LES ISLETTES, AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT
The town, which was somewhat damaged by the bombardments, contains a very large French military cemetery.
Outside the town, the road climbs a steep slope and enters the forest. Pretty view of Les Islettes and the Forest of Argonne (on the left).
N. 3 next reaches Grange-aux-Bois (5 km. beyond Les Islettes), which takes its name from a house and grange, formerly the den of a gang of cutthroats who were wiped out in 1514.
The church is of no particular architectural interest, although it contains some curious statues, notably that of St. Nicolas (18th century) over the altar in the right aisle.
St. Menehould is next reached (3-1/2 km.), after a pleasant run down the shady Avenue Victor Hugo, which crosses the Aisne.
Sainte-Menehould
The origin of this town is uncertain, and its history prior to the Merovingian epoch obscure. Judging by the Gallo-Roman relics and graves discovered in the neighbourhood, it seems probable that at an early date a Pagan temple or Gallo-Roman castrum stood on the rock encircled by the two arms of the Aisne. Houses gradually arose about the fortress—an important stronghold prior to the 5th century. During that century, Count Sygmar held assizes in the château. Sygmar and his seven daughters were Christians. One of the latter, Manechildis or Manehildis, being of a religious turn of mind, devoted herself to the care of the sick and poor, and was greatly beloved in consequence. After her death she was honoured by the people as a saint, and the town then took her name St. Menehould.
During the wars of Chilpéric against Sigebert the town was partly destroyed. More than a hundred years later, towards the end of the 7th century, Drogon, Duke of Champagne, son of Pépin of Héristal, rebuilt the castle and surrounded the rock with ramparts. St. Menehould was frequently besieged. In the 11th century it was attacked by troops of the Duke of Lorraine and the Bishop of Verdun. In the 12th century the castle fell into the hands of a robber-chief, Albert or Aubert, who plundered the Bishoprics of Verdun and Châlons. At the end of the 12th century St. Menehould was finally included in the County of Champagne. It became French in the 13th century, after the union of Champagne with France. In 1398, Charles VI. built a wall round the town proper. In 1423, the English took the town, but the Constable of Richemont recaptured it in 1435. In 1545, Marini, an Italian engineer, built a new line of ramparts with moats and four gates. Several years later the town, ravaged by plague, was attacked by Antoine de Cory, the Calvinist, who, however, failed to take it. Under the League, the Governor, Mondreville, sided with the Guises, but could not shake the allegiance of the burgesses to Henri III. On May 1, 1589, Antoine de Saint-Paul, a leader of the League, pursued the royal troops as far as the gates of the town, but the burgesses forced them to retreat after a battle lasting two hours. In 1590 the Duke of Lorraine tried in vain to reduce the town by force. In March, 1603, Henri IV., after renouncing the Protestant faith, visited the faithful city, accompanied by Marie de Médicis. In 1613, the Prince of Condé and the Duke of Nevers took the castle by surprise and forced the burgesses to lay down their arms. In 1630, Marillac was imprisoned in the castle for several months. In December, 1631, and January, 1632, Louis XIII. stayed in the town. In 1634, the King ordered the castle to be pulled down; by mistake the walls of the town were also razed, and in 1635 they had to be rebuilt. In October, 1652, during the Fronde, the Great Condé, with an army of 15,000 to 16,000 men and two guns, laid siege to the town, which eventually capitulated, with the honours of war, after thirteen days of trench warfare and three assaults. In October of the following year the royal troops besieged the town in their turn and forced the garrison to surrender. This siege of 1653 was the last to which the town was subjected. In 1712, St. Menehould had to pay a war-levy to the Dutch robber-chief Growenstein. On the night of August 7, 1719, the town was almost entirely destroyed by fire. It was at St. Menehould in 1791 that Louis XVI., while attempting to escape from France, was recognised by Drouet, son of the postmaster of Varennes. On September 3, 1792, the body of Beaurepaire, Military Commander of Verdun, who committed suicide rather than surrender to the Prussians, was buried in the town cemetery. It was before St. Menehould that Dumouriez established himself while awaiting the arrival of Kellermann, who defeated the Prussians at Valmy in September 20, 1792.
In 1914, the town was for a long time occupied by the enemy. Early in August of that year, the first refugees from the neighbourhood of Longwy, Longuyon, Audun-le-Roman, and the region of the Meuse reached St. Menehould. On Monday, August 24, the guns in the north-east of the Argonne were heard in the town. On the 31st the sound of the cannonade drew nearer, and refugees from the Ardennes flocked in, terrifying the inhabitants with stories of German pillage and atrocities. On September 1, the horizon towards Monthois was lit up by the incendiary fires, and the next day the people were advised to leave the town. The banks closed, and many of the inhabitants left the city, the trains in the evening being literally taken by storm. The last train left at about ten o’clock on the morning of the 3rd. Early in the morning of the 4th, the last French troops marched through the town on their way to Verrières. At 8.30 companies of a Prussian Reserve Corps, preceded by Uhlans, entered St. Menehould by the Moiremont road and destroyed the telegraphic and telephonic apparatus at the post-office and the station. The Germans, exasperated by the evacuation of the inhabitants, hastened to pillage the deserted houses and shops. The tobacco warehouse, the Caïffa stores, and the cellars of Quesnel the wine-merchant were emptied and the contents sent away on army waggons.