the year 1793, when the republican army quartered themselves in it, a
sentinel was placed there to give notice in case of the approach of an
enemy. The historian of that period, speaking of the entrance to this
tower, observes, in reference to the cruelties committed there in the
Vendean war:
"Il existait au milieu de la dernière cour un très beau puits, taillé
dans le roc et extrêmement profond: il est actuellement comblé, et
ma plume se refuse à tracer les scènes horribles qui ensanglantèrent
ce lieu en 1793 et en 1795, tristes et épouvantables effets des
guerres civiles!"
This passage alludes, I imagine, to the circumstance related in
page 90. Within its walls are various inscriptions, many of them in
characters so difficult to decypher, that they remain unknown. The
following has been rendered into more modern French by Cerutti.
J'ai gravi, mesuré ces ruines sublimes;
Mon coeur s'en est ému! De nos vaillants aïeux
Tout y représentait les tournois magnanimes,
Ils semblaient reparôitre et combattre à mes yeux;
J'entendois sous leurs coups retentir les abîmes;
Juge de leurs combats, idole de leur coeur,
Du haut des tours, la dame admiroit le vainqueur.
Casques et boucliers, cuirasses gigantesques,
Cris d'armes, mot d'amour, devises de l'honneur,
Carlets pour l'infidèle ou pour le suborneur,
Tout garde sur ces murs vraiment chevaleresques.
La mémoire d'un siècle où l'épée, où la foi,
Où la galanterie étaient la seule loi.
Louis IX. and Blanche of Castille, his queen, retired to Clisson, at
the time the English, under Henry III. penetrated into Poitou, and
were received by Olivier de Clisson, who then garrisoned it.
In the war of the League, which convulsed the kingdom of France,
Clisson remained faithful to Henry III. and during the early part
of the reign of his successor Henry IV. The Protestants were there
protected, and established themselves in the fauxbourg. From the
period at which Henry IV. signed the edict at Nantes, 15th April,
1598, until the war of La Vendée, this celebrated fortress is no where
mentioned by any of the French historians: it became neglected when
the feudal system declined, and the republican army completed its
ruin. The sad events of this period, and the destruction and carnage
which followed, can never be effaced from the page of history. The
ruined towns and villages prove the melancholy truth, that the general
corruption of a nation prepares the way for general anarchy, and that
the blindness of political rage is always more vindictive than even
private hatred.
I can never sufficiently lament the absence, at this time, of Madame
de La Roche-Jaquelin from the country, as she occasionally resides in
the neighbourhood, since the restoration of her property, (although
her once noble residence is now in a state of ruin,) occupying a small
château at some small distance, which had partly escaped the fire and
destruction that had been fatal to most houses in the district. Who
can read the interesting memoirs of this Lady, and not sympathize in
the sufferings of herself, and of those brave and loyal people whose
heroic struggle against their republican oppressors lasted with little
intermission from the overthrow of the monarchy until its final
restoration? Among the number of heroic females who, like Madame de
la Roche-Jaquelin, thus distinguished themselves, was Madame de La
Rochefoucault who, like her admirer Charette, was put to death at
Nantes. This lady, of an ancient and noble family, and of great
beauty, signalized herself on various occasions, but being taken
prisoner at the battle of the Moulin aux Chêvres, she was immediately
shot!
[Illustration: MILL AUX CHÊVRES.]
The whole history of this terrible war is filled with the noble
devotion of heroic females. The chiefs were attended in the most
sanguinary battles by ladies, who had themselves ornamented their
standards with loyal and chivalrous emblems of the cause for which
they were prepared to sacrifice themselves, and who were frequently
seen rallying the broken troops, and falling, covered with wounds, by
the hands of their enemies!
The annexed view of the Moulin aux Chêvres, which is rendered
interesting from the account given by Madame de la Roche-Jaquelin of
the battle fought near it, will convey a tolerable idea of the scenery
of the country.
The prodigious growth of the willow tree in Bretagne, is such as to
claim the peculiar notice of travellers: here they attain a gigantic
height, no where else to be seen. Batard, in his "_Notices sur
les Végétaux_" mentions one in the commune of Pommeraie in the
arrondissement de Beaupréau, whose age was supposed to be nearly two
thousand years. Within the Château at Clisson are some very old ones,
but the finest I observed were at the Moulin aux Chêvres.
CHAP. VI.
LIMITS AND GENERAL APPEARANCE OF LE BOCAGE. MODE OF WARFARE PRACTISED
BY THE VENDEANS.
My opportunity of becoming acquainted with that singular district
called Le Bocage, will be best understood by very briefly sketching my
route through it. I traversed it, and the district called Le Loroux,
by the route of Montaigne and Lege, and on my return I passed through
Clisson, Vallet, and Loroux, along the banks of the Loire. By pursuing
this route, I had every where the interesting opportunity of exploring
the scene of that destructive warfare which had ravaged the towns and
villages of this part of France.
At one period, the war of La Vendée extended to the north of the
Loire, as far as Rennes, forming a triangle, the eastern point of
which rested on the town of Angers. To the south of the Loire it
spread nearly as far as la Rochelle; and as in this part also it
extended nearly to Angers, the tract over which it spread its ravages
formed nearly a square. The district called Loroux runs parallel with
the Loire: Le Bocage, which occupies both districts, and the whole
country south of that river, is comprehended under the general
appellation of La Vendée. Under the old divisions of France Le Bocage
formed part of the province of Poitou, and Le Loroux part of the
provinces of Anjou and Bretagne: but when, at the revolution, France
was divided into departments, these two districts were denominated La
Vendée, Les deux Sèvres, La Loire Inférieure, and Mayenne and Loire.
La Vendée is an extremely interesting district, not merely on account
of the singular and heroic warfare that was carried on there so
long, but also from the appearance of the country, and the manners,
opinions, and general character of its inhabitants; and Le Bocage is,
in all these respects, the most interesting part of La Vendée. In
Le Bocage, the war was carried on with most wonderful vigour and
pertinacity, as well as with almost unparalleled destruction and
cruelty. Those who are acquainted only with the other parts of France,
can form no idea of the aspect of this district, or of the manners of
its inhabitants; they differ so widely and essentially, that they seem
to belong to another portion of the globe. It has always been regarded
as the most fertile country in France; and, before the revolution, it
was undoubtedly one of the most populous.
There are only two roads in the whole country: one of them runs from
Nantes to la Rochelle, and the other from Bordeaux to Tours, through
Poitou: all the rest of this district is a complete labyrinth: there
are indeed numerous pathways, so very winding and narrow, that they
are much more calculated to harass and mislead, than to assist a
traveller in his journey: these pathways are flanked by wide and deep
ditches, and almost rendered completely dark by lofty hedges on each
side of them, the trees of which meet at top, and thus form an arch:
hence they are rough and uneven in summer, besides being intolerably
hot, and deep and miry in winter. To add to these inconveniences, the
bed of a rivulet flowing along them frequently constitutes the only
passage. Even when the traveller, after toiling along these dreadful
pathways, comes near a town or village, he generally finds that the
approach to it is practicable only by ascending irregular steps,
cut out of the solid rock, on which they are built. The inhabitants
themselves even are frequently puzzled by these pathways; and, after
wandering for a considerable length of time, at last find out that
they have been travelling in a wrong direction.
The whole country bears the appearance of an extensive and thick
forest: this arises from the nature of the enclosures; they are
extremely small, often not more than fifty or sixty perches,
surrounded with strong hedges planted in the banks. These
circumstances alone would give the appearance just noticed; but the
effect is much increased from other causes. On each side of the banks,
on which the trees are planted, there are ditches and drains, and the
moisture which they constantly supply to their roots, renders their
growth very rapid and luxuriant; so that when we consider the number
of the trees and their great size, we shall not be surprised that
the country looks like an immense forest. Sometimes the trees are so
disposed as to answer the purpose of a palisade; and this purpose they
answer most effectually, not only from the great size and strength of
the trees themselves, but also from the intervening spaces between
them being filled up with strong and impassable underwood [10].
[Footnote 10: A tract of about 150 miles square, at the mouth and
on the southern bank of the Loire, comprehends the scene of those
deplorable hostilities. The most inland part of the district, and that
in which the insurrection first broke out, is called _Le Bocage_; and
seems to have been almost as singular in its physical conformation,
as in the state and condition of its population. A series of detached
eminences, of no great elevation, rose over the whole face of the
country, with little rills trickling in the hollows and occasional
cliffs by their sides. The whole space was divided into small
enclosures, each surrounded with tall wild hedges, and rows of pollard
trees; so that though there were few large woods, the whole region
had a sylvan and impenetrable appearance. The ground was mostly in
pasturage; and the landscape had, for the most part, an aspect of
wild verdure, except that in the autumn some patches of yellow corn
appeared here and there athwart their green enclosures. Only two great
roads traversed this sequestered region, running nearly parallel, at
a distance of more than seventy miles from each other. In the
intermediate space, there was nothing but a labyrinth of wild and
devious paths, crossing each other at the extremity of almost every
field--often serving, at the same time, as channels for the winter
torrents, and winding so capriciously among the innumerable hillocks,
and beneath the meeting hedge-rows, that the natives themselves were
always in danger of losing their way when they went a league or
two from their own habitations. The country, though rather thickly
peopled, contained, as may be supposed, few large towns; and the
inhabitants, devoted almost entirely to rural occupations, enjoyed a
great deal of leisure. The noblesse or gentry of the country were very
generally resident on their estates, where they lived in a style of
simplicity and homeliness which had long disappeared from every other
part of the kingdom. No grand parks, fine gardens, or ornamented
villas; but spacious clumsy chateaux, surrounded with farm offices
and cottages for the labourers. Their manners and way of life, too,
partook of the same primitive rusticity. There was great cordiality,
and even much familiarity, in the intercourse of the seigneurs with
their dependants. They were followed by large trains of them in their
hunting expeditions, which occupied so great a part of their time.
Every man had his fowling-piece, and was a marksman of fame or
pretensions. They were posted in various quarters, to intercept or
drive back the game; and were thus trained, by anticipation, to that
sort of discipline and concert, in which their whole art of war was
afterwards found to consist. Nor was their intimacy confined to their
sports. The peasants resorted familiarly to their landlords for
advice, both legal and medical; and they repaid the visits in their
daily rambles, and entered with interest into all the details of their
agricultural operations. They came to the weddings of their children,
drank with their guests, and made little presents to the young people.
On Sundays and holidays, all the retainers of the family assembled at
the château, and danced in the barn or the court-yard, according to
the season. The ladies of the house joined in the festivity, and that
without any airs of condescension or of mockery; for, in their own
life, there was little splendour or luxurious refinement. They
travelled on horseback, or in heavy carriages drawn by oxen; and had
little other amusement than in the care of their dependants, and the
familiar intercourse of neighbours among whom there was no rivalry or
principle of ostentation.
From all this there resulted, as Madame de L. assures us, a certain
innocence and kindliness of character, joined with great hardihood and
gaiety,--which reminds us of Henry IV. and his Béarnois,--and carries
with it, perhaps on account of that association, an idea of something
more chivalrous and romantic--more honest and unsophisticated, than
any thing we expect to meet with in this modern world of artifice and
derision. There was great purity of morals accordingly, Mad. de
L. informs us, and general cheerfulness and content in all this
district;--crimes were never heard of, and lawsuits almost unknown.
Though not very well educated, the population was exceedingly
devout;--though theirs was a kind of superstitious and traditional
devotion, it must he owned, rather than an enlightened or rational
faith. They had the greatest veneration for crucifixes and images of
their saints, and had no idea of any duty more imperious than that of
attending on all the solemnities of religion. They were singularly
attached also to their curés, who were almost all born and bred in the
country, spoke their _patois_, and shared in all their pastimes and
occupations. When a hunting-match was to take place, the clergyman
announced it from the pulpit after prayers,--and then took his
fowling-piece, and accompanied his congregation to the thicket. It was
on behalf of these curés, in fact, that the first disturbances were
excited.--_Edin. Rev. for Feb._ 1816.]
This luxuriance of growth does not proceed entirely from the moisture
supplied by the ditches and drains; the soil naturally is uncommonly
fertile: and whatever springs from it, whether planted by the hand of
man, and nourished, while growing, by his attention and skill, or its
spontaneous production, bears witness to this uncommon fertility.
The country abounds in corn and vineyards; the produce of the latter
consists principally in white vines. At the season of the year when I
passed through it, the intermixture of the rich and soft yellow of the
wheat nearly ripe, with the light green foliage of the vines, produced
a most pleasing effect. In Poitou and Anjou, the harvest generally
begins about the latter end of June: this year it was late every
where, but very abundant. The vineyards had mostly failed.
Le Marais, which is also comprehended within the limits of Le Bocage,
is that part of Lower Poitou, adjacent to the sea. There the country
is open and flat, and the passes are impracticable during the winter,
and very difficult at other seasons of the year. The inhabitants of Le
Marais formed a division of the army of the celebrated chief Charette.
La Vendée was divided into two circuits; each army had its own, until
the junction of the whole under La Roche-Jaquelin, &c; that of
Charette occupied the district of Chalans, Machecoul, la Roche Sur
Yon, les Sables, a part of the districts of St. Florent, Vehiers,
Chollet, Châtillon, la Châtaigneraie, a great part of the districts
of Clisson, Montaigne, Thouars, Parthenay, and Fontenay-le-peuple.
Although the locality of Le Bocage is a perfect contrast to that of le
Marais, nature seems to have exerted all her power in forming these
two districts into one extensive fortress, capable of opposing every
thing to an attack, and presenting so many means of defence, that it
was rarely possible for the enemy to lead a column, or to regulate
its movements so as to preserve union in its marches or manoeuvres,
dispositions for an attack, or retreat. The positions of the Vendeans
could never be understood, or their projects foreseen, in a country
where the frequent undulations of land, hedges, trees, and bushes,
obstructing the surface, would not admit of seeing fifty paces round;
and one of the republican generals, writing to the Convention,
thus speaks of Charette's movements. "It is no easy matter to find
Charette, particularly to bring him to action. To-day at the head of
ten thousand men, the next day wandering with a score of horsemen, it
is very rare that one can come up with him. When we believed him to be
in our front, he was in our rear. Yesterday he threatened such a post,
to-day he is ten leagues from it; more able to avoid than fight us,
he almost always disconcerts, and often, without knowing it, all our
combinations. He endeavours to surprise us, to carry off our patroles,
and to kill our stragglers".
The inhabitants of le Marais and le Bocage for a long period confined
themselves to defensive warfare, for which nature seems to have formed
their country. The situation of le Marais enabled the brave royalists
to receive succours from the English, and to facilitate and protect
the debarkation of such as they wished to procure from the North side
of the Loire, the coast being flat and easy of access by sea.
The Vendeans, favoured by every natural advantage, had a peculiar
tactic which they knew perfectly well how to apply to their position
and local circumstances, and adopted a mode of fighting hitherto
unknown, and practicable in that country alone. Confident in the
superiority which their mode of attack gave them, they never suffered
themselves to be anticipated, they never engaged but when and
where they pleased. Their dexterity in the use of fire arms was such,
that no people, however well skilled in manoeuvring, could make such
good use of a gun; the huntsman of Loroux, and the poacher of le
Bocage, having been always proverbial as excellent marksmen. It was no
unusual thing for the Vendeans when at the plough, to carry with them
a musket; and whenever they observed "a blue coat," (as they called
the republican soldiers) they stopt their plough, took up their
musket, and fired at him; it seldom happened that they missed the
object of their vengeance. A melancholy circumstance, connected with
this mode of warfare, took place: the son of one of the Vendean
farmers, or ploughmen, had been compelled to join the republican army;
but having succeeded in escaping, he was hastening, in his republican
uniform, to rejoin his relations, when being observed by his father,
while at the plough, the latter, unable from the distance to recognize
his son, and seeing only the uniform of an enemy, fired and shot him.
Their attacks were always dreadful, sudden, and almost unforeseen,
because it was very difficult to reconnoitre or obtain information so
as to guard against surprise. Their order of battle was generally in
the form of a crescent, their wings being composed of the most expert
marksmen, who never fired without taking aim, and seldom ever missed.
Their retreat was so precipitate that it was difficult to come up
with them, as they dispersed themselves through rough fields, hedges,
woods, and bushes, knew all the bye-roads, secret escapes and defiles,
and were acquainted with all the obstacles which could obstruct their
flight, and the means of avoiding them. Their mode of warfare was
according to the locality of the country, well calculated to prolong
the struggle and waste the strength of the forces sent to oppose them.
In the district of les Sables, intersected by canals, rivulets, and
salt marshes, where there were scarcely carriage roads, but chiefly
bye-ways, and raised paths, a species of natural fortification was
every where formed: this rendered any attack against them dangerous,
and consequently it was most favourable for defence, particularly to
the inhabitants. The canals are in general from thirty to forty feet
wide on the upper extremity of the banks. The Vendean, carrying his
musket in a bandoleer, and leaning upon a long pole, leaped from one
bank to the other with amazing facility. When the pressure of the
enemy would not admit of his doing this, without exposing himself to
their fire, he threw himself into a niole, (a kind of small boat,)
very flat, and light, and crossed the canal with great rapidity, being
always sufficiently shut up to hide himself from his pursuers: but he
soon appeared again, and firing at his enemy, again disappeared. The
republican soldier to whom this mode of fighting was unknown, was
obliged to be continually upon his guard, to march along the shores of
the canals, and to follow slowly their circuitous track, supporting at
the same time frequent skirmishes, while it took him several hours
to traverse a space which the Vendean commonly accomplished in a few
minutes.
Among the difficulties which the execution of all military plans met
with in La Vendée, the nature and degree of which may be judged of
from the local dispositions and the kind of warfare carried on by the
royalists, there was one which was invincible, and which singularly
retarded the operations of the republicans. Whenever they were
desirous of sending an order from head quarters to a division at the
distance of twelve or fifteen leagues, the messenger was often obliged
to travel fifty or sixty in order to avoid passing through the
revolted country. Hence the impossibility of attempting any
expedition, however necessary or desirable, which required to be
executed without delay. The Vendeans would appear one day at a certain
point to the number of several thousand men; measures were concerted
for attacking them the next day, but before that arrived they were
eight or ten leagues distant from the place where they had showed
themselves the day before.
Thus were the republicans exposed to fruitless victories or disastrous
checks, which exhausted their men and resources. Masters of the field
of battle, they found, says one of their generals, nothing but wooden
shoes and some slain, never any arms or ammunition. The Vendean when
perceived, would either hide or break his gun, and in surrendering his
life, seldom left his weapon. Being well acquainted with the country,
and more dexterous than the republicans, they carried scarcely any
artillery with them, four or five pieces sufficed for an army of
thirty or forty thousand men; these were generally light field pieces.
Equally sparing of ammunition, they took but few waggons, one alone
served the pieces, as they well knew it was not artillery that would
procure them the victory; thence, when the republicans met with any
disastrous affair, they lost from twenty to thirty pieces of cannon,
and waggons in proportion; whereas when they gained a victory they
acquired only two or three pieces of cannon, with scarcely any
ammunition.
From this slight sketch of the nature of the country, so
disadvantageous to the invaders, and of the mode in which the Vendeans
carried on this unfortunate war, our surprise will cease at the
determined and protracted resistance made to the republicans by this
loyal and brave people. For many years they defended their beloved
country, and endured privations, and accumulated miseries, such
as human nature has seldom been exposed to. To use the words of a
republican general, "A girdle of fire enveloped the revolted country;
fire, terror, and death, preceded the march".