The New York Herald Newspaper, August 23, 1870, Page 3

OK vy PS ox <> Sess n NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1870.—TRIPLE SHEET, . Saas ‘THE FORTRESSES AND BASTIONS ENCIRCLING PARIS. Defensive Condition of the French Capital---Probably the Best Fortified City in the World- PPI VALE th Ss Thirty-Three Hundred Pieces of Artillery in Position--What the Prussians Have to Overcome. GNA bait? i a i $< FA Noten RACRY AUBERYI esky Ne v DFz DES WOISSY: dS as § eis ue tuihh CIMETIERE. pu 1—Taileries. 5—Palaie Royal. 2—Louvre. G—Tnotitus. 10— Elysee. 2—Palais de Justice. 7—Legiou @’ionveur. 1f—Hotel de Ville. 12—e 4—Laxembourg. ee THE DEFENCES OF PARI, Sketch of Their Origin and History. Description of the Outer and ‘Inner Works. Number of Guns Mounted and Strength of the Garrison. Probability of the City Being In- jured by Shells. The downfall of Napoleon and the treaties of 1816 left France utterly defenceless. Fully aware that they were barely tolerated on the throne, the Bourbons did not tronble themselves about re- pairing the ruined strongholds of the country, Trae enough, in 1818 a commission of defence was formed by Marshal St. Cyr, then Minister of War, which in 1821 reported a plan for the strengthen- ing of tW® defensive places of France, and this re- port was followed in 1825 by another from the Committee on Fortifications. Nothing was done, however, and for eleven years this important mat- ter was allowed to rest. But in 1836, after the Bourbons.had been expelled and their cousins of the Orleans family had ascended the throne, Mar- shal Maison, the then Minister of War, organized a new commission and charged it with the duty of examining the reports of 1821 and 1825 and of submitting a definite opinion, by means of which the government could act intelligently. This com- mission, after carefully considering the reports, drew apa project of law, which was accepted by ‘the government and submitted to the Chambers, A LAW 70 PORTIFY PARIS. Ono of the most important clauses in the Jaw ordering the construction and repair of fortresses was that granting a sum of 140,000,000f. for constructing @ double line of defence around the capital, Although M. Thiers had raised a great war alarm in 1840, there was then no prospect or probability of an enemy marching on Paris. The fact was his anxiety to have the fortitications con- structed arese from the attitude of the Parisians towards the government. Republicans and Bona- partists had coalesced against the ruling dynasty. An August of the same year (1840) Louis Napo- Jeon had made the attempt at Boulogne, and, though he failed and was captured, it was seen that he ha@the sympathy of the mass of the peo- dle. To fortify Pari: inst the Parisians was the real object of M. Thiers, and he pressed the Jaw with such vigor that onthe 25th of June, 1841, it was passed by the Chambers. Singular as it may seem Paris had never before been regularly fortified. The Revolutionary Directory had enter- tained some idea of having works constructed, and subsequently Napoleon himself gave the subject serious consideration. The victory at Valmy eaved the Directory the necessity of defending the capital, and the wars of Napoleon were ail aggressive exceptirtg in 1814 and 1815. In both these years, on the ayyproach of the allied armies, defensive works were Qurriedly thrown up, but though thay enabled the defenders to resist the S—-Palais du quai d@Oreny. progress of the enemy for a brief while they were entirely inadequate to the wants of the city. PLAN OF THE FORTIFICATION The plan agreed upon by the commission is what was adopted by the government and carried out. It provided for a double line of defences, the interior to consist of a continuous enslosure (enceinte continuee) and the outer line of a series of detached forte, each complete of iteelf and independent of the other, and yet all so arranged as to afford each other the amplest assistance in the event of au aitack. Their fires sweeping each other, it is necessary for an enemy to pass between them before he can attack the inner walls, whose guns also sweep the upen space between the forts, THE INNER LINE. ‘As will be seen by the map, the inier line of works consists of a series of bastions which pre- sent njnety-four angular fronts. The line is ir- regular, but surrounds the entire city, going through the Bois de Boulogne on the west and touching the Bois de Vincennes on the southwest. It is twenty-two miles in circumference and is probably the longest continuous line of bastions in the world. The wall, which forms a part of the bastions, is also terraced and has an escarpment of thirty-four feet, faced with masonry. the angular faces (i. e., bastions) has a medium length of 1,100 feet. In front of the whole and entirely surroanding the cit @ continued fosse, or line of wet ditches, lined with masonry and of a depth of eighteen feet by a width of twenty feet. From the bottom of these ditches to the top of the embankments crowning the walls is a height of about forty-tive feet. The bastions will bave mounted in them an average of about ten guns each, which will make a total of 940 for the ninety-four angular faces. This agrees with the despatches from Paris, which report 1,000 guns mounted on the ramparts since the battle of Woerth. About 100 gates picree the ramparts, the ditches being covered by drawbridges, which can be removed at 2 moment's notice or destroyed in two minutes by:the cannon in the bastions. At different points in the rear of the line are placed extensive magazines, well supplied with ammunition for the artillery, and amply protected rom the shot of the enemy. Since the accession of Louis Napoleon these magazines have been en- tirely remodelled, and are now absolately impreg- nable to shot and shell. The old military roads of “communication (roules strategiques), coustructed during the reign of Louis Philippe, no longer exist, the city limits having been extended to these inner fortifications, and, in fact, all the ground from the old wall, which can be seen traced on the map, and at which the octroi duty was collected, to the bastions, having been laid out in streets and bowevards, which are for the most part built up. In place of these routes there is a line of railroad directly in the rear of the fortifications and entirely around them, by means of which troaps can be thrown from one part of the Jine to the other with great rapidity. ‘There is no high ground in front of the works ex- cepting that on which stand the outer fortresses. The enttre zone from the detached forts to the ditches is a clear, level and almost open country. We bave already beem informed by telegraph of the destruotion of the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes and the tearing down of build- ings and clearing\away of gardens to give the guns clear and ungwsrtucted sweep. Much as is to be regretted the destruction of so much that is valnable and interestiny in nature and art, it is undoubtedly necessary toya proper defence of the city. At no point along this linef inner works, with bot two exceptions, are the bastions beyond I deo Invalides. 13—Mopnaie. 14—Bourse. 15—Ecole Milttaire. 16—Palain de Pindustrie. 17—Tucrmes, 18—~—Hotel Cluny, 12~Nouvel Opera, 20—Notre Dame. 21—St. Germain cea Pres. 22—-Pantheen, cannon shot of the outer walls. The exceptions are, first, on the north, the fortress of La Double Couronne du Nord, covering St. Denis and about three miles distant ; and next, Fort de Nogent, on the east. Communication between the two lines is always perfect; but to make it more assured we find it stated that they will be connected by lines of ditches perpendicalar to the ditches surrounding the ramparts. ‘This will involve a gigantic amount of work and will hardly be finished before the Prussians arrived before the city—that is, if they do get before it. Nevertheless it is undeniable that such a connec- tion will be of immense advantage to the garrison as enabling troops to reinforce the forts rapidly and with little risk to life in the midst of an en- gagement. It is as well to say here that only the artillerists are in the bastions at any time before an actual attempt to storm the line. It{s not probable that sucb an assault will ever be at- tempted by the Prussians, should they besiege the capital, as it does not offer the slightest chance of success. Until the present war broke out there was not @ guu mounted upon the ramparts, nor was the enciente complete. To-day every bastion is brist- ling with cannon, and the entire inner works are in a complete state of preparation for an enemy. We have no knowledge what size guns have been mounted, but they are doubtless of heavy calibre, ranging from thirty-six to sixty-four pounders. These will have before them a clean sweep of trom one and a half to three miles, so that even if the Prussians succeed in forcing a passage be- tween the outer works they will be met at the on- set by a concentric fire from two of the forts and from the ramparts. THE PHTACHED FORTRESSES. Having described at some length, and we trust clearly, the line of inner works which surround Paris, we now direct the attention of the reader to the outer works (/es forts detaches). These are fifteen in number and are of various sizes. As will be seen by the map they cover a consid- erable length of the Seine river, which on the west makesa deep bend forming a broad penin- sula. On the southeast the junction of the Seine with the Marne is covered by a fort of which we shall speak hereafter. Beginning on the west we have Fort Mont Vale- rien, situated on the mount of that name. This ig the most powerful of all the fortresses, and is re- garded as absolutely impregnable to assault. It stands on the left bank of the Seine, high above the surrounding country, which it sweeps with its gans in all directions. Five miles southeast of Mont Valerien is Fort d'Issy, situated near the bend of the river. One mile and @ quarter east of the last named place is Fort de Vanvres, and one mile and three-quarters distant to the east stands Fort de Montrouge. Continuing on in an easterly direction, one mile anda half offis Fort d’Arcueil, or Bicetre, ag it is more generally called. The next, a mile and a quarter to the east-northeast, is Fort d’Ivry. ‘These six forts are all stivated on the left bank of the Seine and cover a front of ten and a half miles. They embrace within them the suburbs Ivry, Gentilly, Montrouge, Vanvres, Issy, Sevres, Sareenes, and St. Cloud. In front, the nearest high ground is at Chatillon, distant three-quarters of a mile southeast of Fort de Vanvres and one mile and 4 half southwest of Fort de Montrouge, which iast named fort is also one mile distant from the high ground at Bagnex and three-quarters of 2 mile from the hills near the aqueduct. Both the forts named, aided by Fort d'Arcueil, command these elevations, their guna sweeping them at e range. Two wiles and a Avarter east of Fort d’Ivry, onthe right bank of the Seine, near its junction with the Marne, and consequently near the apex of the angle formed by the two rivers, stands Fort de Charenton or d’Alfort. Three miles and a half northeast of this, and near the Marne, is Fort de Nogent, another fortress of great strength, standing on @ high hill which commands the country for miles around. North-northwest, | at a distance of two miles from de Nogent is Fort de Rosny, sitaated on the extreme right of a tier of hills which extend in a west-northwest direction to Pantin, which is not given on the map, bat which we shall locate for the reader further on. In the centre of this tier, a mile and three-quarters from Fort de Rosny, is Fort de Romainville; while on the extreme left of the tier, one mile and a quarter distant, is Fort de Noissy, to the east of which, near by, stands Pantin, the place referred to in the foregoing sentence. From this fortto Fort Aubervilliers, two miles and a half to the northwest, the country is an open plain, through which runs the Canal de Ourcq. These six forte are all on the right bank of the Seine and cover a front of some thirteen miles. In front of Fort de Rosny there is some high ground near by, but itis commanded by Fort de Nogent, as well as by the fort it confronts. Besides these forts, which are all that are given upon the map, there are three important fortresses. One mile and a quarter northwest of Aubervilliers is the strong redoubt La Faisanderie, and one mile and a half northwest of that is the double Couronne da Nord, situated in front of St. Denis, and being one of the most important fortresses around the city. One mile west of this fortress is Fort de la Briche, situated directly on the bank of the Seine. From this point to Mont Valerien, on the southwest, there is a gap of seven and a half miles unprotected by any forts. But it will be pérceived that along here is the great bend of the river. In the event of an enemy crossing between forts de la Birche and Mont Valerien, he would run a very great risk of being cut off from retreat by a@ movement of the garrison from the north, and hemmed up in a narrow tract of ground. From our statement of distances it will be ascertained that the circle of fortresses covers a front of thirty-five miles, or rather that that number of miles is their circumference, Such a front would compel the enemy, if they sit down to a regular siege, to cover @ circumfer- ence of at least fifty-five miles with lines of cir- cumvallation and contravallation should the object be to cut off the besieged from all chance of relief. It will thus be seen that the Prussian army has a rather formidable job to accomplish before it can shut up the French in Paris. Having minutely located and named the differ- ent fortresses, with the distances between them, a general sketch of their capacity will be found interesting. The fifteen forts combined present ninety-three fronts. Each fortis a separate and distinct work, intended to rely upon itself in case of necessity, though receiving support from the works that flank it. Al! are casemates, and, combined, mount twenty-three hundred guns of all kinds and calibres. Their armaments have been in them for a long while, so that but little work has been required for them since there wasa prospect of Paris being besieged. Each has its own magazine, barracks, storefionse and supply of water, so that should one be captured the two on each side would not be inconvenienced in the slightest degree, while the captors certainly would be from the flank tire of the two forts referred to. * THE GARRISON. As announced from Paris, the garrison, in the event of 4 siege, will consist of 130,000 men, Of 23—Sarbenne. 2A—St. Sulpice, 2I—St. Keivone du Mont, this number 30,000 will hold the outer or detached works. These will be, we should say, veteran troops, and not of the Garde Nationale. The ramparts will be manned by 20,000 artille- rists—principally sailors and marines from the seaports—while the remaining 80,000 will be stationed at different points in the rear of the line, ready to be thrown to any locality ata moment's notice. These Jatter troops aro entirely of the Garde Nationale of Paris. are, doubtless, very raw at the present moment, but one month of steady drilling will suffice to make them good soldiers. OTHER DEFENCES. We should not omit to state that in addition to the forts named, Vincennes is a formid- able fortification, which has been greatly enlarged and strengthened during the past twenty years. It stands almost in the rear of Fort de Nogent, but has an open sweep of the country between that work and Fort de Charenton. Furthermore, there. are two re- doubts between Fort de la Birche and Fort Mont Valerien, which are able to keep an advancing enemy in check for a considerable length of time, if not repfilse him. At but two points—one south, the other east—is there apy high ground in close proximity to the outer fortresses, and these are overlooked and swept by the guns of five forts. For at least thirty out of the thirty- five miles the country is in part open and almost level, so that a hostile army will find it difficult to erect batteries and mount slege guns close enough to the walls to do any material damage to them. CONCLUSION. A great deal of unnecessary sorrow is being expressed at the prospect of Prussian shells bat- tering down the splendid edifices of Paris. It is exceedingly doubtful if any of their shells will fall much beyond the inner line of works and for the reason that they will not be able to eonstract batteries near enough to the outer fortresses to throw shells into the Tuileries, unless they bring six hundred pounder guns with them, and we doubt much if their siege artillery contains guns of any such calibre. Furthermore, to sur- round the walls of Paris wouldg require a much larger army than the Prussians now have. Five hundred thousand men may do it, but half that number cannot. They may occupy all the avenues of approach, but each force of occupation would be so far from the others that by rapid massing the French would stand a fair chance of thrashing the besiegers in detail, CITY $ POLITICS. Seventeenth Assembly District Union Repub- licam Association. The Seventeenth Assembly District Union Repub- can Assoelation held a meeting last evening at the wigwam in Forty-ninth street, near Eighth avenue, for the purpose of giving @ last chance to the repub- leans of the district to enrol themselves previous to the primary election. The president, 8. N. Simon. son, occupied the chair; T. B, Millsh, secreta A large number of persons were present, and about one hundred and fifty new names were enrolled. A series of resolutions were passed condemning thie false accounts of the European war published by the democratic papers, showing the sympathy of the party with the Emperor, who for swenty years has oppressed the people and menaced the peace of Europe. They also condemned tie employment by the French of the savage Turcos, contrary to the usages of modern warfare, and the employment of political Turcos by Tammany for the parpose of repeating and stamMng baliot boxes, and rejoiced i the prospect that at the coming election eau parties Will be ighed, convicted and pun- shed Uy tribunals avd oficers independent of the evil influences that have fosiered the growth of such practices. Other reeolaions were adopted and tha meeting adjourned, . 28—Val de Grace. 27—Madeleine, “uS—st. Vincent de Prul. composed | They | | foul of this vridge. Fre Fifteen Fortresses and Ninety-Four Bastion Fronts—~ Pe: LW IN 29—st. Anguatin, 30—La Trinicte. Bi—Nouvel Hotel Dien, LONG BRANC H. President Grant Going to New York for a Few Days—The Ninth Regiment at Drill--The Lively Season Still Continnes— A Night of Excitement. LONG BRaNcH, Angust 22, 1670, Tt bas been very quiet to-day at the Presidential cottage, With 4 tess number than usual of calls on the President, and consequently less tafringemeuts on his time and patience by that large class whose Visits are the sole promptings of tile curtosity. Of course the President availed himself of tue present magnificent weather for driving, aud indulged to-day his usual taste for tus outdoor recreation with his family, Which he always does in the after- noob and sometimes in the morning. A slight interruption to the monotony of bis present quiet life, however, will be a visit to New York, for which Place he leaves here to-worrow. He wit! bo accom. pauled by Mrs. Grant and his private secretary, General Porter, aud will be absent only four days. THE NINTH REGIMENT. After thei yesterday’s holiday und graud show of strength, and splendor of uulforma and equip- ments at evening «ress parade, the members of the Ninth regunent set to work to-aay In earnest to per- fect themselves in the mysteries of regimental muil- tary manoeuvring. ‘They take hold of drilling with hearty zeal, and if the enthusiasm keeps up to its present high point wil goon, in diselpliue ana eficie: be second to none in the ra of gur National Guard. GESERAL LIVELY TIMES, Though there 1s an unusual dearth in the news market, there 18 most lively times bere. [1 18 the liveliness however, of every day ilfe, the bathing, the drives and the hops—a ceaseless round of imerri- ment—but of which nothing possibly more can be written, The season has never been guyer or the hotels more thronged. GENIAL JOUN BROUGHAM, who has been suffering for some time past from ses Vere Indisposition, 18 su far convalescent 4% to be out. He made bis appearance to-day at the West End Hore! and was warmly greeted ou every side by his host of admirers, AN EVENING OF RXCITEMENT. It has been @ night of unusual excitement, First of all was the turnout of the Ninth regiment, with Colonel Fisk at its bead. It marched to the Weat End Hotel and then retarned to camp and was heartily cheered by the gaests at all the hotejs, Next were three runaways, but fortunately nobody Was Lurt, though in one case there would have beea had not Mr, Langdon, olerk at the West End Hotel, atthe imminent risk of Lis own Life, stopped oue of the ramaway teams, The last excitement was one of the guests at the West End Hotei pracusing pistol firing on ine porch, He was speedily compelied to destst from the ain use- ment and two revolvers were taken from him, THE CENTRAL RAILROAD BAY BRIDGE. Why Mr. Frelinghuysen Beclined the English Mission. A few days ago another schooner, one frem Maine, laden with lumber consigned to Ripley & Son, of Newark, collided with the abutment of the New Jersey Central Rallroad bridge across Newark bay @nd sunk In afew fathoms of water. It is alleged that this structure, as now built, becomes more and more @ nuisance to navigation and ts rapidly de- stroying the commerctal interests of Newark, be- sides being dangerous for tram, throngh iis shakiness, Large quantities of stone continue to be dumped overboard with @ view to strengthen the foundauon; but the Greatest resuit attained is declared to ti the divers sion of the bay channel, and there is consequeutly great danger W navigation, Since, {ts,erecvion In 1864, no less tuan twenty vessels nave sustained Mole or less serious damage tarenga unavoldably running T. Frelinghuysen, be- sides being a director aud large stockholder in the company, i8 also ita counsel, and it ts said that he demauds on bia time in this quarter looking alter the Company's interest formed one of the. princl- Dal reasons ‘or bia devilming the Kuwlish wissiou, —