François Hanriot (1761 – July 28, 1794) was a French leader and street orator of the Revolution. He played a vital role in the Insurrection and subsequently the fall of the Girondins.
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François Hanriot was born to poor parents in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris.[1] His parents were servants to a Parisian bourgeoise[2] which most likely helped influence his support of the Revolution later in life.
Not a man of any specific profession, Hanriot held a variety of different jobs. He lost his first employment with a procureur doing mostly secretarial work, but lost his position due to reasons of dishonesty. Next, he obtained a clerkship in the Paris octroi in 1789 doing tax work. His position here was also ill-fated, as he was again fired after leaving his station the night of 12 July 1789, when angry Parisians attempted to burn the building down. After his string of unfortunate professions, Hanriot remained unemployed and subsequently very poor.[3] His next string of occupations is rather hazy in history; many people of the time connect him to a variety of professions including a shopkeeper, a peddler, and a stint as a soldier in America serving under Lafayette (whom he would later speak against to other patriot sans-culottes). He was eventually an orator for a local section of sans-culottes.
After generating a more substantial fortune and moving to Rue de la Clef, a Parisian quarter inhabited by royalists and sans-culottes alike, in January 1793, Hanriot soon became well known for his anti-aristocratic outlook. He was strongly in favor of imposing taxes on the aristocracy, presenting them "with a bill in one hand and a pistol in the other." With this attitude he gained a loyal following of local sans-culottes and they would adopt him as their section leader in the September Massacres later that year. It is during those riots that he was supposedly the man who ripped the innards from Princesse de Lamballe, Queen Marie Antionette's friend and servant.[4]
His involvement in the September Massacres secured his place as a soldier in the Parisian National Guard, gradually rising up to the rank of captain.[5] His position here seemed to remain stagnate, until the night of 30 May 1793. Overnight, Hanriot was promoted from a regular captain to the position of "Commandant-General" of the Parisian National Guard by the council of the Paris Commune.[6] This placed thousands of men under his command, making him a very formidable force in Paris.
On the following morning, 31 May 1793, he was chosen by the Paris Commune to lead the Parisian National Guard to the National Convention and demand the dissolution of the Committee of the Twelve and the arrest of select Girondists. There were twenty-two chosen members that the Commune, mostly selected by Jean-Paul Marat, that were to be taken into custody. Hanriot was to lead the National Guard, demand the accused to exit, and prevent bloodshed. The deputies of the Convention only came out after Hanriot threatened to burn the entire building down. When they exited, the deputies were prepared to fight. However, the Paris National Guard was also prepared to fire on any who opposed them. The intimidated deputies went back inside, and formally voted to hand over the accused in three days. Though some members of the Paris Commune thought the events of 31 May to be a waste of time, it actually proved to be an important turning point in the forming of the Republic. Paris had avoided another mass riot, like that of the September Massacres, preserving hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of lives. It was one of the first “peaceful” negotiations to take place during that tumultuous time.
Instead of waiting the agreed three days, the Commune decided to take the selected Girondin into custody on 2 June. The Commune, however, was skeptical of the safety of the Convention, worried about any moderate supporters who may deter them from making the arrest. As a solution, Hanriot had close to 100,000 men organized to surround Tuileries Palace; only about five thousand of those troops were Hanriot’s select troops that knew what was going on. The rest are said to have been clueless as to why they were there. Every possible exit was blocked and with so many guardsmen, there would be little room for a riot to break loose. As the president of the Convention came out, he was reluctant to hand over the Girondin. Hanriot said nothing, but stoically waved to his guard, a signal to draw their weapons. The president, realizing his perilous situation, then agreed to (again) to hand over them over. The Girondin had fallen, thanks to Hanriot.[7]
On 11 June he resigned his command, declaring that order had been restored. On 13 June he was impeached by the Convention, but the motion was not carried, and on 1 July he was elected by the Commune permanent Commander of the Armed Forces of Paris. His fame in the eyes of Parisians would not last long though.
As Hanriot was a self-proclaimed Robespierrist, the fall of Maximilien Robespierre near the end of the Terror marked the end for Hanriot as well. On 27 July 1794 Hanriot was meeting with members of the Commune when the warrant for Robespierre’s arrest was issued. With other members, he set out to rally the sections in an attempt to stop what he saw to be a counter-revolution. The Commune then ordered the closest followers of Robespierre to be arrested as well. His arrest was decreed, but he had already sounded the tocsin, the city's alarm system, and went to rescue Robespierre, who was under arrest in the hall of the Committee of General Security.
The handful of troops that had organized was not enough to keep Hanriot safe and he was captured and put with Robespierre in the Place de Greve. More troops rallied and were able to rescue Hanriot, who only ordered for another attempt to save Robespierre. After Robespierre was saved, he, Hanriot, and others were sentenced to immediate execution upon arrest. When the Convention’s forces discovered their hiding place in the Hôtel de Ville the men did everything imaginable to avoid capture. While one committed suicide, and Robespierre attempted it, Hanriot was pushed out a side window only to be knocked unconscious and found the following day in a pile of manure. He was taken to the guillotine shortly after Robespierre on 28 July 1794, only semi-conscious when they led him to the platform.[8]