View source for Siege of Lyon

{{one source|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox Military Conflict
| conflict          = Siege of Lyon
| partof            = the [[Federalist revolts]] during the [[War of the First Coalition]]
| campaign          = 
| image             = File:Siege of Lyon (1793).jpg
| caption           = [[Revolt of Lyon against the National Convention]]
| date              = 9 August - 9 October 1793
| place             = [[Lyon]], [[France]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|45.758|4.841|display=inline,title}}
| result            = French Republican victory
| combatant1        = {{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[French First Republic|French Republic]]
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Kingdom of France}} French royalists
| commander1        = [[Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois-Crancé|Dubois-Crancé]]
| commander2        = [[Louis François Perrin de Précy]]
| strength1         = 35,000
| strength2         = {{circa|20,000}}
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
}}
{{Campaignbox French Revolutionary Wars Royalist Revolts}}

[[Image:Louis François Perrin de Précy.jpg|thumb|left|top|250px|[[:fr:Louis François Perrin de Précy|Louis François Perrin de Précy]], leader of the Lyon insurgents, painted by [[:fr:Jean-Joseph Dassy|Jean-Joseph Dassy]].|alt=]]

The '''siege of Lyon''' occurred on 9 August to 9 October 1793 when French Republican forces laid siege and captured the city of [[Lyon]], which was the centre of [[Revolt of Lyon against the National Convention|a revolt against the French government]] during the [[War of the First Coalition]].

==Historical background==
The [[Army of the Alps]], under the command of [[François Christophe de Kellermann|Kellermann]], was engaged in a campaign in [[Savoy]] against the [[Kingdom of Sardinia|Piedmontese]] when it received the assignment to head west in order to re-establish central government authority in [[Lyon]], and was able to turn its attention to its new mission only a month later, on 10 August 1793. Two days after that, on 12 August 1793, [[Rhône-et-Loire|the rebellious department]] was split into two, creating on the western side of [[Rhone|the river]] the department of [[Loire]] with its capital at [[Feurs]] and, on the eastern side, the department of [[Rhône (department)|Rhône]]. Just over a week later, on 21 August, the [[National Convention|Paris government]] sent to Lyon a high level team that included [[Georges Couthon]], a leading member of the [[Committee of Public Safety]] and a close colleague of [[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre]] himself. The next day the [[Army of the Alps|revolutionary army]] began its bombardment. During September Lyon was encircled, and on 29 September 1793, on the south-western side of the city, the fort at [[Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon|Sainte-Foy]] was destroyed.<ref name="Suratteau691">Jean-René Suratteau, « Lyon », in [[Albert Soboul]], ''Dictionnaire historique de la Révolution française'', 2005, p. 691.</ref>

==The siege==
On 3 October 1793 Couthon called upon the Lyonnais to surrender, and a truce was observed until 7 October. The various representatives leading the city held a succession of group discussions, and on 8 October they sent a team to negotiate with the government representatives, albeit in the face of the opposition of [[:fr:Louis François Perrin de Précy|Précy]]. At the same time two more of the defenders' forts fell, at [[:fr:Saint-Irénée (Lyon)|Saint-Irénée]] and [[Saint-Just (Lyon)|Saint-Just]].<ref name="Suratteau691"/>

The next day, at dawn, Précy escaped via a district in the north-west of Lyon called [[Vaise]], and went into hiding, turning up shortly afterwards in [[Switzerland]]. The city's civil authorities surrendered to the central government representatives at midday.<ref name="Suratteau691"/>

==Aftermath==
On 11 October the government delegates decided on the destruction of the city walls. On 12 October [[Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac|Barère]], a leading member of the government, put a decree through the convention that [[Lyon]] was to lose its name, and would instead be known as Ville-Affranchie ''(Liberated City)'' and would be destroyed. All the properties occupied by rich people would be demolished, leaving just the houses of the poor and the homes of duped or banished patriots, buildings specially dedicated to industry and monuments dedicated to humanity and public instruction. On the ruins of Lyon would be erected a commemorative column which would testify to posterity the crimes committed and the punishment received by the city's royalists, with the inscription "Lyon made war on liberty:  Lyon is no more!". In the event, of 600 houses scheduled for demolition, only about fifty were actually destroyed.<ref name="Suratteau691"/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
*Smith, D. ''The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book''. Greenhill Books, 1998.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon 1793}}
[[Category:Sieges of the War of the First Coalition]]
[[Category:Military history of Lyon]]
[[Category:1793 in France]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1793]]
[[Category:1793 events of the French Revolution]]