The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-28 00:00:00

INSURRECTION AT STRASBURG.

ACT OF ACCUSATION.
(Abridged from a Morning Contemporary.)
The King's Procureur-General of the Royal Court of
Colmar, Chevalier of the Royal Order of the Legion of
Honour, manifests, that by a decree of this Court, given in
the Chamber of Accusation on the sth of December, 1836,
it has been declared, that there is ground for accusing-
-Ist. Vaudrey (Claude Nicolas), aged 52, Colonel of the
4th Regiment of Artillery, officer of the Legion of Honour,
domiciled at Strasburg.
2d. Laity (Armand Francois Ruppert), aged 27, Lieu-
tenant of the Battalion of Engineers, garrisoned at
Strasburg.
3d. Parquin (Charles Denis), aged 49, chief of a squa-
dron of the Municipal Guard, domiciled at Paris.
4th. De Querelles (Henri Richard Sigefroi), aged 59,
Lieutenant (unattachea), domiciled at Nancy.
sth. De Gricourt (Charles Emmanuel Raphael), aged
23, without profession, domiciled at Paris.
6th. Eleonore Brault, widow of the Sieur Gordon Archer,
aged 28, artiste, domiciled at Paris.
7th. Frederic de Bruc, aged 38, chief of a squadron (un-
attached Chevalier of the Legion of Honour), domiciled at

Paris.*
Bth. Persigny (Jean Gilbert Victor), aged 25, without
profession, domiciled at Paris.
9th. Lombard (Jules Barthelemy), formerly surgeon to
the military hospitals, aged 27, domiciled at Strasburg.
10th. Gros (Michel Jean Francois Regis), aged 26, Se-
cond Lieutenant of the 12th Company of Engineers, garri-
soned at Strasburg.
11th. Letry (Charles Philippe Francois), aged 25, Se-
cond Lieutenant of the 6th Company of the same bat-
talion.
12th. Dupenhouat (Louis), aged 24, Second Lieutenant
of the 4th Company of the same corps.
13th. De Schallan (Andre Joseph Nicolas), Lieutenant
of the 3d Regiment of Artillery, garrisoned at Strasburg,
aged 26.
The Procureur-General declares, that a fresh investiga-
tion of the case having been made, in execution of the
above-mentioned decree, the following is the result :
" Of the various members of the Buonaparte family, ba-
nished subsequent to the events of 1814 and 1815, the two
sons of the ex-King of Holland seemed to have most fondly
cherished the chimerical hope of occupying in France the
place formerly filled by the man who shed so much glory on
their name.
" Resident at a short distance from our frontiers, near
Italy, they seemed to have selected for their domicile the
spot the best calculated to enable them to observe and
appreciate events which might offer them some chance of
accomplishing their desire. These hopes, which the tran-
quillity of the latter years of the restoration had in some
degree caused to fade, received fresh vigour from the revo-
lution of July, and from the commotions which threatened
to disturb the peace of Europe. The movements which at
this period manifested themselves in Italy appeared to have
excited their particular attention. That country had formed
part of the French empire ; it was the theatre where their
uncle first made himself known to the world ; their origin,
their name was Italian. Italy, consequently, was for them
the road to France, and also to power. Accordingly, at
the first symptoms of disorder which exhibited themselves
in that country, they both hastened there with the firm
determination of giving aid and strength to the commo-
tions. The first essay was unfortunate ; one of them
died in the attempt ; the other, overcome by illness and
worn out by suffering, was for the second time indebted to
his mother for his life. In the month of May, 1832, he
made a fresh attempt to engage public attention. The
youthful soldier, whose sword had been shivered in Italy,
now made use of the pen, and to the attempts of the war-1
rior succeeded those of the legislator. Louis Bonaparte
published his Reveries Politiques, and followed them up by
a plan for a constitution. The Reveries reveal his idea
that France could not be regenerated except by men of the
blood of Napoleon, and that to them alone did it belong to
reconcile the exigencies of republican notions with the mi-
litary spirit. The constitution is conformable with the
statements of this preamble. It is democratic ; several of
its provisions appear to be written under the influence of
St. Simonian inspirations ; while, at the same time, it an-
nounces in its first article that the Republic shall have an
Emperor, and in its last article it declares, as if to prevent
all doubt about the meaning of the expression, that the Im-
perial Guard shall be reorganized.
" Several sword-blades seized at Strasburg previous to
the event of the 30th of October, and bearing the figure
of an eagle, together with these words, Imperial Guard.'
prove that Louis Buonaparte had never ceased seriously
to meditate on the accomplishment of the concluding pro-
vision of the constitution, which he was disposed to con-
cede. Since 1822 Louis Buonaparte did everything in his
power to render himself conspicuous. He published seve-
ral pamphlets, one of which contained considerations on the
political and military situation of Switzerland ; another was
addressed to the artillery, the corps in which Napoleon
served, and large quantities of it were forwarded to
France ; at a later period, a friend drew up an account
of his life for the Biography of the Men of the Day,
copies of which were profusely circulated.
" The friendly relations long existing between France and
a neighbouring country having been afterwards disturbed,
and the temporary non-intercourse magnified by party spirit
into a serious and open breach, Louis Buonaparte re-
solved on profiting of the circumstance, and Switzerland
was to be the centre of the movement he was endeavour-
ing to organize. But Providence was watching over the
life of the King, and reason resumed its sway in the coun-
cils of a nation so renowned for its wisdom. It became
necessary for Louis Bonaparte to alter his course, and he
directed his attention to the army, by means of which lie
expected to effect a military revolution. In the evening of
the 28th he arrived at Strasburg, where he was joined by all
the conspirators who did not reside in the city ; and on the
30th the attempt on which justice is now called to pro-
nounce was to take place.
" Before six o'clock on the morning of that day Louis
Bonaparte, dressed in the habiliment usually worn by the
great man, his head covered with the historical hat, left his
apartment, and repaired, followed by his friends, to the
barrack occupied by the regiment of artillery commanded
by Colonel Vaudrey. The latter was waiting for him at
the head of his troops, under arms, and no sooner perceived
him than he went up to meet him, and bringing him in
front of his regiment, presented him to the men, whom he
addressed in the following terms:—
'Soldiers of the 4th Regiment of Artillery !—A revo-
lution has just occurred in France ; Louis Philippe is no
longer ou the throne, and Napoleon 11., the Emperor of
the French, has come to take the reins of government. Cry
out, Long live the Emperor !'
" He then uttered that cry, which was responded by the
soldiers.
" Louis- Bonaparte next harangued the troops, called for
their assistance, and his allocution was covered with cries of
Vive l'Empereur !'
"No time was to be lost. The greater the boldness of
the enterprise, the more imperative it was on him to hasten
its execution. Louis Bonaparte immediately put himself at
the head of the regiment ; Colonel Vaudrey placed four de-
tachments under his orders, recommending the soldiers to
obey the new chiefs appointed to command them.
" The accused Persigny, at the head of the Ist detach-
ment, repaired to the Prefecture, and, having caused the
gates to be thrown open, arrested the first magistrate of
the department.
" The accused de Schaller, Lieutenant of the 3d Regi-
ment of Artillery, took the command of the 2d detachment,
and, having drawn up his men in front of the house of his
Colonel, gave orders to his men not to allow any one to
go out of it.
" The accused Lombard proceeded, with the 3d detach-
ment, to the office of M. Silberman, where h.: had several
proclamations of Louis Bonaparte printed.
e A fourth detachment, under the direction of a person
whose name is unknown, was instructed to stop up all the
avenues leading to the house of General Lalandc, the Com-
mander of the Department of the Lower Rhine.
" While these partial movements were in progress, the
main body of the troops marched up to the hotel of the
Lieutenant-General, and halted in front of it, when Louis
Bonaparte, followed by the principal conspirators, walked
into it, and proceeded to the apartment of General Voirol.
Brave General,' said he, advancing towards him, let me
embrace you. I am Napoleon ll.' But the reception he
met with did not answer his expectations : warmly upbraided
by the faithful chief, he understood that he had nothing to
expect in that quarter. He immediately left the hotel,
leaving the General in the custody of the accused Parquin
and twelve commoners detached from the troop by Colonel
Vaudrey.
" From thence he repaired to the barrack of Finckmatt,
in which the 46th Regiment of the Line was quartered,
and there he experienced from the soldiers the same re-
sistance he had found at the hotel of General Voirol—pri-
rates and sub-officers both energetically rejected the offers
and promises held out to them. The altercations of Louis
Buonaparte, the exhortations of Colonel Vaudrey, and the
harangues of Querelles and Laity, were attended with no
effect, and in an instant the conspirators were all arrested by
the soldiers, who were encouraged thereto by the arrival of
most of their officers. Louis Bonaparte, after experiencing
some ill-treatment, and having his uniform torn to pieces,
and his decoratians wrested from his breast, was shut up in
a room of the barrack, and the place where he had antici-
pated a certain triumph beheld the defeat of his audacious
and culpable attempt. Five of the other conspirators shared
the same fate.
" Colonel Vaudrey was vain and ambitious, and more-
over a man of pleasure. Although married to a lady de-
* The first seven individuals are arrested and in prison, The
last six have not yet been apprehended.