Chapter 12: Winter Quarters.
Two or three days later, Captain Davenant returned to Limerick with histroop. He had stopped at the house on his way, and learned there of themove which had been made.
"Well, Walter, so you nearly had to defend Mrs. Conyers against odds,again," he said, as Walter joined him in the marketplace, where the troopwas dismounting. "I have come here for a day, only, for we are on our waysouth. It is thought likely that the enemy's next move may be againstCork, so some of us are detached in that direction.
"To my mind," he went on, after he had seen the troop quartered, in somehouses which formerly belonged to the Protestants, but were now used asbarracks--"in my opinion, we are wasting precious time. We ought not toallow the enemy to go into winter quarters. Our best season is justcoming on. We can stand the wet far better than they can, and we oughtnot to give them a moment's rest, but should keep our army together, andbeat up one garrison after another; threaten the strongest places; compelthem to keep constantly on the move; and, before the spring, completelywear out and exhaust those whom we cannot conquer. If England found thatshe had the whole work to begin over again, she would think twice beforeshe went further.
"These petty German princes would not find their men so ready to embarkin a quarrel, with which they have no concern, when they learned that allwho had done so had laid their bones in the swamps of Ireland, and,without his mercenaries, William would find it hard to gather an army,for the English themselves have no heart whatever in the war. If weremain inactive all the winter, and enable them to retain their footholdeverywhere, fresh reinforcements will arrive in the spring, and so, bitby bit, all Ireland will be won.
"It is disheartening in the extreme, after seeing the enemy retire,repulsed and utterly disheartened, from Athlone and Limerick, to allowthem unmolested to rest and gather strength again. If we could but getrid of the French, there would be some hope for us. They have scarcefired a shot, since the war began, and yet they assume superiority overour generals. They thwart us at every turn. They not only refuse tocombine in any action, but they prevent our doing so.
"Since the Boyne, our army has lain inactive and has done nothing,although they might have done everything. All Ireland was open to them,on the day when William, with all his forces, sat down here beforeLimerick. Why, they could have marched straight for Dublin and capturedit, before William heard that they had crossed the Shannon. They mighthave cut off his supplies from Waterford. They might have starved him outin his camp here. They have had the game in their hands, and they haveallowed it to slip altogether through their fingers. The only hope Ihave, now, is that before the spring the French will go. It is but tooclear that Louis has no intention, whatever, of helping us in earnest.Had he chosen he could, any time during the last six months, have landedan army here, which would have decided the struggle. Instead of that, hehas sent five thousand men, and had in return as many of our bestsoldiers; and the officers he sent seem to have been furnished withsecret instructions, not only to do nothing themselves, but to prevent usfrom doing anything."
"Whom would you like to see in command, father?"
"I should not care much, Walter, so that it was one man. I had ratherhave any soldier you might take at random from our army, so that hepossessed a fair share of common sense, than the chaos which nowprevails; but, of course, the man whom we would rather have is Sarsfield.Whether he is a great general or not, we have no means of knowing, for hehas never yet had the slightest opportunity of showing it; but I do notthink, myself, that he has made the most of what chances he has had, savethat one dash against the artillery convoy. He has done nothing; and, asthe cavalry are under his command, and he could, if he chose, snap hisfingers at the pretensions of the French and act independently, I thinkhe might have done far more than he has done. Still, he is our mostprominent leader, and he possesses the confidence of the Irish of allclasses. If he were in supreme command there would, I am sure, be acomplete change in our tactics. Instead of waiting everywhere to beattacked, we should take the offensive, and, even if we were unable tomeet William's forces in pitched battles, and I believe that we areperfectly capable of doing so, we should be able to harass and exhaustthem, to such a point that William would be only too glad to grant us anyterms we might demand, to bring the war to an end."
After having dined, Captain Davenant went with Walter to call upon Mrs.Conyers. Hearing that he was about to march with his troop to Cork, Mrs.Conyers said:
"Oh, Captain Davenant, will you not take us under your protection there?I am afraid of travelling with Claire to Galway, in the present disturbedstate of the country, and I should find it easier to take a passage toEngland from Cork than from Galway."
"You certainly would, Mrs. Conyers. There is no formal war betweenEngland and Ireland, and trading vessels still ply between Cork andBristol. I agree with you that it would not be safe for two Protestantladies to travel, without protection, from here to Galway, and I shall beonly too glad for you to journey with us. Your daughter, I know, can rideany of the country ponies; and for yourself--"
"I can ride, too, if there is an occasion. One of our horses is perfectlyquiet, and I have often ridden him by the side of Mr. Conyers, so therewill be no difficulty on that score."
"In that case," Captain Davenant said, "consider the matter as arranged.Will you be ready to start tomorrow, early?"
"Certainly, Captain Davenant; I have no preparations to make. All ourfurniture--which, thanks to Walter, was saved--has been stowed away inthe cellars of a warehouse here, and is safe unless William returns andbatters the whole town to pieces. The silver and other valuables ourfriends here will take care of, till better times, so we have only topack two valises and mount. The servants will all find situations here.My daughter's maid, Bridget, and two or three others have offered toaccompany us to England, but we have decided to take no one. Directly weget to Bristol, I shall write to my husband, who has given me an addressboth in London and Dublin, so that he will doubtless join us in a veryshort time."
The party started the next morning, and reached Cork without adventure,as there were no English troops in that part of the country. Three daysafter their arrival, Mrs. Conyers took a passage for herself and Clairein a trader about to sail for Bristol. The evening before they sailed,Mrs. Conyers had a long talk with Captain Davenant, while the two youngpeople had slipped off for a last walk together.
"Of course, Captain Davenant," she began, "you have seen, as well as Ihave, how things stand between Claire and Walter. They are both veryyoung, but the strange circumstances of the times, and the manner inwhich they have been thrown together, have combined to render theirposition peculiar, and I believe, nay, I am sure, that on both sidestheir affection is deep and will be lasting."
"I quite agree with you, Mrs. Conyers, at any rate as far as my son isconcerned. Walter has never spoken to me on the subject. I supposefathers and sons are less given to confidences of this sort than mothersand daughters. But that Walter is deeply and earnestly attached to yourdaughter is unquestionable, and, indeed, it would be singular were itotherwise. I have stood passive in the matter, simply because I saw thatyou took no steps to keep them apart; and you could not but have seen, atan early period of their acquaintance, in what direction matters weretending."
"Frankly," Mrs. Conyers said, "I gave the matter no thought, during yourfirst stay with us. I had regarded Claire as a child, and it did not, atfirst, occur to me that there could be any danger of her fallingseriously in love, for years to come. When my eyes were opened to thetrue state of things, and I found my little girl had lost her heart, Icould have wished it otherwise.
"I do not mean as to worldly matters," she went on hastily, seeing thatCaptain Davenant was about to speak. "That weighed absolutely nothingwith me. Indeed, they may be considered to be well matched in thatrespect. If the war is decided in favour of King William, Claire will bea rich heiress. If, on the other hand, your cause triumph, you willregain your confiscated estates, while we s
hall lose ours. So that thereis, I consider, no inequality whatever in their position. The difficulty,of course, to which I allude is their religion. This is naturally a graveobstacle, and I fear that my husband will regard it as such, even morestrongly than I do. He is, however, extremely attached to Claire, andwill, I feel sure, when he sees that her happiness is at stake, comeround to my views of the matter.
"There are," she said with a smile, "Catholics and Catholics, just asthere are Protestants and Protestants. I would rather see Claire in hergrave than married to many Catholics I know; but neither you nor Walterare bigots."
"No, indeed," Captain Davenant said. "We came over to this country whenCatholicism was the religion of all England, and we have maintained thereligious belief of our fathers. I own that what I may call politicalProtestantism is hateful to me; but between such Catholicism as mine, andsuch Protestantism as yours, I see no such broad distinctions as shouldcause us to hate each other."
"That is just my view," Mrs. Conyers agreed. "The differences between thecreeds are political rather than religious, and, in any case, I considerthat when neither of the parties is bigoted, the chances of happiness aregreater in the case where the man is a Catholic and the woman aProtestant, than in the opposite case."
"I think so, too," Captain Davenant said. "At any rate, I do not thinkthat Walter and Claire would be likely to quarrel over their respectiveopinions."
"I think not," Mrs. Conyers agreed with a smile. "I do wish, with all myheart, that it had been otherwise; but, as it is not so, I for my part amdetermined to make the best of the circumstances. They are both young,and it is possible that they may, in time, come to think alike, one wayor the other. I am not one of those who think that there is but one wayto heaven; and, should Walter some day win Claire over to his way ofthinking, I shall not consider that she has forfeited her chances."
"It is quite as likely to be the other way," Captain Davenant said."Walter is a good lad, and a brave one, but, with all Claire's prettywinning ways, I question if the young lady has not more will of her own,and more mind, than Walter has. I hope they may agree each to go theirown way, and I think that, if they continue to live in this country, theywill probably do so, for here, unhappily, political differences build upa wall between the two branches of Christianity. But, if it should comethat they should some day leave this unhappy country, and settle inEngland, where the same ill feeling does not exist, there is no sayingwhat may happen."
"Well, at any rate, Captain Davenant, it is satisfactory that our viewson the subject agree, and that we are both willing to make the best ofwhat we cannot but consider to be a misfortune. But here come the youngpeople. I have no doubt," she laughed, "that they have been swearing vowsof eternal fidelity."
"Well, we were young ourselves, once, and we are not too old, yet, Mrs.Conyers, to feel enjoyment in the happiness of these young people."
The next morning, Mrs. Conyers and Claire sailed for England, and themilitary events, which shortly afterwards took place, left Walter littletime for thought on other subjects.
On the 21st of September, two days after the departure of Mrs. Conyers, aheavy cannonading was heard from the forts at the mouth of Cork harbour,and, soon afterwards, a horseman galloped into the town with the newsthat an English fleet had forced the entrance, in spite of the fire fromthe forts. This fleet bore five thousand men, under the command of theEarl of Marlborough.
The English party at court had long been mortified and disgusted at themanner in which the English had been ignored by William, and all themilitary commands bestowed upon foreigners. The discontent, caused by thewant of success which had attended the operations in Ireland, had greatlystrengthened this party, and they had now succeeded in getting anindependent English expedition sent off, under the command of an Englishgeneral. William was much annoyed at this, for any brilliant successattained by Marlborough would have increased the feeling against hisforeign favourites. He had, therefore, despatched the division of GeneralScravenmore to besiege the town on the land side, and had placed incommand of it the Duke of Wirtemberg, whose rank as a prince, and as ageneral of higher rank than Marlborough, would enable him to claim thesupreme command, and to carry off the honour of any success that might begained.
This force arrived before the town, within a day of the appearance of thefleet. Marlborough had already made good use of his time, for immediatelythe leading vessels had effected the passage, troops were landed inboats, and the batteries attacked in rear and carried. The rest of thefleet then entered, and, on the 23rd and 24th, the troops were landed onthe south bank of the river, and commenced their march towards the city,the sailors dragging the guns. Wirtemberg immediately sent toMarlborough, to claim the command of the whole force.
Marlborough replied that his commission was an independent one. He deniedthe authority of any of William's foreign officers in Ireland, and statedhaughtily that his troops were British, and he a British officer.Wirtemberg was greatly offended that the English general should affect tolook down upon the Danes, Germans, French, and other foreign ragamuffinswho composed his command, and he insisted strongly upon his claims.Marlborough maintained his position, and Wirtemberg was driven, at last,to propose that they should command on alternate days, and Marlboroughagreed to the proposal.
The position of Cork was not a strong one, although, in the days beforethe use of artillery, it was considered well-nigh impregnable, beingbuilt upon the islands and marshes formed by the river Lea, andcompletely surrounded by two branches of the river. But upon three sidesit was surrounded, at a short distance only, by high hills, whichcompletely commanded it, and these hills were defended only by castlesand forts of no great strength.
The garrison was but small, for the Irish were taken by surprise by thearrival of Marlborough's expedition, and had prepared only for a siege byWirtemberg and his foreign division. They were therefore obliged toabandon Shandon Castle, and two adjoining forts, which defended the hillson the north of the city, and Wirtemberg's Danes at once took possessionof these works, and, planting their guns there, opened fire on thenorthern quarter of the city.
Marlborough constructed his batteries at a monastery called the RedAbbey, on the south point of the river, where he was separated from thecity only by the stream and narrow strip of marshy ground. These gunssoon made a breach in the walls, and Marlborough prepared to storm theplace, for, at low tide, it was possible to wade across the marsh andriver.
The garrison, well aware that they could not long defend the place, nowoffered to capitulate on the same terms which William had granted to thegarrisons of towns he had captured; namely, that they should be allowedto march out with the honours of war, with their arms and baggage, and tomake their way unmolested to Limerick. The Prince of Wirtemberg wasstrongly in favour of these terms being granted, but Marlboroughperemptorily refused. While a sharp dispute took place between the twoofficers, and before any conclusion could be arrived at, the tide rose,and the regiments drawn up ready to cross the river could no longer pass.
The firing then recommenced on both sides. Notwithstanding the efforts ofthe besieged to repair the injury to their wall, the breach dailyincreased in size. Wirtemberg moved his forces round from the north side,to take their share in the assault, and at low tide the English and Danesadvanced against the breach. Under a heavy fire from the walls, theystruggled through the marshes and entered the river, which, even at lowtide, reached to their shoulders. Suffering heavily from the fire, theypushed forward until they nearly reached the breach. Here the Duke ofGrafton, who commanded the British column, fell dead, with many officersand men; but the rest maintained their order, and were about to make adash at the breach, when the governor, accompanied by Lord Tyrone, raisedthe white flag.
After a short parley, it was agreed that the garrison should becomeprisoners of war, but were to be protected in their persons and privateproperty. The city was to be preserved from any injury, and the citizensand their property were to be respected.
Captain
Davenant's troop had remained idle, during the siege, as therewas no work for cavalry. They were quartered near an infantry regiment,which had been raised by MacFinn O'Driscol from among his own tenantry,and was commanded by him. O'Driscol was a relation of Mrs. Davenant, andthe two commanders were often together. Both felt that the city mustspeedily fall, unless the Irish army moved down to its relief; but theyagreed that, if it surrendered, they would make an effort to escape withtheir troops, for they had no faith in the observance of any terms ofcapitulation which might be made.
Accordingly, as soon as it was known that the governor had surrendered,and that the gates of the town were to be handed over to the British,O'Driscol and Captain Davenant formed up their commands, and, opening oneof the gates, marched boldly out. The exact terms on which the garrisonhad surrendered were not known, and Marlborough and Wirtemberg were nearthe breach, arranging for the troops to take possession of the gates onthat side. Consequently, the besieging forces opposite the gate fromwhich the little column had marched out supposed that, in accordance withthe arrangement, they were coming out to lay down their arms. Theytherefore stood aside as the column passed, being far more intent uponthe plunder they expected to gather, in Cork, than on anything else. As,a few minutes later, the gates were opened and the troops poured into thecity, no further thought was given to the little force which had marchedout; and the five hundred infantry, and the troop of horse, were safefrom pursuit before the news of the audacious ruse they had practisedreached the ears of the generals.
Inside the town, the articles of the treaty were at once violated. Thetroops entered the town in crowds, and, incited, as in Dublin, by a mobcalling themselves Protestants, they proceeded to plunder the houses andassault the Catholic inhabitants. The governor, M'Carty, was wounded. TheEarls of Tyrone and Clancarty, with difficulty, made their escape fromthe mob. Many were killed, and a great destruction of property tookplace, before Marlborough and Wirtemberg entered the town and put a stopto the disorder, which inflicted great discredit upon them, as they hadmade no arrangements, whatever, to ensure the safety of the inhabitants,which they had solemnly guaranteed.
It was now October, and Marlborough at once set about the investment ofKinsale. On the very evening of the day he entered Cork, he sent off fivehundred horse towards that town, and the next day marched thither himselfat the head of his infantry. The works of Kinsale consisted of two forts,both of considerable strength, called the Old Fort and Charles's Fort.They were well supplied with stores and provisions for a siege. On theapproach of the besiegers, the governor set fire to the town and retiredto the forts, and, in answer to the summons to surrender, replied that"it would be time enough to talk about that a month hence."
Marlborough ordered General Tettau to cross the river in boats, witheight hundred picked men, and to carry Old Fort by storm. The assault wasmade with great determination and bravery; but the works were strong andstoutly defended, and the British were about to fall back, discomfited,when fortune came to their assistance. Some loose powder ignited andfired the magazine, by which more than two hundred men of the garrisonwere killed, and the works seriously injured. After this disaster, thegovernor abandoned the fort and withdrew, with the survivors of itsgarrison, to Charles's Fort. Marlborough at once commenced the siege ofthis position, but for fifteen days the place resisted all his efforts.The heavy loss, however, which the garrison had suffered by the explosionin Old Fort, rendered them unable, by sallies, to interfere with theworks of the besiegers. These were carried on with great vigour, forMarlborough feared that the approach of the wet season would put a stopto his operations.
When, therefore, the governor offered to surrender, on the terms of hisbeing permitted "to march away with his garrison, their arms, baggage,and all the honours of war, taking with them all persons who wished toaccompany them, together with their property, to Limerick," Marlboroughat once granted the terms demanded.
The advent of winter now put a stop to regular operations; but a war ofskirmishes continued, and the British, in their quarters, were greatlystraitened for forage and provisions. In Dublin, the work of confiscationwent on merrily. The greater part of the Catholic proprietors of the townwere thrown into prison. The various indictments against countrygentlemen, followed by the confiscation of their property, were hurriedthrough the court with the merest shadow of legal form; for, thedefendants being absent and unacquainted with what was being done inDublin, it was only necessary to recite the accusation to find theaccused guilty, and to pass sentence of confiscation--all this being thework of a few minutes only.
Nothing could be done, however, to carry the sentences into effect, forWilliam's troops still possessed only the ground the troops stood upon,and the towns they occupied. Outside those limits, the whole country wasagainst them. The Earl of Marlborough had returned to England,immediately after the surrender of Kinsale; and General Ginckle, who hadnow succeeded to the command, determined to harass the enemy, and toincrease the resources at his disposal by an expedition into thesouthwest of Ireland, which, covered by Cork and Limerick, had hithertobeen free from the presence of any English troops. He therefore pushed astrong body of cavalry and infantry westward from Cork and Kinsale; andthese succeeded in making themselves masters of Castle Haven, Baltimore,Bantry, and several other castles on the line of coast. The district waswild and mountainous, and the passes might have been easily held againstthe advance; but the peasants had not been organized for resistance, andno serious opposition was encountered.
Colonel O'Driscol, a cousin of MacFinn O'Driscol, and Captain O'Donovan,two of the principal proprietors of the neighbourhood, soon arrived uponthe spot, and assembled a large irregular force, consisting chiefly ofmounted peasants; and with these they soon cooped the invaders up in thecastles they had taken. O'Driscol next attempted the recovery of his ownCastle Haven, which was strongly defended, and stood on a cliffoverhanging the sea; but his wild peasants were ill adapted for suchwork, and they were repulsed by the English garrison, and O'Driscolhimself killed. But another force was advancing from the north. MacFinnO'Driscol, with his regiment, pressed forward along the line of Bandonriver, besieged and captured Castle Haven, and expelled the Englishgarrisons from Baltimore and Bantry.
General Tettau had also marched out from Cork with several regiments ofinfantry and dragoons, with the intention of penetrating into Kerry; butthe enemy's light troops harassed him night and day, wasted the country,and defended every pass; and he was obliged to return to Cork, withouthaving accomplished anything. All this time Ginckle was urging upon thelord justices, who were now the real ruling party in Ireland, to issue aproclamation offering pardon and security for person and property to allwho came in; urging that it was impossible that he could ever subdue thecountry, while the whole population had everything at stake in opposinghim.
He was supported by King William, who was most anxious to bring thestruggle to an end; but the lord justices, and the Protestant party atDublin, who were bent upon dividing among themselves the property of theCatholics throughout Ireland, turned a deaf ear to the arguments ofGinckle, and their friends in London had sufficient power to prevent theking from insisting upon his own wishes being carried into effect.
After taking part in the operations in Kerry, Captain Davenant's troopreturned to Limerick, around which city the greater part of the Irisharmy were still encamped.