Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1871-01-12

has yet been requ1sitioned by the Pro
. visioning Committee besides these
/ about %, 900 more are engaged in tn,
{ ordinary traffic of the city, In drawing
ambulance trains, and in sundry othe
) .drauglt work; the horse markets
| from which, at tariff with which yol
are already acquainted, are taken thu
animals required for the daily rations-
are still pretty full and there are 10(
field batteries fully horsed, several cav
, airy regiments, and sdln unknown mum
Der of officers and orderlies' horses, al
of which, at push, might be converted
into food. I feel sure that I am no
over the mark in estimating the gross
number of horses at 100, 600; and there
is fodder in abundance for all, showing
no symptoms of giving out for long
time to come. At the Cantines Munici
pales, for sous or 80 centimes (3d
you can obtain a quart of strong soup,
with tidy lump of horsemeat swim
ming In 1t, which you may consume
t'on the premises" or take away with
you, rs you choose. The rations, is
sued three times week, are varied
judiciously, as follows: one day salt
meat, another day fresh meat, and the
third salt fish, cod, or herring
O voLos1te. The ration cards
made out till the LIST of February, arc
/ provided with coupons, against which
you may obtain your. so gramn1es OF
rice, potatoes or cheese, as well as
your meat, &C. All these edibles, OF
which the price is ruled by Govern
ment, are trife cheaper than they
were when their prices were fixed by
the retail vendors For the INDECENT
there are numerous BUreooEE de Bie1a-
f1isarce, and by application to them
any very poor person can obtain bors,
or vouchers, upon presenting which at
the cantines or shops of the afrondisse-
ments they will receive rations. Six
thousand COWS, which viii not be
slaughtered, except in great emergen-
cy, are kept to supply milk for chill
dren, invalids, &c. Butter, of course,
is exceedingly scarce and dear-a SOW
ereign per pound. Eggs, too, arewild-
ly expensive--one shilling and three
pence piece; so that omelettes are lux
uries only indulged in by reckless cap
italists, but the necessaries of life are
plentiful, and by no means costly.
Goals have risen to 80 francs per ton,
and wood to from 60 TO 20; but wine is
cheap, and there is enough of it to last
year, whilst the provision of flour
which I hear that Paris owes chiefly to
the Government itself does not know
how much it possesses. s,s.ess
I have learnt some particulars re-
specting the organization and disposi-
ton of the Army of Defence which may
possibly prove interesting to your read.
ers. The whole force of armed men
may be roughly estimated at a strength
of $40, 900, divided into three armies
the first of which, IS commanded by
General Clement Thomas, the second
by General Ducrot. and the third by
General 'Vinoy. Let us take them Sc
7,iatfDG according to their numbers.
General Thomas army Is more numer-
GUS than the othertwo put together; it
consists of about 800, 900 men, chiefly
composed of National Guards, or
Gardes Sedentaires. There are 266 bat
talions varying in strength from twelve
to seventeen hundred men. Since
Thomas was appointed to his COM
mand, a system of elimination has
been adopted, which is gradually con-
verting the civic force into an army fit
to take the field. From each battalion
500 men are chosen-the unmarried
members; and, having been equipped
and armed at the Palais de PIndustrie
as regulars, exchanging all their "pis-
tom rifles against the ts tabatieresn
and Chassepots of their comrades who,
remaining in the old battalion happen
to be armed with improved weapons
they are formed into regiments of three
battalions, on the approved army foot
ing, and sent out to JON the troops be-
longing to the Second Army; in fact,
they are transferi ed from one Army to
the other. The new regiments are
commanded by colonels promoted from
the " commandants" formerly in charge
of Sedentairen battalions, and those
battalions retain. their original forna-
ton, though with thinned ranks, which
again, however, are steadily being
filed up by volunteers of all ages and
ranks. Forty thousand of these newly
mobilised troops, or twenty regi-
sent forth to Join the regulars and Mob
lots in the field and forty thousand
more will be ready to follow their ex-
ample IN ten days or fortnight. The
Gardes Sedentaires serve on the ram
parts of the enceinte, and hold q good
many posts, or guards, in the city, at
the public offices, Government store
houses, hospitals, and municipal bu-
reaux. Only five batteries of artillery
properly belong to General Thorn
ass army; but great eff
forts are being made to
strengthen it in this respect. It pos
seses no cavalry worth mention. Tt does
no police duties, these being performed
by the Gardes Urbaines, whose only
obligatory uniform is pair of blue
trousers, with red stripe and KEPT,
with a red cockade, the rest of their
costume being optional, In color and
f shion, to the wearers. The Second
Army, which is commanded by Gen.
Ducrot, consists of 150, 900 regulars and
Gar es Mobiles, with so batteries of
field artillery and mitrailleuses, and a
couple of regiments of cavalry. It is
divided into three Army Corps, two of
which are led by Generals Blanchard
and Bellemare-but the II me of the
third corps commander escaoes my
memory. There are two divisions in
two of the army corps, and three in the
third. The army, by the process of re-
inforcement above noticed, will in a
few days, attain strength of consider
ably more than 200, 900 men. It does
not enter p ris, but is encamped or
lies in cantonments around the city,
between, and sometimes in fl MT of,
the forts. The Third Army, un-
der. the command of General
Vinoy-who formerly com handed a
corps under Ducrot, but was most prop
erly advanced by Trochu to an indie
pendent and important charge-num-
bers &c, 900 men, in seven divisions OF
10, 900 men each. These are composed
of the depot battalions of the Imperial
Guard, now shorn of their gallons
and incorporated with the Line, of
Marines, Of a few line battalions, of the
Sergents- Vile, of Gendarmes, and
of some provincial Molots. They are