|
1870. SEPTEMBER. SIEGE OF PARIS
An Alsacienne—Action at
Chatillon—The dangerous classes—' iWozerir pour lapatrie" —Contrasted
conditions—Batteries open—Theatres and Louvre—Food and prices—More
contrasts—Action at Viflejuif—Again the Alsacienne—Historical sieges.
AMONG the "ambulances"
visited by me while being prepared for their intended purpose was one in
the near vicinity of the Luxembourg Palace. A particular club was in
process of transition accordingly; its members, socially distinguished
in Parisian society, had arranged among themselves to undertake the
entire management and work, professional and otherwise, in connection
therewith, the female members of their respective families devoting
themselves to the performance of such functions as pertained more
properly to them. In a spacious apartment of that club-ambulance, a
number of ladies were variously occupied in arranging articles of
bedding, night-dresses, bandages, etc. Among them was one, an Alsacienne,
young, fair, and so gentle in manner, that as she accompanied me through
the several apartments about to become wards, I took leave to ask
whether she had formed any idea as to the nature of the duties that
might fall upon her in relation to wounded men, and, if so, whether she
felt that she was physically capable of them. "Of course," so she said
in reply, "she could not tell what those duties might be, or if she
would be able to fulfil them; but in such circumstances as now
threatened, it was the duty of every one, man and woman alike, to do
their best, and she hoped to do hers."
In the early hours of the
19th, the French forces, some 60,000 strong, occupying the heights of
Meudon and Oiatillon, were attacked, and driven away by the Germans. It
subsequently transpired that although considerable numbers of the
regular soldiers of the line stood their ground as became them, others,
including some Zouaves, fled panic-stricken ; their example was quickly
followed by the Mobiles, and so, as day advanced, great numbers of those
classes were seen in flight along the great thoroughness of the city, a
few of them carrying their arms, but the great majority without weapons
of any kind, shouting as they fled, "Nous sommes trahi! " themselves
saluted by the populace with cries of "Laches" The sight was a
melancholy one, its tendency to impair whatever belief existed in regard
to the successful issue of the defence now entered upon. Still later,
ambulance carnages passed along the streets, bearing their loads of men
wounded in this the first serious engagement in the near vicinity of the
capital, the siege of which begins as a result of that action. As
subsequently expressed by newspaper correspondents, there is little
doubt that had the Prussians followed up the fugitives on this occasion
they might with them have entered Paris.
In the evening of that
day the sound of shots fired in the streets was heard; report spread
that two thousand of "the dangerous classes'' were abroad, a report so
far confirmed that they were being marched under escort to the gates,
and so expelled, to take their chances between the lines of besieged and
besiegers. It was deemed unsafe for foreigners to appear, lest, being
taken for Prussians, they might vicariously suffer for the success of
the morning. Cafe and such places were ordered to close early; a
declaration published that persons convicted of pillage should be held
liable to death penalty. The discovery was made that telegraphic
communication with the outer world was cut of£ Under all these
circumstances there existed an impression that the risks to life had
been lessened to those within the city by the repulse sustained by our
"defenders'' in the morning.
On September 21 was
celebrated in Paris the outbreak in 1792 of the Republic, and massacre
of French nobles. Placards declared that the successors of men of that
day will prove themselves worthy of their ancestors; other affiches
expressed determination to resist to the death, to accept no armistice,
to yield neither a stone of a fortress nor an inch of territory. In the
Place de la Concorde a battalion of the Garde Nationale presented arms
to the statue of Strasbourg, sang in chorus the Marseillaise, decorated
the emblem itself with floral wreaths; having done so, they marched
away! Soon there came a body of "patriots"; their task to drape the
figures of Marseilles and Lyons in red, in token of the Republic
declared at both those places. Along the Rue Rivoli came a battalion of
newly-enrolled citizen soldiers, their destination said to be the front.
At the head of the column marched in gorgeous and picturesque costume a
cantinibre. The men's rifles were decorated with evergreens;
accompanying them were then: wives and children, all in tears; the brave
men loudly singing, "Mourir pour la pairie". As they reached the Rue
Royale an affecting and sad parting was witnessed; the column resumed
its march, but now in silence; but, as subsequently transpired, not to
come in conflict with the enemy. A strange contrast between conditions
was now observable. Considerable numbers of the fugitives from Chatillon
were marched along some thoroughfares, their coats turned outside in,
their hands tied behind them, the word "Lacht" placarded on their backs.
Masses of men, including old and young, the strong, decrepid and
malformed, gathered in front of the Hotel de Ville, and along the
boulevards extending thence to the Place de la Bastille. After a time
the crowds dispersed, but the reason alike of their gathering and of
their dispersion did not then transpire. Meanwhile, the aspect of the
boulevards was bright and gay with women fashionably dressed, and men in
uniform; the cafes crowded, their inmates laughing and joyous. At the
kiosks people eagerly purchased papers of the day, and laughed at the
caricatures of Germans, executed in even worse style, if that were
possible, than anything previously seen. In the Champs Elyses goat
carriages and merry-go-rounds, Mobiles playing games of sorts, nursery
maids neglecting their charges, men squabbling, songs, patriotic and
ribald, half-drunken men everywhere.
Events developed rapidly.
The sound of heavy guns at different points around the outskirts told
its own tale. The heaviest firing came from the direction of Meudon.
Crowds of people gathered at the Trocadero and there watched for
explosions of Prussian shells as they burst in mid air or crashed
through the leafy woods adjoining the Seine, though at some distance
from the city. A balloon dispatched from within glided westward at an
elevation beyond the reach of Prussian fire ; the balloon, as we
subsequently learned, being guided by M. Nadar, who, while passing over
their camp, dropped showers of his own advertisements among them.
Now the theatres were in
some instances turned to another purpose than that of mere amusement;
they were transformed into ambulances, the male portion of the usual
performers taking their places in the fighting ranks, the ladies
adopting the brassard as nurses. Another significant incident was the
barricading of doors and windows of the Louvre Museum, a number of water
reservoirs being prepared near it, in case of fire, and with evident
regard to possible bombardment. The inhabitants of villages within the
line of investment were admitted inside the ramparts; there they became
established as so many communities, each under its own administration.
Conditions, present and prospective, pointed to the necessity of
systematising the issue of food stores; meat was unobtainable at
butchers' establishments and restaurants. A register was established on
which was inscribed the names and residence of persons authorized to
remain within the walls, these numbering two millions, exclusive of
bouches inutiles already expelled.
From academies and
medical schools students enrolled themselves as artillerymen and
ambulanciers. So popular was the last-named corps that many fictitious
"members" were soon arrested for bearing its brassard. In some instances
it was said of citizen "soldiers" that they showed small desire to take
post in advanced positions; in a few, that Gardes Nationaux and Mobiles
objected to proceed beyond the barriers. While on the one hand certain
enthusiasts endeavoured to set on foot a League of Peace, others
proposed schemes of mutual assurance against casualties incidental to a
state of siege. Still went on the work of destroying emblems and
changing the names of streets associated with that of Napoleon. A
proposal was made to strip from the column in the Place Vendome the
historical scenes on its metal casing, and utilise the bronze for
purposes of defence. Wives of workmen on barricades and other defences
might be seen carrying the implements of their husbands, while the
latter lounged about unencumbered, and in all respects unlike earnest
ouvriers. In the long hours of inactivity that intervened between short
periods of .indifferent work, tongues and idle hands became in their
respective ways so demonstrative that, as a counterpoise, a series of
cheap performances "for the benefit of the masses" was organized. In the
pages of Le Combat was a proposal that a subscription list should be
opened, 'with a view to present a fusil Phonneur to the man who should
shoot the King of Prussia, the subscriptions to be limited to five sous
per person, Prussian helmets were offered for sale in such numbers that
people asked each other how far off was their place of manufacture.
Ten days elapsed since
the Prussians gained their position on the heights of Chatillon.
Meanwhile it would seem that beyond slight combats nothing of importance
occurred between besieged and besiegers. Rumour ran that ''the people" —
within Paris — demanded to be led against the enemy by whom their city
was surrounded, while the daily journals advocated such a demonstration,
if for no other object than to quiet such of the disaffected as
declaimed against the past inaction. On September 30 a combined force of
the line, artillery, cavalry. National Guards and Mobiles, said to
number in all 10,000 men, attacked the Prussians at Villejuif, where at
first they were successful At another point, however, — namely,
Choisy-le-Roi, — the result of the incautious rush made by them was
unfortunate to themselves; they sustained heavy loss in killed and
wounded, — General Guilham being among the former, — and were
constrained to withdraw behind the adjoining forts.
During the interval
between those actions I visited several ambulances, containing
considerable numbers of wounded, and now much added to by those from the
sortie just mentioned. Among those visited was the one near the
Luxembourg Palace already noticed. But the Alsacienne was no longer
there. On the fisital day of Chatillon, among the wounded carried
thither from the field was an officer whose injury was of the gravest
nature. To him was assigned an apartment; he was placed under sole
charge of the young nurse, whose first patient he thus became. Night
closed in; the surgeons attended to his injuries; then patient and
"nurse" were left together. With return of daylight came the morning
visit On the bed lay stiff and cold what had been the wounded man;
kneeling beside the bed, her face buried in the sheets, herself in a
state of catalepsy, was the nurse, her condition so sad and extreme that
she was straightway taken to her friends, with whom, as subsequently
transpired, she long remained an invalid.
All of us recognised the
fact that the attendant conditions of a siege were upon us, that with
regard to their future course everything was uncertain. Under such
circumstances we read with interest a resume of the history of past
sieges of Paris, published apparently for our encouragement in one of
the morning journals. It appears that Paris has undergone seven
different sieges ; namely, in a.d. 856-7, by the Normans, for thirteen
months, at which date its population numbered 60,000 persons; on that
occasion, though the besiegers committed great destruction in its
immediate environs, they were ultimately obliged to withdraw. In 970,
the Emperor Otho II., with 60,000 troops, appeared before its walls ;
but he was routed by King Lothaire, and pursued as far as Soissons, In
1359 Charles of Navarre blockaded the city, and tried to reduce it by
famine; the population suffered intensely, but in the end, Charles,
learning of the approach of relieving armies, raised the siege, and with
his forces withdrew. In November of the same year, Edward III. of
England invaded France with 100,000 men, and marched on Paris the
following spring. At that time Paris contained 200,000 inhabitants.
During the siege which lasted three months, they suffered the horrors of
famine, but the troops of Edward, having devastated all the surrounding
country, became themselves short of provisions, and were consequently
compelled to withdraw. A century later, the English, under Edward IV.,
who became possessed of the city, were attacked by Charles VII., whom
they had before driven to Bourges, and Joan of Arc was wounded at the
head of a storming party. Finally the French were repulsed. For seven
years Paris was "between the hammer and the anvil,'' till at last the
citizens revolted against the exactions of the English, and let the
French into the place. In 1589, at which time Henry IV. laid claim to
the throne of France, the lung's army attacked the Faubourg St Germain;
after which the siege was raised for a few months, to be renewed in
1590. On that occasion the siege lasted eighty-five days; namely, from
May 30 to August 23. The populace were reduced to such straits that
animals of all kinds, clean and unclean, were slaughtered; soldiers
chased children, and put them to death as food; bones were dug up and
prepared as path; an instance related of a woman who devoured some of
the flesh of her own offspring, and shortly afterwards died mad — and no
wonder. At the end of that time the approach of the Duke of Parma forced
Henry to raise the siege. In 1814 and in 1815 the city capitulated
without a battle. The seventh siege is now in progress. It is for us to
fulfil our destiny to the best of our ability. |
