Maurice d'Elbée

Catholic and Royal Army (Vendée) Counter-revolutionary forces 1752–1794 ✕ Shot

Second generalissimo of the Catholic and Royal Army after Cathelineau, shot at Noirmoutier

Born in 1752 in Dresden to a French father who was a privy councillor of the King of Poland, he was naturalised French in 1757. An officer of royal cavalry, he resigned in 1783 and retired to Beaupréau in Anjou, and represented Maine-et-Loire at the Fête de la Fédération in 1790. In March 1793 the peasants who had risen against conscription forced him to lead them because of his military experience. At Chemillé in April he saved the Republican prisoners his men wanted to kill by making them recite the Lord’s Prayer and breaking in with “Do not lie to God”. Elected generalissimo on 19 July 1793 after Cathelineau’s death, he was twice beaten at Luçon and gravely wounded at Cholet in October, and was carried to the island of Noirmoutier. Captured when Republican troops took the island on 3 January 1794, unable to stand, he was shot in an armchair. His wife was shot on 29 January.

Also known as: Maurice-Joseph-Louis Gigost d'Elbée