On 13 July, a crowd of Parisians occupied the Hôtel de Ville, and the Marquis de Lafayette organized the French National Guard to defend the city. On 14 July, a mob seized the arsenal at the Invalides, acquired thousands of guns, and stormed the Bastille, a prison that was a symbol of royal authority, but at that time held only seven prisoners. 87 revolutionaries were killed in the fighting. The governor of the Bastille, the Marquis de Launay, surrendered and then was killed, his head put on the end of a pike and carried around Paris. The provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles, was also murdered.Combeau, Yvan, Histoire de Paris, p. 49. The fortress itself was completely demolished by November, and the stones turned into souvenirs.Sarmant, Thierry, Histoire de Paris, pp. 136–137.
