A former officer in the royal navy, François Athanase Charette became one of the principal insurgent commanders in the Pays de Retz, the Marais and Bas-Poitou during the War in the Vendée. Operating largely independently of the main Catholic and Royal Army, he continued the war in western Vendée after its defeat in late 1793.
Charette signed the peace agreement of La Jaunaye on 17 February 1795 but resumed hostilities in June as royalist hopes revived and an émigré expedition, supported by Britain, prepared to land at Quiberon. The expedition ended in defeat the following month, while Republican forces under Hoche progressively reduced the remaining royalist armies in the west.
Charette was captured by General Travot's troops near La Chabotterie on 23 March 1796. Taken to Nantes, he was tried by a military commission and executed by firing squad on 29 March.
