The siege of Angers was a siege of the French town of

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

on 3 December 1793 in the

War in the Vendée The war in the Vendée (french: link=no, Guerre de Vendée) was a counter-revolution from 1793 to 1796 in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the river Loir ...

Background

Pushed back at Granville, the Vendéens hoped to reach the south of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

to which the path was open thanks to their victory in the Battle of Dol. On 23 November, the Vendéen generals met at Antrain. The chief general

Henri de La Rochejaquelein 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. At the age of 21, he served as commander-in-chief of the Catholic ...

offered to march to

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...

where the republican army had sought refuge, in order to finish it off and free

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

, the army could then attack

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

to return to

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

while meeting with Charette's army. On the other hand, Stofflet wanted to return by the shortest road, thus attacking

. Finally, Antoine-Philippe de La Trémoille wanted to attack Granville again, the town's garrison was reduced and the English seemed more willing to intervene there. This last plan was chosen by the officers, but the Vendéen soldiers refused to obey and rather followed Stofflet's plan. The generals were forced to follow. The army thus marched to

. The Vendéens were no longer worried about the republican troops too busy reorganizing their forces, but they were ravaged by illnesses (

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complication ...

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

and cholera) related to

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accom ...

caused by their difficulties in supply and in protecting themselves from the cold of the upcoming winter.

The battle

was defended by 4,000 republican soldiers commanded by generals

Louis Michel Auguste Thévenet Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

and

Jean-Pierre Boucret Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ( ...

. The general Michel de Beaupuy, who was still recovering from wounds of the Battle of Entrames, was also present and wished to participate in the battle nonetheless. On 3 December the Vendéens attacked, but the initial assault wasn't better planned than at Granville, they spread into the

faubourgs "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, thi ...

abandoned by the republicans but without siege weapons they were unable to pass the fortifications. All day long, the Vendéen artillery of

Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny Gaspard Augustin René Bernard de Marigny (2 November 1754 in Luçon – 10 July 1794 in Combrand) was a French officer and Vendéen general. Life Bernard de Marigny was a cousin and friend of Louis Marie de Lescure, whose wife Victoire ...

bombarded the town gates with very limited success. On 4 December, the Vendéen tried another attack, on the verge of taking the Cupif gate the republican troops led by general

Jean Fortuné Boüin de Marigny Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

arrived as reinforcements. These troops were the avant-garde of the Army of the West, their arrival provoked panic in Vendéen lines who abandoned the siege and fled back to the North-East, towards

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

. Although victorious, the general Boüin de Marigny was killed at the end of the battle, hit by a cannon ball. After the battle, following the orders of Marie Pierre Adrien Francastel, the decapitated heads of the Vendéens and

Chouans Chouan ("the silent one", or "owl") is a French nickname. It was used as a nom de guerre by the Chouan brothers, most notably Jean Cottereau, better known as Jean Chouan, who led a major revolt in Bas-Maine against the French Revolution. Part ...

killed during the fighting were exposed on the fortifications. Pitre-Chevalier also wrote that the

sans-culottes The (, 'without breeches') were the common people of the lower classes in late 18th-century France, a great many of whom became radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution in response to their poor quality of life under the . T ...

, following orders of Levasseur "made a lustral procession, and burnt the frankincense of the fatherland to purify the walls from royalist contact". {{DEFAULTSORT:Angers Conflicts in 1793 Battles of the War in the Vendée Battles in Pays de la Loire History of Maine-et-Loire Sieges involving France 1793 in France Sieges of the French Revolutionary Wars