Meanwhile the conditions of the besieged, as already noticed, had increased in severity. The season of mid-winter was of unusual inclemency; sickness and mortality by disease had acquired alarming rates, irrespective of casualties in battle; fuel was unobtainable, the want of it a cause of increased suffering and illness. The best energies of arrondissements, public institutions, and private individuals were directed to the mitigation of these and other evils incidental to a people besieged and under bombardment; but, alas! while the cause remained, the ordinary effects could only be averted in a very small degree, if in any.

It was under these circumstances that a renewed spirit of disaffection towards the existing Government broke out violently among the classes who were the chief recipients of help in various ways specially granted to them by that Government, even to the relative neglect of those who, equally needy, were less clamorous. There arose dissensions among the sectional Representatives; distrust of, and ill-feeling towards, the foreign residents on imaginary grounds that the latter carried on a system of communication with the besiegers. Signs of disaffection and corruption were manifest among the citizen soldiers, those signs giving peculiar significance to the extravagant terms in which official orders made mention of the services performed by them; for the facts were popularly known that an attempted sortie on the 10th miscarried because information regarding it had reached the enemy; that a second, planned for the 14th, had to be abandoned on account of some of those citizen “soldiers” having failed to be in their assigned positions at the appointed time. So far as indications pointed, revolution and civil war were imminent, while heavy bombardment by the enemy was still in progress.

Meanwhile the ordinary routine of everyday life went on much as if besiegers outside and various dangerous elements within our gates were non-existent, with the difference that to more common subjects of talk was added obuses, including probable size, distance at which from the speaker, and places of their explosion, damage to property and life caused thereby, and so on. As time went on the bombardment became, to some degree, a substitute for the weather as subject of first remark between acquaintances when meeting each other for the day; for example: “The bombardment is rather lively to-day,” or “it is rather slow.” People met at dinner, if that term can be applied to the fare procurable. Walking became a necessity, for the reason that the horses of omnibuses and other public conveyances had been requisitioned for purposes of food; hence, those of us who had duties to perform, experienced increasing difficulties in carrying them out. But these conditions were not altogether unrelieved by an incident having in it much of the ludicrous. An order was published declaring that widows of “soldiers” of the Mobile and National Guards should thenceforward be deemed entitled to pension, the immediate result being a great outcrop of marriage ceremonies among the classes concerned.

All ordinary supplies of viande had now become expended, the small reserve store being retained for the sick and wounded. Animals of all kinds, excluding the carnivora,[309] were requisitioned, their carcases exposed for sale in boucheries, but only issued to persons provided with the required billet de rationnement from the mairie of his arrondissement. Supplies of grain were in like manner “requisitioned” and issued under authority; armed sentries guarded retail establishments, their services on various occasions required against rioters, as already alluded to, from Belleville and Vilette. In the southern parts of the city long queues of women were to be seen, each individual waiting her turn to receive her “ration”; not a few of the elderly and weak among them falling where they had stood, exhausted as their physical powers were from cold and insufficient food. In some localities, more especially near the Luxembourg, casualties among them occurred by the explosion of Prussian shells. The daily “ration” for which they scrambled consisted latterly of about ten ounces of bread, one ounce of horseflesh, and a quarter litre of vin ordinare. The bread contained 1/8 flour, 4/8 fecula of potatoes, rice, peas and lentils, 1/8 of ground straw, the remaining fraction made up of water and “sundry” materials. Women of all social classes aided the real poor in every possible way, and in other respects maintained the reputation of their sex in times of danger and difficulty.

An improved and ingenious method by which news from the outer world could be brought within access to the ordinary people within the city was now introduced, through the instrumentality, it was said, of the Times. A series of advertisements addressed to individuals appeared in that journal; these having been reduced at Tours to minimum dimensions by photography, the sheet containing them was thence transmitted by pigeon-post. On arrival within Paris the whole was enlarged by means of the camera, after which the messages were copied and dispatched to their several addresses. In this way a message reached me from my beloved wife—​the first I had received for upwards of four months—​it was, “Your family are well; most anxious about you.” I fully appreciated the significance of these few words.

In respect to privations and risks, my individual experiences were neither more nor less than those to which many others within the bombarded city had perforce to submit. My stock of cash had become exhausted; to all intents and purposes I was a pauper, only able to obtain the requirements of life by giving to the maitre d’hôtel in which I resided written authority to my London agents, that in the event of my death they should pay all his claims upon me. I subsequently learned that, in response to my urgent requests sent par ballon monté, my wife had vainly endeavoured to have money transmitted to me, until, having applied to the American Embassy in London, a remittance was at once sent through that channel; in due time received by me from Mr. Washbourne, and so my pecuniary obligations discharged. As pressure in respect to food increased, I fear that on some few occasions I partook of bifteck de cheval, and once,—​only once,—​of paté de chien; but against both of these appetite rebelled, and latterly I had to put up with the one salt herring with which I was supplied as “meat rations” for three days. Prior to the complete investment of the city, I had procured and hidden away such small supplies as I could lay hands on, of anchovies, mushrooms, sailors’ biscuits, and oatmeal; the quantities of each were small, but such as they were, they served their purpose.

All through the night of the 18th, large bodies of troops marched silently towards positions previously assigned to them with reference to coming events. The night was unusually dark; the streets presented only glimering lamp-lights at distant intervals; the city enshrouded in dense mist; beyond the gates the ground saturated with rain, the roads by which the forces had to proceed encumbered with guns, waggons, and other obstructive objects.

Daylight revealed to “all concerned” the Proclamation as follows, not only published in the journals, but affixed to walls in various places, namely: “Citizens, the enemy kills our wives and children, bombards us night and day, covers with shells our hospitals. One cry, ‘To Arms!’ has burst from every breast. Those who can shed their life’s blood on the field of battle will march against the enemy; those who remain, jealous of the honour of their brothers, will, if required, suffer with calm endurance every sacrifice, as their proof of their devotion to their country. Suffer and die if necessary, but conquer! Vive la République!”

Three Corps d’Armée, comprising more than one hundred thousand men, under the commands of Ducrot, Vinoy, and Bellemere, had taken, or were in progress of taking up positions under cover of Mont Valérien against the Prussian lines between Montretout and Bugeval, the prevailing fog so dense that assigned routes could not be maintained; several hours were thus lost. The French troops were consequently worn out with fatigue; portions of them had not arrived in position, among others considerable bodies of artillery, so that when about 9 a.m. the fight began, they had not been consolidated. On the other hand, the larger forces against whom they were led were unfatigued by night march and other difficulties; they had passed the night in relative quiet, had good and ample rations, and were in full physical strength. With all these disadvantages the first onslaught against the enemy’s positions at Montretout and Fouilleuse was successful. Thence, toward the French right, the combat quickly developed in fury; no fewer than five hundred cannon, including both sides, were estimated as engaged in their deadly work, excluding those of Mont Valérien, missiles from which whizzed above our heads in their flight towards the German lines. On our side, shells from the latter fell as it were from the zenith among the masses of advancing infantry, making great gaps, as each successive cloud of débris from their explosions cleared away. From Fouilleuse we were able to see the terrible violence with which the fight now raged. There the Société Internationale des Secours aux Blessés established a field ambulance; many wounded received first aid, and thence were dispatched to “fixed” establishments within the city. To reinforce the troops engaged, whose losses were already very great, large bodies of men from those in reserve marched laboriously towards the front. The ground was soaked by rain, their progress slow and difficult, themselves weary, fatigued, and physically weak. In their advance they came upon many carcases of horses killed by German shells, some of the men falling out of their ranks to cut from them slices of bleeding flesh; having secured them on their backs, they resumed their places, and so onward towards the enemy. Meanwhile, a horrible scene was taking place in close proximity to the place where, mounted, I stood with a group of Staff officers. A private of the 119th regiment of the line shot the captain of his company while their battalion was advancing, and torn by vertical fire as already mentioned. Ducrot ordered the man to be put to death on the spot. A party of his own regiment was at once detailed for the purpose; by it he was taken aside—​not more than a few feet from the left of the advancing column; he was seen to fall. A party of brancardiers approached; they were warned off; one of the execution party levelled his rifle and fired at him as he lay struggling on the ground; then another; then a third, and now the unhappy man lies still in death. We speculated among ourselves as to the circumstances that may have led him to commit the crime so expiated.

As day advanced the thick mist of morning cleared away, revealing the progress of battle and extent of field on which it raged. That the French were more exposed than were the enemy was at once apparent; yet, though suffering greatly by shot and shell from unseen batteries, they stood their ground with obstinacy, inured as they had now become to combat by their four months of experience. Later on, however, hesitation is shown in their ranks; stragglers drop away; needlessly large numbers[310] accompany to the rear their wounded comrades; unsteadiness affects battalions; and now the sad spectacle is seen Of one such body in flight down the declivity adjoining Montretout. Officers make frantic efforts to rally their men; daylight fades in gloom; soon night closes in, mist again covers the scene; firing from both sides have ceased; all around is dark and silent.