Chapter Nine: Under Siege Summary and Analysis

As conflicts wore on, the American minister Elihu Washburne could observe groups of soldiers from his embassy window and hear the faint sound of an occasional cannon in the distance. Paris had become an armed camp. Soldiers were everywhere—under the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Élysées. There were more than 300,000 soldiers. The Germans had cut off all the roads into the city. Washburne kept officials in Washington, D.C. apprised of the situation on a daily basis. Prior to the war, Washburne and his family loved the city. After the war broke out, Washburne was the only ambassador from a major power to remain in Paris.

Washburne remained dedicated to doing whatever he could in the name of peace and often worked eighteen-hour days. Washburne was responsible for the safe...