I’ve posted articles before about IED attacks on Napoleon Bonaparte in 1800 and on Emperor Napoleon III, in 1858, both attacks on their carriages as they went to the opera, along predictable routes in Paris.
There was however another famous “terrorist” attack between these dates on the French King Louis-Philippe, on 28 July 1835, but on his way to a parade in Paris, and not with an IED – here’s the story and the device used to attack him.
The attack occurred on the Boulevard de Temple in Paris. It was mounted by a Corsican terrorist/criminal/rebel, Giuseppe Mario Fieschi. The device that he built with two accomplices from the Société des Droits de l’Homme is interesting. Reports at the time called the device a “machine infernale” which is the phrase often used to describe IEDs of the time. But this was no IED. An image of the actual device, now in a french museum is shown below. It consists of 25 gun barrels mounted on a wooden frame with the 25 barrels pointing slightly downward . The “machine’ was placed at the open window overlooking the route to be taken by the King and fellow dignitaries as they went to inspect a parade of troops.
The barrels were over charged with powder and it is thought up to three musket balls per barrel. As a result there were a number of cases of the breech exploding during the attack – I think you can see this on barrels 2, 14 and 20, numbered from the left. One of these caused injury to Fieschi as he initiated the device. I’m not sure of the exact initiation technique, probably Fieschi using a naked flame and swiping across the fire holes at the rear of each barrel. The injured Fieshci was arrested as he fled the scene, his wounds tended, and then after his trial his wounded head was removed from his body by the infamous guillotine.
In terms of target effect, the King was not killed but only slightly wounded. However the 75 musket balls caused carnage and 18 people were killed including Marshall Mortier. Reports of the time make much of the dastardly deed and the ingenious machine (note that there were seven other plots against the king discovered that year alone – however it was not perhaps such an innovative attack as it might first appear. There are many references to multi barrel firearms going back to the 14th Century. Around 1500 Leonardo da Vinci had designed similar systems for use in battle, and they were used on a number of occasions in the 17th century. They are referred to as an “orgue” – or organ, given the similarity to the multi-barrel and an organ.
Leonardo Da Vinci’s designs for multi barrel weapons