The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1896-09-16
LAST CARTRIDGES.
STORY OF THE INCIDENT DEPICTED
IN A CELEBRATED PAINTING.

cry Was Recognized by Their Conquer
ors.
Who has not seen a print Of the IA
nous picture, ''The Last Cartridges, !"
by Alphonse do Melville? The original
is in the gallery of one of New York S
citizens Well, in that picture the
wounded major leaning against the old
chest and watching through the win
dow the effect of the Turcos last shot
is Lambert, the hero of Bazeilles.
The story of that picture is brief
enough and yet it has never been printed
in full in any American paper. 1t is as
follows:
On Sept. 1, 1870, the German artil-
iery was laundering around Sedan. The
French army was shattered. Its cavalry
had made that last and desperate charge
which brought from the lips of old King
William the exclamation so often quoted
in French papers, ooh, les braves
gensr' At Bazeilles, where the French
infantry in scattered groups continued
to fight furiously and hopelessly, dis
putting every inch of ground with the
enemy, the German losses were severe.
On the northern outskirts of the town q
small number Of French marines, barri-
caded in house known as La Maison
Bourgerie, kept up prolonged resist
ance, actually holding in check almost
an army corps. This handful of heroes
was composed of Lambert and his men.
The Fifteenth Bavarian regiment in
vested the house, firing at the windows,
without attempting to take the place by
storm. Major Lambert and Captains
Ortus and ALBERT directed the fire.
They transformed all the openings of
the house into loopholes, from which
they poured d deadly fire into the ranks
of the Bavarians, who were obliged to
fall back repeatedly. Requirements
after ACCOMPLISHMENTS arrived, but re-
pulse followed repulse. The marines
kept up a perfect hail of bullets, against
which it seemed impossible to advance.
The Bavarians were moved down
mercilessly. But the besieged, too. had
q hard time of 1t. The bullets tore into
shreds the mattresses with which they
had barricaded the windows. and the
woodwork was shattered into splinters.
But from the two rooms of the first story
of the building the Frenchmen handled
their chassepots with deadly effect.
Lambert, with pale cheeks and flashing
eyes, constantly shouted in hoarse
voice: "Stick to it. boysl Stick to iti'
Captains Ortus and ALBERT, each with
chassepot i'll his hand, blazed away
with the rest The odor Of powder was
almost sitting, but the Frenehmen
coolly continued to use up their last
cartridges. The little troop was gradu-
ally becoming smaller and smaller. The
wounded and the dead lay in heaps upon
the floors. Tho Bavarian general, out
of patience with the extraordinary re-
sistance of that handful of Frenchmen,
ordered an attack by the artillery. A
shell fell upon the roof, tearing big
hole in it, and also in the ceiling just
above the heads of Lambert and his
men. But, fortunately for them, it
burst above, and, strange enough, did
comparatively little damage A few
men were wounded by the flying pieces
of timber But the smoke with which
it filled the place was suffocating and
almost binding. "Stick to it, boysl'
shouted Lambert And they stuck to 1t.
At last the ammunition was becoming
exhausted. The cartridge boxes of the
dead and wounded were picked up and
their supply eagerly grabbed. But it
did not last long. Each one was fired,
the last by Captain ALBERT.
Then Lambert opened tho door and
with white handkerchief in his hand
limped out in front of the enemy. The
Bavarian soldiers were furious at their
losses. A crowd of them at the sight Of
the Frenchman made dash at him
with their bayonets, but just then brave
Captain Lessignold of the Fifteenth
Bavarian infantry dashed forward, COW
cred the Frenchman with his body and
sword in hand drove back the men who
were about to butcher him.
So Lambert and all that remained of
his men became prisoners of war. They
numbered about 40, all more or less
wounded. That evening Major Lambert
and Captains Ortus and ALBERT were
brought before the crown prince of
Prussia, afterward Emperor Frederick
Ill They offered him their swords.
keep your swords, gentlemen" said
the crown prince. 1--WE don't disarm
brave soldiers like you. !" .......,. sj7...
On the LIST of September, 1895. Gen
eral Lambert made a pilgrimage to the
crypt where lie the remains Of his COM
panions of that memorable day. Then
he went to see the Maiso.l ,ourgerie
That establishment is Transformed into
national museum-that il to say, it
is covered and sheltered by another
building, and the original house stands
inside, Just as it was when Lambert left
it. fast-S it.t'
But there is one unfortunate mistake
in De Neuville's picture. There was no
Turco in Lambert's band, and the man
who fired the last cartridge was Cap
tain Aubert The captain must have
smiled when he saw the strange portrait
which the famous artist made Of him.
General Lambert is now In the re-
serve forces, having passed the legal
limit for general in the regular army.
Some years ago the badauds of Paris
used to ask each other the solemnly stu
pid question, Have you seen LAMBERT"
And at that time nobody had seen him,
and nobody had any expectation of ever
seeing him.
But now all Paris has seen him. The
French army glories in him. The Ger
man army honors him, and every one
who has visited a picture gallery or
stopped in front of picture store in
any city of the civilized world has seen
his portrait lie Journal Officiel reports
that he has been promoted to the dig
nifty of grand officer in the Legion Of
| Honor. New York Sun.