Florent.
Beauprieu and Chatillon were carried on the Wednesday. Coron was
victorious on the Thursday; and on the Friday following, a strong
detachment of soldiers marched out of Cholet, of their own accord,
without attempting to collect their portion of the levy, and crossed the
river Loire, at the Pont de Ce, thus retreating from La Vendee.
These triumphs inspired the insurgents with high hopes of future
victories; they gave them the prestige of success, made them confident
in the hour of battle, and taught them by degrees to bear, undaunted,
the fire of their enemies. The officers of the Republic were most
injudicious in allowing their enemies to gather head as they did; had
they brought a really formidable force of men, in one body, into the
province of Anjou, immediately upon the revolt of St. Florent, they
might doubtless have driven the Vendeans, who were then unarmed and
undisciplined, back to their farms; but they affected to despise them,
they neglected to take vigorous measures, till the whole country was in
arms; and they then found that all the available force which they were
enabled to collect, was insufficient to quell the spirit, or daunt the
patriotism of the revolted provinces.
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