Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/172

168 COMMUNE DE PAEIS pushed forward, and by the end of the after- noon the national army began to enter the city by the St. Cloud gate. A large body of men took possession of the interior of the for- tifications, extended along the walls, opened the other southwestern gates to their fellows, occupied without resistance the interior line of works erected by Dombrowski, and drove the few communist soldiers already in their new positions there back to a second series of defences prepared still further from the outer circle. By midnight more than 75,000 nation- al soldiers were within the enceinte. A col- umn of infantry under Col. Piquemal took the barricade protecting the bridge of Grenelle, and surprised and captured troops on the Troca- d6ro. So rapid were the movements of the national forces that the insurgents at work on a battery at the Arc de Trioraphe were simi- larly surprised and driven from their works, which were at once occupied and used against the batteries at the foot of the Champs Ely- sees, which were still in the power of the communists. Gen. Cissey took possession of the greater part of the district of Vaugirard and the Champ de Mars, and at once secured himself in the position. With the dawn of Monday morning the more distant quarters of Paris learned with surprise that the Versailles troops were in possession of a large portion of the city. But the victory was by no means won. In the quarters of the capital where the commune was strongest the insurgents thronged to the barricades, pre- pared for a last desperate resistance. Though it is true that many who would willingly have yielded were forced to this last defence, there was still a great body of men who rallied loy- ally for the cause to which they had shown such hearty devotion, and the fights of the last five days of the commune's existence saw in- stances of fidelity to it such as only the most sincere conviction could have called forth from its followers, whether deluded or intelligent. Hurriedly organizing their troops and planning their defence, the leaders turned all their avail- able force to the erection of barricades in every part of the city still in their possession. Pro- clamations were posted on the walls, inciting the citizens to fight to the last, and -officers rode through the streets calling upon the peo- ple to make a supreme effort for the sake of their liberties. These appeals met with little re- rnse in the wealthier quarters of Paris, where Versailles troops were greeted with every sign of welcome, but produced the greatest effect in the regions which were the insur- gent strongholds, where even women and chil- dren fought at the barricades with an energy and fury equal to that of the men. The opera- tions of the national army went steadily on during Monday and Tuesday. Following a systematic plan by which it was designed to advance simultaneously on both sides of the Seine, to take possession of the important strategic points along the outskirts of the city, and thus to form an almost unbroken cor- don which could be gradually narrowed until the whole body of the insurgents should be ex- terminated or taken, the troops were divided into five columns. One of these, forming the right wing and commanded by Cissey, was to operate on the left bank of the Seine, pressing on from the western part of the city toward the quartier Latin ; two others, under Vinoy and Douay, were to pursue a course through the centre of the city ; and the remaining two, under Clinchant and Ladmirault, were to pass over the hardest ground of all, making their way directly through Montmartre and the portion of the city lying beyond it. To be- gin the advance of this last named division, it was first of all necessary to take posses- sion of the plateau of Montmartre itself. On Tuesday morning, the 23d, the attack was begun. Many of the leading points around it were gained without difficulty ; but for hours a strong and well defended barricade in the rue Lepic kept up a formidable resistance, and it was noon when it was finally carried by a storming party after a desperate conflict, the further defence was slight, and by 2 o'clock the height was in the possession of the na- tional troops. There remained only the place Pigalle, the very cradle of the insurrection, which still refused to yield. Dombrowski commanded its barricade, and under his direc- tion it maintained for two hours a most despe- rate defence, only ending when the communist leader fell, mortally wounded. By night the w T hole of this chief communist stronghold was won. On the same day (Tuesday) the division on the left bank of the Seine had overcome one barricade after another, the insurgents de- fending themselves with scarcely less desperate valor than at Montmartre, and, after a day of the most violent conflict, had possessed them- selves of the greater part of the 14th arrondisse- ment, and taken the positions most important for further movements, by which it was in- tended to partially surround and press in upon the quartier St. Germain. The centre column, advancing on the points held by the insurgents near the middle of Paris the barricades in the place de la Concorde, near the Tuileries, in the place Vendome, and elsewhere in the best known portion of the city encountered everywhere the same furious resistance as in the other quarters. The place Vendome was only taken by an overwhelming assault made at the same time on both sides, from the rue de la Paix and the rue de Castiglione. One by one the barricades in the boulevard Malesherbes and the boulevard Haussmann were taken ; the neighborhood of the Grand Opera, which was strongly defended, followed after a desperate conflict at the northern end of the rue Halevy. The great barracks of Bonne Nouvelle were also captured by Gen. Ladmirault. On Wednesday morning the Bourse was taken ; and the centre column was in possession of the whole surrounding quarter,