The battle of Laval took place on 22 October 1793, during 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 ...

and saw Vendéen victory over republican troops. This is the first major battle of a particular episode of the war called the Virée de Galerne.

Prelude

After having passed to the other side of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

following the disaster at Cholet, the Vendéens had stationed in Varages, where a war counsel was held on 19 October. General

Maurice d'Elbée Maurice-Joseph-Louis Gigost d'Elbée (; 21 March 1752 – 6 January 1794) was a French Royalist military leader. Initially enthusiastic about the Revolution, he became disenchanted with the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and retired to his est ...

was wounded and absent, so he needed to be replaced, and the officers offered to promote

Louis Marie de Lescure Louis Marie de Salgues, marquis de Lescure (13 October 1766 – 4 November 1793) was a French soldier and opponent of the French Revolution, the cousin of Henri de la Rochejaquelein. Biography Early life He was born in Versailles and educated ...

to chief general. He declined saying his own wound was too serious, and offered that Henri de La Rochejacquelein were named chief general instead. He finally accepted becoming chief general of the Vendéens at age 21. The objective of the counsel was to start an uprising in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

and

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, which were in majority favorable to the royalists. To keep contact with Charette and his army, Lescure offered to march to Nantes where the republic defenses were strongly reduced. Talmont, who owned much land in Maine, offered to take Laval where he said his influence in the region was strong enough to start an uprising of a few tens of thousands of men. La Rochejaquelein agreed with this plan.

The battle

On 20 October, the army marched to Laval. On its way it easily defeated the small detachments of Ingrandes and

Candé Candé () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. History In the 11th century the village became an important military site for Anjou under baron Rorgon de Candé, at Fort-Castle of Candé. Candé was noted in 2000-2 ...

, and later those of

Segré Segré () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Segré-en-Anjou Bleu.Château-Gontier Château-Gontier () is a former Communes of France, commune in the Mayenne Departments of France, department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne. Geography It is about sout ...

on 21 October. On 22 October, the Vendéens reached Laval, defended by 6,000 men. Yet the republicans didn't offer a strong defense. After the first Vendéen assault, the general Letourneur ordered the retreat which was chaotic, the troops dispersing in the countryside. All these easily obtained victories reboosted Vendéen moral, and the population of Laval had greeted them well, offering supplies and provisions. The Vendéen generals chose to stay a few days in Laval to wait for reinforcements and let the troops rest. During that time the Army of the West had crossed the

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

and Nantes on 22 October, leaving Nicolas Haxo to fight Charette.

Sources

* Yves Gras, ''La Guerre de Vendée'', éditions Economica, 1994, pp. 96–99. * Jean Tabeur, ''Paris contre la Province, les guerres de l'Ouest'', éditions Economica, 2008, pp. 155–157. {{DEFAULTSORT:Laval, Battle of Battles involving France Battles of the War in the Vendée Battles in Pays de la Loire History of Mayenne Conflicts in 1793