FISMES.
Origin and Chief Historical Events.
Fismes is one of the oldest towns in France. Cæsar refers to it in his Commentaries on the War of the Gauls. St. Macre suffered martyrdom there. In 1226 the town became a Commune. Sacked in 1814 by the Prussians, its Communal Seal—well-known to archæologists—disappeared. To-day it is in one of the museums of Berlin. The town was fortified at an early date. Of the old ramparts, transformed later into avenues, four gates still exist. It was customary for the Kings of France to stay over-night at Fismes, when on their way to Rheims to be crowned. In 1814, on the eve of invasion, Napoleon I. called the nation to arms at Fismes.
Fismes in 1914.
The Germans occupied the town on September 2, 1914, as the last French columns were withdrawing along the road to Epernay. The Mayor and several town councillors were taken as hostages. Meanwhile, the Kommandant Von Kron ordered eight beds to be prepared in one of the rooms of the Hôtel-de-Ville, and dinner for ten officers; 400 bottles of wine, four oxen and 400 bundles of straw were requisitioned for three o’clock next morning.
During the night, the soldiers pillaged the shops and wine cellars. The next day, the Germans requisitioned one ton of lard or bacon, one ton of coffee and tobacco, 35 tons of bread, and 40 tons of oats. To meet these requirements, the town was forced to apply to the neighbouring communes. The German authorities took measures to protect the houses which were inhabited, but allowed the others to be plundered. The Municipality was ordered to repair the bridge of Fismettes, which had been destroyed by the French engineers, under a penalty of a million francs if the work were not finished in two days. Early in the morning of September 11, the German authorities left the town, which the French were approaching. At about seven o’clock in the evening, the 45th French line regiment entered the town. On the 12th, after an artillery duel which did great damage, the French carried the level-crossing at Fismettes, which had been barricaded by the Germans, together with the railway station and neighbouring houses. They were held up by enemy fire for a short while in front of the bridge, and were obliged to carry the hat factory at the point of the bayonet. Passing over to the north side of the river, the Zouaves of the 1st regiment, with the help of the 45th line regiment, captured the heights which command the town.
