Storming of the Bastille of gunpowder to the Bastille for safer storage. At this point, the Bastille was nearly empty, housing only seven prisoners: four forgers, two "lunatics" and one "deviant" aristocrat, the Comte de Solages (the Marquis de Sade had been transferred out ten days earlier). The high cost of maintaining a garrisoned medieval fortress, for what was seen as having a limited purpose, had led to a decision being made shortly before the disturbances began to replace it with an open public space. Amid the tensions of July 1789, the building remained as a symbol of royal tyranny. The regular garrison consisted
Prisoners of war in the American Revolutionary War of war were, the less of an economic burden they were on the town. Towns that were unable to erect barracks for the prisoners were forced to house them in community churches and even citizens' homes. The Continental Congress forcing Americans to quarter prisoners was a major source of contention among the people. Even when British and Hessian prisoners of war were not being held in individual houses, they were still in public view, and this caused general fear, resentment, and anger among the townspeople. Prisoners were generally not confined to their quarters, and were able to remain in public