Ellsworth American., 1871-02-16

ioi tiSsscHs uuu tuis NaS tHc t'ASs III
ternal trouble thai vccasioned any
anxiety.
In the beginning Of November the
army of the Lore, under DE Palaaines,
achieved signal victory over General
Won der Tam and forced the Prussians
10 avacuate Orleans. Later on in the
month of November other French
victories were also obtained in the
same department.
Until the end of November the siege
weat ON but slowly, while tie stock of
provisions became palpably smaller
aud the Parisians experienced the
most disagreeable consequences OF the
investment. Fresh meat gave out at
the beginning of the month, and the
animals of the .Jardin dcs Plants were
slain and sold to the people.
Toward the end of November the army
of the Loire was signally defeated BY
Prince Frederick Charles, vino after the
surrender of Metz had turned his march
southwark. The day after this news
was received ut Versailles General
Dncrot, with 100 900 men, made a
grand sortic from Paris. The fighting
for three days was desperate, victory
coming alternately To the contenling
armies. Finally the Germans succeed
Ell IN AGAIN establishing their positions,
and Ducrot and his army were once
more prlsoned beneath the walls of
l'aris. Inc losses IN these DAYS iiIht-
ing must have been trighttuIy heavy.
but the estimates given are very vari
Gus.
Following this defeat came the final
disaster to the Army of the Loire. and
further unsuccessful and not very
vigorous attempt hy Ducrot on the
.nth OF December t. again break
through the investin. lines. These
disasters, aAi especially the first, pro-
duced very bad effect upon the de-
Tenders Of Paris. and affairs within
thc doomed capital grew more and
more di>coura.ing. frpm this time
until almost the close of the year the
record Of the siege is not very interest
Ins. In thc north. under Gen Faid-
hcrbc, IN the south d second Army of
the LDre. under ChanZy. and in the
east an army, under Bourbaki, had
been slowly gathered together. Faid-
hcroe WAS soon defeated, and Bour-
bahi ; command was not very promis-
ing. The Army of the Loire ayain
achieved { " successes. which in
spircd great confidence in its new lead
er.-On the 2Jth Of December the Ger
mans obtained An advantage that led
TO the ultimate capture of the citv.
The bonbartllnent on the part of the
russians had been postponed again
and a.ain, until 1t WAS believed that
taey atncrcd to their original intention
To starvc the city into submission.
on the Goth, however, the beginning of
the end took place by the lombard
ment of Fort Avron and its forced
evacuation by the French. This pesi-
ton gained ii became clear that the
Prnssi@ns were able ut any time they
chose to begin ia serious earnest the
work Of Smelling the city. Avron
once taken. the Germans directed a
hrc from that position anl silcnced.
Fort Nogent. On the 81 4 heavy bonn
barimcnt ON the forts Oh the north.
south and east was begun, bnt with
very little effect.
Meanwhile affairs inside the doomed
city hal become more and more des-
peratc. Meat. even salt or Wild of
any kind. had for weeks been out OF
the market. Iwo-thirls of the popu-
latsn were living only upon the INSULT
cient railous OF hsur served out bv
the government. Owing to these pri-
vations and To the severity Of an un-
usually cold winter, there were great
many deaths from sickness. the
temper of the people remained true to
the provisional government until the
Inaction that succeeded Ducrot's tiu-
successful and disastrous sorties OF
the 18th and 2lst of December showed
that all hope, in the opinion of Gen.
Irochu, lay in succor from without
In the irctfulncss of forced inactivity
the people began 10 complain, and
lrochu has had 10 make a choice be-
tween wasting French lives in useless
sorties or bearing the taunt from his
own people of being cowardlv and in
competent. Finding that efforts were
again being made TO stimulate disatfec-
tion lie issued a proclamation caicula-
ted To promote union and confidence.
The bombardment began on the 81,
and daily increased in severity. Fort
Nanyres was destroyed, the barracks
of Foot Montrouge were set on fire and
burned, and few spent shells fell in
to the gardens Of the Luxembourg.
The firing from this time was kept up
all through the night until four O'Clock
in the morning. It-scon became evi-
dent. too, that part of the city woald
have To be destroyed or the entire city
capitulate. Trochu, however, still held
firm To his resolution to resist u the
last, and even Fort Vanvres had been
reduced to silence, issued II defiant
proclamation.
On the 18th Paris was on fire in sew
eral places, and the French battery at
Notre Dame de Clamars was captured.
This was a point nearly mile in ad-
vance of the former Prussian lines.
and guns were Immediately mounted
on the position and directed against
Fort Issy. On the following day the
French made determined attempt to |
repossess themselves of this position,
but were repulsed with heavy loss.
The same day the French made a sor-
tie from St. Dennis, under the personal
Of Gen. Trochu, but
without success. On the 10th the
Prussian fire destroyed Fort Issy and
Fort Montrouge.
This brings Us down to the present.