On This Day ... in 1797 & Others
The last attempted invasion of the British mainland was mounted at the Welsh village of Fishguard, when a small French Revolutionary force landed. The Directory in Paris believed that the people of Britain would rise in revolution against the Crown and Government if given a suitable lead. The 1,400 troops of the "Black Legion" who landed at Fishguard, including a large percentage of newly impressed convicts, some reportedly still in leg irons, were, however, hardly the elite of the French forces, lacking both the discipline of the remaining regular army, or the elan and zeal of the Revolutionary militia. Their commander was a septuagenarian Irish-American adventurer, Colonel William Tate. The original plan had been for his force to descend on Bristol, but Royal Navy patrols put paid to that, and so the warships carrying his troops diverted to Cardigan Bay, where they quickly landed the men on the evening of 22 February, then ran back to France before the Royal Navy could find them.
Once ashore, Tate's men lost what little discipline they had. Twelve of them were captured by a redoubtable Welsh woman, Jemima Nicholas, the wife of the local cobbler.
Mrs Nicholas, remembered in local lore as Jemima Fawr (Jemima the Great), promptly rounded them up with a pitchfork and marched them into town. Many of the other French troops were preoccupied in looting from cottages - in particular, large quantities of strong drink which the locals had themselves only recently liberated from a wrecked Portuguese merchant vessel.
The local home guard forces - the Fencibles and Militia - mustered at Haverfordwest, under the command of Lord Cawdor, and arrived at Fishguard on 24 February. Despite their own lack of military expertise, it was clear to Tate that his rabble would stand no chance, and he surrendered the following morning.
1881: Private Osborne of the Northamptonshire Regiment, won the Victoria Cross during an action in the First Boer War, when he rescued a wounded man under very heavy fire.
1901: Queen Victoria died at the age of 82
1905: Thousands of demonstrating Russian workers were fired on by Imperial army troops in St. Petersburg on what became known as "Red Sunday" or "Bloody Sunday”
1917: British troops succeeded in capturing a number of Turkish trenches at Sanna-i-Yat in Mesopotamia. The Turks launched a vigorous counter-attack, and managed to retake part of the position. However, Sergeant Steele of the Seaforth Highlanders, assisted by another soldier, managed to position a machine-gun in an advantageous spot. Steele then manned the gun and for several hours was able to frustrate Turkish attempts to exploit their success. When finally another Turkish attack did break through, Steele managed to rally the British troops, and led them in a successful counter-attack of their own, during which he suffered a severe wound. His gallantry and leadership was recognised by the award of the Victoria Cross.
US President Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for "peace without victory".
1941: The heavy cruiser USS Louisville arrived at New York with US$148,342,212 in British gold brought from Simonstown, South Africa, to be deposited in American banks
In the Western Desert, Australian infantry with British tank and artillery support, including gunfire from Royal Navy gunboats and monitors, took the key Libyan town of Tobruk in the face of fierce resistance from its Italian garrison
1942: Sir Arthur Harris' was appointmented Air Officer-in-Chief Commanding Bomber Command.
In Leningrad, the mass evacuation of civilians begins via the "ice road" across Lake Ladoga. (About 440,000 people are transported out of Leningrad between 22 January and 15 April 1942)
General Douglas MacArthur was ordered to leave the Philippines. MacArthur made his way to Australia from where he directed much of the war against Japan. His famous promise that "I shall return" was kept when US forces returned to the Philippines in 1944.
Japanese carrier-based aircraft from the Akagi & Kaga attacked Rabaul on New Britain Island for the third straight day, destroying the last of its fixed defences
1972: Five women and an army priest were killed in an IRA terrorist bomb attack on the 16th Parachute Brigade headquarters at Aldershot
Comments
I seems to remember that part of Tate's decision was based on him seeing a mass of Welsh women dressed in traditional costume lining the hills to watch the upcoming battle. Apparently their tall black hats, red shawls and black skirts made them look like the serried ranks of infantry.
It should also be noted that this event occaisioned the strangest battle honour in the Territorial Army (Fishguard 1797) awarded to the Castlemartin Yeomanry. To my knowledge this is the oldest TA battle honour and the only one throught the forces (regular or territorial) awarded for a British placename.
RM
Posted by: The Remittance Man | February 22, 2006 12:48 PM
Imagine: of all the places to invade, the Frogs chose... WALES?
That shows their military acumen, right there.
Posted by: Kim du Toit | February 22, 2007 10:13 PM
I reckon the engraving needs a few Gilrayesque speech bubbles:
"A l'eau, c'est l'heure!"
"Seulement douze contre une? Nous sommes dépassés en nombre. Pouvons nous nous rendons a vous, Madame?"
"Non, vous etes des fromage mangeant singes de reddition. Venez avec moi à la ville."
"Zut alors, elle est une femme de Gallois pas une femme allemande. Ah, comment honteux."
Posted by: Gallimaufry | February 22, 2008 10:54 PM
The French had ELITE forces?!?
Did they have a wet, man-sized paper bag for training purposes, and whoever took less than an hour to fight their way out of it was rewarded with a special beret, or something?
Posted by: Rob Farrington | February 22, 2009 2:43 PM
Yes, we are known for being a bit bloody-minded when the need arises..... and I'm sure that Mr.PM can testify just how hospitable some of our terrain can be.....
(cue : every taffy- & gog- baiting joke/comment known to man.....)
Posted by: Bryn, North Wales | February 22, 2009 2:56 PM
typo.... Mr.FM, not Mr.PM - apologies!
Posted by: Bryn, North Wales | February 23, 2009 11:30 AM
Bryn - don't worry about the typos - goodness knows that I post enough of 'em on a daily basis!
Posted by: Mr Free Market | February 23, 2009 8:33 PM
Would Mrs. FM be descended from Welsh stock, perhaps?
(Beg pardon if that's a horrible insult, but the behaviour of Mrs. Nicholas certainly makes one think of it -- except, of course, that Mrs. Nicholas didn't slaughter every last one of them, which would certainly have been Mrs. FM's response.)
Posted by: Kim du Toit | February 24, 2009 5:03 AM
One reason Fishguard 1797 being the sole battle honour named for a British Isles place is possibly that the Army as today known had its origins with the Restoration of Charles II, therefore after the various civil wars.
Moreover, it was an action against a force mostly alien from the Isles.
And from this beginnings came some amusing precedence issues.
Nulli Secundus, Dragoon Guards, usw
Posted by: r22f | February 22, 2010 4:37 PM
“The French had ELITE forces?!?”
Mais certainment! Don't forget that some of the French Army's troops had been at a place called York in Virginia only a decade before. And the Voltigeurs and Tiralleurs were so effective that the British raised their light and rifle regiments as a response. Wellington himself admiited that the French Cavalry had no equal and, with the Army led by a gunner, the Artillery was pretty darned good too. And that jus addreses troops "de la ligne" - want to discuss "La Garde"?
A little known historical note is that the Directory eventually ordered that a battalion of Regulars (White uniforms) was to be brigaded with two battalions of National Guardsmen (Blue uniforms) to form “Demi-Brgades” (“Regiment” was literally poltically incorrect...at a time when it might cost you your head) to merge professionalism with zeal. The Regulars looked down on the Guardsmen of course, so to this day a mildly insulting term for a ill trained recruit in the French Army is “Bleu”.
“One reason Fishguard 1797 being the sole battle honour named for a British Isles place is possibly that the Army as today known had its origins with the Restoration of Charles II, therefore after the various civil wars. “
Also, one wanted to dwell on memories of the the '15, the '45 and various and assorted dust ups in Ireland. OTOH, US Army units bear battle honors for the Indian Campaigns and war Between the States (Units with Union ancestry - National Guard units from the former Confederacy 'didn't exist” officially...Unofficially? I worked with a unit from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley that called itself “The Stonewall Brigade” in the 1980's)
Col Beausaber (Since you ask, of Polish, Hungarian, Russian Jewish and French extraction)
Posted by: Beausaber | February 22, 2010 7:12 PM