Jacques Cathelineau
Date of Birth
January 5, 1759
Date of Death
July 14, 1793
About
A peddler from Anjou known for his religious devotion, Cathelineau joined the resistance to the levy of 300,000 men in March 1793 and became one of the first commanders of the War in the Vendée. After the capture of Saumur in June, he was appointed generalissimo of the Catholic and Royal Army. Mortally wounded during the assault on Nantes on 29 June, he died on 14 July 1793. He was later commemorated by royalist and Catholic writers as the “Saint of Anjou”.