Recollections of Thirty-nine Years in the Army

The events during the next few days were in their several ways characteristic of the time and circumstances. The press boasted that seventy German soldiers had been captured at, and brought into the city from, the late battle, while rumour ran that the captives were cast into the ordinary prisons, there to associate with the criminal population of such places. Seasonal cold was rapidly increasing in severity; the supply of fuel giving way, the issues of food, already under strict supervision, were still more rigidly superintended; the quantities allowed per ration curtailed, not only in respect to persons in health, but for the sick and wounded. The explosion of an establishment devoted to the manufacture of Orsini bombs caused a good deal of injury to life and property, at the same time that the attention of the authorities was thereby drawn to the circumstance that those implements were being prepared on an extensive scale, but for use within the walls, rather than against the enemy still beyond the lines of fortification. The diminishing supply of materials for the manufacture of gunpowder directed attention to the catacombs as a possible source whence in greater emergency saltpetre might be obtained. Between National and Mobile Guards quarrels occurred from the circumstance that the former were employed only on the fortifications, while the latter were sent to the front, there to engage against the enemy. As the readiest way of solving the difficulty it was ordered that “the citizen soldiers should in their turn be taken beyond those lines, in order that they might be gradually accustomed to the sight of the enemy.”

An excursion to the village of Boulogne brought me face to face with an incident new to me in “civilized” warfare. That small town, once the favourite resort of visitors, was now reduced to utter dilapidation; its ordinary occupants fled; its ruins giving shelter more or less complete to defending troops; its streets barricaded; garden and other walls loopholed. Through some of those loopholes sentries took aim at isolated Germans, as the latter came into view among the woods in which they were posted; at others, a sentry for a small “tip” handed his rifle to a stray visitor to have a shot at le Prusse. It was not long, however, before a rattle of rifle bullets on the wall put a stop to this kind of “sport.” From Valérien and other forts heavy continuous firing went on, their missiles directed upon particular points of the German position, where siege batteries were in course of erection for possible bombardment of our city; from those positions an equally active shellfire upon French outposts went steadily on.

Among the minor events of the time, one was the addition of several battalions of Federals to those already existing. Another, an attempt made to suppress the extent to which cantinières had come to march at the head of battalions. The grounds of that attempt included the fact that in all instances such followers were young girls, many of them little more than children, who were thus exposed to temptation while beyond the observation and care of their parents or other guardians.

For once in a way our besiegers appear to have been taken unawares. At Le Bourget, towards the end of October,295 a small body was successfully attacked by Francs Tireurs and Mobiles. But their success was of brief duration. Report circulated that reinforcements applied for by Bellemere were refused by Trochu, that refusal the outcome of personal feeling. Be that as it may, an attack in force was speedily delivered by the Germans; the position carried,296 with great slaughter of the occupants. There was consternation in Paris. All through the 31st the streets were in a state of turmoil. Masses of people, the great majority armed, marched towards the Hôtel de Ville; that building surrounded by them; the members of the Defence made prisoners; cries of “Vive la Commune!” interspersed with yells, and clarion blasts everywhere; the Commune was in fact declared. But not for long. The 106th Battalion of National Guards forced their way through the insurgents, rescued the Government, and so saved the capital from scenes which were to disgrace it four months later on, in which scenes the same battalion was to play so iniquitous a part.

The extent to which sickness prevailed within the city had become alarming. Accommodation and other necessities for the suffering were severely taxed; for although regular combats between the opposing forces were not frequent, the results from collisions of daily occurrence, and of almost continuous fire from the batteries of the enemy, were a large influx of wounded men. Funeral processions along the cold sloppy streets were of constant occurrence. Certain maladies, among them small-pox, prevailed to a great and fatal extent. As if to emphasize these conditions, news circulated that Metz had capitulated;297 a large portion of the investing force thus set free on its way to increase that of the besiegers around Paris. So ended the month.

CHAPTER XXIX

1870. NOVEMBER. SIEGE OF PARIS

Le Jour des Morts – Requiem – Political excitement – Conditions within the city – Progress of affairs – Porte St. Denis – Intended sortie – Battle of Champigny – Night on the field.

Le Jour des Morts was devoted to visiting the cemetery of Père la Chaise. That vast city of the silent was more than usually crowded with mourners and other visitors. Recently covered graves were numerous; around many such stood sorrowing relatives and friends, some of whom placed thereon wreaths or other tokens of affection; around others stood similar groups, some of whom redecorated tombs of those longer numbered among the dead. The assembled crowds were grave and demure, as befitted the occasion. At intervals the sound of heavy guns came as if floating on the air. On reaching the higher ground within the cemetery, the sharp ping of German rifle shots came sharply and often, as the missiles passed overhead or fell among us; for it seemed as if they were directed upon the mourners by the more advanced posts of the besiegers out of a spirit of wantonness – not unlike, it must be confessed, that already shown by French sentries and others at Boulogne. But “it was not war” in either instance.

A requiem mass in the Madeleine for victims of the war up to that date was a most impressive service. That beautiful church, draped in black for the occasion, was filled to crowding by men and women, belonging to all social grades, those of the higher classes wearing deep mourning, all having lost members of their families on the field of battle, or by disease which had already assumed the character of pestilence; in near proximity to the altar sat some few mutilated men, who had so far escaped with their lives. While the service was in progress, the rich music of the recently erected organ, then used for the first time, was broken in upon from time to time by the sound of heavy artillery from the outer forts. During the address delivered by the Abbé Deguerry the same accompaniment continued. In less than four months thereafter the venerable and respected Abbé was numbered among the victims of the Commune.298

Political excitement was rampant within the city; serious outbreak by the inhabitants of Belleville and Vilette was dreaded; but on the result being declared of elections rendered necessary by recent events at the Hôtel de Ville, the disturbing elements accepted for a time the defeat thereby given to their cause, and gradually became less demonstrative in behaviour. But not for long. The publication of orders for reorganization of the National Guard was immediately followed by renewed disturbances in those localities, from neither of which did men volunteer for the ranks in obedience to the call do so; some battalions, already including members from those quarters, refused to take their turn of duty on the ramparts, declaring their intention to plunder the city if such orders were persisted in. The difficulties of the existing Government had become very great. Public loans for purposes of the defence were called for and subscribed. Negotiations were carried on for an armistice, whether with or without ravitaillement. These proved unsuccessful;299 but, as events were subsequently to show, acceptance of the terms of Bismarck, hard as they were, would have saved much suffering and loss of human life.

Winter weather rapidly advanced; strong winds, rain, and sleet gave way to snow and bitter frost. Clothing had to be supplemented in various ways; skins of animals slaughtered were utilised, and articles of various kinds “converted” in a manner heretofore unknown. Fuel had become scarce. The public markets were bare of all things eatable; horses and other draught animals belonging to private individuals were requisitioned; licences issued by the municipality to official classes and others permitted to retain and draw rations for particular specified numbers; an embargo was placed upon the small fish already mentioned as furnishing sport for anglers on the Seine. All persons were placed on the universal ration scale,300 but “the poor” had the additional advantage of gratuitous meals provided at certain places by mairies. The more respectable classes refused to so declare themselves; the consequence was that little, if any, advantage in the way of free meals reached them, whereas the disturbing elements of Belleville and Vilette reaped the full advantages of the scheme, while the classes alluded to became gradually reduced to direst poverty and privation. The wounded increased rapidly in numbers; disease in ordinary forms and as epidemics acquired alarming prevalence, various hotels and other large buildings being taken up as additional hospitals. Some schools and colleges still remained open; the Théâtre Française and a few similar establishments presented the ordinary scenes of performances in one portion of the buildings; while in others lay wounded men, sick, dying, and dead.

From outside came evidences that our besiegers were actively at work. Intervals between rounds of fire from Prussian guns became shorter as time wore on. From French outposts came reports that siege batteries were being erected, and armed with Krupp guns of large calibre, with the evident object of bombarding the city. Additional measures were taken to interfere with communication, such as it was, between Paris and the provinces, even to the extent of keeping a more than usual sharp look-out upon messenger pigeons, many of these birds having failed to arrive. Two, if not more, of our balloons, while floating across positions occupied by our enemies, were brought to earth by their bullets, or otherwise fallen into their hands, their occupants threatened with trial by Court-Martial on charges of unauthorizedly attempting to traverse the circle of investment.

In the year 1814, and again in 1815, the allied army entered Paris by the Porte St. Denis. The impression arose that an entrance by our besiegers was possibly intended on the present occasion to take place from the same direction; the defences on that side were accordingly strengthened to so great an extent that those of us able to do so took an opportunity of visiting them. One entire cold foggy day was so spent by me, the Red Cross card procuring for me ready admittance, and “circulation” everywhere. Rumour said that on some of the advanced posts in this direction, men of the opposing forces were wont, during the long weary hours of night, to meet in friendly intercourse and partake of such small hospitality as they could, leaving for the morrow their respective transition from “friends” to “enemies.” Records of the Peninsular War relate similar stories in reference thereto.

As the end of November drew near, rumour spread that the outer gates of the city had been closed; that a sortie on a greater scale than any of those preceding was about to take place; that the investing circle was to be broken, and the victorious army from Paris to march triumphantly into the provinces. Along the thoroughfares of the city leading eastward marched battery after battery of artillery and battalion after battalion of infantry; the crowds cheered, general excitement prevailed; high-sounding promises were expressed that our isolation from the outside world was about to cease. Towards evening orders reached those concerned that early on the morrow the attack was to be delivered; at the same time the publication of a subsequently much jeered at “Proclamation” by a general officer became the subject of comment. At the early hour of one o’clock the following morning a heavy cannonade was opened upon the positions held by the enemy from the whole line of forts on the west and south of the city, and continued during the succeeding hours, so heavy indeed that according to calculation some two hundred missiles per minute were discharged upon them, while a no less furious bombardment was opened upon our outposts, the continuous bursting of shells in mid air of a grey foggy morning having a most weird effect. Throughout those weary hours equipages of all kinds to be used in the removal of wounded were being collected and arranged by the Intendance; while on the river, rows of bateaux mouches, ready prepared for similar work, were moored to the embankment. At length morning broke, and such a morning! bitterly cold, a dense fog hanging over us; we, several hours without shelter or refreshment, our innate powers of maintaining animal warmth materially reduced by privation of food. Hour after hour passed, and we were still in our assigned positions; some few conveyances and boats took their departure for the front, but that was all. Noon passed; afternoon advanced. Rumour spread that the intended attack on the position at Champigny had miscarried; that during the previous night the Marne had come down in flood, available pontoons proved insufficient in the emergency, the passage of the forces across the stream had to be postponed. We knew that on the morrow the attempt would be renewed, but all perceived that meantime preparations against that attack would be made by those upon whom it was to be directed.

As daylight broke on November 30 heavy cannonading as on the previous day began. Now the long line of conveyances was set in motion eastward, along the road between Charenton and the Seine. As we neared Joinville we met an escort party conveying to the city a considerable number of German soldiers who had fallen into their hands. At the same time we learned, what subsequent information confirmed, that the first onslaught by our besieged troops was so far successful, the village of Champigny being attacked by them; the mitrailleuse sweeping its streets, the Wurtembergers and Saxons by whom it was occupied were driven from it with extremely heavy loss to their numbers. During the past night the bridge across the Marne that had suffered from the mania of destruction already mentioned was temporarily repaired, a bridge of boats completed, so that the troops, together with thirty-three batteries of artillery, had crossed in the darkness and begun their attack at an unexpectedly early hour. There was no great difficulty connected with the transit of Red Cross conveyances. As we advanced towards Champigny, appearances betokened continued success on the part of the French; and although wounded men were being carried to the rear in great numbers, the general impression was that the endeavours of our citizen forces against their enemies were on this occasion attended by success. Thus matters continued during the next two hours; our establishments moving little by little onwards, following as we then considered the victorious progress of those with whom our sympathies naturally were. The fight now raged with great fury, its scene covering a vast extent of ground, the ridges that stretch from Brie to Champigny, and beyond the latter place still further to our right, presenting an almost uninterrupted line of batteries from which the deadly missiles fell thickly upon the troops engaged, and upon the ground occupied by us, while from the forts in rear of us similar showers of projectiles directed against those positions whizzed over our heads. Now there came a pause; brancardiers carrying wounded, and conveyances of sorts similarly laden, came from the front, and continued their journey rearward. There is confusion. The range of some of the enemy’s guns has changed; so has the line of fire. Shells fall more and more near to us; Spahis gallop in an irregular way among us. There is confusion among the ambulance conveyances; brancardiers are unable to discover those to which they respectively belong. For the time being means are unavailable for the removal from the field of men who had fallen wounded. After a short time there was a rally. Again it was evident that the French were attacking the German positions; but ere night closed in they were everywhere repulsed. It was during the state of confusion just described that the commander of the 4th Zouaves, having received what proved to be his death-wound, was dropped and so left by the men who had brought him so far from the front. A shell had burst in their close vicinity. They abandoned the unfortunate officer, helpless as he was, and themselves disappeared in the general confusion. Some few of us expressed indignation in no doubtful terms. We rallied to the aid of the dying man, to whom we gave such aid as we were able to render.301 A gentleman connected with one of the Embassies who was present succeeded in finding his brougham; in it was placed our patient, and so we started back to Paris for further help. Having recrossed the Marne, we were driven by the road traversing the Parc de Vincennes, and so entered the city by the Place du Trone. Denser and more dense became the crowd as we neared the city; people in uniform and in bourgeois dress, waggons, and troops in disorder, all served to impede our progress. When near enough to the bulwarks to observe what was taking place upon the slopes connected with them, a scene of the most astounding character presented itself. Crowds of people, male and female, were there, indulging in games as if the occasion were a holiday; and yet within a very short distance from them their brothers and other relations were engaged in deadly combat, torn and mangled, in many instances, into shapeless masses of humanity. Having entered the city, we were driven quickly to the American ambulance, and there within a few short hours the sufferings of the poor Chéf de Battalion had ceased. He entered his rest.

Before we could regain the field of battle, darkness had set in. Firing had much diminished, though still proceeding heavily, the flames from guns and burning buildings around us lighting up from time to time portions of the plain on which the events of the day had taken place. A considerable number of Red Cross men had returned in the hope of succouring such of the wounded as were left on the ground. Bitterly cold was the night, as hour after hour, till well past midnight, all of us, with lamp in hand, and in small separate bodies pursued our search, our own frames benumbed, unsupported by sufficient food, and without the possibility of obtaining such comfort as hot coffee or tea could afford. While so engaged, to our surprise, there flashed over us from the Faisanderie a beam of bright white light. For a moment it illumined the Prussian position upon the heights of Villiers, then suddenly ceased. A shell flew through the air. There was a loud explosion, preceded by a blaze of flame. We were made aware that for the first time the electric light was made use of in this way. At last, wearied, tired, exhausted by cold, we were able in the early hours of morning to reach our respective hotels.

CHAPTER XXX

1870. DECEMBER. SIEGE CONTINUED

The day after battle – Disaster – Next day – Paris “dead” – Benevolence and clamour – Citizen soldiers – A possible significance – Spy mania – A duel – Sortie on Le Bourget – A lady on the field – After the battle – An Irishman in French Navy – Christmas – Public opinion – First shell in Paris.

From early morning, and all next day,302 ambulance equipages and men patrolled the field of battle in the performance of their merciful work, their search for wounded made difficult by the dense fog prevailing. Hostilities had ceased for the time, to permit of interment of the dead, and succour to the wounded. But unhappily the truce was taken advantage of by stragglers of many kinds, some of whom were bent on plunder. Everywhere on and near the scene of recent combat there was devastation; houses burnt and otherwise dilapidated; boundary walls reduced to fragments; trees broken and torn by shot; the ground furrowed by shells. Bivouacking in the open, or in small groups taking advantage of such shelter as remained against the bitterly cold wind, were soldiers, who, after the fight of yesterday, so spent the night where they had fought; more than half benumbed by cold, they kept up camp fires by means of fragments of furniture, some of great value, taken from neighbouring ruins. Their cooking utensils were supplied for the occasion by viande freshly cut from horses killed by Prussian shells. The carriages were soon filled with wounded. They were driven back to Paris, their loads appropriately disposed of; after which a second trip was made to the field, the carriages again filled, the wounded in them similarly distributed, the horses getting over more than thirty-six miles in the double journey. Rumours spread that in some few instances the rôle of the Red Cross had been departed from; intrenching tools conveyed in carriages bearing that emblem; information interchanged between contending forces, communication of which was beyond its proper sphere. The rumours applied to the one side as to the other.

Throughout the dreary night that followed, the French troops had to remain in bivouac among the scenes and wreck of battle, their physical strength, already lowered by privation, still further reduced by fatigue and cold, for the weather was now bitterly cold; their morale impaired by the scenes around them, added to the experiences of the previous day. As subsequently learned, conditions of the German troops were very different. All who had survived on the 30th were withdrawn from the field of battle and positions near it, their places taken by others who had not seen the carnage of that day, well fed, comfortably sheltered, and thus, in physical condition as in morale, better fitted than their opponents to renew the combat. At break of day on December 2 a furious onslaught was made by them upon the French, hundreds of whom were so benumbed by cold as to be unable to stand to their arms. No wonder, therefore, that to them the day became one of disaster. During all that day wounded in great numbers arrived from the field in Paris, all available accommodation for them became crowded. Eminent surgeons were busy in the performance of needful operations among the five thousand six hundred so brought to them. As to the dead, their probable numbers did not transpire; but at one point of the extensive range over which the fight extended, eight hundred were interred in one long trench. During the succeeding night the troops recrossed the Marne and bivouacked in the Bois de Vincennes.

The most determined effort yet made to break the besieging circle having failed, the fact was now apparent that unless aid came from the provinces, all within the beleaguered city were about to enter upon a condition of things more desperate than we had as yet experienced. On the day immediately following what undoubtedly was a withdrawal from the field of combat, the aspect of Paris and of its people was that of sadness, mourning, and uncertainty. The day was cold, a thick fog overhung the city, with occasional falls of snow. Along the great thoroughfares the usual traffic was replaced to a great extent by conveyances engaged in the transport of wounded; funeral processions, more or less imposing in their surroundings, met with in different parts of the city. The absence of sound of heavy guns in the early part of the day seemed to add to the sombreness of our conditions. It was in a manner a “relief,” as afternoon advanced, to hear the familiar boom from outlying forts, as their guns opened fire upon the German positions in front of them.

A week of sadness passed; Paris “dead”; its shroud a thick covering of snow; not a wheeled carriage in the streets; scarcely a foot-passenger to be seen. Winter more than usually severe was upon us; even the more unsettled classes of the populace seemed to give a thought to the seriousness of conditions present, and more particularly to those of the near future. As time advanced, so did the prevailing miseries among the besieged increase and assume different forms; in some disease and death, in others starvation in respect to food and fuel, insufficient clothing, want of necessary care and attendants among the poorer classes, and so on. As a result of exhausted fuel supplies, the streets were dimly lighted by oil or petroleum lamps; shops closed at nightfall; in streets and boulevards pedestrians had to grope their way along the distance that intervened between the flickering lamps. Meanwhile, by day and night, with hardly an interruption, the sound of heavy cannonading was heard with suggestive distinctness. An occasional hope expressed that help from the provinces would soon arrive, only to be destroyed by the receipt by pigeon post of news of defeat near Orleans.303 Riot and a spirit of upheaval became manifest; the places where “demonstrations” by the dangerous classes were most pronounced, the Halles Centrales, and others where food was issued. Within the churches scenes of a different kind were enacted: some were nearly filled with men, women, and youths engaged in private devotion; in others were groups in the midst of which the Service for the Dead was being performed over a more or less richly draped coffin, according to the social position of him or her whose body it enclosed.