Virée de Galerne

The Virée de Galerne was a military operation of the War in the Vendée during the French Revolutionary Wars across Brittany and Normandy. It takes its name from French virée (turn) and Breton gwalarn (northwest wind).

Virée de Galerne
Part of the War in the Vendée

The wounded General Lescure crosses the Loire at Saint-Florent
DateFrom 18 October to 23 December 1793
Location
Maine, Britanny, Normandy
Result Republican victory
Belligerents
Republicans Vendéens
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

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.

On 17 October 1793, the Republican Army of the West coordinated an attack on the Vendéen Royalists and squeezed them into a pocket at Cholet. Encircled, the Catholic and Royal Armies of Anjou and Haut-Poitou desperately attempted to resist but were decisively beaten. In the battle, Charles de Bonchamps was mortally wounded and 8,000 Vendéen Royalists were estimated to be killed, wounded or missing in action. With no choice, the Vendéen forces chose to take the only escape route open and fall back first to Beaupréau to the northwest then later to Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, where they were cornered in a bend of the River Loire.[1]

The Republicans' situation

Vendéen victories

The Chouans

The march on Granville

Battle of Dol

Retreat to the Loire

Rout at Le Mans

Destruction of the Catholic and Royal Army

Repression and reprisals


Timeline
The course of the virée de Galerne.
  • 18 October: The Vendéens cross the Loire at Saint-Florent-le-Vieil.
  • 19 October: La Rochejaquelein elected generalisimo.
  • 23 October: The Vendéens and Chouans take Laval, its 15,000 defenders beaten into retreat almost without a battle.
  • 27 October: Battle of Entrames, Republicans crushed, Léchelle removed.
  • 2 November: Capture of Mayenne.
  • 3–4 November: Battle of Fougères.
  • 4 November: Death of general Lescure.
  • 9 November: The Vendéens are at Dol-de-Bretagne.
  • 11 November: They are at Pontorson.
  • 12 November: They reach Avranches.
  • 14–15 November: Siege of Granville, Vendéens checked and about-turn.
  • 16 November: Retreat to Avranches
  • 18 November: Battle of Pontorson.
  • 20–22 November: Battle of Dol.
  • 23–24 November: The Vendéens take Fougères without a fight.
  • 25 November: They retake Laval without a fight.
  • 30 November: Battle of La Flèche.
  • 3 December: Siege of Angers, Vendéens checked.
  • 5 December: The Vendéens are at Baugé.
  • 7 December: Retreat to La Flèche.
  • 10–13 December: Battle of Le Mans
  • 14 December: The Vendéens again return to Laval
  • 16 December: They are at Ancenis; La Rochejaquelein, Jean-Nicolas Stofflet and 4,000 soldiers manage to cross the Loire.
  • 17 December: Republican ships cut off the passage.
  • 20 December: The Vendéens are at Blain.
  • 23 December: Battle of Savenay, annihilation of the Vendéen army.
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References
  1. Smith, Digby (1998). The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill Books. p. 59.

Bibliography
  • Brochet, Louis. "History of Vendée, Lower Poitou in France." Historie de Vendee.com, SEV, www.histoiredevendee.com/index.htm.
  • Gabory, Emile. Les guerres de Vendée, Robert Laffont, 1989.
  • Martin, Jean-Clément. Blancs et Bleus dans la Vendée déchirée, collection "Découvertes Gallimard" (nº 8), 1986.
  • Secher, Reynald and René Le Honzec. Vendée, 1789–1801, cartoon, éditions Reynald Secher.
  • Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book, Greenhill Books, 1989, ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

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