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
Charles de Bernard de Marigny Charles de Bernard de Marigny Charles-René-Louis, vicomte de Bernard de Marigny (1 February 1740 in Sées – 25 July 1816 in Brest) was a French vice admiral, grand-cross of the ordre de Saint-Louis and commander of the Brest fleet. Born the fourth boy of an eight-child, old-but-poor family from Normandy, Marigny was destined to an ecclesiastic career; he was soon sent to Sées seminary. However, his temperament inclined him more to adventure; and at age 14 he escaped the seminary to find refuge with his older brother, who served with the "gardes de la marine" in Rochefort. Marigny broke relations