Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay permanently stationed in Paris except in time of war. In 1776 de Launay succeeded M. de Jumilhac as Governor of the Bastille. As was the custom with many senior positions under the Ancien Régime, the marquis purchased the office of governor from his predecessor as a form of investment. The thirteen years that he spent in this position were uneventful, though on 19 December 1778 he reportedly made the mistake of failing to fire the cannon of the Bastille as a salute on the birth of a daughter (Madame Royale) to King Louis XVI. In August 1785 he was given
Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay The besiegers interpreted this as treachery on the part of de Launay. The ensuing fighting lasted about four hours, resulting in about 100 casualties among the exposed crowd but only one death and three wounded amongst the well-protected defenders firing from loopholes and battlements. With no source of water and only limited food supplies within the Bastille, de Launay decided to capitulate on the condition that nobody from within the fortress would be harmed. In a note passed out through an opening in the drawbridge he threatened that he would blow up the entire fortress and the surrounding district if