M. de Saint Georges is a mulatto, that is to say the son of a negress […] Recently, during the night, he was attacked by six men, he was with one of his friends, they defended themselves to the best of their ability against sticks with which the fellows wanted to knock them down; there is even talk of a pistol shot which was heard: the lookout occurred & prevented the consequences of this assassination, - so that Mr. de Saint Georges is freed for bruises & minor injuries; he even shows himself already in the world. Several of the killers have been arrested. M. le Duc d'Orléans wrote to M. le Noir, as soon as he was informed of the fact, to recommend to him the most exact research, and that a striking justice be done on the culprits. After 24 hours Mr. the Duke of Orléans was asked not to interfere in this affair, and the prisoners, who were recognized as policemen, among whom was a certain Desbrugnieres, so renowned in the affair of the Comte de Morangiès, were released, which gives rise to a thousand conjectures. » Pierre Lefebvre de Beauvray, a gossip writer at the time, author of a work entitled Journal d'un bourgeois de Popincourt , attributes to Saint-Georges a love affair with the Marquise Marie-Josephine de Montalembert, salonnière and novelist, young wife of an old general. The Marquis de Montalembert (Marc René, marquis de Montalembert), eager to avenge his honor and punish the seducer by setting up a night operation, would he be the sponsor of the aggression. Revolution Since he was of mixed race, Saint-Georges was affected by the racism and racist laws in pre-Revolutionary France. On 26 August 1789, when the revolution declared equal rights to all French people, Saint-Georges embraced The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. In June 1791, the Parliament recruited volunteers from the entire French National Guard. Saint-Georges was the first person to sign in Lille. On 7 September 1792, the Parliament established a light cavalry consisting of volunteers from the West Indies and Africa. The name of it was "Légion franche de cavalerie des Américains et du Midi", but it was later often referred to as "Légion St-Georges" because of the outstanding performance of Colonel Saint-Georges. On 20 March 1793 Danton and Charles-François Delacroix were sent to Lille. Dumouriez sensed a trap and