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Invasion of France (1795)
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Invasion of France (1795)
The invasion of France (also known as the Battle of Quiberon) was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitively repulsed on 21 July. It aimed to raise the whole of western France in revolt, bring an end to the French Revolution and restore the French monarchy. The invasion failed; it had a major negative impact, dealing a disastrous blow to the royalist cause.
As a result of the French Revolution, many French royalists fled to Britain, including the Count of Provence and the Count of Artois. The two men divided royalist activities between them, with the Count of Provence handling royalist affairs in southern France, and the Count of Artois handling such efforts in western France. Joseph de Puisaye, a nobleman and military veteran, fled to Britain in 1794, where he entered into negotiations with Count of Artois. Puisaye also negotiated with British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger in London, requesting Britain's support for a royalist invasion of France. He planned for the invasion to incite the populations of northwest France into rising up against the Republic, as they were mostly royalists, and open a new front of the French Revolutionary Wars; Puisaye even went so far as to claim that he already had an army of 40,000 men under his command in Brittany.[citation needed]
In his negotiations with Pitt, Puisaye convinced him to support the invasion, which he volunteered to lead, requesting men, money and materiel from the British government. Pitt approved of Puisaye's proposal, referring to him as a "clear and sensible man," as did William Windham, Secretary of State at War and a key interlocutor with the royalists. Secretary of State for War Henry Dundas, however, took a more negative view of the invasion. Puisaye also managed to convince the Count of Artois, who appointed him as the general-in-chief of royalist forces in Brittany on 15 October. Pitt promised Puisaye that the invasion would take place in the spring of next year. However, tensions soon developed when a London-based representative of royalists operating on the Count of Provence's behalf in Paris discredited Puisaye, aiming to have Louis Charles d'Hervilly appointed as leader of the invasion instead.[citation needed]
In the end, Puisaye was provided with ships and equipment by the British government, but no soldiers. There were several issues which plagued the invasion before it even began: along with the power struggle between Puisaye and d'Hervilly, there were on the day of the invasion only 3,500 of the 15,000 troops Puisaye had intended to lead, and several royalists insisted on landing at the Vendée instead of Brittany (this suggestion was mostly due to François de Charette's insistence, as Charette also intended to become leader of the invasion instead of Puisaye. The invasion's leaders planned to land at Quiberon, which proved difficult as it consisted of a merely a narrow strip of land, with its shoals blocking access to part of the coastline. Many of the royalist soldiers which participated in the invasion were conscripted Republican prisoners of war of dubious loyalty, further complicating matters.[citation needed]
On 23 June two squadrons of nine warships (including three ships of the line and two frigates) and 60 troop transports (carrying two émigré divisions, totalling 3,500 men and the British 90th, 19th, 27th Regiments of Foot, as well as muskets, uniforms, shoes, food and supplies for an army of at least 40,000) set out under the command of British admirals Hood and Warren. Villaret-Joyeuse left Brest and attacked Warren's squadron above Îles de Glénan on 23 June 1795, but was forced to retire quickly towards the île de Groix and lost two ships of the line. Linois lost an eye in this encounter, and the British retained naval superiority for the rest of the expedition.
On 26 June 1795, the squadrons anchored off Quiberon and could at this point have begun to disembark their troops. However, it was at this point that comte Louis Charles d'Hervilly took out his letter of nomination and claimed supreme command of the expedition. The two officers were not even operating the same plan - Puisaye wanted to take advantage of the element of surprise and attack immediately to relieve Royalist troops throughout western France, but d'Hervilly thought the Chouans were undisciplined and incapable of holding out in open battle, and so planned to remain at Quiberon, fortifying it for use as a base and for pouring in reinforcements. The division was not only strategic but political - Puisaye was a former Girondin, favouring the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, whereas d'Hervilly wished for the wholesale reinstatement of the Ancien Régime. A whole day was lost in heated discussions between the two of them, and a courier was even sent to London to confirm who was to be supreme commander. Hervilly finally submitted, but the delay lost them the vital element of surprise and allowed the Republican troops of the armée des côtes de Brest to gather themselves, with the émigré troops demonstrating their impatience and astonishment at this inexplicable delay, and with their subsequent early successes proving illusory. As for the Chouan Bretons gathered by Georges Cadoudal, they already suspected a betrayal and the delay only confirmed them in this, with a disastrous effect on morale.
On the morning of 27 June, the weather cleared after two days of mist and the Republican forces spotted the British ships in Quiberon bay, with the fort at Penthièvre signalling all day to Quiberon, "They are disembarking en grande force." A British frigate cruised to the eastern point of Belle-Île and a British brig and cutter cruised to its western point, and in the evening another frigate joined the first at the east, anchoring beside it - thus Belle-Île was blockaded.
On 27 June, the British disembarked 8,000 troops at Carnac, and summoned Belle-Île to surrender, which it was unwilling to do. The disembarkation happened without difficulty, since the garrison of Auray had been beaten by the Chouans, who had also taken Carnac, Landévant and Locoal-Mendon, putting the coast in Royalist hands.
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Invasion of France (1795)
The invasion of France (also known as the Battle of Quiberon) was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitively repulsed on 21 July. It aimed to raise the whole of western France in revolt, bring an end to the French Revolution and restore the French monarchy. The invasion failed; it had a major negative impact, dealing a disastrous blow to the royalist cause.
As a result of the French Revolution, many French royalists fled to Britain, including the Count of Provence and the Count of Artois. The two men divided royalist activities between them, with the Count of Provence handling royalist affairs in southern France, and the Count of Artois handling such efforts in western France. Joseph de Puisaye, a nobleman and military veteran, fled to Britain in 1794, where he entered into negotiations with Count of Artois. Puisaye also negotiated with British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger in London, requesting Britain's support for a royalist invasion of France. He planned for the invasion to incite the populations of northwest France into rising up against the Republic, as they were mostly royalists, and open a new front of the French Revolutionary Wars; Puisaye even went so far as to claim that he already had an army of 40,000 men under his command in Brittany.[citation needed]
In his negotiations with Pitt, Puisaye convinced him to support the invasion, which he volunteered to lead, requesting men, money and materiel from the British government. Pitt approved of Puisaye's proposal, referring to him as a "clear and sensible man," as did William Windham, Secretary of State at War and a key interlocutor with the royalists. Secretary of State for War Henry Dundas, however, took a more negative view of the invasion. Puisaye also managed to convince the Count of Artois, who appointed him as the general-in-chief of royalist forces in Brittany on 15 October. Pitt promised Puisaye that the invasion would take place in the spring of next year. However, tensions soon developed when a London-based representative of royalists operating on the Count of Provence's behalf in Paris discredited Puisaye, aiming to have Louis Charles d'Hervilly appointed as leader of the invasion instead.[citation needed]
In the end, Puisaye was provided with ships and equipment by the British government, but no soldiers. There were several issues which plagued the invasion before it even began: along with the power struggle between Puisaye and d'Hervilly, there were on the day of the invasion only 3,500 of the 15,000 troops Puisaye had intended to lead, and several royalists insisted on landing at the Vendée instead of Brittany (this suggestion was mostly due to François de Charette's insistence, as Charette also intended to become leader of the invasion instead of Puisaye. The invasion's leaders planned to land at Quiberon, which proved difficult as it consisted of a merely a narrow strip of land, with its shoals blocking access to part of the coastline. Many of the royalist soldiers which participated in the invasion were conscripted Republican prisoners of war of dubious loyalty, further complicating matters.[citation needed]
On 23 June two squadrons of nine warships (including three ships of the line and two frigates) and 60 troop transports (carrying two émigré divisions, totalling 3,500 men and the British 90th, 19th, 27th Regiments of Foot, as well as muskets, uniforms, shoes, food and supplies for an army of at least 40,000) set out under the command of British admirals Hood and Warren. Villaret-Joyeuse left Brest and attacked Warren's squadron above Îles de Glénan on 23 June 1795, but was forced to retire quickly towards the île de Groix and lost two ships of the line. Linois lost an eye in this encounter, and the British retained naval superiority for the rest of the expedition.
On 26 June 1795, the squadrons anchored off Quiberon and could at this point have begun to disembark their troops. However, it was at this point that comte Louis Charles d'Hervilly took out his letter of nomination and claimed supreme command of the expedition. The two officers were not even operating the same plan - Puisaye wanted to take advantage of the element of surprise and attack immediately to relieve Royalist troops throughout western France, but d'Hervilly thought the Chouans were undisciplined and incapable of holding out in open battle, and so planned to remain at Quiberon, fortifying it for use as a base and for pouring in reinforcements. The division was not only strategic but political - Puisaye was a former Girondin, favouring the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, whereas d'Hervilly wished for the wholesale reinstatement of the Ancien Régime. A whole day was lost in heated discussions between the two of them, and a courier was even sent to London to confirm who was to be supreme commander. Hervilly finally submitted, but the delay lost them the vital element of surprise and allowed the Republican troops of the armée des côtes de Brest to gather themselves, with the émigré troops demonstrating their impatience and astonishment at this inexplicable delay, and with their subsequent early successes proving illusory. As for the Chouan Bretons gathered by Georges Cadoudal, they already suspected a betrayal and the delay only confirmed them in this, with a disastrous effect on morale.
On the morning of 27 June, the weather cleared after two days of mist and the Republican forces spotted the British ships in Quiberon bay, with the fort at Penthièvre signalling all day to Quiberon, "They are disembarking en grande force." A British frigate cruised to the eastern point of Belle-Île and a British brig and cutter cruised to its western point, and in the evening another frigate joined the first at the east, anchoring beside it - thus Belle-Île was blockaded.
On 27 June, the British disembarked 8,000 troops at Carnac, and summoned Belle-Île to surrender, which it was unwilling to do. The disembarkation happened without difficulty, since the garrison of Auray had been beaten by the Chouans, who had also taken Carnac, Landévant and Locoal-Mendon, putting the coast in Royalist hands.
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