Nancy affair

[1] During the first half of 1790 a number of acts of disobedience and small scale mutinies occurred in various units, and political associations were created with links to the Jacobins and other parties outside the army.

General François Claude de Bouillé, army commander at Metz, accordingly led 4,500 regular soldiers and national guardsmen to Nancy on 18 August.

Upon arrival at the city on 31 August, de Bouillé issued an ultimatum to a delegation from the mutinous soldiers demanding the release of their officers and the handing over of four ring-leaders.

Antoine-Joseph-Marc Désilles, a junior officer of the Régiment du Roi, stepped in front of a 24-pounder cannon loaded with canister in an attempt to dissuade the mutineers from firing on the government troops.

The effect on popular opinion of these draconian measures was to create widespread sympathy for the mutineers, who were subsequently released in the midst of a large-scale celebration,[6] and to further weaken the discipline and morale of the regular army.