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The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, which took place between 22 February and 24 February 1797, was the most recent effort by a foreign force that was able to land on Britain, and thus is often referred to as the "last invasion of Britain". The invasion resulted from the plans of General Lazare Hoche, who had devised a three-pronged attack on Britain in support of the Society of United Irishmen. Two forces would land in Britain as a diversionary effort, while the main body would land in Ireland. While poor weather and ill-discipline halted two of the forces, the third, aimed at landing in Wales and marching on Bristol, went ahead. The invasion force consisted of 1,400 troops from ''La Legion Noire'' (The Black Legion) under the command of Irish-American Colonel William Tate - 800 of them irregulars. Transported on four French warships under the command of Commodore Jean-Joseph Castagnier, Tate's forces landed at Carregwastad Head near Fishguard in Pembrokeshire on 22 February. (Various accounts mention a failed attempt to enter Fishguard harbor, but this scenario does not seem to have appeared in print before 1892 and probably has its origins in a misunderstanding of an early pamphlet about the invasion.〔See Rose, Richard, ''The French at Fishguard: Fact, Fiction and Folklore,'' Transactions of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion, Vol. 9, 2003, pp. 78.〕) Upon landing, discipline broke down amongst the irregulars, many of whom deserted to loot nearby settlements. The remaining troops confronted a quickly assembled group of around 500 British reservists, militia and sailors under the command of John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor. After brief clashes with the local civilian population and Lord Cawdor's forces on 23 February, Tate was forced into an unconditional surrender by 24 February. Later, the British captured two of the expedition's vessels, a frigate and a corvette. Despite all this, Castagnier managed to return to France. == Initial phases == The invasion was the plan of General Lazare Hoche. He proposed to land 15,000 French troops in Ireland to support the United Irishmen at Bantry Bay. As a diversionary attack to draw away British reinforcements, two smaller forces would land in Great Britain, one in northern England near Newcastle and another in Wales. The overall aim was to start an uprising against the English using the deep-rooted patriotism and nationalist pride in the Celtic regions of Britain, and march onwards to Bristol, Chester, Liverpool and finally London. In December 1796, Hoche's expedition arrived at Bantry Bay, but was scattered and badly hit by atrocious weather. After being unable to land a single soldier, Hoche decided to set sail and return to France. In January 1797, poor weather in the North Sea along with outbreaks of mutiny and indiscipline also stopped the attacking force on Newcastle, and they too returned to France. However, the third part of the plan went ahead, and on 16 February a force of four French warships left Brest flying Russian colours and headed for Britain. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Fishguard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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