Despite its relatively short existence, the army fought numerous battles during the War in the Vendée including Thouars, Fontenay-le-Comte, Saumur, First Châtillon, Vihiers, Luçon, Chantonnay, Coron and Saint-Fulgent.

Of the two principal army commanders, Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duke of Biron was dismissed and later executed by guillotine while Jean Antoine Rossignol was a political appointee who was generally acknowledged to be incompetent.

It was split into two corps, one under Berruyer guarded Nantes while the other under Louis Charles Antoine de Beaufranchet d'Ayat covered the Vendée.

[1] The army was responsible for the defence of the coasts and areas between the Gironde estuary and the mouth of the Loire, including the north bank of the river upstream as far as Ingrandes.

[15] A rebel advance on Niort was put off because the Republicans or Blues under François Nicolas de Salomon and Leigonyer threatened Thouars and Cholet.

In the west, the garrison of Les Sables-d'Olonne repulsed Cathelineau, Charette and Stofflet, but the Vendeans won other actions and menaced Nantes.

Santerre's Paris battalions were in a perpetual state of disorder, while recently promoted officers strolled the streets with prostitutes.

[16] Deeming the Republican position too strong, the White army temporarily pulled back while their leaders planned an attack.

Hearing that Salomon was marching north from Thouars, a column of Vendeans fell on his division at Montreuil-Bellay and wiped out half the Republican force, sending the survivors fleeing south to Niort.

Guy Coustard de Saint-Lo directed the right flank, Santerre the center and Berthier the left, while Jacques-François Menou commanded troops in the town.

[19] Recently appointed the army chief of staff, Berthier repulsed the first assault, but Coustard was threatened by his own men and Santerre's troops threw down their muskets and ran away.

[20] The Grand Army crossed the Loire and began marching west along the north bank of the river under the command of Cathelineau.

[18] On 28 June Royrand mounted an attack on Luçon in the south but Claude François Sandoz and his Republican garrison repulsed it[22] despite being outnumbered 6,000 to 800.

[23] Asked to help in the defense of Nantes, Biron ordered François Joseph Westermann on a diversion into the Vendée but failed to support his subordinate.

From his headquarters at Niort, Biron argued that this action might cause the rebels to overrun a port and open communications with the Royal Navy.

La Barolière complained that his troops were drunk and insubordinate while Berthier advised retreat after witnessing two units firing at one another.

The advance guard under Menou held its ground for a long time but many of the Blues ran away after only catching a glimpse of the enemy.

Arrested by Westermann for urging a battalion to mutiny and sent to Paris, he was sent back and rushed through the grades of rank, emerging as general of division on 15 July.

Hearing of his appointment as commander-in-chief, Rossignol's wife rushed to the convention and assured the deputies that her husband was totally unfit for the post.

[28] Rossignol celebrated his promotion by looting the hotel in Fontenay where he was staying and giving the women's clothing to the whores who traveled with him and his staff.

[31] Tuncq occupied Chantonnay but soon returned to Luçon, leaving René François Lecomte and Marceau in charge of 7,000 troops in an exposed position.

[36] In the September invasion, the Vendean leaders utilized the strategy of the central position to concentrate upon each of the isolated Republican divisions that attempted to invade the area of rebellion.

[40] In the final blow, Charette mauled the Sables d'Olonne division[41] under Jean Quirin de Mieszkowski in the Battle of Saint-Fulgent on 22 September.

[42] As Canclaux and du Bayet pushed forward into the Vendée once again in early October, their advance was suspended by an order of 29 September 1793 dismissing them.

Political general Charles-Philippe Ronsin brought about the change by persuading Minister of War Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte that Canclaux and du Bayet caused the recent defeats.