Battle of Chantonnay

Battle of Chantonnay
Part of the War in the Vendée
Date 5 September 1793 Location Chantonnay, Vendée, France Result Vendéean victory
Belligerents
French Royalists	Republican France
Commanders and leaders
Maurice d'Elbée Charles de Bonchamps	René Lecomte François Marceau
Strength
25,000, 21 guns	7,500–8,000
Casualties and losses
500	4,000–5,000 casualties

The Battle of Chantonnay (5 September 1793) saw Royalist and Republican French forces clash at Chantonnay during the War in the Vendée. In the wake of his victory at Luçon, Augustin Tuncq sent 7,000 Republican troops under René François Lecomte to occupy an exposed position at Chantonnay. Reacting to the threat, 25,000 Vendeans rebels with 21 cannons led by Maurice d'Elbée and Charles de Bonchamps attacked and crushed the Republicans in a four-hour struggle in which François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers distinguished himself. Only 2,500 out of 7,500 Republicans escaped the disaster.

References

• Johnson, Thomas George (1896). Francois-Severin Marceau (1769–1796). London: George Bell & Sons. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.