The Uprising of June 20, i'/Q2 93 



Carrousel is forced, the chateau must be too . . . ," and, pointing 

 to the chateau, he cried " Come with me, cannoneers, straight to 

 the enemy," and they planted the cannon in front of the Royal 

 gate.^*^" 



With this movement the crowd massed itself against the Royal 

 gate. The agitation became extreme and there seemed nothing to 

 do but to fire the cannon, when some one from within called, 

 " Do not fire, we will open ! " Immediately some one raised the 

 iron bolt that fastened the two parts of the double gate together, 

 the gate swung open and the crowd — citizens, national guards, 

 and gendarmes — precipitated itself madly into the Cour Royale. 

 It was a torrent impossible to check. ^®'^ A spectator testified that 

 having once mingled with the crowd he was carried on into the 

 court in spite of himself. ^'^^ 



There remained still another means of checking the crowd, but 

 again there was a refusal to obey orders. At the opposite end 

 of the court, under the vault leading to the grand stairway, there 

 was another gate. The chiefs of the legion, Aclocq, Mandat and 

 Pinon and Vanot, commandant in chief of the first battalion of 

 the fourth legion, requested the guards and the cannoneers to 



"*"" Rapport de Saint-Prix"; "Rapport de Lassiis." 



^"It is not clear, from the evidence, who opened the gate or who gave 

 the order to open it. No one seems to be willing to accept the responsibil- 

 ity of the act. Many witnesses outside simply say the gate was opened. 

 " Proces-verbal dresse par Mouchet"; Carle, " Evenements du 20 juin, 

 1792"; Rulhiere, "Evenements de la journee du 20 juin"; "Rapport que 

 fait M. de Romainvilliers." Lassus, " Rapport de Lassus," also outside, 

 says it was opened by guards and Wittinghof, " Declaration de Witting- 

 hof," (Ternaux, I, 404), outside, says Hu and Patris ordered it opened. 

 This Patris emphatically denies. See " Proces-verbal dresse par Patris." 

 We have but two witnesses inside, Bron, a Swiss guard, and Boucher- 

 Rene, municipal officer. Bron says two municipal officers opened it, 

 Boucher-Rene says cannoneers raised the bolt, and Roederer in his report 

 to the department in July says a grenadier raised it. It is thus seen that 

 there is no agreement among the witnesses. According to Laporte, intend- 

 ant of the civil list, who made inquiry of all the Swiss guards, the Royal 

 gate was the only one forced, the gate of the Princes and of the Swiss 

 not being entered. Laporte to Terrier, June 27, 1792. 



'** Oelsner, Revue historique, LXXXVII, 81. 



289 



