Francois Charette de la Contrie
      Francois Anthanase Charette de la Contrie was born on May 2, 1763 at Couffe. He joined the French navy when he was only 16 and after eleven years of service he resigned and returned to Paris. When the Tuileries Palace was attacked by mobs in August of 1792, he attempted, along with others, to save the King from the revolutionaries. The effort was unsuccessful and Louis XVI was taken prisoner. On March 14, 1793 peasant loyalists came to his home and all but demanded that he lead them against the revolutionary forces. Charette joined them whole-heartedly.

       First, he attacked Machecoul, which was an easy victory since the town was protected by only 100 members of the National Guard. Charette ran his camps in a very care-free manner. He would go from campfire to campfire talking with all of his men. He hated having to put his forces through such harsh conditions; they were constantly lacking in weapons, food and safe havens. However, the royalists proved to be made of tough stuff. Charette even had a group of women soldiers who fought for God and the King, who were nicknamed the "Amazons" and who fought just as bravely as their male compatriots.

       On February 13, 1795 Charette and other Vendeean generals signed a peace treaty with the republicans. He was extremely reluctant to do so as he considered the agreement to be totally unsatisfactory. In June of 1795 he once again opened hostilities against the blue army. In this new round of combat Charette was badly wounded and captured by the republicans on March 23, 1796. He was dragged through the streets of Nantes, the city that he had hoped to conquer.
     
       On March 29 Charette was executed by firing squad though he refused the traditional blind-fold, choosing to face death with his eyes open. Charette was a true hero, devoted to his cause, personally brave, compassionate for his men and militarily brilliant. He was able to inspire the people to shoulder immense burdens and managed to defeat much larger armies and resist for a much longer period and with much greater success than almost any other white commander. All of this, it must be remembered, was done with an untrained army of peasant farmers who had never been in combat before. Their only advantage was the strength of their convictions, their trust in Christ, and the brilliance of their leaders. When it came to Charette, even Napoleon Bonaparte had to admitt he was a true genius.