Thomas de Mahy, complete with the cross of the Order of St. Louis on his chest.
Thomas de Mahy, Marquis de Favras, was a petty aristocrat who served as a captain in the royal dragoons at the ripe old age of 17 during the Seven Years War and by age 28 was a lieutenant in the elite Swiss bodyguard of the Comte de Provence, King Louis XVI’s brother. However, Thomas, while he came from a noble family, it was not a rich family, and he couldn’t afford the expensive lifestyle, uniforms and mandatory fees that came with service in such a select unit, so he left the service to marry a minor German princess.
With 14 years of service under his belt, he was granted the title of knight in the Order of St. Louis (Chevalier de l’ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis) which afforded him a small pension.
Thomas, though no longer on active service, went on to be involved in a number of other intrigues on the continent and even at one point raised troops to fight for the Dutch Federation in 1787.
However, caught in France during the darkest days of the Revolution, the broke dandy fell into the periphery of a plot associated with his old boss, the Comte de Provence, to do away with the rabble and bring the monarchy back. Found out, he was charged by the Republic for high treason and, after a sensational public trial, was sentenced to be hanged.
Upon reading his death sentence the 44-year-old former officer commented, “I see that you have made three spelling mistakes.”
According to reports, he met “death with resignation, courage, and firmness of a conscience without reproach.”
He swung from the gallows on this day in 1790, leaving the subject of who got the last laugh open to debate.