Battle of Saint-Fulgent

Overview

The Battle of Saint-Fulgent saw Royalist and Republican French forces clash at Saint-Fulgent during the War in the Vendée. The 11,000 Vendean rebels, led by Henri de La Rochejaquelein, defeated a 6,000-man republican division, commanded by Jean Quirin de Mieszkowski and belonging to the Army of the Coasts of La Rochelle. Half of the Republican force was killed, wounded or captured, but rebel losses were only one tenth as many.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Saint-Fulgent resulted in a significant tactical defeat for the Republican Army of the Coasts of La Rochelle during the War in the Vendée. A 6,000-man Republican division under Jean Mieszkowski was routed by 11,000 Vendean rebels led by Henri de La Rochejaquelein, with the Republicans suffering roughly half their force killed, wounded, or captured. Royalist casualties, by contrast, amounted to approximately one tenth of that figure. The lopsided casualty ratio underscored the persistent difficulty the Republic faced in suppressing the Vendean insurgency in 1793, a period when the rebellion remained capable of concentrating sufficient force to overwhelm conventional Republican columns. The engagement reinforced the Vendée as a draining secondary front at a moment when the Republic was simultaneously contending with external war and internal instability.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)