influence while with the Army of Italy to advance Napoleon's career. On his return to Paris he served as a secretary to the convention. Death Robespierre was in the hall of the Convention on the day of 9 Thermidor II (27 July 1794), when the deputies voted for the arrests of Maximilien, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just and Georges Couthon after a heated discussion. Robespierre then rose from his place on the benches and said, "I am as guilty as him; I share his virtues, I want to share his fate. I ask also to be charged." He was joined by Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas. The five were kept under guard in the rooms of the Committee of General Security, where they remained until a place could be found for them. Hearing of the arrests, the Commune of Paris issued orders to all prisons in the city, forbidding them to take any prisoner in, sent by the Convention. Robespierre was refused at Prison Saint-Lazare and taken to the prison of La Force while Maximilien was taken to the Luxembourg. Because of the Commune's orders, they were released and made their way to the Hôtel de Ville. Escorted by two municipal officers, Robespierre was the first to arrive. There they spent the rest of the evening vainly trying to coordinate an insurrection. In the early morning of 10 Thermidor, the forces of the Convention under Paul Barras burst in and succeeded in taking most of them alive, except Le Bas, who had shot himself, and Jean-Baptiste Coffinhal, who succeeded in escaping but turned himself in after a week. In order to avoid capture, Robespierre took off his shoes and jumped from a ledge. He landed on the steps, or on some bayonets, resulting in a pelvic fracture and several serious head contusions. Barras ordered that Robespierre be carried back to the rooms of the Committee of General Security. After a couple of hours the prisoners were taken to the Conciergerie prison; four of them were lying on stretchers. After identification at the Revolutionary Tribunal according to the Law of 22 Prairial, the twenty-two convicts were sent to the scaffold on Place de la Révolution in the early evening. Couthon was the second of the prisoners to be executed, with Robespierre as the third, Hanriot as the ninth and Maximilien as the tenth. References Sources Further reading Alexandre Cousin, Philippe Lebas et Augustin Robespierre,