It was an unusually warm and sunny morning when the people of Fishguard in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, arose on February 22 1797. Little could they have realised that over the next three days, their local area would play host to what is now described as the “last invasion of Britain”.
The story began during the summer before. French military leader General Louis Lazare Hoche and Irish revolutionary Theobald Wolfe Tone had planned a French expedition to Ireland. They wanted to assist the Society of United Irishmen, an organisation seeking Irish independence, in driving the British out of Ireland. But plans were abandoned due to stormy weather.
Hoche was undeterred, however, and put together another expedition. This time though, he wanted to rouse the British into rebellion against the crown. One of the French armies, the Légion Noire, was led by an Irish-American, Captain William Tate, who had gained military experience during the American War of Independence.
