THE BATTLE OF AUGHRIM.
'Twas five o'clock on the morning of July 12th, 1691. A heavy fog
obscured the rising sun, and passed like a moving curtain along the
hills that separated the adverse armies now preparing for the stern
arbitrament of battle. What a chaos of human feeling surged and swayed
beneath it! On the one side, the love of home, kindred, and country,
and the memories that come of ages of persecution; on the other, that
of power, plunder, and confiscation, and the wantonness that exalts
vice into virtue, and deifies usurpation. The maintenance of legitimate
right, and the establishment of perfect civil and religious liberty,
called forth the royal army, and marked its footsteps from the advent
of this war to its close. An unnatural usurpation, and the ambition
to dominate in matters civil and religious, heralded the other, and
its course was marked by cruelty and proscription. Their causes were
markedly dissimilar, and of the spirit which impelled them to battle,
each army, in its various gradations, was a fair representative.
At early dawn, Ginckle, who induced the battle, was moving his men
across the river, and forming them, according to prearrangement, on a
level ground about a mile to the west of it, leaving still a span of
two miles between him and his adversary. This was effected by eight
o'clock, but an advance was suspended, owing to the heavy fog that
lay over the hills, and rendered the manoeuvring of his army in the
vicinity of the foe both troublesome and hazardous.
As the line in which it was now drawn up, was that in which it entered
the field of Aughrim, and which it preserved through the action,
until forced to re-form after a series of futile assaults against the
Irish right, it is here particularly described, in order to avoid
disconnecting repetition hereafter.
Two parallel lines, somewhat over two miles in length, a considerable
distance apart, arranged in four divisions, each consisting of a
front and rear line under the command of its respective brigade and
regimental commanders, constituted his entire army and array of battle.
Beginning at the northern or right flank, and passing to the left, each
division, front and rear, stood in the order following:[71]
FIRST DIVISION, front:--Levison, Winn, Oxford, Langster,
Ruvigny, and Villers; rear:--Cunningham, Winn, Lanier, Wolseley, and
Byerly. The front line of this division was under the command of
Lieutenant-General Scravenmore and Brigadier Villers, and its rear
under that of Major-General Ruvigny and Brigadier Levison.
THE SECOND DIVISION, front, presents the regiments of Kirke,
Gustavus Hamilton, Herbert, Lord George Hamilton, Foulke, Bellasis, and
Brewer; and its rear those of Stuart, Earle, Tiffin, St. John, Lisburn,
and Meath; the former commanded by Major-General Mackay and Brigadier
Bellasis, and the latter by Major-General Talmash and Brigadier
Stuart.[72]
THE THIRD DIVISION, front:--La Mellioneire, Du Cambon,
Belcastle, Greben, Danish, Danish, Danish; rear:--Nassau, Lloyd,
Prince of Hesse, Lord Cutts, Danish, Danish, Danish.[73] It is scarcely
necessary to remark that the troops of this division were all foreign,
being composed of Danes and Huguenots; the front line under the
direction of Major-General Tettau and Brigadier La Mellioneire, and
the rear under that of Major-General Count Nassau and the Prince of
Hesse--a Brigadier.
THE FOURTH DIVISION:--Nearly all foreign too, stood in this
order; front:--La Forrest, Schested, Donop, Doncour, Monpouillon, and
Eppinger; rear:--Schack, Nienhouse, Zulistein, Reedefel, Ginckle, and
Eppinger; the former under Major-General La Forrest and Brigadier
Eppinger, and the latter under Major-General Holstaple and Brigadier
Schack.--The whole was under the command of Lieutenant-General Ginckle,
now Earl of Athlone,[74] and the Prince, or Duke, of Wurtemberg.
Of this long array of names, none represented less than a regiment,
while many of them stood in front of a brigade. For instance: Ruvigny's
place represents two regiments; Cunningham's two; Stuart's three;
Wolseley's four; Brigadier Ginckle's two; Eppinger's two; and so on
to between sixty and seventy regiments. And taking the lower number,
sixty, and averaging the horse and foot at 500 [75] to a regiment, we
deduce a force that cannot, by any legitimate computation, be set down
at less than 30,000 men.
Of Ginckle's artillery perhaps no accurate estimate can now be
given,--some historians rating it at over thirty pieces, and others
as low as twelve; while Story, who was present at the battle, is
unaccountably silent on the subject. This, however, is well attested
by all:--that at Ballymore, before his battering-train arrived, he
had eighteen field-pieces and three mortars; that at Ballyburn he
was joined by Wurtemberg and Nassau, with a force of seven or eight
thousand men, who, from the important positions held by them through
the winter, must have had a park of artillery not less than eight
pieces. And that the number was further increased after the siege of
Athlone by four of the captured guns, which were mounted on carriages
and taken to Aughrim. From the beginning to the end of the war he had
cannon at will; and this is beyond a doubt:--that while he might have
had over forty pieces, he had certainly not under thirty; and with this
immense train, and an array of 30,000 men, computed at 23,000 foot and
7,000 horse, he stood between Garbally and Liscappel, awaiting but a
favorable moment to advance on his expectant adversary.
It was really a formidable host, and wholly composed of veterans, both
officers and men: of Dutch, Danes, and Prussians, who had seen service
on many a continental battle-field; of French Huguenots, whose bravery
is generally conceded, and whose undying hatred of their own sovereign,
rendered that service the most acceptable which was found under his
most deadly enemies; of Scotch, whose native hardihood is proverbial;
of English veterans, who, while well fed, are not wanting in many of
the soldierly qualities; and of Irish Protestants, now well inured
to war, and who, if not the most brave, were certainly not the least
zealous, for to them were chiefly to appertain the lands and livings of
the country, which had now, even more than liberty or religion, become
the wager of battle. With perfect harmony in his councils; with an army
which, for numbers, appointments, and appliances combined, was never
equalled in the country since its first invasion; with the prestige of
a recent victory, and excited to the highest enthusiasm that promised
reward or religious frenzy could inspire; Ginckle now approached that
field whereon was to be decided the destiny of three kingdoms, the fate
of one of the oldest dynasties of Europe, and the liberty or thraldom
of a race coeval with European history.
On the other hand, the scene passing in the Irish camp, while no less
inspiring, was highly characteristic of the people and the cause they
advocated. 'Twas the dawn of the Sabbath morning, and its advent was
solemnized by those religious observances, the preparations for which
had been made through the preceding night. And those ceremonies being
ended, the troops were drawn out in the same order of battle in which
they had, for the last two days, been awaiting the arrival of the
enemy. As they stood in their mingled uniforms of red and green, with
colors advanced, and their old battle-flag, bearing the emblem of an
early civilization, and standing out above the long line of tents that
formed the background, they made a most gallant show, which the import
of the hour and the associations of the day and place rendered deeply
solemn and impressive. In this order they remained through the early
hours, the deep calm of determination settled over all; but as the
morning advanced the silence was at length disturbed by the stirring
notes of preparation. The shrill tones of the trumpet sounded along
the hill, and was followed by a long roll of drums, when St. Ruth,
equipped in a splendid uniform, and bearing "a snow-white plume in his
hat," rode along the lines, and in a few impassioned words impressed
on all the significance of his address on the preceding day, to which
the chaplains added their exhortations and appeals, that touched the
springs of many a harrowing and many a hallowed memory. The effect
was electric. The history of centuries passed before them: the solemn
ceremonies they had witnessed: the attested chivalry of their leaders:
and the gallant bearing of their general, kindled the fire of heroism
in every breast; the silence was broken, acclamations loud and
prolonged rent the air, amid which, St. Ruth retiring, took post on the
crest of the hill, and, surrounded by his staff, looked eagerly for the
enemy through the passing clouds that still intercepted the two armies.
The signs of approaching conflict now multiplied rapidly, and aids were
arriving in quick succession to announce the slow but steady advance
of the foe. At eight, his right rested on Garbally, and his left on
the river of Clantuskar. At nine, his right was at Cahir, and his left
beyond the river, still preserving an unbroken front, and tending a
little southward. At ten, the Irish pickets, borne back over the last
line of intervening hills, were seen descending into the adjacent
valley, and falling back on their supports at Urrachree and Aughrim;
and at eleven, the clouds rolling away, the midday sun presented the
two armies to each other in all the stern magnificence of war! At this
sight, a shout of fierce defiance rang out from the opposing hosts, and
echoed far over the hills, when a silence more dread and impressive
than the clangor of battle settled over both, the English army still
moving measuredly forward.
Up to this moment St. Ruth had kept his whole force drawn out along the
hill, presenting an imposing front, as an invitation to the enemy; but
as Ginckle, still preserving the order indicated, commenced to descend
into the plain, the suspense of the Irish army was at last broken, the
word of command passed along the line, and all were at once in motion.
Then succeeded the rolling tramp of squadron after squadron of the
cavalry, hastening to their allotted stations, the matrosses wheeling
their guns into position, and the leaden step of the infantry, moving
down the hill and forming in their advanced trenches along its base.
The English army continued to move on until within a quarter of a mile
of the morass, when it halted, while Ginckle, who accompanied his
left wing, advanced to a steep hill over against the Irish right at
Urrachree, which enabled him to make a still closer reconnoissance than
he had made on the evening of the 10th. St. Ruth, at the same time,
took his stand on the ridge of Kilcommodon, above his centre, whence
he had a complete view of the entire English army; and thus, for some
time, each general stood scrutinizing the ranks and disposition of the
other.
'Twas as St. Ruth expected. The weight of Ginckle's army lay towards
Urrachree, and he expressed much satisfaction that he had anticipated
this movement, and had made a corresponding disposition to meet it; for
the heaviest division of his army, also rested on that side, which he
now saw was Ginckle's objective.
This pause was of short duration. It was now on to twelve o'clock,
and Ginckle seeing the absolute necessity of possessing the Pass of
Urrachree, before he could bring the weight of his left infantry
against the Irish main line in that quarter, directed his first
movement accordingly.
Two rivulets, coming from different directions on the extreme right of
the Irish army, crossed the road in front of Urrachree, and rendered
the pass at that point more difficult than the ground in front and rear
of it. Between these streams a small cavalry outpost had been stationed
by St. Ruth, rather with a view to invite than repel the enemy, and
against this point Ginckle now directed a company of Danish dragoons,
with orders to gain the pass and hold it until reinforced by the
infantry advancing from the main line for that purpose. Apprehending
no resistance from the few troops stationed there, the Danish horse
soon cleared the distance between them, and quickening their pace to a
gallop, advanced at the charge, until within a few rods, when, seeing
the Irish still maintain their position, they suddenly halted; when the
former, taking advantage of their indecision, sounded the charge, and
advanced on them at a full gallop. The Danes did not await the shock,
but, breaking in disorder, retreated off the field, notwithstanding the
efforts of their captain to rally them, and returned to the rear of
their infantry.[76]
Ginckle was deeply mortified at the unsoldierlike conduct of his Danish
horse, and in order to remedy the mischief created by it, in the
presence of his troops, Sir Albert Cunningham's dragoons, who entered
on the right of his line, were now called up to his left, and 200 of
them were ordered to advance beyond the stream, and, clearing the
ground of all minor detachments in their way, to take post behind some
hedges beyond it, make a lodgement there, and await the support of the
infantry. Those troops were reckoned the best dragoons of the British
service, and as they rode across the intervening slope of tillage, with
swords drawn, and their steel caps and cuirasses glancing through the
clouds of dust struck from the parched soil over which they passed, the
Irish felt that the battle was about to open in reality, and caught its
inspiration. As the dragoons neared the pass, where the little outpost
stood to receive them, they halted suddenly, wheeled to the left, and
took post behind a line of hedges until the front line of infantry was
seen moving across the plain to their support, when they were again
put in motion towards the pass. But during the interval, it was found
that the Irish outpost had retired to the shelter of a hill in their
rear, where, being reinforced by a company of Lord Galway's horse, they
wheeled to the front and stood to invite the charge of the enemy. But
as the British dragoons advanced across the stream, the Irish again
wheeled round and retired, with the intention of drawing them farther
from their supports. Deceived by the disparity of their force, or
encouraged by this indecisive conduct, the English horse charged on
them with great impetuosity. Passing the hill, they were saluted by a
well-directed musketry fire, under which they wavered, and, at the same
moment, the Irish battery on the right opened on the advancing files
of the English infantry. This was instantly answered by the opposing
batteries, which had now been brought into position along the whole
line, and, to the stirring responses of their artillery, the cavalry
on both sides rushed to the encounter. It was deadly and intense; the
British bore themselves gallantly, but here, as at the Boyne, they were
no match for the Irish horse, and, despite the advantage of numbers,
they were broken, after a brief but deadly struggle, and borne back
over the stream, where many of them were unhorsed and sabred, despite
the steel cap and corselet that protected them. The smoke and dust of
battle soon cleared away, when it was seen that they had relinquished
the fight, and retired as the Danish horse had done, while the Irish
cavalry stood leisurely behind the stream to invite another onset.
This discomfiture of his favorite cavalry, by less than half their
number, filled Ginckle with deep concern, and had not a less
dispiriting effect on the troops that witnessed it. The possession of
this point, according to the plan adopted, was of imperative necessity;
so, in order to carry out his design, as well as to remove the
depressing effect from the minds of his men, he now resolved to throw
forward an overwhelming force of cavalry, to clear the ground up to the
Irish main line, and make way for the heavy columns of infantry drawn
up and ready for the action. For this purpose, the whole of Sir Albert
Cunningham's dragoons were massed into charging column, and, led by
himself in person, were to be hurled against the Irish squadron at the
pass; while Eppinger, with his regiment of Royal Holland dragoons,--920
strong--was to make a flank movement, more to the right, and, by
sweeping round the hill, take them in the rear, cut them off from their
supports, and lay bare their whole right for the action of his infantry.
St. Ruth, from his position, saw with exultation the gallant conduct
of his cavalry, and, anticipating the next movement of Ginckle, now
moved down to his right to counteract it. He caused the advanced troops
to fall farther back, ordered another squadron to their support, and
gave them directions to continue a retiring movement until they should
receive the order to charge. He next ordered Lord Galway to hold his
horse, stationed behind the house of Urrachree, well in hand, until
the enemy, in passing, should receive a volley from the musketeers
within it, which was to be the signal for a simultaneous charge on both
divisions of the assailants. By this arrangement Galway's horse were
held completely out of sight until the appointed moment, while the
other detachment, which alone seemed to invite the enemy, was not such
as to awaken their apprehension.
Both of the English regiments moved briskly across the open tillage
field that led down to the stream, and crossed it without any
opposition, the Irish horse retiring according to orders, and forming
under the shelter of their main line. After crossing the stream and
entering the field beyond it, the assailants separated, Cunningham
bearing directly for the opposing cavalry, and Eppinger wheeling by
his right, scattering the few infantry pickets in his way up to the
house of Urrachree, where he again moved by his left to flank the Irish
cavalry, as directed. In passing this point he received the fire of the
Irish musketeers, which caused considerable loss, and the smoke from
which had scarcely cleared away, when he received the shock of Galway's
horse on his right flank, and recoiled in confusion. At the same moment
the other detachment closed with Cunningham's dragoons, and the entire
forces on both sides were soon mingled in deadly conflict; the English
burning to wipe out the disgrace of the previous encounters, and the
Irish to maintain the prestige of a name borne unsullied through all
the changes of this wasting war.
Along the broad plateau in front of Urrachree, hidden by the enveloping
clouds of dust and smoke, excepting at intervals that rendered the
flashing of their arms perceptible, this tumultuous mass of men and
horses rocked and swayed in all the dread clangor of small-arms
and cannon, mingled with the fierce neigh of the war steeds driven
headlong to battle. At length some squadrons of the English horse,
detaching themselves from the main body, were seen to approach the
stream, re-form, and again rush to the conflict, while the whole mass,
assailants and assailed, rolled steadily on towards the scene of the
first encounter. Ginckle beheld this sign with amazement and concern,
for he well knew its import. His troops were giving ground, and he
immediately advanced the Portland horse--480 men--under the command of
General Holstaple, to succor them, while St. Ruth, on his part, threw
in the Tyrconnell Guards, under Brigadier James Talbot, to sustain his
cavalry, and the conflict was continued with unabated fury on both
sides. Other detachments were now successively thrown in from each
side, as chance or necessity directed, until what first began in a
skirmish between outposts, absorbed nearly the entire cavalry of the
adverse wings, and, after a series of rencounters, which lasted for
over two hours, the English horse broke and fled in disorder, the Irish
horse were recalled from the pursuit, and the same little band that
had invited those successive assaults, reined up behind the stream, as
fresh and defiant as ever.
Ginckle lost heavily in those attacks. The dragoons of Eppinger and
Cunningham were decimated; the Portland Guards suffered "severely in
men and horses," and their leader, General Holstaple, with many of
his officers, was slain. The loss of the Irish, though beset by twice
their number, was insignificant. An infantry picket, stationed behind
the hill, was scattered, and had a few men sabred by the dragoons of
Eppinger; but Brigadier Talbot, one of the heroes of Limerick, in an
encounter with the Portland horse, fell, covered with many wounds.[77]
It was now past two o'clock, and the battle rested as it began, but the
prestige of success, and the spirit it infused, remained with the Irish
army.
While Ginckle had been pushing forward detachment after detachment of
his cavalry towards the Irish right at Urrachree, his own right wing
and centre had moved into position along the edge of the marsh, and
had brought their artillery to bear on the opposing lines beyond it.
Their guns were disposed in six batteries:--two on the esplanade in
front of Aughrim; two at the centre; and two against the southern slope
of Kilcommodon.[78] Here, in the order already indicated, the troops
stood observing the different changes of the battle raging within their
sight; but, as the excitement increased, their order became gradually
indistinct, until both lines mingled into one, which stood close up
to the marsh, beyond which the Irish stood prepared to receive them.
But, up to this, no movement was made by either, beyond the enfilades
of their batteries; for the Irish plan was strictly defensive, and the
enemy awaited the success of the movement on their left, which was to
be the signal for their assault. In this state of expectation the first
hour passed and the second, and still no order from the left reached
them. The successive repulses of his cavalry had shaken the fortitude
of Ginckle, and, despairing of success from a further persistence in
his present plan of attack, he drew in his troops, ordered a suspension
of hostilities, and called a council of his generals.
More favored by fortune in this particular than his adversary, the
council was his tower of refuge, and had always been attended with
happy results in the most trying emergencies. And the present was one
of those on which depended, not only the result of this day's battle,
but the success or failure of the campaign now favorably inaugurated.
To this council he represented his fears for the final issue, should
the battle be continued much longer, with the result of the last two
hours. He had directed it according to the plan stamped by their
general approval, and with that impetuosity that best suited the
condition and character of his troops. But, notwithstanding their ardor
and overwhelming odds, they had been repeatedly hurled back, with a
valor and intrepidity that had damped their enthusiasm and restored the
confidence of their opponents. As yet, the battle had been entirely
between the cavalry, in which branch of the service he outnumbered
his adversary two to one; and though all the cavalry of his right
had been drawn into it, the Irish main line had not been approached,
nor any portion of its infantry brought into action. And should he
now, at this late hour, fling the whole weight of his horse and foot
against the quarter in dispute, and even succeed, after a protracted
engagement, in reaching the Irish main right, it was more than probable
that night would close upon a suspended battle; in which case, the
advantages would be in favor of the native army, and it were hard to
divine what morning would bring forth to his own, remote from its
encampment, and in an enemy's country. Impressed with these views, and
before the council had assembled, he dispatched couriers to Ballinasloe
to order up his tents, being resolved to encamp along the valley,
opposite to Kilcommodon, for the night, and renew the battle early on
the following morning. The consultation lasted until four o'clock.
The council was divided: some being in favor of the general's plan,
and some for immediately renewing the battle; but finally, the latter
course was adopted, on the advice of Major-General Mackey. This old
veteran remarked that neither the English right or centre had yet been
engaged, and it occurred to him that by a change of disposition, and by
bringing up additional forces to the left, St. Ruth would be ultimately
compelled to weaken his left or centre, or perhaps both, to sustain
his right, when a simultaneous advance of the whole English line would
change the tenor of the battle. The age and experience of the general,
and the simple plausibility of his argument, prevailed; the order to
bring up the tents was countermanded, and preparations were accordingly
made to renew the engagement.
The British army accordingly underwent another transformation. The
cavalry, which could not cross at the centre, were posted on the right
and left wings. The left wing of infantry was further strengthened by
some fresh regiments from the right, while 12,000 infantry were massed
against the centre and inner left of the Irish line, to await the
result of Mackey's experiment.
It was half-past four o'clock, as Ginckle moved forward his left wing
of infantry, flanked on either side by his cavalry, determined to
reach the ground in front of the Irish line. As they approached the
stream which had been the scene of the previous encounters, two Danish
regiments, consisting of infantry and cavalry, deployed to the left,
along its outer margin, as if intent on turning the extreme right of
the Irish position. This, which was a feint on the part of Ginckle,
had the desired effect; for no sooner was it observed by the latter,
than a corresponding force was detached to counteract it; and, as they
continued to wear round in that direction, Ginckle hurled his main body
to the assault, across the grounds of Urrachree.
This movement on the part of the enemy determined St. Ruth no longer
to defer the battle; but by accepting his offer to confine him to the
Irish main right, and prevent any discursive movements which should
result in weakening it: so, withdrawing his cavalry, he threw forward
his infantry to his first line of defence, and awaited the enemy in
confidence. As the British advanced, their cavalry was also withdrawn,
and thus, as if by mutual agreement, the ground was completely cleared
for the action of the infantry on both sides.
The front line of the English left, consisting of the Huguenot
regiments of La Mellioneire, Cambon, and Belcastle--about 2,500
men--marched boldly across the ground, followed by the other regiments
in close succession. As they approached within range, they were met by
a deadly fire, but still they pressed on with characteristic valor,
delivered their fire in return, and were soon at close quarters along
the first line of intrenchments. The disposition made of the ground
here by St. Ruth, greatly tended to equalize the disparity of numbers,
and the Irish troops were quick to seize on every advantage that
offered; so that the enemy soon found they had to contend with men no
less daring and intrepid than themselves. Every hedge-row soon became
the scene of assault and defence. A deadly and protracted struggle now
took place; the soldiers on both sides resting their muskets on the
separating hedges, and literally discharging them into each others'
bosoms. The Irish, after defending one of those lines with the greatest
obstinacy, would suddenly retire on another, when the enemy, thus drawn
on, would find themselves at once taken in front and flank, and borne
back rapidly to the first line, where the conflict would be again
renewed and again repeated with a like result as before. This desperate
conflict raged along the right for over an hour without cessation.
Ginckle's last column had been pushed forward, and the result was still
the same;--every inch of ground won by their successive assaults, was
again disputed, and again recovered. The Huguenots suffered dreadfully.
Every advance into the inclosures thinned their ranks; and less and
less able to penetrate this wing, the battle culminated on the outer
line,--"until," says a Huguenot actor in the scene, "there remained
only one course to adopt,--which was to perish and sell our lives
dearly:" and, in this emergency, Ginckle called up two regiments of
infantry, and the cavalry of Lanier and Ruvigny from his right for the
final test of his experiment.
St. Ruth witnessed this intense struggle with varied emotions of hope
and fear. Up to this hour he entertained grave doubts of the steadiness
and discipline of his newly raised infantry. But as he saw column after
column of Ginckle's veterans hurled on them and steadily repelled, his
apprehensions were removed, and he felt and expressed a full assurance
of victory. As yet, his whole line was intact, for he had not displaced
a single man from his left or centre. But as this last reinforcement
was called up, it became manifest that Ginckle was absolutely committed
to turning his right at whatever cost, and he was at last compelled to
order some fresh infantry from his extreme left to its support.[79] This
gave Ginckle the desired opportunity, and he hastily availed himself of
it; for while these troops were marching from the left to the right,
across the hill of Kilcommodon, he ordered his centre to cross the
marsh, and assail the main position of the Irish.
The whole English infantry were now put in motion. The regiments of
Earle, Creighton, Brewer, and Herbert, sustained by those of Foulk,
Stuart, and others, were to cross at the main centre, where the marsh
was narrowest, and where the hedges approached nearest to it, to make
a lodgement in the first line, and await the support of their cavalry.
Those of St. John, Tiffin, Lord George Hamilton, the French, "and other
regiments," were to pursue a similar course against the inner left;
while the cavalry under Talmash on the right, and Lanier and Levison
on the left, were to force a passage at Aughrim and Urrachree, sweep
round the base of the hill to their support, and endeavor to bring on a
general engagement.
The regiments of Earle, Creighton, Brewer, and Herbert, moved forward,
crossed the marsh without opposition, formed on the other side, and
advanced up the sloping meadows of Kilcommodon without firing a single
shot. As they approached the first row of hedges, the Irish infantry
received them with a destructive fire, and retired on their second line
with a steadiness and precision that might have awakened suspicion of
preconcert. But the feint was taken for an actual retreat; the ardor
of the assailants was excited, and eager to avenge the fall of so
many of their comrades, they rushed forward on the second line, which
was temporarily defended, and yielded in the same manner. Exasperated
beyond endurance, they now lost all caution, and pressed hotly up the
hill until they reached the last line of hedges, where the effect of
their rashness at once became apparent. The infantry that had lured
them on by this feint retreat, now suddenly appeared on either flank,
pouring volley after volley into their devoted ranks, while above them,
on the hill-side, stood the Irish cavalry, reined back and ready for
the onset. The ground over which they had passed was difficult and
dangerous, and files of infantry lined the way down to the marsh to
intercept their retreat; no cavalry support appeared on their right,
for as yet the Pass of Aughrim had not been attempted; and on their
left, towards Urrachree, the sounds of battle seemed to recede, as if
their arms had met with a reverse in that quarter. Colonel Earle, who
took in the situation at a glance, advanced to the front, exhorting
his men that "there was no way to come off but to be brave," ordered
them to re-form, and endeavor to reach the line which they had so
imprudently abandoned. The troops, obedient to the command, halted,
closed ranks, and commenced a retrograde movement; but it was now too
late; for at the same moment the Irish cavalry charged fiercely down
the hill; and, unable to withstand the shock, they were helplessly
broken, hurled by repeated charges into the marsh, across which they
retreated in utter confusion, hotly pressed by the infantry, and borne
back to the level of their batteries.[80] Their loss was very severe.
They had advanced to the assault over 3,000 strong. One-third of that
number in killed and wounded strewed their way back. Colonel Earle,
after being captured and rescued three times, escaped severely wounded;
many officers of note were slain; and 400 soldiers, with Colonel
Herbert, remained prisoners in the hands of the victors.
While the battle stood as described on the right and centre of the
Irish line, the regiments of St. John, Tiffin, Lord George Hamilton,
some French "and other regiments," were directed against its left.
This division was led by the Prince of Hesse, and he had orders from
General Mackey, who commanded in that quarter, not to pass the first
line of hedges, but after establishing a position there to hold it
until supported by the cavalry, which, under the command of Talmash,
and supported by some regiments of infantry, were moving round towards
the extreme left of the Irish, and forming on the plateau in front of
Aughrim, with the intention of assaulting the pass leading up to it.
The strength of this position, the narrow way which led to it, and
the guns bearing across it from the hill, were such as to render the
movement slow and hazardous; and the attack of the Prince of Hesse
which depended on its result should necessarily be so regulated as
to keep time with it. Talmash drew up his command on the common, and
after directing his batteries, of which there were two, against the
opposing force of the Irish, opened a fierce cannonade, while he formed
his troops, both horse and foot, for the assault. In the mean time the
Prince of Hesse had crossed the marsh, and approached the enemy's left
on Kilcommodon. Meeting with no opposition, and scarcely apprehending
any, so closely did the Irish there lie in their trenches, he advanced
rapidly to possess the seemingly abandoned trenches, until within a
few yards of them, when their sudden appearance, and a succession of
well-directed volleys, warned him of his error. This unexpected salute
checked the onward movement of his troops, and for a time they wavered
as if about to retreat. But the ardor of the impetuous Prince being
excited, he rallied them again, and under his order to charge, they
rushed forward with increased fury and entered the lines of the enemy.
This afforded the latter the opportunity sought, and no sooner had the
assailants advanced to a proper distance, than they were taken front
and flank, turned, as at the centre, and driven back on their supports,
now being pushed eagerly forward by General Mackey, who, after several
attempts to check their retreat, dispatched orders to Talmash to
suspend his assault on the Pass of Aughrim, and lead back the infantry
to the support of his broken division. Under this order fresh succors
were deployed from the English right, but Talmash himself, unwilling
to abandon his design, remained with his cavalry and a portion of the
infantry, to carry out his projected attack.
The assault against the inner left of the Irish line was now renewed,
that against the extreme left was begun, and the contest raged along
the whole left with the utmost obstinacy, assailants and assailed
being so completely "enveloped in dust and smoke as to be invisible to
the bystanders." At length, after nearly an hour of the most intense
excitement, during which the intermingled mass rolled with varied
success across the fallow-fields between the hedges and the marsh, the
English broke and fled across it to the protection of their guns, one
regiment alone, of all that crossed to the attack, holding a position
in the hedges, near the extreme left, whence the Irish troops had been
withdrawn, and even this was in imminent danger of total destruction.
It was now near sunset, and the shadows began to deepen over the scene
of conflict, when St. Ruth, from the ridge of Kilcommodon, surveyed the
situation beneath him. On his right, where the battle commenced, the
successive assaults of the enemy had been broken and repelled; from
being assailants they had become the assailed; and driven far back
from his outer line, had thrown up temporary intrenchments, behind
which they continued to return the fire of his infantry, while they
endeavored to withstand the repeated charges of his cavalry, careering
on their flanks. On his centre he was completely victorious. The
terrible repulse of the enemy's infantry there, and their consequent
loss, had filled them with consternation and dismay, and though heavily
reinforced, and urged forward with every threat and suasion of command,
they could not be brought to attempt a second assault, but stood, a
discomfited and disheartened host, under the shelter of their cannon,
which alone disturbed his line in that direction. On his inner left
the sight was no less inspiriting. There, the columns under the Prince
of Hesse, after being, for the third time, bloodily repulsed, were
floundering back through the morass in utter disorder, though Mackey
stood on its outer edge, urging forward still fresh arrivals from the
right, and doing all that a brave and intrepid soldier could do to
retrieve an apparently lost battle. From the first, Ginckle's chances
of success depended on his ability to turn the Irish right, or to
bring on a general engagement along the whole line, when the immense
numerical superiority of his army, with its proud array of field
officers, could scarcely fail of success. To this end, all the energies
of his mind, and all the resources at his disposal had been constantly
directed; but, up to this hour, all had signally failed. Favored by
the happy disposition which he had made of his ground, St. Ruth had so
handled his army as to disconcert every attack, and defeat his enemy
in detail. Everywhere he had cause to fear that the least inadvertence
would be fatal, yet every thing moved with precision, every plan
answered his expectations, and now, at every point, he stood secure
and successful. His cavalry had sustained its wonted reputation, had
borne down every opposition throughout the day, and its reserve stood
fresh and eager, within immediate support of the only point undecided.
His infantry, which had sustained the brunt of the battle, since its
renewal after the early cavalry rencounters, stood now, on all hands,
firm, defiant, and victorious. Two thousand three hundred of the enemy
strewed the valley from Aughrim to Urrachree, while, up to this moment,
his loss was quite insignificant. Victory seemed completely within his
grasp; a grand future opened before him, and, perhaps, wrapt in one of
those bright visions that sweep the mind on the wing of thought:--a
people freed; a kingdom restored to its legitimate sway, and his own
sovereign rendering him the meed of glorious service; he doffed his hat
to those around him, and exclaimed in the ardor of enthusiasm:--"Now,
my children, we will beat them back to the gates of Dublin."[81]--words
which, though not realized, are worthy of grateful commemoration,
indicative at once of a patriarchal spirit, and an exalted heroism.
Through all, the activity of the opposing generals was incessant.
Ginckle was everywhere, aiding and animating his men, and sharing the
danger and fatigue of the private soldier. On the other hand, St. Ruth
had followed every movement of the battle, and was found at every point
where aid or encouragement demanded his presence. Two horses had broken
down under him during the fatigues of this eventful day; and now,
mounting a third, a powerful gray, which stood ready to his call, he
rode down to the left, to congratulate his infantry on their victory in
that quarter. Here he beheld the last regiment of the enemy's infantry,
abandoned to their fate, afraid to attempt a retreat across the marsh,
and defending their temporary lodgement with the last efforts of
despair. Dismounting from his horse, he approached the gunners, and
with his own hand giving direction to one of the three guns bearing on
the enemy's lines, returned to his staff, and remounted. His attention
was then directed to the movements of Talmash, who, at the head of
the English cavalry, and supported by a compact body of infantry, was
approaching along the defile that opened up to the village and castle
of Aughrim. Inquiring casually what the enemy meant by moving in that
direction, he was answered that they intended to force the Pass and
succor their infantry beneath him. "_Then_," said he, "_we have won
the battle_." Considering the difficulties to be encountered, and
the force stationed there, he deemed their destruction certain; and,
after watching their steady advance for some time, he exclaimed with
mingled feelings of admiration and pity:--"_They are brave, 'tis a
pity they should be so exposed!_" Then forming his guards to charge
down the hill, and dispatching orders to call up his reserve of
cavalry to confront the force of Talmash, he addressed his staff, now
ranged around him, saying:--"_They are beaten, let us beat them to the
purpose!_" They were his last words,--for scarcely were they uttered,
when his head was shattered by a cannonball, and he lay a corpse on
the hill of Kilcommodon, while his horse ran wild and riderless across
the plain! Amazement seized on all around him. The cavalry arrived
and halted on the hill-side. His attendants approached, threw a cloak
over the body, and bore it to the rear, whither it was followed by his
guards and the members of his staff. The charge that was to decide
the battle was suspended. The Irish infantry, unaware of the death
of their general, still held their ground. The cavalry stood waiting
the order to charge, and nothing was wanting to complete the victory
but that expected word; but it never came. Meanwhile, Talmash beheld
the confusion and the hesitancy of the Irish troops on the hill, and
auguring that something was going wrong there, pushed on with greater
rapidity. The fire from the Irish lines and the castle opened on him,
and twice he was repulsed, but still renewed his efforts. It was now
the crisis of the day, and so was it felt by assailants and assailed.
Colonel Burke, who had command in that quarter, pressed the enemy
closely and successfully. The cavalry were held in check, and unable
to advance; but the English infantry, moving along the northern margin
of the marsh, began to break through in battalions and companies. They
too were checked, and for some time held immovable. At this trying
moment Burke found that his supply of musket-balls was exhausted,
and a fresh supply was urgently demanded. It arrived; it was opened;
but by some fatal blunder, or treacherous design, it was found that
cannonball had been sent instead of those demanded.[82] The effect is
easily foreseen. The soldiers still fought as men seldom fight. They
exhausted their last shot, and all means being gone, they cut the
round buttons from their coats, fired them, and discharged even their
ramrods at the enemy, and then in rage and despair stood to offer their
bodies as a last resistance, and died fighting where they stood. The
Pass was carried; the castle grounds were gained and barriers thrown
up there to impede the Irish cavalry, while Talmash, after passing the
defile, moved round by his left, and succored his devoted soldiers.
The English infantry at the centre now crossed the marsh in force and
formed to carry the left and centre. At this sight a wild and piercing
cry of "_treason_" rang along the Irish lines. The infantry was left
to struggle alone, and the cavalry, without a commander, retired to
the crest of the hill and formed for a last effort to redeem the day.
It was useless. The infantry did all that men could do, and disputed
every inch of the ground up to their camp, where, they made a last
desperate stand, until surrounded by horse and foot of the enemy, when
they broke, and, under the protection of their cavalry, retreated off
the field. The left and centre of the Irish army being carried, the
enemy turned their attention to the right, which, ignorant of what
had passed, still pressed the foe beyond their lines, and were still
victorious. But being now surrounded on all sides, and attacked front
and rear, they were overwhelmed and literally cut to pieces; nearly all
the infantry on that side being slaughtered where they stood.
The castle of Aughrim, which withstood the assailants long after
the Pass was carried, was at length taken, and all within it put
to the sword. Night closed over the scene of carnage. The Irish
cavalry baffled in their design to support the infantry, which became
intermingled with the horse and foot of the enemy, after aiding some
time in the retreat, withdrew to the south-west and pursued their
route to Loughrea, while the infantry crossed the bog to the west,
and moved in the direction of Galway. The retreat of these portions
of the army was regular and unbroken; but the fugitives were cut down
without mercy; their cry for quarter was totally disregarded: and the
slaughter of the straggling bands continued far into the night. In this
butchery the Danish troops were conspicuous. Remarkable through the
day only for pusillanimity, they became the "best pursuers," through
the night, until a fortuitous circumstance put an end to the pursuit.
While despairing and resistless they fled from the field which they
maintained to the last, an Irish drum-major, who was lying wounded by
the wayside, was ordered by the almoner of a regiment, named O'Reilly,
to beat the charge. It was done, and on hearing it the pursuers halted,
and believing the Irish about to rally, retired to the main body,
and the vanquished pursued their retreat unmolested. Thus ended the
disastrous day of Aughrim. Up to the death of St. Ruth, no pending
battle was ever more prophetic of victory. After it none was ever so
unaccountably lost in the presence of numerous officers of experience
and ability. It would seem as if fortune held the balance of the day,
to elicit deeds of unexampled heroism, and inverted it in the hour of
victory to maintain her proverbial fickleness.
The loss of the British in private soldiers was 2,300; in
addition to this, 200 officers of all grades were wounded, and
seventy-three killed, including among them one major-general and
five colonels--making in all nearly 3,000. The loss of the Irish as
estimated by the victors was 7,000, including their commander-in-chief,
and seventeen generals and officers of the highest distinction. The
number of officers of subaltern rank was great, and far exceeded those
of the enemy.[83] The spoil of the victors included all the guns and
camp equipage of the vanquished; and their trophies, eleven standards
and thirty-two pair of colors, were immediately borne to London by "my
Lord O'Bryan, as a present to her majesty," the Prince of Orange being
then on the Continent.
The next day Ginckle encamped on the heights of Kilcommodon and buried
his dead. The Irish slain, who strewed the hill and lay scattered over
the country for miles, were stripped and left unburied, to be "devoured
by the wild dogs and birds of prey." The country people fled the
vicinity of the British army, and retired to the woods and mountains
as their only refuge. The body of St. Ruth, according to the English
annalist, was stripped and thrown into a bog. A more recent and better
authority says, that "by tradition well attested, his ashes lie in the
roofless church of Athunree, beside those of Lord Galway, who fell upon
the same field of battle." There is, however, reason to doubt both, and
the writer is aware that the people of the locality where the battle
was fought, directed by tradition, point to a few stunted white thorns,
to the west of the hill, towards Loughrea, beneath which, they say,
rest the ashes of this great but unfortunate general.
It is painful to speculate on the cause that left the Irish army
without direction after the death of St. Ruth. Many have endeavored to
explain it, but all--as well those who doubt Sarsfield's presence on
the field, as those who maintain the contrary,--are lost in conjecture,
and none who participated in the battle and survived it, has placed
the matter beyond speculation. So leaving that point as time has
left it, what appears most strange in the connection, is the absence
of all command at such a conjuncture. The disposition of the Irish
troops, though dexterous, was simple. The day was all but won. The
foiling of Talmash would have been the completion of victory. A force
sufficient was on his front; a reserve more than ample to overwhelm
him was on its way to the ground--nay, drawn up and even ready for
the word. The few British troops that held a lodgement in the hedges
at the base of the hill, were completely at the mercy of those above
them. It required no omniscient eye to see this, nor a voice from the
clouds to impel them forward, and surely no military etiquette weighed
a feather in opposition to the fate of a nation. Any officer of note
could have directed the movement, and many of experience and approved
courage witnessed the crisis. Yet in this emergency, all the hard-won
laurels of the day were tarnished, and land and liberty were lost by
default! Nor can the rashness of St. Ruth, his reticence as to his
plans, his misunderstanding with Sarsfield, nor the absence of the
latter, justify the want of intrepid action among those present. This
stands unexplained and inexplicable, nor will the flippant appeal to
Providence, whose ways are too frequently offered as an excuse for
human misconduct, answer here. The want of ammunition at such a moment,
was, no doubt, of some import, but the concurrence of events too
plainly indicates that Aughrim was won by the skill of St. Ruth and the
gallantry of his troops, and that it was lost through want of decision
in his general officers, at a moment the most critical in the nation's
history.
But time passed on. Galway surrendered on honorable terms after an
exchange of hostages. The passes of the Shannon were abandoned one by
one down to Limerick, where the final stand was made, during which
Tyrconnel, after years of faithful service, "died apparently of a
broken heart." The city, though twice betrayed by General Clifford,
made a most gallant defence, and its surrender wrested a treaty from
the enemy, as glorious to its defenders, as its violation was infamous
to the victors.--O retributive justice, how slow is thy finger on the
dial!
FOOTNOTES
[1] Mitchell's Life of Hugh O'Neil, pp. 236, 237.
[2] Mitchell's Hugh O'Neil, p. 241.
[3] For a further insight to the court intrigue of that period, the
reader is referred to the Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick, vol. i., pp.
20 to 30.
[4] The Popular History of Ireland, vol. ii., p. 571.
[5] There is a very fine engraving of him given in the second volume of
Story's Impartial History.
[6] Dolby's History of Ireland.
[7] See Barrington's Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation.
[8] Popular History of Ireland, vol. ii, p. 572.
[9] It is necessary to remark that Taylor, who relates this incident,
confounds the name of Galmoy with Galway. They were two distinct
characters: the latter, whose family patronymic was Burke, was killed
at Aughrim; the former accompanied the "Brigade" to France. His family
name was Butler.
[10] March 24th, 1689.
[11] The Student's Hume, page 550. More than one hundred thousand were
on foot, and he found himself compelled to disband the greater part of
them.
[12] The Duke of Berwick was then in his nineteenth year, having been
born on the 21st of August, 1670. He had already been raised to the
rank of major-general by the Emperor of Austria, for honorable service
under the great Duke of Lorrain; he was a son of James II., and nephew
of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough.
[13] Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick, page 50, vol. i.
[14] This is the present name of the position then occupied by
Hamilton, and seems to have been since given it, in consequence of the
"Boom" that was there thrown across the river to prevent the ships of
William from ascending it.
[15] Popular History of Ireland, vol. ii, p. 557.
[16] Taylor characterizes this act as _monstrous_; yet, when were such
liberal terms accorded by an English king to Catholic rebels?
[17] Vol. ii., page 108.--These troubles commenced while James was yet
on the English throne.
[18] There is reason to think that this force is overestimated by about
3,000 men, but there is no actual authority to deny its accuracy.
The numbers are taken from the Memoirs of King James, who bases his
statement on the report of Southerland.
[19] This must have been Sarsfield's command, for, though it is not so
stated in the Memoirs, the contiguity of Trellick to Omagh, to which
place Sarsfield had been ordered by de Rosen, would indicate it.
[20] A name of unenviable notoriety in the history of those times.
Hume, at page 526 of his History of England, alluding to the severity
of Lord Feversham in suppressing the rebellion of Monmouth, says: "He
was outdone by Kirke, a soldier of fortune, who had long served at
Tangiers, and had contracted from his intercourse with the Moors, an
inhumanity less known in European and free countries." His cruelty in
Ireland has become proverbial as that of Cromwell. There he became as
distinguished for torturing the loyal subjects of the king, as he had
previously been in persecuting the followers of Monmouth.
[21] Vol. II., page 137.
[22] Taylor adds, that "they never hesitated to encounter any odds,
however unequal." But, in no place throughout the whole course of the
war, did they meet an equal number of the royal troops in the field.
It may be asked, as pertinent to the point, What had become of the
militia--from fifteen to twenty thousand--disbanded by Tyrconnell
in 1686? They were surely not in the Jacobite army, nor is it to be
believed that they were idle spectators. They were in the army of
William; and as to _their_ discipline, it was that of the English army
of that day.
[23] Addresses of the same import were presented to James on his
arrival, by the established clergy. But Taylor says their addresses to
William were "probably more sincere," and instances this fact:--"James
was regularly prayed for by all the churches within his lines. When
William advanced his name was substituted, and when he retreated, his
rival again became 'our most religious and gracious king.'"--Vol. ii.,
p. 145.
[24] The many conflicting statements of this trifling affair are
set at rest by a letter which may be seen in the Dublin _Nation_
for May, 1865. It was written by Lord Meath--who was present at the
battle,--is dated July 5, 1690, and is a rare specimen of epistolary
correspondence. Enlarging on the affair, Pinnock, in his Catechism of
Irish History, says: "Burke, an Irish gunner, having grazed the arm of
William with a cannon-shot, and having taken a fresh aim, on which he
might depend, James desired him 'not to make his child a widow.' It
is also asserted, and with apparent truth, that having seen his own
troops overcoming those of William, he cried out repeatedly: 'O spare
my unfortunate subjects!' and having turned the tide of battle against
himself, by gross mismanagement, he fled precipitately to Dublin,
leaving his Irish subjects behind him." Inadequate artillery, and gross
mismanagement on the part of the king, were, no doubt, the causes of
the final result of the battle; but such exclamations, even by this
"most Christian king," would be either too saintly or too infamous, and
on his own authority the statement is here rejected. It was he himself
that ordered the battery down to fire at William. (See Berwick's
Memoirs, vol. ix., p. 396.)
[25] Caillemotte was a brother of General Ruvigney, and Count Schomberg
was a son of the duke of that name.
[26] Seeing the superiority of William, in numbers and artillery, he
was now as eager to avoid as he had been before to court a battle.
The French generals also wished to decline an engagement. The Irish
declared themselves ready to fight. Under these circumstances, a kind
of half-measure was adopted. It was determined to hazard a partial
battle, and to retreat without risking a general engagement. To this
strange determination James, in all probability, owed the loss of his
kingdom.--(Taylor, vol. ii., p. 148.)
[27] Nial-Caille, the last monarch of Ireland, of the house of O'Neil,
after having defeated the Danes and Normans in several engagements, was
drowned in the river Callan in Kilkenny, while engaged in raising the
country for their total expulsion. One of his attendants having fallen
into the river, he was trying to save him, and in the attempt lost his
own life. The crown of sovereignty passed from the house of O'Neil,
and it was not until the reign of Bryan, more than a century after,
that the Danes were finally extirpated.--(See McGeoghagen's History of
Ireland.)
[28] On seeing this, the king gave orders for his left to move in
the same direction, and sent the remainder of the baggage to Dublin.
(Memoirs of Berwick, p. 397, vol. i.)
[29] The water at this time was low, not reaching the drums of the
band, which accompanied them.--(Haverty's History.)
[30] This force actually arrived next day, and narrowly escaped being
captured by the victors. Two of them were taken and hanged as spies,
and the rest retired after the Irish army. Had these been in the
battle, the Irish army would have been twenty-three thousand, according
with the estimate of the Duke of Berwick.
[31] Taylor, after commenting in indignant terms on this conduct of the
Enniskilleners, adds: "Their apologists say that they misunderstood
their orders, and returned again. However this may be, it is certain
that William, ever after, viewed this part of his force with contempt,
not unmingled with hatred." (Vol. II., page 151.)
[32] Sir Jno. Hanmer crossed the river nigh a place where, the day
before, the enemy had a battery of six guns, but now they were gone,
as most of their artillery, etc. (Story's Imp. History, Vol. I.--The
Boyne.)
[33] They brought off five pieces. The other got bogged near the Pass
of Slane, and was abandoned.
[34] Schomberg was shot by O'Toole, an Irish officer of the exempts,
who took him, from the blue ribbon which he wore, to be the Prince of
Orange. (Memoirs, 398.)
[35] If the French auxiliaries, six thousand, and the Irish reserves,
three thousand, which performed no service throughout the day, save
watching the movements of Count Schomberg, be deducted, the number
actually participating in the action was only eleven thousand men.
[36] This force is exclusive of William's right, which consisted of ten
thousand men under Count Schomberg and General Douglas, with ten pieces
of cannon and two mortars.
[37] "In April, 1783, Mr. Gardiner, afterwards Lord Mountjoy, remarked
in the Irish Parliament, in reference to the Irish Catholics, that
'England had America detached from her by force of Irish emigrants.'"
(Plowden's Hist. Rev., vol. iii., p. 45.)
[38] Macpherson's History of England, vol. i., p. 664.
[39] This force at the Battle of the Boyne was 10,000 men. Its
artillery was twelve pieces. It sustained little loss in that action,
and was now supplied with mortars.
[40] It is worthy of remark, that while Taylor represents the
atrocities perpetrated by the soldiery of the Prince, under his own
eye, as revolting as those of Douglas's troops, he endeavors to
palliate in the Prince what he execrates in the general. This is
to be regretted in a historian otherwise remarkable for candor and
impartiality.
[41] As the siege of 1690 did not affect that part of the city in the
County Clare, there is no necessity for further allusion to it here,
beyond stating that the bridge leading to it was called Thomond Bridge.
The other was called the City Bridge. King's Island is about two miles
in length.
[42] Story's map exhibits thirty-six guns and four mortars on the part
of the besiegers, and but seven on that of the besieged. But as the
fort on King's Island is represented to have caused great injury to
William's right, it is certain that there must have been guns on it;
hence the writer, and he thinks not without reason, has hazarded the
assertion in the text.
[43] See Haverty's History of Ireland, page 643--giving a Williamite
authority for this estimate. This work came to my notice too late to
make some corrections which, to a critical reader, might seem important.
[44] McGeoghagen's History.
[45] It is stated by some of the annalists that he lost two soldiers,
who fell behind, but the text is in accordance with the Abbé's account
of this adventure.
[46] The Duke of Berwick, at page 69 of his Memoirs, gives the width
of the breach at 100 toises, or 600 French feet,--the toise being six
French, or six and a half English feet--and as he was present at the
siege, his estimate is here adopted. Moreover, the breach, as exhibited
on a map in Story's Impartial History, lays bare a great portion of the
city, and shows the disposition of the Irish troops within it, which
a breach of thirty-six feet--the width generally accepted--could not
exhibit.
[47] See preceding footnote.
[48] William afterwards declared before Parliament, that the cause of
abandoning the siege was the continual rain that kept his trenches
filled with water, but the Duke of Berwick asserts that not a drop had
fallen during the time specified in the text.
[49] McGeoghegan's History of Ireland, Preliminary Discourse, p. 24.
[50] Excesses of a savage barbarity, but upon questionable authority,
have been ascribed to the king himself, on his retreat from Limerick.
Disappointments might certainly have raised his resentment; at least
the outrages committed by his troops contributed to stain the annals of
the times; but whether they proceeded from his orders, or his want of
authority, was hard to decide. (Macpherson's History of England, vol.
i., p. 664.)
[51] The particular line of policy that brought this deputation to
France, or the cause of Tyrconnell's future regret, is nowhere clearly
indicated by the Duke of Berwick. But the treason of Henry Loutrell,
during the subsequent stages of the war, is an accepted belief in
Ireland and in her history. His secret correspondence with William
and Baron Ginkle, and his attempt to surrender Galway, are well
authenticated. After the war he received his elder brother's estate and
a pension of 2,000 crowns annually from William, and was assassinated
in Dublin in the year 1717--"nor could it ever be discovered by whom."
(See Berwick's Memoirs, vol. i, p. 97.)
[52] Berwick's Memoirs, vol. i., p. 71.
[53] Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick.
[54] He was, says Taylor, the most respectable of the natural sons of
Charles II.
[55] Lesley's History of the Civil Wars, &c.
[56] The value of the brass money issued by the king in the early part
of the war will be better understood from the following extract:
1 Barrel of Wheat, in Brass Money £10 _s._ _d._
1 Barrel of Malt, " " 9 0 0
1 Quart of Brandy, " " 3 0 0
1 Quart of Ale, " " 0 2 6
1 Pair of Men's Shoes, " " 1 10 0
1 Quart of Salt, " " 1 0 0
[57] Story's Impartial History, 29th, 30th, and 31st of Dec., 1690, and
Jan. 1st, 1691.
[58] O'Callaghan's remarks on this subject are substantially as
follows:--The import of his name, perhaps, marked him out to
cooler-headed politicians, as a means of effecting much national good,
by exciting the imagination of the people. Ball-dearg O'Donnell was
accordingly sent for, to Spain, and arrived at Limerick, August, 1690.
(See Greenbook, p. 242.)
[59] O'Driscoll's History of Ireland, vol. ii., pp. 288, 289.--There
is a letter in the Appendix to Haverty's History of Ireland, which
came into the possession of its author, "through the extreme kindness
of the Editor of The Four Masters," after his work had gone to press,
and which he regrets not having seen in time to change or modify the
estimate which he had formed of O'Donnell, and adopted in his text.
But seeing that the name of the writer of the _letter_ is not given,
and that the vindication of Ball-dearg, which it contains, though
plausible, is not at all convincing, the present writer adopts the
generally received opinion. For, admitting many of the assertions of
the letter to be true, there is no cause given for the absence of
O'Donnell from the Battle of Aughrim. He was within seven or eight
miles of the field during the engagement; it was, perhaps, the most
momentous battle ever fought in the country, and whatever were his
private grievances, he should have shared its perils.
[60] From this we learn that William sent his Irish prisoners to redeem
his Dutch soldiers from France, and that Louis used them to fill his
ranks on the continent; while the Irish officers, who could not be
induced to abandon their own cause, were left to languish in prison.
[61] Ath luin. _Anglice_, Ford of the Moon.
[62] Of these twenty-two men, the name of but one is known to history:
that of Sergeant Custume, or Costy, who headed the first ten, and who
was, of course, among the victims.
[63] The French officers chided their recklessness, and asserted
that they had never seen such bravery displayed by the men of any
nation.--Rawdon Papers, letters C. L. I. and C. L. II.
[64] "In this retreat the Conough regiments grew very thin, so that
the foot, by desertion and maroding, was reduced from 19,000 to about
11,000 men."--_King James's Memoirs_, Vol. II., pp. 455 and 6.
[65] As we find him, according to Captain Viller's report, at
Ballinasloe on the 7th, and apparently determined to give battle there,
it is reasonable to infer that he did not retire until after the storm
of the 9th.
[66] Story calls this building the Castle of Urrachree; but the other
historians style it a house, perhaps to distinguish it from the Castle
of Aughrim, and to avoid repetition.
[67] Some writers say only two abreast. But if Story's map be any thing
more than a fancy sketch, the narrowest part of this road would have
afforded ample room for six horsemen.
[68] That is, if all things else were equal, the position would be
worth 1,000 men to the army occupying it, which would still leave an
advantage of 9,000 men, at least, in favor of Ginckle, irrespective of
his vast superiority in artillery.
[69] Some very reliable historians,--among whom may be instanced
Taylor and O'Driscoll,--lean to the opinion that Sarsfield was not
at the battle of Aughrim, but only adopt it as a probability. This
opinion also gains credence from a tradition still received in that
neighborhood: that, owing to an altercation with St. Ruth, on the
evening preceding the battle, he withdrew his own immediate command to
Redmount Hill, about six miles distant, in a south-easterly direction,
whence he returned to the field next day, but too late to restore the
battle. That the altercation occurred, and that each general threatened
to place the other under arrest, is abundantly corroborated; but by the
same testimony the presence of Sarsfield is also established. Story
names him as second in command on the day of battle, and the weight of
testimony sustains that belief. But, what renders it certain, beyond
peradventure, is this simple fact: that had Sarsfield, through neglect
or petulance, caused the loss of that battle, he would never have
appeared in France. There he would have been held accountable by King
James; and neither from him, nor from the French monarch, would he
have received the consideration that was afterwards accorded him. On
this consideration, if on no other, the former opinion is positively
rejected.
[70] Richard, John, and Anthony Hamilton were brothers, as were also
Ulick, Walter, and David Burke.
[71] The above description of Ginckle's line of battle is taken from a
copperplate engraving in Story's Impartial History, second volume, to
which he refers the reader, with the following remarks:--"It is to be
observed that my Lord Portland's horse is not in this order of battle,
because they came not up until after it was ordered; however, they had
their full share in the action; and Colonel Foulke's, which were always
to guard the train, but being then convenient for it, and the General
resolved to make all the force he could, they had also their part both
of honor and service in the action; and though Brigadier Stuart is
there set down, it is only as to his post, for he was then at Dublin,
ill of wounds received at Athlone." He might also have added that
Brewer's remaining force was called up from Mullingar, the safety of
which was committed for the time to the militia, and that towards the
evening, he was further reinforced by a large body of Enniskilleners.
[72] See the preceding note.
[73] The six Danish regiments of this division stood as
indicated--three in front and three in rear--but their regimental
leaders are not named on the map.
[74] Ginckle was honored with this title after the fall of Athlone; but
whether it had been already conferred is a matter of little import.
[75] Story estimates the foot regiments to be each 705, the horse 286,
and the dragoons 444, irrespective of officers; but many of them were
actually double of those numbers; as an instance Eppinger's Royal
Regiment of Holland Dragoons was 920; Portland's horse 480; several
others exceeded the standard, and all had been fully recruited after
the siege of Athlone.
[76] "These men," says Story, "ran away from a less number than
themselves, though the officer behaved himself very well."--He might
have said less than half their number. The Irish were but seven men;
there were sixteen of the Danes.
[77] As none of the histories consulted by the writer alludes to the
death of Holstaple and Talbot, save in recapitulating the loss on
both sides, he deems it necessary to give his authority for placing
it so early in the battle, lest his assertion shall be attributed to
fancy, which should always be held in abeyance to historic truth. The
following lines from Garrick's rambling play, "The Battle of Aughrim,"
it is hoped, will satisfy the reader. It is necessary to introduce it
by stating that there was no general named Hostile in the English army,
and that the renowned comedian only adopts it for the sake of euphony:
Holstaple being a rough, and rather unpoetic name:--
Lord Portland's horse approached the mortal fight
With sword in hand to put our troops to flight:--
This Talbot saw, and like a hero bold,
Disdaining life, he scorned to be controlled;
But, as a Mars, amid the throng he run,
And there he stood, like marble to the sun,
Till, being hacked and flanked on every side,
By multitudes oppressed, he bravely died.
And again, after the retreat of the English, an Irish officer is made
to say:
Aughrim is ours, brave General Hostile's dead,
Who, even now, Lord Portland's horse did head,--
Drove all before him, till a lucky ball,
Shot with good aim from off the castle wall,
Clove up his skull, etc., etc.
Nothing, perhaps, could excuse the introduction of this doggerel,
save the name of the author, who lived at a time which enabled him to
consult many of the real actors in the battle.
[78] If the dots on the batteries, as represented in Story's map,
indicate the number of guns, there were thirty of them in all; and on
his other maps they do indicate them.
[79] Those troops who were ordered from the rear of his left, were,
either by design or inadvertence, sent from the front of that position;
and on the concurrence of this and a subsequent blunder, historians
have based their accusations of treason against Brigadier Henry
Luttrell, who, it is said, received the order.
[80] Some historians allude to the "_sounding_" of this marsh, and
"_wading_" through it; but the fact is: that it was but a rushy bottom,
difficult in no place, save at the stream, where it was impracticable
to cavalry; for we find the Irish charging and recharging the enemy
three times across it.
[81] "A boast," says Taylor, "which the special interposition of
Providence alone prevented him from accomplishing * * * ten minutes
more would have completed the destruction of the English army."--Vol.
ii., page 180.
[82] It was found, on examining the ammunition with which they had
been supplied, that while the men were armed with French firelocks,
the balls that had been served to them were cast for English muskets,
of which the calibre was larger, and that they were consequently
useless.--_Haverty's History of Ireland_, page 661.
This would seem the more probable version, although that in the text is
in accordance with general authority. This book was not seen in time to
alter the text: but the effect was the same.
[83] Those were nearly all killed after the death of St. Ruth; for
"up to that," says Taylor, "the Irish had lost scarcely a man." No
insignificant number of them was put to death, after their capture, by
order of General Ginckle; and for this brutal and unsoldierly order,
Story offers as a palliation, the conduct of Henry V. of England, at
the battle of Agincourt:--"_who, seeing the king of Cicilies appear
on the field, ordered every man to kill his prisoner, contrary to his
generous nature_,"--and among those so murdered in cold blood, was
Colonel O'Moore, and that most loyal gentleman and chivalrous soldier,
Lord Galway.
Since writing the above, my attention has been called to Haverty's
"History of Ireland," a work of much careful research and
investigation, in which the loss of the Irish army is estimated
at:--killed, nearly 4,000, and 526 of all ranks taken prisoners. This
would seem the more probable, as Story doubts his own estimate, and
in the end of the year, 1692, says, "time has informed me of some
mistakes, though possibly there may be some as yet remaining."
THE END.