Jean-Nicolas Stofflet (3 February 1753 – 25 February 1796) was a French leader of the

Revolt in the Vendée Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

against the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

. Born in Bathelémont-lès-Bauzemont (

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in the

Swiss Guard The Pontifical Swiss Guard (also Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard; la, Pontificia Cohors Helvetica; it, Guardia Svizzera Pontificia; german: Päpstliche Schweizergarde; french: Garde suisse pontificale; rm, Guardia svizra papala) is ...

, and afterwards

gamekeeper A gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper), or in case of those dealing with deer (deer-)stalker, is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g. areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure there is enough game for shoo ...

to the comte de Colbert-Maulévrier, he joined the Vendéans when they rose against the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

to defend

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and

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 ...

principles. During the war 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.

, he served first under

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 fought at

Fontenay-le-Comte Fontenay-le-Comte (; Poitevin: ''Funtenaes'' or ''Fintenè'') is a commune and subprefecture in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region of Western France. In 2018, it had a population of 13,302, while its functional area had a popu ...

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

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...

, and distinguished himself at the battles of

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 ...

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

and Antrain. He was appointed major-general of the Royalist army, and in 1794 succeeded

Henri de la Rochejaquelein Henri du Vergier, De la Rochejacquelein, comte de la Rochejaquelein (30 August 1772 – 28 January 1794) was the youngest general of the House of Bourbon, Royalist War in the Vendée, Vendéan insurrection during the French Revolution. At the ...

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 ...

. Stofflet established his headquarters in the Forest of Vezins. But his quarrels with another Vendéan leader,

François de Charette François Athanase de Charette de la Contrie (2 May 1763 – 29 March 1796) was a Franco-Breton Royalist soldier and politician. He served in the French Navy during the American Revolutionary War and was one of the leaders of the Revolt in the V ...

, and the defeats sustained by the Vendéan troops, led him to give in his submission and to accept the terms of the

Treaty of La Jaunaye The Treaty of La Jaunaye was a peace accord for the War in the Vendée, signed by François de Charette and Charles Sapinaud de La Rairie, on behalf of the leaders of the Catholic and Royal Army, and by Albert Ruelle on behalf of the National Co ...

with the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

(2 May 1795). He, however, soon violated this treaty, and at the instigation of Royalist agents took arms in December of the same year or behalf of the

Count of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

, from whom he had received the rank of '' maréchal-de-camp''. This last action of Stofflet's failed completely. He was taken prisoner by the Republic,

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

by a military commission, and shot at

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 ...

References

* ''In turn, it cites as references:'' **General d'Andigny, ''Mémoires'' (1900–1901) **C. Loyer, "Cholet sous la domination de Stofflet", in ''L'Anjoa historique'', vol. iii. (1902–1903) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stofflet, Jean-Nicolas 1751 births 1796 deaths People from Meurthe-et-Moselle Royalist military leaders of the War in the Vendée Executed French people People executed by the French First Republic People executed by France by firing squad People executed during the French Revolution