The battle of La Tremblaye (15 October 1793), part of the

war in the Vendée The war in the Vendée (french: link=no, Guerre de Vendée) was a counter-revolution from 1793 to 1796 in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the river Loir ...

, took place near

Cholet Cholet (, , probably from Latin language, Latin ''cauletum'', "cabbage") is a Communes of France, commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department. With 54,307 inhabitants (2019), it is the second most populous c ...

, and was a Republican victory over the Vendéens.

Prelude

The republican Army of Mainz continued its progress and burnt down everything in its way. On 13 October it took Clisson, then Tiffauges and Torfou on 14 October. On 13 October, Charles de Royrand and his 3,000 men of the Catholic and Royal Army of Centre took refuge in Mortagne after having been pushed back by the

Luçon Luçon () is a commune in the Vendée department, Pays de la Loire region, western France. Its inhabitants are known as Luçonnais. Luçon Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Luçon (comprising the Vendée), where Cardinal Richelieu onc ...

division of general Antoine Bard, strong of 3,500 soldiers who had burnt down

Les Herbiers Les Herbiers () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region, western France. Population Sport Les Herbiers is host to the Chrono des Nations, an annual one-day individual time trial bicycle race, held in October. Le ...

and La Verrie. Nevertheless, the Vendéen generals decided to evacuate the town, to fall back on

and sent the artillery to

Beaupréau Beaupréau () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2015, Andrezé, Beaupréau, La Chapelle-du-Genêt, Gesté, Jallais, La Jubaudière, Le Pin-en-Mauges, La Poitevinière, Saint-Philbert-en-Maug ...

. The order was rapidly executed, on 15 October the troops of general Kléber entered in an abandoned Mortagne, where they found 1,500 republican prisoners whom the Vendéens had forgotten in their cells. In the meantime, general Alexis Chalbos had regrouped his troops at

Bressuire Bressuire (; la, Berceorium; Poitevin: ''Beurseure'') is a commune in the French department of Deux-Sèvres, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The town is situated on an eminence overlooking the Dolo, a tributary of the Argenton. Notable buildi ...

and headed on. The three republican armies converged towards

where the decisive battle seemed to have to take place.

The battle

Vendéen generals D'Elbée, Lescure, Bonchamps and Royrand deployed their troops at

Saint-Christophe-du-Bois Saint-Christophe-du-Bois () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. History According to an unconfirmed tradition recorded in 1705, Saint Maurille, bishop of Angers, was the founder of Saint-Christophe in the 4th cent ...

. D'Elbée had sent a letter to Charette asking of him to attack the republicans by the side but he hadn't received any response. On 15 October, the troops of the Army of Mainz and of the

division started the attack close to the castle of La Tremblaye, south-west of

. Lescure managed to push off the Luçon division which was tired after many days of walking. The general Bard, wounded, had to be replaced by his lieutenant, Marceau. But Beaupuy arrived later with reinforcements and pushed off the Vendéens. Lescure was busy rallying his men when a bullet hit him in the head and wounded him severely. This demoralized the Vendéens who thought the general had been killed and they pulled back to

Aftermath

That evening, the Vendéen counsel met at

while the republican soldiers were camping in front of the town. The generals wanted to defend the town square but their troops had little ammunition, and the artillery and powder were at

with general Marigny. The Prince of Talmont, cavalry general, was given the task of finding ammunition but by 4 in the morning he had still not returned. Eventually, the Vendéen generals decided to evacuate

and fall back at

, thus abandoning the town to the republicans.

Sources

* Jean Tabeur, ''Paris contre la Province, les guerres de l'Ouest'', éditions Economica, 2008, p. 145-146. * Yves Gras, ''La Guerre de Vendée'', éditions Economica, 1994, p. 83. {{DEFAULTSORT:La Tremblaye, Battle of Battles involving France Battles of the War in the Vendée Battles in Pays de la Loire History of Maine-et-Loire Conflicts in 1793