by Rob Harper
Ladouce was in St-Lambert-de-Lattay on 29 March, dug in behind earthworks and abattis. His troops were formed from battalions of national guards from north-east of rebel territory and totalled 1,985 infantry, 106 horse, 52 gunners and 152 pioneers. A further 716 men were posted in Beaulieu 3km to the east.1 In addition to his own men there were 300 national guards in Chanzeaux, 5km to the south, and a further 1,200-1,500 garrisoned at Gonnard.2 All these troops directly threatened Chemillé and it was towards this town that Ladouce advanced on 30 March. Stofflet was aware of Ladouce’s moves and had alerted the Vendéen leaders in Mortagne, Cholet and Vihiers, who all came to his support and gathered in Chemillé on 29 March.
The local rebel leader, Cady, moved on the republican right flank while Stofflet marched direct from Chemillé. Impatient to move into combat Stofflet raced ahead with his best equipped men, giving orders for the rest to follow on behind. Ladouce’s response was to pull back to his entrenchments in St-Lambert. Stopping short of the town Stofflet spread his men out deployed as skirmishers, but neither side seemed willing to strike first. Eventually Stofflet managed to deploy his artillery but the firing was so dreadful that he soon gave up any hope of making progress and withdrew.
Fighting now paused as many Vendéens went home to celebrate Easter. The republicans, meanwhile, were busy preparing the next stage of the offensive planned for early April.
Berruyer’s Offensive
General Berruyer was given command of all forces south of the Loire while Labourdonnaye commanded those to its north from Ingrandes to the sea, including both Nantes and Paimboeuf. Berruyer set up his headquarters in Angers and aimed to launch several columns simultaneously into rebel territory as follows:
1. A column of the Army of the Brest Coast was to march from Nantes, sweep through the coastal area, and seize Noirmoutier, while Canclaux remained in Nantes with 3,000 men;
2. D’Ayat was sent to Niort to take command of a division formed from newly raised battalions (6,000 men of which about 300 were line troops). He was ordered to establish a defensive line stretching to Les Sables d’Olonne and St-Gilles. Once in position D’Ayat would march on Fontenay and Chantonnay, retaining a chain of posts up to Les Sables;
3. Quétineau was to occupy Bressuire and cover the area to Parthenay on D’Ayat’s right flank. He would then march on Mortagne and Tiffauges.
4. Leygonier was to occupy Vihiers before marching on Cholet and St-Florent.
5. Ladouce, occupying St-Lambert, would march via Chemillé on St-Florent.
6. Gauvilliers was ordered to protect the Loire crossings, notably those at Ancenis, Varades and Ingrandes. The posts of Ancenis and Varades were ordered to remain static until replaced by troops from the Army of the Brest Coast.
His ultimate aim was to force the rebels back against the sea or the Loire.
By April the royalists had established three camps south of Nantes: at Sorinières, La Louée and in the Touffou Forest. Around 6 April the first hint of a republican offensive began when both Sorinières and La Louée were attacked and captured.4
Berruyer’s plans were far too ambitious based on the resources available to him as he had a mobile force of only 15-16,000 men, dispersed across a vast front, and formed largely from raw or reluctant troops. On 2 April Berruyer wrote that he had expected to find the troops at least passably organised and equipped but nothing of the kind existed: they were badly armed, some not armed at all, and nearly all wanted to go home.3 He appealed for line troops, fusils, cannonballs and two experienced brigade generals.
However, as these plans were being finalised the representatives in Les Sables ordered Boulard to form a column and move into the Vendée along the coast - without any consultation with Berruyer and contrary to his plan.
As the republican columns were set in motion it was soon clear that their main assault would be from the north-east so the Vendéens quickly gathered 10,000 men in Cholet under D’Élbée, Cathelineau and Perdriau. Stofflet was in Coron with 6,000 men and 7,000 remained with Bonchamps to cover the south bank of the Loire. Some rebels were left in Cholet and Maulévrier with orders to keep an eye on Quétineau’s moves to the east. Deniau suggests that the Vendéens were outnumbered, with around 23,000 peasants faced by 30-35,000 republicans.5
Berruyer began his offensive on 8 April as Leygonier moved from Vihiers to camp near Coudray-Montbault. Stofflet covered the area of Coron and by skirmishing on the Cholet road he successfully slowed the republican advance throughout 9 and 10 April (no doubt helped by Leygonier’s gunners refusing to march without first being paid).
During 10 April, while Berruyer crossed the Layon and recaptured St-Lambert, the Vendéens in Cholet raced to defend the natural strongpoint of St-Pierre-de-Chemillé.
‘The Shock of Chemillé’: St-Pierre-de-Chemillé 11 April
Thanks to Deniau, the battle can be pieced together reasonably well. He indicated that once in St-Pierre-de-Chemillé the Royalists set up some cannon, three redoubts (two covering the Hirôme crossings and one east of the village) and dug a deep trench near the bridge facing Le Bas Bourg. They also dug a ditch stretching between the redoubts. Within the village the church was converted into a small fortress and the churchyard defences were strengthened by earthworks. A strong battery was deployed in the redoubt facing the St-Lambert road; three cannon within that near the Pont de Berge; two or three in the redoubt to the north-east, and others in the square covering the approaches to the church.
Berruyer was in command of 4,000 troops and although most were volunteers and national guards his army did include Rossignol’s 800 strong 35th Division-Gendarmerie, a few cavalry, and sixteen guns. While he headed for St-Pierre-de-Chemillé on 11 April, Duhoux (who had replaced Ladouce) led half of his command towards La Jumellière, from where he would later turn south to re-join Berruyer.
St Pierre-de-Chemillé.
Around 12.30pm Berruyer took up position on high ground 4km northeast of St-Pierre-de-Chemillé to the north of the Hirôme. With warning of their approach the armed rebels deployed in ambush north of the village behind hedges, walls and within buildings. Those armed with farmyard weapons assembled in the village square and its surrounding roads.
After an opening exchange of artillery fire the battle soon developed into a drawn-out fusillade across the Hirôme. D’Élbée may have led some men across the river to fire on the republicans at close range, causing the national guards to lie flat and refuse to move.6
Berruyer decided to split his 2,000 men into two columns with the left under Menou and the right under Adjudant General Mengin. Although most of the 35th Division-Gendarmerie had marched with Duhoux, two companies were placed at the head of these columns. The gendarmes now led an advance and forced the rebels back over the river. A rebel counterattack, supported by the battery on the main road and a cannon placed near a laundry, was forced back to its entrenchments. At one point the gendarmes succeeded in capturing several cannon, until Cathelineau and D’Élbée counter-attacked and pushed the republicans back north of the river as far as the junction of the St-Lambert and La Jumellière roads. The republican artillery then recommenced a bombardment of the rebel entrenchments.
Duhoux’s men arrived towards 5pm, enabling Berruyer to form two new columns for a fresh assault. He led the gendarmes in one column and Duhoux led the other. Rossignol, who commanded the gendarmes, claimed his two guns dismounted some enemy artillery as they advanced. Once again the gendarmes broke into the Vendéen entrenchments and then fought their way into the village. Duhoux received a serious leg wound but Rossignol had more success as he led two companies around the east side of the settlement. He aimed to outflank the church but a party of his men were pinned down in the village when they came face to face with three cannon and rebels aligned in platoons. A fierce struggle soon raged with the best of the royalist fighters clinging to the church and surrounding houses and inspired by the personal example of D’Élbée and Cathelineau.7
While Rossignol had been ad
vancing from the east, Berruyer pushed the rebels back in the centre and Talot succeeded in crossing the Pont de Berge, seized a cannon, and began to climb towards the village from the northwest. The fight in the square was ferocious and desperate and Perdriau fell mortally wounded. As the gendarmes could make no headway Rossignol dropped back to find reinforcements and came across a battalion to his rear. Although he managed to get their first platoon to advance they would not press home an attack on the enemy gunners and soon fled, forcing him to withdraw his gendarmes.
The light was failing and Berruyer’s men were taking significant losses. With the Vendéens distracted by the ongoing melee 133 republican prisoners, tied together to hamper their movements, made for their own lines. In the poor light Berruyer mistook this for a rebel assault and withdrew from the battlefield.
The battle lasted about nine hours and the republicans almost certainly sustained higher casualties. They also lost fifteen cannon.
The ‘Shock of Chemillé’ is remembered as a legendary feat of arms in the region today, but in reality it only gave the rebels a brief respite. Gauvilliers had been strengthening his position in and around St-Florent and began his move south on 13 April. His men were systematically burning and looting the countryside over the following week and Leygonier was threatening the rebel’s right flank as he moved on Vezins and scouted as far as Nuaillé on 12 April.
The Catholic and Royal Army knew that Berruyer could turn on them at any moment and as they had exhausted their ammunition they pulled back on all fronts. Bonchamps withdrew to Beaupréau, where he was joined by Cathelineau and D’Élbée’s exhausted men. On Bonchamps’ advice they dropped back through Cholet to Mortagne and Tiffauges, followed by large numbers of refugees fearful of republican reprisals.
Demoralised, short of ammunition, and aware that much of their territory was now under republican control, the Vendéens prayed for a miracle. It was to arrive in the shape of 20-year-old Henri de la Rochejaquelein.
Henri de la Rochejaquelein joins the Rising
We left Quétineau marching on Bressuire with 4,000 men towards the end of March. After a clash in Châtillon he placed garrisons in St-Mesmin, Le Forêt and reinforced Argenton-Château. At St-Mesmin 1,000 of his men clashed with 2,000 rebels and around 10 April he rested his column in La Châtaigneraie, only to race back to Bressuire to quell trouble stirred up by the Cher Battalion.
On 11 April he received orders to march overnight to break up rebels gathering in the area of Nueil, Échaubrognes and Les Aubiers. He successfully assaulted Nueil at dawn on 12 April but an hour later, as he was marching towards Échaubrognes, he came under attack. After three hours of combat he retired on Les Aubiers and at 2pm on 13 April he was attacked again by what he later claimed were 10-12,000 rebels, against which he could only deploy 2,500 men and 5 cannon.8
Les Aubiers 13 April
Hearing that the Vendéens had retired on Tiffauges, Henri de la Rochejaquelein, from one of the foremost families of the region, feared that the Rising would soon be over. He was heading home when news reached him that a column under Quétineau had left Bressuire and broken up a small gathering of rebels at Les Aubiers. According to Madame de la Rochejaquelein, that part of Poitou had yet to appoint a leader or formally organise themselves, so hearing that La Rochejaquelein had arrived home he was approached by a large crowd of peasants and asked if he would take command. If he agreed they promised to raise the whole area behind him. Delighted by this turn of events he accepted. By the following day he was at the head of several thousand men but with less than 200 fusils between them and little powder. Standing before these men La Rochejaquelein made what became a legendary appeal:
‘My friends, if my father was here he would inspire more confidence in you, but you barely know me and I am only a child; I hope that I will at least be able to prove by my conduct that I am worthy to be at your head. If I advance, follow me; if I retreat, kill me; if I am killed, avenge me.’
This was greeted with a rapturous response and although most had never experienced combat they marched with La Rochejaquelein on Les Aubiers. When approaching the western side of Les Aubiers he split his men into two columns, with one then marching via Nueil and the other on the Maulévrier road.9 They were surrounding the republicans camped in the Champs-des-Justice, just outside Les Aubiers, concealed by the high-hedged fields.
Taken by surprise and unnerved by enemy numbers the republicans pulled back to reorganise behind the cemetery walls near the church and covered its main approaches with cannon.10 Sympathetic locals guided the rebels to houses overlooking the cemetery and the republicans were soon forced to evacuate the town.11 As they attempted to deploy towards Caphar, south-east of Les Aubiers, two caissons exploded and threw their ranks into disorder. Faced by a furious charge they fled in disorder on Bressuire, abandoning cannon and caissons and suffering an estimated 160 casualties.12
Madame de la Rochejaquelein wrote that the tactics used at this battle were to be used repeatedly by the Vendéens. She described how they would silently surround the republicans, appear unexpectedly at pistol range, hurl themselves forwards with loud cries, rush the cannons to seize them and ‘fire rarely but aim accurately’.13
La Rochejaquelein did not follow up with a march on Bressuire but instead marched overnight to unite with D’Élbée, Bonchamps, Cathelineau and Stofflet, taking them the powder and cannon he had seized. His appearance was a significant boost to the main rebel army.
Pagannes and Bois-Grolleau 19 to 20 April
As Leygonier advanced so Berruyer moved from St-Lambert-de-Lattay to Chemillé on 14 April. On the following day he reported that Quétineau’s check at Les Aubiers had slowed his own advance but on 16 April he was in touch with Leygonier’s troops at Nuaillé.
With perhaps 10,000 men between them, Berruyer and Leygonier were moving forwards on Jallais and Cholet respectively and Gauvilliers was moving on Beaupréau. However the initiative now swung back to the rebels who by 18 April had concentrated 25,000 men in Cholet, including contingents from both Anjou and the Army of the Centre.
On the morning of 19 April the republican front extended through Beaupréau, Jallais, Le May, Nuaillé and Toutlemonde, and that of the Vendéens through Montfaucon, St-Macaire, Cholet and Maulévrier.14
The moated Château of Bois-Grolleau, immediately east of Cholet, was occupied by 200 grenadiers detached from Leygonier’s advance guard dug in behind loopholed walls. These posed no immediate threat to the rebels who targeted Leygonier’s 2,000 strong advance guard on the Pagannes Heights. The Vendéens deployed in three main bodies with Cathelineau to the left, La Rochejaquelein to the right and D’Élbée and Stofflet in the centre. They soon pressed the republican advance guard back on Leygonier’s main body.
Although not specifically recorded, Leygonier’s force probably numbered around 6,500, including 200 horse and 12 guns, and he deployed in fields centred on La Simonnière, roughly half-way between Nuaillé and Cholet. The Vendéens surged forwards and onto the flanks of Leygonier’s army, and using the same tactics employed at La Guérinière the rebels charged and captured republican cannon deployed on the main road.
With his flanks compromised Leygonier had no option but to pull back, but this only emboldened the rebels to rush forwards and the republicans were soon in rout. The Finistère troops, acting as rearguard, vainly tried to put up some resistance, but to no avail and that night the debris of Leygonier’s army gathered in Doué-la-Fontaine.
Several cannon, abundant munitions, and hundreds of prisoners were rounded up. On the following morning the beleaguered grenadiers in the Château of Bois-Grolleau were also forced to surrender.
Concerned that Berruyer might attack their rear the Vendéens did not pursue Leygonier too far but instead pulled back. They need not have feared as over 19 to 20 April Berruyer had struggled forward to Jallais before withdrawing to Chemillé on news of Leygonier’s defeat. Gauvilliers, however, was isolated in Beaupréau and was about to face the rebel
army alone.
The Battle of Beaupréau 22 April
Led by Bonchamps, D’Élbée, Cathelineau, Stofflet and La Rochejaquelein the peasants were estimated to be 30,000 strong.15 As they neared Beaupréau, Cathelineau sent 1,500 men to outflank the town via the Château Park to its east. This detachment crossed the River Evre at La Gobinière, around 1km to the east of this parkland.16
Once again Deniau provides most detail on this engagement. Around 2pm D’Élbée, Stofflet, La Rochejaquelein and the rest of Cathelineau’s column appeared on the Cholet road in sight of Beaupréau. They swept into nearby roads and behind hedges bordering the large meadow south of the town and deployed ten guns.
The assault on Beaupréau.
The republicans were in strong positions in Beaupréau which is set high on the north bank of the Evre, but Gauvilliers only had 1,500 men including battalions from Angers, Eure-et-Loire and Indre-et-Loire, and some dragoons.17 They covered all the approaches and deployed their artillery in batteries facing the narrow bridge across the Evre and in the Place-du-Château. A small bastion had been thrown up on high ground in the Château Park and it was from there that the republicans spotted Cathelineau’s men in La Gobinière. Cannon fired on them but overshot and a response from the Marie-Jeanne soon dismounted a republican gun.
Deniau recorded that Stofflet galloped to the banks of the Evre crying out to the Republicans, ‘Can you hear, it’s the Marie-Jeanne, can you hear?’. Then he returned, without being hit by the enemy. This act of bravado inspired the peasants. Their left flank approached the river and Cathelineau used planks to cross into the meadows bordering the college. D’Élbée’s men crossed at Bel-Ébat and Bonchamps at the Petit Moulin. Once over the river Bonchamps attacked the republican right flank.