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The annals of
history record the name of Hastings as the site of the last invasion
of Britain by French, well Norman, forces in 1066. True, this
was the
last successful invasion. However, little is reported about the
French invasion of Fishguard, which took place in southwest Wales in
1797, nor of the brave resistance offered by "Jemima Fawr"
(Jemima the Great), who single-handedly captured twelve of the
invading soldiers.
In 1797,
Napoleon Bonaparte was busy conquering in central Europe. In his
absence the newly formed French revolutionary government, the Directory,
appears to have devised a 'cunning plan' that involved the poor
country folk of Britain rallying to the support of their French
liberators. Obviously
the Directory had recently taken delivery of some newly
liberated Brandy!
The French
invasion force comprising some 1400 troops set sail from Camaret on
February 18, 1797. The man entrusted by the Directory to
implement their 'cunning plan' was an Irish-American septuagenarian,
Colonel William Tate. As Napoleon had apparently reserved the cream
of the Republican army for duties elsewhere in Europe, Colonel
Tate's force comprised of a ragtag collection of soldiers including
many newly released jailbirds. Tate's orders were to land near
Bristol, 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 all did not proceed as detailed in the
'cunning plan'. Wind conditions made it impossible for the four
French warships to land anywhere near Bristol, so Tate moved to
'cunning plan' B, and set a course for Cardigan Bay in southwest
Wales.
On Wednesday,
February 22, the French warships sailed into Fishguard Bay, to be
greeted by canon fire from the local fort. Unbeknown to the French
the cannon was being fired as an alarm to the local townsfolk,
nervously the ships withdrew and sailed on until they reached a
small sandy beach near the village of Llanwnda. Men, arms and
gunpowder were unloaded and by 2 am on the morning of Thursday,
February 23rd, the last invasion of Britain was
completed. The ships returned to France with a special despatch
being sent to the Directory in Paris informing them of the
successful landing.
The French
invasion force upon landing appear to have run out of enthusiasm for
the 'cunning plan', perhaps a result of those years of prison
rations, they seem to have been more interested in the rich food and
wine the locals had recently removed from a grounded Portuguese
ship. After a looting spree, many of the invaders were too drunk to
fight and within two days, the invasion had collapsed, and Tate's
force surrendered to a local militia force led by Lord Cawdor on
February 25th, 1797.
Strange that the surrender agreement drawn up by Tate's
officers referred to the British coming at them "with troops of
the line to the number of several thousand." No such troops
were anywhere near Fishguard, however, hundreds, perhaps thousands
of local Welsh women dressed in their traditional scarlet tunics and
tall black felt hats had come to witness any fighting between the
French and the local men of the militia. Is it possible that at a
distance, and after a glass or two, those women could have been
mistaken for British army Redcoats?
 During their two
days on British soil the French soldiers must have shaken in their
boots at mention of name of "Jemima Fawr" (Jemima the
Great). The 47-year-old Jemima Nicholas was the wife of a Fishguard
cobbler. When she heard of the invasion, she marched out to Llanwnda,
pitchfork in hand and rounded up 12 Frenchmen. She brought them into
town and promptly left to look for some more. - Men of Harlech meet
your match!
Useful links:
Heritage Accommodation in and around ...Fishguard
More British History
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