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THE    COURT    OF    THE    TUILERIES 

1852-1870 

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LONDON:  CHATTO  &  WINDUS 


MY    DAYS    OF   ADVENTURE     — 


Photo.  Russell  &  Sons,  51  Baker  St.,  London,  W. 


MY     DAYS    OF 
ADVENTURE 

THE  FALL  OF  FRANCE,  1870-71 

BY  ERNEST  ALFRED  VIZETELLY 

LE   PETIT   HOMME   ROUGE 
AUTHOR  OF  "THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES  1852-70"  ETC. 


ty 


y  '3 

'-" 


WITH   A   FRONTISPIECE 


LONDON 
GHATTO     &  WINDUS 


1914 


PRINTED  BT 

WILLIAM  CLOWES  AND  SONS. 
LONDON    AND  BECCLBS 


All  rights  reserved 


TO 
DORA  ROSALIE  VIZETELLY 

AS    A    SLIGHT    MARK 
OF 

HUE  FATHER'S  DEEP  AFFECTION. 


THE  PEOPLE'S  WAR 

0  HUSBANDMEN  of  hill  and  dale, 

O  dressers  of  the  vines, 
O  sea-tossed  fighters  of  the  gale, 

O  hewers  of  the  mines, 
O  wealthy  ones  who  need  not  strive, 

O  sons  of  learning,  art, 
O  craftsmen  of  the  city's  hive, 

O  traders  of  the  mart, 
Hark  to  the  cannon's  thunder-call 

Appealing  to  the  brave  I 
Your  France  is  wounded,  and  may  fall 

Beneath  the  foreign  glave  ! 
Then  gird  your  loins  1     Let  none  delay 

Her  glory  to  maintain ; 
Drive  out  the  foe,  throw  off  his  sway, 

Win  back  your  land  again  1 

1870.  E.  A.  V. 


PREFACE 

WHILE  this  volume  is  largely  of  an  autobiographical 
character,  it  will  be  found  to  contain  also  a  variety 
of  general  information  concerning  the  Franco-German 
War  of  1870-71,  more  particularly  with  respect  to 
the  second  part  of  that  great  struggle — the  so-called 
"  People's  War  "  which  followed  the  crash  of  Sedan 
and  the  downfall  of  the  Second  French  Empire.  If 
I  have  incorporated  this  historical  matter  in  my  book, 
it  is  because  I  have  repeatedly  noticed  in  these  later 
years  that,  whilst  English  people  are  conversant  with 
the  main  facts  of  the  Sedan  disaster  and  such 
subsequent  outstanding  events  as  the  siege  of  Paris 
and  the  capitulation  of  Metz,  they  usually  know  very 
little  about  the  manner  in  which  the  war  generally 
was  carried  on  by  the  French  under  the  virtual 
dictatorship  of  Gambetta.  Should  England  ever  be 
invaded  by  a  large  hostile  force,  we,  with  our  very 
limited  regular  army,  should  probably  be  obliged  to 
rely  largely  on  elements  similar  to  those  which  were 
called  to  the  field  by  the  French  National  Defence 
Government  of  1870  after  the  regular  armies  of  the 
Empire  had  been  either  crushed  at  Sedan  or  closely 
invested  at  Metz.  For  that  reason  I  have  always 
taken  a  keen  interest  in  our  Territorial  Force,  well 
realizing  what  heavy  responsibilities  would  fall  upon 
it  if  a  powerful  enemy  should  obtain  a  footing  in  this 


viii  PREFACE 

country.  Some  indication  of  those  responsibilities 
will  be  found  in  the  present  book. 

Generally  speaking,  however,  I  have  given  only 
a  sketch  of  the  latter  part  of  the  Franco- German 
War.  To  have  entered  into  details  on  an  infinity 
of  matters  would  have  necessitated  the  writing  of 
a  very  much  longer  work.  However,  I  have  supplied, 
I  think,  a  good  deal  of  precise  information  respecting 
the  events  which  I  actually  witnessed,  and  in  this 
connexion,  perhaps,  I  may  have  thrown  some  useful 
sidelights  on  the  war  generally;  for  many  things 
akin  to  those  which  I  saw,  occurred  under  more  or 
less  similar  circumstances  in  other  parts  of  France. 

People  who  are  aware  that  1  am  acquainted  with 
the  shortcomings  of  the  French  in  those  already 
distant  days,  and  that  I  have  watched,  as  closely  as 
most  foreigners  can  watch,  the  evolution  of  the 
French  army  in  these  later  times,  have  often  asked 
me  what,  to  my  thinking,  would  be  the  outcome  of 
another  Franco- German  War.  For  many  years  I 
fully  anticipated  another  struggle  between  the  two 
Powers,  and  held  myself  in  readiness  to  do  duty  as 
a  war-correspondent.  I  long  thought,  also,  that  the 
signal  for  that  struggle  would  be  given  by  France. 
But  I  am  no  longer  of  that  opinion.  I  fully  believe 
that  all  French  statesmen  worthy  of  the  name  realize 
that  it  would  be  suicidal  for  France  to  provoke  a 
war  with  her  formidable  neighbour.  And  at  the 
same  time  I  candidly  confess  that  I  do  not  know 
what  some  journalists  mean  by  what  they  call  the 
"  New  France."  To  my  thinking  there  is  no  "  New 
France  "  at  all.  There  was  as  much  spirit,  as  much 
patriotism,  in  the  days  of  MacMahon,  in  the  days  of 
Boulanger,  and  at  other  periods,  as  there  is  now. 


PREFACE  ix 

The  only  real  novelty  that  I  notice  in  the  France  of 
to-day  is  the  cultivation  of  many  branches  of  sport 
and  athletic  exercise.  Of  that  kind  of  thing  there 
was  very  little  indeed  when  I  was  a  stripling.  But 
granting  that  young  Frenchmen  of  to-day  are  more 
athletic,  more  "  fit "  than  were  those  of  my  genera- 
tion, granting,  moreover,  that  the  present  organization 
and  the  equipment  of  the  French  army  are  vastly 
superior  to  what  they  were  in  1870,  and  also  that 
the  conditions  of  warfare  have  greatly  changed,  I 
feel  that  if  France  were  to  engage,  unaided,  in  a 
contest  with  Germany,  she  would  again  be  worsted, 
and  worsted  by  her  own  fault. 

She  fully  knows  that  she  cannot  bring  into  the 
field  anything  like  as  many  men  as  Germany ;  and 
it  is  in  a  vain  hope  of  supplying  the  deficiency  that 
she  has  lately  reverted  from  a  two  to  a  three  years' 
system  of  military  service.  The  latter  certainly  gives 
her  a  larger  effective  for  the  first  contingencies 
of  a  campaign,  but  in  all  other  respects  it  is  merely 
a  piece  of  jugglery,  for  it  does  not  add  a  single  unit 
to  the  total  number  of  Frenchmen  capable  of  bearing 
arms.  The  truth  is,  that  during  forty  years  of 
prosperity  France  has  been  intent  on  racial  suicide. 
In  the  whole  of  that  period  only  some  3,500,000 
inhabitants  have  been  added  to  her  population,  which 
is  now  still  under  40  millions ;  whereas  that  of 
Germany  has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and 
stands  at  about  66  millions.  At  the  present  time 
the  German  birth-rate  is  certainly  falling,  but  the 
numerical  superiority  which  Germany  has  acquired 
over  France  since  the  war  of  1870  is  so  great  that  I 
feel  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  latter  to  triumph 
in  an  encounter  unless  she  should  be  assisted  by 


x  PREFACE 

powerful  allies.  Bismarck  said  in  1870  that  God 
was  on  the  side  of  the  big  battalions  ;  and  those  big 
battalions  Germany  can  again  supply.  I  hold,  then, 
that  no  such  Franco-German  war  as  the  last  one  can 
again  occur.  Europe  is  now  virtually  divided  into 
two  camps,  each  composed  of  three  Powers,  all  of 
which  would  be  more  or  less  involved  in  a  Franco- 
German  struggle.  The  allies  and  friends  on  either 
side  are  well  aware  of  it,  and  in  their  own  interests 
are  bound  to  exert  a  restraining  influence  which 
makes  for  the  maintenance  of  peace.  We  have  had 
evidence  of  this  in  the  limitations  imposed  on  the 
recent  Balkan  War. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is,  of  course,  the  unexpected 
which  usually  happens  ;  and  whilst  Europe  generally 
remains  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  so  many  jealousies 
are  still  rife,  no  one  Power  can  in  prudence  desist 
from  her  armaments.  We  who  are  the  wealthiest 
nation  in  Europe  spend  on  our  armaments,  in 
proportion  to  our  wealth  and  our  population,  less 
than  any  other  great  Power.  Yet  some  among  us 
would  have  us  curtail  our  expenditure,  and  thereby 
incur  the  vulnerability  which  would  tempt  a  foe. 
Undoubtedly  the  armaments  of  the  present  day  are 
great  and  grievous  burdens  on  the  nations,  terrible 
impediments  to  social  progress,  but  they  constitute, 
unfortunately,  our  only  real  insurance  against  war, 
justifying  yet  to-day,  after  so  many  long  centuries, 
the  truth  of  the  ancient  Latin  adage — Si  vis  pacem, 
para  bellum. 

It  is,  I  think,  unnecessary  for  me  to  comment 
here  on  the  autobiographical  part  of  my  book.  It 
will,  I  feel,  speak  for  itself.  It  treats  of  days  long 
past,  and  on  a  few  points,  perhaps,  my  memory  may 


PREFACE  xi 

be  slightly  defective.  In  preparing  my  narrative, 
however,  I  have  constantly  referred  to  my  old  diaries, 
note-books  and  early  newspaper  articles,  and  have 
done  my  best  to  abstain  from  all  exaggeration. 
Whether  this  story  of  some  of  my  youthful  ex- 
periences and  impressions  of  men  and  things  was 
worth  telling  or  not  is  a  point  which  I  must  leave 

my  readers  to  decide. 

E.  A.  V. 

LONDON,  January  1914. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  INTRODUCTORY — SOME  EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS 

II.  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR 

III.  ON  THE  ROAD  TO  REVOLUTION 

IV.  FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE 
V.  BESIEGED 

VI.  MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  DAYS 

VII  FROM  PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES 

VIII.  FROM  VERSAILLES  TO  BRITTANY 

IX.  THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES 

X.  WITH  THE  "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY" 

XI.  BEFORE  LE  MANS 

XII.  LE  MANS  AND  AFTER 

XIII.  THE  BITTER  END 


PAGE 
1 

25 
47 
86 
105 
139 
162 
182 
206 
230 
251 
272 
315 


INDEX 


331 


MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 


INTRODUCTORY — SOME   EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS 

The  Vizetelly  Family— My  Mother  and  her  Kinsfolk— The  Illustrated 
Times  and  its  Staff — My  Unpleasant  Disposition — Thackeray  and 
my  First  Half -Crown — School  days  at  Eastbourne — Queen  Alexandra 
— Garibaldi — A  few  old  Plays  and  Songs — Nadar  and  the  "  Giant " 
Balloon — My  Arrival  in  France — My  Tutor  Brossard — Berezowski's 
Attempt  on  Alexander  II — My  Apprenticeship  to  Journalism — My 
First  Article — I  see  some  French  Celebrities — Visits  to  the  Tuileries — 
At  Compidgne — A  few  Words  with  Napoleon  III. — A  "Revolu- 
tionary" Beard. 

THIS  is  an  age  of  "  Reminiscences,"  and  although 
I  have  never  played  any  part  in  the  world's  affairs, 
I  have  witnessed  so  many  notable  things  and  met 
so  many  notable  people  during  the  three-score  years 
which  I  have  lately  completed,  that  it  is  perhaps 
allowable  for  me  to  add  yet  another  volume  of 
personal  recollections  to  the  many  which  have 
already  poured  from  the  press.  On  starting  on  an 
undertaking  of  this  kind  it  is  usual,  I  perceive  by 
the  many  examples  around  me,  to  say  something 
about  one's  family  and  upbringing.  There  is  less 
reason  for  me  to  depart  from  this  practice,  as  in  the 
course  of  the  present  volume  it  will  often  be  necessary 
for  me  to  refer  to  some  of  my  near  relations.  A  few 
years  ago  a  distinguished  Italian  philosopher  and 
author,  Angelo  de  Gubernatis,  was  good  enough  to 

B 


2  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

include  me  in  a  dictionary  of  writers  belonging  to 
the  Latin  races,  and  stated,  in  doing  so,  that  the 
Vizetellys  were  of  French  origin.  That  was  a  rather 
curious  mistake  on  the  part  of  an  Italian  writer, 
the  truth  being  that  the  family  originated  at  Ravenna, 
where  some  members  of  it  held  various  offices  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  Subsequently,  after  dabbling  in  a 
conspiracy,  some  of  the  Vizzetelli  fled  to  Venice 
and  took  to  glass-making  there,  until  at  last  Jacopo, 
from  whom  I  am  descended,  came  to  England  in 
the  spacious  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  From  that 
time  until  my  own  the  men  of  my  family  invariably 
married  English  women,  so  that  very  little  Italian 
blood  can  flow  in  my  veins. 

Matrimonial  alliances  are  sometimes  of  more 
than  personal  interest.  One  point  has  particularly 
struck  me  in  regard  to  those  contracted  by  members 
of  my  own  family,  this  being  the  diversity  of  English 
counties  from  which  the  men  have  derived  their 
wives  and  the  women  their  husbands.  References 
to  Cheshire,  Lancashire,  Yorkshire,  Staffordshire, 
Warwickshire,  Leicestershire,  Berkshire,  Bucks, 
Suffolk,  Kent,  Surrey,  Sussex,  and  Devonshire,  in 
addition  to  Middlesex,  otherwise  London,  appear 
in  my  family  papers.  We  have  become  connected 
with  Johnstons,  Burslems,  Bartletts,  Pitts,  Smiths, 
Wards,  Covells,  Randalls,  Finemores,  Radfords, 
Hindes,  Pollards,  Lemprieres,  Wakes,  Godbolds, 
Ansells,  Fennells,  Vaughans,  Edens,  Scotts,  and 
Pearces,  and  I  was  the  very  first  member  of  the 
family  (subsequent  to  its  arrival  in  England)  to 
take  a  foreigner  as  wife,  she  being  the  daughter  of  a 
landowner  of  Savoy  who  proceeded  from  the  Tissots 
of  Switzerland.  My  elder  brother  Edward  subse- 
quently married  a  Burgundian  girl  named  Clerget, 


SOME  EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  3 

and  my  stepbrother  Frank  chose  an  American  one, 
nee  Krehbiel,  as  his  wife,  these  marriages  occurring 
because  circumstances  led  us  to  live  for  many  years 
abroad. 

Among  the  first  London  parishes  with  which  the 
family  was  connected  was  St.  Botolph's,  Bishopsgate, 
where  my  forerunner,  the  first  Henry  Vizetelly,  was 
buried  in  1691,  he  then  being  fifty  years  of  age, 
and  where  my  father,  the  second  Henry  of  the  name, 
was  baptised  soon  after  his  birth  in  1820.  St. 
Bride's,  Fleet  Street,  was,  however,  our  parish  for 
many  years,  as  its  registers  testify,  though  in  1781 
my  great-grandfather  was  resident  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Ann's,  Blackfriars,  and  was  elected  constable 
thereof.  At  that  date  the  family  name,  which 
figures  in  old  English  registers  under  a  variety  of 
forms — Vissitaler,  Vissitaly,  Visataly,  Visitelly, 
Vizetely,  etc. — was  by  him  spelt  Vizzetelly,  as  is 
shown  by  documents  now  in  the  Guildhall  Library ; 
but  a  few  years  later  he  dropped  the  second  z,  with 
the  idea,  perhaps,  of  giving  the  name  a  more  English 
appearance. 

This  great-grandfather  of  mine  was,  like  his 
father  before  him,  a  printer  and  a  member  of  the 
Stationers'  Company.  He  was  twice  married,  having 
by  his  first  wife  two  sons,  George  and  William, 
neither  of  whom  left  posterity.  The  former,  I 
believe,  died  in  the  service  of  the  Honourable  East 
India  Company.  In  June,  1775,  however,  my 
great-grandfather  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
James  Hinde,  stationer,  of  Little  Moorfields,  and 
had  by  her,  first,  a  daughter  Elizabeth,  from  whom 
some  of  the  Burslems  and  Godbolds  are  descended ; 
and,  secondly,  twins,  a  boy  and  a  girl,  who  were 
respectively  christened  James  Henry  and  Mary 


4  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Mehetabel.  The  former  became  my  grandfather. 
In  August,  1816,  he  married,  at  St.  Bride's,  Martha 
Jane  Vaughan,  daughter  of  a  stage-coach  pro- 
prietor of  Chester,  and  had  by  her  a  daughter,  who 
died  unmarried,  and  four  sons — my  father,  Henry 
Richard,  and  my  uncles  James,  Frank,  and  Frederick 
Whitehead  Vizetelly. 

Some  account  of  my  grandfather  is  given  in  my 
father's  "  Glances  Back  through  Seventy  Years," 
and  I  need  not  add  to  it  here.  I  will  only  say  that, 
like  his  immediate  forerunners,  James  Henry  Vizetelly 
was  a  printer  and  freeman  of  the  city.  A  clever 
versifier,  and  so  able  as  an  amateur  actor  that  on 
certain  occasions  he  replaced  Edmund  Kean  on  the 
boards  when  the  latter  was  hopelessly  drunk,  he 
died  in  1840,  leaving  his  two  elder  sons,  James  and 
Henry,  to  carry  on  the  printing  business,  which  was 
then  established  in  premises  occupying  the  site  of 
the  Daily  Telegraph  building  in  Fleet  Street. 

In  1844  my  father  married  Ellen  Elizabeth,  only 
child  of  John  Pollard,  M.D.,  a  member  of  the  ancient 
Yorkshire  family  of  the  Pollards  of  Bierley  and 
Brunton,  now  chiefly  represented,  I  believe,  by  the 
Pollards  of  Scarr  Hall.  John  Pollard's  wife,  Charlotte 
Maria  Fennell,  belonged  to  a  family  which  gave 
officers  to  the  British  Navy — one  of  them  serving 
directly  under  Nelson — and  clergy  to  the  Church  of 
England.  The  Fennells  were  related  to  the  Bronte 
sisters  through  the  latter's  mother;  and  one  was 
closely  connected  with  the  Shackle  who  founded 
the  original  John  Bull  newspaper.  Those,  then, 
were  my  kinsfolk  on  the  maternal  side.  My  mother 
presented  my  father  with  seven  children,  of  whom 
I  was  the  sixth,  being  also  the  fourth  son.  I  was 
born  on  November  29,  1853,  at  a  house  called 


SOME   EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  5 

Chalfont  Lodge  in  Campden  House  Road,  Kensing- 
ton, and  well  do  I  remember  the  great  conflagration 
which  destroyed  the  fine  old  historical  mansion 
built  by  Baptist  Hicks,  sometime  a  mercer  in 
Cheapside  and  ultimately  Viscount  Campden.  But 
another  scene  which  has  more  particularly  haunted 
me  all  through  my  life  was  that  of  my  mother's 
sudden  death  in  a  saloon  carriage  of  an  express 
train  on  the  London  and  Brighton  line.  Though 
she  was  in  failing  health,  nobody  thought  her  end  so 
near  ;  but  in  the  very  midst  of  a  journey  to  London, 
whilst  the  train  was  rushing  on  at  full  speed,  and 
no  help  could  be  procured,  a  sudden  weakness 
came  over  her,  and  in  a  few  minutes  she  passed 
away.  I  was  very  young  at  the  time,  barely  five 
years  old,  yet  everything  still  rises  before  me  with 
all  the  vividness  of  an  imperishable  memory.  Again, 
too,  I  see  that  beautiful  intellectual  brow  and  those 
lustrous  eyes,  and  hear  that  musical  voice,  and  feel 
the  gentle  touch  of  that  loving  motherly  hand. 
She  was  a  woman  of  attainments,  fond  of  setting 
words  to  music,  speaking  perfect  French,  for  she 
had  been  partly  educated  at  Evreux  in  Normandy, 
and  having  no  little  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin 
literature,  as  was  shown  by  her  annotations  to  a 
copy  of  Lempriere's  "  Classical  Dictionary  "  which 
is  now  in  my  possession. 

About  eighteen  months  after  I  was  born,  that 
is  in  the  midst  of  the  Crimean  War,  my  father 
founded,  in  conjunction  with  David  Bogue,  a  well- 
known  publisher  of  the  time,  a  journal  called  the 
Illustrated  Times,  which  for  several  years  competed 
successfully  with  the  Illustrated  London  News.  It 
was  issued  at  threepence  per  'copy,  and  an  old 
memorandum  of  the  printers  now  lying  before  me 


6  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

shows  that  in  the  paper's  earlier  years  the  average 
printings  were  130,000  copies  weekly — a  notable 
figure  for  that  period,  and  one  which  was  consider- 
ably exceeded  when  any  really  important  event 
occurred.  My  father  was  the  chief  editor  and 
manager,  his  leading  coadjutor  being  Frederick 
Greenwood,  who  afterwards  founded  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette.  I  do  not  think  that  Greenwood's  connec- 
tion with  the  Illustrated  Times  and  with  my  father's 
other  journal,  the  Welcome  Guest,  is  mentioned  in 
any  of  the  accounts  of  his  career.  The  literary 
staff  included  four  of  the  Brothers  Mayhew — Henry, 
Jules,  Horace,  and  Augustus,  two  of  whom,  Jules 
and  Horace,  became  godfathers  to  my  father's  first 
children  by  his  second  wife.  Then  there  were  also 
William  and  Robert  Brough,  Edmund  Yates,  George 
Augustus  Sala,  Hain  Friswell,  W.  B.  Rands,  Tom 
Robertson,  Sutherland  Edwards,  James  Hannay, 
Edward  Draper,  and  Hale  White  (father  of  "  Mark 
Rutherford  "),  and  several  artists  and  engravers,  such 
as  Birket  Foster,  "Phiz."  Portch,  Andrews,  Duncan, 
Skelton,  Bennett,  McConnell,  Linton,  Loudon,  and 
Horace  Harrall.  I  saw  all  those  men  in  my  early 
years,  for  my  father  was  very  hospitably  inclined, 
and  they  were  often  guests  at  Chalf ont  Lodge. 

After  my  mother's  death,  my  grandmother,  nee 
Vaughan,  took  charge  of  the  establishment,  and  I 
soon  became  the  terror  of  the  house,  developing  a 
most  violent  temper  and  acquiring  the  vocabulary 
of  the  roughest  market  porter.  My  wilfulness  was 
probably  innate  (nearly  all  the  Vizetellys  having 
had  impulsive  wills  of  their  own),  and  my  flowery 
language  was  picked  up  by  perversely  loitering  to 
listen  whenever  there  happened  to  be  a  street  row 
in  Church  Lane,  which  I  had  to  cross  on  my  way 


SOME  EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  7 

to  or  from  Kensington  Gardens,  my  daily  place  of 
resort.  At  an  early  age  I  started  bullying  my 
younger  brother,  I  defied  my  grandmother,  insulted 
the  family  doctor  because  he  was  too  fond  of  pre- 
scribing grey  powders  for  my  particular  benefit, 
and  behaved  abominably  to  the  excellent  Miss 
Lindup  of  Sheffield  Terrace,  who  endeavoured  to 
instruct  me  in  the  rudiments  of  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic.  I  frequently  astonished  or  appalled  the 
literary  men  and  artists  who  were  my  father's 
guests.  I  hated  being  continually  asked  what  I 
should  like  to  be  when  I  grew  up,  and  the  slightest 
chaff  threw  me  into  a  perfect  paroxysm  of  passion. 
Whilst,  however,  I  was  resentful  of  the  authority  of 
others,  I  was  greatly  inclined  to  exercise  authority 
myself — to  such  a  degree,  indeed,  that  my  father's 
servants  generally  spoke  of  me  as  "  the  young 
master,"  regardless  of  the  existence  of  my  elder 
brothers. 

Having  already  a  retentive  memory,  I  was  set 
to  learn  sundry  "  recitations,"  and  every  now  and 
then  was  called  upon  to  emerge  from  behind  the 
dining-room  curtains  and  repeat  "  My  Name  is 
Norval  "  or  "  The  Spanish  Armada,"  for  the  delecta- 
tion of  my  father's  friends  whilst  they  lingered  over 
their  wine.  Disaster  generally  ensued,  provoked 
either  by  some  genial  chaff  or  well-meant  criticism 
from  such  men  as  Sala  and  Augustus  Mayhew,  and 
I  was  ultimately  carried  off — whilst  venting  in- 
coherent protests — to  be  soundly  castigated  and 
put  to  bed. 

Among  the  real  celebrities  who  occasionally 
called  at  Chalfont  Lodge  was  Thackeray,  whom  I 
can  still  picture  sitting  on  one  side  of  the  fireplace, 
whilst  my  father  sat  on  the  other,  I  being  installed 


8  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

on  the  hearthrug  between  them.  Provided  that  I 
was  left  to  myself,  I  could  behave  decently  enough, 
discreetly  preserving  silence,  and,  indeed,  listening 
intently  to  the  conversation  of  my  father's  friends, 
and  thereby  picking  up  a  very  odd  mixture  of  know- 
ledge. I  was,  I  believe,  a  pale  little  chap  with 
lank  fair  hair  and  a  wistful  face,  and  no  casual 
observer  would  have  imagined  that  my  nature  was 
largely  compounded  of  such  elements  as  enter  into 
the  composition  of  Italian  brigands,  Scandinavian 
pirates,  and  wild  Welshmen.  Thackeray,  at  all 
events,  did  not  appear  to  think  badly  of  the  little 
boy  who  sat  so  quietly  at  his  feet.  One  day,  indeed, 
when  he  came  upon  me  and  my  younger  brother 
Arthur,  with  our  devoted  attendant  Selina  Horrocks, 
in  Kensington  Gardens,  he  put  into  practice  his 
own  dictum  that  one  could  never  see  a  schoolboy 
without  feeling  an  impulse  to  dip  one's  hand  in 
one's  pocket.  Accordingly  he  presented  me  with 
the  first  half-crown  I  ever  possessed,  for  though  my 
father's  gifts  were  frequent  they  were  small.  It  was 
understood,  I  believe,  that  I  was  to  share  the  afore- 
said half-crown  with  my  brother  Arthur,  but  in 
spite  of  the  many  remonstrances  of  the  faithful 
Selina — a  worthy  West-country  woman,  who  had 
largely  taken  my  mother's  place — I  appropriated 
the  gift  in  its  entirety,  and  became  extremely  ill 
by  reason  of  my  many  indiscreet  purchases  at  a 
tuck-stall  which  stood,  if  I  remember  rightly,  at  a 
corner  of  the  then  renowned  Kensington  Flower 
Walk.  This  incident  must  have  occurred  late  in 
Thackeray's  life.  My  childish  recollection  of  him 
is  that  of  a  very  big  gentleman  with  beaming  eyes. 
My  grandmother's  reign  in  my  father's  house 
was  not  of  great  duration,  as  in  February,  1861,  he 


SOME   EARLY   RECOLLECTIONS  9 

contracted  a  second  marriage,  taking  on  this  occa- 
sion as  his  wife  a  "  fair  maid  of  Kent,"  *  to  whose 
entry  into  our  home  I  was  at  first  violently  opposed, 
but  who  promptly  won  me  over  by  her  unremitting 
affection  and  kindness,  eventually  becoming  the 
best  and  truest  friend  of  my  youth  and  early  man- 
hood. My  circumstances  changed,  however,  soon 
after  that  marriage,  for  as  I  was  now  nearly  eight 
years  old  it  was  deemed  appropriate  that  I  should 
be  sent  to  a  boarding-school,  both  by  way  of  im- 
proving my  mind  and  of  having  some  nonsense 
knocked  out  of  me,  which,  indeed,  was  promptly 
accomplished  by  the  pugnacious  kindness  of  my 
schoolfellows.  Among  the  latter  was  one,  my 
senior  by  a  few  years,  who  became  a  very  distinguished 
journalist.  I  refer  to  the  late  Horace  Voules,  so 
long  associated  with  Labouchere's  journal,  Truth. 
My  brother  Edward  was  also  at  the  same  school, 
and  my  brother  Arthur  came  there  a  little  later. 

It  was  situated  at  Eastbourne,  and  a  good  deal 
has  been  written  about  it  in  recent  works  on  the 
history  of  that  well-known  watering-place,  which, 
when  I  was  first  sent  there,  counted  less  than  6000 
inhabitants.  Located  in  the  old  town  or  village, 
at  a  distance  of  a  mile  or  more  from  the  sea,  the 
school  occupied  a  building  called  "  The  Gables," 
and  was  an  offshoot  of  a  former  ancient  school 
connected  with  the  famous  parish  church.  In  my 
time  this  "  academy  "  was  carried  on  as  a  private 
venture  by  a  certain  James  Anthony  Bown,  a  portly 
old  gentleman  of  considerable  attainments. 

I  was  unusually  precocious  in  some  respects,  and 

*  Elizabeth  Anne  Ansell,  of  Broadstairs ;  mother  of  my  step-brother, 
Dr.  Frank  H.  Vizetelly,  editor  of  the  "Standard  Dictionary,"  New 
York. 


10  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

though  I  frequently  got  into  scrapes  by  playing 
impish  tricks — as,  for  instance,  when  I  combined 
with  others  to  secure  an  obnoxious  French  master 
to  his  chair  by  means  of  some  cobbler's  wax,  thereby 
ruining  a  beautiful  pair  of  peg-top  trousers  which 
he  had  just  purchased — I  did  not  neglect  my  lessons, 
but  secured  a  number  of  "  prizes  "  with  considerable 
facility.  When  I  was  barely  twelve  years  old,  not 
one  of  my  schoolfellows — and  some  were  sixteen 
and  seventeen  years  old — could  compete  with  me 
in  Latin,  in  which  language  Bown  ended  by  taking 
me  separately.  I  also  won  three  or  four  prizes 
for  "  excelling "  my  successive  classes  in  English 
grammar  as  prescribed  by  the  celebrated  Lindley 
Murray. 

In  spite  of  my  misdeeds  (some  of  which,  fortu- 
nately, were  never  brought  home  to  me),  I  became, 
I  think,  somewhat  of  a  favourite  with  the  worthy 
James  Anthony,  for  he  lent  me  interesting  books 
to  read,  occasionally  had  me  to  supper  in  his  own 
quarters,  and  was  now  and  then  good  enough  to 
overlook  the  swollen  state  of  my  nose  or  the  black- 
ness of  one  of  my  eyes  when  I  had  been  having  a 
bout  with  a  schoolfellow  or  a  young  clodhopper  of 
the  village.  We  usually  fought  with  the  village  lads 
in  Love  Lane  on  Sunday  evenings,  after  getting 
over  the  playground  wall.  I  received  firstly  the 
nickname  of  Moses,  through  falling  among  some 
rushes  whilst  fielding  a  ball  at  cricket ;  and  secondly, 
that  of  Noses,  because  my  nasal  organ,  like  that  of 
Cyrano  de  Bergerac,  suddenly  grew  to  huge  pro- 
portions, in  such  wise  that  it  embodied  sufficient 
material  for  two  noses  of  ordinary  dimensions. 
Its  size  was  largely  responsible  for  my  defeats  when 
fighting,  for  I  found  it  difficult  to  keep  guard  over 


SOME  EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS          11 

such  a  prominent  organ  and  prevent  my  claret  from 
being  tapped. 

Having  generations  of  printers'  ink  mingled  with 
my  blood,  I  could  not  escape  the  unkind  fate  which 
made  me  a  writer  of  articles  and  books.  In  con- 
junction with  a  chum  named  Clement  Ireland  I 
ran  a  manuscript  school  journal,  which  included 
stories  of  pirates  and  highwaymen,  illustrated  with 
lurid  designs  in  which  red  ink  was  plentifully  em- 
ployed in  order  to  picture  the  gore  which  flowed 
so  freely  through  the  various  tales.  My  grandmother 
Vaughan  was  an  inveterate  reader  of  the  London 
Journal  and  the  Family  Herald,  and  whenever  I 
went  home  for  my  holidays  I  used  to  pounce  upon 
those  journals  and  devour  some  of  the  stories  of 
the  author  of  "  Minnegrey,"  as  well  as  Miss  Braddon's 
"  Aurora  Floyd  "  and  "  Henry  Dunbar."  The  pe- 
rusal of  books  by  Ainsworth,  Scott,  Lever,  Marryat, 
James  Grant,  G.  P.  R.  James,  Dumas,  and  Whyte 
Melville  gave  me  additional  material  for  story- 
telling ;  and  so,  concocting  wonderful  blends  of  all 
sorts  of  fiction,  I  spun  many  a  yarn  to  my  school- 
fellows in  the  dormitory  in  which  I  slept — yarns 
which  were  sometimes  supplied  in  instalments,  being 
kept  up  for  a  week  or  longer. 

My  summer  holidays  were  usually  spent  in  the 
country,  but  at  other  times  I  went  to  London,  and 
was  treated  to  interesting  sights.  At  Kensington, 
in  my  earlier  years,  I  often  saw  Queen  Victoria  and 
the  Prince  Consort  with  their  children,  notably  the 
Princess  Royal  (Empress  Frederick)  and  the  Prince 
of  Wales  (Edward  VII).  When  the  last-named 
married  the  "  Sea-King's  daughter  from  over  the 
sea  " — since  then  our  admired  and  gracious  Queen 
Alexandra — and  they  drove  together  through  the 


12  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

crowded  streets  of  London  on  their  way  to  Windsor, 
I  came  specially  from  Eastbourne  to  witness  that 
triumphal  progress,  and  even  now  I  can  picture  the 
young  prince  with  his  round  chubby  face  and  little 
side-whiskers,  and  the  vision  of  almost  tearfully- 
smiling  beauty,  in  blue  and  white,  which  swept 
past  my  eager  boyish  eyes. 

During  the  Easter  holidays  of  1864  Garibaldi 
came  to  England.  My  uncle,  Frank  Vizetelly,  was 
the  chief  war-artist  of  that  period,  the  predecessor, 
in  fact,  of  the  late  Melton  Prior.  He  knew  Garibaldi 
well,  having  first  met  him  during  the  war  of  1859, 
and  having  subsequently  accompanied  him  during 
his  campaign  through  Sicily  and  then  on  to  Naples — 
afterwards,  moreover,  staying  with  him  at  Caprera. 
And  so  my  uncle  carried  me  and  his  son,  my  cousin 
Albert,  to  Stafford  House  (where  he  had  the  entree), 
and  the  grave-looking  Liberator  patted  us  on  the 
head,  called  us  his  children,  and  at  Frank  Vizetelly's 
request  gave  us  photographs  of  himself.  I  then 
little  imagined  that  I  should  next  see  him  in  France, 
at  the  close  of  the  war  with  Germany,  during  a  part 
of  which  my  brother  Edward  acted  as  one  of  his 
orderly  officers. 

My  father,  being  at  the  head  of  a  prominent 
London  newspaper,  often  received  tickets  for  one 
and  another  theatre.  Thus,  during  my  winter 
holidays,  I  saw  many  of  the  old  pantomimes  at 
Drury  Lane  and  elsewhere.  I  also  well  remember 
Sothern's  "Lord  Dundreary,"  and  a  play  called 
'  The  Duke's  Motto,"  which  was  based  on  Paul 
Feval's  novel,  "  Le  Bossu."  I  frequently  witnessed 
the  entertainments  given  by  the  German  Reeds, 
Corney  Grain,  and  Woodin,  the  clever  quick-change 
artist.  I  likewise  remember  Leotard  the  acrobat 


SOME  EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS          13 

at  the  Alhambra,  and  sundry  performances  at  the 
old  Pantheon,  where  I  heard  such  popular  songs  as 
"The  Captain  with  the  Whiskers"  and  "The 
Charming  Young  Widow  I  met  in  the  Train." 
Nigger  ditties  were  often  the  "  rage "  during  my 
boyhood,  and  some  of  them,  like  "  Dixie-land  "  and 
"  So  Early  in  the  Morning,"  still  linger  in  my  memory. 
Then,  too,  there  were  such  songs  as  "  Billy  Taylor," 
"  I'm  Afloat,"  "  I'll  hang  my  Harp  on  a  WiUow  Tree," 
and  an  inane  composition  which  contained  the 
lines — 

"  When  a  lady  elopes 
Down  a  ladder  of  ropes, 
She  may  go,  she  may  go, 
She  may  go  to — Hongkong — for  me ! " 

In  those  schoolboy  days  of  mine,  however,  the 
song  of  songs,  to  my  thinking,  was  one  which  we 
invariably  sang  on  breaking  up  for  the  holidays. 
Whether  it  was  peculiar  to  Eastbourne  or  had  been 
derived  from  some  other  school  I  cannot  say.  I  only 
know  that  the  last  verse  ran,  approximately,  as 
follows : 

"  Magistrorum  is  a  borum, 

Hic-haec-hoc  has  made  his  bow. 
Let  us  cry ;  '  0  cockalorum ! ' 

That's  the  Latin  for  us  now. 
Alpha,  beta,  gamma,  delta, 

Off  to  Greece,  for  we  are  free ! 
Helter,  skelter,  melter,  pelter, 

We're  the  lads  for  mirth  and  spree ! " 

For  "  cockalorum,"  be  it  noted,  we  frequently 
substituted  the  name  of  some  particularly  obnoxious 
master. 

To  return  to  the  interesting  sights  of  my  boyhood, 
I  have  some  recollection  of  the  Exhibition  of  1862, 
but  can  recall  more  vividly  a  visit  to  the  Crystal 
Palace  towards  the  end  of  the  following  year,  when 


14  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

I  there  saw  the  strange  house-like  car  of  the  "  Giant  " 
balloon  in  which  Nadar,  the  photographer  and 
aeronaut,  had  lately  made,  with  his  wife  and  others, 
a  memorable  and  disastrous  aerial  voyage.  Readers 
of  Jules  Verne  will  remember  that  Nadar  figures 
conspicuously  in  his  "  Journey  to  the  Moon." 
Quite  a  party  of  us  went  to  the  Palace  to  see  the 
"  Giant's  "  car,  and  Nadar,  standing  over  six  feet 
high,  with  a  great  tangled  mane  of  frizzy  flaxen 
hair,  a  ruddy  moustache,  and  a  red  shirt  d  la  Gari- 
baldi, took  us  inside  it  and  showed  us  all  the  accom- 
modation it  contained  for  eating,  sleeping  and 
photographic  purposes.  I  could  not  follow  what 
he  said,  for  I  then  knew  only  a  few  French  words, 
and  I  certainly  had  no  idea  that  I  should  one  day 
ascend  into  the  air  with  him  in  a  car  of  a  very 
different  type,  that  of  the  captive  balloon  which, 
for  purposes  of  military  observation,  he  installed 
on  the  Place  Saint  Pierre  at  Montmartre,  during  the 
German  siege  of  Paris. 

A  time  came  when  my  father  disposed  of  his 
interest  in  the  Illustrated  Times  and  repaired  to 
Paris  to  take  up  the  position  of  Continental  repre- 
sentative of  the  Illustrated  London  News.  My 
brother  Edward,  at  that  time  a  student  at  the 
fecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  then  became  his  assistant, 
and  a  little  later  I  was  taken  across  the  Channel  with 
my  brother  Arthur  to  join  the  rest  of  the  family. 
We  lived,  first,  at  Auteuil,  and  then  at  Passy,  where 
I  was  placed  in  a  day-school  called  the  Institution 
Nouissel,  where  lads  were  prepared  for  admission 
to  the  State  or  municipal  colleges.  There  had  been 
some  attempt  to  teach  me  French  at  Eastbourne, 
but  it  had  met  with  little  success,  partly,  I  think, 
because  I  was  prejudiced  against  the  French  generally, 


SOME   EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS          15 

regarding  them  as  a  mere  race  of  frog-eaters  whom 
we  had  deservedly  whacked  at  Waterloo.  Eventu- 
ally my  prejudices  were  in  a  measure  overcome  by 
what  I  heard  from  our  drill-master,  a  retired  non- 
commissioned officer,  who  had  served  in  the  Crimea, 
and  who  told  us  some  rousing  anecdotes  about  the 
gallantry  of  "  our  allies  "  at  the  Alma  and  elsewhere. 
In  the  result,  the  old  sergeant's  converse  gave  me 
"  furiously  to  think  "  that  there  might  be  some  good 
in  the  French  after  all. 

At  Nouissel's  I  acquired  some  knowledge  of  the 
language  rapidly  enough,  and  I  was  afterwards 
placed  in  the  charge  of  a  tutor,  a  clever  scamp  named 
Brossard,  who  prepared  me  for  the  Lycee  Bonaparte 
(now  Condorcet),  where  I  eventually  became  a  pupil, 
Brossard  still  continuing  to  coach  me  with  a  view  to 
my  passing  various  examinations,  and  ultimately 
securing  the  usual  baccalaureat,  without  which 
nobody  could  then  be  anything  at  all  in  France.  In 
the  same  way  he  coached  Evelyn  Jerrold,  son  of 
Blanchard  and  grandson  of  Douglas  Jerrold,  both  of 
whom  were  on  terms  of  close  friendship  with  the 
Vizetellys.  But  while  Brossard  was  a  clever  man, 
he  was  also  an  unprincipled  one,  and  although  I  was 
afterwards  indebted  to  him  for  an  introduction  to 
old  General  Changarnier,  to  whom  he  was  related, 
it  would  doubtless  have  been  all  the  better  if  he  had 
not  introduced  me  to  some  other  people  with  whom 
he  was  connected.  He  lived  for  a  while  with  a  woman 
who  was  not  his  wife,  and  deserted  her  for  a  girl  of 
eighteen,  whom  he  also  abandoned,  in  order  to 
devote  himself  to  a  creature  in  fleshings  who  rode  a 
bare-backed  steed  at  the  Cirque  de  Flmperatrice. 
When  I  was  first  introduced  to  her  "  behind  the 
scenes,"  she  was  bestriding  a  chair,  and  smoking  a 


16  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

pink  cigarette,  and  she  addressed  me  as  mon  petit. 
Briefly,  the  moral  atmosphere  of  Brossard's  life 
was  not  such  as  befitted  him  to  be  a  mentor 
of  youth. 

Let  me  now  go  back  a  little.  At  the  time  of  the 
great  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867  I  was  in  my  fourteenth 
year.  The  city  was  then  crowded  with  royalties, 
many  of  whom  I  saw  on  one  or  another  occasion. 
I  was  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  with  my  father  when, 
after  a  great  review,  a  shot  was  fired  at  the  carriage 
in  which  Napoleon  III  and  his  guest,  Alexander  II 
of  Russia,  were  seated  side  by  side.  I  saw  equerry 
Raimbeaux  gallop  forward  to  screen  the  two 
monarchs,  and  I  saw  the  culprit  seized  by  a  sergeant 
of  our  Royal  Engineers,  attached  to  the  British 
section  of  the  Exhibition.  Both  sovereigns  stood  up 
in  the  carriage  to  show  that  they  were  uninjured, 
and  it  was  afterwards  reported  that  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  said  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  :  "If  that 
shot  was  fired  by  an  Italian  it  was  meant  for  me ; 
if  by  a  Pole,  it  was  meant  for  your  Majesty." 
Whether  those  words  were  really  spoken,  or  were 
afterwards  invented,  as  such  things  often  are,  by 
some  clever  journalist,  I  cannot  say ;  but  the  man 
proved  to  be  a  Pole  named  Berezowski,  who  was 
subsequently  sentenced  to  transportation  for  life. 

It  was  in  connection  with  this  attempt  on  the 
Czar  that  I  did  my  first  little  bit  of  journalistic  work. 
By  my  father's  directions,  I  took  a  few  notes  and  made 
a  hasty  little  sketch  of  the  surroundings.  This  and 
my  explanations  enabled  M.  Jules  Pelcoq,  an  artist 
of  Belgian  birth,  whom  my  father  largely  employed 
on  behalf  of  the  Illustrated  London  News,  to  make 
a  drawing  which  appeared  on  the  first  page  of  that 
journal's  next  issue.  I  do  not  think  that  any  other 


SOME   EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS          17 

paper  in  the  world  was  able  to  supply  a  pictorial 
representation  of  Berezowski's  attempt. 

I  have  said  enough,  I  think,  to  show  that  I  was 
a  precocious  lad,  perhaps,  indeed,  a  great  deal  too 
precocious.  However,  I  worked  very  hard  in  those 
days.  My  hours  at  Bonaparte  were  from  ten  to 
twelve  and  from  two  to  four.  I  had  also  to  prepare 
home-lessons  for  the  Lycee,  take  special  lessons  from 
Brossard,  and  again  lessons  in  German  from  a 
tutor  named  With.  Then,  too,  my  brother  Edward 
ceasing  to  act  as  my  father's  assistant  in  order  to 
devote  himself  to  journalism  on  his  own  account,  I 
had  to  take  over  a  part  of  his  duties.  One  of  my 
cousins,  Montague  Vizetelly  (son  of  my  uncle  James, 
who  was  the  head  of  our  family),  came  from  England, 
however,  to  assist  my  father  in  the  more  serious 
work,  such  as  I,  by  reason  of  my  youth,  could  not 
yet  perform.  My  spare  time  was  spent  largely  in 
taking  instructions  to  artists  or  fetching  drawings 
from  them.  At  one  moment  I  might  be  at  Mont- 
martre,  and  at  another  in  the  Quartier  Latin,  calling 
on  Pelcoq,  Anastasi,  Janet  Lange,  Gustave  Janet, 
Pauquet,  Thorigny,  Gaildrau,  Deroy,  Bocourt,  Dar- 
jou,  Lix,  Moulin,  Fichot,  Blanchard,  or  other  artists 
who  worked  for  the  Illustrated  London  News. 
Occasionally  a  sketch  was  posted  to  England,  but 
more  frequently  I  had  to  despatch  some  drawing 
on  wood  by  rail.  Though  I  have  never  been  any- 
thing but  an  amateurish  draughtsman  myself,  I 
certainly  developed  a  critical  faculty,  and  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  different  artistic  methods,  during  my 
intercourse  with  so  many  of  the  dessinateurs  of  the 
last  years  of  the  Second  Empire. 

By-and-by  more  serious  duties  were  allotted  to 
me.  The  "  Paris  Fashions  "  design  then  appearing 

c 


18  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

every  month  in  the  Illustrated  London  News  was 
for  a  time  prepared  according  to  certain  dresses  which 
Worth  and  other  famous  costumiers  made  for  em- 
presses, queens,  princesses,  great  ladies,  and  theatrical 
celebrities ;  and,  accompanying  Pelcoq  or  Janet 
when  they  went  to  sketch  those  gowns  (nowadays 
one  would  simply  obtain  photographs),  I  took  down 
from  la  premiere,  or  sometimes  from  Worth  himself, 
full  particulars  respecting  materials  and  styles,  in 
order  that  the  descriptive  letterpress,  which  was  to 
accompany  the  illustration,  might  be  correct. 

In  this  wise  I  served  my  apprenticeship  to 
journalism.  My  father  naturally  revised  my  work. 
The  first  article,  all  my  own,  which  appeared  in 
print  was  one  on  that  notorious  theatrical  institution, 
the  Claque.  I  sent  it  to  Once  a  Week,  which 
E.  S.  Dallas  then  edited,  and  knowing  that  he  was 
well  acquainted  with  my  father,  and  feeling  very 
diffident  respecting  the  merits  of  what  I  had  written, 
I  assumed  a  nom  de  plume  ("  Charles  Ludhurst ") 
for  the  occasion.  Needless  to  say  that  I  was 
delighted  when  I  saw  the  article  in  print,  and  yet 
more  so  when  I  received  for  it  a  couple  of  guineas, 
which  I  speedily  expended  on  gloves,  neckties,  and 
a  walking-stick.  Here  let  me  say  that  we  were 
rather  swagger  young  fellows  at  Bonaparte.  We 
did  not  have  to  wear  hideous  ill-fitting  uniforms 
like  other  Lyceens,  but  endeavoured  to  present  a 
very  smart  appearance.  Thus  we  made  it  a  practice 
to  wear  gloves  and  to  carry  walking-sticks  or  canes 
on  our  way  to  or  from  the  Lycee.  I  even  improved 
on  that  by  buying  "  button-holes  "  at  the  flower- 
market  beside  the  Madeleine,  and  this  idea  "  catching 
on,"  as  the  phrase  goes,  quite  a  commotion  occurred 
one  morning  when  virtually  half  my  classmates 


19 

were  found  wearing  flowers — for  it  happened  to  be 
La  Saint  Henri,  the  fete-day  of  the  Count  de  Cham- 
bord,  and  both  our  Proviseur  and  our  professor 
imagined  that  this  was,  on  our  part,  a  seditious 
Legitimist  demonstration.  There  were,  however, 
very  few  Legitimists  among  us,  though  Orleanists^and 
Republicans  were  numerous. 

I  have  mentioned  that  my  first  article  was  on 
the  Claque,  that  organisation  established  to  encourage 
applause  in  theatres,  it  being  held  that  the  Parisian 
spectator  required  to  be  roused  by  some  such  method. 
Brossard  having  introduced  me  to  the  sous-chef  of 
the  Claque  at  the  Opera  Comique,  I  often  obtained 
admission  to  that  house  as  a  claqueur.  I  even  went 
to  a  few  other  theatres  in  the  same  capacity.  Further, 
Brossard  knew  sundry  authors  and  journalists,  and 
took  me  to  the  Cafe  de  Suede  and  the  Cafe  de 
Madrid,  where  I  saw  and  heard  some  of  the 
celebrities  of  the  day.  I  can  still  picture  the  great 
Dumas,  loud  of  voice  and  exuberant  in  gesture 
whilst  holding  forth  to  a  band  of  young  "  spongers," 
on  whom  he  was  spending  his  last  napoleons.  I  can 
also  see  Gambetta — young,  slim,  black-haired  and 
bearded,  with  a  full  sensual  underlip — seated  at  the 
same  table  as  Delescluze,  whose  hair  and  beard, 
once  red,  had  become  a  dingy  white,  whose  figure 
was  emaciated  and  angular,  and  whose  yellowish, 
wrinkled  face  seemed  to  betoken  that  he  was  possessed 
by  some  fixed  idea.  What  that  idea  was,  the 
Commune  subsequently  showed.  Again,  I  can  see 
Henri  Eochef  ort  and  Gustave  Flourens  together : 
the  former  straight  and  sinewy,  with  a  great  tuft  of 
very  dark  curly  hair,  flashing  eyes  and  high  and 
prominent  cheekbones ;  while  the  latter,  tall  and 
bald,  with  long  moustaches  and  a  flowing  beard, 


20  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

gazed  at  you  in  an  eager  imperious  way,  as  if  he  were 
about  to  issue  some  command. 

Other  men  who  helped  to  overthrow  the  Empire 
also  became  known  to  me.  My  father,  whilst 
engaged  in  some  costly  litigation  respecting  a  large 
castellated  house  which  he  had  leased  at  Le  Vesinet, 
secured  Jules  Favre  as  his  advocate,  and  on  various 
occasions  I  went  with  him  to  Favre's  residence. 
Here  let  me  say  that  my  father,  in  spite  of  all  his 
interest  in  French  literature,  did  not  know  the 
language.  He  could  scarcely  express  himself  in  it, 
and  thus  he  always  made  it  a  practice  to  have  one  of 
his  sons  with  him,  we  having  inherited  our  mother's 
linguistic  gifts.  Favre's  command  of  language  was 
great,  but  his  eloquence  was  by  no  means  rousing, 
and  I  well  remember  that  when  he  pleaded  for  my 
father,  the  three  judges  of  the  Appeal  Court  composed 
themselves  to  sleep,  and  did  not  awaken  until  the 
counsel  opposed  to  us  started  banging  his  fist  and 
shouting  in  thunderous  tones.  Naturally  enough, 
as  the  judges  never  heard  our  side  of  the  case,  but 
only  our  adversary's,  they  decided  against  us. 

Some  retrenchment  then  became  necessary  on 
my  father's  part,  and  he  sent  my  step-mother,  her 
children  and  my  brother  Arthur,  to  Saint  Servan  in 
Brittany,  where  he  rented  a  house  which  was  called 
"  La  petite  Amelia,"  after  George  Ill's  daughter  of 
that  name,  who,  during  some  interval  of  peace 
between  France  and  Great  Britain,  went  to  stay 
at  Saint  Servan  for  the  benefit  of  her  health.  The 
majority  of  our  family  having  repaired  there  and  my 
cousin  Monty  returning  to  England  some  time  in 
1869,  I  remained  alone  with  my  father  in  Paris. 
We  resided  in  what  I  may  call  a  bachelor's  flat  at 
No.  16,  Rue  de  Miromesnil,  near  the  Elysee  Palace. 


SOME  EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS         21 

The  principal  part  of  the  house  was  occupied  by  the 
Count  and  Countess  de  Chateaubriand  and  their 
daughters.  The  Countess  was  good  enough  to  take 
some  notice  of  me,  and  subsequently,  when  she 
departed  for  Combourg  at  the  approach  of  the  German 
siege,  she  gave  me  full  permission  to  make  use,  if 
necessary,  of  the  coals  and  wood  left  in  the  Chateau- 
briand cellars. 

In  1869,  the  date  I  have  now  reached,  I  was  in 
my  sixteenth  year,  still  studying,  and  at  the  same 
time  giving  more  and  more  assistance  to  my  father 
in  connection  with  his  journalistic  work.  He  has 
included  in  his  "  Glances  Back  "  some  account  of 
the  facilities  which  enabled  him  to  secure  adequate 
pictorial  delineation  of  the  Court  life  of  the  Empire. 
He  has  told  the  story  of  Moulin,  the  police-agent, 
who  frequently  watched  over  the  Emperor's  personal 
safety,  and  who  also  supplied  sketches  of  Court 
functions  for  the  use  of  the  Illustrated  London  News. 
Napoleon  III  resembled  his  great-uncle  in  at  least 
one  respect.  He  fully  understood  the  art  of  advertise- 
ment ;  and,  in  his  desire  to  be  thought  well  of  in 
England,  he  was  always  ready  to  favour  English 
journalists.  Whilst  a  certain  part  of  the  London 
Press  preserved  throughout  the  reign  a  very  critical 
attitude  towards  the  Imperial  policy,  it  is  certain 
that  some  of  the  Paris  correspondents  were  in  close 
touch  with  the  Emperor's  Government,  and  that 
some  of  them  were  actually  subsidized  by  it. 

The  best-informed  man  with  respect  to  Court 
and  social  events  was  undoubtedly  Mr.  Felix  White- 
hurst  of  The  Daily  Telegraph,  whom  I  well  remember. 
He  had  the  entree  at  the  Tuileries  and  elsewhere, 
and  there  were  occasions  when  very  important  infor- 
mation was  imparted  to  him  with  a  view  to  its  early 


22  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

publication  in  London.  For  the  most  part,  however, 
Whitehurst  confined  himself  to  chronicling  events 
or  incidents  occurring  at  Court  or  in  Bonapartist 
high  society.  Anxious  to  avoid  giving  offence,  he 
usually  glossed  over  any  scandal  that  occurred,  or 
dismissed  it  airily,  with  the  desinvolture  of  a  roue  of 
the  Regency.  Withal,  he  was  an  extremely  amiable 
man,  very  condescending  towards  me  when  we  met, 
as  sometimes  happened  at  the  Tuileries  itself. 

I  had  to  go  there  on  several  occasions  to  meet 
Moulin,  the  detective-artist,  by  appointment,  and  a 
few  years  ago  this  helped  me  to  write  a  book  which 
has  been  more  than  once  reprinted.*  I  utilized  in 
it  many  notes  made  by  me  in  1869-70,  notably  with 
respect  to  the  Emperor  and  Empress's  private 
apartments,  the  kitchens,  and  the  arrangements 
made  for  balls  and  banquets.  I  am  not  aware  at 
what  age  a  young  fellow  is  usually  provided  with 
his  first  dress-suit,  but  I  know  that  mine  was  made 
about  the  time  I  speak  of.  I  was  then,  I  suppose, 
about  five  feet  five  inches  in  height,  and  my  face  led 
people  to  suppose  that  I  was  eighteen  or  nineteen 
years  of  age. 

In  the  autumn  of  1869,  I  fell  rather  ill  from 
over-study — I  had  already  begun  to  read  up  Roman 
law — and,  on  securing  a  holiday,  I  accompanied 
my  father  to  Compiegne,  where  the  Imperial  Court 
was  then  staying.  We  were  not  among  the  invited 
guests,  but  it  had  been  arranged  that  every  facility 

*  The  work  in  question  was  entitled  "  The  Court  of  the  Tuileries, 
1852-1870,"  by  "  Le  Petit  Homme  Rouge  " — a  pseudonym  which  I  have 
since  used  when  producing  other  books.  "  The  Court  of  the  Tuileries  " 
was  founded  in  part  on  previously  published  works,  on  a  quantity  of 
notes  and  memoranda  made  by  my  father,  other  relatives,  and  myself, 
and  on  some  of  the  private  papers  of  one  of  my  wife's  kinsmen,  General 
Mollard,  who  after  greatly  distinguishing  himself  at  the  Tchernaya  and 
Magenta,  became  for  a  time  an  aide-de-camp  to  Napoleon  III. 


SOME  EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS         23 

should  be  given  to  the  Illustrated  London  News  repre- 
sentatives in  order  that  the  Court  villegiatura  might 
be  fully  depicted  in  that  journal.  I  need  not 
recapitulate  my  experiences  on  this  occasion.  There 
is  an  account  of  our  visit  in  my  father's  "  Glances 
Back,"  and  I  inserted  many  additional  particulars 
in  my  "  Court  of  the  Tuileries."  I  may  mention, 
however,  that  it  was  at  Compiegne  that  I  first 
exchanged  a  few  words  with  Napoleon  III. 

One  day,  my  father  being  unwell  (the  weather 
was  intensely  cold),  I  proceeded  to  the  chateau  * 
accompanied  only  by  our  artist,  young  M.  Montbard, 
who  was  currently  known  as  "  Apollo "  in  the 
Quartier  Latin,  where  he  delighted  the  habitues  of 
the  Bal  Bullier  by  a  style  of  choregraphy  in  com- 
parison with  which  the  achievements  subsequently 
witnessed  at  the  notorious  Moulin  Rouge  would  have 
sunk  into  insignificance.  Montbard  had  to  make 
a  couple  of  drawings  on  the  day  I  have  mentioned, 
and  it  so  happened  that,  whilst  we  were  going  about 
with  M.  de  la  Ferriere,  the  chamberlain  on  duty, 
Napoleon  III  suddenly  appeared  before  us.  Directly 
I  was  presented  to  him  he  spoke  to  me  in  English, 
telling  me  that  he  often  saw  the  Illustrated  London 
News,  and  that  the  illustrations  of  French  life  and 
Paris  improvements  (in  which  he  took  so  keen  an 
interest)  were  very  ably  executed.  He  asked  me 
also  how  long  I  had  been  in  France,  and  where  I  had 
learnt  the  language.  Then,  remarking  that  it  was 
near  the  dejeuner  hour,  he  told  M.  de  la  Ferriere  to 
see  that  Montbard  and  myself  were  suitably  enter- 
tained. 

I  do  not  think  that  I  had  any  particular  political 

*  We  slept  at  the  Hotel  de  la  Cloche,  but  had  the  entree  to  the  chateau 
at  virtually  any  time. 


24  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

opinions  at  that  time.  Montbard,  however,  was 
a  Republican — in  fact,  a  future  Communard — and 
I  know  that  he  did  not  appreciate  his  virtually 
enforced  introduction  to  the  so-called  "  Badingiiet." 
Still,  he  contrived  to  be  fairly  polite,  and  allowed 
the  Emperor  to  inspect  the  sketch  he  was  making. 
There  was  to  be  a  theatrical  performance  at  the 
chateau  that  evening,  and  it  had  already  been 
arranged  that  Montbard  should  witness  it.  On 
hearing,  however,  that  it  had  been  impossible  to 
provide  my  father  and  myself  with  seats,  on  account 
of  the  great  demand  for  admission  on  the  part  of 
local  magnates  and  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  the 
Emperor  was  good  enough  to  say,  after  I  had  ex- 
plained that  my  father's  indisposition  would  prevent 
him  from  attending :  "  Voyons,  vous  pourrez  bien 
trouver  une  petite  place  pour  ce  jeune  homme.  II 
n'est  pas  si  grand,  et  je  suis  sur  que  cela  lui  fera 
plaisir."  M.  de  la  Ferriere  bowed,  and  thus  it  came  to 
pass  that  I  witnessed  the  performance  after  all,  being 
seated  on  a  stool  behind  some  extremely  beautiful 
women  whose  white  shoulders  repeatedly  distracted 
my  attention  from  the  stage.  In  regard  to  Montbard 
there  was  some  little  trouble,  as  M.  de  la  Ferriere 
did  not  like  the  appearance  of  his  "  revolutionary- 
looking  beard,"  the  sight  of  which,  said  he,  might 
greatly  alarm  the  Empress.  Montbard,  however, 
indignantly  refused  to  shave  it  off,  and  ten  months 
later  the  "  revolutionary  beards"  were  predominant, 
the  power  and  the  pomp  of  the  Empire  having 
been  swept  away  amidst  all  the  disasters  of  in- 
vasion. 


II 

THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR 

Napoleon's  Plans  for  a  War  with  Prussia — The  Garde  Mobile  and  the 
French  Army  generally — Its  Armament — The  "  White  Blouses  " 
and  the  Paris  Riots — The  Emperor  and  the  Elections  of  1869 — 
The  Troppmann  and  Pierre  Bonaparte  Affairs — Captain  the  Hon. 
Dennis  Bingham — The  Ollivier  Ministry — French  Campaigning  Plans 
— Frossard  and  Bazaine — The  Negotiations  with  Archduke  Albert 
and  Count  Vimercati — The  War  forced  on  by  Bismarck — I  shout 
"  A  Berlin  !  " — The  Imperial  Guard  and  General  Bourbaki — My 
Dream  of  seeing  a  War — My  uncle  Frank  Vizetelly  and  his  Campaigns 
— "The  Siege  of  Pekin  " — Organization  of  the  French  Forces — The 
Information  Service — I  witness  the  departure  of  Napoleon  III  and 
the  Imperial  Prince  from  Saint  Cloud. 

THERE  was  no  little  agitation  in  France  during  the 
years  1868  and  1869.  The  outcome  first  of  the 
Schleswig-Holstein  war,  and  secondly  of  the  war 
between  Prussia  and  Austria  in  1866,  had  alarmed 
many  French  politicians.  Napoleon  III  had  ex- 
pected some  territorial  compensation  in  return  for 
his  neutrality  at  those  periods,  and  it  is  certain  that 
Bismarck,  as  chief  Prussian  minister,  had  allowed 
him  to  suppose  that  he  would  be  able  to  indemnify 
himself  for  his  non-intervention  in  the  afore-men- 
tioned contests.  After  attaining  her  ends,  however, 
Prussia  turned  an  unwilling  ear  to  the  French 
Emperor's  suggestions,  and  from  that  moment  a 
Franco-German  war  became  inevitable.  Although, 
as  I  well  remember,  there  was  a  perfect  "  rage  "  for 

25 


26  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Bismarck  "  this  "  and  Bismarck  "  that  "  in  Paris — 
particularly  for  the  Bismarck  colour,  a  shade  of 
Havana  brown — the  Prussian  statesman,  who  had 
so  successfully  "  jockeyed "  the  Man  of  Destiny, 
was  undoubtedly  a  well  hated  and  dreaded  individual 
among  the  Parisians,  at  least  among  all  those  who 
thought  of  the  future  of  Europe.  Prussian  policy, 
however,  was  not  the  only  cause  of  anxiety  in  France, 
for  at  the  same  period  the  Republican  opposition  to 
the  Imperial  authority  was  steadily  gaining  strength 
in  the  great  cities,  and  the  political  concessions  by 
which  Napoleon  III  sought  to  disarm  it  only 
emboldened  it  to  make  fresh  demands. 

In  planning  a  war  on  Prussia,  the  Emperor  was 
influenced  both  by  national  and  by  dynastic  con- 
siderations. The  rise  of  Prussia — which  had  become 
head  of  the  North  German  Confederation — was 
without  doubt  a  menace  not  only  to  French  ascend- 
ency on  the  Continent,  but  also  to  France's  general 
interests.  On  the  other  hand,  the  prestige  of  the 
Empire  having  been  seriously  impaired,  in  France 
itself,  by  the  diplomatic  defeats  which  Bismarck 
had  inflicted  on  Napoleon,  it  seemed  that  only  a 
successful  war,  waged  on  the  Power  from  which 
France  had  received  those  successive  rebuffs,  could 
restore  the  aforesaid  prestige  and  ensure  the 
duration  of  the  Bonaparte  dynasty. 

Even  nowadays,  in  spite  of  innumerable  revela- 
tions, many  writers  continue  to  cast  all  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  Franco-German  War  on  Germany,  or, 
to  be  more  precise,  on  Prussia  as  represented  by 
Bismarck.  That,  however,  is  a  great  error.  A  trial 
of  strength  was  regarded  on  both  sides  as  inevitable, 
and  both  sides  contributed  to  bring  it  about. 
Bismarck's  share  in  the  conflict  was  to  precipitate 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  27 

hostilities,  selecting  for  them  what  he  judged  to  be 
an  opportune  moment  for  his  country,  and  thereby 
preventing  the  Emperor  Napoleon  from  maturing 
his  designs.  The  latter  did  not  intend  to  declare 
war  until  early  in  1871  ;  the  Prussian  statesman 
brought  it  about  in  July,  1870. 

The  Emperor  really  took  to  the  war-path  soon 
after  1866.  A  great  military  council  was  assembled, 
and  various  measures  were  devised  to  strengthen 
the  army.  The  principal  step  was  the  creation  of  a 
territorial  force  called  the  Garde  Mobile,  which  was 
expected  to  yield  more  than  half  a  million  men. 
Marshal  Niel,  who  was  then  Minister  of  War, 
attempted  to  carry  out  this  scheme,  but  was  hampered 
by  an  insufficiency  of  money.  Nowadays,  I  often 
think  of  Niel  and  the  Garde  Mobile  when  I  read  of 
Lord  Haldane,  Colonel  Seely,  and  our  own  "  terriers." 
It  seems  to  me,  at  times,  as  if  the  clock  had  gone 
back  more  than  forty  years. 

Niel  died  in  August,  1869,  leaving  his  task  in 
an  extremely  unfinished  state,  and  Marshal  Le 
Bceuf,  who  succeeded  him,  persevered  with  it  in  a 
very  faint-hearted  way.  The  regular  army,  however, 
was  kept  in  fair  condition,  though  it  was  never  so 
strong  as  it  appeared  to  be  on  paper.  There  was  a 
system  in  vogue  by  which  a  conscript  of  means 
could  avoid  service  by  supplying  a  remplaqant. 
Originally,  he  was  expected  to  provide  his  remplaqant 
himself  ;  but,  ultimately,  he  only  had  to  pay  a  sum 
of  money  to  the  military  authorities,  who  undertook 
to  find  a  man  to  take  his  place.  Unfortunately,  in 
thousands  of  instances,  over  a  term  of  some  years, 
the  remplaqants  were  never  provided  at  all.  I  do 
not  suggest  that  the  money  was  absolutely  mis- 
appropriated, but  it  was  diverted  to  other  military 


28  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

purposes,  and,  in  the  result,  there  was  always  a 
considerable  shortage  in  the  annual  contingent. 

The  creature  comforts  of  the  men  were  certainly 
well  looked  after.  My  particular  chum  at  Bonaparte 
was  the  son  of  a  general-officer,  and  I  visited  more 
than  one  barracks  or  encampment.  Without  doubt, 
there  was  always  an  abundance  of  good  sound  food. 
Further,  the  men  were  well-armed.  All  military 
authorities  are  agreed,  I  believe,  that  the  Chassepot 
rifle — invented  in  or  about  1866 — was  superior  to 
the  Dreyse  needle-gun,  which  was  in  use  in  the 
Prussian  army.  Then,  too,  there  was  Colonel  de 
Reftye's  machine-gun  or  mitrailleuse,  in  a  sense  the 
forerunner  of  the  Gatling  and  the  Maxim.  It  was 
first  devised,  I  think,  in  1863,  and,  according  to 
official  statements,  some  three  or  four  years  later 
there  were  more  than  a  score  of  mitrailleuse  batteries. 
With  regard  to  other  ordnance,  however,  that  of  the 
French  was  inferior  to  that  of  the  Germans,  as  was 
conclusively  proved  at  Sedan  and  elsewhere.  In 
many  respects  the  work  of  army  reform,  publicly 
advised  by  General  Trochu  in  a  famous  pamphlet, 
and  by  other  officers  in  reports  to  the  Emperor  and 
the  Ministry  of  War,  proceeded  at  a  very  slow  pace, 
being  impeded  by  a  variety  of  considerations.  The 
young  men  of  the  large  towns  did  not  take  kindly 
to  the  idea  of  serving  in  the  new  Garde  Mobile. 
Having  escaped  service  in  the  regular  army,  by 
drawing  exempting  "  numbers  "or  by  paying  for 
remplaqants,  they  regarded  it  as  very  unfair  that 
they  should  be  called  upon  to  serve  at  all,  and  there 
were  serious  riots  in  various  parts  of  France  at  the 
time  of  their  first  enrolment  in  1868.  Many  of  them 
failed  to  realize  the  necessities  of  the  case.  There 
was  no  great  wave  of  patriotism  sweeping  through 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  29 

the  country.  The  German  danger  was  not  yet 
generally  apparent.  Further,  many  upholders  of 
the  Imperial  authority  shook  their  heads  in  depreca- 
tion of  this  scheme  of  enrolling  and  arming  so  many 
young  men,  who  might  suddenly  blossom  into  revolu- 
tionaries and  turn  their  weapons  against  the  powers 
of  the  day. 

There  was  great  unrest  in  Paris  in  1868,  the  year 
of  Henri  Rochefort's  famous  journal  La  Lanterne. 
Issue  after  issue  of  that  bitterly-penned  effusion 
was  seized  and  confiscated,  and  more  than  once  did 
I  see  vigilant  detectives  snatch  copies  from  people 
in  the  streets.  In  June,  1869,  we  had  general 
elections,  accompanied  by  rioting  on  the  Boulevards. 
It  was  then  that  the  "  White  Blouse  "  legend  arose, 
it  being  alleged  that  many  of  the  rioters  were  agents 
provocateurs  in  the  pay  of  the  Prefecture  of  Police, 
and  wore  white  blouses  expressly  in  order  that  they 
might  be  known  to  the  sergents-de-ville  and  the 
Gardes  de  Paris  who  were  called  upon  to  quell  the 
disturbances.  At  first  thought,  it  might  seem 
ridiculous  that  any  Government  should  stir  up 
rioting  for  the  mere  sake  of  putting  it  down,  but  it 
was  generally  held  that  the  authorities  wished  some 
disturbances  to  occur  in  order,  first,  that  the  middle- 
classes  might  be  frightened  by  the  prospect  of  a 
violent  revolution,  and  thereby  induced  to  vote 
for  Government  candidates  at  the  elections ;  and, 
secondly,  that  some  of  the  many  real  Revolutionaries 
might  be  led  to  participate  in  the  rioting  in  such  wise 
as  to  supply  a  pretext  for  arresting  them. 

I  was  with  my  mentor  Brossard  and  my  brother 
Edward  one  night  in  June  when  a  "  Madeleine- 
Bastille  "  omnibus  was  overturned  on  the  Boulevard 
Montmartre  and  two  or  three  newspaper  kiosks  were 


30  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

added  to  it  by  way  of  forming  a  barricade,  the 
purpose  of  which  was  by  no  means  clear.  The  great 
crowd  of  promenaders  seemed  to  regard  the  affair  as 
capital  fun  until  the  police  suddenly  came  up, 
followed  by  some  mounted  men  of  the  Garde  de 
Paris,  whereupon  the  laughing  spectators  became 
terrified  and  suddenly  fled  for  their  lives.  With  my 
companions  I  gazed  on  the  scene  from  the  entresol 
of  the  Cafe  Mazarin.  It  was  the  first  affair  of  the 
kind  I  had  ever  witnessed,  and  for  that  reason 
impressed  itself  more  vividly  on  my  mind  than  several 
subsequent  and  more  serious  ones.  In  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye  all  the  little  tables  set  out  in  front  of  the 
cafes  were  deserted,  and  tragi-comical  was  the  sight 
of  the  many  women  with  golden  chignons  scurrying 
away  with  their  alarmed  companions,  and  tripping 
now  and  again  over  some  fallen  chair  whilst  the  pur- 
suing cavalry  clattered  noisily  along  the  foot-pave- 
ments. A  Londoner  might  form  some  idea  of  the 
scene  by  picturing  a  charge  from  Leicester  Square 
to  Piccadilly  Circus  at  the  hour  when  Coventry  Street 
is  most  thronged  with  undesirables  of  both  sexes. 

The  majority  of  the  White  Blouses  and  their 
friends  escaped  unhurt,  and  the  police  and  the 
guards  chiefly  expended  their  vigour  on  the  spectators 
of  the  original  disturbance.  Whether  this  had  been 
secretly  engineered  by  the  authorities  for  one  of  the 
purposes  I  previously  indicated,  must  always  remain 
a  moot  point.  In  any  case  it  did  not  incline  the 
Parisians  to  vote  for  the  Government  candidates. 
Every  deputy  returned  for  the  city  on  that  occasion 
was  an  opponent  of  the  Empire,  and  in  later  years 
I  was  told  by  an  ex-Court  official  that  when  Napoleon 
*$came  acquainted  with  the  result  of  the  pollings  he 
saii>  in  reference  to  the  nominees  whom  he  had 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  31 

favoured,  "  Not  one  !  not  a  single  one  !  "  The 
ingratitude  of  the  Parisians,  as  the  Emperor  styled 
it,  was  always  a  thorn  in  his  side  ;  yet  he  should  have 
remembered  that  in  the  past  the  bulk  of  the  Parisians 
had  seldom,  if  ever,  been  on  the  side  of  constituted 
authority. 

Later  that  year  came  the  famous  affair  of  the 
Pantin  crimes,  and  I  was  present  with  my  father 
when  Troppmann,  the  brutish  murderer  of  the 
Kinck  family,  stood  his  trial  at  the  Assizes.  But, 
quite  properly,  my  father  would  not  let  me  accom- 
pany him  when  he  attended  the  miscreant's  execution 
outside  the  prison  of  La  Roquette.  Some  years 
later,  however,  I  witnessed  the  execution  of  Prevost  * 
on  the  same  spot ;  and  at  a  subsequent  date  I 
attended  both  the  trial  and  the  execution  of  Caserio 
— the  assassin  of  President  Carnot — at  Lyons.  Fol- 
lowing Troppmann's  case,  in  the  early  days  of  1870 
came  the  crime  of  the  so-called  Wild  Boar  of  Corsica, 
Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte  (grandfather  of  the  present 
Princess  George  of  Greece),  who  shot  the  young 
journalist  Victor  Noir,  when  the  latter  went  with 
Ulrich  de  Fonvielle,  aeronaut  as  well  as  journalist, 
to  call  him  out  on  behalf  of  the  irrepressible  Henri 
Rochefort.  I  remember  accompanying  one  of  our 
artists,  Gaildrau,  when  a  sketch  was  made  of  the 
scene  of  the  crime,  the  Prince's  drawing-room  at 
Auteuil,  a  peculiar  semi-circular,  panelled  and  white- 
painted  apartment  furnished  in  what  we  should  call 
in  England  a  tawdry  mid- Victorian  style.  On  the 
occasion  of  Noir's  funeral  my  father  and  myself 
were  in  the  Champs  Elysees  when  the  tumultuous 
revolutionary  procession,  in  which  Rochefort  figured 
conspicuously,  swept  down  the  famous  avenue  along 

*  See  "  The  Court  of  the  Tuileries,"  p.  124  at  seq. 


32  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

which  the  victorious  Germans  were  to  march  little 
more  than  a  year  afterwards.  Near  the  Rond-point 
the  cortege  was  broken  up  and  scattered  by  the 
police,  whose  violence  was  extreme.  Rochefort, 
brave  enough  on  the  duelling-ground,  fainted  away, 
and  was  carried  off  in  a  vehicle,  his  position  as  a 
member  of  the  Legislative  Body  momentarily  render- 
ing him  immune  from  arrest.  Within  a  month, 
however,  he  was  under  lock  and  key,  and  some 
fierce  rioting  ensued  in  the  north  of  Paris. 

During  the  spring,  my  father  went  to  Ireland  as 
special  commissioner  of  the  Illustrated  London  News 
and  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  in  order  to  investigate  the 
condition  of  the  tenantry  and  the  agrarian  crimes 
which  were  then  so  prevalent  there.  Meantime,  I 
was  left  in  Paris,  virtually  "  on  my  own,"  though 
I  was  often  with  my  elder  brother  Edward.  About 
this  time,  moreover,  a  friend  of  my  father's  began  to 
take  a  good  deal  of  interest  in  me.  This  was  Captain 
the  Hon.  Dennis  Bingham,  a  member  of  the  Clan- 
morris  family,  and  the  regular  correspondent  of  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette  in  Paris.  He  subsequently  became 
known  as  the  author  of  various  works  on  the  Bona- 
partes  and  the  Bourbons,  and  of  a  volume  of  recol- 
lections of  Paris  life,  in  which  I  am  once  or  twice 
mentioned.  Bingham  was  married  to  a  very  charm- 
ing lady  of  the  Lacretelle  family,  which  gave  a 
couple  of  historians  to  France,  and  I  was  always 
received  most  kindly  at  their  home  near  the  Arc  de 
Triomphe.  Moreover,  Bingham  often  took  me  about 
with  him  in  my  spare  time,  and  introduced  me  to 
several  prominent  people.  Later,  during  the  street 
fighting  at  the  close  of  the  Commune  in  1871,  we  had 
some  dramatic  adventures  together,  and  on  one 
occasion  Bingham  saved  my  life. 


OUTBREAK   OF  WAR  33 

The  earlier  months  of  1870  went  by  very  swiftly 
amidst  a  multiplicity  of  interesting  events.  Emile 
Ollivier  had  now  become  chief  Minister,  and  ail  era 
of  liberal  reforms  appeared  to  have  begun.  It 
seemed,  moreover,  as  if  the  Minister's  charming  wife 
were  for  her  part  intent  on  reforming  the  practice? 
of  her  sex  in  regard  to  dress,  for  she  resolutely  set 
her  face  against  the  extravagant  toilettes  of  the  ladies 
of  the  Court,  repeatedly  appearing  at  the  Tuileries 
in  the  most  unassuming  attire,  which,  however,  by 
sheer  force  of  contrast,  rendered  her  very  con- 
spicuous there.  The  patronesses  of  the  great 
couturiers  were  quite  irate  at  receiving  such  a 
lesson  from  a  petite  bourgeoise;  but  all  who  shared 
the  views  expressed  by  President  Dupin  a  few  years 
previously  respecting  the  "  unbridled  luxury  of 
women,"  were  naturally  delighted. 

Her  husband's  attempts  at  political  reform  were 
certainly  well  meant,  but  the  Republicans  regarded 
him  as  a  renegade  and  the  older  Imperialists  as  an 
intruder,  and  nothing  that  he  did  gave  satisfaction. 
The  concession  of  the  right  of  public  meeting  led  to 
frequent  disorders  at  Belleville  and  Montmartre,  and 
the  increased  freedom  of  the  Press  only  acted  as  an 
incentive  to  violence  of  language.  Nevertheless, 
when  there  came  a  Plebiscitum — the  last  of  the 
reign — to  ascertain  the  country's  opinion  respecting 
the  reforms  devised  by  the  Emperor  and  Ollivier,  a 
huge  majority  signified  approval  of  them,  and  thus 
the  "  Liberal  Empire  "  seemed  to  be  firmly  estab- 
lished. If,  however,  the  nation  at  large  had  known 
what  was  going  on  behind  the  scenes,  both  in  diplo- 
matic and  in  military  spheres,  the  result  of  the 
Plebiscitum  would  probably  have  been  very 
different. 


34  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Already  on  the  morrow  of  the  war  between 
Prussia  and  Austria  (1866)  the  Emperor,  as  I  pre- 
viously indicated,  had  begun  to  devise  a  plan  of 
campaign  in  regard  to  the  former  Power,  taking  as 
his  particular  confidants  in  the  matter  General 
Lebrun,  his  aide-de-camp,  and  General  Frossard,  the 
governor  of  the  young  Imperial  Prince.  Marshal 
Niel,  as  War  Minister,  was  cognizant  of  the  Emperor's 
conferences  with  Lebrun  and  Frossard,  but  does  not 
appear  to  have  taken  any  direct  part  in  the  plans 
which  were  devised.  They  were  originally  purely 
defensive  plans,  intended  to  provide  for  any  invasion 
of  French  territory  from  across  the  Rhine.  Colonel 
Baron  Stoffel,  the  French  military  attache  at  Berlin, 
had  frequently  warned  the  War  Office  in  Paris 
respecting  the  possibility  of  a  Prussian  attack  and 
the  strength  of  the  Prussian  armaments,  which,  he 
wrote,  would  enable  King  William  (with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  other  German  rulers)  to  throw  a  force  of 
nearly  a  million  men  into  Alsace-Lorraine.  Further, 
General  Ducrot,  who  commanded  the  garrison  at 
Strasburg,  became  acquainted  with  many  things 
which  he  communicated  to  his  relative,  Baron  de 
Bourgoing,  one  of  the  Emperor's  equerries. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  these  various  communica- 
tions reached  Napoleon  III;  and  though  he  may 
have  regarded  both  the  statements  of  Stoffel  and 
those  of  Ducrot  as  exaggerated,  he  was  certainly 
sufficiently  impressed  by  them  to  order  the  pre- 
paration of  certain  plans.  Frossard,  basing  himself 
on  the  operations  of  the  Austrians  in  December,  1793, 
and  keeping  in  mind  the  methods  by  which  Hoche, 
with  the  Moselle  army,  and  Pichegru,  with  the 
Rhine  army,  forced  them  back  from  the  French 
frontier,  drafted  a  scheme  of  defence  in  which  he 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  35 

foresaw  the  battle  of  Worth,  but,  through  following 
erroneous  information,  greatly  miscalculated  the 
probable  number  of  combatants.  He  set  forth  in 
his  scheme  that  the  Imperial  Government  could  not 
possibly  allow  Alsace-Lorraine  and  Champagne  to 
be  invaded  without  a  trial  of  strength  at  the  very 
outset ;  and  Marshal  Bazaine,  who,  at  some  period 
or  other,  annotated  a  copy  of  Frossard's  scheme, 
signified  his  approval  of  that  dictum,  but  added 
significantly  that  good  tactical  measures  should  be 
adopted.  He  himself  demurred  to  Frossard's  plans, 
saying  that  he  was  no  partisan  of  a  frontal  defence, 
but  believed  in  falling  on  the  enemy's  flanks  and 
rear.  Yet,  as  we  know,  MacMahon  fought  the 
battle  of  Worth  under  conditions  in  many  respects 
similar  to  those  which  Frossard  had  foreseen. 

However,  the  purely  defensive  plans  on  which 
Napoleon  III  at  first  worked,  were  replaced  in  1868 
by  offensive  ones,  in  which  General  Lebrun  took  a 
prominent  part,  both  from  the  military  and  from  the 
diplomatic  standpoints.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
March,  1870,  that  the  Archduke  Albert  of  Austria 
came  to  Paris  to  confer  with  the  French  Emperor. 
Lebrun's  plan  of  campaign  was  discussed  by  them, 
and  Marshal  Le  Bceuf  and  Generals  Frossard  and 
Jarras  were  privy  to  the  negotiations.  It  was  pro- 
posed that  France,  Austria,  and  Italy  should  invade 
Germany  conjointly ;  and,  according  to  Le  Bceuf, 
the  first-named  Power  could  place  400,000  men  on 
the  frontier  in  a  fortnight's  time.  Both  Austria  and 
Italy,  however,  required  forty-two  days  to  mobilize 
their  forces,  though  the  former  offered  to  provide 
two  army  corps  during  the  interval.  When  Lebrun 
subsequently  went  to  Vienna  to  come  to  a  positive 
decision  and  arrange  details,  the  Archduke  Albert 


36  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

pointed  out  that  the  war  ought  to  begin  in  the  spring 
season,  for,  said  he,  the  North  Germans  would  be 
able  to  support  the  cold  and  dampness  of  a  winter 
campaign  far  better  than  the  allies.  That  was  an 
absolutely  correct  forecast,  fully  confirmed  by  all 
that  took  place  in  France  during  the  winter  of  1870- 
1871. 

But  Prussia  heard  of  what  was  brewing.     Austria 
was  betrayed  to  her  by  Hungary ;    and  Italy  and 
France  could  not  come  to  an  understanding  on  the 
question  of  Rome.      At  the  outset  Prince  Napoleon 
(Jerome)  was  concerned  in  the  latter  negotiations, 
which  were  eventually  conducted  by  Count  Vimercati, 
the   Italian    military    attache   in   Paris.     Napoleon, 
however,   steadily  refused  to  withdraw  his  forces 
from  the  States  of  the  Church  and  to  allow  Victor 
Emmanuel  to  occupy  Rome.     Had  he  yielded  on 
those  points  Italy  would  certainly  have  joined  him, 
and  Austria — however  much  Hungarian  statesmen 
might  have  disliked  it — would,  in  all  probability, 
have  followed  suit.     By  the  policy  he  pursued  in 
this  matter,  the  French  Emperor  lost  everything, 
and  prevented  nothing.     On  the  one  hand,  France 
was  defeated  and  the  Empire  of  the  Bonapartes 
collapsed  ;  whilst,  on  the  other,  Rome  became  Italy's 
true  capital. 

Bismarck  was  in  no  way  inclined  to  allow  the 
negotiations  for  an  anti-Prussian  alliance  to  mature. 
They  dragged  on  for  a  considerable  time,  but  the 
Government  of  Napoleon  III  was  not  particularly 
disturbed  thereat,  as  it  felt  certain  that  victory 
would  attend  the  French  arms  at  the  outset,  and 
that  Italy  and  Austria  would  eventually  give  support. 
Bismarck,  however,  precipitated  events.  Already 
in  the  previous  year  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern- 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  37 

Sigmaringen  had  been  a  candidate  for  the  throne  of 
Spain.  That  candidature  had  been  withdrawn  in 
order  to  avert  a  conflict  between  France  and 
Germany ;  but  now  it  was  revived  at  Bismarck's 
instigation  in  order  to  bring  about  one. 

I  have  said,  I  think,  enough  to  show — in  fairness 
to  Germany — that  the  war  of  1870  was  not  an  un- 
provoked attack  on  France.  The  incidents — such 
as  the  Ems  affair — which  directly  led  up  to  it  were 
after  all  only  of  secondary  importance,  although  they 
bulked  so  largely  at  the  time  of  their  occurrence. 
I  well  remember  the  great  excitement  which  pre- 
vailed in  Paris  during  the  few  anxious  days  when 
to  the  man  in  the  street  the  question  of  peace  or 
war  seemed  to  be  trembling  in  the  balance,  though 
in  reality  that  question  was  already  virtually  decided 
upon  both  sides.  Judging  by  all  that  has  been 
revealed  to  us  during  the  last  forty  years,  I  do  not 
think  that  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  the  Prime  Minister, 
would  have  been  able  to  modify  the  decision  of  the 
fateful  council  held  at  Saint  Cloud  even  if  he  had 
attended  it.  Possessed  by  many  delusions,  the  bulk 
of  the  imperial  councillors  were  too  confident  of 
success  to  draw  back,  and,  besides,  Bismarck  and 
Moltke  were  not  disposed  to  let  France  draw  back. 
They  were  ready,  and  they  knew  right  well  that 
opportunity  is  a  fine  thing. 

It  was  on  July  15  that  the  Due  de  Gramont,  the 
Imperial  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  read  his  memor- 
able statement  to  the  Legislative  Body,  and  two 
days  later  a  formal  declaration  of  war  was  signed. 
Paris  at  once  became  delirious  with  enthusiasm, 
though,  as  we  know  by  all  the  telegrams  from  the 
Prefects  of  the  departments,  the  provinces  generally 
desired  that  peace  might  be  preserved. 


38  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Resident  in  Paris,  and  knowing  at  that  time  very 
little  about  the  rest  of  France — for  I  had  merely 
stayed  during  my  summer  holidays  at  such  seaside 
resorts  as  Trouville,  Deauville,  Beuzeval,  St.  Malo, 
and  St.  Servan — I  undoubtedly  caught  the  Parisian 
fever,  and  I  dare  say  that  I  sometimes  joined  in  the 
universal  chorus  of  "  A  Berlin  !  "  Mere  lad  as  I 
was,  in  spite  of  my  precocity,  I  shared  also  the 
universal  confidence  in  the  French  army.  In  that 
confidence  many  English  military  men  participated. 
Only  those  who,  like  Captain  Hozier  of  The  Times,  had 
closely  watched  Prussian  methods  during  the  Seven 
Weeks'  War  in  1866,  clearly  realized  that  the  North 
German  kingdom  possessed  a  thoroughly  well 
organized  fighting  machine,  led  by  officers  of  the 
greatest  ability,  and  capable  of  effecting  something 
like  a  revolution  in  the  art  of  war. 

France  was  currently  thought  stronger  than  she 
really  was.  Of  the  good  physique  of  her  men  there 
could  be  no  doubt.  Everybody  who  witnessed  the 
great  military  pageants  of  those  times  was  impressed 
by  the  bearing  of  the  troops  and  their  efficiency  under 
arms.  And  nobody  anticipated  that  they  would  be 
so  inferior  to  the  Germans  in  numbers  as  proved  to 
be  the  case,  and  that  the  generals  would  show 
themselves  so  inferior  in  mental  calibre  to  the  com- 
manders of  the  opposing  forces.  The  Paris  garrison, 
it  is  true,  was  no  real  criterion  of  the  French  army 
generally,  though  foreigners  were  apt  to  judge  the 
latter  by  what  they  saw  of  it  in  the  capital.  The 
troops  stationed  there  were  mostly  picked  men,  the 
garrison  being  very  largely  composed  of  the  Imperial 
Guard.  The  latter  always  made  a  brilliant  display, 
not  merely  by  reason  of  its  somewhat  showy  uniforms, 
recalling  at  times  those  of  the  First  Empire,  but  also 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  39 

by  the  men's  fine  physique  and  their  general  military 
proficiency.  They  certainly  fought  well  in  some  of 
the  earlier  battles  of  the  war.  Their  commander 
was  General  Bourbaki,  a  fine  soldierly  looking  man, 
the  grandson  of  a  Greek  pilot  who  acted  as  inter- 
mediary between  Napoleon  I  and  his  brother 
Joseph,  at  the  time  of  the  former's  expedition  to 
Egypt.  It  was  this  original  Bourbaki  who  carried 
to  Napoleon  Joseph's  secret  letters  reporting  Jose- 
phine's misconduct  in  her  husband's  absence,  mis- 
conduct which  Napoleon  condoned  at  the  time, 
though  it  would  have  entitled  him  to  a  divorce  nine 
years  before  he  decided  on  one. 

With  the  spectacle  of  the  Imperial  Guard  con- 
stantly before  their  eyes,  the  Parisians  of  July,  1870, 
could  not  believe  in  the  possibility  of  defeat,  and, 
moreover,  at  the  first  moment  it  was  not  believed 
that  the  Southern  German  States  would  join  North 
Germany  against  France.  Napoleon  III  and  his 
confidential  advisers  well  knew,  however,  what  to 
think  on  that  point,  and  the  delusions  of  the  man  in 
the  street  departed  when,  on  July  20,  Bavaria, 
Wiirtemberg,  Baden,  and  Hesse-Darmstadt  an- 
nounced their  intention  of  supporting  Prussia  and 
the  North  German  Confederation.  Still,  this  did 
not  dismay  the  Parisians,  and  the  shouts  of  "To 
Berlin  !  To  Berlin  !  "  were  as  frequent  as  ever. 

It  had  long  been  one  of  my  dreams  to  see  and 
participate  in  the  great  drama  of  war.  All  boys,  I 
suppose,  come  into  the  world  with  pugnacious 
instincts.  There  must  be  few,  too,  who  never  "  play 
at  soldiers."  My  own  interest  in  warfare  and 
soldiering  had  been  steadily  fanned  from  my  earliest 
childhood.  In  the  first  place,  I  had  been  incessantly 
confronted  by  all  the  scenes  of  war  depicted  in  the 


40  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Illustrated  Times  and  the  Illustrated  London  News, 
those  journals  being  posted  to  me  regularly  every 
week  whilst  I  was  still  only  a  little  chap  at  East- 
bourne. Further,  the  career  of  my  uncle,  Frank 
Vizetelly,  exercised  a  strange  fascination  over  me. 
Born  in  Fleet  Street  in  September,  1830,  he  was  the 
youngest  of  my  father's  three  brothers.  Educated 
with  Gustave  Dore,  he  became  an  artist  for  the 
illustrated  Press,  and,  in  1859,  represented  the 
Illustrated  Times  as  war-artist  in  Italy,  being  a  part 
of  the  time  with  the  French  and  at  other  moments 
with  the  Sardinian  forces.  That  was  the  first  of  his 
many  campaigns.  His  services  being  afterwards 
secured  by  the  Illustrated  London  News,  he  next 
accompanied  Garibaldi  from  Palermo  to  Naples. 
Then,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  in  the  United 
States,  he  repaired  thither  with  Howard  Russell, 
and,  on  finding  obstacles  placed  in  his  way  on  the 
Federal  side,  travelled  "  underground  "  to  Richmond 
and  joined  the  Confederates.  The  late  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  the  late  Lord  Wolseley,  and  Francis 
Lawley  were  among  his  successive  companions.  At 
one  time  he  and  the  first-named  shared  the  same 
tent  and  lent  socks  and  shirts  to  one  another. 

Now  and  again,  however,  Frank  Vizetelly  came 
to  England  after  running  the  blockade,  stayed  a  few 
weeks  in  London,  and  then  departed  for  America 
once  more,  yet  again  running  the  blockade  on  his 
way.  This  he  did  on  at  least  three  occasions.  His 
next  campaign  was  the  war  of  1866,  when  he  was 
with  the  Austrian  commander  Benedek.  For  a  few 
years  afterwards  he  remained  in  London  assisting 
his  eldest  brother  James  to  run  what  was  probably 
the  first  of  the  society  journals,  Echoes  of  the 
Clubs,  to  which  Mortimer  Collins  and  the  late  Sir 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  41 

Edmund  Monson  largely  contributed.  However, 
Frank  Vizetelly  went  back  to  America  once  again, 
this  time  with  Wolseley  on  the  Red  River  Expedition. 
Later,  he  was  with  Don  Carlos  in  Spain  and  with 
the  French  in  Tunis,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Egypt. 
He  died  on  the  field  of  duty,  meeting  his  death  when 
Hicks  Pasha's  little  army  was  annihilated  in  the 
defiles  of  Kashgil,  in  the  Soudan. 

Now,  in  the  earlier  years,  when  Frank  Vizetelly 
returned  from  Italy  or  America,  he  was  often  at  my 
father's  house  at  Kensington,  and  I  heard  him  talk 
of  Napoleon  III,  MacMahon,  Garibaldi,  Victor 
Emmanuel,  Cialdini,  Robert  Lee,  Longstreet,  Stone- 
wall Jackson,  and  Captain  Semmes.  Between-times 
I  saw  all  the  engravings  prepared  after  his  sketches, 
and  I  regarded  him  and  them  with  a  kind  of  childish 
reverence.  I  can  picture  him  still,  a  hale,  bluff,  tall, 
and  burly-looking  man,  with  short  dark  hair,  blue 
eyes  and  a  big  ruddy  moustache.  He  was  far  away 
the  best  known  member  of  our  family  in  my  younger 
days,  when  anonymity  in  journalism  was  an  almost 
universal  rule.  In  the  same  way,  however,  as  every- 
body had  heard  of  Howard  Russell,  the  war  corre- 
spondent of  the  Times,  so  most  people  had  heard  of 
Frank  Vizetelly,  the  war-artist  of  the  Illustrated. 
He  was,  by-the-by,  in  the  service  of  the  Graphic 
when  he  was  killed. 

I  well  remember  being  alternately  amused  and 
disgusted  by  a  French  theatrical  delineation  of  an 
English  war  correspondent,  given  in  a  spectacular 
military  piece  which  I  witnessed  a  short  time  after 
my  first  arrival  in  Paris.  It  was  called  "  The  Siege 
of  Pekin,"  and  had  been  concocted  by  Mocquard, 
the  Emperor  Napoleon's  secretary.  All  the  "  comic 
business  "  in  the  affair  was  supplied  by  a  so-called 


42  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

war  correspondent  of  the  Times,  who  strutted  about 
in  a  tropical  helmet  embellished  with  a  green  Derby 
veil,  and  was  provided  with  a  portable  desk  and  a 
huge  umbrella.  This  red-nosed  and  red-whiskered 
individual  was  for  ever  talking  of  having  to  do  this 
and  that  for  "  the  first  paper  of  the  first  country  in 
the  world,"  and,  in  order  to  obtain  a  better  view  of 
an  engagement,  he  deliberately  planted  himself 
between  the  French  and  Chinese  combatants.  I 
should  doubtless  have  derived  more  amusement 
from  his  tomfoolery  had  I  not  already  known  that 
English  war  correspondents  did  not  behave  in  any 
such  idiotic  manner,  and  I  came  away  from  the 
performance  with  strong  feelings  of  resentment 
respecting  so  outrageous  a  caricature  of  a  profession 
counting  among  its  members  the  uncle  whom  I  so 
much  admired. 

Whatever  my  dreams  may  have  been,  I  hardly 
anticipated  that  I  should  join  that  profession  myself 
during  the  Franco-German  war.  The  Lycees  "  broke 
up  "  in  confusion,  and  my  father  decided  to  send  me 
to  join  my  stepmother  and  the  younger  members  of 
the  family  at  Saint  Servan,  it  being  his  intention  to 
go  to  the  front  with  my  elder  brother  Edward. 
But  Simpson,  the  veteran  Crimean  War  artist,  came 
over  to  join  the  so-called  Army  of  the  Rhine,  and  my 
brother,  securing  an  engagement  from  the  New  York 
Times,  set  out  on  his  own  account.  Thus  I  was 
promptly  recalled  to  Paris,  where  my  father  had 
decided  to  remain.  In  those  days  the  journey  from 
Brittany  to  the  capital  took  many  long  and  wearisome 
hours,  and  I  made  it  in  a  third-class  carriage  of  a 
train  crowded  with  soldiers  of  all  arms,  cavalry, 
infantry,  and  artillery.  Most  of  them  were  in- 
toxicated, and  the  grossness  of  their  language  and 


OUTBREAK   OF   WAR  43 

manners  was  almost  beyond  belief.  That  dreadful 
night  spent  on  the  boards  of  a  slowly-moving  and 
jolting  train,*  amidst  drunken  and  foul-mouthed 
companions,  gave  me,  as  it  were,  a  glimpse  of  the 
other  side  of  the  picture — that  is,  of  several  things 
which  lie  behind  the  glamour  of  war. 

It  must  have  been  about  July  25  when  I  re- 
turned to  Paris.  A  decree  had  just  been  issued 
appointing  the  Empress  as  Regent  in  the  absence 
of  the  Emperor,  who  was  to  take  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Rhine.  It  had  originally  been  intended 
that  there  should  be  three  French  armies,  but  during 
the  conferences  with  Archduke  Albert  in  the  spring, 
that  plan  was  abandoned  in  favour  of  one  sole  army 
under  the  command  of  Napoleon  III.  The  idea 
underlying  the  change  was  to  avoid  a  superfluity  of 
staff-officers,  and  to  augment  the  number  of  actual 
combatants.  Both  Le  Bceuf  and  Lebrun  approved 
of  the  alteration,  and  this  would  seem  to  indicate 
that  there  were  already  misgivings  on  the  French 
side  in  regard  to  the  inferior  strength  of  their 
effectives.  The  army  was  divided  into  eight  sections, 
that  is,  seven  army  corps,  and  the  Imperial  Guard. 
Bourbaki,  as  already  mentioned,  commanded  the 
Guard,  and  at  the  head  of  the  army  corps  were  (1) 
MacMahoii,  (2)  Frossard,  (3)  Bazaine,  (4)  Ladmerault, 
(5)  Failly,  (6)  Canrobert,  and  (7)  Felix  Douay.  Both 
Frossard  and  Failly,  however,  were  at  first  made 
subordinate  to  Bazaine.  The  head  of  the  informa- 
tion service  was  Colonel  Lewal,  who  rose  to  be  a 
general  and  Minister  of  War  under  the  Republic, 
and  who  wrote  some  commendable  works  on  tactics  ; 
and  immediately  under  him  were  Lieut. -Colonel 
Fay,  also  subsequently  a  well-known  general,  and 

*  There  were  then  no  cushioned  seats  in  French  third-class  carriages. 


44  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Captain  Jung,  who  is  best  remembered  perhaps  by 
his  inquiries  into  the  mystery  of  the  Man  with  the 
Iron  Mask.  I  give  those  names  because,  however 
distinguished  those  three  men  may  have  become  in 
later  years,  the  French  intelligence  service  at  the 
outset  of  the  war  was  without  doubt  extremely 
faulty,  and  responsible  for  some  of  the  disasters 
which  occurred. 

On  returning  to  Paris  one  of  my  first  duties  was 
to  go  in  search  of  Moulin,  the  detective-artist  whom 
I  mentioned  in  my  first  chapter.  I  found  him  in  his 
somewhat  squalid  home  in  the  Quartier  Mouffetard, 
surrounded  by  a  tribe  of  children,  and  he  immediately 
informed  me  that  he  was  one  of  the  "  agents  "  ap- 
pointed to  attend  the  Emperor  on  the  campaign. 
The  somewhat  lavish  Imperial  equipage,  on  which 
Zola  so  frequently  dilated  in  "  The  Downfall,"  had, 
I  think,  already  been  despatched  to  Metz,  where  the 
Emperor  proposed  to  fix  his  headquarters,  and  the 
escort  of  Cent  Gardes  was  about  to  proceed  thither. 
Moulin  told  me,  however,  that  he  and  two  of  his 
colleagues  were  to  travel  in  the  same  train  as 
Napoleon,  and  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  forward 
either  to  Paris  or  to  London,  as  might  prove  most 
convenient,  such  sketches  as  he  might  from  time  to 
time  contrive  to  make.  He  suggested  that  there 
should  be  one  of  the  Emperor's  departure  from 
Saint  Cloud,  and  that  in  order  to  avoid  delay  I  should 
accompany  him  on  the  occasion  and  take  it  from 
him.  We  therefore  went  down  together  on  July  28, 
promptly  obtained  admittance  to  the  chateau,  where 
Moulin  took  certain  instructions,  and  then  repaired 
to  the  railway-siding  in  the  park,  whence  the  Imperial 
train  was  to  start. 

Officers  and  high  officials,  nearly  all  in  uniform, 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR  45 

were  constantly  going  to  and  fro  between  the  siding 
and  the  chateau,  and  presently  the  Imperial  party 
appeared,  the  Emperor  being  between  the  Empress 
and  the  young  Imperial  Prince.  Quite  a  crowd  of 
dignitaries  followed.  I  do  not  recollect  seeing  Emile 
Ollivier,  though  he  must  have  been  present,  but  I 
took  particular  note  of  Rouher,  the  once  all-powerful 
minister,  currently  nicknamed  the  Vice-Emperor, 
and  later  President  of  the  Senate.  In  spite  of  his 
portliness,  he  walked  with  a  most  determined  stride, 
held  his  head  very  erect,  and  spoke  in  his  customary 
loud  voice.  The  Emperor,  who  wore  the  undress 
uniform  of  a  general,  looked  very  grave  and  sallow. 
The  disease  which  eventually  ended  in  his  death 
had  already  become  serious,*  and  only  a  few  days 
later,  that  is,  during  the  Saarbrucken  affair 
(August  2),  he  was  painfully  affected  by  it.  Never- 
theless, he  had  undertaken  to  command  the  Army 
of  France !  The  Imperial  Prince,  then  fourteen 
years  of  age,  was  also  in  uniform,  it  having  been 
arranged  that  he  should  accompany  his  father  to 
the  front,  and  he  seemed  to  be  extremely  animated 
and  restless,  repeatedly  turning  to  exchange  remarks 
with  one  or  another  officer  near  him.  The  Empress, 
who  was  very  simply  gowned,  smiled  once  or  twice  in 
response  to  some  words  which  fell  from  her  husband, 
but  for  the  most  part  she  looked  as  serious  as  he  did. 
Whatever  Emile  Ollivier  may  have  said  about 
beginning  this  war  with  a  light  heart,  it  is  certain 
that  these  two  sovereigns  of  France  realized,  at  that 
hour  of  parting,  the  magnitude  of  the  issues  at  stake. 
After  they  had  exchanged  a  farewell  kiss,  the  Empress 

*  I  have  given  many  particulars  of  it  in  my  two  books,  "  The  Court  of 
the  Tuileries,  1852-1870  "  (Chatto  and  Windus),  and  "  Republican  France, 
1870-1912  "  (Holden  and  Hardingham). 


ADVENTURE 


46 


MY  DAYS  OF 


her  arms  and  embraced 
took  her  eager  young  son  i?xt  saw  her  face  we  could 
him  fondly,  and  when  we  ning    in    her    eyes.     The 
perceive    the    tears    stantfg  his  seat  and  the  boy 
Emperor  was  already  takhDid  the  Empress  at  that 
speedily  sprang  after  him.    ^e,  and  how  she  would 
moment  wonder  when,  whphance  she  did.     Every- 
next  see  them  again  ?     Perty  in  readiness  for  de- 
thing,  however,  was  speeds  to  move,  both  the 
parture.     As   the  train  beged  their  hands  from  the 
Emperor  and  the  Prince  wa^usiastic  Imperial  digni- 
windows,  whilst  all  the  entftnd  raised  a  prolonged 
taries  nourished  their  hats      It  was  not,  perhaps, 
cry  of  "Vive  FEmpereur  !  "'.;  but,  then,  they  were 
so  loud  as  it  might  have  bee:i,  during  the  interval, 
mostly  elderly  men.     Moulding  in  the  nature  of  a 
had  contrived  to  make  some^so  taken  a  few  notes 
thumb-nail  sketch ;  I  had  fastened  back  to  Paris, 
myself ;  and  thus  provided  I . 


i 


Ill 

ON   THE   EOAD   TO    REVOLUTION 

First  French  Defeats — A  Great  Victory  rumoured — The  Marseillaise, 
Capoul  and  Marie  Sass — Edward  Vizetelly  brings  News  of  Forbach 
to  Paris — Emile  OUivier  again — His  Fall  from  Power — Cousin 
Montauban,  Comte  de  Palikao — English  War  Correspondents  in  Paris 
— Gambetta  calls  me  "  a  Little  Spy  " — More  French  Defeats — Palikao 
and  the  Defence  of  Paris — Fears  of  a  Siege — Wounded  returning 
from  the  Front — Wild  Reports  of  French  Victories — The  Quarries 
of  Jaumont — The  Anglo-American  Ambulance — The  News  of  Sedan 
— Sala's  Unpleasant  Adventure — The  Fall  of  the  Empire. 

IT  was,  I  think,  two  days  after  the  Emperor's  arrival 
at  Metz  that  the  first  Germans — a  detachment  of 
Badeners — entered  French  territory.  Then,  on  the 
second  of  August  came  the  successful  French  attack 
on  Saarbrucken,  a  petty  affair  but  a  well-remembered 
one,  as  it  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  young  Imperial 
Prince  received  the  "  baptism  of  fire."  Appro- 
priately enough,  the  troops,  whose  success  he 
witnessed,  were  commanded  by  his  late  governor, 
General  Frossard.  More  important  was  the  engage- 
ment at  Weissenburg  two  days  later,  when  a  division 
of  the  French  under  General  Abel  Douay  was  sur- 
prised by  much  superior  forces,  and  utterly  over- 
whelmed, Douay  himself  being  killed  during  the 
fighting.  Yet  another  two  days  elapsed,  and  then 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia — later  the  Emperor 
Frederick — routed  MacMahon  at  Worth,  in  spite  of 
a  vigorous  resistance,  carried  on  the  part  of  the 

47 


48  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

French  Cuirassiers,  under  General  the  Vicomte  de 
Bonnemains,  to  the  point  of  heroism.  In  later 
days  the  general's  son  married  a  handsome  and 
wealthy  young  lady  of  the  'bourgeoisie  named 
Marguerite  Crouzet,  whom,  however,  he  had  to 
divorce,  and  who  afterwards  became  notorious  as 
the  mistress  of  General  Boulanger. 

Curiously  enough,  on  the  very  day  of  the  disaster 
of  Worth  a  rumour  of  a  great  French  victory  spread 
through  Paris.  My  father  had  occasion  to  send  me 
to  his  bankers  in  the  Rue  Vivienne,  and  on  making 
my  way  to  the  Boulevards,  which  I  proposed  to  follow, 
I  was  amazed  to  see  the  shopkeepers  eagerly  setting 
up  the  tricolour  flags  which  they  habitually  displayed 
on  the  Emperor's  fete-day  (August  15).  Nobody 
knew  exactly  how  the  rumours  of  victory  had 
originated,  nobody  could  give  any  precise  details 
respecting  the  alleged  great  success,  but  everybody 
believed  in  it,  and  the  enthusiasm  was  universal. 
It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  day  when  I  repaired 
to  the  Rue  Vivienne,  and  after  transacting  my 
business  there,  I  turned  into  the  Place  de  la  Bourse, 
where  a  huge  crowd  was  assembled.  The  steps  of 
the  exchange  were  also  covered  with  people,  and 
amidst  a  myriad  eager  gesticulations  a  perfect  babel 
of  voices  was  ascending  to  the  blue  sky.  One  of  the 
green  omnibuses,  which  in  those  days  ran  from  the 
Bourse  to  Passy,  was  waiting  on  the  square,  un- 
able to  depart  owing  to  the  density  of  the  crowd ; 
and  all  at  once,  amidst  a  scene  of  great  excitement 
and  repeated  shouts  of  "La  Marseillaise  !  "  "La 
Marseillaise  !  "  three  or  four  well-dressed  men  climbed 
on  to  the  vehicle,  and  turning  towards  the  mob  of 
speculators  and  sightseers  covering  the  steps  of  the 
Bourse,  they  called  to  them  repeatedly  :  "  Silence  ! 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       49 

Silence !  "  The  hubbub  slightly  subsided,  and  there- 
upon one  of  the  party  on  the  omnibus,  a  good-looking 
slim  young  fellow  with  a  little  moustache,  took  off 
his  hat,  raised  his  right  arm,  and  began  to  sing  the 
war-hymn  of  the  Revolution.  The  stanza  finished, 
the  whole  assembly  took  up  the  refrain. 

Since  the  days  of  the  Coup  d'Etat,  the  Marseillaise 
had  been  banned  in  France,  the  official  imperial  air 
being  "  Partant  pour  la  Syrie,"  a  military  march  com- 
posed by  the  Emperor's  mother,  Queen  Hortense, 
with  words  by  Count  Alexandre  de  Laborde,  who 
therein  pictured  a  handsome  young  knight  praying 
to    the    Blessed    Virgin    before   his    departure   for 
Palestine,  and  soliciting  of  her  benevolence  that  he 
might  "  prove  to  be  the  bravest  brave,  and  love  the 
fairest  fair."     During  the  twenty  years  of  the  third 
Napoleon's   rule,   Paris   had    heard   the   strains   of 
"  Partant  pour  la  Syrie"  many  thousand  times,  and, 
though    they    were    tuneful   enough,    had    become 
thoroughly  tired  of  them.     To  stimulate  popular  en- 
thusiasm in  the  war  the  Ollivier  Cabinet  had  accord- 
ingly authorized  the  playing  and  singing  of  the  long- 
forbidden  "  Marseillaise,"  which,    although   it   was 
well-remembered  by  the  survivors  of  '48,  and  was 
hummed  even  by  the  young  Republicans  of  Belleville 
and  the  Quartier  Latin,  proved  quite  a  novelty  to 
half  the  population,  who  were  destined  to  hear  it 
again  and  again  and  again  from  that  period  until 
the  present  time. 

The  young  vocalist  who  sang  it  from  the  top  of 
a  Passy-Bourse  omnibus  on  that  fateful  day  of 
Worth,  claimed  to  be  a  tenor,  but  was  more  correctly 
a  tenorino,  his  voice  possessing  far  more  sweetness 
than  power.  He  was  already  well-known  and 
popular,  for  he  had  taken  the  part  of  Romeo  in 

E 


50  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Gounod's  well-known  opera  based  on  the  Shake- 
spearean play.  Like  many  another  singer,  Victor 
Capoul  might  have  become  forgotten  before  very 
long,  but  a  curious  circumstance,  having  nothing  to 
do  with  vocalism,  diffused  and  perpetuated  his  name. 
He  adopted  a  particular  way  of  dressing  his  hair, 
"  plastering  "  a  part  of  it  down  in  a  kind  of  semi- 
circle over  the  forehead  ;  and  the  new  style  "  catching 
on  "  among  young  Parisians,  the  "  coiffure  Capoul " 
eventually  went  round  the  world.  It  is  exemplified 
in  certain  portraits  of  King  George  V. 

In  those  war-days  Capoul  sang  the  "  Marseillaise  " 
either  at  the  Opera  Comique  or  the  Theatre  Lyrique  ; 
but  at  the  Opera  it  was  sung  by  Marie  Sass,  then  at 
the  height  of  hex  reputation.  I  came  in  touch  with 
her  a  few  years  later  when  she  was  living  in  the  Paris 
suburbs,  and  more  than  once,  when  we  both  travelled 
to  the  city  in  the  same  train,  I  had  the  honour  of 
assisting  her  to  alight  from  it — this  being  no  very 
easy  matter,  as  la  Sass  was  the  very  fattest  and 
heaviest  of  all  the  prime  donne  that  I  have  ever 
seen. 

On  the  same  day  that  MacMahon  was  defeated  at 
Worth,  Frossard  was  badly  beaten  at  Forbach,  an 
engagement  witnessed  by  my  elder  brother  Edward,* 
who,  as  I  previously  mentioned,  had  gone  to  the 
front  for  an  American  journal.  Finding  it  impossible 
to  telegraph  the  news  of  this  serious  French  reverse, 
he  contrived  to  make  his  way  to  Paris  on  a  loco- 
motive-engine, and  arrived  at  our  flat  in  the  Rue  de 
Miromesnil  looking  as  black  as  any  coal-heaver. 
When  he  had  handed  his  account  of  the  affair  to 
Ryan,  the  Paris  representative  of  the  New  York 

*  Born  January  1,  1847,  and  therefore  in  1870  in  his  twenty-fourth 
year. 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  REVOLUTION       51 

Times,  it  was  suggested  that  his  information  might 
perhaps  be  useful  to  the  French  Minister  of  War. 
So  he  hastened  to  the  Ministry,  where  the  news  he 
brought  put  a  finishing  touch  to  the  dismay  of  the 
officials,  who  were  already  staggering  under  the 
first  news  of  the  disaster  of  Worth. 

Paris,  jubilant  over  an  imaginary  victory,  was 
enraged  by  the  tidings  of  Worth  and  Forbach. 
Already  dreading  some  Revolutionary  enterprise,  the 
Government  declared  the  city  to  be  in  a  state  of 
siege,  thereby  placing  it  under  military  authority. 
Although  additional  men  had  recently  been  enrolled 
in  the  National  Guard  the  arming  of  them  had  been 
intentionally  delayed,  precisely  from  a  fear  of 
revolutionary  troubles,  which  the  entourage  of  the 
Empress-Regent  at  Saint  Cloud  feared  from  the 
very  moment  of  the  first  defeats.  I  recollect  witness- 
ing on  the  Place  Vendome  one  day  early  in  August  a 
very  tumultuous  gathering  of  National  Guards  who 
had  flocked  thither  in  order  to  demand  weapons  of 
the  Prime  Minister,  that  is,  Emile  Ollivier,  who  in 
addition  to  the  premiership,  otherwise  the  "  Presi- 
dency of  the  Council,"  held  the  offices  of  Keeper  of 
the  Seals  and  Minister  of  Justice,  this  department 
then  having  its  offices  in  one  of  the  buildings  of  the 
Place  Vendome.  Ollivier  responded  to  the  demon- 
stration by  appearing  on  the  balcony  of  his  private 
room  and  delivering  a  brief  speech,  which  embraced 
a  vague  promise  to  comply  with  the  popular  demand. 
In  point  of  fact,  however,  nothing  of  the  kind  was 
done  during  his  term  of  office. 

Whilst  writing  these  lines  I  hear  that  this  much- 
abused  statesman  has  just  passed  away  at  Saint 
Gervais-les-Bains  in  Upper  Savoy  (August  20,  1913). 
Born  at  Marseilles  in  July,  1825,  he  lived  to  complete 


52  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

his  eighty-eighth  year.  His  second  wife  (nee  Gravier), 
to  whom  I  referred  in  a  previous  chapter,  survives 
him.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  unduly  hard  on  his 
memory.  He  came,  however,  of  a  very  Republican 
family,  and  in  his  earlier  years  he  personally  evinced 
what  seemed  to  be  most  staunch  Republicanism. 
When  he  was  first  elected  as  a  member  of  the  Legis- 
lative Body  in  1857,  he  publicly  declared  that  he 
would  appear  before  that  essentially  Bonapartist 
assembly  as  one  of  the  spectres  of  the  crime  of  the 
Coup  d'Etat.  But  subsequently  M.  de  Morny  baited 
him  with  a  lucrative  appointment  connected  with 
the  Suez  Canal.  Later  still,  the  Empress  smiled  on 
him,  and  finally  he  took  office  under  the  Emperor, 
thereby  disgusting  nearly  every  one  of  his  former 
friends  and  associates. 

I  believe,  however,  that  Ollivier  was  sincerely 
convinced  of  the  possibility  of  firmly  establishing  a 
liberal-imperialist  regime.  But  although  various 
reforms  were  carried  out  under  his  auspices,  it  is 
quite  certain  that  he  was  not  allowed  a  perfectly 
free  hand.  Nor  was  he  fully  taken  into  confidence 
with  respect  to  the  Emperor's  secret  diplomatic  and 
military  policy.  That  was  proved  by  the  very 
speech  in  which  he  spoke  of  entering  upon  the  war 
with  Prussia  "  with  a  light  heart "  ;  for  in  his 
very  next  sentences  he  spoke  of  that  war  as  being 
absolutely  forced  upon  France,  and  of  himself  and 
his  colleagues  as  having  done  all  that  was  humanly 
and  honourably  possible  to  avoid  it.  Assuredly 
he  would  not  have  spoken  quite  as  he  did  had  he 
realized  at  the  time  that  Bismarck  had  merely 
forced  on  the  war  in  order  to  defeat  the  Emperor 
Napoleon's  intention  to  invade  Germany  in  the 
ensuing  spring.  The  public  provocation  on  Prussia's 


ON  THE   ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       53 

part  was,  as  I  previously  showed,  merely  her  reply 
to  the  secret  provocation  offered  by  France,  as 
evidenced  by  all  the  negotiations  with  Archduke 
Albert  on  behalf  of  Austria,  and  with  Count 
Vimercati  on  behalf  of  Italy.  On  all  those  matters 
Ollivier  was  at  the  utmost  but  very  imperfectly 
informed.  Finally,  be  it  remembered  that  he  was 
absent  from  the  Council  at  Saint  Cloud  at  which  war 
was  finally  decided  upon. 

At  a  very  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  Sunday, 
August  7 — the  day  following  Worth  and  Forbach — 
the  Empress  Eugenie  came  in  all  haste  and  sore 
distress  from  Saint  Cloud  to  the  Tuileries.  The 
position  was  very  serious,  and  anxious  conferences 
were  held  by  the  ministers.  When  the  Legislative 
Body  met  on  the  morrow,  a  number  of  deputies 
roundly  denounced  the  manner  in  which  the  military 
operations  were  being  conducted.  One  deputy,  a 
certain  Guyot-Montpeyroux,  who  was  well  known 
for  the  outspokenness  of  his  language,  horrified  the 
more  devoted  Imperialists  by  describing  the  French 
forces  as  an  army  of  lions  led  by  jackasses.  On  the 
following  day  Ollivier  and  his  colleagues  resigned 
office.  Their  position  had  become  untenable,  though 
little  if  any  responsibility  attached  to  them  respecting 
the  military  operations.  The  Minister  of  War, 
General  Dejean,  had  been  merely  a  stop-gap, 
appointed  to  carry  out  the  measures  agreed  upon 
before  his  predecessor,  Marshal  Le  Bceuf,  had  gone 
to  the  front  as  Major  General  of  the  army. 

It  was  felt,  however,  among  the  Empress's 
entourage  that  the  new  Prime  Minister  ought  to  be  a 
military  man  of  energy,  devoted,  moreover,  to  the 
Imperial  regime.  As  the  marshals  and  most  of  the 
conspicuous  generals  of  the  time  were  already 


54  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

serving  in  the  field,  it  was  difficult  to  find  any 
prominent  individual  possessed  of  the  desired  qualifi- 
cations. Finally,  however,  the  Empress  was  pre- 
vailed upon  to  telegraph  to  an  officer  whom  she 
personally  disliked,  this  being  General  Cousin- 
Montauban,  Comte  de  Palikao.  He  was  certainly, 
and  with  good  reason,  devoted  to  the  Empire,  and 
in  the  past  he  had  undoubtedly  proved  himself  to  be 
a  man  of  energy.  But  he  was  at  this  date  in  his 
seventy-fifth  year — a  fact  often  overlooked  by 
historians  of  the  Franco-German  war — and  for  that 
very  reason,  although  he  had  solicited  a  command 
in  the  field  at  the  first  outbreak  of  hostilities,  it 
had  been  decided  to  decline  his  application,  and  to 
leave  him  at  Lyons,  where  he  had  commanded  the 
garrison  for  five  years  past. 

Thirty  years  of  Palikao's  life  had  been  spent  in 
Algeria,  contending,  during  most  of  that  time, 
against  the  Arabs ;  but  in  1860  he  had  been  appointed 
commander  of  the  French  expedition  to  China,  where 
with  a  small  force  he  had  conducted  hostilities 
with  the  greatest  vigour,  repeatedly  decimating  or 
scattering  the  hordes  of  Chinamen  who  were  opposed 
to  him,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  English, 
victoriously  taking  Pekin.  A  kind  of  stain  rested 
on  the  expedition  by  reason  of  the  looting  of  the 
Chinese  Emperor's  summer-palace,  but  the  entire 
responsibility  of  that  affair  could  not  be  cast  on  the 
French  commander,  as  he  only  continued  and 
completed  what  the  English  began.  On  his  return 
to  France,  Napoleon  III  created  him  Comte  de 
Palikao  (the  name  being  taken  from  one  of  his 
Chinese  victories),  and  in  addition  wished  the  Legis- 
lative Body  to  grant  him  a  dotation.  However,  the 
summer-palace  looting  scandal  prevented  this,  much 


ON  THE  KOAD  TO   REVOLUTION       55 

to  the  Emperor's  annoyance,  and  subsequent  to  the 
fall  of  the  Empire  it  was  discovered  that,  by 
Napoleon's  express  orders,  the  War  Ministry  had 
paid  Palikao  a  sum  of  about  £60,000,  diverting  that 
amount  of  money  (in  accordance  with  the  practices 
of  the  time)  from  the  purpose  originally  assigned  to 
it  in  the  Estimates. 

This  was  not  generally  known  when  Palikao 
became  Chief  Minister.  He  was  then  what  might 
be  called  a  very  well  preserved  old  officer,  but  his 
lungs  had  been  somewhat  affected  by  a  bullet- 
wound  of  long  standing,  and  this  he  more  than  once 
gave  as  a  reason  for  replying  with  the  greatest  brevity 
to  interpellations  in  the  Chamber.  Moreover,  as 
matters  went  from  bad  to  worse,  this  same  lung 
trouble  became  a  good  excuse  for  preserving  absolute 
silence  on  certain  inconvenient  occasions.  When, 
however,  Palikao  was  willing  to  speak  he  often  did 
so  untruthfully,  repeatedly  adding  the  suggestio  falsi 
to  the  suppressio  veri.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he,  like 
other  fervent  partisans  of  the  dynasty,  was  afraid 
to  let  the  Parisians  know  the  true  state  of  affairs. 
Besides,  he  himself  was  often  ignorant  of  it.  He  took 
office  (he  was  the  third  War  Minister  in  fifty  days) 
without  any  knowledge  whatever  of  the  imperial 
plan  of  campaign,  or  the  steps  to  be  adopted  in  the 
event  of  further  French  reverses,  and  a  herculean 
task  lay  before  this  septuagenarian  officer,  who 
by  experience  knew  right  well  how  to  deal  with 
Arabs  and  Chinamen,  but  had  never  had  to  contend 
with  European  troops.  Nevertheless,  he  displayed 
zeal  and  activity  in  his  new  semi-political  and  semi- 
military  position.  He  greatly  assisted  MacMahon 
to  reconstitute  his  army  at  Chalons,  he  planned  the 
organization  of  three  more  army  corps,  and  he 


56  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

started  on  the  work  of  placing  Paris  in  a  state  of 
defence,  whilst  his  colleague,  Clement  Duvernois,  the 
new  Minister  of  Commerce,  began  gathering  flocks  and 
herds  together,  in  order  that  the  city,  if  besieged, 
might  have  the  necessary  means  of  subsistence. 

At  this  time  there  were  quite  a  number  of  English 
"  war  "  as  well  as  "  own  "  correspondents  in  Paris. 
The  former  had  mostly  returned  from  Metz,  whither 
they  had  repaired  at  the  time  of  the  Emperor's 
departure  for  the  front.  At  the  outset  it  had  seemed 
as  though  the  French  would  allow  foreign  journalists 
to  accompany  them  on  their  "  promenade  to  Berlin," 
but,  on  reverses  setting  in,  all  official  recognition  was 
denied  to  newspaper  men,  and,  moreover,  some  of 
the  representatives  of  the  London  Press  had  a  very 
unpleasant  time  at  Metz,  being  arrested  there  as 
spies  and  subjected  to  divers  indignities.  I  do  not 
remember  whether  they  were  ordered  back  to  Paris 
or  whether  they  voluntarily  withdrew  to  the  capital 
on  their  position  with  the  army  becoming  untenable ; 
but  in  any  case  they  arrived  in  the  city  and  lingered 
there  for  a  time,  holding  daily  symposiums  at  the 
Grand  Cafe  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  Scribe,  on  the 
Boulevards. 

From  time  to  time  I  went  there  with  my  father, 
and  amongst  this  galaxy  of  journalistic  talent  I  met 
certain  men  with  whom  I  had  spoken  in  my  childhood. 
One  of  them,  for  instance,  was  George  Augustus 
Sala,  and  another  was  Henry  Mayhew,  the  famous 
author  of  "  London  Labour  and  the  London  Poor," 
he  being  accompanied  by  his  son  Athol.  Looking 
back,  it  seems  to  me  that,  in  spite  of  all  their  brilliant 
gifts,  neither  Sala  nor  Henry  Mayhew  was  fitted 
to  be  a  correspondent  in  the  field,  and  they  were 
certainly  much  better  placed  in  Paris  than  at  the 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       57 

headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Rhine.  Among 
the  resident  correspondents  who  attended  the  gather- 
ings at  the  Grand  Cafe  were  Captain  Bingham, 
Blanchard  (son  of  Douglas)  Jerrold,  and  the  jaunty 
Bower,  who  had  once  been  tried  for  his  life  and 
acquitted  by  virtue  of  the  "  unwritten  law "  in 
connection  with  an  affaire  passionelle  in  which  he 
was  the  aggrieved  party.  For  more  than  forty  years 
past,  whenever  I  have  seen  a  bluff  looking  elderly 
gentleman  sporting  a  buff-waistcoat  and  a  white- 
spotted  blue  necktie,  I  have  instinctively  thought  of 
Bower,  who  wore  such  a  waistcoat  and  such  a 
necktie,  with  the  glossiest  of  silk  hats  and  most 
shapely  of  patent-leather  boots,  throughout  the 
siege  of  Paris,  when  he  was  fond  of  dilating  on  the 
merits  of  boiled  ostrich  and  stewed  elephant's  foot, 
of  which  expensive  dainties  he  partook  at  his  club, 
after  the  inmates  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  had  been 
slaughtered. 

Bower  represented  the  Morning  Advertiser. 
I  do  not  remember  seeing  Bowes  of  the  Standard  at 
the  gatherings  I  have  referred  to,  or  Crawford  of 
the  Daily  News,  who  so  long  wrote  his  Paris  letters 
at  a  little  cafe  fronting  the  Bourse.  But  it  was 
certainly  at  the  Grand  Cafe  that  I  first  set  eyes  on 
Labouchere,  who,  like  Sala,  was  installed  at  the 
neighbouring  Grand  Hotel,  and  was  soon  to  become 
famous  as  the  Daily  News'  "  Besieged  Resident." 
As  for  Mr.  Thomas  Gibson  Bowles,  who  represented 
the  Morning  Post  during  the  German  Siege,  I  first 
set  eyes  on  him  at  the  British  Embassy,  when  he  had 
a  beautiful  little  moustache  (which  I  greatly  envied) 
and  wore  his  hair  nicely  parted  down  the  middle. 
Eheu  !  fugaces  Idbuntur  anni. 

Sala  was  the  life  and  soul  of  those  gatherings  at 


58  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

the  Grand  Cafe,  always  exuberantly  gay,  unless 
indeed  the  conversation  turned  on  the  prospects  of 
the  French  forces,  when  he  railed  at  them  without 
ceasing.  Blanchard  Jerrold,  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  spy  system  of  the  Empire,  repeatedly 
warned  Sala  to  be  cautious — but  in  vain ;  and  the 
eventual  result  of  his  outspokenness  was  a  very  un- 
pleasant adventure  on  the  eve  of  the  Empire's  fall. 
In  the  presence  of  all  those  distinguished  men  of  the 
pen,  I  myself  mostly  preserved,  as  befitted  my  age, 
a  very  discreet  silence,  listening  intently,  but  seldom 
opening  my  lips  unless  it  were  to  accept  or  refuse 
another  cup  of  coffee,  or  some  sirop  de  groseille  or 
grenadine.  I  never  touched  any  intoxicant  excepting 
claret  at  my  meals,  and  though,  in  my  Eastbourne 
days,  I  had,  like  most  boys  of  my  time,  experimented 
with  a  clay  pipe  and  some  dark  shag,  I  did  not  smoke. 
My  father  personally  was  extremely  fond  of  cigars, 
but  had  he  caught  me  smoking  one,  he  would,  I 
believe,  have  knocked  me  down. 

In  connection  with  those  Grand  Cafe  gatherings 
I  one  day  had  a  little  adventure.  It  had  been 
arranged  that  I  should  meet  my  father  there,  and 
turning  into  the  Boulevards  from  the  Madeleine 
I  went  slowly  past  what  was  then  called  the  Hue 
Basse  du  Rempart.  I  was  thinking  of  something  or 
other — I  do  not  remember  what,  but  in  any  case 
I  was  absorbed  in  thought,  and  inadvertently  I 
dogged  the  footsteps  of  two  black-coated  gentlemen 
who  were  deep  in  conversation.  I  was  almost  un- 
conscious of  their  presence,  and  in  any  case  I  did 
not  hear  a  word  of  what  they  were  saying.  But  all 
at  once  one  of  them  turned  round,  and  said  to  me 
angrily  :  "  Veux-tu  bien  t'en  aller,  petit  espion  !  " 
otherwise :  "Be  oif,  little  spy  !  "  I  woke  up  as  it 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       59 

were,  looked  at  him,  and  to  my  amazement  recog- 
nized Gambetta,  whom  I  had  seen  several  times 
already,  when  I  was  with  my  mentor  Brossard  at 
either  the  Cafe  de  Suede  or  the  Cafe  de  Madrid.  At 
the  same  time,  however,  his  companion  also  turned 
round,  and  proved  to  be  Jules  Simon,  who  knew  me 
through  a  son  of  his.  This  was  fortunate,  for  he 
immediately  exclaimed  :  "  Why,  no  !  It  is  young 
Vizetelly,  a  friend  of  my  son's,"  adding,  "  Did  you 
wish  to  speak  to  me  ?  v 

I  replied  in  the  negative,  saying  that  I  had  not 
even  recognized  him  from  behind,  and  trying  to 
explain  that  it  was  purely  by  chance  that  I  had  been 
following  him  and  M.  Gambetta.  "  You  know  me, 
then  ?  "  exclaimed  the  future  dictator  somewhat 
sharply ;  whereupon  I  mentioned  that  he  had  been 
pointed  out  to  me  more  than  once,  notably  when  he 
was  in  the  company  of  M.  Delescluze.  "  Ah,  oui, 
fort  bien,"  he  answered.  "  I  am  sorry  if  I  spoke  as 
I  did.  But  " — and  here  he  turned  to  Simon — "  one 
never  knows,  one  can  never  take  too  many  pre- 
cautions. The  Spaniard  would  willingly  send  both 
of  us  to  Mazas."  By  "the  Spaniard,"  of  course, 
he  meant  the  Empress  Eugenie,  just  as  people  meant 
Marie- Antoinette  when  they  referred  to  "  the 
Austrian  "  during  the  first  Revolution.  That  ended 
the  affair.  They  both  shook  hands  with  me,  I  raised 
my  hat,  and  hurried  on  to  the  Grand  Cafe,  leaving 
them  to  their  private  conversation.  This  was  the 
first  time  that  I  ever  exchanged  words  with  Gambetta. 
The  incident  must  have  occurred  just  after  his 
return  from  Switzerland,  whither  he  had  repaired  fully 
anticipating  the  triumph  of  the  French  arms,  return- 
ing, however,  directly  he  heard  of  the  first  disasters. 
Simon  and  he  were  naturally  drawn  together  by 


60  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

their  opposition  to  the  Empire,  but  they  were  men 
of  very  different  characters,  and  some  six  months 
later  they  were  at  daggers  drawn. 

Events  moved  rapidly  during  Palikao's  ministry. 
Reviving  a  former  proposition  of  Jules  Favre's, 
Gambetta  proposed  to  the  Legislative  Body  the 
formation  of  a  Committee  of  National  Defence,  and 
one  was  ultimately  appointed  ;  but  the  only  member 
of  the  Opposition  included  in  it  was  Thiers.  In  the 
middle  of  August  there  were  some  revolutionary 
disturbances  at  La  Villette.  Then,  after  the  famous 
conference  at  Chalons,  where  Rouher,  Prince  Napoleon, 
and  others  discussed  the  situation  with  the  Emperor 
and  MacMahon,  Trochu  was  appointed  Military 
Governor  of  Paris,  where  he  soon  found  himself  at 
loggerheads  with  Palikao.  Meantime,  the  French 
under  Bazaine,  to  whom  the  Emperor  was  obliged  to 
relinquish  the  supreme  command — the  Opposition 
deputies  particularly  insisting  on  Bazaine's  appoint- 
ment in  his  stead — were  experiencing  reverse  after 
reverse.  The  battle  of  Courcelles  or  Pange,  on 
August  14,  was  followed  two  days  later  by  that  of 
Vionville  or  Mars-la-Tour,  and,  after  yet  another 
two  days,  came  the  great  struggle  of  Gravelotte, 
and  Bazaine  was  thrown  back  on  Metz. 

At  the  Chalons  conference  it  had  been  decided 
that  the  Emperor  should  return  to  Paris  and  that 
MacMahon's  army  also  should  retreat  towards  the 
capital.  But  Palikao  telegraphed  to  Napoleon : 
"  If  you  abandon  Bazaine  there  will  be  Revolution 
in  Paris,  and  you  yourself  will  be  attacked  by  all 
the  enemy's  forces.  Paris  will  defend  herself  from 
all  assault  from  outside.  The  fortifications  are 
completed."  It  has  been  argued  that  the  plan  to 
save  Bazaine  might  have  succeeded  had  it  been 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  REVOLUTION       61 

immediately  carried  into  effect,  and  in  accordance, 
too,  with  Palikao's  ideas ;  but  the  original  scheme 
was  modified,  delay  ensued,  and  the  French  were 
outmarched  by  the  Germans,  who  came  up  with 
them  at  Sedan.  As  for  Palikao's  statement  that 
the  Paris  fortifications  were  completed  at  the  time 
when  he  despatched  his  telegram,  that  was  absolutely 
untrue.  The  armament  of  the  outlying  forts  had 
scarcely  begun,  and  not  a  single  gun  was  in  position 
on  any  one  of  the  ninety-five  bastions  of  the  ramparts. 
On  the  other  hand,  Palikao  was  certainly  doing  all 
he  could  for  the  city.  He  had  formed  the  afore- 
mentioned Committee  of  Defence,  and  under  his 
auspices  the  fosse  or  ditch  in  front  of  the  ramparts 
was  carried  across  the  sixty-nine  roads  leading  into 
Paris,  whilst  drawbridges  were  installed  on  all  these 
points,  with  armed  lunettes  in  front  of  them.  Again, 
redoubts  were  thrown  up  in  advance  of  some  of  the 
outlying  forts,  or  on  spots  where  breaks  occurred 
in  the  chain  of  defensive  works. 

At  the  same  time,  ships'  guns  were  ordered  up 
from  Cherbourg,  Brest,  Lorient,  and  Toulon,  together 
with  naval  gunners  to  serve  them.  Sailors,  custom- 
house officers,  and  provincial  gendarmes  were  also 
conveyed  to  Paris  in  considerable  numbers.  Gardes- 
mobiles,  francs-tireurs,  and  even  firemen  likewise 
came  from  the  provinces,  whilst  the  work  of  pro- 
visioning the  city  proceeded  briskly,  the  Chamber 
never  hesitating  to  vote  all  the  money  asked  of  it. 
At  the  same  time,  whilst  there  were  many  new 
arrivals  in  Paris,  there  were  also  many  departures 
from  the  city.  The  general  fear  of  a  siege  spread 
rapidly.  Every  day  thousands  of  well-to-do  middle- 
class  folk  went  off  in  order  to  place  themselves  out 
of  harm's  way  ;  and  at  the  same  time  thousands  of 


62  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

foreigners  were  expelled  on  the  ground  that,  in  the 
event  of  a  siege  occurring,  they  would  merely  be 
"  useless  mouths."  In  contrast  with  that  exodus 
was  the  great  inrush  of  people  from  the  suburbs  of 
Paris.  They  poured  into  the  city  unceasingly,  from 
villas,  cottages,  and  farms,  employing  every  variety 
of  vehicle  to  convey  their  furniture  and  other  house- 
hold goods,  their  corn,  flour,  wine,  and  other  produce. 
There  was  a  block  at  virtually  every  city  gate,  so 
many  were  the  folk  eager  for  shelter  within  the 
protecting  ramparts  raised  at  the  instigation  of 
Thiers  some  thirty  years  previously. 

In  point  of  fact,  although  the  Germans  were  not 
yet  really  marching  on  Paris — for  Bazaine's  army 
had  to  be  bottled  up,  and  MacMahon's  disposed  of, 
before  there  could  be  an  effective  advance  on  the 
French  capital — it  was  imagined  in  the  city  and  its 
outskirts  that  the  enemy  might  arrive  at  any  moment. 
The  general  alarm  was  intensified  when,  on  the  night 
of  August  21,  a  large  body  of  invalided  men,  who 
had  fought  at  Weissenburg  or  Worth,  made  their  way 
into  Paris,  looking  battle-  and  travel-stained,  some 
with  their  heads  bandaged,  others  with  their  arms 
in  slings,  and  others  limping  along  with  the  help  of 
sticks.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  by  what  aberration 
the  authorities  allowed  the  Parisians  to  obtain  that 
woeful  glimpse  of  the  misfortunes  of  France.  The 
men  in  question  ought  never  to  have  been  sent  to 
Paris  at  all.  They  might  well  have  been  cared  for 
elsewhere.  As  it  happened,  the  sorry  sight  affected 
all  who  beheld  it.  Some  were  angered  by  it,  others 
depressed,  and  others  well-nigh  terrified. 

As  a  kind  of  set-off,  however,  to  that  gloomy 
spectacle,  fresh  rumours  of  French  successes  began 
to  circulate.  There  was  a  report  that  Bazaine's 


ON  THE   ROAD   TO   REVOLUTION       63 

army  had  annihilated  the  whole  of  Prince  Frederick- 
Charles's  cavalry,  and,  in  particular,  there  was  a 
most  sensational  account  of  how  three  German  army- 
corps,  including  the  famous  white  Cuirassiers  to 
which  Bismarck  belonged,  had  been  tumbled  into 
the  "  Quarries  of  Jaumont "  and  there  absolutely 
destroyed  !  I  will  not  say  that  there  is  no  locality 
named  Jaumont,  but  I  cannot  find  any  such  place 
mentioned  in  Joanne's  elaborate  dictionary  of  the 
communes  of  France,  and  possibly  it  was  as  mythical 
as  was  the  alleged  German  disaster,  the  rumours  of 
which  momentarily  revived  the  spirits  of  the  deluded 
Parisians,  who  were  particularly  pleased  to  think 
that  the  hated  Bismarck's  regiment  had  been 
annihilated. 

On  or  about  August  30,  a  friend  of  my  eldest 
brother  Adrian,  a  medical  man  named  Blewitt, 
arrived  in  Paris  with  the  object  of  joining  an  Anglo- 
American  ambulance  which  was  being  formed  in 
connection  with  the  Red  Cross  Society.  Dr.  Blewitt 
spoke  a  little  French,  but  he  was  not  well  acquainted 
with  the  city,  and  I  was  deputed  to  assist  him  whilst 
he  remained  there.  An  interesting  account  of  the 
doings  of  the  ambulance  in  question  was  written 
some  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  ago  by  Dr.  Charles 
Edward  Ryan,  of  Glenlara,  Tipperary,  who  belonged 
to  it.  Its  head  men  were  Dr.  Marion-Sims  and 
Dr.  Frank,  others  being  Dr.  Ryan,  as  already 
mentioned,  and  Drs.  Blewitt,  Webb,  May,  Nicholl, 
Hay  den,  Howett,  Tilghmann,  and  last  but  not  least, 
the  future  Sir  William  MacCormack.  Dr.  Blewitt 
had  a  variety  of  business  to  transact  with  the  officials 
of  the  French  Red  Cross  Society,  and  I  was  with  him 
at  his  interviews  with  its  venerable-looking  President, 
the  Count  de  Flavigny,  and  others.  It  is  of  interest 


64  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

to  recall  that  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  society's 
only  means  was  an  income  of  £5  6s.  3d.,  but  that 
by  August  28  its  receipts  had  risen  to  nearly  £112,000. 
By  October  it  had  expended  more  than  £100,000  in 
organizing  thirty-two  field  ambulances.  Its  total 
outlay  during  the  war  exceeded  half  a  million  sterling, 
and  in  its  various  field,  town,  and  village  ambulances 
no  fewer  than  110,000  men  were  succoured  and 
nursed. 

In  Paris  the  society's  headquarters  were  estab- 
lished at  the  Palace  de  1'Industrie  in  the  Champs 
Elysees,  and  among  the  members  of  its  principal 
committee  were  several  ladies  of  high  rank.  I  well 
remember  seeing  there  that  great  leader  of  fashion, 
the  Marquise  de  Galliffet,  whose  elaborate  ball  gowns 
I  had  more  than  once  admired  at  Worth's,  but  who, 
now  that  misfortune  had  fallen  upon  France,  was, 
like  all  her  friends,  very  plainly  garbed  in  black.  At 
the  Palais  de  1'Industrie  I  also  found  Mme.  de 
MacMahon,  short  and  plump,  but  full  of  dignity  and 
energy,  as  became  a  daughter  of  the  Castries.  I 
remember  a  brief  address  which  she  delivered  to  the 
Anglo-American  Ambulance  on  the  day  when  it 
quitted  Paris,  and  in  which  she  thanked  its  members 
for  their  courage  and  devotion  in  coming  forward, 
and  expressed  her  confidence,  and  that  of  all  her 
friends,  in  the  kindly  services  which  they  would 
undoubtedly  bestow  upon  every  sufferer  who  came 
under  their  care. 

I  accompanied  the  ambulance  on  its  march 
through  Paris  to  the  Eastern  Railway  Station.  When 
it  was  drawn  up  outside  the  Palais  de  1'Industrie, 
Count  de  Flavigny  in  his  turn  made  a  short  but 
feeling  speech,  and  immediately  afterwards  the 
cortege  started.  At  the  head  of  it  were  three  young 


ON  THE  ROAD   TO  REVOLUTION       65 

ladies,  the  daughters  of  Dr.  Marion-Sims,  who  carried 
respectively  the  flags  of  France,  England,  and  the 
United  States.  Then  came  the  chief  surgeons,  the 
assistant-surgeons,  the  dressers  and  male  nurses, 
with  some  waggons  of  stores  bringing  up  the  rear. 
I  walked,  I  remember,  between  Dr.  Blewitt  and  Dr. 
May.  On  either  side  of  the  procession  were  members 
of  the  Red  Cross  Society,  carrying  sticks  or  poles 
tipped  with  collection  bags,  into  which  money 
speedily  began  to  rain.  We  crossed  the  Place  de 
la  Concorde,  turned  up  the  Rue  Royale,  and  then 
followed  the  main  Boulevards  as  far,  I  think,  as  the 
Boulevard  de  Strasbourg.  There  were  crowds  of 
people  on  either  hand,  and  our  progress  was  neces- 
sarily slow,  as  it  was  desired  to  give  the  onlookers 
full  time  to  deposit  their  offerings  in  the  collection- 
bags.  From  the  Cercle  Imperial  at  the  corner  of 
the  Champs  Ely  sees,  from  the  Jockey  Club,  the  Turf 
Club,  the  Union,  the  Chemins-de-Fer,  the  Ganaches, 
and  other  clubs  on  or  adjacent  to  the  Boulevards, 
came  servants,  often  in  liveries,  bearing  with  them 
both  bank-notes  and  gold.  Everybody  seemed 
anxious  to  give  something,  and  an  official  of  the 
society  afterwards  told  me  that  the  collection  had 
proved  the  largest  it  had  ever  made.  There  was  also 
great  enthusiasm  all  along  the  line  of  route,  cries  of 
"  Vivent  les  Anglais  !  Vivent  les  Americains  ! ': 
resounding  upon  every  side. 

The  train  by  which  the  ambulance  quitted  Paris 
did  not  start  until  a  very  late  hour  in  the  evening. 
Prior  to  its  departure  most  of  us  dined  at  a  restaurant 
near  the  railway-station.  No  little  champagne  was 
consumed  at  this  repast,  and,  unaccustomed  as  I  was 
to  the  sparkling  wine  of  the  Marne,  it  got,  I  fear, 
slightly  into  my  head.  However,  my  services  as 

F 


66  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

interpreter  were  requisitioned  more  than  once  by 
some  members  of  the  ambulance  in  connection  with 
certain  inquiries  which  they  wished  to  make  of  the 
railway  officials ;  and  I  recollect  that  when  some 
question  arose  of  going  in  and  out  of  the  station,  and 
reaching  the  platform  again  without  let  or  hindrance 
—the  departure  of  the  train  being  long  delayed — the 
sous-chef  de  gare  made  me  a  most  courteous  bow,  and 
responded :  "A  vous,  messieurs,  tout  est  permis. 
There  are  no  regulations  for  you  !  ':  At  last  the 
train  started,  proceeding  on  its  way  to  Soissons, 
where  it  arrived  at  daybreak  on  August  29,  the 
ambulance  then  hastening  to  join  MacMahon,  and 
reaching  him  just  in  time  to  be  of  good  service  at 
Sedan.  I  will  only  add  here  that  my  friend  Dr. 
Blewitt  was  with  Dr.  Frank  at  Balan  and  Bazeilles, 
where  the  slaughter  was  so  terrible.  The  rest  of  the 
ambulance's  dramatic  story  must  be  read  in  Dr. 
Ryan's  deeply  interesting  pages. 

Whilst  the  Parisians  were  being  beguiled  with 
stories  of  how  the  Prince  of  Saxe-Meiningen  had 
written  to  his  wife  telling  her  that  the  German  troops 
were  suffering  terribly  from  sore  feet,  the  said  troops 
were  in  point  of  fact  lustily  outmarching  MacMahon's 
forces.  On  August  30,  General  de  Failly  was  badly 
worsted  at  Beaumont,  and  on  the  following  day 
MacMahon  was  forced  to  move  on  Sedan.  The  first 
reports  which  reached  Paris  indicated,  as  usual,  very 
favourable  results  respecting  the  contest  there.  My 
friend  Captain  Bingham,  however,  obtained  some 
correct  information — from,  I  believe,  the  British 
Embassy — and  I  have  always  understood  that  it  was 
he  who  first  made  the  terrible  truth  known  to  one  of 
the  deputies  of  the  Opposition  party,  who  hastened 
to  convey  it  to  Thiers.  The  battle  of  Sedan  was 


ON  THE   ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       67 

fought  on  Thursday,  September  1  ;  but  it  was  only 
on  Saturday,  September  3,  that  Palikao  shadowed 
forth  the  disaster  in  the  Chamber,  stating  that 
MacMahon  had  failed  to  effect  a  junction  with 
Bazaine,  and  that,  after  alternate  reverses  and 
successes — that  is,  driving  a  part  of  the  German 
army  into  the  Meuse  ! — he  had  been  obliged  to 
retreat  on  Sedan  and  Mezieres,  some  portion  of  his 
forces,  moreover,  having  been  compelled  to  cross  the 
Belgian  frontier. 

That  tissue  of  inaccuracies,  devised  perhaps  to 
palliate  the  effect  of  the  German  telegrams  of  victory 
which  were  now  becoming  known  to  the  incredulous 
Parisians,  was  torn  to  shreds  a  few  hours  later  when 
the  Legislative  Body  assembled  for  a  night-sitting. 
Palikao  was  then  obliged  to  admit  that  the  French 
army  and  the  Emperor  Napoleon  had  surrendered 
to  the  victorious  German  force.  Jules  Favre, 
who  was  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Republican 
Opposition,  thereupon  brought  forward  a  motion  of 
dethronement,  proposing  that  the  executive  authority 
should  be  vested  in  a  parliamentary  committee.  In 
accordance  with  the  practice  of  the  Chamber,  Favre's 
motion  had  to  be  referred  to  its  bureaux,  or  ordinary 
committees,  and  thus  no  decision  was  arrived  at  that 
night,  it  being  agreed  that  the  Chamber  should  re- 
assemble on  the  morrow  at  noon. 

The  deputies  separated  at  a  very  late  hour.  My 
father  and  myself  were  among  all  the  anxious  people 
who  had  assembled  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  to 
await  the  issue  of  the  debate.  Wild  talk  was  heard 
on  every  side,  imprecations  were  levelled  at  the 
Empire,  and  it  was  already  suggested  that  the  country 
had  been  sold  to  the  foreigner.  At  last,  as  the  crowd 
became  extremely  restless,  the  authorities,  who  had 


68  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

taken  their  precautions  in  consequence  of  the 
revolutionary  spirit  which  was  abroad,  decided  to 
disperse  it.  During  the  evening  a  considerable  body 
of  mounted  Gardes  de  Paris  had  been  stationed  in  or 
near  the  Palais  de  1'Industrie,  and  now,  on  instruc- 
tions being  conveyed  to  their  commander,  they 
suddenly  cantered  down  the  Champs  Elysees  and 
cleared  the  square,  chasing  people  round  and  round 
the  fountains  and  the  seated  statues  of  the  cities  of 
France,  until  they  fled  by  way  either  of  the  quays, 
the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  or  the  Rue  Roy  ale.  The  vigour 
which  the  troops  displayed  did  not  seem  of  good 
augury  for  the  adversaries  of  the  Empire.  Without 
a  doubt  Revolution  was  already  in  the  air,  but  every- 
thing indicated  that  the  authorities  were  quite 
prepared  to  contend  with  it,  and  in  all  probability 
successfully. 

It  was  with  difficulty  that  my  father  and  myself 
contrived  to  avoid  the  troopers  and  reach  the 
Avenue  Gabriel,  whence  we  made  our  way  home. 
Meantime  there  had  been  disturbances  in  other 
parts  of  Paris.  On  the  Boulevard  Bonne  Nouvelle 
a  band  of  demonstrators  had  come  into  collision  with 
the  police,  who  had  arrested  several  of  them. 
Thus,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  the  authorities 
seemed  to  be  as  vigilant  and  as  energetic  as  ever. 
But,  without  doubt,  on  that  night  of  Saturday, 
September  3,  the  secret  Republican  associations 
were  very  active,  sending  the  mot  cTordre  from  one 
to  another  part  of  the  city,  so  that  all  might  be  ready 
for  Revolution  when  the  Legislative  Body  assembled 
on  the  morrow. 

It  was  on  this  same  last  night  of  the  Empire  that 
George  Augustus  Sala  met  with  the  very  unpleasant 
adventure  to  which  I  previously  referred.  During 


ON  THE  ROAD   TO   REVOLUTION       69 

the  evening  he  went  as  usual  to  the  Grand  Cafe,  and 
meeting  Blanchard  Jerrold  there,  he  endeavoured  to 
induce  him  to  go  to  supper  at  the  Cafe  du  Helder. 
Sala  being  in  an  even  more  talkative  mood  than 
usual,  and — now  that  he  had  heard  of  the  disaster  of 
Sedan — more  than  ever  inclined  to  express  his  con- 
tempt of  the  French  in  regard  to  military  matters, 
Jerrold  declined  the  invitation,  fearing,  as  he  after- 
wards said  to  my  father  in  my  presence,  that  some 
unpleasantness  might  well  ensue,  as  Sala,  in  spite  of 
all  remonstrances,  would  not  cease  "  gassing." 
Apropos  of  that  expression,  it  is  somewhat  amusing 
to  recall  that  Sala  at  one  time  designed  for  himself 
an  illuminated  visiting-card,  on  which  appeared  his 
initials  G.  A.  S.  in  letters  of  gold,  the  A  being  inter- 
sected by  a  gas-lamp  diffusing  many  vivid  rays  of 
light,  whilst  underneath  it  was  a  scroll  bearing  the 
appropriate  motto,  "  Dux  est  Lux." 

But,  to  return  to  my  story,  Jerrold  having  refused 
the  invitation,  Sala  repaired  alone  to  the  Cafe  du 
Helder,  an  establishment  which  in  those  imperial 
times  was  particularly  patronized  by  officers  of  the 
Paris  garrison  and  officers  from  the  provinces  on 
leave.  It  was  the  height  of  folly  for  anybody  to 
"  run  down "  the  French  army  in  such  a  place, 
unless,  indeed,  he  wished  to  have  a  number  of  duels 
on  his  hands.  It  is  true  that  on  the  night  of 
September  3,  there  may  have  been  few,  if  any, 
military  men  at  the  Helder.  Certain  it  is,  however, 
that  whilst  Sala  was  supping  in  the  principal  room 
upstairs,  he  entered  into  conversation  with  other 
people,  spoke  incautiously,  as  he  had  been  doing  for 
a  week  past,  and  on  departing  from  the  establish- 
ment was  summarily  arrested  and  conveyed  to  the 
Poste  de  Police  on  the  Boulevard  Bonne  Nouvelle. 


70  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

The  cells  there  were  already  more  or  less  crowded 
with  roughs  who  had  been  arrested  during  the 
disturbance  earlier  in  the  evening,  and  when  a 
police  official  thrust  Sala  into  their  midst,  at  the  same 
time  calling  him  a  vile  Prussian  spy,  the  patriotism 
of  the  other  prisoners  was  immediately  aroused, 
though,  for  the  most  part,  they  were  utter  scamps 
who  had  only  created  a  disturbance  for  the  purpose  of 
filling  their  pockets. 

Sala  was  subjected  not  merely  to  much  ill-treat- 
ment, but  also  to  indignities  which  only  Rabelais 
or  Zola  could  have  (in  different  ways)  adequately 
described  ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  morning  that  he 
was  able  to  communicate  with  the  manager  of  the 
Grand  Hotel,  where  he  had  his  quarters.  The 
manager  acquainted  the  British  Embassy  with  his 
predicament,  and  it  was,  I  think,  Mr.  Sheffield  who 
repaired  to  the  Prefecture  de  Police  to  obtain  an 
order  for  Sala's  liberation.  The  story  told  me  at 
the  time  was  that  Lord  Lyons's  representative  found 
matters  already  in  great  confusion  at  the  Prefecture. 
There  had  been  a  stampede  of  officials,  scarcely  any 
being  at  their  posts,  in  such  wise  that  he  made  his 
way  to  the  Prefect's  sanctum  unannounced.  There 
he  found  M.  Pietri  engaged  with  a  confidential 
acolyte  in  destroying  a  large  number  of  compromising 
papers,  emptying  boxes  and  pigeon-holes  in  swift 
succession,  and  piling  their  contents  on  an  already 
huge  fire,  which  was  stirred  incessantly  in  order  that 
it  might  burn  more  swiftly.  Pietri  only  paused  in 
his  task  in  order  to  write  an  order  for  Sala's  release, 
and  I  have  always  understood  that  this  was  the  last 
official  order  that  emanated  from  the  famous  Prefect 
of  the  Second  Empire.  It  is  true  that  he  presented 
himself  at  the  Tuileries  before  he  fled  to  Belgium, 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  REVOLUTION       71 

but  the  Empress,  as  we  know,  was  averse  from  any 
armed  conflict  with  the  population  of  Paris.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Prefecture  had  spent  its  last 
strength  during  the  night  of  September  3.  Dis- 
organized as  it  was  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  it 
could  not  have  fought  the  Revolution.  As  will 
presently  appear,  those  police  who  on  the  night  of 
the  3rd  were  chosen  to  assist  in  guarding  the 
approaches  to  the  Palais  Bourbon  on  the  morrow, 
were  quite  unable  to  do  so. 

Disorder,  indeed,  prevailed  in  many  places.  My 
father  had  recently  found  himself  in  a  dilemma  in 
regard  to  the  requirements  of  the  Illustrated  London 
News.  In  those  days  the  universal  snap-shotting 
hand-camera  was  unknown.  Every  scene  that  it 
was  desired  to  depict  in  the  paper  had  to  be 
sketched,  and  in  presence  of  all  the  defensive  prepara- 
tions which  were  being  made,  a  question  arose  as  to 
what  might  and  what  might  not  be  sketched. 
General  Trochu  was  Governor  of  Paris,  and  applica- 
tions were  made  to  him  on  the  subject.  A  reply 
came  requiring  a  reference  from  the  British  Embassy 
before  any  permission  whatever  was  granted.  In 
due  course  a  letter  was  obtained  from  the  Embassy, 
signed  not,  I  think,  by  Lord  Lyons  himself,  but  by 
one  of  the  secretaries — perhaps  Sir  Edward  Malet, 
or  Mr.  Wodehouse,  or  even  Mr.  Sheffield.  At  all 
events,  on  the  morning  of  September  4,  my  father, 
being  anxious  to  settle  the  matter,  commissioned 
me  to  take  the  Embassy  letter  to  Trochu's  quarters 
at  the  Louvre.  Here  I  found  great  confusion. 
Nobody  was  paying  the  slightest  attention  to  official 
work.  The  bureaux  were  half  deserted.  Officers 
came  and  went  incessantly,  or  gathered  in  little 
groups  in  the  passages  and  on  the  stairs,  all  of  them 


72  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

looking  extremely  upset  and  talking  anxiously  and 
excitedly  together.  I  could  find  nobody  to  attend 
to  any  business,  and  was  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  when  a 
door  opened  and  a  general  officer  in  undress  uniform 
appeared  on  the  threshold  of  a  large  and  finely 
appointed  room. 

I  immediately  recognized  Trochu's  extremely 
bald  head  and  determined  jaw,  for  since  his  nomina- 
tion as  Governor,  Paris  had  been  flooded  with 
portraits  of  him.  He  had  opened  the  door,  I  believe, 
to  look  for  an  officer,  but  on  seeing  me  standing  there 
with  a  letter  in  my  hand  he  inquired  what  I  wanted. 
I  replied  that  I  had  brought  a  letter  from  the  British 
Embassy,  and  he  may  perhaps  have  thought  that  I 
was  an  Embassy  messenger.  At  all  events,  he  took 
the  letter  from  me,  saying  curtly:  "  C'est  bien,  je 
m'en  occuperai,  revenez  cet  apres-midi."  With 
those  words  he  stepped  back  into  the  room  and  care- 
fully placed  the  letter  on  the  top  of  several  others 
which  were  neatly  disposed  on  a  side-table. 

The  incident  was  trivial  in  itself,  yet  it  afforded 
a  glimpse  of  Trochu's  character.  Here  was  the  man 
who,  in  his  earlier  years,  had  organized  the  French 
Expedition  to  the  Crimea  in  a  manner  far  superior 
to  that  in  which  our  own  had  been  organized ;  a  man 
of  method,  order,  precision,  fully  qualified  to  prepare 
the  defence  of  Paris,  though  not  to  lead  her  army  in 
the  field.  Brief  as  was  that  interview  of  mine,  I 
could  not  help  noticing  how  perfectly  calm  and  self- 
possessed  he  was,  for  his  demeanour  greatly  con- 
trasted with  the  anxious  or  excited  bearing  of  his 
subordinates.  Yet  he  had  reached  the  supreme 
crisis  of  his  life.  The  Empire  was  falling,  a  first 
offer  of  Power  had  been  made  to  him  on  the 
previous  evening ;  and  a  second  offer,  which  he 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       73 

finally  accepted,*  was  almost  imminent.  Yet  on 
that  morning  of  Revolution  he  appeared  as  cool  as 
a  cucumber. 

I  quitted  the  Louvre,  going  towards  the  Rue 
Royale,  it  having  been  arranged  with  my  father 
that  we  should  take  dejeuner  at  a  well-known  restau- 
rant there.  It  was  called  "  His  Lordship's  Larder," 
and  was  pre-eminently  an  English  house,  though  the 
landlord  bore  the  German  name  of  Weber.  He  and 
his  family  were  unhappily  suffocated  in  the  cellars  of 
their  establishment  during  one  of  the  conflagrations 
which  marked  the  Bloody  Week  of  the  Commune. 
At  the  time  when  I  met  my  father,  that  is  about 
noon,  there  was  nothing  particularly  ominous  in 
the  appearance  of  the  streets  along  which  I  myself 
passed.  It  was  a  fine  bright  Sunday,  and,  as  was 
usual  on  such  a  day,  there  were  plenty  of  people 
abroad.  Recently  enrolled  National  Guards  certainly 
predominated  among  the  men,  but  the  latter  in- 
cluded many  in  civilian  attire,  and  there  was  no  lack 
of  women  and  children.  As  for  agitation,  I  saw  no 
sign  of  it. 

As  I  was  afterwards  told,  however,  by  Delmas, 
the  landlord  of  the  Cafe  Gretry,  f  matters  were  very 
different  that  morning  on  the  Boulevards,  and 
particularly  on  the  Boulevard  Montmartre.  By  ten 

*  See  my  book,  "  Republican  France,"  p.  8. 

t  This  was  a  little  cafe  on  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens,  and  was  noted 
for  its  quietude  during  the  afternoon,  though  in  the  evening  it  was,  by 
reason  of  its  proximity  to  the  "  Petite  Bourse  "  (held  on  the  side-walk 
in  front  of  it),  invaded  by  noisy  speculators.  Captain  Bingham,  my  father, 
and  myself  long  frequented  the  Cafe  Gretry,  often  writing  our  "  Paris 
letters  "  there.  Subsequent  to  the  war,  Bingham  and  I  removed  to  the 
Cafe  Cardinal,  where,  however,  the  everlasting  rattle  of  dominoes  proved 
very  disturbing.  In  the  end,  on  that  account,  and  in  order  to  be  nearer  to  a 
club  to  which  we  both  belonged,  we  emigrated  to  the  Cafe  Napolitain.  One 
reason  for  writing  one's  copy  at  a  cafe  instead  of  at  one's  club  was  that, 
at  the  former,  one  could  at  any  moment  receive  messengers  bringing  late 
news ;  in  addition  to  which,  afternoon  newspapers  were  instantly  available. 


74  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

o'clock,  indeed,  great  crowds  had  assembled  there, 
and  the  excitement  grew  apace.  The  same  words 
were  on  all  lips :  "  Sedan — the  whole  French  army 
taken — the  wretched  Emperor's  sword  surrendered — 
unworthy  to  reign — dethrone  him  !  •"  Just  as,  in 
another  crisis  of  French  history,  men  had  climbed 
on  to  the  chairs  and  tables  in  the  garden  of  the 
Palais  Royal  to  denounce  Monsieur  and  Madame 
Veto  and  urge  the  Parisians  to  march  upon  Versailles, 
so  now  others  climbed  on  the  chairs  outside  the 
Boulevard  cafes  to  denounce  the  Empire,  and  urge 
a  march  upon  the  Palais  Bourbon,  where  the  Legis- 
lative Body  was  about  to  meet.  And  amidst  the 
general  clamour  one  cry  persistently  prevailed.  It 
was  :  "  Decheance  !  Decheance  ! — Dethronement ! 
Dethronement !  " 

At  every  moment  the  numbers  of  the  crowd  in- 
creased. New-comers  continually  arrived  from  the 
eastern  districts  by  way  of  the  Boulevards,  and  from 
the  north  by  way  of  the  Faubourg  Montmartre  and 
the  Rue  Drouot,  whilst  from  the  south — the  Quartier 
Latin  and  its  neighbourhood — contingents  made 
their  way  across  the  Pont  St.  Michel  and  the  Pont 
Notre  Dame,  and  thence,  past  the  Halles,  along  the 
Boulevard  de  Sebastopol  and  the  Rue  Montmartre. 
Why  the  Quartier  Latin  element  did  not  advance 
direct  on  the  Palais  Bourbon  from  its  own  side  of  the 
river  I  cannot  exactly  say ;  but  it  was,  I  believe, 
thought  desirable  to  join  hands,  in  the  first  instance, 
with  the  Revolutionary  elements  of  northern  Paris. 
All  this  took  place  whilst  my  father  and  myself  were 
partaking  of  our  meal.  When  we  quitted  the 
"  Larder,"  a  little  before  one  o'clock,  all  the  small 
parties  of  National  Guards  and  civilians  whom  we 
had  observed  strolling  about  at  an  earlier  hour,  had 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  REVOLUTION       75 

congregated  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  attracted 
thither  by  the  news  of  the  special  Sunday  sitting,  at 
which  the  Legislative  Body  would  undoubtedly  take 
momentous  decisions. 

It  should  be  added  that  nearly  all  the  National 
Guards  who  assembled  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde 
before  one  o'clock  were  absolutely  unarmed.  At 
that  hour,  however,  a  large  force  of  them,  equivalent 
to  a  couple  of  battalions  or  thereabouts,  came 
marching  down  the  Rue  Royale  from  the  Boulevards, 
and  these  men  (who  were  preceded  by  a  solitary 
drummer)  carried,  some  of  them,  chassepots  and 
others  fusils-a-tabatiere,  having  moreover,  in  most 
instances,  their  bayonets  fixed.  They  belonged  to 
the  north  of  Paris,  though  I  cannot  say  precisely 
to  what  particular  districts,  nor  do  I  know  exactly 
by  whose  orders  they  had  been  assembled  and 
instructed  to  march  on  the  Palais  Bourbon,  as  they 
speedily  did.  But  it  is  certain  that  all  the  fermenta- 
tion of  the  morning  and  all  that  occurred  afterwards 
was  the  outcome  of  the  night-work  of  the  secret 
Republican  Committees. 

As  the  guards  marched  on,  loud  cries  of  "  De- 
cheance !  Decheance !  "  arose  among  them,  and 
were  at  once  taken  up  by  the  spectators.  Perfect 
unanimity,  indeed,  appeared  to  prevail  on  the 
question  of  dethroning  the  Emperor.  Even  the 
soldiers  who  were  scattered  here  and  there — a  few 
Linesmen,  a  few  Zouaves,  a  few  Turcos,  some  of 
them  invalided  from  MacMahon's  forces — eagerly 
joined  in  the  universal  cry,  and  began  to  follow  the 
guards  on  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  Never, 
I  believe,  had  that  square  been  more  crowded-— not 
even  in  the  days  when  it  was  known  as  the  Place 
Louis  Quinze,  and  when  hundreds  of  people  were 


76  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

crushed  to  death  there  whilst  witnessing  a  display  of 
fireworks  in  connection  with  the  espousals  of  the 
future  Louis  XVI  and  Marie  Antoinette,  not  even 
when  it  had  become  the  Place  de  la  Revolution  and 
was  thronged  by  all  who  wished  to  witness  the 
successive  executions  of  the  last  King  and  Queen 
of  the  old  French  monarchy.  From  the  end  of  the 
Rue  Royale  to  the  bridge  conducting  across  the  Seine 
to  the  Palais  Bourbon,  from  the  gate  of  the  Tuileries 
garden  to  the  horses  of  Marly  at  the  entrance  of  the 
Champs  Elysees,  around  the  obelisk  of  Luxor,  and 
the  fountains  which  were  playing  as  usual  in  the 
bright  sunshine  which  fell  from  the  blue  sky,  along 
all  the  balustrades  connecting  the  seated  statues  of 
the  cities  of  France,  here,  there,  and  everywhere, 
indeed,  you  saw  human  heads.  And  the  clamour 
was  universal.  The  great  square  had  again  become 
one  of  Revolution,  and  yet  it  remained  one  of 
Concord  also,  for  there  was  absolute  agreement 
among  the  hundred  thousand  or  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  people  who  had  chosen  it  as  their  meeting- 
place,  an  agreement  attested  by  that  universal  and 
never-ceasing  cry  of  "  Dethronement !  " 

As  the  armed  National  Guards  debouched  from 
the  Rue  Royale,  their  solitary  drummer  plied  his 
sticks.  But  the  roll  of  the  drum  was  scarcely  heard 
in  the  general  uproar,  and  so  dense  was  the  crowd 
that  the  men  could  advance  but  very  slowly.  For  a 
while  it  took  some  minutes  to  make  only  a  few  steps. 
Meantime  the  ranks  of  the  men  were  broken  here  and 
there,  other  people  got  among  them,  and  at  last  my 
father  and  myself  were  caught  in  the  stream  and 
carried  with  it,  still  somewhat  slowly,  in  the  direction 
of  the  Pont  de  la  Concorde.  I  read  recently  that  the 
bridge  was  defended  by  mounted  men  of  the  Garde 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       77 

de  Paris  (the  forerunner  of  the  Garde  Republicaine 
of  to-day) ;  a  French  writer,  in  recalling  the  scene, 
referring  to  "  the  men's  helmets  glistening  in  the 
sunshine."  But  that  is  pure  imagination.  The 
bridge  was  defended  by  a  cordon  of  police  ranged  in 
front  of  a  large  body  of  Gendarmerie  mobile,  wearing 
the  familiar  dark  blue  white-braided  Mpis  and  the 
dark  blue  tunics  with  white  aiguillettes.  At  first,  as 
I  have  already  said,  we  advanced  but  slowly  towards 
that  defending  force ;  but,  all  at  once,  we  were  swept 
onward  by  other  men  who  had  come  from  the 
Boulevards,  in  our  wake.  A  minute  later  an  abrupt 
halt  ensued,  whereupon  it  was  only  with  great 
difficulty  that  we  were  able  to  resist  the  pressure 
from  behind. 

I  at  last  contrived  to  raise  myself  on  tiptoes. 
Our  first  ranks  had  effected  a  breach  in  those  of  the 
sergents-de-ville,  but  before  us  were  the  mounted 
gendarmes,  whose  officer  suddenly  gave  a  command 
and  drew  his  sword.  For  an  instant  I  saw  him 
plainly  :  his  face  was  intensely  pale.  But  a  sudden 
rattle  succeeded  his  command,  for  his  men  responded 
to  it  by  drawing  their  sabres,  which  flashed  ominously. 
A  minute,  perhaps  two  minutes,  elapsed,  the  pressure 
in  our  rear  still  and  ever  increasing.  I  do  not  know 
what  happened  exactly  at  the  head  of  our  column : 
the  uproar  was  greater  than  ever,  and  it  seemed  as  if, 
in  another  moment,  we  should  be  charged,  ridden 
over,  cut  down,  or  dispersed.  I  believe,  however, 
that  in  presence  of  that  great  concourse  of  people, 
in  presence  too  of  the  universal  reprobation  of  the 
Empire  which  had  brought  defeat,  invasion,  humilia- 
tion upon  France,  the  officer  commanding  the 
gendarmes  shrank  from  carrying  out  his  orders. 
There  must  have  been  a  brief  parley  with  the  leaders 


78  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

of  our  column.  In  any  case,  the  ranks  of  the 
gendarmes  suddenly  opened,  many  of  them  taking  to 
the  footways  of  the  bridge,  over  which  our  column 
swept  at  the  double-quick,  raising  exultant  shouts 
of  "  Vive  la  Republique  !  "  It  was  almost  a  race 
as  to  who  should  be  the  first  to  reach  the  Palais 
Bourbon.  Those  in  the  rear  were  ever  impelling 
the  foremost  onward,  and  there  was  no  time  to  look 
about  one.  But  in  a  rapid  vision,  as  it  were,  I  saw 
the  gendarmes  reining  in  their  horses  on  either  side 
of  us  ;  and,  here  and  there,  medals  gleamed  on  their 
dark  tunics,  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  more  than  one 
face  wore  an  angry  expression.  These  men  had 
fought  under  the  imperial  eagles,  they  had  been 
decorated  for  their  valour  in  the  Crimean,  Italian, 
and  Cochin-China  wars.  Veterans  all,  and  faithful 
servants  of  the  Empire,  they  saw  the  regime  for  which 
they  had  fought,  collapsing.  Had  their  command- 
ing officer  ordered  it,  they  might  well  have  charged  us ; 
but,  obedient  to  discipline,  they  had  opened  their 
ranks,  and  now  the  Will  of  the  People  was  sweeping 
past  them. 

None  of  our  column  had  a  particularly  threatening 
mien  ;  the  general  demeanour  was  rather  suggestive 
of  joyful  expectancy.  But,  the  bridge  once  crossed, 
there  was  a  fresh  pause  at  the  gates  shutting  off  the 
steps  of  the  Palais  Bourbon.  Here  infantry  were 
assembled,  with  their  chassepots  in  readiness. 
Another  very  brief  but  exciting  interval  ensued. 
Then  the  Linesmen  were  withdrawn,  the  gates 
swung  open,  and  everybody  rushed  up  the  steps. 
I  was  carried  hither  and  thither,  and  at  last  from 
the  portico  into  the  building,  where  I  contrived  to 
halt  beside  one  of  the  statues  in  the  "  Salle  des  Pas 
Perdus."  I  looked  for  my  father,  but  could  not  see 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       79 

him,  and  remained  wedged  in  my  corner  for  quite  a 
considerable  time.  Finally,  however,  another  rush 
of  invaders  dislodged  me,  and  I  was  swept  with  many 
others  into  the  Chamber  itself.  All  was  uproar  and 
confusion  there.  Very  few  deputies  were  present. 
The  public  galleries,  the  seats  of  the  members,  the 
hemicycle  in  front  of  the  tribune,  were  crowded  with 
National  Guards.  Some  were  standing  on  the  steno- 
graphers' table  and  on  the  ushers'  chairs  below  the 
tribune.  There  were  others  on  the  tribune  stairs. 
And  at  the  tribune  itself,  with  his  hat  on  his  head, 
stood  Gambetta,  hoarsely  shouting,  amidst  the 
general  din,  that  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  his 
dynasty  had  for  ever  ceased  to  reign.  Then,  again 
and  again,  arose  the  cry  of  "  Vive  la  Republique  !  " 
In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  however,  Gambetta  was 
lost  to  view — he  and  other  Republican  deputies 
betaking  themselves,  as  I  afterwards  learnt,  to  the 
palace  steps,  where  the  dethronement  of  the  Bona- 
partes  was  again  proclaimed.  The  invaders  of  the 
chamber  swarmed  after  them,  and  I  was  watching 
their  departure  when  I  suddenly  saw  my  father 
quietly  leaning  back  in  one  of  the  ministerial  seats — 
perhaps  that  which,  in  the  past,  had  been  occupied 
by  Billault,  Rouher,  Ollivier,  and  other  powerful 
and  prominent  men  of  the  fallen  regime. 

At  the  outset  of  the  proceedings  that  day  Palikao 
had  proposed  the  formation  of  a  Council  of  Govern- 
ment and  National  Defence  which  was  to  include 
five  members  of  the  Legislative  Body.  The  ministers 
were  to  be  appointed  by  this  Council,  and  he  was  to 
be  Lieutenant-General  of  France.  It  so  happened 
that  the  more  fervent  Imperialists  had  previously 
offered  him  a  dictatorship,  but  he  had  declined  it. 
Jules  Favre  met  the  General's  proposal  by  claiming 


80  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

priority  for  the  motion  which  he  had  submitted  at 
the  midnight  sitting,  whilst  Thiers  tried  to  bring 
about  a  compromise  by  suggesting  such  a  Committee 
as  Palikao  had  indicated,  but  placing  the  choice  of  its 
members  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Legislative 
Body,  omitting  all  reference  to  Palikao's  Lieutenancy, 
and,  further,  setting  forth  that  a  Constituent 
Assembly  should  be  convoked  as  soon  as  circum- 
stances might  permit.  The  three  proposals — Thiers', 
Favre's,  and  Palikao's — were  submitted  to  the 
bureaux,  and  whilst  these  bureaux  were  deliberating 
in  various  rooms  the  first  invasion  of  the  Chamber 
took  place  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Jules  Ferry,  who 
had  promised  Palikao  that  the  proceedings  of  the 
Legislature  should  not  be  disturbed.  When  the 
sitting  was  resumed  the  "  invaders,"  who,  at  that 
moment,  mainly  occupied  the  galleries,  would  listen 
neither  to  President  Schneider  nor  to  their  favourite 
Gambetta,  though  both  appealed  to  them  for  silence 
and  order.  Jules  Favre  alone  secured  a  few  moments' 
quietude,  during  which  he  begged  that  there  might 
be  no  violence.  Palikao  was  present,  but  did  not 
speak.*  Amidst  the  general  confusion  came  the 
second  invasion  of  the  Chamber,  when  I  was  swept 
off  my  feet  and  carried  on  to  the  floor  of  the  house. 
That  second  invasion  precipitated  events.  Even 
Gambetta  wished  the  dethronement  of  the  dynasty 
to  be  signified  by  a  formal  vote,  but  the  "  invaders  " 
would  brook  no  delay. 

Both  of  us,  my  father  and  I,  were  tired  and 
thirsty  after  our  unexpected  experiences.  Accord- 
ingly we  did  not  follow  the  crowd  back  to  the  steps 

*  Later  in  the  day,  alter  urging  Trochu  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the 
new  Government,  as  otherwise  "all  might  be  lost,"  Palikao  quitted  Paris 
for  Belgium.  He  stayed  at  Namur  during  the  remainder  of  the  war,  and 
afterwards  lived  in  retirement  at  Versailles,  where  he  died  in  January,  1878. 


ON  THE  ROAD   TO  REVOLUTION       81 

overlooking  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  but,  like  a 
good  many  other  people,  we  went  off  by  way  of  the 
Place  de  Bourgogne.  No  damage  had  been  done 
in  the  Chamber  itself,  but  as  we  quitted  the  building 
we  noticed  several  inscriptions  scrawled  upon  the 
walls.  In  some  instances  the  words  were  merely 
"  Vive  la  Republique  !  "  and  "  Mort  aux  Prussiens  !  " 
At  other  times,  however,  they  were  too  disgusting  to 
be  set  down  here.  In  or  near  the  Rue  de  Bourgogne 
we  found  a  fairly  quiet  wine-shop,  where  we  rested 
and  refreshed  ourselves  with  cannettes  of  so-called 
Biere  de  Strasbourg.  We  did  not  go  at  that  moment 
to  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  whither  a  large  part  of  the 
crowd  betook  itself  by  way  of  the  quays,  and  where 
the  Republic  was  again  proclaimed  ;  but  returned  to 
the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  where  some  thousands  of 
people  still  remained.  Everybody  was  looking  very 
animated  and  very  pleased.  Everybody  imagined 
that,  the  Empire  being  overthrown,  France  would 
soon  drive  back  the  German  invader.  All  fears  for 
the  future  seemed,  indeed,  to  have  departed. 
Universal  confidence  prevailed,  and  everybody  con- 
gratulated everybody  else.  There  was,  in  any  case, 
one  good  cause  for  congratulation  :  the  Revolution 
had  been  absolutely  bloodless — the  first  and  only 
phenomenon  of  the  kind  in  all  French  history. 

Whilst  we  were  strolling  about  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde  I  noticed  that  the  chief  gate  of  the  Tuileries 
garden  had  been  forced  open  and  damaged.  The 
gilded  eagles  which  had  decorated  it  had  been  struck 
off  and  pounded  to  pieces,  this,  it  appeared,  having 
been  chiefly  the  work  of  an  enterprising  Turco.  A 
few  days  later  Victorien  Sardou  wrote  an  interesting 
account  of  how  he  and  others  obtained  admittance, 
first  to  the  reserved  garden,  and  then  to  the  palace 

a 


82  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

itself.  On  glancing  towards  it  I  observed  that  the 
flag  which  had  still  waved  over  the  principal  pavilion 
that  morning,  had  now  disappeared.  It  had  been 
lowered  after  the  departure  of  the  Empress.  Of  the 
last  hours  which  she  spent  in  the  palace,  before  she 
quitted  it  with  Prince  Metternich  and  Count  Nigra 
to  seek  a  momentary  refuge  at  the  residence  of  her 
dentist,  Dr.  Evans,  I  have  given  a  detailed  account, 
based  on  reliable  narratives  and  documents,  in  my 
"  Court  of  the  Tuileries." 

Quitting,  at  last,  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  we 
strolled  slowly  homeward.  Some  tradespeople  in  the 
Rue  Royale  and  the  Faubourg  St.  Honore,  former  pur- 
veyors to  the  Emperor  or  the  Empress,  were  already 
hastily  removing  the  imperial  arms  from  above  their 
shops.  That  same  afternoon  and  during  the  ensuing 
Monday  and  Tuesday  every  escutcheon,  every 
initial  N,  every  crown,  every  eagle,  every  inscription 
that  recalled  the  Empire,  was  removed  or  obliterated 
in  one  or  another  manner.  George  Augustus  Sala, 
whose  recent  adventure  confined  him  to  his  room  at 
the  Grand  Hotel,  spent  most  of  his  time  in  watching 
the  men  who  removed  the  eagles,  crowns,  and  Ns 
from  the  then  unfinished  Opera-house.  Even  the 
streets  which  recalled  the  imperial  regime  were 
hastily  renamed.  The  Avenue  de  I'lmperatrice  at 
once  became  the  Avenue  du  Bois  de  Boulogne  ;  and 
the  Rue  du  Dix-Decembre  (so  called  in  memory  of 
Napoleon's  assumption  of  the  imperial  dignity)  was 
rechristened  Rue  du  Quatre  Septembre — this  being 
the  "  happy  thought  "  of  a  Zouave,  who,  mounted  on 
a  ladder,  set  the  new  name  above  the  old  one,  whilst 
the  plate  bearing  the  latter  was  struck  off  with  a 
hammer  by  a  young  workman. 

As  we  went  home   on  the  afternoon  of    that 


ON  THE  ROAD   TO  REVOLUTION       83 

memorable  Fourth,  we  noticed  that  all  the  cafes 
and  wine-shops  were  doing  a  brisk  trade.  Neither 
then  nor  during  the  evening,  however,  did  I  perceive 
much  actual  drunkenness.  It  was  rather  a  universal 
jollity,  as  though  some  great  victory  had  been  gained. 
Truth  to  tell,  the  increase  of  drunkenness  in  Paris 
was  an  effect  of  the  German  Siege  of  the  city,  when 
drink  was  so  plentiful  and  food  so  scarce. 

My  father  and  I  had  reached  the  corner  of  our 
street  when  we  witnessed  an  incident  which  I  have 
related  in  detail  in  the  first  pages  of  my  book, 
"  Republican  France."  It  was  the  arrival  of  Gambetta 
at  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  by  way  of  the  Avenue 
de  Marigny,  with  an  escort  of  red-shirted  Francs- 
tireurs  de  la  Presse.  The  future  Dictator  had  seven 
companions  with  him,  all  huddled  inside  or  on  the 
roof  of  a  four-wheel  cab,  which  was  drawn  by  two 
Breton  nags.  I  can  still  picture  him  alighting  from 
the  vehicle  and,  in  the  name  of  the  Republic,  ordering 
a  chubby  little  Linesman,  who  was  mounting  guard 
at  the  gate  of  the  Ministry,  to  have  the  said  gate 
opened  ;  and  I  can  see  the  sleek  and  elderly  concierge, 
who  had  bowed  to  many  an  Imperial  Minister,  com- 
plying with  the  said  injunction,  and  respectfully 
doffing  his  tasselled  smoking-cap  and  bending  double 
whilst  he  admitted  his  new  master.  Then  the  gate 

closed,  and  from  behind  the  finely-wrought 
ornamental  iron-work  Gambetta  briefly  addresses 
the  little  throng  which  has  recognized  him,  saying 
that  the  Empire  is  dead,  but  that  France  is  only 
wounded,  and  that  her  very  wounds  will  inflame  her 
with  fresh  courage ;  promising,  too,  that  the  whole 
nation  shall  be  armed ;  and  asking  one  and  all  to 
place  confidence  in  the  new  Government,  even  as 
the  latter  will  place  confidence  in  the  people. 


84  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

In  the  evening  I  strolled  with  my  father  to  the 
Place  de  F Hotel  de  Ville,  where  many  people  were 
congregated.  A  fairly  large  body  of  National  Guards 
was  posted  in  front  of  the  building,  most  of  whose 
windows  were  lighted  up.  The  members  of  the  New 
Government  of  National  Defence  were  deliberating 
there.  Trochu  had  become  its  President,  and  Jules 
Favre  its  Vice-President  and  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs.  Henri  Rochefort,  released  that  afternoon 
by  his  admirers  from  the  prison  of  Sainte  Pelagic, 
was  included  in  the  administration,  this  being  in  the 
main  composed  of  the  deputies  for  Paris.  Only  one 
of  the  latter,  the  cautious  Thiers,  refused  to  join 
it.  He  presided,  however,  that  same  evening  over  a 
gathering  of  some  two  hundred  members  of  the 
moribund  Legislative  Body,  which  then  made  a 
forlorn  attempt  to  retain  some  measure  of  authority, 
by  coming  to  some  agreement  with  the  new  Govern- 
ment. But  Jules  Favre  and  Jules  Simon,  who 
attended  the  meeting  on  the  latter' s  behalf,  would 
not  entertain  the  suggestion.  It  was  politely 
signified  to  the  deputies  that  their  support  in  Paris 
was  not  required,  and  that  if  they  desired  to  serve 
their  country  in  any  way,  they  had  better  betake 
themselves  to  their  former  constituencies  in  the 
provinces.  So  far  as  the  Legislative  Body  and  the 
Senate,*  also,  were  concerned,  everything  ended  in  a 
delightful  bit  of  comedy.  Not  only  were  the  doors  of 
their  respective  meeting  halls  locked,  but  they  were 
"  secured  "  with  strips  of  tape  and  seals  of  red  wax. 

*  The  Senate,  over  which  Rouher  presided,  dispersed  quietly  on  hearing 
of  the  invasion  of  the  Chamber.  The  proposal  that  it  should  adjourn 
till  more  fortunate  times  emanated  from  Rouher  himself.  A  few  cries  of 
"  Vive  1'Empereur ! "  were  raised  as  the  assembly  dispersed.  Almost 
immediately  afterwards,  however,  most  of  the  Senators,  including  Rouher, 
who  knew  that  he  was  very  obnoxious  to  the  Parisians,  quitted  the  city 
and  even  France. 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO   REVOLUTION       85 

The  awe  with  which  red  sealing-wax  inspires  French- 
men is  distinctly  a  trait  of  the  national  character. 
Had  there  been,  however,  a  real  Bonaparte  in  Paris 
at  that  time,  he  would  probably  have  cut  off  the  afore- 
said seals  with  his  sword. 

On  the  morning  of  September  5,  the  Charivari 
— otherwise  the  daily  Parisian  Punch — came  out 
with  a  cartoon  designed  to  sum  up  the  whole  period 
covered  by  the  imperial  rule.  It  depicted  France 
bound  hand  and  foot  and  placed  between  the  mouths 
of  two  cannons,  one  inscribed  "  Paris,  1851,"  and 
the  other  "  Sedan,  1870  " — those  names  and  dates 
representing  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the  Second 
Empire. 


IV 

FROM  REVOLUTION  TO   SIEGE 

The  Government  of  National  Defence — The  Army  of  Paris — The  Return 
of  Victor  Hugo — The  German  advance  on  Paris — The  National 
Guard  reviewed — Hospitable  Preparations  for  the  Germans — They 
draw  nearer  still — Departure  of  Lord  Lyons — Our  Last  Day  of 
Liberty — On  the  Fortifications — The  Bois  de  Boulogne  and  our  Live 
Stock — Mass  before  the  Statue  of  Strasbourg — Devout  Breton  Mobiles 
— Evening  on  the  Boulevards  and  in  the  Clubs — Trochu  and  Ducrot 
— The  Fight  and  Panic  of  Chatillon — The  Siege  begins. 

As  I  shall  have  occasion  in  these  pages  to  mention  a 
good  many  members  of  the  self -constituted  Govern- 
ment which  succeeded  the  Empire,  it  may  be  as  well 
for  me  to  set  down  here  their  names  and  the  offices 
they  held.  I  have  already  mentioned  that  Trochu 
was  President,  and  Jules  Favre  Vice-President,  of 
tHe  new  administration.  The  former  also  retained 
his  office  as  Governor  of  Paris,  and  at  the  same  time 
became  Generalissimo.  Favre,  for  his  part,  took 
the  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs.  With  him  and 
Trochu  were  Gambetta,  Minister  of  the  Interior; 
Jules  Simon,  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  ;  Adolphe 
Oemieux,  Minister  of  Justice ;  Ernest  Picard, 
Minister  of  Finance  ;  Jules  Ferry,  Secretary-General 
to  the  Government,  and  later  Mayor  of  Paris  ;  and 
Henri  Rochefort,  President  of  the  Committee  of 
Barricades.  Four  of  their  colleagues,  Emmanuel 
Arago,  Garnier-Pages,  Eugene  Pelletan,  and  Glais- 

86 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE         87 

Bizoin,  did  not  take  charge  of  any  particular  admin- 
istrative departments,  the  remainder  of  these  being 
allotted  to  men  whose  co-operation  was  secured. 
For  instance,  old  General  Le  Flo  became  Minister  of 
War — under  Trochu,  however,  and  not  over  him. 
Vice-Admiral  Fourichon  was  appointed  Minister  of 
Marine ;  Magnin,  an  iron-master,  became  Minister 
of  Commerce  and  Agriculture ;  Frederic  Dorian, 
another  iron-master,  took  the  department  of  Public 
Works  ;  Count  Emile  de  Keratry  acted  as  Prefect  of 
Police,  and  Etienne  Arago,  in  the  earlier  days,  as 
Mayor  of  Paris. 

The  new  Government  was  fully  installed  by 
Tuesday,  September  6.  It  had  already  issued  several 
more  or  less  stirring  proclamations,  which  were 
followed  by  a  despatch  which  Jules  Favre  addressed 
to  the  French  diplomatic  representatives  abroad. 
As  a  set-off  to  the  arrival  of  a  number  of  dejected 
travel-stained  fugitives  from  MacMahon's  army, 
whose  appearance  was  by  no  means  of  a  nature  to 
exhilarate  the  Parisians,  the  defence  was  reinforced 
by  a  large  number  of  Gardes  Mobiles,  who  poured 
into  the  city,  particularly  from  Brittany,  Trochu's 
native  province,  and  by  a  considerable  force  of 
regulars,  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery,  commanded 
by  the  veteran  General  Vinoy  (then  seventy  years  of 
age),  who  had  originally  been  despatched  to  assist 
MacMahon,  but,  having  failed  to  reach  him  before 
the  disaster  of  Sedan,  retreated  in  good  order  on  the 
capital.  At  the  time  when  the  Siege  actually  com- 
menced there  were  in  Paris  about  90,000  regulars 
(including  all  arms  and  categories),  110,000  Mobile 
Guards,  and  a  naval  contingent  of  13,500  men,  that 
is  a  force  of  213,000,  in  addition  to  the  National 
Guards,  who  were  about  280,000  in  number.  Thus, 


88  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

altogether,  nearly  half  a  million  armed  men  were 
assembled  in  Paris  for  the  purpose  of  defending  it. 
As  all  authorities  afterwards  admitted,  this  was  a 
very  great  blunder,  as  fully  100,000  regulars  and 
mobiles  might  have  been  spared  to  advantage  for 
service  in  the  provinces.  Of  course  the  National 
Guards  themselves  could  not  be  sent  away  from  the 
city,  though  they  were  often  an  encumbrance  rather 
than  a  help,  and  could  not  possibly  have  carried  on 
the  work  of  defence  had  they  been  left  to  their  own 
resources. 

Besides  troops,  so  long  as  the  railway  trains 
continued  running,  additional  military  stores  and 
supplies  of  food,  flour,  rice,  biscuits,  preserved  meats, 
rolled  day  by  day  into  Paris.  At  the  same  time, 
several  illustrious  exiles  returned  to  the  capital. 
Louis  Blanc  and  Edgar  Quinet  arrived  there,  after 
years  of  absence,  in  the  most  unostentatious  fashion, 
though  they  soon  succumbed  to  the  prevailing  mania 
of  inditing  manifestoes  and  exhortations  for  the 
benefit  of  their  fellow-countrymen.  Victor  Hugo's 
return  was  more  theatrical.  In  those  famous 
"  Chatiments  "  in  which  he  had  so  severely  flagel- 
lated the  Third  Napoleon  (after,  in  earlier  years, 
exalting  the  First  to  the  dignity  of  a  demi-god),  he 
had  vowed  to  keep  out  of  France  and  to  protest 
against  the  Empire  so  long  as  it  lasted,  penning,  in 
this  connection,  the  famous  line : 

"  Et  s'il  n'en  reste  qu'un,  je  serai  celui-U ! " 

But  now  the  Empire  had  fallen,  and  so  Hugo  returned 
in  triumph  to  Paris.  When  he  alighted  from  the 
train  which  brought  him,  he  said  to  those  who  had 
assembled  to  give  him  a  fitting  greeting,  that  he  had 
come  to  do  his  duty  in  the  hour  of  danger,  that  duty 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO   SIEGE         89 

being  to  save  Paris,  which  meant  more  than  saving 
France,  for  it  implied  saving  the  world  itself — Paris 
being  the  capital  of  civilization,  the  centre  of  man- 
kind. Naturally  enough,  those  fine  sentiments  were 
fervently  applauded  by  the  great  poet's  admirers,  and 
when  he  had  installed  himself  with  his  companions 
in  an  open  carriage,  two  or  three  thousand  people 
escorted  him  processionally  along  the  Boulevards. 
It  was  night-time,  and  the  cafes  were  crowded  and 
the  footways  covered  with  promenaders  as  the 
cortege  went  by,  the  escort  singing  now  the  "  Marseil- 
laise "  and  now  the  "  Chant  du  Depart,"  whilst  on 
every  side  shouts  of  "  Vive  Victor  Hugo  !  "  rang  out 
as  enthusiastically  as  if  the  appointed  "  Saviour  of 
Paris  "  were  indeed  actually  passing.  More  than 
once  I  saw  the  illustrious  poet  stand  up,  uncover, 
and  wave  his  hat  in  response  to  the  acclamations, 
and  I  then  particularly  noticed  the  loftiness  of  his 
forehead,  and  the  splendid  crop  of  white  hair  with 
which  it  was  crowned.  Hugo,  at  that  time  sixty- 
eight  years  old,  still  looked  vigorous,  but  it  was 
beyond  the  power  of  any  such  man  as  himself  to 
save  the  city  from  what  was  impending.  All  he 
could  do  was  to  indite  perfervid  manifestoes,  and 
subsequently,  in  "  L'Annee  terrible,"  commemorate 
the  doings  and  sufferings  of  the  time.  For  the  rest, 
he  certainly  enrolled  himself  as  a  National  Guard, 
and  I  more  than  once  caught  sight  of  him  wearing 
kepi  and  vareuse.  I  am  not  sure,  however,  whether 
he  ever  did  a  "  sentry-go." 

It  must  have  been  on  the  day  following  Victor 
Hugo's  arrival  that  I  momentarily  quitted  Paris  for 
reasons  in  which  my  youthful  but  precocious  heart 
was  deeply  concerned.  I  was  absent  for  four  days 
or  so,  and  on  returning  to  the  capital  I  was 


90  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

accompanied  by  my  stepmother,  who,  knowing  that 
my  father  intended  to  remain  in  the  city  during  the 
impending  siege,  wished  to  be  with  him  for  a  while 
before  the  investment  began.  I  recollect  that  she 
even  desired  to  remain  with  us,  though  that  was 
impossible,  as  she  had  young  children,  whom  she 
had  left  at  Saint  Servan ;  and,  besides,  as  I  one  day 
jocularly  remarked  to  her,  she  would,  by  staying  in 
Paris,  have  added  to  the  "  useless  mouths,"  whose 
numbers  the  Republican,  like  the  Imperial,  Govern- 
ment was,  with  very  indifferent  success,  striving  to 
diminish.  However,  she  only  quitted  us  at  the  last 
extremity,  departing  on  the  evening  of  September  17, 
by  the  Western  line,  which,  on  the  morrow,  the  enemy 
cut  at  Conflans,  some  fourteen  miles  from  Paris. 

Day  by  day  the  Parisians  had  received  news  of 
the  gradual  approach  of  the  German  forces.  On  the 
8th  they  heard  that  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia's 
army  was  advancing  from  Montmirail  to  Coulom- 
miers — whereupon  the  city  became  very  restless; 
whilst  on  the  9th  there  came  word  that  the  black  and 
white  pennons  of  the  ubiquitous  Uhlans  had  been 
seen  at  La  Ferte-sous-Jouarre.  That  same  day 
Thiers  quitted  Paris  on  a  mission  which  he  had  under- 
taken for  the  new  Government,  that  of  pleading  the 
cause  of  France  at  the  Courts  of  London,  St.  Peters- 
burg, Vienna,  and  Rome.  Then,  on  the  llth,  there 
were  tidings  that  Laon  had  capitulated,  though  not 
without  its  defenders  blowing  up  a  powder-magazine 
and  thereby  injuring  some  German  officers  of 
exalted  rank — for  which  reason  the  deed  was  enthusi- 
astically commended  by  the  Parisian  Press,  though  it 
would  seem  to  have  been  a  somewhat  treacherous 
one,  contrary  to  the  ordinary  usages  of  war.  On 
the  12th  some  German  scouts  reached  Meaux,  and  a 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO   SIEGE         91 

larger  force  leisurely  occupied  Melun.  The  French, 
on  their  part,  were  busy  after  a  fashion.  They 
offered  no  armed  resistance  to  the  German  advance, 
but  they  tried  to  impede  it  in  sundry  ways.  With 
the  idea  of  depriving  the  enemy  of  "  cover,"  various 
attempts  were  made  to  fire  some  of  the  woods  in 
the  vicinity  of  Paris,  whilst  in  order  to  cheat  him  of 
supplies,  stacks  and  standing  crops  were  here  and 
there  destroyed.  Then,  too,  several  railway  and 
other  bridges  were  blown  up,  including  the  railway 
bridge  at  Creil,  so  that  direct  communication  with 
Boulogne  and  Calais  ceased  on  September  12. 

The  13th  was  a  great  day  for  the  National  Guards, 
who  were  then  reviewed  by  General  Trochu.  With 
my  father  and  my  young  stepmother,  I  went  to  see 
the  sight,  which  was  in  many  respects  an  interesting 
one.  A  hundred  and  thirty-six  battalions,  or 
approximately  180,000  men,  of  the  so-called 
"  citizen  soldiery  "  were  under  arms ;  their  lines 
extending,  first,  along  the  Boulevards  from  the 
Bastille  to  the  Madeleine,  then  down  the  Rue  Royale, 
across  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  and  up  the  Champs 
Elysees  as  far  as  the  Rond  Point.  In  addition, 
100,000  men  of  the  Garde  Mobile  were  assembled 
along  the  quays  of  the  Seine  and  up  the  Champs 
Elysees  from  the  Rond  Point  to  the  Arc  de  Triomphe. 
I  have  never  since  set  eyes  on  so  large  a  force  of 
armed  men.  They  were  of  all  sorts.  Some  of  the 
Mobiles,  notably  the  Breton  ones,  who  afterwards 
gave  a  good  account  of  themselves,  looked  really 
soldierly  ;  but  the  National  Guards  were  a  strangely 
mixed  lot.  They  all  wore  kepis,  but  quite  half  of 
them  as  yet  had  no  uniforms,  and  were  attired  in 
blouses  and  trousers  of  various  hues.  Only  here  and 
there  could  one  see  a  man  of  military  bearing ;  most 


92  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

of  them  struck  happy-go-lucky  attitudes,  and  were 
quite  unable  to  keep  step  in  marching.  A  particular 
feature  of  the  display  was  the  number  of  flowers 
and  sprigs  of  evergreen  with  which  the  men  had 
decorated  the  muzzles  of  the  fusils-a-tdbatiere  which 
they  mostly  carried.  Here  and  there,  moreover, 
one  and  another  fellow  displayed  on  his  bayonet- 
point  some  coloured  caricature  of  the  ex-Emperor  or 
the  ex-Empress.  What  things  they  were,  those  in- 
numerable caricatures  of  the  months  which  followed 
the  Revolution !  Now  and  again  there  appeared 
one  which  was  really  clever,  which  embodied  a  smart, 
a  witty  idea ;  but  how  many  of  them  were  simply 
the  outcome  of  a  depraved,  a  lewd,  a  bestial  imagina- 
tion !  The  most  offensive  caricatures  of  Marie- 
Antoinette  were  as  nothing  beside  those  levelled  at 
that  unfortunate  woman,  the  Empress  Eugenie. 

Our  last  days  of  liberty  were  now  slipping  by. 
Some  of  the  poorest  folk  of  the  environs  of  Paris  were 
at  last  coming  into  the  city,  bringing  their  chattels 
with  them.  Strange  ideas,  however,  had  taken 
hold  of  some  of  the  more  simple-minded  suburban 
bourgeois.  Departing  hastily  into  the  provinces,  so 
as  to  place  their  skins  out  of  harm's  reach,  they  had 
not  troubled  to  store  their  household  goods  in  the 
city ;  but  had  left  them  in  their  coquettish  villas 
and  pavilions,  the  doors  of  which  were  barely  locked. 
The  German  soldiers  would  very  likely  occupy  the 
houses,  but  assuredly  they  would  do  no  harm  to 
them.  "  Perhaps,  however,  it  might  be  as  well  to 
propitiate  the  foreign  soldiers.  Let  us  leave  some- 
thing for  them,"  said  worthy  Monsieur  Durand  to 
Madame  Durand,  his  wife ;  "  they  will  be  hungry 
when  they  get  here,  and  if  they  find  something  ready 
for  them  they  will  be  grateful  and  do  no  damage." 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE         93 

So,  although  the  honest  Durands  carefully  barred — 
at  times  even  walled-up — their  cellars  of  choice  wines, 
they  arranged  that  plenty  of  bottles,  at  times  even 
a  cask,  of  vin  ordinaire  should  be  within  easy  access ; 
and  ham,  cheese,  sardines,  saucissons  de  Lyon,  and 
pates  de  foie  gras  were  deposited  in  the  pantry  cup- 
boards, which  were  considerately  left  unlocked  in 
order  that  the  good,  mild-mannered,  honest  Germans 
(who,  according  to  a  proclamation  issued  by  "  Unser 
Fritz"  at  an  earlier  stage  of  the  hostilities,  "made 
war  on  the  Emperor  Napoleon  and  not  on  the  French 
nation ")  might  regale  themselves  without  let  or 
hindrance.  Moreover,  the  nights  were  "  drawing  in," 
the  evenings  becoming  chilly;  so  why  not  lay  the 
fires,  and  place  matches  and  candles  in  convenient 
places  for  the  benefit  of  the  unbidden  guests  who 
would  so  soon  arrive  ?  All  those  things  being  done, 
M.  and  Mme.  Durand  departed  to  seek  the  quietude 
of  Fouilly-les-Oies,  never  dreaming  that  on  their 
return  to  Montf ermeil,  Palaiseau,  or  Sartrouville,  they 
would  find  their  salon  converted  into  a  pigstye, 
their  furniture  smashed,  and  their  clocks  and  chimney- 
ornaments  abstracted.  Of  course  the  M.  Durand 
of  to-day  knows  what  happened  to  his  respected 
parents ;  he  knows  what  to  think  of  the  good,  honest, 
considerate  German  soldiery ;  and,  if  he  can  help  it, 
he  will  not  in  any  similar  case  leave  so  much  as  a 
wooden  spoon  to  be  carried  off  to  the  Fatherland, 
and  added  as  yet  another  trophy  to  the  hundred 
thousand  French  clocks  and  the  million  French 
nick-nacks  which  are  still  preserved  there  as 
mementoes  of  the  "  grosse  Zeit." 

On  September  15,  we  heard  of  some  petty 
skirmishes  between  Uhlans  and  Francs-tireurs  in  the 
vicinity  of  Montereau  and  Melun ;  on  the  morrow 


94  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

the  enemy  captured  a  train  at  Senlis,  and  fired  on 
another  near  Chantilly,  fortunately  without  wounding 
any  of  the  passengers  ;  whilst  on  the  same  day  his 
presence  was  signalled  at  Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, 
only  ten  miles  south  of  Paris.  That  evening,  more- 
over, he  attempted  to  ford  the  Seine  at  Juvisy.  On 
the  16th  some  of  his  forces  appeared  between  Creteil 
and  Neuilly-sur-Marne,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
city,  and  only  some  five  miles  from  the  fort  of 
Vincennes.  Then  we  again  heard  of  him  on  the  south 
— of  his  presence  at  Brunoy,  Ablon,  and  Athis,  and 
of  the  pontoons  by  which  he  was  crossing  the  Seine 
at  Villeneuve  and  Choisy-le-Roi. 

Thus  the  advance  steadily  continued,  quite  un- 
checked by  force  of  arms,  save  for  just  a  few  trifling 
skirmishes  initiated  by  sundry  Francs-tireurs.  Not 
a  road,  not  a  barricade,  was  defended  by  the  authori- 
ties ;  not  once  was  the  passage  of  a  river  contested. 
Here  and  there  the  Germans  found  obstructions : 
poplars  had  been  felled  and  laid  across  a  highway, 
bridges  and  railway  tunnels  had  occasionally  been 
blown  up ;  but  all  such  impediments  to  their  advance 
were  speedily  overcome  by  the  enemy,  who  marched 
on  quietly,  feeling  alternately  puzzled  and  astonished 
at  never  being  confronted  by  any  French  forces. 
As  the  invaders  drew  nearer  to  Paris  they  found 
an  abundance  of  vegetables  and  fruit  at  their  dis- 
posal, but  most  of  the  peasantry  had  fled,  taking 
their  live  stock  with  them,  and,  as  a  German  officer 
told  me  in  after  years,  eggs,  cheese,  butter,  and  milk 
could  seldom  be  procured. 

On  the  17th  the  French  began  to  recover  from 
the  stupor  which  seemed  to  have  fallen  on  them. 
Old  General  Vinoy  crossed  the  Marne  at  Charenton 
with  some  of  his  forces,  and  a  rather  sharp  skirmish 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE         95 

ensued  in  front  of  the  village  of  Mesly.  That  same 
day  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  Ambassador,  took  his 
departure  from  Paris,  proceeding  by  devious  ways 
to  Tours,  whither,  a  couple  of  days  previously,  three 
delegates  of  the  National  Defence — two  septua- 
genarians and  one  sexagenarian,  Cremieux,  Glais- 
Bizoin,  and  Fourichon — had  repaired  in  order  to 
take  over  the  general  government  of  France.  Lord 
Lyons  had  previously  told  Jules  Favre  that  he 
intended  to  remain  in  the  capital,  but  I  believe  that 
his  decision  was  modified  by  instructions  from 
London.  With  him  went  most  of  the  Embassy 
staff,  British  interests  in  Paris  remaining  in  the 
hands  of  the  second  secretary,  Mr.  Wodehouse,  and 
the  vice-consul.  The  consul  himself  had  very 
prudently  quitted  Paris,  in  order  "  to  drink  the 
waters,"  some  time  previously.  Colonel  Claremont, 
the  military  attache,  still  remained  with  us,  but  by 
degrees,  as  the  siege  went  on,  the  Embassy  staff 
dwindled  down  to  the  concierge  and  two — or  was  it 
four  ? — sheep  browsing  on  the  lawn.  Mr.  Wode- 
house went  off  (my  father  and  myself  being  among 
those  who  accompanied  him,  as  I  shall  relate  in  a 
future  chapter)  towards  the  middle  of  November ; 
and  before  the  bombardment  began  Colonel  Clare- 
mont likewise  executed  a  strategical  retreat.  Never- 
theless— or  should  I  say  for  that  very  reason  ? — he 
was  subsequently  made  a  general  officer. 

A  day  or  two  before  Lord  Lyons  left  he  drew  up  a 
notice  warning  British  subjects  that  if  they  should 
remain  in  Paris  it  would  be  at  their  own  risk  and 
peril.  The  British  colony  was  not  then  so  large 
as  it  is  now,  nevertheless  it  was  a  considerable  one. 
A  good  many  members  of  it  undoubtedly  departed 
on  their  own  initiative.  Few,  if  any,  saw  Lord 


96  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Lyons's  notice,  for  it  was  purely  and  simply  con- 
veyed to  them  through  the  medium  of  Galignani's 
Messenger,  which,  though  it  was  patronized  by 
tourists  staying  at  the  hotels,  was  seldom  seen  by 
genuine  British  residents,  most  of  whom  read  London 
newspapers. 

The  morrow  of  Lord  Lyons's  departure,  Sunday, 
September  18,  was  our  last  day  of  liberty.  The 
weather  was  splendid,  the  temperature  as  warm  as 
that  of  June.  All  Paris  was  out  of  doors.  We  were 
not  without  women-folk  and  children.  Not  only 
were  there  the  wives  and  offspring  of  the  working- 
classes  ;  but  the  better  halves  of  many  tradespeople 
and  bourgeois  had  remained  in  the  city,  together 
with  a  good  many  ladies  of  higher  social  rank.  Thus, 
in  spite  of  all  the  departures,  "papa,  mamma,  and 
baby  "  were  still  to  be  met  in  many  directions  on 
that  last  day  preceding  the  investment.  There  were 
gay  crowds  everywhere,  on  the  Boulevards,  on  the 
squares,  along  the  quays,  and  along  the  roads  skirting 
the  ramparts.  These  last  were  the  "  great  attrac- 
tion," and  thousands  of  people  strolled  about  watch- 
ing the  work  which  was  in  progress.  Stone  casements 
were  being  roofed  with  earth,  platforms  were  being 
prepared  for  guns,  gabions  were  being  set  in  position 
at  the  embrasures,  sandbags  were  being  carried  to 
the  parapets,  stakes  were  being  pointed  for  the 
many  pieges-a-loups,  and  smooth  earthworks  were 
being  planted  with  an  infinity  of  spikes.  Some  guns 
were  already  in  position,  others,  big  naval  guns  from 
Brest  or  Cherbourg,  were  still  lying  on  the  turf. 
Meanwhile,  at  the  various  city  gates,  the  very  last 
vehicles  laden  with  furniture  and  forage  were 
arriving  from  the  suburbs.  And  up  and  down  went 
all  the  promenaders,  chatting,  laughing,  examining 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE         97 

this  and  that  work  of  defence  or  engine  of  destruction 
in  such  a  good-humoured,  light-hearted  way  that  the 
whole  chemin-de-ronde  seemed  to  be  a  vast  fair,  held 
solely  for  the  amusement  of  the  most  volatile  people 
that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

Access  to  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  was  forbidden. 
Acres  of  timber  had  already  been  felled  there,  and 
from  the  open  spaces  the  mild  September  breeze 
occasionally  wafted  the  lowing  of  cattle,  the  bleating 
of  sheep,  and  the  grunting  of  pigs.  Our  live  stock 
consisted  of  30,000  oxen,  175,000  sheep,  8,800  pigs, 
and  6,000  milch-cows.  Little  did  we  think  how  soon 
those  animals  (apart  from  the  milch-cows)  would 
be  consumed  !  Few  of  us  were  aware  that,  according 
to  Maxime  Ducamp's  great  work  on  Paris,  we  had 
hitherto  consumed,  on  an  average,  every  day  of  the 
year,  935  oxen,  4680  sheep,  570  pigs,  and  600  calves, 
to  say  nothing  of  46,000  head  of  poultry,  game,  etc., 
50  tons  of  fish,  and  670,000  eggs. 

Turning  from  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  which  had 
become  our  principal  ranch  and  sheep-walk,  one 
found  companies  of  National  Guards  learning  the 
"  goose-step "  in  the  Champs  Elysees  and  the 
Cours-la-Reine.  Regulars  were  appropriately  en- 
camped both  in  the  Avenue  de  la  Grande  Armee 
and  on  the  Champ  de  Mars.  Field-guns  and  caissons 
filled  the  Tuileries  garden,  whilst  in  the  grounds  of 
the  Luxembourg  Palace  one  again  found  cattle  and 
sheep  ;  yet  other  members  of  the  bovine  and  ovine 
species  being  installed,  singularly  enough,  almost 
cheek  by  jowl  with  the  hungry  wild  beasts  of  the 
Jardin  des  Plantes,  whose  mouths  fairly  watered 
at  the  sight  of  their  natural  prey.  If  you  followed 
the  quays  of  the  Seine  you  there  found  sightseers 
gazing  at  the  little  gunboats  and  floating  batteries 


fpl.lf .. ,  . 


98  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

on  the  water  ;  and  if  you  climbed  to  Montmartre  you 
there  came  upon  people  watching  "  The  Neptune," 
the  captive  balloon  which  Nadar,  the  aeronaut  and 
photographer,  had  already  provided  for  purposes  of 
military  observation.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak 
of  him  and  his  balloons  again. 

Among  all  that  I  myself  saw  on  that  memorable 
Sunday,  I  was  perhaps  most  struck  by  the  solemn 
celebration  of  Mass  in  front  of  the  statue  of  Strasbourg 
on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  The  capital  of  Alsace 
had  been  besieged  since  the  middle  of  August,  but 
was  still  offering  a  firm  resistance  to  the  enemy. 
Its  chief  defenders,  General  Uhrich  and  Edmond 
Valentin,  were  the  most  popular  heroes  of  the  hour. 
The  latter  had  been  appointed  Prefect  of  the  city  by 
the  Government  of  National  Defence,  and,  resolving 
to  reach  his  post  in  spite  of  the  siege  which  was  being 
actively  prosecuted,  had  disguised  himself  and  passed 
successfully  through  the  German  lines,  escaping  the 
shots  which  were  fired  at  him.  In  Paris  the  statue  of 
Strasbourg  had  become  a  place  of  pilgrimage,  a  sacred 
shrine,  as  it  were,  adorned  with  banners  and  with 
wreaths  innumerable.  Yet  I  certainly  had  not 
expected  to  see  an  altar  set  up  and  Mass  celebrated 
in  front  of  it,  as  if  it  had  been,  indeed,  a  statue  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin. 

At  this  stage  of  affairs  there  was  no  general 
hostility  to  the  Church  in  Paris.  The  bourgeoisie — 
I  speak  of  its  masculine  element — was  as  sceptical 
then  as  it  is  now,  but  it  knew  that  General  Trochu, 
in  whom  it  placed  its  trust,  was  a  practising  and 
fervent  Catholic,  and  that  in  taking  the  Presidency 
of  the  Government  he  had  made  it  one  of  his  con- 
ditions that  religion  should  be  respected.  Such 
animosity  as  was  shown  against  the  priesthood 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE         99 

emanated  from  some  of  the  public  clubs  where  the 
future  Communards  perorated.  It  was  only  as 
time  went  on,  and  the  defence  grew  more  and  more 
hopeless,  that  Trochu  himself  was  denounced  as  a 
cagot  and  a  souteneur  de  soutanes  ;  and  not  until  the 
Commune  did  the  Extremists  give  full  rein  to  their 
hatred  of  the  Church  and  its  ministers. 

In  connection  with  religion,  there  was  another 
sight  which  impressed  me  on  that  same  Sunday.  I 
was  on  the  point  of  leaving  the  Place  de  la  Concorde 
when  a  large  body  of  Mobiles  debouched  either  from 
the  Rue  Royale  or  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  and  I  noticed, 
with  some  astonishment,  that  not  only  were  they 
accompanied  by  their  chaplains,  but  that  they  bore 
aloft  several  processional  religious  banners.  They 
were  Bretons,  and  had  been  to  Mass,  I  ascertained, 
at  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires — the 
favourite  church  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  who  often 
attended  early  Mass  there — and  were  now  returning 
to  their  quarters  in  the  arches  of  the  railway  viaduct 
of  the  Point-du-Jour.  Many  people  uncovered  as 
they  thus  went  by  processionally,  carrying  on  high 
their  banners  of  the  Virgin,  she  who  is  invoked  by 
the  Catholic  soldier  as  "  Auxilium  Christianorum." 
For  a  moment  my  thoughts  strayed  back  to  Brit- 
tany, where,  during  my  holidays  the  previous  year, 
I  had  witnessed  the  "  Pardon  "  of  Guingamp. 

In  the  evening  I  went  to  the  Boulevards  with  my 
father,  and  we  afterwards  dropped  into  one  or  two 
of  the  public  clubs.  The  Boulevard  promenaders 
had  a  good  deal  to  talk  about.  General  Ambert, 
who  under  the  Empire  had  been  mayor  of  our 
arrondissement,  had  fallen  out  with  his  men,  through 
speaking  contemptuously  of  the  Republic,  and  after 
being  summarily  arrested  by  some  of  them,  had  been 


100  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

deprived  of  his  command.  Further,  the  Official 
Journal  had  published  a  circular  addressed  by 
Bismarck  to  the  German  diplomatists  abroad,  in 
which  he  stated  formally  that  if  France  desired 
peace  she  would  have  to  give  "  material  guarantees." 
That  idea,  however,  was  vigorously  pooh-poohed 
by  the  Boulevardiers,  particularly  as  rumours  of 
sudden  French  successes,  originating  nobody  knew 
how,  were  once  more  in  the  air.  Scandal,  however, 
secured  the  attention  of  many  of  the  people  seated  in 
the  cafes,  for  the  Rappel— Victor  Hugo's  organ 
— had  that  day  printed  a  letter  addressed  to 
Napoleon  III  by  his  mistress  Marguerite  Bellenger, 
who  admitted  in  it  that  she  had  deceived  her  imperial 
lover  with  respect  to  the  paternity  of  her  child. 

However,  we  went,  my  father  and  I,  from  the 
Boulevards  to  the  Folies-Bergere,  which  had  been 
turned  for  the  time  into  a  public  club,  and  there  we 
listened  awhile  to  Citizen  Lermina,  who,  taking 
Thiers's  mission  and  Bismarck's  despatch  as  his 
text,  protested  against  France  concluding  any  peace 
or  even  any  armistice  so  long  as  the  Germans  had 
not  withdrawn  across  the  frontier.  There  was  still 
no  little  talk  of  that  description.  The  old  agitator 
Auguste  Blanqui — long  confined  in  one  of  the  cages 
of  Mont  Saint-Michel,  but  now  once  more  in  Paris— 
never  wearied  of  opposing  peace  in  the  discourses 
that  he  delivered  at  his  own  particular  club,  which, 
like  the  newspaper  he  inspired,  was  called  "  La  Patrie 
en  Danger."  In  other  directions,  for  instance  at 
the  Club  du  Maine,  the  Extremists  were  alreadv 

V 

attacking  the  new  Government  for  its  delay  in 
distributing  cartridges  to  the  National  Guards,  being, 
no  doubt,  already  impatient  to  seize  authority 
themselves. 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE        101 

Whilst  other  people  were  promenading  or  perorat- 
ing, Trochu,  in  his  room  at  the  Louvre,  was  receiving 
telegram  after  telegram  informing  him  that  the 
Germans  were  now  fast  closing  round  the  city.  He 
himself,  it  appears,  had  no  idea  of  preventing  it ; 
but  at  the  urgent  suggestion  of  his  old  friend  and 
comrade  General  Ducrot,  he  had  consented  that  an 
effort  should  be  made  to  delay,  at  any  rate,  a  complete 
investment.  In  an  earlier  chapter  I  had  occasion 
to  mention  Ducrot  in  connexion  with  the  warnings 
which  Napoleon  III  received  respecting  the  military 
preparations  of  Prussia.  At  this  time,  1870,  the 
general  was  fifty-three  years  old,  and  therefore  still 
in  his  prime.  As  commander  of  a  part  of  MacMahon's 
forces  he  had  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of 
Worth,  and  when  the  Marshal  was  wounded  at  Sedan, 
it  was  he  who,  by  right  of  seniority,  at  first  assumed 
command  of  the  army,  being  afterwards  compelled, 
however,  to  relinquish  the  post  to  Wimpfen,  in 
accordance  with  an  order  from  Palikao  which 
Wimpfen  produced.  Included  at  the  capitulation, 
among  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  Germans,  Ducrot 
subsequently  escaped — the  Germans  contending  that 
he  had  broken  his  parole  in  doing  so,  though  this 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  the  case.  Immediately 
afterwards  he  repaired  to  Paris  to  place  himself  at 
Trochu's  disposal.  At  Worth  he  had  suggested 
certain  tactics  which  might  have  benefited  the  French 
army ;  at  Sedan  he  had  wished  to  make  a  supreme 
effort  to  cut  through  the  German  lines ;  and  now  in 
Paris  he  proposed  to  Trochu  a  plan  which  if  success- 
ful might,  he  thought,  retard  the  investment  and 
momentarily  cut  the  German  forces  in  halves. 

In  attempting  to  carry  out  this  scheme  (Sep- 
tember 19)  Ducrot  took  with  him  most  of  Vinoy's 


102  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

corps,  that  is  four  divisions  of  infantry,  some  cavalry, 
and  no  little  artillery,  having  indeed,  according  to 
his  own  account,  seventy-two  guns  with  him.  The 
action  was  fought  on  the  plateau  of  Chatillon  (south 
of  Paris),  where  the  French  had  been  constructing  a 
redoubt,  which  was  still,  however,  in  a  very  un- 
finished state.  At  daybreak  that  morning  all  the 
districts  of  Paris  lying  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine 
were  roused  by  the  loud  booming  of  guns.  The 
noise  was  at  times  almost  deafening,  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  French  fired  a  vast  number  of  projectiles, 
though,  assuredly,  the  number — 25,000 — given  in  a 
copy  of  the  official  report  which  I  have  before  me 
must  be  a  clerical  error.  In  any  case,  the  Germans 
replied  with  an  even  more  terrific  fire  than  that  of 
the  French,  and,  as  had  previously  happened  at 
Sedan  and  elsewhere,  the  French  ordnance  proved  to 
be  110  match  for  that  emanating  from  Krupp's 
renowned  workshops.  The  French  defeat  was,  how- 
ever, precipitated  by  a  sudden  panic  which  arose 
among  a  provisional  regiment  of  Zouaves,  who 
suddenly  turned  tail  and  fled.  Panic  is  often,  if  not 
always,  contagious,  and  so  it  proved  to  be  on  this 
occasion.  Though  some  of  the  Gardes  Mobiles, 
notably  the  Bretons  of  Ille-et-Vilaine,  fought  well, 
thanks  to  the  support  of  the  artillery  (which  is  so 
essential  in  the  case  of  untried  troops),  other  men 
weakened,  and  imitated  the  example  of  the  Zouaves. 
Ducrot  soon  realized  that  it  was  useless  to  prolong 
the  encounter,  and  after  spiking  the  guns  set  up  in 
the  Chatillon  redoubt,  he  retired  under  the  protection 
of  the  Forts  of  Vanves  and  Montrouge. 

My  father  and  I  had  hastened  to  the  southern 
side  of  Paris  as  soon  as  the  cannonade  apprised  us 
that  an  engagement  was  going  on.  Pitiful  was  the 


FROM  REVOLUTION  TO  SIEGE        103 

spectacle  presented  by  the  disbanded  soldiers  as  they 
rushed  down  the  Chaussee  du  Maine.  Many  had 
flung  away  their  weapons.  Some  went  on  dejectedly ; 
others  burst  into  wine-shops,  demanded  drink  with 
threats,  and  presently  emerged  swearing,  cursing 
and  shouting,  "  Nous  sommes  trahis  !  "  Riderless 
horses  went  by,  instinctively  following  the  men,  and 
here  and  there  one  saw  a  bewildered  and  indignant 
officer,  whose  orders  were  scouted  with  jeers.  The 
whole  scene  was  of  evil  augury  for  the  defence  of 
Paris. 

At  a  later  hour,  when  we  reached  the  Boulevards, 
we  found  the  wildest  rumours  in  circulation  there. 
Nobody  knew  exactly  what  had  happened,  but  there 
was  talk  of  20,000  French  troops  having  been 
annihilated  by  five  times  that  number  of  Germans. 
At  last  a  proclamation  emanating  from  Gambetta  was 
posted  up  and  eagerly  perused.  It  supplied  no 
details  of  the  fighting,  but  urged  the  Parisians  to  give 
way  neither  to  excitement  nor  to  despondency,  and 
reminded  them  that  a  court-martial  had  been 
instituted  to  deal  with  cowards  and  deserters.  There- 
upon the  excitement  seemed  to  subside,  and  people 
went  to  dinner.  An  hour  afterwards  the  Boulevards 
were  as  gay  as  ever,  thronged  once  more  with 
promenaders,  among  whom  were  many  officers  of  the 
Garde  Mobile  and  the  usual  regiment  of  painted 
women.  Cynicism  and  frivolity  were  once  more  the 
order  of  the  day.  But  in  the  midst  of  it  there  came 
an  unexpected  incident.  Some  of  the  National 
Guards  of  the  district  were  not  unnaturally  disgusted 
by  the  spectacle  which  the  Boulevards  presented 
only  a  few  hours  after  misfortune  had  fallen  on  the 
French  arms.  Forming,  therefore,  into  a  body, 
they  marched  along,  loudly  calling  upon  the  cafes  to 


104 


MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 


close.  Particularly  were  they  indignant  when,  on 
reaching  Brebant's  Restaurant  at  the  corner  of  the 
Faubourg  Montmartre,  they  heard  somebody  playing 
a  lively  Offenbachian  air  on  a  piano  there.  A  party 
of  heedless  viveurs  and  demoiselles  of  the  half -world 
were  enjoying  themselves  together  as  in  the  palmy 
imperial  days.  But  the  piano  was  soon  silenced, 
the  cafes  and  restaurants  were  compelled  to  close, 
and  the  Boulevardian  world  went  home  in  a  slightly 
chastened  mood.  The  Siege  of  Paris  had  begun. 


BESIEGED 

The  Surrender  of  Versailles — Captain  Johnson,  Queen's  Messenger — No 
more  Paris  Fashions  ! — Prussians  versus  Germans — Bismarck's  Hard 
Terms  for  Peace — Attempts  to  pass  through  the  German  lanes — 
Chartreuse  Verte  as  an  Explosive  ! — Tommy  Webb's  Party  and  the 
Germans — Couriers  and  Early  Balloons — Our  Arrangements  with 
Nadar — Gambetta's  Departure  and  Balloon  Journey — The  Amusing 
Verses  of  Albert  Millaud — Siege  Jokes  and  Satire — The  Spy  and  Signal 
Craze — Amazons  to  the  Rescue  ! 

IT  was  at  one  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of 
September  19  that  the  telegraph  wires  between  Paris 
and  Versailles,  the  last  which  linked  us  to  the  outside 
world,  were  suddenly  cut  by  the  enemy ;  the  town 
so  closely  associated  with  the  Grand  Monarque  and 
his  magnificence  having  then  surrendered  to  a  very 
small  force  of  Germans,  although  it  had  a  couple  of 
thousand  men — Mobile  and  National  Guards — to 
defend  it.  The  capitulation  which  was  arranged 
between  the  mayor  and  the  enemy  was  flagrantly 
violated  by  the  latter  almost  as  soon  as  it  had  been 
concluded,  this  being  only  one  of  many  such  instances 
which  occurred  during  the  war.  Versailles  was 
required  to  provide  the  invader  with  a  number  of 
oxen,  to  be  slaughtered  for  food,  numerous  casks  of 
wine,  the  purpose  of  which  was  obvious,  and  a  large 
supply  of  forage  valued  at  £12,000.  After  all,  however, 
that  was  a  mere  trifle  in  comparison  with  what  the 
present  Kaiser's  forces  would  probably  demand  on 

105 


106  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

landing  at  Hull  or  Grimsby  or  Harwich,  should  they 
some  day  do  so.  By  the  terms  of  the  surrender  of 
Versailles,  however,  the  local  National  Guards  were 
to  have  remained  armed  and  entrusted  with  the 
internal  police  of  the  town,  and,  moreover,  there 
were  to  have  been  no  further  requisitions.  But 
Bismarck  and  Moltke  pooh-poohed  all  such  stipula- 
tions, and  the  Versaillese  had  to  submit  to  many 
indignities. 

In  Paris  that  day  the  National  Defence  Govern- 
ment was  busy  in  various  ways,  first  in  imposing 
fines,  according  to  an  ascending  scale,  on  all  absentees 
who  ought  to  have  remained  in  the  city  and  taken 
their  share  of  military  duty  ;  and,  secondly,  in  decree- 
ing that  nobody  with  any  money  lodged  in  the 
Savings  Bank  should  be  entitled  to  draw  out  more 
than  fifty  francs,  otherwise  two  pounds,  leaving  the 
entire  balance  of  his  or  her  deposit  at  the  Govern- 
ment's disposal.  This  measure  provoked  no  little 
dissatisfaction.  It  was  also  on  September  19,  the 
first  day  of  the  siege,  that  the  last  diplomatic  courier 
entered  Paris.  I  well  remember  the  incident.  Whilst 
I  was  walking  along  the  Faubourg  Saint  Honore  I 
suddenly  perceived  an  open  caleche,  drawn  by  a  pair 
of  horses,  bestriding  one  of  which  was  a  postillion 
arrayed  in  the  traditional  costume — hair  a  la  Catogan, 
jacket  with  scarlet  facings,  gold-banded  hat,  huge 
boots,  and  all  the  other  appurtenances  which  one 
saw  during  long  years  on  the  stage  in  Adolphe 
Adam's  sprightly  but  "  impossible  "  opera-comique 
"  Le  Postilion  de  Longjumeau."  For  an  instant, 
indeed,  I  felt  inclined  to  hum  the  famous  refrain, 
"  Oh,  oh,  oh,  oh,  qu'il  etait  beau  " — but  many 
National  Guards  and  others  regarded  the  equipage 
with  great  suspicion,  particularly  as  it  was  occupied 


BESIEGED  107 

by  an  individual  in  semi-military  attire.  Quite  a 
number  of  people  decided  in  their  own  minds  that 
this  personage  must  be  a  Prussian  spy,  and  therefore 
desired  to  stop  his  carriage  and  march  him  off  to 
prison.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  he  was  a 
British  officer,  Captain  Johnson,  discharging  the 
duties  of  a  Queen's  Messenger ;  and  as  he  repeatedly 
nourished  a  cane  in  a  very  menacing  manner, 
and  the  door-porter  of  the  British  Embassy — a 
German,  I  believe — energetically  came  to  his  assist- 
ance, he  escaped  actual  molestation,  and  drove  in 
triumph  into  the  courtyard  of  the  ambassadorial 
mansion. 

At  this  time  a  great  shock  was  awaiting  the 
Parisians.  During  the  same  week  the  Vicomtesse  de 
Renneville  issued  an  announcement  stating  that  in 
presence  of  the  events  which  were  occurring  she  was 
constrained  to  suspend  the  publication  of  her  re- 
nowned journal  of  fashions,  La  Gazette  Rose.  This 
was  a  tragic  blow  both  for  the  Parisians  themselves 
and  for  all  the  world  beyond  them.  There  would  be 
no  more  Paris  fashions  !  To  what  despair  would  not 
millions  of  women  be  reduced  ?  How  would  they 
dress,  even  supposing  that  they  should  contrive  to 
dress  at  all  ?  The  thought  was  appalling ;  and  as 
one  and  another  great  couturier  closed  his  doors, 
Paris  began  to  realize  that  her  prestige  was  indeed 
in  jeopardy. 

A  day  or  two  after  the  investment  the  city 
became  very  restless  on  account  of  Thiers's  mission 
to  foreign  Courts  and  Jules  Favre's  visit  to  the 
German  headquarters,  it  being  reported  by  the 
extremists  that  the  Government  did  not  intend  to 
be  a  Government  of  National  Defence  but  one  of 
Capitulation.  In  reply  to  those  rumours  the 


108  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

authorities  issued  the  famous  proclamation  in  which 
they  said : 

"  The  Government's  policy  is  that  formulated  in  these  terms  : 

NOT  AN  INCH  OF  OUR  TERRITORY. 
NOT  A  STONE  OF  OUR  FORTRESSES. 

The  Government  will  maintain  it  to  the  end." 

On  the  morrow,  September  21,  Gambetta  per- 
sonally reminded  us  that  it  was  the  seventy-eighth 
anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the  first  French 
Republic,  and,  after  recalling  to  the  Parisians  what 
their  fathers  had  then  accomplished,  he  exhorted 
them  to  follow  that  illustrious  example,  and  to 
"  secure  victory  by  confronting  death."  That  same 
evening  the  clubs  decided  that  a  great  demonstration 
should  be  made  on  the  morrow  by  way  of  insisting 
that  no  treaty  should  be  discussed  until  the  Germans 
had  been  driven  out  of  France,  that  no  territory, 
fort,  vessel,  or  treasure  should  be  surrendered,  that 
all  elections  should  be  adjourned,  and  that  a  levee 
en  masse  should  be  decreed.  Jules  Favre  responded 
that  he  and  his  colleagues  personified  Defence  and 
not  Surrender,  and  Rochefort — poor  Rochefort  !— 
solemnly  promised  that  the  barricades  of  Paris 
should  be  begun  that  very  night.  That  undertaking 
mightily  pleased  the  agitators,  though  the  use  of 
the  said  barricades  was  not  apparent ;  and  the 
demonstrators  dispersed  with  the  usual  shouts  of 
"  Vive  la  Republique  !  Mort  aux  Prussiens  !  " 

In  connexion  with  that  last  cry  it  was  a  curious 
circumstance  that  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
the  war  the  French  persistently  ignored  the  presence 
of  Saxons,  Wiirtembergers,  Hessians,  Badeners,  and 
so  forth  in  the  invading  armies.  Moreover,  on  only 
one  or  two  occasions  (such  as  the  Bazeilles  episode 


BESIEGED  109 

of  the  battle  of  Sedan)  did  they  evince  any  par- 
ticular animosity  against  the  Bavarians.  I  must 
have  heard  "  Death  to  the  Prussians  !  "  shouted  at 
least  a  thousand  times ;  but  most  certainly  I  never 
once  heard  a  single  cry  of  "  Death  to  the  Germans  !  " 
Still  in  the  same  connexion,  let  me  mention  that  it 
was  in  Paris,  during  the  siege,  that  the  eminent 
naturalist  and  biologist  Quatrefages  de  Breau  wrote 
that  curious  little  book  of  his,  "La  Race  Prussienne," 
in  which  he  contended  that  the  Prussians  were  not 
Germans  at  all.  There  was  at  least  some  measure  of 
truth  in  the  views  which  he  enunciated. 

As  I  previously  indicated,  Jules  Favre,  the 
Foreign  Minister  of  the  National  Defence,  had  gone 
to  the  German  headquarters  in  order  to  discuss 
the  position  with  Prince  (then  Count)  Bismarck. 
He  met  him  twice,  first  at  the  Comte  de  Rillac's 
Chateau  de  la  Haute  Maison,  and  secondly  at  Baron 
de  Rothschild's  Chateau  de  Ferrieres — the  German 
staff  usually  installing  itself  in  the  lordly  "pleasure- 
houses  "  of  the  French  noble  or  financial  aristocracy, 
and  leaving  them  as  dirty  as  possible,  and,  naturally, 
bereft  of  their  timepieces.  Baron  Alphonse  de 
Rothschild  told  me  in  later  years  that  sixteen  clocks 
were  carried  off  from  Ferrieres  whilst  King  (after- 
wards the  Emperor)  William  and  Bismarck  were 
staying  there.  I  presume  that  they  now  decorate 
some  of  the  salons  of  the  schloss  at  Berlin,  or  possibly 
those  of  Varzin  and  Friedrichsruhe.  Bismarck  per- 
sonally had  an  inordinate  passion  for  clocks,  as  all 
who  ever  visited  his  quarters  in  the  Wilhelm- 
strasse,  when  he  was  German  Chancellor,  will 
well  remember. 

But   he   was   not   content   with   the   clocks   of 
Ferrieres.     He    told    Jules    Favre    that    if    France 


110  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

desired  peace  she  must  surrender  the  two  depart- 
ments of  the  Upper  and  the  Lower  Rhine,  a  part  of 
the  department  of  the  Moselle,  together  with  Metz, 
Chateau  Salins,  and  Soissons;  and  he  would  only 
grant  an  armistice  (to  allow  of  the  election  of  a 
French  National  Assembly  to  decide  the  question 
of  War  or  Peace)  on  condition  that  the  Germans 
should  occupy  Strasbourg,  Toul,  and  Phalsburg, 
together  with  a  fortress,  such  as  Mont  Valerien, 
commanding  the  city  of  Paris.  Such  conditions 
naturally  stiffened  the  backs  of  the  French,  and  for 
a  time  there  was  no  more  talk  of  negotiating. 

During  the  earlier  days  of  the  Siege  of  Paris  I 
came  into  contact  with  various  English  people  who, 
having  delayed  their  departure  until  it  was  too  late, 
found  themselves  shut  up  in  the  city,  and  were 
particularly  anxious  to  depart  from  it.  The  British 
Embassy  gave  them  no  help  in  the  matter.  Having 
issued  its  paltry  notice  in  Galignani's  Messenger, 
it  considered  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  it  to  do 
anything  further.  Moreover,  Great  Britain  had  not 
recognized  the  French  Republic,  so  that  the  position 
of  Mr.  Wodehouse  was  a  somewhat  difficult  one. 
However,  a  few  "  imprisoned "  Englishmen  en- 
deavoured to  escape  from  the  city  by  devices  of  their 
own.  Two  of  them  who  set  out  together,  fully 
expecting  to  get  through  the  German  lines  and 
then  reach  a  convenient  railway  station,  followed  the 
course  of  the  Seine  for  several  miles  without  being 
able  to  cross  it,  and  in  spite  of  their  waving  pocket- 
handkerchiefs  (otherwise  flags  of  truce)  and  their 
constant  shouts  of  "  English  !  Friends  !  "  and  so 
forth,  were  repeatedly  fired  at  by  both  French  and 
German  outposts.  At  last  they  reached  Rueil, 
where  the  villagers,  on  noticing  how  bad  their  French 


BESIEGED  111 

was,  took  them  to  be  Prussian  spies,  and  nearly 
lynched  them.  Fortunately,  the  local  commissary 
of  police  believed  their  story,  and  they  were  sent 
back  to  Paris  to  face  the  horseflesh  and  the  many 
other  hardships  which  they  had  particularly  desired 
to  avoid. 

I  also  remember  the  representative  of  a  Birming- 
ham small-arms  factory  telling  me  of  his  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  escape.  He  had  lingered  in  Paris  in  the 
hope  of  concluding  a  contract  with  the  new  Republi- 
can Government.  Not  having  sufficient  money  to 
charter  a  balloon,  and  the  Embassy,  as  usual  at  that 
time,  refusing  any  help  (O  shades  of  Palmerston !), 
he  set  out  as  on  a  walking-tour  with  a  knapsack 
strapped  to  his  shoulders  and  an  umbrella  in  his 
hand.  His  hope  was  to  cross  the  Seine  by  the  bridge 
of  Saint  Cloud  or  that  of  Suresnes,  but  he  failed  in 
both  attempts,  and  was  repeatedly  fired  upon  by 
vigilant  French  outposts.  After  losing  his  way  in 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  awakening  both  the  cattle  and 
the  sheep  there  in  the  course  of  his  nightly  ramble, 
he  at  last  found  one  of  the  little  huts  erected  to 
shelter  the  gardeners  and  wood-cutters,  and  remained 
there  until  daybreak,  when  he  was  able  to  take  his 
bearings  and  proceed  towards  the  Auteuil  gate  of 
the  ramparts.  As  he  did  not  wish  to  be  fired  upon 
again,  he  deemed  it  expedient  to  hoist  his  pocket 
handkerchief  at  the  end  of  his  umbrella  as  a  sign  of 
his  pacific  intentions,  and  finding  the  gate  open  and 
the  drawbridge  down,  he  attempted  to  enter  the 
city,  but  was  immediately  challenged  by  the  National 
Guards  on  duty.  These  vigilant  patriots  observed 
his  muddy  condition — the  previous  day  had  been  a 
wet  one — and  suspiciously  inquired  where  he  had 
come  from  at  that  early  hour.  His  answer  being 


112  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

given  in  broken  French  and  in  a  very  embarrassed 
manner,  he  was  at  once  regarded  as  a  Prussian  spy, 
and  dragged  off  to  the  guard-room.  There  he  was 
carefully  searched,  and  everything  in  his  pockets 
having  been  taken  from  him,  including  a  small  bottle 
which  the  sergeant  on  duty  regarded  with  grave 
suspicion,  he  was  told  that  his  after-fate  would  be 
decided  when  the  commanding  officer  of  that  par- 
ticular secteur  of  the  ramparts  made  his  rounds. 

When  this  officer  arrived  he  closely  questioned 
the  prisoner,  who  tried  to  explain  his  circumstances, 
and  protested  that  his  innocence  was  shown  by  the 
British  passport  and  other  papers  which  had  been 
taken  from  him.  "  Oh  !  papers  prove  nothing  !  " 
was  the  prompt  retort.  "  Spies  are  always  provided 
with  papers.  But,  come,  I  have  proof  that  you  are 
an  unmitigated  villain !  ':  So  saying,  the  officer 
produced  the  small  bottle  which  had  been  taken 
from  the  unfortunate  traveller,  and  added  :  "  You 
see  this  ?  You  had  it  hi  your  pocket.  Now,  don't 
attempt  to  deceive  me,  for  I  know  very  well  what  is 
the  nature  of  the  green  liquid  which  it  contains — it 
is  a  combustible  fluid  with  which  you  wanted  to  set 
fire  to  our  chevaux-de-frise  !  " 

Denials  and  protests  were  in  vain.  The  officer 
refused  to  listen  to  his  prisoner  until  the  latter  at 
last  offered  to  drink  some  of  the  terrible  fluid  in  order 
to  prove  that  it  was  not  at  all  what  it  was  supposed 
to  be.  With  a  little  difficulty  the  tight-fitting  cork 
was  removed  from  the  flask,  and  on  the  latter  being 
handed  to  the  prisoner  he  proceeded  to  imbibe  some 
of  its  contents,  the  officer,  meanwhile,  retiring  to  a 
short  distance,  as  if  he  imagined  that  the  alleged 
'*  spy  "  would  suddenly  explode.  Nothing  of  that 
kind  happened,  however.  Indeed,  the  prisoner  drank 


BESIEGED  113 

the  terrible  stuff  with  relish,  smacked  his  lips,  and 
even  prepared  to  take  a  second  draught,  when  the 
officer,  feeling  reassured,  again  drew  near  to  him  and 
expressed  his  willingness  to  sample  the  suspected 
fluid  himself.  He  did  so,  and  at  once  discovered  that 
it  was  purely  and  simply  some  authentic  Chartreuse 
verte  !  It  did  not  take  the  pair  of  them  long  to 
exhaust  this  supply  of  the  liqueur  of  St.  Bruno,  and 
as  soon  as  this  was  done,  the  prisoner  was  set  at 
liberty  with  profuse  apologies. 

Now  and  again  some  of  those  who  attempted  to 
leave  the  beleaguered  city  succeeded  in  their  attempt. 
In  one  instance  a  party  of  four  or  five  Englishmen  ran 
the  blockade  in  the  traditional  carriage  and  pair. 
They  had  been  staying  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  where 
another  seven  or  eight  visitors,  including  Labouchere, 
still  remained,  together  with  about  the  same  number 
of  servants  to  wait  upon  them ;  the  famous  cara- 
vanserai— then  undoubtedly  the  largest  in  Paris — 
being  otherwise  quite  untenanted.  The  carriage  in 
which  the  party  I  have  mentioned  took  their  de- 
parture was  driven  by  an  old  English  jockey  named 
Tommy  Webb,  who  had  been  in  France  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  and  had  ridden  the  winners  of  some  of 
the  very  first  races  started  by  the  French  Jockey 
Club.  Misfortune  had  overtaken  him,  however, 
in  his  declining  years,  and  he  had  become  a  mere 
Parisian  "  cabby."  The  party  sallied  forth  from 
the  courtyard  of  the  Grand  Hotel,  taking  with  it 
several  huge  hampers  of  provisions  and  a  quantity 
of  other  luggage ;  and  all  the  participants  in  the 
attempt  seemed  to  be  quite  confident  of  success. 
But  a  few  hours  later  they  returned  in  sore  dis- 
appointment, having  been  stopped  near  Neuilly  by 
the  French  outposts,  as  they  were  unprovided  with 

I 


114  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

any  official  laisser-passer.  A  document  of  that 
description  having  been  obtained,  however,  from 
General  Trochu  on  the  morrow,  a  second  attempt 
was  made,  and  this  time  the  party  speedily  passed 
through  the  French  lines.  But  in  trying  to  penetrate 
those  of  the  enemy,  some  melodramatic  adventures 
occurred.  It  became  necessary,  indeed,  to  dodge 
both  the  bullets  of  the  Germans  and  those  of  the 
French  Francs-tireurs,  who  paid  not  the  slightest 
respect  either  to  the  Union  Jack  or  to  the  large  white 
flag  which  were  displayed  on  either  side  of  Tommy 
Webb's  box-seat.  At  last,  after  a  variety  of  mis- 
haps, the  party  succeeded  in  parleying  with  a  German 
cavalry  officer,  and  after  they  had  addressed  a  written 
appeal  to  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  (who  was 
pleased  to  grant  it),  they  were  taken,  blindfolded,  to 
Versailles,  where  Blumenthal,  the  Crown  Prince's 
Chief  of  Staff,  asked  them  for  information  respect- 
ing the  actual  state  of  Paris,  and  then  allowed  them 
to  proceed  on  their  way. 

Captain  Johnson,  the  Queen's  Messenger  of  whom 
I  have  already  spoken,  also  contrived  to  quit  Paris 
again ;  but  the  Germans  placed  him  under  strict 
surveillance,  and  Blumenthal  told  him  that  no  more 
Queen's  Messengers  would  be  allowed  to  pass  through 
the  German  lines.  About  this  same  time,  however, 
the  English  man-servant  of  one  of  Trochu' s  aides- 
de-camp  contrived,  not  only  to  reach  Saint  Germain- 
en-Laye,  where  his  master's  family  was  residing,  but 
also  to  return  to  Paris  with  messages.  This  young 
fellow  had  cleverly  disguised  himself  as  a  French 
peasant,  and  on  the  Prefect  of  Police  hearing  of  his 
adventures,  he  sent  out  several  detectives  in  similar 
disguises,  with  instructions  to  ascertain  all  they 
could  about  the  enemy,  and  report  the  same  to  him. 


BESIEGED  115 

Meantime,  the  Paris  Post  Office  was  endeavouring 
to  send  out  couriers.  One  of  them,  named  Letoile, 
managed  to  get  as  far  as  Evreux,  in  Normandy,  and 
to  return  to  the  beleaguered  city  with  a  couple  of 
hundred  letters.  Success  also  repeatedly  attended 
the  efforts  of  two  shrewd  fellows  named  Geme  and 
Brare,  who  made  several  journeys  to  Saint  Germain, 
Triel,  and  even  Orleans.  On  one  occasion  they 
brought  as  many  as  seven  hundred  letters  with 
them  on  their  return  to  Paris  ;  but  between  twenty 
and  thirty  other  couriers  failed  to  get  through 
the  German  lines  ;  whilst  several  others  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  who  at  once  confiscated  the 
correspondence  they  carried,  but  did  not  otherwise 
molest  them. 

The  difficulty  in  sending  letters  out  of  Paris  and 
in  obtaining  news  from  relatives  and  friends  in  other 
parts  of  France  led  to  all  sorts  of  schemes.  The 
founder  and  editor  of  that  well-known  journal  Le 
Figaro,  Hippolyte  de  Villemessant,  as  he  called  him- 
self, though  I  believe  that  his  real  Christian  name 
was  Auguste,  declared  in  his  paper  that  he  would 
willingly  allow  his  veins  to  be  opened  in  return  for  a 
few  lines  from  his  beloved  and  absent  wife.  Conjugal 
affection  could  scarcely  have  gone  further.  Ville- 
messant, however,  followed  up  his  touching  declara- 
tion by  announcing  that  a  thousand  francs  (£40) 
a  week  was  to  be  earned  by  a  capable  man  willing 
to  act  as  letter-carrier  between  Paris  and  the  pro- 
vinces. All  who  felt  qualified  for  the  post  were 
invited  to  present  themselves  at  the  office  of  Le, 
Figaro,  which  in  those  days  was  appropriately 
located  in  the  Rue  Rossini,  named,  of  course,  after 
the  illustrious  composer  who  wrote  such  sprightly 
music  round  the  theme  of  Beaumarchais5  comedy. 


116  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

As  a  result  of  Villemessant's  announcement,  the  street 
was  blocked  during  the  next  forty-eight  hours  by 
men  of  all  classes,  who  were  all  the  more  eager  to 
earn  the  aforesaid  £40  a  week  as  nearly  every  kind 
of  work  was  at  a  standstill,  and  the  daily  stipend  of 
a  National  Guard  amounted  only  to  Is.  2%d. 

It  was  difficult  to  choose  from  among  so  many 
candidates,  but  we  were  eventually  assured  that  the 
right  man  had  been  found  in  the  person  of  a  retired 
poacher  who  knew  so  well  how  to  circumvent  both 
rural  guards  and  forest  guards,  that  during  a  career 
of  twenty  years  or  so  he  had  never  once  been  caught 
in  flagrante  delicto.  Expert,  moreover,  in  tracking 
game,  he  would  also  well  know  how  to  detect — and 
to  avoid — the  tracks  of  the  Prussians.  We  were 
therefore  invited  to  confide  our  correspondence  to 
this  sagacious  individual,  who  would  undertake  to 
carry  it  through  the  German  lines  and  to  return  with 
the  answers  in  a  week  or  ten  days.  The  charge  for 
each  letter,  which  was  to  be  of  very  small  weight  and 
dimensions,  was  fixed  at  five  francs,  and  it  was 
estimated  that  the  ex-poacher  would  be  able  to  carry 
about  200  letters  on  each  journey. 

Many  people  were  anxious  to  try  the  scheme,  but 
rival  newspapers  denounced  it  as  being  a  means  of 
acquainting  the  Prussians  with  everything  which 
was  occurring  in  Paris — Villemessant,  who  they 
declared  had  taken  bribes  from  the  fallen  Empire, 
being  probably  one  of  Bismarck's  paid  agents. 
Thus  the  enterprise  speedily  collapsed  without  even 
being  put  to  the  proof.  However,  the  public  was 
successfully  exploited  by  various  individuals  who 
attempted  to  improve  on  Villemessant's  idea,  under- 
taking to  send  letters  out  of  Paris  for  a  fixed  charge, 
half  of  which  was  to  be  returned  to  the  sender  if  his 


BESIEGED  117 

letter  were  not  delivered.  As  none  of  the  letters 
handed  in  on  these  conditions  was  even  entrusted  to 
a  messenger,  the  ingenious  authors  of  this  scheme 
made  a  handsome  profit,  politely  returning  half  of 
the  money  which  they  received,  but  retaining  the 
balance  without  making  the  slightest  effort  to  carry 
out  their  contract. 

Dr.  Rampont,  a  very  clever  man,  who  was  now 
our  postmaster-general,  had  already  issued  a  circular 
bidding  us  to  use  the  very  thinnest  paper  and  the 
smallest  envelopes  procurable.  There  being  so  many 
failures  among  the  messengers  whom  he  sent  out  of 
Paris  with  correspondence,  the  idea  of  a  balloon 
postal  service  occurred  to  him.  Although  ninety 
years  or  so  had  elapsed  since  the  days  of  the  brothers 
Montgolfier,  aeronautics  had  really  made  very  little 
progress.  There  were  no  dirigible  balloons  at  all. 
Dupuy  de  Lome's  first  experiments  only  dated  from 
the  siege  days,  and  Renard's  dirigible  was  not 
devised  until  the  early  eighties.  We  only  had  the 
ordinary  type  of  balloon  at  our  disposal ;  and  at 
the  outset  of  the  investment  there  were  certainly 
not  more  than  half  a  dozen  balloons  within  our  lines. 
A  great  city  like  Paris,  however,  is  not  without 
resources.  Everything  needed  for  the  construction 
of  balloons  could  be  found  there.  Gas  also  was  pro- 
curable, and  we  had  amongst  us  quite  a  number  of 
men  expert  in  the  science  of  ballooning,  such  as  it 
then  was.  There  was  Nadar,  there  was  Tissandier, 
there  were  the  Godard  brothers,  Yon,  Dartois,  and 
a  good  many  others.  Both  the  Godards  and  Nadar 
established  balloon  factories,  which  were  generally 
located  in  our  large  disused  railway  stations,  such  as 
the  Gare  du  Nord,  the  Gare  d' Orleans,  and  the  Gare 
Montparnasse ;  but  I  also  remember  visiting  one 


118  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

which  Nadar  installed  in  the  dancing  hall  called  the 
Elysee  Moiitmartre.  Each  of  these  factories  pro- 
vided work  for  a  good  many  people,  and  I  recollect 
being  particularly  struck  by  the  number  of  women 
who  were  employed  in  balloon-making.  Such  work 
was  very  helpful  to  them,  and  Nadar  used  to  say  to 
me  that  it  grieved  him  to  have  to  turn  away  so  many 
applicants  for  employment,  for  every  day  ten, 
twenty,  and  thirty  women  would  come  to  implore 
him  to  "  take  them  on."  Nearly  all  their  usual  work- 
rooms were  closed;  some  were  reduced  to  live  on 
charity  and  only  very  small  allowances,  from  five- 
pence  to  seven  pence  a  day,  were  made  to  the  wives 
and  families  of  National  Guards. 

But  to  return  to  the  balloon  postal-service  which 
the  Government  organized,  it  was  at  once  realized  by 
my  father  and  myself  that  it  could  be  of  little  use 
to  us  so  far  as  the  work  for  the  Illustrated  London 
News  was  concerned,  on  account  of  the  restrictions 
which  were  imposed  in  regard  to  the  size  and  weight 
of  each  letter  that  might  be  posted.  The  weight, 
indeed,  was  fixed  at  no  more  than  three  grammes  ! 
Now,  there  were  a  number  of  artists  working  for  the 
Illustrated  in  Paris,  first  and  foremost  among  them 
being  M.  Jules  Pelcoq,  who  must  personally  have 
supplied  two-thirds  of  the  sketches  by  which  the 
British  public  was  kept  acquainted  with  the  many 
incidents  of  Parisian  siege-life.  The  weekly  diary 
which  I  helped  my  father  to  compile  could  be  drawn 
up  in  small  handwriting  on  very  thin,  almost  trans- 
parent paper,  and  despatched  in  the  ordinary  way. 
But  how  were  we  to  circumvent  the  authorities  in 
regard  to  our  sketches,  which  were  often  of  consider- 
able size,  and  were  always  made  on  fairly  substantial 
paper,  the  great  majority  of  them  being  wash- 


BESIEGED  119 

drawings  ?  Further,  though  I  could  prepare  two  or 
three  drafts  of  our  diary  or  our  other  "  copy  "  for 
despatch  by  successive  balloons — to  provide  for  the 
contingency  of  one  of  the  latter  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy — it  seemed  absurd  that  our  artists 
should  have  to  recopy  every  sketch  they  made. 
Fortunately,  there  was  photography,  the  thought  of 
which  brought  about  a  solution  of  the  other  difficulty 
in  which  we  were  placed. 

I  was  sent  to  interview  Nadar  on  the  Place  Saint 
Pierre  at  Montmartre,  above  which  his  captive 
balloon  the  "  Neptune "  was  oscillating  in  the 
September  breeze.  He  was  much  the  same  man  as 
I  had  seen  at  the  Crystal  Palace  a  few  years  pre- 
viously,* tall,  red-haired,  and  red-shirted.  He  had 
begun  life  as  a  caricaturist  and  humorous  writer, 
but  by  way  of  buttering  his  bread  had  set  up  in 
business  as  a  photographer,  his  establishment  on  the 
Boulevard  de  la  Madeleine  soon  becoming  very 
favourably  known.  There  was  still  a  little  "  portrait- 
taking  "  in  Paris  during  those  early  siege  days. 
Photographs  of  the  celebrities  or  notorieties  of  the 
hour  sold  fairly  well,  and  every  now  and  again  some 
National  Guard  with  means  was  anxious  to  be 
photographed  in  his  uniform.  But,  naturally  enough, 
the  business  generally  had  declined.  Thus,  Nadar 
was  only  too  pleased  to  entertain  the  proposal  which 
I  made  to  him  on  my  father's  behalf,  this  being  that 
every  sketch  for  the  Illustrated  should  be  taken  to 
his  establishment  and  there  photographed,  so  that 
we  might  be  able  to  send  out  copies  in  at  least  three 
successive  balloons. 

When  I  broached  to  Nadar  the  subject  of  the 
postal  regulations  in  regard  to  the  weight  and  size 

*  See  p.  14,  ante. 


120  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

of  letters,  he  genially  replied  :  "  Leave  that  to  me. 
Your  packets  need  not  go  through  the  ordinary  post 
at  all — at  least,  here  in  Paris.  Have  them  stamped, 
however,  bring  them  whenever  a  balloon  is  about  to 
sail,  and  I  will  see  that  the  aeronaut  takes  them  in 
his  pocket.  Wherever  he  alights  they  will  be  posted, 
like  the  letters  in  the  official  bags." 

That  plan  was  carried  out,  and  although  several 
balloons  were  lost  or  fell  within  the  German  lines, 
only  one  small  packet  of  sketches,  which,  on  account 
of  urgency,  had  not  been  photographed,  remained 
subsequently  unaccounted  for.  In  all  other  instances 
either  the  original  drawing  or  one  of  the  photo- 
graphic copies  of  it  reached  London  safely. 

The  very  first  balloon  to  leave  Paris  (in  the  early 
days  of  October)  was  precisely  Nadar's  "  Neptune," 
which  had  originally  been  intended  for  purposes  of 
military  observation.  One  day  when  I  was  with 
Nadar  on  the  Place  Saint  Pierre,  he  took  me  up  in 
it.  I  found  the  experience  a  novel  but  not  a  pleasing 
one,  for  all  my  life  I  have  had  a  tendency  to  vertigo 
when  ascending  to  any  unusual  height.  I  remember 
that  it  was  a  clear  day,  and  that  we  had  a  fine 
bird's-eye  view  of  Paris  on  the  one  hand  and  of  the 
plain  of  Saint  Denis  on  the  other,  but  I  confess  that 
I  felt  out  of  my  element,  and  was  glad  to  set  foot  on 
terra  firma  once  more. 

From  that  day  I  was  quite  content  to  view  the 
ascent  of  one  and  another  balloon,  without  feeling 
any  desire  to  get  out  of  Paris  by  its  aerial  transport 
service.  I  must  have  witnessed  the  departure  of 
practically  all  the  balloons  which  left  Paris  until  I 
myself  quitted  the  city  in  November.  The  arrange- 
ments made  with  Nadar  were  perfected,  and  some- 
thing very  similar  was  contrived  with  the  Godard 


BESIEGED  121 

brothers,  the  upshot  being  that  we  were  always 
forewarned  whenever  it  was  proposed  to  send  off  a 
balloon.  Sometimes  we  received  by  messenger,  in 
the  evening,  an  intimation  that  a  balloon  would 
start  at  daybreak  on  the  morrow.  Sometimes  we 
were  roused  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning,  when 
everything  intended  for  despatch  had  to  be  hastily 
got  together  and  carried  at  once  to  the  starting- 
place,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  Northern  or  the 
Orleans  railway  terminus,  both  being  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  our  flat  in  the  Rue  de 
Miromesnil.  Those  were  by  no  means  agreeable 
walks,  especially  when  the  cold  weather  had  set  in, 
as  it  did  early  that  autumn ;  and  every  now  and  again 
at  the  end  of  the  journey  one  found  that  it  had  been 
made  in  vain,  for,  the  wind  having  shifted  at  the  last 
moment,  the  departure  of  the  balloon  had  been 
postponed.  Of  course,  the  only  thing  to  be  done  was 
to  trudge  back  home  again.  There  was  no  omnibus 
service,  all  the  horses  having  been  requisitioned,  and 
in  the  latter  part  of  October  there  were  not  more  than 
a  couple  of  dozen  cabs  (drawn  by  decrepit  animals) 
still  plying  for  hire  in  all  Paris.  Thus  Shanks's  pony 
was  the  only  means  of  locomotion. 

In  the  earlier  days  my  father  accompanied  me 
on  a  few  of  those  expeditions,  but  he  soon  grew  tired 
of  them,  particularly  as  his  health  became  affected 
by  the  siege  diet.  We  were  together,  however,  when 
Gambetta  took  his  departure  on  October  7,  ascending 
from  the  Place  Saint  Pierre  in  a  balloon  constructed 
by  Nadar.  It  had  been  arranged  that  he  should 
leave  for  the  provinces,  in  order  to  reinforce  the  three 
Government  delegates  who  had  been  despatched 
thithef  prior  to  the  investment.  Jules  Favre,  the 
Foreign  Minister,  had  been  previously  urged  to  join 


122  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

those  delegates,  but  would  not  trust  himself  to  a 
balloon,  and  it  was  thereupon  proposed  to  Gambetta 
that  he  should  do  so.  He  willingly  assented  to  the 
suggestion,  particularly  as  he  feared  that  the  rest  of 
the  country  was  being  overlooked,  owing  to  the  pre- 
vailing opinion  that  Paris  would  suffice  to  deliver 
both  herself  and  all  the  rest  of  France  from  the 
presence  of  the  enemy.  Born  in  April,  1838,  he  was 
at  this  time  in  his  thirty-third  year,  and  full  of 
vigour,  as  the  sequel  showed.  The  delegates  whom 
he  was  going  to  join  were,  as  I  previously  mentioned, 
very  old  men,  well  meaning,  no  doubt,  but  incapable 
of  making  the  great  effort  which  was  made  by  Gam- 
betta in  conjunction  with  Charles  de  Freycinet,  who 
was  just  in  his  prime,  being  the  young  Dictator's 
senior  by  some  ten  years. 

I  can  still  picture  Gambetta's  departure,  and 
particularly  his  appearance  on  the  occasion — his  fur 
cap  and  his  fur  coat,  which  made  him  look  somewhat 
like  a  Polish  Jew.  He  had  with  him  his  secretary, 
the  devoted  Spuller.  I  cannot  recall  the  name  of 
the  aeronaut  who  was  in  charge  of  the  balloon,  but, 
if  my  memory  serves  me  rightly,  it  was  precisely  to 
him  that  Nadar  handed  the  packet  of  sketches  which 
failed  to  reach  the  Illustrated  London  News.*  They 
must  have  been  lost  in  the  confusion  of  the  aerial 
voyage,  which  was  marked  by  several  dramatic 
incidents.  Some  accounts  say  that  Gambetta 
evinced  no  little  anxiety  during  the  preparations  for 
the  ascent,  but  to  me  he  appeared  to  be  in  a  re- 
markably good  humour,  as  if,  indeed,  in  pleasurable 
anticipation  of  what  he  was  about  to  experience. 
When,  in  response  to  the  call  of  "  Lachez  tout !  "  the 
seamen  released  the  last  cables  which  had  hitherto 

*  See  p.  120,  ante. 


BESIEGED  123 

prevented  the  balloon  from  rising,  and  the  crowd 
burst  into  shouts  of  "  Vive  la  Republique  !  "  and 
"  Vive  Gambetta  !  "  the  "  youthful  statesman,"  as 
he  was  then  called,  leant  over  the  side  of  the  car  and 
waved  his  cap  in  response  to  the  plaudits.* 

The  journey  was  eventful,  for  the  Germans 
repeatedly  fired  at  the  balloon.  A  first  attempt  at 
descent  had  to  be  abandoned  when  the  car  was  at 
an  altitude  of  no  more  than  200  feet,  for  at  that 
moment  some  German  soldiers  were  seen  almost 
immediately  beneath  it.  They  fired,  and  before  the 
balloon  could  rise  again  a  bullet  grazed  Gambetta's 
head.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  however, 
the  descent  was  renewed  near  Roye  in  the  Somme, 
when  the  balloon  was  caught  in  an  oak-tree,  Gam- 
betta at  one  moment  hanging  on  to  the  ropes  of  the 
car,  with  his  head  downward.  Some  countryfolk 
came  up  in  great  anger,  taking  the  party  to  be 
Prussians ;  but,  on  learning  the  truth,  they  rendered 
all  possible  assistance,  and  Gambetta  and  his  com- 
panions repaired  to  the  house  of  the  mayor  of  the 
neighbouring  village  of  Tricot.  Alluding  in  after 
days  to  his  experiences  on  this  journey,  the  great 
man  said  that  the  earth,  as  seen  by  him  from  the  car 
of  the  balloon,  looked  like  a  huge  carpet  woven 
chance-wise  with  different  coloured  wools.  It  did 
not  impress  him  at  all,  he  added,  as  it  was  really 
nothing  but  "  une  vilaine  chinoiserie."  It  was 
from  Rouen,  where  he  arrived  on  the  following  day, 
that  he  issued  the  famous  proclamation  in  which  he 
called  on  France  to  make  a  compact  with  victory  or 
death.  On  October  9,  he  joined  the  other  delegates 

*  Another  balloon,  the  "  George  Sand,"  ascended  at  the  same  time, 
having  in  its  car  various  officials  who  were  to  negotiate  the  purchase  of 
fire-arms  in  the  United  States. 


124  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

at  Tours  and  took  over  the  post  of  Minister  of  War 
as  well  as  that  of  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

His  departure  from  the  capital  was  celebrated  by 
that  clever  versifier  of  the  period,  Albert  Millaud, 
who  contributed  to  Le  Figaro  an  amusing  effusion, 
the  first  verse  of  which  was  to  this  effect : 

"  Gambetta,  pale  and  gloomy, 

Much  wished  to  go  to  Tours, 
But  two  hundred  thousand  Prussians 

In  his  project  made  him  pause. 
To  aid  the  youthful  statesman 

Came  the  aeronaut  Nadar, 
Who  sent  up  the  '  Armand  Barbes  ' 

With  Gambetta  in  its  car." 

Further  on  came  the  following  lines,  supposed 
to  be  spoken  by  Gambetta  himself  whilst  he  was 
gazing  at  the  German  lines  beneath  him — 

"  See  how  the  plain  is  glistening 

With  their  helmets  in  a  mass  ! 
Impalement  would  be  dreadful 

On  those  spikes  of  polished  brass  !  " 

Millaud,  who  was  a  Jew,  the  son,  I  think — or,  at 
all  events,  a  near  relation — of  the  famous  founder  of 
Le  Petit  Journal,  the  advent  of  which  constituted 
a  great  landmark  in  the  history  of  the  French  Press — 
set  himself,  during  several  years  of  his  career,  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  axiom  that  in  France  "  tout 
finit  par  des  chansons."  During  those  anxious  siege 
days  he  was  for  ever  striving  to  sound  a  gay  note, 
something  which,  for  a  moment,  at  all  events,  might 
drive  dull  care  away.  Here  is  an  English  version  of 
some  verses  which  he  wrote  on  Nadar  : 

"  What  a  strange  fellow  is  Nadar, 

Photographer  and  aeronaut ! 
He  is  as  clever  as  Godard. 

What  a  strange  fellow  is  Nadar, 
Although,  between  ourselves,  as  far 

As  art's  concerned  he  knoweth  naught. 
What  a  strange  fellow  is  Nadar, 

Photographer  and  aeronaut ! 


BESIEGED  125 

"  To  guide  the  course  of  a  balloon 

His  mind  conceived  the  wondrous  screw* 
Some  day  he  hopes  unto  the  moon 

To  guide  the  course  of  a  balloon. 
Of  '  airy  navies  '  admiral  soon, 

We'll  see  him  '  grappling  in  the  blue  ' — 
To  guide  the  course  of  a  balloon 

His  mind  conceived  the  wondrous  screw. 

"  Up  in  the  kingdom  of  the  air 

He  now  the  foremost  rank  may  claim. 
If  poor  Gambetta  when  up  there, 

Up  in  the  kingdom  of  the  air, 
Does  not  find  good  cause  to  stare, 

Why,  Nadar  will  not  be  to  blame. 
Up  in  the  kingdom  of  the  air 

He  now  the  foremost  rank  may  claim. 

"  At  Ferrieres,  above  the  park, 

Behold  him  darting  through  the  sky, 
Soaring  to  heaven  like  a  lark, 

At  Ferrieres  above  the  park  ; 
Whilst  William  whispers  to  Bismarck — 

'  Silence,  see  Nadar  there  on  high  ! ' 
At  Ferrieres  above  the  park 

Behold  him  darting  through  the  sky. 

"  Oh,  thou  more  hairy  than  King  Clodion, 

Bearer  on  high  of  this  report, 
Thou  yellower  than  a  pure  Cambodian, 

And  far  more  daring  than  King  Clodion, 
We'll  cast  thy  statue  in  collodion 

And  mount  it  on  a  gas  retort. 
Oh,  thou  more  hairy  than  King  Clodion, 

Bearer  on  high  of  this  report ! " 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  thought  too  pedantic  on  my 
part  if  I  explain  that  the  King  Clodion  referred  to  in 
Millaud's  last  verse  was  the  legendary  "  Clodion  the 
Hairy,"  a  supposed  fifth-century  leader  of  the  Franks, 
reputed  to  be  a  forerunner  of  the  founder  of  the 
Merovingian  dynasty.  Nadar's  hair,  however,  was 
not  long  like  that  of  les  rois  chevelus,  for  it  was  simply 
a  huge  curly  and  somewhat  reddish  mop.  As  for 
his  complexion,  Millaud's  phrase,  "  yellow  as  a  pure 
Cambodian,"  was  a  happy  thought. 

These    allusions    to    Millaud's    sprightly    verse 


126  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

remind  me  that  throughout  the  siege  of  Paris  the  so- 
called  mot  pour  rire  was  never  once  lost  sight  of. 
At  all  times  and  in  respect  to  everything  there  was 
a  superabundance  of  jests — jests  on  the  Germans,  the 
National  and  the  Mobile  Guard,  the  fallen  dynasty, 
and  the  new  Republic,  the  fruitless  sorties,  the 
wretched  rations,  the  failing  gas,  and  many  other 
people  and  things.  One  of  the  enemy's  generals 
was  said  to  have  remarked  one  day  :  "I  don't  know 
how  to  satisfy  my  men.  They  complain  of  hunger, 
and  yet  I  lead  them  every  morning  to  the  slaughter- 
house." At  another  time  a  French  colonel,  of  con- 
servative ideas,  was  said  to  have  replaced  the  in- 
scription "  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity,"  which  he 
found  painted  on  the  walls  of  his  barracks,  by  the 
words,  "Infantry,  Cavalry,  Artillery,"  declaring 
that  the  latter  were  far  more  likely  to  free  the 
country  of  the  presence  of  the  hated  enemy.  As  for 
the  "  treason  "  mania,  which  was  very  prevalent  at 
this  time,  it  was  related  that  a  soldier  remarked  one 
day  to  a  comrade :  "  I  am  sure  that  the  captain  is 
a  traitor  !  "  "  Indeed  !  How's  that  ?  "  was  the 
prompt  rejoinder.  '  Well,"  said  the  suspicious 
private,  "  have  you  not  noticed  that  every  time  he 
orders  us  to  march  forward  we  invariably  encounter 
the  enemy  ?  " 

When  Trochu  issued  a  decree  incorporating  all 
National  Guards,  under  forty-five  years  of  age,  in 
the  marching  battalions  for  duty  outside  the  city, 
one  of  these  Guards,  on  being  asked  how  old  he  was, 
replied,  "  six-and-forty."  "  How  is  that  ?  "  he  was 
asked.  "  A  few  weeks  ago,  you  told  everybody  that 
you  were  only  thirty-six."  "  Quite  true,"  rejoined 
the  other,  "  but  what  with  rampart-duty,  demon- 
strating at  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  short  rations,  and  the 


BESIEGED  127 

cold  weather,  I  feel  quite  ten  years  older  than  I 
formerly  did."  When  horseflesh  became  more  or 
less  our  daily  provender,  many  Parisian  bourgeois 
found  their  health  failing.  "  What  is  the  matter, 
my  dearest  ?  "  Madame  du  Bois  du  Pont  inquired  of 
her  husband,  when  he  had  collapsed  one  evening  after 
dinner.  "  Oh  !  it  is  nothing,  mon  amie"  he  replied ; 
"  I  dare  say  I  shall  soon  feel  well  again,  but  I  used  to 
think  myself  a  better  horseman  !  " 

Directly  our  supply  of  gas  began  to  fail,  the  wags 
insinuated  that  Henri  Rochefort  was  jubilant,  and 
if  you  inquired  the  reason  thereof,  you  were  told  that 
owing  to  the  scarcity  of  gas  everybody  would  be 
obliged  to  buy  hundreds  of  "  Lanternes."  We  had, 
of  course,  plenty  of  sensations  in  those  days,  but  if 
you  wished  to  cap  every  one  of  them  you  merely  had 
to  walk  into  a  cafe  and  ask  the  waiter  for — a  railway 
time-table. 

Once  before  I  referred  to  the  caricatures  of  the 
period,  notably  to  those  libelling  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  III  and  the  Empress  Eugenie,  the  latter 
being  currently  personified  as  Messalina — or  even  as 
something  worse,  and  this,  of  course,  without  the 
faintest  shadow  of  justification.  But  the  caricaturists 
were  not  merely  concerned  with  the  fallen  dynasty. 
One  of  the  principal  cartoonists  of  the  Charivari 
at  that  moment  was  "  Cham,"  otherwise  the  Vicomte 
Amedee  de  Noe,  an  old  friend  of  my  family's.  It 
was  he,  by  the  way,  who  before  the  war  insisted  on 
my  going  to  a  fencing-school,  saying  :  "  Look  here, 
if  you  mean  to  live  in  France  and  be  a  journalist,  you 
must  know  how  to  hold  a  sword.  Come  with  me 
to  Ruze's.  I  taught  your  uncle  Frank  and  his  friend 
Gustave  Dore  how  to  fence  many  years  ago,  and  now 
I  am  going  to  have  you  taught."  Well,  in  one  of 


128  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

his  cartoons  issued  during  the  siege,  Cham  (disgusted, 
like  most  Frenchmen,  at  the  seeming  indifference  of 
Great  Britain  to  the  plight  in  which  France  found 
herself)  summed  up  the  situation,  as  he  conceived  it, 
by  depicting  the  British  Lion  licking  the  boots  of 
Bismarck,  who  was  disguised  as  Davy  Crockett. 
When  my  father  remonstrated  with  Cham  on  the 
subject,  reminding  him  of  his  own  connexion  with 
England,  the  indignant  caricaturist  replied  :  "  Don't 
speak  of  it.  I  have  renounced  England  and  all  her 
works."  He,  like  other  Frenchmen  of  the  time, 
contended  that  we  had  placed  ourselves  under  great 
obligations  to  France  at  the  period  of  the  Crimean 
War. 

Among  the  best  caricatures  of  the  siege-days  was 
one  by  Daumier,  which  showed  Death  appearing  to 
Bismarck  in  his  sleep,  and  murmuring  softly, 
"  Thanks,  many  thanks."  Another  idea  of  the 
period  found  expression  in  a  cartoon  representing 
a  large  mouse- trap,  labelled  "  France,"  into  which 
a  company  of  mice  dressed  up  as  German  soldiers 
were  eagerly  marching,  their  officer  meanwhile 
pointing  to  a  cheese  fixed  inside  the  trap,  and  inscribed 
with  the  name  of  Paris.  Below  the  design  ran  the 
legend :  "  Ah !  if  we  could  only  catch  them  all 
in  it !  "  Many,  indeed  most,  of  the  caricatures 
of  the  time  did  not  appear  in  the  so-called 
humorous  journals,  but  were  issued  separately  at 
a  penny  apiece,  and  were  usually  coloured  by  the 
stencilling  process.  In  one  of  them,  I  remember, 
Bismarck  was  seen  wearing  seven-league  boots 
and  making  ineffectual  attempts  to  step  from 
Versailles  to  Paris.  Another  depicted  the  King  of 
Prussia  as  Butcher  William,  knife  in  hand  and  attired 
in  the  orthodox  slaughter-house  costume  ;  whilst  in 


BESIEGED  129 

yet  another  design  the  same  monarch  was  shown 
urging  poor  Death,  who  had  fallen  exhausted  in  the 
snow,  with  his  scythe  lying  broken  beside  him,  to 
continue  on  the  march  until  the  last  of  the  French 
nation  should  be  exterminated.  Of  caricatures  repre- 
senting cooks  in  connexion  with  cats  there  was  no 
end,  the  lapin  de  gouttiere  being  in  great  demand  for 
the  dinner-table ;  and,  after  Gambetta  had  left  us, 
there  were  designs  showing  the  armies  of  succour 
(which  were  to  be  raised  in  the  provinces)  endeavour- 
ing to  pass  ribs  of  beef,  fat  geese,  legs  of  mutton,  and 
strings  of  sausages  over  several  rows  of  German 
helmets,  gathered  round  a  bastion  labelled  Paris, 
whence  a  famished  National  Guard,  eager  for  the 
proffered  provisions,  was  trying  to  spring,  but  could 
not  do  so  owing  to  the  restraining  arm  of  General 
Trochu. 

Before  the  investment  began  Paris  was  already 
afflicted  with  a  spy  mania.  Sala's  adventure,  which 
I  recounted  in  an  earlier  chapter,  was  in  a  way  con- 
nected with  this  delusion,  which  originated  with  the 
cry  "  We  are  betrayed  !  "  immediately  after  the  first 
French  reverses.  The  instances  of  so-called  "  spyo- 
phobia  'y  were  innumerable,  and  often  curious  and 
amusing.  There  was  a  slight  abatement  of  the 
mania  when,  shortly  before  the  siege,  188,000  Germans 
were  expelled  from  Paris,  leaving  behind  them  only 
some  700  old  folk,  invalids,  and  children,  who  were 
unable  to  obey  the  Government's  decree.  But  the 
disease  soon  revived,  and  we  heard  of  rag-pickers 
having  their  baskets  ransacked  by  zealous  National 
Guards,  who  imagined  that  these  receptacles  might 
contain  secret  despatches  or  contraband  ammunition. 
On  another  occasion  Le  Figaro  wickedly  suggested 
that  all  the  blind  beggars  in  Paris  were  spies,  with 

K 


130  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

the  result  that  several  poor  infirm  old  creatures  were 
abominably  ill-treated.  Again,  a  fugitive  sheet 
called  Les  Nouvelles  denounced  all  the  English 
residents  as  spies.  Labouchere  was  one  of  those 
pounced  upon  by  a  Parisian  mob  in  consequence  of 
that  idiotic  denunciation,  but  as  he  had  the  presence 
of  mind  to  invite  those  who  assailed  him  to  go  with 
him  to  the  nearest  police-station,  he  was  speedily 
released.  On  two  occasions  my  father  and  myself 
were  arrested  and  carried  to  guard-houses,  and  in 
the  course  of  those  experiences  we  discovered  that 
the  beautifully  engraved  but  essentially  ridiculous 
British  passport,  which  recited  all  the  honours  and 
dignities  of  the  Secretary  of  State  or  the  Ambassador 
delivering  it,  but  gave  not  the  slightest  information 
respecting  the  person  to  whom  it  had  been  delivered 
(apart,  that  is,  from  his  or  her  name),  was  of  infinitely 
less  value  in  the  eyes  of  a  French  officer  than  a  receipt 
for  rent  or  a  Parisian  tradesman's  bill.* 

But  let  me  pass  to  other  instances.  One  day  an 
unfortunate  individual,  working  in  the  Paris  sewers, 
was  espied  by  a  zealous  National  Guard,  who  at  once 
gave  the  alarm,  declaring  that  there  was  a  German 
spy  in  the  aforesaid  sewers,  and  that  he  was  de- 
positing bombs  there  with  the  intention  of  blowing 
up  the  city.  Three  hundred  Guards  at  once  volun- 
teered their  services,  stalked  the  poor  workman,  and 
blew  him  to  pieces  the  next  time  he  popped  his  head 
out  of  a  sewer-trap.  The  mistake  was  afterwards 
deplored,  but  people  argued  (wrote  Mr.  Thomas 
Gibson  Bowles,  who  sent  the  story  to  The  Morning 
Post)  that  it  was  far  better  that  a  hundred  innocent 
Frenchmen  should  sutler  than  that  a  single  Prussian 

*  That  was  forty-three  years  ago.    The  British  passport,  however, 
remains  to-day  as  unsatisfactory  as  it  was  then. 


BESIEGED  131 

should  escape.  Cham,  to  whom  I  previously  alluded, 
old  Marshal  Vaillant,  Mr.  O'Sullivan,  an  American 
diplomatist,  and  Alexis  Godillot,  the  French  army 
contractor,  were  among  the  many  well-known  people 
arrested  as  spies  at  one  or  another  moment.  A 
certain  Mme:  de  Beaulieu,  who  had  joined  a  regiment 
of  Mobiles  as  a  cantiniere,  was  denounced  as  a  spy 
"  because  her  hands  were  so  white."  Another  lady, 
who  had  installed  an  ambulance  in  her  house,  was 
carried  off  to  prison  on  an  equally  frivolous  pretext ; 
and  I  remember  yet  another  case  in  which  a  lady 
patron  of  the  Societe  de  Secours  aux  Blesses  was 
ill-treated.  Matters  would,  however,  probably  be 
far  worse  at  the  present  time,  for  Paris,  with  all  her 
apaches  and  anarchists,  now  includes  in  her  popula- 
tion even  more  scum  than  was  the  case  three-and- 
f orty  years  ago. 

There  were,  however,  a  few  authentic  instances 
of  spying,  one  case  being  that  of  a  young  fellow 
whom  Etienne  Arago,  the  Mayor  of  Paris,  engaged 
as  a  secretary,  on  the  recommendation  of  Henri 
Rochefort,  but  who  turned  out  to  be  of  German 
extraction,  and  availed  himself  of  his  official  position 
to  draw  up  reports  which  were  forwarded  by  balloon 
post  to  an  agent  of  the  German  Government  in 
London.  I  have  forgotten  the  culprit's  name,  but 
it  will  be  found,  with  particulars  of  his  case,  in  the 
Paris  journals  of  the  siege  days.  There  was,  more- 
over, the  Hardt  affair,  which  resulted  in  the  prisoner, 
a  former  lieutenant  in  the  Prussian  army,  being 
convicted  of  espionage  and  shot  in  the  courtyard 
of  the  Ecole  Militaire. 

Co-existent  with  "  spyophobia "  there  was 
another  craze,  that  of  suspecting  any  light  seen  at 
night-time  in  an  attic  or  fifth-floor  window  to  be  a 


132  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

signal  intended  for  the  enemy.  Many  ludicrous 
incidents  occurred  in  connexion  with  this  panic. 
One  night  an  elderly  bourgeois,  who  had  recently 
married  a  charming  young  woman,  was  suddenly 
dragged  from  his  bed  by  a  party  of  indignant  National 
Guards,  and  consigned  to  the  watch-house  until 
daybreak.  This  had  been  brought  about  by  his  wife's 
maid  placing  a  couple  of  lighted  candles  in  her 
window  as  a  signal  to  the  wife's  lover  that,  "  master 
being  at  home,"  he  was  not  to  come  up  to  the  flat 
that  night.  On  another  occasion  a  poor  old  lady, 
who  was  patriotically  depriving  herself  of  sleep  in 
order  to  make  lint  for  the  ambulances,  was  pounced 
upon  and  nearly  strangled  for  exhibiting  green  and 
red  signals  from  her  window.  It  turned  out,  how- 
ever, that  the  signals  in  question  were  merely  the 
reflections  of  a  harmless  though  charmingly  varie- 
gated parrot  which  was  the  zealous  old  dame's  sole 
and  faithful  companion. 

No  matter  what  might  be  the  quarter  of  Paris  in 
which  a  presumed  signal  was  observed,  the  house 
whence  it  emanated  was  at  once  invaded  by  National 
Guards,  and  perfectly  innocent  people  were  often 
carried  off  and  subjected  to  ill-treatment.  To  such 
proportions  did  the  craze  attain  that  some  papers 
even  proposed  that  the  Government  should  forbid 
any  kind  of  light  whatever,  after  dark,  in  any  room 
situated  above  the  second  floor,  unless  the  windows 
of  that  room  were  "  hermetically  sealed  "  !  Most 
victims  of  the  mania  submitted  to  the  mob's  invasion 
of  their  homes  without  raising  any  particular  protest ; 
but  a  volunteer  artilleryman,  who  wrote  to  the 
authorities  complaining  that  his  rooms  had  been 
ransacked  in  his  absence  and  his  aged  mother 
frightened  out  of  her  wits,  on  the  pretext  that  some 


BESIEGED  133 

fusees  had  been  fired  from  his  windows,  declared 
that  if  there  should  be  any  repetition  of  such  an 
intrusion  whilst  he  was  at  home  he  would  receive 
the  invaders  bayonet  and  revolver  in  hand.  From 
that  moment  similar  protests  poured  into  the  Hotel- 
de-Ville,  and  Trochu  ended  by  issuing  a  proclamation 
in  which  he  said :  "  Under  the  most  frivolous  pre- 
texts, numerous  houses  have  been  entered,  and 
peaceful  citizens  have  been  maltreated.  The  flags 
of  friendly  nations  have  been  powerless  to  protect 
the  houses  where  they  were  displayed.  I  have 
ordered  an  inquiry  on  the  subject,  and  I  now  com- 
mand that  all  persons  guilty  of  these  abusive  practices 
shall  be  arrested.  A  special  service  has  been 
organized  in  order  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
keeping  up  any  communication  with  any  of  its 
partisans  in  the  city  ;  and  I  remind  everybody  that 
excepting  in  such  instances  as  are  foreseen  by  the 
law  every  citizen's  residence  is  inviolable." 

We  nowadays  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  claims 
of  women,  but  although  the  followers  of  Mrs.  Pank- 
hurst  have  carried  on  "  a  sort  of  a  war  "  for  a  con- 
siderable time  past,  I  have  not  yet  noticed  any  dis- 
position on  their  part  to  "  join  the  colours."  Men 
currently  assert  that  women  cannot  serve  as  soldiers. 
There  are,  however,  many  historical  instances  of 
women  distinguishing  themselves  in  warfare,  and 
modern  conditions  are  even  more  favourable  than 
former  ones  for  the  employment  of  women  as  soldiers. 
There  is  splendid  material  to  be  derived  from  the 
golf -girl,  the  hockey -girl,  the  factory-  and  the  laundry- 
girl — all  of  them  active,  and  in  innumerable  instances 
far  stronger  than  many  of  the  narrow-chested, 
cigarette-smoking  "  boys  "  whom  we  now  see  in  our 
regiments.  Briefly,  a  day  may  well  come  when  we 


134  MY  DAYS   OF   ADVENTURE 

shall  see  many  of  our  so-called  superfluous  women 
taking  to  the  "  career  of  arms."  However,  the 
attempts  made  to  establish  a  corps  of  women- 
soldiers  in  Paris,  during  the  German  siege,  were  more 
amusing  than  serious.  Early  in  October  some 
hundreds  of  women  demonstrated  outside  the  Hotel- 
de-Ville,  demanding  that  all  the  male  nurses  attached 
to  the  ambulances  should  be  replaced  by  women. 
The  authorities  promised  to  grant  that  application, 
and  the  women  next  claimed  the  right  to  share  the 
dangers  of  the  field  with  their  husbands  and  their 
brothers.  This  question  was  repeatedly  discussed 
at  the  public  clubs,  notably  at  one  in  the  Rue  Pierre 
Levee,  where  Louise  Michel,  the  schoolmistress  who 
subsequently  participated  in  the  Commune  and  was 
transported  to  New  Caledonia,  officiated  as  high- 
priestess  ;  and  at  another  located  at  the  Triat 
Gymnasium  in  the  Avenue  Montaigne,  where  as  a 
rule  no  men  were  allowed  to  be  present,  that  is, 
excepting  a  certain  Citizen  Jules  Allix,  an  eccentric 
elderly  survivor  of  the  Republic  of  '48,  at  which 
period  he  had  devised  a  system  of  telepathy  effected 
by  means  of  "  sympathetic  snails." 

One  Sunday  afternoon  in  October  the  lady 
members  of  this  club,  being  in  urgent  need  of  funds, 
decided  to  admit  men  among  their  audience  at  the 
small  charge  of  twopence  per  head,  and  on  hearing 
this,  my  father  and  myself  strolled  round  to  witness 
the  proceedings.  They  were  remarkably  lively. 
Allix,  while  reading  a  report  respecting  the  club's 
progress,  began  to  libel  some  of  the  Paris  convents, 
whereupon  a  National  Guard  in  the  audience  flatly 
called  him  a  liar.  A  terrific  hubbub  arose,  all  the 
women  gesticulating  and  protesting,  whilst  their 
fesidmte  energetically  rang  her  bell,  and  the  inter- 


BESIEGED  135 

rupter  strode  towards  the  platform.  He  proved  to 
be  none  other  than  the  Due  de  Fitz-James,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  our  last  Stuart  King  by  Marlborough's 
sister,  Arabella  Churchill.  He  tried  to  speak,  but 
the  many  loud  screams  prevented  him  from  doing  so. 
Some  of  the  women  threatened  him  with  violence, 
whilst  a  few  others  thanked  him  for  defending  the 
Church.  At  last,  however,  he  leapt  on  the  platform, 
and  in  doing  so  overturned  both  a  long  table  covered 
with  green  baize,  and  the  members  of  the  committee 
who  were  seated  behind  it.  Jules  Allix  thereupon 
sprang  at  the  Duke's  throat,  they  struggled  and  fell 
together  from  the  platform,  and  rolled  in  the  dust 
below  it.  It  was  long  before  order  was  restored,  but 
this  was  finally  effected  by  a  good-looking  young 
woman  who,  addressing  the  male  portion  of  the 
audience,  exclaimed :  "  Citizens  !  if  you  say  another 
word  we  will  fling  what  you  have  paid  for  admission 
in  your  faces,  and  order  you  out  of  doors  !  " 

Business  then  began,  the  discussion  turning 
chiefly  upon  two  points,  the  first  being  that  all  women 
should  be  armed  and  do  duty  on  the  ramparts,  and 
the  second  that  the  women  should  defend  their 
honour  from  the  attacks  of  the  Germans  by  means 
of  prussic  acid.  Allix  remarked  that  it  would  be 
very  appropriate  to  employ  prussic  acid  in  killing 
Prussians,  and  explained  to  us  that  this  might  be 
effected  by  means  of  little  indiarubber  thimbles 
which  the  women  would  place  on  their  fingers,  each 
thimble  being  tipped  with  a  small  pointed  tube  con- 
taining some  of  the  acid  in  question.  If  an  amorous 
Prussian  should  venture  too  close  to  a  fair  Parisienne, 
the  latter  would  merely  have  to  hold  out  her  hand  and 
prick  him.  In  another  instant  he  would  fall  dead  ! 
"  No  matter  how  many  of  the  enemy  may  assail  her," 


136  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

added  Allix,  enthusiastically,  "  she  will  simply  have 
to  prick  them  one  by  one,  and  we  shall  see  her  stand- 
ing still  pure  and  holy  in  the  midst  of  a  circle  of 
corpses  !  "  At  these  words  many  of  the  women  in 
the  audience  were  moved  to  tears,  but  the  men 
laughed  hilariously. 

Such  disorderly  scenes  occurred  at  this  women's 
club,  that  the  landlord  of  the  Triat  Gymnasium  at 
last  took  possession  of  the  premises  again,  and  the 
ejected  members  vainly  endeavoured  to  find  accom- 
modation elsewhere.  Nevertheless,  another  scheme 
for  organizing  an  armed  force  of  women  was  started, 
and  one  day,  on  observing  on  the  walls  of  Paris  a 
green  placard  which  announced  the  formation  of 
a  "  Legion  of  Amazons  of  the  Seine,"  I  repaired  to 
the  Rue  Turbigo,  where  this  Legion's  enlistment 
office  had  been  opened.  After  making  my  way  up 
a  staircase  crowded  with  recruits,  who  were  mostly 
muscular  women  from  five-and-twenty  to  forty  years 
of  age,  the  older  ones  sometimes  being  unduly  stout, 
and  not  one  of  them,  in  my  youthful  opinion,  at  all 
good-looking,  I  managed  to  squeeze  my  way  into  the 
private  office  of  the  projector  of  the  Legion,  or,  as  he 
called  himself,  its  "  Provisional  Chef  de  Bataillon." 
He  was  a  wiry  little  man,  with  a  grey  moustache  and 
a  military  bearing,  and  answered  to  the  name  of 
Felix  Belly.  A  year  or  two  previously  he  had 
unjustly  incurred  a  great  deal  of  ridicule  in  Paris, 
owing  to  his  attempts  to  float  a  Panama  Canal 
scheme.  Only  five  years  after  the  war,  however, 
the  same  idea  was  taken  up  by  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps, 
and  French  folk,  who  had  laughed  it  to  scorn  in  Belly's 
time,  proved  only  too  ready  to  fling  their  hard- 
earned  savings  into  the  bottomless  gulf  of  Lesseps' 
enterprise. 


BESIEGED  137 

I  remember  having  a  long  chat  with  Belly,  who 
was  most  enthusiastic  respecting  his  proposed 
Amazons.  They  were  to  defend  the  ramparts  and 
barricades  of  Paris,  said  he,  being  armed  with  light 
guns  carrying  some  200  yards;  and  their  costume,  a 
model  of  which  was  shown  me,  was  to  consist  of 
black  trousers  with  orange-coloured  stripes  down  the 
outer  seams,  black  blouses  with  capes,  and  black 
kepis,  also  with  orange  trimmings.  Further,  each 
woman  was  to  carry  a  cartridge-box  attached  to  a 
shoulder-belt.  It  was  hoped  that  the  first  battalion 
would  muster  quite  1200  women,  divided  into  eight 
companies  of  150  each.  There  was  to  be  a  special 
medical  service,  and  although  the  chief  doctor  would 
be  a  man,  it  was  hoped  to  secure  several  assistant 
doctors  of  the  female  sex.  Little  M.  Belly  dwelt 
particularly  on  the  fact  that  only  women  of  un- 
exceptionable moral  character  would  be  allowed  to 
join  the  force,  all  recruits  having  to  supply  certificates 
from  the  Commissaries  of  Police  of  their  districts,  as 
well  as  the  consent  of  their  nearest  connexions,  such 
as  their  fathers  or  their  husbands.  "  Now,  listen  to 
this,"  added  M.  Belly,  enthusiastically,  as  he  went 
to  a  piano  which  I  was  surprised  to  find  standing  in 
a  recruiting  office ;  and  seating  himself  at  the 
instrument,  he  played  for  my  especial  benefit  the 
stirring  strains  of  a  new,  specially-commissioned 
battle-song,  which,  said  he,  "  we  intend  to  call  the 
Marseillaise  of  the  Paris  Amazons  ! ': 

Unfortunately  for  M.  Belly,  all  his  fine  projects 
and  preparations  collapsed  a  few  days  afterwards, 
owing  to  the  intervention  of  the  police,  who  raided 
the  premises  in  the  Rue  Turbigo,  and  carried  off  all 
the  papers  they  found  there.  They  justified  these 
summary  proceedings  on  the  ground  that  General 


138  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Trochu  had  forbidden  the  formation  of  any  more 
free  corps,  and  that  M.  Belly  had  unduly  taken  fees 
from  his  recruits.  I  believe,  however,  that  the  latter 
statement  was  incorrect.  At  all  events,  no  further 
proceedings  were  instituted.  But  the  raid  sufficed 
to  kill  M.  Belly's  cherished  scheme,  which  naturally 
supplied  the  caricaturists  of  the  time  with  more  or 
less  brilliant  ideas.  One  cartoon  represented  the 
German  army  surrendering  en  masse,  to  a  mere 
battalion  of  the  Beauties  of  Paris. 


VI 

MORE   ABOUT   THE    SIEGE   DAYS 

Reconnaissances  and  Sorties — Casimir-Perier  at  Bagneux — Some  of 
the  Paris  Clubs — Demonstrations  at  the  H6tel-de-Ville — The  Cannon 
Craze — The  Fall  of  Metz  foreshadowed — Le  Bourget  taken  by  the 
French — The  Government's  Policy  of  Concealment — The  Germans 
recapture  Le  Bourget — Thiers,  the  Armistice,  and  Bazaine's  Capitula- 
tion— The  Rising  of  October  31 — The  Peril  and  the  Rescue  of  the 
Government — Armistice  and  Peace  Conditions — The  Great  Question 
of  Rations — Personal  Experiences  respecting  Food — My  Father,  in 
failing  Health,  decides  to  leave  Paris. 

AFTER  the  engagement  of  Chatillon,  fought  on 
September  19,  various  reconnaissances  were  carried 
out  by  the  army  of  Paris.  In  the  first  of  these 
General  Vinoy  secured  possession  of  the  plateau  of 
Villejuif,  east  of  Chatillon,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
city.  Next,  the  Germans  had  to  retire  from  Pierre- 
fitte,  a  village  in  advance  of  Saint  Denis  on  the 
northern  side.  There  were  subsequent  reconnais- 
sances in  the  direction  of  Neuilly-sur-Marne  and  the 
Plateau  d'Avron,  east  of  Paris  ;  and  on  Michaelmas 
Day  an  engagement  was  fought  at  L'Hay  and 
Chevilly,  on  the  south.  But  the  archangel  did  not 
on  this  occasion  favour  the  French,  who  were  re- 
pulsed, one  of  their  commanders,  the  veteran  brigadier 
Guilhem,  being  killed.  A  fight  at  Chatillon  on 
October  12  was  followed  on  the  morrow  by  a  more 
serious  action  at  Bagneux,  on  the  verge  of  the 
Chatillon  plateau.  During  this  engagement  the 

139 


140  MY  BAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Mobiles  from  the  Burgundian  Cote  d'Or  made  a 
desperate  attack  on  a  German  barricade  bristling 
with  guns,  reinforced  by  infantry,  and  also  protected 
by  a  number  of  sharp-shooters  installed  in  the 
adjacent  village-houses,  whose  window-shutters  and 
walls  had  been  loop-holed.  During  the  encounter, 
the  commander  of  the  Mobiles,  the  Comte  de  Dam- 
pierre,  a  well-known  member  of  the  French  Jockey 
Club,  fell  mortally  wounded  whilst  urging  on  his 
men,  but  was  succoured  by  a  captain  of  the  Mobiles 
of  the  Aube,  who  afterwards  assumed  the  chief 
command,  and,  by  a  rapid  flanking  movement,  was 
able  to  carry  the  barricade.  This  captain  was  Jean 
Casimir-Perier,  who,  in  later  years,  became  President 
of  the  Republic.  He  was  rewarded  for  his  gallantry 
with  the  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  Never- 
theless, the  French  success  was  only  momentary. 

That  same  night  the  sky  westward  of  Paris  was 
illumined  by  a  great  ruddy  glare.  The  famous 
Chateau  of  Saint  Cloud,  associated  with  many 
memories  of  the  old  regime  and  both  the  Empires, 
was  seen  to  be  on  fire.  The  cause  of  the  conflagra- 
tion has  never  been  precisely  ascertained.  Present- 
day  French  reference-books  still  declare  that  the 
destruction  of  the  chateau  was  the  wilful  act  of  the 
Germans,  who  undoubtedly  occupied  Saint  Cloud ; 
but  German  authorities  invariably  maintain  that 
the  fire  was  caused  by  a  shell  from  the  French 
fortress  of  Mont  Valerien.  Many  of  the  sumptuous 
contents  of  the  Chateau  of  Saint  Cloud — the  fatal 
spot  where  that  same  war  had  been  decided  on — 
were  consumed  by  the  flames,  while  the  remainder 
were  appropriated  by  the  Germans  as  plunder. 
Many  very  valuable  paintings  of  the  period  of 
Louis  XIV  were  undoubtedly  destroyed. 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  DAYS      141 

By  this  time  the  word  "  reconnaissance,"  as 
applied  to  the  engagements  fought  in  the  environs 
of  the  city,  had  become  odious  to  the  Parisians,  who 
began  to  clamour  for  a  real  "  sortie."  Trochu,  it 
may  be  said,  had  at  this  period  no  idea  of  being  able 
to  break  out  of  Paris.  In  fact,  he  had  no  desire  to 
do  so.  His  object  in  all  the  earlier  military  opera- 
tions of  the  siege  was  simply  to  enlarge  the  circle  of 
investment,  in  the  hope  of  thereby  placing  the 
Germans  in  a  difficulty,  of  which  he  might  subse- 
quently take  advantage.  An  attack  which  General 
Ducrot  made,  with  a  few  thousand  men,  on  the 
German  position  near  La  Malmaison,  west  of  Paris, 
was  the  first  action  which  was  officially  described  as 
a  "  sortie."  It  took  place  on  October  21,  but  the 
success  which  at  first  attended  Ducrot's  efforts  was 
turned  into  a  repulse  by  the  arrival  of  German  re- 
inforcements, the  affair  ending  with  a  loss  of  some 
four  hundred  killed  and  wounded  on  the  French 
side,  apart  from  that  of  another  hundred  men  who 
were  taken  prisoners  by  the  enemy. 

This  kind  of  thing  did  not  appeal  to  the  many 
frequenters  of  the  public  clubs  which  were  established 
in  the  different  quarters  of  Paris.  All  theatrical 
performances  had  ceased  there,  and  there  was  no 
more  dancing.  Even  the  concerts  and  readings 
given  in  aid  of  the  funds  for  the  wounded  were  few 
and  far  between.  Thus,  if  a  Parisian  did  not  care  to 
while  away  his  evening  in  a  cafe,  his  only  resource 
was  to  betake  himself  to  one  of  the  clubs.  Those 
held  at  the  Folies-Bergere  music-hall,  the  Valentino 
dancing-hall,  the  Porte  St.  Martin  theatre,  and  the 
hall  of  the  College  de  France,  were  mostly  frequented 
by  moderate  Republicans,  and  attempts  were  often 
made  there  to  discuss  the  situation  in  a  sensible 


142  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

manner.  But  folly,  even  insanity,  reigned  at  many 
of  the  other  clubs,  where  men  like  Felix  Pyat, 
Auguste  Blanqui,  Charles  Delescluze,  Gustave 
Flourens,  and  the  three  Ms — Megy,  Mottu,  and 
Milliere: — raved  and  ranted.  Go  where  you  would, 
you  found  a  club.  There  was  that  of  La  Heine 
Blanche  at  Montmartre  and  that  of  the  Salle  Fa  vie  at 
Belleville  ;  there  was  the  Club  de  la  Vengeance  on  the 
Boulevard  Rochechouart,  the  Club  des  Montagnards 
on  the  Boulevard  de  Strasbourg,  the  Club  des  Etats- 
Unis  d' Europe  in  the  Rue  Cadet,  the  Club  du  Pre- 
aux-CIercs  in  the  Rue  du  Bac,  the  Club  de  la  Cour 
des  Miracles  on  the  He  Saint  Louis,  and  twenty  or 
thirty  others  of  lesser  note.  At  times  the  demagogues 
who  perorated  from  the  tribunes  at  these  gatherings, 
brought  forward  proposals  which  seemed  to  have 
emanated  from  some  madhouse,  but  which  were 
nevertheless  hailed  with  delirious. applause  by  their 
infatuated  audiences.  Occasionally  new  engines  of 
destruction  were  advocated — so-called  "  Satan- 
fusees,"  or  pumps  discharging  flaming  petroleum  ! 
Another  speaker  conceived  the  brilliant  idea  of 
keeping  all  the  wild  beasts  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes 
on  short  commons  for  some  days,  then  removing 
them  from  Paris  at  the  next  sortie,  and  casting  them 
adrift  among  the  enemy.  Yet  another  imbecile 
suggested  that  the  water  of  the  Seine  and  the  Marne 
should  be  poisoned,  regardless  of  the  fact  that,  in 
any  such  event,  the  Parisians  would  suffer  quite  as 
much  as  the  enemy. 

But  the  malcontents  were  not  satisfied  with  rant- 
ing at  the  clubs.  On  October  2,  Paris  became  very 
gloomy,  for  we  then  received  from  outside  the  news 
that  both  Toul  and  Strasbourg  had  surrendered. 
Three  days  later,  Gustave  Flourens  gathered  the 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  BAYS      143 

National  Guards  of  Belleville  together  and  marched 
with  them  on  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  where  he  called  upon 
the  Government  to  renounce  the  military  tactics  of 
the  Empire  which  had  set  one  Frenchman  against 
three  Germans,  to  decree  a  levee  en  masse,  to  make 
frequent  sorties  with  the  National  Guards,  to  arm 
the  latter  with  chassepots,  and  to  establish  at  once 
a  municipal  "  Commune  of  Paris."  On  the  subject 
of  sorties  the  Government  promised  to  conform  to 
the  general  desire,  and  to  allow  the  National  Guards 
to  co-operate  with  the  regular  army  as  soon  as  they 
should  know  how  to  fight  and  escape  being  simply 
butchered.  To  other  demands  made  by  Flourens, 
evasive  replies  were  returned,  whereupon  he  indig- 
nantly resigned  his  command  of  the  Belleville  men, 
but  resumed  it  at  their  urgent  request. 

The  affair  somewhat  alarmed  the  Government, 
who  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  armed  demon- 
strations, and,  far  from  consenting  to  the  establish- 
ment of  any  Commune,  postponed  the  ordinary 
municipal  elections  which  were  soon  to  have  taken 
place.  To  this  the  Reds  retorted  by  making  yet 
another  demonstration,  which  my  father  and  myself 
witnessed.  Thousands  of  people,  many  of  them 
being  armed  National  Guards,  assembled  on  the 
Place  de  1' Hotel  de  Ville,  shouting  :  "La  Commune  ! 
La  Commune  !  Nous  voulons  la  Commune  ! 5:  But 
the  authorities  had  received  warning  of  their 
opponents'  intentions,  and  the  H6tel-de- Ville  was 
entirely  surrounded  by  National  Guards  belonging 
to  loyal  battalions,  behind  whom,  moreover,  was 
stationed  a  force  of  trusty  Mobile  Guards,  whose 
bayonets  were  already  fixed.  Thus  no  attempt 
could  be  made  to  raid  the  H6tel-de- Ville  with  any 
chance  of  success.  Further,  several  other  contingents 


144  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

of  loyal  National  Guards  arrived  on  the  square,  and 
helped  to  check  the  demonstrators. 

While  gazing  on  the  scene  from  an  upper  window 
of  the  Cafe  de  la  Garde  Nationale,  at  one  corner  of 
the  square,  I  suddenly  saw  Trochu  ride  out  of  the 
Government  building,  as  it  then  was,  followed  by  a 
couple  of  aides-de-camp.  His  appearance  was 
attended  by  a  fresh  uproar.  The  yells  of  "La 
Commune  !  La  Commune  !  "  rose  more  loudly  than 
ever,  but  were  now  answered  by  determined  shouts 
of  "  Vive  la  Republique  !  Vive  Trochu  !  Vive  le 
Gouvernement !  "  whilst  the  drums  beat,  the  trum- 
pets sounded,  and  all  the  Government  forces  pre- 
sented arms.  The  general  rode  up  and  down  the 
lines,  returning  the  salute,  amidst  prolonged  acclama- 
tions, and  presently  his  colleagues,  Jules  Favre  and 
the  others — excepting,  of  course,  Gambetta,  who  had 
already  left  Paris — also  came  out  of  the  H6tel-de- 
Ville  and  received  an  enthusiastic  greeting  from  their 
supporters.  For  the  time,  the  Reds  were  absolutely 
defeated,  and  in  order  to  prevent  similar  disturb- 
ances in  future,  Keratry,  the  Prefect  of  Police,  wished 
to  arrest  Flourens,  Blanqui,  Milliere,  and  others, 
which  suggestion  was  countenanced  by  Trochu,  but 
opposed  by  Rochefort  and  Etienne  Arago.  A  few 
days  later,  Rochefort  patched  up  a  brief  outward 
reconciliation  between  the  contending  parties. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  evident  that  Paris  was  already 
sharply  divided,  both  on  the  question  of  its  defence 
and  on  that  of  its  internal  government. 

On  October  23,  some  of  the  National  Guards  were 
at  last  allowed  to  join  in  a  sortie.  They  were  men 
from  Montmartre,  and  the  action,  or  rather  skirmish, 
in  which  they  participated  took  place  at  Villemomble, 
east  of  Paris,  the  guards  behaving  fairly  well  under 


MORE   ABOUT  THE   SIEGE  DAYS      145 

fire,  and  having  five  of  their  number  wounded. 
Patriotism  was  now  taking  another  form  in  the  city. 
There  was  a  loud  cry  for  cannons,  more  and  more 
cannons.  The  Government  replied  that  227  mitrail- 
leuses with  over  300,000  cartridges,  50  mortars, 
400  carriages  for  siege  guns,  several  of  the  latter 
ordnance,  and  300  seven-centimetre  guns  carrying 
8600  yards,  together  with  half  a  million  shells  of 
different  sizes,  had  already  been  ordered,  and  in 
part  delivered.  Nevertheless,  public  subscriptions 
were  started  in  order  to  provide  another  1500  cannon, 
large  sums  being  contributed  to  the  fund  by  public 
bodies  and  business  firms.  Not  only  did  the  news- 
papers offer  to  collect  small  subscriptions,  but  stalls 
were  set  up  for  that  purpose  in  different  parts  of 
Paris,  as  in  the  time  of  the  first  Revolution,  and 
people  there  tendered  their  contributions,  the  women 
often  offering  jewelry  in  lieu  of  money.  Trochu, 
however,  deprecated  the  movement.  There  were 
already  plenty  of  guns,  said  he ;  what  he  required 
was  gunners  to  serve  them. 

On  October  25  we  heard  of  the  fall  of  the  little 
town  of  Chateaudun  in  Eure-et-Loir,  after  a  gallant 
resistance  offered  by  1200  National  Guards  and 
Francs-tireurs  against  6000  German  infantry,  a 
regiment  of  cavalry,  and  four  field  batteries.  Von 
Wittich,  the  German  general,  punished  that  resist- 
ance by  setting  fire  to  Chateaudun  and  a  couple  of 
adjacent  villages,  and  his  men,  moreover,  massacred 
a  number  of  non-combatant  civilians.  Nevertheless, 
the  courage  shown  by  the  people  of  Chateaudun 
revived  the  hopes  of  the  Parisians  and  strengthened 
their  resolution  to  brave  every  hardship  rather  than 
surrender.  Two  days  later,  however,  Felix  Pyat's 
journal  Le  Combat  published,  within  a  mourning 

L 


146  MY  DAYS   OF   ADVENTURE 

border,  the  following  announcement :  "  It  is  a  sure 
and  certain  fact  that  the  Government  of  National 
Defence  retains  in  its  possession  a  State  secret,  which 
we  denounce  to  an  indignant  country  as  high  treason. 
Marshal  Bazaine  has  sent  a  colonel  to  the  camp  of  the 
King  of  Prussia  to  treat  for  the  surrender  of  Metz  and 
for  Peace  in  the  name  of  Napoleon  III." 

The  news  seemed  incredible,  and,  indeed,  at  the 
first  moment,  very  few  people  believed  it.  If  it 
were  true,  however,  Prince  Frederick  Charles's  forces, 
released  from  the  siege  of  Metz,  would  evidently  be 
able  to  march  against  D' Aurelle  de  Paladines'  army  of 
the  Loire  just  when  it  was  hoped  that  the  latter  would 
overthrow  the  Bavarians  under  Von  der  Tann  and 
hasten  to  the  relief  of  Paris.  But  people  argued  that 
Bazaine  was  surely  as  good  a  patriot  as  Bourbaki, 
who,  it  was  already  known,  had  escaped  from  Metz 
and  offered  his  sword  to  the  National  Defence  in 
the  provinces.  A  number  of  indignant  citizens 
hastened  to  the  office  of  Le  Combat  in  order  to  seize 
Pyat  and  consign  him  to  durance,  but  he  was  an 
adept  in  the  art  of  escaping  arrest,  and  contrived  to 
get  away  by  a  back  door.  At  the  H6tel-de-Ville 
Rochefort,  on  being  interviewed,  described  Pyat  as 
a  cur,  and  declared  that  there  was  no  truth  whatever 
in  his  story.  Public  confidence  completely  revived 
on  the  following  morning,  when  the  official  journal 
formally  declared  that  Metz  had  not  capitulated ; 
and,  in  the  evening,  Paris  became  quite  jubilant  at 
the  news  that  General  Carre  de  Bellemare,  who  com- 
manded on  the  north  side  of  the  city,  had  wrested 
from  the  Germans  the  position  of  Le  Bourget,  lying 
to  the  east  of  Saint  Denis. 

Pyat,  however,  though  he  remained  in  hiding, 
clung  to  his  story  respecting  Metz,  stating  in  Le 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  DAYS      147 

Combat,  on  October  29,  that  the  news  had  been  com- 
municated to  him  by  Gustave  Flourens,  who  had 
derived  it  from  Rochefort,  by  whom  it  was  now 
impudently  denied.  It  subsequently  became  known, 
moreover,  that  another  member  of  the  Government, 
Eugene  Pelletan,  had  confided  the  same  intelligence 
to  Commander  Longuet,  of  the  National  Guard.  It 
appears  that  it  had  originally  been  derived  from 
certain  members  of  the  Red  Cross  Society,  who, 
when  it  became  necessary  to  bury  the  dead  and  tend 
the  wounded  after  an  encounter  in  the  environs  of 
Paris,  often  came  in  contact  with  the  Germans. 
The  report  was,  of  course,  limited  to  the  statement 
that  Bazaine  was  negotiating  a  surrender,  not  that 
he  had  actually  capitulated.  The  Government's 
denial  of  it  can  only  be  described  as  a  quibble — 
of  the  kind  to  which  at  times  even  British  Govern- 
ments stoop  when  faced  by  inconvenient  questions 
in  the  House  of  Commons — and,  as  we  shall  soon 
see,  the  gentlemen  of  the  National  Defence  spent 
a  tres  mauvais  quart  d'heure  as  a  result  of  the  sup- 
pressio  veri  of  which  they  were  guilty.  Similar 
"  bad  quarters  of  an  hour "  have  fallen  upon 
politicians  in  other  countries,  including  our  own, 
under  somewhat  similar  circumstances. 

On  October  30,  Thiers,  after  travelling  all  over 
Europe,  pleading  his  country's  cause  at  every  great 
Court,  arrived  in  Paris  with  a  safe-conduct  from 
Bismarck,  in  order  to  lay  before  the  Government 
certain  proposals  for  an  armistice,  which  Russia, 
Great  Britain,  Austria,  and  Italy  were  prepared  to 
support.  And  alas  !  he  also  brought  with  him  the 
news  that  Metz  had  actually  fallen — having  capi- 
tulated, indeed,  on  October  27,  the  very  day  on 
which  Pyat  had  issued  his  announcement.  There 


148  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

was  consternation  at  the  H6tel-de-Ville  when  this 
became  known,  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  Govern- 
ment deeply  but  vainly  regretted  the  futile  tactics 
to  which  they  had  so  foolishly  stooped.  To  make 
matters  worse,  we  received  in  the  evening  intelligence 
that  the  Germans  had  driven  Carre  de  Bellemare's 
men  out  of  Le  Bourget  after  some  brief  but  desperate 
righting.  Trochu  declared  that  he  had  no  need  of 
the  Bourget  position,  that  it  had  never  entered 
into  his  scheme  of  defence,  and  that  Bellemare  had 
been  unduly  zealous  in  attacking  and  taking  it  from 
the  Germans.  If  that  were  the  case,  however,  why 
had  not  the  Governor  of  Paris  ordered  Le  Bourget  to 
be  evacuated  immediately  after  its  capture,  without 
waiting  for  the  Germans  to  re- take  it  at  the  bayonet's 
point  ?  Under  the  circumstances,  the  Parisians  were 
naturally  exasperated.  Tumultuous  were  the  scenes 
on  the  Boulevards  that  evening,  and  vehement  and 
threatening  were  the  speeches  at  the  clubs. 

When  the  Parisians  quitted  their  homes  on  the 
morning  of  Monday,  the  31st,  they  found  the  city 
placarded  with  two  official  notices,  one  respect- 
ing the  arrival  of  Thiers  and  the  proposals  for  an 
armistice,  and  the  second  acknowledging  the  disaster 
of  Metz.  A  hurricane  of  indignation  at  once  swept 
through  the  city.  Le  Bourget  lost !  Metz  taken  ! 
Proposals  for  an  armistice  with  the  detested  Prussians 
entertained  !  Could  Trochu' s  plan  and  Bazaine's 
plan  be  synonymous,  then  ?  The  one  word 
"  Treachery ! "  was  on  every  lip.  When  noon 
arrived  the  Place  de  l'H6tel-de-Ville  was  crowded 
with  indignant  people.  Deputations,  composed 
chiefly  of  officers  of  the  National  Guard,  interviewed 
the  Government,  and  were  by  no  means  satisfied 
with  the  replies  which  they  received  from  Jules 


MORE  ABOUT   THE   SIEGE  DAYS      149 

Ferry  and  others.  Meantime,  the  crowd  on  the 
square  was  increasing  in  numbers.  Several  members 
of  the  Government  attempted  to  prevail  on  it  to 
disperse  ;  but  no  heed  was  paid  to  them. 

At  last  a  free  corps  commanded  by  Tibaldi,  an 
Italian  conspirator  of  Imperial  days,  effected  an 
entrance  into  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  followed  by  a 
good  many  of  the  mob.  In  the  throne-room  they 
were  met  by  Jules  Favre,  whose  attempts  to  address 
them  failed,  the  shouts  of  "La  Commune !  La 
Commune !  "  speedily  drowning  his  voice.  Mean- 
time, two  shots  were  fired  by  somebody  on  the 
square,  a  window  was  broken,  and  the  cry  of  the 
invaders  became  "  To  arms  !  to  arms  !  Our  brothers 
are  being  butchered  !  "  In  vain  did  Trochu  and 
Rochefort  endeavour  to  stem  the  tide  of  invasion. 
In  vain,  also,  did  the  Government,  assembled  in  the 
council-room,  offer  to  submit  itself  to  the  suffrages 
of  the  citizens,  to  grant  the  election  of  municipal 
councillors,  and  to  promise  that  no  armistice  should 
be  signed  without  consulting  the  population.  The 
mob  pressed  on  through  one  room  after  another, 
smashing  tables,  desks,  and  windows  on  their  way, 
and  all  at  once  the  very  apartment  where  the  Govern- 
ment were  deliberating  was,  in  its  turn,  invaded, 
several  officers  of  the  National  Guard,  subsequently 
prominent  at  the  time  of  the  Commune,  heading 
the  intruders  and  demanding  the  election  of  a  Com- 
mune and  the  appointment  of  a  new  administration 
under  the  presidency  of  Dorian,  the  popular  Minister 
of  Public  Works. 

Amidst  the  ensuing  confusion,  M.  Ernest  Picard, 
a  very  corpulent,  jovial-looking  advocate,  who  was 
at  the  head  of  the  department  of  Finances,  contrived 
to  escape;  but  all  his  colleagues  were  surrounded, 


150  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

insulted  by  the  invaders,  and  summoned  to  resign 
their  posts.  They  refused  to  do  so,  and  the  wrangle 
was  still  at  its  height  when  Gustave  Flourens  and  his 
Belleville  sharpshooters  reached  the  Place  de  FHotel- 
de-Ville.  Flourens  entered  the  building,  which  at 
this  moment  was  occupied  by  some  seven  or  eight 
thousand  men,  and  proposed  that  the  Commune 
should  be  elected  by  acclamation.  This  was  agreed 
upon  ;  Dorian's  name — though,  by  the  way,  he  was 
a  wealthy  ironmaster,  and  in  no  sense  a  Communard 
— being  put  at  the  head  of  the  list.  This  included 
Flourens  himself,  Victor  Hugo,  Louis  Blanc,  Raspail, 
Mottu,  Delescluze,  Blanqui,  Ledru-Rollin,  Rochef ort, 
Felix  Pyat,  Ranvier,  and  Avrial.  Then  Flourens,  in 
his  turn,  entered  the  council-room,  climbed  on  to 
the  table,  and  summoned  the  captive  members  of 
the  Government  to  resign.  Again  they  refused  to 
do  so,  and  were  therefore  placed  under  arrest. 
Jules  Ferry  and  Emmanuel  Arago  managed  to  escape, 
however,  and  some  friendly  National  Guards  suc- 
ceeded in  entering  the  building  and  carrying  off 
General  Trochu.  Ernest  Picard,  meanwhile,  had 
been  very  active  in  devising  plans  for  the  recapture 
of  the  H6tel-de-Ville  and  providing  for  the  safety  of 
various  Government  departments.  Thus,  when 
Flourens  sent  a  lieutenant  to  the  treasury  demanding 
the  immediate  payment  of  £600,000  (!)  the  request 
was  refused,  and  the  messenger  placed  under  arrest. 
Nevertheless,  the  insurgents  made  themselves  masters 
of  several  district  town-halls. 

But  Jules  Ferry  was  collecting  the  loyal  National 
Guards  together,  and  at  half -past  eleven  o'clock  that 
night  they  and  some  Mobiles  marched  on  the  Hotel- 
de-Ville.  The  military  force  which  had  been  left 
there  by  the  insurgents  was  not  large.  A  parley 


\ 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  DAYS      151 

ensued,  and  while  it  was  still  in  progress,  an  entire 
battalion  of  Mobiles  effected  an  entry  by  a  sub- 
terranean passage  leading  from  an  adjacent  barracks. 
Delescluze  and  Flourens  then  tried  to  arrange  terms 
with  Dorian,  but  Jules  Ferry  would  accept  no  con- 
ditions. The  imprisoned  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment were  released,  and  the  insurgent  leaders  com- 
pelled to  retire.  About  this  time  Trochu  and  Ducrot 
arrived  on  the  scene,  and  between  three  and  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  I  saw  them  pass  the  Govern- 
ment forces  in  review  on  the  square. 

On  the  following  day,  all  the  alleged  conventions 
between  M.  Dorian  and  the  Red  Republican  leaders 
were  disavowed.  There  was,  however,  a  conflict  of 
opinion  as  to  whether  those  leaders  should  be  arrested 
or  not,  some  members  of  the  Government  admitting 
that  they  had  promised  Delescluze  and  others  that 
they  should  not  be  prosecuted.  In  consequence  of 
this  dispute,  several  officials,  including  Edmond 
Adam,  Keratry's  successor  as  Prefect  of  Police, 
resigned  their  functions.  A  few  days  later,  twenty- 
one  of  the  insurgent  leaders  were  arrested,  Pyat 
being  among  them,  though  nothing  was  done  in 
regard  to  Flourens  and  Blanqui,  both  of  whom  had 
figured  prominently  in  the  affair. 

On  November  3  we  had  a  plebiscitum,  the 
question  put  to  the  Parisians  being :  "  Does  the 
population  of  Paris,  yes  or  no,  maintain  the  powers 
of  the  Government  of  National  Defence  ?  "  So  far 
as  the  civilian  element — which  included  the  National 
Guards — was  concerned,  the  ballot  resulted  as 
follows:  Voting  "Yes,"  321,373  citizens;  voting 
"  No,"  53,585  citizens.  The  vote  of  the  army, 
inclusive  of  the  Mobile  Guard,  was  even  more  pro- 
nounced :  "Yes,"  236,623;  "No,"  9053.  Thus 


152  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

the  general  result  was  557,996  votes  in  favour  of  the 
Government,  and  62,638  against  it — the  proportion 
being  9  to  1  for  the  entire  male  population  of  the 
invested  circle.  This  naturally  rendered  the  autho- 
rities jubilant. 

But  the  affair  of  October  31  had  deplorable 
consequences  with  regard  to  the  armistice  negotia- 
tions. This  explosion  of  sedition  alarmed  the 
German  authorities.  They  lost  confidence  in  the 
power  of  the  National  Defence  to  carry  out  such 
terms  as  might  be  stipulated,  and,  finally,  Bismarck 
refused  to  allow  Paris  to  be  revictualled  during  the 
period  requisite  for  the  election  of  a  legislative 
assembly — which  was  to  have  decided  the  question 
of  peace  or  war — unless  one  fort,  and  possibly  more 
than  one,  were  surrendered  to  him.  Thiers  and 
Favre  could  not  accept  such  a  condition,  and  thus 
the  negotiations  were  broken  off.  Before  Thiers 
quitted  Bismarck,  however,  the  latter  significantly 
told  him  that  the  terms  of  peace  at  that  juncture 
would  be  the  cession  of  Alsace  to  Germany,  and  the 
payment  of  three  milliards  of  francs  as  an  indemnity  ; 
but  that  after  the  fall  of  Paris  the  terms  would  be 
the  cession  of  both  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  a 
payment  of  five  milliards. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  siege  there  was  no 
rationing  of  provisions,  though  the  price  of  meat 
was  fixed  by  Government  decree.  At  the  end  of 
September,  however,  the  authorities  decided  to  limit 
the  supply  to  a  maximum  of  500  oxen  and  4000 
sheep  per  diem.  It  was  decided  also  that  the 
butchers'  shops  should  only  open  on  every  fourth 
day,  when  four  days'  meat  should  be  distributed  at 
the  official  prices.  During  the  earlier  period  the 
daily  ration  ranged  from  80  to  100  grammes,  that  is, 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE   DAYS      153 

about  2|  oz.  to  3^  oz.  in  weight,  one-fifth  part  of  it 
being  bone  in  the  case  of  beef,  though,  with  respect 
to  mutton,  the  butchers  were  forbidden  to  make  up 
the  weight  with  any  bones  which  did  not  adhere  to 
the  meat.  At  the  outset  of  the  siege  only  twenty 
or  thirty  horses  were  slaughtered  each  day  ;  but  on 
September  30  the  number  had  risen  to  275.  A 
week  later  there  were  nearly  thirty  shops  in  Paris 
where  horseflesh  was  exclusively  sold,  and  scarcely 
a  day  elapsed  without  an  increase  in  their  number. 
Eventually  horseflesh  became  virtually  the  only  meat 
procurable  by  all  classes  of  the  besieged,  but  in  the 
earlier  period  it  was  patronized  chiefly  by  the  poorer 
folk,  the  prices  fixed  for  it  by  authority  being  naturally 
lower  than  those  edicted  for  beef  and  mutton. 

With  regard  to  the  arrangements  made  by  my 
father  and  myself  respecting  food,  they  were,  in  the 
earlier  days  of  the  siege,  very  simple.  We  were 
keeping  no  servant  at  our  flat  in  the  Rue  de  Miro- 
mesnil.  The  concierge  of  the  house,  and  his  wife, 
did  all  such  work  as  we  required.  This  concierge, 
whose  name  was  Saby,  had  been  a  Zouave,  and  had 
acted  as  orderly  to  his  captain  in  Algeria.  He  was 
personally  expert  in  the  art  of  preparing  "  cous- 
coussou"  and  other  Algerian  dishes,  and  his  wife 
was  a  thoroughly  good  cook  a  la  franpaise.  Directly 
meat  was  rationed,  Saby  said  to  me :  "  The  allowance 
is  very  small ;  you  and  Monsieur  votre  pere  will  be 
able  to  eat  a  good  deal  more  than  that.  Now,  some 
of  the  poorer  folk  cannot  afford  to  pay  for  butchers' 
meat,  they  are  contented  with  horseflesh,  which  is 
not  yet  rationed,  and  are  willing  to  sell  their  ration 
cards.  You  can  well  afford  to  buy  one  or  two  of 
them,  and  in  that  manner  secure  extra  allowances 
of  beef  or  mutton." 


154  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

That  plan  was  adopted,  and  for  a  time  everything 
went  on  satisfactorily.  On  a  few  occasions  I  joined 
the  queue  outside  our  butcher's  in  the  Rue  de 
Penthievre,  and  waited  an  hour  or  two  to  secure 
our  share  of  meat.  We  were  not  over-crowded  in 
that  part  of  Paris.  A  great  many  members  of  the 
aristocracy  and  bourgeoisie,  who  usually  dwelt 
there,  had  left  the  city  with  their  families  and  ser- 
vants prior  to  the  investment ;  and  thus  the  queues 
and  the  waits  were  not  so  long  as  in  the  poorer  and 
more  densely  populated  districts.  Saby,  however, 
often  procured  our  meat  himself  or  employed  some- 
body else  to  do  so,  for  women  were  heartily  glad  of 
the  opportunity  to  earn  half  a  franc  or  so  by  acting 
as  deputy  for  other  people. 

We  had  secured  a  small  supply  of  tinned  pro- 
visions, and  would  have  increased  it  if  the  prices 
had  not  gone  up  by  leaps  and  bounds,  in  such  wise 
that  a  tin  of  corned  beef  or  something  similar,  which 
one  saw  priced  in  the  morning  at  about  5  francs, 
was  labelled  20  francs  a  few  hours  later.  Dry  beans 
and  peas  were  still  easily  procurable,  but  fresh 
vegetables  at  once  became  both  rare  and  costly. 
Potatoes  failed  us  at  an  early  date.  On  the  other 
hand,  jam  and  preserved  fruit  could  be  readily 
obtained  at  the  grocer's  at  the  corner  of  our  street. 
The  bread  slowly  deteriorated  in  quality,  but  was 
still  very  fair  down  to  the  date  of  my  departure  from 
Paris  (November  8  *).  Milk  and  butter,  however, 
became  rare — the  former  being  reserved  for  the 
hospitals,  the  ambulances,  the  mothers  of  infants, 
and  so  forth — whilst  one  sighed  in  vain  for  a  bit  of 
Gruyere,  Roquefort,  Port-Salut,  Brie,  or  indeed  any 
other  cheese. 

*  See  the  following  chapter. 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE   DAYS      155 

Saby,  who  was  a  very  shrewd  fellow,  had  con- 
ceived a  brilliant  idea  before  the  siege  actually  began. 
The  Chateaubriands  having  quitted  the  house  and 
removed  their  horses  from  the  stables,  he  took  pos- 
session of  the  latter,  purchased  some  rabbits — 
several  does  and  a  couple  of  bucks — laid  in  a  supply 
of  food  for  them,  and  resolved  to  make  his  fortune 
by  rabbit-breeding.  He  did  not  quite  effect  his 
purpose,  but  rabbits  are  so  prolific  that  he  was 
repaid  many  times  over  for  the  trouble  which  he 
took  in  rearing  them.  For  some  time  he  kept  the 
affair  quite  secret.  More  than  once  I  saw  him 
going  in  and  out  of  the  stables,  without  guessing  the 
reason ;  but  one  morning,  having  occasion  to  speak 
to  him,  I  followed  him  and  discovered  the  truth.  He 
certainly  bred  several  scores  of  rabbits  during  the 
course  of  the  siege,  merely  ceasing  to  do  so  when  he 
found  it  impossible  to  continue  feeding  the  animals. 
On  two  or  three  occasions  we  paid  him  ten  francs 
or  so  for  a  rabbit,  and  that  was  certainly  "  most- 
favoured-nation  treatment ;  "  for,  at  the  same  period, 
he  was  charging  twenty  and  twenty-five  francs  to 
other  people.  Cooks,  with  whom  he  communicated, 
came  to  him  from  mansions  both  near  and  far.  He 
sold  quite  a  number  of  rabbits  to  Baron  Alphonse 
de  Rothschild's  chef  at  the  rate  of  £2  apiece,  and 
others  to  Count  Fillet- Will  at  about  the  same  price, 
so  that,  so  far  as  his  pockets  were  concerned,  he  in  no 
wise  suffered  by  the  siege  of  Paris. 

We  were  blessed  with  an  abundance  of  charcoal 
for  cooking  purposes,  and  of  coals  and  wood  for 
ordinary  fires,  having  at  our  disposal  not  only  the 
store  in  our  own  cellars,  but  that  which  the  Chateau- 
briand family  had  left  behind.  The  cold  weather 
set  in  very  soon,  and  firing  was  speedily  in  great 

I 


156  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

demand.  Our  artist  Jules  Pelcoq,  who  lived  in  the 
Rue  Lepic  at  Montmartre,  found  himself  reduced  to 
great  straits  in  this  respect,  nothing  being  procurable 
at  the  dealers'  excepting  virtually  green  wood  which 
had  been  felled  a  short  time  previously  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne  and  Bois  de  Vincennes.  On  a  couple  of 
occasions  Pelcoq  and  I  carried  some  coals  in  bags  to 
his  flat,  and  my  father,  being  anxious  for  his  comfort, 
wished  to  provide  him  with  a  larger  supply.  Saby 
was  therefore  requisitioned  to  procure  a  man  who 
would  undertake  to  convey  some  coals  in  a  hand- 
cart to  Montmartre.  The  man  was  found,  and  paid 
for  his  services  in  advance.  But  alas  !  the  coals 
never  reached  poor  Pelcoq.  When  we  next  saw  the 
man  who  had  been  engaged,  he  told  us  that  he  had 
been  intercepted  on  his  way  by  some  National  Guards, 
who  had  asked  him  what  his  load  was,  and,  on 
discovering  that  it  consisted  of  coals,  had  promptly 
confiscated  them  and  the  barrow  also,  dragging  the 
latter  to  some  bivouac  on  the  ramparts.  I  have 
always  doubted  that  story,  however,  and  incline  to 
the  opinion  that  our  improvised  porter  had  simply 
sold  the  coals  and  pocketed  the  proceeds. 

One  day,  early  in  November,  when  our  allowance 
of  beef  or  mutton  was  growing  small  by  degrees  and 
beautifully  less  and  infrequent — horseflesh  becoming 
more  and  more  en  evidence  at  the  butchers'  shops,* 
I  had  occasion  to  call  on  one  of  our  artists,  Blanchard, 
who  lived  in  the  Faubourg  Saint  Germain.  When 
we  had  finished  our  business  he  said  to  me  :  "  Ernest, 
it  is  my  fete  day.  I  am  going  to  have  a  superb 
dinner.  My  brother-in-law,  who  is  an  official  of  the 
Eastern  Railway  Line,  is  giving  it  in  my  honour. 

*  Only  1£  oz.  of  beef  or  mutton  was  now  allowed  per  diem,  but  in 
lieu  thereof  you  could  obtain  i  Ib.  of  horseflesh. 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  DAYS      157 

Come  with  me  ;  I  invite  you."  We  thereupon  went 
to  his  brother-in-law's  flat,  where  I  was  most  cordially 
received,  and  before  long  we  sat  down  at  table  in  a 
warm  and  well-lighted  dining-room,  the  company 
consisting  of  two  ladies  and  three  men,  myself  in- 
cluded. 

The  soup,  I  think,  had  been  prepared  from  horse- 
flesh with  the  addition  of  a  little  Liebig's  extract  of 
meat ;  but  it  was  followed  by  a  beautiful  leg  of 
mutton,  with  beans  a  la  Bretonne  and — potatoes  ! 
I  had  not  tasted  a  potato  for  weeks  past,  for  in  vain 
had  the  ingenious  Saby  endeavoured  to  procure 
some.  But  the  crowning  triumph  of  the  evening 
was  the  appearance  of  a  huge  piece  of  Gruyere  cheese, 
which  at  that  time  was  not  to  be  seen  in  a  single 
shop  in  Paris.  Even  Chevet,  that  renowned  purveyor 
of  dainties,  had  declared  that  he  had  none. 

My  surprise  in  presence  of  the  cheese  and  the 
potatoes  being  evident,  Blanchard's  brother-in-law 
blandly  informed  me  that  he  had  stolen  them. 
"  There  is  no  doubt,"  said  he,  "  that  many  trades- 
people hold  secret  stores  of  one  thing  and  another, 
but  wish  prices  to  rise  still  higher  than  they  are 
before  they  produce  them.  I  did  not,  however,  take 
those  potatoes  or  that  cheese  from  any  shopkeeper's 
cellar.  But,  in  the  store-places  of  the  railway 
company  to  which  I  belong,  there  are  tons  and  tons 
of  provisions,  including  both  cheese  and  potatoes, 
for  which  the  consignees  never  apply,  preferring,  as 
they  do,  to  leave  them  there  until  famine  prices  are 
reached.  Well,  I  have  helped  myself  to  just  a  few 
things,  so  as  to  give  Blanchard  a  good  dinner  this 
evening.  As  for  the  leg  of  mutton,  I  bribed  the 
butcher — not  with  money,  he  might  have  refused 
it — but  with  cheese  and  potatoes,  and  it  was  fair 


158  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

exchange."  When  I  returned  home  that  evening 
I  carried  in  my  pockets  more  than  half  a  pound  of 
Gruyere  and  two  or  three  pounds  of  potatoes,  which 
my  father  heartily  welcomed.  The  truth  about  the 
provisions  which  were  still  stored  at  some  of  the 
railway  depots  was  soon  afterwards  revealed  to  the 
authorities. 

Although  my  father  was  then  only  fifty  years  of 
age  and  had  plenty  of  nervous  energy,  his  health  was 
at  least  momentarily  failing  him.  He  had  led  an 
extremely  strenuous  life  ever  since  his  twentieth 
year,  when  my  grandfather's  death  had  cast  great 
responsibilities  on  him.  He  had  also  suffered  from 
illnesses  which  required  that  he  should  have  an 
ample  supply  of  nourishing  food.  So  long  as  a  fair 
amount  of  ordinary  butcher's  meat  could  be  pro- 
cured, he  did  not  complain ;  but  when  it  came  to 
eating  horseflesh  two  or  three  times  a  week  he  could 
not  undertake  it,  although,  only  a  year  or  two 
previously,  he  had  attended  a  great  banquet  Tiippo- 
phagique  given  in  Paris,  and  had  then  even  written 
favourably  of  viande  de  cheval  in  an  article  he  pre- 
pared on  the  subject.  For  my  own  part,  being  a 
mere  lad,  I  had  a  lad's  appetite  and  stomach,  and  I 
did  not  find  horseflesh  so  much  amiss,  particularly 
as  prepared  with  garlic  and  other  savouries  by 
Mme.  Saby's  expert  hands.  But,  after  a  day  or 
two,  my  father  refused  to  touch  it.  For  three  days,  I 
remember,  he  tried  to  live  on  bread,  jam,  and  pre- 
served fruit ;  but  the  sweetness  of  such  a  diet  became 
nauseous  to  him — even  as  it  became  nauseous  to 
our  soldiers  when  the  authorities  bombarded  them 
with  jam  in  South  Africa.  It  was  very  difficult  to 
provide  something  to  my  father's  taste ;  there  was  no 
poultry  and  there  were  no  eggs.  It  was  at  this  time 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  DAYS      159 

that  Saby  sold  us  a  few  rabbits,  but,  again,  toujours 
lapin  was  not  satisfactory. 

People  were  now  beginning  to  partake  of  sundry 
strange  things.  Rats  were  certainly  eaten  before 
the  siege  ended,  though  by  no  means  in  such 
quantities  as  some  have  asserted.  However,  there 
were  already  places  where  dogs  and  cats,  skinned 
and  prepared  for  cooking,  were  openly  displayed  for 
sale.  Labouchere  related,  also,  that  on  going  one 
day  into  a  restaurant  and  seeing  cochon  de  lait, 
otherwise  sucking-pig,  mentioned  in  the  menu,  he 
summoned  the  waiter  and  cross- questioned  him  on  the 
subject,  as  he  greatly  doubted  whether  there  were  any 
sucking-pigs  in  all  Paris.  "Is  it  sucking-pig  ?  "  he 
asked  the  waiter.  "  Yes,  monsieur,"  the  man  replied. 
But  Labby  was  not  convinced.  "  Is  it  a  little  pig  ?  " 
he  inquired.  "  Yes,  monsieur,  quite  a  little  one." 
"  Is  it  a  young  pig  ?  "  pursued  Labby,  who  was  still 
dubious.  The  waiter  hesitated,  and  at  last  replied, 
"  Well,  I  cannot  be  sure,  monsieur,  if  it  is  quite 
young."  "  But  it  must  be  young  if  it  is  little,  as 
you  say.  Come,  what  is  it,  tell  me  ?  ':  "  Monsieur, 
it  is  a  guinea-pig  ! ':  Labby  bounded  from  his  chair, 
took  his  hat,  and  fled.  He  did  not  feel  equal  to 
guinea-pig,  although  he  was  very  hungry. 

Perhaps,  however,  Labouchere's  best  story  of 
those  days  was  that  of  the  old  couple  who,  all  other 
resources  failing  them,  were  at  last  compelled  to 
sacrifice  their  little  pet  dog.  It  came  up  to  table 
nicely  roasted,  and  they  both  looked  at  it  for  a 
moment  with  a  sigh.  Then  Monsieur  summoned  up 
his  courage  and  helped  Madame  to  the  tender  viand. 
She  heaved  another  sigh,  but,  making  a  virtue  of 
necessity,  began  to  eat,  and  whilst  she  was  doing  so 
she  every  now  and  then  deposited  a  little  bone  on  the 


160  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

edge  of  her  plate.  There  was  quite  a  collection  of 
little  bones  there  by  the  time  she  had  finished,  and 
as  she  leant  back  in  her  chair  and  contemplated 
them  she  suddenly  exclaimed :  "  Poor  little  Toto  ! 
If  he  had  only  been  alive  what  a  fine  treat  he  would 
have  had !  " 

To  return,  however,  to  my  father  and  myself, 
I  must  mention  that  there  was  a  little  English 
tavern  and  eating-house  in  the  Rue  de  Miromesnil, 
kept  by  a  man  named  Lark,  with  whom  I  had  some 
acquaintance.  We  occasionally  procured  English 
ale  from  him,  and  one  day,  late  in  October,  when  I 
was  passing  his  establishment,  he  said  to  me  :  "  How 
is  your  father  ?  He  seems  to  be  looking  poorly. 
Aren't  you  going  to  leave  with  the  others  ?  "  I 
inquired  of  Lark  what  he  meant  by  his  last  question ; 
whereupon  he  told  me  that  if  I  went  to  the  Embassy 
I  should  see  a  notice  in  the  consular  office  respecting 
the  departure  of  British  subjects,  arrangements 
having  been  made  to  enable  all  who  desired  to  quit 
Paris  to  do  so.  I  took  the  hint  and  read  the  notice, 
which  ran  as  Lark  had  stated,  with  this  addendum : 
''  The  Embassy  cannot,  however,  charge  itself  with 
the  expense  of  assisting  British  subjects  to  leave 
Paris."  Forthwith  I  returned  home  and  imparted 
the  information  I  had  obtained  to  my  father. 

Beyond  setting  up  that  notice  in  the  Consul's 
office,  the  Embassy  took  no  steps  to  acquaint  British 
subjects  generally  with  the  opportunity  which  was 
offered  them  to  escape  bombardment  and  famine. 
It  is  true  that  it  was  in  touch  with  the  British 
Charitable  Fund  and  that  the  latter  made  the 
matter  known  to  sundry  applicants  for  assistance. 
But  the  British  colony  still  numbered  1000  people, 
hundreds  of  whom  would  have  availed  themselves 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  SIEGE  DAYS      161 

of  this  opportunity  had  it  only  come  to  their  know- 
ledge. My  father  speedily  made  up  his  mind  to  quit 
the  city,  and  during  the  next  few  days  arrangements 
were  made  with  our  artists  and  others  so  that  the 
interests  of  the  Illustrated  London  News  might  in  no 
degree  suffer  by  his  absence.  Our  system  had  long 
been  perfected,  and  everything  worked  well  after 
our  departure.  I  may  add  here,  because  it  will 
explain  something  which  follows,  that  my  father 
distributed  all  the  money  he  could  possibly  spare 
among  those  whom  he  left  behind,  in  such  wise  that 
on  quitting  Paris  we  had  comparatively  little,  and — 
as  the  sequel  showed — insufficient  money  with  us. 
But  it  was  thought  that  we  should  be  able  to  secure 
whatever  we  might  require  on  arriving  at  Versailles. 


VII 

FROM    PARIS  TO   VERSAILLES 

I  leave  Paris  with  my  Father — Jules  Favre,  Wodehouse,  and  Washburne 
— Through  Charenton  to  Creteil — At  the  Outposts — First  Glimpses  of 
the  Germans — A  Subscription  to  shoot  the  King  of  Prussia — The 
Road  to  Brie-Comte-Robert — Billets  for  the  Night — Chats  with 
German  Soldiers — The  Difficulty  with  the  Poorer  Refugees — Mr. 
Wodehouse  and  my  Father — On  the  Way  to  Corbeil — A  Franco- 
German  Flirtation — Affairs  at  Corbeil — On  the  Road  in  the  Rain — 
Longjumeau — A  Snow-storm — The  Peasant  of  Champlan — Arrival  at 
Versailles. 

SINCE  Lord  Lyons's  departure  from  Paris,  the 
Embassy  had  remained  in  the  charge  of  the  second 
Secretary,  Mr.  Wodehouse,  and  the  Vice-Consul. 
In  response  to  the  notice  set  up  in  the  latter's  office, 
and  circulated  also  among  a  tithe  of  the  community 
by  the  British  Charitable  Fund,  it  was  arranged 
that  sixty  or  seventy  persons  should  accompany 
the  Secretary  and  Vice-Consul  out  of  the  city,  the 
military  attache,  Colonel  Claremont,  alone  remaining 
there.  The  provision  which  the  Charitable  Fund 
made  for  the  poorer  folk  consisted  of  a  donation  of 
£4  to  each  person,  together  with  some  three  pounds 
of  biscuits  and  a  few  ounces  of  chocolate  to  munch 
on  the  way.  No  means  of  transport,  however,  were 
provided  for  these  people,  though  it  was  known  that 
we  should  have  to  proceed  to  Versailles — where  the 
German  headquarters  were  installed — by  a  very 
circuitous  route,  and  that  the  railway  lines  were  cut. 

162 


FROM  PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES        163 

We  were  to  have  left  on  November  2,  at  the 
same  time  as  a  number  of  Americans,  Russians,  and 
others,  and  it  had  been  arranged  that  everybody 
should  meet  at  an  early  hour  that  morning  at  the 
Charenton  gate  on  the  south-east  side  of  Paris.  On 
arriving  there,  however,  all  the  English  who  joined 
the  gathering  were  ordered  to  turn  back,  as  informa- 
tion had  been  received  that  permission  to  leave  the 
city  was  refused  them.  This  caused  no  little  conster- 
nation among  the  party,  but  the  order  naturally  had 
to  be  obeyed,  and  half  angrily  and  half  disconsolately 
many  a  disappointed  Briton  returned  to  his  recent 
quarters.  We  afterwards  learnt  that  Jules  Favre, 
the  Foreign  Minister,  had  in  the  first  instance  abso- 
lutely refused  to  listen  to  the  applications  of  Mr. 
Wodehouse,  possibly  because  Great  Britain  had  not 
recognized  the  French  Republic ;  though  if  such  were 
indeed  the  reason,  it  was  difficult  to  understand  why 
the  Russians  received  very  different  treatment,  as 
the  Czar,  like  the  Queen,  had  so  far  abstained  from 
any  official  recognition  of  the  National  Defence. 
On  the  other  hand,  Favre  may,  perhaps,  have  shared 
the  opinion  of  Bismarck,  who  about  this  time  tersely 
expressed  his  opinion  of  ourselves  in  the  words : 
"  England  no  longer  counts  " — so  low,  to  his  think- 
ing, had  we  fallen  in  the  comity  of  nations  under  our 
Gladstone  cum  Granville  administration. 

Mr.  Wodehouse,  however,  in  his  unpleasant 
predicament,  sought  the  assistance  of  his  colleague, 
Mr.  Washburne,  the  United  States  Minister,  and 
the  latter,  who  possessed  more  influence  in  Paris 
than  any  other  foreign  representative,  promptly 
put  his  foot  down,  declaring  that  he  himself  would 
leave  the  city  if  the  British  subjects  were  still  refused 
permission  to  depart,  Favre  then  ungraciously 


164  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

gave  way ;  but  no  sooner  had  his  assent  been  obtained 
than  it  was  discovered  that  the  British  Foreign 
Office  had  neglected  to  apply  to  Bismarck  for  per- 
mission for  the  English  leaving  Paris  to  pass  through 
the  German  lines.  Thus  delay  ensued,  and  it  was 
only  on  the  morning  of  November  8  that  the  English 
departed  at  the  same  time  as  a  number  of  Swiss 
citizens  and  Austrian  subjects. 

The  Charenton  gate  was  again  the  appointed 
meeting-place.  On  our  way  thither,  between  six 
and  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  passed  many 
a  long  queue  waiting  outside  butchers'  shops  for 
pittances  of  meat,  and  outside  certain  municipal 
depots  where  after  prolonged  waiting  a  few  thimbles- 
ful  of  milk  were  doled  out  to  those  who  could  prove 
that  they  had  young  children.  Near  the  Porte  de 
Charenton  a  considerable  detachment  of  the  National 
Guard  was  drawn  up  as  if  to  impart  a  kind  of 
solemnity  to  the  approaching  exodus  of  foreigners. 
A  couple  of  young  staff-officers  were  also  in  attend- 
ance, with  a  mounted  trumpeter  and  another  trooper 
carrying  the  usual  white  flag  on  a  lance. 

The  better-circumstanced  of  our  party  were  in 
vehicles  purchased  for  the  occasion,  a  few  also  being 
mounted  on  valuable  horses,  which  it  was  desired  to 
save  from  the  fate  which  eventually  overtook  most 
of  the  animals  that  remained  in  Paris.  Others  were 
in  hired  cabs,  which  were  not  allowed,  however,  to 
proceed  farther  than  the  outposts ;  while  a  good 
many  of  the  poorer  members  of  the  party  were  in 
specially  engaged  omnibuses,  which  also  had  to  turn 
back  before  we  were  handed  over  to  a  German  escort ; 
the  result  being  that  their  occupants  were  left  to 
trudge  a  good  many  miles  on  foot  before  other  means 
of  transport  were  procured.  In  that  respect  the 


FROM  PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES        165 

Swiss  and  the  Austrians  were  far  better  cared-for 
than  the  English.  Although  the  weather  was 
bitterly  cold,  Mr.  Wodehouse,  my  father,  myself,  a 
couple  of  Mr.  Wodehouse's  servants,  and  a  young 
fellow  who  had  been  connected,  I  think,  with  a 
Paris  banking-house,  travelled  in  an  open  pair- 
horse  break.  The  Vice-Consul  and  his  wife,  who  were 
also  accompanying  us,  occupied  a  small  private 
omnibus. 

Before  passing  out  of  Paris  we  were  all  mustered 
and  our  laisser-passers  were  examined.  Those  held 
by  British  subjects  emanated  invariably  from  the 
United  States  Embassy,  being  duly  signed  by  Mr. 
Washburne,  so  that  we  quitted  the  city  virtually 
as  American  citizens.  At  last  the  procession  was 
formed,  the  English  preceding  the  Swiss  and  the 
Austrians,  whilst  in  the  rear,  strangely  enough,  came 
several  ambulance  vans  flaunting  the  red  cross  of 
Geneva.  Nobody  could  account  for  their  presence 
with  us,  but  as  the  Germans  were  accused  of  occasion- 
ally firing  on  flags  of  truce,  they  were  sent,  perhaps, 
so  as  to  be  of  service  in  the  event  of  any  mishap 
occurring.  All  being  ready,  we  crossed  the  massive 
drawbridge  of  the  Porte  de  Charenton,  and  wound 
in  and  out  of  the  covered  way  which  an  advanced 
redoubt  protected.  A  small  detachment  of  light 
cavalry  then  joined  us,  and  we  speedily  crossed  the 
devastated  track  known  as  the  "  military  zone," 
where  every  tree  had  been  felled  at  the  moment  of 
the  investment.  Immediately  afterwards  we  found 
ourselves  in  the  narrow  winding  streets  of  Charenton, 
which  had  been  almost  entirely  deserted  by  their 
inhabitants,  but  were  crowded  with  soldiers  who 
stood  at  doors  and  windows,  watching  our  curious 
caravan.  The  bridge  across  the  Marne  was  mined, 


166  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

but  still  intact,  and  defended  at  the  farther  end  by 
an  entrenched  and  loopholed  redoubt,  faced  by 
some  very  intricate  and  artistic  chevaux-de-frise. 
Once  across  the  river,  we  wound  round  to  the  left, 
through  the  village  of  Alf  ort,  where  all  the  villas  and 
river-side  restaurants  had  been  turned  into  military 
posts ;  and  on  looking  back  we  saw  the  huge 
Charenton  madhouse  surmounting  a  wooded  height 
and  flying  a  large  black  flag.  At  the  outset  of  the 
siege  it  had  been  suggested  that  the  more  harmless 
inmates  should  be  released  rather  than  remain 
exposed  to  harm  from  chance  German  shells ;  but 
the  director  of  the  establishment  declared  that  in 
many  instances  insanity  intensified  patriotic  feeling, 
and  that  if  his  patients  were  set  at  liberty  they  would 
at  least  desire  to  become  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment. So  they  were  suffered  to  remain  in  their 
exposed  position. 

We  went  on,  skirting  the  estate  of  Charentonneau, 
where  the  park  wall  had  been  blown  down  and  many 
of  the  trees  felled.  On  our  right  was  the  fort  of 
Charenton,  armed  with  big  black  naval  guns.  All 
the  garden  walls  on  our  line  of  route  had  been  razed 
or  loopholed.  The  road  was  at  times  barricaded 
with  trees,  or  intersected  by  trenches,  and  it  was  not 
without  difficulty  that  we  surmounted  those  im- 
pediments. At  Petit  Creteil  we  were  astonished  to 
see  a  number  of  market-gardeners  working  as  un- 
concernedly as  in  times  of  peace.  It  is  true  that 
the  village  was  covered  by  the  fire  of  the  Charenton 
fort,  and  that  the  Germans  would  have  incurred 
great  risk  in  making  a  serious  attack  on  it.  Never- 
theless, small  parties  of  them  occasionally  crept 
down  and  exchanged  shots  with  the  Mobiles  who 
were  stationed  there,  having  their  headquarters  at 


FROM  PARIS  TO   VERSAILLES        167 

a  deserted  inn,  on  reaching  which  we  made  our  first 
halt. 

The  hired  vehicles  were  now  sent  back  to  Paris, 
and  after  a  brief  interval  we  went  on  again,  passing 
through  an  aperture  in  a  formidable-looking  barricade. 
We  then  reached  Creteil  proper,  and  there  the  first 
serious  traces  of  the  havoc  of  war  were  offered  to  our 
view.  The  once  pleasant  village  was  lifeless.  Every 
house  had  been  broken  into  and  plundered,  every 
door  and  every  window  smashed.  Smaller  articles 
of  furniture,  and  so  forth,  had  been  removed,  larger 
ones  reduced  to  fragments.  An  infernal  spirit  of 
destruction  had  swept  through  the  place ;  and  yet, 
mark  this,  we  were  still  within  the  French  lines. 

Our  progress  along  the  main  street  being  suddenly 
checked  by  another  huge  barricade,  we  wound  round 
to  the  right,  and  at  last  reached  a  house  where  less 
than  a  score  of  Mobiles  were .  gathered,  protected 
from  sudden  assault  by  a  flimsy  barrier  of  planks, 
casks,  stools,  and  broken  chairs.  This  was  the  most 
advanced  French  outpost  in  the  direction  we  were 
following.  We  passed  it,  crossing  some  open  fields 
where  a  solitary  man  was  calmly  digging  potatoes, 
risking  his  life  at  every  turn  of  his  spade,  but  knowing 
that  every  pound  of  the  precious  tuber  that  he  might 
succeed  in  taking  into  Paris  would  there  fetch 
perhaps  as  much  as  ten  francs. 

Again  we  halted,  and  the  trumpeter  and  the 
trooper  with  the  white  flag  rode  on  to  the  farther 
part  of  the  somewhat  scattered  village.  Suddenly 
the  trumpet's  call  rang  out  through  the  sharp,  frosty 
air,  and  then  we  again  moved  on,  passing  down 
another  village  street  where  several  gaunt  starving 
cats  attempted  to  follow  us,  with  desperate  strides 
and  piteous  mews.  Before  long,  we  perceived, 


168  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

standing  in  the  middle  of  the  road  before  us,  a 
couple  of  German  soldiers  in  long  great-coats  and 
boots  reaching  to  the  shins.  One  of  them  was  carry- 
ing a  white  flag.  A  brief  conversation  ensued  with 
them,  for  they  both  spoke  French,  and  one  of  them 
knew  English  also.  Soon  afterwards,  from  behind 
a  stout  barricade  which  we  saw  ahead,  three  or  four 
of  their  officers  arrived,  and  somewhat  stiff  and 
ceremonious  salutes  were  exchanged  between  them 
and  the  French  officers  in  charge  of  our  party. 

Our  arrival  had  probably  been  anticipated.  At 
all  events,  a  big  and  very  welcome  fire  of  logs  and 
branches  was  blazing  near  by,  and  whilst  one  or  two 
officers  on  either  side,  together  with  Colonel  Clare- 
mont  and  some  officials  of  the  British  Charitable 
Fund,  were  attending  to  the  safe-conducts  of  her 
then  Majesty's  subjects,  the  other  French  and 
German  officers  engaged  in  conversation  round  the 
fire  I  have  mentioned.  The  latter  were  probably 
Saxons ;  at  all  events,  they  belonged  to  the  forces  of 
the  Crown  Prince,  afterwards  King,  of  Saxony,  who 
commanded  this  part  of  the  investing  lines,  and  with 
whom  the  principal  English  war-correspondent  was 
Archibald  Forbes,  freshly  arrived  from  the  siege  of 
Metz.  The  recent  fall  of  that  stronghold  and  the 
conduct  of  Marshal  Bazaine  supplied  the  chief 
subject  of  the  conversation  carried  on  at  the  Creteil 
outposts  between  the  officers  of  the  contending 
nations.  Now  and  then,  too,  came  a  reference  to 
Sedan  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Bonapartist  Empire. 
The  entire  conversation  was  in  French — I  doubt, 
indeed,  if  our  French  custodians  could  speak  German 
— and  the  greatest  courtesy  prevailed ;  though  the 
French  steadily  declined  the  Hamburg  cigars  which 
their  adversaries  offered  them. 


FROM  PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES        169 

I  listened  awhile  to  the  conversation,  but  when 
the  safe-conduct  for  my  father  and  myself  had  been 
examined,  I  crossed  to  the  other  side  of  the  road 
in  order  to  scan  the  expanse  of  fields  lying  in  that 
direction.  All  at  once  I  saw  a  German  officer, 
mounted  on  a  powerful-looking  horse,  galloping  over 
the  rough  ground  in  our  direction.  He  came  straight 
towards  me.  He  was  a  well-built,  middle-aged  man 
of  some  rank — possibly  a  colonel.  Reining  in  his 
mount,  he  addressed  me  in  French,  asking  several 
questions.  When,  however,  I  had  told  him  who  we 
were,  he  continued  the  conversation  in  English  and 
inquired  if  I  had  brought  any  newspapers  out  of 
Paris.  Now,  we  were  all  pledged  not  to  give  any 
information  of  value  to  the  enemy,  but  I  had  in  my 
pockets  copies  of  two  of  the  most  violent  prints  then 
appearing  in  the  city — that  is  to  say,  La  Patrie  en 
Danger,  inspired  by  Blanqui,  and  Le  Combat)  edited 
by  Felix  Pyat.  The  first-named  was  all  sound  and 
fury,  and  the  second  contained  a  subscription  list  for 
a  pecuniary  reward  and  rifle  of  honour  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Frenchman  who  might  fortunately 
succeed  in  killing  the  King  of  Prussia.  As  the 
German  officer  was  so  anxious  to  ascertain  what  the 
popular  feeling  in  Paris  might  be,  and  whether  it 
favoured  further  resistance,  it  occurred  to  me,  in  a 
spirit  of  devilment  as  it  were,  to  present  him  with 
the  aforesaid  journals,  for  which  he  expressed  his 
heartfelt  thanks,  and  then  galloped  away. 

As  I  never  met  him  again,  I  cannot  say  how  he 
took  the  invectives  and  the  "  murder-subscription." 
Perhaps  it  was  not  quite  right  of  me  to  foist  on  him, 
as  examples  of  genuine  Parisian  opinion,  two  such 
papers  as  those  I  gave  him  ;  but,  then,  all  is  fair  not 
merely  in  love  but  in  war  also,  and  in  regard  to  the 


170  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

contentions  of  France  and  Germany,  my  sympathies 
were  entirely  on  the  side  of  France. 

We  had  not  yet  been  transferred  to  the  German 
escort  which  was  waiting  for  us,  when  all  at  once  we 
heard  several  shots  fired  from  the  bank  of  the  Marne, 
whereupon  a  couple  of  German  dragoons  galloped 
off  in  that  direction.  The  firing  ceased  as  abruptly 
as  it  had  begun,  and  then,  everything  being  in 
readiness  so  far  as  we  were  concerned,  Colonel 
Claremont,  the  Charitable  Fund  people,  the  French 
officers  and  cavalry,  and  the  ambulance  waggons 
retraced  their  way  to  Paris,  whilst  our  caravan  went 
on  in  the  charge  of  a  detachment  of  German  dragoons. 
Not  for  long,  however,  for  the  instructions  received 
respecting  us  were  evidently  imperfect.  The  reader 
will  have  noticed  that  we  left  Paris  on  its  south- 
eastern side,  although  our  destination  was  Versailles, 
which  lies  south-west  of  the  capital,  being  in  that 
direction  only  some  eleven  miles  distant.  Further, 
on  quitting  Creteil,  instead  of  taking  a  direct  route 
to  the  city  of  Louis  Quatorze,  we  made,  as  the  reader 
will  presently  see,  an  immense  detour,  so  that  our 
journey  to  Versailles  lasted  three  full  days.  This 
occurred  because  the  Germans  wished  to  prevent 
us  from  seeing  anything  of  the  nearer  lines  of  invest- 
ment and  the  preparations  which  had  already  begun 
for  the  bombardment  of  Paris. 

On  our  departure  from  Creteil,  however,  our  route 
was  not  yet  positively  fixed,  so  we  presently  halted, 
and  an  officer  of  our  escort  rode  off  to  take  further 
instructions,  whilst  we  remained  near  a  German 
outpost,  where  we  could  not  help  noticing  how  healthy- 
looking,  stalwart,  and  well-clad  the  men  were.  Orders 
respecting  our  movements  having  arrived,  we  set 
out  again  at  a  walking  pace,  perhaps  because  so 


FROM  PARIS   TO   VERSAILLES        171 

many  of  our  party  were  on  foot.  Troops  were  posted 
near  every  side-road  that  we  passed.  Officers  con- 
stantly cantered  up,  inquiring  for  news  respecting  the 
position  of  affairs  in  Paris,  wishing  to  know,  in 
particular,  if  the  National  Defence  ministers  were 
still  prisoners  of  the  populace,  and  whether  there 
was  now  a  Red  Republic  with  Blanqui  at  its  head. 
What  astounded  them  most  was  to  hear  that,  although 
Paris  was  taking  more  and  more  to  horseflesh,  it  was, 
as  yet,  by  no  means  starving,  and  that,  so  far  as 
famine  might  be  concerned,  it  would  be  able  to 
continue  resisting  for  some  months  longer.  In  point 
of  fact,  this  was  on  November  8,  and  the  city  did 
not  surrender  until  January  28.  But  the  German 
officers  would  not  believe  what  we  said  respecting 
the  resources  of  the  besieged;  they  repeated  the 
same  questions  again  and  again,  and  still  looked 
incredulous,  as  if,  indeed,  they  thought  that  we 
were  fooling  them. 

At  Boissy-Saint  Leger  we  halted  whilst  the 
British,  Austrian,  and  Swiss  representatives  inter- 
viewed the  general  in  command  there.  He  was 
installed  in  a  trim  little  chateau,  in  front  of  which 
was  the  quaintest  sentry-box  I  have  ever  seen,  for 
it  was  fashioned  of  planks,  logs,  and  all  sorts  of  scraps 
of  furniture,  whilst  beside  it  lay  a  doll's  perambulator 
and  a  little  boy's  toy-cart.  But  we  again  set  out, 
encountering  near  Gros-Bois  a  long  line  of  heavily- 
laden  German  provision-wagons;  and  presently, 
without  addressing  a  word  to  any  of  us,  the  officer 
of  our  escort  gave  a  command,  his  troopers  wheeled 
round  and  galloped  away,  leaving  us  to  ourselves. 

By  this  time  evening  was  approaching,  and  the 
vehicles  of  our  party  drove  on  at  a  smart  trot,  leaving 
the  unfortunate  pedestrians  a  long  way  in  the  rear. 


172  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Nobody  seemed  to  know  exactly  where  we  were, 
but  some  passing  peasants  informed  us  that  we 
were  on  the  road  to  Basle,  and  that  the  nearest 
locality  was  Brie-Comte-Robert.  The  horses  draw- 
ing the  conveyances  of  the  Swiss  and  Austrian 
representatives  were  superior  to  those  harnessed  to 
Mr.  Wodehouse's  break,  so  we  were  distanced  on 
the  road,  and  on  reaching  Brie  found  that  all  the 
accommodation  of  the  twro  inns — I  can  scarcety 
call  them  hotels — had  been  allotted  to  the  first 
arrivals.  Mr.  Wodehouse's  party  secured  a  lodging 
in  a  superior-looking  private  house,  whilst  my  father, 
myself,  and  about  thirty  others  repaired  to  the 
mairie  for  billets. 

A  striking  scene  met  my  eyes  there.  By  this 
time  night  had  fallen.  In  a  room  which  was  almost 
bare  of  furniture,  the  mayor  was  seated  at  a  little 
table  on  which  two  candles  were  burning.  On 
either  side  of  him  stood  a  German  infantryman  with 
rifle  and  fixed  bayonet.  Here  and  there,  too,  were 
several  German  hussars,  together  with  ten  or  a  dozen 
peasants  of  the  locality.  And  the  unfortunate 
mayor,  in  a  state  of  semi-arrest,  was  striving  to 
comply  with  the  enemy's  requisitions  of  food,  forage, 
wine,  horses,  and  vehicles,  the  peasants  meanwhile 
protesting  that  they  had  already  been  despoiled  of 
everything,  and  had  nothing  whatever  left.  "  So 
you  want  me  to  be  shot  ?  "  said  the  mayor  to  them, 
at  last.  "  You  know  very  well  that  the  things  must 
be  found.  Go  and  get  them  together.  Do  the  best 
you  can.  We  will  see  afterwards." 

When — acting  as  usual  as  my  father's  interpreter 
— I  asked  the  mayor  for  billets,  he  raised  his  arms 
to  the  ceiling.  "  I  have  no  beds,"  said  he.  "  Every 
bit  of  available  bedding,  excepting  at  the  inns,  has 


FROM  PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES        173 

been  requisitioned  for  the  Prussian  ambulances. 
I  might  find  some  straw,  and  there  are  outhouses  and 
empty  rooms.  But  there  are  so  many  of  you,  and  I 
do  not  know  how  I  can  accommodate  you  all." 

It  was  not,  however,  the  duty  of  my  father  or 
myself  to  attend  to  the  requirements  of  the  whole 
party.  That  was  the  duty  rather  of  the  Embassy 
officials,  so  I  again  pressed  the  mayor  to  give  me  at 
least  a  couple  of  decent  billets.  He  thought  for  a 
moment,  then  handed  me  a  paper  bearing  a  name 
and  address,  whereupon  we,  my  father  and  myself, 
went  off.  But  it  was  pitch-dark,  and  as  we  could 
not  find  the  place  indicated,  we  returned  to  the 
mairie,  where^  after  no  little  trouble,  a  second  paper 
was  given  me.  By  this  time  the  poorer  members  of 
the  party  had  been  sent  to  sheds  and  so  forth,  where 
they  found  some  straw  to  lie  upon.  The  address  on 
my  second  paper  was  that  of  a  basket-maker,  whose 
house  was  pointed  out  to  us.  We  were  very  cordially 
received  th^re,  and  taken  to  a  room  containing  a 
bed  provided  with  a  sommier  elastique.  But  there 
was  no  mattress,  no  sheet,  no  blanket,  no  bolster,  no 
pillow — everything  of  that  kind  having  been  requisi- 
tioned for  the  German  ambulances  ;  and  I  recollect 
that  two  or  three  hours  later,  when  my  father  and 
myself  retired  to  rest  in  that  icy  chamber,  the  window 
of  which  was  badly  broken,  we  were  glad  to  lay  our 
heads  on  a  couple  of  hard  baskets,  having  left  our 
bags  in  Mr.  Wodehouse's  charge. 

Before  trying  to  sleep,  however,  we  required 
food ;  for  during  the  day  we  had  consumed  every 
particle  of  a  cold  rabbit  and  some  siege-bread  which 
we  had  brought  out  of  Paris.  The  innkeepers  proved 
to  be  extremely  independent  and  irritable,  and  we 
could  obtain  very  little  from,  them,  Fortunately, 


174  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

we  discovered  a  butcher's,  secured  some  meat  from 
him,  and  prevailed  on  the  wife  of  our  host,  the  basket- 
maker,  to  cook  it  for  us.  We  then  went  out  again, 
and  found  some  cafes  and  wine-shops  which  were 
crowded  with  German  soldiery.  Wine  and  black 
coffee  were  obtainable  there,  and  whilst  we  refreshed 
ourselves,  more  than  one  German  soldier,  knowing 
either  French  or  English,  engaged  us  in  conversation. 
My  own  German  was  at  that  time  very  limited,  for 
I  had  not  taken  kindly  to  the  study  of  the  language, 
and  had  secured,  moreover,  but  few  opportunities  to 
attempt  to  converse  in  it.  However,  I  well  remember 
some  of  the  German  soldiers  declaring  that  they  were 
heartily  sick  of  the  siege,  and  expressing  a  hope  that 
the  Parisians  would  speedily  surrender,  so  that  they, 
the  Germans,  might  return  to  the  Fatherland  in 
ample  time  to  get  their  Christmas  trees  ready.  A 
good-looking  and  apparently  very  genial  Uhlan  also 
talked  to  me  about  the  Parisian  balloons,  relating 
that,  directly  any  ascent  was  observed,  news  of  it  was 
telegraphed  along  all  the  investing  lines,  that  every 
man  had  orders  to  fire  if  the  aerial  craft  came  approxi- 
mately within  range,  and  that  he  and  his  comrades 
often  tried  to  ride  a  balloon  down. 

After  a  wretched  night,  we  washed  at  the  pump 
in  the  basket-maker's  yard,  and  breakfasted  off 
bread  and  cafe,  noir.  Milk,  by  the  way,  was  as 
scarce  at  Brie  as  in  Paris  itself,  the  Germans,  it  was 
said,  having  carried  off  all  the  cows  that  had  pre- 
viously supplied  France  with  the  far-famed  Brie 
cheese.  We  now  discovered  that,  in  order  to  reach 
Versailles,  we  should  have  to  proceed  in  the  first 
instance  to  Corbeil,  some  fifteen  miles  distant,  when 
we  should  be  within  thirty  miles  of  the  German 
headquarters.  That  was  pleasant  news,  indeed ! 


FROM  PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES        175 

We  had  already  made  a  journey  of  over  twenty 
miles,  and  now  another  of  some  five-and-forty  miles 
lay  before  us.  And  yet,  had  we  only  been  allowed 
to  take  the  proper  route,  we  should  have  reached 
Versailles  after  travelling  merely  eleven  miles  beyond 
Paris  ! 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  position  of  the 
unfortunate  pedestrians  was  a  very  unpleasant  one, 
and  my  father  undertook  to  speak  on  their  behalf 
to  Mr.  Wodehouse,  pointing  out  to  him  that  it  was 
unfair  to  let  these  unfortunate  people  trudge  all  the 
way  to  Versailles. 

"  But  what  am  I  to  do  ?  "  Mr.  Wodehouse  replied. 
"  I  am  afraid  that  no  vehicles  can  be  obtained  here." 

"  The  German  authorities  will  perhaps  help  you 
in  the  matter,"  urged  my  father. 

"  I  doubt  it.  But  please  remember  that  every- 
body was  warned  before  leaving  Paris  that  he  would 
do  so  at  his  own  risk  and  peril,  and  that  the  Embassy 
could  not  charge  itself  with  the  expense." 

"  That  is  exactly  what  surprised  me,"  said  my 
father.  "  I  know  that  the  Charitable  Fund  has  done 
something,  but  I  thought  that  the  Embassy  would 
have  done  more." 

"  I  had  no  instructions,"  replied  Mr.  Wodehouse. 

"  But,  surely,  at  such  a  time  as  this,  a  man 
initiates  his  own  instructions." 

"  Perhaps  so  ;  but  I  had  no  money." 

On  hearing  this,  my  father,  for  a  moment,  almost 
lost  his  temper.  "  Surely,  Mr.  Wodehouse,"  said  he, 
"  you  need  only  have  gone  to  Baron  de  Rothschild — 
he  would  have  let  you  have  whatever  money  you 
required."  * 

*  I  have  reconstructed  the  above  dialogue  from  my  diary,  which  I 
posted  up  on  reaching  Versailles. 


176  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Mr.  Wodehouse  looked  worried.  He  was  cer- 
tainly a  most  amiable  man,  but  he  was  not,  I  think, 
quite  the  man  for  the  situation.  Moreover,  like  my 
father,  he  was  in  very  poor  health  at  this  time. 
Still,  he  realized  that  he  must  try  to  effect  something, 
and  eventually,  with  the  assistance  of  the  mayor  and 
the  German  authorities,  a  few  farm-carts  were  pro- 
cured for  the  accommodation  of  the  poorer  British 
subjects.  During  the  long  interval  which  had 
elapsed,  however,  a  good  many  men  had  gone  off 
of  their  own  accord,  tired  of  waiting,  and  resolving 
to  try  their  luck  in  one  and  another  direction. 
Thus  our  procession  was  a  somewhat  smaller  one 
when  we  at  last  quitted  Brie-Comte-Robert  for 
Corbeil. 

We  met  many  German  soldiers  on  our  way — at 
times  large  detachments  of  them — and  we  scarcely 
ever  covered  a  mile  of  ground  without  being  ques- 
tioned respecting  the  state  of  affairs  in  Paris  and  the 
probable  duration  of  its  resistance,  our  replies  in- 
variably disappointing  the  questioners,  so  anxious 
were  they  to  see  the  war  come  to  an  end.  This  was 
particularly  the  case  with  a  young  non-commissioned 
officer  who  jumped  on  the  step  of  Mr.  Wodehouse's 
break,  and  engaged  us  in  conversation  whilst  we 
continued  on  our  way.  Before  leaving  us  he  re- 
marked, I  remember,  that  he  would  very  much  like 
to  pay  a  visit  to  England ;  whereupon  my  father 
answered  that  he  would  be  very  much  pleased  to  see 
him  there,  provided,  however,  that  he  would  come 
by  himself  and  not  with  half  a  million  of  armed 
comrades. 

While  the  German  soldiers  were  numerous,  the 
peasants  whom  we  met  on  the  road  were  few  and 
far  between.  On  reaching  the  little  village  of 


FROM  PARIS   TO  VERSAILLES        177 

Lieusaint,  however,  a  number  of  people  rushed  to 
the  doors  of  their  houses  and  gazed  at  us  in  bewilder- 
ment, for  during  the  past  two  months  the  only 
strangers  they  had  seen  had  been  German  soldiers, 
and  they  could  not  understand  the  meaning  of  our 
civilian  caravan  of  carriages  and  carts.  At  last 
we  entered  Corbeil,  and  followed  the  main  street 
towards  the  old  stone  bridge  by  which  we  hoped  to 
cross  the  Seine,  but  we  speedily  discovered  that  it 
had  been  blown  up,  and  that  we  could  only  get  to 
the  other  side  of  the  river  by  a  pontoon-bridge  lower 
down.  This  having  been  effected,  we  drove  to  the 
principal  hotel,  intending  to  put  up  there  for  the 
night,  as  it  had  become  evident  that  we  should  be 
unable  to  reach  Versailles  at  a  reasonable  hour. 

However,  the  entire  hotel  was  in  the  possession 
of  German  officers,  several  of  whom  we  found  flirting 
with  the  landlady's  good-looking  daughter — who,  as 
she  wore  a  wedding  ring,  was,  I  presume,  married. 
I  well  recollect  that  she  made  some  reference  to  the 
ladies  of  Berlin,  whereupon  one  of  the  lieutenants 
who  were  ogling  her,  gallantly  replied  that  they  were 
not  half  so  charming  as  the  ladies  of  Corbeil.  The 
young  woman  appeared  to  appreciate  the  compliment, 
for,  on  the  lieutenant  rising  to  take  leave  of  her,  she 
graciously  gave  him  her  hand,  and  said  to  him  with  a 
smile  :  "  Au  plaisir  de  vous  revoir,  monsieur." 

But  matters  were  very  different  with  the  old 
lady,  her  mother,  who,  directly  the  coast  was  clear, 
began  to  inveigh  against  the  Germans  in  good  set 
terms,  describing  them,  I  remember,  as  semi-savages 
who  destroyed  whatever  they  did  not  steal.  She 
was  particularly  irate  with  them  for  not  allowing 
M.  Darblay,  the  wealthy  magnate  of  the  grain  and 
flour  trade,  and  at  the  same  time  mayor  of  Corbeil, 


178  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

to  retain  a  single  carriage  or  a  single  horse  for  his 
own  use.  Yet  he  had  already  surrendered  four 
carriages  and  eight  horses  to  them,  and  only  wished 
to  keep  a  little  gig  and  a  cob. 

We  obtained  a  meal  at  the  hotel,  but  found  it 
impossible  to  secure  a  bed  there,  so  we  sallied  forth 
into  the  town  on  an  exploring  expedition.  On  all 
sides  we  observed  notices  indicating  the  rate  of 
exchange  of  French  and  German  money,  and  the 
place  seemed  to  be  full  of  tobacconists'  shops,  which 
were  invariably  occupied  by  German  Jews  trading 
in  Hamburg  cigars.  On  inquiring  at  a  cafe  respecting 
accommodation,  we  were  told  that  we  should  only 
obtain  it  with  difficulty,  as  the  town  was  full  of 
troops,  including  more  than  a  thousand  sick  and 
wounded,  fifteen  or  twenty  of  whom  died  every  day. 
At  last  we  crossed  the  river  again,  and  found  quarters 
at  an  inferior  hotel,  the  top-floor  of  which  had  been 
badly  damaged  by  some  f  ailing  blocks  of  stone  at  the 
time  when  the  French  blew  up  the  town  bridge. 
However,  our  beds  were  fairly  comfortable,  and  we 
had  a  good  night's  rest. 

Black  coffee  was  again  the  only  available  beverage 
in  the  morning.  No  milk  was  to  be  had,  nor  was 
there  even  a  scrap  of  sugar.  In  these  respects 
Corbeil  was  even  worse  off  than  Paris.  The  weather 
had  now  changed,  and  rain  was  falling  steadily. 
We  plainly  had  a  nasty  day  before  us.  Nevertheless, 
another  set  of  carts  was  obtained  for  the  poorer 
folk  of  our  party,  on  mustering  which  one  man  was 
found  to  be  missing.  He  had  fallen  ill,  we  were 
told,  and  could  not  continue  the  journey.  Presently, 
moreover,  the  case  was  discovered  to  be  one  of  small- 
pox, which  disease  had  lately  broken  out  in  Paris. 
Leaving  the  sufferer  to  be  treated  at  the  already 


FROM  PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES        179 

crowded  local  hospital,  we  set  out,  and,  on  emerging 
from  the  town,  passed  a  drove  of  a  couple  of  hundred 
oxen,  and  some  three  hundred  sheep,  in  the  charge  of 
German  soldiers.  We  had  scarcely  j  ourneyed  another 
mile  when,  near  Essonnes,  noted  for  its  paper-mills, 
one  of  our  carts  broke  down,  which  was  scarcely  sur- 
prising, the  country  being  hilly,  the  roads  heavy, 
and  the  horses  spavined.  Again,  the  rain  was  now 
pouring  in  torrents,  to  the  very  great  discomfort  of 
the  occupants  of  the  carts,  as  well  as  that  of  Mr. 
Wodehouse's  party  in  the  break.  But  there  was  no 
help  for  it,  and  so  on  we  drove  mile  after  mile,  until 
we  were  at  last  absolutely  soaked. 

The  rain  had  turned  to  sleet  by  the  time  we 
reached  Longjumeau,  famous  for  its  handsome  and 
amorous  postilion.  Two-thirds  of  the  shops  there 
were  closed,  and  the  inns  were  crowded  with  German 
soldiers,  so  we  drove  on  in  the  direction  of  Palaiseau. 
But  we  had  covered  only  about  half  the  distance 
when  a  snow-storm  overtook  us,  and  we  had  to  seek 
shelter  at  Champlan.  A  German  officer  there 
assisted  in  placing  our  vehicles  under  cover,  but  the 
few  peasants  whom  we  saw  eyeing  us  inquisitively 
from  the  doors  of  their  houses  declared  that  the  only 
thing  they  could  let  us  have  to  eat  was  dry  bread, 
there  being  no  meat,  no  eggs,  no  butter,  no  cheese, 
in  the  whole  village.  Further,  they  averred  that 
they  had  not  even  a  pint  of  wine  to  place  at  our 
disposal.  "  The  Germans  have  taken  everything," 
they  said ;  "we  have  800  of  them  in  and  around 
the  village,  and  there  are  not  more  than  a  dozen  of 
us  left  here,  all  the  rest  having  fled  to  Paris  when 
the  siege  began." 

The  outlook  seemed  bad,  but  Mr.  Wodehouse's 
valet,  a  shrewd  and  energetic  man  of  thirty  or 


180  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

thereabouts,  named  Frost,  said  to  me,  "  I  don't  believe 
all  this.  I  dare  say  that  if  some  money  is  produced 
we  shall  be  able  to  get  something."  Accordingly 
we  jointly  tackled  a  disconsolate-looking  fellow, 
who,  if  I  remember  rightly,  was  either  the  village 
wheelwright  or  blacksmith  ;  and,  momentarily  leav- 
ing the  question  of  food  on  one  side,  we  asked  him 
if  he  had  not  at  least  a  fire  in  his  house  at  which 
we  might  warm  ourselves.  Our  party  included  a 
lady,  the  Vice-Consul's  wife,  and  although  she  was 
making  the  journey  in  a  closed  private  omnibus, 
she  was  suffering  from  the  cold.  This  was  explained 
to  the  man  whom  we  addressed,  and  when  he  had 
satisfied  himself  that  we  were  not  Germans  in  dis- 
guise, he  told  us  that  we  might  come  into  his  house 
and  warm  ourselves  until  the  storm  abated.  Some 
nine  or  ten  of  us,  including  the  lady  I  have  mentioned, 
availed  ourselves  of  this  permission,  and  the  man 
led  us  upstairs  to  a  first-floor  room,  where  a  big 
wood-fire  was  blazing.  Before  it  sat  his  wife  and 
his  daughter,  both  of  them  good  specimens  of  French 
rustic  beauty.  With  great  good-nature,  they  at 
once  made  room  for  us,  and  added  more  fuel  to 
the  fire. 

Half  the  battle  was  won,  and  presently  we  were 
regaled  with  all  that  they  could  offer  us  in  the  way 
of  food — that  is,  bread  and  baked  pears,  which 
proved  very  acceptable.  Eventually,  after  looking 
out  of  the  window  in  order  to  make  quite  sure  that 
no  Germans  were  loitering  near  the  house,  our  host 
locked  the  door  of  the  room,  and  turning  towards 
a  big  pile  of  straw,  fire-wood,  and  household  utensils, 
proceeded  to  demolish  it,  until  he  disclosed  to  view 
a  small  cask — a  half  hogshead,  I  think — which,  said 
he,  in  a  whisper,  contained  wine.  It  was  all  that  he 


FROM  PARIS  TO   VERSAILLES        181 

had  been  able  to  secrete.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
enemy  in  the  district  a  party  of  officers  had  come  to 
his  house  and  ordered  their  men  to  remove  the  rest 
of  his  wine,  together  with  nearly  all  his  bedding, 
and  every  fowl  and  every  pig  that  he  possessed. 
"  They  have  done  the  same  all  over  the  district," 
the  man  added,  "  and  you  should  see  some  of  the 
chateaux — they  have  been  absolutely  stripped  of 
their  contents." 

His  face  brightened  when  we  told  him  that  Paris 
seemed  resolved  on  no  surrender,  and  that,  according 
to  official  reports,  she  would  have  a  sufficiency  of 
bread  to  continue  resisting  until  the  ensuing  month 
of  February.  In  common  with  most  of  his  country- 
men, our  host  of  Champlan  held  that,  whatever  else 
might  happen,  the  honour  of  the  nation  would  at 
least  be  saved  if  the  Germans  could  only  be  kept  out 
of  Paris  ;  and  thus  he  was  right  glad  to  hear  that  the 
city's  defence  would  be  prolonged. 

He  was  well  remunerated  for  his  hospitality,  and 
on  the  weather  slightly  improving  we  resumed  our 
journey  to  Versailles,  following  the  main  road  by 
way  of  Palaiseau  and  Jouy-en-Josas,  and  urging  the 
horses  to  their  quickest  pace  whilst  the  light  declined 
and  the  evening  shadows  gathered  around  us. 


VIII 

FROM  VERSAILLES  TO  BRITTANY 

War-correspondents  at  Versailles — Dr.  Russell — Lord  Adare — David 
Dunglas  Home  and  his  Extraordinary  Career — His  Seances  at  Ver- 
sailles— An  Amusing  Interview  with  Colonel  Beauchamp  Walker — 
Parliament's  Grant  for  British  Refugees — Generals  Duff  and  Hazen, 
U.S.A. — American  Help — Glimpses  of  King  William  and  Bismarck 
— Our  Safe-Conducts — From  Versailles  to  Saint  Germain-en-Laye 
— Trouble  at  Mantes — The  German  Devil  of  Destructiveness — From 
the  German  to  the  French  Lines — A  Train  at  Last — Through  Nor- 
mandy and  Maine — Saint  Servan  and  its  English  Colony — I  resolve  to 
go  to  the  Front. 

IT  was  dark  when  we  at  last  entered  Versailles  by 
the  Avenue  de  Choisy.  We  saw  some  sentries,  but 
they  did  not  challenge  us,  and  we  went  on  until  we 
struck  the  Avenue  de  Paris,  where  we  passed  the 
Prefecture,  every  one  of  whose  windows  was  a  blaze 
of  light.  King,  later  Emperor,  William  had  his 
quarters  there ;  Bismarck,  however,  residing  at  a 
house  in  the  Rue  de  Provence  belonging  to  the 
French  General  de  Jesse.  Winding  round  the  Place 
d'Armes,  we  noticed  that  one  wing  of  Louis  XIV's 
famous  palace  had  its  windows  lighted,  being  appro- 
priated to  hospital  purposes,  and  that  four  batteries 
of  artillery  were  drawn  up  on  the  square,  perhaps 
as  a  hint  to  the  Versaillese  to  be  on  their  best 
behaviour.  However,  we  drove  on,  and  a  few 
moments  later  we  pulled  up  outside  the  famous 
Hotel  des  Reservoirs. 

182 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY     183 

There  was  no  possibility  of  obtaining  accommo- 
dation there.  From  its  ground-floor  to  its  garrets 
the  hotel  was  packed  with  German  princes,  dukes, 
dukelets,  and  their  suites,  together  with  a  certain 
number  of  English,  American,  and  other  war- 
correspondents.  Close  by,  however — indeed,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  on  the  other  side  of  the  way — 
there  was  a  cafe,  whither  my  father  and  myself 
directed  our  steps.  We  found  it  crowded  with 
officers  and  newspaper  men,  and  through  one  or 
other  of  the  latter  we  succeeded  in  obtaining  com- 
fortable lodgings  in  a  private  house.  The  Illus- 
trated London  News  artist  with  the  German  staff 
was  Landells,  son  of  the  engraver  of  that  name,  and 
we  speedily  discovered  his  whereabouts.  He  was 
sharing  rooms  with  Hilary  Skinner,  the  Daily  News 
representative  at  Versailles  ;  and  they  both  gave  us 
a  cordial  greeting. 

The  chief  correspondent  at  the  German  head- 
quarters was  William  Howard  Russell  of  the  Times, 
respecting  whom — perhaps  because  he  kept  himself 
somewhat  aloof  from  his  colleagues — a  variety  of 
scarcely  good-natured  stories  were  related,  mostly 
designed  to  show  that  he  somewhat  over-estimated 
his  own  importance.  One  yarn  was  to  the  effect 
that  whenever  the  Doctor  mounted  his  horse,  it  was 
customary  for  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia — after- 
wards the  Emperor  Frederick — to  hold  his  stirrup 
leather  for  him.  Personally,  I  can  only  say  that, 
on  my  father  calling  with  me  on  Russell,  he  received 
us  very  cordially  indeed  (he  had  previously  met  my 
father,  and  had  well  known  my  uncle  Frank),  and 
that  when  we  quitted  Versailles,  as  I  shall  presently 
relate,  he  placed  his  courier  and  his  private  omnibus 
at  our  disposal.  In  after  years  one  of  my  cousins, 


184  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

the  late  Montague  Vizetelly,  accompanied  Russell 
to  South  America.  I  still  have  some  letters  which 
the  latter  wrote  me  respecting  Zola's  novel  "  La 
Debacle,"  in  which  he  took  a  great  interest. 

Another  war-correspondent  at  Versailles  was  the 
present  Earl  of  Dunraven,   then  not   quite  thirty 
years  of  age,  and  known  by  the  courtesy  title  of 
Lord  Adare.     He  had  previously  acted  as  the  Daily 
Telegraph's  representative  with  Napier's  expedition 
against  Theodore  of  Abyssinia,  and  was  now  staying 
at  Versailles,  on  behalf,  I  think,  of  the  same  journal. 
His  rooms  at  the  Hotel  des  Reservoirs  were  shared 
by  Daniel  Dunglas  Home,  the  medium,  with  whom 
my  father  and  myself  speedily  became  acquainted. 
Very  tall  and  slim,  with  blue  eyes  and  an  abundance 
of  yellowish  hair,  Home,  at  this  time  about  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age,  came  of  the  old  stock  of  the  Earls 
of  Home,  whose  name  figures  so  often  in  Scottish 
history.     His  father  was  an  illegitimate  son  of  the 
tenth  earl,  and  his  mother  belonged  to  a  family  which 
claimed  to  possess  the  gift  of  "  second  sight."     Home 
himself — according  to  his  own  account — began  to 
see  visions  and  receive  mysterious  warnings  at  the 
period  of  his  mother's  death,  and  as  time  elapsed 
his  many  visitations  from  the  other  world  so  greatly 
upset  the  aunt  with  whom  he  was  living — a  Mrs. 
McNeill   Cook   of   Greeneville,    Connecticut* — that 
she    ended    by    turning    him    out-of-doors.     Other 
people,  however,  took  an  unhealthy  delight  in  seeing 
their  furniture  move  about  without  human  agency, 
and  in  receiving  more  or  less  ridiculous  messages 
from  spirit-land ;    and  in  folk  of  this  description 
Home  found  some  useful  friends. 

*  He  had  been  taken  from  Scotland  to  America  when  he  was  about 
nine  years  old. 


FROM  VERSAILLES   TO   BRITTANY     185 

He  came  to  London  in  the  spring  of  1855,  and 
on  giving  a  seance  at  Cox's  Hotel,  in  Jermyn  Street, 
he  contrived  to  deceive  Sir  David  Brewster  (then 
seventy-four  years  old),  but  was  less  successful  with 
another    septuagenarian,    Lord    Brougham.     Later, 
he  captured  the  imaginative  Sir   Edward  Bulwer 
(subsequently    Lord    Lytton),    who    as    author    of 
"  Zanoni  "  was  perhaps  fated  to  believe  in  him,  and 
he  also  impressed  Mrs.  Browning,  but  not  Browning 
himself.     The    latter,    indeed,    depicted    Home    as 
"  Sludge,  the  Medium."     Going  to  Italy  for  a  time, 
the  already  notorious   adventurer  gave  seances  in 
a  haunted  villa  near  Florence,    but  on  becoming 
converted   to   the   Catholic   faith   in   1856   he  was 
received   in   private   audience   by   that   handsome, 
urbane,  but  by  no  means  satisfactory  pontiff,  Pio 
Nono,  who,  however,  eight  years  later  caused  him 
to  be  summarily  expelled  from  Rome  as  a  sorcerer 
in  league  with  the  Devil. 

Meantime,  Home  had  ingratiated  himself  with 
a  number  of  crowned  heads — Napoleon  III  and  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  in  whose  presence  he  gave  seances 
at  the  Tuileries,  Fontainebleau,  and  Biarritz ;  the 
King  of  Prussia,  by  whom  he  was  received  at  Baden- 
Baden  ;  and  Queen  Sophia  of  Holland,  who  gave  him 
hospitality  at  the  Hague.     On  marrying  a  Russian 
lady,  the  daughter  of  General  Count  de  Kroll,  he 
was  favoured  with  presents  by  the  Czar  Alexander  II, 
and  after  returning  to  England  became  one  of  the 
"  attractions "    of   Milner-Gibson's   drawing-room — > 
Mrs.   Gibson,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Sir  Thomas 
Gery    Cullum,    being    one     of     the    early     English 
patronesses  of  so-called  spiritualism,  to  a  faith  in 
which  she  was  "  converted  "  by  Home,  whom  she 
first    met   whilst   travelling    on   the   Continent.     I 


186  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

remember  hearing  no  little  talk  about  him  in  my 
younger  days.  Thackeray's  friend,  Robert  Bell, 
wrote  an  article  about  him  in  The  Cornhill,  which 
was  the  subject  of  considerable  discussion.  Bell, 
I  think,  was  also  mixed  up  in  the  affair  of  the 
"  Davenport  Brothers,"  one  of  whose  performances 
I  remember  witnessing.  They  were  afterwards 
effectively  shown  up  in  Paris  by  Vicomte  Alfred  de 
Caston.  Home,  for  his  part,  was  scarcely  taken 
seriously  by  the  Parisians,  and  when,  at  a  seance 
given  in  presence  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  he 
blundered  grossly  and  repeatedly  about  her  father, 
the  Count  of  Montijo,  he  received  an  intimation  that 
his  presence  at  Court  could  be  dispensed  with.  He 
then  consoled  himself  by  going  to  Peterhof  and 
exhibiting  his  powers  to  the  Czar. 

Certain  Scotch  and  English  scientists,  such  as 
Dr.  Lockhart  Robertson,  Dr.  Robert  Chambers, 
and  Dr.  James  Manby  Gully — the  apostle  of  hydro- 
pathy, who  came  to  grief  in  the  notorious  Bravo 
case — warmly  supported  Home.  So  did  Samuel 
Carter  Hall  and  his  wife,  William  Howitt,  and 
Gerald  Massey ;  and  he  ended  by  establishing  a 
so-called  "  Spiritual  Athenaeum  "  in  Sloane  Street. 
A  wealthy  widow  of  advanced  years,  a  Mrs.  Jane 
Lyon,  became  a  subscriber  to  that  institution,  and, 
growing  infatuated  with  Home,  made  him  a  present 
of  some  £30,000,  and  settled  on  him  a  similar  amount 
to  be  paid  at  her  death.  But  after  a  year  or  two 
she  repented  of  her  infatuation,  and  took  legal  pro- 
ceedings to  recover  her  money.  She  failed  to  sub- 
stantiate some  of  her  charges,  but  Vice-Chancellor 
Giffard,  who  heard  the  case,  decided  it  in  her 
favour,  in  his  judgment  describing  Home  as  a  needy 
and  designing  man.  Home,  I  should  add,  was  at 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY     187 

this  time  a  widower  and  at  loggerheads  with  his 
late  wife's  relations  in  Russia,  in  respect  to  her 
property. 

Among  the  arts  ascribed  to  Home  was  that  called 
levitation,  in  practising  which  he  was  raised  in  the 
air  by  an  unseen  and  unknown  force,  and  remained 
suspended  there ;  this  being,  so  to  say,  the  first  step 
towards  human  flying  without  the  assistance  of  any 
biplane,  monoplane,  or  other  mechanical  contrivance. 
The  first  occasion  on  which  Home  is  said  to  have 
displayed  this  power  was  in  the  late  fifties,  when  he 
was  at  a  chateau  near  Bordeaux  as  the  guest  of  the 
widow  of  Theodore  Ducos,  the  nephew  of  Bonaparte's 
colleague  in  the  Consulate.  In  the  works  put  forward 
on  Home's  behalf — one  of  them,  called  "  Incidents 
in  my  Life,"  was  chiefly  written,  it  appears,  by  his 
friend  and  solicitor,  a  Mr.  W.  M.  Wilkinson — it  is 
also  asserted  that  his  power  of  levitation  was  attested 
in  later  years  by  Lord  Lindsay,  subsequently  Earl 
of  Crawford  and  Balcarres,  and  by  the  present  Earl 
of  Dunraven.  We  are  told,  indeed,  that  on  one 
occasion  the  last-named  actually  saw  Home  float 
out  of  a  room  by  one  window,  and  into  it  again  by 
another  one.  I  do  not  know  whether  Home  also 
favoured  Professor  Crookes  with  any  exhibition  of 
this  kind,  but  the  latter  certainly  expressed  an 
opinion  that  some  of  Home's  feats  were  genuine. 

When  my  father  and  I  first  met  him  at  Versailles 
he  was  constantly  in  the  company  of  Lord  Adare. 
He  claimed  to  be  acting  as  the  correspondent  of  a 
Calif ornian  journal,  but  his  chief  occupation  appeared 
to  be  the  giving  of  seances  for  the  entertainment  of 
all  the  German  princes  and  princelets  staying  at  the 
Hotel  des  Reservoirs.  Most  of  these  highnesses  and 
mightinesses  formed  part  of  what  the  Germans 


188  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

themselves  sarcastically  called  their  "  Ornamental 
Staff,"  and  as  Moltke  seldom  allowed  them  any  real 
share  in  the  military  operations,  they  doubtless 
found  in  Home's  performances  some  relief  from  the 
tcedium  vitce  which  overtook  them  during  their  long 
wait 'for  the  capitulation  of  Paris.  Now  that  Metz 
had  fallen,  that  was  the  chief  question  which  occupied 
the  minds  of  all  the  Germans  assembled  at  Versailles,* 
and  Home  was  called  upon  to  foretell  when  it  would 
take  place.  On  certain  occasions,  I  believe,  he 
evoked  the  spirits  of  Frederick  the  Great,  Napoleon, 
Bliicher,  and  others,  in  order  to  obtain  from  them 
an  accurate  forecast.  At  another  time  he  endea- 
voured to  peer  into  the  future  by  means  of  crystal- 
gazing,  in  which  he  required  the  help  of  a  little  child. 
"  My  experiments  have  not  succeeded,"  he  said  one 
day,  while  we  were  sitting  with  him  at  the  cafe  near 
the  Hotel  des  Reservoirs  ;  "  but  that  is  not  my 
fault.  I  need  an  absolutely  pure-minded  child,  and 
can  find  none  here,  for  this  French  race  is  corrupt 
from  its  very  infancy."  He  was  fasting  at  this  time, 
taking  apparently  nothing  but  a  little  eau  sucree  for 
several  days  at  a  stretch.  "  The  spirits  will  not 
move  me  unless  I  do  this,"  he  said.  "  To  bring  them 
to  me,  I  have  to  contend  against  the  material  part 
of  my  nature." 

A  couple  of  years  later,  after  another  visit  to 
St.  Petersburg,  where,  it  seems,  he  was  again  well 
received  by  the  Czar  and  again  married  a  lady  of  the 
Russian  nobility,  Home's  health  began  to  fail  him, 
perhaps  on  account  of  the  semi-starvation  to  which 

*  The  Germans  regarded  it  as  the  more  urgent  at  the  time  of  my 
arrival  at  Versailles,  as  only  a  few  days  previously  (November  9),  the  new 
French  Army  of  the  Loire  under  D'Aurelle  de  Paladines  had  defeated 
the  Bavarians  at  Coulmiers,  and  thereby  again  secured  possession  of 
Orleans. 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO  BRITTANY     189 

at  intervals  he  subjected  himself.  I  saw  him 
occasionally  during  his  last  years,  when,  living  at 
Auteuil,  he  was  almost  a  neighbour  of  mine.  He  died 
there  in  1886,  being  then  about  fifty-three  years  old. 
Personally,  I  never  placed  faith  in  him.  I  regarded 
him  at  the  outset  with  great  curiosity,  but  some  time 
before  the  war  I  had  read  a  good  deal  about  Cagliostro, 
Saint  Germain,  Mesmer,  and  other  charlatans,  also 
attending  a  lecture  about  them  at  the  Salle  des  Con- 
ferences; and  all  that,  combined  with  the  exposure 
of  the  Davenport  Brothers  and  other  spiritualists 
and  illusionists,  helped  to  prejudice  me  against  such 
a  man  as  Home.  At  the  same  time,  this  so-called 
"  wizard  of  the  nineteenth  century  "  was  certainly 
a  curious  personality,  possessed,  I  presume,  of  con- 
siderable suggestive  powers,  which  at  times  enabled 
him  to  make  others  believe  as  he  desired.  We  ought 
to  have  had  Charcot's  opinion  of  his  case. 

As  it  had  taken  my  father  and  myself  three  days 
to  reach  Versailles  from  Paris,  and  we  could  not  tell 
what  other  unpleasant  experiences  the  future  might 
hold  in  store  for  us,  our  pecuniary  position  gave  rise 
to  some  concern.  I  mentioned  previously  that  we 
quitted  the  capital  with  comparatively  little  money,* 
and  it  now  seemed  as  if  our  journey  might  become  a 
long  and  somewhat  costly  affair,  particularly  as  the 
German  staff  wished  to  send  us  off  through  Northern 
France  and  thence  by  way  of  Belgium.  On  con- 
sulting Landells,  Skinner,  and  some  other  corre- 
spondents, it  appeared  that  several  days  might 
elapse  before  we  could  obtain  remittances  from 
England.  On  the  other  hand,  every  correspondent 
clung  to  such  money  as  he  had  in  his  possession,  for 
living  was  very  expensive  at  Versailles,  and  at  any 

*  See  p.  161,  mite. 


190  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

moment  some  emergency  might  arise  necessitating 
an  unexpected  outlay.  It  was  suggested,  however, 
that  we  should  apply  to  Colonel  Beauchamp  Walker, 
who  was  the  official  British  representative  with  the 
German  headquarters'  staff,  for,  we  were  told, 
Parliament,  in  its  generosity,  had  voted  a  sum  of 
£4000  to  assist  any  needy  British  subjects  who  might 
come  out  of  Paris,  and  Colonel  Walker  had  the 
handling  of  the  money  in  question. 

Naturally  enough,  my  father  began  by  demurring 
to  this  suggestion,  saying  that  he  could  not  apply 
in  forma  pauperis  for  charity.  But  it  was  pointed 
out  that  he  need  do  no  such  thing.  "  Go  to  Walker," 
it  was  said,  "  explain  your  difficulty,  and  offer  him 
a  note  of  hand  or  a  draft  on  the  Illustrated,  and  if 
desired  half  a  dozen  of  us  will  back  it."  Some  such 
plan  having  been  decided  on,  we  called  upon  Colonel 
Walker  on  the  second  or  third  day  of  our  stay  at 
Versailles. 

His  full  name  was  Charles  Pyndar  Beauchamp 
Walker.  Born  in  1817,  he  had  seen  no  little  service. 
He  had  acted  as  an  aide-de-camp  to  Lord  Lucan  in 
the  Crimea,  afterwards  becoming  Lieutenant-Colonel 
of  the  2nd  Dragoon  Guards.  He  was  in  India  during 
the  final  operations  for  the  suppression  of  the  Mutiny, 
and  subsequently  in  China  during  the  Franco- 
British  expedition  to  that  country.  During  the 
Austro-Prussian  war  of  1866  he  was  attached  as 
British  Commissioner  to  the  forces  of  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia,  and  witnessed  the  battle  of 
Koniggratz.  He  served  in  the  same  capacity  during 
the  Franco-German  War,  when  he  was  at  Weissen- 
burg,  Worth,  and  Sedan.  In  later  years  he  became 
a  major-general,  a  lieutenant-general,  a  K.C.B.,  and 
Colonel  of  the  2nd  Dragoon  Guards ;  and  from  1878 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY     191 

until  his  retirement  in  1884  he  acted  as  Inspector- 
General  of  military  education.  I  have  set  out  those 
facts  because  I  have  no  desire  to  minimise  Walker's 
services  and  abilities.  But  I  cannot  help  smiling 
at  a  sentence  which  I  found  in  the  account  of  him 
given  in  the  "  Dictionary  of  National  Biography." 
It  refers  to  his  duties  during  the  Franco-German 
War,  and  runs  as  follows :  "  The  irritation  of  the 
Germans  against  England,  and  the  number  of  roving 
Englishmen,  made  his  duty  not  an  easy  one,  but  he 
was  well  qualified  for  it  by  his  tact  and  geniality, 
and  his  action  met  with  the  full  approval  of  the 
Government." 

The  Government  hi  question  would  have  approved 
anything.  But  let  that  pass.  We  called  on  the 
colonel  at  about  half-past  eleven  in  the  morning, 
and  were  shown  into  a  large  and  comfortably  fur- 
nished room,  where  decanters  and  cigars  were 
prominently  displayed  on  a  central  table.  In  ten 
minutes'  time  the  colonel  appeared,  arrayed  in  a 
beautiful  figured  dressing-gown  with  a  tasselled 
girdle.  I  knew  that  the  British  officer  was  fond  of 
discarding  his  uniform,  and  I  was  well  aware  that 
French  officers  also  did  so  when  on  furlough  in  Paris, 
but  it  gave  my  young  mind  quite  a  shock  to  see  her 
Majesty's  military  representative  with  King  William 
arrayed  in  a  gaudy  dressing-gown  in  the  middle  of 
the  day.  He  seated  himself,  and  querulously 
inquired  of  my  father  what  his  business  was.  It 
was  told  him  very  briefly.  He  frowned,  hummed, 
hawed,  threw  himself  back  in  his  armchair,  and  curtly 
exclaimed,  "  I  am  not  a  money-lender  !  " 

The  fact  that  the  Illustrated  London  News  was 
the  world's  premier  journal  of  its  class  went  for 
nothing.  The  offers  of  the  other  correspondents  of 


192  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

the  English  Press  to  back  my  father's  signature  were 
dismissed  with  disdain.  When  the  colonel  was 
reminded  that  he  held  a  considerable  amount  of 
money  voted  by  Parliament,  he  retorted  :  "  That  is 
for  necessitous  persons  !  But  you  ask  me  to  lend 
you  money  ! "  "  Quite  so,"  my  father  replied ; 
"  I  do  not  wish  to  be  a  charge  on  the  Treasury. 
I  simply  want  a  loan,  as  I  have  a  difficult  and  perhaps 
an  expensive  journey  before  me."  "  How  much  do 
you  want  ?  "  snapped  the  colonel.  "  Well,"  said 
my  father,  "  I  should  feel  more  comfortable  if  I  had 
a  thousand  francs  (£40)  in  my  pocket."  "  Forty 
pounds  !  "  cried  Colonel  Walker,  as  if  lost  in  amaze- 
ment. And  getting  up  from  his  chair  he  went  on,  in 
the  most  theatrical  manner  possible :  "  Why,  do 
you  know,  sir,  that  if  I  were  to  let  you  have  forty 
pounds,  I  might  find  myself  in  the  greatest  possible 
difficulty.  To-morrow — perhaps,  even  to-night — 
there  might  be  hundreds  of  our  suffering  fellow- 
countrymen  outside  the  gates  of  Versailles,  and  I 
unable  to  relieve  them  !  "  "  But,"  said  my  father 
quietly,  "  you  would  still  be  holding  £3960,  Colonel 
Walker."  The  colonel  glared,  and  my  father,  not 
caring  to  prolong  such  an  interview,  walked  out  of 
the  room,  followed  by  myself. 

A  good  many  of  the  poorer  people  who  quitted 
Paris  with  us  never  repaired  to  Versailles  at  all,  but 
left  us  at  Corbeil  or  elsewhere  to  make  their  way 
across  France  as  best  they  could.  Another  party, 
about  one  hundred  strong,  was,  however,  subse- 
quently sent  out  of  the  capital  with  the  assistance 
of  Mr.  Washburne,  and  in  their  case  Colonel  Walker 
had  to  expend  some  money.  But  every  grant  was 
a  very  niggardly  one,  and  it  would  not  surprise  me 
to  learn  that  the  bulk  of  the  money  voted  by 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY     193 

Parliament  was  ultimately  returned  to  the  Treasury — 
which  circumstance  would  probably  account  for  the 
"  full  approval "  which  the  Government  bestowed 
on  the  colonel's  conduct  at  this  period.  He  died 
early  in  1894,  and  soon  afterwards  some  of  his  corre- 
spondence was  published  in  a  volume  entitled  "  Days 
of  a  Soldier's  Life."  On  reading  a  review  of  that  work 
in  one  of  the  leading  literary  journals,  I  was  struck 
by  a  passage  in  which  Walker  was  described  as  a 
disappointed  and  embittered  man,  who  always  felt 
that  his  merits  were  not  sufficiently  recognized, 
although  he  was  given  a  knighthood  and  retired 
with  the  honorary  rank  of  general.  I  presume  that 
his  ambition  was  at  least  a  viscounty,  if  not  an 
earldom,  and  a  field-marshal's  baton. 

On  leaving  the  gentleman  whose  "  tact  and 
geniality  "  are  commemorated  in  the  "  Dictionary 
of  National  Biography,"  we  repaired — my  father  and 
I — to  the  cafe  where  most  of  the  English  newspaper 
men  met.  Several  were  there,  and  my  father  was 
at  once  assailed  with  inquiries  respecting  his  inter- 
view with  Colonel  Walker.  His  account  of  it  led 
to  some  laughter  and  a  variety  of  comments,  which 
would  scarcely  have  improved  the  colonel's  temper. 
I  remember,  however,  that  Captain,  afterwards 
Colonel  Sir,  Henry  Hozier,  the  author  of  "  The  Seven 
Weeks'  War,"  smiled  quietly,  but  otherwise  kept 
his  own  counsel.  At  last  my  father  was  asked  what 
he  intended  to  do  under  the  circumstances,  and  he 
replied  that  he  meant  to  communicate  with  England 
as  speedily  as  possible,  and  remain  in  the  interval 
at  Versailles,  although  he  particularly  wished  to  get 
away. 

Now,  it  happened  that  among  the  customers  at 
the  cafe  there  were  two  American  officers,  one  being 

o 


194  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Brigadier-General  Duff,  a  brother  of  Andrew  Halli- 
day,  the  dramatic  author  and  essayist,  whose  real 
patronymic  was  also  Duff.  My  father  knew  Halliday 
through  their  mutual  friends  Henry  Mayhew  and  the 
Broughs.  The  other  American  officer  was  Major- 
General  William  Babcock  Hazen,  whose  name  will 
be  found  occasionally  mentioned  in  that  popular 
record  of  President  Garfield's  career,  "  From  Log 
Cabin  to  White  House."  During  the  Civil  War  in 
the  United  States  he  had  commanded  a  division 
in  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea.  He  also  introduced 
the  cold- wave  signal  system  into  the  American  army, 
and  in  1870-71  he  was  following  the  operations  of 
the  Germans  on  behalf  of  his  Government. 

I  do  not  remember  whether  General  Duff  (who,  I 
have  been  told,  is  still  alive)  was  also  at  Versailles 
in  an  official  capacity,  but  in  the  course  of  conver- 
sation he  heard  of  my  father's  interview  with  Colonel 
Walker,  and  spoke  to  General  Hazen  on  the  subject. 
Hazen  did  not  hesitate,  but  came  to  my  father,  had 
a  brief  chat  with  him,  unbuttoned  his  uniform, 
produced  a  case  containing  bank-notes,  and  asked 
my  father  how  much  he  wanted,  telling  him  not  to 
pinch  himself.  The  whole  transaction  was  com- 
pleted in  a  few  minutes.  My  father  was  unwilling 
to  take  quite  as  much  as  he  had  asked  of  Colonel 
Walker,  but  General  Hazen  handed  him  some  £20 
or  £30  in  notes,  one  or  two  of  which  were  afterwards 
changed,  for  a  handsome  consideration,  by  one  of 
the  German  Jews  who  then  infested  Versailles  and 
profited  by  the  scarcity  of  gold.  We  were  indebted, 
then,  on  two  occasions  to  the  representatives  of  the 
United  States.  The  laisser-passer  enabling  us  to 
leave  Paris  had  been  supplied  by  Mr.  Washburne, 
and  the  means  of  continuing  our  journey  in  comfort 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY    195 

were  furnished  by  General  Hazen.  I  raise  my  hat 
to  the  memory  of  both  those  gentlemen. 

During  the  few  days  that  we  remained  at  Ver- 
sailles, we  caught  glimpses  of  King  William  and 
Bismarck,  both  of  whom  we  had  previously  seen  in 
Paris  in  1867,  when  they  were  the  guests  of  Napoleon 
III.  I  find  in  my  diary  a  memorandum,  dictated 
perhaps  by  my  father :  "  Bismarck  much  fatter  and 
bloated."  We  saw  him  one  day  leaving  the  Pre- 
fecture, where  the  King  had  his  quarters.  He  stood 
for  a  moment  outside,  chatting  and  laughing  noisily 
with  some  other  German  personages,  then  strode 
away  with  a  companion.  He  was  only  fifty-five 
years  old,  and  was  full  of  vigour  at  that  time,  even 
though  he  might  have  put  on  flesh  during  recent 
years,  and  therefore  have  renounced  dancing — his 
last  partner  in  the  waltz  having  been  Mme.  Carette, 
the  Empress  Eugenie's  reader,  whom  he  led  out  at 
one  of  the  '67  balls  at  the  Tuileries.  Very  hale  and 
hearty,  too,  looked  the  King  whom  Bismarck  was 
about  to  turn  into  an  Emperor.  Yet  the  victor  of 
Sedan  was  already  seventy-three  years  old.  I  only 
saw  him  on  horseback  during  my  stay  at  Versailles. 
My  recollections  of  him,  Bismarck,  and  Moltke, 
belong  more  particularly  to  the  year  1872,  when  I 
was  in  Berlin  in  connexion  with  the  famous  meeting 
of  the  three  Emperors. 

My  father  and  myself  had  kept  in  touch  with 
Mr.  Wodehouse,  from  whom  we  learnt  that  we 
should  have  to  apply  to  the  German  General  com- 
manding at  Versailles  with  respect  to  any  further 
safe-conducts.  At  first  we  were  informed  that  there 
could  be  no  departure  from  the  plan  of  sending  us 
out  of  France  by  way  of  Epernay,  Reims,  and  Sedan, 
and  this  by  no  means  coincided  with  the  desires  of 


196  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

most  of  the  Englishmen  who  had  come  out  of  Paris, 
they  wishing  to  proceed  westward,  and  secure  a 
passage  across  the  Channel  from  Le  Havre  or  Dieppe. 
My  father  and  myself  also  wanted  to  go  westward, 
but  in  order  to  make  our  way  into  Brittany,  my 
stepmother  and  her  children  being  at  Saint  Servan, 
near  Saint  Malo.  At  last  the  German  authorities 
decided  to  give  us  the  alternative  routes  of  Mantes 
and  Dreux,  the  first-named  being  the  preferable  one 
for  those  people  who  were  bound  for  England.  It 
was  chosen  also  by  my  father,  as  the  Dreux  route 
would  have  led  us  into  a  region  where  hostilities 
were  in  progress,  and  where  we  might  suddenly  have 
found  ourselves  "  held  up." 

The  entire  party  of  British  refugees  was  now 
limited  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  persons,  some,  tired  of 
waiting,  having  taken  themselves  off  by  the  Sedan 
route,  whilst  a  few  others — such  as  coachmen  and 
grooms — on  securing  employment  from  German 
princes  and  generals,  resolved  to  stay  at  Versailles. 
Mr.  Wodehouse  also  remained  there  for  a  short 
time.  Previously  in  poor  health,  he  had  further 
contracted  a  chill  during  our  three  days'  drive  in 
an  open  vehicle.  As  most  of  those  who  were  going 
on  to  England  at  once  now  found  themselves  almost 
insolvent,  it  was  arranged  to  pay  their  expenses 
through  the  German  lines,  and  to  give  each  of  them 
a  sum  of  fifty  shillings,  so  that  they  might  make 
their  way  Channelwards  when  they  had  reached  an 
uninvaded  part  of  France.  Colonel  Walker,  of 
course,  parted  with  as  little  money  as  possible. 

At  Versailles  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to  hire 
vehicles  to  take  us  as  far  as  Mantes,  but  we  were 
assured  that  conveyances  might  be  procured  at 
Saint  Germain-en-Laye ;  and  it  was  thus  that 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY     197 

Dr.  Russell  lent  my  father  his  little  omnibus  for  the 
journey  to  the  last-named  town,  at  the  same 
time  sending  his  courier  to  assist  in  making  further 
arrangements.  I  do  not  recollect  that  courier's 
nationality,  but  he  spoke  English,  French,  and 
German,  and  his  services  were  extremely  useful. 
We  drove  to  Saint  Germain  by  way  of  Rocquencourt, 
where  we  found  a  number  of  country-folk  gathered 
by  the  roadside  with  little  stalls,  at  which  they  sold 
wine  and  fruit  to  the  German  soldiers.  This  part 
of  the  environs  of  Paris  seemed  to  have  suffered 
less  than  the  eastern  and  southern  districts.  So  far, 
there  had  been  only  one  sortie  on  this  side — that 
made  by  Ducrot  in  the  direction  of  La  Malmaison.* 
It  had,  however,  momentarily  alarmed  the  investing 
forces,  and  whilst  we  were  at  Versailles  I  learnt 
that,  on  the  day  in  question,  everything  had  been 
got  ready  for  King  William's  removal  to  Saint 
Germain  in  the  event  of  the  French  achieving  a  real 
success.  But  it  proved  to  be  a  small  affair,  Ducrot's 
force  being  altogether  incommensurate  with  the 
effort  required  of  it. 

At  Saint  Germain,  Dr.  Russell's  courier  assisted 
in  obtaining  conveyances  for  the  whole  of  our  party, 
and  we  were  soon  rolling  away  in  the  direction  of 
Mantes-la-Jolie,  famous  as  the  town  where  William 
the  Conqueror,  whilst  bent  on  pillage  and  destruction, 
received  the  injuries  which  caused  his  death.  Here 
we  had  to  report  ourselves  to  the  German  Com- 
mander, who,  to  the  general  consternation,  began 
by  refusing  us  permission  to  proceed.  He  did  so 
because  most  of  the  safe-conducts  delivered  to  us 
at  Versailles,  had,  in  the  first  instance,  only  stated 
that  we  were  to  travel  by  way  of  Sedan  ;  the  words 

*  See  p.  141,  ante. 


198  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

"  or  Mantes  or  Dreux "  being  afterwards  added 
between  the  lines.  That  interlineation  was  irregular, 
said  the  General  at  Mantes ;  it  might  even  be  a 
forgery ;  at  all  events,  he  could  not  recognize  it,  so 
we  must  go  back  whence  we  had  come,  and  quickly, 
too — indeed,  he  gave  us  just  half  an  hour  to  quit 
the  town  !  But  it  fortunately  happened  that  in  a 
few  of  the  safe-conducts  there  was  no  interlineation 
whatever,  the  words  "  Sedan  or  Mantes  or  Dreux  " 
being  duly  set  down  in  the  body  of  the  document,  and 
on  this  being  pointed  out,  the  General  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  we  were  not  trying  to  impose  on 
him.  He  thereupon  cancelled  his  previous  order, 
and  decided  that,  as  dusk  was  already  falling,  we 
might  remain  at  Mantes  that  night,  and  resume  our 
journey  on  the  morrow  at  5.45  a.m.,  in  the  charge 
of  a  cavalry  escort. 

Having  secured  a  couple  of  beds,  and  ordered 
some  dinner  at  one  of  the  inns,  my  father  and  I 
strolled  about  the  town,  which  was  full  of  Uhlans 
and  Hussars.  The  old  stone  bridge  across  the  Seine 
had  been  blown  up  by  the  French  before  their 
evacuation  of  the  town,  and  a  part  of  the  railway 
line  had  also  been  destroyed  by  them.  But  the 
Germans  were  responsible  for  the  awful  appearance 
of  the  railway-station.  Never  since  have  I  seen 
anything  resembling  it.  A  thousand  panes  of  glass 
belonging  to  windows  or  roofing  had  been  shivered 
to  atoms.  Every  mirror  in  either  waiting-  or  refresh- 
ment-rooms had  been  pounded  to  pieces ;  every 
gilt  frame  broken  into  little  bits.  The  clocks  lay 
about  in  small  fragments ;  account-books  and 
printed  forms  had  been  torn  to  scraps;  partitions, 
chairs,  tables,  benches,  boxes,  nests  of  drawers, 
had  been  hacked,  split,  broken,  reduced  to  mere 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO  BRITTANY     199 

strips  of  wood.  The  large  stoves  were  overturned 
and  broken,  and  the  marble  refreshment  counter — 
some  thirty  feet  long,  and  previously  one  of  the 
features  of  the  station — now  strewed  the  floor  in 
particles,  suggesting  gravel.  It  was,  indeed,  an 
amazing  sight,  the  more  amazing  as  no  such  work 
of  destruction  could  have  been  accomplished  without 
extreme  labour.  When  we  returned  to  the  inn  for 
dinner,  I  asked  some  questions.  "  Who  did  it  ?  " 
'  The  first  German  troops  that  came  here,"  was  the 
answer.  "  Why  did  they  do  it  ? — was  it  because 
your  men  had  cut  the  telegraph  wires  and  destroyed 
some  of  the  permanent  way  ?  "  "  Oh  no  !  They 
expected  to  find  something  to  drink  in  the  refresh- 
ment-room, and  when  they  discovered  that  everything 
had  been  taken  away,  they  set  about  breaking  the 
fixtures !  "  Dear,  nice,  placid  German  soldiers, 
baulked,  for  a  few  minutes,  of  some  of  the  wine  of 
France ! 

In  the  morning  we  left  Mantes  by  moonlight  at 
the  appointed  hour,  unaccompanied,  however,  by 
any  escort.  Either  the  Commandant  had  forgotten 
the  matter,  or  his  men  had  overslept  themselves. 
In  the  outskirts,  we  were  stopped  by  a  sentry,  who 
carried  our  pass  to  a  guard-house,  where  a  non- 
commissioned officer  inspected  it  by  the  light  of  a 
lantern.  Then  on  we  went  again  for  another 
furlong  or  so,  when  we  were  once  more  challenged, 
this  time  by  the  German  advanced-post.  As  we 
resumed  our  journey,  we  perceived,  in  the  rear,  a 
small  party  of  Hussars,  who  did  not  follow  us,  but 
wheeled  suddenly  to  the  left,  bent,  no  doubt,  on 
some  reconnoitring  expedition.  We  were  now 
beyond  the  German  lines,  and  the  dawn  was  breaking. 
Yonder  was  the  Seine,  with  several  islands  lying  on 


200  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

its  bosom,  and  some  wooded  heights  rising  beyond 
it.  Drawing  nearer  to  the  river,  we  passed  through 
the  village  of  Rolleboise,  which  gives  its  name  to 
the  chief  tunnel  on  the  Western  Line,  and  drove 
across  the  debatable  ground  where  French  Francs- 
tireurs  were  constantly  on  the  prowl  for  venture- 
some Uhlans.  At  last  we  got  to  Bonnieres,  a  little 
place  of  some  seven  or  eight  hundred  inhabitants, 
on  the  limits  of  Seine-et-Oise  ;  and  there  we  had  to 
alight,  for  the  vehicles,  which  had  brought  us  from 
Saint  Germain,  could  proceed  no  further. 

Fortunately,  we  secured  others,  and  went  on 
towards  the  village  of  Jeufosse,  where  the  nearest 
French  outposts  were  established.  We  were  dis- 
playing the  white  flag,  but  the  first  French  sentries 
we  met,  young  fellows  of  the  Mobile  Guard,  refused 
for  a  little  while  to  let  us  pass.  Eventually  they 
referred  the  matter  to  an  officer,  who,  on  discovering 
that  we  were  English  and  had  come  from  Paris, 
began  to  chat  with  us  in  a  very  friendly  manner, 
asking  all  the  usual  questions  about  the  state  of 
affairs  in  the  capital,  and  expressing  the  usual  satis- 
faction that  the  city  could  still  hold  out.  When  we 
took  leave,  he  cordially  wished  us  bon  voyage,  and 
on  we  hastened,  still  following  the  course  of  the 
Seine,  to  the  little  town  of  Vernon.  Its  inquisitive 
inhabitants  at  once  surrounded  us,  eager  to  know 
who  we  were,  whence  we  had  come,  and  whither  we 
were  going.  But  we  did  not  tarry  many  minutes, 
for  we  suddenly  learnt  that  the  railway  communi- 
cation with  Rouen  only  began  at  Gaillon,  several 
leagues  further  on,  and  that  there  was  only  one  train 
a  day.  The  question  which  immediately  arose  was — 
could  we  catch  it  ? 

On  we  went,  then,  once  more,  this  time  up,  over, 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY    201 

and  down  a  succession  of  steep  hills,  until  at  last 
we  reached  Gaillon  station,  and  found  to  our  delight 
that  the  train  would  not  start  for  another  twenty 
minutes.  All  our  companions  took  tickets  for 
Rouen,  whence  they  intended  to  proceed  to  Dieppe 
or  Le  Havre.  But  my  father  and  I  branched  off 
before  reaching  the  Norman  capital,  and,  after 
arriving  at  Elbeuf,  travelled  through  the  depart- 
ments of  the  Eure  and  the  Orne,  passing  Alencon 
on  our  way  to  Le  Mans.  On  two  or  three  occasions 
we  had  to  change  from  one  train  to  another.  The 
travelling  was  extremely  slow,  and  there  were 
innumerable  stoppages.  The  lines  were  constantly 
encumbered  with  vans  laden  with  military  supplies, 
and  the  stations  were  full  of  troops  going  in  one 
and  another  direction.  In  the  waiting-rooms  one 
found  crowds  of  officers  lying  on  the  couches,  the 
chairs,  and  the  tables,  and  striving  to  snatch  a  few 
hours'  sleep  ;  whilst  all  over  the  floors  and  the  plat- 
forms soldiers  had  stretched  themselves  for  the  same 
purpose.  Very  seldom  could  any  food  be  obtained, 
but  I  luckily  secured  a  loaf,  some  cheese,  and  a  bottle 
of  wine  at  Alen9on.  It  must  have  been  about  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  when  we  at  last  reached 
Le  Mans,  and  found  that  there  would  be  no  train 
going  to  Rennes  for  another  four  or  five  hours. 

The  big  railway-station  of  Le  Mans  was  full  of 
reinforcements  for  the  Army  of  the  Loire.  After 
strolling  about  for  a  few  minutes,  my  father  and  I 
sat  down  on  the  platform  with  our  backs  against  a 
wall,  for  not  a  bench  or  a  stool  was  available.  Every 
now  and  again  some  train  prepared  to  start,  men 
were  hastily  mustered,  and  then  climbed  into  all 
sorts  of  carriages  and  vans.  A  belated  general 
rushed  along,  accompanied  by  eager  aides-de-camp. 


202  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Now  and  again  a  rifle  slipped  from  the  hand  of  some 
Mobile  Guard  who  had  been  imbibing  too  freely, 
and  fell  with  a  clatter  on  the  platform.  Then  stores 
were  bundled  into  trucks,  whistles  sounded,  engines 
puffed,  and  meanwhile,  although  men  were  con- 
stantly departing,  the  station  seemed  to  be  as  crowded 
as  ever.  When  at  last  I  got  up  to  stretch  myself, 
I  noticed,  affixed  to  the  wall  against  which  I  had 
been  leaning,  a  proclamation  of  Gambetta's  respecting 
D'Aurelle  de  Paladines'  victory  over  Von  der  Tann 
at  Orleans.  In  another  part  of  the  station  were 
lithographed  notices  emanating  from  the  Prefect  of 
the  department,  and  reciting  a  variety  of  recent 
Government  decrees  and  items  of  war  news, 
skirmishes,  reconnaissances,  and  so  forth.  At  last, 
however,  our  train  came  in.  It  was  composed  almost 
entirely  of  third-class  carriages  with  wooden  seats, 
and  we  had  to  be  content  with  that  accom- 
modation. 

Another  long  and  wearisome  journey  then  began. 
Again  we  travelled  slowly,  again  there  were  innumer- 
able stoppages,  again  we  passed  trams  crowded  with 
soldiers,  or  crammed  full  of  military  stores.  At  some 
place  where  we  stopped  there  was  a  train  conveying 
some  scores  of  horses,  mostly  poor,  miserable  old 
creatures.  I  looked  and  wondered  at  the  sight  of 
them.  "  They  have  come  from  England,"  said  a 
fellow-passenger ;  "  every  boat  from  Southampton 
to  Saint  Malo  brings  over  quite  a  number."  It  was 
unpleasant  to  think  that  such  sorry-looking  beasts 
had  been  shipped  by  one's  own  countrymen.  How- 
ever, we  reached  Rennes  at  last,  and  were  there  able 
to  get  a  good  square  meal,  and  also  to  send  a  telegram 
to  my  stepmother,  notifying  her  of  our  early  arrival. 
It  was,  however,  at  a  late  hour  that  we  arrived  at 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY    203 

Saint  Malo,  whence  we  drove  to  La  Petite  Amelia 
at  Saint  Servaii. 

The  latter  town  then  contained  a  considerable 
colony  of  English  people,  among  whom  the  military 
element  predominated.     Quite  a  number  of  half -pay 
or  retired  officers  had  come  to  live  there  with  their 
families,   finding  Jersey  overcrowded  and  desiring 
to    practise    economy.     The   colony    also    included 
several   Irish   landlords   in   reduced   circumstances, 
who  had  quitted  the  restless  isle  to  escape  assassi- 
nation at  the  hands  of  "  Rory  of  the  Hills  "  and  folk 
of  his  stamp.     In  addition,  there  were  several  maiden 
ladies  of  divers  ages,  but  all  of  slender  means ;  one 
or  two  courtesy  lords  of  high  descent,  but  burdened 
with  numerous  offspring;   together  with  a  riding- 
master  who  wrote  novels,  and  an  elderly  clergyman 
appointed  by  the  Bishop  of  Gibraltar.     I  dare  say 
there  may  have  been  a  few  black  sheep  in  the  colony  ; 
but  the  picture  which  Mrs.  Annie  Edwardes  gave  of 
it  in  her  novel,  "  Susan  Fielding,"  was  exaggerated, 
though  there  was  truth  in  the  incidents  which  she 
introduced  into  another  of  her  works,  "  Ought  We 
to  Visit  Her  ?  "     On  the  whole,  the  Saint  Servan 
colony  was  a  very  respectable  one,  even  if  it  was 
not   possessed   of   any   great   means.     Going   there 
during  my  holidays,  I  met  many  young  fellows  of 
my  own  age  or  thereabouts,  and  mostly  belonging 
to  military  families.     There  were  also  several  charm- 
ing girls,  both  English  and  Irish.     With  the  young 
fellows  I  boated,  with  the  young  ladies  I  played 
croquet. 

Now,  whilst  my  father  and  I  had  been  shut  up  in 
Paris,  we  had  frequently  written  to  my  stepmother 
by  balloon-post,  and  on  some  of  our  letters  being 
shown  to  the  clergyman  of  the  colony,  he  requested 


204  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

permission  to  read  them  to  his  congregation — which 
he  frequently  did,  omitting,  of  course,  the  more 
private  passages,  but  giving  all  the  items  of  news 
and  comments  on  the  situation  which  the  letters 
contained.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  helped  the 
reverend  gentleman  out  of  a  difficulty.  He  was  an 
excellent  man,  but,  like  many  others  of  his  cloth, 
he  did  not  know  how  to  preach.  In  fact,  a  year  or 
two  later,  I  myself  wrote  one  or  two  sermons  for  him, 
working  into  them  certain  matters  of  interest  to 
the  colony.  During  the  earlier  part  of  the  siege  of 
Paris,  however,  the  reading  of  my  father's  letters 
and  my  own  from  the  pulpit  at  the  close  of  the 
usual  service  saved  the  colony's  pastor  from  the 
trouble  of  composing  a  bad  sermon,  or  of  picking 
out  an  indifferent  one  from  some  forgotten  theological 
work.  My  father,  on  arriving  at  Saint  Servan, 
secluded  himself  as  far  as  possible,  so  as  to  rest  awhile 
before  proceeding  to  England ;  but  I  went  about 
much  as  usual ;  and  my  letters  read  from  the 
pulpit,  and  sundry  other  matters,  having  made  me 
a  kind  of  "  public  character,"  I  was  at  once  pounced 
upon  in  the  streets,  carried  off  to  the  club  and  to 
private  houses,  and  there  questioned  and  cross- 
questioned  by  a  dozen  or  twenty  Crimean  and 
Indian  veteran  officers  who  were  following  the 
progress  of  the  war  with  a  passionate  interest. 

A  year  or  two  previously,  moreover,  my  step- 
mother had  formed  a  close  friendship  with  one  of 
the  chief  French  families  of  the  town.  The  father, 
a  retired  officer  of  the  French  naval  service,  was 
to  have  commanded  a  local  Marching  Battalion, 
but  he  unfortunately  sickened  and  died,  leaving  his 
wife  with  one  daughter,  a  beautiful  girl  who  was  of 
about  my  own  age.  Now,  this  family  had  been 


FROM  VERSAILLES  TO   BRITTANY    205 

joined  by  the  wife's  parents,  an  elderly  couple,  who, 
on  the  approach  of  the  Germans  to  Paris,  had 
quitted  the  suburb  where  they  resided.  I  was  often 
with  these  friends  at  Saint  Servan,  and  on  arriving 
there  from  Paris,  our  conversation  naturally  turned 
on  the  war.  As  the  old  gentleman's  house  in  the 
environs  of  the  capital  was  well  within  the  French 
lines,  he  had  not  much  reason  to  fear  for  its  safety, 
and,  moreover,  he  had  taken  the  precaution  to 
remove  his  valuables  into  the  city.  But  he  was 
sorely  perturbed  by  all  the  conflicting  news  respect- 
ing the  military  operations  in  the  provinces,  the 
reported  victories  which  turned  out  to  be  defeats, 
the  adverse  rumours  concerning  the  condition  of 
the  French  forces,  the  alleged  scandal  of  the  Gamp 
of  Conlie,  where  the  more  recent  Breton  levies  were 
said  to  be  dying  off  like  rotten  sheep,  and  many 
other  matters  besides.  Every  evening  when  I  called 
on  these  friends  the  conversation  was  the  same. 
The  ladies,  the  grandmother,  the  daughter,  and  the 
granddaughter,  sat  there  making  garments  for  the 
soldiers  or  preparing  lint  for  the  wounded — those 
being  the  constant  occupations  of  the  women  of 
Brittany  during  all  the  hours  they  could  spare  from 
their  household  duties — and  meanwhile  the  old  gentle- 
man discussed  with  me  both  the  true  and  the  spurious 
news  of  the  day.  The  result  of  those  conversations 
was  that,  as  soon  as  my  father  had  betaken  himself 
to  England,  I  resolved  to  go  to  the  front  myself, 
ascertain  as  much  of  the  truth  as  I  could,  and 
become,  indeed,  a  war-correspondent  on  "  my  own." 
In  forming  that  decision  I  was  influenced,  moreover, 
by  one  of  those  youthful  dreams  which  life  seldom, 
if  ever,  fulfils. 


IX 

THE   WAR  IN   THE   PROVINCES 

First  Efforts  of  the  National  Defence  Delegates — La  Motte -Rouge  and 
his  Dyed  Hair — The  German  Advance  South  of  Paris — Moltke  and 
King  William — Bourges,  the  German  Objective — Characteristics  of 
Beauce,  Perche,  and  Sologne — French  Evacuation  of  Orleans — 
Gambetta  arrives  at  Tours — His  Coadjutor,  Charles  Louis  de  Saulces 
de  Freycinet — Total  Forces  of  the  National  Defence  on  Gambetta's 
Arrival — D'Aurelle  de  Paladines  supersedes  La  Motte-Rouge — The 
Affair  of  Chateaudun — Cambriels — Garibaldi — Jessie  White  Mario — 
Edward  Vizetelly — Catholic  Hatred  of  Garibaldi — The  Germans  at 
Dijon — The  projected  Relief  of  Paris — Trochu's  Errors  and  Duorot's 
Schemes — The  French  Victory  of  Coulmiers — Change  of  Plan  in  Paris 
— My  Newspaper  Work — My  Brother  Adrian  Vizetelly — The  General 
Position. 

WHEN  I  reached  Brittany,  coming  from  Paris,  early 
in  the  second  fortnight  of  November,  the  Provincial 
Delegation  of  the  Government  of  National  Defence 
was  able  to  meet  the  Germans  with  very  consider- 
able forces.  But  such  had  not  been  the  case  imme- 
diately after  Sedan.  As  I  pointed  out  previously — 
quite  apart  from  the  flower  of  the  old  Imperial  Army, 
which  was  beleaguered  around  Metz — a  force  far 
too  large  for  mere  purposes  of  defence  was  confined 
within  the  lines  with  which  the  Germans  invested 
Paris.  In  the  provinces,  the  number  of  troops  ready 
to  take  the  field  was  very  small  indeed.  Old  Cre- 
mieux,  the  Minister  of  Justice,  was  sent  out  of  Paris 
already  on  September  12,  and  took  with  him  a  certain 
General  Lefort,  who  was  to  attend  to  matters  of 

206 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       207 

military  organization  in  the  provinces.  But  little 
or  no  confidence  was  placed  in  the  resources  there. 
The  military  members  of  the  National  Defence 
Government — General  Trochu,  its  President,  and 
General  Le  Flo,  its  Minister  of  War,  had  not  the 
slightest  idea  that  provincial  France  might  be  capable 
of  a  great  effort.  They  relied  chiefly  on  the  im- 
prisoned army  of  Paris,  as  is  shown  by  all  their 
despatches  and  subsequent  apologies.  However, 
Glais-Bizoin  followed  Cremieux  to  Tours,  where  it 
had  been  arranged  that  the  Government  Delegation 
should  instal  itself,  and  he  was  accompanied  by 
Admiral  Fourichon,  the  Minister  of  Marine.  On 
reaching  the  Loire  region,  the  new  authorities  found 
a  few  battalions  of  Mobile  Guards,  ill-armed  and  ill- 
equipped,  a  battalion  of  sharpshooters  previously 
brought  from  Algeria,  one  or  two  batteries  of  artillery, 
and  a  cavalry  division  of  four  regiments  commanded 
by  General  Reyau.  This  division  had  been  gathered 
together  in  the  final  days  of  the  Empire,  and  was  to 
have  been  sent  to  Mezieres,  to  assist  MacMahon  in 
his  effort  to  succour  Bazaine ;  but  on  failing  to  get 
there,  it  had  made  just  a  few  vain  attempts  to  check 
the  Germans  in  their  advance  on  Paris,  and  had  then 
fallen  back  to  the  south  of  the  capital. 

General  Lefort's  first  task  was  to  collect  the 
necessary  elements  for  an  additional  army  corps — 
the  15th — and  he  summoned  to  his  assistance  the 
veteran  General  de  la  Motte-Rouge,  previously  a 
very  capable  officer,  but  now  almost  a  septuagenarian, 
whose  particular  fad  it  was  to  dye  his  hair,  and  thereby 
endeavour  to  make  himself  look  no  more  than  fifty. 
No  doubt,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  famous 
Prince  de  Conde  with  the  eagle  glance  took  a  score 
of  wigs  with  him  when  he  started  on  a  campaign  ; 


208  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

but  even  such  a  practice  as  that  is  not  suited  to 
modern  conditions  of  warfare,  though  be  it  admitted 
that  it  takes  less  time  to  change  one's  wig  than  to 
have  one's  hair  dyed.  The  latter  practice  may,  of 
course,  help  a  man  to  cut  a  fine  figure  on  parade,  but 
it  is  of  no  utility  in  the  field.  In  a  controversy 
which  arose  after  the  publication  of  Zola's  novel 
"  La  Debacle,"  there  was  a  conflict  of  evidence  as 
to  whether  the  cheeks  of  Napoleon  III  were  or  were 
not  rouged  in  order  to  conceal  his  ghastly  pallor 
on  the  fatal  day  of  Sedan.  That  may  always  remain 
a  moot  point ;  but  it  is,  I  think,  certain  that  during 
the  last  two  years  of  his  rule  his  moustache  and 
"  imperial "  were  dyed. 

But  let  me  return  to  the  National  Defence. 
Paris,  as  I  formerly  mentioned,  was  invested  on 
September  19.  On  the  22nd  a  Bavarian  force  occu- 
pied the  village  of  Longjumeau,  referred  to  in  my 
account  of  my  journey  to  Versailles.  A  couple  of 
days  later,  the  Fourth  Division  of  German  cavalry, 
commanded  by  Prince  Albert  (the  elder)  of  Prussia, 
started  southward  through  the  departments  of  Eure- 
et-Loir  and  Loiret,  going  towards  Artenay  in  the 
direction  of  Orleans.  This  division,  which  met  at 
first  with  little  opposition,  belonged  to  a  force  which 
was  detached  from  the  main  army  of  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia,  and  placed  under  the  command 
of  the  Grand-Duke  Frederick  Francis  of  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin.  Near  this  "  Armee-Abtheilung,"  as  the 
Germans  called  it,  was  the  first  Bavarian  army  corps, 
which  had  fought  at  Bazeilles  on  the  day  of  Sedan. 
It  was  commanded  by  General  von  und  zu  der  Tann- 
Kathsamhausen,  commonly  called  Von  der  Tann, 
tout  court. 

As  Prince  Albert  of  Prussia,  on  drawing  near  to 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       209 

Artenay,  found  a  good  many  French  soldiers,  both 
regulars  and  irregulars,  that  is  Francs-tireurs,  located 
in  the  district,  he  deemed  it  best  to  retire  on  Toury 
and  Pithiviers.  But  his  appearance  so  far  south 
had  sufficed  to  alarm  the  French  commander  at 
Orleans,  General  de  Polhes,  who  at  once  ordered  his 
men  to  evacuate  the  city  and  retire,  partly  on  Blois, 
and  partly  on  La  Motte-Beuvron.  This  pusillani- 
mity incensed  the  Delegates  of  the  National  Defence, 
and  Polhes  was  momentarily  superseded  by  General 
Reyau,  and  later  (October  5)  by  La  Motte-Rouge. 

It  is  known,  nowadays,  that  the  Germans  were 
at  first  perplexed  as  to  the  best  course  to  pursue 
after  they  had  completed  the  investment  of  Paris. 
Moltke  had  not  anticipated  a  long  siege  of  the  French 
capital.  He  had  imagined  that  the  city  would 
speedily  surrender,  and  that  the  war  would  then 
come  to  an  end.  Fully  acquainted  with  the  tract 
of  country  lying  between  the  Rhine  and  Paris,  he 
had  much  less  knowledge  of  other  parts  of  France ; 
and,  moreover,  although  he  had  long  known  how 
many  men  could  be  placed  in  the  field  by  the  military 
organisation  of  the  Empire,  he  undoubtedly  under- 
estimated the  further  resources  of  the  French,  and 
did  not  anticipate  any  vigorous  provincial  resistance. 
His  sovereign,  King  William,  formed  a  more  correct 
estimate  respecting  the  prolongation  of  the  struggle, 
and,  as  was  mentioned  by  me  in  my  previous  book 
— "  Republican  France  " — he  more  than  once  recti- 
fied the  mistakes  which  were  made  by  the  great 
German  strategist. 

The  invader's  objective  with  respect  to  central 
France  was  Bourges,  the  old  capital  of  Berry, 
renowned  for  its  ordnance  and  ammunition  works, 
and,  in  the  days  when  the  troops  of  our  Henry  V 

p 


210  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

overran  France,  the  scene  of  Charles  VII's  retire- 
ment, before  he  was  inspirited  either  by  Agnes  Sorel 
or  by  Joan  of  Arc.  To  enable  an  army  coming  from 
the  direction  of  Paris  to  seize  Bourges,  it  is  in  the 
first  instance  necessary — as  a  reference  to  any  map 
of  France  will  show — to  secure  possession  of  Orleans, 
which  is  situated  at  the  most  northern  point,  the 
apex,  so  to  say,  of  the  course  of  the  Loire,  and  is 
only  about  sixty-eight  miles  from  Paris.  At  the 
same  time  it  is  advisable  that  any  advance  upon 
Orleans  should  be  covered,  westward,  by  a  cor- 
responding advance  on  Chartres,  and  thence  on 
Chateaudun.  This  became  the  German  plan,  and 
whilst  a  force  under  General  von  Wittich  marched  on 
Chartres,  Von  der  Tann's  men  approached  Orleans 
through  the  Beauce  region. 

From  the  forest  of  Dourdan  on  the  north  to  the 
Loire  on  the  south,  and  from  the  Chartres  region 
on  the  west  to  the  Gatinais  on  the  east,  this  great 
grain-growing  plateau  (the  scene  of  Zola's  famous 
novel  "  La  Terre  ")  is  almost  level.  Although  its 
soil  is  very  fertile  there  are  few  watercourses  in 
Beauce,  none  of  them,  moreover,  being  of  a  nature 
to  impede  the  march  of  an  army.  The  roads  are 
lined  with  stunted  elms,  and  here  and  there  a  small 
copse,  a  straggling  farm,  a  little  village,  may  be  seen, 
together  with  many  a  row  of  stacks,  the  whole  forming 
in  late  autumn  and  in  winter — when  hurricanes, 
rain,  and  snow-storms  sweep  across  the  great  expanse 
— as  dreary  a  picture  as  the  most  melancholy- 
minded  individual  could  desire.  Whilst  there  is  no 
natural  obstacle  to  impede  the  advance  of  an  invader, 
there  is  also  no  cover  for  purposes  of  defence.  All 
the  way  from  Chartres  to  Orleans  the  high-road  is 
not  once  intersected  by  a  river.  Nearly  all  of  the 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       211 

few  streams  which  exist  thereabouts  run  from  south 
to  north,  and  they  supply  no  means  of  defence  against 
an  army  coming  from  the  direction  of  Paris.  The 
region  is  one  better  suited  for  the  employment  of 
cavalry  and  artillery  than  for  that  of  foot-soldiers. 

The  Chartres  country  is  better  watered  than 
Beauce.  Westward,  in  both  of  the  districts  of  Perche, 
going  either  towards  Mortagne  or  towards  Nogent- 
le-Rotrou,  the  country  is  more  hilly  and  more  wooded ; 
and  hedges,  ditches,  and  dingle  paths  abound  there. 
In  such  districts  infantry  can  well  be  employed  for 
defensive  purposes.  Beyond  the  Loir — not  the  Loire 
— S.S.W.  of  Chartres,  is  the  Pays  Dunois,  that  is  the 
district  of  Chateaudun,  a  little  town  protected  on 
the  north  and  the  west  by  the  Loir  and  the  Conie, 
and  by  the  hills  between  which  those  rivers  flow,  but 
open  to  any  attack  on  the  east,  from  which  direction, 
indeed,  the  Germans  naturally  approached  it. 

Beyond  the  Loire,  to  the  south-east  of  Beauce 
and  Orleans,  lies  the  sheep-breeding  region  called 
Sologne,  which  the  Germans  would  have  had  to 
cross  had  they  prosecuted  their  intended  march  on 
Bourges.  Here  cavalry  and  artillery  are  of  little  use, 
the  country  abounding  in  streams,  ponds,  and 
marshes.  Quite  apart,  however,  from  natural 
obstacles,  no  advance  on  Bourges  could  well  be 
prosecuted  so  long  as  the  French  held  Orleans  ;  and 
even  when  that  city  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Germans,  the  presence  of  large  French  forces  on  the 
west  compelled  the  invaders  to  carry  hostilities  in 
that  direction  and  abandon  their  projected  march 
southward.  Thus  the  campaign  in  which  I  became 
interested  was  carried  on  principally  in  the  depart- 
ments of  Eure-et-Loir,  Loiret,  Loir-et-Cher,  and 
Sarthe,  to  terminate,  at  last,  in  Mayenne. 


212  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Great  indiscipline  prevailed  among  the  troops 
whom  La  Motte-Bouge  had  under  his  orders.  An 
attack  by  Von  der  Tann  to  the  north  of  Orleans  on 
October  10,  led  to  the  retreat  of  a  part  of  the  French 
forces.  On  the  following  day,  when  the  French  had 
from  12,000  to  13,000  men  engaged,  they  were  badly 
defeated,  some  1800  of  their  men  being  put  hors  de 
combat,  and  as  many  being  taken  prisoners.  This 
reverse,  which  was  due  partly  to  some  mistakes 
made  by  La  Motte-Rouge,  and  partly  to  the  inferior 
quality  of  his  troops,  led  to  the  immediate  evacua- 
tion of  Orleans.  Now,  it  was  precisely  at  this 
moment  that  Gambetta  appeared  upon  the  scene. 
He  had  left  Paris,  it  will  be  remembered,  on  October 
7  ;  on  the  8th  he  was  at  Rouen,  on  the  9th  he  joined 
the  other  Government  delegates  at  Tours,  and  on  the 
10th — the  eve  of  La  Motte-Rouge's  defeat — he  became 
Minister  of  War  as  well  as  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

Previously  the  portfolio  for  war  had  been  held 
in  the  provinces  by  Admiral  Fourichon,  with  General 
Lefort  as  his  assistant ;  but  Fourichon  had  resigned 
in  connexion  with  a  Communalist  rising  which  had 
taken  place  at  Lyons  towards  the  end  of  September, 
when  the  Prefect,  Challemel-Lacour,  was  momen- 
tarily made  a  prisoner  by  the  insurgents,  but  was 
afterwards  released  by  some  loyal  National  Guards.* 
Complaining  that  General  Mazure,  commander  of 
the  garrison,  had  not  done  his  duty  on  this  occasion, 
Challemel-Lacour  caused  him  to  be  arrested,  and 
Fourichon,  siding  with  the  general,  thereupon  resigned 
the  War  Ministry,  Cremieux  taking  it  over  until 
Gambetta's  arrival.  It  may  well  be  asked  how  one 
could  expect  the  military  affairs  of  France  to  prosper 

*  See  my  book,  "  The  Anarchists :  Their  Faith  and  their  Record," 
John  Lane,  1911. 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       213 

when  they  were  subordinated  to  such  wretched 
squabbles. 

Among  the  men  whom  Gambetta  found  at  Tours, 
was  an  engineer,  who,  after  the  Revolution  of 
September  4,  had  been  appointed  Prefect  of  Tarn- 
et-Garonne,  but  who,  coming  into  conflict  with  the 
extremists  of  Montauban,  much  as  Challemel-Lacour 
had  come  into  conflict  with  those  of  Lyons,  had 
promptly  resigned  his  functions.  His  name  was 
Charles  Louis  de  Saulces  de  Freycinet,  and,  though 
he  was  born  at  Foix  near  the  Pyrenees,  he  belonged 
to  an  ancient  family  of  Dauphine.  At  this  period 
(October,  1870),  Freycinet  had  nearly  completed  his 
forty-second  year.  After  qualifying  as  an  engineer 
at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique,  he  had  held  various 
posts  at  Mont-de-Marsan,  Chartres,  and  Bordeaux, 
before  securing  in  1864  the  position  of  traffic-manager 
to  the  Chemin  de  Fer  du  Midi.  Subsequently  he  was 
entrusted  with  various  missions  abroad,  and  in  1869 
the  Institute  of  France  crowned  a  little  work  of  his 
on  the  employment  of  women  and  children  in  English 
factories.  Mining  engineering  was  his  speciality,  but 
he  was  extremely  versatile  and  resourceful,  and  imme- 
diately attracted  the  notice  of  Gambetta.  Let  it  be 
said  to  the  latter 's  credit  that  in  that  hour  of  crisis 
he  cast  all  prejudices  aside.  He  cared  nothing  for 
the  antecedents  of  any  man  who  was  willing  to  co- 
operate in  the  defence  of  France  ;  and  thus,  although 
Freycinet  came  of  an  ancient  aristocratic  house,  and 
had  made  his  way  under  the  Empire,  which  had 
created  him  first  a  chevalier  and  then  an  officer  of 
the  Legion  of  Honour,  Gambetta  at  once  selected 
him  to  act  as  his  chef-de-cabinet,  and  delegate  in 
military  affairs. 

At  this  moment  the  National  Defence  had  in  or 


214  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

ready  for  the  field  only  40,000  regular  infantry,  a 
like  number  of  Mobile  Guards,  from  5000  to  6000 
cavalry,  and  about  100  guns,  some  of  antiquated 
models  and  with  very  few  men  to  serve  them. 
There  were  certainly  a  good  many  men  at  various 
regimental  depots,  together  with  Mobile  Guards  and 
National  Guards  in  all  the  uninvaded  provinces  of 
France ;  but  all  these  had  to  be  drilled,  equipped, 
and  armed.  That  was  the  first  part  of  the  great 
task  which  lay  before  Gambetta  and  Freycinet. 
Within  a  month,  however — leaving  aside  what  was 
done  in  other  parts  of  the  country — France  had 
on  the  Loire  alone  an  army  of  100,000  men,  who  for 
a  moment,  at  all  events,  turned  the  tide  of  war. 
At  the  same  time  I  would  add  that,  before  Gambetta's 
arrival  on  the  scene,  the  National  Defence  Delegates 
had  begun  to  concentrate  some  small  bodies  of 
troops  both  in  Normandy  and  in  Picardy  and  Artois, 
the  latter  forming  the  first  nucleus  of  the  Army  of 
the  North  which  Faidherbe  afterwards  commanded. 
Further,  in  the  east  of  France  there  was  a  force  under 
General  Cambriels,  whose  object  was  to  cut  the 
German  communications  in  the  Vosges. 

Von  der  Tann,  having  defeated  La  Motte-Rouge, 
occupied  Orleans,  whilst  the  French  withdrew  across 
the  Loire  to  La  Motte-Beuvron  and  Gien,  south  and 
south-east  of  then1  former  position.  Gambetta  had 
to  take  action  immediately.  He  did  so  by  removing 
La  Motte-Rouge  from  his  command,  which  he  gave 
to  D'Aurelle  de  Paladines.  The  latter,  a  general 
on  the  reserve  list,  with  a  distinguished  record,  was 
in  his  sixty-sixth  year,  having  been  born  at  Languedoc 
in  1804.  He  had  abilities  as  an  organiser,  and  was 
known  to  be  a  disciplinarian,  but  he  was  growing 
old,  and  lacked  confidence  both  in  himself  and  in  his 


THE   WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       215 

men.  At  the  moment  of  D'Aurelle's  appointment, 
Von  der  Tann  wished  to  advance  on  Bourges,  in  accord- 
ance with  Moltke's  instructions,  and,  in  doing  so,  he 
proposed  to  evacuate  Orleans ;  but  this  was  forbidden 
by  King  William  and  the  Crown  Prince,  and  in  the 
result  the  Bavarian  general  suffered  a  repulse  at 
Salbris,  which  checked  his  advance  southward. 
Still  covering  Bourges  and  Vierzon,  D'Aurelle  soon 
had  60,000  men  under  his  orders,  thanks  to  the 
efforts  of  Gambetta  and  Freycinet.  But  the  enemy 
were  now  making  progress  to  the  west  of  Orleans, 
in  which  direction  the  tragic  affair  of  Chateauduii 
occurred  on  October  18.  The  German  column 
operating  on  that  side  under  General  von  Wittich 
consisted  of  6000  infantry,  four  batteries,  and  a 
cavalry  regiment,  which  advanced  on  Chateauduii 
from  the  east,  and,  on  being  resisted  by  the  villagers 
of  Varize  and  Civry,  shot  them  down  without  mercy, 
and  set  all  their  houses  (about  130  in  number)  on 
fire.  Nevertheless,  that  punishment  did  not  deter 
the  National  Guards  of  Chateaudun,  and  the  Francs- 
tireurs  who  had  joined  them,  from  offering  the  most 
strenuous  opposition  to  the  invaders,  though  the 
latter's  numerical  superiority  alone  was  as  seven  to 
one.  The  fierce  fight  was  followed  by  terrible  scenes. 
Most  of  the  Francs-tireurs,  who  had  not  fallen  in  the 
engagement,  effected  a  retreat,  and  on  discovering 
this,  the  infuriated  Germans,  to  whom  the  mere 
name  of  Franc-tireur  was  as  a  red  rag  to  a  bull, 
did  not  scruple  to  shoot  down  a  number  of  non- 
combatants,  including  women  and  children. 

I  remember  the  excitement  which  the  news  of 
the  Chateaudun  affair  occasioned  in  besieged  Paris  ; 
and  when  I  left  the  capital  a  few  weeks  later  I  heard 
it  constantly  spoken  of.  In  vain  did  the  Germans 


216  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

strive  to  gloss  over  the  truth.  The  proofs  were  too 
numerous  and  the  reality  was  too  dreadful.  Two 
hundred  and  thirty-five  of  the  devoted  little  town's 
houses  were  committed  to  the  flames.  For  the  first 
time  in  the  whole  course  of  the  war  women  were 
deliberately  assaulted,  and  a  couple  of  German 
Princes  disgraced  their  exalted  station  in  a  drunken 
and  incendiary  orgie. 

Meantime,  hi  the  east  of  France,  Cambriels  had 
failed  in  his  attempt  to  cut  the  German  communi- 
cations, and  had  been  compelled  to  beat  a  retreat. 
It  must  be  said  for  him  that  his  troops  were  a  very 
sorry  lot,  who  could  not  be  depended  upon.  Not 
only  were  they  badly  disciplined  and  addicted  to 
drunkenness,  but  they  took  to  marauding  and  pillage, 
and  were  in  no  degree  a  match  for  the  men  whom 
the  German  General  von  Werder  led  against  them. 
Garibaldi,  the  Italian  Liberator,  had  offered  his 
sword  to  France,  soon  after  the  fall  of  the  Second 
Empire.  On  October  8 — that  is,  a  day  before  Gam- 
betta — he  arrived  at  Tours,  to  arrange  for  a  command, 
like  that  of  Cambriels,  in  the  east  of  France.  The 
little  Army  of  the  Vosges,  which  was  eventually  con- 
stituted under  his  orders,  was  made  up  of  very  hetero- 
geneous elements.  Italians,  Switzers,  Poles,  Hun- 
garians, Englishmen,  as  well  as  Frenchmen,  were  to 
be  found  in  its  ranks.  The  general  could  not  be 
called  a  very  old  man,  being  indeed  only  sixty-three 
years  of  age,  but  he  had  led  an  eventful  and  arduous 
life ;  and,  as  will  be  remembered,  ever  since  the 
affair  of  Aspromonte  in  1862,  he  had  been  lame, 
and  had  gradually  become  more  and  more  infirm. 
He  had  with  him,  however,  two  of  his  sons,  Menotti 
and  Ricciotti  (the  second  a  more  competent  soldier 
than  the  first),  and  several  able  men,  such  as  his 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       217 

compatriot  Lobbia,  and  the  Pole,  Bosak-Hauke.  His 
chief  of  staff,  Bordone,  previously  a  navy  doctor, 
was,  however,  a  very  fussy  individual  who  imagined 
himself  to  be  a  military  genius.  Among  the  English- 
men with  Garibaldi  were  Robert  Middleton  and  my 
brother  Edward  Vizetelly ;  *  and  there  was  an 
Englishwoman,  Jessie  White  Mario,  daughter  of 
White  the  boat-builder  of  Cowes,  and  widow  of 
Mario,  Garibaldi's  companion  in  arms  in  the  glorious 
Liberation  days.  My  brother  often  told  me  that 
Mme.  Mario  was  equally  at  home  in  an  ambulance 
or  in  a  charge,  for  she  was  an  excellent  nurse  and  an 
admirable  horsewoman  as  well  as  a  good  shot.  She 
is  one  of  the  women  of  whom  I  think  when  I  hear  or 
read  that  the  members  of  the  completing  sex  cannot 
fight.  But  that  of  course  is  merely  the  opinion  of 
some  medical  and  newspaper  men. 

Mme.  Mario  contributed  a  certain  number  of 
articles  to  the  Daily  News.  So  did  my  brother — it 
was  indeed  as  Daily  News  correspondent  that  he 
first  joined  Garibaldi's  forces — but  he  speedily  became 
an  orderly  to  the  general,  and  later  a  captain  on  the 
staff.  He  was  at  the  battles  of  Dijon  and  Autun, 
and  served  under  Lobbia  in  the  relief  of  Langres. 
Some  French  historians  of  these  later  days  have 
written  so  slightingly  of  the  little  Army  of  the  Vosges, 
that  I  am  sorry  my  brother  did  not  leave  any  per- 
manent record  of  his  experiences.  Garibaldi's  task 
was  no  easy  one.  In  the  first  instance,  the  National 
Defence  hesitated  to  employ  him ;  secondly,  they 
wished  to  subordinate  him  to  Cambriels,  and  he 
declined  to  take  any  such  position;  not  that  he 
objected  to  serve  under  any  superior  commander 
who  would  treat  him  fairly,  but  because  he, 

*  See  pp.  9,  14,  17,  50,  ante. 


218  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Garibaldi,  was  a  freethinker,  and  knew  that  he  was 
bitterly  detested  by  the  fervently  Catholic  generals, 
such  as  Cambriels.  As  it  happened,  he  secured  an 
independent  command.  But  in  exercising  it  he  had 
to  co-operate  with  Cambriels  in  various  ways,  and 
in  later  years  my  brother  told  me  how  shamefully 
Cambriels  acted  more  than  once  towards  the  Gari- 
baldian  force.  It  was  indeed  a  repetition  of  what 
had  occurred  at  the  very  outset  of  the  war,  when 
such  intense  jealousy  had  existed  among  certain 
marshals  and  generals  that  one  had  preferred  to 
let  another  be  defeated  rather  than  march  "  at  the 
sound  of  the  guns  "  to  his  assistance. 

I  also  remember  my  brother  telling  me  that  when 
Langres  (which  is  in  the  Haute  Marne,  west  of  the 
Aube  and  the  Cote  d'Or)  was  relieved  by  Lobbia's 
column,  the  commander  of  the  garrison  refused  at 
first  to  let  the  Garibaldians  enter  the  town.  He 
was  prepared  to  surrender  to  the  Germans,  if  neces- 
sary ;  but  the  thought  that  he,  a  devout  Catholic, 
should  owe  any  assistance  to  such  a  band  of  un- 
believing brigands  as  the  Garibaldian  enemies  of  the 
Pope  was  absolutely  odious  to  him.  Fortunately, 
this  kind  of  feeling  did  not  show  itself  in  western 
France.  There  was,  at  one  moment,  some  little 
difficulty  respecting  the  position  of  Cathelineau,  the 
descendant  of  the  famous  Vendeen  leader,  but,  on 
the  whole,  Catholics,  Royalists,  and  Republicans 
loyally  supported  one  another,  fired  by  a  common 
patriotism. 

The  failure  of  Cambriel's  attempts  to  cut  the 
German  communications,  and  the  relatively  small 
importance  of  the  Garibaldian  force,  inspired  Gam- 
betta  with  the  idea  of  forming  a  large  Army  of  the 
East  which,  with  Langres,  Belfort,  and  Besaii9on  as 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       219 

its  bases,  would  vigorously  assume  the  offensive  in 
that  part  of  France.  Moltke,  however,  had  already 
sent  General  von  Werder  orders  to  pursue  the  re- 
treating Cambriels.  Various  engagements,  late  in 
October,  were  followed  by  a  German  march  on  Dijon. 
There  were  at  this  time  12,000  or  13,000  Mobile 
Guards  in  the  Cote  d'Or,  but  no  general  in  command 
of  them.  Authority  was  exercised  by  a  civilian, 
Dr.  Lavalle.  The  forces  assembled  at  Dijon  and 
Beaune  amounted,  inclusive  of  regulars  and  National 
Guards,  to  about  20,000  men,  but  they  were  very 
badly  equipped  and  armed,  and  their  officers  were 
few  in  number  and  of  very  indifferent  ability.  Werder 
came  down  on  Dijon  in  a  somewhat  hesitating  way, 
like  a  man  who  is  not  sure  of  his  ground  or  of  the 
strength  of  the  enemy  in  front  of  him.  But  the 
French  were  alarmed  by  his  approach,  and  on 
October  30  Dijon  was  evacuated,  and  soon  after- 
wards occupied  by  Werder  with  two  brigades. 

Three  days  previously  Metz  had  surrendered,  and 
France  was  reeling  under  the  unexpected  blow  in 
spite  of  all  the  ardent  proclamations  with  which 
Gambetta  strove  to  impart  hope  and  stimulate 
patriotism.  Bazaine's  capitulation  naturally  im- 
plied the  release  of  the  forces  under  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  by  which  he  had  been  invested,  and  their 
transfer  to  other  parts  of  France  for  a  more  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  invasion.  Werder,  after  occupying 
Dijon,  was  to  have  gone  westward  through  the 
Nivernais  in  order  to  assist  other  forces  in  the  designs 
on  Bourges.  But  some  days  before  Metz  actually 
fell,  Moltke  sent  him  different  instructions,  setting 
forth  that  he  was  to  take  no  further  account  of 
Bourges,  but  to  hold  Dijon,  and  concentrate  at 
Vesoul,  keeping  a  watch  on  Langres  and  Besan9on. 


220  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

For  a  moment,  however,  3600  French  under  an 
officer  named  Fauconnet  suddenly  recaptured  Dijon, 
though  there  were  more  than  10,000  Badeners  in- 
stalled there  under  General  von  Beyer.  Unfortu- 
nately Fauconnet  was  killed  in  the  affair,  a  fresh 
evacuation  of  the  Burgundian  capital  ensued,  and 
the  Germans  then  remained  in  possession  of  the  city 
for  more  than  a  couple  of  months. 

In  the  west  the  army  of  the  Loire  was  being 
steadily  increased  and  consolidated,  thanks  to  the  un- 
tiring efforts  of  Gambetta,  Freycinet,  and  D'Aurelle, 
the  last  of  whom  certainly  contributed  largely  to 
the  organization  of  the  force,  though  he  was  little 
inclined  to  quit  his  lines  and  assume  the  offensive. 
It  was  undoubtedly  on  this  army  that  Gambetta 
based  his  principal  hopes.  The  task  assigned  to  it 
was  greater  than  those  allotted  to  any  of  the  other 
armies  which  were  gradually  assuming  shape — 
being,  indeed,  the  relief  of  beleaguered  Paris. 

Trochu's  own  memoirs  show  that  at  the  outset 
of  the  siege  his  one  thought  was  to  remain  on  the 
defensive.  In  this  connexion  it  is  held,  nowadays, 
that  he  misjudged  the  German  temperament,  that 
remembering  the  vigorous  attempts  of  the  Allies 
on  Sebastopol — he  was,  as  we  know,  in  the  Crimea 
at  the  time — he  imagined  that  the  Germans  would 
make  similarly  vigorous  attempts  on  Paris.  He  did 
not  expect  a  long  and  so  to  say  passive  siege,  a  mere 
blockade  during  which  the  investing  army  would 
simply  content  itself  with  repulsing  the  efforts  of 
the  besieged  to  break  through  its  lines.  He  knew 
that  the  Germans  had  behaved  differently  in  the 
case  of  Strasbourg  and  some  other  eastern  strong- 
holds, and  anticipated  a  similar  line  of  action  with 
respect  to  the  French  capital.  But  the  Germans 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       221 

preferred  to  follow  a  waiting  policy  towards  both 
Metz  and  Paris.  It  has  been  said  that  this  was  less 
the  idea  of  Moltke  than  that  of  Bismarck,  whose 
famous  phrase  about  letting  the  Parisians  stew  in 
their  own  juice  will  be  remembered.  But  one  should 
also  recollect  that  both  Metz  and  Paris  were  defended 
by  great  forces,  and  that  there  was  little  likelihood 
of  any  coup  de  main  succeeding ;  whilst,  as  for  bom- 
bardment, though  it  might  have  some  moral,  it 
would  probably  have  very  little  material  effect. 
Metz  was  not  really  bombarded,  and  the  attempt  to 
bombard  Paris  was  deferred  for  several  months. 
When  it  at  last  took  place  a  certain  number  of 
buildings  were  damaged,  100  persons  were  killed  and 
200  persons  wounded — a  material  effect  which  can 
only  be  described  as  absolutely  trivial  in  the  case  of 
so  great  and  so  populous  a  city. 

Trochu's  idea  to  remain  merely  on  the  defensive 
did  not  appeal  to  his  coadjutor  General  Ducrot. 
The  latter  had  wished  to  break  through  the  German 
lines  on  the  day  of  Sedan,  and  he  now  wished  to 
break  through  them  round  Paris.  Various  schemes 
occurred  to  him.  One  was  to  make  a  sortie  in  the 
direction  of  Le  Bourget  and  the  plain  of  Saint 
Denis,  but  it  seemed  useless  to  attempt  to  break 
out  on  the  north,  as  the  Germans  held  Laon,  Soissons, 
La  Fere,  and  Amiens.  There  was  also  an  idea  of 
making  an  attempt  on  the  south,  in  the  direction 
of  Villejuif,  but  everything  seemed  to  indicate  that 
the  Germans  were  extremely  strong  on  this  side  of 
the  city  and  occupied  no  little  of  the  surrounding 
country.  The  question  of  a  sortie  on  the  east,  across 
the  Marne,  was  also  mooted  and  dismissed  for  various 
reasons ;  the  idea  finally  adopted  being  to  break 
out  by  way  of  the  Gennevilliers  peninsula  formed  by 


222  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

the  course  of  the  Seine  on  the  north-west,  and  then 
(the  heights  of  Cormeil  having  been  secured)  to 
cross  the  Oise,  and  afterwards  march  on  Rouen,  where 
it  would  be  possible  to  victual  the  army.  Moreover, 
instructions  were  to  be  sent  into  the  provinces  in 
order  that  both  the  forces  on  the  Loire  and  those  in 
the  north  might  bear  towards  Normandy,  and  there 
join  the  army  from  Paris,  in  such  wise  that  there 
would  be  a  quarter  of  a  million  men  between  Dieppe, 
Rouen,  and  Caen.  Trochu  ended  by  agreeing  to 
this  scheme,  and  even  entertained  a  hope  that  he 
might  be  able  to  revictual  Paris  by  way  of  the  Seine, 
for  which  purpose  a  flotilla  of  boats  was  prepared. 
Ducrot  and  he  expected  to  be  ready  by  November 
15  or  20,  but  it  is  said  that  they  were  hampered  in 
their  preparations  by  the  objections  raised  by  Guiod 
and  Chabaud-Latour,  the  former  an  engineer,  and 
the  latter  an  artillery  general.  Moreover,  the  course 
of  events  in  the  provinces  suddenly  caused  a  complete 
reversal  of  Ducrot's  plans. 

On  November  9,  D'Aurelle  de  Paladines  defeated 
Von  der  Tann  at  Coulmiers,  west  of  Orleans.  The 
young  French  troops  behaved  extremely  well,  but 
the  victory  not  being  followed  up  with  sufficient 
vigour  by  D'Aurelle,  remained  somewhat  incomplete, 
though  it  constrained  the  Germans  to  evacuate 
Orleans.  On  the  whole  this  was  the  first  consider- 
able success  achieved  by  the  French  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war,  and  it  did  much  to  revive  the 
spirits  which  had  been  drooping  since  the  fall  of 
Metz.  Another  of  its  results  was  to  change  Ducrot's 
plans  respecting  the  Paris  sortie.  He  and  Trochu 
had  hitherto  taken  little  account  of  the  provincial 
armies,  and  the  success  of  Coulmiers  came  to  them 
as  a  surprise  and  a  revelation.  There  really  was  an 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       223 

army  of  the  Loire,  then,  and  it  was  advancing  on 
Paris  from  Orleans.  The  Parisian  forces  must  there- 
fore break  out  on  the  south-east  and  join  hands  with 
this  army  of  relief  in  or  near  the  forest  of  Fontaine- 
bleau.  Thus,  all  the  preparations  for  a  sortie  by 
way  of  Gennevilliers  were  abandoned,  and  followed 
by  others  for  an  attempt  in  the  direction  of  Cham- 
pigny. 

Such  was  roughly  the  position  at  the  time  when 
I  reached  Brittany  and  conceived  the  idea  of  joining 
the  French  forces  on  the  Loire  and  forwarding  some 
account  of  their  operations  to  England.  During 
my  stay  in  Paris  with  my  father  I  had  assisted  him 
in  preparing  several  articles,  and  had  written  others 
on  my  own  account.  My  eldest  brother,  Adrian 
Vizetelly,  was  at  this  time  assistant-secretary  at  the 
Institution  of  Naval  Architects.  He  had  been  a 
student  at  the  Royal  School  of  Naval  Architecture 
with  the  Whites,  Elgars,  Yarrows,  Turnbulls,  and 
other  famous  shipbuilders,  and  on  quitting  it  had 
taken  the  assistant-secretaryship  in  question  as  an 
occupation  pending  some  suitable  vacancy  in  the 
Government  service  or  some  large  private  yard.  The 
famous  naval  constructor,  E.  J.  Reed,  had  started 
in  life  in  precisely  the  same  post,  and  it  was,  indeed, 
at  his  personal  suggestion  that  my  brother  took  it. 
A  year  or  two  later  he  and  his  friend  Dr.  Francis 
Elgar,  subsequently  Director  of  Dockyards  and  one 
of  the  heads  of  the  Fairfield  Shipbuilding  Com- 
pany, were  assisting  Reed  to  run  his  review  Naval 
Science.  At  the  time  of  the  Franco-German  war, 
however,  my  brother,  then  in  his  twenty-sixth  year, 
was  writing  on  naval  subjects  for  the  Daily  News 
and  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  edited  respectively 
by  John  Robinson  and  Frederick  Greenwood.  A 


224  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

few  articles  written  by  me  during  my  siege  days 
were  sent  direct  to  the  latter  by  balloon-post,  but  I 
knew  not  what  their  fate  might  be.  The  Pall  Mall 
might  be  unable  to  use  them,  and  there  was  no  possi- 
bility of  their  being  returned  to  me  in  Paris.  My 
father,  whom  I  assisted  in  preparing  a  variety  of 
articles,  suggested  that  everything  of  this  kind — that 
is,  work  not  intended  for  the  Illustrated  London  News 
— should  be  sent  to  my  brother  for  him  to  deal  with 
as  opportunity  offered.  He  placed  a  few  articles 
with  The  Times — notably  some  rather  long  ones  on 
the  fortifications  and  armament  of  Paris,  whilst 
others  went  to  the  Daily  News  and  the  Pall  Mall. 

When,  after  coming  out  of  Paris,  I  arrived  in 
Brittany,  I  heard  that  virtually  everything  sent 
from  the  capital  by  my  father  or  myself  had  been 
used  in  one  or  another  paper,  and  was  not  a  little 
pleased  to  receive  a  draft  on  a  Saint  Malo  banking- 
house  for  my  share  of  the  proceeds.  This  money 
enabled  me  to  proceed,  in  the  first  instance,  in  the 
direction  of  Le  Mans,  which  the  Germans  were  already 
threatening.  Before  referring,  however,  to  my  own 
experiences  I  must  say  something  further  respecting 
the  general  position.  The  battle  of  Coulmiers 
(November  9)  was  followed  by  a  period  of  inaction 
on  the  part  of  the  Loire  Army.  Had  D'Aurelle  pur- 
sued Von  der  Tann  he  might  have  turned  his  barren 
victory  to  good  account.  But  he  had  not  much 
confidence  in  his  troops,  and  the  weather  was  bad — 
sleet  and  snow  falling  continually.  Moreover,  the 
French  commander  believed  that  the  Bavarian 
retreat  concealed  a  trap.  At  a  conference  held 
between  him,  Gambetta,  Freycinet,  and  the  generals 
at  the  head  of  the  various  army  corps,  only  one  of 
the  latter — Chanzy — favoured  an  immediate  march 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       225 

on  Paris.  Borel,  who  was  chief  of  D'Aurelle's  staff, 
proposed  to  confine  operations  to  an  advance  on 
Chartres,  which  would  certainly  have  been  a  good 
position  to  occupy,  for  it  would  have  brought  the 
army  nearer  to  the  capital,  giving  it  two  railway 
lines,  those  of  Le  Mans  and  Granville,  for  revictualling 
purposes,  and  enabling  it  to  retreat  on  Brittany  in 
the  event  of  any  serious  reverse.  But  no  advance 
at  all  was  made.  The  Germans  were  allowed  all 
necessary  time  to  increase  their  forces,  the  French 
remaining  inactive  within  D'Aurelle's  lines,  and  their 
morale  steadily  declining  by  reason  of  the  hardships 
to  which  they  were  subjected.  The  general-in-chief 
refused  to  billet  them  in  the  villages — for  fear,  said 
he,  of  indiscipline — and  compelled  them  to  bivouack, 
under  canvas,  in  the  mud ;  seldom,  moreover, 
allowing  any  fires  to  be  kindled.  For  a  score  of 
days  did  this  state  of  affairs  continue,  and  the 
effect  of  it  was  seen  at  the  battle  of  Beaune-la- 
Rolande. 

The  responsibility  for  the  treatment  of  the  troops 
rests  on  D'Aurelle's  memory  and  that  of  some  of  his 
fellow-generals.  Meantime,  Gambetta  and  Freycinet 
were  exerting  themselves  to  improve  the  situation 
generally.  They  realized  that  the  release  of  Prince 
Frederick  Charles's  forces  from  the  investment  of 
Metz  necessitated  the  reinforcement  of  the  Army 
of  the  Loire,  and  they  took  steps  accordingly.  Cam- 
briels  had  now  been  replaced  in  eastern  France  by  a 
certain  General  Michel,  who  lost  his  head  and  was 
superseded  by  his  comrade  Crouzat.  The  last-named 
had  with  him  30,000  men  and  40  guns  to  contend 
against  the  21,000  men  and  the  70  guns  of  Werder's 
army.  In  order  to  strengthen  the  Loire  forces, 
however,  half  of  Crouzat's  men  and  he  himself 


226  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

received  orders  to  approach  Orleans  by  way  of 
Nevers  and  Gien,  the  remainder  of  his  army  being 
instructed  to  retire  on  Lyons,  in  order  to  quiet  the 
agitation  prevailing  in  that  city,  which  regarded 
itself  as  defenceless  and  complained  bitterly  thereof, 
although  there  was  no  likelihood  at  all  of  a  German 
attack  for  at  least  some  time  to  come. 

The  new  arrangements  left  Garibaldi  chief  com- 
mander in  eastern  France,  though  the  forces  directly 
under  his  orders  did  not  at  this  time  exceed  5000 
men,  and  included,  moreover,  no  fewer  than  sixty 
petty  free-corps,  who  cared  little  for  discipline.*  A 
month  or  two  previously  the  advent  of  from  twenty 
to  thirty  thousand  Italian  volunteers  had  been  con- 
fidently prophesied,  but  very  few  of  these  came 
forward.  Nevertheless,  Ricciotti  Garibaldi  (with 
whom  was  my  brother  Edward)  defeated  a  German 
force  in  a  sharp  engagement  at  Chatillon-sur-Seine 
(November  19),  and  a  week  later  the  Garibaldians 
made  a  gallant  attempt  to  recapture  the  city  of 
Dijon.  Five  thousand  men,  however,  were  of  no 
avail  against  an  army  corps;  and  thus,  even  if  the 
Garibaldian  attack  had  momentarily  succeeded,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  hold  Dijon  against 
Werder's  troops.  The  attempt  having  failed,  the 
German  commander  resolved  to  crush  the  Army 
of  the  Vosges,  which  fled  and  scattered,  swiftly 
pursued  by  a  brigade  under  General  von  Keller. 
Great  jealousy  prevailed  at  this  moment  among  the 
French  generals  in  command  of  various  corps  which 
might  have  helped  the  Garibaldians.  Bressolles, 
Crevisier,  and  Cremer  were  at  loggerheads.  On 
November  30. the  last-named  fought  an  indecisive 

*  There  were  women  in  several  of  these  companies,  one  of  the  latter 
including  no  fewer  than  eighteen  amazons. 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       227 

action  at  Nuits,  followed  nearly  three  weeks  later  by 
another  in  which  he  claimed  the  victory. 

Meantime,  Crouzat's  force,  now  known  as  the 
20th  Army  Corps,  had  been  moving  on  Nevers.  To 
assist  the  Loire  Army  yet  further,  General  Bourbaki 
had  been  summoned  from  the  north-west  of  France. 
At  the  fall  of  the  Empire  the  defence  in  that  part 
of  the  country  had  been  entrusted  to  Fririon,  whom 
Espinet  de  la  Villeboisnet  succeeded.  The  resources 
at  the  disposal  of  both  those  generals  were  very 
limited,  confined,  indeed,  to  men  of  the  regimental 
depots,  and  some  Mobile  Guards.  There  was  a 
deficiency  both  of  officers  and  of  weapons,  and  in 
the  early  skirmishes  which  took  place  with  the 
enemy,  the  principal  combatants  were  armed  peasants, 
rural  firemen,  and  the  National  Guards  of  various 
towns.  It  is  true  that  for  a  while  the  German  force 
consisted  only  of  a  battalion  of  infantry  and  some 
Saxon  cavalry.  Under  Anatole  de  la  Forge,  Prefect 
of  the  Aisne,  the  open  town  of  Saint  Quentin  offered 
a  gallant  resistance  to  the  invader,  but  although  this 
had  some  moral  effect,  its  importance  was  not  great. 
Bourbaki,  who  succeeded  La  Villeboisnet  in  command 
of  the  region,  was  as  diffident  respecting  the  value  of 
his  troops  as  was  D'Aurelle  on  the  Loire.  He  had 
previously  commanded  the  very  pick  of  the  French 
army,  that  is  the  Imperial  Guard,  and  the  men  now 
placed  under  his  orders  were  by  no  means  of  the 
same  class.  Bourbaki  was  at  this  time  only  fifty- 
four  years  of  age,  and  when,  after  being  sent  out  of 
Metz  on  a  mission  to  the  Empress  Eugenie  at  Hastings, 
he  had  offered  his  services  to  the  National  Defence, 
the  latter  had  given  him  the  best  possible  welcome. 
But  he  became  one  of  the  great  military  failures  of 
the  period. 


228  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

After  the  fall  of  Metz  the  Germans  despatched 
larger  forces  under  Manteuffel  into  north-west  France. 
Altogether  there  were  35,000  infantry  and  4000 
cavalry,  with  174  guns,  against  a  French  force  of 
22,000  men  who  were  distributed  with  60  guns  over 
a  front  of  some  thirty  miles,  their  object  being  to 
protect  both  Amiens  and  Rouen.  When  Bourbaki 
was  summoned  to  the  Loire,  he  left  Farre  as  chief 
commander  in  the  north,  with  Faidherbe  and  Le- 
cointe  as  his  principal  lieutenants.  There  was  bad 
strategy  on  both  sides,  but  La  Fere  capitulated 
to  the  Germans  on  November  26,  and  Amiens  on 
the  29th. 

Meantime,  the  position  in  beleaguered  Paris  was 
becoming  very  bad.  Some  ten  thousand  men, 
either  of  the  regular  or  the  auxiliary  forces,  were 
laid  up  in  hospital,  less  on  account  of  wounds  than 
of  disease.  Charcoal — f  or  cooking  purposes  according 
to  the  orthodox  French  system — was  being  strictly 
rationed.  On  November  20  only  a  certain  number 
of  milch  cows  and  a  few  hundred  oxen,  reserved  for 
hospital  and  ambulance  patients,  remained  of  all 
the  bovine  live  stock  collected  together  before  the 
siege.  At  the  end  of  November,  500  horses  were 
being  slaughtered  every  day.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  bread  allowance  had  been  raised  from750  grammes 
to  a  kilogramme  per  diem,  and  a  great  deal  of  bread 
was  given  to  the  horses  as  food.  Somewhat  un- 
certain communications  had  been  opened  with  the 
provinces  by  means  of  pigeon-post,  the  first  pigeon 
to  bring  despatches  into  the  city  arriving  there  on 
November  15.  The  despatches,  photographed  on 
the  smallest  possible  scale,  were  usually  enclosed  in 
quills  fastened  under  one  or  another  of  the  birds' 
wings.  Each  balloon  that  left  the  city  now  took 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  PROVINCES       229 

with  it  a  certain  number  of  carrier-pigeons  for  this 
service.  Owing,  however,  to  the  bitter  cold  which 
prevailed  that  winter,  many  of  the  birds  perished  on 
the  return  journey,  and  thus  the  despatches  they 
carried  did  not  reach  Paris.  Whenever  any  such 
communications  arrived  there,  they  had  to  be 
enlarged  by  means  of  a  magic-lantern  contrivance, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  deciphered.  Meantime, 
the  aeronauts  leaving  the  city  conveyed  Government 
despatches  as  well  as  private  correspondence,  and  in 
this  wise  Trochu  was  able  to  inform  Gambetta  that 
the  army  of  Paris  intended  to  make  a  great  effort 
on  November  29. 


WITH   THE    "  ARMY   OF   BRITTANY  " 

The  German  Advance  Westward — Gambetta  at  Le  Mans — The  "  Army 
of  Brittany  "  and  Count  de  Keratry — The  Camp  of  Conlie — The 
Breton  Marching  Division — Keratry  resigns — The  Champigny  Sortie 
from  Paris — The  dilatory  D'Aurelle — The  pitiable  20th  Army  Corps 
— Battles  of  Beaune-la-Rolande  and  Loigny — Loss  of  Orleans — 
D'Aurelle  superseded  by  Chanzy — Chanzy's  Slow  Retreat — The  21st 
Corps  summoned  to  the  Front — I  march  with  the  Breton  Division — 
Marchenoir  and  Freteval — Our  Retreat — Our  Rearguard  Action  at 
Droue — Behaviour  of  the  Inhabitants — We  fight  our  Way  from 
Fontenelle  to  Saint  Agil — Guns  and  Quagmires — Our  Return  to 
Le  Mans — I  proceed  to  Rennes  and  Saint  Malo. 

AFTER  the  Chateaudun  affair  the  Germans  secured 
possession  of  Chartres,  whence  they  proceeded  to 
raid  the  department  of  the  Eure.  Going  by  way  of 
Nogent-le-Roi  and  Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais,  they 
seized  the  old  ecclesiastical  town  of  Evreux  on 
November  19,  whereupon  the  French  hastily  re- 
treated into  the  Orne.  Some  minor  engagements 
followed,  all  to  the  advantage  of  the  Germans,  who 
on  the  22nd  attacked  and  occupied  the  ancient  and 
strategically  important  town  of  Nogent-le-Rotrou — 
the  lordship  of  which,  just  prior  to  the  great  Revolu- 
tion, belonged  to  the  family  of  the  famous  Count 
D'Orsay,  the  lover  of  Lady  Blessington  and  the 
friend  of  Napoleon  III.  The  occupation  of  Nogent 
brought  the  Germans  to  a  favourable  point  on  the 
direct  railway-line  between  Paris  and  Le  Mans,  the 
capital  of  Maine.  The  region  had  been  occupied 

230 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF   BRITTANY'      231 

by  a  somewhat  skeleton  French,  army  corps — the 
21st — commanded  by  a  certain  General  Fiereck. 
On  the  loss  of  Nogent,  Gambetta  immediately  re- 
placed him  by  one  of  the  many  naval  officers  who 
were  now  with  the  French  armies,  that  is  Post- 
Captain  (later  Admiral)  Constant  Jaures,  uncle  of 
the  famous  Socialist  leader  of  more  recent  times. 
Jaures  at  once  decided  to  retreat  on  Le  Mans,  a 
distance  of  rather  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  and 
this  was  effected  within  two  days,  but  under  lament- 
able circumstances.  Thousands  of  starving  men 
deserted,  and  others  were  only  kept  with  the  columns 
by  the  employment  of  cavalry  and  the  threat  of 
turning  the  artillery  upon  them. 

Directly  Gambetta  heard  of  the  state  of  affairs, 
he  hastened  to  Le  Mans  to  provide  for  the  defence 
of  that  extremely  important  point,  where  no  fewer 
than  five  great  railway  lines  converged,  those  of 
Paris,  Alen9on,  Rennes,  Angers,  and  Tours.  The 
troops  commanded  by  Jaures  were  in  a  very  deplor- 
able condition,  and  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
strengthen  them.  It  so  happened  that  a  large  body 
of  men  was  assembled  at  Conlie,  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen miles  away.  They  formed  what  was  called 
the  "  Army  of  Brittany,"  and  were  commanded  by 
Count  Emile  de  Keratry,  the  son  of  a  distinguished 
politician  and  literary  man  who  escaped  the  guillotine 
during  the  Reign  of  Terror.  The  Count  himself  had 
sat  in  the  Legislative  Body  of  the  Second  Empire, 
but  had  begun  life  as  a  soldier,  serving  both  in  the 
Crimea  and  in  Mexico,  in  which  latter  country  he  had 
acted  as  one  of  Bazaine's  orderly  officers.  At  the 
Revolution  Keratry  was  appointed  Prefect  of  Police, 
but  on  October  14  he  left  Paris  by  balloon,  being 
entrusted  by  Trochu  and  Jules  Favre  with  a  mission 


232  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

to  Prim,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  secure  Spanish 
support  for  France.  Prim  and  his  colleagues  refused 
to  intervene,  however,  and  Keratry  then  hastened 
to  Tours,  where  he  placed  himself  at  the  disposal 
of  Gambetta,  with  whom  he  was  on  terms  of  close 
friendship.  It  was  arranged  between  them  that 
Keratry  should  gather  together  all  the  available 
men  who  were  left  in  Brittany,  and  train  and  organize 
them,  for  which  purposes  a  camp  was  established 
at  Conlie,  north-west  of  Le  Mans. 

Conlie  was  the  first  place  which  I  decided  to  visit 
on  quitting  Saint  Servan.  The  most  appalling 
rumours  were  current  throughout  Brittany  respecting 
the  new  camp.  It  was  said  to  be  grossly  mismanaged 
and  to  be  a  hotbed  of  disease.  I  visited  it,  collected 
a  quantity  of  information,  and  prepared  an  article 
which  was  printed  by  the  Daily  News  and  attracted 
considerable  attention,  being  quoted  by  several 
other  London  papers  and  taken  in  two  instances  as 
the  text  for  leading  articles.  So  far  as  the  camp's 
defences  and  the  arming  of  the  men  assembled 
within  it  were  concerned,  my  strictures  were  fully 
justified,  but  certain  official  documents,  subsequently 
published,  indicate  that  I  was  in  error  on  some 
points.  The  whole  question  having  given  rise  to  a 
good  deal  of  controversy  among  writers  on  the 
Franco-German  War — some  of  them  regarding  Conlie 
as  a  flagrant  proof  of  Gambetta's  mismanagement  of 
military  affairs — I  will  here  set  down  what  I  believe 
to  be  strictly  the  truth  respecting  it. 

The  camp  was  established  near  the  site  of  an  old 
Roman  one,  located  between  Conlie  and  Domfront, 
the  principal  part  occupying  some  rising  ground  in 
the  centre  of  an  extensive  valley.  It  was  intended 
to  be  a  training  camp  rather  than  an  entrenched 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF   BRITTANY'      233 

and  fortified  one,  though  a  redoubt  was  erected  on 
the  south,  and  some  works  were  begun  on  the 
northern  and  the  north-eastern  sides.  When  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  reached  Conlie  after 
the  battle  of  Le  Mans,  he  expressed  his  surprise  that 
the  French  had  not  fortified  so  good  a  position  more 
seriously,  and  defended  it  with  vigour.  Both  the 
railway  line  and  the  high-road  between  Laval  and 
Le  Mans  were  near  at  hand,  and  only  a  few  miles 
away  there  was  the  old  town  of  Sille-le-Guillaume, 
one  of  the  chief  grain  and  cattle  markets  of  the  region. 
There  was  considerable  forest-land  in  the  vicinity, 
and  wood  was  abundant.  But  there  was  no  water- 
course, and  the  wells  of  the  various  adjacent  little 
farms  yielded  but  a  very  inadequate  supply  of  water 
for  a  camp  in  which  at  one  moment  some  40,000 
men  were  assembled.  Thus,  at  the  outset,  the  camp 
lacked  one  great  essential,  and  such  was  the  case 
when  I  visited  it  in  November.  But  I  am  bound 
to  add  that  a  source  was  soon  afterwards  found  in 
the  very  centre  of  the  camp,  and  tapped  so  success- 
fully by  means  of  a  steam-pumping  arrangement 
that  it  ended  by  yielding  over  300,000  litres  of  water 
per  diem.  The  critics  of  the  camp  have  said  that 
the  spot  was  very  damp  and  muddy,  and  therefore 
necessarily  unhealthy,  and  there  is  truth  in  that 
assertion ;  but  the  same  might  be  remarked  of  all 
the  camps  of  the  period,  notably  that  of  D'Aurelle 
de  Paladines  in  front  of  Orleans.  Moreover,  when  a 
week's  snow  was  followed  by  a  fortnight's  thaw, 
matters  could  scarcely  be  different.* 

*  From  first  to  last  (November  12  to  January  7)  1942  cases  of  illness 
were  treated  in  the  five  ambulances  of  the  camp.  Among  them  were 
264  cases  of  small-pox.  There  were  a  great  many  instances  of  bronchitis 
and  kindred  affections,  but  not  many  of  dysentery.  Among  the  small-pox 
cases  88  proved  fatal. 


234  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

I  find  on  referring  to  documents  of  the  period 
that  on  November  23,  the  day  before  Gambetta 
visited  the  camp,  as  I  shall  presently  relate,  the  total 
effective  was  665  officers  with  23,881  men.  By 
December  5  (although  a  marching  division  of  about 
12,000  men  had  then  left  for  the  front)  the  effective 
had  risen  to  1241  officers  with  about  40,000  men.* 
There  were  40  guns  for  the  defence  of  the  camp,  and 
some  50  field-pieces  of  various  types,  often,  however, 
without  carriages  and  almost  invariably  without 
teams.  At  no  time,  I  find,  were  there  more  than 
360  horses  and  fifty  mules  in  the  camp.  There  was 
also  a  great  scarcity  of  ammunition  for  the  guns. 
On  November  23,  the  24,000  men  assembled  in  the 
camp  had  between  them  the  following  firearms  and 
ammunition : — 

Weapons  Cartridges 

Spencers  (without  bayonets)  6,000  912,060 


Chassepots 

Remingtons 

Snyders 

Muskets  of  various  types    . . 

Revolvers 


2,080  100,000 

2,000  218,000 

1,866  170,000 

9,684  Insufficient 

500  Sufficient 


21,130 


Such  things  as  guns,  gun-carriages,  firearms, 
cartridges,  bayonets,  and  so  forth  formed  the  subject 
of  innumerable  telegrams  and  letters  exchanged 
between  Keratry  and  the  National  Defence  Dele- 
gation at  Tours.  The  former  was  constantly 
receiving  promises  from  Gambetta,  which  were 
seldom  kept,  supplies  at  first  intended  for  him  being 
at  the  last  moment  sent  in  other  directions,  according 
to  the  more  pressing  requirements  of  the  hour. 
Moreover,  a  good  many  of  the  weapons  which 

*  The  rationing  of  the  men  cost  on  an  average  about  Id.  per  diem. 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF   BRITTANY5      235 

Keratry  actually  received  were  defective.  In  the 
early  days  of  the  camp,  many  of  the  men  were  given 
staves — broom-sticks  in  some  instances — for  use  at 
drill. 

When  Gambetta  arrived  at  Le  Mans  after  Jaures 
had  retreated  thither,  he  learnt  that  action  had 
become  the  more  urgent  as  the  Germans  were  steadily 
prosecuting  their  advance.  By  orders  of  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  to  whose  army  these  forces 
belonged,  the  French  were  followed  to  La  Ferte- 
Bernard ;  and  whilst  one  German  column  then  went 
west  towards  Saint  Cosme,  another  advanced  south- 
ward to  Vibraye,  thus  seriously  threatening  Le 
Mans.  Such  was  the  position  on  November  23. 
Fortunately,  Freycinet  was  able  to  send  Jaures 
reinforcements  which  brought  his  effective  to  about 
35,000  men,  and  at  the  same  time  Gambetta  urged 
Keratry  to  prepare  a  marching  division  of  the  men 
at  Conlie.  Early  on  the  24th,  Gambetta  (who,  by 
the  way,  had  travelled  from  Tours  to  Le  Mans  at 
full  speed  on  a  railway  engine)  visited  the  camp, 
and  expressed  his  approval  of  all  he  saw  there.  I 
caught  a  glimpse  of  him,  muffled  in  his  fur  coat,  and 
looking,  as  well  he  might,  intensely  cold.  His  orders 
to  Keratry  were  to  proceed  to  Saint  Calais,  and  thence 
to  the  forest  of  Vibraye,  so  as  to  cover  Le  Mans  on 
the  east.  It  took  fourteen  hours  and  twenty-one 
trains  to  convey  the  marching  division  to  Yvre 
1'Eveque  on  the  Huisne,  just  beyond  Le  Mans.  The 
effective  of  the  division  was  roughly  12,000  men, 
nearly  all  of  them  being  Breton  Mobilises.  The 
artillery  consisted  of  one  battery  of  12's,  and  one  of 
4's,  with  the  necessary  horses,  two  batteries  of  4's 
dragged  by  naval  volunteers,  and  several  Gatling 
guns,  which  had  only  just  been  delivered.  These 


236  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

Gatlings,  which  at  that  time  were  absolutely  unknown 
in  France,  were  not  mounted,  but  packed  in  sections 
in  sealed  zinc  cases,  which  were  opened  in  the  railway 
vans  on  the  journey,  the  guns  being  there  put  together 
by  a  young  naval  officer  and  a  couple  of  civilian 
engineers.  A  little  later  the  artillery  of  the  force 
was  augmented. 

After  these  troops  had  taken  up  position  at  Yvre, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  crossing  the 
Huisne,  various  conferences  were  held  between  Gam- 
betta,  Jaures,  and  Keratry.  General  Le  Bouedec 
had  been  left  in  command  at  Conlie,  and  General 
Trinite  had  been  selected  to  command  the  marching 
division  of  the  Bretons.  From  the  very  outset, 
however,  Keratry  objected  to  the  plans  of  Gambetta 
and  Jaures,  and,  for  the  moment,  the  duties  of  the 
Bretons  were  limited  to  participating  in  a  recon- 
naissance on  a  somewhat  large  scale — two  columns 
of  Jaures5  forces,  under  Generals  Colin  and  Rousseau, 
joining  in  this  movement,  which  was  directed  chiefly 
on  Bouloire,  midway  between  Le  Mans  and  Saint 
Calais  on  the  east.  When  Bouloire  was  reached, 
however,  the  Germans  who  had  momentarily  occu- 
pied it  had  retired,  and  the  French  thereupon  with- 
drew to  their  former  positions  near  Le  Mans. 

Then  came  trouble.  v  Gambetta  placed  Keratry 
under  the  orders  of  Jaures,  and  Keratry  would  not 
accept  the  position.  Great  jealousy  prevailed  between 
these  two  men ;  Keratry,  who  had  served  ten  years 
in  the  French  Army,  claiming  that  he  knew  a  good 
deal  more  about  military  matters  than  Jaures,  who, 
as  I  previously  mentioned,  had  hitherto  been  a  naval 
officer.  In  the  end  Keratry  threw  up  his  command. 
Le  Bouedec  succeeded  him  at  Conlie,  and  Frigate- 
Captain  Gougeard  (afterwards  Minister  of  Marine  in 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY'      237 

Gambetta's  Great  Ministry)  took  charge  of  the 
Bretons  at  Yvre,  where  he  exerted  himself  to  bring 
them  to  a  higher  state  of  efficiency. 

I  must  now  refer  to  some  other  matters.  Trochu 
had  informed  Gambetta  of  his  intention  to  make  a 
sortie  on  the  south-eastern  side  of  Paris.  The  plans 
adopted  were  mainly  those  of  Ducrot,  who  took  chief 
command.  A  diversion  made  by  Vinoy  to  the  south 
of  the  city  on  November  29  gave  the  Germans  an 
inkling  of  what  was  intended,  and  proved  a  fruitless 
venture  which  cost  the  French  1000  men.  Another 
diversion  attempted  by  General  Susbielle  on 
November  30  led  to  a  similar  result,  with  a  loss  of 
1200  men.  Ducrot,  however,  crossed  the  Marne, 
and  very  desperate  fighting  ensued  at  Champigny 
and  neighbouring  localities.  But  Ducrot's  force 
(less  than  100,000  men)  was  insufficient  for  his  pur- 
pose. The  weather,  moreover,  was  extremely  cold, 
the  men  had  brought  with  them  neither  tents  nor 
blankets,  and  had  to  bivouac  without  fires.  Accord- 
ing toTrochu's  memoirs  there  was  also  an  insufficiency 
of  ammunition.  Thus  the  Champigny  sortie  failed, 
and  the  French  retired  to  their  former  lines.* 

At  the  very  moment  when  the  Army  of  Paris 
was  in  full  retreat,  the  second  battle  of  Orleans  was 
beginning.  Gambetta  and  Freycinet  wished  D' Aurelle 
to  advance  with  the  Loire  Army  in  order  to  meet  the 
Parisians,  who,  if  victorious,  were  expected  to  march 
on  Fontainebleau  by  way  of  Melun.  In  the  latter 
days  of  November  D' Aurelle  was  still  covering 
Orleans  on  the  north  with  the  15th  and  16th  army 
corps  (Generals  Martin  des  Pallieres  and  Chanzy). 
On  his  left  was  the  17th  under  Durrieu,  who,  a  few 

*  From  November  30  to  December  3  the  French  lost  9482  men  ;  and 
the  Germans  5238  men. 


238  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

days  later,  was  succeeded  by  a  dashing  cavalry 
officer,  General  de  Sonis.  Near  at  hand,  also,  there 
was  the  18th  army  corps,  to  command  which  Bour- 
baki  had  been  summoned  from  northern  France,  his 
place  being  taken  temporarily  by  young  General 
Billot,  who  was  appointed  to  be  his  chief  of  staff. 
The  former  Army  of  the  East  under  Crouzat  *  was 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  Loire,  somewhere  between 
Gien  and  Nevers,  and  it  was  in  a  very  deplorable 
condition.  Boots  were  wanted  for  10,000  men,  tents 
for  a  like  number,  and  knapsacks  for  20,000.  In 
some  battalions  there  were  only  sufficient  knapsacks 
for  a  quarter  of  the  men,  the  others  carrying  their 
clothes,  provisions,  and  cartridges  all  higgledy- 
piggledy  hi  canvas  bags.  I  once  heard  an  eyewitness 
relate  that  many  of  Crouzat's  soldiers  marched  with 
their  biscuits  (four  days'  supply)  strung  together  Eke 
chaplets,  which  hung  from  their  necks  or  shoulders. 

The  Germans  had  heard  of  the  removal  of 
Crouzat's  force  to  the  Loire  country,  and  by  way  of 
creating  a  diversion  the  Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg 
was  ordered  to  march  on  Beaugency,  south-west  of 
Orleans.  Meantime,  Gambetta  and  Freycinet  were 
vainly  imploring  D'Aurelle  to  advance.  He  made 
all  sorts  of  excuses.  At  one  moment  he  offered  to 
consider  their  plans — not  to  comply  with  them ;  at 
another  he  wished  to  wait  for  decisive  news  from 
Trochu  and  Ducrot.  Finally,  instead  of  the  five 
army  corps  resolutely  advancing  in  the  direction  of 
Paris,  it  was  resolved  just  to  open  the  way  with  the 
18th  (Billot),  the  20th  (Crouzat),  and  some  detach- 
ments of  the  15th  (Martin  des  Pallieres).  The  result 
was  the  sharp  battle  and  serious  defeat  of  Beaune- 
la-Rolande  (November  28),  when  the  18th  corps 

*  See  pp.  225, 227,  ante.  This  had  now  become  the  20th  Anny  Corps. 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY'      239 

behaved  extremely  well,  whilst  the  20th,  to  whose 
deplorable  condition  I  have  just  referred,  retreated 
after  a  little  fighting ;  the  men  of  the  15th  on  their 
side  doing  little  or  nothing  at  all.  In  this  engage- 
ment the  French,  whose  forces  ought  to  have  been 
more  concentrated,  lost  4000  men  in  killed  and 
wounded,  and  1800  who  were  taken  prisoners ;  the 
German  loss  not  exceeding  1000  men.  Four  days 
later  (December  2)  came  the  very  serious  repulse 
of  Loigny-Poupry,  in  which  the  15th,  16th,  and  17th 
army  corps  were  engaged.  The  French  then  lost 
from  6000  to  7000  men  (2500  of  them  being  taken 
prisoners),  and  though  the  German  losses  exceeded 
4000,  the  engagement  ended  by  quite  demoralising 
D'Aurelle's  army. 

Under  those  conditions  came  the  battle  of  Orleans 
on  December  3  and  4 — the  Germans  now  being 
under  the  chief  command  of  that  able  soldier,  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  of  Prussia,  father  of  the  Duchess 
of  Connaught.  On  this  occasion  D'Aurelle  ordered 
the  corps  engaged  at  Loigny  to  retreat  on  his  en- 
trenched camp.  The  18th  and  20th  could  not  co- 
operate in  this  movement,  however ;  and  on  the 
three  others  being  driven  back,  D'Aurelle  instructed 
Chanzy  to  retire  on  Beaugency  and  Marchenoir, 
but  sent  no  orders  to  Bourbaki,  who  was  now  on  the 
scene  of  action.  Finally,  the  commander-in-chief 
decided  to  abandon  his  entrenched  camp,  the  troops 
disbanded  and  scattered,  and  Orleans  was  evacuated, 
the  flight  being  so  precipitate  that  two  of  the  five 
bridges  across  the  Loire  were  left  intact,  at  the  enemy's 
disposal.  Moreover,  the  French  Army  was  now  dis- 
located, Bourbaki,  with  the  18th,  and  Des  Pallieres, 
with  the  15th  corps,  being  on  the  south  of  the  river, 
whilst  the  other  three  corps  were  on  the  northern 


240  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

side.  The  former  retired  in  the  direction  of  Bourges 
and  Nevers,  whilst  Chanzy,  who  was  now  placed  in 
chief  command  of  the  others,  D' Aurelle  being  removed 
from  his  post,  withdrew  gradually  towards  the  forest 
of  Marchenoir.  In  that  second  battle  of  Orleans 
the  French  lost  20,000  men,  but  18,000  of  them  were 
taken  prisoners.  On  their  side,  the  Germans  (who 
captured  74  guns)  lost  fewer  than  1800  men. 

For  three  days  (December  8  to  10)  Chanzy  con- 
tested the  German  advance  at  Villorceau,  but  on 
December  12  Blois  had  to  be  evacuated,  and  the 
army  withdrew  to  the  line  of  the  Loir  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Vend6me.  Meantime,  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  fate  of  Orleans  was  being  sealed, 
orders  reached  Jaures  at  Le  Mans  to  advance  to  the 
support  of  the  Loire  Army.  I  was  lodging  at  an 
inn  in  the  town,  my  means  being  too  slender  to 
enable  me  to  patronize  any  of  the  big  hotels  on  the 
Place  des  Halles,  which,  moreover,  were  crowded 
with  officers,  functionaries,  and  so  forth.  I  had 
become  acquainted  with  some  of  the  officers  of  the 
Breton  division  under  Gougeard,  and  on  hearing 
that  they  were  going  to  the  front,  I  managed  to 
obtain  from  Colonel  Bernard,  Gougeard's  chief  of 
staff,  permission  to  accompany  the  column  with 
one  of  the  ambulance  parties.  Now  and  again 
during  the  advance  I  rode  in  one  of  the  vans,  but  for 
the  most  part  I  marched  with  the  men,  this,  more- 
over, being  the  preferable  course,  as  the  weather 
was  extremely  cold.  Even  had  I  possessed  the  means 
(and  at  most  I  had  about  £10  in  my  pocket),  I  could 
not  have  bought  a  horse  at  Le  Mans.  I  was  stoutly 
clad,  having  a  very  warm  overcoat  of  grey  Irish 
frieze,  with  good  boots,  and  a  pair  of  gaiters  made  for 
me  by  Nicholas,  the  Saint  Malo  bootmaker,  younger 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY'      241 

brother  (so  he  himself  asserted)  of  Niccolini  the 
tenor,  sometime  husband  of  Mme.  Patti. 

There  were  from  10,000  to  12,000  men  in  our 
force,  which  now  ranked  as  the  fourth  division  of  the 
21st  army  corps.  Nearly  all  the  men  of  both  brigades 
were  Breton  Mobilises,  adjoined  to  whom,  however, 
perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  steadying  them,  were 
three  or  four  very  small  detachments  of  former 
regiments  of  the  line.  There  was  also  a  small  con- 
tingent of  the  French  Foreign  Legion,  which  had  been 
brought  from  Algeria.  Starting  from  Yvre  1'Eveque 
towards  noon  on  December  4,  we  marched  to 
Ardenay,  where  we  spent  the  night.  The  weather 
was  fine  and  dry,  but  intensely  cold.  On  the  5th 
we  camped  on  some  hills  near  the  town  of  Saint 
Calais,  moved  only  a  mile  or  two  farther  on  the  6th — 
there  being  a  delay  in  the  receipt  of  certain  orders — 
then,  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  7th,  started  in  the 
direction  of  Vendome,  marching  for  about  twelve 
hours  with  only  the  briefest  halts.  We  passed  from 
the  department  of  the  Sarthe  into  that  of  Loir-et- 
Cher,  going  on  until  we  reached  a  little  place  called 
Ville-aux-Clercs,  where  we  spent  the  night  under 
uncomfortable  conditions,  for  it  snowed.  Early  the 
following  day  we  set  out  again,  and,  leaving  Vendome 
a  couple  of  miles  or  so  away  on  our  right,  we  passed 
Freteval  and  camped  on  the  outskirts  of  the  forest 
of  Marchenoir. 

The  night  proved  bitterly  cold,  the  temperature 
being  some  fourteen  degrees  (centigrade)  below 
freezing-point.  I  slept  huddled  up  in  a  van,  but 
the  men  generally  were  under  canvas,  and  there  was 
very  little  straw  for  them  to  lie  upon,  in  such  wise 
that  in  the  morning  some  of  them  actually  found  their 
garments  frost-bound  to  the  ground  !  Throughout 

R 


242  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

the  night  of  the  10th  we  heard  guns  booming  in 
the  distance.  On  the  llth,  the  12th,  and  the  13th 
December  we  were  continually  marching,  always 
going  in  the  direction  of  the  guns.  We  went  from 
Ecoman  to  Moree,  to  Saint  Hilaire-la-Gravelle,  and 
thence  to  the  Chateau  de  Rougemont  near  Freteval, 
a  spot  famous  as  the  scene  of  a  victory  gained  by 
our  Richard  Coeur-de-Lion  over  Philip  Augustus. 
The  more  or  less  distant  artillery  fire  was  incessant 
both  by  day  and  by  night ;  but  we  were  only  support- 
ing other  divisions  of  the  corps,  and  did  not  find  our- 
selves actually  engaged.  On  the  15th,  however, 
there  was  very  sharp  fighting  both  at  Freteval  and 
Moree,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  our  Gatlings 
went  forward  to  support  the  second  division  of  our 
army  corps,  which  was  being  hard  pressed  by  the 
Germans. 

All  at  once,  however,  orders  for  a  general  retreat 
arrived,  Chanzy  having  at  last  decided  to  fall  back 
on  Le  Mans.  There  was  considerable  confusion, 
but  at  last  our  men  set  out,  taking  a  north-westerly 
direction.  Fairly  good  order  prevailed  on  the  road, 
and  the  wiry  little  Bretons  at  least  proved  that  their 
marching  powers  were  unimpaired.  We  went  on 
incessantly  though  slowly  during  the  night,  and  did 
not  make  a  real  halt  until  about  seven  o'clock  on 
the  following  morning,  when,  almost  dead-beat,  we 
reached  a  little  town  called  Droue. 

Jaures,  I  should  mention,  had  received  the  order 
to  retreat  at  about  four  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of 
December  16,  and  had  speedily  selected  three  different 
routes  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  21st  army  corps. 
Our  division,  however,  was  the  last  to  quit  its 
positions,  it  being  about  eight  o'clock  at  night  when 
we  set  out.  Thus  our  march  lasted  nine  hours.  The 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY'      243 

country  was  a  succession  of  sinuous  valleys  and  stiff 
slopes,  and  banks  often  overlooked  the  roads,  which 
were  edged  with  oaks  and  bushes.  There  were 
several  streams,  a  few  woods,  and  a  good  many  little 
copses.  Farms  often  lay  close  together,  and  now 
and  again  attempts  were  made  to  buy  food  and  drink 
of  the  peasantry,  who,  upon  hearing  our  approach, 
came  at  times  with  lights  to  their  thresholds.  But 
they  were  a  close-fisted  breed,  and  demanded  exorbi- 
tant prices.  Half  a  franc  was  the  lowest  charge  for 
a  piece  of  bread.  Considering  how  bad  the  men's 
boots  were,  the  marching  was  very  good,  but  a 
number  of  men  deserted  under  cover  of  the  night. 
Generally  speaking,  though  there  was  a  slight 
skirmish  at  Cloyes  and  an  engagement  at  Droue,  as 
I  shall  presently  relate,  the  retreat  was  not  greatly 
hampered  by  the  enemy.  In  point  of  fact,  as  the 
revelations  of  more  recent  years  have  shown,  Moltke 
was  more  anxious  about  the  forces  of  Bourbaki  than 
about  those  of  Chanzy,  and  both  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  had 
instructions  to  keep  a  strict  watch  on  the  movements 
of  Bourbaki's  corps.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the 
Grand  Duke's  troops — notably  a  body  of  cavalry — 
attempted  to  cut  off  our  retreat.  When,  however, 
late  on  the  16th,  some  of  our  men  came  in  contact 
with  a  detachment  of  the  enemy  near  Cloyes,  they 
momentarily  checked  its  progress,  and,  as  I  have 
indicated,  we  succeeded  in  reaching  Droue  without 
loss. 

That  morning,  the  17th,  the  weather  was  again 
very  cold,  a  fog  following  the  rain  and  sleet  of  the 
previous  days.  Somewhat  later,  however,  snow 
began  to  fall.  At  Droue — a  little  place  of  about  a 
thousand  inhabitants,  with  a  ruined  castle  and  an 


244  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

ancient  church — we  breakfasted  as  best  we  could. 
About  nine  o'clock  came  marching  orders,  and  an 
hour  later,  when  a  large  number  of  our  men  were 
already  on  their  way  towards  Saint  Agil,  our  next 
halting-place,  General  Gougeard  mounted  and  pre- 
pared to  go  off  with  his  staff,  immediately  in  advance 
of  our  rear-guard.  At  that  precise  moment,  however, 
we  were  attacked  by  the  Germans,  whose  presence 
near  us  we  had  not  suspected. 

It  was,  however,  certainly  known  to  some  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Droue,  who,  terrified  by  all  that  they 
had  heard  of  the  harshness  shown  by  the  Germans 
towards  the  localities  where  they  encountered  any 
resistance,  shrank  from  informing  either  Gougeard 
or  any  of  his  officers  that  the  enemy  was  at  hand. 
The  artillery  with  which  our  rear  was  to  be  protected 
was  at  this  moment  on  the  little  square  of  Droue.  It 
consisted  of  a  mountain  battery  under  Sub-Lieutenant 
Gouesse  of  the  artillery,  and  three  Gatlings  under  Sub- 
Lieutenant  De  la  Forte  of  the  navy,  with  naval  Lieu- 
tenant Rodellec  du  Porzic  in  chief  command.  Whilst 
it  was  being  brought  into  position,  Colonel  Bernard, 
Gougeard's  chief  of  staff,  galloped  off  to  stop  the 
retreat  of  the  other  part  of  our  column.  The 
enemy's  force  consisted  of  detachments  of  cavalry, 
artillery,  and  Landwehr  infantry.  Before  our  little 
guns  could  be  trained  on  them,  the  Landwehr  men 
had  already  seized  several  outlying  houses,  barns, 
and  sheds,  whence  they  strove  to  pick  off  our  gunners. 
For  a  moment  our  Mobilises  hesitated  to  go  forward, 
but  Gougeard  dashed  amongst  them,  appealed  to  their 
courage,  and  then  led  them  against  the  enemy. 

Not  more  than  three  hundred  yards  separated 
the  bulk  of  the  contending  forces,  indeed  there  were 
some  Germans  in  the  houses  less  than  two  hundred 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY'      245 

yards  away.  Our  men  at  last  forced  these  fellows 
to  decamp,  killing  and  wounding  several  of  them  ; 
whilst,  thanks  to  Colonel  Bernard's  prompt  inter- 
vention, a  battalion  of  the  19th  line  regiment  and 
two  companies  of  the  Foreign  Legion,  whose  retreat 
was  hastily  stopped,  threatened  the  enemy's  right 
flank.  A  squadron  of  the  Second  Lancers  under  a 
young  lieutenant  also  came  to  our  help,  dismounting 
and  supporting  Gougeard's  Mobilises  with  the  car- 
bines they  carried.  Realizing  that  we  were  in  force, 
the  enemy  ended  by  retreating,  but  not  until  there 
had  been  a  good  deal  of  fighting  in  and  around  the 
outlying  houses  of  Droue. 

Such,  briefly,  was  the  first  action  I  ever  witnessed. 
Like  others,  I  was  under  fire  for  some  time,  being  near 
the  guns  and  helping  to  carry  away  the  gunners 
whom  the  Germans  shot  from  the  windows  of  the 
houses  in  which  they  had  installed  themselves.  We 
lost  four  or  five  artillerymen  in  that  manner,  including 
the  chief  officer,  M.  de  Rodellec  du  Porzic,  whom 
a  bullet  struck  in  the  chest.  He  passed  away  in  a 
little  cafe  whither  we  carried  him.  He  was,  I 
believe,  the  last  of  his  family,  two  of  his  brothers 
having  previously  been  killed  in  action. 

We  lost  four  or  five  other  officers  in  this  same  en- 
gagement, as  well  as  a  Breton  chaplain  of  the  Mobilises. 
Our  total  losses  were  certainly  larger  than  Gougeard 
subsequently  stated  in  his  official  report,  amounting 
in  killed  and  wounded,  I  think,  to  from  120  to  150 
men.  Though  the  officers  as  a  rule  behaved  extremely 
well — some  of  them,  indeed,  splendidly — there  were 
a  few  lamentable  instances  of  cowardice.  By  Gou- 
geard's orders,  four  were  placed  under  arrest  and 
court-martialled  at  the  end  of  the  retreat.  Of  these, 
two  were  acquitted,  whilst  a  third  was  shot,  and  a 


246  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

fourth  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment  in  a 
fortress.* 

The  enemy's  pursuit  having  been  checked,  we 
eventually  quitted  Droue,  but  when  we  had  gone 
another  three  miles  or  so  and  reached  a  village  called 
Fontenelle,  the  Germans  came  on  again.  It  was 
then  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  for  a 
couple  of  hours  or  so,  whilst  we  continued  our  retreat, 
the  enemy  kept  up  a  running  cannonade,  repeatedly 
endeavouring  to  harass  our  rear.  We  constantly 
replied  to  their  fire,  however,  and  steadily  kept  them 
off,  losing  only  a  few  men  before  the  dusk  fell,  when 
the  pursuit  ceased.  We  afterwards  plodded  on 
slowly — the  roads  being  in  a  terrible  condition — 
until  at  about  half-past  six  o'clock  we  reached  the 
village  of  Saint  Agil,  where  the  staff  installed  itself 
at  Count  de  Saint-Maixent's  stately  renaissance 
chateau. 

The  weather  was  better  on  December  18,  for, 
though  it  was  extremely  cold,  the  snow  ceased  falling. 
But  we  still  had  a  formidable  task  before  us.  The 
roads,  as  I  have  said,  were  wretched,  and  at  Saint 
Agil  we  had  to  contend  with  some  terrible  quag- 
mires, across  which  we  found  it  at  first  impossible 
to  get  our  guns,  ammunition-vans,  and  baggage 
train.  It  became  necessary  to  lop  and  fell  trees, 
and  form  with  them  a  kind  of  bed  over  which  our 
impedimenta  might  travel.  Hour  after  hour  went 
by  amidst  incessant  labour.  An  ammunition  waggon 

*  From  the  formation  of  the  "  Army  of  Brittany  "  until  the  armistice 
the  total  number  of  executions  was  eleven.  They  included  one  officer 
(mentioned  above)  for  cowardice  in  presence  of  the  enemy ;  five  men  of 
the  Foreign  Legion  for  murdering  peasants ;  one  Franc -tireur  for  armed 
robbery,  and  four  men  (Line  and  Mobile  Guards)  for  desertion  in  presence 
of  the  enemy.  The  number  would  have  been  larger  had  it  been  possible 
to  identify  and  punish  those  who  were  most  guilty  in  the  stampede  of 
La  Tuilerie  during  the  battle  of  Le  Mans. 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY'      247 

containing  only  half  its  proper  load  required  the 
efforts  of  a  dozen  horses  to  pull  it  over  that  morass, 
whilst,  as  for  the  guns,  each  of  the  12's  required  even 
more  horses.  It  was  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  18th  when  the  last  gun  was  got  across.  Three 
gun-carriages  were  broken  during  those  efforts,  but 
our  men  managed  to  save  the  pieces.  Late  in  the 
operations  the  Germans  again  put  in  an  appearance, 
but  were  held  in  respect  by  our  Gatlings  and  moun- 
tain-guns. Half  an  hour,  however,  after  our  de- 
parture from  Saint  Agil,  they  entered  the  village. 

In  a  very  wretched  condition,  half-famished  and 
footsore,  we  went  on,  through  the  sudden  thaw  which 
had  set  in,  towards  Vibraye,  whose  forest,  full  in 
those  days  of  wild  boars  and  deer,  stretched  away 
on  our  left.  We  were  now  in  the  department  of  the 
Sarthe,  and,  cutting  across  country  in  the  direction 
of  the  Huisne,  we  at  last  reached  the  ancient  little 
bourg  of  Connerre,  on  the  high-road  running  (left 
of  the  river)  towards  Le  Mans.  There  I  took  leave 
of  our  column,  and,  after  buying  a  shirt  and  some 
socks,  hastened  to  the  railway  station — a  mile  and 
a  half  distant — hoping,  from  what  was  told  me,  that 
there  might  be  some  means  of  getting  to  Le  Mans 
by  train,  instead  of  accompanying  our  men  along 
the  highway.  At  Connerre  station  I  found  a  very 
good  inn,  where  I  at  once  partook  of  the  best  meal 
that  I  had  eaten  since  leaving  Le  Mans,  sixteen  days 
previously.  I  then  washed,  put  on  my  new  shirt 
and  socks,  and  went  to  interview  the  station-master. 
After  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  as  I  had  a  permit  signed 
by  Colonel  Bernard,  and  wore  an  ambulance  armlet, 
I  was  allowed  to  travel  to  Le  Mans  in  a  railway  van. 
There  was  no  regular  service  of  trains,  the  only  ones 
now  running  so  far  north  being  used  for  military 


248  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

purposes.  I  got  to  Le  Mans  a  few  hours  before  our 
column  reached  Yvre  FEveque  on  the  night  of 
December  20,  and  at  once  sought  a  train  which  would 
convey  me  to  Rennes,  if  not  as  far  as  Saint  Malo. 
Then  came  another  long,  slow,  dreary  journey  in  a 
villainous  wooden-seated  third-class  carriage.  It  was 
between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
we  reached  Rennes.  I  still  had  about  five-and- 
twenty  francs  in  my  pocket,  and  knowing  that  it 
would  not  cost  me  more  than  a  quarter  of  that 
amount  to  get  to  Saint  Malo,  I  resolved  to  indulge 
in  a  good  dejeuner  at  the  Hotel  de  France. 

There  was  nobody  excepting  a  few  waiters  in  the 
long  dining-room,  but  the  tables  were  already  laid 
there.  When,  however,  I  seated  myself  at  one  of 
them,  the  head-waiter  came  up  declaring  that  I  could 
not  be  accommodated,  as  the  tables  were  reserved 
for  ces  messieurs.  I  was  inquiring  who  ces  messieurs 
might  be,  when  some  of  them  entered  the  room  in 
a  very  swaggering  manner.  All  were  arrayed  in 
stylish  and  brand-new  uniforms,  with  beautiful 
boots,  and  looked  in  the  pink  of  condition.  They 
belonged,  I  found,  to  a  free  corps  called  the 
"  Eclaireurs  d'llle-et-Vilaine,"  and  their  principal 
occupations  were  to  mess  together  copiously  and  then 
stroll  about  the  town,  ogling  all  the  good-looking 
girls  they  met.  The  corps  never  went  to  the  front. 
Three  or  four  weeks  afterwards,  when  I  again  passed 
through  Rennes — this  second  time  with  my  father — 
Messieurs  les  Eclaireurs  were  still  displaying  their 
immaculate  uniforms  and  highly  polished  boots 
amidst  all  the  misery  exhibited  by  the  remnants  of 
one  of  Chanzy's  corps  tfarmee. 

Though  I  was  little  more  than  a  boy,  my  blood 
fairly  boiled  when  I  was  requested  to  give  up  my 


WITH  THE   "ARMY  OF  BRITTANY'      249 

seat  at  table  for  these  arrogant  young  fops.  I  went 
to  complain  at  the  hotel  bureau,  but,  being  confronted 
there  by  the  landlady  instead  of  by  the  landlord, 
I  did  not  express  my  feelings  so  strongly  as  I  might 
have  done.  "  Madame  "  sweetly  informed  me  that 
the  first  dejeuner  was  entirely  reserved  for  Messieurs 
les  Eclaireurs,  but  that,  if  I  would  wait  till  the 
second  dejeuner  at  noon,  I  should  find  ample  accom- 
modation. However,  I  was  not  inclined  to  do  any  such 
thing.  I  thought  of  all  the  poor,  famished,  shivering 
men  whom  I  had  left  less  than  twenty-four  hours 
previously,  and  some  of  whom  I  had  more  than 
once  helped  to  buy  bread  and  cheese  and  wine  during 
our  long  and  painful  marches.  They,  at  all  events, 
had  done  their  duty  as  best  they  could,  and  I  felt 
highly  indignant  with  the  swaggering  young  bloods 
of  Rennes,  who  were  content  to  remain  in  their 
native  town  displaying  their  uniforms  and  enjoying 
themselves.  Fortunately,  such  instances  were  very 
rare. 

Returning  to  the  railway  station,  I  obtained 
something  to  eat  at  the  refreshment-room,  where 
I  presently  heard  somebody  trying  to  make  a  waiter 
understand  an  order  given  in  broken  French.  Recog- 
nizing a  fellow-countryman,  I  intervened  and  pro- 
cured what  he  desired.  I  found  that  he  was  going 
to  Saint  Malo  like  myself,  so  we  made  the  journey 
together.  He  told  me  that,  although  he  spoke  very 
little  French,  he  had  come  to  France  on  behalf  of 
an  English  boot-making  firm  in  order  to  get  a  con- 
tract from  some  of  the  military  authorities.  Many 
such  people  were  to  be  found  in  Brittany,  at  Le  Mans, 
at  Tours,  and  elsewhere,  during  the  latter  period  of 
the  war.  An  uncle  of  mine,  Frederick  Vizetelly, 
came  over,  I  remember,  and  interviewed  Freycinet 


250  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

and  others  on  behalf  of  an  English  small-arm  firm. 
I  forget  whether  he  secured  a  contract  or  not ;  but 
it  is  a  lamentable  and  uncontrovertible  fact  that 
many  of  the  weapons  and  many  of  the  boots  sold 
by  English  makers  to  the  National  Defence  were 
extremely  defective.  Some  of  the  American  weapons 
were  even  worse  than  ours.  As  for  the  boots,  they 
often  had  mere  "  composition  soles,"  which  were 
soon  worn  out.  I  saw,  notably  after  the  battle  of 
Le  Mans,  hundreds — I  believe  I  might  say,  without 
exaggeration,  thousands — of  men  whose  boots  were 
mere  remnants.  Some  hobbled  through  the  snow 
with  only  rags  wrapped  round  their  bleeding  feet. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  few  of  our  firms  undoubtedly 
supplied  satisfactory  boots,  and  it  may  have  been 
so  in  the  case  of  the  traveller  whom  I  met  at  Rennes. 
A  few  days  after  my  return  to  Saint  Malo,  my 
cousin,  Montague  Vizetelly,  arrived  there  with  a 
commission  from  the  Daily  News  to  join  Chanzy's 
forces  at  Le  Mans.  Mr.  Robinson,  I  was  afterwards 
told,  had  put  some  questions  about  me  to  my 
brother  Adrian,  and,  on  hearing  how  young  I  was, 
had  thought  that  I  might  not  be  equal  to  the  occasion 
if  a  decisive  battle  between  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
and  Ghanzy  should  be  fought.  My  cousin — then 
four-and-twenty  years  of  age — was  accordingly  sent 
over.  From  that  time  nearly  all  my  war  letters 
were  forwarded  to  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  and,  as  it 
happened,  one  of  them  was  the  first  account  of  the 
great  battle  of  Le  Mans,  from  the  French  side,  to 
appear  in  an  English  paper. 


XI 

BEFORE  LE  MANS 

The  War  in  various  Regions  of  Prance — General  Faidherbe — Battle  of 
Pont-Noyelles — Unreliability  of  French  Official  News — Engagement 
of  Nuits — Le  Bourget  Sortie — Battles  of  Bapaume  and  Villersexel 
— Chanzy's  Plan  of  Operations — The  Affair  of  Saint  Calais — Wretched 
State  of  some  of  Chanzy's  Soldiers — Le  Mans  and  its  Historical 
Associations — The  Surrounding  Country — Chanzy's  Career — Positions 
of  his  Forces — Advance  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles — The  first  Fight- 
ing before  Le  Mans  and  its  Result. 

WHILST  Chanzy  was  retreating  on  Le  Mans,  and 
there  reorganizing  and  reinforcing  his  army,  a 
variety  of  operations  went  on  in  other  parts  of  France. 
After  the  German  occupation  of  Amiens,  Moltke 
instructed  Manteuffel  to  advance  on  Rouen,  which 
he  did,  afterwards  despatching  a  column  to  Dieppe ; 
the  result  being  that  on  December  9  the  Germans, 
for  the  first  time,  reached  the  sea-coast.  Since 
December  3  Faidherbe  had  taken  the  chief  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  North  at  Lille.  He  was  distinctly 
a  clever  general,  and  was  at  that  time  only  fifty-two 
years  of  age.  But  he  had  spent  eleven  years  in 
Senegal,  organizing  and  developing  that  colony, 
and  his  health  had  been  impaired  by  the  tropical 
West  African  climate.  Nevertheless,  he  evinced  no 
little  energy,  and  never  despaired,  however  slender 
might  be  the  forces  under  him,  and  however  cramped 
his  position.  As  soon  as  he  had  reorganized  the 

251 


252  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

army  entrusted  to  his  charge,  he  moved  towards 
Amiens,  and  on  December  23  and  24  a  battle  was 
fought  at  Pont-Noyelles,  in  the  vicinity  of  that  town. 
In  some  respects  Faidherbe  gained  the  advantage, 
but  his  success  was  a  barren  one,  and  his  losses  were 
far  greater  than  those  of  the  Germans,  amounting, 
indeed,  to  2300  men  (apart  from  many  deserters), 
whereas  the  enemy's  were  not  more  than  a  thousand. 
Gambetta,  however,  telegraphed  to  the  Prefects  that 
a  great  victory  had  been  gained ;  and  I  remember 
that  when  a  notice  to  that  effect  was  posted  at  the 
town-hall  of  Saint  Servan,  everybody  there  became 
jubilant. 

Most  of  our  war-news,  or,  at  least,  the  earliest 
intelligence  of  any  important  engagement,  came  to 
us  in  the  fashion  I  have  indicated,  townsfolk  con- 
stantly assembling  outside  the  prefectures,  sub- 
prefectures,  and  municipal  buildings  in  order  to 
read  the  day's  news.  At  times  it  was  entirely  false, 
at  others  some  slight  success  of  the  French  arms  was 
magnified  into  a  victory,  and  a  petty  engagement 
became  a  pitched  battle.  The  news  in  the  French 
newspapers  was  usually  very  belated  and  often  quite 
unreliable,  though  now  and  again  telegrams  from 
London  were  published,  giving  information  which 
was  as  near  to  the  truth  as  the  many  English  war 
correspondents  on  both  sides  could  ascertain.  After 
the  war,  both  Frenchmen  and  Germans  admitted 
to  me  that  of  all  the  newspaper  intelligence  of  the 
period  there  was  nothing  approaching  in  accuracy 
that  which  was  imparted  by  our  British  corre- 
spondents. I  am  convinced,  from  all  I  heard  in 
Paris,  in  Berlin,  in  Vienna,  and  elsewhere,  during 
the  two  or  three  years  which  followed  the  war,  that 
the  reputation  of  the  British  Press  was  greatly 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  253 

enhanced  on  the  Continent  by  the  news  it  gave 
during  the  Franco-German  campaign.  Many  a  time 
in  the  course  of  the  next  few  years  did  I  hear 
foreigners  inquire :  "  What  do  the  London  papers 
say  ?  "  or  remark :  "  If  an  English  paper  says  it, 
it  must  be  true."  I  do  not  wish  to  blow  the  trumpet 
too  loudly  on  behalf  of  the  profession  to  which 
I  belonged  for  many  years,  but  what  I  have  here 
mentioned  is  strictly  true ;  and  now  that  my  days 
of  travel  are  over,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  that 
foreigners  still  hold  the  British  Press  in  the  same 
high  esteem. 

But,  to  return  to  my  narrative,  whilst  the  events 
I  have  mentioned  were  taking  place  in  Normandy 
and  Northern  France,  Gambetta  was  vainly  trying 
to  persuade  Bourbaki  to  advance  in  the  direction 
of  Montargis.  He  also  wished  to  reinforce  Garibaldi ; 
but  the  enmity  of  many  French  officers  towards 
the  Italian  Liberator  was  so  great  that  they  would 
not  serve  with  him.  General  von  Werder  was  at  this 
time  covering  the  siege  of  Belfort  and  watching 
Langres.  On  December  18  there  was  an  engagement 
at  Nuits  between  some  of  his  forces  and  those  led 
by  the  French  commander  Cremer,  who  claimed  the 
victory,  but  afterwards  retreated  towards  Beaune. 
The  French,  however,  were  now  able  to  re-occupy 
Dijon.  On  the  21st  another  sortie  was  made  from 
Paris,  this  time  on  the  north,  in  the  direction  of 
Le  Bourget  and  Ville-Evrard.  Ducrot  was  again 
in  command,  and  200,000  men  were  got  together, 
but  only  5000  were  brought  into  action.  There 
were  a  great  many  desertions,  and  no  fewer  than  six 
officers  of  one  brigade  alone  were  court-martialled 
and  punished  for  lack  of  courage.  The  affair 
appears  to  have  been  arranged  in  order  to  quiet  the 


254  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

more  reckless  elements  in  Paris,  who  were  for  ever 
demanding  "  a  great,  a  torrential  sortie."  In  this 
instance,  however,  there  was  merely  "  much  ado 
about  nothing."  The  truth  is,  that  ever  since  the 
Champigny  affair  both  Trochu  and  Ducrot  had  lost 
all  confidence. 

On  January  2  and  3,  the  French  under  Faidherbe, 
and  the  Germans  under  Goeben,  fought  a  battle  at 
Bapaume,  south  of  Arras.  The  former  were  by  far 
the  more  numerous  force,  being,  indeed,  as  three  to 
one,  and  Faidherbe  is  credited  with  having  gained 
a  victory.  But,  again,  it  was  only  a  barren  one,  for 
although  the  Germans  fell  back,  the  French  found  it 
quite  as  necessary  to  do  the  same.  About  a  week 
previously  the  15th  French  Army  Corps,  with  which 
Bourbaki  had  done  little  or  nothing  on  the  Loire, 
had  been  removed  from  Vierzon  and  Bourges  to 
join  the  Army  of  the  East,  of  which  Bourbaki  now 
assumed  the  chief  command.  The  transport  of  the 
troops  proved  a  very  difficult  affair,  and  there  was 
great  disorder  and,  again,  many  desertions.  Never- 
theless, on  January  9,  Bourbaki  fought  Werder  at 
Villersexel,  in  the  vicinity  of  Vesoul,  Montbe'liard, 
and  Belfort.  In  this  engagement  there  appear  to 
have  been  serious  mistakes  on  both  sides,  and  though 
Bourbaki  claimed  a  success,  his  losses  were 
numerically  double  those  of  the  Germans. 

Meantime  Chanzy,  at  Le  Mans,  was  urging  all 
sorts  of  plans  on  Gambetta  and  Freycinet.  In  the 
first  place  he  desired  to  recruit  and  strengthen  his 
forces,  so  sorely  tried  by  their  difficult  retreat ; 
and  in  order  that  he  might  have  time  to  do  so,  he 
wished  Bourbaki  to  execute  a  powerful  diversion  by 
marching  in  the  direction  of  Troyes.  But  Gambetta 
and  Freycinet  had  decided  otherwise.  Bourbaki's 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  255 

advance  was  to  be  towards  the  Vosges,  after  which 
he  was  to  turn  westward  and  march  on  Paris  with 
150,000  men.  Chanzy  was  informed  of  this  decision 
on  and  about  January  5  (1871),  and  on  the  6th  he 
made  a  last  attempt  to  modify  the  Government  plan 
in  order  that  Bourbaki's  march  might  be  directed  on 
a  point  nearer  to  Paris.  In  reply,  he  was  informed 
that  it  was  too  late  to  modify  the  arrangements. 

With  regard  to  his  own  operations,  Chanzy's  idea 
was  to  march  towards  the  capital  when  his  forces 
were  reorganized.  His  bases  were  to  be  the  river 
Sarthe,  the  town  of  Le  Mans,  and  the  railway-line 
running  northward  to  Alen9on.  Thence  he  proposed 
to  advance  to  some  point  on  the  river  Eure  between 
Dreux  and  Chartres,  going  afterwards  towards  Paris 
by  such  a  route  as  circumstances  might  allow.  He 
had  130,000  men  near  Le  Mans,  and  proposed  to 
take  120,000  with  350  field-pieces  or  machine-guns, 
and  calculated  that  he  might  require  a  week,  or  to 
be  precise  eight  days,  to  carry  this  force  from  Le  Mans 
to  Chartres,  allowing  for  fighting  on  the  way.  Further, 
to  assist  his  movements  he  wished  Faidherbe,  as 
well  as  Bourbaki,  to  assume  the  offensive  vigorously 
as  soon  as  he  was  ready.  The  carrying  out  of  the 
scheme  was  frustrated,  however,  in  part  by  the 
movements  which  the  Government  ordered  Bourbaki 
to  execute,  and  in  part  by  what  may  be  called  the 
sudden  awakening  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  who, 
feeling  more  apprehensive  respecting  Bourbaki's 
movements,  had  hitherto,  in  a  measure,  neglected 
Chanzy's  doings. 

On  December  22  Captain,  afterwards  General, 
de  Boisdeffre  *  reached  Le  Mans,  after  quitting  Paris 

*  He  was  Chief  of  the  French  Staff  during  the  famous  Dreyfus  Case, 
in  which  his  name  was  frequently  mentioned. 


256  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

in  one  of  the  balloons,  and  gave  Chanzy  certain 
messages  with  which  Trochu  had  entrusted  him. 
He  brought  nothing  in  writing,  as  what  he  had  to 
communicate  was  considered  too  serious  to  be  com- 
mitted to  paper.  Yet  both  my  father  and  myself 
could  have  imparted  virtually  the  same  information, 
which  was  but  a  secret  de  Polichinelle.  It  concerned 
the  date  when  the  fall  of  Paris  would  become  inevit- 
able. We — my  father  and  myself — had  said 
repeatedly  at  Versailles  and  elsewhere  that  the 
capital's  supply  of  food  would  last  until  the  latter 
days  of  January,  and  that  the  city  (unless  in  the 
meanwhile  it  were  relieved)  must  then  surrender. 
Authentic  information  to  that  effect  was  available 
in  Paris  before  we  quitted  it  in  November.  Of  course 
Trochu's  message  to  Chanzy  was  official,  and  carried 
greater  weight  than  the  assertions  of  journalists.  It 
was  to  the  effect  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
negotiate  a  capitulation  on  January  20,  in  order  to 
give  time  for  the  revictualling  of  the  city's  two 
million  inhabitants.  As  it  happened,  the  resistance 
was  prolonged  for  another  week  or  so.  However, 
Boisdeffre's  information  was  sufficiently  explicit  to 
show  Chanzy  that  no  time  must  be  lost  if  Paris  was 
to  be  saved. 

Some  German  cavalry — probably  the  same  men 
who  had  pursued  Gougeard's  column — showed  them- 
selves at  Saint  Calais,  which  is  only  some  thirty 
miles  north-east  of  Le  Mans,  as  early  as  December  18, 
but  soon  retired,  and  no  further  advance  of  the 
enemy  in  that  direction  took  place  for  several  days. 
Chanzy  formed  two  flying  columns,  one  a  division 
under  General  Jouffroy,  and  one  a  body  of  4000  men 
under  General  Rousseau,  for  the  purpose  of  worrying 
the  enemy  and  keeping  him  at  a  distance.  These 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  257 

troops,  particularly  those. of  Jouffroy,  who  moved 
towards  Montoire  and  Vendome,  had  several  small 
but  none  the  less  important  engagements  with  the 
Germans.  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  indeed,  realised 
that  Jouffroy 's  operations  were  designed  to  ensure 
the  security  of  Chanzy's  main  army  whilst  it  was 
being  recruited  and  reorganized,  and  thereupon 
decided  to  march  on  Le  Mans  and  attack  Chanzy 
before  the  latter  had  attained  his  object. 

On  Christmas  Day  a  force  of  German  cavalry, 
artillery,  and  infantry  descended  upon  Saint  Calais 
(then  a  town  of  about  3500  inhabitants),  levied  a 
sum  of  17,000  francs,  pillaged  several  of  the  houses, 
and  ill-treated  a  number  of  the  townsfolk.  When 
some  of  the  latter  ventured  to  protest,  pointing  out, 
among  other  things,  that  after  various  little  engage- 
ments in  the  vicinity  several  wounded  Germans 
had  been  brought  into  the  town  and  well  cared  for 
there,  the  enemy's  commanding  officer  called  them 
a  pack  of  cowards,  and  flung  them  2000  francs  of 
his  recent  levy,  to  pay  them,  he  said,  for  their 
so-called  services.  The  affair  was  reported  to 
Chanzy,  who  thereupon  wrote  an  indignant  letter 
to  the  German  general  commanding  at  Vendome. 
It  was  carried  thither  by  a  certain  M.  de  Vezian,  a 
civil  engineer  attached  to  Chanzy's  staff,  who  brought 
back  the  following  reply  : 

"  Re£u  une  lettre  du  General  Chanzy.  Un  ge'ne'ral 
prussien  ne  sachant  pas  ecrire  une  lettre  de  tel  genre, 
ne  saurait  y  f aire  une  reponse  par  ecrit. 

"  Au  quartier-ge'ne'ral  a  Vendome,  28  Ddcembre 
1870." 

Signature  (illegible). 

It  was,  perhaps,  a  pity  that  Chanzy  ever  wrote 

s 


258  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

his  letter  of  protest.  French  generals  were  too  much 
given  to  expressing  their  feelings  in  writing  during 
that  war.  Deeds  and  not  words  were  wanted. 

Meantime,  the  army  was  being  slowly  recruited. 
On  December  13,  Gambetta  had  issued — none  too 
soon — a  decree  authorising  the  billeting  of  the  men 
"  during  the  winter  campaign."  Nevertheless,  when 
Gougeard's  troops  returned  to  Yvre  FEveque,  they 
were  ordered  to  sleep  under  canvas,  like  many  other 
divisions  of  the  army.  It  was  a  great  mistake.  In 
that  severe  weather — the  winter  was  one  of  the 
coldest  of  the  nineteenth  century — the  men's  suffer- 
ings were  very  great.  They  were  in  need,  too,  of 
many  things,  new  shoes,  linen,  great-coats,  and  other 
garments,  and  there  was  much  delay  in  providing 
for  their  more  urgent  requirements.  Thus  the 
number  of  desertions  was  not  to  be  wondered  at. 
The  commander-in-chief  did  his  best  to  ensure 
discipline  among  his  dispirited  troops.  Several 
men  were  shot  by  way  of  example.  When,  shortly 
before  the  battle  of  Le  Mans,  the  21st  Army  Corps 
crossed  the  Huisne  to  take  up  positions  near  Mont- 
fort,  several  officers  were  severely  punished  for  riding 
in  ambulance  and  baggage  waggons  instead  of 
marching  with  their  men. 

Le  Mans  is  not  easily  defended  from  an  enemy 
advancing  upon  it  from  eastern,  north-eastern,  and 
south-eastern  directions.  A  close  defence  is  im- 
possible by  reason  of  the  character  of  the  country. 
At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  the  town  was  one  of 
about  37,000  inhabitants.  Very  ancient,  already 
in  existence  at  the  time  of  the  Romans,  it  became 
the  capital  of  Maine.  William  the  Conqueror  seized 
it,  but  it  was  snatched  from  his  son,  Robert, 
by  Helie  de  La  Fleche.  Later,  Geoffrey,  the  First 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  259 

of  the  Plantagenets,  was  buried  there,  it  being, 
moreover,  the  birthplace  of  his  son,  our  Henry  II. 
In  after  years  it  was  taken  from  Richard  Cceur-de- 
Lion  by  Philip-Augustus,  who  assigned  it,  however, 
to  Richard's  widow,  Queen  Berengaria.  A  house 
in  the  town  is  wrongly  said  to  have  been  her  resi- 
dence, but  she  undoubtedly  founded  the  Abbaye  de 
1'Epau,  near  Yvre  1'Eveque,  and  was  buried  there. 
It  was  at  Le  Mans  that  King  John  of  France,  who 
surrendered  to  the  Black  Prince  at  Poitiers,  was 
born  ;  and  in  the  neighbouring  forest,  John's  grand- 
son, Charles  VI,  first  gave  signs  of  insanity.  Five 
times  during  the  Anglo-French  wars  of  the  days  of 
Henry  V  and  Henry  VI,  Le  Mans  was  besieged  by  one 
or  another  of  the  contending  parties.  The  town 
again  suffered  during  the  Huguenot  wars,  and  yet 
again  during  the  Revolution,  when  the  Vendeens 
seized  it,  but  were  expelled  by  Marceau,  some  5000  of 
them  being  bayoneted  on  the  Place  de  FEperon. 

Rich  in  associations  with  the  history  of  England 
as  well  as  that  of  France,  Le  Mans,  in  spite  of  its 
accessibility — for  railway  lines  coming  from  five 
different  directions  meet  there — is  seldom  visited 
by  our  tourists.  Its  glory  is  its  cathedral,  strangely 
neglected  by  the  numerous  English  writers  on  the 
cathedrals  of  France.  Here  are  exemplified  the 
architectural  styles  of  five  successive  centuries,  and, 
as  Merimee  once  wrote,  in  passing  from  one  part  of 
the  edifice  to  another,  it  is  as  if  you  passed  from  one 
to  another  religion.  But  the  supreme  features  of 
the  cathedral  are  its  stained-glass  windows,  which 
include  some  of  the  very  oldest  in  the  world.  Many 
years  ago,  when  they  were  in  a  more  perfect  con- 
dition than  they  are  now,  Hucher  gave  reproductions 
of  them  in  a  rare  folio  volume.  Here,  too,  is  the 


260  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

tomb  of  Queen  Berengaria  of  England,  removed  from 
the  Abbaye  de  1'Epau ;  here,  also,  was  formerly 
that  of  her  husband's  grandfather,  Geoffrey  Plan- 
tagenet.  But  this  was  destroyed  by  the  Huguenots, 
and  you  must  go  to  the  museum  to  see  all  that 
remains  of  it — that  is,  the  priceless  enamel  plaque 
by  which  it  was  formerly  surmounted,  and  which 
represents  Geoffrey  grasping  his  sword  and  his  azure 
shield,  the  latter  bearing  a  cross  and  lions  rampant 
— not  the  leoparded  lions  passant  of  his  English 
descendants.  Much  ink  has  flowed  respecting  that 
shield  during  squabbles  among  heraldists. 

Judging  by  recent  plans  of  Le  Mans,  a  good 
many  changes  have  taken  place  there  since  the  time 
of  the  Franco-German  War.  Various  new,  broad, 
straight  streets  have  been  substituted  for  some  of 
the  quaint  old  winding  ones.  The  Pont  Napoleon 
now  appears  to  have  become  the  Pont  Gambetta, 
and  the  Place  des  Minimes  is  called  the  Place  de  la 
Republique.  I  notice  also  a  Rue  Thiers  which 
did  not  exist  in  the  days  when  Le  Mans  was  familiar 
to  me  as  an  old-world  town.  In  this  narrative  I  must, 
of  course,  take  it  as  it  was  then,  not  as  it  is  now. 

The  Sarthe,  flowing  from  north  to  south,  where 
it  is  joined  by  its  tributary  the  Huisne,  coming  from 
the  north-east,  still  divides  the  town  into  two 
unequal  sections ;  the  larger  one,  on  the  most  elevated 
part  of  which  stands  the  cathedral,  being  that  on 
the  river's  left  bank.  At  the  time  I  write  of,  the 
Sarthe  was  spanned  by  three  stone  bridges,  a  sus- 
pension bridge,  and  a  granite  and  marble  railway 
viaduct,  some  550  feet  hi  length.  The  German 
advance  was  bound  to  come  from  the  east  and  the 
south.  On  the  east  is  a  series  of  heights,  below 
which  flow  the  waters  of  the  Huisne.  The  views 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  261 

range  over  an  expanse  of  varying  elevation,  steep 
hills  and  deep  valleys  being  frequent.  There  are 
numerous  watercourses.  The  Huisne,  which  helps 
to  feed  the  Sarthe,  is  itself  fed  by  a  number  of  little 
tributaries.  The  lowest  ground,  at  the  time  I  have 
in  mind,  was  generally  meadow-land,  intersected 
here  and  there  with  rows  of  poplars,  whilst  the 
higher  ground  was  employed  for  the  cultivation  of 
crops.  Every  little  field  was  circumscribed  by 
ditches,  banks,  and  thick  hedges. 

The  loftiest  point  of  the  eastern  heights  is  at 
Yvre  FEveque,  which  was  once  crowned  by  a  renais- 
sance chateau,  where  Henry  of  Navarre  resided 
when  he  reduced  Le  Mans  to  submission.  North- 
ward from  Yvre,  in  the  direction  of  Savigne,  stretches 
the  high  plateau  of  Sarge,  which  on  the  west  slopes 
down  towards  the  river  Sarthe,  and  forms  one  of 
the  most  important  of  the  natural  defences  of  Le 
Mans.  Eastward,  from  Yvre,  you  overlook  first  the 
Huisne,  spanned  at  various  neighbouring  points  by 
four  bridges,  but  having  much  of  the  meadow-land 
in  its  valley  cut  up  by  little  water-channels  for 
purposes  of  irrigation — these  making  the  ground 
additionally  difficult  for  an  attacking  force  to 
traverse.  Secondly,  you  see  a  long  plateau  called 
Auvours,  the  possession  of  which  must  necessarily 
facilitate  an  enemy's  operations.  Following  the 
course  of  the  railway-line  coming  from  the  direction 
of  Paris,  you  notice  several  pine  woods,  planted  on 
former  heaths.  Still  looking  eastward,  is  the  village 
of  Champagne,  where  the  slopes  are  studded  with 
vines,  whilst  the  plain  is  arable  land,  dotted  over  with 
clumps  of  chestnut  trees.  North-east  of  Champagne 
is  Montfort,  where  Chanzy  at  first  stationed  the 
bulk  of  the  21st  Army  Corps  under  Jaures,  this 


262  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

(leaving  his  flying  columns  on  one  side)  being  the 
most  eastern  position  of  his  forces  at  the  time  when 
the  German  advance  began.  The  right  of  the  21st 
Corps  here  rested  on  the  Huisne.  Its  extreme  left 
extended  northward  towards  the  Sarthe,  but  a 
division  of  the  17th  Corps  under  General  de  Colomb 
guarded  the  Alen9on  (N.)  and  Conlie  (N.W.)  railway 
lines. 

Confronted  by  the  Huisne,  the  heights  of  Yvre 
and  the  plateaux  of  Sarge  and  Auvours,  having,  for 
the  most  part,  to  keep  to  the  high-roads — for,  bad  as 
their  state  might  be  at  that  season,  it  was  nothing 
compared  with  the  condition  of  the  many  narrow 
and  often  deep  lanes,  whose  high  banks  and  hedges, 
moreover,  offered  opportunities  for  ambush — the 
Germans,  it  was  obvious,  would  have  a  difficult  task 
before  them  on  the  eastern  side  of  Le  Mans,  even 
should  they  drive  the  21st  Corps  from  Montfort. 
The  approach  to  the  town  is  easier,  however,  on  the 
south-east  and  the  south.  Here  are  numerous  pine 
woods,  but  on  going  towards  Le  Mans,  after  passing 
Parigne-l'Eveque  (S.E.)  and  Mulsanne  (S.),  the 
ground  is  generally  much  less  hilly  than  on  the  east. 
There  are,  however,  certain  positions  favourable  for 
defence.  There  is  high  ground  at  Change,  midway 
between  the  road  from  Saint  Calais  to  Le  Mans,  via 
Yvre,  and  the  road  from  Grand  Luce  to  Le  Mans 
via  Parigne.  Over  a  distance  of  eight  miles,  more- 
over, there  extends — or  extended  at  the  time  I  refer 
to — a  track  called  the  Chemin  des  Bceufs,  suitable 
for  defensive  purposes,  with  high  ground  at  at  least 
two  points — Le  Tertre  Rouge,  south-east  of  Le  Mans, 
and  La  Tuilerie,  south  of  the  town.  The  line  of  the 
Chemin  des  Bceufs  and  the  position  of  Change 
was  at  first  entrusted  by  Chanzy  to  the  16th 


BEFORE   LE  MANS  263 

Corps,  whose  commander,  Jaureguiberry,  had  his 
headquarters  at  the  southern  suburb  of  Pontlieue, 
an  important  point  affording  direct  access  to  Le 
Mans  by  a  stone  bridge  over  the  Huisne. 

When  I  returned  to  Le  Mans  from  Saint  Servan 
in  the  very  first  days  of  January,  Chanzy's  forces 
numbered  altogether  about  130,000  men,  but  a  very 
large  proportion  of  them  were  dispersed  in  different 
directions,  forming  detached  columns  under  Generals 
Barry,  Curten,  Rousseau,  and  Jouffroy.  The  troops 
of  the  two  first-named  officers  had  been  taken  from  the 
16th  Corps  (Jaureguiberry),  those  of  Rousseau  were 
really  the  first  division  of  the  21st  Corps  (Jaures), 
and  those  of  Jouffroy  belonged  to  the  17th,  com- 
manded by  General  de  Colomb.*  It  is  a  curious 
circumstance  that,  among  the  German  troops  which 
opposed  the  latter's  forces  at  this  stage  of  the  war, 
there  was  a  division  commanded  by  a  General  von 
Colomb.  Both  these  officers  had  sprung  from  the 
same  ancient  French  family,  but  Von  Colomb 
came  from  a  Huguenot  branch  which  had  quitted 
France  when  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  revoked. 

Chanzy's  other  chief  coadjutors  at  Le  Mans 
were  Jaures,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken,  f  and 
Rear- Admiral  Jaureguiberry,  who,  after  the  general- 
in-chief,  was  perhaps  the  most  able  of  all  the 
commanders.  Of  Basque  origin  and  born  in  1815, 
he  had  distinguished  himself  as  a  naval  officer  in  the 
Crimean,  Chinese,  and  Cochin  China  expeditions ; 
and  on  taking  service  in  the  army  under  the 
National  Defence,  he  had  contributed  powerfully 
to  D'Aurelle's  victory  at  Coulmiers.  He  became 

*  The  16th  and  17th  comprised  three  divisions  each,  the  21st  including 
four.  The  German  Corps  were  generally  of  only  two  divisions,  with, 
however,  far  stronger  forces  of  cavalry  than  Chanzy  disposed  of. 

t  See  pp.  231,  236,  ante. 


264  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

known  among  the  Loire  forces  as  the  man  who  was 
always  the  first  to  attack  and  the  last  to  retreat.* 

Having  referred  to  Chanzy's  principal  subordi- 
nates, it  is  fitting  that  I  should  give  a  brief  account 
of  Chanzy  himself.  The  son  of  an  officer  of  the 
First  Empire,  he  was  born  at  Nouart  in  the  Argonne, 
and  from  his  personal  knowledge  of  that  region  it 
is  certain  that  his  services  would  have  proved 
valuable  during  the  disastrous  march  on  Sedan,  when, 
as  Zola  has  rightly  pointed  out  in  "La  Debacle," 
so  many  French  commanding  officers  were  altogether 
ignorant  of  the  nature  and  possibilities  of  the  country 
through  which  they  advanced.  Chanzy,  however, 
like  many  others  who  figured  among  the  Loire  forces, 
had  begun  life  in  the  navy,  enlisting  in  that  service 
when  sixteen  years  of  age.  But,  after  very  brief 
experience  afloat,  he  went  to  the  military  school 
of  St.  Cyr,  passed  out  of  it  as  a  sub-lieutenant  in 
1843,  when  he  was  in  his  twenty-first  year,  was 
appointed  to  a  regiment  of  Zouaves,  and  sent  to 
Algeria.  He  served,  however,  in  the  Italian  cam- 
paign of  1859,  became  lieutenant-colonel  of  a  line 
regiment,  and  as  such  took  part  in  the  Syrian 
expedition  of  1860-61.  Later,  he  was  with  the 
French  forces  garrisoning  Rome,  acquired  a  colonelcy 
in  1864,  returned  to  Algeria,  and  in  1868  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  general  of  brigade. 

At  the  outset  of  the  Franco-German  War,  he 
applied  for  active  service,  but  the  imperial  autho- 
rities would  not  employ  him  in  France.  In  spite  of 

*  He  looked  somewhat  older  than  his  years  warranted,  being  very 
bald,  with  just  a  fringe  of  white  hair  round  the  cranium.  His  upper  lip 
and  chin  were  shaven,  but  he  wore  white  whiskers  of  the  "  mutton-chop  " 
variety.  Slim  and  fairly  tall,  he  was  possessed  of  no  little  nervous  strength 
and  energy.  In  later  years  he  became  Minister  of  Marine  in  the  Wadding- 
ton,  the  second  Freycinet,  and  the  Duolerc  cabinets. 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  265 

the  associations  of  his  family  with  the  first  Empire, 
he  was,  like  Trochu,  accounted  an  Orleanist,  and 
it  was  not  desired  that  any  Orleanist  general 
should  have  an  opportunity  to  distinguish  himself  in 
the  contemplated  "  march  on  Berlin."  Marshal 
MacMahon,  however,  as  Governor  of  Algeria,  had 
formed  a  high  opinion  of  Chanzy's  merits,  and  after 
Sedan,  anxious  as  he  was  for  his  country  in  her 
predicament,  the  Marshal,  then  a  prisoner  of  war, 
found  a  means  of  advising  the  National  Defence  to 
make  use  of  Chanzy's  services.  That  patriotic 
intervention,  which  did  infinite  credit  to  MacMahon, 
procured  for  Chanzy  an  appointment  at  the  head 
of  the  16th  Army  Corps,  and  later  the  chief  command 
of  the  Second  Loire  Army. 

When  I  first  saw  him  in  the  latter  days  of  1870, 
he  was  in  his  fifty-eighth  year,  well  built,  and  taller 
than  the  majority  of  French  officers.  His  fair  hair 
and  fair  moustache  had  become  grey ;  but  his  blue 
eyes  had  remained  bright,  and  there  was  an  expres- 
sion of  quiet  resolution  on  his  handsome,  well-cut 
face,  with  its  aquiline  nose  and  energetic  jaw.  Such, 
physically,  was  the  general  whom  Moltke  subse- 
quently declared  to  have  been  the  best  that  France 
opposed  to  the  Germans  throughout  the  war.  I 
never  once  saw  Chanzy  excited,  in  which  respect  he 
greatly  contrasted  with  many  of  the  subordinate 
commanders.  Jaureguiberry  was  sometimes  carried 
away  by  his  Basque,  and  Gougeard  by  his  Celtic, 
blood.  So  it  was  with  Jaures,  who,  though  born  in 
Paris,  had,  like  his  nephew  the  Socialist  leader,  the 
blood  of  the  Midi  in  his  veins.  Chanzy,  however, 
belonged  to  a  calmer,  a  more  quietly  resolute 
northern  race. 

He  was  inclined  to  religion,  and  I  remember  that, 


266  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

in  addition  to  the  chaplains  accompanying  the 
Breton  battalions,  there  was  a  chief  chaplain  attached 
to  the  general  staff.  This  was  Abbe  de  Beuvron,  a 
member  of  an  old  noble  family  of  central  France. 
The  Chief  of  the  Staff  was  Major-General  Vuillemot ; 
the  Provost-General  was  Colonel  Mora,  and  the 
principal  aides-de-camp  were  Captains  Marois  and 
de  Boisdeffre.  Specially  attached  to  the  head- 
quarters service  there  was  a  rather  numerous  picked 
force  under  General  Bourdillon.  It  comprised  a 
regiment  of  horse  gendarmes  and  one  of  foot  gen- 
darmes, four  squadrons  of  Chasseurs  d'Afrique,  some 
artillery  provided  chiefly  with  mountain-guns,  an 
aeronautical  company  under  the  brothers  Tissandier, 
and  three  squadrons  of  Algerian  light  cavalry,  of  the 
Spahi  type,  who,  with  their  flowing  burnouses  and 
their  swift  little  Arab  horses,  often  figured  con- 
spicuously in  Chanzy's  escort.  A  year  or  two  after 
the  war,  I  engaged  one  of  these  very  men — he  was 
called  Saad — as  a  servant,  and  he  proved  most 
devoted  and  attentive ;  but  he  had  contracted  the 
germs  of  pulmonary  disease  during  that  cruel  winter 
of  1870-71,  and  at  the  end  of  a  few  months  I  had  to 
take  him  to  the  Val-de-Grace  military  hospital  in 
Paris,  where  he  died  of  galloping  consumption. 

The  German  forces  opposed  to  Chanzy  consisted 
of  a  part  of  the  so-called  "  Armee-Abtheilung " 
under  the  Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,*  and  the 
"  Second  Army "  under  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
of  Prussia,  the  latter  including  the  3rd,  9th,  10th, 
and  13th  Army  Corps,  and  disposing  of  numerous 
cavalry  and  nearly  four  hundred  guns.  The  Prince 
ascertained  that  the  French  forces  were,  in  part, 
extremely  dispersed,  and  therefore  resolved  to  act 

*  See  p.  208,  ante. 


BEFORE   LE  MANS  267 

before  they  could  be  concentrated.  At  the  outset 
the  Germans  came  down  on  Nogent-le-Rotrou,  where 
Rousseau's  column  was  stationed,  inflicted  a  reverse 
on  him,  and  compelled  him  (January  7)  to  fall  back 
on  Connerre — a  distance  of  thirty  miles  from 
Nogent,  and  of  less  than  sixteen  from  Le  Mans.  On 
the  same  day,  sections  of  Jouffroy's  forces  were 
defeated  at  Epuisay  and  Poirier  (mid-way  between 
Le  Mans  and  Vendome),  and  also  forced  to  retreat. 
The  French  detachments  (under  Jouffroy,  Curten, 
and  Barry)  which  were  stationed  along  the  line  from 
Saint  Calais  to  Montoire,  and  thence  to  Saint  Amand 
and  Chateau-Renault — a  stretch  of  some  five-and- 
twenty  miles — were  not  strong  enough  to  oppose 
the  German  advance,  and  some  of  them  ran  the  risk 
of  having  their  retreat  cut  off.  Chanzy  realized  the 
danger,  and  on  the  morning  of  January  8  he  de- 
spatched Jaureguiberry  to  take  command  of  all  the 
troops  distributed  from  the  south  to  the  south-east, 
between  Chateau-du-Loir  and  Chateau-Renault,  and 
bring  them  to  Le  Mans. 

But  the  10th  German  Corps  was  advancing  in  these 
directions,  and,  after  an  engagement  with  Barry's 
troops  at  Ruille,  secured  positions  round  La  Chartre. 
This  seriously  threatened  the  retreat  of  the  column 
under  General  Curten,  which  was  still  at  Saint 
Amand,  and,  moreover,  it  was  a  further  menace  to 
Barry  himself,  as  his  division  was  distributed  over 
a  front  of  fourteen  miles  near  Chateau-du-Loir. 
Jaureguiberry,  however,  entreated  Barry  to  continue 
guarding  the  river  Loir,  in  the  hope  of  Curten  being 
able  to  retreat  to  that  point. 

Whilst,  however,  these  defensive  attempts  were 
being  made  to  the  south  of  Le  Mans,  the  Germans 
were  pressing  forward  on  the  north-east  and  the 


268  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

east,  Prince  Frederick  Charles  being  eager  to  come 
in  touch  with  Chanzy's  main  forces,  regardless  of 
what  might  happen  on  the  Loir  and  at  Saint  Amand. 
On  the  north-east  the  enemy  advanced  to  La  Ferte 
Bernard  ;  on  the  east,  at  Vance,  a  brigade  of  German 
cavalry  drove  back  the  French  cuirassiers  and 
Algerians,  and  Prince  Frederick  Charles  then  pro- 
ceeded as  far  as  Saint  Calais,  where  he  prepared  for 
decisive  action.  One  army  corps  was  sent  down  the 
line  of  the  Huisne,  another  had  orders  to  advance 
on  Ardenay,  a  third  on  Bouloire,  whilst  the  fourth, 
leaving  Barry  on  its  left  flank,  was  to  march  on 
Parigne-l'Eveque.  Thus,  excepting  a  brigade  of 
infantry  and  one  of  cavalry,  detached  to  observe 
the  isolated  Curten,  and  hold  him  in  check,  virtually 
the  whole  of  the  German  Second  Army  marched 
against  Chanzy's  main  forces. 

Chanzy,  on  his  side,  now  ordered  Jaures  (21st 
Corps)  to  occupy  the  positions  of  Yvre,  Auvours, 
and  Sarge  strongly ;  whilst  Colomb  (17th  Corps) 
was  instructed  to  send  General  Paris's  division 
forward  to  Ardenay,  thus  reducing  Colomb's  actual 
command  to  one  division,  as  Jouffroy's  column  had 
previously  been  detached  from  it.  On  both  sides 
every  operation  was  attended  by  great  difficulties 
on  account  of  the  very  severe  weather.  A 
momentary  thaw  had  been  followed  by  another 
sudden  frost,  in  such  wise  that  the  roads  had  a 
coating  of  ice,  which  rendered  them  extremely 
slippery.  On  January  9  violent  snowstorms  set 
in,  almost  blinding  one,  and  yet  the  rival  hosts  did 
not  for  an  hour  desist  from  their  respective  efforts. 
At  times,  when  I  recall  those  days,  I  wonder  whether 
many  who  have  read  of  Napoleon's  retreat  from 
Moscow  have  fully  realized  what  that  meant. 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  269 

Amidst  the  snowstorms  of  the  9th  a  force  of 
German  cavalry  attacked  our  extreme  left  and  com- 
pelled it  to  retreat  towards  the  Alen9on  line. 
Rousseau's  column  being  in  a  dangerous  position 
at  Connerre,  Colin's  division  of  the  21st  Corps  was 
sent  forward  to  support  it  in  the  direction  of  Mont- 
fort,  Gougeard  with  his  Bretons  also  advancing  to 
support  Colin.  But  the  13th  German  Corps  attacked 
Rousseau,  who  after  two  engagements  was  driven 
from  Connerre  and  forced  to  retreat  on  Montfort 
and  Pont-de-Gennes  across  the  Huisne,  after  losing 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  some  800  of  his 
men,  whereas  the  enemy  lost  barely  a  hundred.  At 
the  same  time  Gougeard  was  attacked,  and  compelled 
to  fall  back  on  Saint-Mars-la-Bruyere. 

But  the  principal  event  of  the  day  was  the  defeat 
of  General  Paris's  force  at  Ardenay  by  a  part  of  the 
3rd  German  Corps.  The  latter  had  a  superiority  in 
numbers,  but  the  French  in  their  demoralised  con- 
dition scarcely  put  up  a  fight  at  all,  in  such  wise 
that  the  Germans  took  about  1000  prisoners.  The 
worst,  however,  was  that,  by  seizing  Ardenay,  the 
enemy  drove  as  it  were  a  wedge  between  the  French 
forces,  hampering  their  concentration.  Meantime, 
the  9th  German  Corps  marched  to  Bouloire,  which 
became  Prince  Frederick  Charles's  headquarters.  The 
10th  Corps,  however,  had  not  yet  been  able  to  advance 
to  Parigne  PEveque  in  accordance  with  the  Prince's 
orders,  though  it  had  driven  Barry  back  on  Jupilles 
and  Grand  Luce.  The  sole  advantage  secured  by 
the  French  that  day  was  that  Curten  managed  to 
retreat  from  Chateau-Renault ;  but  it  was  only  on 
the  night  of  the  10th,  when  he  could  be  of  little  or 
no  use  to  Chanzy,  that  he  was  able  to  reach  Chateau- 
du-Loir,  where,  in  response  to  Chanzy's  urgent 


270  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

appeals,  Jaureguiberry  had  succeeded  in  collecting 
a  few  thousand  men  to  reinforce  the  troops  defending 
Le  Mans. 

For  four  days  there  had  been  fighting  on  one 
and  another  point,  from  the  north-east  to  the  south  of 
the  town,  the  result  being  unfavourable  to  the  French. 
Chanzy,  it  is  true,  was  at  this  critical  moment  in  bad 
health.  According  to  one  account  which  I  heard 
at  the  time,  he  had  had  an  attack  of  dysentery; 
according  to  another,  he  was  suffering  from  some 
throat  complaint,  combined  with  violent  neuralgic 
pains  in  the  head.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  his 
ill-health  particularly  affected  the  issue,  which 
depended  so  largely  on  the  manner  in  which  his  plans 
and  instructions  were  carried  out.  The  strategy 
adopted  by  the  Germans  at  Sedan  and  in  the  battles 
around  Metz  had  greatly  impressed  the  generals  who 
commanded  the  French  armies  during  the  second 
period  of  the  war.  One  might  really  say  that  they 
lived  in  perpetual  dread  of  being  surrounded  by  the 
enemy.  If  there  was  a  lack  of  concentration  on 
Chanzy's  part,  if  he  sent  out  one  and  another  flying 
column,  and  distributed  a  considerable  portion  of 
his  army  over  a  wide  area,  it  was  precisely  because 
he  feared  some  turning  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
Germans,  which  might  result  in  bottling  him  up  at 
Le  Mans. 

The  earlier  instructions  which  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  forwarded  to  his  subordinates  certainly  seem 
to  indicate  that  a  turning  movement  was  projected. 
But  after  the  fighting  on  January  9,  when,  as  I  have 
indicated,  the  3rd  German  Army  Corps  penetrated 
wedge-like  into  the  French  lines,  the  Prince  renounced 
any  idea  of  surrounding  Chanzy's  forces,  and  resolved 
to  make  a  vigorous  frontal  attack  before  they  could 


BEFORE  LE  MANS  271 

be  reinforced  by  any  of  the  still  outlying  columns. 
In  coming  to  this  decision,  the  Prince  may  well  have 
been  influenced  by  the  result  of  the  recent  fighting, 
which  had  sufficiently  demonstrated  the  superiority 
of  the  German  troops  to  show  that,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, a  frontal  attack  would  be  attended  with 
far  less  risk  than  if  he  had  found  himself  faced  by 
a  really  vigorous  antagonist.  Captain  Hozier, 
whom  I  had  previously  seen  at  Versailles,  was  at 
this  time  acting  as  Times  correspondent  with  the 
Prince's  army,  and,  in  subsequently  reviewing  the 
fighting,  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  issue  of 
the  Prince's  operations  was  never  for  a  moment 
doubtful.  Still,  on  all  points  but  one,  the  French 
put  up  a  fairly  good  defence,  as  I  will  now  show. 


XII 

LE   MANS   AND   AFTER 

The  real  Battle  of  Le  Mans  begins  (January  10) — Jouffroy  and  Paris  are 
driven  back — Gougeard's  Fight  at  Champagne — The  Breton  Mobilises 
from  Conlie — Chanzy's  Determination — His  Orders  for  January  11 
— He  inspects  the  Lines — Paris  driven  from  the  Plateau  of  Auvours — 
Gougeard's  gallant  re-capture  of  the  Plateau — My  Return  to  Le  Mans 
— The  Panic  at  La  Tuilerie — Retreat  inevitable — Withdrawal  of  the 
French — Entry  of  the  Germans — Street  Fighting — German  Exactions 
— My  Escape  from  Le  Mans — The  French  Retreat — Rear-Guard 
Engagements — Laval — My  Arrest  as  a  Spy — A  Dramatic  Adventure. 

SOME  more  snow  fell  on  the  morning  of  January  10, 
when  the  decisive  fighting  in  front  of  Le  Mans  really 
began.  On  the  evening  of  the  9th  the  French  head- 
quarters was  still  without  news  of  Generals  Curten, 
Barry,  and  Jouffroy,  and  even  the  communications 
with  Jaureguiberry  were  of  an  intermittent  character. 
Nevertheless,  Chanzy  had  made  up  his  mind  to  give 
battle,  and  had  sent  orders  to  Jaureguiberry  to  send 
Jouffroy  towards  Parigne-l'Eveque  (S.E.)  and  Barry 
towards  Ecommoy  (S.  of  Le  Mans).  But  the  roads 
were  in  so  bad  a  condition,  and  the  French  troops 
had  been  so  severely  tried,  and  were  so  ill-provided 
for,  that  several  of  the  commander-in-chief 's  instruc- 
tions could  not  be  carried  out. 

Jouffroy  at  least  did  his  best,  and  after  a  hard  and 
tiring  march  from  Grand  Luc6,  a  part  of  his  division 
reached  Parigne  in  time  to  join  in  the  action  fought 
there.  But  it  ended  disastrously  for  the  French,  one 

272 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  273 

of  their  brigades  losing  as  many  as  1400  men,  and  the 
Germans  taking  altogether  some  2000  prisoners. 
Jouffroy's  troops  then  fell  back  to  Pontlieue,  the 
southern  suburb  of  Le  Mans,  in  a  lamentable  con- 
dition, and  took  care  to  place  the  Huisne  between 
themselves  and  the  Germans.  In  the  same  direction 
Paris's  demoralised  division,  already  worsted  at 
Ardenay  on  the  previous  day,  was  driven  from 
Change  by  the  3rd  German  Corps,  which  took  no 
fewer  than  5000  prisoners.  It  had  now  almost  cut 
the  French  eastern  and  southern  lines  apart,  threaten- 
ing all  direct  communication  between  the  21st  and 
the  16th  French  Corps.  Nevertheless,  it  was  in  a 
dangerous  position,  having  both  of  its  flanks  exposed 
to  attack,  one  from  Yvre  and  Auvours,  and  the  other 
from  Pontlieue  and  the  Chemin  des  Bceufs,  which 
last  line  was  held  by  the  16th  French  Corps. 

Meantime,  Gougeard's  Bretons  had  been  engaged 
at  Champagne,  quite  a  close  encounter  taking  place 
in  the  fields  and  on  the  vineyard  slopes,  followed  by 
a  house-to-house  fight  in  the  village  streets.  The 
French  were  at  last  driven  back ;  but  somewhat  later, 
on  the  Germans  retiring  from  Champagne,  they 
reoccupied  the  place.  The  result  of  the  day  was 
that,  apart  from  the  somewhat  hazardous  success 
achieved  by  the  3rd  German  Corps,  the  enemy  had 
gained  no  great  advantage.  His  13th  Corps  had 
made  but  little  progress,  his  9th  had  not  been 
brought  into  action,  and  his  10th  was  as  yet  no 
nearer  than  Grand  Luce.  On  the  French  side, 
Barry  had  at  last  reached  Mulsanne,  thus  covering 
the  direct  southern  road  to  Le  Mans,  Jaureguiberry 
being  lower  down  at  Ecommoy  with  some  9000  men 
of  various  arms  and  regiments,  whom  he  had  managed 
to  get  together.  As  for  Curten's  division,  as  it 

T 


274  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

could  not  possibly  reach  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood of  Le  Mans  in  time  for  the  fighting  on  the  llth, 
it  received  orders  to  march  on  La  Suze,  south-west 
of  the  imperilled  town.  During  the  10th,  moreover, 
Chanzy  was  strengthened  by  the  welcome  arrival 
of  several  additional  field-pieces  and  a  large  number 
of  horses.  He  had  given  orders  to  raise  the  Camp 
of  Conlie,  but  instead  of  the  forty  or  fifty  thousand 
men,  which  at  an  earlier  period  it  was  thought  that 
camp  would  be  able  to  provide,  he  now  only  derived 
from  it  *  some  9000  ill-equipped,  badly  armed,  and 
almost  undrilled  Breton  Mobilises.  They  were 
divided  into  six  battalions — one  of  which  came  from 
Saint  Malo,  the  others  from  Rennes  and  Redon — 
and  were  commanded  by  a  general  named  Lalande. 
They  proved  to  be  no  accession  of  strength  ;  they 
became,  on  the  contrary,  a  source  of  weakness  and 
disaster,  for  it  was  their  behaviour  which  eventually 
sealed  the  fate  of  the  Second  Loire  Army. 

But  Chanzy,  whatever  his  ailments  might  be, 
was  personally  full  of  energy  and  determination. 
He  knew,  moreover,  that  two  new  army  corps  (the 
19th  and  the  25th)  were  being  got  ready  to  reinforce 
him,  and  he  was  still  resolved  to  give  battle  and  hold 
on  for  another  four  or  five  days,  when  he  relied  on 
compelling  Prince  Frederick  Charles  to  retreat. 
Then,  with  his  reinforced  army,  he  hoped  to  march 
once  more  in  the  direction  of  Paris.  Curiously 
enough,  it  was  precisely  on  that  critical  day,  January 
10,  that  Gambetta  sent  Trochu  a  despatch  by  pigeon- 
post,  telling  him  that  on  the  20th,  at  the  latest, 
both  Chanzy  and  Bourbaki  would  be  moving  on  the 
capital,  having  between  them  over  400,000  men. 

*  On  the  other  hand,  as  I  previously  related,  the  camp  had  already 
provided  the  bulk  of  the  men  belonging  to  Gkmgeard's  division. 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  275 

But  if  Chanzy's  spirits  did  not  fail  him,  those  of 
his  men  were  at  a  very  low  ebb  indeed.  He  was 
repeatedly  told  so  by  subordinate  commanders ; 
nevertheless  (there  was  something  Napoleonic  in 
his  character),  he  would  not  desist  from  his  design, 
but  issued  instructions  that  there  was  to  be  a  resolute 
defence  of  the  lines  on  the  llth,  together  with  a 
determined  effort  to  regain  all  lost  positions.  At  the 
same  time,  the  statements  of  the  divisional  generals 
respecting  the  low  morale  of  some  of  the  troops 
were  not  left  unheeded,  for  a  very  significant  order 
went  forth,  namely,  that  cavalry  should  be  drawn 
up  in  the  rear  of  the  infantry  wherever  this  might 
appear  advisable.  The  inference  was  obvious. 

Three  divisions  and  Lalande's  Breton  Mobilises 
were  to  hold  the  south-eastern  lines  from  Arnage 
along  the  track  known  as  the  Chemin  des  Bceufs, 
and  to  link  up,  as  well  as  possible,  with  Paris's  and 
Gougeard's  divisions,  to  which  fell  the  duty  of 
guarding  the  plateau  of  Auvours  and  the  banks  of 
the  Huisne.  The  rest  of  the  21st  Corps  (to  which 
Gougeard's  division  belonged)  was  to  defend  the 
space  between  the  Huisne  and  the  Sarthe.  Colomb's 
fragmentary  force,  apart  from  Paris's  division,  was 
still  to  cover  Le  Mans  towards  the  north-east. 
Barry's  men,  on  their  expected  arrival,  were  to 
serve  as  reserves  around  Pontlieue. 

The  morning  of  January  11  was  bright.  The 
snow  had  ceased  falling,  but  lay  some  inches  thick 
upon  the  ground.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  passage 
of  troops,  and  particularly  of  military  waggons, 
through  the  town,  the  Mayor  of  Le  Mans  ordered 
the  inhabitants  to  clear  away  as  much  of  this  snow 
as  possible  ;  but  it  naturally  remained  undisturbed 
all  over  the  countryside.  Little  had  been  seen  of 


276  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

Chanzy  on  the  two  previous  days,  but  that  morning 
he  mounted  horse  and  rode  along  the  lines  from  the 
elevated  position  known  as  Le  Tertre  Rouge  to  the 
equally  elevated  position  of  Yvre.  I  saw  him  there, 
wrapped  in  a  long  loose  cloak,  the  hood  of  which  was 
drawn  over  his  kepi.  Near  him  was  his  picturesque 
escort  of  Algerian  Spahis,  and  while  he  was  conversing 
with  some  officers  I  pulled  out  a  little  sketch-book 
which  I  carried,  and  tried  to  outline  the  group.  An 
aide-de-camp  who  noticed  me  at  once  came  up  to  in- 
quire what  I  was  doing,  and  I  therefore  had  to  produce 
the  permit  which,  on  returning  to  the  front,  I  had 
obtained  from  the  Chief  of  the  Staff.  It  was  found 
to  be  quite  in  order,  and  I  went  on  with  my  work. 
But  a  few  minutes  later  the  general,  having  given 
his  orders,  gathered  up  his  reins  to  ride  away.  As 
he  slowly  passed  me,  he  gave  me  just  one  little  sharp 
glance,  and  with  a  faint  suspicion  of  a  smile  remarked, 
"  I  will  look  at  that  another  time."  The  aide-de-camp 
had  previously  told  him  what  my  purpose  was. 

That  day  the  3rd  German  Corps  again  resumed  the 
offensive,  and  once  more  drove  Gougeard  out  of 
Champagne.  Then  the  enemy's  9th  Corps,  which  on 
January  10  had  done  little  or  nothing,  and  was 
therefore  quite  fresh,  was  brought  into  action,  and 
made  a  resolute  attack  on  the  plateau  of  Auvours. 
There  was  a  fairly  long  fight,  which  could  be  seen 
from  Yvre.  But  the  Germans  were  too  strong  for 
Paris' s  men,  who  at  last  disbanded,  and  came,  helter- 
skelter,  towards  the  bridge  of  Yvre  in  terrible  con- 
fusion. Flight  is  often  contagious,  and  Gougeard, 
who  had  fallen  back  from  Champagne  in  fairly  good 
order,  feared  lest  his  men  should  imitate  their  com- 
rades. He  therefore  pointed  two  field-pieces  on  the 
runaways,  and  by  that  means  checked  their  stampede. 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  277 

Having  established  themselves  at  the  farther  end 
of  the  plateau,  the  Germans  advanced  very 
cautiously,  constantly  seeking  cover  behind  the 
various  hedges.  General  de  Colomb,  to  whose 
command  Paris's  runaway  division  belonged,  insisted, 
however,  that  the  position  must  be  retaken. 
Gougeard  thereupon  collected  a  very  miscellaneous 
force,  which  included  regular  infantry,  mobiles, 
mobilises,  and  some  of  Charette's  Volontaires  de 
1' Quest — previously  known  in  Rome  as  the  Pontifical 
Zouaves.  Placing  himself  at  the  head  of  these  men, 
he  made  a  vigorous  effort  to  carry  out  Colomb's 
orders.  The  French  went  forward  almost  at  the 
charge,  the  Germans  waiting  for  them  from  behind 
the  hedges,  whence  poured  a  hail  of  lead.  Gougeard's 
horse  was  shot  under  him,  a  couple  of  bullets  went 
through  his  coat,  and  another — or,  as  some  said,  a 
splinter  of  a  shell — knocked  off  his  kepi.  Still,  he 
continued  leading  his  men,  and  in  the  fast  failing 
light  the  Germans,  after  repeated  encounters,  were 
driven  back  to  the  verge  of  the  plateau. 

That  was  told  me  afterwards,  for  at  the  moment 
I  was  already  on  my  way  back  to  Le  Mans,  which 
I  wished  to  reach  before  it  was  absolutely  night. 
On  coming  from  the  town  early  in  the  morning,  I 
had  brought  a  few  eatables  in  my  pockets,  but  they 
had  soon  been  consumed,  and  I  had  found  it  impos- 
sible to  obtain  any  food  whatever  at  Yvre,  though 
some  of  the  very  indifferent  local  wine  was  pro- 
curable. Thus  I  was  feeling  very  hungry  as  I 
retraced  my  steps  through  the  snow  towards  the 
little  hostelry  in  the  Rue  du  Gue  de  Maulny,  where 
I  had  secured  accommodation.  It  was  a  walk  of 
some  four  or  five  miles,  but  the  cold  urged  me  on, 
and,  in  spite  of  the  snow,  I  made  the  journey  fairly 


278  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

rapidly,  in  such  wise  that  little  more  than  an  hour 
later  I  was  seated  in  a  warm  room  in  front  of  some 
steaming  soup,  answering  all  sorts  of  questions  as 
to  what  I  had  seen  during  the  day,  and  particularly 
whether  les  notres  had  gained  a  victory.  I  could 
only  answer  that  the  "  Prussians "  had  taken 
Auvours,  but  that  fighting  was  still  going  on,  as 
Gougeard  had  gone  to  recapture  the  position.  At 
the  moment,  indeed,  that  was  the  extent  of  my 
information.  The  landlord  looked  rather  glum  and 
his  daughter  somewhat  anxious,  and  the  former, 
shaking  his  head,  exclaimed :  "  Voyez-vous, 
Monsieur  1' Anglais,  nous  n'avons  pas  de  chance — 
pas  de  chance  du  tout !  Je  ne  sais  pas  a  quoi  ca 
tient,  mais  c'est  comme  §a.  Et,  tenez,  cela  ne  me 
surprendrait  pas  de  voir  ces  sales  Prussiens  dans  la 
ville  d'ici  a  demain  !  "  *  Unfortunately  for  Le  Mans 
and  for  France  also,  his  forebodings  were  accurate. 
At  that  very  moment,  indeed,  a  great  disaster  was 
occurring. 

Jaureguiberry  had  reached  the  southern  suburb 
of  Pontlieue  at  about  nine  o'clock  that  morning  after 
a  night  march  from  Ecommoy.  He  had  divided  his 
miscellaneous  force  of  9000  men  into  three  brigades. 
As  they  did  not  seem  fit  for  immediate  action,  they 
were  drafted  into  the  reserves,  so  that  their  arrival 
was  of  no  particular  help  that  day:  About  eleven 
o'clock  the  3rd  German  Corps,  coming  from  the 
direction  of  Change,  attacked  Jouffroy's  lines  along 
the  more  northern  part  of  the  so-called  Chemin  des 
Boeufs,  and,  though  Jouffroy's  men  fought  fairly  well, 
they  could  not  prevent  their  foes  from  capturing 

*  "We  have  no  luck,  no  luck  at  all.  I  don't  know  why,  but  there  it  is. 
And,  do  you  know,  it  would  not  surprise  me  to  see  those  dirty  Prussians 
in  the  town  between  now  and  to-morrow." 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  279 

the  position  of  the  Tertre  Rouge.  Still,  the  enemy 
gained  no  decisive  success  in  this  direction  ;  nor  was 
any  marked  result  attained  by  the  13th  German 
Corps  which  formed  the  extreme  right  of  the  attack- 
ing forces.  But  Prince  Frederick  Charles  had  sent 
orders  to  Voigts  Rhetz,  who  was  at  Grand  Luce,*  to 
advance  with  the  10th  Corps  on  Mulsanne,  which  the 
French  had  evacuated;  and  on  reaching  Mulsanne, 
the  same  general  received  instructions  to  come  to 
the  support  of  the  3rd  Corps,  which  was  engaged 
with  Jouffroy's  force.  Voigts  Rhetz's  men  were 
extremely  fatigued  ;  nevertheless,  the  20th  Division 
of  Infantry,  commanded  by  General  Kraatz- 
Koschlau,  went  on  towards  the  Chemin  des  Bceufs, 
following  the  direct  road  from  Tours  to  Le  Mans. 

Here  there  was  an  elevated  position  known  as 
La  Tuilerie — otherwise  the  tile-works — which  had 
been  fortified  expressly  to  prevent  the  Germans 
from  bursting  upon  Le  Mans  from  the  direct  south. 
Earth-works  for  guns  had  been  thrown  up,  trenches 
had  been  dug,  the  pine  trees,  so  abundant  on  the 
southern  side  of  Le  Mans,  had  been  utilised  for  other 
shielding  works,  as  well  as  for  shelter-places  for  the 
defending  force.  Unfortunately,  at  the  moment  of 
the  German  advance,  that  defending  force  consisted 
of  the  ill-equipped,  badly  armed,  and  almost  un- 
trained Breton  Mobilises,!  who,  as  I  have  already 
related,  had  arrived  the  previous  day  from  the 
camp  of  Conlie  under  the  command  of  General 
Lalande.  It  is  true  that  near  these  men  was  stationed 
an  infantry  brigade  of  the  6th  Corps  d'Armee,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  support  and  steady  them.  They 

*  A  brigade  of  cavalry  kept  up  communications  between  him  and  the 
3rd  Army  Corps. 

|  There  were  just  a  few  old  soldiers  among  them. 


280  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

undoubtedly  needed  to  be  helped,  for  the  great 
majority  had  never  been  in  action  before.  More- 
over, in  addition  to  the  infantry  brigade,  there  were 
two  batteries  of  artillery ;  but  I  fear  that  for  the  most 
part  the  gunners  were  little  better  than  recruits. 
Exaggerated  statements  have  been  made  respecting 
the  quality  of  the  firearms  with  which  the  Mobilises 
were  provided.  Many  of  the  weapons  were  after- 
wards found  to  be  very  dirty,  even  rusty,  but  that 
was  the  result  of  neglect,  which  their  officers  should 
have  remedied.  It  is  true,  however,  that  these 
weapons  were  for  the  most  part  merely  percussion 
guns.  Again,  it  has  been  said  that  the  men  had  no 
ammunition,  but  that  statement  was  certainly 
inaccurate.  On  the  other  hand,  these  Mobilises 
were  undoubtedly  very  cold  and  very  hungry — 
even  as  I  myself  was  that  day — no  rations  having 
been  served  to  them  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  that 
is,  shortly  before  they  were  attacked,  at  which 
moment,  indeed,  they  were  actually  preparing  the 
meal  for  which  they  had  so  long  been  waiting. 

The  wintry  night  was  gathering  round  when 
Kraatz-Koschlau  found  himself  with  his  division 
before  the  position  of  La  Tuilerie.  He  could  see 
that  it  was  fortified,  and  before  attempting  any 
further  advance  he  fired  a  few  shells.  The  Mobilises 
were  immediately  panic-stricken.  They  made  no 
attempt  at  defence ;  hungry  though  they  were,  they 
abandoned  even  their  pots  and  pans,  and  fled  in  the 
direction  of  Pontlieue,  which  formed,  as  it  were,  a 
.long  avenue,  fringed  with  factories,  textile  mills, 
bleaching  works,  and  so  forth.  In  vain  did  their 
officers  try  to  stop  the  fugitives,  even  striking  them 
with  the  flats  of  their  swords,  in  vain  did  Lalande 
and  his  staff  seek  to  intercept  them  at  the  Rond 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  281 

Point  de  Pontlieue.  Nothing  could  induce  them  to 
stop.  They  threw  away  their  weapons  in  order  to 
run  the  faster.  At  La  Tuilerie  not  a  g&n  was  fired 
at  the  Germans.  Even  the  infantry  brigade  fell 
back  without  attempting  to  fight. 

All  this  occurred  at  a  moment  when  everybody 
thought  that  the  day's  fighting  was  over.  But 
Jaureguiberry  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  ordered 
one  of  his  subordinates,  General  Lebouedec,  to 
retake  the  lost  position.  Lebouedec  tried  to  do  so 
with  1000  tired  men,  who  had  been  in  action  during 
the  day,  and  failed.  A  second  attempt  proved 
equally  futile.  No  effort  apparently  was  made  to 
secure  help  from  Barry,  who  was  at  Arnage  with 
5000  infantry  and  two  brigades  of  cavalry,  and  who 
might  have  fallen  on  the  left  flank  of  the  German 
Corps.  La  Tuilerie  was  lost,  and  with  it  Le  Mans 
was  lost  also. 

I  was  quietly  sipping  some  coffee  and  reading 
the  local  newspapers — three  or  four  were  published 
at  Le  Mans  in  those  days — when  I  heard  of  that 
disastrous  stampede.  Some  of  the  men  had  reached 
the  town,  spreading  the  contagion  of  fear  as  they 
came.  Tired  though  I  was,  I  at  once  went  towards 
the  Avenue  de  Pontlieue,  where  the  excitement  was 
general.  Gendarmes  were  hurrying  hither  and 
thither,  often  arresting  the  runaways,  and  at  other 
times  picking  up  weapons  and  cartridge-cases  which 
had  been  flung  away.  So  numerous  were  the 
abandoned  weapons  and  equipments  that  cartloads 
of  them  were  collected.  Every  now  and  then  an 
estafette  galloped  to  or  from  the  town.  The  civilians 
whom  one  met  wore  looks  of  consternation.  It  was 
evident,  indeed,  to  everybody  who  knew  how  im- 
portant was  the  position  of  La  Tuilerie,  that  its 


282  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

capture  by  the  Germans  placed  Le  Mans  in  jeopardy. 
When  the  two  attempts  to  retake  it  had  failed, 
Jaureguiberry  urged  immediate  retreat.  This  was 
rendered  the  more  imperative  by  other  events  of  the 
night  and  the  early  morning,  for,  inspirited  by  their 
capture  of  La  Tuilerie,  the  Germans  made  fresh 
efforts  in  other  directions,  so  that  Barry  had  to  quit 
Arnage,  whilst  Jouffroy  lost  most  of  his  positions 
near  the  Chemin  des  Bceufs,  and  the  plateau 
d'Auvours  had  again  to  be  evacuated. 

At  8  a.m.  on  January  12,  Chanzy,  after  suggest- 
ing a  fresh  attempt  to  recover  La  Tuilerie,  which 
was  prevented  by  the  demoralisation  of  the  troops, 
was  compelled  to  give  a  reluctant  assent  to  Jauregui- 
berry's  proposals  of  retreat.  At  the  same  time,  he 
wished  the  retreat  to  be  carried  out  slowly  and 
methodically,  and  informed  Gambetta  that  he 
intended  to  withdraw  in  the  direction  of  Alen9on 
(Orne)  and  Pre-en-Pail  (Mayenne).  This  meant 
moving  into  Normandy,  and  Gambetta  pointed  out 
that  such  a  course  would  leave  all  Brittany  open  to 
the  enemy,  and  enable  him  to  descend  without 
opposition  even  to  the  mouth  of  the  Loire.  Chanzy 
was  therefore  instructed  to  retreat  on  Laval,  and  did 
so ;  but  as  he  had  already  issued  orders  for  the  other 
route,  great  confusion  ensued,  the  new  orders  only 
reaching  the  subordinate  commanders  on  the  evening 
of  the  12th. 

From  January  6  to  12  the  French  had  lost  6000 
men  in  killed  and  wounded.  The  Germans  had 
taken  20,000  prisoners,  and  captured  seventeen  guns 
and  a  large  quantity  of  army  materiel.  Further, 
there  was  an  incalculable  number  of  disbanded 
Mobiles  and  Mobilises.  If  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
had  known  at  the  time  to  what  a  deplorable  condition 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  283 

Chanzy's  army  had  been  reduced,  he  would 
probably  have  acted  more  vigorously  than  he  did. 
It  is  true  that  his  own  men  (as  Von  Hoenig  has 
admitted)  were,  generally  speaking,  in  a  state  of 
great  fatigue  after  the  six  days'  fighting,  and  also 
often  badly  circumstanced  in  regard  to  clothing, 
boots,  and  equipments.*  Such  things  cannot  last 
for  ever,  and  there  had  been  little  or  no  opportunity 
to  renew  anything  since  the  second  battle  of  Orleans 
early  in  December.  In  the  fighting  before  Le  Mans, 
however,  the  German  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was 
only  3400 — 200  of  the  number  being  officers,  whom 
the  French  picked  off  as  often  as  possible. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  all  was  confusion 
at  Pontlieue.  Guns,  waggons,  horsemen,  infantry- 
men, were  congregated  there,  half  blocking  up  the 
bridge  which  connects  this  suburb  with  Le  Mans. 
A  small  force  under  General  de  Roquebrune  was 
gallantly  striving  to  check  the  Germans  at  one  part 
of  the  Chemin  des  Bceufs,  in  order  to  cover  the 
retreat.  A  cordon  of  gendarmes  had  been  drawn 
up  at  the  railway-station  to  prevent  it  from  being 
invaded  by  all  the  runaways.  Some  hundreds  of 
wounded  men  were  allowed  access,  however,  in  order 
that  they  might,  if  possible,  get  away  in  one  of  the 
many  trains  which  were  being  sent  off  as  rapidly  as 
possible.  This  service  was  in  charge  of  an  official 
named  Piquet,  who  acted  with  the  greatest  energy  and 
acumen.  Of  the  five  railway -lines  meeting  at  Le  Mans 
only  two  were  available,  that  running  to  Rennes  via 
Laval,  and  that  running  to  Angers.  I  find  from  a 
report  drawn  up  by  M.  Piquet  a  little  later,  that  he 
managed  to  send  off  twenty-five  trains,  some  of  them 

*  Even  when  the  armistice  arrived  I  saw  many  German  soldiers  wearing 
French  sabots. 


284  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

drawn  by  two  and  three  engines.  They  included 
about  1000  vans,  trucks,  and  coaches  ;  that  is  558 
vans  laden  with  provisions  (in  part  for  the  relief 
of  Paris) ;  134  vans  and  trucks  laden  with  artillery 
materiel  and  stores,  70  vans  of  ammunition,  150 
empty  vans  and  trucks,  and  176  passenger  carriages. 
On  securing  possession  of  the  station,  however,  the 
Germans  still  found  there  about  200  vans  and 
carriages,  and  at  least  a  dozen  locomotive  engines. 
The  last  train  left  at  2.45  p.m.  I  myself  got  away 
(as  I  shall  presently  relate)  shortly  after  two  o'clock, 
when  the  station  was  already  being  bombarded. 

General  de  Roquebrune  having,  at  last,  been 
compelled  to  withdraw  from  the  vicinity  of  the 
Chemin  des  Bceufs,  the  Germans  came  on  to  the 
long  avenue  of  Pontlieue.  Here  they  were  met  by 
most  of  the  corps  of  gendarmes,  which,  as  I  previously 
related,  was  attached  to  the  headquarters-staff 
under  General  Bourdillon.  These  men,  who  had 
two  Gatlings  with  them,  behaved  with  desperate 
bravery  in  order  to  delay  the  German  entry  into  the 
town.  About  a  hundred  of  them,  including  a  couple 
of  officers,  were  killed  during  that  courageous 
defence.  It  was  found  impossible,  however,  to  blow 
up  the  bridge.  The  operation  had  been  delayed  as 
long  as  possible  in  order  to  facilitate  the  French 
retreat,  and  when  the  gendarmes  themselves  with- 
drew, there  no  longer  remained  sufficient  time  to 
put  it  into  execution. 

The  first  Germans  to  enter  the  town  belonged 
to  the  38th  Brigade  of  Infantry,  and  to  part  of  a 
cavalry  force  under  General  von  Schmidt.  After 
crossing  the  bridge  of  Pontlieue,  they  divided  into 
three  columns.  One  of  them  proceeded  up  the  Rue 
du  Quartier  de  Cavalerie  in  the  direction  of  the 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  285 

Place  des  Jacobins  and  the  cathedral.  The  second 
also  went  towards  the  upper  town,  marching,  however, 
by  way  of  the  Rue  Basse,  which  conducted  to  the 
Place  des  Halles,  where  the  chief  hotels  and  cafe's 
were  situated.  Meantime,  the  third  column  turned 
to  the  left,  and  hastened  towards  the  railway  station. 
But,  to  their  great  amazement,  their  advance  was 
repeatedly  checked.  There  were  still  a  number  of 
French  soldiers  in  the  town,  among  them  being 
Mobile  Guards,  Gendarmes,  Franc-tireurs,  and  a 
party  of  Marine  Fusiliers.  The  German  column 
which  began  to  ascend  the  Rue  Basse  was  repeatedly 
fired  at,  whereupon  its  commanding  officer  halted 
his  men,  and  by  way  of  punishment  had  seven  houses 
set  on  fire,  before  attempting  to  proceed  farther. 
Nevertheless,  the  resistance  was  prolonged  at  various 
points,  on  the  Place  des  Jacobins,  for  instance,  and 
again  on  the  Place  des  Halles.  Near  the  latter 
square  is — or  was — a  little  street  called  the  Rue 
Dumas,  from  which  the  French  picked  off  a  dozen 
or  twenty  Germans,  so  infuriating  their  commander 
that  he  sent  for  a  couple  of  field-pieces,  and  threatened 
to  sweep  the  whole  town  with  projectiles. 

Meantime,  a  number  of  the  French  who  had 
lingered  at  Le  Mans  were  gradually  effecting  their 
escape.  Many  artillery  and  commissariat  waggons 
managed  to  get  away,  and  a  local  notability,  M. 
Eugene  Caillaux — father  of  M.  Joseph  Caillaux  who 
was  French  Prime  Minister  during  the  latter  half  of 
1911,  and  who  is  now  (Dec.,  1913)  Minister  of  Finances 
— succeeded  in  sending  out  of  the  town  several  carts 
full  of  rifles,  which  some  of  the  French  troops  had 
flung  away.  However,  the  street-fighting  could  not 
be  indefinitely  prolonged.  It  ceased  when  about  a 
hundred  Germans  and  a  larger  number  of  French, 


286  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

both  soldiers  and  civilians,  had  been  killed.  The 
Germans  avenged  themselves  by  pillaging  the  houses 
in  the  Rue  Dumas,  and  several  on  the  Place  des 
Halles,  though  they  spared  the  Hotel  de  France 
there,  as  their  commander,  Voigts  Rhetz,  reserved 
it  for  his  own  accommodation.  Whilst  the  bom- 
bardment of  a  part  of  the  lower  town  continued— 
the  railway  station  and  the  barracks  called  the 
Caserne  de  la  Mission  being  particularly  affected — 
raids  were  made  on  the  French  ambulances,  in  one 
of  which,  on  the  Boulevard  Negrier,  a  patient  was 
barbarously  bayoneted  in  his  bed,  on  the  pretext 
that  he  was  a  Franc-tireur,  whereas  he  really  belonged 
to  the  Mobile  Guard.  At  the  ambulance  of  the 
Ecole  Normale,  the  sisters  and  clergy  were,  according 
to  their  sworn  statements,  grossly  ill-treated. 
Patients,  some  of  whom  were  suffering  from  small- 
pox, were  turned  out  of  their  beds — which  were 
required,  it  was  said,  for  the  German  wounded.  All 
the  wine  that  could  be  found  was  drunk,  money  was 
stolen,  and  there  was  vindictive  destruction  on  all 
sides. 

The  Mayor  *  of  Le  Mans,  M.  Richard,  and  his 
two  adjointe,  or  deputies,  went  down  through  the 
town  carrying  a  towel  as  a  flag  of  truce,  and  on  the 
Place  de  la  Mission  they  at  last  found  Voigts  Rhetz 
surrounded  by  his  staff.  The  General  at  once  informed 
the  Mayor  that,  in  consequence  of  the  resistance  of 
the  town,  it  would  have  to  pay  a  war-levy  of  four 
millions  of  francs  (£160,000)  within  twenty-four 
hours,  and  that  the  inhabitants  would  have  to  lodge 
and  feed  the  German  forces  as  long  as  they  remained 

*  The  Prefect,  M.  Le  Chevalier,  had  followed  the  army  in  its  retreat, 
considering  it  his  duty  to  watch  over  the  uninvaded  part  of  the  department 
of  the  Sarthe. 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  287 

there.  All  the  appeals  made  against  these  hard 
conditions  were  disregarded  during  nearly  a  fort- 
night. When  both  the  Mayor  and  the  Bishop  of 
Le  Mans  solicited  audiences  of  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  they  were  told  by  the  famous  Count  Harry 
von  Arnim — who,  curiously  enough,  subsequently 
became  German  Ambassador  to  France,  but  embroiled 
himself  with  Bismarck  and  died  in  exile — that  if 
they  only  wished  to  tender  their  humble  duty  to 
the  Prince  he  would  graciously  receive  them,  but 
that  he  refused  to  listen  to  any  representations  on 
behalf  of  the  town. 

A  first  sum  of  £20,000  and  some  smaller  ones  were 
at  last  got  together  in  this  town  of  37,000  inhabitants, 
and  finally,  on  January  23,  the  total  levy  was  reduced, 
as  a  special  favour,  to  £80,000.  Certain  German 
requisitions  were  also  to  be  set  off  against  £20,000 
of  that  amount ;  but  they  really  represented  about 
double  the  figure.  A  public  loan  had  to  be  raised 
in  the  midst  of  continual  exactions,  which  lasted 
even  after  the  preliminaries  of  peace  had  been 
signed,  the  Germans  regarding  Le  Mans  as  a 
milch  cow  from  which  too  much  could  not  be 
extracted. 

The  anxieties  of  the  time  might  well  have  sufficed 
to  make  the  Mayor  ill,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
caught  small-pox,  and  his  place  had  to  be  taken  by 
a  deputy,  who  with  the  municipal  council,  to  which 
several  local  notabilities  were  adjoined,  did  all  that 
was  possible  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  the  Germans. 
Small-pox,  I  may  mention,  was  very  prevalent  at 
Le  Mans,  and  some  of  the  ambulances  were  specially 
reserved  for  soldiers  who  had  contracted  that 
disease.  Altogether,  about  21,000  men  (both  French 
and  Germans),  suffering  from  wounds  or  diseases 


288  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

of  various  kinds,  were  treated  in  the  town's  ambu- 
lances from  November  1  to  April  15. 

Some  thousands  of  Germans  were  billeted  on  the 
inhabitants,  whom  they  frequently  robbed  with 
impunity,  all  complaints  addressed  to  the  German 
Governor,  an  officer  named  Von  Heiduck,  being 
disregarded.  This  individual  ordered  all  the  inhabit- 
ants to  give  up  any  weapons  which  they  possessed, 
under  penalty  of  death.  Another  proclamation 
ordained  the  same  punishment  for  anybody  who 
might  give  the  slightest  help  to  the  French  army, 
or  attempt  to  hamper  the  German  forces.  More- 
over, the  editors,  printers,  and  managers  of  three 
local  newspapers  were  summarily  arrested  and  kept 
in  durance  on  account  of  articles  against  the  Germans 
which  they  had  written,  printed,  or  published  before 
Chanzy's  defeat. 

On  January  13,  which  chanced  to  be  a  Friday, 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  made  his  triumphal  entry 
into  Le  Mans,  the  bands  of  the  German  regiments 
playing  all  their  more  popular  patriotic  airs  along 
the  route  which  his  Royal  Highness  took  in  order 
to  reach  the  Prefecture — a  former  eighteenth-century 
convent — where  he  intended  to  install  himself.  On 
the  following  day  the  Mayor  received  the  following 
letter : 

"MR.  MAYOR, 

"  I  request  you  to  send  to  the  Prefecture 
by  half-past  five  o'clock  this  afternoon  24  spoons, 
24  forks,  and  36  knives,  as  only  just  sufficient  for 
the  number  of  people  at  table  have  been  sent,  and 
there  is  no  means  of  changing  the  covers.  For 
dinner  you  will  provide  20  bottles  of  Bordeaux, 
30  bottles  of  Champagne,  two  bottles  of  Madeira, 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  289 

and  2  bottles  of  liqueurs,  which  must  be  at  the  Pre- 
fecture at  six  o'clock  precisely.  The  wine  previously 
sent  not  being  good,  neither  the  Bordeaux  nor  the 
Champagne,  you  must  send  better  kinds,  otherwise 
I  shall  have  to  inflict  a  fine  upon  the  town. 

(Signed)  "VoN  KANITZ.' 


55 


This  communication  was  followed  almost  im- 
mediately afterwards  by  another,  emanating  from 
the  same  officer,  who  was  one  of  the  Prince's  aides- 
de-camp.  He  therein  stated  (invariably  employing, 
be  it  said,  execrable  French)  that  the  cafe-au-lait 
was  to  be  served  at  the  Prefecture  at  8  a.m.  ;  the 
dejeuner  at  noon ;  and  the  dinner  at  7.30  p.m.  At 
ten  o'clock  every  morning,  the  Mayor  was  to  send 
40  bottles  of  Bordeaux,  40  bottles  of  Champagne, 
6  bottles  of  Madeira,  and  3  bottles  of  liqueurs.  He 
was  also  to  provide  waiters  to  serve  at  table,  and 
kitchen-  and  scullery-maids.  And  Kanitz  concluded 
by  saying :  "If  the  least  thing  fails,  a  remarkable 
(sic)  fine  will  be  inflicted  on  the  town." 

On  January  15  an  order  was  sent  to  the  Mayor 
to  supply  at  once,  for  the  Prince's  requirements, 
25  kilogrammes  of  ham ;  13  kilos,  of  sausages ; 
13  kilos,  of  tongues ;  5  dozen  eggs ;  vegetables  of 
all  sorts,  particularly  onions  ;  15  kilos,  of  Gruyere 
cheese ;  5  kilos,  of  Parmesan ;  15  kilos,  of  best 
veal ;  20  fowls ;  6  turkeys ;  12  ducks  ;  5  kilos,  of 
powdered  sugar.*  No  wine  was  ever  good  enough 
for  Prince  Frederick  Charles  and  his  staff.  The 
complaints  sent  to  the  town-hall  were  incessant. 
Moreover,  the  supply  of  Champagne,  by  no  means 
large  in  such  a  place  as  Le  Mans,  gave  out,  and  then 

*  All  the  German  orders  and  requisitions  are  preserved  in  the  municipal 
archives  of  Le  Mans. 

TJ 


290  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

came  all  sorts  of  threats.  The  muncipal  councillors 
had  to  trot  about  trying  to  discover  a  few  bottles 
here  and  there  in  private  houses,  in  order  to  supply 
the  requirements  of  the  Princely  Staff.  There  was 
also  a  scarcity  of  vegetables,  and  yet  there  were 
incessant  demands  for  spinach,  cauliflowers,  and 
artichokes,  and  even  fruit  for  the  Prince's  tarts. 
One  day  Kanitz  went  to  the  house  where  the  un- 
fortunate Mayor  was  lying  in  bed,  and  told  him  that 
he  must  get  up  and  provide  vegetables,  as  none  had 
been  sent  for  the  Prince's  table.  The  Mayor  pro- 
tested that  the  whole  countryside  was  covered  with 
snow,  and  that  it  was  virtually  impossible  to  satisfy 
such  incessant  demands ;  but,  as  he  afterwards 
related,  ill  and  worried  though  he  was,  he  could  not 
refrain  from  laughing  when  he  was  required  to  supply 
several  pounds  of  truffles.  Truffles  at  Le  Mans, 
indeed  !  In  those  days,  too  !  The  idea  was  quite 
ridiculous. 

Not  only  had  the  demands  of  Prince  Frederick 
Charles's  staff  to  be  satisfied,  but  there  were  those  of 
Voigts  Rhetz,  and  of  all  the  officers  lodging  at  the 
Hotel  de  France,  the  Hotel  du  Dauphin,  the  Hotel 
de  la  Boule  d'Or  and  other  hostelries.  These 
gentlemen  were  very  fond  of  giving  dinners,  and 
"  mine  host "  was  constantly  being  called  upon  to 
provide  all  sorts  of  delicacies  at  short  notice.  The 
cellars  of  the  Hotel  de  France  were  drunk  dry.  The 
common  soldiers  also  demanded  the  best  of  every- 
thing at  the  houses  where  they  were  billeted  ;  and 
sometimes  they  played  extraordinary  pranks  there. 
Half  a  dozen  of  them,  who  were  lodged  at  a  wine-shop 
in,  I  think,  the  Rue  Dumas,  broached  a  cask  of 
brandy,  poured  the  contents  into  a  tub,  and  washed 
their  feet  in  the  spirituous  liquor.  It  may  be  that 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  291 

a  "  brandy  bath  "  is  a  good  thing  for  sore  feet ;  and 
that  might  explain  the  incident.  However,  when 
I  think  of  it,  I  am  always  reminded  of  how,  in  the 
days  of  the  Second  Empire,  the  spendthrift  Due 
de  Gramont-Caderousse  entered  the  Cafe  Anglais  in 
Paris,  one  afternoon,  called  for  a  silver  soup-tureen, 
had  two  or  three  bottles  of  champagne  poured  into 
it,  and  then  made  an  unrepentant  Magdalen  of  the 
Boulevards,  whom  he  had  brought  with  him,  wash 
his  feet  in  the  sparkling  wine.  From  that  afternoon 
until  the  Cafe  Anglais  passed  out  of  existence  no 
silver  soup-tureens  were  ever  used  there. 

I  have  given  the  foregoing  particulars  respecting 
the  German  occupation  of  Le  Mans — they  are 
principally  derived  from  official  documents — just 
to  show  the  reader  what  one  might  expect  if,  for 
instance,  a  German  force  should  land  at  Hull  or 
Grimsby  and  fight  its  way  successfully  to — let  us 
say — York  or  Leeds  or  Nottingham.  The  incidents 
which  occurred  at  Le  Mans  were  by  no  means 
peculiar  to  that  town.  Many  similar  instances 
occurred  throughout  the  invaded  regions  of  France. 
I  certainly  do  not  wish  to  impute  gluttony  to  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  personally.  But  during  the  years 
which  followed  the  Franco-German  War  I  made 
three  fairly  long  stays  at  Berlin,  putting  up  at  good 
hotels,  where  officers — sometimes  generals — often 
lunched  and  dined.  And  their  appetites  frequently 
amazed  me,  whilst  their  manners  at  table  were 
repulsive.  In  those  days  most  German  officers 
were  bearded,  and  I  noticed  that  between  the 
courses  at  luncheon  and  at  dinner  it  was  a  common 
practice  of  theirs  to  produce  pocket-glasses  and 
pocket-combs,  and  comb  their  beards — as  well  as 
the  hair  on  their  heads — over  the  table.  As  for  their 


292  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

manner  of  eating  and  the  noise  they  made  in  doing 
so,  the  less  said  the  better.  In  regard  to  manners, 
I  have  always  felt  that  the  French  of  1870-71  were 
in  some  respects  quite  entitled  to  call  their  enemies 
"  barbarians  "  ;  but  that  was  forty-three  years  ago, 
and  as  time  works  wonders,  the  manners  of  the 
German  military  element  may  have  improved. 

In  saying  something  about  the  general  appear- 
ance of  Le  Mans,  I  pointed  out  that  the  town  now 
has  a  Place  de  la  Republique,  a  Gambetta  Bridge, 
a  Rue  Thiers,  and  a  statue  of  Chanzy ;  but  at  the 
period  of  the  war  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards 
it  detested  the  Republic  (invariably  returning 
Bonapartist  or  Orleanist  deputies),  sneered  at  Gam- 
betta, and  hotly  denounced  the  commander  of  the 
Loire  Army.  Its  grievance  against  Chanzy  was 
that  he  had  made  it  his  headquarters  and  given 
battle  in  its  immediate  vicinity.  The  conflict  having 
ended  disastrously  for  the  French  arms,  the  towns- 
folk lamented  that  it  had  ever  taken  place.  Why 
had  Chanzy  brought  his  army  there  ?  they  indig- 
nantly inquired.  He  might  very  well  have  gone 
elsewhere.  So  strong  was  this  Manceau  feeling 
against  the  general — a  feeling  inspired  by  the 
sufferings  which  the  inhabitants  experienced  at 
the  time,  notably  in  consequence  of  the  German 
exactions — that  fifteen  years  later,  when  the  general's 
statue  (for  which  there  had  been  a  national  sub- 
scription) was  set  up  in  the  town,  the  displeasure 
there  was  very  great,  and  the  monument  was  sub- 
jected to  the  most  shameful  indignities.*  But  all 

*  At  Nouart,  his  native  place,  there  is  another  statue  of  Chanzy,  which 
shows  him  pointing  towards  the  east.  On  the  pedestal  is  the  inscription : 
"  The  generals  who  wish  to  obtain  the  baton  of  Marshal  of  France  must 
seek  it  across  the  Rhine  " — words  spoken  by  him  in  one  of  his  speeches 
subsequent  to  the  war. 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  293 

that  has  passed.  Nowadays,  both  at  Auvours  and 
at  Pontlieue,  there  are  monuments  to  those  who  fell 
fighting  for  France  around  Le  Mans,  and  doubtless 
the  town,  in  becoming  more  Republican,  has  become 
more  patriotic  also. 

Before  relating  how  I  escaped  from  Le  Mans  on 
the  day  when  the  retreat  was  ordered,  there  are  a 
few  other  points  with  which  I  should  like  to  deal 
briefly.  It  is  tolerably  well  known  that  I  made  the 
English  translation  of  Emile  Zola's  great  novel,  "  La 
Debacle,"  and  a  good  many  of  my  present  readers 
may  have  read  that  work  either  in  the  original 
French  or  in  the  version  prepared  by  me.  Now,  I 
have  always  thought  that  some  of  the  characters 
introduced  by  Zola  into  his  narrative  were  somewhat 
exceptional.  I  doubt  if  there  were  many  such 
absolutely  neurotic  degenerates  as  "  Maurice  "  in  the 
French  Army  at  any  period  of  the  war.  I  certainly 
never  came  across  such  a  character.  Again,  the 
psychology  of  Stephen  Crane's  "  Red  Badge  of 
Courage,"  published  a  few  years  after  "  La  Debacle," 
and  received  with  acclamations  by  critics  most  of 
whom  had  never  in  their  lives  been  under  fire,  also 
seems  to  me  to  be  of  an  exceptional  character.  I 
much  prefer  the  psychology  of  the  Waterloo  episode 
in  Stendhal's  "  Chartreuse  de  Parme,"  because  it 
is  of  more  general  application.  "  The  Red  Badge 
of  Courage,"  so  the  critics  told  us,  showed  what  a 
soldier  exactly  felt  and  thought  in  the  midst  of 
warfare.  Unlike  Stendhal,  however,  its  author  had 
never  "  served."  No  more  had  Zola ;  and  I  feel 
that  many  of  the  pictures  which  novelists  have  given 
us  of  a  soldier's  emotions  when  in  action  apply  only 
to  exceptional  cases,  and  are  even  then  somewhat 
exaggerated. 


294  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

In  action  there  is  no  time  for  thought.  The 
most  trying  hours  for  a  man  who  is  in  any  degree  of 
a  sensitive  nature  are  those  spent  in  night-duty  as 
a  sentry  or  as  one  of  a  small  party  at  some  lonely 
outpost.  Then  thoughts  of  home  and  happiness, 
and  of  those  one  loves,  may  well  arise.  There  is 
one  little  point  in  connexion  with  this  subject  which 
I  must  mention.  Whenever  letters  were  found  on 
the  bodies  of  men  who  fell  during  the  Franco-German 
War,  they  were,  if  this  man  was  a  Frenchman,  more 
usually  letters  from  his  mother,  and,  if  he  was  a 
German,  more  usually  letters  from  his  sweetheart. 
Many  such  letters  found  their  way  into  print  during 
the  course  of  the  war.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
a  Frenchman's  cult  for  his  mother  is  a  trait  of  the 
national  character,  and  that  a  Frenchwoman  almost 
always  places  her  child  before  her  husband. 

But  what  struck  me  particularly  during  the 
Franco-German  War  was  that  the  anxieties  and 
mental  sufferings  of  the  French  officers  were  much 
keener  than  those  of  the  men.  Many  of  those  officers 
were  married,  some  had  young  children,  and  in  the 
silent  hours  of  a  lonely  night-watch  their  thoughts 
often  travelled  to  their  dear  ones.  I  well  remember 
how  an  officer  virtually  unbosomed  himself  to  me 
on  this  subject  one  night  near  Yvre-1'Eveque.  The 
reason  of  it  all  is  obvious.  The  higher  a  man's 
intelligence,  the  greater  is  his  sense  of  responsibility 
and  the  force  of  his  attachments.  But  in  action  the 
latter  are  set  aside  ;  they  only  obtrude  at  such  times 
as  I  have  said  or  else  at  the  moment  of  death. 

Of  actual  cowardice  there  were  undoubtedly 
numerous  instances  during  the  war,  but  a  great  deal 
might  be  said  in  defence  of  many  of  the  men  who  here 
and  there  abandoned  their  positions.  During  the 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  295 

last  months  their  sufferings  were  frequently  terrible. 
At  best  they  were  often  only  partially  trained.  There 
was  little  cohesion  in  many  battalions.  There  was  a 
great  lack  of  efficient  non-commissioned  officers. 
Instead  of  drafting  regular  soldiers  from  the  depots 
into  special  regiments,  as  was  often  done,  it  might 
have  been  better  to  have  distributed  them  among 
the  Mobiles  and  Mobilises,  whom  they  would  have 
steadied.  Judging  by  all  that  I  witnessed  at  that 
period,  I  consider  it  essential  that  any  territorial 
force  should  always  contain  a  certain  number  of 
trained  soldiers  who  have  previously  been  in  action. 
And  any  such  force  should  always  have  the  support 
of  regulars  and  of  efficient  artillery.  I  have  related 
how  certain  Breton  Mobilises  abandoned  La  Tuilerie. 
They  fled  before  the  regulars  or  the  artillery  could 
support  them ;  but  they  were,  perhaps,  the  very 
rawest  levies  in  all  Chanzy's  forces.  Other  Breton 
Mobilises,  on  other  points,  fought  very  well  for  men 
of  their  class.  For  instance,  no  reproach  could  be 
addressed  to  the  battalions  of  St.  Brieuc,  Brest, 
Quimper,  Lorient,  and  Nantes.  They  were  better 
trained  than  were  the  men  stationed  at  La  Tuilerie, 
and  it  requires  some  time  to  train  a  Breton  properly. 
That  effected,  he  makes  a  good  soldier. 

Respecting  my  own  feelings  during  that  war,  I 
may  say  that  the  paramount  one  was  curiosity.  To 
be  a  journalist,  a  man  must  be  inquisitive.  It  is 
a  sine  qua  non  of  his  profession.  Moreover,  I  was 
very  young ;  I  had  no  responsibilities  ;  I  may  have 
been  in  love,  or  have  thought  I  was,  but  I  was  on  my 
own,  and  my  chief  desire  was  to  see  as  much  as 
I  could.  I  willingly  admit  that,  when  Gougeard's 
column  was  abruptly  attacked  at  Droue,  I  experi- 
enced some  trepidation  at  finding  myself  under 


296  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

fire ;  but  firmness  may  prove  as  contagious  as  fear, 
and  when  Gougeard  rallied  his  men  and  went  forward 
to  repel  the  Germans,  interest  and  a  kind  of  excite- 
ment took  possession  of  me.  Moreover,  as  I  was, 
at  least  nominally,  attached  to  the  ambulance  service, 
there  was  duty  to  be  done,  and  that  left  no  opportu- 
nity for  thought.  The  pictures  of  the  ambulances 
in  or  near  Sedan  are  among  the  most  striking  ones 
contained  in  "  La  Debacle,"  and,  judging  by  what 
I  saw  elsewhere,  Zola  exaggerated  nothing.  The 
ambulance  is  the  truly  horrible  side  of  warfare.  To 
see  men  lying  dead  on  the  ground  is,  so  to  say, 
nothing.  One  gets  used  to  it.  But  to  see  them 
amputated,  and  to  see  them  lying  in  bed  suffering, 
often  acutely,  from  dreadful  wounds,  or  horrible 
diseases — dysentery,  typhus,  small-pox — that  is  the 
thing  which  tries  the  nerves  of  all  but  the  doctors 
and  the  trained  nurses.  On  several  occasions  I 
helped  to  carry  wounded  men,  and  felt  no  emotion 
in  doing  so  ;  but  more  than  once  I  was  almost  over- 
come by  the  sight  of  all  the  suffering  in  some 
ambulance. 

When,  on  the  morning  of  January  12,  I  heard 
that  a  general  retreat  had  been  ordered,  I  hesitated 
as  to  what  course  I  should  pursue.  I  did  not  then 
anticipate  the  street-fighting,  and  the  consequent 
violence  of  the  Germans.  But  journalistic  instinct 
told  me  that  if  I  remained  in  the  town  until  after  the 
German  entry  I  might  then  find  it  very  difficult  to 
get  away  and  communicate  with  my  people.  At  the 
same  time,  I  did  not  think  the  German  entry  so 
imminent  as  proved  to  be  the  case ;  and  I  spent  a 
considerable  time  in  the  streets  watching  all  the 
tumult  which  prevailed  there.  Now  and  again  a 
sadly  diminished  battalion  went  by  in  fairly  good 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  297 

order.  But  numbers  of  disbanded  men  hurried 
hither  and  thither  in  confusion.  Here  and  there 
a  street  was  blocked  with  army  vans  and  waggons, 
whose  drivers  were  awaiting  orders,  not  knowing 
which  direction  to  take.  Officers  and  estafettes 
galloped  about  on  all  sides.  Then  a  number  of 
wounded  men  were  carried  in  carts,  on  stretchers, 
and  on  trucks  towards  the  railway-station.  Others, 
with  their  heads  bandaged  or  their  arms  in  slings, 
walked  painfully  in  the  same  direction.  Outside 
the  station  there  was  a  strong  cordon  of  Gendarmes 
striving  to  resist  all  the  pressure  of  a  great  mob  of 
disbanded  men  who  wished  to  enter  and  get  away 
in  the  trains.  At  one  moment,  when,  after  quite  a 
struggle,  some  of  the  wounded  were  conveyed  through 
the  mob  and  the  cordon,  the  disbanded  soldiers 
followed,  and  many  of  them  fought  their  way  into 
the  station  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  Gendarmes. 
The  melee  was  so  desperate  that  I  did  not  attempt 
to  follow,  but,  after  watching  it  for  some  time, 
retraced  my  steps  towards  my  lodging.  All  was 
hubbub  and  confusion  at  the  little  inn,  and  only 
with  difficulty  could  I  get  anything  to  eat  there. 
A  little  later,  however,  I  managed  to  tell  the  landlord 
— his  name  was  Dubuisson — that  I  meant  to  follow 
the  army,  and,  if  possible,  secure  a  place  in  one  of 
the  trains  which  were  frequently  departing.  After 
stowing  a  few  necessaries  away  in  my  pockets,  I 
begged  him  to  take  charge  of  my  bag  until  some 
future  day,  and  the  worthy  old  man  then  gave  me 
some  tips  as  to  how  I  might  make  my  way  into  the 
station,  by  going  a  little  beyond  it,  and  climbing  a 
palisade. 

We  condoled  with  one  another  and  shook  hands. 
I  then  went  out.     The  cannonade,  which  had  been 


298  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

going  on  for  several  hours,  had  now  become  more 
violent.  Several  shells  had  fallen  on  or  near  the 
Caserne  de  la  Mission  during  the  morning.  Now 
others  were  falling  near  the  railway-station.  I  went 
my  way,  however,  turned  to  the  right  on  quitting 
the  Rue  du  Gue-de-Maulny,  reached  some  palings, 
and  got  on  to  the  railway-line.  Skirting  it,  I  turned 
to  the  left,  going  back  towards  the  station.  I  passed 
one  or  two  trains,  which  were  waiting.  But  they 
were  composed  of  trucks  and  closed  vans.  I  might 
perhaps  have  climbed  on  to  one  of  the  former,  but 
it  was  a  bitterly  cold  day ;  and  as  for  the  latter, 
of  course  I  could  not  hope  to  enter  one  of  them.  So 
I  kept  on  towards  the  station,  and  presently, 
without  let  or  hindrance,  I  reached  one  of  the 
platforms. 

Le  Mans  being  an  important  junction,  its  station 
was  very  large,  in  some  respects  quite  monumental. 
The  principal  part  was  roofed  with  glass  and  sug- 
gested Charing  Cross.  I  do  not  remember  exactly 
the  number  of  lines  of  metals  running  through  it, 
but  I  think  there  must  have  been  four  or  five.  There 
were  two  trains  waiting  there,  one  of  them,  which 
was  largely  composed  of  passenger  carriages,  being 
crammed  with  soldiers.  I  tried  to  get  into  one 
carriage,  but  was  fiercely  repulsed.  So,  going  to  the 
rear  of  this  train,  I  crossed  to  another  platform,  where 
the  second  train  was.  This  was  made  up  of  passenger 
coaches  and  vans.  I  scrambled  into  one  of  the  latter, 
which  was  open.  There  were  a  number  of  packing- 
cases  inside  it,  but  there  was  at  least  standing  room 
for  several  persons.  Two  railway  men  and  two  or 
three  soldiers  were  already  there.  One  of  the  former 
helped  me  to  get  in.  I  had,  be  it  said,  a  semi-military 
appearance,  for  my  grey  frieze  coat  was  frogged,  and 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  299 

besides,  what  was  more  important,  I  wore  the  red- 
cross  armlet  given  me  at  the  time  when  I  followed 
Gougeard's  column. 

Almost  immediately  afterwards  the  train  full  of 
soldiers  got  away.  The  cannonade  was  now  very 
loud,  and  the  glass  roof  above  us  constantly  vibrated. 
Some  minutes  elapsed  whilst  we  exchanged  impres- 
sions. Then,  all  at  once,  a  railway  official — it  may 
have  been  M.  Piquet  himself* — rushed  along  the 
platform  in  the  direction  of  the  engine,  shouting  as 
he  went:  "Depechez!  Depechez!  Sauvez-vous !  " 
At  the  same  moment  a  stray  artilleryman  was  seen 
hastening  towards  us ;  but  suddenly  there  came  a 
terrific  crash  of  glass,  a  shell  burst  through  the  roof 
and  exploded,  and  the  unlucky  artilleryman  fell 
on  the  platform,  evidently  severely  wounded.  We 
were  already  in  motion,  however,  and  the  line  being 
clear,  we  got  fairly  swiftly  across  the  viaduct  spanning 
the  Sarthe.  This  placed  us  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
enemy,  and  we  then  slowed  down. 

One  or  two  more  trains  were  got  away  after  ours, 
the  last  one,  I  believe,  being  vainly  assailed  by  some 
Uhlans  before  it  had  crossed  the  viaduct.  The 
latter  ought  then  to  have  been  blown  up,  but  an 
attempt  to  do  so  proved  ineffectual.  We  went  on 
very  slowly  on  account  of  the  many  trains  in  front  of 
us.  Every  now  and  again,  too,  there  came  a  weari- 
some stop.  It  was  bitterly  cold,  and  it  was  in  vain 
that  we  beat  the  tattoo  with  our  feet  in  the  hope 
of  thereby  warming  them.  The  men  with  me  were 
also  desperately  hungry,  and  complained  of  it  so 
bitterly  and  so  frequently,  that,  at  last,  I  could 
not  refrain  from  producing  a  little  bread  and  meat 
which  I  had  secured  at  Le  Mans  and  sharing  it  with 

*  See  p.  283,  ante. 


300  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

them.  But  it  merely  meant  a  bite  for  each  of  us. 
However,  on  stopping  at  last  at  Conlie  station — 
some  sixteen  or  seventeen  miles  from  Le  Mans — 
we  all  hastily  scrambled  out  of  the  train,  rushed 
into  a  little  inn,  and  almost  fought  like  wild  beasts 
for  scraps  of  food.  Then  on  we  went  once  more, 
still  very  slowly,  still  stopping  again  and  again, 
sometimes  for  an  hour  at  a  stretch,  until,  half  numbed 
by  the  cold,  weary  of  stamping  our  feet,  and  still 
ravenous,  we  reached  the  little  town  of  Sille-le- 
Guillaume,  which  is  not  more  than  eight  or  nine 
miles  from  Conlie. 

At  Sille  I  secured  a  tiny  garret-like  room  at  the 
crowded  Hotel  de  la  Croix  d'Or,  a  third-rate  hostelry, 
which  was  already  invaded  by  officers,  soldiers, 
railway  officials,  and  others  who  had  quitted  Le  Mans 
before  I  had  managed  to  do  so.  My  comparatively 
youthful  appearance  won  for  me,  however,  the  good 
favour  of  the  buxom  landlady,  who,  after  repeatedly 
declaring  to  other  applicants  that  she  had  not  a 
corner  left  in  the  whole  house,  took  me  aside  and  said 
in  an  undertone  :  "  Listen,  I  will  put  you  in  a  little 
cabinet  upstairs.  I  will  show  you  the  way  by  and  by. 
But  don't  tell  anybody."  And  she  added  com- 
passionately :  "  Mon  pauvre  garqon,  you  look  frozen. 
Go  into  the  kitchen.  There  is  a  good  fire  there,  and 
you  will  get  something  to  eat." 

Truth  to  tell,  the  larder  was  nearly  empty,  but 
I  secured  a  little  cheese  and  some  bread  and  some 
very  indifferent  wine,  which,  however,  in  my  then 
condition,  seemed  to  me  to  be  nectar.  I  helped 
myself  to  a  bowl,  I  remember,  and  poured  about  a 
pint  of  wine  into  it,  so  as  to  soak  my  bread,  which 
was  stale  and  hard.  Toasting  my  feet  at  the  fire 
whilst  I  regaled  myself  with  that  improvised 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  301 

soupe-au-vin,  I  soon  felt  warm  and  inspirited  once 
more.  Hardship  sits  on  one  but  lightly  when  one  is 
only  seventeen  years  of  age  and  stirred  by  early 
ambition.  All  the  world  then  lay  before  me,  like  mine 
oyster,  to  be  opened  by  either  sword  or  pen. 

At  a  later  hour,  by  the  light  of  a  solitary  guttering 
candle,  in  the  little  cabinet  upstairs,  I  wrote,  as  best 
I  could,  an  account  of  the  recent  fighting  and  the 
loss  of  Le  Mans  ;  and  early  on  the  following  morning 
I  prevailed  on  a  railway-man  who  was  going  to 
Rennes  to  post  my  packet  there,  in  order  that  it 
might  be  forwarded  to  England  via  Saint  Malo. 
The  article  appeared  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  filling 
a  page  of  that  journal,  and  whatever  its  imperfections 
may  have  been,  it  was  undoubtedly  the  first  detailed 
account  of  the  battle  of  Le  Mans,  from  the  French  side, 
to  appear  in  the  English  Press.  It  so  happened, 
indeed,  that  the  other  correspondents  with  the 
French  forces,  including  my  cousin  Montague 
Vizetelly  of  The  Daily  News,  lingered  at  Le  Mans 
until  it  was  too  late  for  them  to  leave  the  town,  the 
Germans  having  effected  their  entry. 

German  detachments  soon  started  in  pursuit  of 
the  retreating  Army  of  the  Loire.  Chanzy,  as 
previously  mentioned,  modified  his  plans,  in  accord- 
ance with  Gambetta's  views,  on  the  evening  of 
January  12.  The  new  orders  were  that  the  16th 
Army  Corps  should  retreat  on  Laval  by  way  of 
Chassille  and  Saint  Jean-sur-Erve,  that  the  17th, 
after  passing  Conlie,  should  come  down  to  Sainte 
Suzanne,  and  that  the  21st  should  proceed  from 
Conlie  to  Sille-le-Guillaume.  There  were  several 
rear-guard  engagements  during  the  retreat.  Already 
on  the  13th,  before  the  21st  Corps  could  modify  its 
original  line  of  march,  it  had  to  fight  at  Ballon,  north 


302  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

of  Le  Mans.  On  the  next  day  one  of  its  detachments, 
composed  of  9000  Mobilises  of  the  Mayenne,  was 
attacked  at  Beaumont-sur-Sarthe,  and  hastily  fell 
back,  leaving  1400  men  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans, 
who  on  their  side  lost  only  nine!  Those  French 
soldiers  who  retreated  by  way  of  Conlie  partially 
pillaged  the  abandoned  stores  there.  A  battalion 
of  Mobiles,  on  passing  that  way,  provided  them- 
selves with  new  trousers,  coats,  boots,  and  blankets, 
besides  carrying  off  a  quantity  of  bread,  salt-pork, 
sugar,  and  other  provisions.  These  things  were  at 
least  saved  from  the  Germans,  who  on  reaching  the 
abandoned  camp  found  there  a  quantity  of  military 
materiel,  five  million  cartridges,  1500  cases  of  biscuits 
and  extract  of  meat,  180  barrels  of  salt-pork,  a  score 
of  sacks  of  rice,  and  140  puncheons  of  brandy. 

On  January  14  the  21st  Corps  under  Jaures 
reached  Sille-le-Guillaume,  and  was  there  attacked 
by  the  advanced  guard  of  the  13th  German  Corps 
under  the  Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg.  The  French 
offered  a  good  resistance,  however,  and  the  Germans 
retreated  on  Conlie.  I  myself  had  managed  to  leave 
Sille  the  previous  afternoon,  but  such  was  the  block 
on  the  line  that  our  train  could  get  no  farther  than 
Voutre,  a  village  of  about  a  thousand  souls.  Railway 
travelling  seeming  an  impossibility,  I  prevailed  on 
a  farmer  to  give  me  a  lift  as  far  as  Sainte  Suzanne, 
whence  I  hoped  to  cut  across  country  in  the  direction 
of  Laval.  Sainte  Suzanne  is  an  ancient  and 
picturesque  little  town  which  in  those  days  still  had 
a  rampart  and  the  ruins  of  an  early  feudal  castle. 
I  supped  and  slept  at  an  inn  there,  and  was  told  in 
the  morning  (January  14)  that  it  would  be  best  for 
me  to  go  southward  towards  Saint  Jean-sur-Erve, 
where  I  should  strike  the  direct  highway  to  Laval, 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  303 

and  might  also  be  able  to  procure  a  conveyance. 
I  did  not  then  know  the  exact  retreating  orders.  I 
hoped  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  all  the  troops  and 
waggons  encumbering  the  roads,  but  in  this  I  was 
doomed  to  disappointment,  for  at  Saint  Jean  I  fell 
in  with  them  again. 

That  day  a  part  of  the  rear-guard  of  the  16th  Corps 
(Jaureguiberry) — that  is,  a  detachment  of  1100  men 
with  a  squadron  of  cavalry  under  General  Le  Bouedec 
— had  been  driven  out  of  Chassille  by  the  German 
cavalry  under  General  von  Schmidt.  This  had 
accelerated  the  French  retreat,  which  continued  in 
the  greatest  confusion,  all  the  men  hastening  pre- 
cipitately towards  Saint  Jean,  where,  after  getting 
the  bulk  of  his  force  on  to  the  heights  across  the 
river  Erve,  which  here  intersects  the  highway, 
Jaureguiberry  resolved  on  attempting  to  check  the 
enemy's  pursuit.  Though  the  condition  of  most  of 
the  men  was  lamentable,  vigorous  defensive  prepa- 
rations were  made  on  the  night  of  the  14th  and  the 
early  morning  of  the  following  day.  On  the  low 
ground,  near  the  village  and  the  river,  trees  were 
felled  and  roads  were  barricaded ;  while  on  the 
slopes  batteries  were  disposed  behind  hedges,  in 
which  embrasures  were  cut.  The  enemy's  force  was, 
I  believe,  chiefly  composed  of  cavalry  and  artillery. 
The  latter  was  already  firing  at  us  when  Jauregui- 
berry rode  along  our  lines.  A  shell  exploded  near 
him,  and  some  splinters  of  the  projectile  struck  his 
horse  in  the  neck,  inflicting  a  ghastly,  gaping  wound. 
The  poor  beast,  however,  did  not  fall  immediately, 
but  galloped  on  frantically  for  more  than  a  score 
of  yards,  then  suddenly  reared,  and  after  doing  so 
came  down,  all  of  a  heap,  upon  the  snow.  However, 
the  Admiral,  who  was  a  good  horseman,  speedily 


304  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

disengaged  himself,  and  turned  to  secure  another 
mount — when  he  perceived  that  Colonel  Beraud,  his 
chief  of  staff,  who  had  been  riding  behind  him,  had 
been  wounded  by  the  same  shell,  and  had  fallen 
from  his  horse.  I  saw  the  Colonel  being  carried  to 
a  neighbouring  farmhouse,  and  was  afterwards  told 
that  he  had  died  there. 

The  engagement  had  no  very  decisive  result,  but 
Schmidt  fell  back  to  the  road  connecting  Sainte 
Suzanne  with  Thorigne-en-Charnie,  whilst  we  with- 
drew towards  Soulge-le-Bruant,  about  halfway 
between  Saint  Jean  and  Laval.  During  the  fight, 
however,  whilst  the  artillery  duel  was  in  progress, 
quite  half  of  Jaureguiberry's  men  had  taken  them- 
selves off  without  waiting  for  orders.  I  believe  that 
on  the  night  of  January  15  he  could  not  have  mustered 
more  than  7000  men  for  action.  Yet  only  two  days 
previously  he  had  had  nearly  three  times  that  number 
with  him. 

Nevertheless,  much  might  be  pleaded  for  the 
men.  The  weather  was  still  bitterly  cold,  snow  lay 
everywhere,  little  or  no  food  could  be  obtained,  the 
commissariat  refraining  from  requisitioning  cattle 
at  the  farms,  for  all  through  the  departments  for 
Mayenne  and  Ille-et-Vilaine  cattle-plague  was  raging. 
Hungry,  emaciated,  faint,  coughing  incessantly,  at 
times  affected  with  small-pox,  the  men  limped  or 
trudged  on  despairingly.  Their  boots  were  often 
in  a  most  wretched  condition ;  some  wore  sabots, 
others,  as  I  said  once  before,  merely  had  rags  around 
their  poor  frost-bitten  feet.  And  the  roads  were 
obstructed  by  guns,  vans,  waggons,  vehicles  of  all 
kinds.  Sometimes  an  axle  had  broken,  sometimes 
a  horse  had  fallen  dead  on  the  snow,  in  any  case  one 
or  another  conveyance  had  come  to  a  standstill, 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  305 

and  prevented  others  from  pursuing  their  route. 
I  recollect  seeing  hungry  men  cutting  steaks  from 
the  flanks  of  the  dead  beasts,  sometimes  devouring 
the  horseflesh  raw,  at  others  taking  it  to  some  cottage, 
where  the  avaricious  peasants,  who  refused  to  part 
with  a  scrap  of  food,  at  least  had  to  let  these  cold  and 
hungry  men  warm  themselves  at  a  fire,  and  toast 
their  horseflesh  before  it.  At  one  halt  three  soldiers 
knocked  a  peasant  down  because  he  vowed  that  he 
could  not  even  give  them  a  pinch  of  salt.  That 
done,  they  rifled  his  cupboards  and  ate  all  they  could 
find. 

Experience  had  taught  me  a  lesson.  I  had  filled 
my  pockets  with  ham,  bread,  hard-boiled  eggs,  and 
other  things,  before  leaving  Sainte  Suzanne.  I  had 
also  obtained  a  meal  at  Saint  Jean,  and  secured  some 
brandy  there,  and  I  ate  and  drank  sparingly  and 
surreptitiously  whilst  I  went  on,  overtaking  one 
after  another  batch  of  weary  soldiers.  However, 
the  distance  between  Saint  Jean  and  Laval  is  not  very 
great.  Judging  by  the  map,  it  is  a  matter  of  some 
twenty-five  miles  at  the  utmost.  Moreover,  I  walked 
only  half  the  distance.  The  troops  moved  so  slowly 
that  I  reached  Soulge-le-Bruant  long  before  them, 
and  there  induced  a  man  to  drive  me  to  Laval.  I 
was  there  on  the  afternoon  of  January  16,  and  as 
from  this  point  trains  were  still  running  west- 
ward, I  reached  Saint  Servan  on  the  following  day. 
Thus  I  slipped  through  to  my  goal,  thereby 
justifying  the  nickname  of  L'Anguille — the  Eel — 
which  some  of  my  young  French  friends  had 
bestowed  on  me. 

A  day  or  two  previously  my  father  had  returned 
from  England,  and  I  found  him  with  my  stepmother. 
He  became  very  much  interested  in  my  story,  and 

x 


306  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

talked  of  going  to  Laval  himself.  Further  important 
developments  might  soon  occur,  the  Germans  might 
push  on  to  Chanzy's  new  base,  and  I  felt  that  I  also 
ought  to  go  back.  The  life  I  had  been  leading  either 
makes  or  mars  a  man  physically.  Personally,  I 
believe  that  it  did  me  a  world  of  good.  At  all  events, 
it  was  settled  that  my  father  and  myself  should  go 
to  Laval  together.  We  started  a  couple  of  days  later, 
and  managed  to  travel  by  rail  as  far  as  Rennes.  But 
from  that  point  to  Laval  the  line  was  now  very  badly 
blocked,  and  so  we  hired  a  closed  vehicle,  a  ram- 
shackle affair,  drawn  by  two  scraggy  Breton  nags. 
The  main  roads,  being  still  crowded  with  troops, 
artillery,  and  baggage  waggons,  and  other  impedi- 
menta, were  often  impassable,  and  so  we  proceeded 
by  devious  ways,  amidst  which  our  driver  lost  himself, 
in  such  wise  that  at  night  we  had  to  seek  a  shelter 
at  the  famous  Chateau  des  Rochers,  immortalized 
by  Mme.  de  Sevigne,  and  replete  with  precious 
portraits  of  herself,  her  own  and  her  husband's 
families,  in  addition  to  a  quantity  of  beautiful  furni- 
ture dating  from  her  time. 

It  took  us,  I  think,  altogether  two  days  to  reach 
Laval,  where,  after  securing  accommodation  at  one 
of  the  hotels,  we  went  out  in  search  of  news,  having 
heard  none  since  we  had  started  on  our  journey. 
Perceiving  a  newspaper  shop,  we  entered  it,  and  my 
father  insisted  on  purchasing  a  copy  of  virtually 
every  j  ournal  which  was  on  sale  there.  Unfortunately 
for  us,  this  seemed  highly  suspicious  to  a  local 
National  Guard  who  was  in  the  shop,  and  when  we 
left  it  he  followed  us.  My  father  had  just  then 
begun  to  speak  to  me  in  English,  and  at  the  sound 
of  a  foreign  tongue  the  man's  suspicions  increased. 
So  he  drew  nearer,  and  demanded  to  know  who  and 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  307 

what  we  were.  I  replied  that  we  were  English  and 
that  I  had  previously  been  authorised  to  accompany 
the  army  as  a  newspaper  correspondent.  My  state- 
ments, however,  were  received  with  incredulity  by 
this  suspicious  individual,  who,  after  one  or  two 
further  inquiries,  requested  us  to  accompany  him  to 
a  guard-house  standing  near  one  of  the  bridges 
thrown  over  the  river  Mayenne. 

Thither  we  went,  followed  by  several  people  who 
had  assembled  during  our  parley,  and  found  ourselves 
before  a  Lieutenant  of  Gendarmes,  on  the  charge  of 
being  German  spies.  Our  denouncer  was  most  posi- 
tive on  the  point.  Had  we  not  bought  at  least  a 
dozen  newspapers  ?  Why  a  dozen,  when  sensible 
people  would  have  been  satisfied  with  one  ?  Such 
extensive  purchases  must  surely  have  been  prompted 
by  some  sinister  motive.  Besides,  he  had  heard  us 
conversing  in  German.  English,  indeed  !  No,  no  ! 
He  was  certain  that  we  had  spoken  German,  and 
was  equally  certain  of  our  guilt. 

The  Lieutenant  looked  grave,  and  my  explana- 
tions did  not  quite  satisfy  him.  The  predicament 
was  the  more  awkward  as,  although  my  father  was 
provided  with  a  British  passport,  I  had  somehow 
left  my  precious  military  permit  at  Saint  Servan. 
Further,  my  father  carried  with  him  some  documents 
which  might  have  been  deemed  incriminating.  They 
were,  indeed,  safe-conducts  signed  by  various  German 
generals,  which  had  been  used  by  us  conjointly  while 
passing  through  the  German  lines  after  making  our 
way  out  of  Paris  in  November.  As  for  my  corre- 
spondent's permit,  signed  some  time  previously  by 
the  Chief  of  the  Staff,  I  had  been  unable  to  find  it 
when  examining  my  papers  on  our  way  to  Laval,  but 
had  consoled  myself  with  the  thought  that  I  might 


308  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

get  it  replaced  at  headquarters.*  Could  I  have 
shown  it  to  the  Lieutenant,  he  might  have  ordered 
our  release.  As  it  happened,  he  decided  to  send 
us  to  the  Provost  Marshal.  I  was  not  greatly  put 
out  by  that  command,  for  I  remembered  the  officer 
in  question,  or  thought  I  did,  and  felt  convinced  that 
everything  would  speedily  be  set  right. 

We  started  off  in  the  charge  of  a  brigadier- 
otherwise  a  corporal — of  Gendarmes,  and  four  men, 
our  denouncer  following  closely  at  our  heels.  My 
father  at  once  pointed  out  to  me  that  the  brigadier 
and  one  of  the  men  wore  silver  medals  bearing  the 
effigy  of  Queen  Victoria,  so  I  said  to  the  former,  "  You 
were  in  the  Crimea.  You  are  wearing  our  Queen's 
medal." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  I  gained  that  at  the 
Alma." 

"  And  your  comrade  ?  " 

"  He  won  his  at  the  Tchernaya." 

"  I  dare  say  you  would  have  been  glad  if  French 
and  English  had  fought  side  by  side  in  this  war  ?  " 
I  added.  "  Perhaps  they  ought  to  have  done  so." 

"  Parbleu  !  The  English  certainly  owed  us  a  bon 
coup  de  main,  instead  of  which  they  have  only  sold 
us  broken-down  horses  and  bad  boots." 

I  agreed  that  there  had  been  some  instances  of 
the  kind.  A  few  more  words  passed,  and  I  believe 
that  the  brigadier  became  convinced  of  our  English 
nationality.  But  as  his  orders  were  to  take  us  to 
the  Provost's,  thither  we  were  bound  to  go.  An  ever 
increasing  crowd  followed.  Shopkeepers  and  other 
folk  came  to  their  doors  and  windows,  and  the  words, 

*  The  red-cross  armlet  which  had  repeatedly  proved  so  useful  to  rne, 
enabling  me  to  come  and  go  without  much  interference,  was  at  our  hotel, 
in  a  bag  we  had  brought  with  us. 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  309 

"  They  are  spies,  German  spies ! "  rang  out  repeatedly, 
exciting  the  crowd  and  rendering  it  more  and  more 
hostile.  For  a  while  we  followed  a  quay  with 
granite  parapets,  below  which  flowed  the  Mayenne, 
laden  with  drifting  ice.  All  at  once,  however,  I 
perceived  on  our  left  a  large  square,  where  about  a 
hundred  men  of  the  Laval  National  Guard  were 
being  exercised.  They  saw  us  appear  with  our  escort, 
they  saw  the  crowd  which  followed  us,  and  they 
heard  the  cries,  "  Spies  !  German  spies  !  "  Forth- 
with, with  that  disregard  for  discipline  which  among 
the  French  was  so  characteristic  of  the  period,  they 
broke  their  ranks  and  ran  towards  us. 

We  were  only  able  to  take  a  few  more  steps.  In 
vain  did  the  Gendarmes  try  to  force  a  way  through 
the  excited  mob.  We  were  surrounded  by  angry, 
scowling,  vociferating  men.  Imprecations  burst 
forth,  fists  were  clenched,  arms  were  waved,  rifles 
were  shaken,  the  unruly  National  Guards  being  the 
most  eager  of  all  to  denounce  and  threaten  us. 
"  Down  with  the  spies  !  "  they  shouted.  "  Down 
with  the  German  pigs  !  Give  them  to  us  !  Let  us 
shoot  them  !  " 

A  very  threatening  rush  ensued,  and  I  was  almost 
carried  off  my  feet.  But  in  another  moment  I  found 
myself  against  the  parapet  of  the  quay,  with  my 
father  beside  me,  and  the  icy  river  in  the  rear.  In 
front  of  us  stood  the  brigadier  and  his  four  men 
guarding  us  from  the  angry  citizens  of  Laval. 

"  Hand  them  over  to  us  !  We  will  settle  their 
affair,"  shouted  an  excited  National  Guard.  "  You 
know  that  they  are  spies,  brigadier." 

"  I  know  that  I  have  my  orders,"  growled  the 
veteran.  "  I  am  taking  them  to  the  Provost.  It  is 
for  him  to  decide." 


310  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

"  That  is  too  much  ceremony,"  was  the  retort. 
"  Let  us  shoot  them  !  " 

"  But  they  are  not  worth  a  cartridge  !  "  shouted 
another  man.  "  Throw  them  into  the  river  !  " 

That  ominous  cry  was  taken  up.  "  Yes,  yes,  to 
the  river  with  them  !  "  Then  came  another  rush, 
one  so  extremely  violent  that  our  case  seemed 
desperate. 

But  the  brigadier  and  his  men  had  managed  to  fix 
bayonets  during  the  brief  parley,  and  on  the  mob 
being  confronted  by  five  blades  of  glistening  steel,  its 
savage  eagerness  abated.  Moreover,  the  old  brigadier 
behaved  magnificently.  "  Keep  back  !  "  cried  he. 
"  I  have  my  orders.  You  will  have  to  settle  me 
before  you  take  my  prisoners  !  " 

Just  then  I  caught  the  eye  of  one  of  the  National 
Guards,  who  was  shaking  his  fist  at  us,  and  I  said  to 
him,  "  You  are  quite  mistaken.  We  are  not 
Germans,  but  English  !  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  Anglais,  Anglais ! "  my  father 
exclaimed. 

While  some  of  the  men  in  the  crowd  were  more  or 
less  incredulously  repeating  that  statement,  a  black- 
bearded  individual — whom  I  can,  at  this  very 
moment,  still  picture  with  my  mind's  eye,  so  vividly 
did  the  affair  impress  me — climbed  on  to  the  parapet 
near  us,  and  called  out,  "  You  say  you  are  English  ? 
Do  you  know  London  ?  Do  you  know  Kegent  Street? 
Do  you  know  the  Soho  ?  " 

'  Yes,  yes  !  "  we  answered  quickly. 
8  You  know  the  Lei-ces-terre  Square  ?     What 
name  is  the  music-hall  there  ?  " 

"  Why,   the   Alhambra  !  "     The  "  Empire,"   let 
me  add,  did  not  exist  in  those  days. 

The  man  seemed  satisfied.     "  I  think  they  are 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  311 

English,"  he  said  to  his  friends.  But  somebody  else 
exclaimed,  "  I  don't  believe  it.  One  of  them  is 
wearing  a  German  hat." 

Now,  it  happened  that  my  father  had  returned 
from  London  wearing  a  felt  hat  of  a  shape  which 
was  then  somewhat  fashionable  there,  and  which, 
curiously  enough,  was  called  the  "  Crown  Prince," 
after  the  heir  to  the  Prussian  throne — that  is,  our 
Princess  Royal's  husband,  subsequently  the  Emperor 
Frederick.  The  National  Guard,  who  spoke  a  little 
English,  wished  to  inspect  this  incriminating  hat,  so 
my  father  took  it  off,  and  one  of  the  Gendarmes, 
having  placed  it  on  his  bayonet,  passed  it  to  the 
man  on  the  parapet.  When  the  latter  had  read 
"  Christy,  London,"  on  the  lining,  he  once  more 
testified  in  our  favour. 

But  other  fellows  also  wished  to  examine  the 
suspicious  headgear,  and  it  passed  from  hand  to  hand 
before  it  was  returned  to  my  father  in  a  more  or  less 
damaged  condition.  Even  then  a  good  many  men 
were  not  satisfied  respecting  our  nationality,  but 
during  that  incident  of  the  hat — a  laughable  one  to 
me  nowadays,  though  everything  looked  very  ugly 
when  it  occurred — there  had  been  time  for  the  men's 
angry  passions  to  cool,  to  a  considerable  extent  at  all 
events ;  and  after  that  serio-comical  interlude,  they 
were  much  less  eager  to  inflict  on  us  the  summary 
law  of  Lynch.  A  further  parley  ensued,  and  eventu- 
ally the  Gendarmes,  who  still  stood  with  bayonets 
crossed  in  front  of  us,  were  authorized,  by  decision 
of  the  Sovereign  People,  to  take  us  to  the  Provost's. 
Thither  we  went,  then,  amidst  a  perfect  procession 
of  watchful  guards  and  civilians. 

Directly    we    appeared    before    the    Provost,    I 
realized  that  our  troubles  were  not  yet  over.     Some 


312  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

changes  had  taken  place  during  the  retreat,  and 
either  the  officer  whom  I  remembered  having  seen  at 
Le  Mans  (that  is,  Colonel  Mora)  had  been  replaced  by 
another,  or  else  the  one  before  whom  we  now  appeared 
was  not  the  Provost-General,  but  only  the  Provost  of 
the  16th  Corps.  At  all  events,  he  was  a  complete 
stranger  to  me.  After  hearing,  first,  the  statements 
of  the  brigadier  and  the  National  Guard  who  had 
denounced  us,  and  who  had  kept  close  to  us  all  the 
time,  and,  secondly,  the  explanations  supplied  by 
my  father  and  myself,  he  said  to  me,  "  If  you  had 
a  staff  permit  to  follow  the  army,  somebody  at  head- 
quarters must  be  able  to  identify  you." 

"  I  think  that  might  be  done,"  I  answered,  "  by 
Major-General  Feilding,  who — as  you  must  know — 
accompanies  the  army  on  behalf  of  the  British 
Government.  Personally,  I  am  known  to  several 
officers  of  the  21st  Corps — General  Gougeard  and 
his  Chief  of  Staff,  for  instance — and  also  to  some  of 
the  aides-de-camp  at  headquarters." 

"  Well,  get  yourselves  identified,  and  obtain  a 
proper  safe-conduct,"  said  the  Provost.  "  Brigadier, 
you  are  to  take  these  men  to  headquarters.  If  they 
are  identified  there,  you  will  let  them  go.  If  not, 
take  them  to  the  chateau  (the  prison),  and  report 
to  me." 

Again  we  all  set  out,  this  time  climbing  the  hilly 
ill-paved  streets  of  old  Laval,  above  which  the 
town's  great  feudal  castle  reared  its  dark,  round 
keep ;  and  presently  we  came  to  the  local  college, 
formerly  an  Ursuline  convent,  where  Chanzy  had 
fixed  his  headquarters. 

In  one  of  the  large  class-rooms  were  several 
officers,  one  of  whom  immediately  recognized  me. 
He  laughed  when  he  heard  our  story.  "  I  was 


LE  MANS  AND  AFTER  313 

arrested  myself,  the  other  day,"  he  said,  "  because  I 
was  heard  speaking  in  English  to  your  General 
Feilding.  And  yet  I  was  in  uniform,  as  I  am  now." 

The  Gendarmes  were  promptly  dismissed,  though 
not  before  my  father  had  slipped  something  into  the 
hand  of  the  old  brigadier  for  himself  and  his  com- 
rades. Their  firmness  had  saved  us,  for  when  a 
mob's  passions  are  inflamed  by  patriotic  zeal,  the 
worst  may  happen  to  the  objects  of  its  wrath. 

A  proper  safe-conduct  (which  I  still  possess)  was 
prepared  by  an  aide-de-camp  on  duty,  and  whilst 
he  was  drafting  it,  an  elderly  but  bright-eyed  officer 
entered,  and  went  up  to  a  large  circular  stove  to 
warm  himself.  Three  small  stars  still  glittered 
faintly  on  his  faded  cap,  and  six  rows  of  narrow 
tarnished  gold  braid  ornamented  the  sleeves  of  his 
somewhat  shabby  dolman.  It  was  Chanzy  himself. 

He  noticed  our  presence,  and  our  case  was 
explained  to  him.  Looking  at  me  keenly,  he  said, 
"  I  think  I  have  seen  you  before.  You  are  the 
young  English  correspondent  who  was  allowed  to 
make  some  sketches  at  Yvre-1'Eveque,  are  you  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  mon  general"  I  answered,  saluting.  "  You 
gave  me  permission  through,  I  think,  Monsieur  le 
Commandant  de  Boisdefrre." 

He  nodded  pleasantly  as  we  withdrew,  then 
lapsed  into  a  thoughtful  attitude. 

Out  we  went,  down  through  old  Laval  and 
towards  the  new  town,  my  father  carrying  the  safe- 
conduct  in  his  hand.  The  Gendarmes  must  have 
already  told  people  that  we  were  "  all  right,"  for  we 
now  encountered  only  pleasant  faces.  Neverthe- 
less, we  handed  the  safe-conduct  to  one  party  of 
National  Guards  for  their  inspection,  in  order  that 
their  minds  might  be  quite  at  rest.  That  occurred 


314  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

outside  the  hospital,  where  at  that  moment  I  little 
imagined  that  a  young  Englishman — a  volunteer 
in  the  Sixth  Battalion  of  the  C6tes-du-Nord  Mobile 
Guards  (21st  Army  Corps) — was  lying  invalided  by  a 
chill,  which  he  had  caught  during  an  ascent  in  our 
army  balloon  with  Gaston  Tissandier.  Since  then 
that  young  Englishman  has  become  famous  as  Field- 
Marshal  Viscount  Kitchener  of  Khartoum. 

But  the  National  Guards  insisted  on  carrying  my 
father  and  myself  to  the  chief  cafe  of  Laval.  They 
would  take  no  refusal.  In  genuine  French  fashion, 
they  were  all  anxiety  to  offer  some  amends  for  their 
misplaced  patriotic  impulsiveness  that  afternoon, 
when  they  had  threatened,  first,  to  shoot,  and,  next, 
to  drown  us.  In  lieu  thereof  they  now  deluged  us 
with  punch  a  la  franpaise,  and  as  the  cafe  soon  became 
crowded  with  other  folk  who  all  joined  our  party, 
there  ensued  a  scene  which  almost  suggested  that 
some  glorious  victory  had  been  gained  at  last  by 
invaded  and  unfortunate  France. 


XIII 

THE   BITTER   END 

Battues  for  Deserters — End  of  the  Operations  against  Chanzy — Faid- 
herbe's  Battles — Bourbaki's  alleged  Victories  and  Retreat — The 
Position  in  Paris — The  terrible  Death  Rate — State  of  the  Paris  Army 
— The  Sanguinary  Buzenval  Sortie — Towards  Capitulation — The 
German  Conditions — The  Armistice  Provisions — Bourbaki's  Disaster 
— Could  the  War  have  been  prolonged  ? — The  Resources  of  France 
— The  general  Weariness — I  return  to  Paris — The  Elections  for  a 
National  Assembly — The  Negotiations — The  State  of  Paris — The 
Preliminaries  of  Peace — The  Triumphal  Entry  of  the  Germans — 
The  War's  Aftermath. 

WE  remained  for  a  few  days  longer  at  Laval,  and 
were  not  again  interfered  with,  there.  A  painful 
interest  attached  to  one  sight  which  we  witnessed 
more  than  once.  It  was  that  of  the  many  processions 
of  deserters  whom  the  horse  Gendarmerie  of  the 
headquarters  staff  frequently  brought  into  the  town. 
The  whole  region  was  scoured  for  runaways,  many 
of  whom  were  found  in  the  villages  and  at  lonely 
farms.  They  had  generally  cast  off  their  uniform 
and  put  on  blouses,  but  the  peasantry  frequently 
betrayed  them,  particularly  as  they  seldom,  if  ever, 
had  any  money  to  spend  in  bribes.  Apart  from  those 
battues  and  the  measures  of  all  kinds  which  Chanzy 
took  to  reorganise  his  army,  little  of  immediate  import 
occurred  at  Laval.  Gambetta  had  been  there,  and 
had  then  departed  for  Lille  in  order  to  ascertain  the 

315 


316  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

condition  of  Faidherbe's  Army  of  the  North.  The 
German  pursuit  of  Chanzy's  forces  ceased  virtually 
at  Saint  Jean-sur-Erve.  There  was  just  another 
little  skirmish  at  Sainte  Melaine,  but  that  was  all.* 
Accordingly  my  father  and  I  returned  to  Saint 
Servan,  and,  having  conjointly  prepared  some  articles 
on  Chanzy's  retreat  and  present  circumstances, 
forwarded  them  to  London  for  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette. 

The  war  was  now  fast  drawing  to  an  end.  I 
have  hitherto  left  several  important  occurrences 
unmentioned,  being  unwilling  to  interrupt  my  narra- 
tive of  the  fighting  at  Le  Mans  and  the  subsequent 
retreat.  I  feel,  however,  that  I  now  ought  to  glance 
at  the  state  of  affairs  in  other  parts  of  France.  I 
have  just  mentioned  that  after  visiting  Chanzy  at 
Laval  (January  19),  Gambetta  repaired  to  Lille  to 
confer  with  Faidherbe.  Let  us  see,  then,  what  the 
latter  general  had  been  doing.  He  was  no  longer 
opposed  by  Manteuffel,  who  had  been  sent  to  the 
east  of  France  in  the  hope  that  he  would  deal  more 
effectually  than  Werder  with  Bourbaki's  army,  which 
was  still  in  the  field  there.  ManteuffePs  successor 
in  the  north  was  General  von  Goeben,  with  whom, 
on  January  18,  Faidherbe  fought  an  engagement  at 
Vermand,  followed  on  the  morrow  by  the  battle  of 
Saint  Quentin,  which  was  waged  for  seven  hours 
amidst  thaw  and  fog.  Though  it  was  claimed  as  a 
French  victory,  it  was  not  one.  The  Germans,  it 
is  true,  lost  2500  men,  but  the  French  killed  and 
wounded  amounted  to  3500,  and  there  were  thousands 

*  I  should  add  that  on  January  17  the  Germans  under  Mecklenburg 
secured  possession  of  Alen9on  (Chanzy's  original  objective)  after  an  in- 
effectual resistance  offered  by  the  troops  under  Commandant  Lipowski, 
who  was  seconded  in  his  endeavours  by  young  M.  Antonin  Dubost,  then 
Prefect  of  the  Orne,  and  recently  President  of  the  French  Senate. 


THE   BITTER  END  317 

of  men  missing,  the  Germans  taking  some  5000 
prisoners,  whilst  other  troops  disbanded  much  as 
Chanzy's  men  disbanded  during  his  retreat.  From 
a  strategical  point  of  view  the  action  at  Saint  Quentin 
was  indecisive. 

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  Gam- 
betta.  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 
Hericourt.  These  actions  resulted  in  Bourbaki's 
retreat  southward  towards  Besancon,  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, 


318  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

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  Lines- 
men, 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  bombard- 
ment, 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  19,  the  day  after  King  William  of 
Prussia  had  been  proclaimed  German  Emperor  in 
Louis  XIV's  "Hall  of  Mirrors"  at  Versailles.* 
Without  doubt,  the  Buzenval  sortie  was  devised 

*  The  decision  to  raise  the  King  to  the  imperial  dignity  had  been 
arrived  at  on  January  1. 


THE  BITTER  END  319 

chiefly  in  order  to  give  the  National  Guard  the  con- 
stantly demanded  opportunity  and  satisfaction  of 
being  led  against  the  Germans.  Trochu,  who  assumed 
chief  command,  establishing  himself  at  the  fort  of 
Mont  Valerien,  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  repre- 
senting 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,  particu- 
larly 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  FHotel  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  revolu- 
tionary clubs  and  suppressing  some  extremist  news- 
papers. But  four  hours  later  Trochu  resigned  his 


320  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

position  as  Military  Governor  of  Paris  (in  which  he 
was  replaced  by  General  Vinoy),  only  retaining  the 
Presidency  of  the  Government.  Another  import- 
ant 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  negotia- 
tions 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  Govern- 
ment 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- 


THE  BITTER  END  321 

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  unfortu- 
nate army.  Manteuffel  having  compelled  it  to 
retreat  from  Besan9on  to  Pontarlier,  it  was  next 
forced  to  withdraw  into  Switzerland  *  (neutral  terri- 
tory, 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 

*  Before  this  happened,  Bourbaki  attempted  his  life, 

Y 


322  MY  DAYS   OF  ADVENTURE 

garrison,  so  gallantly  commanded  by  Colonel  Denf  ert- 
Rochereau,  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  over- 
throw 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 


THE  BITTER  END  323 

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  hi 
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 


324  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

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  Bona- 
partist  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  dis- 
memberment 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 


THE  BITTER  END  325 

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 


326  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

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  Elysees  on  that 
historical  occasion.  I  have  related  elsewhere  *  how 
a  number  of  women  of  the  Paris  Boulevards  were 
whipped  in  the  Champs  Elysees  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  hi  the  Faubourg 
St.  Honore,  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 

*  In  "Republican  France." 


THE  BITTER  END  327 

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  Elysees  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  spec- 
tacular character  than  their  entry  had  been.  As  with 
their  bands  playing,  whilst  they  themselves  sang 
the  "  Wacht  am  Ehein  "  in  chorus,  they  marched  up 
the  Champs  Elysees  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,  more- 
over, 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  re- 
membered. 


328  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

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  at- 
tained 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  regime  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  petard,  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  hi  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, 


THE  BITTER  END  329 

perhaps,  be  privileged  to  contribute  to  it  by  pre- 
paring 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  Clement 
Thomas  and  Lecomte  only  a  few  hours  after  their 
assassination.  I  saw  the  Vendome  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  demonstra- 
tion was  made  there.  Provided  with  passports  by 
both  sides,  I  went  in  and  out  of  the  city  and  witnessed 
the  fighting  at  Asnieres  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  Elysee  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 


330  MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE 

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  pro- 
gress. 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,  151 

Adare,  Lord,  184,  187 

Albert,  Archduke,  37 

Albert,  Prince  (the  elder),  of  Prussia, 
208 

Alengon  taken,  316 

Alexander  II  of  Russia,  16 

Alexandra,  Queen,  11,  12 

Allix,  Jules,  134,  135 

Amazons  of  Paris,  134  ct  seq. 

Ambert,  General,  99 

Ambulances,  Anglo -American,  63 
et  seq. ;  at  Conlie,  233  ;  at  Le 
Mans,  286,  287;  author's  im- 
pression of,  297 

Amiens,  228,  251,  252 

Arabs  with  Chanzy,  266,  276 

Arago,  Emmanuel,  86, 150;  Etienne, 
87,  131,  144 

Ardenay,  269,  273 

Armistice,  conditions  for  an,  110, 
147,  152  ;  concluded,  320,  321 

Army,  French,  under  the  Empire, 
27,  28,  38,  39  ;  of  Paris,  87,  88, 
237 — see  also  Paris  ;  of  Brittany, 
231  et  seq.,  235,  240,  274 ;  at  the 
outset  of  National  Defence,  214  ; 
of  the  Vosges,  216  et  seq. — see  also 
Garibaldi  ;  of  the  East,  218 — see 
also  Bourbaki ;  of  the  Loire,  255 — 
see  also  D'Aurelle,  Coulmiers, 
Chanzy,  Le  Mans,  etc. ;  of  the 
North,  see  Faidherbe  ;  at  the  end 
of  war,  322,  232;  for  German 
army  see  German  and  names  of 
commanders. 

Arnim,  Count  von,  287 

Artists,  French  newspaper,  16,  17 

Assembly,  see  National. 

Aurelle,  see  D'Aurelle. 

Auvours  plateau  (Le  Mans),  261, 
262,  268,  275,  276,  277 

BALLOON  service  from  Paris,  14, 
117  et  seq. 


Bapaume,  battle  of,  254 

Barry,  General,  263,  267,  268,  269, 

272,  273,  275,  281,  282 
Battues  for  deserters,  315 
Bazaine,  Marshal,  35,  43,  60,  67, 

146  ct  seq.,  219 
Beauce  country,  210,  211 
Beaumont,  fight  at,  302 
Beaune-la-Rolande,  battle  of,  238, 

239 

Belfort,  siege  of,  253,  321,  322 
Bellemare,  General  Carr6  de,   146, 

148,  319 

Bellenger,  Marguerite,  100 
Belly,  Felix,  136  et  seq. 
Beraud,  Colonel,  304 
Bernard,  Colonel,  240,  245,  247 
Berezowski,  16 
Beuvron,  Abb6  de,  266 
Billot,  General,  238,  321 
Bingham,  Captain  Hon.  D.  A.,  32, 

57,  66,  73,  329 
Bismarck,  Prince,  25,  26,  36,  37,  63, 

100,  109,  110,  128,  152,  164,  195, 

221,  320,  321,  324 
Blanc,  Louis,  88,  150 
Blanchard,  P.,  156,  157 
Blanqui,  Auguste,  100,  142, 144, 151 
Blewitt,  Dr.  Byron,  63,  64 
Boisdeffre,   Captain,  later  General 

de,  255,  256,  266 
Bonaparte,  Lycee,  see  Lyc6e. 
Bonaparte,  Prince  Pierre,  31.     See 

also  Napoleon. 
Bonnemains,  General  de,  48 
Boots,  army,  238,  243,  249,  250 
Bordone,  General,  217 
Borel,  General,  225 
Boulanger,  General,  his  mistress,  48 
Bourbaki,  General  Charles,  43,  146, 

227,  228,  238,  239,  243,  253,  254, 

255,  274,  316,  317,  321 
Bourbon,     Palais,    see    Legislative 

Body. 
Bourdillon,  General,  266,  284 


332 


INDEX 


Bourges,  209,  210,  211,  254 
Bourget,  Le,  146,  148,  253 
Bower,  Mr.,  130 
Bowles,  T.  Gibson,  130 
Brie-Comte-Robert,  172  et  seq. 
Brownings,  the,  185 
Bulwer,  Sir  E.,  185 


,  E.  and  J.,  285 
Cambriels,  General,  214,  216  et  aeq., 

225 

Canrobert,  Marshal,  43 
Capitulations,  see  Amiens,  Belfort, 

Longwy,     Metz,     Paris,     Sedan, 

Strasbourg,  Toul,  etc. 
Capoul,  Victor,  49,  50 
Caricatures  of  the  period,  85,  92, 

127,  128,  129,  138 
Casimir-Perier,  J.  P.,  140 
Cathelineau,  Colonel,  218 
Chabaud-Latour,  General,  222 
Challemel-Lacour,  212 
Cham  (M.  de  Noe),  127,  128,  131 
Chambord,  Comte  de,  325 
Champagn6,  fighting  at,  261,  273, 

276 

Champigny,  sortie  of,  237 
Change,  fighting  at,  273,  278 
Chanzy,  General  Alfred,  his  early 

career  and  appearance,  264,  265  ; 

his   orders  and  operations  with 

the  Loire  forces,  224,  237,  239, 

240,  242,  243,  251,  254,  255  et  seq., 

261,   267  et  seq.,  270,   274,   275, 

282,  292,  301,  313,  315,  316,  322, 

323 

Charette,  General  Baron,  277 
Chartres,  210,  211,  230,  255 
"  Chartreuse  de  Panne,  La,"  293 
Chassille,  fight  at,  303 
Chateaubriand,  Count  and  Countess 

de,  21 
Chateaudun,  fight  at,  145,  211,  215, 

216 

Chatillon,  fight  at,  101  et  seq. 
Chemin  des  Boeufs  (Le  Mans),  262, 

275,  278,  283,  284 
"  Claque,"  the,  18,  19 
Claremont,  Colonel,  95,  162,  168 
Clocks,  German  love  of,  93,  109 
Clubs,  Paris,  social,  65  ;  revolution- 

ary, 100,  134  et  seq.,  329 
Colin,  General,  236,  269 
Collins,  Mortimer,  40 
Colomb,  General  de,  262,  263,  268, 

275,  277,  325 
Colomb,  General  von,  263 
Commune  of  Paris,  attempts  to  set 


up  a,  143,  144,  149,  150 ;   rising 

of  the,  325,  328  et  seq. 
Conde,  Prince  de,  207 
Conlie,  camp  of,  205,  231  et  seq., 

274,  300  et  seq. 
Connerre,  247,  269 
Corbeil,  Germans  at,  177  et  seq. 
Correspondents,  English,  in  Paris, 

56  et  seq. 
Coulmiers,  battle  of,  188,  222,  224, 

263 

Couriers  from  Paris,  114  et  seq. 
Cousin-Montauban,  see  Palikao. 
Cowardice  and  panic,  cases  of,  102, 

103,  245,  246,  258,  280,  281,  294, 

295 

Crane,  Stephen,  293 
Cremer,  General,  226,  253 
Cremieux,  Adolphe,  86,  95,  206,  207, 

212 

Crouzat,  General,  225,  227,  238 
Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  (Emperor 

Frederick),  47,  114,  183,  215,  327 
Curten,  General,  263,  267  et  seq., 

272  et  seq. 

Doily  News,  217,  223,  224,  232,  250 
Daily  Telegraph,  4,  21,  184 
Daumier,  Honore,  128 
D'Aurelle    de    Paladines,    General, 

188,  214,  215,  220,  222,  224,  225, 

233,  237,  238,  239,  240 
Davenport  brothers,  186 
"  Debacle,  La,"  Zola's,  44,  293,  296 
Dejean,  General,  53 
Delescluze,  Charles,    19,   142,   150, 

151 

Denfert-Rochereau,  Colonel,  322 
Des  Pallieres,  General  Martin,  237 

et  seq. 

Devonshire,  late  Duke  of,  40 
Dieppe,  Germans  reach,  251 
Dijon,  fighting  at,  219,  220,  226,  321 
Dore,  Gustave,  40,  127 
Dorian,  Fr6deric,  87,  149,  150,  151 
D'Orsay,  Count,  230 
Douay,  General  Abel,  47 ;    General 

F61ix,  43 

"  Downfall,  the,"  see  Debacle. 
Droue,  fight  at,  243  et  seq.,  295,  296 
Dubost,  Antonin,  316 
Ducrot,  General,  34,  101,  141,  151, 

221,  222,  237,  253,  254,  319 
Duff,    Brigadier-General    (U.S.A.), 

196 

Dumas,  Alexandre,  19 
Dunraven,  Lord,  see  Adare. 
Duvernois,  Clement,  56 


INDEX 


333 


"  ECHOES  of  the  Clubs,"  40 

Edwardes,  Mrs.  Annie,  203 

Elgar,  Dr.  Francis,  223 

Elysee  Palace,  329 

Emotions  in  war,  293  et  seq. 

Empress,  see  Eugenie. 

English   attempts   to   leave   Paris, 

110   et  seq. ;    exodus  from,    160 

et  seq. 
Eugenie,  Empress,  43,  45,  46,  51, 

52,  53,  54,  71,  82,  99,  127,  185 

FAIDHEBBE,  General,  214,  228,  251, 
252,  254,  255,  316,  322 

Failly,  General  de,  43,  66 

Fashions,  Paris,  17,  18,  107 

Favre,  Jules,  20,  60,  67,  80,  84,  86, 
87,  107,  108,  109,  121,  144,  149, 
163,  231,  320,  321,  324 

Feilding,  Major-General,  312,  313 

Fennell  family,  4 

Ferry,  Jules,  80,  86,  150,  151 

Fitz- James,  Due  de,  135 

Flourens,  Gustavo,  19, 142, 143, 144, 
147,  150,  151 

Forbach,  battle  of,  50,  51 

Forbes,  Archibald,  168,  326 

Forge,  Anatole  de  la,  227 

Fourichon,  Admiral,  87,  95,  207,  212 

Franco-German  War,  cause  and 
origin  of,  25,  26,  36,  37;  pre- 
parations for,  34  et  seq. ;  outbreak 
of,  37  ;  first  French  armies,  43  ; 
departure  of  Napoleon  III  for, 
44  et  seq. ;  Germans  enter  France, 
47  ;  first  engagements,  47,  48,  60, 
62,  63 ;  news  of  Sedan,  66,  67  ; 
troops  gathered  in  Paris,  87,  88, 
91  ;  German  advance  on  Paris, 
90  et  seq.  ;  Chatillon  affair,  101 
et  seq.  ;  investment  of  Paris,  105 
et  seq. ;  French  provincial  armies, 
206  et  seq. ;  the  fighting  near  Le 
Mans,  251  et  seq. ;  the  retreat  to 
Laval,  282  et  seq. ;  armistice  and 
peace  negotiations,  110,  147,  152, 
320,  321.  See  also  Paris,  and 
names  of  battles  and  commanders. 

Frederick,  Emperor,  see  Crown 
Prince. 

Frederick  Charles,  Prince,  of 
Prussia,  63,  146,  219,  225,  239, 
243,  255,  257,  266,  267,  269,  270, 
271,  274,  279,  282,  287,  288,  291 

Freycinet,  Charles  de  Saulces  de, 
213,  214,  220,  224,  225,  235,  237, 
238,  242,  254,  322 

Frossard,  General,  34,  35,  43,  47,  50 


GALLIFFET,  Mme.  de,  64 
Gambetta,  Leon,  19,  58,  59,  60,  79, 
80,  83,  86,  103,  108,  121  et  seq., 
212,   213,   214,   218  et  seq.,   224, 
225,  229,  231,  232,  234,  235,  236, 
237,  238,  252,  253,  264,  258,  274, 
282,  301,  315,  316,  322,  326 
Garde,   see   Imperial,   Mobile,    and 

National. 
Garibaldi,  General,  12,  40,  216  et 

seq.,  226,  253,  321,  326 
Garibaldi,  Ricciotti,  216,  226 
Garnier-Pages,  86 

Germans,  early  victories,  47,  48,  50, 
60 ;    alleged  overthrow  at   Jau- 
mont,  63 ;  Sedan,  66,  67  ;  advance 
on  Paris,  90  et  seq. ;  expelled  from 
Paris,   129  ;    love  of  clocks,  93, 
109;     Princes,    183,    187,    188; 
strategy,  270;    exactions  at  Le 
Mans,     286     et     seq. ;      officers' 
manners,  291,   292 ;    entry  into 
Paris,  326 
Glais-Bizoin,  86,  95 
Godard  brothers,  117 
Goeben,  General  von,  254,  316 
Gougeard,  General,  236,  237,  240, 
244  etseq.,  256,  258,  265,  269,  273, 
275,  276,  277 

Gramont,  Due  Agenor  de,  37 
Gramont-Caderousse,  Duo  de,  291 
Greenwood,  Frederick,  6,  223 
Guard,      see      Imperial,      Mobile, 
National. 

HALIJDAY,  Andrew,  197 

Hazen,  General  W.  B.  (U.S.A.),  194 

Heiduck,  General  von,  288 

H6ricourt,  battle  of,  317 

Home,  David  Dunglass,  184  et  seq. 

Horses  in  the  War,  203,  323 

Hozier,  Captain,  later  Colonel,  Sir 

H.,  193,  271 
Hugo,  Victor,  88,  89,  100,  150 

Illustrated  London  News,  14,  16,  17, 
18,  21,  23,  32,  71,  118  et  seq.,  161 
Illustrated  Times,  5,  6,  14 
Imperial  Guard,  38,  39 
Imperial  Prince,  45,  46,  47 

JABBAS,  General,  35 
Jaumont  quarries,  63 
Jaureguiberry,   Admiral,   262,   263, 

265,  267,  272,  273,  278,  281,  282, 

303,  304 
Jaures,  Admiral,  231,  235,  236,  240, 

261,  265,  302 


334 


INDEX 


Jerrold,     Blanchard,     15,    57,    58, 

69 

Johnson,  Captain,  106,  107,  114 
Jouffroy,   General,   256,   257,    263, 

267,  272,  273 
Jung,  Captain,  44 

KANITZ,  Colonel  von,  289,  290 

Kean,  Edmund,  4 

Keratry,  Comte  de,  87,   144,  231, 

234,  235,  236 
Kitchener,  Lord,  314 
Kraatz-Koschlau,  General  von,  279, 

280 

LABOUGHERE,  Henry,  57,  130,  159 

Ladmirault,  General  de,  43 

La  Ferte-Bernard,  268 

Lalande,  General,  274,  275,  279 

La  Malmaison  sortie,  141,  197 

La  Motto-Rouge,  General  de,  207, 

209,  212,  214 
Landells,  183 
Langres,  218,  253 
Laon,  capitulation  of,  90 
Laval,  retreat  on,  282,  301  et  seq. ; 

adventure  at,  306  et  aeq. 
Lebceuf,  Marshal,  27,  35,  43,  53 
Lebouedec,  General,  236,  281,  303 
Lebrun,  General,  34,  35,  43 
Lecomte,  General,  329 
Ledru-RoUin,  150 
Le  F16,  General,  87,  207 
Lefort,  General,  206,  207,  212 
Legislative    Body,    French    (Palais 
Bourbon),  37,  53,  60,  61,  67,  74, 
75,  78  et  seq.,  84 

Le  Mans,  201,  224,  225,  231,  235, 
236,  240,  242,  247,  248 ;   Chanzy 
at,  254  et  seq.  ;    town  described, 
258  et  seq. ;        country  around, 
260,  279;    fighting  near,  267  et 
aeq. ;     decisive    fighting    begins, 
272,  275,  277  ;  retreat  from,  282, 
283,  284,  296,  297  et  seq. ;  battle 
losses  at,  282,  283  ;  street  fighting 
at,  284  et  seq. ;   Germans  at,  284 
et  seq. ;  their  exactions,  286  et  aeq. ; 
Chanzy's  statue  at,  292 
Lermina,  Jules,  100 
Lewal,  Colonel,  43 
Lipowski,  Commandant,  316 
Lobbia,  Colonel,  217,  218 
Loigny-Poupry,  battle,  239 
Longwy,  capitulation,  321 
Lycee  Bonapatre,  now  Condorcet, 

15,  17,  18,  19 
Lyons,  Lord,  95 


MACMAHOK,  Marshal,  35,  43,  47,  50, 
55,  60,  67,  265  ;  Mme.  de,  64 

Magnin,  M.,  87 

Maine  country,  243,  260  et  seq. 

Malmaison,  see  La  Malmaison. 

Mans,  see  Le  Mans. 

Mantes,  Germans  at,  197  et  seq. 

Manteuffel,  General  von,  228,  251, 
316,  321 

Marchenoir  forest,  239,  240,  241 

Mario,  Jessie  White,  217 

Marseillaise,  the,  49,  50 

Mayhew,  brothers,  6,  7,  56 

Mazure,  General,  212 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  Frederick 
Francis,  Grand  Duke  of,  208,  233, 
235,  238,  243,  266,  302,  316 

Metz,  44,  47,  146  et  seq.,  219,  225 

Michel,  General,  225 

Millaud,  A.,  his  verses,  124,  125 

Middleton,  Robert,  217 

Mobile  Guard,  27,  28  ;  in  Paris,  61, 
87,  88,  99,  102,  103 

Moltke,  Marshal  von,  209,  215,  219, 
221,  243,  251,  321 

Monson,  Sir  Edmund,  41 

Montbard,  artist,  23,  24 

Mora,  Colonel,  266 

Morny,  Due  de,  52 

Motte  Rouge,  see  La  Mo tte -Rouge. 

Moulin,  artist,  17,  21,  22,  44 


NADAB,  Jules  Tournachon,  called, 
14,  98,  117,  118,  119  et  seq.,  124, 
125 

Napoleon  I,  188,  327,  328 

Napoleon  III,  16,  21,  23  et  seq.,  30, 
31,  33  et  seq.,  39,  43  et  seq.,  54,  60, 
100,  185,  208,  324,  328 

Napoleon  (Jerome),  Prince,  36,  60 

National  Assembly  elected,  324, 
325 

National  Defence  Government,  86, 
87,  90,  106 ;  confirmed  by  a 
plebiscitum,  151  ;  in  the  pro- 
vinces, 206,  207,  212,  213,  214 

National  Guard  (Paris),  51,  73,  74, 
75  et  seq.,  118,  129,  130,  132,  143, 
144,  150,  319,  325 ;  of  Chateau- 
dun,  145,  215 ;  of  Laval,  309  et 
seq. 

New  York  Times,  42,  50,  61 

Niel,  Marshal,  27,  34 

Noe,  Vicomte  de,  see  Cham. 

Nogent-le-Rotrou,  230,  267 

Noir,  Victor,  assassinated,  31 

Nuits,  fighting  at,  227,  253 


INDEX 


335 


OLLIVIER,  Emile,  33,  37,  45,  51  et 

aeq.  ;  Madame,  33,  52 
Orleans,    188,   208,   209,   210,   211, 

237  ;  battle  of,  239,  240 

PALADINES,  see  D'Aurelle. 

Palikao,  General  de,  54,  55,  60,  61, 
67,  79,  80 

Pall  Mall  Gazette,  6,  32,  223,  224, 
250,  301 

Parign6 1'Eveque,  262,  268,  269,  272 

Paris,  cafes  in,  19  ;  riots  in,  29,  30, 
33  ;  elections  in,  30,  31  ;  early  in 
the  war,  39,  48  et  seq.,  51,  56  et 
aeq.  ;  defensive  preparations,  56, 
60,  61,  91,  94,  96,  97  ;  fugitives 
and  refugees,  62,  92  ;  wounded 
soldiers  in,  62  ;  Anglo -American 
ambulance  in,  63  et  aeq.  ;  army 
and  armament  of,  87,  145,  318 ; 
Hugo's  return  to,  88,  89  ;  German 
advance  on,  90 ;  last  day  of 
liberty  in,  96  ;  live-stock  in,  97  ; 
customary  meat  supply  of,  97 ; 
clubs  in,  65,  100,  134  et  seq.,  329  ; 
defence  of  Chatillon,  101  et  aeq.  ; 
siege  begins,  104 ;  attempts  to 
leave,  110  et  seq.  ;  first  couriers 
from,  114  et  aeq.  ;  balloon  and 
pigeon  post,  117  et  aeq.,  228,  229  ; 
siege  jests,  126,  127  ;  spyophobia 
and  signal  craze  in,  129  et  aeq.  ; 
amazons  of,  134  et  aeq. ;  re- 
connaissances and  sorties  from, 
139  et  seq.,  141,  142,  144,  146, 
148,  220,  221,  228,  237,  253, 
256,  318,  319;  news  of  Metz 
in,  145  et  aeq.  ;  demonstrations 
and  riots  in,  143,  144,  148  et  aeq., 
319  ;  plebiscitum  in,  151  ;  food 
and  rations  in,  152  et  aeq.,  228, 
229,  317  ;  English  people  leave, 
160  et  aeq.  ;  state  of  environs  of, 
165  et  aeq.  ;  steps  to  relieve,  219, 
222,  255,  256,  274;  bombard- 
ment of,  221,  318  ;  health  of,  317, 
318  ;  deserters  in,  318  ;  affray 
in,  319 ;  capitulation  of,  320  ; 
author  returns  to,  323  ;  aspect 
after  the  armistice,  325 ;  Ger- 
mans enter,  325  et  aeq.  ;  rising  of 
the  Commune,  328  et  aeq.  See 
also  Revolution. 

Paris,  General,  268,  269,  273,  275 

"  Partant  pour  la  Syrie,"  49 

Peace  conditions,  110,  152,  324,  325 

"  Pekin,  Siege  of,"  41 

Pelcoq,  Jules,  artist,  16,  118,  156 


Pelletan,  Eugene,  86 

Picard,  Ernest,  86,  149,  150 

Pietri,  Prefect,  70 

Pigeon-Post,  228,  229,  274 

Piquet,  M.,  283,  284,  299 

Pius  IX,  185 

Pollard  family,  4 

Pontifical  Zouaves,  277 

Pontlieue  (Le  Mans),  263,  273,  275, 

280,  281,  283,  284,  293 
Pont-Noyelles,  battle  of,  252 
Postal -services,  see  Balloon,  Courier, 

Pigeon. 

Prim,  General,  232 
Prussians,  not  Germans,  108,  109 
Pyat,  F61ix,  142,  145,  146,  147,  150 

QUATREFAGES  de  Breau,  109 
Quinet,  Edgar,  88 

BAMPONT,  Dr.,  117 

"  Red  Badge  of  Courage,"  293 

Red  Cross  Society,  French,  63,  64 

Reed,  Sir  E.  J.,  223 

Rennes,  248,  249 

Retreat,  Chanzy's,  on  Marchenoir 

forest,  240 ;    on  Le  Mans,  242  et 

seq.  ;  on  Laval,  282,  301  et  aeq. 
Revolution  of  September  4.  .67,  68, 

73  et  seq. 

Reyau,  General,  207 
Richard,  Mayor  of  Le  Mans,  275, 

286,  287,  et  seq. 
Robinson,  Sir  John,  223,  250 
Rochefort,  Henri,  19,  29,  31,  32,  84, 

86,  127,  144,  146,  147,  149,  150 
Rochers,  Chateau  des,  306 
Rodellec  du  Porzic,  Lieutenant,  245 
Roquebrune,  General  de,  283,  284 
Rothschild,  Baron  Alphonse  de,  109, 

155 

Rouen,  Germans  reach,  251 
Rouher,  Eugene,  45,  60,  84 
Rousseau,  General,  236,  256,  263, 

267,  269 
Russell,  Sir  William  Howard,  40, 

183,  197 
Ryan,  Dr.  C.  E.,  63 

SAINT  Agil,  246,  247 

Calais,  236,  241,  256,  257 

Cloud  chateau  destroyed,  140 

Jean-sur-Erve,  301  et  seq.,  316 

Malo,  202,  249,  301 

Quentin,     defence     of,     227 ; 

battle  of,  316 
Servan,  20,  203  etseq.,  305,  316 


Sainte  Suzanne,  302 


336 


INDEX 


Sala,  G.  A.,  6,  7,  56,  67,  58,  68,  69, 

70,  82 

Sardou,  Victorien,  81 
Sass,  Marie,  50 
Saxe-Meiningen,  Prince  of,  66 
Saxony,  Crown  Prince  of,  168,  326, 

327 

Schmidt,  General  von,  284,  303 
Sedan,  news  of,  66,  67 ;   Napoleon 

at,  208 

Senate,  Imperial,  84 
Shackle,  4 

Sieges,  see  Paris  and  other  places. 
Signal  craze  in  Paris,  131  et  seq. 
Sille-le-Guillaume,  233, 300, 301, 302 
Simon,  Jules,  59,  83,  86 
Skinner,  Hilary,  183 
Sologne  region,  211 
Songs,  some  Victorian,  13 
Sophia,  Queen  of  Holland,  185 
Spuller,  Eugene,  122 
Spyophobia  in  Paris,  129  et  seq. ;  at 

Laval,  306  et  seq. 
Stendhal,  293 
Stofiel,  Colonel,  34 
Strasbourg,  siege  of,  98,  142 
Susbielle,  General,  237 

TANN,  General  von  der,  146,  208, 
210,  212,  214,  215,  222,  224 

Tertre  Rouge  position  (Le  Mans), 
262,  275,  279 

Thackeray,  W.  M.,  7,  8 

Thiers,  Adolphe,  60,  80, 90, 147, 152, 
324,  325,  329 

Thomas,  General  Clement,  329 

Tibaldi,  149 

Times,  the,  183,  224 

Tissandier  brothers,  266,  314 

Toul  capitulates,  142 

Treaty,  see  Peace. 

Trochu,  General,  28,  60,  71,  72,  80, 
84,  96,  91,  98,  99,  101,  129,  133, 
141,  144,  148,  149,  150,  151,  207, 
220,  221,  222,  229,  231,  237,  254, 
256,  265,  274,  319,  320 

Troppmann,  31 

Tuilerie  position  (Le  Mans),  262,  279 
etseq.,  295 

Tuileries  palace,  22,  70,  81,  82,  329 

UHBICH,  General,  98 

VAILLANT,  Marshal,  131 
Valentin,  Edmond,  98 
Vendome  column,  329 
Versailles  during  Paris  siege,   105, 
182  et  seq. 


Villemessant,  H.  de,  115,  116 

Villersexel,  battle  of,  254,  317 

Villorceau,  fighting  at,  240 

Vimercati,  Count,  36 

Vinoy,  General,  87,  101,  237,  319, 
320,  321 

Vizetelly  family,  2  et  seq. 

Vizetelly,  Adrian,  63,  223 

Arthur,  9,  14,  20,  323,  326,  330 
Edward  Henry,  2,  9,  14,  17, 
29  32,  42,  50,  217,  218,  226 
Elizabeth  Anne,  9 
Ellen  Elizabeth,  4,  5 
Ernest  Alfred,  parentage,  4, 
5  ;  men  he  saw  in  childhood,  6,  8  ; 
his  passionate  temper,  6,  7  ;  at 
school  at  Eastbourne,  9  et  seq.  ;  at 
London  sights,  11  ;  sees  Gari- 
baldi, 12  ;  and  Nadar,  14  ;  goes 
to  France,  14,  15 ;  at  the  Lycee 
Bonaparte,  15,  18,  19 ;  his  tutor 
Brossard,  15, 16  ;  sees  an  attempt 
on  Alexander  II,  16  ;  assists  his 
father,  17  et  seq.  ;  his  first  article, 
18  ;  sees  famous  Frenchmen,  19  ; 
visits  the  Tuileries,  22  ;  goes  to 
Compiegne,  22,  23  ;  is  addressed 
by  Napoleon  III,  23,  24;  sees 
Paris  riots,  29,  30  ;  visits  Prince 
Pierre's  house,  31 ;  is  befriended 
by  Captain  Bingham,  32  ;  dreams 
of  seeing  a  war,  38  et  seq. ;  has  a 
glimpse  of  its  seamy  side,  42,  43  ; 
sees  Napoleon  III  set  out  for  the 
war,  44  et  seq.  ;  hears  Capoul  sing 
the  "  Marseillaise,"  49,  50  ;  sees 
a  demonstration,  51  ;  meets 
English  newspaper  correspond- 
ents, 56  et  seq. ;  is  called  a  little 
spy  by  Gambetta,  58,  59  ;  with 
the  Anglo-American  ambulance, 
63  et  seq.  ;  witnesses  the  Revolu- 
tion, 67,  68,  73  et  seq. ;  takes  a 
letter  to  Trochu,  71,  72 ;  sees 
Victor  Hugo's  return  to  Paris,  88, 
89  ;  witnesses  a  great  review,  91 ; 
describes  Paris's  last  day  of 
liberty,  96  et  seq.  ;  sees  Captain 
Johnson  arrive,  106,  107  ;  visits 
balloon  factories,  117  et  seq.  ; 
ascends  in  Nadar's  captive  bal- 
loon, 120  ;  sees  Gambetta  leave 
in  a  balloon,  121,  122 ;  learns 
fencing,  127  ;  goes  to  a  women's 
club,  134  et  seq.  ;  interviews  the 
Paris  Amazons,  136  et  seq. ;  wit- 
nesses the  demonstration  of 
October  21.. 43,  144;  and  that 


INDEX 


337 


of  October  31.  .149  et  seq. ;  food 
arrangements  of  his  father  and 
himself,  153  et  seq.  ;  leaves  Paris, 
164  et  aeq.  ;  at  Brie  Comte- 
Robert,  172  et  seq. ;  at  Corbeil, 
177  et  seq. ;  at  Champlan,  179, 180 ; 
at  Versailles,  182  et  seq.  ;  visits 
Colonel  Walker  with  his  father, 
190  et  seq.  ;  leaves  Versailles,  196, 
197 ;  at  Mantes,  198,  199 ; 
reaches  Saint  Servan,  203  ;  visits 
the  Camp  of  Conlie,  232  et  seq.  ; 
accompanies  Gougeard's  division 
to  the  front,  240  et  seq.  ;  in  the 
retreat  on  Le  Mans,  242  et  seq.  ; 
receives  the  baptism  of  fire,  245  ; 
has  an  amusing  experience  at 
Rennes,  248,  249  ;  returns  to  Le 
Mans,  263 ;  sees  and  sketches 
Chanzy,  265,  276 ;  witnesses 
part  of  the  battle  of  Le  Mans, 
272  et  seq. ;  sees  the  stampede 
from  the  tile-works,  281  ;  and 
the  confusion  at  Le  Mans,  283  et 
seq.  ;  his  views  on  German 
officers,  291,  292  ;  on  a  soldier's 
emotions,  293,  294,  295;  on 
ambulances,  296;  escapes  from 
Le  Mans,  297  et  seq. ;  at  Sille-le- 
Guillaume,  300  ;  at  the  fight  of 
Saint  Jean-sur-Erve,  302  et  seq.  ; 
follows  the  retreat,  304,  305 ; 
returns  to  Laval,  306 ;  has  a 
dramatic  adventure  there,  307 
et  seq.  ;  returns  to  Paris,  323  ; 
sees  the  Germans  enter  Paris, 
326  et  seq.  ;  some  of  his  experi- 
ences during  the  Commune,  329 
Vizetelly,  Frank,  4,  12,  40,  41,  127 

,  Francis  (Frank)  Horace,  3,  9 

,  Frederick  Whitehead,  4,  249, 

250 


Vizetelly,  Henry,  3 

,  Henry  Richard  (author's 

father),  4,  5,  7,  8,  12,  14,  16,  17, 
18,  20,  22,  23,  31,  32,  48,  56,  58, 
67,  68,  71,  73  etseq.,  118,  121,  128, 
143,  158,  160,  161,  165,  172  et 
seq.,  189  et  seq.,  194,  197  et  seq., 
204,  205,  305  et  seq.,  323,  326,  330 

,  James  Thomas  George,  4,  17, 

40 

,  James  Henry,  3,  4 

,  Montague,  17,  20,  250,  301 

Voigts  Rhetz,  General  von,  279, 
286,  290 

Vosges,  see  Army  of  the. 

Voules,  Horace,  9 

WALKER,  Colonel  Beauchamp,  190 

et  seq. 

War,  emotions  in,  293  et  aeq.  ;  war- 
news  in  1870.  .252,  253.  See  also 

Franco-German  War. 
Washburne,  Mr.,  163,  165,  194 
Werder,  General  von,  216,  219,  225, 

226,  253,  254,  316 
Whitehurst,  Felix,  21 
William,  King  of  Prussia,  later 

Emperor,  109,  128,  169,  185,  197, 

209,  215,  318,  327 
Wimpfen,  General  de,  101 
Wittich,  General  von,  145,  210,  215 
Wodehouse,  Hon.  Mr.,  95,  162,  165, 

172  et  seq.,  196 
Wolseley,  Field-Marshal  Lord,  40, 41 


Yvre-1'Eveque,  235,  236,  248,  258, 
259,  261,  262,  268,  275,  276,  277 


ZOLA,   Emile,   his   "  La   Deb&cle," 
44,  293,  296 


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