<P> The high cost of maintaining a garrisoned medieval fortress, for what was seen as having a limited purpose, had led to a decision being made shortly before the disturbances began to replace it with an open public space . Amid the tensions of July 1789, the building remained as a symbol of royal tyranny . </P> <P> The regular garrison consisted of 82 invalides (veteran soldiers no longer suitable for service in the field). It had however been reinforced on 7 July by 32 grenadiers of the Swiss Salis - Samade Regiment from the regular troops on the Champ de Mars . The walls mounted 18 eight - pound guns and 12 smaller pieces . The governor was Bernard - René de Launay, son of the previous governor and actually born within the Bastille . </P> <P> The official list of vainqueurs de la Bastille (conquerors of the Bastille) subsequently compiled has 954 names, and the total of the crowd was probably fewer than one thousand . A breakdown of occupations included in the list indicates that the majority were local artisans, together with some regular army deserters and a few distinctive categories such as 21 wine merchants . </P> <P> The crowd gathered outside around mid-morning, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the cannon and the release of the arms and gunpowder . Two representatives of the crowd outside were invited into the fortress and negotiations began, and another was admitted around noon with definite demands . The negotiations dragged on while the crowd grew and became impatient . Around 1: 30, the crowd surged into the undefended outer courtyard . A small party climbed onto the roof of a building next to the gate to the inner courtyard and broke the chains on the drawbridge, crushing one vainqueur as it fell . Soldiers of the garrison called to the people to withdraw but in the noise and confusion these shouts were misinterpreted as encouragement to enter . Gunfire began, apparently spontaneously, turning the crowd into a mob . The crowd seems to have felt that they had been intentionally drawn into a trap and the fighting became more violent and intense, while attempts by deputies to organise a cease - fire were ignored by the attackers . </P>

Why did the sans culottes attack the bastille prison