Henon and his council, as the month before, would have liked to
temporise; while Valentin and Crouzat dreamt of Espivent. At five
o'clock the 38th of the line debouched by the bridge of the Guillotiere;
the crowd penetrated into the ranks of the soldiers, conjuring them not
to fire, and the officers were constrained to take back their men to the
barracks. During this time the Guillotiere was fortifying itself. A
large barricade, extending from the store-houses of the Nouveau-Monde to
the angle of the Mairie, barred the Grande Rue; another was thrown up at
the entrance of the Rue des Trois Rois; a third on a level with the Rue
de Chabrol.
At half-past six the 38th came out of their barracks, but this time
watched by a battalion of chasseurs. Valentin, Crouzat, and the
procureur de la republique marched at their head. In front of the mairie
the Riot Act was read; some shots answered it, wounding the prefect. The
cavalry swept the Des Brosses court and the Place de la Mairie, while
two pieces of cannon opened fire on the edifice. Its doors soon gave way
and the occupants abandoned it. The troops entered after having killed
the sentinel, intent upon mounting guard to the very last. It has been
said that five insurgents, taken by surprise in the interior of the
building, were killed by a Versaillese officer with shots from his
revolver.
The struggle continued during part of the night in the neighbouring
streets, and the soldiers, deceived by the darkness, killed about a
hundred of their own men. The losses of the Communards were less great.
By three o'clock in the morning all was over.
At the Croix-Rousse some citizens had invaded the mairie and scattered
the voting-papers; the check of the Guillotiere cut short their
resistance.
The Versaillese took advantage of this victory to disarm the battalions
of the Guillotiere; but the population refused, rallying round the
victors. Some monarchists had been elected during the day, but everybody
considering the elections of the 30th null and void, they were obliged
to submit to a second ballot, and not one of them was re-elected. The
movement in favour of Paris continued.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account