Henri de la Rochejaquelein
| Henri de la Rochejaquelein | |
|---|---|
Henri de la Rochejaquelein, by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin
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| Born |
30 August 1772 Mauléon, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 28 January 1794 (aged 21) Nuaillé, French First Republic |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of FranceRoyalist rebels |
| Service/branch | French Royal Army |
| Years of service | 1790–1794 |
| Rank | Generalissimo |
| Commands held | Catholic and Royal Army |
| Battles/wars |
Insurrection of 10 August 1792
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Insurrection of 10 August 1792
War in the Vendée
Henri du Vergier, comte de la Rochejaquelein (30 August 1772 – 28 January 1794), was the youngest general of the Royalist Vendéan insurrection during the French Revolution.
Born in the Château de la Durbellière, Saint-Aubin-de-Baubigné, near Châtillon, La Rochejaquelein joined the Royal Polish Regiment, of which his father was colonel, in 1787. In February 1789 he became a member of the Flanders regiment of chasseurs. In March 1792 he became a member of the Constitutional Guard, charged with protecting the king. He fought for the first time defending the Tuileries Palace on the 10th of August attack of 1792, as an officer of the Constitutional Guard of King Louis XVI.
Returning to his home province, he refused to comply with the levée en masse called by the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars and joined his cousin Louis Marie de Lescure on the latter's estates in Poitou.
Resistance to conscription soon escalated into a full rebellion, known as the War in the Vendée. Soon after, la Rochejaquelein and his compatriots started fighting the troops of the French Republic with Louis d'Elbée and the Marquis de Bonchamps from April 1793. There, he gave famous order "Mes amis, si j'avance, suivez-moi! Si je recule, tuez-moi! Si je meurs, vengez-moi!" ("Friends, if I advance, follow me! If I retreat, kill me! If I die, avenge me!").
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