Bonchamps' tomb, created by the famous sculptor David d'Angers, is at the heart of the abbey church of Saint-Florent-le-Vieil.
Generalissimo Charles Bonchamps and his troops were wounded during the Battle of Cholet, a major Vendée defeat, and withdrew to Saint-Florent-le-Vieil on 17 October 1793. The town's abbey imprisoned 5,000 republicans.
In his death throes, at 13 Grande Rue, Bonchamps ordered the prisoners to be pardoned, proclaiming "Pardon the prisoners! Bonchamps wants it! Bonchamps orders it!", even though his troops wanted to execute them to avenge him. You will therefore find a commemorative plaque here to mark this gesture, which was the opposite of the extreme violence of the time and which saved the honour of the Vendéens. He later died during the Virée de Galerne, in the fishing village of La Meilleraie, opposite Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, in what is now Maison Bonchamps.
To pay tribute to him, Bonchamps' family commissioned a black marble tomb topped by a monumental white marble sculpture immortalising his magnanimity: the raised hand expresses both his authority and his clemency. The sculpture is influenced by both neoclassicism and the codes of historical portraiture, and dominates the tomb decorated with the Bonchamps shield, two gold triangles interlaced in the form of a star, and framed by 4 bas-reliefs by David d'Angers representing Faith, Sorrow, France and Royalty. Originally placed in the choir, it is now in one of the side chapels of the abbey church of Saint-Florent-le-Vieil.
Created by David d'Angers, a famous sculptor who was also the son of one of the prisoners pardoned by Bonchamps before his death, it was inaugurated on 19 July 1825. The artist was present, as were the general's widow and daughter, and all the survivors who had served under him.
This work pays tribute to the gesture of grace made by this leader of the Vendée army. What's more, according to the poet Louis Aragon, this tomb is a national treasure.
