Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay Bernard René Jourdan, marquis de Launay (1740–1789) was the French governor of the Bastille, the son of a previous governor, and commander of its garrison when the prison-fortress in Paris was stormed on 14 July 1789 ("see Storming of the Bastille"). The marquis Bernard-René Jordan de Launay was born on the night of 8/9 April 1740 in the Bastille where his father, René Jourdan de Launay, was governor. At the age of eight he was appointed to an honorary position in the King's Musketeers ("mousquetaires du roi"). He subsequently entered the French Guards ("gardes-françaises"), a regiment
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