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

by Erckmann-Chatrian

  IV

  FATHER MOSES COMPELLED TO BEAR ARMS

  All this, Fritz, was but the beginning of troubles.

  You should have seen the city the next morning, at about eleveno'clock, when the engineering officers had finished inspecting theramparts, and the tidings suddenly spread that there were neededseventy-two platforms inside the bastions, three bomb-proofblock-houses, for thirty men each, at the right and left of the Germangate, ten palankas with battlements forming stronghold intrenchmentsfor forty men, and four blindages upon the great square of themayoralty to shelter each a hundred and ten men; and when it was knownthat the citizens would be obliged to work at all these, to providethemselves with shovels, pickaxes, and wheelbarrows, and the peasantsto bring trees with their own horses!

  As for Sorle, Safel, and myself, we did not even know what blindagesand palankas were; we asked our neighbor Bailly, an old armorer, whatthey were for, and he answered with a smile:

  "You will find out, neighbor, when you hear the balls roar and theshells hiss. It would take too long to explain. You will see, by andby; never too late to learn."

  Imagine how the people looked! I remember that everybody ran to thesquare, where our mayor, Baron Parmentier, made a speech. We ran therewith all the rest.

  Sorle held me by the arm, and Safel by the skirt of my coat.

  There, in front of the mayoralty, the whole city, men, women, andchildren, formed in a semicircle, and listened in the deepest silence,now and then crying all together, "Vive l'Empereur!"

  Parmentier, a tall, thin man, in a sky-blue dress-coat, a white cravat,and the tri-colored sash around his waist, stood on the top of thesteps of the guard-house, with the members of the municipal councilbehind him, under the arch, and shouted out:

  "Phalsburgians! The time has come in which to show your devotion tothe Empire. A year ago all Europe was with us, now all Europe isagainst us. We should have everything to fear without the energy andpower of the people. He who will not do his duty now will be a traitorto his country! Inhabitants of Phalsburg, show what you are! Rememberthat your children have perished through the treachery of the allies.Avenge them! Let every one be obedient to the military authority, forthe sake of the safety of France," etc.

  Only to hear him made one's flesh creep, and I said to myself:

  "Now there will not be time for the spirits of wine to get here--thatis plain! The allies are on their way!"

  Elias the butcher, and Kalmes Levy the ribbon-merchant, were standingnear us. Instead of crying "Vive l'Empereur!" with the rest, they saidto each other:

  "Good! we are not barons, you and I! Barons, counts, and dukes havebut to defend themselves. Are we to think only of their interests?"

  But all the old soldiers, and especially those of the Republic, oldGoulden, the clockmaker, Desmarels, the Egyptian--creatures with not ahair left on their heads, nor as much as four teeth to hold theirpipes--these creatures fell in with the mayor, and cried out:

  "Vive la France! We must defend ourselves to the death!"

  I saw several looking askance at Kalmes Levy, and I whispered to him:

  "Keep still, Kalmes! For heaven's sake, keep still! They will tearyou in pieces!"

  It was true. The old men gave him terrible looks; they grew pale, andtheir cheeks shook.

  Then Kalmes stopped talking, and even left the crowd to return home.But Elias stayed till the end of the speech, and, as the whole mass ofpeople were going down the main street, shouting "Vive l'Empereur!" hecould not help saying to the old clockmaker:

  "What! you, Mr. Goulden, a reasonable man, who have never wantedanything of the Emperor, you are now going to take his part, and cryout that we must defend ourselves till death! Is it our business to besoldiers? Have not we furnished enough soldiers to the Empire theselast ten years? Have not enough men been killed? Must we give,besides, our own blood to support barons, counts, and dukes?"

  But old Goulden did not let him finish, and replied, as if indignant:"Listen, Elias! try to keep still! The thing now to be done is not toknow what is right or wrong--it is to save France. I warn you, that ifyou try to discourage others, it will be bad for you. Believe me--go!"

  Already a number of superannuated soldiers were gathered round us, andElias had only time to retreat by the opposite lane.

  From this time public notices, requisitions, forced labors, domiciliaryvisits for tools and wheelbarrows, came one after another, incessantly.A man was nothing in his own house; the officers of the place assumedauthority over everything: only to be sure, they gave receipts.

  All the tools from my storehouse of iron were in use on the ramparts.Fortunately I had sold a good many beforehand, for these tickets inplace of my wares would have ruined me.

  From time to time the mayor made a speech, and the governor, a fat man,covered with pimples, expressed his satisfaction to the citizens; thatmade up for their money!

  When my time came to take the pickaxe and draw the wheelbarrow, Iarranged with Carabin, the wood-sawyer, to take my place for thirtysous. Ah, what misery! Such a time will never come again.

  While the governor commanded us within the city, the soldiers werealways outside to superintend the peasants. The road to Lutzelburg wasbut one line of carts, laden with old oaks for building blockhouses.These are large sentry-boxes, or turrets, built up of solid trunks oftrees, laid crosswise one upon another, and then covered with earth.These are more solid than an arch. Shells and bombs might rain uponthem without disturbing anything within, as I found afterward.

  These trees were also used to make lines of enormous palisades, pointedand pierced with holes for firing; these are what they call palankas.

  I seem still to hear the shouts of the peasants, the neighing of thehorses, the strokes of the whips, and all the other noises, which neverstopped, day or night.

  My only consolation was in thinking, "If the spirits of wine comes now,it will be well defended; the Austrians, Prussians, and Russians willnot drink it here!"

  Every morning Sorle expected to receive the invoice.

  One Sabbath day we had the curiosity to go and see the works of thebastions. Everybody was talking about it, and Safel kept coming to me,saying: "The work is going on; they are filling the shells in front ofthe arsenal; they are taking out the cannon; they are mounting them onthe ramparts!"

  We could not keep the child away. He had nothing to sell now under themarket, and it would be too tedious for him to stay at home. Hescoured the city, and brought us back the news.

  On this day, then, having heard that forty-two pieces were ranged inbattery, and that they were continuing the work upon the bastion of theinfantry-barracks, I told Sorle to bring her shawl, and we would go andsee.

  We first went down to the French gate. Hundreds of wheelbarrows weregoing up the ramparts of the bastion, from which could be seen the roadto Metz on the right and the road to Paris on the left.

  There, above, crowds of laborers, soldiers and citizens, were heapingup a mass of earth in the form of a triangle, at least twenty-five feetin height, and two hundred in length and breadth.

  An engineering officer had discovered with his spy-glass that thisbastion was commanded by the hill opposite, and so everybody was set towork to place two pieces on a level with the hill.

  It was the same everywhere else. The interiors of these bastions, withtheir platforms, were shut in all around, for seven feet from theground, like rooms. Nothing could fall into them except from the sky.In the turf, however, were dug narrow openings, larger without, likefunnels; the mouths of the cannon, which were raised upon immensecarriages, were drawn out through these apertures; they could be pushedforward and backward, and turned in all directions, by means of greatlevers passed in rings over the hind wheels of the carriages.

  I had not yet heard the sound of these forty-eight pounders. But themere sight of them on their platforms gave me a terrible idea of theirpower. Even Sorle said: "It is fine, Moses; it is well done!"

&n
bsp; She was right, for within the bastions all was in complete order; not aweed remained, and upon the sides were piled great bags filled withearth to protect the artillerymen.

  But what lost labor! and to think that every firing of these large gunscosts at least a louis--money spent to kill our fellow-men!

  In fine the people worked at these things with more enthusiasm than ifthey were gathering in their own harvests. I have often thought thatif the French bestowed as much pains, good sense, and courage uponmatters of peace, they would be the richest and happiest people in theworld. Yes, they would long ago have surpassed the English andAmericans. But when they have toiled and economized, when they haveopened roads everywhere, built magnificent bridges, dug out harbors andcanals, and riches come to them from all quarters, suddenly the fury ofwar possesses them, and in three or four years they ruin themselveswith grand armies, with cannon, with powder, with bullets, with men,and become poorer than before. A few soldiers are their masters, andlook down upon them. This is all it profits them!

  In the midst of all this, news from Mayence, from Strasburg, fromParis, came by the dozens; we could not go into the street withoutseeing a courier pass. They all stopped before the Bockhold house,near the German gate, where the governor lived. A circle formed aroundthe house, the courier mounted, then the news spread through the citythat the allies were concentrated at Frankfort, that our troops guardedthe islands of the Rhine; that the conscripts from 1803 to 1814 wererecalled; that those of 1815 would form the reserve corps at Metz, atBordeaux, at Turin; that the deputies were going to assemble; then,that the gates had been shut upon them, etc., etc.

  There came also smugglers of all sorts from Graufthal, Pirmasens, andKaiserslautern, with Franz Sepel, the one-armed man, at their head, andothers from the villages around, who secretly scattered theproclamations of Alexander, Francis Joseph and Frederic William, saying"that they did not make war upon France, but upon the Emperor alone toprevent his further desolation of Europe." They spoke of the abolitionof duties, and of taxes of all sorts. The people at night did not knowwhat to think.

  But one fine morning it was all explained. It was the eighth or ninthof December. I had just risen, and was putting on my clothes, when Iheard the rolling of a drum at the corner of the main street.

  It was cold, but nevertheless I opened the window and leaned out tohear the announcements. Parmentier opened his paper, young Engelheiderkept up his drum-beating, and the people assembled.

  Then Parmentier read that the governor of the place ordered allcitizens to present themselves at the mayoralty between eight in themorning and six in the evening, without fail, to receive their musketsand cartridge-boxes, and that those who did not come, would becourt-martialed.

  There was the end at last! Every one who was able to march was on hisway, and the old men were to defend the fortifications; sober-mindedmen--citizens--men accustomed to living quietly at home, and attendingto their own affairs! now they must mount the ramparts and every dayrun the risk of losing their lives!

  Sorle looked at me without a word, and indignation made me alsospeechless. Not till after a quarter of an hour, when I was dressed,did I say:

  "Make the soup ready. I am going to the mayoralty to get my musket andcartridge-box."

  Then she exclaimed: "Moses, who would have believed that you would haveto go and fight at your age? Oh! what misery!"

  And I answered: "It is the Lord's will."

  Then I started with a sad heart. Little Safel followed me.

  As I arrived at the corner of the market, Burguet was coming down themayoralty steps, which swarmed with men; he had his musket on hisshoulder, and said with a smile:

  "Ah, well, Moses! We are going to turn Maccabees in our old age?"

  His cheerfulness encouraged me, and I replied:

  "Burguet, how is it they can take rational men, heads of families, andmake them destroy themselves? I cannot comprehend it; no, there is nosense in it!"

  "Ah," said he, "what would you have? If they can't get thrushes, theymust take blackbirds."

  I could not smile at his pleasantries, and he said:

  "Come, Moses, don't be so disconsolate; this is only a formality. Wehave troops enough for active service; we shall have only to mountguard. If sorties are to be made, or attacks repulsed, they will nottake you; you are not of an age to run, or to give a bayonet stroke!You are gray and bald. Don't be troubled!"

  "Yes," I said, "that is very true, Burguet, I am broken down--more so,perhaps, than you think."

  "That is well," said he, "but go and take your musket andcartridge-box."

  "And are we not going to stay in the barracks?"

  "No, no!" he cried, laughing aloud, "we are going to live quietly athome."

  He shook hands with me, and I went under the arch of the mayoralty.The stairway was crowded with people, and we heard names called out.

  And there, Fritz, you should have seen the looks of the Robinots, theGourdiers, the Mariners, that mass of tilers, knife-grinders,house-painters, people who, every day, in ordinary times, would takeoff their caps to you to get a little work--you should have seen themstraighten themselves up, look at you pityingly over the shoulder, blowin their cheeks, and call out:

  "Ah, Moses, is it thou? Thou wilt make a comical soldier. He! he! he!They will cut thy mustaches according to regulation!"

  And such-like nonsense.

  Yes, everything was changed; these former bullies had been named inadvance sergeants, sergeant-majors, corporals, and the rest of us werenothing at all. War upsets everything; the first become last, and thelast first. It is not good sense but discipline which carries the day.The man who scrubbed your floor yesterday, because he was too stupid togain a living any other way, becomes your sergeant, and if he tells youthat white is black, you must let it be so.

  At last, after waiting an hour, some one called out, "Moses!" and Iwent up.

  The great hall above was full of people. They all exclaimed:

  "Moses! Wilt thou come, Moses? Ah, see him! He is the old guard!Look now, how he is built! Thou shalt be ensign, Moses! Thou shaltlead us on to victory!"

  And the fools laughed, nudging each others' elbows. I passed on,without answering or even looking at them.

  In the room at the farther end, where the names were drawn atconscriptions, Governor Moulin, Commandant Petitgenet, the mayor,Frichard, secretary of the mayoralty, Rollin, captain of apparel, andsix or seven other superannuated men, crippled with rheumatism, broughtfrom all parts of the world, were met in council, some sitting, therest standing.

  These old ones began to laugh as they saw me come in. I heard them sayto one another: "He is strong yet! Yes, he is all right."

  So they talked, one after another. I thought to myself: "Say what youlike, you will not make me think that you are twenty years old, or thatyou are handsome."

  But I kept silence.

  Suddenly the governor, who was talking with the mayor in a corner,turned around, with his great chapeau awry, and looking at me, said:

  "What do you intend to do with such a patriarch? You see very wellthat he can hardly stand."

  I was pleased, in spite of it all, and began to cough.

  "Good, good!" said he, "you may go home; take care of your cold!"

  I had taken four steps toward the door, when Frichard, the secretary ofthe mayoralty, called out:

  "It is Moses! The Jew Moses, colonel, who has sent his two boys off toAmerica! The oldest should be in the service."

  This wretch of a Frichard had a grudge against me, because we had thesame business of selling old clothes under the market, and the countrypeople almost always preferred buying of me; he had a mortal grudgeagainst me, and that is why he began to inform against me.

  The governor exclaimed at once: "Stop a minute! Ah ha, old fox! Yousend your boys to America to escape conscription! Very well! Give himhis musket, cartridge-box, and sabre."

  Indignation against Frichard choked me.
I would have spoken, but thewretch laughed and kept on writing at the desk; so I followed thegendarme Werner to a side room, which was filled with muskets, sabres,and cartridge-boxes.

  Werner himself hung a cartridge-box crosswise on my back, and gave me amusket, saying:

  "Go, Moses, and try always to answer to the call."

  I went down through the crowd so indignant that I heard no longer theshouts of laughter from the rabble.

  On reaching home I told Sorle what had happened. She was very pale asshe listened. After a moment, she said: "This Frichard is the enemy ofour race; he is an enemy of Israel. I know it; he detests us! Butjust now, Moses, do not say a word; do not let him see that you areangry; it would please him too much. By and by you can have yourrevenge! You will have a chance. And if not yourself, your children,your grandchildren; they shall all know what this wretch has done totheir grandfather--they shall know it!"

  She clinched her hand, and little Safel listened.

  This was all the comfort she could give me. I thought as she did, butI was so angry that I would have given half my fortune to ruin thewretch. All that day, and in the night, too, I exclaimed more thantwenty times:

  "Ah, the scoundrel!--I was going--they had said to me, 'You maygo!'--He is the cause of all my misery!"

  You cannot imagine, Fritz, how I have always hated that man. Neverhave my wife and I forgotten the harm he did us--never shall mychildren forget it.