The battle-fields of Ireland, from 1688 to 1691

by active 1867 John Boyle

On the evening of the first of July he reached the town of Ballinasloe, about ten miles south-west of Athlone, crossed the river Suck into the County Galway, and drawing out his army along its western bank, determined to await the enemy and stake his cause on the issue of a pitched battle. Here the ruinous effects of his late reverse became painfully apparent. The army that a few weeks before had marched from Limerick twenty-three thousand strong, buoyant in hope and spirit, was now reduced to less than fifteen thousand men. The cavalry was still powerful and efficient, having suffered little during the interval, but out of nearly nineteen thousand infantry he mustered somewhat less than eleven thousand, and the morale of the men had also deteriorated.[⁶⁴] Still, his determination was fixed, and his spirit rose, even as his difficulties multiplied. In order to remove the disadvantages of divided command, Tyrconnell now resigned his position as commander-in-chief, but determined to lend all his influence and power to recruit the army and follow its fortunes to the end. This self-sacrifice on the part of the viceroy produced a reconciliation quite beneficial to the cause, and satisfactory to the general, but the feeling between himself and Sarsfield, never cordial, now bordered on mutual hatred, deepening to the last, and at the last was fatal.

Being now invested with entire military control, St. Ruth caused the garrisons of the Upper Shannon to be dismantled, drew in his outposts, and made speedy requisitions for men and munitions. Jamestown and Lanesborough were at once abandoned; Shannon Bridge, Banagher, and Portumna were each reduced to a nominal garrison; Galway sent a regiment, and Limerick all that could be spared from its defences, which were few, for the enemy had still ten thousand regulars, and a strong force of militia in Munster, and a desultory warfare, fierce and incessant, raged throughout the counties of Cork and Kerry, down to the vicinity of Limerick. A requisition for troops was also made on the Pretender, Balldearg, now holding court between Tuam and Athunree, surrounded by a force variously estimated at between eight and ten thousand. But this redoubtable chief would neither furnish the required levy, nor make any movement to discomfort the enemy; preserving at once his masterly inactivity and his worthless person.

With his scouts and pickets well advanced towards Athlone, St. Ruth established his quarters in Ballinasloe, to await his reinforcements, and to give his troops that rest so necessary after the toils and privations of the last month.—That Galway was Ginckle's objective point scarcely admitted of a doubt; but then there were other routes to it, as practicable, though not so direct, as that on which St. Ruth had taken up his position, and he determined to hazard no further movement while the intentions of his adversary remained a matter of conjecture. Here, then, we will leave him to the duties now imperative: to recruit and resuscitate his army, and restore that spirit and discipline so necessary to the coming event, and return to take note of what was transpiring in the English camp.

Ginckle betrayed no undue haste in following up his adversary; although his previous movements were indicative of a persistency scarce admitting of a moment's cessation. Athlone being once in his possession, he determined to make it his base of operations against the remaining province, and to hazard no advance until he saw it in a proper state of defence.—With his army drawn up on the ruins of the Irish town, he awaited the disappearance of St. Ruth, and when no longer apprehensive of renewed hostilities, he withdrew it again across the river to its encampment. The burial of his dead claimed his earliest attention, and this day being the anniversary of The Boyne, the evening witnessed its first celebration in all the pomp and circumstance of war. Bonfires blazed on the adjacent hill-tops; the names of William and Mary were duly glorified, and peals of musketry and salvos of artillery continuing far into the night, "proclaimed their conquest to the vanquished Shannon." His sick and wounded were next sent to Dublin and placed under the care of the most eminent army surgeons, while all that could contribute to the comfort of the hale, became subject of immediate requisition. On the 2nd, Paymaster Robinson arrived at the camp with several "cart-loads" of specie, and the whole army received full arrear of pay, and further promises of reward and booty, while pressing demands were made on the Lords-Justices for reinforcements to fill up its ranks to the regular standard. After this day, magazines, stores of ammunition, food, provender, and liquors began to arrive hourly, and one-half the army, divided into relief parties, were vigorously at work clearing away the débris of the siege; repairing breaches, raising ramparts, while reinforcements, now pouring in from all available posts, were placed in their allotted regiments and subjected to hasty and rigorous discipline. The garrisons left in their rear, and those along the Shannon, which had been abandoned by the Irish, were manned with native militia, and four of St. Ruth's cannon were mounted on carriages and added to his already enormous train of artillery.

On the 4th, as the works approached completion, he sent out a party under one Higgins, "a converted priest," and a native of that locality, to reconnoitre the Irish position; but, being attacked by a picket-guard in the wood of Clonoult, fifteen of them killed, four taken prisoners, the rest escaping with their worthy leader, who was himself "sadly wounded." At length, on the evening of the 6th, orders were issued to the army to be ready at dawn next morning in marching order, and with fifteen rounds of ammunition to a man; and, on the morning, the whole army crossed the river and drew out beyond the town, where they again went into encampment to await Ginckle's final preparations.

The Dublin commissioners had not yet taken cognizance of the situation, and, as usual, after such events, were preparing another of those parchment manifestoes, which, under a specious verbiage, were meant to delude the people, and to affect their cause as fatally as bomb or bullet. It was a proclamation of amnesty, and began with:—"Since it hath pleased Almighty God," &c., &c.—It offered pardon to all private soldiers;—with pay for their horses and furniture,—who within three weeks would surrender themselves to the commander-in-chief; and to colonels who would surrender their regiments, and to governors who would surrender their garrisons within the same period; and to such of the inhabitants of Limerick and Galway, in particular, as would be instrumental in delivering up said places, pardon and possession of their estates,—"where it could be done;" and that all such soldiers, captains, colonels, governors, etc., should be received into their Majesties' service and pay; and that "as soon as their Majesties' affairs would permit," a Parliament would be called, when they would endeavor to secure their protection from "religious persecution," etc.—It praised the mildness of the English Government,—as the proclamations of to-day do,—denounced the tyranny of France,—another favorite theme.—It was given at the Castle of Dublin, July 7th, 1691, signed by Porter and Coningsby, and ended with—"God save the King and Queen."

With this was issued, by way of supplement, an address from Ginckle himself; more brief and more pertinent, offering rewards to deserters from the royal army, who would renounce their allegiance, and take service under his standard. To soldiers serving without pay, as those of the Irish army had been for several months, this twofold inducement of amnesty and reward was a terrible temptation; but it had little or no effect. The defection caused by St. Ruth's misconduct before Athlone had already done its worst, and the desertion rather tended to O'Donnell behind them, than to Ginckle in their front. Others, preferring a middle course, had joined the Rapparees, and the rest, true to their antecedents, resolved to retrieve their cause in the field, or depart the country forever.

Of the manifesto of the Lords-Justices, it may be finally said, that had it been meant in good faith, it would have won for them a very fair claim to justice and humanity. But when it is known that all their proffers were illusory, and that their subsequent conduct was cruel beyond description; that the lands to which they had promised reinstatement had already been sequestrated beyond redemption; that the plighted faith of themselves, the general, and their sacred Majesties were wantonly violated; and that a hundred years of more than barbaric cruelty elapsed after their "Majesties had found it convenient to convene a Parliament;"—the character of all—Lords-Justices, general, and "Sacred Majesties"—is too infamous for a single epithet.

On the same day that those proclamations were issued, Captain Villers returned from a reconnoissance, and reported St. Ruth as still holding the passes of the river Suck, and apparently determined to dispute them. But it being deemed advisable to give these missives time for the desired effect, a further postponement of action was the consequence, and the interval was spent in endeavoring to repress the excesses of the army. All religious exhortations having failed, a stringent military code was adopted. This held forth at once the severest punishment for crime, and the most liberal promises of booty and reward to the men, and of "lands and livings" to the officers. This comported so strangely with the "amnesty," etc., of the Lords-Justices, as to render it entirely nugatory, by exposing their covert hypocrisy in the same breath in which their manifesto was announced.

The morning of the 9th dawned bright and sultry, but towards noon the unusual drought of the last month was broken by a violent tornado. Trees were uprooted, houses levelled; several men and horses were struck dead by lightning; and the march of the army was suspended until the morning of the 10th; when, having left Colonel Lloyd with his own, and half of the Douglas's regiment in command of the town, Ginckle advanced as far as Kilcashel, seven miles farther westward, and encamped for the night. Taking a strong escort of cavalry, he advanced towards Ballinasloe, and found that St. Ruth had decamped from his position. Crossing the river and advancing to the hills of Dunloe, he ascertained that St. Ruth was still in the vicinity, for his outguards were seen hovering along the hills of Garbally, and retiring slowly as he advanced without offering any opposition. Continuing still to advance, he at length beheld the whole Irish army drawn out in line of battle upon an opposite hill, when, after a close inspection, he ordered a map of the ground to be prepared, and returned to the camp; when the Irish pickets again advanced, and occupied the hills along the western bank of the river. From Kilcashel he advanced to Ballinasloe the next day, and halted opposite the ground lately occupied by the royal army, where he summoned a council and submitted the result of his reconnoissance for the consideration of his generals.