Such were the events that had happened at this juncture at La Roche-Pont. Conformably to the last orders transmitted by the prefect, companies of National Guards had been promptly organised. The inhabitants of La Roche-Pont, like their neighbours of Auxonne, Dôle, and Saint-Jean-de-Losne, preserve military habits; and sieges--not without reason, as we have seen--are a tradition among them. There were always companies of archers and arbalisters at La Roche-Pont during the Middle Ages, and at a later date bombardiers and artillerymen. Under the Consulate La Roche-Pont had been a depôt for the army concentrated between Dijon and the Swiss frontier to pass the Saint-Bernard, and munitions had been stored there; some siege pieces had also been placed there, and still remained. At the approach of Prince Schwartzenberg's army the population of La Roche-Pont was in agitation; and even before the prefectoral instructions had arrived, three companies of National Guards, one of which was of artillerymen, had been spontaneously formed. All had old muskets of the time of the Revolution, or good hunting weapons. The lower town, occupied in great part by rich families, of which several were devoted to the royal cause, did not share in these preparations for war. Some indiscreet revelations made the upper town aware of the intrigues of the royalists. The mayor was a man who had been conspicuous for his devotion to the Emperor while the Empire had been in vigour; but who, seeing its fortunes decline, became daily more and more of a royalist.
If he had not actively opposed, he had at least obstructed the formation of a company of National Guards _d'élite_, endeavouring to gain time. The little citadel of La Roche-Pont was occupied by a company of sixty veterans, for the most part invalided, under the orders of an old one-armed captain of engineers, who had served in almost all the campaigns of the Empire. When it was known that the enemy had entered France, Captain Allaud--that was his name--had asked for orders from Dijon, but had not received them. However, he employed his men in restoring and replenishing the arsenal. He enjoyed a certain amount of authority in the upper town. The male population of the _cité_, composed in great part of men who had been soldiers--all the youth had left in the first months of 1813--never called Captain Allaud anything but "the Governor," and had applied to him to form companies, only asking for munitions. Now the arsenal of La Roche-Pont contained a good supply of powder and balls, about twenty old bronze pieces of small calibre, six twenty-four pounders, two howitzers, four small mortars, and about a hundred muskets past service. The six gendarmes remaining till then at La Roche-Pont had been summoned to Dijon at the beginning of January.