XII. 1793. CHAP. On your arms now depend not only your own lives, and those of your wives and children, but the throne of France, and the altars of God. Let us then advance to victory; the Bretons extend their arms to receive youthey will aid us to reconquer our hearths; but now we must conquer; a defeat would be irreparable ruin." Lescure insisted upon being carried in a litter through the ranks, and sharing in the dangers that awaited them. Animated by these examples, the Royalists advanced to the encounter in close column. By a vigorous charge at the head of a small body of horse, Stofflet made himself master of some pieces of cannon, of which his troops were entirely destitute, which he immediately turned against the enemy; Larochejaquelein and Royrand pressed them severely in front, while another column, headed by Dehargues, turned their flank, and attacked them in rear. The Vendeans had to deal with the redoubtable garrison of Mayence, but they fought with the courage of despair, and on no former occasion had exhibited more enthusiastic valour. After a desperate struggle, the Republicans began to give way; they were pursued with loud shouts by the Royalists as far as Château Gontier, where 322, 326, a battery of cannon for a moment arrested their progress; 262.26rch. but Larochejaquelein threw himself on the guns, carried Guerres des them, and pursued the enemy through the town with great slaughter. On reaching the open country on the Beauch. ii. opposite side, they dispersed, and with great difficulty, and in utter confusion, by diverging lines, reached the towns of Rennes and Nantes.1 1 Jom. iv. 330. Laroch. Kleber, Vend. ii. 305, 306. 120, 123, 130. 72. Great re sults of this victory. In this battle the garrison of Mayence, which had inflicted such losses on the Vendeans, was almost entirely destroyed; the total loss of the Republicans was twelve thousand men, and nineteen pieces of cannon. Of their whole army, scarcely seven thousand could be rallied at Angers after the action. General Léchelle was so overwhelmed by the disaster that he resigned the command in despair, and retired to Tours, where anxiety XII. 1793. and chagrin soon brought him to an untimely end. On CHAP. the day when this astonishing victory was gained, Barrère announced the extinction of the war of La Vendée in the Convention in the following terms:"La Vendée is no more. Montaigu and Chollet are in our power; the brigands are everywhere exterminated; a profound solitude reigns in the Bocage, covered with ashes and watered with tears. The death of Bonchamp alone is equivalent to a victory." Abandoning themselves to the most tumultuous joy at this intelligence, the people danced in all the public places of Paris, and everywhere the exclamation was heard, La Vendée is no more!" It may be conceived, then, what was the public consternation when, a few days after, it was discovered that the Republican army xxx. 371. was dispersed, and that the capital itself was open to 132-134. them.1 66 1 Hist. Parl. Beauch. ii. 73. state of the after their This glorious victory restored at once the Vendean cause. The remains of the Republican army had fled in Desperate different directions to Rennes, Angers, and Nantes, and Republicans nothing remained to prevent the Royalists from marching defeat. either to Paris, Nantes, or Alençon. General Lenoir, in his report to the Convention, declared, "The rebels may now drive us before them to Paris, if they choose." Unfortunately they were led, by the hopes of succours from England, to direct their march to the coast, and thus they lost the moment of decisive success. After remaining nine days at Laval, to restore some degree of order in the army, they advanced to Fougères, in the hope of being reinforced by recruits from Brittany, and of drawing nearer the expected aid from Great Britain. Here two emigrants arrived with despatches from the British government, which, after assuring the Vendeans of the desire of England to aid them, and recommending Granville as the point of debarkation, promised succour on their arrival at that port. This offer removed every hesitation as to their plans. The prospect of obtaining a XII. 1793. CHAP. seaport town, defended by fortifications, where they could at once deposit in safety the crowd of helpless mouths which encumbered the army, obtain a firm footing for their stores, and open a direct communication with the powerful allies who seemed to be advancing to their assistance, dispelled every doubt. They determined, in consequence, to march to Granville, and despatched an answer by the British envoy, in which, after expressing their intentions, and explaining their wants, they entreated that a prince of the blood might be sent to assume the command, and terminate the divisions which already began to paralyse their movements. Meanwhile, the Republicans did everything in their power to repair their disasters; and while Kléber laboured assiduously at Angers to reorganise his army, the Convention issued a bloody decree, in which they ordered that " every city which should receive the rebels, give them succour, or fail 'to repel them by all the means in its power, should be treated as a city in revolt, razed to the ground, and the whole property of the inhabitants confiscated to the Beauch. ii. Republic." Fortunately, the weakness of their arms on the right bank of the Loire prevented this atrocious decree from being generally carried into execution.1 Nov. 1. 1 Guerres des Vend. ii. 321, 327. Jom. iv. 327, 329. Laroch.281. 138, 152 155. 74. de Lescure. At Fougères the army sustained an irreparable loss by Death of M. the death of M. de Lescure, who sank at length under the consequences of the wound he had received at the battle of Chollet, and the protracted suffering and anxiety which he had since undergone. He awaited the approach of death with his usual serenity. Open the windows," said he to his wife, who was watching by his bedside: " is it clear?" "Yes," said she, "the sun is shining.""I have, then,” replied the dying general," a veil before my eyes. I always thought that my wound was mortal: I have no longer any doubt of it. My dearest! I am about to leave you; that is my sole regret, and that I have not been able to replace the King upon the throne. I leave in the midst of a civil war, with a helpless infant, and you XII. 1793. another in your bosom-that is what distresses me. For CHAP. myself I have no fears I have often seen death before me, and it has no terrors: I hope to go to heaven. It is you alone that I regret," and here his eyes filled with tears; "I hoped to have made you happy. Forgive me now, if ever I have caused you distress; and console yourself with thinking that I shall be in heaven. I carry with me the blessed presentiment that the Almighty will watch over your days." He soon after breathed his last, while a smile of benevolence still lingered on his features; and the pious care of his relations committed him to the earth, in an unknown place of sepulture, where his body was 269-271. preserved from the insults which the fury of the Repub- 149. licans would have inflicted on his remains.1 Beauch. ii. Nov. 14. The Vendeans having at length recovered from their 75. fatigues, advanced slowly to Granville, which they sur- The Royalists repulsed rounded with thirty thousand combatants. Their march at Granville. had been so much delayed by their encumbrances, that no hope remained of surprising the place, and the want of heavy artillery precluded the possibility of breaching its ramparts. It was therefore resolved to attempt an escalade, for the English succours had not arrived, and the circumstances of the army rendered immediate success indispensable. Soon scaling-ladders were prepared, and the Royalists, after having in vain summoned the place, advanced to the assault. Such was the ardour of the soldiers, that they not only made themselves masters of the suburbs, but rushed into the outworks, and some of the bravest even mounted the rampart, supplying the want of scaling-ladders, which proved too short, by their bayonets, which they stuck into the crevices of the walls. The garrison, panic-struck, were flying from the top, when a deserter exclaimed-"Treason! we are betrayed!" and the impetuous crowd, yielding to the impulse, precipitated themselves back into the ditch. The attack continued, but not having been preceded by any reconnoissance, and being carried on in utter ignorance of the works, it took place on CHAP. the least accessible front, and where the assailants were XII. 1793. exposed to a severe flanking fire from the armed vessels in the harbour. Notwithstanding the most heroic exertions, the Vendeans were repulsed; and the Republican commander, seeing no other way of driving them out of the suburbs, set fire to them himself, and the conflagration, being aided by a high wind, soon reduced them to ashes. The peasants, at the earnest entreaty of their leaders, returned a second time to the assault over the remains of the suburbs; but this attack was again unsuccessful. Their priests animated their courage, by marching at their head with the crucifix in their hands; the officers led on the columns, and over the smoking ruins of the houses the ardent troops rushed forward, regardless of the storm of musketry and grape which showered down upon them from the rampart, and a severe flanking fire from the gun-boats in the harbour. The palisades were broken down, the ditch crossed, and in some places even the rampart was scaled. But the resistance of the Republicans 1 Laroch. was as brave as the assault; and after a murderous conflict Jom.iv.332. of six-and-thirty hours, Henri de Larochejaquelein was 168-170. reluctantly compelled to order a retreat, after sustaining a loss of eighteen hundred men.1 286-288. Beauch. ii. 76. Their retreat to Loire. After this check, Larochejaquelein and Stofflet determined to advance to Caen, where a strong Royalist wards the party was known to exist and they had already set out at the head of the cavalry for that purpose, when a revolt broke out among the troops. The authority of the chiefs was immediately disregarded; the Prince of Talmont, accused of a design to escape to Jersey, was seized by the mutineers, and with difficulty rescued from instant death. Larochejaquelein's voice was contemned; Stofflet alone preserved any authority over the troops. The peasants, who had never been subjected to regular discipline, and could not be made to comprehend the plan of operations which their leaders had adopted, loudly exclaimed against any further con |