Rambarre! Once again with passion

 

So far, we have looked at the Austrians and the French Republicans.  Now, it is time for something very different.  We are off to the Vendée.

There’s a bit of me thinks that the men, and some of the women, of the Vendée fought so hard because their cause was something greater than an attachment to Le Roi.  Possibly conditions in the Vendée were better than elsewhere in France.  The nobility closer to the tenantry, the clergy humble, and diligent too?  Whatever it was, enough felt sufficiently threatened by the Revolution to take up arms.

As Charles Tilly notes in The French Revolution and the Birth of Modernity.

“counter-revolution grew directly from the efforts of revolutionary officials to install a particular kind of direct rule in the region: a rule that practically eliminated nobles and priests from their positions as partly autonomous intermediaries, that brought the state's demands for taxes, manpower, and deference to the level of individual communities, neighborhoods, and households that gave the region's bourgeois political power they had never before wielded."

For the farming folk that may have looked like less liberty rather than more. Significantly it was mass conscription not regicide that triggered the Vendée revolt.  The emphasis above is my own.

If we were looking for analogy, we might consider the Irish and Scots Jacobites or the Carlists and their respective enlistment in an ostensibly Monarchist causes.  In a nut shell they all feared economic loss and oppression-and rose to fight it.  

Let this not detain us further.  We must look at the Army of the Vendée.

Although the Vendée rebellion was very much a local rising for local people others took part too.  German and Swiss soldiers of the ancient regime served in the ranks. Some French too. Only the officers seem to have retained their uniforms.  The rest sensibly blended in with their new comrades. As you can see I've extended this to some other ranks in my Vendéan units by way of a visual clue.

The Vendéans had three sorts of infantry unit.  The best had the most muskets, the next had some and the rest none.  For me that will mean the best have two stands of fire power, the next one and the rest none.  Never fear the trusty pike will see them all through-or maybe not. 

Accordingly, here is an extract from current draft of We Brought You Liberty.

“Vendéan troops have limited fire power.  Their best troops shoot with 2 D6 per unit and the next best with 1 D6 per unit. This can be adjusted in line with the factors below.  Vendéan pike troops don’t shoot.”

By way of comparison, regular units in line would begin with 4 shooting dice.  Circumstances might add or deduct dice for both them and the Vendéans.

You may know that the United Irish Men found twenty muskets in a mainly pike formation of 100 men sufficient to see off cavalry.  They simply shot the troopers at close range while the pikes held them off. That said there was not so much cavalry action in the Vendée.

Above, are three representative Vendéan units illustrating the options.  I'll add two units of musket armed skirmishers too.  The latter were somewhat of an elite, easily as good as the best of their Republican equivalents. Some efforts were made to uniform those lads in green.  I'll be following that when I paint mine.

Tactics seem to have favoured the double envelopment.  The right, and best armed, wing led the attack.  The skirmishers sought to provoke a premature first fire.  The centre pikemen pinned the foe and moved in once both wings were in position.  The left, and next best armed, wing headed for the right flank of the enemy.  If everything worked a cry of "Rambarre!" went up and the centre charged. Rambarre translates as "We have them." and originates in cattle round ups.  

 

Eventually my Vendéans will get a gun or two and perhaps a small unit of cavalry.  I'm hoping the latter will be comprised of a Vendéan Mounted Officers pack that Old Glory are being encouraged to produce.  Should you be so inclined add your voice by dropping them a line.

The toys above are all from Lancashire Games Archive 1792 Range. I'm liking them more and more.

Three points that I'm pondering for We Brought You Liberty.   

First, Madame Collette Walsh, (ni Bulkeley of the Irish Brigade) and her husband (formerly of Dillon's Regiment ditto) seem to have added to morale by dint of their presence. They were a striking looking young couple it seems and fought too.  Maybe, it all adds to the flavour.

Second, the best Vendéan troops had a novel approach to tackling artillery.  Officers would watch for the touch of the match and holler.  The whole unit then fell flat to the ground.  A second holler and they were up and charging. The shot having passed overhead. It’s interesting, I’m minded to give it a percentage chance of success.

Third, If the best troops got a set back the rest got uneasy.  Morale fell.  That calls for inclusion.

In other news I'm reliably told that we can expect some pre-1798 Austrians to appear from Old Glory.   The cavalry cannot arrive fast enough for me.

All the best for the New Year for you and yours.