796 



VENDEE VENDOME. 



small-wood- and thickets, and is much intersected 

 by ditches and small canals. The Vendeans were 

 a simple and ignorant race, attached to old usages, 

 devotedly fond of the nobility of the province, and 

 easily led by the clergy. The immediate occasion 

 of the war was the resistance of the people to the 

 operation of the conscription laws, in 1793. Cathe- 

 luiiMii, a wagoner, at the head of 100 of his com- 

 rades, having overpowered a small body of republi- 

 can troops, and taken possession of their arms, was 

 encouraged to further enterprises ; and similar ris- 

 ings took place at different points, but without any 

 general co-operation. A wig-maker, Gastou, led 

 the insurgents in the department of Vendee, and, 

 having fallen soon after, was succeeded by Charette. 

 Stofflet, a gamekeeper, led another band. The in- 

 surgents were at first armed only with scythes, 

 clubs, and pikes : but they soon obtained arms, by 

 surprising detachments of the republican forces. 

 Their knowledge of the country, and their excited 

 enthusiasm, gave them advantages over their ene- 

 mies, who were chiefly raw troops, and not always 

 zealous in the cause of the republic. As soon as 

 an enterprise was accomplished, the Vendean pea- 

 sants immediately dispersed to their homes, and 

 assembled again at a minute's warning. The young 

 De la Rochejaquelein gained several advantages at 

 the head of one of the bands. The number of the 

 insurgents was gradually increased by the accession 

 of emigrants and royalists from other parts of the 

 country, and they had become possessed of regular 

 arms. The convention, therefore, found it neces- 

 sary to send troops of the line against them. June 

 24, the Vendeans took Saumur, and now received 

 encouragement, but no effectual aid from abroad. 

 Between the 19th and 23d of September (1793), 

 several actions took place, of which that at Chollet 

 was the most sanguinary, all to the disadvantage of 

 the republican forces. But disunion began to pre- 

 vail among the Vendeans. Charette, at the head of 

 his followers, separated from the other insurgents, 

 who were now hard pressed by the republican 

 forces, and, deceived by expectations of aid in Brit- 

 tany, took the imprudent step of crossing to the 

 right bank of the Loire. They were equally dis- 

 appointed in their hopes of assistance from England, 

 which had induced them to approach towards the 

 coast near Avranches, and were finally compelled 

 to attempt a retreat over the Loire, after several 

 bloody engagements. They reached the river to- 

 wards the end of December, but were unable to 

 effect a passage ; and the battle of Savenay (Dec. 

 24), after which the Vendean army was entirely 

 dispersed, concluded the campaign. The war had 

 all along been conducted with great cruelty, and 

 the fate of the surviving Vendeans and their fami- 

 lies was dreadful. They were dragged in crowds 

 to Nantes, where the monster Carrier, to whom the 

 severe orders of the convention appeared too mild, 

 and the ordinary modes of execution too slow, 

 caused them to be drowned in masses (noyades). 

 The convention now looked upon the war as ended; 

 but, in the spring of 1794, La Rochejaquelein (who 

 soon, however, fell) and Stofflet assembled new 

 bodies of insurgents in Vendee, and Charette was 

 at the head of his forces on the coast. At the same 

 time, the Chouans appeared on the right bank of 

 the Loire, in the departments of Morbihan and 

 Cotes 'du Nord. They pretended the same zeal for j 

 religion, royalty, and the nobility, but did not al- ' 

 ways make common cause with the Vendeans, with 

 whom they must not be confounded. The events j 



of this campaign were not so decisive as those of 

 the preceding ; but the obstinacy of the insurgents 

 convinced the convention that Vendee could not be 

 conquered by arms. After the fall of Robespierre, 

 the insurgents were therefore invited, at the sug- 

 gestion of Carnot (Dec. 1794), to return to tlu-ir 

 homes, with promises of pardon and oblivion of the 

 past. In February, 1795, the deputies of the 

 convention, and some of the Vendean leaders, 

 among whom were Charette and Sapineau, agreed 

 to the following conditions : that a general 

 amnesty should be granted, the Vendeans should 

 acknowledge the authority of the republic, and 

 should enjoy the unmolested exercise of tkeir 

 religion, freedom from military service, and in- 

 demnification for their losses; and Stofflet and 

 the Chouans also acceded to these terms. But 

 the peace was of short duration. The landing of 

 some thousands of French emigrants at Quiberon, 

 June 27, 1795, encouraged the Vendeaus to rcMnnr 

 their arms. Cbarette declared, in a manifesto is- 

 sued on the occasion, that the republicans had 

 broken the treaty, and mentioned the death of the 

 son of Louis XVI., which occurred at about this 

 time, as the ground of this accusation. But the 

 expedition to Quiberon, from which so much was 

 expected, was rendered entirely ineffective (July 

 21) by the activity of General Hoche who con- 

 tinued the war in Vendee, with great mildness to- 

 wards the inhabitants. He spared no efforts, how- 

 ever, to get possession of the persons of the leaders. 

 Stofflet was taken Feb. 24, 1796, and shot at An- 

 gers. Charette, who was able to collect but few fol- 

 lowers, wandered about some time, but was finally 

 taken in March (23), and shot three days afterwards 

 at Nantes. With the death of this leader, the three 

 years' war of the Vendee terminated. The other 

 leaders soon submitted unconditionally to the re- 

 public. Peace and order were gradually restored, 

 and the government treated this part of the country 

 with mildness, but not without mistrust. In the 

 winter of 1799 1800, some symptoms of risings 

 appeared ; but the troubles were quieted by pru- 

 dent and vigorous measures. In 1814 and 1815, 

 some risings took place in favour of the Bourbons ; 

 but nothing decisive occurred. See the memoirs 

 of general Aubertin, and those of general Turreau, 

 in the collection entitled Memoires des Martchaux 

 de France, and the Guerres. des Vendvens et des 

 Chouans (Paris, 1824 27, 6vols.). The memoirs 

 of madame de la Rochejaquelein contain vivid pic- 

 tures of the events in Vendee. 



VENDEMIAIRE. See Calendar. 

 VENDOME, THE FAMILY OF, is descended from 

 the natural children of Henry IV. and the beautiful 

 Gabrielle d'Estree, who bore him two sons, Csesar 

 and Alexander Vendome. One of their descendants 

 was Louis, duke of Vendome, the celebrated gene- 

 ral of Louis XIV. He was born in 1654, early 

 entered the military service, and received, in 1702, 

 the command of the French army, in the war of 

 the Spanish succession. After having distinguished 

 himself in Italy, Tyrol and Belgium, the duke of 

 Burgundy was placed over him ; and the disagree- 

 ment of the two commanders caused the defeat of 

 the French at Oudenarde (July 11, 1708). Through 

 the influence of madame de Maintenon, the most 

 experienced generals were displaced if they chanced 

 to displease her, and Vendome was now recalled ; 

 but when the affairs of Philip V., in Spain, began 

 to wear a threatening aspect, the Spaniards re- 

 quested Louis XIV. to send them Veudome. His 



