ABSTRACT
Leadership made the Vendéan rebellion a danger to the Republic. After a stumbling start, it was superb - canny and from the front - but more in the style of the seventeenth century, which meant ultimate failure. Moreover, the men (and ferocious women) of the Armée Catholique et Royale absolutely required personal leadership. They fought as if possessed under their chieftains, but panicked if the leaders fell.1
