716 Bivouacs on the evening of the 29th of June.

Ourcq Canal. The Corps itself rested its Right on Blanc Mesnil, and its Left on Aulnay.

The Third Corps d'Armée was at Dammartin and in its vicinity. Its Reserve Cavalry stood at Tremblay, in support of ZIETEN.

The Fourth Corps had its Advanced Guard between Le Bourget and St Denis, which it invested. Lieutenant Colonel vox SCHILL, with the 1st Silesian Landwehr Cavalry and two Battalions of Infantry, was posted at Stains. The Corps itself was at Le Bourget.

Prince BLÜCHER's Head Quarters were at Gonesse.

The Advanced Guard of the Anglo-Allied Army was at Senlis.
The British Cavalry was at Pont St Maxence.

The Second and Fourth Divisions, the Nassau troops, and ESTORFF's Light Cavalry, were at Clermont.

The First and Third Divisions, and the Dutch-Belgian troops, were at St Martin Longeau.

The Fifth and Sixth Divisions, the Brunswick troops, and the Reserve Artillery, were at Gournay.

The Pontoon Train and Hawser Bridges were at Estrée St Denis. The Duke of WELLINGTON'S Head Quarters were at Le Plessis Longeau.

The French troops comprising the Army of the North had entered the capital.

The French force in the capital, after the arrival of the Army that had been defeated in Belgium, consisted as follows: The troops under GROUCHY including the Depôts that had come up from the district of the Loire and from other parts of the interior, amounted to 60 or 70,000 men. They were reinforced, also, by a very considerable amount of Field Artillery. One portion of these troops was posted at Montmartre, at St Denis, and in rear of the Ourcq Canal: the remainder, under VANDAMME, occupied the Heights of Montrouge, on the opposite side, with the exception of the Cavalry, which lay in the Wood of Boulogne. The National Guards amounted to about 30,000 men: their disposition, however, was very doubtful; and, in general, they were considered as but little disposed to offer any resistance to

June 19. The French means of defending Paris.

717

the Allied Armies. There was another description of force called the Federal Tirailleurs, raised in the suburbs, and consisting chiefly of Veterans: they amounted to 17,000 men. Hence, setting aside the National Guard, there remained, for the defence of Paris, a disposable force of about 80 or 90,000 men, besides a numerous Artillery. Marshal DAVOUST, Prince of ECKMÜHL, was appointed to the chief command of the French Army, and his Head Quarters were fixed at La Villette.

The measures which had been adopted for taking advantage of the local capabilities of defence which the capital afforded, consisted in the intrenchments that had been raised around the Heights of Montmartre, Monfauçon, and Belleville. An advanced line of defence was presented by the Ourcq Canal; which, proceeding through the Wood of Bondy and contiguously to the high road from Meaux, has an arm that branches off from Pantin towards St Denis. This Canal, which was thirty feet wide but not entirely completed, had been filled with water. Along its inner bank ran a high dam, forming an excellent parapet, in which embrasures were cut to admit heavy ordnance; and St Denis, which formed the point d'appui of this line of defence on the Seine, was strongly fortified. The ground on the north side of this town, too, had been inundated by means of the little rivers Rouillon and La Vieille Mer. The Village of Aubervilliers, which formed an Advanced Post at musket shot distance from the line, was occupied: and in rear of it the Canal was covered by a sort of tête de pont, which secured the communication between both banks. The Barriers to the several approaches to Paris were covered by works with strong batteries. Vincennes had been strengthened, and covered by the works which defended La Pissotte. A strong tete de pont was also constructed upon

718 The Policy of the French Provisional Government.

the left bank of the Marne, to cover the Bridge of Charenton. All ferries and boats upon the Seine and the Marne were transported to the left bank. The Bridge of Neuilly had been partially destroyed; and the wooden Bridge at Bessons, over the Seine, had been burned. Several villages, parks, and gardens, on the right bank of the Seine and the Marne, were rendered defensible by the walls being crenelated, the approaches barricaded, and the gates blocked up. Upon the left bank of the Seine, on the south side of the capital, preparations for defence were comparatively neglected; they were limited to the Heights of Montrouge.

For the defence of the principal works, three hundred guns of large calibre were supplied; and for the manning of these, twenty Companies of Marine Artillery, which had been brought into the capital. The line between St Denis and Vincennes was defended by the First, Second, and Sixth Corps d'Armée. The Imperial Guard formed the Reserve, and was posted at Menil Montant. The Cavalry was stationed in the Bois de Boulogne. The Third and Fourth Corps d'Armée, under VANDAMME, defended the south side of Paris, and occupied Montrouge.

In the midst of all these preparations, the Provisional Government, the majority of which, under the influence of FOUCHÉ, was most desirous of effecting a cessation of hostilities, though acting ostensibly upon the grounds of a necessity of gaining time for the completion of the measures of defence, and of securing the capital from an assault, could not be otherwise than convinced, from the tenor of the replies made by the Allied Commanders to all its propositions, that the presence of NAPOLEON in Paris was the chief obstacle to any satisfactory arrangement. General BECKER had been appointed to attend the latter at Malmaison, to

Efforts made to induce Napoleon to leave Paris. 719

watch over his safety, to insure him that respect to which he was so eminently entitled, and to prevent the ill-disposed from making use of his name for purposes of excitement and tumult.

Symptoms of a rising among the Buonapartists in Paris had been manifested on the 28th, a circumstance naturally consequent upon the re-union in the capital of so many Regiments of the Line, as also of the Imperial Guard; whose excitement, devotion, and enthusiasm, had NAPOLEON placed himself once more at their head, might have been such as to have brought them into hostile and fierce collision with the other great Parties of the State; and thus have led to scenes of the wildest anarchy and confusion within the walls, whilst the Enemy was thundering at the gates from without.

Hence every effort was employed to induce the ex-Emperor to quit the capital. The fact of the arrival of the Prussians in front of St Denis, and the possibility of an attempt being made to carry him off from Malmaison, were explained to him with much earnestness. He immediately referred to the map, and on perceiving the practicability of this coup de main; he adopted precautionary measures of defence. He also offered to the Government his services in the capacity of General only; remarking, that he was prepared to march against the Enemy, and frustrate his bold and hazardous attempt upon the capital. This proposal was sternly rejected. FOUCHÉ declared that to accede to it would be to remove every chance of arrangement with the Allied Powers; to create fresh troubles and disorders throughout the country; and, though a temporary success might be gained, to bring down eventually the concentrated force of the immense European armament upon the devoted capital.

The Commissioners appointed by the Government to

720

Napoleon leaves Paris for America.

June 29.

communicate its wishes to NAPOLEON, no longer hesitated in arranging his departure. The Minister of the Marine, and Count BOULAY, repaired to his residence, and explained to him that the Duke of WELLINGTON and Prince BLÜCHER had refused to give him any safeguard or passport; and that he had now only to take his immediate departure.

NAPOLEON at length yielded to what he considered to be his destiny; and the preparations for travelling having been completed, he entered his carriage about five o'clock in the afternoon of the 29th, accompanied by Generals BERTRAND, GOURGAUD, and other devoted friends, and took the road to Rochefort whither two Frigates had been ordered for the embarkation of himself and suite for America.

NAPOLEON narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the Prussians, whilst at Malmaison. BLÜCHER, hearing that he was living there in retirement, had despatched Major COLOMB, on the 28th, with the 8th Hussars and two Battalions of Infantry to secure the Bridge of Chatou, lower down the Seine, leading directly to the house. Fortunately, however, for NAPOLEON; the Prince of ECKMÜHL, when he ascertained that the Prussians were nearing the capital, had desired General BECKER to cause this Bridge to be destroyed. Hence Major COLOMB was much disappointed at finding there was no passage at this point, which in fact was not more than eight hundred yards distant from the Palace in which NAPOLEON was yet remaining at the time of the arrival of the Prussians.

On the 29th, the new Commissioners appointed by the French Government waited upon the Duke of WELLINGTON at Etrées, for the purpose of negotiating a Suspension of Hostilities. In the course of the discussion which took place on this occasion, the Duke declared that he had nothing to add to the communication he had made to the