leigh stansfield had ridden with rochejaquelein during the march of the army to vezins, and from there to bressuire. he was charmed with his companion, who had been the first to dash, with a few other mounted gentlemen, into the streets of vezins; and who had thrown himself, with reckless bravery, upon the retreating infantry and, as the peasants came up, had led them to the attack several times, until cathelineau's orders, that the pursuit should be pushed no farther, reached him.
"that sort of order is very hard to obey," he said to leigh. "however, i need not regret that these brave fellows should escape us. we have won the battle, if one can call it a battle; and i honour the men who, when all the others have fled like sheep, still cling together and defend their guns. at least a hundred of them have fallen, since they left the town; and we have lost double that number, and should lose at least as many more, before we finally overcame their opposition. if all the armies of the republic were composed of such stuff as this regiment, i fear that our chance of defending la vendee successfully would be small, indeed."
on rejoining cathelineau, and hearing his reason for calling off the pursuit, henri at once admitted its wisdom.
"after the defeat of leigonyer, you will see that berruyer will not long be able to maintain himself at chemille," he said; "and when he hears the news, i fancy that he will retire at once; for he will know, well enough, that it will be useless for him to pursue us. still, if he were to come down on our rear as we advanced, it would have a bad effect upon the peasants; and it is much better to avoid fighting, unless under circumstances that are almost sure to give us victory. we can almost always choose our own ground, which is an enormous advantage in a country like this. it is very fortunate that it is so, for we certainly could not raise a body of cavalry that could stand against those of the line; but in these lanes and thickets they have no superiority in that respect, for no general would be fool enough to send cavalry into places where they would be at the mercy of an unseen foe. at the same time, i must own that i regretted today that we had no mounted force. with but a squadron or two of my old regiment, not a man of leigonyer's force would have escaped; for the country here is open enough to use them, and i should certainly have had no compunction in cutting down the rascals who are always shouting for blood, and yet are such arrant cowards that they fly without firing a shot."
the day after the capture of bressuire the vendeans marched against thouars, to which town quetineau had retreated with his force. thouars was the only town in la vendee which was still walled. the fortifications were in a dilapidated condition, but nevertheless offered a considerable advantage to a force determined upon a desperate resistance. with the fugitives from bressuire, and the garrison already in thouars, quetineau was at the head of three thousand five hundred troops; of these, however, comparatively few could be depended upon. the successive defeats that had been inflicted on the troops of the republic, by the vendeans, had entirely destroyed their morale. they no longer felt any confidence in their power to resist the onslaught of the peasants.
quetineau himself had no hope of making a successful resistance. he had repeatedly written urgent letters to the authorities at paris, saying that nothing could be done without large reinforcements of disciplined troops; and that the national guard and volunteers were worse than useless, as they frequently ran at the first shot, and excited the hostility of the people, generally, by their habits of plundering. nevertheless, the old soldier determined to resist to the last, however hopeless the conflict; and when the vendeans approached, at six o'clock in the morning, they found that the bridge of viennes was barricaded and guarded.
as soon as they attacked, the general reinforced the defenders of the bridge by his most trustworthy troops; a battalion, three hundred and twenty-five strong, of marseillais, and a battalion of the national guard of nievre. so stoutly was the post held that the vendean general saw that the bridge could not be taken, without terrible loss. he therefore contented himself with keeping up a heavy fire all day, while preparing an attack from other quarters.
the first step was to destroy the bridge behind the castle, and to make a breach in the wall near the paris gate, thereby cutting off the garrison's means of retreat. at five o'clock a large body of peasantry was massed for an attack on the bridge at viennes; and its defenders, seeing the storm that was preparing, retired into the town. the vendeans crossed the bridge but, as they approached the walls, they were attacked by a battalion of the national guard of deux sevres and a body of gendarmes and, taken by surprise, were driven back some distance. their leaders, however, speedily rallied them; and in the meantime other bodies forced their way into the town, at several points.
to avoid a massacre of his troops, quetineau hoisted the white flag. on this, as on all other occasions in the northern portion of la vendee, the prisoners were well treated. they were offered their freedom, on condition of promising not to serve against la vendee again; and to ensure that this oath should be kept for some time, at least, their heads were shaved before their release, a step that was afterwards taken throughout the war.
quetineau was treated with all honour, and was given his freedom, without conditions. although he knew well that neither his long services, nor the efforts that he had made, would save him from the fury of the convention; he returned to paris where, after the mockery of a trial, he was sent to the guillotine--a fate which awaited all those who failed, in the face of impossibilities, to carry out the plans of the mob leaders. instead of blame, the general deserved a high amount of praise for the manner in which he had defended the town against a force six times as strong as his own.
three thousand muskets, ten pieces of cannon, and a considerable amount of ammunition fell into the hands of the victors. this success left it open to the vendeans either to march against leigonyer--the remnant of whose army was in a state of insubordination at doug, and could have offered no opposition, but must have retreated to saumur--or to clear the country south and west.
the former would unquestionably have been the wiser course, for the capture of saumur would have been a heavy blow, indeed, to the republicans; but the peasants, whose villages and property were threatened by the presence of the blues at fontenay, parthenay, and chataigneraie, were so strongly in favour of the other alternative that it was adopted; and the force broke into two divisions, one moving towards chataigneraie, and the other against fontenay.
parthenay was evacuated at once by the republicans, as soon as news reached the authorities of the approach of the vendeans. the latter, however, made no stay, but continued their march towards chataigneraie. the town was held by general chalbos, with three thousand men. after two hours' fighting chalbos, seeing that his retreat was menaced, fell back.
he took up a position at fontenay, where he was joined by general sandoz, from niort. the country around the town was unfavourable for the vendeans, being a large plain, and the result was disastrous to them. the republicans were strong in cavalry, and a portion of these fell on the flank of the vendeans, while the remainder charged them in rear. they fell into disorder at once, and the cavalry captured a portion of their artillery.
the republican infantry, seeing the success of their cavalry, advanced stoutly and in good order. in vain the leaders of the vendeans strove to reanimate their men, and induce them to charge the enemy. the panic that had begun spread rapidly and, in a few minutes, they became a mob of fugitives scattering in all directions, and leaving behind them sixteen cannon, and all the munitions of war they had captured.
la rochejaquelein who, after he had visited lescure at clisson, had rejoined the army with a party of gentlemen, covered the retreat with desperate valour; charging the enemy's cavalry again and again and, before falling back, allowing time for the fugitives to gain the shelter of the woods. the loss of men was therefore small, but the fact that the peasants, who had come to be regarded as almost irresistible by the troops, should have been so easily defeated, raised the blues from the depth of depression into which they had fallen; while the blow inflicted upon the vendeans was correspondingly great. it was some little time before the peasants could be aroused again.
small bodies, indeed, kept the field and, under their leaders, showed so bold a face whenever reconnoitring parties of the blues went out from fontenay, that the troops were not long before they again began to lose heart; while the generals, who had thought that the victory at fontenay would bring the war to a conclusion, again began to pour in letters to the authorities at paris, calling for reinforcements.
on the side of the vendeans, the priests everywhere exerted themselves to impress upon their flocks the necessity of again joining the army. cathelineau himself made a tour through the bocage, and the peasants, persuaded that the defeat was a punishment for having committed some excesses at the capture of chataigneraie, responded to the call. in nine days after the reverse they were again in force near fontenay, and in much greater numbers than before; for very many of them had returned to their homes, as soon as thouars had been captured, and their strength in the first battle was but little greater than that of the republicans.
burning with ardour to avenge their defeat, and rendered furious by the pillage of all the houses of the patriots at chataigneraie--to which town chalbos with seven thousand troops had marched--it was against him that the vendeans first moved. chalbos, who had occupied his time in issuing vainglorious proclamations, and in writing assurances to the convention that the vendeans were so panic stricken that the war was virtually over, only saved his army by a long and painful night march back to fontenay. here the troops lay down to sleep, feeling certain that there could be no attack that day by the enemy.
at one o'clock, however, the vendeans issued from the woods on to the plain, and the troops were hastily called to arms.
the royal catholic army, as it now called itself, advanced in three columns. it was without cannon, but its enthusiasm more than counterbalanced this deficiency. the vendeans received unshaken the discharge of the artillery of the blues, pursuing their usual tactics of throwing themselves to the ground when they saw the flash of the cannon, and then leaping up again and rushing forward with loud shouts. the cavalry were ordered to charge, but only twenty men obeyed. the rest turned and fled. the infantry offered but a feeble resistance and, in ten minutes after the first gun was fired, the republican army was a mob of fugitives. fontenay was taken and, what pleased the peasants even more, their beloved cannon, marie jeanne, was recaptured, having been recovered by young foret who, with a handful of peasants, charged the cavalry that were covering the retreat, and snatched it from their hands. after this victory the peasants, as usual, returned for the most part to their homes.
as there was no probability of further fighting at the moment, jean martin and leigh started for the chateau. they had first asked cathelineau if they could be spared.
"for the moment, yes. i hope that we shall be joined by the count de lescure, in a day or two. he will, of course, be one of our generals. he has great influence with the peasantry and, if he can but persuade them to remain under arms for a time, we will attack the enemy. messieurs d'elbee and bonchamp, and i may say several of the gentlemen with me, are of opinion that if we are to be successful in the end, it can only be by taking the offensive, and marching against paris. they urge that we should get monsieur charette to go with us with his army, cross the loire, rouse all brittany, and then march, a hundred thousand strong, against paris.
"they say that although we have been most successful this time, and repulsed the invaders everywhere except on the coast, they will come again and again, with larger forces, till they overpower us. possibly, if monsieur de lescure and henri de la rochejaquelein aid us with their influence and authority, we might persuade the peasants that it is better to make one great effort, and then to have done with it, than to be constantly called from their homes whenever the blues are in sufficient strength to invade us. we shall tell them, too, that after the two repulses they have suffered, the blues will grow more and more savage, and that already orders have been sent for all villages to be destroyed, and all hedges and woods to be cut down--a business that, by the way, would employ the whole french army for some years.
"however, as soon as our plans are decided upon, i will send a messenger to you. at present there is nothing requiring either you or your scouts, monsieur stansfield, and after the good service that they have rendered, it is but fair that they should have a short rest."
patsey was delighted when her husband and leigh arrived. she was under no uneasiness as to their safety as, after the repulse of berruyer's army at chemille, and the rout of leigonyer, leigh had sent one of the boys home, with the assurance that they were unhurt.
"i don't quite know how much to believe," she said, as they sat down to a meal, "of the reports that the boys have brought home. the first came and told me that on your arrival at cathelineau's, he himself praised them all, and that monsieur bonchamp drilled them for an hour. then came home two wounded lads, with a story about the great fight, in which they insisted that leigh commanded, and that they kept the army of the blues at bay for three hours, and killed hundreds of them. the next messenger told us a tale about leigh's having discovered some treachery, upon the part of the man who was in charge of the artillery, and that he was in consequence shot. he insisted that cathelineau had declared that leigh had saved chemille, because the enemy were so long delayed that monsieur d'elbee, with his band, had time to come up from chollet and rout the blues.
"of course, i did not believe anything like all they said; but i suppose there must be something in it, for i questioned the boys myself; and though i had no doubt they would make as much as they could of their own doings, among their neighbours and friends, they would hardly venture to lie, though they might exaggerate greatly to me."
"strange as it may appear, patsey," jean said, "they told you the simple truth and, as soon as we have finished supper, i will tell you the whole story of what has taken place since we left; and you will see that this brother of yours has cut a very conspicuous figure in our affairs."
"you are not joking, jean?"
"not in the smallest degree. i can assure you that if leigh chose to set up as leader on his own account, a large proportion of the peasants would follow him."
"ridiculous, jean!" leigh exclaimed hotly.
"it may seem ridiculous, but it is a real fact.
"the peasants, you must know, patsey, choose their own leaders. there is no dividing or sorting them, no getting them to keep in regular companies; they simply follow the leader in whom they have the most confidence, or who appears to them the most fortunate. if he does anything that they don't like, or they do not approve of his plan, they tell him so. leigh's defence of the stream against berruyer's army created a feeling of enthusiasm among them, and i verily believe that his discovery of the plot to render the cannon useless was regarded, by them, as almost supernatural. superstitious and ignorant as they are, they are, as you know, always ready to consider anything they can't understand, and which acts greatly in their favour, as a special interposition of providence. i am bound to say that leigh acted upon such very slender grounds that even cathelineau, who is enormously in advance of the peasantry in general, was staggered by it; and told me he could not have believed it possible that anyone should, on such a slight clue, have followed the matter up, unless by a special inspiration."
"the thing was as simple as a b c," leigh broke in.
"you will have to remain a silent listener, leigh," his sister said, "when jean is telling me the story. i cannot have him interrupted."
"very well," leigh said. "then i will put on my hat, take a fresh horse from the stable, and ride off to see how the two wounded boys are going on."
"i can tell you that they are almost well; but still, if you don't want to hear jean's story of all your adventures, by all means go round. i am sure that the tenants will be gratified at hearing that you rode over to see them, the very first evening you came home."
the vendean leaders had for some time felt the necessity of having a generally recognized authority, and after the battle of fontenay they decided to appoint a council, who were to reside permanently at some central place and administer the affairs of the whole district, provide supplies for the armies, and make all other civil arrangements; so that the generals would be able to attend only to the actual fighting. a body of eighteen men was chosen, to administer affairs under the title of the superior council; and a priest who had joined them at thouars, and who called himself, though without a shadow of right, the bishop of agra, was appointed president. he was an eloquent man, of commanding presence, and the leaders had not thought it worth while to inquire too minutely into his claim to the title of bishop; for the peasants had been full of enthusiasm at having a prelate among them, and his influence and exhortations had been largely instrumental in gathering the army which had won the battle of fontenay.
but although he was appointed president, the leading spirit of the council was the abbe bernier, a man of great energy and intellect, with a commanding person, ready pen, and a splendid voice; but who was altogether without principle, and threw himself into the cause for purely selfish and ambitious motives.
it was on the sixteenth of may that fontenay was won, and on the third of june the church bells again called the peasantry to arms. the disaster at fontenay had done more than all the representations of their generals to rouse the convention. seven battalions of regular troops arrived, and biron, who had been appointed commander-in-chief, reached niort and assumed the command.
he wrote at once, to the minister of war, to say that he found the confusion impossible to describe. there was an absence of any organization, whatever. the town was crowded with fugitives who, having distinguished themselves by the violence of their opinions and the severity of their measures, before the insurrection broke out, were forced to take refuge in the cities. the general reported that he had caused the assembly to be sounded again and again, without more than a tenth part of the troops paying the slightest heed to the summons.
the army was without cavalry, without waggons for carrying supplies, without an ambulance train--in fact, it was nothing but a half-armed mob. biron himself was at heart a royalist, and when he in turn had to meet his fate by the guillotine, openly declared himself to be one; and the repugnance which he felt on assuming the command against the vendeans--which he had only accepted after a long delay, and after petitioning in vain to be allowed to remain at his former post--was heightened when he discovered the state of affairs, and the utter confusion that prevailed everywhere.
when sending the order for the bells to ring on the first of june, the superior council of the vendeans issued a proclamation, which was to be read in all the churches, to the effect that provisional councils should be formed, in each parish, to provide for the subsistence of the women and children of men with the army. receipts were to be given for all supplies of grain used for this purpose, which were to be paid for by the superior council. those men who did not remain permanently with the army, as long as necessary, would be called upon to pay the taxes to which they were subject, prior to the rising.
the sales of the land belonging to the churches--which had been sequestrated on the refusal of the clergy to comply with the orders of the convention--were declared null and void. as these had been bought by the upholders of the revolution, for no devout vendean would have taken part in the robbery of the church, the blow was a heavy one to those who had so long been dominant in la vendee. these lands were, for the time, to be administered for the good of the cause by the parish council.
it was hoped that this proclamation would act beneficially in keeping the peasants in the field; as they would know that their families were cared for, and that if they only went out at times, they would subject themselves to taxation, and be regarded by the families of those who remained with the army as being wanting in zeal.
upon rejoining the army, leigh and his party of scouts learned, to their satisfaction, that it was intended to march against saumur. they were now double their former strength, as the story of what they had done had roused the spirit of emulation among lads in the surrounding parishes; and leigh could have had a hundred, had he chosen. he was this time mounted, in order that he might at times ride with rochejaquelein, while at others he went out scouting with his party.
"i am heartily glad to see you back again, my friend," the young count said, shaking him warmly by the hand. "to be with you does me good, for the generals, and even lescure, are so serious and solemn that i feel afraid to make a joke. you see, in the cavalry we have little responsibility except in an actual battle. in an open country we should scout ahead, and have affairs with the enemy's outposts; but in this land of woods, where one can seldom see more than twenty yards ahead, there is little use for us. besides, with the exception of a score or two of gentlemen, i have no troops to command and, having health and good spirits, and enjoying life, i cannot go about as if the cares of life were on my shoulders. your brother-in-law martin is a capital fellow but, with a wife and child, he cannot feel so lighthearted as i do; though next to yourself he is the most ready to join me in a laugh. sailors seem always to be lighthearted, and he certainly is no exception."
"he is a splendid fellow, count."
"yes, he is a fine fellow; but you see, he is seven or eight years older than i am, while i feel with you that you are about my own age. by the way, it is high time that we dropped calling each other by our surnames, especially as mine is such a long one; so in future let us be' henri' and 'leigh 'to each other. most of the peasants call me henri."
"they generally speak of you as 'our henri,'" leigh said, "and would follow you through fire and water. i think the vendeans are, as a whole, serious people; and they admire you all the more because you are so unlike themselves. if you do not mind my saying so, you remind me much more of the young english officers i used to meet, at poole, than of frenchmen."
"yes, i have often been told that i am more english than french in appearance, and perhaps in manner; for in france most men have forgotten, for the past four years, what it is to smile; and i question whether a laugh would not be considered, in itself, sufficient to ensure a man's condemnation as an enemy of the republic.
"well, so we are going to saumur! that is an enterprise worth undertaking. it may be considered as the headquarters of the blues in these parts. there is a considerable body of troops there. if we capture it, we shall give a rare fright to poitiers, tours, and the other towns, and cause a scare even in paris."
leigh was requested to go forward at daybreak, with his band, to discover the situation of the enemy, who might come out from their situation to give battle before doue. leigonyer, who commanded here, had with him four good regiments; and occupied several strong positions on the right bank of the river layon, and also a post called rochette on the left bank.
the fact that the vendeans were advancing against them was already known to leigonyer for, confident as they now felt, the vendeans made no secret of their destination, and the news was speedily carried by the adherents of the convention, who everywhere acted as spies. three such men were captured by leigh's party, making their way to leigonyer; and, being unable to give any account of themselves, were immediately shot.
leigh had no difficulty in ascertaining the position of the enemy and, as the army was but two hours' march in the rear, he himself rode back to carry the news.
at ten o'clock the vendeans arrived, and at once attacked the blues; their main column throwing itself upon the centre of the position, which it speedily forced. leigonyer's troops at rochette and verches were thereby threatened in flank; and leigonyer, who was himself present, ordered the whole force to fall back to a position which he had before chosen as being favourable for giving battle behind doue.
but the vendeans pressed forward with such eagerness that the retreat speedily degenerated into a rout; and the troops, for the most part throwing away their arms, fled precipitately, carrying the reserve with them to bourlan, a strong position in front of saumur, where general menou was stationed, and where he succeeded in rallying them.
leigonyer, having from his previous experience great doubts as to whether he should be successful in his stand against the vendeans, had taken the precaution to send back the waggons with the munitions and stores, together with the artillery. as his men had fled too rapidly to be overtaken, the numerical loss was not great. he himself, in his report of the fight, ascribed it to a cause that has been frequently used by the french to excuse their defeats; namely that it was due to treachery, for many of the men broke and fled, directly the action began; and these, he avowed, could have been none other than vendeans who had disguised themselves, and enlisted for the purpose of causing discontent among the men, and confusion in their ranks, the first time they met the enemy.
since the commencement of the campaign he had several times begged to be relieved of his command, and to return to the post that he occupied previously. he now repeated the demand, saying that he had lost the confidence of his men, and that a new commander would be far more likely to succeed with them. this time the request was granted, and general menou was appointed to succeed him.
fortunately for leigonyer, the commissioners of the convention reported most favourably of the activity and energy that he had personally shown and, although he was accused of treachery in the assembly, this report saved him from the guillotine.
as soon as the fight was over, cathelineau sent for leigh.
"it is of the greatest importance that we should know what is passing at saumur. we have learned, from one of the officers who is a prisoner in our hands, that biron is at tours, and is endeavouring to persuade the paris battalions that have arrived there to march, at once, to saumur. they have absolutely refused to do so, until the arrival of the cannon that were promised to them, before they left paris. they may, by this time, be marching towards saumur, with or without their cannon. general salomon is at thouars, with a considerable force, and it is possible that he also may march to aid in the defence of saumur; and as he has, in addition to the new levies, a fine battalion of gendarmes, his arrival at saumur would greatly increase the strength of the defence.
"i should say that half your scouts had better go to thouars and, should there be any considerable movement of troops there, they should bring me word at the greatest possible speed. we shall tomorrow march forward and take post facing the enemy's positions, and on the ninth shall attack. i tell you this in order that your scouts may know where to find me.
"to you, with the other half of your party, i give the charge of watching saumur. if one or two of them could cross the loire and watch the road between tours and saumur, and bring me speedy word if they see a large body of troops coming along, we should know what force we have to encounter, and act accordingly."
"you shall have news, general," leigh said and, saluting, at once joined his band.
jean, who had been talking with him when the message from cathelineau arrived, and had waited to hear what his orders were, said as he came up:
"you and your regiment are off on an adventure again, leigh?"
"yes, we are going to watch thouars and saumur, and to find out, if possible, if the battalions from paris are on their way from tours."
"the first will be easy enough but, unless you swim the loire, i don't see how the second is to be managed."
"i should think that a boat might be obtained, at one of the villages on the river bank. anyhow, i shall get across somehow."
andre was ordered to take his party to thouars.
"remember," leigh said, "there is to be no fighting; not a shot must be fired. i want you and another to enter the town, if possible, from the other side; to see whether there is any unusual excitement, and especially whether there is any stir among the troops that would seem to show that they are on the point of marching away. you are to remain there until you see some such movement. the lad that you are taking in with you must go out, every hour, to the spot where you have left the rest; and one of these must at once start with your report to the general, who will tomorrow be on his way to saumur, and will halt not far from its works of defence. having delivered his message, he is to return to you, for you must continue to send off messengers until you hear that there is fighting at saumur. if the commander of the blues at thouars has not moved by that time, you need remain no longer, but return with your party and join the army."
after andre had left, leigh marched with pierre and the others to a spot up the river, ten miles above saumur.
"can any of you swim?" he asked.
three only of the party were able to reply in the affirmative.
"do you think that you could swim across the loire?"
all of them expressed great doubt of being able to do so.
"well, at any rate, i must take you with me," he said. "to be able to swim a little is a good deal better than not to be able to swim at all, for by making a faggot you will gain such support as will enable you to get across.
"now, pierre, you must for the present remain here. tomorrow morning you can go into the village, whose church tower you can see over there, and find out whether the people there are for us or for the blues. if they are for us you can show them cathelineau's order, of which you have a copy, and they will certainly provide you with a boat. in that case, cross the river with your party and take post on the opposite bank, keeping the boat with you, and a man who can row. then, as soon as one of my messengers arrives there, you will send on my report to the general who, tomorrow evening, will be not far from saumur. do the same with each messenger that arrives.
"if, on reaching the bank opposite the village, they do not find you there, they will follow the opposite bank down until they are opposite to you. then they will call, and you, unless anything has happened to drive you away, will reply. the messenger will then swim across with my report, as in the other case. you will send it forward at once, and he will return to the spot i shall appoint.
"i see there is another village, a mile below us. i shall go there with my three followers, tonight. we will manage to steal a boat and row across. i shall go to that village instead of the other, because the loss of a boat may cause anger and, even if well disposed to the cause, they might not receive you well. however, i shall tie the boat up on the opposite bank when i leave it, so that it will not drift away down the river; and when they see it in the morning, they will only have to send another boat across to fetch it over."
"i understand, captain, and will do my best to carry out your instructions. even if i find that, at the village above, they are divided in opinion, i shall surely be able to discover, from their talk, some who are on our side, and who will arrange to bring a boat down to this spot; in which case your messenger, when he does not find us opposite the village, will follow the bank down till he does so."
"at any rate, pierre, here are a couple of crowns, so that you can arrange with a man for the hire of the boat, and his services, for twenty-four hours, if necessary."
