The Blockade of Phalsburg: An Episode of the End of the Empire

  Produced by Al Haines

  [Frontispiece: ALL WERE DEAD, AS IT WERE ONE LONG CEMETERY.]

  HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF FRANCE

  THE BLOCKADE OF PHALSBURG

  AN EPISODE OF THE END OF THE EMPIRE

  TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF

  ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN

  ILLUSTRATED

  CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

  NEW YORK::::::::::::::::::::::1911

  COPYRIGHT, 1871, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO.

  COPYRIGHT, 1889, 1898 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  _All were dead, as it were one long cemetery_ . . . . . _Frontispiece_

  "_Be so good as to come in, Mr. Sergeant_"

  _I shuddered in my very soul and my hair bristled_

  _Winter took him by the collar, and said:_ "_I have you now!_"

  _The sortie from the Tile-kiln_

  INTRODUCTORY NOTE

  "The Blockade of Phalsburg" contains one of the happiest portraits inthe Erckmann-Chatrian gallery--that of the Jew Moses who tells thestory and who is always in character, however great the patriotic orromantic temptation to idealize him, and whose character isnevertheless portrayed with an almost affectionate appreciation of thesterling qualities underlying its somewhat usurious exterior.

  The time is 1814, during the invasion of France by the allies after thedisastrous battle of Leipsic and the campaign described in "TheConscript." The dwellers in Phalsburg--a little walled town of two orthree thousand inhabitants in Lorraine--defend themselves with greatintrepidity and determination during the siege which lasts until thecapitulation of Paris. The daily life of the citizens and garrison,the various incidents of the blockade, the bombardment by night, thescarcity of food, the occasional sortie for foraging, all pass beforethe reader depicted with the authors' customary fidelity andlife-likeness, and form as perfect a picture of a siege as "TheConscript" does of a campaign.

  THE BLOCKADE:

  AN EPISODE OF

  THE END OF THE EMPIRE

  I

  FATHER MOSES AND HIS FAMILY

  Since you wish to know about the blockade of Phalsburg in 1814, I willtell you all about it, said Father Moses of the Jews' street.

  I lived then in the little house on the corner, at the right of themarket. My business was selling iron by the pound, under the archbelow, and I lived above with my wife Sorle (Sarah) and my littleSafel, the child of my old age.

  My two other boys, Itzig and Fromel, had gone to America, and mydaughter Zeffen was married to Baruch, the leather-dealer, at Saverne.

  Besides my iron business, I traded in old shoes, old linen, and all thearticles of old clothing which conscripts sell on reaching the depot,where they receive their military outfit. Travelling pedlers boughtthe old linen of me for paper-rags, and the other things I sold to thecountry people.

  This was a profitable business, because thousands of conscripts passedthrough Phalsburg from week to week, and from month to month. Theywere measured at once at the mayoralty, clothed, and filed off toMayence, Strasburg, or wherever it might be.

  This lasted a long time; but at length people were tired of war,especially after the Russian campaign and the great recruiting of 1813.

  You may well suppose, Fritz, that I did not wait till this time beforesending my two boys beyond the reach of the recruiting officers'clutches. They were boys who did not lack sense. At twelve years oldtheir heads were clear enough, and rather than go and fight for theKing of Prussia, they would see themselves safe at the ends of theearth.

  At evening, when we sat at supper around the lamp with its sevenburners, their mother would sometimes cover her face and say:

  "My poor children! My poor children! When I think that the time isnear when you will go in the midst of musket and bayonet fire--in themidst of thunder and lightning!--oh, how dreadful!"

  And I saw them turn pale. I smiled at myself and thought: "You are nofools. You will hold on to your life. That is right!"

  If I had had children capable of becoming soldiers, I should have diedof grief. I should have said, "These are not of my race!"

  But the boys grew stronger and handsomer. When Itzig was fifteen hewas doing a good business. He bought cattle in the villages on his ownaccount, and sold them at a profit to butcher Borich at Mittelbronn;and Fromel was not behind him, for he made the best bargains of the oldmerchandise, which we had heaped in three barracks under the market.

  I should have liked well to keep the boys with me. It was my delightto see them with my little Safel--the curly head and eyes bright as asquirrel's--yes, it was my joy! Often I clasped them in my armswithout a word, and even they wondered at it; I frightened them; butdreadful thoughts passed through my mind after 1812. I knew thatwhenever the Emperor had returned to Paris, he had demanded fourhundred millions of francs and two or three hundred thousand men, and Isaid to myself:

  "This time, everybody must go, even children of seventeen and eighteen!"

  As the tidings grew worse and worse, I said to them one evening:

  "Listen! you both understand trading, and what you do not yet know youcan learn. Now, if you wait a few months, you will be on theconscription list, and be like all the rest; they will take you to thesquare and show you how to load a gun, and then you will go away, and Inever shall hear of you again!"

  Sorle sighed, and we all sighed together. Then, after a moment, Icontinued:

  "But if you set out at once for America, by the way of Havre, you willreach it safe and sound; you will do business there as well as here;you will make money, you will marry, you will increase according to theLord's promise, and you will send me back money, according to God'scommandment, 'Honor thy father and thy mother.' I will bless you asIsaac blessed Jacob, and you will have a long life. Choose!"

  They at once chose to go to America, and I went with them myself as faras Sorreburg. Each of them had made twenty louis in his own businessso that I needed to give them nothing but my blessing.

  And what I said to them has come to pass; they are both living, theyhave numerous children, who are my descendants, and when I wantanything they send it to me.

  Itzig and Fromel being gone, I had only Safel left, my Benjamin, dearereven, if possible, than the others. And then, too, I had my daughterZeffen, married at Saverne to a good respectable man, Baruch; she wasthe oldest, and had already given me a grandson named David, accordingto the Lord's will that the dead should be replaced in his own family,and David was the name of Baruch's grandfather. The one expected wasto be called after my father, Esdras.

  You see, Fritz, how I was situated before the blockade of Phalsburg, in1814. Everything had gone well up to that time, but for six weekseverything had gone wrong in town and country. We had the typhus;thousands of wounded soldiers surrounded the houses; the ground hadlacked laborers for the last two years, and everything was dear--bread,meat, and drink. The people of Alsace and Lorraine did not come tomarket; our stores of merchandise did not sell; and when merchandisedoes not sell, it might as well be sand or stones; we are poor in themidst of abundance. Famine comes from every quarter.

  Ah, well! in spite of it all, the Lord had a great blessing in storefor me, for just at this time, early in November, came the news that asecond son was born to Zeffen, and that he was in fine health. I wasso glad that I set out at once for Saverne.

  You must know, Fritz, that if I was very glad, it was not only onaccount of the birth of a grandson, but also because my son-in-lawwould not be obliged to leave home, if the child lived. Baruch hadalways been fortunate; at the moment when
the Emperor had made theSenate vote that unmarried men must go, he had just married Zeffen; andwhen the Senate voted that married men without children must go, he hadhis first child. Now, after the bad news, it was voted that marriedmen with only one child should go, all the same, and Baruch had two.

  At that time it was a fortunate thing to have quantities of children,to keep you from being massacred; no greater blessing could be desired!This is why I took my cane at once, to go and find out whether thechild were sound and healthy, and whether it would save its father.

  But for long years to come, if God spares my life, I shall rememberthat day, and what I met upon my way.

  Imagine the road-side blocked, as it were, with carts filled with thesick and wounded, forming a line all the way from Quatre-Vents toSaverne.

  The peasants who, in Alsace, were required to transport these poorcreatures, had unharnessed their horses and escaped in the night,abandoning their carts; the hoar-frost had passed over them; there wasnot motion or sign of life--all dead, as it were one long cemetery!Thousands of ravens covered the sky like a cloud; there was nothing tobe seen but wings moving in the air, nothing to be heard but one murmurof innumerable cries. I would not have believed that heaven and earthcould produce so many ravens. They flew down to the very carts; butthe moment a living man approached, all these creatures rose and flewaway to the forest of La Bonne-Fontaine, or the ruins of the oldconvent of Dann.

  As for myself, I lengthened my steps, feeling that I must not stop,that the typhus was marching at my heels.

  Happily the winter sets in early at Phalsburg. A cold wind blew fromthe Schneeberg, and these strong draughts of mountain air disperse allmaladies, even, it is said, the Black Plague itself.

  What I have now told you is about the retreat from Leipsic, in thebeginning of November.

  When I reached Saverne, the city was crowded with troops, artillery,infantry, and cavalry, pell-mell.

  I remember that, in the principal street, the windows of an inn wereopen, and a long table with its white cloth was seen, all laid, within.All the guard of honor stopped there. These were young men of richfamilies, who had money in spite of their tattered uniforms. Themoment they saw this table in passing, they leaped from their horsesand rushed into the hall. But the innkeeper, Hannes, made them payfive francs in advance, and just as the poor things began to eat, aservant ran in, crying out, "The Prussians! the Prussians!" Theysprang up at once and mounted their horses like madmen, without oncelooking back, and in this way Hannes sold his dinner more than twentytimes.

  I have often thought since that such scoundrels deserve hanging; yes,this way of making money is not lawful business. It disgusted me.

  But if I should describe the rest--the faces of the sick, the way inwhich they lay, the groans they uttered, and, above all, the tears ofthose who tried in vain to go on--if I should tell you this, it wouldbe still worse, it would be too much. I saw, on the slope of the oldtan-house bridge, a little guardsman of seventeen or eighteen years,stretched out, with his face flat upon the stones. I have neverforgotten that boy; he raised himself from time to time, and showed hishand as black as soot: he had a ball in the back, and his hand was halfgone. The poor fellow had doubtless fallen from a cart. Nobody daredto help him because they heard it said, "He has the typhus! he has thetyphus." Oh, what misery! It is too dreadful to think of!

  Now, Fritz, I must tell you another thing about that day, and that ishow I saw Marshal Victor.

  It was late when I started from Phalsburg, and it was dark when, ongoing up the principal street of Saverne, I saw all the windows of theHotel du Soleil illuminated from top to bottom. Two sentinels walkedto and fro under the arch, officers in full uniform went in and out,magnificent horses were fastened to rings all along the walls; and,within the court, the lamps of a calash shone like two stars.

  The sentinels kept the street clear, but I must pass, because Baruchdwelt farther on. I was going through the crowd, in front of thehotel, and the first sentinel was calling out to me, "Back! back!" whenan officer of hussars, a short, stout man, with great red whiskers,came out of the arch, and as he met me, exclaimed,

  "Ah! is it you, Moses! I am glad to see you!"

  He shook hands with me.

  I opened my eyes with amazement, as was natural: a superior officershaking hands with a plain citizen is not an every-day occurrence. Ilooked at him in astonishment, and recognized Commandant Zimmer.

  Thirty years before we had been at Father Genaudet's school, and we hadscoured the city, the moats, and the glacis together, as children. Butsince then Zimmer had been a good many times in Phalsburg, withoutremembering his old comrade, Samuel Moses.

  "Ho!" said he, smiling, and taking me by the arm, "come, I must presentyou to the marshal."

  And, in spite of myself, before I had said a word, I went in under thearch, into a large room where two long tables, loaded with lights andbottles, were laid for the staff-officers.

  A number of superior officers, generals, colonels, commanders ofhussars, of dragoons and of chasseurs, in plumed hats, in helmets, inred shakos, their chins in their huge cravats, their swords dragging,were walking silently back and forth, or talking with each other, whilethey waited to be called to table.

  It was difficult to pass through the crowd, but Zimmer kept hold of myarm, and led me to the end of the room, to a little lighted door.

  We entered a high room, with two windows opening upon the gardens.

  The marshal was there, standing, his head uncovered; his back wastoward us, and he was dictating orders which two staff-officers werewriting.

  This was all which I noticed at the moment, in my confusion.

  Just after we entered, the marshal turned; I saw that he had the goodface of an old Lorraine peasant. He was a tall, powerful man, with agrayish head; he was about fifty years old, and very heavy for his age.

  "Marshal, here's our man!" said Zimmer. "He is one of my oldschool-mates, Samuel Moses, a first-rate fellow, who has beentraversing the country these thirty years, and knows every village inAlsace and Lorraine."

  The marshal looked at me a few steps off. I held my hat in my hand ingreat fear. After looking at me a couple of seconds, he took the paperwhich one of the secretaries handed him, read and signed it, thenturned back to me:

  "Well, my good man," said he, "what do they say about the lastcampaign? What do the people in your village think about it?"

  On hearing him call me "my good man," I took courage, and answered"that the typhus had made bad work, but the people were notdisheartened, because they knew that the Emperor with his army was athand."

  And when he said abruptly: "Yes! But will they defend themselves?" Ianswered: "The Alsatians and the Lorraines are people who will defendthemselves till death, because they love their Emperor, and they wouldall be willing to die for him!"

  I said that by way of prudence; but he could plainly see in my facethat I was no fighting man, for he smiled good-humoredly, and said:"That will do, commandant, that is enough!"

  The secretaries had kept on writing. Zimmer made a sign to me and wewent out together. When we were outside he called out:

  "Good-by, Moses, good-by!"

  The sentinels let me pass, and still trembling, I continued my journey.

  I was soon knocking at the little door of Baruch's house at the end ofthe lane where the cardinal's old stables were.

  It was pitch dark.

  What a joy it was, Fritz, after having seen all these terrible things,to come to the place where those I loved were resting! How softly myheart beat, and how I pitied all that power and glory which made somany people miserable!

  After a moment I heard my son-in-law enter the passage and open thedoor. Baruch and Zeffen had long since ceased expecting me.

  "Is it you, my father?" asked Baruch.

  "Yes, my son, it is I. I am late. I have been hindered."

  "Come!" said he.

  And we entered the little passage, and then int
o the chamber whereZeffen, my daughter, lay pale and happy, upon her bed.

  She had recognized my voice. As for me, my heart beat with joy; Icould not speak; and I embraced my daughter, while I looked around tofind the little one. Zeffen held it in her arms under the coverlet.

  "There he is!" she said.

  Then she showed him to me in his swaddling-clothes. I saw at once thathe was plump and healthy, with his little hands closed tight, and Iexclaimed:

  "Baruch, this is Esdras, my father! Let him be welcome!"

  I wanted to see him without his clothes, so I undressed him. It waswarm in the little room from the lamp with seven burners. TremblinglyI undressed him; he did not cry, and my daughter's white hands assistedme:

  "Wait, my father, wait!" said she.

  My son-in-law looked on behind me. We all had tears in our eyes.

  At last I had him all undressed; he was rosy, and his large head tossedabout, sleeping the sleep of centuries. Then I lifted him above myhead; I looked at his round thighs all in creases, at his littledrawn-up feet, his broad chest and plump back, and I wanted to dancelike David before the ark; I wanted to chant: "Praise the Lord! Praisehim ye servants of the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord! Blessed bethe name of the Lord from this time forth and forever more! From therising of the sun, unto the going down of the same, the Lord's name isto be praised! The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory abovethe heavens! Who is like unto the Lord our God, who raiseth up thepoor out of the dust, who maketh the barren woman to keep house, and tobe a joyful mother of children? Praise ye the Lord!"

  Yes, I felt like chanting this, but all that I could say was: "He is afine, perfect child! He is going to live! He will be the blessing ofour race and the joy of our old age!"

  And I blessed them all.

  Then giving him back to his mother to be covered, I went to embrace theother who was sound asleep in his cradle.

  We remained there together a long time, to see each other, in this joy.Without, horses were passing, soldiers shouting, carriages rolling by.Here all was quiet: the mother nursed her infant.

  Ah! Fritz, I am an old man now, and these far-off things are alwaysbefore me, as at the first; my heart always beats in recalling them,and I thank God for His great goodness,--I thank Him. He has loaded mewith years, He has permitted me to see the third generation, and I amnot weary of life; I should like to live on and see the fourth and thefifth--His will be done!

  I should have liked to tell them of what had just happened to me at theHotel du Soleil, but everything was insignificant in comparison with myjoy; only after I had left the chamber, while I was taking a mouthfulof bread and drinking a glass of wine in the side hall so as to letZeffen sleep, I related the adventure to Baruch, who was greatlysurprised.

  "Listen, my son," said I, "this man asked me if we want to defendourselves. That shows that the allies are following our armies, thatthey are marching by hundreds of thousands, and that they cannot behindered from entering France. So you see that, in the midst of ourjoy, there is danger of terrible evils; you see that all the harm whichwe have been doing to others for these last ten years may return uponus. I fear so. God grant that I may be mistaken!"

  After this we went to bed. It was eleven o'clock, and the tumultwithout still continued.