Ile de Groix and captured three of their line of
battle, but allowed the rest to escape into L'Orient. On the 27th the
emigrants were landed on the peninsula of Quiberon and, with some help
from the squadron, took the fortress of Penthievre which commanded it. A
large number of Chouans joined them and arms were distributed among the
peasantry.

Puisaye and Hervilly quarrelled. Time was wasted, and Hoche, who was in
command in Brittany, drove in the Chouans from their advanced posts and
shut the whole force up in the peninsula. They made an attempt to break
out on July 16; Hervilly was wounded and his troops retreated under
cover of the fire from British gunboats. A second party landed under
Sombreuil. More quarrelling ensued and then treachery, for Hervilly had
enlisted some who were republicans at heart. These men betrayed their
companions, and with their help Hoche stormed the fort of Penthievre,
and fell on the royalists in the peninsula. Many were slaughtered;
others fled. It blew hard, and for a time the British ships could do
little for the fugitives. At last they were able to take off Puisaye and
some 3,500 others. Sombreuil and about a thousand under him were cut
off, and laid down their arms. Sombreuil was tried and executed at
Vannes, and over 700 were shot in batches on successive days in a field
near Auray. The fugitives were landed on the islands of Houat and Haedik
which were covered by the squadron. Then the Count of Artois with a
third division of the expedition and a body of British troops appeared,
took possession of the Ile d'Yeu, and seemed about to cross over to the
mainland to co-operate with the Vendeans. However nothing further was
done of any importance, and in October the troops were embarked for
England. The Vendeans, who had hoped in vain to receive help, and to be
headed by Artois, were again crushed, and the only result of this
ill-planned and deplorable expedition was the ruin of the royalist cause
in the west.

Nor were events cheering in the West Indies during 1795. The reconquest
of Guadaloupe, due to the insufficiency of the British force sent out in
1794, led to disastrous consequences. The French firmly established
themselves in the island and made it a centre for operations, St. Lucia
was taken, and insurrections of French inhabitants, negroes, and native
races were fomented and supported in St. Vincent's, Grenada, and
Dominica. An insurrection of the Maroons caused much trouble in