THE PRUSSIAN HEADQUARTERS IN VERSAILLES.--A POLISH LADY.--THE BURNING OF
ST. CLOUD.--GERMAN PRINCES.--BY ÉTAMPES AND THE BATTLEFIELD OF CHEVILLY
TO ORLEANS.
As Dr. Pratt had arrangements to make for our transit, and stores to lay
in, and as our horses sorely required rest, our departure was delayed
for two days, during which I had ample opportunity of seeing everything
that was worth while at Versailles. My quarters were comfortable; and I
ought not to pass over the circumstances which enabled me to come by
them.
A Polish lady of great wealth, Madame Urbonouski, who lived in the Rue
des Réservoirs, hearing that our Ambulance corps had entered Versailles,
came out in person and accosted Dr. Mackellar; telling him that it would
give her much pleasure if he and two others of his companions would
accept the use of her house and the hospitality of her table, whilst
they were staying in the city. So generous an offer could not be
refused. Mackellar, Hayden, and myself were only too well pleased to
accept such agreeable lodgings. Our apartments were exquisitely
furnished, and provided with all manner of luxuries, to which the sorry
plight wherein we had come from Rouen hardly allowed us to do justice.
Nothing could exceed Madame Urbonouski's kind attention during the
couple of days that we lodged under her roof. Provisions were scarce and
costly; but that did not prevent her from giving us the best of
everything to eat, and the choicest of wines at dinner. Before I left,
my hostess, understanding that I was an Irishman, and being well aware
of the sympathies which have existed between her own nation and Ireland
(countries alike in their religious history and their long disasters),
insisted that, if ever I returned to Versailles, I should pay a fresh
visit to the Rue des Réservoirs. I promised, and should have been glad
to have kept my word. But I did not see Madame Urbonouski a second time,
nor do I know if she is still living.
On the day after our arrival every one was talking of the burning of St.
Cloud, which occurred the previous evening. It was the unhappy result of
that fighting which we had witnessed, and, thanks to the shells from
Mont Valérien, had as good as shared in, on the 13th. Next morning we
visited the Château of Versailles, and saw the picture galleries and the
Chapel Royal. Here, too, the tokens of war made themselves conspicuous
elsewhere than in the smoky battle pieces which stared at us from the
walls. All the galleries on the ground floor had been turned into a
Hospital, and were filled with wounded Germans. And a first-class
Hospital they made,--commodious and airy, the arrangement and general
organisation as nearly perfect as possible. But on the well-tended grass
plots in front of the Palace, I saw numbers of the King's horses
exercised, where, but a short time previously, it had been almost a
crime to set foot.
I must not speak of the Grand and Little Trianon, the trim walks, or the
fountain which I beheld playing into the basin of Neptune. It was all
new and delightful to a raw youth, whose reading of French history had
been neither extensive nor profound. Mackellar and I took a drive
through the Park, out of Versailles, and enjoyed a distant view of Paris
from certain heights whence now and then we could hear the booming of
cannon as the forts discharged their thunder. On our homeward journey we
met the old King driving in an open landau. He was accompanied by the
German Chancellor. When I saw him another time, General von Moltke was
in the carriage. Thus I had now set eyes on the man at Sedan who had
lost one Empire, and on those who were destined, in the halls of Louis
XIV., to set up another ere six months should have passed.
But, indeed, it would seem that half the inhabitants of Versailles
consisted of Princes, Dukes, Barons, and commanding officers. I counted
nine of these notables at the Hôtel des Réservoirs; yet some were such
shabby-looking specimens of their class, that for the time they
extinguished in me the respect which I had supposed myself to entertain
for Royalty and its surroundings. A Prince, a Duke, or a General who
walked about the streets munching alternately a piece of raw ham or
sausage from one hand, and a junk of bread from the other, was not
exactly one's idea of feudal, or even German dignity, and modern
civilisation. Yet such were the manners of not a few whose high-sounding
names read well in the "Gazette".
I have been offered a share of these rude repasts, and, famished as I
might be at the time, my self-respect, nay, my very appetite, revolted;
and it was not without an effort that I was able politely to decline.
The proverb runs, "A la guerre comme à la guerre". I do not mean to
imply that in a campaign the decencies of life can be always observed;
but there is such a thing as a gentlemanly bearing, and, out of that
great assembly which boasted of the oldest German blood in its members,
I saw few that came up to the standard which English officers are
expected to fulfil, as they do with the rarest exception.
I must confess that, when I looked at several of our _attachés_ in the
German Court, and contrasted them with their perhaps more intellectual,
and certainly more uncouth and burly, cousins from across the Rhine, and
from the Mark of Brandenburg, I could not help feeling proud of that
sister country which gave them birth. But, alas! when we compare, not
the officers and men individually, but the English army with the German,
we can no longer boast: our methods of training, until lately, have been
old-fashioned; our military science lags behind; and our neglect of the
training, to which all young men in town and village might, with the
greatest advantage, be submitted, is, I venture to think, no less
shortsighted than imbecile.
On the evening of the 15th, I saw 12,000 men marched through Versailles.
These were new levies from Germany, coming to reinforce the army of
investment around Paris; and a splendid body of men they looked. The
general topic of conversation now was the fighting about Orleans, the
taking of that town, and the defeat of the Army of the Loire, news of
which had just reached us. Fresh combats in the neighbourhood were
expected, and Dr. Pratt made all ready to start on the morrow. At
Versailles it seemed to be the general opinion that Paris could not long
hold out; and, with its capitulation, the war must end.
On the same night, we had orders to report ourselves next morning at
headquarters, and to be ready to start at a moment's notice.
October 16th was Sunday. I was up at cockcrow, heard Mass at the Grande
Église, and bade good-bye to my amiable hostess. Our staff was assembled
at headquarters, in the midst of the Princes, Barons, Dukes, and the
rest whom I have already mentioned. When everything was ready, and the
waggons and stores had got into line, those who had horses rode forward,
while we others drove in the comfortable private omnibus we
had--borrowed, I suppose, is the word,--at Mantes. Our departure created
a little stir in the town. As for Prince Pless, he made himself
agreeable to all of us, and was even so thoughtful as to give us a
supply of cigars.
Moving along in procession we made somewhat of a display. From the
foremost of our Ambulance waggons floated the flags of England and
America on the breeze. Just as we arrived at the broad avenue in front
of the Mairie, which is the way out of the town, a Prussian regiment
passed us in full marching order. As they approached, we heard orders
passed along among officers and under officers, in loud harsh tones,
with the result that, as each Company went by, it presented arms, our
chief and those who rode with him returning the salute.
We were soon clear of Versailles and on the way to Longumeau, at which
place, after a pleasant journey, we arrived towards evening, and
secured quarters for the night. Before we were in the town very long, it
appeared that our arrival had created a commotion among the Prussian
authorities, who had no knowledge as to what we were, and whither we
were going. On these points several of us were questioned repeatedly by
the German officers. This was the case. Our chief, finding Longumeau
such a trifling village, did not think it necessary to report himself to
the Commandant. That such was not this dignitary's opinion we soon
discovered by his coming down to the hotel where we had put up, and
storming in most vociferous and unparliamentary language at all and
sundry, but especially at Dr. Pratt, for not reporting to him as soon as
we were in his jurisdiction.
However, the matter was made straight by the production of the Doctor's
credentials, signed by the authorities at Versailles, upon which our
boisterous little friend, who wore a uniform of rusty gold lace, fell
into a surly silence. Before it became dusk, I went out with Dr. May to
buy such odds and ends of eatables as might eke out what was provided
for dinner. We went into a store, which was crowded with German
soldiers. While I was waiting to be served, I watched the different
purchases that were being made. One of our Teutons was buying butter,
old and rank, another lard, another candles, another fat pork or bacon.
All were investing their groschen and small change in something or other
greasy. One of these fellows took a piece of butter in his fingers,
weighing about half a pound, and then asked the price of it; but while
the poor French shopkeeper was looking in another direction, the hero
slipped out and decamped to his quarters. I felt inclined to follow him
up, but judged it wiser to control my indignation, as I had to do many a
time before and afterwards. Within an hour from our arrival, the
townspeople learned on what errand we were going, and became, in
consequence, most polite and communicative. One of the most respectable
among the bourgeois went so far as to ask us into his house to tea and
supper.
Some four of us accepted the invitation. We slipped across the street,
after dark, to our good friend's abode, and spent a pleasant evening
over an excellent cup of coffee, with fair bread and butter. No one, who
has not served during a campaign, can conceive how impossible it is to
get anything like a comfortable meal, or to procure good and eatable
bread, not to mention good butter, which was a rarity indeed. And I am
afraid the same must be said of beef and mutton,--in fact, of all the
ordinary articles of consumption.
Next morning we made an early start. Our road still lay through a finely
wooded country, each side lined with cherry, apple, and pear trees, to
the fruit of which we helped ourselves abundantly. The weather continued
open. And, as before, we had to keep a sharp look-out for the
Francs-Tireurs, rumours of whose wanton doings were rife amongst the
peasants, who bore them a cordial hatred.
About midday, we arrived at the little town of Arpajon, where we made
our luncheon. What struck us, in passing through the hamlets and
villages on our route, was the utterly deserted and forlorn aspect of
their houses, streets, and public places. The country seemed to have
become a wilderness, so far as inhabitants were concerned.
Early in the afternoon we reached Étampes, a clean little town, with
wide boulevards, and a prettily planted square. Curious to tell, we did
not find a single German in occupation, and had no difficulty in getting
quarters. I took a stroll through the town with Mackellar and Warren.
The first building which drew our attention was the parish church,
standing in the principal street, and not inelegant. We entered,
expecting to see everything in that state of gaudy neatness which is
characteristic of French country churches; but what was our horror to
find the air laden with a foul odour, and the floors of the aisle and
transept littered with straw! It was evident that a troop of cavalry
horses had been quartered here, some having been tied to the benches,
which supplied the place of mangers, and others secured to the railings
of the side-chapel.
It was also plain that the stalls in the Sanctuary had been used in like
manner, judging from the amount of stable débris that lay about on all
sides; many of the benches, too, had been broken up, and fires lighted
with them in different parts of the church. The steps and the altar
showed signs of having been used for the purposes of eating and sleeping
upon them. At the foot of the altar, which was flashy and splendid, lay
upon straw a ham bone picked clean. All this was very revolting.
Hitherto, we had indeed seen the churches in and around Sedan and
Versailles turned into hospitals; but no one will describe that as an
improper use of them. It was quite another thing to make of the
Sanctuary a noisome den.
On quitting the desecrated church, we crossed the railway to the old
Château, which stands on the hill above Étampes. It is a place of
historic associations, but the Prussians had ransacked it, and all was
confusion within. When we came back it was reported to our chief that
the mayor had made some objection about giving fodder to our horses; so
that my friend Hayden was forthwith deputed to call on him and put the
matter straight. To him the mayor abruptly reiterated his objection,
little knowing the character of the man whom he had to deal with. Hayden
resorted to his store of strong terms, and warned him, with the
audacity of a Yankee, that if the provender was not forthcoming and sent
in before night, he would have his worship publicly hanged next morning
from one of the trees in his own garden. Panic-stricken at the energy
with which Hayden announced his doom upon the morrow, the poor man,
without more ado, gave orders to have the fodder and corn delivered at
once, which was accordingly done.
There was something not a little daring in this procedure of Hayden's,
though nothing, perhaps, really courageous; for M. le Maire had no
soldiers, and not so much as a gendarme in the town at his command.
Hence his instantaneous surrender. We had a great laugh over the whole
affair.
Next morning we resumed our march, and pushed on briskly, for we now
heard, from two Ambulance couriers who came against us, that fighting
was going on about Orleans, and that our services were much needed in
that town.
As the day advanced, we could distinctly hear the ceaseless booming of
cannon many miles ahead. Towards evening, when we had passed by Artenay,
we found the road and the plain on both sides covered with the débris of
a battle. Numbers of torn uniforms, knapsacks, arms, accoutrements, dead
horses, and newly-made graves,--all were tokens that the neighbourhood
had lately seen severe fighting. An unexploded shell lay beside the
road, but we avoided touching it. Many of the trees were severed midway
up their trunks, and nearly all had small branches broken here and
there, showing that the fighting was not confined to artillery. Some of
the tree trunks were grooved in a most curious manner, evidently by
shell or shot.
During the whole of this day, 18th October, we pushed on as fast as we
could, arriving late at the village of Chevilly. We heard from the
Mayor, who kindly gave us quarters for the night, that a fierce and
bloody battle had been fought both in and around the village during the
previous week. His little flower-garden had been the scene of an
infantry charge; and I marked by the trampled and uprooted plants, and
the scattered earth, the very spot where several deadly struggles had
taken place. The ground was furrowed, and the branches of the trees
broken by bombshells. Our hostess, who had retreated with her husband
into a cellar during the fighting, gave me a vivid description of the
affair. The whole village was a heap of ruins. But I shall remember the
poor lady and her kind husband, who gave us so hospitable a welcome,
despite the agitation which their late experience and the spoiling of
their dwelling place had caused them.
It was a problem what would become of the inhabitants in these country
districts, where the Prussians (as my host and hostess informed me) had
eaten up their meat, bread, and vegetables, had carried off their
cattle, their hay, straw and corn, and in many instances had finished
up, when they thought the people had balked them of supplies, by burning
the houses over the heads of the Frenchmen. Such things, we were
assured, had come to pass round Orleans. On several occasions since
leaving Longumeau, we had encountered waggon-loads of women and
children, who told us piteous tales how their houses had been destroyed,
and themselves obliged to fly; and, perhaps, the saddest part of their
story was, that when we asked whither they were going, they seemed, in
some instances, not to have the faintest idea. They were wanderers on
the face of the earth, and dazed by the calamities which had fallen on
them so unexpectedly.
We left Chevilly for Orleans on the morning of the 19th. Our road still
lay through the heart of the battlefield; and innumerable horses,
knapsacks, broken muskets, and military trappings of all sorts, were
lying about on every side. The frequent graves told their own monotonous
tale. It had become a strange and painful journey; but our adventures
were not yet over.