First battle at Cholet
Vendéeaner
| date | March 15, 1793 |
|---|---|
| place | Cholet |
| output | Vendéeans victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 580 | 15,000 |
| losses | |
|
150 dead, 400 prisoners |
40 dead |
The First Battle of Cholet took place on March 15, 1793 during the Vendée revolt around Cholet in the Maine-et-Loire department .
prehistory
After the National Convention ordered the mass uprising of 300,000 men on February 23, the first unrest began in the Mauges when the terms of the recruitment were announced. On March 2nd and 3rd, young men from the canton who had gathered in Cholet refused to leave the city. In Beaupréau , rioters threatened the National Guard, which shot three of the mutineers and wounded eight of them.
On March 12, 600 farmers in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil drove the Republican forces to flight. On March 13, they took under the leadership of Jacques Cathelineau place Jallais one. On March 14th, Chemillé fell into the hands of the same farmers. Most of the 200 national guards who had defended the city had been captured, as had their three couleuvrines , the largest of which was renamed "Marie-Jeanne" by the farmers of Anjou and who made them a real mascot.
Cathelineau's victories provoked the uprising of hundreds of other communities who joined the small insurgent army, particularly Jean-Nicolas Stofflet .
The battle
The battle itself was short. On March 15, the farmers and 15,000 men lined up in front of Cholet . A negotiator was dispatched to negotiate the Republican surrender in the city, but Beauveau, the town's commanding officer, refused. He was of the opinion that his 580 well-armed National Guardsmen would be enough to fend off the poorly armed peasants.
But he was terribly wrong, and within a few hours the insurgents captured the city, killing 150 of the Republicans, including Beauveau, with only 40 losses of their own. Big booty was also taken.
Effects
The next day the insurgents occupied Vihiers , which the Republicans had chosen to give up. But the farmers feared the repression of the "Bleus", which they knew was inevitable. At this point in time the rebels sought out the nobles of their country, former soldiers, to persuade them to take their place at their head. In this way, several nobles such as Charles Artus de Bonchamps or Maurice Gigost d'Elbée joined the uprising.
At the initiative of their leaders, the rebels then decided to march on Chalonnes-sur-Loire near Angers . The city was defended by 4,000 soldiers. Given the threat posed by the insurgents, the defenders preferred to leave the city and retreat to Angers. The peasants who had been driven from their land by the Republicans then dispersed and returned home.
The uprising was over, but the revolutionary army sent to suppress it was later to resume the war in the Mauges.
On April 14, 1793, the Republican General Leygonier occupied the city of Cholet, which the royalists recaptured the next day. The Republican prisoners, including Jean-Julien Savary, were spared death thanks to the pleas of the residents.
Coordinates: 47 ° 8 ′ 20 ″ N , 1 ° 20 ′ 4 ″ W.
literature
- Jean Julien Michel Savary "Guerres des Vendéens et des Chouans contre la République" Volume I 1824, pp. 70 to 88. Texts en ligne sur google livres .
- Émile Gabory "Les Guerres de Vendée" Editeur Robert Laffont 2009 pp. 276–285.
- Charles-Louis Chassin “La Vendée Patriote (1793–1800)” Editeur Paul Dupont 1893–1895 pp. 206–219.
- Yves Gras “La Guerre de Vendée (1793–1796)” Éditeur Economica 1994 pp. 85–95.
- Jean Tabeur “Paris contre la Province, les guerres de l'Ouest Éditeur” Economica 2008 pp. 147–150.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chamard, Élie (1970). 20 siècles d'histoire de Cholet . Farré et fils, p. 351.
- ^ Ernest Colon: Cartes de lieux de batailles durant la guerre de Vendée
- ↑ Emile Gabory, Histoire des guerres de Vendée , Perrin, Paris, 2015