With the declaration of war on Austria in April 1792, the National Guard was organized in July, and two bells and the steeple cross were brought down to be sent for casting. Similarly, Saint-Blaise chapel was used to store fodder for the Army of the Alps and, in September, sixteen Barrêmois volunteers joined the army. On the proclamation of the Republic on 21 September, two oak trees were planted as a tree of liberty for one and a "tree of brotherhood" for the second.