Paul dumont artist biography

The Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) supplied De Neuville with fruitful subjects decades after the conflict. Here he focuses on French troops from the Blue Division of the marines desperately defending a position against overpowering odds and despite, as the dramatic title indicates, running low on ammunition and down to their last cartridges.

The artist based his depiction on a real-life episode in the defense of the village of Bazeilles during the Battle of Sedan on September 1, 1870. Dumont's print reproduces De Neuville's painting first shown at the Paris Salon in 1873, and was published in the French weekly newspaper "L'Univers Illustré".