François-Joseph Carbon
François-Joseph Carbon (1756 – 1800) was the leader of a group of French Royalists who attempted to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte in the aftermath of the 13 Vendémiaire uprising.
Biography[edit | edit source]
On 5 October 1795, an army of 25,000 Royalists staged an uprising in order to restore the French monarchy. However, they were opposed by Napoleon and 5,000 troops under his command, and defeated by the use of artillery. Carbon nonetheless led a charge straight into the cannonfire, only to be blasted to the ground and see most of his men killed by grapeshot. Carbon managed to avoid capture, but was left with severe facial scarring, blind in his right eye, and a burning passion to see Napoleon dead.[1]
On 24 December 1800, Carbon amassed the remainder of his men in an attempt to assassinate Bonaparte while he was attending an opera. He placed several snipers in the buildings along the route taken by Napoleon's carriage, and prepared an improvised explosive device known as the "Infernal Machine", to be used as a last resort.[1]
However, the plot quickly fell apart, as Arno Dorian and a team of French Assassins sought to prevent the royalists from returning to power and killed the snipers, while the Infernal Machine detonated prematurely and far from Napoleon's carriage. With the assassination attempt having failed, Carbon planned to flee Paris, but was tracked down and killed by Arno before he could attempt his escape.[1]
Behind the scene[edit | edit source]
Historically, François-Joseph Carbon was arrested weeks after the assassination attempt and was publicly executed at the Place de Grève in April 1801. Furthermore, it is unknown if the real-life Carbon participated in the 13 Vendémiaire uprising.