An Eighteenth-Century Invasion Alarm

In the long story of England's quarrels with her European neighbours, the topic of invasion was often debated in the councils of her enemies. The tantalizing proximity of the English coast to the Continent and the dazzling rewards that would follow success made the idea irresistibly attractive.

At one blow England could be humbled for ever, and as the centuries went by her accumulation of foreign possessions steadily increased the potential prize. Yet the penalties of failure were equally sobering, for a descent on English soil would commit such large forces that, if they were destroyed, the invaders’ homeland and overseas possessions would be in their turn-defenceless. With such stakes, the project, fascinating as it was, could not be lightly undertaken.

Although the decision to invade was several times made, it was not always followed by the sailing of an expeditionary force. The combined Franco-Spanish expedition in the summer of 1779, however, was an occasion when an attempt did get past the planning stage, and it is worthy of note for this reason as well as for the circumstances in which it was planned.