Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/272

 They even reached as far as the quay. Others from Meudon fell on the bridge of Grenelle, circulation over which was now suspended. The concentration of troops in the Bois de Boulogne was increased. The army also occupied the village of Boulogne, which, however, was in a most pitiful state, as for two weeks before its evacuation by the insurgents it was bombarded by two batteries in the Park of St. Cloud.

The insurgents having learned by a reconnaissance that a strong barricade had been constructed by the troops at the gate leading into the wood, opened fire in that direction from two field batteries ranged on the bastions at the end of the Avenue de l'Impératrice. Mont Valérien replied, doing considerable damage to the drawbridge and railway station.

A new battery, constructed under Fort Issy, and between that position and Meudon, assisted in the attack against the Point-du-Jour and the position of the bastions between it and Vaugirard.

The insurgents commenced to build up a direct communication between Fort Vânves and the enceinte, with the object of facilitating the retreat of the garrison, in case the fort should be taken by the troops.

The regulars now commenced to arm the bastions of Fort Issy with ship-guns for the purpose of directing them against the insurgents. They also continued to push forward their parallels in the Bois de Boulogne, thousands of men being at work on them. Perhaps a more imposing camp never was seen than that on the Bois. It positively realized the idea of the poet, an army encamped and waiting for battle. All visitors to Paris know what a magnificent park that is stretching from the Allée de Boulogne, at one extremity of the Bois to Bagatelle near the other, the river forming the boundary, the whole surrounded by a beautiful background of rich