William Tate (soldier)
Chef de brigade William Tate was the Irish-born American commander of a French invasion force known as La Légion Noire ("The Black Legion") which invaded Britain in 1797, resulting in the Battle of Fishguard.
William Tate | |
|---|---|
 The Battle of Fishguard, where Tate surrendered | |
| Born | 1744 Ireland, Great Britain |
| Died | Unknown Unknown |
| Allegiance | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| Service/ | |
| Years of service | 1797 |
| Rank | Chef de brigade |
| Commands held | Légion Noire |
| Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars |
The 1,200 to 1,400-strong Légion Noire landed at Carregwastad Point, near the Welsh port of Fishguard, on February 22 but surrendered three days later. 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 the British because his family had been killed by pro-British Native Americans in the American War of Independence, and he advocated Irish republicanism.[1]
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.[2]
Notes
- Thomas 2007, p. 58
- See Rose, Richard, The French at Fishguard: Fact, Fiction and Folklore, Transactions of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion, Vol. 9, 2003, pp. 76-77
References
- Fishguard Fiasco An account of the last invasion of Britain J S Kinross ISBN 978-1-904396-68-0
- Britains last Invasion, Fishguard 1797 J E Thomas ISBN 0-7524-4010-1
- "BBC - History: On This Day 22 February". BBC Online. Retrieved 2012-02-22.