Hayden, who spoke French fluently, gave them his mind concerning the Francs-Tireurs individually, and the whole French Army collectively, in such scathing language that they must have thought we were most certainly Prussians.
The Commandant came down himself to apologise for the manner in which we had been treated, and added the information that the Francs-Tireurs were canaille, who had neither military status nor any organisation.
The Francs-Tireurs who had captured us, it will not be forgotten, had taken them to be Prussian.
Last time the Francs-Tireurs had arrested me; now it was the turn of the Prussians.
I show you how when we have drubbles mit der franc tireurs we fix der thing.
He had, however, spent bitter nights stalking the franctireurs in the snow, and the vigilance taught and demanded by an inflexible discipline had not quite deserted him, though he was considerably older and less nimble now.
I have just got three of these franc-tireurs prisoners in the billiard-room, and am every moment expecting orders from headquarters to decide their fate.
And you, my German pessimist friend, do you believe now that the franc-tireur question can be settled without franc-tireurs and fusillades, but also only in this way?
That was the conscience which had weighed on him so heavily when he had the franc-tireurs shot.
Then he remembered that he had caused some franc-tireurs to be shot, but did not remember that he was married.
He had written up as the premise of his syllogisms, "All franc-tireurs are traitors and the order is to shoot them.
Here it was no avail for the big boy to tell his story; the Franc-tireurs would not let him pass.
The bag was full of potatoes which the Prussians had given them, and with it they passed the Franc-tireurs unmolested.
He pictured to himself the Franc-tireurs marching in the darkness to surprise the Prussians, and falling into an ambuscade themselves.
Every gun was polished and every bayonet shone as the Franc-tireurs and about four hundred of the mobiles and regulars marched with military precision into the cathedral.
From that time until January, '71, the Franc-tireurs were engaged in many skirmishes and harassed the enemy whenever an opportunity presented itself.
As before stated, when the Franc-tireurs camped, parties were detailed to purchase provisions for the different messes.
Paul did not relish the change from the free and easy life of the Franc-tireurs to the strict discipline of the regular army.
The place selected was generally the bedroom of the farm house, where the fowls roosted in tranquility on the head and foot of the bed while the disappointed Franc-tireurs searched in vain for material for their soup.
On the 7th of October, the Franc-tireurs skirmished and opened the engagement at Tourey.
In many of the engagements with the enemy, while several of their skirmishes were successful, he noticed that the tireurs never pursued them in the direction in which they retired.
This branch of the service was looked upon by the fight-worn and weather beaten Franc- tireurs as their lawful prey.
It was known as la Deuxieme Compagnie Franc-tireurs du Havre.
This peculiarity often caused the Franc-tireurs to smile.
Feigning sorrow at being deprived of the supreme honor of sleeping under his roof, the Franc-tireurs would make their adieux.
As a general rule, when a billet carried by two war-worn Franc-tireurs was presented at the door of a chateau, the proprietor would gracefully excuse himself with many suave and flattering expressions.
While still in camp, the news of the fall of Sedan was received and the tireurs were hurried forward to the vicinity of Paris on which the Prussians were rapidly advancing.
The coffin of the lieutenant was carried on the shoulders of four Franc-tireurs and deposited on a bier near the altar.
At such times the Franc-tireurs never thought of cutting wood for themselves.
In half a minute the Franc-tireurs were in the enclosure.
I will take care to run no risk, dear; you see my life is more precious to me now than it was when I joined the Franc tireurs des Écoles.
Then at the top of their speed the Franc-tireurs ran back, and the instant they cleared off from the front of the houses the colonel shouted to the officer in command there to open fire.
Fortunately large stores of straw were found in the village, and these added much to the comfort of the troops, and the Franc-tireurs carried off a good many trusses to their quarters.
As a rule the Franc-tireurs des Écoles went out on the southern or western sides of Paris, but one morning they marched out to St. Denis.
As the Franc-tireurs approached Champigny they saw that the place had not been taken without a severe struggle.
The Franc-tireurs des Écoles had marched out beyond the walls when the order came that the affair was postponed, and that they would not be required till the following day, when they were to parade at daybreak.
The Franc-tireurs come and go as they choose, and a good many of them wear the uniform only as a means of escape from serving, and as a whole they are next to useless.
You see the Franc-tireurs are to a great extent independent of the military authorities--if you can call men military authorities who exercise next to no authority over their soldiers.
The Franc-tireurs remained in the village all night, and as soon as they fell out had scattered over the whole ground, collected the dead and laid them together and brought the wounded into the houses.
If they had gone on they would have caught us all in a trap, and we were just going to warn the others to fall back when we saw the Franc-tireurs come running up.
The Franc-tireurs fell back from the position they had held the night before, and established themselves in a few houses, half roofless and shattered by shell, between Champigny and the river.
This achievement attracted the attention of General Kleber, who sent for Captain Ney and entrusted him with the formation of a body of franc-tireurs of all arms.
From across the way native franc-tireurs fired shots into the house, killing one officer and wounding a second.
It was the arrival of Gambetta at the Ministry of the Interior, by way of the Avenue de Marigny, with an escort of red-shirted Francs-tireurs de la Presse.
They are the tireursde laine of Paris; for they are not content with taking off the hat only, but more often take off the cloak also.
This sally was received with the applause and laughter of the assembled crowd, among whom might undoubtedly be found sometireurs de laine, who plied their trade while laughing still louder than their neighbors.
Plenty of brave men, moreover, had joined the army as volunteers at the beginning of the campaign; and Paris had furnished a large proportion of the Francs-Tireurs who rendered such questionable service to the national cause.
The few I came across were certainly not the kind of persons likely to commit the acts of violence and rapine with which the Francs-Tireurs were generally credited.
Almost as much nonsense has been written about the Francs-Tireurs in the German papers as about the Uhlans in the French.
At Le Bourget, towards the end of October,[295] a small body was successfully attacked by Francs Tireurs and Mobiles.
It was said of them that “if the franc tireurs will indulge in Red Indian warfare, they must take the consequences.
As a body, the reputation accorded to the Francs Tireurs was that they fled before small bodies of the Germans, by whom in consequence they were looked upon with contempt.
They had heard that arms were hidden and francs-tireurs sheltered there, and they had swooped down on it and held it hard and fast.
The camp of the francs-tireurs is but three leagues form us.
These Landwehr treated the francs-tireurs as brigands in ambush to shoot down respectable fathers of families, to rob convoys, and threatened to hang them.
The only thing which cheered us a little about the end of this terrible month of January, was to learn that the francs-tireurs had blown up the bridge of Fontenoy, on the railroad between Nancy and Toul.
If organized and disciplined, the civic guards and francs-tireurs would have formed part of the Belgian forces, provided they wore a recognizable sign and bore arms openly.
But it is interesting to note that in 1813 the German francs-tireurs were required not to wear distinctive uniforms or badges, and were allowed to use any weapons and any means of injuring the enemy.
When the German soldiers sought to extinguish the flames in the houses adjacent to the Hotel de Ville the francs-tireurs again fired on them with their carbines.
Francs-tireurs were never in the Boulevard de la Reine at Versailles, and yet the houses in this street have been gutted of everything available.
Friday Bourget was attacked by a regiment of Francs-tireurs and the 9th Battalion of the Mobiles of the Seine.
It is absurd for the Germans to pretend that the French Francs-tireurs are the culprits and not they.
He fired explosive bullets, which your franc-tireurs use on us," retorted Rickerl, growing red.
It is true that, even when the franc-tireurs had been closest, there in the swamp among the rank marsh grasses, the distance was too great for them to have identified him with certainty.
The cries were echoed from above and below; the franc-tireurs were surrounded.
The franc-tireurs captured a mail-sack just now," he said.
Rickerl cast a startled glance over his shoulder, where, from the thickets, a dozen franc-tireurs were springing towards him, shouting and shaking their chassepots.
The franc-tireurs could not see Jack, but they heard his voice, and answered it with a roar.
And, as Rickerl hesitated, with a scowl of hate at the franc-tireurs now swarming over the wall, Jack seized the sabre and jerked it violently from his hand.
Already the franc-tireurs were among them, whining with ferocity; the scene was sickening.
One by one the franc-tireurs came shambling up to pay their awkward respects to Lorraine and to Jack, while Tricasse pulled his bristling mustache and clattered his sabre in its sheath approvingly.
Twice he met groups of roving, restless-eyed franc-tireurs in straight caps and sheepskin jackets, but they did not molest him nor even question him beyond asking the time of day.
The Frankfurter Zeitung, September 8, has a spirited account of a combat with francs-tireurs in Andenne, written by Dr.
Postcards representing Belgian francs-tireurs were placed on sale at Cassel.
The German commander of the garrison at Treves writes: "Five Belgian francs-tireurs who had been condemned to death by the court martial were shot at Treves.
And there is another matter: we have our suspicions that all you people of this village give aid and comfort to the francs-tireurs of the wood of Dieulet, who killed another of our sentries day before yesterday.
Tell him that the francs-tireurs of the wood of Dieulet have something important to say to him.
If the German authorities suspected that the people of Remilly were harboring the francs-tireurs from Dieulet wood they might at any time come and beat up his quarters and unearth him from his retreat.
The camp was already astir; Jean and Maurice took the francs-tireurs to Captain Beaudoin, who conducted them to the quarters of Colonel Vineuil.
You harbor the francs-tireurs from the wood of Dieulet, among them that Sambuc who is brother to your hired man; you supply the bandits with provisions.
He looked about to see where the francs-tireurs were, thinking he might gain some information from them regarding the roads, but was told they had vanished while the column was passing through Raucourt.
When the smoke cleared away, the soldiers were standing alone; and the peasants and franc tireurs lay, in a confused mass, on the ground.
Owing to these various causes, the corps of franc tireurs distinguished themselves, in a great number of cases, only by the extreme ingenuity and foresight which they displayed in keeping at a prudent distance from the enemy.
Yes, some Mobiles and franc tireurs made a very plucky defense, outside the town.
These persons now came forward, and each took off the number of franc tireurs who had been allotted to them.
In a couple of minutes the franc tireurs were retreating, at the double; and they had not gone a hundred yards when they heard the sound of two tremendous explosions, following closely one upon another.
Major Tempe, grieved and touched at the painful scene of which he and his men had been the cause, called the franc tireurs together; and made a proposition to them, which was at once heartily agreed to.
The franc tireurs were already engaged in skirmishing and, early one morning, Ralph received orders to ride forward and reconnoiter the enemy's position.
At six o'clock General Lavoye presented himself with the francs-tireurs of the Vosges and some troops come from Montbrison.
About a hundred franc-tireurs established themselves at the station, where the Commission had not even thought of placing a battery.
During the day the francs-tireurs of Paris dislodged them at the point of the bayonet.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "tireurs" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
