Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/319

 *borhood. These balls were fired by sharpshooters, who had spread along the ramparts and taken possession of the gates abandoned by the Federals.

The evacuation was immediately decided, and all the battalions hastened to enter Paris by the gates of Bineau, Asnières, and Clichy. They were closely followed by the regular troops along the Boulevards Neuilly and Malesherbes, and were obliged to turn many times during the retreat and discharge their pieces to check the heat of the pursuit.

The ardor of the Versaillese, however, was not to be restrained; balls whistled in every direction, losing themselves at the extremities of the great avenues in the very heart of Paris. Men and women ran about distractedly, and in a few moments the streets were deserted by all but the combatants.

The regular troops advanced thus as far as the Park Monceau, of which they took definitive possession, while the retreat of the Federals became more and more accelerated.

On his side, General Vinoy held the heights of Trocadéro, and the troops of General de Cissey extended from the dépôt of Montparnasse to Grenelle, occupying the Champs de Mars, the Ecole Militaire, and the Invalides.

Meanwhile, at the Hotel de Ville, orders had been issued by the Committee of Public Safety, which was sitting there en permanence, to erect barricades in every direction, and the injunction was most faithfully and extensively executed. Along the Boulevards from the Madeleine to the Chateau-d'Eau barricades cropped up on every side, and every passer-by was forced to give his aid and place a stone; indeed, as the troops advanced and the danger became more imminent, many unfortunate individuals were pressed into the service, and obliged to work for several hours, finally to have a rifle forced into their