Chef de brigade Chef de brigade was a military rank in the French Royal Artillery and in the revolutionary French armies. Before the revolution ''Chef de brigade'' was equivalent to major in the French Royal Corps of Artillery. Each regiment of artillery was div ...

'' William Tate was the Irish-born American commander of a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

invasion force known as ''La Légion Noire'' ("The Black Legion") which invaded Britain in 1797, resulting in the

Battle of Fishguard 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 ...

. In 1793, French Consul

Michel Ange Bernard Mangourit Michel Ange Bernard de Mangourit (21 August 1752, Rennes – 17 February 1829) was a French diplomat, and French ambassador to the United States from 1796 to 1800, during the Quasi-War. Life He was the son of Bernard de Mangourit and Marguerite- ...

wanted to capture

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

from Spain. He commissioned William Tate as a French

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

to raise and lead a force of Americans. Tate was instructed to recruit from outside the United States, but he recruited from the region of

the Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nort ...

, especially rural settlers. In February 1794,

Jean Antoine Joseph Fauchet Jean Antoine Joseph Fauchet (1761, Saint-Quentin – 1834, Paris) was a French diplomat, and French ambassador to the United States. He studied law. When the French Revolution broke out, he published pamphlets praising the event. He was a secreta ...

, arrived in Philadelphia as the new French ambassador, and rescinded Tate's commission. South Carolina threatened to arrest Tate for treason, and he fled to France in 1795, where he was given command of the

Légion Noire La Légion noire (The Black Legion) was a military unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It took part in what was the unsuccessful last invasion of Britain in February 1797, at the time of writing. The Legion was created on the orders of Genera ...

during the 1797 invasion of Britain. The 1,200 to 1,400-strong ''Légion Noire'' landed at

Carregwastad Point 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 ...

, near the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

port of

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...

, on February 22 but surrendered three days later at the

. After brief imprisonment, Tate was returned to France in a prisoner exchange in 1798, along with most of his invasion force. This was the last invasion of the British mainland by foreign forces. Tate reportedly held a grudge against the British because his family had been killed by pro-British Native Americans in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, and he advocated Irish republicanism. Many historians, following E. H. Stuart Jones, the author of ''The Last Invasion of Britain'' (1950), have suggested that William Tate was about 70 years old in 1797; he was in fact 44.See Rose, Richard, ''The French at Fishguard: Fact, Fiction and Folklore'', Transactions of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion, Vol. 9, 2003, pp. 76-77

Notes

References

* * * __NOTOC__ French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Year of death missing 18th-century American people 1744 births {{France-mil-bio-stub