Expédition d ' Irlande The Expédition d ' Irlande ( " Expedition to Ireland " ) was an unsuccessful attempt by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars to assist the outlawed Society of United Irishmen , a popular rebel Irish republican group , in their planned rebellion against British rule . The French intended to land a large expeditionary force in Ireland during the winter of 1796 – 1797 which would join with the United Irishmen and drive the British out of Ireland . The French anticipated that this would be a major blow to British morale , prestige and military effectiveness , and was also intended to possibly be the first stage of an eventual invasion of Britain itself . To this end , the French Directory gathered a force of approximately 15 , 000 soldiers at Brest under General Lazare Hoche during late 1796 , in readiness for a major landing at Bantry Bay in December . The operation was launched during one of the stormiest winters of the 18th century , with the French fleet unprepared for such severe conditions . Patrolling British frigates observed the departure of the fleet and notified the British Channel Fleet , most of which was sheltering at Spithead for the winter . The French fleet was subject to confused orders as it left port and was scattered across the approaches to Brest : one ship was wrecked with heavy loss of life and the others widely dispersed . Separated , most the French fleet managed to reach Bantry Bay late in December , but its commanders were driven miles off course and without them the fleet was unsure of what action to take , with amphibious landings impossible due to the weather conditions , which were the worst recorded since 1708 . Within a week the fleet had broken up , small squadrons and individual ships making their way back to Brest through storms , fog and British patrols . The British were largely unable to effectively interfere with the French fleet before , during or after the invasion . A few ships operating from Cork captured isolated French warships and transports , but the only significant British response came from Captain Sir Edward Pellew , who was able to drive the French ship of the line ashore in the Action of 13 January 1797 with the loss of over 1 , 000 lives . In total , the French lost 12 ships captured or wrecked and thousands of soldiers and sailors drowned , without a single man reaching Ireland except as a prisoner of war . Both navies were criticised by their governments for their behaviour during the campaign , but the French were encouraged to launch a second attempt in 1798 , successfully landing 2 , 000 men in August but failing to influence the Irish Rebellion and again losing significant numbers of men and ships . Background . Following the French Revolution in 1789 , the republican cause was taken up in many countries , including Ireland , at that time ruled by the Kingdom of Great Britain . Opposition to British rule had existed in Ireland for centuries , but the French example , combined with the imposition of the Penal Laws which discriminated against the Catholic majority , prompted the creation of the Society of United Irishmen , a broad nonsectarian coalition of groups seeking to create an Irish Republic in the place of the British government . Initially a non - violent political movement , the United Irishmen were forced to operate as a secret society after membership was made illegal in 1793 at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars . Deciding that their only hope of creating the Irish Republic lay in armed revolt , the United Irishmen began secretly organising and arming their forces . In search of external aid , two of their leaders , Lord Edward FitzGerald and Arthur O ' Connor travelled to Basle to meet with French General Lazare Hoche . Their efforts were supported by Protestant Dublin lawyer Theobald Wolfe Tone , who travelled to Paris to appeal to the French Directory in person . During this period , the British government repealed some of the Penal Laws , in an attempt to quell unrest . The First French Republic had long planned an invasion of the British Isles , but their ambitions had been repeatedly thwarted by other factors , including other fronts of the Revolutionary Wars , the War in the Vendée and the parlous state of the French Navy . This latter problem was a major cause for concern : the Navy had suffered heavily from the removal of its officer corps during the Revolution and then endured a series of military setbacks , culminating in the tactical defeat at the Glorious First of June in 1794 and the disastrous " Croisière du Grand Hiver " in 1795 . Peace on several fronts in 1795 convinced the new French Directory that Britain was one of their most dangerous remaining opponents , and they determined to defeat them through invasion . The applications from Tone intrigued the Directory , which understood that by attacking Ireland they would be striking at the least defensible part of the British Isles . Support for the British government was weakest there and the United Irishmen optimistically claimed to be able to raise an irregular army of as many as 250 , 000 waiting to join the French once they had landed , with the additional attraction that a successful establishment of an Irish Republic would prove an ideological coup for the French Republic . Finally and most significantly , a large expeditionary force in Ireland could provide an ideal springboard for an invasion of Britain , especially in combination with a plan then under development to land 2 , 000 uniformed criminals in Cornwall , who would distract the British Army during the invasion of Ireland and could potentially provide a beachhead for future operations . Preparation . With the end of the War in the Vendée and peace with Spain , substantial French forces were made available for the operation , to be led by General Hoche and scheduled for the end of October 1796 . Hoche was a successful military commander , who had defeated the Vendée Royalists and been subsequently engaged in planning the Cornish invasion . A body of veteran soldiers and the entire French Atlantic Fleet were placed at his disposal , based in the major Atlantic seaport of Brest . The number of soldiers earmarked for the invasion is uncertain : the French Directory suggested 25 , 000 men would be required , the Irish delegates insisting that 15 , 000 would be sufficient . Estimates of the number of soldiers eventually embarked range between 13 , 500 and 20 , 000 . By August the plan was already behind schedule : severe shortages of stores and wages slowed work at the Brest shipyards , while the troops set aside for the invasion of Cornwall proved unreliable , deserting in large numbers . A practice voyage of the Cornish invasion fleet ended in total failure , as the small ships intended for the operation proved unable to operate in open water . The plan was dropped and the reliable soldiers from the unit were merged into the Ireland expeditionary force and the rest returned to prison . Reinforcements from the Mediterranean Fleet were also delayed : seven ships under Rear - Admiral Joseph de Richery had to shelter from the British blockade squadron in Rochefort , only arriving in Brest on 8 December , while a second fleet under Rear - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve did not arrive until after the expeditionary force had departed . Throughout late 1796 , progress on the expedition faltered . Hoche publicly blamed the naval command and specifically Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse for the delay , whom he accused of being more interested in the planning of a proposed invasion of India . In October , Villaret was replaced by Vice - Admiral Morard de Galles and the India plans were cancelled , while Hoche was placed in direct command of discipline within the fleet . By the second week of December the fleet was ready , consisting of 17 ships of the line , 13 frigate s and 14 other vessels , including several large transports created made by removing the cannon from old frigates to maximise cargo space . Each ship of the line carried 600 soldiers , the frigates 250 and the transports approximately 400 . Included were cavalry units , field artillery and substantial military stores with which to arm the thousands of anticipated Irish volunteers . Hoche was still dissatisfied , announcing to the Directory on 8 December that he would rather lead his men in any other operation than the planned attack on Ireland . He was supported by Morard de Galles , who admitted that his men were so inexperienced at sea that encounters with the enemy should be avoided wherever possible . Departure . Despite the misgivings of the expedition ' s commanders , the fleet left Brest as scheduled on 15 December 1796 , one day ahead of a message from the Directory calling off the entire operation . De Galles knew that the British would be watching Brest harbour : their frigates were a constant presence as part of the Inshore Squadron of the blockade . In an effort to disguise his force ' s intentions , he first anchored in Camaret Bay and issued orders for his ships to pass through the Raz de Sein . The Raz was a dangerous narrow channel littered with rocks and sandbanks and subject to heavy surf during bad weather , but would also obscure the size , strength and direction of the French fleet from the British squadron offshore , which French scouts claimed consisted of 30 ships . Despite the French reports , the principal British blockade squadron was absent from the approaches to Brest during the night of 15 December . Most of the fleet had retired to one of the British Channel Ports to avoid the winter storms , while the remaining squadron under Rear - Admiral John Colpoys had been forced to retreat into the Atlantic to avoid the risk of being driven onto the rocky French Biscay shoreline during a storm . The only British ships within sight of Brest were a frigate squadron , consisting of , , , and the lugger HMS " Duke of York " , under the command of Captain Sir Edward Pellew in " Indefatigable " . Pellew had noted French preparations on 11 December and immediately sent " Phoebe " to warn Colpoys and " Amazon " to Falmouth , to alert the Admiralty . He remained off Brest with the rest of the squadron , and sighted the main French fleet at 15 : 30 on 15 December , bringing his frigates inshore towards Camaret Bay to establish its size and purpose . At 15 : 30 on 16 December , the French sailed from the Bay , Pellew observing closely and despatching " Revolutionnaire " to assist in the search for Colpoys . Morard de Galles had spent most of 16 December preparing for passage through the " Raz de Sein " , situating temporary lightships in the channel to warn of hazards and giving instructions on the use of signal rockets during the passage . The fleet was so delayed in this work that darkness began to fall before preparations were complete and he abandoned the plan at approximately 16 : 00 and signalled for the fleet to leave via the main channel from the port , leading the way in his flagship , the frigate . It was so dark by the time the signal was made that most ships failed to see it , " Fraternité " and the corvette " Atalante " attempting to notify them by rocket signal . These signals were confusing and many ships failed to understand , sailing for the Raz de Sein rather than the main channel . Pellew added to the problem by weaving ahead of the fleet shining blue lights and firing rockets , further confusing the French captains as to their location . When dawn broke on 17 December , most of the French fleet was scattered across the approaches to Brest . The largest intact group was that under Vice - Admiral François Joseph Bouvet , which had come through the Raz de Sein with nine ships of the line , six frigates and one transport . The other ships , including " Fraternité " , which also carried General Hoche , were alone or in small groups , the captains forced open their secret orders to discover their destination , in the absence of instructions from any commanding officers . One ship had been lost , the 74 - gun ship of the line had driven onto the Grand Stevenent rock during the night and sank with 680 lives . She too had fired numerous rockets and signal guns in an effort to attract attention , succeeding only in compounding the confusion in the fleet . Pellew , unable now to affect the large French force , sailed for Falmouth to telegraph his report to the Admiralty and replenish his supplies . Voyage to Ireland . By 19 December , Bouvet had gathered 33 ships together and set a course for Mizen Head in southern Ireland , the designated rendezvous point where he was instructed by his sealed orders to wait five days for further instructions from France . One of the ships still missing was the " Fraternité " . Despite the disappearance of its commanders the French fleet continued to Bantry Bay , sailing through both high winds and thick fog , which delayed its arrival until 21 December . While Bouvet sailed for Ireland , " Fraternité " crossed the Western Approaches in search of the fleet , accompanied by , and . Unwittingly passing Bouvet ' s fleet in the fog , de Galles separated from his small squadron near the rendezvous on 21 December , only to discover a British frigate immediately ahead . Retreating from the threat , " Fraternité " was chased far into the Atlantic before she could escape the unidentified pursuer . On the return journey de Galle found the winds against him , and it took eight days to regain Mizen Head . " Phoebe " did not find Colpoys until 19 December , deep in the Bay of Biscay . The following day he sighted the delayed French squadron under Villeneuve and gave chase , but Villeneuve was able to outrun Colpoys ' pursuit in a gale , reaching Lorient ahead of the British , whose ships were badly damaged by the storm . Unable to continue operations , Colpoys was forced to retreat to Spithead for repairs . The response from the Channel Fleet under Lord Bridport was similarly ineffective . News of the French departure from Brest did not arrive in Plymouth , the most westerly of the British fleet ports , until 20 December . Many of Bridport ' s ships , based at Spithead , were not ready for sea and it was several days before enough vessels were manned and equipped for service . The order to leave port was issued on 25 December , but the fleet was almost immediately thrown into chaos when the large second - rate swung out of control and collided with the 80 - gun . At almost the same time , another second - rate , , was driven into the 100 - gun first - rate HMS " Ville de Paris " by strong winds while the 98 - gun grounded . All five ships were required to enter dock for extensive repairs , denying Bridport his strongest vessels and delaying his departure further . When he eventually reached St Helens , the departure point from the Solent , the wind was blowing from the west and his remaining eight ships were rendered immobile until 3 January . In the absence of Morard de Galles and Hoche , Bouvet and his army counterpart , General Emmanuel de Grouchy , gave orders on 21 December for the fleet to anchor in preparation for landings the following day . Local maritime pilots , believing the fleet to be British , rowed out to the ships and were seized , providing the French with guides to the best landing sites . During the night of 21 December , the weather suddenly and significantly worsened , Atlantic gales bringing blizzards that hid the shoreline and forced the fleet to anchor or risk being wrecked . For four days they remained in the Bay , the inexperienced French sailors , lacking any winter clothing , unable to operate their ships in the coldest winter recorded since 1708 . On 24 December the wind slackened and a council of war was convened among the expedition ' s senior officers . Together they resolved to force a landing despite the weather , identifying a nearby creek as the safest point and giving orders for the operation to go ahead at first light on 25 December . During the night the weather deteriorated once more , and by morning the waves were so violent that they were breaking over the bows of many ships . Anchors dragged and a number of vessels were blown right out of the Bay and into the Atlantic , unable to return against the wind . In the storm , the largest ship of the line , the , collided with the frigate and both suffered severe damage . Collapse of the expedition . For four more days Bouvet ' s ships were battered by the high winds , none able to approach the shore without severe risk of being destroyed on the rocky coast . Losing their anchors as the cables snapped , many ships were forced to run before the wind and scatter into the Western Approaches . Others were destroyed : an American ship named " Ellis " , passing close to Crookhaven on 29 December , encountered a vessel wallowing in the waves , dismasted and with the deck strewn with bodies . The American captain , Harvey , reported that he approached the ship but was unable to assist her due to the storm and as he watched , the ship was driven ashore and destroyed . This was the 44 - gun frigate , of which only seven men survived from her complement of 550 crew and passengers . Harvey also recounted coming across the and frigate . Captain Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley was in the process of removing the crew and passengers from " Scévola " before she foundered , the heavy weather having reduced the 40 - gun razee frigate to a sinking condition . " Ellis " was not the only ship to discover " Révolution " ; the long - delayed " Fraternité " encountered the ships and observed the destruction of the " Scévola " , which was burnt once she had been abandoned . Bouvet had been driven offshore in his flagship " Immortalité " during the storm , and when the wind fell during 29 December he decided to abandon the operation . Signalling to the ships within view , he ordered his remaining squadron to sail southeast towards Brest . Some ships failed to receive the message and continued to the second rendezvous off the River Shannon , but they were few and scattered and in the continuing storms no landing was possible . With provisions running low , these ships also turned and sailed for Brest , as the weather worsened once more . As their expeditionary force sailed home , Morard de Galles and Hoche arrived in Bantry Bay on 30 December , discovering that the fleet had gone . With their own provisions almost exhausted , " Fraternité " and " Révolution " were forced to return to France as well . The British response to the attempted invasion continued to be inadequate , Colpoys arriving at Spithead on 31 December with only six of his ships still in formation . Only a handful of ships based at Cork under Rear - Admiral Robert Kingsmill , principally under Captain George Lumsdaine and a frigate squadron , interfered with the French fleet : " Polyphemus " seized the transport on 30 December and captured the transport shortly afterwards , although she was later recaptured by the French frigate . Retreat . The first French ships to return to Brest arrived on 1 January , including Bouvet ' s flagship " Immortalité " accompanied by " Indomptable " , , , , and some smaller ships . They had avoided any contact with British warships and had been able to make good speed in a period of relatively calm weather . During the following days , the French ships that had gathered off the Shannon limped home , all badly damaged due to the increasingly rough seas and high winds . Several ships did not return to France at all , including the frigate , which was wrecked in Bantry Bay on 2 January ; many of her men , including General Julien Mermet , were rescued by boats from the remaining French fleet and others scrambled ashore to become prisoners of war . On 5 January , " Polyphemus " outran and captured the frigate " Tartu " after four hours of intermittent combat , and the following day the transport " Fille - Unique " sank in the Bay of Biscay , although the fate of the 300 soldiers aboard is unknown . On 7 January , the British frigates under Captain Sir Thomas Williams , under Captain Charles Jones and under Captain Richard King , captured the transport , " Druid " escorting the prize back to Cork . The following day " Unicorn " and " Doris " encountered some of the force that had attempted to land at the Shannon . Outnumbered , the frigates retreated westwards and encountered the battered " Révolution " and " Fraternité " , which withdrew before them . This prevented Morard de Galles and Hoche from belatedly joining their squadron and took them away from the route back to France . When " Unicorn " and " Doris " reappeared the following morning , they were operating as scouts for Bridport ' s fleet , which had finally left port at the start of the new year and had encountered the frigates during the night . Escaping pursuit in a fog , " Révolution " and " Fraternité " sailed directly for France and arrived at Rochefort on 13 January . The majority of the remaining French ships had reached Brest on 11 January , including , , , and , the latter towing the dismasted " Résolue " . On 13 January most of the remainder returned , including " Nestor " , , and with their attendant frigates , while the frigate arrived at Lorient alone . Losses had continued as the French neared Brest , the disarmed " Suffren " recaptured by off Ushant and burnt on 8 January , while " Atalante " was outrun and captured by HMS " Phoebe " on 10 January . On 12 January , the storeship " Allègre " was captured by the brig . " Droits de l ' Homme " . By 13 January , all of the French fleet had been accounted for except the small brig " Mutine " , which was blown all the way to Santa Cruz and was captured there in July , and the 74 - gun " Droits de l ' Homme " . " Droits de l ' Homme " had been among the ships under Bouvet in Bantry Bay and then with those that carried on to the Shannon , but as the fleet broke up she became separated . With provisions running low and landings still impossible , Captain Jean - Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse determined to return to France independently . Progress was slow as " Droits de l ' Homme " was overloaded with 1 , 300 men , including 800 soldiers under General Jean Humbert . She was further delayed when she encountered and captured a small British privateer named " Cumberland " . As a result , La Crosse had only reached Ushant by 13 January , where he encountered the same fog that had enabled " Révolution " and " Fraternité " to reach safety . At 13 : 00 , two ships emerged from the gloom to the east and Lacrosse turned away rather than risk his passengers in a pointless engagement . The ships persisted and were soon revealed to be the frigates " Indefatigable " under Captain Sir Edward Pellew , and " Amazon " under Captain Robert Carthew Reynolds , which had taken on supplies at Falmouth and then returned to their station off Brest . As " Droits de l ' Homme " steered southwest , the winds increased once more and the sea became choppy , preventing Lacrosse from opening the gunports on his lower deck without severe risk of flooding and snapping his topmasts , which reduced his ship ' s stability . Realising his opponent ' s difficulties , Pellew closed with the larger ship and began a heavy fire . At 18 : 45 , " Amazon " came within range and the frigates combined to repeatedly rake the French ship . The combat continued throughout the night , punctuated by short breaks in which the more mobile British ships repaired their battle damage out of range of Lacrosse ' s guns . At 04 : 20 on 14 January , lookouts on all three ships sighted waves breaking immediately eastwards . Desperate to escape the heavy surf , " Indefatigable " turned north and " Amazon " turned south , while the battered " Droits de l ' Homme " was unable to make any maneuvre and drove straight onto a sandbar near the town of Plozévet , the force of the waves rolling her onto her side . " Amazon " too was wrecked , although in a more sheltered position which enabled the frigate to remain upright . The only surviving ship was " Indefatigable " , which was able to round the Penmarck Rocks and reach open water . While Reynolds fashioned rafts to bring his men safely to shore , the French officers on " Droits de l ' Homme " were unable to launch their boats , their exposed position in the heavy surf destroying every attempt to reach shore and drowning hundreds of men . Losses on board the wreck mounted as the storm continued , breaking open the stern of the ship and flooding the interior . On the morning of 15 January a group of prisoners from " Cumberland " reached the shore in a small boat , but subsequent attempts failed and it was not until 17 January that the sea calmed enough for the small naval vessel " Arrogante " to approach the wreck and remove the remaining 290 survivors . Aftermath . The French attempt to invade Ireland had ended in total failure . With the exception of a handful of prisoners of war , not one French soldier had successfully landed in Ireland , despite some ships remaining off the coast for almost two weeks . Twelve ships had been lost and over two thousand soldiers and sailors drowned . The invasion was abandoned , Hoche and his remaining men were returned to the army for service in Germany , and the general died nine months later from natural causes . The French Navy , although criticised for failing to land the expeditionary force , was also praised for successfully reaching Ireland and returning without encountering the main body of the British fleet . This achievement encouraged further invasion attempts , including a landing at Fishguard in Wales in February 1797 and a second invasion of Ireland in mid - 1798 . In Britain , the Royal Navy ' s response to the French campaign was heavily criticised : both fleets assigned to intercept the invasion fleet had failed , the only losses inflicted on the French coming from the small Cork squadron or Pellew ' s independent frigates . Colpoys was replaced in command of the blockade of Brest by Rear - Admiral Sir Roger Curtis , and extensive deployments to the Bay of Biscay were made in February and March to prevent any further French operations . In addition , reinforcements were also sent to the fleet off Cadiz under Vice - Admiral Sir John Jervis , who had won the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February . These extended deployments were unpopular with the regular seamen and in April the Spithead Mutiny broke out , paralysing the Channel Fleet . The French , still recovering from their losses in the winter campaign , were unable to respond . In Ireland , the failure of the French expeditionary force was the source of great frustration : Wolfe Tone , who was aboard " Indomptable " throughout the voyage , reported that he felt that he could have touched either side of the bay with both hands . Postponing the uprising , Tone continued to rally support in Europe , raising a fleet in the Netherlands for an attempted invasion that ended in destruction at the Battle of Camperdown . In May 1798 , a British crackdown arrested the leaders of the United Irishmen in Ireland and provoked the Irish Rebellion . By the time the French had managed to gather a small force and reach Ireland in August , the rebellion was almost over and the inadequate French army , led by Jean Humbert , surrendered in September at the Battle of Ballinamuck . A subsequent invasion attempt the following month also ended in failure , when the invasion squadron was intercepted and defeated at the Battle of Tory Island . Wolfe Tone was captured at the action off Tory Island and committed suicide in prison . His death , combined with military defeat and reprisals against the Irish rebels , ended both the Society of United Irishmen and French invasion plans .