Invasion of France

Overview

The invasion of France 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.

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

Significance

The 1795 Battle of Quiberon was a British-backed landing in which a force of approximately 15,000 French Royalist émigrés attempted to establish a foothold in France and link up with the Chouan insurgency. The expedition ended in decisive defeat at the hands of Republican forces under Lazare Hoche, with the Royalists suffering around 5,000 casualties against a Republican army of 13,000. The failure ended any serious prospect of a seaborne émigré counter-revolutionary invasion during the War of the First Coalition, demonstrating that British naval support and émigré manpower alone were insufficient to reverse the Republic's consolidation of domestic control.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (9)