During the early years of the French Revolution, the National Guard () was a military force separate from the regular army. Initially under the command of the Marquis de la Fayette, then briefly that of the Marquis de Mandat , it was strongly identified with the middle class and with support for constitutional monarchy. This changed radically in the summer of 1792, with the admission of the fédérés to the guard and with the subsequent takeover of the guard by Antoine Joseph Santerre when Mandat was murdered in the first hours of the insurrection of the 10th of August.
