useret does not know what he is talking about! It is certain that if
this valiant general has such a very great horror of accidents, he
should begin by stopping the firing at Courbevoie, which is a great deal
more dangerous than the galloping of a horse on the Boulevard
Montmartre. As you may imagine, the officers went on galloping and
wearing their finery under the very nose of the general, while he walked
about stoically in plain clothes. However, although they did not obey
him, they owed him a grudge for the orders he had given. Opposition was
being hatched, and was ready to burst forth on the first opportunity,
which happened to be the evacuation of Fort Issy.[76] Cluseret has
fallen a victim to his taste for simplicity, but he carries with him the
regrets of all the illused cab-horses which, in the absence of
thoroughbreds, have to suffice the gallant staff, and who, poor
creatures, were only too delighted not to gallop.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 75: General Cluseret was a great personage for a time with the
Communists, and his military talents were lauded to the skies, but
suddenly he was committed to prison, and was succeeded in the command of
the army by Rossel. The cause of his imprisonment is not clear. Some say
that he was discovered to be in correspondence with the Thiers
government, others that he was suspected of aiming at the Dictatorship.
During the confusion that occurred on the first entry of the Versailles
troops into Paris, when the Archbishop of Paris and the other so-called
"hostages" had been barbarously assassinated, when the Louvre, the
Palais Royal, and the Hotel de Ville were in flames, Cluseret escaped
from prison, and was not heard of again until it was reported that his
body had been found buried beneath the rubbish of the last barricade.
Was report correct?]

[Footnote 76: "THE MINISTER OF WAR TO THE NATIONAL GUARD.

"CITOYENS,--I notice with pain that, forgetful of our modest origin, the
ridiculous mania for trimmings, embroidery, and shoulder-knots has begun
to take hold upon you.

"To work! You have for the first time accomplished a revolution by, and
for, labour.

"Let us not forget our origin, and, above all, do not let us be ashamed
of it, Workmen we were! workmen let us remain!

"In the name of virtue against vice, of duty against abuse, of austerity
against corruption, we have triumphed; let us not forget the fact.

"Let us be, above all, men of honour and duty; we shall then