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1871. JANUARY.
SIEGE—BOMBARDMENT—CAPITULATION OF PARIS
Bombardment begun—Its
progress and effects—" The terrible battery of Meudon "Sundry
particulars—Conditions of the besieged—A telegram— Increasing
privations—Disaffection and corruption—Routine of every-day life—Our
food supplies—Photographic messages—Personal circumstances—Night march—A
Proclamation—Sortie on Montretout and Bugeval—Defeat—The killed and
wounded—Armistice declared— Vive la Commune —General events—At our
worst—Ambulances—Ward scenes and statistics—Unexpected recognition.
INCESSANT firing between
the enemy's positions and outlying forts during the last night of 1870
and first day of 1871, increasing in violence as the day advanced;
additional batteries unmasked on the German side, thus giving visible
signs of what was to come. At 3 a.m. on the 5th, the first shell of
actual bombardment fell within the city; then followed similar missiles
in quick succession chiefly falling and exploding near the Pantheon,
Luxembouig, and market of Montrouge. In the course of that day a
Government Proclamation was issued, the terms of which as they are
transcribed seem almost childish in their simplicity: 'The bombardment
of Paris has commenced. The enemy, not content with firing upon our
forts, hurls his projectiles upon our houses ; threatens our hearths and
our families. His violence will redouble the resolution of the city,
which will fight and conquer. The defenders of the forts, exposed to
incessant firing, lose nought of their calmness, and know well how to
inflict terrible reprisals upon the assailants. The population of Paris
valiantly accept this new token. The enemy hopes to intimidate it; he
will only render its bound the more vigorous. It will show itself worthy
of the Army of the Loire, which has caused the- enemy to retire; of the
Army of the North, which is marching to our relief. "Vive la France!
Vive la Repuhlique!"
Bombardment increased in
violence and rapidity during the nights and days immediately following,
the shells falling nearer and nearer to the centre of the city. With
reports of casualties among men, women, and children, came accounts of
buildings struck and penetrated by shells, including private dwellings,
hospitals, ambulances, churches, and convents, all situated on the left
side of the Seine. An exodus of people from the places struck was a
natural result 'They flocked to parts of the city situated on the right
side of the river, and there, in the face of great difficulties, were
provided with accommodation, food being obtained for them with even
greater difficulty than accommodation. Sick and wounded had similarly to
be provided for; so had the inmates of maternity establishments. Hotels,
business establishments, churches, and public buildings of all sorts
were rapidly transformed for the reception of the several classes
alluded to; private houses belonging to persons who had quitted the
beleaguered city were ''requisitioned" for the same purpose, while in
many instances private families gave shelter and aid to refugees from
the bombarded quarters.
Then opened upon the city
what speedily became known among us as ''the terrible battery of Meudon,"
on account of the great violence of bombardment by it; the missiles
therefrom committed greater havoc than anything previously experienced,
and fell nearer and nearer to the centre of Paris as ''practice" went
on. Day and night continuously, with varying intensity, but always
greatest during the night, did the bombardment continue. Answering fire
from the forts around was scarcely less actively directed upon the
German positions, the incessant rolling sound of heavy guns varied by
that of exploding shells, the tremor of houses so caused rendered the
hours of darkness somewhat "hideous."
So passed twelve days and
nights. On the 17th of January there was a slackening of fire from the
forts. Rumour in different shapes spread in regard to the cause: that to
which most ready belief was given being that ammunition had begun to
fail; the meaning of such a report significant At this time certain
published records appeared in which statistics of casualties purported
to be given ; those during the first eight days of bombardment 51 killed
and 138 wounded, the damage to buildings unexpectedly small. Some of us
set to work to calculate arithmetically our individual chances of being
struck, and so made them out to be relatively little. Those chances
would no doubt have been materially increased had the intentions
assigned to the German artillery been carried out of discharging
incendiary bombs upon Paris — an intention firustrated by order of the
Emperor — for that dignity had recently been assumed by him. Fortunately
for us not more than three out of every five obuses discharged upon us
exploded; whether as a result of defects in themselves or other cause
did not matter to us upon whom they were directed.
It was now that the terms
of a telegram said to have been sent by "King William to Queen Augusta"
was everywhere exhibited in the great thoroughfares. That message
intimated that "the bombardment of Paris proceeds satisfactorily, thank
God." The comments passed with reference to it were at the time
distinctly expressive, and no wonder. But now, long years after the
event, the question arises — Was such a telegram ever sent?
Meanwhile the conditions
of the besieged, as already noticed, had increased in severity. The
season of mid-winter was of unusual inclemency; sickness and mortality
by disease had acquired alarming rates, irrespective of casualties in
battle; fuel was unobtainable, the want of it a cause of increased
suffering and illness. The best energies of arrondissements, public
institutions, and private individuals were directed to the mitigation of
these and other evils incidental to a people besieged and under
bombardment; but, alas ! while the cause remained, the ordinary effects
could only be averted in a very small degree, if in any.
It was under these
circumstances that a renewed spirit of disaffection towards the existing
Government broke out violently among the classes who were the chief
recipients of help in various ways specially granted to them by that
Government, even to the relative neglect of those who, equally needy,
were less clamorous. There arose dissensions among the sectional
Representatives; distrust of, and ill-feeling towards, the foreign
residents on imaginary grounds that the latter carried on a system of
communication with the besiegers. Signs of disaffection and corruption
were manifest among the citizen soldiers, those signs giving peculiar
significance to the extravagant terms in which official orders made
mention of the services performed by them; for the facts were popularly
known that an attempted sortie on the 10th miscarried because
information regarding it had reached the enemy; that a second, planned
for the 14th, had to be abandoned on account of some of those citizen
"soldiers" having failed to be in their assigned positions at the
appointed time. So far as indications pointed, revolution and civil war
were imminent, while heavy bombardment by the enemy was still in
progress.
Meanwhile the ordinary
routine of everyday life went on much as if besiegers outside and
various dangerous elements within our gates were non-existent, with the
'difference that to more common subjects of talk was added obuses
including probable size, distance at which from the speaker, and places
of their explosion, damage to property and life caused thereby, and so
on. As time went on the bombardment became, to some degree, a substitute
for the weather as subject of first remark between acquaintances when
meeting each other for the day; for example: "The bombardment is rather
lively to-day," or "it is rather slow." People met at dinner, if that
term can be applied to the fare procurable. Walking became a necessity,
for the reason that the horses of omnibuses and other public conveyances
had been requisitioned for purposes of food; hence, those of us who had
duties to perform, experienced increasing difficulties in carrying them
out. But these conditions were not altogether unrelieved by an incident
having in it much of the ludicrous. An order was published declaring
that widows of "soldiers" of the Mobile and National Guards should
thenceforward be deemed entitled to pension, the immediate result being
a great outcrop of marriage ceremonies among the classes concerned.
All ordinary supplies of
viande had now become expended, the small reserve store being retained
for the sick and wounded. Animals of all kinds, excluding the camivora,
were requisitioned, their carcases exposed for sale in boucheries, but
only issued to persons provided with the required but de rationnement
from the mairie of his airondissement Supplies of grain were in like
manner "requisitioned" and issued under authority; armed sentries
guarded retail establishments, their services on various occasions
required against rioters, as already alluded to, from Belleville and
Vilette. In the southern parts of the city long queues of women were to
be seen, each individual waiting her turn to receive her "ration"; not a
few of the elderly and weak among them falling where they had stood,
exhausted as their physical powers were from cold and insufficient food.
In some localities, more especially near the Luxembourg, casualties
among them occurred by the explosion of Prussian shells. The daily
"ration" for which they scrambled consisted latterly of about ten ounces
of bread, one ounce of horseflesh, and a quarter litre of vin ordinare.
The bread contained flour, fecula of potatoes, rice, peas and lentils,
of ground straw, the remaining fraction made up of water and "sundry"
materials. Women of all social classes aided the real poor in every
possible way, and in other respects maintained the reputation of their
sex in times of danger and difficulty.
An improved and ingenious method by which news from the outer world
could be brought within access to the ordinary people within the city
was now introduced^ through the instrumentality, it was said, of the
Times. A series of advertisements addressed to individuals appeared in
that journal; these having been reduced at Tours to minimum dimensions
by photography, the sheet containing them was thrice transmitted by
pigeon-post On arrival within Paris the whole was enlarged by means of
the camera, after which the messages were copied and dispatched to their
several addresses. In this way a message reached me from my beloved wife
— the first I had received for upwards of four months — it was, "Your
family are well; most anxious about you." I fully appreciated the
significance of these few words.
In respect to privations
and risks, my individual experiences were neither more nor less than
those to which many others within the bombarded city had perforce to
submit My stock of cash had become exhausted; to all intents and
purposes I was a pauper, only able to obtain the requirements of life by
giving to the malle Hotel in which I resided written authority to my
London agents, that in the event of my death they should pay all his
claims upon me. I subsequently learned that, in response to my urgent
requests sent par ballon mante, my wife had vainly endeavoured to have
money transmitted to me, until, having applied to the American Embassy
in London, a remittance was at once sent through that channel; in due
time received by me from Mr. Washboume, and so my pecuniary obligations
discharged. As pressure in respect to food increased, I fear that on
some few occasions I partook of bifteck de cheval and once,-— only
once,— of pati de chien, but against both of these appetite rebelled,
and latterly I had to put up with the one salt herring with which I was
supplied as ''meat rations" for three days. Prior to the complete
investment of the city, I .had procured and hidden away such small
supplies as I could lay hands on, of anchovies, mushrooms, sailors
biscuits, and oatmeal; the quantities of each were small, but such as
they were, they served their purpose.
All through the night of
the 18th, large bodies of troops marched silently towards positions
previously assigned to them with reference to coming events. The night
was unusually dark ; the streets presented only glimering lamp-lights at
distant intervals; the city enshrouded in dense mist; beyond the gates
the ground saturated with rain, the roads by which the forces had to
proceed encumbered with guns, waggons, and other obstructive objects.
Daylight revealed to "all
concerned " the Proclamation as follows, not only published in the
journals, but affixed to walls in various places, namely : " Citizens,
the enemy kills our wives and children, bombards us night and day,
covers with shells our hospitals. One cry, 'To Arms!' has burst from
every breast Those who can shed their life's blood on the field of
battle will march against the enemy; those who remain, jealoos of the
honour of their brothers, will, if required, suffer with calm endurance
every sacrifice, as their proof of their devotion to their country.
Suffer and die if necessary, but conquer Vive la Ripublique!
Three Corps Armie comprising more than one hundred thousand men, under
the commands of Ducrot, Vinoy, and Bellemere, had taken, or were in
progress of taking up positions under cover of Mont Valerien against the
Prussian lines between Montretout and Bugeval, the prevailing fog so
dense that assigned routes could not be maintained; several hours were
thus lost. The French troops were consequently worn out with fatigue;
portions of them had not arrived in position, among others considerable
bodies of artillery so that when about 9 a.m. the fight began, they had
not been consolidated. On the other hand, the larger forces against whom
they were led were unfatigued by night march and other difficulties;
they had passed the night in relative quiet, had good and ample rations,
and were in full physical strength. With all these disadvantages the
first onslaught against the enemy's positions at Montretout and
Fouilleuse was successful. Thence, toward the French right, the combat
quickly developed in fury; no fewer than five hundred cannon, including
both sides, were estimated as engaged in their deadly work, excluding
those of Mont Valerien, missiles from which whizzed above our heads in
their flight towards the German lines. On our side, shells from the
latter fell as it were from the zenith among the masses of advancing
infantry, making great gaps, as each successive cloud of debris from
their explosions cleared away. From Fouilleuse we were able to see the
terrible violence with which the fight now raged. There the Social
Internationale des Secours aux Blesses established a field ambulance;
many wounded received first aid, and thence were dispatched to "fixed"
establishments within the city. To reinforce the troops engaged, whose
losses were already very great, large bodies of men from those in
reserve marched laboriously towards the front The ground was soaked by
rain, their progress slow and difficult, themselves weary, fatigued, and
physically weak. In their advance they came upon many carcases of horses
killed by German shells, some of the men falling out of their ranks to
cut from them slices of bleeding flesh; having secured them on their
backs, they resumed their places, and so onward towards the enemy.
Meanwhile, a horrible scene was taking place in close proximity to the
place where, mounted, I stood with a group of Staff officers.
A private of the 119th
regiment of the line shot the captain of his company while their
battalion was advancing, and torn by vertical fire as already mentioned.
Ducrot ordered the man to be put to death on the spot A party of his own
regiment was at once detailed for the purpose; by it he was taken aside
— not more than a few feet from the left of the advancing column; he was
seen to fall. A party of brancardiers approached; they were warned off;
one of the execution party levelled his rifle and fired at him as he lay
struggling on the ground; then another; then a third, and now the
unhappy man lies still in death. We speculated among ourselves as to the
circumstances that may have led him to commit the crime so expiated.
As day advanced the thick
mist of morning cleared away, revealing the progress of battle and
extent of field on which it raged. That the French were more exposed
than were the enemy was at once apparent;
yet, though suffering greatly by shot and shell from unseen batteries,
they stood their ground with obstinacy, inured as they had now become to
combat by their four months of experience. Later on, however, hesitation
is shown in their ranks; stragglers drop away; needlessly large numbers
accompany to the rear their wounded comrades; unsteadiness affects
battalions; and now the sad spectacle is seen of one such body in flight
down the declivity adjoining Montretout Officers make frantic efforts to
rally their men; daylight fades in gloom ; soon night closes in, mist
again covers the scene; firing from both sides have ceased; all around
is dark and silent
In the darkness for hours
did the ambulance men of various societies traverse the field in
pursuance of their work. As conveyances were in progress towards the
general rendezvous, confusion and crush increased, as a combined result
of darkness and an absence of regular roadways; progress consequently so
retarded that night was far advanced when we reached the rampart gates,
our conveyances complete with wounded men. As on the first occasion,
roadsides and avenues within Port Maillot were crowded with people. Loud
and anxious inquiries for relatives and friends who had taken part in
the recent battle were frequent; frivolity in abeyance, as if experience
had impressed upon them the significance of combat against our besiers.
That the result of the day had been disastrous to the French was
speedily realized. Next day the casualties among the forces engaged were
estimated at 1000 killed, the greater number by artillery fire; the
wounded as "very many."
Meanwhile the work of
bombarding Paris, scarcely if at all interfered with by the incident of
severe conflict just narrated, was increased rather than diminished in
its intensity ; new batteries opened upon the city, with achamemmt
shells falling upon places hitherto untouched. St. Denb was assailed,
and underwent greater destruction in respect to property and life than
had been sustained by the capital itself. A rush of people from that
suburb took place, causing serious inconvenience to those whose duty it
was to provide them with accommodation and food. All hopes of
deliverance had become extinguished; negotiations were accordingly
opened with the German Chancellor in view to an armistice being
arranged. While they were in progress, bombardment continued with its
usual violence. Early in the night of the 26th there was a sudden lull;
a few minutes before midnight there was discharged upon us a volley from
all points of the circle, such as we had never previously experienced;
then followed stillness. Bombardment had ceased; we knew that the
Convention had been signed. For 130 days Paris had been besieged; during
thirty, the advanced forts had been bombarded; during twenty-one, the
city.
Demonstrations by "the dangerous classes" of Belleville and Vilette took
place; their plea, the terms on which the armistice had been concluded.
The Hotel de Ville was menaced by crowds of excited men, gesticulating
wildly as they shouted, "Vive la Commune!" They are dispersed by force
of arms; several of their numbers killed, many more wounded. There is a
flight towards the Mazas prison; an entrance thereto is effected, some
of the more noted of its inmates released. A rush is made upon the small
remaining food stores of their arrondissements; they are broken into,
their contents distributed among the assailants. After a time these
disturbances are suppressed. Trochu has resigned his command; Vinoy is
his successor.
When on January 27, 1871,
the morning papers published the terms of amnesty, the fact was one of
common knowledge that the stock of food remaining was not equal to more
than six or seven days "rations," even according to the reduced scale to
which the besieged were at the time brought down; in fact, all were now
at starvation point as a result of gradually diminishing allowances of
food. Next day the Germans occupied Mont Valerien as the French troops
marched out of it. Some hours later appeared a proclamation by the
Goverment of the Defence announcing that "'the Convention which
terminates the resistance of Paris will be signed in a few hours"; that
"we could not have prolonged the resistance without condemning to
certain death two millions of men, women, and children. Mortality has
increased threefold." "We come out with all our honour," the same
document said, "and with all our hopes, in spite of our present grief."
In accordance with the
terms agreed upon, the process began of disarming the citizen soldiers,
of whom groups along the thoroughfares showed by their gloomy style and
demeanour those pent-up feelings of disaffection which were soon to
break out in the horrors of the Conunune.
The conditions to which
Paris and its people had been reduced were urgent. Severe cold, absolute
want of fuel, the insufficient scale of food to which all were
officially limited, prevailing sickness and mortality by disease, added
to the recurring influx of wounded as a result of desultory conflicts
beyond the line of fortifications, combined to render further resistance
impossible.
All establishments set
apart for the reception of wounded were over-crowded. Not alone food,
but appliances were insufficient in quantity and kind. In many instances
private families had received wounded into their houses, and so crippled
their own resources. The result of the recent sortie and action at
Montretout was an accession to the numbers requiring care and
accommodation of three to five thousand, for actual statistics were
unobtainable; professional and other attendants were insufficient to
meet the demands on their services; while, as if still further to
complicate matters, the Germans sent several hundred wounded French into
the city, and so lightened the work of their own establishments.
In some ambulances such
scenes were to be seen as French and German wounded occupying adjoining
beds; no longer "enemies," but helpless; unable to communicate with each
other; many destined to quit the place in death, for hospital diseases
setting at defiance disinfection and all other supposed preventive
measures proved fatal to a large proportion of patients within those
establishments. A heavy offensive odour, that oi pourriturt^ pervades
wards and corridors of the buildings, extending to the streets or
boulevards immediately adjoining. In the mortuary of a large hospital
the scene presented was too horrible for detailed description.
The defence now ended had
been carried on at a cost in human life in respect to which reliable
statistics were unobtainable. According to one account, deaths on the
field of battle and in ambulances amounted among troops of the line and
Mobiles to 50,000; to another to 63,000; to a third to 73,000; neither
estimate taking into account mortality by disease and privation among
the non-military inhabitants. On the capitulation of Paris the troops
who became prisoners of war numbered about 180,000; the fortress guns
"captured" by the enemy 1,500 field pieces and 400 mitrailleuses; in
addition the gun-boats on the Seine, locomotives, and rolling stock.
While making my round
among the ambulances, I was somewhat surprised to hear myself accosted
by name by a wounded man who occupied one of the beds past which I was
moving. At once I entered into conversation with him, naturally enough
expressing sympathy for him. He briefly informed me that he was in the
101st (British) Regiment, and landed with that corps at Gosport on the
occasion of its first arrival in England from India; that he remembered
me on duty there; that having left the regiment he joined the Francs
Tireurs of Paris at the beginning of the siege ; that fifty per cent, of
his comrades had perished by shot, disease, or at the hands of the
Germans, into which they may have fallen as prisoners; that he himself
had not slept in a bed for three months until brought to the ambulance
wounded. He was but one example of the material of which such volunteers
were composed, and a similar story to his could doubtless be told by
many others.
Under the circumstances
to which we were now reduced, welcome was the news that supplies of food
sent to the besieged from England and elsewhere had arrived in proximity
of the outskirts; credit must be accorded to the supreme officers of the
investing force for the rapidity with which those supplies were
forwarded to the now starving people within, so that on the last day of
January many waggon loads were received, and forthwith distributed. On
that day also postal communication with the outer world was
re-established, though with the proviso that letters dispatched should
be unsealed. |
