“Towards eight o’clock in the evening we entered Versailles.  If the curses we had endured in Paris were frightful and numerous, here they were multiplied tenfold.  We toiled up the hill leading to Satory, through mud ankle deep.  ’There stand the mitrailleuses, ready for us,’ said one of my companions.  Then, indeed, for the first time I felt afraid, and wished I had been among those who had been executed in the daytime, rather than be horribly wounded and linger in my misery; for no sure aim is taken by a mitrailleuse.

“The order came to halt, and I waited for the whirring sound; but, thank God!  I waited in vain.  We set ourselves in motion once more, and soon were in an immense courtyard surrounded by walls, having on one side large sheds in which we were to pass the night.  With what eagerness did we throw ourselves on our faces in the mud, and lap up the filthy water in the pools!  There was another Englishman, as well as several Americans, among our number, also some Dutch, Belgians, and Italians.  The Englishman had arrived in Paris from Brest on May 14 to ‘better himself,’ and had been immediately arrested and put in prison by the Commune.  Being released on the 21st of May, he was captured the next day by the Versaillais.  I remained all the time with him till my release.

“On Wednesday, May 31, we were despatched to Versailles to be examined at the orangerie.  The orangerie is about seven hundred feet long and forty broad, including two wings at either end.  It is flagged with stone, on which the dust accumulates in great quantities.  According to my experience, it is bitterly cold at night, and very hot in the daytime.  Within its walls, instead of fragrant orange-trees, were four to five thousand human beings, now herded together in a condition too miserable to imagine, a prey to vermin, disease, and starvation.

“The general appearance of the crowd of captives was, I must confess, far from prepossessing.  They were very dirty, very dusty and worn out, as I myself was probably, and no wonder; the floor was several inches thick in dust, no straw was attainable, and washing was impossible.  I gained some comparative comfort by gathering up dust in a handkerchief and making a cushion of it.  Thursday, June 1, dragged on as miserably as its predecessor, the only event being the visit of a deputy, which gave rise to great anticipations, as he said, in my hearing, that our condition was disgraceful, and that straw and a small portion of soup ought to be allowed us.

“The terrible scenes and sufferings we had gone through had deprived many of our number of their reason.  Some of the madmen were dangerous, and made attempts to take the lives of their companions; others did nothing but shout and scream day and night.  The second night we passed in the orangerie the Englishman and I thought we had secured a place where we might lie down and sleep in the side gallery; but at midnight we were attacked by one of the most dangerous of the madmen.  It was useless to hope to find any other place to lie down in, and we had no more rest that night, for several maniacs persisted in following us wherever we went, and would allow us no repose.  I counted that night forty-four men bereft of reason wandering about and attacking others, as they had done ourselves.