Chapter 6: The Assault Of Chemille.
Few words were spoken, as the group of officers returned to thetown. When they reached Cathelineau's quarters Leigh would havegone on, but the general said, "Come in, if you please, MonsieurStansfield," and he followed the party in.
"This has been a trial, gentlemen, a heavy trial," the generalsaid. "When I entered upon this work, I knew that that there weremany things that I should have to endure. I knew the trouble offorming soldiers from men who, like ours, prize their freedom andindependence above all other things; that we might have to sufferdefeat; that we must meet with hardships, and probably death; andthat, in the long run, all our efforts might be futile.
"But I had not reckoned on having to deal with treachery. I hadnever dreamed that one of my first acts would have been to try andto sentence a Vendean to death, for an act of the grossesttreachery. However, let us put that aside; it was, perhaps, in thenature of things. In every community there must be a few scoundrelsand, if this turns out to be a solitary instance, we maycongratulate ourselves, especially as we have escaped withoutinjury.
"That we have done so, gentlemen, is due solely to MonsieurStansfield; who thus twice, in the course of a single day, hasperformed an inestimable service to the cause. There are few indeedwho, on hearing the braggadocio of a drunken man, would have giventhe matter a moment's thought; still less have undertaken a nightof watchfulness, after a day of the heaviest work, merely to testthe truth of a slightly-founded suspicion that might have occurredto them. It is not too much to say that, had not this act oftreachery been discovered, our defeat tomorrow would have beenwell-nigh certain. You know how much our people think of theirguns; and if, when the fight began, the cannon had been silent,instead of pouring their contents into the ranks of the enemy, theywould have lost heart at once, and would have been beaten almostbefore the fight began.
"We have no honours to bestow on you, Monsieur Stansfield, but inthe name of La Vendee I thank you, with all my heart. I shall add,to my order respecting your fight of yesterday, a statement of whathas taken place tonight; and I shall beg that all officers read italoud to the parties that follow them."
"I agree most cordially with the general's words," MonsieurBonchamp said. "Your defence yesterday would have been a credit toany military man, and this discovery has saved us from ruintomorrow, or rather today. I will venture to say that not one manin five hundred would have taken the trouble to go out of his wayto ascertain whether the words of a drunken man rested on anyfoundation."
There was, then, a short conversation as to the approaching fight.The number of men who had arrived was much smaller than had beenanticipated, owing to the fact that the simultaneous invasion, atso many points, had the effect of retaining the peasants of thevarious localities for the defence of their own homes. Leighlearned that a mounted messenger had been despatched, shortlybefore he brought the prisoner down, to beg Monsieur d'Elbee tobring the force he commanded, at Chollet, with all speed to aid inthe defence of Chemille; for if that town fell, he would be exposedto the attack of the united forces of Generals Berruyer andLeigonyer.
"Now, gentlemen, I think we had better get a few hours' sleep,"Cathelineau said. "They will not be here very early, probably notuntil noon; for they may wait for a time before starting, in hopesof being joined either by Leigonyer or one of the other columns,and it is not likely that any news of the sharp reverse thatLeigonyer has met with has reached them."
It was now two o'clock in the morning, and Leigh slept heavily,till roused at eight.
"You should have called me before, Andre," he said reproachfully,when he learnt how late it was.
"I thought it was better that you should have a good sleep,captain. Of course, if there had been any message to say that youwere wanted, I should have woke you; but as no one came, and thereis still no news of the enemy, I thought that it was better to letyou sleep till now."
Pierre had started with his party, at five, to scout on the road bywhich the enemy was advancing. Leigh first hurried down to theriver and had a bath, and then felt ready for any work that hemight have to do. He then went to the house where Jean was lodged.The latter, who had not returned from his outpost work till daybroke, was just getting up.
"Well, Leigh," he said, "I called in at Cathelineau's quarters toreport. I found him already up. He told me the work that you hadbeen doing, and praised you up to the skies. It seems to me thatyou are getting all the credit of the campaign. Really I feel quiteproud of you, and we shall be having you starting as a rival leaderto Cathelineau."
Leigh laughed.
"One does not often have two such opportunities in the course of aday, and I don't suppose I am likely to have such luck again, ifthe war goes on for a year. Where are you going to be today?"
"I am going to act as aide-de-camp to Bonchamp."
"And what shall we do, do you think?"
"Well, I should say you had best keep out of it altogether, Leigh.You and your band did much more than your share of fightingyesterday, and your pistols will be of no use in a fight such asthis will be. Seriously, unless Cathelineau assigns you some post,I should keep out of it. Your little corps is specially formed toact as scouts and, as we are so extremely badly off in thatrespect, it will be far better for you to keep to your properduties, than to risk your lives."
"How do you think the fight is likely to go, Jean?"
"It depends, in the first place, upon how the Blues fight; if theydo well, they ought to beat us. In the next place, it depends onwhether d'Elbee comes up in time. If he does, I think that we shallhold the place, but it will be stiff fighting."
It was not until noon that Berruyer's force was seen approaching.As soon as it was in sight the Vendeans poured out, and took uptheir station by the hill on which the guns were placed. In spiteof what Jean had said, Leigh would have placed his band with therest; had not Cathelineau sent for him, half an hour before, andgiven him orders which were almost identical with the advice ofJean.
"I wish you and your band to keep out of this battle, MonsieurStansfield. Your force is so small that it can make no possibledifference in the fortunes of the day and, whether we win or lose,your lads may be wanted as messengers, after it is over. They havedone extremely well, at present, and need no further credit thanthey have gained. I beg, therefore, that you will take post withthem somewhat in rear of the village, away on the right. I shallthen know where to find you, if I have any messages to send; andmoreover, I want you at once to send off one of your most activelads with this note to d'Elbee, urging him to come on at fullspeed, for the fight is likely to go hard with us, unless he comesin time to our assistance; and telling him I wish him to know that,even if I have to fall back, the church will be held till the last;and that as soon as he arrives I shall, if possible, again take theoffensive, and beg that he will attack the enemy in flank or inrear, as he sees an opportunity. Upon the belfry of the church,half a mile on our right, you will be able to see how the battlegoes; and can send off news to d'Elbee, from time to time."
"Very well, sir. I will despatch your letter at once, and thenmarch out to the church, which I noticed yesterday."
"Here is a telescope," Cathelineau said. "We are well provided withthem, as we took all that we could find, at Chollet and Vihiers. Ithink that, with its aid, you will be able to have a good view ofwhat is going on."
In twenty minutes, Leigh had taken up his post in the belfry of thevillage church that Cathelineau had indicated. Andre and Pierre,whose party had returned an hour before, were with him. The rest ofthe band were in the story below them, from which a view was alsoobtainable. The three most severely wounded had started for theirhomes, early that morning. The others were fit for duty.
The fight began by a discharge of the guns of the assailants. Leighcould see that the defenders' guns had been somewhat withdrawn fromtheir position on the top of the rising ground, where they wouldhave been too much exposed to the enemy's fire; and their muzzlesnow only showed over the brow. During the
course of the morning anearthwork had been thrown up, to afford protection to the menserving them. They did not return the fire until the enemy werewithin a distance of a quarter of a mile, then they commenced, withdeadly effect.
The Blues halted, and Leigh could make out that a considerablenumber of men in the rear at once turned and ran. In order toencourage them they had been informed, just before they marched, ofthe plot that had been arranged to silence the guns; and thisunexpected discharge caused the greatest consternation among theyoung levies. A body of cavalry were at once sent off in pursuit,and drove the fugitives back to their ranks, the troopers using theflats of their swords unstintingly.
Then the advance was resumed, covered by the fire of the guns andby volleys of musketry. These were answered but feebly by thefirearms in the peasants' hands, and the Blues pressed on until,just before they reached the foot of the slope, the peasantscharged them with fury.
The regular troops and a regiment of gendarmes had been placed infront. These stood firm, poured heavy volleys into the peasants asthey approached, and then received them with levelled bayonets.
In vain the Vendeans strove to break through the hedge of steel.Cathelineau and his officers on one side, and the French generalson the other, encouraged their men, and for a quarter of an hour adesperate conflict reigned. Then the peasants fell back, and theBlues resumed their advance.
Three times Cathelineau induced his followers to renew the attack,but each time it was unsuccessful. The Blues mounted the hill, thecannon were captured, and the Vendeans fell back into the town.Here the ends of the streets had been barricaded and, in spite ofthe artillery and the captured guns now turned against their formerowners, the assailants tried in vain to force their way into thetown.
From every window that commanded the approaches, the men withmuskets kept up an incessant fire. The mass of the peasants lay inshelter behind the barricades, or in the houses, until the enemy'sinfantry approached to within striking distance; and then, leapingup from these barricades, and fighting with an absolute disregardof their lives, they again and again repulsed the attacks of theenemy.
Berruyer, seeing that in spite of his heavy losses he made no way,called his troops from the assault and, forming them into twocolumns, moved to the right and left, and attacked the town on bothsides. Here no barricades had been erected and, in spite of theefforts of the peasants, an entrance was forced into the town.Every street, lane, and house was defended with desperate energy;but discipline gradually triumphed, and the Blues won their wayinto the square in the centre of the town, where the principalchurch stood. As they entered the open space, they were assailedwith a rain of bullets from the roof, tower, and windows.
As soon as the flanking movement began, Monsieur Bonchamp, seeingthat the town was now certain to be taken, had hurried, with thegreater portion of the men armed with muskets, to the church; whichhad already been prepared by him, on the previous day, for thedefence. A great number of paving stones had been got up from theroadway and piled inside the church and, as soon as he arrivedthere with his men, the doors were closed, and blocked behind witha deep wall of stones.
Berruyer saw that the position was a formidable one and, ignorantof the number of the defenders, sent back for his guns, andcontented himself for the time by clearing the rest of the town ofits defenders. These, however, as they issued out, were rallied byCathelineau and his officers. They assured the peasants that theday was not yet lost, that the church would hold out for hours, andthat d'Elbee would soon arrive, with his force from Chollet, totheir assistance.
Leigh, anxiously watching the progress of the fight, had sentmessenger after messenger along the road by which d'Elbee wouldcome. His heart sank, as he heard the guns open in the centre ofthe town, and knew that they were directed against the church.Still, there was no abatement of the fire of the defenders. Anincessant fire of musketry was maintained, not only from the churchitself, but from every window in the houses around it.
At last, he heard that d'Elbee's force was but a quarter of a mileaway and, running down from his lookout, he started to meet it. Itwas coming at a run, the men panting and breathless, but holding ondesperately, half maddened with the sound of battle.
"All is not lost yet, then?" d'Elbee said, as he came up.
"No, sir. The church holds out, and I could see that the peasantswho have been driven out of the town have rallied, but a fewhundred yards away, and are evidently only waiting for your arrivalto renew the attack. I think, sir, that if you will run up to thebelfry of the church with this glass, you will be able tounderstand the exact situation."
The officer ran up the tower, and returned in two or three minutes.Then he led his men down towards the southeastern corner of thetown.
Leigh, on hearing that d'Elbee was close at hand, sent off twomessengers to Cathelineau to inform him of the fact; and he nowsent off another, stating the direction in which the reinforcementwas marching.
"I am going to attack at that corner, instead of in the rear,"Monsieur d'Elbee said to him; for now that the duty assigned to himhad been performed, Leigh thought that he would be justified injoining in the attack, with what remained of his band. "If I wereto get directly in their rear they would, on finding their retreatcut off, fight so fiercely that I might be overpowered. Even themost cowardly troops will fight, under those circumstances.Therefore, while threatening their line of retreat, I still leaveit open to them. It is a maxim in war, you know, always to leave abridge open for a flying foe."
In a few minutes they reached the town. None had observed theirapproach, the troops being assembled round the church. These wereat once thrown into confusion, when they found themselves attackedwith fury by a large force, of whose existence they had no previousthought.
The Vendeans fought with desperate valour. The new levies for themost part lost heart at once and, in spite of the efforts ofBerruyer and his officers, began to make for the line of retreat.The movement was accelerated by an outburst of shouts from theother side of the town, where Cathelineau's force poured in,burning to avenge their former losses; and as they fell upon theenemy, Bonchamp led out the defenders of the church, by a sidedoor, and joined in the fray.
Berruyer saw that all was lost. By great efforts he kept togetherthe gendarmes and regular troops, to cover the retreat; and fellback, fighting fiercely. Bonchamp and his musketeers pressed hotlyupon them. The peasants made charge after charge and, as soon asthe force issued from the town, many of the peasantry set off atfull speed in pursuit of the fugitives, great numbers of whom wereovertaken and killed. Berruyer continued his retreat all night, andentered Saint Lambert before morning; having lost the whole of hiscannon, and three thousand men, in this disastrous fight.
The joy of the Vendeans was unbounded. The stones were speedilyremoved from the shattered doors of the church, mass wascelebrated, and the peasants returned thanks for their greatvictory.
The gains were, indeed, considerable. Three thousand muskets hadfallen into their hands. They had recaptured the guns that they hadlost, and taken twelve others. Their own losses had beenheavy--eighteen hundred men had been killed, and a great numberwounded. But of this, at the time, they thought but little; thosewho had died had died for their country and their God, as all ofthem were ready to do, and how could men do more?
On the Republican side, General Duhaus had been very dangerouslywounded, and most of Berruyer's principal officers killed.
A council of war was held the next morning, at Chemille. For themoment, the victory had secured their safety; but while thepeasants believed and hoped that the war was over, their leaderssaw that the position was scarcely improved. They had, indeed,captured guns and muskets; but these were useless withoutammunition, and their stock of powder and ball was quite exhausted.Already the peasantry were leaving in large numbers for theirhomes. Berruyer might return reinforced at any time, and effect ajunction with Leigonyer; while the column that had captured SaintFlorent would doubtless advance. It was therefore decided thatChe
mille must be abandoned, and that the officers should retire toTiffauges until, at any rate, the peasants were ready to leavetheir homes again.
By evening that day the greater portion of the army had melted awayand, on the following morning, the leaders also left the town theyhad so bravely defended. On the following day, indeed, Berruyer,having learned the position of Leigonyer, returned to Chemille and,two days later, was in communication with Leigonyer's force. Thelatter had occupied Chollet, which had been left devoid ofdefenders since the day they marched away.
On the other hand Quetineau had, on the thirteenth, been attackedat Aubiers, and had been forced to evacuate the place, leavingthree guns behind him, retiring to Bressuire. The capture ofAubiers was the work of Henri de la Rochejaquelein. He had riddento join Cathelineau, and met him and the other leaders retiringfrom Chemille. They were gloomy and depressed. They had won abattle, but they were without an army, without ammunition. Almostall the towns were in the possession of the Blues. It seemed tothem that the struggle could not be much longer maintained.
The young count was too energetic and too enthusiastic to beseriously moved, and rode back to the residence of an aunt, atSaint Aubin. There he learned that Aubiers had been taken by theenemy. The peasantry around were in a state of extreme excitement.They had hoisted the white flag on their churches, and were readyto fight, but they had no leader.
Hearing that Rochejaquelein was at his aunt's house, they came tohim, and begged him to take the command, promising him that intwenty-four hours ten thousand men should be ready to follow him.He agreed to the request. The church bells were set ringing and,before morning, almost that number were assembled. Of these, onlytwo hundred had guns.
With this force he attacked Aubiers. The resistance of the enemy wasfeeble, and they were chased almost to Bressuire. Rochejaqueleinwas very anxious to capture this town, as his friends, the Lescures,had been brought from Clisson and imprisoned there; but he saw thatit was of primary importance to carry assistance to Cathelineau, andhe accordingly marched to Tiffauges. The church bells again rangout their summons; and Cathelineau, in twenty-four hours, foundhimself at the head of an army of twenty thousand men.
"I told you at Clisson that I should soon meet you again, MonsieurMartin," La Rochejaquelein said when, as he rode into Tiffauges atthe head of his newly raised force, he met Jean in the street, "andhere I am, you see. I am only sorry that I am too late to take partin the brave fight at Chemille."
"Right glad are we to see you, count," Jean replied. "This is mywife's brother, of whom I was speaking to you at Clisson.Cathelineau will tell you that he has been distinguishing himselfrarely."
Henri held out his hand to Leigh, and said warmly, "I am glad toknow you. It would be a shame, indeed, were any Vendeans to remainat home, when a young Englishman is fighting for their country. Ihope that we shall be great friends."
"I shall be glad, indeed, to be so," Leigh replied with equalwarmth, for he was greatly struck with the appearance of the youngsoldier.
Henri de la Rochejaquelein was but twenty-one years old, tall, andremarkably handsome. He had fair hair, and a noble bearing. Hisfather had been a colonel in the army, and he himself was a cavalryofficer in the king's guard. He was the beau ideal of a dashinghussar, and his appearance was far more English than French. He wasimmensely popular, his manner frank and pleasant, and he wasgreatly beloved by the peasantry on his family estates.
At this moment Cathelineau with his two generals came up, and Leighretired from the circle. The arrival of the young count, with hisstrong reinforcement, at once altered the position. The leaders whohad, since they fell back from Chemille, been depressed and almosthopeless, beamed with satisfaction as they talked with Henri, whoseenthusiasm was infectious.
La Rochejaquelein accompanied them to his quarters. Hitherto he hadonly heard rumours of the fighting at Chemille, and Cathelineau nowgave him a full account of the affair. Jean Martin had, at hisinvitation, accompanied him; and when Cathelineau had finished,Henri turned to him and said:
"Indeed you did not exaggerate, Monsieur Martin, when you said thatyour brother-in-law had already distinguished himself. In fact,there can be no doubt that the splendid defence he made at thatlittle river, where he held Berruyer's whole force in check forupwards of three hours--and so forced him to halt for the night onthe way, instead of pushing forward and attacking Chemille atonce--saved the town, for it gave time to Monsieur d'Elbee to comeup. Scarcely less important was his detection of the treachery ofthe man in charge of the artillery. I cannot but regret that sogallant a young fellow is not my countryman, for I should have feltproud of one so daring, and so thoughtful.
"When you do not want him for scouting work, Monsieur Cathelineau,I shall get you to lend him to me. I should be really glad to havehim by my side. His face pleased me much. There was something sofrank and honest about it and, after what he has done, I am surethat I shall always respect his opinion."
There was another consultation as to what should be their firstoperation, and it was resolved that Leigonyer should be attacked atonce, before he could make a complete junction with Berruyer. Thenext morning, at daybreak, the whole force moved off. They wereonly just in time, for Berruyer had already ordered GeneralGauvillier, who commanded the force that had captured SaintFlorent, to advance to Beaupreau. Berruyer was to march to Vezins,and he himself to Jallais, and to join Leigonyer at May.
On the previous evening Henri had, after the termination of thecouncil, requested Jean Martin to take him to the house where Leighand his little party were quartered.
"I have been hearing of your doings," he said, "and feel quitejealous that you, who are, I hear, four years younger than myself,should have done so much; while I, with all my family influence andconnection, should as yet have done nothing but chase the enemy outof Aubiers. How is it that you, who have had no training as asoldier, should have conceived the idea of arresting the march ofBerruyer's army, with a force of only two or three hundredpeasants?"
"It was a mere matter of common sense," Leigh said, with a smile."I knew that it was of the utmost importance that Chemille shouldnot be attacked, until Cathelineau received reinforcements. Atfirst, I had no thought of doing more than breaking down thebridge, and of perhaps checking the advanced cavalry; but when Ifound that the peasants who came along were quite willing to aid,it seemed to me that by cutting down the trees, so as to block theroad and make a shelter for us, we might be able to cause the enemyconsiderable delay. I hardly hoped to succeed in holding out solong, or in inflicting such loss upon him as we were able to do. Itdid not require any military knowledge whatever, and I should nothave attempted it had I not seen that, thanks to the forest, weshould be able to retreat when we could no longer hold thebarricade of felled trees."
"Well, you could not have done better if you had been a general. Ihave Cathelineau's permission to ask you to ride with me, when youare not engaged in scouting."
"I should be delighted to do so, but at present I have no horse.However, I can send one of my lads back to the chateau, to fetchthe one that I generally ride."
"I have brought a spare animal with me," the young count said. "Ibrought it in case the other should be shot, and I shall be glad ifyou will ride it tomorrow, and until yours arrives; but I would notsend for one until after tomorrow, for likely enough we may makesome captures before nightfall.
"We are to march at three in the morning, and to attack Leigonyer.The great thing that we need is powder. Cathelineau says that thereis scarcely a charge left among his men. Mine are not much betteroff. We should have had none with which to attack Aubiers; but Isent off during the night to a quarry, a few miles from my aunt's,and succeeded in getting forty pounds of blasting powder. It wouldnot have been of much use for the muskets, but the fact of itsbeing powder was sufficient to encourage the peasants; and theBlues made such a feeble resistance that its quality made nodifference to us. It enabled those who had muskets to make a noisewith them, and was just as effectual in raising
their spirits inattacking the Blues as if it had been the finest quality. We got afew hundred cartridges when we took the place, but that will not govery far, and I hope that, tomorrow, we shall be able to obtain asupply from the enemy."
Before the hour for starting, the force had swelled considerably.The news that Monsieur de la Rochejaquelein had retaken Aubiers,and had come with twelve thousand men to assist Cathelineau, spreadlike wildfire. The peasants from all the country round flocked inand, when they started in the morning, the united force had swollento over twenty thousand men.
As soon as the young count left him, Leigh sent all his band, underhis lieutenants, with orders to proceed towards Vezins; toascertain the progress Leigonyer had made, and the position of hisforces, and to send back news to him. Just as the army was startingone of the boys returned, and said that a party of twelve cavalry,and a detachment of infantry, had just entered the chateau ofCrilloire. Leigh at once informed Cathelineau, who sent off ahundred and fifty men to capture the place. They were ordered totravel at the top of their speed, and Jean Martin was in command ofthem.
The expedition was crowned with success. The infantry, who had beenstationed outside the chateau, fled at once. Their commandantVillemet, Leigonyer's best officer, charged the Vendeans with hislittle body of cavalry. He was received with a volley. Two of hismen were killed, and he himself and nine of his men were wounded.He managed, however, to burst through the Vendeans, and to overtakehis flying infantry. These he rallied and led back to the chateau,which he found deserted; for Martin, as soon as he captured theplace and cleared it of the enemy, had gone off with his men tojoin the main body.
Berruyer had also started early, and sent five hundred men to May,where he expected Leigonyer to arrive in a few hours; but before hereached the town the Vendeans attacked the advanced guard of thelatter general, which consisted of two companies of grenadiers.These old soldiers fought well, and threw themselves into thechateau of Bois-Groleau.
Leaving fifteen hundred men to surround and attack the chateau, themain army pressed forward. Leigonyer, hearing of the disaster, sentforward two thousand men to succour the besieged force; but theVendeans fell upon them and, after a short resistance, they brokeand fled into Vezins.
The arrival of the fugitives caused a panic among the whole ofLeigonyer's force assembled there, and they fled precipitately; twohundred and fifty men of the regiment of Finisterre, alone,remaining steady; and these, maintaining good order, covered theretreat of the guns, repulsing the attacks of the peasantry whopursued them. Fortunately for the Vendeans, a waggon laden withbarrels of powder was left behind, in the confusion caused by theirapproach, and proved of inestimable value to them.
Had the Vendeans pursued the fugitives with vigour, the force wouldhave been almost annihilated; but Cathelineau, learning fromLeigh's scouts that Berruyer was already approaching Vezins, fearedto be taken in the rear by him, and therefore fell back to May andBeaupreau.
The garrison that defended the chateau of Bois-Groleau repulsed therepeated attacks made upon them, but surrendered on the approach ofthe main army, their ammunition and the food they had brought withthem in their haversacks being entirely exhausted.
Berruyer, on his arrival at Jallais, heard of the defeat ofLeigonyer; and marched back in all haste to Chemille, where he hadleft his magazines. On hearing however that Leigonyer, on hisarrival at Vihiers, had been deserted during the night by the wholeof his troops and, finding himself in the morning with but ahundred and fifty men of the Finisterre regiment, had evacuated thetown and retreated to Doug, Berruyer wrote to him to endeavour togather his forces together again, and to return to Chemille.
But the news of another disaster convinced him that he could notmaintain himself there. The Vendeans had marched, without delay,against Beaupreau, and attacked Gauvillier. That general hadalready heard of the defeat of Leigonyer, and the retreat ofBerruyer. His force was greatly dispirited at the news, and offeredbut a feeble resistance to the fierce assault. The Blues weredriven out of the town with the loss of their five cannon, and werehotly pursued to Saint Florent, losing a large proportion of theirnumbers on the way.
The news of this fresh disaster convinced Berruyer that he mustfall back without delay, and he accordingly retreated with hiswhole force to Saint Lambert, whence he wrote to the Convention todeclare the impossibility of doing anything without largereinforcements of regular troops, as no dependence whatever couldbe placed upon the National Guards and volunteers and, if theinsurgents marched against him, he would be obliged to march toPonts-de-Ce in order to cover Angers, where the alarm of theinhabitants was intense.
Thus the invasion that was to crush the Vendeans failed altogether,except that some advantages had been gained by the Blues along theline of coast, the troops being assisted by the fleet. At all otherpoints, misfortune had attended them. Quetineau had been drivenfrom Aubiers and, a great proportion of his force having deserted,he held Bressuire with so feeble a grasp that he could not maintainhimself, if attacked. Leigonyer's army had practically ceased toexist, as had that which had advanced from Saint Florent. Berruyerhad lost three thousand men, and was back again at the point fromwhich he had started. Chollet and Vihiers had been recoveredwithout a blow.
As the result of his failures, Berruyer was recalled to Paris,tried for his conduct, and narrowly escaped the guillotine.
As soon as Berruyer retired, Cathelineau advanced againstBressuire. News of his coming at once scared the Blues from thetown, and they retreated to Thouars. They did not even wait to taketheir prisoners with them and, as soon as they had gone, theMarquis de la Lescure with his family rode off to their chateau, atClisson. They had scarcely arrived there when la Rochejaqueleinarrived, and acquainted them with the general facts of theinsurrection.
"Cathelineau's army," he said, "consists of twenty thousand menand, on any emergency, it would swell to nearly twice that number.Twelve thousand Bretons had crossed the Loire, and were on theirway to join him. In lower Poitou, Charette had an army of twentythousand; and besides these, there were many scattered bands."
Lescure at once agreed to accompany la Rochejaquelein to Bressuire;and the Marquis of Donnissan, Madame Lescure's father, arranged tofollow them, as soon as he had seen his wife and daughter safelyplaced in the chateau of de la Boulais.