Mathieu Martinel and the Fireworks
A firework display in Paris turned to tragedy in the narrow streets of the capital.
1837
A firework display in Paris turned to tragedy in the narrow streets of the capital.
1837
It is 1837, and Mathieu Martinel, a cavalry soldier in the French army, is now a senior officer in the military college in Paris. Fate, however, had not yet finished testing his mettle.
ON the night of the 14th of June, 1837, there was a magnificent firework display in the heart of Paris, for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans.
As the crowds began to disperse, a narrow lane by the military college became congested, and in the heat and press a lady fainted.
Others now stumbled over her; those behind, anxious to get home, pressed ahead all the harder; and a large ornamental yew in a pot was jostled and overturned, cutting off the exit.
Martinel, alerted by the sounds of rising hysteria, signalled to the cavalry to mount up, while he and one Private Spenlee pulled men, women and children from the pile of crushed and suffocating spectators.
Soon the horses Martinel had called for arrived with careful steps, and more victims were lifted up and taken to safety in the college, where the soldiers tended their wounds.
Later that year, Martinel received the National Order of the Legion of Honour.