Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-06-08
PART OF ThE OLD CITADEL

angle, two sides formed by the River
Somme and Somme marshes, and the
third side dominated by the heights
of st. Quentin. The only defense on
this side was a narrow ditch, three
strong towers and q fragment of an
cient wall. The Comte de Nassau,
prince of Orange, marched upon the |
place with numerous batteries and at |
tackled upon this side. The only de-
tenders were some gentlepeople belong
| ing to the neighborhood and few sol
diers, afterwards reinforced with a
hundred lancers under the command of
the great General la Marck, Seigneur
de Fleuranges.
Planting his batteries on the heights
of st. Quentin, Nassau proceeded to
lombard the principal buildings of the
town for three days. Then, judging
that he had frightened the inhabitants
enough, he sent herald to demand the
surrender of the city and to warn her
defenders that if they did not yield Il
twenty-four hours every man would be
put to the sword. Herald" replied
Fleuranges, "you will tell the Comte de
Nassau that he will find all at his dis
posal when he is here. In the mean
time he will permit US to salute him in
passing" This pleasantly infurfated
Nassau, who redoubled his efforts and
announced his intention of hanging all
the leaders at the gates of the city. He
found himself, however, fighting not
against a garrison of soldiers, but
against the whole population of the
town. What destruction his cannon
balls did in the day was repaired in
the night by the incredible efforts Of all
the men and women of the place who,
. admirably organized, began at night
fall to fill the breaches in the walls
and worked ceaselessly till dawn, so
, that Peronne was always ready for
further defiance by the time Nassau's
guns began in the msrning. Inside the
walls, however, the casualties were
f heavy, and powder began to run short.
> The duke of Guise had come to the re-
: lief with a small force across the
, marshes, a band of 400 archers, each
I man carrying ten pounds of powder in
: two sacks hung round his neck. It
8 proved, however, impossible to force
a way into the town. All the drummers
a and trumpeters of the army with their
instruments were then added to the re-
r. lieving force and led forth over the
Q marsh with orders both to musicians
and archers to make as much noise
n as possible and to march about in sep
= arate parties.
s This simple. ruSe appears to have
:. confused Nassau, who imagined that
i large re-enforcements were at hand
r and kept his army on the alert all
n night. In the morning no new army
r was visible, but the noise was ex'
n planned. The drummers and trumpeters
e were seen being hauled up into safety
O by ropes over the walls of Peronne.
IS Great Tower Blown Up.
8, Nassau thought his chief difficulty
# lay with the great tower, once the
e prison of Charles the Simple, which
n was strongly garrisoned. He gave or
# ders that it should be mined. The
e Comte de Dammartin was commander
e of the tower. Knowing the danger, his
% friends entreated him to quit the post
L He refused, as he considered the tower
IL II0 Key VI IIlG WAOl6 anu LID
ID it was his duty to remain. When the
r. mine exploded and the tower fell he
le and several heroic companions me-
ID their death.
lg It was her civilian population thai
is saved Peronne. The chief gentleman
u of Picardy gathered within her walls
le resolved on her defense at all costs
and organized voluntary tax to pa,
le the army. D'Estournel, the riches
ID man in the province, opened his grana
1t ries for the use of the poor and sup
to ported the garrison. His wife ant
m children were at his estate in the coun
le try. At the approach of the enemy tt
n the city he brought them thither t.
in show his confidence. By his fine ex
is ample of public spirit and resolution
e. he kept up the courage of the inhab
itants and turned all into heroes. Fo
many years a sermon in praise of Jeal
n d'Estournel was preached on the ami
n versary of the raising of the siege.
ID woman, to whom tradition gives tn
al name of Marie Fourrce, immortalize
a herself as a leader of valor and re
ri source.
the soil, as they did in the days of ST
IN Columbia, who founded the monastery