Paris under the Commune Part 39

_Wednesday, 24th May_: One p.m., the powder magazine at the Palais du Luxembourg blown up. The Committee of Public Safety organise detachments of fusee-bearers. Raoul Rigault shot in the afternoon by the soldiers.

In the evening, execution in the Prison of La Roquette of the Archbishop, Abbe Deguerry, etc.

_Thursday, 26th May_: The forts Montrouge, Hautes-Bruyeres, Bicetre evacuated by the insurgents. The death of Delescluze is reported to have taken place this day. Executions in the Avenue d'Italie of the Peres Dominicains of Arcueil.

_Friday, 26th May_: Sixteen priests shot in the Cemetery of Pere Lachaise by the insurgents.

_Sat.u.r.day, 27th May_: The b.u.t.tes Chaumont, the heights of Belleville, and the Cemetery of Pere Lachaise carried by the troops. Taking of the prison La Roquette by the Marines. Deliverance of 169 hostages.

_Sunday, 28th May_: The investment of Belleville complete.

_Monday, 29th May_: Six. p.m., the federal garrison of the fortress of Vincennes surrendered at discretion.

I. (Page 2.)

HENRI ROCHEFORT.

Henri Rochefort, personal enemy of the Empire, republican humourist of the _Ma.r.s.eillaise_, and the lukewarm socialist of the _Mot d'Ordre_, who could answer to the judge who demanded his name, "I am Henri Rochefort, Comte de Lucey," has been reproached by some with his t.i.tles of n.o.bility, and with the childish pleasure that he takes in affecting the plebeian. It is said of him that he aspires but to descend, but who would condemn him for spurning the petrifactions of the Faubourg Saint-Germain? A man must march with the times.

Rochefort has distinguished himself among the young men by the marvellous tact that he has shown in discovering the way to popular favour. If I were allowed to compare a marquis to one of the canine species, I should say that he has a keen scent for popularity; but one must respect rank in a period like ours, when we may go to sleep to the shouts of the _canaille_, and awake to the melodious sounds of "_Vive Henri V!_" "Long live the King!"

Born in January, 1830, Henri Rochefort was the son of a marquis, although his father, lately dead, was a _vaudevilliste_ and his mother a _patissere_. From such a fusion might have emanated odd tastes, such as preferring truffles to potatoes, but putting the knife into requisition whilst eating green peas. But in his case Mother Nature had intermingled elements so cleverly that Rochefort could be republican and royalist, catholic and atheist, without being accused for all that of being a political weatherc.o.c.k.

As a writer of drollery and scandal in the _Charivari_, would it have been well if he had used his t.i.tle as a badge? Later, when contributing to the _Nain Jaune_, the _Soleil_, the _Evenement_, and the _Figaro_, when everyone would have been enchanted to call him _mon cher Comte_, he never displayed his rank, except when on the ground, face to face with the sword or pistol of Prince Achille Murat or Paul de Ca.s.sagnac.

A frequenter of _cafes_, living fast, bitter with journalists, hail-fellow with comedians, he lavished his wit for the benefit of minor theatres, and expended the exuberance of his patrician blood in comic odes. Dispensing thus some of his strength in such pieces as the _Vieillesse de Brididi_, the _Foire aux Grotesques_, and _Un Monsieur Bien-Mis_, in 1868 he founded the _Lanterne_, and thenceforth became the most ardent champion of the revolutionary party; and in the brilliant articles we all know, he cast its light on the follies of others under the pretext that they were his own. This satirical production reached the eleventh number, when its author, overstepping all bounds, took Napoleon by the horns and the gendarmes by the nose, and committed other extravagances, until the Government fined him to the amount of ten thousand francs penalties, and ordered him a short repose in the prison of Sainte-Pelagie. The notoriety attaching to his name dates from that period, and the events which accompanied the violent death of Victor Noir tended to augment his popularity and to convert him into the leader of a party, or the bearer of a flag, around which rallied all the elements of the struggle against established authority.

He escaped to Belgium, and studied socialism, which he expounded later to an admiring audience of seventeen to eighteen thousand electors at Belleville. Elected deputy by the 20th Arrondiss.e.m.e.nt, M. de Rochefort became, in 1869, a favourite representative of that cla.s.s of the Parisian population whose bad instincts he had flattered and whose tendencies to revolt against authority he had encouraged, and in virtue of these claims he was chosen to form part of the Government of the National Defence. As President of the Commission of Barricades, after the 4th of September, during the siege of Paris, in the midst of the difficulties of all sorts caused to the Government of the National Defence by the investment of the capital, M. De Rochefort, making more and more common cause with the revolutionary party, separated himself from his colleagues in the Government who refused to permit the establishment of a second Government, the Commune, within a besieged city. By this act he openly declared himself a partisan of the Commune, and immediately after the acceptance of the preliminaries of peace he resigned his position as a deputy, alleging that his commission was at an end, and retired to Arcachon.

His wildly sanguinary articles in the _Ma.r.s.eillaise_, and the compacts sealed with blood, with Flourens and his a.s.sociates, now had so exhausted our poor Rochefort that at the moment of flouris.h.i.+ng his handkerchief as the standard of the _canaille_, he dropped pale and fainting to the ground, attacked by a severe illness. He was hardly convalescent when the events of the 18th of March occurred. But early in April, he exerted himself to a.s.sume the direction of the _Mot d'Ordre_, which, after having been suppressed by order of General Vinoy, the military commandant of Paris, had reappeared immediately upon the establishment of the Commune. He arrived on the scene of contest about the 8th or 10th of April. The daily report of military operations states the movements of the enemy, and points out what should be done to meet and resist him most advantageously (12th, 13th, and 14th of April; 10th; 16th, and 20th of May). Imaginary successes, the inaccuracy of which must in most instances have been known to the chief editor of the _Mot d'Ordre_, encouraged the hopes of the insurgents, while the announcement of unsuccessful combats was delayed with evident intention; the most ridiculous stories, the falsity of which was evident to the plainest common sense, and which could not escape the intelligence of M.

Rochefort, were published in his journal, and kept up the popular excitement (12th, 15th, 19th, 26th, 27th, and 28th of April; 6th and 7th of May). It was in this manner that the pretended Pontifical Zouaves were brought upon the scene, with emblazoned banners, which were seized by the soldiers of the Commune (18th and 19th of April, 8th and 10th of May); that the Government of Versailles was furnished with war material given by, or purchased from the Prussians (27th and 28th of April, 6th and 17th of May); that it was again accused of making use of explosive bullets (18th and 19th of May), and of petroleum bombs (20th of April, and 2nd, 5th, 17th, and 19th of May); and that the best-known and most respected generals had been guilty of the grossest acts of cruelty and barbarity. Incitement to civil war (2nd and 26th of April and 14th and 24th of May) followed, as did also the oft-repeated accusation against the Government of wis.h.i.+ng to reduce Paris by famine; indescribable calumnies directed against the Chief of the Executive Power (2nd, 16th, 20th, and 30th of April, and 8th of May), against the minister, the Chambers (16th of April and 14th of May), and the generals (12th, 16th, and 26th of April). The director of the _Mot d'Ordre_ then finding that men's minds were prepared for all kinds of excesses, started the idea of the demolition of M. Thiers's house by way of reprisal (6th of April); he mentioned the artistic wealth which it contained. He also referred to the dwellings of other ministers. He returned persistently to this idea, and on the 17th of May he invited the people, in the name of justice, to burn off-hand that other humiliating monument which is styled the History of the Consulate and of the Empire--in short, he insists on the execution of these acts of Vandalism. He did not call for the destruction of the Column Vendome, but approved of the decree. He demands the destruction of the Expiatory Chapel of Louis XVI. (20th of April), and suggests the seizure of the crown jewels, which were in the possession of the bank (14th of April). In short, M. Rochefort, having entered upon a road which must naturally lead to extremes, finally arrives at a proposition for a.s.sa.s.sination. In the same way as he pointed out to the demolishers the house of M. Thiers, and to the bandits released by the Commune the treasures of the Church, so he points out to the a.s.sa.s.sins the unfortunate hostages.

A few days before the end of the reign of the Commune he judged it prudent, "seeing the gravity of events," to suspend the publication of his journal and to quit Paris.

He was arrested at Meaux. It was the "_Meaux de la fin_,"[113] said a friend and fellow-writer.

He arrived at Versailles on the twenty-first of May, at two o'clock, the same day on which the troops entered Paris. On Sept. 20 Rochefort was tried with the Communists before the military tribunal of Versailles. Physically he seemed to have suffered much during his three months of incarceration. He is reported to have made anything but a brilliant defence, and to have restricted himself to pleading past actions and good services. He said that he suppressed _The Ma.r.s.eillaise_ at a loss of 20,000 francs per month, when he had no other private means of support, because he thought the effect of its articles would weaken the plan of Trochu for the defence of Paris, and that when he (M.

Rochefort) held the _forces populaires_, and had an _occasion unique_, he chose to play a subordinate part. He stated himself a journalist _under_ the reign of the Commune, and not an active power _in_ the Commune from which in the end he had to fly. Rochefort owned that his articles in the _Mot d'Ordre_ had been more or less violent, but he pleaded the cause his "_facon plus ou moins nerveuse a ecrire_" and that from illness he did not sometimes see his own journal. When pandering to a vulgar audience, Rochefort seemed to have lost his rich vein of satire, and to have lost himself in vile abuse. On the 21st he was sentenced to transportation for life within the enceinte of a French fortress.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 113: "_Le mot de la fin_," the final word--the finale.]

II. (Page 27.)

THE EIGHTEENTH OF MARCH.

It was on the day of the 18th of March, exactly six months after the appearance of Prussians beneath the walls of Paris, that the Government had chosen for the repression of the rebellion. At four o'clock in the morning, the troops of the army of Paris received orders to occupy the positions that had been a.s.signed to them. All were to take part in the action, but it is just to add here that the most arduous and fatiguing part fell to the share of the l.u.s.tielle division, composed of the Paturel brigade (17th battalion of Cha.s.seurs), and of the Lecomte brigade (18th battalion of Cha.s.seurs). Three regiments of infantry were entrusted with the guard of the Hotel de Ville; another, the 89th, mounted guard at the Tuileries. The Place de la Bastille was occupied by a battalion of the 64th, and two companies of the 24th. Three other battalions remained confined to barracks on the Boulevard du Prince Eugene. The Rue de Flandre, the Rue de Puebla, and the Rue de Crimee were filled with strong detachments of Infantry; a battalion of the Republican Guard and the 35th Regiment of Infantry were drawn up in the neighbourhood of the b.u.t.tes Chaumont. The whole quarter around the Place Clichy was occupied by the Republican Guard, foot Cha.s.seurs, mounted gendarmes, Cha.s.seurs d'Afrique, and a half battery of artillery. Other troops, starting from this base-line of operation, were led up the heights of Montmartre, together with companies of Gardiens de la Paix (the former Sergents-de-Ville converted into soldiers). At six o'clock in the morning the first orders were executed; the Gardiens de la Paix surrounded a hundred and fifty or two hundred insurgents appointed to guard the park of artillery, and the troops made themselves masters of all the most important points. The success was complete. Nothing remained to be done but to carry off the guns. Unhappily, the horses which had been ordered for this purpose did not arrive at the right moment. The cause of this fatal delay remains still unknown, but it is certain that they were still on the Place de la Concorde at the time when they ought to have been harnessed to the guns at Montmartre. Before they arrived, agitation had broken out and spread all over the quarter.

The turbulent population, complaining in indignant tones of circulation being stopped, insulted the sentinels placed at the entrances of the streets, and threatened the artillerymen who were watching them. At the same time, the Central Committee caused the rappel to be beaten, and towards seven o'clock in the morning ten or twelve thousand National Guards from the arrondiss.e.m.e.nts of Batignolles, Montmartre, La Villette, and Belleville poured into the streets. Crowds of lookers-on surrounded the soldiers who were mounting guard by the recaptured pieces, the women and children asking them pleadingly if they would have the heart to fire upon their brothers.

Meanwhile, about a dozen tumbrils, with their horses, had arrived on the heights of the b.u.t.tes, the guns were dragged off, and were quietly proceeding down hill, when, at the corner of the Rue Lepic and the Rue des Abbesses, they were stopped by a concourse of several hundred people of the quarter, princ.i.p.ally women and children. The foot soldiers, who were escorting the guns, forgetting their duty, allowed themselves to be dispersed by the crowd, and giving way to perfidious persuasion, ended by throwing up the b.u.t.t ends of their guns. These soldiers belonged to the 88th Battalion of the Lecomte brigade. The immediate effect of their disaffection was to abandon the artillerymen to the power of the crowd that was increasing every moment, rendering it utterly impossible for them either to retreat or to advance. And the result was, that at nine o'clock in the morning the pieces fell once more into the hands of the National Guards.

Judging that the enterprise had no chance of succeeding by a return to the offensive, General Vinoy ordered a retreat, and retired to the quarter of Les Ternes. This movement had been, moreover, determined by the bad news arriving from other parts of Paris. The operations at Belleville had succeeded no better than those at Montmartre. A detachment of the 35th had, it is true, attacked and taken the b.u.t.tes Chaumont, defended only by about twenty National Guards; but as soon as the news of the capture had spread in the quarter, the drums beat to arms, and in a short time the troops were found fraternising with the National Guards of Belleville, who got possession again of the b.u.t.tes Chaumont, and not only retook their own guns, but also those which the artillery had brought up to support the manoeuvre of the infantry of the line. At the same time, the 120th shamefully allowed themselves to be disarmed by the people, and the insurgents became masters of the barracks of the Prince Eugene.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, two columns of National Guards, each composed of three battalions, made their way towards the Hotel de Ville, where they were joined by a dozen other battalions from the left bank of the river; at the same hour, the insurgent guards of Belleville took and occupied the Imprimerie Nationale, the Napoleon Barracks, the staff-quarters of the Place Vendome, and the railway stations; the arrest of General Chanzy completed the work of the day, which had been put to profitable account by the insurgents.--"_Guerre de Comunneux de Paris._"

III. (Page 77.)

THE PRUSSIANS AND THE COMMUNE.

The enemies of yesterday, the Prussians, did not disdain to enter into communication with the Central Committee on the 22nd of March. This was an additional reason for the new masters of Paris to regard their position as established, and the _Official Journal_ took care to make known to the public the following despatch received from Prussian head-quarters:--

"To the actual Commandant of Paris, the Commander-in-Chief of the third corps d'armee.

"Head-quarters, Compiegne,

"21st March, 1871.

"The undersigned Commander-in-Chief takes the liberty of informing you that the German troops that occupy the forts on the north and east of Paris, as well as the neighbourhood of the right bank of the Seine, have received orders to maintain a pacific and friendly att.i.tude, so long as the events of which the interior of Paris is the theatre, do not a.s.sume towards the German forces a hostile character, or such as to endanger them, but keep within the terms settled by the treaty of peace.

"But should these events a.s.sume a hostile character, the city of Paris will be treated as an enemy.

"For the Commandant of the third corps of the Imperial armies,

"(Signed) Chief of the Staff, VON SCHLOSHEIM,

"Major-General."

Paschal Grousset, the delegate of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, who had succeeded Monsieur Jules Favre, but who instead of minister was called delegate, which was much more democratic, replied as follows:--

"Paris, 22nd March, 1871.

"To the Commandant-in-Chief of the Imperial Prussian Armies.

"The undersigned, delegate of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, in reply to your despatch dated from Compiegne the 21st instant, informs you that the revolution, accomplished in Paris by the Central Committee, having an essentially munic.i.p.al character, has no aggressive views whatever against the German armies.

"We have no authority to discuss the preliminaries of peace voted by the a.s.sembly at Bordeaux.

"The member of the Central Committee, Delegate for Foreign Affairs.