Following Napoleon's "Hundred Days" and the return of Louis XVIII, Nismes experienced a brutal period of violence described as a "Catholic massacre." A political vacuum developed after General Gilly's departure, with no new officials or orders arriving to maintain order.

Into this situation marched bands of Catholic zealots from Beaucaire, armed with muskets supplied by the English, who joined forces with the city's armed mob led by Jaques Dupont, known as Trestaillon. Their explicit goal was to carry out "vengeance they had so long premeditated." The banditti, stained with the blood of Protestants killed en route, entered the city unopposed.

A key atrocity was the massacre of the barracks garrison of about five hundred men. After consenting to capitulate and marching out unarmed, the soldiers were met with a "tremendous fire," resulting in nearly all being killed or wounded. Those who fled back inside were massacred when the gates were forced open.

Beyond the barracks, the city and surrounding areas saw widespread pillage, destruction, and carnage. Country houses were ravaged, goods destroyed, and inhabitants treated with "wanton barbarity." Specific dreadful murders included Ladet, an old Protestant farmhand who was shot and burned alive, and Imbert la Plume, who was shot, mutilated while still living, and dragged behind a cannon. Five members of the Chivas family were massacred in days. The treatment of women was merciless, with widows forced to pay large sums, and property destroyed. The violence extended to the dead, with graves desecrated and bones scattered.

This violence, marked by both revolutionary fervor and calculative subtlety, was considered a "blot upon the history of the second restoration," highlighting the brutality and treachery involved.

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