The Storming of the Tuileries

august 10, 1792

The next important moment I chose to witness was the Storming of the Tuileries on August 10, 1792. I arrived at 9:00 AM just in time to hear the first cannon fire. An angry mob of tens of thousands had gathered in the streets. Some were National Guard members, some were soldiers, and some were ordinary citizens. People were running in the streets and yelling, “To arms, citizens, to arms!” On foot and on horseback, they advanced toward the castle. Upon seeing the crowd, onlookers yelled, “Bravo!” To make matters worse for the people in the castle, many of the castle guards fled for their lives.  

I blended in with the mob to observe and heard people discussing how King Louis XVI and his family had been living in the Tuileries ever since a mob of women had overtaken Versailles three years ago and forced the royal family to live on house arrest in the capital. They were laughing about how the women, angered by profound hunger, had stormed into City Hall and broken down the doors. Armed with torches, they had planned to burn all the papers in City Hall to protest their suffering. One woman was bragging that the men hadn’t been tough enough to get revenge, but that the women were. She also laughed about how they had threatened to hang all the councilmen from lamp posts. Next, with no ammunition, but armed with broomsticks, pitchforks, and pistols, they had marched to Versailles, led by drummers, to demand to speak to the king. As they marched, more women had joined. Eventually, six or seven thousand had stormed the palace, forcing the royal family to retreat to Paris. 

I also overheard people cursing the king and calling him “Monsier Veto” for not passing all of the Legislative Assembly’s decrees. They were angry at the terrible state of France’s economy, worried that the royal family would try to flee, as they had before without success, and afraid that Austria would attack to rescue the king and his family from house arrest. I also learned that, just an hour ago, the king and his family had escaped to the National Assembly for protection moments before the Swiss Guard was attacked. 

When the Swiss Guard fired back at the mob, the revolutionaries became outraged and broke into the castle, killing everyone they could find. It was then that I witnessed one of the first acts of kindness since I traveled back in time. A few people were saving a handful of the people from the castle by pretending that they were their family members. Inspired by this, I took a servant by the arm, pretended he was my brother, and wrapped my cockade around him to make him look like a revolutionary. A few of us were able to save several people this way. However, the destruction and violence continued all day. By nightfall, the mob had set the castle on fire. By the time it was over, the death toll included six hundred members of the Swiss Guard and about 300 revolutionaries.  

The next day, I went to witness the meeting of the Legislative Assembly. The men discussed what should be done with the king and his family. They called for a National Convention, and on Monday, August 13th, 1792, the royal family was taken to prison at the Temple. I had just witnessed a pivotal moment in the revolution.

Bibliography:

Llewellyn, Jennifer. “The Attack on the Tuileries.” Alpha History. September 2019. https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/attack-on-the-tuileries/.

Duchesse d'Angoulême. "Narrative of Marie-Thérèse de France, Duchesse d'Angoulême." From: The Ruin of a Princess. New York: The Lamb Publishing Company, 1912. https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/wormeley/princess/princess-3.html.

“Stanislas Maillard describes the Women’s March to Versailles (5 October 1789).” George Mason University and City University of New York.  https://revolution.chnm.org/d/473.

Shusterman, Noah.  ‘The Coup d’État of August 10, 1792,’ French History and Culture, vol. 11. 2023,  https://h-france.net/rude/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/7-SHUSTERMAN.pdf.

Walton, Geri. 10 August 1792: A First Hand Account (Part 2). Unique histories from the 18th and 19th centuries. August 2016. https://www.geriwalton.com/10-august-first-hand-account/