The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-02-15
An HISTORICAL JEAN VALJEAE.
The Ill Luck that Pursued FRANCOIS
Dubois, Hero and Convict, for
Forty Years.

G&AA4Gs 41U&0 anu 1OlNANN. ADI
Forty Years.
This is the story Of Faneois Dubois,
heru and galley slave, rs il Is written in the
police archives, the army records and
the Gazette 2gS TribtHldUr.
Toward the close Of 1913 he presented
himself 20 the commandant IL Wesel,
Prussia, haSgard and in ngs, saving
that he belonged u the chasSeurs, and
had been dismounted during the retreat
and compelled 70 skulk slowly after the
army, and asked "a be forwaEded to his
regiment In those terrible davs men
were precious, and officers were not sur
prisei 10 discover veterans in raC-clad
skeletons. Dubois Was sent 10 the hus-
sar regiment attached to the Marshal
Nartier's army, where he soon became
the talk Of the corps. He never was
known 20 laugh, spoke but rarely, and
fought with 4 reckless daring uncommon
when the huSssrs charged the battery at
the bridge Of Bout-de-Lain, he WIS the
first 70 reach tht guns, and, falling with
Berserkir rage on the caunoneers uf one
piece, killed, wounded and dispersed
them, and had taken the gun single
handed before the squadron could seize
the others The marshal had seen the
battery carried. and sending for Dubois
praised him highly and promised him
the cross.
Not long after. the marshal had occa-
sion 10 send dispatch from Troyes to
the emperor, then at Pine. ON the
Brienne road, and selected the hussar as
his messenger. The country was thick
with hostile pickets and scouts; he WAS
fired upon several times, but by good
luck and good management, now fight
ing, now running, now hiding, he made
his way IN safety 10 Marmont's outposts,
AMI was conducted To the emperor.
Napoleon gave him a brief written re-
Ply, instructing him, in the presence Of
his staff, 10 conceal it in his bootleg.
Dubois had made his WAY back as far as
the mill OF Sanciere, near Ia Belle
Epine. when he found himself hemmed
II on all sides by a squad Of Cossacks.
He rode reSolutely at the thinnest part
OF the line and tried to cut his way
through, but, after a desperate fight, was
unhOrsed, disarmed and led to the head
quUters Of the Russian emperor.
What orders we're you carrying ?"
asked the chief Of staff.
Verbal orders"
That's lie Search the lining Of
his left boot, replied the Russian. The
guard did sO-who had BETRAYED the EN-
peror from his own headquarters ?-and
the paper was found Dubois was lock
ed up, prisoner, with Lieutenant Au-
ger, Of the lancers Of the guard, and
Auguste Bernard, one Of the emperor's
cauriers. Two days later, at St Marc.
he and Anger escaped and rejoined the
French army. The Duke de Trevise
welcomed HIM warmly and rewarded
him for his services. At Berger Dubois
was severely wounded while fighting
with his headlong bravery. Napoleon
WAS forced back on Paris, stubbornly
though he resisted. March 81, 1914. at
Bendy, Dubois, his wounds not vet heal
ed, but attached to the commissariat
staff, was Just about to enter the head
quarters Of Count Millot, who had pro-
posed his name for the cross, when three
of Vidocq's agents arrested him as q fu-
gitive galley slave
At the police Office he was identified and
ordered aside 10 be returned TO the gal
leys. He gave up to the police sum
of 1000 francs belonging to the regi-
mental chest, with which he had been
intrusted 10 make some purchases at
Bondy. Brincart, the colonel Of his
regiment, made the most earnest attempts
TO secure his release, but all In vain.
The mighty fabric of the first empire was
falling to pieces, and officials had some
thing more important TO think about than
the case Of a private soldier-an escaped
convict.
Dubois was born at Prauthoy, in
Upper Marne; he was sent TO the school
of Brienne at the age Of twelve; in 1890
his father placed him among the students
Of Mars. After Robespierre's downfall,
Dubois was returning homeward when,
at Bar-sur-Seine, he fell in with a soldier
of the Fourteenth Dragons They be-
came friends. visited the different places
of the town together, and dined with
much iollity at the Crown, public
house kept by one Chevrelat. At dinner
the dragoon stole three silver spoons.
which, couple of days later, as they
were about to separate, he sold 10 Dubois
at a low price, saying they were his own.
Meanwhile, the landlord, missing his
silverware, suspected them and followed
them to st. Marc, where they were ar
rested. The dragoon escaped from the
Rendarmes; the spoons were found on
Dubois, and he, then being only twenty
years Of age, was sentenced to eight
years hard labor as an accessory to the
theft.
He was first sent to the galleys Of
ToulOn, whence January q, 1896, ne es-
capped, enisting in the Seventh chas-
seurs. He was sent to the army Of Italy,
where he served with marked courage,
receiving several wounds, notably one in
the face from an Austrian saber at Maren-
go. Being honoraby discharged he
went to work at Ancerville: one of his
men identified him as a convict and he
had TO fly to Troyes. Here, too, after a
considerable interval spent in labor, he
was recognized, betrayed 10 the police
and sent back to the galleys, Fortu-
nately his services in the army pleaded
for him, and as an act of grace the time
he had served was deducted from his
sentence, and eleven months later he was
set at liberty.
Going, on his release, to La Villette,
Dubois had lived there peacefully and
industriously for something more than a
year. when he was arrested and sentenced
to seven years imprisonment for-escap-
ing from the galleys in 1885, This time
he was sent to Cherbourg, whence he es-
capped in 1903, fleeing TO Paris and enlist
ing in the cavalry He served in Spain,
as in Italy, with marked heroism and