Part 29

Strong detachments guarded the different hotels of the ministers. Loud cries and shouts were constantly heard, of “Down with the Jesuits!”--“Down with the Bourbons!” “Death to the Ministers!” Each man strove to provide himself with a musket, a pistol, a sword, a pole with a knife, or some cutting instrument to form a weapon of offence. Troops continually arrived from St. Denis, St. Cloud, and other military stations. Rude barricades were hastily thrown up in different places, to prevent the attacks of cavalry. Several telegraphs, including that on the Church des Petits Peres, were dismounted. Groups of the people, armed with sticks, bayonets, pikes, and muskets, removed or effaced all the insignia and emblems of royalty. A red flag was hoisted on the gate of St. Denis, amidst the shouts of the people. Tri-coloured flags were promenaded in the streets, and tri-coloured cockades and breast-knots were worn, not only by the French, but by the English and foreigners of all nations. The royal arms, and other ensigns of the government of Charles X that were moveable, were burned in the Place Publique. All Paris was in insurrection. Every movement of the people portended a terrible conflict. The government reposed in security upon a blind and implacable dignity.

M. Lafitte had an interview with Polignac, who said “that the ministers could enter into no compromise or concession.” “We have, then, civil war,” said Lafitte. The prince bowed, and Lafitte retired.

As soon, however, as Polignac’s answer was made known, that “ministers would enter into no compromise or concession,” war, and war to the knife, commenced; and never were witnessed more heroic acts of personal bravery, and more generous disregard of selfish feelings, than were displayed by the citizens of Paris on this memorable day and night. The drums of the national guards soon beat “to arms!” The populace answered the call amid the incessant ringing of the tocsin, and the struggle began in earnest. About two o’clock a cannon on the bridge near the Marche aux Fleurs raked with grape-shot the quay, while the troops were resolutely attacked by the people, and numbers of the guards led off, killed or wounded.

There was a tremendous conflict in La Halle, the great market-place of the Rue St. Denis. The royal guard were early in possession of it. All the outlets were speedily closed by barricades, from behind which, from the corners of the various streets, and from the windows of the houses, the people fired on the guards, and there was a terrible slaughter on both sides. The hottest engagement seems to have been in the Rue St. Honoré, opposite the Palais Royal, where the military were assembled in great force, and the people resisted their assailants with desperate determination.

At the Place de Grêve they fiercely contended with the household troops, the Swiss guards, and compelled them to fly with great loss. In the Rue Montmartre an attack was made by the duke of Ragusa in person. During part of the day the Place des Victoires was occupied by some troops, among whom was a part of the fifth regiment of the line, who had gone over to the national guards established at the Petits Peres. About two o’clock the duke de Ragusa arrived at the place at the head of fresh troops. He drew them up opposite the Rues du Mail, des Fosses, Montmartre, Croix des Petits Champs, and Neuve des Petits Champs. He immediately commanded a charge, and on both sides hundreds of men were killed. The marshal directed his troops down the Rue du Mail, and they scoured the Rue Montmartre without much difficulty till they reached the Rue Joquelet, where the people were prepared. Each house was armed and guarded. The black flag was displayed on the Porte St. Denis and other edifices.

As soon as the firing ceased, the people made preparations for the next day by strengthening the barricades and increasing their number. They were assisted by women and even children. The remainder of the afternoon and evening, and the whole of the night, was spent in raising these important obstacles to the evolutions of cavalry. Excellent materials were at hand in the paving-stones; they were dug up and piled across the streets in walls breast high, and four or five feet thick. These walls were about fifty paces distant from each other. Hundreds of the finest trees were cut down for blockades. Nothing could be more effective for the defence of a large open town like Paris, traversed in every direction by long narrow streets, overlooked by houses of six, seven, and eight stories, than such barriers, scientifically constructed. All the means that industry and ingenuity could devise, in so short a time, were carried into execution, for the energetic stand and assault determined to be made against the military in the morning.

At day-break on Thursday the tocsin sounded “To arms;” and the people began to assemble rapidly and in great crowds. The military, whose guard-houses had been destroyed, were chiefly quartered at the Louvre and the Tuilleries, the Swiss and the royal guards being posted in the houses of the Rue St. Honoré and the adjacent streets. At the same time, the students of the Polytechnic School joined the citizens nearly to a man; they then separated, proceeding singly to different parts to take the command of the people, and nobly repaid the confidence reposed in them. The garden of the Tuilleries was closed. In the Place du Carousel were three squadrons of lancers of the garde royale, a battalion of the third regiment of the guards, and a battery of six pieces, also belonging to the guards.

About one o’clock in the afternoon, a party of the royal guards and of Swiss, to the number of nearly 800 men, appeared on the Place de Grêve. A brisk fire commenced, but the national guards not being in sufficient strength, were obliged to give ground and to suffer the royal guards to take possession of their post. The royal guards had scarcely made themselves masters of the Hotel de Ville, when they were assailed on all sides with a shower of bullets from the windows of the houses on the Place de Grêve and in the streets abutting on the quay. The royal guards resisted vigorously, but were ultimately compelled to retreat along the quay; their firing by files and by platoons succeeding each other with astonishing rapidity. They were soon joined by fresh troops of the royal guard and of Swiss, including 100 cuirassiers of the guard and four pieces of artillery, each of them escorted by a dozen of artillerymen on horseback. With this terrible reinforcement they again advanced on the Hotel de Ville, and a frightful firing began on all sides. The artillery debouching from the quay, and their pieces charged with cannister shot, swept the Place de Grêve in a terrific manner. They succeeded in driving the citizens into the Rues de Matriot and du Mouton, and entered for the second time that day into their position at the Hotel de Ville. But their possession of it did not continue long; for they were soon again attacked with a perseverance and courage which was almost irresistible. Their artillery ranged before the Prefecture of the Seine and the Hotel de Ville threatened death to thousands.

Hundreds of the constitutionalists were killed by the fire of the Swiss guard from the windows of this edifice. It was erected in 1600, and though it does not appear to possess any of the characteristics of strength in a military sense of the word, yet its gates, being of immense thickness, furnished a good defence from the musketry of the attacking parties. The Hotel de Ville was afterwards employed as the head-quarters of La Fayette and the provisional government.

The Rue St. Honoré, for two days, was a perpetual scene of slaughter. The Louvre, except the picture-gallery, was on all sides attacked and defended at the same moment, and for hours. In the court of the Louvre a field-piece was planted, which commanded the Pont des Arts, being exactly opposite the Institute. Here the fighting was so dreadful and so maintained, that the front of the building of the Institute was completely covered with muskets and grape shot. One cannon ball smashed a portion of the wall, and from its elevation did dreadful execution in sweeping the bridge. The attack on the Tuilleries was over in two or three hours. A young man marched with a tri-coloured flag at the head of the attacking bourgeois. A thousand balls, fired from the front of the chateau, whistled by him without touching him. He continued to march with perfect _sangfroid_, but with, at the same time, an air of importance, up to the triumphal arch, and remained until the end of the battle.

While the people and the military were combating at the Place de Grêve, the Louvre, and the Tuilleries, troops were arriving by the Champs Elysees. A great party of the people, and many national guards, with two pieces of cannon, were hastening along near the Place Louis XVI towards the Barrier St. Etoile, when a largo troop of dragoons arrived, made a desperate charge, and cut down the people without mercy who made a very bold stand. Many of the soldiers solemnly vowed that they would not continue to obey orders to massacre their brothers and sons. Their numbers were thinned, they were fatigued, disheartened, discomfited, beaten, and fled. At Chaillot, a district of Paris, verging on the route to St. Cloud, the inhabitants, though few in number, sustained the fire of five regiments of the guards, who attempted to effect their retreat by the barrier of Passy. At length, all the royal troops left the capital by the way of the Champs Elysees, and in their retreat were fired upon by the people.

At night, part of the town was illuminated, particularly the streets of St. Denis, St. Martin, St. Jacques, and the neighbourhood of the Hotel de Ville. Perfect tranquillity prevailed throughout the city. Strong patroles silently paraded the streets, passed gently from barricade to barricade, and disarmed individuals whom fatigue and the heat of the weather, more than wine, had rendered incapable of employing their weapons usefully.

A deputation from Charles X at St. Cloud, arrived at the Hotel de Ville early in the morning. It consisted of the marquis de Rastoret, chancellor of France; M. Semonville; and count d’Argout, peer of France. They announced that Charles had named the duke de Mortemart president of the council, and that he was willing to accept a ministry chosen by him.

At eleven o’clock, the deputies and peers then in Paris assembled in their respective halls, and established regular communications with each other. The duke de Mortemart was introduced to the chamber of deputies, and delivered four ordinances, signed, the previous day, by Charles X. One of them recalled the fatal ordinances of the 25th; another convoked the chambers on the 3rd; the third appointed the duke de Mortemart president of the council, and the fourth appointed count Gerard minister of war, and M. Casimir-Perier minister of finance. The reading of these ordinances was listened to with the greatest attention. At the termination profound silence continued;--no observation was made;--the deputies passed to other business.--The duke de Mortemart returned to acquaint his master that he was no longer acknowledged as king of France. The manner in which the duke and his communications were received by the deputies, was an announcement that Charles X had ceased to reign.

On the 31st, the deputies published a proclamation, declaring that they had invited the duke of Orleans to become Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. At noon of the same day, Louis Philippe d’Orleans issued a proclamation, declaring that he had hastened to Paris, wearing the “glorious colours” of France, to accept the invitation of the assembled deputies to become Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. A proclamation of the same date appointed provisional commissaries for the different departments of government. The king, with his family, escaped to St. Cloud.

On the 3rd of August the chambers met, when the abdication of Charles was announced; and on the 9th, Louis Philippe, having taken the prescribed oath, was created king, under the title of “King of the French.”

Thus terminated this desperate struggle for popular rights, and which has no parallel in the annals of history. The Parisians left their homes to fight, without organization and almost without arms, against some of the best troops in the world;--and for what? Were they a rabble driven by hunger, or a rebellious nobility endeavouring to wrest new privileges from the monarch? No: they were men who, animated with an ardent desire to be free, would not suffer themselves to be stripped of their civil rights, but firmly and manfully defended them with their lives. It was in this respect a great moral revolution, and forms a brilliant epoch in the annals of the world.”

RETREAT OF THE GREEKS.--Whoever has read the beautiful descriptions of Xenophon, has read of the memorable retreat of the 10,000 Greeks. It happened B.C. 401, after the battle of Cunaxa; Xenophon was chosen commander. He rose superior to danger, and though under continual alarms from the sudden attacks of the Persians, he was enabled to cross rapid rivers, penetrate through vast deserts, gain the tops of mountains, till he could rest secure for a while, and refresh his tired companions. At last they returned home, after a retreat of 1155 parasangs or leagues, which was performed in 215 days,--and after an absence of 15 months.

RIDGEWAY, BATTLE OF, OR LIME RIDGE.--Fought, Saturday, June 2nd, 1866, between the Canadian Volunteers of Toronto and Hamilton, and the Fenians, a lawless band of predatory scoundrels, who wantonly invaded Canada, and were driven back by Canada’s brave sons. The following succinct account is from the pen of the Rev. D. Inglis, D.D., of Hamilton, who was present in the engagement.

“Rev. Mr. Burwash and myself were appointed by a number of the ministers of this city to join the 13th Battalion of Hamilton volunteers, and to render them such assistance as might be in our power. The shadows of night had just given way to the bright light of that June morning when we reached Port Colborne and joined the battalion in the cars, a few minutes before the train left for Ridgeway. Much has been written on the proper rations and equipments for the men, and I only refer to this with the view of noticing the want of shoulder-straps with which to fasten the overcoats on the back of the soldiers, and the fact that they were obliged to roll them up and sling them over their right shoulders, under their left arm-pits, an expedient which afterwards greatly impeded them in aiming and firing, and caused them to abandon their overcoats when going into battle.

The train proceeded slowly to Ridgeway, where the men left the cars and were drawn up on the Stevensville road. The Queen’s Own were in the front, then came the 13th Battalion, and a company of riflemen from Caledonia forming the rear-guard. The men were in good spirits, and I could not look without admiration upon the coolness and intrepidity with which these volunteer soldiers, many of them mere lads, prepared for the advance. The ammunition was distributed to the men, the order given to load with ball cartridge, and then followed an interval of suspense and waiting. The sensation of relief was great when after some minutes of anxiety and impatience the order to advance was given. The position assigned to the waggon containing the ammunition, &c., in which Mr. Burwash and myself were riding, was immediately behind the main body, and in front of the rear guard. When about a mile and a half from Ridgeway several companies of the Queen’s Own were ordered into the fields and woods to clear them of Fenians--and in a short time the first shot was fired--and then in a rapid succession we saw small clouds of blue smoke issuing from the woods, telling us of a rapid discharge of musketry before the reports reached our ears. The sergeants in charge concluded to halt with their waggon, and Mr. Burwash and myself hurried on in the rear of our main body. The Fenian skirmishers fell back upon the main body of their force, who were drawn up in an entrenched position along the Fort Erie road. They had converted a stone wall and the ordinary snake-fences into barricades, and held a strong position; but on the advance of our forces, fearing lest our skirmishers should out-flank them, they retired in good order, and amid rapid firing, to a slightly elevated piece of ground covered with thick woods, some distance in their rear. It was in this advance that Ensign McEachren was mortally wounded. It has been stated that Colonel Booker rushed to the rear calling for a surgeon. I am in a position positively to deny this; the cry for a surgeon was heard by me, but it did not come from the Colonel. Mr. McEachren was borne to the rear by some men of his company, accompanied by the Captain, a noble fellow, whose name I do not know, to whom I at once introduced myself as a minister, and offered to do all I could for his friend. He thanked me with tears in his eyes, and hastened back to the post of danger. Dr. May was in attendance; but a glance at the wound shewed that it was mortal--and it fell to me to inform him of the fact. He received the intelligence as a Christian soldier--informing me that his faith rested in the Lord Jesus Christ. I prayed with him, and after a few moments’ conversation I mentioned Mr. Burwash’s name, and finding that he was an old parishioner of Mr. Burwash, I left him mainly to his care--though I several times spent a few moments with him afterwards. I then returned to the battle-field to see if I could be of use there. Our forces had advanced, throwing out their skirmishers right and left of the skirmishers--Queen’s Own--to the extreme right--13th battalion--the distance was probably a little more than three-quarters of a mile. Not a Fenian was to be seen, but as our brave soldiers advanced, nearer and nearer, there came again first a single shot, and then a rapid discharge of fire-arms along the whole line. From their elevated position, or from what other cause, I know not, the shots went over the heads of our men, and I could see them striking the field behind. I hastened back to the hospital with feelings of admiration for the brave fellows who, exposed to a terrible fire from an unseen foe, so nobly stood their ground, while the sharp crack of their rifles assured me that the gallant fellows were doing their duty amidst those showers of bullets, in spite of all the manifest disadvantages of their position; but I could not rid myself of a feeling of depression and anxiety when I thought of the result.

In the hospital I found a few men slightly wounded. One of them told me there were no litters with which to bear the wounded from the field. I set the men who were on guard to work to make litters with some poles which we found near--and such sheets and blankets as I could lay my hands on--and returned to the field with the men carrying the litters. I took my old position, from which I had a full view of the whole field, and was startled to notice strange movements going on among our men. They had halted--the whole line trembled--I do not mean that the brave men trembled, but there was a movement along their line which I find no other word to describe. The order to receive cavalry was given, and an effort was made to obey it. Then another and another order. The only one which the men seemed eager to obey was the one to advance, and then came the fatal bugle’s notes that told them to retreat, and our men began to fall back. I hurried to the hospital and told the Doctor and Mr. Burwash that I feared the day was against us, but said I would return to the field while they made the necessary preparations to remove the sick and wounded from a place which should soon be the very centre of the battle. When I again reached my old post of observation a shower of bullets fell around me, and before I got back to the hospital, a number of men belonging to the Queen’s Own had got between me and the house. These were quickly followed by a large number of the 13th Battalion, and I was forced to leave without again communicating with my friends. I soon found, however, that the Doctor and his wounded men, as well as Mr. Burwash, had got safely out of that terrible fire.

The descriptions given of the retreat, are, for the most part greatly exaggerated. Some men, it is true, ran away in terror, but the main body, though in confusion, were not panic-stricken. The feeling was one of vexation, and at the very moment when they expected victory, all had unaccountably gone wrong with them. Tears were shed, but they were tears wrung from brave men at the bitter thought of being called to retreat before their foes. In the rear, Major Skinner, with a number of men belonging to the 13th and the Queen’s Own, kept in good order, and so effectually covered our retreat, that the enemy were unaware of the disorder in which the main body were retiring. Beyond all doubt, we were at this point saved from further disaster by the coolness and steadiness of Major Skinner, and the officers and men who were with him.

At Ridgeway the confused and scattered mass of men who got into order through the exertions of a Toronto officer whose name I have been told is Captain Arthurs, and who certainly discharged his duty in a way that marked him out as a man able to control and lead others.

I have refrained from all criticism of the conduct of the officers on whom the responsibilities of this matter lie. I know nothing of military tactics, and it does not become me to say anything of why this little band of volunteers should have been led into a conflict with superior numbers of trained and veteran soldiers without support from artillery or the regulars--it is not my part to say what the commanding officer should or should not have done. This only I am bound to say, that the officers and men of the Queen’s Own and 13th Battalion, behaved throughout the battle with coolness and gallantry--and even the unfortunate retreat only brought out more clearly that, with few exceptions, they were men of unflinching courage. The hospital, no less than the battle-field proved the noble courage of our men, and it would have moved the stoutest heart to tears, to see those boy-heroes suffering as they did, without a murmur or a groan.

Major Gilmore, of the Queen’s Own, and Major Skinner, of the 13th, distinguished themselves greatly, their words of command inspiring their men with courage--while they themselves were steady as rocks under the hottest fire. Indeed, but for Major Skinner’s coolness and power over the men under his command, the retreat of Ridgeway must have resulted in fearful consequences.”