Chapter 8: Boyne Water.
The morning of Tuesday, the 1st of July, 1690, broke calm and bright. Atabout six o'clock in the morning the English right wing, under GeneralDouglas and Count Schomberg, marched towards Slane. It consisted oftwenty-four squadrons of horse, and six battalions of infantry. As theymarched along at the back of the river, they discovered several shallows,and crossed without proceeding as far as Slane. No serious resistance wasoffered to their passage of the Boyne, as the Irish had here only someparties of skirmishers, who fell back as they advanced.
After forming the troops in order, Douglas and Schomberg advanced, butpresently perceived the French battalions and a great part of the Irishcavalry, forming the left wing of James's army, drawn up in order at somedistance. They consequently halted, and sent for reinforcements. Whenthese arrived, they extended their lines to the right, so as to outflankthe enemy, and, supporting their cavalry by alternate battalions ofinfantry, again moved forward.
The Irish skirmishers fell back before their advance, taking advantage ofthe banks of the ditches, which divided the ground into small fields, andkeeping up a galling fire upon the British as they advanced. With somedifficulty, the latter passed over this broken ground and formed in orderof battle, on the edge of what appeared to be a plain, but which was infact a deep bog, which completely covered the Irish left. Here they cameto a standstill.
William had waited, until he believed that his right would have had timeto fall upon the Irish left, and then ordered his centre to advance andforce the passage at Old Bridge. The Dutch guards, whom William reliedupon as his best and most trustworthy troops, advanced in splendid orderto the river side, with their drums beating the march. When they reachedthe water's edge the drums ceased, and the soldiers entered the river.The stream rose as the dense column marched in and dammed it up, and thewater reached the shoulders of the grenadiers, but they still moved on,in regular order, keeping their arms and ammunition dry by holding themabove their heads. On the opposite bank, the hedges near the brink of theriver were lined with skirmishers, while in the rear, in a hollow coveredby some little hills, seven regiments of Irish infantry, supported by tentroops of horse and Tyrconnell's regiment of cavalry, were drawn up. Thehills protected them from the fire of the British batteries, which passedover their heads.
The Dutch troops continued their way unmolested, until they reached themiddle of the river, when a hot fire was opened upon them from the Irishskirmishers; but the Dutch moved on, unshaken, and soon gained theopposite bank, where they rapidly formed up, the skirmishers retiringbefore them. Scarcely had the Dutch formed their squares, when the Irishhorse burst down upon them at full speed, and charged them withimpetuosity.
They stood the charge unbroken, but again and again the Irish horsecharged down upon them, with the greatest gallantry. William pushed tworegiments of French Huguenots and one of British across the river, to theassistance of the Dutch guards, and ordered Sir John Hanmars and theCount of Nassau's regiment to cross, lower down the stream, to supportthem.
As the supports were making a passage, General Hamilton advanced, at thehead of a body of Irish infantry, to the water's edge, and, dashing intothe river, encountered the French Huguenot regiments in the middle of thestream. A desperate fight ensued, but the French made their way across,and Hamilton, falling back with his infantry, opened to the right andleft, permitting the Irish horse to charge through them.
These rushed with fury upon the French regiment of Colonel La Callimot,and cut their way right through them. Then, wheeling, they charged themin flank again, broke them, and drove them into the river. La Callimothimself was killed, and but few of his regiment regained the oppositebank.
In the meantime the Dutch guards, now reinforced, were advancing slowly,the Irish infantry holding fast to the hedges and brushwood, andcontesting every inch of the ground, while, wherever the ground permittedit, the Irish horse burst down upon them, evincing a gallantry anddetermination which would have done honour to the finest cavalry inEurope. The king continued to make repeated efforts to support his Dutchtroops, and, after the French were broken, he pushed forward the Danishhorse; but no sooner had they crossed the bank than the Irish cavalryburst down upon them, broke them, and drove them back into the river.They fled across the stream in disorder, and dispersed in all directions.
So far, success had rested principally with the Irish; the Dutch guardsalone remained unbroken in the centre; the French infantry and Danishhorse were broken and destroyed. Old Duke Schomberg exerted himself tothe utmost, to restore the battle at this point, and, having rallied theFrench infantry advanced with them, and a few French cavalry, towards theriver, where he was met by some of the Irish horse returning from thepursuit of the Danes. The old duke was cut down and his party againrouted, and at the same moment Walker, the clerical commander of Derry,received a mortal wound.
After his successful defence of Derry, this man had gone to London, wherehe had been feted and made much of, and had then attached himself to KingWilliam's army, where he posed as a high military authority, althoughmuch discouraged by the king, whom his arrogance and airs of authoritydispleased.
While in the centre William's forces were getting worsted, and on hisright Douglas and Count Schomberg were inactive and powerless, he himselfwas leading his left wing across the river. The passage was a difficultone, and the king himself was only extricated, with much exertion, from aquicksand into which his horse had plunged.
The Irish did not oppose the crossing, and as soon as his forces wereacross the stream, William ranged them in order. They consisted of alarge body of Danish, Dutch, and Enniskillen horse, and a considerableforce of infantry. As soon as all were in order the king, though stillsuffering from the wound he had received the day before, drew his swordand put himself at the head of his troops.
The Irish right wing, which consisted chiefly of infantry, moved forwardto meet them, but perceiving the numerous cavalry, led by the kinghimself, preparing to take them in flank, they halted, faced about andmarched slowly to the little hill of Donore. Having gained this point,they again faced round and charged down upon the British, who hadfollowed them closely.
At this moment the Irish cavalry, who had moved rapidly from the centreto the support of the right, charged down upon the Danish and Dutch horseled by the king, and no sooner had they come in contact than the Danesand Dutch turned and rode off, with the Irish cavalry in pursuit. Theking rode towards the Enniskilleners. Colonel Wolseley told his men thatit was the king, and asked if they wished to follow him. They repliedwith a shout, and the king, placing himself at the head, rode towards theIrish infantry; but as they advanced they were met by a well-directedvolley, and, being much more fond of plundering and slaughtering than ofclose fighting, they turned horse and rode away.
Again and again the king rallied his infantry and brought them back tothe fight, but the Irish infantry stood their ground with greatsteadiness, until Hamilton, their general, was wounded and taken in acharge of cavalry. After this, they fell back from Donore upon Duleek ingood order, the enemy not wanting to molest them, and the rest of theIrish infantry followed their example.
No more singular battle than that of the Boyne was ever fought. In themorning, at break of day, part of James's army, with most of hisartillery, were in march for the pass of Slane, and actually on theirretreat. The left wing, composed chiefly of French infantry, supposed tobe the best troops in the army, never fired a shot. The centre and right,composed entirely of Irish, most of whom had never before been in battle,were alone engaged. With the exception of his Dutch guards, all William'sforeign troops had been repeatedly broken; his cavalry had been drivenoff the field by the Irish horse, while no division of the Irish wasbroken or suffered a decided defeat, until the infantry from the hill ofDonore were compelled to retreat, which they did in perfect order.
Throughout the day, the Irish cavalry showed a vast superiority to thoseof the British, and even broke and destroyed regiments of infantry; andwhen
the whole army fell back they closed up the rear, and effectuallyprevented any attempt at pursuit. Thus, the battle of the Boyne wasfought rather to cover a retreat than defend a position. The loss oneither side was estimated at about five hundred, and General Hamilton wasthe only prisoner taken by the British.
The honours of the fight certainly rested with the Irish, who, against avastly superior force, comprising some of the best troops in Europe,maintained themselves throughout the day, and gained, indeed, in mostpoints, a decided advantage.
King James's valour had entirely evaporated before the first shot wasfired. Instead of following William's example, and leading his troops inthe conflict which was to decide the fate of his crown, and which hehimself had precipitated, he took up his position at a safe distance fromdanger, on the hill of Donore, and as soon as the battle approached thatpoint he rode off to Duleek, where he placed himself at the head of theFrench troops, and led their retreat. He soon, however, rode on ahead,and arrived in Dublin in a state of consternation and despair, the firstfugitive from the field of battle. In the meantime the army was whole andunbroken, marching in perfect order from the field of battle, while itsking and commander was doing his best to ruin the cause by spreadingdismay and alarm throughout the country.
The next morning the king sent for the mayor and corporation of Dublin,and told them that he was under the necessity of taking care of himself,and recommended them to do the same, and to make the best terms theycould with the enemy. He then at once mounted and made his flight toWaterford, ordering the bridges to be broken down behind him, althoughthe British army had not yet moved from its position on the Boyne. Onreaching Waterford James at once embarked on board the ship he hadordered to be in readiness, and sailed for France. His conduct, and hisconduct alone, converted the battle of the Boyne, which was in effect akind of drawn battle, into a great victory for William.
It had, indeed, more than answered the object which the Irish commandersproposed to themselves. Their plan was to accustom the new and badlyarmed levies to stand firm against the steadiness and experience ofWilliam's veteran troops, and then to withdraw without committingthemselves to a decisive combat, with a view of protracting the campaignuntil William should be forced to leave Ireland, and his foreign armyshould be worn out by winter service in an uncongenial climate. Every daywould, they calculated, improve their own army and weaken and reduce thatof the enemy.
Their position at the Boyne enabled them to try their plan of partialcombat to what extent they chose, without danger of being forced into amore extensive action than they deemed expedient. The Irish troops hadgreatly surpassed the expectation of their own officers, and had filledWilliam's generals with amazement; and it is probable that, if a largepart of the infantry and artillery had not been sent off early in theday, the experiment might have been turned into a brilliant victory. Asit was, William was so surprised and alarmed at the resistance he hadencountered, that he remained some days at the Boyne without advancing.He had been told by all, except the Duke of Schomberg, that theresistance of the Irish would be contemptible, and the most forward ofthose who had scoffed at the courage of the Irish had been theEnniskilleners, who had themselves, on the day of battle, shown sounmistakably the white feather. After this the king disliked and despisedthese troops, and hung them without ceremony, when taken in those acts ofplunder and slaughter to which they were so much addicted.
So far from the flight of King James discouraging the army, it causeduniversal joy. It was his constant vacillation, interference, andcowardly action which had paralysed his troops; and they felt that, nowthey were free to act without his interference, they would be able tocope with the invaders.
William at once offered favourable terms, if Ireland would submit to hisauthority; but these were declined, partly owing to the powerfulinfluence of France, partly to the fear that the terms would not beobserved, partly to the apprehension of all the gentry, that the landswhich they had but just recovered from the hands of Cromwell's settlerswould be again taken from them.
At the battle of the Boyne, Walter Davenant, with his father's troop, hadtaken part in all the desperate charges upon the enemy. During the longhours the battle had lasted, the cavalry had been incessantly engaged.Time after time they had charged down upon the Dutch squares, and nosooner had the ranks been reformed, after recoiling from the line offixed bayonets, than they were called upon to charge in anotherdirection.
Walter's heart beat high as they dashed into the midst of the Frenchinfantry, or shattered and drove before them the Danish horse; but therewas little time to think, and, looking back upon the day when all wasover, it seemed to him a chaos of excitement and confusion, of which hecould hardly recall even the chief incidents.
As the troops halted for the night, they were in no way dispirited at theresult of the battle, as the retreat had been begun before a blow wasstruck. They knew that it was neither intended nor hoped that the groundwould be successfully held; and every man felt a pride in the thoughtthat some eighteen thousand newly-raised Irish levies, of whom but asmall portion of the infantry were armed with muskets, had sustained,throughout a long summer's day, the attacks of more than double theirnumber of veteran troops, supported by fifty pieces of artillery.
The loss of the Irish horse had been comparatively small. Charging asquare, in the days when the bayonet was fixed in the muzzle of the gun,was not the desperate undertaking that it now is, when from the hedge ofsteel issues a rolling and continuous fire. The French regiment, oncebroken, had been cut down with scarce any resistance, while the mercenarycavalry had been defeated with the greatest ease. Thus, among the brigadeof the Irish horse there were but few fallen friends to mourn, andnothing to mar the pride that every man felt, in the behaviour of theIrish troops against such overwhelming odds. That the king had fled,everyone knew, but the feeling was one of relief.
"His absence is more than a victory to us," Captain Davenant said, as,with a group of officers, he sat by a fire, made of a fence hastilypulled down. "His majesty has his virtues, and, with good counsellors,would make a worthy monarch; but among his virtues military genius is notconspicuous. I should be glad, myself, if Lauzun and the French wouldalso take their departure, and let us have Mountcashel's division backagain from France. If we are left to ourselves, with our own generals,Sarsfield and Mountcashel, we can tire out this continental riffraff thatWilliam has gathered together. The dissensions caused by Frenchinterference have been our ruin, so far; leave us to ourselves, and weshall do. The Irish today have proved their fighting qualities; and, ifproper use is made of the resources and difficulties of the country, Idefy them to conquer us. I feel more hopeful now than I have done sincethe first day we took the field."
"Do you think we shall fight another battle before Dublin, father?"Walter asked.
"I have no idea what the generals will decide, Walter, but I shouldimagine that we shall march to the west. We had a strong position today,but in the open field, at present, we could not hope to cope withWilliam's superior numbers and great artillery train. His guns werelittle use to him yesterday; but on level ground they would tear ourranks to pieces, without our being able to make any return. Among therivers and bogs and mountains of the west, we should find scores ofplaces which we could hold against them. Besides, in my opinion we shouldnot fight pitched battles, but should harass them with continuous marchesand attacks, leaving them masters only of the ground they stand on,until, at last, we completely wear them out and exhaust them."
"Then you think we shall abandon Dublin altogether?"
"I think so, Walter."
"But will they not persecute the Catholics, when they have them in theirpower?"
"There may be some disturbance in the city, Walter, before the Englishtroops march in; but William will, no doubt, put an end to this as soonas he arrives. He cannot wish to drive the Catholics of Ireland todesperation. At any rate, I do not think we need feel at all uneasy aboutthose at home. Lying on the coast to the east of the town of Dublin
, andaltogether out of the track of the movements of troops, there is littlefear of trouble there. In our district there is little preponderance, innumbers, of one religion over the other; and unless the presence oftroops, or worse, of those savages from Enniskillen or Derry, excitethem, there is little fear of the Protestants of that neighbourhoodinterfering with our people, especially as they have no grounds forcomplaint in the past. No, I do not think that you need disquietyourself, in the slightest, about those at home."
As Captain Davenant had thought probable, the Irish army, after marchinginto Dublin in good order, with flags flying and music playing, left onthe following day for the west. They were accompanied by most of theleading Catholic families; and on their departure the corporation at oncewrote to William, inviting him to enter the capital. Before his arrival,however, the Protestant mob destroyed a great quantity of propertybelonging to the Catholics, and carried their excesses to such a pointthat the town would probably have been destroyed by fire, had not thebetter classes of Protestants armed themselves, and taken energetic stepsto repress the tumult.
As the troops marched into Dublin, Walter said to Captain Davenant:
"Can I ride over to see how they are at home? They will have heard of thebattle. Mother and grandmother must be terribly anxious."
"I shall be glad for you to go, Walter, for it would greatly ease theirminds at home; but we are to start again, almost immediately, andprobably the whole army will have marched off before you get back in themorning. There is no saying what may occur, after we have gone. There maybe a general attack upon the Catholics. At any rate, it will be dangerousin the extreme for a single officer, in our uniform, to be riding throughthe town after we have left. Even in the country villages there must beintense excitement, and anyone in the king's uniform might be fired at,in passing through any of the Protestant settlements."
"Well, father, suppose I do not start until it gets dark, then I can gethome without attracting notice. There I can put on a suit of my oldclothes, and bring my uniform out in my valise."
"Well, perhaps you might manage in that way, Walter; and I should be veryglad to relieve their minds at home, and to know how they are going on.If you like, you can stop there for a day or two. I don't suppose thatWilliam will be here with his troops, for a few days. He has learned thatour army is not to be despised, and he may hesitate to advance uponDublin, until he receives certain news that we have moved away, and thathe will not have to fight another battle for the possession of the city.Should you hear that William's troops have arrived in the town, you willof course make a detour, so as to avoid it, on your way to rejoin us; andnow I will write a letter, at once, for you to take to your mother."
As soon as it was dark, Walter mounted and started for Bray, where hearrived without molestation on the way. His arrival was an immense reliefto the ladies, who had been suffering an agony of suspense since the newsof the battle had reached them. King James's hurried arrival, and panicflight to Waterford, had caused the most alarming reports as to thebattle to circulate throughout the country, and by many it was supposedthat his army had been utterly destroyed. Walter's arrival, then, withthe news that his father, as well as himself, had passed through the dayunhurt, was an immense relief; and they were grateful to learn that, sofar from having been routed, the Irish army had accomplished its object,of fighting the battle and then falling back in perfect order and withoutmolestation.
"Father says, mother, that he believes next time, when we shall be nolonger hampered by the interference of the king, we shall be able to makeeven a better fight of it, especially if, as we all hope, the Frenchofficers will follow the king's example and take themselves off."
"How long are you going to stay, Walter?"
"I shall stay over tomorrow, mother, and start next morning early. Iought to be able to come up to the army before night, but, if not, Ishall overtake them on the march next day."
"I wish I was older," Godfrey, who had been listening to the account ofthe battle, said. "It is so hard to have to stay at home here, while youand father are having such fun!"
"You would not think it was fun, if you were with us, Godfrey," Waltersaid. "I used to think it would be fun, but I don't think so now. Justwhile the fighting is going on, one is so excited that one doesn't thinkof the danger, but when it is over, it is awful to see the gaps in theranks, and to know that so many of those who were riding with you havefallen, and that it may be your turn, next time."
"Ah, it's all very well for you to talk, Walter, because you are goingthrough it all, but you would think just the same as I do, if you were inmy place."
"That is true enough, Godfrey. Anyhow, I am glad you are not old enough.I don't mean that I should not like to have you with us, but then therewould be nobody at home with mother. Now, if anything happens to fatherand me, she has got you, and as you grow up you will be able to lookafter her, and take care of her. It is bad enough for her having two ofus in the war. It would be worse, still, if there were three."
As, the next evening, Walter heard that there was news that William'stroops had not yet moved from the Boyne, he thought that it was safe totake the direct road through Dublin. He had laid aside his uniform, onreaching home, and in the morning started in his civilian clothes, withthe uniform in the valise, strapped behind the saddle. He carried hissword, as usual, for almost all gentlemen at that time rode armed, andthis would therefore excite neither comment nor attention. He carriedalso a brace of pistols, in a belt underneath his coat.
On arriving in Dublin, he found the greatest uproar and excitementprevailing. Mobs of men were marching through the streets, smashing thewindows of Catholics and sacking the houses. Fortunately, he was warned,before he got into the thick of the tumult, by meeting some women runningand crying loudly. He asked what was the matter, and learned that theirhouses had been sacked, and that any Catholic found in the street wasbeing beaten and ill treated. As Walter was anxious to avoid anythingwhich might arrest his journey westward, he made his way out of the town,as soon as possible, and was heartily glad when he reached the outskirts,and gave rein to his horse.
He passed many groups of people as he rode. Some were Protestants, makingtheir way to Dublin to join in the greeting to William and his army, ontheir arrival. Others were Catholics, afraid to remain in their abodesnow that the army had retired west, and journeying to the capital, wherethey believed that William would prevent disorder and pillage. It neededno inquiry, as to the religion of the respective groups. The Protestantswere for the most part men, and these came along shouting and wavingtheir weapons, wild with exultation over the triumph of their cause. TheCatholics were of all ages and both sexes. Many of them had carts, andwere carrying with them their most valued possessions. All wore anexpression of grief and anxiety.
As Walter rode into one village, a fray was going on. A party ofProtestants, riding boisterously along, had knocked down a woman with achild in her arms, and had answered the angry remonstrance of thepeasants with jeers and laughter. Stones had begun to fly. TheProtestants had drawn their swords; the villagers had caught up hoes,spades, and other weapons, and a fierce fight was going on. The women,with shrill cries, encouraged the peasants, and aided them by hurlingstones at the rioters. Walter saw that his interference would be of noavail, and, with a heavy heart at the bitter hatred which the two partiesin Ireland exhibited for each other, he turned from the road, made acircuit round the village, and continued his way. After that, he avoidedall towns and villages, and slept at night in the cabin of a peasant,lying some little distance from the road. The following day he againpressed on, and before evening overtook the retiring army.
On the arrival of King William with his army in Dublin, a proclamationwas issued assuring all, save those who resisted his authority, of hisprotection, and threatening severity against those who disturbed thepeace or committed outrage on personal property. Letters of protectionwere granted to all who applied for them and, hearing this, JabezWhitefoot at once went into Dublin, to apply f
or protection for thefamily of Captain Davenant. On hearing, however, that no persecution ofCatholics would be allowed, and that the army was likely to march west,at once, in pursuit of the Irish, he thought it better to leave thematter alone, as his application would only draw the attention of theauthorities to the fact of Captain Davenant and his son being engaged inthe hostile army. He felt sure that the ladies need fear no molestation,save from the soldiers or Northerners, as his own influence with theProtestants of his neighbourhood would suffice to prevent these frominterfering with the household at the castle.
The Irish army marched towards the Shannon, and were concentrated part inthe neighbourhood of Athlone, and part at Limerick. William shortlyprepared to follow them. He, too, divided his army into two columns. Themain body, under his own command, took the road to Limerick; while theother division, consisting of five regiments of cavalry and twelve ofinfantry, was despatched, under the command of General Douglas, for thepurpose of investing the fortress of Athlone.
As the armies marched west, their path was marked by wholesale outrageand destruction. Although protections were granted to the peasants andinhabitants of the towns and villages through which the armies marched,they were entirely disregarded by the soldiers, who plundered, ill used,and sometimes murdered the defenceless people, carrying away withoutpayment all provisions on which they could lay their hands.
The king sometimes hanged those who were caught in these acts of plunderand slaughter, but this had but little effect. The Dutch soldiers, alone,maintained their order and discipline. The foreign mercenaries, composedfor the most part of the sweepings of the great cities, behaved with abrutality and cruelty almost without example, and which was acknowledgedby all the historians of the time, Protestant as well as Catholic.Indeed, the Protestant inhabitants suffered even more than the Catholics,for many of the latter fled at the approach of the army, while theProtestants, regarding them as friends and deliverers, remained quietlyat home, and suffered every insult and outrage at the hands of this hordeof savages, who were perfectly indifferent as to the religion of thosethey plundered.
Captain Davenant's troop was with the force which had retired to Athlone,and there awaited the approach of the column of General Douglas. Thereports of the conduct of the enemy, that were brought in by the flyingpeasants, filled the Irish troops with indignation and rage, and when, onarriving before the town, General Douglas sent a messenger to demand itssurrender, Colonel Grace, who commanded, only replied by firing a pistoltowards him.
Athlone stood on either side of the Shannon. The town on the eastern bankof the river was called "the English town," that on the western "theIrish "--a distinction existing in many of the Irish towns, where theearly English settlers found it expedient to live apart from the Irish,for mutual protection against attack. Colonel Grace had retired to thewest bank of the river, which was strongly fortified, destroying theEnglish town and breaking down part of the bridge across the river.
The garrison consisted of three regiments of foot and nine troops ofhorse; and when Douglas erected his batteries and opened fire on thecastle, they replied briskly, and their guns got the better of those inthe batteries. A strong detachment of horse and mounted grenadiers wassent by Douglas to Lanesborough, some miles north of the town, withorders to pass the river at that point, but the post was held by Irishtroops, who easily repulsed the attempt.
It was next proposed to pass the river at a ford a short distance fromthe bridge; but the troops had little heart for the enterprise, as theford was covered by field works erected by the Irish.
The assailants were already reduced to considerable straits. They hadconsumed all provisions found in the town, plundering without mercy theProtestant inhabitants, who had been well treated by the Irish troops,while the conduct of the army effectually deterred the country peoplefrom bringing in provisions.
The circulation of the report that General Sarsfield, with fifteenthousand men, was on the march to cut off the besiegers of Athlone,determined General Douglas to make a speedy retreat. In his fear of beingcut off, he abandoned all his heavy baggage, and, quitting the high road,made his way by unfrequented routes, which added to the hardships of themarch. In its retreat, the column was accompanied by the unhappyProtestant inhabitants, who feared to remain behind, lest the Irishshould retaliate upon them the sufferings which had been inflicted upontheir countrymen.
In the meantime, the main English army had done but little. In Dublin, acommission had been appointed to examine into and forfeit the lands ofall Catholics, and adherents of King James, and having set this machineat work, the king proceeded with his army southward through Carlow,Kilkenny, and Waterford, all of which places surrendered, the garrisonsbeing allowed to march out, with their arms and baggage, to join theirmain army on the Shannon.
At Waterford, the king received such serious news as to the state ofthings in England, that he determined to return home. On arriving atDublin, he was overwhelmed with petitions from the inhabitants, as to theshameful conduct of the troops left in garrison there, especially thoseof Trelawney's, Schomberg's, and some other regiments of horse, who, thepeople complained, treated them, although Protestants, far worse thanJames's Catholic soldiers had done. Inquiry showed these complaints to bewell founded, and, finding it impossible to restore order and disciplineamong them, the king at once sent these regiments back to England.
Then, receiving better news from home, he again started to rejoin hisarmy, and marched towards Limerick, being joined on his way by thedivision under Douglas, which had driven along with them all the cattleand horses of the country through which they had passed.
Limerick was, at that time, the second city in Ireland. The country, fora long distance along the mouth of the Shannon, was much wooded, but inthe immediate vicinity of the town it was surrounded by thick inclosures,houses, orchards, gardens, and plantations. The cultivated land waseverywhere divided into small fields, inclosed by hedges and intersectedby lanes. To the east of the town the Shannon divides itself, forming anisland on which part of the city is situated.
This was called the English town, and was connected by a bridge, calledThomond Bridge, with the Clare side of the river on the north; and on thesouth, by another bridge, with the Irish town on the county of Limerickside. The Thomond Bridge was defended by a strong fort and some fieldworks on the Clare side, and on the city side by a drawbridge, flanked bytowers and the city walls. The bridge was very long and narrow.
The position of the English town was, indeed, almost impregnable. It wasbuilt upon a rock of considerable extent, and the land outside the wallswas low and marshy, and could at any time be flooded. The Shannon wasbroad and rapid. The Irish town on the Limerick shore was not strong,being defended only by ordinary walls. If this were captured, however,the English town could still hold out.
The king made his approaches to the city slowly, being obliged to levelthe numerous inclosures as he moved on. These were occupied by the Irishinfantry, who, lining every hedge, kept up a galling fire, falling backgradually as heavy bodies of troops were brought up against them, untilthey reached the cover of the guns of the city and fort. Upon theseopening fire, William's army halted and encamped before the Irish town.
Here, as at the Boyne, the king had a narrow escape, a cannonball fromthe walls striking the ground at his foot as he was passing through a gapin a hedge.
The king had learned that great dissensions existed between the Irish andFrench, and relied upon this, as much as upon the strength of his arms,to obtain possession of the city. His information was, indeed, correct.King James, in his flight, had left no orders as to who should assume thesupreme command. The Duke of Berwick had considerable claims. Lauzun andthe French officers declined altogether to receive orders fromTyrconnell, and the Irish officers equally objected to act under thecommand of a Frenchman. Consequently, during the whole siege, the mainIrish army, which, by acting upon William's rear, could speedily havemade his position untenable, remained inactive. Monsieur Boileau, a
French officer, was governor of the town, but Lauzun, having examined thefortifications, pronounced the place wholly incapable of defence,declaring that the walls could be knocked down with roasted apples, andso ordered the entire French division to march to Galway, and there awaitan opportunity for embarking for France, leaving the Irish to defend thecity if they chose.
Lauzun, in fact, was a courtier, not a soldier. He desired to get back toVersailles at any hazard, and had so inspired his officers and men withhis own sentiments that there was a general cry among them to be recalledto France. They had, indeed, no interest in the cause in which theyfought. They looked with contempt at their half-armed and half-trainedallies, and they grumbled continually at the hardships which they had toundergo. It was indeed an evil day, for King James's cause, when heexchanged Mountcashel's fine division for these useless allies, who,throughout the war, not only did no service, but were the cause ofendless dissension and disaster.
As soon as King William had taken up his position in front of Limerick,he sent a summons to Boileau to surrender. The latter consulted withTyrconnell, Sarsfield, and some other officers, for, even to the lastmoment, it was a question whether the place should be defended.
At last, however, a decision was made. The reply was addressed toWilliam's secretary, Sir Robert Roultwell, as Boileau could notacknowledge the prince as king, and was too polite to hurt his feelingsby a denial of the royal title. He expressed great surprise at thesummons he had received, and said that he hoped to merit the good opinionof the Prince of Orange better by a vigorous defence, than by a shamefulsurrender, of the fortress which had been committed to his charge by hismaster King James the Second.
The king's camp was now formed in regular order; he himself taking hisplace on its right, having near him the Horse Guards, and the Blue DutchGuards, who were always his main reliance. To the left of these were theEnglish and Dutch regiments, further on the French and Danes, while theBrandenburghers and other German regiments formed the extreme left of theline. To their great satisfaction, the post assigned to the Danes was oneof the rude circular redoubts called, in Ireland, Danish forts, andprobably constructed by their own far-off ancestors.