Drownings at Nantes - First Mass Drownings

First Mass Drownings

The first drownings targeted 160 Catholic priests, called 'refractory clergy' (French: clergé réfractaire). They were first arrested and held at Saint-Clément Convent, then, in the summer of 1793, at the Carmelite Mission, which had been converted into prisons. On 5 July, they were sent to Chantenay immediately west of Nantes, and held on the barge La Thérèse where they suffered miserably from the sun and high temperatures. Between 19 July and 6 August, most of the priests were transferred friary of the Petits Capucins and the Hermitage, which also were prisons, that proved more bearable. But on 25 October, the Revolutionary Committee of Nantes ordered the priests back to the docks to be held on the barge La Gloire.

On the night of 16 November 1793 (26 Brumaire Year II of the French Republic) Adjutant-General Guillaume Lamberty and Fouquet ordered a barge that had been specially customized by carpenters to the docks. They directed O'Sullivan, a master of arms, and his men, to transfer the prisoners and to execute the first 90 priests by drowning. Nearly all died as planned, however, three of them were rescued by sailors on the warship L'Imposant, who gave them spirits and warm blankets. Captain Lafloury was ordered to hand them back to civil authorities in Nantes. After being returned to jail, the three perished with the second group of priests who were drowned the next night. A single soul survived this massacre, named Father Landeau. An excellent swimmer, he managed to escape during a struggle, jumped from the boat into the Loire, and swam to safety.

A gunner named Wailly, who served on the boat La Samaritain on the nights of November 16 to 17, left the only first-person account on the first drowning. He described meeting Lamberty and Fouquet, later, hearing the desperate screaming of the drowning men, rousing his fellow comrades who heard the same cries, and the silence that came after they had been swallowed by the Loire.