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The Battle of Tory Island (sometimes called the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwest coast of County Donegal, then in the Kingdom of Ireland. The last action of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Battle of Tory Island ended the final attempt by the French Navy to land substantial numbers of soldiers in Ireland during the war. The Society of United Irishmen, led by Wolfe Tone, launched an uprising against British rule in Ireland in May 1798. At the request of the rebels, a small French force under General Humbert was landed at Killala, County Mayo, but by early September both this expedition and the rebellion had been defeated. Unaware of Humbert's surrender, the French despatched reinforcements on 16 September. Having missed one invasion force, the Royal Navy was on alert for another, and when the squadron carrying the reinforcements left Brest they were soon spotted. After a long chase, the French were brought to battle in a bay off the rugged County Donegal coast in the west of Ulster, very close to Tory Island. During the action the outnumbered French attempted to escape, but were run down and defeated piecemeal, with the British capturing four ships and scattering the survivors. Over the next fortnight, British frigate patrols scoured the passage back to Brest, capturing three more ships. Of the ten ships in the original French squadron, only two frigates and a schooner reached safety. British losses in the campaign were minimal. The battle marked the last attempt by the French Navy to launch an invasion of any part of the British Isles. It also ended the last hopes the United Irishmen had of obtaining outside support in their struggle with the British. After the action, Tone was recognised aboard the captured French flagship and arrested. He was brought ashore by the British at Buncrana, on the Inishowen Peninsula. He was later tried for treason, convicted, and committed suicide while in prison in Dublin, hours before he was to be hanged. ==Background== Britain's enemies in continental Europe had long recognised Ireland as a weak point in Britain's defences. Landing troops there was a popular strategic goal,〔Pakenham, p. 25〕 not only because an invader could expect the support of a large proportion of the native population,〔 but also because at least initially they would face fewer and less reliable troops than elsewhere in the British Isles. Additionally, embroiling the British Army in a protracted Irish campaign would reduce its availability for other theatres of war.〔Cookson, p. 52〕 Finally, French planners considered that a successful invasion of Ireland might act as the ideal platform for a subsequent invasion of Great Britain.〔Come, p. 182〕 The rhetoric of the French Revolution inspired many Irishmen to fight for similar principles of liberty, equality, and brotherhood in their own nation; liberty in this context largely meant independence from Great Britain.〔Pakenham, p. 27〕 With these goals in mind, in 1791 Dublin lawyer Wolfe Tone founded the Society of United Irishmen. Allying itself with the French Republic, the society was suppressed by the British authorities and forced to go underground when war broke out between France and Great Britain in 1793.〔Brooks, p. 605〕 Tone and other members secretly travelled to France to convince the French National Convention to invade Ireland. Such an invasion, they argued, could rely on support from large numbers of Irish irregulars, and if successful would strike a severe blow to the British war effort—perhaps even severe enough to force Britain to seek peace.〔Pakenham, p. 29〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Tory Island」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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