20

The Occupation of Paris

Much of France was taken over by the victorious armies which included troops from most of the fifteen countries that had formed the Seventh Coalition against Napoleon. This ‘extract of a Dispatch from Lieutenant Colonel Leake to Viscount Castlereagh, dated Pontarlier, July 12’, was published in the Cambridge Chronicle and Journal on Friday, 28 July 1815:

I profit of the opportunity to inform your Lordship that the Swiss forces, now amounting to twenty-one thousand, and daily increasing, still occupy the position from Morteau to Pontarlier, with light corps, advanced on the right and left towards St. Hypolite and Salins. The head-quarters are still at Neuchatel.

An aid du champ, sent here from Marshal Jourdan, at Besancon, announced yesterday the submission of the garrison of that place to the King’s orders, and requested, in consequence, a suspension of arms on the part of the Swiss army. General de Castela, Chief of the Swiss Staff, who is now here, gives me to understand that the request will be granted, upon condition that a corps of the enemy, now at Salins, shall be removed, in order to allow the Swiss troops to move forward.

The Gazette also contains a dispatch from Mr. Fielding, attached to the head quarters of the Piedmontese Contingent, stating that the positions of Aiguebelle, Conflans and l’Hopital, have been taken from the French. In consequence of the abdication of Bonaparte, an armistice was soon after proposed by the French and accepted by General Trink, an Austrian General.

The armistice meant the cessation of hostilities, but there was still considerable uncertainty as to how the Parisians would react and in particular the armed forces in and around the capital which had shown such support for Napoleon and contempt for King Louis. However, it would seem from the following private correspondence in the Caledonian Mercury of Saturday, 22 July 1815, that the French people had accepted defeat:

Major Barlow, the brother of the late governor of Madras of that name, arrived in town this morning from the head quarters of the British army at Paris. Through this channel of information we learn, that all the stories that have been so industriously circulated, of commotions at the French capital, are unfounded, and that the city is in a state of perfect repose. The contributions exacted were the only circumstance that seemed at all to have awakened the sensibility of the Parisians, but the burthens were not to be imposed on Paris alone, and were already extended through the reach of forty miles to the neighbouring country. It is also presumed that the same expedient will be adopted for the subsistence and pay of the allies occupying France, and military governors are to be appointed in several of the eastern provinces, to remove any obstacle from the paternal feelings of the Sovereign to the execution of such a purpose.

The British army in the immediate vicinity of Paris, and composed exclusively of native troops, is to consist of 20,000 men, and other detachments are to be stationed permanently in several of the fortresses. The total number now under orders for embarkation, or in progress on the voyage to France, are 12,000, the greater portion of which were in the Downs this morning when Major Barlow landed.

After the initial acceptance, or resignation to the fact, of occupation in Paris and the departure of Napoleon, the mood soon changed:

The Paris papers received in the course of the week, as well as private letters, continue to describe France and its capital as in the highest state of discontent and anarchy, produced, no doubt, by the evils naturally attendant on such an immense military force of the Allies being burthened on the country; the intrigues of the partisans inimical to the Bourbons; and the apparent irresolution and want of firmness exhibited in all the measures of the Government.¹

The British, at least, made every effort to curb pillaging amongst the occupying forces. Edward Costello of the 95th Rifles, was assigned to the Provost Guard responsible for keeping order in and around the French capital:

We were under the command of the Provost Marshal, named Stanway, whose instructions were to take all whom he found marauding about the gardens in the neighbourhood of Paris, and to march them down to his guard-house for punishment.

The Provost was a keen fellow, and sometimes would pounce on as many as eighteen or twenty in the course of a morning; these were immediately flogged, according to the amount of their offence, or the resistance they made, and instantly liberated.

The depredations, however, became so universal that the inhabitants of Paris complained to the generals of divisions, and we, in consequence, received orders to keep a stricter look-out, and take into custody and flog every man we caught in the act of plunder …

We had a deal of trouble with the Belgians especially. These fellows would go forth in sections, and lay everything waste before them. This was not for want, as they were well supplied with regular rations from Paris …

One morning we brought in sixteen of them, and the Provost as usual, marched them into the little yard where the punishments were generally inflicted. The triangles [upon which they would be tied whilst being flogged] stared them in the face from the centre of the ground, and the culprits one and all, as soon as they rolled their eyes on it, gave a bellow of horror, fell on their knees, and commenced praying and crossing themselves, and other symptoms of repentance; but Stanway was inexorable.

Our men had the greatest difficulty in unbreeching them, and getting them tied to the halberds. The first stripped, I recollect, was a short, stumpy, fat, desperate looking fellow … The first whistle of the cat, even before it reached him, appeared to have verified the assumption, for he roared to such a degree, and his fellow culprits sympathised so loudly, and with such a crash of Belgic, that it set the whole vicinity by the ears, and actually aroused their whole regiment quartered in the village, and the place became an uproar. The Belgians flew to arms and instantly surrounded the guard-house; Stanway nevertheless was determined not to relax his duty, and ordered every man of us to load, and placed us in different parts of the building, barricading the doorways, prepared for every resistance, and during intervals, continued the flagellation.²

Though such efforts were made to prevent looting, the Allied generals evidently had little regard for Parisian sensitivities, as they were only too pleased to arrange displays of their military might, in numerous victory parades. One such, called a ‘Grand Review’, took place in Paris and was reported on by the Chester Chronicle of Friday, 18 August 1815:

Some very interesting particulars of the Grand Review which took place at Paris, of the British and other troops, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, have been published. – A British army reviewed at PARIS! only let us fancy to ourselves a French victorious army reviewed in HYDE PARK, and our sensibility as to the disgrace of such a catastrophe, will make us feel the value of the triumph we have gained.

At about ten o’clock in the morning, the Duke came, in full uniform, with all his stars, ribbons, &c. having the Emperor of Russia on his right, and the Emperor of Austria on his left, followed by an immense retinue; they passed the whole grand line amidst a cloud of dust, that absolutely obscured the Sun, and took their post of salute in the Place de Louis XVth, on the spot where Louis the XVIth was murdered – a crime that has led to the infinite misery and humiliation of the French nation.

The cavalry and artillery are said to have darted up from half squadrons near the point of salute, in a style which confounded the poor Parisians, and made the ground quake beneath their feet! Their appearance was most admirable. The columns of British infantry moved on with a beautiful solidity, their caps ornamented with oak, laurel, &c.

As a Fit of military exultation, after their dangers and labours, they marched past the saluting point to the air of the ‘Downfall of Paris’. This all the bands had before played when marching through St. Denis. The Duke feeling with that delicacy which he was often envinced, sent an Aid-de-Camp to say, that he was hurt at the circumstances; the next regiment therefore discounted the air in question, but in the true humour of soldiers, struck up ‘Nong tong paw,’ the first lines of which song are apposite enough-

‘John Bull for pastime took a prance,

‘Some time ago, to peep at France!’

The Nassau troops, it is said, were so beautifully equipped, that they appeared soldiers rather for the stage than the field; the British were a striking and admired contrast. They had nothing for shew, but in the essential equipment of soldiers were more perfect than any of the others. All they had that was USEFUL, bore signs that it had been USED, and their tattered colours on their broken poles flew in the faces of the French, to shew that they had fought their way to the spot of their triumph, and had well carved a right to exult. The greatest contrast of all, in the eyes of the Parisians, was between the Belgians and the Highlanders, the latter immediately followed the former.

The Belgians had neither the appearance nor the discipline of soldiers – the division of Guards and Scotch, that trod on their heels, was the most perfect specimen of a serious, practised, well trained, body of brave men, representing at once the strength and virtues of their grateful and exalted country. All the French spectators were anxious to see them, and were delighted with them when they came; but the Belgians had been greeted with a profusion of sacres, diables, abominations! One does not know how they deserved this. Our artillery and cavalry were beyond all comparison superior to those of other nations. The Review was directed to the Emperor of Russia, who received and returned the salutes.

This was far from being the only review, as a similar event took place on 22 September, as described in the Hereford Journal of Wednesday, 4 October 1815:

Extract of a private letter, dated Paris, Sept. 23. – ‘The whole of the English army, including the continental troops in British pay, were reviewed yesterday in the extensive plain between Paris and St. Denis; the troops began to move at seven in the morning: at first they formed one vast line, the Duke of Wellington, with the Emperors of Russia and Austria, the King of Prussia, Prince Schwartzenberg, the Archduke Constantine, and several other Austrian, Russian, and Prussian Princes, rode with great rapidity along this line; they suddenly halted about the centre, and almost instantly the whole was formed into separate columns, moving in different lines towards a point at a considerable distance in front, where they again formed a line of close column, and in that form passed in review before his Grace and the Allied Sovereigns.

The appearance of the troops was greatly admired; they performed various evolutions with wonderful rapidity and precision. They moved in precisely the same order as at the battle of Waterloo, in close columns; in this form the British troops are found absolutely impenetrable. The number of cavalry was very small, only a regiment of the guards and some German horse. The colours of almost every regiment were quite tattered, from the shots that passed through them during the campaigns of the Peninsula and France.

The dress of the Duke of Wellington was remarkably plain, a scarlet coat without epaulets, and a cocked hat without a feather, he did not even wear a sash; he was, however, decorated with several stars and crosses. The Emperor of Russia was on his right during a great part of the day; he appeared to make observations upon several regiments as they passed. The King of Prussia went over the field with his nephew and his two sons, on foot, for several hours, and conversed with several French ladies whom they met, and by whom they probably were not recognised, from the plainness of their dress. Lord Stewart rode with the Emperor of Austria and Prince Schwartzenberg during the whole review. His Lordship was dressed in a rich hussar uniform, and mounted upon one of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen.

The deep animosity shown by the Prussians towards the French civilians had softened by August 1815, as revealed in the Hampshire Chronicle of 7 August:

It was stated a few days ago in the French Papers, that Marshal Blucher had given permission to his troops to assist the farmers in gathering in the harvest. The Duke of Wellington has written a letter to the Prefect of Police to the same effect, and offered besides, the waggons of the army to convey the corn. This measure is a most humane one, as the events of the war have reduced very much the number of horses in France, and the regulations respecting the National Guard removed a number of labourers from their ordinary occupations. This arrangement will furnish employment to our troops, and remove them from the dissipations of Paris. They are to receive the customary wages of the country, at least the Prussians do.

There was also widespread fraternisation between the British and the French, of which Ensign Bakewell of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment took advantage.

I went into one of the milliner’s shops, apparently as respectable as any one of those in the square, where I bought a few pairs of gloves. The owner, a pert young lady, had another in her company, whom I assumed was a customer and with whom I flirted, saying ‘Vol a vous’ [Voulez-vous] to which she replied ‘We [Oui] Monsieur’. Says I: ‘la cushie ’ [se coucher], Mademoiselle’, and she repeated ‘We [Oui] Monsieur’. Then, with the mistress of the shop, she accompanied me into an adjoining street, where she lived when not otherwise engaged, and where we amused ourselves. This pursuit was frequently repeated.³

Throughout the Napoleonic Wars looting was commonplace, particularly by the French armies when they invaded enemy territory. The occupation of Paris gave the Prussians the opportunity to take back some of the items that had been stolen by the French. This report entitled ‘Restitution of works of art carried off by the French’ and dated Aix-la-Chapelle, 25 July 1815, was signed by the President of the Prussian Provinces of the Rhine:

By an official letter from the Counsellor of State, M. Ribbentrop, Intendant-General of the army of the Lower Rhine, dated Paris, July 15, I have received information, that his Excellency Field Marshal Prince Blucher of Wahlstadt, immediately after the taking of Paris, ordered that all the works of art and literature which are there, and which had been previously carried off by the French from the States of his Prussian Majesty, should be seized and restored to the places from which they were taken. For the execution of this order, a Special Committee has been appointed at Paris, under the direction of an Intendant-General, and at the same time a line of conveyances from Paris to the Rhine.

The first convoy left Paris on the 16th; among the articles which it brings, is the invaluable picture of St. Peter, which Rubens presented to Cologne, his native city, and which the audacious hands of our enemies ravished from the sacred and classic soil. Orders have also been given, that the beautiful columns of granite and porphyry, carried off by the same sacrilegious hands from the sanctuary of our Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle, and placed afterwards to support the arched roof of the Hall of Antiquities at Paris, shall be pulled down, and brought back to Aix-la-Chapelle. I had particularly requested our illustrious Field Marshal, immediately upon the taking of Paris, to cause these two articles to be restored; he has immediately complied with this desire, and has thus acquired a particular right to the gratitude of the cities of Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle.

You see, Prussians of the Rhine, that the State of which you are the youngest children, has not forgotten to seize the first opportunity to make you participate in the fruits of its victories. Your cities will celebrate with grateful joy, the day on which the property plundered from your ancestors, re-taken from a rapacious enemy, by the powerful hand of your King and his warriors, shall re-enter your walls, &c.⁴

By a coincidental juxtaposition, the following day, 26 July, witnessed French property being removed by her enemies. This report was written that day from Brussels. No doubt these were seen as the spoils of war rather than looted treasure:

The French cannon brought from La Belle Alliance are placed here upon the Esplanade, without the gate Du Rivage, till they shall be embarked for England. They are 87 in number, as well cannon as howitzers. Some have the cypher Louis XIV, others have the words ‘liberty, equality,’ and the greater number the cypher of Napoleon; fifty others are expected in a short time.

France would suffer severely for its support of Napoleon, with considerable reparations being demanded. The Cheltenham Chronicle of Thursday, 29 February 1816 stated that,

Philippeville, Marienburgh, Landau, Thionville, and perhaps some other fortresses, are to be taken permanently from France – not less than twelve more to be held for three or four years, by the Allies, who, commanded by Wellington, will amount to 150,000 men. Seven hundred millions of livres will be raised as contributions.