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THE PROLETARIAN REVOLT. 
 
 A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 The Paris Commune 
 
 OF 1871. 
 
 EY 
 
 G. B. BENHAM. , : . 
 
 MAf t 8 im 
 
 "War is immora), yet we fight."— ^k^iif-^'igault. _ -.^rv^. ' 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO: » 
 
 INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING CO. '> '^ 
 
 \^^— f^* 
 
>I28 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congi-ess, in the year 1898, by 
 
 G. B. Beniiam, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Coiia-ress, at Washington. 
 
 THE LIBRARY i 
 OF CONGRESS 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Most of the historians of the Commune have 
 said very little concerning the situation of affairs 
 which gave birth to this extraordinary uprising. 
 It is true that some of them have recognized its 
 essentially proletarian character, but few have 
 connected the Commune with the long series of 
 events which led up to it. These authors have 
 seen in the Paris revolution merely an outbreak 
 of the turbulent members of society, discontented 
 without reason and engaged in hopeless rebellion 
 against the position in life to which ignorance and 
 incapacity had consigned them. Many writers 
 upon this subject, unable to divest themselves of 
 their prejudices, and striving rather to give a 
 popular than a just description of this revolt, 
 have declared the aspirations of the French pro- 
 letariat to have been compounded of folly and 
 iniquity, leading, on this occasion, to an attempt to 
 destroy the foundations of society and inaugurate 
 a reign of lawlessness and disorder. Contentedly 
 believing all things old to be good and all usages 
 established to be necessary, these writers have 
 taken but little notice of the developments in in- 
 dustrial and political economy, or of the increasing 
 intelligence of the workers and their consequent 
 realization of their changed condition. 
 
 It would be necessary to trace the history of 
 the evolution of capitalist production, and to 
 review the political and literary progress of 
 modern civilization, to recount in detail all the 
 
nil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 causes which led to this great uprising. It , 
 will be sufficient here to indicate the principal 
 historical events which have logical connection 
 with the Commune. 
 
 The presence of that spirit of inquiry and of 
 secular progress, which, during the preceding four 
 centuries had developed civilization, made possible 
 the American and French revolutions. In them 
 was signalized the advance of political democracy 
 and the decline of absolutism, monarchical and 
 religious. That surrounding economic conditions 
 continually fostered discontent, accelerated the in- 
 tellectual advance and raised the Democratic aspira- 
 tions of the proletariat, is evidenced in the doc- 
 trines promulgated advocating a more equitable 
 distribution of natural resources and industrial 
 products, by a political rearrangement of society. 
 The uncertainties caused by the swift changes 
 in their industrial condition, together with the 
 dissipation of the religious credulity of the 
 past, produced among the workers in all civ- 
 ilized nations such independent thought and far- 
 reaching desires as to dismay the foremost in the 
 ranks of those striving for a mere political democ- 
 racy. The conquest of science and invention 
 reacted upon the moral and intellectual growth of 
 the time. Not content with the surrender of divine 
 prerogatives of domination by kings and ecclesias- 
 tics, this new movement demanded the abrogation 
 of the political supremacy which has its basis in 
 the private ownership and control of the social 
 powers of production. 
 
 During the revolutions of 1848, which shook 
 nearly every throne in Europe, almost the first indi- 
 cations of distinct working-class political activity 
 are to be recognized. In every quarter of Europe 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Red Spectre of Communism stalked before the 
 astonished eyes of the middle-class, who had in- 
 tended to secure by these revolts which they had 
 initiated, merely constitutional government, free- 
 dom of the press, of speech and the supremacy of 
 commercial interests. Frightened by this unex- 
 pected apparition, the bourgeoisie quickly made 
 terms with the defenders of monarchical and aris- 
 tocratic privileges, sacrificing many of their re- 
 forms in the interests of " public order." 
 
 While the authorities were engaged in sup- 
 pressing these uprisings, working-class representa- 
 tives from various countries met at London and 
 issued the Manifesto of the Communist Party. The 
 ideas enunciated by this programme spread among 
 the workers in every civilized land, and the influ- 
 ence of the manifesto was soon to be traced in all 
 the working-class agitation of the time.* Vigorous 
 as were the efforts of governments and their com- 
 mercial and clerical allies to prevent speakers and 
 writers from spreading the new doctrines, it was 
 only in the suppression of speech that the authori- 
 ties were measurably successful. But the progress 
 of ideas keeps pace with social development. 
 Publications poured from secret presses and were 
 widely circulated among the "lower orders of 
 society." 
 
 In 1864, the International Workingmen's 
 Association was founded. The purpose of the or- 
 ganization, as stated by its founders, was to " weld 
 into one body the whole militant proletariat of 
 Europe and America ." This Association flourished. 
 
 * Previous to 1SS8, the text had been reprinted many times in Switzer- 
 land, England, America and France. Two editions in Russian were printed 
 in Geneva, one by Bakounine [1864], and one by Vera Zasulitch [1882]. 
 It has been published in Danish and Spanish several times and once in 
 Armenian. Its circulation has been enormous. 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It was the most prominent and formidable 
 workingmen's society of its day, and was the first 
 recognition of the complete identity of the workers' 
 interests in all civilized countries.* In France it 
 grew rapidly, and the most intelligent and ad- 
 vanced of the proletariat became its members. 
 
 The most superficial acquaintance with the 
 progress of industrial development, and the conse- 
 quent revolution in the conditions of existence of 
 vast masses in society, should convince anyone 
 that an organized attempt to establish a social 
 democratic autonomy was sure, sooner or later, 
 somewhere, to be made; the peculiar situation of 
 
 ♦Permanent statutes adopted at its first meeting, London, 1864, and con- 
 firmed at its Geneva congress in 1866 : 
 
 " In consideration that the emancipation of the laboring classes must 
 be accomplished by the laboring classes, that the battle for the emancipation 
 of the laboring classes does not signify a battle for class privileges and 
 monopolies, but for equal rights and duties, and the abolition of class rule; 
 
 " That the economic dependence of the laboring man upon the monop- 
 olist of the implements of work, the sources of life, forms the basis of every 
 kind of servitude, of social misery, of spiritual degradation, and political 
 dependence; 
 
 ♦' That, therefore, the economic emancipation of the laboring classes 
 is the great end to which every political movement must be subordinated as 
 a simple auxiliary; 
 
 " That all exertions which, up to this time, have been directed towards 
 the attainment of this end, have failed on account of the want of solidarity 
 between the varions branches of labor in every land, and by reason of the 
 absence of a brotherly bond of unity between the laboring classes of different 
 countries; 
 
 " That the emancipation of labor is neither a local nor a national, but 
 a social, problem, which embraces all countries in which modern society 
 exists, and whose solution depends upon the practical and theoretical co- 
 operation of the most advanced lands; » 
 
 ' ' That the present awakening of the laboring classes in the industrial 
 lands of Europe gives occasion for new hope, but at the same time contains 
 a solemn warning not to fall back into old errors, and demands an immediate 
 union of the movements not yet united; 
 
 •' , in consideration of all these circumstances, the first Inter- 
 national Labor Congress declares that the International Workingmen's Asso- 
 ciation, and all societies and individuals belonging to it, recognize truth, 
 right, and morality as the basis of their conduct towards one another and 
 their fellow-men, without respect to color, creed, or nationality. This con- 
 gress regards it as the duty of man to demand the rights of a man and citizen, 
 not only for himself, but for every one who does his duty. No rights with- 
 out duties; no duties without rights." 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 Paris and of France in 1 871, seemed to the workers 
 to supply the necessary conditions for such an 
 attempt. The traditions which the French people 
 had inherited from the great revolution of 1789, 
 no doubt influenced many of the partisans of the 
 Commune. The belief, too, that there was a scheme 
 on foot in the Assembly to restore the Orleanists, 
 prompted many of the advanced Republicans to 
 join in the movement. But the tens of thousands 
 of National Guards, made up exclusively of work- 
 ingmen, under the control of an elected body com- 
 posed almost entirely of workingmen, stamp the 
 uprising with an indubitably proletarian character. 
 Its significance can hardly be overestimated. It 
 was a skirmish of the forces which will meet in 
 greater actions on broader fields. Its history is 
 that of the greatest revolt of "free " workers the 
 world has ever seen. 
 
 In consideration of the almost world-wide 
 unrest among the wage- working class, and the tre- 
 mendous growth of social democratic opinion, it 
 is believed that a just survey of the incidents of 
 such a movement and an attempt to portray its 
 significance will be acceptable to all inclined to in- 
 vesigate the social problems of the age. 
 
 This volume is therefore submitted to the 
 public with the consciousness that the facts ascer- 
 tainable have been fairly presented, and it is 
 hoped in a manner which will, to some extent, 
 correct the many popular misconceptions regarding 
 the acts, the interests and the personnel of the 
 Commune. 
 
 G. B. B^NHAM. 
 
 San Francisco, January, 1898. 
 
rr 
 
J-AeFi^u/vs dc^u^ie ^/lo ^rr^n^issemcn^s i^(6.- irAie/i, P^^ris is e^u/uiUx^ . 
 
I. 
 
 France and The Second Empire. 
 
 The France that the Revolution of 1789-96 
 produced was one in which " neither the upper nor 
 lower crust could long endure." Feudalism had 
 held a longer sway there than in England, and the 
 constitution which was a heritage from the days of 
 Danton could not form a lasting basis of govern- 
 mental action. The progress to the revolution of 
 1830 developed the working class as a conscious 
 social factor, and here first appeared, in somewhat 
 vague form, the proletarian movement for what 
 is now known as Socialism. This Revolution of 
 1830 was a middle-class affair, but so determined 
 were the proletarians and so desperately did they 
 defend the barricades that they distinguished them- 
 selves from the bourgeoisie whose initiative they had 
 followed. This was repeated on a larger scale in 
 1848, and the workingmen, to further differentiate 
 themselves, took up the red flag as their banner, an 
 act which gained for them the name of Red Republi- 
 cans.* One of the results of the displacement of 
 Royalty in 1 848 was the elevation of Louis Napoleon 
 Bonaparte to the presidency of the newly consti- 
 tuted French Republic. He was elected by an im- 
 mense popular majority. The circumstances of 
 'coup d'etat," by which he became Emperor^ are 
 too well known to be related here. 
 
 *Before the middle of June, 1848, the assembly issued a decree dissolving 
 the national workshops. Forty thousand men took to the barricades to the 
 
2 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 The International Workingmen's Association 
 became a prominent factor in politics during 
 the Second Empire. The various political par- 
 ties, from Orleanists to Communists, for several 
 years preceding 1870, viewed with much the 
 same complacency the too evident decadence of 
 the Empire. All classes in society were rest- 
 less. The Orleanists hoped for a restoration to 
 power. The w^orkingmen had received little and 
 had nothing to hope for in a continuation of the 
 Napoleonic regime. Various events of more or 
 less importance had made the Emperor unpopular; 
 his warlike ventures had not raised the military 
 prestige of France; his cousin, Pierre Bonaparte, 
 was simply fined ^5000 for the murder of citizen 
 Victor Noir. Gigantic schemes of fraudulent 
 speculation, countenanced and fostered by those 
 in high places, absorbed the earnings and savings 
 of the people and involved thousands in ruin. 
 Judicial tribunals were debauched and the public 
 officials rioted in corruption and extravagance. f 
 
 It became necessary to divert the public mind 
 from the rottenness of the government. In order 
 to do this, and with the hope of re-establishing 
 confidence in the Empire, a war with Germany 
 was resolved upon. A pretext was found in the 
 claim of a Prussian prince to the succession of the 
 
 cry of " bread or death." Eight thousand were killed in the fight, double 
 that number were taken prisoners, three thousand of whom were afterwards 
 shot in cold blood. * * * * *.* * * 
 
 The Patnae, an organ of the government, spoke in these terms: — "We 
 are surrounded by cannibals. If they remain in their lair they must be ex- 
 tinguished; if they come out they must be cut to pieces.'" M. Montelembert, 
 the great Ultramontanest, declared in the assembly, that, " It is necessary to 
 undertake against socialism a Roman expedition at home. .... There 
 only remains for us war— war carried on energetically and by every means." 
 M. Thiers declared the constitution giving manhood suffrage *' a vile bit of 
 rag. " During 1850, the constitution was revised, manhood suffrage destroyed, 
 and over four millions of workmen disfranchised.— /SftetcWey. 
 
 fThiers, renewing his tortuous cunning and servile skillfulness, sought 
 to profit by all the Imperial mistakes.— Locfttoood 
 
FRANCE) AND TH^ S]$COND EMPIRE. 3 
 
 throne of Spain. The national spirit was 
 aroused, and the dissatisfied people became eager 
 for hostilities. France sent into the field soldiers 
 in abundance, but inefficiently disciplined, and 
 officered by men whose tactics are a mystery, and 
 whose operations were almost wholly unsuccessful, 
 The French armies won but one important battle ; 
 the Germans added victory to victory on French 
 soil until Sedan fell. Another series of victories 
 brought them to the gates of Paris. The French 
 troops had scarcely delayed their march. 
 
 Napoleon III aspired to imitate the first Em- 
 peror, but the Second Empire will only be con- 
 templated in pity for its victim, the French 
 nation.* 
 
 As the International Workingmen's Associa- 
 tion was a prominent element in the Commune, 
 it may be well hereto record its position regarding 
 the war between Germany and France. 
 
 In the Reveil of ]uly 12th, 1870, was published 
 a manifesto "to the Workmen of all Nations," 
 from which we extract the following few 
 passages: — 
 
 "Once more," says this document, "on the 
 pretext of European equilibrium, of national 
 honour, the peace of the world is menaced by 
 political ambitions. French, German, Spanish 
 workmen ! let our voices unite in one cry of 
 reprobation against war ! . . . . War 
 for a question of preponderance or a dynasty, 
 can, in the eyes of workmen, be nothing but 
 a criminal absurdity. In answer to the 
 
 war-like proclamations of those who exempt 
 themselves from the blood-tax, and find in public 
 
 *The rascality of ministers, the unskillfiilness and tTeason of generals, 
 the shame of Sedan and Metz, the tortures of the siepro of P*ri8, and the 
 disgTaceful capitulation which followed the infamies of Borucaux and Ver- 
 sailles made up the closing scenes of the Second Empire.— Lockwood. 
 
4 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 misfortunes a source of fresh speculations, we 
 protest, we who want peace, labor, and liberty ! . 
 Brothers of Germany ! Our division would only 
 result in the complete triumph of despotism on 
 both sides of the Rhine. . . . Workmen of all 
 countries ! Whatever may for the present be- 
 come of our common efforts, we, the members of 
 the International Workingmen's Association, who 
 know of no frontiers, we send you, as a pledge of 
 indissoluble solidarity, the good wishes and salu- 
 tations of the workmen of France." 
 
 This manifesto of the Paris section was fol- 
 lowed by numerous similar French addresses, of 
 which we can here only quote the declaration of 
 Neuilly-sur-Seine, published in the Marseillaise of 
 July 22nd: — " The war, is it just ? No ! The war, 
 is it national? No! It is merely Dynastic. In 
 the name of humanity, of democracy, and the true 
 interests of F'rance, we adhere completely and 
 energetically to the protestation of the Inter- 
 national against the war." 
 
 The German workmen of many cities replied 
 in like sentiments. 
 
 A mass meeting of workmen, held at Bruns- 
 wick on July 1 6th, expressed its full concurrence 
 with the Paris manifesto, spurned the idea of 
 national antagonism to France, and wound up its 
 resolutions with these words: — "We are enemies 
 of all wars, but above all of dynastic wars. . . 
 With deep sorrow and grief we are forced to 
 undergo a defensive war as an unavoidable evil; 
 but we call, at the same time upon the whole 
 German working-class to render the recurrence of 
 such an immense social misfortune impossible by 
 vindicating for the peoples themselves the power 
 
FRANCE AND THE SECOND EMPIRE. 5 
 
 to decide on peace and war, and making them 
 masters of their own destinies." 
 
 At Chemnitz, a meeting of delegates, repre- 
 senting 50,000 Saxon workmen, adopted unani- 
 mously a resolution to this effect: — " In the name 
 of the German Democracy, and especially of the 
 workmen forming the Democratic Socialist Party, 
 we declare the present war to be exclusively 
 
 dynastic We are happy to grasp the 
 
 fraternal hand stretched out to us by the workmen 
 of France. . . . Mindful of the watchword of 
 the International Workingmen's Associations: 
 Proletarians of all countries unite^ we shall never 
 forget that the workmen of all countries are our 
 friends and the dCvSpots of all countries our enemies.'' 
 The Berlin branch of the International 
 also replied to the Paris manifesto: — ** We," they 
 say, **join with heart and hand your protestation. 
 . . . Solemnly we promise that neither the 
 sound of the trumpet, nor the roar of the cannon, 
 neither victory nor defeat, shall divert us from our 
 common work for the union of the children of toil 
 of all countries." 
 
THE PARIS COMMUNB. 
 II. 
 
 Paris — September 20 to March 1 
 
 Paris, in 1870, was a city of almost 2,000,000 in- 
 habitants, and, as to-day, the gayest and most 
 fashionable capital in the world.* The city is built 
 on both sides of the river Seine, whose islands 
 formed the nucleus of the metropolis. It is 
 elliptical in shape, environed by numerous villages 
 and by thickly-settled country. The city is sur- 
 rounded by a fortified wall, 21 miles in internal 
 circumference, encircling an area of 30 square 
 miles. Detached forts, 16 in number, guarded 
 the approach to the line of fortifications. Fort 
 Valerien, the largest and most advantageously situ- 
 ated, being on the west of the ellipse formed by 
 Forts Issy, Vanves, Montrouge, Bic^tre and Ivry, 
 these five lying to the south of the city. 
 
 The fall of Sedan on September ist was not 
 made known to the Parisians until September 3. 
 The authorities were justly condemned for hold- 
 ing back the news, and their pusillanimity aroused 
 the citizens, who, on September 4.th, ousted the 
 corpse of Imperialism, and there was at the Hotel 
 de Ville immediately instituted that incarnation of 
 plans and inaction, the self-constituted Government 
 
 *The ancient Lutetia Parisorum; historically noticed by Csesar in "Com, 
 mentaries" fifty years' B. C ; originally the chief settlement of the Parisii. 
 a Gallic tribe conquered by the Romans. Population in 1869, 1,875.000 
 Paris has 20 arrondissements, each having a Mayor and two councillors. 
 The Prefect of the Seine, appointed by the government, is the chief city - 
 official; sometimes referred to as Central Mayor or Mayor of Pafto. 
 
SBPTEMBEIR 20 TO MARCH I. 7 
 
 of the National Defence. The members of the 
 deposed house of deputies, elected under Napoleon 
 III, seized the reins of power, and at once 
 took on themselves all functions of government. 
 General Trochu, commandant of Paris, refused to 
 have anything to do with the new government un- 
 less he was made its head. Fearing his influence 
 with the military, he was made Governor of Paris 
 and Commander-in-Chief of the armies. M. Tht rs 
 refused to be placed in any position in this govern- 
 ment, which was dependent on the caprice of an ex- 
 cited populace. He had sometime before distin- 
 guished himself by referring to the people as " vile 
 multitude,"* Jules Favre, an orator of advanced 
 years, was made Minister of Foreign Affairs. Leon 
 Gambetta became Minister of the Interior. 
 Etienne Arago was appointed Central Mayor, and 
 made a speech in which it was apparent that he 
 considered the Commune established.** 
 
 "The first step taken by the new government 
 was to send Thiers on a roving tour to all 
 the Courts of Europe there to beg mediation 
 by offering the barter of the Republic for a 
 king."t An order was issued for the release of all 
 political prisoners, which set at liberty Henri 
 
 *Thiers, holding,' himself in reserve to participate in the intrigues, which 
 he saw a vast field iov.—Lochwood. 
 
 **Many who use the word commaine glibly have a very imperfect under- 
 standing of its significance, and little imagine that it is as harmless and inno- 
 cent a word as township, and means pretty much the same thing. The 
 commune, with an emphasis on the article, means simply Paris, or, in a 
 secondary sense, the administrative officers collectively governing Paris. 
 France is divided into departments and communes, the same as our states 
 are divided into counties and townships, and Paris by itself forms one of 
 these communes. The insurrection in Paris, of March 18, 1871, was one in 
 favor of extreme local self-government The idea was to make each com- 
 munf) at least as independent as one of the states of the United States, and 
 to unite tSX the communes into a confederation with limited powers. The 
 movement in favor of the autonomy of Paris is an old one, and has been 
 supported by many able and respectable Frenchmen. One in favor of the 
 movement is, however, properly called a communalist, and not a communist, 
 and the movement itself is communalism — not communism. — Richard T. Ely. 
 
 tAddrasB of Int. W. A. 
 
8 THS PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Rochefort, Gustave Flourens, Cluseret, Deles- 
 cluze, Grousset, Vermorel and Eudes; also Megy 
 and the others concerned in the bomb plot * 
 
 Raoul Rigault, a young law student of revolu- 
 tionary tendencies, established himself as head 
 of the police department, where he continued for 
 sometime, the government not daring to depose 
 him, for fear of antagonizing the radicals. More 
 puerile conduct, in all respects is difficult to imagine 
 than that of this singularly established government. 
 
 Public meetings were addressed by Socialists 
 and members of the International in all districts of 
 the city. A demand was made on the government 
 for an election. A Committee Central was 
 chosen from the arrondissements; the method 
 of choice was as follows: in each of the 20 
 arrondissements a meeting was held; a Com- 
 mittee of Vigilance was elected by acclamation, 
 and from this body four were selected from 
 each arrondissement, making a Committee Central 
 composed of 80 members, which at once made 
 its headquarters at the headquarters of the Inter- 
 national. 
 
 Paris had undergone a dozen seiges, was now 
 well provisioned, and, with the constant ad- 
 dition of detachments driven in by the Germans, 
 in condition to support a long and vigorous 
 defence. The Parisians were vexed and mortified 
 by the misfortunes of the French arms. In the 
 belief that the Germans could not sustain the 
 attacks from without and the arduous labors of so 
 
 *Megy had been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for killing an officer 
 who had unlawfully attempted to arrest him for participating in what was 
 known as the " Complot of Bombs," a plot to overthrow bj' force the 
 Napoleonic Government In this affair there was also convicted and 
 sentenced to shorter terms of imprisonment; Ferre. law student, Cournet, 
 journalist and Moilen, physician Protot, lawyer, also accused, was by 
 influence released, and defended the others when they were on trial for 
 taking part in the plot. 
 
SKPTKMBER 20 TO MARCH I. 9 
 
 great an offensive undertaking, upon the subsis- 
 ance that could be brought to or acquired in a hos- 
 tile country, the inhabitants of the capital believed 
 their situation secure. There were about 500,000 
 men under arms in the city. 
 
 On September 20th, the siege began. It is now 
 conceded that the fall of the city was acknowledged 
 to be but a matter of time by General Trochu.* 
 lycon Gambetta was sent out of the city in a bal- 
 loon, to rouse the country to the support of Paris, 
 and his efforts were not unsuccessful. Trochu had 
 "plans" which were not operative. The troops 
 sent against the Germans from the outside were 
 not supported by the city's defenders. The popu- 
 lace was incensed at the tardy tactics and 
 timorous endeavors of the Government of the 
 National Defence. The radicals wanted a Com- 
 mune; the bourgeoisie were content with any form 
 of control which would make a resistance adequate 
 to the armament and ability of the city. The de- 
 fence was understood to be a farce, and so ex- 
 pressed in the correspondence of those high in 
 official position in the government. Bismarck 
 afterward said of Trochu: '* If he was a German 
 general, I should have him shot." 
 
 *Four months after the siege began, Trochu, in the presence of his col- 
 leagues, addressed the assembled Mayors of Paris. He said "The first ques- 
 tion put to me by my colleagues on the very evening of September 4th 
 was this: Paris, can it, with anj' chance of success stand a siege by the 
 Prussian army ? I did not hesitate to answer in the negative. Some of my 
 colleagues here present will warrant the truth of my words and the persist- 
 ance of my opinion. * * * i told them the attempt of Paris 
 to hold out would be a folly. * an heroic folly." 
 
 In a letter to Gambetta, M. Favre avows that what they were "defend- 
 ing" against w not the Prussian soldiers, but the workingmen of Paris. 
 During ihe whole continuance of the siege the Bonapartist * ♦ 
 
 whom Trochu had wisely intrusted with the command of the Paris army, 
 exchanged, in their intimate correspondence, jokes at the well-undei'stood 
 mockery of defence (see, for instance, the correspondence of Alphonse Simon 
 Guiod, supreme commander of the artillery of the Army of Defence of Paris 
 and Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, to Suzanne, general of division of 
 artillery, a correspondence published by the Journal Offi.ciel of the 
 Commune.) 
 
lO TH:^ PARIS CQMMUNK. 
 
 Mixed factions of workers and bourgeoisie 
 nearly obtained control of the city October 31st. 
 Flourens, Delescluze, and Blanqui were the 
 leaders of the movement. Some members of the 
 government were taken prisoners; but many of 
 the bourgeois battal ions of the Guard supported 
 the government, and, not desiring an internal 
 war in the beseiged city, the insurrectionists re- 
 leased their prisoners, and retired, under the ex- 
 press agreement that no action was to be taken 
 against any of the participants in the uprising. 
 By a plebiscite November 3d the government was 
 retained in power; feeling secure, it imme- 
 diately issued warrants for the apprehension 
 of the leaders in the affair of October 31st, 
 although it had been pledged to take no action 
 against any concerned. This brought the condem- 
 nation of all fair-minded people upon the adminis- 
 tration. Arago, the Mayor, at once resigned, 
 and Jules Ferry, a lawyer, was appointed to suc- 
 ceed him. 
 
 On January 6th, red placards were posted in 
 the city condemning the government and demand- 
 ing the election of a Commune. These were 
 signed by the representatives of the arrondisse- 
 ments, among the signatures were between thirty 
 and forty names of those afterward active in the 
 work of the Commune. January 19th, in response 
 to the demands for the government to ''do some- 
 thing," a sortie of 85,000 troops was made, which 
 seemed likely to be successful in the morning, but 
 was mismanaged and failed in the afternoon. A 
 council of the governmental and city officials 
 was held on January 20th, and declared further resis- 
 tance useless; Trochu was displaced and General 
 Vinoy put in command, but tlie essential character 
 of the "defence" remained the same. 
 
SKPTE^MBER 20 to march I. II 
 
 On January 22d, there wa an uprising, sup- 
 ported by a large force of the Guards. The seat of 
 government, the Hotel de Ville, was defended by 
 the Mobiles. The latter opened fire, it is said on 
 the order of Gustave Chaudey, one of the Mayor's 
 deputies; the Guards returned the fire; in all 30 
 were killed and many wounded; the authorities 
 took some prisoners and insurgents were repulsed. 
 
 An order was written on January 27th, by 
 Brunei, colonel of regiment in the Guards and 
 Piazza, commandant of batta .lion, for an assembling 
 of the National Guard, the overthrow of the com- 
 manders of the forts and their occupation by 
 the Guards, who were to hold them at all hazards 
 against the Germans. To deliver the forts seemed 
 to the Parisians the delivering of the city, to which 
 they were unalterably opposed. But few Guards 
 were at the rendezvous; the Prefect of Police ob- 
 tained possession of the order, and Piazza and 
 Brunei were imprisoned to await a military court 
 trial. 
 
 The German flag was hoisted on the forts on 
 January 29th . An armistice was agreed upon and an 
 election to be held February 8th. What was termed 
 an "armistice" was in reality the surrender of Paris. 
 The object was specifically stated to be '' to permit 
 the Government of the National Defence of France 
 to convoke an assembly, freely elected, which will 
 pronounce on the question whether war shall be 
 -continued, or what terms of peace shall be made."* 
 
 The terms were mortifyingly humiliating to 
 the Parisians. The city was virtually starved into 
 the acceptance of them. Dogs, cats and rats were 
 used as food and had high market prices. Jules 
 Favre, in his negotiation with Bismarck, stipulated 
 
 ♦Harper's Magazine, March, 1871. 
 
12 THK PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 for the retention of their arms by the National 
 Guards, who were to be '' charged with the preser- 
 vation of the peace of Paris."* 
 
 That the National Guards were allowed to re- 
 tain their arms was not to preserve order in Paris, 
 but because the government did not dare attempt 
 the disarmament. There was a sullen dis- 
 approval of the terms of the armistice 
 throughout the entire country, and in Paris in 
 particular. The Guard, it was safe to believe, 
 would resist, ostensibly from patriotic motives, the 
 disarmament. As a matter of fact, the Socialists, 
 Communists, Internationals, and ultra- Republic an 
 leaders had the National Guard's ear, and this, with 
 the other circumstances surrounding their proba- 
 ble condition after disbandment, made the Guards 
 an uncertain factor in the government's calcula- 
 tions. The National Guard was almost entirely 
 made up of workingmen; they saw Orleanists, Im- 
 perialists and Clericals, all of whom they recog- 
 nized as enemies, conniving at the terms of surren- 
 der. Arrears of rent had accumulated against the 
 Guardsmen while they served the state at about 
 30 cents a day. Building and other industries were 
 almost entirely suspended. This condition pre- 
 cluded the possibility of a return to labor by mem- 
 bers of the Guard should it be disbanded. They 
 were incensed at the suggestion of disarmament. 
 
 Gambetta protested against the armistice; sent 
 out a proclamation on his own responsibility, clam- 
 oring for a continuation of war, and almost over- 
 turned the arrangements. But the government an- 
 nulled his proclamation, although there was a delay 
 of twenty-four hours in revictualling the city. The 
 
 *"Then was committeii the crowning error of leaving armed a National 
 Guard, a larpe portion of which was the refuse of France and the scum of 
 different European countries."— Fetridge. 
 
SEPTKMBER 20 TO MARCH I. 13 
 
 conduct of his colleagues so exasperated Gambetta 
 that he resigned as Minister of the Interior.* It 
 is stated that more than 125,000 persons left Paris 
 between January 29th and the day of election. 
 
 An officer of the National Guard, soon after 
 the armistice began, passed the French lines and 
 fired his pistol at a Prussian sentinel. The officer 
 was arrested and imprisoned by the Germans. 
 Two Germans were arrested in Paris by the Guard, 
 and sentenced to death by the Central Committee. 
 The Prussian military authorities demanded the 
 release of the condemned men. The Guard 
 finally gave up the two men on agreement that 
 their officer should be released. To this the 
 French authorities agreed, but the Germans held 
 that the officer should be tried by court martial 
 and shot if found guilty. Thiers was bitterly de- 
 nounced by the exasperated Guards, who claimed 
 they had been tricked by the government. 
 
 The free elections of this Assembly were 
 held upon a notice of only eight days, which 
 barely reached some of the provinces on the eve of 
 election. Thiers made an electioneering tour and 
 was chosen as deputy in twenty-six districts. 
 
 Paris elected many radicals. — Delescluze, 
 Pyat, Rochefort, Milliere, Gambon, Malon, Tridon, 
 Tolain and Vesinier.f Varlin and Cluseret were 
 defeated candidates. The rural districts sent 
 Orleanists and Clericals, and some Republicans 
 came from the cities. In session at Bordeaux, 
 IVLGrevywas, February 1 6th, almost unanimously 
 elected President of the newly formed Assembly; 
 Adolphe Thiers, on February 17th, was chosen, 
 
 *" A resistance was organized by Gambetta, at the liead of a stock-jobbing 
 clique, whose interests, both commercial and political, forbade them to let 
 the war die out, lest they should find themseh^es face to face with a people 
 determined to be fleeced no longer.— William Morris and E. Belfort Bax. 
 
 tVesinier had been Secretary to Eugene Sue. 
 
14 THE) PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 by the Assembly, as President of the French 
 Republic. 
 
 There was an evident desire on the part of 
 this Assembly to take upon itself general govern- 
 mental functions in addition to the special duty for 
 which it had been elected."" 
 
 General Vinoy had disarmed 250,000 men on 
 February 9th, thus billeting upon Paris and vicinity 
 a huge number of men without pay and, under the 
 existing disturbances, without hope of employ- 
 ment; 12,000 men retained their arms to " protect 
 the peace of Paris." 
 
 The latter part of February saw the Paris 
 military formulating plans, and an arrangement 
 was made to protect their interests. There were 
 20 Councils of Legion, one in each arrondis- 
 sement, each Council composed of four representa- 
 tives from each batta lion. Every Council of Legion 
 sent four representatives to form a Central 
 Directorate, which was to be the governing military 
 power. All representatives to be elected by the 
 Guards. A few batta lions refused to join. The 
 Directorate took the name of * ' The Central Com- 
 mittee of the National Guard." This Committee 
 superseded in power, and largely in personnel, the 
 committee elected from the arrondissements in the 
 previous autumn. 
 
 M. Favre was the most fervent of the public 
 men in his protestations against surrendering on the 
 terms of "^the Prussians, declaring, as Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, that the Government of National 
 Defence would never "surrender an inch of terri- 
 tory or a stone of a fortress." Bismarck and Thiers, 
 
 *Ex-Emperor Napoleon addressed the Assembly calling their attention 
 to the specific purpose for which they had been elected and their consequent 
 usurpation of power in continuing as a general represeBtative body for the 
 Republic,— j^'ar^er's Magazine, April, 1S71. 
 
SEPTEMBER 20 TO MARCH I. I 5 
 
 on F'ebruary 26th, signed the peace treaty at Ver- 
 sailles. Paris was turned over to the Germans, and 
 two of France's richest provinces — Alsace and 
 Lorraine — went to the victors. A war indemnity 
 of $100,000,000 was agreed upon, and there were 
 many other exacting stipulations in the treaty. 
 
 On February 27th, Brunei, Piazza andVermorel, 
 imprisoned for political offenses, w^ere released by 
 the National Guards, who captured the prison; 
 the Guards were becoming very active in opposi- 
 tion to the Assembly, which was a source of irri- 
 tation to the Parisians because of its decision for 
 peace. 
 
 Immediately preceding the entry of the Ger- 
 mans into the city, some cannon were stored by 
 General Vinoy near the quarters to be occupied 
 by the conquerors. Being afraid of seeing them 
 fall into the hands of the invaders, and possibly 
 turned against the citizens, the National Guard 
 and the populace transferred the guns to posi- 
 tions of importance in the city, principally Mont- 
 martre, Belleville, Buttes Chaumont and La 
 Villette. Edouard Moreau, an active member of the 
 Committee Central, was foremost in directing 
 these operations. 
 
 The guns were furnished by subscriptions 
 of the National Guard,* and in the articles of 
 peace were recognized as the property of the Guard, 
 but Th rs, when expediency furnished a pretext, 
 demanded the cannon as *'the property of the 
 nation." 
 
 A committee was appointed from the National 
 Guard to take charge of the defence of Montmartre. 
 
 ♦Address Int. W. A. 
 
1 6 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 III. 
 
 March, Montmartre and The Commune. 
 
 The terms of peace agreed to by Thiers were 
 ratified by a vote of 546 for to 107 against in the 
 Assembly at Bordeaux on March ist. It was also 
 decided to strip Paris of her position of capital 
 and curb her republican tendencies. The pay of 
 the guards was withheld. Many of the Paris dep- 
 uties, feeling insulted by these acts of the Assem- 
 bly, returned to the metropolis. 
 
 At II o'clock on March ist the German troops 
 commenced their entry into Paris; in a few hours 
 30,000 of them occupied the quarters agreed upon. 
 They were received with opprobrious epithets by 
 some of the populace; but few people were on 
 the streets; the theaters suspended their perform- 
 ances; mourning was hung on many houses; 
 busine|s places were closed in the parts of city oc- 
 cupied by the invaders. The German troops retired 
 from Paris on the 3d, joining about 50,000 
 Germans who occupied the forts on the north of 
 the city. 
 
 The higher officers of the Guards formed a 
 committee which amalgamated with the elected 
 Committee Central of the Guard. The military 
 forces in Paris now decided upon a closer alli- 
 ance. The Federals and the National Guard formed 
 "The Republican Federation." The forces in Paris 
 will hereafter be designated generally as Federates, 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRE AND THE COMMUiSK. l^ 
 
 which includes Mobiles, ( reserves ) Franc-tireurs 
 (irregulars ) and many regulars, ( soldiers of the 
 line) who now allied themselves with the National 
 Guard. The Central Committee at this time 
 received as members, four delegates especially 
 deputed from the International Workingmen's 
 Association. Several members of the latter had 
 been before this time elected from the Guards to 
 the Committee; all officers higher than chiefs of 
 batta lion were also recognized as members of 
 the Central Committee. 
 
 The Assembly appointed officers for the 
 Parisian military; the latter declared their inten- 
 tion of obeying no officers not elected by 
 themselves. On March 7th the reserves in all dis- 
 tricts outside the city were disbanded. On March 
 nth the government suspended five papers edited 
 respectively by Rochefort, Jules Valles, Felix 
 Pyat, Vermesch and Humbert, Paschal Grousset, 
 and one other edited anonymously. These papers 
 had vigorously and truthfully attacked the gov- 
 ernment for its unfriendly attitude toward Paris. 
 The trial by military court of those who were prom- 
 inent in the affairs of October 31st and January 22d 
 now came on. The accused were acquitted, with 
 two exceptions — Blanqui and Flourens — who were 
 sentenced to death. Flourens was at liberty in a 
 quarter of the city which protected him; Blanqui 
 was ill, but was put under arrest at once. Both 
 of the condemned men issued proclamations call- 
 ing on the citizens to unite to estabhsh a govern- 
 ment of the people. 
 
 Flourens and Blanqui were condemned to 
 death on March nth, the same day that the 
 Assembly's decision to remove the nation's capital 
 from Paris to Versailles became definitely known. 
 
1 8 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 These two events so manifestly inimical to the 
 Paris populace, created an intense excitement 
 Mutterings of discontent were heard on every hand. 
 
 Thiers and the Assembly government arrived 
 in Paris on March 15th and at once set about 
 finding means to disarm the people and to transfer 
 the governmental center to Versailles.* 
 
 Attempts by peaceful means to obtain pos- 
 session of the cannon at Montmartre, through 
 the Mayor of i8th Arrondissement, were futile; 
 the Guards and the people refused to give them up. 
 
 General Vinoy is said to have entered the 
 Montmartre district, on a tour of inspection, 
 where he was villified by the women, pelted with 
 stones and other missiles; but the crowning insult 
 to the military leader was the offer to him of a 
 workingman's cap. 
 
 On March i6th a meeting was held by the 
 Federates; officers were elected. Garibaldi was 
 elected general in chief. Lullier, a forcible 
 speaker and a great swaggerer, was appointed 
 colonel of artillery. Eudes, Duval, Henry and 
 others, afterward prominent in the defence, were 
 chosen chiefs of battalion. 
 
 On the following day Thiers issued a proc- 
 lamation to the citizens of Paris, demanding the 
 return of the cannon to the arsenals and the 
 deliverance to justice of "criminals" who "affect 
 to institute a government," and threatening force 
 if the disarmament was not immediate. In the 
 evening, an unsuccessful attempt w^as made to 
 obtain possessionof 56 cannon at Place des Vosges; 
 these guns were removed that night by the Fed- 
 erates to Belleville and the Buttes Chaumont. The 
 
 ♦Versailles is situated 11 miles suuth-west of Paris, and in 1870 had about 
 45,000 inliabitants. 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRK AND THE) COMMUNK. 1 9 
 
 Federates now had in their possession 471 pieces 
 of artillery, 171 of which were at Montmartre. 
 
 About 3 o'clock on the morning of March 
 1 8th an attempt was made by the Assembly's 
 troops to take the cannon from Montmartre. This 
 effort, made by a detachment under General 
 lyecomte, would have been successful if transport- 
 ation of the artillery after capture had been 
 properly arranged for. The populace and most 
 of the Federates were asleep. A faint defence 
 was made. Several Federates were shot, a few 
 captured; these were placed in No. 6 Rue des 
 Rosiers, which house had, the day before, been the 
 quarters of the Montmartre Defence Committee. 
 Hours of waiting for horses to haul away the 
 cannon followed the capture. Rockets were fired 
 from Federate strongholds, and the rappel was 
 sounded in many quarters. 
 
 The morning of the i8th dawned. Proclama- 
 tions had been posted in the neighborhood by 
 Ivccomte on behalf of the government in the 
 name of ''law and order." These the women tore 
 down. The rallying populace and Federates won 
 over the soldiery. The women fed and brought 
 wine to the Assembly troops on guard; the 
 Federates appealed to the friendship of their 
 comrades, and a general fraternization took place 
 between the troops brought to capture the cannon 
 and those who had placed them on Montmartre. 
 The crowds forced back the guards, who yielded 
 ground with scarcely a show of reluctance. Le- 
 comte was incensed and addressed those showing 
 their friendliness to the people, saying, "You shall 
 have your deserts for this." 
 
 Lecomte three or four times ordered his 
 men to fire on the crowd, but they refused, and 
 
20 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 finally j oined the people in capturing the general 
 and some of his officers. Some of his soldiers, 
 whom he had ordered under arrest for not firing 
 into the crowd, wished to shoot him forthwith. 
 The prisoners were taken to Chateau Rouge, a 
 short distance from the scene of the arrest, and 
 lyccomte was made to sign an order for the 
 evacuation of Montmartre. 
 
 Some of lyecomte's men, recognized as gen- 
 d'armes under Napoleon III, were killed by the 
 people and Federates. 
 
 About 2 p. m. Lecomte and lo other officers 
 were removed from Chateau Rouge to 6 Rue des 
 Rosiers, where there was a clamorous assembly of 
 the people and Guards, the latter incensed by the 
 wrongs of their comrades, and all maddened by 
 the strong efforts made by the commanding officer 
 in the morning to have his troops fire on the 
 people. lyccomte's soldiers, who had felt his 
 severity, struggled, assisted by the people, to 
 take him from the guards. 
 
 A new prisoner was now introduced, amid an 
 awful din. This was General Clement Thomas, 
 said to have been captured while in the act of 
 taking plans of the barracks on the boulevard 
 Rochechaument.* He was almost immediately 
 taken from those in charge, hurried to the yard 
 adj oining and shot to death. "He stood up boldly 
 to receive his death, and shaking his fist at 
 his executioners, denounced them as cowards." 
 {''Laches.'') A vol ley was not tired, the soldiers 
 
 *He was passing in an inoffensive manner through the Rue Marie- An- 
 toinette, when one of the insurgents having recognized him by his large 
 white beard, went straight to him, saying, " You are General Clement 
 Thomas? I don't think I can be mistaken. That beard of yours betrays 
 you." " Well, supposing I am General Thomas. Have I not always done 
 my duty?" "You are a traitor and a miserable!" said the insurgent, 
 grasping the old man by the collar. He was immediately assisted by others, 
 who helped to drag the General in the direction of Rue des Rosiers.— jfefridflie. 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRB AND THK COMMUNE. 21 
 
 shooting singly; Thomas did not fall until the fif- 
 teenth shot, although struck many times before. 
 
 General Clement Thomas had not been much 
 heard of since he had assisted the enemies of the 
 people in the butcheries of June. 
 
 This, and the incidents next related were not 
 likely to make either the populace or the Federates 
 friendly to him. 
 
 General Tamisier resigned as chief of the 
 Guard when the Government of the National 
 Defence broke its agreement with the leaders of 
 the uprising of October and January by bringing 
 them to trial. Clement Thomas was appointed 
 his successor by the Government of the National 
 Defence. He is accused of pitting the working- 
 mens' battallions of the Guard against those 
 recruited from the middle-class, and causing to be 
 disbanded, by false assertions of cowardice, some of 
 the bravest batta:lions, who wished to fight the 
 Germans but who were not favorable to the 
 singular plans of General Trochu, whom General 
 Thomas served obseqiously. Clement Thomas 
 had also resigned as commandant-in-chief of the 
 National Guard on February 15th, 187 1. 
 
 After the killing of General Thomas, I,ecomte 
 was the marched out and shot to death against 
 the wall in the same place formerly occu- 
 pied by General Thomas, whose body now lay at 
 Lecomte's feet; he pleaded on behalf of his 
 
 family for the mercy he had never shown. What 
 had he cared for the families of those upon whom 
 he had repeatedly ordered his troops to fire that 
 morning? The first shot fired struck L<ecomte 
 behind the ear, killing him instantly. 
 
 Generals Lecomte and Clement Thomas 
 were killed by the infuriated soldiers and the 
 
22 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 inhabitants of the quarter * The shooting of 
 Thomas was principally done by the members of 
 the National Guard, who had served under him; 
 Lecomte was killed by his own men,^ largely from 
 the 88th regiment, who jeered at him as he was 
 led out, and cried out to him, "Its your turn now; 
 you gave the order to fire on the people." There 
 is an undecided question as to whether Lecomte 
 had a trial, but the belief is that he had some 
 form of a trial. Evidence is lacking which would 
 support the belief that General Thomas had any 
 trial, t The other arrested officers were released. 
 
 Shortly before Lecomte's arrest, some horses 
 arrived at Montmartre; they were harnessed to 
 several guns, and accompanied by a party of 
 soldiers of the line, started from the heights 
 toward the city; were intercepted by Federates; 
 the women of the district threw themselves on the 
 guns; the regulars fraternized with the Federates; 
 the traces on the harnesses were cut, and the 
 cannon were dragged away by the people. 
 
 Endeavors by the Government to regain 
 cannon in other quarters of the city had been in 
 slight degree successful, but had generally failed 
 more through the inadequacy of discipline and 
 force in the attacking parties, than through the 
 defensive efforts of the Federates. 
 
 The 88th regiment of the line was the soldiery 
 which first occupied Montmartre, and afterward 
 fraternized with the populace. This regiment 
 
 *0n the 26th March, 1871, the National Assembly decreed that pensions 
 should be awarded to the widows of the two generals and that a monument 
 to them should be erected at the expense of the State. This monument has 
 been constructed at Pere Lachaise, of granite from Flanders. The remains 
 of the two generals were deposited there on the 26th of December, 1875.— 
 
 tThe tribunal that condemned the generals was said to have been pre- 
 sided over by an artisan of the International Society named Asai.—CasseU. 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRE AND THE) COMMUNK. 23 
 
 was disbanded after the fall of the Commune, 
 never to again exist in the army of France. 
 
 General d'Aurelles des Paladines, who suc- 
 ceeded Clement Thomas as Commander of the 
 National Guard, issued a proclamation in the after- 
 noon of the 1 8th March, calling on the Guards to 
 " rally round their chiefs" as " the only means of 
 escaping ruin and the domination of the foreigner." 
 Of the 1 06th Battalion ( which had defended the 
 Hotel de Ville on October 31st, against the in- 
 surrectionists) but 300 of the 1200 men responded; 
 other battalions supposed to be loyal responded in 
 about the same ratio. Kvery development showed 
 strength for the uprising. 
 
 The affair of March i8th was the signal for a 
 general movement for defence against the govern- 
 ment. Barricades were erected, guns mounted, 
 and bystanders were called upon to work at build- 
 ing, or to assist in the defence of street fortifications. 
 The Central Committee took charge of the greater 
 part of the city, and had at least 100,000 troops 
 at its command. The government had only a 
 few thousand, many of which were likely, at any 
 time, to fraternize with the Federates and the 
 people. 
 
 A few slight conflicts took place on the 19th, 
 the insurrectionists being always victorious. A 
 call was issued by the Committee Central for an 
 election of officials to govern the city, in which 
 was said : '* Let Paris and France together 
 establish the basis of a Republic, acclaimed with 
 all its consequences, the only government that will 
 forever close the era of invasions and civil wars." 
 This w^as signed by Assi, Billioray, Ferrat, 
 Babick, Kdouard Moreau, C. Dupont, Varlin, 
 Boursier, Martier, Gushier, Lavalette, Fr. Jourde, 
 
24 I'HK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Rousseau, Ch. lyuUier, Blanchet, J. GroUard, 
 Barroud, H, Geresme, Fabre and Pougerot. 
 
 Command of the National Guard was, by the 
 Mayors, given to General Langlois. He was 
 rejected by the Central Committee and lyullier 
 was elected commander by the Federates. 
 
 The officials of the Assembly government 
 clandestinely left the city; Thiers leaving by 
 the back door of the Hotel de Ville. General 
 Vinoy took with him some troops and baggage, 
 and by lo a. m., March 19th, most of the 
 Assembly's soldiers had left Paris. Almost every 
 governmental post w^as deserted. A battalion 
 of the National Guard which passed the Foreign 
 Office, about 4 a.m. of the 19th, uttering menacing 
 cries, is said to have accelerated the movements 
 of the fleeing government. 
 
 When the officials fled the city, correspondence 
 was found which fully revealed the perfidious 
 character of the Government of the National 
 Defence. 
 
 The Assembly cut the telegraph wires to 
 prevent all communication with the outside 
 provinces. The prefects of the provinces were 
 informed by the Assembly that if any edicts 
 emanating from Paris be published, the prefect of 
 the district where the publication took place 
 would be immediately arrested. The fortifications 
 surrounding the city were evacuated by order 
 of Thiers and the troops marched to Versailles to 
 guard the persons of the officials. The forts 
 remained unoccupied many hours, each member 
 of the Central Committee assuring himself that 
 some of the Committees' officials would attend to 
 to their occupation by the Federates. The events 
 of the struggle awaited neither the dilatory 
 
MARCH, MONTH ARTRK AND THE COMMUNE. 25 
 
 tactics nor the education by experience of those 
 placed in positions of responsibility in Paris. C 
 
 Fort Valerian, the strategic key of the defence 
 of Paris was manned by a strong force from Ver- 
 sailles as soon as the government's blunder in 
 withdrawing the troops was appreciated. But 
 before this was accomplished. General Vinoy is 
 said to have pleaded unsuccessfully for hours with 
 Thiers, who persistantly refused to sanction the 
 re-occupation, afraid of exposing his own person 
 to danger if the troops were removed from Ver- 
 sailles. Thiers was in great perturbation, fearing 
 the march of the Federates on his capital, whirh, 
 it was conceded, was sure to fall into their hands if 
 the attack was made. Indecision was prominent 
 in the action of both parties. Neither knew 
 exactly its position or its strength. 
 
 The five forts on the south — Issy, Vanves, 
 Montrouge, Irvy, Bic^tre — were occupied by the 
 Federates. They took charge of the Hotel de 
 Ville after a slight conflict. Jules Ferry, Central 
 Mayor, was ousted; soon after, being threatened on 
 the streets by a mob who shouted ''Death to 
 Ferry," he took refuge in the house of a friend, 
 escaped out of a back window by means of a 
 ladder, and accompanied by many others of the 
 friends of the Assembly, slipped away to Ver- 
 sailles. The Committee Central speedily took 
 possession of all public buildings and raised over 
 them the red flag.* 
 
 Marshals McMahon and Canrobert also sought 
 the seat of the Versailles government, the fate of 
 Lecomte and Clement Thomas indicating sur- 
 roundings not favorable for military leaders. 
 
 * The establishment of that Republic which takes pillage as its leading 
 principle and blazons its banners with the hues of murder.— Cassert 
 
26 THS PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Most of the city ofi&cials had taken them- 
 selves to Versailles, and the organization of the 
 city now devolved upon the Committee Central. 
 A communication was received by the new city 
 government from the commander of the German 
 troops occupying the forts on the north of the city, 
 in which it was stated that the Prussians would not 
 interfere with the internal dissensions if no 
 enmity was shown toward foreigners. This made 
 the Committee Central much more at ease and 
 Paschal Grousset framed an answer acceptable 
 to the Committee, which was forwarded to the 
 German commander. 
 
 Thiers ordered 50,000 francs to be paid by 
 the Bank of France for the arrears due the loyal 
 National Guards.^^ 
 
 March 20th the Guards' command was, by the 
 Mayors, and by sanction of Thiers, placed in the 
 hands of Vice-Admiral Saisset. The new com- 
 mander wished to take active measures at once, and 
 troops were necessary to support him; a few 
 Guards friendly to the Assembly, principally small 
 traders, were still in the city; these he endeavored 
 to mobilize. Saisset, with the disposition exhib- 
 ited by all officials and parties connected with 
 Parisian public affairs, promulgated various proc- 
 lamations. He could find no authoritative basis 
 satisfactory to the people, and his numerous 
 proclamations gained for him little consideration. 
 Bonne, a tailor, Captain in the Guards friendly to 
 the Assembly, also issued a proclamation calling on 
 all to support the Assembly "in the interests of so- 
 ciety." A Captain Vitroley issued a proclama- 
 
 *General d'Aurelles des Paladines attached much weight to the insincerity 
 of M. Picard as a factor in creating dissatisfaction in the Guard. The pay- 
 ments due the Guards were always needlessly delayed; some were never paid. 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRK AND THE COMMUNE. 2^ 
 
 tion in Saisset's behalf, imploring support for him 
 in the interest of "order." Saisset could get no 
 troops together in Paris; Thiers would send none 
 from Versailles, as he feared an attack by the 
 Federates. 
 
 The Versailles government in the Journal 
 Officiel denounced the killing of Lecomte and 
 Clement Thomas as assassination and charged 
 the Committee Central with the crime. The Rappel, 
 a revolutionary paper, announced the fact of the 
 killing of the generals with expressions of pro- 
 found sorrow; stated that the National Guards en- 
 deavored to prevent the shooting, but that the 
 angry crowd and the soldiers of the line cried out 
 for death. For the most part, the supporters of 
 the revolt declared that by their acts toward the 
 people the generals had forfeited their lives; that 
 they had "made themselves amenable to the laws 
 of war, which does not allow the assassination of 
 women or espoinage." The Committee Central 
 declared its intention of investigating the cir- 
 cumstances of the killing, but no reports of such 
 investigation appear in the records. 
 
 Appeals for desertions from the Parisian to 
 the Versailles support were responded to only by 
 the students of the lyatin Quarter, who had been 
 formerly of ultra-revolutionary tendencies, but 
 who could not reasonably be expected, either 
 from education or position in life, to join a move- 
 ment so markedly proletarian as was the revolt 
 now in progress. The National Guards who were 
 especially appealed to, were firm in their adher- 
 ance to the Committee Central. 
 
 The Mayors, to whom Thiers had delegated 
 full powers, appointed a committee of three — M. 
 Tirard, M. Dubail and M. Helegion to organize a 
 
28 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 resistance to the Committee Central, now fully 
 recognized as the dominant factor in affairs. 
 Bdouard Moreau, Jourde and Varlin acted for the 
 Committee Central. In a conference the latter 
 desired to control the Guards, but was willing to 
 give the Mayors full municipal powers. This the 
 latter refused. At this point, it is stated that the 
 Central Committee delegates declared that "if it 
 came to a conflict " and the Federates were 
 defeated, they would "make of the country a 
 second Poland." 
 
 There was a vague rumor afloat, probably 
 unfounded, that Saisset intended attempting to 
 establish himself as a dictator. He yielded up his 
 authority, disbanded his troops, and went to 
 Versailles on Saturday the 25th, .to be reproached 
 for his action by the irascible and unstable poli- 
 ticians of the Assembly, who would neither advise 
 nor assist him.^ 
 
 On the 20th the Assembly declared the De- 
 partment of the Seine and Oise to be in a state 
 of seige. 
 
 The Committee Central immediately ordered 
 an election for Communal Councilors, on the basis 
 of one representative for each 20,000 inhabitants, 
 the election to take place March 22d. l!\ie/o2irnal 
 Officiel, the government organ, had been taken 
 over and published by the Committee Central. 
 The government at Versailles also published a 
 Journal Officiel^ which together with the Mayors 
 of the arrondisements, protested against the hold- 
 ing of the election called by the Committee 
 Central. On March 20th, 29 Paris papers issued 
 a protest against the election. 
 
 *"Saisset disbanded his few battalions * * * and left on foot and in 
 disgnise for Versailles, where he reported to M. Thiers that it would take 
 300,000 men to suppress the Communal movement in Paris."— CasseW. 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRK AND THE) COMMUNE). 29 
 
 Raoul Rigault took charge of the Police 
 department by order of the Committee Central. 
 
 Louis Blanc, Milliere and others of the ex- 
 treme Republican members of the Assembly, 
 posted a manifesto in Paris on the 20th, in which 
 they promised to bring before the Assembly the 
 matters of the election of all officers of the Guard 
 by its members, and a municipal council to be 
 elected by all citizens in Paris. 
 
 In the Assembly's sitting on the 21st, M. 
 Thiers spoke several times, using the most 
 conciliatory language toward the radicals; he 
 promised a municipal council for Paris, and de- 
 clared that under no circumstances would he send 
 an armed force against that city. Already the 
 efforts made to increase the forces surrounding 
 Paris were showing results, and every event 
 showed the insincerity of these statements made 
 by the head of the Versailles government. 
 
 The Committee Central delegated Tony Moilin 
 as Mayor of the 6th arrondissement, in place of 
 M. Herisson. Moilin, after gaining possession of 
 the Mairie and being displaced, was again installed 
 by three battalions of Guards under Lullier. 
 
 What was called an ' ' order ' ' manifestation 
 took place on the 21st. Considerable numbers of 
 men paraded the streets crying "Down with the 
 Committee Central." Some altercations occurred 
 which, for a time, threatened a loss of life. A few 
 arrests were made, by order of the Committee 
 Central. The Federates seized several arsenals 
 and equipped citizens with arms and munitions. 
 
 M. Bonjean, President of the Court of Cas- 
 sation, an aged jurist and an ardent supporter of 
 the Assembly, w^as arrested, but upon no definite 
 charge. 
 
30 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 On the next day an " order " procession con- 
 sisting principally of civilians, but containing 
 many men in the National Guard uniform, all ap- 
 parently unarmed, was interrupted in its march as it 
 attempted an entrance to the Place Vendome from 
 the Rue de la Paix.* As the front ranks came up, 
 the Guards in the Place Vendome turned the butts 
 of their guns toward the crowd, who filled the air 
 with cries for the Assembly and of " Down 
 with the Committee Central." It seemed for a 
 time that the affair might not be serious, but as 
 those in the front ranks of the parade were crowded 
 upon the Guards, recriminating and altercations 
 occurred. The partisans of "order" attempted to 
 disarm the Federates. A shot was fired. General 
 Phil Sheridan, U.S. A., (who had accompanied the 
 German army during the Franco-German war, and 
 who . had arrived in Paris March 2d) was an 
 eye-witness of this affair, said the '* order" repre- 
 sentatives did the first firing;t the Federates were 
 also fired upon from the windows of surrounding 
 houses. When the Federates opened fire, the 
 crowd scattered, running wildly in all directions to 
 escape the fusilade. The firing lasted but a few 
 moments. Eleven of the ** order" partisans were 
 killed, and probably three times as many were 
 wounded. Pistols, swordsticks and missiles were 
 found on the bodies of the participants in the 
 parade who were killed or wounded, and weapons 
 were plentifully scattered upon the ground from 
 which they had been driven. 
 
 * The demonstration advanced with Admiral Saisset at its head * until 
 * stopped * by * Guards, with baj'onets, who filled * the entrance 
 to the Place Vendome.— CasseM. 
 
 " They were without arms and most respectable in appearance— few 
 blouses, * if any, were to be seen." — Fetridge. 
 
 t The Assembly declared that General Sheridan was "against them" because 
 he made this statement. 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRE AND THE COMMUNE. 3I 
 
 Otto Hottinguer, regent of the Bank of France 
 and a member of the great banking firm of 
 Hottinguer & Co., and M. Nathan, another banker, 
 were killed. One young American, an ex-soldier 
 in the civil war in the United States, who had 
 joined the French army against the Germans, 
 was also among the killed. 
 
 Two Federates were killed, Wahlin and Fran- 
 cois; eight were wounded — Maljournal, Cochet, 
 Ancelot, lyCgat, Reyer, Train and Laborde. 
 
 The Journal Officiel says — " The first of the 
 dead taken to the ambulance of the Credit 
 Mobilier was Viscount de Molinet, who had 
 been in the front of the crowd, and who 
 was wounded in the back of the head. He fell 
 at the corner of the Rue de la Paix and Neuve- 
 des-Petits-Champs, on the Place Vendome side, 
 with his face to the ground. The fact is clear 
 that he was struck by his companions, for had he 
 fallen in flying the body would have lain in the 
 direction of the New Opera. On the corpse was 
 found a poniard attached to the waist-belt by 
 a chain." 
 
 The " peace" demonstration shows evidence 
 of being an attempt to reach and seize the 
 Committee Central headquarters in the Place 
 
 " The Federates were paid six sous per day; one sou in cash, and five in 
 the checques of the Central Committee; the latter were not readily negotiable, 
 which was a source of much dissatisfaction to the soldiery." — Cassell. 
 
 The •• Syndical Chambers of Stonemasons and Stonesawyers " on the 
 22d posted a manifesto printed on red paper, in the neighborhood of the 
 Hotel de Ville. In part it said: "The difficult epoch which we are passing 
 through must have brought us to serious reflection on the subject of our 
 social position as workmen We must ask ourselves whether we, the pro- 
 ducers, ought to allow those who do not produce anything to live at ease; 
 whether the system which has been pursued till now is destined to exist for 
 all time, even'when it is entirely opposed to us. * * Our employers only 
 think at this moment how to profit by our misery, in order to extort more 
 from us, if possible. If we are true to ourselves, we will check their base 
 rapacity. Let us prove our attachment to the sacred cause of Democracy," 
 
32 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Vendome, and the vigorous attempt to break the 
 line where the fighting took place was certainly 
 not a pacific movement. 
 
 The supporters of each party claimed that the 
 opposition killed its own men and the reports of 
 the affair are a mass of contradictory statements. 
 The number of Guards killed and wounded, the 
 friendly attitude of the Guards until the first shot 
 was fired, together with the other circumstances 
 surrounding this affair, bear out the belief that the 
 intention was to overthrow the Committee's forces 
 and establish Saisset in the Place Vendome. 
 
 Bergeret, who was in charge of the Federates, 
 said: "At i o'clock a crowd of ten thousand 
 advanced and overpowered the first line, wrenched 
 the rifles from the troops * * The crowd * 
 * commenced using their revolvers and four of 
 our men fell * * The Guards fired first in the 
 air. * Some, enraged at seeing their comrades 
 fall, fired at the crowd. We do not want war, nor 
 
 Favre made a speech on March 22d in the Assembly on the affair of the 
 killing- of Generals Clement Thomas and Lecomte. He said that the crime 
 had soiled the Republic with blood. He described the assassination of the 
 generals as committed by wretches worthy no kind of pity, for they had 
 shown none either for civilization or for Fr&nce.—Washbicrn. 
 
 Besides the persons killed on the Place Vendome, thirty -three men (ac- 
 cording: to a correspondent of the Manchester Crttardian) were put to death, 
 in the latter days of March, on the most frivolous pretexts. Three of these 
 were shot by National Guards at Belleville, because the latter did not admire 
 the way they were dressed. One of the most shocking events of the time 
 was the execution of an old man, seventy-eight years of age, named Bignon, 
 who, some half century before, had denounced and caused the execution of 
 four sergeants at La Rochelle, accused of political offences, Bignon was 
 recognized in the Rue de Rivoli by a grandson of one of the sergeants, named 
 Pommier, The young man was sitting before a cafe, chatting with a friend, 
 when he suddenly and abruptly rose, went up to a man who was passing by, 
 aud said he arrested him as the person who had denounced the four ser- 
 geants. After a few words had been exchanged, Bignon disengaged himself 
 from the grasp of his assailant, and ran away, but was recaptured by the 
 crowd, who wished to shoot him on the spot. Young Pommier, however, 
 interposed, saying that the man belonged to the justice of the land, and that 
 the magistrates of the Republic must pass sentence on him. j He was then 
 conducted to the Mairie of the fourth arrondissement, and was afterwards put 
 to death. 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRE AND THE COMMUNE. 33 
 
 do we wish to kill each other, but what can 
 we do?" 
 
 On the 22d the pupils of the Polytechnic 
 School were given a vacation, and the youths 
 placed themselves at the disposal of the city 
 authorities, acting as aides-de-camp to the Pro- 
 visonal Staff at the Place de la Bourse. 
 
 A loyal regiment of the Guards with arms, 
 three cannon and baggage forced its way through 
 the city gates on the 226., and marched to Versailles, 
 where it was received with great enthusiasm and 
 its officers promoted. 
 
 Delegations to Versailles from various organ- 
 izations seeking conciliation were numerous, but 
 they received none but equivocal answers 
 from the Assembly. The Mayors declared they 
 could not sanction the election unless it was first 
 authorized by the Versailles government; on the 
 24th a dozen or more of them visited the Assembly 
 at Versailles to affect an agreement for Sunday, 
 March 26, as the day of election. A fierce dis- 
 pute arose in the Assembly as to whether the 
 Mayors should be heard. There finally occurred 
 such disorder that the visitors withdrew without 
 even havinghad a respectful hearing. On returning 
 home a maj ority of the Mayors and the Committee 
 Central agreed on an election for the 26th. This 
 was opposed by the Versaillese, assisted by the 
 bourgeois press of Paris, all of whom hoped to 
 gain by delay 
 
 On the 24th more proclamations were posted, 
 one stating the Assembly's willingness to allow 
 the election of a municipal council; the National 
 Guards to elect all its own officers; modifications 
 regarding rent laws, and arrangements to ease 
 small rent-payers. I^ouis Blanc and other radicals 
 
34 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 in the Assembly were in favor of a vote of approval 
 on the action of the Mayors, (afterward almost 
 unanimously defeated) but the general feeling 
 among the Assembly's members was one of con- 
 sternation at the agreement of the Mayors with the 
 Committee Central on this important matter. 
 
 There was an irreconcii.ible though natural 
 difference of opinion upon many subjects between 
 the inhabitants of the French rural districts and 
 the denizens of the large cities. The former 
 were conservative and religious; the latter radical 
 and atheistic; the first from the standpoint of the 
 small land holder and the petty trader of the small 
 towns, held for individual property; the last — 
 full of propertiless artisans and laborers — were 
 strongly Communistic; the rurals were peaceful 
 and subservient; the wage-earners aggressive and 
 rebellious; the country was personified in the 
 Assembly; the city in the Commune. These 
 opposing elements were bristling with rage and 
 glaring at each other during these last days of 
 March. In Le Venguer Felix Pyat said : " The 
 Royal army took the Imperial army prisoner. It 
 has not yet captured the red flag. ^ * Let the 
 rurals in Versailles go home and feed their cows." 
 The radical Paris papers were full of braggadocio 
 and rhodomontade. The Assembly hastened the 
 collection of troops, arms and munitions at Ver- 
 sailles. 
 
 Subterranean tunnels had been constructed in 
 the city during the Second Empire. The work- 
 ingmen who built these passages were told that 
 they were to be used as sewers. As a matter of 
 fact Napoleon III had connected all the principal 
 barracks with the Hotel de Ville, to be able to pour a 
 military force on any revolutionary body which 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRK AND THE COMMUNK- 35 
 
 might obtain possession of the centre of civil 
 authority in the city. It was by this underground 
 route that the Breton Mobiles entered for the 
 defence of Trochu October 31st, 1870. The plan 
 of these underground passages had been but 
 partially disclosed to the Committee Central and 
 there was much fear, on the part of the Federate 
 authorities, of a surprise of the Hotel de Ville. 
 Large bodies of armed men occupied the grounds 
 about the city's capitol, and every precaution was 
 taken to prevent an entry.. This fear was not 
 dissipated until the Commune was, as its members 
 believed, solidly established by the election of 
 the 26th. 
 
 On March 25th Generals Chanzy and Lan- 
 gourian, who had been arrested by orders from 
 officials of the Committee Central on March 19th, 
 were, by agreement, released, and a member 
 of the Committee Central (arrested at Passy by 
 the Assembly's supporters on the same day that 
 the generals had been arrested) was set at liberty. 
 
 Charles Lullier (since the 19th in command 
 of the Federates), was suspended as commander 
 and imprisoned, on suspicion of treachery appar- 
 ently well founded; the command had been tendered 
 Garibaldi, the distinguished revolutionist, who 
 had taken the field for the French in the war 
 with Germany „ 
 
 On election day, the Committee Central posted 
 a proclamation claiming to have fulfilled its duty, 
 and desiring that the Commune, when elected, 
 should take up the entire work of the city govern- 
 ment. There were some suggestions in the pro- 
 clamation respecting a compromise with the Ver- 
 saillese. It has been intimated that this document 
 was issued to gain votes for the members of the 
 
36 THK PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 Committee Central, many of whom were candidates 
 for election to the Commune. Other proclama- 
 tions of various import were posted; one signed 
 by Lefrancais and Jules Valles, on behalf of the 
 Committee of the Arrondissements, solicited votes 
 for Socialist candidates. The Committee Central 
 announced the city under military control of 
 Generals Brunei, Kudes and Duval. The election 
 was for one representative for each 20,000 inhab- 
 itants or majority fraction thereof. 
 
 Sunday, the 26th, was a day of brightness and 
 beauty. The pleasure-loving populace made the 
 most of it, and Paris was a scene of fashion and 
 gaiety, as well as of political action. There was 
 but little disorder at the polls, except in the dis- 
 tricts which were strong in sympathizers of the 
 Assembly. In some cases blows were struck, a 
 very unusual occurrence in France, but no fatal- 
 ities or serious injury to persons were reported. 
 
 Less than 500,000 voters were listed; about 
 half this number voted, a fact much discussed by 
 the Versaillese, as the result showed the solidarity 
 of the working classes and the apathy of the 
 friends of the Assembly.* There was a sentiment, 
 often expressed by the opponents of the Commune, 
 and particularly by the bourgeoisie of Paris, that 
 the right to municipal control by the members of 
 the Commune was vitiated because of the large 
 
 *Astonishing' variations appear in the statements regarding: the number 
 of votes cast; one author states that over 600,000 votes were cast, 550,000 
 of which were for radical candidates— a too evident error. 
 
 ELECTION OF THE COMMUNE, MARCH 26, 1871. 
 AS STATED 
 BT 
 
 E. Belfort Bax . . , 
 T. March ..... 
 
 W. P. Fetridge 180,000 
 
 E. B. Washburn 
 
 Cassell .... 120,000 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 FOR 
 
 VOTE CAST 
 
 EADICAL CANDIDATES 
 
 287,000 
 
 
 224,000 
 
 
 180,000 
 
 120,000 
 
 168,000 
 
 108,000 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRE AND THE COMMUNE- 37 
 
 number of absentees from the polls. '"^ These 
 observations seem to leave out of consideration 
 the fact that the absentees, by their absence, 
 surrendered their qualification to representation. 
 
 In Montmartre, Belleville, Montrouge and 
 Villette the voting was practically unanimous for 
 the workingmen candidates; 17 of the 20 arrond- 
 issements elected radicals; Passy, the Louvre and 
 the Bourse districts elected representatives not in 
 harmony with the Commune. 
 
 As soon as the results of the election became 
 known on the evening of the 26th, there were 
 great rejoicings in Paris. Fire works were let 
 oflPin various parts of the city. The Tuilleries 
 was thrown open, and speeches were made to 
 great crowds by orators mounted on pedestals 
 from which statues had been removed. 
 
 The elected delegates of the Commune were, 
 as had been the case with the Committee Central 
 members, largely unknown outside the class or 
 district to which they belonged. 
 
 Felix Pyat, Delescluze, Blanqui, ( who had 
 spent two-thirds of his life in prison for political 
 offences) Flourens and Gambon were prominent, 
 having been much in public life. Blanqui was 
 chosen three times; Pyat and Flourens each twice. 
 Delescluze was elected from several arrondisse- 
 ments. He immediately sent in his resignation 
 as Member of the Assembly, in which communi- 
 cation he declared his intention of serving the 
 Republic and desired not to further associate 
 himself with "the insanities and passions of the 
 Versailles Chamber." 
 
 By the election of the same citizen for more 
 than one arrondissement and for other reasons, the 
 total elections were 93; duplicates 8, triplicates 7; 
 
38 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 total persons elected 86. Some who were elected 
 never served, and there were many resignations 
 during the life of the Commune. 
 
 Elected, But Did Not Serve— Adam, Meline, Brelay, 
 Loiseau-Pinson, Tirard, Cheron, Albert Leroy, Goupil, Rob- 
 inett, Rano, U. Parent, Desmerest, E. Ferry, Nast, Fruneau, 
 Marmottan. De Beuteiller, Murat, Lefever, Barre .... 20 
 
 Twelve of these persons had been either mayors or adjuncts 
 elected in November, 1870; they were Adam, Meline, Brelay, 
 Lnisean-Pinson, Murat, Albert Leroy, Desmerest,. Ferry, 
 Nast. Tirard, Max-mottan, Cheron. The first nine of these had 
 signed the agreement made with the Committee Central, and 
 Tirard had given in his adhesion to it. 
 
 Deducting the members above and also Blanqui, who 
 was held in prison by Thiers, there remained a total of sixty- 
 four persons, whose respective claims to popular favor may 
 be roughly gauged by the division under which they fall. 
 
 Members of th3 Committee Central— Arthur Arnould, 
 Antoine Arnaud, Assl, Blanchet, Brunei, Babick, Billioray, 
 Bergeret, Cluvis Dupont, Eudes, Fortune, Geresme, Jourde, 
 Lefrancais, Langevin, Malon, Ostyn, Pindy, Ranvier, Varlin, 
 Vaillant . 21 
 
 Members of the International Association— Amou- 
 roux, Assi, Avrial, Beslay, Babick, Clemence, V. Clement, 
 Chalain, Demay, Duval, Dereure, Frankel, Emile Gerardin, 
 Jourde, Lefrancais, Langevin, Malon, Ostyn, Oudet, Pindy, 
 Theisz, Varlin, Vaillant, Verdure 24 
 
 Deduct Assi, Babick, Jourde, Ostyn, Pindy, Varlin, 
 Vaillant, Lefrancais and Langevin found in both above lists. 
 
 45 
 
 Journalists— Arthur Arnould, Chardon, J. B. Clement, 
 Cournet, Delescluze, Ferre, Flourens, Gambon, Paschal 
 Grousset, Miot, Felix Pyat, Protot, Rigault, Tridon, Verdure, 
 Jules Valles, Vermorel 17 
 
 Deduct Verdure and Arnould found in preceding lists . 2 
 
 15 
 Speakers at Club and Public Meetings— Amouroux, 
 Jules Allix, Champy, E. Clement, Demay, Descamps, Charles 
 Gerardin, Ledroyt, Leo Meillet, Martelet, Ostyn, Oudet, 
 
 Parisel, Puget, Regere, Rastoul, Urbain 17 
 
 Deduct Amouroux, Demay, Ostyn and Oudet found in pre- 
 ceding lists 4 
 
 13 
 
 Total 64 
 
 Such an array of speakers and writers proba- 
 bly no city has ever seen in its legislative repre- 
 sentatives. Subsequent events proved many of 
 the members to be of rare ability, but war was 
 not their forte. The Commune's false hopes were 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRK AND THK COMMUNK. 39 
 
 soon exposed, as well as its inability in what 
 proved to be its principal business — the war 
 against the Assembly. 
 
 The election of March 26tli, established in 
 Paris the largest legitimate representative govern- 
 ment in France. The Assembly elected to repre- 
 sent the sentiment as to the continuance of the 
 war, and in the event of non-continuance, to 
 establish a peace agreement, had discontinued 
 hostilities, surrendered territory and arranged for 
 the peace indemnity. For its further existence 
 there was no logical reason, except in the usurp- 
 ation of the powers of a National legislative body. 
 
 The advent of the Commune was celebrated 
 with festivities on the 28th. Cannon salutes, mili- 
 tary parades, bands playing and thousands singing 
 the Marseillaise. Speeches were made in the 
 square in front of the Hotel de Ville. Very large 
 bodies of military surrounded the place of the 
 celebration, and cannon were trained to sweep the 
 boulevards. The tri -color alternated with the red 
 flag in the square, evidently a concession to the 
 Moderate Party.* 
 
 *0ne author says : "The Commune was inaugurated at the Hotel 
 de Ville on the 28th with considerable ceremony. Tho gate below 
 the clock-tower was hung with red, blue and green drapery, whilst 
 the statue of Henry IV above was concealed with a crimson curtain. 
 A platform ornamented with a bust of a female figure representing 
 the Republic had been erected in front of the building, and on it 
 were placed arm-chairs for the accommodation of the Committee 
 Cannon were drawn up on the square, which was also occupied by 
 about 20,000 National Guards in close ranks. Other battalions 
 waited in the adjacent streets and on the quay At four o'clock 
 Citizen Assi rose and announced that the power of the Central Com- 
 mittee had transpired and was now transferred to the Commune. He 
 then read aloud the names of the Councilors elected. Cries of "Long 
 Live the Republic " were raised, the trumpets sounded, drums beat, 
 and caps were waved in the air. About four o'clock salvos were fired 
 from the Hotel de Ville, and answered by the guns at Montmartre. 
 This cannonade created considerable alarm among the inhabitants, 
 who imagined that the troops of Versailles had arrived at Paris, or 
 that the Prussians had returned to restore order. All the National 
 Guards present, to the number of 60,000, then marched past the dais 
 on which the Committee was seated. In the evening the Arc de 
 Triomphe, barracks, and principal public buildings were illuminated." 
 
40 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 ^ho^ Journal Officiel oi the Commune on March 
 30th published the following as the appointees 
 to committees. 
 
 Executive— Vskillant, Duval, Eudes, Tridon, Lefrancais, Felix Pyat, 
 
 Bergeret. 
 jPma?ice— Jourde, Varlin, V. Clement, Beslay, Regere. 
 Military— Dnvsil, Flourens, Pindy, Eudes, Bergeret, Chardon, Ranvier. 
 Justice— Protot, Ranc,* Leo Meillet, Ver^nort 1, Ledrolt, Babick. 
 Police— Rigault, Ferre, Assi, Cournet, Oudet, Chalaln, Gerardin. 
 Subsistence— Ostjn, Clement, Dereure, Champy, Parisel, Emile 
 
 Clement, H. Fortune. 
 Industry and Exchange— Frankel, Malon, Theisz, Dupont, Avrial, 
 
 Loiseau-Pinson, Eug. Gerardin, Puget. 
 Exterior Relations— Fascha.! Grousset, Delescluze, Ranc, Ulysse 
 
 Parent, Arthur Arnould, Ant. Arnould, Ch. Gerardin. 
 Public Service— Ostyu, Billioray, J. B. Clement, Mardelet, Mortier, 
 
 Eastoul. 
 Education— Jules Valles, Doctor Goupil, Lefevre, Urbain, Albert 
 
 Leroy, Verdure, Demay, Doctor Robinet. 
 
 A classification by occupation of members of the Commune : 
 " Among the members of the Commune there were 12 journalists, 4 
 common schoolmasters, 4 barristers, 2 apothecaries, 5 painters, 2 architects, 
 2 engineers, 6 clerks belonging to commercial houses or to Government 
 .fficies, 1 sculptor, 2 tradesmen, 1 journeyman jeweler, 1 journeyman carver, 
 1 journeyman printer, 2 journeyman bookbinders, 2 journeymen dyers, 2 
 journeyman shoem s.kers, 1 journeyman hatter, 5 journeymen in the en- 
 gineering service, 1 tinker, 1 basketmaker, 1 joiner, 1 cashier, 1 hairdresser, 
 and 3 proprietors. The three last-mentioned were the citizens Theodore 
 Regere de Montmore, who owned some small lands in the south of France; 
 Pottier, the proprietor of a large bathing establishment near the Bank; 
 and the Commandant Brunei. The well-known members of the Commune 
 were M. Felix Pyat, the editor of the Vengeur; M. Ranc, a functionary 
 of the Gambetta Government at Tours and Bordeaux; Gustave Flourens, 
 one of the heroes of the movement of October 31st, and son of a savant 
 of the Institute; M. Protot, an advocate; M. Leo Meilet, a Mayor, 
 who had been very influential in obtaining the release of General Chanzy, 
 and who received the thanks of the Assembly for his efforts in that cause; 
 M. Paschal Grousset, the young Corsican whose challenge to Prince Pierre 
 Bonaparte, in January. 1870, led to the death of his representative, M. 
 Victor Noir; M. Arthur Arnould, formerly a writer in the Marseillaise; M. 
 Jules Valles, of the Diable a Quatre;M.. Delescluze, a prominent Red Repub- 
 lican; and M. Ulysse Parent, a young man of fortune, who had for some time, 
 been on intimate terms with the revolutionary party. The great majority 
 of the Communal administrators were persons of humble birth; but these 
 belonged to the educated circles, and were men with positions to lose."— 
 "The Place Vendome and La Roquette," by Abbe Lamazou. 
 
 * Ranc resigned April 7, declaring his "disapproval upon several impor- 
 tant points as to the direction which has been given the Commune move- 
 ment. * * Not wishing to create dissension, I decide upon retiring. I 
 return to the ranks, and once more become a simple soldier of Paris, of the 
 Commune and of the Republic." 
 
MARCH, MONTMARTRK AND THEJ COMMUNK. 4 1 
 
 No permanent president was elected in the 
 Communal sittings. That official was selected 
 from among the members at each meeting. The 
 intention was not to have one person permanently 
 hold a position of such authority and responsibility. 
 
 At the election of the Commune the Committee 
 Central was supposed to have finished its duties, 
 and its continuance in special functions made the 
 Commune's duties more complicated and less 
 likely to proper observance. 
 
 A Sub-Committee Central in the Commune 
 was formed for the purpose of directing the 
 Federates. This Committee consisted of Assi, 
 Cluseret, Bergeret, Henry, Babick, Avoinejr., 
 Avrial, Maljournal, Duval and Geresme. 
 
 About 2,000 cannon including those in the 
 forts, were at the disposal of the Commune; the 
 Federates actually under arms were probably 
 125,000, but more than this were available. Their 
 numbers has been variously stated from 125,000 
 to 300,000 men. The Assembly's forces were com- 
 paratively weak in numbers, not trusted by their 
 leaders. The districts of the country were invaded 
 by the agents of Thiers, inviting assistance. The 
 days next following the election of the Commune 
 were busy ones for the Versaillese, who were 
 aware of the strong feeling among the Parisians 
 in favor of an attempt to capture the Assembly's 
 capital. 
 
 The number of persons who left Paris during 
 the ten days ending the 30th of March was 
 estimated at upwards of 160,000. 
 
42 the: PARIS COMMUN]^. 
 
 IV. 
 War — The Events of April 
 
 On April ist Thiers declared war and firing 
 was begun by the Versailles forces. The troops 
 at the command of the Assembly now comprised 
 about 100,000 men, 50.000 of whom had been 
 gathered together from various sources since 
 March 20th. By vote in the Assembly each depart- 
 ment was called upon to furnish a regiment, to be re- 
 cruited as rapidly as possible from old and trusty 
 soldiers, and forwarded at once to Versailles. 
 These recruits were to receive a franc and a half a 
 day. "Brittany furnished a small contingent of 
 troops immediately on the call of Thiers for pro- 
 vincial support of the Assembly. These troops 
 fought under a white flag, each wore on his breast 
 the heart of Jesus in white cloth and their cry 
 was " L,ong live the King"." The prisoners re- 
 turned from Germany furnished large additions. 
 Bismarck's influence did not cease in French 
 affairs when the peace treaty was signed. He 
 consigned the prisoners to Thiers in quantities 
 just sufiiciently large to keep the Versaillese in 
 dependence upon him. 
 
 The Commune's members were directed to 
 take up the work of the local government of the 
 districts which had elected them, in addition to 
 their duties in the central body. 
 
 The Military Committee of the Commune 
 issued a proclamation in which it said: "The 
 
WAR — THE EVKNTS OF APRIl,. 43 
 
 Royalist conspirators have attacked, our moderate 
 attitude notwithstanding. Our duty is to defend 
 the city against this wanton aggression." 
 
 Rigault ordered the arrest of the policemen 
 who were not carrying out the Commune's orders. 
 The gates were closed to the further exodus of the 
 bourgeoisie, who were hastening out of the city. 
 
 The "Assistance Publique " which had head- 
 quarters opposite the Hotel de Ville, and man- 
 aged estates and collected c moneys for the 
 hospitals of Paris, on April ist, smuggled out of 
 the city no less than 75,000,000 francs. The 
 money and securities were hidden in sacks and 
 and removed through the gates in potato carts. 
 A few days later the Jesuits made an attempt to 
 get off with 400,000 francs in strong boxes, but 
 they were not successful, for the money was seized 
 at the Lyons railway station. 
 
 Henri Rochefort, through his journal, the Mot 
 (T Ordre, demanded the demolition of the statue of 
 Marshal Ney, the first Napoleon's famous ofiicer. 
 "The Government of the National Defence had 
 thrown Napoleon's statue into the Seine, why 
 should his servant's statue continue to commemo- 
 rate the First Kmpire?" 
 
 The capture of Versailles was now being con- 
 sidered by the Commune. There seems to have 
 been fully as much debate upon the propriety of 
 the attempt as upon the probability of its success. 
 This project was the cause of rancorous discus- 
 sions in the Commune's sittings for many days. 
 The meetings had now been made secret, though 
 the general proceedings were made known to the 
 public through proclamations and through the 
 Journal Officiel. There seems to be little doubt 
 but that the Assembly's agents were, to a large 
 extent, aware of the Commune's proceedings at 
 
44 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 all times. Cluseret and Budes had been appointed 
 Delegates of War. 
 
 The opening of extensive hostilities outside 
 the city occurred April 2d. The Federates had 
 erected some fortifications at Neuilly with the in- 
 tention of stopping the expected advance on Paris. 
 General Vinoy, from Fort Valerian, sent a depu- 
 tation to demand the Federates' withdrawal. 
 There was an altercation and Dr. Pasquier, one of 
 the deputation from the fort, said to have been 
 unarmed and carrying a flag of truce, was shot 
 and killed at the bridge of Courbevoie. He was a 
 favorite with the gend'armes, who swore to avenge 
 him. His death greatly complicated matters, and 
 undoubtedly, added much to the unexampled 
 atrocities of the Versaillese toward their prisoners. 
 It was a most unfortunate affair, the details of 
 which have never been clearly shown. The 
 Federates claimed they believed the doctor to be a 
 spy, and that he acted as if about to draw a re- 
 volver when shot. After the killing of Dr. Pasquier 
 a general action took place. The regulars brought 
 up to support the Versaillese gen d'armes were 
 tempted by a body of Federates, who turned the 
 butts of the guns towards the advancing soldiers 
 of the line; when the latter arrived in position, 
 they fired a volley into the unresisting ranks of the 
 Federates, who were thus rudely awakened from 
 their dream of a friendly agreement with the 
 opposing forces. The Federates, successful in 
 withstanding the attack on their barricades, fol- 
 lowed the retreating foe, and encountered the 
 Pontifical Zouaves, headed by Colonel Charrette, 
 and some other Versaillese reinforcements. ^ The 
 Zouaves advanced to the charge with cries of 
 ''Long live the King," a singular war cry for 
 soldiers of a "Republic." Their advance was so 
 
WAR — THE EVENTS OF APRII.. 45 
 
 valorous and so well sustained by the regulars, 
 that the Federates gave way and were finally de- 
 feated, after two hours' sharp fighing. , They were 
 driven from Courbevoie and the bridge at Neuilly, 
 and finally into the city, all the while being sub- 
 jected to the fire of cannon from field guns and 
 from Fort Valerien, and were also mowed down by 
 the mitrailleuses of the Assembly's troops. The 
 shells from Valerien fell among the combatants 
 as they fought during the Federates' retreat, kill- 
 ing and wounding both pursuers and pursued. The 
 Federates had no artillery in this action and com- 
 plained bitterly of being obliged to battle under 
 such circumstances. The Versaillese captured 
 five prisoners — one a lad of 15, all of whom they 
 murdered in cold blood. 
 
 The Times correspondent reported that Gen- 
 eral Vinoy had personally ordered the killing of 
 all National Guards captured. 
 
 The greatest excitement now pervaded the 
 exasperated Federates and the people of Paris. 
 The huge body of soldiers was anxious to fight. 
 Military afi'airs were in a very unsystematic condi- 
 tion. There was no chief commander, that office 
 having been abolished, it being believed that its 
 continuance carried too great a centralization of 
 power. 
 
 Preparations for an advance on Versailles 
 now occupied the energies of the Military Com- 
 mission. Their haste was great, as they were 
 driven by the heat of an excited populace, and 
 surrounded by thousands of Federates, enraged 
 by the repulse at Neuilly, and eager for an oppor- 
 tunity for retaliation. The Commune's plans, 
 such as they were, had been so quickly acted on 
 that on the morning of the 3d, shortly after mid- 
 night, there issued from the city three divisions 
 
46 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 of the Federate forces, commanded by Duval, 
 Bergeret and Eudes. The combined force is 
 variously stated, but probably 65,000 men were in 
 the ranks. Each division took a separate road 
 with the intention of concentrating en route for 
 Versailles. Rossel, who was chief of a legion, 
 ordered his men to retreat before fighting began, 
 alleging the ill condition of his troops and the 
 lack of proper arrangements regarding supplies. 
 Furious fighting took place on all the routes. 
 General Duval, of the left division, by the lament- 
 able lack of discipline, and the disaster on the 
 right, was left unsupported. After a valorous 
 effort he was obliged to surrender with about 
 1,500 men and General Vinoy asked the of&cers 
 to step forward. General Duval and two other 
 officers responded and saluted; they were at once 
 stood up against a house and shot to death by 
 order of Vinoy, contrary to the agreement of 
 surrender. Their bodies were then thrown into 
 a ditch.* 
 
 Eudes was commanding the center column, 
 the largest of the three, said to have contained 
 35,000 men. He met so vigorous an opposition as 
 to completely disorganize his troops, who were 
 routed, leaving many dead on the field; the Ver- 
 saillese took some prisoners. Several of the 
 cannon brought with the Federates were hurried 
 into place to reply to the artillery fire of the 
 enemy, when it was discovered that the projectiles 
 at hand were of the wrong calibre. 
 
 Bergeret and his officers were fancifully dec- 
 orated with ribbons and gold laces. Bergeret, 
 who is said to have been too un wieldly to ride on 
 
 * Several authors endeavor to conceal this murder by saying that Duval 
 was killed in the battle, exhibited great bravery, etc. Fetridge says: "General 
 Duval was killed the first day at Chattilon. * * General Henry was sent 
 to Versailles. The Versailles papers speak highly of the former's bravery." 
 
WAR — THE HVENTS OF APRIL. 47 
 
 horseback, accompanied his troops in a victoria 
 drawn by two horses. His division marched from 
 the Porte Maillot directly past and in range of Fort 
 Valerien. The fort had been reinforced during 
 the night by a strong body of Versaillese, and the 
 Federals apparently believed, as they foolishly 
 declared, that the fort would not fire on them.* 
 This division was allowed to partially pass before 
 a heavy fire of cannon, and mitrailleuses was 
 opened upon them. The center of the column 
 was demoralized and the rear retreated. Flourens' 
 division, which passed to the north of the fort, 
 had not been fired on, advanced, and was engaged 
 by the enemy at Reuil. 
 
 Flourens, with 3,000 or 4,000 men, was pressing 
 back the Versaillese, when a whole army corps 
 which had been concealed, was encountered 
 and the Federates were defeated and scattered. 
 Flourens and his aide-de-camp, Cypriani, were 
 surrounded in a house in which they had taken 
 refuge. Flourens, with a pistol, wounded one of the 
 party who invaded the apartment where he was 
 concealed. Captain Demarest rushed in and 
 instantly killed Flourens by a stroke of a sabre 
 which cleft his head open. Demarest, for this 
 act, received the Cross of the Legion of Honor 
 from the hands of Thiers. Cypriani was taken 
 prisoner and sent to Versailles . 
 
 *It has been unhesitatingly stated by friends of the Commune that the 
 leaders had deceived the body of the Federates by telling them that Fort 
 Valerien was in the hands of the Commune. 
 
 " On the afternoon of April 3d, a body of several hundred women gath- 
 ered at the Place de la Concorde, and set out for Versailles in imitation of 
 those who marched upon the same place in the time of Louis XVI, They 
 paraded up the Champs Elysees, wearing the bonnet rouge and singing the 
 Marseillaise. Whenever they met an omnibus they stopped it, caused the 
 passengers to dismount, and took possession themselves. They were in 
 charge of an old woman, 60 years of age, who mounted an omnibus, dis- 
 played the red flag and gave the word of Qomma,nd."— Washburn. 
 
48 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Misleading messages were circulated in the 
 city, most of them declaring great successes by the 
 Federates.* 
 
 Flourens was one of the foremost revolutionary leaders and 
 vigorous agitators of his day. Huge festoons of gold lace, gaudy 
 ribhons, hats of most singular designs fancifully ornamented, were 
 much favored by some of the leaders, Flourens among them, whose 
 military capabilities were not of an order to well stand the attention 
 which their equipage attracted Flourens was aa ofBcer in the 
 revolt in Crete against the Turks in the Levant. 
 
 " Gustave Flourens was an accomplished scholar and a man of 
 much intelligence, but he early imbibed those revolutionary ideas 
 which in the end cost him his life." 
 
 " Flourens had begun life with every prospect of being a distin- 
 guished scientist. His father, Pierre Flourens, had been perpetual 
 secretary of the Academy of Sciences and a professor in the College 
 de France, in which his son succeeded him when he was barely 
 twenty-one. His first lecture, on the "History of Man," created a 
 great impression; but in 1864 he resigned his professorship, and 
 thenceforward devoted all his energies to the cause of the oppressed. 
 In Crete he fought against the Turks. He was always conspiring 
 when at home in Paris ; even when the Prussians were at its gates 
 he could not refrain. He was the darling of the Belleville popula- 
 tion, whom in times of distress and trial he fed, clothed and com- 
 forted. Sometimes in prison, sometimes in exile. "He was a mad- 
 man, but a hero, and towards the poor and the afflicted as gentle as 
 a sister of charity," said one who knew him."t 
 
 The demonstration against Versailles was 
 continued in a desultory manner on April 4th, some 
 reinforcement being forwarded to the Federates, 
 and also to the Versailles troops. The result 
 was a disastrous defeat for the Commune's forces, 
 
 At 3 o'clock a courier passed by the Arc de Triomphe on his way to the 
 Hotel de Ville, announcing to the crowd that Flourens had entered Ver- 
 sailles at th<» head of 40.000 men— that they had captured one hundred 
 deputies, and M. Thiers was a prisoner ! 
 
 Some one suggested that "there were not over 20,000 men who went 
 out this way " 
 
 " Where did he get the men ?" 
 
 "Oh, he has them!" and "General Bergeret fought like a tiger. He 
 had two horses killed under him. " 
 
 " Before him you mean," shouted one of the crowd, " as he went out in 
 ft victoria." 
 
 ■• — '■-, I Lfttimer. 
 
WAR — THK BVKNTS OF APRII,. 49 
 
 in some parts of the field a rout. Ranvier, how- 
 ever, had supplied Fort Issy with several cannon 
 which contributed greatly to the city's defence 
 thereafter. An important factor in the vanquish- 
 ing of the Federates was the lack of attention 
 paid to the distribution of ammunition and sup- 
 plies. Artillery ambulances and ammunition 
 wagons were *' everywhere except where they 
 were wanted." On the 4th the Federates cap- 
 tured 250 of the Versaillese troops, losing about 
 100 of their own men, including two commandants 
 of battalion. 
 
 General Gallifet, of the Versaillese, dis- 
 tinguished himself on the 5th by bloodthirsty 
 threatenings and by ordering the killing of 
 Parisians. The character of this exceptionally 
 sanguinary Versaillese commander will be ex- 
 hibited in the account of his actions to be found 
 in a subsequent chapter.* 
 
 The death of Flourens was the signal for out- 
 bursts of furious invectives by the Parisians 
 against the Versaillese. His killing was de- 
 nounced as assassination, and there was immedi- 
 ately organized a corps of independent soldiery 
 styling themselves "Avengers of Flourens," 
 with the avowed purpose of revenging his death 
 in every possible manner. In Versailles the news 
 of his demise was received with unconcealed joy, 
 and so important was he considered to the uprising 
 by some of the Assembly's supporters, that they 
 declared the revolution practically defeated with 
 his death. The honors which greeted the slayer 
 of Flourens show that his death was regarded as of 
 great assistance to the Versaillese cause. 
 
 *Thi3 Gallifet, ''the kept man of his wife, so notorious for her 
 shameless exhibitions at the orgies of the Second Empire," went, during 
 the war, by the n»me of the French "Ensign Tistol"— Address 0/ Int. W.A. 
 
50 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 The Military Commission displaced Bergeret 
 and Eudes from their commands. Cluseret was 
 appointed in Bergeret's place. LuUier, in the 
 excitement escaped from prison and gathered a 
 band of personal followers about him, whose 
 independent action served only to embarrass the 
 Commune, who still hoped to use lyuUier's sup- 
 posed military ability. lyullier addressed a letter 
 to Henri Rochefort, in which he said that he had 
 been "the victim of machinations," that he was 
 now surrounded by 200 resolute men; that he 
 carried three loaded revolvers, and was resolved 
 to break the head of anyone who might come to 
 arrest him. He was again sent to prison after the 
 Federates finally withdrew from the advance 
 on Versailles. Assi was committed to prison for 
 questioning the powers of the Commune to take 
 aggressive action against Versailles. 
 
 The Assembly at this time evidenced the most 
 determined efforts to stamp out all Communist 
 support in Versailles. Those who avowed any 
 sympathy or friendship for the National Guard or 
 for the Commune were said to have been killed 
 by men hired for that purpose. 
 
 Garibaldi sent the Committee Central a letter 
 containing a choice assortment of advice, but 
 declining the proffered post of Commander of the 
 Army of Paris. 
 
 The Communal uprising at Marseilles was the 
 strongest outside Paris. * A manifesto was issued. 
 On April 4th the Assembly's troops captured 
 the Marseilles railway station, defeating the 
 
 *In part it said: "We want the establishment of the Republic by Republican 
 institutions. We want unity of political guidance, with a constituent 
 Assembly, and a Republican Government the offspring- of that Assembly, 
 both having their seat in Paris, We want decentralization of the authorities, 
 with autonomy of the Commune, while confiding to the Municipal Council 
 elected by each large city its administrative and municipal belonging's. 
 The institution of Prefectures is fatal to liberty. We want the establish- 
 
APR II, — THK EVENTS OF WAR. 5 1 
 
 National Guard, three of whom they took prisoners 
 and immediately shot. Later in the day severe 
 fighting took place, resulting in the killing 
 and wounding of over 200 persons. By evening 
 the Versaillese were in full possession of the city. 
 
 The Commune was declared in Lyons, Nar- 
 bonne, Toulouse and St. Etienne, and was only 
 subdued in each instance by loss of life.* 
 
 Elisee Reclus was captured while making a 
 reconnaissance at Chatillon. 
 
 The funeral of those killed in the battles of 
 the days next previous took place on April 6th . 
 The ceremonies were not of a religious character, 
 but were appropriate and impressive. Five 
 members of the Commune were chief mourners. 
 Delescluze pronounced a funeral oration at the 
 grave. More than 200,000 people attended the 
 ceremonies at Pere la Chaise cemetery. 
 
 The unparalleled action of the Versaillese in 
 the murdering of prisoners, which had been a 
 marked feature of the victories of April 2d, 3rd and 
 4th, exasperated the Communal authorities, who 
 attempted to stop further killings of this kind by 
 immediately seizing M. Darboy, Archbishop of 
 Paris; M. Deguerry, Cure of the Madeleine, and 
 
 nient of the Republic by the federation of the National Guard over the 
 whole breadth of our country. But, above all things, we want what Mar- 
 seilles wants. If the G!o\ernment having its seat at Versailles had con- 
 sented to dissolve the National Assembly, whose mission had expired, and 
 transferred the seat of government to Paris, we shoiild not ask such 
 guarantees." 
 
 *Letus look back for a moment to the twenty-two years ending 1S70, and 
 think of the treason of the Provisional Government of 1848, of the treasoti 
 and brutal tyranny of the Constitutional Assembly, and of the National 
 Assembly which followed, the slaughter of tens of thousands of the working 
 classes, and the murder, or imprisonment and exile of all the leaders of the 
 people; the treason, the perfidy, and the bloody massacres of Louis Napoleon, 
 and his career of shameless tyranny, ending in the humiliation of France; the 
 usurpation and treason of the so-called government of National Defence, and 
 of the Assembly elected to ratify the conditions of peace; remembering all 
 these, need w^be surprised at the revolt of the people of Paris, of Lyons, 
 and of Marseilles against usurpation, and their determination to raise the 
 banner of the reimhlic. —SJcetchley, 
 
52 TH^ PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 others of the notable ecclesiastics of Paris.* 
 These were held as hostages, and many radical 
 journals advised their death in reprisal for the 
 prisoners killed.f 
 
 The law of reprisals has always been sanc- 
 tioned during war; its effects have been for the 
 most part, bad, entailing upon innocent persons a 
 violent death; and, arousing all the vengeful feel- 
 ings of the combatants, has prolonged the rancor 
 of war and extended the area of death. It is 
 questionable whether the threats of reprisals had 
 any good effect on the Versaillese. The soldiers 
 of the Assembly were constantly gaining ground, 
 and it has never been shown that the Versaillese 
 government dared to discourage their methods, 
 so long as the end desired was being accomplished; 
 in fact, every official document praised, and not 
 one ever carried a word of rebuke or caution to 
 the troops. 
 
 There was, moreover, a hatred engendered in 
 the soldiers returned from Germany by the open 
 contempt with which they were held by the 
 Parisians, who had not forgotten Metz and Sedan , 
 nor forgiven their capitulation. The troops with 
 which Bismarck furnished the Assembly, were con- 
 tinually referred to as "capitulards." 
 
 Whatever may have been the sentiments of the 
 German authorities toward the Commune in its 
 early days, it was evident that at this time there 
 
 *Lagorde, grand vicar of Mgr. Darboy, was paroled " on his honor," 
 and sent to Versailles as a messenger to negotiate the exchange 
 Darboy and others for Blanqui. He not only failed in his errand, but never 
 returned, though before going he declared he would return " even to face 
 death itself." 
 
 tThe Journal Officiel on the 7th contained the following, part of an 
 Address to the citizens of Paris '* We have hostages in our hands. Let the 
 Commune issue a decree and let its men act. For every head of a patriot 
 which falls under the hands of the Versailles authorities, let that of a 
 Bonapartist, Orleanist or Legitimitist roll in the dust as a reply." 
 
WAR — run kvknts of aprii,. c-j 
 
 iii' ^'^ 
 
 was a complete understanding between the Assem- 
 bly's agents and the Prussian military chiefs.* 
 
 Cluseret now ordered all men, married or 
 single, between and including the ages of 19 and 
 45 to join in the defence; those of 17 and 18 years 
 of age could volunteer to the service. This was 
 unwelcome to a large number of the inhabitants, 
 either neutrals or Versailles sympathizers. 
 
 The Journal Officiel ( on the presence of the 
 Due d'Aumale in France) said: "Society owes 
 but one duty to princes — death; it is only bound 
 to observe one formalit}^ — identity." 
 
 On Good Friday, the 7th, the defences at 
 Neuilly, which had been strengthened, were 
 attacked and after furious fighting, the Federates 
 were driven from the stronghold. This gave to 
 the Versaillese a strong and nearer position to the 
 city. Colonel Bourgoin died while at the head 
 of the troop defending a barricade. Bourgoin 
 was formerly aide-de-camp to Flourens when the 
 latter was in the insurrection in Crete against 
 the Turks. 
 
 There are slight indications that the Prussians were friendly to the up- 
 fisiner in its early days. 
 
 Some time after the suppression of the Commune, the ConstiUctionnel 
 alluded to a letter addressed by the Prussian authorities to the Communal 
 War Department. This letter offered considerable quantities of flour, chasse- 
 pots, and bayonet-sabres, at certain stipulated prices. A sample of the pro- 
 posed flour was enclosed. 
 
 Some authorities insist that Thiers wished the Germans to re-occupy 
 Paris immediately after the Commune's election, but that Bismarck had no 
 wish for a possible re-opening' of hostilities, which might result from the re- 
 volt of the people throughout France at such action. It was understood that 
 the war loan to France was not to be paid until the pacification of Paris. 
 
 The Address of International asks : " Now, is it true or not— 
 
 1. That the business was so managed that a consideration of several 
 hnndred millions was secured for the private benefit of Thiers, Jules Favre, 
 Ernest Picard, Pouyer-Quertier, and Jules Simon ? and — 
 
 2. That no money was to be paid down until after the " pacification " of 
 Paris ? " 
 
 *The entire concord which existed between the Thiers Government and 
 the German military authorities is shown by a proclamation issued by 
 Prince Albert of Saxony, commander-in-chief of the Prussian 32d armv corps 
 on April 6th. By this order the powers of the French civil authorities were 
 declared entirely transferred to the German military commanders. The 
 
54 THK PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 The loss to the Federates was about 225 
 killed and 43 wounded in this defeat. 
 
 The artillery fire on both sides was rapid and 
 destructive. Twentj^-one officers of the Versaillese 
 were killed or wounded, Generals Besson and 
 Pexhot among the number. The fighting at 
 Neuilly was desperate and great courage was shown 
 by both defenders and assailants. Hand-to-hand 
 combats were common. The treatment of pris- 
 oners by the Versaillese probably excelled in 
 ferocity anything recorded of civilized warfare.* 
 Huge numbers of spectators viewed the engage- 
 ment from either side. 
 
 The vicinity of the Arc de Triomphe, from 
 which the battle could be seen, was thronged, 
 notwithstanding the imminent danger from shells, 
 now specially directed on this part of the city. 
 The constant falling of shells in the streets of Paris 
 occasioned much displeasure as well as loss of life. 
 The Parisians, knowing their danger to be greatly 
 decreased by falling on their faces on the approach 
 of a shell, were often put through this exercise by 
 false alarms from the gamins. The latter would often 
 cry "a shell" for the express purpose of seeing 
 
 military tribunals were made competent to try offences against the German 
 troops or against " public order " and the German officers were instructed 
 to order the delivery of arms and ammunition and to search for and remove 
 them; and to prohibit such publications and meetings as may seem to them 
 of a nature to produce or protract disorder. 
 
 That this proclamation was aimed at the Commune and its sym- 
 pathizers is plainly to be seen and that it was solicited by the Assembly's 
 executive is equally evident. A more disgusting and lugubrious spectacle 
 than these boasters of the Government of National Defense, whose mouths 
 had been filled with "great swelling' words" of defiance a few months 
 
 before, now crouching fawningly at the feet of their conquerors, is scarcely to 
 be imagined. But in the face of the danger which threatened their class 
 supremacy, the bourgeoisie of both nations forgot patriotism and national 
 animosities and united in the attempt to crush the insurgent proletariat. 
 
 * A writer saw the gen d'armes belonging to the Government forces 
 bring some fugitives in; and these were treated with a severity which 
 showed that they had met with no sympathizers. They were loaded with 
 curses and abuse, struck with the butt-ends of rifles, and sometimes 
 threatened with immediate death. On one occasion a general interfered to 
 
WAR — THE EVENTS OP APRIl,. 55 
 
 some stout pedestrian lie down with alacrity and rise 
 full of rage at his youthful tormenters, for whose 
 amusement he had been reduced to such an 
 undignified position. 
 
 Ladislas Dombrowski succeeded Bergeret in 
 the command of the West. 
 
 Eudes had charge of the forts on the South, 
 where fighting went on constantly. 
 
 Bergeret had been given charge of Neuilly, 
 and was imprisoned after the defeat. When 
 questioned as to the strength of the defensive 
 works at that place, and the possibility of its 
 falling, his reply was: *'I have been there; I have 
 fortified the place, and I defy the Versaillese." 
 He is stated to have substituted his own 
 authority for that of Cluseret on the night of the 
 7th. There was a dispute between them after 
 the arrest of Bergeret, who refused to acknowledge 
 Cluseret's authority, declaring that he would not 
 
 save the lives of his prisoners, saying that the proper treatment of such 
 men was to despise them. Even the badly wounded were jeered at, and the 
 captives generally were told that there was no need of ropes for binding 
 them, as they would be shot on making the slightest attempt to escape. 
 
 "There can be little doubt that the Versaillese troops behaved with great 
 ferocity to their prisoners. Several independent observers testify to this 
 fact; and it was said that it even caused a reaction in their favor to spring up 
 amongst the people of the Royalist town where the Government and the 
 army had their headquarters; though many at Versailles joined in the 
 outrages committed on the captives. When the prisoners were brought in, 
 M. Picard, the Minister of the Interior, walked from group to group, mak- 
 ing jokes; and Madame Thiers, surrounded by a hevy of ladies, sat looking 
 on in a balcony of the Prefecture. Henry, (who a few days afterwards 
 escaped, and got back again into Paris) produced a considerable effect He 
 was young, handsome and manly, and conducted himself with courage and 
 dignity. But for the most part 'it was a miserable sight; and the treatment 
 of the Communist prisoners undoubtedly did much towards embittering a 
 conflict which was not at all wanting in heat and venom."— CasseK. 
 
 In consideration of the unexampled treatment of prisoners by the 
 Versaillese, the citizens of Paris were addressed by the Communal author- 
 ities in a proclamation which began:— 
 
 " Versaillese do not wage war against you like civilized men, but like sav- 
 ages. The Vendeans of Charettc, the agents of Pietri, shoot the prisoners, and 
 massacre the wounded in the ambulances. Twenty times the wretches who 
 dishonor the uniform of the Line have turned their muskets butt-end up- 
 wards, and then traitorously fired upon our gallant men." 
 
56 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 ''obey a man who fought to continue slavery in 
 the United States." This display of ignorance on 
 the part of Bergeret may be taken as an indication 
 of his general knowledge. Had his military talents 
 and bravery equalled his self-esteem and love of 
 display, he would have been the Colossus of the 
 Communal defence. Reproaching Bergeret and 
 others, Cluseret issued his sensible address con- 
 demning the increasing use of gold lace, etc., 
 and pointed out to them: ''That as workingmen 
 who have accomplished a great revolution, they 
 should not blush for their origin; the movement 
 had been made in the name of virtue against vice, 
 of duty against abuse, of honesty against corrup- 
 tion, and had triumphed for that very reason," and 
 concluded by announcing that any officer who 
 added embellishments to the regulation dress, 
 should be sent before a Council of Discipline. 
 
 The ecclesiastics were examined by Rigault 
 and Dacosta. M. Deguerry was thus interrogated: 
 
 ' ' What is this trade of yours ? " 
 
 " It is not a trade; it is a profession, a moral 
 ministry which we undertake for the amelioration 
 of souls." 
 
 "Ah, that is all blagues. We want to know 
 what stories you tell the people." 
 
 " We teach them the religion of Our I^ord 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 ' ' There are no Lords. We don't know any 
 Lords," said Rigault. 
 
 Archbishop Darboy was conducted to the 
 ex- Prefecture of Police and brought before Raoul 
 Rigault, who asked his name. 
 
 " My children," — replied the Archbishop. 
 
 " Citizen," interrupted Rigault, "leave off that 
 wheedling and familiar tone; you are not before 
 
WAR — THS EVENTS OF APRII.. 57 
 
 children — we are men. You are in the presence of 
 a magistrate. What is your profession ? " 
 
 ** I am a servant of God." 
 
 ' ' Where does he live ? ' ' interrogated Rigault . 
 
 ** Everywhere," responded the priest. 
 
 "Send this man to the Conciergerie, and issue 
 a warrant for the arrest of his Master, one called 
 God, who has no permanent residence, and is 
 consequently, contrary to law, living in a per- 
 petual state of vagabondage," was Rigault's order. 
 
 Other interrogations by Rigault and Dacosta 
 to Archbishop Darboy were made, and when 
 Darboy told them the churches and the furnish- 
 ings of the churches belonged to the clergy or 
 the church, the questioners did not exhibit much 
 regard for an ownership in property gained by 
 efforts which to them seemed neither useful nor 
 instructive in the community. 
 
 During these days a large number of ecclesias- 
 tics were arrested, and the churches turned into 
 sleeping places for the Federates. The churches, 
 buildings and valuables were confiscated to the 
 Commune. Many of the edifices were turned into 
 lecture rooms and meeting places for the populace, 
 l/ouise Michel and Paule Minck were among 
 the most noted of the woman speakers, who ad- 
 dressed the large congregations. Their influence 
 was immense. 
 
 The womarn who gained the most oonspicuous place in the revolt 
 of 1871— Louise Michel— in the popular mind is a virago, bringing in her 
 wake petroleum, dynamite and destruction. In reality, a simple- 
 hearted woman of a mystic temperament, ready to sacrifice her life 
 for an idea, and so generous that she often gave away her own clothes 
 to supply the needs of those poorer than herself. She will be known 
 as a thoroughly good, kind-hearted woman. Governess and school 
 teacher, learned and energetic, her wonderful earnestness and vigor in 
 public address and her humanitarian efforts in nursing the wounded 
 endeared her to friends of the uprising. After the fall of the Com- 
 mune, she was sentenced to the New Caledonia penal colony, where 
 
58 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 she immediately used her extraordinary talents to ameliorate the 
 condition of the colonists and the education of the children. On her 
 return from New Caledonia, she took up her residence in London, and 
 acquired a high regard for the freedom vouchsafed by England. She 
 wrote many historical novels, her "Memoirs," and several other 
 literary works; also two dramas, "Nadine" and "Le Coq Rouge," 
 both of which were successfully produced in Paris. Louise Michel 
 was born at Vroncourt, in the Department of Upper Marne, in 1836. 
 With blue, clear and expressive eyes, and a slow but well modulated 
 delivery, speaking absolutely pure French, her voice for decades pro- 
 claimed the tenets of her belief, which made her hated by the privi- 
 leged classes in every country, and beloved by the proletarians 
 throughout the world. 
 
 There was no lack of orators among the sup- 
 porters of the Commune, and they lost no oppor- 
 tunity for preaching secular doctrines to the people. 
 
 The fearless curiosity of the Federates and 
 their audacious invasions of the precincts of the 
 edifices belonging to the church, filled the 
 priests with horror and indignation.* So long 
 accustomed to be reverenced in all respects, 
 their being placed on a par with ordinary mortals 
 in regard to their property and their persons was 
 an obnoxious surprise for these dignitaries. 
 
 This lack of affection for the clergy, and the 
 absence of respect for all things pertaining to 
 religion, are marked features of the Commune. 
 Indeed it is remarkable, that from a population bred 
 in the association of church and state, a body of men 
 so unanimous upon this subject could be elected. 
 Their position was certainly the result of the work- 
 ers belief in the alliance of the church and their 
 oppressors, and a unanimous opinion as to the 
 utter useless ness of rites, forms, ceremonies. 
 
 The clergy are partly to blame for the irreligious attitude of many 
 modern socialists. They have to j often made themselves the advocates ol 
 conservatism simply as conservatism, regardless of all abuses which it em- 
 braced. Tn countries where Church and State are connected, the clergy 
 have been too often a sort of police, assisting the government to maintain 
 existing institutions, and to oppose change, good or bad. They have favored 
 the higher classes, upon whom their support has depended, and neglected 
 theinterests of the poor and down-trodden.— iiicftarc^ T. Ely, 
 
WAR — THE EVENTS OF APRIL. 59 
 
 or symbols. The priests were considered simply as 
 parasitical members of the community. In several 
 churches the following notice was posted : "This 
 Shop to lyCt ! " The private property of the clergy 
 was confiscated to the Commune, which procedure 
 was much like that of the Romans in the 4th 
 century, who wished to remove as much as possible 
 tl;e taint of world liness and the cares of temporal 
 possessions from those whose cares should only be 
 for the spiritual welfare of the people. 
 
 The actions of the Commune were proof posi- 
 tive that they subscribed to the skeptical tenets 
 which hold priests to be the advocates of human 
 ignorance and a bar to the progress of the race. 
 
 The following notice was posted on the closed 
 doors of the church of St. Pierre, Montmartre : 
 
 " Whereas, priests are thieves, and churches 
 are haunts where the masses have been morally 
 assassinated, the ex-Prefecture of Police orders 
 the church of St. Pierre to be closed, and decrees 
 the arrest of the ecclesiastics and ignorantins." 
 
 (Signed.) ''Le Moussu'' 
 
 Two Communal seals were affixed to the paper. 
 
 An estimate made at the time indicated the 
 number of the clergy in prison to be 300. 
 
 Several churches and unoccupied houses were 
 sacked by the independent military, whose opera- 
 tions the Commune could neither advise nor punish, 
 as their apprehension was almost impossible and 
 their detention, trial or punishment were matters 
 of secondary importance to the repelling of the 
 Versailles. 
 
 On April 7th a guillotine was set up and 
 burned in the nth arrondissement,as an evidence 
 of the detestation felt by the Paris populace for the 
 murderous instrument of tyranny and despotism. 
 
66 THK PARIS COMMUNB. 
 
 Cluseret was appointed Delegate to the 
 Ministry of War on April 8th. 
 
 A Versailles decree published on April 8th 
 announced the appointment of Marshal McMahon 
 to the command of the Assembly's troops. 
 
 The Steele on the 8th contained an article in 
 which it showed plainly the almost inevitable defeat 
 of the Paris defence. Attention was called to the 
 fact that the calibre of the guns defending the 
 ramparts was of too light a character to success- 
 fully exchange hostilities with the heavy siege 
 guns being planted by the Versaillese. Referring 
 to the operations of April ist-yth, the inability 
 of the Federates to gain anything by the continu- 
 ation of outside hostilities, was conclusively shown. 
 The hope for aid from outside districts was indi- 
 cated to be futile, as reports from emissaries of the 
 Commune were not encouraging. The whole 
 statement in the Steele showed a preception of the 
 situation not exhibited by any of the other papers 
 of the day. The article closed with an appeal for a 
 conciliatory movement as the only hope to avert 
 complete defeat for the Commune. 
 
 Between the 2d and 9th days of April the 
 losses of the Federates exceeded 7,000 men. 
 
 The Chambers of Commerce of Paris repre- 
 senting 8,000 merchants and traders, probably 
 from business motives, attempted to bring about 
 an amicable arrangement with the Versaillese. 
 But they asked for the autonomy of Paris, of 
 course without avail. 
 
 The intolerance of the Assembly's represent- 
 atives increased as their power extended. The 
 workingmen who had been considered the proper 
 defendersof the honor and interests of Paris against 
 the Germans, were now denounced as criminals for. 
 
WAR— THS ^VKN'TS 01? At>Rlt. 6 1 
 
 daring to defend the right of their city to social 
 autonomy. 
 
 Many deputations of various peaceably in- 
 clined organizations tried to induce a cessation of 
 hostilities, but Thiers, who now had military power, 
 repulsed with increasing firmness any efforts 
 toward reconcilation. It is said that he "received 
 the delegations kindly." But the VersaiAese were 
 determined to carry out the programme ^i fteath 
 and disgrace marked out for all who had the 
 temerity to oppose the Assembly, now supported 
 by those military chieftains who had proved 
 themselves unable to cope with a foreign invader, 
 but who were ambitious to regain their forever- 
 lost prestige, even by conducting a campaign of 
 extirpation against a portion of their countrymen. 
 
 There was a continual bombardment through- 
 out the 9th and loth. A shell struck the Arc 
 de Triomphe on the 9th, not doing much damage. 
 The Federates made slight gains and occupied the 
 village of Boulogne on the loth. 
 
 M. Jecker, a Mexican banker, was arrested for 
 trying to obtain a passport under a false name. 
 
 M. Parisel, member of the Commune, was 
 delegated to gain infermation regarding the 
 preparation of explosives.* The chemist to whom 
 Parisel applied for information, quietly communi- 
 cated with the Versaillese, and by dilatory 
 methods prevented the carrying out of some 
 plans which might have been of assistance in the 
 defence. 
 
 By a sort of tacit agreement, hostilities were 
 suspended on the night of the loth-iith. The 
 Federates repaired Porte Maillot, now much 
 damaged by the incessant cannonade. 
 
 ♦March. ....;. . ; ; . 
 
62 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Religious services in the prisons were, on the 
 nth, by the Commune, ordered discontinued. 
 
 On the night of the nth a vigorous assault 
 was made on Fort Vanves and another on Porte 
 Maillot, both without accomplishing any measure 
 of success. 
 
 Porte Maillot was heavily bombarded on 
 the 1 2th. The Federates made some gains in 
 Neuilly, where the fighting was furious at times 
 during the day. 
 
 The destruction of the Vendome monument had 
 been advocated by many of the most distinguished 
 Frenchmen, among them A. Comte. M. Picard 
 and others of the Government of the National De- 
 fence had believed it incompatible with the 
 overthrow" of the Second Empire to allow this 
 staring statue of Imperialism to call to mind the 
 murderous glory of the first Napoleon. Courbet, 
 the painter, was a foremost advocate of its demo- 
 lition. The Commune added the sentiment of Inter- 
 nationalism to the anti-Imperialist feeling in those 
 who grasped the reins of power after the fall of 
 I,ouis Napoleon. 
 
 April 1 2th the following decree was issued: 
 "The Commune of Paris, considering that the 
 Imperial column in the Place Vendome is a mon- 
 ument of barbarism, a symbol of brute force and 
 false glory, an affirmation of militarism, a negation 
 of international law, a permanent insult cast by 
 the victors on the vanquished, a perpetual attack 
 on one of the great principles of the French 
 Republic — Fraternity — decrees the column of the 
 Place Vendome shall be demolished." 
 
 On the 13th the fighting continued with little 
 cessation in the environing villages, Neuilly being 
 the scene of a warm engagement in the latter part 
 
APRIL — THK EVENTS OF WAR. 63 
 
 of the day, but the evening showed little gain 
 for either the Federate or Versaillese forces. 
 In the artillery work of the day in connection 
 with the forts, the Federates seem to have made a 
 much better showing than usual. Cluseret's 
 report to the Commune on this day was of a very 
 cheerful character. A battery of the Federates at 
 Trocadero Heights opened on Fort Valerien. and 
 some shots were interchanged. 
 
 Jaroslaw Dombrowski ( brother of General 
 Dombrowski) and his corps were distinguished 
 by capturing the Castle of Becon, and Vinoy was 
 defeated when he attempted to recover it. 
 
 Gustave Chaudey, accused of ordering the 
 firing of January 226., on the National Guards 
 from the Hotel de Ville, was arrested. 
 
 The Convent of Picpus, two distinct build- 
 ings — one occupied by monks, the other by nuns* 
 — was invaded by Phillipe Fenouillat, Chief of 
 Legion of the 12th arrondissement. The monks, 
 13 in number, were arrested and taken to prison. 
 
 *At the extreme «nd of the garden were three little huts, side by side, 
 resembling white ant's nests; and when the convent was first occupied by 
 the National Guards, each of these huts was tenanted by an old woman, en- 
 closed in a wooden cage, like a chicken's pen. The buildings were six feet 
 square by seven in height, with a slate roof, through which daylight was 
 visible. The three old women were hope'ess idiots. " The Lady Superior," 
 continued the account, "admitted, when firft questioned, that the three 
 sufferers had lived in their hideous prison for i.ine years, in an atmosphere 
 of stifling heat throughout the summer, and half-frozen with cold through- 
 out the winter; ' but,' she added, ' they were idiots when they came.' The 
 conductor of the inquiry replied that, if such were the case, it was illegal to 
 have admitted them to the convent at all, and that, even supposing them to 
 have been admitted, the place where they were found was not a fit dwelling- 
 place for a dog. A key was discovered among her papers, labelled ' key of 
 the great vault;' but where this great vault may be has not yet been found 
 out. The Superior and her nuns keep a uniform and persistent silence upon 
 the point; excavations have been made at different points in the garden, 
 and under the hi^h altar of the chapel, but hitherto without effect." In an 
 isolated building in the nuns' garden were found mattresses furnished with 
 straps and buckles; also two iron corsets, an iron skull-cap, and a species of 
 ra<:;k turned by a cog-wheel, apparently intended for bending back the body 
 with force. "The Superior," said the Times correspondent, "explained 
 that these were orthopaedic instruments— a superficial falsehood. The mat- 
 tresses and straps struck me as being" easily accounted for; I have seen such 
 things used in French midwifery, and in cases of violent delirium; but the 
 rack and its adjuncts are justly objects of grave suspicion, for they imply a 
 
64 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 An investigation into the women's department dis- 
 closed parts of human skeletons, instruments of 
 torture and others for the procuring of abortion. 
 Three women, in various stages of derangement, 
 were confined in cage-like huts. The Communal 
 authorities were convinced that relations existed 
 between the monks and nuns not consistent with 
 their profession, and that abortion and secret 
 burials were the result of criminal proceedings, 
 and that the forcible violation of women was also 
 common in the institution. These charges were 
 denied by the church authorities, as well as by 
 the "respectable" portion of society. The con- 
 clusions of the Communists have not been suc- 
 cessfully controverted. The Church of St. Lau- 
 rent also developed some extraordinary features 
 for a religious institution. These developments 
 made the populace, never too much enamored of 
 the priests and their practices, still more vehe- 
 ment in demands for their eviction from all property 
 and public functions. 
 
 M. Rochefort, in the Mot d'Ordre, said so far 
 as the property of the church was concerned, " as 
 Christ was born in a stable, the only property 
 which the church should have is a bundle of 
 straw." 
 
 The Bank of France was summoned to give 
 up the crown diamonds, the presence of which in 
 
 use of brutal force which no disease at present known wonld justify. Ar- 
 rived at the entrance gate, our guide nudged me, telling me in whispers to 
 look at the old woman who was wandering about, followed by a jounger 
 one, stooping from time to time to pick up a leaf, or rub her hands with 
 sand and gravel. ' That is Soeur Bernardine,' he said, * one of the three 
 prisoners of the wooden cages. She is the most sane in mind of the three, 
 and we keep her here, under the care of one of our wives, to cheer her up. 
 She is only fifty, though she looks past seventy. The other two have been 
 removed, as they were rendered violent by the crowd and change of scene.' 
 I passed close to her, and she looked up— a soft, pale face, with sunken eyea 
 shaded by the frills of a great cap. She looked at me dazedly, without tak- 
 ing any notice, and, stopping, again filled her hands with refuse coffee- 
 grounds, wtiich she put into her mouth until prevented bj her 
 companion," . 
 
WAR — THK EiVEN'l^S OF APRII,. 65 
 
 the bank was indicated by documents in the pos- 
 session of the Commune's officials. The depu- 
 tation was told that the diamonds had been sent 
 from Paris before the surrender, to keep them from 
 falling into the hands of the Prussians. This ex- 
 cuse, true or untrue, seems to have satisfied the 
 Commune. 
 
 In the early days of the struggle, the force 
 of the Assembly was not of such magnitude nor 
 loyalty but that the immense funds in the Bank 
 of France could have won most of it, not only 
 from the Versaillese, but to the defence of Paris. 
 There probably never was a time but that the 
 huge amounts of money and negotiable securities 
 could have been so placed as to win from their 
 allegiance the foremost of the opponents of the 
 Commune, if we may judge by the financial and 
 political records of most of them. It may be safely 
 insisted that on no one point was the imbecility of 
 the Commune so nakedly exposed as in their 
 puerile conduct in allowing themselves to be so 
 continually stultified by their soft-hearted agent 
 and the bank officials. 
 
 Funds there were in abundance, but the in- 
 telligent courage to grasp and use them was not 
 present. The hope that the National Guards 
 in the bank would fraternize; the humane desire 
 to prevent the fratricidal results of a forcible 
 seizure; and a fear of bourgeois opinion, all held 
 them from the taking of the deposits. These 
 halting opinions were flagrant errors in the 
 Commune.* 
 
 The vigorous attack on Fort Vanves on the 
 night of the i5th-i6th may be properly said to 
 have been a failure, though a great loss of life was 
 the result on both sides. On the i6th Eudes, 
 
 •See Commune and the Bank. 
 
66 THB PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 commanding the forts on the South, reported 
 to Cluseret: " Our Federals are heroes; they 
 fought like lions; the victory is one with pride to 
 be inscribed upon the banner of the Commune; 
 Vanves was the center of the attack; the Governor 
 of the Fortress of Vanves, Citizen I^eroux, de- 
 serves special mention." The 86th battalion and 
 Commandant I^eroux of Vanves were specially 
 mentioned by Cluseret in the reports of the d^y. 
 
 On the 15th, the Trocadero batteries, which 
 were poorly manned, opened fire on Valerien and 
 on Longchamps, where the Versaillese reserves 
 were camped; the exceptionally fine marksman- 
 ship of the gunners in the fort soon temporarily 
 silenced them.* 
 
 The fighting was heavy in Levallois; parts of 
 the village were occupied by both armies. In this 
 engagement the Federates made no gains, though 
 assisted by mitrailleuses mounted on cars. 
 
 Operations of the Assembly's force.now showed 
 marked improvement; Marshal McMahon had 
 organized his troops into three corps, commanded 
 respectively by Generals Cissey, Ladmirault and 
 Du Barial. Each corps w^as composed of three 
 divisions. General Vinoy was given charge of the 
 reserve, which was also in three divisions, and to 
 which another division was subsequently added. 
 
 The Versaillese were moving rapidly in the 
 completion of works by which their troops might 
 be sheltered in their advancing attacks upon 
 the city's defences. 
 
 * The establishment of the battery at Trooadero is said to have had a 
 double purpose. To damage or silence Fort Valerien seemed its object, but 
 the fact that it drew the fire of the fort on the district of Passy, which had 
 refused to assist in the support of the Commune, gave rise to the belief that 
 the battery had beein placed for that purpose. Great damage was done ip 
 Passy by Valerien's shells; and after some days of cannonading,- the inhabi- 
 tants, protested to the. Commander of the fort and the shells theiieafter w.ere 
 much more infrequent. The Trocadero battery did little damage to the 
 fort or to the enemy. 
 
WAR — THE Events of APRlt. 67 
 
 At the station Colombes, where a severe 
 engagement took place, the railway batteries pro- 
 tected the retreat of a body of Federates which 
 otherwise must have been cut off by Versaillese 
 cavalry. 
 
 On Sunday, the i6th of April, the Belgian 
 legation was invaded by Federates. This unwar- 
 ranted and impolitic proceeding apparently went 
 unpunished, although the Jo2ir7ial Officiel declared 
 the Commune's intention of bringing the offenders 
 before a Council of War. 
 
 Elections to fill 31 vacancies in the Commune, 
 caused by resignation, etc., w^ere held April i6th, 
 and called out less than half the vote of the last 
 previous election. 
 
 In this election 61,000 votes were cast in 
 arrondissements which had on March 26th re- 
 turned 146,000 votes. 
 
 The election laws required an eighth of the 
 votes for a candidate to elect; the smallness 
 of the vote left six vacancies unfilled under this 
 rule, and on April 17th the Commune by a vote 
 of 26 to 13, declared elected those candidates re- 
 ceiving the majority of votes cast. Twenty were 
 elected, three — Menotti Garibaldi, (son of General 
 Garibaldi ) Rogeard and Briosne never took their 
 seats. 
 
 Members o^ Committee Central -G. Arnold, Pettier, 
 Viard ^ 
 
 Committee of the 20 Arrondissements -A. Dupont, 
 Cluseret, Johannard, Longuet, Pillot, Slcard 6 
 
 Journalists -Vesinier, Andrieu, Longuet ..... 8 
 
 Speakers at Club and Public Mestings— Tricquet, 
 Dereure, SeraiUer, Philippe, Lonclas, Johannard, Durand., 
 
 Pottier . . • • 8 
 
 20 
 
 Johannard, Durand. and Pottier also belonged tothe Ihter- 
 
 ttational Association ^ 
 
 Total 17 
 
6^ fat PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 On the 17th a Military Commission was in- 
 stituted, with Rossel as President, with fiill 
 powers of punishment from the death penalty 
 downward. At a sitting of this Military Court 
 Cluseret asked some questions, but was interrupted 
 and told that he was now expected to answer 
 questions, and he was immediately asked "Why 
 some battalions on the ramparts had no shoes 
 and had been fed on salt meat for 15 days ? " 
 
 Unauthorized troops, ''Flourens Avengers," 
 "Avengers of Paris," etc., attempted to hold place 
 in the Commune's commissary, without being 
 amenable to the discipline of the Federates. 
 These guerrilla bands brought the Federates into 
 general disrepute; for, while the latter confined 
 its operations to searches and seizures of arms, 
 provisions, etc., for the benefit of the defending 
 forces, the irregular bodies foraged, consumed and 
 destroyed, giving but little heed to any authority, 
 and assisting, (with some exceptions,) but slightly 
 in defensive operations. 
 
 An attempt at systemization was now made 
 in the official conduct of the Commune, the work 
 of the committees originally selected not having 
 been properly defined; but the results did not 
 show much improvement. 
 
 On the 17th an important engagement took 
 place at Asnieres, in which the Federates were 
 driven back, abandoning barricades and trenches. 
 A rout ensued; many squads were cut off from the 
 main force and captured by the Versaillese cavalry; 
 one of the locomotive batteries was disabled by a 
 cannon shot, and the railway track was blocked 
 by the wreck. The pontoon bridge was cut 
 while many had not yet crossed, and a large 
 number lost their lives endeavoring to swim the 
 "Seine, while many were killed and many taken 
 
WAR — THE EVENTS OF APRII,. 69 
 
 prisoners. The Federates rallied under Dom- 
 browski, and made a desperate attempt to retrieve 
 the fortunes of the day. They were unsuccessful, 
 though the charge was one of the most courageous 
 recorded in the annals of war. 
 
 The Versaillese under Colonel Davoust, Due 
 d' Auerstadt, (a grandson of the great Napoleon's 
 marshal of the same name ) carried the Chateau 
 Becon. This action was made the subject of 
 special mention by Thiers in a dispatch to the 
 Sub-Prefects. 
 
 General Van Pape, German Commander at 
 St. Denis, speaking to a correspondent said the 
 Prussians would not interfere unless the triumph 
 of the Commune should jeopardize the payment 
 of the indemnity.* 
 
 On the 1 8th of April the " Union Republicaine 
 of Paris" published an address condemning the 
 Assembly for failing to give guarantees for the 
 maintenance of the Republic or the establishment 
 of Communal liberty. 
 
 Little fighting was done on the i8th on 
 account of heavy rain. Fort Valerien did some 
 exceedingly effective cannonading. Many persons 
 were injured in the city by the bursting of shells. 
 
 On the 19th there appeared in the Journal 
 Officiel, the Manifesto of the Commune, which had 
 been prepared by a committee of five commissioned 
 for that purpose. Pierre Denis, a journalist, and 
 Delescluze are credited with its composition. The 
 
 On April 4th Paschal Grousset addressed to General Fabrice some in- 
 quires regarding the progress of the payment of the indemnities bj' the 
 Assembly, and the probabilities of evacuation of some territory held by the 
 Germans. This epistle was not answered by Fabrice. He turned it over to 
 M. Favre, who visited at Rouen a few days after its receipt. Favre said he 
 was "overcome with civilities" at the German headquarters by General 
 Fabrice. On April 10th M. Favre read Grousset's communication to 
 Fabrice before the Assembly. It was read in tones so undignified and with 
 postures and gestures so grotesque as to cause great merriment among the 
 m^mbers. Favre was ridiculed by the Gaulois for his attempts to bring, 
 contempt upon Grousset, and said that Favre surpassed Frederic Lemaitre, 
 the actor. 
 
70 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 doctrine of decentralization, the entire autonomy, 
 of Communes, whether large or small, and some 
 vague ideas of centralized representation by 
 Communes were incorporated in the document. 
 The Manifesto closed with these words: *'As for 
 ourselves, Citizens of Paris, we have a mission to 
 accomplish, a modern revolution, the greatest and 
 most fruitful of all those which have illuminated 
 history." 
 
 Their economic and political surroundings, as 
 well as their reasonable and honorable opinion 
 that the conduct of war in civilization is disgrace- 
 ful to all concerned, accounts in large degree for 
 the wavering course and unscientific procedure 
 in the offensive and defensive operations by the 
 Communists in Paris. The conflicts between the 
 contrary instincts of humanity and passion were, 
 except in the last days, almost universally given to 
 the milder attribute. A hope for reconciliation 
 was, almost until the end, apparent in Paris. This 
 ignis-fatuus was largely the result of the specious 
 acceptance of negotiations by the Versaillese, 
 who diplomatically considered and suavely de- 
 layed all conciliatory plans. Every days' delay 
 was for the Assembly's advantage. 
 
 Deputations were sent out to solicit help from 
 the other large cities; the imperfectness of the 
 plans offered, the uncertain character of instruction 
 to the Commune's representatives, and the growing 
 strength of the troops at Versailles made this 
 mission of no great ultimate value to the Parisian 
 government. The amount of money placed at 
 the disposal of this service has been stated at 100,000 
 francs (almost $20,000). The imbecility of setting 
 aside such a pittance when so much depended on 
 this mission is not at variance with many other 
 evidences of the continual oversight of the liberal 
 
WAR — THE K VENTS OF APRII.. 7 1 
 
 programme which the funds of the Bank of France 
 placed at the Commune's disposal. 
 
 A correspondent of the Daily Neivs, writing on 
 April 17th, said that private crime had wonder- 
 fully diminished. " In such a state of society," 
 he remarked, " it might be expected that in- 
 dividuals would take advantage of public disturb- 
 ance and the dislocation of authorit}^ to pursue 
 their own private ends, robbing and killing at their 
 pleasure. But here, on the contrary — it may be 
 from terror — the people are so well behaved 
 (putting their political passions out of ac- 
 count) that I never felt more secure than I 
 do now." 
 
 *' The Communal Guards taken in arms were 
 now being tried at Versailles. They were con- 
 fined in cellars under the stables of the Chateau 
 d' Artois, and their examination was conducted 
 before a Judge of Instruction, who sat in a large 
 room on the ground-floor of the barracks facing 
 the chateau, and who was assisted by five younger 
 magistrates. The treatment of these prisoners was 
 characterized by all that disregard of fairness 
 which is commonly observed in the proceedings 
 of French courts. The Judge, in accordance with 
 the habit of those functionaries in France, reviled 
 the accused much as Sir Edward Coke reviled 
 Sir Walter Raleigh on his. trial for high-treason. 
 Coke, however, was not the Judge, but the pros- 
 ecuting counsel; so that the case was not so bad, 
 though bad enough. Some old men among the 
 captured Communal troops asked permission to 
 sit down. The Judge refused, and one of. the 
 Assistant-Judges exclaimed, "Wretches who en- 
 gage in such a cause as yours have no claim upon 
 the indulgence of the authorities. Stand where 
 you are, and let there be no shifting to either 
 
7? TH:e PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 right or left. We want to see your faces in all 
 their ignominy of expression." "* 
 
 On the 19th there was lively fighting at many 
 points, particularly at Neuilly, Asnieres and Clichy. 
 
 A body of Federates, bent on recovering the 
 bridge at Neuilly, pushed a battery of six guns up 
 within a short distance of the Versaillese at this 
 point and opened fire on them unawares. This 
 manoeuvre proved unfortunate for the Federates. 
 They were charged furiously by superior numbers, 
 lost their guns and fled. The cannon were turned 
 against them, and they were mercilessly pursued 
 to the gates, volleys of grape-shot being poured 
 into their broken ranks as they ran. Their losses 
 were terrible; each of the battalions engaged lost 
 one-third of its men . This was one of the bloodiest 
 battles and was most disastrous to the Federates. 
 The ofiici aire ports of the Federate officers incharge 
 were misleading as to the real character of the 
 engagement, merely mentioning it as a sortie, but 
 calling for 2,000 more men. 
 
 On the 19th the Committee Central of the 
 National Guard issued an address to the people of 
 Paris and the Federates, which began by saying 
 that ' ' false rumors of disagreement between 
 the two powers had prevailed and that from that 
 day the Committee Central entered upon its 
 functions in the administration of war ! " 
 
 Le Sociele demanded the impeachment of the 
 Members of the Committee Central, and the sup- 
 pression of the body, and the radical press in 
 general seemed to be inimical to this Committee. 
 
 A kind of armistice was observed at Neuilly 
 on the 2oth, on behalf of the inhabitants, who, 
 being afraid of issuing out of their cellars, lest 
 they should be shot, ran great risk of perishing 
 
 *Cassell. 
 
APRIL — THE KVENTS OF WAR. 73 
 
 witli hunger. Indeed, it is said that some actually 
 died in their subterranean retreats. 
 
 An artillery duel took place on the 20th 
 between Fort Valerien and the Federates at the 
 Porte Maillot. As usual the former was much 
 more accurate and effective in gunnery, and 
 the intrepidity of the defenders of the gate has 
 been the wonder of all acquainted with the 
 extreme danger of the position. 
 
 At the bridge of Clichy a sharp engagement 
 took place, slightly favorable to the Federates. 
 The Versaillese also made an unsuccessful attempt 
 to seize the bridge at Asnieres, which was de- 
 feated by the use of Federate field guns. 
 
 A shot fell into and exploded the powder maga- 
 zine of the Federates near the Porte d' Asnieres, 
 doing great damage to persons and property. 
 
 There were rumors of an attempt to over- 
 throw the Communal Government, and four battal- 
 ions of Federates were stationed in the Luxem- 
 bourg as a precaution against any uprising which 
 might be attempted. 
 
 Dombrowski was chagrinned at the apathy 
 shown by Cluseret; Rossel was disgusted with 
 the latter's laxity of discipline and failure in the 
 proper organizations of the commissary. All 
 affairs connected with the war were in a highly 
 unsatisfactory condition. Complaints to the 
 Commune were incessant. 
 
 A Commission for the Control of the War 
 was appointed April 21st, consisting of Delescluze, 
 Tridon, Avrial, Ranvier and Arnold. Bergeret 
 was released from prison. Pyat sent in his resig- 
 nation to the Commune, alleging dissatisfaction 
 with its proceedings, Some of his colleagues ac- 
 cused him of resigning to escape responsibility 
 for the Commune's actions, which accusation, 
 
74 ^HB PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 judging from Pyat's general character, was prob- 
 ably true. Delescluze here said that others dis- 
 pleased with the detail work, would not desert, 
 but " if necessary, find death at the ramparts de- 
 fending the cause." 
 
 Sharp quarrels were taking place in the 
 Commune. Vermorel and Pyat exchanged heated 
 words. Pyat was denounced as being the cause 
 of the failure of the attempt to overthrow the 
 government on October 31st. Vermorel charged 
 Pyat with seeking to evade the results of the 
 Commune's proceedings. Its formation had been 
 advocated by Pyat, who had advised in his paper 
 the most extreme measures. Pyat, whose threat 
 to resign was the cause of these recriminations, 
 decided to retain his seat. 
 
 A Commission of Police Control was ap- 
 pointed — Cournet, Ferre and Trinquet. Rigault, 
 jealous of any infringement on his power as 
 Prefect, resigned; Cournet was appointed in his 
 stead, and Rigault was assigned to Cournet's 
 place on the Commission of Control, which really 
 left Rigault in power as before. 
 
 The Executive Committee of the Commune 
 was changed from its previous form, to that of 
 nine members, one each from the Commissions, 
 and the following delegates were named: 
 
 Delegate of TFar— Cluseret. 
 Finance— 3 oxjnu'E. 
 Subsistence— YlAKD. 
 Exterior Relations — GroUSSET. 
 Labor and Exchange — Frankel. 
 Justice — Protot. 
 Public Service — Andrieu. 
 7n/orma^.ioji— Valliant. 
 General Surety — Rigault. 
 
 A Committee of practical jewelers met at the 
 Ministry of Finance to examine and estimate the 
 
WAR — THB EV:BNTS of APRIL. 75 
 
 value of a number of sapphires and pearls found 
 in the building. Two of the pearls were as large 
 as pigeon-eggs, and the whole collection was 
 estimated at many millions of francs. 
 
 Twelve unfriendly journals were suppressed 
 by the Commune. 
 
 An advance of the Federates on the 21st 
 at the Park of Neuilly seemed successful, the 
 Versaillese falling back. The Federates, flushed 
 with success, were pressing on, when the}^ were 
 enfiladed by masked batteries of Gatling guns, 
 which piled the road with the dead, and threw into 
 the wildest disorder the troops who had escaped so 
 imminent a danger. They fled to the barricades, 
 and were met by the fixed bayonets of the 
 Federate reserves. They again charged the 
 murderous engines which no human line could 
 overcome. Driven back, their retreat became a rout; 
 it was with difiiculty they obtained admittance 
 into the city, and that only by force at the St. 
 Ouen gate. Wagon loads of the dead were brought 
 in. Omnibusses and other conveyances were 
 requisitioned for transportation of the wounded, 
 whose number was enormous. 
 
 This terrible slaughter was followed in the 
 city by almost innumerable funerals, and the 
 scenes of death and the mournful corteges were 
 being felt as lessening the vigor of the Federates, 
 who complained loudly of the unsystematic dis- 
 tribution of troops, of ammunition and of supplies, 
 blaming their ill-success upon the Commune and 
 all subordinate authorities, and in many instances 
 charging their commanders with betrayal. 
 
 On the night of the 22d,an advance was made 
 by the Versaillese, who threw large bodies of 
 troops acro.ss the Seine above Clichy, intending tg 
 
76 THB .PARIS COMMUI^B. 
 
 take, Clichy and Levallois, thus cutting off that por^ 
 tion "of the Federates on the right from the balance of 
 the army. Dombrowski, by a vigorous and skillful 
 disposition and movement of his troops, check- 
 mated this operation and proved himself to be 
 vigilant as well as valorous. 
 
 Skirmishes only were reported on the 23d. 
 
 The Assembly now took measures to prevent 
 even a desire for conciliation to be made public 
 through publications of any kind in France.* It 
 was thus made plain that it was not peace, but the 
 downfall of Parisian autonomy that was desired. f 
 
 Cluseret requested an armistice on the 24th to 
 bury the dead and allow the escape of the non- 
 combatant inhabitants of Neuilly. The Federates 
 supposed the terms and date were understood, 
 but they were fired on when they commenced 
 peaceful operations, and suffered considerable 
 loss; being pressed, a determined stand was 
 made, and the fighting resulted in great loss of 
 life but no advantage was gained either side. 
 
 Thiers, during the negotiation looking to 
 an armistice, said : "As soon as the Germans 
 evacuate the forts on the North I shall bombard 
 Paris; the legitimate authority must be upheld; 
 the power of this calumniated Assembly shall be 
 maintained at any cost." 
 
 Thiers visited St. Denis on the 24th, and 
 had a long interview with the Crown Prince of 
 Saxony and General Fabrice; he informed them 
 that the Versailles army numbered 150,000 men, 
 
 *M. Dufaure, Minister of Justice, with the assent of the Assembly on 
 April 23d, issued orders to the procurators of the provinces to proceed 
 against all journalists inimical to the Assembly g-overnment. " Some," 
 said M. Dufaure, "attacked the institutions of society openly and without 
 reserve; others more dangerous still, impart to their criticisms a semblance 
 of conciliation " It was evident that opposition or voices for conciliation 
 would not be tolerated by the Assembly. 
 
 tSee Modern Paris in another chapter. 
 
WAR — THE EVENTS OF APRIT.. 77 
 
 and that they would be thoroughly prepared by 
 the ist of May. 
 
 On April 17th Thiers had issued a proclama- 
 tion in which he said: " We persist in our system of 
 temporization for two reasons, which we can avow; 
 first of all, to collect forces vso imposing that resis- 
 tance will be impossible, and therefore not sanguin- 
 ary; and secondly, to leave misled men the time 
 to return to reason." 
 
 Hostilities were suspended on April 25th to 
 allow the inhabitants of Neuilly (where the fight- 
 ing had been heavy and almost continuous since 
 April ist)to leave their houses. Their homes 
 had been alternately held by Federates and Ver- 
 saillese, and the cellars had been the residence of 
 the greatest part of the population for many days. 
 
 A committee of four was chosen, two by each of 
 the opposing parties. M. Bonvalet, ex-Mayor 3d 
 arrondissement, and M. Stupuy, a literary man, 
 were the Commune's representatives; M. Adam 
 and M. Loiseau-Pinson (both of whom had re- 
 signed as members of the Commune) were the 
 Versaillese representatives. This Committee was 
 charged with attending to the carr5dng out of the 
 essentials of the agreement for the armistice. 
 The village was visited during this day of peace 
 by crowds from Paris, among them many women, 
 and the scenes of suffering witnessed and the acts 
 of kindness performed would require many pages 
 to narrate. At 5 p. m. hostilities were resumed. 
 One writer says : "Nearly all the ruins were filled 
 with dead insurgents, more or less in a state. of 
 decomposition; most of them had received bullet 
 •holes through the head, killed in the act of 
 firing over the barricades or through loop- 
 
78 THK PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 holes . "* The floors of many of the houses in Neuilly 
 were soaked with blood. 
 
 On the 26th the Versaillese showed their real 
 strength in their attacks upon the forts. They had 
 been advancing lines of heavy guns and had almost 
 reduced Issy to silence. It is said there were 
 breaches in the redoubts of this fort through 
 which a carriage might have been driven. 
 
 The gunboats of the Federates on the Seine 
 were of great service, doing much execution and 
 sheltering themselves beneath the railway viaducts. 
 One of these, the Liberty, being of light draft, was 
 particularly active, running out, firing, and re- 
 turning to cover to reload. 
 
 The fierceness of the cannonade increased on 
 the 27th, Montrouge and Issy being the principal 
 objects of assault. " Issy, though dismantled, and, 
 in spite of its escarpes tumbling into the ditch and 
 its ruined barracks, still fought with desperation, 
 throwing shell on Tour-des- Anglais, Clamart and 
 Meudon. Montrouge was scarcely better off than 
 Issy." 
 
 The practices of the Versaillese were exempli- 
 fied on April 27th. Four Federates were cap- 
 tured. The captain of the Versaillese company, 
 drawing his revolver, killed three of the prisoners 
 and shot the other — Captain Scheffer — through 
 the chest; he fell as if dead, but recovered suffi- 
 ciently to escape to the Federate ranks.f Yet re- 
 prisals were forbidden by Federates as ** not ac- 
 cording to civilized warfare." 
 
 *A8 the Versaillese officers made a practice of shooting the prisoners 
 through the head with their pistols, (rather than be troubled with their 
 detention or than to lessen their forces by detailing a guard to conduct 
 prisoners to the rear,) the bullet holes in the heads are otherwise explainable. 
 
 fWhen Tolain interpellated War Minister Le Flo upon this matter in the 
 Assembly, his voice was drowned by the howling of membera, and Le Flo 
 was, by the Assembly, forbidden to answer. 
 
WAR — THK EVENTS OF APRIL. 79 
 
 Severe fighting took place on the West of Paris 
 on the 28th. 
 
 Thiers made a speech in the Assembly. He 
 again and again declared his undying fealty to 
 France, and in shielding himself from rumors of 
 his attempts to re-establish the Orleanists, he was 
 moved to tears and was encouraged by cries 
 of '* Go on!" "Goon!" As he related his sacrifices 
 for his country he was again deeply moved. He 
 closed this emotional address by avowing his inten- 
 tion of carrying out the wishes of the Assembly. 
 As a dramatic efi"ort this oration is said to have 
 been of great merit. 
 
 Constant precautions were taken as the Ver- 
 saillese gained ground to prevent the escape of 
 any persons from the city. By the end of April 
 Thiers had stopped provisions from coming into 
 the city through the gates controlled by the Ver- 
 saillese. But the neutral zone between the Ger- 
 man lines and the walls was sufficient to scantily 
 supply the city. The Department of Subsistence 
 had no very great difficulties. 
 
 The National Guards, loyal to the Versaillese, 
 were constantly under suspicion, and any show of 
 consideration for the prisoners was looked upon 
 as treason. The soldiers of the line, (whose num- 
 bers were constantly augmented by the prison- 
 ers who arrived from Germany by Bismarck's 
 orders,) were, to some extent, animated by a desire 
 to conquer, and hoped by their valor and atrocities 
 here, to somewhat atone before the world for their 
 ignominous defeat by the Germans. Those who 
 expressed sympathy for the Commune and for 
 relatives of Communists, w^ere treated with no 
 pity; many were secretly killed and others, after 
 a farcical trial, were executed at Versailles. 
 
8o THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 No more significant occurrence was to be ob- 
 served during the Commune's regime than the deter- 
 mined stand taken in affairs by the Masonic fra- 
 ternity in Paris. On April 26th they had decided, 
 in mass meeting, to employ all means "to obtain 
 the Communal liberties of Paris." On the 29th, 
 10,000 of them, representing 55 lodges, paraded. 
 Members of the Commune, decorated with red 
 sashes bordered with gold lace, reviewed the 
 procession from the Court of Honor at the Hotel de 
 Ville. It was decided to make one more attempt 
 to obtain a peaceful arrangement with the Ver- 
 saillese. ** A balloon was sent up which let fall 
 at intervals outside Paris, a manifesto of the 
 Masons." 
 
 M. Beslay, who for 56 years had been a 
 Mason, made a vigorous and humane speech, in- 
 sisting upon the necessity of the Freemasons of 
 the city assisting in "arranging immediate terms of 
 peace or of furnishing the city with their arms to 
 defeat its enemies." He asked the honor of accom- 
 panying the delegation as the senior member of 
 the Commune and the senior Mason of Paris. 
 
 Citizen Leo Meillet then said: — " Y011 have 
 just heard the only music to which we can listen 
 before a definite peace. Here is the red flag which 
 the Commune of Paris offers to the Masonic depu- 
 tations. This flag should accompany your pacific 
 banners; it is the flag of universal peace. It is 
 the flag of the Commune of Paris, which the Com- 
 mune is about to confide to the Freemasons." 
 
 Citizen Terifocq took the red flag from the 
 hands of Citizen Leo Meillet, addressed the assem- 
 bly the following words: — "Citizens, brothers; I 
 am of those who took the initiative to go and plant 
 the standard of peace on our ramparts. We will 
 
APRIL — THK KVKNTS OF WAR. 8 1 
 
 say: Soldiers of the same country, come and 
 fraternize with us; and if peace is accomplished, 
 we will return to Paris convinced that we have 
 gained the most glorious victory — that of 
 humanity! If, on the contrary, we are not heard, 
 but are fired upon, we will call every vengeance to 
 our aid. We are certain that we shall be heard, 
 and that the Masonry of all the provinces of 
 France will follow our example. We are sure 
 that in whatever part of the country our brothers 
 see troops directed upon Paris, they will go to 
 meet them and call upon them to fraternize." 
 
 Five members of the Commune, selected by lot, 
 were in the procession, which was followed by 
 40,000 or 50,000 citizens to the Arc d'Triomphe. A 
 shower of shells fell here, killing many persons and 
 wounding many others. These shells were fired 
 in reply to a cannonade from Porte Maillot. The 
 deputation placed its banner on the wall at Porte 
 Maillot; the Versaillese commander at this point 
 was a Freemason and ceased firing after the flag 
 was planted. He explained to the deputation that 
 the cessation of firing was necessarily only tem- 
 porary. The delegates were furnished, by this 
 commander with a carriage, in which they pro- 
 ceeded to Versailles to interview M. Thiers. 
 
 The delegates were received by M. Thiers, 
 who replied: "There will be a few more houses 
 shelled, and a few more men killed, but force must 
 remain to the law." In answer to a communica- 
 tion afterwards sent to him, he declared that he 
 had nothing to add to his previous reply. 
 
 From its inability to obtain fresh horses, the 
 deputation was forced to return to Paris on foot, 
 where they arrived at 6 o'clock in the morning on 
 the 30th. 
 
82 THK PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 The action of Thiers toward the committee 
 showed all peace endeavors to be fruitless; and 
 the Parisian Freemasons prepared to, and did 
 thereafter, assist materially in the defence of 
 the city. 
 
 On April 29th Megy deserted Fort Issy. 
 Cluseret ordered it re-occupied immediately on 
 being apprised of the evacuation. But suspicion 
 had fastened on Cluseret, and he was at once ar- 
 rested and Rossel installed as Delegate of -War. 
 He at once instituted a second system of barricades, 
 the construction of which was put in charge of 
 Napoleon Gaillard, who, to enthusiasm in the cause 
 added knowledge and industry, and the work was 
 conducted with vigor and apparent ability. 
 
 Nothing was ever done with Megy for his 
 desertion of Issy. 
 
 Cluseret had made himself generally unpopu- 
 lar. Some of the newspapers had made an 
 attack upon him, intimating that he only waited an 
 opportunity to declare himself dictator; that a 
 "coup d'etat" might be expected, etc. Nothing can 
 be found to justify these insinuations; they were 
 probably used to drive him from the head of the 
 War Department, Dombrowski and some other 
 officers had tendered their resignations, but with- 
 drew them after Cluseret's displacement. 
 
 Cluseret was a Frenchman by birth and a naturalized American 
 citizen. He was naturalized under the special act of Congress which 
 provides for the naturalization of any one who had been two years 
 In the military service of the United States. He had been made a 
 Brigadier-General by President Lincoln upon the recommendation of 
 Senator Sumner, who described Cluseret as a "gallant Frenchman 
 , who had come over to fight for the cause of the Union.". He was 
 never given a position in the Union Army commensurate with the 
 rank of Brigadier-General, but was assigned to an obscure post in 
 •Baltimore by Secretary Stanton. He was for some time attached to 
 the staff of General Fremont. Cluseret was with the Fenians in the 
 
WAR — THK ^VKNTS OF APRII,. 83 
 
 attack on Chester Castle in England In 1867, and afterwards was 
 again in America, returning to France in 1870. Early in October, 
 CUiseret walked out of Paris through the German lines, and was 
 presently installed General-in-Chief of the National Guards at 
 Marseilles. He soon returned to Paris and became prominent in the 
 Communal uprising. The unservlceability of the War Department 
 under Cluseret is a prominent feature in the Commune's history. He is 
 accused of insincerity as well as of incapacity, and from his conduct 
 in office and in the last days, we are not impressed with a very high 
 regard for either his military talents or his earnestness in the Com- 
 munal cause. No record shows to us what Cluseret's ability was in 
 handling troops ta the field; but, if we may Judge from the accounts 
 of his life and character, he was more the diplomat than the soldier. 
 His occupation is given by one writer* as an artist and by 
 others as an agitator. In writing to Varlin from New York, on the 
 17th of February, 1870, Cluseret observed:— "You say success is cer- 
 tain. So it is if we prepare the ground beforehand. When the day 
 arrives, we shall be ready; physically as well as morally ready. 
 When that day shall come, it will be either us or nothing. Paris will 
 be ours, or Paris will have ceased to be." 
 
 In Lyons on April 30th, a manifesto was is- 
 sued in which it was stated that pending an elec- 
 tion, the Red Republican Party had appointed a 
 temporary Commune, which *' would no longer 
 suffer a factious Assembly to wave in France the 
 flag of civil war, but that in the meanwhile the 
 members of the Commune * resolved, rather than 
 to see victory taken from them, to convert into a 
 mass of ruins a town sufficiently cowardly to allow 
 Paris and the Republic to be assassinated.' " 
 
 Furious fighting occurred in Lyons on April 
 30th and May ist; the Guards fought desperately 
 behind barricades. They were outnumbered, and 
 after suffering much loss, were forced to sur- 
 render. After the defeat the National Guards 
 were disarmed. 
 
 MilHere, who had worked hard to organize 
 the provincials in Pa ris ever since the early part 
 
 ♦Latimer. 
 
84 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 of April, induced the " Republican Alliance of the 
 Departments," consisting of provincials residing 
 in Paris, to give a formal adhesion to the Com- 
 mune; on the 30th of April, 15,000 men accom- 
 panying Milliere to the Hotel de Ville, after hav- 
 ing voted an address to the departments. 
 
 Various requisitions had been made upon the 
 Bank of France during the month of April. 
 The amounts demanded by the Commune had 
 rarely been paid in full, but with these monies, 
 and the regular revenues, the expenses of the 
 municipality had been carried on. 
 
 The limits of this work preclude the possi- 
 bility of a detailed recital of all the sanguinary 
 contests of this struggle. But, from the records of 
 the events of the conflict, sufficient has been already 
 narrated to show the lack of discipline, lack of 
 military leadership and lack of orderly attention 
 in the distribution of ammunition and supplies for 
 the Federates. Their courage at times was marvel- 
 ous; their losses were appalling. The result of 
 April's war operations were neither creditable nor 
 favorable to the Commune. There is no evidence 
 that the prisoners taken in battle by the Federates 
 were treated otherwise than with the considera- 
 tion due to prisoners of war. 
 
 On the other hand, the trained warriors of 
 the Assembly's force were gaining steadily and 
 surely. Their operations were conducted with 
 precision and skillful purpose. Nor can it be said 
 that, in the later days, the Versaillese troops were 
 less brave than were the Federates; the former, how- 
 ever, were guided by men who depended much 
 more upon strategic procedure than upon the valor 
 of the soldiery. But to. this .cautiQus^wisdoni..in 
 combat there was added, by both officers and rden 
 
WAR— THK EVENTS OF APRIL. 85 
 
 of the Versaillese, a ferocious and disgraceful 
 ill-treatment of prisoners that has left a record of 
 helpless slain and needless suffering which 
 those most friendly to the Assembly have sought 
 in vain to j ustify or to extenuate. The Federates 
 taken prisoners were the objects by which brutal 
 abuse and assassination were established as prece- 
 dents in "civilized" warfare — inexpressibly mourn- 
 ful at best, and enormous in these iniquities. The 
 murders of prisoners in April were as unnecessary as 
 they were atrocious. The annals of extermination 
 by the Assembly's troops would indicate their 
 belief to have been that they were at war with 
 wild beasts and not with human beings — men 
 bound to them by a thousand ties of interest and 
 of consanguinity. 
 
 "War — it niay be summed up to be the com- 
 bination and concentration of all the horrors, 
 atrocities, crimes and sufferings of which human 
 nature, on this globe, is capable." No wars have 
 been so sad as civil strifes; certainly not one of 
 these ever furnished a chronicle redder in blood or 
 blacker in atrocities than did the revolt of 187 1. 
 
86 • THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 May i -20— The Fall of the Forts. 
 
 \ 
 
 On May ist, the commander of the forces at- 
 tacking Fort Issy, (who was a former comrade of 
 Rossel's,) sent him this message : " Immediate 
 surrender of Issy will obtain for its defenders the 
 rights of prisoners of war; , otherwise the fort vStilli 
 be taken and the men shot.'* To which Rossel 
 replied: " If you again send such an insolent 
 message, I shall have your messenger shot in 
 conformity with military usage." 
 
 Miot, in the Commune's sitting, introduced a 
 proposition for the election of a Committee of Pub- 
 lic Safety to consist of five members; 44 members 
 voted in favor of this proposal and 24 against it. 
 Antoine Arnaud, Leo Meillet, Gabriel Ranvier, 
 Felix Pyat and Charles Gerardin were elected. 
 Those who voted against the Committee's forma- 
 tion, refused to take part in the election of its 
 members. The nine heads of departments re- 
 mained in office, notwithstanding the Committee of 
 Public Safety was given full powers to act, al- 
 though instituted especially /to attend to the affairs 
 of the war. Jourde and others refrained from at- 
 tending the sittings of the Commune, being op- 
 posed to the delegating of full powers to the Com- 
 mittee of Public Safety.* 
 
 Rossel, who was a methodical tactician, at- 
 tempted some improvements in discipline, and 
 
 *This committee was instituted in imitation of one of tiie same name i|j 
 tlie revolution of 1789. 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FALI. OF THE FORTS. 87 
 
 consequently was unpopular with the Federates. 
 Neither their organization nor their disposition 
 had improved since the siege began. 
 
 The Chateau d'Issy had been taken on the 
 30th of April by the Versaillese, and on May ist 
 the Communists retook it. On the advance of the 
 Versaillese on the 2d, the Federates made a sortie 
 to meet them and in the action took nearly 300 
 prisoners and inflicted great losses on their antag- 
 onists. They seemed to have achieved a decisive 
 victory and were preparing to silence a battery be- 
 tween the Chateau and the fort. Their three bat- 
 talions, advancing in the early morning, were met 
 by an overwhelming force, which drove the 
 Federates from the Chateau and to the gates of 
 the city. The pursuers inflicted great losses on the 
 fugitives, who were denied admission, an order 
 being operative that no Federate should be al- 
 lowed to pass in. The Federates threatened to fire 
 on the guard at the gate, but finally scattered and 
 joined other battalions in the vicinity. 
 
 The station at Clamart also fell into the hands 
 of the Versaillese after a sharp engagement. 
 Hand-to-hand conflicts were common, and when 
 the Federates left the field, more than 200 of their 
 men were dead, nearly all killed by either bayonet 
 or sword. 
 
 Attempts were made through various sources 
 to arrange the exchange of Archbishop Darboy 
 and three or four others of the hostages for 
 Blanqui. United States Minister Washburn was 
 particularly active in this aff"air; he was granted 
 passes by Rigault and Cluseret to visit Mgr. Darboy 
 in prison. Mr. Washburn, contrary to the prison 
 regulations, brought wine and other articles into 
 the prison for the Archbishop. > All advances 
 in relation to the exchange were apparently 
 
88 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 less summarily considered than were the applica- 
 tions by peace deputations, but that Thiers even 
 seriously considered the propositions of exchange 
 is very doubtful.* 
 
 Thiers evidently took the position regarding 
 the exchange of prisoners, that, if the hostages 
 were not executed, it would be evidence enough 
 that there was no need of an exchange; if, on the 
 other hand they were executed, it would be suffi- 
 cient evidence of the necessity of the drastic 
 measure so w^ell planned and so determinedly 
 carried out. 
 
 On May 2d Fort Issy was three times as strong 
 in men as when evacuated by Megy, but the con- 
 dition of the fort and armament was such that a 
 vigorous defense was not even intended. How- 
 ever, the Versaillese advance w^as checked while 
 the defences at the ramparts were strengthened. 
 
 Rossel, on this day, sent a letter to several 
 Paris papers in which he denied anything except 
 the most friendly feeling between himself and 
 Cluseret, and further said: "I feel bound not to 
 make myself, by my silence, an accomplice to the 
 malevolent rumors to which General Cluseret may 
 be exposed in the unfortiinale position in which 
 he is placed, until the justice of the Commune has 
 passed upon his acts." This appearance of 
 fairness raised Rossel in the estimation of the 
 populace. 
 
 Rigault was vigorous in the suppression of 
 spying and intriguing in favor of Versailles, and 
 his acts of arrests and methods of imprisonment 
 were distasteful to some of the members of the 
 Commune. He was told that secret imprisonment 
 
 *A message was sent to Versailles stating that unless a million francs 
 ($200,000) were paid as a ransom for the Archbishop of Paris, he would be 
 
MAY I-20 — THK FAI.I. OF THK FORTS. 89 
 
 was immoral. To these objections he made that 
 famous answer, so often quoted: ''War is im- 
 moral, yet we fight." 
 
 The Versaillese on May 3d had a plan by 
 which a gate of the city was to be opened. This 
 failed, much to the chagrin of Thiers, who was 
 persistent in attempts to buy an entrance. There 
 is a suspicion, not well established by records, that 
 some of the Commune's members took the Ver- 
 saillese money, but failed to open the gates, which, 
 in any event, were never opened by the means the 
 Assembly's agents so unceasingly employed. 
 
 May 4th, the Federates in Moulin-Saquet re- 
 doubt, (one of the Commune's strongest positions 
 garrisoned by between 600 and 800 men,) were 
 surprised by a force of 1,200 Versaillese. Half 
 the Federate force was butchered in cold blood, 
 large numbers being bay onetted while not yet awake 
 — overcome by days and nights of sleepless 
 activity. Rossel blamed General Wroblewski 
 for absenting himself from the fortification; and 
 there was a clash of authority; it was proven 
 that Felix Pyat, of the Committee of Public Safety, 
 had ordered Wroblewski to leave the fort, although 
 Pyat denied it until his written order was pro- 
 duced. Wroblewski was exonerated. 
 
 Thiers detailed this massacre to the Assembly 
 with unseemly joy as soon as he was made aware 
 of the facts. 
 
 The surprise of Moulin-Saquet has been 
 ascribed to many methods. One was that Versaillese 
 disguised as peasants drove a herd of cattle up to 
 the fort, the gates were opened, they rushed in 
 and massacred the inmates. Another story was 
 that a body of Assembly's troops presented them- 
 selves, dressed in the uniform of the National 
 Guard, and on pretence of being a patrol party, 
 
go THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 gave the countersign and gained admittance. 
 The affair has been accounted for by the statement 
 that the commandant or an officer had divulged 
 the watchword in a coifee house. It has also been 
 said that the affair was the result of bribery. Gal- 
 lien, the commander was accused of having sold 
 the countersign to the enemy.* There were 
 vehement complaints of treachery. The lassi- 
 tude which allowed the surprise was discred- 
 itable, but the butchery by the victors was nothing 
 less than infamous — a slaughter of helpless men, 
 scarcely equalled in atrocity in the annals of the 
 wars of savages. There has never been a doubt 
 that all of the 300 or 400 men slain while asleep 
 (or drunk, as some writers say), at Moulin-Saquet 
 could have been taken prisoners. Few of the 
 garrison escaped, most of those not killed being 
 captured. The redoubt was cannonaded by Forts 
 Ivry and Bic^tre as soon as the situation was 
 made known to them, and a large body of Fed- 
 erates soon drove the Versaillese from the works, 
 the latter taking with them their prisoners and 
 six cannon, for the transportation of which they 
 had come provided with horses. 
 
 A deputation of the RepJiblican Unioii inter- 
 viewed Thiers on the 4th, but were met with the 
 usual evasions. The Commune was also inter- 
 viewed by a deputation of the same body, but no 
 basis of conciliation could be agreed upon. 
 
 Nearly 100 men were sent to prison for insub- 
 ordination on May 5th. The plate taken from 
 the churches and silver ingots were minted, by 
 order of the Commune. Seven papers, inimical 
 to the Commune, were ordered suppressed; but 
 this order, like many others, was not systematic- 
 ally carried out. Some newspapers 'ordered 
 
 ' ♦Fetridge. 
 
MAY 1-20 — THE FALI. OF THE FORTS. 9 1 
 
 suppressed in the morning were allowed to be 
 sold on the streets in the evening. 
 
 A decree for the demolition of the Expiatory 
 Chapel of Louis XVI, to be carried out within 
 eight days, was passed by the Commune, which 
 designated the administrator of the public lands 
 as the recipient of the profits from the sale of the 
 material and contents of the chapel. 
 
 There w^as continual friction betw^een the 
 Committee of Public Safety, the Committee Cen- 
 tral and the Delegate of War. 
 
 General Dombrowski was assigned to the 
 command of the right bank of the Seine; General 
 Iva Cecilia between the Seine and the left bank of 
 the Bierre, with the title of General of the Center; 
 General Wroblewski, the left wing; General Ber- 
 geret, commander of the First Reserve Brigade; 
 General Kudes, the command of Second Reserve 
 Brigade. The officers named were given in- 
 terior headquarters as follows: 
 
 Dombrowski— PZace Vendome. 
 La Cl&Cl'LIA— Military School. 
 Wroblewski— rfte EUjsee. 
 'F,VJi'E.&—Legio7i of Honor. 
 ^^B.GT&^^'S— Legislative Hall. 
 
 The territory west of the city was being oc- 
 cupied by the Versaillese, who made great gains 
 on the 5th, a large number of minor engagements 
 taking place. The Federates, resisting stubborn- 
 ly, were gradually giving way before the superior 
 forces of disciplined, fresh and well-supplied 
 troops. 
 
 Skirmishes in the Park at Bagneux and at 
 Neuilly resulted adversely to the Federate forces. 
 The Assembly's troops were now entrenched 300 
 yards from Porte Maillot. The railway betw^een 
 Forts Vanves and Issy was taken in the night of 
 
92 THB PARIS COMMUNIS. 
 
 5th-6th; this cut off communication between the 
 forts. 
 
 The Federates lost much ground on the 6th. 
 
 On Sunday, the 7th, Thiers issued a proclama- 
 tion addressed to the Parisians from which the fol- 
 lowing is an extract: "The Government which 
 speaks to you would have preferred that you 
 should liberate yourselves from a few tyrants who 
 are playing with your liberties and your lives; 
 but since you cannot do so, it must itself under- 
 take the duty; And for that purpose it has col- 
 lected an army beneath your walls — an army 
 which comes, at the price of its blood, not to con- 
 quer, but to deliver you. Up to the present time 
 it has confined itself to attacking the outer walls. 
 The moment has now arrived when, to abridge 
 your sufferings, it must attack the endente itself. 
 It will not bombard Paris, as the people of 
 the Commune and Committee of Public Safety will 
 not fail to tell you it intends. A bombardment 
 threatens a whole city, and renders it uninhabita- 
 ble, and has for its object to intimidate the citizens, 
 and constrain them to a capitulation. The 
 Government will not fire a cannon except to force 
 one of your gates, and will endeavor to limit to 
 the point attacked, the ravages of war of which it 
 is not the author." 
 
 A grand concert was given in several halls 
 in the Tuilleries on Sunday night the 7th, for the 
 benefit of the families of the killed or wounded 
 Federates. Those who gained admission were 
 compelled to stand in line an hour, and many who 
 purchased tickets were unable to enter.* The re- 
 ceipts were more than ^2,400. 
 
 *" Ten thousand people filled all the apartments, wandering everywhere 
 at their ease, and examining into every nook and corner of the vast palace. 
 The comments of the rabble were most amusing. Mj' secretarj- kept along 
 with the crowd everywhere, seeing all that was to be seen and listeinng to 
 
MAY I -20 — THK FAI^I, OF THK FORTS. 93 
 
 At this entertainment cloths were tied over 
 the heads of the busts of Napoleon's generals. 
 The members of the Commune in person were in 
 charge of the affair. 
 
 "By 8 o'clock the reception rooms were 
 full and some 2,000 people still stood in a long 
 string in the garden outside. They behaved with 
 the wondrous good nature which characterizes a 
 French crowd, laughing over the absurdity of their 
 predicament and waving their tickets, which they 
 would never be able to present, jestingly at one 
 another. "t 
 
 Thiers had for some time made daily visits to 
 superintend hundreds of laborers and carpen- 
 ters engaged in the work of building a gigantic 
 battery at Montretout. This work was begun on 
 April 29th and finished on May 4th. During 
 these six days an immense amount of labor was 
 performed. Powder magazines, etc., were a part 
 of the work. It is said that more than 150,000 
 cubic feet of earth were moved in this construc- 
 tion. The new fortification, about a mile in 
 extent, and consisting of eight batteries, assisted 
 by those surrounding it, assured the breaching 
 of the ramparts. Over 70 cannon of large 
 calibre, each supplied with 500 shells (some of 
 which weighed 160 pounds) centralized their force 
 upon a comparatively small portion of the city's 
 walls, and with terrible effect. Marine pieces, 
 
 all that was said. Great interest centered in the private apartments of the 
 Empress. The gorgeous belongings were everywhere commented upon by 
 the mob. The bath-room of the Empress attracted great attention. It was 
 represented as very handsome, and as a marvel of luxury, beaiity and taste. 
 It was surrounded by heavy plate mirrors. The tub was cut out of solid 
 marble. The ceilings were all covered with rich blue silk velvet. The 
 faucets in the bath were of solid silver. All that was seen was described by 
 the Communards as evidence of the profligacy and luxury of the Court, 
 which accounted for the oppression of the people and for the vast increase of 
 the taxes levied upon them. Not one man in the crowd, it is safe to say, 
 had ever paid a cent of taxes in his life,"— Washburti. 
 t Fetridge. 
 
94 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 worked by sailors accustomed to their operation 
 were of great assistance to the besiegers. The 
 fire of this aggregation of heavy batteries began 
 on Monday morning, centreing on Point du Jour. 
 
 One hundred and fifty great guns were pour- 
 ing shot and shell on Paris and the forts. 
 
 Fort Valerien continued to direct a terrific fire 
 on Porte Malliot and the adjacent ramparts, which 
 displayed frightful defacements as a result. 
 
 Unceasing activity in the construction of 
 barricades marked the early days of May. Huge 
 defenses rose at the Place de la Concorde, Rue 
 Royale, Rue Rivoli and at the corner of the Tuil- 
 leries. In front of each of these barricades was a 
 wide ditch. Many of the defences were pierced 
 for artillery, and in the embrasures were placed 
 mitrailleuses.* 
 
 Fort Issy was now in an untenable condition. 
 A battalion which had reinforced it the day before 
 had lost half its men, and, after making prepara- 
 tions to blow up the fort, the garrison quietly 
 evacuated it. About ii o'clock in the night of 
 May Sth-Qth, the Versaillese, getting no return 
 fire, investigated and occupied the fort.f 
 
 * A force, consisting- of 5,000 or 6,000 men, w^s for many days at work on 
 the interior defences, under direction of a corps of engineers, Th0 A re 
 d'Triomph was fortified. The barricade at the angle of the Rue de Rivoli 
 and the Rue de St. Florentine was a veritable redoubt, supporting itself to 
 the right on the Ministry of Marine, and to the left on the Tulleries; it was 
 constructed of earth and sacks filled with earth, and wfis pierced with five 
 embrsrsures. The Places Concorde, Vendome aud Madeleine and Hotel de 
 Ville were strongly barricaded. On the Quai de Passy a strong barricade 
 was erected near the Jesuit's College, which was also converted into a 
 fortress; the walls of the college gardens were made into extemporized and 
 connected fortific£^tions. Houses were crenellated; the cellars were con- 
 nected with each other *nd with the barricades by tunnels. These prepara- 
 tions were made particularly in those parts of the city inhabited by the 
 workingmen. 
 
 fin Fort Issy, 119 guns were captured and 10 more in the village, as 
 well as huge quantities of munitions and provisions. A short time after the 
 u -cupation of the fort by the Assembly's troops, a considerable body of 
 Federates advanced toward the fort, probably to reinforce its defence, evi- 
 dently unaware of the state of affairs. They were met by a heavy fire *nd 
 driven back, losing sevei*al of their number. 
 
MAY I-20— THK FALL OF THE FORTS. 95 
 
 As a soldier, Rossel recognized that a passive 
 defence against an increasing force, could but delay 
 the fall of the fortifications. On assuming the 
 head of the War Department, he had at once 
 determined on instituting a plan for offensive 
 warfare; this was nuUifiedby thedilatorinessof the 
 Commune's proceeding. 
 
 Now, disgusted with the conflicts of authority, 
 appreciating, in common with many of the leaders 
 the hopelessness of a continuation of the methods 
 in vogue; in power rather from a desire for place 
 than through a love of the cause, he determined 
 to cease his struggles with the legislators, debaters 
 and committees, none of whom had shown any 
 knowledge of military procedure, and few even of 
 the necessities of action and the subordination of 
 theories in war. Immediately on hearing of Fort 
 Issy's occupation by the enemy, he posted notices 
 all over Paris, many more in number than was usual 
 in issuing proclamations — "The tri-color floats 
 over the Fort Issy, abandoned last night by the 
 garrison," — which certainly has more the sound of 
 the announcement of a victory than of so dis- 
 astrous a surrender. 
 
 The next day, when Rossel's despatch was 
 seen posted on the walls of Paris, and published 
 in tho^ Journal Officiel, a hurried meeting was held 
 by the members of the Commune, and the follow- 
 ing proclamation appeared: 
 
 "It is by a regrettable error that the an- 
 nouncement has been made, that the Fort of Issy 
 had been taken and occupied by the Versaillese. 
 Nothing of the sort has occurred, happily, and 
 the flag of the Commune still floats on its ram- 
 parts!" 
 
 This contradiction was ordered to be posted 
 and was sent to all the Mairies by Vesinier, 
 
96 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 member of the Commune. The Journal Officiel, 
 however, never published the contradiction. 
 
 Rossel tendered to the Commune his resigna- 
 tion as Delegate of War, which was accepted. He 
 related some very unpleasant truths in his letter, 
 a very remarkable document, which he closed by 
 asking for a cell at Mazas prison.* 
 
 Kudes had, on May ist, been commissioned 
 by Rossel to take charge of Fort Issy. Kudes had 
 proceeded there unwillingly and had immediately 
 sought to find means to get back, and finally did 
 leave the fort, turning its command over to Collet, 
 who evacuated it as stated. 
 
 Rossel, Gerardin and probably Dombrowski, 
 were parties to a secret attempt to overthrow the 
 Commune, and place the conduct of the war in 
 the hands of Rossel and Dombrowski. 
 
 The choice of members for the Committee of 
 Public Safety had been unfortunate in more than 
 one instance. Pyat was particularly violent in 
 language, extravagant in ideas and uncertain in 
 
 *Eesignation of Rossel as Delegate of War. 
 
 Paris, May 9th. 
 
 "Citizens, members of the Commune:— Being charged by you with the 
 provisional direction of the war-operations, I feel myself incapable of any 
 longer supporting the responsibility of a command where every one de- 
 liberates and no one obeys. 
 
 "When a necessity existed for organizing the artillery, the Central 
 Committee of that arm discussed but did not order anything. After two 
 month's o! revolution, the whole service of your cannons was still depen- 
 dent on the energy of a few volunteers, whose number is insufficient. 
 
 " At my arrival at the Ministry, when I desired to facilitate the concen- 
 tration of arms, the requisition of horses, the pursuit of men evading ser- 
 vice, I asked the Commune to turn to useful account the various Munici- 
 palities of arrondissement. 
 
 J " That body deliberated, but came to no resolution. 
 
 "Later, the Central Committee of the Federation came and offered, 
 almost imperiously, its assistance in the administration of the war. Con- 
 sulted by the Committee of Public Safety, I accepted that aid in the clearest 
 manner, and I transferred to the Central Committee all the information I 
 
 Possessed relative to the organization. Since that time that body has been 
 ebating, but has not yet acted. During that delay the enemy enveloped 
 the Fort of Issy with adventurous and imprudent attacks, which I should 
 punish if I had the smallest military force disposable. <-j 
 
 -s"The garrison, badly commanded, was seized with panic; and the 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAI.L OF THB FORTS. 97 
 
 action. The resignation of the Committee of Public 
 Safety was called for, tendered and accepted. A 
 second Committee of Public Safety (the entire Com- 
 mune concurring) was elected, consisting of Eudes, 
 A. Arnaud, Delescluze, Gambon and Ranvier. 
 Delescluze being now appointed Delegate of War, 
 Billioray was elected in his stead on the Com- 
 mittee of Public Safety. This body decided to 
 sit in permanence at the Hotel de Ville, and the 
 Commune's meetings were to be held three times 
 each week instead of daily as heretofore. The 
 proceedings of the Commune were published in the 
 four7ial Officiel, except of the sessions in which mili- 
 tary affairs were discussed. Rossel, who was ar- 
 rested on the morning of the loth, demanded a 
 
 officers, having debated, drove away Captain Dumont, an energetic man 
 who arrived to command them, and while consulting, evacuated their fort, 
 after having foolishly spoken of blowing it up, a thing more impossible for 
 them than to defend it. 
 
 "That was not enough. Yesterday, while every one ought to have 
 been at work or under fire, the chiefs of legions deliberated in order to sub- 
 stitute a new system of organization for the one I had adopted, in order to 
 make up for the improvidence of their authority, always uncertain and 
 badly obeyed. The result of their meeting was a jjroject, at the moment 
 when men were wanted, and a declaration of principles, when acts were 
 necessary. My indignation brou^t them back to other thoughts, and they 
 promised me for this day, as their final effort, an organized force of 12,000 
 men, with which I undertook to march against the enemy. Those men 
 were to assemble at half-past eleven; it is now one, and they are not ready; 
 instead of being 12,000, there are about 7,000, which is not at all the same 
 thing. Thus, the nullity of the Committee of Artillery prevented the 
 organization of that arm; the incertitude of the Central Committee arrested 
 the administration; and the petty preoccupation of the chiefs of legions 
 paralyzed the mobilization of the troops. 
 
 *' I am not a man to recoil before repression, and yesterday, while 
 those officers were deliberating; the execution-company awaited them in 
 the court-yard. But I am unwilling to assume alone the initiative in an 
 energetic manner, to take on me the odium of the executions necessary to 
 extract from their chaos organization, obedience, aud victory. Again, if I 
 was protected by the publicit}' of my acts, I might retain my command. 
 But the Commune has not had the courage to make its proceedings known. 
 Twice already I have given you the necessary information; and on both 
 occasions, in "spite of me, you have held a secret committee. 
 
 ' ' My predecessor was wrong to struggle in the midst of this absurd 
 situation. Enlightened by bis example, and knowing that the strength of a 
 revolutionist consists solely in the precision of his position, I have two lines 
 to choose from — either to crush the obstacle which hinders my action, or to 
 withdraw. I shall not do the former, for the obstruction is you and your 
 feebleness; and I am unwilling to make an attack on the public sovereignty. 
 
 " I therefore retire, and I have the honor to ask you for a cell at Mazas. 
 
 " BoSSEIi. 
 
gS THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 trial, and Charles Gerardin was deputed to bring 
 him before the Commune. After a considerable 
 wait, the fact was disclosed that both Rossel and 
 Gerardin had disappeared, and neither was again 
 discovered until resurrected by the Versaillese.* 
 A decree of accusation had been passed 
 against Rossel by the Commune; in his post- 
 humous papers he avers that he was accused of 
 traitorously surrendering Fort Issy. 
 
 Louis Nathaniel Rossel, though very young, was one of the most 
 capable men the Commune produced. He was born in Brittany in 
 1844, and was the son of a French father and a Scotch mother. This 
 admixture of blood seems to have given force and gravity to his dis- 
 position. He has been described as entirely wanting in the showy 
 and theatrical qualities of the French nature. Energetic, practical, 
 and businesslike, he appears to have had a quiet contempt for the 
 declamation and posturing which generally form so large a part of 
 the life of French Republicans, 
 
 He was with the army of Bazaine at Metz, as an inferior officer of 
 Engineers; and, while there, was so impressed with the absolute in- 
 capacity of the commanding officers that, even as early as the first 
 half of August, 1870, he formed a plan for expelling the whole body. 
 Immediately after the surrender of Metz, he escaped, first to Belgium, 
 and from there went to England. 
 
 Early in December Rossel re-enterfsd his native country. He 
 was presented to M. Gambetta at Tours, and ultimately accepted 
 the position of Chief Engineer Officer in the camp at Nevers. The 
 conclusion of peace excited in him the highest indignation. 
 
 The force of these ideas induced Rossel, on the 19th of March, 
 1871, (the day following that on which the Commune may be said to 
 have been born), to address to the Minister of War at Versailles a 
 letter resigning his post at the camps of Nevers. He wrote :— " I have 
 the honor to inform you that I am about to proceed to Paris, to place 
 myself at the disposal of the Government forces which are about to 
 be organized there. Having learned by a Versailles despatch, pub- 
 lished this day, that two parties are struggling for mastery in the 
 country, I do not hesitate in joining the side which has not con- 
 cluded peace, and which does not include in its ranks generals guilty 
 of capitulation." V 
 
 * *A court-martial, of which Collet was to be president, was already named. 
 " I could not bear," writes Rossel, " the idea of appearing as an accused 
 before that Collet whom I had seen cowering before the shells at Issy; and 
 it was then that I determined to evade the justice of the Commune." 
 
MAY 1-20 — THK FALL OF THE FORTS. 99 
 
 When Rossel offered his services, he was questioned by the 
 Federate officials as to what his sentiments were regarding 
 Socialism. He frankly answered that he knew nothing about it. In 
 his posthumous papers he said : "I was as much the enemy of the 
 Commune as the sensible Republicans were; yet I still thought that 
 the Commune could and ought to be beneficial." 
 
 When a correspondent once asked him why he sat as President 
 of the Military Court in plain clothes, and not in uniform, he replied, 
 speaking in English: " Oh, you know, we aim at being rather Ameri- 
 can in our ideas, and especially in our detestation of forms and cere- 
 monies. We don't want to sit in wigs and gowns, like the English 
 judges. If I happen to be in uniform, I go to Court in that way ; if I 
 am in plain clothes, 1 do not change them." After his elevation to 
 the position of Delegate of War, however, he thought it advisable to 
 assume the dress of a general; but he had it made after a very sim- 
 ple pattern. " As great an enemy to killing as to warfare," Rossel 
 wrote, •' I nevertheless accept all the consequences of the situations 
 in which I am placed." We have no I'eas^^n to suppose he was not 
 a man of humane disposition. The only sentence of death he pro- 
 nounced in the Military Court was quashed. He seems to have had a 
 mania for plotting. He plotted against his superior officers at Metz; 
 insinuations of secret acts against Cluseret brought from Rossel a 
 letter of denial ; he was in at least one plot to overthrow the Commune. 
 He was of middle height and slight build, and wore a short, fair 
 beard. His quiet, self-confident look, his deliberate and thoughtful 
 way of speaking, and his reserved manners, made him seem much 
 more like an Englishman, an American, or a Prussian, than a 
 frenchman. 
 
 Rossel had been Captain of Engineers of the French Army, 
 Colonel under Gambetta, Chief of Staff under Cluseret, Delegate of 
 War and President of the Military Court. 
 
 After parting from Gerardin, Rossel got out of Paris, and, fail- 
 ing to quit the country, was arrested on the 7th of June, as a deserter 
 from the regular army. 
 
 The Commune's artillerymen elected their of- 
 ficers, who refused to obey Avrial, Commandant 
 of Artillery appointed by Rossel. 
 
 The Orphan Asylum of Belleville, a semi- 
 religious institution was closed on the loth and 
 the property of the asylum was confiscated. 
 
 On the morning of May loth, Fort Vanves 
 was the point of attack. The garrison replied but 
 feebly, and soon evacuated the fort, which re- 
 mained vacant for some time, The commander, 
 
lOO THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Durassier, until disabled by a shell, made the 
 Federates hold the place at the point of the pistol. 
 Some of the garrison, leaving the fort, fell into the 
 hands of the Versaillese. A line of rifle pits for 
 sharpshooters had been established 1,500 yards 
 from the fort, and the gunners had been picked 
 off as they worked the guns, and were subj ected 
 to a terrific fire from the breaching batteries and 
 mortars, which had prevented the garrison from 
 sleeping for three successive night and completely 
 incapacitated the defenders from a performance 
 of their duties. The Versaillese, believing the 
 fort to be mined, did not take possession. In 
 the evening two battalions of Federates re- 
 occupied the fortress and withstood a furious 
 enfilade. 
 
 On May loth at Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
 Bismarck forced on Pouyer-Quertier and Favre 
 even more extortionate terms than were contained 
 in the original peace stipulation. 
 
 The Committee Central of the National Guard, 
 the loth, added to the bewildering number of 
 committees, by appointing a "Committee of Organ- 
 ization," which proclaimed itself about to "give 
 an irresistable impetus to the defence of Paris." 
 
 On May nth, the Assembly at Versailles be- 
 came turbulent, accused the Chiefs of the Govern- 
 ment of cowardice and incapacity. Thiers, always 
 diplomatic, asked for only eight days more to re- 
 duce the Commune to submission. 
 
 Federate Chief of Battalion I^e Moussu was 
 delegated, with a body of troops, to take charge 
 of the Bank of France. The loyal Guards were 
 well entrenched; the usual excuses were poured 
 into the ears of the Communists by the bank 
 officials and Beslay, and the taking over was 
 put off. 
 
MAY I-20 — THK FALI, OF THK FORTS. lOI 
 
 Th& Journal Offidel on the 12th published a 
 proclamation emanating from the Committee of 
 Public Safety, which intimidated that Rossel had 
 been bribed, blaming him for the surrender of 
 Issy, and closing said: ''All the living force of 
 the Revolution must group together for a supreme 
 effort. Then and only then will triumph be 
 assured." 
 
 It was the intention of the city authorities to 
 take over all movable property belonging to persons 
 who had deserted Paris during the -Commune, 
 and to a large extent this was done. The prop- 
 ertied classes were anxious, in some cases almost 
 frantic, to leave the city; many persons, by false 
 passports, forgery and various devices, such as per- 
 sonating coachmen, hiding in vegetable wagons, 
 etc., did pass the ramparts. 
 
 The cannon of Montmartre opened fire on 
 Chateau de Becon and Gennevilliers, but the marks- 
 manship was so defective that the Federate 
 forces in Clichy suffered greatly from this bom- 
 barbment. 
 
 An unsuccessful attempt was made on the 
 1 2th to bribe Dombrowski, the Versaillese recog- 
 nizing in him a dangerous adversary. The attempts 
 to bribe the Division Commanders were so persis- 
 tent and so ably supported by persuasion and 
 funds, that the Commune at this time detailed 
 some of its members to personally associate them- 
 selves with the commanders. Dereure was 
 assigned to Dombrowski; Johannard to La Cecilia, 
 and Meillet to Wroblewski. 
 
 Suspicion seemed the order of tlie day. 
 Henry Rochefort is credited wath saying : ' ' The 
 Hotel de Ville distrusts the Department of War; 
 the Department of War distrusts the Department 
 of Marine; Fort Vanves distrusts Montroug^; 
 
I02 THK PARIS commune:. 
 
 Rigault distrusts the Delegate of War; Vesinier dis- 
 trusts me." 
 
 By decree of the Commune, on the 13th, the 
 demolition of Thiers' home in Paris was com- 
 menced, it being levelled on that and succeed- 
 ing days. The material was used by or sold for 
 the benefit of the Commtine. By the decree the 
 linen of the establishment was consigned to the 
 hospitals to be used in the care of the wounded ; 
 the pictures and books were sent to the National 
 Museum and the Public Libraries; the other prop- 
 erty was sold at public auction, the proceeds of 
 which went to the widows and orphans of the 
 victims of the war. 
 
 Perry Smith, a wealthy citizen of Chicago, 
 111., attempted to bid in the effects of M. Thiers to 
 preserve them for the head of the Assembly 
 government. This attempt was unsuccessful.* 
 
 The Assembly afterwards decreed that the 
 Theirs mansion should be replaced from the pub- 
 lic funds. 
 
 Thiers, signing himself Chief of the Gov- 
 ernment of France, had posted a proclama- 
 tion declaring that Paris was not being bom- 
 barded. ** Whilst," as read the Commune's decree, 
 '* each day women and children are victims of the 
 fratricidal projectiles of the Versaillese troops." 
 
 Communal elections had been held in France 
 April 30th. A very large maj ority returned repre- 
 sentatives not favorable to Versailles. f There 
 was an attempt made to call the representatives of 
 of the Communes together at Bordeaux; the Assem- 
 bly seized correspondence, interdicted orders, inter- 
 rupted telegraphic communication and were suc- 
 
 *Washburn. 
 
 tout of 35,000 Communes, only 8,000 wished to uphold the continued 
 power of the Assemhly. —Sketchley. 
 
MAY I-20— THE FAI^L OF THE FORTS. IO3 
 
 cessful in preventing the establishment of what 
 might have proved another parliamentary body in 
 France. This gathering was forbidden by the 
 Assembly, on the basis of an Imperial law — a law 
 of the same Empire which the men now com- 
 posing the Assembly, almost without exception, 
 had condemned during its entire existence.* 
 
 At 2 p. m. on the 12th a parade of troops took 
 place in Versailles. The chiefs were received by 
 M. Thiers at the Palace, where the soldiers were 
 addressed by M. Leon de Malleville, Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the National Assembl}^ 
 
 May 13th Ferre displaced Cournet as head of 
 the Police Department in Paris. 
 
 Some slight successes were credited to Dom- 
 browski's division on May 13th. This was wel- 
 come news to the Commune's sympathizers after 
 days of unvaried reports of defeats. 
 
 M. Lasnier, a Versaillese agent, was, on May 
 13th, arrested with 30,000 francs upon his person, 
 with which he had intended to bribe the 
 Federates. 
 
 A scheme was in operation in Paris to furnish 
 tri-colored badges to friends of the Versaillese, in 
 order to distinguish them from Communal sup- 
 porters when the city was taken. A Madame Le 
 Gros, engaged in the manufacture of the badges, 
 was arrested. 
 
 The Commune issued an order that each citi- 
 zen should carry a card of identification. The 
 difficulties of carrying out this order may be sur- 
 mised, as nearly every citizen was a Federate, and 
 each one had the power to arrest any man found 
 without it. 
 
 *M. Thiers, in a proclamation, insisted that the Assembly was the su- 
 preme power having' been placed in office by the sanction of the people; 
 the legitimacy of the Empire had been repeatedly denied by Thiers and most 
 of his colleagues, though the powers of government had been derived from 
 the same source. 
 
I04 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Fort Vanves fell Sunday morning May i4tli 
 and at 12:30 p. m. the news reached Versailles, 
 where manifestations of joy were exhibited in the 
 Assembly and by its supporters. The losses in 
 killed and wounded had been very great to both 
 parties about Vanves, and the final struggle was 
 merciless and terrific* The defeated and escaping 
 Federates, with some difficulty, made their way 
 through quarries and underground passages to the 
 city, the Montrouge gate and to the military road 
 between the Vanves and Vaugirard gates.f 
 
 It has been said that the courage of the 
 soldier is the commonest trait in mankind. 
 Whatever arguments might be advanced in this 
 connection, the intrepidity displayed by the Com- 
 munists in the holding of the forts surrounding 
 Paris is worthy of particular mention. New earth- 
 works were continually thrown up to protect the 
 victorious progress of the Versaillese infantry and 
 artillery. The encroachments of the breaching 
 batteries on grounds before the fortifications were 
 constant, and the huge guns were furnished with an 
 abundance of ammunition and plentifully supplied 
 with men from the increasing numbers of the be- 
 seigers. A progressive system of rifle pits enabled 
 the Versaillese sharpshooters to do great execution 
 among the defenders at the guns. The city's forti- 
 fications were, for the most part, inadequately 
 manned and imperfectly attended with supplies. 
 
 * Captains Rosheim and Durand de Villers of the Assembly's troops were 
 killed at the taking of Vanves. 
 
 t There were 60 2:uns and 10 mortars captured in Vanves. For 10 suc- 
 cessive hours during Sunday those who escaped through the catecombs 
 appeared in the city, fainting with hunger, dirty from their contact with 
 the dingy walls of the receptacles for the dead and begrimmed with powder. 
 These wanderers startled all who encountered them as they emerged. One 
 party of 100 men, surprised a workman who was entering the catecombs to 
 do some work. This party was led by a woman in officers clothes. She 
 was the mistress of the Commandant of Vanves, and had for some time, 
 previous to the fall of the fortification, assisted in pointing the guns and in 
 all the work of defence. 
 
..i^li' %.:.^p'-< 
 
 'i.AkLi 
 
MAY I-20 — the: FAI^I, OF THE) FORTS. IO5 
 
 The continuous bombardment and overwhelming 
 numbers of the assailants wearied the defenders and 
 finally, one by one, the positions were wrung 
 from the valor of the Federates. Fort Issy, 
 once deserted by the troops of the Com- 
 mune, was the scene of such bravery in the last 
 occupation that it has called forth the praise even 
 of the most malevolent supporters of what the 
 world is pleased to call the representatives of 
 ''order." Overmatched in numbers, in skill and 
 in equipment, their zeal seemed inextinguishable; 
 the Commune's soldiers exhibited a desperate 
 heroism in every department far superior to their 
 discipline, leadership or armament. The neglect 
 of the Delegates of War, and in many cases 
 the hopeless inefficiency of the officers, was such 
 as to damp the ardor of less enthusiastic and fear- 
 less men. In spite of untoward circumstances, 
 the courage of the common soldier certainly 
 rose to an uncommon height in the defense of 
 the environs of Paris during the siege of the 
 Commune. 
 
 The Military Commission of Control was 
 changed in personnel on May 14th. Bergeret, 
 Cournet, Geresme, I^edroit, Lonclas, Sicard and 
 Urbain were the members, of which there were 
 now seven in place of five. Some structures of 
 uncertain utility were, under orders of the New 
 Military Commission, built to assist in the defence. 
 These formed a system of barricades, but of 
 such a character that they were of but little value, 
 although a large amount of material and great 
 labor was expended in their construction. 
 
 On the 14th of May several unfriendly 
 journals were suppressed by decree of the Com- 
 mune — The National^ Steele, Discussion, Corsaire, 
 Avener National and Journal de Paris, 
 
io6 THK PARIS CQMMUNK.. 
 
 The issue of the Cri du Peuple of May 
 15th contained the following : " We received 
 some days since information of the greatest 
 gravity, and of the correctness of which we are 
 now completely certain. Every measure has been 
 taken to prevent the entry into Paris of any 
 soldier of the enemy. The forts may be taken one 
 after the other; the ramparts may fall. Not 07ie 
 man will penetrate into the city. If M. Thiers is 
 a chemist he will comprehend us." 
 
 The owners of inflammables and explosives 
 were ordered to turn them over to the Communal 
 authorities. 
 
 An address was published by Paschal 
 Grousset in the Journal Officiel, calling on the 
 sister cities to come to the assistance of Paris, 
 "yet unwearied after two months of contest." 
 It was particularly addressed to Lyons, Marseilles, 
 Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nantes and Lisle. 
 
 On May 15th, the differences of opinion in the 
 Commune resulted in the declaration of an in- 
 tended withdrawal by a minority from its sessions, 
 and on May i6th this went into effect. The 
 conflicts between the Committee of Public Safety, 
 with full powers, and the Heads of Departments, 
 acting singly or together as an Executive Com- 
 mittee, were constant. The minority included 
 Jourde, Varlin, Beslay, Thiesz, Andrieu and 
 Frankel. They continued their duties in their de- 
 partments, but stated that they did not wish, by 
 attending the sessions, to uphold the continuance 
 of the Committee of Public Safety. 
 
 The Manifesto of the minority, after stating 
 unbelief in the propriety of the Commune's 
 abdicating its functions into the hands of and 
 "irresponsible committee" said: "As for us, 
 we, no less than the 'majority,' desire the ac- 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAI,!, OF THE FORTS- IO7 
 
 complishment of political and social reconstruction; 
 but, contrary to its notions, we claim the right to 
 be solely responsible for our acts before our 
 electors without sheltering ourselves behind a 
 supreme dictatorship which our mandate permits 
 us neither to accept nor to recognize." The 
 Manifesto further went on to state that the signa- 
 tories, in order not to give rise to further dis- 
 sension in the Council room, proposed retiring 
 into their arrondissements, there to organize the 
 resistance to the common enemy. The Manifesto 
 concluded with a generous expression of the 
 conviction that " we all, majority or minority, not- 
 withstanding our divergences as to policy, pursue 
 the same object, political liberty, and the emanci- 
 pation of the workers." " Long live the Social 
 Republic ! Long live the Commune ! ' ' 
 
 The Manifesto bore the signatures of Beslay, 
 Jourde, Theisz, Lefrancais, Gerardin, Vermorel, 
 Clemence, Andrieu, Serailler, Longuet, Arthur 
 Arnould, Victor Clement, Aurial, Ostyn, Frankel, 
 Varlin, Arnold, Valles, Tridon, Courbet, and 
 Pindy. Malon subsequently gave in his adhesion. 
 
 The withdrawal of the minority at this time 
 is unexplainable. They had all voted for the 
 second committee. The issuing of the Manifesto 
 was evidently seen to have been an egregious 
 error, for the minority repented its publication, 
 and joined in the deliberations of the Commune 
 two days later. 
 
 On the 1 2th of April the decree for the 
 destruction of the Vendome Column was issued by 
 the Commune. This Column was erected by 
 Napoleon in 1806, in honor of the French arms. 
 It was in the Doric order of architecture, copied 
 after Trajan's Pillar at Rome. 
 
ro8 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 The Journal Officiel announced that the fall 
 of the Column would take place at 2 o'clock on 
 the afternoon of the i6th. The carrying out of 
 the decree had been postponed from time to time; 
 public interest was intense. lyong before the hour 
 named, windows, roofs and streets in the vicinity 
 were filled with people. Bands played inspiring 
 airs. Guards patroled the Place Vendome and kept 
 back the crowd. The first attempt to pull down 
 the Column failed, owing to the breaking of the 
 tackle; two or three men were injured in the 
 accident. Immediate arrangements were made to 
 continue the work, and shortly before 6 p. m. the 
 Column fell, breaking into four parts in the air as 
 it descended. A. bed of fagots and manure had 
 been placed to receive the monument, and when 
 it struck the ground an immense cloud of 
 dust arose, though the shock (which it was feared 
 would shatter the windows in the vicinity) was 
 much less than was expected 
 
 The Emperor's statue was separated from the 
 column, and had fallen a little beyond the heap. 
 It lay a wreck, with the head severed from the 
 body, and one arm broken. 
 
 The members of the Commune and their staff, 
 in all about 200, attended on horseback. 
 
 A few moments before the fall of the Column, 
 Colonel Meyer, commanding in the Place Vendome, 
 ascended the base, waved a small tri-colored flag, 
 tore it into fragments and flung them to the 
 ground. After the descent of the C olumn, Colonel 
 
 Note— The height was 135 feet; the material cut stone; circumference 
 at base, 35 feet: the base was 21 feet high and 20 feet square; 176 steps on a 
 wmding staircase led to the top. Bas-reliefs in bronze, in 276 plates were 
 cast from the metal of 1200 cannon taken from the Austrians and Russians 
 in 1805— over 2,000 figures, weighing 1.800 000 pounds. The figures wound 
 spirally about the monument; they circled the pillar 22 times and formed a 
 twisted band of 840 feet; the figures were three feet high. The pedestal was 
 covered upon three sides with figures of flags, cannons, etc. The Column 
 was surmounted by a statue of iNapoleon 11 feet in height. The whole coat 
 about $300,000. 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAi^L OF THE FORTS. I09 
 
 Meyer leaped upon the ruins and waved the 
 red flag. 
 
 Bergeret, decorated with red scarf and tassels, 
 mounted on the pedestal, and thus addressed the 
 crowd: 
 
 "Citizens: — The 26th of Floreal will be 
 memorable in our history. Thus we triumph 
 over military despotism — that bloody negation of 
 the rights of man. The first Empire placed the 
 collar of servitude about our necks — it began and 
 ended in carnage, and left us a legacy of a second 
 Empire, which was finally to end in the disgrace 
 of Sedan." 
 
 Miot and Ranvier made speeches, the bands 
 played, and the red flag floated over the i-^ 
 fallen statue of the Imperial idol.* 
 
 Thus was laid low the splendid monument 
 to the glory of one despot and to the defeat of 
 others, whose wars had been at the expense of 
 the lives and efforts of the classes whose condition 
 was not to be altered by either victory or defeat. 
 The position of the proletariat did not change 
 whatever the result in the struggle for power — 
 whether hereditary Hapsburg murderer, descend-, 
 ant of the ignoble Catherine or the Corsican who 
 thought the world none too large for for his 
 gigantic schemes of conquest, was triumphant. 
 The Communists recognized these phases in the 
 consideration of the question, and justly ordered 
 the destruction of the Column. This act was 
 symbolical of the sentiment for International 
 peace in the Commune and the hatred of 
 national pride in the spoiliation indulged in by 
 
 *"And though in itself the destruction of the Vendome Column may 
 seem hut a small matter, yet considering the importance attached gener<jll3% 
 and in France particularly, to such symbols, the dismounting of that base 
 piece of Napoleonic upholstery was another mark of the determination to 
 hold no parley with the old jingo legends.— William Morris and E. Bel/or t 
 
no THB PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 the central figure in the First Empire. The 
 demolition has been selected as the pet theme of 
 bourgeois historians in examplifying the vandalism 
 of the Communal government.* But there was a 
 salutary lesson conveyed in its destruction not 
 soon to be forgotten. No monument to perpetu- 
 ate the glories of systematic murder has place in 
 a true civilization, nor in any state where men 
 have even turned their faces toward an intelligent 
 social order. t 
 
 By the destruction of the Vendome Column 
 the regular soldiers were undoubtedly much 
 irritated, considering it an insult offered to the 
 military profession and spirit in France, and 
 McMahon fed the dissatisfaction by a proclamation 
 depicting the magnitude of the affront and in closing 
 said: "We know how to give France another 
 proof of bravery, devotion and patriotism." 
 
 A public fete took place in Versailles at the 
 same time the Vendome Column was being des- 
 troyed. M. Grevy addressed the soldiers and com- 
 plimented their bravery and devotion. 
 
 * Paschal Grousset, in the Vengeur, said : "At last that Column 
 Vendome is to be removed— a ridiculous aud monstrous trophy, erected at 
 the command of a blind despot, to perpetuate the remembrance of his in- 
 sensate conquests and his culpable glory -a monument, mareover, destitute 
 of all artistic value— a cantata in bronze, a daub in metal instead of on 
 canvas— in short, a wretched imitation of Trajan's column. Art will lose 
 nothing by its destruction; good sense and patriotism will gain. For the 
 fact is injudicious to leave under the eyes of the ignorant and the simple the 
 stupid glorification of a cursed past. That Column of Vendome . . I 
 have never been able to look at it without my heart bounding with indigna- 
 tion and disgust. In the time of the Empire there was always to be seen 
 hanging on the railings and rotting in the rain, innumerable wreaths of a 
 flaunting yellow or a dirty white : Souvenir, Regrets, Gloire, Victoire. 
 Without the sentinel who watched over this rubbish with jealous care, one 
 might have taken the place for the traditional shop always to be found next 
 door to the marblemason's at the gates of the cemeteries." 
 
 tOn the 22d of May, 1S71, the National Assembly, decreed the 
 fallowing law: "The Column of Place Vendome shall be rebuilt at the 
 «,\. cnse of the State, ^^nd surmounted by a statue of France." 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAI.I. OF THE FORTS. Ill 
 
 Several journals were suppressed, among them 
 one edited bj^ Vermorel, a member of the minority 
 of the Commune, who had attacked the policy of 
 the majority. 
 
 On May 17th, 66 members of the Commune, 
 attended the meeting. The time of the sitting 
 was consumed to a large extent in untimely 
 disputes. The minority, which had withdrawn 
 from the sittings, now again, with a few excep- 
 tions, took part in the proceedings. 
 
 It was stated in this meeting that an ambu- 
 lance woman attending some wounded Federates, 
 had been repeatedly violated before being murdered 
 by Versaillese. This called the attention of 
 
 the Commune to the fact that their threat re- 
 garding reprisals by executing the hostages 
 seemingly had had a restraining effect on the 
 murderous propensities of the Versaillese in the 
 early part of April. Several members thought 
 that the execution of ten of the hostages would 
 be now in order; Miot proposed that five be at 
 once shot. 
 
 During this session the terrific explosion of 
 the cartridge factory on the Avenue Rapp, which 
 shook Paris and vicinity, took place. Its cause 
 has never been definitely settled, but from the 
 surrounding circumstances a reasonable con- 
 clusion is that it was the work of paid agents 
 of the Versaillese.* 
 
 The devout and religious portion of Paris 
 attributed the fearful explosion on the Avenue 
 
 * The blowing up of the Rapp Cartridge Factory was charged to the ma- 
 chinations of the Assembly's agents. The workpeople (several hundred in 
 number) left on that afternoon •* i p. m. whereas it was customary to leave 
 At 6 p. m (or 7 p. m). This circumstance may be considered evidence that 
 the workers had been warned of impending danger. The explosion occurred 
 About 5:45 p. m. ; many persons were in the building and all these were 
 killed. Scores of persons in the vicinity were killed and wounded by the 
 flying projectiles and fsdling fragments of the building. The estimated 
 number of Aictims was 100. 
 
112 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Rapp to a j udgment on the insurgents for their 
 sacrilegious violation of the Church of Notre Dame 
 des Victores. On the 17th of May, about five 
 o'clock, or one hour before the explosion, the 
 church was entered by I,e Moussu, at the head of 
 the 159th battalion National Guard. The priests 
 were finishing the service of the * 'Mois de Marie ' * 
 when they were expelled. I^e Moussu arrested two 
 vicars of the parish, the Abbes du Courroy and 
 Amodru, and two members of the Council. The 
 tabernacles were torn up, the alters demolished, 
 the confessionals overturned, the marble slabs of 
 the temple broken. The church was despoiled of 
 all its ornaments. 
 
 The position of the hostages was now ostensi- 
 bly the concern of the religious people of the city. 
 Petitions from various organizations were sent to 
 Thiers to relieve the prisoners now believed to be 
 in peril. 
 
 M. Brome, a chemist engaged to assist the 
 Communists, was found to be in the pay of the 
 Versaillese. He had misled Parisel, who was 
 deputed to look after the matter of explosives. 
 Brome was arrested. 
 
 * ' An arrangement had been entered into 
 between the Government at Versailles and four 
 members of the Commune, viz., Billioray, Serizier, 
 Mortier, and Pilotell, to open the gate at the 
 Point-du-Jour, for which service they secured 
 25,000 francs each. These Communists were to 
 appear at the gate at half-past one o'clock at night, 
 disguised as National Guards; but, in the mean- 
 time, Serizier took fright and refused to act, and 
 when the troops appeared, they were forced to 
 beat a precipitate retreat under a murderous fire 
 from mitrailleuses."* 
 
 *retridge. "^ 
 
MAY I-20— the: FAI.L OF THE FORTS. 1 13 
 
 It would seem that in this instance that the 
 the Communists had taken the Versaillese money 
 (of which there is conflicting evidence) and in- 
 stead of opening the gate, had ambuscaded the 
 troops of the Assembly. 
 
 The agents sent by the Versaillese to bribe 
 the Communists had achieved much more indi- 
 rectly than directly. By a series of visits and 
 misrepresentations to the individual members of 
 the Commune and to the other leaders in the 
 movement, they had instilled into the minds of a 
 very large number of those prominent in the up- 
 rising a belief, that many foremost in the revolution 
 were already fallen or about to fall before the 
 pressure of the great temptations with which they 
 were so incessantly and insidiously assailed. To 
 this arousing of avarice and suspicion in the 
 leaders may be traced a large number of the re- 
 criminations, quarrels and arbitrary arrests of 
 high officials, as well as the endless debates and 
 apparently senseless opposition to all plans for 
 definite action in the war. Thus, while the result 
 of the systematic and unremitting efforts to de- 
 bauch the leaders was very favorable to the Ver- 
 saillese, the results show no act of treachery to 
 the Commune by reason of bribery. 
 
 Distrust was not confined to suspicion of one 
 leader for another, for the Federate soldiery, 
 knowing of the presence of the agents for bribery, 
 blindly accused all officials with treachery and 
 attributed the loss of hard fought battles to the 
 connivance of their commanders. 
 
 Heavy cannonading occurred on the i8th, 
 but with no decisiv^e results. 
 
 The portion of the railroads nearest the city 
 held by the Communists, was utilized for defense. 
 Machine guns mounted on cars were often used as 
 
114 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 effective engines of destruction whenever engage- 
 ments took place near the railroad line. The Ver- 
 saillese also followed this method of warfare to 
 some extent, and extended the utility of the rail- 
 road as a means of entering the city. 
 
 The state of defence in the forts was de- 
 plorable. They had but little communication with 
 the interior and it was evident that there was no 
 hope of a much longer continuance of their resist- 
 ance. The Versaillese, however, seemed equally 
 bent on knocking down the city's walls and ren- 
 dering intolerable the existence of the garrisons 
 in the fortifications. 
 
 It developed in the course of the contest that 
 the rag-pickers of Paris were hostile to the Com- 
 mune. The scarcity of rags in the streets in- 
 censed the followers of this occupation, who could 
 evidently conceive nothing more felicitous than 
 to scramble in the garbage for the cast off rags of 
 the e order " classes. One writer saj^s: ''The rag- 
 pickers exhibited a just hatred for the Commune, 
 as the condition of Paris, under the Communal 
 administration, was not such as to be favorable to 
 the rag-pickers' business." 
 
 The treatment of prisoners taken by the As- 
 sembly's troops was characterized by the same 
 excesses as were perpetrated during April; in fact 
 the atrocities may be said to have increased as the 
 success of the Versaillese was more pronounced. 
 
 Delescluze published the following : ' * We 
 point out to public indignation the conduct of 
 the colonel commanding the 39th of the line. 
 When^the Versaillese troops took possession of 
 the Park of Neuilly, that infamous butcher ordered 
 eighteen Federate prisoners to be shot, swearing 
 that he would do the same with every man from 
 
MAY I-20— THE FAI.I. OF THE) FORTS. II5 
 
 Paris that fell into his hands. Let him beware 
 on his side of falling into theirs."^ 
 
 After Fort Issy fell, it was reported by the 
 Assembly's officers that large quantities of spirits 
 in which tobacco had been soaked were found. 
 It has also been stated that this decoction had 
 been given to the Federates to make them ''fight- 
 ing drunk"; it was also sagely added that the 
 effect of the use of this stimulant was to bring 
 almost immediate death when wounded to all who 
 used it, as "all Federates found in the fort were 
 dead." This story has not been well considered by 
 those who seek to decry the courage or make 
 prominent the dissipation and ignorance of the 
 Federates. Many writers have retold the tale, but 
 apparently not one of them has recognized that 
 the effect of tobacco and spirits on the human 
 organism is to bring an almost instantaneous and 
 deep sleep, (which would incapacitate from any 
 .ic^ion for a very considerable time,) followed 
 by a deathly sickness as a result of the poisonous 
 potion. On the other hand, it has never been 
 advanced as even a possibility that this liquor had 
 been blended with tobacco for the purpose of 
 bringing illness and inaction upon the soldiery of 
 the captors, in whose hands it was left. The fact 
 that no wounded were found speaks well for the 
 humaneness of the evacuators of Issy, as they well 
 knew the bayonet of the Versaillese spared neither 
 the wounded nor the dying. The Federates had 
 been told what the fate of the defenders of Fort 
 Issy would be unless they surrendered. f 
 
 The defence of Issy shows none of the 
 characteristics of being garrisoned by men in- 
 
 " Delescluze issued an order forbidding: all officers of the National Guard 
 to a i}iear in their battalions with a musket in hand, as for the pleasures of 
 f .ijiL: Ml tne Versaillese troops they neglected their command. 
 
 t Page 86. 
 
II 6 THK PARIS COMMUNB. 
 
 capacitated by dissipation. Soldiers generally 
 recognize and admire bravery in antagonists; not 
 so the Versaillese. 
 
 On May 20th, some Federates demanded adr 
 mittance at the gate of the residence of the United 
 States Minister. They were denied entrance by 
 a woman in charge, and went away threatening 
 to come back and break down the gates if they 
 should discover that they had been deceived 
 as to the occupant. Paschal Grousset, on being 
 notified of this occurrence, immediately sent 
 orders expressly forbidding a renewal of the 
 attempt by Federates.* Mr. Washburne made 
 much of this affair and, as a result, the German 
 General de Fabrice sent a bullying letter to 
 Paschal Grousset, demanding the surrender to the 
 Germans of the Federates concerned in the affair. 
 Grousset replied courteously that he had taken 
 such steps in the matter as were possible; that the 
 apprehension of the Federates was difficult, and 
 that he had sent a letter of apology to the United 
 States Minister, etc. 
 
 Paschal Grousset was a young man of frank and cordial man- 
 ners. t He was born in Corsica. At the time of the Commune 
 he was known as one of the foremost radical journalists in Paris, 
 being editor of the ilfarsei"H«ise. He had also edited L'AffrancM, and 
 rt-as a contributor to many periodicals. After the fall oj the Com- 
 mune, he was sentenced to deportation for life, but escaped 
 fx'om New Caledonia in 1874, and passed through San I'rancisco en 
 route for London, where he gained a livelihood for some time by 
 teaching French It was while arranging a duel between Pierre 
 IJonaparte and Paschal Grousset [whom he represented] that Victor 
 Noir was murdered by Pierre Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon III. 
 Grousset as Delegate of Foreign Affairs, thoroughly protected the 
 property and person of all foreigners, and no premises which 
 bore the seal that signified their occupancy by foreigners was ever 
 molested in any manner. The conduct of the Ministry of Foreign 
 Affairs was in every respect marked by dignity and perspicacity. 
 Paschal Grousset, throughout his entire life, has proved himsel^ 
 
 * Washburne. t Washburne. 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAI,!. OF THE FORTS. II7 
 
 to be a man of extraordinary talent. In politics, journalism and 
 literary work he has been successful.* His book "Studies in Ire- 
 land " has received great praise. 
 
 Defeated in their attempt to hold a Congress 
 of the Communal representatives at Bordeaux, a 
 number of them met at Lj^ons. 
 
 Delegates from this Congress held at Lyons 
 arrived in Paris on the 20th of May, bringing a 
 declaration addressed to M. Thiers and the Com- 
 mune, in which it was affirmed that the Republic 
 was the only possible and legitimate Government 
 and Communal autonomy the sole basis of the 
 Republic. The declaration demanded that hos- 
 tilities should cease, that the National Assembly, 
 whose mission was at an end, should be dissolved, 
 that the Commune should also be dissolved, that 
 municipal elections should be held in Paris, and 
 that elections for a Constituent Assembly should 
 be ordered for the whole of France. In the event 
 of these propositions being rejected, either by the 
 National Assembly or the Commune, the Lyons 
 delegates would hold the body rejecting them 
 responsible before the nation. The declaration 
 was signed by delegates of the Municipal Councils 
 of 16 departments. t The propositions were 
 reasonable enough, and should have been accept- 
 able at any time to men who desired peace, but 
 the Assembly had other ends in view. In fact, 
 the Versaillese seemed to fear that a way to peace 
 would be found in some manner other than the 
 carrying out of their programme. Jules Simon 
 voiced this fear when he wrote: "The most 
 reasonable put Versailles and Paris on the same 
 level; they proposed the simultaneous abdication 
 of the ^Assembly and the Commune, and the 
 election of a new Assembly. This was to propose 
 
 * Grousset is now [1898], a Deputy in the French Chamber, 
 t Lissagaray says tliis declaration was signed by 20 delegates. 
 
Il8 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 that law should be abandoned and revolt legalized. 
 These attempts were made so often and under so 
 many forms, that it v^OiS feared the good sense of the 
 people would be affected by them." 
 
 " The Republican Union for the Rights of 
 Paris" sent delegates to Thiers on May 20th. This 
 action was taken with the sanction of the Com- 
 mittee of Public Safety. Thiers absolutely re- 
 fused to see the delegates, thus, for the first time, 
 definitely rejecting overtures of peace. 
 
 There were at this time more than 200 priests 
 and as many, or perhaps more, of others — gen 
 d 'arnies, sergents de ville, etc., held as hostages by 
 the Commune. Examinations were now given, and 
 36 of the hostages were held, though a much 
 larger number were examined. 
 
 Henri Rochefort attempted to escape on May 
 2oth. He was arrested at Meaux, and taken to 
 Versailles, where it was with difficulty that he was 
 protected from the populace, who clamored for 
 his life. 
 
 Rochefort [Corate] Victor Henri de Rochefort Lucay was born Jan. 
 30, 1830; attempted to study medicine, failed; to teach school, same 
 result; appointed in 1857 copying clerk at the Hotel de Ville; 
 wrote dramatic criticisms for the newspapers; was appointed sub- 
 inspector of the fine arts at Paris, 1861 ; one of the editors of i^t^aro, 
 wrote vaudeville and under nom de plume wrote a historical romance 
 "La Marquise de Courcelles " in 1859; has edited Lu Lanteme, 
 Marseillaise, Mot d'Ordre and other journals. He is somewhat noted 
 as a duelist, and is an art critic and sculptor. 
 
 Rochefort was sought out in prison where he was confined for 
 political offenses, and made a member of the Government of the 
 National Defence; not from the fact that the members of this 
 government shared the extreme views of Rochefort, but because they 
 considered it safer to have a man of his vigor, abilities and influence 
 on the inside than on the outside. 
 
 A nobleman by birth, he early began revolutionary teaching, 
 and continually jeopardized his life and liberty by inflaming the lower 
 classes against their oppressors by the means of his powerful pen. 
 
 He was one of the most vigorous and brilliant writers during the 
 Commune, constantly advising extreme measures in the destructiou of 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAI^I. OF THE FORTS. IIQ 
 
 ft 
 buildings and the execution of the hostages, but of a singular and 
 uncertain disposition, not calling forth the confidence of the Com- 
 munal authorities, by whom he was constantly under suspicion. At 
 the destruction of the Vendome Column, while viewing the demolition 
 from his carriage, he was pointed out as the next prominent person 
 who would be arrested. After his return from exile, he became one of 
 the most distinguished journalists of his time. 
 
 The Bank of France now believed, and with 
 reason, that the great struggle was about to come. 
 It protected its treasures by burying them in the 
 lower cellars of the building and blocked the stair- 
 ways with sand. The bank officials, however, 
 still continued to deliver sums to the Commune. 
 
 Passy, a staunch loyal district, was entirely 
 deserted by the Federates. Notwithstanding it 
 was conceded that the Versaillese would attack 
 the city on the West, that side of Paris was less 
 supported than the others, as the cannonading 
 made its occupation uncomfortable and dangerous. 
 
 There were clashes of authority between the 
 Committee Central, elected by the National Guards 
 and the Commune, elected from the political 
 divisions of the city. The Committee of Public 
 Safety was another factor in the difficulties, and as 
 a creation of the Commune was supposed to hav'e 
 full power. But the Committee Central, as the 
 representatives of the military, would not be 
 secondarily considered. These warring elements? 
 led to not a few of the blunders which hastened 
 the fall of the Commune. There really seemed 
 to be four military authorities — all claiming to be 
 chief. The Committee of Public Safety, Delegate 
 of War, Military Commission and Committee Cen- 
 tral — a state which could but result in disaster. ' 
 
 Georges Veysset, an agent of the Versaillese 
 had attempted, through the instrumentality of a 
 woman, to bribe Dombrowski to deliver over the 
 fortifications from the Porte du Jour to Porte 
 
I20 THS PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Wagram. The sums stated to have been offered 
 1,500,000 francs, (about $300,000) which was to 
 be divided between the general and his staff. 
 The woman, whose name was Muller, betrayed 
 the agent, who was arrested May 20th under 
 orders from Ferre. Veysset and his mission were 
 known to Rigault, who had been desirous of his 
 apprehension for sometime previous to the arrest. 
 
 The National Guard had originally been 
 somewhat loose in its organization and lax in its 
 discipline, but in the days after Cluseret's sweep- 
 ing orders, the ranks of the battalions had been 
 filled with scarcely a regard to age, height or any 
 of the qualifications for association general in 
 military formation. This not only gave the 
 Federates a very odd appearance as soldiers but 
 greatly decreased their efficiency. The appear- 
 ance of uniform of the soldiers of the line in the 
 ranks of the Federates was frequent. This would 
 indicate desertions from the regulars to the 
 Communists, but such was not the case; but few 
 desertions took place after the troops w^ere hurried 
 out of the city March 1 8th- 19th. The Communists 
 had found a very large number of uniforms of the 
 regular army in warehouses, and many Federates 
 had been clothed in them, doubtless to carry to 
 the populace and soldiery the idea that the defence 
 was being strengthened by additions from the 
 trained soldiers of the opposition. This trick, 
 however effective it might have been upon the 
 friends of the Communists, was the death warrant 
 for a very large majority of those who perpetrated 
 it, as all persons taken in this uniform were in- 
 stantly shot as deserters. 
 
 But a few hundred horses were at the dis- 
 posal of the Commune, while the Versailles army 
 had an abundance of cavalry, and outside the city, 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FALI, OF THE FORTS. 121 
 
 the horse of their opponents was exceedingly active 
 in cutting off and capturing the Federates while 
 retreating. 
 
 Whatever else was misunderstood or not con- 
 ceived by the Commune and its supporters, it had 
 been for some time tacitly acknowledged by its 
 shrewdest observers that the artisans and laborers 
 that made up the ranks of the Federates were not 
 capable of achieving success in war when engaged 
 in conflicts with those who made war a business. 
 
 "The army of the Commune, was to a 
 great extent composed of married men with 
 families; and we need not, therefore, wonder 
 that it was deficient in the practice, the stability 
 under fire, and especially the discipline of the 
 regular army. Its officers had neither the mili- 
 tary knowledge which study alone can give, nor 
 the habit of command or experience, only to be 
 acquired by long practice. There was no cavalry, 
 and the artillery was very inferior in comparison 
 with that of the enemy. The artillerymen, being 
 National Guards, were but insufficiently instructed. 
 The conductors of the teams did not understand 
 how to manoeuvre, and the horses, sadly deficient 
 in number, had never been under fire. Such 
 were the principle causes of the inferiority of the 
 army of the Commune."* The ammunition and 
 victualling departments were badly arranged; im- 
 perfect as was the administration duiing the Ger- 
 man siege, it was even worse after the i8th of 
 March; and that, for meeting the "disciplined 
 troops, old and experienced generals, and skilled 
 officers of Versailles," the Commune had only a 
 raw army, led by young generals inexperienced 
 in warfare, whose audacity, courage and genius 
 had to stand in place of study, art and practice. 
 
 ♦Vesinier. 
 
122 mn PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 " With the exception of a few former officers, 
 lieutenants or captains, and the Poles like the 
 two Dombrowskis, Wroblewski, Okolowitz and 
 others, the officers . . were only civilians 
 dressed in a uniform."* 
 
 Had Generals McMahon, I,adrimault and 
 Cissey been put in a position where they were ex- 
 pected to at once do the work of Bergeret, printer; 
 Eudes, apothecary's clerk; or Duval, ironfounder, 
 they would probably have been quite as unsuc- 
 cessful as were the latter named as military 
 leaders. 
 
 On this subject, Plato treats in his treatise on 
 "The Republic." Socrates is supposed to be 
 representing a conversation he had with Glaucon: 
 
 " ' We agreed, if you remember,' said I, ' that 
 it was impossible for a single person to practice 
 many arts well.' ' True,' said he. . ' What, then,' 
 said I, 'do not struggles in war seem to require 
 art ? ' ' Very much so,' said he. ' Ought we then 
 take more care of the shoemaking art than of that 
 warfare ! ' ' By no means.' ' But we charged the 
 shoemaker not to attempt to be at the same time 
 a husbandman, or a weaver, or a builder in order 
 that the work of shoemaking might be well done; 
 and in like manner we allotted to each of the 
 others a single calling, to which each was adapted 
 by nature, and at which each, by abstaining from 
 the rest, and applying to it the whole of his life, 
 and not neglecting the proper opportunities, 
 would be likely to work well. And can a person 
 who takes a spear, or other warlike arms and in- 
 struments, instantly become an expert combatant 
 in ' an armed encounter, or aught else relating to 
 war.'" 
 
 ♦Jules Simon. 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAI^L OF THE FORTS. 1 23 
 
 The bombardment of the city was steadily 
 increasing, and the intention of the beseigers to 
 go to any lengths in this was shown, notwithstand- 
 ing the solemn statement of Thiers some weeks 
 before, that ** Paris would ;2^/ be bombarded." 
 Great preparations were made for cannonading the 
 Gates St. Cloud and Auteuil by Forts Valerien, 
 Issy and Vanves, and by batteries situated at 
 advantageous points. 
 
 Stronger became the forces and efforts of the 
 Versaillese. On the i6th, a cannonading duel 
 took place between the batteries at Trocadero and 
 Fort Valerien, in which the former was vanquished. 
 ''Nothing could live under the terrible fire of 
 Fort Valerien and from Montretout. Military men 
 told me the battery at Montretout was the most 
 terrible the world had ever seen."* Scarcely a 
 shot from Fort Valerien went astray. It is said 
 the Arc d'Triomphe was struck 27 times in 
 one day. Meudon, Sevres, Courbevoie, Becon, 
 Asnieres, Les Moulineaux, Moulin-Saquet and 
 three forts had been taken by the Versaillese. 
 The gates and walls on the West were trembling 
 under the terrific shower of heavy projectiles. 
 Montmartre was subj ected to a severe bombardment 
 during these days, but replied stoutly and was 
 the hope of the Federates as a stronghold. 
 
 ''Serious and competent observers did not 
 fail to perceive that the progress of the Versail- 
 lists, though slow — often very slow — was none 
 the less sure. Little by little did they advance 
 their positions against the forts and fortications of 
 Paris. On the other hand, the material and per- 
 sonnel of the Versaillists were daily reinforced. 
 Batteries, .siege and marine pieces, mortars, how- 
 itzers and field-artillery, were sent every day from 
 
 * Washburue. 
 
124 '^H^ PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 the strongholds and seaports to Versailles. Re- 
 cruits, also, arrived daily from the provinces, or 
 from Prussia, to swell the ranks of its army; the 
 prisoners of the French army in Germany were 
 allowed to depart in great numbers to augment 
 the forces of Versailles; whilst those of the Coniy 
 niune could not be recruited from the outside, and 
 were constantly diminishing by losses. Every 
 day the Versaillists advanced their works of 
 attack nearer to the forts, and contracted their 
 line of investment. By the help of their reinforce- 
 ments of artillery, new batteriers were erected 
 daily, and their fire grew stronger and stronger." 
 
 "Under such circumstances, the Commune 
 had not only to renounce the hope of conquering 
 the army of the Versaillese Government outside 
 the ramparts, but likewise to look forward to an 
 attack under the walls and in the streets of Paris. 
 Since the defeat of the provincial towns which 
 had sided with the Commune, only one chance re- 
 mained for Paris — that of annihihating the Ver- 
 saillists in its streets. This was where the final 
 struggle, which would decide not only the triumph 
 or defeat of the Commune, but also of the Revolu- 
 tion, or counter-revolution, would have to be 
 made. . . . The people of Paris knew that all 
 their great battles had been won, and the Revolu- 
 tion made triumphant, behind the barricades; and 
 they believed they would again be victorious be- 
 hind their ramparts of stone and earth."* 
 
 The days of street fighting were to be the 
 days of victory. Upon what this too prevalent 
 belief was based is unknown- For though every 
 effort of bravery and fortitude has been shown in 
 the street fighting in Paris and elsewhere, the 
 definiteness and discipline of regular troops have 
 
 *Vesinier. 
 
MAY I-20 — THE FAIvI. OF THE FORTS- 1 25 
 
 defeated entrenched revolutionists in a very great 
 majority of instances. How a semi-organized 
 force,^ disheartened by a series of defeats, were ex- 
 pected to hold against a victorious and over- 
 whelmingly larger army, is beyond comprehen- 
 sion. Yet Paschal Grousset, Delescluze and others 
 of the leaders exhibited the utmost confidence in 
 the ability of the Federates to hold control of the 
 interior. Every victory by the Versaillese army 
 had increased the confidence of the Assembly's 
 support, while on the other hand the Communal 
 sympathy ebbed away as the sureness of defeat 
 became apparent. 
 
 Serious attempts were made to punish all Fed- 
 erates who were derelict in their military duties.f 
 
 A semicircular line of attack was held against 
 the Federals outside the city. With but slight 
 cessations this line had been steadily pressed 
 toward the ramparts since the defeat of the sortie 
 of April 3d. The Versaillese made heavy gains 
 May 19th and 20th, and definite plans were pre- 
 pared for an assault at the gates on the West. 
 
 * Rosscl, in his posthumous papers, describes them as ragamuffins, drunk- 
 ards and scamps, "who pretended to deliver the country from the rule of 
 the sword, and could only substitute for it the rule of delirium tremens." 
 Rossel, during his short term as Delegate of War, attempted the role of 
 martinet and the National Guard, never too obedient to authority, became 
 loud in their denounciations of his attempts at show of power, and he in 
 return, generally depreciates their valor. 
 
 t The court-martial presided over by Colonel Gois tried the Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Daviot and Commandant Va'nostat of the 115th battalion of the 
 National Guard, for having, without any superior orders, abandoned their 
 posts at the Convent of Issy, thereby allowing the position to be occupied 
 by the enemy. It appeared that the battalion was seized with a panic and 
 took to flight towards Paris; it had lost 26 men the night before in an 
 attack badly conducted, and had become sadly disorganized. The two 
 prisoners attempted to stop the men, but without effect; and, finding that 
 they could not induce them to return, had at last yielded to the current and 
 •proceeded themselves towards the gates of the city. Several witnesses de- 
 posed to the general good conduct and courage of the prisoners, but the 
 court condemed Daviot to 15 years, and Vanostat to ten years imprisonment; 
 further it ordered that the 115th battalion be struck off the list, and the men 
 drafted into other bodies of the same iorce.—Fetridge, 
 
126 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 VI. 
 
 May 21-27— The Bloody Week. 
 
 Sunday, May 21 — Aside from the discordant 
 noises and the scenes and smoke of war, Paris had 
 never seen a more pleasant day. The sun and sky 
 were bright and beautiful. The crowds on the 
 streets viewed with curious composure the prepar- 
 ations for internal defence. The work on barri- 
 cades and the transferring of war material made 
 an interesting spectacle. A body of sailor-artillery- 
 men on horseback were manoeuverd about the 
 city in the forenoon. This force was equipped and 
 brought forward with a hope that it might offset 
 the cavalry of the enemy. Its undisciplined 
 ranks were not able to stand before the Versaillese, 
 from whom they fled in the afternoon, scarcely 
 striking a blow for their cause. They were the 
 first force brought against the invaders inside the 
 city walls. 
 
 The Versaillese first entered Paris by the 
 St. Cloud gate, the defence of that portion of 
 the rampart being entirely neglected. About 11 
 o'clock in the forenoon, an engineer named 
 Ducatel, who had before this day given information 
 of value to the Versaillese, made known to General 
 Douai,^ jpivision Officer in charge of the force 
 outside this gate, the condition of* "the place. 
 Ducatel had discovered the desertion of the St. 
 Cloud gate, waved his handkerchief on a cane from 
 the ramparts and attracted the attention of some 
 
THE BLOODY WEEK. 1 27 
 
 officers who were reconnoitering. A temporary 
 bridge being constructed over the moat, the gate 
 was soon opened and the troops entered the city. 
 Ducatel was suspected, even after giving himself 
 into the hands of the Versaillese, and was 
 threatened with instant death if he was found to 
 be misleading them. To show his good faith, he 
 offered to guide or lead a force against the Federates 
 at any point considered best by the Versaillese 
 commanders. 
 
 General Douai strongly occupied Porte St. 
 Cloud and vicinity. General Vinoy took pos- 
 session of the important post of Trocadero. A 
 few Federates were captured here, and with 
 scarcely a shot at this point, the Versaillese were 
 securely ensconced in one of the best positions in 
 the city. The troops on the interior of the ram- 
 parts opened other gates. Ladrimault's forces 
 entered by the Gates Passy and Auteuil and ad- 
 vancing inside the ramparts, captured some hun- 
 dreds of prisoners Many of these prisoners were 
 shot when captured, and a member of the Com- 
 mune, at II p. m. riding on horseback through 
 the Rue Beethoven, was first apprised of the 
 presence of the enemy by his horse shying from 
 the corpses of the dead Federates lying in rows 
 before the walls where they had fallen after being 
 shot to death. General De Cissey, during the 
 night, entered at the Vaugirard and Montrouge 
 gates, which gave a huge semicircle of the city's 
 defences into the hands of the Versaillese. The 
 line of the attacking force inside the walls took 
 the same form that it had held on the outside. 
 From that moment of entrance the movement of 
 the crescent-shaped formation of the Versaillese 
 force was steadily progressive. 
 
128 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 The Garden of the Tuilleries was, the scene 
 of a grand concert given for the benefit of the 
 widows and orphans .of the National Guard, 
 Speeches were made and a thousand musicians 
 played the Marseillaise and other revolutionary 
 airs. An officer, in the midst of the enjoyable 
 occasion, announced a concert of the same charac- 
 ter for the afternoon of the following Sunday. 
 What a different scene the Sunday of a week after 
 presented ? Although the unceasing bombard- 
 ment of the city and the carelessness of its defend- 
 ers should have been sufficient indications of a 
 great change in the situation, none could be pre- 
 pared for such horrors as awaited them in the next 
 days. 
 
 Sunday afternoon's meeting was the last 
 sitting of the Commune. Before the time of the 
 next meeting the cry prevailed "each man to his 
 arrohdissement " and the general organization of 
 the city on this day practically ceased. A few 
 members of the Commune met Monday forenoon 
 and discussed some matters informally. There 
 was a lack of solidarity which boded ill. 
 
 Cluseret was on trial before the Commune 
 when Billioray rushed in about 3 p. m. and told 
 them of the enemy's entrance to the city. The 
 trial, the evidence in which consisted principally 
 of assertions by Miot without tangible foundation, 
 (relating in part to the desertion of Issy by Megy) 
 was hastily concluded and Cluseret was acquitted. 
 He had been imprisoned ever since Megy had 
 deserted ' Issy. He was given a command at 
 Montmartre the next day. Delescluze, at the War 
 Office, when informed of the enemy's entrance, 
 was calm and predicted that the street fighting 
 would be favorable to the Commune forces. 
 
THE BLOODY WEEK. 1 29 
 
 The lax discipline of the Federates here faded 
 away to no discipline. Delescluze issued a pla- 
 card declaring "the bare arms of the people to be 
 a match for military strategists, etc.," a most un- 
 wise publication, tending to loosen the little hold 
 organization then had on the Federates.* 
 
 Other placards were posted casting doubt on 
 the truthfulness of reports, and it was not until 
 late at night that the enemy's presence was gener- 
 ally conceded. Henri Proudhomme, Chief of the 
 General Staff, made a hasty investigation and con- 
 cluded that the Versaillese were probably not in 
 Paris and a placard was issued to that effect. As 
 soon as it was definitely known that the troops 
 were in the city, Montmartre began shelling the 
 Place de I'Etoile and vicinity. 
 
 The Versaillese forces advanced warily into 
 the city. It was confidently believed by them 
 that the streets had been mined to blow up the 
 Assembly's troops as they marched in. But as 
 they proceeded uninterrupted by any indications 
 of this condition of affairs, they grew bolder and 
 the days following Monday found a constant in- 
 crease in confidence. The ease with which the 
 
 ♦There is great difiference in statement regarding the numerical strength 
 of the Federates. 
 
 "JSearly 300,000 National Guards, all armed were in the streets." ( March 
 1st. ) — Jules Simon. If this statement be true, great desertions must have 
 occurred, as Cluseret's reports in April show about 125,000 men on the rolls. 
 
 " Talking with a gentleman (late in March) connected with the foreign 
 oflBce on the subject of the state of things in Paris, I told him I had no 
 doubt but that General Sheridan with a regiment of cavalry could clean out 
 the whole insergent forces."— F'as/iftMrne. Seemingly a 'very thoughtless 
 observation, as the Communal forces certainly numbered over 100,000 men. 
 
 " It (the Commune) could then boast of 80^000 effective men" [May 4th ]. 
 —Washhurne. 
 
 There were at least 100,000 men in the ranks of the Cammune on 
 April 1st. This force was so diminished bj^ death, capture and desertion 
 that on May 20th the Commune's available, defenders probably did not 
 exceed 60,000. 
 
 On April 24th Thiers had stated the Assembly's force to number 150,000 
 men, and this had been considerably augmented by May 1st; 100,000 Ver- 
 saillese were inside the walls by Monday at noon. 
 
130 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 entrance had been made and the surrender of the 
 important Trocadero and the other strong points, 
 strengthened the invaders in the belief that they 
 were to be blown up or ambuscaded. 
 
 It was the avowed irtention of the Parisians 
 to make a second Moscow of Paris rather than re- 
 sign it to the Prussians, and Trocliu, when in 
 charge, had furnished petroleum to assist in the 
 work of destruction. This same petroleum is said 
 to have been used to aid in the firing of the build- 
 ings of the city by the Federates on the advance of 
 the Versaillese. 
 
 The fact that a successful plan for the com- 
 plete demolition of the city was absent from the 
 Communist scheme of defense, is but another 
 proof of the incapacity of the Communal leaders 
 to wage systematic warfare. 
 
 Archibald Forbes, the noted war corres- 
 pondent of the London Daily News, says:* 
 
 " I entered the Chateau de la Muette. Dom- 
 browski gave me a hearty and cordial greeting, 
 and at once offered me permission to attach myself 
 to his staff permanently, if I could accept the posi- 
 tion as it disclosed itself. ' We are in a deplorably 
 comic situation here,' said he with a smile and a 
 shrug, * for the fire is both hot and continuous.' 
 Dombrowski was a neat, dapper little fellow of 
 some five feet four inches, dressed in a plain, dark 
 
 *Mr. Forbes had arrived from London when the most stringent regula- 
 tions regarding ingress and egress were in operation, and went to the 
 German headquarters to see if they could assist him in entering the city. 
 
 i " The Crown Prince of Saxony was at luncheon when I reached the 
 chateau in whiclihe had his quarters. He roared with laughter when I told 
 him how the gen d'arme had served me. " These people at Versailles," he 
 explained, *' have been leaving the mouth of the trap open all these weeks, 
 and pretty near all the turbulent blackguards of Europe have walked into it. 
 Now they think all the blackguards are inside, and since they are just about 
 to begin business, they have stopped both ingress and egress. Still," he 
 continued musingly, "I am surprised that they didn't let you in!" The 
 Prince has something of a sardonic humor and he made his point; and I for 
 my part made him a bow in acknowledgment of his compliment." ^ 
 [Mr. Forbes gained admittance to the city the next day, 21st]. 
 
THE BI.OODY WEEK. I31 
 
 uniform with very little gold lace. His face was 
 shrewd — acuteness itself; he looked as keen as a 
 file, and there was a frank, honest manner with 
 him, and a genial heartiness in the grip of his 
 hand. He was the sort of man you take to in- 
 stinctively, and yet there were ugly stories about 
 him. He wore a slight mustache and rather a 
 long chin-tuft, which he was given to pulling as 
 he talked. He spoke no English, but talked 
 German fluently. His staff consisted of eight or 
 ten officers, chiefly plain young fellows who 
 seemed thoroughly up to their work, and with 
 whom, not to be too pointed, soap and water 
 seemed not so plentiful as was their consummate 
 coolness. Dombrowski ate, read and talked all at 
 once, while one could hardly hear his voice for the 
 din of the cannonade and the whistle of shells. A 
 battalion commandant, powder-grimed and flushed, 
 rushed into the room and exclaimed in great agita- 
 tion that the Versaillese troops were streaming 
 inside the ejiciente at the gate of Billancourt, which 
 his command had been holding. The cannonade 
 from Issy had been so fierce that his men had been 
 all under shelter, and when the Versaillists came 
 suddenly on, and they had to expose themselves 
 and deliver musketry-fire, the shells fell so thick 
 and deadly that they bolted, and then the Versail- 
 lists had carried the gate, and now held it. His 
 men had gone back in a panic. He had beaten 
 'Cii^xn-sacre 7iofn^ etc. --with the flat of his sword 
 till his arm ached, but he had not succeeded in 
 arresting the panic, and his battalion had now 
 definitely forsaken the encientf.. The Versaillists 
 were massing in large numbers to strengthen the 
 force that had carried the gate of Billancourt, 
 Dombrowski waited until the gasping officer had 
 exhausted himself, then handed him a glass of 
 
132 ^ THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 wine with a smile, and with a serene nod turned to 
 his salad, and went on eating it composedly and 
 reflectively. At length he raised his head: ' Send 
 to the Ministry of Marine for a battery of seven- 
 pounders; call out the cavalry, the tirailleurs (of 
 some place or other, I did not catch), and send 
 such and such battalions of national guards. Let 
 them be ready by seven o'clock, I shall attack 
 with them, and lead the attack myself.' The 
 lieutenant suggested that he might not be able to 
 get a whole battery. 'Bring what you can, then,' 
 said Dombrowski; ' two, three or four guns, as 
 many as you can, and see that the tumbrils are in 
 order. Go and obey! ' ' Go and obey ' was the 
 formula of this peremptory, dictatorial and yet 
 genial little man. He had a splendid commanding 
 voice, and one might have judged him accustomed 
 to dictating, for he would break off, to converse 
 and take up the thread again. 
 
 The shell-iire was increasing. Dombrowski 
 told me that the Chateau de la Muette belonged 
 to a friend of Thiers, and that therefore, although 
 it was known to be his headquarters, there were 
 orders that it should be somewhat spared. All I 
 to say is, that if there were any efforts made to 
 spare it, the Versaillist gunners were very bad 
 shots. Dombrowski was standing, sword in hand, 
 dictating three orders at once. He stopped to ask 
 me what I thought of the prospect I had looked 
 down on from the roof. I could not conscien- 
 tiously express the opinion that it was reassuring 
 from the Federal point of view. ' I am just dicta- 
 ting an order,' said Dombrowski, * which will in- 
 form Paris that I abandon the enciente from the 
 Porte d'Auteuil to the river. If you are a military 
 man, you must recognize the fact that our loss of 
 Fort Issy has made virtually untenable that sec- 
 
THE BI^OODY WEEK. 1 33 
 
 tion of the continuous fortification of which I 
 speak. Its province was to co-operate with, not 
 to resist, Fort Issy. For several days past I have 
 foreseen the necessity of which I am now inform- 
 ing Paris, and I have prepared a second line of 
 defense, of which the railway viaduct defines the 
 contour, and which I have made as strong as the 
 endente and more easily tenable. Yes; the Versail- 
 lists are in possession of that gate you heard the 
 flurried commandant talk of. They may have it 
 and welcome; the possession of it will not help 
 them very much. But, all the same, I don't mean 
 to let them keep their hold of it wi%out giving 
 them some trouble, and so I am going to make an 
 attack on them to-night. As like as not they will 
 fall back from their occupancy of to-day. and then 
 they will have the work to do over again to-mor- 
 row. But I am not going to fight with serious 
 intent to retrieve this condemned section of ejicientey 
 as the order I have been dictating for publication 
 will show; but merely, as I may say, for fighting's 
 sake. There is plenty of fighting still in our 
 fellows, especially when I am leading them.' 
 
 Dombrowski smiled as this news was commu- 
 nicated to him, and I thought of his ' second line 
 of defence,' and of his assurance that 'the situa- 
 tion was not compromised.' Dombrowski and his 
 staff were very active and daring, and the heart of 
 the men seemed good."* 
 
 Dombrowski led an attack on the enemy in 
 the space between the enciente and the railway on 
 the night of the 21st. An attempt was made to 
 storm the Cemetiere des Paurves; this was a tem- 
 porary success, but heavy firing from various 
 sources disconcerted the Federates. They re- 
 
 ♦Cent'ary Magazine, October, 1892. 
 
t34 ^HK PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 treated, were routed, and shot and shell chased 
 the fugitives, as they fled toward Montmartre; 
 they met troops coming to reinforce t.dem; impart- 
 ing to these their terror, the fleeing Guards were 
 j oined in their rout by their allies. The Federates, 
 many of whom were undoubtedly under the 
 influence of stimulants, fired their chassepots 
 indiscriminately as they ran. 
 
 Assi, while on a tour of inspection during 
 the night, was arrested near the Porte de Jour. 
 Amouroux,who accompanied him, was also taken, 
 and both hurried off to Versailles. 
 
 " The working engineer Assi, one of the chiefs of this great 
 revolt— a man without instruction or judgment, but of an energetic 
 character, has avowed that he never read hut one book— the 
 ^'Revolution of Italy," a work by Edgar Quinet, which he was in- 
 capable of understanding by reason of his inadequate information, 
 but by which his imagination was much affected."* 
 
 The character above given to Assi by an unfriendly writer does 
 not in the least represent him. He was an honest, fearless man. 
 His conservative opinion freely expressed, regarding the propriety 
 of the sortie of April 3d was the cause of his being imprisoned. He 
 headed a strike at the mines at Creuzot. His while life was one of 
 strenuous and intelligent effort to better the condition of the workers. 
 He was continually placed in positions of responsibility and honor 
 in the organizations with which he was identified, and in no instance 
 is there a report on anything but a proper fulfillment of duty. Assi 
 was a very prominent member of the International Workingmen's 
 Association. 
 
 Monday, May 22 — Early in the morning the 
 interior movement for the Commune's subjection 
 was systematically begun. The militar}^ arrange- 
 ment was methodical and thoroughly successful; 
 scarcely a belligerent attacked the rear of the ad- 
 vancing Versaillese, and as the Assembly's troops 
 passed from one portion of the city to another, the 
 prisoners captured were frequently shot to death 
 
 * Fetridge. 
 
the; bloody week. 135 
 
 in groups, in lines, or against the walls. Some 
 were convoyed to Satory, and the enfeebled, sick 
 or disabled were killed if they lagged or attempted 
 to rest on the way. Prudhomme evacuated the 
 War Office and neglected to destroy official docu- 
 ments which were used and were the means of 
 sending to penal servitude and death many of the 
 survivors of the Commune. 
 
 The outside posts of the Federates at Laval- 
 lois, the Ternes and other environs in this vicinage, 
 were now in the midst of a galling fire of artillery 
 and of musketry from the outside, and from 
 Versaillese sharpshooters on the ramparts. A 
 retreat was ordered; the Federates entered the 
 city, principally by the Gates Bineau, Asnieres and 
 Clichy; they immediately engaged the Versaillese 
 inside the walls; but, defeated and forced along, 
 the Guards took their places with their comrades 
 at the barricades, now under command of the 
 Committee of Public Safety. The first system of 
 interior defences encountered by the Versaillese, 
 was of great extent and importance, ^and was per- 
 haps the best managed part of the defence; it 
 protected the avenues leading to the center of the 
 city, and was of immense strength. In fact, so 
 great a number of these internal fortifications had 
 been erected, that in the latter days of the fight- 
 ing, many were almost without defenders. Some 
 huge barricades were held for long periods by only 
 two or three Federates to man a mitrailleuse. The 
 streets were now occupied only by soldiers and 
 war material. The danger from bullet and shell 
 was great, and a terror inspired all inhabitants, 
 particularly the non-combatants. 
 
 As was usual during the entire fight in the 
 city, passers-by were pressed into the service to 
 •erect and often to protect barricades. The women 
 
136 THE) PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 and boys of the working classes were active in the 
 building and defence of street obstructions. Ap- 
 plications to the Commune's headquarters were 
 continually made by women who wished to assist 
 in the defence. They showed much more energy 
 and pertinacity than the men and demanded the 
 immediate death of any man who proved cowardly 
 or recalcitrant, sometimes carrying out their own 
 sentences of death. 
 
 A proposition made by Felix Pyat to com- 
 promise with the enemy, was quickly set aside by 
 the members of the Commune in its informal meet- 
 ing. They, however, merely re-delegated the full 
 power of defence to the Committee of Public 
 Safety; no apparent effort was made toward a 
 concerted action by the general body. 
 
 M. Koch, a chemist, was arrested for in- 
 terferring in the erection of barricades, and, after 
 being heard before Ranvier and two members of 
 the Commune, was taken out and shot. 
 
 Megy, carrying out orders for a domiciliary 
 search, was sneered at for being a workingman by 
 the concierge of the house of the Comte de 
 Chabral. The Federates seized the concierge and 
 taking him to the yard, shot him. 
 
 Ducatel, who had directed the Versaillese to 
 the unprotected St. Cloud gate, was captured by 
 the Federates during an attack on a barricade in 
 Passy. He was serving as a guide to the attack- 
 ing party when he was seized. He was suffering 
 from a bayonet wound, but was carried off 
 
 tried before Razoua and sentenced 
 to death. The execution of the sentence, probably 
 owing to the necessity of defensive operations, 
 was delayed. 
 
 Passy, always a loyal stronghold, was full of 
 joy; showed tri- colored badges and gathered 
 
THK BI^OODY WEEK. I37 
 
 companies of men for the Versaillese cause. The 
 Arc d'Triomphe was deserted on the approach of 
 the enemy and was the first point in the city 
 where the tri-color floated. The Military School, 
 with a huge quantity of provisions, ammunition 
 and 200 cannon, fell to the Versaillese without a 
 struggle. Ducatel, sentenced to death, was left in 
 the school, and was gaining his liberty through a 
 window when the Versaillese arrived. Razoua, 
 the Federate officer in charge, immediately escaped 
 from the city. There is a suspicion of treachery 
 attached to Razoua, as it is stated that he had been 
 in communication with the Versaillese. A man 
 who was accused of spying near the Military 
 School previous to the Versaillese occupation, was 
 captured late in the day, taken to the Hotel de 
 Ville, tried and shot. General Vinoy captured 
 the Communal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the 
 Corps lyCgislatif. 
 
 Colonel Boulanger, (afterward General, and 
 a prominent figure in France,) was an officer of the 
 Versaillese force that captured Montparnasse. 
 Several barricades were carried by the Versaillese 
 after severe fighting in the quarter of Plaisance 
 in this engagement, which took place early Mon- 
 day morning. 
 
 Proclamations to the assailants were issued, 
 in which the Committee of Public Safety expressed 
 the belief that the soldiers of Versaillese would 
 not direct their arms against the Parisians when 
 they come in close contact. 
 
 The Committee of Public Safety also issued 
 the following appeal to the city's inhabitants: 
 "Parisians! The struggle we have commenced 
 cannot be abandoned, for it is a struggle between 
 the past and the future, between liberty and 
 despotism, equality and monopoly, fraternity and 
 
138 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 servitude, the unity of nations and the egotism of 
 oppressors. 
 
 " To arms ! Yes, to arms! Let Paris bristle 
 with barricades and from behind these improvised 
 ramparts let her shout to her enemies the cry of 
 war. Its cry of fierce defiance and victory, for 
 Paris, with its barricades, is invincible! " 
 
 This was signed by Ant. Arnaud, Billioray, 
 Eudes, Gambon and Ranvier. 
 
 Dombrowski had been arrested early in the 
 morning, but was soon released, and at once re- 
 turned to his command. He was slowly falling 
 back all day from the positions in the western 
 part of the city, and his action in this regard 
 again made him the object of the suspicion of the 
 Federates. He was, on account of being a 
 foreigner, somewhat disliked by the less intelli- 
 gent of the Guard. And being by far the ablest 
 of the military leaders, he was the constant object 
 of attempts at bribery by the Versaillese; these 
 attempts did much to increase the unpleasantness 
 of his position. It was believed that he expected 
 to make a final stand at Montmartre, from which 
 a system of barricades had been erected, extending 
 to Trocadero and La Muette. It was apparent 
 that the Chateau de la Muette, (at the gate of 
 that name,) and the Trocadero, had been illy 
 defended, and in consideration of their real military 
 importance, greatly neglected. These unfavor- 
 able reports still further alarmed the Communal 
 sympathizers and demands were made on Deles- 
 cluze for men and munitions from all points at 
 once. 
 
 An excited and desperate band of women 
 invaded the military headquarters, demanding of 
 Delescluze a mitrailleuse to defend a barricade 
 near the Palais Royal. Each wore a mourning 
 
THK B1.00DY WEEK. 139 
 
 sign, indicating the loss of a brother, a husband, a 
 son or a lover. Their request was granted. No 
 horses at all were to be had. The women hitched 
 themselves to the huge gun, and to the ammuni- 
 tion wagons as well, and dragged them to their 
 station, where the women displayed the utmost 
 vigor and intrepidity in the defence. 
 
 The school teachers in the secular schools 
 established by the Commune applied for positions 
 and directed their charges — the boys to aid in 
 building barricades, the girls in sewing sacks for 
 holding sand, which were used in the construction 
 of the street defences. 
 
 The guns of Montmartre, diligently worked, 
 could have disorganized the advancing battalions 
 of the Versaillese, but this was neglected. 
 
 Rumors were rife that Fort Montrouge had 
 been evacuated the night before; troops and war 
 materials were hurried to the support of that 
 fortification. 
 
 Delescluze was now worn down with work 
 and loss of sleep He was busy day and night 
 signing orders, assigning forces, etc. 
 
 Valliot, a spy, after trial at the Palace of Jus- 
 tice, was taken thence and shot by the Federates. 
 
 The transfer of hostages from Mazas to La 
 Roquette took place in the evening. The order for 
 the transfer which was signed by Ranvier, Budes 
 and Gambon, was directed to Ferre and called his 
 attention to his duties regarding their transfer to 
 a safer place of confinement. Forty of the most 
 important prisoners were transferred; a dozen 
 or more, however, whom it was intended to take, 
 being left because of lack of carriage facilities, 
 among whom was Mgr. Darboy. Those tranferred 
 were turned over to Francois, the j ailer, and Vireg, 
 the Commandant of I^a Roquette. The prisoners 
 
140 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 complained of the scantiness of the furnishings of 
 their cells to which Francois replied " that it was 
 not worth troubling about for the short time they 
 would be there." 
 
 Cluseret went into hiding late in the day, de- 
 serting the command at Montmartre assigned him 
 under La Cecilia. He was subsequently aided to 
 escape from the city by an ecclesiastic to whom he 
 had shown some favors when in power, and in the 
 garb of a priest Cluseret reached Brussels. 
 
 A young officer of the Versaillese army, writing 
 ofthe appearance of the city as their troops entered 
 through a breach in the defences, says: " I shall 
 never forget the sight. The fortifications Lad been 
 riddled with bullets; the casements were broken 
 in. All over the ground were strewn haversacks, 
 packets of cartridges, fragments of muskets, 
 scraps of uniforms, tin cans that had held preserved 
 meats, ammunition, wagons that had been blown 
 up, mangled horses, men dying and dead, artillery- 
 men cut down at their guns, broken gun-carriages, 
 disabled siege guns, splashed red from pools of 
 blood but still pointed at our positions, while all 
 around were the still smoking walls of ruined 
 private houses. A company of infantry was 
 guarding about six hundred prisoners, who, with 
 folded arms and lowering faces, were standing 
 among the ruins. They were of all ages, grades 
 and uniforms, — boys of fifteen and old men, 
 general officers covered with gold lace, and beggars 
 in rags."* 
 
 * Latimer. 
 
 " At Montmartre, 12 unfortunate soldiers, who had been made prisoners 
 and conducted there, had their two hands cut off at the wrists, when they 
 were set at liberty. "—Fetridge. This ^v riter is decidedly inimical to the Com- 
 mune, and the statement appears in no other record of events, and is the 
 only specific charge of cruelty to prisoners by the Federates we have found. 
 The statement docs not seem to be sufficiently substantiated to warrant belief. 
 
THK BLOODY WEEK. 141 
 
 The night of Monday-Tuesday was occupied 
 by the Versaillese in massing troops and surround- 
 ing Montmartre. The plan was well laid and 
 carried out. 
 
 Tuesday, May 23 — The attack on Mont- 
 martre commenced before daylight, divisions of 
 the attacking force advancing on three sides. The 
 Germans surrendered the neutral ground and the 
 Gate St. Ouen to the Versaillese, who sent in a 
 large body of men by, this entrance. In the de- 
 fence of Montmartre, the Federates aided by the 
 populace, fought with the knowledge that capture 
 meant death as well as disgrace. Men, women 
 and children were shot in the battle or murdered 
 after capture. 
 
 ** Forty-two men, women and children were 
 taken to Rue des Rosiers, and butchered as holo- 
 caust to the manes of lyccomte and Clement- 
 Thomas. The soldiers tried to force them all to 
 kneel; but one woman, with a child in her arms, 
 refused to kneel, shouting to her companions, 
 *' Show these wretches that you know how to die 
 standing up."* 
 
 In the final surrender, some hundreds were 
 spared and sent to the Versailles prison pen. 
 
 The defence of Montmartre was wholly inade- 
 quate to its armament and position. The defences 
 in the rear had been neglected, and this 
 assisted greatly in the speed with which the 
 stronghold was taken. The Federates were in- 
 formed that they were betrayed; that the Gate 
 St. Ouen and others had been thrown open to 
 
 *Bax. .... 
 
 *Cassell conventionally remarks: ''There was a species of poetical justice in 
 this which is very striking; the prisoners were marched to Chateau Rouge, 
 or to No. 6 Rue des Rosiers, into the same garden in which, two months 
 before, Generals Lecomte and Clement Thomas were shot," 
 
142 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 the Versaillese. So great was the feeling of inse- 
 curity that some barricades near by were left with- 
 out defenders by the retreating Guards. 
 
 Vermorel, on horseback, carried the report of 
 Montmartre's fall to the Hotel de Ville, where 
 consternation was the result. Delescluze, generally 
 calm, appeared astounded and dismayed. On hear- 
 ing the news he is said to have leaped wildly to 
 Jiis feet and exclaimed *' Fire, Fire, Fire." These 
 words have been construed by the enemies of the 
 Commune to mean that he meant to put in opera- 
 tion a plan of systematic destruction of the city by 
 conflagration. Other historians declare the words 
 were intended for the troops and that he simply 
 wished to counsel redoubled activity. Placards 
 were issued by him imploring the Versaillese 
 troops to desert to the Communes' standard. There 
 were several other placards issued, signed by 
 various authorities, decreeing the destruction of 
 any house from which the Federates had been 
 shot at, ordering window blinds to be kept open, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 At the fall of Montmartre, the Versaillese 
 gained nearly 200 cannon and mitrailleuses. The 
 guns of Montmartre were immediately turned on 
 the Communal strongholds. 
 
 There still remained several positions of great 
 strength — Belleville, Pere-Lachaise, the Buttes 
 Chaumont, and Menilmontant — who replied to the 
 fire from Montmartre and the other Versaillese 
 cannon. 
 
 The Federates who escaped from Montmartre 
 were few, but those immediately hastened to 
 other strongholds to again stay the progress of 
 their adversaries. Barricade after barricade fell. 
 The firing, coming nearer and nearer, alarmed 
 Brunei who had headquarters in the Ministry of 
 
THE BI.OODY WHKK. 1 43 
 
 Marine, where was also a hospital for wounded 
 Federates. Firing on this point was presently 
 discovered to be coming from both the North and 
 the South. Brunei feared his escape was about 
 to be cut off, and soon some large buildings were 
 fired, probably by Brunei's orders. His situation 
 becoming serious, shortly after noon, in reply to a 
 request for instruction, he was commanded to 
 blow up the Ministry when defence was no longer 
 possible. Brunei was strongly supported by 
 artillery stationed in the Rue de la Concorde, and 
 continued a vigorous defence. The distribution 
 of the Federates over a huge territory, in many 
 barricades and strong points, enabled the Versail- 
 lese to centralize on these points and thus destroy 
 the defence in detail. 
 
 At the foot of the Boulevard Malesherbes, in 
 the rear of the Church of the Madeleine, was the 
 strong point — the key to the situation, and terrific 
 fighting, lasting for many hours, told of the im- 
 portance with which it was held. The belfrey 
 was manned by Federate sharpshooters; one of 
 these seeing a Versaillese soldier about to shoot, 
 pointed his gun at him, and immediately they dis- 
 covered that they were father and son, the father 
 defending the Commune from the belfrey. The 
 church was taken by assault. A great number 
 of men on both sides were killed during the fight- 
 ing, and the Federates captured were shot on the 
 spot. 
 
 The barricades at the Croix Rouge — the inter- 
 section: of six roads was carried after a desperate 
 struggle. Galbain and i8 other Federates were 
 captured and immediately shot to death. 
 
 Dombrowski was arrested very early on Tues- 
 day morning, and was confined while Montmartre 
 was being taken. This calamity brought the Com- 
 
144 ^HB PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 munal authorities to a realization of their perilous 
 condition. The necessity of utilizing all available 
 military ability doubtless overruled the vague 
 suspicions upon which the Pole was held. He 
 was released about noon, and, accompanied by 
 his aides, galloped to the barricades, where his 
 bravery and enthusiasm raised the drooping spirits 
 of the defenders for a few moments, when he fell, 
 mortally wounded by a bullet in the abdomen. He 
 asked Dr. Cusco, the surgeon, how long he would 
 live; he was told but a few hours at most. He 
 dictated an order to the Federates to hold the 
 barricades, and then begged the surgeon to kill 
 him that he might be released from his dreadful 
 agony. He lingered until evening, bearing with 
 remarkable fortitude the awful suffering. The 
 body was claimed by Brioncel, who declared it 
 should not be taken by the Versaillese. Carried 
 to the Hotel de Ville, the remains lay the night of 
 22d-23d. On Wednesday morning the coffin was 
 taken to Pere-I/achaise cemetery, the Federates at 
 the barricades reversing their arms as the cortege 
 passed.* 
 
 Dombro-wski was a refugee from Siberia, who made his way across 
 Russia to France in 1865, and was much hated and feared by the 
 Russian Government. He had fought in the Polish Insurrection of 
 
 * In justice to Dombrowski it may be said that, although he appears to 
 have been aware of the plot against the Commune [ p. 96 ] (whose inability 
 to conduct the war must be conceded,) there is nothing to show that either 
 he or the others in the scheme had personal ends in view. The intention 
 was to put the management of the war into the hands of a committee of 
 young and resolute members of the Commune, thus nullifying the latter 
 body in all affairs regarding the war. 
 
 It is evident that his stubborn retreat of Monday was a strategical 
 movement of great importance, as it presented a useless sacrifice of life and 
 kept in the hands of the Communists much property of use to them which 
 would have fallen into the hands of the enemy had they won a decisive vic- 
 tory, their power to accomplish which Dombrowski clearly saw. Owing to 
 the great dissatisfaction attending Dombrowski's retreat of Monday, it is 
 intimated that he died from a shot inflicted by one of his own men. This 
 insinuation is not borne out by any ascertainable fact in connection 
 with the affair. 
 
 Dombrowski had been twice wounded in previous engagements in this 
 struggle before he received his death wound. 
 
THK BLOODY WEEK. 145 
 
 1863. His merit as a soldier and a man Is praised by friend and foe 
 alike. Judging from his splendid efforts in the defense of the Com- 
 mune, he was a man of rare military ability and personal valor. 
 
 On the South the Versaillese were having a 
 much more difficult advance. Fierce fighting took 
 place at many points, the Federates showing great 
 courage, though greatly overmatched in numbers. 
 Petit Montrouge was the only point gained in the 
 South by the Versaillese. Eudes is credited with 
 superintending the placing of inflammable material 
 about the Palace of the L<egion of Honor, the 
 Palace of the Council of State, barracks, and other 
 government buildings, which were fired. Huge 
 numbers of historical and official documents were 
 destroyed in these buildings. A large number of 
 private houses, probably fired by sparks from the 
 government buildings, were burned, the whole 
 forming a conflagration the magnitude of which 
 was astounding, and its awful magnificance will 
 never be effaced from the memory of those who 
 witnessed the scene of destruction. 
 
 Bergeret, with headquarters at the Tuileries, 
 convinced of the utter hopelessness of longer 
 retaining possession, was resolved never to allow 
 these '* new usurpers and enemies of the Com- 
 mune" to occupy this home of kings and emperors. 
 In the evening, flames proclaimed the downfall 
 of this majestic monument to the tyranical rule of 
 hereditary monarchs and the military usurpers of 
 France. The populace and the Versaillese were 
 now convinced that the city was to be levelled, 
 and it filled the upper and middle classes with an 
 almost inconceivable fury against the Communists.* 
 
 'While a convoy of prisoners, several hundred in number, were being- 
 marched off for Versailles, with cavalry in the front and rear and regular 
 toopsoneach side, a well-dressed woman left her escort on the sidewalk 
 and inflicted many blows on some of the female prisoners. — Washburne. 
 
146 THK PARIS COMMUNB. 
 
 Two men alleged to be spies were tried at Petit 
 La Roquette and taken to Rue de la Vacquerie, 
 and shot. A woman, Madeline EpiHy, demanded 
 and fired the first shot. 
 
 A dozen or more little girls from 8 to 15 years 
 of age, accused of setting fire to buildings, were 
 shot by the Versaillese in the center of the city. 
 Some of their bodies were seen by the Secretary 
 of the United States Legation and the affair re- 
 ported to Mr. Washburne.* 
 
 Every sentiment of honor and humanity of 
 the non-combatants in and out of the city, pro- 
 tested against the massacres of squads of prisoners, 
 especially those which included women and 
 children. So the tactics changed; the females 
 were separated from the male prisoners, the*'petro- 
 leuses" were discovered, and the victims found 
 death under a special section of the general edict 
 of murder. t 
 
 There is but little evidence that " petro- 
 leuses " (petroleum-throwers ) existed, except that 
 scores of women and girls, many of the latter but 
 children, were shot without trial for the offence. 
 At times the women prisoners were abused in the 
 most shameful manner by the Versaillese; the 
 desperate courage of the women enraged the in- 
 vaders more than the strength of their defence. 
 
 On Monday Gustave Chaudey, at the request 
 of his wife, was transferred from Mazas to St. 
 Pelagic prison. Chaudey's wife, a lady of ex- 
 quisite beauty and great culture, accompanied by 
 
 *"0n that afternoon one of the employes of my legation counted the dead 
 bodies of eight children in the Avenue d'Antin, the eldest not over 14 years 
 of age, who * * * had been shot on the spot."— TTas/ffertrne. 
 
 t To carry a milk-can [or to act as if afraid of the soldiery, a not unnatural 
 action by w<>men in view of the previous murders] was evidence enough to 
 bring on their immediate death. In the trials which followed the Commune, 
 of the several hundred women arrested but four were "convicted" of petro- 
 leum-throwing, and this before a "court" formed for sentence rather than 
 for trial. 
 
THE BI^OODY WEEK. 1 47 
 
 her son, three or four years of age, visited Rigault 
 and implored him to not impose the death sentence 
 on her husband. Persuasion, entreaties, supplica- 
 tion, tears — all were lost on the implacable Rigault. 
 *' No, madam, I can not remit." Then turning to 
 the child, Rigault said: Yes, little man, we are 
 going to shoot your papa to-morrow." 
 
 At II o'clock on the night of the 23d, Augus- 
 tine Ranvier, Governor of the St. Pelagic prison, 
 was directed to bring out for execution Gustave 
 Chaudey and three gen d'armes. Rigault superin- 
 tended the proceedings, and gave all orders, in- 
 cluding the order for the execution itself. Chau- 
 dey was shot to death by eight Federates; after 
 this, the gen d' armes met the same fate. 
 
 Gustave Chaudey was a talented advocate; was the executor 
 of P. J. Proudhon, (the well-known writer on political economy.) 
 Chaudey had been generally credited with strong democratic senti- 
 ments. 
 
 The night of the 23d-24th was one of horror 
 and destruction. The bombardment by the Ver- 
 saillese batteries was steady and effective, the 
 Federate cannon belching their answers at inter- 
 vals; the sound of musketry and of mitrailleuses 
 was constant. Fires sprang up in all directions, 
 ignited from shells, and rapidly spread by sparks 
 from the buildings evacuated by the Communists. 
 
 An explosion occurred at about 12 o'clock in 
 the night which shook the entire city. The fire 
 had reached the large stores of explosives in the 
 Tuileries, and the central part of the beautiful 
 structure was completely demolished. 
 
 * Eudes is credited with having sent the following' order to one of his 
 officers: " Fire on the Bourse, the Bank, the Post Office, the Place des 
 Victoires, the Place Vendome, the Garden of the Tuileries, the Babylone 
 Barracks; leave the Hotel de Ville to Commandant Pindj', the Delegate of 
 War, and the Committee of Public Safety. The Commune will assemble at 
 the Mairie of the 11th arrondissement; there we will organize the defence of 
 the popular quarters of the city. We will send you cannon and ammunition 
 from the Pare Basfroi. We will hold out to the last, happen what map'." 
 
148 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Wednesday, May 24 — Brunei, shortly aftei 
 midnight, received orders to immediately destroy 
 the Ministry of Marine, after having removed the 
 wounded from the hospitals. The Ministry was 
 evacuated and a false alarm that the building was 
 surrounded, prevented its being fired by the rear 
 guard. It was soon after really surrounded, and all 
 Federates found in the building were immediately 
 killed, most of them being bayonetted to death. 
 
 It was decided by the Communists to desert 
 the Hotel de Ville, and late in the day fire appeared 
 various places in the building. 
 
 The Federates, under Pindy, were ordered 
 to the Place Bastille. The Committee Central 
 placarded the town, still insisting that a basis of a 
 settlement with the Versaillese should be sought. 
 
 The last issue of the Journal Offidel was on 
 this day.^ 
 
 An order was issued to Milliere, Dereure, 
 Billioray and Vesinier, assigning them to the work 
 of inspecting and destroying houses suspected of 
 harboring Versaillese troops. The last proclama- 
 tion issued by the Committee Central was on this 
 date, and called upon the National Guards who 
 were with the Versaillese to join the Federates. 
 
 The Ministry of Finance was in flames and 
 added to the scene of fiery splendor. The Palace 
 Royal, grand and noted, fell, and later in the day 
 the Imperial I^ibrary, containing nearly 100,000 
 volumns, many valuable and rare. The Louvre 
 was saved only by the utmost exertions of the 
 invaders. The Versaillese fought the fires vigor- 
 ously, in many instances in the face of fierce 
 fusilades from the Federates. Early in the day 
 many residences, followed by the lyyric Theatre, 
 
 *No paper appeared at all on the 24th, except a little sheet called tiit 
 Com^tittttion, which came out in the evening.—Wcishburne. 
 
the: bi^oody wkek. 149 
 
 the Tapis Rouge and the Theatre St. Martin 
 burned, and a huge volume of smoke, impenetra- 
 ble by the sun, hung over the city. 
 
 The Cathedral of Notre Dame was on fire, but 
 sufiered comparatively slight injury, owing to 
 efforts of the medical staff of the Hotel Dieu 
 assisted by firemen. 
 
 The *' League of the Rights of Paris," a bour- 
 geoise Republican organization, protested to the 
 Committee Central against the destruction of 
 property. 
 
 The order to kill all Federates taken as 
 prisoners was promulgated from Versailles. This 
 was merely making public what was tacitly under- 
 stood from the first, and the order designating 
 ''Federates" was by the interpretation of the 
 Versaillese officers, made to cover, (through the 
 accusations of incendiarism, petroleum throwing, 
 etc.,) Federates and civilians, women and children. 
 On the morning of the 24th, 13 "petroleuses" were 
 shot on the Place Vendome, now occupied by the 
 Versaillese troops. The murder of prisoners 
 had become general; Federates, armed or unarmed, 
 were killed on sight, and persons supposed to be 
 upholders of the Communal cause were captured 
 and shot down at the caprice of the captors, or 
 marched to prison. To resist was rewarded by 
 instant death; to protest against the inhumanity of 
 the captors brought the saber stroke of an officer; 
 to lag behind in the march, was to receive a 
 bayonet thrust from a lingard. 
 
 The Versaillese captured among others with 
 arms in their hands, a boy 15 years of age; 
 while being pushed against the wall to be shot, he 
 asked that he might visit the concierge who lived 
 opposite, to leave a watch to be delivered as 
 directed; the request was granted, and in a few 
 
150 THE PARIS COMMUMK. 
 
 moments the lad returned to his place against the 
 wall, spread out his arms and said, " I am ready." 
 With a kindness contrary to anything usually 
 reported of the Versaillese soldiery, the captain 
 gave the youngster a violent kick, saying : ' ' Get 
 away from here, you young rascal." 
 
 There was now a conviction on the part of 
 most of the Federates that either a successful 
 defence or any escape was impossible. Thiers 
 closed all orders to the Assembly's commanders ;vith 
 these words: '* Let none escape." * There was 
 but one of two things for the beleagured workers 
 — death or transportation. And the conduct of 
 the defenders from this time showed a decided 
 preference for the loss of, life as against the loss 
 of freedom; during this life-destroying grind 
 between the unyielding German line in the rear 
 and the constantly advancing enemy on the front, 
 their courage was worthy of a victory, and their 
 valor is the prominent feature in a lost cause. 
 
 A barricade at the Place Blanche was de- 
 fended by a force of 120 women, whose efforts 
 were almost beyond belief. When defeated, many 
 of them threw themselves upon their antagonists, 
 
 *The Bonapartist, Royalist and Clerical vengeance surpassed in infamous 
 ferocity anything that history records. For a month the soldiers of France 
 enraged themselves against all who were guilty, or even suspected of having 
 wished to defend surrendered France and a betrayed Republic. Blood flowed 
 in the prisons, in the barracks, where without .iefenco, men exhausted by 
 misery and famine were massacred. Old men, women, children, the wounded 
 and invalids all furnished material for the destruction of life. The squares 
 were converted into vharnel houses, the casemates and the ditches of the fort- 
 ifications received more lead and dying than quicklime could consume. 
 Assassination became such a habit with the soldiers that the Imperial officers 
 become afraid of the brutes they commanded. 
 
 The armies which had surrendered like a flock of sheep were now let 
 loose, by the Germans upon the city they had not, in point of fact conquered 
 by war. 'Ihe bourgeoisie, always controlled by their cowardly terrors, 
 thought only of saving their own persons and goods, After two months of 
 terror, the mournful history of which will never be known, order reigned 
 <iver the bodies of 50,000 Frenchmen slaughtered in the preserve and to the 
 great joy of the enemy. The sword of the officers of the Empire became a 
 law to M. Thiers, and now judged the miserable people who had not been 
 moved down by the mitrailleuses. — Lockwood. 
 
THE.BI^OODY WEEK. 151 
 
 were run through by bayonets, and died crying 
 "Vive la Commune." 
 
 The Guards defending the Bank of France 
 were in constant alarm, getting but little sleep 
 during these days. They slept in the bank, and 
 were seldom able to go out for their meals. The 
 shutters were crenelated and each man was 
 assigned his place. 
 
 The Pantheon and its approaches were des- 
 perately defended; the attacking force was the 
 concentrated Versaillese army on the South. 
 The courage of the guardians of this position was 
 grand; the number and persistence of the As- 
 sembly's troops gained the day, but with great loss. 
 Such slaughter had not yet been seen on the 
 streets as was here shown. The fall of the 
 Pantheon, really considered impregnable, and 
 defended by young and enthusiastic revolutionists, 
 was a crushing blow to the Communal hopes, 
 Lisbonne was at the head of the defence and 
 exhibited skill and bravery.* 
 
 The Palace of Justice, f the Prefecture of 
 Police and other buildings occupied by Rigault 
 and Ferre were rapidly being approached by the 
 Versaillese. The Prefecture was deserted. A fire 
 broke out, probably ignited by order of the retiring 
 officials. There was a large number of prisoners 
 who remained in the prison rather than be pressed 
 into the Commune's service at the barricades. 
 
 • *A terrific explosion of powder occurred about noon while the fighting- 
 was fiercest about the Pantheon. The magazine, in a garden back of the 
 Rue d'Ouest, was exploded, and great numbers of shops had their fronts 
 blown out; many houses were injured in the neighborhood of the 
 Observatorj', and the Palace of the Luxemberg, in common with 
 many lesser buildings, had scarce a whole pane of glass left in it. - The 
 clouds of dust obscured the sun and the bewildered and terror-stricken in- 
 habitants, seeking to escape the dangers of falling: fragments and buildings, 
 often placed themselves in the range of the bullets of the combatants. 
 
 t The site of the Palace of Justice [on an island in the Seine] had been 
 the spot on which the Caesars resided when Paris was not Paris, but Lutece. 
 
152 THK PAEIS COMMUN]^. 
 
 " The Seine furnished abundant water, and all uten- 
 sils were used by non-combatants to extinguish the 
 flames, and these efforts were partially successful. 
 Over 20,000,000 cartridges and several tons of 
 powder were removed by extraordinary efforts of 
 persons of the neighborhood. These explosives 
 were thrown in the Seine."* 
 
 The prisoners in the Prefecture, including 
 the chemist Borme, were finally liberated. 
 
 Raoul Rigault, Procurator of the Commune, 
 was shot at while entering a house on the Rue 
 Gay-Iyussac about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The 
 proprietor of the house resembled Rigault and 
 narrowly escaped death, being mistaken for him 
 by the soldiers when they entered the house. 
 Rigault was captured and led out, and an officer 
 questioned him. He replied, " Yes, I am Rigault; 
 Vive la Commune ! " The officer shot him with 
 a pistol, and he was riddled with the bullets of 
 the Versaillese soldiery. The body was pounded 
 and disfigured; one eye protruded; the head was 
 a pulpy mass.f 
 
 Raoul Rigault was a native of Paris, 26 years of age at the time 
 of his death. He was a law student and had received a good educa- 
 tion.J He had been- a contributor to many journals. His revolu- 
 tionary tendencies were very vexatious to his father and brothers, 
 wh) were, in no way, sympathizers in his beliefs. His personal ap- 
 pearance was attractive. * * dark complexioned and short- 
 sighted. * * of a bold, skeptical and uncompromising character, 
 not dismayed by the titles of rank held by men in church or State. 
 Rigault had been elected Chief of Battalion during tha Prussian 
 siege. At the election of the 26th of March, he was returned from tha 
 8th arrondissement, and was at once confirmed as the head of 
 the Police Department. 
 
 * Latimer. 
 
 +Advised that it was Rigault— this was enough for the soldiers and 
 down, like a dog, on the street. There his dead body lay for hours. 
 Men and women went up and kicked it and spit in the face of the assassin. 
 Such was tlie fitting end of the great leader of the Commune of Paris.— 
 Washburne. 
 
 {Rigault was a medical student.—*/^. Simon. 
 
THE BLOODY WEKK. 153 
 
 " His manner was abrupt and had an official style." His hostility 
 to the priesthood was open and avowed; and he is perhaps most 
 to be charged with the proceedings against the ecclesiastics.* His 
 actions in this regard have brought upon him the hatred and 
 calumny of the bourgeoise press and priesthood. He is credited 
 with extraordinary tact in the discovery of spies and the suppression 
 of Versaillese schemes against the Commune. His order for the 
 arrest of Mgr. Darboy is an example of his style: " Arrest at once 
 Darboy [Georges] who calls himself Archbishop of Paris." 
 
 " Rigid in his attitude, hard and brief in his words, listening to 
 only the passion which dominated him, * * he spread over Paris 
 an immense web, entangling in its threads all persons hostile to the 
 Communal movement." f 
 
 Rlgault's conduct, while in the Communal service, was exactly 
 that which should have characterized an officer who desired to ad- 
 vance the interests of the government with which he was associated 
 and would have been applauded by the bourgeois apologists had he 
 been a partner of the Versaillese. 
 
 Washburne declares that "he linked not a single virtue to a 
 thousand crimes." It is a strange attitude of mind in which is con' 
 demned, upon moral grounds, arbitrary conduct in the part of an 
 official, under circumstances when it becomes the first duty of the 
 citizen to destroy life. The historians who so fiercely denounce him 
 may be reminded of Rigault's own reply to his critics in the Com- 
 mune: *'War is immoral; and yet we fight." 
 
 Serizier, commanding loist battalion National 
 Guard, desired a defence to be maintained 
 behind a wall in the yard of a chemist named 
 Dubois; the latter refused to allow this, and a 
 party of Federates was sent to capture him. 
 Sulphuric acid was thrown at them by the chem- 
 ist, who had taken his position at the head of the 
 stairs in his home. He was vShot and killed by 
 Roullic, a Federate 19 years of age. 
 
 The Commune's members and the Committee 
 Central had now adj ourned to the Mairie of the 
 nth arrondissement, where in company with 
 
 * " He was literally a clericophobist and a passionate Blanquist * * 
 Nobody contributed more than Rigault to the loss of the Commune. As a 
 man I esteem Rlgault highly; as a public man he was deplorable." This 
 arrest [Darboy's] started the Commune on the road to that quagmire into 
 which Thiers sought to plunge it. * * * The massacre of the hostages— 
 that is to say, an act of stupid violence."— Cltiseret, j 
 
 tFetridge. 
 
154 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 Delescluze and other officials, plans to stay 
 the- progress of the Versaillese were discussed; 
 Betwjeen 30 and 40 of the Communal leaders gave 
 orders and received reports. Comte de Beaufort, 
 formally an orderly on Cluseret's staff, was seized, 
 maltreated and finally shot by a body of P'ederates. 
 Uncertain charges were made against Beaufort, 
 scantily supported, but the P'ederates were not 
 now in a mood to need much proof of infidelity. 
 Suspicions of treacher}^ were prevalent among the 
 Federates.* Several suspected spies were executed. 
 
 The execution of the decree to destroy the 
 Expiatory Chapel had been delayed.f M- lyibmann 
 opened negotiations for the silver and ornaments 
 and bought them for 5,000 francs. He was trying 
 to make a bargain with Fontaine, Communal 
 Director of Domain, for the material of the chapel, 
 when the Versaillese arrived and took the business 
 out of his hands. The chapel was considerably 
 damaged by shot and shell, but was repaired by 
 order of the Assembly. This church had been 
 erected in memory of I^ouis XVI and Marie 
 Antoinette. 
 
 Georges Veysset was taken from prison by 
 Ferre, marched to the statue of Henry IV on the 
 Pont Neuf. He said to Ferre: "When I was 
 arrested I had 20,000 fr.. on me; what has be- 
 come of it?'' Ferre answered: " Be not uneasy, 
 we will settle all accounts at once." Veyiset was 
 sh ot and his, body thrown into the Seine. 
 
 ' *Mathie'u was shot by the Guards, and had on his person, when captured^ 
 was l,500,000fr., which sum the insurgents accused him of naving received 
 for opening one of the gates of the citj- to the Yevsaiilese. —Fetridge. 
 
 KoTie— A "decree for the repairs of the Expiatory Chapel erected to Louis 
 XXI was introduced and passed the Assembly 24th May, 
 " tThe exertions of M. Libmann to save the Expiatory Chapel were 
 rewarded by a letter from Henri V. Comte de Chambord, in which the latter 
 refers very . touchingly to the " patriotism and faith" and the "Zealand 
 ■courage" of M. Libmann in. preserving "the chapel oonsecrate-l to tlie 
 Martyr King." , 
 
THE BLOODY WEEK. I55 
 
 At the barricades near the Palais Royal a 
 furious battle took place. The Federates and the 
 women and children were displaced only by the 
 onslaughts of vastly superior numbers. The 
 Palais Royal w^as fired at 3 p. m. The insurgents 
 were driven from the Church of Saint Eustache, 
 and the building was fired, but, by great effort on 
 the part of the Assembly's supporters, was saved 
 from destruction. At this combat a woman in 
 man's apparel was killed; her sex was not dis- 
 covered until the bodies of the insurgents were 
 thrown into a heap at the corner of the church. 
 The attack at the Theatre Francais was made 
 from three directions; the Guards were beaten, 
 overpowered, clubbed, but refused to surrender 
 and were all put to death at once. At the barri- 
 cades of the Boulevard Saint Michel, the Federates 
 in that important position, w^ere enabled to check 
 the advance of the Versaillese for many hours; 
 General Patural, the Assembly's commander in 
 this attack, w^as struck in the leg by a ball, but 
 continued giving his orders with the greatest 
 Calmness. The Communal defenders were separ- 
 ated by the river and the defeated Federates and 
 populace, after the day's conflict, were concentrat- 
 ing in points best for defence on both sides of the 
 river, but without any plan of action except of 
 the most temporary and shifting character in each 
 quarter. 
 
 The Ministry of Finance was burned, but the 
 " Grand Xivre " of France — a series of nearly 
 3,000 volumes, containing the inscriptions of the 
 public debt of the country, from the commence- 
 ment of the indebtedness down to the time of the 
 
 Note— Thiers and Favre entered Paris surrounded by cordons of cavalry 
 on the morning of the 24th. After a short stay they returned ta Versailles, 
 and Thiers ma.'e known to the Assembly the condition of the city; declared 
 that the "criminals" should be punished implacably; the National Guard to 
 b^ disarmed and "order" be restored in Paris by and through the Assembly. 
 
156 THE PARIS C®MMUN«. 
 
 Commune , had been taken from the building the 
 day before. 
 
 It is evident that whatever destruction and 
 fire in the city was due to projectiles, was very 
 much more chargable to the Versaillese than to 
 the Communists, as the former fired ten times to 
 every cannon discharged by the latter. 
 
 The IvUxumburg fell after a desperate struggle. 
 Its defenders, who were captured, were bayonetted 
 or shot to death, and buried on the spot. 
 
 Preparations for the long threatened shooting 
 of hostages were now made. 
 
 A Court Martial was instituted in the nth 
 arrondissement.* Genton, a Communal Magis- 
 trate presided, and, after trial, a list containing 
 the following names — 
 
 Gborge Darbot, Archbishop of Paris; 
 
 M. BoNjiiAN, Judge of the Court of Cassation; 
 
 Abbe Deguerry, Cure of the Madeleine, 
 
 Was handed to Theophile Ferr^, head of 
 Public Security Department. 
 
 Ferre proceeded to La Roquette and added 
 three more names to the list : 
 
 Father Decoudrat, Superior of the College of Jesuits. 
 Father Clercq, Professor in the College of Jesuits. 
 Abbe Allard, Chaplain to the Ambulances. 
 
 An order for the delivery of these prisoners 
 was handed Ranvier. 
 
 Upon the receipt of the order for the prisoners, 
 Henrion, the prison keeper, made an excuse that 
 he would go for the keys. These he had with 
 him, and as he hurriedly walked away, he threw 
 them into a heap of filth, and by the aid of a 
 five-franc gold piece, gained the outside of the city, 
 and sought refuge at Vincennes.f Other keys 
 
 tlVfarcJi. tJj^tiojei'. 
 
tRM filvQODV WSEit. 157 
 
 were found after some time, and the prisoners 
 were called into the corridor. Judge Bonjean, 
 when notified, speaking from his cell, replied: 
 " In a moment, I am putting on my coat." '* You 
 will need no coat where you are going," replied a 
 Federate. 
 
 It was about 8p.m. when the hostages were 
 taken out of their cells.* While going down a small 
 flight of stairs, the Archbishop was in advance, 
 and raising his hands, blessed his condemned com- 
 panions. Bonj ean, an aged man, fainted and had to 
 be assisted. The hostages were conducted to the 
 prison yard. Mgr. Darboy, while expostulating 
 with the Federates, and begging them to forego 
 the shooting, w^as accused by one of the party of 
 having acted against the people.f The Archbishop 
 proclaimed himself a *' friend of liberty "to which 
 a Federate replied, " yes, but your liberty is not 
 ours.'' There was a fierce struggle among the 
 Federates as to who should do the shooting on 
 this occasion, so many there were who wished to 
 avenge the loss of a brother, a father or a friend 
 murdered by the Versaillese. Darkness rendered 
 the use of lanterns necessary, and by their flicker- 
 ing light the spectators viewed the trembling 
 prisoners ranged against the wall which sur- 
 rounded the prison grounds. 
 
 The firing party of 40, which included Megy, 
 Verig and Lolive, on order from Ranvier, fired a 
 volley at the hostages. Five were killed. Mgr. 
 Darboy, standing up, was shot with a musket by 
 a Federate, after which Verig shot him with a 
 
 * Instead of receiving^ the respect du« his rauk, he [Darboy) was treated 
 aa a vulgar criminal.— iTasA&wrne. 
 
 f Mgr. Darboy was suspect«d of having provisions secreted in his palace 
 and in the Cathedral of Notr« Dakm during the seige bj the G«rmans which 
 made the Parisian public very apathetic regarding his release. 
 
 X Two or three Federates knelt to receive the Archbishop's blessing; they 
 were kicked, jeered at and othtrwiss roughly treated by their companions. 
 
158 THK PARIS COMMtTNE. 
 
 pistol. The Archbishop, j ust as the order to fire 
 was being given, raised his right hand to give his 
 episcopal blessing. " That's your benediction, is 
 it ? Now take mine " said Lolive, and he fired a 
 pistol bullet into the Archbishop's body.* 
 
 The bodies and the cells of the executed 
 hostages were relieved of all valuables. The 
 corpses were taken to Pere-I/achaise cemetery, 
 where they were thrown into an open trench, from 
 whence they were removed by the Versaillese 
 when they captured the cemetery. 
 
 MonseigneurDarboy was 58 years ol age. He was born in a vil- 
 lage in Upper Marne, at Fayl-Billot, the I6th of January, 1813. 
 
 George Darboy was educated at the Seminary of Langres, where 
 tie passed most brilliant examinations.* 
 
 In 1854, during a voyage which he made to Rome with the Arch 
 bishop, the Pope conferred on him the title of Apostolic Prothono- 
 tary. Finally, after being named Titular Vicar-General of Paris, he 
 became, in 1859, Bishop of Nancy. 
 
 A decree of the lOth of January, 1863, designed him for the archi- 
 episcopal seat of Paris, where he was precognized the 16th of March, 
 and installed the 21st of April of the same year. 
 
 On January 8th, 1864, he became Grand Almoner of the Emperor 
 and a decree of the following October called him to the Senate. He 
 was a member of the Council of Public Instruction, and grand-offlcer 
 of the Legion of Honor in 1868. 
 
 The moderate and conciliatory political role which Mohseigneur 
 Darboy endeavored to fill after his elevation to the archi-episcopacy 
 did not always succeed. The persistent refusal of the Pope to accord 
 a cordinal's hat to the Archbishup of Paris was for a long time con- 
 sidered as a sign of a misunderstanding between them. Monseig- 
 neur Darboy, however, protested against the existence of anything of 
 the kind in a pastoral letter, Written on the fiftieth anniversary of 
 the priesthood of Pius IX.* 
 
 " He was one of the most charming and agreeable of men and was 
 beloved alike by rich and poor. He had spent his whole lifeinactg 
 of charity and benevolence, "t 
 
 *The Archbishop, in a conversation with M. Rousse, Staffman of the 
 Order of Advocates, who visited him in hia cell at Mazas, said "I have in-- 
 curred, on account of my ideas on certain subjects, the disfavor of the Court 
 of Rome. When I was" called to the Archbishopric of Paris, I explained to, 
 the Emperor my views regarding the separation of Church and State. I- 
 begged him to occupy himself as little as possible with the clergy." ^ 
 
 tWashburne. 
 
THK BI^OODY WBKK. 1 59 
 
 The Abbe Deguerry was born in Lyons in 1797, and was the son of 
 a wood merchant. At his death he was seventy-four years of age. 
 After having commenced his studies at the seminary of his 
 native city, he went to finish them at the College of ViUefranche. 
 During 1820-24 he was professor of philosophy, theology, and 
 eloquence, and finally became preacher. In 1824 he preached at 
 Lyons ; in 1825 and 1826 at Paris. The following year he was named 
 almoner of the 6th regiment of the Royal Guard by Charles X. He 
 followed his regiment to Orleans, to Rouen, and Paris, until 1830. 
 In 1828, he pronounced at Orleans a discourse in eulogy of Joan of Arc 
 which tweuty-cight years later [1856] he was called upon to repeat. 
 In 1840, M Deguerry became canon of Notre-Dame, and in 1844, arch- 
 priest. The following year he was made cure of Saint Eustache, and 
 in 1849 cure of the Madeleine. In 1868 he was charged with religious 
 Instruction of the Prince Imperial. Decorated in May, 1846, he was 
 made office)- of the Legion of Honor in 1853, and commander 8th of 
 May, 1868. M. Deguerry was the author of many religious works. 
 
 Friends of the imprisoned priests made some 
 efforts to avert the fate which the continued 
 barbarities of the Versaillese held over the heads 
 of the ecclesiastics.* There were deputations and 
 much correspondence. United States Minister, 
 Washburne, was unremitting in his efforts to save 
 the Archbishop.f All offers of exchange for Blan- 
 qui had been definitely refused.! 
 
 *The Archbishop of Paris; writing from prison, wrote a letter to M. 
 Thiers making inquiries regarding the cruelties said to have been inflicted 
 upon prisoners taken by the Versaillese. Thiers, throiigh the Paris journals, 
 replied that all prisoners taken were treated with the aitmost. consideration. 
 The truth of this statement may be estimated bj' the newspaper reports and 
 other evidence. --. ■ 
 
 . t" Relying on the good relations existing between the government of the 
 United States and their country," the Pope's nuncio, Flavins Chigi, asked 
 Mr. Washburne to, if possible, obtain the deliverance of the Archbishop 
 " that the cause of humanity and civilization might cease to suffer in his 
 person." 
 
 t " I examined the question from a political point of view. It is to the 
 interest of the Versaillese that the Archbishop . should be assassinated and 
 Blanqui detained. * * By the first the Commune is put out of the pale of 
 civilization and by the second, it is deprived of its most experienced political 
 leader. * * Asking them to renounce two advantages without any. com- 
 pensation — it was insanity. * * If the Commune does not put the Arch- 
 bishop to death, Thiers will * * in order to charge the murder on the 
 Cominune, giving the Versaillese a double claim on Blanqui; therefore 
 it is our interest to save the Archbishop. If Blanqui were in Paris Tie migKt 
 save the Cominune. * * He would have taken the-politi(.aI c6adui-t (>f 
 affairs into his own hands and left me free to devote n},yself wholly in, the 
 defence of Paris. Acciistomed to discipline, he would have diScJpKned^his 
 people and allowed me to! discipline mine."— Ciwseret, 
 
l6o fHE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 The church officials, on the whole, seemed not 
 greatly displeased at the death of the Archbishop, 
 as there was a difference of opinion upon certain 
 affairs regarding Church and State in upper 
 ecclesiastical circles, and Darboy had made himself 
 obnoxious to his colleagues. In fact, as E. Belfort 
 Bax characteristically expresses it : "This (the 
 offerof exchange for Blanqui) was refused, partly, 
 perhaps, at the instigation of the Ultramontane 
 Catholics, who were strong in the Assembly, and 
 to whom Darboy, who was a Galilean i. e. who 
 favored an independent attitude of the French 
 clergy towards the Papal pretensions, was by no 
 means a persona grata. By his death they would 
 kill two birds with one stone; get a Christian 
 martyr on the cheap, and probably obtain for one 
 of their own men the wealthy diocese of Paris." 
 
 After the coup of 185 1, when the people stub- 
 bornly defended the barricades. Napoleon III had 
 broadened and so arranged the streets, avenues 
 and boulevards that they could be swept by 
 machine guns. He did not take into consideration 
 the possibility that mitrailleuses might be in the 
 hands of the people, as they now were, and placed 
 in street fortifications of such strength and magni- 
 tude as had never before been seen. 
 
 *• The Parisian,'* wrote Rossel, ** recovers in 
 the war of barricades the vigor in which he is de- 
 ficient for defending ramparts, or in open warfare. 
 The possibility of taking flight, and escaping the 
 consequences of defeat by going home, only to 
 resume his arms at a convenient moment, gives 
 him the same feeling of safety which regular 
 troops derive from the 'shoulder to shoulder,' and 
 the companionship under their flag. It is not a 
 paradox to say that the uniform deprives the 
 rioter of a portion of his courage. The men in 
 
THE BI^OODY WEEK. i$i 
 
 blouses have more energy, more dash, and more 
 military valor than the National Guards, and 
 especially than the officers." 
 
 In taking the barricades the Versaillese 
 soldiery slipped from corner to corner, from 
 doorway to doorway, improvising barricades by 
 pushing a barrel out to crouch behind, then 
 another, keeping up an incessant and deadly 
 fusillade of musketry. While this was the order of 
 advance on the ground, the Assembly's troops 
 invaded buildings looking down on the defenders 
 and from windows and roofs picked them off with 
 almost perfect safety to themselves. The barri- 
 cades were in the end assaulted, but this method 
 was not in much vogue until great weakness was 
 shown in defence. The Federates seem to have 
 fired but little from the houses, contenting them- 
 selves entirely with the protection of barricades 
 in the last days. Neither artillery or cavalry 
 of the Versaillese appear to have been generally 
 effective in the street fighting, but the well- 
 directed valor of the Assembly's troops, their great 
 numerical preponderance and thorough discipline, 
 together with the sagacity of their chiefs, made 
 the advance alike steady and successful. 
 
 The artillery service of the Versaillese was at 
 all times more effective than that of the Federates. 
 There was an abundance of ammunition, and 
 an ample supply of men, and these of a much 
 superior efficiency in this branch to the gunners 
 of the Federates. The firing from Valerien was 
 particularly conspicuous as being not only much 
 more accurate than that of the Federates, but far 
 superior to any of the artillery work of the Prus- 
 sians while besieging the city. The cannonading 
 duel inside the city discovered the same superiority 
 
l62 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 that Had been seen in the Assembly's artillerists in 
 the exterior fortifications; 
 
 The Bank, the Bourse, the Luxemburg, the 
 Conservatory of Music, the Exchange, Porte St. 
 Denis, Monotholon Square, St. Vincent de Paul. 
 Northern and Strasburg railway station, the 
 Church of Notre Dame des Victoires and the Post- 
 ofiice and other important buildings were taken by 
 the Assembly's troops. The Hotel de Ville, a mass of 
 flames, splendid even in its destruction, was 
 entered by the Versaillese at 9 o'clock in the even- 
 ing. A large number of Federates captured at the 
 barracks near the Hotel de Ville, were immediately 
 killed by bayonet thrusts and sabre slashes. 
 
 Wednesday was a day of overwhelming defeat 
 for the Commune. Their strongholds were falling 
 and there was not an offset in any way favorable 
 to the Federates. The unburied bodies of human 
 beings, now advancing in decomposition, and the 
 pools of blood in the gutters added a deathly stench 
 to the already heavily laden air. The night of the 
 24th-25th was the time of the display of the most 
 dreadful work of the combat. The cannonading 
 by the Versaillese could no longer be distinguished 
 by shots, but the artillery fire poured upon the 
 Communist strongholds was one continuous roar. 
 "The musketry fire was so constant as to resemble 
 the whistling rush of a mighty wind, occasionally 
 varied by the rattle of the mitrailleuses." 
 
 The air was hot with the fires almost count- 
 less in number; the smoke Jind heat made res- 
 piration difl&cult. 
 
 The Ministry of Finance, the Palace of the 
 X^egion of Honor, the Palace Royal, the Tuileries, 
 and the Hotel de Ville, together with others of 
 scarcely less cost, elegance and celebrity, were 
 
THK BI^OODY WEEK. 1 63 
 
 prominent features in the glaring panorama on 
 this dreadful night. 
 
 From the heights outside the walls on the 
 Wes tof the city, the magnificent but mournful 
 spectacle was witnessed by members of the 
 National Assembly. 
 
 The scene of destruction, viewed from a dis- 
 tance, indeed presented a wondrous sight. But 
 a near approach developed the magnitude of 
 the disaster and the terror of the event. Tongues 
 of flame streamed from the public buildings, and 
 embers hurled from the great heights of these 
 central objects in the areas of fire, spread wide 
 the measure of havoc. The continuous roar 
 of cannon and mitrailleuses was mingled with 
 the crackle of flames and the crash of falling 
 buildings. Occasionally an explosion made the 
 earth tremble and sent showers of fiery sparks on 
 their mission of destruction. The towering domes 
 of palaces rocked and fell before the progress of 
 the conflagration as great trees wave and sink before 
 the gale. And over the whole hung a canopy of 
 smoke and cinders so lurid, so murky, as to almost 
 shut out the light of the sun and completely hide 
 the celestial dome at night. At intervals torrents 
 of flame leaped through the clouds of smoke and 
 illumined the sky, discovering to those at long 
 distances from the scene the immensity of the con- 
 flagration. The air was filled with burning sheets 
 of paper and rolls of parchment, carried high on 
 the heated atmosphere from archives and libraries. 
 Hundreds of buildings were razed; among these 
 many of the grandest and most beautiful in the 
 world, engulfed in this sea of flame, soon 
 left but blackened walls and dismal ash pits 
 to mark the place where stood the pride of 
 Europe's proudest capital. 
 
164 'fHK PARIS eOMMtJNS. 
 
 Thursday, May 25 — When the street hostili- 
 ties began the Tuileries and the Hotel de Ville 
 were vomiting smoke, flame and sparks like rival 
 volcanoes. The Assembly's military chiefs had 
 been censured by the press and public of France 
 and other countries for prolonging the combat, the 
 result of which was a foregone conclusion. Thurs- 
 day's work was rapid and bloody. 
 
 Early in the day Thiers sent a dispatch to the 
 prefects, which show^s the tenor of the Versailles 
 sentiment: "The soil of Paris is strewn with dead 
 bodies. This horrible spectacle will serve, it is 
 hoped, as a lesson to the insurgents who dared to 
 declare themselves partisans of the Commune. 
 The army has been admirable. * * * ^)jq loss 
 among our troops has been very slight.'* 
 
 Men fighting behind barricades as were the 
 Communists, must be much less likely to inj ury 
 than the attacking forces. But it will be noticed 
 that the soil is strewn with dead bodies, and the 
 ' * loss among our troops has been very slight." The 
 latter is a questionable statement, but the murder 
 of prisoners did " strew the soil with bodies," and 
 taught the Communists and the proletarians of the 
 world the lesson that death is the lot of the worker 
 under capitalism, whether in slavish submission 
 or open revolt. 
 
 The fury of revenge was on ; a carnival of 
 death was instituted. Kvery soldier was at liberty 
 to inflict death upon any one he chose to denounce, 
 or over whose person he. gained control.* 
 
 During the days after the entrance of the 
 Assembly's troops, denunciations were common . 
 
 *"That there were very many innocent people killed there can be no 
 donht."—Washburne. 
 
 *"To point out a man as a Communard was almost certain death, and that 
 there were a great many innocent people killed there can be very little doubt. 
 Arrests were made by the government authorities by the wholesale. Th« 
 innocent and the ffuilty were alike embraced."— TTasft&ttrne. 
 
THE BI.OODY tVEKK. 1 65. 
 
 Private grievances^ were settled by the persons 
 who first obtained a hearing with the Versaillese 
 officers. To be pointed out as a Communist was 
 almost equivalent to a death sentence. Obnoxious 
 creditors, political enemies, family quarrels — all 
 found the revenge so easy of attainment. 
 
 ** I turned sad and sick, from the spectacle of 
 wanton destruction, to be saddened and sickened 
 yet further by another spectacle. Versaillist 
 soldiers, hanging about the foot of the Rue St. 
 Honore, were enjoying the cheap amusement of 
 Communard hunting. Very eager in this patriotic 
 duty were the dear creatures of women. They 
 knew the rat-holes into which the poor devils has 
 squeezed themselves, and they guided the Ver- 
 saillist soldiers to the spot with a fiendish glee. 
 Voila, the brave of France, returned to such a 
 triumph from an inglorious captivity! They have 
 found him, then, the miserable! Yes, they have 
 seized him from out one of the purlieus which 
 Haussmann had not time to sweep away, and a 
 guard of six of them hem him round as they 
 march him into the Rue St. Honore. A tall, pale, 
 hatless man, with something not ignoble in his 
 bearing. His lower lip is trembling, but his brow 
 is firm, and the eye of him has some pride and 
 indeed scorn in it. *'A veritable Communard ? " 
 I ask of my neighbor in the throng, " Question- 
 able," is the reply; " I think he is a milk-seller to 
 whom the woman who has denounced him owes a 
 score." They yell, the crowd, — my neighbor as 
 loud as any, — ''Shoot him! Shoot him!" — the 
 demon-woman most clamorous, of course. An 
 arm goes up into the air; there are on it the 
 stripes of a non-commissioned officer, and there 
 is a stick in the fist at the end of the arm. The 
 itick descends on the bare head of the pale 
 
1 66: THK PARIS COMMUNB. 
 
 prisQtier.:. Ha! the infjeGtion has caught;. mcLa 
 club, t^eir rifles and bring them down oh- that 
 head, or clash them into splinters in their lust for, 
 murder. He is down; he is up again; he is down 
 again— the thuds of the gun-stocks sounding on 
 him just as when a man beats a carpet with a 
 stick. ^ They are firing into the flaccid carcass 
 now; thronging around it as it lies prone, like 
 blow-flies on a piece of meat. Faugh! his brains 
 are out and oozing into the gutter, whither the 
 carrion is presently heaved bodily, to be trodden 
 on and mangled presently by the feet of multitudes 
 and the wheels of gun-carriages."* 
 
 Thus the work of "order" went on. 
 
 Milliere was captured in the house of a relative 
 after firing on his captors with a pistol. He 
 had been active in attempts to get a peaceful 
 arrangement of affairs, but, seeing the utter de-, 
 pravity of the Assembly, he became zealous in 
 resi^sting them on behalf of the Commune. After 
 his capture he was brought before General de 
 Gissey and staff". His firm demeanor exasperated 
 the commanders. Milliere was conducted to the 
 door of the Pantheon, where he was first placed 
 with his back to the troops to receive his death; 
 but to more humiliate the brave man, he was com- 
 manded to kneel, facing his executioners. 
 
 Garcin, the officer in charge, said that the 
 order was that Milliere should *' die kneeling, and 
 asking pardon of society, for the ill he had done." 
 Two men forced him to his knees. Milliere un- 
 covered his breast, and cried "Vive le Republique] 
 Vive le Peuple! Vive I'Humanite.'* Here he fell 
 riddled with bullets, and an officer rushed up and 
 shot him through the head with a revolver.. 
 Milliere was a doctor of laws, had been elected a 
 
 * Archibft^ld Forbes, 
 
THE BLOODY WEEK, 1 67 
 
 m^ember of . tiie National Assembly, but resigned 
 to support the Communal cause. He was much ad^ 
 mired and respected by those with whom he was 
 associated. 
 
 Jules Valles was taken prisoner early on 
 Thursday morning. He was immediately led out 
 to be shot. His captors could not restrain them- 
 selves till they reached the place they had fixed 
 upon as the place of execution. One of them 
 struck him on the back of the head. M. Valles 
 turned upon him, exclaiming, "A Tassassin!" 
 Another then struck him a violent blow on the 
 back with his musket. His spine was broken by 
 the blow ; and the poor man fell to the ground, 
 fixing upon his murderers a look of the greatest 
 horror. All now fell upon him ; some firing upon 
 him, and some thrusting their bayonets through 
 his hands, neck and face. Still he was not. dead, 
 when one soldier, perhaps better than the rest, 
 shot him through the head. 
 
 Thursday forenoon funeral ceremonies were 
 held over Dombrowski's body at Pere-La chaise 
 cemetery. Vermorel made an address containing 
 a severe invective against the Federates, whom the 
 speaker declared " had deserted the General at the 
 time he was shot." Vermorel gave a glowing 
 tribute to the virtues and talents of the dead 
 soldier, and closed by saying : 
 
 Friends : It is meet that we here who stand by the grave of Dom- 
 browski should not sob. We here who see that the Cause for this 
 once is lost let us not cry out in the face of death. For we leave his 
 new-made grave only for a day or an hour. Yes, thou mighty Shade, 
 resting now but little ways above us, tarry until we come to keep 
 thee company. We shall not let thee go alone, dear friend, nor unat- 
 tended. But a short space of time, and we who now surround your 
 bloody corpse, with souls set free from tyrants' chains, will stand 
 beside thee. 
 
 We are men who have blood that we may shed Instead of tears. 
 And it being so let the world weep for whom we die,— not we, who go 
 
168 THB PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 out glad-hearted saluting Death, and striking off our fetters with » 
 smile. 
 
 If we have tears at all 'tis but because this man who drew his 
 sword for Freedom in every struggling land, whose life was made up of 
 glory, of years of toil for others, whose heart had no selfish spot, who 
 was so great, and wise, and brave, and true, should have fallen be- 
 fore his eyes were gladdened by the dawning light. We, who sur- 
 round him now, behold Lt 1 For I say unto you that this precious 
 martyr's blood holds the seeds of the Morning. I tell you that those 
 who shall weep are the poor, the toilers, the slaves. I tell you that 
 weeping for us they shall wake to finish what we have begun I What 
 think ye will they find most precious, the gold of Capital or the 
 martyr's blood that stains it? 
 
 Let us not weep, my brothers, we have now naught else to do but 
 die. 
 
 Dombrowski was dressed in a Polish jacket, 
 rested upon a Federate blanket, and was wrapped 
 in a red flag. Those gathered there took a last 
 look at their dead leader. Dombrowski 's brother 
 wrote a few words in pencil on the coffin. The 
 simple ceremonies were so touching that it is said 
 there was not one present but that shed tears. 
 Those who attended the funeral went immediately 
 to the defence of the barricade. 
 
 Fort Montrouge, Bic^tre and Ivry, after an 
 intermittent defence, surrendered to the Ver- 
 saillese. Delescluze had ordered Ragowski, com- 
 mander at Ivry, to explode the four powder 
 magazines on evacuation. One magazine exploded, 
 but the debris resulting from this explosion 
 extinguished the fuse, preventing further destruc- 
 tion of the fort. Wrobleski ordered Leo Meillet, 
 commander at Bic^tre, to evacuate and explode 
 the magazines. This was frustrated by the rapid 
 advance of the Versaillese, which hastened the 
 abandonment. At the fall of these forts and the 
 redoubts of Hautes Bruyers and Villejuif, 6,000 
 or 8,000 men were captured by the Versaillese. 
 Serizier attended to the transfer of 20 Dominican 
 monks to the city. They were taken to the 
 
V 
 
THE BI^OODY WEEK. 169 
 
 diseiplinary prison on the Boulevard d' Italie, where 
 there were confined a hundred or more insubordi- 
 nate Federates and some persons arrested under 
 suspicion of being spies. 
 
 The Gobelin tapestry factory was now held 
 by Serizier for a time, but was relinquished and 
 set on fire. 
 
 The Assembly's troops advanced rapidly. The 
 barricades were being flanked, and the position 
 was desperate, 
 
 Louis Boin (known as Bob^che) in charge 
 of the disciplinary prison was absent when an 
 order came from Serizier to send the Dominicans 
 to work on the barricades. Boin's assistant sent 
 some National Guards instead of the priests. 
 When Boin returned to the prison he was infuriated, , 
 and exclaimed: ** Shall patriots be sacrificed while 
 these priests do nothing." He ordered them out 
 to the barricade. The Friar of the Dominicans 
 refused to assist in the street defence. Boin then, 
 according to orders which he now received from 
 Serizier, called upon the *' skull caps" (priests) to 
 " come out and save themselves." As they came, 
 out, one at a time, as ordered, they were shot at 
 by a party of volunteers, men and women, headed 
 by Serizier. Those who escaped the fusillade 
 were hunted and shot in the neighboring streets. 
 The streets and the windows of the houses were 
 filled with spectators, who exhibited, by cheers 
 and laughter, their amusement at the terror of the. 
 priests and at their frantic efibrts to escape. 
 Eight did get away. The prison was soon after' 
 surrounded by Versaillese, and the Federates and 
 others in the neighborhood attempted to escape 
 with but ill success, as they were shown no. 
 quarter. 
 
170 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 TThe Butte aux Cailles, the Austerlitz and 
 Bercy bridges and a number of strong positions 
 and a large number of prisoners h%d fallen to the 
 Versaillese. The Communist gunboats had been 
 taken and turned on the Federates, who, falling 
 back, fired the huge graneries, 400 yards in length. 
 The railway station and Mazas prison were taken 
 by the Versaillese and Garreau, governor of Mazas, 
 was immediately shot. He had been confined by 
 his subordinates, whose sympathies were for the 
 Assembly. Food had been scarce ; the prisoners 
 had been ofi'ered freedom, but they remained 
 rather than defend the barricades in behalf of the 
 Commune, which they would have been forced to 
 do had they left prison. 
 
 It was decided in the afternoon to transfer the 
 numerous hostages held in La Roquette prisons to 
 Belleville Mairie and church. Bmile Gois, at 
 the head of 35 Federates, now undertook the 
 transfer of as many as possible. On an order from 
 Ferre, Francois, the prison governor, ordered 52 
 hostages given over to the Federates ; these 
 were 11 priests, 4 secret agents of the Empire and 
 37 gen d' amies. Immediately after leaving the 
 prison, Gois called on the commander of a Federate 
 battalion defending a barricade for extra men to 
 increase the convoy, the populace showing sympa- 
 thy for the prisoners. The request was granted. 
 It proved unnecessary, as the people of the next 
 quarter menaced the prisoners as they were taken 
 toward Rue de Puebla. At this point some Fed- 
 erates, driven in from the West, asked that the 
 prisoners be given them to be shot forthwith. The 
 hostages were, however, taken to the Belleville 
 Mairie,* where they were received by Ranvier, who 
 immediately said to them: *' You have a quarter of 
 an hour in which to make your wills if you wish." 
 
The BI.OODY WEEK. 171 
 
 The populace was vociferous in its demands for 
 their execution, supposing, apparently, that they 
 were prisoners taken in battle. An impromptu 
 cortege was formed, with clarions and drums rank- 
 ing behind a vivandiere carrying a sword and 
 astride a horse. Gen d' amies. Imperialists and 
 priests, well guarded, in the order named, took up 
 their march for the ramparts, which was to be the 
 place of their execution The procession was 
 headed by the horsewoman and enlivened by the 
 sound of martial music, the populace taking a 
 lively part in and evidently enj oying the proceed- 
 ings. Stones and other missiles were hurled at the 
 hostages, perspiring under the unwonted activity 
 of their movements to keep up the swift pace 
 adopted. The priests were especially susceptible 
 to the unusual exertions, and their evident physi- 
 cal distress made them the butt of ribaldry and 
 ridicule. After some hesitation, during which the 
 crowds were clamorous and tumultuous, the house 
 at 83 De la Rue Haxo, the military headquarters of 
 the district, was fixed on as the place of execution. 
 In the house was Oudet, suffering from wounds; 
 many other members and sympathizers of the Com- 
 mune were here. Hippolyte Parent, now one of the 
 principal Communal officers, was present. Varlin, 
 seeing the intent of the affair, threw himself before 
 the hostages as if to, protect them, and addressing 
 Parent, begged the Committee Central to "show 
 that they were not assassins." Parent was silent; 
 helpless even had he wished to prevent the killing, 
 which is extremely doubtful. Varlin insisted 
 on speaking. The Federates and the populace 
 desired to proceed with the shooting, and finally 
 Varlin was carried away forcibly by his friends, 
 the Federates saying : "Go, advocate; the men 
 must die in justice of the people." The hostages 
 
:VJ2 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 were forced along toward a building in process of 
 erection, and, imitating, the example of the 
 vivandiere who struck one of the hostages with 
 her sabre, a fusillade of shots was oegun by the 
 Federates directed toward the prisoners, which 
 continued until they were all dead. Now comes 
 a recital unparalleled but well authenticated. 
 The hostages were forced to jump over a low 
 wall singly and were shot while taking the flight. 
 ''One priest refused to make the jump; a Federate 
 attempted to throw him over, and the priest and 
 soldier were both shot while struggling for the 
 mastery." 
 
 A more useless series of acts than these kill- 
 ings of priests cannot well be imagined. When 
 war is appealed to, the decisions of reason are sur- 
 rendered to the passions and operations of brute 
 force. That the lives of the hostages had been 
 forfeited hundreds of times by the law of equal 
 reprisals can not be questioned. That their destruc- 
 tion was cruel none can deny. But "when men 
 were compelled to fight in self-defence they must 
 hate and avenge. This may be bad; but it is 
 human nature.*'* ''War is immoral, yet we 
 fight." 
 
 Seven avenues or boulevards open in the 
 Place du Chateau-d' Eau; all had been barricaded, 
 and the capture of the approaches to these strong 
 points occupied the day for the Versaillese, who 
 were met by a stubborn and destructive resistance. 
 The evening saw these barricades attacked, and 
 the line of battle extended to hem in the strong- 
 holds of these Federates. 
 
 On the order of Ferre, Genton took from La 
 Roquette prison the Mexican banker Jecker, and 
 
 * Macaulay. - _ . _ 
 
assisted by Francois and Verig, conducted him to 
 a vacant lot in the neighborhood and shot him. 
 
 At Belleville Mairie, Trinquet, as a magistrate, 
 sentenced a regular soldier named Rothe to death 
 for simulating sickness to avoid service for the 
 Commune. He was shot in the court of Mairie. 
 Two Federates, by Trinquet's order, were also 
 shot here for neglect of duty. 
 
 The Place Royale was in the hands of the 
 Versaillese, and it was intended by them to attack 
 the Place de la Bastile in the morning. Marquis 
 de Segoyer, commanding the advance battalion, 
 making a personal reconnoitre about midnight, was 
 set upon and killed, and his valuables were missing 
 when his corpse was found in the morning. His 
 body was burned by his clothing becoming ignited 
 by embers blown from the surrounding fires, and 
 it was commonly reported that the Federates had, 
 after capturing him, applied petroleum, and 
 burned him to death. His wounds and the charac- 
 ter of the burns on his body disproved this story 
 advanced by the friends of the dead officer. 
 
 By nightfall all the territory south of the Seine 
 was in the hands of the Assembly's troops. 
 
 As the Federates retreated they left a trail of 
 flame. A great number of fires were undoubtedly 
 ignited by the shells of the Versaillese, and it has 
 been declared that manj^ fires were actually set by 
 agents of the Assembly, in order that nothing 
 should be left undone which should bring disre- 
 pute upon the Communists.* 
 
 It is estimated that more than 200 fires were 
 burning this night — 25th-26th — some of immense 
 magnitude . The result of Thursday's fighting was 
 that but the northeast part of the city was left in 
 the hands of the Federates. 
 
 ♦"Several Sergens de Ville, from the Versailles Government were caught 
 with incendiary shells in Paris."— S/fe^c/tie?/. 
 
174 ^HK PARIS COMMtfNE 
 
 Friday, May 26 — A space of about j5ve square 
 miles was the limit of territory held by the Com- 
 mune when Friday dawned, and the encirclement 
 of the Communist positions was the first work of 
 the Versaillese. Place de la Bastile, Place du Trone^ 
 Point Villette, Place Prince^^ Eugene, the Buttes 
 Chaumont and the Pere-Lachaise cemetery, the 
 last two positions having strong artillery equip- 
 ments, were the principal posts of defense. 
 
 The Federates, strongly intrenched at the 
 Place de la Bastile, were flanked by the Versailles 
 troops. No more severe fighting characterized 
 the defence than that at this point, and the 
 defenders were skillfully disposed and officered. 
 Several hundreds of prisoners were taken by the 
 Versaillese. The total loss of life was appalling; 
 piles of the dead, lying where they fell, lined the 
 ground back of the defences and the streets were 
 plentifully strewn with the corpses of those which 
 had *^^ fallen from the ranks of the victors. A 
 hundred bodies of Federates were found behind 
 one barricade. As the Federates retreated, fires 
 sprung up in the Rue de la Roquette. The Place 
 du Trone, to which the P'ederates had retired, 
 was assaulted and taken toward evening, the same 
 scenes as at the. Place de la Bastile being repeated. 
 
 On the North the Federates were gradually 
 forced back, though their artillery continually 
 poured a deadly fire on the advancing Versaillese. 
 As the Federates were driven from La Villette and 
 vicinity, fires appeared in the docks, in the im- 
 mense warehouses (containing huge stores of wine, 
 oil and dried fish) bonded stores, sugar refineries, 
 and in the workshops of the Paris Carriage Com- 
 pany. In this building a tremendous amount of 
 provisions, (stored by the Government... of.. the 
 National Defence) were destroyed, with more than 
 
THE BI^OODY WEKK. 175 
 
 700 carriages, in all one of the greatest of the pro- 
 digious fires of the week. Many Federates were 
 shot when captured, accused of setting fires, and 
 some were imprisoned by the victors in the burn- 
 ing buildings and roasted to death. 
 
 Delescluze was chided by his associates for a 
 short absence from the headquarters ; taking his 
 hat and cane he walked into the heat of the com- 
 bat, and was killed. He left the War Ofiice about 
 3 p. m.,and at the Chateau d'Kau, was struck by 
 three bullets. He was dressed in civilian attire, 
 and was evidently filled with deepest emotion, for 
 he silently pressed the hands of those he passed, 
 evidently bent on seeking his death, as he had 
 promised, beside those who were battling for the 
 cause. 
 
 This sketch of Delescluze is from the pen of 
 William Du Gas Trammell. 
 
 •'Louis Charles Delescluze, the Tancred of the Commune, was 
 born at Deux in 1809. In his youthful days, he resided in Paris and 
 studied law, which he abandoned because he said it was the " logio 
 of rascals to shield murder and theft." He was imprisoned in 1834 
 for taking part in the April Revolution. This was the first of his long 
 series of punishments for political offenses. He went to Belgium in 
 1835 to escape punishment for a political conspiracy. He returned to 
 Paris, where he founded a journal called the Revolution Democratiquc 
 et Sociale. This publication soon brought him fifteen months' im- 
 prisonment and a 20,000 franc fine. 
 
 After a liberty of about eight years he was sentenced to trans- 
 portation. He was in England, and remained there for some time 
 after the sentence was passed, but returned to Paris in 1853, and was 
 immediately transferred to Belle Isle and finally to Cayenne. These 
 sojourns lasted until 1858, when an amnesty allowed him to return t j 
 Paris. He immediately founded another journal Le Reveil, which 
 brought him three terms of imprisonment and as many fines within a 
 year. 
 
 He met Gambon on the way, Delescluze only said " Lost again. 
 Humanity will look to another time, and may be to another place, 
 but the final triumph cannot be far off. It will be sufficient reward 
 if we hastened it. 
 
 The people had been at their post in the midst of this horrible 
 scene for 13 hours— many of them for two days. They were covered 
 
176 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 with sweat, many of them with blood, and blackened with powder. 
 The ground was strewn with splinters, balls and fragments of shells. 
 I'he gutters were flowing with blood. Delescluze took his place 
 -at the barricade and commenced firing with his revolver. The car- 
 nage was now fearful. The walls were battered down and the people 
 were falling thick under the fire of the chassepots About two o'clock 
 they were fiercely assaulted at every point. Exhausted with fatigue, 
 more than half of them dead on the ground, and overpowered on 
 every side, the brave people, though they fought with the fury of 
 despair, were all either killed or disarmed.^ Not a man, not a woman, 
 not a child surrendered. Every one fought till the last; till the 
 soldiers, sick of carnage, wrested their arms from them. Late in the 
 afternoon the body of Delescluze was found riddled with balls and 
 surrounded by the corpses of 28 soldiers. And the next day it was 
 offtcially announced by the Versailles Government that "the too 
 guilty Delescluze had been picked up dead by the troops of General 
 Clinchant. 
 
 Delescluze, forgetful of self, lived a life entirely devoted to the 
 cause of the poor and oppressed; and when the hour came he em- 
 braced death, as he had devoted his life without a murmur and with- 
 out a regret. His heroism will ever live, in spite of all princes and 
 politicians and priesthoods, to elevate the affection, clear the visions 
 and strengthen the arms of heroes." 
 
 Vermorel, who accompanied Delescluze, was 
 wounded, captured and taken to Versailles, where 
 he died three weeks later.* 
 
 Vermorel was born at Denice near Lyons in 1841. His education 
 was completed at a very early age and at twenty he was engaged on 
 two opposition papers, Le Jeune France and La Jeunesse. These 
 papers were quickly suppressed and Vermorel received a term of 
 
 * Vermorel is said to have accompanied Delescluze for the purpose of 
 " watching him, as Delescluze had been accused by some of his colleagues of 
 being about to desert. 
 
 Delescluze, shortly before his death, declared the Commune's cause 
 lost. "For me," he said, "I feel that my last political struggle against 
 Monarchy and Imperialism is at an end. I shall die myself, I know; but I 
 feel convinced that for every drop of mine and the Commune's blood, five 
 men will one day spring forward to avenge us, and to establish, in a few 
 -years, that which, owing to our backwood education, have failed to estab- 
 lish now." 
 
 The body of Delescluze was secreted or destroyed by the Versaillese, for 
 fear it might at some future time be buried with ceremonies which would 
 arouse the insurrectionary spirit. Delescluze is the only man in military 
 position during the Commune who wore no uniform, gold lace or insignia. 
 
 It has been stated that Delescluze, recognizing his inability to fill th© 
 position of head of War Department, was in constant secret communication 
 -withRossel, who gave advice regarding the conduct of military afifairs. 
 
THE BtOODY WEEK. 177 
 
 imprisonment for his connection with them. He was subject to the 
 vicissitudes of a revolutionary journalist's career, undergoing 
 several years imprisonment and being compelled to abandon a 
 Journal which he had begun on account of the multiplicity of fine« 
 Imposed upon it, During the siege of Paris, he served as a private in 
 the National Guards.* 
 
 The Mairie of the 20th arrondissement— Belle- 
 ville — was now the central point of the Communal 
 defence, and the limited number of members of 
 the Commune and of the Committee Central 
 who were on the scene of action, showed that there 
 had been many desertions from the central bodies. 
 It was openly alleged that many had disguises 
 prepared to aid in their escape ; some had been 
 captured in disguise, and the disappearance of a 
 member even for a few moments excited the 
 distrust of the leaders. It was this suspicion 
 which had met Delescluze, and recriminations re- 
 garding the intentions of members were common 
 and open. The nearness of the approaching line 
 of battle increased every feeling of revenge and 
 distrust in the hearts of the caged leaders of the 
 declining defence. 
 
 The universal thing in Paris was disorder. 
 The populace, the Federates and Communal leaders 
 were filled with anxiety, confusion and despair ; 
 nothing more clearly illustrates their condition 
 than the running from one barricade to another ; 
 the absence of discipline ; and in the awful disre- 
 gard for death exhibited by the men at the last 
 stands, or the women who, crying " Vive la Com- 
 mune," rushed on the bayonets or sabres of the 
 invaders.t 
 
 * Wm. Du Gas Trammell. 
 
 t An English medical student writing of the Commune says: "I saw a 
 battalion of women fighting with Snyder rifles. Among them were many 
 pretty young girls. They fought like devils; far better than the men; and I 
 hadthe pain of seeing 62 of them shot down, ev«n when th^y had be«n s^^-. 
 roundel by troops and disarmed." ' '' 
 
J78 ^Hi: PARIS COMMUNB. 
 
 The courage of the Communists was un- 
 daunted. They fought with endless vigor and 
 tenacity.* 
 
 "That their position was desperate was 
 beyond a doubt; and this they quite recognized, 
 but were resolute to hold on to the bitter end. 
 Their efforts were really heroic. * Above the 
 smoke of the villainous gunpowder the summer 
 sun was shining brightly, and spite of the powder- 
 stench and the smell of blood the air was. balmy." 
 
 Bdouard Moreau, the prominent Central Com- 
 mitteeman, in endeavoring to escape from the city, 
 was captured, disguised as a woman; after a form 
 of trial, he was shot at Versailles. A man was 
 erroneously denounced as Billioray, and although 
 he protested, was shot without much effort to 
 identify him. It was afterward discovered that the 
 person shot was a peaceful noncombatant. Another 
 by name Yaillant, thought to be the Communist 
 of that name, narrowly escaped death. There 
 were scores of such cases. The last vestige of con- 
 sideration for human life had now left the invaders. 
 
 The Place d' Chateau d' Eau fell into the 
 hands of the Versaillese. It was the stronghold, 
 next to Montmartre, most formidable yet encoun- 
 tered. Its defence was valorous, but the lack of 
 discipline and numbers finally yielded. The loss 
 of life on both sides was very great. Brunei was 
 wounded, and Lisbonne wounded and captured. 
 At this encounter about 40,000 troops were engaged. 
 
 * In many cases the National Guards, refusing to surrender, were hewn 
 down behind the barricades. * * The fighting was long, desperate 
 and severe. The insurgents fought at every step with fury «nd despair.— 
 Washburne. 
 
 The independent soldiery " Avengers of Paris " and others were active 
 in the street fifrhting and the women and boys of the working-classes were » 
 very considerable factor in the biarricade building and defence; indeed it has 
 been asserted that the. women and boys contributed more to the energy and 
 stubbornness of this branch of warfare than did the Federates. 
 
*rHE BtOODY WEEK. 1 79 
 
 Ithe prisoners, taken by the Versaillese, abused 
 and maltreated though they were while being 
 hurried through the streets, bore in most instances 
 upon their faces the pride of their cause. 
 
 Advantageous positions for renewing the fray 
 in the morning were taken by both sides, and the 
 final struggles were fought by the desperate Fed- 
 erates against such odds and numbers as to be 
 absolutely hopeless,^partaking more of the aspect 
 of a massacre than of a battle. 
 
 Jules Favre addressed a telegram to all diplo- 
 matic representation of France in foreign coun- 
 tries, requesting to have stopped and returned all 
 fugitives from the Commune. 
 
 Treilhard was shot at the Place du Pantheon. 
 
 Vesinier, for a time editor of the Journal 
 Officiel of the Commune, was arrested. 
 
 Saturday, May 27— A day of sombre aspect, 
 cloudy and rainy. Not less than 75,000 troops 
 were massed about the remnants of the Communal 
 defence whose troops now numbered but a few 
 thousands. On three sides the Communists were 
 menaced by their adversaries and on the fourth, 
 outside the walls, was the German force which 
 captured and hurried fugitives to the Versaillese 
 headquarters. Numberless barricades faced the 
 Assembly's troops and as fast as they were taken, 
 others sprang up to oppose the advance. 
 
 Paving stones, sacks of earth, household 
 furniture — all furnished materials for the barri- 
 cades. Youths of tender years proved adepts 
 at overturning carts as a nucleus for the street 
 defences, and men, women and children assisted in 
 every manner in the construction and maintenance 
 of the street positions . The belligerents forced ajl 
 pedestrians to assist in the work of building barri- 
 
l8o i^HK 1»ARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 cades; messengers, on the most important errands, 
 were sometimes compelled to work for a half 
 hour or an hour. Carriers of military orders were 
 not excluded from these forced labors. In this 
 way, the disadvantages of the Federates were 
 increased by the uncertainty of communication 
 between commanders and the consequent failure 
 in the distribution of supplies. 
 
 The transfer of ammunition was interrupted 
 and at many of the barricades the Federates fought 
 until their last shot was fired. ^ Refusing to sur- 
 render, they were overcome in the hand-to-hand 
 struggle by the force of numbers, and cut to pieces 
 by the bayonets and sabres of the Versaillese. 
 
 Wrobleski and Ranvier were foremost in the 
 direction of defensive operations through this 
 week of blood and fire. 
 
 Ferre wished to take more prisoners and hos- 
 tages from I^a Grande Roquette, but by con- 
 nivance with the keepers, the prisoners barricaded 
 themselves in their cells, which were locked and 
 the keys hid by the prison attendants. Francois, 
 the Governor of the prison, was ordered by Ferre 
 to get the prisoners ready for transfer; this was 
 now unsuccessfully attempted. Poiret, a warden 
 of the prison, advised the prisoners to resist. An 
 imprisoned National Guard said " They want to 
 kill the priests; let us not risk our lives for theirs." 
 Nearly all those confined at length joined in the 
 resistance. The prisoners, taken in battle, (1400 in 
 number) were removed by Ferre's order from 
 Petite Roquette to the Church of St. Jean Bap- 
 tiste, with the intention, through them, of making 
 more favorable terms with the Versaillese. This 
 church was soon after taken by the Assembly's 
 
 *" Nothing could exceed the eoura.ge and the desperation of the insur* 
 g'eitts who fought until the last pound of ammunition was exhausted."-- 
 Washburne. - 
 
THE BLOODY WEEK. l8l 
 
 troops. When Ferre returned to La Grand 
 Roquette he also unsuccessfully attempted to dis- 
 lodge the entrenched prisoners. Threats, prom- 
 ises, smoke — all were of no avail, and, while this 
 was going on, the alarm of the approach of the 
 Versaillese caused the scattering of those who 
 were endeavoring to remove the prisoners. Four 
 of those in confinement — a government official and 
 three priests, one of whom wasMgr. Serat — con- 
 cluded to seek liberty. These were met by a party 
 of Federates, who, on ascertaining who the four 
 were, marched them to the wall of the Petite 
 Roquette, where they were shot. 
 
 The character of the engagements of Satur- 
 day was even fiercer, more murderous and brutal 
 in detail than those of the previous days. The 
 guns at Montmartre were turned on the artillery 
 position at the Buttes Chaumont; and other artil- 
 lery, from a nearly opposite position, raked the 
 Buttes and assisted the Versaillese in subduing 
 these works and in the general engagement. 
 
 A charge was made late in the evening upon the 
 barricades, and the Buttes, with a large number of 
 prisoners were taken, after severe losses on both 
 sides. Huge amounts of ammunition and pro- 
 visions fell into the hands of the Versaillese. 
 
 At the close of the day, a mile in diameter was 
 the extent of the Communist possessions, with the 
 exception of the Fauburg du Temple, whose 
 defenders had shown such a resistance as to hold 
 the Versaillese at bay though the odds in numbers 
 were immensely against them. 
 
 During these last days, a body known as the 
 Versaillese Court Martial sat at the Chatelet 
 Theatre. It left no record of its proceedings, if it 
 ever kept any and was rather a court of sentence 
 than one of trial. The prisoners w^ho were brought 
 
182 TH^ PARIS COMMUN:^. 
 
 before this fearful tribunal, with scarcely a single 
 exception, found there way to the abattoir at the 
 Lobau barracks. It is evident that this Court 
 Martial was established for the sole purpose of 
 giving a semblance of legality to slaughter of the 
 Communards. The Versaillese would have ex- 
 hibited as much regard for justice and humanity 
 had they slain the prisoners as fast as captured 
 as by subjecting them to this murderous farce of a 
 military trial. 
 
 Lissagaray says the questions occupied about 
 a quarter of a minute. " Were you taken with 
 arms? Have you served the Commune? Show 
 your hands," were the inquiries. 
 
 The Court continued to sit until June 3d, 
 when the decomposing bodies of thousands of the 
 dead threatened a pestilence. Only then did it 
 desist from its labor of assassination. Little at- 
 tempt was made to dispose of the corpses which 
 lay festering in the sun and clouds of flesh-flies 
 and flocks of crows filled in this horrid scene of 
 wholesale human butchery which is without a 
 parallel in modern times. The wholesale execu- 
 tions were now not limited to the work of mus- 
 ketry fire. The mitrailleuses were turned upon 
 the crowds of prisoners, and the dead and dying, 
 broken and mangled victims were piled up in 
 heaps or left as they fell. Through the night of 
 Friday-Saturday, and for days and nights follow- 
 ing, groans and cries, from heaps of bodies, were 
 of common occurrence. Such scenes, it may with 
 safety be asserted, were never spread on civilized 
 soil. St. Bertholomew's day called for its victims, 
 but they were not penned up and mowed down 
 with mitrailleuses. It was left for the incarnation 
 of capitalism, the National Assembly, to use the 
 machine-gun for satiating its blood lust against 
 
THE BLOODY WEEK. 183 
 
 workers of Paris.* ** To compare these murderers 
 with any members of the animal kingdom, let 
 alone with savages, would be more than unjust to 
 the brute or the savage."t 
 
 "Outside the Madeleine Church, on one of the 
 days of street fighting, a horrible scene occurred. A 
 strong man, apparently in liquor, refused to con- 
 tinue his route. He was seized by four troopers, 
 and dragged along the ground, amid the hoots and 
 yells of the crowd, until an officer shot him 
 through the head, just as the people were coming 
 out of the Madeleine, with their missals in their 
 hands. The crowd shrieked " Hurrah, hurrah !" 
 with the exception of one man, who gave vent to 
 an exclamation of horror, and was immediately 
 seized by the soldiers, and dragged away. Among 
 the prisoners were several children, not more than 
 12 years of age, and they appear to have been 
 treated much as their elders were. The prisoners 
 captured at barricades were generally shot off- 
 hand, and even those who were reserved for trial 
 stood a very good chance of being slaughtered 
 meanwhile on the slighest provocation." 
 
 As the contest closed in on them the Com- 
 munards sought every means of escape. Many 
 thought they could retreat by the Prussian lines;; 
 but all passage was refused them and they were 
 left no resource but absolute surrender. 
 
 ♦You shaU parish, whatever you do 1 If you are taken with arms 
 In your hands— death I If you use them— death I If you beg for mercy 
 — death! Whichever way you turn, right, left, back, forward, up, 
 down— death I You are not merely outside the law, you aro outside 
 humanity. Neither age nor sex shall save you and yours. You shall 
 die, but first you shall taste the agony of your -uufe, your sister, 
 your mother, your sons and daughters, even 4;hose in the cradle! 
 Before your eyes the wounded man shall be taken out of the am- 
 bulance and hacked with bayonets or knocked down with the butt- 
 end of a rifle. He shall be dragged living by his broken leg or 
 bleeding arm and flung like a suffering, groaning, bundle of refuse, 
 into the gutter. Death 1 Death I Death ! "— " Historie Populaire :^ 
 Parlemmtarie de la Commun& <i§ Paris," par Arthur ArnoiUd, 
 
 tBax. " 
 
I$4 THE, PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 The Last Days of flay — 
 
 Sunday, May 28 — The war is over. The 
 bloodiest week of the struggle is past. A contingent 
 of caged and enraged insurrectionists are at the 
 mercy of a huge army. The Commune's support 
 is at its last gasp. No hope for relief, no possi- 
 bility for a renewal of the combat bringing else 
 than death and disaster. At 5 a. m. the Ver- 
 saillese took the prison La Roquette. Varig was 
 promptly shot and the hostages were released. 
 The headquarters on Rue Haxo w^re soon taken 
 from the Communists, with 2,000 prisoners. 
 
 Tony Moillin was captured Saturday night 
 and shot at 5 o'clock Sunday morning, the 
 shooting being delayed that he might marry a 
 woman with whom he lived, and who was enciente. 
 The ceremony took place at 2 o'clock, being per- 
 formed by Mayor Herisson, whom Moillin had, after 
 two unsuccessful attempts, displaced from the 
 Mairie of the 6th arrondissement on March 2 2d. 
 
 When Grand Roquette prison w^as captured, 
 the 140 Federates confined there were taken to Pere 
 Lachaise cemetery by the Versaillese and shot in 
 groups of ten. From Petite Roquette, 127 were 
 also taken out and shot in groups — all this being 
 done without the slightest formality of charge or 
 trial, or even of sentence, by other than the lower 
 officers of the Versaillese. Augustine Ranvier, 
 Governor of St. Pelagie Prison, was found hung, 
 having committed suicide. He was a brother of 
 Gabriel Ranvier. The last places taken were 
 Fanburg du Temple and the Rue de la Fontaine 
 au Roi, where a few dozen Federates, under Piat, 
 had made a particularly gallant, stand but finally 
 surrendered. 
 
 The heights of Belleville was the place of the 
 
THK I^AST DAYS OF MAY. 1 85 
 
 closing Struggle. The Federates held out until 
 their ammunition was exhausted and until every 
 form of fortified defence was destro3ed. I^ate in 
 the afternoon a few hundred surrendered, march- 
 ing to the Versaillese line with arms reversed, a 
 silent and sorrowful procession. They laid down 
 their arms and were surrounded and hurried away. 
 The last red flag that floated for the Com- 
 mune was at a barricade at the Rue Fontaine au 
 Roi, where, after a feeble defence it was surren- 
 dered at II a. m. 
 
 The last entrenchment was taken at about noon 
 on the Rue de Paris. This barricade was held by 
 a single man for a quarter of an hour after his 
 companions had fallen, and wonderful to relate, 
 this last combatant escaped with his life.* 
 
 Gambon, Geresme, T. Ferre, Lacord and 
 several members of the Commune, on Sunday 
 morning, accompanied by a guard of 40 Federates 
 and 15 boys from the foundling asylum in the Rue 
 d'Enfer, withdrew to the Mairie of the 20th arron- 
 dissement. This was the last body which marched 
 with the red flag in the Commune. Early in the 
 afternoon this body surrendered, Gambon first 
 making a speech from a barricade. f 
 
 The aspect of Sunday was even more dismal 
 and oppressive than that of Saturday. The trees 
 of the Tuileries Gardens, where the concert had 
 been announced for the afternoon, were broken, 
 singed and blackened. Foul odors from decom- 
 posing corpses filled the air which a week before 
 
 *Bax 
 
 t " I have passed thirty years of my life in sacrificing myself for the 
 Republic and Liberty. I have given everything to the people, and to-day 
 the people abandon me. I have made the sacrifice of my life for the cowards 
 who flee from danger when it meets them face to face. I swear that if I 
 escape I will never again give an instant of my life or one of my thoughts to 
 these men. Citizens, the great cause is again lost; the Commune is killed by 
 those who had sworn to make it triumph or to die, and who have not even 
 defended it." 
 
1 86 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 was fragrant with the smell of verdure, and the 
 sounds of music were supplanted by the rattle of 
 guns, and the groans of the wounded and dying. 
 Great numbers of those who had participated in 
 the festivities of a week before were making 
 an attempt to escape, were languishing in 
 prison or had been killed and added to the heaps 
 of corpses. The streets which had a week before 
 been filled with the happy faces of the pleasure- 
 loving populace, now echoed the monotonous 
 tramp of the prisoner, whose begrimed and de- 
 jected countenance told of battles fought and 
 hopes deceived. 
 
 Varlin, overcome with grave ^nd melancholy 
 reflections, every hope of h.'s manly life over- 
 thrown, every intention of his public acts de- 
 feated, wandering, heart-sick and weary, sat down 
 at midday on the curbstone in the midst of Ver- 
 saillese patrols at the Square Montholon. A 
 priest called the attention of the patrol and Varlin 
 was arrested, his hands tied behind him, and he 
 was marched for trial to Montmartre. On the way 
 he was insulted by the fickle populace; his death 
 was demanded; and the guard could scarcely get 
 him to the Military Court. The Court sat in a 
 house on the Rue de Rosiers — the house where 
 Lecomte and Clement Thomas had been killed on 
 March i8th. On the way Varlin was frightfully 
 maltreated and disfigured — one eye being torn 
 from its socket and his head was a mass of blood 
 — he had to be carried at last. He was, after a slight 
 interrogation, sentenced to death. Tliis news,4on 
 being made known to the populace, was greeted 
 with joyful shouts. They demanded that he be 
 paraded around the Butte. His brains were 
 finally dashed out with the butt-ends of the 
 muskets of ihe soldiers. Thus perished one of 
 
THE lyAST DAYS OF MAY. 1 87 
 
 the most intelligent, honest and zealous of the 
 Communal leaders. 
 
 In 1863, by French governmental desire, a delegation of working- 
 men was sent to London to visit the great exhibition and to study 
 products and industries. Varlin, afterward so prominent in the 
 Commune, was one of the delegates, and later, resulting from consul- 
 tation in London, one of the founders of the International in France. 
 His absolute honesty is conceded, even by those who hated and killed 
 him. He was a bookbinder and worked for his uncle, and Varlin 
 disdained the proposition to marry a relative, though by this he would 
 have inherited the business of his uncle Varlin asserted in declin- 
 ing that he would be ashamed to live from the product of the labor of 
 others. 
 
 Cluseret and Varlin became acquainted in 1868 while imprisoned 
 in Paris for political offenses. Cluseret was in New York and in 
 correspondence with Varlin in 1870. (See p. 83^. 
 
 Among men who are acquainted with the lives and characters of 
 those foremost in the Communal uprising, there is an opinion generally 
 entertained, that Varlin was, in all those essentials which mark the 
 truly great man, the most distinguished. Though of very ordinary 
 educational attainments, such as usually fall to the workingman 
 of natural instincts of study, he had not accumulated habits of 
 dissipation and the thoughtless use of leisure time, those habits 
 which, unfortunately, are almost inseparable companions in the 
 unambitious life of the average worker From Varlin's early 
 youth he was interested in the welfare of his fellow toilers, 
 and his studious mind found most interest in the theories 
 which purported to need but an opportunity to emancipate the 
 objects of his solicitude. The natural associates of the intelligent 
 young worker were those in his walks of life and those of similar 
 tendencies toward the society in which he lived. He was honest, he 
 was capable, and, in the labor organizations rose high in the 
 approbation of his fellows. The International Workingmen's 
 Association opened to him a field for broader work and perhaps for 
 the fulfilment of his wishes. As a representative in Central, 
 National and International Congresses of his fellow- workers, he was 
 often in conflict with those of less earnestness, he was at all limes 
 respected by opponents as well as supporters. 
 
 On Sunday morning the government at Ver- 
 sailles declared " the expiations do not console us." 
 
 J. Miot was shot at La Muette. Dufil, who, 
 it is said ordered the shooting of Lecomte and 
 Clement-Thomas, was shot to death with a pistol 
 by the officer who captured hhn. 
 
I88 ^ THS PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 The rattle of shots is heard occasionally in 
 the abattoir of the lyobou barracks, which indicates 
 the shooting of parties of prisoners.* A stray 
 shot indicates a Federate in hiding brought to 
 bay, making a last effort to oppose capture, or a 
 shot sent after a fugitive seeking safety in flight. 
 
 The Commune is dead. 
 
 Monday, May 29 — The only remaining Com- 
 munist position — Fort Vincennes, outside the 
 walls on the Fast, was taken by the Versaillese. 
 Commander Eudes desired to surrender to the 
 Germans, thinking to get passports out of the 
 country. Vincennes surrendered with a large 
 number of prisoners on Monday morning and 
 Eudes and many others were immediately shot. 
 
 Emile Eudes was a chemist's assistant, and had headed an 
 insurrection in the North of Paris, and was under sentence of death 
 for the killing of a fireman during this insurrection when the siege ol 
 Paris by the Germans commenced. Eudes was 32 years of age and 
 manager of Libre Pemee when the Commune was instituted. 
 
 Johannard was one of the youngest, handsomest and most 
 audacious of the Communal leaders. He was captured and immedi- 
 ately shot. His age was 21. 
 
 *The militarjr commanders of the four districts into which Paris had been 
 divided— Generals Ladmirault, Cissey, Douai and Vinoy— each held continu- 
 ous Court Martials and the prisoners were now, by their decree, mown down 
 
 in rows by mitrailleuses. 
 
 Marshal McMahon issued the following proclamation on Sunday : 
 
 Republiqub Francaise. 
 Inhabitants of Paris: 
 
 "The Army of France is come to save you. Paris is freed. At 4 
 o'clock our soldiers carried the last positions occupied by the insurgents. 
 To-day the struggle ended; order, labor and security begin anew. 
 The Marshal of France 
 
 Commander-in-Chief 
 — McMahon, 
 
 Hdqtrs., 28 May, 1871. Duke of Magenta. 
 
THE LAST DAYS OF MAY. 1 89 
 
 Tuesday-Wednesday, May 30-31 — " Order 
 reigned in Paris. Smoking ruins, corpses, 
 and desolation were all that met the eye. 
 One side of the Seine ran red with blood. The 
 glitters ran blood. The roads were red with blood, 
 as though the soil had been London clay. Clouds 
 of flesh-flies rose from the heaps of corpses; flocks 
 of crows hovered over the charnel house. Paris 
 now subjugated, the assassins could organize the 
 slaughter at their leisure. It has been proved 
 that these massacres were arranged at Versailles 
 before the entry of the troops, and indeed, the 
 utterances of Thiers were of themselves quite 
 sufficient to show this."* 
 
 " The number of dead bodies created a horribly 
 foul atmosphere, from which the worst results in 
 the way of epidemic diseases were feared. The 
 gutters ran blood; blood flowed in a separate stream 
 along the waters of the Seine; blood was thick 
 upon the pavements and the roadways ; and the 
 walls of houses were smeared with the same awful 
 witness. This alone caused a dreadful corruption 
 of the air; and the clouds of smoke overhanging 
 the dolorous city prevented the still more ofl"ensive 
 odor below from passing away. Many of the 
 slaughtered insurgents were at once thrown into 
 deep graves; but others lay about for a con- 
 siderable time, and the general neglect of sanitary 
 precautions threatened the most serious con- 
 sequences. Moreover, the burial of persons who 
 had died natural deaths was prevented for several 
 days, owing to the state of the town; and at length 
 the dead bodies were collected in carts, as in 
 seasons of plague, and hastily interred."! 
 
 Dozens beaten to death in the streets, thous- 
 ands killed in battle, thousands shot in lines 
 
 *Bftx. tCassell. 
 
1 90 'THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 against the walls, thousands slaughtered in droves 
 by machine-guns, scores buried alive* — the living 
 and the dead, the innocent and the guilty, the 
 aged and the youthful — men, women, children 
 — all mingled to fill the measure of revenge against 
 the spirit of the social war." f 
 
 Fugitives from their conquerors, fugitives 
 from law, fugitives from society, the scattered 
 survivors of this week of bloody revolt lay hidden 
 in city or country, or furtive and sleepless, strove 
 to reach the borders of some less hostile country 
 than their own. No disguise was too absurd to 
 serve their purpose. J The homes of the dead be- 
 neath the city were the dwelling places of many, 
 and the hunt for victims was systematic, energetic 
 and pitiless. Parties of infantry traversed the 
 alleys and explored the cellars in the city, cavalry 
 patroled the environs, and agents of the Assembly, 
 stationed in the departments of the nation, were 
 vigorous, when opportunity offered, in capturing 
 and forwarding fugitives to Versailles. All who 
 had fought for, all who had assisted, all who had 
 sympathized with the Commune were brought to 
 gaol by the drag-net searches of the Versaillese. 
 Nor were even these indications of 'crime' nec- 
 
 * The horrible charge of burying the wounded alive, together with the 
 dead, is supported by a relation to the same effect made in the Indepen- 
 dance Beige, a paper strongly opposed to the Commune. 
 
 t " To find a parallel for the conduct of Thiers and his bloodhounds, we 
 must go back to the times of Sulla and the two Triumvirates of Rome. The 
 same wholesale slaughter in cold blood; the same disregard, in massacre, of 
 age and sex; the same system of torturing prisoners; the same proscriptions, 
 but this time of a whole class; the same savage hunt after concealed leaders, 
 lest one might escape; the same denunciations of political and private 
 enemies; the same indifference for the butchery of entire strangers to the 
 feud. There is but this difference, that the Romans had no mitrailleuses for 
 the despatch, in the lump, of the proscribed, and that they had not " the law 
 in their hands," nor on their lips the cry of civilization. "—A ddress Int. W. A . 
 •) X Reports had been circulated of Grousset's being seen in Belgium and of 
 his arrival in London, these being intended to mislead the Versaillese, On~ 
 June 3d he was apprehended, dressed as a woman, in apartments where be 
 had gone under the name of Miss Hacard. 
 
the: last days of .^iav. 191 
 
 essary to insure seizure. The unmistakable marks 
 which labor puts upon the laborer — the garb, the 
 stoop, the expression — these were offenses not 
 overlooked. To reside in the workingmen's quar- 
 ter of the city, an exclamation of horror at the 
 sight of murder — these were sufficiently flagitious 
 to bring deportation or death. 
 
 The press of Paris was, in almost every in- 
 stance, in full symapthy with the massacres of 
 prisoners and the general proceedings of the 
 Assembly. The hidependance Frajicaise s^xot^: "At 
 last Paris is freed from this gang of bandits, assas- 
 sins, thieves and incendiaries. Our invincible and 
 unvanquished soldiers have returned, bringing 
 with them order and security in the folds of the 
 glorious tri-color. Only one cry can proceed from 
 our lips and that cry will be uttered by all French- 
 men. ' No pity for these wretches. One punish- 
 ment alone can expiate their crime — Death.'" 
 The Pa7ds Journal said: " If the Commune was 
 without right, we shall be without pity." 
 
 *' The effluvium at lya Roquette was terrific; 
 and, to prevent infection, numerous bodies were 
 partially burned with petroleum, and buried in the 
 Champ de Mars, under the pavements of the 
 streets and in the public gardens. At Belleville, 
 a cafe chantant had been turned into an ambulance, 
 and dead bodies lay about on the tawdrily-be- 
 dizened stage, and in the little drinking arbors in 
 front. The condition of the Pere-Ivachaise was 
 particularly horrible. As late as the 31st of May, 
 the dead lay about on the grass in a double tier, 
 powdered over with a coating of chloride of lime; 
 and, as many of the tombstones and graves had 
 been broken and torn up in the fighting, the de- 
 composing remains of bodies that had long been 
 buried were exposed to view, and added to the 
 
192 THE PARIS COMMUMK. 
 
 frightful condition of the air. Smoke yet arose 
 in heavy volumes from the chief centers of 
 conflagration. *'* 
 
 "The prisoners at Satory were evidently much 
 depressed in spirit. They would hardly answer 
 any questions put to them, and many lay wearily 
 on their fetid straw, or on the damp, filthy earth, 
 heeding no one, and indifferent to all things. 
 Holes were made in the walls of the enclosure, 
 and cannon, loaded with grape and canister, were 
 stationed at the apertures. One night, a prisoner 
 persisted in looking through an embrasure thus 
 guarded. The sentry three times warned him to 
 withdraw, and then blew his brains out. The 
 slightest sign of insubordination was at once 
 punished with death; and this rigor was doubt- 
 less unavoidable. On the 24th of May, about a 
 thousand of the captured insurgents revolted, got 
 rid of their handcuffs, and attempted to set fire to 
 the arsenal. In the confusion, fifty-seven escaped. 
 Extra troops, however, were summoned from Ver- 
 sailles; the soldiers fired into the crowd, and three 
 hundred of the rebels were shot." 
 
 Arrests were made of the people en masse in 
 the workingraens' districts where the last stands 
 were made. Apprehension of Federates, domicilary 
 searches and other lawful proceedings were now 
 in order, nor did they cease for nearly a year after 
 the Commune's fall. The streets presented a fearful 
 and revolting sight. Dead bodies of Communists, 
 stagnant pools of human blood and the debris of 
 the fires covered the principal thoroughfares. 
 The Federates' dead were, after a delay whieli 
 made the air reek with unhealth}^ odors, dimiped, 
 
 * Fire engines and apparatus were forwarded from Brussels and other 
 pities, and a tender of assistance was sent from London, 
 
THK LAST DAYS OF MAY. 1 93 
 
 b}^ wagon loads, into any vacant place capable of 
 holding them and usually covered but slightly 
 with earth. The street pavements had been torn 
 up to build barricades, many of which still re- 
 mained. The houses were discolored by smoke 
 and disfigured by fire and the bombardment 
 during the hostilities. 
 
 In the open country the evil effects of war 
 are less felt by the individual than in the circum- 
 scribed limits of a great city, where every person 
 is at least a spectator of the arena of destruction 
 and murder. 
 
 It was a mournful but instructive spectacle, 
 the Paris of the last days of May. There was not 
 an evidence of destruction but carried its lesson to 
 the military commander, a meaning to the philoso- 
 pher and a warning to the .^.over of justice and of 
 peace. No modern stoic could gaze unmoved 
 upon the commingled corpses of the old, the young, 
 the warlike and the peaceful; no one whose mind 
 was pleased with a consideration of the grand and 
 beautiful, could contemplate, without mental 
 anguish, the ruthless ruin of those noble and 
 historic buildings; no person, unless imbued with 
 more than savage instincts, could look upon the 
 destruction of man and his works except in sorrow 
 2nd regret. 
 
194 THIi PARIS COMMUNiC. 
 
 VII. 
 The Peace of June. 
 
 "The peace that passeth all understanding."— floZ^^ Writ. 
 
 After the peace treaty (during the negotiation 
 of which Bismarck strongly advised the disarming 
 of the National Guard) had been signed, the 
 uprising of the Parisians put a new phase on the 
 position of the Germans encamped about Paris. 
 
 The idea of a people's government was as 
 obnoxious to Bismarck as it was to Thiers. 
 A natural agreement was therefore consum- 
 mated between the Prussian conquerors and 
 the Versaillese in regard to the Commune. This 
 engagement was the firm foundation on which 
 waited the Assembly's careful preparation for the 
 siege. 
 
 Von Moltke says the German army was ready 
 at any time to crush the insurrection, but Thiers 
 feared the desertion of troops if the Germans 
 invaded Paris. Faced by the fighting force of 
 150,000 Versaillese, and with 80,000 Germans 
 under agreement to turn back all fugitives, the 
 desperate position of the Federates in the last 
 days may be clearly seen. 
 
 Notwithstanding the excellent discipljJne of 
 the German army, the Saxon army corpg^ls said to 
 have acted indulgently toward fugitives. That 
 some got through the German line there is ample 
 proof. 
 
 The Northern and Eastern forts were occupied 
 by the Germans, but they yielded at all times to the 
 
THE PEACE OE JUNK. 195 
 
 Versaillese such territory as the latter desired to 
 carry out their plans. This action on the part of 
 the Germans was of a very great advantage, es- 
 pecially in the last days as it gave the Assembly's 
 troops access to the city's gates on the North. It 
 has been said that Prince Bismarck, actuated by 
 his usual sentiments expressed a grim satis- 
 faction at the temporary success of the Commune, 
 because it would attract all the professed revolu- 
 tionists of Europe to Paris, where they would be 
 caught in a trap and exterminated.* 
 
 Authorities seem to agree that the losses 
 of the Versaillese troops in recapturing Paris 
 amounted to 83 officers killed and 430 wounded; 
 less than 1,000 private soldiers killed, but over 
 6,000 wounded. The number of missing was in- 
 significant, being less than 200. These figures 
 seem astonishingly small considering the huge 
 number in the aggregate killed on the side of the 
 Federates, who fought, for the most part, protected 
 behind fortifications. 
 
 If there ever was any record of the number of 
 prisoners taken, such record was destroyed by the 
 Assembly's agents. The number is variously es- 
 timated at from 30,000 to 60,000, and as the records 
 of sentences and acquittals show but a small part 
 of those captured, the abattoirs at Satory and 
 Lobau, together with heaps of corpses which lined 
 the walls inside the city, tell the tale of tens of 
 thousands who were murdered — helpless, untried 
 and unrecorded. 
 
 A correspondent of the London Times re- 
 ported the number of " Parisians killed in battle 
 in the city at 6,000; the Versaillese shot 8,000 
 
 ^ *" No mediation is possible in the struggle that has shaken Europe to itB 
 foundations. The principles involved rest on foundations which are utterly 
 opposed to each other, and which exclude one another from the beginning." 
 —Prince Bismarck. 
 
196 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 prisoners in cold blood; 80 were shot in one row at 
 Pere-Iyachaise," An Advertiser correspondent re- 
 ported that he saw "400 or 500 shot one morning. 
 A batch of prisoners was brought up while I was 
 speaking to the officer in charge. He quietly 
 looked them over and ordered them shot. No 
 accusation, no trial, simply cold-blooded murder." 
 "At Versailles they were shut up in the 
 wine cellars of the Palace, 45 feet underground. 
 * * The prisoners had only some old straw 
 on the floors. In this place, 600 men were con- 
 fined, and the torture they endured from the close 
 air, the filth and the impossibility of lying down at 
 night was terrible. Those condemned to death 
 w^ere shot at the Buttes Satory — an immense am- 
 phitheatre holding 20,000 people." * 
 
 An Englishman — who was pressed into the 
 service of the Commune as carrier of messages on 
 horseback — writing for McMillan's Magazine of 
 September and October, 1871, said he " saw no 
 petroleuses * * nor did he believe in their 
 existence." ^ * Those who remained at the 
 barricades to the last, and were the most obstinate 
 in their defence w^ere the boys of Paris "^ * 
 from 12 to 16 years old. I was fortunately cap- 
 tured without arms. * Those put to death were 
 mostly officers of the National Guard ^ * * 
 They all, without exception, met their death 
 bravely and like men. There was no shrinking 
 from death or entreaties to be spared, by those I 
 saw killed. The Marquis de Gallifet (he who 
 had served the Emperor in Mexico) passed slowly 
 down the line. He stopped here and there select- 
 ing several of our number, chiefly the aged and 
 wounded, and ordered them to step out from the 
 ranks. His commands were usually couched in 
 
THE PKACK OF JUNE. I97 
 
 abusive language. A young man near me said "I 
 am an American. Here is my passport. I am 
 innocent." "Silence! We have got foreigners 
 and riff-raff more than enough. We got to get 
 rid of them," was the general's reply. We thought 
 the aged and wounded were to be spared and we 
 expected to be shot at once. ^-^ * Those picked 
 out of our ranks by General de Gallifet — over 80 
 in number — were shot before our eyes.f We * 
 proceeded * toward Versailles. There was no 
 water. Some, utterly worn out, would drop by 
 the wayside. Our guard * * by kicks and 
 blows * * would try to make him resume his 
 place in the line. When these measures proved 
 unavailing, a shot in the rear would tell us one of 
 our number had ceased to exist. The guard 
 would fall into his place, laughing and chatting 
 gayly with his comrades. Arrived at Satory, we 
 fell on our faces in the mud and lapped the water 
 from the pools. It was useless to attempt to find 
 a place to sleep. I counted that night 44 men 
 bereft of reason." 
 
 The Versaillese Assembly celebrated with 
 "Thanksgiving" services, the restoration of 
 *' order." 
 
 t A writer in the Times, describing the events of the 25th, spoke of the 
 horrible effect produced bj' the angry ring of the volleys of execution, the 
 strings of men and women hurried off to their doom, the' curses of the popu- 
 lace, and the brutal violence of the soldiery. The civilians were fully 
 as savage as the troops. Those, who but a few daj^s before cowered beneath 
 the dictation of Pyat, Delescluze and their associates, and did not dare to 
 lift a hand or utter a word in their own defence, now vied with each other in 
 pointing out concealed Communists, and shouting for their immediate death. 
 When files of prisoners were led through the streets, the crowd would fre- 
 quently exclaim, "Shoot the wretches! Show them no mercy!" They 
 struck them with canes, yelled at them, or laughed and made hideous joke's 
 when one was shot down in cold blood. The soldiers and the people some- 
 times coalesce, and literally beat the miserable wretches to death with 
 sticks and the butt-ends of muskets—" beat them to death," as an observer 
 related, "after the style in which cruel boys smash frogs and toads. "j^ An 
 eminent advocate was shocked to see an officer draw his sword upon a 
 woman who tried to leave a line of prisoners, slash her across the face, and 
 hack off part of her shoulder. Another officer, of more humane disposition, 
 was arrested for speaking against similar barbarity. 
 
198 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Rossel was arrested on June ytli. " He denied 
 that he was Rossel; was confused, broken-down 
 and bewildered," says McMahon in his official re- 
 port. The posthumous papers left by Rossel were 
 written while he was hidden in the city, subse- 
 quent to his disappearance with Gerardin. 
 
 The obsequies of the Archbishop and other 
 ecclesiastics killed in Paris by the Communal 
 leaders, was held on June 7th. The aspect of the 
 people on the streets did not show a very deep 
 emotion. A solemn silence on the part of those 
 who assisted in the ceremony, and an apathetic 
 indifference in those who witnessed it were the 
 characteristics of the occasion. The columns in 
 the Cathedral of Notre Dame were draped in 
 black and silver, and each column bore an 
 embroidered escutcheon which contained the 
 name of one of the deceased clerical hostages. f 
 
 On the 29th of June, Thiers and McMahon re- 
 viewed 80,000 French troops at lyongchamps, 
 where four months before the victorious army of 
 the Germans had been manoeuvred. McMahon 
 was received with shouts of acclamation; the 
 
 * The Assembly set aside 6,000 francs for the funeral of the Archbishop 
 and those shot with him. Above the central door of the Cathedral of Paris 
 a shield was placed bearing the "arms" of the Archbishop with the motto 
 " Lahore fldeque." 
 
 t"The Rev. F. Perraud, a priest of the Oratory discoursed on this 
 subject in a funeral sermon on Monseignour Darboy, preached at Notre 
 Dame on the 18th of July, before the Papal Nuncio and several French 
 Bishops, 'We must take up our decision,' he remarked, ' between Jesus 
 Christ and the Revolution ; between the Gospel, that sole foundation of 
 social justice, and the lying systems which bring forth noting but ruin and 
 desolation. It is time for us to make our ehoice between those who die and 
 those who kill; between those who kill in the name of liberty, of universal 
 fraternity, of civilization, of progress, and those ^Atlio die as victims, like 
 Christ, and, like unto Christ, die loving, blessing, forgiving, unto their last 
 gasp. Those scenes, so justly called ' an awful mystery\et iniquity,' are 
 simply the logic of evil pushed to its extreme consequences. Here we have 
 them before us in their horrid nakedness, those perverse doctrines which 
 we did not fear as long as they were shrouded in a sober guise, as long as 
 they were a measured and polite attack against God, against his Christ, 
 against the Church, against the fundamental principles of morals and duty. 
 This evil spirit hath shown himself in his whole hideous ugliness. God 
 grant it may be for his eternal shame and his last condemnation." 
 
THE PEACE OF JUNE. 1 99 
 
 soldiers were sullen and disgtisted-looking as they 
 filed by; Thiers gave way to copious tears when 
 the people cheered him. 
 
 The Peace of June : 
 
 •• The column of prisoners halted in the Avenue Uhrich, and was drawn 
 up, four or five deep, on the footway facing to the road. General Marquis de 
 Gallifet and his staff dismounted and commenced an inspection from the 
 left of the line. Walking down slowly and eyeing the ranks, the Geneva) 
 stopped here and there tapping a man on the shoulder or 
 beckoning him out of the rear ranks. In most cases, without further parley, 
 the individual thus selected was marched out into the centre of the road, 
 where a small supplementary column was thus soon formed. . . . . It 
 was evident that there was considerable room for error. A mounted officer 
 pointed out to General Gallifet a man and woman for some particular 
 offence. The woman, rushing out of the ranks, threw herself on her knees 
 and, with outstretched arms, protested her innocence in passiona^^e terms. 
 The general waited for a pause, and then with most impassable face and un- 
 moved demeanor, said, ' Madame, I have visited every theatre in Paris, 
 your acting will have no effect on me ' (ce n'est pas la peine de jouer la 
 comedie )..... It was not a good thing on that day to be noticeably 
 taller, dirtier, cleaner, older, or uglier than one's neighbors. One individual 
 in particular struck me as probably owing his speedy release from the ills of 
 this world to his having a broken nose, .... Over a hundred being 
 thus chosen, a firing party told ofif, and the column resumed its march, leav- 
 ing them behind. A few minutes afterwards a dropping fire in our rear 
 commenced, and continued for over a quarter of an hour. It was the execu- 
 tion of these summarily-convicted wretches."— Pans Correspondent "Daily 
 News," June 8th. 
 
 " The Temps, which is a careful journal, and not given to sensation, tells a 
 dreadful story of people imperfectly shot and buried before life was extinct. 
 A great number were buried in the Square round St. Jacques-la-Bouchiere; 
 some of them very superficially. In the daytime the roar of the busy streets 
 prevented any notice being taken; bvit in the stillness of the night the in- 
 habitants of the houses in the neighborhood were roused by distant moans, 
 and in the jmorning a clenched hand was seen protruding through the soil. 
 In consequence of this, exhumations were ordered to take place. . . ' . 
 That many wounded have been buried alive I have not the slightest doubt. 
 One case I can vouch for. When Brunei was shot with his mistress on the 
 24th ult. in the courtyard of a house in the Place Vendome: the bodies lay 
 there until the afternoon of the 27th. When the burial party came to re- 
 move the corpses, they found* the woman living still, and took her to an am- 
 bvilance. Though she had received four bullets she is now out of danger."— 
 Paris Correspondent " Eveninj LMandard:' June 8th. 
 
200 THK PAKIS COMMUNE 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Commune's Administration. 
 
 " The Commune is the foundation of all political states, as the family is 
 
 the embryo of human society. 
 " It implies, as a political form, the republic, which is alone compatible 
 
 with liberty and popular sovereignty. 
 " The most complete liberty to speak, to write, to meet, and to associate. 
 '• Respect for the individual, and the inviolability of opinion. 
 •' The sovereignty of universal suffrage— being for ever its own master, 
 
 and constantly able to convoke and to manifest itself. 
 "The electoral principle for every functionary and magistrate. 
 " The responsibility of mandatories, and consequently their permanent 
 
 revocability. 
 •' The suppression of the standing army, so dangerous to liberty, and so 
 
 burdensome to social economy. 
 '• Suppression of subsidies to creeds, theatres and the press. 
 " Organization of a Communal assurance system, against all social risks 
 
 crises, und failnres.— Epitome of the Declaration of Principles. 
 
 If we consider the issues involved, the forces 
 at work and the circumstances surrounding the 
 uprising of 1871, it becomes evident that the 
 triumph of the revolution was an impossibility. 
 A disastrous outcome was inevitable. 
 
 The first sessions of the Commune were 
 amicable and intelligent. But as soon as the 
 discussioni of war measures came on, the body was 
 no longer; the homogeneous representation of a 
 united people, but became ^-discordant and factious 
 assembly, vainly attemptihg:. to represent a 
 brave but discontented and suspicious constitu- 
 ency. From that time acrimony and personality 
 pervaded its deliberations. 
 
 There was a tone of moderation, of concilia- 
 tion toward their opponents,seemingly quite out of 
 place in a body of men who, in reality, represented 
 
TfiE commune's administration. 20I 
 
 a spirit of social revolution. It is evident that 
 they did not to comprehend the necessities of the 
 situation. The wisdom of experience should have 
 told them that success was only possible by the 
 victories of war. They forgot that " war legis- 
 lates." * They seemed to eschew the lessons spread 
 on the pages of history, all of which teach that to 
 retain power it must be used. Engaged in a war 
 with a rich, unscrupulous and implacable foe, they 
 shifted about seeking for compromise in a struggle 
 ''where no mediation was possible, "and neglected 
 to grasp and use the mine of wealth in the vaults 
 of the Bank of France. So perverse and puerile 
 was their conception of war ,that while the enemy 
 was murdering their soldiers when made prisoners, 
 the Commune found no more important work than 
 turbulent bickering regarding the form which the 
 executive power should take. 
 
 The internal dissensions and the nature of the 
 discussions showed the Commune to be composed 
 of men " imbued with the love of freedom but not 
 possessed of the spirit of union;" agreed as to the 
 end, but jealously disagreeing as to the means to 
 be used. Unfortunately for the record of their 
 wisdom, they vainly attempted to legislate much 
 for the benefit of the city's inhabitants before 
 they gained, by the success of arms, the powers 
 of government. "Indeed one of the common 
 and distinctive features of the Paris Commune 
 was this, that each of its members was severally 
 accessible to political conceptions and ideas of 
 organization; but as a body it remained deaf to 
 such ideas — a moon-struck assemblage of men 
 individually sane."t I'lie exigencies of immediate 
 decision and action magnified, in those independent 
 and polemical minds, the differences in opinion; 
 
 * William GrjesbeLk. t J. Andrieu. 
 
202 THK PARIS commune:. 
 
 As orators they were superb; as writers, ex- 
 cellent; as legislators, honorable; in the conduct 
 of war, the most fatuous body the world has ever 
 seen. The courageous defenders of the fortifica- 
 tions were supplied without judgment, munitioned 
 by chance and officered by gold lace and cries of 
 "Vive la Republique," "Vive la Commune." 
 " Delegates, Commanders of Legions and Battal- 
 ions, the most betasselled and bestriped staff* ever 
 seen." 
 
 The Commune was obliged to adopt the form of 
 government and procedure adapted only to a social 
 order organized under the beliefs diametrically 
 opposed to the principles and policy by which 
 it was necessary to put in action the Commune's 
 intentions. This adoption was the result of 
 fear of the social sentiment of the civilization of 
 thedayand the dread of the army of the victorious 
 Germans outside the city's walls, which stood 
 ready to pounce upon and destroy them should 
 they be successful in patting in operation even 
 the slight infringements upon the property arrange- 
 ments which they had thus been constrained to 
 sanction. 
 
 The uniformly hostile position of the Com- 
 mune toward the clergy has made the former 
 the target for much invective. The Com- 
 mune of Paris simply found the ecclesiastics their 
 enemies and treated them as such. The clergy 
 made it known at alFti^es by act and word that 
 they were foes of the Commune and of the 
 Communal doctrines. Guizot declares that 
 
 "when any step was taken to establish per- 
 manent institutions which might effectually 
 protect liberty from the invasions of power in 
 general; the church has always ranged herself on 
 hi side of despotisni." Whether this be true or 
 
THE commune's administration. 203 
 
 not, the priesthood had, to some extent, restrained 
 the excesses of a barbarous age and protected the 
 weak in society. But, as the French people ad- 
 vanced in civilization, the ecclesiastics acted not 
 as mediators between classes, but as a repressive 
 factor on the intellectual and social progress of the 
 people. The Communal authorities were keen in 
 their appreciation of the inconsistent position of the 
 clergy, who, while teaching abhorrence of pride and 
 the hatred of riches, expected the utmost subservi- 
 ency from others, the surrender of wealth to the 
 churches and the use of luxuries to themselves.* 
 
 It is not sufficient to deduce this hatred for 
 the priests and established religion from the mere 
 dislike for religion per se. The actions of the 
 leaders and supporters of the Commune indicate 
 not only a denial of the very elements of belief, but 
 show their absolute conviction that the church 
 was intimately bound up in the system they desired 
 to destroy, and could not be made to coalesce in 
 the new order they desired to establish .f 
 
 What was the conditign of Paris under the 
 Commune? Even in those portions of Paris 
 where crime is common, where virtue is the rare 
 exception, where infancy is that knows no inno- 
 
 *M. Regnard, a man of ability and discretion, while secretary to M. 
 Cournet, in an interview, mentioned the fact that " the ecclesiastics were in 
 constant communication with the Assembly's agents; the priests had se- 
 creted in the churches many arms which had fallen into their hands during 
 the Franco-German War." The discovery of these arms in several religious 
 iiistitutions, was sufficient reason for searches of all church property, and the 
 necessity of apprehending all known to be actively assisting the Assembly 
 made imperative the arrest of priests. 
 
 t " It is urged further that Communism and Socialism would destroy 
 religion and the family institution. The reason of this complaint is evident 
 enoush. A number of social reformers have been at the same time atheists 
 and advocates of free love. The questions of atheism and free love are, 
 however, totally different from that of even Communism, the most radical of 
 all the reforms proposed. There is no necessary connection whatever be- 
 tween them. ~ If it could once be shown that Communism were practicable, it 
 woTild'be easy to give many reasons for supposing that ip such a society the 
 . iQve b^tVecn man and wife and parents and children would be freer from 
 selfish and sordid motives than at present.— i?ic/i«rd r. JSZ?/. 
 
204 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 cence, youth without shame, maturity that is ma- 
 ture in nothing but suffering and guilt, blasted old 
 age that is a scandal to the name we bear" — even 
 these pestilential centers of iniquity failed to 
 return their record of assaults, robberies, burg- 
 laries, suicides and murders. It is conceded by 
 all writers that while under the rule of the Com- 
 mune, there was not a section of the city but that 
 could be traversed with safety at any hour of the 
 day or night. Has there been such a condition of 
 affairs in Paris under royalty, under Empire or 
 under the rule for profit by the bourgeoise ? 
 
 Dr. Bridges, writing to the Bee Hive, July 8th, 1871, said:— " I delib- 
 erately say that the records of history may be searched in vain to find a 
 revolutionary movement, the leaders of which stand out in history more 
 pure from crime than the leaders of the Commune." 
 
 ^ • An English lady, who left Paris on the advent of the Commune, returned 
 after the city's subjugation by the Versaillese. She found that her apart- 
 ments had been vised for a military headquarters by the Federates. Of her 
 three rooms, two were occupied by soldiery; all her furniture and belong- 
 ings had been stored in the third room, and not an article was missing, 
 pieces. of jewelry which had been left on the bureau remaining as she had 
 even left them. -^ 
 
 Mr. Read, then in Paris, writing from Lalywood Road, Birmingham, to 
 the Morning News, July 17th, proves the Commune never had the least in- 
 tention of shooting the hostages. Mr. Read also proved that the hostages 
 were not shot till' three days after the Versaillese troops were masters of 
 Paris, and the members of the Commune killed or inflight. That during 
 the reign of the Commune not one person was put to death officially or 
 otherwise, and that Mr. Malet, of the British Embassy, could prove the 
 same. Mr. Malet also declared that during the Commune there was an 
 almost total absence of crime. 
 
 An English clergjaxian, living in Paris at the time, wrote to the Specta- 
 tor, May 20th, 1871, on the state of Paris. He said:— "As to anarchy, never 
 was Paris so quiet and orderly; never were persons or property so safe; you 
 ' may go out at-afty-hour, in any quarter, without fear or insult; and this is 
 more; than could be sajdof the place, ,when, besides the city police and the 
 
 • army of spies, it had tivelve thousand police specially for the Emperor's pro- 
 tection. . ' . .' Of, personal liberty you can go where you please. Of 
 
 • drunkenness you see none in Paris. As to debauchery, the women have 
 joihed'the Commune to put down prostitution." 
 
 . No more corpses at the- Morgue, no nocturnal burglaries, scarcely any 
 robberies; in fact, for the first time since the days of February, 1848, the 
 
 • streets of Paris were safe, and that without any police of any kind. " We," 
 • said am-ember of the Commune, "hear no longer of assassination, theft, and 
 
 personal assault; it seems, indeed.. as if the. police had dragged along. with it 
 - to -Versailfes all its Conservative friends." — Address: of Int. W. A. 
 
 -- -A CathVlie woman, yisiting Paris, met another woman returning from 
 ■ the flowers-market carrying a bouquet. " Then no- one," said tfie visitor, 
 pointing to the flowers,\"need be afraid in Paris." " No woman," was the 
 answer, " except of shells; but the-.men are in^danger."— iatMrter. 
 
THE commune's administration. 205 
 
 '' I was constantly about the city during- the whole reign of the Com- 
 mune, but I was never interfered with nor was ever an affront offered to my 
 person. My private seeretarj' * * * ^vas busy everj^where * * * ' 
 Going throug-h the prisons, etc. * * he was always treated with the ut- 
 most respect." — Washburne. 
 
 The work of the administration in the 
 municipality was divided into nine departments, 
 (see p. 74) and these were, all things considered, 
 creditably conducted, except that most important 
 of them all, the Department of War. 
 
 The War Department has been fully reyiewed in the preceding chapters. 
 Its delegates were successively LuUier, swaggerer; Cluseret, diplomat; 
 Rossel, insincere, and Delescluze, enthusiast. 
 
 Cluseret must be credited with much wisdom on one point. He was not 
 in favor of the centering of internal efforts on the locking up of the priests, 
 while the Bank of France— the hostage of hostages— was left practicallj' in 
 the hands of their antagonists. 
 
 LuUier contemplated leaving Paris about the middle of May, 
 and he applied to Minister Washburne to get him a passport. He 
 was about 83 years of age. He was a forcible and fearless speaker, 
 and his public denunciations of the incapacity of the Commune's 
 military leaders made him unpopular with the Commune, and with 
 its officials. LuUier took command of the flotilla of the 
 
 Seine April 12th. It is charged that late in April LuUier desired 
 the Assembly to secretly authorize him to organize a counter- 
 revolution in Paris in favor of the Versaillese government, 
 
 "Delescluze and the majority of the Commune understood nothing, 
 and therefore accomplished nothing.''''— Cluseret. 
 
 Beslay. Jourde and Varlin were the Com-nittee on Finance. 
 
 A legal battalion of five hundred National Guards, who were favorable to, 
 the Assembly, were, from the opening of the difficulty, in charge of and en- 
 trenched in the bank. It is said they had but twenty-five rounds of ammu- 
 nition, but their strong position and the diplomatic stubborness of the bank 
 authorities, together with the ignorance of the Federates as to the lack of 
 munitions were sufficient to deter the Communal authorities from taking 
 over the institution. The bank officials also insisted that the moment the 
 Commune took charge, the bank's notes would be practically valueless. The 
 excuses, the lies, the deceptions, the bickerings which served to protect the 
 bank and embarrass the Commune would of themselves fill a long and not 
 uninteresting chapter. 
 
 Six hundred millions of dollars, in various forms of value, were in the 
 bank's vaults at this time, of which there was 8,826,866 francs to the credit of 
 the City of Paris, and 1,390,000 francs were to the credit of the International 
 Workingmen's Association. The latter fund was used by the Commune. 
 Including this, the "total amount paid out by the Bank'of France on the 
 Commune's account was 7,200,000 francs [^1,4A0,000]. — Washburne. 
 
 Beslay was made the Commune's agent in the bank and he was in- 
 stalled in an office in that institution. Rouland, the governor, left on March 
 18th. The sub-governor, Marquis de Ploeuz, was in charge during the Com- 
 mune, and testified before Commissioner of Inquest that without Besley the 
 bank "would no longer exist." The bank continually protested against 
 issuing funds and its excuses and evasions were directed from Versailles. 
 The funds were parceled out in amounts insufficient to make a 
 vigorous defense, but sufficient to satisfy the committee and to keep in 
 abeyance the desire to take over the bank. This was several times 
 
206 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 threatened, and constantly advocated by all who had any adequate con- 
 ception of the power of money in war. Besley's actions in endeavoring 
 to lessen the demands on the bank are evidence that he deserved no punish- 
 ment at the hands of the Versaillese. Thiers is said to have granted 
 Besley a pass to Switzerland after the fall of the Commune. 
 
 Jourde presided over the Commission of Finance, and with the assistance 
 of Varlin, attended to the collection of funds and the payment of troops, 
 etc. There was an evident desire, on the part of the Commune, to connect 
 authority with merit in these appointments. Jourde, who had been a clerk 
 and accountant, was honest and methodical. This department was carried 
 on by men drawn from among the proletarians, at ordinary wages, and strict 
 accounting was made of every item, although huge sums were in transfer, 
 and the opportunities for irregularities were plentiful. Jourde made fre- 
 quent accountings to the Commune. In all the vast sums handled by the 
 Commission of Finance, the disposition of every sou was shown in the records. 
 Jourde frequently objected to what he believed to be the too-liberal use of 
 the public moneys in some departments. These two who were chosen, 
 Varlin and Jourde. were both distinguished for their plain and simple apparel 
 and fare, and for their orderly and abstemious habits of life. Jourde twice 
 resigned as head of the Finance Department owing to his dissatisfaction with 
 some actions of the Commune; the completeness of his reports, and his 
 unquestioned integrity, caused a unanimous demand for his continuance i n 
 office. 
 
 Jourde protested vigorously against the payments made to the National 
 Guard in the latter part of the struggle. He had 60,000 men on his pay roll 
 and said he did not believe more than 30,000 were performing their duties. 
 
 The red flag was never hoisted over the Bank of France. 
 
 Beslay was an engineer by profession, He had been a deputy in 
 1830; his father had been a deputy under the first Empire. 
 
 " Jourde, a small, pale, thin man and a consumptive, thoroughly 
 trustworthy— nothing more He defended the bank more than anyone 
 —at any rate as much as Beslay."— C^wserei. 
 
 The Department of Subsistence was one which was easily and well 
 managed. 
 
 " Vlard was an honest, straightforward man, incapable of a base 
 act."' — Cluseiet, 
 
 Elisee Reelus and Benoit Gastneau were placed in charge of the National 
 Library. 
 
 Elisee Reelus was born at Sanita-Foy-la-Grandeandwas 41 years 
 of age in 1871. He is a distinguished geographer and scientist and 
 the author of many notable works on physical geography. His prin- 
 ciple books are " La Terre " and the " Geographle Universelle." He 
 has also written many pamphlets on Anarchism and is accounted as 
 one of the leaders of Anarchist thought in Europe. He was tried for 
 participation in the Commune and condemned to transportation for 
 life, but, by the intercession of scientific men, the government was 
 induced to commute this sentence to banishment. 
 
 The Delegate of Labor took charge of the unemploj-ed;night work by 
 bakers was abolished, all employers were forbidden to fine their laborers 
 under any circumstances. 
 
 " The prohibition, under penalty, of the employers' practice to 
 reduce wages by levying upon their workpeople fines under manifold 
 pretexts— a process in which the employer combines in his own 
 person the parts of legislator, judge, and executioner, and filches the money 
 to hoot."— Address of Int. W. A. 
 
 By decree all workshops not in actual operation were confiscated to the 
 Commune to be operated co-operatively by trades-syndicates of workmen, 
 " thus affirming the principle of the expropriation of the capitalist class by 
 the working class. " 
 
THE COMMUNK'S ADMINI.STRATION. 207 
 
 " The farce was to be gone through of ha\'ing a jury of arbitration to fix 
 upon the amount of indenlnitj-.— Such owners were not, of course, repre- 
 sented on the jury and had no voice whatever in the matter."— Washburthe. 
 
 "The department of labor immediately set to work to systematically 
 collect and arrange information regarding the condition of labor, and relations 
 between employers and employed. " It was also entrusted with the revision 
 of the customs and the transformation of the fiscal system, "—fiax. 
 
 " Frankel, small, thin, fair; with a subtle and methodical mind 
 * * * thoroughly acquainted with the questions relative to 
 la,\ior. "—Cluseret. 
 
 Foreign Affairs, with Grousset as Delegate, were carefully attended. It 
 was evidently the intention of the Commune to placate the Germans as 
 Paschal Grousset on April 20th, in the Affranche, declared Paris was ready 
 to pay a just share of the indemnity to the Prussians. 
 
 Department of .Justice, Protot, Delegate, was creditably conducted. 
 
 The judicial functionaries were to be divested of that sham independence 
 which had but serveci to mask their abject subserviency to all succeeding 
 governments to which, in turn, they had taken, and broken, the oaths of 
 allegiance. Like the rest of public servants, magistrates and judges were to 
 be elective, responsible, and vevocahle .—Address Int. W. A. 
 
 Protot was 36 years of age. An enthusiast; intelligent and 
 brave; his jaw was broken by a bullet while he was defending a 
 barricade during the street fighting. 
 
 The Public Service was, all things considered, attended to in a remark- 
 able efficient manner. 
 
 Thiesz, a silver chaser by trade, was selected to take charge of the postal 
 service. This absolutelv necessary public utility had been purposely de- 
 moralized by Rampon, the deserting head of this department under instruc- 
 tion from Thiers, but under the hand of the Commune's delegate, order was 
 restored and the service, it has been held by all historians, would have been 
 creditable to a city in the midst of a prosperous peace instead of one in a 
 state of siege and disorder. 
 
 "Rampon appears to have taken advantage of the Committee's confi- 
 dence, and to have sent away to Versailles all the conveyances and boxes 
 used bv the administration. The Communal Council, receiving warning too 
 late, onlv issued orders * * for the arrest of M. -Rampon; but when 
 the agents of the Commune reached the Post Office for that purpose, they 
 found neither M. Rampon nor his clerks, neither registers nor postal eases, 
 " not even the Post Office vans", was the report of the Commune's re- 
 presentatives." 
 
 The wages of the employes in the post office were ra'sed, the hours 
 shortened and all arrangements showed marked diligence and great ability. 
 
 Camelinet, a bronze worker, was given charge of the mint and in spite o* 
 the singular difficulties wdiich surrounded its operation, the conduct o^ 
 this department was of such a character as to call for high praise. 
 
 Treilhard, an old revolutionist, was put in charge of hospitals, and did 
 systematic work for the attendance of the sick and wounded. 
 
 Gustave Courbet, the painter, and a committee of artists superintended 
 the museums and picture galleries. 
 
 "Gustave Courbet, artist, was born in 1819 in the province of 
 Franche-Comte, wMcli lies on the eastern limits of France. His 
 father was a well-to-do farmer, who had a cousin in Paris who was a 
 lawyer. At 20, yuung Courbet was sent to Paris to study law with 
 this relative. He abandoned himself to art. He painted his 
 own portrait and for several succeeding years sent it to the Salon 
 
2o8 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 and each time it was sent it was refused. In two of his pictures 
 "The Lovers in the Country" and. "The Man with the Leather Girdle" 
 his portrait is introduced. His first picture that attracted attention 
 was in 1844. His fame began to grow In 1850, Courbet " awoke and 
 found himself famous." After the suppression of the Commune in 
 Paris, Courbet was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and to 
 pay the cost of restoring the Column Vendome. The heavy cost was 
 paid in part and on Courbet's death his devoted sister, who had the 
 Gallic dread of pecuniary dishonor in her family, assumed the remain- 
 ing debt; that, however was cancelled by the Government."— ri^ws 
 Munson Coan. 
 
 , ( Courbet's fine is generally stated to have been but 500 francs.) 
 
 The Department of Education was unable, owing to the unsettled condi- 
 tion of affairs to form any general system of procedure, but in the arrondes- 
 sements, considerable local work was done. In one district the clothing and 
 feeding of children was instituted. Another declared its mission as a com- 
 munal institution to teach children to love their fellow creatures, to love 
 justice and to bring home to them the duty of improving themselves, not 
 for the salce of personal advancement, " but "in the interests of all." At the 
 same time teachers were instructed in future to exclusively employ " the ex- 
 perimental and scientific method, that which starts from faces, physical, 
 moral and intellectusl." 
 
 Public Safety had as Delegates Rigault, Cournet and Ferre. The 
 duties were in all cases diligently performed, unpleasant and arbitrai-y as 
 thBj^ sometimes appeared. 
 
 Soon after his appointment as Prosecutor, Rigault issued an order that 
 no persons, military or civil, should be imprisoned vinless an official report, 
 detailing the alleged offences and with the names and addresses of witnesses, 
 were lodged at the clerks office by the citizens making the arrest. 
 
 Raoul Rigault said on the 17th of May, " I would sooner let the gviilty 
 escape than strike an innocent person." 
 
 Riel and Leballeur, assistants at the Prefecture, were imprisoned for 
 being too extravagant with public moneys. 
 
 Cournet, who was editor of the i?ew?7, had been a deputy to the 
 Assembly, but resigned to uphold the Communal cause, and was well 
 known as a forcible writer and an unflinching advocate of the Com- 
 munal tenets. 
 
 Ferre had been a clerk before the breaking qut of the war, and 
 was a well known speaker and an active revolutionary agitator. He 
 Is described as a small, brisk man, with an immense capacity for 
 disposing of business. Of an active mind, a ready tongue and a 
 firm will. 
 
 Ferre, when tried, refused to answer interrogations, made no 
 defence and refused to have an advocate. He was aS years of age. 
 
 Gaston Pierre Dacosta, a journalist, was assistant procurator 
 under Rigault, and seems to have had a character similar to that of 
 his chief. Dacosta was but 22 years of age, but at 18 was sentenced 
 to 15 days' imprisonment for uttering seditious cries. 
 
 Pilotell, an artist, was one of Rigault's most vigorous lieutenants, 
 and has been singled out much villification for carrying out the 
 orders of the head of the department. 
 
 Abbe Lamazou speaks of Rigault and Ferre as the two most depraved 
 and bloodthirsty members of the Commune. 
 
 The following are among the more important decrees of the Commune, 
 some not before noted : 
 
 April 2, The Commune declared that sinecures and overpay had no 
 place in a genuine Republic, and that no official of the Commune 
 should receive over |1200 per annum. 
 
THK COMMUNK S ADMINISTRATION. 209 
 
 April 27, The Commune decreed the destruction of the Chapel Brea, 
 erected in memory of General Brea, who was killed bj' a revolutionist in the 
 uprisina: of 1848. 
 
 A proclamation was issued April 29, outlining their policy, and another 
 in which they remitted three-quarters ef rents, due October, 1870, January, 
 1871, and April, 1871, and all payments made previous to this decree were to 
 be deducted from future payments; this applied to furnished apartments as 
 well as houses. All leases were renewable at the option of the tenant; all 
 notices to quit might be deferred three months at the pleasure of the tenant. 
 
 May 12, The Commune decreed a gratuitious delivery of all pledges in 
 pawnshops, of a value less than twenty francs [$4]. 
 
 May 17, Decreed titles, coats of arms, liveries and aristocratic 
 privileges abolished; all pensions, revenues and emoluments thereto are 
 abolished and the Legion of Honor and all other Orders abolished. 
 
 May 19, Public functionaries, guilty of extortion, depredation or thefts 
 as long as war lasts, shall be tried by Court Martial. 
 
 A decree for arresting all drunkards and prostitutes, and another 
 punishing theft with death was promulgated by the Commune. 
 
 The widow of every National Guard was to have of 600 francs a year; 
 the mistresses of National Guards to be placed on the same basis; each child, 
 legitimate or illegitimate, was to have one franc per day until 18 years of 
 age. Provisions were made for pensioning the aged and wounded defenders 
 of the Commune. 
 
 A court was established for the trial of all military offenders in the ranks 
 of the Federates, and was specially intended to consider the cases of those 
 against whom charges of spying for the Versaillese were brought. 
 
 The theatres were to be put under the administration of associations 
 instead of individuals. 
 
 The Cummune fed the families of those who fought against it and simply 
 said " The Commune has enough bread for all." Thus putting into action 
 what is known as Christian charity so noticeable absent from Christian 
 warfare. 
 
 It was held by the Commune, as may be seen by their edicts, that the 
 ecclesiastics had not only taken over to the church, and to their own use, the 
 temporal possessions of the community, but had sjstematicallv pauperized 
 the mentality of those who were brought under their influence. 
 
 M. Mortier, member of the Commune, expressed a desire to open the 
 churches only for atheistic teachings and the annihilating of ancient super- 
 stitions. 
 
 "Having once got rid of the standing army and the police, the physical 
 force elements of the old government, the Commune was anxious to break 
 the spiritual force of repression, the " par son -power," by the disestablish- 
 ment and disendowment of all churches as proprietary bodies. The priests 
 were sent back to the recesses of private life, there to feed upon the alms of 
 the faithful in imitation of their predecessors, the Apostles. The whole of 
 the educational institutions were opened to the people gratuitously, and at 
 the same time cleared of all interference of Church and State. Thus, not 
 only was education made accessible to all, but science itself freed from the 
 fetters which class prejudice and governmental force had imposed upon it." 
 
 Notwithstanding the military failures of the 
 Communal government, the splendid administra- 
 tion of municipal affairs by workingmen, with a 
 machinery purposely disarranged by the former 
 officials, proves this class to possess the faculty of 
 social iniative in a high degree and conclusively 
 disproves the charge that this was a rebellion of 
 
2IO THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 the incompetents^ — the socially unfit — who were 
 bent upon escaping from needed restraints and in- 
 augurating an orgy of pillage, lust and blood. 
 
 The workman of Paris * * had admirable qualities. * * He is 
 active, generous, unwearied in work and in pleasure, he is ardent, courageous 
 naturally-inclined to all that is grand and lofty, with a passion for justice, 
 sober (in spite of all that his calumniaters may have said on the progress of 
 drunkenness, we keep this word, which is justified by the Paris workman's 
 faculty of living on next to nothing) generally obliging, cordial and gay— and 
 gaiety is a noble gift in a being who has every thing to suffer. "^^. 
 DesmouUns. 
 
 It is a strange fact. In spite of all the tall talk and all the immense 
 literature, for the last sixty years, about Emancipation of Labor, no sooner 
 do the working men anywhere take the subject into their own hands with 
 a will, than uprises at once all the apologetic phraseolgy of the mouthpieces 
 of present society with its two poles of Capital and Wage-slavery (the land- 
 lord now is but the sleeping partner of the capitalist), as if capitalist society 
 was still in its purest state of virgin innocence, with its antiagonisms still 
 undeveloped, with its delusions still unexploded, with its prostitute realities 
 not yet laid bare. The Commune, they exclaim, intends to abolish property, 
 the basis of all civilization ! Yes, gentlemen, the Commune intended to 
 abolish that class-property which makes the labor of the many the wealth 
 of the few. It aimed at the expropriation of the expropriators. It wanted 
 to make individual property a truth by transforming the means of produc- 
 tion, land and capital, now chiefly the means of enslaving and exploiting 
 labor, into mere instruments of free and associated Is^hov .—Address of 
 Int. W. A. 
 
 It must be remembered that the administration'of Paris under the Com- 
 mune was extremely economical; so much so as to cause the surprise and 
 disgust of the ex-officials and ex-attaches of the municipality, who in the 
 main acknowledged that Paris in war under the Commune cost less than 
 Paris in peace under the Empire, notwithstanding all insinuations of dis- 
 honesty against the Communal officials. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Hostages, Prisoners, and Ptiblic Buildings— 
 
 It is not of record that the Commune ordered any deaths of hostages, 
 the first executions took place on May 24th. The date of the last sitting of 
 the Commune was May 21st. 
 
 Prisoners taken in battle by the Comnaune's forces were generallj^ con- 
 fined in churches and were always treated humanely. 
 
 Extraordinary precautions were taken by the Commune to protect the 
 public buildings from the bursting shells during the siege. Huge amounts 
 of sand were placed in the yards of the public buildings to deaden the force 
 of the projectiles. 
 Loss in Money— 
 
 Fetridge estimates the loss to the city of Paris by the Commune at 
 867,500,000 francs. 
 
 Washburne estimates the loss by fire to have been $200,000,000. 
 Election of the Commune— 
 
 The number of registered voters was 481,970; 224,197 or 46 per cent, of 
 the voters took part in the election; 89,781 voters cast their votes for the 16 
 who resigned; those who had voted for those who had resigned added to the 
 abstainers, formed a total of 347,504 out of 482,970 registered electors. 
 
 Voters, April 16, 53,679; abstainers, 205,173. The abstentions were 54 in 
 100 at first election; April 16, 80 in 100.— J. Simon. ( See pgs. 36 and 67.) 
 
MISCEI.I.ANKOUS COMMENT. 21 T 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Frank fl. Pixley on The Commune. 
 
 [Mr. Pixlej^ was one of the most distinguished and conservative journalists 
 on the Pacific Coast]. 
 
 The Commune is held up as the personification of 
 misrule and destruction. Communists are represented as 
 that worst element of city life that delights in blood and 
 conflagration, and Paris of 1871 is described as a scene of 
 frightful disorder, submitting to anarchy, pillage and 
 murder. 
 
 I was present in the city of Paris during the entire 
 period that the Commune held sway. I was there from 
 the day of the entry of the Germans till the army of 
 Versailles destroyed the Commune, and the experiment of 
 communal government was wiped out of existence by the 
 death of forty thousand citizens, who fell in battle in the 
 streets of the capital of France. 
 
 I saw that great city of central Europe held for five 
 weeks by the men of Vilette, Montmartre, and the Faubourg 
 St. Antoine, by the artisans and lahorers, who for the first 
 time in seventeen years had had the opportunity to bear 
 arms.* There was the Bank of France with its hoarded 
 wealth of coin, the House of Rothschilds, the Bank of the 
 Hopes of Amsterdam ; there were the great magazines and 
 storehouses filled with costly fabrcs; shops with jewels of 
 untold value; palaces with costliest gems of art; pictures 
 and marbles of inestimable price. There was a vast 
 population which had for months endured privation, 
 hunger and distress. The gendarmerie had been driven 
 out, and there was no other government than that of the 
 Commune. 
 
 And yet during five weeks — weeks of menace from 
 without and sufi'ering within — I saw and heard of no 
 single act of pillage and murder. 
 
 For five weeks the great forts of the enciente sent their 
 destructive missiles to the heart of the city. From the 
 
 * During the Empire there had been a separation of the workingmen's 
 battalions from the othtrs'— Revere des Deux Monds, 1S72. 
 
212 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Trocodero of a Sunday afternoon to the Pere la Chaise, the 
 Commune soldiers contended against the Versailles trooj-s. 
 From barricade to barricade, from one open space to 
 another, fighting inch by inch, in desperation the soldiers 
 of the Commune with their wives fighting by their sides, 
 sullenly disputing every stone, block and curb-stone, 
 retreated to the cemetery, and there amid the graves of the 
 dead, the last of the Communists laid down their lives in 
 hopeless, desperate valor. 
 
 They may have been wrong and misguided, but that 
 they were thieves, murderers and incendiaries, I most 
 indignantly deny. 
 
 During five weeks I saw no act of vandalism ; I saw 
 no plunder. I saw organization and order. 
 
 During the week of Government victory I say scenes of 
 unparallelled brutality. 1 saw a hundred inexcusable bloody 
 acts. [ saw a well-dressed matron stabbed to death in the 
 back and flung like a dead beast into an open port cochere 
 in the boulevard Haussman, because she lagged behind in 
 the train of prisoners. I saw five little girls lying dead in 
 a heap near the Palace d'Industrie, with their little 
 petticoats thrown over their faces, shot as petroleuses by 
 Versailles soldiers. I saw a man torn from his carriage 
 and killed by a hundred deadly bayonet thrusts. I saw 
 hundreds and hundreds of Communists fusiladed and 
 buried in a trench near the river Seine. I saw every sub- 
 lieutenant of the army of France armed with the power to 
 arrest, try, and execute citizens, and this after the fight 
 was over. I have read the death decrees and the decrees 
 of exile that for five years followed this communal uprising. 
 
 I do not believe that the Communists either burned or 
 attempted to burn Paris. I believe that the whole 
 petroleum story comes from an absurd scare. 
 
 The war of the Commune was to the Great Revolution 
 what the mad raid of John Brown was to our civil war. It 
 was the first electric burst from the overcharged clouds. It 
 will ultimate in the adoption of all the great principles for 
 which the Commune contended. 
 
 The Commune was composed of the scholars and 
 thinkers of France. It was a band of patriots. If it had 
 in the mad element of fanaticism, it may be excused. If 
 oppressed labor classes looked for it for relief it was but 
 natural. If fanaticism and disorder enrolled themselves to 
 fight under its banners it was because it was the first and 
 only flag where they might enlist. If poverty, distress and 
 desperation looked to it for a change it was but rational. 
 
MlSCEIvIvANKOUS COMMKNT. 213 
 
 The history of the Commune is written by its enemies. 
 Like all lost causes it will be misrepresented. What there 
 was of good in it will be suppressed. What there was of 
 bad in it will be exaggerate i. 
 
 The effort of an eye witness, at this late time and in 
 these columns, is but a feeble efibrt at stemming tlie tide 
 and current of opprobrium running against the Commun- 
 ists of Paris. Nearly all the press of Anjerica and England, 
 nearly every pulpit in Christendom, has denounced the 
 Commune. The press has thundered its anathemas against 
 it, and the throne of God has been bombarded from every 
 Catholic and Protestant priest and preachers' desk with 
 unstinted censure. 
 
 Why the Roman church should do so I may guess. 
 Why the Protestant should I do not understand. 
 
 This little fragmentary scrap of observation may be 
 gathered up for history, and may help to swell the protest 
 that in the interest of truth may sometime be made. 
 
 To the facts of which I speak I bear the testimony of a 
 living witness. Of the Commune I was a part. 1 helped to 
 build the barricade at the Place de I'Opera. It was begun 
 by a woman in a purple frock, and a lad of perhaps fourteen 
 years of age. The rule was that every passer-by should 
 add a stone from the Belgian pavement with which the 
 boulevard was made. I made occasion to pass often. 
 From my window in the Hotel de Hollande, rue de la Paix, 
 I saw the bloody fight of the Place de I'Opera. At this 
 barricade I saw this woman bring water, load the guns, and 
 bear away the empty ones, and when the soldiers of the 
 Commune were beaten off, I saw this purple-gowned 
 amazon, with disheveled hair and bloody arms, alone 
 defend the ramparts that she had aided to raise, till she 
 was stabbed to death with bloody bayonets. 
 
 I rode to two midnight sorties with Dombrowski, and I 
 breakfasted with Ockelowitz in the Place Vendome, for the 
 Americans had the universal pass with the officers and 
 soldiers of the Commune, 1 treated a regiment of Vilette 
 to half a cask of red wine. It was cheap, and I was paid 
 in hearing them cheer the toast I gave them in very bad 
 French— "The Two Republics — the Republic of France, 
 and the Grand Republic of America." 1 shall live to see 
 its realization. 
 
 I rode in an open voiture at midnight to the heights of 
 :.the Butte de Montmartre to witness the artillery duel 
 between it and Valerian. I met with polite attention; 
 I was not robbed. 
 
214 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 Let London, or New York, or San Francisco fall under 
 the control of its worst citizens, and we should see scenes 
 of pillage, rapine, violence, drunkenness, theft and murder. 
 Yet in this great rich city of Paris, given over to the Com- 
 mune for five weeks, with all its wealth and wine, I saw 
 order, sobriety and respect to persons and property. 
 
 Hence I feel it my duty to say that Communism does 
 noi mean a forcible and unlawful distribution of property, 
 nor is the word Communist a synonym for every crime.— 
 San Francisco Argonaut. 
 
 Th« Commune and The Bank. 
 
 The occupancy of Paris by the first Socialistic govern- 
 ment of the world was marked by one trait of lofty honesty 
 that is unparalleled in the history of any time. Somewhat 
 as in the first revolution of 1789 it was written by the 
 revolters, " Whoever speaks to the King shall be beaten ; 
 whoever insults him shall be shot," so in this last and 
 greater one it was decreed *'The wealth of our masters 
 was stolen from us and belongs to us still, yet he among us 
 who dishonor his hand by touching it, shall die." 
 
 During the whole administration of the Commune the 
 Bank of France had in its vaults two thousand nine 
 hundred and eighty millions of francs equal to $596,000, 
 000. It was comprised as follows : 
 77,000,000 f. in coin. 
 11,000,000 f. in bullion. 
 7,000,000 f. in jewels. 
 900,000,000 f. in script. 
 800,000,000 f. in bank-notes, 
 166,000,000 f. in fractional notes. 
 899,000,000 f. in large notes. 
 120,000,000 f. in loan securities. 
 
 The private bank of the Hopes of Amsterdam contained : 
 20,000,000 f. in coin. 
 
 5,000,000 f. in bullion. 
 190,000,000 f. in jewels and plat^. 
 100,000,000 f. in notes and securities. 
 The private banks of the Rothschilds w^ere said by 
 them to have contained double the amount- of wealth held 
 by the Bank of France. 
 
MlSCElyl^ANKOUS COMMENT. 215 . 
 
 Over one hundred other private banks held the 
 accumulated plunder of the Bourgeoisie— uncounted bil- 
 lions, the gross amount of which cannot even be guessed at. 
 
 Every sou of this was absolutely in the hands of the 
 Commune; they had the power to confiscate and use in their 
 battle for life every franc, every note, every jewel. 
 
 And from the moment that the Versailles shot in cold 
 blood the first prisoners taken, the Commune by all the 
 rules of so-called "civilized " warfare had the right to con- 
 ficate every penny piece. 
 
 What they did confiscate was — nothing. 
 
 The City of Paris through its regularly elected repre- 
 sentatives donated to the Government less than $2,000,000 
 of its private funds and this served as the sinews of war. 
 
 Whether we doubt its wisdom or no, let us recognize 
 and honor the lofty thought of the slave, that he would not 
 sully his fingers with property which the masters had 
 wrung from him in slavery. 
 
 The world babbles with loquacious tongue of the heroes 
 of ancient days, the soldiers and " statesmen " of modern 
 times. Let "us, whose brothers rose to the pinnacle of a 
 true heroism, be slow to outrage their memory by joining 
 in that flow of words which elevates the murderer, the 
 thief, and the traitor above the honest man. 
 
 • And when we do break silence, let our voices few though 
 they be, in protest or acclaim, salute not the sham but the 
 real heroes of this world. — Truth, San Francisco, March 
 15, 1884. 
 
 An Awful Retrospect. 
 
 "The splendid struggle of the Commune of 1871 has been characters 
 ized by the "Edinburgh Review" as the "greatest and most 
 determined attempt that History has ever seen to settle the Social 
 Question by force of arms, the greatest and most determined attempt 
 on the part of the workmen and their leaders to conquer a position 
 from which they could, in the future, regulate Society in their, own 
 way." Viewed from the simple historical standpoint i this is exactly 
 what it was. Looked at by the poet.the tale of those five weeks' strug= 
 gle is a page torn from an epic of the Heroic Age. To the economist, it 
 is the most brilliant uprising of the people in favor of a principle 
 that the world' has ever seen. To the Moralist, it is an overwhelm^ 
 ing proof of the nobilty of man. To the Socialist, it is at oBce a dirge 
 and a war-cry. - A dirge for the"dead,but not a sad one, for the dead 
 were ours. "They, who laid down their lives so magnificently, were 
 §trikihg for "usi- These<men- and women aud little childretj, wtiom 
 Immort^litv has •gathered to *ief side, were of and for us, the be* 
 
2l6 THE PARIS COMMUMK. 
 
 Cursed kicked and scourged wage=slaves of the World. They dared 
 to strike where we dare not move a finger. They dared to die where 
 we tremMe even in living. And our masters, finding their backs 
 not bent meekly to the whip, as are ours, shot them down in their 
 tracks as wild beasts are shot. And not content with this^ they have 
 lied to us about these heroic martyrs who have died to set us free. 
 Not content with their robbery while living— their murder when 
 they dared resist— they have for thirteen years defamed the dead. 
 
 It is time, at least, if we ourselves are too cowardly to break 
 our own chains, that we have the decency to defend the memory of 
 those who tried to break them for us. 
 
 The blood of the men, the women, the little children of the 
 Commune calls out to us from the shuddering earth, to=day, for vin. 
 dication. Let ns heed that call now and then to work ! And by 
 that work, unceasing, let us hope and pray that ere long, when that 
 blood shall call as well for vengeance, we can respond as men, and 
 not as quailing slaves. Friends, methinks we have but this one 
 thing to do, to spread the light, to record the crimes of the robber- 
 class, to print that record by the million and send it to every nook 
 and corner of this land to make freedom sure. Even upon the report 
 of Thiers himself we are content to rest our case. He reported this: 
 "Number of insurgents ai rested from May 28th, 1871 to January 1st, 
 1872,38,578; died, 967; acquitted, 3,147; condemned to prison, 10,131; 
 nanded over to the civil courts, 212; dismissed, 1,090; shot, 23,121!!!" 
 
 But Lissagaray, who chronicles onr side of the story swells this 
 number by 20,000 more who fell unknowu and unrecorded. Mind 
 you, these people were not killed iu battle, but after victory, singiy, 
 in couples, squads and droves, men, women and children — for the 
 sole purpose of stamping out forever, in France, the doctrines which 
 would emancipate, when put in practice, the working people of the 
 world. 
 
 After the fight was over, for one whole week in Paris the 
 slaughter of the working people went on. The 24,000 shoemakers of 
 Paris were reduced to 12 ,000 : the bronze trade were reduced from 
 2,500 to 1,500 men; the tailors from 30,000 to 22,000; and other trades 
 in proportion. Every sub=lieutenant of the conquering army was 
 armed with power to execute prisoners summarily . In forty places 
 every day, firing parties were kept at work from morning until late at 
 night at the bloody task. The proof of guilt was to smell of powder or 
 to wear a blouse. 
 
 •'The condemned were sent to the firing parties in bands of 
 from six to twenty; they fell in heaps in all positions, a sanguinary 
 mass. Of coursf., many resisted, and others threw themselves at the 
 feet of the soldiers, protesting their innocence, embracing their 
 knees and crying for mercy- mercy which was never accorded. 
 Sometimes there was a wife that came in with her husband to bid 
 himadeu; another time a father with his son ; sometimes both or 
 all, and even little children. But once in, none went forth again. I n 
 other places the metrailleuse mowed them down like grass. Against 
 the eastern wall of Pere la Chaise, 1,148 souls were sent to eternity at 
 once. A; long trench had been dug, and the prisoners ranged along 
 the edge of it were shot and made to fall in their own graves, and 
 whilst struggling in the throes of death or agony were covered with 
 earth. In one Fosse Commune repose 808 and in another 300." 
 
 The words quoted above ar^ from the pages of the history of the 
 Commune, written by * * John Leighton, H. S. A., who said that 
 this slaughter was a " retribution for the crime of desecrating the 
 holy precincts of Gods-acre,andon that day of.days, the Sabbath," re- 
 ferring to the last stand made on Sunday, by the insurgents, in tlie 
 cemetery of Pere«Lachaise.v-.^r*rne«e (?. Haskell, ISSU. 
 
MISCBl<IvANEOUS COMMENT. 21 7 
 
 In the Interest of *' Society.'* 
 
 "As I drove up the broad avenue between Viroflay and 
 Vereaille?, I overtook a very miserable and dejected com' 
 pany : in file alter file of six "tramped a convoy of Commun- 
 ist prisoners numbering over 2,000 souls. Patiently and with 
 some apparent consciousness of pride they marched, linked 
 closely arm in arm. Among them vi'ere many women, some 
 of them tierce barricade Hecates, others mere girls, soft 
 and timid, here seemingly because a parent was here also. 
 All were bareheaded, foul with dust, many powder-stained, 
 and the burning sun beat down on the frowzy column. Not 
 the sun only beat down, but also the fiats of sabres, wielded 
 by tho dashing Chasseurs d'Afrique who were the escorts of 
 those unfortunates. Their own experience might have taught 
 them humanity toward their captives. No sabre-blades had 
 descended on their pates during that long, dreary march 
 from Sedan to their German captivity; they were the pris- 
 oners of soldiers. But they were prisoners now no longer, 
 as they capered on their wiry barb stallions, and in their 
 pride of cheap victory belabored unmercifully the miserables 
 of the Commune. For many overwearied creatures who fell 
 out or dropped there was short shrift; my driving-horse had 
 been shying at the corpses on the road all the way from 
 Sevres. At the head of the somber column were 300 or 400 
 men lashed together with ropes — all powder-stained those — 
 and among them not a few men is red breeches — deserters 
 taken red-handed. I rather wondered what they did in this 
 gang; they might as well have died fighting on the barri- 
 cades, as survive to be made targets of a day or two later 
 with their backs against a wall. 
 
 On the following morning I visited Pere Lachaise, 
 where the very last shots had been fired. Bivouac fires had 
 been fed with souvenirs of pious sorrow, and the trappings 
 of woe had been torn down to be used as bedclothes. * * 
 Shells had fallen freely, and the results were occasionally 
 very ghastly. But the ghastliest sight in Pere-Lachaise was 
 in the southeastern corner, where close to the boundary 
 wall had been a natural hollow. The hollow was now filled 
 up by dead. One could measure the dead by the rood. 
 There they lay tier above tier, each tier powdered over 
 with a coating of chloride of lime, 200 of them patent to the 
 eye, besides those underneath hidden by the earth covering 
 layer after layer. Among the dead were many women. 
 There, thrown up in the sunlight, was a well-rounded arm 
 with a ring on one of the fingers ; there again was a bust 
 
2l8 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 shapely in death ; and there were faces which to look upon 
 made one shudder — faces distorted out of humanity with 
 ferocity and agonj' combined. The ghastly effect of the 
 dusky white powder on the dulled eyes, the gnashed teeth, 
 and the jagged beards cannot be described. How died 
 those men and women ? Where they carted here and laid 
 out in ghastly lyinir-in-state in this dead-hole of Pere- 
 Lachaise ? Not so; the hole had been replenished from 
 close by. There was no difficulty in reading the open book* 
 Just there was where they were posted up against yonder 
 pock-pitted wall, and shot to death as they stood or 
 crouched." — Archibald Forbes. 
 
 "The largest butcher pen of modern times is Satory. It is the 
 form of a parallellogram and contains several acres. It was once 
 used as an artillery park, and there still remained the stables used 
 for the horses. But this it was before it had occured to the Govern- 
 ment that they would serve the cause of Justice and Humanity by 
 transporting hither 20,000 people, inclusive of those who fell on the 
 way "by accident," to be shot. It is said that those 20,000 were the 
 poorest animals ever slaughtered in Paris, which, indeed, is not won- 
 derful, seeing that in the case of human animals the ordinary process 
 must be reversed from fattening to starving. 
 
 The butcher pen at Satory is surrounded by walls, and when the 
 great drove of 20,000 victims, less what had fallen on the way "by 
 accident" entered it, there were numerous holes in the walls through 
 which ferocious cannons scowled ominously. When the vast drove 
 arrived the old stables had already been filled to suffocation, and 
 many thousands were huddled together here and there and enclosed 
 by ropes. The drove was marched in a short distance from the gate, 
 and being huddled close together, a rope tied at convenient distance 
 to stakes was drawn around them and a strong guard with chasse- 
 pots placed over them. They were placed directly in front of several 
 large guns charged with grape and canister, which were ordered to 
 to fire into the crowd on the slightest manifestation of disorder. * 
 The rain had now also commenced to pour again and beat upon the 
 poor wretches incessantly. Many, as I have said, were pounded; 
 some of their wounds were sore and some were still fresh and bleed- 
 ing. So that when a squad was moved from one place to another for 
 any cause, to be shot mainly, one might see stains of blood here and 
 there, and little pools of bloody water. Some of these wounded had 
 their friends with them who did all they could for them, which was 
 very little; others were neglected. Many were very old; some were 
 very young. Most of them were fainting from fatigue, and all of 
 them were hungry. They were too tired to stand. They threw them- 
 selves on the ground and the water settled around them, sometimes 
 several inches deep. 
 
 Guards were posted thickly everywhere ; the poor captives were 
 savage, mad, covered with wet and mud. The faces were begrimed 
 with smoke and powder, which, mingling with the rain which beat in 
 their faces, presented a frightful appearance. The wretched prison- 
 ers were nearly all bare-headed, many bare-footed and the great 
 majority scantily dressed or in dirty tatters. They were shivering; 
 their lips pale and bloodless, and their teeth chattering in the cold 
 drifting rain. One thing was observable on all hands : there was no 
 repenting of what they had done, no curses, no revilings, no reproaches: 
 against their chiefs, but when they were shot they unanimously 
 shouted: 'Vive la Commune'."— Jf'w. Du Gas Trammell. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS COMMENT. 219 
 
 Megy in New York. 
 
 Megy went to New York in 1878, and was 
 interviewed by a reporter of the New York World 
 and in brief made the following statement : "I 
 was born in 1844; had a common school education; 
 was apprenticed to a machinist, and j oined a secret 
 society which had Blanqui for its head; at 20 I 
 found work on the Suez canal; returned to Paris 
 in 1866; was in the uprising of February 7th; and 
 assisted in the raising of barricades; six police 
 agents were sent to arrest me after the defeat and 
 I killed the first with a pistol; I was overpowered, 
 dragged to prison, sentenced to 20 years at New 
 Caledonia, with hard labor; was released when the 
 Republic was proclaimed. I was in the movement 
 to deprive General Trochu of his command, and a 
 warrant was issued for my arrest; I enlisted under 
 another name and fought the Prussians; went to 
 the South of France at the conclusion of the war; 
 arrested the Prefect of Police at Marseilles and 
 took his place for eight days; in April, 1871, came 
 to Paris and commanded Fort Issy, and after its 
 fall fought at the barricades; participated in the 
 shooting of the hostages at La Roquette; I fought 
 to the last; escaped in a coal cart; went to Geneva; 
 have worked in London and Birmingham, and am 
 now working: here in New York." 
 
 The Adoance 0/ " Order " — 
 
 "We have official proof that several houses to which National Guards had 
 fled were surrounded by gen d'arines, and set fire to with petroleum, the 
 bodies being afterward fetched out, in a half-burned state, by the ambulance^ 
 of the Press of Ternes."— -SVre^c/iilev/. 
 
 Rewarded by the Conquerors— 
 
 Ducatel, who informed the Versaillese of the undefended condition of 
 Porte St. Cloud, received the Cross of the Legion of Honor, and a public 
 subscription brought him about $22,000. He also held a government 
 appointment for eume years. 
 
220 THE PARIS COMMUNE: 
 
 Wm. DuQas Trammell. 
 
 William Du Gas Trammel is the only native 
 born American known to have fought at the 
 barricades in defence of the Commune. The 
 following sketch is from the Atlanta Constitution: 
 
 Judge WiUiam DuGas Trammell, born in Harris County, Georgia, 
 in 1848, died in Fort Worth, Texas, June 6, 1884 Mr. Trammell was 
 graduated from University of Georgia, 1870, when that famous school 
 was under the control of Dr. A. A.Liipscomb, by whom Mr Trammell 
 war regarded as a young man of remarkable talent and unusual 
 promise; leaving school he engaged in the practice of law, but occa- 
 sionally found recreation in literary pursuits, his chief literary work 
 was "Ca Ira," a novel published about 1874, in which the author em- 
 bodied views of the social, industrial and political relations of man- 
 kind, that excited much comment. Judge Trammell was an earnest 
 advocate of the common people, and at the the time of his death was 
 a Vice-President of the " Workingmen's International Association," 
 ivhich had its headquarters in New York City. 
 
 He was a devoted son, and a loving, affectionate brother; and the 
 idol of the family— mother, sister and brother— who looked to him, and 
 not in vain, for counsel and support. 
 
 Wonderfully conversant with political history for one so young, 
 •fond of metaphysical and abstract reasoning, with a keen relish fo)' 
 all speculative philosophy and entertaining views of social and 
 and political rights not wholly in sympathy with his time and genera- 
 tion, he was regarded by many as an extremist. Yet his great 
 capabilities were conceded by all who knew him, and, in a less utili- 
 tarian age, with favorable surroundings, he would have attained 
 eminence as a philosopher, as a student, as an expounder of political 
 liistory. 
 
 We trust that the great mystery of life, the great theme of his 
 speculative mind, has been revealed to him in perpetual bliss. 
 " So be it. There no shade can last. 
 In that deep dawn behind the tomb. 
 But clear from marge to marge shall bloom. 
 The eternal landscape of the past." 
 
 "Recollections." 
 
 "The city was delivered from the monstous oppression of the insur" 
 rectionists who, for 10 weeks, had held the people in terror,— murdering> 
 robbing, imprisoning, and making life one continual torment. Then came 
 the reaction. When the orderly and peaceful citizens, relieved from the 
 shocking tyranny of the Commune, began to get the upper hand as is 
 ■atural to suppose, they were inspired with a certain degree of rage which 
 it was almost impossible to control. No sooner had Paris been captured 
 than the great work began of arresting the thousands of criminals— mur- 
 ders, assassins, robbers, desperadoes, and outlaws of every description— who 
 had so long made the beautiful city a pandemonium. In the most insurrec- 
 tionary parts of the town the people were arrested en masse, 
 
 It would take too long to recount all the frightful incidents which 
 followed the capture of Paris. There were no less than fifty thousand 
 insurgents arrested; how many were summarily executed will never be 
 known.— Washbume. 
 
MISCELLANKOUS COMMENT. 221 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF INTERNATIONALISM. 
 
 The number of high positions held by foreign- 
 ers under the Commune was very large : 
 
 Anys-el-Biltar, Director of Manuscripts at National Library [Egyptian]. 
 Biondetti, Surgeon-in-Chief, 233d battalion [Italian]. 
 Babick, Member of the Commune [Pole]. 
 Becka, Adjutant of the 207th battalion [Pole]. 
 
 Cluseret, General, Delegate of War [Frenchman naturalized American]. 
 Cernatesco, Surgeon-major [Pole]. 
 Crapulinski, Colonel of the Staff [Pole]. 
 Capellaro, Member of Military Bureau [Italian]. 
 
 Carneiro de Cunha, Surgeon-major of the 38th battalion [Portuguese]. 
 Charalambo, Surgeon-major of the Federal sharpshooters (Pole). 
 Cyprani, Italian, Aide to Flourens. 
 
 Dombrowski, Ladislas, General of the forces of the Commune (Pole). 
 Dombrowoki, Jaroslaw— his brother— Colonel of the staff (Pole) 
 DurnofF, Commandant of a legion (Pole) 
 Echenlaub, Colonel of the 8Sth battalion (German). 
 Ferrara Gola, Director-general of the ambulances (Portuguese). 
 Frankel, Member of the Commune (Prussian). 
 Giorok, Commandant (Wallachian). 
 
 Grejorok, Commandant of the artillery at Montmartre (Wallachian), 
 Kertzfeld, Director-in-chief of the ambulances (German). 
 Iziquerdo, Surgeon-major of the 88th battalion (Polo). 
 Jalowski, Surgeon-major of the Republican Zouaves (Polo). 
 Kobosko, Placed in the order of day of army of the Commune (Pole). 
 La Cecilia, General (Italian). 
 
 Landowski, Aide-de-camp of General Dombrowski (Pole). 
 Mizara, Commandant of the lOith battalion (Italian). 
 Maratuck, Aide-major of the 72d battalion (Hungarian). 
 Moro, Commandant of the 22d battalion (Italian). 
 Okolowicz and his brothers. General and staff-officers (Poles) 
 Ostyn, member of the Paris Commune (Belgian). 
 Olinski, Chief of the 17th legion (Pole). 
 Pisani, Aide-de-camp of Flourens (Italian). 
 Potampenki, Aide-de-camp of General Dombrowski (Pole). 
 Ploubinski, Staff ofHcer (Pole). 
 Pazdzierswski, Commandant (Pole). 
 Piazza, Chief of legion (Italian). 
 Pugne, Musical-director at the opera (Italian). 
 Romanelli, Director of war materials (Italian). 
 Rozzski, Surgeon-major of the 144th battalion (Pole). 
 Rubinowiez, Staft'-officer [Pole]. 
 
 Rubinowicz, [P.,] Surgeon-major of the fusileers of marine [Pole]. 
 Syneck, Surgeon -major of 151st battalion [German]. 
 Skalski, Surgeon-major of the 240th battalion [Polej. 
 Soteriade, Surgeon-major [Spaniard]. 
 Thaller, Sub-governor of Fort Bicetre | German]. 
 Van Ostal. Commandant of the 115th battalion [Dutch]. 
 Vetzel, Commandant of the southern forts [German]. 
 Wrobleski, General Commandant of the army of the South [Pole]. 
 Wetten, Surgeon-major of the 72d battalion [naturalized American]. 
 Zengerler, Sui'geon-niajor of the 74th battalion [German]. 
 [Thig list is incomplete.] 
 
'222 THE PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 MEMBERS. 
 *'!" member Int. W. A. Names, Occupations, Punishments, etc. * Living, 
 
 Adam, merchant, AUix, Jules, teacher, shot; Amouroux, hatter, 
 
 transported for life; Andrieu, teacher, escaped to London; Arnaud, Antoine, 
 railroad employe, L, shot; Arnold,* architect; Arnould, Arthur, man of 
 letters; escaped to Switzerland; Assi, engineer, I., transported for life; 
 Avrial,* engineer, I,, escaped. 
 
 Babick, laborer, escaped to Switzerland; Barre, tobacconist, escaped; 
 Bergeret, printer, I., escaped. Beslay, civil engineer, I, escaped; Billio- 
 ray, artist, I., transported for life; Bianchet, priest, I., shot; Blanqui, politi- 
 cal economist and journalist, imprisoned; de Bouteiller, naval officer, 
 
 Brelay, merchant, shot; Briosne;* Brunei,* traveller, 
 
 Chalain, Jorass-turuer, I., shot; Champy, chaser, transported for life, 
 Chardon, coppersmith, escaped to Switzerland; Cheron, merchant, shot; 
 Clemence, book-binder, I, escaped; Clement, Emil, shoemaker, shot; Clement, 
 J. B . , literary man, escaped to London ; Clement, Victor, working dyer, three 
 months in prison; Cluseret, agitator, I, escaped; Courbet, artist, six 
 months in prison, and fine ; Cournet, journalist, escaped. 
 
 Delescluze, journalist, I. , shot on the barricade; Demay, workman, un- 
 known; Dereure, shoemaker, I., escaped to America; Decamps, iron 
 founder ** acquitted;" Demasrest, advocate, unknown; Dupont, G., bank 
 clerk, shot; Dupont, Clovis, basket maker, I., shot; Durand, shoemaker, 
 escaped; Duval, iron founder, I., shot. 
 
 Eudes, reporter, I. , shot at Vincennes. 
 
 Ferre, accountant, shot; Ferry, Emile, unknown; Flourens, professor, 
 journalist, I., cut to death with sabre. Fortune, Henry, I., shot; Frankel, 
 jeweler, L, shot; Fruneau, unknown. 
 
 Gambon, ex-Deputy, I., shot; Garibaldi, M. declined office; Gerardin, 
 Eugene, workman, unknown; Gerardin, Charles, traveller, unknown; 
 Geresme, corset-maker, I., shot; Goupil, physician, "arrested;" Grousset 
 Paschal, journalist, I, transported for life. 
 
 Johannard, traveler, I., shot; Jourde, medical student, I., transported. 
 
 Langevin, turner, L, shot; Ledroit, merchant, unknown; Lefevre, Ernest, 
 journalist, I, shot; Lefrancais, accountant, I., escaped to Geneva; Leroy, 
 Albert, literary man, unknown.; Loiseau-Pinson, unknown; Lonclas, hotel- 
 
 keeper, escaped; Longuet, student, I., escaped. 
 
 Malon, clerk, I., shot; Marmottan, physician, I., shot; Martelet, decora- 
 tive painter, I., escaped to Geneva; Meillet, Leo,* law student, I., escaped; 
 
 Meiine, advocate, fate unknown; Miot, Jules, chemist, L, shot; Mortier, 
 architect, L, shot; Murat, engineer, I., shot. 
 
 Nast, unknown. 
 
 Ostyn,* workman, L, Oudet, porcelain painter, L, shot. 
 
 Parent, Ulysse, journalist, "acquitted;" Parisel, physician, I., shot; 
 Phillippe, hotel-keeper, I., shot; Pillot, physician, I., shot; Pindy, joiner, 
 I., escaped to London; Pottier, designer, I., shot; Protot,* advocate, escaped 
 to Belgium; Puget, accountant, unknown; Pyat, escaped. 
 
 jianc ; Ranvier, painter, escaped to London; Rastoul, physician, 
 
 L, transported; Regere, veterinary surgeon, L, shot; Robinet, physician, I., 
 unknown; Rigault,Rioul, law student, shot; Rogeard, man of letters, I., shot; 
 Rochard, ) 
 
 Serrailler, last-maker, I., escaped to London; Sicard, shoe-maker, I., 
 unknown ; Serizier, currier, shot. 
 
 Theisz, silver chaser, I., escaped to London; Tirard, jeweler, unknown; 
 Tridon, medical student, reported died at Brussels; Triiiquet, shoemaker, 
 L, hard labor for life. 
 
 Urbain, school master, I., hard labor for life. 
 
 Vaillant,* journalist, civil engineer, I; escaped to London; Valles, Julea, 
 journalist,!., shot; Yarlin, book-binder, L, shot; Verdure, accountant, I., 
 transported for life; Vermorel, journalist, shot; Vesinier, secretary to 
 Eugene Sue, I., escaped; Viard, clerk, escaped. 
 
MlSCEI.I.ANE)OUS COMMKNT. 22$ 
 
 PROMINENT CHARACTERS 
 
 «I" member Int. W. A. Names, Occupations. Punishments, etc. * Livingr. 
 
 Ahadie civil engineer, fate unknown; Alavoine, I., fate unknown; 
 
 AnditnmS' wne merchant,' I. , prison for life; Anys-el-Biltar, manager MS3. 
 
 depS^t Natfonal Library, L, fate unknown; Avoine Sr., modeler, I., eg. 
 
 ■^"^lir^^ut wkZn,'Se'u,Sn^ Basteliea, I., organizer, escaped to 
 
 Lonfo" BoiircSiv, journalist, unknown; BouUenger, (J. C, prison for 
 
 ""'''^^^Innltt^e^v^t^^^^ I-, prison for life; Cavalier 
 
 rPor?e?ci?UeSeer I. hard labor for life; Cavesky, butcher, unknown. 
 
 Charfes 'S dSrrunkkown: Chouteau, house painter, unknown; Com. 
 
 w/ tPlP^anher unknown; CombaiUt, jeweler, I. , unknown. 
 
 bicoste JouVS^^^^^ I. prison; Debock, printer,, I, escaped t« 
 ;i^*°?^^'„J,V"^pf" ' editor unknown; Dombrowski, Ladilas, L, Ex- 
 
 fr.t"i^ rSu rrmy,'shot MaV23T5ombrowski, Jarosla'w, L, served with 
 
 S^wLrScaned^DuBisson, ex-General, I., unknown; Durassier, shot. 
 Fahre cllrk^I Bhotf Fontaine, professor of mathematics I. , shot m 
 
 thei^e BonaparteY Ferrkt, man of letters, L, transported for hfe; Fosse, 
 
 '""^Gailfard Sr shoe-maker, escaped; Ganiot, Pyrrhus, in prison; Ganier, 
 ^.Aw^rpnpml in Chief of the King of Siam, I., unknown; Gamier, 
 Eugene act?r I K Gau^^^^ shot; Genton, shot; Gouhier I., shot; 
 ffier,' bleacher',' escaped; Groslard, circus, unknown; Guedenal, writer, 
 
 ""'^Heniv actor I„ unknown; Henry, artistic, L, imprisoned; Henry, 
 arm?Sr I., shot Humbert, journalist, unknown Jaclard, professor 
 of mathematics, I., prison for life; Josselin, bank clerk, unknown 
 
 Lacame unknowS; La Cecilia, ex-professor of mathmatics at Ulm, I , 
 escaSoEngUnrLacord, cook, unknown; Landeck jeweler, I escape^ 
 to BKona La?ocque, journalist, L, prison for life; Lavallette, draper, I., 
 ^7^^ fn^i^P- T Xau ex-armv officer, I., prison for life; Le Moussu, insur. 
 K uSnown tevrault, Se^ Li«l>0"«^ ^f^',' I- 
 
 wouAdedrprTson for life;' Lissagaray, journalist, L, escaped to England; 
 
 "^""SjoS^boSnlf t^ prison;.Maret, journalist fined 
 
 500 francs Maroteau, journalist, 1., shot; Matuzewicz, army officer, L, un. 
 S?o^J^i Marbrother's, jewelers L, unknown; Megy, engineer, I,, escaped; 
 nXre, joumaUst L,'shot; Moreau, journalist, L.shot; Mourot, journalist, 
 I., shot. 
 
 Napiar, Piquet, ]., shot. a„*„,„ 
 
 ton advocate, unknown; Peyrusset, naval officer, I., shot; Pilotell, artist, 
 
 ^n"azouf%S?alist,"L^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Reownhot Tochefort, journalist, L, transported for life; Romanetti, ex- 
 S officer, unknown ^o^sel, captain of engineers shot; Rousseau, porter, 
 uSo^^ Salvador, musician, shot in the Rue Jacob; Secondigne, journalist, 
 Snk^own- Syh estre, unknown. Tony Moilin, physician, shot; Tpupe, un- 
 too vrTVeXa?d, solicitor, shot. Van der Hooven, unknosvn; Vermescb, 
 SurSist Sfpe'd; Vericq, Jean, officer, unknown; Volpesml, unknown. 
 Wrobleski, Russian general, shot. 
 
 The Women, 
 Madame Leroy, prison for life. Marchais, shot. Leo, Andre, escaped, 
 SaSn, 10 yekrs in prison. Retilf , shot. Robert prison for hfe 
 
 SS, Loui'se, prisoS for life. Suetins, shot. BS'''pP"^"/,^/,^^3; 
 Bonnefoy, prison for life. . , Mm«^k, Paule, escaped, 
 
 ■"* [This record is only partial]. 
 
224 ^HE PARIS COMMUNR. 
 
 LETTER FROM EDOUARD VAILLANT. 
 
 15 Villa du Bel Air, 
 
 Paris, December 24, 1897. 
 G. B. Benham : 
 
 Dear Sir — It is not an easy task for me to 
 answer your letter at once. I do not know how 
 many members of the Commune are now living; I 
 tell you only what I know, of the following, now 
 living members of the Commune : Cluseret, 
 Paschal Grousset and myself, Edouard Vaillant, are 
 now members of the French Chamber of Deputies. 
 
 G. lycfrancais writes now in the French 
 Socialist paper V Aurore. 
 
 J. B. Clement, poet and writer, writes now in 
 the Socialist paper La Petite Repiiblique. 
 
 I^onguet, Chief Inspector of the Teaching of 
 the Modern Languages in the Schools of Paris. 
 
 Brunei, Professor of the French language in 
 the Royal Naval School, Woolwich, (or perhaps 
 Dartmouth,) England. 
 
 lyco Meillet, Professor of the French language 
 in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. 
 
 Champy, conseiller prudhomme, (elected 
 Judge in trades disputes between employers and 
 employed). 
 
 Arnold, Architect, Teacher of Drawing in the 
 School of Paris. 
 
 Protot, Barrister. 
 
 Avrial, Engineer. 
 
 Ostyn, Manager of an insurance company. 
 
 I have so told you either what I know or 
 what I was told. 
 
 Believe me, dear sir, yours very sincerely,' 
 Edouard "Vaillant, 
 
 M. R. C. S. Eng,. 
 
ENKMmS OF TH^ COMMUNE. 225 
 
 IX. 
 Enemies of The Commune. 
 
 That the National Assembly had been elected 
 under a restricted mandate, has never been con- 
 troverted. Its business was to decide on the 
 question of peace or war, and then to dissolve, so 
 that an Assembly, chosen as legislators by the 
 people might take its place, bearing direct from 
 the constituencies a clear expression of the public 
 will on all the great questions of the day.* 
 
 Cassell says : " That the Assembly did ulti- 
 mately proceed to settle the form of government, 
 does not at all show that it had any right to do so." 
 
 Louis Adolphe Thiers was born April i6th, 
 1797, at Marseille; died September 5th, 1877. 
 Thiers was the son of a locksmith. He studied 
 law, but met with little success as an advocate. 
 His " History of the P'rench Revolution " raised 
 him to celebrity. His " History of the Consulate 
 and Empire " is considered his greatest work. 
 
 Thiers '* History of the French Revolution " founded his literary and 
 helped his political fame. The well-known sentence of Carlisle that " it 
 is as far as possible from meriting- its high reputation" is in strictness 
 justified in regard to all Thiers' historical works. They are all marked by 
 extreme inaccuracy, by prejudice which passes the limit of accidental unfair- 
 ness and sometimes seems to. approach positive dishonesty. His works 
 possess, however, in a high degree the gifts of clearness, liveliness and 
 intelligible handling. In all his writings he displayed great knowledge of 
 military operations. 
 
 *The Assembly which gathered at Bordeaux consisted of Orleanists 400; 
 Republicans, 150; Legitimists, 50; Bonaipartists, 20; doubtful 30. . This body, 
 whose acts have to someextent been referred, to, was, as may be seen by 
 the political beliefs, represented, an exceedingly conservative Congress. 
 
 The International Association of Workers was by the l^iational Assembly 
 on March, 1872, declared to be illegal, and to belong to it was a penal offence.. 
 
226 THE PARIS COMMUNK. 
 
 "The chronicle of Thiers life is the record of the misfortunes of France." 
 A Republican in 1830, he betrayed Lafitte, excited mob riots against the 
 clergy, and thus ingratiated himself with Louis Phillipe. The subsequent 
 massacres of Republicans were largely his work, and the laws against 
 ^association and a free press were the result of his exertions. It was his plan 
 to fortify Paris in 1840. The Republicans denounced it a plan to endanger 
 their their liberty. This he declai'ed to be impossible. He sneered at rail- 
 ways as wild chimeras, while a minister of Louis Phillipe. In 1848 he shook 
 with horror when Palermo was bombarded by the government "because the 
 city demanded its rights." Eighteen months after he defended the bom- 
 bardment of Pvonie by French troops. Anxious for notoriety, he declared 
 himself a revolutionist, not only in France, biit of Europe. He left the first 
 ministry a millionaire, thougii he went into office an impecunious ad- 
 venturer. Again in office, his peculations exposed him to taunts in the 
 Chamber of Deputies, to which he replied in copious tears. "He per- 
 petually harped on the French loss of prestige, and so contributed more 
 than any one else to stir up that fatal spirit which brought on the war of 
 1870, and while constantly weakening the government of his country, he 
 gave no help nor even offered any." ( Enc. Brit.) 
 
 Thiers was consistent only in his greed for wealth and in hatred of the 
 men who produced it. The Second Empire had more than doubled the 
 National debt; the municipalities had enormously increased their liabilities 
 and now added to this was the huge amount of indebtedness necessarily 
 incurred to pay the demands of the victors. Patriot that he was, he was con- 
 tent to endow himself with three million francs a year in the Bordeaux 
 Assembly, at a time when the financial downfall of France seemed thus 
 impending. 
 
 Beslay, a member of the Commune, (himself a capitalist) thus addressed 
 Thiers: " The enslavement of labor by capital has always been the corner* 
 stone of your policy, and since the very day the Republic of Labor was 
 installed in the Hotel de Ville, you have never ceased to cry ' these are 
 criminals. ' " 
 
 A master in small state roguery, a virtuoso in perjury and treason, a 
 craftsman in all the petty stratagems, cunning devices, and base perfidies of 
 Parliamentary party-warfare; never scrupling, when out of office, to fan a 
 revolution, and to stifle it in blood when at the helm of the State; with class 
 prejudices standing him in the place of ideas, and vanity in the place of a 
 heart; his private life as infamous as his public life is odious— even now, 
 ^hen playing the part of a French Sulla, he cannot help setting off the abomi- 
 nation of his deeds by the ridicule of his ostentation.— J^ duress of Int. W. A. 
 
 The London Spectator, speaking of Thiers, says : "At the age of 74, after 
 passing through every conceivable shade of political opinion * without 
 pretending to have any other guide to his gyrations than expediency. * * 
 That he has ever understood what an historical principle, what a political 
 principle, what even an economical principle means, we do not in the least 
 believe. Poor France indeed with such a savior. He has lived his whole 
 life on the hand to mouth principle both as a litterateur and statesman." 
 
 In those artifices dependent on falsehood and insincerity, there has 
 been scarcely a man in public life whose record equals that of Thiers. 
 Every mask of political character seemed to fit him with singular exactness 
 — Orleanist, Imperialist, Republican, Revolutionist— with all the inter- 
 mediate shades of political complexion — he had assumed and discarded them 
 with the inconstancy of a harlot and the flippancy of a mountebank. 
 
 Of the prisoners brought to Versailles in early April, (the barbarous 
 treatment and killing of which were a spectacle enjoyed from a balcony by 
 Madames Thiers and Favre,) Thiers said : " TSever have more degraded 
 fcountenances of a degraded democracy met the afflicted gaze of honest men." 
 
 While endeavoring to enlist the assistance of outside districts on March 
 -25th he said : "Come what may, I shall send no army to Paris," On May 
 18th Thiers said : ''I desire to punish none but the murderers of Lecomte 
 and Clement Thomas." A» the time for entering Paris drew near he said 
 
ENEMIES OF THE COMMUNE. 227 
 
 in the Assembly. " I shall be pitiless; the expiation shall be complete." On 
 the 22.1 he said "t j-day I come to tf:ll you our ooal is reached." "Our soldiers 
 merit our highest esteem" was Thiers' way in public reports, of encouraging- 
 the continuance of the murders, which were not only opposed to the dic- 
 tates of humanity, but contrary to the usages of 'civilized warfare.' 
 
 Under the exterior of a savant and a litterateiu-, was concealed the 
 sanguii;ary disposition of a Caligula or Jxistinian II. Lacking the 
 
 courage of a soldier, he displayed the )nalignity of a tyrant. 
 
 From the abyss of darkness to which his heinous acts consign him, he will 
 be dragged to view in days to come, to illustrate the crafty ambition of a 
 sycophant, the conduct of an unprincipled politician and the inhumanities of 
 an aged despot. 
 
 Thiers, when elected in the Assembly as 
 President of the French Republic, was given full 
 powers to choose all his cabinet officers. He 
 asserted "that in selecting them he had been 
 guided solely by the public esteem they enjoyed 
 and their character and capacities." His se- 
 lections were as follows : 
 
 Dufaure, Minister of Justice; Favre, Foreign 
 Affairs; Picard, Interior; J. Simon, Public In- 
 struction; Lambrecht, Commerce; General de Flo, 
 War; Admiral Pathuau, Marine; de I^arey, Public 
 Works; Pouyer-Quertier, Finance. 
 
 Jules Favre was a lawyer of note and had been 
 a prominent member of the Republican party. He 
 was born at Lyons, March 21st, 1809. Although 
 Favre was an orator of much power "renowned for 
 the Attic elegance of his language," he had little 
 ability as a statesman, and his private life was 
 singularly disgraceful. He died at Versailles 
 January 20th, 1880. 
 
 Millere was shot by the express and standing order of Jules Favre, 
 During the armistice between the Germans and the French, when Favre was 
 a candidate for the Peace Ast^embly, Millere wrote an article in which it was 
 alleged that Fa\re had lived for many years in concubinage with the wife of 
 a drunken resident of Algiers, and had, by a "daring concoction of forgeries 
 spread over many years, contrived to grasp, in the name of the children of 
 his adultery a large succession, which made him a rich man, and that in a 
 law suit undertaken by the legitimate heirs, he only escaped exposure by 
 the connivance of the Bonapartists tribunals " All this was incontro- 
 vertably proven to be true in the courts in a case brouglit after the 
 Commune b> Favre, in which he sought damages from the man who had 
 given Millere the information The evidence disclosed at the trial com- 
 pletely wrecked Favre politically.. 
 
 Dufaure, Minister of Justice, was 84 years of 
 age, lawyer of Orleanist sympathies, and had been 
 
228 THB PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 the "justiciary of the state of siege as now in 1871 
 tinder Thiers, so in 1839 under Louis Bonaparte's 
 Presidency." Dufaure distinguished liimself by 
 formulating laws of deportation which exceeded 
 in speed and sweeping action the statutes which 
 had been for the Second Empire sufficiently 
 effective. Dufaure in a circular on April 23rd, 
 commended the Assembly to treat the "cry of con- 
 ciliation as a crime." 
 
 Pouyer-Quertier, Minister of Finance was a 
 cotton spinner of Rouen, who had attained "emi- 
 nence " by his success in withholding from the 
 product of his employes sufficient amounts to make 
 him recognized as a financial luminary. 
 
 Picard, (with his brother, a notorious cri- 
 minal) had used his official position to enrich 
 himself in stock gambling while Paris was under- 
 going the Prussian siege. Picard amused himself 
 in Versailles by going from one group of captives 
 to another jesting in loud tones on the nature of 
 their wounds, their unwashed condition and the 
 necessity for their death. 
 
 As for those of the Ministry not speciallj^ 
 mentioned here, there seems to have been nothing 
 to distinguish them from the ordinary place- 
 seekers of the time, who had gained Thiers esteem 
 by the facility with which they had advanced 
 themselves during the infamous reign of the Third 
 Napoleon. 
 
 Marie Bdme Patrice Maurice MacMahon, 
 due de Magenta, was born in 1808, a son of a peer of 
 France. His services in the Italian campaign for 
 1859, and particularly at the battle of Magenta 
 gained for him his title. He was defeated at 
 Worth and at Sedan in the Franco-German war of 
 during the Second Empire. His action during the 
 
ENEMIES OF THE COMMUNE. 229 
 
 'Commune was acceptable to the bourgeois, and 
 he was president of the French Republic 1873-79. 
 
 McMahon and Bismarck, for many years after the Commune, were 
 zealous in their efforts in dogging those survivors who escaped the tribunals 
 of the Versaillese. 
 
 Almost every European country was willing and anxious to have anj- 
 fugitives within "their borders extradited and executed. 
 
 Victor Hugo, called to Belgium by the death of a relative, notified the 
 the world through the Brussels press on May 26th, that the asylum denied 
 by Belgium he would offer in his private residence in Brussels. On the 
 following night the lovers of " order " stoned his house; he narrowly escaped 
 severe injur}% and the Belgium government issued an order for his eject- 
 ment fron Belgium territory. 
 
 United States Minister Washburne was the 
 only foreign representative who officially recog- 
 nized the Commune. Washburne also represented 
 the German and Mexican governments, and seems 
 to have been general utility man for all enemies of 
 the Commune. While ostensibly interesting him- 
 self in the hostages and other matters as a private 
 citizen he solicited and was granted favors never 
 obtained by private individuals. Ferre had the 
 courage to resent his constant meddling. 
 
 Note — Megy in an interview (1878) characterized Minister Washburne as 
 " a liar and a German spy during the Commune." Frank M. Pixley (after 
 the publication of Washburne's book 1887) expressed substantially the same 
 sentiments. 
 
 COMMUNIST'S ARMS AND OCCUPATIONS 
 
 There was taken from the Communists the following arms : 285,000 
 chas'sepots; 195,000 guns a tabatiere; 68,000 guns a piston; that is, 548,000 
 guns of different models, with sabre bayonets, or bayonets with their 
 corresponding shoulderbelt; 56,000 cavalry sabres of all forms and for all 
 ranks; 14,000 carbines, mostly Enfield; 39,000 revolvers. Finally, 10,000 
 arms of every kind, such as daggers, stilettoes, sword-canes, etc, , giving a 
 total of 667,000 weapons of every kind taken from the hands of the Com- 
 munists, aud 1,700 pieces of cannon and mitrailleuses. 
 
 There were from 15,000 to 20,000 arrested and transported. From the 
 official report of General Appertz, we take the following nine classes of 
 workmen :— Laborers, 2,901; locksmiths, 2,664; masons, 2,293; cabine 
 makers, 1,667; shopmen, 1,598; servants, 1,402; clerks, 1,065; cabmen, 1,024; 
 painters, 863 — making 15,477, in nine categories out of 33, besides several 
 men of property. Other classification by occupation on pages 40 and 216>) 
 
230 THK PARIS COMMUNE. 
 
 ARRESTS, PUNISHMENTS, ETC. 
 
 Tho following- is a list of arrestel members of the Commune, appre- 
 hended previous to 12 months after May 29, 1871: 
 
 Ant. Arnaud, Assi, Amouroux, G. Arnold, Billioray, V. Clement, E. 
 Clement, Courbet, Champy, A. Dupont, C. Dupont, Paschal Grousset, E. 
 Gerardin, Geresme. Goupil, Jourde, Pillot, Regere, Rastoul, Trinquet, Ur- 
 bain, Verdure. All of these were sentenced to various penalties, varying 
 from hard labor and transportation for life to three month's imprisonment: 
 two also had fines to pay. Jourde was sentenced to transportation; Rastoul 
 had the same sentence. Assi, Grousset, Billioray, Regere, Verdure and 
 Ferrat to deportation and confinement in a fortress. Courbet six months' 
 imprisonment, and fined 500 francs; Clement to three months. 
 
 Trials were had on the absentees including- the dead, and Rigault, Deles- 
 cluze and Varlin were sentenced to death. Fifty members of the Commune 
 had not been captured May 29, 1872, (many of them were dead) but they 
 were tried, and. on various charges, 39 being- sentence to death, 11 to life im- 
 prisonment. They were as follows: 
 
 Allix, Avrial, A. Arnould, Andrieu, Babick, Blanchet, Bergeret, Brunei, 
 Cluseret, Chardon, Cournet, J. B. Clement, Clemence, Chalain, Demay, 
 Durand, Dereure, Frankel, Ch. Gerardin, Gambon, Henri Fortune, Lonclas, 
 Lonquet, Langevin, Lefrancais, Ledroyt, Martelet, Mortier, Meillet, Miot, 
 Malon, Ostyn, Oudet, Pindy, Pottier, Protot, Puget, Parisel, Pyat, Ranvier, 
 Ranc, Sicard, Serailler, Theisz, Viard, Vesinier, Vaillant. 
 
 Forty-five members of the Committee Central had been arrested within 
 a year after the Commune's fall and 39 were uncaptured. 
 
 Lullier, Maxime Lisbonne and Grelier, members of the Committee Cen- 
 tral were sentenced to death. It was expected that Lullier would be acquitted 
 on the grounds of insanity. 
 
 Ulysee Parent, Lefevre and Descamps were acquitted, and the others 
 captured were transported. 
 
 The following were executed on dates given, being sentenced for offenses 
 mentioned: 
 
 Ferre, (Member of Commune), was executed Nov. 28, 1871, for com- 
 plicitv in the affair of the hostages; Phillipe, (Member Commune) Jan. 
 22d, 1873, for incendiarism; Rossel, for bearing arms against France, 
 28th Nov. 1871. [It is said Thiers made efforts to save RossePs life.] 
 Serizier and Boin, complicity in the killing of the Dominicans, May 
 25th, 1872; Rouillac, killing Chemist Dubois, July 6th, 1872; Lecroix 
 and Lagrang, Federates, and Verdguer, Sergeant 88th regiment de 
 marche, participation in the Lecomte-Clement-Thomas shooting, the 
 first on Feb. 23d, the last two Feb. 22, 1872; Boudin, incendiarism, 
 May 25, 1872. For shooting hostages in Rue Haxo; Aubroy, Dalivoust, 
 De Saint Omer, Francois, July 25, 1872, and Benot, Jan. 22d, 1873. For 
 shooting hostages at La Roquette; Genton, April 30th, 1872; Lolive, 
 Sept. 18, 1372. Shooting Chauday; Preau de Vedel, March 19, 1872; for 
 shooting Comtede Beaufort, Deniville, Sept. 19, 1872. 
 
 There was a bitter feeling among the French populace when the atroci- 
 ties of the Versaillese were brought to their remembrances by the action of 
 these Courts. The Deputies were averse to granting amnesty to the pris- 
 oners and exiles, though various attempts were made to that end. However, 
 in March, 1879, a partial amnesty was granted, which restored to full citizen- 
 ship all but 400 fugitives, and all prisoners except about 300. On July 12, 
 1880, full amnesty to all prisoners or exiles was decreed and nearly all 
 returned to France. London had been the home of very many of the exiles, 
 some of whom had achieved distinction in English Governmental and other 
 positions. Some arrests and sentences took place as late as 1877. 
 
 Total number of prisoners recorded as taken 38,578. Of these 1,090 
 -were liberated after simply questioning; 967 died before trial; 1,957 
 
ARRESTS, PUNISHMENTS, ETC 231 
 
 were men, 235 women, 77 children. The 36,309 unaccounted for above 
 
 were arrested as follows: 
 
 Before the entry into Paris 3,224 
 
 During the 8 days' fight ...... 18,756 
 
 Fugitives handed over by Prussians ... 625 
 
 After the fall of the Commune . , . . 13,399 
 
 Captured at various times outside Paris . . 305 
 
 36,309 
 
 The prisoners are classified as follows : 
 
 Persons holding official position in Commune . 438 
 
 Federates, 16 or more years of age . . . 29,409 
 
 " under 16 years of age .... 93 
 Persons, not Federates, engaged in the insurrection 
 
 (including some irregular bands of armed men) . 5,105 
 
 Women, 16 or more years of age .... 819 
 
 Girls, under 16 4 
 
 Bojs, under 16, not attached to military . , 441 
 
 There were 1,725 foreigners, which included 27 Englishmen, 17 
 Americans and 81 Germans, and larger percentages of Belgians, 
 Italians, Swiss, Poles and Dutch. 
 
 Triedfor Political Offenses 9,373 
 
 Of these there were— Men .... 9,262 
 
 Boys .... 51 
 
 Women ... 59 
 
 Girls . . . 1 
 
 Tried for Offenses against person . . . .441 
 
 Of these there were— Men .... 393 
 
 Boys 2 
 
 Women ... 46 
 
 Tried for Offenses against property .... 323 
 
 Of these there were— Men .... 205 
 
 Boys .... 1 
 
 Women ... 27 
 
 Totals 10,137 10,137 
 
 After long detentions, averaging five months, on "no charge," 23,- 
 727 were liberated. To attend to trial of remaining 12,582, two Military 
 Courts were established, which number was increased to 26, and two 
 Courts of Revisions ; a Court of Pardons was also put in operation in 
 July, 1871; 95 prisoners were sentenced to death, and 10,137 sentenced 
 to various penalties, many to transportation, many to perpetual 
 hard labor, a few to simple police surveillance. There were 139 sen- 
 tences annulled out of 2,962 by the court on application. The sentence 
 of 72 condemned to death were commuted to imprisonment. 
 
 It is believed that the reports of the trials, sentences, etc. as here given, 
 do not represent the total of persons taken and punished otherwise than by 
 immediate killing-. There are conflicting statements regarding the matter, 
 and it is stated by many eminent writers that at least 15,000, and by some, 
 that many more than 15,000 persons were transported. 
 
 The mere number of sentences to transportation does not cover the real 
 facts concerning the punishment of those convicted. " The cat o' nine tails, 
 the irons in the ship's hold, the blows and insults of the warders, the semi- 
 starvation, all the refinements of cruelty " accompanied the unfortunate 
 rebels on their way to their imprisonment and exile. 
 
 Plato wrote: "A state in which classes exist is not one but two. The poor 
 constitute one state and the rich another; and both, living in the closest 
 proximity, are constantly on the watch against each other. 
 
4232 THIS PARIS COMMUNE). 
 
 SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 
 
 TITLE. AUTHOR. 
 
 Histoire de la Commune de 1871 . . ... Lissagaray 
 
 History of the Commune of Paris in 1871 . . . Thomas March 
 Rise and Fall of the Paris Commune of 1871 . . W. P. Fetridge 
 
 A Short History of The Paris Commune . . . E. Belfort Bax 
 Recollections of A Minister to France . . . EWm B. Washburne 
 France in the Nineteenth Century . . . Elizabeth W. Latimer 
 Political History of France . . . . . . H. C. Loc/civood 
 
 History of the War between France and Germany . . Cassell 
 Socialism ; Its Growth and Outcome . William. Morris and E. Belfort Bax 
 
 Review of European Society . J. Sketchley 
 
 Ca Ira . William DuGas Trammell 
 
 French and German Socialism in Modern Times . Richard T, Ely. 
 History of the Franco-German War . . . . . Von Moltke 
 Evolution of France Under the Third Republic . Baron de Courbertin 
 
 A History of France Victor Duruy 
 
 The Government of Thiers . . . . . . . Jules Simon 
 
 PERIODICALS. 
 
 "The Revolution of the Commune, F.Harrison . Fortnightly Review, 1871 
 The Fall of The Commune, " " " " 
 
 The Paris Working-man and the Commune, Desnioulins " " " 
 
 The Paris Commune, J. Andrieu . . . . " " " 
 
 The Military Side of The Commune, Cluseret . " " 1873 
 
 Behind the Scenes at The Commune, " ... Fraser's, 1872 
 
 The Commune of Paris in 1871, " . . . . " 1873 
 
 The English Working Classes and The Paris Commune, . " 1871 
 
 Suum Cuique; the Moral of the Paris Catastrophe . . " " 
 
 At Paris, Just Before the End, Vicar of Church of England " " 
 
 Gustave Courbet, Artist and Communist, T. Munson Coan , Century, 1884 
 What I Saw of The Paris Commune, Archibald Forbes . . " 1892 
 The Commune and the International, . . Quarterly Review, 1871 
 
 Paris and Versailles, A Young English Gentleman . McMillen's, 1871 
 The Programme of The Commune, . . Littbll's Living Age, 1871 
 
 Communal France, Edinburgh Review, 1871 
 
 In and About Paris, Edward King . . . . Scribner's, 1872 
 
 Last Days of The Commune, John B. Marsh . . Gentleman's, 1871 
 A History of tke Commune of Paris, A Resident . . Blackwood's, 1871 
 
 London " Times," (1871); London "News," (1871); San Francisco 
 ^'Argonaut;" San Francisco "Truth," (1884.) 
 PAMPHLETS. 
 
 "Address of the International Working-men's Association", 1871. "The 
 Internationale; Its Principles and Purposes," (1871) by George Wilkes. 
 ^ <-The Commune of Paris," by Peter Krapotkin. 
 
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