Jean-Nicolas Stofflet

Jean-Nicolas Stofflet
Jean-Nicolas Stofflet
Born	(1751-02-03)3 February 1751 Bathelémont-lès-Bauzemont, Kingdom of France
Died	25 February 1796(1796-02-25) (aged 45) Angers, French First Republic
Allegiance	Kingdom of France Royalist rebels
Service/branch	Swiss Guards
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Catholic and Royal Army
Battles/wars	War in the Vendée Battle of Thouars Battle of Nantes Battle of Cholet Virée de Galerne Battle of Entrames Battle of Fougères Battle of Granville Battle of Dol Siege of Angers
Awards	Order of Saint Louis, Grand Cross

War in the Vendée

Jean-Nicolas Stofflet (3 February 1751 – 25 February 1796) was a French leader of the Revolt in the Vendée against the First French Republic.

Born in Bathelémont-lès-Bauzemont (Meurthe-et-Moselle), the son of a miller, he was for long a private in the Swiss Guard, and afterwards gamekeeper to the comte de Colbert-Maulévrier, he joined the Vendéans when they rose against the Revolution to defend Roman Catholicism and Royalist principles. During the war in Vendée, he served first under Maurice-Louis-Joseph Gigot d'Elbée, and fought at Fontenay-le-Comte, Cholet and Saumur, and distinguished himself at the battles of Beaupréau, Laval and Antrain.

He was appointed major-general of the Royalist army, and in 1794 succeeded Henri de la Rochejaquelein as commander-in-chief of the Catholic and Royal Army. Stofflet established his headquarters in the Forest of Vezins. But his quarrels with another Vendéan leader, François de Charette, and the defeats sustained by the Vendéan troops, led him to give in his submission and to accept the terms of the Treaty of La Jaunaye with the National Convention (2 May 1795).