly and his Campaigns--"The Siege of Pekin"-- +Organization of the French Forces--The Information Service--I witness the +departure of Napoleon III and the Imperial Prince from Saint Cloud. + + +There was no little agitation in France during the years 1868 and 1869. +The outcome first of the Schleswig-Holstein war, and secondly of the war +between Prussia and Austria in 1866, had alarmed many French politicians. +Napoleon III had expected some territorial compensation in return for his +neutrality at those periods, and it is certain that Bismarck, as chief +Prussian minister, had allowed him to suppose that he would be able to +indemnify himself for his non-intervention in the afore-mentioned +contests. After attaining her ends, however, Prussia turned an unwilling +ear to the French Emperor's suggestions, and from that moment a +Franco-German war became inevitable. Although, as I well remember, +there was a perfect "rage" for Bismarck "this" and Bismarck "that" in +Paris--particularly for the Bismarck colour, a shade of Havana brown--the +Prussian statesman, who had so successfully "jockeyed" the Man of Destiny, +was undoubtedly a well hated and dreaded individual among the Parisians, +at least among all those who thought of the future of Europe. Prussian +policy, however, was not the only cause of anxiety in France, for at the +same period the Republican opposition to the Imperial authority was +steadily gaining strength in the great cities, and the political +concessions by which Napoleon III sought to disarm it only emboldened it +to make fresh demands. + +In planning a war on Prussia, the Emperor was influenced both by national +and by dynastic considerations. The rise of Prussia--which had become head +of the North German Confederation--was without doubt a menace not only to +French ascendency on the Continent, but also to France's general +interests. On the other hand, the prestige of the Empire having been +seriously impaired, in France itself, by the diplomatic defeats which +Bismarck had inflicted on Napoleon, it seemed that only a successful war, +waged on the Power from which France had received those successive +rebuffs, could restore the aforesaid prestige and ensure the duration of +the Bonaparte dynasty. + +Even nowadays, in spite of innumerable revelations, many writers continue +to cast all the responsibility of the Franco-German War on Germany, or, to +be more precise, on Prussia as represented by Bismarck. That, however, is +a great error. A trial of strength was regarded on both sides as +inevitable, and both sides contributed to bring it about. Bismarck's share +in the conflict was to precipitate hostilities, selecting for them what he +judged to be an opportune moment for his country, and thereby preventing +the Emperor Napoleon from maturing his designs. The latter did not intend +to declare war until early in 1871; the Prussian statesman brought it +about in July, 1870. + +The Emperor really took to the war-path soon after 1866. A great military +council was assembled, and various measures were devised to strengthen the +army. The principal step was the creation of a territorial force called +the Garde Mobile, which was expected to yield more than half a million +men. Marshal Niel, who was then Minister of War, attempted to carry out +this scheme, but was hampered by an insufficiency of money. Nowadays, I +often think of Niel and the Garde Mobile when I read of Lord Haldane, +Colonel Seely, and our own "terriers." It seems to me, at times, as if the +clock had gone back more than forty years. + +Niel died in August, 1869, leaving his task in an extremely unfinished +state, and Marshal Le Boeuf, who succeeded him, persevered with it in a +very faint-hearted way. The regular army, however, was kept in fair +condition, though it was never so strong as it appeared to be on paper. +There was a system in vogue by which a conscript of means could avoid +service by supplying a _remplaçant_. Originally, he was expected to +provide his _remplaçant_ himself; but, ultimately, he only had to pay a +sum of money to the military authorities, who undertook to find a man to +take his place. Unfortunately, in thousands of instances, over a term of +some years, the _remplaçants_ were never provided at all. I do not suggest +that the money was absolutely misappropriated, but it was diverted to +other military purposes, and, in the result, there was always a +considerable shortage in the annual contingent. + +The creature comforts of the men were certainly well looked after. My +particular chum at Bonaparte was the son of a general-officer, and I +visited more than one barracks or encampment. Without doubt, there was +always an abundance of good sound food. Further, the men were well-armed. +All military authorities are agreed, I believe, that the Chassepot +rifle--invented in or about 1866--was superior to the Dreyse needle-gun, +which was in use in the Prussian army. Then, too, there was Colonel de +Reffye's machine-gun or _mitrailleuse_, in a sense the forerunner of the +Gatling and the Maxim. It was first devised, I think, in 1863, and, +according to official statements, some three or four years later there +were more than a score of _mitrailleuse_ batteries. With regard to other +ordnance, however, that of the French was inferior to that of the Germans, +as was conclusively proved at Sedan and elsewhere. In many respects the +work of army reform, publicly advised by General Trochu in a famous +pamphlet, and by other officers in reports to the Emperor and the Ministry +of War, proceeded at a very slow pace, being impeded by a variety of +considerations. The young men of the large towns did not take kindly to +the idea of serving in the new Garde Mobile. Having escaped service in the +regular army, by drawing exempting "numbers" or by paying for +_remplaçants_, they regarded it as very unfair that they should be called +upon to serve at all, and there were serious riots in various parts of +France at the time of their first enrolment in 1868. Many of them failed +to realize the necessities of the case. There was no great wave of +patriotism sweeping through the country. The German danger was not yet +generally apparent. Further, many upholders of the Imperial authority +shook their heads in deprecation of this scheme of enrolling and arming so +many young men, who might suddenly blossom into revolutionaries and turn +their weapons against the powers of the day. + +There was great unrest in Paris in 1868, the year of Henri Rochefort's +famous journal _La Lanterne_. Issue after issue of that bitterly-penned +effusion was seized and confiscated, and more than once did I see vigilant +detectives snatch copies from people in the streets. In June, 1869, we had +general elections, accompanied by rioting on the Boulevards. It was then +that the "White Blouse" legend arose, it being alleged that many of the +rioters were _agents provocateurs_ in the pay of the Prefecture of Police, +and wore white blouses expressly in order that they might be known to the +sergents-de-ville and the Gardes de Paris who were called upon to quell +the disturbances. At first thought, it might seem ridiculous that any +Government should stir up rioting for the mere sake of putting it down, +but it was generally held that the authorities wished some disturbances to +occur in order, first, that the middle-classes might be frightened by the +prospect of a violent revolution, and thereby induced to vote for +Government candidates at the elections; and, secondly, that some of the +many real Revolutionaries might be led to participate in the rioting in +such wise as to supply a pretext for arresting them. + +I was with my mentor Brossard and my brother Edward one night in June when +a "Madeleine-Bastille" omnibus was overturned on the Boulevard Montmartre +and two or three newspaper kiosks were added to it by way of forming a +barricade, the purpose of which was by no means clear. The great crowd of +promenaders seemed to regard the affair as capital fun until the police +suddenly came up, followed by some mounted men of the Garde de Paris, +whereupon the laughing spectators became terrified and suddenly fled for +their lives. With my companions I gazed on the scene from the _entresol_ +of the Café Mazarin. It was the first affair of the kind I had ever +witnessed, and for that reason impressed itself more vividly on my mind +than several subsequent and more serious ones. In the twinkling of an eye +all the little tables set out in front of the cafés were deserted, and +tragi-comical was the sight of the many women with golden chignons +scurrying away with their alarmed companions, and tripping now and again +over some fallen chair whilst the pursuing cavalry clattered noisily along +the foot-pavements. A Londoner might form some idea of the scene by +picturing a charge from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus at the hour +when Coventry Street is most thronged with undesirables of both sexes. + +The majority of the White Blouses and their friends escaped unhurt, and +the police and the guards chiefly expended their vigour on the spectators +of the original disturbance. Whether this had been secretly engineered by +the authorities for one of the purposes I previously indicated, must +always remain a moot point. In any case it did not incline the Parisians +to vote for the Government candidates. Every deputy returned for the city +on that occasion was an opponent of the Empire, and in later years I was +told by an ex-Court official that when Napoleon became acquainted with the +result of the pollings he said, in reference to the nominees whom he had +favoured, "Not one! not a single one!" The ingratitude of the Parisians, +as the Emperor styled it, was always a thorn in his side; yet he should +have remembered that in the past the bulk of the Parisians had seldom, if +ever, been on the side of constituted authority. + +Later that year came the famous affair of the Pantin crimes, and I was +present with my father when Troppmann, the brutish murderer of the Kinck +family, stood his trial at the Assizes. But, quite properly, my father +would not let me accompany him when he attended the miscreant's execution +outside the prison of La Roquette. Some years later, however, I witnessed +the execution of Prévost on the same spot; and at a subsequent date I +attended both the trial and the execution of Caserio--the assassin of +President Carnot--at Lyons. Following Troppmann's case, in the early days +of 1870 came the crime of the so-called Wild Boar of Corsica, Prince +Pierre Bonaparte (grandfather of the present Princess George of Greece), +who shot the young journalist Victor Noir, when the latter went with +Ulrich de Fonvielle, aeronaut as well as journalist, to call him out on +behalf of the irrepressible Henri Rochefort. I remember accompanying one +of our artists, Gaildrau, when a sketch was made of the scene of the +crime, the Prince's drawing-room at Auteuil, a peculiar semi-circular, +panelled and white-painted apartment furnished in what we should call in +England a tawdry mid-Victorian style. On the occasion of Noir's funeral my +father and myself were in the Champs Elysées when the tumultuous +revolutionary procession, in which Rochefort figured conspicuously, swept +down the famous avenue along which the victorious Germans were to march +little more than a year afterwards. Near the Rond-point the _cortège_ was +broken up and scattered by the police, whose violence was extreme. +Rochefort, brave enough on the duelling-ground, fainted away, and was +carried off in a vehicle, his position as a member of the Legislative Body +momentarily rendering him immune from arrest. Within a month, however, he +was under lock and key, and some fierce rioting ensued in the north of +Paris. + +During the spring, my father went to Ireland as special commissioner of +the _Illustrated London News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette_, in order to +investigate the condition of the tenantry and the agrarian crimes which +were then so prevalent there. Meantime, I was left in Paris, virtually "on +my own," though I was often with my elder brother Edward. About this time, +moreover, a friend of my father's began to take a good deal of interest in +me. This was Captain the Hon. Dennis Bingham, a member of the Clanmorris +family, and the regular correspondent of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ in Paris. +He subsequently became known as the author of various works on the +Bonapartes and the Bourbons, and of a volume of recollections of Paris +life, in which I am once or twice mentioned. Bingham was married to a very +charming lady of the Laoretelle family, which gave a couple of historians +to France, and I was always received most kindly at their home near the +Arc de Triomphe. Moreover, Bingham often took me about with him in my +spare time, and introduced me to several prominent people. Later, during +the street fighting at the close of the Commune in 1871, we had some +dramatic adventures together, and on one occasion Bingham saved my life. + +The earlier months of 1870 went by very swiftly amidst a multiplicity of +interesting events. Emile Ollivier had now become chief Minister, and an +era of liberal reforms appeared to have begun. It seemed, moreover, as if +the Minister's charming wife were for her part intent on reforming the +practices of her sex in regard to dress, for she resolutely set her face +against the extravagant toilettes of the ladies of the Court, repeatedly +appearing at the Tuileries in the most unassuming attire, which, however, +by sheer force of contrast, rendered her very conspicuous there. The +patronesses of the great _couturiers_ were quite irate at receiving such a +lesson from a _petite bourgeoise_; but all who shared the views expressed +by President Dupin a few years previously respecting the "unbridled luxury +of women," were naturally delighted. + +Her husband's attempts at political reform were certainly well meant, but +the Republicans regarded him as a renegade and the older Imperialists as +an intruder, and nothing that he did gave satisfaction. The concession of +the right of public meeting led to frequent disorders at Belleville and +Montmartre, and the increased freedom of the Press only acted as an +incentive to violence of language. Nevertheless, when there came a +Plebiscitum--the last of the reign--to ascertain the country's opinion +respecting the reforms devised by the Emperor and Ollivier, a huge +majority signified approval of them, and thus the "liberal Empire" seemed +to be firmly established. If, however, the nation at large had known what +was going on behind the scenes, both in diplomatic and in military +spheres, the result of the Plebiscitum would probably have been very +different. + +Already on the morrow of the war between Prussia and Austria (1866) the +Emperor, as I previously indicated, had begun to devise a plan of campaign +in regard to the former Power, taking as his particular _confidants_ in +the matter General Lebrun, his _aide-de-camp_, and General Frossard, the +governor of the young Imperial Prince. Marshal Niel, as War Minister, was +cognizant of the Emperor's conferences with Lebrun and Frossard, but does +not appear to have taken any direct part in the plans which were devised. +They were originally purely defensive plans, intended to provide for any +invasion of French territory from across the Rhine. Colonel Baron Stoffel, +the French military _attaché_ at Berlin, had frequently warned the War +Office in Paris respecting the possibility of a Prussian attack and the +strength of the Prussian armaments, which, he wrote, would enable King +William (with the assistance of the other German rulers) to throw a force +of nearly a million men into Alsace-Lorraine. Further, General Ducrot, who +commanded the garrison at Strasburg, became acquainted with many things +which he communicated to his relative, Baron de Bourgoing, one of the +Emperor's equerries. + +There is no doubt that these various communications reached Napoleon III; +and though he may have regarded both the statements of Stoffel and those +of Ducrot as exaggerated, he was certainly sufficiently impressed by them +to order the preparation of certain plans. Frossard, basing himself on the +operations of the Austrians in December, 1793, and keeping in mind the +methods by which Hoche, with the Moselle army, and Pichegru, with the +Rhine army, forced them back from the French frontier, drafted a scheme of +defence in which he foresaw the battle of Wörth, but, through following +erroneous information, greatly miscalculated the probable number of +combatants. He set forth in his scheme that the Imperial Government could +not possibly allow Alsace-Lorraine and Champagne to be invaded without a +trial of strength at the very outset; and Marshal Bazaine, who, at some +period or other, annotated a copy of Frossard's scheme, signified his +approval of that dictum, but added significantly that good tactical +measures should be adopted. He himself demurred to Frossard's plans, +saying that he was no partisan of a frontal defence, but believed in +falling on the enemy's flanks and rear. Yet, as we know, MacMahon fought +the battle of Wörth under conditions in many respects similar to those +which Frossard had foreseen. + +However, the purely defensive plans on which Napoleon III at first worked, +were replaced in 1868 by offensive ones, in which General Lebrun took a +prominent part, both from the military and from the diplomatic +standpoints. It was not, however, until March, 1870, that the Archduke +Albert of Austria came to Paris to confer with the French Emperor. +Lebrun's plan of campaign was discussed by them, and Marshal Le Boeuf and +Generals Frossard and Jarras were privy to the negotiations. It was +proposed that France, Austria, and Italy should invade Germany conjointly; +and, according to Le Boeuf, the first-named Power could place 400,000 men +on the frontier in a fortnight's time. Both Austria and Italy, however, +required forty-two days to mobilize their forces, though the former +offered to provide two army corps during the interval. When Lebrun +subsequently went to Vienna to come to a positive decision and arrange +details, the Archduke Albert pointed out that the war ought to begin in +the spring season, for, said he, the North Germans would be able to +support the cold and dampness of a winter campaign far better than the +allies. That was an absolutely correct forecast, fully confirmed by all +that took place in France during the winter of 1870-1871. + +But Prussia heard of what was brewing. Austria was betrayed to her by +Hungary; and Italy and France could not come to an understanding on the +question of Rome. At the outset Prince Napoleon (Jérome) was concerned in +the latter negotiations, which were eventually conducted by Count +Vimercati, the Italian military _attaché_ in Paris. Napoleon, however, +steadily refused to withdraw his forces from the States of the Church and +to allow Victor Emmanuel to occupy Rome. Had he yielded on those points +Italy would certainly have joined him, and Austria--however much Hungarian +statesmen might have disliked it--would, in all probability, have followed +suit. By the policy he pursued in this matter, the French Emperor lost +everything, and prevented nothing. On the one hand, France was defeated +and the Empire of the Bonapartes collapsed; whilst, on the other, Rome +became Italy's true capital. + +Bismarck was in no way inclined to allow the negotiations for an +anti-Prussian alliance to mature. They dragged on for a considerable time, +but the Government of Napoleon III was not particularly disturbed thereat, +as it felt certain that victory would attend the French arms at the +outset, and that Italy and Austria would eventually give support. +Bismarck, however, precipitated events. Already in the previous year +Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had been a candidate for the +throne of Spain. That candidature had been withdrawn in order to avert a +conflict between France and Germany; but now it was revived at Bismarck's +instigation in order to bring about one. + +I have said, I think, enough to show--in fairness to Germany--that the war +of 1870 was not an unprovoked attack on France. The incidents--such as the +Ems affair--which directly led up to it were after all only of secondary +importance, although they bulked so largely at the time of their +occurrence. I well remember the great excitement which prevailed in Paris +during the few anxious days when to the man in the street the question of +peace or war seemed to be trembling in the balance, though in reality that +question was already virtually decided upon both sides. Judging by all +that has been revealed to us during the last forty years, I do not think +that M. Emile Ollivier, the Prime Minister, would have been able to modify +the decision of the fateful council held at Saint Cloud even if he had +attended it. Possessed by many delusions, the bulk of the imperial +councillors were too confident of success to draw back, and, besides, +Bismarck and Moltke were not disposed to let France draw back. They were +ready, and they knew right well that opportunity is a fine thing. + +It was on July 15 that the Duc de Gramont, the Imperial Minister of +Foreign Affairs, read his memorable statement to the Legislative Body, and +two days later a formal declaration of war was signed. Paris at once +became delirious with enthusiasm, though, as we know by all the telegrams +from the Prefects of the departments, the provinces generally desired that +peace might be preserved. + +Resident in Paris, and knowing at that time very little about the rest of +France--for I had merely stayed during my summer holidays at such seaside +resorts as Trouville, Deauville, Beuzeval, St. Malo, and St. Servan--I +undoubtedly caught the Parisian fever, and I dare say that I sometimes +joined in the universal chorus of "À Berlin!" Mere lad as I was, in spite +of my precocity, I shared also the universal confidence in the French +army. In that confidence many English military men participated. Only +those who, like Captain Hozier of _The Times_, had closely watched +Prussian methods during the Seven Weeks' War in 1866, clearly realized +that the North German kingdom possessed a thoroughly well organized +fighting machine, led by officers of the greatest ability, and capable of +effecting something like a revolution in the art of war. + +France was currently thought stronger than she really was. Of the good +physique of her men there could be no doubt. Everybody who witnessed the +great military pageants of those times was impressed by the bearing of the +troops and their efficiency under arms. And nobody anticipated that they +would be so inferior to the Germans in numbers as proved to be the case, +and that the generals would show themselves so inferior in mental calibre +to the commanders of the opposing forces. The Paris garrison, it is true, +was no real criterion of the French army generally, though foreigners were +apt to judge the latter by what they saw of it in the capital. The troops +stationed there were mostly picked men, the garrison being very largely +composed of the Imperial Guard. The latter always made a brilliant +display, not merely by reason of its somewhat showy uniforms, recalling at +times those of the First Empire, but also by the men's fine _physique_ and +their general military proficiency. They certainly fought well in some of +the earlier battles of the war. Their commander was General Bourbaki, a +fine soldierly looking man, the grandson of a Greek pilot who acted as +intermediary between Napoleon I and his brother Joseph, at the time of the +former's expedition to Egypt. It was this original Bourbaki who carried to +Napoleon Joseph's secret letters reporting Josephine's misconduct in her +husband's absence, misconduct which Napoleon condoned at the time, though +it would have entitled him to a divorce nine years before he decided on +one. + +With the spectacle of the Imperial Guard constantly before their eyes, the +Parisians of July, 1870, could not believe in the possibility of defeat, +and, moreover, at the first moment it was not believed that the Southern +German States would join North Germany against France. Napoleon III and +his confidential advisers well knew, however, what to think on that point, +and the delusions of the man in the street departed when, on July 20, +Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt announced their intention +of supporting Prussia and the North German Confederation. Still, this did +not dismay the Parisians, and the shouts of "To Berlin! To Berlin!" were +as frequent as ever. + +It had long been one of my dreams to see and participate in the great +drama of war. All boys, I suppose, come into the world with pugnacious +instincts. There must be few, too, who never "play at soldiers." My own +interest in warfare and soldiering had been steadily fanned from my +earliest childhood. In the first place, I had been incessantly confronted +by all the scenes of war depicted in the _Illustrated Times_ and the +_Illustrated London News_, those journals being posted to me regularly +every week whilst I was still only a little chap at Eastbourne. Further, +the career of my uncle, Frank Vizetelly, exercised a strange fascination +over me. Born in Fleet Street in September, 1830, he was the youngest of +my father's three brothers. Educated with Gustave Doré, he became an +artist for the illustrated Press, and, in 1850, represented the +_Illustrated Times_ as war-artist in Italy, being a part of the time with +the French and at other moments with the Sardinian forces. That was the +first of his many campaigns. His services being afterwards secured by the +_Illustrated London News_, he next accompanied Garibaldi from Palermo to +Naples. Then, at the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States, he +repaired thither with Howard Russell, and, on finding obstacles placed in +his way on the Federal side, travelled "underground" to Richmond and +joined the Confederates. The late Duke of Devonshire, the late Lord +Wolseley, and Francis Lawley were among his successive companions. At one +time he and the first-named shared the same tent and lent socks and shirts +to one another. + +Now and again, however, Frank Vizetelly came to England after running the +blockade, stayed a few weeks in London, and then departed for America once +more, yet again running the blockade on his way. This he did on at least +three occasions. His next campaign was the war of 1866, when he was with +the Austrian commander Benedek. For a few years afterwards he remained in +London assisting his eldest brother James to run what was probably the +first of the society journals, _Echoes of the Clubs_, to which Mortimer +Collins and the late Sir Edmund Monson largely contributed. However, Frank +Vizetelly went back to America once again, this time with Wolseley on the +Red River Expedition. Later, he was with Don Carlos in Spain and with the +French in Tunis, whence he proceeded to Egypt. He died on the field of +duty, meeting his death when Hicks Pasha's little army was annihilated in +the denies of Kashgil, in the Soudan. + +Now, in the earlier years, when Frank Vizetelly returned from Italy or +America, he was often at my father's house at Kensington, and I heard +him talk of Napoleon III, MacMahon, Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel, Cialdini, +Robert Lee, Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and Captain Semmes. +Between-times I saw all the engravings prepared after his sketches, and I +regarded him and them with a kind of childish reverence. I can picture him +still, a hale, bluff, tall, and burly-looking man, with short dark hair, +blue eyes and a big ruddy moustache. He was far away the best known member +of our family in my younger days, when anonymity in journalism was an +almost universal rule. In the same way, however, as everybody had heard of +Howard Russell, the war correspondent of the _Times_, so most people had +heard of Frank Vizetelly, the war-artist of the _Illustrated_. He was, +by-the-by, in the service of the _Graphic_ when he was killed. + +I well remember being alternately amused and disgusted by a French +theatrical delineation of an English war correspondent, given in a +spectacular military piece which I witnessed a short time after my first +arrival in Paris. It was called "The Siege of Pekin," and had been +concocted by Mocquard, the Emperor Napoleon's secretary. All the "comic +business" in the affair was supplied by a so-called war correspondent of +the _Times_, who strutted about in a tropical helmet embellished with a +green Derby veil, and was provided with a portable desk and a huge +umbrella. This red-nosed and red-whiskered individual was for ever talking +of having to do this and that for "the first paper of the first country in +the world," and, in order to obtain a better view of an engagement, he +deliberately planted himself between the French and Chinese combatants. I +should doubtless have derived more amusement from his tomfoolery had I not +already known that English war correspondents did not behave in any such +idiotic manner, and I came away from the performance with strong feelings +of resentment respecting so outrageous a caricature of a profession +counting among its members the uncle whom I so much admired. + +Whatever my dreams may have been, I hardly anticipated that I should join +that profession myself during the Franco-German war. The Lycées "broke up" +in confusion, and my father decided to send me to join my stepmother and +the younger members of the family at Saint Servan, it being his intention +to go to the front with my elder brother Edward. But Simpson, the veteran +Crimean War artist, came over to join the so-called Army of the Rhine, and +my brother, securing an engagement from the _New York Times_, set out on +his own account. Thus I was promptly recalled to Paris, where my father +had decided to remain. In those days the journey from Brittany to the +capital took many long and wearisome hours, and I made it in a third-class +carriage of a train crowded with soldiers of all arms, cavalry, infantry, +and artillery. Most of them were intoxicated, and the grossness of their +language and manners was almost beyond belief. That dreadful night spent +on the boards of a slowly-moving and jolting train, [There were then no +cushioned seats in French third-class carriages.] amidst drunken and +foul-mouthed companions, gave me, as it were, a glimpse of the other side +of the picture--that is, of several things which lie behind the glamour of +war. + +It must have been about July 25 when I returned to Paris. A decree had +just been issued appointing the Empress as Regent in the absence of the +Emperor, who was to take command of the Army of the Rhine. It had +originally been intended that there should be three French armies, but +during the conferences with Archduke Albert in the spring, that plan was +abandoned in favour of one sole army under the command of Napoleon III. +The idea underlying the change was to avoid a superfluity of +staff-officers, and to augment the number of actual combatants. Both Le +Boeuf and Lebrun approved of the alteration, and this would seem to +indicate that there were already misgivings on the French side in regard +to the inferior strength of their effectives. The army was divided into +eight sections, that is, seven army corps, and the Imperial Guard. +Bourbaki, as already mentioned, commanded the Guard, and at the head of +the army corps were (1) MacMahon, (2) Frossard, (3) Bazaine, (4) +Ladmerault, (5) Failly, (6) Canrobert, and (7) Félix Douay. Both Frossard +and Failly, however, were at first made subordinate to Bazaine. The head +of the information service was Colonel Lewal, who rose to be a general and +Minister of War under the Republic, and who wrote some commendable works +on tactics; and immediately under him were Lieut.-Colonel Fay, also +subsequently a well-known general, and Captain Jung, who is best +remembered perhaps by his inquiries into the mystery of the Man with the +Iron Mask. I give those names because, however distinguished those three +men may have become in later years, the French intelligence service at the +outset of the war was without doubt extremely faulty, and responsible for +some of the disasters which occurred. + +On returning to Paris one of my first duties was to go in search of +Moulin, the detective-artist whom I mentioned in my first chapter. I found +him in his somewhat squalid home in the Quartier Mouffetard, surrounded by +a tribe of children, and he immediately informed me that he was one of the +"agents" appointed to attend the Emperor on the campaign. The somewhat +lavish Imperial _équipage_, on which Zola so frequently dilated in "The +Downfall," had, I think, already been despatched to Metz, where the +Emperor proposed to fix his headquarters, and the escort of Cent Gardes +was about to proceed thither. Moulin told me, however, that he and two of +his colleagues were to travel in the same train as Napoleon, and it was +agreed that he should forward either to Paris or to London, as might prove +most convenient, such sketches as he might from time to time contrive to +make. He suggested that there should be one of the Emperor's departure +from Saint Cloud, and that in order to avoid delay I should accompany him +on the occasion and take it from him. We therefore went down together on +July 28, promptly obtained admittance to the château, where Moulin took +certain instructions, and then repaired to the railway-siding in the park, +whence the Imperial train was to start. + +Officers and high officials, nearly all in uniform, were constantly going +to and fro between the siding and the château, and presently the Imperial +party appeared, the Emperor being between the Empress and the young +Imperial Prince. Quite a crowd of dignitaries followed. I do not recollect +seeing Emile Ollivier, though he must have been present, but I took +particular note of Rouher, the once all-powerful minister, currently +nicknamed the Vice-Emperor, and later President of the Senate. In spite of +his portliness, he walked with a most determined stride, held his head +very erect, and spoke in his customary loud voice. The Emperor, who wore +the undress uniform of a general, looked very grave and sallow. The +disease which eventually ended in his death had already become serious, +[I have given many particulars of it in my two books, "The Court of the +Tuileries, 1862-1870" (Chatto and Windus), and "Republican France, +1870-1912" (Holden and Hardingham).] and only a few days later, that is, +during the Saarbrucken affair (August 2), he was painfully affected by it. +Nevertheless, he had undertaken to command the Army of France! The +Imperial Prince, then fourteen years of age, was also in uniform, it +having been arranged that he should accompany his father to the front, and +he seemed to be extremely animated and restless, repeatedly turning to +exchange remarks with one or another officer near him. The Empress, who +was very simply gowned, smiled once or twice in response to some words +which fell from her husband, but for the most part she looked as serious +as he did. Whatever Emile Ollivier may have said about beginning this war +with a light heart, it is certain that these two sovereigns of France +realized, at that hour of parting, the magnitude of the issues at stake. +After they had exchanged a farewell kiss, the Empress took her eager young +son in her arms and embraced him fondly, and when we next saw her face we +could perceive the tears standing in her eyes. The Emperor was already +taking his seat and the boy speedily sprang after him. Did the Empress at +that moment wonder when, where, and how she would next see them again? +Perchance she did. Everything, however, was speedily in readiness for +departure. As the train began to move, both the Emperor and the Prince +waved their hands from the windows, whilst all the enthusiastic Imperial +dignitaries flourished their hats and raised a prolonged cry of "Vive +l'Empereur!" It was not, perhaps, so loud as it might have been; but, +then, they were mostly elderly men. Moulin, during the interval, had +contrived to make something in the nature of a thumb-nail sketch; I had +also taken a few notes myself; and thus provided I hastened back to Paris. + + + +III + +ON THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION + +First French Defeats--A Great Victory rumoured--The Marseillaise, Capoul +and Marie Sass--Edward Vizetelly brings News of Forbach to Paris--Emile +Ollivier again--His Fall from Power--Cousin Montauban, Comte de Palikao-- +English War Correspondents in Paris--Gambetta calls me "a Little Spy"-- +More French Defeats--Palikao and the Defence of Paris--Feats of a Siege-- +Wounded returning from the Front--Wild Reports of French Victories--The +Quarries of Jaumont--The Anglo-American Ambulance--The News of Sedan-- +Sala's Unpleasant Adventure--The Fall of the Empire. + + +It was, I think, two days after the Emperor's arrival at Metz that the +first Germans--a detachment of Badeners--entered French territory. Then, +on the second of August came the successful French attack on Saarbrucken, +a petty affair but a well-remembered one, as it was on this occasion that +the young Imperial Prince received the "baptism of fire." Appropriately +enough, the troops, whose success he witnessed, were commanded by his late +governor, General Frossard. More important was the engagement at +Weissenburg two days later, when a division of the French under General +Abel Douay was surprised by much superior forces, and utterly overwhelmed, +Douay himself being killed during the fighting. Yet another two days +elapsed, and then the Crown Prince of Prussia--later the Emperor +Frederick--routed MacMahon at Wörth, in spite of a vigorous resistance, +carried on the part of the French Cuirassiers, under General the Vicomte +de Bonnemains, to the point of heroism. In later days the general's son +married a handsome and wealthy young lady of the bourgeoisie named +Marguerite Crouzet, whom, however, he had to divorce, and who afterwards +became notorious as the mistress of General Boulanger. + +Curiously enough, on the very day of the disaster of Wörth a rumour of a +great French victory spread through Paris. My father had occasion to send +me to his bankers in the Rue Vivienne, and on making my way to the +Boulevards, which I proposed to follow, I was amazed to see the +shopkeepers eagerly setting up the tricolour flags which they habitually +displayed on the Emperor's fête-day (August 15). Nobody knew exactly how +the rumours of victory had originated, nobody could give any precise +details respecting the alleged great success, but everybody believed in +it, and the enthusiasm was universal. It was about the middle of the day +when I repaired to the Rue Vivienne, and after transacting my business +there, I turned into the Place de la Bourse, where a huge crowd was +assembled. The steps of the exchange were also covered with people, and +amidst a myriad eager gesticulations a perfect babel of voices was +ascending to the blue sky. One of the green omnibuses, which in those days +ran from the Bourse to Passy, was waiting on the square, unable to depart +owing to the density of the crowd; and all at once, amidst a scene of +great excitement and repeated shouts of "La Marseillaise!" "La +Marseillaise!" three or four well-dressed men climbed on to the vehicle, +and turning towards the mob of speculators and sightseers covering the +steps of the Bourse, they called to them repeatedly: "Silence! Silence!" +The hubbub slightly subsided, and thereupon one of the party on the +omnibus, a good-looking slim young fellow with a little moustache, took +off his hat, raised his right arm, and began to sing the war-hymn of the +Revolution. The stanza finished, the whole assembly took up the refrain. + +Since the days of the Coup d'État, the Marseillaise had been banned in +France, the official imperial air being "Partant pour la Syrie," a +military march composed by the Emperor's mother, Queen Hortense, with +words by Count Alexandre de Laborde, who therein pictured a handsome young +knight praying to the Blessed Virgin before his departure for Palestine, +and soliciting of her benevolence that he might "prove to be the bravest +brave, and love the fairest fair." During the twenty years of the third +Napoleon's rule, Paris had heard the strains of "Partant pour la Syrie" +many thousand times, and, though they were tuneful enough, had become +thoroughly tired of them. To stimulate popular enthusiasm in the war the +Ollivier Cabinet had accordingly authorized the playing and singing of the +long-forbidden "Marseillaise," which, although it was well-remembered by +the survivors of '48, and was hummed even by the young Republicans of +Belleville and the Quartier Latin, proved quite a novelty to half the +population, who were destined to hear it again and again and again from +that period until the present time. + +The young vocalist who sang it from the top of a Passy-Bourse omnibus on +that fateful day of Wörth, claimed to be a tenor, but was more correctly a +tenorino, his voice possessing far more sweetness than power. He was +already well-known and popular, for he had taken the part of Romeo in +Gounod's well-known opera based on the Shakespearean play. Like many +another singer, Victor Capoul might have become forgotten before very +long, but a curious circumstance, having nothing to do with vocalism, +diffused and perpetuated his name. He adopted a particular way of dressing +his hair, "plastering" a part of it down in a kind of semi-circle over the +forehead; and the new style "catching on" among young Parisians, the +"coiffure Capoul" eventually went round the world. It is exemplified in +certain portraits of King George V. + +In those war-days Capoul sang the "Marseillaise" either at the Opéra +Comique or the Théâtre Lyrique; but at the Opera it was sung by Marie +Sass, then at the height of her reputation. I came in touch with her a few +years later when she was living in the Paris suburbs, and more than once, +when we both travelled to the city in the same train, I had the honour of +assisting her to alight from it--this being no very easy matter, as la +Sass was the very fattest and heaviest of all the _prime donne_ that I +have ever seen. + +On the same day that MacMahon was defeated at Wörth, Frossard was badly +beaten at Forbach, an engagement witnessed by my elder brother Edward, +[Born January 1, 1847, and therefore in 1870 in his twenty-fourth year.] +who, as I previously mentioned, had gone to the front for an American +journal. Finding it impossible to telegraph the news of this serious +French reverse, he contrived to make his way to Paris on a locomotive- +engine, and arrived at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil looking as black +as any coal-heaver. When he had handed his account of the affair to Ryan, +the Paris representative of the _New York Times_, it was suggested that +his information might perhaps be useful to the French Minister of War. So +he hastened to the Ministry, where the news he brought put a finishing +touch to the dismay of the officials, who were already staggering under +the first news of the disaster of Wörth. + +Paris, jubilant over an imaginary victory, was enraged by the tidings of +Wörth and Forbach. Already dreading some Revolutionary enterprise, the +Government declared the city to be in a state of siege, thereby placing it +under military authority. Although additional men had recently been +enrolled in the National Guard the arming of them had been intentionally +delayed, precisely from a fear of revolutionary troubles, which the +_entourage_ of the Empress-Regent at Saint Cloud feared from the very +moment of the first defeats. I recollect witnessing on the Place Venddme +one day early in August a very tumultuous gathering of National Guards who +had flocked thither in order to demand weapons of the Prime Minister, that +is, Emile Ollivier, who in addition to the premiership, otherwise the +"Presidency of the Council," held the offices of Keeper of the Seals and +Minister of Justice, this department then having its offices in one of the +buildings of the Place Vendôme. Ollivier responded to the demonstration by +appearing on the balcony of his private room and delivering a brief +speech, which, embraced a vague promise to comply with the popular demand. +In point of fact, however, nothing of the kind was done during his term of +office. + +Whilst writing these lines I hear that this much-abused statesman has just +passed away at Saint Gervais-les-Bains in Upper Savoy (August 20, 1913). +Born at Marseilles in July, 1825, he lived to complete his eighty-eighth +year. His second wife (née Gravier), to whom I referred in a previous +chapter, survives him. I do not wish to be unduly hard on his memory. He +came, however, of a very Republican family, and in his earlier years he +personally evinced what seemed to be most staunch Republicanism. When he +was first elected as a member of the Legislative Body in 1857, he publicly +declared that he would appear before that essentially Bonapartist assembly +as one of the spectres of the crime of the Coup d'Etat. But subsequently +M. de Morny baited him with a lucrative appointment connected with the +Suez Canal. Later still, the Empress smiled on him, and finally he took +office under the Emperor, thereby disgusting nearly every one of his +former friends and associates. + +I believe, however, that Ollivier was sincerely convinced of the +possibility of firmly establishing a liberal-imperialist _regime_. But +although various reforms were carried out under his auspices, it is quite +certain that he was not allowed a perfectly free hand. Nor was he fully +taken into confidence with respect to the Emperor's secret diplomatic and +military policy. That was proved by the very speech in which he spoke of +entering upon the war with Prussia "with a light heart"; for in his very +next sentences he spoke of that war as being absolutely forced upon +France, and of himself and his colleagues as having done all that was +humanly and honourably possible to avoid it. Assuredly he would not have +spoken quite as he did had he realized at the time that Bismarck had +merely forced on the war in order to defeat the Emperor Napoleon's +intention to invade Germany in the ensuing spring. The public provocation +on Prussia's part was, as I previously showed, merely her reply to the +secret provocation offered by France, as evidenced by all the negotiations +with Archduke Albert on behalf of Austria, and with Count Vimercati on +behalf of Italy. On all those matters Ollivier was at the utmost but very +imperfectly informed. Finally, be it remembered that he was absent from +the Council at Saint Cloud at which war was finally decided upon. + +At a very early hour on the morning of Sunday, August 7--the day following +Wörth and Forbach--the Empress Eugénie came in all haste and sore +distress from Saint Cloud to the Tuileries. The position was very serious, +and anxious conferences were held by the ministers. When the Legislative +Body met on the morrow, a number of deputies roundly denounced the manner +in which the military operations were being conducted. One deputy, a +certain Guyot-Montpeyroux, who was well known for the outspokenness of his +language, horrified the more devoted Imperialists by describing the French +forces as an army of lions led by jackasses. On the following day Ollivier +and his colleagues resigned office. Their position had become untenable, +though little if any responsibility attached to them respecting the +military operations. The Minister of War, General Dejean, had been merely +a stop-gap, appointed to carry out the measures agreed upon before his +predecessor, Marshal Le Boeuf, had gone to the front as Major General of +the army. + +It was felt; however, among the Empress's _entourage_ that the new Prime +Minister ought to be a military man of energy, devoted, moreover, to the +Imperial _régime_. As the marshals and most of the conspicuous generals of +the time were already serving in the field, it was difficult to find any +prominent individual possessed of the desired qualifications. Finally, +however, the Empress was prevailed upon to telegraph to an officer whom +she personally disliked, this being General Cousin-Montauban, Comte de +Palikao. He was certainly, and with good reason, devoted to the Empire, +and in the past he had undoubtedly proved himself to be a man of energy. +But he was at this date in his seventy-fifth year--a fact often overlooked +by historians of the Franco-German war--and for that very reason, although +he had solicited a command in the field at the first outbreak of +hostilities, it had been decided to decline his application, and to leave +him at Lyons, where he had commanded the garrison for five years past. + +Thirty years of Palikao's life had been spent in Algeria, contending, +during most of that time, against the Arabs; but in 1860 he had been +appointed commander of the French expedition to China, where with a small +force he had conducted hostilities with the greatest vigour, repeatedly +decimating or scattering the hordes of Chinamen who were opposed to him, +and, in conjunction with the English, victoriously taking Pekin. A kind of +stain rested on the expedition by reason of the looting of the Chinese +Emperor's summer-palace, but the entire responsibility of that affair +could not be cast on the French commander, as he only continued and +completed what the English began. On his return to France, Napoleon III +created him Comte de Palikao (the name being taken from one of his Chinese +victories), and in addition wished the Legislative Body to grant him a +_dotation_. However, the summer-palace looting scandal prevented this, +much to the Emperor's annoyance, and subsequent to the fall of the Empire +it was discovered that, by Napoleon's express orders, the War Ministry had +paid Palikao a sum of about £60,000, diverting that amount of money (in +accordance with the practices of the time) from the purpose originally +assigned to it in the Estimates. + +This was not generally known when Palikao became Chief Minister. He was +then what might be called a very well preserved old officer, but his lungs +had been somewhat affected by a bullet-wound of long standing, and this he +more than once gave as a reason for replying with the greatest brevity to +interpellations in the Chamber. Moreover, as matters went from bad to +worse, this same lung trouble became a good excuse for preserving absolute +silence on certain inconvenient occasions. When, however, Palikao was +willing to speak he often did so untruthfully, repeatedly adding the +_suggestio falsi_ to the _suppressio veri_. As a matter of fact, he, like +other fervent partisans of the dynasty, was afraid to let the Parisians +know the true state of affairs. Besides, he himself was often ignorant of +it. He took office (he was the third War Minister in fifty days) without +any knowledge whatever of the imperial plan of campaign, or the steps to +be adopted in the event of further French reverses, and a herculean task +lay before this septuagenarian officer, who by experience knew right well +how to deal with Arabs and Chinamen, but had never had to contend with +European troops. Nevertheless, he displayed zeal and activity in his new +semi-political and semi-military position. He greatly assisted MacMahon to +reconstitute his army at Châlons, he planned the organization of three +more army corps, and he started on the work of placing Paris in a state of +defence, whilst his colleague, Clément Duvernois, the new Minister of +Commerce, began gathering flocks and herds together, in order that the +city, if besieged, might have the necessary means of subsistence. + +At this time there were quite a number of English "war" as well as "own" +correspondents in Paris. The former had mostly returned from Metz, whither +they had repaired at the time of the Emperor's departure for the front. At +the outset it had seemed as though the French would allow foreign +journalists to accompany them on their "promenade to Berlin," but, on +reverses setting in, all official recognition was denied to newspaper men, +and, moreover, some of the representatives of the London Press had a very +unpleasant time at Metz, being arrested there as spies and subjected to +divers indignities. I do not remember whether they were ordered back to +Paris or whether they voluntarily withdrew to the capital on their +position with the army becoming untenable; but in any case they arrived in +the city and lingered there for a time, holding daily symposiums at the +Grand Café at the corner of the Ruè Scribe, on the Boulevards. + +From time to time I went there with my father, and amongst, this galaxy +of journalistic talent I met certain men with whom I had spoken in my +childhood. One of them, for instance, was George Augustus Sala, and +another was Henry Mayhew, the famous author of "London Labour and the +London Poor," he being accompanied by his son Athol. Looking back, it +seems to me that, in spite of all their brilliant gifts, neither Sala nor +Henry Mayhew was fitted to be a correspondent in the field, and they were +certainly much better placed in Paris than at the headquarters of the Army +of the Rhine. Among the resident correspondents who attended the +gatherings at the Grand Café were Captain Bingham, Blanchard (son of +Douglas) Jerrold, and the jaunty Bower, who had once been tried for his +life and acquitted by virtue of the "unwritten law" in connection with +an _affaire passíonelle_ in which he was the aggrieved party. For more +than forty years past, whenever I have seen a bluff looking elderly +gentleman sporting a buff-waistcoat and a white-spotted blue necktie, +I have instinctively thought of Bower, who wore such a waistcoat and such +a necktie, with the glossiest of silk hats and most shapely of +patent-leather boots, throughout the siege of Paris, when he was fond of +dilating on the merits of boiled ostrich and stewed elephant's foot, of +which expensive dainties he partook at his club, after the inmates of the +Jardin des Plantes had been slaughtered. + +Bower represented the _Morning Advertiser_. I do not remember seeing Bowes +of the _Standard_ at the gatherings I have referred to, or Crawford of the +_Daily News_, who so long wrote his Paris letters at a little café +fronting the Bourse. But it was certainly at the Grand Café that I first +set eyes on Labouchere, who, like Sala, was installed at the neighbouring +Grand Hotel, and was soon to become famous as the _Daily News_' "Besieged +Resident." As for Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who represented the _Morning +Post_ during the German Siege, I first set eyes on him at the British +Embassy, when he had a beautiful little moustache (which I greatly envied) +and wore his hair nicely parted down the middle. _Eheu! fugaces labuntur +anni_. + +Sala was the life and soul of those gatherings at the Grand Café, always +exuberantly gay, unless indeed the conversation turned on the prospects of +the French forces, when he railed at them without ceasing. Blanchard +Jerrold, who was well acquainted with the spy system of the Empire, +repeatedly warned Sala to be cautious--but in vain; and the eventual +result of his outspokenness was a very unpleasant adventure on the eve of +the Empire's fall. In the presence of all those distinguished men of the +pen, I myself mostly preserved, as befitted my age, a very discreet +silence, listening intently, but seldom opening my lips unless it were to +accept or refuse another cup of coffee, or some _sirop de groseille_ or +_grenadine_. I never touched any intoxicant excepting claret at my meals, +and though, in my Eastbourne days, I had, like most boys of my time, +experimented with a clay pipe and some dark shag, I did not smoke. My +father personally was extremely fond of cigars, but had he caught me +smoking one, he would, I believe, have knocked me down. + +In connection with those Grand Café gatherings I one day had a little +adventure. It had been arranged that I should meet my father there, and +turning into the Boulevards from the Madeleine I went slowly past what was +then called the Rue Basse du Rempart. I was thinking of something or +other--I do not remember what, but in any case I was absorbed in thought, +and inadvertently I dogged the footsteps of two black-coated gentlemen who +were deep in conversation. I was almost unconscious of their presence, and +in any case I did not hear a word of what they were saying. But all at +once one of them turned round, and said to me angrily: "Veux-tu bien t'en +aller, petit espion!" otherwise: "Be off, little spy!" I woke up as it +were, looked at him, and to my amazement recognized Gambetta, whom I had +seen several times already, when I was with my mentor Brossard at either +the Café de Suède or the Café de Madrid. At the same time, however, his +companion also turned round, and proved to be Jules Simon, who knew me +through a son of his. This was fortunate, for he immediately exclaimed: +"Why, no! It is young Vizetelly, a friend of my son's," adding, "Did you +wish to speak to me?" + +I replied in the negative, saying that I had not even recognized him from +behind, and trying to explain that it was purely by chance that I had been +following him and M. Gambetta. "You know me, then?" exclaimed the future +dictator somewhat sharply; whereupon I mentioned that he had been pointed +out to me more than once, notably when he was in the company of M. +Delescluze. "Ah, oui, fort bien," he answered. "I am sorry if I spoke as I +did. But"--and here he turned to Simon--"one never knows, one can never +take too many precautions. The Spaniard would willingly send both of us to +Mazas." By "the Spaniard," of course, he meant the Empress Eugénie, just +as people meant Marie-Antoinette when they referred to "the Austrian" +during the first Revolution. That ended the affair. They both shook hands +with me, I raised my hat, and hurried on to the Grand Café, leaving them +to their private conversation. This was the first time that I ever +exchanged words with Gambetta. The incident must have occurred just after +his return from Switzerland, whither he had repaired fully anticipating +the triumph of the French arms, returning, however, directly he heard of +the first disasters. Simon and he were naturally drawn together by their +opposition to the Empire, but they were men of very different characters, +and some six months later they were at daggers drawn. + +Events moved rapidly during Palikao's ministry. Reviving a former +proposition of Jules Favre's, Gambetta proposed to the Legislative Body +the formation of a Committee of National Defence, and one was ultimately +appointed; but the only member of the Opposition included in it was +Thiers. In the middle of August there were some revolutionary disturbances +at La Villette. Then, after the famous conference at Châlons, where +Rouher, Prince Napoleon, and others discussed the situation with the +Emperor and MacMahon, Trochu was appointed Military Governor of Paris, +where he soon found himself at loggerheads with Palikao. Meantime, the +French under Bazaine, to whom the Emperor was obliged to relinquish the +supreme command--the Opposition deputies particularly insisting on +Bazaine's appointment in his stead--were experiencing reverse after +reverse. The battle of Courcelles or Pange, on August 14, was followed two +days later by that of Vionville or Mars-la-Tour, and, after yet another +two days, came the great struggle of Gravelotte, and Bazaine was thrown +back on Metz. + +At the Châlons conference it had been decided that the Emperor should +return to Paris and that MacMahon's army also should retreat towards the +capital. But Palikao telegraphed to Napoleon: "If you abandon Bazaine +there will be Revolution in Paris, and you yourself will be attacked by +all the enemy's forces. Paris will defend herself from all assault from +outside. The fortifications are completed." It has been argued that the +plan to save Bazaine might have succeeded had it been immediately carried +into effect, and in accordance, too, with Palikao's ideas; but the +original scheme was modified, delay ensued, and the French were outmarched +by the Germans, who came up with them at Sedan. As for Palikao's statement +that the Paris fortifications were completed at the time when he +despatched his telegram, that was absolutely untrue. The armament of the +outlying forts had scarcely begun, and not a single gun was in position on +any one of the ninety-five bastions of the ramparts. On the other hand, +Palikao was certainly doing all he could for the city. He had formed the +aforementioned Committee of Defence, and under his auspices the fosse or +ditch in front of the ramparts was carried across the sixty-nine roads +leading into Paris, whilst drawbridges were installed on all these points, +with armed lunettes in front of them. Again, redoubts were thrown up in +advance of some of the outlying forts, or on spots where breaks occurred +in the chain of defensive works. + +At the same time, ships' guns were ordered up from Cherbourg, Brest, +Lorient, and Toulon, together with naval gunners to serve them. Sailors, +customhouse officers, and provincial gendarmes were also conveyed to Paris +in considerable numbers. Gardes-mobiles, francs-tireurs, and even firemen +likewise came from the provinces, whilst the work of provisioning the city +proceeded briskly, the Chamber never hesitating to vote all the money +asked of it. At the same time, whilst there were many new arrivals in +Paris, there were also many departures from the city. The general fear of +a siege spread rapidly. Every day thousands of well-to-do middle-class +folk went off in order to place themselves out of harm's way; and at the +same time thousands of foreigners were expelled on the ground that, in the +event of a siege occurring, they would merely be "useless mouths." In +contrast with that exodus was the great inrush of people from the suburbs +of Paris. They poured into the city unceasingly, from villas, cottages, +and farms, employing every variety of vehicle to convey their furniture +and other household goods, their corn, flour, wine, and other produce. +There was a block at virtually every city gate, so many were the folk +eager for shelter within the protecting ramparts raised at the instigation +of Thiers some thirty years previously. + +In point of fact, although the Germans were not yet really marching on +Paris--for Bazaine's army had to be bottled up, and MacMahon's disposed +of, before there could be an effective advance on the French capital--it +was imagined in the city and its outskirts that the enemy might arrive at +any moment. The general alarm was intensified when, on the night of August +21, a large body of invalided men, who had fought at Weissenburg or Worth, +made their way into Paris, looking battle and travel-stained, some with +their heads bandaged, others with their arms in slings, and others limping +along with the help of sticks. It is difficult to conceive by what +aberration the authorities allowed the Parisians to obtain that woeful +glimpse of the misfortunes of France. The men in question ought never to +have been sent to Paris at all. They might well have been cared for +elsewhere. As it happened, the sorry sight affected all who beheld it. +Some were angered by it, others depressed, and others well-nigh terrified. + +As a kind of set-off, however, to that gloomy spectacle, fresh rumours of +French successes began to circulate. There was a report that Bazaine's +army had annihilated the whole of Prince Frederick-Charles's cavalry, and, +in particular, there was a most sensational account of how three German +army-corps, including the famous white Cuirassiers to which Bismarck +belonged, had been tumbled into the "Quarries of Jaumont" and there +absolutely destroyed! I will not say that there is no locality named +Jaumont, but I cannot find any such place mentioned in Joanne's elaborate +dictionary of the communes of France, and possibly it was as mythical as +was the alleged German disaster, the rumours of which momentarily revived +the spirits of the deluded Parisians, who were particularly pleased to +think that the hated Bismarck's regiment had been annihilated. + +On or about August 30, a friend of my eldest brother Adrian, a medical +man named Blewitt, arrived in Paris with the object of joining an +Anglo-American ambulance which was being formed in connection with the Red +Cross Society. Dr. Blewitt spoke a little French, but he was not well +acquainted with the city, and I was deputed to assist him whilst he +remained there. An interesting account of the doings of the ambulance in +question was written some sixteen or seventeen years ago by Dr. Charles +Edward Ryan, of Glenlara, Tipperary, who belonged to it. Its head men were +Dr. Marion-Sims and Dr. Frank, others being Dr. Ryan, as already +mentioned, and Drs. Blewitt, Webb, May, Nicholl, Hayden, Howett, +Tilghmann, and last but not least, the future Sir William MacCormack. Dr. +Blewitt had a variety of business to transact with the officials of the +French Red Cross Society, and I was with him at his interviews with its +venerable-looking President, the Count de Flavigny, and others. It is of +interest to recall that at the outbreak of the war the society's only +means was an income of £5 6_s._ 3_d._, but that by August 28 its receipts +had risen to nearly £112,000. By October it had expended more than +£100,000 in organizing thirty-two field ambulances. Its total outlay +during the war exceeded half a million sterling, and in its various field, +town, and village ambulances no fewer than 110,000 men were succoured and +nursed. + +In Paris the society's headquarters were established at the Palace de +l'Industrie in the Champs Elysées, and among the members of its principal +committee were several ladies of high rank. I well remember seeing there +that great leader of fashion, the Marquise de Galliffet, whose elaborate +ball gowns I had more than once admired at Worth's, but who, now that +misfortune had fallen upon France, was, like all her friends, very plainly +garbed in black. At the Palais de l'Industrie I also found Mme. de +MacMahon, short and plump, but full of dignity and energy, as became a +daughter of the Castries. I remember a brief address which she delivered +to the Anglo-American Ambulance on the day when it quitted Paris, and in +which she thanked its members for their courage and devotion in coming +forward, and expressed her confidence, and that of all her friends, in the +kindly services which they would undoubtedly bestow upon every sufferer +who came under their care. + +I accompanied the ambulance on its march through Paris to the Eastern +Hallway Station. When it was drawn up outside the Palais de l'Industrie, +Count de Flavigny in his turn made a short but feeling speech, and +immediately afterwards the _cortége_ started. At the head of it were three +young ladies, the daughters of Dr. Marion-Sims, who carried respectively +the flags of France, England, and the United States. Then came the chief +surgeons, the assistant-surgeons, the dressers and male nurses, with some +waggons of stores bringing up the rear. I walked, I remember, between +Dr. Blewitt and Dr. May. On either side of the procession were members of +the Red Cross Society, carrying sticks or poles tipped with collection +bags, into which money speedily began to rain. We crossed the Place de la +Concorde, turned up the Rue Royale, and then followed the main Boulevards +as far, I think, as the Boulevard de Strasbourg. There were crowds of +people on either hand, and our progress was necessarily slow, as it was +desired to give the onlookers full time to deposit their offerings in the +collection-bags. From the Cercle Impérial at the corner of the Champs +Elysées, from the Jockey Club, the Turf Club, the Union, the Chemins-de- +Fer, the Ganaches, and other clubs on or adjacent to the Boulevards, came +servants, often in liveries, bearing with them both bank-notes and gold. +Everybody seemed anxious to give something, and an official of the society +afterwards told me that the collection had proved the largest it had ever +made. There was also great enthusiasm all along the line of route, cries +of "Vivent les Anglais! Vivent les Américains!" resounding upon every +side. + +The train by which the ambulance quitted Paris did not start until a very +late hour in the evening. Prior to its departure most of us dined at a +restaurant near the railway-station. No little champagne was consumed at +this repast, and, unaccustomed as I was to the sparkling wine of the +Marne, it got, I fear, slightly into my head. However, my services as +interpreter were requisitioned more than once by some members of the +ambulance in connection with certain inquiries which they wished to make +of the railway officials; and I recollect that when some question arose of +going in and out of the station, and reaching the platform again without +let or hindrance--the departure of the train being long delayed--the +_sous-chef de gare_ made me a most courteous bow, and responded: "À vous, +messieurs, tout est permis. There are no regulations for you!" At last the +train started, proceeding on its way to Soissons, where it arrived at +daybreak on August 29, the ambulance then hastening to join MacMahon, and +reaching him just in time to be of good service at Sedan. I will only add +here that my friend Dr. Blewitt was with Dr. Frank at Balan and Bazeilles, +where the slaughter was so terrible. The rest of the ambulance's dramatic +story must be read in Dr. Ryan's deeply interesting pages. + +Whilst the Parisians were being beguiled with stories of how the Prince of +Saxe-Meiningen had written to his wife telling her that the German troops +were suffering terribly from sore feet, the said troops were in point of +fact lustily outmarching MacMahon's forces. On August 30, General de +Failly was badly worsted at Beaumont, and on the following day MacMahon +was forced to move on Sedan. The first reports which reached Paris +indicated, as usual, very favourable results respecting the contest there. +My friend Captain Bingham, however, obtained some correct information-- +from, I believe, the British Embassy--and I have always understood that it +was he who first made the terrible truth known to one of the deputies of +the Opposition party, who hastened to convey it to Thiers. The battle of +Sedan was fought on Thursday, September 1; but it was only on Saturday, +September 3, that Palikao shadowed forth the disaster in the Chamber, +stating that MacMahon had failed to effect a junction with Bazaine, and +that, after alternate reverses and successes--that is, driving a part of +the German army into the Meuse!--he had been obliged to retreat on Sedan +and Mézières, some portion of his forces, moreover, having been compelled +to cross the Belgian frontier. + +That tissue of inaccuracies, devised perhaps to palliate the effect of the +German telegrams of victory which were now becoming known to the +incredulous Parisians, was torn to shreds a few hours later when the +Legislative Body assembled for a night-sitting. Palikao was then obliged +to admit that the French army and the Emperor Napoleon had surrendered to +the victorious German force. Jules Favre, who was the recognized leader of +the Republican Opposition, thereupon brought forward a motion of +dethronement, proposing that the executive authority should be vested in a +parliamentary committee. In accordance with the practice of the Chamber, +Farve's motion had to be referred to its _bureaux_, or ordinary +committees, and thus no decision was arrived at that night, it being +agreed that the Chamber should reassemble on the morrow at noon. + +The deputies separated at a very late hour. My father and myself were +among all the anxious people who had assembled on the Place de la Concorde +to await the issue of the debate. Wild talk was heard on every side, +imprecations were levelled at the Empire, and it was already suggested +that the country had been sold to the foreigner. At last, as the crowd +became extremely restless, the authorities, who had taken their +precautions in consequence of the revolutionary spirit which was abroad, +decided to disperse it. During the evening a considerable body of mounted +Gardes de Paris had been stationed in or near the Palais de l'Industrie, +and now, on instructions being conveyed to their commander, they suddenly +cantered down the Champs Elysées and cleared the square, chasing people +round and round the fountains and the seated statues of the cities of +France, until they fled by way either of the quays, the Rue de Rivoti, or +the Rue Royale. The vigour which the troops displayed did not seem of good +augury for the adversaries of the Empire. Without a doubt Revolution was +already in the air, but everything indicated that the authorities were +quite prepared to contend with it, and in all probability successfully. + +It was with difficulty that my father and myself contrived to avoid the +troopers and reach the Avenue Gabriel, whence we made our way home. +Meantime there had been disturbances in other parts of Paris. On the +Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle a band of demonstrators had come into collision +with the police, who had arrested several of them. Thus, as I have already +mentioned, the authorities seemed to be as vigilant and as energetic as +ever. But, without doubt, on that night of Saturday, September 3, the +secret Republican associations were very active, sending the _mot d'ordre_ +from one to another part of the city, so that all might be ready for +Revolution when the Legislative Body assembled on the morrow. + +It was on this same last night of the Empire that George Augustus Sala met +with the very unpleasant adventure to which I previously referred. During +the evening he went as usual to the Grand Café, and meeting Blanchard +Jerrold there, he endeavoured to induce him to go to supper at the Café du +Helder. Sala being in an even more talkative mood than usual, and--now +that he had heard of the disaster of Sedan--more than ever inclined to +express his contempt of the French in regard to military matters, Jerrold +declined the invitation, fearing, as he afterwards said to my father in my +presence, that some unpleasantness might well ensue, as Sala, in spite of +all remonstrances, would not cease "gassing." Apropos of that expression, +it is somewhat amusing to recall that Sala at one time designed for +himself an illuminated visiting-card, on which appeared his initials G. A. +S. in letters of gold, the A being intersected by a gas-lamp diffusing +many vivid rays of light, whilst underneath it was a scroll bearing the +appropriate motto, "Dux est Lux." + +But, to return to my story, Jerrold having refused the invitation; Sala +repaired alone to the Café du Helder, an establishment which in those +imperial times was particularly patronized by officers of the Paris +garrison and officers from the provinces on leave. It was the height of +folly for anybody to "run down" the French army in such a place, unless, +indeed, he wished to have a number of duels on his hands. It is true that +on the night of September 3, there may have been few, if any, military men +at the Helder. Certain it is, however, that whilst Sala was supping in the +principal room upstairs, he entered into conversation with other people, +spoke incautiously, as he had been doing for a week past, and on departing +from the establishment was summarily arrested and conveyed to the Poste de +Police on the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. The cells there were already more +or less crowded with roughs who had been arrested during the disturbance +earlier in the evening, and when a police official thrust Sala into their +midst, at the same time calling him a vile Prussian spy, the patriotism of +the other prisoners was immediately aroused, though, for the most part, +they were utter scamps who had only created a disturbance for the purpose +of filling their pockets. + +Sala was subjected not merely to much ill-treatment, but also to +indignities which only Rabelais or Zola could have (in different ways) +adequately described; and it was not until the morning that he was able to +communicate with the manager of the Grand Hotel, where he had his +quarters. The manager acquainted the British Embassy with his predicament, +and it was, I think, Mr. Sheffield who repaired to the Préfecture de +Police to obtain an order for Sala's liberation. The story told me at the +time was that Lord Lyons's representative found matters already in great +confusion at the Préfecture. There had been a stampede of officials, +scarcely any being at their posts, in such wise that he made his way to +the Prefect's sanctum unannounced. There he found M. Piétri engaged with a +confidential acolyte in destroying a large number of compromising papers, +emptying boxes and pigeon-holes in swift succession, and piling their +contents on an already huge fire, which was stirred incessantly in order +that it might burn more swiftly. Piétri only paused in his task in order +to write an order for Sala's release, and I have always understood that +this was the last official order that emanated from the famous Prefect of +the Second Empire. It is true that he presented himself at the Tuileries +before he fled to Belgium, but the Empress, as we know, was averse from +any armed conflict with the population of Paris. As a matter of fact, the +Prefecture had spent its last strength during the night of September 3. +Disorganized as it was on the morning of the 4th, it could not have fought +the Revolution. As will presently appear, those police who on the night of +the 3rd were chosen to assist in guarding the approaches to the Palais +Bourbon on the morrow, were quite unable to do so. + +Disorder, indeed, prevailed in many places. My father had recently found +himself in a dilemma in regard to the requirements of the _Illustrated +London News_. In those days the universal snap-shotting hand-camera was +unknown. Every scene that it was desired to depict in the paper had to be +sketched, and in presence of all the defensive preparations which were +being made, a question arose as to what might and what might not be +sketched. General Trochu was Governor of Paris, and applications were made +to him on the subject. A reply came requiring a reference from the British +Embassy before any permission whatever was granted. In due course a letter +was obtained from the Embassy, signed not, I think, by Lord Lyons himself, +but by one of the secretaries--perhaps Sir Edward Malet, or Mr. Wodehouse, +or even Mr. Sheffield. At all events, on the morning of September 4, my +father, being anxious to settle the matter, commissioned me to take the +Embassy letter to Trochu's quarters at the Louvre. Here I found great +confusion. Nobody was paying the slightest attention to official work. The +_bureaux_ were half deserted. Officers came and went incessantly, or +gathered in little groups in the passages and on the stairs, all of them +looking extremely upset and talking anxiously and excitedly together. I +could find nobody to attend to any business, and was at a loss what to do, +when a door opened and a general officer in undress uniform appeared on +the threshold of a large and finely appointed room. + +I immediately recognized Trochu's extremely bald head and determined jaw, +for since his nomination as Governor, Paris had been flooded with +portraits of him. He had opened the door, I believe, to look for an +officer, but on seeing me standing there with a letter in my hand he +inquired what I wanted. I replied that I had brought a letter from the +British Embassy, and he may perhaps have thought that I was an Embassy +messenger. At all events, he took the letter from me, saying curtly: +"C'est bien, je m'en occuperai, revenez cet après-midi." With those words +he stepped back into the room and carefully placed the letter on the top +of several others which were neatly disposed on a side-table. + +The incident was trivial in itself, yet it afforded a glimpse of Trochu's +character. Here was the man who, in his earlier years, had organized the +French Expedition to the Crimea in a manner far superior to that in which +our own had been organized; a man of method, order, precision, fully +qualified to prepare the defence of Paris, though not to lead her army in +the field. Brief as was that interview of mine, I could not help noticing +how perfectly calm and self-possessed he was, for his demeanour greatly +contrasted with the anxious or excited bearing of his subordinates. Yet he +had reached the supreme crisis of his life. The Empire was falling, a +first offer of Power had been made to him on the previous evening; and a +second offer, which he finally accepted, [See my book, "Republican +France," p. 8.] was almost imminent. Yet on that morning of +Revolution he appeared as cool as a cucumber. + +I quitted the Louvre, going towards the Rue Royale, it having been +arranged with my father that we should take _déjeuner_ at a well-known +restaurant there. It was called "His Lordship's Larder," and was +pre-eminently an English house, though the landlord bore the German name +of Weber. He and his family were unhappily suffocated in the cellars of +their establishment during one of the conflagrations which marked the +Bloody Week of the Commune. At the time when I met my father, that is +about noon, there was nothing particularly ominous in the appearance of +the streets along which I myself passed. It was a fine bright Sunday, and, +as was usual on such a day, there were plenty of people abroad. Recently +enrolled National Guards certainly predominated among the men, but the +latter included many in civilian attire, and there was no lack of women +and children. As for agitation, I saw no sign of it. + +As I was afterwards told, however, by Delmas, the landlord of the Café +Grétry, [Note] matters were very different that morning on the Boulevards, +and particularly on the Boulevard Montmartre. By ten o'clock, indeed, +great crowds had assembled there, and the excitement grew apace. The same +words were on all lips: "Sedan--the whole French army taken--the wretched +Emperor's sword surrendered--unworthy to reign--dethrone him!" Just as, in +another crisis of French history, men had climbed on to the chairs and +tables in the garden of the Palais Royal to denounce Monsieur and Madame +Véto and urge the Parisians to march upon Versailles, so now others +climbed on the chairs outside the Boulevard cafés to denounce the Empire, +and urge a march upon the Palais Bourbon, where the Legislative Body was +about to meet. And amidst the general clamour one cry persistently +prevailed. It was: "Déchéance! Déchéance!--Dethronement! Dethronement!" + +[Note: This was a little café on the Boulevard des Italiens, and was noted +for its quietude during the afternoon, though in the evening it was, by +reason of its proximity to the "Petite Bourse" (held on the side-walk in +front of it), invaded by noisy speculators. Captain Bingham, my father, +and myself long frequented the Café Grétry, often writing our "Paris +letters" there. Subsequent to the war, Bingham and I removed to the Café +Cardinal, where, however, the everlasting rattle of dominoes proved very +disturbing. In the end, on that account, and in order to be nearer to a +club to which we both belonged, we emigrated to the Café Napolitain. One +reason for writing one's copy at a café instead of at one's club was that, +at the former, one could at any moment receive messengers bringing late +news; in addition to which, afternoon newspapers were instantly +available.] + +At every moment the numbers of the crowd increased. New-comers continually +arrived from the eastern districts by way of the Boulevards, and from the +north by way of the Faubourg Montmartre and the Rue Drouot, whilst from +the south--the Quartier Latin and its neighbourhood--contingents made +their way across the Pont St. Michel and the Pont Notre Dame, and thence, +past the Halles, along the Boulevard de Sebastopol and the Rue Montmartre. +Why the Quartier Latin element did not advance direct on the Palais +Bourbon from its own side of the river I cannot exactly say; but it was, I +believe, thought desirable to join hands, in the first instance, with the +Revolutionary elements of northern Paris. All this took place whilst my +father and myself were partaking of our meal. When we quitted the +"Larder," a little before one o'clock, all the small parties of National +Guards and civilians whom we had observed strolling about at an earlier +hour, had congregated on the Place de la Concorde, attracted thither by +the news of the special Sunday sitting, at which the Legislative Body +would undoubtedly take momentous decisions. + +It should be added that nearly all the National Guards who assembled on +the Place de la Concorde before one o'clock were absolutely unarmed. At +that hour, however, a large force of them, equivalent to a couple of +battalions or thereabouts, came marching down the Rue Royale from the +Boulevards, and these men (who were preceded by a solitary drummer) +carried, some of them, chassepots and others _fusils-à-tabatière,_ having +moreover, in most instances, their bayonets fixed. They belonged to the +north of Paris, though I cannot say precisely to what particular +districts, nor do I know exactly by whose orders they had been assembled +and instructed to march on the Palais Bourbon, as they speedily did. But +it is certain that all the fermentation of the morning and all that +occurred afterwards was the outcome of the night-work of the secret +Republican Committees. + +As the guards marched on, loud cries of "Déchéance! Déchéance!" arose +among them, and were at once taken up by the spectators. Perfect +unanimity, indeed, appeared to prevail on the question of dethroning the +Emperor. Even the soldiers who were scattered here and there--a few +Linesmen, a few Zouaves, a few Turcos, some of them invalided from +MacMahon's forces--eagerly joined in the universal cry, and began to +follow the guards on to the Place de la Concorde. Never, I believe, had +that square been more crowded--not even in the days when it was known as +the Place Louis Quinze, and when hundreds of people were crushed to death +there whilst witnessing a display of fireworks in connection with the +espousals of the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, not even when it +had become the Place de la Révolution and was thronged by all who wished +to witness the successive executions of the last King and Queen of the old +French monarchy. From the end of the Rue Royale to the bridge conducting +across the Seine to the Palais Bourbon, from the gate of the Tuileries +garden to the horses of Marly at the entrance of the Champs Elysées, +around the obelisk of Luxor, and the fountains which were playing as usual +in the bright sunshine which fell from the blue sky, along all the +balustrades connecting the seated statues of the cities of France, here, +there, and everywhere, indeed, you saw human heads. And the clamour was +universal. The great square had again become one of Revolution, and yet +it remained one of Concord also, for there was absolute agreement among +the hundred thousand or hundred and fifty thousand people who had chosen +it as their meeting-place, an agreement attested by that universal and +never-ceasing cry of "Dethronement!" + +As the armed National Guards debouched from the Rue Royale, their solitary +drummer plied his sticks. But the roll of the drum was scarcely heard in +the general uproar, and so dense was the crowd that the men could advance +but very slowly. For a while it took some minutes to make only a few +steps. Meantime the ranks of the men were broken here and there, other +people got among them, and at last my father and myself were caught in the +stream and carried with it, still somewhat slowly, in the direction of the +Pont de la Concorde. I read recently that the bridge was defended by +mounted men of the Garde de Paris (the forerunner of the Garde +Républicaine of to-day); a French writer, in recalling the scene, +referring to "the men's helmets glistening in the sunshine." But that is +pure imagination. The bridge was defended by a cordon of police ranged in +front of a large body of Gendarmerie mobile, wearing the familiar dark +blue white-braided _képis_ and the dark blue tunics with white +aiguillettes. At first, as I have already said, we advanced but slowly +towards that defending force; but, all at once, we were swept onward by +other men who had come from the Boulevards, in our wake. A minute later an +abrupt halt ensued, whereupon it was only with great difficulty that we +were able to resist the pressure from behind. + +I at last contrived to raise myself on tiptoes. Our first ranks had +effected a breach in those of the sergents-de-ville, but before us were +the mounted gendarmes, whose officer suddenly gave a command and drew his +sword. For an instant I saw him plainly: his face was intensely pale. But +a sudden rattle succeeded his command, for his men responded to it by +drawing their sabres, which flashed ominously. A minute, perhaps two +minutes, elapsed, the pressure in our rear still and ever increasing. I do +not know what happened exactly at the head of our column: the uproar was +greater than ever, and it seemed as if, in another moment, we should be +charged, ridden over, cut down, or dispersed. I believe, however, that in +presence of that great concourse of people, in presence too of the +universal reprobation of the Empire which had brought defeat, invasion, +humiliation upon France, the officer commanding the gendarmes shrank from +carrying out his orders. There must have been a brief parley with the +leaders of our column. In any case, the ranks of the gendarmes suddenly +opened, many of them taking to the footways of the bridge, over which our +column swept at the double-quick, raising exultant shouts of "Vive la +République!" It was almost a race as to who should be the first to reach +the Palais Bourbon. Those in the rear were ever impelling the foremost +onward, and there was no time to look about one. But in a rapid vision, as +it were, I saw the gendarmes reining in their horses on either side of us; +and, here and there, medals gleamed on their dark tunics, and it seemed to +me as if more than one face wore an angry expression. These men had fought +under the imperial eagles, they had been decorated for their valour in the +Crimean, Italian, and Cochin-China wars. Veterans all, and faithful +servants of the Empire, they saw the _régime_ for which they had fought, +collapsing. Had their commanding officer ordered it, they might well have +charged us; but, obedient to discipline, they had opened their ranks, and +now the Will of the People was sweeping past them. + +None of our column had a particularly threatening mien; the general +demeanour was rather suggestive of joyful expectancy. But, the bridge once +crossed, there was a fresh pause at the gates shutting off the steps of +the Palais Bourbon. Here infantry were assembled, with their chassepots in +readiness. Another very brief but exciting interval ensued. Then the +Linesmen were withdrawn, the gates swung open, and everybody rushed up the +steps. I was carried hither and thither, and at last from the portico into +the building, where I contrived to halt beside one of the statues in the +"Salle des Pas Perdus." I looked for my father, but could not see him, and +remained wedged in my corner for quite a considerable time. Finally, +however, another rush of invaders dislodged me, and I was swept with many +others into the Chamber itself. All was uproar and confusion there. Very +few deputies were present. The public galleries, the seats of the members, +the hemicycle in front of the tribune, were crowded with National Guards. +Some were standing on the stenographers' table and on the ushers' chairs +below the tribune. There were others on the tribune stairs. And at the +tribune itself, with his hat on his head, stood Gambetta, hoarsely +shouting, amidst the general din, that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and his +dynasty had for ever ceased to reign. Then, again and again, arose the cry +of "Vive la République!" In the twinkling of an eye, however, Gambetta was +lost to view--he and other Republican deputies betaking themselves, as I +afterwards learnt, to the palace steps, where the dethronement of the +Bonapartes was again proclaimed. The invaders of the chamber swarmed after +them, and I was watching their departure when I suddenly saw my father +quietly leaning back in one of the ministerial seats--perhaps that which, +in the past, had been occupied by Billault, Rouher, Ollivier, and other +powerful and prominent men of the fallen _régime_. + +At the outset of the proceedings that day Palikao had proposed the +formation of a Council of Government and National Defence which was to +include five members of the Legislative Body. The ministers were to be +appointed by this Council, and he was to be Lieutenant-General of France. +It so happened that the more fervent Imperialists had previously offered +him a dictatorship, but he had declined it. Jules Favre met the General's +proposal by claiming priority for the motion which he had submitted at the +midnight sitting, whilst Thiers tried to bring about a compromise by +suggesting such a Committee as Palikao had indicated, but placing the +choice of its members entirely in the hands of the Legislative Body, +omitting all reference to Palikao's Lieutenancy, and, further, setting +forth that a Constituent Assembly should be convoked as soon as +circumstances might permit. The three proposals--Thiers', Favre's, and +Palikao's--were submitted to the _bureaux_, and whilst these _bureaux_ +were deliberating in various rooms the first invasion of the Chamber took +place in spite of the efforts of Jules Ferry, who had promised Palikao +that the proceedings of the Legislature should not be disturbed. When the +sitting was resumed the "invaders," who, at that moment, mainly occupied +the galleries, would listen neither to President Schneider nor to their +favourite Gambetta, though both appealed to them for silence and order. +Jules Favre alone secured a few moments' quietude, during which he begged +that there might be no violence. Palikao was present, but did not speak. +[Later in the day, after urging Trochu to accept the presidency of the new +Government, as otherwise "all might be lost," Palikao quitted Paris for +Belgium. He stayed at Namur during the remainder of the war, and +afterwards lived in retirement at Versailles, where he died in January, +1878.] Amidst the general confusion came the second invasion of the +Chamber, when I was swept off my feet and carried on to the floor of the +house. That second invasion precipitated events. Even Gambetta wished the +dethronement of the dynasty to be signified by a formal vote, but the +"invaders" would brook no delay. + +Both of us, my father and I, were tired and thirsty after our unexpected +experiences. Accordingly we did not follow the crowd back to the steps +overlooking the Place de la Concorde, but, like a good many other people, +we went off by way of the Place de Bourgogne. No damage had been done in +the Chamber itself, but as we quitted the building we noticed several +inscriptions scrawled upon the walls. In some instances the words were +merely "Vive la République!" and "Mort aux Prussiens!" At other times, +however, they were too disgusting to be set down here. In or near the Rue +de Bourgogne we found a fairly quiet wine-shop, where we rested and +refreshed ourselves with _cannettes_ of so-called Bière de Strasbourg. +We did not go at that moment to the Hôtel-de-Ville, whither a large part +of the crowd betook itself by way of the quays, and where the Republic +was again proclaimed; but returned to the Place de la Concorde, where some +thousands of people still remained. Everybody was looking very animated +and very pleased. Everybody imagined that, the Empire being overthrown, +France would soon drive back the German invader. All fears for the future +seemed, indeed, to have departed. Universal confidence prevailed, and +everybody congratulated everybody else. There was, in any case, one +good cause for congratulation: the Revolution had been absolutely +bloodless--the first and only phenomenon of the kind in all French +history. + +Whilst we were strolling about the Place de la Concorde I noticed that the +chief gate of the Tuileries garden had been forced open and damaged. The +gilded eagles which had decorated it had been struck off and pounded to +pieces, this, it appeared, having been chiefly the work of an enterprising +Turco. A few days later Victorien Sardou wrote an interesting account of +how he and others obtained admittance, first to the reserved garden, and +then to the palace itself. On glancing towards it I observed that the flag +which had still waved over the principal pavilion that morning, had now +disappeared. It had been lowered after the departure of the Empress. Of +the last hours which she spent in the palace, before she quitted it with +Prince Metternich and Count Nigra to seek a momentary refuge at the +residence of her dentist, Dr. Evans, I have given a detailed account, +based on reliable narratives and documents, in my "Court of the +Tuileries." + +Quitting, at last, the Place de la Concorde, we strolled slowly homeward. +Some tradespeople in the Rue Royale and the Faubourg St. Honoré, former +purveyors to the Emperor or the Empress, were already hastily removing the +imperial arms from above their shops. That same afternoon and during the +ensuing Monday and Tuesday every escutcheon, every initial N, every crown, +every eagle, every inscription that recalled the Empire, was removed or +obliterated in one or another manner. George Augustus Sala, whose recent +adventure confined him to his room at the Grand Hotel, spent most of his +time in watching the men who removed the eagles, crowns, and Ns from the +then unfinished Opera-house. Even the streets which recalled the imperial +_regime_ were hastily renamed. The Avenue de l'Impératrice at once became +the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne; and the Rue du Dix-Décembre (so called in +memory of Napoleon's assumption of the imperial dignity) was rechristened +Rue du Quatre Septembre--this being the "happy thought" of a Zouave, who, +mounted on a ladder, set the new name above the old one, whilst the plate +bearing the latter was struck off with a hammer by a young workman. + +As we went home on the afternoon of that memorable Fourth, we noticed that +all the cafés and wine-shops were doing a brisk trade. Neither then nor +during the evening, however, did I perceive much actual drunkenness. It +was rather a universal jollity, as though some great victory had been +gained. Truth to tell, the increase of drunkenness in Paris was an effect +of the German Siege of the city, when drink was so plentiful and food so +scarce. + +My father and I had reached the corner of our street when we witnessed an +incident which I have related in detail in the first pages of my book, +"Republican France." It was the arrival of Gambetta at the Ministry of the +Interior, by way of the Avenue de Marigny, with an escort of red-shirted +Francs-tireurs de la Presse. The future Dictator had seven companions with +him, all huddled inside or on the roof of a four-wheel cab, which was +drawn by two Breton nags. I can still picture him alighting from the +vehicle and, in the name of the Republic, ordering a chubby little +Linesman, who was mounting guard at the gate of the Ministry, to have the +said gate opened; and I can see the sleek and elderly _concierge_, who had +bowed to many an Imperial Minister, complying with the said injunction, +and respectfully doffing his tasselled smoking-cap and bending double +whilst he admitted his new master. Then the gate is closed, and from +behind the finely-wrought ornamental iron-work Gambetta briefly addresses +the little throng which has recognized him, saying that the Empire is +dead, but that France is wounded, and that her very wounds will inflame +her with fresh courage; promising, too, that the whole nation shall be +armed; and asking one and all to place confidence in the new Government, +even as the latter will place confidence in the people. + +In the evening I strolled with my father to the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, +where many people were congregated, A fairly large body of National Guards +was posted in front of the building, most of whose windows were lighted +up. The members of the New Government of National Defence were +deliberating there. Trochu had become its President, and Jules Favre its +Vice-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Henri Rochefort, released +that afternoon by his admirers from the prison of Sainte Pélagie, was +included in the administration, this being in the main composed of the +deputies for Paris. Only one of the latter, the cautious Thiers, refused +to join it. He presided, however, that same evening over a gathering of +some two hundred members of the moribund Legislative Body, which then made +a forlorn attempt to retain some measure of authority, by coming to some +agreement with the new Government. But Jules Favre and Jules Simon, who +attended the meeting on the latter's behalf, would not entertain the +suggestion. It was politely signified to the deputies that their support +in Paris was not required, and that if they desired to serve their country +in any way, they had better betake themselves to their former +constituencies in the provinces. So far as the Legislative Body and the +Senate, [Note] also, were concerned, everything ended in a +delightful bit of comedy. Not only were the doors of their respective +meeting halls looked, but they were "secured" with strips of tape and +seals of red wax. The awe with which red sealing-wax inspires Frenchmen is +distinctly a trait of the national character. Had there been, however, a +real Bonaparte in Paris at that time, he would probably have cut off the +aforesaid seals with his sword. + +[Note: The Senate, over which Rouher presided, dispensed quietly on +hearing of the invasion of the Chamber. The proposal that it should +adjourn till more fortunate times emanated from Rouher himself. A few +cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" were raised as the assembly dispersed. +Almost immediately afterwards, however, most of the Senators, including +Rouher, who knew that he was very obnoxious to the Parisians, quitted the +city and even France.] + +On the morning of September 5, the _Charivari_--otherwise the daily +Parisian _Punch_--came out with a cartoon designed to sum up the whole +period covered by the imperial rule. It depicted France bound hand and +foot and placed between the mouths of two cannons, one inscribed "Paris, +1851," and the other "Sedan, 1870"--those names and dates representing the +Alpha and Omega of the Second Empire. + + + +IV + +FROM REVOLUTION TO SIEGE + +The Government of National Defence--The Army of Paris--The Return +of Victor Hugo--The German advance on Paris--The National Guard +reviewed--Hospitable Preparations for the Germans--They draw nearer +still--Departure of Lord Lyons--Our Last Day of Liberty--On the +Fortifications--The Bois de Boulogne and our Live Stock--Mass before +the Statue of Strasbourg--Devout Breton Mobiles--Evening on the +Boulevards and in the Clubs--Trochu and Ducrot--The Fight and Panic +of Chatillon--The Siege begins. + + +As I shall have occasion in these pages to mention a good many members +of the self-constituted Government which succeeded the Empire, it may be +as well for me to set down here their names and the offices they held. +I have already mentioned that Trochu was President, and Jules Favre +Vice-President, of the new administration. The former also retained his +office as Governor of Paris, and at the same time became Generalissimo. +Favre, for his part, took the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. With him and +Trochu were Gambetta, Minister of the Interior; Jules Simon, Minister of +Public Instruction; Adolphe Crémieux, Minister of Justice; Ernest Picard, +Minister of Finance; Jules Ferry, Secretary-General to the Government, and +later Mayor of Paris; and Henri Rochefort, President of the Committee of +Barricades. Four of their colleagues, Emmanuel Arago, Garnier-Pagès, +Eugène Pelletan, and Glais-Bizoin, did not take charge of any particular +administrative departments, the remainder of these being allotted to men +whose co-operation was secured. For instance, old General Le Flô became +Minister of War--under Trochu, however, and not over him. Vice-Admiral +Fourichon was appointed Minister of Marine; Magnin, an iron-master, +became Minister of Commerce and Agriculture; Frédéric Dorian, another +iron-master, took the department of Public Works; Count Emile de Kératry +acted as Prefect of Police, and Etienne Arago, in the earlier days, as +Mayor of Paris. + +The new Government was fully installed by Tuesday, September 6. It had +already issued several more or less stirring proclamations, which were +followed by a despatch which Jules Favre addressed to the French +diplomatic representatives abroad. As a set-off to the arrival of a number +of dejected travel-stained fugitives from MacMahon's army, whose +appearance was by no means of a nature to exhilarate the Parisians, the +defence was reinforced by a large number of Gardes Mobiles, who poured +into the city, particularly from Brittany, Trochu's native province, and +by a considerable force of regulars, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, +commanded by the veteran General Vinoy (then seventy years of age), who +had originally been despatched to assist MacMahon, but, having failed to +reach him before the disaster of Sedan, retreated in good order on the +capital. At the time when the Siege actually commenced there were in Paris +about 90,000 regulars (including all arms and categories), 110,000 Mobile +Guards, and a naval contingent of 13,500 men, that is a force of 213,000, +in addition to the National Guards, who were about 280,000 in number. +Thus, altogether, nearly half a million armed men were assembled in Paris +for the purpose of defending it. As all authorities afterwards admitted, +this was a very great blunder, as fully 100,000 regulars and mobiles might +have been spared to advantage for service in the provinces. Of course the +National Guards themselves could not be sent away from the city, though +they were often an encumbrance rather than a help, and could not possibly +have carried on the work of defence had they been left to their own +resources. + +Besides troops, so long as the railway trains continued running, +additional military stores and supplies of food, flour, rice, biscuits, +preserved meats, rolled day by day into Paris. At the same time, several +illustrious exiles returned to the capital. Louis Blanc and Edgar Quinet +arrived there, after years of absence, in the most unostentatious fashion, +though they soon succumbed to the prevailing mania of inditing manifestoes +and exhortations for the benefit of their fellow-countrymen. Victor Hugo's +return was more theatrical. In those famous "Châtiments" in which he had +so severely flagellated the Third Napoleon (after, in earlier years, +exalting the First to the dignity of a demi-god), he had vowed to keep out +of France and to protest against the Empire so long as it lasted, penning, +in this connection, the famous line: + + "Et s'il n'en reste qu'un, je serai celui-là!" + +But now the Empire had fallen, and so Hugo returned in triumph to Paris. +When he alighted from the train which brought him, he said to those who +had assembled to give him a fitting greeting, that he had come to do his +duty in the hour of danger, that duty being to save Paris, which meant +more than saving France, for it implied saving the world itself--Paris +being the capital of civilization, the centre of mankind. Naturally +enough, those fine sentiments were fervently applauded by the great poet's +admirers, and when he had installed himself with his companions in an open +carriage, two or three thousand people escorted him processionally along +the Boulevards. It was night-time, and the cafés were crowded and the +footways covered with promenaders as the _cortége_ went by, the escort +singing now the "Marseillaise" and now the "Chant du Départ," whilst on +every side shouts of "Vive Victor Hugo!" rang out as enthusiastically as +if the appointed "Saviour of Paris" were indeed actually passing. More +than once I saw the illustrious poet stand up, uncover, and wave his hat +in response to the acclamations, and I then particularly noticed the +loftiness of his forehead, and the splendid crop of white hair with which +it was crowned. Hugo, at that time sixty-eight years old, still looked +vigorous, but it was beyond the power of any such man as himself to save +the city from what was impending. All he could do was to indite perfervid +manifestoes, and subsequently, in "L'Année terrible," commemorate the +doings and sufferings of the time. For the rest, he certainly enrolled +himself as a National Guard, and I more than once caught sight of him +wearing _képi_ and _vareuse_. I am not sure, however, whether he ever did +a "sentry-go." + +It must have been on the day following Victor Hugo's arrival that I +momentarily quitted Paris for reasons in which my youthful but precocious +heart was deeply concerned. I was absent for four days or so, and on +returning to the capital I was accompanied by my stepmother, who, knowing +that my father intended to remain in the city during the impending siege, +wished to be with him for a while before the investment began. I recollect +that she even desired to remain with us, though that was impossible, as +she had young children, whom she had left at Saint Servan; and, besides, +as I one day jocularly remarked to her, she would, by staying in Paris, +have added to the "useless mouths," whose numbers the Republican, like the +Imperial, Government was, with very indifferent success, striving to +diminish. However, she only quitted us at the last extremity, departing on +the evening of September 17, by the Western line, which, on the morrow, +the enemy out at Conflans, some fourteen miles from Paris. + +Day by day the Parisians had received news of the gradual approach of +the German forces. On the 8th they heard that the Crown Prince of +Prussia's army was advancing from Montmirail to Coulommiers--whereupon the +city became very restless; whilst on the 9th there came word that the +black and white pennons of the ubiquitous Uhlans had been seen at La +Ferté-sous-Jouarre. That same day Thiers quitted Paris on a mission which +he had undertaken for the new Government, that of pleading the cause of +France at the Courts of London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Rome. Then, on +the 11th, there were tidings that Laon had capitulated, though not without +its defenders blowing up a powder-magazine and thereby injuring some +German officers of exalted rank--for which reason the deed was +enthusiastically commended by the Parisian Press, though it would seem to +have been a somewhat treacherous one, contrary to the ordinary usages of +war. On the 12th some German scouts reached Meaux, and a larger force +leisurely occupied Melun. The French, on their part, were busy after a +fashion. They offered no armed resistance to the German advance, but they +tried to impede it in sundry ways. With the idea of depriving the enemy of +"cover," various attempts were made to fire some of the woods in the +vicinity of Paris, whilst in order to cheat him of supplies, stacks and +standing crops were here and there destroyed. Then, too, several railway +and other bridges were blown up, including the railway bridge at Creil, so +that direct communication with Boulogne and Calais ceased on September 12. + +The 13th was a great day for the National Guards, who were then reviewed +by General Trochu. With my father and my young stepmother, I went to see +the sight, which was in many respects an interesting one. A hundred and +thirty-six battalions, or approximately 180,000 men, of the so-called +"citizen soldiery" were under arms; their lines extending, first, along +the Boulevards from the Bastille to the Madeleine, then down the Rue +Royale, across the Place de la Concorde and up the Champs Elysées as far +as the Rond Point. In addition, 100,000 men of the Garde Mobile were +assembled along the quays of the Seine and up the Champs Elysées from the +Rond Point to the Arc de Triomphe. I have never since set eyes on so large +a force of armed men. They were of all sorts. Some of the Mobiles, notably +the Breton ones, who afterwards gave a good account of themselves, looked +really soldierly; but the National Guards were a strangely mixed lot. They +all wore _képis_, but quite half of them as yet had no uniforms, and were +attired in blouses and trousers of various hues. Only here and there could +one see a man of military bearing; most of them struck happy-go-lucky +attitudes, and were quite unable to keep step in marching. A particular +feature of the display was the number of flowers and sprigs of evergreen +with which the men had decorated the muzzles of the _fusils-à-tabatière_ +which they mostly carried. Here and there, moreover, one and another +fellow displayed on his bayonet-point some coloured caricature of the +ex-Emperor or the ex-Empress. What things they were, those innumerable +caricatures of the months which followed the Revolution! Now and again +there appeared one which was really clever, which embodied a smart, +a witty idea; but how many of them were simply the outcome of a depraved, +a lewd, a bestial imagination! The most offensive caricatures of +Marie-Antoinette were as nothing beside those levelled at that unfortunate +woman, the Empress Eugénie. + +Our last days of liberty were now slipping by. Some of the poorest folk of +the environs of Paris were at last coming into the city, bringing their +chattels with them. Strange ideas, however, had taken hold of some of the +more simple-minded suburban bourgeois. Departing hastily into the +provinces, so as to place their skins out of harm's reach, they had not +troubled to store their household goods in the city; but had left them in +their coquettish villas and pavilions, the doors of which were barely +looked. The German soldiers would very likely occupy the houses, but +assuredly they would do no harm to them. "Perhaps, however, it might be as +well to propitiate the foreign soldiers. Let us leave something for them," +said worthy Monsieur Durand to Madame Durand, his wife; "they will be +hungry when they get here, and if they find something ready for them they +will be grateful and do no damage." So, although the honest Durands +carefully barred--at times even walled-up--their cellars of choice wines, +they arranged that plenty of bottles, at times even a cask, of _vin +ordinaire_ should be within easy access; and ham, cheese, sardines, +_saucissons de Lyon_, and _patés de foie gras_ were deposited in the +pantry cupboards, which were considerately left unlocked in order that the +good, mild-mannered, honest Germans (who, according to a proclamation +issued by "Unser Fritz" at an earlier stage of the hostilities, "made war +on the Emperor Napoleon and not on the French nation") might regale +themselves without let or hindrance. Moreover, the nights were "drawing +in," the evenings becoming chilly; so why not lay the fires, and place +matches and candles in convenient places for the benefit of the unbidden +guests who would so soon arrive? All those things being done, M. and Mme. +Durand departed to seek the quietude of Fouilly-les-Oies, never dreaming +that on their return to Montfermeil, Palaiseau, or Sartrouville, they +would find their _salon_ converted into a pigstye, their furniture +smashed, and their clocks and chimney-ornaments abstracted. Of course the +M. Durand of to-day knows what happened to his respected parents; he knows +what to think of the good, honest, considerate German soldiery; and, if he +can help it, he will not in any similar case leave so much as a wooden +spoon to be carried off to the Fatherland, and added as yet another trophy +to the hundred thousand French clocks and the million French nick-nacks +which are still preserved there as mementoes of the "grosse Zeit." + +On September 15, we heard of some petty skirmishes between Uhlans and +Francs-tireurs in the vicinity of Montereau and Melun; on the morrow the +enemy captured a train at Senlis, and fired on another near Chantilly, +fortunately without wounding any of the passengers; whilst on the same day +his presence was signalled at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, only ten miles +south of Paris. That evening, moreover, he attempted to ford the Seine at +Juvisy. On the 16th some of his forces appeared between Créteil and +Neuilly-sur-Marne, on the eastern side of the city, and only some five +miles from the fort of Vincennes. Then we again heard of him on the +south--of his presence at Brunoy, Ablon, and Athis, and of the pontoons by +which he was crossing the Seine at Villeneuve and Choisy-le-Roi. + +Thus the advance steadily continued, quite unchecked by force of arms, +save for just a few trifling skirmishes initiated by sundry +Francs-tireurs. Not a road, not a barricade, was defended by the +authorities; not once was the passage of a river contested. Here and there +the Germans found obstructions: poplars had been felled and laid across a +highway, bridges and railway tunnels had occasionally been blown up; but +all such impediments to their advance were speedily overcome by the enemy, +who marched on quietly, feeling alternately puzzled and astonished at +never being confronted by any French forces. As the invaders drew nearer +to Paris they found an abundance of vegetables and fruit at their +disposal, but most of the peasantry had fled, taking their live stock with +them, and, as a German officer told me in after years, eggs, cheese, +butter, and milk could seldom be procured. + +On the 17th the French began to recover from the stupor which seemed to +have fallen on them. Old General Vinoy crossed the Marne at Charenton with +some of his forces, and a rather sharp skirmish ensued in front of the +village of Mesly. That same day Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador, took +his departure from Paris, proceeding by devious ways to Tours, whither, a +couple of days previously, three delegates of the National Defence--two +septuagenarians and one sexagenarian, Crémieux, Glais-Bizoin, and +Fourichon--had repaired in order to take over the general government of +France. Lord Lyons had previously told Jules Favre that he intended to +remain in the capital, but I believe that his decision was modified by +instructions from London. With him went most of the Embassy staff, British +interests in Paris remaining in the hands of the second secretary, Mr. +Wodehouse, and the vice-consul. The consul himself had very prudently +quitted Paris, in order "to drink the waters," some time previously. +Colonel Claremont, the military attaché, still remained with us, but by +degrees, as the siege went on, the Embassy staff dwindled down to the +concierge and two--or was it four?--sheep browsing on the lawn. Mr. +Wodehouse went off (my father and myself being among those who accompanied +him, as I shall relate in a future chapter) towards the middle of +November; and before the bombardment began Colonel Claremont likewise +executed a strategical retreat. Nevertheless--or should I say for that +very reason?--he was subsequently made a general officer. + +A day or two before Lord Lyons left he drew up a notice warning British +subjects that if they should remain in Paris it would be at their own risk +and peril. The British colony was not then so large as it is now, +nevertheless it was a considerable one. A good many members of it +undoubtedly departed on their own initiative. Few, if any, saw Lord +Lyons's notice, for it was purely and simply conveyed to them through the +medium of _Galignani's Messenger_, which, though it was patronized by +tourists staying at the hotels, was seldom seen by genuine British +residents, most of whom read London newspapers. + +The morrow of Lord Lyons's departure, Sunday, September 18, was our last +day of liberty. The weather was splendid, the temperature as warm as that +of June. All Paris was out of doors. We were not without women-folk +and children. Not only were there the wives and offspring of the +working-classes; but the better halves of many tradespeople and bourgeois +had remained in the city, together with a good many ladies of higher +social rank. Thus, in spite of all the departures, "papa, mamma, and baby" +were still to be met in many directions on that last day preceding the +investment. There were gay crowds everywhere, on the Boulevards, on the +squares, along the quays, and along the roads skirting the ramparts. These +last were the "great attraction," and thousands of people strolled about +watching the work which was in progress. Stone casements were being roofed +with earth, platforms were being prepared for guns, gabions were being set +in position at the embrasures, sandbags were being carried to the +parapets, stakes were being pointed for the many _pièges-à-loups_, and +smooth earthworks were being planted with an infinity of spikes. Some guns +were already in position, others, big naval guns from Brest or Cherbourg, +were still lying on the turf. Meanwhile, at the various city gates, the +very last vehicles laden with furniture and forage were arriving from the +suburbs. And up and down went all the promenaders, chatting, laughing, +examining this and that work of defence or engine of destruction in such a +good-humoured, light-hearted way that the whole _chemin-de-ronde_ seemed +to be a vast fair, held solely for the amusement of the most volatile +people that the world has ever known. + +Access to the Bois de Boulogne was forbidden. Acres of timber had already +been felled there, and from the open spaces the mild September breeze +occasionally wafted the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, and the +grunting of pigs. Our live stock consisted of 30,000 oxen, 175,000 sheep, +8,800 pigs, and 6,000 milch-cows. Little did we think how soon those +animals (apart from the milch-cows) would be consumed! Few of us were +aware that, according to Maxime Ducamp's great work on Paris, we had +hitherto consumed, on an average, every day of the year, 935 oxen, 4680 +sheep, 570 pigs, and 600 calves, to say nothing of 46,000 head of poultry, +game, etc., 50 tons of fish, and 670,000 eggs. + +Turning from the Bois de Boulogne, which had become our principal ranch +and sheep-walk, one found companies of National Guards learning the +"goose-step" in the Champs Elysées and the Cours-la-Reine. Regulars were +appropriately encamped both in the Avenue de la Grande Armée and on the +Champ de Mars. Field-guns and caissons filled the Tuileries garden, whilst +in the grounds of the Luxembourg Palace one again found cattle and sheep; +yet other members of the bovine and ovine species being installed, +singularly enough, almost cheek by jowl with the hungry wild beasts of the +Jardin des Plantes, whose mouths fairly watered at the sight of their +natural prey. If you followed the quays of the Seine you there found +sightseers gazing at the little gunboats and floating batteries on the +water; and if you climbed to Montmartre you there came upon people +watching "The Neptune," the captive balloon which Nadar, the aeronaut and +photographer, had already provided for purposes of military observation. I +shall have occasion to speak of him and his balloons again. + +Among all that I myself saw on that memorable Sunday, I was perhaps most +struck by the solemn celebration of Mass in front of the statue of +Strasbourg on the Place de la Concorde. The capital of Alsace had been +besieged since the middle of August, but was still offering a firm +resistance to the enemy. Its chief defenders, General Uhrich and Edmond +Valentin, were the most popular heroes of the hour. The latter had been +appointed Prefect of the city by the Government of National Defence, and, +resolving to reach his post in spite of the siege which was being actively +prosecuted, had disguised himself and passed successfully through the +German lines, escaping the shots which were fired at him. In Paris the +statue of Strasbourg had become a place of pilgrimage, a sacred shrine, as +it were, adorned with banners and with wreaths innumerable. Yet I +certainly had not expected to see an altar set up and Mass celebrated in +front of it, as if it had been, indeed, a statue of the Blessed Virgin. + +At this stage of affairs there was no general hostility to the Church in +Paris. The _bourgeoisie_--I speak of its masculine element--was as +sceptical then as it is now, but it knew that General Trochu, in whom it +placed its trust, was a practising and fervent Catholic, and that in +taking the Presidency of the Government he had made it one of his +conditions that religion should be respected. Such animosity as was shown +against the priesthood emanated from some of the public clubs where the +future Communards perorated. It was only as time went on, and the defence +grew more and more hopeless, that Trochu himself was denounced as a +_cagot_ and a _souteneur de soutanes_; and not until the Commune did the +Extremists give full rein to their hatred of the Church and its ministers. + +In connection with religion, there was another sight which impressed me on +that same Sunday. I was on the point of leaving the Place de la Concorde +when a large body of Mobiles debouched either from the Rue Royale or the +Rue de Rivoli, and I noticed, with some astonishment, that not only were +they accompanied by their chaplains, but that they bore aloft several +processional religious banners. They were Bretons, and had been to Mass, I +ascertained, at the church of Notre Dame des Victoires--the favourite +church of the Empress Eugénie, who often attended early Mass there--and +were now returning to their quarters in the arches of the railway viaduct +of the Point-du-Jour. Many people uncovered as they thus went by +processionally, carrying on high their banners of the Virgin, she who is +invoked by the Catholic soldier as "Auzilium Christianorum." For a moment +my thoughts strayed back to Brittany, where, during my holidays the +previous year, I had witnessed the "Pardon" of Guingamp, + +In the evening I went to the Boulevards with my father, and we afterwards +dropped into one or two of the public clubs. The Boulevard promenaders had +a good deal to talk about. General Ambert, who under the Empire had been +mayor of our arrondissement, had fallen out with his men, through speaking +contemptuously of the Republic, and after being summarily arrested by some +of them, had been deprived of his command. Further, the _Official Journal_ +had published a circular addressed by Bismarck to the German diplomatists +abroad, in which he stated formally that if France desired peace she would +have to give "material guarantees." That idea, however, was vigorously +pooh-poohed by the Boulevardiers, particularly as rumours of sudden French +successes, originating nobody knew how, were once more in the air. +Scandal, however, secured the attention of many of the people seated in +the cafés, for the _Rappel_--Victor Hugo's organ--had that day printed a +letter addressed to Napoleon III by his mistress Marguerite Bellenger, who +admitted in it that she had deceived her imperial lover with respect to +the paternity of her child. + +However, we went, my father and I, from the Boulevards to the +Folies-Bergere, which had been turned for the time into a public club, and +there we listened awhile to Citizen Lermina, who, taking Thiers's mission +and Bismarck's despatch as his text, protested against France concluding +any peace or even any armistice so long as the Germans had not withdrawn +across the frontier. There was still no little talk of that description. +The old agitator Auguste Blanqui--long confined in one of the cages of +Mont Saint-Michel, but now once more in Paris--never wearied of opposing +peace in the discourses that he delivered at his own particular club, +which, like the newspaper he inspired, was called "La Patrie en Danger." +In other directions, for instance at the Club du Maine, the Extremists +were already attacking the new Government for its delay in distributing +cartridges to the National Guards, being, no doubt, already impatient to +seize authority themselves. + +Whilst other people were promenading or perorating, Trochu, in his room at +the Louvre, was receiving telegram after telegram informing him that the +Germans were now fast closing round the city. He himself, it appears, had +no idea of preventing it; but at the urgent suggestion of his old friend +and comrade General Ducrot, he had consented that an effort should be made +to delay, at any rate, a complete investment. In an earlier chapter I had +occasion to mention Ducrot in connexion with the warnings which Napoleon +III received respecting the military preparations of Prussia. At this +time, 1870, the general was fifty-three years old, and therefore still in +his prime. As commander of a part of MacMahon's forces he had +distinguished himself at the battle of Wörth, and when the Marshal was +wounded at Sedan, it was he who, by right of seniority, at first assumed +command of the army, being afterwards compelled, however, to relinquish +the poet to Wimpfen, in accordance with an order from Palikao which +Wimpfen produced. Included at the capitulation, among the prisoners taken +by the Germans, Ducrot subsequently escaped--the Germans contending that +he had broken his parole in doing so, though this does not appear to have +been the case. Immediately afterwards he repaired to Paris to place +himself at Trochu's disposal. At Wörth he had suggested certain tactics +which might have benefited the French army; at Sedan he had wished to make +a supreme effort to cut through the German lines; and now in Paris he +proposed to Trochu a plan which if successful might, he thought, retard +the investment and momentarily cut the German forces in halves. + +In attempting to carry out this scheme (September 19) Ducrot took with him +most of Vinoy's corps, that is four divisions of infantry, some cavalry, +and no little artillery, having indeed, according to his own account, +seventy-two guns with him. The action was fought on the plateau of +Châtillon (south of Paris), where the French had been constructing a +redoubt, which was still, however, in a very unfinished state. At daybreak +that morning all the districts of Paris lying on the left bank of the +Seine were roused by the loud booming of guns. The noise was at times +almost deafening, and it is certain that the French fired a vast number of +projectiles, though, assuredly, the number--25,000--given in a copy of the +official report which I have before me must be a clerical error. In any +case, the Germans replied with an even more terrific fire than that of the +French, and, as had previously happened at Sedan and elsewhere, the French +ordnance proved to be no match for that emanating from Krupp's renowned +workshops. The French defeat was, however, precipitated by a sudden panic +which arose among a provisional regiment of Zouaves, who suddenly turned +tail and fled. Panic is often, if not always, contagious, and so it proved +to be on this occasion. Though some of the Gardes Mobiles, notably the +Bretons of Ile-et-Vilaine, fought well, thanks to the support of the +artillery (which is so essential in the case of untried troops), other men +weakened, and imitated the example of the Zouaves. Duorot soon realized +that it was useless to prolong the encounter, and after spiking the guns +set up in the Châtillon redoubt, he retired under the protection of the +Forts of Vanves and Montrouge. + +My father and I had hastened to the southern side of Paris as soon as the +cannonade apprised us that an engagement was going on. Pitiful was the +spectacle presented by the disbanded soldiers as they rushed down the +Chaussée du Maine. Many had flung away their weapons. Some went on +dejectedly; others burst into wine-shops, demanded drink with threats, and +presently emerged swearing, cursing and shouting, "Nous sommes trahis!" +Riderless horses went by, instinctively following the men, and here and +there one saw a bewildered and indignant officer, whose orders were +scouted with jeers. The whole scene was of evil augury for the defence of +Paris. + +At a later hour, when we reached the Boulevards, we found the wildest +rumours in circulation there. Nobody knew exactly what had happened, but +there was talk of 20,000 French troops having been annihilated by five +times that number of Germans. At last a proclamation emanating from +Gambetta was posted up and eagerly perused. It supplied no details of the +fighting, but urged the Parisians to give way neither to excitement nor to +despondency, and reminded them that a court-martial had been instituted to +deal with cowards and deserters. Thereupon the excitement seemed to +subside, and people went to dinner. An hour afterwards the Boulevards were +as gay as ever, thronged once more with promenaders, among whom were many +officers of the Garde Mobile and the usual regiment of painted women. +Cynicism and frivolity were once more the order of the day. But in the +midst of it there came an unexpected incident. Some of the National Guards +of the district were not unnaturally disgusted by the spectacle which the +Boulevards presented only a few hours after misfortune had fallen on the +French arms. Forming, therefore, into a body, they marched along, loudly +calling upon the cafés to close. Particularly were they indignant when, on +reaching Brébant's Restaurant at the corner of the Faubourg Montmartre, +they heard somebody playing a lively Offenbachian air on a piano there. A +party of heedless _viveurs_ and _demoiselles_ of the half-world were +enjoying themselves together as in the palmy imperial days. But the piano +was soon silenced, the cafés and restaurants were compelled to close, and +the Boulevardian world went home in a slightly chastened mood. The Siege +of Paris had begun. + + + +V + +BESIEGED + +The Surrender of Versailles--Captain Johnson, Queen's Messenger--No more +Paris Fashions!--Prussians versus Germans--Bismarck's Hard Terms for +Peace--Attempts to pass through the German Lines--Chartreuse Verte as an +Explosive!--Tommy Webb's Party and the Germans--Couriers and Early +Balloons--Our Arrangements with Nadar--Gambetta's Departure and Balloon +Journey--The Amusing Verses of Albert Millaud--Siege Jokes and Satire--The +Spy and Signal Craze--Amazons to the Rescue! + + +It was at one o'clock on the afternoon of September 19 that the telegraph +wires between Paris and Versailles, the last which linked us to the +outside world, were suddenly cut by the enemy; the town so closely +associated with the Grand Monarque and his magnificence having then +surrendered to a very small force of Germans, although it had a couple of +thousand men--Mobile and National Guards--to defend it. The capitulation +which was arranged between the mayor and the enemy was flagrantly violated +by the latter almost as soon as it had been concluded, tins being only one +of many such instances which occurred during the war. Versailles was +required to provide the invader with a number of oxen, to be slaughtered +for food, numerous casks of wine, the purpose of which was obvious, and a +large supply of forage valued at £12,000. After all, however, that was a +mere trifle in comparison with what the present Kaiser's forces would +probably demand on landing at Hull or Grimsby or Harwich, should they some +day do so. By the terms of the surrender of Versailles, however, the local +National Guards were to have remained armed and entrusted with the +internal police of the town, and, moreover, there were to have been no +further requisitions. But Bismarck and Moltke pooh-poohed all such +stipulations, and the Versaillese had to submit to many indignities. + +In Paris that day the National Defence Government was busy in various +ways, first in imposing fines, according to an ascending scale, on all +absentees who ought to have remained in the city and taken their share of +military duty; and, secondly, in decreeing that nobody with any money +lodged in the Savings Bank should be entitled to draw out more than fifty +francs, otherwise two pounds, leaving the entire balance of his or her +deposit at the Government's disposal. This measure provoked no little +dissatisfaction. It was also on September 19, the first day of the siege, +that the last diplomatic courier entered Paris. I well remember the +incident. Whilst I was walking along the Faubourg Saint Honoré I suddenly +perceived an open _calèche_, drawn by a pair of horses, bestriding one of +which was a postillion arrayed in the traditional costume--hair à la +Catogan, jacket with scarlet facings, gold-banded hat, huge boots, and all +the other appurtenances which one saw during long years on the stage in +Adolphe Adam's sprightly but "impossible" opéra-comique "Le Postillon de +Longjumeau." For an instant, indeed, I felt inclined to hum the famous +refrain, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, qu'il était beau"--but many National Guards and +others regarded the equipage with great suspicion, particularly as it was +occupied by on individual in semi-military attire. Quite a number of +people decided in their own minds that this personage must be a Prussian +spy, and therefore desired to stop his carriage and march him off to +prison. As a matter of fact, however, he was a British officer, Captain +Johnson, discharging the duties of a Queen's Messenger; and as he +repeatedly flourished a cane in a very menacing manner, and the +door-porter of the British Embassy--a German, I believe--energetically +came to his assistance, he escaped actual molestation, and drove in +triumph into the courtyard of the ambassadorial mansion. + +At this time a great shock was awaiting the Parisians. During the same +week the Vicomtesse de Renneville issued an announcement stating that in +presence of the events which were occurring she was constrained to suspend +the publication of her renowned journal of fashions, _La Gazette Rose_. +This was a tragic blow both for the Parisians themselves and for all the +world beyond them. There would be no more Paris fashions! To what despair +would not millions of women be reduced? How would they dress, even +supposing that they should contrive to dress at all? The thought was +appalling; and as one and another great _couturier_ closed his doors, +Paris began to realize that her prestige was indeed in jeopardy. + +A day or two after the investment the city became very restless on account +of Thiers's mission to foreign Courts and Jules Favre's visit to the +German headquarters, it being reported by the extremists that the +Government did not intend to be a Government of National Defence but one +of Capitulation. In reply to those rumours the authorities issued the +famous proclamation in which they said; + + "The Government's policy is that formulated in these terms: + Not an Inch of our Territory. + Not a Stone of our Fortresses. + The Government will maintain it to the end." + +On the morrow, September 21, Gambetta personally reminded us that it was +the seventy-eighth anniversary of the foundation of the first French +Republic, and, after recalling to the Parisians what their fathers had +then accomplished, he exhorted them to follow that illustrious example, +and to "secure victory by confronting death." That same evening the clubs +decided that a great demonstration should be made on the morrow by way of +insisting that no treaty should be discussed until the Germans had been +driven out of France, that no territory, fort, vessel, or treasure should +be surrendered, that all elections should be adjourned, and that a _levée +en masse_ should be decreed. Jules Favre responded that he and his +colleagues personified Defence and not Surrender, and Rochefort--poor +Rochefort!--solemnly promised that the barricades of Paris should be begun +that very night. That undertaking mightily pleased the agitators, though +the use of the said barricades was not apparent; and the demonstrators +dispersed with the usual shouts of "Vive la République! Mort aux +Prussiens!" + +In connexion with that last cry it was a curious circumstance that from +the beginning to the end of the war the French persistently ignored the +presence of Saxons, Würtembergers, Hessians, Badeners, and so forth in the +invading armies. Moreover, on only one or two occasions (such as the +Bazeilles episode of the battle of Sedan) did they evince any particular +animosity against the Bavarians. I must have heard "Death to the +Prussians!" shouted at least a thousand times; but most certainly I never +once heard a single cry of "Death to the Germans!" Still in the same +connexion, let me mention that it was in Paris, during the siege, that the +eminent naturalist and biologist Quatrefages de Bréau wrote that curious +little book of his, "La Race Prussienne," in which he contended that the +Prussians were not Germans at all. There was at least some measure of +truth in the views which he enunciated. + +As I previously indicated, Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister of the +National Defence, had gone to the German headquarters in order to discuss +the position with Prince (then Count) Bismarck. He met him twice, first at +the Comte de Rillac's Château de la Haute Maison, and secondly at Baron de +Rothschild's Château de Ferrières--the German staff usually installing +itself in the lordly "pleasure-houses" of the French noble or financial +aristocracy, and leaving them as dirty as possible, and, naturally, bereft +of their timepieces. Baron Alphonse de Rothschild told me in later years +that sixteen clocks were carried off from Ferrières whilst King +(afterwards the Emperor) William and Bismarck were staying there. I +presume that they now decorate some of the salons of the schloss at +Berlin, or possibly those of Varzin and Friedrichsruhe. Bismarck +personally had an inordinate passion for clocks, as all who ever visited +his quarters in the Wilhelmstrasse, when he was German Chancellor, will +well remember. + +But he was not content with the clocks of Ferrières. He told Jules Favre +that if France desired peace she must surrender the two departments of the +Upper and the Lower Rhine, a part of the department of the Moselle, +together with Metz, Chateau Salins, and Soissons; and he would only grant +an armistice (to allow of the election of a French National Assembly to +decide the question of War or Peace) on condition that the Germans should +occupy Strasbourg, Toul, and Phalsburg, together with a fortress, such as +Mont Valerien, commanding the city of Paris. Such conditions naturally +stiffened the backs of the French, and for a time there was no more talk +of negotiating. + +During the earlier days of the Siege of Paris I came into contact with +various English people who, having delayed their departure until it was +too late, found themselves shut up in the city, and were particularly +anxious to depart from it. The British Embassy gave them no help in the +matter. Having issued its paltry notice in _Galignani's Messenger_, it +considered that there was no occasion for it to do anything further. +Moreover, Great Britain had not recognized the French Republic, so that +the position of Mr. Wodehouse was a somewhat difficult one. However, a few +"imprisoned" Englishmen endeavoured to escape from the city by devices of +their own. Two of them who set out together, fully expecting to get +through the German lines and then reach a convenient railway station, +followed the course of the Seine for several miles without being able to +cross it, and in spite of their waving pocket-handkerchiefs (otherwise +flags of truce) and their constant shouts of "English! Friends!" and so +forth, were repeatedly fired at by both French and German outposts. At +last they reached Rueil, where the villagers, on noticing how bad their +French was, took them to be Prussian spies, and nearly lynched them. +Fortunately, the local commissary of police believed their story, and they +were sent back to Paris to face the horseflesh and the many other +hardships which they had particularly desired to avoid. + +I also remember the representative of a Birmingham small-arms factory +telling me of his unsuccessful attempt to escape. He had lingered in Paris +in the hope of concluding a contract with the new Republican Government. +Not having sufficient money to charter a balloon, and the Embassy, as +usual at that time, refusing any help (O shades of Palmerston!), he set +out as on a walking-tour with a knapsack strapped to his shoulders and an +umbrella in his hand. His hope was to cross the Seine by the bridge of +Saint Cloud or that of Suresnes, but he failed in both attempts, and was +repeatedly fired upon by vigilant French outposts. After losing his way in +the Bois de Boulogne, awakening both the cattle and the sheep there in the +course of his nightly ramble, he at last found one of the little huts +erected to shelter the gardeners and wood-cutters, and remained there +until daybreak, when he was able to take his bearings and proceed towards +the Auteuil gate of the ramparts. As he did not wish to be fired upon +again, he deemed it expedient to hoist his pocket handkerchief at the end +of his umbrella as a sign of his pacific intentions, and finding the gate +open and the drawbridge down, he attempted to enter the city, but was +immediately challenged by the National Guards on duty. These vigilant +patriots observed his muddy condition--the previous day had been a wet +one--and suspiciously inquired where he had come from at that early hour. +His answer being given in broken French and in a very embarrassed manner, +he was at once regarded as a Prussian spy, and dragged off to the +guard-room. There he was carefully searched, and everything in his pockets +having been taken from him, including a small bottle which the sergeant on +duty regarded with grave suspicion, he was told that his after-fate would +be decided when the commanding officer of that particular _secteur_ of the +ramparts made his rounds. + +When this officer arrived he closely questioned the prisoner, who tried to +explain his circumstances, and protested that his innocence was shown by +the British passport and other papers which had been taken from him. "Oh! +papers prove nothing!" was the prompt retort. "Spies are always provided +with papers. But, come, I have proof that you are an unmitigated villain!" +So saying, the officer produced the small bottle which had been taken from +the unfortunate traveller, and added: "You see this? You had it in your +pocket. Now, don't attempt to deceive me, for I know very well what is the +nature of the green liquid which it contains--it is a combustible fluid +with which you wanted to set fire to our _chevaux-de-frise!_" + +Denials and protests were in vain. The officer refused to listen to his +prisoner until the latter at last offered to drink some of the terrible +fluid in order to prove that it was not at all what it was supposed to be. +With a little difficulty the tight-fitting cork was removed from the +flask, and on the latter being handed to the prisoner he proceeded to +imbibe some of its contents, the officer, meanwhile, retiring to a short +distance, as if he imagined that the alleged "spy" would suddenly explode. +Nothing of that kind happened, however. Indeed, the prisoner drank the +terrible stuff with relish, smacked his lips, and even prepared to take a +second draught, when the officer, feeling reassured, again drew near to +him and expressed his willingness to sample the suspected fluid himself. +He did so, and at once discovered that it was purely and simply some +authentic Chartreuse verte! It did not take the pair of them long to +exhaust this supply of the _liqueur_ of St. Bruno, and as soon as this was +done, the prisoner was set at liberty with profuse apologies. + +Now and again some of those who attempted to leave the beleaguered city +succeeded in their attempt. In one instance a party of four or five +Englishmen ran the blockade in the traditional carriage and pair. They had +been staying at the Grand Hotel, where another seven or eight visitors, +including Labouchere, still remained, together with about the same number +of servants to wait upon them; the famous caravanserai--then undoubtedly +the largest in Paris--being otherwise quite untenanted. The carriage in +which the party I have mentioned took their departure was driven by an old +English jockey named Tommy Webb, who had been in France for nearly half a +century, and had ridden the winners of some of the very first races +started by the French Jockey Club. Misfortune had overtaken him, however, +in his declining years, and he had become a mere Parisian "cabby." The +party sallied forth from the courtyard of the Grand Hotel, taking with it +several huge hampers of provisions and a quantity of other luggage; and +all the participants in the attempt seemed to be quite confident of +success. But a few hours later they returned in sore disappointment, +having been stopped near Neuilly by the French outposts, as they were +unprovided with any official _laisser-passer_. A document of that +description having been obtained, however, from General Trochu on the +morrow, a second attempt was made, and this time the party speedily +passed through the French lines. But in trying to penetrate those of the +enemy, some melodramatic adventures occurred. It became necessary, indeed, +to dodge both the bullets of the Germans and those of the French +Francs-tireurs, who paid not the slightest respect either to the Union +Jack or to the large white flag which were displayed on either side of +Tommy Webb's box-seat. At last, after a variety of mishaps, the party +succeeded in parleying with a German cavalry officer, and after they had +addressed a written appeal to the Crown Prince of Prussia (who was pleased +to grant it), they were taken, blindfolded, to Versailles, where +Blumenthal, the Crown Prince's Chief of Staff, asked them for information +respecting the actual state of Paris, and then allowed them to proceed on +their way. + +Captain Johnson, the Queen's Messenger of whom I have already spoken, also +contrived to quit Paris again; but the Germans placed him under strict +surveillance, and Blumenthal told him that no more Queen's Messengers +would be allowed to pass through the German lines. About this same time, +however, the English man-servant of one of Trochu's aides-de-camp +contrived, not only to reach Saint Germain-en-Laye, where his master's +family was residing, but also to return to Paris with messages. This young +fellow had cleverly disguised himself as a French peasant, and on the +Prefect of Police hearing of his adventures, he sent out several +detectives in similar disguises, with instructions to ascertain all they +could about the enemy, and report the same to him. Meantime, the Paris +Post Office was endeavouring to send out couriers. One of them, named +Létoile, managed to get as far as Evreux, in Normandy, and to return to +the beleaguered city with a couple of hundred letters. Success also +repeatedly attended the efforts of two shrewd fellows named Gême and +Brare, who made several journeys to Saint Germain, Triel, and even +Orleans. On one occasion they brought as many as seven hundred letters +with them on their return to Paris; but between twenty and thirty other +couriers failed to get through the German lines; whilst several others +fell into the hands of the enemy, who at once confiscated the +correspondence they carried, but did not otherwise molest them. + +The difficulty in sending letters out of Paris and in obtaining news from +relatives and friends in other parts of France led to all sorts of +schemes. The founder and editor of that well-known journal _Le Figaro_, +Hippolyte de Villemessant, as he called himself, though I believe that his +real Christian name was Auguste, declared in his paper that he would +willingly allow his veins to be opened in return for a few lines from his +beloved and absent wife. Conjugal affection could scarcely have gone +further. Villemessant, however, followed up his touching declaration by +announcing that a thousand francs (£40) a week was to be earned by a +capable man willing to act as letter-carrier between Paris and the +provinces. All who felt qualified for the post were invited to present +themselves at the office of _Le Figaro_, which in those days was +appropriately located in the Rue Rossini, named, of course, after the +illustrious composer who wrote such sprightly music round the theme of +Beaumarchais' comedy. As a result of Villemessant's announcement, the +street was blocked during the next forty-eight hours by men of all +classes, who were all the more eager to earn the aforesaid £40 a week as +nearly every kind of work was at a standstill, and the daily stipend of a +National Guard amounted only to 1_s._ 2-1/2_d._ + +It was difficult to choose from among so many candidates, but we were +eventually assured that the right man had been found in the person of a +retired poacher who knew so well how to circumvent both rural guards and +forest guards, that during a career of twenty years or so he had never +once been caught _in flagrante delicto_. Expert, moreover, in tracking +game, he would also well know how to detect--and to avoid--the tracks of +the Prussians. We were therefore invited to confide our correspondence to +this sagacious individual, who would undertake to carry it through the +German lines and to return with the answers in a week or ten days. The +charge for each letter, which was to be of very small weight and +dimensions, was fixed at five francs, and it was estimated that the +ex-poacher would be able to carry about 200 letters on each journey. + +Many people were anxious to try the scheme, but rival newspapers denounced +it as being a means of acquainting the Prussians with everything which was +occurring in Paris--Villemessant, who they declared had taken bribes from +the fallen Empire, being probably one of Bismarck's paid agents. Thus the +enterprise speedily collapsed without even being put to the proof. +However, the public was successfully exploited by various individuals who +attempted to improve on Villemessant's idea, undertaking to send letters +out of Paris for a fixed charge, half of which was to be returned to the +sender if his letter were not delivered. As none of the letters handed in +on these conditions was even entrusted to a messenger, the ingenious +authors of this scheme made a handsome profit, politely returning half of +the money which they received, but retaining the balance without making +the slightest effort to carry out their contract. + +Dr. Rampont, a very clever man, who was now our postmaster-general, had +already issued a circular bidding us to use the very thinnest paper and +the smallest envelopes procurable. There being so many failures among the +messengers whom he sent out of Paris with correspondence, the idea of a +balloon postal service occurred to him. Although ninety years or so had +elapsed since the days of the brothers Montgolfier, aeronautics had really +made very little progress. There were no dirigible balloons at all. Dupuy +de Lôme's first experiments only dated from the siege days, and Renard's +dirigible was not devised until the early eighties. We only had the +ordinary type of balloon at our disposal; and at the outset of the +investment there were certainly not more than half a dozen balloons within +our lines. A great city like Paris, however, is not without resources. +Everything needed for the construction of balloons could be found there. +Gas also was procurable, and we had amongst us quite a number of men +expert in the science of ballooning, such as it then was. There was Nadar, +there was Tissandier, there were the Godard brothers, Yon, Dartois, and a +good many others. Both the Godards and Nadar established balloon +factories, which were generally located in our large disused railway +stations, such as the Gare du Nord, the Gare d'Orléans, and the Gare +Montparnasse; but I also remember visiting one which Nadar installed in +the dancing hall called the Elysée Montmartre. Each of these factories +provided work for a good many people, and I recollect being particularly +struck by the number of women who were employed in balloon-making. Such +work was very helpful to them, and Nadar used to say to me that it grieved +him to have to turn away so many applicants for employment, for every day +ten, twenty, and thirty women would come to implore him to "take them on." +Nearly all their usual workrooms were closed; some were reduced to live on +charity and only very small allowances, from fivepence to sevenpence a +day, were made to the wives and families of National Guards. + +But to return to the balloon postal-service which the Government +organized, it was at once realized by my father and myself that it could +be of little use to us so far as the work for the _Illustrated London +News_ was concerned, on account of the restrictions which were imposed in +regard to the size and weight of each letter that might be posted. +The weight, indeed, was fixed at no more than three grammes! Now, there +were a number of artists working for the _Illustrated_ in Paris, first +and foremost among them being M. Jules Pelcoq, who must personally have +supplied two-thirds of the sketches by which the British public was kept +acquainted with the many incidents of Parisian siege-life. The weekly +diary which I helped my father to compile could be drawn up in small +handwriting on very thin, almost transparent paper, and despatched in +the ordinary way. But how were we to circumvent the authorities in regard +to our sketches, which were often of considerable size, and were always +made on fairly substantial paper, the great majority of them being +wash-drawings? Further, though I could prepare two or three drafts of our +diary or our other "copy" for despatch by successive balloons--to provide +for the contingency of one of the latter falling into the hands of the +enemy--it seemed absurd that our artists should have to recopy every +sketch they made. Fortunately, there was photography, the thought of which +brought about a solution of the other difficulty in which we were placed. + +I was sent to interview Nadar on the Place Saint Pierre at Montmartre, +above which his captive balloon the "Neptune" was oscillating in the +September breeze. He was much the same man as I had seen at the Crystal +Palace a few years previously, tall, red-haired, and red-shirted. He had +begun life as a caricaturist and humorous writer, but by way of buttering +his bread had set up in business as a photographer, his establishment on +the Boulevard de la Madeleine soon becoming very favourably known. There +was still a little "portrait-taking" in Paris during those early siege +days. Photographs of the celebrities or notorieties of the hour sold +fairly well, and every now and again some National Guard with means was +anxious to be photographed in his uniform. But, naturally enough, the +business generally had declined. Thus, Nadar was only too pleased to +entertain the proposal which I made to him on my father's behalf, this +being that every sketch for the _Illustrated_ should be taken to his +establishment and there photographed, so that we might be able to send out +copies in at least three successive balloons. + +When I broached to Nadar the subject of the postal regulations in regard +to the weight and size of letters, he genially replied: "Leave that to me. +Your packets need not go through the ordinary post at all--at least, here +in Paris. Have them stamped, however, bring them whenever a balloon is +about to sail, and I will see that the aeronaut takes them in his pocket. +Wherever he alights they will be posted, like the letters in the official +bags." + +That plan was carried out, and although several balloons were lost or fell +within the German lines, only one small packet of sketches, which, on +account of urgency, had not been photographed, remained subsequently +unaccounted for. In all other instances either the original drawing or one +of the photographic copies of it reached London safely. + +The very first balloon to leave Paris (in the early days of October) was +precisely Nadar's "Neptune," which had originally been intended for +purposes of military observation. One day when I was with Nadar on the +Place Saint Pierre, he took me up in it. I found the experience a novel +but not a pleasing one, for all my life I have had a tendency to vertigo +when ascending to any unusual height. I remember that it was a clear day, +and that we had a fine bird's-eye view of Paris on the one hand and of the +plain of Saint Denis on the other, but I confess that I felt out of-my +element, and was glad to set foot on _terra firma_ once more. + +From that day I was quite content to view the ascent of one and another +balloon, without feeling any desire to get out of Paris by its aerial +transport service. I must have witnessed the departure of practically all +the balloons which left Paris until I myself quitted the city in November. +The arrangements made with Nadar were perfected, and something very +similar was contrived with the Godard brothers, the upshot being that we +were always forewarned whenever it was proposed to send off a balloon. +Sometimes we received by messenger, in the evening, an intimation that a +balloon would start at daybreak on the morrow. Sometimes we were roused in +the small hours of the morning, when everything intended for despatch had +to be hastily got together and carried at once to the starting-place, +such, for instance, as the Northern or the Orleans railway terminus, both +being at a considerable distance from our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. +Those were by no means agreeable walks, especially when the cold weather +had set in, as it did early that autumn; and every now and again at the +end of the journey one found that it had been made in vain, for, the wind +having shifted at the last moment, the departure of the balloon had been +postponed. Of course, the only thing to be done was to trudge back home +again. There was no omnibus service, all the horses having been +requisitioned, and in the latter part of October there were not more than +a couple of dozen cabs (drawn by decrepit animals) still plying for hire +in all Paris. Thus Shanks's pony was the only means of locomotion. + +In the earlier days my father accompanied me on a few of those +expeditions, but he soon grew tired of them, particularly as his health +became affected by the siege diet. We were together, however, when +Gambetta took his departure on October 7, ascending from the Place Saint +Pierre in a balloon constructed by Nadar. It had been arranged that he +should leave for the provinces, in order to reinforce the three Government +delegates who had been despatched thither prior to the investment. Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had been previously urged to join those +delegates, but would not trust himself to a balloon, and it was thereupon +proposed to Gambetta that he should do so. He willingly assented to the +suggestion, particularly as he feared that the rest of the country was +being overlooked, owing to the prevailing opinion that Paris would suffice +to deliver both herself and all the rest of France from the presence of +the enemy. Born in April, 1838, he was at this time in his thirty-third +year, and full of vigour, as the sequel showed. The delegates whom he was +going to join were, as I previously mentioned, very old men, well meaning, +no doubt, but incapable of making the great effort which was made by +Gambetta in conjunction with Charles de Freycinet, who was just in his +prime, being the young Dictator's senior by some ten years. + +I can still picture Gambetta's departure, and particularly his appearance +on the occasion--his fur cap and his fur coat, which made him look +somewhat like a Polish Jew. He had with him his secretary, the devoted +Spuller. I cannot recall the name of the aeronaut who was in charge of the +balloon, but, if my memory serves me rightly, it was precisely to him that +Nadar handed the packet of sketches which failed to reach the _Illustrated +London News_. They must have been lost in the confusion of the aerial +voyage, which was marked by several dramatic incidents. Some accounts say +that Gambetta evinced no little anxiety during the preparations for the +ascent, but to me he appeared to be in a remarkably good humour, as if, +indeed, in pleasurable anticipation of what he was about to experience. +When, in response to the call of "Lachez tout!" the seamen released the +last cables which had hitherto prevented the balloon from rising, and the +crowd burst into shouts of "Vive la Republique!" and "Vive Gambetta!" the +"youthful statesman," as he was then called, leant over the side of the +car and waved his cap in response to the plaudits. [Another balloon, the +"George Sand," ascended at the same time, having in its car various +officials who were to negotiate the purchase of fire-arms in the United +States.] + +The journey was eventful, for the Germans repeatedly fired at the balloon. +A first attempt at descent had to be abandoned when the car was at an +altitude of no more than 200 feet, for at that moment some German soldiers +were seen almost immediately beneath it. They fired, and before the +balloon could rise again a bullet grazed Gambetta's head. At four o'clock +in the afternoon, however, the descent was renewed near Roye in the Somme, +when the balloon was caught in an oak-tree, Gambetta at one moment hanging +on to the ropes of the car, with his head downward. Some countryfolk came +up in great anger, taking the party to be Prussians; but, on learning the +truth, they rendered all possible assistance, and Gambetta and his +companions repaired to the house of the mayor of the neighbouring village +of Tricot. Alluding in after days to his experiences on this journey, the +great man said that the earth, as seen by him from the car of the balloon, +looked like a huge carpet woven chance-wise with different coloured wools. +It did not impress him at all, he added, as it was really nothing but "une +vilaine chinoiserie." It was from Rouen, where he arrived on the following +day, that he issued the famous proclamation in which he called on France +to make a compact with victory or death. On October 9, he joined the other +delegates at Tours and took over the post of Minister of War as well as +that of Minister of the Interior. + +His departure from the capital was celebrated by that clever versifier of +the period, Albert Millaud, who contributed to _Le Figaro_ an amusing +effusion, the first verse of which was to this effect: + + "Gambetta, pale and gloomy, + Much wished to go to Tours, + But two hundred thousand Prussians + In his project made him pause. + To aid the youthful statesman + Came the aeronaut Nadar, + Who sent up the 'Armand Barbes' + With Gambetta in its car." + +Further on came the following lines, supposed to be spoken by Gambetta +himself whilst he was gazing at the German lines beneath him-- + + "See how the plain is glistening + With their helmets in a mass! + Impalement would be dreadful + On those spikes of polished brass!" + +Millaud, who was a Jew, the son, I think--or, at all events, a near +relation--of the famous founder of _Le Petit Journal_, the advent of which +constituted a great landmark in the history of the French Press--set +himself, during several years of his career, to prove the truth of the +axiom that in France "tout finit par des chansons." During those anxious +siege days he was for ever striving to sound a gay note, something which, +for a moment, at all events, might drive dull care away. Here is an +English version of some verses which he wrote on Nadar: + +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! +He is as clever as Godard. + What a strange fellow is Nadar, +Although, between ourselves, as far + As art's concerned he knoweth naught. +What a strange fellow is Nadar, + Photographer and aeronaut! + +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. +Some day he hopes unto the moon + To guide the course of a balloon. +Of 'airy navies' admiral soon, + We'll see him 'grappling in the blue'-- +To guide the course of a balloon + His mind conceived the wondrous screw. + +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. +If poor Gambetta when up there, + Up in the kingdom of the air, +Does not find good cause to stare, + Why, Nadar will not be to blame. +Up in the kingdom of the air + He now the foremost rank may claim. + +At Ferrières, above the park, + Behold him darting through the sky, +Soaring to heaven like a lark. + At Ferrières above the park; +Whilst William whispers to Bismarck-- + 'Silence, see Nadar there on high!' +At Ferrières above the park + Behold him darting through the sky. + +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report, +Thou yellower than a pure Cambodian, + And far more daring than King Clodion, +We'll cast thy statue in collodion + And mount it on a gas retort. +Oh, thou more hairy than King Clodion, + Bearer on high of this report! + +Perhaps it may not be thought too pedantic on my part if I explain that +the King Clodion referred to in Millaud's last verse was the legendary +"Clodion the Hairy," a supposed fifth-century leader of the Franks, +reputed to be a forerunner of the founder of the, Merovingian dynasty. +Nadar's hair, however, was not long like that of _les rois chevelue_, for +it was simply a huge curly and somewhat reddish mop. As for his +complexion, Millaud's phrase, "yellow as a pure Cambodian," was a happy +thought. + +These allusions to Millaud's sprightly verse remind me that throughout the +siege of Paris the so-called _mot pour rire_ was never once lost sight of. +At all times and in respect to everything there was a superabundance of +jests--jests on the Germans, the National and the Mobile Guard, the fallen +dynasty, and the new Republic, the fruitless sorties, the wretched +rations, the failing gas, and many other people and things. One of the +enemy's generals was said to have remarked one day: "I don't know how to +satisfy my men. They complain of hunger, and yet I lead them every morning +to the slaughterhouse." At another time a French colonel, of conservative +ideas, was said to have replaced the inscription "Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity," which he found painted on the walls of his barracks, by the +words, "Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery," declaring that the latter were far +more likely to free the country of the presence of the hated enemy. As for +the "treason" mania, which was very prevalent at this time, it was related +that a soldier remarked one day to a comrade: "I am sure that the captain +is a traitor!" "Indeed! How's that?" was the prompt rejoinder. "Well," +said the suspicious private, "have you not noticed that every time he +orders us to march forward we invariably encounter the enemy?" + +When Trochu issued a decree incorporating all National Guards, under +forty-five years of age, in the marching battalions for duty outside +the city, one of these Guards, on being asked how old he was, replied, +"six-and-forty." "How is that?" he was asked. "A few weeks ago, you told +everybody that you were only thirty-six." "Quite true," rejoined the +other, "but what with rampart-duty, demonstrating at the Hôtel-de-Ville, +short rations, and the cold weather, I feel quite ten years older than I +formerly did." When horseflesh became more or less our daily provender, +many Parisian _bourgeois_ found their health failing. "What is the matter, +my dearest?" Madame du Bois du Pont inquired of her husband, when he had +collapsed one evening after dinner. "Oh! it is nothing, _mon amie_" he +replied; "I dare say I shall soon feel well again, but I used to think +myself a better horseman!" + +Directly our supply of gas began to fail, the wags insinuated that Henri +Rochefort was jubilant, and if you inquired the reason thereof, you were +told that owing to the scarcity of gas everybody would be obliged to buy +hundreds of "_Lanternes_." We had, of course, plenty of sensations in +those days, but if you wished to cap every one of them you merely had to +walk into a café and ask the waiter for--a railway time-table. + +Once before I referred to the caricatures of the period, notably to those +libelling the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, the latter +being currently personified as Messalina--or even as something worse, and +this, of course, without the faintest shadow of justification. But the +caricaturists were not merely concerned with the fallen dynasty. One of +the principal cartoonists of the _Charivari_ at that moment was "Cham," +otherwise the Vicomte Amédée de Noé, an old friend of my family's. +It was he, by the way, who before the war insisted on my going to a +fencing-school, saying: "Look here, if you mean to live in France and be a +journalist, you must know how to hold a sword. Come with me to Ruzé's. +I taught your uncle Frank and his friend Gustave Doré how to fence many +years ago, and now I am going to have you taught." Well, in one of his +cartoons issued during the siege, Cham (disgusted, like most Frenchmen, at +the seeming indifference of Great Britain to the plight in which France +found herself) summed up the situation, as he conceived it, by depicting +the British Lion licking the boots of Bismarck, who was disguised as Davy +Crockett. When my father remonstrated with Cham on the subject, reminding +him of his own connexion with England, the indignant caricaturist replied: +"Don't speak of it. I have renounced England and all her works." He, like +other Frenchmen of the time, contended that we had placed ourselves under +great obligations to France at the period of the Crimean War. + +Among the best caricatures of the siege-days was one by Daumier, which +showed Death appearing to Bismarck in his sleep, and murmuring softly, +"Thanks, many thanks." Another idea of the period found expression in a +cartoon representing a large mouse-trap, labelled "France," into which a +company of mice dressed up as German soldiers were eagerly marching, their +officer meanwhile pointing to a cheese fixed inside the trap, and +inscribed with the name of Paris. Below the design ran the legend: "Ah! if +we could only catch them all in it!" Many, indeed most, of the caricatures +of the time did not appear in the so-called humorous journals, but were +issued separately at a penny apiece, and were usually coloured by the +stencilling process. In one of them, I remember, Bismarck was seen wearing +seven-league boots and making ineffectual attempts to step from Versailles +to Paris. Another depicted the King of Prussia as Butcher William, knife +in hand and attired in the orthodox slaughter-house costume; whilst in yet +another design the same monarch was shown urging poor Death, who had +fallen exhausted in the snow, with his scythe lying broken beside him, to +continue on the march until the last of the French nation should be +exterminated. Of caricatures representing cooks in connexion with cats +there was no end, the _lapin de gouttière_ being in great demand for the +dinner-table; and, after Gambetta had left us, there were designs showing +the armies of succour (which were to be raised in the provinces) +endeavouring to pass ribs of beef, fat geese, legs of mutton, and strings +of sausages over several rows of German helmets, gathered round a bastion +labelled Paris, whence a famished National Guard, eager for the proffered +provisions, was trying to spring, but could not do so owing to the +restraining arm of General Trochu. + +Before the investment began Paris was already afflicted with a spy mania. +Sala's adventure, which I recounted in an earlier chapter, was in a way +connected with this delusion, which originated with the cry "We are +betrayed!" immediately after the first French reverses. The instances of +so-called "spyophobia" were innumerable, and often curious and amusing. +There was a slight abatement of the mania when, shortly before the siege, +188,000 Germans were expelled from Paris, leaving behind them only some +700 old folk, invalids, and children, who were unable to obey the +Government's decree. But the disease soon revived, and we heard of +rag-pickers having their baskets ransacked by zealous National Guards, +who imagined that these receptacles might contain secret despatches or +contraband ammunition. On another occasion _Le Figaro_ wickedly suggested +that all the blind beggars in Paris were spies, with the result that +several poor infirm old creatures were abominably ill-treated. Again, a +fugitive sheet called _Les Nouvelles_ denounced all the English residents +as spies. Labouchere was one of those pounced upon by a Parisian mob in +consequence of that idiotic denunciation, but as he had the presence of +mind to invite those who assailed him to go with him to the nearest +police-station, he was speedily released. On two occasions my father and +myself were arrested and carried to guard-houses, and in the course of +those experiences we discovered that the beautifully engraved but +essentially ridiculous British passport, which recited all the honours and +dignities of the Secretary of State or the Ambassador delivering it, but +gave not the slightest information respecting the person to whom it had +been delivered (apart, that is, from his or her name), was of infinitely +less value in the eyes of a French officer than a receipt for rent or a +Parisian tradesman's bill. [That was forty-three years ago. The British +passport, however, remains to-day as unsatisfactory as it was then.] + +But let me pass to other instances. One day an unfortunate individual, +working in the Paris sewers, was espied by a zealous National Guard, who +at once gave the alarm, declaring that there was a German spy in the +aforesaid sewers, and that he was depositing bombs there with the +intention of blowing up the city. Three hundred Guards at once volunteered +their services, stalked the poor workman, and blew him to pieces the next +time he popped his head out of a sewer-trap. The mistake was afterwards +deplored, but people argued (wrote Mr. Thomas Gibson Bowles, who sent the +story to The Morning Post) that it was far better that a hundred innocent +Frenchmen should suffer than that a single Prussian should escape. Cham, +to whom I previously alluded, old Marshal Vaillant, Mr. O'Sullivan, an +American diplomatist, and Alexis Godillot, the French army contractor, +were among the many well-known people arrested as spies at one or another +moment. A certain Mme: de Beaulieu, who had joined a regiment of Mobiles +as a _cantiniere_, was denounced as a spy "because her hands were so +white." Another lady, who had installed an ambulance in her house, was +carried off to prison on an equally frivolous pretext; and I remember yet +another case in which a lady patron of the Societe de Secours aux Blesses +was ill-treated. Matters would, however, probably be far worse at the +present time, for Paris, with all her apaches and anarchists, now includes +in her population even more scum than was the case three-and-forty years +ago. + +There were, however, a few authentic instances of spying, one case being +that of a young fellow whom Etienne Arago, the Mayor of Paris, engaged as +a secretary, on the recommendation of Henri Rochefort, but who turned out +to be of German extraction, and availed himself of his official position +to draw up reports which were forwarded by balloon post to an agent of the +German Government in London. I have forgotten the culprit's name, but it +will be found, with particulars of his case, in the Paris journals of the +siege days. There was, moreover, the Hardt affair, which resulted in the +prisoner, a former lieutenant in the Prussian army, being convicted of +espionage and shot in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire. + +Co-existent with "spyophobia" there was another craze, that of suspecting +any light seen at night-time in an attic or fifth-floor window to be a +signal intended for the enemy. Many ludicrous incidents occurred in +connexion with this panic. One night an elderly _bourgeois_, who had +recently married a charming young woman, was suddenly dragged from his bed +by a party of indignant National Guards, and consigned to the watch-house +until daybreak. This had been brought about by his wife's maid placing a +couple of lighted candles in her window as a signal to the wife's lover +that, "master being at home," he was not to come up to the flat that +night. On another occasion a poor old lady, who was patriotically +depriving herself of sleep in order to make lint for the ambulances, was +pounced upon and nearly strangled for exhibiting green and red signals +from her window. It turned out, however, that the signals in question were +merely the reflections of a harmless though charmingly variegated parrot +which was the zealous old dame's sole and faithful companion. + +No matter what might be the quarter of Paris in which a presumed signal +was observed, the house whence it emanated was at once invaded by National +Guards, and perfectly innocent people were often carried off and subjected +to ill-treatment. To such proportions did the craze attain that some +papers even proposed that the Government should forbid any kind of light +whatever, after dark, in any room situated above the second floor, unless +the windows of that room were "hermetically sealed"! Most victims of the +mania submitted to the mob's invasion of their homes without raising any +particular protest; but a volunteer artilleryman, who wrote to the +authorities complaining that his rooms had been ransacked in his absence +and his aged mother frightened out of her wits, on the pretext that some +fusees had been fired from his windows, declared that if there should be +any repetition of such an intrusion whilst he was at home he would receive +the invaders bayonet and revolver in hand. From that moment similar +protests poured into the Hôtel-de-Ville, and Trochu ended by issuing a +proclamation in which he said: "Under the most frivolous pretexts, +numerous houses have been entered, and peaceful citizens have been +maltreated. The flags of friendly nations have been powerless to protect +the houses where they were displayed. I have ordered an inquiry on the +subject, and I now command that all persons guilty of these abusive +practices shall be arrested. A special service has been organized in order +to prevent the enemy from keeping up any communication with any of its +partisans in the city; and I remind everybody that excepting in such +instances as are foreseen by the law every citizen's residence is +inviolable." + +We nowadays hear a great deal about the claims of women, but although the +followers of Mrs. Pankhurst have carried on "a sort of a war" for a +considerable time past, I have not yet noticed any disposition on their +part to "join the colours." Men currently assert that women cannot serve +as soldiers. There are, however, many historical instances of women +distinguishing themselves in warfare, and modern conditions are even more +favourable than former ones for the employment of women as soldiers. There +is splendid material to be derived from the golf-girl, the hockey-girl, +the factory- and the laundry-girl--all of them active, and in innumerable +instances far stronger than many of the narrow-chested, cigarette-smoking +"boys" whom we now see in our regiments. Briefly, a day may well come when +we shall see many of our so-called superfluous women taking to the +"career of arms." However, the attempts made to establish a corps of +women-soldiers in Paris, during the German siege, were more amusing than +serious. Early in October some hundreds of women demonstrated outside the +Hôtel-de-Ville, demanding that all the male nurses attached to the +ambulances should be replaced by women. The authorities promised to grant +that application, and the women next claimed the right to share the +dangers of the field with their husbands and their brothers. This question +was repeatedly discussed at the public clubs, notably at one in the Rue +Pierre Levée, where Louise Michel, the schoolmistress who subsequently +participated in the Commune and was transported to New Caledonia, +officiated as high-priestess; and at another located at the Triat +Gymnasium in the Avenue Montaigne, where as a rule no men were allowed to +be present, that is, excepting a certain Citizen Jules Allix, an eccentric +elderly survivor of the Republic of '48, at which period he had devised a +system of telepathy effected by means of "sympathetic snails." + +One Sunday afternoon in October the lady members of this club, being in +urgent need of funds, decided to admit men among their audience at the +small charge of twopence per head, and on hearing this, my father and +myself strolled round to witness the proceedings. They were remarkably +lively. Allix, while reading a report respecting the club's progress, +began to libel some of the Paris convents, whereupon a National Guard in +the audience flatly called him a liar. A terrific hubbub arose, all the +women gesticulating and protesting, whilst their _présidente_ +energetically rang her bell, and the interrupter strode towards the +platform. He proved to be none other than the Duc de Fitz-James, a lineal +descendant of our last Stuart King by Marlborough's sister, Arabella +Churchill. He tried to speak, but the many loud screams prevented him from +doing so. Some of the women threatened him with violence, whilst a few +others thanked him for defending the Church. At last, however, he leapt on +the platform, and in doing so overturned both a long table covered with +green baize, and the members of the committee who were seated behind it. +Jules Allix thereupon sprang at the Duke's throat, they struggled and fell +together from the platform, and rolled in the dust below it. It was long +before order was restored, but this was finally effected by a good-looking +young woman who, addressing the male portion of the audience, exclaimed: +"Citizens! if you say another word we will fling what you have paid for +admission in your faces, and order you out of doors!" + +Business then began, the discussion turning chiefly upon two points, the +first being that all women should be armed and do duty on the ramparts, +and the second that the women should defend their honour from the attacks +of the Germans by means of prussic acid. Allix remarked that it would be +very appropriate to employ prussic acid in killing Prussians, and +explained to us that this might be effected by means of little indiarubber +thimbles which the women would place on their fingers, each thimble being +tipped with a small pointed tube containing some of the acid in question. +If an amorous Prussian should venture too close to a fair Parisienne, the +latter would merely have to hold out her hand and prick him. In another +instant he would fall dead! "No matter how many of the enemy may assail +her," added Allix, enthusiastically, "she will simply have to prick them +one by one, and we shall see her standing still pure and holy in the midst +of a circle of corpses!" At these words many of the women in the audience +were moved to tears, but the men laughed hilariously. + +Such disorderly scenes occurred at this women's club, that the landlord of +the Triat Gymnasium at last took possession of the premises again, and the +ejected members vainly endeavoured to find accommodation elsewhere. +Nevertheless, another scheme for organizing an armed force of women was +started, and one day, on observing on the walls of Paris a green placard +which announced the formation of a "Legion of Amazons of the Seine," I +repaired to the Rue Turbigo, where this Legion's enlistment office had +been opened. After making my way up a staircase crowded with recruits, who +were mostly muscular women from five-and-twenty to forty years of age, the +older ones sometimes being unduly stout, and not one of them, in my +youthful opinion, at all good-looking, I managed to squeeze my way into +the private office of the projector of the Legion, or, as he called +himself, its "Provisional Chef de Bataillon." He was a wiry little man, +with a grey moustache and a military bearing, and answered to the name of +Félix Belly. A year or two previously he had unjustly incurred a great +deal of ridicule in Paris, owing to his attempts to float a Panama Canal +scheme. Only five years after the war, however, the same idea was taken up +by Ferdinand de Lesseps, and French folk, who had laughed it to scorn in +Belly's time, proved only too ready to fling their hard-earned savings +into the bottomless gulf of Lesseps' enterprise. + +I remember having a long chat with Belly, who was most enthusiastic +respecting his proposed Amazons. They were to defend the ramparts and +barricades of Paris, said he, being armed with light guns carrying some +200 yards; and their costume, a model of which was shown me, was to +consist of black trousers with orange-coloured stripes down the outer +seams, black blouses with capes, and black képis, also with orange +trimmings. Further, each woman was to carry a cartridge-box attached to a +shoulder-belt. It was hoped that the first battalion would muster quite +1200 women, divided into eight companies of 150 each. There was to be a +special medical service, and although the chief doctor would be a man, it +was hoped to secure several assistant doctors of the female sex. Little M. +Belly dwelt particularly on the fact that only women of unexceptionable +moral character would be allowed to join the force, all recruits having to +supply certificates from the Commissaries of Police of their districts, as +well as the consent of their nearest connexions, such as their fathers or +their husbands. "Now, listen to this," added M. Belly, enthusiastically, +as he went to a piano which I was surprised to find, standing in a +recruiting office; and seating himself at the instrument, he played for my +especial benefit the stirring strains of a new, specially-commissioned +battle-song, which, said he, "we intend to call the Marseillaise of the +Paris Amazons!" + +Unfortunately for M. Belly, all his fine projects and preparations +collapsed a few days afterwards, owing to the intervention of the police, +who raided the premises in the Rue Turbigo, and carried off all the papers +they found there. They justified these summary proceedings on the ground +that General Trochu had forbidden the formation of any more free corps, +and that M. Belly had unduly taken fees from his recruits. I believe, +however, that the latter statement was incorrect. At all events, no +further proceedings were instituted. But the raid sufficed to kill M. +Belly's cherished scheme, which naturally supplied the caricaturists of +the time with more or less brilliant ideas. One cartoon represented the +German army surrendering _en masse_ to a mere battalion of the Beauties of +Paris. + + + +VI + +MORE ABOUT THE SIEGE DAYS + +Reconnaissances and Sorties--Casimir-Perier at Bagneux--Some of the Paris +Clubs--Demonstrations at the Hôtel-de-Ville--The Cannon Craze--The Fall of +Metz foreshadowed--Le Bourget taken by the French--The Government's Policy +of Concealment--The Germans recapture Le Bourget--Thiers, the Armistice, +and Bazaine's Capitulation--The Rising of October 31--The Peril and the +Rescue of the Government--Armistice and Peace Conditions--The Great +Question of Rations--Personal Experiences respecting Food--My father, in +failing Health, decides to leave Paris. + + +After the engagement of Châtillon, fought on September 19, various +reconnaissances were carried out by the army of Paris. In the first of +these General Vinoy secured possession of the plateau of Villejuif, east +of Châtillon, on the south side of the city. Next, the Germans had to +retire from Pierre-fitte, a village in advance of Saint Denis on the +northern side. There were subsequent reconnaissances in the direction of +Neuilly-sur-Marne and the Plateau d'Avron, east of Paris; and on +Michaelmas Day an engagement was fought at L'Hay and Chevilly, on the +south. But the archangel did not on this occasion favour the French, who +were repulsed, one of their commanders, the veteran brigadier Guilhem, +being killed. A fight at Châtillon on October 12 was followed on the +morrow by a more serious action at Bagneux, on the verge of the Châtillon +plateau. During this engagement the Mobiles from the Burgundian Côte d'Or +made a desperate attack on a German barricade bristling with guns, +reinforced by infantry, and also protected by a number of sharp-shooters +installed in the adjacent village-houses, whose window-shutters and walls +had been loop-holed. During the encounter, the commander of the Mobiles, +the Comte de Dampierre, a well-known member of the French Jockey Club, +fell mortally wounded whilst urging on his men, but was succoured by a +captain of the Mobiles of the Aube, who afterwards assumed the chief +command, and, by a rapid flanking movement, was able to carry the +barricade. This captain was Jean Casimir-Perier, who, in later years, +became President of the Republic. He was rewarded for his gallantry with +the Cross of the Legion of Honour. Nevertheless, the French success was +only momentary. + +That same night the sky westward of Paris was illumined by a great ruddy +glare. The famous Château of Saint Cloud, associated with many memories of +the old _régime_ and both the Empires, was seen to be on fire. The cause +of the conflagration has never been precisely ascertained. Present-day +French reference-books still declare that the destruction of the château +was the wilful act of the Germans, who undoubtedly occupied Saint Cloud; +but German authorities invariably maintain that the fire was caused by a +shell from the French fortress of Mont Valérien. Many of the sumptuous +contents of the Château of Saint Cloud--the fatal spot where that same war +had been decided on--were consumed by the flames, while the remainder were +appropriated by the Germans as plunder. Many very valuable paintings of +the period of Louis XIV were undoubtedly destroyed. + +By this time the word "reconnaissance," as applied to the engagements +fought in the environs of the city, had become odious to the Parisians, +who began to clamour for a real "sortie." Trochu, it may be said, had at +this period no idea of being able to break out of Paris. In fact, he had +no desire to do so. His object in all the earlier military operations of +the siege was simply to enlarge the circle of investment, in the hope of +thereby placing the Germans in a difficulty, of which he might +subsequently take advantage. An attack which General Ducrot made, with a +few thousand men, on the German position near La Malmaison, west of Paris, +was the first action which was officially described as a "sortie." It took +place on October 21, but the success which at first attended Ducrot's +efforts was turned into a repulse by the arrival of German reinforcements, +the affair ending with a loss of some four hundred killed and wounded on +the French side, apart from that of another hundred men who were taken +prisoners by the enemy. + +This kind of thing did not appeal to the many frequenters of the public +clubs which were established in the different quarters of Paris. All +theatrical performances had ceased there, and there was no more dancing. +Even the concerts and readings given in aid of the funds for the wounded +were few and far between. Thus, if a Parisian did not care to while away +his evening in a cafe, his only resource was to betake himself to one of +the clubs. Those held at the Folies-Bergère music-hall, the Valentino +dancing-hall, the Porte St. Martin theatre, and the hall of the Collège de +France, were mostly frequented by moderate Republicans, and attempts were +often made there to discuss the situation in a sensible manner. But folly, +even insanity, reigned at many of the other clubs, where men like Félix +Pyat, Auguste Blanqui, Charles Delescluze, Gustave Flourens, and the three +Ms--Mégy, Mottu, and Millière--raved and ranted. Go where you would, you +found a club. There was that of La Reine Blanche at Montmartre and that of +the Salle Favié at Belleville; there was the club de la Vengeance on the +Boulevard Rochechouart, the Club des Montagnards on the Boulevard de +Strasbourg, the Club des Etats-Unis d'Europe in the Rue Cadet, the Club du +Préaux-Clercs in the Rue du Bac, the Club de la Cour des Miracles on the +Ile Saint Louis, and twenty or thirty others of lesser note. At times the +demagogues who perorated from the tribunes at these gatherings, brought +forward proposals which seemed to have emanated from some madhouse, +but which were nevertheless hailed with delirious applause by their +infatuated audiences. Occasionally new engines of destruction were +advocated--so-called "Satan-fusees," or pumps discharging flaming +petroleum! Another speaker conceived the brilliant idea of keeping all the +wild beasts in the Jardin des Plantes on short commons for some days, then +removing them from Paris at the next sortie, and casting them adrift among +the enemy. Yet another imbecile suggested that the water of the Seine and +the Marne should be poisoned, regardless of, the fact that, in any such +event, the Parisians would suffer quite as much as the enemy. + +But the malcontents were not satisfied with ranting at the clubs. On +October 2, Paris became very gloomy, for we then received from outside the +news that both Toul and Strasbourg had surrendered. Three days later, +Gustave Flourens gathered the National Guards of Belleville together and +marched with them on the Hôtel-de-Ville, where he called upon the +Government to renounce the military tactics of the Empire which had set +one Frenchman against three Germans, to decree a _levée en masse_, to make +frequent sorties with the National Guards, to arm the latter with +chassepots, and to establish at once a municipal "Commune of Paris." On +the subject of sorties the Government promised to conform to the general +desire, and to allow the National Guards to co-operate with the regular +army as soon as they should know how to fight and escape being simply +butchered. To other demands made by Flourens, evasive replies were +returned, whereupon he indignantly resigned his command of the Belleville +men, but resumed it at their urgent request. + +The affair somewhat alarmed the Government, who issued a proclamation +forbidding armed demonstrations, and, far from consenting to the +establishment of any Commune, postponed the ordinary municipal elections +which were soon to have taken place. To this the Reds retorted by making +yet another demonstration, which my father and myself witnessed. Thousands +of people, many of them being armed National Guards, assembled on the +Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, shouting: "La Commune! La Commune! Nous voulons +la Commune!" But the authorities had received warning of their opponents' +intentions, and the Hôtel-de-Ville was entirely surrounded by National +Guards belonging to loyal battalions, behind whom, moreover, was stationed +a force of trusty Mobile Guards, whose bayonets were already fixed. Thus +no attempt could be made to raid the Hôtel-de-Ville with any chance of +success. Further, several other contingents of loyal National Guards +arrived on the square, and helped to check the demonstrators. + +While gazing on the scene from an upper window of the Cafe de la Garde +Nationale, at one corner of the square, I suddenly saw Trochu ride out +of the Government building, as it then was, followed by a couple of +aides-de-camp, His appearance was attended by a fresh uproar. The yells of +"La Commune! La Commune!" rose more loudly than ever, but were now +answered by determined shouts of "Vive la Republique! Vive Trochu! Vive le +Gouvernement!" whilst the drums beat, the trumpets sounded, and all the +Government forces presented arms. The general rode up and down the lines, +returning the salute, amidst prolonged acclamations, and presently his +colleagues, Jules Favre and the others--excepting, of course, Gambetta, +who had already left Paris--also came out of the Hotel-de-Ville and +received an enthusiastic greeting from their supporters. For the time, the +Reds were absolutely defeated, and in order to prevent similar +disturbances in future, Keratry, the Prefect of Police, wished to arrest +Flourens, Blanqui, Milliere, and others, which suggestion was countenanced +by Trochu, but opposed by Rochefort and Etienne Arago. A few days later, +Rochefort patched up a brief outward reconciliation between the contending +parties. Nevertheless, it was evident that Paris was already sharply +divided, both on the question of its defence and on that of its internal +government. + +On October 23, some of the National Guards were at last allowed to join in +a sortie. They were men from Montmartre, and the action, or rather +skirmish, in which they participated took place at Villemomble, east of +Paris, the guards behaving fairly well under fire, and having five of +their number wounded. Patriotism was now taking another form in the city. +There was a loud cry for cannons, more and more cannons. The Government +replied that 227 mitrailleuses with over 800,000 cartridges, 50 mortars, +400 carriages for siege guns, several of the latter ordnance, and 300 +seven-centimetre guns carrying 8600 yards, together with half a million +shells of different sizes, had already been ordered, and in part +delivered. Nevertheless, public subscriptions were started in order to +provide another 1500 cannon, large sums being contributed to the fund by +public bodies and business firms. Not only did the newspapers offer to +collect small subscriptions, but stalls were set up for that purpose in +different parts of Paris, as in the time of the first Revolution, and +people there tendered their contributions, the women often offering +jewelry in lieu of money. Trochu, however, deprecated the movement. There +were already plenty of guns, said he; what he required was gunners to +serve them. + +On October 25 we heard of the fall of the little town of Châteaudun in +Eure-et-Loir, after a gallant resistance offered by 1200 National Guards +and Francs-tireurs against 6000 German infantry, a regiment of cavalry, +and four field batteries. Von Wittich, the German general, punished that +resistance by setting fire to Châteaudun and a couple of adjacent +villages, and his men, moreover, massacred a number of non-combatant +civilians. Nevertheless, the courage shown by the people of Châteaudun +revived the hopes of the Parisians and strengthened their resolution to +brave every hardship rather than surrender. Two days later, however, Félix +Pyat's journal _Le Combat_ published, within a mourning border, the +following announcement: "It is a sure and certain fact that the Government +of National Defence retains in its possession a State secret, which we +denounce to an indignant country as high treason. Marshal Bazaine has sent +a colonel to the camp of the King of Prussia to treat for the surrender of +Metz and for Peace in the name of Napoleon III." + +The news seemed incredible, and, indeed, at the first moment, very few +people believed it. If it were true, however, Prince Frederick Charles's +forces, released from the siege of Metz, would evidently be able to march +against D'Aurelle de Paladines' army of the Loire just when it was hoped +that the latter would overthrow the Bavarians under Von der Tann and +hasten to the relief of Paris. But people argued that Bazaine was surely +as good a patriot as Bourbaki, who, it was already known, had escaped from +Metz and offered his sword to the National Defence in the provinces. A +number of indignant citizens hastened to the office of _Le Combat_ in +order to seize Pyat and consign him to durance, but he was an adept in the +art of escaping arrest, and contrived to get away by a back door. At the +Hôtel-de-Ville Rochefort, on being interviewed, described Pyat as a cur, +and declared that there was no truth whatever in his story. Public +confidence completely revived on the following morning, when the official +journal formally declared that Metz had not capitulated; and, in the +evening, Paris became quite jubilant at the news that General Carré de +Bellemare, who commanded on the north side of the city, had wrested from +the Germans the position of Le Bourget, lying to the east of Saint Denis. + +Pyat, however, though he remained in hiding, clung to his story respecting +Metz, stating in _Le Combat_, on October 29, that the news had been +communicated to him by Gustave Flourens, who had derived it from +Rochefort, by whom it was now impudently denied. It subsequently became +known, moreover, that another member of the Government, Eugène Pelletan, +had confided the same intelligence to Commander Longuet, of the National +Guard. It appears that it had originally been derived from certain members +of the Red Cross Society, who, when it became necessary to bury the dead +and tend the wounded after an encounter in the environs of Paris, often +came in contact with the Germans. The report was, of course, limited to +the statement that Bazaine was negotiating a surrender, not that he had +actually capitulated. The Government's denial of it can only be described +as a quibble--of the kind to which at times even British Governments stoop +when faced by inconvenient questions in the House of Commons--and, as we +shall soon see, the gentlemen of the National Defence spent a _très +mauvais quart d'heure_ as a result of the _suppressio veri_ of which they +were guilty. Similar "bad quarters of an hour" have fallen upon +politicians in other countries, including our own, under somewhat similar +circumstances. + +On October 30, Thiers, after travelling all over Europe, pleading his +country's cause at every great Court, arrived in Paris with a safe-conduct +from Bismarck, in order to lay before the Government certain proposals for +an armistice, which Russia, Great Britain, Austria, and Italy were +prepared to support. And alas! he also brought with him the news that Metz +had actually fallen--having capitulated, indeed, on October 27, the very +day on which Pyat had issued his announcement. There was consternation at +the Hôtel-de-Ville when this became known, and the gentlemen of the +Government deeply but vainly regretted the futile tactics to which they +had so foolishly stooped. To make matters worse, we received in the +evening intelligence that the Germans had driven Carré de Bellemare's men +out of Le Bourget after some brief but desperate fighting. Trochu declared +that he had no need of the Bourget position, that it had never entered +into his scheme of defence, and that Bellemare had been unduly zealous in +attacking and taking it from the Germans. If that were the case, however, +why had not the Governor of Paris ordered Le Bourget to be evacuated +immediately after its capture, without waiting for the Germans to re-take +it at the bayonet's point? Under the circumstances, the Parisians were +naturally exasperated. Tumultuous were the scenes on the Boulevards that +evening, and vehement and threatening were the speeches at the clubs. + +When the Parisians quitted their homes on the morning of Monday, the 31st, +they found the city placarded with two official notices, one respecting +the arrival of Thiers and the proposals for an armistice, and the second +acknowledging the disaster of Metz. A hurricane of indignation at once +swept through the city. Le Bourget lost! Metz taken! Proposals for an +armistice with the detested Prussians entertained! Could Trochu's plan and +Bazaine's plan be synonymous, then? The one word "Treachery!" was on every +lip. When noon arrived the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville was crowded with +indignant people. Deputations, composed chiefly of officers of the +National Guard, interviewed the Government, and were by no means satisfied +with the replies which they received from Jules Ferry and others. +Meantime, the crowd on the square was increasing in numbers. Several +members of the Government attempted to prevail on it to disperse; but no +heed was paid to them. + +At last a free corps commanded by Tibaldi, an Italian conspirator of +Imperial days, effected an entrance into the Hotel-de-Ville, followed by a +good many of the mob. In the throne-room they were met by Jules Favre, +whose attempts to address them failed, the shouts of "La Commune! La +Commune!" speedily drowning his voice. Meantime, two shots were fired by +somebody on the square, a window was broken, and the cry of the invaders +became "To arms! to arms! Our brothers are being butchered!" In vain did +Trochu and Rochefort endeavour to stem the tide of invasion. In vain, +also, did the Government, assembled in the council-room, offer to submit +itself to the suffrages of the citizens, to grant the election of +municipal councillors, and to promise that no armistice should be signed +without consulting the population. The mob pressed on through one room +after another, smashing tables, desks, and windows on their way, and all +at once the very apartment where the Government were deliberating was, in +its turn, invaded, several officers of the National Guard, subsequently +prominent at the time of the Commune, heading the intruders and demanding +the election of a Commune and the appointment of a new administration +under the presidency of Dorian, the popular Minister of Public Works. + +Amidst the ensuing confusion, M. Ernest Picard, a very corpulent, +jovial-looking advocate, who was at the head of the department of +Finances, contrived to escape; but all his colleagues were surrounded, +insulted by the invaders, and summoned to resign their posts. They refused +to do so, and the wrangle was still at its height when Gustave Flourens +and his Belleville sharpshooters reached the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville. +Flourens entered the building, which at this moment was occupied by some +seven or eight thousand men, and proposed that the Commune should be +elected by acclamation. This was agreed upon; Dorian's name--though, by +the way, he was a wealthy ironmaster, and in no sense a Communard--being +put at the head of the list. This included Flourens himself, Victor Hugo, +Louis Blanc, Raspail, Mottu, Delescluze, Blanqui, Ledru-Rollin, Rochefort, +Félix Pyat, Ranvier, and Avrial. Then Flourens, in his turn, entered the +council-room, climbed on to the table, and summoned the captive members of +the Government to resign; Again they refused to do so, and were therefore +placed under arrest. Jules Ferry and Emmanuel Arago managed to escape, +however, and some friendly National Guards succeeded in entering the +building and carrying off General Trochu. Ernest Picard, meanwhile, had +been very active in devising plans for the recapture of the Hôtel-de-Ville +and providing for the safety of various Government departments. Thus, when +Flourens sent a lieutenant to the treasury demanding the immediate payment +of _£600,000(!)_ the request was refused, and the messenger placed under +arrest. Nevertheless, the insurgents made themselves masters of several +district town-halls. + +But Jules Ferry was collecting the loyal National Guards together, and at +half-past eleven o'clock that night they and some Mobiles marched on the +Hôtel-de-Ville. The military force which had been left there by the +insurgents was not large. A parley ensued, and while it was still in +progress, an entire battalion of Mobiles effected an entry by a +subterranean passage leading from an adjacent barracks. Delescluze and +Flourens then tried to arrange terms with Dorian, but Jules Ferry would +accept no conditions. The imprisoned members of the Government were +released, and the insurgent leaders compelled to retire. About this time +Trochu and Ducrot arrived on the scene, and between three and four o'clock +in the morning I saw them pass the Government forces in review on the +square. + +On the following day, all the alleged conventions between M. Dorian and +the Red Republican leaders were disavowed. There was, however, a conflict +of opinion as to whether those leaders should be arrested or not, some +members of the Government admitting that they had promised Delescluze and +others that they should not be prosecuted. In consequence of this dispute, +several officials, including Edmond Adam, Keratry's successor as Prefect +of Police, resigned their functions. A few days later, twenty-one of the +insurgent leaders were arrested, Pyat being among them, though nothing was +done in regard to Flourens and Blanqui, both of whom had figured +prominently in the affair. + +On November 3 we had a plebiscitum, the question put to the Parisians +being: "Does the population of Paris, yes or no, maintain the powers of +the Government of National Defence?" So far as the civilian element--which +included the National Guards--was concerned, the ballot resulted as +follows: Voting "Yes," 321,373 citizens; voting "No," 53,585 citizens. The +vote of the army, inclusive of the Mobile Guard, was even more pronounced: +"Yes," 236,623; "No," 9063, Thus the general result was 557,996 votes in +favour of the Government, and 62,638 against it--the proportion being 9 to +1 for the entire male population of the invested circle. This naturally +rendered the authorities jubilant. + +But the affair of October 31 had deplorable consequences with regard to +the armistice negotiations. This explosion of sedition alarmed the German +authorities. They lost confidence in the power of the National Defence to +carry out such terms as might be stipulated, and, finally, Bismarck +refused to allow Paris to be revictualled during the period requisite for +the election of a legislative assembly--which was to have decided the +question of peace or war--unless one fort, and possibly more than one, +were surrendered to him. Thiers and Favre could not accept such a +condition, and thus the negotiations were broken off. Before Thiers +quitted Bismarck, however, the latter significantly told him that the +terms of peace at that juncture would be the cession of Alsace to Germany, +and the payment of three milliards of francs as an indemnity; but that +after the fall of Paris the terms would be the cession of both Alsace and +Lorraine, and a payment of five milliards. + +In the earlier days of the siege there was no rationing of provisions, +though the price of meat was fixed by Government decree. At the end of +September, however, the authorities decided to limit the supply to a +maximum of 500 oxen and 4000 sheep per diem. It was decided also that the +butchers' shops should only open on every fourth day, when four days' meat +should be distributed at the official prices. During the earlier period +the daily ration ranged from 80 to 100 grammes, that is, about 2-2/3 oz. +to 3-1/3 oz. in weight, one-fifth part of it being bone in the case of +beef, though, with respect to mutton, the butchers were forbidden to make +up the weight with any bones which did not adhere to the meat. At the +outset of the siege only twenty or thirty horses were slaughtered each +day; but on September 30 the number had risen to 275. A week later there +were nearly thirty shops in Paris where horseflesh was exclusively sold, +and scarcely a day elapsed without an increase in their number. Eventually +horseflesh became virtually the only meat procurable by all classes of the +besieged, but in the earlier period it was patronized chiefly by the +poorer folk, the prices fixed for it by authority being naturally lower +than those edicted for beef and mutton. + +With regard to the arrangements made by my father and myself respecting +food, they were, in the earlier days of the siege, very simple. We were +keeping no servant at our flat in the Rue de Miromesnil. The concierge of +the house, and his wife, did all such work as we required. This concierge, +whose name was Saby, had been a Zouave, and had acted as orderly to his +captain in Algeria. He was personally expert in the art of preparing +"couscoussou" and other Algerian dishes, and his wife was a thoroughly +good cook _à la française_. Directly meat was rationed, Saby said to me: +"The allowance is very small; you and Monsieur votre père will be able to +eat a good deal more than that. Now, some of the poorer folk cannot afford +to pay for butchers' meat, they are contented with horseflesh, which is +not yet rationed, and are willing to sell their ration cards. You can well +afford to buy one or two of them, and in that manner secure extra +allowances of beef or mutton." + +That plan was adopted, and for a time everything went on satisfactorily. +On a few occasions I joined the queue outside our butcher's in the Rue de +Penthièvre, and waited an hour or two to secure our share of meat, We were +not over-crowded in that part of Paris. A great many members of the +aristocracy and bourgeoisie, who usually dwelt there, had left the city +with their families and servants prior to the investment; and thus the +queues and the waits were not so long as in the poorer and more densely +populated districts. Saby, however, often procured our meat himself or +employed somebody else to do so, for women were heartily glad of the +opportunity to earn half a franc or so by acting as deputy for other +people. + +We had secured a small supply of tinned provisions, and would have +increased it if the prices had not gone up by leaps and bounds, in such +wise that a tin of corned beef or something similar, which one saw priced +in the morning at about 5 francs, was labelled 20 francs a few hours +later. Dry beans and peas were still easily procurable, but fresh +vegetables at once became both rare and costly. Potatoes failed us at an +early date. On the other hand, jam and preserved fruit could be readily +obtained at the grocer's at the corner of our street. The bread slowly +deteriorated in quality, but was still very fair down to the date of my +departure from Paris (November 8 [See the following chapter.]). Milk and +butter, however, became rare--the former being reserved for the hospitals, +the ambulances, the mothers of infants, and so forth--whilst one sighed in +vain for a bit of Gruyère, Roquefort, Port-Salut, Brie, or indeed any +other cheese. + +Saby, who was a very shrewd fellow, had conceived a brilliant idea before +the siege actually began. The Chateaubriands having quitted the house +and removed their horses from the stables, he took possession of the +latter, purchased some rabbits--several does and a couple of bucks--laid +in a supply of food for them, and resolved to make his fortune by +rabbit-breeding. He did not quite effect his purpose, but rabbits are so +prolific that he was repaid many times over for the trouble which he took +in rearing them. For some time he kept the affair quite secret. More than +once I saw him going in and out of the stables, without guessing the +reason; but one morning, having occasion to speak to him, I followed him +and discovered the truth. He certainly bred several scores of rabbits +during the course of the siege, merely ceasing to do so when he found it +impossible to continue feeding the animals. On two or three occasions +we paid him ten francs or so for a rabbit, and that was certainly +"most-favoured-nation treatment;" for, at the same period, he was charging +twenty and twenty-five francs to other people. Cooks, with whom he +communicated, came to him from mansions both near and far. He sold quite a +number of rabbits to Baron Alphonse de Rothschild's _chef_ at the rate of +£2 apiece, and others to Count Pillet-Will at about the same price, so +that, so far as his pockets were concerned, he in no wise suffered by the +siege of Paris. + +We were blessed with an abundance of charcoal for cooking purposes, and of +coals and wood for ordinary fires, having at our disposal not only the +store in our own cellars, but that which the Chateaubriand family had left +behind. The cold weather set in very soon, and firing was speedily in +great demand. Our artist Jules Pelcoq, who lived in the Rue Lepic at +Montmartre, found himself reduced to great straits in this respect, +nothing being procurable at the dealers' excepting virtually green wood +which had been felled a short time previously in the Bois de Boulogne and +Bois de Vincennes. On a couple of occasions Pelcoq and I carried some +coals in bags to his flat, and my father, being anxious for his comfort, +wished to provide him with a larger supply. Saby was therefore +requisitioned to procure a man who would undertake to convey some coals in +a handcart to Montmartre. The man was found, and paid for his services in +advance. But alas! the coals never reached poor Pelcoq. When we next saw +the man who had been engaged, he told us that he had been intercepted on +his way by some National Guards, who had asked him what his load was, and, +on discovering that it consisted of coals, had promptly confiscated them +and the barrow also, dragging the latter to some bivouac on the ramparts. +I have always doubted that story, however, and incline to the opinion that +our improvised porter had simply sold the coals and pocketed the proceeds. + +One day, early in November, when our allowance of beef or mutton was +growing small by degrees and beautifully less and infrequent--horseflesh +becoming more and more _en évidence_ at the butchers' shops, [Only 1-1/2 +oz. of beef or mutton was now allowed per diem, but in lieu thereof you +could obtain 1/4 lb. of horseflesh.] I had occasion to call on one of our +artists, Blanchard, who lived in the Faubourg Saint Germain. When we had +finished our business he said to me: "Ernest, it is my _fête_ day. I am +going to have a superb dinner. My brother-in-law, who is an official of +the Eastern Railway Line, is giving it in my honour. Come with me; +I invite you." We thereupon went to his brother-in-law's flat, where I was +most cordially received, and before long we sat down at table in a warm +and well-lighted dining-room, the company consisting of two ladies and +three men, myself included. + +The soup, I think, had been prepared from horseflesh with the addition of +a little Liebig's extract of meat; but it was followed by a beautiful leg +of mutton, with beans a la Bretonne and--potatoes! I had not tasted a +potato for weeks past, for in vain had the ingenious Saby endeavoured to +procure some. But the crowning triumph of the evening was the appearance +of a huge piece of Gruyère cheese, which at that time was not to be seen +in a single shop in Paris. Even Chevet, that renowned purveyor of +dainties, had declared that he had none. + +My surprise in presence of the cheese and the potatoes being evident, +Blanchard's brother-in-law blandly informed me that he had stolen them. +"There is no doubt," said he, "that many tradespeople hold secret stores +of one thing and another, but wish prices to rise still higher than they +are before they produce them. I did not, however, take those potatoes or +that cheese from any shopkeeper's cellar. But, in the store-places of the +railway company to which I belong, there are tons and tons of provisions, +including both cheese and potatoes, for which the consignees never apply, +preferring, as they do, to leave them there until famine prices are +reached. Well, I have helped myself to just a few things, so as to give +Blanchard a good dinner this evening. As for the leg of mutton, I bribed +the butcher--not with money, he might have refused it--but with cheese and +potatoes, and it was fair exchange." When I returned home that evening I +carried in my pockets more than half a pound of Gruyère and two or three +pounds of potatoes, which my father heartily welcomed. The truth about the +provisions which were still stored at some of the railway dépôts was soon +afterwards revealed to the authorities. + +Although my father was then only fifty years of age and had plenty of +nervous energy, his health was at least momentarily failing him. He had +led an extremely strenuous life ever since his twentieth year, when my +grandfather's death had cast great responsibilities on him. He had also +suffered from illnesses which required that he should have an ample supply +of nourishing food. So long as a fair amount of ordinary butcher's meat +could be procured, he did not complain; but when it came to eating +horseflesh two or three times a week he could not undertake it, although, +only a year or two previously, he had attended a great _banquet +hippophagique_ given in Paris, and had then even written favourably of +_viande de cheval_ in an article he prepared on the subject. For my own +part, being a mere lad, I had a lad's appetite and stomach, and I did not +find horseflesh so much amiss, particularly as prepared with garlic and +other savouries by Mme. Saby's expert hands. But, after a day or two, my +father refused to touch it. For three days, I remember, he tried to live +on bread, jam, and preserved fruit; but the sweetness of such a diet +became nauseous to him--even as it became nauseous to our soldiers when +the authorities bombarded them with jam in South Africa. It was very +difficult to provide something to my father's taste; there was no poultry +and there were no eggs. It was at this time that Saby sold us a few +rabbits, but, again, _toujours lapin_ was not satisfactory. + +People were now beginning to partake of sundry strange things. Bats were +certainly eaten before the siege ended, though by no means in such +quantities as some have asserted. However, there were already places where +dogs and cats, skinned and prepared for cooking, were openly displayed for +sale. Labouchere related, also, that on going one day into a restaurant +and seeing _cochon de lait_, otherwise sucking-pig, mentioned in the menu, +he summoned the waiter and cross-questioned him on the subject, as he +greatly doubted whether there were any sucking-pigs in all Paris. "Is it +sucking-pig?" he asked the waiter. "Yes, monsieur," the man replied. +But Labby was not convinced. "Is it a little pig?" he inquired. "Yes, +monsieur, quite a little one." "Is it a young pig?" pursued Labby, who +was still dubious. The waiter hesitated, and at last replied, "Well, I +cannot be sure, monsieur, if it is quite young." "But it must be young if +it is little, as you say. Come, what is it, tell me?" "Monsieur, it is a +guinea-pig!" Labby bounded from his chair, took his hat, and fled. He did +not feel equal to guinea-pig, although he was very hungry. + +Perhaps, however, Labouchere's best story of those days was that of the +old couple who, all other resources failing them, were at last compelled +to sacrifice their little pet dog. It came up to table nicely roasted, and +they both looked at it for a moment with a sigh. Then Monsieur summoned up +his courage and helped Madame to the tender viand. She heaved another +sigh, but, making a virtue of necessity, began to eat, and whilst she was +doing so she every now and then deposited a little bone on the edge of her +plate. There was quite a collection of little bones there by the time she +had finished, and as she leant back in her chair and contemplated them she +suddenly exclaimed: "Poor little Toto! If he had only been alive what a +fine treat he would have had!" + +To return, however, to my father and myself, I must mention that there was +a little English tavern and eating-house in the Rue de Miromesnil, kept by +a man named Lark, with whom I had some acquaintance. We occasionally +procured English ale from him, and one day, late in October, when I was +passing his establishment, he said to me: "How is your father? He seems to +be looking poorly. Aren't you going to leave with the others?" I inquired +of Lark what he meant by his last question; whereupon he told me that if I +went to the Embassy I should see a notice in the consular office +respecting the departure of British subjects, arrangements having been +made to enable all who desired to quit Paris to do so. I took the hint and +read the notice, which ran as Lark had stated, with this addendum: "The +Embassy _cannot_, however, charge itself with the expense of assisting +British subjects to leave Paris." Forthwith I returned home and imparted +the information I had obtained to my father. + +Beyond setting up that notice in the Consul's office, the Embassy took no +steps to acquaint British subjects generally with the opportunity which +was offered them to escape bombardment and famine. It is true that it was +in touch with the British Charitable Fund and that the latter made the +matter known to sundry applicants for assistance. But the British colony +still numbered 1000 people, hundreds of whom would have availed themselves +of this opportunity had it only come to their knowledge. My father +speedily made up his mind to quit the city, and during the next few days +arrangements were made with our artists and others so that the interests +of the _Illustrated London News_ might in no degree suffer by his absence. +Our system had long been perfected, and everything worked well after our +departure. I may add here, because it will explain something which +follows, that my father distributed all the money he could possibly spare +among those whom he left behind, in such wise that on quitting Paris we +had comparatively little, and--as the sequel showed--insufficient money +with us. But it was thought that we should be able to secure whatever we +might require on arriving at Versailles. + + + +VII + +FROM PARIS TO VERSAILLES + +I leave Paris with my Father--Jules Favre, Wodehouse, and Washburne-- +Through Charenton to Créteil--At the Outposts--First Glimpses of the +Germans--A Subscription to shoot the King of Prussia--The Road to +Brie-Comte-Robert--Billets for the Night--Chats with German Soldiers--The +Difficulty with the Poorer Refugees--Mr. Wodehouse and my Father--On the +Way to Corbeil--A Franco-German Flirtation--Affairs at Corbeil--On the +Road in the Rain--Longjumeau--A Snow-storm--The Peasant of Champlan-- +Arrival at Versailles. + + +Since Lord Lyons's departure from Paris, the Embassy had remained in +the charge of the second Secretary, Mr. Wodehouse, and the Vice-Consul. +In response to the notice set up in the latter's office, and circulated +also among a tithe of the community by the British Charitable Fund, it was +arranged that sixty or seventy persons should accompany the Secretary and +Vice-Consul out of the city, the military attacheé, Colonel Claremont, +alone remaining there. The provision which the Charitable Fund made for +the poorer folk consisted of a donation of £4 to each person, together +with some three pounds of biscuits and a few ounces of chocolate to munch +on the way. No means of transport, however, were provided for these +people, though it was known that we should have to proceed to +Versailles--where the German headquarters were installed--by a very +circuitous route, and that the railway lines were out. + +We were to have left on November 2, at the same time as a number of +Americans, Russians, and others, and it had been arranged that everybody +should meet at an early hour that morning at the Charenton gate on the +south-east side of Paris. On arriving there, however, all the English who +joined the gathering were ordered to turn back, as information had been +received that permission to leave the city was refused them. This caused +no little consternation among the party, but the order naturally had +to be obeyed, and half angrily and half disconsolately many a disappointed +Briton returned to his recent quarters. We afterwards learnt that Jules +Favre, the Foreign Minister, had in the first instance absolutely refused +to listen to the applications of Mr. Wodehouse, possibly because Great +Britain had not recognized the French Republic; though if such were indeed +the reason, it was difficult to understand why the Russians received very +different treatment, as the Czar, like the Queen, had so far abstained +from any official recognition of the National Defence. On the other hand, +Favre may, perhaps, have shared the opinion of Bismarck, who about this +time tersely expressed his opinion of ourselves in the words: "England no +longer counts"--so low, to his thinking, had we fallen in the comity of +nations under our Gladstone _cum_ Granville administration. + +Mr. Wodehouse, however, in his unpleasant predicament, sought the +assistance of his colleague, Mr. Washburne, the United States Minister, +and the latter, who possessed more influence in Paris than any other +foreign representative, promptly put his foot down, declaring that he +himself would leave the city if the British subjects were still refused +permission to depart. Favre then ungraciously gave way; but no sooner had +his assent been obtained than it was discovered that the British Foreign +Office had neglected to apply to Bismarck for permission for the English +leaving Paris to pass through the German lines. Thus delay ensued, and it +was only on the morning of November 8 that the English departed at the +same time as a number of Swiss citizens and Austrian subjects. + +The Charenton gate was again the appointed meeting-place. On our way +thither, between six and seven o'clock in the morning, we passed many a +long queue waiting outside butchers' shops for pittances of meat, and +outside certain municipal dépôts where after prolonged waiting a few +thimblesful of milk were doled out to those who could prove that they had +young children. Near the Porte de Charenton a considerable detachment of +the National Guard was drawn up as if to impart a kind of solemnity to the +approaching exodus of foreigners. A couple of young staff-officers were +also in attendance, with a mounted trumpeter and another trooper carrying +the usual white flag on a lance. + +The better-circumstanced of our party were in vehicles purchased for the +occasion, a few also being mounted on valuable horses, which it was +desired to save from the fate which eventually overtook most of the +animals that remained in Paris. Others were in hired cabs, which were not +allowed, however, to proceed farther than the outposts; while a good many +of the poorer members of the party were in specially engaged omnibuses, +which also had to turn back before we were handed over to a German escort; +the result being that their occupants were left to trudge a good many +miles on foot before other means of transport were procured. In that +respect the Swiss and the Austrians were far better cared-for than the +English. Although the weather was bitterly cold, Mr. Wodehouse, my father, +myself, a couple of Mr. Wodehouse's servants, and a young fellow who had +been connected, I think, with a Paris banking-house, travelled in an open +pair-horse break. The Vice-Consul and his wife, who were also accompanying +us, occupied a small private omnibus. + +Before passing out of Paris we were all mustered and our _laisser-passers_ +were examined. Those held by British subjects emanated invariably from the +United States Embassy, being duly signed by Mr. Washburne, so that we +quitted the city virtually as American citizens. At last the procession +was formed, the English preceding the Swiss and the Austrians, whilst in +the rear, strangely enough, came several ambulance vans flaunting the red +cross of Geneva. Nobody could account for their presence with us, but as +the Germans were accused of occasionally firing on flags of truce, they +were sent, perhaps, so as to be of service in the event of any mishap +occurring. All being ready, we crossed the massive drawbridge of the Porte +de Charenton, and wound in and out of the covered way which an advanced +redoubt protected. A small detachment of light cavalry then joined us, and +we speedily crossed the devastated track known as the "military zone," +where every tree had been felled at the moment of the investment. +Immediately afterwards we found ourselves in the narrow winding streets of +Charenton, which had been almost entirely deserted by their inhabitants, +but were crowded with soldiers who stood at doors and windows, watching +our curious caravan. The bridge across the Marne was mined, but still +intact, and defended at the farther end by an entrenched and loopholed +redoubt, faced by some very intricate and artistic chevaux-de-frise. Once +across the river, we wound round to the left, through the village of +Alfort, where all the villas and river-side restaurants had been turned +into military posts; and on looking back we saw the huge Charenton +madhouse surmounting a wooded height and flying a large black flag. At the +outset of the siege it had been suggested that the more harmless inmates +should be released rather than remain exposed to harm from chance German +shells; but the director of the establishment declared that in many +instances insanity intensified patriotic feeling, and that if his patients +were set at liberty they would at least desire to become members of the +Government. So they were suffered to remain in their exposed position. + +We went on, skirting the estate of Charentonneau, where the park wall had +been blown down and many of the trees felled. On our right was the fort of +Charenton, armed with big black naval guns. All the garden walls on our +line of route had been razed or loopholed. The road was at times +barricaded with trees, or intersected by trenches, and it was not without +difficulty that we surmounted those impediments. At Petit Créteil we were +astonished to see a number of market-gardeners working as unconcernedly as +in times of peace. It is true that the village was covered by the fire of +the Charenton fort, and that the Germans would have incurred great risk in +making a serious attack on it. Nevertheless, small parties of them +occasionally crept down and exchanged shots with the Mobiles who were +stationed there, having their headquarters at a deserted inn, on reaching +which we made our first halt. + +The hired vehicles were now sent back to Paris, and after a brief interval +we went on again, passing through an aperture in a formidable-looking +barricade. We then readied Créteil proper, and there the first serious +traces of the havoc of war were offered to our view. The once pleasant +village was lifeless. Every house had been broken into and plundered, +every door and every window smashed. Smaller articles of furniture, and so +forth, had been removed, larger ones reduced to fragments. An infernal +spirit of destruction had swept through the place; and yet, mark this, we +were still within the French lines. + +Our progress along the main street being suddenly checked by another huge +barricade, we wound round to the right, and at last reached a house where +less than a score of Mobiles were gathered, protected from sudden assault +by a flimsy barrier of planks, casks, stools, and broken chairs. This was +the most advanced French outpost in the direction we were following. We +passed it, crossing some open fields where a solitary man was calmly +digging potatoes, risking his life at every turn of his spade, but knowing +that every pound of the precious tuber that he might succeed in taking +into Paris would there fetch perhaps as much as ten francs. + +Again we halted, and the trumpeter and the trooper with the white flag +rode on to the farther part of the somewhat scattered village. Suddenly +the trumpet's call rang out through the sharp, frosty air, and then we +again moved on, passing down another village street where several gaunt +starving cats attempted to follow us, with desperate strides and piteous +mews. Before long, we perceived, standing in the middle of the road before +us, a couple of German soldiers in long great-coats and boots reaching to +the shins. One of them was carrying a white flag. A brief conversation +ensued with them, for they both spoke French, and one of them knew English +also. Soon afterwards, from behind a stout barricade which we saw ahead, +three or four of their officers arrived, and somewhat stiff and +ceremonious salutes were exchanged between them and the French officers in +charge of our party. + +Our arrival had probably been anticipated. At all events, a big and +very welcome fire of logs and branches was blazing near by, and whilst +one or two officers on either side, together with Colonel Claremont and +some officials of the British Charitable Fund, were attending to the +safe-conducts of her then Majesty's subjects, the other French and German +officers engaged in conversation round the fire I have mentioned. The +latter were probably Saxons; at all events, they belonged to the forces of +the Crown Prince, afterwards King, of Saxony, who commanded this part of +the investing lines, and with whom the principal English war-correspondent +was Archibald Forbes, freshly arrived from the siege of Metz. The recent +fall of that stronghold and the conduct of Marshal Bazaine supplied the +chief subject of the conversation carried on at the Créteil outposts +between the officers of the contending nations. Now and then, too, came a +reference to Sedan and the overthrow of the Bonapartist Empire. The entire +conversation was in French--I doubt, indeed, if our French custodians +could speak German--and the greatest courtesy prevailed; though the French +steadily declined the Hamburg cigars which their adversaries offered them. + +I listened awhile to the conversation, but when the safe-conduct for my +father and myself had been examined, I crossed to the other side of the +road in order to scan the expanse of fields lying in that direction. All +at once I saw a German officer, mounted on a powerful-looking horse, +galloping over the rough ground in our direction. He came straight towards +me. He was a well-built, middle-aged man of some rank--possibly a colonel. +Reining in his mount, he addressed me in French, asking several questions. +When, however, I had told him who we were, he continued the conversation +in English and inquired if I had brought any newspapers out of Paris. Now, +we were all pledged not to give any information of value to the enemy, but +I had in my pockets copies of two of the most violent prints then +appearing in the city--that is to say, _La Patrie en Danger_, inspired by +Blanqui, and _Le Combat_, edited by Felix Pyat. The first-named was all +sound and fury, and the second contained a subscription list for a +pecuniary reward and rifle of honour to be presented to the Frenchman who +might fortunately succeed in killing the King of Prussia. As the German +officer was so anxious to ascertain what the popular feeling in Paris +might be, and whether it favoured further resistance, it occurred to me, +in a spirit of devilment as it were, to present him with the aforesaid +journals, for which he expressed his heartfelt thanks, and then galloped +away. + +As I never met him again, I cannot say how he took the invectives and the +"murder-subscription." Perhaps it was not quite right of me to foist on +him, as examples of genuine Parisian opinion, two such papers as those I +gave him; but, then, all is fair not merely in love but in war also, and +in regard to the contentions of France and Germany, my sympathies were +entirely on the side of France. + +We had not yet been transferred to the German escort which was waiting for +us, when all at once we heard several shots fired from the bank of the +Marne, whereupon a couple of German dragoons galloped off in that +direction. The firing ceased as abruptly as it had begun, and then, +everything being in readiness so far as we were concerned, Colonel +Claremont, the Charitable Fund people, the French officers and cavalry, +and the ambulance waggons retraced their way to Paris, whilst our caravan +went on in the charge of a detachment of German dragoons. Not for long, +however, for the instructions received respecting us were evidently +imperfect. The reader will have noticed that we left Paris on its +southeastern side, although our destination was Versailles, which lies +south-west of the capital, being in that direction only some eleven miles +distant. Further, on quitting Créteil, instead of taking a direct route +to the city of Louis Quatorze, we made, as the reader will presently see, +an immense _détour,_ so that our journey to Versailles lasted three full +days. This occurred because the Germans wished to prevent us from seeing +anything of the nearer lines of investment and the preparations which had +already begun for the bombardment of Paris. + +On our departure from Créteil, however, our route was not yet positively +fixed, so we presently halted, and an officer of our escort rode off to +take further instructions, whilst we remained near a German outpost, where +we could not help noticing how healthy-looking, stalwart, and well-clad +the men were. Orders respecting our movements having arrived, we set out +again at a walking pace, perhaps because so many of our party were on +foot. Troops were posted near every side-road that we passed. Officers +constantly cantered up, inquiring for news respecting the position of +affairs in Paris, wishing to know, in particular, if the National Defence +ministers were still prisoners of the populace, and whether there was now +a Red Republic with Blanqui at its head. What astounded them most was to +hear that, although Paris was taking more and more to horseflesh, it was, +as yet, by no means starving, and that, so far as famine might be +concerned, it would be able to continue resisting for some months longer. +In point of fact, this was on November 8, and the city did not surrender +until January 28. But the German officers would not believe what we said +respecting the resources of the besieged; they repeated the same questions +again and again, and still looked incredulous, as if, indeed, they thought +that we were fooling them. + +At Boissy-Saint Léger we halted whilst the British, Austrian, and Swiss +representatives interviewed the general in command there. He was installed +in a trim little, château, in front of which was the quaintest sentry-box +I have ever seen, for it was fashioned of planks, logs, and all sorts of +scraps of furniture, whilst beside it lay a doll's perambulator and a +little boy's toy-cart. But we again set out, encountering near Gros-Bois a +long line of heavily-laden German provision-wagons; and presently, without +addressing a word to any of us, the officer of our escort gave a command, +his troopers wheeled round and galloped away, leaving us to ourselves. + +By this time evening was approaching, and the vehicles of our party drove +on at a smart trot, leaving the unfortunate pedestrians a long way in the +rear. Nobody seemed to know exactly where we were, but some passing +peasants informed us that we were on the road to Basle, and that the +nearest locality was Brie-Comte-Robert. The horses drawing the conveyances +of the Swiss and Austrian representatives were superior to those harnessed +to Mr. Wodehouse's break, so we were distanced on the road, and on +reaching Brie found that all the accommodation of the two inns--I can +scarcely call them hotels--had been allotted to the first arrivals. Mr. +Wodehouse's party secured a lodging in a superior-looking private house, +whilst my father, myself, and about thirty others repaired to the _mairie_ +for billets. + +A striking scene met my eyes there. By this time night had fallen. In a +room which was almost bare of furniture, the mayor was seated at a little +table on which two candles were burning. On either side of him stood a +German infantryman with rifle and fixed bayonet. Here and there, too, were +several German hussars, together with ten or a dozen peasants of the +locality. And the unfortunate mayor, in a state of semi-arrest, was +striving to comply with the enemy's requisitions of food, forage, wine, +horses, and vehicles, the peasants meanwhile protesting that they had +already been despoiled of everything, and had nothing whatever left. "So +you want me to be shot?" said the mayor to them, at last. "You know very +well that the things must be found. Go and get them together. Do the best +you can. We will see afterwards." + +When--acting as usual as my father's interpreter--I asked the mayor for +billets, he raised his arms to the ceiling. "I have no beds," said he. +"Every bit of available bedding, excepting at the inns, has been +requisitioned for the Prussian ambulances. I might find some straw, and +there are outhouses and empty rooms. But there are so many of you, and I +do not know how I can accommodate you all." + +It was not, however, the duty of my father or myself to attend to the +requirements of the whole party. That was the duty rather of the Embassy +officials, so I again pressed the mayor to give me at least a couple of +decent billets. He thought for a moment, then handed me a paper bearing a +name and address, whereupon we, my father and myself, went off. But it was +pitch-dark, and as we could not find the place indicated, we returned to +the _mairie_, where, after no little trouble, a second paper was given me. +By this time the poorer members of the party had been sent to sheds and so +forth, where they found some straw to lie upon. The address on my second +paper was that of a basket-maker, whose house was pointed out to us. We +were very cordially received there, and taken to a room containing a bed +provided with a _sommier élastique_. But there was no mattress, no sheet, +no blanket, no bolster, no pillow--everything of that kind having been +requisitioned for the German ambulances; and I recollect that two or three +hours later, when my father and myself retired to rest in that icy +chamber, the window of which was badly broken, we were glad to lay our +heads on a couple of hard baskets, having left our bags in Mr. Wodehouse's +charge. + +Before trying to sleep, however, we required food; for during the day we +had consumed every particle of a cold rabbit and some siege-bread which we +had brought out of Paris. The innkeepers proved to be extremely +independent and irritable, and we could obtain very little from them. +Fortunately, we discovered a butcher's, secured some meat from him, and +prevailed on the wife of our host, the basket-maker, to cook it for us. We +then went out again, and found some cafés and wine-shops which were +crowded with German soldiery. Wine and black coffee were obtainable there, +and whilst we refreshed ourselves, more than one German soldier, knowing +either French or English, engaged us in conversation. My own German was at +that time very limited, for I had not taken kindly to the study of the +language, and had secured, moreover, but few opportunities to attempt to +converse in it. However, I well remember some of the German soldiers +declaring that they were heartily sick of the siege, and expressing a hope +that the Parisians would speedily surrender, so that they, the Germans, +might return to the Fatherland in ample time to get their Christmas trees +ready. A good-looking and apparently very genial Uhlan also talked to me +about the Parisian balloons, relating that, directly any ascent was +observed, news of it was telegraphed along all the investing lines, that +every man had orders to fire if the aerial craft came approximately within +range, and that he and his comrades often tried to ride a balloon down. + +After a wretched night, we washed at the pump in the basket-maker's yard, +and breakfasted off bread and _café noir_. Milk, by the way, was as scarce +at Brie as in Paris itself, the Germans, it was said, having carried off +all the cows that had previously supplied France with the far-famed Brie +cheese. We now discovered that, in order to reach Versailles, we should +have to proceed in the first instance to Corbeil, some fifteen miles +distant, when we should be within thirty miles of the German headquarters. +That was pleasant news, indeed! We had already made a journey of over +twenty miles, and now another of some five-and-forty miles lay before us. +And yet, had we only been allowed to take the proper route, we should have +reached Versailles after travelling merely eleven miles beyond Paris! + +Under the circumstances, the position of the unfortunate pedestrians was a +very unpleasant one, and my father undertook to speak on their behalf to +Mr. Wodehouse, pointing out to him that it was unfair to let these +unfortunate people trudge all the way to Versailles. + +"But what am I to do?" Mr. Wodehouse replied. "I am afraid that no +vehicles can be obtained here." + +"The German authorities will perhaps help you in the matter," urged my +father. + +"I doubt it. But please remember that everybody was warned before leaving +Paris that he would do so at his own risk and peril, and that the Embassy +could not charge itself with the expense." + +"That is exactly what surprised me," said my father. "I know that the +Charitable Fund has done something, but I thought that the Embassy would +have done more." + +"I had no instructions," replied Mr. Wodehouse. + +"But, surely, at such a time as this, a man initiates his own +instructions." + +"Perhaps so; but I had no money." + +On hearing this, my father, for a moment, almost lost his temper. +"Surely, Mr. Wodehouse," said he, "you need only have gone to Baron de +Rothschild--he would have let you have whatever money you required." +[I have reconstructed the above dialogue from my diary, which I posted up +on reaching Versailles.] + +Mr. Wodehouse looked worried. He was certainly a most amiable man, but he +was not, I think, quite the man for the situation. Moreover, like my +father, he was in very poor health at this time. Still, he realized that +he must try to effect something, and eventually, with the assistance of +the mayor and the German authorities, a few farm-carts were procured for +the accommodation of the poorer British subjects. During the long interval +which had elapsed, however, a good many men had gone off of their own +accord, tired of waiting, and resolving to try their luck in one and +another direction. Thus our procession was a somewhat smaller one when we +at last quitted Brie-Comte-Robert for Corbeil. + +We met many German soldiers on our way--at times large detachments of +them--and we scarcely ever covered a mile of ground without being +questioned respecting the state of affairs in Paris and the probable +duration of its resistance, our replies invariably disappointing the +questioners, so anxious were they to see the war come to an end. This was +particularly the case with a young non-commissioned officer who jumped on +the step of Mr. Wodehouse's break, and engaged us in conversation whilst +we continued on our way. Before leaving us he remarked, I remember, that +he would very much like to pay a visit to England; whereupon my father +answered that he would be very much pleased to see him there, provided, +however, that he would come by himself and not with half a million of +armed comrades. + +While the German soldiers were numerous, the peasants whom we met on the +road were few and far between. On reaching the little village of +Lieusaint, however, a number of people rushed to the doors of their houses +and gazed at us in bewilderment, for during the past two months the only +strangers they had seen had been German soldiers, and they could not +understand the meaning of our civilian caravan of carriages and carts. At +last we entered Corbeil, and followed the main street towards the old +stone bridge by which we hoped to cross the Seine, but we speedily +discovered that it had been blown up, and that we could only get to the +other side of the river by a pontoon-bridge lower down. This having been +effected, we drove to the principal hotel, intending to put up there for +the night, as it had become evident that we should be unable to reach +Versailles at a reasonable hour. + +However, the entire hotel was in the possession of German officers, +several of whom we found flirting with the landlady's good-looking +daughter--who, as she wore a wedding ring, was, I presume, married. I well +recollect that she made some reference to the ladies of Berlin, whereupon +one of the lieutenants who were ogling her, gallantly replied that they +were not half so charming as the ladies of Corbeil. The young woman +appeared to appreciate the compliment, for, on the lieutenant rising to +take leave of her, she graciously gave him her hand, and said to him with +a smile: "Au plaisir de vous revoir, monsieur." + +But matters were very different with the old lady, her mother, who, +directly the coast was clear, began to inveigh against the Germans in good +set terms, describing them, I remember, as semi-savages who destroyed +whatever they did not steal. She was particularly irate with them for not +allowing M. Darblay, the wealthy magnate of the grain and flour trade, and +at the same time mayor of Corbeil, to retain a single carriage or a single +horse for his own use. Yet he had already surrendered four carriages and +eight horses to them, and only wished to keep a little gig and a cob. + +We obtained a meal at the hotel, but found it impossible to secure a bed +there, so we sallied forth into the town on an exploring expedition. On +all sides we observed notices indicating the rate of exchange of French +and German money, and the place seemed to be full of tobacconists' shops, +which were invariably occupied by German Jews trading in Hamburg cigars. +On inquiring at a café respecting accommodation, we were told that we +should only obtain it with difficulty, as the town was full of troops, +including more than a thousand sick and wounded, fifteen or twenty of whom +died every day. At last we crossed the river again, and found quarters at +an inferior hotel, the top-floor of which had been badly damaged by some +falling blocks of stone at the time when the French blew up the town +bridge. However, our beds were fairly comfortable, and we had a good +night's rest. + +Black coffee was again the only available beverage in the morning. No milk +was to be had, nor was there even a scrap of sugar. In these respects +Corbeil was even worse off than Paris. The weather had now changed, and +rain was falling steadily. We plainly had a nasty day before us. +Nevertheless, another set of carts was obtained for the poorer folk of our +party, on mustering which one man was found to be missing. He had fallen +ill, we were told, and could not continue the journey. Presently, +moreover, the case was discovered to be one of smallpox, which disease had +lately broken out in Paris. Leaving the sufferer to be treated at the +already crowded local hospital, we set out, and, on emerging from the +town, passed a drove of a couple of hundred oxen, and some three hundred +sheep, in the charge of German soldiers. We had scarcely journeyed another +mile when, near Essonnes, noted for its paper-mills, one of our carts +broke down, which was scarcely surprising, the country being hilly, the +roads heavy, and the horses spavined. Again, the rain was now pouring in +torrents, to the very great discomfort of the occupants of the carts, as +well as that of Mr. Wodehouse's party in the break. But there was no help +for it, and so on we drove mile after mile, until we were at last +absolutely soaked. + +The rain had turned to sleet by the time we reached Longjumeau, famous for +its handsome and amorous postilion. Two-thirds of the shops there were +closed, and the inns were crowded with German soldiers, so we drove on in +the direction of Palaiseau. But we had covered only about half the +distance when a snow-storm overtook us, and we had to seek shelter at +Champlan. A German officer there assisted in placing our vehicles under +cover, but the few peasants whom we saw eyeing us inquisitively from the +doors of their houses declared that the only thing they could let us have +to eat was dry bread, there being no meat, no eggs, no butter, no cheese, +in the whole village. Further, they averred that they had not even a pint +of wine to place at our disposal. "The Germans have taken everything," +they said; "we have 800 of them in and around the village, and there are +not more than a dozen of us left here, all the rest having fled to Paris +when the siege began." + +The outlook seemed bad, but Mr. Wodehouse's valet, a shrewd and energetic +man of thirty or thereabouts, named Frost, said to me, "I don't believe +all this. I dare say that if some money is produced we shall be able to +get something." Accordingly we jointly tackled a disconsolate-looking +fellow, who, if I remember rightly, was either the village wheelwright or +blacksmith; and, momentarily leaving the question of food on one side, we +asked him if he had not at least a fire in his house at which we might +warm ourselves. Our party included a lady, the Vice-Consul's wife, and +although she was making the journey in a closed private omnibus, she was +suffering from the cold. This was explained to the man whom we addressed, +and when he had satisfied himself that we were not Germans in disguise, he +told us that we might come into his house and warm ourselves until the +storm abated. Some nine or ten of us, including the lady I have mentioned, +availed ourselves of this permission, and the man led us upstairs to a +first-floor room, where a big wood-fire was blazing. Before it sat his +wife and his daughter, both of them good specimens of French rustic +beauty. With great good-nature, they at once made room for us, and added +more fuel to the fire. + +Half the battle was won, and presently we were regaled with all that they +could offer us in the way of food--that is, bread and baked pears, which +proved very acceptable. Eventually, after looking out of the window in +order to make quite sure that no Germans were loitering near the house, +our host locked the door of the room, and turning towards a big pile of +straw, fire-wood, and household utensils, proceeded to demolish it, until +he disclosed to view a small cask--a half hogshead, I think--which, said +he, in a whisper, contained wine. It was all that he had been able to +secrete. On the arrival of the enemy in the district a party of officers +had come to his house and ordered their men to remove the rest of his +wine, together with nearly all his bedding, and every fowl and every pig +that he possessed. "They have done the same all over the district," the +man added, "and you should see some of the châteaux--they have been +absolutely stripped of their contents." + +His face brightened when we told him that Paris seemed resolved on no +surrender, and that, according to official reports, she would have a +sufficiency of bread to continue resisting until the ensuing month of +February. In common with most of his countrymen, our host of Champlan held +that, whatever else might happen, the honour of the nation would at least +be saved if the Germans could only be kept out of Paris; and thus he was +right glad to hear that the city's defence would be prolonged. + +He was well remunerated for his hospitality, and on the weather slightly +improving we resumed our journey to Versailles, following the main road by +way of Palaiseau and Jouy-en-Josas, and urging the horses to their +quickest pace whilst the light declined and the evening shadows gathered +around us. + + + +VIII + +FROM VERSAILLES TO BRITTANY + +War-correspondents at Versailles--Dr. Russell--Lord Adare--David Dunglas +Home and his Extraordinary Career--His _Séances_ at Versallies--An Amusing +Interview with Colonel Beauchamp Walker--Parliament's Grant for British +Refugees--Generals Duff and Hazen, U.S.A.--American Help--Glimpses of +King William and Bismarck--Our Safe-Conducts--From Versailles to Saint +Germain-en-Laye--Trouble at Mantes--The German Devil of Destructiveness-- +From the German to the French Lines--A Train at Last--Through Normandy and +Maine--Saint Servan and its English Colony--I resolve to go to the Front. + + +It was dark when we at last entered Versailles by the Avenue de Choisy. We +saw some sentries, but they did not challenge us, and we went on until we +struck the Avenue de Paris, where we passed the Prefecture, every one of +whose windows was a blaze of light. King, later Emperor, William had his +quarters there; Bismarck, however, residing at a house in the Rue de +Provence belonging to the French General de Jessé. Winding round the Place +d'Armes, we noticed that one wing of Louis XIV's famous palace had its +windows lighted, being appropriated to hospital purposes, and that four +batteries of artillery were drawn up on the square, perhaps as a hint to +the Versaillese to be on their best behaviour. However, we drove on, and a +few moments later we pulled up outside the famous Hôtel des Réservoirs. + +There was no possibility of obtaining accommodation there. From its +ground-floor to its garrets the hotel was packed with German princes, +dukes, dukelets, and their suites, together with a certain number of +English, American, and other war-correspondents. Close by, however-- +indeed, if I remember rightly, on the other side of the way--there was a +café, whither my father and myself directed our steps. We found it crowded +with officers and newspaper men, and through one or other of the latter we +succeeded in obtaining comfortable lodgings in a private house. The +_Illustrated London News_ artist with the German staff was Landells, son +of the engraver of that name, and we speedily discovered his whereabouts. +He was sharing rooms with Hilary Skinner, the _Daily News_ representative +at Versailles; and they both gave us a cordial greeting. + +The chief correspondent at the German headquarters was William Howard +Russell of the _Times_, respecting whom--perhaps because he kept himself +somewhat aloof from his colleagues--a variety of scarcely good-natured +stories were related; mostly designed to show that he somewhat +over-estimated his own importance. One yarn was to the effect that +whenever the Doctor mounted his horse, it was customary for the Crown +Prince of Prussia--afterwards the Emperor Frederick--to hold his stirrup +leather for him. Personally, I can only say that, on my father calling +with me on Russell, he received us very cordially indeed (he had +previously met my father, and had well known my uncle Frank), and that +when we quitted Versailles, as I shall presently relate, he placed his +courier and his private omnibus at our disposal, in after years one of my +cousins, the late Montague Vizetelly, accompanied Russell to South +America. I still have some letters which the latter wrote me respecting +Zola's novel "La Débâcle," in which he took a great interest. + +Another war-correspondent at Versailles was the present Earl of Dunraven, +then not quite thirty years of age, and known by the courtesy title of +Lord Adare. He had previously acted as the _Daily Telegraph's_ +representative with Napier's expedition against Theodore of Abyssinia, and +was now staying at Versailles, on behalf, I think, of the same journal. +His rooms at the Hôtel des Réservoirs were shared by Daniel Dunglas Home, +the medium, with whom my father and myself speedily became acquainted. +Very tall and slim, with blue eyes and an abundance of yellowish hair, +Home, at this time about thirty-seven years of age, came of the old stock +of the Earls of Home, whose name figures so often in Scottish history. His +father was an illegitimate son of the tenth earl, and his mother belonged +to a family which claimed to possess the gift of "second sight." Home +himself--according to his own account--began to see visions and receive +mysterious warnings at the period of his mother's death, and as time +elapsed his many visitations from the other world so greatly upset the +aunt with whom he was living--a Mrs. McNeill Cook of Greeneville, +Connecticut [He had been taken from Scotland to America when he was about +nine years old.]--that she ended by turning him out-of-doors. Other +people, however, took an unhealthy delight in seeing their furniture +move about without human agency, and in receiving more or less ridiculous +messages from spirit-land; and in folk of this description Home found some +useful friends. + +He came to London in the spring of 1855, and on giving a _séance_ at Cox's +Hotel, in Jermyn Street, he contrived to deceive Sir David Brewster (then +seventy-four years old), but was less successful with another +septuagenarian, Lord Brougham. Later, he captured the imaginative Sir +Edward Bulwer (subsequently Lord Lytton), who as author of "Zanoni" was +perhaps fated to believe in him, and he also impressed Mrs. Browning, but +not Browning himself The latter, indeed, depicted Home as "Sludge, the +Medium." Going to Italy for a time, the already notorious adventurer gave +_séances_ in a haunted villa near Florence, but on becoming converted to +the Catholic faith in 1856 he was received in private audience by that +handsome, urbane, but by no means satisfactory pontiff, Pio Nono, who, +however, eight years later caused him to be summarily expelled from Rome +as a sorcerer in league with the Devil. + +Meantime, Home had ingratiated himself with a number of crowned heads-- +Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, in whose presence he gave _séances_ +at the Tuileries, Fontainebleau, and Biarritz; the King of Prussia, by +whom he was received at Baden-Baden; and Queen Sophia of Holland, who gave +him hospitality at the Hague. On marrying a Russian lady, the daughter of +General Count de Kroll, he was favoured with presents by the Czar +Alexander II, and after returning to England became one of the +"attractions" of Milner-Gibson's drawing-room--Mrs. Gibson, a daughter of +the Rev. Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, being one of the early English +patronesses of so-called spiritualism, to a faith in which she was +"converted" by Home, whom she first met whilst travelling on the +Continent. I remember hearing no little talk about him in my younger days. +Thackeray's friend, Robert Bell, wrote an article about him in _The +Cornhill_, which was the subject of considerable discussion. Bell, I +think, was also mixed up in the affair of the "Davenport Brothers," one of +whose performances I remember witnessing. They were afterwards effectively +shown up in Paris by Vicomte Alfred de Caston. Home, for his part, was +scarcely taken seriously by the Parisians, and when, at a _séance_ given +in presence of the Empress Eugénie, he blundered grossly and repeatedly +about her father, the Count of Montijo, he received an intimation that his +presence at Court could be dispensed with. He then consoled himself by +going to Peterhof and exhibiting his powers to the Czar. + +Certain Scotch and English scientists, such as Dr. Lockhart Robertson, Dr. +Robert Chambers, and Dr. James Manby Gully--the apostle of hydropathy, who +came to grief in the notorious Bravo case--warmly supported Home. So did +Samuel Carter Hall and his wife, William Howitt, and Gerald Massey; and he +ended by establishing a so-called "Spiritual Athenaeum" in Sloane Street. +A wealthy widow of advanced years, a Mrs. Jane Lyon, became a subscriber +to that institution, and, growing infatuated with Home, made him a present +of some £30,000, and settled on him a similar amount to be paid at her +death. But after a year or two she repented of her infatuation, and took +legal proceedings to recover her money. She failed to substantiate some of +her charges, but Vice-Chancellor Giffard, who heard the case, decided it +in her favour, in his judgment describing Home as a needy and designing +man. Home, I should add, was at this time a widower and at loggerheads +with his late wife's relations in Russia, in respect to her property. + +Among the arts ascribed to Home was that called levitation, in practising +which he was raised in the air by an unseen and unknown force, and +remained suspended there; this being, so to say, the first step towards +human flying without the assistance of any biplane, monoplane, or other +mechanical contrivance. The first occasion on which Home is said to have +displayed this power was in the late fifties, when he was at a château +near Bordeaux as the guest of the widow of Théodore Ducos, the nephew of +Bonaparte's colleague in the Consulate. In the works put forward on Home's +behalf--one of them, called "Incidents in my Life," was chiefly written, +it appears, by his friend and solicitor, a Mr. W.M. Wilkinson--it is also +asserted that his power of levitation was attested in later years by Lord +Lindsay, subsequently Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, and by the present +Earl of Dunraven. We are told, indeed, that on one occasion the last-named +actually saw Home float out of a room by one window, and into it again by +another one. I do not know whether Home also favoured Professor Crookes +with any exhibition of this kind, but the latter certainly expressed an +opinion that some of Home's feats were genuine. + +When my father and I first met him at Versailles he was constantly in the +company of Lord Adare. He claimed to be acting as the correspondent of a +Californian journal, but his chief occupation appeared to be the giving of +_séances_ for the entertainment of all the German princes and princelets +staying at the Hôtel des Réservoirs. Most of these highnesses and +mightinesses formed part of what the Germans themselves sarcastically +called their "Ornamental Staff," and as Moltke seldom allowed them any +real share in the military operations, they doubtless found in Home's +performances some relief from the _taedium vitae_ which overtook them +during their long wait for the capitulation of Paris. Now that Metz had +fallen, that was the chief question which occupied the minds of all the +Germans assembled at Versailles, [Note] and Home was called upon to +foretell when it would take place. On certain occasions, I believe, he +evoked the spirits of Frederick the Great, Napoleon, Blücher, and others, +in order to obtain from them an accurate forecast. At another time he +endeavoured to peer into the future by means of crystal-gazing, in which +he required the help of a little child. "My experiments have not +succeeded," he said one day, while we were sitting with him at the café +near the Hôtel des Réservoirs; "but that is not my fault. I need an +absolutely pure-minded child, and can find none here, for this French race +is corrupt from its very infancy." He was fasting at this time, taking +apparently nothing but a little _eau sucrée_ for several days at a +stretch. "The spirits will not move me unless I do this," he said. "To +bring them to me, I have to contend against the material part of my +nature." + +[Note: The Germans regarded it as the more urgent at the time of my +arrival at Versailles, as only a few data previously (November 9), the new +French Army of the Loire under D'Aurelle de Paladines had defeated the +Bavarians at Coulmiers, and thereby again secured possession of Orleans.] + +A couple of years later, after another visit to St. Petersburg, where, +it seems, he was again well received by the Czar and again married a lady +of the Russian nobility, Home's health began to fail him, perhaps on +account of the semi-starvation to which at intervals he subjected himself. +I saw him occasionally during his last years, when, living at Auteuil, he +was almost a neighbour of mine. He died there in 1886, being then about +fifty-three years old. Personally, I never placed faith in him. I regarded +him at the outset with great curiosity, but some time before the war +I had read a good deal about Cagliostro, Saint Germain, Mesmer, and +other charlatans, also attending a lecture about them at the Salle des +Conferences; and all that, combined with the exposure of the Davenport +Brothers and other spiritualists and illusionists, helped to prejudice me +against such a man as Home. At the same time, this so-called "wizard of +the nineteenth century" was certainly a curious personality, possessed, I +presume, of considerable suggestive powers, which at times enabled him to +make others believe as he desired. We ought to have had Charcot's opinion +of his case. + +As it had taken my father and myself three days to reach Versailles from +Paris, and we could not tell what other unpleasant experiences the future +might hold in store for us, our pecuniary position gave rise to some +concern. I mentioned previously that we quitted the capital with +comparatively little money, and it now seemed as if our journey might +become a long and somewhat costly affair, particularly as the German staff +wished to send us off through Northern France and thence by way of +Belgium. On consulting Landells, Skinner, and some other correspondents, +it appeared that several days might elapse before we could obtain +remittances from England. On the other hand, every correspondent clung to +such money as he had in his possession, for living was very expensive at +Versailles, and at any moment some emergency might arise necessitating an +unexpected outlay. It was suggested, however, that we should apply to +Colonel Beauchamp Walker, who was the official British representative with +the German headquarters' staff, for, we were told, Parliament, in its +generosity, had voted a sum of £4000 to assist any needy British subjects +who might come out of Paris, and Colonel Walker had the handling of the +money in question. + +Naturally enough, my father began by demurring to this suggestion, saying +that he could not apply _in formâ pauperis_ for charity. But it was +pointed out that he need do no such thing. "Go to Walker," it was said, +"explain your difficulty, and offer him a note of hand or a draft on the +_Illustrated_, and if desired half a dozen of us will back it." Some such +plan having been decided on, we called upon Colonel Walker on the second +or third day of our stay at Versailles. + +His full name was Charles Pyndar Beauchamp Walker. Born in 1817, he had +seen no little service. He had acted as an _aide-de-camp_ to Lord Lucan in +the Crimea, afterwards becoming Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon +Guards. He was in India during the final operations for the suppression of +the Mutiny, and subsequently in China during the Franco-British expedition +to that country. During the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 he was attached as +British Commissioner to the forces of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and +witnessed the battle of Königgratz. He served in the same capacity during +the Franco-German War, when he was at Weissenburg, Wörth, and Sedan. In +later years he became a major-general, a lieutenant-general, a K.C.B., and +Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards; and from 1878 until his retirement in +1884 he acted as Inspector General of military education. I have set out +those facts because I have no desire to minimise Walker's services and +abilities. But I cannot help smiling at a sentence which I found in the +account of him given in the "Dictionary of National Biography." It refers +to his duties during the Franco-German War, and runs as follows: "The +irritation of the Germans against England, and the number of roving +Englishmen, made his duty not an easy one, but he was well qualified for +it by his tact and geniality, and his action met with the full approval of +the Government." + +The Government in question would have approved anything. But let that +pass. We called on the colonel at about half-past eleven in the morning, +and were shown into a large and comfortably furnished room, where +decanters and cigars were prominently displayed on a central table. In ten +minutes' time the colonel appeared, arrayed in a beautiful figured +dressing-gown with a tasselled girdle. I knew that the British officer was +fond of discarding his uniform, and I was well aware that French officers +also did so when on furlough in Paris, but it gave my young mind quite a +shock to see her Majesty's military representative with King William +arrayed in a gaudy dressing-gown in the middle of the day. He seated +himself, and querulously inquired of my father what his business was. It +was told him very briefly. He frowned, hummed, hawed, threw himself back +in his armchair, and curtly exclaimed, "I am not a money-lender!" + +The fact that the _Illustrated London News_ was the world's premier +journal of its class went for nothing. The offers of the other +correspondents of the English Press to back my father's signature were +dismissed with disdain. When the colonel was reminded that he held a +considerable amount of money voted by Parliament, he retorted: "That is +for necessitous persons! But you ask me to _lend_ you money!" "Quite so," +my father replied; "I do not wish to be a charge on the Treasury. I simply +want a loan, as I have a difficult and perhaps an expensive journey before +me." "How much do you want?" snapped the colonel. "Well," said my father, +"I should feel more comfortable if I had a thousand francs (£40) in my +pocket." "Forty pounds!" cried Colonel Walker, as if lost in amazement. +And getting up from his chair he went on, in the most theatrical manner +possible: "Why, do you know, sir, that if I were to let you have forty +pounds, I might find myself in the greatest possible difficulty. +To-morrow--perhaps, even to-night--there might be hundreds of our +suffering fellow-countrymen outside the gates of Versailles, and I unable +to relieve them!" "But," said my father quietly, "you would still be +holding £3960, Colonel Walker." The colonel glared, and my father, not +caring to prolong such an interview, walked out of the room, followed by +myself. + +A good many of the poorer people who quitted Paris with us never repaired +to Versailles at all, but left us at Corbeil or elsewhere to make their +way across France as best they could. Another party, about one hundred +strong, was, however, subsequently sent out of the capital with the +assistance of Mr. Washburne, and in their case Colonel Walker had to +expend some money. But every grant was a very niggardly one, and it would +not surprise me to learn that the bulk of the money voted by Parliament +was ultimately returned to the Treasury--which circumstance would probably +account for the "full approval" which the Government bestowed on the +colonel's conduct at this period. He died early in 1894, and soon +afterwards some of his correspondence was published in a volume entitled +"Days of a Soldier's Life." On reading a review of that work in one of the +leading literary journals, I was struck by a passage in which Walker was +described as a disappointed and embittered man, who always felt that his +merits were not sufficiently recognized, although he was given a +knighthood and retired with the honorary rank of general. I presume +that his ambition was at least a viscounty, if not an earldom, and a +field-marshal's _bâton_. + +On leaving the gentleman whose "tact and geniality" are commemorated in +the "Dictionary of National Biography," we repaired--my father and I--to +the café where most of the English newspaper men met. Several were there, +and my father was at once assailed with inquiries respecting his interview +with Colonel Walker. His account of it led to some laughter and a variety +of comments, which would scarcely have improved the colonel's temper. I +remember, however, that Captain, afterwards Colonel Sir, Henry Hozier, the +author of "The Seven Weeks' War," smiled quietly, but otherwise kept his +own counsel. At last my father was asked what he intended to do under the +circumstances, and he replied that he meant to communicate with England as +speedily as possible, and remain in the interval at Versailles, although +he particularly wished to get away. + +Now, it happened that among the customers at the café there were two +American officers, one being Brigadier-General Duff, a brother of Andrew +Halliday, the dramatic author and essayist, whose real patronymic was also +Duff. My father knew Halliday through their mutual friends Henry Mayhew +and the Broughs. The other American officer was Major-General William +Babcook Hazen, whose name will be found occasionally mentioned in that +popular record of President Garfield's career, "From Log Cabin to White +House." During the Civil War in the United States he had commanded a +division in Sherman's march to the sea. He also introduced the cold-wave +signal system into the American army, and in 1870-71 he was following the +operations of the Germans on behalf of his Government. + +I do not remember whether General Duff (who, I have been told, is still +alive) was also at Versailles in an official capacity, but in the course +of conversation he heard of my father's interview with Colonel Walker, and +spoke to General Hazen on the subject. Hazen did not hesitate, but came to +my father, had a brief chat with him, unbuttoned his uniform, produced a +case containing bank-notes, and asked my father how much he wanted, +telling him not to pinch himself. The whole transaction was completed in a +few minutes. My father was unwilling to take quite as much as he had asked +of Colonel Walker, but General Hazen handed him some £20 or £30 in notes, +one or two of which were afterwards changed, for a handsome consideration, +by one of the German Jews who then infested Versailles and profited by the +scarcity of gold. We were indebted, then, on two occasions to the +representatives of the United States. The _laisser-passer_ enabling us to +leave Paris had been supplied by Mr. Washburne, and the means of +continuing our journey in comfort were furnished by General Hazen. I raise +my hat to the memory of both those gentlemen. + +During the few days that we remained at Versailles, we caught glimpses of +King William and Bismarck, both of whom we had previously seen in Paris in +1867, when they were the guests of Napoleon III. I find in my diary a +memorandum, dictated perhaps by my father: "Bismarck much fatter and +bloated." We saw him one day leaving the Prefecture, where the King had +his quarters. He stood for a moment outside, chatting and laughing noisily +with some other German personages, then strode away with a companion. He +was only fifty-five years old, and was full of vigour at that time, even +though he might have put on flesh during recent years, and therefore have +renounced dancing--his last partner in the waltz having been Mme. Carette, +the Empress Eugénie's reader, whom he led out at one of the '67 balls at +the Tuileries. Very hale and hearty, too, looked the King whom Bismarck +was about to turn into an Emperor. Yet the victor of Sedan was already +seventy-three years old. I only saw him on horseback during my stay at +Versailles. My recollections of him, Bismarck, and Moltke, belong more +particularly to the year 1872, when I was in Berlin in connexion with the +famous meeting of the three Emperors. + +My father and myself had kept in touch with Mr. Wodehouse, from whom we +learnt that we should have to apply to the German General commanding +at Versailles with respect to any further safe-conducts. At first we were +informed that there could be no departure from the plan of sending us out +of France by way of Epernay, Reims, and Sedan, and this by no means +coincided with the desires of most of the Englishmen who had come out of +Paris, they wishing to proceed westward, and secure a passage across the +Channel from Le Hâvre or Dieppe. My father and myself also wanted to go +westward, but in order to make our way into Brittany, my stepmother and +her children being at Saint Servan, near Saint Malo. At last the German +authorities decided to give us the alternative routes of Mantes and Dreux, +the first-named being the preferable one for those people who were bound +for England. It was chosen also by my father, as the Dreux route would +have led us into a region where hostilities were in progress, and where we +might suddenly have found ourselves "held up." + +The entire party of British refugees was now limited to fifteen or sixteen +persons, some, tired of waiting, having taken themselves off by the Sedan +route, whilst a few others--such as coachmen and grooms--on securing +employment from German princes and generals, resolved to stay at +Versailles. Mr. Wodehouse also remained there for a short time. Previously +in poor health, he had further contracted a chill during our three days' +drive in an open vehicle. As most of those who were going on to England at +once now found themselves almost insolvent, it was arranged to pay their +expenses through the German lines, and to give each of them a sum of fifty +shillings, so that they might make their way Channelwards when they had +reached an uninvaded part of France. Colonel Walker, of course, parted +with as little money as possible. + +At Versailles it was absolutely impossible to hire vehicles to take us as +far as Mantes, but we were assured that conveyances might be procured at +Saint Germain-en-Laye; and it was thus that Dr. Russell lent my father his +little omnibus for the journey to the last-named town, at the same time +sending his courier to assist in making further arrangements. I do not +recollect that courier's nationality, but he spoke English, French, and +German, and his services were extremely useful. We drove to Saint Germain +by way of Rocquencourt, where we found a number of country-folk gathered +by the roadside with little stalls, at which they sold wine and fruit to +the German soldiers. This part of the environs of Paris seemed to have +suffered less than the eastern and southern districts. So far, there had +been only one sortie on this side--that made by Ducrot in the direction of +La Malmaison. It had, however, momentarily alarmed the investing forces, +and whilst we were at Versailles I learnt that, on the day in question, +everything had been got ready for King William's removal to Saint Germain +in the event of the French achieving a real success. But it proved to be a +small affair, Ducrot's force being altogether incommensurate with the +effort required of it. + +At Saint Germain, Dr. Russell's courier assisted in obtaining conveyances +for the whole of our party, and we were soon rolling away in the direction +of Mantes-la-Jolie, famous as the town where William the Conqueror, whilst +bent on pillage and destruction, received the injuries which caused his +death. Here we had to report ourselves to the German Commander, who, to +the general consternation, began by refusing its permission to proceed. He +did so because most of the safe-conducts delivered to us at Versailles, +had, in the first instance, only stated that we were to travel by way of +Sedan; the words "or Mantes or Dreux" being afterwards added between the +lines. That interlineation was irregular, said the General at Mantes; it +might even be a forgery; at all events, he could not recognize it, so we +must go back whence we had come, and quickly, too--indeed, he gave us just +half an hour to quit the town! But it fortunately happened that in a few +of the safe-conducts there was no interlineation whatever, the words +"Sedan or Mantes or Dreux" being duly set down in the body of the +document, and on this being pointed out, the General came to the +conclusion that we were not trying to impose on him. He thereupon +cancelled his previous order, and decided that, as dusk was already +falling, we might remain at Mantes that night, and resume our journey on +the morrow at 5.45 a.m., in the charge of a cavalry escort. + +Having secured a couple of beds, and ordered some dinner at one of the +inns, my father and I strolled about the town, which was full of Uhlans +and Hussars. The old stone bridge across the Seine had been blown up by +the French before their evacuation of the town, and a part of the railway +line had also been destroyed by them. But the Germans were responsible for +the awful appearance of the railway-station. Never since have I seen +anything resembling it. A thousand panes of glass belonging to windows or +roofing had been shivered to atoms. Every mirror in either waiting or +refreshment-rooms had been pounded to pieces; every gilt frame broken into +little bits. The clocks lay about in small fragments; account-books and +printed forms had been torn to scraps; partitions, chairs, tables, +benches, boxes, nests of drawers, had been hacked, split, broken, reduced +to mere strips of wood. The large stoves were overturned and broken, and +the marble refreshment counter--some thirty feet long, and previously one +of the features of the station--now strewed the floor in particles, +suggesting gravel. It was, indeed, an amazing sight, the more amazing as +no such work of destruction could have been accomplished without extreme +labour. When we returned to the inn for dinner, I asked some questions. +"Who did it?" "The first German troops that came here," was the answer. +"Why did they do it?--was it because your men had cut the telegraph wires +and destroyed some of the permanent way?" "Oh no! They expected to find +something to drink in the refreshment-room, and when they discovered that +everything had been taken away, they set about breaking the fixtures!" +Dear, nice, placid German soldiers, baulked, for a few minutes, of some of +the wine of France! + +In the morning we left Mantes by moonlight at the appointed hour, +unaccompanied, however, by any escort. Either the Commandant had forgotten +the matter, or his men had overslept themselves. In the outskirts, we were +stopped by a sentry, who carried our pass to a guard-house, where a +noncommissioned officer inspected it by the light of a lantern. Then on we +went again for another furlong or so, when we were once more challenged, +this time by the German advanced-post. As we resumed our journey, we +perceived, in the rear, a small party of Hussars, who did not follow us, +but wheeled suddenly to the left, bent, no doubt, on some reconnoitering +expedition. We were now beyond the German lines, and the dawn was +breaking. Yonder was the Seine, with several islands lying on its bosom, +and some wooded heights rising beyond it. Drawing nearer to the river, we +passed through the village of Rolleboise, which gives its name to the +chief tunnel on the Western Line, and drove across the debatable ground +where French Francstireurs were constantly on the prowl for venturesome +Uhlans. At last we got to Bonnières, a little place of some seven or eight +hundred inhabitants, on the limits of Seine-et-Oise; and there we had to +alight, for the vehicles, which had brought us from Saint Germain, could +proceed no further. + +Fortunately, we secured others, and went on towards the village of +Jeufosse, where the nearest French outposts were established. We were +displaying the white flag, but the first French sentries we met, young +fellows of the Mobile Guard, refused for a little while to let us pass. +Eventually they referred the matter to an officer, who, on discovering +that we were English and had come from Paris, began to chat with us in a +very friendly manner, asking all the usual questions about the state of +affairs in the capital, and expressing the usual satisfaction that the +city could still hold out. When we took leave, he cordially wished us _bon +voyage_, and on we hastened, still following the course of the Seine, to +the little town of Vernon. Its inquisitive inhabitants at once surrounded +us, eager to know who we were, whence we had come, and whither we were +going. But we did not tarry many minutes, for we suddenly learnt that the +railway communication with Rouen only began at Gaillon, several leagues +further on, and that there was only one train a day. The question which +immediately arose was--could we catch it? + +On we went, then, once more, this time up, over, and down a succession of +steep hills, until at last we reached Gaillon station, and found to our +delight that the train would not start for another twenty minutes. All our +companions took tickets for Rouen, whence they intended to proceed to +Dieppe or Le Hâvre. But my father and I branched off before reaching the +Norman capital, and, after, arriving at Elbeuf, travelled through the +departments of the Eure and the Orne, passing Alençon on our way to Le +Mans. On two or three occasions we had to change from one train to +another. The travelling was extremely slow, and there were innumerable +stoppages. The lines were constantly encumbered with vans laden with +military supplies, and the stations were full of troops going in one and +another direction. In the waiting-rooms one found crowds of officers lying +on the couches, the chairs, and the tables, and striving to snatch a few +hours' sleep; whilst all over the floors and the platforms soldiers had +stretched themselves for the same purpose. Very seldom could any food be +obtained, but I luckily secured a loaf, some cheese, and a bottle of wine +at Alençon. It must have been about one o'clock in the morning when we at +last reached Le Mans, and found that there would be no train going to +Rennes for another four or five hours. + +The big railway-station of Le Mans was full of reinforcements for the Army +of the Loire. After strolling about for a few minutes, my father and I +sat down on the platform with our backs against a wall, for not a bench or +a stool was available. Every now and again some train prepared to start, +men were hastily mustered, and then climbed into all sorts of carriages +and vans. A belated general rushed along, accompanied by eager +_aides-de-camp_. Now and again a rifle slipped from the hand of some +Mobile Guard who had been imbibing too freely, and fell with a clatter on +the platform. Then stores were bundled into trucks, whistles sounded, +engines puffed, and meanwhile, although men were constantly departing, the +station seemed to be as crowded as ever. When at last I got up to stretch +myself, I noticed, affixed to the wall against which I had been leaning, a +proclamation of Gambetta's respecting D'Aurelle de Paladines' victory over +Von der Tann at Orleans. In another part of the station were lithographed +notices emanating from the Prefect of the department, and reciting a +variety of recent Government decrees and items of war news, skirmishes, +reconnaissances, and so forth. At last, however, our train came in. It was +composed almost entirely of third-class carriages with wooden seats, and +we had to be content with that accommodation. + +Another long and wearisome journey then began. Again we travelled slowly, +again there were innumerable stoppages, again we passed trains crowded +with soldiers, or crammed full of military stores. At some place where we +stopped there was a train conveying some scores of horses, mostly poor, +miserable old creatures. I looked and wondered at the sight of them. "They +have come from England," said a fellow-passenger; "every boat from +Southampton to Saint Malo brings over quite a number." It was unpleasant +to think that such sorry-looking beasts had been shipped by one's own +countrymen. However, we reached Rennes at last, and were there able to get +a good square meal, and also to send a telegram to my stepmother, +notifying her of our early arrival. It was, however, at a late hour that +we arrived at Saint Malo, whence we drove to La Petite Amelia at Saint +Servan. + +The latter town then contained a considerable colony of English people, +among whom the military element predominated. Quite a number of half-pay +or retired officers had come to live there with their families, finding +Jersey overcrowded and desiring to practise economy. The colony also +included several Irish landlords in reduced circumstances, who had quitted +the restless isle to escape assassination at the hands of "Rory of the +Hills" and folk of his stamp. In addition, there were several maiden +ladies of divers ages, but all of slender means; one or two courtesy lords +of high descent, but burdened with numerous offspring; together with a +riding-master who wrote novels, and an elderly clergyman appointed by the +Bishop of Gibraltar. I dare say there may have been a few black sheep in +the colony; but the picture which Mrs. Annie Edwardes gave of it in her +novel, "Susan Fielding," was exaggerated, though there was truth in the +incidents which she introduced into another of her works, "Ought We to +Visit Her?" On the whole, the Saint Servan colony was a very respectable +one, even if it was not possessed of any great means. Going there during +my holidays, I met many young fellows of my own age or thereabouts, and +mostly belonging to military families. There were also several charming +girls, both English and Irish. With the young fellows I boated, with the +young ladies I played croquet. + +Now, whilst my father and I had been shut up in Paris, we had frequently +written to my stepmother by balloon-post, and on some of our letters being +shown to the clergyman of the colony, he requested permission to read them +to his congregation--which he frequently did, omitting, of course, the +more private passages, but giving all the items of news and comments on +the situation which the letters contained. As a matter of fact, this +helped the reverend gentleman out of a difficulty. He was an excellent +man, but, like many others of his cloth, he did not know how to preach. In +fact, a year or two later, I myself wrote one or two sermons for him, +working into them certain matters of interest to the colony. During the +earlier part of the siege of Paris, however, the reading of my father's +letters and my own from the pulpit at the close of the usual service saved +the colony's pastor from the trouble of composing a bad sermon, or of +picking out an indifferent one from some forgotten theological work. My +father, on arriving at Saint Servan, secluded himself as far as possible, +so as to rest awhile before proceeding to England; but I went about much +as usual; and my letters read from the pulpit, and sundry other matters, +having made me a kind of "public character," I was at once pounced upon in +the streets, carried off to the club and to private houses, and there +questioned and cross-questioned by a dozen or twenty Crimean and Indian +veteran officers who were following the progress of the war with a +passionate interest. + +A year or two previously, moreover, my stepmother had formed a close +friendship with one of the chief French families of the town. The father, +a retired officer of the French naval service, was to have commanded a +local Marching Battalion, but he unfortunately sickened and died, leaving +his wife with one daughter, a beautiful girl who was of about my own age. +Now, this family had been joined by the wife's parents, an elderly couple, +who, on the approach of the Germans to Paris, had quitted the suburb where +they resided. I was often with these friends at Saint Servan, and on +arriving there from Paris, our conversation naturally turned on the war. +As the old gentleman's house in the environs of the capital was well +within the French lines, he had not much reason to fear for its safety, +and, moreover, he had taken the precaution to remove his valuables into +the city. But he was sorely perturbed by all the conflicting news +respecting the military operations in the provinces, the reported +victories which turned out to be defeats, the adverse rumours concerning +the condition of the French forces, the alleged scandal of the Camp of +Conlie, where the more recent Breton levies were said to be dying off like +rotten sheep, and many other matters besides. Every evening when I called +on these friends the conversation was the same. The ladies, the +grandmother, the daughter, and the granddaughter, sat there making +garments for the soldiers or preparing lint for the wounded--those being +the constant occupations of the women of Brittany during all the hours +they could spare from their household duties--and meanwhile the old +gentleman discussed with me both the true and the spurious news of the +day. The result of those conversations was that, as soon as my father +had betaken himself to England, I resolved to go to the front myself, +ascertain as much of the truth as I could, and become, indeed, a +war-correspondent on "my own." In forming that decision I was influenced, +moreover, by one of those youthful dreams which life seldom, if ever, +fulfils. + + + +IX + +THE WAR IN THE PROVINCES + +First Efforts of the National Defence Delegates--La Motte-Rouge and his +Dyed Hair--The German Advance South of Paris--Moltke and King William-- +Bourges, the German Objective--Characteristics of Beauce, Perche, and +Sologne--French Evacuation of Orleans--Gambetta arrives at Tours--His +Coadjutor, Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet--Total Forces of the +National Defence on Gambetta's Arrival--D'Aurelle de Paladines supersedes +La Motte-Rouge--The Affair of Châteaudun--Cambriels--Garibaldi--Jessie +White Mario--Edward Vizetelly--Catholic Hatred of Garibaldi--The Germans +at Dijon--The projected Relief of Paris--Trochu's Errors and Ducrot's +Schemes--The French Victory of Coulmiers--Change of Plan in Paris--My +Newspaper Work--My Brother Adrian Vizetelly--The General Position. + + +When I reached Brittany, coming from Paris, early in the second fortnight +of November, the Provincial Delegation of the Government of National +Defence was able to meet the Germans with very considerable forces. But +such had not been the case immediately after Sedan. As I pointed out +previously--quite apart from the flower of the old Imperial Army, which +was beleaguered around Metz--a force far too large for mere purposes of +defence was confined within the lines with which the Germans invested +Paris. In the provinces, the number of troops ready to take the field was +very small indeed. Old Crémieux, the Minister of Justice, was sent out of +Paris already on September 12, and took with him a certain General Lefort, +who was to attend to matters of military organization in the provinces. +But little or no confidence was placed in the resources there. The +military members of the National Defence Government--General Trochu, its +President, and General Le Flò, its Minister of War, had not the slightest +idea that provincial France might be capable of a great effort. They +relied chiefly on the imprisoned army of Paris, as is shown by all their +despatches and subsequent apologies. However, Glais-Bizoin followed +Crémieux to Tours, where it had been arranged that the Government +Delegation should instal itself, and he was accompanied by Admiral +Fourichon, the Minister of Marine. On reaching the Loire region, the new +authorities found a few battalions of Mobile Guards, ill-armed and +ill-equipped, a battalion of sharpshooters previously brought from +Algeria, one or two batteries of artillery, and a cavalry division of four +regiments commanded by General Reyau. This division had been gathered +together in the final days of the Empire, and was to have been sent to +Mezieres, to assist MacMahon in his effort to succour Bazaine; but on +failing to get there, it had made just a few vain attempts to check the +Germans in their advance on Paris, and had then fallen back to the south +of the capital. + +General Lefort's first task was to collect the necessary elements for an +additional army corps--the 15th--and he summoned to his assistance the +veteran General de la Motte-Rouge, previously a very capable officer, but +now almost a septuagenarian, whose particular fad it was to dye his hair, +and thereby endeavour to make himself look no more than fifty. No doubt, +hi the seventeenth century, the famous Prince de Condé with the eagle +glance took a score of wigs with him when he started on a campaign; but +even such a practice as that is not suited to modern conditions of +warfare, though be it admitted that it takes less time to change one's wig +than to have one's hair dyed. The latter practice may, of course, help a +man to cut a fine figure on parade, but it is of no utility in the field. +In a controversy which arose after the publication of Zola's novel "La +Débâole," there was a conflict of evidence as to whether the cheeks of +Napoleon III were or were not rouged in order to conceal his ghastly +pallor on the fatal day of Sedan. That may always remain a moot point; but +it is, I think, certain that during the last two years of his rule his +moustache and "imperial" were dyed. + +But let me return to the National Defence. Paris, as I formerly mentioned, +was invested on September 19. On the 22nd a Bavarian force occupied the +village of Longjumeau, referred to in my account of my journey to +Versailles. A couple of days later, the Fourth Division of German cavalry, +commanded by Prince Albert (the elder) of Prussia, started southward +through the departments of Eure-et-Loir and Loiret, going towards Artenay +in the direction of Orleans. This division, which met at first with little +opposition, belonged to a force which was detached from the main army +of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and placed under the command of the +Grand-Duke Frederick Francis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Near this +"Armée-Abtheilung," as the Germans called it, was the first Bavarian army +corps, which had fought at Bazeilles on the day of Sedan. It was commanded +by General von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, commonly called Von der +Tann, _tout court_. + +As Prince Albert of Prussia, on drawing near to Artenay, found a good many +French soldiers, both regulars and irregulars, that is Francs-tireurs, +located in the district, he deemed it best to retire on Toury and +Pithiviers. But his appearance so far south had sufficed to alarm the +French commander at Orleans, General de Polhès, who at once, ordered his +men to evacuate the city and retire, partly on Blois, and partly on La +Motte-Beuvron. This pusillanimity incensed the Delegates of the National +Defence, and Polhès was momentarily superseded by General Reyau, and later +(October 5) by La Motte-Rouge. + +It is known, nowadays, that the Germans were at first perplexed as to the +best course to pursue after they had completed the investment of Paris. +Moltke had not anticipated a long siege of the French capital. He had +imagined that the city would speedily surrender, and that the war would +then come to an end. Fully acquainted with the tract of country lying +between the Rhine and Paris, he had much less knowledge of other parts of +France; and, moreover, although he had long known how many men could be +placed in the field by the military organisation of the Empire, he +undoubtedly underestimated the further resources of the French, and did +not anticipate any vigorous provincial resistance. His sovereign, King +William, formed a more correct estimate respecting the prolongation of the +struggle, and, as was mentioned by me in my previous book--"Republican +France"--he more than once rectified the mistakes which were made by the +great German strategist. + +The invader's objective with respect to central France was Bourges, the +old capital of Berry, renowned for its ordnance and ammunition works, and, +in the days when the troops of our Henry V overran France, the scene of +Charles VII's retirement, before he was inspirited either by Agnes Sorel +or by Joan of Arc. To enable an army coming from the direction of Paris to +seize Bourges, it is in the first instance necessary--as a reference to +any map of France will show--to secure possession of Orleans, which is +situated at the most northern point, the apex, so to say, of the course of +the Loire, and is only about sixty-eight miles from Paris. At the same +time it is advisable that any advance upon Orleans should be covered, +westward, by a corresponding advance on Chartres, and thence on +Châteaudun. This became the German plan, and whilst a force under General +von Wittich marched on Chartres, Von der Tann's men approached Orleans +through the Beauce region. + +From the forest of Dourdan on the north to the Loire on the south, and +from the Chartres region on the west to the Gatinais on the east, this +great grain-growing plateau (the scene of Zola's famous novel "La Terre") +is almost level. Although its soil is very fertile there are few +watercourses in Beauce, none of them, moreover, being of a nature to +impede the march of an army. The roads are lined with stunted elms, and +here and there a small copse, a straggling farm, a little village, may be +seen, together with many a row of stacks, the whole forming in late autumn +and in winter--when hurricanes, rain, and snow-storms sweep across the +great expanse--as dreary a picture as the most melancholy-minded +individual could desire. Whilst there is no natural obstacle to impede the +advance of an invader, there is also no cover for purposes of defence. All +the way from Chartres to Orleans the high-road is not once intersected by +a river. Nearly all of the few streams which exist thereabouts run from +south to north, and they supply no means of defence against an army coming +from the direction of Paris. The region is one better suited for the +employment of cavalry and artillery than for that of foot-soldiers. + +The Chartres country is better watered than Beaude. Westward, in both +of the districts of Perche, going either towards Mortagne or towards +Nogent-le-Rotrou, the country is more hilly and more wooded; and hedges, +ditches, and dingle paths abound there. In such districts infantry can +well be employed for defensive purposes. Beyond the Loir--not the Loire-- +S.S.W. of Chartres, is the Pays Dunois, that is the district of +Châteaudun, a little town protected on the north and the west by the Loir +and the Conie, and by the hills between which those rivers flow, but open +to any attack on the east, from which direction, indeed, the Germans +naturally approached it. + +Beyond the Loire, to the south-east of Beauce and Orleans, lies the +sheep-breeding region called Sologne, which the Germans would have had to +cross had they prosecuted their intended march on Bourges. Here cavalry +and artillery are of little use, the country abounding in streams, ponds, +and marshes. Quite apart, however, from natural obstacles, no advance on +Bourges could well be prosecuted so long as the French held Orleans; and +even when that city had fallen into the hands of the Germans, the presence +of large French forces on the west compelled the invaders to carry +hostilities in that direction and abandon their projected march southward. +Thus the campaign in which I became interested was carried on principally +in the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, and Sarthe, to +terminate, at last, in Mayenne. + +Great indiscipline prevailed among the troops whom La Motte-Rouge had +under his orders. An attack by Von der Tann to the north of Orleans on +October 10, led to the retreat of a part of the French forces. On the +following day, when the French had from 12,000 to 13,000 men engaged, they +were badly defeated, some 1800 of their men being put _hors de combat_, +and as many being taken prisoners. This reverse, which was due partly to +some mistakes made by La Motte-Rouge, and partly to the inferior quality +of his troops, led to the immediate evacuation of Orleans. Now, it was +precisely at this moment that Gambetta appeared upon the scene. He had +left Paris, it will be remembered, on October 7; on the 8th he was at +Rouen, on the 9th he joined the other Government delegates at Tours, and +on the 10th--the eve of La Motte-Rouge's defeat--he became Minister of War +as well as Minister of the Interior. + +Previously the portfolio for war had been held in the provinces by Admiral +Fourichon, with General Lefort as his assistant; but Fourichon had +resigned in connexion with a Communalist rising which had taken place at +Lyons towards the end of September, when the Prefect, Challemel-Lacour, +was momentarily made a prisoner by the insurgents, but was afterwards +released by some loyal National Guards. [See my book, "The Anarchists: +Their Faith and their Record," John Lane, 1911.] Complaining that General +Mazure, commander of the garrison, had not done his duty on this occasion, +Challemel-Lacour caused him to be arrested, and Fourichon, siding with the +general, thereupon resigned the War Ministry, Crémieux taking it over +until Gambetta's arrival. It may well be asked how one could expect the +military affairs of France to prosper when they were subordinated to such +wretched squabbles. + +Among the men whom Gambetta found at Tours, was an engineer, who, +after the Revolution of September 4, had been appointed Prefect of +Tarn-et-Garonne, but who, coming into conflict with the extremists of +Montauban, much as Challemel-Lacour had come into conflict with those of +Lyons, had promptly resigned his functions. His name was Charles Louis de +Saulces de Freycinet, and, though he was born at Foix near the Pyrenees, +he belonged to an ancient family of Dauphiné. At this period (October, +1870), Freycinet had nearly completed his forty-second year. After +qualifying as an engineer at the Ecole Polytechnique, he had held various +posts at Mont-de-Marsan, Chartres, and Bordeaux, before securing in 1864 +the position of traffic-manager to the Chemin de Fer du Midi. Subsequently +he was entrusted with various missions abroad, and in 1869 the Institute +of France crowned a little work of his on the employment of women and +children in English factories. Mining engineering was his speciality, but +he was extremely versatile and resourceful, and immediately attracted the +notice of Gambetta. Let it be said to the latter's credit that in that +hour of crisis he cast all prejudices aside. He cared nothing for the +antecedents of any man who was willing to cooperate in the defence of +France; and thus, although Freycinet came of an ancient-aristocratic +house, and had made his way under the Empire, which had created him first +a chevalier and then an officer of the Legion of Honour, Gambetta at once +selected him to act as his chef-de-cabinet, and delegate in military +affairs. + +At this moment the National Defence had in or ready for the field only +40,000 regular infantry, a like number of Mobile Guards, from 5000 to 6000 +cavalry, and about 100 guns, some of antiquated models and with very few +men to serve them. There were certainly a good many men at various +regimental dépôts, together with Mobile Guards and National Guards in all +the uninvaded provinces of France; but all these had to be drilled, +equipped, and armed. That was the first part of the great task which lay +before Gambetta and Freycinet. Within a month, however--leaving aside what +was done in other parts of the country--France had on the Loire alone an +army of 100,000 men, who for a moment, at all events, turned the tide of +war. At the same time I would add that, before Gambetta's arrival on the +scene, the National Defence Delegates had begun to concentrate some small +bodies of troops both in Normandy and in Picardy and Artois, the latter +forming the first nucleus of the Army of the North which Faidherbe +afterwards commanded. Further, in the east of France there was a force +under General Cambriels, whose object was to cut the German communications +in the Vosges. + +Von der Tann, having defeated La Motte-Rouge, occupied Orleans, whilst the +French withdrew across the Loire to La Motte-Beuvron and Gien, south and +south-east of their former position. Gambetta had to take action +immediately. He did so by removing La Motte-Rouge from his command, which +he gave to D'Aurelle de Paladines. The latter, a general on the reserve +list, with a distinguished record, was in his sixty-sixth year, having +been born at Languedoc in 1804. He had abilities as an organiser, and was +known to be a disciplinarian, but he was growing old, and looked +confidence both in himself and in his men. At the moment of D'Aurelle's +appointment, Von der Tann wished to advance on Bourges, in accordance with +Moltke's instructions, and, in doing so, he proposed to evacuate Orleans; +but this was forbidden by King William and the Crown Prince, and in the +result the Bavarian general suffered a repulse at Salbris, which checked +his advance southward. Still covering Bourges and Vierzon, D'Aurelle soon +had 60,000 men under his orders, thanks to the efforts of Gambetta and +Freyeinet. But the enemy were now making progress to the west of Orleans, +in which direction the tragic affair of Châteaudun occurred on October 18. +The German column operating on that side under General von Wittich, +consisted of 6000 infantry, four batteries, and a cavalry regiment, which +advanced on Châteaudun from the east, and, on being resisted by the +villagers of Varize and Civry, shot them down without mercy, and set all +their houses (about 130 in number) on fire. Nevertheless, that punishment +did not deter the National Guards of Châteaudun, and the Francs-tireurs +who had joined them, from offering the most strenuous opposition to the +invaders, though the latter's numerical superiority alone was as seven +to one. The fierce fight was followed by terrible scenes. Most of the +Francs-tireurs, who had not fallen in the engagement, effected a retreat, +and on discovering this, the infuriated Germans, to whom the mere name of +Franc-tireur was as a red rag to a bull, did not scruple to shoot down a +number of non-combatants, including women and children. + +I remember the excitement which the news of the Châteaudun affair +occasioned in besieged Paris; and when I left the capital a few weeks +later I heard it constantly spoken of. In vain did the Germans strive to +gloss over the truth. The proofs were too numerous and the reality was too +dreadful. Two hundred and thirty-five of the devoted little town's houses +were committed to the flames. For the first time in the whole course of +the war women were deliberately assaulted, and a couple of German Princes +disgraced their exalted station in a drunken and incendiary orgie. + +Meantime, in the east of France, Cambriels had failed in his attempt to +cut the German communications, and had been compelled to beat a retreat. +It must be said for him that his troops were a very sorry lot, who could +not be depended upon. Not only were they badly disciplined and addicted to +drunkenness, but they took to marauding and pillage, and were in no degree +a match for the men whom the German General von Werder led against them. +Garibaldi, the Italian Liberator, had offered his sword to France, soon +after the fall of the Second Empire. On October 8--that is, a day before +Gambetta--he arrived at Tours, to arrange for a command, like that of +Cambriels, in the east of France. The little Army of the Vosges, which was +eventually constituted under his orders, was made up of very heterogeneous +elements. Italians, Switzers, Poles, Hungarians, Englishmen, as well as +Frenchmen, were to be found in its ranks. The general could not be called +a very old man, being indeed only sixty-three years of age, but he had led +an eventful and arduous life; and, as will be remembered, ever since the +affair of Aspromonte in 1862, he had been lame, and had gradually become +more and more infirm. He had with him, however, two of his sons, Menotti +and Ricoiotti (the second a more competent soldier than the first), +and several, able men, such as his compatriot Lobbia, and the Pole, +Bosak-Hauké. His chief of staff, Bordone, previously a navy doctor, was, +however, a very fussy individual who imagined himself to be a military +genius. Among the Englishmen with Garibaldi were Robert Middleton and my +brother Edward Vizetelly; and there was an Englishwoman, Jessie White +Mario, daughter of White the boat-builder of Cowes, and widow of Mario, +Garibaldi's companion in arms in the glorious Liberation days. My brother +often told me that Mme. Mario was equally at home in an ambulance or in a +charge, for she was an excellent nurse and an admirable horsewoman as well +as a good shot. She is one of the women of whom I think when I hear or +read that the members of the completing sex cannot fight. But that of +course is merely the opinion of some medical and newspaper men. + +Mme. Mario contributed a certain number of articles to the _Daily News_. +So did my brother--it was indeed as _Daily News_ correspondent that he +first joined Garibaldi's forces--but he speedily became an orderly to the +general, and later a captain on the staff. He was at the battles of Dijon +and Autun, and served under Lobbia in the relief of Langres. Some French +historians of these later days have written so slightingly of the little +Army of the Vosges, that I am sorry my brother did not leave any permanent +record of his experiences. Garibaldi's task was no easy one. In the first +instance, the National Defence hesitated to employ him; secondly, they +wished to subordinate him to Cambriels, and he declined to take any such +position; not that he objected to serve under any superior commander +who would treat him fairly, but because he, Garibaldi, was a freethinker, +and knew that he was bitterly detested by the fervently Catholic generals, +such as Cambriels. As it happened, he secured an independent command. But +in exercising it he had to co-operate with Cambriels in various ways, and +in later years my brother told me how shamefully Cambriels acted more than +once towards the Garibaldian force. It was indeed a repetition of what had +occurred at the very outset of the war, when such intense jealousy had +existed among certain marshals and generals that one had preferred to let +another be defeated rather than march "at the sound of the guns" to his +assistance. + +I also remember my brother telling me that when Langres (which is in the +Haute Marne, west of the Aube and the Côte d'Or) was relieved by Lobbia's +column, the commander of the garrison refused at first to let the +Garibaldians enter the town. He was prepared to surrender to the Germans, +if necessary; but the thought that he, a devout Catholic, should owe any +assistance to such a band of unbelieving brigands as the Garibaldian +enemies of the Pope was absolutely odious to him. Fortunately, this kind +of feeling did not show itself in western France. There was, at one +moment, some little difficulty respecting the position of Cathélineau, the +descendant of the famous Vendéen leader, but, on the whole, Catholics, +Royalists, and Republicans loyally supported one another, fired by a +common patriotism. + +The failure of Cambriel's attempts to cut the German communications, and +the relatively small importance of the Garibaldian force, inspired +Gambetta with the idea of forming a large Army of the East which, with +Langres, Belfort, and Besançon as its bases, would vigorously assume the +offensive in that part of France. Moltke, however, had already sent +General von Werder orders to pursue the retreating Cambriels. Various +engagements, late in October, were followed by a German march on Dijon. +There were at this time 12,000 or 13,000 Mobile Guards in the Côte d'Or, +but no general in command of them. Authority was exercised by a civilian, +Dr. Lavalle. The forces assembled at Dijon and Beaune amounted, inclusive +of regulars and National Guards, to about 20,000 men, but they were very +badly equipped and armed, and their officers were few in number and of +very indifferent ability. Werder came down on Dijon in a somewhat +hesitating way, like a man who is not sure of his ground or of the +strength of the enemy in front of him. But the French were alarmed by his +approach, and on October 30 Dijon was evacuated, and soon afterwards +occupied by Werder with two brigades. + +Three days previously Metz had surrendered, and France was reeling under +the unexpected blow in spite of all the ardent proclamations with which +Gambetta strove to impart hope and stimulate patriotism. Bazaine's +capitulation naturally implied the release of the forces under Prince +Frederick Charles, by which he had been invested, and their transfer to +other parts of France for a more vigorous prosecution of the invasion. +Werder, after occupying Dijon, was to have gone westward through the +Nivernais in order to assist other forces in the designs on Bourges. But +some days before Metz actually fell, Moltke sent him different +instructions, setting forth that he was to take no further account of +Bourges, but to hold Dijon, and concentrate at Vesoul, keeping a watch on +Langres and Besançon. For a moment, however, 3600 French under an officer +named Fauconnet suddenly recaptured Dijon, though there were more than +10,000 Badeners installed there under General von Beyer. Unfortunately +Fauconnet was killed in the affair, a fresh evacuation of the Burgundian +capital ensued, and the Germans then remained in possession of the city +for more than a couple of months. + +In the west the army of the Loire was being steadily increased and +consolidated, thanks to the untiring efforts of Gambetta, Freycinet, +and D'Aurelle, the last of whom certainly contributed largely to the +organization of the force, though he was little inclined to quit his lines +and assume the offensive. It was undoubtedly on this army that Gambetta +based his principal hopes. The task assigned to it was greater than those +allotted to any of the other armies which were gradually assuming +shape--being, indeed, the relief of beleaguered Paris. + +Trochu's own memoirs show that at the outset of the siege his one thought +was to remain on the defensive. In this connexion it is held, nowadays, +that he misjudged the German temperament, that remembering the vigorous +attempts of the Allies on Sebastopol--he was, as we know, in the Crimea, +at the time--he imagined that the Germans would make similarly vigorous +attempts on Paris. He did not expect a long and so to say passive siege, a +mere blockade during which the investing army would simply content itself +with repulsing the efforts of the besieged to break through its lines. He +knew that the Germans had behaved differently in the case of Strasbourg +and some other eastern strongholds, and anticipated a similar line of +action with respect to the French capital. But the Germans preferred to +follow a waiting policy towards both Metz and Paris. It has been said that +this was less the idea of Moltke than that of Bismarck, whose famous +phrase about letting the Parisians stew in their own juice will be +remembered. But one should also recollect that both Metz and Paris were +defended by great forces, and that there was little likelihood of any +_coup de main_ succeeding; whilst, as for bombardment, though it might +have some moral, it would probably have very little material effect. Metz +was not really bombarded, and the attempt to bombard Paris was deferred +for several months. When it at last took place a certain number of +buildings were damaged, 100 persons were killed and 200 persons wounded--a +material effect which can only be described as absolutely trivial in the +case of so great and so populous a city. + +Trochu's idea to remain merely on the defensive did not appeal to his +coadjutor General Ducrot. The latter had wished to break through the +German lines on the day of Sedan, and he now wished to break through them +round Paris. Various schemes occurred to him. One was to make a sortie in +the direction of Le Bourget and the plain of Saint Denis, but it seemed +useless to attempt to break out on the north, as the Germans held Laon, +Soissons, La Fère, and Amiens. There was also an idea of making an attempt +on the south, in the direction of Villejuif, but everything seemed to +indicate that the Germans were extremely strong on this side of the city +and occupied no little of the surrounding country. The question of a +sortie on the east, across the Marne, was also mooted and dismissed for +various reasons; the idea finally adopted being to break out by way of +the Gennevilliers peninsula formed by the course of the Seine on the +north-west, and then (the heights of Cormeil having been secured) to cross +the Oise, and afterwards march on Rouen, where it would be possible to +victual the army. Moreover, instructions were to be sent into the +provinces in order that both the forces on the Loire and those in the +north might bear towards Normandy, and there join the army from Paris, in +such wise that there would be a quarter of a million men between Dieppe, +Rouen, and Caen. Trochu ended by agreeing to this scheme, and even +entertained a hope that he might be able to revictual Paris by way of the +Seine, for which purpose a flotilla of boats was prepared. Ducrot and he +expected to be ready by November 15 or 20, but it is said that they were +hampered in their preparations by the objections raised by Guiod and +Chabaud-Latour, the former an engineer, and the latter an artillery +general. Moreover, the course of events in the provinces suddenly caused a +complete reversal of Ducrot's plans. + +On November 9, D'Aurelle de Paladines defeated Von der Tann at Coulmiers, +west of Orleans. The young French troops behaved extremely well, but the +victory not being followed up with sufficient vigour by D'Aurelle, +remained somewhat incomplete, though it constrained the Germans to +evacuate Orleans. On the whole this was the first considerable success +achieved by the French since the beginning of the war, and it did much to +revive the spirits which had been drooping since the fall of Metz. Another +of its results was to change Ducrot's plans respecting the Paris sortie. +He and Trochu had hitherto taken little account of the provincial armies, +and the success of Coulmiers came to them as a surprise and a revelation. +There really was an army of the Loire, then, and it was advancing on Paris +from Orleans. The Parisian forces must therefore break out on the +south-east and join hands with this army of relief in or near the forest +of Fontainebleau. Thus, all the preparations for a sortie by way of +Gennevilliers were abandoned, and followed by others for an attempt in the +direction of Champigny. + +Such was roughly the position at the time when I reached Brittany and +conceived the idea of joining the French forces on the Loire and +forwarding some account of their operations to England. During my stay in +Paris with my father I had assisted him in preparing several articles, and +had written others on my own account. My eldest brother, Adrian Vizetelly, +was at this time assistant-secretary at the Institution of Naval +Architects. He had been a student at the Royal School of Naval +Architecture with the Whites, Elgars, Yarrows, Turnbulls, and other famous +shipbuilders, and on quitting it had taken the assistant-secretaryship in +question as an occupation pending some suitable vacancy in the Government +service or some large private yard. The famous naval constructor, E. J. +Reed, had started in life in precisely the same post, and it was, indeed, +at his personal suggestion that my brother took it. A year or two later he +and his friend Dr. Francis Elgar, subsequently Director of Dockyards and +one of the heads of the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, were assisting +Reed to run his review _Naval Science_. At the time of the Franco-German +war, however, my brother, then in his twenty-sixth year, was writing on +naval subjects for the _Daily News_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette,_ edited +respectively by John Robinson and Frederick Greenwood. A few articles +written by me during my siege days were sent direct to the latter by +balloon-post, but I knew not what their fate might be. The _Pall Mall_ +might be unable to use them, and there was no possibility of their being +returned to me in Paris. My father, whom I assisted in preparing a variety +of articles, suggested that everything of this kind--that is, work not +intended for the _Illustrated London News_--should be sent to my brother +for him to deal with as opportunity offered. He placed a few articles with +_The Times_--notably some rather long ones on the fortifications and +armament of Paris, whilst others went to the _Daily News_ and the _Pall +Mall_. + +When, after coming out of Paris, I arrived in Brittany, I heard that +virtually everything sent from the capital by my father or myself had been +used in one or another paper, and was not a little pleased to receive a +draft on a Saint Malo banking-house for my share of the proceeds. This +money enabled me to proceed, in the first instance, in the direction of Le +Mans, which the Germans were already threatening. Before referring, +however, to my own experiences I must say something further respecting the +general position. The battle of Coulmiers (November 9) was followed by a +period of inaction on the part of the Loire Army. Had D'Aurelle pursued +Von der Tann he might have turned his barren victory to good account. But +he had not much confidence in his troops, and the weather was bad--sleet +and snow falling continually. Moreover, the French commander believed that +the Bavarian retreat concealed a trap. At a conference held between him, +Gambetta, Freyoinet, and the generals at the head of the various army +corps, only one of the latter---Chanzy--favoured an immediate march on +Paris. Borel, who was chief of D'Aurelle's staff, proposed to confine +operations to an advance on Chartres, which would certainly have been a +good position to occupy, for it would have brought the army nearer to the +capital, giving it two railway lines, those of Le Mans and Granville, for +revictualling purposes, and enabling it to retreat on Brittany in the +event of any serious reverse. But no advance at all was made. The Germans +were allowed all necessary time to increase their forces, the French +remaining inactive within D'Aurelle's lines, and their _morale_ steadily +declining by reason of the hardships to which they were subjected. The +general-in-chief refused to billet them in the villages--for fear, said +he, of indiscipline--and compelled them to bivouack, under canvas, in the +mud; seldom, moreover, allowing any fires to be kindled. For a score of +days did this state of affairs continue, and the effect of it was seen at +the battle of Beaune-la-Rolande. + +The responsibility for the treatment of the troops rests on D'Aurelle's +memory and that of some of his fellow-generals. Meantime, Gambetta and +Freycinet were exerting themselves to improve the situation generally. +They realized that the release of Prince Frederick Charles's forces from +the investment of Metz necessitated the reinforcement of the Army of the +Loire, and they took steps accordingly. Cambriels had now been replaced in +eastern France by a certain General Michel, who lost his head and was +superseded by his comrade Crouzat. The last-named had with him 30,000 men +and 40 guns to contend against the 21,000 men and the 70 guns of Werder's +army. In order to strengthen the Loire forces, however, half of Crouzat's +men and he himself received orders to approach Orleans by way of Nevers +and Gien, the remainder of his army being instructed to retire on Lyons, +in order to quiet the agitation prevailing in that city, which regarded +itself as defenceless and complained bitterly thereof, although there was +no likelihood at all of a German attack for at least some time to come. + +The new arrangements left Garibaldi chief commander in eastern France, +though the forces directly under his orders did not at this time exceed +5000 men, and included, moreover, no fewer than sixty petty free-corps, +who cared little for discipline. [There were women in several of these +companies, one of the latter including no fewer than eighteen amazons.] +A month or two previously the advent of from twenty to thirty thousand +Italian volunteers had been confidently prophesied, but very few of these +came forward. Nevertheless, Ricciotti Garibaldi (with whom was my brother +Edward) defeated a German force in a sharp engagement at Chatillon-sur- +Seine (November 19), and a week later the Garibaldians made a gallant +attempt to recapture the city of Dijon. Five thousand men, however, were +of no avail against an army corps; and thus, even if the Garibaldian +attack had momentarily succeeded, it would have been impossible to hold +Dijon against Werder's troops. The attempt having failed, the German +commander resolved to crush the Army of the Vosges, which fled and +scattered, swiftly pursued by a brigade under General von Keller. Great +jealousy prevailed at this moment among the French generals in command of +various corps which might have helped the Garibaldians. Bressolles, +Crevisier, and Cremer were at loggerheads. On November 30 the last-named +fought an indecisive action at Nuits, followed nearly three weeks later by +another in which he claimed the victory. + +Meantime, Crouzat's force, now known as the 20th Army Corps, had been +moving on Nevers. To assist the Loire Army yet further, General Bourbaki +had been summoned from the north-west of France. At the fall of the Empire +the defence in that part of the country had been entrusted to Fririon, +whom Espinet de la Villeboisnet succeeded. The resources at the disposal +of both those generals were very limited, confined, indeed, to men of the +regimental dépôts and some Mobile Guards. There was a deficiency both of +officers and of weapons, and in the early skirmishes which took place with +the enemy, the principal combatants were armed peasants, rural firemen, +and the National Guards of various towns. It is true that for a while the +German force consisted only of a battalion of infantry and some Saxon +cavalry. Under Anatole de la Forge, Prefect of the Aisne, the open town of +Saint Quentin offered a gallant resistance to the invader, but although +this had some moral effect, its importance was not great. Bourbaki, who +succeeded La Villeboisnet in command of the region, was as diffident +respecting the value of his troops as was D'Aurelle on the Loire. He had +previously commanded the very pick of the French army, that is the +Imperial Guard, and the men now placed under his orders were by no means +of the same class. Bourbaki was at this time only fifty-four years of age, +and when, after being sent out of Metz on a mission to the Empress Eugénie +at Hastings, he had offered his services to the National Defence, the +latter had given him the best possible welcome. But he became one of the +great military failures of the period. + +After the fall of Metz the Germans despatched larger forces under +Manteuffel into north-west France. Altogether there were 35,000 infantry +and 4000 cavalry, with 174 guns, against a French force of 22,000 men who +were distributed with 60 guns over a front of some thirty miles, their +object being to protect both Amiens and Rouen. When Bourbaki was summoned +to the Loire, he left Farre as chief commander in the north, with +Faidherbe and Lecointe as his principal lieutenants. There was bad +strategy on both sides, but La Fère capitulated to the Germans on November +26, and Amiens on the 29th. + +Meantime, the position in beleaguered Paris was becoming very bad. Some +ten thousand men, either of the regular or the auxiliary forces, were laid +up in hospital, less on account of wounds than of disease. Charcoal--for +cooking purposes according to the orthodox French system--was being +strictly rationed, On November 20 only a certain number of milch cows and +a few hundred oxen, reserved for hospital and ambulance patients, remained +of all the bovine live stock collected together before the siege. At the +end of November, 500 horses were being slaughtered every day. On the other +hand, the bread allowance had been raised from 750 grammes to a kilogramme +per diem, and a great deal of bread was given to the horses as food. +Somewhat uncertain communications had been opened with the provinces by +means of pigeon-post, the first pigeon to bring despatches into the city +arriving there on November 15. The despatches, photographed on the +smallest possible scale, were usually enclosed in quills fastened under +one or another of the birds' wings. Each balloon that left the city now +took with it a certain number of carrier-pigeons for this service. Owing, +however, to the bitter cold which prevailed that winter, many of the birds +perished on the return journey, and thus the despatches they carried did +not reach Paris. Whenever any such communications arrived there, they had +to be enlarged by means of a magic-lantern contrivance, in order that they +might be deciphered. Meantime, the aeronauts leaving the city conveyed +Government despatches as well as private correspondence, and in this wise +Trochu was able to inform Gambetta that the army of Paris intended to make +a great effort on November 29. + + + +X + +WITH THE "ARMY OF BRITTANY" + +The German Advance Westward--Gambetta at Le Mans--The "Army of Brittany" +and Count de Kératry--The Camp of Conlie--The Breton Marching Division-- +Kératry resigns--The Champigny Sortie from Paris--The dilatory D'Aurelle-- +The pitiable 20th Army Corps--Battles of Beaune-la-Rolande and Loigny-- +Loss of Orleans--D'Aurelle superseded by Chanzy--Chanzy's Slow Retreat-- +The 21st Corps summoned to the Front--I march with the Breton Division-- +Marchenoir and Fréteval--Our Retreat--Our Rearguard Action at Droué-- +Behaviour of the Inhabitants--We fight our Way from Fontenelle to Saint +Agil--Guns and Quagmires--Our Return to Le Mans--I proceed to Bennes and +Saint Malo. + + +After the Châteaudun affair the Germans secured possession of Chartres, +whence they proceeded to raid the department of the Eure. Going by way of +Nogent-le-Roi and Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais, they seized the old +ecclesiastical town of Evreux on November 19, whereupon the French hastily +retreated into the Orne. Some minor engagements followed, all to the +advantage of the Germans, who on the 22nd attacked and occupied the +ancient and strategically important town of Nogent-le-Rotrou--the lordship +of which, just prior to the great Revolution, belonged to the family of +the famous Count D'Orsay, the lover of Lady Blessington and the friend of +Napoleon III. The occupation of Nogent brought the Germans to a favourable +point on the direct railway-line between Paris and Le Mans, the capital of +Maine. The region had been occupied by a somewhat skeleton French army +corps--the 21st--commanded by a certain General Fiereck. On the loss of +Nogent, Gambetta immediately replaced him by one of the many naval +officers who were now with the French armies, that is Post-Captain (later +Admiral) Constant Jaurès, uncle of the famous Socialist leader of more +recent times. Jaurès at once decided to retreat on Le Mans, a distance of +rather more than a hundred miles, and this was effected within two days, +but under lamentable circumstances. Thousands of starving men deserted, +and others were only kept with the columns by the employment of cavalry +and the threat of turning the artillery upon them. + +Directly Gambetta heard of the state of affairs, he hastened to Le Mans to +provide for the defence of that extremely important point, where no fewer +than five great railway lines converged, those of Paris, Alençon, Rennes, +Angers, and Tours. The troops commanded by Jaurès were in a very +deplorable condition, and it was absolutely necessary to strengthen them. +It so happened that a large body of men was assembled at Conlie, sixteen +or seventeen miles away. They formed what was called the "Army of +Brittany," and were commanded by Count Emile de Kératry, the son of a +distinguished politician and literary man who escaped the guillotine +during the Reign of Terror. The Count himself had sat in the Legislative +Body of the Second Empire, but had begun life as a soldier, serving both +in the Crimea and in Mexico, in which latter country he had acted as one +of Bazaine's orderly officers. At the Revolution Kératry was appointed +Prefect of Police, but on October 14 he left Paris by balloon, being +entrusted by Trochu and Jules Favre with a mission to Prim, in the hope +that he might secure Spanish support for France. Prim and his colleagues +refused to intervene, however, and Kératry then hastened to Tours, where +he placed himself at the disposal of Gambetta, with whom he was on terms +of close friendship. It was arranged between them that Kératry should +gather together all the available men who were left in Brittany, and train +and organize them, for which purposes a camp was established at Conlie, +north-west of Le Mans. + +Conlie was the first place which I decided to visit on quitting Saint +Servan. The most appalling rumours were current throughout Brittany +respecting the new camp. It was said to be grossly mismanaged and to be a +hotbed of disease. I visited it, collected a quantity of information, and +prepared an article which was printed by the _Daily News_ and attracted +considerable attention, being quoted by several other London papers and +taken in two instances as the text for leading articles. So far as the +camp's defences and the arming of the men assembled within it were +concerned, my strictures were fully justified, but certain official +documents, subsequently published, indicate that I was in error on some +points. The whole question having given rise to a good deal of controversy +among writers on the Franco-German War--some of them regarding Conlie as a +flagrant proof of Gambetta's mismanagement of military affairs--I will +here set down what I believe to be strictly the truth respecting it. + +The camp was established near the site of an old Roman one, located +between Conlie and Domfront, the principal part occupying some rising +ground in the centre of an extensive valley. It was intended to be a +training camp rather than an entrenched and fortified one, though a +redoubt was erected on the south, and some works were begun on the +northern and the north-eastern sides. When the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +reached Conlie after the battle of Le Mans, he expressed his surprise that +the French had not fortified so good a position more seriously, and +defended it with vigour. Both the railway line and the high-road between +Laval and Le Mans were near at hand, and only a few miles away there was +the old town of Sillé-le-Guillaume, one of the chief grain and cattle +markets of the region. There was considerable forest-land in the vicinity, +and wood was abundant. But there was no watercourse, and the wells of the +various adjacent little farms yielded but a very inadequate supply of +water for a camp in which at one moment some 40,000 men were assembled. +Thus, at the outset, the camp lacked one great essential, and such was the +case when I visited it in November. But I am bound to add that a source +was soon afterwards found in the very centre of the camp, and tapped so +successfully by means of a steam-pumping arrangement that it ended by +yielding over 300,000 litres of water per diem. The critics of the camp +have said that the spot was very damp and muddy, and therefore necessarily +unhealthy, and there is truth in that assertion; but the same might be +remarked of all the camps of the period, notably that of D'Aurelle de +Paladines in front of Orleans. Moreover, when a week's snow was followed +by a fortnight's thaw, matters could scarcely be different. [From first to +last (November 12 to January 7) 1942 cases of illness were treated in the +five ambulances of the camp. Among them were 264 cases of small-pox. There +were a great many instances of bronchitis and kindred affections, but not +many of dysentery. Among the small-pox cases 88 proved fatal.] + +I find on referring to documents of the period that on November 23, the +day before Gambetta visited the camp, as I shall presently relate, the +total effective was 665 officers with 23,881 men. By December 5 (although +a marching division of about 12,000 men had then left for the front) the +effective had risen to 1241 officers with about 40,000 men. [The rationing +of the men cost on an average about 7_d._ per diem.] There were 40 guns +for the defence of the camp, and some 50 field-pieces of various types, +often, however, without carriages and almost invariably without teams. +At no time, I find, were there more than 360 horses and fifty mules in the +camp. There was also a great scarcity of ammunition for the guns. +On November 23, the 24,000 men assembled in the camp had between them the +following firearms and ammunition:-- + + _Weapons_ _Cartridges_ + + Spencers (without bayonets) .. 5,000 912,080 + Chassepots .. .. .. .. 2,080 100,000 + Remingtons .. .. .. .. 2,000 218,000 + Snyders .. .. .. .. 1,866 170,000 + Muskets of various types .. .. 9,684 _Insufficient_ + Revolvers .. .. .. .. 500 _Sufficient_ + ______ + 21,130 + +Such things as guns, gun-carriages, firearms, cartridges, bayonets, and so +forth formed the subject of innumerable telegrams and letters exchanged +between Kératry and the National Defence Delegation at Tours. The former +was constantly receiving promises from Gambetta, which were seldom kept, +supplies at first intended for him being at the last moment sent in other +directions, according to the more pressing requirements of the hour. +Moreover, a good many of the weapons which Kératry actually received were +defective. In the early days of the camp, many of the men were given +staves--broom-sticks in some instances--for use at drill. + +When Gambetta arrived at Le Mans after Jaurès had retreated thither, he +learnt that action had become the more urgent as the Germans were steadily +prosecuting their advance. By orders of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, +to whose army these forces belonged, the French were followed to La +Ferté-Bernard; and whilst one German column then went west towards Saint +Cosme, another advanced southward to Vibraye, thus seriously threatening +Le Mans. Such was the position on November 23. Fortunately, Freycinet was +able to send Jaurès reinforcements which brought his effective to about +35,000 men, and at the same time Gambetta urged Kératry to prepare a +marching division of the men at Conlie. Early on the 24th, Gambetta (who, +by the way, had travelled from Tours to Le Mans at full speed on a railway +engine) visited the camp, and expressed his approval of all he saw there. +I caught a glimpse of him, muffled in his fur coat, and looking, as well +he might, intensely cold. His orders to Kératry were to proceed to Saint +Calais, and thence to the forest of Vibraye, so as to cover Le Mans on the +east. It took fourteen hours and twenty-one trains to convey the marching +division to Yvré l'Evêque on the Huisne, just beyond Le Mans. The +effective of the division was roughly 12,000 men, nearly all of them being +Breton Mobilisés. The artillery consisted of one battery of 12's, and one +of 4's, with the necessary horses, two batteries of 4's dragged by naval +volunteers, and several Gatling guns, which had only just been delivered. +These Gatlings, which at that time were absolutely unknown in France, were +not mounted, but packed in sections in sealed zinc cases, which were +opened in the railway vans on the journey, the guns being there put +together by a young naval officer and a couple of civilian engineers. A +little later the artillery of the force was augmented. + +After these troops had taken up position at Yvré, in order to prevent the +enemy from crossing the Huisne, various conferences were held between +Gambetta, Jaurès, and Kératry. General Le Bouëdec had been left in command +at Conlie, and General Trinité had been selected to command the marching +division of the Bretons. From the very outset, however, Kératry objected +to the plans of Gambetta and Jaurès, and, for the moment, the duties of +the Bretons were limited to participating in a reconnaissance on a +somewhat large scale--two columns of Jaurès' forces, under Generals Colin +and Rousseau, joining in this movement, which was directed chiefly on +Bouloire, midway between Le Mans and Saint Calais on the east. When +Bouloire was reached, however, the Germans who had momentarily occupied it +had retired, and the French thereupon withdrew to their former positions +near Le Mans. + +Then came trouble. Gambetta placed Kératry under the orders of Jaurès, and +Kératry would not accept the position. Great jealousy prevailed between +these two men; Kératry, who had served ten years in the French Army, +claiming that he knew a good deal more about military matters than Jaurès, +who, as I previously mentioned, had hitherto been a naval officer. In the +end Kératry threw up his command. Le Bouëdec succeeded him at Conlie, and +Frigate-Captain Gougeard (afterwards Minister of Marine in Gambetta's +Great Ministry) took charge of the Bretons at Yvré, where he exerted +himself to bring them to a higher state of efficiency. + +I must now refer to some other matters. Trochu had informed Gambetta of +his intention to make a sortie on the south-eastern side of Paris. The +plans adopted were mainly those of Ducrot, who took chief command. A +diversion made by Vinoy to the south of the city on November 29 gave the +Germans an inkling of what was intended, and proved a fruitless venture +which cost the French 1000 men. Another diversion attempted by General +Susbielle on November 30 led to a similar result, with a loss of 1200 men. +Ducrot, however, crossed the Marne, and very desperate fighting ensued at +Champigny and neighbouring localities. But Ducrot's force (less than +100,000 men) was insufficient for his purpose. The weather, moreover, was +extremely cold, the men had brought with them neither tents nor blankets, +and had to bivouac without fires. According to Trochu's memoirs there was +also an insufficiency of ammunition. Thus the Champigny sortie failed, +and the French retired to their former lines. [From November 30 to +December 3 the French lost 9482 men; and the Germans 5288 men.] + +At the very moment when the Army of Paris was in full retreat, the second +battle of Orleans was beginning. Gambetta and Freyoinet wished D'Aurelle +to advance with the Loire Army in order to meet the Parisians, who, if +victorious, were expected to march on Fontainebleau by way of Melun. In +the latter days of November D'Aurelle was still covering Orleans on the +north with the 15th and 16th army corps (Generals Martin des Pallieres and +Chanzy). On his left was the 17th under Durrieu, who, a few days later, +was succeeded by a dashing cavalry officer, General de Sonis. Near at +hand, also, there was the 18th army corps, to command which Bourbaki had +been summoned from northern France, his place being taken temporarily by +young General Billot, who was appointed to be his chief of staff. The +former Army of the East under Crouzat [This had now become the 20th Army +Corps.] was on the southern side of the Loire, somewhere between Gien and +Nevers, and it was in a very deplorable condition. Boots were wanted for +10,000 men, tents for a like number, and knapsacks for 20,000. In some +battalions there were only sufficient knapsacks for a quarter of the men, +the others carrying their clothes, provisions, and cartridges all +higgledy-piggledy in canvas bags. I once heard an eyewitness relate that +many of Crouzat's soldiers marched with their biscuits (four days' supply) +strung together like chaplets, which hung from their necks or shoulders. + +The Germans had heard of the removal of Crouzat's force to the Loire +country, and by way of creating a diversion the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg +was ordered to march on Beaugenoy, southwest of Orleans. Meantime, +Gambetta and Freyoinet were vainly imploring D'Aurelle to advance. He made +all sorts of excuses. At one moment he offered to consider their plans-- +not to comply with them; at another he wished to wait for decisive news +from Trochu and Ducrot. Finally, instead of the five army corps resolutely +advancing in the direction of Paris, it was resolved just to open the way +with the 18th (Billot), the 20th (Crouzat), and some detachments of the +15th (Martin des Pallieres). The result was the sharp battle and serious +defeat of Beaune-la-Rolande (November 28), when the 18th corps behaved +extremely well, whilst the 20th, to whose deplorable condition I have just +referred, retreated after a little fighting; the men of the 15th on their +side doing little or nothing at all. In this engagement the French, whose +forces ought to have been more concentrated, lost 4000 men in killed and +wounded, and 1800 who were taken prisoners; the German loss not exceeding +1000 men. Four days later (December 2) came the very serious repulse of +Loigny-Poupry, in which the 15th, 16th, and 17th army corps were engaged. +The French then lost from 6000 to 7000 men (2500 of them being taken +prisoners), and though the German losses exceeded 4000, the engagement +ended by quite demoralising D'Aurelle's army. + +Under those conditions came the battle of Orleans on December 3 and 4--the +Germans now being under the chief command of that able soldier, Prince +Frederick Charles of Prussia, father of the Duchess of Connaught. On this +occasion D'Aurelle ordered the corps engaged at Loigny to retreat on his +entrenched camp. The 18th and 20th could not cooperate in this movement, +however; and on the three others being driven back, D'Aurelle instructed +Chanzy to retire on Beaugency and Marchenoir, but sent no orders to +Bourbaki, who was now on the scene of action. Finally, the commander-in- +chief decided to abandon his entrenched camp, the troops disbanded and +scattered, and Orleans was evacuated, the flight being so precipitate that +two of the five bridges across the Loire were left intact, at the enemy's +disposal. Moreover, the French Army was now dislocated, Bourbaki, with the +18th, and Des Pallières, with the 15th corps, being on the south of the +river, whilst the other three corps were on the northern side. The former +retired in the direction of Bourges and Nevers, whilst Chanzy, who was now +placed in chief command of the others, D'Aurelle being removed from his +post, withdrew gradually towards the forest of Marchenoir. In that second +battle of Orleans the French lost 20,000 men, but 18,000 of them were +taken prisoners. On their side, the Germans (who captured 74 guns) lost +fewer than 1800 men. + +For three days (December 8 to 10) Chanzy contested the German advance at +Villorceau, but on December 12 Blois had to be evacuated, and the army +withdrew to the line of the Loir in the neighbourhood of Vendôme. +Meantime, at the very moment when the fate of Orleans was being sealed, +orders reached Jaurès at Le Mans to advance to the support of the Loire +Army. I was lodging at an inn in the town, my means being too slender to +enable me to patronize any of the big hotels on the Place des Halles, +which, moreover, were crowded with officers, functionaries, and so forth. +I had become acquainted with some of the officers of the Breton division +under Gougeard, and on hearing that they were going to the front, I +managed to obtain from Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, +permission to accompany the column with one of the ambulance parties. Now +and again during the advance I rode in one of the vans, but for the most +part I marched with the men, this, moreover, being the preferable course, +as the weather was extremely cold. Even had I possessed the means (and at +most I had about £10 in my pocket), I could not have bought a horse at Le +Mans. I was stoutly clad, having a very warm overcoat of grey Irish +frieze, with good boots, and a pair of gaiters made for me by Nicholas, +the Saint Malo bootmaker, younger brother (so he himself asserted) of +Niccolini the tenor, sometime husband of Mme. Patti. + +There were from 10,000 to 12,000 men in our force, which now ranked as the +fourth division of the 21st army corps. Nearly all the men of both +brigades were Breton Mobilisés, adjoined to whom, however, perhaps for the +purpose of steadying them, were three or four very small detachments of +former regiments of the line. There was also a small contingent of the +French Foreign Legion, which had been brought from Algeria. Starting from +Yvré l'Evêque towards, noon on December 4, we marched to Ardenay, where +we spent the night. The weather was fine and dry, but intensely cold. +On the 5th we camped on some hills near the town of Saint Calais, moved +only a mile or two farther on the 6th--there being a delay in the receipt +of certain orders--then, at seven o'clock on the 7th, started in the +direction of Vendôme, marching for about twelve hours with only the +briefest halts. We passed from the department of the Sarthe into that +of Loir-et-Cher, going on until we reached a little place called +Ville-aux-Cleros, where we spent the night under uncomfortable conditions, +for it snowed. Early the following day we set out again, and, leaving +Vendôme a couple of miles or so away on our right, we passed Fréteval and +camped on the outskirts of the forest of Marchenoir. + +The night proved bitterly cold, the temperature being some fourteen +degrees (centigrade) below freezing-point. I slept huddled up in a van, +but the men generally were under canvas, and there was very little straw +for them to lie upon, in such wise that in the morning some of them +actually found their garments frost-bound to the ground! Throughout the +night of the 10th we heard guns booming in the distance. On the 11th, the +12th, and the 13th December we were continually marching, always going in +the direction of the guns. We went from Ecoman to Morée, to Saint +Hilaire-la-Gravelle, and thence to the Chateau de Rougemont near +Fréteval, a spot famous as the scene of a victory gained by our Richard +Coeur-de-Lion over Philip Augustus. The more or less distant artillery +fire was incessant both by day and by night; but we were only supporting +other divisions of the corps, and did not find ourselves actually engaged. +On the 15th, however, there was very sharp fighting both at Fréteval and +Morée, and on the morning of the 16th our Gatlings went forward to support +the second division of our army corps, which was being hard pressed by the +Germans. + +All at once, however, orders for a general retreat arrived, Chanzy having +at last decided to fall back on Le Mans. There was considerable confusion, +but at last our men set out, taking a north-westerly direction. Fairly +good order prevailed on the road, and the wiry little Bretons at least +proved that their marching powers were unimpaired. We went on incessantly +though slowly during the night, and did not make a real halt until about +seven o'clock on the following morning, when, almost dead-beat, we reached +a little town called Droué. + +Jaurès, I should mention, had received the order to retreat at about four +o'clock on the afternoon of December 16, and had speedily selected three +different routes for the withdrawal of the 21st army corps. Our division, +however, was the last to quit its positions, it being about eight o'clock +at night when we set out. Thus our march lasted nine hours. The country +was a succession of sinuous valleys and stiff slopes, and banks often +overlooked the roads, which were edged with oaks and bushes. There were +several streams, a few woods, and a good many little copses. Farms often +lay close together, and now and again attempts were made to buy food and +drink of the peasantry, who, upon hearing our approach, came at times with +lights to their thresholds. But they were a close-fisted breed, and +demanded exorbitant prices. Half a franc was the lowest charge for a piece +of bread. Considering how bad the men's boots were, the marching was very +good, but a number of men deserted under cover of the night. Generally +speaking, though there was a slight skirmish at Cloyes and an engagement +at Droué, as I shall presently relate, the retreat was not greatly +hampered by the enemy. In point of fact, as the revelations of more recent +years have shown, Moltke was more anxious about the forces of Bourbaki +than about those of Chanzy, and both Prince Frederick Charles and the +Grand Duke of Mecklenburg had instructions to keep a strict watch on the +movements of Bourbaki's corps. Nevertheless, some of the Grand Duke's +troops--notably a body of cavalry--attempted to cut off our retreat. When, +however, late on the 16th, some of our men came in contact with a +detachment of the enemy near Cloyes, they momentarily checked its +progress, and, as I have indicated, we succeeded in reaching Droué without +loss. + +That morning, the 17th, the weather was again very cold, a fog following +the rain and sleet of the previous days. Somewhat later, however, snow +began to fall. At Droué--a little place of about a thousand inhabitants, +with a ruined castle and an ancient church--we breakfasted as best we +could. About nine o'clock came marching orders, and an hour later, when a +large number of our men were already on their way towards Saint Agil, our +next halting-place, General Gougeard mounted and prepared to go off with +his staff, immediately in advance of our rear-guard. At that precise +moment, however, we were attacked by the Germans, whose presence near us +we had not suspected. + +It was, however, certainly known to some of the inhabitants of Droué, who, +terrified by all that they had heard of the harshness shown by the Germans +towards the localities where they encountered any resistance, shrank from +informing either Gougeard or any of his officers that the enemy was at +hand. The artillery with which our rear was to be protected was at this +moment on the little square of Droué. It consisted of a mountain battery +under Sub-Lieutenant Gouesse of the artillery, and three Gatlings under +Sub-Lieutenant De la Forte of the navy, with naval lieutenant Rodellec du +Porzic in chief command. Whilst it was being brought into position, +Colonel Bernard, Gougeard's chief of staff, galloped off to stop the +retreat of the other part of our column. The enemy's force consisted of +detachments of cavalry, artillery, and Landwehr infantry. Before our +little guns could be trained on them, the Landwehr men had already seized +several outlying houses, barns, and sheds, whence they strove to pick off +our gutiners. For a moment our Mobilisés hesitated to go forward, but +Gougeard dashed amongst them, appealed to their courage, and then led them +against the enemy. + +Not more than three hundred yards separated the bulk of the contending +forces, indeed there were some Germans in the houses less than two hundred +yards away. Our men at last forced these fellows to decamp, killing and +wounding several of them; whilst, thanks to Colonel Bernard's prompt +intervention, a battalion of the 19th line regiment and two companies of +the Foreign Legion, whose retreat was hastily stopped, threatened the +enemy's right flank. A squadron of the Second Lancers under a young +lieutenant also came to our help, dismounting and supporting Gougeard's +Mobilises with the carbines they carried. Realizing that we were in force, +the enemy ended by retreating, but not until there had been a good deal of +fighting in and around the outlying houses of Droué. + +Such, briefly, was the first action I ever witnessed. Like others, I was +under fire for some time, being near the guns and helping to carry away +the gunners whom the Germans shot from the windows of the houses in which +they had installed themselves. We lost four or five artillerymen in that +manner, including the chief officer, M. de Rodelleo du Porzic, whom a +bullet struck in the chest. He passed away in a little café whither we +carried him. He was, I believe, the last of his family, two of his +brothers having previously been killed in action. + +We lost four or five other officers in this same engagement, as well as a +Breton chaplain of the Mobilisés. Our total losses were certainly larger +than Gougeard subsequently stated in his official report, amounting in +killed and wounded, I think, to from 120 to 150 men. Though the officers +as a rule behaved extremely well--some of them, indeed, splendidly--there +were a few lamentable instances of cowardice. By Gougeard's orders, four +were placed under arrest and court-martialled at the end of the retreat. +Of these, two were acquitted, whilst a third was shot, and a fourth +sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a fortress. [From the formation of +the "Army of Brittany" until the armistice the total number of executions +was eleven. They included one officer (mentioned above) for cowardice in +presence of the enemy; five men of the Foreign Legion for murdering +peasants; one Franc-titeur for armed robbery, and four men (Line and +Mobile Guards) for desertion in presence of the enemy. The number would +have been larger had it been possible to identify and punish those who +were most guilty in the stampede of La Tuilerie during the battle of +Le Mans.] + +The enemy's pursuit having been checked, we eventually quitted Droué, but +when we had gone another three miles or so and reached a village called +Fontenelle, the Germans came on again. It was then about two o'clock in +the afternoon, and for a couple of hours or so, whilst we continued our +retreat, the enemy kept up a running cannonade, repeatedly endeavouring +to harass our rear. We constantly replied to their fire, however, and +steadily kept them off, losing only a few men before the dusk fell, when +the pursuit ceased. We afterwards plodded on slowly--the roads being in a +terrible condition--until at about half-past six o'clock we reached the +village of Saint Agil, where the staff installed itself at Count de +Saint-Maixent's stately renaissance château. + +The weather was better on December 18, for, though it was extremely cold, +the snow ceased falling. But we still had a formidable task before us. +The roads, as I have said, were wretched, and at Saint Agil we had to +contend with some terrible quagmires, across which we found it at first +impossible to get our guns, ammunition-vans, and baggage train. It became +necessary to lop and fell trees, and form with them a kind of bed over +which our impedimenta might travel. Hour after hour went by amidst +incessant labour. An ammunition waggon containing only half its proper +load required the efforts of a dozen horses to pull it over that morass, +whilst, as for the guns, each of the 12's required even more horses. +It was three o'clock on the afternoon of the 18th when the last gun was +got across. Three gun-carriages were broken during those efforts, but our +men managed to save the pieces. Late in the operations the Germans again +put in an appearance, but were held in respect by our Gatlings and +mountain-guns. Half an hour, however, after our departure from Saint Agil, +they entered the village. + +In a very wretched condition, half-famished and footsore, we went on, +through the sudden thaw which had set in, towards Vibraye, whose forest, +full in those days of wild boars and deer, stretched away on our left. +We were now in the department of the Sarthe, and, cutting across country +in the direction of the Huisne, we at last reached the ancient little +_bourg_ of Connerré, on the high-road running (left of the river) towards +Le Mans. There I took leave of our column, and, after buying a shirt and +some socks, hastened to the railway station--a mile and a half distant-- +hoping, from what was told me, that there might be some means of getting +to Le Mans by train, instead of accompanying our men along the highway. +At Connerré station I found a very good inn, where I at once partook of +the best meal that I had eaten since leaving Le Mans, sixteen days +previously. I then washed, put on my new shirt and socks, and went to +interview the station-master. After a great deal of trouble, as I had a +permit signed by Colonel Bernard, and wore an ambulance armlet, I was +allowed to travel to Le Mans in a railway van. There was no regular +service of trains, the only ones now running so far north being used for +military purposes. I got to Le Mans a few hours before our column reached +Yvré l'Evêque on the night of December 20, and at once sought a train +which would convey me to Rennes, if not as far as Saint Malo. Then came +another long, slow, dreary journey in a villainous wooden-seated +third-class carriage. It was between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning +when we reached Rennes. I still had about five-and-twenty francs in my +pocket, and knowing that it would not cost me more than a quarter of that +amount to get to Saint Malo, I resolved to indulge in a good _dejeuner_ at +the Hôtel de France. + +There was nobody excepting a few waiters in the long dining-room, but the +tables were already laid there. When, however, I seated myself at one of +them, the head-waiter came up declaring that I could not be accommodated, +as the tables were reserved for _ces messieurs_. I was inquiring who +_ces messieurs_ might be, when some of them entered the room in a very +swaggering manner. All were arrayed in stylish and brand-new uniforms, +with beautiful boots, and looked in the pink of condition. They belonged, +I found, to a free corps called the "Eclaireurs d'Ille-et-Vilaine," and +their principal occupations were to mess together copiously and then +stroll about the town, ogling all the good-looking girls they met. The +corps never went to the front. Three or four weeks afterwards, when I +again passed through Rennes--this second time with my father--Messieurs +les Eclaireurs were still displaying their immaculate uniforms and highly +polished boots amidst all the misery exhibited by the remnants of one of +Chanzy's _corps d'armée_. + +Though I was little more than a boy, my blood fairly boiled when I was +requested to give up my seat at table for these arrogant young fops. +I went to complain at the hotel _bureau_, but, being confronted there by +the landlady instead of by the landlord, I did not express my feelings so +strongly as I might have done. "Madame" sweetly informed me that the first +_déjeuner_ was entirely reserved for Messieurs les Eclaireurs, but that, +if I would wait till the second _déjeuner_ at noon, I should find ample +accommodation. However, I was not inclined to do any such thing. I thought +of all the poor, famished, shivering men whom I had left less than +twenty-four hours previously, and some of whom I had more than once helped +to buy bread and cheese and wine during our long and painful marches. +They, at all events, had done their duty as best they could, and I felt +highly indignant with the swaggering young bloods of Rennes, who were +content to remain in their native town displaying their uniforms and +enjoying themselves. Fortunately, such instances were very rare. + +Returning to the railway station, I obtained something to eat at the +refreshment-room, where I presently heard somebody trying to make +a waiter understand an order given in broken French. Recognizing a +fellow-countryman, I intervened and procured what he desired. I found that +he was going to Saint Malo like myself, so we made the journey together. +He told me that, although he spoke very little French, he had come to +France on behalf of an English boot-making firm in order to get a contract +from some of the military authorities. Many such people were to be found +in Brittany, at Le Mans, at Tours, and elsewhere, during the latter period +of the war. An uncle of mine, Frederick Vizetelly, came over, I remember, +and interviewed Freyeinet and others on behalf of an English small-arm +firm. I forget whether he secured a contract or not; but it is a +lamentable and uncontrovertible fact that many of the weapons and many of +the boots sold by English makers to the National Defence were extremely +defective. Some of the American weapons were even worse than ours. As for +the boots, they often had mere "composition soles," which were soon worn +out. I saw, notably after the battle of Le Mans, hundreds--I believe I +might say, without, exaggeration, thousands--of men whose boots were mere +remnants. Some hobbled through the snow with only rags wrapped round their +bleeding feet. On the other hand, a few of our firms undoubtedly supplied +satisfactory boots, and it may have been so in the case of the traveller +whom I met at Rennes. + +A few days after my return to Saint Malo, my cousin, Montague Vizetelly, +arrived there with a commission from the _Daily News_ to join Chanzy's +forces at Le Mans. Mr. Robinson, I was afterwards told, had put some +questions about me to my brother Adrian, and, on hearing how young I was, +had thought that I might not be equal to the occasion if a decisive battle +between Prince Frederick Charles and Chanzy should be fought. My cousin-- +then four-and-twenty years of age--was accordingly sent over. From that +time nearly all my war letters were forwarded to the _Pall Mall Gazette_, +and, as it happened, one of them was the first account of the great battle +of Le Mans, from the French side, to appear in an English paper. + + + +XI + +BEFORE LE MANS + +The War in various Regions of France--General Faidherbe--Battle of +Pont-Noyelles--Unreliability of French Official News--Engagement of +Nuits--Le Bourget Sortie--Battles of Bapaume and Villersexel--Chanzy's +Plan of Operations--The Affair of Saint Calais--Wretched State of some +of Chanzy's Soldiers--Le Mans and its Historical Associations--The +Surrounding Country--Chanzy's Career--Positions of his Forces--Advance +of Prince Frederick Charles--The first Fighting before Le Mans and its +Result. + + +Whilst Chanzy was retreating on Le Mans, and there reorganizing and +reinforcing his army, a variety of operations went on in other parts +of France. After the German occupation of Amiens, Moltke instructed +Manteuffel to advance on Rouen, which he did, afterwards despatching a +column to Dieppe; the result being that on December 9 the Germans, for +the first time, reached the sea-coast. Since December 3 Faidherbe had +taken the chief command of the Army of the North at Lille. He was +distinctly a clever general, and was at that time only fifty-two years of +age. But he had spent eleven years in Senegal, organizing and developing +that colony, and his health had been impaired by the tropical West African +climate. Nevertheless, he evinced no little energy, and never despaired, +however slender might be the forces under him, and however cramped his +position. As soon as he had reorganized the army entrusted to his charge, +he moved towards Amiens, and on December 23 and 24 a battle was fought at +Pont-Noyelles, in the vicinity of that town. In some respects Faidherbe +gained the advantage, but his success was a barren one, and his losses +were far greater than those of the Germans, amounting, indeed, to 2300 men +(apart from many deserters), whereas the enemy's were not more than a +thousand. Gambetta, however, telegraphed to the Prefects that a great +victory had been gained; and I remember that when a notice to that effect +was posted at the town-hall of Saint Servan, everybody there became +jubilant. + +Most of our war-news, or, at least, the earliest intelligence of any +important engagement, came to us in the fashion I have indicated, +townsfolk constantly assembling outside the prefectures, subprefectures, +and municipal buildings in order to read the day's news. At times it was +entirely false, at others some slight success of the French arms was +magnified into a victory, and a petty engagement became a pitched battle. +The news in the French newspapers was usually very belated and often quite +unreliable, though now and again telegrams from London were published, +giving information which was as near to the truth as the many English war +correspondents on both sides could ascertain. After the war, both +Frenchmen and Germans admitted to me that of all the newspaper +intelligence of the period there was nothing approaching in accuracy +that which was imparted by our British correspondents. I am convinced, +from all I heard in Paris, in Berlin, in Vienna, and elsewhere, during +the two or three years which followed the war, that the reputation of the +British Press was greatly enhanced on the Continent by the news it gave +during the Franco-German campaign. Many a time in the course of the next +few years did I hear foreigners inquire: "What do the London papers say?" +or remark: "If an English paper says it, it must be true." I do not wish +to blow the trumpet too loudly on behalf of the profession to which I +belonged for many years, but what I have here mentioned is strictly true; +and now that my days of travel are over, I should be glad to know that +foreigners still hold the British Press in the same high esteem. + +But, to return to my narrative, whilst the events I have mentioned were +taking place in Normandy and Northern France, Gambetta was vainly trying +to persuade Bourbaki to advance in the direction of Montargis. He also +wished to reinforce Garibaldi; but the enmity of many French officers +towards the Italian Liberator was so great that they would not serve with +him. General von Werder was at this time covering the siege of Belfort and +watching Langres. On December 18 there was an engagement at Nuits between +some of his forces and those led by the French commander Cremer, who +claimed the victory, but afterwards retreated towards Beaune. The French, +however, were now able to re-occupy Dijon. On the 21st another sortie was +made from Paris, this time on the north, in the direction of Le Bourget +and Ville-Evrard. Ducrot was again in command, and 200,000 men were got +together, but only 5000 were brought into action. There were a great many +desertions, and no fewer than six officers of one brigade alone were +court-martialled and punished for lack of courage. The affair appears to +have been arranged in order to quiet the more reckless elements in Paris, +who were for ever demanding "a great, a torrential sortie." In this +instance, however, there was merely "much ado about nothing." The truth +is, that ever since the Champigny affair both Trochu and Ducrot had lost +all confidence. + +On January 2 and 3, the French under Faidherbe, and the Germans under +Goeben, fought a battle at Bapaume, south of Arras. The former were by far +the more numerous force, being, indeed, as three to one, and Faidherbe is +credited with having gained a victory. But, again, it was only a barren +one, for although the Germans fell back, the French found it quite as +necessary to do the same. About a week previously the 16th French Army +Corps, with which Bourbaki had done little or nothing on the Loire, had +been removed from Vierzon and Bourges to join the Army of the East, of +which Bourbaki now assumed the chief command. The transport of the troops +proved a very difficult affair, and there was great disorder and, again, +many desertions. Nevertheless, on January 9, Bourbaki fought Werder at +Villersexel, in the vicinity of Vesoul, Montbéliard, and Belfort. In this +engagement there appear to have been serious mistakes on both sides, and +though Bourbaki claimed a success, his losses were numerically double +those of the Germans. + +Meantime Chanzy, at Le Mans, was urging all sorts of plans on Gambetta and +Freyeinet. In the first place he desired to recruit and strengthen his +forces, so sorely tried by their difficult retreat; and in order that he +might have time to do so, he wished Bourbaki to execute a powerful +diversion by marching in the direction of Troyes. But Gambetta and +Freyeinet had decided otherwise. Bourbaki's advance was to be towards the +Vosges, after which he was to turn westward and march on Paris with +150,000 men. Chanzy was informed of this decision on and about January 5 +(1871), and on the 6th he made a last attempt to modify the Government +plan in order that Bourbaki's march might be directed on a point nearer to +Paris. In reply, he was informed that it was too late to modify the +arrangements. + +With regard to his own operations, Chanzy's idea was to march towards the +capital when his forces were reorganized. His bases were to be the river +Sarthe, the town of Le Mans, and the railway-line running northward to +Alençon. Thence he proposed to advance to some point on the river Eure +between Dreux and Chartres, going afterwards towards Paris by such a route +as circumstances might allow. He had 130,000 men near Le Mans, and +proposed to take 120,000 with 350 field-pieces or machine-guns, and +calculated that he might require a week, or to be precise eight days, to +carry this force from Le Mans to Chartres, allowing for fighting on the +way. Further, to assist his movements he wished Faidherbe, as well as +Bourbaki, to assume the offensive vigorously as soon as he was ready. The +carrying out of the scheme was frustrated, however, in part by the +movements which the Government ordered Bourbaki to execute, and in part by +what may be called the sudden awakening of Prince Frederick Charles, who, +feeling more apprehensive respecting Bourbaki's movements, had hitherto, +in a measure, neglected Chanzy's doings. + +On December 22 Captain, afterwards General, de Boisdeffre [He was Chief of +the French Staff during the famous Dreyfus Case, in which his name was +frequently mentioned.] reached Le Mans, after quitting Paris in one of the +balloons, and gave Chanzy certain messages with which Trochu had entrusted +him. He brought nothing in writing, as what he had to communicate was +considered too serious to be committed to paper. Yet both my father and +myself could have imparted virtually the same information, which was but a +_secret de Polichinelle_. It concerned the date when the fall of Paris +would become inevitable. We--my father and myself--had said repeatedly at +Versailles and elsewhere that the capital's supply of food would last +until the latter days of January, and that the city (unless in the +meanwhile it were relieved) must then surrender. Authentic information to +that effect was available in Paris before we quitted it in November. +Of course Trochu's message to Chanzy was official, and carried greater +weight than the assertions of journalists. It was to the effect that it +would be necessary to negotiate a capitulation on January 20, in order to +give time for the revictualling of the city's two million inhabitants. +As it happened, the resistance was prolonged for another week or so. +However, Boisdeffre's information was sufficiently explicit to show Chanzy +that no time must be lost if Paris was to be saved. + +Some German cavalry--probably the same men who had pursued Gougeard's +column--showed themselves at Saint Calais, which is only some thirty +miles north-east of Le Mans, as early as December 18, but soon retired, +and no further advance of the enemy in that direction took place for +several days. Chanzy formed two flying columns, one a division under +General Jouffroy, and one a body of 4000 men under General Rousseau, for +the purpose of worrying the enemy and keeping him at a distance. These +troops, particularly those of Jouffroy, who moved towards Montoire and +Vendôme, had several small but none the less important engagements with +the Germans. Prince Frederick Charles, indeed, realised that Jouffroy's +operations were designed to ensure the security of Chanzy's main army +whilst it was being recruited and reorganized, and thereupon decided to +march on Le Mans and attack Chanzy before the latter had attained his +object. + +On Christmas Day a force of German cavalry, artillery, and infantry +descended upon Saint Calais (then a town of about 3500 inhabitants), +levied a sum of 17,000 francs, pillaged several of the houses, and +ill-treated a number of the townsfolk. When some of the latter ventured to +protest, pointing out, among other things, that after various little +engagements in the vicinity several wounded Germans had been brought into +the town and well cared for there, the enemy's commanding officer called +them a pack of cowards, and flung them 2000 francs of his recent levy, to +pay them, he said, for their so-called services. The affair was reported +to Chanzy, who thereupon wrote an indignant letter to the German general +commanding at Vendôme. It was carried thither by a certain M. de Vézian, a +civil engineer attached to Chanzy's staff, who brought back the following +reply: + +"Reçu une lettre du Général Chanzy. Un général prussien ne sachant pas +écrire une lettre de tel genre, ne saurait y faire une réponse par écrit. + +"Au quartier-général à Vendôme, 28 Décembre 1870." + +Signature (_illegible_). + +It was, perhaps, a pity that Chanzy ever wrote his letter of protest. +French generals were too much given to expressing their feelings in +writing daring that war. Deeds and not words were wanted. + +Meantime, the army was being slowly recruited. On December 13, Gambetta +had issued--none too soon--a decree authorising the billeting of the men +"during the winter campaign." Nevertheless, when Gougeard's troops +returned to Yvreé l'Evêque, they were ordered to sleep under canvas, like +many other divisions of the army. It was a great mistake. In that severe +weather--the winter was one of the coldest of the nineteenth century--the +men's sufferings were very great. They were in need, too, of many things, +new shoes, linen, great-coats, and other garments, and there was much +delay in providing for their more urgent requirements. Thus the number of +desertions was not to be wondered at. The commander-in-chief did his best +to ensure discipline among his dispirited troops. Several men were shot by +way of example. When, shortly before the battle of Le Mans, the 21st Army +Corps crossed the Huisne to take up positions near Montfort, several +officers were severely punished for riding in ambulance and baggage +waggons instead of marching with their men. + +Le Mans is not easily defended from an enemy advancing upon it from +eastern, north-eastern, and south-eastern directions. A close defence is +impossible by reason of the character of the country. At the time of which +I write, the town was one of about 37,000 inhabitants. Very ancient, +already in existence at the time of the Romans, it became the capital of +Maine. William the Conqueror seized it, but it was snatched from his son, +Robert, by Hélie de La Flêche. Later, Geoffrey, the First of the +Plantagenets, was buried there, it being, moreover, the birthplace of his +son, our Henry II. In after years it was taken from Richard Coeur-de-Lion +by Philip-Augustus, who assigned it, however, to Richard's widow, Queen +Berengaria. A house in the town is wrongly said to have been her +residence, but she undoubtedly founded the Abbaye de l'Epau, near Yvré +l'Evêque, and was buried there. It was at Le Mans that King John of +France, who surrendered to the Black Prince at Poitiers, was born; and in +the neighbouring forest, John's grandson, Charles VI, first gave signs of +insanity. Five times during the Anglo-French wars of the days of Henry V +and Henry VI, Le Mans was besieged by one or another of the contending +parties. The town again suffered during the Huguenot wars, and yet again +during the Revolution, when the Vendéens seized it, but were expelled by +Marceau, some 5000 of them being bayoneted on the Place de l'Epéron. + +Rich in associations with the history of England as well as that of +France, Le Mans, in spite of its accessibility--for railway lines coming +from five different directions meet there--is seldom visited by our +tourists. Its glory is its cathedral, strangely neglected by the numerous +English writers on the cathedrals of France. Here are exemplified the +architectural styles of five successive centuries, and, as Mérimée once +wrote, in passing from one part of the edifice to another, it is as if you +passed from one to another religion. But the supreme features of the +cathedral are its stained-glass windows, which include some of the very +oldest in the world. Many years ago, when they were in a more perfect +condition than they are now, Hucher gave reproductions of them in a rare +folio volume. Here, too, is the tomb of Queen Berengaria of England, +removed from the Abbaye de l'Epau; here, also, was formerly that of her +husband's grandfather, Geoffrey Plantagenet. But this was destroyed by +the Huguenots, and you must go to the museum to see all that remains of +it--that is, the priceless enamel _plaque_ by which it was formerly +surmounted, and which represents Geoffrey grasping his sword and his azure +shield, the latter bearing a cross and lions rampant--not the leoparded +lions passant of his English descendants. Much ink has flowed respecting +that shield during squabbles among heraldists. + +Judging by recent plans of Le Mans, a good many changes have taken place +there since the time of the Franco-German War. Various new, broad, +straight streets have been substituted for some of the quaint old winding +ones. The Pont Napoléon now appears to have become the Pont Gambetta, and +the Place, des Minimes is called the Place de la République. I notice also +a Rue Thiers which did not exist in the days when Le Mans was familiar to +me as an old-world town. In this narrative I must, of course, take it as +it was then, not as it is now. + +The Sarthe, flowing from north to south, where it is joined by its +tributary the Huisne, coming from the north-east, still divides the town +into two unequal sections; the larger one, on the most elevated part of +which stands the cathedral, being that on the river's left bank. At the +time I write of, the Sarthe was spanned by three stone bridges, a +suspension bridge, and a granite and marble railway viaduct, some 560 feet +in length. The German advance was bound to come from the east and the +south. On the east is a series of heights, below which flow the waters of +the Huisne. The views range over an expanse of varying elevation, steep +hills and deep valleys being frequent. There are numerous watercourses. +The Huisne, which helps to feed the Sarthe, is itself fed by a number of +little tributaries. The lowest ground, at the time I have in mind, was +generally meadow-land, intersected here and there with rows of poplars, +whilst the higher ground was employed for the cultivation of crops. Every +little field was circumscribed by ditches, banks, and thick hedges. + +The loftiest point of the eastern heights is at Yvré l'Evêque, which was +once crowned by a renaissance chateau, where Henry of Navarre resided when +he reduced Le Mans to submission. Northward from Yvré, in the direction of +Savigné, stretches the high plateau of Sargé, which on the west slopes +down towards the river Sarthe, and forms one of the most important of the +natural defences of Le Mans. Eastward, from Yvré, you overlook first the +Huisne, spanned at various neighbouring points by four bridges, but having +much of the meadow-land in its valley cut up by little water-channels for +purposes of irrigation--these making the ground additionally difficult for +an attacking force to traverse. Secondly, you see a long plateau called +Auvours, the possession of which must necessarily facilitate an enemy's +operations. Following the course of the railway-line coming from the +direction of Paris, you notice several pine woods, planted on former +heaths. Still looking eastward, is the village of Champagné, where the +slopes are studded with vines, whilst the plain is arable land, dotted +over with clumps of chestnut trees. North-east of Champagné is Montfort, +where Chanzy at first stationed the bulk of the 21st Army Corps under +Jaurès, this (leaving his flying columns on one side) being the most +eastern position of his forces at the time when the German advance began. +The right of the 21st Corps here rested on the Huisne. Its extreme left +extended northward towards the Sarthe, but a division of the 17th Corps +under General de Colomb guarded the Alençon (N.) and Conlie (N.W.) railway +lines. + +Confronted by the Huisne, the heights of Yvré and the plateaux of Sargé +and Auvours, having, for the most part, to keep to the high-roads--for, +bad as their state might be at that season, it was nothing compared with +the condition of the many narrow and often deep lanes, whose high banks +and hedges, moreover, offered opportunities for ambush--the Germans, it +was obvious, would have a difficult task before them on the eastern side +of Le Mans, even should they drive the 21st Corps from Montfort. The +approach to the town is easier, however, on the south-east and the south, +Here are numerous pine woods, but on going towards Le Mans, after passing +Parigné-l'Evêque (S.E.) and Mulsanne (S.), the ground is generally much +less hilly than on the east. There are, however, certain positions +favourable for defence. There is high ground at Changé, midway between the +road from Saint Calais to Le Mans, _viâ_ Yvré, and the road from Grand +Lucé to Le Mans _viâ_ Parigné. Over a distance of eight miles, moreover, +there extends--or extended at the time I refer to--a track called the +Chemin des Boeufs, suitable for defensive purposes, with high ground at at +least two points--Le Tertre Rouge, south-east of Le Mans, and La Tuilerie, +south of the town. The line of the Chemin des Boeufs and the position of +Changé was at first entrusted by Chanzy to the 16th Corps, whose +commander, Jauréguiberry, had his headquarters at the southern suburb of +Pontlieue, an important point affording direct access to Le Mans by a +stone bridge over the Huisne. + +When I returned to Le Mans from Saint Servan in the very first days of +January, Chanzy's forces numbered altogether about 130,000 men, but a very +large proportion of them were dispersed in different directions, forming +detached columns under Generals Barry, Curten, Rousseau, and Jouffroy. The +troops of the two first-named officers had been taken from the 16th Corps +(Jauréguiberry), those of Rousseau were really the first division of the +21st Corps (Jaurès), and those of Jouffroy belonged to the 17th, commanded +by General de Colomb. [The 16th and 17th comprised three divisions each, +the 21st including four. The German Corps were generally of only two +divisions, with, however, far stronger forces of cavalry than Chanzy +disposed of.] It is a curious circumstance that, among the German +troops which opposed the latter's forces at this stage of the war, there +was a division commanded by a General von Colomb. Both these officers had +sprung from the same ancient French family, but Von Colomb came from a +Huguenot branch which had quitted France when the Edict of Nantes was +revoked. + +Chanzy's other chief coadjutors at Le Mans were Jaurès, of whom I have +already spoken, and Rear-Admiral Jauréguiberry, who, after the general-in- +chief, was perhaps the most able of all the commanders. Of Basque origin +and born in 1815, he had distinguished himself as a naval officer in the +Crimean, Chinese, and Cochin China expeditions; and on taking service in +the army under the National Defence, he had contributed powerfully to +D'Aurelle's victory at Coulmiers. He became known among the Loire forces +as the man who was always the first to attack and the last to retreat. +[He looked somewhat older than his years warranted, being very bald, with +just a fringe of white hair round the cranium. His upper lip and chin were +shaven, but he wore white whiskers of the "mutton-chop" variety. Slim and +fairly tall, he was possessed of no little nervous strength and energy. In +later years he became Minister of Marine in the Waddington, the second +Freycinet, and the Duclerc cabinets.] + +Having referred to Chanzy's principal subordinates, it is fitting that I +should give a brief account of Chanzy himself. The son of an officer of +the First Empire, he was born at Nouart in the Argonne, and from his +personal knowledge of that region it is certain that his services would +have proved valuable during the disastrous march on Sedan, when, as Zola +has rightly pointed out in "La Débâcle," so many French commanding +officers were altogether ignorant of the nature and possibilities of the +country through which they advanced. Chanzy, however, like many others who +figured among the Loire forces, had begun life in the navy, enlisting in +that service when sixteen years of age. But, after very brief experience +afloat, he went to the military school of St. Cyr, passed out of it as a +sub-lieutenant in 1843, when he was in his twenty-first year, was +appointed to a regiment of Zouaves, and sent to Algeria. He served, +however, in the Italian campaign of 1859, became lieutenant-colonel of a +line regiment, and as such took part in the Syrian expedition of 1860-61. +Later, he was with the French forces garrisoning Rome, acquired a +colonelcy in 1864, returned to Algeria, and in 1868 was promoted to the +rank of general of brigade. + +At the outset of the Franco-German War, he applied for active service, but +the imperial authorities would not employ him in France. In spite of the +associations of his family with the first Empire, he was, like Trochu, +accounted an Orleanist, and it was not desired that any Orleanist general +should have an opportunity to distinguish himself in the contemplated +"march on Berlin." Marshal MacMahon, however, as Governor of Algeria, had +formed a high opinion of Chanzy's merits, and after Sedan, anxious as he +was for his country in her predicament, the Marshal, then a prisoner of +war, found a means of advising the National Defence to make use of +Chanzy's services. That patriotic intervention, which did infinite credit +to MacMahon, procured for Chanzy an appointment at the head of the 16th +Army Corps, and later the chief command of the Second Loire Army. + +When I first saw him in the latter days of 1870, he was in his +fifty-eighth year, well built, and taller than the majority of French +officers. His fair hair and fair moustache had become grey; but his blue +eyes had remained bright, and there was an expression of quiet resolution +on his handsome, well-cut face, with its aquiline nose and energetic jaw. +Such, physically, was the general whom Moltke subsequently declared to +have been the best that France opposed to the Germans throughout the war. +I never once saw Chanzy excited, in which respect he greatly contrasted +with many of the subordinate commanders. Jauréguiberry was sometimes +carried away by his Basque, and Gougeard by his Celtic, blood. So it was +with Jaurès, who, though born in Paris, had, like his nephew the Socialist +leader, the blood of the Midi in his veins. Chanzy, however, belonged to a +calmer, a more quietly resolute northern race. + +He was inclined to religion, and I remember that, in addition to the +chaplains accompanying the Breton battalions, there was a chief chaplain +attached to the general staff. This was Abbé de Beuvron, a member of +an old noble family of central France. The Chief of the Staff was +Major-General Vuillemot; the Provost-General was Colonel Mora, and the +principal aides-de-camp were Captains Marois and de Boisdeffre. Specially +attached to the headquarters service there was a rather numerous picked +force under General Bourdillon. It comprised a regiment of horse gendarmes +and one of foot gendarmes, four squadrons of Chasseurs d'Afrique, some +artillery provided chiefly with mountain-guns, an aeronautical company +under the brothers Tissandier, and three squadrons of Algerian light +cavalry, of the Spahi type, who, with their flowing burnouses and their +swift little Arab horses, often figured conspicuously in Chanzy's escort. +A year or two after the war, I engaged one of these very men--he was +called Saad--as a servant, and he proved most devoted and attentive; +but he had contracted the germs of pulmonary disease during that cruel +winter of 1870-71, and at the end of a few months I had to take him to the +Val-de-Grâce military hospital in Paris, where he died of galloping +consumption. + +The German forces opposed to Chanzy consisted of a part of the so-called +"Armée-Abtheilung" under the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, and the "Second +Army" under Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, the latter including the +3rd, 9th, 10th, and 13th Army Corps, and disposing of numerous cavalry +and nearly four hundred guns. The Prince ascertained that the French +forces were, in part, extremely dispersed, and therefore resolved to act +before they could be concentrated. At the outset the Germans came down on +Nogent-le-Rotrou, where Rousseau's column was stationed, inflicted a +reverse on him, and compelled him (January 7) to fall back on Connerré--a +distance of thirty miles from Nogent, and of less than sixteen from Le +Mans. On the same day, sections of Jouffroy's forces were defeated at +Epuisay and Poirier (mid-way between Le Mans and Vendôme), and also +forced to retreat. The French detachments (under Jouffroy, Curten, and +Barry) which were stationed along the line from Saint Calais to Montoire, +and thence to Saint Amand and Château-Renault--a stretch of some +five-and-twenty miles--were not strong enough to oppose the German +advance, and some of them ran the risk of having their retreat cut off. +Chanzy realized the danger, and on the morning of January 8 he despatched +Jauréguiberry to take command of all the troops distributed from the south +to the south-east, between Château-du-Loir and Château-Renault, and bring +them to Le Mans. + +But the 10th German Corps was advancing in these directions, and, after +an engagement with Barry's troops at Ruillé, secured positions round La +Chartre. This seriously threatened the retreat of the column under General +Curten, which was still at Saint Amand, and, moreover, it was a further +menace to Barry himself, as his division was distributed over a front of +fourteen miles near Château-du-Loir. Jauréguiberry, however, entreated +Barry to continue guarding the river Loir, in the hope of Curten being +able to retreat to that point. + +Whilst, however, these defensive attempts were being made to the south of +Le Mans, the Germans were pressing forward on the north-east and the +east, Prince Frederick Charles being eager to come in touch with Chanzy's +main forces, regardless of what might happen on the Loir and at Saint +Amand. On the north-east the enemy advanced to La Ferté Bernard; on the +east, at Vancé, a brigade of German cavalry drove back the French +cuirassiers and Algerians, and Prince Frederick Charles then proceeded as +far as Saint Calais, where he prepared for decisive action. One army corps +was sent down the line of the Huisne, another had orders to advance on +Ardenay, a third on Bouloire, whilst the fourth, leaving Barry on its left +flank, was to march on Parigné-l'Evêque. Thus, excepting a brigade of +infantry and one of cavalry, detached to observe the isolated Curten, and +hold him in check, virtually the whole of the German Second Army marched +against Chanzy's main forces. + +Chanzy, on his side, now ordered Jaurès (21st Corps) to occupy the +positions of Yvré, Auvours, and Sargé strongly; whilst Colomb (17th Corps) +was instructed to send General Pâris's division forward to Ardenay, thus +reducing Colomb's actual command to one division, as Jouffroy's column had +previously been detached from it. On both sides every operation was +attended by great difficulties on account of the very severe weather. +A momentary thaw had been followed by another sudden frost, in such wise +that the roads had a coating of ice, which rendered them extremely +slippery. On January 9 violent snowstorms set in, almost blinding one, and +yet the rival hosts did not for an hour desist from their respective +efforts. At times, when I recall those days, I wonder whether many who +have read of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow have fully realized what that +meant. Amidst the snowstorms of the 9th a force of German cavalry attacked +our extreme left and compelled it to retreat towards the Alençon line. +Rousseau's column being in a dangerous position at Connerré, Colin's +division of the 21st Corps was sent forward to support it in the direction +of Montfort, Gougeard with his Bretons also advancing to support Colin. +But the 13th German Corps attacked Rousseau, who after two engagements +was driven from Connerré and forced to retreat on Montfort and +Pont-de-Gennes across the Huisne, after losing in killed, wounded, and +missing, some 800 of his men, whereas the enemy lost barely a hundred. +At the same time Gougeard was attacked, and compelled to fall back on +Saint-Mars-la-Bruyére. + +But the principal event of the day was the defeat of General Paris's force +at Ardenay by a part of the 3rd German Corps. The latter had a superiority +in numbers, but the French in their demoralised condition scarcely put up +a fight at all, in such wise that the Germans took about 1000 prisoners. +The worst, however, was that, by seizing Ardenay, the enemy drove as it +were a wedge between the French forces, hampering their concentration. +Meantime, the 9th German Corps marched to Bouloire, which became Prince +Frederick Charles's headquarters. The 10th Corps, however, had not yet +been able to advance to Parigné l'Evêque in accordance with the Prince's +orders, though it had driven Barry back on Jupilles and Grand Lucé. The +sole advantage secured by the French that day was that Curten managed to +retreat from Château-Renault; but it was only on the night of the 10th, +when he could be of little or no use to Chanzy, that he was able to reach +Château-du-Loir, where, in response to Chanzy's urgent appeals, +Jauréguiberry had succeeded in collecting a few thousand men to reinforce +the troops defending Le Mans. + +For four days there had been fighting on one and another point, from the +north-east to the south of the town, the result being unfavourable to the +French. Chanzy, it is true, was at this critical moment in bad health. +According to one account which I heard at the time, he had had an attack +of dysentery; according to another, he was suffering from some throat +complaint, combined with violent neuralgic pains in the head. I do not +think, however, that his ill-health particularly affected the issue, which +depended so largely on the manner in which his plans and instructions were +carried out. The strategy adopted by the Germans at Sedan and in the +battles around Metz had greatly impressed the generals who commanded the +French armies during the second period of the war. One might really say +that they lived in perpetual dread of being surrounded by the enemy. If +there was a lack of concentration on Chanzy's part, if he sent out one and +another flying column, and distributed a considerable portion of his army +over a wide area, it was precisely because he feared some turning movement +on the part of the Germans, which might result in bottling him up at +Le Mans. + +The earlier instructions which Prince Frederick Charles forwarded to his +subordinates certainly seem to indicate that a turning movement was +projected. But after the fighting on January 9, when, as I have indicated, +the 3rd German Army Corps penetrated wedge-like into the French lines, the +Prince renounced any idea of surrounding Chanzy's forces, and resolved to +make a vigorous frontal attack before they could be reinforced by any of +the still outlying columns. In coming to this decision, the Prince may +well have been influenced by the result of the recent fighting, which had +sufficiently demonstrated the superiority of the German troops to show +that, under the circumstances, a frontal attack would be attended with far +less risk than if he had found himself faced by a really vigorous +antagonist. Captain Hozier, whom I had previously seen at Versailles, was +at this time acting as _Times_ correspondent with the Prince's army, and, +in subsequently reviewing the fighting, he expressed the opinion that the +issue of the Prince's operations was never for a moment doubtful. Still, +on all points but one, the French put up a fairly good defence, as I will +now show. + + + +XII + +LE MANS AND AFTER + +The real Battle of Le Mans begins (January 10)--Jouffroy and Pâris +are driven back--Gougeard's Fight at Champagné--The Breton Mobilisés +from Conlie--Chanzy's Determination--His Orders for January 11--He +inspects the Lines--Pâris driven from the Plateau of Auvours--Gougeard's +gallant re-capture of the Plateau--My Return to Le Mans--The Panic at La +Tuilerie--Retreat inevitable--Withdrawal of the French--Entry of the +Germans--Street Fighting--German Exactions--My Escape from Le Mans--The +French Retreat--Rear-Guard Engagements--Laval--My Arrest as a Spy--A +Dramatic Adventure. + + +Some more snow fell on the morning of January 10, when the decisive +fighting in front of Le Mans really began. On the evening of the 9th the +French headquarters was still without news of Generals Curten, Barry, +and Jouffroy, and even the communications with Jauréguiberry were of an +intermittent character. Nevertheless, Chanzy had made up his mind to give +battle, and had sent orders to Jauréguiberry to send Jouffroy towards +Parigné-l'Evêque (S.E.) and Barry towards Ecommoy (S. of Le Mans). But +the roads were in so bad a condition, and the French troops had been so +severely tried, and were so ill-provided for, that several of the +commander-in-chief's instructions could not be carried out. + +Jouffroy at least did his best, and after a hard and tiring march from +Grand Lucé, a part of his division reached Parigné in time to join in the +action fought there. But it ended disastrously for the French, one of +their brigades losing as many as 1400 men, and the Germans taking +altogether some 2000 prisoners. Jouffroy's troops then fell back to +Pontlieue, the southern suburb of Le Mans, in a lamentable condition, and +took care to place the Huisne between themselves and the Germans. In the +same direction Paris's demoralised, division, already worsted at Ardenay +on the previous day, was driven from Changé by the 3rd German Corps, which +took no fewer than 5000 prisoners. It had now almost cut the French +eastern and southern lines apart, threatening all direct communication +between the 21st and the 16th French Corps. Nevertheless, it was in a +dangerous position, having both of its flanks exposed to attack, one from +Yvré and Auvours, and the other from Pontlieue and the Chemin des Boeufs, +which last line was held by the 16th French Corps. + +Meantime, Gougeard's Bretons had been engaged at Champagné, quite a close +encounter taking place in the fields and on the vineyard slopes, followed +by a house-to-house fight in the village streets. The French were at last +driven back; but somewhat later, on the Germans retiring from Champagné, +they reoccupied the place. The result of the day was that, apart from the +somewhat hazardous success achieved by the 3rd German Corps, the enemy had +gained no great advantage. His 13th Corps had made but little progress, +his 9th had not been brought into action, and his 10th was as yet no +nearer than Grand Lucé. On the French side, Barry had at last reached +Mulsanne, thus covering the direct southern road to Le Mans, Jauréguiberry +being lower down at Ecommoy with some 9000 men of various arms and +regiments, whom he had managed to get together. As for Curten's division, +as it could not possibly reach the immediate neighbourhood of Le Mans in +time for the fighting on the 11th, it received orders to march on La Suze, +south-west of the imperilled town. During the 10th, moreover, Chanzy was +strengthened by the welcome arrival of several additional field-pieces and +a large number of horses. He had given orders to raise the Camp of Conlie, +but instead of the forty or fifty thousand men, which at an earlier period +it was thought that camp would be able to provide, he now only derived +from it some 9000 ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost undrilled +Breton Mobilisés. [On the other hand, as I previously related, the camp +had already provided the bulk of the men belonging to Gougeard's +division.] They were divided into six battalions--one of which came +from Saint Malo, the others from Rennes and Redon--and were commanded by +a general named Lalande. They proved to be no accession of strength; they +became, on the contrary, a source of weakness, and disaster, for it was +their behaviour which eventually sealed the fate of the Second Loire Army. + +But Chanzy, whatever his ailments might be, was personally full of energy +and determination. He knew, moreover, that two new army corps (the 19th +and the 25th) were being got ready to reinforce him, and he was still +resolved to give battle and hold on for another four or five days, when he +relied on compelling Prince Frederick Charles to retreat. Then, with his +reinforced army, he hoped to march once more in the direction of Paris. +Curiously enough, it was precisely on that critical day, January 10, that +Gambetta sent Trochu a despatch by pigeon-post, telling him that on the +20th, at the latest, both Chanzy and Bourbaki would be moving on the +capital, having between them over 400,000 men. + +But if Chanzy's spirits did not fail him, those of his men were at a very +low ebb indeed. He was repeatedly told so by subordinate commanders; +nevertheless (there was something Napoleonic in his character), he would +not desist from his design, but issued instructions that there was to be a +resolute defence of the lines on the 11th, together with a determined +effort to regain all lost positions. At the same time, the statements of +the divisional generals respecting the low _morale_ of some of the troops +were not left unheeded, for a very significant order went forth, namely, +that cavalry should be drawn up in the rear of the infantry wherever this +might appear advisable. The inference was obvious. + +Three divisions and Lalande's Breton Mobilisés were to hold the +south-eastern lines from Arnage along the track known as the Chemin des +Boeufs, and to link up, as well as possible, with Pâris's and Gougeard's +divisions, to which fell the duty of guarding the plateau of Auvours and +the banks of the Huisne. The rest of the 21st Corps (to which Gougeard's +division belonged) was to defend the space between the Huisne and the +Sarthe. Colomb's fragmentary force, apart from Pâris's division, was still +to cover Le Mans towards the north-east. Barry's men, on their expected +arrival, were to serve as reserves around Pontlieue. + +The morning of January 11 was bright. The snow had ceased falling, but lay +some inches thick upon the ground. In order to facilitate the passage of +troops, and particularly of military waggons, through the town, the Mayor +of Le Mans ordered the inhabitants to clear away as much of this snow as +possible; but it naturally remained undisturbed all over the countryside. +Little had been seen of Chanzy on the two previous days, but that morning +he mounted horse and rode along the lines from the elevated position known +as Le Tertre Rouge to the equally elevated position of Yvré. I saw him +there, wrapped in a long loose cloak, the hood of which was drawn over his +képi. Near him was his picturesque escort of Algerian Spahis, and while he +was conversing with some officers I pulled out a little sketch-book which +I carried, and tried to outline the group. An aide-de-camp who noticed me +at once came up to inquire what I was doing, and I therefore had to +produce the permit which, on returning to the front, I had obtained from +the Chief of the Staff. It was found to be quite in order, and I went on +with my work. But a few minutes later the general, having given his +orders, gathered up his reins to ride away. As he slowly passed me, he +gave me just one little sharp glance, and with a faint suspicion of a +smile remarked, "I will look at that another time." The aide-de-camp had +previously told him what my purpose was. + +That day the 3rd German Corps again resumed the offensive, and once more +drove Gougeard out of Champagné. Then the enemy's 9th Corps, which on +January 10 had done little or nothing, and was therefore quite fresh, was +brought into action, and made a resolute attack on the plateau of Auvours. +There was a fairly long fight, which could be seen from Yvré. But the +Germans were too strong for Pâris's men, who at last disbanded, and came, +helter-skelter, towards the bridge of Yvré in terrible confusion. Flight +is often contagious, and Gougeard, who had fallen back from Champagné in +fairly good order, feared lest his men should imitate their comrades. +He therefore pointed two field-pieces on the runaways, and by that means +checked their stampede. + +Having established themselves at the farther end of the plateau, the +Germans advanced very cautiously, constantly seeking cover behind the +various hedges. General de Colomb, to whose command Pâris's runaway +division belonged, insisted, however, that the position must be retaken. +Gougeard thereupon collected a very miscellaneous force, which included +regular infantry, mobiles, mobilisés, and some of Charette's Volontaires +de l'Ouest--previously known in Borne as the Pontifical Zouaves. Placing +himself at the head of these men, he made a vigorous effort to carry out +Colomb's orders. The French went forward almost at the charge, the Germans +waiting for them from behind the hedges, whence poured a hail of lead. +Gougeard's horse was shot under him, a couple of bullets went through his +coat, and another--or, as some said, a splinter of a shell--knocked off +his képi. Still, he continued leading his men, and in the fast failing +light the Germans, after repeated encounters, were driven back to the +verge of the plateau. + +That was told me afterwards, for at the moment I was already on my way +back to Le Mans, which I wished to reach before it was absolutely night. +On coming from the town early in the morning, I had brought a few eatables +in my pockets, but they had soon been consumed, and I had found it +impossible to obtain any food whatever at Yvré, though some of the very +indifferent local wine was procurable. Thus I was feeling very hungry as I +retraced my steps through the snow towards the little hostelry in the Rue +du Gué de Maulny, where I had secured accommodation. It was a walk of some +four or five miles, but the cold urged me on, and, in spite of the snow, +I made the journey fairly rapidly, in such wise that little more than an +hour later I was seated in a warm room in front of some steaming soup, +answering all sorts of questions as to what I had seen during the day, +and particularly whether _les nôtres_ had gained a victory. I could only +answer that the "Prussians" had taken Auvours, but that fighting was still +going on, as Gougeard had gone to recapture the position. At the moment, +indeed, that was the extent of my information. The landlord looked rather +glum and his daughter somewhat anxious, and the former, shaking his head, +exclaimed: "Voyez-vous, Monsieur l'Anglais, nous n'avons pas de chance-- +pas de chance du tout! Je ne sais pas à quoi ca tient, mais c'est comme +ca. Et, tenez, cela ne me surprendrait pas de voir ces sales Prussiens +dans la ville d'ici à demain!" ["We have no luck, no luck at all. +I don't know why, but there it is. And, do you know, it would not surprise +me to see those dirty Prussians in the town between now and to-morrow."] +Unfortunately for Le Mans and for France also, his forebodings were +accurate. At that very moment, indeed, a great disaster was occurring. + +Jauréguiberry had reached the southern suburb of Pontlieue at about nine +o'clock that morning after a night march from Ecommoy. He had divided his +miscellaneous force of 9000 men into three brigades. As they did not seem +fit for immediate action, they were drafted into the reserves, so that +their arrival was of no particular help that day. About eleven o'clock the +3rd German Corps, coming from the direction of Changé, attacked Jouffroy's +lines along the more northern part of the so-called Chemin des Boeufs, +and, though Jouffroy's men fought fairly well, they could not prevent +their foes from capturing the position of the Tertre Rouge. Still, the +enemy gained no decisive success in this direction; nor was any marked +result attained by the 13th German Corps which formed the extreme right of +the attacking forces. But Prince Frederick Charles had sent orders to +Voigts Rhetz, who was at Grand Lucé, [A brigade of cavalry kept up +communications between him and the 3rd Army Corps.] advance with the +10th Corps on Mulsanne, which the French had evacuated; and on reaching +Mulsanne, the same general received instructions to come to the support of +the 3rd Corps, which was engaged with Jouffroy's force. Voigts Rhetz's men +were extremely fatigued; nevertheless, the 20th Division of Infantry, +commanded by General Kraatz-Koschlau, went on towards the Chemin des +Boeufs, following the direct road from Tours to Le Mans. + +Here there was an elevated position known as La Tuilerie--otherwise the +tile-works--which had been fortified expressly to prevent the Germans from +bursting upon Le Mans from the direct south. Earth-works for guns had been +thrown up, trenches had been dug, the pine trees, so abundant on the +southern side of Le Mans, had been utilised for other shielding works, as +well as for shelter-places for the defending force. Unfortunately, at the +moment of the German advance, that defending force consisted of the +ill-equipped, badly armed, and almost untrained Breton Mobilisés, +[There were just a few old soldiers among them.] who, as I have already +related, had arrived the previous day from the camp of Conlie under the +command of General Lalande. It is true that near these men was stationed +an infantry brigade of the 6th Corps d'Armée, whose duty it was to support +and steady them. They undoubtedly needed to be helped, for the great +majority had never been in action before. Moreover, in addition to the +infantry brigade, there were two batteries of artillery; but I fear that +for the most part the gunners were little better than recruits. +Exaggerated statements have been made respecting the quality of the +firearms with which the Mobilisés were provided. Many of the weapons were +afterwards found to be very dirty, even rusty, but that was the result of +neglect, which their officers should have remedied. It is true, however, +that these weapons were for the most part merely percussion guns. Again, +it has been said that the men had no ammunition, but that statement was +certainly inaccurate. On the other hand, these Mobilisés were undoubtedly +very cold and very hungry--even as I myself was that day--no rations +having been served to them until late in the afternoon, that is, shortly +before they were attacked, at which moment, indeed, they were actually +preparing the meal for which they had so long been waiting. + +The wintry night was gathering round when Kraatz-Kosohlau found himself +with his division before the position of La Tuilerie. He could see that it +was fortified, and before attempting any further advance he fired a few +shells. The Mobilisés were immediately panic-stricken. They made no +attempt at defence; hungry though they were, they abandoned even their +pots and pans, and fled in the direction of Pontlieue, which formed, as it +were, a long avenue, fringed with factories, textile mills, bleaching +works, and so forth. In vain did their officers try to stop the fugitives, +even striking them with the flats of their swords, in vain did Lalande and +his staff seek to intercept them at the Rond Point de Pontlieue. Nothing +could induce them to stop. They threw away their weapons in order to run +the faster. At La Tuilerie not a gun was fired at the Germans. Even the +infantry brigade fell back, without attempting to fight. + +All this occurred at a moment when everybody thought that the day's +fighting was over. But Jauréguiberry appeared upon the scene, and ordered +one of his subordinates, General Lebouëdeo, to retake the lost position. +Lebouëdeo tried to do so with 1000 tired men, who had been in action +during the day, and failed. A second attempt proved equally futile. No +effort apparently was made to secure help from Barry, who was at Arnage +with 5000 infantry and two brigades of cavalry, and who might have fallen +on the left flank of the German Corps. La Tuilerie was lost, and with it +Le Mans was lost also. + +I was quietly sipping some coffee and reading the local newspapers--three +or four were published at Le Mans in those days--when I heard of that +disastrous stampede. Some of the men had reached the town, spreading the +contagion of fear as they came. Tired though I was, I at once went towards +the Avenue de Fontlieue, where the excitement was general. Gendarmes were +hurrying hither and thither, often arresting the runaways, and at other +times picking up weapons and cartridge-cases which had been flung away. So +numerous were the abandoned weapons and equipments that cartloads of them +were collected. Every now and then an estafette galloped to or from the +town. The civilians whom one met wore looks of consternation. It was +evident, indeed, to everybody who knew how important was the position of +La Tuilerie, that its capture by the Germans placed Le Mans in jeopardy. +When the two attempts to retake it had failed, Jauréguiberry urged +immediate retreat. This was rendered the more imperative by other events +of the night and the early morning, for, inspirited by their capture of La +Tuilerie, the Germans made fresh efforts in other directions, so that +Barry had to quit Arnage, whilst Jouffroy lost most of his positions near +the Chemin des Boeufs, and the plateau d'Auvours had again to be +evacuated. + +At 8 a.m. on January 12, Chanzy, after suggesting a fresh attempt to +recover La Tuilerie, which was prevented by the demoralisation of the +troops, was compelled to give a reluctant assent to Jauréguiberry's +proposals of retreat. At the same time, he wished the retreat to be +carried out slowly and methodically, and informed Gambetta that he +intended to withdraw in the direction of Aleneon (Orne) and Pré-en-Pail +(Mayenne). This meant moving into Normandy, and Gambetta pointed out that +such a course would leave all Brittany open to the enemy, and enable him +to descend without opposition even to the mouth of the Loire. Chanzy was +therefore instructed to retreat on Laval, and did so; but as he had +already issued orders for the other route, great confusion ensued, the new +orders only reaching the subordinate commanders on the evening of the +12th. + +From January 6 to 12 the French had lost 6000 men in killed and wounded. +The Germans had taken 20,000 prisoners, and captured seventeen guns and a +large quantity of army materiel. Further, there was an incalculable number +of disbanded Mobiles and Mobilisés. If Prince Frederick Charles had known +at the time to what a deplorable condition Chanzy's army had been reduced, +he would probably have acted more vigorously than he did. It is true that +his own men (as Von Hoenig has admitted) were, generally speaking, in a +state of great fatigue after the six days' fighting, and also often badly +circumstanced in regard to clothing, boots, and equipments. [Even when the +armistice arrived I saw many German soldiers wearing French sabots.] Such +things cannot last for ever, and there had been little or no opportunity +to renew anything since the second battle of Orleans early in December. +In the fighting before Le Mans, however, the German loss in killed and +wounded was only 3400--200 of the number being officers, whom the French +picked off as often as possible. + +On the morning of the 12th all was confusion at Pontlieue. Guns, waggons, +horsemen, infantrymen, were congregated there, half blocking up the bridge +which connects this suburb with Le Mans. A small force under General de +Roquebrune was gallantly striving to check the Germans at one part of the +Chemin des Boeufs, in order to cover the retreat. A cordon of gendarmes +had been drawn up at the railway-station to prevent it from being invaded +by all the runaways. Some hundreds of wounded men were allowed access, +however, in order that they might, if possible, get away in one of the +many trains which were being sent off as rapidly as possible. This service +was in charge of an official named Piquet, who acted with the greatest +energy and acumen. Of the five railway-lines meeting at Le Mans only two +were available, that running to Rennes _viâ_ Laval, and that running to +Angers. I find from a report drawn up by M. Piquet a little later, that he +managed to send off twenty-five trains, some of them drawn by two and +three engines. They included about 1000 vans, trucks, and coaches; that is +558 vans laden with provisions (in part for the relief of Paris); 134 vans +and trucks laden with artillery _matériel_ and stores, 70 vans of +ammunition, 150 empty vans and trucks, and 176 passenger carriages. On +securing possession of the station, however, the Germans still found there +about 200 vans and carriages, and at least a dozen locomotive engines. The +last train left at 2.45 p.m. I myself got away (as I shall presently +relate) shortly after two o'clock, when the station was already being +bombarded. + +General de Roquebrune having, at last, been compelled to withdraw from the +vicinity of the Chemin des Boeufs, the Germans came on to the long avenue +of Pontlieue. Here they were met by most of the corps of gendarmes, which, +as I previously related, was attached to the headquarters-staff under +General Bourdillon. These men, who had two Gatlings with them, behaved +with desperate bravery in order to delay the German entry into the town. +About a hundred of them, including a couple of officers, were killed +during that courageous defence. It was found impossible, however, to blow +up the bridge. The operation had been delayed as long as possible in order +to facilitate the French retreat, and when the gendarmes themselves +withdrew, there no longer remained sufficient time to put it into +execution. + +The first Germans to enter the town belonged to the 38th Brigade of +Infantry, and to part of a cavalry force under General von Schmidt. After +crossing the bridge of Pontlieue, they divided into three columns. One of +them proceeded up the Rue du Quartier de Cavalerie in the direction of the +Place des Jacobins and the cathedral. The second also went towards the +upper town, marching, however, by way of the Rue Basse, which conducted to +the Place des Halles, where the chief hotels and cafés were situated. +Meantime, the third column turned to the left, and hastened towards the +railway station. But, to their great amazement, their advance was +repeatedly checked. There were still a number of French soldiers in the +town, among them being Mobile Guards, Gendarmes, Franc-tireurs, and a +party of Marine Fusiliers. The German column which began to ascend the Rue +Basse was repeatedly fired at, whereupon its commanding officer halted his +men, and by way of punishment had seven houses set on fire, before +attempting to proceed farther. Nevertheless, the resistance was prolonged +at various points, on the Place des Jacobins, for instance, and again on +the Place des Halles. Near the latter square is--or was--a little street +called the Rue Dumas, from which the French picked off a dozen or twenty +Germans, so infuriating their commander that he sent for a couple of +field-pieces, and threatened to sweep the whole town with projectiles. + +Meantime, a number of the French who had lingered at Le Mans were +gradually effecting their escape. Many artillery and commissariat waggons +managed to get away, and a local notability, M. Eugène Caillaux--father +of M. Joseph Caillaux who was French Prime Minister during the latter half +of 1911, and who is now (Dec., 1913) Minister of Finances--succeeded in +sending out of the town several carts full of rifles, which some of the +French troops had flung away. However, the street-fighting could not be +indefinitely prolonged. It ceased when about a hundred Germans and a +larger number of French, both soldiers and civilians, had been killed. +The Germans avenged themselves by pillaging the houses in the Rue Dumas, +and several on the Place des Halles, though they spared the Hôtel de +France there, as their commander, Voigts Rhetz, reserved it for his own +accommodation. Whilst the bombardment of a part of the lower town +continued--the railway station and the barracks called the Caserne de +la Mission being particularly affected--raids were made on the French +ambulances, in one of which, on the Boulevard Négrier, a patient was +barbarously bayoneted in his bed, on the pretext that he was a +Franc-tireur, whereas he really belonged to the Mobile Guard. At the +ambulance of the École Normale, the sisters and clergy were, according to +their sworn statements, grossly ill-treated. Patients, some of whom were +suffering from smallpox, were turned out of their beds--which were +required, it was said, for the German wounded. All the wine that could be +found was drunk, money was stolen, and there was vindictive destruction on +all sides. + +The Mayor [The Prefect, M. Le Chevalier, had followed the army in its +retreat, considering it his duty to watch over the uninvaded part of the +department of the Sartha.] of Le Mans, M. Richard, and his two _adjoints_, +or deputies, went down through the town carrying a towel as a flag of +truce, and on the Place de la Mission they at last found Voigts Rhetz +surrounded by his staff. The General at once informed the Mayor that, in +consequence of the resistance of the town, it would have to pay a +war-levy of four millions of francs (£160,000) within twenty-four hours, +and that the inhabitants would have to lodge and feed the German forces as +long as they remained there. All the appeals made against these hard +conditions were disregarded during nearly a fortnight. When both the Mayor +and the Bishop of Le Mans solicited audiences of Prince Frederick Charles, +they were told by the famous Count Harry von Arnim--who, curiously enough, +subsequently became German Ambassador to France, but embroiled himself +with Bismarck and died in exile--that if they only wished to tender their +humble duty to the Prince he would graciously receive them, but that he +refused to listen to any representations on behalf of the town. + +A first sum of £20,000 and some smaller ones were at last got together in +this town of 37,000 inhabitants, and finally, on January 23, the total +levy was reduced, as a special favour, to £80,000. Certain German +requisitions were also to be set off against £20,000 of that amount; but +they really represented about double the figure. A public loan had to be +raised in the midst of continual exactions, which lasted even after the +preliminaries of peace had been signed, the Germans regarding Le Mans as a +milch cow from which too much could not be extracted. + +The anxieties of the time might well have sufficed to make the Mayor ill, +but, as a matter of fact, he caught small-pox, and his place had to be +taken by a deputy, who with the municipal council, to which several local +notabilities were adjoined, did all that was possible to satisfy the greed +of the Germans. Small-pox, I may mention, was very prevalent at Le Mans, +and some of the ambulances were specially reserved for soldiers who had +contracted that disease. Altogether, about 21,000 men (both French and +Germans), suffering from wounds or diseases of various kinds, were treated +in the town's ambulances from November 1 to April 15. + +Some thousands of Germans were billeted on the inhabitants, whom they +frequently robbed with impunity, all complaints addressed to the German +Governor, an officer named Von Heiduck, being disregarded. This individual +ordered all the inhabitants to give up any weapons which they possessed, +under penalty of death. Another proclamation ordained the same punishment +for anybody who might give the slightest help to the French army, or +attempt to hamper the German forces. Moreover, the editors, printers, and +managers of three local newspapers were summarily arrested and kept in +durance on account of articles against the Germans which they had written, +printed, or published _before_ Chanzy's defeat. + +On January 13, which chanced to be a Friday, Prince Frederick Charles made +his triumphal entry into Le Mans, the bands of the German regiments +playing all their more popular patriotic airs along the route which +his Royal Highness took in order to reach the Prefecture--a former +eighteenth-century convent--where he intended to install himself. On the +following day the Mayor received the following letter: + +"Mr. Mayor, + +"I request you to send to the Prefecture by half-past five o'clock this +afternoon 24 spoons, 24 forks, and 36 knives, as only just sufficient for +the number of people at table have been sent, and there is no means of +changing the covers. For dinner you will provide 20 bottles of Bordeaux, +30 bottles of Champagne, two bottles of Madeira, and 2 bottles of +liqueurs, which must be at the Prefecture at six o'clock precisely. +The wine previously sent not being good, neither the Bordeaux nor the +Champagne, you must send better kinds, otherwise I shall have to inflict +a fine upon the town. + +(Signed) "Von Kanitz." + +This communication was followed almost immediately afterwards by another, +emanating from the same officer, who was one of the Prince's +aides-de-camp. He therein stated (invariably employing, be it said, +execrable French) that the _café-au-lait_ was to be served at the +Prefecture at 8 a.m.; the _déjeuner_ at noon; and the dinner at 7.30 p.m. +At ten o'clock every morning, the Mayor was to send 40 bottles of +Bordeaux, 40 bottles of Champagne, 6 bottles of Madeira, and 3 bottles of +liqueurs. He was also to provide waiters to serve at table, and kitchen- +and scullery-maids. And Kanitz concluded by saying: "If the least thing +fails, a remarkable (_sic_) fine will be inflicted on the town." + +On January 15 an order was sent to the Mayor to supply at once, for the +Prince's requirements, 25 kilogrammes of ham; 13 kilos. of sausages; +13 kilos. of tongues; 5 dozen eggs; vegetables of all sorts, particularly +onions; 15 kilos. of Gruyère cheese; 5 kilos. of Parmesan; 15 kilos. +of best veal; 20 fowls; 6 turkeys; 12 ducks; 5 kilos. of powdered sugar. +[All the German orders and requisitions are preserved in the municipal +archives of Le Mans.] No wine was ever good enough for Prince Frederick +Charles and his staff. The complaints sent to the town-hall were +incessant. Moreover, the supply of Champagne, by no means large in such a +place as Le Mans, gave out, and then came all sorts of threats. The +municipal councillors had to trot about trying to discover a few bottles +here and there in private houses, in order to supply the requirements of +the Princely Staff. There was also a scarcity of vegetables, and yet there +were incessant demands for spinach, cauliflowers, and artichokes, and even +fruit for the Prince's tarts. One day Kanitz went to the house where the +unfortunate Mayor was lying in bed, and told him that he must get up and +provide vegetables, as none had been sent for the Prince's table. The +Mayor protested that the whole countryside was covered with snow, and that +it was virtually impossible to satisfy such incessant demands; but, as he +afterwards related, ill and worried though he was, he could not refrain +from laughing when he was required to supply several pounds of truffles. +Truffles at Le Mans, indeed! In those days, too! The idea was quite +ridiculous. + +Not only had the demands of Prince Frederick Charles's staff to be +satisfied, but there were those of Voigts Rhetz, and of all the officers +lodging at the Hôtel de France, the Hôtel du Dauphin, the Hôtel de la +Boule d'Or and other hostelries. These gentlemen were very fond of giving +dinners, and "mine host" was constantly being called upon to provide all +sorts of delicacies at short notice. The cellars of the Hôtel de France +were drunk dry. The common soldiers also demanded the best of everything +at the houses where they were billeted; and sometimes they played +extraordinary pranks there. Half a dozen of them, who were lodged at a +wine-shop in, I think, the Rue Dumas, broached a cask of brandy, poured +the contents into a tub, and washed their feet in the spirituous liquor. +It may be that a "brandy bath" is a good thing for sore feet; and that +might explain the incident. However, when I think of it, I am always +reminded of how, in the days of the Second Empire, the spendthrift Due de +Gramont-Caderousse entered the. Café Anglais in Paris, one afternoon, +called for a silver soup-tureen, had two or three bottles of champagne +poured into it, and then made an unrepentant Magdalen of the Boulevards, +whom he had brought with him, wash his feet in the sparkling wine. From +that afternoon until the Café Anglais passed out of existence no silver +soup-tureens were ever used there. + +I have given the foregoing particulars respecting the German occupation +of Le Mans--they are principally derived from official documents--just to +show the reader what one might expect if, for instance, a German force +should land at Hull or Grimsby and fight its way successfully to--let us +say--York or Leeds or Nottingham. The incidents which occurred at Le Mans +were by no means peculiar to that town. Many similar instances occurred +throughout the invaded regions of France. I certainly do not wish to +impute gluttony to Prince Frederick Charles personally. But during the +years which followed the Franco-German War I made three fairly long +stays at Berlin, putting up at good hotels, where officers--sometimes +generals--often lunched and dined. And their appetites frequently amazed +me, whilst their manners at table were repulsive. In those days most +German officers were bearded, and I noticed that between the courses at +luncheon and at dinner it was a common practice of theirs to produce +pocket-glasses and pocket-combs, and comb their beards--as well as the +hair on their heads--over the table. As for their manner of eating and the +noise they made in doing so, the less said the better. In regard to +manners, I have always felt that the French of 1870-71 were in some +respects quite entitled to call their enemies "barbarians"; but that was +forty-three years ago, and as time works wonders, the manners of the +German military element may have improved. + +In saying something about the general appearance of Le Mans, I pointed out +that the town now has a Place de la République, a Gambetta Bridge, a Rue +Thiers, and a statue of Chanzy; but at the period of the war and for a +long time afterwards it detested the Republic (invariably returning +Bonapartist or Orleanist deputies), sneered at Gambetta, and hotly +denounced the commander of the Loire Army. Its grievance against Chanzy +was that he had made it his headquarters and given battle in its immediate +vicinity. The conflict having ended disastrously for the French arms, the +townsfolk lamented that it had ever taken place. Why had Chanzy brought +his army there? they indignantly inquired. He might very well have gone +elsewhere. So strong was this Manceau feeling against the general--a +feeling inspired by the sufferings which the inhabitants experienced at +the time, notably in consequence of the German exactions--that fifteen +years later, when the general's statue (for which there had been a +national subscription) was set up in the town, the displeasure there was +very great, and the monument was subjected to the most shameful +indignities. [At Nouart, his native place, there is another statue of +Chanzy, which shows him pointing towards the east. On the pedestal is the +inscription; "The generals who wish to obtain the bâton of Marshal of +France must seek it across the Rhine"--words spoken by him in one of his +speeches subsequent to the war.] But all that has passed. Nowadays, both +at Auvours and at Pontlieue, there are monuments to those who fell +fighting for France around Le Mans, and doubtless the town, in becoming +more Republican, has become more patriotic also. + +Before relating how I escaped from Le Mans on the day when the retreat was +ordered, there are a few other points with which I should like to deal +briefly. It is tolerably well known that I made the English translation of +Emile Zola's great novel, "La Débâcle," and a good many of my present +readers may have read that work either in the original French or in the +version prepared by me. Now, I have always thought that some of the +characters introduced by Zola into his narrative were somewhat +exceptional. I doubt if there were many such absolutely neurotic +degenerates as "Maurice" in the French Army at any period of the war. I +certainly never came across such a character. Again, the psychology of +Stephen Crane's "Red Badge of Courage," published a few years after "La +Débâcle," and received with acclamations by critics most of whom had never +in their lives been under fire, also seems to me to be of an exceptional +character. I much prefer the psychology of the Waterloo episode in +Stendhal's "Chartreuse de Parme," because it is of more general +application. "The Red Badge of Courage," so the critics told us, showed +what a soldier exactly felt and thought in the midst of warfare. Unlike +Stendhal, however, its author had never "served." No more had Zola; and I +feel that many of the pictures which novelists have given us of a +soldier's emotions when in action apply only to exceptional cases, and are +even then somewhat exaggerated. + +In action there is no time for thought. The most trying hours for a man +who is in any degree of a sensitive nature are those spent in night-duty +as a sentry or as one of a small party at some lonely outpost. Then +thoughts of home and happiness, and of those one loves, may well arise. +There is one little point in connexion with this subject which I must +mention. Whenever letters were found on the bodies of men who fell during +the Franco-German War, they were, if this man was a Frenchman, more +usually letters from his mother, and, if he was a German, more usually +letters from his sweetheart. Many such letters found their way into print +during the course of the war. It is a well-known fact that a Frenchman's +cult for his mother is a trait of the national character, and that a +Frenchwoman almost always places her child before her husband. + +But what struck me particularly during the Franco-German War was that +the anxieties and mental sufferings of the French officers were much +keener than those of the men. Many of those officers were married, some +had young children, and in the silent hours of a lonely night-watch their +thoughts often travelled to their dear ones. I well remember how an +officer virtually unbosomed himself to me on this subject one night near +Yvré-l'Evêque. The reason of it all is obvious. The higher a man's +intelligence, the greater is his sense of responsibility and the force of +his attachments. But in action the latter are set aside; they only obtrude +at such times as I have said or else at the moment of death. + +Of actual cowardice there were undoubtedly numerous instances during the +war, but a great deal might be said in defence of many of the men who here +and there abandoned their positions. During the last months their +sufferings were frequently terrible. At best they were often only +partially trained. There was little cohesion in many battalions. There was +a great lack of efficient non-commissioned officers. Instead of drafting +regular soldiers from the _dépôts_ into special regiments, as was often +done, it might have been better to have distributed them among the Mobiles +and Mobilisés, whom they would have steadied. Judging by all that I +witnessed at that period, I consider it essential that any territorial +force should always contain a certain number of trained soldiers who have +previously been in action. And any such force should always have the +support of regulars and of efficient artillery. I have related how certain +Breton Mobilisés abandoned La Tuilerie. They fled before the regulars or +the artillery could support them; but they were, perhaps, the very rawest +levies in all Chanzy's forces. Other Breton Mobilisés, on other points, +fought very well for men of their class. For instance, no reproach could +be addressed to the battalions of St. Brieuo, Brest, Quimper, Lorient, and +Nantes. They were better trained than were the men stationed at La +Tuilerie, and it requires some time to train a Breton properly. That +effected, he makes a good soldier. + +Respecting my own feelings during that war, I may say that the paramount +one was curiosity. To be a journalist, a man must be inquisitive. It is +a _sine quâ non_ of his profession. Moreover, I was very young; I had no +responsibilities; I may have been in love, or have thought I was, but I +was on my own, and my chief desire was to see as much as I could. I +willingly admit that, when Gougeard's column was abruptly attacked at +Droué, I experienced some trepidation at finding myself under fire; but +firmness may prove as contagious as fear, and when Gougeard rallied his +men and went forward to repel the Germans, interest and a kind of +excitement took possession of me. Moreover, as I was, at least nominally, +attached to the ambulance service, there was duty to be done, and that +left no opportunity for thought. The pictures of the ambulances in or near +Sedan are among the most striking ones contained in "La Débâcle," and, +judging by what I saw elsewhere, Zola exaggerated nothing. The ambulance +is the truly horrible side of warfare. To see men lying dead on the ground +is, so to say, nothing. One gets used to it. But to see them amputated, +and to see them lying in bed suffering, often acutely, from dreadful +wounds, or horrible diseases--dysentery, typhus, small-pox--that is the +thing which tries the nerves of all but the doctors and the trained +nurses. On several occasions I helped to carry wounded men, and felt no +emotion in doing so; but more than once I was almost overcome by the sight +of all the suffering in some ambulance. + +When, on the morning of January 12, I heard that a general retreat had +been ordered, I hesitated as to what course I should pursue. I did not +then anticipate the street-fighting, and the consequent violence of the +Germans. But journalistic instinct told me that if I remained in the town +until after the German entry I might then find it very difficult to get +away and communicate with my people. At the same time, I did not think the +German entry so imminent as proved to be the case; and I spent a +considerable time in the streets watching all the tumult which prevailed +there. Now and again a sadly diminished battalion went by in fairly good +order. But numbers of disbanded men hurried hither and thither in +confusion. Here and there a street was blocked with army vans and waggons, +whose drivers were awaiting orders, not knowing which direction to take. +Officers and estafettes galloped about on all sides. Then a number of +wounded men were carried in carts, on stretchers, and on trucks towards +the railway-station. Others, with their heads bandaged or their arms in +slings, walked painfully in the same direction. Outside the station there +was a strong cordon of Gendarmes striving to resist all the pressure of a +great mob of disbanded men who wished to enter and get away in the trains. +At one moment, when, after quite a struggle, some of the wounded were +conveyed through the mob and the cordon, the disbanded soldiers followed, +and many of them fought their way into the station in spite of all the +efforts of the Gendarmes. The _mêlée_ was so desperate that I did not +attempt to follow, but, after watching it for some time, retraced my steps +towards my lodging. All was hubbub and confusion at the little inn, and +only with difficulty could I get anything to eat there. A little later, +however, I managed to tell the landlord--his name was Dubuisson--that I +meant to follow the army, and, if possible, secure a place in one of the +trains which were frequently departing. After stowing a few necessaries +away in my pockets, I begged him to take charge of my bag until some +future day, and the worthy old man then gave me some tips as to how I +might make my way into the station, by going a little beyond it, and +climbing a palisade. + +We condoled with one another and shook hands. I then went out. The +cannonade, which had been going on for several hours, had now become more +violent. Several shells had fallen on or near the Caserne de la Mission +during the morning. Now others were falling near the railway-station. +I went my way, however, turned to the right on quitting the Rue du +Gué-de-Maulny, reached some palings, and got on to the railway-line. +Skirting it, I turned to the left, going back towards the station. +I passed one or two trains, which were waiting. But they were composed of +trucks and closed vans. I might perhaps have climbed on to one of the +former, but it was a bitterly cold day; and as for the latter, of course +I could not hope to enter one of them. So I kept on towards the station, +and presently, without let or hindrance, I reached one of the platforms. + +Le Mans being an important junction, its station was very large, in some +respects quite monumental. The principal part was roofed with glass and +suggested Charing Cross. I do not remember exactly the number of lines of +metals running through it, but I think there must have been four or five. +There were two trains waiting there, one of them, which was largely +composed of passenger carriages, being crammed with soldiers. I tried to +get into one carriage, but was fiercely repulsed. So, going to the rear of +this train, I crossed to another platform, where the second train was. +This was made up of passenger coaches and vans. I scrambled into one of +the latter, which was open. There were a number of packing-cases inside +it, but there was at least standing room for several persons. Two railway +men and two or three soldiers were already there. One of the former helped +me to get in. I had, be it said, a semi-military appearance, for my grey +frieze coat was frogged, and besides, what was more important, I wore the +red-cross armlet given me at the time when I followed Gougeard's column. + +Almost immediately afterwards the train full of soldiers got away. The +cannonade was now very loud, and the glass roof above us constantly +vibrated. Some minutes elapsed whilst we exchanged impressions. Then, all +at once, a railway official--it may have been M. Piquet himself--rushed +along the platform in the direction of the engine, shouting as he went: +"Dépêchez! Dépêchez! Sauvez-vous!" At the same moment a stray artilleryman +was seen hastening towards us; but suddenly there came a terrific crash of +glass, a shell burst through the roof and exploded, and the unlucky +artilleryman fell on the platform, evidently severely wounded. We were +already in motion, however, and the line being dear, we got fairly swiftly +across the viaduct spanning the Sarthe. This placed us beyond the reach of +the enemy, and we then slowed down. + +One or two more trains were got away after ours, the last one, I believe, +being vainly assailed by some Uhlans before it had crossed the viaduct. +The latter ought then to have been blown up, but an attempt to do so +proved ineffectual. We went on very slowly on account of the many trains +in front of us. Every now and again, too, there came a wearisome stop. It +was bitterly cold, and it was in vain that we beat the tattoo with our +feet in the hope of thereby warming them. The men with me were also +desperately hungry, and complained of it so bitterly and so frequently, +that, at last, I could not refrain from producing a little bread and meat +which I had secured at Le Mans and sharing it with them. But it merely +meant a bite for each of us. However, on stopping at last at Conlie +station--some sixteen or seventeen miles from Le Mans--we all hastily +scrambled out of the train, rushed into a little inn, and almost fought +like wild beasts for scraps of food. Then on we went once more, still very +slowly, still stopping again and again, sometimes for an hour at a +stretch, until, half numbed by the cold, weary of stamping our feet, and +still ravenous, we reached the little town of Sillé-le-Guillaume, which is +not more than eight or nine miles from Conlie. + +At Sillé I secured a tiny garret-like room at the crowded Hôtel de la +Croix d'Or, a third-rate hostelry, which was already invaded by officers, +soldiers, railway officials, and others who had quitted Le Mans before I +had managed to do so. My comparatively youthful appearance won for me, +however, the good favour of the buxom landlady, who, after repeatedly +declaring to other applicants that she had not a corner left in the whole +house, took me aside and said in an undertone: "listen, I will put you in +a little _cabinet_ upstairs. I will show you the way by and by. But don't +tell anybody." And she added compassionately: "_Mon pauvre garçon_, you +look frozen. Go into the kitchen. There is a good fire there, and you will +get something to eat." + +Truth to tell, the larder was nearly empty, but I secured a little cheese +and some bread and some very indifferent wine, which, however, in my then +condition, seemed to me to be nectar. I helped myself to a bowl, I +remember, and poured about a pint of wine into it, so as to soak my bread, +which was stale and hard. Toasting my feet at the fire whilst I regaled +myself with that improvised _soupe-au-vin_, I soon felt warm and +inspirited once more. Hardship sits on one but lightly when one is only +seventeen years of age and stirred by early ambition. All the world then +lay before me, like mine oyster, to be opened by either sword or pen. + +At a later hour, by the light of a solitary guttering candle, in the +little _cabinet_ upstairs, I wrote, as best I could, an account of the +recent fighting and the loss of Le Mans; and early on the following +morning I prevailed on a railway-man who was going to Rennes to post my +packet there, in order that it might be forwarded to England _viâ_ Saint +Malo. The article appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, filling a page of +that journal, and whatever its imperfections may have been, it was +undoubtedly the first detailed account of the battle of Le Mans, from the +French side, to appear in the English Press. It so happened, indeed, that +the other correspondents with the French forces, including my cousin +Montague Vizetelly of _The Daily News_, lingered at Le Mans until it was +too late for them to leave the town, the Germans having effected their +entry. + +German detachments soon started in pursuit of the retreating Army of the +Loire. Chanzy, as previously mentioned, modified his plans, in accordance +with Gambetta's views, on the evening of January 12. The new orders were +that the 16th Army Corps should retreat on Laval by way of Chassillé and +Saint Jean-sur-Erve, that the 17th, after passing Conlie, should come +down to Sainte Suzanne, and that the 21st should proceed from Conlie to +Sillé-le-Guillaume. There were several rear-guard engagements during, the +retreat. Already on the 13th, before the 21st Corps could modify its +original line of march, it had to fight at Ballon, north of Le Mans. +On the next day one of its detachments, composed of 9000 Mobilisés of the +Mayenne, was attacked at Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, and hastily fell back, +leaving 1400 men in the hands of the Germans, who on their side lost only +_nine_! Those French soldiers who retreated by way of Conlie partially +pillaged the abandoned stores there. A battalion of Mobiles, on passing +that way, provided themselves with new trousers, coats, boots, and +blankets, besides carrying off a quantity of bread, salt-pork, sugar, and +other provisions. These things were at least saved from the Germans, who +on reaching the abandoned camp found there a quantity of military +_matériel_, five million cartridges, 1500 cases of biscuits and extract of +meat, 180 barrels of salt-pork, a score of sacks of rice, and 140 +puncheons of brandy. + +On January 14 the 21st Corps under Jaurès reached Sillé-le-Guillaume, and +was there attacked by the advanced guard of the 13th German Corps under +the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg. The French offered a good resistance, +however, and the Germans retreated on Conlie. I myself had managed to +leave Sillé the previous afternoon, but such was the block on the line +that our train could get no farther than Voutré, a village of about a +thousand souls. Railway travelling seeming an impossibility, I prevailed +on a farmer to give me a lift as far as Sainte Suzanne, whence I hoped to +cut across country in the direction of Laval. Sainte Suzanne is an ancient +and picturesque little town which in those days still had a rampart and +the ruins of an early feudal castle. I supped and slept at an inn there, +and was told in the morning (January 14) that it would be best for me to +go southward towards Saint Jean-sur-Erve, where I should strike the direct +highway to Laval, and might also be able to procure a conveyance. I did +not then know the exact retreating orders. I hoped to get out of the way +of all the troops and waggons encumbering the roads, but in this I was +doomed to disappointment, for at Saint Jean I fell in with them again. + +That day a part of the rear-guard of the 16th Corps (Jauréguiberry)--that +is, a detachment of 1100 men with a squadron of cavalry under General +Le Bouëdec--had been driven out of Chassillé by the German cavalry under +General von Schmidt. This had accelerated the French retreat, which +continued in the greatest confusion, all the men hastening precipitately +towards Saint Jean, where, after getting the bulk of his force on to the +heights across the river Erve, which here intersects the highway, +Jauréguiberry resolved on attempting to check the enemy's pursuit. Though +the condition of most of the men was lamentable, vigorous defensive +preparations were made on the night of the 14th and the early morning of +the following day. On the low ground, near the village and the river, +trees were felled and roads were barricaded; while on the slopes batteries +were disposed behind hedges, in which embrasures were cut. The enemy's +force was, I believe, chiefly composed of cavalry and artillery. The +latter was already firing at us when Jauréguiberry rode along our lines. +A shell exploded near him, and some splinters of the projectile struck +his horse in the neck, inflicting a ghastly, gaping wound. The poor beast, +however, did not fall immediately, but galloped on frantically for more +than a score of yards, then suddenly reared, and after doing so came down, +all of a heap, upon the snow. However, the Admiral, who was a good +horseman, speedily disengaged himself, and turned to secure another +mount--when he perceived that Colonel Beraud, his chief of staff, who had +been riding behind him, had been wounded by the same shell, and had fallen +from his horse. I saw the Colonel being carried to a neighbouring +farmhouse, and was afterwards told that he had died there. + +The engagement had no very decisive result, but Schmidt fell back to the +road connecting Sainte Suzanne with Thorigné-en-Charnie, whilst we +withdrew towards Soulge-le-Bruant, about halfway between Saint Jean and +Laval. During the fight, however, whilst the artillery duel was in +progress, quite half of Jauréguiberry's men had taken themselves off +without waiting for orders. I believe that on the night of January 15 he +could not have mustered more than 7000 men for action. Yet only two days +previously he had had nearly three times that number with him. + +Nevertheless, much might be pleaded for the men. The weather was still +bitterly cold, snow lay everywhere, little or no food could be obtained, +the commissariat refraining from requisitioning cattle at the farms, for +all through the departments for Mayenne and Ille-et-Vilaine cattle-plague +was raging. Hungry, emaciated, faint, coughing incessantly, at times +affected with small-pox, the men limped or trudged on despairingly. Their +boots were often in a most wretched condition; some wore sabots, others, +as I said once before, merely had rags around their poor frost-bitten +feet. And the roads were obstructed by guns, vans, waggons, vehicles of +all kinds. Sometimes an axle had broken, sometimes a horse had fallen dead +on the snow, in any case one or another conveyance had come to a +standstill, and prevented others from pursuing their route. I recollect +seeing hungry men cutting steaks from the flanks of the dead beasts, +sometimes devouring the horseflesh raw, at others taking it to some +cottage, where the avaricious peasants, who refused to part with a scrap +of food, at least had to let these cold and hungry men warm themselves at +a fire, and toast their horseflesh before it. At one halt three soldiers +knocked a peasant down because he vowed that he could not even give them a +pinch of salt. That done, they rifled his cupboards and ate all they could +find. + +Experience had taught me a lesson. I had filled my pockets with ham, +bread, hard-boiled eggs, and other things, before leaving Sainte Suzanne. +I had also obtained a meal at Saint Jean, and secured some brandy there, +and I ate and drank sparingly and surreptitiously whilst I went on, +overtaking one after another batch of weary soldiers. However, the +distance between Saint Jean and Laval is not very great. Judging by the +map, it is a matter of some twenty-five miles at the utmost. Moreover, I +walked only half the distance. The troops moved so slowly that I reached +Soulge-le-Bruant long before them, and there induced a man to drive me to +Laval. I was there on the afternoon of January 16, and as from this point +trains were still running westward, I reached Saint Servan on the +following day. Thus I slipped through to my goal, thereby justifying the +nickname of L'Anguille--the Eel--which some of my young French friends had +bestowed on me. + +A day or two previously my father had returned from England, and I found +him with my stepmother. He became very much interested in my story, and +talked of going to Laval himself. Further important developments might +soon occur, the Germans might push on to Chanzy's new base, and I felt +that I also ought to go back. The life I had been leading either makes or +mars a man physically. Personally, I believe that it did me a world of +good. At all events, it was settled that my father and myself should go to +Laval together. We started a couple of days later, and managed to travel +by rail as far as Rennes. But from that point to Laval the line was now +very badly blocked, and so we hired a closed vehicle, a ramshackle affair, +drawn by two scraggy Breton nags. The main roads, being still crowded with +troops, artillery, and baggage waggons, and other impedimenta, were often +impassable, and so we proceeded by devious ways, amidst which our driver +lost himself, in such wise that at night we had to seek a shelter at the +famous Chateau des Bochers, immortalized by Mme. de Sévigné, and replete +with precious portraits of herself, her own and her husband's families, in +addition to a quantity of beautiful furniture dating from her time. + +It took us, I think, altogether two days to reach Laval, where, after +securing accommodation at one of the hotels, we went out in search of +news, having heard none since we had started on our journey. Perceiving a +newspaper shop, we entered it, and my father insisted on purchasing a copy +of virtually every journal which was on sale there. Unfortunately for us, +this seemed highly suspicious to a local National Guard who was in the +shop, and when we left it he followed us. My father had just then begun to +speak to me in English, and at the sound of a foreign tongue the man's +suspicions increased. So he drew nearer, and demanded to know who and what +we were. I replied that we were English and that I had previously been +authorised to accompany the army as a newspaper correspondent. My +statements, however, were received with incredulity by this suspicious +individual, who, after one or two further inquiries, requested us to +accompany him to a guard-house standing near one of the bridges thrown +over the river Mayenne. + +Thither we went, followed by several people who had assembled during our +parley, and found ourselves before a Lieutenant of Gendarmes, on the +charge of being German spies. Our denouncer was most positive on the +point. Had we not bought at least a dozen newspapers? Why a dozen, when +sensible people would have been satisfied with one? Such extensive +purchases must surely have been prompted by some sinister motive. Besides, +he had heard us conversing in German. English, indeed! No, no! He was +certain that we had spoken German, and was equally certain of our guilt. + +The Lieutenant looked grave, and my explanations did not quite satisfy +him. The predicament was the more awkward as, although my father was +provided with a British passport, I had somehow left my precious military +permit at Saint Servan, Further, my father carried with him some documents +which might have been deemed incriminating, They were, indeed, +safe-conducts signed by various German generals, which had been used by us +conjointly while passing, through the German lines after making our way +out of Paris in November. As for my correspondent's permit, signed some +time previously by the Chief of the Staff, I had been unable to find it +when examining my papers on our way to Laval, but had consoled myself with +the thought that I might get it replaced at headquarters. [The red-cross +armlet which had repeatedly proved so useful to me, enabling me to come +and go without much interference, was at our hotel, in a bag we had +brought with us.] Could I have shown it to the Lieutenant, he might have +ordered our release. As it happened, he decided to send us to the Provost +Marshal. I was not greatly put out by that command, for I remembered the +officer in question, or thought I did, and felt convinced that everything +would speedily be set right. + +We started off in the charge of a brigadier-otherwise a corporal--of +Gendarmes, and four men, our denouncer following closely at our heels. My +father at once pointed out to me that the brigadier and one of the men +wore silver medals bearing the effigy of Queen Victoria, so I said to the +former, "You were in the Crimea. You are wearing our Queen's medal." + +"Yes," he replied, "I gained that at the Alma." + +"And your comrade?" + +"He won his at the Tohernaya." + +"I dare say you would have been glad if French and English had fought side +by side in this war?" I added. "Perhaps they ought to have done so." + +"_Parbleu!_ The English certainly owed us a _bon coup de main_, instead of +which they have only sold us broken-down horses and bad boots." + +I agreed that there had been some instances of the kind. A few more words +passed, and I believe that the brigadier became convinced of our English +nationality. But as his orders were to take us to the Provost's, thither +we were bound to go. An ever increasing crowd followed. Shopkeepers and +other folk came to their doors and windows, and the words, "They are +spies, German spies!" rang out repeatedly, exciting the crowd and +rendering it more and more hostile. For a while we followed a quay with +granite parapets, below which flowed the Mayenne, laden with drifting ice. +All at once, however, I perceived on our left a large square, where about +a hundred men of the Laval National Guard were being exercised. They saw +us appear with our escort, they saw the crowd which followed us, and they +heard the cries, "Spies! German spies!" Forthwith, with that disregard for +discipline which among the French was so characteristic of the period, +they broke their ranks and ran towards us. + +We were only able to take a few more steps. In vain did the Gendarmes try +to force a way through the excited mob. We were surrounded by angry, +scowling, vociferating men. Imprecations burst forth, fists were clenched, +arms were waved, rifles were shaken, the unruly National Guards being the +most eager of all to denounce and threaten us. "Down with the spies!" they +shouted. "Down with the German pigs! Give them to us! Let us shoot them!" + +A very threatening rush ensued, and I was almost carried off my feet. But +in another moment I found myself against the parapet of the quay, with my +father beside me, and the icy river in the rear. In front of us stood the +brigadier and his four men guarding us from the angry citizens of Laval. + +"Hand them over to us! We will settle their affair," shouted an excited +National Guard. "You know that they are spies, brigadier." + +"I know that I have my orders," growled the veteran. "I am taking them to +the Provost. It is for him to decide." + +"That is too much ceremony," was the retort. "Let us shoot them!" + +"But they are not worth a cartridge!" shouted another man. "Throw them +into the river!" + +That ominous cry was taken up. "Yes, yes, to the river with them!" Then +came another rush, one so extremely violent that our case seemed +desperate. + +But the brigadier and his men had managed to fix bayonets during the brief +parley, and on the mob being confronted by five blades of glistening +steel, its savage eagerness abated. Moreover, the old brigadier behaved +magnificently. "Keep back!" cried he. "I have my orders. You will have to +settle me before you take my prisoners!" + +Just then I caught the eye of one of the National Guards, who was shaking +his fist at us, and I said to him, "You are quite mistaken. We are not +Germans, but English!" + +"Yes, yes, _Anglais, Anglais_!" my father exclaimed. + +While some of the men in the crowd were more or less incredulously +repeating that statement, a black-bearded individual--whom I can, at this +very moment, still picture with my mind's eye, so vividly did the affair +impress me--climbed on to the parapet near us, and called out, "You say +you are English? Do you know London? Do you know Regent Street? Do you +know the Soho?" + +"Yes, yes!" we answered quickly. + +"You know the Lei-ces-terre Square? What name is the music-hall there?" + +"Why, the Alhambra!" The "Empire," let me add, did not exist in those +days. + +The man seemed satisfied. "I think they are English," he said to his +friends. But somebody else exclaimed, "I don't believe it. One of them is +wearing a German hat." + +Now, it happened that my father had returned from London wearing a felt +hat of a shape which was then somewhat fashionable there, and which, +curiously enough, was called the "Crown Prince," after the heir to the +Prussian throne--that is, our Princess Royal's husband, subsequently the +Emperor Frederick. The National Guard, who spoke a little English, wished +to inspect this incriminating hat, so my father took it off, and one of +the Gendarmes, having placed it on his bayonet, passed it to the man on +the parapet. When the latter had read "Christy, London," on the lining, he +once more testified in our favour. + +But other fellows also wished to examine the suspicious headgear, and it +passed from hand to hand before it was returned to my father in a more or +less damaged condition, Even then a good many men were not satisfied +respecting our nationality, but during that incident of the hat--a +laughable one to me nowadays, though everything looked very ugly when it +occurred--there had been time for the men's angry passions to cool, to a +considerable extent at all events; and after that serio-comical interlude, +they were much less eager to inflict on us the summary law of Lynch. A +further parley ensued, and eventually the Gendarmes, who still stood with +bayonets crossed in front of us, were authorized, by decision of the +Sovereign People, to take us to the Provost's. Thither we went, then, +amidst a perfect procession of watchful guards and civilians. + +Directly we appeared before the Provost, I realized that our troubles were +not yet over. Some changes had taken place during the retreat, and either +the officer whom I remembered having seen at Le Mans (that is, Colonel +Mora) had been replaced by another, or else the one before whom we now +appeared was not the Provost-General, but only the Provost of the 18th +Corps. At all events, he was a complete stranger to me. After hearing, +first, the statements of the brigadier and the National Guard who had +denounced us, and who had kept close to us all the time, and, secondly, +the explanations supplied by my father and myself, he said to me, "If you +had a staff permit to follow the army, somebody at headquarters must be +able to identify you." + +"I think that might be done," I answered, "by Major-General Feilding, +who--as you must know--accompanies the army on behalf of the British +Government. Personally, I am known to several officers of the 21st Corps-- +General Gougeard and his Chief of Staff, for instance--and also to some of +the aides-de-camp at headquarters." + +"Well, get yourselves identified, and obtain a proper safe-conduct," said +the Provost. "Brigadier, you are to take these men to headquarters. If +they are identified there, you will let them go. If not, take them to the +château (the prison), and report to me." + +Again we all set out, this time climbing the hilly ill-paved streets of +old Laval, above which the town's great feudal castle reared its dark, +round keep; and presently we came to the local college, formerly an +Ursuline convent, where Chanzy had fixed his headquarters. + +In one of the large class-rooms were several officers, one of whom +immediately recognized me. He laughed when he heard our story. "I was +arrested myself, the other day," he said, "because I was heard speaking in +English to your General Feilding. And yet I was in uniform, as I am now." + +The Gendarmes were promptly dismissed, though not before my father had +slipped something into the hand of the old brigadier for himself and his +comrades. Their firmness had saved us, for when a mob's passions are +inflamed by patriotic zeal, the worst may happen to the objects of its +wrath. + +A proper safe-conduct (which I still possess) was prepared by an +aide-de-camp on duty, and whilst he was drafting it, an elderly but +bright-eyed officer entered, and went up to a large circular stove to warm +himself. Three small stars still glittered faintly on his faded cap, +and six rows of narrow tarnished gold braid ornamented the sleeves of his +somewhat shabby dolman. It was Chanzy himself. + +He noticed our presence, and our case was explained to him. Looking at me +keenly, he said, "I think I have seen you before. You are the young +English correspondent who was allowed to make some sketches at +Yvré-l'Evêque, are you not?" + +"Yes, _mon genéral_," I answered, saluting. "You gave me permission +through, I think, Monsieur le Commandant de Boisdeffre." + +He nodded pleasantly as we withdrew, then lapsed into a thoughtful +attitude. + +Out we went, down through old Laval and towards the new town, my father +carrying the safe-conduct in his hand. The Gendarmes must have already +told people that we were "all right," for we now encountered only pleasant +faces. Nevertheless, we handed the safe-conduct to one party of National +Guards for their inspection, in order that their minds might be quite at +rest. That occurred outside the hospital, where at that moment I little +imagined that a young Englishman--a volunteer in the Sixth Battalion of +the Côtes-du-Nord Mobile Guards (21st Army Corps)--was lying invalided by +a chill, which he had caught during an ascent in our army balloon with +Gaston Tissandier. Since then that young Englishman has become famous as +Field-Marshal Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum. + +But the National Guards insisted on carrying my father and myself to the +chief café of Laval. They would take no refusal. In genuine French +fashion, they were all anxiety to offer some amends for their misplaced +patriotic impulsiveness that afternoon, when they had threatened, first, +to shoot, and, next, to drown us. In lieu thereof they now deluged us with +punch _à la française_, and as the café soon became crowded with other +folk who all joined our party, there ensued a scene which almost suggested +that some glorious victory had been gained at last by invaded and +unfortunate France. + + + +XIII + +THE BITTER END + +Battues for Deserters--End of the Operations against Chanzy--Faidherbe's +Battles--Bourbaki's alleged Victories and Retreat--The Position in Paris-- +The terrible Death Rate--State of the Paris Army--The Sanguinary Buzenval +Sortie--Towards Capitulation--The German Conditions--The Armistice +Provisions--Bourbaki's Disaster--Could the War have been prolonged?--The +Resources of France--The general Weariness--I return to Paris--The +Elections for a National Assembly--The Negotiations--The State of Paris-- +The Preliminaries of Peace--The Triumphal Entry of the Germans--The War's +Aftermath. + + +We remained for a few days longer at Laval, and were not again interfered +with there. A painful interest attached to one sight which we witnessed +more than once. It was that of the many processions of deserters whom the +horse Gendarmerie of the headquarters staff frequently brought into the +town. The whole region was scoured for runaways, many of whom were found +in the villages and at lonely farms. They had generally cast off their +uniform and put on blouses, but the peasantry frequently betrayed them, +particularly as they seldom, if ever, had any money to spend in bribes. +Apart from those _battues_ and the measures of all kinds which Chanzy took +to reorganise his army, little of immediate import occurred at Laval. +Gambetta had been there, and had then departed for Lille in order to +ascertain the condition of Faidherbe's Army of the North. The German +pursuit of Chanzy's forces ceased virtually at Saint Jean-sur-Erve. There +was just another little skirmish at Sainte Mélaine, but that was all. +[I should add that on January 17 the Germans under Mecklenburg secured +possession of Alengon (Chanty's original objective) alter an ineffectual +resistance offered by the troops under Commandant Lipowski, who was +seconded in his endeavours by young M. Antonin Dubost, then Prefect of the +Orne, and recently President of the French Senate.] Accordingly my father +and I returned to Saint Servan, and, having conjointly prepared some +articles on Chanzy's retreat and present circumstances, forwarded them to +London for the _Pall Mall Gazette_. + +The war was now fast drawing to an end. I have hitherto left several +important occurrences unmentioned, being unwilling to interrupt my +narrative of the fighting at Le Mans and the subsequent retreat. I feel, +however, that I now ought to glance at the state of affairs in other parts +of France. I have just mentioned that after visiting Chanzy at Laval +(January 19), Gambetta repaired to Lille to confer with Faidherbe. Let us +see, then, what the latter general had been doing. He was no longer +opposed by Manteuffel, who had been sent to the east of France in the hope +that he would deal more effectually than Werder with Bourbaki's army, +which was still in the field there. Manteuffel's successor in the north +was General von Goeben, with whom, on January 18, Faidherbe fought an +engagement at Vermand, followed on the morrow by the battle of Saint +Quentin, which was waged for seven hours amidst thaw and fog. Though it +was claimed as a French victory, it was not one. The Germans, it is true, +lost 2500 men, but the French killed and wounded amounted to 3500, and +there were thousands of men missing, the Germans taking some 5000 +prisoners, whilst other troops disbanded much as Chanzy's men disbanded +during his retreat. From a strategical point of view the action at Saint +Quentin was indecisive. + +Turning to eastern France, Bourbaki fought two indecisive engagements near +Villersexel, south-east of Vesoul, on January 9 and 10, and claimed the +victory on these occasions. On January 13 came another engagement at +Arcey, which he also claimed as a success, being congratulated upon it by +Gambetta. The weather was most severe in the region of his operations, and +the sufferings of his men were quite as great as--if not greater than-- +those of Chanzy's troops. There were nights when men lay down to sleep, +and never awoke again. On January 15,16, and 17 there was a succession of +engagements on the Lisaine, known collectively as the battle of Héricourt. +These actions resulted in Bourbaki's retreat southward towards Besançon, +where for the moment we will leave him, in order to consider the position +of Paris at this juncture. + +Since the beginning of the year, the day of the capital's surrender had +been fast approaching. Paris actually fell because its supply of food was +virtually exhausted. On January 18 it became necessary to ration the +bread, now a dark, sticky compound, which included such ingredients as +bran, starch, rice, barley, vermicelli, and pea-flour. About ten ounces +was allotted per diem to each adult, children under five years of age +receiving half that quantity. But the health-bill of the city was also a +contributory cause of the capitulation. In November there were 7444 deaths +among the non-combatant population, against 3863 in November, 1869. The +death-roll of December rose to 10,665, against 4214 in December the +previous year. In January, between sixty and seventy persons died from +small-pox every day. Bronchitis and pneumonia made an ever-increasing +number of victims. From January 14 to January 21 the mortality rose to no +less than 4465; from the latter date until January 28, the day of the +capitulation, the figures were 4671, whereas in normal times they had +never been more than 1000 in any week. + +Among the troops the position was going from bad to worse. Thousands of +men were in the hospitals, and thousands contrived to desert and hide +themselves in the city. Out of 100,705 linesmen, there were, on January 1, +no fewer than 23,938 absentees; while 23,565 units were absent from the +Mobile Guard, which, on paper, numbered 111,999. Briefly, one man out of +every five was either a patient or a deserter. As for the German +bombardment, this had some moral but very little material effect. Apart +from the damage done to buildings, it killed (as I previously said) about +one hundred and wounded about two hundred persons. + +The Government now had little if any confidence in the utility of any +further sorties. Nevertheless, as the extremist newspapers still clamoured +for one, it was eventually decided to attack the German positions across +the Seine, on the west of the city. This sortie, commonly called that of +Buzenval, took place on January 10, the day after King William of Prussia +had been proclaimed German Emperor in Louis XIV's "Hall of Mirrors" at +Versailles. [The decision to raise the King to the imperial dignity had +been arrived at on January 1.] Without doubt, the Buzenval sortie was +devised chiefly in order to give the National Guard the constantly +demanded opportunity and satisfaction of being led against the Germans. +Trochu, who assumed chief command, establishing himself at the fort of +Mont Valérien, divided his forces into three columns, led by Generals +Vinoy, Bellemare, and Ducrot. The first (the left wing) comprised +22,000 men, including 8000 National Guards; the second (the central +column) 34,500 men, including 16,000 Guards; and the third (the right +wing) 33,500 men, among whom were no fewer than 18,000 Guards. Thus the +total force was about 90,000, the National Guards representing about a +third of that number. Each column had with it ten batteries, representing +for the entire force 180 guns. The French front, however, extended over a +distance of nearly four miles, and the army's real strength was thereby +diminished. There was some fairly desperate fighting at Saint Cloud, +Montretout, and Longboyau, but the French were driven back after losing +4000 men, mostly National Guards, whereas the German losses were only +about six hundred. + +The affair caused consternation in Paris, particularly as several +prominent men had fallen in the ranks of the National Guard. On the night +of January 21, some extremists forced their way into the prison of Mazas +and delivered some of their friends who had been shut up there since the +rising of October 31. On the morrow, January 22, there was a demonstration +and an affray on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, shots being exchanged with +the result that people were killed and wounded. The Government gained the +day, however, and retaliated by closing the revolutionary clubs and +suppressing some extremist newspapers. But four hours later Trochu +resigned his position as Military Governor of Paris (in which he was +replaced by General Vinoy), only retaining the Presidency of the +Government. Another important incident had occurred on the very evening +after the insurrection: Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister, had then +forwarded a letter to Prince Bismarck. + +The Government's first idea had been merely to surrender--that is to open +the city-gates and let the Germans enter at their peril. It did not wish +to negotiate or sign any capitulation. Jules Favre indicated as much when, +writing to Bismarck, and certainly the proposed course might have placed +the Germans--with the eyes of the world fixed upon them--in a difficult +position. But Favre was no match for the great Prussian statesman. Formal +negotiations were soon opened, and Bismarck so contrived affairs that, as +Gambetta subsequently and rightly complained, the convention which Favre +signed applied far more to France as a whole than to Paris itself. In +regard to the city, the chief conditions were that a war indemnity of +£8,000,000 should be paid; that the forts round the city should be +occupied by the Germans; that the garrison--Line, Mobile Guard, and Naval +Contingent (altogether about 180,000 men)--should become prisoners of war; +and that the armament (1500 fortress guns and 400 field pieces) should be +surrendered, as well as the large stores of ammunition. On the other hand, +a force of 12,000 men was left to the French Government for "police duty" +in the city, and the National Guards were, at Favre's urgent but foolish +request, allowed to retain their arms. Further, the city was to be +provisioned. In regard to France generally, arrangements were made for an +armistice of twenty-one days' duration, in order to allow of the election +of a National Assembly to treat for peace. In these arrangements Favre and +Vinoy (the new Governor of Paris) were out-jockeyed by Bismarck and +Moltke. They were largely ignorant of the real position in the provinces, +and consented to very disadvantageous terms in regard to the lines which +the Germans and the French should respectively occupy during the armistice +period. Moreover, although it was agreed that hostilities should cease on +most points, no such stipulation was made respecting the east of France, +where both Bourbaki and Garibaldi were in the field. + +The latter had achieved some slight successes near Dijon on January 21 and +23, but on February 1--that is, two days after the signing of the +armistice--the Garibaldians were once more driven out of the Burgundian +capital. That, however, was as nothing in comparison with what befell +Bourbaki's unfortunate army. Manteuffel having compelled it to retreat +from Besançon to Pontarlier, it was next forced to withdraw into +Switzerland [Before this happened, Bourbaki attempted his life.] +(neutral territory, where it was necessarily disarmed by the Swiss +authorities) in order to escape either capture or annihilation by the +Germans. The latter took some 6000 prisoners, before the other men (about +80,000 in number) succeeded in crossing the Swiss frontier. A portion of +the army was saved, however, by General Billot. With regard to the +position elsewhere, Longwy, I should mention, surrendered three days +before the capitulation of Paris; but Belfort prolonged its resistance +until February 13, when all other hostilities had ceased. Its garrison, +so gallantly commanded by Colonel Denfert-Bochereau, was accorded the +honours of war. + +As I wrote in my book, "Republican France," the country generally was +weary of the long struggle; and only Gambetta, Freycinet, and a few +military men, such as Chanzy and Faidherbe, were in favour of prolonging +it. From the declaration of war on July 15 to the capitulation of Paris +and the armistice on January 28, the contest had lasted twenty-eight +weeks. Seven of those weeks had sufficed to overthrow the Second Empire; +but only after another one-and-twenty weeks had the Third Republic laid +down her arms. Whatever may have been the blunders of the National +Defence, it at least saved the honour of France, + +It may well be doubted whether the position could have been retrieved had +the war been prolonged, though undoubtedly the country was still possessed +of many resources. In "Republican France," I gave a number of figures +which showed that over 600,000 men could have been brought into action +almost immediately, and that another 260,000 could afterwards have been +provided. On February 8, when Chanzy had largely reorganized his army, he, +alone, had under his orders 4952 officers and 227,361 men, with 430 guns. +That careful and distinguished French military historian, M. Pierre +Lehautcourt, places, however, the other resources of France at even a +higher figure than I did. He also points out, rightly enough, that +although so large a part of France was invaded, the uninvaded territory +was of greater extent, and inhabited by twenty-five millions of people. He +estimates the total available artillery on the French side at 1232 guns, +each with an average allowance of 242 projectiles. In addition, there were +443 guns awaiting projectiles. He tells us that the French ordnance +factories were at this period turning out on an average 25,000 chassepots +every month, and delivering two million cartridges every day; whilst other +large supplies of weapons and ammunition were constantly arriving from +abroad. On the other hand, there was certainly a scarcity of horses, the +mortality of which in this war, as in all others, was very great. Chanzy +only disposed of 20,000, and the remount service could only supply another +12,000. However, additional animals might doubtless have been found in +various parts of France, or procured from abroad. + +But material resources, however great they may be, are of little avail +when a nation has practically lost heart. In spite, moreover, of all the +efforts of commanding officers, insubordination was rampant among the +troops in the field. There had been so many defeats, so many retreats, +that they had lost all confidence in their generals. During the period of +the armistice, desertions were still numerous. I may add, that if at the +expiration of the armistice the struggle had been renewed, Chanzy's plan-- +which received approval at a secret military and Government council held +in Paris, whither he repaired early in February--was to place General +de Colomb at the head of a strong force for the defence of Brittany, +whilst he, Chanzy, would, with his own army, cross the Loire and defend +southern France. + +Directly news arrived that an armistice had been signed, and that Paris +was once more open, my father arranged to return there, accompanied by +myself and my younger brother, Arthur Vizetelly. We took with us, I +remember, a plentiful supply of poultry and other edibles for distribution +among the friends who had been suffering from the scarcity of provisions +during the latter days of the siege. The elections for the new National +Assembly were just over, nearly all of the forty-three deputies returned +for Paris being Republicans, though throughout the rest of France +Legitimist and Orleanist candidates were generally successful. I remember +that just before I left Saint Servan one of our tradesmen, an enthusiastic +Royalist, said to me, "We shall have a King on the throne by the time you +come back to see us in the summer." At that moment it certainly seemed as +if such would be the case. As for the Empire, one could only regard it as +dead. There were, I think, merely five recognized Bonapartist members in +the whole of the new National Assembly, and most of them came from +Corsica. Thus, it was by an almost unanimous vote that the Assembly +declared Napoleon III and his dynasty to be responsible for the "invasion, +ruin, and dismemberment of France." + +The Assembly having called Thiers to the position of "Chief of the +Executive Power," peace negotiations ensued between him and Bismarck. They +began on February 22, Thiers being assisted by Jules Favre, who retained +the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, mainly because nobody else +would take it and append his signature to a treaty which was bound to be +disastrous for the country. The chief conditions of that treaty will be +remembered. Germany was to annex Alsace-Lorraine, to receive a war +indemnity of two hundred million pounds sterling (with interest in +addition), and secure commercially "most favoured nation" treatment from +France. The preliminaries were signed on February 26, and accepted by the +National Assembly on March 1, but the actual treaty of Frankfort was not +signed and ratified until the ensuing month of May. + +Paris presented a sorry spectacle during the weeks which followed the +armistice. There was no work for the thousands of artisans who had become +National Guards during the siege. Their allowance as such was prolonged in +order that they might at least have some means of subsistence. But the +unrest was general. By the side of the universal hatred of the Germans, +which was displayed on all sides, even finding vent in the notices set up +in the shop-windows to the effect that no Germans need apply there, one +observed a very bitter feeling towards the new Government. Thiers had been +an Orleanist all his life, and among the Paris working-classes there was a +general feeling that the National Assembly would give France a king. This +feeling tended to bring about the subsequent bloody Insurrection of the +Commune; but, as I wrote in "Republican France," it was precisely the +Commune which gave the French Royalists a chance. It placed a weapon in +their hands and enabled them to say, "You see, by that insurrection, by +all those terrible excesses, what a Republic implies. Order, quietude, +fruitful work, are only possible under a monarchy." As we know, however, +the efforts of the Royalists were defeated, in part by the obstinacy of +their candidate, the Comte de Chambord, and in part by the good behaviour +of the Republicans generally, as counselled both by Thiers and by +Gambetta. + +On March 1, the very day when the National Assembly ratified the +preliminaries of peace at Bordeaux, the Germans made their triumphal entry +into Paris. Four or five days previously my father had sent me on a +special mission to Bordeaux, and it was then that after long years I again +set eyes on Garibaldi, who had been elected as a French deputy, but who +resigned his seat in consequence of the onerous terms of peace. Others, +notably Gambetta, did precisely the same, by way of protesting against the +so-called "Devil's Treaty." However, I was back in Paris in time to +witness the German entry into the city. My father, my brother Arthur, and +myself were together in the Champs Elysées on that historical occasion. I +have related elsewhere [In "Republican France."] how a number of women of +the Paris Boulevards were whipped in the Champs Elysées shrubberies by +young roughs, who, not unnaturally, resented the shameless overtures made +by these women to the German soldiery. There were, however, some +unfortunate mistakes that day, as, for instance, when an attempt was +made to ill-treat an elderly lady who merely spoke to the Germans in the +hope of obtaining some information respecting her son, then still a +prisoner of war. I remember also that Archibald Forbes was knocked down +and kicked for returning the salute of the Crown Prince of Saxony. Some of +the English correspondents who hurried to the scene removed Forbes to a +little hotel in the Faubourg St. Honoré, for he had really been hurt by +that savage assault, though it did not prevent him from penning a graphic +account of what he witnessed on that momentous day. + +The German entry was, on the whole, fairly imposing as a military display; +but the stage-management was very bad, and one could not imagine that +Napoleon's entry into Berlin had in any way resembled it. Nor could it be +said to have equalled the entry of the Allied Sovereigns into Paris in +1814. German princelings in basket-carriages drawn by ponies did not add +to the dignity of the spectacle. Moreover, both the Crown Prince of Saxony +and the Crown Prince of Germany (Emperor Frederick) attended it in +virtually an _incognito_ manner. As for the Emperor William, his +councillors dissuaded him from entering the city for fear lest there +should be trouble there. I believe also that neither Bismarck nor Moltke +attended, though, like the Emperor, they both witnessed the preliminary +review of troops in the Bois de Boulogne. The German occupation was +limited to the Champs Elysées quarter, and on the first day the Parisians +generally abstained from going there; but on the morrow--when news that +the preliminaries of peace had been accepted at Bordeaux had reached the +capital--they flocked to gaze upon _nos amis les ennemis_, and greatly +enjoyed, I believe, the lively music played by the German regimental +bands. "Music hath charms," as we are all aware. The departure of the +German troops on the ensuing evening was of a much more spectacular +character than their entry had been. As with their bands playing, whilst +they themselves sang the "Wacht am Rhein" in chorus, they marched up the +Champs Elysées on their way back to Versailles, those of their comrades +who were still billeted in the houses came to the balconies with as many +lighted candles as they could carry. Bivouac fires, moreover, were burning +brightly here and there, and the whole animated scene, with its play of +light and shade under the dark March sky, was one to be long remembered. + +The Franco-German War was over, and a new era had begun for Europe. The +balance of power was largely transferred. France had again ceased to be +the predominant continental state. She had attained to that position for +a time under Louis XIV, and later, more conspicuously, under Napoleon I. +But in both of those instances vaulting ambition had o'er-leapt itself. +The purposes of Napoleon III were less far-reaching. Such ideas of +aggrandisement as he entertained were largely subordinated to his desire +to consolidate the _régime_ he had revived, and to ensure the continuity +of his dynasty. But the very principle of nationality which he more than +once expounded, and which he championed in the case of Italy, brought +about his ruin. He gave Italy Venetia, but refused her Rome, and thereby +alienated her. Further, the consolidation of Germany--from his own +nationalist point of view--became a threat to French interests. Thus he +was hoist chiefly by his own _pétard_, and France paid the penalty for his +errors. + +The Franco-German War was over, I have said, but there came a terrible +aftermath--that is, the rising of the Commune, some of the introductory +features of which were described by me in "Republican France." There is +only one fairly good history of that formidable insurrection in the +English language--one written some years ago by Mr. Thomas March. It is, +however, a history from the official standpoint, and is consequently +one-sided as well as inaccurate in certain respects. Again, the English +version of the History of the Commune put together by one of its +partisans, Lissagaray, sins in the other direction. An impartial account +of the rising remains to be written. If I am spared I may, perhaps, be +privileged to contribute to it by preparing a work on much the same lines +as those of this present volume. Not only do I possess the greater part of +the literature on the subject, including many of the newspapers of the +time, but throughout the insurrection I was in Paris or its suburbs. + +I sketched the dead bodies of Generals Clément Thomas and Lecomte only a +few hours after their assassination. I saw the Vendôme column fall while +American visitors to Paris were singing, "Hail, Columbia!" in the hotels +of the Rue de la Paix. I was under fire in the same street when a +demonstration was made there. Provided with passports by both sides, I +went in and out of the city and witnessed the fighting at Asnières and +elsewhere. I attended the clubs held in the churches, when women often +perorated from the pulpits. I saw Thiers's house being demolished; and +when the end came and the Versailles troops made their entry into the +city, I was repeatedly in the street-fighting with my good friend, Captain +Bingham. I recollect sketching the attack on the Elysée Palace from a +balcony of our house, and finding that balcony on the pavement a few hours +later when it had been carried away by a shell from a Communard battery at +Montmartre. Finally, I saw Paris burning. I gazed on the sheaves of flames +rising above the Tuileries. I saw the whole front of the Ministry of +Finances fall into the Rue de Rivoli. I saw the now vanished Carrefour de +la Croix Rouge one blaze of fire. I helped to carry water to put out the +conflagration at the Palais de Justice. I was prodded with a bayonet when, +after working in that manner for some hours, I attempted to shirk duty at +another fire which I came upon in the course of my expeditions. All that +period of my life flashes on my mind as vividly as Paris herself flashed +under the wondering stars of those balmy nights in May. + +My father and my brother Arthur also had some remarkable adventures. +There was one occasion when they persuaded a venturesome Paris cabman to +drive them from conflagration to conflagration, and this whilst the +street-fighting was still in progress. Every now and then, as they drove +on, men and women ran eagerly out of houses into which wounded combatants +had been taken, imagining that they must belong to the medical profession, +as nobody else was likely to go about Paris in such a fashion at such a +moment. Those good folk forgot the journalists. The service of the Press +carries with it obligations which must not be shirked. Journalism has +become, not merely the chronicle of the day, but the foundation of +history. And now I know not if I should say farewell or _au revoir_ to my +readers. Whether I ever attempt a detailed account of the Commune of Paris +must depend on a variety of circumstances. After three-and-forty years +"at the mill," I am inclined to feel tired, and with me health is not what +it has been. Nevertheless, my plans must depend chiefly on the reception +given to this present volume. + + + +INDEX + + + Adam, Edmond + Adare, Lord + Albert, Archduke + Albert, Prince (the elder), of Prussia + Alencon taken + Alexander II of Russia + Alexandra, Queen + Allix, Jules + Amazons of Paris + Ambert, General + Ambulances, Anglo-American + at Conlie + at Le Mans + author's impression of + Amiens + Arabs with Chanzy + Arago, Emmanuel + Etienne + Ardenay, + Armistice, conditions for an + concluded + Army, French, under the Empire + of Paris, _see also_ Paris + of Brittany + at the outset of National Defence + of the Vosges, _see also_ Garibaldi + of the East, _see also_ Bourbaki + of the Loire, _see also_ D'Aurelle, Goulmiers, + Chanzy, Le Mans, etc. + of the North, _see_ Faidheibe + at the end of war + _for German army see_ German _and names of commanders_ + Arnim, Count von + Artists, French newspaper + Assembly, _see_ National + Aurelle, _see_ D'Aurelle + Auvours plateau (Le Mans) + + Balloon service from Paris + Bapauine, battle of + Barry, General + Battues for deserters + Bazaine, Marshal + Beauce country + Beaumont, fight at + Beaune-la-Rolande, battle of + Belfort, siege of + Bellemare, General Carré de + Bellenger, Marguerite + Belly, Félix + Beraud, Colonel + Bernard, Colonel + Berezowski + Beuvron, Abbé de + Billot, General + Bingham, Captain Hon. D.A. + Bismarck, Prince + Blano, Louis + Blanchard, P. + Blanqui, Augusta, + Blewitt, Dr. Byron + Boisdeffre, Captain, later General de + Bonaparte, Lycée, _see_ Lycée + Bonaparte, Prince Pierre, _See also_ Napoleon + Bonnemains, General de + Boots, army + Bordone, General + Borel, General + Boulanger, General, his mistress + Bourbaki, General Charles + Bourbon, Palais, _see_ Legislative Body + Bourdillon, General + Bourges, + Bourget, Le, + Bower, Mr., + Bowles, T. Gibson, + Brie-Comte-Robert, + Brownings, the, + Bulwer, Sir E., + + Caillaux, E. and J., + Cambriels, General, + Canrobert, Marshal, + Capitulations, see Amiens, Belfort, Longwy, Metz, Paris, Sedan, + Strasbourg, Toul, etc. + Capoul, Victor, + Caricatures of the period, + Casimir-Perler, J.P., + Cathelineau, Colonel, + Chabaud-Latour, General, + Challemel-Lacour, + Cham (M. de Noé), + Chambord, Comte de, + Champagné, fighting at, + Champigny, sortie of, + Changé, fighting at, + Chanzy, General Alfred, + his early career and appearance, + his orders and operations with the Loire forces, + Charette, General Baron, + Chartres, + "Chartreuse de Parme, La", + Chassillé, fight at, + Chateaubriand, Count and Countess de + Châteaudun, fight at, + Châtillon, fight at, + Chemin des Boeufs (Le Mans), + "Claque," the, + Claremont, Colonel, + Clocks, German love of, + Clubs, Paris, + social + revolutionary + Colin, General, + Collins, Mortimer, + Colomb, General de, + Colomb, General von, + Commune of Paris, + attempts to set up a + rising of the + Condé, Prince de, + Conlie, camp of, + Connerré, + Corbeil, Germans at, + Correspondents, English, in Paris, + Coulmiers, battle of, + Couriers from Paris, + Cousin-Montauban, see Palikao. + Cowardice and panic, cases of, + Crane, Stephen, + Cremer, General, + Crémieux, Adolphe, + Crouzat, General, + Crown Prince of Prussia (Emperor Frederick), + Curten, General, + + Daily News, + Daily Telegraph, + Daumier, Honoré, + D'Aurelle de Paladines, General, + Davenport brothers, + "Débâcle, La," Zola's, + Dejean, General, + Delescluze, Charles, + Denfert-Rochereau, Colonel, + Des Pallières, General Martin, + Devonshire, late Duke of, + Dieppe, Germans reach, + Dijon, fighting at, + Doré, Gustave, + Dorian, Frédéric, + D'Orsay, Count, + Douay, + General Abel; + General Félix, + "Downfall, the," see Débâcle. + Droué, fight at, + Dubost, Antonin, + Ducrot, General, + Duff, Brigadier-General (U.S.A.), + Dumas, Alexandre, + Dunraven, Lord, see Adare. + Duvernois, Clément, + + "Echoes of the Clubs" + Edwardes, Mrs. Annie + Elgar, Dr. Francis + Elysée Palace + Emotions in war + Empress, _see_ Eugénie. + English attempts to leave Paris + exodus from + Eugénie, Empress + + Faidherbe, General + Failly, General de + Fashions, Paris + Favre, Jules + Feilding, Major-General + Fennell family + Ferry, Jules + Fitz-James, Duc de + Flourens, Gustave + Forbach, battle of + Forbes, Archibald + Forge, Anatole de la + Fourichon, Admiral + Franco-German War + cause and origin of + preparations for + outbreak of + first French armies + departure of Napoleon III for + Germans enter France + first engagements + news of Sedan + troops gathered in Paris + German advance on Paris + Châtillon affair + investment of Paris + French provincial armies + the fighting near Le Mans + the retreat to Laval + armistice and peace negotiations + _See also Paris, and names of battles and commanders_. + Frederick, Emperor, _see_ Crown Prince, + Frederick Charles, Prince, of Prussia + Freyoinet, Charles de Saulces de, + Frossard, General + + Galliffet, Mme. de + Gambetta, Léon + Garde, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, _and_ National. + Garibaldi, General + Garibaldi, Riciotti + Garnier-Pagès + Germans + early victories + alleged overthrow at Jaumont + Sedan + advance on Paris + expelled from Paris + love of clocks + Princes + strategy + exactions at Le Mans + officers' manners + entry into Paris + Glais-Bizoin + Godard brothers + Goeben, General von + Gougeard, General + Gramont, Duc Agénor de + Gramont-Cadèrousse, Duc de + Greenwood, Frederick + Guard, _see_ Imperial, Mobile, National. + + Halliday, Andrew + Hazen, General W. B. (U.S.A.) + Heiduck, General von + Héricourt, battle of + Home, David Dunglass + Horses in the War + Hozier, Captain, later Colonel, Sir H. + Hugo, Victor + + _Illustrated London News_ + _Illustrated Times_ + Imperial Guard + Imperial Prince + + Jarras, General + Jaumont quarries + Jaurégulberry, Admiral + Jaurès, Admiral + Jerrold, Blanchard + Johnson, Captain + Jouffroy, General + Jung, Captain + + Kanitz, Colonel von + Kean, Edmund + Kératry, Comte de + Kitchener, Lord + Kraatz-Koschlau, General von + + Laboughere, Henry, + Ladmirault, General de + La Ferté-Bernard + Lalande, General + La Malmaison sortie + La Motte-Rouge, General de + Landells + Langres + Laon, capitulation of + Laval, retreat on + adventure at + Leboeuf, Marshal + Lebouëdec, General + Lebrun, General + Lecomte, General + Ledru-Rollin + Le Flô, General + Lefort, General + Legislative Body, French (Palais Bourbon) + Le Mans + Chanzy at + town described + country around + fighting near + decisive fighting begins + retreat from + battle losses at + street fighting at + Germans at + their exactions + Chanzy's statue at + Lermina, Jules + Lewal, Colonel + Lipowski, Commandant + Lobbia, Colonel + Loigny-Poupry, battle + Longwy, capitulation + Lycée Bonaparte, now Condorcet + Lyons, Lord + + MacMahon, Marshal + Mme. de + Magnin, M. + Maine country + Malmaison, _see_ La Malmaison + Mans, _see_ Le Mans + Mantes, Germans at + Manteuffel, General von + Marchenoir forest + Mario, Jessie White + Marseillaise, the + Mayhew, brothers + Mazure, General + Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick Francis, Grand Duke of + Metz + Michel, General + Millaud, A., his verses + Middleton, Robert + Mobile Guard, + in Paris + Moltke, Marshal von + Monson, Sir Edmund + Montbard, artist + Mora, Colonel + Morny, Duc de + Motte Rouge, _see_ La Motte-Rouge + Moulin, artist + + Nadar, Jules Tournachon, called + Napoleon I + Napoleon III, + Napoleon (Jérôme), Prince + National Assembly elected + National Defence Government + confirmed by a plebiscitum + in the provinces + National Guard (Paris) + of Châteaudun + of Laval + _New York Times_ + Niel, Marshal + Noé, Vicomte de, _see_ Cham. + Nogent-le-Rotrou + Noir, Victor, assassinated + Nuits, fighting at + + Ollivier, Emile; + Madame + Orleans; + battle of + + Paladines, see D'Aurelle + Palikao, General de + _Pall Mall Gazette_ + Parigné l'Eveque + Paris, + cafés in; + riots in; + elections in; + early in the war; + defensive preparations; + fugitives and refugees; + wounded soldiers in; + Anglo-American ambulance in; + army and armament of; + Hugo's return to; + German advance on; + last day of liberty in; + live-stock in; + customary meat supply of; + clubs in; + defence of Châtillon; + siege begins; + attempts to leave; + first couriers from; + balloon and pigeon post; + siege jests; + spyophobia and signal craze in; + amazons of; + reconnaissances and sorties from; + news of Metz in; + demonstrations and riots in; + plebiscitum in; + food and rations in; + English people leave; + state of environs of; + steps to relieve; + bombardment of; + health of; + deserters in; + affray in; + capitulation of; + author returns to; + aspect after the armistice; + Germans enter; + rising of the Commune, _See also_ Revolution. + Paris, General + "Partant pour la Syrie" + Peace conditions + "Pekin, Siege of" + Pelcoq, Jules, artist + Pelletan, Eugène + Picard, Ernest + Pietri, Prefect + Pigeon-Post + Piquet, M. + Pius IX + Pollard family + Pontifical Zouaves + Pontlieue (Le Mans) + Pont-Noyelles, battle of + Postal-services, _see_ Balloon, Courier, Pigeon. + Prim, General + Prussians, not Germans + Pyat, Félix + + Quatrefages de Bréau + Quinet, Edgar + + Rampont, Dr. + "Red Badge of Courage" + Red Cross Society, French + Reed, Sir E. J. + Rennes + Retreat, Chanzy's, on Marchenoir forest; + on Le Mans; + on Laval; + Revolution of September 4. + Reyau, General + Richard, Mayor of Le Mans + Robinson, Sir John + Rochefort, Henri + Rochers, Château des + Rodellee du Ponzic, Lieutenant + Roquebrune, General de + Rothschild, Baron Alphonse de + Rouen, Germans reach + Rouher, Eugène + Rousseau, General + Russell, Sir William Howard + Ryan, Dr. C. E. + + Saint Agil + Saint Calais + Saint Cloud château destroyed + Saint Jean-sur-Erve + Saint Malo + Saint Quentin, + defence of; + battle of + Saint Servan + Sainte Suzanne + Sala, G.A. + Sardou, Victorien + Sass, Marie + Saxe-Meiningen, Prince of + Saxony, Crown Prince of + Schmidt, General von + Sedan, news of + Napoleon at + Senate, Imperial + Shackle + Sieges, _see_ Paris _and other places_ + Signal craze in Paris + Sillé-le-Guillaume + Simon, Jules + Skinner, Hilary + Sologne region + Songs, some Victorian + Sophia, Queen of Holland + Spuller, Eugène + Spyophobia in Paris + at Laval + Stendhal + Stoffel, Colonel + Strasbourg, siege of + Susbielle, General + + Tann, General von der + Tertre Rouge position (Le Mans) + Thackeray, W.M. + Thiers, Adolphe + Thomas, General Clément + Tibaldi + _Times_, the + Tissandier brothers + Toul capitulates + Treaty, _see_ Peace + Trochu, General + Troppmann + Tuilerie position (Le Mans) + Tuileries palace + + Uhrich, General + + Vaillant, Marshal + Valentin, Edmond + Vendôme column + Versailles during Paris siege + Villemessant, H. de + Villersexel, battle of + Villorceau, fighting at + Vimercati, Count + Vinoy, General + Vizetelly family + Vizetelly, Adrian + ------, Arthur + ------, Edward Henry + ------, Elizabeth Anne + ------, Ellen Elizabeth + ------, Ernest Alfred, parentage + men he saw in childhood + his passionate temper + at school at Eastbourne + at London sights + sees Garibaldi + and Nadar + goes to France + at the Lycée Bonaparte + his tutor Brassard + sees an attempt on Alexander H. + assists his father + his first article + sees famous Frenchmen + visits the Tuileries + goes to Compiègne + is addressed by Napoleon III + sees Paris riots + visits Prince Pierre's house + is befriended by Captain Bingham + dreams of seeing a war + has a glimpse of its seamy side + sees Napoleon III set out for the war + hears Capoul sing the "Marseillaise" + sees a demonstration + meets English newspaper correspondents + is called a little spy by Gambetta + with the Anglo-American ambulance + witnesses the Revolution + takes a letter to Trochu + sees Victor Hugo's return to Paris + witnesses a great review + describes Parish last day of liberty + sees Captain Johnson arrive + visits balloon factories + ascends in Nadar's captive balloon + sees Gambetta leave in a balloon + learns fencing + goes to a women's club + interviews the Paris Amazons + witnesses the demonstration of October 21 + and that of October 31 + food arrangements of his father and himself + leaves Paris + at Brie Comte-Robert + at Corbeil + at Champlan + at Versailles + visits Colonel Walker with his father + leaves Versailles + at Mantes + reaches Saint Servan + visits the Camp of Conlie + accompanies Gougeard's division to the front + in the retreat on Le Mans + receives the baptism of fire + has an amusing experience at Rennes + returns to Le Mans + sees and sketches Chanzy + witnesses part of the battle of Le Mans + sees the stampede from the tile-works + and the confusion at Le Mans + his views on German officers + on a soldier's emotions + on ambulances + escapes from Le Mans + at Sillé-le-Guillaume + at the fight of Saint Jean-sur-Erve + follows the retreat + returns to Laval + has a dramatic adventure there + returns to Paris + sees the Germans enter Paris + some of his experiences during the Commune + Vizetelly, Frank + ----, Francis (Frank) Horace + ----, Frederick Whitehead + ----, Henry + ----, Henry Richard (author's father) + ----, James Thomas George + ----, James Henry + ----, Montague + Voigts Rhetz, General von + Vosges, _see_ Army of the + Voules, Horace + + Walker, Colonel Beauchamp + War, emotions in + war-news in 1870 + _See also_ Franco-German War + Washburne, Mr. + Werder, General von + Whitehurst, Felix + William, King of Prussia, later Emperor + Wimpfen, General de + Wittich, General von + Wodehouse, Hon. Mr. + Wolseley, Field-Marshal Lord + + Yvré-l'Evéque + + Zola, Emile, his "La Débâcle" + + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Days of Adventure, by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAYS OF ADVENTURE *** + +This file should be named 8mdad10.txt or 8mdad10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8mdad11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8mdad10a.txt + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Bidwell, Tom Allen, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) +at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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