The "defenders," from their walls, saw the gradual approach of the Jacobite army, and felt the necessity of prompt and determined action. Every consideration that impels men to deeds of daring was heightened by the fiery appeals of their leaders. The fall of so many important posts, in such quick succession, had deprived them of the vast stores which they had collected through the preceding winter; the population of the town had increased to twenty thousand within the last month, and famine, at no distant day, would do the work of war, should William fail to succor them in the interval. On the other hand, they still outnumbered the beleaguering army three to one; were better supplied, and much better armed; they had their city as a last refuge, in case of defeat, and one successful battle before its walls might save them from the horrors of a protracted siege. All these considerations awakened them to a consciousness of their true position, and nerved them to action, while it was yet possible to dislodge the enemy; and from this time, until the town was completely invested, they exhibited a courage and determination worthy of a better cause.
On the 21st of April, Colonel Hamilton was ordered from General Ramsay's headquarters to occupy the village of Pennyburn, about a mile below the town, in the direction of Culmore; and taking with him a guard of 200 men, he proceeded to the execution of his order. As he passed within sight of the town, he was assailed by the enemy, amounting to 1,500 foot and 300 horse; but he gained the village, and occupying the houses and adjacent cover, he kept up a fire, while he dispatched a messenger to de Momont's quarters for assistance. It happened that the Irish cavalry were out on a foraging expedition; there being only a guard of forty troopers and the same number of horse dragoons in the camp; and with this force de Momont and Major Taaf rode at once to the rescue. On reaching the scene of action, they found Hamilton still disputing the possession of the town with the enemy's foot, while their horse were drawn up with their right resting on the river to receive them. A fierce conflict ensued; the enemy broke and fled into the town, but de Momont, Major Taaf, and seven of their command, were killed, and "there was not a man left who was not either wounded or had his horse shot under him."[13] The loss of the enemy is not stated, but judging from the vast superiority of their force, and its hasty retreat, it must have been much greater.
Pennyburn was then occupied by the royalists, and reinforced from the encampment at Boom Hall[14] to the number of 500 men, and a second attack, after such a signal defeat, was little apprehended. But as that position brought them within cannon range of the city, the enemy, conscious of its importance, determined to risk another effort to dislodge them before it could be secured by intrenchments. Accordingly, on the 25th, they sallied out with a force of 8,000 men, and endeavored to surround this detachment. The Irish disputed every inch of the ground, but were forced back to the last houses in the village, and were on the point of retreat, when Ramsay appeared in the rear of the enemy, and assailed them with great vigor. Other reinforcements arrived; the action continued from nine o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock in the evening, when the enemy retreated in confusion. In this sally de Pusignan was killed, Brigadier Pointy was wounded, and Berwick received a contusion, which he tells us was the only hurt he ever had, though his after years were spent in continual warfare.
As the next attack was the last of that series of "brilliant assaults" so greatly extolled by the eulogists of the Williamite cause, it is here transcribed entire from the Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick, who was himself an actor in the affair which he so simply, yet so graphically, describes:
"They sent us word from Dublin that they were dispatching artillery to us; for which reason we thought it right to possess ourselves immediately of such posts near the town as might be of use in pressing the siege. With this view, Ramsay, with his troops, on the 6th of May, attacked a windmill, which stood on an eminence at half-cannon shot from the town, and behind it was a bottom in which he meant to encamp. The enemy defended themselves with great bravery; and, at last, the whole town sallying out upon him, he was driven from his post and obliged to retire. Ramsay himself was killed, with about 200 men; several officers of distinction were made prisoners. Wauchop took the command of Ramsay's troops, and resolved upon another attempt to make himself master of the mill; but the enemy, apprised of the importance of it, had covered it with a great intrenchment, which our troops could never force, and we sustained a further loss of several officers, and at least a hundred men." * * * "After this experience, we assembled all our troops, consisting of twelve battalions and fifteen or sixteen squadrons (about 2,800 men), and encamped opposite the front of the place, behind a rising ground, at the distance of a long musket-shot; and we left on the other side of the river two battalions that had been stationed there. A few days after, six large pieces of cannon—four guns and two mortars—arrived: there were thirty in the town. We had, in all, not more than five or six thousand men; the besieged had ten thousand, well armed. About the same time arrived M. de Rosen, with some French engineers and matrosses to begin the attack. As I was not pleased with the business, any more than with the new general, * * I asked for the command against Enniskillen, and obtained it, and left the camp on the 21st of June, with four hundred horse dragoons, and marched to Cavan Park."
The Parliament which assembled in Dublin, in obedience to the king's call, had high and solemn duties to perform, and seems to have been fully impressed with their importance. The country was impoverished; its treasury was empty; its banking-system was completely unhinged; and, as money was the great necessity of the hour, little could be done towards the support of the army until the financial system of the country was established on a satisfactory basis. Though the Williamites of Ulster had fallen away before the national troops, they had still two very important strongholds, Enniskillen and Derry, in their possession; and hostilities might be protracted until the arrival of an invading army, which the king's English agents apprised him might be soon expected, and to raise and equip an army able to cope with it was the real business of the session.
But the Parliament was not constituted for that expeditious legislation that the king expected. In the Upper House there were no Catholic prelates, and the Protestant lords, spiritual and temporal, greatly outnumbered the Catholic peers.
In the Lower House the Catholic element greatly preponderated, and conflicting opinions are never slow to arise in the greatest emergencies. The Protestant representatives very naturally wished to know whither the king's reforms tended; and the Catholic members, with a desire quite as reasonable, wanted to have their rights secured by constitutional guarantees. The discussions arising in consequence of these different views were long, and not free from religious rancor, and so, much of the time—short enough for the pressing duty of the hour—was wasted on questions that might have been better left for future deliberation. Grattan, in alluding to this Parliament eighty years later, says: "Though Papists, they were not slaves; they wrung a constitution from King James before they accompanied him to the field."[15] This was the view of a great statesman; but yet we think that the first and only duty of that Parliament should have been to grant, even to wring, money from the country, to remove their king's dependence on the bounty of France, and enable him to support an army equal to the necessity of the time; and this it undoubtedly could have done, had the Catholic members been as liberal in voting supplies to James, as their Protestant colleagues were afterwards in casting the wealth of the country at the feet of William. These rights that Grattan appreciated so much—the rights he won himself—where are they? The great duty was to beat the enemy and leave the rest to time.
The speech of the king to the assembled Parliament was all that could be desired, and went far to secure that general accord so necessary to success. His principles were unaltered. Pardon and protection were again offered to all who, within a certain day, would return to their homes. He pledged himself to secure social harmony through the establishment of civil and religious liberty; to elevate the social condition of the people, and advance the interests of trade and commerce. The address met the approval of both Houses, and, under the best auspices, they entered on their important duty.... With the exception of the following acts, which appear supplementary, the measures introduced into this Parliament were the same as those already noticed:
First: An act declaring that all persons should pay tithes only to the clergymen of their own communion.