47 10 1079 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Blood has just flowed on the field of the federation, staining the altar of the fatherland. Men and women have had their throats slashed and the citizens are at a loss. What shall become of liberty? Some say that it has been destroyed, and that the counterrevolution has won. Others are certain that liberty has been avenged, and that the Revolution has been unshakably consolidated. Let us impartially examine these two such strangely differing views. . . . The majority of the National Assembly, the department, the Paris municipality, and many of the writers say that the capital is overrun by brigands, that these brigands are paid by agents of foreign courts, and that they are in alliance with the factions that secretly conspire against France. They say that at ten o'clock on Sunday morning, two citizens were sacrificed to their fury. They say these citizens insulted, molested and provoked the National Guard, assassinated several of the citizen soldiers; that they went so far as to try to kill the Commandant-General. And finally they say that they gathered at the Champ de Mars for the sole purpose of disturbing public peace and order, getting so carried away that perhaps it was hard to restrain themselves two hours later. From this point of view, it is certain that the Paris municipality could have and should have taken the severe measures that it did. It is better to sacrifice some thirty wretched vagabonds than to risk the safety of 25 million citizens. However, if the victims of Champ de Mars were not brigands, if these victims were peaceful citizens with their wives and children, and if that terrible scene is but the result of a formidable coalition against the progress of the Revolution, then liberty is truly in danger, and the declaration of martial law is a horrible crime, and the sure precursor of counterrevolution . . . . The field of the federation . . . is a vast plain, at the center of which the altar of the fatherland is located, and where the slopes surrounding the plain are cut at intervals to facilitate entry and exit. One section of the troops entered at the far side of the military school, another came through the entrance somewhat lower down, and a third by the gate that opens on to the Grande Rue de Chaillot, where the red flag was placed. The people at the altar, more than fifteen thousand strong, had hardly noticed the flag when shots were heard. "Do not move, they are firing blanks. They must come here to post the law." The troops advanced a second time. The composure of the faces of those who surrounded the altar did not change. But when a third volley mowed many of them down, the crowd fled, leaving only a group of a hundred people at the altar itself. Alas! they paid dearly for their courage and blind trust in the law. Men, women, even a child were massacred there. Massacred on the altar of the fatherland. . . . Sortable Date 1791-07-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Les Révolutions de Paris, no. 106, (16–23 July 1791), 53–55, 63, 65–66. Description An account of the resource On 15 July 1791, the Jacobins held a demonstration on the Champ de Mars in Paris to gain signatures for their petition. A contingent of National Guard soldiers, led by General Lafayette, fired on the crowd, killing at least fifty, in what became known as "the massacre of the Champ de Mars." To some observers, such as the radical newspaper writer whose account is reproduced here, the massacre proved definitively the counterrevolutionary desires of the royalists, the need for good patriots to mobilize on behalf of the more radical elements of the Parisian municipal council and the National Assembly, and the importance of taking direct action in defense of the "fatherland." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 389 Title A name given to the resource The Massacre of the Champ de Mars [Parade ground], in the Révolutions de Paris Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/389/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 15, 1791 Clubs Popular Politics Public Opinion Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Deposition 343 18 June 1790 Marie-Rose Barre, age twenty, unmarried, a lace-worker, residing at 61, rue Meslay, upon oath . . . Deposes that on 5 October, last, at about eight o'clock in the morning, going to take back some work, she was stopped at the Pont Notre Dame by about a hundred women, who told her that it was necessary for her to go with them to Versailles to ask for bread there. Not being able to resist this great number of women, she decided to go with them. . . . At Versailles they found the King's Guards lined up in three ranks before the palace. A gentleman dressed in the uniform of the King's Guards, who, she was told, was the duc de Guiche, came to ask them what they wanted of the king, recommending peaceful behavior on their part. They answered that they were coming to ask him for bread. This gentleman was absent for a few minutes and then returned to take four of them to introduce them to the king. . . . They spoke first to M. de Saint-Priest, and then to His Majesty, whom they asked for bread. His Majesty answered them that he was suffering at least as much as they were, to see them lacking it, and that so far as he was able he had taken care to prevent them from experiencing a dearth. Upon the king's response they begged him to be so good as to arrange escorts for the flour transports intended for the provisioning of Paris, because according to what they had been told at the bridge in Sevres by the two young men of whom she spoke earlier, only two wagons out of seventy intended for Paris actually arrived there. The king promised them to have the flour escorted and said that if it depended on him, they would have bread then and there. They took leave of His Majesty and were led by a gentleman in a blue uniform with red piping into the apartments and courts of the palace to the ranks of the Flanders Regiment, to which they called out, "Vive le Roi!" Sortable Date 1790-06-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795, edited and translated by Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Applewhite, and Mary Durham Johnson. Copyright 1979 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press, 49–50. Description An account of the resource The commission investigating the October Days took testimony from twenty–five women who had participated, including Marie–Rose Barré, a twenty–year old unmarried lace–worker, whose testimony is excerpted below. Barré had been one of the women chosen to meet directly with the King to present the women’s concerns. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 388 Title A name given to the resource October Days: Deposition of a Marcher Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/388/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 18, 1790 Popular Politics Text Women Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document . . . When I saw my brothers crying with hunger on the fifth of October, I could no longer hold in my feelings. The detestable aristocratic and royalist horde had plotted to submit the nation to slavery by starvation and saw no other way to force this nation to renounce its plans for conquering its liberty. That day, at 7 a.m., I heard cries of general alarm and the tocsin, which was being sounded. I ran to the Hotel-de-Ville. I found the people there, who, when they saw me, cried out: "Fournier, lead us to Versailles, where we want to go and ask for bread." I answered that I would go if I could assemble a sufficient number of armed troops. The battalion of the Vainqueurs de la Bastille was the first to start moving, and having come to an understanding with the women, it went off to Versailles, where, in the middle of the place d'Armes, it seized despotism's bodyguards and troops, who were posted there. I felt I shouldn't waste a minute. I ran through Paris rallying the greatest number possible of good citizens. . . . When I returned to the Hotel-de-Ville, I found all the people and the French Guard, who called out to me, "To Versailles, Fournier, lead us!" I sounded the call to arms, and everyone willingly rallied. Then, d'Ogny came out of the Hotel-de-Ville. "Who gave you the command to sound the call to arms?" he asked the drummers. "I did," I answered, stepping forward. "Who gave you the order to do that?" he retorted. I told him in the strongest tone: "The tocsin and the sovereign people." Then he uttered some threatening remarks against me which I cut off by going after him with my naked sword. He fled into the Hotel-de-Ville. . . . I addressed five or six of these women who, with the name and outward appearance of poissardes, conceal moral qualities, and above all, judgment, which always makes it possible for them to value sound advice. I stooped to their level of intelligence and borrowed Pere Duchesne's style, and while putting fist to nose, I told them: "Damn my ass, [Sac . . . b . . . esso] don't you see that Lafayette and the king are f— you up [vous c . . .] when they tell you they are going to meet in private to get bread for you? Don't you see that it's a ruse to put you off and to give you your chains back, and famine? The whole damned lot should be taken away to Paris. . . ." No sooner had I spoken these words and followed them up with the gesture of hanging my hat on the tip of my sword, and crying, "To Paris! To Paris with the king!" than fifty thousand voices repeated this same cry, "To Paris!" And then, we left. . . . We set off again. I was delegated to go ahead in order to give the municipality of Paris the news that the master of Versailles was arriving in Paris, and that the people, who wanted it that way, were escorting him back. Sortable Date 1789-10-05 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795, edited and translated by Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Applewhite, and Mary Durham Johnson. Copyright 1979 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press. Description An account of the resource A Revolutionary activist named Fournier, known as "the American" because he had been born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, here recalls his own role as a National Guardsman in the October Days as being more important than that of the market women. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 387 Title A name given to the resource October Days: An Alternate View Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/387/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 5, 1789 Popular Politics Text Women Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Stanislas-Marie Maillard, twenty-six years of age, captain in the Bastille Volunteers, residing in the rue Bethizi at Paris, in the parish of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, testified that at seven o'clock in the morning of 5 October last he went to the City Hall to lodge a complaint on behalf of the volunteers. The city council was not in session, but the rooms were filled with women who were trying to break in all the doors of the rooms in the City Hall. This determined him to go down to the headquarters of the National Guard in order to receive the instructions of M. de Gouvion as how best to remedy and prevent the destruction that might be wrought by these women. M. de Gouvion requested him immediately to stay with him and to help him to calm the people. At that moment news was brought to M. de Gouvion of a riot that had broken out in the Faubourg St.-Antoine, and, fearing that the company of volunteers stationed at the Bastille, at the entrance to the Faubourg, had not been supplied with ammunition, M. de Gouvion gave him an order for the delivery of three hundred cartridges for the volunteers. He (the present witness) then made off to the district of St. Louis-la-Culture, where he had the order countersigned; went on to the place where the volunteers were stationed, found, on inspection and after inquiry, that they had enough ammunition for their defense, and consequently made no use of the order. The workers at the Bastille now advanced on the volunteers standing under arms in the courtyard, but Mr. Hulin, their commanding officer, and he himself addressed the workers with courtesy and assured them that their arms would only be used against the enemies of freedom, and not against themselves as they appeared to fear, and to convince them of this they ordered the volunteers to lower their arms. When calm had been restored and the workers had left the place de la Bastille, he left Mr. Hulin and in accordance with M. de Gouvion's request to give him assistance (M. de Gouvion being alone), returned alone to the City Hall. On arrival he found it at first impossible to enter the building, which was occupied by a large crowd of women who refused to let any men come in among them and kept repeating that the city council was composed of aristocrats. He himself was taken for a member of the council, as he was dressed in black, and entry being refused him, he was obliged to go and change his clothes. But as he went down the steps of the building, he was stopped by five or six women, who made him go up again, shouting to their comrades that he was a Bastille Volunteer and that there was nothing to fear from him. After this, having mingled with the women, he found some forcing the downstairs doors and others snatching papers in the offices, saying that that was all the city council had done since the revolution began and that they would burn them. Supported by a certain Richard Dupin, he urged them to keep calm, but these women kept saying that the men were not strong enough to be revenged on their enemies and that they (the women) would do better. While he was in the courtyard, he looked around and saw a large number of men go up, armed with pikes, lances, pitchforks, and other weapons, having compelled the women to let them in. They then flung themselves on the doors that the women had begun to beat, broke them down with great hammers that they had with them and with crowbars that they found in the City Hall, and took all the arms they could find and gave some to the women. He then received word that a number of women had arrived with torches to burn the papers in the building, so he dashed out [and] flung himself upon them (there were but two) as they approached the City Hall, each bearing a lighted torch; he snatched the torches from their hands, which nearly cost him his life, as they were intent on carrying out their design. He prayed them to send a deputation to the council to demand justice and to describe their plight, as they were all in need of bread, but they replied that the whole council was composed of bad citizens who deserved to be hanged from lamp posts, M. Bailly and M. de Lafayette first of all. . . . Mr. Maillard . . . continuing his evidence, said that to avert the danger and misfortune that threatened both Mm de Lafayette and Bailly and the City Hall, he thought it best to go once more to staff headquarters, where he only found present M. Derminy, M. de Gouvion's aide. Whereupon he (the witness) told M. Derminy that these women would not listen to reason and that, having destroyed the City Hall, they intended to proceed to the National Assembly in order to learn all that had been done and decreed up to the present date. He told these ladies that the National Assembly owed them no reckoning and that if they went there, they would cause a disturbance and would prevent the deputies from paying serious attention to the important business arising from the present situation. As the women persisted in their plans, he thought it wise to repair once more to M. Derminy and acquaint him with their resolution, adding that if the latter thought fit, he would accompany them to Versailles in order to prevent and to apprise them of the danger to which they were exposing themselves by embarking on so rash a venture. To this M. Derminy replied that he could not give him an order of this nature, which would be against the citizens' interests, but that he (the witness) might do as he pleased, provided that what he did did not endanger the public peace. In reply, he assured M. Derminy that the proposed action would have no such results and that it was, in fact, the only means of relieving the City Hall and the capital; moreover, by these means the districts could be alerted, and, while the women marched four leagues, the army would have time to avert the evils that these ladies were proposing to commit. The witness now seized a drum at the entrance to the City Hall, where the women were already assembled in very large numbers; detachments went off into different districts to recruit other women, who were instructed to meet them at the place Louis XV. . . . But as the people were assembled in great numbers, and this square was no longer suited as a place of meeting, they decided to proceed to the place d'Armes, in the middle of the Champs Elysées, whence he saw detachments of women coming up from every direction, armed with broomsticks, lances, pitchforks, swords, pistols, and muskets. As they had no ammunition, they wanted to compel him to go with a detachment of them to the arsenal to fetch powder, but . . . now by means of prayers and protestations he succeeded in persuading the women to lay down their arms, with the exception of a few who refused, but whom wiser heads among them compelled to yield. Meanwhile, he had acquired the confidence of these women to the extent that they all said unanimously that they would have only him to lead them. A score of them left the ranks to compel all the other men to march behind them, and so they took the road to Versailles with eight or ten drums at their head. They now numbered about six or seven thousand and passed through Chaillot along the river. There all houses were closed up, for fear, no doubt, of pillage, but in spite of this, women went knocking at all the doors, and when people refused to open, they wanted to beat them in, and removed all signboards. Observing this, and wishing to prevent the ruin of the inhabitants, he gave the order to halt and told them that they would discredit themselves by behaving in such a manner and that if they continued to do so he would no longer march at their head, that their actions would be looked on unfavorably, whereas if they proceeded peaceably and honestly, all the citizens of the capital would be grateful to them. They yielded at length to his remonstrances and opinions and discreetly continued on their way to Sevrès. On the way, however, they stopped several couriers and carriages of the court coming from the direction of Versailles for fear (as they said) that the Pont de Sevrès be closed to stop them passing but without harming these persons in any way. Arriving at the Pont de Sevrès, he gave the order to halt, and, to prevent mischief, he asked if there were any armed men there; but instead of the inhabitants of Sevrès to whom he addressed this question giving any satisfactory reply, they merely stated that Sevrès was in a state of the greatest consternation, that all houses were closed, and that it would be impossible to find any refreshment for these ladies. . . . (Several of the men having been left behind at Sevrès,) he and the women continued on their journey to Versailles. Past Viroflay they met a number of individuals on horseback who appeared to be bourgeois and wore black cockades in their hats. The women stopped them and made as if to commit violence against them, saying that they must die as punishment for having insulted, and for insulting, the national cockade; one they struck and pulled off his horse, tearing off his black cockade, which one of the women handed to him (the witness). He ordered the other women to halt . . . and came to the aid of the man whom they were ill-using; he obtained his release on condition that he should surrender his horse, that he should march behind them, and that at the first place they came to he should be made to carry on his back a placard proclaiming that he had insulted the national cockade. . . . [The same treatment having been meted out to two other passersby, and two of the women having mounted their horses,] he drew the women up (as far as it was in his power to do so) in three ranks and made them form a circle and told them that the two cannons that they had with them must be removed from the head of their procession; that although they had no ammunition, they might be suspected of evil intentions; that they would do better to give an air of gaiety than to occasion a riot in Versailles; and that as the city had not been warned of their proceedings, its inhabitants might mistake their purpose, and they might become the victims of their own zeal. They consented to do as he wished; consequently, the cannons were placed behind them, and he invited the women to chant "Long live Henry IV!" as they entered Versailles and to cry "Long live the king!"—a cry which they did not cease to repeat in the midst of the citizens awaiting them, who greeted them with cries of "Long live our Parisiennes!" So they arrived at the door of the National Assembly, where he told them that it would be imprudent for more than five or six of them to appear. They refused, all wanting to go in, where upon a guards' officer, on duty at the National Assembly, joined him and urged that not more than twelve of the women should enter. . . . After much discussion among the women, fifteen were chosen to appear with him at the bar of the National Assembly; of these fifteen he only knew the woman Lavarenne, who has just been awarded a medal by the Paris city council. Entering the assembly, he urged the women to be silent and to leave to him the task of communicating to the assembly their demands, as they had explained them to him on the way; to this they consented. He then asked the president's leave to speak. M. Mounier, who was then president, granted him leave. . . . He (the witness) now once more addressed the assembly and said that to restore calm, allay public disquiet, and avert disaster, he begged the gentlemen of the assembly to appoint a deputation to go to the Life-Guards in order to enjoin them to adopt the national cockade and make amends for the injury they were said to have done to it. Several members raised their voices and said it was false that the Life-Guards had ever insulted the national cockade, that all who wished to be citizens could be so freely, and that no one could be forced to be so. Speaking again and displaying three black cockades (the same that were spoken of earlier), he said that, on the contrary, there should be no person who did not take pride in being so and that if there were within this august assembly any members that felt dishonored by this title, they should be excluded immediately. Many applauded these words, and the hall rang with cries of "Yes, all should be so and we are all citizens." In the midst of this applause he was handed a national cockade, sent in by the Life-Guards, which he showed to all the women as a proof of their submission, and all the women cried, "Long live the king and the Life-Guards!" He once more asked leave to speak and said that it was essential also, in order to avert misfortune and to allay the suspicions that had been spread in the capital concerning the arrival of the Flanders Regiment at Versailles, to withdraw this regiment, because the citizens feared it might start a revolution. [The assembly now agreed to appoint a deputation to wait upon the King and put forward the women's demands. Meanwhile, angry words were exchanged with the clerical members of the assembly, and it was rumored that the Life-Guards had fired on the women outside.] As he spoke, a dozen women entered the National Assembly and said that the Life-Guards had just fired on them, that one had been arrested, and that they were waiting for him (the witness) to come down before deciding on the manner of the death he had merited. At that moment the sound of musket fire could be heard; this caused alarm in the assembly, and he was urged by several deputies to hasten down in order to put a stop to these mischiefs. He went down surrounded by the women and observed a Life-Guard, who was being held by the bridle of his horse; the man wished to dismount, but the women prevented him, though without doing him any injury other than to hurl abuse at him. When the Life-Guard saw him advance to speak to him, he drew a sword and cut through his reins; the point of the sword struck a woman on the shoulder, and he fled. He (the witness) made to run after him, but he could not catch him, and the Life-Guard, as he fled, discharged his pistol at him but failed to hit him. He (the witness) then returned to the National Assembly, having enjoined the women not to approach closer to the royal palace. At eight o'clock in the evening the president returned with his deputation from their audience with the king. He repeated the king's words before the assembly; the women listened respectfully, as their intent was to restore calm among his people. Then the president read aloud five papers relative to the demands addressed by the Parisian National Guard to the National Assembly and to the king concerning the food supply. His Majesty had commanded that two officers should accompany him (the witness) back to Paris, but the women objected to this, and all said that they alone should escort him. . . . Arriving in Paris, he gave orders to be taken directly to the City Hall, which he entered escorted by some 150 women, who went ahead of him into the hall where sat the representatives of the commune, the mayor presiding. He (the witness) gave an account of all that had taken place. . . . At six o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, 6 October, the mayor besought the women to withdraw to their homes, which they did; but eight or ten of them escorted him (the witness) to his dwelling, which was then the Hôtel de Grenelle St. Honoré in the street of the same name. At eight o'clock in the morning of this same day, ten to twelve women came to fetch him and compelled him to march with them to meet the National Guard and present the Marquis de Lafayette with a laurel branch on his return from Versailles. But a messenger whom they encountered told them that the was ordered to have the Tuileries palace prepared to receive His Majesty, who was coming to Paris that evening. The women urged him (the witness) to go with them to meet His Majesty. So he went with them, and they met the king at Viroflay. They mingled with the women who escorted the king's carriage and returned to Paris to the City Hall, and here he left all these women. And that is all he knew of the matter. Sortable Date 1789-10-05 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795, ed. and trans. by Darline G. Levy, Harriet B. Applewhite, and Mary D. Johnson. Copyright 1979 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press, 36 - 42. Description An account of the resource Stanislas Maillard, a National Guardsman and "veteran" of the taking of the Bastille, here testifies at a police court, on the events of 5–6 October. Notice that he ultimately supports the activism of the market women. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 386 Title A name given to the resource Stanislaus Maillard Describes the Women’s March Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/386/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 5, 1789 Popular Politics Text Women Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Paris, 4 October 1789To the Editor:Sir, the Royal Bodyguards, officers of the Flanders regiment, a large number of officers from other regiments, and the leaders of the bourgeois militia held another orgy at Versailles. At this orgy a noble princess appeared with the heir to the throne, an unpatriotic cockade was paraded about, and an undercover conspiracy was loudly discussed, all of which spread alarm throughout the capital. You have shown yourself to be worthy of the good PeopleÕs confidence, so please help us with your advice. Editor's comments:The report of the orgy taking place is well-founded, and the fact that the alarm is widespread is also well-founded, but there is insufficient information to state that there is indeed a conspiracy. However, even if it were imaginary, no one doubts that we are unprepared should an enemy suddenly appear at our gates. This negligence in failing to provide the capital with war supplies of any kind is a real crime against the state. There is not a moment to lose. All good citizens should arm themselves, assemble, and send a large detachment to recover all the powder from Essonne. Each district should also remove their cannons from the Hôtel de Ville. Sortable Date 1789-10-05 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived L'Ami du Peuple, no. 25 (5 October 1789), 217Ð18. Description An account of the resource In response to the news that royal soldiers had desecrated a symbol of national rejuvenation, the revolutionary cockade, Marat published in his newspaper, The Friend of the People, the following letter calling for all patriotic citizens to take up arms since the royal soldiers had shown themselves to be both debauched and hostile to the people. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 385 Title A name given to the resource October Days: The Warning from the People Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/385/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 5, 1789 Popular Politics Public Opinion Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document At three I go to the Club to meet the Gentleman with whom I engaged to dine at Table d'Hôte. We go thither and have a good Dinner for 3; Coffee &c., included the Price of the Dinner is 48 francs. After Dinner walk a little under the Arcade of the Palais Royal waiting for my Carriage. In this Period the Head and Body of M. de Foulon are introduced in Triumph. The Head on a Pike, the Body dragged naked on the Earth. Afterwards this horrible Exhibition is carried through the different Streets. His Crime is to have accepted a Place in the Ministry. This mutilated Form of an old Man of seventy five is shown to Berthier, his Son in Law, the Intendant of Paris, and afterwards he also is put to Death and cut to Pieces, the Populace carrying about the mangled Fragments with a Savage Joy. Gracious God, what a People! Sortable Date 1789-07-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Georges Pernoud and Sabine Flaissier, eds., The French Revolution, trans. Richard Graves (New York: Capricorn Books, 1961), 55. Description An account of the resource Meaningless violence was precisely how the Duchess of Gontaut viewed the events of July 14th, especially the murder of the military governor of the Bastille and of the mayor of Paris, whose heads were placed on pikes and paraded around the city. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 384 Title A name given to the resource Victims on Display Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/384/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 14, 1789 Popular Politics Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Having received orders from the baron de Bezenval, I left on 7 July at 2 in the morning with a detachment of 32 men . . . we crossed Paris without difficulty and arrived at the Bastille where I entered with my troops. . . . During my next few days there, the Governor showed me around the place, the spots he thought the strongest and those the weakest. He showed me all the precautions that he had taken. . . . He complained of the small size of his garrison and of the impossibility of guarding the place if attacked. I told him his fears were unfounded, that the place was well fortified and that the garrison was sufficient if each would do his duty to defend it. . . . The 12th of July we learned in the Bastille that there was the possibility of an attack on the gunpowder in the Arsenal. . . . Consequently, that night a detachment transported the powder to the Bastille where it was placed in the wells, poorly covered. That same night the governor ordered the troops to remain inside the chateau, not wanting to have to defend the exterior in case of an attack. During the day of the 13th, from the high towers of the Bastille, various fires were seen burning around the city, and we feared something similar near us, which would endanger the powder in the Bastille. . . . We learned the same day from some of the citizenry of the neighborhood that they were alarmed to see canons trained on the city and we learned at the same time that the National Guard was being mobilized to defend the city. Hearing this news, the Governor ordered . . . the fortress be sealed off. . . . About three o'clock in the afternoon, a troop of armed citizens mixed with some soldiers came to attack from the Arsenal. They entered without difficulty into the courtyard. . . . They cut the chains holding the drawbridge, and it fell open; this operation was easily carried out because the Governor had ordered his troops not to fire before having warned them to leave, which we could not do while they were still at such a distance [from the fortress]. Nevertheless, the besiegers fired first on the high towers. . . . After having easily dropped the bridge, they easily knocked down the door with axes and entered into the courtyard, where the governor went to meet them. He asked them what they wanted . . . and the general cry went up to "Lower the bridges!" . . . The governor responded he could not and withdrew, ordering his troops to take up defensive positions. . . . The sieging forces brought their cannons to the gates. . . . I stationed my men to the left of the gate. . . . I waited for the moment when the governor [was] to execute his threat and I was very surprised to see him send four veterans to the gates to open them and to lower the bridges. The crowd entered right away and disarmed us in an instant . . . in the castle, archives were thrown from the windows and everything was pillaged. The soldiers, including myself, who had left our packs in the castle had their personal effects taken. However, at that moment, this was not the mistreatment which worried us; we were menaced with being massacred in all manner possible. Finally, the furor . . . calmed a bit and I along with part of my troupe was conducted to the City Hall. During the trip, the streets and the houses, even the roofs, were full of crowds who insulted me and cursed me. I was continually subject to swords, bayonets, and pistols pressed against my body. I did not know how I was going to die but I was sure I was at my final moment. Those without arms threw stones at me, and women grimaced their teeth at me and menaced me with their fists. Already two of my soldiers had been assassinated behind me by the furious people. . . . I arrived finally to general cries that I should be hung and at several hundred paces from the City Hall, when a head on a pike was brought before me to consider and I was told that it was M. de Launay [governor of the Bastille]. Crossing the place de Greve, I was passed before the body of M. de Lorme [guardian of City Hall] who was on the ground in a bath of his own blood. . . . I was brought inside the City Hall and presented to a committee seated there. I was accused of being one of those who had put up resistence at the Bastille and that I was also the cause of blood being spilled. I justified myself better than I thought possible, saying that I had been under orders. . . . Not seeing any other means of saving myself and . . . what remained of my troops, I declared my willingness to serve the City and the Nation. . . . This appeared to them convincing; there was applause and a general cry of "bravo!" which I hoped would grant me a pardon. Instantly, I was brought wine and we had to drink to the health of the City and the Nation. . . . We were taken to the Palais Royal and toured around the gardens to show to the people. . . . At that moment there arrived a prisoner freshly released from the Bastille, and we were taken equally for freed prisoners, so that the crowd showed great compassion for us. Some even claimed to be able to see the marks on our hands of the irons from which we had just been freed. Finally . . . an orator approached us and showed us to the people, to whom he spoke and explained that we had . . . been imprisoned by our officers . . . because we had refused to fire upon the citizens and that we deserved the esteem of the people . . . and a basket was passed around to take up a collection for us. [That night] I believed myself saved . . . and still in that belief, I was resting on a bench, having not slept for several nights [when I learned of the testimony of some of the soldiers at the Bastille] that I had ordered them to fire and that I had been the cause of the resistence . . . and that without me, they would have doubtlessly surrendered the place without firing. . . . This renewed the opposition to me such that . . . I was menaced and insulted again, and told that the affair was not yet over for me and my destiny would be settled the next day. The next morning, M. Ricart [secretary of the royal troops] procured for me a laisser-passer and I was advised by M. de La Fayette to wear civilian clothing, which allowed me to go freely throughout Paris. . . . As for the story that was told and which has been generally received that M. de Launay [the governor] had ordered the bridges lowerd to let in the crowd and that after, he had ordered them raised and ordered to fire on those who had entered [the courtyard], this story has no need to be refuted. Anyone who knows what a drawbridge is knows that having lowered one enough to let a crowd enter can no longer raise it again at will. Moreover, it is impossible that the garrison fired on those who had entered the courtyard because as soon as the crowd entered, we were all disarmed. Sortable Date 1789-07-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Rélation de la prise de la Bastille le 14 juillet 1789 par un de ses défenseurs," in Révue Retrospective, vol. 4 (Paris: M. J. Taschereau, 1834). Description An account of the resource The soldiers stationed at the fortress did not see themselves as resisting the Revolution so much as keeping watch on a rather insignificant outpost that had nothing at all to do with the major events transpiring in Versailles. In this passage, a Swiss officer named Louis de Flue describes how his contingent was overrun and how he was brought back to the City Hall where, to his surprise, he found himself accused of having used force against the people. Only in retrospect could he be seen as opposing "the Revolution" since in the uncertain moments of 14 July, some people—especially royal officers—believed that the event transpiring was little more than meaningless violence. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 383 Title A name given to the resource A Defender of the Bastille Explains His Role Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/383/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 14, 1789 Popular Politics Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Veteran armies inured to War have never performed greater prodigies of valour than this leaderless multitude of persons belonging to every class, workmen of all trades who, mostly ill-equipped and unused to arms, boldly affronted the fire from the ramparts and seemed to mock the thunderbolts the enemy hurled at them. Their guns were equally well served. Cholat, the owner of a wine shop, who was in charge of a cannon installed in the garden of the Arsenal was deservedly praised, as was Georges a gunner who arrived from Brest that same morning and was wounded in the thigh. The attackers having demolished the first drawbridge and brought their guns into position against the second could not fail to capture the fort. The Marquis de Launay (Governor of the Bastille) could doubtless have resisted the capture of the first bridge more vigorously, but this base agent of the despots, better fitted to be a gaoler, than the military commander of a fortress lost his head as soon as he saw himself hemmed in by the enraged people and hastened to take refuge behind his massive bastions. . . . The people infuriated by the treachery of the Governor, who had fired on their representatives, took these offers of peace for another trap and continued to advance, firing as they went up to the drawbridge leading to the interior of the fort. A Swiss officer addressing the attackers through a sort of loop-hole near the drawbridge asked permission to leave the fort with the honours of war. "No, no," they cried. He then passed through the same opening a piece of paper, which those outside could not read because of the distance, calling out at the same time that he was willing to surrender, if they promised not to massacre his troops. . . . The French Guards, who kept their heads in the hour of danger, formed a human barrier on the other side of the bridge to prevent the crowd of attackers from getting on to it. This prudent maneuver saved the lives of thousands of persons who would have fallen into the fosse. About two minutes later one of the Invalides opened the gate behind the drawbridge and asked what we wanted. "The surrender of the Bastille," was the answer, on which he let us in. . . . The Invalides were drawn up in line on the right and the Swiss on the left. They had stood their arms up against the wall. They clapped their hands and cried "bravo" to the besiegers, who came crowding into the fortress. Those who came in first treated the conquered enemy humanely and embraced the staff officers to show there was no ill-feeling. But a few soldiers posted on the platforms and unaware that the fortress had surrendered, discharged their muskets whereupon the people, transported with rage, threw themselves on the Invalides and used them with the utmost violence. One of them was massacred, the unfortunate Béquart, the brave soldier who had deserved so well of the town of Paris, when he stayed the hand of the Governor at the moment when he was on the point of blowing up the Bastille. Béquart, who had not fired a single shot throughout the day suffered two sword thrusts and had his hand cut off at the wrist by the stroke of a saber. Afterwards they carried in triumph round the streets this very hand to which so many citizens owed their safety. Béquart himself was dragged from the fortress and brought to la Grève. The blind mob mistaking him for an artilleryman bound him to a gibbet where he died along with Asselin, the victim, like him, of a fatal mistake. All the officers were seized and their quarters were invaded by the mob, who smashed the furniture, the doors and the windows. In the general turmoil the people in the courtyard fired on those who were in the private quarters and on the platforms. Several were killed. The gallant Humbert received a musket ball as he stood on the platform and one of his comrades was killed in his arms. Then Arné, a brave fellow, fixed his grenadier's headdress on the point of his bayonet and showed himself over the top of the parapet, risking his life in order to stop the firing. . . . In the intoxication of victory the unfortunate inmates of the dungeons of the Bastille had been forgotten. All the keys had been carried off in triumph and it was necessary to force the doors of the cells. Seven prisoners were found and brought to the Palais Royal. These poor fellows were in transports of pleasure and could scarcely realize they were not the dupes of a dream, soon to be dispelled. But soon they perceived the dripping head of their tormentor stuck up on the point of a pike, above which was a placard bearing the words: "de Launay, Governor of the Bastille, disloyal and treacherous enemy of the people." At this sight tears of joy flowed from their eyes and they raised their hands to the skies to bless their first moments of liberty. The keys were handed to M. Brissot de Warville, who, a few years before, had been thrown into these caverns of despotism. Three thousand men were sent to guard these hated towers pending the issue of a decree ordering their destruction in accordance with the will of the people. Sortable Date 1789-07-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Georges Pernoud and Sabine Flaissier, eds., The French Revolution, trans. Richard Graves (New York: Capricorn Books, 1961), 31–37. Description An account of the resource Having assembled at the traditional protest place in front of the City Hall, known as place des grèves (meaning sandbar, which it was, but which has come to mean "strike"), the crowd set off in search of ammunition. Eventually arriving at the Bastille, the crowd demanded that the few guardians of the fortress surrender. One participant, Keversau, here describes in heroic terms the event that came to symbolize the outbreak of the Revolution—the "taking of the Bastille." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 382 Title A name given to the resource A Conqueror of the Bastille Speaks Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/382/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 14, 1789 Popular Politics Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document On the eve of the fourteenth of July, Besenval, who is responsible for public order, is embarrassed. . . . The insurrection of the 12th assumed an alarming aspect. Fearing that the different cavalry posts detailed to maintain order in the faubourgs might be insufficient or that under provocation they might infringe the express orders they had received, I sent them word to proceed to Place Louis XV (Place de la Concorde). A strong detachment of Swiss Guards with four pieces of Artillery was already in the Champs-Elysées. . . . On their way to Place Louis XV the troops were the target of insulting cries, stone-throwing and pistol-shots. Several men were severely wounded, but not a single menacing gesture was made by the soldiers, so great was their respect for the order that not a drop of their fellow-citizens' blood was to be shed. The disorder increased hourly and with it my misgivings. What decision was I to take? If I engaged my troops in Paris, I should start a civil war. Blood, precious from whatever veins it flowed, would be shed without achieving any result likely to restore calm. The crowds were tampering with my men, almost under my eyes, seeking to seduce them with the usual promises. I received alarming reports concerning their loyalty. Versailles ignored my cruel situation and persisted in regarding a rising of three hundred thousand men as an unlawful assembly and the revolution as a riot. With all these considerations in mind, I thought the wisest course was to withdraw the troops and to leave Paris to itself. . . . On the evening of the 13th I was at the Invalides. M. de Sombreuil, the Governor brought me deputations from two districts, who came to ask me to leave them the fifty-two thousand muskets stored in the hospital. They expressed the liveliest alarm saying that they were surrounded by brigands who threatened their homes with fire and pillage. . . . Although the spokesmen of these deputations had prepared their arguments cleverly, it was easy for me to see that they had been put up to it and that they wanted the arms rather for the purpose of attacking us than defending themselves. . . . On the 14th at 5 a.m. a man came into my room. This man (whose name I learnt later) with his fiery eyes, his swift incisive speech, his bold demeanor and rather handsome face, made a striking impression on me. He said, "M. le Baron, I must warn you to avoid a useless resistance. Today the barriers of Paris will be burnt. I am sure of this and neither you or I can do anything to prevent it. Do not try to do so. You will sacrifice your men without extinguishing a single torch." Sortable Date 1789-07-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Georges Pernoud and Sabine Flaissier, eds., The French Revolution, trans. Richard Graves (New York: Capricorn Books, 1961), 29–31. Description An account of the resource As demonstrations spread across Paris on the morning of 14 July, Pierre–Victor Besenval, commander of the royal soldiers stationed in the capital, contemplated ordering his men to suppress the protests. However, as reports poured in from across the city, he realized that the situation was moving beyond his control. As he describes below, his primary concern was to refrain from taking any action that could lead to widespread and unnecessary violence. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 381 Title A name given to the resource Parisian Riots on 14 July Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/381/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 14, 1789 Popular Politics Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Dearest father, I can now write to you. . . . How things have changed over the last three days! Last Sunday, Paris was dismayed at the dismissal of M. Necker. Although I was getting people worked up, no one would take up arms. About three o'clock I went to the Palais-Royal. I was deploring our lack of courage to a group of people when three young men came by, holding hands and shouting Aux armes! (To arms!) I joined them and since my enthusiasm was quite obvious, I was surrounded and pressed to climb up on a table. Immediately six thousand people gathered around me. . . . I was choking from the hundreds of ideas that overwhelmed me and, my thoughts a jumble, I spoke: "To arms!' I cried, "To arms! Let us all wear green cockades, the color of hope." . . . I grabbed a green ribbon and was the first to pin it to my hat. My action spread like wildfire! The noise from the tumult reached the camp; the Cravates, the Swiss, the Dragoons, the Royal-Allemand all arrived. Prince Lambesc, leading the regiment of Royal-Allemands, entered the Tuileries on horseback. He personally cut down an unarmed French guardsman with his sword, and knocked over women and children. The crowd became furious, and from that point on, there was but a single cry heard across Paris: To Arms! Sortable Date 1789-07-11 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Jules Claretie, ed., Oeuvres de Camille Desmoulins, 2 vols. (Paris: Charpentier, 1906), 2:329–31. Description An account of the resource Camille Desmoulins, an aspiring journalist and author of an anti–aristocratic pamphlet, had been closely following political events. Like many observers, he interpreted Necker’s dismissal as evidence that the King would soon use the troops stationed in Paris to dispel the Estates–General and suppress any demonstrations. Upon receiving the news, he headed to the Palais Royal, a gathering place for the politically aware to exchange news and give speeches. In this letter, he describes how he called upon the people of Paris to act decisively by giving a rousing speech that inspired a crowd to "take arms" and defend the Estates–General against royal troops. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 380 Title A name given to the resource Desmoulins on His Own Role Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/380/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 11, 1789 Popular Politics Text