André Désilles Explained

André Désilles
Birth Date:11 March 1767
Birth Place:Saint-Malo, France
Death Place:Nancy, France
Branch: French Army
Rank:Lieutenant
Unit:Régiment du Roi

André (or Antoine-Joseph-Marc[1]) Désilles (11 March 1767, Saint-Malo - 17 October 1790, Nancy) was a junior French army officer during the early stages of the French Revolution. In 1790 he was a lieutenant in the Régiment du Roi infanterie which together with the Mestre-de-Camp Cavalry and the Swiss Régiment de Lullin de Chateauvieux comprised the regular garrison of Nancy in north-eastern France. All three regiments mutinied against their officers in August of that year in what came to be known as the Nancy affair. On 31 August 1790, Désilles was mortally wounded whilst throwing himself in front of a cannon in a vain hope of stopping the outbreak of fighting between the mutineers and troops sent to restore order under General de Bouillé. Nancy's Porte Désilles is named after him.

Sources

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=KwUJAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA5-PA830 Nouvelle Biographie Générale p.830-831