XII. 1793. tinuance of their wearisome march, and insisted upon CHAP. immediately returning to their homes. The generals, after exhausting every effort of reason and eloquence, were compelled to yield to the torrent, and orders were given to the whole army to move towards the Loire, to the infinite joy of the soldiers, who declared that they would secure a passage at Angers though its walls were made of 173-175. iron.1 1 Jom. iv. Laroch. 289. 332, 333. Beauch. ii. The army, on its return homewards, took the road of 77. at Dol. Pontorson. Rossignol, having collected a body of eighteen They defeat the Republithousand men, endeavoured to defend that town, and a cans at Ponfurious conflict took place in the streets; but the attack torson and of the Royalists who felt that they must force their way Nov. 19. sword in hand to La Vendée, was irresistible. The Republicans were driven at the point of the bayonet through the streets, their cannoneers cut down at their guns, and the whole army defeated, with the loss of all their baggage and artillery. Rossignol fell back to Dol, where, having received considerable reinforcements, and been joined by another Republican army, which raised his force to thirtyfive thousand men, he endeavoured to make head against the enemy, and bar their return to La Vendée. On the approach of the Royalists, however, he evacuated the town; and its single and spacious street was crowded by carriages, artillery, and baggage-waggons, and above sixty thousand persons who encumbered the army. At midnight, the action commenced by a vigorous attack of the Republicans on the advanced guard of the Royalists drawn up in front of the town; the alarm was immediately given, and the troops hastily sprang to their arms, amidst the prayers and tears of their wives and children, who saw no possible escape but in their valour. The rattling of the artillery, the cries of the soldiers, the gleaming of the sabres in torchlight as the horsemen shook them in the air when advancing to the charge, the fleeting illumination 292. of the shells which burst on all sides, filled the helpless 184. multitude with terror and agitation. The first attack of 2 Laroch. Beauch. ii. XII. 1793. CHAP. the Royalists was entirely successful, and the Republicans were driven back two leagues; but their left wing and reserve, having been suddenly assailed, when disordered by success, by Rossignol's right, was thrown into confusion, and driven back with great loss to the town. 78. perate situ. ultimate victory. The confusion there soon became indescribable: the Their des- fugitives broke through the unarmed crowd, while the ation, and horsemen trampled under foot men, women, and children in their flight; and the street was covered with wounded and dying victims, imploring their countrymen not to desert them in their distress. In this extremity the chiefs were in such despair that they sought death; Henri de Larochejaquelein remained several minutes with his arms folded in front of a battery, while D'Autichamp, Marigny, and the other leaders, exerted themselves to the utmost to stop the fugitives, and Stofflet, who had at first been carried away by the torrent, made the most vigorous efforts to check it. The women even snatched their fusils from the soldiers, and discharged them at the enemy; and the priests, with the cross in their hands, exhorted them to return to the combat. The curate of Ste Marie de Ré, in particular, from an eminence harangued the men in the most energetic strains. My children," said he, "I will march at your head with the crucifix in my hands. Let those who will follow me fall on their knees, and I will give them absolution; if they fall they will be received into paradise, but the cowards who betray God and their families will be massacred by the Blues, and their souls consigned to hell." Above two thousand men fell on their knees, received absolution, and returned to the battle, with the curate at their head, exclaiming, "Vive le Roi! Nous allons en Paradis.” Stimulated in this manner, the soldiers renewed the combat. Ere long such was the fury of the contending parties that they seized each other, and tore their bodies with their hands when their ammunition was exhausted; so completely were the ranks intermingled, that frequently 66 CHAP. 1793. the Vendeans and Republicans were served with ammunition from the same tumbrils. At length the valour of the Royalists prevailed; the battalions of volunteers in the Republican army began to fall into confusion, and soon the rout became general; the whole army disbanded and fled, some to Rennes and others to Fougères, leaving six thousand killed and wounded on the field of battle; 1 Laroch. while the Royalists, headed by their priests, returned to 300-305. Dol, and hastened to the churches to return thanks to 336, 337. heaven for their unhoped-for escape from so desperate a 197, 198. situation.1 Jom. iv. Beauch. ous victory Nov. 20. The Republicans were repulsed, but not defeated. 79. They retired to a position which they had strongly forti- Their glorified around the town of Antrain, and there still barred and humaAt noon they were train. nity at Anthe line of the Royalists' march. attacked at all points by the Vendeans, headed by Larochejaquelein, who was fearful to allow the first moments of enthusiasm, consequent on their victory, to pass away without achieving decisive success. For long the obstinacy of the Republicans arrested the furious onset of the Vendeans, but at length their intrenchments were carried, and they fled on all sides. The victors entered Antrain pell-mell with the fugitives, and a scene of matchless horror ensued in the crowded streets of that town. In the confusion of the flight, the soldiers, the camp followers, and the wounded, were crowded amidst the artillery and baggage-waggons; the whole fell together into the hands of the Royalists, and there was great danger that an indiscriminate massacre would be perpetrated by the troops, now wrought up by the cruelties of the Republicans to the highest pitch of exasperation. But their leaders interposed, and signalised their triumph by an extraordinary act of humanity. The wounded who had been taken were not only treated and clothed with the same care as their own soldiers, but they were all sent back, without exchange, to Rennes, with a letter 200-203. to the Republican authorities there, in which,2 after 2 Beauch. ii.. XII. CHAP. recounting the atrocious cruelty of their troops in La Vendée, they added, "but it is by acts of humanity that the Royal army avenges the massacres of its enemies.' 1793. 80. difficulties notwithstanding these vic These great victories again restored the Royalist Their great affairs; for, during the first confusion following their defeat, the Republicans were in no condition to have prevented them from reaching the bridge of Cé or Saumur, or even making themselves masters of Nantes or Granville, from which the garrisons had now been with1 Jom. iv. drawn.1 After long deliberation, the generals determined tories. 338. to march back to the latter place, which would now become an easy prey, and where they might both disencumber themselves of their followers, and open a communication with England. But no sooner was this determination known than the troops again broke out into open revolt; and so vehement was the tumult that it could only be appeased by an immediate change of the destination of the army to Angers. "Consider," said they, "how formidable the Republic is: have we not invariably found that a bloody combat is but the prelude to another still more bloody; are we not weakened by immense losses, and totally inadequate to head an insurrection inBrittany? What can we do, on an inhospitable soil, without succour, without support, often without food? Let us return to the land which gave us birth; we shall find at least some vestiges of our altars, and some remains of our homes, where we may obtain shelter, or in the last extremity be allowed to repose in unmolested graves. Our corpses will not there, as here, become the food of vultures and beasts of prey. What do we expect from the Bretons? Do they not treat us like wandering brigands? Let us, therefore, hasten to regain La Vendée: Charette is still redoubtable amidst its woods; let us unite our standards to his, and he may yet lead us to victory." These discourses inflamed the minds of the people to such a degree, that all efforts to sway them became fruitless. In vain the colours were displayed on XII. 1793. the road to Pontorson, and the chiefs made every effort to CHAP. induce the soldiers to follow them; a mutiny more terrible than that at Granville arose on all sides, and the leaders were reluctantly obliged to take the road to the Loire. Thither, accordingly, they marched by Fougères, Ernée, and Laval, without being disquieted by the enemy; but the courage of the soldiers was much abated by the spectacles of horror which met them in revisiting those towns which they had formerly occupied. Everywhere the sick, the wounded, the children who had been left behind, had been massacred by the Republicans, and their bodies still lay unburied in the streets; even the owners of the houses who had given them shelter had been put to the sword with merciless severity. Every one approached Angers Laroch with the conviction that sooner or later, in the progress of iv. 338. this terrible war, he would perish in the field or on the 207, 208. scaffold.1 1 309. Jom. Beauch. ii. 81. repulsed at Angers, surrounded by an old wall, and encumbered by vast faubourgs, was defended only by a small garrison; They are and, on the approach of the Royalists, General Danican Angers. had thrown himself into it with his brigade, less in the Nov. 30. hope of making good the place, than of securing for it terms of capitulation. If the troops had known how to conduct a coup-de-main, it would have fallen an easy prey, and the whole measures of the Convention would have been defeated. But the attack was not conducted with more skill than that of Granville, and the troops, worn out by fatigue and suffering, did not display their wonted bravery. For long they confined themselves to a distant cannonade; but at length, after thirty hours of murderous conflict, they had reached the rampart, and were commencing the escalade, when their rear was assailed by the Republican cavalry, who had been detached by Rossignol to harass the besiegers. The attack was quickly repulsed by M. Forestier with the Vendean horse; nevertheless, such was the confusion produced by this unforeseen alarm, that a sudden panic instantly seized the army; |