Battlefields -- France -- Guidebooks; France -- Guidebooks; Marne, 1st Battle of the, France, 1914
We cross the moat by the bridge shown in the photograph opposite,
and pass in between two little lodges, on which some curious carving
is still to be seen (_view above_). Enter the inner courtyard of the
castle, now transformed into a garden. On the right and on the left
a few ruins are to be seen. The view on p. 124 is of those on the
left. After having re-crossed the bridge turn to the left in order to
take a glance at the ancient chapel of the Capucins dating from the
seventeenth century. At the far end is a rood-loft whose rich wood
carvings contrast with the dismantled walls of the chapel.
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE CASTLE]
Leaving the grounds, _take the Rue des Capucins again, and on arriving
at the Hôtel de l'Ours_ (where the Germans held orgies as well as at
the Hôtel du Soleil Levant, a little lower down, in the Rue de la
Pêcherie,) _turn to the right into the Rue de Melun_.
We arrive at the bridge from which the photograph below was taken. The
building on the left, of which only a corner is to be seen, is the
town-hall. Further to the right, in the background and half-hidden by
the trees, is a large house, which lodged a German staff during the
occupation. Behind the trees is the theatre.
A little beyond the bridge is a green painted house, 7. Rue de la
Pêcherie, where M. Chatry, Procureur de la République, was held
prisoner. The latter, in his account before the Enquiry Commission,
recalled the incidents of his arrest and of his imprisonment.
"_In the evening I was at the town-hall, when a rough-looking Staff
Officer came up to me in the secretary's office, saying: 'Take your
casque_ (the magistrate's "toque") _and follow me,' continuing: 'You
said you did not know where to find any oats; we have just found some,
so you lied; you are a liar and a swine. Come with me and see.' I
accompanied him to the granary of the town-mill, which had been broken
into and pillaged by the Germans. I remarked that after all there were
oats there, and I became again the object of redoubled insults: 'Swine,
you will be shot.' And when I protested, declaring my ignorance of this
provision of oats, the officer shouted repeatedly: 'Swine, shut your
mouth'; at the same time, I was roughly handled and my arm and shoulder
bruised._
"_He then forced me to go round the town looking for more oats. I was
again insulted and roughly used in a shop where the officer kicked
those who were there. 'If, within an hour,' he told me, 'you have not
found more oats, you will be shot.'_
"_After a fresh search, I returned to the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville,
to be again insulted by the same officer, with whom was another,
tall, pale, and bareheaded, with a monocle in his right eye, who said
mockingly: 'You are responsible for this; it is all your fault.'_
[Illustration: THE MORIN]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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