Siege of Paris 1870. LETTER FROM GENERAL TROCHU, Governor of Paris, TO ADMIRAL MÉQUET, commanding the 8th sector, Paris, November 26, 1870. 18999-8

Siege of Paris 1870. LETTER FROM GENERAL TROCHU, Governor of Paris, TO ADMIRAL MÉQUET, commanding the 8th sector, Paris, November 26, 1870. 18999-8

Letter signed twice (main body of the letter and a P.S.), Paris, November 26, 1870.
Header "Governor of Paris / GENERAL HEADQUARTERS / N° 12".

General Trochu has just ordered the temporary closure of the gates of the fortification and the prohibition of circulation. "... This measure was imperatively demanded for military reasons on which I need not insist ...".
This directive aims to facilitate the movement of troops and military operations, prevent excessive and sometimes misunderstood surveillance from causing serious inconveniences: "... more than once, officers in uniform carrying orders have been detained [...] material wagons have experienced compromising delays at the gates or on the rampart street". The drawbridges will remain lowered but the barriers will be closed. Only freely circulating entities include troops and equipment, officers and non-commissioned officers of all branches, civilian engineers in charge of external service, employees serving the defense, mission delegates, etc.
Signed: The Governor of Paris: Gen Trochu".

The general adds, "P.S. Due to the current military circumstances, the military parades of the National Guard that the sector commanders had been authorized to organize will be suspended until further notice.
Signed: Gen Trochu"

Double sheet, 3 and a half pages of writing, H 26.5 cm x 20.7 cm.
Good condition, fold marks, small tears at the bottom, foxing.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Louis-Jules TROCHU, born in Le Palais, Belle-Île-en-Mer (Morbihan) on March 12, 1815, and died in Tours (Indre-et-Loire) on October 7, 1896, was a French division general and statesman under the Second Empire. A graduate of Saint-Cyr and the Royal Staff Corps, he became Governor of Paris, assuming power following the proclamation of the Republic in 1870, and established a government of National Defense on September 4, 1870.
He relinquished power on February 17, 1871, ending his government after attempting to continue the Franco-Prussian War.

Eugène Louis Hugues, 3rd Baron MÉQUET, born in Cherbourg on September 23, 1812, and died in Mortain on January 3, 1887, was a French admiral.
[...] During the siege of Paris by the Prussian armies, he took command of the 8th sector of the fortified enclosure and organized the defense of the forts of Vanves and Montrouge, which suffered greatly from the bombardments in January 1871. A Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor on January 23, 1871, he was later called to the Naval Council. Promoted Vice-Admiral in 1874, he became the naval prefect of Brest in 1874 before moving to the reserve status in 1877.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
The siege of Paris is an episode of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Starting from September 17, 1870, the city was quickly surrounded by German troops, whom the Parisian resistance could not prevent from advancing north of the Loire during the fall of 1870.
With the capitulation of Sedan, the Prussian and allied armies swept over northern France and besieged Paris. In the capital, the news arrived in the afternoon of September 3. During a late-night session of the Assembly, Jules Favre presented a motion declaring the deposition of Napoleon III. The decision was postponed to the next day. On September 4, the crowd and the National Guard invaded the Palais Bourbon demanding the deposition of the dynasty. While Empress Eugénie and Count de Palikao took the path to exile, Jules Favre led the deputies of the republican tendency to the city hall and established a government of National Defense. GENERAL TROCHU, Governor of Paris, was elected as its president, providing the army's support to the movement by which bourgeois republicans outflanked the revolutionaries (the reds).
The official proclamations of TROCHU and Favre called for a resistance to the invader. TROCHU chose to bring Vinoy's army of 40,000 men into the capital, possibly for more political than military considerations. In the weeks following the Republic's proclamation, the Prussian troops and their allies continued their advance on the territory without much opposition. As the government decided to remain in Paris, a delegation was sent to Tours to coordinate actions in the provinces under the command of Adolphe Crémieux, Minister of Justice, accompanied by Glais-Bizoin and Admiral Fourichon. On September 15, Adolphe Thiers was mandated and sent on a mission to the European capitals to seek support in hopes, which proved futile, of influencing the Prussian demands.
[...]