2034 Les Miserables
fat,’ to use the celebrated expression of one of them. For his
part, he thought the barricade ripe, and as that which is ripe
ought to fall, he made the attempt.
He commanded men as resolute as himself, ‘raging fel-
lows,’ as a witness said. His company, the same which had
shot Jean Prouvaire the poet, was the first of the battal-
ion posted at the angle of the street. At the moment when
they were least expecting it, the captain launched his men
against the barricade. This movement, executed with more
good will than strategy, cost the Fannicot company dear.
Before it had traversed two thirds of the street it was re-
ceived by a general discharge from the barricade. Four, the
most audacious, who were running on in front, were mown
down point-blank at the very foot of the redoubt, and this
courageous throng of National Guards, very brave men
but lacking in military tenacity, were forced to fall back,
after some hesitation, leaving fifteen corpses on the pave-
ment. This momentary hesitation gave the insurgents time
to re-load their weapons, and a second and very destruc-
tive discharge struck the company before it could regain the
corner of the street, its shelter. A moment more, and it was
caught between two fires, and it received the volley from the
battery piece which, not having received the order, had not
discontinued its firing.
The intrepid and imprudent Fannicot was one of the
dead from this grape-shot. He was killed by the cannon,
that is to say, by order.
This attack, which was more furious than serious, irri-
tated Enjolras.—‘The fools!’ said he. ‘They are getting their