Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/445

 some time before he could tear himself away from the tomb so prematurely opened.

Charged with the command of the 2d army corps under Paris, the active part he took in the operations of the siege is already known, and also how much his care in re-*establishing discipline, his wise measures and his energy, hastened the end of that painful and redoubtable enterprise. His campaign, opened at the forts of Issy and Vanves, whose capture was owing to him, ended at his entrance into the Luxembourg, where his sudden apparition surprised the insurrection preparing the conflagration of all the monuments as well as private houses of the left bank.

The Faubourg Saint Germain owes to him its preservation.

The General de Cissey, who counts no less than forty years of service, thirteen citations in the order of the day—who has been successively in Africa, the Crimea, at Metz and under Paris—has had the rare good fortune never to receive a single wound. Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1868, he has been made recently grand-*croix, April 20th, 1871. He is besides decorated with the orders of Medjidié, of the Bath, and with the medal of military valor of Sardinia.

The present Minister of War is of middle height, and has a fine military deportment. On his face, with grave and regular features, firmness and loyalty are easily read.

The General talks but little; but when a service is to be rendered, he is seen to act. He has an upright soul, working always for good. At the same time a man of action and a studious man, his great integrity makes him anxious to render an account of everything for himself; thus in his different commands he was oftener to be found in the neighborhood of the trenches than at his headquarters.

Public opinion has greatly applauded his elevation to