Following the French Revolution in AD 1789, General Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) seized power in France. He then began a campaign to conquer Europe. Fear of a possible invasion by Napoleon produced a fierce patriotism in Wales. There was widespread support for the militia and volunteer units who trained energetically. In 1797 the last foreign force to land in Britain, the French Légion Noire, landed in Pembrokeshire. At first the Welsh militia retreated, but a force of 600 men was mustered and overcame the enemy. A contemporary description of the incident says that “when they [the French troops] were brought in as prisoners, the Military had great difficulty to prevent them [the volunteers] from putting them to death.”
Both sides in the Napoleonic Wars used visual propaganda to increase support for their cause. Napoleon commissioned artists such as Jacques Louis David to paint heroic portraits of him on a monumental scale. Napoleon used images such as these to promote the idea both on the Continent and in Britain, that he was an unstoppable military force. In reply to this the British produced many satirical cartoons poking fun at Napoleon, or ‘Boney’ as he was disparagingly called. After Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and subsequent surrender, he was the butt of even more satirical jokes and caricatures.
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