Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/231

 which was already so near the forts and ramparts; next, to wear out by an incessant struggle the insurgent battalions, which, with a sensible diminution in their effects, were forced to oppose, day and night, and over a vast front, troops which might be constantly renewed; and, lastly, to open to the army a field of operation so wide that it might choose the most favorable opportunity for a general action, and aid their attack by numerous diversions or demonstrations. In this manner a decisive action might be fought to the greatest advantage.

The insurgents on the south, after having fought the whole of the 2d to resist the successful attacks of the army against the fortified positions on the Vanves road, and in the village of Issy, and, after having to resist a vigorous movement against the outworks of Bicêtre and Issy, passed a very unquiet night. The fort of Issy was now so far surrounded, that reinforcements had to be sent by the gate of Vanves. In fact, after that engagement, the troops, already masters of Moulineaux and the park of Issy, situated to the right of the fort, seized on the left a powerfully armed barricade, which defended the strategical road from the fort of Issy to that of Vanves; then, by a clever flank movement, they advanced from those two points on to the village itself, in which they occupied positions which commanded it completely. The only point which assured the communication of Paris with Issy was the cemetery, still held by the insurgents. Late in the evening there was every expectation that the army of Versailles would be in Paris by daylight next morning. In consequence of something that had transpired, three divisions of the army advanced towards the enceinte through the Bois de Boulogne, and an entire army corps was under orders to follow. Marshal de MacMahon, attended by his staff, left Versailles for the advanced posts at eleven o'clock, after an interview with