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Battle of Chantonnay (March 1793)

Coordinates: 46°41′16″N 1°02′58″W / 46.68778°N 1.04944°W / 46.68778; -1.04944
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First Battle of Chantonnay
Part of the War in the Vendée

View of Chantonnay, engraving by Thomas Drake, c. 1850.
DateMarch 17, 1793
Location
Chantonnay, France
46°41′16″N 1°02′58″W / 46.68778°N 1.04944°W / 46.68778; -1.04944
Result Republican victory
Belligerents
 French First Republic Catholic and Royal Army
Commanders and leaders
• Louis de Marcé
• Henri de Boulard
• Joseph Niou		 • Charles de Royrand
• Louis Sapinaud de La Verrie
• Charles Sapinaud de La Rairie
Strength
500 men[1]
2 cannons[1]		 3,000 men[2][3]
3 cannons[1]
Casualties and losses
3 wounded[1] 40 killed[2][4]
3 cannons captured[1]
Battle of Chantonnay (March 1793) is located in France
Battle of Chantonnay (March 1793)
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Location within France

The First Battle of Chantonnay took place on March 17, 1793, during the War in the Vendée, a counter-revolutionary uprising against the French First Republic.

Prelude

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Le Pont-Charron, engraving by Thomas Drake, c. 1850.

On March 12, approximately 3,000 Vendéen insurgents, led by Charles de Royrand, Louis Sapinaud de La Verrie, and Charles Sapinaud de La Rairie, seized a strategic position at Quatre-Chemins in L'Oie, a crossroads linking Nantes to La Rochelle and Les Sables-d'Olonne to Saumur.[2][3] Two days later, on March 14, the National Guard from Fontenay-le-Comte attempted to challenge their control but was ambushed and routed without a fight,[4][2][3] suffering 25 to 30 fatalities before retreating to Sainte-Hermine.[5] During this clash, Laparra, secretary of the Vendée department’s directory, was captured and executed by firing squad.[2]

On March 15, the insurgents attacked Chantonnay, capturing the town after a combat with 200 National Guardsmen from Fontenay.[6][7][2][8] They then withdrew slightly north to Saint-Vincent-Sterlanges.[6]

On March 16, Republican general Louis Henri François de Marcé arrived at Sainte-Hermine from La Rochelle, commanding a force of 1,200 to 1,300 men and seven cannons.[2][1][6][9] He swiftly moved to secure the Pont-Charron bridge over the Grand Lay, south of Chantonnay, to prevent its destruction by the insurgents.[2]

Battle

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On March 17, the Republicans advanced toward Chantonnay.[2][10] Marcé positioned a reserve force at Pont-Charron and led a vanguard of 500 men and two cannons, accompanied by Colonel Henri François Maurille de Boulard and representative Joseph Niou.[2][1] The insurgents launched an attack,[9][11] and a six-hour battle ensued between Chantonnay and Saint-Vincent-Sterlanges[12] under nearly continuous rain.[1] The Republicans secured an easy victory with their artillery overwhelming the exposed peasant insurgents on the open plain.[9][1][13] The defeated Vendeans retreated to their camp at L'Oie.[9]

Marcé remained in Chantonnay, where he received 1,000 reinforcements,[14][9][12] and declared his intent to march on Nantes.[9]

Casualties

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The following day, Representative Joseph Niou reported the victory to the National Convention, praising the "valor of our brothers-in-arms and the capable leadership."[6][12] He claimed the rebels left over 100 of their dead on the field.[10] However, in a report to the Minister of War,[A 1] General Marcé described the insurgent losses as "considerable" in both dead and wounded, including the capture of their three small cannons.[1] A dispatch from Fontenay-le-Comte administrators estimated 40 rebel deaths,[1][13] a figure corroborated by historians Émile Gabory and Roger Dupuy.[2][4] Alongside the cannons, the insurgents lost 1,200 bread rations and 1,200 cartridges.[9]

Republican casualties were minimal, with Niou and Marcé reporting only three wounded: two officers and a cavalryman.[1][12] The officers, described as "very lightly" injured, were Lieutenant-Colonel Laborie and Captain of Gendarmerie Garnier.[1]

Notes

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  1. ^

    Called by circumstances to restore order in the departments of Vendée and Loire-Inférieure, I suspended my coastal inspection tour, which I had largely completed. I assembled various National Guard units from the districts of Rochefort and La Rochelle, along with some soldiers from the 60th Infantry Regiment, and marched against the rebels, who were disrupting communications with Nantes and had gathered at Saint-Vincent-Sterlanges, a village one league from here. They advanced daily toward Chantonnay and as far as Pont-Charrault. I engaged them with a vanguard of 500 men and two cannons, encountering the rebels near Chantonnay’s gates. We fought and dispersed them; they lost three small cannons that formed their artillery. Their dead and wounded are considerable in number. We suffered no fatalities; two officers and one National Guard cavalryman were lightly wounded.

    This action unfolded in the presence of National Commissioner Niou, whose example and counsel greatly contributed to our success. The enemy attacked first, which spurred renewed vigor in the Republic’s troops. I cannot praise enough the courageous and steadfast conduct of the National and line troops, who marched and fought for six hours under near-constant rain. Tomorrow, I march on Saint-Fulgent with 2,000 men. We must repair all bridges along our route; the weather remains rainy, and we lack shoes, but the Republic’s soldiers will overcome all obstacles in this fanatical region and, I hope, restore the tree of liberty, bringing happiness to a misguided people. I will report further on this operation, General Minister.

    Colonel Boulard assists me in this advance; he commands only 60 men of the 60th Regiment but I have appointed him chief of staff of our small army. He played a significant role yesterday and today leads the vanguard toward Saint-Fulgent.

    — General Louis de Marcé, March 18, 1793 Report to War Minister Pierre Riel de Beurnonville, Chassin (1892, v. III, pp. 465-465)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Chassin 1892, pp. 465–466, v. III.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gabory 2009, p. 108.
  3. ^ a b c Gras 1994, p. 18.
  4. ^ a b c Dupuy 2005, p. 105.
  5. ^ Valin (2010, pp. 177–178)
  6. ^ a b c d Gérard 1999, p. 96.
  7. ^ Chassin 1892, pp. 508–509, v. III.
  8. ^ Savary 1824, p. 114, v. I.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Martin 2014, p. 41.
  10. ^ a b Gérard 1999, p. 97.
  11. ^ Savary 1824, p. 115, v. I.
  12. ^ a b c d Le Révolution de 92, ou Journal de la Convention nationale (in French). February 13, 1793. pp. Section 13, p. 15.
  13. ^ a b La Boutetière 1869, p. 24.
  14. ^ Gabory 2009, p. 119.

Bibliography

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