2. Rapport Du Sieur Drouet in Relation Du Départ De Louis XVI., 139.

M. DROUET: Gentlemen, here is an account of the facts. My name is Drouet, postmaster at Sainte-Menehould, formerly dragoon in the regiment of Condé. My comrade’s name is Guillaume, employee of the directorate of Sainte-Menehould, formerly dragoon in the regiment of the queen.

In the year 1791, June 21, at about a quarter after seven in the evening, an equipage of two carriages and eleven horses arrived at the post of Sainte-Menehould. I thought I recognized in one of the carriages the face of the queen, whom I had already seen. Noticing, thereupon, on the front seat a rather stout man, I was struck by his resemblance to the effigy of the king printed on a government note of fifty livres. The sudden arrival of a detachment of dragoons, which had succeeded a detachment of hussars, both of them destined to protect the passage of a treasure, as they told me, confirmed more and more my suspicions, especially when I saw the man whom I believed was the king speak with an air of animation and in a low voice to a courier who preceded the equipage. The eagerness of the couriers to have the horses harnessed, ordered in the morning by an aide de camp, M. Goguelat, added further to the evidence. However, fearing to be the author of a false alarm and being then alone, without chance to consult anybody–I have the honor to remark to the assembly that my house is outside Sainte-Menehould–I allowed the carriage to depart. But, seeing at once the dragoons ready to mount to accompany it, I ran to the guard house; I had the drums beat to arms; the national guard opposed the departure of the dragoons, and, being by that time sufficiently convinced, I set out, accompanied by M. Guillaume, in pursuit of the king.

Arrived near Clermont, we were informed by the postilion who drove the king’s carriage that the king had just passed there. Then we passed behind Clermont, and we gained by taking short cuts, so that we arrived at Varennes soon enough to catch the king before he had left. It was then eleven o’clock at night. It was very dark. The carriages were halted before the houses, and there was a dispute between the postilions and the conductors of the carriages. The postmaster of Clermont had forbidden his postilions to leave Varennes before the horses had been refreshed. The king, fearing he was pursued, wished to hasten his departure, and would listen to no talk of resting, so that while they disputed we hurried at once to the town and put our horses in a tavern we found open. I talked to the tavern keeper. I took him aside, because there were many persons there, and I did not wish to be heard. I said to him: "Comrade, are you a good patriot?" "Yes, make no mistake about that," he answered. "Very well, my friend; if that is so, run quickly and inform all the honest people you know. Tell them the king is in the upper town in Varennes; that he is going to go down; that it is necessary to arrest him," Then he went out and spread the news. We, on our side, descended into the town, reflecting that we ought not to call to arms or sound the alarm before we had barricaded the streets and bridge by which the king would pass. Consequently we betook ourselves, my comrade and I, to the bridge of Varennes. Close to the bridge was a big cart loaded with furniture. We placed it across the bridge. Then we went and sought several other carts, so that the bridge was blocked to the point that it was impossible to pass. Then we rushed to the house of the mayor and the commandant of the national guards. Inside of ten minutes we had eight or ten trustworthy men, whose names I shall give in the proper time and place. We arrived just as the king was descending. Then the procureur of the commune and the commandant of the national guard approached the carriage and questioned the travelers as to who they were. The queen replied that they were in a great hurry; they requested earnestly to be allowed to pass. They [officers] were insistent; they said it was necessary to see if they were supplied with passports. They did, in fact, show a passport, saying, however, that was not especially necessary. She finally gave her passport to two ladies of honor, who descended and came to the tavern to have it read. Here in a few words is the substance of the passport: "You will allow to pass the Duchesse, or Comtesse, or Baronne de Korff," etc. Those who heard it read or saw it said it was all right. We answered no, because it was signed only by the king, and that it should be signed by the president of the national assembly. I made various objections. "Ladies," I said to them, "if you are strangers, how have you had sufficient influence to have a detachment of fifty dragoons, who were at Sainte-Menehould, leave immediately after you? How, when you passed Clermont, did you have the same influence in causing the departure of the detachment which was at Clermont? Why, at the moment in which I am speaking, is there a detachment of hussars [here]?" After these observations it was decided they would not leave until morning. They got out and went up into the apartment.