The Real Story of the Sacking of the Bastille

Most people don’t realize that the event marking French Independence Day, known in France as La Fête Nationale, began well before July 14, 1789, and the sacking of the Bastille Fortress. In fact, the storming of the Bastille was the climax of a quickening political drama whose acts included the looting of Les Invalides the day before, and the emergence of a revolutionary mob the day before that, all of which stemmed from a mounting national economic crisis.

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Bon 14 Juillet

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Countdown to App Release: Chapter 10 - Storm the Bastille!

Chapter Ten...

In which Charlotte explains what really happened to drive the angry mob to the Bastille on 14 juillet 1789.

On July 13, the morning after Citizen Desmoulins’ speech, 60,000 people met at Les Invalides, the home for veterans of French wars. They got away with over 10 cannon and 28,000 muskets belonging to the king’s army without any resistance from the troops on guard there. But, they found no gunpowder.

Oh, how I wished I had been there. My father forbade me to travel to Paris that summer.  He said it was too dangerous.  He was probably right. For the next day, July 14, a mob even larger than the day before met at the Bastille, a 14^th century fortress, turned prison. The Bastille was enormous: eight stone towers linked 80 foot walls. The gunpowder needed to fuel the army’s munitions was hiding there. The Bastille had long been associated with the worst abuses of the monarchy’s power - torture, deprivation, unfair trial - and we French people hated it.

Armed with cannon and guns stolen from Les Invalides, as well as scythes, clubs, pikes, even stones – anything that could be used as a weapon – the mob demanded the fortress guards to give them gunpowder and to free their prisoners. The guards would not allow the mob inside and prepared to defend the Bastille with rooftop cannon.  No one knows who actually fired first. But after a standoff lasting many hours, a gun blast was suddenly heard. The mob, thinking it was under attack, stormed the fortress.  Members of the new Revolutionary police force, the National Guard, joined them.

The mob chopped off the head of the Bastille guard and stuck it on a pike. His head, dripping with blood, was held high for all to see.

The people went wild, tearing the Bastille apart, stone by stone, until their fingers bled. They freed the prisoners being held there, surprised to find only seven. They stole the king’s gunpowder to fuel the king’s arms.

A violent, more radical Revolution was now upon us.

Chapter Eleven...

The king's reaction...

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Images:

Unknown. Reveil du tiers état (Awakening of the Third Estate), 1789. Digital reproduction of hand- colored etching [LC-USZC2-3595] courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, French Political Cartoon Collection, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

Unknown. Prise de la Bastille (Taking of the Bastille). Crédit photographique: Musée de la Révolution Françaises, Vizille, France, http://www.domaine- vizille.fr, Inv. MRF 1988-117.



Never Call it "Bastille Day", It's Quatorze Juillet

July 14:
A mob even larger than the day before meets at the Bastille, a 14th century medieval fortress turned prison. The gunpowder needed to fuel the King’s munitions is hiding there, behind the eight stone towers and eighty foot (25 meter) walls. The Bastille has long been associated with the worst abuses of the Monarchy’s power and les citoyens hate it!

Armed with canon and guns stolen from Les Invalides as well as with scythes, clubs, pikes, even stones – anything that can be used as a weapon – the mob demands the fortress guards to give them the King's gunpowder and to free their prisoners. The guards refuse. They allow no one anyone inside. They prepare to defend the Bastille with rooftop canon.

No one knows who actually fires first. But after a standoff lasting many hours, a gun blast is suddenly heard, startling both sides out of a tense and eerie quiet. The mob, thinking it is under attack, storms the fortress. Members of the new Revolutionary police force, the National Guard, join them.

They chop off the head of the chief guard and stick it on a pike. They hold the dripping head up for everyone to see. The mauraders go wild, tearing the Bastille apart, stone by ancient stone, until their fingers bleed. They free the prisoners being held there (there are only seven). They steal the King’s gunpowder and immediately train the King’s arms on the King's Royal troops.

A violent, more radical side of the French Revolution has been unleashed, like an angry genie given unexpected freedom. It will be years before the bottle is corked once again.

At Versailles, when told the news, the King asks, "is it a revolt?"

"No, Sire," comes the response, "it is a revolution."

But the Revolution is still not won. What will be the King's reaction? Stay tuned for tomorrow's thrilling conclusion. And remember, the French never call their independence day "Bastille Day". They call it, le quatorze juillet, July 14th.

Images:

18th century engraving of The Bastille before its destruction, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

"The Taking of the Bastille," courtesy of http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/.

"The Taking of the Bastille," by Jean-Pierre Houël, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Source:

Towle, Sarah B. Time Traveler Paris Tours: Beware Madame La Guillotine. In development.