The Revolution of 1848

Declaration of Nourrit in the Prison of the Military Tribunal, January 9, 1849


Source: Victor Marouck, Juin 1848. Paris, Librairie du Progres, 1880;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2010.


On June 25 I was at a barricade across from the Rue Neuve-Soufflot. This barricade had been raised on the Rue Saint-Etienne-des-Grès. We had been dislodged from it in the 24th but we re-took it on the 25th. Around 6:00 am the troops opened fire on us. We answered their fire. Lacking sufficient munitions to carry on the fight we resolved to flee, but this was impossible. We were surrounded on all sides. General Bréa had established cordons of troops at the corners of every street by which we could have escaped. Seeing this we all agreed to resist until death. This resolution taken, we awaited the soldiers commanded by General Bréa. But you have to believe that they preferred to take us prisoner than to fight against us.

Here is what they did to arrive at this: negotiators belonging to the 11th legion of the National Guard advanced towards our barricade saying: “ Friends, surrender your arms. No harm will be done to you.” As I said before, having no munitions it would have been useless to prolong the fight any longer. The unanimous opinion was that it was better to surrender our weapons, which due to our lack of munitions were harmless. A negotiator chosen from among us was sent to General Bréa who again promised that if we surrendered our weapons our lives would be safe and we would be free to peacefully return to our homes.

This response by General Bréa put an end to all our hesitations. We piled up our arms at the foot of the barricade. As soon as our arms were laid down the army and the Mobile Guards crossed over our barricade. It was then that each citizen-soldier, or soldier-citizen, leapt on us and took us in groups of ten, fifteen, or twenty behind the College Sainte-Barbe near the Saint Genevieve Library. In the dead end formed by the college and the new library the army and the Guard assembled nearly eighty insurgents, who had been promised they would suffer no harm. Once these insurgents were assembled a battalion chief of the Second of the Line commanded the soldiers to open fire. Our unfortunate friends fell under their bullets. The rage of the Mobile Guard and the soldiers was such that once they had emptied their rifles they ran our friends through with their bayonets.

I escaped with twenty others. I took refuge with some honest workers who I knew perfectly well. The husband having passed before a military tribunal and been acquitted by the military judges I won’t give his name. I could; he was witness to what I am telling.

But that’s not all. Once these brave military acts were accomplished the National Guard searched all the houses near our barricade in search of insurgents. One unfortunate was arrested in a house on the Rue Saint Jacques. He was taken before General Bréa. His wife had followed the troop that took away her husband. When she saw the general she threw herself at his feet to ask for grace for her husband who, according to the testimony of this unfortunate woman, had taken no part in the insurrection. General Bréa assured her: “Your husband will be back home before you are,” and consoled by these words the prisoner’s wife returned home. She had barely taken a few steps when she heard a round of fire. They returned her husband’s corpse to her.

I certify all that I announce and sign:

Nourrit