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
Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny Gaspard Augustin René Bernard de Marigny (2 November 1754 in Luçon – 10 July 1794 in Combrand) was a French officer and Vendéen general. Bernard de Marigny was a cousin and friend of Louis Marie de Lescure, whose wife Victoire de Donnissan de La Rochejaquelein wrote the following about him : "He was a handsome man, of high stature and great physical strength ; he was gay, spiritual, loyal and brave. I had never seen someone more obliging : he was always ready to please others ; to such an extent that I remember that