About

The younger brother of Henri de La Rochejaquelein, Louis left France with his father during the Revolution and served first with émigré forces and later with the British in Saint-Domingue. He returned to France under the Consulate and in 1802 married Victoire de Donnissan, the widow of Louis de Lescure. In 1813 and 1814, he took part in clandestine royalist organisation at Bordeaux and helped establish contact between local supporters of the Bourbons and the allied army. During the Hundred Days, he returned from Britain with arms for a new rising in the west and was chosen commander-in-chief of the Vendéan forces. Disagreements soon developed among the royalist commanders over negotiations and military strategy. La Rochejaquelein continued the campaign on the Vendée coast and was killed fighting imperial troops at Les Mathes, near Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, on 4 June 1815.