FRANCE. 



321 



terror in Paris, it was at the same time hoped 

 that their rule would not be of long duration, 

 as the country remained quiet and the ra^ve- 

 ments in large cities, as Marseilles, Crenzot, 

 St.-Etienne, Toulouse, Narbonne, and Perpi- 

 gnan, were easily suppressed. The attitude of 

 the country induced the Commune to assume 

 the aggressive. On April 2d an encounter be- 

 tween the troops of the Government and the 

 insurgents took place near the bridge of 

 Neuilly, between Courvoie and Pultaux ; the 

 insurgents were driven back into the city, 

 where the excitement reached its climax, and 

 extensive preparations for a march upon Ver- 

 sailles were made. On April 3d the insurgents, 

 under Flourens, Bergeret, and Duval, set out 

 before sunrise. The chief divisions attacked 

 the troops of the Government north and west 

 of Fort Mont Valerien, near Nanterre, Rueil, 

 Bougival, Besons, Chatou, and Croissy. Be- 

 .fore the break of day the fort opened fire upon 

 them, yet without any notable effect, as they 

 were protected by the villages. Their attack, 

 however, was repulsed, and when the cavalry 

 of General Vinoy prepared to attack them 

 they hastened back to the city, leaving behind 

 many dead and wounded. The other diyis- 

 sions, which had advanced beyond Meudon 

 and Chatillon, suffered the 1 same fate. An of- 

 ficial dispatch from Picard announced to the 

 departments that the insurgents had suffered 

 a crushing defeat ; that the redoubt of Cha- 

 tillon had been captured with 2,000 prisoners, 

 among whom was General Henry, and that 

 Flourens and Duval had been killed. The 

 battles of April 4th turned out even more un- 

 favorable to the insurgents. The troops of 

 the Government remained in possession of 

 Chatillon, an.d from there sustained an efficient 

 fire against the forts of Issy, Vanvres, and 

 Meudon, which were held by the insurgents. 

 The Commune, from which twenty-one mem- 

 bers had already withdrawn, did not, however, 

 give up all hope : large reinforcements were 

 sent to the combatants, and a proclamation 

 promised a speedy victory over the royalists. 

 The chief administration of military affairs 

 was confided to General Cluseret, who appoint- 

 ed the Pole Dombrowski commander of the 

 forces of the Commune ; Bergeret, who thus 

 far had filled this place, was arrested because 

 he had not executed the orders of the delegates 

 for war. The chief command of the army of 

 Versailles was given to Marshal MacMahon ; 

 under him, General Admirault commanded on 

 the side of Mont Val6rien, General de Cissey 

 on the side of Chatillon. Vinoy received the 

 command of the reserve army. On April 6th 

 and 7th there was severe fighting in Courbe- 

 voie and Nenilly, with heavy losses on both 

 sides. On the first day the battle was unde- 

 cided, and the insurgents succeeded in silencing 

 the battery of the Versaillists on the Bond 

 Point de Courbevoie. On the next morning 

 the battle took a favorable turn for the troops 

 of the Government, and, when the heavy ord- 

 VOL. xi. 21 A 



nance of Mont Valerien began to play, the 

 barricade which defended the bridge of ISfeuilly 

 was taken after a brave resistance. The troops 

 of the Government occupied a part of Neuilly, 

 the Bois de Boulogne and the village of Leval- 

 lois ; their main forces were concentrated on 

 the Longchamps between the Seine and the 

 Bois de Boulogne. Thus some of the most im- 

 portant positions outside of the walls of the 

 city, except the above-mentioned forts on the 

 left bank of the Seine, had been snatched from 

 the insurgents. The battles of the next two 

 days did not bring a decision ; the destruction 

 of the drawbridge of the Porte Maillot on 

 April 10th, and the opening of a breach on 

 this place by the Versaillists, proved, how- 

 ever, of considerable importance. On the 

 next day, the battle was hottest around the 

 Porte Maillot ; Neuilly became more and 

 more like a heap of ruins. On the left bank 

 of the Seine there was also severe fighting ; 

 the forts of the insurgents, in particular Van- 

 vres and Issy, had to suffer severely from the 

 fire of the redoubt of Chatillon. 



In Paris, in the mean while, the breach be- 

 tween the Commune and the Government had 

 widened. A proclamation of tbe Commune, 

 of April 5th, complained that "the bandits of 

 Versailles every day throttled or shot their 

 prisoners," and threatened that it would 

 reply to it by executions of an' equal or 

 double number of prisoners. Everywhere 

 they began to search for suspected persons and 

 to imprison them. None had to suffer more 

 from this policy than the clergy ; among oth- 

 ers, Archbishop Darboy was arrested as being 

 suspected. The churches were laid under con- 

 tributions, and forced loans taken from the 

 large moneyed institutions and corporations, 

 in order to obtain the means for con- 

 tinuing the struggle. The communication by 

 railroad was interrupted, and thus the prices of 

 provisions greatly rose ; mortality considerably 

 increased ; the men were absolutely forbidden 

 to leave the city, and to women and chil- 

 dren the permission to do so was only given 

 after the payment of a considerable sum of 

 money. All able-bodied men had to enroll, 

 and a systematic search was instituted against 

 those who endeavored to escape the general 

 duty. Thiers, Picard, Favre, and others, were 

 impeached, and their property confiscated. 

 Thirty-four papers which were opposed to the 

 Commune were suppressed; the publication 

 of new ones prohibited. The Radicals Avere, 

 however, by no means agreed among them- 

 selves. Not only was there a very pronounced 

 dissension between the Commune and the Cen- 

 tral Committee, but the individual leaders also 

 were engaged in an unceasing conflict with 

 each other. The most radical elements more 

 and more attained the ascendency, although at 

 the same time the passive resistance of the 

 wealthy classes, so far as they had remained in 

 Paris, began to consolidate itself. The elec- 

 tions of April 16th were regarded as a failure, 



