Governor of the Bastille nine years after his birth. He was a Black Musketeer of the King, officer in the Gardes Françaises until 1763-1764, then captain of a cavalry regiment. During the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, De Launay was arrested and escorted to the town hall by one of the leaders of the Revolution, Pierre-Augustin Hulin. In the Place de Greve the furious crowd attacked the escort, assaulting and eventually beheading Governor Launay. After the capture of the fortress, Prosper Soulès assumed the interim duties of acting commander. Governor of the Bastille The Bastille or Bastille Saint-Antoine was completed in
Pierre-Marie-Charles de Bernard du Grail de la Villette Pierre-Marie-Charles de Bernard du Grail de la Villette Pierre-Marie-Charles de Bernard du Grail de la Villette (24 February 1804 – 6 March 1850), better known simply as Charles de Bernard, was a French writer. He was born in Besançon, member of a very ancient family of the Vivarais, was educated at the college of his native city, and studied for the law in Dijon and at Paris. He was awarded a prize by the Académie des Jeux Floraux for his "Une fête de Neron" in 1829. This first success in literature did not prevent him aspiring to the Magistrature, when