Bastille Day had often held people jailed on the basis of "lettres de cachet" (literally "signet letters"), arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment. The Bastille held a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, and was also known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the attack in July 1789 there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance. The crowd was eventually reinforced by mutinous "Gardes Françaises" ("French
Paris in the 18th century prisoners. It was finally demolished in 1783, and replaced by a new prison, created in 1780 by the transformation of the large town house of the family of La Force on rue de Roi-de-Sicilie, which became known as Grande Force. A smaller prison, called la Petite Force, was opened in 1785 nearby at 22 rue Pavée. A separate prison was created for those prisoners who had been sentenced to the galleys; they were held in the château de la Tournelle at 1 quai de la Tournelle; twice a year these prisoners were transported out of Paris to the ports to