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 LA ROCHEJAQUELEIN LAROMIGUlERE 175 The first attack of La Rochejaquelein's troops was irresistible, and the republicans were driv- en several leagues beyond the town. But here the left wing of the royalists, disordered in pursuit, was assailed in turn by the republican right and driven back in confusion into the town. A panic seized the whole royalist army, and their leader, after vain endeavors to stay their flight, threw himself in despair in front of a hostile battery in the hope of finding an honorable death. But a Yendean priest hold- ing a crucifix in his hand succeeded by an appeal to their religious enthusiasm in rally- ing 2,000 of the fugitives; the combat was re- newed, and the republicans were routed in all quarters and fled toward Rennes, leaving 6,000 killed and wounded on the field. They, however, almost immediately concentrated at a strongly fortified position before Antrain, where another battle ensued, resulting in a complete victory for the Vendeans. On this occasion La Rochejaquelein interfered to pre- vent his troops from retaliating upon their prisoners the acts of cruelty perpetrated by the republicans. Again the Vendean leaders pro- jected an advance toward the coast for the pur- pose of opening communications with the Eng- lish, and again they were compelled by open mutiny among their followers to continue their march toward the Loire. Arriving at Angers Dec. 3, they made a desperate but unsuccessful attack upon the place ; and, wearied, disheart- ened, and encumbered by an immense and fast increasing train of sick and wounded, they re- treated toward La Fleche, which La Roche- jaquelein entered by a coup de main, and thence proceeded to Le Mans. Here they were at- tacked, Dec. 12, by 40,000 republicans under Marcean, Westermann, and Kleber, and, al- though reduced to about 12,000 men fit for duty, they confronted their enemies with un- flinching resolution. Owing to the skilful dis- positions of La Rochejaquelein, the republicans were for a long time held in check outside the walls ; but gradually they forced their way into the town, and for hours a terrible night con- flict was maintained within the streets. Final- ly the royalists were overpowered and forced out of the town in a confused mass. Their leader, who had two horses killed under him and was wounded and overturned in the tu- mult, endeavored in vain to bring them to a final stand, and was borne off with his follow- ers, who dispersed in various directions, leaving their baggage and almost all their artillery in the hands of the victors. La Rochejaquelein assembled the small remnant of his troops at Laval, Dec. 14, whence they moved to Ancenis to attempt the passage of the Loire. Here he embarked in a small boat with a few of his men for the purpose of seizing some large ves- sels on the opposite side of the river ; but be- ing tracked by a numerous party of republi- cans, his men were killed or dispersed, and he was obliged to gain refuge in a neighboring forest. Thenceforth he led the life of a parti- 479 VOL. x. 12 san chief, gathering around him a band of fol- lowers, with whom he frequently sallied forth from his lurking places upon the republican posts. On one of these occasions, his men be- ing about to fall upon two republican grena- diers, he ran forward exclaiming: " Surrender! I give you quarter," and was immediately shot dead by one of them. His comrades buried him upon the spot, but his body was afterward interred in the cemetery of St. Aubin. Al- though not 22 years of age at the time of his death, he was recognized as the main support of the royalist cause in western France. II. Lonis du Verger, marquis de, commander of the last Yendean army, brother of the preceding, born Oct. 30, 1777, killed at Pont-des-Mathis, June 4, 1815. He emigrated with his father, the marquis de La Rochejaquelein, at the com- mencement of the revolution, and, after being employed in the military service of Austria and England, returned in 1801 to France and mar- ried the widow of the marquis de Lescure, one of the bravest of the Yendean leaders. He aided in the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, and after protecting the flight of Louis XYIII. to Ghent in March, 1815, landed at St. Gilles on the Yendean coast, and aroused the ancient enthusiasm of the inhabitants in behalf of the royal cause. With a few thousand men he encountered an imperial division under Gen. Travot near the village of Mathis, and was killed at the commencement of the action. His son HENRI ATJGUSTE GEORGES (1805-'67) was conspicuous during the reign of Louis Philippe and the second republic as leader of the democratic legitimists, but abandoned his party after the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, and was made a senator by Napoleon III. III. Marie Louise Victoire de Donnissan, marchioness de, wife of the preceding, born in Yersailles, Oct. 3, 1772, died in Orleans, Feb. 15, 1857. With her first husband, the marquis de Les- cure, she shared in the horrors attending the war in La Yendee, and, after the final rout of the royalists at Savenay, escaped almost by a miracle. After the death of the marquis de La Rochejaquelein she resided in Orleans. Her Memoir es (Bordeaux, 1815) present a vivid pic- ture of the revolution in the west of France, derived from her personal experiences. LA ROCHELLE. See ROCHELLE. LA ROM A IV A, Marquis. See ROMANA. LAROMIGFIERE, Pierre, a French philosopher, born at Livignac-le-Haut, Guienne, Nov. 3, 1756, died in Paris, Aug. 12, 1837. He was a member of the congregation of doctrinaires, and from 1774 to 1783 taught the classics and philosophy in various colleges in the south of France. He held the chair of philosophy in the college of Toulouse from 1784 till the sup- pression of the religious communities in 1790. Removing to Paris, he became associated with Sieyes and other leaders of the national assem- bly. In 1795 he was appointed professor of philosophy in the Prytaneum (lyceum of Louis XIY.), and in the following year was elected a