The appeal did not produce the results hoped for. Some officers urged Savary to have the streets unpaved and persuade the people to arm themselves with stones and prepare for a defense such as Saragossa. He answered, shaking his head, "the thing cannot be done."
On the 30th the Allies fought and won the final battle. The French occupied the whole of the range of heights from the Marne at Charenton, to the Seine beyond St. Denis; the Austrians beginning the attack about 11 o'clock towards the former of these points, while nearly in the midst between them, a charge was made by the Russians on Pantin and Belleville. The French troops of the line were commanded by Marmont and Mortier; those battalions of the National Guard, whose spirit could be trusted, and who were adequately armed, took their orders from Marshal Moncey and formed a second line of defense. The scholars of the Polytechnic School volunteered to serve at the great guns, and the artillery though weak in numbers, was well arranged. At the barrier of Clichy, in particular, the Allies met with a spirited resistance. The pattern of the French soldiers, the brave Moncey, was there, with his son, and with him Allent, the leader of his staff; celebrated artists and distinguished writers surrounded him and shared his perils. Among the former was Horace Vernet whose Napoleonic pictures have since become famous in two continents. The defense of the city, while brave and determined was ineffectual, and courage was at length compelled to yield to numbers.
By 2 o'clock the Allies were victorious at all points except Montmartre. Marmont then sent several aides-de-camp to request an armistice and offer a capitulation in order to save the capital. The Czar and the King of Prussia professed their willingness to spare the city, provided the regular troops would evacuate it.
Blucher meanwhile continued pressing on at Montmartre and shortly after 4 o'clock, the victory being completed in that direction, the French cannon were turned on the city and shot and shells began to spread destruction within its walls. The capitulation was drawn up at 5 o'clock, close to the barrier St. Denis.
It was not until the 27th that Napoleon distinctly ascertained the fact of both the allied armies having marched directly on Paris. He instantly resolved to hasten after them, in hopes of arriving on their rear ere they had mastered the heights of Montmartre. Arriving at Doulevent on the 29th he received a message from Lavalette, his Post-Master General, who wrote: "The partisans of the Stranger are making head, aided by secret intrigues. The presence of the Emperor is indispensable—if he desires to prevent his capital from being delivered to the enemy. There is not a moment to be lost!"
Urging his advance accordingly, Napoleon reached Troyes on the night of the 29th, his men having marched fifteen leagues since daybreak. General Dejean, his aide-de-camp, rode on before him bound for Paris to announce to the Parisians that the Emperor flew to succor them.
On the 30th Macdonald attempted to convince him that the fate of Paris must have been decided ere he could reach it, and advised him to march, without further delay, so as to form a conjunction with Augereau. "In that case," said the marshal, "we may unite and repose our troops, and yet give the enemy battle on a chosen field. If Providence has decreed our last hour, we shall at least die with honor, instead of being dispersed, pillaged and slaughtered by Cossacks."
The Emperor was unwilling to abide by the counsel of his marshal, but continued to advance; finding the road beyond Troyes clear he threw himself into a postchaise and traveled on before his army at full speed. At Villeneuve L'Archereque he mounted on horseback and galloping without a pause, reached Fontainebleau late at night. Here he ordered a carriage, and taking Caulaincourt and Berthier, drove on towards Paris. He was still of the belief that he was yet in time—until, while he was changing horses at an inn called "La Cour de France," but a few miles from Paris, General Belliard came up, at the head of a weary column of cavalry marching towards Fontainebleau, in consequence of the provisions of Marmont's treaty with the Allies. He was too late! Paris had capitulated!
Leaping from his carriage as the words reached his ears, the Emperor exclaimed, "What means this? Why here with your cavalry, Belliard? And where are the enemy? Where are my wife and boy? Where Marmont? Where Mortier?"