Coup of 18 Brumaire

Troops disperse the Five Hundred and a rump legislature creates the provisional Consulate

The new regime's founding law opened with a flat sentence of demolition: there is no longer a Directory.

19 Brumaire at Saint-Cloud: "Outlaw him!"

On 10 November 1799 the Council of Ancients and the Council of Five Hundred convened at Saint-Cloud, where the Ancients had transferred both bodies the day before.

Bonaparte's appearance before the Five Hundred did not produce the submission the plotters expected. It provoked cries that he be outlawed, and he withdrew under protection.

Grenadiers in the Orangerie

Lucien Bonaparte, president of the Five Hundred, appealed to the troops waiting outside. Grenadiers commanded by Joachim Murat entered the Orangerie and expelled the resisting deputies; some got out through windows or into the gardens.

Only afterwards did a reduced and compliant legislative body enact the Law of 19 Brumaire, declaring that the Directory no longer existed and excluding 61 named representatives.

Three consuls, and a version of events issued at eleven

The law created a provisional executive consular commission — Sieyès, Roger Ducos and General Bonaparte — with the full powers the Directory had held. Bonaparte was one of three unranked provisional consuls that night, not yet First Consul; the Constitution of Year VIII was signed only on 13 December.

The legislature then adjourned itself, ordering each council to appoint a 25-member interim commission for urgent legislation and constitutional work. At 11 p.m. Bonaparte issued a proclamation presenting himself as the republic's rescuer and his legislative opponents as armed assassins.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources 2 audit passes Date corrected

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Date corrected. The research places this at 1799-11-10.