Evening journal., 1896-11-21
LAST CARTRIDGES.
STORY OF THE INCIDENT DEPICTED
IN A CELEBRATED PAINTING.

Who has not tseen q print CT the IA
nous picture, "The Last Cartridges.
by Alphonse do Eouyire? Tho 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 tho Turcos last shot
is Lambert the hero OF Bazcilles.
Tho story Of that picture is brief
enoagh, and yetit has never been printed /
in full in any American paper 1t is as
follows:
On Sept 1, 1870, tho German artil-
lery was laundering around Sedan. The
French army was shattered. It's 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, "Oh, les braves |
gensP' AT Baaeilles, where the French /
infantry in scattered groups continued |
to fight furiously and hopclessly, 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 o house known as La Maisoa
Bourgoric, 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 Bavariun regiment in-
vested tho house, firing at tho windows
without attempting to take the place by
storm. Major Lambert and Captains
Ortus and Aubert directed the fire
They transformed all the openings Of
the house into loopholes, from which
they pcared e deadly fro into The ranks
Of tho Bavarians, who were Obliged to
fall back repeatedly. Re-enfcrcements
after re-enforcements arrived, but re-
pulse followed repulse The marines
kept UP perfect hail Of bullets, against
which it seemed impossible to advance.
The 8avarians were moved down
mercilessly. But the besieged, too, had
a hard time of it. The bullets tore into
shreds tho mattresses with which they
had. barricadcd tho windows, and the
woodwork was shattered into splinters.
But from the two rooms of tho iirst story
of the building the FrenChmcn handled
their chassepots with deadly effect
Lambert, with pale checks and flashing
eyes, constantly shouted in a hoarse
voice: Stick 10 IL, boysl Stick TO itr'
Captains Ortus and Aubcrt. each with
a ohassopot in his hand, blazed away
with the rcst Tho odCr Of powder was
almost stiaing, but tho Ercnchmen
coolly continued TO use up their last
cartridges. The little troop was gradu-
ally becoming smaller and smaller The
wounded and the dead lay i'm heaps upon
the floors. Tho Bavarian general, ont
of patience with the extraordinary re-
sistance Of that handful of Ironchmen,
ordered an attack by tho artillery. A
shell fell upon the roof, tearing q big
hole in it, and also i'm tho ceiling inst
above the heads Ct 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 filed the place was suffccating and
almost binding "Stick TO it. loysp
shouted Lambert And they stuck to it.
At last the mmnunitiol vas becoming
exhausted. Tho cartridge boxes Of the
dead and wounded wero picked up ahd
their supply eagerly grabbed But it
did not last long. Zach cne was fred
the last by Captain Auhort
Thea Lambert opened the door and
with white handkerchief in his hand
limpcd ogt in front Of the onomy The
Bavarian soldiers were furious at their
losses A crowd Of them "a the sight of
the krenChman made a dash at him
with their bayonets, but just then brayo
Captain Lcssignold of tho Fifteenth
Bavarian infantry dashed forward, COW
cred The irenohman 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 mon bocano prisoners Of war; They
numbered about 20, all moro or less
wounded. That evening Major Lambert
/ and Captains CrUs and Aubert were
brought before the crown prince of
Prussia, aftorward Emperor Frederick
H. They offered him their swords.
Keep your swords. CCntlomon, " said
the crown prince "Wc don't disarm
brave soldiers like you. -
On the lst of September, 1885, Gen
eral Lambert mado q pilgrimage to the
crypt whore lie the remains of his COM
panions Of that memorable day. Then
he went to see the Maison Bourgerie.
That establishment is transformed into
national musaum-that is to say, il
is covered and sheltered by another
building, and the original house stands
inside, Just as it was when Lambert left
it,
But there IS one unfortunate mistake
in De Ncuyillo's picture There was no
rurco 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 tho re-
serve forces, having passed tho legal
limit for q general in the regular army.
some years ago tho hadauds OF Paris
used TO ask each other the solcmnly stu
pid question, 'Have you seen Lambert?