CAMP COURT AND SIEGE

A NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL ADVENTURE AND
OBSERVATION DURING TWO WARS

1861-1865 1870-1871

By WICKHAM HOFFMAN
ASSISTANT ADJ.-GEN. U. S. VOLS. AND SECRETARY U. S. LEGATION AT PARIS

LONDON
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET.
1877

Dedication.

The Hon. E. B. WASHBURNE,

MINISTER OF THE U. S. AT PARIS,
THESE PAGES ARE CORDIALLY DEDICATED,
IN ADMIRATION OF THE STERLING QUALITIES OF MANHOOD
DISPLAYED BY HIM DURING THE DARK DAYS OF THE SIEGE
AND COMMUNE, AND IN RECOLLECTION OF MANY
PLEASANT HOURS PASSED TOGETHER DURING
AN OFFICIAL CONNECTION OF
NEARLY SIX YEARS.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Hatteras.—"Black Drink."—Fortress Monroe.—General Butler.—Small-pox.—"L'Isle des Chats."—Lightning.—Farragut.—Troops land.—Surrender of Forts	Page 11
CHAPTER II.
New Orleans.—Custom-house.—Union Prisoners.—The Calaboose.—"Them Lincolnites."—The St. Charles.—"Grape-vine Telegraph."—New Orleans Shop-keepers.—Butler and Soulé.—The Fourth Wisconsin.—A New Orleans Mob.—Yellow Fever	23
CHAPTER III.
Vicksburg.—River on Fire.—Baton Rouge.—Start again for Vicksburg.—The Hartford.—The Canal.—Farragut.—Captain Craven.—The Arkansas.—Major Boardman.—The Arkansas runs the Gauntlet—Malaria	35
CHAPTER IV.
Sickness.—Battle of Baton Rouge.—Death of Williams.—"Fix Bayonets!"—Thomas Williams.—His Body.—General T. W. Sherman.—Butler relieved.—General Orders, No. 10.—Mr. Adams and Lord Palmerston.—Butler's Style	47
CHAPTER V.
T. W. Sherman.—Contrabands.—Defenses of New Orleans.—Exchange of Prisoners.—Amenities in War.—Port Hudson.—Reconnoissance in Force.—The Fleet.—Our Left.—Assault of May 27th.—Sherman wounded.—Port Hudson surrenders	59
CHAPTER VI.
Major-general Franklin.—Sabine Pass.—Collision at Sea.—March through Louisiana.—Rebel Correspondence.—"The Gypsy's Wassail."—Rebel Women.—Rebel Poetry.—A Skirmish.—Salt Island.—Winter Climate.—Banks's Capua.—Major Joseph Bailey	74
CHAPTER VII.
Mistakes.—Affair at Mansfield.—Peach Hill.—Freaks of the Imagination.—After Peach Hill.—General William Dwight.—Retreat to Pleasant Hill.—Pleasant Hill.—General Dick Taylor.—Taylor and the King of Denmark.—An Incident	87
CHAPTER VIII.
Low Water.—The Fleet in Danger.—We fall back upon Alexandria.—Things look Gloomy.—Bailey builds a Dam in ten Days.—Saves the Fleet.—A Skirmish.—Smith defeats Polignac.—Unpopularity of Foreign Officers.—A Novel Bridge.—Leave of Absence. —A Year in Virginia.—Am ordered again to New Orleans	98
CHAPTER IX.
Visit to Grant's Head-quarters.—His Anecdotes of Army Life.—Banks relieved.—Canby in Command.—Bailey at Mobile.—Death of Bailey.—Canby as a Civil Governor.—Confiscated Property.—Proposes to rebuild Levees.—Is stopped by Sheridan.—Canby appeals. —Is sustained, but too late.—Levees destroyed by Floods.—Conflict of Jurisdiction.—Action of President Johnson.—Sheridan abolishes Canby's Provost Marshal's Department.—Canby asks to be recalled.—Is ordered to Washington.—To Galveston.—To Richmond. —To Charleston.—Is murdered by the Modocs.—His Character	105
CHAPTER X.
The Writer appointed Assistant Secretary of Legation to Paris.—Presented to the Emperor.—Court Balls.—Diplomatic Dress.—Opening of Corps Législatif.—Opening of Parliament.—King of the Belgians.—Emperor of Austria.—King of Prussia.—Queen Augusta. —Emperor Alexander.—Attempt to assassinate him.—Ball at Russian Embassy.—Resignation of General Dix	119
CHAPTER XI.
Washburne appointed Minister.—Declaration of War.—Thiers opposes it.—The United States asked to protect Germans in France.—Fish's Instructions.—Assent of French Government given.—Paris in War-paint.—The Emperor opposed to War.—Not a Free Agent. —His Entourage.—Marshal Le Bœuf	134
CHAPTER XII.
Germans forbidden to leave Paris.—Afterward expelled.—Large Number in Paris.—Americans in Europe.—Emperor's Staff an Incumbrance.—French Generals.—Their Rivalries.—False News from the Front.—Effect in Paris.—Reaction.—Expulsion of Germans. —Sad Scenes.—Washburne's Action.—Diplomatic Service.—Battle of Sedan.—Sheridan at Sedan	145
CHAPTER XIII.
Revolution of September 4th, 1870.—Paris en Fête.—Flight of the Empress.—Saved by Foreigners.—Escapes in an English Yacht. —Government of National Defense.—Trochu at its Head.—Jules Simon.—United States recognizes Republic.—Washburne's Address. —Favre's Answer.—Efforts for Peace.—John L. O'Sullivan	159
CHAPTER XIV.
Belleville Demonstrates.—Radical Clubs.—Their Blasphemy and Violence.—Unreasonable Suspicion.—Outrages.—Diplomatic Corps.—Some of them leave Paris.—Meeting of the Corps.—Votes not to Leave.—Embassadors and Ministers. —Right of Correspondence in a Besieged Place.—Commencement of Siege, September 19th.—Besiegers and Besieged.—Advantages of Besieged	170
CHAPTER XV.
Balloons.—Large Number dispatched.—Small Number lost.—Worth.—Carrier-pigeons.—Their Failure.—Their Instincts.—Times "Agony Column."—Correspondence.—Letters to Besieged.—Count Solms.—Our Dispatch-bag. —Moltke complains that it is abused.—Washburne's Answer.—Bismarck's Reply	182
CHAPTER XVI.
Burnside's Peace Mission.—Sent in by Bismarck.—Interview with Trochu.—The Sympathetic Tear.—Question of Revictualment.—Failure of Negotiations.—Point of Vanity.—Flags of Truce.—French accused of Violation of Parole.—Question of the Francs-Tireurs. —Foreigners refused Permission to leave Paris.—Washburne insists.—Permission granted.—Departure of Americans.—Scenes at Créteil	196
CHAPTER XVII.
Mob seize Hôtel de Ville.—"Thanksgiving" in Paris.—Prices of Food.—Paris Rats.—Menagerie Meat.—Horse-meat.—Eatable only as Mince.—Government Interference.—Sorties.—Are Failures. —Le Bourget taken by French.—Retaken by Prussians. —French Naval Officers.—Belleville National Guard.—Their Poetry.—Blundering.—Sheridan's Opinion of German Army	207
CHAPTER XVIII.
The National Guard.—Its Composition.—The American Ambulance.—Its Organization.—Its Success.—Dr. Swinburne, Chief Surgeon.—The Tent System.—Small Mortality.—Poor Germans in Paris.—Bombardment by Germans.—Wantonness of Artillery-men. —Bad News from the Loire.—"Le Plan Trochu."—St. Genevieve to appear.—Vinoy takes Command.—Paris surrenders.—Bourbaki defeated.—Attempts Suicide	221
CHAPTER XIX.
Election in France.—Terms of Peace.—Germans enter Paris.—Their Martial Appearance.—American Apartments occupied.—Washburne remonstrates.—Attitude of Parisians.—The Germans evacuate Paris.—Victualing the City.—Aid from England and the United States. —Its Distribution.—Sisters of Charity	234
CHAPTER XX.
The Commune.—Murder of French Generals.—The National Guard of Order.—It disbands.—The Reasons.—Flight of the Government to Versailles.—Thiers.—Attempts to reorganize National Guard.—An American arrested by Commune.—Legation intervenes. —His Discharge.—His Treatment.—Reign of King Mob.—"Démonstrations Pacifiques."—Absurd Decrees of the Commune.—Destruction of the Vendôme Column	243
CHAPTER XXI.
Diplomatic Corps moves to Versailles.—Journey there and back.—Life at Versailles.—German Princes.—Battle at Clamart.—Unburied Insurgents. —Bitterness of Class Hatred.—Its Probable Causes.—United States Post-office at Versailles. —The Archbishop of Paris.—Attempts to save his Life.—Washburne's Kindness to him.—Blanqui.—Archbishop murdered.—Ultramontanism.—Bombardment by Government.—My Apartment struck.—Capricious Effects of Shells. —Injury to Arch of Triumph.—Bas-reliefs of Peace and War	256
CHAPTER XXII.
Reign of Terror.—Family Quarrels.—The Alsacians, etc., claim German Nationality.—They leave Paris on our Passes.—Prisoners of Commune.—Priests and Nuns.—Fragments of Shells.—"Articles de Paris."—Fearful Bombardment of "Point du Jour." —Arrest of Cluseret.—Commune Proclamations.—Capture of Paris.—Troops enter by Undefended Gate.—Their Slow Advance.—Fight at the Tuileries Gardens.—Communist Women.—Capture of Barricades.—Cruelties of the Troops.—"Pétroleuses." —Absurd Stories about them.—Public Buildings fired.—Destruction of Tuileries, etc., etc.—Narrow Escape of Louvre.—Treatment of Communist Prisoners.—Presents from Emperor of Germany	271

CAMP, COURT, AND SIEGE.

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CAMP COURT AND SIEGE

CONTENTS.