The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-07-11

the drawbridge which had fallen across
the ditch. As he cautiously advanced
he felt the beam tremble beneath him,
and turning saw Sergeant Jules Cou-
tant, ofthe Third Battalion of the Nine-
ty-first with his finger upon the trigger
OF his gun ready to defend or avenge
him. Captain Treye did not feel that
he had right TO send back this devoted
man who was marching so courageous
ly into peril, and quietly kept on his
way. As soon as he had crossed the
ditch he was Joined by NJ. Ducatel.
They visited together bastions 62 and
sc, the military road, the neighboring
posts and the houses along the river.
Every thing was deserted. 1t seemed
as though a pestilence had passed
through the place. When Captain
Treve and Sergeant Coutant returned
to the trench an engineer, Captain
GARNER, was already having bridge
thrown across the ditch over which the
men might cross.
Such is the fact in all its simplicity. 1t
was of wonderful importance for the
deliverance of Paris, but it could not
have occurred if General Douay,. pre-
cipitating his attacks, pushing on. his
approach with extreme energy, had not
brought his trenches to the very walls
of the place-that is, in full sight and
within reach of the voice of M. Ducatel.
NJ. Ducatel gave the signal, Captain
Treve= saw it and the French army prof
tied by the favorable occurrence, thanks
to the troops of the Fourth Corps, which
General Douay had united at this point
after combats and marches vigorously
managed. At about 1880 yards from
the gate of st. Cloud, at the headquar
tiers of the engineers, Capt. Berson was
situated, having telegraph wire cor
with the headquarters of the
Fourth Corps, stationed at, Villeneuve
lEtang. Captain Berson and Captain
Treve Immediately sent dispatches to
General Douay; the latter was not long
in acting. With the help of the tele-
graph wires which he held in his hands,
in less than ten minutes he gave all the
necessary instruction to the batteries
of Montretout and of Bretueil. He
babe them both : stop firing,
and ordered the Gaudil Brigade, bivou-
acino near St. Cloud, to cross the Seine
and hurry to the Point-du-Jour Gate.
He sent Lieutenant Colonel Mellat, of
the Thirty-seventh, commander of the
an order to put all the men OF
whom he could dispose in motion to en-
ter and stay in the city. He then Or
dered the Fourth Corps to march upon
the Point-du-Jour and the st. Cloud
gates. This done, he sent word to
Marshal MacMahon that he had forced
the walls and was going to maneuver
in Paris itself An entrance was not to
have been attempted before Tuesday,
May 20. General Douay then started
himself, and his horse, as you may sup
pose, was in foam when he reached
st. Cloud. His order had been punctu-
ally executed. The Captain of En-
gineers GARNER had been the first to
pass the gate with two companies of the
Thirty-seventh, squad of sappers
and some artillery, men carrying
Or dragging tield-mortars; Com
mander Louis, of the artillery, had
brought up a cannon; Lieutenant-Col-
,nel Mallat, with the soldiers of the
Thirty-seventh and Ninety-frst, massed
themselves so as to repulse any oden-
sive return OF the Federals. During q
few moments there was little confu-
sion but the Gaudil Brigade debouched
BY the Avenue of St. Cloud, General
Oouay had arrived, every thing was
going well, and it was safe to cry,
!. The city is takeni" If at this mo-
nent a division, or even a brigade pre-
,eded by a regiment of cavalry, had
entered Paris " by the quays
and the boulevards, which were totally
clear of barricades, with one bound and
one shot being fired the Com
nune would have been strangled."
This opinion is not mine only but that
If NJ. Lissagaray, the most serious apollo
gist of the Commune. 1t is perfectly
correct. A rapid movement, had
t been strategically possible, car
led out upon the evening of May 81,
Vould have enabled the French Army to
,ncamp that very night in the Hotel de
Vile and to have thrown forward its
advanced guard as far as the Place de
a Bastile There is not chief of the
Commune who does not know, though
lot one of them has admitted this fact.
However, the gods did notwill it so to
Paris was burnedi