Louis François Perrin, comte de Précy (14 January 1742 – 25 August 1820[1][2]), was a French nobleman and soldier who lead royalist forces during the Siege of Lyon.

Louis was twelve years old when his mother died and was placed in the care of his uncle, an officer who agreed to take him into the regiment he commanded.

Précy agreed, quite lucidly from the account of the members of the group who came to him and to whom he answered: "Have you thought well about the consequences of a war against the Convention?

Précy himself said of the difficulties encountered:[4] "An immense city, without fortifications, defended by its inhabitants alone, lacking all that is necessary for war, supported a siege of seventy-three days attacked by an implacable enemy, whose leader united all powers and did not fear to use the most odious and destructive means: the fire, the red bullet, the bombardment, treason, slander, perfidy; supported by an army of fifty to sixty thousand men, two-thirds of whom were trained, armed, well provided with food and ammunition of all kind, with a corps of engineers and formidable artillery, a large cavalry – truly all that assures success.

On the same day, Précy attempted a sortie with a cavalry squadron – the last remaining – and repulsed the Convention Army on the other side of the Mulatiere Bridge.

The battlements were destroyed and the city was renamed Ville-Affranchie, meaning "freed community"; though it reassumed its original name in October 1794.

While first exiled in Turin, he met Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, who conferred upon him the rank of maréchal de camp.

He then found himself in Bayreuth under the protection of the King of Prussia, but at the request of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte (in fact Fouche)[note 4] he was arrested on 8 July 1801.

Précy took post and observed the weakness of the Guard but had little time to reform the body before the arrival of Napoleon in Cannes on 1 March 1814.

According to the orders of the Mayor of Lyon, the entrance of the church was draped in black and decorated with the coats of arms of General Précy; All the columns of the vast nave of St. John's were also decorated with mourning drapery, and a catafalque, covered with a rich funeral dais, was placed in the middle of the nave.

"Un comité dont les membres, salariés par l'Angleterre, s'occupent sans cesse des moyens de jeter le trouble dans la république s'est réuni depuis quelque temps à Bayreuth, territoire dépendant de la Prusse.