Letter from Mrs. Martin to Mrs. Guérin CF 62
30 November 1870.
On the 22nd of this month, we had a famous alert at Alençon, we were expecting the Prussians the next day; about half the population has moved away. I have never seen such desolation, everyone hid their treasures. A gentleman near us hid them so well that he himself could not get his hands on them. They were three to dig a whole morning to find the hiding place!
I wasn't terrified, I'm not afraid of anything anymore; if I had wanted to run away, I would have gone straight to your house, but my husband would have been very embarrassed on his own, and I would have been very worried. It was best to stay.
The Prussians went to Bellême and the surrounding villages and they made quite a few requisitions, but one of them turned into a joke. Imagine that they took the pig of a poor fellow, who defended his beast with unexampled courage; it had been his child, he could not have fought better. When the pig was tied to a horse, the man began to pull with all his might on the animal's tail, which he was obliged to content himself with because, to make him let go, the soldier gave a blow of his saber. , so that the tail remained in the hand of the peasant!
Leaving Bellême to come to Alençon, they passed through Mamers, then they branched off and headed for Le Mans. They were twenty thousand.
I was very worried about my two little girls, it was said that a big fight was going on at Le Mans, and there was no way to get them; the railway was reserved for the troops and one could not go by the road, which was encumbered by the enemy army.
I received, Saturday morning, a letter from my sister telling me not to be alarmed, that the children were safer than at home, for the Prussians never entered the convents, and many ladies of the city had come to ask the nuns to take their young girls.
But the Prussians did not stop at Le Mans, they want to go to Paris. What had given me the most apprehension was that the authorities had decided that the city would put itself in a state of defence, and the national guard had been summoned. We sent scouts into the forest. My husband went there on Saturday morning and was supposed to spend the night there, but as there was no longer any danger, the post was raised in the evening, so that he returned around midnight.
I torment myself and worry about it, but I don't have any reason for it like many others because, in all probability, Louis will not leave, and my brother is even more certain to stay. I thank the good Lord for that, but it would still be very possible that men between the ages of forty and fifty could be sent away, I almost expect it. My husband isn't upset at all, he wouldn't ask for a pardon and often says that if he were free, he would soon be enlisted in the francs‑tireurs.
My brother asks if we could have funds in case of need? We are no longer at the time when I earned eight to ten thousand francs a year and when my husband also made a profit in watchmaking. Now you can't even get money to live on, no one wants to pay their debts; I really don't know how we will do if this continues; we have received neither the rent from the Crédit Foncier nor that from the Chemins de Fer and all the private individuals who owe us say that they cannot pay. We are to receive seven thousand francs in January from the sale of our houses in the rue des Tisons. I'm still afraid that the lady who has to realize her funds won't be able to give them to us; it is on this money that we rely to help you.
If only we could have the eight thousand francs which are due to us from Paris, but I regard this sum as lost! Mrs. D. also owes us a thousand francs, we will never have them, she is in misery. She's been living in Le Mans for three months, I invited her to come and see us, she replied that she couldn't afford to make the trip.
