THE WAR TO THE BATTLE OF ROSS, 1642-1643
[Sidenote: A Scots army in Ulster.]
[Sidenote: Major-General Monro.]
When Charles received the news of the Irish insurrection, he at once
called upon the Scottish Parliament to aid him in suppressing it. They
replied that Ireland was dependent on England, that interference on
their part would be misunderstood, and that they could only act as
auxiliaries to the English people by agreement with them. Early in
November the Parliament at Westminster resolved to send 12,000 men from
England, and to ask the Scots to send 10,000 more. But Episcopalian
jealousy was aroused, and the demand on Scotland was reduced to 1,000.
Nothing was done for the moment, but on January 22, by which time some
of the English troops had reached Ireland, both Houses agreed to ask
for 2,500, and to this the Scots Commissioners in London assented. The
King hesitated about giving up Carrickfergus to the Scotch regiments,
but the Commissioners hoped that his Majesty, 'being their native king,
would not show less trust in them than their neighbour nation,' and
this appeal was successful. Money and military stores were stipulated
for, and it was agreed that if any other troops in Ulster should join
the Scots, their general was to command them as well as his own men,
and he had also power to enlarge his quarters to make such expeditions
as he might think fit. The Scottish estates had before offered 10,000
men, but nothing like that number ever went. A little later the command
was given to Leven, who stayed but a short time and did nothing. The
expeditionary force remained in the hands of Major-General Robert
Monro, who had been employed to keep order at Aberdeen, and did so with
no light hand. He set up, says Spalding, 'ane timber mare, whereupon
runagate knaves and runaway soldiers should ride. Uncouth to see sic
discipline in Aberdeen, and more painful to the trespasser to suffer.'
Monro will live for ever in the form of Dugald Dalgetty, for whose
portrait he was the chief model. Sir James Turner, who contributed some
touches to the picture, says his great fault was a tendency to despise
his enemy. Monro's training was that of the Thirty Years' War, and
Turner, who belonged to the same school, thought he carried its lessons
too far.[12]
[Sidenote: The Scots land April 1642.]
[Sidenote: Newry retaken.]
[Sidenote: Sir Phelim O'Neill burns Armagh.]
Monro landed at Carrickfergus on April 15 with about 2500 men, Lord
Conway and Colonel Chichester retiring with their regiments to
Belfast. On the 28th he marched towards Newry, leaving a garrison
behind him, and was joined by Conway and the rest, making up his army
to near 4000 men. The Irish under Lord Iveagh were posted in a fort
at Ennislaughlin near Moira, but were easily dislodged next day, and
fled into the Kilwarlin woods. No quarter was given, to which Turner
strongly objects. On the third day they marched through Dromore, where
only the church was left standing, to Loughbrickland, where there was
a garrison in an island. Monro bribed six Highlanders to swim across,
and one of these succeeded in bringing away the only boat. The island
was then occupied and all the Irish there killed. No attempt was made
to defend the town of Newry, but the castle gave some trouble, and
Monro was unwilling to assault or burn it, lest the prisoners confined
there should suffer. The garrison were allowed to march out without
arms on May 3, but over sixty townsmen, including a Cistercian monk
and a secular priest, were hanged next day in cold blood. Turner
criticises Monro's conduct, and claims to have saved nearly 150 women
whom the soldiers proposed to kill. At least a dozen women were shot
or drowned, notwithstanding his interference. The natural result of
Monro's system was to make the Irish desperate, and O'Neill burned
Armagh, 'the cathedral with its steeple and with its bells, organ, and
glass windows, and the whole city, with the fine library, with all the
learned books of the English on divinity, logic, and philosophy.' Many
lives were also taken by the Irish in revenge for Monro's severities.
After leaving a garrison at Newry the army marched through the Mourne
mountains, and from one end of Down to the other. Turner mentions a
frightful storm attributed by the superstitious to Irish witches, which
if true he considered a good proof that their master was really prince
of the air. Some of the soldiers died from sheer cold. On the twelfth
day Monro returned to Carrickfergus. A detachment which he had left
in the outskirts of Belfast had been attacked during his absence and
driven off. A large number of cattle had been taken from the Magennises
and Macartans, but the English soldiers everywhere complained that the
Scots got most of the plunder.[13]
[Sidenote: Sir Frederic Hamilton.]
[Sidenote: His severities.]
[Sidenote: Sir W. Cole at Enniskillen.]
[Sidenote: The Laggan army.]
Sir Frederic Hamilton was at Londonderry on October 24. On hearing
of the outbreak he rode hard with a dozen mounted servants, who made
a great show by blowing trumpets and carrying two lighted matches
each. The little party reached Donegal unmolested, succoured the
English settlers there, and at Ballyshannon killed some rogues on
the road, and reached Manor Hamilton in safety. Connor O'Rourke,
sheriff of Leitrim, visited Hamilton on the 31st, but his professions
of loyalty did not last long. The arrival of a few stray Scots
soldiers, some from Carlisle direct, increased the garrison to fifty
men. By December 4 twenty-four prisoners were taken, and to avenge
the deaths of Englishmen at Sligo, eight of them were hanged upon a
conspicuous gallows. Fifty-six persons, including one woman, died thus
by martial law between December 3, 1641, and February 18, 1642-3.
Hamilton complained bitterly that he was not supported by Sir William
Cole, and their quarrels became the subject of an inquiry by the
English Parliament. Cole held Enniskillen throughout, and without
much difficulty, while Captain Ffolliott maintained the important
post at Ballyshannon. Meanwhile the brothers Sir William and Sir
Robert Stewart, who were both professional soldiers, were active from
Rathmelton in Donegal to Newtown Stewart in Tyrone. Their levies grew
into an army which came to be known as the Laggan forces from a name
locally given to the district. Londonderry and Coleraine also held out,
and were never taken during the war.[14]
[Sidenote: Ormonde wastes Kildare, April, 1642.]
[Sidenote: George Monck.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Kilrush, April 15.]
Ormonde returned to Dublin in the middle of March, and on April 2 set
out again with 3000 foot, 500 horse, and five guns to waste the county
of Kildare. Captain Yarner, with two troops, burned ten or twelve
villages under the Wicklow mountains, and killed about the same number
of armed men. A trumpeter was killed by a shot from Tipper Castle,
near Naas, whereupon Coote blew up the house and put all to the sword.
Ormonde garrisoned Naas, established a Protestant corporation there,
and advanced to Maryborough, whence he sent most of his cavalry by
forced marches to relieve Burris in Ossory and Birr, and to return by
Portnahinch. The old men, women, and children of about sixty families
were brought away safely and settled at Naas. Monck, who now appears
for the first time in Ireland, was sent to secure their return passage
over the Barrow. Other detachments were sent to relieve Ballinakill,
Clogrennan and Carlow, and on the twelfth day Ormonde was back at Athy
without any loss except of a few over-ridden horses. Great numbers
of cattle were taken, and Coote gave 300 milch cows to the fugitives
at Naas on condition of selling milk to the troops at a halfpenny a
quart and making butter and cheese, and bread, he supplying corn at
ten shillings the Winchester barrel. Ormonde found that the enemy had
concentrated in the meantime at the ford of Mageney on the Barrow
with a view to intercept him on his return. Mountgarret and Roger
O'More were both present, as well as Hugh MacPhelim O'Byrne, who
was retreating from Drogheda to the Wicklow mountains, and they had
more than 6000 men, but badly armed and with very little powder.
Ormonde left Athy early in the morning of April 15, his force being
considerably reduced by the garrisons left behind. The Irish were
soon visible to the eastward trying to reach the pass at Ballyshannon
before him. As they had no baggage they would probably have got there
first, but Ormonde was superior in horse, and he sent on all that he
had under Sir Thomas Lucas. The Irish finding themselves forestalled,
had to fight in a less advantageous position at Kilrush. They had no
real head, and the Munster and Leinster men disputed about the division
of the spoil before the battle was won. The English cavalry had it all
their own way, Coote charging like a man of thirty. He lost his cap,
'but bare-headed scoured about the field, crying "Kill! kill!" and with
his hand gave the example, while my Lord of Ormonde secured the cannon
and victory with some divisions of foot, and beat their van into a
speedy retreat.' There was very little fighting, the Irish soon taking
refuge in a bog near at hand. The number of killed on their side is
uncertain, but it included some persons of rank, and the army simply
ceased to exist. O'More and his brother fled to their home at Ballina
near the Boyne, Mountgarret and others to Tullow, and the O'Byrnes
to their Wicklow mountains. Ormonde lost some twenty men. That night
he slept at Castlehaven's house at Maddenstown, where Antrim and the
Duchess of Buckingham were staying, and Coote 'to pleasure the lady,'
fired a salute of artillery and musketry. According to an Irish writer
Sir Charles boasted of the day's victory. The men were silent, but
the Duchess upbraided him as being less loyal than the Irish, and as
'a poor mechanical fellow, raised by blind fortune, as informer and
promoter against all that is just and godly, being chief instrument of
the shedding of many innocent blood [_sic_], and of the commencement
of the new distempers.' Coote, who was of a good old family, had served
three sovereigns faithfully both in peace and war, and fell three weeks
later fighting bravely against enormous odds.[15]
[Sidenote: The Irish Parliament purged.]
[Sidenote: Beginning of the Catholic Confederation.]
[Sidenote: The oath of association.]
On June 22 that part of the House of Commons in Dublin which accepted
the oath of supremacy expelled forty-one 'rotten and unprofitable
members' who were either in open rebellion or indicted of high treason.
Of these Richard Bellings, who sat for Callan, was the most important.
Among the others were Rory Maguire the northern leader, Sir Valentine
Blake of Galway, who was Clanricarde's friend, and Sir James Dillon. In
the meantime what claimed to be a new legislature was being gradually
formed. On May 10, 11, 13, and 14 a congregation of the Roman Catholic
hierarchy sat at Kilkenny. There were present three archbishops, six
bishops and the procurators of four more, with several abbots and other
dignitaries; and the plan of the proposed confederation was sketched
out. The prelates declared that the war had been justly undertaken
for religion and for the King, against sectaries and especially
against Puritans. Any province, county, or city making separate terms
with the enemy was to be held excommunicate. A number of lords and
gentlemen joined the prelates, and out of their joint deliberations
grew the Supreme Council in its first shape--two members out of each
province with Mountgarret as president. An oath of association was
framed binding the confederates to obey the council and to do nothing
without their consent. The main object was the establishment of the
Roman Catholic religion 'in as full and ample a manner as the Roman
Catholic secular clergy had or enjoyed the same within this realm at
any time during the reign of Henry VII.' Significantly, the regular
clergy are not mentioned at all. The secular clergy were to enjoy all
temporalities 'in as large and ample a manner as the late Protestant
clergy respectively enjoyed the same on October 1, 1641.' All laws to
the contrary made since 20 Henry VIII. were void. Before a more regular
assembly could meet Preston had landed in the south and O'Neill in the
north, and their arrival gave events a new turn.[16]
[Sidenote: Owen Roe O'Neill.]
[Sidenote: O'Neill lands in Ulster, July 1642.]
Owen Roe O'Neill was son of Art MacBaron, the great Tyrone's brother,
whence he was often called Owen MacArt. In the Spanish service he was
known as Don Eugenio O'Neill. He was a captain in Flanders in Henry
O'Neill's Irish regiment as early as 1607, and colonel of the regiment
about 1633. With the rank of _maître de camp_ he commanded the garrison
of Arras during the siege in 1640, and marched out with the honours
of war on August 9. For some time before the outbreak he had been in
frequent communication with the Irish leaders, but perhaps without
any well-formed intention of going over himself. When he heard that
the plot to seize Dublin had been discovered 'he was in a great rage
against O'Connolly, and said he wondered how or where that villain
should live, for if he were in Ireland, sure they would pull him in
pieces there; and if he lived in England there were footmen and other
Irishmen enough to kill him.' It was less than eight years since
another Irish colonel, Walter Butler, had murdered Wallenstein. O'Neill
then asked his general Francis de Mello to let him go to Ireland, and
the Spaniard answered that he should go and be well supplied for the
enterprise if he could find a safe landing-place in his own country.
It was, however, given out that he was in disgrace with the Spanish
authorities, and years afterwards, when Hyde was at Madrid, Don Luis
de Haro kept up the mystification and spoke of him as a deserter from
his sovereign's service. Where Spain was concerned there were always
long delays, and the summer of 1642 was well advanced before O'Neill
announced to Luke Wadding that he was about to start. Everything, he
said, was going on well in Ireland, but there was sad want of powder.
If the Pope knew, he said, how fatal that powder would be to heresy and
heretics he would make haste to procure a plentiful supply. O'Neill
sailed from Dunkirk round Scotland, and landed in Lough Swilly about
the last day of July. He captured two prizes at sea and detached a
small vessel to Wexford with arms, which arrived safely. O'Neill
brought to Ulster 'ammunition, arms and a few low-country officers and
soldiers of his own regiment,' and he sent his ships back to Flanders
for more. Sir Phelim sent 1500 men to join his kinsman, who went round
by Ballyshannon to Charlemont, where he arrived without having met an
enemy.[17]
[Sidenote: Preston lands at Wexford, August 1642.]
[Sidenote: His rivalry with O'Neill.]
[Sidenote: Attitude of Richelieu.]
Thomas Preston, a son of the fourth Viscount Gormanston, was fifty-six
years old when the Irish rebellion broke out. He was a captain in the
same regiment as Owen Roe O'Neill in 1607, but was never on good terms
with him. They were rivals in recruiting during the reign of Strafford,
who favoured the man of English descent as far as he could. In 1635
Preston distinguished himself in the defence of Louvain against the
combined forces of France and Holland, and in 1641 in the defence of
Genappe against Frederick Henry of Orange. In 1642 his nephew, Lord
Gormanston, urged him to return to Ireland. In March of that year
Mountgarret sent Geoffrey Barron, Wadding's nephew, to Paris, and in
July he met Preston there. Richelieu, who had not forgotten Rochelle,
did not declare himself openly, but he discharged all the Irish
soldiers in the French service, allowed war material to be purchased in
France, and let it be understood that help would be forthcoming to the
extent of a million of crowns. Preston sailed from Dunkirk, accompanied
by several officers, and arrived in Wexford harbour at the beginning of
August. Here he was joined by at least a dozen vessels laden with war
material from St. Malo, Nantes, and Rochelle. He reconnoitred Duncannon
fort, which he thought could be taken in fifteen days, and then went
to Kilkenny, where the confederates were still assembled. Public
opinion quickly designated him as the fittest person to have military
command in Leinster, and Mountgarret, who was no soldier, was very
willing to yield the place to him.[18]
[Sidenote: Limerick Castle taken, June 1642.]
[Sidenote: Death of St. Leger. Inchiquin vice-president, June 1642.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Liscarrol, Sept. 1642.]
The army which Inchiquin had driven from before Cork came together
again at Limerick, and St. Leger had no force to molest it there. After
standing neutral for a time the city had joined the confederates, but
the castle was held by Captain George Courtenay with sixty men and
very little powder. Supplies were ordered by Parliament, but did not
reach the garrison. The Irish stretched a boom across the river, which
prevented any relief by water, and ran mines under the works, while
the garrison were harassed by a continual fire from the walls of the
cathedral. Courtenay capitulated on June 21, and Barry and Muskerry
went south again with three pieces of cannon taken in the castle.
Among these was a thirty-two pounder weighing about three tons, which
was laid in the scooped-out trunk of a tree and dragged up hills and
through bogs by twenty-five yoke of oxen. The whole county of Limerick
was soon in Irish hands. St. Leger died on July 2, and the sole
command then devolved on Inchiquin. His position as vice-president was
confirmed by the Lords Justices, who associated Lord Barrymore with him
for the civil government, but the latter died at Michaelmas. Patrick
Purcell, acting as major-general under Barry, took up a strong position
at Newtown near Charleville, but was beaten out of it by Inchiquin
with very inferior numbers. This check caused a long delay, but at
last Barry advanced with six thousand foot and five hundred horse and
sat down on August 20 before the strong castle of Liscarrol. Here he
was joined by Lord Dungarvan, who had just taken Ardmore Castle and
hanged 117 men, leaving the women and children at liberty. A garrison
of thirty men could do little against the fire of heavy guns, and
Liscarrol surrendered on September 2. On the 3rd, Cromwell's lucky day,
Inchiquin advanced, as he supposed, to their relief. His force of 3000
foot and 400 horse was about half of Barry's, but much better armed and
disciplined. The Irish, having a good position under the walls of the
castle, were at first successful against the charge of a small division
of horse consisting of Cork and Bandon men, without even helmets; but
Lord Cork's son Kinalmeaky, 'who was clothed with armour of proof'
was shot dead. Though one else fell, his followers were driven back
in confusion and the battle seemed lost, but the foot stood firm,
and Inchiquin, coming up with some more regular cavalry, succeeded
in rallying the fugitives. He killed Oliver Stephenson, the Irish
cavalry leader, with his own hand, and had himself more than one narrow
escape, being wounded in the head and hand. The Irish were routed and
'recovered Sir William Pore's bog near Kilbolaine,' where they were
out of reach. Inchiquin only lost some twelve men killed, and Barry is
said to have lost seven hundred, but the victory was not of much use,
for there were neither money nor provisions to follow it up. Liscarroll
Castle was reoccupied, and three pieces of cannon brought from Limerick
were taken. Inchiquin then fell back to Mallow, and dispersed his men
in garrisons, while the Irish went to their several homes.[19]
[Sidenote: The Scots in Ulster, June 1642]
[Sidenote: Kinard burned.]
[Sidenote: Charlemont retained by the Irish.]
There was perpetual fighting in Ulster during the summer of 1642. Monro
marched on June 17, with about 2000 men, from Carrickfergus to Lisburn,
where he was joined by Lord Montgomery and others with some 1100 foot
and four troops of horse. Lord Conway brought his regiment and five
troops of horse. Next morning the Scots general, with his own foot
and nearly all the horse, marched through the plain to Dromore, while
Montgomery cleared the woods of Killultagh, most of the Irish flying
across the Bann with their cattle and 'burning the country all along.'
The fighting was not severe, and the two divisions coalesced somewhere
near Banbridge. Monro, being short of provisions, decided not to follow
the enemy into Tyrone, and went off with some troops of cavalry towards
the Mourne mountains, leaving the other leaders to do the best they
could. Three hundred cows were captured, and the bulk of the army came
to Kinard. A priest was also taken, 'Chanter of Armagh and a prime
councillor to Sir Phelim O'Neill, who was since hanged, but would not
confess or discover anything.' The chief had gone to Charlemont, and
his men ran away who 'for haste did not kill any prisoners,' so his
house was burned, which was 'built of free stone and strong enough
to have kept out all the force we could make.' Two hundred miserable
captives were released, in rags and with faces like ghosts. The plunder
was considerable, including Sir Phelim's plate, which was on carts
ready to carry off. News was heard of Lady Caulfield, who was 'kept at
a stone house near Braintree woods,' and here Captain Rawdon found her
with her children, just in time to prevent the rebels from taking her
off into the forest. Rawdon was not so successful in the case of Lady
Blaney, who had been carried away into the wilds of Monaghan the night
before he came on the scene. As he rode through Kinard the second time
there was 'nothing left quick but angry dogs and embers.' Charlemont
had been strengthened with some skill, and there was no possibility of
taking it without guns, though Sir Phelim was nearly captured trying to
go there, and had to fly into Tyrone. Dungannon was afterwards taken
and garrisoned, with the usual hangings, Sir William Brownlow and
other prisoners there having overcome the rebel guard 'with the help
of some Irish that had formerly had relation to them.' Two brass guns
were taken, but they were not heavy enough to make the difference at
Charlemont, and on the eighth and ninth days the army returned from
Armagh through Loughbrickland to Lisburn. A great many cattle had been
taken, and all not eaten or stolen were divided among the men, one to
every four foot soldiers and to every two troopers.[20]
[Sidenote: Desultory character of the war.]
On June 25 Clotworthy left Antrim with 600 men in twelve boats built
for the service on Lough Neagh. On the flat Tyrone shore little
resistance was made, and Mountjoy was taken with no loss. Here he
entrenched himself strongly, and 'notwithstanding the next was the
Lord's day' spent it in building huts for his men. Before leaving it
to be maintained by a garrison of 250 men he scoured the woods as well
as he could, and lost very few men, though the pressure of hunger was
severe, for he could not catch cows without cavalry, and there were 500
rescued British prisoners of both sexes and every age to feed along
with the soldiers. The want of horse was partly supplied by making
200 men strip to their shirts for lightness, and they did not object,
thinking it mean to wear armour against men that had none. Generally
speaking the Irish would not stand against them, but they seemed to
have ammunition enough, which was said to come from Limerick. One
hundred cows were taken near Moneymore, after which the soldiers fared
better, but there was much sickness from want of proper food, and from
having to sleep on the ground.[21]
[Sidenote: A general assembly meets, Oct. 1642.]
[Sidenote: The name of Parliament avoided.]
[Sidenote: The Catholic Church first.]
[Sidenote: The King second.]
[Sidenote: The Supreme Council.]
[Sidenote: Four generals appointed.]
The provisional supreme council, which had been formed at Kilkenny
in the early summer, did what they could to give their organisation
something of a legal shape. 'Letters,' says Bellings, 'in nature of
writs were sent from this council to all the Lords spiritual and
temporal, and all the counties, cities, and corporate towns that
had right to send knights and burgesses to Parliament.' The general
assembly so constituted met on October 24, a year and a day after the
first outbreak in Ulster, at the house of Robert Shee, heir to Sir
Richard Shee. The Lords spiritual and temporal and Commons sat in
one room, Mr. Pat Darcy bareheaded upon a stool representing all or
some that sat in Parliament upon the woolsack. Mr. Nicholas Plunket
represented the Speaker of the Commons, and both Lords and Commons
addressed their speech to him. The Lords had an upper room for a
recess for private consultation, and upon resolutions taken the same
were delivered to the Commons by Mr. Darcy. The name of Parliament
was eschewed, and Plunket was called prolocutor or president, and
not speaker. Burgesses were to be paid five shillings a day, and
knights of the shire ten shillings during the session, and for ten
days before and after. The first act of the assembly was to establish
the Roman Catholic Church as it had been in the time of Henry VII.,
and the statute law was to be observed so far as it was 'not against
the Catholic Roman religion.' Allegiance to King Charles came second.
For the protection of the King's subjects against murders, rapes and
robberies 'contrived and daily executed by the malignant party, and for
the exaltation of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and the advancement
of his Majesty's service,' a Supreme Council was appointed, with both
executive and judicial authority; control over all officers, even
generals, in the field; and power to hear and determine all matters
capital, criminal or civil, 'except the right or title of land.' Owen
Roe O'Neill was appointed general for Ulster, Preston for Leinster, and
Colonel Gerald Barry for Munster. For Connaught, Colonel John Bourke
was named lieutenant-general only, in the hope that Clanricarde would
be induced to join. There were some bickerings between Owen Roe and
Sir Phelim, who had just married Preston's daughter, and who wished to
be in command of his own province, and between Rory O'More and other
Leinster gentlemen, but they were smoothed over for the time. All the
generals had seen service on the Continent.[22]
[Sidenote: Constitution of the Supreme Council.]
[Sidenote: Provincial Councils.]
The Supreme Council consisted of twenty-four persons, four taken from
each province. Of these only four, an O'Neill and a Magennis from
Ulster, an O'Brien from Munster and Lord Mayo, were not sworn in at the
time. Lord Mountgarret was appointed president, Bellings secretary, and
Richard Shee clerk. Of the whole twenty-four four were peers and five
bishops. Provincial and county councils were also constituted, but they
had no real existence, or a very shadowy one. That for Leinster was
appointed, but was overshadowed by the Supreme Council, and events soon
showed that military force and not new-fangled civil departments was
the determining quantity during the revolutionary period.
[Sidenote: Protestants and neutrals to lose their estates.]
[Sidenote: Church property to be transferred.]
The assembly decreed that lands taken from their owners since October
1, 1641, should be restored on pain of the new possessor being treated
as an enemy; provided that if the old owner 'be declared a neuter
or enemy by the supreme or provincial,' then the land should be
surrendered not to him, but to the council, 'to be disposed of towards
the maintenance of the general cause.' The war was a religious one,
and thus the lands of all who were not prepared to espouse the Roman
Catholic cause were to be forfeited, or at the least sequestered.
English, Welsh and Scotch Roman Catholics were to be treated as well
as natives of Ireland. All Church temporalities were at one stroke
transferred from Protestants to Roman Catholics. It must have been from
the first evident to all cool observers that no accommodation on these
terms could ever be made with any settled English Government. After
sitting for about a month the assembly adjourned till May 20 next. They
had ordered 4000_l._ worth coin to be struck, and 5820 men to be raised
as the Leinster contingent. The Kilkenny government never had any real
authority, except in the south-east of Ireland.[23]
[Sidenote: The royal authority slighted.]
[Sidenote: Flags.]
[Sidenote: Coinage.]
[Sidenote: Indulgences and excommunications.]
[Sidenote: Free trade.]
The Supreme Council assumed sovereign power, the King figuring
largely in negotiations with Ormonde, but seldom appearing in
documents intended for home consumption. Flags were devised with
various religious emblems and mottoes; but in each case there was
an Irish cross on a green field, 'Vivat Rex Carolus' below, and
C R with a crown imperial above. Francis Oliver, a Fleming, was
appointed vice-admiral, and letters of marque to prey upon 'enemies
of the general Catholic cause' were freely granted. Half-crowns and
shillings and copper money were struck with Charles I. on one side
and St. Patrick on the other, but this was not done without much
opposition, for the coinage was unnecessary, and was an evident
encroachment upon the Crown. Agents were accredited to the Emperor,
the King of France, the Pope, the Duke of Bavaria, the Viceroy in
Belgium, and the Governor of Biscay. The Franciscan Luke Wadding, a
native of Waterford, was agent at Rome, and as this was emphatically
the Pope's war, the instructions to him are of special interest. The
first thing asked for was a supply of indulgences for the confederates
and of excommunications for all opponents and neutrals. The Pope was
requested to send letters in their favour to the Queen of England,
to the Catholic princes of Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Poland,
and Bavaria, to Genoa, and to the Catholics of Holland. Wadding was
directed to impress upon his Holiness that the Catholic cause in
Protestant countries would be much advanced by the success of the
confederates. Free trade with France, Spain, and Holland was solicited
through the Pope's mediation. In general he was to be asked to give the
council power over ecclesiastical patronage, and not to admit appeals
during the war. In particular Thomas Dease, Bishop of Meath, had been
suspended by the provincial synod of Armagh for refusing to approve of
the war, and his appeal was to be rejected without trial. The Supreme
Council thus engrossed to themselves all the chief prerogatives of the
Crown which they professed to defend.[24]
[Sidenote: Preston's first action, Dec. 1642.]
Preston's first service in the field did not augur well for his
success as a general. Ormonde was anxious to relieve the garrison
of Ballinakill on the borders of Queen's County and Kilkenny, and
in December he sent Monck with a convoy and enough men to guard it.
This service was duly performed, but Preston and Castlehaven, with
a thousand foot and three troops of horse, attempted to cut him off
on his return to Dublin. Monck passed by Timahoe, where there was a
confederate garrison, who lined the hedges by the roadside; but hearing
that he was pursued, he avoided the snare by drawing aside to some
level ground backed by a hill, where he placed his foot to serve as
support in case the horse were worsted. The contrary happened, and
after the first charge the whole of Preston's force was driven under
the shelter of Timahoe. The numbers engaged on each side were about
equal, but a crowd of spectators on a distant hill were mistaken for
reinforcements, and Monck prudently continued his journey to Dublin.
Castlehaven thought most of the Irish foot would have been destroyed
had the enemy pursued their advantage.[25]
[Sidenote: Parliamentary agents in Dublin.]
[Sidenote: Lisle and Grenville.]
'The check at Timahoe,' says Castlehaven, 'made us pretty quiet till
towards the spring following,' when the Lords Justices resolved upon
an expedition into Wexford. The sympathies of Parsons, who was the
ruling spirit, were certainly with the Parliament, but the event was
uncertain, and even after Edgehill it was hard to say whether the
King would succeed or not. Since the end of October there had been a
committee from the Parliament in Dublin consisting of Robert Reynolds
and Robert Goodwin, members of the House of Commons, and of Captain
William Tucker, agent for the English adventurers in Irish land. Part
of their business was to induce soldiers to take debentures in lieu of
pay. By the advice of the Chancellor Bolton these three were admitted
to sit at the Council board. Tucker kept a journal of the proceedings,
and it is clear that he was not much impressed by the wisdom of
the Irish Government. The sittings were generally occupied in mere
talk, and very little was done in the field. Thus, when Sir Francis
Willoughby took Maynooth Castle Tucker reports that the rebels ran away
after one day's siege, that four or five men were killed on each side,
and 'no service done at all, but only expectation and the gain of one
ass.' In the middle of January Lord Lisle, the Lord Lieutenant's son,
proposed to relieve the empty treasury by leading out fifteen hundred
men to live upon the enemy's country. Lisle was general of the horse,
and Sir Richard Grenville major of Leicester's own regiment, and it
was intended that these two officers should command in the field.
Grenville, according to Clarendon, was noted for his cruelty, but he
had served with credit at Kilrush, and he was major of Leicester's
regiment of horse. In January came a commission from the King giving
power to Ormonde, Clanricarde, and others to treat with the Irish, and
the Lords Justices supposed that the field would thus be left clear for
Lisle.[26]
[Sidenote: Ormonde takes the field, March, 1642-3.]
When the King's letter was read at the Council board Ormonde, according
to his chaplain's account, said he had no wish to be a commissioner to
hear Irish grievances, 'for I know that nothing grieves them more than
that they could not cut all our throats,' but that as general he would
command in the field. His right could not be denied, and he had lately
endeared himself to both officers and soldiers by his exertions to
obtain their pay and other advantages for them. But the Lords Justices
and the parliamentary commissioners, who had advanced money for Lord
Lisle, were not at all pleased. Tucker, indeed, held that the money
could not be decently denied to Ormonde, but his career and that of his
colleagues in Ireland was cut short before the campaign actually began.
In the middle of February came a letter from the King directing that
the committee should no longer be admitted to the Council-chamber, and
fearing arrest they returned to England before the end of the month.
On March 1 Ormonde set out with 2500 foot and 800 horse, and with two
siege-guns and four field-pieces.[27]
[Sidenote: Bloody affair at Timolin.]
[Sidenote: New Ross besieged.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Ross, March 18, 1642-3.]
[Sidenote: Effective artillery.]
[Sidenote: Defeat of Preston.]
At Timolin, which was reached on the third day, the Irish defended
the castle and an old church. One culverin reduced the former, and
all the men were killed before night. The besiegers had about thirty
killed and wounded in a premature attempt to storm, Lieutenant Oliver,
the only engineer in the army, being among the slain. The church
tower held out till next day, but the whole garrison, except one man,
were killed by shot or falling stones. The garrisons of Carlow and
Athy were strong enough to prevent Preston from being reinforced by
the Wicklow insurgents, but the latter had some prisoners whom they
proposed to exchange with the survivors of Timolin. 'There be not many
of them alive now,' said Monck, 'and what there is take you with you.'
According to Bellings, who is generally fair, part of the garrison
were slaughtered by the soldiers of Lisle's regiment after quarter had
been given by Ormonde. On the seventh day from Dublin the army passed,
without further fighting, through Clohamon in Wexford, where a fair
was being held, and some cattle were swept off by the soldiers. On the
tenth day New Ross was reached, 'where,' says Ormonde's chaplain, 'we
saw flags set up on the walls and the inhabitants making ready for a
siege.' Women and children were sent over the Barrow into Kilkenny,
and men were introduced in their places, so that the number of the
garrison soon equalled that of the besieging army. One culverin was
turned upon the south gate near the river, and a breach was soon made,
but the defenders dug a great trench inside, and attempts to storm
were frustrated. Another culverin was in position at the north end of
the town, but the shot failed to reach those who were maintaining the
breach, and Ormonde's soldiers suffered sorely from rain as well as
from musket balls, and no doubt envied the enemy, for they could see
the women plying them constantly with drink. Meanwhile there were two
English vessels of 120 and 60 tons, with eight guns between them,
lying in the tideway below the town. They could neither escape nor
get near enough to do much service, and when artillery was brought to
bear they were scuttled and abandoned. The victuals and ammunition
sank or were captured by the enemy, but the sailors joined Ormonde and
did excellent work afterwards as gunners. The supply of provisions
was very limited, and at the approach of Preston's army the siege
was practically raised. Six hundred men under Sir James Dillon came
from Westmeath as far as Ballyragget in Kilkenny, but few or none of
them ever joined Preston, having been attacked by the garrison of
Ballinakill on St. Patrick's night. 'They being very merry for honour
of their saint, and for that they expected a great victory the next
day, and being full of drink,' were cut to pieces or dispersed, and
all their arms taken. On the morning of March 18 Ormonde's army were
encamped on a heathy hill half a mile to the eastward of Old Ross,
but before ten o'clock they had taken up a position some three miles
to the north-west and a little short of a village called Ballinafeeg.
Mr. Brian Kavanagh voluntarily gave his services as a guide. The deep
glen of Poulmonty lay a little further on. Preston with 5000 foot and
600 horse had passed the Barrow at Graiguenemanagh, and now advanced
across the glen to attack Ormonde. Cullen and others tried to dissuade
him from fighting, pointing out that the English army was short of
provisions and must needs retire through a very difficult country to
Carlow, and that there would be many opportunities of attacking it at
great advantage. Ormonde had six guns with him, which he placed on a
rising ground behind his main body. The opposing armies did not come to
close quarters until after two o'clock in the afternoon. Preston's men
came up by a narrow lane, and on their serried masses every shot told.
The guns were admirably served by eleven of the sailors whose ships had
been destroyed, and who fired six rounds from each piece, right over
the heads of their friends. As the Irish horse came out into the open
Ormonde ordered his own cavalry under Lisle and Grenville to advance,
fire one round, and then fall back. This movement was punctually
executed, but some of the Irish horse mingled with them as they
retired, a panic followed, and they galloped off to the rear. Lisle
called out 'Ten pounds, twenty pounds for a guide to Duncannon,' and an
old apothecary, named Silyard, who was attached to the army, and who
was in his proper place among the baggage-waggons, reproached him for
running away, and a veteran officer named Morris, who lay wounded in a
litter, offered to rally the men if Lisle would lend him a horse. Then
Sir Richard Grenville clapped my Lord Lisle on the shoulder: 'Come, my
lord,' said he, 'we will yet recover it.' 'Never while you live,' said
Mr. Silyard, and to his friends that stood by "I mean his credit," said
Mr. Silyard.' Cullen got up to the guns, on one of which he laid his
hand saying, 'This is mine,' but he was soon surrounded by infantry and
taken prisoner, his life being saved by Ormonde's personal exertions.
The rout of Preston's army was completed by the return of Lisle and his
cavalry. 'A man might see them,' says the chaplain, 'through the smoke
of the gunpowder run twinkling like the motes in the sun.' The pursuit
was continued until darkness came on, with great loss to the defeated
army, who escaped into Kilkenny by the way which they came. Ormonde,
who spent the night on the ground, lost only about a dozen men.[28]
[Sidenote: Ormonde returns to Dublin.]
[Sidenote: Preston takes Ballinakill, May 1643.]
Ormonde encamped on the second night at Graiguenemanagh, and on the
third at Burris, where his artillery oxen were stolen by 'two lusty
young clowns' of the Kavanaghs. Fresh beasts were obtained from
Carlow, and Dublin was reached on the 27th, without further fighting.
Lord Moore, hearing that the Irish had gathered from all sides, and
expecting to catch Ormonde in a trap, took advantage of the defenceless
state of Cavan and drove off much cattle without resistance. A great
part of Preston's army dispersed every man to his own village, but
Sir James Dillon, who had not taken part in the battle, joined him
with a strong unbroken regiment, and he made some pretence of pursuing
Ormonde in order to lessen the popular disgust at his defeat. What
he really did was to besiege Ballinakill, where Sir Thomas Ridgeway
had planted an English colony, and established ironworks. There being
thus no want of hands, Ridgeway's castle had been strengthened and his
fishponds utilised for filling wet ditches. The Protestant farmers on
the estate had driven in their cattle, and there was food enough for
all. Preston lay for about seven weeks before this place, where he
lost 100 men, and he could not have taken it but for the arrival of
two twenty-four pounders and a mortar from Spain. A shell fell on the
roof and penetrated the floors below, while 'the women within very
fearful, as not accustomed to such pastimes, cried out with every shot,
to the exceeding comfort of the assailants, and mighty disgust of the
defendants.' The contest had been carried on with great bitterness,
the garrison throwing the heads of their prisoners over the works,
while the besiegers stuck the heads of theirs upon poles within sight
of the wall. The place became untenable after the arrival of the
battering train, and capitulated on May 5, but Preston was glad to give
fair terms, and Castlehaven escorted all the English safely to the
neighbourhood of Dublin.[29]
[Sidenote: Clanricarde on the situation.]
[Sidenote: First proposal to send a nuncio.]
[Sidenote: The Pope would be welcome.]
There were cool-headed Irish Catholics at home and abroad who saw
the essential weakness of the Confederates' position. Clanricarde
was Walsingham's grandson. Alone among men of his creed he held the
King's commission, and knew the real interests of the Crown, as well
as the impossibility of separating Ireland from England. Among the
insurgents were many who had been 'instruments of foul and horrid acts;
there being yet some who do boast and glory in those inhumanities. And
if God's judgment and wrath be not first appeased, it is much to be
feared there will be a long expectation of a more settled time.' The
Jesuit O'Hartegan, in daily communication with his countrymen and
with the nuncio at Paris, had none of Clanricarde's scruples, but he
had misgivings of his own. The hatred of the heretics would stop at
nothing, and the faithful had gone too far to retreat. Men and money
were available, but there was no head, no order or discipline; 'one of
our birth-attributes is never to submit ourselves willingly to any of
our own nation, to live as companions or equals, and think ourselves
as worthy of any command and of superiority as each other of our
compatriots.' Foreigners were always thought much of, even when there
were better men at home; and it was necessary to send a stranger to
take charge. He should be 'of long experience, of good learning, and
charitably affected for compassionating our infirmities, and it is
unquestionable these conditions do concur in an Italian best of all
nations.' Ireland could support 100,000 men, but a head was necessary.
To support this army O'Hartegan proposed to seize all Crown revenues
and rights; all goods of English, Scotch and Dutch heretics; all goods
of Irish heretics such as Ormonde, Kildare, Thomond, Barrymore and
Inchiquin; and of Catholic neutrals like Clanricarde and Antrim; all
Church lands and all lands confiscated from natives, including the
Desmonds. In such a cause, too, the people would readily pay heavy
taxes and submit to monopolies. In the absence of a supreme head every
commander and nobleman would cut and carve for himself, 'and every mere
Irish pretend his ancestors were illegally dispossessed.' A nuncio of
the highest rank, even the Pope himself, could be made comfortable at
Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny, Clonmel, or Limerick.'[30]
FOOTNOTES:
[12] Sir James Turner's _Memoirs_, pp. 26, 28; Spalding's _Memorials_;
_Burton's History of Scotland_, chap. 73; May's _Long Parliament_, p.
431; _Rushworth_, iv. 407, 501; Gardiner's _History of England_, x. 70.
[13] Monro's despatch to Leslie, May 18, printed in _Contemporary
History of Affairs in Ireland_, i. 419; Sir James Turner's _Memoirs_,
22; Roger Pike's narrative in _Ulster Archæological Journal_, viii. 77;
O'Mellan's narrative in Young's _Old Belfast_, p. 211.
[14] _An exact Relation of the good service of Sir Frederick Hamilton_,
1643, _Information of Sir Frederick Hamilton_ ... to the committee of
both kingdoms, 1645. Audley Mervyn's _Relation_, 1642. The first of
these contains a letter from O'Connor Sligo, who urged Hamilton to
capitulate, all Sligo, Mayo, and Leitrim being against him. Hamilton
answered: 'Your loyalty to your King, your faith to your friends,
once broke, never more to be trusted by me, but revenged as God shall
enable the hands of him who was loving to your loyal predecessors,
whose course will contribute to your destruction, for extinguishing the
memory of their loyalties. Thus I rest with contempt and scorn to all
your base brags. Your scourge, if I can.--F. H.'
[15] _Bellings_, i. 80, with a plan of the battle; _Aphorismical
Discovery_, i. 31; Carte's _Ormonde_; Captain Yarner's _Relation_, May
4, 1642. Yarner, who was personally consulted, testifies that Ormonde
made all the dispositions himself. He guesses at 500 as the probable
number killed; but Bellings says 'scarce one hundred and no prisoners.'
[16] Bellings' narrative and documents in _Confederation and War_,
ii. 34, 47, 210. The acts of the ecclesiastical congregation are in
English, but the Latin version (probably the original form) is in
_Spicilegium Ossoriense_, i. 262.
[17] State Papers, _Ireland_, July 22, 1607 (No. 297); Aphorismical
Discovery in _Contemp. Hist._ ed. Gilbert, with the evidence of Henry
MacCartan, _ib._ i. 396, and O'Neill's letter to Wadding, _ib._ 476;
Colonel O'Neill's Journal in _Desiderata Curiosa Hibernica_, vol. ii.;
Clarendon's _Hist._ xii. 108; _Clarendon S.P._ ii. 144.
[18] Bellings in _Confederation and War_, and the documents there, i.
xxxix.; ii. 67; Carte's _Ormonde_; Martin's _Hist. de France_, chap. 70.
[19] _Bellings_, i. 92; Carte's _Ormonde_, i. 343; Smith's _Hist.
of Cork; A most exact Relation of a Victory_, &c., London, October
3, 1642; _Digitus Dei_, or a miraculous victory, London, September
20. The latter writer notes that Stephenson had 'an exceeding rich
saddle.' _A Journal of the most memorable passage in Ireland_, London,
October 19, 1642, by an eye-witness, notes that 'almost all the Lords
of Munster were present'--Roche, Muskerry, Ikerrin, Dunboyne, Brittas,
Castleconnell, and one of Ormonde's brothers. As to Ardmore, besides
the Journal, see _A True Relation of God's Providence in Munster_,
which says between seventy and eighty were hanged. The letter quoted in
_Several Passages_, &c., London, September 16, says 116, adding, 'this
is most true.'
[20] _A Relation from Viscount Conway_, from June 17 to July 30,
London, 1642. This was sent to a worthy M.P., who published it; it is
well written, but badly printed.
[21] _A True Relation of the Taking of Mountjoy_, &c., June 25 to July
8, London, August 4, 1642; _A Relation from Belfast_, London, August
17, carries this a little further. A good many cows were caught, and
the country, without taking Charlemont, was swept for some twelve miles
from Mountjoy.
[22] Bellings in _Confederation and War_, i. 111; Acts of General
Assembly, _ib._ ii. 73; Richard Martin's letter of December 2, 1642, in
Clanricarde's _Memoirs_, 296.
[23] Acts of General Assembly, _ut sup._ ii. 88.
[24] Letters from the Supreme Council to foreign powers, November
and December 1642, _Confederation and War_, ii. 99-129. The oath of
association of the Confederates, _ib._ 210; also in _Cox_, appx. xiv.
and (omitting the last paragraph) in Walsh's _Remonstrance_, appx. i.
p. 31. The latter, dated July 26, 1644, is evidently not the earliest
form. In _Vindiciæ Catholicorum Hiberniæ_, Paris, 1650, p. 6, is a much
shorter Latin oath, which places the Church first, the King second, and
the national liberties third, but is called 'associationis juramentum,'
like the others.
[25] _Bellings_, i. 90; _Castlehaven_, 35.
[26] Tucker's Journal in _Confederation and War_, ii. 189, January 30,
1642-3. The Commission, dated January 11, is in Carte's _Ormonde_, iii.
No. 117. _Castlehaven._
[27] Tucker's Journal in _Confederation and War_, ii.; Creichton's
faithful account, _ib._ ii. 248.
[28] Creichton's _Faithful Account_ and that of Bellings, p. 130, give
the official views on the two sides. The _Aphorismical Discovery_ is
much to the same effect, adding the usual bad language, and describing
Preston as 'either drunk, a fool, or a traitor.' Creichton exaggerates
the number of Preston's army; while Bellings unduly diminishes the
number of slain. 'Scarce one hundred slain upon the place' takes no
account of the pursuit. See also _Truth from Ireland expressed in Two
Letters_, London, April 22, 1643.
[29] _Bellings_, i. 149-151; _Aphorismical Discovery_, i. 65;
_Castlehaven_, p. 36.
[30] Clanricarde to Gormanston, December 21, 1642, in Carte's
_Ormonde_, iii. No. 115; O'Hartegan (Paris) to Wadding (Rome), November
7, 1642, in _Roman Transcripts_, R.O.