THE MARNE Historic and Picturesque By JOSEPH MILLS HANSON Author of The Conquest of the Missouri Illustrations by J. Andre Smith CHICAGO A. C. MCCLURG CO. 1922 Copyright A. C. McClurg Co, Published October, 1922 Copyrighted in Great Britain the Vnittd Stat9i Qf America The Spirit of the Marm Reproduced by sjwcial permission of the sculptor-M, CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I A River of History ........... i II The Cradle of the Marne ......... 7 III Langres the Ancient . ..... ..... 17 IV Past Blue Bassigny Hills ......... 48 V Chaumont-en-Bassigny .......... 62 VI Chiefly for Those Who Fought the Battle of Chau mont ............... 69 VII Where Dreams the Still Canal ....... 115 VIII Joinville-en-Vallage .......... 128 IX Art in the Iron Industry ......... 133 X St. Dizier and the Plain of Orconte ..... 143 XI Vitry-le-Frangois and the First Battle of the Marne 159 XII The Champagne Pouilleuse ......... 174 XIII Chalons, Keeper of the Mighty Legend .... 180 XIV The Scourge of God .......... 192 XV The Liquid Gold of Champagne ...... 201 XVI In the Shadow of Pope Urban II ...... 214 XVII The Reach of Dormans .......... 225 XVIII The Rock of the Marne ......... 233 XIX Where Dwelt the Sluggard Kings ...... 243 XX Fishermens Paradise ........... 252 XXI Dream Country ............. 261 XXII Meaux . . .............. 281 XXIII Ile-de-Fratxee ............. 292 XXIV Tfte Playmate of Paris ..... , . 306 CiIY touj HjiiLli ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The Spirit of the Marne Frontispiece The Valley of the Marne from the base of the ramparts, Langres 10 Grotto of Sabinus by the source of the Marne 10 The very name of Rolampont has in it the breath of romance 52 Damremont Barracks, Chaumont, American General Head quarters 60 Champ de Mars and the Chateau Gloriette, Chaumont . . 60 The old Donjon garden, overlooking the valley of the Suize, Chaumont 70 The Tour Hautefeuflle and St. Jeans twin spires, Chaumont 70 At Condes the Marne runs deep and still 76 Rue Victor Mariotte, Chaumont 76 Choignes with Chaumont in the distance 77 Choignes on the Marne 77 The Rue Saint Jean, Chaumont 104 Where Chamarandes drowses beneath the Chaumont hill . 105 The lavoir by the river is an institution in every Marne village 140 The narrow, crooked streets around the church, Joinville . 148 Timbered houses Hauteville 148 St Diner 149 Vitry-le-FratiQois has wide, straight streets 160 The mills at Vitry-le-Frangois .160 A battlefield of the Marne 161 Sector of the Marne battlefield near M6zy 161 Illustrations PAGE The Cathedral of St, Etienne at Chalons 182 Men, women and children gather the ripe grapes . . . .210 French fishermen fish and never catch anything . . .218 Chatillon-sur-Marne 218 Chartves, white-walled beneath its riven church tower . . 234 Charteves. Two-man rifle pit in foreground 234 Chateau-Thierry itself, eloquent with traditions .... 244 Hill 204, looking toward Chateau-Thierry 244 A street in Chateau-Thierry 245 A dug-out and listening post in the famous Bois de Belkau 248 The Abbey Tower, Essomes 254 Charlys main street unrolls its white ribbon toward Paris . 255 Garden walls washed by the river, La Ferte-sous-Jouarre 268 St. Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux 268 Ussy-sur-Marne from the meadows 269 Lizy tucked into the last bend of the Ourcq River . . 274 Pomponne with Lagny across the river .,.,. 274 The confluence of the Ourcq and the Marne 275 The Chateau at Lizy-sur-Ourcq , , 275 The charming old town of Meaux , . 290 The ancient mills and the ruins of the Market Bridge, Meaux 290 Charenton, where the Marne enters the Seine 291 The placid river at Chelles , 291 Le Moulin de Doubes, Noisiel .,....., 302 The Marne, deeply green, near Nogent ,310 The river road Nogent . , . , . . 310 First glimpse of the Seine bridges and distant Paris . .318 The Mame on the outskirts of Paris .......... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.