insulted he had withdrawn to Avernede, his place in the country. He was
awoke in the night of the 5th-6th April by a courier from General Ambert,
who sent to offer him the command of the 2nd Subdivision. On the 6th,
General Gilly went to Nimes, and sent in his acceptance, whereby the
departments of the Gard, the Lozere, and Ardeche passed under his
authority.

Next day General Gilly received further despatches from General Ambert,
from which he learned that it was the general's intention, in order to
avoid the danger of a civil war, to separate the Duc d'Angouleme's army
from the departments which sympathised with the royal cause; he had
therefore decided to make Pont-Saint-Esprit a military post, and had
ordered the 10th Regiment of mounted chasseurs, the 13th artillery, and a
battalion of infantry to move towards this point by forced marches.
These troops were commanded by Colonel Saint-Laurent, but General Ambert
was anxious that if it could be done without danger, General Gilly should
leave Nimes, taking with him part of the 63rd Regiment, and joining the
other forces under the command of Colonel Saint-Laurent, should assume
the chief command. As the city was quite tranquil, General Gilly did not
hesitate to obey this order: he set out from Nimes on the 7th, passed the
night at Uzes, and finding that town abandoned by the magistrates,
declared it in a state of siege, lest disturbances should arise in the
absence of authority. Having placed M. de Bresson in command, a retired
chief of battalion who was born in Uzes, and who usually lived there, he
continued his march on the morning of the 8th.

Beyond the village of Conans, General Gilly met an orderly sent to him by
Colonel Saint-Laurent to inform him that he, the colonel, had occupied
Pont Saint-Esprit, and that the Duc d'Angouleme, finding himself thus
caught between two fires, had just sent General d'Aultanne, chief of