But none of them
distinguished
himself more than
Beaupuy, then a General of Brigade.
Beaupuy, then a General of Brigade.
William Wordsworth
[A]
During the siege he wrote a journal of all the operations.
Unfortunately, this journal is very short, and purely military. It has
been handed down to us, and is found in the Bibliotheque Nationale of
Paris in the 'Papiers de Merlin de Thionville', n. acq. fr. Nos.
244-252, 8 vol. in-8? . Beaupuy's journal is in the 3rd volume, fol.
213-228.
. . .
In the Vendean war, the "Mayencais," or soldiers returned from
Mayence, made themselves conspicuous, and bore almost all the brunt of
the campaign.
But none of them distinguished himself more than
Beaupuy, then a General of Brigade.
The Mayencais arrived in Vendee at the end of August or beginning of
September 1793. To Beaupuy's skill the victory of Chollet (Oct. 17,
1793) is attributed by Jomini. In this battle he fought hand to hand
with and overcame a Vendean cavalier. He himself had three horses
killed, and had a very narrow escape. On the battlefield he was made
'general of division' by the "Representants du peuple. " It was after
Chollet that the Vendeans made the memorable crossing of the Loire at
St. Florent.
At Laval and Chateau-Gonthier (Oct. 26) a terrible defeat was
inflicted on the Republicans, owing to the incapacity of their
commander-in-chief, Lechelle. The whole corps commanded by General
Beaupuy was crushed by a terrible fire, He himself, after withstanding
for two or three hours with 2000 or 3000 men all the attacks of the
royalists, was disabled by a shot, and fell, crying out, "'Laissez-moi
la, et portez a mes grenadiers ma chemise sanglante'. " His soldiers
thought he was dead, and then the error was spread, which was repeated
by Wordsworth, Thiers, and Challamel. Wordsworth's mistake is so far
interesting, as it seems to prove that very little or no
correspondence passed between the two friends after they had parted.
Beaupuy, moreover, had too much work upon his hands to give much of
his time to letter-writing.
Though severely wounded, Beaupuy lived on, and less than six weeks
after the battle of Chateau-Gonthier, he was seen on the ramparts of
Angers, where he required himself to be carried to animate his
soldiers and head the defenders of the place, from which the Vendeans
were driven after a severe contest (Dec.
During the siege he wrote a journal of all the operations.
Unfortunately, this journal is very short, and purely military. It has
been handed down to us, and is found in the Bibliotheque Nationale of
Paris in the 'Papiers de Merlin de Thionville', n. acq. fr. Nos.
244-252, 8 vol. in-8? . Beaupuy's journal is in the 3rd volume, fol.
213-228.
. . .
In the Vendean war, the "Mayencais," or soldiers returned from
Mayence, made themselves conspicuous, and bore almost all the brunt of
the campaign.
But none of them distinguished himself more than
Beaupuy, then a General of Brigade.
The Mayencais arrived in Vendee at the end of August or beginning of
September 1793. To Beaupuy's skill the victory of Chollet (Oct. 17,
1793) is attributed by Jomini. In this battle he fought hand to hand
with and overcame a Vendean cavalier. He himself had three horses
killed, and had a very narrow escape. On the battlefield he was made
'general of division' by the "Representants du peuple. " It was after
Chollet that the Vendeans made the memorable crossing of the Loire at
St. Florent.
At Laval and Chateau-Gonthier (Oct. 26) a terrible defeat was
inflicted on the Republicans, owing to the incapacity of their
commander-in-chief, Lechelle. The whole corps commanded by General
Beaupuy was crushed by a terrible fire, He himself, after withstanding
for two or three hours with 2000 or 3000 men all the attacks of the
royalists, was disabled by a shot, and fell, crying out, "'Laissez-moi
la, et portez a mes grenadiers ma chemise sanglante'. " His soldiers
thought he was dead, and then the error was spread, which was repeated
by Wordsworth, Thiers, and Challamel. Wordsworth's mistake is so far
interesting, as it seems to prove that very little or no
correspondence passed between the two friends after they had parted.
Beaupuy, moreover, had too much work upon his hands to give much of
his time to letter-writing.
Though severely wounded, Beaupuy lived on, and less than six weeks
after the battle of Chateau-Gonthier, he was seen on the ramparts of
Angers, where he required himself to be carried to animate his
soldiers and head the defenders of the place, from which the Vendeans
were driven after a severe contest (Dec.
