Page 286 - Demo

286 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
eral Hoche, one of the most brilliant of the young revolutionary generals, set out from Brest for Ireland. Provision was also made for a further 15,000 men and a cavalry unit to follow.
The watchword/password for the campaign in Ireland was “Paix aux chaumières, mort aux cháteaux.” ‘Peace to the cottages, death to the castles.’ Unfortunately, owing to hurri- cane-like-storms, massive seas and heretofore unseen thick fogs, only sixteen ships reached their destination of Bantry Bay. But weather was not the worst of the problems encountered by the expedition and General Clarke, Head of Carnot’s Military Topography Bureau, lamented:
“Though led by General Hoche in person, the plot was sabotaged by ministerial offices...infiltrated by counter-revolutionary friends of England, since the emigrants had been allowed to return from that country.”
The Admiral’s ship, with General Hoche aboard was not one of the sixteen to reach Bantry Bay and after waiting in vain for some time, it was driven far out to sea by another storm and with the fleet scattered, it returned to France. After tossing for some days in wild weather, the vessels which reached Bantry failed to make a landing and the expedituion ended fruitlessly. Many years later, when making reference to the Bantry Bay expedition, William Butler Yeats, commented “John Bull and the sea are friends.”
A dejected Tone wrote in his journal at the time:
“There cannot be imagined a situation more provokingly tantalising than mine at
this moment; within view, almost within reach of my native land, and uncertain I shall ever set foot on it. We are now (nine o’clock December 21st) at the rendezvous appointed; stood in for the coast till twelve, when we were near enough to toss a bis-
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