Origin and Chief Historical Events.
Fismes is one of the oldest towns in France. Cæsar refers to it in his
Commentaries on the War of the Gauls. St. Macre suffered martyrdom
there. In 1226 the town became a Commune. Sacked in 1814 by the
Prussians, its Communal Seal--well-known to archæologists--disappeared.
To-day it is in one of the museums of Berlin. The town was fortified at
an early date. Of the old ramparts, transformed later into avenues, four
gates still exist. It was customary for the Kings of France to stay
over-night at Fismes, when on their way to Rheims to be crowned. In
1814, on the eve of invasion, Napoleon I. called the nation to arms at
Fismes.
Fismes in 1914.
The Germans occupied the town on September 2, 1914, as the last French
columns were withdrawing along the road to Epernay. The Mayor and
several town councillors were taken as hostages. Meanwhile, the
Kommandant Von Kron ordered eight beds to be prepared in one of the
rooms of the Hôtel-de-Ville, and dinner for ten officers; 400 bottles of
wine, four oxen and 400 bundles of straw were requisitioned for three
o’clock next morning.
During the night, the soldiers pillaged the shops and wine cellars. The
next day, the Germans requisitioned one ton of lard or bacon, one ton of
coffee and tobacco, 35 tons of bread, and 40 tons of oats. To meet these
requirements, the town was forced to apply to the neighbouring communes.
The German authorities took measures to protect the houses which were
inhabited, but allowed the others to be plundered. The Municipality was
ordered to repair the bridge of Fismettes, which had been destroyed by
the French engineers, under a penalty of a million francs if the work
were not finished in two days. Early in the morning of September 11, the
German authorities left the town, which the French were approaching. At
about seven o’clock in the evening, the 45th French line regiment
entered the town. On the 12th, after an artillery duel which did great
damage, the French carried the level-crossing at Fismettes, which had
been barricaded by the Germans, together with the railway station and
neighbouring houses. They were held up by enemy fire for a short while
in front of the bridge, and were obliged to carry the hat factory at the
point of the bayonet. Passing over to the north side of the river, the
Zouaves of the 1st regiment, with the help of the 45th line regiment,
captured the heights which command the town.
[Illustration: THE GRAND’ PLACE OF BAZOCHES.