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Revolution and Reaction - A (very) French Victoria II Interactive AAR

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A third telegram is sent to the commanders of the Legions in Normandy, St. Quentin, Dijon, and Angers, the closest Army Corps to Paris:

Sir

The government has ordered the deployment of your Corps to Paris.

Situation extremely unstable.

Changarnier's Corps already deployed.

Reinforcements needed on standby in area if situation escalates.

Pray, do make haste.

-A. Descombes, Minister of Finance.
 
Rue Saint-Martin, Paris, 1852

“Credo”

The crowd was quickly swelling, as they marched toward the Pantheon. Workers from the nearby shops were joining in, houses were quickly emptying into the street, for the march was half a movement, half a cause, but everyone recognizing something out of place and spectacular unfolding. It was the happy moment, the time were a crowd is jeering and chanting, building up its courage because yet unopposed.

At the head of the large column, Charles-Eugène Cartier was marching, shouting encouragement to the crowd of worked. “Our rights! Our rights! Out of this misery!” The most intrepid were running to and from the march, bringing back information about the adjoining streets.

“The rue de la Verrerie is clear!” said a man.
« Excellent, have you spoken with the glassworkers? » said Cartier.
“They will join us when we pass!” said the man.

As they passed in front of the St-Merry Church, the crowd halted as Cartier climbed up the stairs toward a visibly frightened priest.

“Fear not Father, for these brave people are merely marching for their Christian rights.” He said.
“The Bible says to obey the laws of men, my son”
“And the laws shall be obeyed, as dutiful Christians we are. We are merely on a march to lift out of the misery the good people of France, currently sickening under the iron heel of a caste who cares naught for their brothers in the faith.”
“Swear you will renounce violence.”
“I abhor it. Bless us, dear father, bless the crowd”
“I will not condone your actions.”
“We ask but for a blessing, for our souls, at a time of great peril.”
“Agreed..”

As he knelt to receive the blessing, the crowd cheered very loudly. The priest then proceeded to bless them with large shows of hands. Cartier, walking down toward the crowd, spoke with a small group of men.

“Quickly, run everywhere, the Church has blessed the march.”
“Did the priest really say that?”
“Facts do not exactly matter in a situation such as this. Spread the word and it will catch like a wildfire. Perception is key.”

They smiled and they ran away, carrying the news.

As the workers resumed their march, cheering toward the Church, they chanted the Marseillaise.
 
*Deflandre rises to speak in the Senate.*

"Messieurs,

"Only a few blocks from this palace the people gather to express what we have known already for a significant length of time. That the Presidency and its particles are now being held to account for their misdeeds is a clear product of the blatant disregard which they have held for this body and Parliament as a whole! Indeed, had we been held to a simpler standard, that the President had been as committed to both the letter and spirit of the Constitution as this body has, there would be no need for demonstrations. Yet now we must recognize the true crisis of our modern history -- the struggle between the champions of the Republic and the self-gratifying institution of the Presidency. Yes, it is the reality that a Republic with such an individual at its head possesses neither the democracy of parliamentary governance nor the dynastic dutifulness of monarchy. France requires government committed to higher aspirations, and we can not deny the realities of our present crisis.

"We require leadership capable of bringing France together and ending the present crisis amicably. Thus far, the institution of the Presidency has been much more committed to the notion of preserving its own unconstitutional powers than allowing Parliament to govern in accordance with its natural activities. The permission of this body to revert the National Workshops to their older state has been taken as a blank check to obliterate the institution without our assent. Now the President and his many arms, Monsieur Ronan, General Changarnier, the Prefect, and so-forth, have taken to bullying in order to subjugate this body to their whims. When Parliament is not safe from invasion or intervention, one must wonder if our interests might be better served through camaraderie with the people now protesting in the streets.

"We do not need to be socialists to demand that Parliament be given its fair due, allowing it to exercise its full capacities as a lawmaking body. The legislative powers of Parliament are predicated on our representation of the people of France, to whose interests we are fully committed. Meanwhile, the President, who despite his absence is still guilty of causing our present crisis, acquired the support of only one-third prior to the runoff. Indeed, our betterment is predicated upon the commitment to Constitutional powers. My only fear, now, is that we shall see the force of arms used to put down this body and those who publicly support it. Let us not descend into the chaos which has accompanied this President's regime. Parliament holds the key to security and stability in its hand, and only by being committed to the endorsement of the fundamental principles of liberty and parliamentarianism might we do what is necessary to sustain the people of France.

"Merci."

HENRI DEFLANDRE
Senator of Province IV
 
To ensure that the messages sent by the telegrams reach the Prefects and Generals, Alexandre orders copies of the messages to be sent via messengers to the Prefects and Generals, telling them to make haste with their delivery.
 
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L'Élan Journal
Seize the Revolution! Defeat the Reaction!
​
The Government has failed, in it's entirety. They have taken one of the sacred items of the Revolution, the surest of Nadeau's Legacy, and quashed it in a fit of monied pique. However, in a fit of righteous fury, the men of this fair and fine city sought to overthrow the corrupted individuals of the institutions of our creation. Let not the barons of bankruptcy decide what is good for the common man, who struggles for their bread. Rise up, break out the rifles and barricades, and honour the tradition of your fathers and forefathers in defending your inherent Parisian rights.

Seize the bridges and the streets, seize the cannons and the armouries! Today is the day we once again rise, once again throw out an unwanted and undeserved government, and once again establish ourselves as the forefront of democracy in Europe! Waste not this opportunity to take what is rightfully yours from those who seek to deny you at every front for every reason. Reaction must be defeated forthwith! Vive la Revolution! Vive Nadeau! Vive la Republique!
 
Louis-Alexandre Clement addressed the Assembly, although copies of the speeches were sent to be read out to the crowds,

“Members of this Assembly! All around us we can see the effects of this tyrannically Presidency. The President has ignored the will of Parliament on multiple occasions. They have trampled on the needs of the people by shutting down the workshops. When the President of this body attempted to assert the rights of Parliament, the Government deployed the army to intimidate us. Now the people of France take to the streets to oppose this tyranny and the government sends in troops to intimidate them!

Parliament is the body that best represents the will of the people of France, not the Presidency. We deliberate, discuss, and compromise to ensure that the laws we pass work for all of France. The a President, on the other hand, makes decisions based, at best, in consultation with a handful of advisors. Too often these powers are abused in such a way that only benefits the whims of who holds them, and not on behalf of all of France. Monsieur de la Marche has been more concerned with protecting his unconstitutional grabs at power than truly working for France. Is actions are unjust and tyranical.

What is the duty of the members of this body when faced with tyranny? Oppose it! We are the people’s chosen representatives. It is our duty to advocate and struggle on their behalf by legal means. Furthermore, it is the duty of all Frenchman to oppose tyranny. And make no mistake, the President his acting tyranical, and he must be opposed before he pushes France further down the path to tyranny! Vive le Assembly! Vive le Parlement! Vive le Republic!”
 
“Quickly men, we must march on the Hôtel de Ville! We will seize the Prefect of Police and force him to restore the workshops.” Gigot called to the men. “Maintain power around the Pantheon, seize the bridges!”

Barbes and Gigot gave out orders, Les Hommes were ordered to bring out the guns and cannons and form into battalions. Messages were sent to the Les Hommes men in the National Guard to foment mutiny and refuse the orders of Changarnier.

Barbes wanted to string up the Prefect and Gigot was not opposed as long as they gave him a chance to comply first. Les Hommes were on the march again.

((Posted from work, apologies on the brevity.))
 
bSQwDZR.jpg

Official Post-Revolution Portrait.​

Jérôme de Lécuyer.

Name: Jérôme Marquis de Lécuyer.
Born: 1818.
Death: 11th of November 1866.
Party: Union Libéral.
Ideology: Moderate-republican (Second Republic), Progressive (Third Restoration), Republican-Bonapartist (November Revolution).
Profession: Retired brigadier. Elected member of the Chamber of Deputy, Minister of Industry and Commerce. First President of the Provisional November Republic (two days).
Department: Seine.

The twin of Jean-Louis de Lécuyer and named after the youngest brother of Napoleon, Jérôme pursued early on a military career being enrolled in École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, much to the jealousy of his older (now deceased) brother Joachim-Philippe duc de Lécuyer. As his older brother noted, Jérôme was far more in line with the martial prowess - and ideology - of his father, having both his physical stature and his brash, often bullying, nature. Jérôme himself reflected upon this, and on several occassions called Joachim a sell out to his family's legacy and values.

The aggressive nature of Jérôme earned him both the respect, and fear, among his subordinates and adversaries, and he was a talented infantry officer, spending most of his life in Algeria and was made commander of the legion of honour. And as opposed to his older brother Jérôme enjoyed being in Algeria and excelled, even being made Lieutenant-colonel and was soon transferred by through the contacts of his brother to command an infantry regiment just outside of Paris.

Now, at the age of 34, Jérôme was all out of sudden made the head of his family after the departure of his brother. Jérôme cursed his brother for being so reckless, but he felt a deep hatred. Jérôme who had for the most part of his life been independent, but with clear sympathies for the Republicans and Bonapartists, was stricken with grief as he was informed of his brothers death. A witness reported "he frothed, and his eyes was of pure anger as his fist slammed down on the table breaking it". Jérôme who had always symphatised with his father's original downtrodden supporters, and regarded Joachim as a sellout, was suddenly the head of the family until Victurnien-Lothaire Louis Ferdinand Duc de Lécuyer came of age.

As it were the young officer were stationed near Paris and was called to arms by Changarnier. Time would tell if he would follow his republican and Bonapartist ideals or avenge his brother.

Father: Lothaire duc de Lécuyer (b. 1789, d. 1830).

Mother: Christine Lécuyer (b. 1791).

Children: Daphnée de Lécuyer (b. 1837).
Armand-Lucien François de Lécuyer (b. 1838).
Léopold Joseph Antoine Marie de Lécuyer (b. 1840).
Christine Amelie de Lécuyer (b. 1844).
Adeline Marie Therese de Lécuyer (b. 1849).
Nicodème de Lécuyer (b. 1852).

Nephew: Victurnien-Hyacinthe Hippolyte Lothaire Casimir-Louis Ferdinand de Rochechouart de Mortemart Duc de Lécuyer. Heir to the titles of Marquis de Mortemart, Viscount de Rochechouart, Duc de Mortemart, Prince de Tonnay-Charente, Comte de Limoges, Duc de Vivonne, Grandee of Spain (first grade), Duc de Rochechouart.

Siblings: Marie-Louise de Lécuyer, (b. 1815).
Joachim-Philippe Lothaire Duc de Lécuyer (b. 1816, d. 1852).
Jean-Louis Comte de Lécuyer, twin (b. 1818).
Stéphanie Caroline Joséphine de Lécuyer. (b. 1820 d. 1832).
Titles:

Marquis de Lécuyer. Courtesy title.

Awards:

Légion d'honneur - Knight (1840).
Légion d'honneur - Officer (1844).
Légion d'honneur - Commander (1850).
National Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Knight (1858)
National Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Commander (1860)
National Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Grand Officer (1862)
Légion d'honneur - Grand Croix (1866 - posthumously awarded).

Commands held:

In the Royal/Republican/Royal French Army:

Special Military School at Saint-Cyr (1835 - 1837)
Sous-lieutenant 20th Infantry Regiment (1837 - 1838) - Stationed in France.
Lieutenant 47th Infantry Regiment (1838 - 1839) - Stationed in France.
Capitaine 2. R.ELE. (1839 - 1844) - Stationed in Algeria.
Chef d'battaillon 6th Chasseurs Battalion à Pied, commander of the battalion (1844 - 1847) - Stationed in Algeria.
Lieutenant-colonel 13th Infantry Regiment (1847 - 1850) - Stationed in Algeria.
Lieutenant-colonel 16th Infantry Regiment, commander of the regiment (1850 - 1851)
Lieutenant-Colonel 14th Infantry Regiment, commander (1851 - 1852) Paris Garrison.
Colonel, brevet brigadier, commander 14th regiment, temporarily commander 3rd Brigade (June Days 1852).
Colonel, part of Changarnier's/Paris Army's staff (1852 - 1856)
Général de brigade 2nd Brigade, 1st Division. Commander (1856-1858) Paris Garrison.
Retired Général de Brigade.
Marshal of France, posthumously awarded.

In the Imperial Mexican Army:

General brigada, volunteer commander 2nd Brigade (1858 - 1861)
General de división , aide de camp (advisor) Emperor Agustín II. (1861- 1862)
Retired General de división

Positions held:

Deputy of the Seine (Chamber of Deputies). 1863 - November 1866.

Minister of Industry and Commerce. 1863 - November 1866.

Chief Executive of the Provisional Government of France (President of the Third French Republic) 10th-11th of November 1866.

ZJUeN0B.png


BnNeDvU.png

'Remember Lécuyer', commerating the death of Jérôme and the November Revolution. Exhibited in Louvre next to 'Liberty Leads the People'.​
 
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Dubois noticed that as the crowd grew, more of the newer members carried arms. Taking a look at them and listening to their chants, it was obvious enough that they intended to open up with violence at the first opportunity. This could not be allowed ti happen. It wasn't that Dubois abhorred the use of violence, it was simply that it's use did not serve the interests of the movement, at least not yet. Thankfully they have had yet to have made the contact with the National Guard, so the situation hadn't spiraled out into disaster. Dubois would yet again get up on the soap box and give a speech.


"Citizens! I feel your pain, I understand your frustration and I respect your vigor. But violence in this moment would be counterproductive to our cause! As long as we remain peaceful, we remain an assembly protected by the constitution! As long as that is the case, they can not legitimately impede our right to grow our numbers in this place, which would strengthen our position regardless of how this situation plays out in the future! We must present a sympathetic case to the National guard, to secure their neutrality or their support.

We must force the hands of presidential tyrants to act unconstitutionally in our suppression if they are to maintain their agenda! Then and only then, would such a scenario require decisive action, hopefully involving the National Guard turning against the agents of the tyrant Presidency's orders!

Understand, that we have friends in the National Guard, we must utilize this connection to the fullest! Remind them that we stand for a decent wage for Guardsmen, remind them that we stand for a right for them to choose their leaders! May their cause be tied our cause in favour of the National Workshops and against the tyrant presidency that attacks it!

If we are to win our cause, we must conserve our strength for the right time, and maintain the constitutional high ground and unite our cause with the national guard that the presidency will attempt to provoke us with!

The Republic is Social, the Social is Republican!

Up with the National Workshops, down with the tyrant presidency!"
 
Bioiron said:
Dubois noticed that as the crowd grew, more of the newer members carried arms. Taking a look at them and listening to their chants, it was obvious enough that they intended to open up with violence at the first opportunity. This could not be allowed ti happen. It wasn't that Dubois abhorred the use of violence, it was simply that it's use did not serve the interests of the movement, at least not yet. Thankfully they have had yet to have made the contact with the National Guard, so the situation hadn't spiraled out into disaster. Dubois would yet again get up on the soap box and give a speech.


"Citizens! I feel your pain, I understand your frustration and I respect your vigor. But violence in this moment would be counterproductive to our cause! As long as we remain peaceful, we remain an assembly protected by the constitution! As long as that is the case, they can not legitimately impede our right to grow our numbers in this place, which would strengthen our position regardless of how this situation plays out in the future! We must present a sympathetic case to the National guard, to secure their neutrality or their support.

We must force the hands of presidential tyrants to act unconstitutionally in our suppression if they are to maintain their agenda! Then and only then, would such a scenario require decisive action, hopefully involving the National Guard turning against the agents of the tyrant Presidency's orders!

Understand, that we have friends in the National Guard, we must utilize this connection to the fullest! Remind them that we stand for a decent wage for Guardsmen, remind them that we stand for a right for them to choose their leaders! May their cause be tied our cause in favour of the National Workshops and against the tyrant presidency that attacks it!

If we are to win our cause, we must conserve our strength for the right time, and maintain the constitutional high ground and unite our cause with the national guard that the presidency will attempt to provoke us with!

The Republic is Social, the Social is Republican!

Up with the National Workshops, down with the tyrant presidency!"
Click to expand...
The mob; loud and boisterous, hear the speech of Dubois. At first, they are startled to hear of passivity, and the crowd calms at his request, but then they discover the violence of Dubois' rhetoric. When he denounces the tyrant presidency, the crowd roars with delight; when he screams "Down with the Tyrant Presidency!" the crowd redoubles in joy.

Down with the Presidency, they cry, and take to the cause he had unintentionally endorsed; barricades.
 

GrtOpNB.png
​

The body was returned, mutilated. A great shame Jérôme thought. This was no way for a "Duke" to perish, but most of all he brought shame to their father the hero og liberalism and democracy. But even if he was a sellout and weak, he had his convictions and remained true to liberalism in some capacity, reports had it he defended the liberal-democracy and were torn to pieces by the masses as he did so. No one deserved to end their life in such a manner. His mother returned, she was evacuated from East Paris, still refusing to leave their ancestral home as she had to be forced out. Jérôme hugged her, he knew how much she was in pain and she had always been his guiding star after his father perished. "Jean-Louis is in Marseille, Marie-Louise is still in America and the future Duke is safe with his mother", Jérôme said to his mother.

He left his mother alone with the body, he couldn't even imagine the pure agony she must have felt. Having lost her husband at the age of 41, a daughter at the age of 12 and now her eldest son at the age of 36. Death, it seemed, was the curse of the Lécuyer family. The eyes of Jérôme was filled with tears, not out sorrow but out of anger. He cursed all those who did this to his family, and his mother. The men who had done this to his brother was no better than the savages in Algerie. And Jérôme knew what was needed, heads needed to roll. He vowed to himself he would put an end to each one who had put his hand on his late brother, and those who pained his mother. He returned to his unit, readying them for battle and awaited the orders from Changarnier. "I'll make them remember Lécuyer" he whispered to himself full of rage.
 
A telegraph along with an ordinance runner is sent to General Changarnier ((@99KingHigh )) and the ministry ((@naxhi24 ))

"Sir,

The 14th Infantry Regiment is ready for duty, awaiting orders.

-Lieutenant Colonel Jérôme de Lécuyer".
 
Le Triomphant.
​
The French military's socity grief as former Colonel and Lieutenant General Joachim-Philippe Duc de Lécuyer was mutilated by thugs. A hero in the conquest of Algerie, son of an officer of the Grande Armee and the Royal Army and a military theorist and reformer, may he rest in peace among the many other patriotic brothers who sacrificed their lives for France and liberty.
​
 
Excerpt of the diary of Charles-Eugène Cartier

“Our ranks were swelling by the minute as we walked down the rue de la Verrerie. The glassworkers, recognizing their common interest with the working masses, deserted their workshops in droves to join us. Brave men, all of them, for they could have stood by, their industry in good enough shape to guarantee them long term employment. But there was something in the air that day, a perfume of revolutionary fervour. For every man, woman and child feeling the oppression of poverty, it was a day were norms and customs were thrown into the river and where we enjoyed the true sense of freedom.

It is when we turned on the rue du Renard that this sense of foreboding which had grown inside me from hours to hours was finally to triumph over my internal elation. As a runner passed nearby, we learned that the Duke of Lécuyer had just been murdered by a crowd. Reports were vague, but it appears that at last, his oratory got the best of him, and misjudging the crowd, he had awoken the wrong sentiments. There are things to be said in the smoke-filled rooms of the National Assembly, to a gathering of whisky-drinking bald heads, and there are things better kept for oneself when addressing a crowd of angry, hungry and afraid men. It is a fine, blurry line. Brave amateur, he spoke on the wrong side of it. While I never properly disliked him, for he was a much talkative and congenial fellow, I cannot say I ever felt any spirit of kinship for this man, raised with a silver spoon in his mouth and draping himself in the legend of the man who sired him, that one too shot during a revolution. However, with Lécuyer’s demise, the Rubicon was crossed. It was not to be simple march anymore.

We approached the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, intent on crossing the Pont d’Arcole or the Pont Notre-Dame to continue our journey toward the Pantheon. However, when we arrived, barricades were in the process of being erected. Now, it is a strange thing to witness, because from one moment, there is calm in the street, and immediately after, every window are open and the populace throws any piece of furniture they can get their hands on. Desks come crashing, bedframes flew in the air before meeting the ground in a dull sound. In a mere matters of minutes, a giant amount of broken wood, glass and furniture was forming a wall of sorts, as chaotically beautiful as the days events, if one disregard the wanton murder of a duke, of course.

As we walked to the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville and those walls of fortune sprang up, I had as much the feeling of a triumphant general than that of a prey, willingly caging itself. The conspicuous absence of the army was filling me with a terrible sense of dread. We would soon learn why.”​
 
His mind drifted to his wife Elisabeth. The woman of his life, founded on true love and not an arranged one. He could not stand losing her, and his children Armand, Nicodème, Adeline, Christine, Daphnée and Léopold. His heart was full of rage, full of hate. He ordered his men to "prepare for combat", to follow that specific drill. And so they did, each platoon reported to each company, which again reported to each battalion and again to Jérôme, they were "ready for combat". The battalion was ordered to fan out, to dig in to their positions they had been instructed to take and hold in case of emergency.

Before they departed Jérôme gave a speech. "Remember men, you are the defenders of not France. Not a particular government, but France itself. You are the designated protectors of liberty. You swore an oath to protect your fatherland and the republic. As it is, these subversive elements have already murdered a member of the National Assembly, and a veteran of Algeria in cold blood.

"It is you, you who are the defenders of France and liberty, it is you who are the last line of defense. It is true, what many of you have heard. Our adversaries have gathered men at the barriades as I speak, this army of rabble rousers are drawing closer to our homes.

"Believe me, when I say we have difficult times in front of us. ut if we are to be prepared for it, we must first shed our fear of it. I stand here before you now truthfully unafraid. Why? Because I believe something you do not? No! I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me but because of the path that lies behind me. Tonight, let us tremble these streets of earth, steel, and stone. Let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tonight, let us make them remember: This is the French Army and we are not afraid!"
 
REACTION 1: REMEMBER LECUYER
June 5
​
The mass protest, began at the place du Pantheon on the evening of 4 June, and resumed at dawn the next day, gathered a grand assembly of the most desperate.

They believed that they faced a bleak, zero-sum option, either to die of starvation or to take to the streets. The years of labour in the National Workshops had made those institutions integral to their daily life, and the sudden closure brought the existence of nearly two-hundred thousand Parisians to a complete stop.

As Dubois gave his speech, before his rally against the presidency, an irate radical shouted: "You are a fine man, Monsieur Dubois; but you have never been hungry; you do not know what destitution is!" They knew the constitutional crisis was a point of grievance; but the need to survive dominated their sentiments.

The realization of Florian Gigot's prophecy, published the day before the closure in, of a state conspiracy to destroy the workshops, vindicated his Jacobin stature among the crowd. It was this prediction that spelled the doom for the Duc de Lecuyer—he was presumed to be another conspirator in this grand mission against the people.

If the artisans of Paris drew the first blood, it was the forces of order that fired the first shots. As the ministry slipped into a melodramatic frenzy—although later historians might justify this panic—General Changarnier and his expansive command prepared for action. He cleared out the Place de La Bastille by the National Guard, whose turnout was once again fiercely scrutinized for signs of disloyalty. Volleys were exchanged, the militants dispersed, and the crowds dispersed to the quartiers to erect barricades.

Changarnier hesitated to follow, aware that previous thrusts into the streets of Paris would confuse his columns, and elected pulled back to more defensible ground. Soon enough, Paris took the red flag, and battle began.

--
You know the drill; we're not really in real time, but sorta in real time. It's about 2 PM on June 5.
 
((Just before the update))

Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, or nearby, Paris, 1852

The surroundings were surreal, with papers floating in the air, thrown from various windows as if an endlessly-supplied imprimerie had just been ransacked. Cartier, now huddled with the populace massing around the Hôtel de Ville, was trying to bring some semblance of order amidst chaos.

“You there, shore up this barricade. It is highly unstable and will as quickly come crashing down upon us than upon whoever it is meant to protect us from.” He shouted to a man tossing an armoire into the juggling pile that was supposed to be a barricade.

“And who made you the boss around here exactly?” answered the angry man.

“Do you have any experience with structures? Because I have spent the better part of my lifemining in tunnels. It makes me the local authority on what is gonna come crashing down because not properly secured.” Answered Cartier, crossing his arms.

Given his frame and height, his command was thus followed...
 
main-qimg-5faaf461c4ab1451ee5ee2d807db53ab-c

Formez vos bataillons!
​
Florian Gigot and Les Hommes gathered and discussed strategy. The barricades must be held in the quartiers of Paris, Changarnier like all before him would be broken in the alleys and mazes of Paris. Gigot called on Les Hommes to procure by any means necessary artillery and to secure the loyalty of the ranks. The slogans under the tricolor and the red flag would be, "The People will have Bread!"

Les Hommes were ordered to assassinate the Prefect of Police if at all possible, all contacts in the National Guard were activated to mutiny or take out Changarnier. Gigot and Barbes gathered the forces for the siege of the first day, at night they would storm the Hotel de Ville. Once there Gigot and Barbes planned to declare the Committee of Public Safety in control of the city. On the other hand, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
 
Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, or nearby, Paris, 1852

They had spent the night on the outskirts of the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, their heart gripped by the anticipation of being dislodged by the army. When the news of the firefight at Place de la Bastille reached the angry workers, late at night, it was like a cold shower on their idealism. The army was marching on Paris and no quarter was to be given. The wildest rumours betook the camp as they relocated near rue de la Roquette.

“I have heard that they killed about 200 people at the Place de la Bastille.” Said a rioter.

“Nonsense! It was no more than 20 people. My brother was there, he told me so himself.” Said another.

“What about the losses in the army? My nephew is under Changarnier’s command.” Said a third one.

“Damn your nephew, I hope all the soldiers get shot.” Said the first rioters.

“Citizens, let us not despair and resort to such hateful wishes. The men of the soldatesque are like our brothers. They will soon overthrow the hateful commands of their masters when they realize how strong our movement is.” Quipped Cartier, jumping in the discussion.

“Like they did in the Place de la Bastille?” answered a man

“You can thank the late Duke of Lécuyer for that. The men probably believe us to be a band of zealous revolutionaries at this point.” Answered Cartier.

“And what would be wrong with such assessment?” argued the man

“Nothing my friend. We are indeed a merry bunch intent on getting our due. Our bread, our jobs, our rights. Soon, the soldiers themselves will see that. Sadly, blood will be shed between now and that moment.” Answered Cartier.

He moved toward another group of men chatting between themselves.

“My brother-in-law is a fonctionnaire at the Ministry of Finances. They said they could hear Alexandre Descombes shouting orders left right and center, in a panicked frenzy” said a man.

“No doubt the banker is scare shitless” said another.

“No worries good friends, he will run this government into the ground like he did with the other he was part of.” Argued another.

“Remember that he was the main proponent of the shuttering of our workshops. He is very much the cause of our difficulties. It is men like these who see your most ridiculous wages as being “adequate for subsistence”, like you are all dogs which only need to be fed enough to bark.” Said Cartier as he chipped in.

He left the discussion as several of his agents drew his attention.

“How are things gentlemen? Give it to me straight.” Said Cartier

“Pretty bad. The army made short shrift of the men assembled at Place de la Bastille” said Leroux, a slim and tall redheaded figure which bore his named with fashion.

“Have they followed in the quartiers?” asked Cartier.

“No, Changarnier a complete bastard, but he aint that stupid. We’ll get his head sooner or later” answered Leroux.

“If he ventures in the city, we shall indeed.” Answered the député. “Any news from the Panthéon?”

“Lots of people gathered. They seem to have ample food and water. And guns.” Quipped Léon Martin, a small bookish men which had showed considerable revolutionary zeal.

“Who is leading them?” asked Cartier.

“Gigot.”

“Excellent.”
 
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A letter is sent to General Changarnier ((@99KingHigh)):

Sir.

The Revolution has drawn first blood. Now our only recourse is to fight. The Goverment authorizes you to suppress the uprising via any means necessary. Let the forces of chaos be destroyed, let the brother of the Duc de Lecuyer have vengeance. Do what needs to be done, General.

-Alexandre Descombes, Minister of Finance
 
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