Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/347

 insurgents. The latter were also strongly fortified in the Tuileries Gardens.

A contest was conducted for hours across the four sides of this square, and had the insurgents retained possession of Montmartre, the position would have been untenable for the troops. As it was, they were for some time little able to do more than hold their own. The enthroned cities of France suffered severely in this artillery battle, Lille being entirely destroyed, and all the others receiving some damage. The Egyptian obelisk, though attained by several shells, remained uninjured, while the ruins of stone balustrades and beautiful fountains of bronze covered the ground.

In the Boulevard Haussmann an attack was begun early in the morning on the Expiatory Chapel, held by the insurgents, which lasted with more or less intensity until four in the afternoon, when an order was given to the troops to advance down the Boulevard and force the position.

This was effected most gallantly, and the insurgents fled.

In the Faubourg St. Honoré, the attack on the barricade of the Rue Boissy d'Anglas was commenced at an early hour. At five in the afternoon an advance was made, and the position carried. The barricade of the Rue Royale was thus taken in the rear.

In the Boulevard Malesherbes the contest was most violent, and lasted many hours. The troops, having gained possession of the barricade in the Rue Ville l'Evèque, attacked from there the Rue de l'Arcade, where the insurgents were in great force, both behind the barricade and in the houses. The traces left by the battle were numberless. Trees were cut down, and houses riddled with bullets and shells, while the columns and steps of the Madeleine were covered with many scars.