Kitabı oku: «The Bombardment of Reims», sayfa 5
30 Day relatively calm; intense bombardment at night, 200 shells.
July, 1917
1 Bombardment continued, 200 shells.
2 Bombardment continued, more than 600 shells.
3 Bombardment continued, 1200 shells (120 from 9 A. M. to 1 P. M.; 400 from 2 to 5 P. M.; 20 from 7 to 8 P. M.; 600 from 9 P. M. to 2 A. M.).
4 Bombardment continued, 300 shells.
5 Bombardment continued, 800 shells (100 from 12 to 2 P. M.; 700 from 2 to 8:30 P. M.; 3 in the night).
6 Bombardment continued, 600 shells (350 from 6 A. M. to 2 P. M.; 50 from 3 to 4 P. M.; 200 after 4 P. M.).
7 Bombardment continued, 350 shells (250 from 4 to 9 A. M.; 15 from 9 to 10 A. M.; 1 at 6:45 P. M.; 100 from 11 P. M. to midnight).
8 Bombardment continued; 12 shells at 9 A. M.; 14 shells at 2 P. M.
9 Bombardment continued; 20 shells 2 to 5 A. M.; 90 at 8 A. M.; 25 from 9 A. M. to noon; 40 from 2 to 3 P. M.; 2 at 8 P. M.
10 Bombardment continued; 20 shells 4 to 5 P. M.; 60 at 8 P. M.; 55 in the night.
11 Bombardment continued; 61 shells 9 to 11 A. M.; 12 at 7 P. M.
12 Bombardment continued, 1350 shells (30 from 7 to 10 A. M.; 1260 from 8 to 10 P. M.; 60 from 10 P. M. to 2 A. M.).
13 Bombardment continued, 2000 shells (250 from 7:30 to 11 A. M.; more than 300 in the afternoon; 900 from 5 to 10 P. M.; more than 500 in the night).
14 Bombardment continued, 2500 to 3000 shells (1650 from 5 A. M. to 1 P. M.; 700 from 2 to 10 P. M.; 13 in the night).
15 Bombardment continued, 800 shells (50 from 11 A. M. to noon; 700 from 12 to 1 P. M.; 50 in the night).
16 Bombardment continued, 2537 shells (50 at 6 A. M.; 250 from 8 A. M. to 1 P. M.; 1231 from 2 to 7 P. M.; 30 from 8 to 10 P. M.).
17 Bombardment continued, but day relatively calm, 129 shells (4 at 11 A. M.; 125 at 7 P. M.).
18 Bombardment continued, 840 shells (160 at 7 P. M.; 580 from 9 P. M. to 2 A. M.).
19 Bombardment continued, 80 shells.
20 Bombardment continued, 119 shells.
21 Bombardment continued, more than 900 shells (30 from 7 to 8 A. M.; 30 from 8:30 to 11 A. M.; 760 from 1 to 3 P. M.; 100 from 11 P. M.).
22 Bombardment continued, 828 shells (50 from 8 to 9 A. M.; 122 from 9 to 10:30 A. M.; 6 from 12 to 4 P. M.; 650 after 4 P. M.).
23 Bombardment continued, 1340 shells (400 from 8 A. M. to 1 P. M.; 650 from 2 to 4 P. M.; 290 after 9 P. M.).
24 Bombardment continued, 140 shells (40 at 10 A. M.; 65 at 3 P. M.; 35 at 9:30 P. M.).
25 Bombardment continued, 420 shells (200 from 6 to 11 A. M.; 220 at 9:30 P. M.).
26 Bombardment continued to 3 A. M., 443 shells; 286 shells in the day (6 at 6 P. M., 280 at 10 P. M.).
27 Bombardment continued, 1201 shells (160 from 8 A. M. to noon; 120 from 4 to 5 P. M.; 100 at 8 P. M.; 821 after 11 P. M.).
28 Bombardment continued, 627 shells (200 from 9 to 11 A. M.; 100 from 7 to 8 P. M.; 327 after 10 P. M.).
29 Bombardment continued, 513 shells (25 from 9 to 10:30 A. M.; 100 at 2 P. M.; 50 from 4 to 6 P. M.; 300 from 9 to 10 P. M.; 30 in the night). M. Martin, decorated by the President on June 18, killed by a shell at the temporary Sous-Préfecture near Reims.
30 Bombardment continued, more than 1300 shells (695 from 3 to 4 P. M.; 590 from 5:30 to 7 P. M.; 20 from 9 to 10 P. M.).
31 Bombardment from 3 to 4 P. M., 20 shells.
August, 1917
1 Bombardment continued.
2 Bombardment continued, 35 shells in the day; 405 after 9 P. M.
3 No shells in the day, 13 shells between 10 and 10:45 P. M.
4 Bombardment continued, 51 shells (5 from 1:45 to 2:30 P. M.; 40 from 4 to 6 P. M.; 6 from 6:30 to 7 P. M.).
5 Bombardment continued, 58 shells (40 from 5 to 6 P. M.; 11 from 6 to 7 P. M.; 7 from 9 to 10 P. M.).
6 Bombardment continued, 26 shells (16 from 12 to 1 P. M.; 10 from 4 to 5 P. M.).
7 Bombardment continued.
8 Bombardment continued, 141 shells (29 from 10 to 11 A. M.; 20 from 4 to 4:30 P. M.; 92 from 6 to 7 P. M.).
9 Bombardment continued, 140 shells (50 from 9 to 11 A. M.; 90 from 10 to 11 P. M.).
10 Bombardment continued, 126 shells (6 from 3 to 3:30 P. M.; 48 from 3:30 to 4:30 P. M.; 14 from 6 to 7 P. M.; 58 from 11 P. M. to midnight).
11 Bombardment continued, 600 to 660 shells (60 from 3 to 5 A. M.; 50 from 9:30 to 10:30 A. M.; more than 500 from 3 to 9 P. M.).
12 Bombardment continued, more than 400 shells (15 at 7:30 A. M.; 30 at 9 A. M.; 159 at 5 P. M.; 132 from 6 to 7 P. M.; 79 in the night).
13 Bombardment continued, 1,680 shells.
14 Bombardment continued, 200 shells.
15 Bombardment continued, 55 shells (27 from 3 to 3:30 P. M.; 28 from 9 to 11 P. M.).
16 Bombardment continued, 173 shells (25 from 3:30 to 6 P. M.; 140 from 6 to 8 P. M.; 8 from 8:45 to 9 P. M.).
17 Bombardment continued, 378 shells (39 from 6:30 to 8:30 A. M.; 10 from 10 to 10:30 A. M.; 30 from 2 to 2:30 P. M.; 299 from 5 to 11 P. M.).
18 Bombardment continued, 128 shells (108 from 12 to 4 P. M.; 20 from 6 to 8 P. M.).
19 Bombardment continued, 588 shells (392 from midnight to 2 A. M.; 52 from 4 to 9 A. M.; 144 from 7 to 10 P. M.).
20 Bombardment continued, 563 shells (28 from 12:30 to 1:30 P. M.; 514 from 3 to 6 P. M.; 20 from 9 P. M. to midnight).
21 Bombardment continued, 150 shells (2 at 8 A. M.; 63 at 12:30 P. M.; 40 in the afternoon; 45 after 8:45 P. M.).
22 Bombardment continued, 140 shells (30 from 10:30 to 11:30 A. M.; 100 from 12:30 to 2 P. M.; 10 at 5:30 P. M.).
23 Bombardment continued, 103 shells (3 at 4 A. M.; 15 at 10 A. M.; 50 from 3 to 4 P. M.; 35 in the night).
24 Bombardment continued, 30 shells, from 9 P. M. to midnight.
25 Bombardment continued, 153 shells (6 from 4 to 5 A. M.; 52 from 4 to 10 P. M.; 95 from 10 P. M. to 2 A. M.).
26 Bombardment continued, 129 shells to 2 A. M.; 52 from 4 to 7 P. M.; 77 from 9:30 to 11:15 P. M.
27 Bombardment continued, 144 shells (53 from 12 to 2 P. M.; 91 from 4 to 5 P. M.).
28 Bombardment continued, 126 shells (1 at 1 A. M.; 4 at 10:30 A. M.; 16 from 4 to 6 P. M.; 92 from 7 to 8 P. M.; 13 at 9 P. M.).
29 Bombardment continued, 59 shells (28 at 5 P. M.; 10 from 7 to 8 P. M.; 21 from 10:30 to midnight).
30 Bombardment continued, 83 shells (15 from 2 to 3 A. M.; 16 at 10:30 A. M.; 12 from 4 to 5 P. M.; 40 from 9 to 11 P. M.).
31 Bombardment continued, 34 shells from 9 to 11 P. M.
September, 1917
1 Bombardment continued, 107 shells (83 from 1 to 4 P. M.; 24 at 8:30 P. M.).
2 Bombardment continued, 12 shells (2 at 6:30 A. M.; 7 from 10 to 11:15 A. M.; 3 at 6 P. M.).
3 Third anniversary of the first bombardment of September 3, 1914. Bombardment continued, 10 shells.
Postscript
The present chronicle stops at the third anniversary of the first bombardment. On September 2, 1914 the French army evacuated Reims. The bombardment actually began on September 3, 1914 by the dropping of two bombs by German aviators. It was an unexpected preface to the formal bombardment of the next day, when the Germans sent 176 shells into Reims, although actually in possession of the city. September 3, 1917 thus completes three full years of the bombardment, which has accomplished nothing save the ruin of the city and the destruction of its great cathedral.
After a city has been besieged for three years; after it has, for that time, been subjected to the agony of modern artillery warfare, it would seem quite time to review such details as are obtainable and survey the results achieved by the besiegers. The daily summary given in the foregoing pages shows exactly what the Germans have done and what they have accomplished. Day after day, particularly in 1917, they have thrown innumerable projectiles into Reims, and wrought the utmost damage they could. But the outstanding fact to the French is that the Germans are still bombarding Reims. The siege did not stop with the end of the third year, but it is still going on as these pages pass through the press. This is the triumph of Reims, that it is still French, bent and broken as it is, bowed as its vast church is with the great trials to which it has been subjected, the city and its cathedral are still French! Before this ruined heap of stones – for Reims is scarce more than that, this may yield small comfort. Yet Reims is still France, knock the barbarian ever so fiercely.
It is, perhaps ominous that while detailed figures of the German missiles thrown in Reims have been published in the local newspapers rather freely, no word as to the destruction they may have accomplished has been uttered. The veil that covers Reims has not yet been lifted, nor can the full measure of her agony yet be reckoned.
The Buildings of Reims
THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME
This magnificent church was begun May 6, 1211, the foundation stone being laid on that date on the site of an earlier edifice burned in 1210. The work was pushed so rapidly that the choir was completed and occupied September 7, 1241. The architect was Jean d'Orbais, to whom the initial conception is due, and who continued in charge to 1231. He was succeeded by Jean Le Loup (1231-1247), who completed the choir and about 1240 undertook the façade of the north transept. Gaucher de Reims (1247-1255) apparently began the west portals towards 1255, before the nave was completed. Bernard de Soissons (1255-1290) built the five west bays of the nave and the great west rose window. He was succeeded by Robert de Coucy, who died in 1311, to whom is attributed the towers and the upper parts of the west front. The roof and upper parts of the cathedral were heavily damaged by fire in 1481, but repairs were speedily carried out. Restored several times in the nineteenth century, new restorations were in progress until the time of the first bombardment.
The cathedral is a vast and splendid church, with a nave of nine bays, transepts with aisles, and a rather short choir, surrounded with five chapels. There are no nave chapels. The decorations are of great magnificence, the external sculptures, especially those of the great west portals and the portals of the north transept, being most elaborate, and including some of the finest mediæval sculptures in France. The interior is noted for the arcaded screen applied to the west end of the nave, surrounding the central doorway, consisting of a series of niches with statues. The foliated capitals of the nave piers also deserve mention. The glass of the windows, which suffered some unfortunate changes in the XVIII century, was of extraordinary beauty and interest, and ranked among the finest in France; most of it was destroyed in the bombardment. The cathedral had a superb collection of tapestries, fortunately removed to Paris before the fire. The Treasury of the cathedral contained many rare and beautiful objects.
Notwithstanding the numerous and heavy bombardments to which the cathedral has been subjected, the statue of Jeanne d'Arc by Paul Dubois, erected in the open space before the cathedral (Place du Parvis) in 1896, has not yet been touched by shells. The sculpture of the west front and of other exposed parts were heavily protected by sand bags immediately after the first bombardment.
Palais Archiépiscopal
Immediately adjoins the south transept of the cathedral. Repaired and rebuilt many times. The oldest surviving portion is the chapel called the "Chapelle Palatine," built in two stories, and attributed to Jean d'Orbais, the architect of the cathedral. It lost its roof early in the bombardment. The great hall of the place, called the "Salle du Tau" was built at the end of the XV century; it contains a Gothic chimneypiece dating from 1498. The apartments of the King consisting of five rooms, restored in 1825, were richly decorated. The palace was totally destroyed in the bombardment.
THE ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. REMI
One of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in northern France. The larger part of its structure dates from 1005 to 1049, having been built in three efforts within that time. The choir, with its fine circlet of radiating chapels, was built between 1170 and 1190. The south transept front was rebuilt in 1506. The church has been many times repaired and its form and structure modified. The west front was so completely modified after 1840 that only the two lower stages remain of the earlier building. The building is of vast size, and the upper windows contained some remarkable glass. The tomb of St. Remi, the bishop of Reims who baptized Clovis, and which for centuries was a famous place of pilgrimage, was built in 1847, replacing an earlier monument destroyed in the Revolution, which, in its turn, replaced an earlier memorial.
ST. JACQUES
Of the church begun in 1190 and continued in the first years of the XII century, only fragmentary parts remain. It was partially reconstructed at the beginning of the XIV century. The choir and its chapels date from the XVI century. The lantern of the crossing replaced a Gothic spire removed in 1711, and the north transept and other parts were rebuilt in 1854.
ST. MAURICE
The choir, dating from 1627, is flanked by a beautiful flamboyant chapel built towards 1546. The nave is modern.
MODERN CHURCHES
St. André, built between 1857 and 1864. – St. Thomas, built in 1847. – St. Geneviève, built in 1877. – St. Clotilde, built in commemoration of the fourteenth centenary of the baptism of Clovis (496-1896). – St. Benoît and St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle are very recent churches.
HÔTEL DE VILLE
The fine Hôtel de Ville was commenced in 1627 on the plans of a native architect, Jean Bonhomme. Begun with the left pavilion, the main façade, with the central pavilion and its tower, were completed by 1630. Left incomplete for nearly two centuries, the right pavilion was added in 1823-1825 by Serrurier, also an architect of Reims. Great additions and new buildings around a central court were added between 1875 and 1880. The relief of Louis XIII in the central pediment by Milhomme, placed in 1818, occupies the place of an earlier one by Nicolas Jacques, placed in 1636 and destroyed in the Revolution. The building contained the Museum and Public Library of Reims. Destroyed by fire, May 3, 1917. The more valuable books of the library, and the departmental archives had long before been placed in safety elsewhere.
BUILDINGS OF NOTE
The Place Royale, begun in 1757, is closed on one side by the Hôtel des Fermes, a stately edifice with a central pediment supported by columns. In the centre of the Place is a statue of Louis XV by Cartellier, replacing an earlier statue by Pigalle, inaugurated in 1765 and destroyed in the Revolution. Two allegorical groups by Pigalle for the pedestal survived.
Maison des Musiciens, dating from the time of St. Louis, has a remarkable façade of large twin-windows alternating with trilobed niches containing seated statues of musicians, larger than life size. Purchased by the city and by public subscription in 1905.
Reims contains two other dwellings of the XIII century. A larger house in the Rue de Tambour, with a completely modernized interior, offers a façade of much interest, notwithstanding a repair in 1832. – Another house, in the Rue de Sedan, is a simple artisan's dwelling, retaining almost intact its gabled façade of the end of the XIII century. – A Gothic building in the same street, transformed into a school in 1890, retains parts of the XVI and XVII centuries. – A house in the Rue de Vesle has a façade of the XIV century, destroyed and burned by the bombardment of September 19, 1914. – Fragments of the former priory of St. Bernard remain in the same street behind a modern store front. – A house in the Rue de la Grue is an interesting type of the end of the XVII century; ruined in bombardment of September 19, 1914.
Hôtel de Bezannes, a large dwelling of the middle of the XV century, was probably built by Pierre de Bezannes, lieutenant of the inhabitants of Reims (1450-1467), whose arms remain on the buildings of the court. It became a school in 1901.
Hôtel Le Vergeur, a large building retaining fragments of all styles since the end of the XIII century. – The Maison du Long-Vêtu, the birthplace of Colbert, the celebrated minister of Louis XIV, has a façade of the middle ages, and another of the XVII century. – A hotel of the XV century, in the Rue de Pouilly, was the dwelling of an uncle of Colbert's. It is now the house of the Sœurs de l'Espérance; a part of the façade was demolished in 1908. – Pavilion de Muire, built by Nicolas Noel, lord of Muire, towards 1565, a remarkable structure in the style of Henri III. – Hôtel de Montlaurent of the XVI century, has lost much of its interior interest, but the court offers some of the primitive decoration. – Hôtel de la Salle, the birthplace of J. B. de la Salle, is one of the most beautiful types of domestic Renaissance architecture in Reims; the façade bears the date 1545. – Cour Mopinot has a portico of the XVI century. – Hôtel Thiret de Prin was built under Henri IV; Richelieu lived in this building during his sojourn in Reims in 1641. – Maison de l'Ecu de Reims bears the date 1652. – Maison de Jean Maillefer, built in 1651. – Hôtel Lagoille de Courtagnon has a façade of the XVII century. – Hôtel Rogier, built towards 1750; sold at public auction, in January, 1914. – Two wooden houses with pointed gables of the end of the XV century, are in the Place des Marchés. – An inscription on the Hôtel de la Maison-Rouge states that the father and mother of Jeanne d'Arc were lodged in this building at public expense in 1429, at the coronation of Charles VII. It was then known as the Ane Rayé. – The Société des Amis du Vieux Reims maintained an extensive collection of objects relating to Reims in the former Hôtel Coquebert.
