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Armée catholique et royale

Catholic and Royal Army of Vendée
Drapeau armée vendéenne 2.jpg
Type of Catholic and Royal Army of Vendée flag
Active 1793–1800
Country France,
Poitou, Anjou, Brittany:
Vendée, northern Deux-Sèvres, southern Maine-et-Loire, southern Loire-Atlantique
Allegiance Kingdom of France Kingdom of France
Branch Catholic and Royal Army of Anjou and of Haut-Poitou
Catholic and Royal Army of Centre
Catholic and Royal Army of Bas-Poitou
Size 80,000 men
Motto(s) Pour Dieu et le Roi
(For God and the King)
Colors White cockade
Engagements War in the Vendée
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Jacques Cathelineau
Louis d'Elbée
Henri de La Rochejaquelein
François de Charette
Jean-Nicolas Stofflet
Insignia
Identification
symbol
Coeur chouan.svg
Catholic and Royal Army of Brittany
Emblème chouan.jpg
Chouan emblem
Active 1794–1800
Country France, Brittany
Allegiance Kingdom of France Kingdom of France
Branch Army of Morbihan
Army of Rennes and Fougères
Army of Maine, Anjou and Haute-Bretagne
Army of the Côtes du Nord
Type Chouan
Size 30,000 to 40,000 men
Motto(s) In Sapientia Robur,
Sic Reflorescent
(Strength is in patience,
the Lys will flower again)
Colors White cockade
Engagements Chouannerie
Quiberon expedition
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Joseph de Puisaye
René Augustin de Chalus
Jean de Béhague de Villeneuve
Georges Cadoudal
Insignia
Identification
symbol
Coeur chouan.svg
Catholic and Royal Army of Normandy
Active 1795–1800
Country France
Normandy and Maine:
Orne, southern Manche, northern Mayenne
Allegiance Kingdom of France Kingdom of France
Type Chouan
Size 5,000 to 10,000 men
Engagements Chouannerie
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Louis de Frotté

The Catholic and Royal Armies (in French : Armées catholique et royale) is the name given to the royalist armies in western France composed of insurgents during the war in the Vendée and the Chouannerie, who opposed the French revolution, hence they were counterrevolutionary by definition. They were also known as the "Red Army" on account of their emblem: the Sacred Heart

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.


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Wikipedia

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