18 Prairial
An CCXXXIV
10 August 1792
On 10 August 1792, Paris marched against the Tuileries Palace. Fédérés, sans-culottes and National Guardsmen aimed their cannons at the king, who could rely only on the Swiss Guard. But Louis XVI fled with his family to the Legislative Assembly. He failed to give the order to abandon the defence in time and left his loyal soldiers behind. In the end, the insurgents triumphed. But several hundred people lost their lives on both sides. Royal power collapsed for good that day. The revolutionaries sent the royal family to prison, proclaimed the Republic on 21 September and later condemned Louis XVI to death.
Chronology of the day
- 00:00 · The Paris sections begin the uprising against the king. The alarm bell rings. Insurgents take over the city government. Mandat, the commander of the National Guard, is lured to the Hôtel de Ville, arrested and killed. Santerre takes command.
- 04:00 · In the Tuileries, the king is undecided. He considers seeking protection in the Legislative Assembly and consults Roederer, the procureur général syndic of the Seine. Marie Antoinette initially insists on defending the Tuileries.
- 05:00 · Louis XVI inspects the Swiss Guard and the National Guardsmen assigned to protect the Tuileries. Some of the National Guardsmen prove disloyal.
- 06:00 · Insurgents from the faubourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marceau march towards the Tuileries in several columns.
- 07:00 · Fédérés from Marseille and Brittany reach the Carrousel and aim cannons at the palace. Roederer tells the king that defence is no longer possible.
- 09:30 · The king and his family seek protection in the parliament, which is sitting in the Salle du Manège, near the Tuileries.
- 10:00 · The first shots are fired. The Swiss Guard defends the palace. Louis’s order to cease fire comes too late, because the fighting is already under way. The National Guardsmen under Santerre’s command fight largely on the side of the insurgents.
- 12:00 · The fighting ends with the capture of the Tuileries by the insurgents. About one thousand people are killed.
- 15:00 · In the afternoon, the parliament decrees that the king is suspended from his functions as head of the executive power. The exact time of this declaration is not clear.
Quotes
Sir, we have enough forces here. It is finally time to determine who will prevail: the king or the insurgents, the Constitution or the revolutionaries.
Marie Antoinette in response to Roederer’s urging that the royal family seek protection in the Assembly.
I have come here to prevent a great crime.
Louis XVI when he appeared before the Assembly.
The head of the executive power is provisionally suspended from his functions.
Declaration of the Legislative Assembly on August 10.
Le Moniteur
August 10, 1792
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