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The French cruiser Leon Gambetta, with a displacement of 12,351 tons and crew of 714 men, commanded by Rear Admiral Fenet, cruising at the entrance of the Otranto canal in the Ionian sea, was torpedoed the night of April 26th by the Austrian submarine U-5, and went to the bottom in ten minutes; 578 lives were lost; all officers on board, including Rear Admiral Fenet, perished.

"On the following morning the journey was resumed, but the evident distress of mind under which Pere Lactance laboured had so damped the spirits of the party that all their gaiety had disappeared. Suddenly, just outside Fenet, where the road was in excellent condition and no obstacle to their progress apparent, the carriage upset for the second time.

Cathelineau sent reinforcements to his troops, and these pressed on so hotly that Berthier, who had had a horse shot under him, was obliged to fall back; and the exulting Vendeans rushed forward and carried the faubourg of Fenet. Dommaigne, with his cavalry, charged the cuirassiers and the German Legion. There was a sharp fight.

"On the following morning the journey was resumed, but the evident distress of mind under which Pere Lactance laboured had so damped the spirits of the party that all their gaiety had disappeared. Suddenly, just outside Fenet, where the road was in excellent condition and no obstacle to their progress apparent, the carriage upset for the second time.