Alderney on alert, 1796-7
Gazette de L'Ile de Guernesey, Saturday 27 Mai 1797.
ALDERNEY, 21 May 1797.
Last Saturday night, the officer on watch at Mannez reported in writing to the Governor that he had spotted 6 Ships, about two leagues out to sea, to the N.E., which were heading for the island, and that there could be more of them. The Alarm was therefore sounded, and the troops and militia headed for the coast under threat. It was already light when they reached the place, and it was obvious then that the so-called enemy were actually English ships, who were on their way to the island and had clustered together near the coast. The following Proclamation has been issued as a result.
DE L'ILE D'AUREGNY, le 21 Mai 1797.
La nuit de Samedi à Dimanche dernier, l'officier qui étoit de garde à Mannez fit son rapport par écrit a Mr. Le Gouverneur, qu'il voyoit 6 Navires, à environ 2 lieues de terre, dans le N. E., qui poussoient pour l'île, mais qu'il pouvoit y en avoir davantage. - En conséquence de quoi, on fit sonner l'Alarme, les troupes & la Milice se transportèrent du côté menacé: à leur arrivée, il faisoit déjà jour, et on [aper]çut alors que le prétendu ennemi étoit des navires Anglois, qui venant pour l'île s'étoient trouvés à peu près ensemble sur la côte. La Proclamation suivante a été faite à ce sujet.
Gazette de L'Ile de Guernesey, Saturday 30 April 1796
Extract from a letter from Alderney, written the 11th April.
Yesterday we noticed opposite us, on the French coast, a huge camp which had been set up near the Church at Biville*, near where there had been a similar one last year. Do the sans-culottes just want to watch their coast, or are they planning to set out from the bay of Vauville to attempt a raid on our island, or, as is more likely, on St Marcou? Only time will tell. Whatever happens, we must be doubly vigilant in expecting night attacks. If they try it during the day, I think they will get a pretty good reception.
*The cliffs at Biville (Manche) are precipitous; in 1803 a British cutter dropped off three French royalists at their foot, the beginning of an unsuccessful conspiracy to assassinate Napoleon. Ile St Marcouf lies off the coast of Normandy and was captured and held by the British for seven years (1795-1802) as a strategic naval base; an attack by the French in 1798 was repulsed.
Extrait d'une lettre d'Alderney le 11 Avril.
Hier nous apperçumes en face de nous, sur la côte de France, un vaste camp qui se forme près de l'église de Biville*, vers l'endroit ou il y en avoit l'année dernière. Les sans-culottes veulent-ils simplement garder leurs côtes, ou se proposent-ils de s'embarquer à la baye de Vauville pour tenter une descente dans notre île, ou ce qui est plus probable, dans celle de St. Marcou? C'est ce que le temps nous apprendra. Nous devons, dans tous les cas, redoubler de vigilance par la crainte d'une attaque de nuit. -- S'ils viennent le jour, je pense que nous leur ferons une bonne réception.