Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-08-28
LAST CARTRIDGES.
eTORY OF THE INCIDENT DEPICTED
IN A CELEBRATED PAINTING.
The Magnificent Bravery of Handful of
cry Was Recognized by Their Conquer

Who has not seen print of the IA
nous picture, THE Last Cartridges"
by Alphonse de 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 Turco's last shot
Is Lambert, the hero of BaZeilles.
The story of that picture is brief
enough, and yet it has never been printed
i'll full III any American paper. 1t is rs
follows:
On Sept. /, 1870, the German artil.
lery 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, "Oh, les braves
gens!' 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 a
small number Of French marines, barri-
caded in house known as La Maison
Bourgerie, kept up a 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 deadly fire into the ranks
| of the Bavarians. who were obliged TO
fall back repeatedly. Re-enforcenents
after re-enforcementS arrived, put re-
pulse followed repulse. The marines
kept up Il perfect hail of bullets, against
which it seemed impossible to advance.
The Bavarians We're moved down
| mercilossly. But the besieged, too, had
| n hard time of it. 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 checks and flashing
| eyes, constantly shouted i'll hoarse
voice: "Stick to it, boys! Stick to itr'
| Captains Ortus and Aubert. each with
| a chassepot in his hand, blazed away
| with the rest. The odor Of powder was
almost sitting, but the Frenchmen
coolly continued to use up their last
cartridges. The little troop was gradu-
1 oil Il
wounded and the dead lay il heaps upon
the floors. The Bavarim general, out
| OF patience with the extraordinary re
| sistance Of that handful Of Frerchnen,
ordered an attack By the artillery. a
| shell fell upon the ROOF, tearing u big
hole in it, and also i'll 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. \ few
men We're wounded by the flying pieces
| of timber. But the smoke with which
it filled the place was sutfocating and
almost binding. "Stick to it, boysr'
shouted Lambert. And they stuck to it.
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 Aubert.
Then Lambert opened the 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 var. They
numbered about 40, all more or less
wounded. That evening Major Lambert
and Captains Ortus and Aubert were
brought before the crown prince of
Prussia, afterward Emperor Frederick
III. They offered him their swords.
i "keepy your swords. gentlemen" said
the crown prince. I'VE don't disarm
!, brave soldiers like you
On the list of September, 1895, Gen
eral Lambert made pilgrimage to the
] crypt where lie the remains of his COM
panions OF that memorable day. Then
he went to see the Maison Bourgerie
That establishment is transformed into
a national museum-that is to say. it
is covered and sheltered by another
building, and the original house stands
inside, just as 1t was when Lambert left
it.
But there Is one unfortunate mistake
in De Neuville's picture. There was no
Turco in Lambert's Land. and the man
who fired the last cartridge was Cap
tain Aube-t. 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-
.. <erve forces, having passed the legal
limit for q general in the regular army.
Some years ago the badauds Of Paris
used to ask each other the solemnly stu
mid question. Have YOU seen LAMBERT