Battle of Fishguard

The Invasion Is Planned

The initial invasion was planned by General Lazare Hoche. He envisioned multiple attacks on Great Britain in order to assist Wolfe Tone's Irish Republicans. In the initial stages, two groups of forces would land on British soil in an effort to divert attention away from the third group, which would ultimately come to ground in Ireland. However, the plan failed miserably. Only one of the three groups (intended to land in Wales) was able to do so because of a combination of weather and personnel problems. After landing in Wales, the successful group then marched toward Bristol. Commander William Tate's forces consisted of almost 1,500 troops from La Legion Noire. More than half of those troops were irregulars, relatively untrained and unprepared for what was to come when compared to their full-time counterparts. They arrived in Wales on four French warships at Carregwastad Head (in the immediate vicinity of Fishguard) on February 22.

The immediate details after the landing have become sketchy over the years. An 1892 account claims that the French struggled to gain entry into Fishguard harbor, but no previous versions of the story mentioned that detail. As a result, it seems that the detail may be a stretch. Upon making land, the irregular soldiers lost any sense of discipline. They started by deserting the group, and then turned to looting for personal gain. The troops that chose to follow orders were almost immediately met by a group of 500 British. Most of these forces included reservists, militia, and a few sailors, who were led by John Campbell. Much like the French side, the British forces were not used to working together.

The actual battle began with skirmishes between the two sides. With Fishguard led by a volunteer infantry, it took the efforts of Lord Cawdor moving his men nearly 30 miles overnight. Upon arriving, Cawdor was handed full responsibility and authority over command. He had control of some 400 troops and a series of artillery weapons. Yet, he was slow to arrive.

By February 23, the French had begun moving inland, and were becoming concerned for the British. Thomas Knox, the leader of the British efforts at that time, was ultimately given three choices: attack the French, defend Fishguard, or retreat toward Cawdor's men as they moved toward Fishguard. He chose to retreat—reasoning that he would have a greater chance against the significantly larger French group if all the British infantry was together.

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