The battles of the world

by J. Douglas Borthwick

On the publication of the Moniteur on the following morning, all Paris was astounded by the mystifying report of the ministers of Charles X and the king’s arbitrary decrees. The Rentes fell, and the bank stopped payment.

All work was now abandoned, every manufactory closed, and detachments of artisans with large sticks traversed the streets. Troops of gendarmes patrolled the streets at full gallop to disperse the accumulating crowds. The people were silent; and at an early hour the shops were closed. Early on the 27th, troops of the royal guard and soldiers of the line came pouring in. The people looked sullen and determined. The chief points of rendezvous were the Palais Royal, the Palais de Justice, and the Bourse. Here were simultaneous cries of “Viva la Charte!”—“Down with the absolute king!” but no conversation—no exchange of words with each other. The King was at the Tuilleries. In the Place Carousel there was a station of several thousands of the military, including the lancers of the royal guard, with a great number of cannon. At the Place Vendome a strong guard of infantry was stationed around the column, to guard the ensigns of royalty upon it from being defaced. Crowds of people assembled, and several skirmishes took place.

On Wednesday morning, July 28th, the shops of Paris were closely shut, and the windows fastened and barred, as if the inhabitants of the city were in mourning for the dead, or in apprehension of approaching calamity. The tocsin sounded, and the people flocked in from the fauxbourgs and different quarters of the city. That determined enemy to oppression, the press, had been at work during the night. Handbills were profusely distributed, containing vehement philippics against the king and his ministers, and summoning every man to arm for his country, and to aid in ejecting the Bourbons. Placards were constantly posted up and eagerly read. During the preceding night an organisation of the people had been arranged. All the arms that could be found at the theatres, and remaining in the shops of armourers that had not been visited the evening before, were seized and distributed. Every other kind of property, however, was respected.

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.