How The Last Invasion of Britain Was Thwarted By Jemima the Great (Jemima Fawr)

The morning of 22 February 1797 started off in Fishguard, north Pembrokeshire unseasonably warm and bright for the time of year, with the sea breeze carrying hints of the spring to come. The locals went about their usual routines, blissfully unaware that their small coastal town was about to become the stage for a dramatic and peculiar chapter in British history. Over the next three days, Fishguard would host the “last invasion of Britain,” a somewhat chaotic affair that featured a ragtag army, looted Portuguese wine, a fearless cobbler, and a tapestry-worthy ending.

At the time, Napoleon Bonaparte was busy carving out his empire in central Europe. In his absence, the French revolutionary government, the Directory, decided to strike a blow at Britain in what they seemed to think was a stroke of military genius. Their plan relied on the idea that the downtrodden British countryside would rise up in support of their French “liberators.” Whether this notion was a miscalculation or the product of a little too much brandy is open to debate, but the plan was set in motion nonetheless.

In 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte was busy conquering in central Europe. In his absence the newly formed French revolutionary government, the Directory, appears to have devised a ‘cunning plan’ that involved the poor country folk of Britain rallying to the support of their French liberators. Obviously the Directory had recently taken delivery of some newly liberated Brandy!

The French invasion force comprising some 1400 troops set sail from Camaret on February 18th, 1797. The man entrusted by the Directory to implement their ‘cunning plan’ was an Irish-American septuagenarian, Colonel William Tate. As Napoleon had apparently reserved the cream of the Republican army for duties elsewhere in Europe, Colonel Tate’s force comprised a ragtag collection of soldiers including many newly released jailbirds. Tate’s orders were to land near Bristol, England’s second largest city and destroy it, then to cross over into Wales and march north onto Chester and Liverpool. From the outset however all did not proceed as detailed in the ‘cunning plan’. Wind conditions made it impossible for the four French warships to land anywhere near Bristol, so Tate moved to ‘cunning plan’ B, and set a course for Cardigan Bay in southwest Wales.

The invasion force, around 1,400 strong, set sail from Camaret on 18 February 1797 under the leadership of Colonel William Tate, a 70-something Irish-American. Tate, a seasoned but somewhat aged officer, was given what can only be described as a tall order: lead his men to Bristol—then the second-largest city in England—and reduce it to ruins. From there, they were to march across Wales and move north, sowing chaos all the way to Chester and Liverpool. But Tate’s “army” was less than ideal. Napoleon had kept the best Republican troops for his continental campaigns, leaving Tate with a motley crew that included hardened criminals recently released from French prisons.

As if the composition of the force wasn’t challenging enough, the plan began to unravel almost immediately. Strong winds prevented the French fleet from landing anywhere near Bristol, forcing Tate to shift to Plan B: the west coast of Wales. On 22 February, the French warships entered Fishguard Bay. As they approached, they were met with cannon fire from a local fort. What the French didn’t realise was that the cannon fire wasn’t an attack but a signal to warn the townsfolk. Caught off guard, the ships withdrew and eventually landed on a small sandy beach near Llanwnda. By 2 a.m. on 23 February, the French soldiers, their supplies, and gunpowder were ashore, and the ships had returned to France, leaving Colonel Tate and his men to carry out their orders.

But instead of wreaking havoc, the French forces quickly lost their focus. Food, wine, and brandy—recently salvaged from a shipwrecked Portuguese vessel—proved far more enticing than military discipline. A spree of looting began, and many of the troops became so intoxicated that any hopes of a serious campaign vanished. By 25 February, the invasion was effectively over. A local militia force led by Lord Cawdor confronted the invaders, who surrendered without much resistance.

Interestingly, the surrender agreement drafted by Tate’s officers claimed they had been overwhelmed by “troops of the line to the number of several thousand.” In reality, no such troops existed. Instead, the French seem to have been fooled by the sight of hundreds of Welsh women wearing traditional scarlet tunics and tall black hats. From a distance, and perhaps after a glass or two of wine, these women could easily have been mistaken for British Redcoats.

One figure loomed large in the French soldiers’ imagination: Jemima Nicholas, a 47-year-old cobbler from Fishguard. When Jemima heard about the invasion, she grabbed her trusty pitchfork and marched to Llanwnda. There, she captured 12 French soldiers single-handedly and marched them back to Fishguard, where she locked them inside St Mary’s Church. Undeterred, she went back out to look for more invaders. Her bravery earned her the nickname “Jemima Fawr” (Jemima the Great), and she became a local legend. During the centenary of the invasion, a stone was placed in her memory at St Mary’s churchyard.

The story of the invasion has left a lasting mark on the area. One of its most enduring legacies is the Last Invasion Tapestry, a 30-metre-long masterpiece created by local women. It took four years to complete and tells the entire tale in both Welsh and English. Now housed in Fishguard’s town hall, it proudly celebrates the red-cloaked women of Pembrokeshire and Jemima Fawr, immortalising their role in Britain’s final military invasion.

In the end, the invasion of Fishguard was less a military campaign and more a comedy of errors. The French may have hoped to spark a revolution, but what they got instead was a community that rallied together, a cobbler armed with a pitchfork, and a tapestry that ensures their short-lived escapade is remembered with a smile.

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