A minor revolt against conscription has turned into an insurrection by mid-March.
The Republic is quick to respond, dispatching over forty-five thousand troops to the area.
The first pitched battle is on the night of March 19.
A Republican column of two thousand, under General Louis Henri François de Marcé, moving from La Rochelle to Nantes, is intercepted north of Chantonnay near the Gravereau bridge (Saint-Vincent-Sterlanges), over the river le Petit-Lay.
After six hours of fighting, rebel reinforcements arrive and rout the Republican forces.
