F. R.
LETTER II.
Ross, July 20th, 1798.
My Dr. Friend,
The following account relative to the affair at Ross is remarkably brief: particulars would fill a Volume, and as there are many things said concerning it which cannot be depended on, I think it best to confine myself to a few plain facts which are not disputed by any.
On the 4th of June in the evening, the Rebels to the amount of near 20000, took possession of Corbit Hill, one mile distant from Ross. The military force in the town was remarkably small, the fears of the Inhabitants were raised to an alarming height, but the coming in of the County Dublin Militia quieted them much.
Between three and four o'Clock on the morning of the fifth, the engagement commenced, Early in the action the Rebels were for some time victorious, having driven before them all the black cattle they could collect through the country; this threw the military into confusion, and obliged
many of them to retreat in great confusion over the Bridge; some pieces of Cannon also fell into the hands of the Enemy. The Rebels then set fire to the houses in the suburbs, about two hundred and fifty of which were consumed; but this turned to their own disadvantage, for the wind blowing towards them they were inveloped in smoke, which together with the immoderate quantity of spirituous liquors they drank on Corbet-Hill, rendered them incapable of their business. The Dublin and Donegal Militia who kept the guards at the Market-house and Fair-gate never left their post, by means of which the Rebels could not penetrate into the centre of the town; had they ran, Ross, and in all probability the provincial towns in Munster would have fallen.