Virée de Galerne

The Rout of Cholet, by Jules Giradet.

On 17 October 1793, the Republican Army of the West coordinated an attack on the Vendéen Royalists and squeezed them into a pocket at Cholet. Encircled, the Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou and Haut-Poitou desperately attempted to resist but were decisively beaten. In the battle, Charles de Bonchamps was mortally wounded and 8,000 Vendéen Royalists were estimated to be killed, wounded or missing in action. With no choice, the Vendéen forces chose to take the only escape route open and fall back first to Beaupréau to the northwest then later to Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, where they were cornered in a bend of the river Loire.[1]

After occupying Varades, the Vendéen general staff decided to march on Laval, in the former lands of the Prince of Talmont. The latter was convinced that his influence would provoke an insurrection in the country. On 20 October, the Vendeans reached Candé, then Château-Gontier on the 21st, meeting little resistance. On 22 October, they seized Laval after a short battle. The generals then decided to give their men a few days' rest. However, on the same day, the Republican forces of the Army of the West crossed the Loire at Angers and Nantes, determined to pursue the "Brigands". Only Nicolas Haxo remained in the Vendée with his division, in order to fight Charette's troops. On 25 October, the Republican vanguard, 4,000 men strong, commanded by Westermann and Beaupuy, entered Château-Gontier. The republicans were exhausted, but Westermann refused to wait for the bulk of the army and, the very next day, he launched an attack on Laval. It was a rout for the Republican forces who lost 1,600 men at Croix-Bataille.[2]

The next day, Westermann was joined at Villiers-Charlemagne by the rest of the army, commanded by Jean Léchelle. He immediately decided to launch a new attack. Despite the opposition of Kléber, who wanted to rest the troops, the Republicans attacked Laval again on 26 October. The stupidity of Léchelle's plan caused a new rout in the vicinity of Entrammes, and the Republicans had to flee to Lion-d'Angers. In the pursuit, the Vendeans even retook Château-Gontier where General Beaupuy was seriously wounded. The Republicans had 4,000 killed and wounded out of 20,000 men; the Vendeans had only 400 dead and 1,200 wounded out of 25,000 men.[3]

A few days later, Léchelle was arrested on the orders of Merlin de Thionville and sent to Nantes, where he committed suicide on 11 November. The day after the battle, as the Vendéens returned to Laval, Kléber decided to return to Angers with the army in order to reorganize his forces. The representatives appointed Alexis Chalbos as acting general-in-chief.[4]