The Duke of Lambesc’s Mad Charge, July 12, 1789

On July 12, 1789, several thousand men, women and even children protested against the expulsion of the minister Necker, known to be favorable to revolutionaries, as well as against the supposed exile of the Duke of Orléans, the king’s cousin. Leaving from the Palais-Royal, insurgents planned on going to Versailles. Arriving near the Tuileries, they were confronted with the Duke of Lambesc’s regiment. Merciless, he ordered the horses to charge the crowd, resulting in several deaths and many injured. This violence only flamed indignation. It also immediately convinced insurgents that they needed to take up arms in order to defend themselves against the army: it was the beginning of an uprising that would end two days later with the storming of the Bastille.