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Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou and Haut-Poitou

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Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou and Haut-Poitou
Armée catholique et royale d'Anjou et du Haut-Poitou
Type of flag of the Catholic and Royal army, parish company of La Verrie.
Active1793–1800
Allegiance Kingdom of France
Size40,000[1]
Motto(s)Pour Dieu et le Roi (lit.'For God and the King')
Engagements

The Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou (French: Armée catholique et royale d'Anjou) or Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou and Haut-Poitou (French: Armée catholique et royale d'Anjou et du Haut-Poitou), also nicknamed the Grande Armée (lit.'Grand Army'), was the largest royalist army during the War in the Vendée against the French First Republic.[1][2] It was formed and operated in the northern and eastern parts of the coastal region.[2]

The army's mobilization capacity was 40,000 men.[1] Although the unit had permanent organization, it was very loose.[1] The army was organized into divisions that grouped parish companies, with no intermediate units.[2]

The army successfully stormed Saumur on 9 June 1793.[1] On June 12, Jacques Cathelineau was elected the army commander.[1] Then, the highest-level Royalist commanders decided to attack Nantes, but the attack in the end of June failed due to the lack of coordination between the army of Anjou and Haut-Poitou and the army of Pays de Retz and Bas-Poitou.[1] Cathelineau died in the fighting in Nantes.[1]

Order of Battle

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Order of Battle in March–July 1793[3]
Division of Divisional general Strength
Saint-Florent-le-Vieil Charles de Bonchamps, later Jacques Cathelineau 12,000
Cholet and Beaupréau Maurice d'Elbée 9,000
Maulévrier Jean-Nicolas Stofflet 3,000
Châtillon-sur-Sèvre Henri de la Rochejaquelein 7,000
Bressuire Louis Marie de Lescure 6,000
Argenton-les-Vallées de Laugrenière 2,000
Loroux François Lyrot [fr] 3,000

General Staff

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In June 1794, the army's general staff was reorganized:[4]

Role Person
General in Chief Jean-Nicolas Stofflet
Lieutenant General La Bouëre
Major General Trottouin
Chief of Cavalry Rostaing
Chief of Infantry Berrard
Chief of Artillery Bertrand Poirier de Beauvais [fr]
Secretary-general Henri Michel Gibert
Commissioner-General, responsible for civil affairs Abbot Étienne-Alexandre Bernier

References

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Sources

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  • Berthre de Bourniseaux, Pierre Victor Jean (1819). Histoire des guerres de la Vendée et des Chouans, depuis l'année 1792 jusqu'en 1815 (in French). Vol. I. Paris: Brunot-Labbé.
  • Poirier de Beauvais, Bertrand (1893). Mémoires inédits de Bertrand Poirier de Beauvais (in French). Paris: Plon.
  • Ross, Steven T. (2010). "Vendée, The". The A to Z of the Wars of the French Revolution. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9781461672388.
  • Harper, Rob (2019). "Chapter 3 - 'For God and the King': The Catholic and Royal Armies". Fighting the French Revolution: The Great Vendée Rising of 1793. Barnsley, Great Britain: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 9781473868984.