town with four companies of republican volunteers, in full knowledge of
the hatred that existed between the pious, royalist townspeople and his
rural guardsmen.
On Easter Sunday 8 April 1792 a group of priests who had refused to
swear an oath of primary loyalty to the French republic held a service in
the officially dissolved convent of St Francis and announced a religious
procession - actually a political demonstration under another name - for
the following day. At 5 p.m. Napoleon, hearing of disturbances around
the cathedral, took a platoon of his men to investigate. Outside the
cathedral he found a hostile mob who, it transpired, had already disarmed
another platoon of volunteers and taken their muskets. When Napoleon
heard of this, he demanded the weapons back and an angry altercation
ensued. Suddenly a shot rang out and Lieutenant Rocca della Serra of the
volunteers fell dead. Napoleon and his men rushed for cover, then made
their way back to their headquarters by back streets.
It did not take a man of any great military talent, let alone Napoleon's
superlative gifts, to work out that the key to the control of Ajaccio lay in
command of the citadel. The snag was that this stronghold was held by a
Colonel Maillard, commanding 400 men of the 42nd Infantry Regiment,
and both commander and troops were loyal to Louis XVI. Napoleon
went to see Maillard, who predictably proved uncooperative. Napoleon's
argument was that his men were in mortal danger from angry
townspeople and needed to take refuge in the citadel or at the very least
to have access to the ammunition there. Maillard not only refused to
accept either of these points but ordered Q!Ienza and Napoleon to
withdraw their volunteers from the town centre to the Convent of St
Francis.
Napoleon responded by getting from his friend, the procureur-syndic of
the district, an order overruling any orders issued by Maillard or the
municipality. The procureur did so, adding the rider that Maillard was
duty bound to protect the volunteers. Maillard, however, was adamant
that he would accept only the orders of the municipality. Despite the
version of those who try to present Napoleon as a Machiavellian bully in
this incident, it is quite clear that he had the law on his side.
Napoleon and Qu enza refused to withdraw but offered a compromise.
If Maillard withdrew his proviso about the volunteers' retreating to the
convent of St Francis, they for their part would show good will by
sending home the particular individuals in the National Guard most
objected to by the townspeople. Maillard grudgingly accepted this, but
Napoleon followed up the offer by surreptitiously extending his control
in the town. The armed royalists in the town and the volunteers now
marcin
(Marcin)
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