The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-07-17
The Fall of The Commune.

details of the scene prior to the over
throw OF the Paris revolntionists. His
position gave him peculiar facilities for
observing and narrating dramatic Incl
dents which otherwise would have re-
mained long untold. He says;
I saw many proofs of the dogged adj
herence of these people to the cause
they had espoused. A fellow Of about
40 years Of age was brought to me with
n bullet through his lungs. He had not
above half nm hour to live, and having
been banlaged in somewhat careless
manner by the barber, he was put into
a corner Of the room on the dirty floor.
l proceeded with my work, when l sud-
denly heard loud cry behind me. 1t
came from the wounded man, who was
trying to raise himself on his hands and
knees. I ran to ask him what he want
ed, and, after some struggles, he said
Citizen, I am soldier OF the Univer.
sol Republic, and have fought in '49,
and now I am dying in II. Tell my
friends that / died crying out "Yiye Ia
Commune - A few more struggles,
and he was dead. A young fellow, a
Pole on Dombrowski's stuff, received
bullet in the abdomen, and was brought
in breathing his last. He was, however,
attended to, and his brother sent for.
When ho nrrived-a tall, handsome fel-
low-I took him to see his younger
brother, who received him saying, ~
shall Join my regiment in hnlf an hour
tell Dombrowsli that want little rest,
and TINT It is not from cowardice that /
am here" The elder man looked ut him
for one minute in manner l cannot de-
scribe, took his hand, wr1ing it in great
agony, and saying, eyes, come then, )"
left the room. heard his spurs clank-
ing on the floor Of the hall, and before
his last footsteps died away, his poor
brother was dead. A body Of men like
these Guards, if only properly com.
manded, might have done wonders.
Dombrowslki came. to see me in the eve
ming, and was delighted to find that our
men fought so well. lie was q very
pleasant fellow, and talked with q great
deal OF sense. He deplored the want Of
discipline and management, but hoped
that the Commune would be finally VIC
torious.
Thus we continued day after day the
final struggle. Then the confusion was
totally indescribable. We had heard Of
the disaster ut Issy-the men were de-
moralized. Not knowing what to do,
and finding myself the only officer for
whom the men had any respect, gave
orders to retreat on Paris TO the last
barricade, and telegraphed to Dombrow-
ski for re.enforcements, as our battalion
was now reduced TO little more thru 720
men. We received orders to retreat into
Paris, which We accordingly did, and
took up our positions at the Porte de
Pussy, doomed in few ddyh to be the
gate by which the yersailles troops were
to enter. There 1 saw for tho first time
the troops called Volunteers Of the Re-
public. They were splendid fellows,
full of pluck, thoroughly convinced that
the Republic was the only thing worth
living for, and resolved to fight for it
like demons. There were two regiments
of them, and they numbered about
8, 1000 men. Out of all these men, 500
only survived tho battle, and they were
taken prisoners, aud were shot in the
Champ dc Mars. The Versailles troops
were let into Paris by remnants Of the
6lth battalion. This / know to be n
fact. The traitors Immediately consti-
tuted themselves prisoners, and were
shot for their pains in the Chaussec dc
Ia Muette. l had Oh the previous eve
ming gone to Paris to give orders at the
for bands, lint, &c, and had
slept ut my hotel in the heart of the
city. / can scarcely describe my sur
prise when told by the concierge, with
IL terrified look, not to go out, but to
hide in the cellms-for the troops were
in Paris, and would bo probably in our
quarter in IN hour from that time.
l quickly took my decision. 1 knew
at once thu. to think of joining my COM
rades was madness, as they were entire
ly surrounded by the troops, and were
probably long ngo shot. therefore
sailed forth, armed with my commission,
MS n Safeguard against the press-gang
for making barricades, and forced my
way with the best possible speed to the
Hotel de Vile. Horrible confusion still
prevailed, and | was not even asked by
the drunken sentrics what my business
was. I mounted the grand staircase to
the first floor. The place was crammed.
No one knew where the officers were.
When l entered, n Deputy, whom it is
prudent not TO name, was telling his
hearers with great eloquence TINT the
time had come for the last struggle OF
the "glorious Commune" The speech
was listened to with great attention.
When he had finished Delescluze was
sent for. He told them in few short
sentences that the cause was utterly lost
unless the Versailles troops refused TO
march, and that the only thing the
Commune had to do was to show by ex-
ample TINT the men who had urged them
to fight and die were not the last to die
the ensolyes when the time had come for
them to do so. "For me" he said, "I
feel that mylast political struggle against
Monarchy and Imperialism has come 10
an end. shall die myself / know;
but, gentlemen, feel convinced TINT
for every drop Of mine and Of the Com
mune's blood five men will one day
spring forward and ayenge US and to es-
tablish in future years that which, owing
to our backward education, we have fail.
ed to establish now" He finished his
speech amid dead silence.
nv, mn ,,s,..