and pushed on his cavalry and light infantry,
by La Revolte, near to the edge of
the Bois de Boulogne. The bulk of the
Prussian infantry advanced to the foot of
Montmartre, while General York's corps, on the
left of the Allies, advanced on La Chatelle,
and the corps of Kleist and Woronzoff, still
more to the left, bore down on La Villette.
At Prince Schwartzenberg's request,
Blucher now sent the Prussian and Baden
guards to help Prince Eugene carry Pantin,
Prés St. Gervais, and the other obstinate
villages at the foot of the Romainville
plateau, and they moved to his assistance
across the Ourcq Canal, and near the
Ronuvroi farm.

The Prince Royal of Wurtemburg was
also moving forward to help to seize the final
trophy of the Allies. Crossing the bridge
of Neuilly-sur-Marne, and leaving Guilay's
corps to guard his rear, the prince had
pushed on in two columns, the one skirting
the banks of the Marne, the other crossing
quickly through the forest of Vincennes.
The first column, carrying the bridge of
St. Maur, made a circuit round the forest
and attacked Charenton by the right bank.
The brave National Guards, who tried
to defend the bridge at Charenton with
l'Ecole d'Alport, finding their rear in danger,
abandoned the position, and pushed
across the country to the left of the Seine
to burn powder more usefully elsewhere.
The German column having occupied all
the bridges of the Marne, then began to
skirmish with the National Guard before
the Bercay barrier. The prince's second
column, marching straight for the bridge
of Vincennes, hurried to the help of Count
Pahlen's men, and Rajeffsky's and
Paskiewitch's regiments, who were already
attacking Montreuil, Bagnolet, and Charonne.

The allied forces were now in line, and
the firing commenced in one broad belt.
To the north Prince Eugène, backed by
the Russian grenadiers and Blucher's loan
of Prussian bayonets, fell on Pantin and
Prés St. Gervais, and grappled with the
Boyer de Rebeval and picked divisions of
the Young Guard. The French driven out,
rallied, however, at the foot of the height,
and supported by well-posted artillery,
returned to struggle for the unhappy
villages.

On the plateau of Romainville there was
equally hard fighting, but the French had
not the same fortune. The troops of
Generals Nelfreich and Mezenzoff, and the
grenadiers of Paskiewitch, though at first
repulsed, seized Montreuil and Bagnolet,
planted themselves on the southern
declivity; seconded by Count Pahlen's men
and the Prince Royal, who was between
Vincennes and Charonne, they took
possession of the nearest houses of
Menilmontant, on Marmont's right, and the Duke
of Padua's reserve being thus outflanked,
fell back and uncovered the Lagrange and
Ricard divisions, while on the French left
the Ledru des Essart division, beaten from
tree to tree, lost foot by foot the wood of
Romainville they had a little before
conquered. Pressed on both flanks, Marmont
struck a bold blow for life rather than for
victory. He threw himself in front of
four battalions, formed in column, and
pushed like a battering-ram straight at the
Russian centre. Twelve cannons loaded
with grape gave a rude welcome to the
intruders, Marmont being at the same
moment attacked in front by the Russian
grenadiers, and in flank by the heavy
cavalry, under Miloradowitch. The four
French columns fell back after a furious
hand-to-hand fight. Marmont was already
weighed down by his assailants, when a
daring officer, named Ghesseler, broke from
a wood with two hundred men, and rushed
at the Russian columns, to give time to
Marmont to retreat towards Belleville.

Brave as the French resistance had been,
they were everywhere overweighted and
outnumbered. The wood of Romainville
was lost, the plateau taken. The centre,
forced to Belleville, was bleeding at every
pore. At the foot of the hill the Boyer
and Michel division had lost Pantin. In
the plain, too, hard work was going on.
Kleist and Woronzoff had attacked the
Curial division defending La Villette.
York, while defying Marmont, struck at
the Christiani division at La Chapelle.
In front General Belliard's cavalry kept
Blucher's tough squadrons employed; and
along the line from St. Denis to the
Barriere du Trone, the Allies, according to
Thiers, had lost already ten thousand men,
the French six thousand.

Belleville, the key of the heights, still held
out. Marmont had there gathered together
his field artillery, and the wrecks of the
Lagrange, Ricard, Padua, and Ledru des
Essart divisions, and sent word to Joseph
that he saw no reason yet to surrender.
But Joseph never got the message; he was
already off at full speed, afraid of being
captured by the Allies.

The end was coming. Prince Schwartzenberg
ordered two attacking columns to