Louis Philippe: Makers of History SeriesAbbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
Louis Philippe: Makers of History Series
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Louis Philippe, King of the French, 1773-1850
The war-worn marshal skillfully arranged his forces, evidently
copying the operations of Napoleon in his famous repulse of the
attack of the sections upon the Convention. Three battalions were
placed at the Carrousel, which might be regarded as a vast fortress
in the centre of the city, walled in by the Tuileries and the Louvre.
Three battalions were stationed in the Place de la Concorde, with two
pieces of artillery. Three battalions of the line were ranged along
the boulevards from the Place of the Bastile to the Madeleine.
General Marmont did not wait for an attack to be made upon him. He
sent out detachments to scour the streets and to prevent the erection
of barricades. Reports had reached him that several were in process
of construction in the most narrow streets.
The first barricade encountered was in the Rue St. Honore, nearly in
front of the Palais Royal. The troops endeavored to disperse the
defenders by a volley in the air. As this produced no effect, they
opened upon them with a point-blank discharge, by which several were
wounded, and one man was killed. The other detachments met with no
opposition, but removed several barricades, and dispersed tumultuous
gatherings. The agitation was hourly on the increase. Random shots
were heard in different parts of the city. The dead body of the man
shot while defending the barricade was paraded in blood-stained
ghastliness through the streets, exciting frenzied passions. The
troops of the line, so called, who were known to be in sympathy with
the people, and whom General Marmont distrusted, were received with
shouts of applause wherever they appeared.
A vast concourse of the people had assembled in front of the Palais
Royal. A detachment of the line was sent to guard the palace. The
troops and the populace mingled together, talking and laughing. As
the multitude pressed the troops, they opened their ranks and let the
living torrent pass through, amidst loud cheers. Several armorers'
shops were broken open, and it was manifest that vigorous
preparations were going on in anticipation of the struggle of the
succeeding day. Still the king, with an infatuation which is
inexplicable, took no measures to add to the military strength at the
disposal of General Marmont. Thus passed the day of the 27th. It
seems that at night the king became somewhat alarmed, for at eleven
o'clock he issued an ordinance from his retreat at St. Cloud
declaring Paris to be in a state of siege.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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