The Defence of Paris; narrated as it was seen ... With illustrations, and a map of Paris

Preface

. The following pages are an account of the Defence of Paris, as it appeared at the time to one who had especial opportunities of observing it in all its aspects. The author was personally acquainted with most of the political and military leaders on the French side, and enjoyed alone the rare advantage of bearing General Trochu's special pass, and, consequently, the power of free movement within and without the walls during nearly the whole of the siege. A great part of this narrative has been already published in the Morning Post, the rest consists of letters which failed to arrive, but of which the author had kept copies. Written entirely upon the spot, and under the local influences, it presents a view of the siege from one side only — the inside. The opinions occasionally expressed in it, formed as they were on the moment, and not corrected by the light of subsequent events, are in many

PREFACE.

. IV instances too highly coloured by the hope of a better result than was attained. That, however, will not be regarded as a defect, if the work be taken for what it pretends to be — an account of the defence as it appeared to ,one who, from day to day, reflected its changing aspects in a daily narrative. One merit this book will have. It is strictly true in all matters of fact. The author desired to see as much of the defence as was possible for any one person, and believes that in this he succeeded. He has recorded but what he has himself seen or known; and in recording it has preferred rather to forego the momentary amusement of his readers than fail in what he held to be his first duty — that of contributing reliable matter to the history of the times.

Introduction

. The Siege of Paris derives its great interest, not from the siege, but from Paris. It is not that a city has been invested, defended, and finally taken, but that such a fate should have befallen a city in the peculiar and unique situation of the French capital. The mere material features of such a phenomenon would alone have made it most startling. The size of the city, with two millions of inhabitants, an inner line of ramparts some thirty miles, and an outer circle of detached forts of fifty miles in length, rendered the undertaking to isolate it, and to keep it isolated, unprecedentedly difficult, and, as many thought, impossible to carry out. But that the great centre of civilised life and intellectual activity, the acknowledged arbitress for the whole world in all matters beyond and above the mere scaffold ing of society, should have been suddenly cut off from all external communication, surrounded by an iron circle, and compelled for five long months to live by itself, and VI

INTRODUCTION.

. upon itself— this, above all, it is that makes the siege of Paris a landmark in the history of the world. That the city should have been, for upwards of four months, defended as it was, is even more remarkable than that it should have been besieged as it was. There never was a population less likely to affront hardship and priva tion, and less fitted to endure them, than the Parisians. The richer of them are utterly selfish, caring only for personal display and sensual enjoyment ; the poor, filled with communistic notions by the writers who undertake their political "exploitation," and owning no all-con trolling influence save that of mere force, are jealous of and filled with hatred towards all that are less poor than they ; while the middling classes, exclusively devoted to the making of money, are only anxious to be secured in the keeping of that which they have already made.

The Parisians believe in nothing and respect nothing. At the most they doubt and fear, and only that wheu doubts and fears are impressed upon them by physical strength. It is strange that such a society should hold together at any time, but stranger still that it should have held together through the hardships of a siege, and should to the end have presented so unbroken a front to the besieger. Nor would ii have done so but for the intense vanity with which the Parisians regard themselves. "Paris is

INTRODUCTION.

. VII France" is a phrase which has been so often repeated by them that they haATe at last as nearly believed it as they can believe anything. In order to glorify their city, they were ready to endure sacrifices and to make efforts to which no other object could have reconciled them. And yet even then they continued to shift the main burden of the defence from off their own shoulders. They accepted the absence of news and the suppression of amusement without a murmur, ate their diminished food cheerfully, and endured even the bombardment not only without flinching, but with gaiety. Their passive attitude was excellent, but they did little or none of the active work of the defence. Paris was defended, not by Parisians, but by the provinces ; not by the National Guard of the city, which only took part in one serious engagement, but by the sailors, the regular troops, and the country Gardes Mobiles, who for five months were camped outside the walls, between the city and the Prussians.

To deal successfully with such materials required leaders of great political ability and military genius. Unfortunately, neither were forthcoming. The men who blundered into power on the 4th September had lived up to that time a life of helpless and hopeless opposition ; and when they found themselves, to their own astonish ment, in the position of a responsible Government, they

INTRODUCTION.

. were discovered to be mere political children. General Trochu had shown that he possessed the ability of a military student, but it soon became apparent that he was devoid of the genius required to control and to devise issue from a novel situation. There was undoubtedly among the defenders of Paris a great amount of individual courage and self-devotion, but for want of adequate direction and organisation they were allowed to evaporate in admirable acts, instead of being made to produce profitable results. From beginning to end the defence was a tangle and a confusion, and thus was produced the strange phenomenon which Paris presented of great sufferings patiently endured, and small sacrifices impatiently resented ; of mingled heroism and cowardice ; of alternate intelligence and incredible blundering, which are found inextricably mingled throughout its history. The Engravings in this Work are from Sketches made during the Siege by M. JAMES TISSOT.

Chapter I. First Aspect Of Paris

-o > PARIS, Thursday, Sept. 8, 1870. On Tuesday morning, the 6th September, I was comfortably sailing up the smooth Southampton Water in the most charming of yachts. We had been a cruise to the westward, fishing about the Cornwall coast, living a delicious lazy life between sea and sky, with a maximum of sun and a minimum of clothes. At Southampton I went ashore and got the newspapers, being eager for news from France. The Emperor surrendered ! A Republic established ! It took my breath away. A great impatience at once filled me. All my pleasant dreams of another lazy cruise vanished. Should a Republic be established, should Paris be besieged, and I not there ? Impossible. I must go. Go I accordingly did by the very next train to London, just managed to get a passport and a vise by special favour, put ten pounds in my pocket, and took the night mail to Paris.

I saw three or four people in town, who declared that I must be mad, and predicted horrors of all kinds. I have always found, however, that horrors grow much less horrible the nearer you get to them. I left London B somewhat depressed, I confess. At Dover my spirits were still rather low, and did not improve when I found that there were only some ten passengers across. At Calais, however, I felt decidedly better, though there I met several English fugitives, and learnt that the Prussians were certainly on the line of rail. At Creil the bright sunrise showed me the railway station barricaded, and a line of palisades across the rails with just space enough for the train to pass. Men in blouses were putting the finishing-touch to the defences, and at a little cottage by the road-side a peasant was engaged with the whole of his family in furbishing up the most dangerous-looking fowling-piece ever made to sell.

A feeble and futile defence, indeed, but it did one good to see the spirit of the people. A thrill of enthusiasm ran through the train. "Pas un de ces gredins ne reverra la Prusse," said an officer, sitting next me, with whom, for the moment, I agreed, and I believe if the enemy had arrived then, we should all have got out of the train and done something wild, even if it had only been to throw our carpet-bags at him. Paris I find bears much the same appearance as ever, except that there are no eagles, no sergents-de-ville, and very few smart people to be seen. I know a con siderable number of people here ; but I find that they have one and all fled. It matters little, for nobody thinks of asking one to dinner in these times. Lodging is naturally extraordinarily cheap. I have got a splendid suite of apartments over Giroux's shop, some ten white and-gold rooms, with a long range of balcony looking on the boulevard, for six francs a-day !

I believe I could have got them for nothing, on the mere strength of being an Englishman, and therefore inviolable. That detestable caravansera, the Grand Hotel, is, I am happy to FIRST ASPECT OF PARIS. 3 say, deserted. I dined there last night just to see, and there were only six people at the table d'hote. The Prussians, it is said, have announced that they will respect it as neutral territory. Probably they have got shares in the company. With all this I find it next to impossible to persuade myself that I am in a beleaguered city, and under martial law. There are no swaggering sergents-de-ville about, and therefore no disturbances ; even the cockers are civil. Last night the theatres were all closed for the first time, but the boulevards were as crowded and as cheerful as ever. The great feature is the enormous number of dis banded soldiers — fugitives from the army of Sedan, most of them — who are wandering about the streets, apparently without any aim or object, and without any attempt being made to bring them again under organisation.

Every few steps one comes across soldiers, singly, or in twos and threes, of all arms and all dresses, ruddy, healthy, well fed, apparently, but with torn uniforms, hung about with arms and accoutrements in the strangest disorder, covered with mud to the knees, and looking so dejected it is piteous to see them. Before many of the cafes may be seen Turcos and other soldiers being treated to beer and made to recount their adventures. They are generally, I find — for I have " interviewed " several heroes — of a monotonous kind. The French soldier mutters "treachery," and curses the Emperor. The Turco commonly says — " Mafiche — je guerrie — tue un, deux, dix des Prus siens — veux battre encore," and so forth. The Frenchman is depressed ; the African generally radiant, for he neither seems to know nor to care what he has been or is likely to be fighting about, or how the fortune of the war is going.

Along the boulevards, pushing in and out of the crowd, are gamins selling a gross caricature of the Emperor, " Demandez Badinguet — la plus grande canaille qu'on ait jamais vue," being their cry ; at which all the loungers laugh heartily, for a fallen man need not look for mercy at the hands of Parisians. This morning a bright sun is shining, and the streets again are full of people, who go about their business quite as usual, or perhaps stand languidly looking at the decree of the Provisional Government which dissolves the corps of sergents-de-ville, and establishes a new and unarmed force of " guardians of the public peace." They are right to take matters in this way, or rather they cannot help themselves, for those who are left in Paris are all people who have got work to do. All that calls itself society has fled long ago — left its houses in the charge of the concierge, and apparently has taken away its horses and carriages to more peaceful climes, for there is scarcely a private equipage to be seen, and those that do appear are laden with household goods and luggage.

The result is that those who have visited or lived in Paris for pleasure's sake find themselves rather lonely, and Englishmen are likely to be worse off than ever soon, for I hear that our Embassy thinks of taking itself off altogether. They are of little use here as it is, for they hold no communication with the Provisional Government, and if a British subject gets into difficulty they can do nothing for him, because, Hke the man who passively saw another drown, they "haven't been introduced to them." Paris without theatres, society, or " bouches inutiles " would run a risk of being considered duller them even London is at this time of year. The Provisional Government gains. The chief towns of France have given in their adhesion to the new order of things. There is no sign of reaction, and among the extreme men a cry is already arising that FIRST ASPECT OF PARIS. the Government is too lenient to those who have been at all identified with the Imperial regime.

The Marseil laise, which reappeared this morning, demands " Pour les ennemis du dedans la terreur," and this cry is liable to be taken up at any moment by the ferocious Parisians, especially when they begin to feel the effects of having a Prussian army round Paris. There are many who declare that we shall have another series of September massacres like those of '92 ; but I think that fear alone prompts the prediction, for there is nothing to provoke a rising of sans culottes. They may, .and very likely will, seize the handsome houses of the Bonapartists and turn them into hospitals, as the Government has already done with the Tuileries, over which the red cross now replaces the tricolour ; but I do not at all believe in massacres, and I do believe in Trochu, who will restrain the ruffianism of the city with a strong hand.

The Republic has a better chance of standing now than it ever had before, but the great danger of the Provisional Government is — peace. All the best men desire it ardently; they feel that there is no possible thing to be gained by continuing the war, but they dare not tell the French that they must submit to humiliation. Yet I am told that peace is, after all, now little more than a question of money ; that the Provisional Government is prepared to give one hundred and sixty millions sterling of indemnity, while the Prussians ask for double that amount. The Journal Officiel publishes this morning a despatch from the American Minister, recognising the Provisional Government, and offering felicitation upon its establishment. The whole of the private correspondence of the Imperial family has been seized and will be published.

I am told this morning that the Prussians are already at Meaux, less than thirty miles distant. The preparations for the defence are being taken, however, very ener getically, but yet without any sufficient system, every man appearing to do to a large extent that which is right in his own eyes. I was awoke this morning by the drums and clarions of a large body of the Garde Mobile, in blue blouses and canvas trousers, on their way to Meaux, between which place and Paris the first conflict may be expected. In the night there arrived a strong force of Marine Artillery, all of whom have been thrown into the detached forts, which are now ready to hold out any time. Below ground the approaches to the city are mined, and above there are balloons ready to be sent up to watch the Prussians as soon as they arrive.

As for provisions, we are very well off ; but in any case it would be difficult to starve us ; the city is probably too large to be completely invested, and I was told mysteriously yesterday that there are means of communicating with the country of which the Prussians little dream. Friday, Sept. 9. Through the courtesy of a member of the Provisional Government I was yesterday favoured with a " laisser passer," the power of which I at once proceeded to test by driving straight off to that part of the fortifications which I have best known in more quiet times. In the Champs Elysdes there were still a few people lounging on chairs, probably more from habit than anything else, for there was scarcely an equipage to be seen of all that generally made that spot a terror for the pedestrian. All round the Arc de Triomphe I found the soldiers of General Yinoy encamped, some sleeping in the tentes d'abri, others making soup, and others, again, polishing up their arras a picturesque scene.

Just beyond, in the ride that runs down the Avenue de l'Impdratrice, a battery of artillery had picketed their horses, whose wretched condition showed FIRST ASPECT OF PARIS. the hard service they had seen. Here and there down the avenue were squads of the Garde Mobile drilling, groups of soldiers in twos and threes looking on interestedly, or sauntering about. The end of the avenue, however, was completely deserted, and across the road at the point where we have been accustomed to be received as it were in the Bois by Gardes de Paris, there rose a rampart of earth some 30 feet high, pierced by two drawbridges of the rudest construction. Four or five Gardes Nationales were there, one on sentry, assisted apparently by a sergent de-ville in undress — the first I have seen. "On ne passe pas," came spontaneously from their lips.

On my showing my card to the sergent-dc-ville he merely turned it over and eyed me voraciously. I suspect he could not read ; but the National Guard came to my rescue, and pointed out sapiently enough that I was " engaged in the national defence." Upon this I was allowed to pass the bridge. Alas ! I did not know myself. As for the Bois, it had disappeared for at least a hundred yards. In front of me two rows of strong palisades rose upon high mounds of freshly-turned earth, through which the only opening was by a zig-zag sunken way. On either side ran the ditch, and behind that the rampart, newly pierced with embrasures, through which there looked down upon me some very ugly cannon mouths. There will be a very warm reception for any Prussians who may attempt to enter Paris from the western side.

On returning across the drawbridge I was walking through the Garde Nationale, when my hand was suddenly seized, and I found myself talking to one of my smartest Parisian friends, a petit creve, who had donned the blue uniform like everybody else. He was delighted to see me ; "we should amuse ourselves crdnement;" and if there was a sortie he promised that I should be " of it." This gentleman was on guard on Sunday last at or near the Tuileries, and he showed me a little toy soldier and a written exercise belonging to the Prince Imperial which he had picked up in the palace. The soldier was perfect, but the exercise, which was in French, was indifferently done, and full of the tutor's corrections. " Poor boy," said my friend, " I hope he is safe in England." Eeturning along the Champs Elysecs, I saw a great crowd in the middle of the road, and had, as I was told, " the good luck " to come up in time to see two supposed spies arrested and bundled into a fiacre.

To my eye, they looked very like French gentlemen of the ordinary type, but the crowd "knew that, they were Prussians," and some 500 citizens formed themselves into a guard round the carriage and escorted it off to the Mairie in a serious way, but with perfect order, and without anyT attempt at violence. A little farther on I saw precisely the same scene re-enacted, except that this time it was only a single man taken, who, unlike the other two, seemed very frightened at his position. The spy mania is worse than ever, and is used freely by those who have a grudge. Last night I was sitting at a cafe, and a beggar boy, whose solicitations I had disregarded, suddenly raised the cry, " C'est un Prussien ! c'est un Prussien ! " Upon my rising to give him a thrashing with my stick, how ever, he bolted, and I was left in peace, but the incident shows how easy it is to be made an object of suspicion.

This morning there is posted all over the town a notice signed by M. de Keratry, the Prefect of Police, warning all those who wish to leave Paris that they must take them selves off at once, and recommending them to ascertain at the railway stations by what trains they can be carried. FIRST ASPECT OF PARIS. 9 Encouraging, is it not ? Also, by way of finally clearing the decks for action, an order has been issued by General Trochu to all the inhabitants of the " military zone " round the capital to quit their houses. Most of them have already done so, and a considerable number of the houses themselves have been, and are being, razed to the ground, so as to leave room for the play of the artillery. Eight houses and a factory were burnt yesterday afternoon at Bicetre, as the most expeditious way of getting rid of them.

As for provisions, the Government assures us that we have enough to feed two mdlions of people for two months. A large body of Gardes Mobiles arrived yesterday from the provinces, and for an hour at least were marching along the Boulevards. Those I saw were from Picardy and Brittany, splendid fellows, broad-shouldered giants, such as one seldom sees in any country, and the most remarkable contrast to the miserable, puny little wretches who form the bulk of the regular army. Their broad faces wore a touching expression of simplicity and gentleness. Poor fellows ! they had been rudely snatched from then quiet homes, and most of them seem quite dazed at being thus launched into the heart of a great city. Of the Bretons there was scarcely one in fifty that could speak French, and they could probably not understand a word of the enthusiastic cries with which the crowd met them.

But they knew they were come to fight for their country, and as they swung along at a killing pace of five miles an hour they hastily snatched at the proffered hands and joined in the cries of " Yive la Bepublique ! " One simple-minded fellow, backward in his news, shouted, " Yive l'Empereur ! " but nobody paid any attention to it. As for the on-lookers, they went wild with delight, and quite plucked up courage. "II y a encore de c l'espoir," was an expression repeated every instant; then you were admiringly bidden to look at them, " Yofli des gaillards, aha ! les Prussiens veulent entrer a Paris, nous les il n'en sortira pas un — pas un monsieur." Enthusiasm is catching, and seeing those grey-bloused giants, I went back to my coffee in better spirits. Unhappily, it is arms and ammunition, not men, that are wanted.

These peasants had nothing but an old pattern muzzle-loading rifle, and as to drill they can have scarcely any at all. They will do good service in the forts, but brave as they may be, they are not the troops to stop an army of highly-trained and perfectly-armed soldiers. Some 30,000 of these Gardes Mobdes arrived yesterday, and they have been quartered upon the inhabitants all over the town. No less than fifty were sent to the house — a large one — in which I am lodged, and I was near having to give up to them some of my rooms. The pro prietor of the house, however, bought himself off the greater number, and lodged a dozen in the servants' rooms. They have been cleaning their arms since five o'clock this morning in the courtyard, but they have all gone now. Notwithstanding the rumour of yesterday that the Prussians were at Meaux, I am assured this morning that they are still no nearer than Chateau-Thierry, and are delayed by Laon, which, from its natural advantages, is expected to prove a tough nut for them to crack.

I had ordered a horse for this morning, intending to ride out towards Meaux, to see if anything was going on, but on hearing this I gave up the project, not at all sorry to do so either, for it has been raining in torrents since daybreak. The words " peace " and " negotiations " are now in everybody's mouth, and there are all kinds of rumours afloat as to action having been taken by FIRST ASPECT OF PARIS. the neutral Powers. My first impression of the Parisians is confirmed more and more. I believe that they will fight, and fight well ; but unless a providential supply of arms and ammunition turns up, I doubt their being able to hold out against the attack, which it is to be presumed the Prussians will at once make, more than a few days. The Provisional Government will, however, find it almost impossible to propose or to accept any terms of peace that will satisfy Prussia, but it will be able to dare more in that way than any other possible Govern ment at this moment.

It is quite a novel thing in France to find all men and all parties so unanimous as they now are in supporting the existing authorities, and to hear such universal confidence expressed in them. A general election is to take place on the 16th October.

Chapter II. Arrest

o Sept. 10. I have just had the compliment paid me of being arrested as an Uhlan, and perhaps an account of my adventure may not be uninteresting, all the more so as I have been enabled through it to examine at my ease the fortifications and forts on the north-eastern side of Paris. I wished to see for myself the aspect of the country on the threatened side of the capital, to learn, if possible, some thing of our friends the Prussians, and to see what preparations have been made to receive them ; so this morning, at seven o'clock, I started for a ride in the direction whence they are expected. Our Gardes Mobiles (we lodged thirty-one of them last night) had already left the house, and all the military element appeared to be already afoot. All round the Madeleine were Gardes Mobiles and Nationales drilling for their lives, and on every side were to be heard the drums and trumpets without which no French troops ever stir.

As I drew to the eastern or poorer quarters of the town the movement appeared to be still greater, and I thought the aspect of the people more serious — more like that of men grimly determined to defend their homes. Yet their homes are really hardly worth defence. Those who admire the superb avenues and lofty palaces of Paris, and hold them up as an example for London, have probably no more ARREST. 13 idea of such quarters as Belleville and St. Antoine than they have of Whitechapel and Wapping. Mean, tumble down houses, tortuous and unswept streets, broken every ten yards into holes, and a wretched population of starved beggars, is what they would find there. Misery has its home in every capital, but the misery here appears all the more striking from the great contrast that immense wealth opposes to it.

The Eevolution has stirred up in them some spirit, however ; a spirit which just now is turned into a legitimate channel for the defence of the country, but which may some day overflow and run in strange and dangerous courses. Groups of low-browed, unshaven men hang about, in whom it was easy to recognise the most dangerous of the dangerous classes. They had no uniform and no arms, and looked as if they knew their time had not yet come, but that it was near. Twice in the open spaces I passed trees of liberty — wretched consumptive poplars, palpably unable to bear then rude transplantation, their melancholy drooping boughs decked with flags and ribbons, their summits crowned with the bonnet rouge, and at their foot a grim, slouching Garde Nationale standing as sentry, and a group of idlers even more grim and slouching looking on — altogether not a bad emblem, I thought, of the state of affairs internally.

At the Porte de Romainville, by which I went out of the city, I found a good deal of animation, caused by the influx of a long pile of waggons carrying hay and straw. The sentry did not challenge me, and I rode quietly out over the drawbridge and through the palisades which have, as on the western side, been erected as an outer line of defence before the gate. Beyond the palisades all the houses have been cleared away for some 200 yards from the walls, and heaps of white ruins alone mark the spot where they stood. Beyond this space, however, the suburb of Romainville itself stands intact so far as the houses are concerned. But it is entirely deserted, every house shut up, and not a soul to be seen in the narrow streets but soldiers and melancholy peasants bringing in their families and household goods in carts.