The Last Invasion

The Last Invasion to take place on mainland Britain occurred in 1797 when three French war ships anchored off Carreg Wastad, three miles from Fishguard.

The invasion force of 1,400 troops, led by Irish-American Colonel William Tate, set sail from Camaret in France on the 18th February 1797.

As Napoleon had apparently reserved the cream of his Republican army for duties elsewhere in Europe, Colonel Tate's force was made up of a somewhat rag bag collection of soldiers, including many newly released convicts - several of them still wearing their wrist and ankle irons.

Tate's orders were to land near Bristol, at the time England's second largest city, and destroy it, then to cross over into Wales and march north onto Chester and Liverpool.

From the outset, however, it did not proceed as planned. Wind conditions made it impossible for the French warships to land anywhere near Bristol, so Tate moved to plan B, and set a course for Cardigan Bay in southwest Wales.

On Wednesday, February 22nd, the French warships sailed into Fishguard Bay, to be greeted by canon fire from the local fort. Unbeknown to the French the cannon was fired to alert the local townsfolk, nervously the ships withdrew and sailed on until they reached a small beach near the village of Llanwnda.

The following morning, Lieutenant Colonel Knox received orders to retreat inland to Haverfordwest. Along the way he bumped into Baron Cawdor, who was advancing to the coast with more volunteers, pulling two guns in farm-carts.

The army was now well-equipped and would terrify any invader: as well as cannon, pistols and sabres they carried mattocks and spades, pitchforks, billhooks and straightened scythes.

Meanwhile, the Frenchmen had landed at Carreg Wastad Point. By moonlight they had scaled the high cliffs and seized Trehowel Farm as Colonel Tate's headquarters. Out at sea their frigates left for France.

The invaders had been well supplied with weapons, gunpowder and hand grenades but they had brought no horses and little food or drink. During Thursday they raided the nearest farms, chasing after sheep and poultry and cooking them over camp-fires.

In addition, they found home-brewed beer and plenty of port-wine. This had been salvaged by the locals from a Portuguese trader recently wrecked off-shore. Soon the whole Black Legion, except for the Colonel, were drunk. One befuddled grenadier thought he heard the clicking of a musket - and had enough fighting spirit inside him to kill a ticking grandfather clock.

The Welsh fought back. One Frenchman was tipped down a well while another was stunned with a chair-leg. Lead from the roof of St David's Cathedral was stripped for bullets and given to the countryfolk, who set off to aid Fishguard.

One heroine was Jemima Nicholas, a cobbler by trade and especially brawny. She discovered 12 Frenchmen in a field. Wielding a pitchfork, she rounded them up on her own and marched her prisoners to the local jail.

By Thursday evening Colonel Tate had had enough of his rabble army. The men were either asleep, drunk or mutinous. His headquarters were a mess and no food remained. Window frames had been smashed up for firewood and mattresses cut up for clothing, their feathers drifting around the farmhouse.

On Friday morning Tate assembled his men on Goodwick Sands to give up their weapons. Still hungry and hung-over, the French troops marched down to the beach to the beat of their drums.

Lord Cawdor surrounded them on the hills above. By this time the ranks had been swelled by hordes of Welshwomen. To those penned on the beach below, their red flannel shawls and tall black hats resembled British uniforms.

Colonel Tate realised his mistake - the extra soldiers seen by his officers had been local women in traditional dress and the opposing army was not so big after all.

On the afternoon of Friday 24th Februrary, Tate signed a note of surrender. Two days after it began, the last invasion of Britain was over.