The Drownings at Nantes

Today we mark another dark anniversary in the history of France with the story of the first drownings at Nantes (Noyades de Nantes) on 16th November 1793. One of the bleakest episodes of the Terror, the drownings were a method of mass execution used to remove those who did not agree with the revolution or were suspected of sympathising with the royalists. They were also used as a ruthlessly efficient means of executing Catholic priests and nuns and eventually resulted in the loss of approximately 4000 lives.

We have already heard tell of the 22 Prairial that Robespierre pushed into existence, a move that was to prove fatally misjudged. The new law was aimed at those suspected of being counter-revolutionaries; with the passing of the 22 Prairial such suspects could be executed without due process. Citizens were appalled not only at what the law allowed but also at what they saw as Robespierre's gross misuse of his powers. The 22 Prairial had been passed without discussion in the Committee of General Security and this only solidified suspicions that Robespierre was out of control, making sweeping and dictatorial decisions without proper consultation.

However, the people of Nantes had more to worry about than falling foul of Robespierre. The city was overwhelmed by casualties being brought in from the war in the Vendée and the people lived in constant fear of starvation and disease. Prisoners of war and of the revolution were dying at an alarming rate in prison and the National Convention entrusted the region to the care of  Jean-Baptiste Carrier, naming him as republican representative to Nantes. In fact, Carrier took something of a scorched earth approach to the area, declaring that he would leave not one enemy of the revolution alive, a policy that attracted the full support of the Committee of Public Safety.

As night fell on 16th November 1793 Carrier requested that almost 200 Catholic priests who were being held on the prison barge, La Gloire, be assembled on the dock. Here a customised barge waited for them and 90 of the priests were bound and herded onto the vessel. With the prisoners packed tight and helpless, the craft was piloted out into the Loire where it was scuppered. All but three of the prisoners on board suffered a terrifying death by drowning and for the trio that tried to swim for safety, respite was short-lived. Picked up by a naval ship that had heard the screams of the dying men, the escapees were soon tracked down and returned to custody to be killed in the second wave of executions on the following evening.

Jean-Baptiste Carrier by François Séraphin Delpech, 1830

This was just the first of a series of executions by that would go on until February 1794 in which men, women and children were drowned without mercy or appeal as Carrier's regime crushed all those seen as resisting the ideals of the Revolution. Judges in the region approved mass lists of names for execution and these terrified unfortunates all perished beneath the dark waters of the Loire. Carrier's soldiers laid waste to large areas of the district in a ceaseless search for the perceived enemies, with a modified barge eventually being engineered that made use of special hatches that allowed the executions to be as efficient as possible. 

As his reign continued, Carrier found the people of Nantes turning against him. They watched with increasing fear as their neighbours and friends went to their deaths, towns and farms set ablaze in the tireless search for insurgents, with some of those arrested and drowned as young as five years old. Eventually though Carrier's reign came to a shuddering end when reports of his behaviour were looked at more closely and on 3rd September 1794, Carrier was arrested. He claimed to have no knowledge of the drownings, explaining that his role had been mainly one intended to stabilise the economy and manage the troops. His defence convinced no one and he was executed by guillotine on 16th December 1794.

On the anniversary of that first terrible night it is hard to imagine the terror of those who went out on the barge to their death, yet they were the first of thousands to die in the Loire. They were persecuted on account of faith, suspicion and paranoia at the order of a politician who, as so many did, eventually fell victim to his own ambition and cruelty.

The Tragic Revolutionary Romance of François Marceau-Desgravier

François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers (Chartres, Kingdom of France, 1st March 1769 – Altenkirchen, Holy Roman Empire, 21st September 1796) 

François Marceau-Desgravier by François Bouchot, 1840

It seems that a week never passes without a trip to France of late and today we find ourselves traversing the Channel again in search of a revolutionary general. His story has it all; excitement, heartbreak and even a spot on the Arc de Triomphe. Make sure you have a nice lacy handkerchief on hand, as you might find yourself dabbing away a tear by the end of today's tale of the boy general.

Born the son of a prosecutor, Marceau's future looked set when he entered training to follow his father into law. A capable and intelligent student, the young man found himself increasingly drawn away from academia in search of something more thrilling and when he was just 16, he enlisted in the army to serve at Angoulême. He was present at the storming of Bastille and that event had a profound impact on him. Spurred on by revolutionary fervour, he resigned his post in the army and joined the National Guard, swiftly attaining the rank of Captain.

François Marceau-Desgravier by François Séraphin Delpech, 1830

Marceau rose quickly through the ranks of his unit in the Eure-et-Loir and by 1792 was a Lieutenant Colonel. He played an important role in the defence of Verdun, though his men became demoralised quickly with the appalling conditions and Marceau was to find himself under suspicion of fraternising with the enemy after he participated in talks with his Prussian counterparts. The revolutionary government called his conduct into question and in early 1793 he was arrested and imprisoned for a short time. When it became clear that there were no charges to answer, Marceau returned to service and by June 1793 was defending Saumur against Vendéean Royalists. This conflict turned his fortunes around as he was instrumental in the daring rescue of National Convention representative, Pierre Bourbotte, who was being held by loyalists. He became a hero of the revolution, rising swiftly to the rank of Brigadier General and winning the friendship of  Jean Baptiste Kléber, a fellow General.

Despite his apparently glittering career, Marceau was known of something of a particular character. Plagued by ill health, the young man resigned his commission in 1793 and spent some time convalescing before returning to service, clad always in a hussar's uniform of his own design. Together Marceau and Kléber served in a number of important battles, one of which was to prove personally significant for the young general. After an engagement at Le Mans in December 1793 Marceau championed the cause of a Royalist sympathiser, Angélique des Mesliers, whom he saved from imprisonment. He concealed the young woman from her pursuers but she was discovered whilst he was in Paris on military business.

The gossips of Paris whispered that there was more than friendship between this star-crossed couple and once again the political leaders of the Revolution were horrified. Despite the efforts of Marceau and his influential military contacts, Angélique was arrested and executed and Marceau would have followed her to the guillotine if not for the intervention of Bourbotte. The young man was crushed at the loss of Angélique and once again, his always questionable health began to decline.

The tomb in Koblenz

Marceau was devastated and though he would eventually become engaged to Agathe Leprêtre de Châteaugiron, the marriage was destined never to take place thanks to a combination of career and familial opposition. For three more years after the loss of Angélique he fought on the battlefields of Europe until, on 19th September 1796, the young man suffered a serious wound whilst fighting at Altenkirchen. Unable to remove their fallen commander, the French troops left him to the mercy of the opposition and he was taken into the care of the finest Austrian surgeons. Despite their efforts he continued to decline and succumbed to his injuries just two days later. Marceau was cremated, his ashes interred in a pyramid designed by Kléber before their eventual transfer to the Panthéon almost a century later.

Marceau has since been immortalised in both art and architecture; he is commemorated in Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and his name if carved into the Arc de Triomphe. Today his likeness can be seen in statues and portraits, the boy general remembered for his remarkable, tragic story.

Many thanks to Kagama, who stopped by the salon to let me know that, in true tragic romantic fashion, Desgraviers wore Agathe's miniature around his neck in battle. As recently as 1935 the miniature was in the Chartres museum "fading away slowly”.