Battle of Fishguard

Battle context

The Battle of Fishguard was a French military landing on British soil during the War of the First Coalition, making it the most recent hostile foreign force to set foot on mainland Britain. The incursion lasted only from 22 to 24 February 1797 before collapsing, with France suffering 1,360 casualties. Its principal historical weight lies less in any operational consequence for the broader war than in the distinction it holds: no foreign force has successfully landed on British mainland territory since. That record has given the episode lasting symbolic prominence in British national memory disproportionate to its military scale or duration.