Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/342

 does, the Bastille, Belleville, the Faubourg Saint Antoine, the Boulevard Prince-Eugène, and the Place du Trône.

The Boulevard Magenta, about a mile and a quarter in length, was defended by four formidable barricades established across the avenue, and by about twenty others built in its transversal streets.

These four barricades were situated at the entry of the Boulevard Ornano, at the corner of the Rue Rochechouart, before the church of Saint-Laurent, and the last at the junction of the streets Magnan, Dieu, and Chateau d'Eau.

The corps of General Ladmirault, advancing along the Boulevard Rochechouart and the Avenue Trudaine, met with a stubborn resistance at the Collège Rollin. After gaining possession of this building, an attack was made on the barricade of the Boulevard Ornano, which was carried after a long and severe effort. The capture of this barricade was of great importance in enabling the army to make use of the artillery of the insurgents, and with it to attack the other defences of the Boulevard Magenta.

The barricades Rochechouart and Saint-Laurent fell in their turn, and the attack was immediately directed against the fourth barricade, which was the key of the position. Here, however, the insurgents held good until Friday at noon.

It was during the attack on the Boulevard Ornano that Dombrowski, commander-in-chief of the army of the Commune, received his death-wound.

Dombrowski did not escape the fate of all those whom the Commune exalted to eminent positions, who were applauded one day, imprisoned the next. Accused of treason in abandoning Neuilly, his arrest was decided upon Monday evening, and immediately executed.

Military events demanding a supreme effort on the part of the Commune, he was set at liberty, when he replied to