The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-13 00:00:00

SATURDAY _EVENING,

General Marulaz, who, with his brigade, occupied
! the Piece de le Bestile, on being informed tea.; a
barricade had been raised at the corners of the Rue do
Faubourg St. Antoine, and the Rues de Cotte aid St.
Marguerite, sent to that spot three companies of the
19th light infantry, under the orders of Commandant
Pujol, and supported the movement by advancing himself
at double quick time at the head of a battalion of the
44-h into the Rue de Charonne, so as to advance on the
barricade by the Rue de Cotte. The assemblage, at the
head of which were three Montagnard representatives,
seeing the troops advancing, fired, and mortally wounded
a soldier of the 44th named Sirlan. The first platoon
returned the fire, and the representative Baudin was
killed on the barricade. Ia the afternoon General Her-
billon, who had taken up a position on the place de
Motel de Ville, being informed that barricades were
being raised in the Rues du Temple, Rambuteau, Beau-
bourg, &c., marched immediately to the spot at the
head of a column formed of the 9th battalion of Foot
Chasseurs and a piece of artillery, and overthrew all
the obstacles which he met with in his passage,
whilst a battalion of the 6th Light Infantry destroyed
in the Rue du Temple the barricades which had been
commenced. In the evening fresh barricades having
been raised in the Rue Beaabourg, Colonel Chapuis, of
the 3d Regiment of the Line, taking with him a battalion
of his regiment and a company of engineers, again went
through that quarter, where ho was received with a very
warm fire, which did not, however, stop the advance of
his column. All the obstacles were carried, and those
who defended them were shot. Assemblages veleeh were
formed in other quarters were dispersed by the energy
and the attitude of the troops. Seeing that the day was
passing in insignificant skirmishes, and without any de-
cisive result, and suspecting that the intentions of the
chiefs of the rioters was to fatigue the troops by
carrying the agitation in succession into dif-
ferent quarters, I resolved to leave the insurrection
for some tune to itself, in order to give it the fa-
cility of choosing its ground, of establishing itself,
and, in short, of forming a compact mass against which
I could act. For this purpose I withdrew all the
small posts, ordered the troops back to their bar-
racks, and waited. In the morning of the 4th the reports
of the Prefect of Police and my own reconnaissances
made me aware that several assemblages were formed in
the Quartiers St. Antoine, St. Denis, and St. Martin,
and that they were beginning to raise barricades there.
The insurrection appeared to have its focus in the space
comprised between the Boulevards and the Rues du
Temple, Rambuteau, and Montmarte. At noon I learned
that the barricades were becoming formidable, and that
the insurgents were entrenching themselves; but I had
decided on not attacking before two o'clock, and, firm in
my resolution, I did not hasten the movement, notwith-
standing all the intreaties that were made to me to the
contrary. I knew the ardour of my troops, and their
impatience for the combat, and I was sure of overpower-
ing the insurrection in two hours, if it would accept the
conflict. Success justified my belief. The attack ordered
for two o'clock was to commence with a convergent
movement of the divisions of Generals Carrelet and Le-
vasseur. In consequence the brigade Bourdon took up a
position between the Porte St. Denis and the Porte St.
Martin. The brigades of Cotte and Canrobert occupied the
Boulevard des Italiens, whilst General Dulac occupied
the Pointe Saint Eustache, and the brigade of General
Reibell took up its position in the Rue de la Prix,
General Levasseur formed his columns to support the
movement of the division of General Carrelet. At two
o'clock in the afternoon all the troops moved forward.
The Bourgon brigade cleared the Boulevard to the Rue
du Temple, and went down that street as far as the Rue
Rambuteau, carrying all the barricades on its passage.
The brigade of General Cotte was engaged in the Rue
St. Denis, whilst a battalion of the 15th Light Infantry
proceeded to the Rue du Petit-Carreau, which was
already barricaded. General Canrobert, taking a posi-
tion at the Porte St. Martin, went through the Rue du
Faubourg of that name and the adjacent streets, ob-
structed by strong barricades, which the sth battalion of
Foot Chasseurs, under the orders of Commandant Le-
vasson Sorval, carried with rare intrepidity. General
Dula° sent to attack the barricade of tl e Rue Ran, bu eau
and the adjacent streets columns formed of three batta-
lions of the 51st of the line, commanded by Colonel
de Lourmel, and two other battallions, one of the 19th
of the line, the ether of the 43d, supported by a battery
of artillery. At the same tome the brigade of General
Herbillon, formed of two columns, one of which was
directed by General Levasseur in person, penetrated
into the focus of the insurrection by the Rues du Tem-
ple, Rambuteau, and bt. Martin. General Marulaz
operated in the same sense by the Rue St. Denis, and
threw into the transversal streets a light column under
the orders of Colonel de la Motterouge. of the 10th Light
Infantry. General Courtigis, on his side, arriving from
Vincennes, at the head of his brigade, swept the Fau-
bourg St. Antoine, in which several barricades had been
constructed. These different operations were per-
formed under the fire of the insurgents, with a skill and
zeal which could not for one instant leave a doubt of
success. The barricades, attacked in the first instance
by artillery, were carried at the point of the bayonet.
All that part of the town between the Faubourgs St.
Antoine and St. Martin, the Points St. Eustache and
the Hotel de Ville, was covered in every sense by
our infantry columns; the barricades were carried and
destroyed, and the insurgents dispersed or killed.
The crowds, who endeavoured to form themselves
again on the Boulevards, were charged by the ca-
valry of General Reibell, who sustained a sharp fire
at the top of the Rue Montmartre. Attacked on all
sides at the same time, disconcerted by the irresistible
ardour of our troops, and by that ensemble of arrange-
ments, enveloping as in a net-work of iron the whole
quarter where they had waited for us, the insurgents no
longer dared to undertake anything serious. At 5
o'clock in the evening the troops of the division of
General Carrelet came, and again took up a position on
the Boulevards. Thus the attack, which had com-
menced at two o'clock in the afternoon was terminated
at five. The insurrection was vanquished on the ground
which it had chosen. Some partial combats, however,
took place in other parts, which I think it my duty to
point out to you. On the 4th, about seven o'clock in the
evening, some bands of insurgents, who had been dis-
persed by the different columns, united at the upper end
of the Rues St. llonor6, des I'oulies, and other small
streets adjacent, and commenced to raise barricades.
Other assemblages took place at the same time in the
Rues Montmartre and. Montorgueil, the lamps in
and where the insurgents,
ur been
the darkness,
extinguished,
had been able to erect
fresh barricades. About eight o'clock, Colonel de Lour-
nd whiche
r favour o u
Lour-
mel, of the 51st of the line, who had remained in position
near the Pointe Ste. Eustache, although well under-
standing all the difficulties of a night attack, decided on
making one immediately with the 2d battalion of his
regiment. The first four barricades were immediatelycarried at the point of the bayonet, with the greatest
ardour, by the grenadiers and voltigeurs of that batta-
lion. A fifth barricade still remained, higher and better
defended than the others. In spite of the darkness,
Colonel de Lourmel hesitated not to make arrangements
for its attack. Fifteen grenadiers, under the orders of
Sergeant Pitroie, first advanced, closely followed by the
other grenadiers and voltigeurs of the battalion, led on
by Commandant Jeanni▪
n. Nothing could resist the
ardour of these brave soldiers. The barricade
was carried in spite of a desperate resistance. It
was defended by about 100 insurgents. Forty of
them were killed on the spot, and the others were
made prisoners. About a hundred muskets and other
weapons, and abundant ammunition, fell into the hands
of our soldiers. Colonel Courant, of the 19th of the
line, who with his regiment occupied the Palais National,
learning that a considerable number of insurgents, who
had been driven from the Carr& Saint Martin, had rallied
on the Place des V ictoire!, and threatened the Bank of
France and the nei▪
ghbouring quarters, proceeded thither
at double quick time with his regiment, carried the bar-
ricades in the Rues Pagevin and des Foss Montmartre,
and then returned and established himself at the Bank,
whence he could maintai▪ n the tranquillity of the quar-
ters of the Bank and the Bourse. 1 should never finish
were I to begin to mention particular names, but I can-
not, however, refrain from doing justice to the energetic
skill with which Captain de la Roche d'Oisy, Commandant
of the 4th company of theist battalion of the Gendarmerie
Mobile, protected through the whole period of the in-
surrection the Nati▪
onal priuting- office, which was con-
stantly surrounded by threatening groups. Several bar-
ricades were constructed in the neighbouring streets, for
the purpose of cutting off communication with that, es-
tablishment. Lieutenant Fabre, of that company, at the
head of 25 men, carried the stronger of these barricades,
formed with overturned diligences, barrels, and pieces of
wood, and, the others being successively destroyed, the
circulation was kept open by means of frequent patrols.
At La Chapelle St. Denis, some companies of the 23els
Regiment of the line carried a number of barricades, and
maintained tranquillity in those populous quarters, which
the secret societies had deeply agitated. Whilst these
events were taking place on the right bank of the
Seine, General Renault, commanding the 2d di-
vision, occupied the left Bank, and by the able
arrangements which ho made, and the firm de-
meanour of the troops, was able to guarantee from all
agitation the working population of the 1 lth and 19th
arrondissements, in which, at other periods, insurrec-
tion could boast of such numerous proselytes. The re-
serve division of cavalry, under the orders of General
Korte, summoned in from Versailles, took up position,
at first in the Champs Elyielos, and afterwards in the
Boulevards, and contributed powerfully by numerous
patrols to the arrest of a great number of insurgents,
and to the complete re-establishment of tranquility. As
the reports sent in to me the night of the 4th, on the
state of Paris, gave me almost a certitude that the in-
surrection would not venture to again raise its head, I
withdrew at midnight a part of the troops from their
positions to give them that repose they so well merited.
The next day, December 5, I determined to make
a display of all the army of Paris to the popu-
lation, intending, by that demonstration, to re-
assure the good, and intimidate the evil-disposed. I gave
orders that the brigades of infantry, with their artillery
and their companies of engineers, should proceed through
the city in movable columns, to march on the insurgents
wherever they should show themselves, and to destroy
all the obstacles which might impede the circulation. To
that eflect General Carrelet, at the head of a column of
his division, proceeded about nine in the morning to the
Barriero Roonecourat, where a formidable Isamu& ex-
isted. But the insurgents, terrified by the results
of the preceding day, did not venture to defend
their entrenchments, and abandoned them at the
approach or the troops.. Another barricade,
raised in the Faubourg Poissonnske, was likewise
deserted by its defenders before the arrival of the co-
lumn under the orders of Gen. Canrobert, charged to
carry it. From that moment tranquillity was no
more troubled in Paris, and the circulation was
fully re-established en every point. The army returned
to its quarters; and the next day, the 6th, Paris no
longer beholding in the streets that unusual display of
troops, was restored to its activity, movement, and life
of every day. I know not how, Monsieur le Ministre, to I
render to the troops who fought on those two days all