SCHOMBERG'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED--THE ARRIVAL OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE.
The winter, and the advantages it offered to the Irish army, passed
away, and the Duke of Schomberg, who, for several months, could have
offered but an ineffectual opposition, was, through the vacillating
policy of the king, and the factious opposition of the Lords, spiritual
and temporal, in his Parliament, allowed to take the initiative in the
renewal of hostilities. While he pressed the siege of Charlemont with
renewed vigor, he dispatched 3,300 English and Enniskilleners, under
the command of Brigadier Wolseley, to seize on Belturbet and Cavan,
which were occupied through the winter by a small force under General
Wauchop, and to the relief of these positions, which were considered
of much importance, the Duke of Berwick was ordered with a force of
1,500 foot and 200 horse. Belturbet had been the scene of many bitter
conflicts since the commencement of the rebellion, and had been taken
and retaken by the troops of each army in turn, as the tide of war
fluctuated. Situated in the midst of a fertile district, it was of much
advantage in the way of supply. By its possession, through the previous
year, the Irish had been enabled to hold the Enniskilleners in check
even after the disaster of Newtownbutler; and it was still hoped that,
by holding it, they could confine them to the more northern counties,
and prevent their concentration round the Duke of Schomberg, or divert
his attention from the capital.
Berwick, on receipt of the order, proceeded by rapid marches, and
arrived at Cavan, which is about five miles from Belturbet, late in
the evening, whence he sent orders to General Wauchop to throw out
pickets in the direction of the enemy, and notify him of their earliest
appearance. Owing to the heavy rains that had fallen through the night,
this order was either totally neglected, or but carelessly observed;
and early in the morning, while Berwick took up his march from Cavan,
Wolseley approached as rapidly from the direction of Monaghan; each
with the intention of occupying a mud fort which commanded the town.
Both forces, each unapprised of the design of the other, met in the
intrenchments, and a fierce conflict followed. Wolseley was driven
from the fort and through the adjoining coppice in great confusion,
but Colonel MacGeoghaghen being killed, and General Nugent and several
officers wounded, their troops became panic-stricken, "and, in a
moment," says Berwick, "from being conquerors, we became conquered."
Wolseley lost 300 men, and Berwick 500; the fort was evacuated as a
consequence; the Irish fell back to Cavan, which they shortly after
abandoned; and Schomberg, being relieved of further apprehension from
that direction, and being strengthened by his native auxiliaries,
turned his undivided attention to the siege of Charlemont.
Believing that the fall of Belturbet, and the isolation of his
position, must have dampened the ardor of Colonel O'Regan, the
commandant of the Castle of Charlemont, Schomberg offered him honorable
conditions in case he agreed to surrender the fort, but he found the
spirit of this indomitable old chieftain as hopeful and defiant as
ever. Since the arrival of Schomberg, he had succeeded in baffling all
efforts to reduce the place; and, though now surrounded, and cut off on
all sides from hope of succor, he thanked the duke for his offer, but
replied that he would never surrender "his castle," and was determined
to hold it for his king, or die in its ruins. He was, however, placed
in a very embarrassing situation. Within the last few days a body
of five hundred soldiers, bearing a scanty supply of ammunition and
provisions, had forced their way into the garrison, and, having thus
partially relieved it, were ordered unceremoniously to fight their way
out again, but, in making the attempt, were driven back under the guns
of the fort. The governor refused them admittance. He said that he
was ordered to defend the place, and would do it, and looked on them
as much his enemies as the troops of Schomberg. They were, therefore,
placed on the counterscarp of the fort, where they were exposed to the
fire of the enemy, and many of them were actually killed during the
bombardment that followed. But, though in appearance, and in many of
his characteristics, he affected the ogre, his heart relented; and,
while he could bear to see them shot from the walls, he could not see
them die of starvation, and so doled out his scanty provisions until
they were consumed, and the garrison was reduced to all the horrors of
a famine-siege. Every means of supporting life was now resorted to,
and every effort for the reduction of the fort was in vain, until on
the 14th of May, when, literally starved out, after a siege of nine,
months from the landing of Schomberg, he capitulated, and marched out
with what remained of his famished garrison. The terms granted him
by Schomberg, who was impatient of delay, were highly honorable: the
garrison was allowed to retire with arms and baggage, and the king, who
neglected to succor him during this protracted siege, raised him to the
order of knighthood, and he was henceforth known as Sir Teague O'Regan,
and intrusted with the defence of Sligo, which he held until the last
tocsin summoned him to Limerick.
This was the only event worthy of the military fame of Schomberg since
his arrival in the kingdom. From the first to the last, the Castle
of Charlemont and its commandant were as thorns in the side of this
unfortunate soldier of fortune. It would seem as if the old chief had
him under a spell; for once he set eyes on him and his stronghold, they
were in his thoughts day and night, and he would not depart until the
place was rendered to his arms. Yet, 'tis said that he had an immense
liking for that quaint old soldier, and was even sorry when he saw him
depart from his seemingly enchanted castle. A soldier himself, and
an accomplished one, he could appreciate soldierly qualities even in
an enemy; and O'Regan, notwithstanding his grotesque appearance and
eccentric habits, was a rare military genius. Of this siege it may be
said, that, unless in so far as that of Derry affected the final issue
of the war, it loses in comparison with that of Charlemont, both in the
duration of the contest, and in the spirit, hardihood, and valor of the
besieged. Its fall may be said to have put an end to the Jacobite power
in Ulster, and also to the military career of Schomberg. He frittered
away his time in its reduction, when it might have been safely left in
his rear; and the stubborn old chief that commanded it, after having
diverted his purpose so long from the real object of his campaign,
offered him his grateful acknowledgments, and laughed at his folly when
departing. The delay occasioned by this event was a matter of vital
importance to the Jacobite cause; for it had enabled King James to make
more ample preparations for the opening campaign, and saved Dublin,
which, up to that time, could have made but slight resistance, if any,
to the veteran army of Schomberg.
Knowing, through his English agents, that the earliest possible
attention of the Prince of Orange would be directed to his affairs
in Ireland, King James was now making active preparations. While the
levies lately made were undergoing that hasty discipline which the duty
of the hour made obligatory, he sent Tyrconnell to the French court to
solicit the assistance so long promised, and so unaccountably delayed.
Men there were at his call for any purpose, and to any amount, but he
lacked money, small-arms, artillery--in short, every thing that could
render their service available. Through the exertions of Tyrconnell, a
French contingent was immediately put in readiness, and, towards the
end of April, a force of six thousand men, with a park of artillery,
consisting of ten pieces, under the command of the Duc de Lausun,
arrived in Ireland. But this was the extent of the French king's
bounty, for the money, clothing, provisions and arms, on which James
had calculated so long, and which alone could enable him to put the
requisite number of troops into the field, were still withheld. Had
the troops now sent been of the regular French army, and given in good
faith, they would have been a great acquisition to King James. But the
French king did not allow his generosity to outrun his discretion. He
was then engaged in a war with the allies, which severely taxed the
population of his own kingdom, and so the troops sent to Ireland were
a heterogeneous body consisting of French Huguenots, Germans, and even
English Protestants, taken prisoners on the Continent, and offered
pardon on condition that they would serve under the standard of King
James. It is said that at least one-third of de Lausun's force was so
constituted, and of this, the number of desertions that took place
while they remained in Ireland, and the unwilling service performed by
the rest, would afford ample corroboration. Nor were the discordant
elements of which this force was composed, nor its want of devotion
to the Irish cause, nor the eccentricities of its general, the only
drawbacks consequent on this accession. Ireland had been represented,
as indeed it would seem to be, inexhaustible in men who wanted but
arms and discipline to become excellent soldiers. Louis wanted men
at the time, and, taking advantage of this information, stipulated
for an equivalent to the force which he sent over with de Lausun. On
the other hand, King James thought that he would engage the French
king and nation more earnestly in his cause, by the introduction of
French troops into Ireland, and, as a matter of course, the terms were
accepted. All things considered, it did not seem an unwise act, and
might even be an advantage to his cause, had he not been as poor a
diplomatist as he had lately proved himself a statesman. Any number of
armed men would have been better than the same number without arms; and
'tis said that it was optional with him to send his equivalent either
in disciplined soldiers or in raw recruits. But his pride prevailed
over his judgment; and, perhaps ashamed to make a poor display in the
eyes of the French king and people, he resolved to send over Lord
Mountcashel and his command in exchange. This general, who had escaped
from Enniskillen in December, was now at the head of six thousand
troops, designated by the annalists of the period as "the flower of the
Irish army," and had all seen service in the events of the preceding
years. They were accordingly marched to Cork, where, embarking on
board the fleet of Chateaurenaud, which brought over the brigade of de
Lausun, they bade adieu to their own country, and arrived in France
early in May.
We therefore hear no more of Mountcashel in the last struggle for
the liberty of his country; but his name was occasionally borne from
another land, in whose service he fought and bled, like the gallant men
so soon to follow. During the remaining year, he received an accession
of four thousand troops to swell this force, which formed the nucleus
of that "brigade," still the theme of the warrior and poet, but who
have left no other memorial to Ireland than their wrongs, and their
reckless valor in foreign lands. The year after his arrival in France,
Mountcashel, while fighting against the allies in Savoy, received a
wound from the effects of which he subsequently died at Barège, in the
Hautes Pyrénées, and the highest military honors were decreed by the
French king to his memory.
The Convention Parliament of England had been dissolved on the 6th of
February, and a new one, more in the interest of William, had been
convened in March. To this Parliament he signified his intention of
taking the command of the forces in Ireland. The proposition was highly
satisfactory, and a supply of £1,200,000 was granted him for that
purpose; a presentation of £100,000 was also voted to Marshal, the Duke
de Schomberg; and large supplies of provisions, clothing and military
stores were soon got in requisition.
The report that de Lausun had landed in Ireland with a French army,
tended to hasten these preparations, and to swell the proportions of
the designed armament. Pending the prince's departure, large bodies
of English troops were shipped to the garrisons of Ulster, and as
Schomberg had expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of his English
and Anglo-Irish troops in the field, a new army, consisting of foreign
adventurers--Dutch Danes, Scandinavians, Swiss, and French Huguenots;
some, no doubt, induced by religious fanaticism, but many by the higher
pay in the English army, and the promise of subsequent plunder, flocked
to his standard. On the 6th of June, William's grand park of artillery
and ordnance stores arrived at Carrickfergus, and on the 14th he
himself, accompanied by Prince George of Denmark, the Prince of Hesse
Darmstadt, the Dukes of Ormond and Wortemberg, the Earls of Oxford,
Portland and Scarborough, Generals Mackey and Douglas, and other
notables, arrived and proceeded to Lisburn, where Schomberg had awaited
his arrival since the fall of Charlemont.
No sooner was the news of William's arrival spread abroad, than the
clergymen of the Established Church, and the Presbyters and dissenting
clergy of all denominations, waited on him, proffering him their
allegiance, and embarrassing him with fulsome addresses, indicative
of all they had done and would do for the advancement of religion
and the eradication of "popery."[23] William, though impatient of
delay, received them with grave respect, if not with cordiality. The
gentlemen of the establishment were simply told that "he would take
care of them," while large sums of money were distributed among the
dissenting teachers of the northern province, indicating that, as
they had already done more for the cause, more was expected under the
government about to be established for their behest. The men of the
establishment retired not over-pleased with their new master, and
the Covenanters, thanking God that they had a country to sell, and a
religion to trade in, also took their departure, and William addressed
himself to the real object of his mission; for, as he expressed it, "he
did not come into Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet." This
was a significant hint to the Duke of Schomberg, that he had fallen
under his displeasure through his tardy movements since he came to the
country. It was so received by that old veteran, and an estrangement,
never after reconciled, was the consequence. The days of Schomberg were
nearly numbered; but, short as they were, they were embittered by the
ingratitude of the prince in whose service he had spent the better part
of an eventful life.
The available force of William in Ireland now numbered over sixty
thousand effective men. There were none of these who had not seen
active service, and by far the greater portion were veterans long
inured to continental warfare. The "Thirty Years' War," which has left
its impress on the nations of Europe, down to the present day, had sent
afloat a swarm of military adventurers ready for any cause that could
offer fame or reward; and to England they flocked as the best market
for their services. From this force he selected an army of 38,000 or
40,000 men, and, placing the remainder in the garrisons of Ulster, he
struck his tents and turned his steps towards the Irish capital.
If we except those bands of Rapparees that traversed the country at
large, and levied on it in the name of the king, or for their own
support, the Jacobite force, according to the highest estimate, was
now but 30,000 men. And taking into consideration the long sweep of
coast from Dublin round by the south and west to Galway, and the
defences of the Shannon from Lanesborough to Limerick, there could
not have been then in garrison less than 10,000. This would leave him
an available force for active service of about 20,000, and of these
6,000 were French, the only well-appointed infantry in the service; and
about 9,000 Irish infantry, indifferently armed with muskets and short
pikes; but the cavalry were a superb body, long inured to service under
Hamilton, Berwick, and Sarsfield, and numbered about 5,000 men. When
with these is taken into consideration a train of twelve field-pieces,
lately brought over from France by the Duke de Lausun, the reader will
have a reliable estimate of the force which King James now assembled to
dispute the possession of the country with the Prince of Orange.
On the 16th of June King James arrived at Castletown-Bellew, near
Dundalk, where part of his army occupied an advanced position under the
command of M. Girardin, a French officer; and thither also the rest
of his forces soon repaired from their winter-quarters at Drogheda.
Here, drawn up on the heights, behind a river, with their right resting
towards Dundalk and the lowlands, where Schomberg had passed the
preceding winter, stretching before them to the north, they awaited the
appearance of the enemy.
From the 16th to the 22d William was at Newry and James at Dundalk,
each awaiting the arrival of his artillery. While the main armies
stood thus, almost in sight of each other, several skirmishes occurred
between the pickets thrown forward on both sides, in one of which
Colonel Dempsey, with two companies of his own regiment, encountered
200 foot and 60 horse of the enemy, only six of whom escaped; but the
gallant colonel himself received a wound of which he died a few days
after. This incident raised the spirit of the troops to a high pitch,
and made them eager for a battle; and the king himself, much elated
by the event, determined to abide the enemy in his present position.
But the Irish leaders were not so favorably impressed, either with
the condition of the troops, or the position which they occupied,
and endeavored to dissuade the king from risking a battle under such
disadvantages. They again urged him to abandon the capital, and to fall
back on the defences of the Shannon, where, by instituting a desultory
system of warfare, he could keep William in check until the winter set
in, when, by the promised assistance from France, they could render
his campaign as inglorious as that of Schomberg had been in the last.
Every argument that could favor such a course was urged, and all the
circumstances by which he was surrounded seemed to point it out as
the best that could be adopted. A fleet was fitting out in France, of
which his earnest friend, M. de Seignelay, would have command; a few
days more would see it afloat, and on its way to destroy the fleet
and transports of William around the coast of Ireland: it would also
bring arms and ammunition in abundance, and by winter a powerful and
well-disciplined army would be ready to take the field. These and
many other arguments were urged, but all in vain. The king would not
relinquish the capital without striking a blow for it; he became all at
once as bold and intrepid as he had hitherto been weak and temporizing;
rejected their remonstrance, and determined to risk all on a single
battle.
This he tells in his memoirs, written several years later, and it is
but just that his reasons for disagreeing, which are not wanting in
plausibility, should be placed beside those of the generals. He held
that the loss of the capital would end whatever prestige his name had
with the French king; that it would entirely alienate the Protestants
of Ireland; that it would throw the provinces of Leinster and Munster
completely open to William, while he would be confined to one province,
the smallest and poorest in the kingdom; and that his final defeat,
though it might be protracted for a time, would be eventually certain.
But, whatever were the merits of the different views, is now but
speculation;--the king remained persistent.
On the 23d, William's artillery having arrived, he moved forward. The
same day King James retired to Ardee, where he was met by his train,
and drew up in a strong position in the direct route between William
and the capital. William, still advancing, crossed the mountains
between Newry and Dundalk, and, observing the situation of the Irish
army, divided his own into two bodies for the purpose of flanking it,
or forcing it into the plain, where his great numerical superiority
would render victory certain. Seeing this, King James continued
gradually to fall back; on the 29th, he crossed the Boyne, at Drogheda,
and, drawing up his army on the heights of Donore, overlooking that
river, he there awaited the enemy.