Massacres of the South (1551-1815): Celebrated CrimesDumas, Alexandre
History
Massacres of the South (1551-1815): Celebrated Crimes
Dumas, Alexandre
Crime
Sunday, the 13th of June, arrived. This day had been selected by the
Catholics for a great demonstration. Towards ten o’clock in the morning,
some companies wearing the red tuft, under pretext of going to mass,
marched through the city armed and uttering threats. The few dragoons,
on the other hand, who were on guard at the palace, had not even a
sentinel posted, and had only five muskets in the guard-house. At two
o’clock P.M. there was a meeting held in the Jacobin church, consisting
almost exclusively of militia wearing the red tuft. The mayor pronounced
a panegyric on those who wore it, and was followed by Pierre Froment,
who explained his mission in much the same words as those quoted above.
He then ordered a cask of wine to be broached and distributed among the
cebets, and told them to walk about the streets in threes, and to disarm
all the dragoons whom they might meet away from their post. About six
o’clock in the evening a red-tuft volunteer presented himself at the
gate of the palace, and ordered the porter to sweep the courtyard,
saying that the volunteers were going to get up a ball for the dragoons.
After this piece of bravado he went away, and in a few moments a note
arrived, couched in the following terms:
“The bishop’s porter is warned to let no dragoon on horse or on foot
enter or leave the palace this evening, on pain of death.
“13th June 1790.”
This note being brought to the lieutenant, he came out, and reminded the
volunteer that nobody but the town authorities could give orders to the
servants at the palace. The volunteer gave an insolent answer, the
lieutenant advised him to go away quietly, threatening if he did not to
put him out by force. This altercation attracted a great many of the
red-tufts from outside, while the dragoons, hearing the noise, came down
into the yard; the quarrel became more lively, stones were thrown, the
call to arms was heard, and in a few moments about forty cebets, who
were prowling around in the neighbourhood of the palace, rushed into the
yard carrying guns and swords. The lieutenant, who had only about a
dozen dragoons at his back, ordered the bugle to sound, to recall those
who had gone out; the volunteers threw themselves upon the bugler,
dragged his instrument from his hands, and broke it to pieces. Then
several shots were fired by the militia, the dragoons returned them, and
a regular battle began. The lieutenant soon saw that this was no mere
street row, but a deliberate rising planned beforehand, and realising
that very serious consequences were likely to ensue, he sent a dragoon
to the town hall by a back way to give notice to the authorities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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