GARDE NATIONALE PARISIENNE (PARIS NATIONAL GUARD). AN ORIGINAL, EARLY FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD ENLISTMENT WARRANT, appointing Jean Louis Gerinet a Guardsman in the 2nd (Deuxieme) Guard Company, 5th Division of the 3rd Battalion Paris National Guard, dated 1st September 1789. Printed, on velum, black text with ornate trophy of arms around, and manuscript additions, red wax seal, indistinctly signed at bottom left by the commanding officer of that battalion (Commandant du dit Bataillon), Geoffroy de Charnoily (?), and indistinctly countersigned at bottom right by the battalion's second-in-command (Aide-Major), Dulay (?), dated 1st September 1789 "premier Septembre mil sept ent quatrevingt neuf"
11.5 inches x 10 inches ( 295 x 253mm) horizontal approx.
Good condition, mounted for display in an old glazed ebonized wooden frame, the frame 13 inches x 11.25 inches approx
Warrant accompanied by biographical details for Guardsman Gerinet and copied research re. the Paris National Guard.
Jean Louis Gerinet was born 15/3/1753 in the parish of Saint-Outrillet, Bourges, France. At the time of enlistment Gerinet confirmed that he was born in the parish of Saint-Outrillet, Bourges, and stated that he was 36 years of age.
The creation of the Paris National Guard of 1789 was announced on 13th July 1789, two months prior to Guerinet enlisting. Inaugurated as a citizens’ militia following rioting in Paris after Louis XVI sacked his Minister for Finance and State, it was originally raised to protect the people of Paris and their property from criminal elements. However, it quickly evolved into a revolutionary citizens militia. On the day after the formation of the Paris National Guard was announced, 14th July 1789, the search for weapons to arm the new militia led to an attack on the Paris town hall, the Hotel des Invalides and the storming of the Bastille.
The Paris National Guard of 1789 was composed of 60 battalions, each of which was named after the Paris district in which they were raised, the 3rd Battalion being recruited from the Saint-Andre-des-Arcs district (the present-day Saint-Andre-des-Arts) in central Paris, a few blocks from the Ile de Paris. Saint-Andre-des-Arcs, one of the most disturbed districts in Paris in 1789, was also the location of the workshop where the first prototype of the guillotine was later built and tested.
Many of the early recruits to the Paris National Guard were former members of the French Royal Guards Regiment. When the French Revolution broke out only 600 of the 3,600 men in the six Royal Guards Regiment remained loyal to the king, the remainder mutinying and playing a leading role in the events of 14th July, including the storming of the Bastille. Subsequently, on 21st July 1789, Louis XVI, in an attempt to restore order, authorised the transfer of the six battalions of the Guards Regiment to the newly raised Paris National Guard. The Guards Regiment was subsequently disbanded on 31/8/1789. On the following day its officers and men transferred to the Paris National Guard, on the same day that Gerinet was appointed a member of the Paris National Guard, perhaps indicating that he had seen service with the Royal Guards Regiment prior to being appointed to the Paris National Guard.
Bourges is a commune in central France, the capital of the Department of Cher.
