Marie André Cantillon

Marie André Nicolas Cantillon was a French soldier in the army of Napoleon. After the defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars he attempted to assassinate the Duke of Wellington on 11 February 1818. Wellington was in Paris as commander of the allied occupation of France. Cantillon missed his shot and escaped, but was captured by the Parisian police shortly afterwards. Brought to trial in May 1819, he was acquitted after his pistol ball could not be found at the scene and his lawyer told the jury that a conviction would be a stain upon the honour of the nation. Cantillon was granted a bequest in the will of Napoleon I, though he only received part of the 10,000 francs. In his later life, he ran a grocery in Brussels, Belgium. His wife petitioned for the remainder of the bequest and may have received it from a commission established by Napoleon III.