bunniesandbeheadings:At nightfall on the 14th of July, I circumvented the project of surprising Pari
bunniesandbeheadings:At nightfall on the 14th of July, I circumvented the project of surprising Paris by introducing into the city by a ruse several regiments of dragoons and of German cavalry, of which a large detachment had been already received with acclamation. It had just reconnoitred the quartier St. Honore and was about to reconnoitre the quartier St. Germain, when I encountered it on the Pont Neuf, where it was halting to allow the officer in charge to harangue the multitude. The orator’s tone appeared to me suspicious. He announced as a piece of good news the speedy arrival of all the dragoons, all the hussars, and the royal German cavalry, who were about to unite themselves with the citizens in order to fight by their side. Such an obvious trap was not calculated to succeed. Although the speaker obtained for himself the applause of a large crowdIn all the quarters where he had announced his information, I did not hesitate for an instant to regard him as a traitor. I sprang from the pavement and dashed through the crowd up to the horses’ heads. I stopped his triumphal progress by summoning him to dismount his troop and to surrender their arms, to be received again later on at the country’s hands. His silence left no doubt in my mind. I pressed the commandant of the city guard, who was conducting these horsemen, to assure himself of them. He called me a visionary; I called him a fool, and seeing no other means of circumventing their project, I denounced them to the public as traitors who had come to strangle us in the night. The alarm I caused by my lusty cries had its effect on the commandant, and my threatening him with denunciation decided him. He made the horsemen turn back and took them to the municipality, where they were requested to lay down their arms. On their refusing, they were sent back to their camp with a strong escort.Jean-Paul Marat’s account of his behavior on the 14 of July as recorded in his journal L’Ami du Peuple vol. 36. Some historians have cast doubt as to the veracity of his claims; nevertheless Marat cited eyewitnesses by name to corroborate his claim and none stepped forward to deny it. Most likely the event occurred but was not as crucially important as Marat believed (or wanted it believed) to have been. -- source link
#marat