After the Battle of Paris in which the French troops were defeated, a treaty was signed on 30 March 1814 under which the Château de Vincennes was due to be handed over by the French Empire to the Sixth Coalition the following day. However, Daumesnil, the same night, sortied from the château with 250 horsemen, captured and brought in large quantities of cannon, rifles and ammunition. Subsequently, Paris was under the occupation of the Austro-Russo-Prussian allies for several weeks while Daumesnil still held the fortress. The allies protested by threatening the general. In Paris, the gaiety of his response to the Russian summons to capitulate is remembered: "I shall surrender Vincennes when I get my leg back!" He defended the building with the greatest courage against the Allied troops, refusing to surrender it after Napoleon's abdication on 6 April, stating that the contents of the arsenal belonged to France. With fewer than 200 men, he refused to surrender, insensitive to pressures and attempts at bribery, braving the siege of the fort for more than five months. He ended up capitulating only after being given orders to do so by Louis XVIII, but left the fortress still brandishing the tricolor.