Gathering Of The Brig O' Turk

The Planned French Invasion of Britain, 1708, also known as the 'Entreprise d’Écosse', took place during the War of the Spanish Succession. The French planned to land 5,000–6,000 soldiers in northeast Scotland to support a rising by local Jacobites that would restore James Francis Edward Stuart to the throne of Great Britain.

Despite French commander Claude de Forbin warning the chances of evading the Royal Navy long enough to land his troops were extremely limited, his fleet of small privateers reached Scotland in March 1708. As he had forecast, he was unable to disembark the troops and returned home, narrowly escaping a pursuing British naval force.

Such attempts reflected a fundamental and continuing divergence of objectives While the Stuarts wanted to regain their throne, for the French, they were a simple and low-cost way to absorb British resources. Much of the Royal Navy was occupied chasing de Forbin, and troops were diverted from Ireland and Southern England. That made it successful for France but a failure for the Jacobites.

Background

Under the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Louis XIV recognised William III as legitimate monarch of England and Scotland. In July 1701, the War of the Spanish Succession began and when the exiled James II died on 16 September, Louis reneged on that commitment and proclaimed James's son James Francis Edward Stuart as king. William himself died in March 1702 and was succeeded by James's Protestant daughter Anne.

By late 1707, the war had reached a stalemate. Despite victories in Flanders, the Allies had been unable to break French border defences or to place their candidate on the Spanish throne. Both sides attempted to use internal conflicts to break the deadlock. Britain supported the camisard rebels in south-western France, and the Jacobites served a similar function for the French.

The Jacobite agent Nathaniel Hooke convinced Louis that there was an opportunity for a Scottish rising, that would divert British troops from Europe. The 1707 Union was widely unpopular in Scotland, and French privateers caused enormous losses for the British maritime trade and the coastal fishing industry. One reason was the Royal Navy faced multiple demands to escort merchant convoys and did not view protecting Scottish shipping as a priority.

Hooke visited Scotland in 1707 and met supporters like the Earl of Erroll, and the elderly Jacobite Thomas Buchan provided reports on bases at Fort William and Inverness. Senior nobles such as the dukes of Atholl and Hamilton refused to commit, partly because of an attempt in 1703 by Simon Fraser, later Lord Lovat, to implicate them in a Jacobite plot as part of a personal feud. However, Hooke obtained a letter of support signed by Erroll, the Earl of Panmure and six others, promising 25,000 men and requesting 8,000 French troops, weapons, money, artillery, ammunition and "majors, lieutenants, and serjeants to discipline" the Scots army.

The Jacobite agent John Ker also claimed support from Presbyterian dissidents or Cameronians who "are persuaded (Union) will bring an infinite number of calamities..., and render the Scots slaves to the English". The radicals viewed union as a threat to the independence of the Church of Scotland, despite legal safeguards for its independence. Although the Cameronians certainly considered that option, Ker was in reality a British double agent whose role was to persuade them not to do so. By November 1707, Louis decided that there was enough potential support and planning began supervised by Pontchartrain, who had been involved with attempts in 1692 and 1696. Claude de Forbin was appointed commander of the naval squadron, and the Comte de Gacé was in charge of the landing force.

Expedition

As the Royal Navy patrolled exits from the French Channel ports, naval operations often took place during the winter months, when wind and tides made it harder to enforce a blockade. However, it also increased risks from the weather; conditions off north-eastern Scotland were well known to French privateers and de Forbin's biggest concern was lack of a confirmed landing place. He later recorded "the Minister did not mention any port in a condition to receive us,... or where our fleet might anchor and... troops disembark in safety".

Based on information supplied by French captains, de Forbin told that Pontchartrain and Louis XIV the expedition had no chance of success, but planning continued. The fleet assembled at Dunkirk

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases