Gardes Suisses

( Fr. ). A celebrated Swi corps in the French army, constituted “Gardes” by royal decree in 1616. They comprised upwards of 2000 men, were always unswerving in their fidelity to the Bourbon kings, and are chiefly remarkable for their heroic end. On August 10, 1792, they withstood the Paris i an revolutionary mob, and defended the palace of the Louvre till almost every man was cut down. During the resistance they offered, the royal family was enabled to escape to such shelter as the National A embly afforded. Gardes Sui es du corps du Roi , one hundred Swi guards who were immediately attached to the king’s person. They were a select body of men who took an oath of fidelity to the king, and were formed into a regular troop. But in the last period of the monarchy of France, the principal duties of the one hundred Swi guards consisted in domestic and menial attendance.