Catholic and Royal Army of Vendée (1793-1800) Chant “Le Chant de Fidelité“

The Catholic and Royal Army of Vendée was composed of the three Vendéen armies although that of Lower Poitou joined only occasionally. During the year 1793, the Vendéen army was distinguished into sub-armies : the army of Charette in the Marais breton, the Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou and of Haut-Poitou, and that of Bas-Poitou and Retz country, south of the Loire. The Chouans of the north of the Loire who joined the Vendéens during the Virée de Galerne were named Catholic and Royal Army of Bas-Anjou and of Haute-Bretagne. In reality, those armies were simply groups of fluctuating insurgents led by a chief who had authority over people following his beliefs. The only units with a quasi-permanent existence and organization are the “compagnies de paroisse“ which grouped together members of the rural community who elected their captains. Although two-thirds of the insurgents were peasants, they only represented half of the men in these units, the rest being artisans and shopkeepers. The flaws of this army were its few health services and its lack of permanent fighters, even considering their reinforcements of republican deserters, gabelous, Germans or Swiss. Their weaponry and provisions were also poor. The cavalry was only composed of noble chiefs, a few game wardens and peasants mounted on farm horses. The artillery was composed only of old culverin taken from castles and a few cannons taken from the republicans, making it impossible for the Catholic and Royal Army to oppose a strong Republican army on open field, or to break the fortifications of a town like at Granville. After the Battle of Savenay, the army was reconstructed on paper but its actual existence was insignificant; the insurrection became a chouannerie.