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
Chateau and Seigneurie de Launay the latter being a royal vassalage. In 1455 the Seigneurie of Launay passed to Jehan de Bernay who, like Pierre de Milon, was Seneschal to Montfort. Letters from 1509, 1510, and 1527 make reference to Pierre de Bernay (likely the son of Jehan) as Seigneur de Launay. A rather melodramatic history involving Pierre survives in several sources. In 1523 de Bernay hid Gabrielle d’ Harcourt (age 14 years) at Launay on behalf of his friend Comte (count) Charles de Coesmes, Seigneur de Lucé. Charles was widowed when Gabrielle's older sister, his first wife, died a few months earlier. According to