Battle of Le Mans ( 1793 ) The Battle of Le Mans was a battle of the War in the Vendée . It resulted in the rout of the Vendéen forces by Republican troops during the Virée de Galerne . Prelude . Victorious at the Battle of La Flèche after their setback at Angers , where they were unable to cross the River Loire , the desperate Vendéens , always sporadically attacked by the Republican cavalry , continued their march towards Le Mans . Their numbers were greatly reduced : the Catholic and Royal Army now numbered less than 20 , 000 men , and had with it thousands of wounded , women and children . Of the 80 , 000 the Vendéens had at the start of the Virée de Galerne , only 40 , 000 remained . Suffering of famine and the cold , ravaged by gangrenous dysentery , typhus and putrid fever , they mostly tried to obtain supplies . The Vendéens had managed to repel 4 , 000 Republicans in a half - hour at Pontlieu , but still demoralized and having lost a great part of their weaponry , they took Le Mans on 10 December 1793 at 4 : 00 in the afternoon . They then spread out through the city and managed to find provisions , supplies and clothes . Nonetheless , morale was still low , sickness continued to ravage the army and the soldiers , disobeying their officers , didn ' t try to prepare the defenses of the town despite the fact that the Republican army , reorganized since its defeat at Dol , was marching towards the city . The battle . On 12 December the first Republican troops under Westermann and Muller appeared at the gates of the city . Henri de La Rochejaquelein and Talmont assembled 3 , 000 men , especially Chouans , and took on the Republicans . They managed to set a trap in the woods near Le Mans . Westermann ' s surprised cavalry had to pull back whereas Muller ' s division panicked after the first shots fired . The Republican army was on the verge of being annihilated when Jacques Delaistre de Tilly ' s Army of the Cherbourg coasts arrived as reinforcements on the battle field . This time it was the Vendéens who panicked and fled and hid in the city . La Rochejaquelein thus re - entered the city , but his forces were dispersed , most of the Vendéens not even realizing the Republicans were so close , and some soldiers were even drunk . Some time later , General François - Séverin Marceau arrived in turn at the battle and reassembled his troops at Cérans - Foulletourte . He was followed by Kléber and his troops of the Army of Mainz . Marceau wished to wait for Kléber ' s troops to arrive before attacking but Westermann insisted and launched an attack , Marceau had to follow . The Republican army entered Le Mans by nightfall , overwhelmed all the Vendéen defences . The Vendéens were completely disorganized , chaos resulted in the city where all night long street skirmishes were taking place . La Rochejaquelein , seeing that all was lost , sought only to protect the retreat towards Laval for the survivors . The Vendéens deployed 14 cannons at the gates of the city , managing to cover their retreat and stopping the Republicans . Yet thousands of Vendéens , most of them non - combatants , were stuck inside the town , having taken refuge in the houses . Groups of resisting Vendéen soldiers were spread across the city . They resisted for a long while , standing their ground until the end of the day . Nonetheless , they were eventually destroyed by the Republican artillery under General François Carpentier , which opened fire on the buildings and houses from where shots were fired . The battle then turned into a massacre , with the wounded , women and children who had taken refuge in the houses being forced out and massacred . Kléber and Marceau tried to save the prisoners , but could not hold back their troops . Westermann assembled his hussards and pursued the Vendéens . Those who were slow and fell behind were massacred , but the larger part of the Vendéen army , reduced to half on its strength , managed to reach Laval on 14 December . The Republican cavalry , not daring to enter the faubourgs , decided to head back . According to the Committee of Public Safety , 2 , 000 to 5 , 000 Vendéens , both combatants and non - combatants , died in Le Mans , while Republican losses totaled only 30 dead and approximately 100 wounded . Adding to the Vendéen victims of the battle those killed south of Le Mans during the flight to Laval , the total deaths were approximately 15 , 000 .