Chapter CIII: Appendix

CHRONOLOGY OF THE PARISIAN INSURRECTION, FROM THE 18th OF MARCH TO THE 29th MAY, 1871.

The dash (—) in each day after the commencement of military operations divides the civil from the military.

_Saturday, 18th March_: Early in the morning troops take possession of the Buttes Montmartre and Belleville. The soldiers charged with the recovery of the pieces of artillery fraternise with the people and the National Guard. Arrest of Generals Lecomte and Clement Thomas: they are shot at Montmartre without trial. National Guards take possession of the Hôtel de Ville, the Prefecture of Police is invaded by Raoul Rigault, Duval, and others.

_Sunday, 19th March_: The Central Committee of the National Guard take possession of the offices of the _Journal Officiel_. Arrest of General Chanzy. Gustave Flourens, imprisoned at Mazas, is set at liberty by the new masters of Paris. M. Thiers addresses a circular to the country enjoining obedience to the only authority, that of the Assembly.

_Tuesday, 21st March_: Manifestation of the “Friends of Order.” Procession for public demonstration. Sitting of the Assembly at Versailles. M. Jules Favre advises prompt measures. Appeal to the people and army.

_Wednesday, 22nd March_: Friends of Order shot in the Rue de la Paix. Lullier arrested by order of the Central Committee.

_Thursday, 23rd March_: Vice-Admiral Saisset is appointed by the Assembly Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard.

_Friday, 24th March_: The delegates Brunel, Eudes, Duval, are promoted to the rank of generals by the Central Committee. Vice-Admiral Saisset’s proclamation.

_Saturday, 29th March_: Occupation of the Mairie of the 1st Arrondissement by the Federals. First placard of the Committee of Conciliation. Rumour of the arrest of Lullier reproached for moderation. Vice-Admiral Saisset retires to Versailles. _Sunday, 26th March_: Municipal elections to constitute the Commune of Paris.

_Tuesday, 28th March_: 4 p. m., names of the elect proclaimed at the Hôtel de Ville. Arrival of General Chanzy at Versailles.

_Wednesday, 29th March_: Conscription abolished—all citizens to be National Guards. Pawnbroking decree. Organisation of commissions: executive, financial, military, etc. Ministers to be called delegates.

_Saturday, 1st April_: The Executive Committee issues a decree to suppress the rank and functions of General-in-Chief. General Eudes appointed Delegate of War; Bergeret to the staff of the National Guard, in place of Brunel; Duval to the military command of the ex-Prefecture of Police, where Raoul Rigault was civil delegate.

_Sunday, 2nd April_: Military operations commence 9 a.m. Action at Courbevoie. Flourens marches his troops to Versailles, _viâ_ Rueil.

_Monday, 3rd April_: The corps d’armée of General Bergeret at the Rond Point near Neuilly, is stopped by the artillery of Mont Valérien. Exchange of shot between Fort Issy and Fort Vanves, occupied by insurgents, and Meudon.—The separation of Church and State decreed.

_Tuesday, 4th April_: General Duval made prisoner in the engagement at Châtillon and shot. Death of Flourens at Rueil.—Delescluze, Cournet, and Vermorel succeed Generals Bergeret, Eudes, and Duval on the Executive Commission. Cluseret Delegate of War, and Bergeret commandant of Paris forces.

_Wednesday, 6th April_: General Cluseret commences active operations. Military service compulsory for all citizens under forty. Abbé Deguerry, and Archbishop of Paris arrested.

_Thursday, 6th April_: Extension of action to Neuilly and Courbevoie. Versailles army decreed by executive authority. Obsequies of Flourens at Versailles.—Decree concerning the complicity with Versailles, and arrest of hostages. The rank of general suppressed by the Commune. Dombrowski succeeds Bergeret as Commandant of Paris.

_Friday, 7th April_: Decree for disarming the Réfractaires. The guillotine is burnt on the Place Voltaire.

_Saturday, 8th April_: Federals abandon Neuilly.—Commission of barricades created and presided over by Gaillard Senior. Military occupation of the railway termini by the insurgents.

_Sunday, 9th April_: Insurgents attempt to retake Châtillon, but are repulsed. Forts Vanves and Montrouge disabled. Mont Valérien shells the Avenue des Ternes.—Assy and Bergeret arrested by order of the Commune.

_Tuesday, 11th April_: Marshal MacMahon, Commander-in-Chief, distributes his forces. Commences the investment of fort Issy.

_Wednesday, 12th April_: Versailles batteries established on Châtillon. The Orleans railway and telegraph out. Communications of the insurgents with the south intercepted.—Decree ordering the fall of the Column Vendôme. Decree concerning the complementary elections.

_Thursday, 13th April:_ Courbet presides at a meeting of artists at the École de Médecine. Publication of the reports of the sittings of the Commune.

_Friday, 14th April_: The redoubt of Gennevilliers taken. The troops of Versailles make advances to the Château de Bécon, a post of importance.—Lullier takes the command of the flotilla on the Seine.

_Sunday, 16th April_: Complementary elections. Organisation of a court-martial under the presidence of Rossel, chief officer of the staff.

_Monday, 11th April_: Capture and fortification of the Château de Bécon.

_Tuesday, 18th April_: Station and houses at Asnières taken by the army of Versailles.

_Thursday, 20th April_: The village of Bagneux is occupied by the Versaillais.—Reorganisation of commissions. Eudes appointed inspector-general of the southern forts. Transfers his quarters from Montrouge to the Palace of the Legion of Honour.

_Saturday, 22nd April_: Deputation from the Freemasons to Versailles.

_Monday, 24th April_: Raoul Rigault takes the office of public prosecutor, resigning the Prefecture of Police to Cournet.

_Tuesday, 25th April_: The Versailles batteries at Breteuil, Brimborion, Meudon, and Moulin de Pierre trouble the Federal Fort Issy, and battery between Bagneux and Châtillon shells Fort Vanves. Truce at Neuilly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The inhabitants of Neuilly enter Paris by the Porte des Ternes.

_Wednesday, 26th April_: Capture of Les Moulineaux, outpost of the insurgents, by the troops, who strongly fortify themselves on the 27th and 28th.

_Saturday, 29th April_: Cemetery and park of Issy taken by the Versaillais in the night.—Freemasons make a new attempt at conciliation. The Commune levies a sum of two millions of francs from the railway companies.

_Sunday, 30th April_: A flag of truce sent to Fort Issy by the Versaillais, calling upon the Federals to surrender. General Eudes puts fresh troops in the fort, and takes the command himself.—Cluseret imprisoned at Mazas by order of the Commune. Rossel appointed provisional Delegate of War.

_Monday, 1st May_: The Versaillais take the station of Clamart and the Château of Issy.—Creation of the Committee of Public Safety. Members: Antoine Arnauld, Léo Meillet, Ranvier, Félix Pyat, Charles Gérardin.

_Wednesday, 3rd May_: The troops of General Lacretelle carry the redoubt of Moulin Saquet.

_Friday, 5th May_: Colonel Rossel appointed to the direction of military affairs. He defines the military quarters: General Dombrowski, Place Vendôme; General La Cécilia, at the Ecole Militaire; General Wroblewski, at the Elysée; General Bergeret, at the Corps Législatif; General Eudes at the Palace of the Legion of Honour. The Central Committee of the National Guard charged with Administration of War under the supervision of the military commission. The Chapelle Expiatoire condemned to destruction—the materials to be sold by auction.

_Saturday, 6th May_: Concert at the Tuileries in aid of the ambulances. Suppression of newspapers.

_Monday, 8th May_: Battery of Montretout (70 marine guns) opens fire.

_Tuesday, 9th May_: Morning, insurgents evacuate the Fort Issy.—The Committee of Public Safety renewed. Members: Ranvier, Antoine Arnauld, Gambon, Eudes, Delescluze. Rossel resigns; his letter to the Commune.

_Wednesday, 10th May_: Cannon from the Fort Issy taken to Versailles.—Decree for the demolition of M. Thiers’ house. Delescluze appointed Delegate of War.

_Friday, 12th May_: Troops take possession of the Couvent des Oiseaux at Issy, and the Lyceum at Vanves.

_Saturday, 13th May_: Triumphal entry of the troops into Versailles with flags and cannon taken from the Convent. The evacuation of the village of Issy completed. Fort Vanves taken by the troops.

_Sunday, 14th May_: Vigorous cannonade from the batteries of Courbevoie, Bécon, Asnières on Levallois and Clichy: both villages evacuated. Commencement of the demolition of house of M. Thiers.

_Monday, 15th May_: Report of the rearmament of Montmartre.

_Tuesday, 16th May_: The Column Vendôme falls.

_Wednesday, 11th May_: Powder magazine and cartridge factory near the Champ de Mars blown up.

_Sunday, 21st May_: 2 p.m. the troops enter Paris.—Rochefort arrives at Versailles. Raoul Rigault and Régère charged with the hostage decree.

_Monday, 22nd May_: Noon, explosion of the powder magazine of the Manège d’Etat-Major (staff riding-school). The hostages transferred from Mazas to La Roquette. Assy arrested in Paris by the Versaillais. The Assembly votes the re-erection of the Column Vendôme.

_Tuesday, 23rd May_: Montmartre taken. Death of Dombrowski. Morning, Assy arrives at Versailles. Execution of gendarmes and Gustave Chaudey at the prison of Sainte-Pélagie. Night, the Tuileries are set on fire. Delescluze and the Committee of Public Safety hold permanent sittings at the Hôtel de Ville.

_Wednesday, 24th May_: One p.m., the powder magazine at the Palais du Luxembourg blown up. The Committee of Public Safety organise detachments of fusee-bearers. Raoul Rigault shot in the afternoon by the soldiers. In the evening, execution in the Prison of La Roquette of the Archbishop, Abbé Deguerry, etc.

_Thursday, 26th May_: The forts Montrouge, Hautes-Bruyères, Bicêtre evacuated by the insurgents. The death of Delescluze is reported to have taken place this day. Executions in the Avenue d’Italie of the Pères Dominicains of Arcueil.

_Friday, 26th May_: Sixteen priests shot in the Cemetery of Père Lachaise by the insurgents.

_Saturday, 27th May_: The Buttes Chaumont, the heights of Belleville, and the Cemetery of Père Lachaise carried by the troops. Taking of the prison La Roquette by the Marines. Deliverance of 169 hostages.

_Sunday, 28th May_: The investment of Belleville complete.

_Monday, 29th May_: Six. p.m., the federal garrison of the fortress of Vincennes surrendered at discretion.

I. (Page 2.)

HENRI ROCHEFORT.

Henri Rochefort, personal enemy of the Empire, republican humourist of the _Marseillaise_, and the lukewarm socialist of the _Mot d’Ordre_, who could answer to the judge who demanded his name, “I am Henri Rochefort, Comte de Lucey,” has been reproached by some with his titles of nobility, and with the childish pleasure that he takes in affecting the plebeian. It is said of him that he aspires but to descend, but who would condemn him for spurning the petrifactions of the Faubourg Saint-Germain? A man must march with the times.

Rochefort has distinguished himself among the young men by the marvellous tact that he has shown in discovering the way to popular favour. If I were allowed to compare a marquis to one of the canine species, I should say that he has a keen scent for popularity; but one must respect rank in a period like ours, when we may go to sleep to the shouts of the _canaille_, and awake to the melodious sounds of “_Vive Henri V!_” “Long live the King!”

Born in January, 1830, Henri Rochefort was the son of a marquis, although his father, lately dead, was a _vaudevilliste_ and his mother a _pâtissère_. From such a fusion might have emanated odd tastes, such as preferring truffles to potatoes, but putting the knife into requisition whilst eating green peas. But in his case Mother Nature had intermingled elements so cleverly that Rochefort could be republican and royalist, catholic and atheist, without being accused for all that of being a political weathercock.

As a writer of drollery and scandal in the _Charivari_, would it have been well if he had used his title as a badge? Later, when contributing to the _Nain Jaune_, the _Soleil_, the _Evénement_, and the _Figaro_, when everyone would have been enchanted to call him _mon cher Comte_, he never displayed his rank, except when on the ground, face to face with the sword or pistol of Prince Achille Murat or Paul de Cassagnac.

A frequenter of _cafés_, living fast, bitter with journalists, hail-fellow with comedians, he lavished his wit for the benefit of minor theatres, and expended the exuberance of his patrician blood in comic odes. Dispensing thus some of his strength in such pieces as the _Vieillesse de Brididi_, the _Foire aux Grotesques_, and _Un Monsieur Bien-Mis_, in 1868 he founded the _Lanterne_, and thenceforth became the most ardent champion of the revolutionary party; and in the brilliant articles we all know, he cast its light on the follies of others under the pretext that they were his own. This satirical production reached the eleventh number, when its author, overstepping all bounds, took Napoleon by the horns and the gendarmes by the nose, and committed other extravagances, until the Government fined him to the amount of ten thousand francs penalties, and ordered him a short repose in the prison of Sainte-Pélagie. The notoriety attaching to his name dates from that period, and the events which accompanied the violent death of Victor Noir tended to augment his popularity and to convert him into the leader of a party, or the bearer of a flag, around which rallied all the elements of the struggle against established authority. He escaped to Belgium, and studied socialism, which he expounded later to an admiring audience of seventeen to eighteen thousand electors at Belleville. Elected deputy by the 20th Arrondissement, M. de Rochefort became, in 1869, a favourite representative of that class of the Parisian population whose bad instincts he had flattered and whose tendencies to revolt against authority he had encouraged, and in virtue of these claims he was chosen to form part of the Government of the National Defence. As President of the Commission of Barricades, after the 4th of September, during the siege of Paris, in the midst of the difficulties of all sorts caused to the Government of the National Defence by the investment of the capital, M. De Rochefort, making more and more common cause with the revolutionary party, separated himself from his colleagues in the Government who refused to permit the establishment of a second Government, the Commune, within a besieged city. By this act he openly declared himself a partisan of the Commune, and immediately after the acceptance of the preliminaries of peace he resigned his position as a deputy, alleging that his commission was at an end, and retired to Arcachon.

His wildly sanguinary articles in the _Marseillaise_, and the compacts sealed with blood, with Flourens and his associates, now had so exhausted our poor Rochefort that at the moment of flourishing his handkerchief as the standard of the _canaille_, he dropped pale and fainting to the ground, attacked by a severe illness. He was hardly convalescent when the events of the 18th of March occurred. But early in April, he exerted himself to assume the direction of the _Mot d’Ordre_, which, after having been suppressed by order of General Vinoy, the military commandant of Paris, had reappeared immediately upon the establishment of the Commune. He arrived on the scene of contest about the 8th or 10th of April. The daily report of military operations states the movements of the enemy, and points out what should be done to meet and resist him most advantageously (12th, 13th, and 14th of April; 10th; 16th, and 20th of May). Imaginary successes, the inaccuracy of which must in most instances have been known to the chief editor of the _Mot d’Ordre_, encouraged the hopes of the insurgents, while the announcement of unsuccessful combats was delayed with evident intention; the most ridiculous stories, the falsity of which was evident to the plainest common sense, and which could not escape the intelligence of M. Rochefort, were published in his journal, and kept up the popular excitement (12th, 15th, 19th, 26th, 27th, and 28th of April; 6th and 7th of May). It was in this manner that the pretended Pontifical Zouaves were brought upon the scene, with emblazoned banners, which were seized by the soldiers of the Commune (18th and 19th of April, 8th and 10th of May); that the Government of Versailles was furnished with war material given by, or purchased from the Prussians (27th and 28th of April, 6th and 17th of May); that it was again accused of making use of explosive bullets (18th and 19th of May), and of petroleum bombs (20th of April, and 2nd, 5th, 17th, and 19th of May); and that the best-known and most respected generals had been guilty of the grossest acts of cruelty and barbarity. Incitement to civil war (2nd and 26th of April and 14th and 24th of May) followed, as did also the oft-repeated accusation against the Government of wishing to reduce Paris by famine; indescribable calumnies directed against the Chief of the Executive Power (2nd, 16th, 20th, and 30th of April, and 8th of May), against the minister, the Chambers (16th of April and 14th of May), and the generals (12th, 16th, and 26th of April). The director of the _Mot d’Ordre_ then finding that men’s minds were prepared for all kinds of excesses, started the idea of the demolition of M. Thiers’s house by way of reprisal (6th of April); he mentioned the artistic wealth which it contained. He also referred to the dwellings of other ministers. He returned persistently to this idea, and on the 17th of May he invited the people, in the name of justice, to burn off-hand that other humiliating monument which is styled the History of the Consulate and of the Empire—in short, he insists on the execution of these acts of Vandalism. He did not call for the destruction of the Column Vendôme, but approved of the decree. He demands the destruction of the Expiatory Chapel of Louis XVI. (20th of April), and suggests the seizure of the crown jewels, which were in the possession of the bank (14th of April). In short, M. Rochefort, having entered upon a road which must naturally lead to extremes, finally arrives at a proposition for assassination. In the same way as he pointed out to the demolishers the house of M. Thiers, and to the bandits released by the Commune the treasures of the Church, so he points out to the assassins the unfortunate hostages.

A few days before the end of the reign of the Commune he judged it prudent, “seeing the gravity of events,” to suspend the publication of his journal and to quit Paris.

He was arrested at Meaux. It was the “_Meaux de la fin_,”[113] said a friend and fellow-writer.

He arrived at Versailles on the twenty-first of May, at two o’clock, the same day on which the troops entered Paris. On Sept. 20 Rochefort was tried with the Communists before the military tribunal of Versailles. Physically he seemed to have suffered much during his three months of incarceration. He is reported to have made anything but a brilliant defence, and to have restricted himself to pleading past actions and good services. He said that he suppressed _The Marseillaise_ at a loss of 20,000 francs per month, when he had no other private means of support, because he thought the effect of its articles would weaken the plan of Trochu for the defence of Paris, and that when he (M. Rochefort) held the _forces populaires_, and had an _occasion unique_, he chose to play a subordinate part. He stated himself a journalist _under_ the reign of the Commune, and not an active power _in_ the Commune from which in the end he had to fly. Rochefort owned that his articles in the _Mot d’Ordre_ had been more or less violent, but he pleaded the cause his “_façon plus ou moins nerveuse à écrire_” and that from illness he did not sometimes see his own journal. When pandering to a vulgar audience, Rochefort seemed to have lost his rich vein of satire, and to have lost himself in vile abuse. On the 21st he was sentenced to transportation for life within the enceinte of a French fortress.

NOTES:

[113] “_Le mot de la fin_,” the final word—the finale.

II. (Page 27.)

THE EIGHTEENTH OF MARCH.

It was on the day of the 18th of March, exactly six months after the appearance of Prussians beneath the walls of Paris, that the Government had chosen for the repression of the rebellion. At four o’clock in the morning, the troops of the army of Paris received orders to occupy the positions that had been assigned to them. All were to take part in the action, but it is just to add here that the most arduous and fatiguing part fell to the share of the Lustielle division, composed of the Paturel brigade (17th battalion of Chasseurs), and of the Lecomte brigade (18th battalion of Chasseurs). Three regiments of infantry were entrusted with the guard of the Hôtel de Ville; another, the 89th, mounted guard at the Tuileries. The Place de la Bastille was occupied by a battalion of the 64th, and two companies of the 24th. Three other battalions remained confined to barracks on the Boulevard du Prince Eugene. The Rue de Flandre, the Rue de Puebla, and the Rue de Crimée were filled with strong detachments of Infantry; a battalion of the Republican Guard and the 35th Regiment of Infantry were drawn up in the neighbourhood of the Buttes Chaumont. The whole quarter around the Place Clichy was occupied by the Republican Guard, foot Chasseurs, mounted gendarmes, Chasseurs d’Afrique, and a half battery of artillery. Other troops, starting from this base-line of operation, were led up the heights of Montmartre, together with companies of Gardiens de la Paix (the former Sergents-de-Ville converted into soldiers). At six o’clock in the morning the first orders were executed; the Gardiens de la Paix surrounded a hundred and fifty or two hundred insurgents appointed to guard the park of artillery, and the troops made themselves masters of all the most important points. The success was complete. Nothing remained to be done but to carry off the guns. Unhappily, the horses which had been ordered for this purpose did not arrive at the right moment. The cause of this fatal delay remains still unknown, but it is certain that they were still on the Place de la Concorde at the time when they ought to have been harnessed to the guns at Montmartre. Before they arrived, agitation had broken out and spread all over the quarter. The turbulent population, complaining in indignant tones of circulation being stopped, insulted the sentinels placed at the entrances of the streets, and threatened the artillerymen who were watching them. At the same time, the Central Committee caused the rappel to be beaten, and towards seven o’clock in the morning ten or twelve thousand National Guards from the arrondissements of Batignolles, Montmartre, La Villette, and Belleville poured into the streets. Crowds of lookers-on surrounded the soldiers who were mounting guard by the recaptured pieces, the women and children asking them pleadingly if they would have the heart to fire upon their brothers.

Meanwhile, about a dozen tumbrils, with their horses, had arrived on the heights of the Buttes, the guns were dragged off, and were quietly proceeding down hill, when, at the corner of the Rue Lepic and the Rue des Abbesses, they were stopped by a concourse of several hundred people of the quarter, principally women and children. The foot soldiers, who were escorting the guns, forgetting their duty, allowed themselves to be dispersed by the crowd, and giving way to perfidious persuasion, ended by throwing up the butt ends of their guns. These soldiers belonged to the 88th Battalion of the Lecomte brigade. The immediate effect of their disaffection was to abandon the artillerymen to the power of the crowd that was increasing every moment, rendering it utterly impossible for them either to retreat or to advance. And the result was, that at nine o’clock in the morning the pieces fell once more into the hands of the National Guards.

Judging that the enterprise had no chance of succeeding by a return to the offensive, Général Vinoy ordered a retreat, and retired to the quarter of Les Ternes. This movement had been, moreover, determined by the bad news arriving from other parts of Paris. The operations at Belleville had succeeded no better than those at Montmartre. A detachment of the 35th had, it is true, attacked and taken the Buttes Chaumont, defended only by about twenty National Guards; but as soon as the news of the capture had spread in the quarter, the drums beat to arms, and in a short time the troops were found fraternising with the National Guards of Belleville, who got possession again of the Buttes Chaumont, and not only retook their own guns, but also those which the artillery had brought up to support the manoeuvre of the infantry of the line. At the same time, the 120th shamefully allowed themselves to be disarmed by the people, and the insurgents became masters of the barracks of the Prince Eugène.

At about four o’clock in the afternoon, two columns of National Guards, each composed of three battalions, made their way towards the Hôtel de Ville, where they were joined by a dozen other battalions from the left bank of the river; at the same hour, the insurgent guards of Belleville took and occupied the Imprimerie Nationale, the Napoleon Barracks, the staff-quarters of the Place Vendôme, and the railway stations; the arrest of Général Chanzy completed the work of the day, which had been put to profitable account by the insurgents.—“_Guerre de Comunneux de Paris._”

III. (Page 77.)

THE PRUSSIANS AND THE COMMUNE.

The enemies of yesterday, the Prussians, did not disdain to enter into communication with the Central Committee on the 22nd of March. This was an additional reason for the new masters of Paris to regard their position as established, and the _Official Journal_ took care to make known to the public the following despatch received from Prussian head-quarters:—

“To the actual Commandant of Paris, the Commander-in-Chief of the third
corps d’armée.
“Head-quarters, Compiègne,
“21st March, 1871.

“The undersigned Commander-in-Chief takes the liberty of informing you that the German troops that occupy the forts on the north and east of Paris, as well as the neighbourhood of the right bank of the Seine, have received orders to maintain a pacific and friendly attitude, so long as the events of which the interior of Paris is the theatre, do not assume towards the German forces a hostile character, or such as to endanger them, but keep within the terms settled by the treaty of peace. “But should these events assume a hostile character, the city of Paris will be treated as an enemy.

“For the Commandant of the third corps of the Imperial armies, “(Signed) Chief of the Staff, VON SCHLOSHEIM, “Major-General.”

Paschal Grousset, the delegate of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, who had succeeded Monsieur Jules Favre, but who instead of minister was called delegate, which was much more democratic, replied as follows:—

“Paris, 22nd March, 1871. “To the Commandant-in-Chief of the Imperial Prussian Armies.

“The undersigned, delegate of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, in reply to your despatch dated from Compiègne the 21st instant, informs you that the revolution, accomplished in Paris by the Central Committee, having an essentially municipal character, has no aggressive views whatever against the German armies. “We have no authority to discuss the preliminaries of peace voted by the Assembly at Bordeaux.

“The member of the Central Committee, Delegate for Foreign Affairs. “(Signed) PASCHAL GROUSSET.”

It was very logical of you, Monsieur Grousset, to avow that you had no authority to discuss the preliminaries of peace voted by the Assembly. What right had you then to substitute yourselves for it? He did not, however, thus remain midway in his diplomatic career, for after the election of the Commune he thought it his duty to address the following letter to the German authorities:—

“COMMUNE OF PARIS. “To the Commander-in-chief of the 3rd Corps.

“GENERAL,

“The delegate of the Commune of Paris for Foreign Affairs has the
honour to address to you the following observations:—
“The city of Paris, like the rest of France, is interested in the
observance of the conditions of peace concluded with Prussia; she
has therefore a right to know how the treaty will be executed. I
beg you, in consequence, to have the goodness to inform me if the
Government of Versailles has made the first payment of five hundred
millions, and if in consequence of such payment, the chiefs of the
German army have fixed the date for the evacuation of the part of
the territory of the department of the Seine, and also of the forts
which form an integral portion of the territory of the Commune of
Paris.
“I shall be much obliged, General, if you will be good enough to
enlighten me in this respect.

“The Delegate for Foreign Affairs, “(Signed) PASCHAL GROUSSET.”

The German general did not think fit, as far as we know, to send any answer to the above.

IV. (Page 88.)

GAMBON.

There are certain legendary names which when spoken or remembered evoke a second image and raise a double personality, Castor implies Pollux; Ninos, Euryalus; Damon, Pythias. An inferior species of union connects Saint Anthony with his pig, Roland with his mare, and the infinitely more modern Gambon with his historic cow. He was “the village Hampden” of the Empire. By withstanding the tyranny of Caesar’s tax-gatherer and refusing to pay the imperial rates, he obtained a popularity upon which he existed until the Commune gave him power. His history is brief. About a year before the fall of the Second Empire, he declared that he would pay no more taxes imposed by the Government. Thereupon, all his realizable property, consisting of one cow, was seized by the authorities and sold for the benefit of the State. This procured him the commiseration of the entire party of _irréconciliables_. A subscription was opened in the columns of the _Marseillaise_ to replace the sequestrated animal, and “La vache à Gambon”—“Gambon’s cow”—became a derisive party cry. Gambon had been a deputy in 1848, and when the Commune came into power took a constant though not remarkable part in its deliberations. He was appointed member of the Delegation of Justice on the twentieth of April.

V. (Page 120.).

LULLIER.

Charles Ernest Lullier was born in 1838, admitted into the Naval School in 1854, and appointed cadet of the second class in 1856. He was expelled the Naval School for want of obedience and for his irascible character. When on board the Austerlitz he was noted for his quarrelsome disposition and his violent behaviour to his superiors as well as his equals, which led to his removal from the ship and to his detention for a month on board the Admiral’s ship at Brest. He was first brought into notoriety by his quarrel with Paul de Cassagnac, the editor of the _Pays_, whom he challenged, and who refused his cartel. Lullier is celebrated for several acts of the most violent audacity. He struck one of the Government counsel in the Palais de Justice, and openly threatened the Minister of Marine. He was condemned several times for political offences and breaches of discipline. On the fourth of September he left Sainte-Pélagie at the same time as Rochefort. He attacked the new government in every possible way; and when the events of the 18th March occurred, M. Lullier—the man of action, the man recommended by Flourens—seized the opportunity to justify the hopes formed of him by his political associates, who had not lost sight of him, and who elected him military chief of the insurrection. As General of the National Guard, he has given us the history of his deeds during the 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd March. He has since complacently described the energy with which he executed his command, has explained the means he used, and the points occupied by the insurgents; and has described in the same style the occupation of the Paris forts by the National Guard.

When, on the 18th of March, the Central Committee offered him the command in chief of the National Guard, he would only accept it on the following conditions:—

1. The raising of the state of siege.

2. The election by the National Guard of all its officers, including the general.

3. Municipal franchises for Paris—that is to say, the right of the citizens to meet—to appoint magistrates for the city, and to tax themselves by their representatives.

On being appointed he made it a condition that the initiative should rest with him, and then he began to execute his duties with a zeal which never relaxed till his arrest on the 22nd March. By his orders, barricades were erected in the Rue de Rivoli, where he massed the insurgent forces. He ordered the occupation of the Hôtel de Ville and the Napoleon Barracks by Brunel, the commander of the insurgents. At midnight he took possession of the Prefecture of Police, at one o’clock of the Tuileries, at two o’clock of the Place du Palais Royal, and at four o’clock he was informed that the Ministry were to meet at the Foreign Office.—“I would have surrounded them,” he said, “but Jules Favre’s presence withheld me. I contented myself therefore with occupying the Place Vendôme, the Hôtel de Ville, and ordering strategical points on the right bank of the river and four on the left.”

He was subsequently accused of having sold Mont Valérien to the Versailles authorities, arrested, and thrown into the Conciergerie. He reappeared, however, on the 14th April as commander of the flotilla of the Commune. Furious with the Central Committee and the Commune he opposed them and was arrested, but contrived to escape from Mazas. From that moment the general of the Commune put himself in communication with Versailles through the mediation of M. Camus and Baron Dathiel de la Tuque, who agreed with him to organise a counter revolution. Lullier was now busily employed in endeavouring to make people forget the part he had taken in the insurrection of the 18th March. He had made it a condition that neither he nor his accomplices, Gomez d’Absin and Bisson, should be prosecuted. The expenses were calculated at 30,000 francs; of which M. Camus gave 2000 francs to Lullier, but the scheme did not succeed. Lullier undertook to have all the members of the Commune arrested, and to send the hostages to Versailles. Lullier is a man of courage, foolhardy even, who never hesitated to fight, and if at the end of the Commune he tried to serve the legitimate government, it was from a spirit of revenge against the men who had refused his dictation, and in his own interest.

VI. (Page 220.)

PROTOT.

Citizen Protot, appointed Delegate of Justice by a decree of the twentieth of April, 1871, was born in 1839.

As an advocate, he defended Mégy, the famous Communist general of the fort of Issy, when he was accused of the assassination of a police agent on the eleventh of April, 1870. This trial, and the ability he displayed, drew public attention for a moment upon him. Compromised as a member of secret societies, he managed to escape the police, but was condemned in his absence to fines and imprisonment. Having been himself a victim of the law, his attention was first given to the drawing up of a decree, thus worded:—

“The notaries and public officers in general shall draw up legal documents which fall within their duty without charge.”

In the discussion on the subject of the confiscation of the property of M. Thiers, he proposed that all the plate and other objects in his possession bearing the image of the Orleans family should be sent to the mint.

VII. (Page 229.)

“And now he thinks: ‘The Empire is tottering,
There’s little chance of victory.’
Then, creeping furtively backwards, he tries to slink away.
Remain, renegade, in the building!

“‘The ceiling falls,’ you say! ‘if they see me
They will seize and stop me as I go,’
Daring neither to rest nor fly, you miserably watch the roof
And then the door,

“And shiveringly you put your hand upon the bolt.
Back into the dismal ranks!
Back! Justice, whom they have thrust into a pit,
Is there in the darkness.

“Back! She is there, her sides bleeding from their knives,
Prostrate; and on her grave
They have placed a slab. The skirt of your cloak
Is caught beneath the stone.

“Thou shalt not go! What! Quit their house!
And fly from their fate!
What! Would you betray even treachery itself,
And make even it indignant?

“What! Did you not hold the ladder to these tricksters
In open daylight?
Say, was the sack for these robbers’ booty
Not made by you beforehand?

“Falsehood, Hate, with its cold and venomous fang,
Crouch in this den.
And thou wouldst leave it! Thou! more cunning than Falsehood,
More viperous than Hate.”

VIII. (Page 231.)

JOURDE.

Jourde certainly occupied one of the most difficult offices of the Commune, for he had to find the means to maintain the situation, but as the Ministry of Finances is burnt, no documents can be found to show the employment he made of the funds which passed through his hands. On the 30th of May, when he was arrested, disguised as an artizan, with his friend Dubois, he had about him a sum of 8070 francs in bank notes, and Dubois 3100 francs; making a total sum of 11,170 francs between the two. A part of Jourde’s cash was hidden in the lining of his waistcoat; he declared that it was the only sum taken by him out of the moneys belonging to the state, thus clearly proving that he had been guilty of embezzlement.

The amounts declared to have been received by Jourde form a total of 43,891,000 francs, but as the expenses amount to 47,000,000 francs, it is clear there is a deficiency of 3,309,000. Notwithstanding this fact, all the payments were made up to the 29th of May. It is, then, certain that other moneys were received by Jourde, and as he says that cash has been refused from some unknown persons who offered to lend 50,000,000 francs on the guarantee of the picture gallery of the Louvre, the suggestion comes naturally to the mind that the 3,309,000 francs may have been produced by the sale of valuables in the Tuileries. Jourde was sentenced by the tribunal of Versailles to transportation beyond the seas.

IX. (Page 316.)

These are the last proclamations from the Hôtel de Ville. They refer immediately to the burning of the capital.

In the evening of the thirty-first of May, when Delescluze denied with vehemence that the regular army had made its entry, he wrote to Dombrowski:—

“CITIZEN—I learn that the orders given for the construction of
barricades are contradictory.
“See that this be not repeated.
“Blow up or burn the houses which interfere with your plans for the
defence. The barricades ought to be unattackable from the houses.
“The defenders of the Commune must be removed above want: give to
the necessitous that which is contained in the houses about to be
destroyed.
“Moreover, make all necessary requisitions,

“DELESCLUZE, A. BILLICRAY.”
“Paris, 2nd Prairial, an 79.”

On the 22nd appeared the following proclamation:—

“CITIZENS,—The gate of Saint-Cloud, attacked from four directions
at once, was forcibly taken by the Versaillais, who have become
masters of a considerable portion of Paris.
“This reverse, far from discouraging us, should prove a stimulus to
our exertions. A people who have dethroned kings, destroyed
Bastilles, and established a Republic, can not lose in a day the
fruits of the emancipation of the 18th of March.
“Parisians, the struggle we have commenced cannot be abandoned, for
it is a struggle between the past and the future, between liberty
and despotism, equality and monopoly, fraternity and servitude, the
unity of nations and the egotism of oppressors.

“AUX ARMES!

“Yes,—to arms! Let Paris bristle with barricades, and from behind
these improvised ramparts let her shout to her enemies the cry of
war, its cry of fierce pride of defiance, and of victory; for Paris
with her barricades is invincible.
“Let the pavement of the streets be torn up; firstly, because the
projectiles coming from the enemy are less dangerous falling on
soft ground; secondly, because these paving-stones, serving as a
new means of defence, can be carried to the higher floors where
there are balconies.
“Let revolutionary Paris, the Paris of great deeds, do her duty;
the Commune and the Committee for Public Safety will do theirs.

“Hôtel de Ville, 2nd Prairial, an 79,
“The Committee for Public Safety,
“ANTOINE ARNAULT, E. EUDES, F. GAMBON, G. RANVIER.”

These are the commentaries made by Citizen Delescluze:—

“Citoyen Jacquet is authorised to find men and materials for the
construction of barricades in the Rue du Château d’Eau and in the
Rue d’Albany.
“The citoyens and citoyennes who refuse their aid will be shot on
the spot.
“The citoyens, chiefs of barricades, are entrusted with the care of
assuring tranquillity each in his own quarter.
“They are to inspect all houses bearing a suspicious appearance
&c., &c.
“The houses suspected are to be set light to at the first signal
given.

“DELESCLUZE.”

X. (Page 335.)

FERRÉ.

At half-past nine on the morning of the 18th of March Ferré was at No. 6, Rue des Rosiers, opposing the departure of the prisoners of the Republican Guard, by obtaining from the Commander Bardelle the revocation of the order for their dismissal, which was known to have been issued. He went to the council of the Château Rouge, whither General Lecomte was about to be taken, and made himself conspicuous by the persistency with which he called for the death of that general. On the morning of Monday, the 24th May, a witness residing at the Prefecture of Police saw Ferré and five others going up the stairs of the Prefecture of Police. Ferré said to him, “Be off as quick as you can. We are going to set fire to the place. In a quarter of an hour it will be in flames.” Half an hear afterwards the witness saw the flames burst forth from two windows of the office of the Procureur-Général. When Raoul Rigault was installed during the insurrection, a woman saw some persons washing the walls of the Prefecture of Police with petroleum. Seeing them going out by the court of the St. Chapelle, she noticed among them one smaller than the rest, wearing a grey paletot with a black velvet collar, and black striped trousers. On the same day a police agent went to La Roquette to order the shooting of Mgr. Darboy and the other prisoners—the President Bonjean, the Abbé Allard, the Père Ducoudray, and the Abbé Deguerry. On Saturday, the 27th, Ferré installed himself in the clerk’s office of the prison, and ordered the release of certain of the criminals and gave them arms and ammunition. Upon this they proceeded to massacre a great number of the prisoners, among whom were 66 gendarmes. Several witnesses saw Ferré that day at the prison.

XI. (Page 342.)

At the trial of Ferré, August 10, Dr. Puymoyen, physician to the prison for juvenile offenders, opposite La Roquette, gave the following graphic evidence:—

“Immediately after the insurgents, driven back by the troops, had occupied La Roquette, they installed a court-martial at the children’s prison opposite, where I live. It was from thence I saw the poor wretches whom they feigned to release, ushered in to the square, where they encountered an ignoble mob, that ill-treated them in the most brutal manner. I was told that Ferré presided over this court-martial. Its proceedings were singular. I saw an unfortunate gendarme taken to the prison; he had been arrested near the Grenier d’Abondance, on a denunciation. He wore a blouse, blue trousers, and an apron, and was charged with having stolen them. The mob wanted to enter the prison along with him, but the keepers, who behaved very well, prevented the invasion of the courtyard. The escort was commanded by a young woman carrying a Chassepot, and wearing a chignon. I entered the registrar’s office with this unfortunate gendarme. One Briand, who was charged to question the prisoners summarily, asked him where his clothes came from. The man was very cool and courageous, and his perfect self-possession disconcerted this _juge d’instruction._ He was asked if he were married, and had a family. He replied, ‘Yes, I have a wife and eight children.’ He was then shown into the back office, where the ‘judges’ were. These judges were mere boys, who seemed quite proud of the part they were playing, and gave themselves no end of airs, I asked the governor of the gaol soon afterwards what had been done with the gendarme. He told me that they were going to shoot him. I replied, ‘Surely it can’t be true. I must see the president—we can’t allow a married man with eight children to be murdered in this way.’ I tried to get into the room where the court-martial was sitting, but was prevented. One of the National Guards on duty at the door told me ‘Don’t go in there, or you’re done for (_N’y entrez pas, ou vous êtes f—_).’ I made immediately further inquiries about M. Grudnemel, and was told he was in ‘a provisional cell.’ I trembled for him, for I knew that meant he would be given up to the mob, which would tear him to pieces. When they said, ‘This man is to be taken to a cell,’ that meant that he was to be shot. When they said, ‘Put him in a provisional cell,’ it meant that he should be delivered over to the mob for butchery, I continued to plead the gendarme’s cause with the National Guard, dwelling on the fact of his having eight children. Thereon, the Woman above referred to, who appeared to be in command of the detachment, exclaimed, ‘Why does this fellow go in for the gendarme?’ One of her acolytes replied, ‘Smash his jaw.’ This woman seemed to understand her business. She minutely inspected the men’s pouches to ascertain that they had plenty of ammunition. She would not hear of the gendarme being reprieved, and she had her way. I understood that I had better follow the governor’s advice and keep quiet. A mere boy was placed as sentry at the door of the court-martial. He told me, ‘You know I sha’n’t let you in.’ When I saw the poor gendarme leave the room he looked at me imploringly; he had probably detected in my eyes a look of sympathy. And when he was told that he might go out—hearing the yells of the mob—he turned towards me and said, ‘But I shall be stoned to death;’ and, in fact, it was perfectly fearful to hear the shouts of the crowd outside. I could not withstand the impulse, and I took my place by his side, and tried to address the crowd. ‘Think on what you are going to do—surely you won’t murder the father of eight children.’ The words were hardly out of my mouth when a kind of signal was given. I was shoved back against the wall, and one National Guard, clapping his hand on his musket, ejaculated, ‘You know, you old rascal, there is something for you here,’ and he drove his bayonet through my whiskers. The unfortunate gendarme was taken across the place, close to the shop where they sell funeral wreaths, but there was no firing party in attendance. He then took to his heels, but was pursued, captured, and put to death. I began to feel rather bewildered, and some one urged me to return to the prison, which I did. A young linesman was then brought in. He was quite a young fellow, barely twenty; his hands were tied behind his back. They decided to kill him within the prison. They set upon him, beat him, tore his clothes, so that he had hardly a shred of covering left; they made him kneel, then made him stand up, blindfolded him then uncovered his eyes; finally they put an end to his long agony by shooting him, and flung the body into a costermonger’s cart close to the gate. Several priests had got out of the prison of La Roquette. The Abbé Surat, on passing over a barricade, was so imprudent as to state who he was, and showed some articles of value he had about him. He had got as far as about the middle of the Boulevard du Prince Eugène, when he was arrested and taken back to the prison, where they prepared to shoot him. But the young woman whom I have before mentioned, with a revolver in one hand and a dagger in the other, rushed at him exclaiming, ‘I must have the honour of giving him the first blow.’ The abbé instinctively put his hands out to protect himself, crying, ‘_Grâce! grâce!_’ Whereon this fury shouted, ‘_Grâce! grâce! en voilà un maigre_,’ and she discharged her revolver at him. His body was not searched, but his shoes were removed. Afterwards his pastoral cross and 300 francs were found about him. The boys detained in the prison were set at liberty. The smaller ones were made to carry pails of petroleum, the others had muskets given them, and were sent to fight. Six of them were killed; the remainder came back that night, and on the following day. About a hundred boys were taken to Belleville by a member of the Commune, quite a young man; they were wanted to make sand-bags, to be filled with earth to form barricades.”

XII. (Page 345.)

Regarding the death of President Bonjean, the Abbé de Marsay said—“That gentleman carried his scruples so far that he would not avail himself of forty-eight hours’ leave on _parole_, fearing he could not get back in time; thus did not see his family.”

The Abbé Perni, a venerable man with a white beard, who had been a missionary said:

“On Wednesday, the 24th of May, we were ordered back to our cells at La Roquette at an earlier hour than usual, and at about four o’clock in the afternoon a battalion of federates noisily occupied the passage into which our cells opened. They spoke at the topmost pitch of their voices. One of them said, ‘We must get rid of these Versailles banditti.’ Another replied, ‘Yes; let us bowl them over, put them to bed.’ I understood what this meant, and prepared for death. Soon after the door next mine was opened, and I heard a man asking if M. Darboy was there. The prisoner replied in the negative. The man passed before my door without stopping, and I soon heard the mild voice of the archbishop answering to his name. The hostages were then dragged put of the lobby; ten minutes later I saw the mournful _cortège_ pass in front of my windows; the federates were walking along in a confused way, making a noise to cover the voice of their victims, but I could hear Father Allard exhorting his companions to prepare for death. A little after I heard the report of the muskets, and understood that all was over. On Thursday (the 25th) the day passed off quietly, but on Friday shells began to fall on the prison, and at about half-past four in the afternoon a corporal, named Romain. came up, and with a joyful face told us we would soon be free. He said answer to your names; I must have 15. He had a list in his hand, and I must confess a feeling of terror came over us all. Ten hostages answered to their names. One of them, a father of the order of Picpus, asked if he could take his hat. Romain replied, ‘Oh, it’s no use; you are only going to the registrar’s.’ None of these unfortunate men ever returned. On Saturday (the 27th) we learnt that several of the prisoners had been armed with hammers, files, &c. They threw us some of these in at the windows. We were then informed that several members of the Commune had arrived at La Roquette. I cannot say whether Ferré was among them. We were taken back to our cellars, where we expected to be put to death every minute. At about four o’clock the cells of the common prisoners were opened, and they escaped, shouting ‘Vive la Commune!’ Our keeper himself had disappeared, and a turnkey presently opened our cells, and recommended us to run away. We were afraid this was a trap, but as it might afford a chance we determined to avail ourselves of it. Those amongst us who had plain clothes hurried them on, and I must say the gaolers behaved admirably in this emergency; they lent clothes to such of us as had none, and we were thus all enabled to escape. As for myself, after wandering for about an hour in the streets about the prison, and being unable to find shelter anywhere, and afraid of being murdered in the streets, I determined to return to La Roquette. As I reached it I met the archbishop’s secretary, two priests, and two gendarmes, who, like myself, had been driven to return to the prison. One of the keepers told us that the safest for us was the sick ward. We dressed up in the hospital uniform and hid in bed. At eight in the evening the federates, who were not aware that we had escaped, came back and called on the gaolers to produce us. They were told we had gone; fortunately they believed it. On Sunday the troops came in, and I left La Roquette for good this time. In reply to a further question the witness said that as the hostages marched past his windows, on their way to execution, he saw President Bonjean raising his hands, and heard him say, ‘_Mon Dieu, mon Dieu!_’

XIII. (Page 82.)

URBAIN.

Urbain, formerly head master of an academy, was elected to the Commune, and became, in virtue of his former office of teacher, a member of the Committee of Instruction, retaining at the same time his office of mayor. He finally installed himself in his mayoralty about the middle of April, with his sister and young son, and gave protection there to his mistress, Leroy, who had great influence over him, and who used to frequent the committees and clubs. At the mayoralty of the 7th Arrondissement this woman, in the absence of the mayor, took the direction and management of affairs. During the administration of Urbain searches were made in private and in religious houses, this woman, Leroy, sometimes taking part in the proceedings; on these occasions seizures were made of letters and articles of value, which were sent to the mayoralty and from thence to the police-office. Urbain and the woman Leroy are accused of having appropriated to themselves money and jewellery. At the mayoralty of the 7th Arrondissement there were deposits for public instruction to the amount of 8000 francs, which had dwindled down to 2900 francs. Urbain confesses having employed this money in helping persons compromised like himself. It is certain that during the residence of the woman Leroy at the mayoralty the expenses exceeded the sum allowed to Urbain. According to the evidence of a domestic everybody tad recourse to this unfortunate deposit, and it is stated in the instructions that the accused had left by will to his son a sum of 4000 francs in bank notes and gold, deposited in the hands of his aunt, Madame Danelair, while there is clear proof that before the days of the Commune he did not possess a sou. Madame Leroy herself, who came to the mayoralty without a penny, was found in possession of 1000 francs, which she said were the results of her savings. It appears from the statement of M. Laudon, inspector of police, that the search made at his house resulted in the subtraction of a sum of 6000 francs, and that he has seen a ring which belonged to his wife on the finger of the woman Leroy. Though not taking a conspicuous share in the military operations, Urbain played an important part. His duty was to visit the military stations and to take possession of the Fort d’Issy, which had been abandoned. He admits that he thus visited the barracks and the ramparts. He ordered the construction of barricades, and says that, on the occasion of the repulse of the 22nd May, he resisted the entreaties of the woman Leroy, who wished him to give up the struggle and to betake himself to the Hôtel de Ville, with the view of remaining at his post. As a politician, Urbain, in the discussions of the Commune, was very zealous and spoke frequently. By his vote he gave his sanction to all the violent decrees relating to the hostages, the demolition of the Column, the destruction of M. Thiers’ house, and the Committee of Public Safety, of which he was one of the most ardent supporters. To him is to be attributed in particular the demand for the carrying into execution the decree relating to the hostages. On this point here is Urbain’s proposal, copied from the _Official Journal_ of the 18th May:—“I demand that either the Commune or the Committee of Public Safety should decree that the ten hostages in our custody should be shot within twenty-four hours, in retaliation for the murders of our cantinière and of the bearer of our flag of truce, who were shot in defiance of the law of nations. I demand that five of the hostages should be executed solemnly in the centre of Paris, in presence of deputations from all the battalions, and that the rest should be shot at the advanced posts in presence of the soldiers who witnessed the murders. I trust my proposal will be agreed to.” By this proposal Urbain has linked his name to the horrible crime committed on the hostages. Latterly he was a member of the military committee, and his ability served well the cause of the insurgents. He was condemned by the court-martial of Versailles to hard labour for life, September 2, 1871.