Jacques Cathelineau

Jacques Cathelineau (January 5, 1759–July 14, 1793), nicknamed "le Saint d'Anjou" ("the Saint from Anjou") was a French Vendéan insurrection leader during the French Revolution. His grandson, Henri de Cathelineau, was an officer in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.

Life

Early life

Born at Le Pin-en-Mauges, in the lands now forming the "département" of Maine-et-Loire, he became well known in Anjou, a region over which he travelled as a peddler and alleged dealer in contraband goods. His physical strength, macho charisma, and great piety enabled him to command considerable respect among his fellow peasants.

In the first years of the Revolution, Cathelineau joined the numbers of Vendean peasants disgusted by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the draft laws, and the execution of King Louis XVI of France. He collected an army of peasants and waged a private war against the government of the First French Republic.

Republican propagandists and their modern sympathizers have alleged that the revolt was provoked by the exhortations of Roman Catholic priests and Royalist "émigrés".

Rebellion

He learned of the March 10, 1793 rising against the National Convention in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil. Collecting a growing band of peasants, he captured the "château" of Jallais, where he seized a cannon - known to the Vendéans "The Missionary" -, and then in quick succession took the towns of Chemillé, Cholet, Vihiers and Chalonnes.

As the war dragged on, the Vendeans were increasingly enraged by the atrocities perpetrated by the revolutionaries against both Catholic priests and their fellow Vendean peasants. Cathelineau's soldiers began committing reprisals, something from which they had once refrained.

End

Meanwhile, Cathelineau's troops increased, and he combined with the other Vendéan chiefs, such as Jean-Nicolas Stofflet and Maurice-Louis-Joseph Gigot d'Elbée, taking the towns of Beaupréau, Fontenay-le-Comte, and Saumur. The first successes of the Vendéans were due to the fact that the Republicans had not expected an insurrection. When the resistance to the insurgents became more serious, differences arose among their leaders. To avoid these rivalries, it is thought that Cathelineau was named "generalissimo" of the rebels, although his authority over the undisciplined troops was not increased by the new office.

In June 1793 the combined Royalist forces stormed Nantes. Cathelineau had entered the town in spite of the resistance of General Jean-Baptiste Canclaux - when he was killed by a sniper. The Vendéan army was defeated - and soon divided into factions. Numerous relatives of Cathelineau also perished in the war of Vendée and the reprisals that followed. The remainder of his family was enobled under the Bourbon Restoration.

References

*1911 "In turn, it cites as references:"
**Jacques Cretineau-Joly, "Histoire de la Vendée militaire"
**Célestin Port, "Vie de J. Calhelineau" (1882); "La Légende de Cathelineau" in the review "La Révolution française", vol. xxiv; "Les Origines de la Vendée" (Paris, 1888, 2 vols.); "Dictionnaire Historique, Géographique et Biographique de Maine-et-Loire" (1874-1878, 3 vols.)
**Théodore Muret, "Vie populaire de Cathelineau" (1845)