Chapter 3
Numbre 17 entrepot militaire* (Near the Bois De La Tour Du Lay)
March 12, 1871
Time: 8:50 AM
The Major was expecting them. He had been contacted over a week ago & the offer was hard to resist. 36,000 francs would go a long way. He knew it was treason, yet, for himself & his family, with 36,000 francs they could have a brand new life. They could go to Great Britain; London the Greatest City in the World, perhaps of all time. Or perhaps somewhere within the British Empire. He and his family could have a brand new beginning in America. With 36,000 francs, a man could go far. From the window on the second floor of his office, Major Lemoyne saw 4 figures approaching from the distance. 4 men, only 4 men! How could they pull it off? He began to worry and sweat. Was he set up? Was it just 4 locals wandering the back roads of Ile de-France? No, today was the appointment & it was near the appointed hour. He decided to go downstairs and out to the gate & wait for them. The 4 men walked towards the storage depot. The tall man was the leader, the short squat man his adjutant, he carried the small wooden box about the size of a hatbox. The other two men each carried two separate batons, each baton either had a green flag or a red flag attached to it.
As per the agreement they carried no firearms. The short man looked to the taller man & said: "What if they still have not evacuated the garrison troops here?" The tall man answered: "If that is the case, the man at the gate will tell us he has no food to spare & to be on our way; but for 36,000 francs, I am certain he has convinced the men of his garrison to go far and.... make themselves useful elsewhere." The short mans only reply was; "I hope so, I surely do."
Major Lemoyne took notice as the men approached. He quickly took special notice of one of the men, the short fat one who seemed to have the face of a frog & a monkey mixed together, he appeared to be carrying what appeared to be a ladies hatbox. He noted the tall man as well as the other two men. He put on his spectacles and opened the the small identification slot in the heavy gate to speak to them. He had to be extremely careful as he was the only man inside the depot at this time. He had sent his entire garrison of 184 men & officers about 6 miles to the North the day before yesterday to keep watch on any potential..."enemies", they would not be returning until tomorrow afternoon. His officers would not question him, after all, he was the Commandant of the Depot. And his orders were issued from the Area Commander, they wouldn't question a thing.
The 4 men approached the gate of the depot. The tall man could see the small slot opened and a mans face looking out at them. The man behind the gate said simply; "What do you want?" The tall man answered; "Sir we have been walking for quite a while, do you have any food that you can spare?" The man behind the gate replied; "Of course! I have plenty for you & your...''fellow travelers''; however, I fear that there is much more food here than you four men could possibly take with you." The tall man quickly replied; "Do not fear Sir, we will take any & all food that you may have." The man behind the gate looked at him knowingly & then added; "Did someone give you a key to open the gate? Since I have no such key to open it up with." The tall man looked to his short, squat subaltern. The short man walked up to the small opening in the gate & took out a small key and opened up the heavy wooden box he was holding. As he opened the hinged lid, he could see a golden light glowing upon the gatekeepers face. He could also see the reflection of gold coins and banknotes in the gatekeepers glasses.
Major Lemoyne looked into the the wooden box being held by the ugly, frog faced monkey looking man & was delighted by what he saw. He could hardly believe it or his good fortune. After all, with 36,000 francs, a man could go far. As the man behind the gate gazed into the box, the tall man knew he was pleased. The man finally said; "Very good, very good, it appears that you have been furnished with the correct key, one moment gentlemen." They listened as the gate began to slowly move and the hinges squeaked & groaned and then it opened. The four men walked inside & saw the man behind the gate. He was, the tall man noted, a man about 45 years old, medium height, dark hair,glasses, and a mustache & goatee. He fit the description of the man he had been briefed about. The man bid them all welcome and waited for the tall man to make his next move. The tall man motioned to the short, fat man. On cue, he handed the heavy wooden box to the waiting arms of the Depot Commander. The Major felt the heaviness of the box & knew it had to be the full amount. He would count it all later to make sure. The Major then began to say; "Gentlemen, let me explain to you the floor plan of my...."
All at once, the two other men each pulled out a baton, unfurled a small green flag from their respective batons & immediately began running down the road away from the depot. They began to frantically wave the batons in the air. Major Lemoyne was flabbergasted & alarmed. He looked at the tall man with his mouth agape. The tall man smiled at him & said; "One moment Major, one moment." In a matter of seconds, Major Lemoyne saw about 100 or so men, a company sized formation, walk out of the tree line about 60 yards down the road. About, 6 seconds after that, he saw, in the distance, around 200 yards or so, horse drawn wagons, dozens of them, coming out of the forest & onto the road. The tall man smiled at the Major & said; "You see Major, we have more than enough hands to carry away all of your food from here."
Major Lemoyne shook his head & looked at the tall man. He caught his breath & said to him; "Sir are you ready to see the interior of the depot?" The tall man nodded affirmatively then the 3 men began to walk down the large corridor to the right. The exterior outer walls of the depot were hexagonal in shape, the interior second set of walls were shaped like a large capital "D". Where Lemoyne, the tall man & his short assistant were standing was in the lower left corner of the "D" shaped building. As they walked down the corridor, Major Lemoyne pointed to the the two stairways on either side of the lower left corner of the "D". These stairs led to the upstairs floor. He also mentioned that the corridor would begin to curve to the left, eventually making a semi-circle, then straightening out again before coming to a corner. At the corner, the corridor would make a sharp left and continue down a long way until it ended up at the point where they had not only started but where the gate leading out was.
The tall man noticed that the corridors were very wide. Wide enough in fact for his horse drawn wagons to drive down 3 abreast. This was crucial since they could empty the depot much quicker than he had earlier envisaged. Major Lemoyne then mentioned that it was only the first 8 cages & vaults on the left that would be of any interest to them since all the others were empty. As they looked at the cages, the tall man was taken by the fact that these cages appeared to be like large holding cells in a jail or prison. Yet these cages held far more valuable things than prisoners. When they approached the 7th & 8th cages, the tall man was impressed by the sight he saw. From floor to ceiling, crates of paper cartridges and crates of rounds, this is why they came here. The previous 6 cages had contained a mixture of cartridges, rounds, and of course, rifles, Chassepot rifles to be exact. With these modern tools of war, the Commune would be able to stand up against the forces of reaction and in due time overcome them as well.
As the tall man was deep in thought, a voice came out; "Sir, sir...?" It was the Major speaking to him. He looked at him and said; "Yes, Major, what were you just saying?" Major Lemoyne continued, "..I was asking you Sir, if you & your assistant wanted to continue on to see all the other cages & vaults? They are all empty, but you can see for yourselves & not just take my word for it." The tall man quickly answered; "No Major, it is not necessary to walk the entire circuit. We will inspect the remnant of the depot at our leisure if it is convenient for us." The Major smiled and replied to him; "But of course, you will see that all the other cages on this side of the building are empty, but I invite you & your men to inspect them to alleviate any questions or doubts that you may in fact have." The tall man then said; "Thank you Major..." as they began to retrace their steps back to where they started from the tall man continued, "....I do have a question about the interior of this building, that is, what is in the inside if I may ask?" The Major quickly answered; "In the center is an open parade ground where our men practice their maneuvers also, along the the long corridor there is an awning which covers our stables. If you & your men want to inspect that part you are more than welcome." The tall man indicated that it wasn't necessary. What was necessary & what he did ask for was the manifest of all the equipment & ammunition that was stored here. The Major said he would get it at once. As they returned to where they started, the short frog faced monkey finally spoke.
"Pardon, Major, but what is on the second level?" The Major was at first stunned by the frog faced monkeys nasal high pitched voice but he politely answered to him. "On that floor there is the soldiers quarters,3 medium sized barracks rooms for about 200 men, 6 private quarters for officers, 12 small offices, 4 large offices, a Chapel, 2 mess halls, 1 for enlisted & 1 for Officers, the kitchen is there & there are 4 additional rooms which are used as classrooms and as temporary storage. You may of course inspect the entire upper floor as you wish." As the 3 men turned the corner to the right and proceeded up the very long straight corridor, the tall man inquired about the rooms & cages to the right side. "Those..." began Major Lemoyne "..are the saddlers shops, the armorers repair shop, the equine officers veterinarian office and 6 supply rooms; you can of course inspect them as well." The tall man's attention was now focused on the cages & vaults that they were approaching. Major Lemoyne indicated that the only vaults & cages for them were once again on the left. He also mentioned that there were 14 of them in this corridor. His tall guest then said; "So, you have 22 cages & vaults for us, is that correct Major?" To which Major Lemoyne nodded affirmatively. After they had reached the last available cages on the left, the 3 men turned around and began heading to their starting point once again. As they began the walk back, the tall man & his short assistant noticed that the Major was starting to struggle with his heavy "gift box". The tall man pretended not to see the Major struggling but he kept a mental note of it, just as he kept mental notes of everything he saw & heard. His assistant, also seemed not to pay much attention to it either.
As the 3 men exited the "D" shaped building, Major Lemoyne was dumbstruck by what was now happening in the open area between the "D" shaped building & the hexagonal walls of his depot. The other 2 men who had been waving the batons, had brought in dozens of wagons.
They had lined up the wagons in 2 uniform lines. As the Major & the 2 other men came out, the last few wagons were getting into lines in the rear. Major Lemoyne attempted to count them all. All he could say was; "Chers ciel, 50 wagons!" The tall man looked at him & replied; '' Yes Major, dear heaven, dear heaven indeed." In fact, there were 58 wagons in total; the good Major had miscounted. The Major also quickly noticed that there were about 200 or so men walking in and around the opening of the depot. All of a sudden, the Frog croaked again; "Pardon, Major, but what are those buildings over there?" Major Lemoyne turned & looked to see what the frog faced monkey was pointing to.
He could see that he was pointing to the buildings that were lying between the inner & outer walls of his depot. The Major then answered; "From the rear & towards us, the farthest buildings are 2 supply & 2 storage buildings; the next building coming towards us is the blacksmiths shop & the exterior stable, next is the carpenters shop, then the Infirmary, after that, is the hay loft. The next building, the small one, is the latrine." Then he motioned with his shoulder; "The brick building behind me is the Office of the Commandant, that is my office." He said with a proud grin. The tall man kept his own counsel and absorbed all this extra information given freely & unwittingly by the Major; he also sensed something else about the Major, hubris & an exaggerated sense of self pride. Of course, this was endemic among the petty bourgeoise. He motioned to his short assistant. The smaller man began to move expeditiously towards the waiting wagon trains. The Major then said out loud; "You are free to inspect all of the outer buildings however, I cannot be held responsible for the stench emanating from the latrine." He brayed laughter at his own joke. The tall man then reminded the Major about the weapon & ammo manifest lists. Major Lemoyne nodded & said; "Come this way Sir, come this way." As they re-entered the "D" shaped building, they entered into a small guard room. The Major put his heavy box down on a wooden table & sighed out loud in relief. He then looked to the tall man and said; "If this box did not contain what it contains..." he smiled, "..I would gladly dispose of it since it is so bulky & difficult to carry."
The tall man smiled & thought to himself; "Soft." He continued to think that he was ashamed that this man was a soldier of France; an officer no less. With his attitude it was no wonder the Prussians were able to conquer France so easily. Perhaps if France was a box that contained gold that he could take for himself, he would defend it, but since it was not, it was easier to: "gladly dispose of it." The Major went through a few drawers & quickly produced 3 clipboards each with 4-5 pages on each clipboard. He handed them to the tall man who then thanked him for them. Major Lemoyne then looked at his pocket watch. He then said to his counterpart, "Sir it is now 9:30, I need you & your men to be gone from here no later than 3:30 PM today. My troops will be returning before sundown so you have no more than 6 hours to complete your extraction of the equipment here." The tall man assured him that they would proceed at once to complete the mission. Relief shown all over the Majors face at that. He began to grin at the the tall man & then said to him; "I am so happy right now, I feel like celebrating my good fortune. I have a bottle of Cognac in my office, would you care to have a celebratory drink with me Sir?" The tall man beamed at the Majors invitation.
As he smiled broadly, his smile masked his true thoughts. He thought to himself; "Soft, petit, bourgeoise, how typical! Prancing about in military uniform with shiny little buttons, putting on airs of superiority; yet still your petty little habits & greed still show through, like manure in a white stocking." He instantly thought of Marx. Marx himself wrote that the greed of the Capitalists & the bourgeoise was so encompassing, that they would happily sell the weapons & ammunition to the proletarians & peasants with which they would overthrow the Capitalistic order & set up the order of the Proletariat. Here was a true life example, the tall man was pleased to see Marx's theories proven correct. It strengthened his resolve & conviction in the righteousness of his cause. He then answered the Major; "I greatly thank you sir for the hospitable invitation, however, I think perhaps, it may be safer for all of us if I complete my mission first so that your troopers don't surprise us pre-maturely. In addition, I would heartily accept so long as you have enough for my assistant. I would not see him denied something that I enjoy."
Major Lemoyne smiled broadly now, he picked up his heavy box & replied; "But of course! Certainly! I will set up 3 glasses for us to celebrate our endeavor together. My office is in the brick building, on the second floor, last door on the left at the end of the hallway, I will be looking forward to entertaining you both!" With that, Major Lemoyne left the guard room and headed for his office. The tall man had made a solemn vow to himself several weeks earlier; he would not celebrate until the Commune was in full control & in power in France, and he promised himself that he would not partake of spiritous drink until,...until, he tried to think of something really worthy & important. Until, until Karl Marx himself made a speech before the Commune of France! Yes! That's when he promised himself a celebratory drink. He would drink with Marx but never with a "petit bourgeoise!"
* Number 17 Military Storage Depot