Battle of Noirmoutier (1794)

The Battle of Noirmoutier was a confrontation in the War in the Vendée which took place on 3 January 1794 between the Republicans and the Vendeans for control of the island of Noirmoutier. Situated in the Bay of Bourgneuf and linked to the mainland by the Gois causeway, the island was occupied on 12 October 1793 by General Charette's Vendean troops. This capture immediately alarmed the Committee of Public Safety, which feared Britain intervening on behalf of the royalists. However, Charette did not attempt to send a schooner to Britain until December to make contact with the British government, and he received no reply for several months.

The republicans landed on Noirmoutier on the morning of 3 January 1794 and took the whole of its southern part after fighting at Pointe de la Fosse and the village of Barbâtre. They then marched in the afternoon towards the town of Noirmoutier, where they received the capitulation of the Vendeans, who laid down their arms against the promise of their lives. Accepted by General Haxo, the capitulation was not respected by the representatives on a mission, Prieur de la Marne, Turreau and Bourbotte, who had 1,200 to 1,500 prisoners shot in a few days, including Maurice d'Elbée, the former generalissimo of the Catholic and Royal Army.

The recapture of Noirmoutier followed the battle of Savenay a few days later, which saw the destruction of the Vendean forces engaged in the Galerne's campaign. After these two victories, which were considered decisive, the Republican commanders believed that the War in the Vendée was on the point of being over. The Vendeans no longer control any territory and the last insurgent bands are numbered by only a few hundred or a few thousand men, hunted down in the woods and in the countryside.