Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois - Crancé Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois - Crancé ( 14 October 1747 – 28 June 1814 ) was a French soldier and politician . National and Constituent Assemblies . Born in Charleville , Ardennes , he was at first a musketeer , then a lieutenant of the " Marchaux " ( guardsmen of the " Ancien Régime " ) , and embraced Liberalism . At the start of the French Revolution in 1789 , he was elected deputy to the States - General by the Third Estate of Vitry - le - François , and joined the National Assembly ( his portrait stands in the foreground in Jacques - Louis David ' s celebrated sketch of the " Oath of the Tennis Court " ) . In the Constituent Assembly , of which he was named secretary in November , Dubois - Crancé carried out activities in support of military reforms . He aimed for the replacement of the old military system , one of promotions on the basis of aristocratic origin and reliance on mercenaries , replaced by an organization of National Guards in which all citizens should be admitted . In his report , submitted on 12 December 1789 , he was the first one to promote the idea of conscription , which he opposed to the recruiting system practiced ; however , the document was not adopted . He succeeded in securing the Assembly ' s vote that any African slave who touched French soil should become free . National Convention . After the Constituent , Dubois - Crancé was named " maréchal - de - camp " , but he refused to be placed under the orders of the Marquis de La Fayette and preferred to serve as a simple grenadier . Elected to the French Republic ' s National Convention by the Ardennes " département " , he sided with the The Mountain , but without following any one leader - either George Danton or Maximilien Robespierre . During the trial of King Louis XVI , Dubois - Crancé voted for death penalty without delay or appeal . On the 21 February 1793 , he was named president of the Convention . Although he was a member of the two committees of general defence which preceded the Reign of Terror ' s Committee of Public Safety , he did not belong to the latter at its creation . Instead , he composed an important report on the state of the French Revolutionary Army , recommending two measures which contributed largely to its success - the rapid advancement of the lower officers , which opened the way for the most successful generals of the Revolution , and the fusion of the volunteers with the veteran troops . Clash with Robespierre , the Directory , and 18 Brumaire . In August 1793 , Dubois - Crancé was designated representative on mission to the army of the Alps , to direct the siege of Lyon , which had revolted against France ' s government . Accused of " " lack of zeal " " , he was replaced by Georges Couthon . On his return he defended himself , but was excluded from the Jacobin Club at the instance of his rival Robespierre . Consequently , he was approached to take part in the Thermidor Coup that toppled Robespierre in July 1794 . However , he would not join the Royalist reaction which followed , and was one of the Committee of Five which had to oppose the Royalist insurrection known as " 13 Vendémiaire " ( in October 1795 ) . It was also during this period that Dubois - Crancé was named a member of the Committee of Public Safety , already much reduced in importance . After the Convention , under the Directory , Dubois - Crancé was a member of the Council of Five Hundred , and was appointed Inspector General of infantry , then , in 1799 , minister of war . In November , he also opposed Napoleon Bonaparte ' s " coup d ' état " ( the " 18 Brumaire " ) , and lived in retirement during Consulate and the Empire , dying in Rethel .