HISTORYOFEUROPE. 



9l 



replace the multitudes that were 

 slain, the insurgents must indubiia- 

 blv have cr.rried every thing before 

 them. 



But this incessant replacement of 

 men, and repair of every loss sus- 

 tained by the republican troops, 

 did not daun' h'- insurgents. Ihe 

 only cause of complaint among 

 them was. the delay of ;hose suc- 

 cours so long held out to them 

 from England. Their patience 

 was at length exhausted ; and the 

 fnajority at la*;t determined to quit 

 the sea-shore, where they had met 

 such coninna! disappointments, 

 and ha ' so long airied to no sa'is- 

 factor- purpose, in order to march 

 back in o ihe interior provinces, 

 ■where- li'.ey might the more easily 

 procure the provisions of which 

 they now experienced so much 

 need, and wouid probably bejoin- 

 .ed hy the numerous adherents to 

 th'.':r cause, who were secre.ly but 

 fir:S:y determined to declare thera- 

 stlves, the momepi they could do it 

 with safety. 



Acuated by these motives, they 

 qui' ted the positions they had taken 

 on the coast, and which h:id been 

 chosen wi'l; great judgment, to fa- 

 vour the landing of the English, 

 and precipitated ilieir march to- 

 wards the inland provinces of Aii- 

 jou and Maine. The plurality, as 

 well as the most prudent of their 

 chiefs, endeavoured in vain to stem 

 the torrent of disobedience to their 

 order, and .slij^ht of their advice, 

 which hurried on their people with 

 such tl.oughtless violence and im- 

 petuosity J but they met with the 

 most mortifying and injurious re- 

 pulse : they were charged with the 

 base design of remaining on the 

 coast for the purpose of securing 

 thc;r own escape da board tljs Eng- 



lish fleer, and abandoning thrip. 

 people to the vengeance of the re-. 

 publicans. Notions of this kind 

 spread so forcibly among the sol- 

 diery and subalterns" of the insur- 

 gent army, that, without listening 

 to their superiors, they directly be- 

 gan their proposed march in despite 

 of all their entreaties and admoni- 

 tions. Nothing could have hap- 

 pened more unfortunately for them 

 than llir i;;;patience and precipita- 

 t>on ; hey were guilty of on this 

 occasion. They were hardly de- 

 parted when the Biitish squadron 

 of men of war, and a fleet of trans- 

 ports, with a large body of troops 

 and immense quantities of provi- 

 sions, made its appearance on the 

 coast which they had left so imprur^ 

 dently. Every sign previously 

 agreed upon was made from the 

 squadron ; but no answer was re- 

 turned ; ar,d after waiting fruitlessly 

 a due space of time, and finding its 

 presence useless, it sailed back to 

 England. The insurgents in the 

 mean time bad entered the pro- 

 vinces of Maine and Anjou, where 

 nothing was able to stand before 

 thera. They defeated the repub- 

 lican troops wherever the.se op- 

 posed them, and spread consterna- 

 tion over all t';.e neighbottring 

 countries. Such was the terror 

 they occasioned, that all the bridges 

 over the Loire were broken down 

 from Nantes as far as Blois ; and 

 the city of Orleans itself was filled 

 with the most serious apprehensions 

 for its safety. 



The republican troops, intimi- 

 dated by the successes of the insur- 

 gents, and th« defeais they con- 

 stantly experienced, kept wiih'n 

 strong entrtiichinents, and care- 

 fully fortified all the passages over 

 thp Loire and the other river that 



lay 



