Virée de Galerne

Virée de Galerne

The wounded General Lescure crosses the Loire at Saint-Florent
DateFrom 18 October to 23 December 1793
LocationMaine, Britanny, Normandy
Result Decisive Republican victory
Belligerents
France Republicans Kingdom of France Vendéens
Kingdom of France Chouans
Strength
Armée de l'Ouest
~ 50,000–100,000 (?)
60,000 to 100,000 people of which:
20,000–30,000 Vendéens
6,000–10,000 Chouans
30,000–60,000 non-combatants
(old people, wounded, women and children)
Casualties and losses
~ 10,000 dead (?) 50,000–70,000 dead

The Virée de Galerne was a military operation of the War in the Vendée during the French Revolutionary Wars across Britanny and Normandy. It takes its name from "gwalarn", a Breton word for the "vent de noroît" (northwest wind).

It concerns the Vendean army's crossing of the River Loire after their defeat in the battle of Cholet on 17 October 1793 and its march to Granville in the hope of finding reinforcements there from England. Unable to take Granville on 14 November 1793, it fell back towards Savenay (23 December 1793) where it was completely destroyed by Republican troops under Kléber. The battle of Savenay marked the end of what would come to be called the first war in the Vendée.

Course

Rout at Cholet

The rout of Cholet, by Jules Giradet.
Main article: battle of Cholet

At the end of October 1793, after a campaign planned by general Kléber, the Republican forces of the Army of the West and the Army of Mainz managed to correctly coordinate their attacks and squeeze the Vendéen forces into a pocket. Encircled, the Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou and Haut-Poitou desperately attempted to resist and risked a decisive pitched battle at Cholet on 17 October 1793, at which they were beaten. They thus had no choice but to fall back on Beaupréau to the north, the only escape route still open, then to Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, where they were cornered in a bend of the river Loire.

Repression and reprisals


Timeline

The course of the virée de Galerne.

Sources

External links

Notes and references