Election in France.--Terms of Peace.--Germans enter Paris.--Their
Martial Appearance.--American Apartments occupied.--Washburne
remonstrates.--Attitude of Parisians.--The Germans evacuate
Paris.--Victualing the City.--Aid from England and the
United States.--Its Distribution.--Sisters of Charity.
During the armistice an election took place. The Assembly met at
Bordeaux late in February, and steps were taken toward peace. All
sorts of rumors were current as to the terms, and it was said that
they were so severe that France must fight on at all hazards rather
than accept them. Ten milliards, it was rumored, were to be paid
(two thousand millions of dollars). Alsace and Lorraine and a French
colony were to be given up, and a number of French men-of-war made
over to Germany. The preliminaries were finally agreed upon: five
milliards were to be paid, and Alsace and Lorraine transferred.
German troops were to occupy Mount Valérien and to enter Paris, and
hold a part of it until peace was definitively signed. The Crown
Prince was reported to have been opposed to the troops entering the
capital, as humiliating to the French, and not a military necessity;
but he was overruled.
On the 1st of March I was awakened by military music. I had not
heard any for a long time, the French bands having been broken up. I
hurried out, and found that the Germans were entering Paris. First
came the traditional Uhlans. The safety with which these troops rode
in pairs through a great part of France was a curious feature of the
war. They were followed by their supports. Then came a mixed band of
about one thousand troops, representing all arms and the different
German nationalities. They were sent as an advance-guard to secure
and prepare the quarters assigned the troops by the _maires_. In the
mean time, the Emperor was holding a review at Longchamps, on the
very field where, three years and a half before, he had assisted at
the review of sixty thousand French troops by the Emperor Napoleon,
and it was not until the afternoon that the main body, the Prussian
Guard, the Saxons, and the Bavarians, marched into the city. They
occupied the quarter of the Champs Elysées, extending as far as the
Place de la Concorde--in all about one-eighth of Paris.
This was a busy day for me. Mr. Washburne was overrun with
_concierges_ and servants complaining that the Prussians were
occupying American apartments. I went to the mayor of the
arrondissement. He said that he had quartered the Germans impartially
upon all the householders; that the French law exempted apartments
of an annual value of less than one hundred dollars; that in his
arrondissement, as I knew, the apartments were either remarkably good
or remarkably poor; that the good ones were occupied principally by
foreigners, and that the poor ones were exempt. From the mayor I
went to the German commander occupying the house of Queen Christine
on the Champs Elysées, and was told at his head-quarters that they
had nothing to say in the matter; that they had requisitioned a
certain number of rooms from the French authorities, and that they
must go where those authorities sent them, and had no right to go
elsewhere; that it was then too late to make any change that day,
but that if Mr. Washburne would find them quarters elsewhere, they
would cheerfully vacate all American apartments the next day. In the
mean time Washburne had been to Jules Favre. Favre told him that
there was every prospect that the terms of peace would be accepted
by the Assembly at Bordeaux that evening, and that the Germans, in
accordance with the treaty, would leave Paris the next day. They were
accepted that evening; but Bismarck wished to give as many German
troops as possible an opportunity to enter Paris, and so refused to
accept the telegraphic announcement of the acceptance of the treaty
by the Assembly. The next day the written official notice arrived,
and the day after Paris was evacuated. The Germans remained in Paris
three days. They did no harm. I heard of nothing missing but a few
blankets. By the terms of the treaty thirty thousand were to occupy
Paris. It was rumored that the garrison was changed every night, and
that ninety thousand entered in all.
The attitude of the people of Paris toward the conquerors was, upon
the whole, excellent. They staid away from the occupied quarter,
and minded their own business. In this quarter the shops were all
closed, except a few restaurants and cafés that the Germans insisted
should be opened. Some of these cafés were afterward gutted by the
mob, which was rather hard on the owners, as they had been compelled
to open them. But a mob is never just. Some few of the populace
fraternized with the invaders, and were to be seen talking amicably
with them; and some of the rougher element attempted to create a
disturbance, but were soon overawed by the great numbers and martial
bearing of the conquerors. While only thirty thousand were in Paris,
there can be little doubt that a hundred thousand were within a
half-hour's march, ready to enter to the assistance of their comrades
if needed. Indeed, I imagine that all the troops who passed in review
before the Emperor at Longchamps either occupied Paris, or were
bivouacked in the Bois during the three days of the occupation.
They had come in very quietly, and with military precautions against
surprise. They went out with a flourish of trumpets. They had
bivouacked in large numbers about the Arch, and their camp-fires
lighted up the inscriptions on that magnificent monument recording
the victories of French over German arms. It certainly is most
creditable to the conquerors that they did the Arch no harm. Few
nations would have been so magnanimous. The weather was perfect, the
night mild and balmy, the moon nearly full, and the beautiful German
camp-songs, admirably sung, resounded in the stillness of the hour
till ten o'clock struck, when perfect silence reigned in the camp.
When the Germans entered Paris, they marched round the Arch; when
they went out they took down the chains which inclose it, and every
regiment of infantry and cavalry, and every battery of artillery
passed directly under it, drums beating, colors flying, and the men
cheering as they passed. They were gloriously repaid for the trials
of the campaign.
Ten days passed after the surrender, and apparently the French
authorities had made no provision to revictual Paris. There was no
beef, to speak of, in the city, and very little mutton. The bread
remained the same wretched dark stuff, one-third flour, two-thirds
pease, beans, oats, rice, straw--in fact, any refuse. Delicious
white bread, fresh butter, and eggs were to be bought of the German
soldiers just beyond the barriers; and any one who took the trouble,
and had the means, could procure these luxuries at reasonable
prices. The peasants sold them to the German soldiers, and they
were permitted to resell them at a small profit. The first train of
provisions to enter Paris was sent by the citizens of London, to
their credit be it spoken. Will it be believed that considerable
difficulty was experienced in finding persons willing to take the
trouble to distribute this food gratuitously? It was done to a very
limited extent at the _mairies_. The great dry-goods establishment
of the Bon Marché distributed a portion; but much was stored in the
Halles de l'Abondance for want of distribution, and burned up when
that establishment was destroyed during the Commune. I remember
hearing a Chauvin of the Assembly at Versailles pitch into the
English for coming over after the Commune to visit Paris in her
desolation. He was answered by Jules Favre, as happily as truly, that
"the English, before they organized their trains of pleasure, had
organized their trains of relief."
In this connection let me state that more than two millions of
dollars were sent from the United States. At least two cargoes of
provisions arrived at Havre, our Government supplying the vessels.
No one could be found to distribute the supplies. The French are so
government-ridden that they are unable to take the initiative in any
thing for themselves. I have seen a strong, bold man, a guide in the
Pyrenees, stand wringing his hands and crying, while his house was
on fire, waiting for the soldiers to come and save his furniture
and put out the flames. One of the shiploads of provisions I speak
of was sent to London, sold there, and the proceeds distributed to
the poor of France. Part of the relief sent was distributed through
the Government, but experience showed this method to be slow--there
was too much red-tape about it. The funds were finally placed in
the hands of American ladies and gentlemen residing at Paris and
Versailles, whose knowledge of France and acquaintance with French
people gave them the means of making a judicious distribution. A part
was expended by a committee of ladies, of which Madame MacMahon was
the President; something was placed at the disposal of the Countess
of Paris, out of regard for her husband, who had served in our army
during the war; and a very large portion was distributed through the
Sisters of Charity. Nothing could be more judicious, and at the same
time more thoroughly business-like, than the manner in which these
admirable women disposed of the money intrusted to them, rendering a
voucher for every franc they expended. One felt that every penny in
their hands had been placed where it was most needed, and would do
most good.
Mr. Washburne left Paris early in February for Brussels, where his
family were residing, and where, by-the-way, a very large number of
our Parisian Americans had taken refuge. But he came back in a week,
feeling quite poorly. He had been so overrun with visitors making
inquiries or asking favors, that he had had no rest, and so returned
to the lately beleaguered city for a little quiet. I remained until
the Germans had made their triumphal entry, and their more triumphal
departure, and then got leave and went to London to join my family.