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."