Talk:Flight to Varennes

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Translator?
Can some French to English translator take a look at the French version of this page and translate it into the English version? The article is much more substantial in French form. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.129.17.39 (talk) 00:50, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

The French language version of this article is much longer and more helpful, including its Filmography reference: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Nuit_de_Varennes  24.1.67.182 (talk) 01:05, 26 June 2019 (UTC)


 * I’ve added the French-Wikipedia article to the Further reading section in our piece.


 * I’ve left it to everyone else to pick up points from it to copy or quote in the English article, in Notes or in notes on references.


 * Beyond that, contributors can obviously use the French piece as a sort of model / agenda: identifying content tht the English piece might usefully include (or dispute!)  And that’s my main purpose in providing this translation, really.


 * Taking material from the French piece and incorporating it directly in ours wouldn’t really work because there are such differences in encyclopaedic style, citation practice, and handling of sources generally.  (And POV!)  And, as a purely practical matter, an Anglophone contributor would face difficulties, where the material couldn’t be supported from English sources, in getting hold of the original French sources so as to be able to cite them accurately.  (Many of us would then struggle to read them / get any sense of what they say!)


 * Note tht I’d hesitate to call myself a translator!!  And when I started I wasn’t aware of the Wikipedia Translation project.  (Looking at it since, I found it slightly hard to get to grips with, for someone new to the process it supports.)


 * So what I’ve done is run the page source through Google Translate; then gone through the English output for fluency, relying on my schoolchild French to support me in referring to the French where necessary.  I’ve tried to produce an English text which is readable without the style distracting too much.  But I’ve tried to avoid any more general recasting of the article to suit specific English-Wikipedia expectations.  The call from fellow contributors was for translation: not for copy suitable for inclusion in the English article.


 * The surprise has been with the Google output!!  Presumably Translate is a neural-net based affair . . it sometimes offers slightly different translations on successive days!  Beyond that and normal fluency work, rounding off the usual corners on very literal translation, there are the ordinary points of style - de -> of in aristocratic names, for example, and Élisabeth -> Elisabeth, predictable difficulties with wikimarkup - and then puzzles like de Croÿ de Tourzel -> Croz [sic] de Tourzel . . and shocks like 00:15 for 00:35!!!!  (Why Google would knock twenty minutes off Marie Antoinette’s lateness at Rue de l’Échelle is anybody’s guess!)  For transparency, where I substitute my own copy for words / phrases in the Google output (or simply omit redundant words) I have left the Google copy in place but in italic subscript.  Similarly, when I alter Google’s New World spellings back to (British) Old-World usage.    (Punctuation and style - eg commas, capitalisation - I occasionally alter silently.)


 * The effect on the page (the screen!) is pretty clunky.  When I finish I might provide a second copy with the Google gurgle stripped out.


 * The various political groups, key events, documents etc are well known in the Anglophone world.  (The names can be fairly tricky: at one stage both Feuillants and Jacobins called themselves “Societies of Friends of the Constitution” - with the Feuillants helpfully adding a phrase, “meeting at the Feuillants”.)  In many cases there will be a familiar and established English title - which may differ from the translation used here.


 * Similarly, where the French article quotes a French source, and that source has been translated and published in English, if we want to reference the same point from the same source it would make sense to at least compare the French quote with its published English translation and decide which to use.


 * The really interesting challenge in this translation, or rather the fluency work, is the difference of encyclopaedic style between the two Wikipedias.  I have shifted tense, from present to past, treating the ‘vivid present’ as an aspect of French language usage.  (In the chronology it works the opposite way: in a chronology, Anglophone usage allows the present tense, with its advantages of vividity, and clarity of sequence, where the French limits itself punctiliously to past verb-forms!)


 * I would sometimes favor shorter sentences, or would sometimes prefer to split them: but I have stayed with the original.  Paragraphs, too.  Similarly, I would sometimes change the order of sentences but haven’t done so.


 * Wikilinks in the original are to pieces in the French Wikipedia, of course; so are the in-line links in the translation.  (The translation is the French article presented in English: not a draft English article.)  But I’ve used –  interlanguage link to link English counterparts where available (or to show a redlink).


 * Occasionally I have snuck in a new link, where I think it may help - to the English Wikipedia.  Where I’ve done that, I’ve treated it as a substitution - of the linked text - for the unlinked Google Translate text.  That is, the original (unlinked) translation appears too, as italic subscript.


 * Anything in [square brackets] is my own contribution, intended to assist the Anglophone reader.


 * I’ve reformatted citations to suit English-Wikipedia templates slightly better: but I’ve made no consistent effort with this.


 * I don’t understand the usage of « quote marks » in the French article.  I’m nowhere near sufficiently familiar with French textual conventions.  (Could they be merely for emphasis?)  I’ve simply parotted them (in Anglophone form, "thus").


 * Note tht the []File: images in the translation don’t render onscreen.  But they do on Preview in the source editor!  I don’t know whether there’s something strange about images in a Talk page??


 * The other inconvenience from having the translation as a Talk-page section is tht it has no Table of Contents of its own.


 * Note also tht what follows is a derivative work, from the French Wikipedia article, so tht the usual copyleft considerations apply.


 * Here we go! - to part-way on 21_June_1791 so far - with further Notes, on details, following:

Varennes leak Flight to Varennes
thumbnail   | Arrest of Louis XVI in at Varennes June 22, 1791,       print of by :fr: Jean-Louis Prieur (:fr: Musée de la Révolution française).

The Missed Leakage Flight to Varennes :fr: Varennes-en-Argonne#Histoire of :fr: 20 juin and :fr: 21 juin :fr: 1791 '- better known as  leakage of :fr: Varennes-en-Argonne#Histoire  '"or" flight to Varennes "- is an important episode of the :fr: Révolution française during which the King of France :fr: Louis XVI de France his wife :fr: Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche and their immediate family tried to join reach the royalist bastion of :fr: Montmédy from which the king hoped to launch a :fr: contre-révolution and were stopped en route to at Varennes-en-Argonne (Lorraine).

The departure of the royal family of possibility of the royal family leaving :fr: Paris is a recurring project since was continuously in contemplation from :fr: Journées des 5 et 6 octobre 1789 when it was first addressed in council, but this time, the; ultimately the developing situation causes led King Louis XVI to authorizse his entourage and that of Marie Antoinette of Austria, with the first rank working directly with :fr: Axel de Fersen to submit a carefully planned detailed plan for an escape from the :fr: Palais des Tuileries The king is no longer free from his movements king’s movements were controlled and even finds himself, along with his family, he and his family were in effect prisoners of in Paris, placed him and his family under the close supervision of :fr: Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette and of the National Guard. It is indeed La Fayette, as general commander of the :fr: Garde nationale (France) which is in charge of was charged with the protection of the executive but also of its diligent surveillance both protection and close surveillance of the monarch. Moreover, the first person in charge of this departure Accordingly, as the authority first made aware of the king’s absence, he immediately and only orders to send men to all possible destinations, which will lead to the recovery of acted alone in dispatching men in an immediate and exhaustive wide-area search for the king. La Fayette, soon followed supported by the Assembly :fr: Assemblée constituante de 1789#L'Assemblée constituante (1789-1791) elaborates then wrote and defends issued a public communication bulletin of announcing an alleged kidnapping abduction of the king and does not broadcast suppressed the "declaration to all the French", written by Louis XVI to explain his departure from Paris (cf. the political testament of Louis XVI, infra ) king’s :fr: Fuite de Varennes#Le testament politique de Louis XVI On Leaving Paris.

The fFlight of to Varennes will be at the origin of precipitated the split between the club of the Feuillants :fr: club des Feuillants opposed to the overthrow of the king, and the :fr: club des jacobins republicans, associated henceforth thenceforth with :fr: Maximilien de Robespierre

The plan of the escape intention in escaping was to discreetly join secretly unite at the stronghold of :fr: Montmédy to join with the :fr: François Claude de Bouillé general in chief of the troops, :fr: Meuse (département) :fr: Sarre (rivière) and :fr: Moselle (département) co-organizser of the escape. A series of bad applications of this plan will turn this attempt into misjudgments led to failure, which will advance the idea of ​​the establishment of a republic and this in turn brought the idea of ​​the establishment of a republic into prominence.

Background
It has been many For several months since Louis XVI dreamed of had been considering leaving Paris. The escape plan was already ready prepared but the fear of a civil war held him back. Two events will decide Louis XVI to want to take the hand by force developments led to his decision to reassume control of events: :


 * The death of :fr: Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti de Mirabeau (:fr: 2 avril 1791): "the orator of the people" who fought so much to restrict the royal prerogatives to benefit in favour of the Assembly hasd always advocated a middle way between the revolution and the monarchy. He belongs to the category of public men who try to curb tried to restrain the course of events like, along with the other members of the :fr: Club des jacobins (as including his friend :fr: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord and his rival La Fayette); it is from this club that will emanate the decision this club is where the decision later came from to make announce the escape of Varennes for as an abduction. Mirabeau had, since his definitive installation in Paris Since becoming established in Paris, Mirabeau had established conducted secret dealings with the court. "It is [was] a great loss," wrote according to Fersen, "for he was working for them [the royal family] and was beginning to be useful to them and would have helped them in carrying out their project."


 * The :fr: Pâques unconstitutional non-:fr: Constitution civile du clergé :fr: Pâques celebration: the day after :fr: Dimanche des Rameaux (Sunday :fr: 17 avril 1791), the King announcesd that he and his family would go to :fr: Saint-Cloud as the year before previous year, to convalesce and to spend pass the summer season. The radicals understood took this as indicating that he wanted to make his intended to celebrate Easter "unconstitutional" in non-compliance with the [new] Constitution of the Clergy, and from there, no doubt, to escape. They roused a crowd of demonstrators :fr: Place du Carrousel  in the :fr: Place du Carrousel to block barricade his car carriage. The atmosphere was tense, and the royal couple was bathed immersed in insults and obscenities. The sSecond dDivision of the National Guard had joined the rioters. Servants and gentlemen of the Court were ill-treated. The :fr: Louis-Joseph de Montmorency-Laval was put in play threatened. The king put his head through the door out of the carriage door: "It would be astonishing," said he, endeavoring to keep his calm, "that  and remarked, trying to remain calm, that "it would be astonishing if after having given the liberty to the nation :fr: Nuit du 4 août 1789#L'effervescence des événements I was not free myself!   La Fayette tried with Bailly and :fr: Jean Sylvain Bailly tried, in vain, to reason with the disrupters mob.  He La Fayette proposed to the king to proclaim proclaiming martial law and to use the use of force. But Louis the king objected: "I do not want blood poured on me shed on my account". After an hour and a half he resigned himself to returning to the castle with his wife and children.  Easter arriving, At Easter he went to the attended high mass of at :fr: Quartier Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois :fr: Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois de Paris parish held by a curate juror where the priest had sworn according to the new Constitution.  It does not seem that the king has communicated is not thought that the king took communion.

Plan of escape The plan
The first traces evidence of the preparation of for the flight date is from September 1790. It seems that the initial plan was brought The initial plan seems to have been put forward by the :fr: Liste des évêques de Pamiers :fr: Joseph-Mathieu d’Agoult "Leave the To leave his prison of the Les Tuileries and retire pull back to a border post dependent on under the command of M. Bouillé." There, the king would gather troops "as well as those of his subjects who had remained faithful to him and would try to bring back the rest of his people misled by factious led astray by faction." Only if this plan failed, the recourse to the "allies", that is to say the emperor, was was recourse to the "allies", that is to the emperor, to be considered.

The protagonists
The king, who remains the mastermind of nerve-centre for his "trip to Montmedy" as he calls this termed the operation himself, has charged the organization with the following characters tasked the organisation of it to the following staff:


 * fr: Joseph-Mathieu d’Agoult "the initiator of the escape plan";


 * fr: Axel de Fersen "the steward";


 * fr: Joseph Duruey and Jean-Baptiste Tourteau de Septeuil, "the bankers";


 * fr: François Claude de Bouillé "the military";


 * fr: Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil "the diplomat";


 * :fr: Florimond de Mercy-Argenteau "the intermediary with the emperor".


 * :fr: Pierre-Jean de Bourcet knight of the :fr: Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis formerly valet de chambre of of the :fr: Louis-Joseph de France


 * (Nicolas de Malbec de Montjoc, marquis de Briges - no French article) (:fr: 1715 - :fr: 1795), coachman of the car from the Tuileries city coach out of Les Tuileries.

As early as September, the bishop of Pamiers had gone to :fr: Metz to meet Bouillé, commander of the troops of the East Eastern army commander. The latter Bouillé even had the idea of proposed asking the king's allied emperor the emperor, as the king's ally, to advance some troops on the frontier and thus ask for reinforcements from the best regiments move troops to the frontier, from the better regiments, as reinforcements. A letter from Marie Antoinette to Mercy-Argenteau shows attests this demand request for the movement of "allied" troops towards the French border.

To illustrate in what discretionFor further illustration of how secretly this plan was developed, it is enough to read see the memoirs of of the :fr: Louis XVIII. He says he was made aware of the final destination of Louis XVI Louis XVI’s final destination (Montmédy) on June 19th. He also too left Paris on the night of June 20 (he lived in :fr: Petit Luxembourg). Disguised, with an English "passport", he joins reached the "Netherlands" via :fr: Avesnes-sur-Helpe and :fr: Maubeuge

In June 1791 when the king and the royal family left for Montmédy When the king and the royal family left for Montmédy, in June 1791, M. de Bourcet left for Mons, where he had to find was to receive orders, but he was arrested at :fr: Valenciennes  M. de Bourcet tookHe was using the name, the patent, commission, the letters of service, service papers, the passport, and the and uniform of his cousin M. of de Polastre. He was able to leave Paris, but he was known not to be was recognised as not being that officer, and was arrested. He was going to be delivered awaiting transfer to a council of war when the news of the arrest of the royal family reached Valenciennes. M. de Bourcet He escaped and returned to Paris. He was near with the king at the Tuileries Castle on :fr: 20 juin 1792.

The terms of the escape Outline
The principle was to pretend to be the crew household of the Baroness Korff, widow of a Russian colonel traveling to :fr: Francfort-sur-le-Main with two children, a companion, a valet and three servants. A carriage was specially ordered (infra).

The route, chosen by Louis XVI to go to Montmédy, to Montmédy chosen by Louis XVI took the road to :fr: Châlons-en-Champagne At :fr: Somme-Vesle a first detachment of 40 :fr: 5e régiment de hussards under the command of commanded by the :fr: Claude-Antoine-Gabriel de Choiseul would follow the equipped household to Sainte-Menehould where a detachment of the regiment :fr: 1er régiment de dragons would escort directly the sedan provide immediate escort: to at :fr: Clermont-en-Argonne a squadron of the regiment of gentlemen's dragons :fr: 13e régiment de dragons parachutistes [so named in reference to the King’s brother] under the orders of Count Damas would join the sedan. At the exit of On departure from :fr: Varennes-en-Argonne a squadron of the :fr: 5e régiment de hussards would block for twenty-hour possible pursuers prevent any pursuit for 20 hours: the post of :fr: Dun-sur-Meuse would be guarded guardpost at :fr: Dun-sur-Meuse would be held by a squadron of Lauzun hHussars and the regiment of :fr: Régiment Royal-Allemand cavalerie would be stationed at :fr: Stenay The king could thus gain the stronghold of Montmédy reach the fortress at Montmédy where the Marquis de Bouillé would await be expecting him.

In reality, nothing will happen that way what happened was nothing like that. According to many enthusiasts of amateur experts on this event, like - such as :fr: Napoléon Ier (of which a mail whose note on the subject was exhumed of the from archives by the historian :fr: André Castelot),  - the great person responsible for this failure responsible person at fault is the Duc de Choiseul. The latter did not, on the one hand, comply with He failed to follow Bouillé's directives instructionsand, moreover,; he also disrupted the original plan. Thus, he authorizsed officers (who were waiting for a "treasure" to escort understood they were to escort a shipment of valuables) to leave their posts, due to the delay of to the royal cortege party. To do this, he entrusted his instructions to the hairdresser of the queen, :fr: Jean-François Autier who applied them with too much zeal He entrusted the relevant instructions to the queen’s hairdresser, who over-interpreted them. Without this, always according to the word of Napoleon, the face of the world would have been changed In Napoleon’s view, the result changed the face of the world.

Without this disorganization and many delays, the men of La Fayette But for this confusion, and numerous delays, La Fayette‘s men, in pursuit of the convoy royal party, would not have met found :fr: Jean-Baptiste Drouet postmaster of :fr: Sainte-Menehould  The latter He remembered having seen, one hour before, a sedan corresponding to the description and remembered that she was seeing a carriage matching the description an hour earlier, and recalled it as heading towards Varennes. The municipality of Sainte-Menehould sends it sent him with another inhabitant to stop the convoy party. They arrive reached Varennes before the sedan carriage and convince persuaded the local authorities to have the passports scrupulously checked. Blocked part of the night Faced with further loss of time, the king refused that the force was used rejected the use of force (hussars and a part of the population crowd were ready to cover ensure his departure). Louis XVI awaited, in vain, the reinforcement of Bouillé, which should have arrived Instead Louis XVI waited, relying in vain on Bouillé‘s planned reinforcements. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Varennes and many people from the area, alerted by the :fr: Tocsin have local people, and many summoned by :fr: Tocsin from the surrounding area, gathered in Varennes.

The king having thus been delayed, the aide-de-camp of La Fayette, :fr: Jean-Louis Romeuf is (another key man of this arrest) had time to arrive, provided with The delay to the king gave :fr: Jean-Louis Romeuf (La Fayette’s aide-de-camp, and another key man in the arrest) time to arrive, bringing with him a decree of the Assembly ordering the arrest of the royal family. Possessing With the legitimacy of the both the National Guard and the Assembly, he took the ascendancy was nominally in charge. Only, seeing that he did not organize without delay the king's return to Paris, his deputy "patriote" and some local authorities then forced the will of Louis XVI But, dissatisfied that he was not ensuring the king’s immediate return to Paris, his :fr: Patriote (Révolution française) deputy and some others with local authority forced the king’s compliance. At that time, about 10,000 people had clung to Varennes Varennes was crowded at the time with about 10 000 people. Some chanted "In Paris! In Paris ! "Long live the nation! Which exacerbated the tensions Tension was heightened by chants of "To Paris! To Paris!" and "Long live the nation!" Romeuf will be arrested on June 23 next to was subsequently arrested, on June 23, and required to explain his role. He will be was released and will become general and baron of Empire was appointed a General and a Baron of the Empire. His name is engraved on the :fr: Arc de triomphe de l'Étoile

Their passports Identities
Fersen, on behalf of Mme de Korff, solicited from the minister :fr: Armand Marc de Montmorin Saint-Hérem applied to the minister, :fr: Armand Marc de Montmorin Saint-Hérem as if acting on behalf of Mme de Korff, for a :fr: Passeport français that he signed with no without suspicion. The king's signature gave less angst. Here are the borrowing identities of the team members The following are the identities assumed by the members of the household:


 * Louis XVI: M. Durand (steward of to the Baroness of Korff).
 * Marie Antoinette of Austria: Mme. Rochet (governess of Mme. de Korff's children).
 * :fr: Marie-Thérèse de France (1778-1851): one of the girls of Mme. de Korff Mme. de Korff's daughters.
 * fr: Louis XVII another daughter of Mme. of de Korff (he is dressed as a girl).
 * The Marquise :fr: Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ de Tourzel governess of the children of France the king’s children: the Baroness of de Korff.
 * :fr: Élisabeth de France (1764-1794) (sister of Louis XVI): Rosalie, lady of the baroness's company lady companion to the Baroness de Korff.

The three servants pretended servants were gentlemen of Messrs. de Moustier, de Valory and de Malden, gentlemen (former bodyguards dismissed discharged in :fr: 1789). The king had required them to cover themselves with "liveries of mail" wear post livery (in order to anticipate the changes of horses in the relays to arrange the necessary relays of horse). But the choice of their color colour, yellow, was not the most entirely judicious, since it was that of the house of :fr: Principauté de Condé#Liste des princes de Condé the :fr: Principauté de Condé#Liste des princes de Condé who had gone abroad at the beginning of the Revolution, and could only must arouse suspicions in :fr: Argonne (région) where she was well known it was immediately recognisable.

The car carriage
The :fr: 22 décembre 1790, a car likely to hold six people, robust and comfortable is ordered to the coachbuilder Jean Louis, located quai des Quatre-Nations (:fr: Quai Malaquais today Hotel Parabere) An order was placed with Jean Louis, coachbuilder, at the Quai des Quatre-Nations (:fr: Quai Malaquais now Hotel Parabère) on :fr: 22 décembre 1790, for a strong comfortable carriage for six. The body and moldings mouldings of this sedan will be painted were to be green and the train and wheels lemon yellow. It will include  The order included a team of six horses. This demand for "supply" comes It was a "supply" order from Baroness Anna de Korff and it is Fersen who plays the intermediaries, with Fersen acting as intermediary. Throughout the winter, he will have his work pressed  He was overburdened with work throughout the winter. The sedan carriage was completed on :fr: 12 mars 1791, but no one came to pick her up before remained uncollected until :fr: 2 juin It would correspond to a travel vehicle according to the custom to make a long journey The carriage was of ordinary type for distance travel (this sedan also served diligence, ensuring the Paris - :fr: Dijon until :fr: 1795 date on which it was destroyed in a fire and was later used as a stagecoach, Paris - :fr: Dijon until destroyed in a fire in :fr: 1795). The specialist historian of Louis XVI, :fr: Paul et Pierrette Girault de Coursac dares the following historian :fr: Paul et Pierrette Girault de Coursac a specialist in Louis XVI, offers the following comparison: "it can be described as thought of as a beautiful :fr: Mercedes-Benz but certainly not of a :fr: Rolls-Royce Limited  Three "bodyguards" accompany would accompany the royal family: Malden, Vallory and Moutier.  They will be coachmen or will ride would ride as coachmen or in front of or next to the sedan carriage to prepare arrange the relays.  Michelet sees here one of the reasons for the failure of the flight: the queen had chosen herself her chose the bodyguards herself, privileging the dedication to and put devotion above competence.  The same goes for may be said of the choice of Fersen and Choiseul (barely 22 years old) Choiseul (barely 22 [sic; actually he was 31] years old) and Fersen as organizsers of the escape plan. Although extremely loyal, they are were nonetheless incompetent not competent and and were very inexperienced for a mission of this nature.

The Tuileries exit Leaving Les Tuileries  - June 20, 1791
It was at Fersen that the organization of the Tuileries came back Organisation of the process of leaving Les Tuileries fell to Fersen. The historian André Castelot emphasizses the difficulty of secretly leaving a palace (which he describes as he describes it as a :fr: Caravansérail) where many people slept on layers on the floor with numbers of people sleeping on bedding literally on the ground. The men of Lafayette, who had engaged on his head that the king did not try to escape, were vigilant La Fayette’s men were vigilant, fully committed to ensuring that the king did not attempt an escape.

To leave the Tuileries to join a "city car" (small car) parked street of Scales, it is necessary, after conducting the ceremony of the bed (reduced but still in force in 1791), to know the movements of the sentinels Leaving Les Tuileries to reach a city coach waiting in the [Rue de l’Échelle], after the :fr: Étiquette à la cour de France#L'étiquette d'octobre 1789 à 1792 (still observed, in reduced form, in 1791), the sentinels' movements had to be established. Quickly disguised, the king, the and queen, the governess accompanied by with the Dauphin and Madame Royale, the Marquise and Madame Elizabeth then leave the palace in the direction of the city-dweller whose city coach; the coachman is the Marquis de Briges. The latter De Briges and Fersen take them the group via the :fr: Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin to :fr: Rotonde de la Villette  It is This was reached at 1:20. This has gone without a hitch, since the leaders of the fence celebrate  There is no difficulty there, as those normally manning the gate are celebrating the wedding of one of them. Once out of the capital, everyone goes down to settle in the saloon that awaits them the party transferred to the carriage waiting with the three valets in livery - of the Prince de Condé! Fersen can then say goodbye then took his leave of the party.

22:30 hours
Marie Antoinette's two chambermaids, Madame Brunier and Madame Neuville, the first ladies of First Ladies-in-Waiting to Madame and the Dauphin, left the Tuileries leave Les Tuileries for :fr: Claye-Souilly where they were are to join the royal saloon carriage.

At the same time, in the Argonne (and in the :fr: Marne (département)), 180 dragoons under the command of colonel of Damascus, canton to commanded by Colonel de Damas quarter for the night at Clermont-in-Argonne and the neighboring neighbouring village of :fr: Auzéville-en-Argonne. 40 hussars of Lauzun, Lauzun hHussars commanded by sSecond lLieutenant Boudet quarter at Sainte-Ménéhould. They must are to join the next day :fr: Somme-Vesle first relay at :fr: Somme-Vesle the first post relay after Châlons-en-Champagne.

22 hours 50 22:50
Axel de Fersen takes from :fr: Palais des Tuileries the Dauphin (future :fr: Louis XVII), his sister, :fr: Marie-Thérèse de France (1778-1851) and their governess, :fr: Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ de Tourzel brings the Dauphin (future :fr: Louis XVII), his sister, :fr: Marie-Thérèse de France (1778-1851) and their governess, :fr: Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ de Tourzel out of :fr: Palais des Tuileries  He makes a tour of the :fr: Palais du Louvre by the docks circles the :fr: Palais du Louvre via the river quays and returns to position rue de l'Echelle next to the Louvre while waiting take up position in the Rue de l'Échelle, next to the Louvre, waiting for the king, the and queen and Elizabeth Élisabeth.

23 hours 30 23:30
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette pretend to go to bed retire according to the usual ceremonial. La Fayette and Romeuf came for the usual come for a normal courtesy visit, thus delaying the end of the bedtime ceremony.

Midnight ten 00:10
Louis XVI, disguised as a valet de chambre, gets into valet de chambre, boards the "city car" parked near the Tuileries, rue de l'Echelle city coach waiting in the Rue de l'Échelle, near Les Tuileries. There he finds his sister, :fr: Élisabeth de France (1764-1794) and Marie-Antoinette ; Marie-Antoinette who joins him them at 0:15 00:35. Marie-Antoinette was She has been lost in the meanders of the meandering streets surrounding the :fr: Palais du Louvre  According to Michelet, Choiseul had reserved the last place for one of his henchmen one seat is to be occupied by one of Choiseul's troopers. :fr: Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ de Tourzel argues that in her capacity as governess she took an is under oath not to leave the children and that he must give up her place the seat. Louis XVI will intercede intercedes at his her request and the soldier will be is forced to get off the car left behind. For To Michelet, who sees this as one of the reasons for the failure of the escape, the expeditionloses is losing a competent man and knowing familiar with the country, for the benefit of in exchange for a useless woman woman without relevant skills.

1 hour 50 01:50
The royal family reaches the sedan with distance carriage an hour and a half behind schedule.

2 hours 30 02:30
First stint change of horses at :fr: Bondy Axel de Fersen who had accompanied, accompanying the royal family, leaves her them.

4 hours 04:00
A cabriolet carriage with the two maids chambermaids joineds the royal sedan carriage at :fr: Claye-Souilly

7 hours 07:00

 * See also:

The valet de chambre valet de chambre realizses that Louis XVI is not in the room at the Tuileries his room at Les Tuileries and in the place of the king he finds, left by his care, the text positioned in place of the king he finds a document, "Declaration of Louis XVI to all the French on leaving Paris": A 16-page handwritten document written 16 pages handwritten by the king in the days preceding his departure, considered "the political testament of Louis XVI". This text will be censored on the moment The document is suppressed at the time by :fr: Gilbert du Motier de La Fayettethen subsequently by the Assembly, which will not diffuse never released it. It was never known to the French not disclosed to the nation, or broadcast published in its entirety, during the revolutionary era. On the one hand, Louis XVI stigmatizses the :fr: Club des jacobins and their growing influence on French society. On the other hand, he explains his will: lays out his ambition, for a constitutional monarchy, with a powerful and autonomous executive executive, autonomous vis-à-vis the Assembly. This major historical document, traditionally called referred to as "the political testament of Louis XVI", was rediscovered in May :fr: 2009   He is at the  It [was held in the collection of the now-defunct] :fr: Musée des lettres et manuscrits in Paris. The king comments his feeling on the Revolution, criticizes certain consequences without however rejecting the important reforms like :fr: Nuit du 4 août 1789 gives his feelings on the Revolution, criticising some of its consequences but without rejecting the key reforms, such as :fr: Nuit du 4 août 1789

The Comte de Provence (future :fr: Louis XVIII) leaves Paris in the early morning with his friend Avaray d’ Avaray and arrives without any difficulty by :fr: Maubeuge and :fr: Avesnes-sur-Helpe in :fr: Mons in :fr: Belgique, reaching :fr: Mons in :fr: Belgique without difficulty via :fr: Maubeuge and :fr: Avesnes-sur-Helpe  From there he won goes on to :fr: Marche-les-Dames where he will learn later later learns of the arrest of his brother Louis XVI.

8 hours 08:00
The news of the departure of Louis XVI is spreading in Paris In Paris news is spreading that Louis XVI has gone. The Constituent Assembly, after hesitating between flight or abduction, declares that it he has been "kidnapped abducted".

10 hours 10:00
60 hussars of the :fr: 5e régiment de hussards under the orders of the commanded by Second Lieutenant :fr: Röhrig (officier du le régiment de hussards de Lauzun) are confined to have been cantoned at the convent of the Les Cordeliers at :fr: Varennes-en-Argonne : they are there present since :fr: 8 juin with a main detachment on 19 June since 19 June, reinforcing a presence since :fr: 8 juin A detachment of 100 hussars under the command of Squadron Leader :fr: Calixte Deslon commanded by :fr: Calixte Deslon as squadron leader holds the position of occupies the position at :fr: Dun-sur-Meuse at 24 km of 24 km from Varennes: a detachment of 40 hussars is entrusted to the sSecond lLieutenant :fr: Jean Boudet under the orders of with orders from the :fr: Claude-Antoine-Gabriel de Choiseul to welcome the royal family to take the royal party under protection at :fr: Somme-Vesle at the exit of when they leave :fr: Châlons-en-Champagne The sedan arrives at carriage reaches :fr: Viels-Maisons  tThe innkeeper François Picard recognizses the king. Postillions and grooms Mews workers are made aware.

11 hours 11:00
The royal cars carriages stop at :fr: Montmirail (Marne) They are three hours behind schedule. In Paris, :fr: Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette sends letters couriers in all directions to arrest the royal family. In :fr: Sainte-Menehould and :fr: Clermont-en-Argonne the population is worried about the arrival of the riders populace is disturbed at the presence of the dragoons; the National Guard takes up arms its weapons.


 * Notes:


 * “An important episode of the French Revolution”: If I were author rather than translator, I think I’d identify this episode differently, as its turning-point.  And the article says why: it sprung the idea of a Republic out of the coffee-houses onto the generally-recognised agenda.  (It also reports Napoleon as writing of “changing the face of the world”!)


 * Enlèvement (Google: kidnapping / abduction): Google uses both English terms, in different places, for the same word in French!  I’ve chosen “abduction” as the more encyclopaedic (at least according to Anglophone ideas!) - and as avoiding anachronism.


 * “The non-constitutional Easter celebration” (Les « Pâques inconstitutionnelles »; Google: Easter unconstitutional): the term I’ve used is my own.  Very likely some other phrase is established in Anglophone historiography; the allusion is to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 July 1790).  And the link in the French article, to the Quartier of Saint-Cloud must obviously be a mistake: the intent being the church.


 * Pont-de-Somme-Vesle: mentioned as a post relay; presumably the bridge on the Vesle, east of the village of Somme-Vesle.  I’ve presented it as a place-name (as in the original).  But perhaps it's just a phrase and should be translated, as “the bridge at (or outside) Somme-Vesle”.


 * #The protagonists: the link to 20 Juin (20 June) 1792 should probably be to Journée du 20 juin 1792 (Day of June 20, 1792).


 * Choiseul’s age, stated in the original as 22: unsourced, and apparently a miscalculation.  The year of birth is given as 1760 in Encyc Brit 1911 and (full date-of-birth, also unsourced) in WP (fr + en).


 * “Gate at la Villette” (la barrière de la Villette): I imagine barrier is the usual translation, following the French barrière: to our readership, in this context, it would suggest streetblocks and cobblestones.  It’s a city gate (though established in the modern period, for taxation, rather than as mediaeval defence), and I have preferred that term.


 * berline (Google: berlin / sedan), and voiture: again, Google gurgles variants indiscriminately; I’ve tried to stick with “carriage”, for both terms in the original French.


 * “This demand for "supply"” (Google; French “Cette demande de « fourniture »”: I don’t understand what point is being made (emphasised?) in the French.  I’ve simply said “It was a "supply" order”, hoping someone else has better grasp!


 * “Retirement ceremony” (Google: ceremony of the bed): again, the phrase is mine; there’s probably an established term I’m unaware of.  I’ve included a link mentioning the relevant French-Wikipedia article.


 * Rue des Échelles: I’ve substituted the current name (rue de l’Échelle).  It’s used elsewhere in the French article, and I think this plural form is probably simply a mistake.


 * “Marie Antoinette's two chambermaids, .. First Ladies-in-Waiting to Madame and the Dauphin”: can anyone do better with the niceties?  I’m not at all sure chambermaid is UK Court usage, (for femme de chambre); and I gather the English Court distinguishes Ladies- from Women-In-Waiting: so maybe First can be dropped - maybe Ladies carries enough force?  (And am I right tht Madame is the king’s daughter, not his sister? - I’m not certain enough to provide a clarifying link.)


 * Röhrig: I would have liked to make this a redlink on the French side. The original has a link for the name, but there is no French article on the officer.  (The link is to a disambiguation page, which does not mention him.)  Technical details make it impossible.


 * Squadron leader (Deslon): a role not a rank, so I’ve presented it that way.


 * - SquisherDa (talk) 09:50, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Minor mends to lede, updates to Notes and Background section
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 17:43, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Article title added (!); + Escape plan: intro paragraph + first subsection (Protagonists)
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 12:30, 28 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Escape plan: second section (Outline of events); updates to Notes
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 14:41, 29 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Escape plan: third section (The passports used)
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 07:31, 30 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Escape plan: fourth section (The carriage), + Notes, + some revised phrasing in previous section
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 22:46, 30 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Escape plan: fifth section (Leaving Les Tuileries)
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 07:29, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Reworking links, so both language Wikipedias are available: progress part way;
 * + Notes updates + minor text tweaks; + repositioning Reflist
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 18:55, 4 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Both-language links completed (+ minor revisions)
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 08:30, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Minor revisions, + chronology: 20-June, 22:30
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 17:15, 12 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Chronology: rest of 20-June
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 20:00, 12 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Sorting out headings, and some text revisions
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 10:09, 17 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Revisions inc to section titles, + 21-June -07:00
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 12:39, 18 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Text revisions, and rewrite of Notes
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 23:36, 24 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Revisions to text + Notes; more chronology
 * - SquisherDa (talk) 00:33, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Count of Provence
"The king's eldest brother, the Count of Provence…" was recently and anonymously changed to "The king's youngest brother, the Count of Provence…" Given anonymity, lack of citation, and lack of edit summary, I suspect random vandalism, but I'm not sure. -- Jmabel | Talk July 9, 2005 05:47 (UTC)
 * Judging by Louis XVIII of France, this was, indeed, random vandalism. Reverting. -- Jmabel | Talk July 9, 2005 05:48 (UTC)

My guess is, this was one of those cases where a good-faith blunder comes across as vandalism - but was only carelessness / muddled thinking (combined with impulsive, anonymous editing!)

I reckon the contributor (saying “youngest”) meant “younger” - was confused by the thought tht Louis XVI, as king, (1) inherited normally, as eldest son, and so (2) couldn’t have any elder brothers. Well, right, yeah: but he could have brothers; and one of them might be the eldest (fairly much sure to be, really, if there are more than one); and thatz what we meant.

What we meant was clear (to us): but clearly we lost our reader. Not a practical problem now. The relevant text seems to have gone from the article. But an interesting little case study!

- SquisherDa (talk) 09:56, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

Nearly complete rewrite without discussion
I would like to point out that in the last 3 months this article has seen an almost complete rewrite with no discussion and virtually no edit summaries. Since the earlier article was largely my version, I'll just suggest that someone might want to look at the earlier version for some material to incorporate back. It does not look to me like this was done by any rational process: vandals removed large portions, other people removed the obviously vandalistic passages but did not restore the missing text, people wrote other stuff, etc. - Jmabel | Talk 21:39, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * @Jmabel, do you feel tht this has now been sorted out? or are there still aspects / elements from your original version still missing from / not reflected in the article as it now stands?


 * - SquisherDa (talk) 15:36, 15 July 2019 (UTC)

Lede
The lede does not summarise the main article, and is about three times too long in proportion.

Some items could be transferred, but I think it’s the main article that needs lengthening by a good deal. The main article begins: ‘Louis XVI's indecisive response was one of the causes of the forcible transfer of the royal family…’ Response to what? Obviously this was meant to follow an important section of copy that has since been deleted. Other editors have commented on the overall length of the article, compared to the French-language version. Time for an expert review, I suggest. Valetude (talk) 14:41, 12 December 2020 (UTC)