By pursuing
this route, I had every where the interesting opportunity of exploring
the scene of that destructive warfare which had ravaged the towns and
villages of this part of France.
At one period, the war of La Vendee extended to the north of the
Loire, as far as Rennes, forming a triangle, the eastern point of
which rested on the town of Angers. To the south of the Loire it
spread nearly as far as la Rochelle; and as in this part also it
extended nearly to Angers, the tract over which it spread its ravages
formed nearly a square. The district called Loroux runs parallel with
the Loire: Le Bocage, which occupies both districts, and the whole
country south of that river, is comprehended under the general
appellation of La Vendee. Under the old divisions of France Le Bocage
formed part of the province of Poitou, and Le Loroux part of the
provinces of Anjou and Bretagne: but when, at the revolution, France
was divided into departments, these two districts were denominated La
Vendee, Les deux Sevres, La Loire Inferieure, and Mayenne and Loire.
La Vendee is an extremely interesting district, not merely on account
of the singular and heroic warfare that was carried on there so
long, but also from the appearance of the country, and the manners,
opinions, and general character of its inhabitants; and Le Bocage is,
in all these respects, the most interesting part of La Vendee. In
Le Bocage, the war was carried on with most wonderful vigour and
pertinacity, as well as with almost unparalleled destruction and
cruelty.
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