Sainte-Menehould

Sainte-Menehould stands on the edge of the Argonne forest, where the lower town grew around a fortified castle hill. Its position on the eastern approaches to Champagne brought repeated warfare. A devastating fire in 1719 destroyed much of the town, and the lower streets were rebuilt in the eighteenth century, with houses combining brick and stone in a local Champagne style.

In June 1791 Louis XVI passed through Sainte-Menehould while attempting to escape revolutionary France. The local postmaster Jean-Baptiste Drouet recognized him and, accompanied by Jean-Chrisosthome Guillaume, pursued the fleeing royal party, which was stopped at Varennes. The following year French and Prussian armies faced one another at nearby Valmy, where the French held their position on the heights by the mill.