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The Napoleonic Wars were from 1803 to 1815, but there were other wars prior where revolutionary France kicked the shit out of her neighbors. Except when they tried to invade Britain. That didn’t go so well. Partially because one woman helped trick the invaders into surrendering.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: February 24, 1797--
It was the War of the First Coalition. After the revolution began France’s neighbors got antsy, because the idea of commoners rising up to go on a murder spree of royalty wasn’t something they wanted to catch on. The Holy Roman Emperor was concerned over the safety of his sister, Marie Antoinette, and rightfully so. So he and the king of Prussia declared their support for the French monarchy in 1791 and they along with others invaded France and France fought back like a motherfucker and kicked some ass. It was during the aforementioned ass kicking that Napoleon made a name for himself leading to him eventually becoming emperor, but he wasn’t involved in the ill-fated invasion of Britain.
The war lasted from 1792 to 1797. Britain had been part of the invasion of France, and toward the end of the war France wanted some payback. The attack was supposed to be three-pronged: two diversionary landings in Britain while the main force landed in Ireland to support an Irish insurrection against British forces on the Emerald Isle. Except due to a combination of horrible weather and even mutiny, two of those landings never took place. Only one diversionary landing of 1,400 French soldiers, many of whom were criminals pressed into service, at the coastal town of Fishguard in Wales went ahead.
The locals weren’t expecting it because why would they? The defense was hastily organized, but they were helped by many of the invaders quickly deserting (remember, criminals who didn’t want to fucking be there) to loot nearby settlements. A Welsh militia was quickly formed, including civilians arming themselves to protect their homes. The invaders moved two miles inland and set up defenses. The convicts discovered a stash of wine and got fuckin’ wrecked. Morale in the French forces was low. And yet, the Welsh defenders were still terribly outnumbered. So, Jemima Nicholas hatched a plan. Continues below …
James Fell hatched a plan to give up fitness writing and become a history author and holy shit it worked out because of awesome people who click the green button.
The traditional Welsh women’s costume of the era included red shawls and black top hats. Jemima rallied the local women to put on such attire and sent them to the British commander who put them into military formations and made them march back and forth. To the French, these women looked like redcoat soldiers in their military caps. The French commander had offered a conditional surrender, but the British commander used this bluff to force an unconditional surrender on February 24, 1797, by making the invaders believe they were outnumbered. That was not the only heroic deed by Jemima Nichols. She single-handedly took a dozen drunk French as prisoners with nothing more than a pitchfork for a weapon and locked them inside a church.
The Battle of Fishguard was the last time mainland Britain was invaded.
Thanks, Joe, for the suggestion of today’s topic.
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