LA ROCHEJAQUELEIN, Henri du Vergier, Count of. - Vendéan general, b. at the château de la Durbellière (Châtillon-sur-Sèvre) on 3 Aug. 1772, d. at Nouaillé on 4 March 1794. A pupil of the military school of Sorèze and an officer of the royal guard in 1791, he joined the Vendéans who had risen against the Revolution and among their ranks distinguished himself by his military ability and personal heroism.

The grave setback suffered by the royalists at Cholet on 17 Oct. 1793 brought L. to the supreme command of the insurrection.

By a skilful manoeuvre he defeated the republicans at Entrâmes on 27 Oct., but a few days later he was severely defeated before Granville (13 Nov.) and then again at Le Mans a month later, owing to the disproportion in numbers between his forces and those of the three armies of Westermann, Marceau and Kléber. Nevertheless the very young general organized the retreat beyond the Loire, and after the decisive defeat of Savenay he began a ferocious guerrilla warfare that continued, in the vain expectation of English aid, until the following spring. Having fallen into an ambush, he lost his life there.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: Ch. L. Chassin, La préparation de la guerre de Vendée and La Vendée patriote, 3 vols., Paris 1892-95; E. Gabory, La Révolution et la Vendée, 3 vols., ibid. 1925-28.

Renzo U. Montini

@incollection{ec7_la_rochejaquelein_henri_du_ver, author = {Montini, Renzo Uberto}, title = {La Rochejaquelein, henri du vergier, conte di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {921--922}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/la-rochejaquelein-henri-du-vergier-conte-di} }

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La Rochejaquelein, Henri du Vergier, Count of

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