Hanriot commanded the Paris National Guard at the height of the Reign of Terror. He was Robespierre’s loyal supporter and his military arm in the capital. On 2 June 1793, his armed forces proved decisive in the political elimination of the Girondins. Hanriot’s troops surrounded the Tuileries, catching the deputies like mice in a trap. He withdrew his soldiers only after the arrest of the Montagnards’ leading opponents. But on 9 Thermidor, with Robespierre’s fate at stake, he failed. Was he too drunk that crucial night to give sensible orders? That was later alleged, but has never been firmly established. One thing is certain: unlike on 2 June, the Convention prevailed on 9 Thermidor – and Hanriot’s head fell the next day on the Place de la Révolution.
December 2, 1759 · François Hanriot is born in Nanterre to an impoverished couple who work as domestic servants.
July 12, 1789 · Hanriot takes part in riots during which Paris tollhouses and their records are burned. He is arrested.
1792 · He becomes known as a radical orator among the Parisian sans-culottes.
September 1792 · He is elected commander of his Paris section’s National Guard battalion. His involvement in the September Massacres remains uncertain.
May 30, 1793 · At the height of the conflict between the Montagnards and the Girondins, he is appointed provisional commander-in-chief of the Paris National Guard.
June 2, 1793 · Under Hanriot’s command, the National Guard surrounds the National Convention and forces the removal from power and arrest of leading Girondins.
July 27, 1794 · On 9 Thermidor, Hanriot fails to organise resistance to the Convention, which has ordered the arrest of Robespierre and his political allies. Hanriot is arrested after forcing his way into the offices of the Committee of General Security. Troops led by Coffinhal free him, but the two men do not seize the opportunity to take control of the Convention. They withdraw to the Hôtel de Ville.
July 28, 1794 · Hanriot is captured at the Hôtel de Ville along with the other insurgents. In the early evening, he is guillotined on the Place de la Révolution in Paris.
François Hanriot lived to be 34 years old.
Quotes
Gunners, to your positions! Hanriot’s order to his troops when the deputies of the National Convention attempted to break through the cordon on 2 June 1793.
Saviour of the Fatherland Marat thus described Hanriot after his intervention on 2 June 1793.
The best soldier in peacetime is a useless being. Hanriot, 23 November 1793
Hanriot commanded the Paris National Guard at the height of the Reign of Terror. He was Robespierre’s loyal supporter and his military arm in the capital. On 2 June 1793, his armed forces proved decisive in the political elimination of the Girondins. Hanriot’s troops surrounded the Tuileries, catching the deputies like mice in a trap. He withdrew his soldiers only after the arrest of the Montagnards’ leading opponents. But on 9 Thermidor, with Robespierre’s fate at stake, he failed. Was he too drunk that crucial night to give sensible orders? That was later alleged, but has never been firmly established. One thing is certain: unlike on 2 June, the Convention prevailed on 9 Thermidor – and Hanriot’s head fell the next day on the Place de la Révolution.
