Antoine Joseph Santerre

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Antoine Joseph Santerre (16 March 1752 – 6 February 1809) was a French revolutionary.

Born in Paris to a family of brewers, his generosity won great popularity in Faubourg St. Antoine. When the revolution erupted in 1789, he was given command of a battalion of the National Guard and participated in the storming of the Bastille.

After the affair of the Champ de Mars (17 July, 1791) a warrant was issued for his arrest and Santerre went into hiding. He emerged again the following year to lead the people of Faubourg St. Antoine in the assault on the Tuileries. Nevertheless, he protected the royal family from mob violence and on 7 August even attempted to bring about a reconciliation between the monarchy and the people, only to have his efforts frustrated by Marie Antoinette.

Santerre was later made commander-in-chief of the National Guard. In an effort to relieve the famine, he proposed that everyone should live two days a week on potatoes and hang their dogs. He was also appointed by the Convention to serve as warder to Louis XVI. During that time he did all that he could to his power to alleviate the king's imprisonment and eventually notified Louis that a death sentence had been passed against him. There are differing accounts of his conduct at the execution itself. According to some, he ordered a drum roll to drown out the king's voice. Santerre's family maintained, however, that he actually silenced the drums so that Louis could speak to the people, but that General J. F. Berruyer, in command of the execution, ordered the drums to beat so as to drown out the king's final words.

On 23 October, Santerre was appointed marchal de camp and was subsequently promoted to general of a division. In May 1793, he was temporarily replaced as commander of the National Guard in Paris, so that he might take command of a force which he had organized to operate in La Vendé. He was not as successful as a military commander in the field; his first military operation saw the defeat of the Republican forces at Saumur. After the battle, reports circulated that Santerre himself had been killed; the royalists even composed a humorous epitaph about his death. Nor was Santerre popular among the sans-culottes he commanded. Wounded soldiers returning to Paris reported that he was living in Oriental luxury and complained that their defeat was due either to his treason or his incompetence. Some demanded that he be relived of his command or even sent to the guillotine. On the other hand, Santerre was not in supreme command, and not considered responsible for the outcome of the war. In fact, Santerre succeeded in distinguishing himself in various other operations.

In October, Santerre returned to Paris, where his popularity in the Faubourg St. Antoine was undiminished. Nevertheless, his report on this expedition, in which he drew attention to the plight of the Republican army in the Vendé, aroused suspicion. Accused of being a royalist, he was imprisoned until the fall of Robespierre. Upon his release, he resigned his command and attempted to return to business, but his brewery was ruined. He died in poverty in Paris on 6 February 1809.