The Irish had, this time, determined to defend not only that portion of
Athlone situated on the west of the river, but the English town on the
east. The fortifications here were repaired and added to, and the town
was abundantly supplied with stores and ammunition. It was, however,
unable to resist the heavy artillery which Ginckle brought to play
against it. Walls, buildings, and towers crumbled beneath the heavy
cannonade; and although the Irish repelled, with great slaughter, several
assaults upon it, the place became at last untenable, and they abandoned
that part of the town, and retired by the bridge across the river to the
Irish town.
The British, on entering the eastern town, found it a mere mass of ruins,
with the dead bodies of the soldiers lying everywhere, half covered with
the wreck of the works they had died in defending. The taking of this
portion of Athlone had cost Ginckle dearly, and he was but little nearer
the object of his efforts, for he was separated from the Irish town by
the Shannon, and the western arch of the bridge was broken down by the
defenders.
Eleven large guns and three mortars now came up from Dublin, and he
erected a succession of batteries upon the ruins of the English town, and
opened fire upon the castle of Athlone, which, although a building of
great strength, soon crumbled into ruins beneath the fire of the heavy
artillery brought to bear upon it. A mill, which stood in the river, and
was connected with the bridge, was set on fire, and the sixty soldiers
posted in it, being unable to escape, were all burned. Night and day,
seven great batteries played incessantly upon the town.
On the 26th of June, thirty waggons loaded with powder and a hundred
carts with cannon balls arrived from Dublin, and enabled the besiegers to
keep up their fire without intermission. The interior of the town was
reduced to ruins--nothing remained erect save the city walls, in which
the breaches, as fast as they were made, were repaired by the Irish. The
slaughter among those so employed was very heavy; but there was no lack
of men, the places of those who fell being at once supplied by others
willing to give their lives in the defence of the town.
At last, there was nothing more that the besiegers could do. The town was
reduced to ashes, but the river and the broken arch still separated them
from the ruins. To remain much longer where they were was impossible, for
the country on every side was exhausted, and no longer afforded food for
man or horse. The country people had fled, from the cruelty and
spoliation of Ginckle's foreign soldiery, carrying with them all their
effects; and the Irish light troops and armed peasantry hovered round the
camp, laid the country waste, and intercepted their supplies and
communications with Dublin.
Ginckle held a council of war, to consider what was to be done. It was
admitted that they must force the passage of the river without loss of
time, or submit to the alternative of retreat, and the utter failure of
the campaign. It was finally resolved to attempt the passage of the
bridge by throwing a wooden gallery over the broken arch, and forcing
their way across, at all cost. Additional batteries were now raised on
the bank of the river, and a heavy fire was poured, without intermission,
upon the Irish on their side of the broken arch.
Both parties had erected a breastwork on the bridge, at their respective
sides of the breach, and from behind this, day and night, a continued
musketry fire was kept up, the grenadiers of the English army throwing
grenades into the enemy's works. After some days, the breastwork on the
Irish side was set on fire by the continued assault of shot and grenades.
The wattles of which it was composed, dried by the hot weather, were soon
in a blaze, and, under cover of the flames and smoke, the English ran
forward the great beams they had prepared in readiness, and threw them
across the gap in the bridge.
The fire from all the batteries on the English side was directed against
the burning breastwork, while the grenadiers hastened to lay planks
across the beams to complete the bridge. The work was well-nigh done when
an Irish sergeant and ten men, all clad in armour, leaped through the
flames of the breastwork, and began to hew with their axes at the beams
and planks.
For a moment, the British were paralysed at the daring action. Then the
batteries and musketry fire again opened, a storm of shot and bullets
swept across the bridge, and the whole of the gallant fellows fell dead;
but in a moment another party, similarly armed, dashed through the flames
and took their places.
Regardless of the fire they whirled their axes. Nine fell, but the last
two gave the final stroke to the beams. The bridge fell with a crash into
the river below, and the two survivors recrossed the breastwork and
joined their friends within, amid the wild enthusiasm of the defenders;
an enthusiasm in which even the baffled assailants joined, for the
British grenadiers gave a cheer, in token of their admiration at the
gallantry and devotion of the deed.
In all history, there is no record of a more gallant action than this,
performed by two sergeants and twenty men, who thus encountered almost
certain death to maintain their post. The destruction of the temporary
bridge filled Ginckle and his officers with consternation, and the manner
in which their design had been baffled showed the spirit of the
defenders, and the magnitude of the task which they had undertaken.
But it was resolved, at another council which was called, to attempt one
more effort before abandoning the enterprise. A finished platform was
constructed. This was to be thrown over the arch, and a chosen body of
the bravest troops in the army were to throw themselves across, and try
to force a passage. At the same time, a division was to cross the river
by a ford near the bridge, and another to attempt to cross by a bridge of
pontoons, prepared in readiness.
The Irish were informed, by French deserters, of what was going on in the
English camp, and early on the morning of the assault, several strong
divisions of the Irish army were seen marching down from the camp, two
miles away, into the town. Here they were drawn up, in readiness to
repulse the assault.
The British were some time before they were ready for the attack, but at
ten o'clock the whole army stood in close order, ready to advance.
The first to move forward were those who were to carry the bridge. The
Irish guns, which still remained intact, opened upon them, but they
pressed forward along the bridge to the broken arch, and, with less
trouble than had been anticipated, threw the platform across it. Instead
of rushing forward at once, the grenadiers stood behind their breastwork
and hurled their grenades at the Irish grenadiers, who stood in close
order on the opposite edge.
These, however, stood their ground, and hurled their grenades with great
effect into the column. One of these exploded against the English
breastwork and set it on fire. It at once blazed up. A strong west wind
was blowing, and drove the smoke and flames into the faces of the English
grenadiers, who for some time strove in vain to extinguish the flames,
notwithstanding the heavy fire which the defenders poured into them. They
had at last to fall back, and the Irish, sallying from behind their
breastwork, pulled down the burning timbers on to the bridge, which was
soon in flames.
The other divisions of the English army, finding that the grenadiers on
the bridge made no progress, did not attempt to perform their part of the
work, and finally the whole retreated to their camp.
That evening, another council of war was held. Matters now looked
desperate, and the fact that the enterprise had, this time, failed owing
to the hesitation of the troops to push forward to the attack of the
enemy, made the prospect appear more hopeless. Nevertheless, in spite of
the opposition of Generals Ginckle and Mackey, the council determined
that one more attempt should be made, and that this should be carried out
at daylight next morning, in the hopes of taking the Irish by surprise.
It was accordingly given out that the army would retreat in the morning,
and the heavy guns were withdrawn from the batteries. Saint Ruth, who was
convinced that Athlone could not be taken, and who had spent the greater
portion of his time in entertaining the ladies and gentry of the
neighbourhood with balls and fetes, fell into the trap, and, contrary to
the opinion and advice of the Irish generals, recalled from the town the
regiments which had marched in that morning, and replaced them with only
three battalions of inferior troops. The Irish officers remonstrated
warmly, but Saint Ruth, to show his disdain for their opinions, invited a
large party of ladies and gentlemen to an entertainment in the evening.
In the night, the British army prepared for the attack. The commanders of
the respective divisions all led their troops in person.
The garrison of the town were all asleep. In Saint Ruth's camp the
festivities were over, and the general and his officers had retired. The
Irish sentinels, who noted the movement in the British camp, supposed
that they were mustering to retreat, and thus the three British columns
drew up inside the town wall, in readiness to advance, without a notion
of their purpose being entertained on the opposite side of the river.
One column, headed by sixty chosen men in complete armour, was to cross
the bridge and throw a platform over the arch; another to cross by the
ford: the third by a pontoon bridge. When the church bell tolled six, the
three columns advanced simultaneously, and, before the Irish were
thoroughly awake, the leading battalions had forded the river, the
platform was in its place, and the troops pouring into the town.
A few guns were hastily discharged, and then the men of the three Irish
regiments in the town fled in haste, to avoid capture by the columns
pouring across the river by the ford and pontoon bridge. Many, indeed,
were captured whilst asleep. Saint Ruth, roused from sleep by the sound
of cannon, ordered the troops to arms, but it was too late. The town, or
rather its ruins, were in the possession of the British, and the
brilliant success, which had been won by the valour and determination of
the Irish troops, was forfeited by the carelessness, folly, and
self-confidence of the French general.
Had he listened to the advice of the Irish officers, the attempt, like
those which had preceded it, must have failed, and in that case there was
nothing remained to Ginckle but a precipitous retreat to Dublin, with the
loss of the whole of the advantages gained in the previous campaign, and
the necessity of bringing the war to an end by the concession of the
rights and privileges of the Irish Catholics and landowners. The whole
course of history was changed by the folly of one man. Ginckle had taken
Athlone, but it was at a vast cost of life, and he was more than ever
impressed with the magnitude of the task of subduing Ireland, so long as
the people were driven to desperation by the threatened confiscation of
all their lands, and by the persecution of their religion. King William,
too, was more anxious than ever for the termination of hostilities, and,
on the very day that the news of the fall of Athlone reached him, he
issued a proclamation offering protection, security of all possessions,
and continuance in any offices which they held under James, to all who
would lay down their arms in three weeks' time.
The issue of such a proclamation as this, a year before, would have
satisfied the Irish and put a stop to the war; but it was now too late.
The promises made had been broken, over and over again, and the Irish had
but too much reason to fear that, when all opposition ceased, the council
and their train of greedy adherents would again obtain the ascendency,
and would continue their work of spoliation and robbery.
Moreover, the Irish army did not feel itself in any way beaten. It was
not its fault that the second siege of Athlone had not terminated as the
former siege and that of Limerick had done, and that Ginckle's army was
not hurrying back, defeated and disorganized, to Dublin. They felt that,
at the battle of the Boyne, they had suffered no defeat, although, in
accordance with the general plan, they had fallen back, and they eagerly
desired to fight one battle to prove that, in the open field, they were
more than a match for the mercenaries of King William.
The council and lords justices, who were aghast at the proclamation,
which threatened to destroy their hopes of dividing among themselves and
their friends all the lands of the Catholics of Ireland, did their best
to prevent its acceptance, by spreading rumours that it was a mere bait,
and that its promises would not be fulfilled; while Saint Ruth and his
French officers did their best, also, to set the Irish against it.
Saint Ruth, who was really a good officer, was conscious that, so far
from having gained credit, as he had expected from a command in Ireland,
the misfortunes which had happened were entirely attributed to him, and
he longed for an opportunity of wiping out the slur on his military
reputation. He therefore urged upon the Irish generals that Ginckle had
indeed gained but little; that all the hopes of William rested upon that
army alone; and that, with its defeat, they could demand and obtain any
terms they liked to lay down; besides which, he was able to assure them,
by his advices from France, that Louis was making preparations for
assisting them on a vastly larger scale than he had previously done.
Thus, from a combination of circumstances, the proclamation elicited no
response.
While the siege of Athlone was being carried on, the main body of
Sarsfield's cavalry remained, for the most part, in the camp near the
town; but commanders of small bodies of men, like the corps of Captain
Davenant, which were regarded as irregulars, had liberty of action. Some
made long raids to the east, and often spread confusion and dismay among
the enemy, by appearing suddenly when no Irish troops were believed to be
within a hundred miles. Some went down and joined the peasants, who were
keeping up desultory fighting in the neighbourhood of Cork, harassing the
English whenever they moved from one point to another, or sent out
parties to collect forage or provisions.
Captain Davenant, who had more than once respectfully urged upon
Sarsfield the immense benefit which would result, were the whole of the
Irish cavalry to place themselves upon the line of the enemy's
communication, finding that the Irish general was unmoved by his
arguments, several times endeavoured to carry out his ideas, as far as
could be done with his own small force.
The inactivity of the Irish horse, throughout the long sieges of Athlone
and Limerick, except only upon the occasion of the raid upon the siege
train, is almost inexplicable. They had nothing to fear from the enemy's
cavalry, to whom they proved themselves immensely superior, whenever they
met during the war, and they had it in their power, for months, to cut
the British communications and so oblige them, either to detach so large
a force to keep the roads open that they would have been unable to push
on the siege, and would indeed have been in danger of being attacked and
destroyed by the Irish infantry; or to raise the siege, and fall back
upon their bases, Dublin and Waterford.
The only possible explanations that can be offered are--first, that
Sarsfield, although a dashing commander in action, was possessed of no
military genius whatever; second, that he was prevented from moving by
the jealousy of the French commanders-in-chief, who did not wish to see
the credit of compelling the enemy to fall back monopolized by the Irish
cavalry; or, third, that Sarsfield saw the advantages which could be
obtained by throwing himself, with his cavalry, in the rear of the enemy,
but deliberately remained inactive rather than leave the French generals
to act, unchecked by his presence at headquarters. It can never be
decided to which of these alternatives it was due that the Irish cavalry
remained for so long a time inactive, and that William, and after him
Ginckle, were permitted, unmolested save by a few detached bodies of
horse, to maintain their long line of communications to their base,
unchecked.
Upon one of his excursions in the rear of the English army, Captain
Davenant's troops dashed down upon a convoy of waggons. The dragoons who
were escorting them were killed or driven off. The drivers were collected
in a group, for Captain Davenant always ordered that these men should not
be injured, as they were not combatants, and were in most cases obliged
to accompany their teams, which had been requisitioned for the service.
The men were collecting the waggons together, preparatory to setting them
on fire, when Walter, on riding near the group of drivers, heard himself
called by name. Turning round, he leapt from his horse and ran up to one
of the prisoners.
"My dear John!" he exclaimed, "I am glad indeed to see you. Why, what
brings you here?"
After exchanging hearty greetings, Walter led him away from the group,
and the two sat down together on a bank.
"What brings you here?" Walter repeated.
"All the waggons within miles round Dublin have been requisitioned," John
said; "and as our three were called for, my father suggested that I
should accompany them, to see that the horses were fed and cared for."
"Which are your waggons?" Walter asked.
"The three last in the column."
Walter immediately ran to his father, told him what had happened, and
begged that the three waggons should be exempted from the general
destruction. Captain Davenant at once rode up to the men, and ordered the
waggons to be unloaded and their contents added to the pyre which was
being prepared, but that the waggons themselves should be taken back a
quarter of a mile along the road, and left there under the charge of
their drivers, who were not to move until joined by their owner. He then
rode back, and shook hands with John.
"I am glad to see you," he said. "All are well, I hope, at both our
homes?"
"Quite well, sir."
"Thank God for that! Now, I must leave you to see that our work is
thoroughly carried out. You will find your waggons safe, a quarter of a
mile along the road. I will leave you to tell all the home news to
Walter, who will retell it to me afterwards."
"Now tell me all the news," Walter said, when they were together again.
"The news is not altogether pleasant," John replied. "The whole of the
country round Dublin is being harried by the cavalry in garrison there.
They pay no attention whatever to papers of protection, and care but
little whether those they plunder are Protestant or Catholic, friend or
foe. They go about in small parties, like bands of brigands, through the
country; and those who go to Dublin to obtain redress for their exactions
are received with indifference, and sometimes with insult, by the
authorities. Then, too, we have had trouble at home.
"My grandfather became more bigoted than ever, and would, if he had the
power, have annihilated every Catholic in Ireland. My father and he had
frequent quarrels, and I was in daily expectation of an open breach
between them, and of my father giving up his share of the property, and
taking us to England. He was a backslider, in my grandfather's eyes. The
tales of battle, plunder, and murder seemed to have taken the latter back
to his own fighting days; and he was rather inclined to consider the
generals as lukewarm, than to join in the general indignation at their
atrocious conduct.
"Even the sufferings of the Protestants did not seem to affect him. The
Lord's work, he said, cannot be carried on without victims. It horrified
me to hear him talk. If this was the religion of our fathers, I was fast
coming to the conclusion that it was little better than no religion at
all.
"I think my father and mother saw it in the same light, and the breach
between them and my grandfather daily widened. But I have not told you
the worst, yet. A party of cavalry rode up the other day, and were about,
as usual, to seize upon some cattle. My father was out, and my
grandfather stepped forward and asked them 'how they could lay it to
their consciences to plunder Protestants when, a mile or two away, there
were Catholics lording it over the soil--Catholics whose husbands and
sons were fighting in the ranks of the army of James Stuart?'
"I was in the house with my mother, but we heard what was said; and she
whispered to me to slip out behind, and find my father, and tell him what
was being done. I made off; but before I had gone a quarter of a mile, I
saw the soldiers riding off towards the castle, with my grandfather
riding at their head. I was not long in finding my father, who at once
called the men off from their work, and sent them off in all directions
to raise the country; and in an hour two hundred men, armed with any
weapon they could snatch up, were marching towards the castle, my father
at their head. There were Catholics and Protestants among them--the
latter had come at my father's bidding, the former of their own free
will.
"We hurried along, anxiously fearing every moment to see flames rise from
the castle. Fortunately, the soldiers were too busy in plundering to
notice our approach, and we pounced down upon them and seized them
unawares. They were stripping the place of everything worth carrying
away, before setting it on fire. We burst into the hall, and there was a
sight which filled my father and myself with anger and shame. Your
grandmother was standing erect, looking with dignity mingled with disdain
at my grandfather; while your mother, holding your brother's hands, stood
beside her. My grandfather was standing upon a chair; in his hand he held
a Bible, and was pouring out a string of denouncing texts at the ladies,
and was, at the moment we entered, comparing them to the wicked who had
fallen into a net.
"I don't think, Walter, his senses are quite right now. He is crazed with
religion and hate, and I believe, at the time, he fancied himself in the
meeting house. Anyhow, there he was, while two sergeants, who were
supposed to be in command of the troop, were sitting on a table, with a
flagon of wine between them, looking on with amusement. Their expression
changed pretty quickly, when we rushed in.
"It needed all my father's efforts to prevent the whole party being hung,
so furious were all the rescuers at the outrage upon the good ladies of
the castle. But my father pointed out to them that, although such a
punishment was well deserved, it would do harm rather than good to the
ladies. They had orders of protection from the lords justices; and he
should proceed at once, with four or five witnesses, to lay the matter
before the general at Dublin, and demand the punishment of the offenders.
But if the party took the law into their own hands, and meted out the
punishment the fellows deserved, the facts of the case would be lost
sight of. There would be a cry of vengeance for the murder, as it would
be called, of a party of soldiers, and it would serve as an excuse for
harrying the whole district with fire and sword.
"Having at last persuaded the angry tenants and peasantry to lay aside
their project of vengeance, my father went to the soldiers, who, tied
hand and foot, were expecting nothing short of death. He ordered all
their pistols and ammunition to be taken away, and their bonds to be
loosed; then told them that their escape had been a narrow one, and that,
with great difficulty, he had persuaded those who had captured them while
engaged in deeds of outrage and plunder to spare them; but that a
complaint would at once be made before the military authorities, and the
law would deal with them. Finally, they were permitted to mount and ride
off, after having been closely examined to see that they were taking with
them none of the plunder of the house.
"Everything was then carefully replaced as they had found it; and my
father at once rode off, with six of the leading tenants--three
Protestants and three Catholics--and laid a complaint before the general.
The latter professed himself much shocked, and lamented the impossibility
of keeping strict discipline among the various regiments stationed in the
towns. However, he went down with them at once to the barracks of the
regiment, ordered them to be formed up, and asked my father if he could
identify the culprits.
"My father and those with him picked out fifteen, including the two
sergeants, as having formed part of the body of plunderers; and the
general had the whole tied up and flogged severely, then and there, and
declared that, the next time an outrage upon persons who had received
letters of protection came to his ears, he would shoot every man who was
proved to have been concerned in it. He also gave orders that a
well-conducted noncommissioned officer, and four men, should be sent at
once to Davenant Castle, and should there take up their quarters as a
guard against any party of marauders, with the strictest orders to cause
no annoyance or inconvenience to the inhabitants of the castle.
"I learned afterwards that Mr. Conyers, who had been interesting himself
greatly on behalf of the ladies of the castle, is a great friend of the
lords justices, and other members of the council, and is also acquainted
with the general, which will account for the prompt measures taken to
punish the marauders--a very rare and exceptional matter, I can tell
you."
"I am sure we are greatly indebted to your father and you, for so
promptly taking measures to assist my mother," Walter said. "I have no
doubt the castle would have been burned, as well as plundered, if it had
not been for your rescue of them."
"It is not worth thinking about, Walter. We are heavily your debtors,
still, for the kindness of your father and yourself to me at Derry, and
indeed on all other occasions. Besides, it was the least we could do,
seeing that it was my grandfather's hatred of your family which brought
the matter about."
"What became of your grandfather," Walter asked, "when you interrupted
his sermon?"
"He fell down in a fit," John replied; "and perhaps it was the best thing
he could do, for I don't know what my father and he would have said to
each other, had it not been so. He was carried home, and he has not been
the same man since. I don't think the subject was ever alluded to between
my father and him; but I think that being balked, just at the moment when
he thought he had obtained the object of his hopes and prayers for the
last forty years, has almost broken his heart.
"He goes about the house, scarce speaking a word, and seems to have lost
almost all his energy. He has ceased to read the family prayers, and to
hold forth morning and night. I do think he considers that the Lord has
cheated him out of his lawful vengeance. It is awfully sad, Walter,
though it is strange, to see such a travesty of religion as the tenets of
my grandfather and some of the old men who, like him, represent the views
of Cromwell's soldiers.
"Their religion cannot be called true Christianity. It is the Judaism of
the times when the Jews were among the most ignorant of peoples. To me it
is most shocking, and I would infinitely rather be a Mohammedan than hold
such a faith as theirs. I thank God that my father and mother have shaken
off such a yoke, and brought me up according to the teaching of the New
Testament, rather than that of the Old."
By this time the waggons, with the exception of those under John
Whitefoot's charge, had been collected in a mass, and fire had been
applied to them. They were now a pile of flame. A few of the best and
fastest looking of the horses were set aside to be carried off by the
troop. The rest were shot, as the great object of the raids was to
deprive the English army of its means of transport.
The troop then mounted. Captain Davenant and Walter took a hearty
farewell of John, and intrusted him with hastily-written letters for
home; and as the smoke of the burning train would soon bring down any
parties of the enemy who happened to be in the neighbourhood, the troop
then rode off at full speed, and arrived safely at Athlone without
meeting with any further adventures.
After the fall of the city, Ginckle remained inactive some time, but,
finding that his proclamation had no effect in inducing the Irish to lay
down their arms, he reluctantly prepared to advance against them. In the
interval, he occupied himself in repairing the western wall of the city,
and, as he had been joined by several regiments sent out to reinforce
him, he resumed his advance with a force larger than that with which he
had commenced the siege of Athlone. Before starting, he issued the most
peremptory orders against a repetition of the acts which had so disgraced
his army, and had done so much harm to the cause by banding the whole
peasantry against them.
Saint Ruth chose his position with great skill. His camp extended more
than two miles, along a range of hills called the heights of Kilcomeden.
His right was protected by a rivulet, and by hills and marshes. On his
left was a deep glen. Beyond this, along his whole front, a vast bog
extended, in most places impassable for horse or foot. On the borders of
the bog, on the left, stood the ruins of the little castle of Aughrim,
occupying the only spot of firm ground which led to the camp.
To pass the bog at this point, it was necessary to go close by the castle
wall, where there was a broken path only wide enough for two men to pass
abreast. The passage on the right of the bog was more open, but it was
marshy and unsafe.
This position was much stronger than that which the Irish had held at the
battle of the Boyne, and whereas, on that occasion, they had been very
inferior in numbers to their assailants, they were now superior by some
regiments in number. In the point of artillery the English had here, as
at the Boyne, an overwhelming superiority.
Ginckle moved forward slowly and with caution, halting on the river Suck
until he had been joined by every available soldier in Ireland.
On the morning of the 12th of July, the British army halted on the edge
of the bog, that, like a great belt, encircled the Irish within it. The
morning was foggy, and the mist did not clear off until towards noon. The
Irish prepared for battle by having divine service performed at the head
of their regiments, and Dr. Stafford, chaplain to the royal regiment of
foot, and some other priests, passed through the ranks, urging upon the
men their duty and obligation, as soldiers and Irishmen, to make every
effort they could to rescue their country from the oppression of the
Prince of Orange, and his army of foreigners.
Ginckle, on his part, as at Athlone, distributed money among the troops,
and promised them the plunder of the enemy's camp. As the day cleared up,
the British army was put in motion, and a strong column advanced against
the enemy's right, where stood the house and grounds of Urachree,
occupied by some Irish horse. A strong detachment of Danish cavalry
headed the British column. They moved forward boldly, quickening their
pace as they approached the Irish; but, on the latter charging them at
full gallop, they wheeled about and rode off at once in disorder.
Ginckle immediately ordered two hundred of Cunningham's dragoons, who
were considered the best cavalry in the army, to advance and drive back
the Irish horse. The dragoons advanced at a trot, but, seeing that the
Irish quietly awaited their coming, they halted behind a hedge and
awaited the arrival of the infantry. When these came up, the cavalry
again moved forward.
The Irish horse now fell back on a little hill in their rear, where a
body of infantry were posted. They then faced to the front and charged,
and broke the English dragoons, who retreated, as the Danes had done, in
confusion.
Eppinger's dragoons were ordered up to support Cunningham's, but the
Irish horse had also received reinforcements before they arrived, and,
after a fierce fight, the two English regiments were routed and driven
off the field.
Ginckle rallied them, added Lord Portland's horse to their numbers, and
again sent them against the Irish. These, however, had fallen back from
Urachree, and had taken up a new position upon the rivulet behind it, in
front of the solid ground by which, alone, the right wing of the Irish
army could be approached. Here they remained, waiting the onset of the
British cavalry; but these, perceiving that the ground was becoming more
and more difficult, soon came to a halt, and then, wheeling about, fell
back upon the infantry.
Seeing the successful stand which was made, by a small body of Irish
horse, to the advance of the left wing, and that the spirit with which
his troops were behaving was greatly inferior to that of the Irish,
Ginckle called a council of war. Opinions were greatly at variance. It
was now nearly four o'clock, and it was, at first, decided to postpone
the battle till the morning, and a messenger was sent to the baggage
column in the rear to bring up the tents.
But other counsels finally prevailed. The order for the tents was
countermanded, and, at half-past four, the British infantry were ordered
to advance. They pressed forward, in solid masses, across the ground
where the cavalry fight had taken place, and the Irish horse fell back
behind their infantry, who were posted behind the substantial hedges
which intersected the ground beyond the rivulet. A heavy musketry fire
was opened upon the British infantry as they advanced, but they pressed
forward, in unbroken order, till they reached the hedges. These were long
and obstinately contested.
The Irish had cut openings through the hedges by which they could retire,
and, as they fell back from hedge to hedge, the advancing British were
received by a fire from hedges on both flanks, as well as from the front.
As the British poured regiment after regiment to the attack, Saint Ruth
moved some bodies of horse and foot, from his left, to the support of his
right wing.
This movement had been foreseen by Ginckle, who now gave orders for
several battalions of infantry to cross the bog, and attack the Irish
centre. At this point there was a path across the bog, or rather a place
where the mud and water were not so deep as at other points, and where it
was possible for it to be forded. Ginckle had found a peasant, who, for a
large sum of money, disclosed the passage. It traversed the bog at its
narrowest point, the hill of Kilcomeden here running out a shoulder far
into it. Four regiments entered the morass, with orders to cross it, and
make their way to the nearest hedges on the sloping ground, where they
were to post themselves till the cavalry, who were to attempt the passage
by Aughrim Castle, could come round to their support.
The first part of the passage was unopposed, but the difficulty of
passing was great, for the men were frequently up to their waists in mud,
too soft to afford any firm footing, but solid enough to render it
extremely difficult for the feet to be disengaged from it. At length, as
they approached firmer ground, the Irish infantry advanced towards the
edge of the bog, and received them with a steady fire. The English,
although suffering heavily, pressed forward without firing a shot, till
the ground became solid under their feet, when the Irish withdrew, and,
as upon the right, took post behind the hedges which everywhere
intersected the slopes.
The English, seeing the Irish retire, pressed forward, and another fierce
contest raged in the inclosures; the Irish, according to their
preconceived plan, falling gradually back. The British, in their ardour,
forgot their orders to halt at the first hedge, and continued to press
forward, until the constantly increasing numbers of the enemy recalled to
their leaders the danger of the position.
Before them were the heights of Kilcomeden, with a strong force drawn up
to receive them, while on both flanks the enemy were crowding down, to
intercept their retreat. Colonel Earl, who was the senior officer, looked
anxiously towards the right, from which quarter he expected the British
cavalry to arrive to his assistance; but no sound reached him from that
quarter; while on the left the sound of the conflict, instead of
advancing, appeared to recede, as if the British column was being forced
back. Advancing before his own regiment, he called upon the soldiers to
stand firm, for retreat would be destruction, and the only hope was to
maintain their position till assistance arrived.
When the Irish saw that the enemy had halted, and could not be tempted to
advance further, they poured down to the attack through the passages in
the hedges. The British might have defended these hedges, as the Irish
had done, but the soldiers saw that they would be taken in the flank and
rear, and, observing a large body of cavalry ascending the hill, they
were seized with a panic.
On the first shock of the Irish infantry, the four regiments broke and
fled. They were hotly pursued, and slaughtered in great numbers, the
Irish cavalry pouring through the openings in the hedges which had been
prepared for them. At length, the fugitives reached the edge of the bog,
where they gathered in a confused mass; which the officers, in vain,
attempted to form into order. The cavalry charged down upon them, broke
and scattered them, and drove them into the morass, followed by the Irish
infantry, who were better acquainted with the ground, and more accustomed
to traversing bogs. The soldiers were driven into the deepest and most
difficult portion of the morass, and a great slaughter took place.
The British artillery were planted on the edge of the morass, but so
mingled were the two parties that they were unable to fire. Great numbers
of the English were killed. Colonels Earl and Herbert, with many officers
and men, were taken prisoners, and the remnant of the British were driven
completely across the bog, to the shelter of their own cannon.
While this was passing in the centre, another division of Ginckle's army,
consisting of English and French infantry, had crossed the bog by a
passage more to the right. They also had met with no opposition in
passing, and it was only when they reached the hedges, on the firm
ground, that the Irish showed themselves, fired, and retreated. This
division, more cautious than that of Earl, could not be tempted to
pursue, but contented themselves with maintaining their ground under a
heavy fire, awaiting anxiously the arrival of the British horse. They
could see, however, no sign of them, but could perceive the Irish cavalry
descending in large masses, preparing to charge, while the infantry were
forming for an advance.
So far the Irish had been successful at every point. They had repulsed
every attack made by the British left; had crushed the brigade, composed
of the flower of the British infantry, which had assaulted the centre;
and were now preparing to destroy the division which stood, unsupported,
on their side of the bog.
At this moment, a tumult was heard on the left wing of the Irish, the
direction from which the British division expected relief, and the Irish,
aware of the importance of the pass of Aughrim, suspended their attack to
await the events there.
Saint Ruth had directed the operations of the battle with as much skill
as he had prepared for the assault. He had taken up his position on a
point of the hill whence he had a complete view of the whole field of
battle, and had moved his troops, with calmness and judgment, to meet
each of the attacks made upon them; and when he saw the destruction of
the English regiment in the centre, he exclaimed, in the full confidence
of victory, "Now I will drive the English to the walls of Dublin!"
There was, indeed, but one hope, on the part of the English, of
retrieving the day; namely, the success of the attempt to force the
passage at Aughrim. But two horsemen abreast could pass under the castle
walls. Saint Ruth was aware of the passage, but thought it impassable for
cavalry. It might easily have been made so, by cutting a deep gap across
it; but here, as at Athlone, his overconfidence proved his destruction.
He had, however, taken the precaution to erect a battery commanding the
passage, and had placed some battalions of infantry there.
General Talmash, who commanded the English cavalry, knew that the battle
was lost, unless he could succeed at this point; and, at the head of his
command, he led the way along the pass, which was not only narrow, but
broken and encumbered with the ruins of the castle wall. Saint Ruth
beheld the attempt of the cavalry with astonishment, and, with the
remark: "They are brave fellows, it is a pity they should be sacrificed,"
sent orders for the Irish horse to move forward and prepare to charge
them; and moved down the hill at the head of his officers to the battery.
There is no doubt as to what the result would have been, had the Irish
horse charged. They were greatly superior in number, and the English
cavalry who had got across the passage were still in confusion, and were
suffering from the fire of the battery, and, indeed, even when in equal
numbers, William's cavalry had never withstood the charge of the Irish.
It seemed that nothing could avert the defeat of the body on which
Ginckle's last hope rested.
But at this moment one of those events, by which Providence overrules the
calculations of man, occurred. A cannonball struck Saint Ruth, as he
stood in the middle of the battery and killed him instantly. The
occurrence paralysed the Irish army. Sarsfield was away, there was no one
to give orders, the news that some extraordinary calamity had happened
spread rapidly, the men in the battery ceased firing, the cavalry,
receiving no orders to charge, remained immovable.
Talmash took advantage of the pause to get the rest of his cavalry across
the passage, and then, with his whole force, moved towards the centre. As
he approached, the idea that the unknown calamity, of which they had
heard, was that the British had defeated their own left, spread among the
Irish, and they began to fall back. The British column on the edge of the
bog advanced, Ginckle pushed several fresh battalions across the morass
in the centre, and the Irish infantry fell back, disputing every inch of
the ground.
The cavalry were still without orders, for strangely enough, no one
assumed the command on the death of Saint Ruth. As night came on, the
retreat of the Irish infantry became a rout, but the cavalry halted on
the summit of Kilcomeden, and covered the retreat.
The extraordinary circumstance, of the Irish army being left without
orders after the death of Saint Ruth, has never been explained. The
command should have devolved upon Sarsfield, but none of the accounts of
the battle speak of him as being present. He had certainly not been
consulted by Saint Ruth, and had not been present at the council of war
before the battle; for the bad feeling, which had existed between him and
Saint Ruth since that general arrived, had broken out into open dispute
since the fall of Athlone. But it is inexplicable that there should have
been no second in command, that no one should have come forward to give
orders after the death of the general, that a victorious army should have
been left, as a flock of sheep, without a shepherd.
Up to the moment of the death of Saint Ruth, the loss of the British had
been very severe, as they had more than two thousand men killed and
wounded, while that of the Irish was trifling. But in the subsequent
struggle the Irish, fighting each man for himself, without order or
object, were slaughtered in vast numbers, their loss being estimated by
the British writers at seven thousand men, a number which points to
wholesale slaughter, rather than to the loss which could have been
inflicted upon a brave army during little over an hour of daylight.
But, crushing as the defeat of the Irish had been, the victory was far
from inspiring William or his army with the confidence they had felt at
the outset of the war. Here, as at Athlone, it was almost a miracle which
had saved the English from a terrible disaster. The Irish had proved
themselves fully a match for the best soldiers that William could send
against them, and, although their infantry had suffered terribly in the
rout, their ranks would be speedily filled up again; while the cavalry,
the arm in which the Irish had uniformly proved their superiority, had
moved away from the field of battle intact and unbroken. Athlone and
Aughrim therefore rendered William and his general more anxious than ever
to bring the struggle to an end, not by the force of arms, but by
offering every concession to the Irish.
The imminence of the peril had cowed even the party of confiscation, and
they offered no opposition to the issue, by Ginckle, of proclamations
renewing the offers of William. Ginckle himself moved forward,
immediately after the battle, and granted the most liberal terms to the
garrisons of the various small posts which he came upon. On arriving
before Galway, he permitted that town and garrison to surrender on the
terms of a pardon for all, security of property and estate, freedom of
religious worship, and permission for the garrison to march away to
Limerick, with drums beating and colours flying, the British furnishing
horses for the transport of their cannon and baggage.