SORTIE OF THE THIRD APRIL—THE PARISIANS ARE REPULSED EVERYWHERE—FLOURENS AND DUVAL ARE KILLED—THE VERSAILLESE MASSACRE SOME PRISONERS.
That very day, the 2nd April, at one o'clock, without warning, without summons, the Versaillese opened fire and threw their shells into Paris.
For several days their cavalry had exchanged shots with our advanced posts at Châtillon and Putteaux. We occupied Courbevoie, that commands the route to Versailles, which made the rurals very anxious. On the 2nd, at ten o'clock in the morning, three brigades of the best Versailles troops, 10,000 strong, arrived at the cross-roads of Bergères. Six or seven hundred cavalry of the brigade Gallifet supported this movement, while we had only three federal battalions at Courbevoie, in all five or six hundred men, defended by a half-finished barricade on the road of St. Germain. Their watch, however, was well kept; their vedettes had killed the head-surgeon of the Versaillese army, whom they had mistaken for a colonel of gendarmerie.
At mid-day the Versaillese, having cannonaded the barracks of Courbevoie and the barricade, launched themselves to the assault. At the first shots from our men they scampered off, abandoning on the road cannon and officers. Vinoy was obliged to come himself and rally the runagates. Meanwhile the 113th of the line outflanked Courbevoie on the right, and the infantry of marines turned the left, marching through Putteaux. Too inferior in number and fearing to be cut off from Paris, the Federals evacuated Courbevoie, and, pursued by shells, fell back on the Avenue de Neuilly, leaving twelve dead and some prisoners. The gendarmes had taken five, one of whom was a child of fifteen, beating them unmercifully, and shot them at the foot of Mont-Valérien. This expedition concluded, the army regained its cantonment.
At the report of the cannon all Paris started. No one believed in an attack, so completely did all, since the 28th, live in an atmosphere of confidence. It was no doubt an anniversary, a misunderstanding at the utmost. When the news, the ambulance-carriages, arrived; when the word was spoken, "The siege is recommencing!" an explosion of horror shook all the quarters. An affrighted hive, such was Paris. The barricades were again thrown up, the call to arms beaten everywhere, and the cannon drawn to the ramparts of the Porte-Maillot and of the Ternes. At three o'clock 80,000 men were on their legs crying, "To Versailles!" The women excited the battalions, and spoke of marching in the vanguard.
The Executive Commission met and placarded a proclamation: "The royalist conspirators have attacked; despite the moderation of our attitude, they have attacked. Our duty is to defend the great city against these culpable aggressions." In the Commission, the generals Duval, Bergeret, and Eudes declared for an attack. "The enthusiasm," they said, "is irresistible, unique. What can Versailles do against 100,000 men? We must sally out." Their colleagues resisted, especially Félix Pyat, confronted with his rant and vapourings of the morning. His poltroonery stood him in the stead of a life-preserver. "One does not start," said he, "at random, without cannon, without cadres, and without chiefs;" and he demanded the return of the strength of the troops. Duval, who since the 19th March had been strongly bent upon a sortie, violently apostrophised him: "Why, then, for three days have you shouted, 'To Versailles?'" The most energetic opponent of the sortie was Lefrançais. Finally, the four civil members—that is, the majority—decided that the generals should present a detailed statement as to their forces in men, artillery, munitions, and transports. The same evening the Commission named Cluseret delegate at War jointly with Eudes, who, being a member of the so-called party of action, owed this post only to the patronage of his old cronies.
In spite of the majority of the Commission, the generals set out. They had, besides, received no formal order to the contrary. Félix Pyat had even concluded by saying, "After all, if you think you are ready...." They saw Flourens always ready for a coup-de-main, other colleagues equally adventurous, and, on their own authority, certain of being followed by the National Guard. They sent to the chefs-de-légion the order to form columns. The battalions of the right bank were to concentrate at the Place Vendôme and Place Wagram; those of the left bank, at the Place d'Italie and Champ-de-Mars.
These movements, without staff officers to guide them, were very badly executed. Many men marched hither and thither, grew tired. Yet at midnight there were still about 20,000 men on the right bank of the Seine and about 17,000 on the left.
From eight o'clock to midnight the Council was sitting. The inexorable Félix Pyat, always pertinent, demanded the abolition of the budget of public worship. The majority immediately satisfied him. He might just as well have decreed the abolition of the Versaillese army. Of the sortie, of the military preparations deafening Paris, no one breathed a word in the Council—no one disputed the field with the generals.
The plan of the latter, which they communicated to Cluseret, was to make a strong demonstration in the direction of Rueil, while two columns were to march on Versailles by Meudon and the plateau of Châtillon. Bergeret, assisted by Flourens, was to operate on the right; Eudes and Duval were to command the columns of the centre and the left. A simple idea, and easy of execution with experienced officers and solid heads of columns. But most of the battalions had been without chiefs since the 18th March, the National Guards without cadres, and the generals who assumed the responsibility of leading 40,000 men had never conducted a single battalion into the field. They neglected even the most elementary precautions, knew not how to collect artillery, ammunition-waggons, or ambulances, forgot to make an order of the day, and left the men for several hours without food in a penetrating fog. Every Federal chose the chief he liked best. Many had no cartridges, and believed the sortie to be a simple demonstration. The Executive Commission had just placarded a despatch from the Place Vendôme, headquarters of the National Guard: "Soldiers of the line are all coming to us, and declare that, save the superior officers, no one wants to fight."