[1] Soldiers stationed in the region frequently used the bridge, and two battalions of the same regiment had crossed earlier that day.

At a time when the bridge was covered with 483 soldiers and four other people (although the police had prevented many curiosity seekers from joining the march), the upstream anchoring cable on the right bank broke in its concrete mooring, three to four meters underground, with a noise like "a badly done volley from a firing squad".

Many of those who fell were saved by their fellow soldiers who had not yet crossed and by residents of Angers who came to the rescue, but a total of 226 people died.

[2] The failure was attributed to dynamic load due to the storm and the soldiers, particularly as they seem to have been somewhat in step, combined with corrosion of the anchors for the main cables.

[2] The cable anchorages at Angers were found to be highly vulnerable, as they were surrounded by cement, which was believed to rustproof them for the indefinite future.

Previous failures included the Dryburgh Abbey Bridge in 1818 and The Royal Suspension Chain Pier in Brighton in 1836.