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Henri du Vergier, comte de la Rochejaquelein (30 August 1772 – 28 January 1794) was the youngest general of the
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
Vendéan insurrection during the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. At the age of 21, he served as commander-in-chief of the
Catholic and Royal Army The Catholic and Royal Armies (french: Armées catholiques et royales) is the name given to the royalist armies in western France composed of insurgents during the war in the Vendée and the Chouannerie, who opposed the French revolution. Ca ...
.


Biography


Early activities

Born in the Château de la Durbellière, Saint-Aubin-de-Baubigné, near Châtillon, La Rochejaquelein joined the Royal Polish Regiment, of which his father was colonel, in 1787. In February 1789 he became a member of the Flanders regiment of chasseurs. In March 1792 he became a member of the Constitutional Guard, charged with protecting the
King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...
. He fought for the first time defending the
Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...
on the 10 August 1792 attack, as an officer of the Constitutional Guard of King
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
. Returning to his home province, he refused to comply with the ''
levée en masse ''Levée en masse'' ( or, in English, "mass levy") is a French term used for a policy of mass national conscription, often in the face of invasion. The concept originated during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the period followi ...
'' called by the outbreak of the
French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
and joined his cousin
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 a ...
on the latter's estates in
Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
.


Rebellion

Resistance to conscription soon escalated into a full rebellion, known as 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 ...
. Soon after, De la Rochejaquelein and his compatriots started fighting the troops of the
French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
with
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 ...
and the Marquis de Bonchamps from April 1793. There, he gave his famous order, "''Mes amis, si j'avance, suivez-moi! Si je recule, tuez-moi! Si je meurs, vengez-moi!''" (literal translation: "Friends, if I advance, follow me! If I retreat, kill me! If I die, avenge me!"). Leading a few thousand Vendéan peasants, De la Rochejaquelein gained his first victory over the
French Revolutionary Army The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment ...
on 13 April, took part to the taking of
Bressuire Bressuire (; la, Berceorium; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''Beurseure'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Deux-Sèvres, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The town is situated on an eminence overlooki ...
on 3 May, in the Battle of Fontenay-le-Comte on 25 May and in the Battle of Saumur on 9 June. At Fontenay he was famous for his contempt for danger, wearing three red handkerchiefs; on his head, around his neck and at his waist to defy the Republican gunners. After Fontenay his companions decided that they would also wear three red handkerchiefs so that De la Rochejacquelin could not be singled out. In August, after the
Battle of Luçon The final Battle of Luçon was fought on 14 August 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between forces of the French Republic under Augustin Tuncq and Royalist forces under Maurice d'Elbée. The engagement on 14 August, fought near the to ...
, he regrouped the Vendéan army, which was on the verge of being disbanded, and won the Battle of Chantonnay on 5 September. On 13 September the thumb of his right hand was shattered by a bullet during an engagement with Republicans at Martigné-Briand but he continued to fire at his opponents. His famous portrait by
Pierre-Narcisse Guérin Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (13 March 1774 – 6 July 1833) was a French painter born in Paris. Background A pupil of Jean-Baptiste Regnault, he carried off one of the three ''grands prix'' offered in 1796, in consequence of the competition ...
shows him with his right arm in a sling, shooting with his left hand. He had to retreat across 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 ...
after being beaten in the
Second Battle of Cholet The Second Battle of Cholet was fought on 17 October 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French Republican forces under General Jean Léchelle and French Royalist Forces under Maurice d'Elbée. The battle was fought in the town ...
, on 17 October.


Final months

On 20 October, De la Rochejaquelein was unanimously elected as commander-in-chief of the
Catholic and Royal Army The Catholic and Royal Armies (french: Armées catholiques et royales) is the name given to the royalist armies in western France composed of insurgents during the war in the Vendée and the Chouannerie, who opposed the French revolution. Ca ...
, replacing D'Elbée who had been severely wounded in Cholet. However, his bravery did not compensate for his lack of experience and strategic skills. He marched onto Granville, took
Avranches Avranches (; nrf, Avraunches) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''. History By the end of the Roman period, t ...
on 12 November but failed to seize Granville and retreated to
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 prov ...
in order to cross the Loire. Larger forces under
François Séverin Marceau François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers (; 1 March 1769 – 21 September 1796) was a French general of the French Revolutionary Wars, Revolutionary Wars. Early life Desgraviers was born on 1 March 1769 in Chartres, in the province of Orléanais, ...
,
Jean Baptiste Kléber Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...
, and
François Joseph Westermann François Joseph Westermann (german: Franz Joseph Westermann; 5 September 17515 April 1794) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars and political figure of the French Revolution. __TOC__ Career Born in Molsheim (Alsace, today department ...
gave chase, defeating him once in
Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
on 12 December and again, more severely, on 23 December in
Savenay Savenay (; ''Savenneg'' in Breton) is a town (administratively a commune) in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France which is part of the Pays de la Loire region. It is located on the Sillon de Bretagne (a mountain range defining the sou ...
. After this decisive rout, the Catholic and Royal Army was no longer a fighting force; De la Rochejacquelein had to take to the woods disguised as a peasant. He managed to save the remains of his army by crossing the Loire, and left under the criticism of his fellow companions. While trying to pursue a
guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...
against the Republicans, he was killed by a Republican soldier near
Nuaillé Nuaillé () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. See also *Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 177 communes of the Maine-et-Loire department of France. The communes cooperate ...
on 28 January 1794. On a reconnaissance mission he had spotted two Republican soldiers who pretended to surrender to him, but then shot him in the forehead. His brother Louis became the head of the royalists in
Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.
in 1813 and furthered the royalist cause there during the
Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
period. He fell in battle at Pont-de-Mathis on 4 June 1815.''Chambers's encyclopaedia''
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Notes


References

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External links

* http://nobility.org/2011/02/03/larochejacquelein-is-killed-by-the-men-whose-life-he-spared/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochejaquelein, Henri De La 1772 births 1794 deaths People from Deux-Sèvres Henri de la French counter-revolutionaries French monarchists French Roman Catholics French Ultra-royalists Cent Royalist military leaders of the War in the Vendée French Royalist military leaders killed in the French Revolutionary Wars