Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/312

 the drawbridge, of which only a small beam remained, and joined his interlocutor, who said: "My name is Ducatel—a former officer of the infantry of the Marine. You can have confidence in me. Paris is yours, if you wish to take it. Bring in your troops immediately, as you see everything is abandoned." In fact, no troops were visible in any direction, and the bastions on the right and left were entirely evacuated.

M. Ducatel was invited to leave Paris by the commandant, to render an account of the situation to the General-in-Chief. The following despatch was sent immediately to the Generals Douay and Vergé at Villeneuve l'Etang, and Sèvres, dated from the trench:

"I have just entered Paris with M. Ducatel by the Porte St. Cloud. Everything is abandoned. I have ordered the torpedo wires to be cut."

Half an hour afterwards the firing had ceased along the entire line. Commandant Trèves, accompanied by M. Ducatel and Captain Garnier, with a body of engineers, returned to Paris. The commanders of the 37th and 91st battalions followed with their troops to secure the position against an offensive return of the insurgents. It was then half-past four in the afternoon.

Immediately after the reception of the above despatch, General Douay, commanding the Fourth Army Corps, advanced his troops, and occupied strongly the Porte St. Cloud and the Rue du Rempart. He was followed by General Vinoy, commanding the reserve, who entered the same gate, and took possession of the important position of Trocadéro.

In the meantime, General Ladmirault (First Army Corps), entering by the gates of Passy and Auteuil, continued along the ramparts, and surprised the insurgents at the Porte de la Muette, where he took five or six hun