disease, as Schomberg's had been in the preceding campaign. And there is
reason to believe that Tyrconnell, foreseeing the defeat of James,
wished to avoid any serious fighting, which would be an obstacle in his
way when he sought to patch up a peace with the victor and make terms
for himself. But his opponent was inspired by a very different temper,
and William's army advanced steadily southwards, to find James encamped
on the southern bank of the Boyne.
There were several fords by which William's army would have to cross on
its way south. But James was such an incapable general that he did not
even throw up trenches to defend the fords. William's army arrived and
encamped on the north bank of the river, and the next day, June 30th,
was employed in an artillery duel between the two armies, when
considerable injury was inflicted on William's forces, although he was
far stronger in artillery than his opponent. During that night, James,
already certain of defeat, sent away most of his artillery to Dublin,
leaving only six guns with his army on the Boyne.
It seems tolerably certain that, when the battle began again next day,
William's army numbered between forty-five and fifty thousand, with the
usual proportion of cavalry,--probably a tenth of the whole. James, on
the other hand, had from twenty to twenty-five thousand men, about a
tenth of them, probably, being mounted; he had, by his own fault, only
six guns against about fifty in William's batteries. William's line of
battle was formed, as usual, with the infantry in the center and the
cavalry on the wings. He gave the elder Schomberg command of the center,
while Schomberg's son, with the cavalry of the right wing, was sent four
or five miles up the river to Slane, to cross there and turn the left
flank of the opposing army. William himself led the cavalry on the left
wing, and later on in the battle, descending the river, crossed at a
lower ford. He could thus attack the right flank of his opponent; the
infantry composing the center of his army advancing, meanwhile, under
cover of a heavy artillery fire, and forcing the fords of the Boyne.
The river is shallow here, and in the middle of summer the water is
nowhere too deep for wading, so that it was a very slight protection to
the army of James. A better general would at least have chosen a
stronger position, and one which would have given him some manifest
advantage. Such positions were to be found all along the road by which
William had advanced from Carrickfergus. The country on both sides of
the Boyne is flat; rolling meadows with the shallow river dividing
them--a country giving every opportunity to cavalry.
William's right, under the younger Schomberg, made several unsuccessful
attempts to cross the river at Slane, being repeatedly beaten back by
Arthur O'Neill's horse. Finally, however, the way was cleared for him by
a vigorous cannonade, to which O'Neill, having no cannon, was unable to
reply, and William's right wing thus forced the passage of the Boyne.
William's center now advanced, and began the passage of the river, under
cover of a heavy artillery fire. Every foot of the advance was
stubbornly contested, and such headway was made by the Irish troops that
Schomberg's bodyguard was scattered or cut to pieces, and he himself was
slain. The center of William's army was undoubtedly being beaten back,
when, crossing lower down with eighteen squadrons of cavalry, he
fiercely attacked the right flank of the Irish army and thus turned the
possibility of defeat into certain victory. That the Irish troops,
although outnumbered two to one and led by a coward, fought valiantly,
is admitted on all sides. They charged and re-charged ten times in
succession, and only gave way at last under pressure of greatly superior
numbers. The retreat of the Irish army was orderly,--the more so,
doubtless, because the former king of England was no longer among them,
having most valiantly fled to Dublin, and thence to Kinsale, where he
took ship for France, leaving behind him a reputation quite singular in
the annals of Ireland.
Within a week after the battle, the Irish army, which had preserved
order and discipline even in the face of the flight of James, occupied
Limerick, and made preparations to hold that strong position, with the
untouched resources of the western province behind them, and the hope,
unshaken by their rude experience, that the runaway king might reinforce
them by sea. Through all the events that followed, presently to be
narrated, it must be understood that Tyrconnell was steadily seeking to
undermine the resolution of the Irish army, hoping the sooner to make
his peace with King William, to secure his Irish estates, and, very
possibly, be appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, under the new king.
William meanwhile brought his army southwards, being welcomed to Dublin
by the large English element there, and presently continued his march to
Waterford, which was surrendered to him, as was alleged, by Tyrconnell's
orders. He also reduced Kilkenny, to which Tyrconnell had failed to
send reinforcements, though repeatedly appealed to by its commander.
About this time, on July 28th or a day or two later, the brave garrison
of Derry was relieved by some of William's ships, which broke the line
of blockade across the river and brought abundant provisions to the
emaciated defenders.
A section of William's army under Douglas was sent to take Athlone, the
strong fortress which guarded the ford, and later the bridge across the
Shannon--the high road from Leinster to the western province of
Connacht, beyond the river. Douglas, after a fierce attack lasting seven
days, was compelled to retreat again to the main army encamped at
Waterford. The French auxiliaries under Lauzun, who had not hitherto
greatly distinguished themselves for valor, losing less than a score of
men at the Boyne, now deserted Limerick and retreated to Galway, taking
with them, if the fugitive king may be credited, a great quantity of
ammunition from the fortress of Limerick.
[Illustration: Thormond Bridge, Limerick.]
Finally, on August 9th, William's army appeared before Limerick, and the
famous siege began. Tyrconnell signalized himself by deserting the fords
over the Shannon and departing to Galway, declaring that the town would
certainly surrender within a week. The city, however, was of a
different opinion. The garrison, under Sarsfield, made vigorous
preparation for a defence, and a party under Sarsfield himself cut off
one of William's convoys from Dublin, destroying the siege-train which
was being brought for the attack on the city. William's cavalry, taking
advantage of Tyrconnell's retreat, crossed the ford of the Shannon to
complete the investment of the city on that side, but they presently
returned, having done nothing effective.
We hear of more attempts by Tyrconnell to undermine the resolution of
the army, and of attacks by William's force, which gave him possession
of the outworks, so that he was able presently to begin cannonading the
walls, to make a breach for an assault. The officer in the Irish army
whom we have already quoted, gives this account of the siege: "Never was
a town better attacked and better defended than the city of Limerick.
William left nothing unattempted that the art of war, the skill of a
great captain and the valor of veteran soldiers could put in execution
to gain the place; and the Irish omitted nothing that courage and
constancy could practice to defend it. The continual assaults of the one
and the frequent sallies of the other consumed a great many brave men
both of the army and the garrison. On the nineteenth day, William, after
fighting for every inch of ground he gained, having made a large breach
in the wall, gave a general assault which lasted for three hours; and
though his men mounted the breach, and some even entered the town, they
were gallantly repulsed and forced to retire with considerable loss.
William, resolving to renew the assault next day, could not persuade his
men to advance, though he offered to lead them in person. Whereupon, all
in a rage, he left the camp, and never stopped till he came to
Waterford, where he took shipping for England; his army in the meantime
retiring by night from Limerick."
During this first siege of Limerick the garrison numbered some twenty
thousand, by no means well armed. William's besieging army was about
forty thousand, with forty cannon and mortars. His loss was between
three and four thousand, while the loss of the defenders was about half
that number.
William, presently arriving in England, sent reinforcements to his
generals in Ireland, under Lord Churchill, afterwards famous as the Duke
of Marlborough. Tyrconnell had meantime followed his runaway king to
France, as was involved in a maze of contradictory designs, the one
clear principle of which was the future advantage of Tyrconnell. Louis
XIV, who had reasons of his own for wishing to keep the armies of
William locked up in Ireland, was altogether willing to advise and help
a continuance of hostilities in that country. James seems to have
recognized his incapacity too clearly to attempt anything definite, or,
what is more probable, was too irresolute by nature even to determine to
give up the fight. Tyrconnell himself sincerely wished to make his peace
with William, so that he might once more enjoy the revenues of his
estates. The Irish army was thoroughly determined to hold out to
the end.
With these conflicting desires and designs, no single-hearted and
resolute action was possible. Matters seem to have drifted till about
January, 1691, when Tyrconnell returned; "but he brought with him no
soldiers, very few arms, little provision and no money." A month later a
messenger came direct to Sarsfield, then with the army at Galway, from
Louis XIV, promising reinforcements under the renowned soldier Saint
Ruth. This letter to a great extent revealed the double part Tyrconnell
had been playing at the French court, and did much to undermine his
credit with the better elements in the Irish army.
The French fleet finally arrived at Limerick in May, 1691, under Saint
Ruth, bringing a considerable quantity of provisions for the Irish army;
but it is doubtful whether this arrival added any real element of
strength to the army. The Irish army, soon after this, was assembled at
Athlone, to defend the passage of the Shannon. Much vigorous fighting
took place, but Ginkell, William's general, finally captured that
important fortress in June. The road to Galway was now open, and
Ginkell's army prepared to march on that important city, the strongest
place in Connacht. Saint Ruth prepared to resist their approach, fixing
his camp at Aughrim, The Hill of the Horses, some eighteen miles from
Athlone and thirty-five from Galway. We may once more tell the story in
the words of an eye-witness:
"Aughrim was then a ruined town, and the castle was not much better,
situated in a bottom on the north side of the hill, where the Irish army
encamped. The direct way from Ballinasloe was close by the castle, but
there was another way about, on the south-east side of the hill. The
rest of the ground fronting the camp was a marsh, passable only for
foot. The army of Ginkell appeared in sight of Aughrim on July 12th. The
Irish army, composed of about ten thousand foot, two thousand
men-at-arms, and as many light horse, was soon drawn up by Saint Ruth in
two lines; the cavalry on both wings flanking the foot; and having
placed Chevalier de Tessé on the right wing of the horse, and Sarsfield
on the left, and giving their several posts to the rest of the chief
commanders, Saint Ruth obliged himself to no certain place, but rode
constantly from one side to another to give the necessary orders where
he saw occasion. Ginkell being now come up at so near a distance that
his guns and other battering engines might do execution, he ordered them
to be discharged, and as he had a vast number of them he made them play
incessantly on the Irish army, hoping by that means to force them from
the hill, which was of great advantage. But the Irish, encouraged by the
presence and conduct of Saint Ruth, kept their ground and beat the
English as often as they advanced towards them. The fight continued from
noon till sunset, the Irish foot having still the better of the enemy;
and Saint Ruth, observing the advantage of his side, and that the
enemy's foot were much disordered, was resolved, by advancing with the
cavalry, to make the victory complete, when an unlucky shot from one of
the terrible new engines, hitting him in the head, made an end of his
life, and took away the courage of his army. For Ginkell, observing the
Irish to be in some disorder, gave a notable conjecture that the general
was either killed or wounded, whereupon he commanded his army to
advance. The Irish cavalry, discouraged by the death of Saint Ruth, and
none of the general officers coming to head them in his place, gave
back, and quitted the field. The foot who were engaged with the enemy,
knowing nothing of the general's death or the retreat of the cavalry,
continued fighting till they were surrounded by the whole English army;
so that the most of them were cut off, and no quarter given but to a
very few; the rest, by favor of the night then approaching, for Saint
Ruth was killed about sunset, made their escape."
To this we may add the testimony of the runaway monarch: "The Irish
behaved with great spirit. They convinced the English they had to do
with men no less resolute than themselves. Never assault was made with
greater fury nor sustained with greater obstinacy. The Irish foot
repulsed the enemy several times, particularly in the center. They even
looked upon the victory as certain.... The Irish lost four thousand
men. The loss of the English was not much inferior."
The army of Ginkell, thus in possession of the key of Connacht, advanced
upon its most important city, arriving before Galway a few days after
the battle of Aughrim. Galway, however, was full of divided counsels,
and speedily surrendered, so that Limerick alone remained. Limerick was
greatly weakened, now that Galway, and with Galway the whole of Connacht
to which alone Limerick could look for supplies, was in the hands of the
enemy. Ginkell turned all his efforts in the direction of Limerick,
appearing before the city and pitching his camp there on August 25,
1691. Beginning with the next day, our narrator tells us, "he placed his
cannon and other battering engines, which played furiously night and day
without intermission, reducing that famous city almost to ashes. No
memorable action, however, happened till the night between September 15
and 16, when he made a bridge of boats over the Shannon, which being
ready by break of day, he passed over with a considerable body of horse
and foot on the Connacht side of the river, without any opposition. This
so alarmed Sheldon, who commanded the cavalry at that time, that without
staying for orders, he immediately retired to a mountain a good
distance from Limerick, and marched with such precipitation and
disorder, that if a hundred of the enemy's horse had charged him in the
rear, they would in all likelihood have defeated his whole party, though
he had near upon four thousand men-at-arms and light horse; for the man,
if he was faithful, wanted either courage or conduct, and the party were
altogether discouraged to be under his command. But Ginkell did not
advance far, and after showing himself on that side of the bridge,
returned back into his camp the same day. Yet Sheldon never rested till
he came, about midnight, fifteen miles from the Shannon, and encamped in
a fallow field where there was not a bit of grass to be had: as if he
had designed to harass the horses by day and starve them by night....
Ginkell, understanding that the Irish horse was removed to such a
distance, passed the river on the twenty-third day with the greatest
part of his cavalry, and a considerable body of foot, and encamped
half-way between Limerick and the Irish horse camp, whereby he hindered
all communication between them and the town. On the twenty-fourth, the
captains within Limerick sent out a trumpet, desiring a parley," and as
a result of this parley, a treaty was ultimately signed between the two
parties, Limerick was evacuated, and the war came to an end. This was
early in October, 1691.
The war had, therefore, lasted nearly four years, a sufficient testimony
to the military qualities of the Irish, seeing that throughout the whole
period they had matched against them greatly superior numbers of the
finest troops in Europe, veterans trained in continental wars, and at
all points better armed and equipped than their adversaries.
What moves our unbounded admiration, however, is to see the troops
displaying these qualities of valor not only without good leadership,
but in face of the cowardice of the English king, and of duplicity
amounting to treachery on the part of his chief adherents. Foremost
among these time-servers was Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, whose name
shows him to have sprung from one of the Norman families, and we see
here the recurrence of a principle which had worked much harm in the
eight years' war of the preceding generation. The Duke of Ormond, sprung
from the Norman Butlers, was then the chief representative of the policy
of intrigue, and many of the reverses of both these wars are to be
attributed to the same race.
It is tragical to find the descendants of the old Norman barons, who at
any rate were valiant fighters, descending thus to practices quite
unworthy; yet we can easily understand how the fundamental injustice of
the feudal principle on which they stood, not less than the boundless
abuse of that already bad principle under the first Stuarts, could not
fail to undermine their sense of honor and justice, preparing them at
length for a policy of mere self-seeking, carried on by methods always
doubtful, and often openly treacherous.
The old tribal chieftains lived to fight, and went down fighting into
the night of time. Owen Roe O'Neill, last great son of a heroic race,
splendidly upheld their high tradition and ideal. No nobler figure, and
few more gifted captains, can be found in the annals of those warlike
centuries. The valor of Cuculain, the wisdom of Concobar, the chivalry
of Fergus--all were his, and with them a gentle and tolerant spirit in
all things concerning religion, very admirable in an age when so many
men, in other things not lacking in elements of nobility, were full of
bitter animosity, and zealous to persecute all those who differed from
them concerning things shrouded in mystery.
It may be said, indeed, that Owen Roe is in this only a type of all his
countrymen, who, though they suffered centuries of persecution for a
religious principle, never persecuted in return. Their conduct
throughout the epoch of religious war and persecution was always
tolerant and full of the sense of justice, contrasting in this, and
contrasting to their honor, with the conduct of nearly every other
nation in Christendom.
The history of Ireland, for the half century which followed this war,
offers few salient features for description. The Catholics during all
this time were under the ban of penal laws. The old tribal chiefs were
gone. The Norman lords were also gone. The life of the land hardly went
beyond the tilling of the fields and the gathering of the harvests. And
even here, men only labored for others to enter into their labor. The
right of private taxation, confirmed by law, and now forfeited by the
feudal lords, was given as a reward to the adherents of the dominant
party in England, and their yearly exactions were enforced by an armed
garrison. The more vigorous and restless elements of our race, unable to
accept these conditions of life, sailed in great numbers to the
continent, and entered the armies of many European powers. It is
estimated that, during the half century after the Treaty of Limerick,
fully half a million Irishmen fell in the service of France alone.
XV.
CONCLUSION.
A.D. 1750-1901.
The Treaty of Limerick, signed when the army of Sarsfield came to terms
with the besiegers, guaranteed equal liberty to all Ireland, without
regard to difference of religion. There is no doubt that William of
Nassau, scion of a race which had done much for liberty, a house that
had felt the bitterness of oppression, would willingly have carried this
treaty out in a spirit of fidelity and honor. But he was, helpless. The
dominant powers in England and Ireland were too strong for him, and
within the next few years the treaty was violated in letter and spirit,
and the indigenous population of Ireland was disarmed, deprived of civil
rights, reduced to servitude.
It is best, wherever possible, to secure the word of witnesses who
cannot be suspected of prejudice or favor. We shall do this, therefore,
in describing the condition of Ireland during the eighteenth century. We
find the Lord Chancellor of England declaring, during the first half of
that period, that "in the eye of the law no Catholic existed in
Ireland." The Lord Chief Justice affirms the same doctrine: "It appears
plain that the law does not suppose any such person to exist as an Irish
Roman Catholic." The law, therefore, as created by England for Ireland,
deprived of all civil, religious, intellectual and moral rights
four-fifths of the whole population, and gave them over as a lawful prey
to the remaining fifth: a band of colonists and adventurers, who favored
the policy of the party then dominant in England. This was the condition
of the law. We shall see, presently, what was its result on the life of
the nation. It should be a warning, for all time, of the dangers which
arise when one nation undertakes to govern another. For it must be
clearly understood that the Sovreign and Parliament of England believed
that in this they stood for honor and righteousness, and had a true
insight into the spirit and will of the Most High. It was, indeed, on
this superior knowledge of the divine will that they based their whole
policy; for what else is the meaning of legal discrimination against the
holders of a certain form of faith?
[Illustration: Salmon Fishery, Galway.]
In the second half of the eighteenth century, in 1775, the Congress of
the United States sent its sympathy in these words to the people of
Ireland: "We know that you are not without your grievances; we
sympathize with you in your distress, and we are pleased to find that
the design of subjugating us has persuaded the administration to
dispense to Ireland some vagrant rays of ministerial sunshine. Even the
tender mercies of the government have long been cruel to you. In the
rich pastures of Ireland many hungry parasites are fed, and grow strong
to labor for her destruction."
Three years later, in 1778, Benjamin Franklin wrote thus to the Irish
people: "The misery and distress which your ill-fated country has been
so frequently exposed to, and has so often experienced, by such a
combination of rapine, treachery and violence as would have disgraced
the name of government in the most arbitrary country in the world, has
most sincerely affected your friends in America, and has engaged the
most serious attention of Congress."