I suppose we all know a great deal about say, 'Austerlitz', 'Borodino' and (of course) 'Waterloo', but . I wonder how much you - even if you should be a Welshman - know about Fishguard, 22 to 24 February, 1797 - the very last invasion by sea against Great Britain? I must confess not to have known much about it, but, after all, the great Sir John Fortescue's ten volumes on 'The History of the British Army' (1899 - 1930) has only written about ten lines on the subject. Le general de division Louis Lazare Hoche (1768 - 1797) never actually set foot on Welsh soil on the 22nd of that date - his main naval. and military forces had intended to land in Ireland near Bantry Bay (21 - 27 December the earlier year) but was forced to abandon his Revolutionary invasion (bad weather never allowed him to meet his ships there), and escaped back to Brest. However his subordinate, le general de brigade William Tate (an American officer aged 44) had made a secondary raid with four French ships against Fishguard with about 1,250 troops (mostly it must be admitted from the Parisian jails) a very motley group of two battalions. The weather was cold, and French morale was already low but for two days the enemy looted from a dozen small Welsh hamlets. Meanwhile Lord Cawdon and Lt. Colonel John Colby hastily collected the Pembroke Yeomenry, the Pembrokeshire Militia, Volunteers and a force of Royal Naval sailors, together with a few cannon. A little skirmishing followed against their starving foes. Some of the local people also came to arms, and, according to the story, the English feared on the 23rd that the British had received reinforcements - but these were in fact only several hundred Welsh women wearing their red shawls and black, long hats to watch from a hillside. Whether myth or no, Jemima Nicholas alone rounded up twelve French soldiers with her pitchfork. A real battle never developed, for the demoralised French officers opened negotiations et 'The Royal Oak' publichouse in Fishguard, and were eventually forced to lay down their arms for unconditional surrender. William Tate was taken prisoner, his sword handed to Lord Cawdon near Trehowel Farm. Perhaps a dozen men had been killed or wounded, and the rest capitulated - near Goodwick Sands and were marched away by the Militia inland. Thus ended the last invasion of Great Britain - and the result was a complete fiasco for the French. This event was remembered by an unknown painter, and earlier this year a fine 'tapestry' has been made bv the ladies of the town. Several Months ago in 1997, almost 230 members of the British 'Napoleonic Association' re-enacted the French surrender on 30 August. Fishguard is holding a whole year of celebrations to mark the second centenary of the battle, and the greatest moment came when Lt. Colonel Tom Tate (USA Army) - the direct descendant of William Tate was honoured by the town that day. In response his sword was given to Fishguard Township as a symbol of modern Anglo-American friendship. In return, the town presented a modern sword back to the good Lt. Colonel. Some 70 (real) French reenactors had come to Wales from Ireland by ferry, and for a reward the Frenchmen were permitted to 'storm' the Old Fort and Lower Fishguard on the evening of the 30th as a non historical but tactful victory. Nevertheless, the town was 'restored' to the British on the 31st. There were only two known casualties - one by a soldier of the 91 Regiment who overloaded his musket and was badly bruised on his shoulder for his pains, while le general Hoche - who wasn't supposed to be present at all - had his right big toe sadly crushed by his fine boots. These sad casualties - one English and one for a Frenchman - are known to have completely recovered! Disclaimer It has been bought to my attention that, unbeknown to me, someone has been passing off as D.G. Chandler D. Litt Oxon on the internet and giving an e-mail number. I wish to disclaim all involvement and for it to be noted that: 1) I have never used, nor will use, these forms of comunication. 2) I am not a member of the Talonsoft discussion group. 3) I have never writen a letter commenting on, David Hamilton-Williams' efforts concerning Talonsofts "Prelude to Waterloo" on 9th October 1997. Back to Age of Napoleon No. 24 Table of Contents Back to Age of Napoleon List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1998 by Partizan Press. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com