Renée Bordereau
Renée Bordereau (born June 1770 in Soulaines-sur-Aubance , Maine-et-Loire , † 1828 ), known by her battle name Langevin , was an insurgent on the side of the royalists during the Vendée uprising .
Life
The Catholic farmer's daughter witnessed the murder of 42 family members during the reign of terror of the French Revolution . Her father was executed in front of her eyes. That's why she bought a rifle in March 1793, after the start of the Vendée uprising. She practiced shooting and joined a rebel troop with two brothers, disguised as a man. At first she named herself Hyacinthe after another brother, but was then called Langevin by the men.
Registered with the cavalry, she fought both as a foot soldier and as a hussar, in the battles Fontenay-le-Comte , Saumur , Nantes , Martigné-Briand , Vihiers , Les Ponts-de-Cé , in the 3rd battle of Luçon and the 2. Battle of Cholet under Louis de Salgues de Lescure and in Angers , Saint-Florent-le-Vieil and Thuars . Wounded several times, as with Luçon and Martigné, she always resumed the fight as quickly as possible. According to her own report, she killed 21 opponents at Les Ponts-de-Cé, which was her personal record in a battle.
With her advice as a local guide, she saved allied troops from harm. In 1794, as the leader of her own troop of 200 men, she protected towns from hostile armies and thus prevented government troops from executing non-combatants. The local mayors wanted to appoint Langevin as the local commander, which they refused because of their "inability".
After the peace treaty of 1795, the notorious Langevin was wanted with a bounty of 40,000 francs. Since he was a woman, he was always released after arrests, and survived until 1799, when the fighting in the Vendée ended again. As a simple soldier she participated again. A new peace treaty also excluded Langevin from pardon; with the support of well-meaning royalists, including mayors, she was able to escape her persecutors. In 1804 she was arrested on suspicion of raping a soldier's daughter, but was released again when she - without naming her - revealed that she was a woman. In 1809 she was finally arrested on a permanent basis and initially held at the Angers Fortress under inhumane conditions, which made her seriously ill. When a self-dug hole was discovered in her cell in 1812, she was transferred to Le Mont-Saint-Michel .
They were held there until 1814. At the behest of Louis XVIII. the royalist was released and introduced to him at Versailles by Marquis Louis de La Rochejaquelein . She dictated her experiences during the wars to the wife of the Marquis, which were published as her memoirs. She returned to the Vendée with a pension from the king.
She fought again during the reign of the 100 days and in later wars.
Contemporary sources alongside her own experience report confirmed Bordereau's courage and combat experience. Madame de la Rochejaquelein described her as covered with scars and in the company of two comrades-in-arms. However, she estimated that there weren't even ten women in the army.
bibliography
- Mémoires de Renée Bordereau dite Langevin Paris, Michaud, 1814
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Bayerische Nationalzeitung ; December 13, 15 and 17, 1839; Publication of a translated excerpt from: Théodore Muret, Souvenirs de l'Ouest , Paris 1839 by Ambroise Dupont
- ^ Antonius Lux (ed.): Great women of world history. 1000 biographies in words and pictures . Sebastian Lux Verlag , Munich 1963, p. 78.
- ↑ Marie-Louise-Victoire de Donniss La Rochejaquelein: Mémoires de Mme la marquise de La Rochejaquelein ( available online )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bordereau, Renée |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Langevin (pseudonym) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French insurgents |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 1770 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Soulaines-sur-Aubance , Maine-et-Loire |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1828 |