Battle at Plouharnel
An episode of the Quiberon campaign (painting by de Paul-Émile Boutigny)
| date | July 16, 1795 |
|---|---|
| place | East of Plouharnel and south of Carnac |
| output | Victory of the revolutionary troops |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
| 18,000, four artillery batteries with 24 to 48 guns | 5,500, eight guns |
| losses | |
|
23 killed, 71 wounded |
300 to 400 killed |
The battle at Plouharnel took place during the Chouannerie and was part of the so-called expedition to Quiberon . On July 16, 1795, the emigrant army landed on the Quiberon peninsula and launched an offensive against the Republican lines at Sainte-Barbe, southwest of Plouharnel . At the same time, a troop from Chouans landed at Carnac with the help of the British fleet .
But the attacking royalists were unaware that Vincent de Tinténiac had diverted the Chouans marching column and that for this reason they could not drive out the Republicans as the plan foreseen. The whole offensive was a complete failure, the royalist emigrants encountered the republican field entrenchments equipped with several guns and were repulsed.
backgrounds
After the royalist troops were defeated in the battle at Carnac , they withdrew on the Quiberon peninsula. On July 9, 1795, the General Staff of the Royalists met for a council of war. Georges Cadoudal proposed a plan to try to go ashore behind the Republican lines with the help of the British Navy to attack them in the rear. This plan was approved by Tinténiac, Paul Alexandre du Bois-Berthelot and Jacques Le Prestre de Vauban and was approved by the Council of War. On July 10, two divisions of Chouan, one 2,000 men and commanded by Lantivy and Jean Jan, and a second 3,500 men and commanded by Georges Cadoudal and Vincent de Tinténiac, boarded British ships in Port-Haliguen . They were reinforced by the 2nd company of the "Régiment du Loyal-Émigrant". The first section went ashore east of Pouldu in Clohars-Carnoët and the second section east of Sarzeau . The Chouans, dressed in British uniforms, were assigned to land a maximum of troops and capture the Republican lines in order to launch a combined attack with the emigre's army on July 16.
On July 15, a new fleet of British transport ships under the command of Francis Rawdon-Hastings appeared in the Bay of Quiberon, on board the Second Division of the Army of the Emigrants, commanded by Marquis Charles Eugène Gabriel de Virot de Sombreuil, as well as the answer of the British Government on Puisaye's letter of June 27th. This letter, written by William Windham, put an end to the dispute between d'Hervilly and Puisaye, in which the latter was confirmed as the leader of the expedition. To clarify the situation, the government announced that Puisaye had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in the British Army.
Sombreuil asked Puisaye to postpone the attack for a day to give him time to land his men and arm them so that they could join the fight. But Puisaye refused to act in concert with Tinténiac. On the night of July 15 to July 16, Jacques Le Prestre de Vauban landed in Port-Orange with 1,500 to 2,000 Chouans, 200 English soldiers and two cannons, transported on the ships of John Borlase Warren, in Carnac for the Beaumer dunes to start a diversionary maneuver. A code had been agreed with Puisaye that when Vauban began the fight he should fire a first missile and if he were repulsed he would fire a second missile.
The battle
At 3:30 am on July 16, the fight began and Vauban's force fired the first shots.
At Fort de Penthièvre , Puisaye believed he had heard shouting in the Republican camp and suspected an attack on Tinténiac's troops. He then ordered a general attack, whereupon 2,600 emigrants and 1,400 to 1,500 Chouans set off under the command of Louis Charles d'Hervilly.
The "Régiment de Dresnay" and 600 Chouans under the command of the Duke of Lévis occupied the right flank, the "Régiment d'Hector" was in the center on the right, the 1st company of the "Régiment Loyal-Emigrant" in the middle, where it was formed the vanguard , the Royal Artillery with 6 or 8 guns behind. The "Regiment d'Hervilly" occupied the left center. On the left flank were 1000 insurgents under the command of the Chevalier de Saint-Pierre and 400 Chouans of the d'Auray division under the command of Colonel Glain. This army faced 18,000 Republican soldiers, commanded by Général Louis Lemoine , who represented Lazare Hoche , who had marched to Lorient that day to oppose the Armée rouge der Chouans.
But the affair started badly for the royalists, Vauban was pushed back and had to return to the ships, he launched his second rocket, but Puisaye did not notice it.
In the north of the peninsula, the emigrants came into contact with the republican top under the command of Jean Joseph Amable Humbert , who quickly retreated to his own lines after a short battle when he saw the opposing offensive forces. The royalists followed in good order and approached the republican lines. The Republicans let the royalists approach and then opened fire with all their artillery, four batteries of 12 and 8 pounders. The troops in the center, surprised by such firepower, got stuck. The Chouans on the left flank, more agile and lighter than the regiments of the emigration, managed to reach the entrenchments in a bayonet attack and went into hand-to-hand combat. On the left flank, the "Régiment Royal-Marine", the "Régiment d'Hector" and the Chouans des Duc de Lévis attacked the entrenchments twice, but were finally repulsed.
In the middle, the emigrants organized themselves during a break in the fight to go back to the attack under the encouragement of Louis Charles d'Hervilly. Disciplined, they attacked in good order, despite massive defensive fire, when Louis Charles d'Hervilly collapsed, hit by a musket ball. With the loss of their leader, the attackers stalled and eventually fled. The Republican cavalry under Adjutant-General Vernot-Dejeu, supported by infantry, emerged from the entrenchments and began their pursuit. Several wounded were killed by the infantrymen.
The royalists sought refuge in Fort Penthièvre, closely followed by the Republicans. Some of Jacques Le Prestre de Vauban's chouans came from Carnac, then 300 English soldiers stepped in to cover the retreat while the gunners from Fort Penthièvre and five British gunboats opened fire on the Republicans. The latter, surprised by this massive firepower, quickly withdrew.
The losses
According to Lazare Hoche , 300 royalists were killed during the battle. The emigrant La Roche-Barnaud from the Régiment de Périgord , who did not take part in the fight, even assumes that 1,500 royalists were killed. Of the 125 men of the 1st company of the "Régiment Loyal-Émigrant" only 45, 53 of the 80 officers of the "Régiment d'Hector" were killed or wounded, as were 26 officers of the "Régiment de Dresnay". Louis Charles d'Hervilly died of his wounds on November 14th in London. Republican casualties amounted to 23 dead and 71 wounded, including Vernot-Dejeu. The Chouans, who landed to attack the Republicans in the rear, did not show up.
literature
- François Cadic: Histoire populaire de la chouannerie. 2 volumes. Éditions Terre de Brume, Dinan 2003, ISBN 978-2-84362-206-9 (Volume I), ISBN 978-2-84362-207-6 (Volume II).
- Émile Gabory: Les Guerres de Vendée. Robert Laffont 1912–1931, new edition 2009, ISBN 978-2-221-11309-7 .
References and footnotes
- ^ Jean-François Chiappe: Georges Cadoudal ou la liberté. Librairie académique Perrin, Paris 1971, pp. 139–140.
- ↑ Jean Sibenaler: Quiberon pour le Roi et l'Autel (= Sur les traces de l'histoire ). Editions Cheminements, Le Coudray-Macouard 2007, ISBN 978-2-84478-544-2 , p. 73.
- ^ François Cadic: Histoire populaire de la chouannerie. Volume II. Editions Terre de Brume, Dinan 2003, ISBN 978-2-84362-207-6 , pp. 16-17.
- ↑ Émile Gabory: Les Guerres de Vendée. Robert Laffont 1912–1931, new edition 2009, ISBN 978-2-221-11309-7 , pp. 1208–1210.
- ↑ Not a rank, but a position. The Adjudant-général replaced the “Maréchal de camp” in the role of “Chef d'état-major des armées” (for example: Chief of the Army Staff).
Coordinates: 47 ° 36 ′ 28 " N , 3 ° 8 ′ 8" W.