The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-02
THE sIEGEs OF PARIS.

women, and children, had taken refuge in
church which the English burned. 1t is said
that not three hundred escaped. The city Itself
was in the greatest distress. Tue English army
was withdrawn towards The Loire, with the
promise of speedy return at the time of vim
tage. But in May, 1861, the Eoglsh king made
peace on receiving Aqutaine aud u ransom of
three million gold crowns for King John, who
had been taken prisoner, six hundred thousand
TO be paid before the English army left Calais.
This treaty was received with the greatest JOY
by the Parisians, but was not so well thought of
by the inhabitants Of the levied towns and
province.
THE FRENCH THEMSELVES THE BEsIEGERs.
In the reign of Charles VII happened the de-
vastating wars between the French on one side,
and on the other the allied English, Burguu-
dans and Armagnacs. Then Joan of Arc, after
she had saved Orleans, had been forced to march
upon Paris in August, 1880, for the purpose of
raising the siege. She was successful in carry
ing part of the works. but was wounded in the
attack. The effort to raise the siege was unsuc-
cessful, and Joan was herself soon after burned
alive. In April, 1885, Breton, Constable of
France, Count de Richmond, and the brave
Dunois wrested Paris from the English, and put
the garrison of the invaders to death.
CHARLES THE BOLD BEsIEGING THE CITY.
Then again Paris had a season of peace of
tbirty-nine years duration until the year 1865,
when Charles the Bold Duke of Burgundy,
then called the Count of Charolois surrounded
the city for the purpose of making terms with
his enemy Louis XI. The investing army was
said to number about one hundred thousand
men, and consisted of German cross-bow men,
Neapolitan horsemen, and Swiss halberdiers.
The citizens at first hesitatcd about accepting
an armistice, but while they were still unde-
cided their king Louis himself, found his way
into the city with over two thousand men and
numbers of the Normandy nobility. This gave
fresh heart 10 the besieged, who made frequent
sallies upon the enemy. The siege not being per.
feet, the rivers having been left open, provi-
sions were easily supplied aud we're very plen-
tiful. There was considerable fighting and can
nonading in and near the city for a time, when
the French king agreed to q compromise;
Louis for the SUN of two hundred thousand
golden crowns, agreed to give up to the duke
the fortresses Of Amiens, Abbeyille, and others
in the Somme.
Peace had hardly been declared before there
was again trouble and a want of agreement be-
tween the two monarchs, and in the same year
the Burgundians were again before Paris. They
tried to surprise the gate of st. Denis but being
unsuccessful, cannonaded the town. Louis
gained a temporary advantage over the van
guard of the enemy, but the war was again
brought to an end by concessions of money and
territory from the French. During this siege
the Burgundians numerically cut down the
vines in many of the vineyards in the vicinity
and did much damage generally. The streets
of Paris were barricaded with immense chains,
1t is estimated that there were not more
than about one hundred and fifty thousand
people in the city at this time.
THE FRENCH KING BEsIEGING HIS OWN CAPITAL.
Henry " of Navarro, after gaining his great
victory at Ivry over the leaguers and Spaniards
surrounded Paris with his army, with the inten-
tion of gaining possession of the city to which
he was justly entitled, and from which he was
excluded by his opponents under the Duke de
Nemours On dark night attacks were made
upon the outposts in twenty different places
Henry himself sat in the Abbey de Montmartre
listening to the cannonade and watching the
flames which were soon visible in every direc-
tiOn. The supplies of the city were entirely cut
off by these efforts, but the place was well de-
Tended. The inhabitants suffered all the ex-
treme pangs of hunger, thirty thousand having
died in months time from starvation
Mothers were said to have led upon their chill
dren. Spanish Ambassador in the city recon-
mended the inhabitants to dig up dead bodies
and pound the bones into kind of dough, to be
used as food, which advice was followed,
although this kind of diet generally produced
the death of those who practsed it.
The hungry inhabitants fought with fury.
Even the monks put on armor over their frocks
and fought beside the citizens. The city could
never have held out had the siege been con-
tinued erie CT, but provisions were allowed to
pass in exchange for luXuries of clothing which
the investing soldiers coveted. Henry finally
raised the siege and retired. He however bought
the capital in 1894 from the Governor, Count de
Brisac for one million six hundred aud ninety
five thousand four hundred livres. Tne troops
were admitted to the city by private way but
were obliged to fight for possession. The cannon
on the ramI arts were turned upon the city.
Resistance was made by some German soldiers
and by the people in thu University quarter,
but these were soon oyerpowered. The leaguers
and spaniards were expelled and told by the
king himself, as they were leaving, never to
return.
THE SIEGE BY THE ALLIED EUROPEAN POWERS.
In 1914 occurred siege of the city of more
importance than any which had preceded it. 1t
was at the time when nearly all the European
powers, including kngland, were arrayed
against the French army of Napoleon. That
portion of the French army commanded by
Marmont and Mortier baYins met with some re-
verses, fell back upon tue C ty, pursued by the
allied army which approached by three sepa-
rate routes. The de euses OF the city were
then not good. There were two hundred cannon
at the heights of Vincenues, but they were not
mounted. There were no barricades in the streets,
and only about six thousand of the National
Guard were supplied with muskets among an