Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/158

 On the morning of the 16th the cannonade recommenced at four, and continued without intermission until eight in the evening. The firing was chiefly from the insurgent batteries. An incident occurred during the morning at the station of Colombes beyond the Seine. The insurgents had advanced up the line to see whether it was cut, in order to manœuvre the iron-clad railway batteries. A body of Versailles cavalry made a dash to cut off the retreat of the National Guards, but the locomotive which was waiting toward Asnières came to the rescue, and, sending a volley from a mitrailleuse among the mounted troops, drove them back. The insurgents then retreated under cover of the engine, but without ascertaining how far beyond the station the line was open.

The elections held on the 16th, for the purpose of filling up the vacancies in the Commune caused by resignations, was a strong rebuke to those who had usurped the power of the capital. The partisans of the Commune had announced that the ballot on the 16th would be a striking triumph for them, that all Paris would rush to the urns in crowds, and nominate by acclamation the Communal candidates. They found themselves in front of a pitiable result. In most of the arrondissements the persons who had come forward had not received one-eighth of the number of voters on the electoral lists. This government had been at work nearly a month, and the people had been able to judge of its merits. General Cluseret, who gave orders to 150,000 men, had difficulty in obtaining 1,968 votes; General Dombrowski, in spite of the aid of the biographies in the official organ of the Hotel de Ville, presents himself escorted by 65; M. Courbet, the patriotic promoter of the demolition of the Vendôme Column, recruited as many as 2,418 supporters; and Colonel Razona is obliged to avow that with his 972 he had fewer electors than soldiers.