Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-06-01
A FORGOTTEN Invasion.

The subject of a future invasion OF Eng
land by the French, has recently been n sub
iect of much grave discussion with the lead
ing foreign journals. The London Punch
and the Household Words have been max
ing exceedingly merry about the matter,
and one of these journals publishes an anus
ing account Of a long since forgotten French
invasion.
The ludicrous invasion in question was
that of a portion Of Wales, in 1917, by four
French ships sent out by order of the Direc-
tory of the French Republic. The ships,
after lowering along the coasts OF England
and Wales for some days, TO the terror OF the
sea-coast population for hundreds OF miles,
at last cast their anchors in Cardigan Bay,
on the Welch coast. A solitary Welchman
sitting upon the cliffs witnessed the landing
of fifteen hundred French soldiery, and as
they assembled the heights with musketS
flashing in the sun, the Welchman fled, and
was neither caught nor shot. The invaders
captured a few tough goats, pillased a cot
tage or two, and killed q couple OF WEIGH
peasants who stoutly defended their leek
patches and mich cows.
There was, however, great CONSERVATION
for hundreds Ct miles in the interior ana
on tho coast, and rumor soon converted the
fourteen hundred Frenchmen into twice that
number of fe~rocious invaders. In n short
time, however, the Earl of CawdOr, the no.
bleman of highest rank in the neIShborhood.
hastily collected n force of some SIX or eight
hundred militiamen-yeOmanry tencIbles.
and cavalry. But these men were great
hulking, country pumpkins, "A ignorant OF
firearms as of Hebrew. How to make these
men present to the enemy the appearance Of
regular. well-drilled soldiers, was an embar-
RAISING question. As all the Welch women
then wore red petticoatS, he directed his ar
my of gallant Welchmen to put on their
wives red balmorals, So Us to make them
look like red coats. This was speedily done,
and there suddenly appeared before the four
teen hundred Frenchmen an army of valiant
looking English soldiers, beneath whose red
petticoats there were six hundred hearts as
brave As that of Bob Acres. n panic now
seized the invaders, and at the very moment
the Welchmen felt their courage oO2ing out,
and were preparing to bolt like frightened
sheep, the commander Of the French forces
saved them the trouble by sending to the
Earl Of Cawdor a flag of truce, proposing
terms # capitulation. The Earl demanded
their unconditional surrender as prisoners
of war, and after a few hours delay, the in
vaders laid down their arms and became the
prisoners Of the gentlemen in petticoats-
The ludicrous termination of this French in
vasion gave rise TO a hundred rumors dero-
gatory to the character Of the invaders,
many contending as the French ships sailed
out of the Bay, as soon as the troops landed,
that they We're nero galley slaves and insulr-
gents cast upon the shores of Great Britain
by the French Directory, regardless of what
might be their fate. But the officer in com
mand of the invading forces declared that
they were picked veterans, and the enor-
nous military stores which they possessed
precluded the possibility of their being a
gang of galley slaves. Thus ended the only
invasion of Great Britain for centuries, and
the English intimate that an invasion now
would result as ludicrously rs that Of 49,.
Our English cousins, however, should re-
member that a silly and imbecile Directory
is no longer at the head of the French peo-
pie, and that the navy and army OF Napo-
leon are both superior to that of Great Bri-
tsin.-RicH, Examiner.