by Rob Harper
It was probably around this time that Fleuriot launched a sudden cavalry charge with 2-300 men, supported by some infantry, in the direction of Bas-Matz. Cadoudal, Piron and Cady were part of this attack and succeeded in breaking through Tilly’s Division and making good their escape.
The Vendéens were being forced back on Savenay and, anticipating street fighting, Marigny had deployed cannon in the Place de l’As de Carreau to fire on the republicans at point-blank range. Even after Westermann had killed a number of the gunners, Marigny managed to extract some cannon and deploy them near the church.66
Marigny remained with the cannon near the church as the battle moved slowly from house to house through the town. Accounts talk of blood running in the streets as the numbers of killed and wounded increased. Weight of numbers eventually told and Marigny’s gunners were overpowered and the guns turned on the Vendéens.
Marigny was crying with rage, with a sword in one hand and the flag in the other, urging the men to fight on. Pushed back by those trying to escape the fight, he seems to have returned at least four times to the mêlée.67 Practically encircled, those that remained knew they were not likely to be spared so fought ferociously.
Marigny managed to gather men near the two guns covering the Guérande road. For a while these guns continued their critical role as many refugees dispersed to seek safety across a wide area. Both Lyrot and La Roche-Saint-André seem to have succumbed when these guns were eventually overpowered. Marigny ordered the survivors to retire into the Wood of Blanche Couronne, where many would be massacred by Westermann’s troops.
Several Vendéen leaders were captured, including Donnissan, Laugrenière and Des Essarts (the first two were guillotined and the latter shot). Savary wrote that ‘Laugrenière retired with his troops to some houses on the left of the road, wanting to put up some resistance, but seeing that this was futile he surrendered at the invitation of a staff officer.’68
Marigny escaped with 300 men and managed to re-cross the Loire, and Fleuriot made good his escape to the Forest du Gâvre. Amédée de Béjarry also managed to escape, he said with 3-400 cavalry but in reality probably somewhat less. He also said he dragged away three guns which he later abandoned in the Loire. Marceau captured five abandoned cannon.69
Béjarry wrote that nearly 2,000 Vendéens were captured and shot but claimed that most of the victims of the battle were refugees, the sick and the wounded. He also indicated that many men escaped in small parties and more than 1,800 managed to continue the fight in Brittany, although he accepted that not all had fought at Savenay.70
The republicans claimed that they suffered only 30 killed and 200 wounded.
Republican columns pursued the rebels in different directions. Even Westermann, ‘the Butcher of the Vendée’, remarked on the extent of the massacres. Many were drowned in the Montior Marsh, others took shelter in woodland where they would be rooted out over the coming weeks. Patrols of infantry and cavalry also found rebels in surrounding villages and isolated farms and either killed them or sent them to await execution in Nantes.
Chapter 16
Charette ‘King of the Vendée’
By the beginning of December small numbers of troops were trickling back across the Loire. When Pierre Cathelineau heard that the Grand Army was near Angers he marched on Les Ponts-de-Cé, but by the time he arrived they had gone. He skirmished with republican detachments on his advance from, and return to, his base at Jallais.1
On 7 December he completely destroyed two battalions at Chapelle-Rousselin, who were intercepted en route from Cholet to destroy Jallais.2 Amongst those killed was the 14-year-old Joseph Barra who was turned into a martyr by the Republic and received national acclaim. Adjudant General Desmarres, who was in command of this detachment, was arrested for ineptitude and executed in January 1794.3
The Coastal Vendée Early December
Haxo’s 4-5,000 men had gradually forced Charette towards the coast and eventually trapped his diminishing army on the Ille de Bouin, both Savin and Joly having abandoned him on the way.4 He gained a brief respite when Haxo received orders to suspend operations and be ready to march on Nantes following developments north of the Loire. Once he was given clearance to attack Charette, he gave orders to Jordy to prepare for the assault on Bouin.
On 3 December Jordy occupied Châteauneuf and the Bois-de-Céné, and on the next day formed his men into three columns: the centre under his direct command was to march towards the La Claie Bridge, the left under Aubertin was to head for Beauvoir, and the right under Villemin was to take up position in Bourgneuf. Only Aubertin and Villemin had artillery support. Jordy selected 674 men, detached from four battalions, and Aubertin led around 1,600 men (400 from the 11th Orléans, numerous detachments including part of the 110th Line and 109th Line, and various grenadier companies); he still retained his single 4pdr. Haxo held a reserve of 300 infantry and a small detachment of cavalry, deployed between St-Gervais and Bouin.5
Beauvoir 5 December
On 4 December Aubertin was in Salartène and overnight marched in silence to be in position to attack Beauvoir at dawn. Beauvoir was about 3km from the coast, partially surrounded by marshland and with the Bois-de-Céné to its east. Aubertin ordered 300 men to scout these woods but to make sure they remained in sight of the main column. They were also ordered to arrive at Beauvoir at the same time as the main column.
Charette knew that the republicans were approaching and deployed some of his force to oppose them, with his left flank protected by some marshland. As usual their line was much longer than that of the republicans.
The front of the republican column left the road, to deploy in line parallel to the Vendéen left, and the rest of their army then deployed facing the rebels, supported by a small reserve. Aubertin gave orders that they open fire when only fifteen paces from the enemy, and then charge in with the bayonet. His single 4pdr fired once, but then became stuck in the soft ground and was no longer used during the engagement.
Aubertin’s aim was to overpower the rebel centre. As his line advanced the Vendéens remained in position to their front, and along the republican flanks, but before either side fired a shot the rebel left flank suddenly fled in disorder back into the Bouin marshland and their centre and right headed for Beauvoir. The 300 men dispatched by Aubertin had been spotted and were probably mistaken for another republican column.6 Charette wanted to retreat to Noirmoutier but, reaching the causeway at high tide, he had no option but to move onto the Ile de Bouin. He took the precaution of breaking several wooden bridges over the ditches and waterways as he retreated.
Aubertin followed up this withdrawal and entered Beauvoir unopposed.
Bouin 6 December
Having retreated to Bouin, Charette deployed most of his men in positions stretched from the Poirocq Bridge on the Beauvoir road, to Corbets, holding the few isolated mills and farms that stretched between the two. He had constructed three earthworks: one to his rear, and the others near windmills at La Pentecôterie and La Jaunay. His thirteen guns were deployed in these earthworks, although some may have been covering the approach roads from Beauvoir and Bois-de-Céné.
In typical fashion Charette and his men spent the night dancing and singing in a large barn, but by dawn on 6 December Couëtus guarded the approach from the Pont de la Claie with 400 men; Charette, with around 1,000 men, covered the approach from Beauvoir; and Guérin, with 250 men, was initially posted to the north of the island near the Étiers du Sud.7
Jordy issued orders for his three columns to be in position ready to attack at 11am. Due to the difficult terrain only his column was in place at the agreed time. He came under fire from rebel artillery on Bouin, and although under pressure he thought it better to hold his ground rather than retreat.
Aubertin had been struggling along a very difficult route from the south, and Villemin did not press his attack against Guérin, but, having considered an attack on the rebels in Pas-Opton too risky, he withdrew back to Bourgneuf without infor
ming the others; Guérin subsequently deployed near the Pont de la Claie.
With the help of a company of sappers, and twenty wagons filled with timber, Aubertin managed to throw across about eight bridges as he advanced, all while under fire from a 16pdr naval gun deployed in a coastal battery and turned by the Vendéens to fire on his men.8 They remained under fire until they reinstated the crossing and troops were able to advance and seize the gun.
Aubertin next found himself ‘about half a league from the island’, at a farm between the enemy and the sea. Nearby was a windmill, a Vendéen redoubt housing two 4pdrs, and a body of enemy troops.9 On spotting the republicans the royalists opened fire. As it was impossible to deploy due to the nature of the terrain, or bring his single gun into action, Aubertin ordered an immediate charge, seized the redoubt, and forced the Vendéens to flee. He captured their artillery and caissons.
Aubertin stated that his column arrived in position around the same time as Jordy.10 As he reached the island Jordy split his small command into four bodies formed from their respective detachments: the 57th on the left; 77th on the right; 10th Meurthe in the centre; and a detachment of the 109th Line in his second line. These troops advanced across a frozen canal and, lacking munitions, Guérin’s men were eventually forced to withdraw. Jordy’s men now advanced on the positions held by Couëtus and Charette, under bombardment from royalist cannon. As the 10th Meurthe advanced on the first entrenchment, Jordy instructed the 57th and 77th to move around the enemy flanks. The advance of the 77th Line on the left ground to a halt as they came under increasing fire. Jordy led the 10th Meurthe steadily forward with fixed bayonets while subjected to grapeshot. All three detachments had orders to fire then charge in quickly with the bayonet. They succeeded in storming and capturing the redoubt in the centre first, followed by those on the flanks.11
The assault on Bouin.
Couëtus fell back on Charette’s position, who was putting up more resistance. With Aubertin and Jordy now marching in a curved line towards each other, with Charette between the two, he was forced to fall back on the town to avoid being trapped.12
Guérin had meanwhile been resupplied with ammunition and was holding out at the hospital in La Casse until numbers forced him to pull back. Charette, Couëtus and Guérin now managed to rally around 800 men in the heart of Bouin, and with this column planned to make a last desperate charge through the enemy ranks. La Championnière recalled how they were in despair until a local alerted them to a possible escape route across the salt marshes. They abandoned their horses, the wounded, and many refugees, and using fusils and poles (called ningles, used to leap across the many streams and ditches), they slipped away; some even resorted to swimming through the freezing water.13
On entering Bouin the republicans were astonished to find it deserted. Hundreds of refugees, however, were found hidden in the church tower and sent to Nantes.
After an exhausting march, Charette’s miraculous escape did not conceal the terrible losses he had sustained. They totalled around 800 men and all his cannon, powder and horses.14 The republicans admitted to around 100 killed and wounded.15 Charette and his beleaguered band eventually appeared at Châteauneuf towards 3pm. Here he put some order into his remaining troops and inspired his men to fight on:
‘Comrades, we have made a remarkable escape but we are not even, there is no doubt that the enemy borders the marshes and occupy posts beyond; but they can only be in small numbers. Let’s close up to each other and march in closed ranks, and we will overpower these rogues if you want to have munitions.’16
Remarkably Charette’s diminished column came across Pajot’s small army. Pajot, notorious for his cruelty, now assisted in the surprise attack and rout of Haxo, his headquarters staff, the 300 men of the Ille-et-Vilaine Battalion, and thirty cavalry. This took place between Châteauneuf and the Bois-de-Céné road on the same day as the defeat at Bouin.17
Brushing aside further republican posts, Charette reached Saint-Etienne-de-Mer-Morte that night, bringing with them weapons, ammunition and horses captured from the enemy. It was a remarkable escape for which Haxo must take responsibility. As poor recompense, the republicans captured Charette’s horse and paraded it through Les Sables as a trophy of war.
Jordy remained in Bouin while Aubertin was ordered back to Beauvoir.
Legé 7 December
Charette was keen to link up with Savin and Joly, who were then in Les Lucs, and after only a short rest he marched in that direction. When camping in the forest at La Grollière they heard firing in the distance towards Legé. Charette gave orders to race there and found Joly fighting the 800 strong garrison under Adjudant General Guillaime.18
Haxo was fearful for this garrison and had ordered Aubertin to head there as quickly as possible.
As Charette’s men approached, the republicans sent out a detachment of infantry and a cannon to oppose him. Charette took up position on the La Blignière Heights and soon forced the republicans to pull back to entrenchments closer to the town, from where they bombarded the royalist positions with their five cannon and howitzer.
Charette’s men kept up their attack for at least an hour and a half but could make no headway.19 Seeing some hesitation, Guillaime launched a bayonet attack with the 110th Line and a Charente battalion. Charette’s men retreated in good order to the Forest of Grandlande and were not pursued.
La Championnière blamed the defeat on having attacked across the more open terrain along the Nantes road. Three hours after this engagement Aubertin’s column arrived, only to return to Machecoul on the following day.20
Towards 6pm Charette’s men reached the Forest of Grandelande where they camped overnight.
Charette’s March into Haut-Poitou 8 to 20 December
On 8 December, Charette, Joly and Savin linked up at Les Grand-Lucs with 2,000 infantry and 179 cavalry.21 They decided to march into Haut-Poitou to gather recruits from those who had not crossed the Loire, as their small numbers simply could not stand up against the number of republicans in the coastal Vendée. They marched through Rochservière and Boulogne, before reaching Les Essarts. They attacked a 2,000 strong republican garrison at Les Quatre-Chemins on 11 December, reputedly inflicting around 1,000 casualties.22 On 12 December they reached Les Herbiers where Charette was formally elected as the new commander-in-chief of the Army of Bas-Poitou, much to the annoyance of Joly.
On 13 December the army marched east to recruit in Haut-Poitou, passing through Saint-Michel, Mallièvre and Châtillon, barely troubled by the republicans. They repelled an ambush by 2-400 republicans from the Pouzauges garrison before they occupied that town. Republican brutality was encouraging men to join his ranks and Charette’s infantry now totalled 3-4,000 infantry and 322 cavalry.23
Haxo had not lost sight of his aim to destroy Charette. On 11 December he ordered Dutruy and Dufour to march in concert with Guillaume’s 1,200 men and hunt down the rebels in the Bocage.24 Dufour marched with 2,400 men. On 15 December Adjudant General Biot was ordered to march from Fontenay to cover La Châtaigneraie with 500 men and Dufour marched from Luçon to Les Essarts. On 16 December Guillaume marched on Montaigu while Dufour headed for Chantonnay. Bard, in Luçon, was reinforced on 15 December by 450 men moving up from La Rochelle. All the republicans, however, were in a terrible state.
Chalbos ordered Joba to take command of troops gathering at Fontenay and coordinate his march with Haxo’s troops. He was at Mortagne around 16 December as Dufour was heading for Pouzauges, and planned to march on La Châtaigneraie via Boupère.
On 18 December Dufour marched on Les Herbiers, aiming to hunt down Charette in the Pouzauges and Boupère area on 20 December. However the orders to hunt down Charette were suddenly curtailed on news of the return of the Grand Army towards the Loire. Dufour was immediately ordered to Champtoceaux and Bard to St-Florent.
Joba, meanwhile, had received news that Charette was at Pouzauges with a post at Réaumur. Hearing that Dufour’s 3,000 men were aiming to attack Pouza
uges from Les Herbiers, he gambled on launching a strike on Charette’s force and attacked on 20 December, unaware that Dufour’s orders had changed.25 Joba claimed he killed 200 rebels and if Dufour had joined him he believed they would have torn Charette’s force to pieces.26
Charette’s army now headed north for Maulévrier where they arrived later that same day. He was not pursued.
Chapter 17
The End of the ‘War of Giants’
By the end of 1793 the Republic had saved France from attempts by the First Coalition to bring it down: testament to the remarkable achievement of Carnot in rallying the nation to arms. The Grand Army had also been crushed in the marshlands around Savenay.
On 21 December a young man walked into Charette’s temporary headquarters in Maulévrier. It was none other than Henri de la Rochejaquelein. In company with Stofflet and a small body of men, and disguised as a peasant, he had survived a number of close encounters with the republicans since crossing the Loire. La Rochejaquelein had in fact been looking for the contingent under Pierre Cathelineau when they came across Charette’s troops. La Ville-Baugé left an eye witness account of the meeting that followed.1
Charette was clearly jealous of La Rochejaquelein’s influence and justifiably concerned that the new recruits he had gathered would switch allegiance. He failed to offer La Rochejaquelein any respect or sympathy and, although dinner was served and Charette was eating as they arrived, he did not invite them to join him. La Ville-Baugé was however quizzed about events north of the Loire.