CANNONS THE ARMY NEGLECTS

GUARDS SEIZE 371 CANNONS THAT THE ARMY HAS LEFT

WITHIN GRASP OF THE PARADING PRUSSIANS

Legally they belong to the army, but public subscription financed them in part and the population considers them theirs.

The army prepares for the Prussian march by blocking the space between the Arc de Triomphe's columns to keep the Prussians from marching between them and covers its patriotic sculptures to keep them from witnessing the humiliation: Those changes are somewhat important, since this German artist removes them from his illustration:

"Prussian Troops Parade Down the Champs Élysées in Paris" by Adolf Göhde, no date / zoom

Yet it leaves the cannons 20 minutes from the Arc of Triumph where the 30,000 Prussians will pass, to grab them if they wish.

Before that march,"Each battalion took back its cannons; men, women and children pulled them along the boulevard, banners waving:"  

-- Louise Michel

 Claretie

The illustration in a conservative account omits the flag-waving residents.

# # #

Poor and wealthy residents oppose the army's merely cosmetic preparation. Both sides remove the cannons, though they do not share their control:

• Humble guards take 371 cannons to the working-class east:

• Guards from the well-heeled 16th district remove 21 cannons from gardens on the way to the racetrack where the Prussian king will address the troops. They deposit them in a parc across the river, in wealthy territory. 

-- Prussian king's address, Claretie

-- Transfer, Lissagary

The soldiers protecting the cannons

let the guards take them.

*    *    *
Next,
Prussians have their victory march but guards steal the show