Coup of 13 Vendémiaire

In the Autumn of 1795 months after the fall of Robespierre Paris was in tumult.  Jacobins struggling to maintain any form of foothold in capital were having running street battles with Muscadins fighting for: the return of monarchy, Catholic Church or simply out of revenge for the terror.

The Convention sought to dilute the extremes that society was moving towards by passing the Law of the Two Thirds.  This would mean that two thirds of the new Legislature would be taken from the old Convention.  It aimed at providing stability, it did not.  Thousands of Parisians responded to calls for a response as they assembled.  The Convention turned to Barras who lacking military confidence turned to someone who had an abundance of belief in his martial abilities, Napoleon Bonaparte.  

On the 4th to 5th October up to 20,000 protesters surrounded the Tuileries.  A young Lieutenant Colonel Murat was told to quickly fetch canons just in time before the increasingly confident protestors could lay their hands upon them. When the morning rain ceased the protestors marched on the Tuileries only to walk straight into the firing line of Bonaparte’s canons.  Canons he was more than willing to use.  The ensuing artillery barrage went down in history as “the whiff of grapeshot.”  No protesters lingered on the streets after it several hundred bodies littered the streets.

Soon afterwards Bonaparte would be granted command of the Army of Italy and would go on to great success.