eige, and the military officers formed a
vigilance committee and a police force.

While the Duc d'Angouleme had been staying at Nimes, General Gilly had
applied for a command in that prince's army, but in spite of all his
efforts obtained nothing; so immediately after the dinner at which he
was insulted he had withdrawn to Avernede, his place in the country. He
was awoke in the night of the 5th-6th April by a courier from General
Ambert, who sent to offer him the command of the 2nd Subdivision. On the
6th, General Gilly went to Nimes, and sent in his acceptance, whereby
the departments of the Gard, the Lozere, and Ardeche passed under his
authority.

Next day General Gilly received further despatches from General Ambert,
from which he learned that it was the general's intention, in order to
avoid the danger of a civil war, to separate the Duc d'Angouleme's army
from the departments which sympathised with the royal cause; he had
therefore decided to make Pont-Saint-Esprit a military post, and had
ordered the 10th Regiment of mounted chasseurs, the 13th artillery, and
a battalion of infantry to move towards this point by forced marches.
These troops were commanded by Colonel Saint-Laurent, but General Ambert
was anxious that if it could be done without danger, General Gilly
should leave Nimes, taking with him part of the 63rd Regiment, and
joining the other forces under the command of Colonel Saint-Laurent,
should assume the chief command. As the city was quite tranquil, General
Gilly did not hesitate to obey this order: he set out from Nimes on the
7th, passed the night at Uzes, and finding that town abandoned by the
magistrates, declared it in a state of siege, lest disturbances should
arise in the absence of authority. Having placed M. de Bresson in
command, a retired chief of battalion who was born in Uzes, and who
usually lived there, he continued his march on the morning of the 8th.

Beyond the village of Conans, General Gilly met an orderly sent to
him by Colonel Saint-Laurent to inform him that he, the colonel, had
occupied Pont Saint-Esprit, and that the Duc d'Angouleme, finding
himself thus caught between two fires, had just sent General d'Aultanne,
chief of staff in the royal army, to him, to enter into negotiations
for a surrender. Upon this, General Gilly quickened his advance, and
on reaching Pont-Saint-Esprit found General d'Aultanne and Colonel
Saint-Laurent conferring together at the Hotel de la Poste.