[CHAPTER XVIII.]
The National Guard.—Its Composition.—The American Ambulance.—Its Organization.—Its Success.—Dr. Swinburne, Chief Surgeon.—The Tent System.—Small Mortality.—Poor Germans in Paris.—Bombardment by Germans.—Wantonness of Artillery-men.—Bad News from the Loire.—"Le Plan Trochu."—St. Genevieve to appear.—Vinoy takes Command.—Paris surrenders.—Bourbaki defeated.—Attempts Suicide.
A gentleman of rank and great historic name, of approved bravery, and who had seen service as an officer in the French army, came one day to the Legation in the uniform of a private. I asked him why he had enlisted, when he could so easily have got a commission. He replied that it was true he could easily have got a company in the National Guard, but before he could know his men, and they could know him, and he could drill and discipline them, they would go into action. Then they would inevitably run away. If he ran with them, he would be held responsible; if he stood, he would be killed. So he had decided to enlist as a private, to stand as long as the rest stood, and to run away when they ran. It struck me that this gentleman was wise in his generation, but that it was not precisely in this way that France was to be saved.
In speaking of the National Guard as I have done, it is proper to state that I speak of the masses, the workmen of Paris, and the petite bourgeoisie of most of the arrondissements. There were some few battalions that could be relied upon, some composed in part of the "gentlemen of France;" but they were insufficient to leaven the whole lump. The masses, those who drew a franc and a half per diem for themselves, and seventy-five centimes for their wives, or for the women who lived with them—for the Government of the National Defense had decided that it was the same thing—were the turbulent, unruly, unsoldierly mob I have described.
One of the most interesting and satisfactory features of the siege was the American ambulance. Here were order, system, and discipline. It was located on vacant lots in the Avenue de l'Impératrice. It did better work than any other ambulance in Paris; and there were many of them. A number of the wealthy people of the city gave up their hotels, or parts of them, for this purpose. The Press organized an admirable ambulance, copied as much from the American as circumstances would permit. The Italians started one, and two or three other nationalities. But the American ambulance was the only one organized upon the tent system, which is unquestionably the true one. Fresh air and fresh water are what is needed for the wounded. It is impossible to get fresh air in a building, as you get it in a tent. As Dr. Swinburne expressed it, "The air filters through the canvas."
At the Exposition of 1867 we had a remarkably good exhibition of our ambulance system. It was due to the energy and liberality of Dr. Evans. At the close of the exhibition he bought the whole collection; and when the war broke out, he organized an ambulance association, presented it with this material, and gave it ten thousand francs. Other Americans contributed, and the enterprise was launched. Dr. Swinburne, a distinguished corps surgeon of our army, and afterward Quarantine Officer at Staten Island, happened to be in Paris, traveling for his health and amusement. He gave up his trip, and staid in the city, that he might be of service to the wounded French. He deserves much credit for his humanity. Dr. Johnson, a prominent American physician in Paris, took charge of the medical department. Both of these gentlemen discharged their duties with devotion and skill, and with remarkable success, and without remuneration, except that they were decorated by the French Government. For an American residing at home a decoration is of very little account. In France it is useful. It procures him attention on the railways and at the restaurants. But it has been very much abused of late years. There are about one hundred thousand décorés in France, so that they now say it is the correct thing not to be decorated. I never heard of but one individual, however, who refused it, and that was from political motives.
A number of American ladies and gentlemen who remained in Paris offered their services in the ambulance, and were enrolled as volunteer nurses. Among them Mr. Joseph K. Riggs was particularly conspicuous by his skill and devotion. They went upon the field after, or even during, an engagement and picked up the wounded. Indeed, there was quite a contest among the ambulances to get possession of the wounded; for while the number of the sick in Paris was very great, that of the wounded was comparatively small. The medical director of General Ducrot's corps became much interested in our ambulance. He turned over to Dr. Swinburne the charming house of M. Chevalier, the eminent French writer on political economy, and then begged him to take charge of the wounded of his corps. Swinburne used the house as a convalescent hospital when his tents were full.
So successful was his treatment that of the amputated only one in five died; while at the great French ambulance of the Grand Hôtel four in five died. The mortality there was fearful.
The apparatus for warming the tents was simple, but most effective. It had grown up among our soldiers during the war. A hole was made in the ground outside of one end of a long tent, a stove placed in it, and the pipe carried the whole length of the tent in a trench. The result was that the ground was thoroughly dried and warmed, and this warmed the whole tent. I have known the thermometer outside to be at 20° Fahrenheit, while in the tents it stood at 55°. The doctor said that for wounded men well covered up in bed 55° was better than 70°.
The men were well fed, and admirably cared for generally. The French Government put the best of their stores at the disposition of the ambulances, and treated them with the greatest liberality. There was always plenty of canned fruit, jellies, etc., in Paris, so valuable in sickness. The ladies bought these, and brought them to the wounded. Tobacco was provided in the same way for the convalescents.