Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/230

 shells. On their side the troops of Versailles having passed the Seine at Sèvre, occupied the Isle of St. Germain, and there established a battery for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of the insurgents from the fort. The fusillade continued the whole night, and the artillery commenced its work of destruction at the break of day.

On the 3d of May Fort Vanves was severely shelled; it being the intention of the Versailles generals to cripple that fort in such a manner as to make it unable to render Issy any protection during the time employed in completing the trenches for its investment.

The shelling of Montrouge continued simultaneously with that of Vanves. The insurgents commenced raising new works in the part of the village near the cemetery which they occupied; and the regulars continued their works of approach, against which the bastions kept up an incessant fire. The proximity of the assailants, and the difficulty of ascertaining the respective positions of the two parties in the houses, prevented, however, the insurgents on the ramparts from rendering efficient aid to their colleagues outside.

The bastions of the Porte de Meudon and of the Point du Jour were also fired on by the Versailles batteries, so that Grenelle and Auteuil were considerably damaged, and all the villas in the neighborhood evacuated.

The two gunboats belonging to the insurgents moored beneath the railway bridge continued to shell the batteries at Meudon, and were replied to by the Versailles batteries, which, however, did more harm to the bridge than to the gunboats.

The line of attack of the regular troops on the insurgent positions became more and more extended to the left—that measure, by rendering combats between the two parties more frequent, appeared to have three objects in view: First, to close on all points the circle of investment