Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/318

 27G ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1S53 chap, the Leads of columns which were converging XIV • • L_ upon the insurrection from different points were almost close to the several barricades upon which they had marched. VIII. The ad- The advanced post of the insurgents, at its vanceii post -. nl of the in- north-western extremity, was covered by a small surgents. . -i-i-i^i barricade, which crossed the Boulevard at a point close to the Gymnase Theatre. Some twenty men, with weapons and a drum taken in part from the ' property room ' of the theatre, were be- hind this rampart ; and a small flag, which the insurgents had chanced to find, was planted on the top of the barricade.* state of the Facing this little barricade, at a distance of at three about a hundred and fifty yards, was the head of the vast column of troops which now occupied the whole of the western Boulevard, and a couple of field-pieces stood pointed towards the barricade. In the neutral space between the barricade and the head of the column the shops and almost all the win- dows were closed, but numbers of spectators, in- cluding man) 7 women, crowded the foot-pavement. These gazers were obviously incurring the risk of receiving stray shots. But westward of the point occupied by the head of the column the statu of crossed the Boulevard diagonally, near the Porte St Denis. It is not noticed in the text, because the object here is, not to describe in detail the preparations of the insurgents, but merely to show the state of the Boulevard at the point where their advanced post faced the troops. luck.
 * The great barricade in tin's district was the one which