Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/189



progress of which we will give exact accounts.
 * bat, of which the issue cannot be doubtful, and of the

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The interest of the fighting was once more transferred to the left bank of the Seine. The Versailles batteries had heretofore replied but feebly to the continued provocations of the southern forts, and had remained on the defensive, or fired only to cover the movement of their troops. On the 26th, however, they commenced the offensive, and by a converged fire upon Issy reduced it to silence. The cannonade was kept up from seven batteries—one at Chatillon, three in the woods beyond the railway, and three others around the Palace of Meudon. The insurgents attempted in vain to reply from the station of Clamart, from the Molineaux, and from several of the bastions; the shells continued to rain down on the parapets of the fort, and each explosion could be seen to raise up clouds of dust and smoke. The gunboats on the Seine, however, rendered efficient aid to the insurgents. Six of these vessels were at anchor beneath the arches of the railway viaduct, which almost completely sheltered them from the Versailles artillery. A seventh, the Liberty, smaller than the rest, of a light draught of water, and carrying an enormous cannon, advanced in the direction of Bas-Meudon, discharged its gun, and then retired beneath the viaduct to reload.

The regular forces, during the day, pushed forward their outposts on this side of Bagneux, and below Chatillon to Clamart. On all points were engineers at work, advancing step by step, piercing holes for musketry in the houses and walls, digging trenches, and constructing redoubts. All the previous attacks against the forts were evidently intended only to mask the works of approach. The troops were repairing their batteries, and had now leisure