Chapter XV

The following order of the day of General de Ladmirault, commanding the first army corps of Versailles, sums up the principal episodes of this eight days battle:—

“Officers and soldiers of the First Corps d’Armée,—
The defences of the lines of Neuilly, Courbevoie, Bécon and
Asnières served you by way of apprenticeship. Your energy and
courage were formed amid the greatest works and perils. Every one
in his grade has given an example of the most complete abnegation
and devotion. Artillery, engineers, troops of the line, cavalry,
volunteers of the Seine-et-Oise, you rivalled each other in zeal
and ardour. Thus prepared, on the 22nd of the month you attacked
the insurgents, whose guilty designs and criminal undertakings you
knew and despised. You devoted yourselves nobly to save from
destruction the monuments of our old national glory, as well as the
property of the citizens menaced by savage rage.
On the 23rd of the month, the formidable position of the Buttes
Montmartre could no longer resist your efforts, in spite of all the
forces with which they were covered.
This task was confided to the first and second division and the
volunteers of the Seine and Seine-et-Oise, and the heads of the
various columns arrived simultaneously at the summit of the
position.
On the 24th, the third division, which alone had been charged with
the task of driving the insurgents out of Neuilly,
Levallois-Perret, and Saint-Ouen, joined the other divisions, and
took possession of the terminus of the Eastern Railway, while the
first division seized that of the Northern line by force of arms.
On the 26th, the third division occupied the _rotonde_—circular
place—of La Villette.
On the 27th, the first and second division, with the volunteers of
the Seine-et-Oise, by means of a combined movement, took the Buttes
Chaumont and the heights of Belleville by assault, the artillery
having by its able firing prepared the way for the occupation.
Finally, on the 28th, the defences of Belleville yielded, and the
first corps achieved brilliantly the task which had been confided
to them.
During the days of the struggle and fighting you rendered the
greatest service to civilization, and have acquired a claim to the
gratitude of the country. Accept then all the praise which is due
to you.

Paris, 29th May, 1871. The General commanding the First Corps d’Armee, (Signed) “LADMIRAULT.””

During the day of the 28th of Kay Marshal MacMahon caused the following proclamation to be posted in the streets of Paris:—

“Inhabitants of Paris,—
The army of France is come to save you. Paris is relieved. The last
positions of the insurgents were taken by our soldiers at four
o’clock. Today the struggle is at an end; order, labour, and
security are springing up again.

Paris, Quartier General, the 28th May, 1871. (Signed) “MACMAHON, Due de Magenta, Marshal of France, Commander-in-Chief.”

On the 28th of May the war of the Communists was at an end, but the fort of Vincennes was still occupied by three hundred National Guards, with eighteen of their superior officers and fifteen of the high functionaries of the Commune; They made an appeal to the commander of the Prussian forces in front of the fort, in the hope of obtaining passports for Switzerland. General Vinoy, hearing of this, took at once the most energetic measures, and at six o’clock on the 29th of May the last defenders of Vincennes surrendered at discretion.