Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/446

 the Ministry of War, believing with reason that with the portfolio in such able hands, nothing will be neglected for the reorganization of the noble army of France.

On the right bank of the Seine the military operations, which had been interrupted by the approach of night, were recommenced with vigor on the morning of the 25th, and the Hotel de Ville was taken by an ingenious combination. While it was attacked on one side by the Rue de Rivoli, and watched from the left bank by General de Cissey, the column which marched along the boulevards to the Porte Saint-Martin had been divided, and a strong body had gained by a rapid turning movement the Place des Vosges, penetrated into the Rue Saint-Antoine in the rear of the Hotel de Ville, and thus gained possession of the building, The Commune had already abandoned the place, and taken refuge in the Mairie of the 11th Arrondissement, leaving behind only a heap of blackened ruins.

Nevertheless, the moral effect was considerable. Three-fourths of Paris belonged henceforth to the regular army. Montmartre and the Hotel de Ville were in the hands of the troops, and from that time the Communal insurrection could be considered as vanquished. All hope of success, if the insurgents had ever entertained any, had entirely vanished. There remained still facing the troops nothing but a riot—formidable, no doubt, but without any chance of an offensive return. The Federals, notwithstanding the strong positions they occupied, were defending an absolutely desperate cause, which good sense and patriotism should have advised them to renounce.

The tricolored flag floated above nearly all the monuments in the city, replacing the drapeau rouge. From the Châtelet Theatre to the Hotel de Ville the Communists had left a smoking trail. The houses were nearly all badly injured, and many entirely consumed. The Hotel de Ville presented a most painful spectacle, its destruction