3-038-963 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Parisian schoolboys collecting gifts for the relief of the wounded (sketch by balloon post), 1871. The Franco-Prussian War. 'The pupils of the Ecole du Nord, desirous of contributing to the defence of Paris, but too young to join the army, lately obtained permission of the Government, and of M. de Flavigny, President of the International Society for the Relief of the Wounded, to march through Paris soliciting gifts for the ambulances. After making a profitable collection on the right bank of the Seine, they crossed the river, and met with equal success on the other side. Our Illustration shows them in the Quartier Latin, in front of the Ecole de Medicine. The procession is headed by a drummer of the National Guard, followed by the drummers and trumpeters of the school, whose favourite airs are the "Marseillaise" and the "Chant du Depart." Next comes a member of the staff of the ambulances, carrying the large white flag, with the red cross in the centre, prescribed by the Congress of Geneva. Then follow the collectors themselves, amongst whom are both schoolboys and National Guards. An unarmed company of National Guards brings up the rear'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.