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My Days of Adventure

E >> Ernest Alfred Vizetelly >> My Days of Adventure




Turning to eastern France, Bourbaki fought two indecisive engagements near
Villersexel, south-east of Vesoul, on January 9 and 10, and claimed the
victory on these occasions. On January 13 came another engagement at
Arcey, which he also claimed as a success, being congratulated upon it by
Gambetta. The weather was most severe in the region of his operations, and
the sufferings of his men were quite as great as--if not greater than--
those of Chanzy's troops. There were nights when men lay down to sleep,
and never awoke again. On January 15,16, and 17 there was a succession of
engagements on the Lisaine, known collectively as the battle of Héricourt.
These actions resulted in Bourbaki's retreat southward towards Besançon,
where for the moment we will leave him, in order to consider the position
of Paris at this juncture.

Since the beginning of the year, the day of the capital's surrender had
been fast approaching. Paris actually fell because its supply of food was
virtually exhausted. On January 18 it became necessary to ration the
bread, now a dark, sticky compound, which included such ingredients as
bran, starch, rice, barley, vermicelli, and pea-flour. About ten ounces
was allotted per diem to each adult, children under five years of age
receiving half that quantity. But the health-bill of the city was also a
contributory cause of the capitulation. In November there were 7444 deaths
among the non-combatant population, against 3863 in November, 1869. The
death-roll of December rose to 10,665, against 4214 in December the
previous year. In January, between sixty and seventy persons died from
small-pox every day. Bronchitis and pneumonia made an ever-increasing
number of victims. From January 14 to January 21 the mortality rose to no
less than 4465; from the latter date until January 28, the day of the
capitulation, the figures were 4671, whereas in normal times they had
never been more than 1000 in any week.

Among the troops the position was going from bad to worse. Thousands of
men were in the hospitals, and thousands contrived to desert and hide
themselves in the city. Out of 100,705 linesmen, there were, on January 1,
no fewer than 23,938 absentees; while 23,565 units were absent from the
Mobile Guard, which, on paper, numbered 111,999. Briefly, one man out of
every five was either a patient or a deserter. As for the German
bombardment, this had some moral but very little material effect. Apart
from the damage done to buildings, it killed (as I previously said) about
one hundred and wounded about two hundred persons.

The Government now had little if any confidence in the utility of any
further sorties. Nevertheless, as the extremist newspapers still clamoured
for one, it was eventually decided to attack the German positions across
the Seine, on the west of the city. This sortie, commonly called that of
Buzenval, took place on January 10, the day after King William of Prussia
had been proclaimed German Emperor in Louis XIV's "Hall of Mirrors" at
Versailles. [The decision to raise the King to the imperial dignity had
been arrived at on January 1.] Without doubt, the Buzenval sortie was
devised chiefly in order to give the National Guard the constantly
demanded opportunity and satisfaction of being led against the Germans.
Trochu, who assumed chief command, establishing himself at the fort of
Mont Valérien, divided his forces into three columns, led by Generals
Vinoy, Bellemare, and Ducrot. The first (the left wing) comprised
22,000 men, including 8000 National Guards; the second (the central
column) 34,500 men, including 16,000 Guards; and the third (the right
wing) 33,500 men, among whom were no fewer than 18,000 Guards. Thus the
total force was about 90,000, the National Guards representing about a
third of that number. Each column had with it ten batteries, representing
for the entire force 180 guns. The French front, however, extended over a
distance of nearly four miles, and the army's real strength was thereby
diminished. There was some fairly desperate fighting at Saint Cloud,
Montretout, and Longboyau, but the French were driven back after losing
4000 men, mostly National Guards, whereas the German losses were only
about six hundred.

The affair caused consternation in Paris, particularly as several
prominent men had fallen in the ranks of the National Guard. On the night
of January 21, some extremists forced their way into the prison of Mazas
and delivered some of their friends who had been shut up there since the
rising of October 31. On the morrow, January 22, there was a demonstration
and an affray on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, shots being exchanged with
the result that people were killed and wounded. The Government gained the
day, however, and retaliated by closing the revolutionary clubs and
suppressing some extremist newspapers. But four hours later Trochu
resigned his position as Military Governor of Paris (in which he was
replaced by General Vinoy), only retaining the Presidency of the
Government. Another important incident had occurred on the very evening
after the insurrection: Jules Favre, the Foreign Minister, had then
forwarded a letter to Prince Bismarck.

The Government's first idea had been merely to surrender--that is to open
the city-gates and let the Germans enter at their peril. It did not wish
to negotiate or sign any capitulation. Jules Favre indicated as much when,
writing to Bismarck, and certainly the proposed course might have placed
the Germans--with the eyes of the world fixed upon them--in a difficult
position. But Favre was no match for the great Prussian statesman. Formal
negotiations were soon opened, and Bismarck so contrived affairs that, as
Gambetta subsequently and rightly complained, the convention which Favre
signed applied far more to France as a whole than to Paris itself. In
regard to the city, the chief conditions were that a war indemnity of
£8,000,000 should be paid; that the forts round the city should be
occupied by the Germans; that the garrison--Line, Mobile Guard, and Naval
Contingent (altogether about 180,000 men)--should become prisoners of war;
and that the armament (1500 fortress guns and 400 field pieces) should be
surrendered, as well as the large stores of ammunition. On the other hand,
a force of 12,000 men was left to the French Government for "police duty"
in the city, and the National Guards were, at Favre's urgent but foolish
request, allowed to retain their arms. Further, the city was to be
provisioned. In regard to France generally, arrangements were made for an
armistice of twenty-one days' duration, in order to allow of the election
of a National Assembly to treat for peace. In these arrangements Favre and
Vinoy (the new Governor of Paris) were out-jockeyed by Bismarck and
Moltke. They were largely ignorant of the real position in the provinces,
and consented to very disadvantageous terms in regard to the lines which
the Germans and the French should respectively occupy during the armistice
period. Moreover, although it was agreed that hostilities should cease on
most points, no such stipulation was made respecting the east of France,
where both Bourbaki and Garibaldi were in the field.

The latter had achieved some slight successes near Dijon on January 21 and
23, but on February 1--that is, two days after the signing of the
armistice--the Garibaldians were once more driven out of the Burgundian
capital. That, however, was as nothing in comparison with what befell
Bourbaki's unfortunate army. Manteuffel having compelled it to retreat
from Besançon to Pontarlier, it was next forced to withdraw into
Switzerland [Before this happened, Bourbaki attempted his life.]
(neutral territory, where it was necessarily disarmed by the Swiss
authorities) in order to escape either capture or annihilation by the
Germans. The latter took some 6000 prisoners, before the other men (about
80,000 in number) succeeded in crossing the Swiss frontier. A portion of
the army was saved, however, by General Billot. With regard to the
position elsewhere, Longwy, I should mention, surrendered three days
before the capitulation of Paris; but Belfort prolonged its resistance
until February 13, when all other hostilities had ceased. Its garrison,
so gallantly commanded by Colonel Denfert-Bochereau, was accorded the
honours of war.

As I wrote in my book, "Republican France," the country generally was
weary of the long struggle; and only Gambetta, Freycinet, and a few
military men, such as Chanzy and Faidherbe, were in favour of prolonging
it. From the declaration of war on July 15 to the capitulation of Paris
and the armistice on January 28, the contest had lasted twenty-eight
weeks. Seven of those weeks had sufficed to overthrow the Second Empire;
but only after another one-and-twenty weeks had the Third Republic laid
down her arms. Whatever may have been the blunders of the National
Defence, it at least saved the honour of France,

It may well be doubted whether the position could have been retrieved had
the war been prolonged, though undoubtedly the country was still possessed
of many resources. In "Republican France," I gave a number of figures
which showed that over 600,000 men could have been brought into action
almost immediately, and that another 260,000 could afterwards have been
provided. On February 8, when Chanzy had largely reorganized his army, he,
alone, had under his orders 4952 officers and 227,361 men, with 430 guns.
That careful and distinguished French military historian, M. Pierre
Lehautcourt, places, however, the other resources of France at even a
higher figure than I did. He also points out, rightly enough, that
although so large a part of France was invaded, the uninvaded territory
was of greater extent, and inhabited by twenty-five millions of people. He
estimates the total available artillery on the French side at 1232 guns,
each with an average allowance of 242 projectiles. In addition, there were
443 guns awaiting projectiles. He tells us that the French ordnance
factories were at this period turning out on an average 25,000 chassepots
every month, and delivering two million cartridges every day; whilst other
large supplies of weapons and ammunition were constantly arriving from
abroad. On the other hand, there was certainly a scarcity of horses, the
mortality of which in this war, as in all others, was very great. Chanzy
only disposed of 20,000, and the remount service could only supply another
12,000. However, additional animals might doubtless have been found in
various parts of France, or procured from abroad.

But material resources, however great they may be, are of little avail
when a nation has practically lost heart. In spite, moreover, of all the
efforts of commanding officers, insubordination was rampant among the
troops in the field. There had been so many defeats, so many retreats,
that they had lost all confidence in their generals. During the period of
the armistice, desertions were still numerous. I may add, that if at the
expiration of the armistice the struggle had been renewed, Chanzy's plan--
which received approval at a secret military and Government council held
in Paris, whither he repaired early in February--was to place General
de Colomb at the head of a strong force for the defence of Brittany,
whilst he, Chanzy, would, with his own army, cross the Loire and defend
southern France.

Directly news arrived that an armistice had been signed, and that Paris
was once more open, my father arranged to return there, accompanied by
myself and my younger brother, Arthur Vizetelly. We took with us, I
remember, a plentiful supply of poultry and other edibles for distribution
among the friends who had been suffering from the scarcity of provisions
during the latter days of the siege. The elections for the new National
Assembly were just over, nearly all of the forty-three deputies returned
for Paris being Republicans, though throughout the rest of France
Legitimist and Orleanist candidates were generally successful. I remember
that just before I left Saint Servan one of our tradesmen, an enthusiastic
Royalist, said to me, "We shall have a King on the throne by the time you
come back to see us in the summer." At that moment it certainly seemed as
if such would be the case. As for the Empire, one could only regard it as
dead. There were, I think, merely five recognized Bonapartist members in
the whole of the new National Assembly, and most of them came from
Corsica. Thus, it was by an almost unanimous vote that the Assembly
declared Napoleon III and his dynasty to be responsible for the "invasion,
ruin, and dismemberment of France."

The Assembly having called Thiers to the position of "Chief of the
Executive Power," peace negotiations ensued between him and Bismarck. They
began on February 22, Thiers being assisted by Jules Favre, who retained
the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, mainly because nobody else
would take it and append his signature to a treaty which was bound to be
disastrous for the country. The chief conditions of that treaty will be
remembered. Germany was to annex Alsace-Lorraine, to receive a war
indemnity of two hundred million pounds sterling (with interest in
addition), and secure commercially "most favoured nation" treatment from
France. The preliminaries were signed on February 26, and accepted by the
National Assembly on March 1, but the actual treaty of Frankfort was not
signed and ratified until the ensuing month of May.

Paris presented a sorry spectacle during the weeks which followed the
armistice. There was no work for the thousands of artisans who had become
National Guards during the siege. Their allowance as such was prolonged in
order that they might at least have some means of subsistence. But the
unrest was general. By the side of the universal hatred of the Germans,
which was displayed on all sides, even finding vent in the notices set up
in the shop-windows to the effect that no Germans need apply there, one
observed a very bitter feeling towards the new Government. Thiers had been
an Orleanist all his life, and among the Paris working-classes there was a
general feeling that the National Assembly would give France a king. This
feeling tended to bring about the subsequent bloody Insurrection of the
Commune; but, as I wrote in "Republican France," it was precisely the
Commune which gave the French Royalists a chance. It placed a weapon in
their hands and enabled them to say, "You see, by that insurrection, by
all those terrible excesses, what a Republic implies. Order, quietude,
fruitful work, are only possible under a monarchy." As we know, however,
the efforts of the Royalists were defeated, in part by the obstinacy of
their candidate, the Comte de Chambord, and in part by the good behaviour
of the Republicans generally, as counselled both by Thiers and by
Gambetta.

On March 1, the very day when the National Assembly ratified the
preliminaries of peace at Bordeaux, the Germans made their triumphal entry
into Paris. Four or five days previously my father had sent me on a
special mission to Bordeaux, and it was then that after long years I again
set eyes on Garibaldi, who had been elected as a French deputy, but who
resigned his seat in consequence of the onerous terms of peace. Others,
notably Gambetta, did precisely the same, by way of protesting against the
so-called "Devil's Treaty." However, I was back in Paris in time to
witness the German entry into the city. My father, my brother Arthur, and
myself were together in the Champs Elysées on that historical occasion. I
have related elsewhere [In "Republican France."] how a number of women of
the Paris Boulevards were whipped in the Champs Elysées shrubberies by
young roughs, who, not unnaturally, resented the shameless overtures made
by these women to the German soldiery. There were, however, some
unfortunate mistakes that day, as, for instance, when an attempt was
made to ill-treat an elderly lady who merely spoke to the Germans in the
hope of obtaining some information respecting her son, then still a
prisoner of war. I remember also that Archibald Forbes was knocked down
and kicked for returning the salute of the Crown Prince of Saxony. Some of
the English correspondents who hurried to the scene removed Forbes to a
little hotel in the Faubourg St. Honoré, for he had really been hurt by
that savage assault, though it did not prevent him from penning a graphic
account of what he witnessed on that momentous day.

The German entry was, on the whole, fairly imposing as a military display;
but the stage-management was very bad, and one could not imagine that
Napoleon's entry into Berlin had in any way resembled it. Nor could it be
said to have equalled the entry of the Allied Sovereigns into Paris in
1814. German princelings in basket-carriages drawn by ponies did not add
to the dignity of the spectacle. Moreover, both the Crown Prince of Saxony
and the Crown Prince of Germany (Emperor Frederick) attended it in
virtually an _incognito_ manner. As for the Emperor William, his
councillors dissuaded him from entering the city for fear lest there
should be trouble there. I believe also that neither Bismarck nor Moltke
attended, though, like the Emperor, they both witnessed the preliminary
review of troops in the Bois de Boulogne. The German occupation was
limited to the Champs Elysées quarter, and on the first day the Parisians
generally abstained from going there; but on the morrow--when news that
the preliminaries of peace had been accepted at Bordeaux had reached the
capital--they flocked to gaze upon _nos amis les ennemis_, and greatly
enjoyed, I believe, the lively music played by the German regimental
bands. "Music hath charms," as we are all aware. The departure of the
German troops on the ensuing evening was of a much more spectacular
character than their entry had been. As with their bands playing, whilst
they themselves sang the "Wacht am Rhein" in chorus, they marched up the
Champs Elysées on their way back to Versailles, those of their comrades
who were still billeted in the houses came to the balconies with as many
lighted candles as they could carry. Bivouac fires, moreover, were burning
brightly here and there, and the whole animated scene, with its play of
light and shade under the dark March sky, was one to be long remembered.

The Franco-German War was over, and a new era had begun for Europe. The
balance of power was largely transferred. France had again ceased to be
the predominant continental state. She had attained to that position for
a time under Louis XIV, and later, more conspicuously, under Napoleon I.
But in both of those instances vaulting ambition had o'er-leapt itself.
The purposes of Napoleon III were less far-reaching. Such ideas of
aggrandisement as he entertained were largely subordinated to his desire
to consolidate the _régime_ he had revived, and to ensure the continuity
of his dynasty. But the very principle of nationality which he more than
once expounded, and which he championed in the case of Italy, brought
about his ruin. He gave Italy Venetia, but refused her Rome, and thereby
alienated her. Further, the consolidation of Germany--from his own
nationalist point of view--became a threat to French interests. Thus he
was hoist chiefly by his own _pétard_, and France paid the penalty for his
errors.

The Franco-German War was over, I have said, but there came a terrible
aftermath--that is, the rising of the Commune, some of the introductory
features of which were described by me in "Republican France." There is
only one fairly good history of that formidable insurrection in the
English language--one written some years ago by Mr. Thomas March. It is,
however, a history from the official standpoint, and is consequently
one-sided as well as inaccurate in certain respects. Again, the English
version of the History of the Commune put together by one of its
partisans, Lissagaray, sins in the other direction. An impartial account
of the rising remains to be written. If I am spared I may, perhaps, be
privileged to contribute to it by preparing a work on much the same lines
as those of this present volume. Not only do I possess the greater part of
the literature on the subject, including many of the newspapers of the
time, but throughout the insurrection I was in Paris or its suburbs.

I sketched the dead bodies of Generals Clément Thomas and Lecomte only a
few hours after their assassination. I saw the Vendôme column fall while
American visitors to Paris were singing, "Hail, Columbia!" in the hotels
of the Rue de la Paix. I was under fire in the same street when a
demonstration was made there. Provided with passports by both sides, I
went in and out of the city and witnessed the fighting at Asnières and
elsewhere. I attended the clubs held in the churches, when women often
perorated from the pulpits. I saw Thiers's house being demolished; and
when the end came and the Versailles troops made their entry into the
city, I was repeatedly in the street-fighting with my good friend, Captain
Bingham. I recollect sketching the attack on the Elysée Palace from a
balcony of our house, and finding that balcony on the pavement a few hours
later when it had been carried away by a shell from a Communard battery at
Montmartre. Finally, I saw Paris burning. I gazed on the sheaves of flames
rising above the Tuileries. I saw the whole front of the Ministry of
Finances fall into the Rue de Rivoli. I saw the now vanished Carrefour de
la Croix Rouge one blaze of fire. I helped to carry water to put out the
conflagration at the Palais de Justice. I was prodded with a bayonet when,
after working in that manner for some hours, I attempted to shirk duty at
another fire which I came upon in the course of my expeditions. All that
period of my life flashes on my mind as vividly as Paris herself flashed
under the wondering stars of those balmy nights in May.

My father and my brother Arthur also had some remarkable adventures.
There was one occasion when they persuaded a venturesome Paris cabman to
drive them from conflagration to conflagration, and this whilst the
street-fighting was still in progress. Every now and then, as they drove
on, men and women ran eagerly out of houses into which wounded combatants
had been taken, imagining that they must belong to the medical profession,
as nobody else was likely to go about Paris in such a fashion at such a
moment. Those good folk forgot the journalists. The service of the Press
carries with it obligations which must not be shirked. Journalism has
become, not merely the chronicle of the day, but the foundation of
history. And now I know not if I should say farewell or _au revoir_ to my
readers. Whether I ever attempt a detailed account of the Commune of Paris
must depend on a variety of circumstances. After three-and-forty years
"at the mill," I am inclined to feel tired, and with me health is not what
it has been. Nevertheless, my plans must depend chiefly on the reception
given to this present volume.



INDEX


Adam, Edmond
Adare, Lord
Albert, Archduke
Albert, Prince (the elder), of Prussia
Alencon taken
Alexander II of Russia
Alexandra, Queen
Allix, Jules
Amazons of Paris
Ambert, General
Ambulances, Anglo-American
at Conlie
at Le Mans
author's impression of
Amiens
Arabs with Chanzy
Arago, Emmanuel
Etienne
Ardenay,
Armistice, conditions for an
concluded
Army, French, under the Empire
of Paris, _see also_ Paris
of Brittany
at the outset of National Defence
of the Vosges, _see also_ Garibaldi
of the East, _see also_ Bourbaki
of the Loire, _see also_ D'Aurelle, Goulmiers,
Chanzy, Le Mans, etc.
of the North, _see_ Faidheibe
at the end of war
_for German army see_ German _and names of commanders_
Arnim, Count von
Artists, French newspaper
Assembly, _see_ National
Aurelle, _see_ D'Aurelle
Auvours plateau (Le Mans)

Balloon service from Paris
Bapauine, battle of
Barry, General
Battues for deserters
Bazaine, Marshal
Beauce country
Beaumont, fight at
Beaune-la-Rolande, battle of
Belfort, siege of
Bellemare, General Carré de
Bellenger, Marguerite
Belly, Félix
Beraud, Colonel
Bernard, Colonel
Berezowski
Beuvron, Abbé de
Billot, General
Bingham, Captain Hon. D.A.
Bismarck, Prince
Blano, Louis
Blanchard, P.
Blanqui, Augusta,
Blewitt, Dr. Byron
Boisdeffre, Captain, later General de
Bonaparte, Lycée, _see_ Lycée
Bonaparte, Prince Pierre, _See also_ Napoleon
Bonnemains, General de
Boots, army
Bordone, General
Borel, General
Boulanger, General, his mistress
Bourbaki, General Charles
Bourbon, Palais, _see_ Legislative Body
Bourdillon, General
Bourges,
Bourget, Le,
Bower, Mr.,
Bowles, T. Gibson,
Brie-Comte-Robert,
Brownings, the,
Bulwer, Sir E.,

Caillaux, E. and J.,
Cambriels, General,
Canrobert, Marshal,
Capitulations, see Amiens, Belfort, Longwy, Metz, Paris, Sedan,
Strasbourg, Toul, etc.
Capoul, Victor,
Caricatures of the period,
Casimir-Perler, J.P.,
Cathelineau, Colonel,
Chabaud-Latour, General,
Challemel-Lacour,
Cham (M. de Noé),
Chambord, Comte de,
Champagné, fighting at,
Champigny, sortie of,
Changé, fighting at,
Chanzy, General Alfred,
his early career and appearance,
his orders and operations with the Loire forces,
Charette, General Baron,
Chartres,
"Chartreuse de Parme, La",
Chassillé, fight at,
Chateaubriand, Count and Countess de
Châteaudun, fight at,
Châtillon, fight at,
Chemin des Boeufs (Le Mans),
"Claque," the,
Claremont, Colonel,
Clocks, German love of,
Clubs, Paris,
social
revolutionary
Colin, General,
Collins, Mortimer,
Colomb, General de,
Colomb, General von,
Commune of Paris,
attempts to set up a
rising of the
Condé, Prince de,
Conlie, camp of,
Connerré,
Corbeil, Germans at,
Correspondents, English, in Paris,
Coulmiers, battle of,
Couriers from Paris,
Cousin-Montauban, see Palikao.
Cowardice and panic, cases of,
Crane, Stephen,
Cremer, General,
Crémieux, Adolphe,
Crouzat, General,
Crown Prince of Prussia (Emperor Frederick),
Curten, General,

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