BONCHAMPS, CHARLES MELCHIOR ARTUS, MARQUIS DE (c. , Vendean leader, was born at Jouver teil, Anjou, May io I 76o. He gained his first military experience in the American War of Independence, and on his return to France was made a captain of grenadiers in the French army. In the spring of 1793 he was chosen leader by the insurgents of the Vendee, and to his counsels may be attributed in great measure the success of the peasants' arms.
He was present at the taking of Bressuire, Thouars and Fontenay, and at Fontenay he was wounded ; but dissensions among their leaders weakened the insurgents, and at the bloody battle of Cholet (Oct. 16 1793) the Vendeans sustained a severe defeat, and Bonchamps was mortally wounded. He died the next day. A statue of him by David d'Angers stands in the church of St. Florent.