The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, on 22–24 February 1797, is the most recent landing on British soil by a hostile foreign force, and thus is often referred to as the "last invasion of mainland Britain".
Goodwick sands French troops surrender to British forces James Baker, 18th century
Carregwastad Head, the landing site for Tate's forces
French forces landing at Carreg Gwastad on 22 February 1797. From a lithograph first published in May 1797 and later coloured
Modern memorial stone on the headland
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succeeded it. They were only loosely allied and fought without much apparent coordination or agreement; each power had its eye on a different part of France it wanted to appropriate after a French defeat, which never occurred.
War of the First Coalition
The British evacuation of Toulon in December 1793
Lord Howe's action or The Glorious First of June. Oil painting by Philip James de Loutherbourg (1795), National Maritime Museum.
Strategic situation in Europe in 1796