eral Ducrot in the Bois de Vincennes
and in the adjacent villages. About 15,000 men, under General Vinoy,
were behind the southern line of redoubts close by the village of
Villejuif. Troops were also placed near St. Denis and in the peninsula
of Genevilliers to distract the attention of the enemy. It was arranged
that early in the morning General Vinoy should push forward in the
direction of L'Hay and Choisy, and then, when the Prussian reserves had
been attracted to the south by this demonstration, Ducrot should throw
bridges over the Marne and endeavour to force his way through the lines
of investment by the old high road of Bale. At one in the morning a
tremendous cannonade from all the forts and redoubts round Paris
commenced. It was so loud that I imagined that the Prussians were
attempting an assault, and I went off to the southern ramparts to see
what was happening. The sight there was a striking one. The heavy
booming of the great guns, the bright flash each time they fired, and
the shells with their lighted fusees rushing through the air, and
bursting over the Prussian lines, realised what the French call a "feu
d'enfer." At about three o'clock the firing slackened, and I went home,
but at four it recommenced. At six o'clock General Vinoy's troops
advanced in two columns, one against L'Hay, and the other against La
Gare aux Boeufs, a fortified enclosure, about a mile above Choisy-le-Roi.
The latter was speedily occupied, a body of sailors rushing into it,
and carrying all before them, the Prussians falling back on Choisy. At
L'Hay the attacking column met with a strenuous resistance. As soon as
it had passed the barricade at the entrance of the village, a heavy fire
was poured into it from the houses at both sides of the main street. A
hand-to-hand encounter then took place with the Prussian Guard, which
had been brought up as a reinforcement. While the fight was progressing
an order arrived from General Trochu to retreat. The same order was sent
to the Gare aux Boeufs, and by ten o'clock the troops to the south of
Paris had fallen back to the positions they occupied the previous
evening. General Vinoy, during the engagement, was with his staff on the
bridge which crosses the Seine near Charenton. A battalion of National
Guards were drawn up near him. A chance shell took off the legs of one
of these heroes, his comrades fled in dismay--they were rallied and
brought back with difficulty. A little later they were e